Fallen Grace (16 page)

“What’s wrong?” I mouthed silently.

“We have to hurry!” The girl looked absolutely terrified. “They sent me back inside and went to hide in another house.”

I searched my own mind but still sensed absolutely no danger lurking outside.

“What’s coming?”

Without waiting for an answer I rushed forward and grabbed Abbey’s hand. I pulled her forward toward a staircase on the far side of the room. We had two choices; up or down. Making a split second decision, I rushed her up toward the next floor. I didn’t want to get trapped in a basement and I knew being higher would give us a chance to best see our surroundings. We had no weapons with which to fight and our best chance would be to hide.

“It’s more of those dead kids that sing.”

“Are you sure?”

We were just past the top of the steps now, facing a short hallway. Abbey nodded in answer and I squeezed her hand reassuringly. I looked up at the end of the hallway and saw what I had hoped to find; a panel that surely led to an attic space.

“Ok, see that panel above us?”

“Yeah.”

My mind was still clear, but very faintly I could now hear the voices of young children singing nursery rhymes. I closed my eyes for a brief moment. Abbey and I were the two shortest of our group and there was no way for us to reach the panel.

“Ok.” I got down on one knee. “You’re going to have to get on my shoulders.”

She didn’t hesitate, and quickly straddled my neck. I held on to her shins with my hands to keep her steady.

“Use both hands and push up on the panel. It should pop out and you just want to move it off to one side.”

I heard the girl grunt gently, immediately followed by the sound of the panel being moved aside.

“Ok, it’s off.”

“Pull yourself up. You can step on my shoulders if it helps.”

She strained less than I expected and was into the attic space quickly. I looked up and saw her face looking down at me. She wore a look of urgency.

“How will you get up?” she asked me.

I offered her a fake smile. “Abbey, I can’t climb up without standing on something. If they get in, they’d know we’re up there. You have to close the panel and stay quiet.”

“No,” she whispered, looking heart broken. “We can hide somewhere else.” Her voice was near pleading.

“Abbey, honey. You have to shut it. I can feel them now, in my head. There’s just no time. Can you trust me?”

She had tears welling in her eyes, but she nodded.

“Stay absolutely silent. You have to cough? Don’t. You need to scream? Don’t. When I’m sure it’s safe again, I’ll come back here…right to this spot.”

“Ok.”

“Put the panel back?”

She nodded one last time and slid the panel back in place. I took a deep breath and looked around. There were only two rooms on this upper level. If the dead found me, they’d be close to Abbey. If she heard a struggle, I feared she’d make noise. I did the only thing that made sense. I ran.

As I ran down the staircase, the chanting from the dead children grew louder. The tune was familiar but the language was foreign. I could feel them now, not only in my head but under my skin. It wasn't the unending hunger of the dead that drove them, but rather some rudimentary need to torture the living in ways that I couldn’t even begin to comprehend. Images of the way they had killed others filled my mind. Some were able to pass as human; as living humans. Like Runners, they would bait, torture, and kill.

I took the last set of steps into the bowels of the house two at a time. I had no idea what awaited me below, but knew the farther I was from Abbey the better. It was dark in the basement. Sleeping bags and mattresses were scattered about, along with old food cans and wrappers. I had to step carefully, afraid that I might kick something or trip, alarming the dead as to my whereabouts. It was obvious that people had been living here, in hiding, for some time. There was, however, no sign that they remained.

“Mommy! Mommy!” came the cries of a little girl. “Mommy I can’t find you!”

I stopped in my tracks. I knew it wasn't human. Still, the cries from the child were heart-wrenching.

“Mommy! Where are you?” her calls were followed by sobs.

I looked around the large room in which I stood. There was no obvious place to hide.

“Mommy, I can smell you!” came the voice again, this time with a hint of teasing instead of sorrow. She chuckled.

“Come out, come out wherever you are!” called a little boy in the distance. “Olly
Olly Oxen Free!”

My mind shifted to so many months ago, when Gus, Boggs, and I had left the bed and breakfast. The little girl whose face had been chewed away; the one that Gus had shot, showing her mercy. Was she one of these…things? Or had she really been human, and one of the victims of the Roamers? I knew I would never know for sure.

I could hear tiny hands testing window panes. The occasional quiet chuckle and overall sounds of taunting were mixed with intermittent crying. I crouched and placed my hands over my ears. The feelings and thoughts from these creatures became too much to bear. Somehow, they were playing upon an instinct I had now that I had been a mother. I forced their intrusions from my head as best I could and tried to reach out somehow and search for Gus on a level that only he and I shared. I heard no answer. I could feel one of the horrible children in particular deep within my brain doing something that caused severe pain. I focused on breathing and pressed on my ears as hard as I could; it offered little to no relief. Somehow they were searching for me. Of that I was very aware. They knew that I was somehow like them.

