Badlands Trilogy (Book 3): Out of the Badlands (34 page)

Ed considered all the ways in which he had thought he might die. In the beginning he’d been sure his executioner would be the virus, the same virus that had mercilessly taken his wife and more than five billion other people.

But after learning of his immunity to the virus, the threat soon shifted to the infected themselves. Once, they’d numbered in the billions worldwide, but the virus had created killing machines that couldn’t sustain themselves. Their numbers plummeted over the next few years and Ed had managed to keep both himself and his sons out of their way long enough to outlive them.

The carriers became monsters; machines that hunted and killed better than any predator Ed had ever seen before it. Logic would have reasoned that these new hunters would have been the end of Ed and his family. This made it all the more ironic that he should now be looking down the barrel of a gun in the hands of an even more dangerous monster: the human survivor.

It seemed that man had become monster, infected and not.

“You don’t have to do this,” Ed repeated one last time.

“Shut up or I’ll break your fuckin’ nose,” the man said.

Ed shut up.

They ascended the steps, rising up to the fourth floor. There the man opened a door leading onto the roof. Angry storm clouds swirled overhead, assaulting them with cold rain and heavy winds. The rain soaked Ed almost immediately, the cold water electrifying his senses and making him shiver.

“Walk,” the man commanded, pointing toward the edge of the roof. Ed complied while the man followed, pointing the rifle at his back. The wind howled around them, blowing leaves and other debris around in swirling cyclones.

As they walked around a large air conditioning unit on the rooftop, Ed saw several figures standing no more than thirty yards away. Ed couldn’t make them out in the darkness until a bolt of lightning lit up the rooftop like stadium lights. He saw several women standing together, among them Trish.

“The women!” the man with the rifle said, pointing it toward the group and pulling the trigger.

Ed yelled as the rifle report cracked through the sky, joined by an even louder thunderclap. He lunged forward, knocking the man down onto the roof top. The gunman struggled against him, pushing him off and landing a weak punch against Ed’s jaw. Ed shook off the blow, delivering a knee to the man’s abdomen. The gunman doubled over, grunting hard. Ed swung a hard right, but struck the man in the head instead of the nose. His hand exploded in sharp pain.

A moment later the man slammed the butt of the rifle against the side of Ed’s head, the third time for the day. Ed’s head swam as he fell to the graveled rooftop. The man tried to swing again but missed, causing himself to get off balance. Seeing this opportunity, Ed pushed off his haunches and gripped the man by the left leg, pulling hard. The gunman fell, dropping the rifle onto the rooftop. It struck the surface, stock first, bouncing and skidding a few feet away. Ed leapt on top of the man, attempting to send a fist into his face. He drew back and released, but the man deflected the punch and gripped Ed by the throat, squeezing hard.

Ed felt his airway constrict under the tremendous pressure of the man’s grip. He clawed at the man’s face, eventually finding his eyes. He shoved both thumbs into the socket and pushed them in hard. The gunman howled, squeezing harder on Ed’s throat until he could no longer breathe and stars appeared in his vision.

As the rain pelted them, Ed used the last bit of his strength left, shoving his thumbs deep into the man’s eye sockets. The gunman screamed, an inhuman sound of intense pain as Ed tore out the man’s eyes. He felt the man’s hands release from his throat and he fell onto the wet rooftop, gasping for air. Beside him the gunman continued screaming, babbling an incoherent string of words.

Still shrieking, the gunman got to his feet, clutching as his face and his ruined eyes. A flash of lightning opened up the sky, revealing the horror of the man’s injuries. Blood poured from the empty sockets, mixing with the rain running down the man’s face.

Ed looked at his own hands and vomited. He leaned to the side, retching up the meager contents of his stomach while the eyeless man wandered around aimlessly, yelling. As the rain washed away the vomit, Ed got to his hands and knees and crawled to where the rifle lay.

He picked up the gun and stood, watching the man in the dim light before raising the rifle and taking aim. Ed pulled the trigger, punching a hole in the eyeless man’s chest. The man dropped, a dark pool of blood forming below him, diluted by the torrential rain pouring down from the sky above.

