Precipice: The Beginning (24 page)

49

“I
t’s not a question of safety anymore. I think we need to seriously consider a scouting party.” Annie had given the group her two cents, passing her ideas around the circle of adults, looking like an AA meeting. “We’ve been locked in here for eleven days now, and the fridge in the back is running on empty.”

“There are only a handful of snacks left in the vending machines,” Skip added, looking around the group for support.

“The rain has finally stopped and we haven’t seen but two or three of those things outside. If we all create some cover, it might be very possible for a small group of individuals to sneak out and hunt for food and supplies.”

“That’s a great fucking idea, really top notch.” Sam raised his voice, lowering it as the group shushed him. Sam looked back over his shoulder at the back of the store where the children were trying to sleep. “So your best idea is to have us throw open the front door and open fire like wild cowboys.”

“We’d only need to open fire to give cover to those that leave, in case something comes at them. So no, we’re not going to have a hoedown and open fire at random.” Annie hated this man. She kept her voice steady and her words slow, taking joy in making him look stupid.

“Regardless of how you do it, opening fire will do nothing more then tell them all where we are. They’ll hear the noise and come running. Sure a few people might get away, but what good are supplies if we’re all fucking dead!”

“I told you to keep your voice down, and watch that dirty mouth.” Annie pointed at him from across the circle, her hand shaking in rage. The other twelve adults, excluding Sam due to his blinding ignorance, knew she meant business.

“I’m getting real tired of you telling us what to do, lady.”

“I’m just telling us all what we need to hear. The facts are simple. We’re low on food, our water supply is tainted due to the massive flooding, and the fires are growing closer. I know that staying put seems like the safest thing, but I’m telling you with all sincerity that it’s not.”

Annie felt horrible, laying out the difficult choices before these good people like gruesome crime scene photos. She actually understood exactly what Sam was saying, even agreed with him, to a small extent. Her visual wasn’t quite an old west celebration of gunfire and dancing, but there was a very large possibility it would draw the creatures in on them. But they were running low on options. People were getting restless, tired of being handed half a piece of bread and a bag of chips. The children were crying for more than cold oatmeal and candy bars, as shocking as that may seem. The floods had filled the water pipes with brown sludge, dirt, and God only knew what else.

“I guess it’s time to decide who should go.” Arnold leaned forward, rubbing his hands together, a nervous habit of his. “I’d like to volunteer myself. I know I’m slower than many of you, but I’m willing to put my name in there just the same.”

“Let’s not volunteer ourselves as if we’re really going out there.”

“If you don’t like Mrs. Daniels plan, then how about coming up with one of your own.” Skip sat up straight, pulling from his diaphragm to raise his voice up to what he would consider an angry tone. “All you do is point fault and gripe, and that gets us nowhere.”

“Fine.” Sam leaned back and crossed his arms. “If you don’t want the sound voice of reason, then I’ll just keep my mouth shut.”

“Thank God!” Annie exclaimed.

“But you can bet your ass I’m not volunteering myself for your suicide run. I’d rather stay here where it’s nice and safe.”

As If cued by Sam’s pigheaded opinion, the glass storefront shattered. The group of adults fell off their chairs in shock, scrambling to their feet as humanoid creatures leapt through the opening. Annie stood, hopping to her feet, ready to bolt toward Logan but kept in place by the collection of monsters. Four of them stood within the store, all of them eight to nine feet tall with similar, reptilian features. But it was their mannerisms that kept her lingering, at least for the briefest second. They turned toward each other, one grunting and clicking in his throat while the others nodded. So they weren’t just savage beasts. Annie didn’t stick around long enough to find out their likes and dislikes. She bolted toward the back of the store, running three times the speed of Mr. Arnold with his bad hip and twice the speed of Skip. Annie skidded to a stop and turned to help, but it was too late. One of the beasts had fallen on Skip, tackling him with a running start while sinking its teeth into the back of his neck. It lifted its head and looked to her, pulling veins and flesh from the back of Arnold’s neck as they were lodged between its teeth.

“Annie!” Erica screamed.