Soon I heard glass break. While I didn’t want to move I knew it was imperative that I do so. I stood, and removed my hands from over my ears. My surroundings were eerily silent. The singing and chanting and crying and chuckling had stopped and I began to count slowly and silently. One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Before I reached six, I heard the distinct sound of a footfall upon broken glass. The sound had come from my left. I turned to face whatever the danger may be. Looking back at me was a very small child; no older than a toddler. It was another little girl. She was clean and kempt with round cheeks and blonde hair that had been
combed and pulled up into two little side ponytails. She wore a little yellow sweater that buttoned up the front with a light pink frilly tutu and loose-fitting white tights. Her feet were in patent leather Mary Jane’s; one had come unbuckled.

I found myself staring at her and she stared back. For only the briefest of moments did I consider that she might be one of us; one of the living. The right corner of her mouth curled up into a lopsided smile. She was so very pale, making her huge blue eyes stand out eerily.

“MA-MA,” she uttered loudly. “I found Ma-ma!” She giggled and began clapping her hands together gleefully. “Ma-ma! Ma-ma! Ma-ma!”

Her lopsided little smile soon grew into a full grin that was pure evil. I stumbled backward, tripping over something hard. I fell onto my back, jarring my left elbow. The small girl leapt at me, landing near my chest and face. I extended my arms to protect myself and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her head back hard. The ponytail that my fingers had woven themselves into tore away from her skull, scalp and all. The creature was angered and began growling at me. I knew it wouldn’t be long before more of them arrived, so I used all of my strength to roll over and pin her to the ground. She looked up and smiled at me one more time and opened her little mouth.

“Ma-ma! Don’t hurt me! Please, mama…”

I grabbed onto the front of her little sweater and lifted her head and chest off the floor. She snarled as I used great force to bash her head back onto the floor.

“Ma-ma!” She said pleadingly as I repeated the assault over and over until I heard her skull crack. Her brain had long ago liquefied and spilled onto the floor near my knees in a dark pool of sludge. The resulting odor was that of cotton candy mixed with fecal matter. I tried not to gag as I forced myself back to my feet. I knew the others were coming, and coming fast. I grabbed one of the abandoned sleeping bags and haphazardly covered the dead zombie child in an attempt to conceal it.

I quickly and quietly snuck back upstairs to the main level of the house. I made a last-minute decision and ran to the kitchen. There were no signs of leftover weapons: no knives, no heavy objects, nothing appearing useful. I could still hear tiny little hands searching the sides of the home and the windows. They seemed to be focused on the front of the house. The only option I could think of was to crawl back through the pet door and hopefully lead them away from Abbey. As I escaped the home, I didn’t try to hide my noise or to keep myself concealed. I knew it was unlikely that she and I would survive this, but it was me they were after. I could at least help her live by sacrificing myself.

I ran across the overgrown backyard. My goal was to get over the tall cedar fence. There was a small rickety lean-to in a back corner that housed rotting firewood. I climbed the structure clumsily, allowing me to reach the top of the fence. I pulled myself up and scrambled over the top edge. I landed on my feet on the other side, jarring my legs. Pain shot up past my knees and into my hips. I ignored the discomfort and began sprinting across the field from which we had first come. I could vaguely sense that Gus knew what I was doing. It was a fleeting sensation of being connected with him. I continued to pick up speed, and didn’t look back. I hadn’t a plan nor had I expectations. I only hoped that if the children caught up to me I would still be within shooting distance of the rest of my group, and that they would show me mercy. The pond in which I had so badly wanted to bathe was quickly before me. Having nowhere else to go, I did not slow my advance as I approached the water’s edge. As I ran into the frigid water, my breath was momentarily taken away. Moving through the water was difficult and the effort slowed my momentum. I heard various tiny voices behind me calling out “Marco! Polo!”

Now almost waist deep, I plunged into the murky water and began swimming. Gunfire rang out behind me and instinctively I dove below the water, kicking hard in hopes of going deeper. I could feel the cold fronds of water plants on my hands and arms as if they were trying to grab onto me. I opened my eyes, hoping to be able to see something, but I was only met with darkness. I blindly felt by hand around the bottom of the pond in hopes of finding something that I could grab onto to anchor me below water. My lungs began aching in need of oxygen. Not finding anything to grab onto and knowing that I needed to breathe, I kicked downward one last time, praying to delay surfacing even if only for another second or two. Finally, the instincts of my body took over and I rose to the surface. As soon as I felt air on my face I inhaled sharply and deeply. I heard another gunshot mixed with the sound of someone screaming my name.

“Zoe!”

