Devour: Death & Decay Book 1 (18 page)

Day 4
10:02 am

Liv was antsy. They wouldn’t make much progress today. Highway 364 was just over three miles north of them. If they traveled a little bit west, they could avoid most of the heavily populated areas. The highway would still be a mess, but at least they could avoid the rest of it.

Their journey to 364 would take them until about noon. They would rest in a house close to the highway, not just for Elli’s nap but until dark. After Elli was asleep for the night, they would slip her into the carrier and set out across the highway with the hope that she would sleep through the crossing.

The thought of so much waiting threatened to drive Liv mad. They were so close to her own house. Maybe Colin was waiting for her there. Maybe her parents were waiting for her.

Liv let out a long, exasperated sigh. She had never been afraid of cars before. They were wonderful. They made her life immensely easier. Now, though, she shuddered at the thought of sitting in one again.

With a car, under normal conditions, they could reach her home in ten or fifteen minutes. The thought that this journey would take almost two more days was killing her. The idea of getting into a car was becoming more appealing again. Almost. But a lot of the larger roads were jammed up with traffic that might never move again. Many of the side streets only led into subdivisions and nowhere else. Perhaps a motorcycle would be useful, but Liv had never driven one, and she wouldn’t dare make her first attempt with Elli strapped to her back.

After deciding on a plan for their journey, they had left out of the house’s back door. The house on Westfield Wood Drive had backed onto a stretch of untamed grass and trees. At the edge of this, only about a thousand or so feet away, was Dardenne Creek. The small ribbon of water was larger than the Schote Creek, but it had been brought down to a trickle by a dry summer. They had used the bridge at Henning Road to cross the mostly dry bed and continued north towards Lake St. Louis.

They had angled west, away from Henning Road and into more untended grass, aiming for a large subdivision. That is where their progress had slowed.

The ferals prowled around the houses in packs. Some were small clusters of three or four, but when they had spotted a horde of more than a dozen, their progress had slowed to barely a crawl.

These ferals didn’t shamble slowly. They didn’t drift aimlessly. They were agitated. They stalked about, hunting for prey they could not find. Just like the pack that she had seen chasing the man on the second day. They had seen or heard or caught prey not long ago and they thought more was close by. They simply weren’t smart enough to figure out where, if they couldn’t see or hear it.

The worst part was the sounds. Moans, growls, and raging screams had surrounded them for the last twenty minutes. The cries frazzled Liv’s delicate nerves. Each screech brought her back to being alert, frantically searching for the source. And they never ended.

“Get down!” At Corey’s harsh whisper, Liv dropped and flattened herself against the ground. Their progress had been halted once again after only a dozen steps.

After a moment, she dared to look up. Ahead of them, seven infected looked around wildly as they advanced across the street. Their faces were vicious snarls and grotesque smiles. Liv felt her fingers gather up fistfuls of grass and dirt as a few looked in their direction.

Would they see?

The pack moved on and Liv felt herself release a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding.

“They’re,” Corey said, his voice barely more than quiet gasps of air, “frenzied. They found someone and they want more.”

Liv’s eyes rolled around as she tried to see more without actually moving. “By how many are running around, I’d say that they caught a whole group.”

“Where could they all be coming from?” Jen breathed

Liv and Corey shook their heads simultaneously.

“We have to get out of here. This is too dangerous. We have to find some other way around,” Jen whispered frantically.

“Love.” Corey shifted to watch another pack of ferals. “I hate to break it to you, but they’re everywhere. No matter which way we go now, we’ll have to go through them. It’s like playing a fucking game against a computer,” Corey growled, “and every time we think we’re getting ahead, the computer fucks us over.”

“There!” Jen pointed to the left. The road was clear, as the ferals disappeared into shadows and trees.

In a flurry of movement, they popped up and sprinted across the street, aiming for a brick and iron sign that said, “Whitetail Estates.” Elli whimpered at the sudden movement and Liv reached back to offer her a spare binky.