Annie pulled free of the creature’s cold glare and raced to the back of the room, dropped to her knees to skid into her son. She scooped him up and joined Erica as they ran for the storage room. She felt overwhelmed and dizzy from the screaming voices of men and women, gunfire ringing out throughout the store. Annie’s ears began to ring, rising in volume until she couldn’t hear anything but a high-pitched whine. Erica was covering her daughter’s head and screaming something to Annie, but she couldn’t hear it. Annie turned toward the backroom and stopped, her heart leaping into her throat. A creature emerged from the back aisle with someone’s severed foot in its hand. Blood dripping from the shoe in a steady stream. It dropped the shoe and crouched, spreading its arms wide as it let out a massive roar. Even with her ears ringing she could hear the ferocity. Annie gripped her hip and panicked, suddenly aware she’d left Erica’s handgun back inside her tent. Only ten feet behind her, but with this bastard on her heels it may as well be in Texas.

“Stay back.” Annie stepped before them, her small group of dependents, and pushed them back.

If there was one thing she was good at, it was thinking on her feet. Annie inched toward the creature, aware of the fact that she was unarmed and the thing in front of her sported very large, sharp claws. It turned its head and eyed her, taking a step forward. Annie reached behind her to a gardening end cap, grabbing two troughs. With a flick of the wrist, she flung the gardening tools, catching the creature by surprise as they struck its torso and bounced off.

“Shit!” Annie screamed as she turned down the gardening aisle, the creature right on her heels.

She’d forgotten how thick these things’ skin was, back from when she’d stabbed one in her own living room. Annie ran hard, knowing it was only a few seconds before she was within this thing’s reach, but she’d thankfully chosen the right aisle. She gripped an axe off the rack and dropped to her knees, turning in mid slide while swinging with all her might into the creature’s left knee. Thick skinned or not, the axe cut straight through the beast’s leg. Annie hopped to her feet and swung the axe high overhead, bringing it down into the creature’s back. She pressed down on its dark skin and pulled the axe free, slamming it back down twice more.

“Fucker!” Annie spat on the creature’s back and turned toward the back of the store.

“Oh thank God.” Erica placed a hand to her heart. She was sobbing heavily, both her and Abby.

Annie took hold of Logan’s hand and pulled them toward the storage room, backing through the swinging door with her axe in a readied stance. The backroom was cold and dark, and there was a soft whimpering. Annie kicked the door open and let the light from the store seep in, casting a dim glow over a small child’s face as she sat on the floor.

“Come with us.” Annie tucked the axe beneath her arm and grabbed the little girl’s hand, pulling her to her feet. “Where are your mommy and daddy?” Annie had seen the little girl in the store, but she’d been camping out at the opposite end.

The little girl pointed back into the store and Annie understood. She was now their responsibility. Erica took hold of the little girl’s hand without being asked, knowing full well her role here was not as a protector but a tag-along. Annie let the axe drop from beneath her hand and gripped the wooden handle firmly. They had little time before the beasts behind them ran out of fresh meat and decided to explore. Annie ran to the far wall, searching for the release button for the corrugated delivery door. She found it, pressed it, and nothing happened.

“Goddamn power’s out.” Annie stomped her foot, feeling foolish for having glossed over such an obvious fact, but her mind was in panic mode. “Quick, help me get this up.”

Annie took the axe and began slamming it into the padlock. Seven hard strikes and the lock snapped. Her fingers stumbled over the lock, but she got it off. Erica joined her on the floor and they pushed up on the metal door, both of them grunting and straining. At first there was nothing but the sound of their own frustration. Then the door gave an inch, rising ever so slightly. They shoved their fingers beneath the opening out into the cool air and lifted upward. An inch turned into three, then five.

The building shook, followed by a deafening crash as the ceiling behind them caved in. Annie turned and dove toward the children, knocking all three onto their backs to shield them. Dirt and water fell down on them, but the roof above their heads stayed up. A monstrous roar rose above the screaming in the store.