With his captor now dead, Ed turned his attention to Trish. He looked for her in the darkness, but couldn’t see her. Lightning flashed above him, forking wildly in the sky as it lit the entire rooftop for only a second, but long enough to see another man pointing a rifle at the women.

Cindy led Chloe, Sam and the others along darkened hallways and down an empty stairwell. No matter how hard they tried, the other ten children made too much noise as they walked in single file, holding hands. Sam walked behind the children, bringing up the rear and watching to ensure that none of them were left behind.

Chloe followed behind Cindy, the rifle slung over her shoulder so that both hands remained free.

“The next floor is the basement,” Cindy said, glancing back at her in the dim light. “It’s gonna be dark down there.”

“And scary,” another child said from the group.

“Hold hands. Don’t get separated,” Chloe said. She called back to Sam “Okay back there?”

“We’re good,” Sam replied.

Jim took Chloe’s right hand while Cindy gripped her left hand, forming a single line of thirteen connected people.

“Cindy, lead the way,” Chloe said.

They started down the last set of steps and all light disappeared. The basement stank of mildew and rot, the smell overwhelming once they descended the last step and moved into the large, open basement area. The acrid smell of smoke intermingled with the dank air, reminding Chloe that they needed to hurry.

“There’s a tunnel down here,” Cindy said in the pitch black darkness. “That’s how Daddy found me. I just found the tunnel by accident and followed it. When I got into the building Daddy and the others took me and locked me up.”

“Don’t call him Daddy,” Jim said.

“What do they do to you?” Chloe asked, almost wishing she could take the question back. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer.

“They make us work,” Jim said from behind her.

“And they hit us when we don’t work hard enough,” another child further back in the line said.

“They hit us no matter how hard we work,” Jim said.

“Not anymore,” Chloe said.

They made their way slowly through what had now become complete and total darkness, feeling their way as they went. Cindy would occasionally run into an object that the group would have to skirt. She guided them by voice and led Chloe by the hand, pulling the others along like a human train. Chloe called back periodically to ensure the children remained all together. If they got separated in this kind of dark they might never find each other again.

The trip through the basement seemed to take an eternity. Navigating completely blind took time and patience.

“You’re sure you know the way?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah,” Cindy replied. “I was only down here once though, before the men took me. So I’m gonna have to look a little for the tunnel entrance.”

They continued forward, shuffling in short steps. The basement seemed huge, but Chloe knew that feeling mostly came from the excruciatingly slow pace at which they were forced to move. She wished like hell for a flashlight or even some matches, but all that stuff remained in the car, left there when they had to flee from the carriers.

A loud crash sounded from behind them. Chloe flinched at the volume, hoping like hell it didn’t alert any of the creeps with guns. “Be careful back there, guys,” she called out softly to the group.

“Wasn’t me,” one of the children replied.

“Me neither,” Jim said. Several other children replied.

A howling shriek tore through the dark room and Chloe’s blood turned to ice.

“Chloe…” Sam began.

“I hear it,” she said. “Hurry, Cindy.”

Cindy picked up the pace, moving more quickly than before. Despite the increase in speed, Chloe felt as if they were knee-deep in thick mud. Her pulse pounded in her ears as adrenaline flooded her system. How many carriers had gotten into the basement she had no way of knowing, but even one would make short work of them. If that thing found them…

Don’t think about that
, she told to herself.
Just focus on getting to that tunnel.

More banging and crashing echoed throughout the massive room, the sounds amplified by the natural reverb of the space.

“I’m scared,” one of the children said.

“Don’t talk, honey,” Chloe said. “Just walk.”

Chloe began to wonder if little Cindy had any chance of getting them out of the building. With only a fragment of memory to go on and faced with complete and total blindness, did any of them have a chance? Would the carriers get to them before the fire did? Neither option seemed promising.

“Wall,” Cindy said in the darkness, stopping.

“Is that good or bad?” Chloe asked.