I thought it might be Boggs but it was now too dark to see. Soon, I heard my name yelled again and recognized Susan’s voice. I remained at the surface since I no longer heard the dead children either with my ears or my mind. I had no idea how far I had swam or from which direction.

“Zo! Where are you?” The voice was closer this time and now I could tell it was definitely Boggs.

“I’m here,” I sputtered. “I’m here…”

I began swimming toward where I thought the voices have come from. Before long my feet hit bottom and I knew that the shore was near. I stood and shakily scrambled from the pond. The cold had taken its toll and I sank into the weeds and the long grasses that bordered the small body of water. When I heard Boggs call for me again I repeated myself by simply saying “I’m here.” Suddenly Boggs was beside me and wrapped his arms around me.

“Sue, I’ve got her,” he called out. “Jesus, are you ok? Did they hurt you?”

Even though it was dark and I could barely see his outline, I could see that his eyes were full of worry. He put both hands on the sides of my face and waited for me to answer.

“C-cold. B-but not hurt.” I was shaking so hard that it was difficult to speak.

Without any more questions, Boggs lifted me in his arms and began carrying me back toward the row of houses.

“Gus told us what you were doing. He was about to come over to help you but there were too many of those god damn fucking evil rat bastard kids around the house. Once you ran toward the pond we were able to sniper their evil asses.”

“Abbey,” I whispered.

“She’s ok. Gus broke into the house to go get her. She should be safe and sound now. Fuck, Zo. You scared the shit out of us.”

“Emmett. Is Emmett all right?”

“He’s fine. Just hungry.”

Boggs carried me the rest of the way and neither of us spoke. Within a minute or two we arrived at one of the homes.

“Ok, kid. We’re here.”

“Is she ok?” I heard Susan ask.

I wondered where Gus was.

“She’ll be ok. She needs to warm up, though. Can you grab the door? I’ll carry her in.”

I heard the squeak of a door opening and after a few more steps I could tell we were inside. Boggs told me that we were in a small home with a basement. I told him that I could walk and he hesitantly set me down. Susan told me to strip out of my wet clothes and that they’d get me
tucked into bed. I knew she was right so kicked my soggy shoes off and left the rest of my clothes in a wet pile on the floor. Boggs wrapped some sort of lightweight cloth around my shoulders and I gladly tightened it around myself. I followed Susan and Boggs in the dark to another door. Susan turned on a small flashlight and aimed it down a flight of rickety looking wood stairs.

“Be careful, they’re a bit sketchy,” warned Boggs.

There was only one hand rail, onto which I held as I descended into the small basement.

“Zoe!” cried out Abbey. “I was so scared! You said you’d come back for me, but Gus did instead.”

She was sitting against a concrete wall, wrapped in Gus’ arms. Danny was holding baby Emmett, who had begun to fuss. Nathan was sitting in a green recliner, with his bad leg propped on a pillow.

“I’m sorry honey. I had to run.”

“Why?” she asked me.

“They wanted me. I had to draw them away from you.”

I had expected Gus to stand and come to me, but he remained by Abbey’s side. Susan walked to Danny and took Emmett from his arms.

“He’s hungry. Let’s get you both warmed up,” she said while looking at me. “There’s a bedroom just over here.”

With Emmett in her arms, she began walking. I followed her. I was too cold and exhausted to ask Gus if something was wrong. I still wasn't sensing much from him.

Susan used her flashlight to show me to the small bedroom. There was a queen sized bed with a pale blue comforter. The headboard was white-coated metal with brass knobs on each side.

“Climb in, Zoe. I’ll hand the baby to you and cover you both up.”

I kept the cloth that was draped around me close, and climbed onto the bed while Susan held the covers back. It was softer than I had expected. I was beginning to feel aches and pains from head to toe. I scooted over toward the center of the bed to make room for the baby. She laid him down beside me and I scooted him closer with one arm. Before long he was nestled beside me, hungrily nursing. Susan covered us both and I stroked the baby’s soft back. He made tiny grunting noises while he suckled. My mind wandered to the moments when I had held my own daughter. I hoped to be able to tell Emmett about Molly…one day.

The room darkened when Susan left us, closing the door behind her. My hair was still wet, so I used my free hand to scoop it up and place it up behind my head and away from my back. Tired, I closed my eyes and began to drift off. After a few minutes, I heard a light knocking on the door.

“Come in,” I called out softly, not wanting to disturb the baby. I assumed it was Gus.

The door creaked open and the room filled with the glow of a candle.

“Hey,” said Boggs.

“Hey,” I said back.

“Mind a little company?”

“Sure. Come on in.”

“Danny and Abbey found some boxes in a corner. We have candles and some canned food.”

“Is she ok?”

“Abs? S
he’s fine. She was just worried about you is all.”