Almost simultaneously, they dove into the bushes that flanked the sign. Liv looked around. Outside of the trees and tall shrubs, she felt exposed, especially with all of the highly volatile ferals roaming around.

“We can’t stay here. We have to keep moving,” she whispered frantically.

Corey slowly rose and peeked over the sign. “Fuck!” He dropped back down so quickly it almost seemed like he had fallen. “We fucked up. We really, really fucked up.” Slowly he rose again and peeked over the edge of the sign. “Who’s ready for the boss battle?” Though his words were meant to be humorous, fear showed plainly across his face.

Without asking, Liv rose to peer over the sign herself. She had known by the cacophonous roar what she would find on the other side of the sign. Nevertheless, her jaw fell slack as she tried to take in the scene.

Across the street was a large church. Square and tan with a tall projection of shiny black glass, part of which was presumably the front doors, on the west side. The large parking lot and small roadway that bordered the church on the east side teamed with writhing masses of bodies.

Hundreds of ferals swarmed around the church like angry bees. Nearest the church, they were packed in closely as they pounded against the building, their arms flailing around wildly above the crowd. Further away, they drifted and stalked about, though they never wandered far. They knew prey was nearby.

“Oh my god!” Jen cupped her trembling hands over her mouth, terror plastered across her face. “There are so many of them.”

Liv’s eyes quickly returned to the crowd, darting around as she tried to take in the sheer number of ferals. How many people were inside? What did they think as they looked out at the mass? What must the moans sound like from inside the surrounded building? Were they trying to escape? Had they accepted their fate?

“Let’s go. Now.” Liv’s voice was barely audible. “We can backtrack a bit and go around.”

“We have to help them.” Jen’s words were hard.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Corey responded flatly.

“There are people in there!” Her eyes were wild. “We have to do something.”

“What? What can we do?” He swept his arm towards the crowd. “We are outnumbered one hundred to one. Maybe if we had a tank or some grenades or…I don’t know! Jen, we have a hammer, a baseball bat, an ax, and a handful of knives. We aren’t soldiers and I’d be surprised if soldiers could make it through there without getting overrun. We wouldn’t last five seconds.”

Jen’s eyes moved from Corey to the church and back again.

“We can’t help them,” Liv said firmly. “We’ll only get ourselves killed trying.” She hated saying it. Liv thought of herself as a good person, but over the past few days she had stood by and watched people around her die. And now she was making a choice to do it again. It made her sick. But they didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t see any way for them to survive if they chose to help.

“Jen,” Liv whispered, pleading with the girl to understand, “I don’t want to die here. We can’t do any good. Even if we try to help, we’ll fail and we’ll die. Those people”—she gestured with her chin towards the church—“need more help than we could ever possibly give. We have to go.”

Jen’s eyes glistened but the tears didn’t fall. After a moment, she finally nodded.

“Alright.” Corey nodded and looked around, getting his bearings. “Follow me.”

Corey darted towards the closest house, back the way they had come. They had almost reached some large bushes near the front porch when a loud crack split the air.

“Oh no,” Liv breathed. They all stopped, their heads snapping around to look at the church. The ferals became more excited than ever. They crushed forward towards the doors.

This is it.
As the thought crossed Liv’s mind, the black mirrored glass that marked the entrance shattered, large chunks cascading down in a rain of sparkles onto the heads of the ferals as they surged forward. Now, even the ferals at the back of the crowd pressed forward as their spine-tingling cries rose to a crescendo.

Then, over the collective moaning of the ferals, she heard it: a chorus of screams, punctuated by small pops of gunfire. Liv’s heart broke for the people trapped inside.

Suddenly, Jen bolted, running straight for the church and the frantic throng of ferals.

“Fuck!” Corey swore and leapt after her. Jen didn’t make it more than a dozen steps before Corey caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her. Jen’s furious scream was abruptly cut off as he clamped a gloved hand over her mouth. As he lifted her off the ground to carry her back, she began to buck and kick wildly.

“Go!” Corey hissed. He scooped Jen up in his arms and she began to sob against his chest.