“Good,” Cindy replied. “The tunnel leads out here, I just don’t remember exactly where it is.”

“Start looking,” Chloe said. “Jim, grab onto me. I need my hand to feel along the wall.” Jim did as instructed.

The basement grew silent. Chloe hoped that was a good thing, but it could mean that the carriers were stalking them, remaining quiet before pouncing on their prey. The new carriers had good night vision, but could they see in pitch blackness? She hoped not.

Chloe felt along the damp wall with her left hand, searching for anything resembling a doorway. In her right hand she held Cindy’s hand as Jim held tightly to the waistband of her jeans. They progressed forward at a snail’s pace. Chloe could feel each second ticking away slowly in the dark and empty room.

Another crash sounded from somewhere in the room. She strained hard in the darkness, but it was absolute and impenetrable. Not a single ray of light penetrated into the cavernous room. She thought she heard growling at one point, but she couldn’t be sure over the shuffling of little feet behind her.

A howling shriek echoed throughout the room. The sound might have been close, but the room’s natural reverb made it impossible to tell for sure. The carriers could be right next to them and she wouldn’t know it, not until it was too late.

“I found it,” Cindy said.

Chloe had never heard such beautiful words before in her life.

Cindy led her into the tunnel and the air temperature dropped at least five degrees. She could feel a breeze blowing against her face. The air smelled fresher. Either way they’d left the dark room behind.

The tunnel started out as dark as the room had been, but as they progressed it began to lighten. They sped up their pace a little, but Chloe still felt as if they were moving in slow motion. She wanted to call out to Sam but talking could alert the carriers to their presence.

The light increased along with the sound of the storm outside in full swing. A small flash of lightning fired off in the distance and Chloe could finally see just how long the tunnel stretched. The tiny dot of light appeared to be two hundred yards away at least. Behind them the shrieking of more than one carrier traveled out of the sanitarium’s basement.

The minutes passed like hours as they made their way through the tunnel. The sound of the storm grew louder as they walked, and Chloe had never before been so glad to see a thunderstorm.

As they approached the light, Cindy suddenly turned right.

“What are you doing?” Chloe asked.

“That takes us outside,” Cindy replied. “That’s where the carriers are. This branch of the tunnel takes us to the other building.”

“What other building?”

“The smaller one behind it. I don’t think Daddy and the others use it much.”

“Don’t call him that,” Jim said from behind them. “He’s not our daddy.”

Chloe shushed him. “Focus, Jim.”

The group veered right, into a section of the tunnel that turned back into more blackness.

“We’re almost there, I think,” Cindy said.

They walked slowly, almost at a crawling pace for another few minutes until Cindy stopped them.

“Here it is,” she said. She let go of Chloe’s hand and began feeling for the door in the darkness. “Got it,” she said. She grunted as she pulled on the handle. “It’s stuck.”

Chloe felt her hopes fade. “Locked?”

“No,” Cindy said. “I got it open a little, but I’m not strong enough.”

“I’m coming, hang on.” Chloe walked toward the sound of Cindy’s voice in the dark, unable to see anything at all. Eventually her hands found a wall made of rough brick. She felt along it until the surface of a smooth metal door replaced it. She gripped the handle and pulled. The door budged, but only a bit.

Chloe took a deep breath and prepared to pull when she heard a shrill shrieking erupt from directly behind them in the pitchy darkness.

Zach and Jeremy wandered through the darkened corridors with no idea of where to go. They had to stay a step ahead of the carriers and the fire if they wanted to get out of the building alive. What they’d do once out in the open remained to be seen.

They continued along the seemingly endless series of connected hallways, searching for a way out. Another stairwell, a fire escape or anything else would suffice. The sound of the carriers in pursuit behind them had diminished, but they both knew that didn’t mean they were safe. Carriers didn’t give up easily.

After making their way down yet another darkened hallway, they began to hear the sound of the storm outside grow louder. After coming to another T-shaped intersection, they peered around the corner and both ways into the perpendicular corridor. They could see at the end of the adjoining hall a flash of light.