“We have to move. Now!” Annie pushed off the ground and gripped the metal door, lifting with her legs until the five-inch opening became a two-foot gap. “That should be enough.” Annie stepped back with a heavy breath, her arms and legs burning.

Erica lay flat on her back and rolled beneath the door, taking a moment to scout her surroundings before turning back and reaching for the first child. Annie let Heather, the recently appointed orphan of the store, go first. Selfishly in the back of her mind, she figured if anything should happen, better let it happen to anyone other than her or her son. Next came Abby, then Logan, and finally Annie. She felt so exposed, standing beside the building with nothing behind her but bricks and the open world around them. They needed to get moving, but this had been their first real glimpse of the outside world in days. The buildings that she herself had shopped in were crumbled and burnt, collapsed and running into the streets. The high water that had reached the storefront only a few days ago had receded, but there was still two feet on the roads.

“Look, across the lot.” Erica pointed toward the back of Schuman’s Clothes.

The black semi was only thirty feet away, but Annie had to squint to see it. She got the children running, lifting Logan up into her arms as it was difficult for his little legs to tread through the water. Heather was seven and moving along fine, same with Abby. All of them picking up the pace as the cries and screams from the store grew closer, and they felt more and more vulnerable the further they moved out into the open. Annie stepped up onto the metal step beside the driver’s side door and said a little prayer, pulling on the door. She let out a laugh of joy as the door pulled open, yelping as the dead body of a heavyset man rolled out of the driver’s seat. The children screamed as the fat trucker splashed into the water, soaking them all. Annie helped the children into the truck and climbed in, wincing from the dampness of the trucker’s slowly drying blood on the seat. Annie had never seen a sight as beautiful as the golden glimmer of the keys as they dangled from the ignition. Now she could only hope her luck would hold out. They all held their breath, clenching tight as Annie turned the key.

“Thank God!” Annie turned to the children, shivering from the sensation. Just to have something working again, power where it should be, was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

Annie put the big truck in reverse, grimacing from the grinding of the gears as she struggled with the clutch. It took her a few noisy tries, but she finally got the semi backed up and turned toward the highway. Either from the noise of her inexperienced trucking or simply out of the victims, three creatures ripped the metal delivery gate clear off the wall and hopped out into the water.

“Hold on!” Annie pressed her foot down hard on the gas.

The creatures ran toward the truck with their claws reaching towards them, their teeth showing in anticipation. Annie gave a cruel snarl and gripped the wheel upon impact, yelling as the truck rolled over them. There was a shared cheer of celebration as they turned the corner of the store and headed down the road, but their good cheer was cut short. They looked up at the tallest creature they’d ever seen standing in the middle of the road, reaching into the open roof of the hardware store. It turned toward them, looking like a brontosaurus on two legs, with its hands full of people. These were the legs she’d seen pass the store a few nights back, like walking tree trunks. It opened its mouth and emitted a high pitch shriek. Then it raised its hands high above its head, people still squirming and struggling beneath its massive fingers, and lowered its fists down upon the truck.

“Oh shit.” Annie muttered, pressing hard on the gas while turning the wheel toward the left sidewalk.

The beast’s fists missed the truck by only a few feet, hitting the paved road with enough force to leave two massive craters. The shock from such a blow shook the truck and made it nearly impossible to steer. Annie lost control of the wheel and drove over the sidewalk and through the front of a pharmacy. Annie took hold of the wheel in a death grip, leaning back into the seat while yelling. Visibility had been taken down to zero as they drove straight down the middle of the store, knocking over the displays and shelving. Candy and medicine flew down on them, covering the windshield in a wide array of colors. The interior of the semi bounced and shook as they rammed through the store. Twelve seconds later they burst through the back wall, weightless for a second until they connected with the pavement. Had the semi been pulling a trailer, this would have surely tipped them. Annie steadied the wheel and turned them back toward the highway.

“Is everyone okay?” Annie gasped between breaths, her shoulder high beside her head.

She looked down at the side mirror, but it was gone. She rolled down the window and leaned out, looking back at the smoking remains of Richmond, VA. The giant beast had decided to let them go, turning its back to them as it reached into another building.