Liv took off west down Bates Road. Her mind worked furiously to pull up a mental map of the streets. She didn’t know the area, but they had discussed the route in detail. She had to keep them headed in the right direction. Their route had kept them out of the most populated areas. If they veered too far one way or the other, they would find themselves too close to a busy road.

Now, she was the lead runner. Her eyes darted back and forth as she searched for danger. Most of the ferals had immediately turned their focus to the church as the glass gave way. But their howls and groans were drawing more in from the surrounding neighborhoods. Even though the ferals had actively been looking for prey before, Liv, Corey, and Jen could have crept away with none of the ferals ever knowing they had been there. Now, as the number of ferals swelled by the second, and with Jen receding into herself, they had no choice but to run and fight and pray they were fast enough.

Liv veered off the road just before the next street. Behind the houses that were backed against the church, many of the backyards were open and a thin line of trees separated them from the horde.

A man stumbled into their path from between the houses, drawn to the calls of the other ferals. He snarled as he saw them. Liv hefted the mallet and swung as she ran by. The same jarring impact ran through her arms that she had experienced on the first night.

This time, she was prepared for it. Instead of knocking her off balance like before, she slowed down but continued running.

Elli whimpered at the jolt, but she didn’t cry. The small child gripped the collar of Liv’s jacket tightly in her tiny fists. Liv smiled. She was resilient. At the same time, though, this resilience brought a pang of sadness. Elli shouldn’t have to be so strong. She should be able to cry if she was afraid, to have her mother hold her and tell her that it would be alright.

“Liv! At your ten!” Corey’s shout ripped her from her thoughts and she chided herself for losing focus. Another feral had run around the corner ahead of her. It was a woman dressed in a torn and dirty t-shirt and bloodstained jogging shorts. The woman screamed viciously and sprinted at them.

Liv charged forward with everything she had. The gap closed with frightening speed. At the last second, when the woman was no more than a couple feet in front of her, Liv sidestepped.

The woman barreled straight past Liv, now headed for Jen and Corey. Corey skidded and stumbled, trying to suddenly change direction and struggling under the added weight of Jen in his arms.

Liv swung the mallet up in a high arc and brought it crashing down on the woman’s head. The feral’s forward momentum made her tumble forward and roll, like a throw doll.

Corey stared blankly for a moment at the motionless figure.

“Come on!” Liv motioned him forward. “We have to keep moving!” Finally, Corey started forward with a jerk.

A few houses ahead, a pack of seven or eight ferals ran from between the houses. Liv threw herself into the cover of a large gas grill. She desperately tried to control her loud gasping breaths as they wheezed in and out. Certainly the ferals would hear her and come to investigate.

After a moment, Liv slowly peered around the edge of the grill. The pack of ferals continued to push towards the trees and the church, towards the snarling calls of the others.

“Fuck,” Corey swore. Liv snapped around to look at him and Corey nodded his chin in the direction they had come from. Behind them, more ferals were emerging from between the houses in packs of twos and threes.

They were surrounded. If the feral glanced in their direction, they would be spotted.

Where are they all coming from?
Liv’s mind spun around the sheer number of ferals in the area. They hadn’t come across anything like this before.

“Fuck!” The grill wobbled noisily. Corey rocked back on his heels as he lost his balance, knocking the grill as he fell back against the house.

The pack ahead of them stopped and spun almost in unison. Out of the corner of her eye, Liv saw the ferals behind them turn towards the sound.

“Get up! Get up! Get up!” she hissed as she helped pull Corey to his feet. They scrambled around the corner of the house and out into the street. More ferals trickled in from the surrounding houses.

“Oh my god,” Liv puffed as she looked about desperately. “Where are they all coming from?”

“It’s been a couple days.” Corey’s eyes darted around as he searched for an opening. “People have had more of a chance to get themselves killed. People aren’t smart. They aren’t going to stay indoors. I mean, look at us.” He had a point. However, the extent of the spread of the infection was more than Liv could comprehend.

How much of the world’s population was infected?