Tales of Chills and Thrills: The Mystery Thriller Horror Box Set (7 Mystery Thriller Horror Novels) (52 page)

Samuel looked down and watched as hands
reached into the air like the filaments of a jellyfish, slim, random movements
in an ocean of certain decay. The horde either could not or did not want to
climb. Samuel considered the roof his temporary haven and sat down to think. He
unfurled the rope and took one end in his hands. He wrapped it around his waist
and tied the best knot he could before standing and assessing the trees. A tall
oak stood about twenty feet from the edge of the roof, far out of his reach.
However, one of its major branches sagged low, angling five feet from the
cabin. He spun in a circle to verify this was the only tree close enough to
attempt what he knew had to be done.

Samuel tied the loose end of the rope
into a bulge of knots. If he could toss it over the branch and have it swing
back like a pendulum, he might be able to grab it and pull himself on to the
low-hanging branch like an adventure-seeker gripping a zip-line. He moved as
close to the edge as possible, prompting the horde to flow to that side of the
cabin. Most kept their heads down like obedient cattle, but several began
raising their bony arms, reaching for him.

He cocked his arm back and let the rope
fly. It smacked off the bottom of the trunk, nowhere near the branch, and swung
low over the heads of the creatures on the ground. They could not react fast
enough to grab it, but their shuffling became more rapid, as though they
sensed what he was trying to do. He reared back again. This time, the knotted
end cleared the branch, but he missed it when it came swinging back underneath.
Samuel yanked at the rope and pulled it back for a third try. Again, he lobbed
the rope clear of the branch, and caught it. Samuel pulled the rope taut, tied
both ends together, and leapt from the roof with both hands on the rope.

At first, he swung back and forth, his
feet kicking in air in a vain attempt to slow his momentum. He closed his eyes
and imagined the old, frayed hemp snapping and dropping him ten feet to the
ground amidst the undead. Samuel shook his head and cleared his vision. He
waited as gravity slowed his swing until the rope rested perpendicular to the
ground, suspending him above the horde.

Gravity and physics, my safety net,
he thought, thankful the reversion hadn’t violated
universal laws.

Samuel used his hands to pull himself up
the rope five feet until he was within reach of the branch. It stuck out from
the tree trunk like a bony, crooked finger and Samuel was not sure it would
hold his weight. He felt the burn in his biceps and chest. Samuel never thought
the pull-up bar in his basement was good for much more than a bump on the head
when walking underneath it. Now he was thankful for those early morning
workouts that concluded with fifty reps. He clawed the bark until he had enough
room to swing his left leg over the branch. Within seconds, he straddled it,
looking down at the horde.

Like a logger, Samuel quickly removed the
slack from the rope and shuffled forward fifteen feet until he reached the main
trunk of the old tree. He pulled himself up and stood with his feet together,
plenty of room to turn and push his back against the trunk. He took a deep
breath and let a smile creep across his face. It wasn’t much, but he had made
it out of the cabin to a place the horde couldn’t reach.

***

“Because.”

“Because? That’s the best you can come up
with?”

“No. It’s the least I can come up with. I
don’t owe you or the old man any explanation,” Kole said.

Mara tucked her hands underneath her arms
to accentuate the way they crossed her chest.

“You’re a real asshole,” she said.

“That’s the best you can come up with?”
he asked, mocking her.

Major stared out the window while Mara
and Kole faced off. He shook his head and mumbled to himself when he no longer
heard Samuel’s feet above.

“He’s off the roof, and the creatures are
moving toward that tree.”

Mara and Kole stooped to have a better
view, jostling like brother and sister.

“Do you think he’s going to make it?”
Mara asked.

“Make it where?” Kole asked. “Before you
get your panties all wet, consider where we are. I don’t see him—or us for that
matter—outrunning that fucking cloud, do you?”

“It might be possible to survive it.”

Kole looked at Major after he spoke and
shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

Major sat back and looked into Kole’s
eyes. He could see the darkness eating the man from the inside out.

“Like surviving a tornado or a flood.
Even though the disaster lays waste to the land, people survive it. Somehow,
people always survive it.”

Kole reared back, his fists balled and
blood rushing to his face. “I’m done with you. I’m done with your cryptic
bullshit. If there is more about this place, us, those fucking creatures,
anything—if there is more, I want to hear it now, or I’ll split your fucking
head open with my bare fists.”

Mara stepped in front of Kole, her face
inches from Major’s. “Tell us.”

“There are ways to slip out of a reversion.
I’ve done it before,” Major said.

***

Samuel scanned the horizon, above the
cabin and as far as he could see in the empty gloom brought by the cloud. He
looked toward what he thought was the east, hoping to find a glimmer of ambient
light struggling to break through the darkness, but he saw nothing. The shapes
of nearby trees stood out in relief against the cloud, the leafless branches
scratching at the sky with bony fingers. He could see over the Barren and
cabins. He thought of Mara. He saw her at the table, sipping a mug of coffee
and enjoying the outlook of optimistic youth. He felt a twinge in his chest and
pushed his emotions aside.

The horde had reconfigured. Half of the
closest creatures swayed beneath his tree, no longer looking up or reaching
into the sky for him. The other half inside the Barren circled the cabin,
standing silent guard and waiting to pounce on Major, Kole or Mara if they came
out.

He thought about those three.

I really don’t know who they are. I
can speak with them in dreams. Maybe I’m not concerned about getting them out.
Maybe I’ll swing through these trees like Tarzan and make them a distant
memory.

As much as he tried, he could not
convince himself to abandon them in the cabin.

They are my responsibility now. I’ve
got to go back.

Samuel shook the thoughts from his head
and focused on the immediate task. He shimmied around the trunk until he was
able to climb onto another branch on the opposite side of the tree. This one
grew out toward another twenty yards away. He looked down at the huddle of
creatures and then inched out, locking his feet behind him, toes down on
the surface of the branch while he used his knees to squeeze it between his
thighs. Samuel put his chest on the rough bark, shuffling forward. He had made
it halfway across when he looked down.

The branch angled upward toward the sky
at a sharp angle. The creatures had reassembled, following his motion. They
shambled along, twenty feet below. Samuel closed his eyes and kept moving until
the branch brought him to the main trunk of the next tree. He sat up and hugged
the trunk and swung his legs around until he was standing upright in a new
tree. Samuel slapped the trunk and let out a victory holler, the only sound in
the barren landscape. He stood and surveyed the situation again. Although the
darkness and the cloud fought over the locality like two mutts over a hunk of
meat, he had gained a different perspective. The Barren stretched out a bit
behind him, facing west. Samuel thought he could see a faint, blurry area
between the edge of the advancing cloud and the black sky. The strip glimmered
as if hanging above a bonfire. He watched the shapes break and meld, and
wondered what would happen if the cloud swallowed the entire sky, as he thought
it would. Beyond the Barren, and as far east as he could see, Samuel spotted
another rise, probably a mountain. The peak extended into the blackness as if
surrounded by clouds. He strained to see a fine line meandering down the tree
line and into the valley at the base of the mountain. Whatever it was, Samuel
believed it was proof something other than the horde created a path beyond the
Barren. He committed as much of the landscape to memory as he could before
sitting on the branch and resting. He looked down at the swaying heads of grey
flesh and bone beneath him.

They attract each other like powerful
magnets,
he thought.
Too many to
fight. There has to be another way.

Before his mind had time to contemplate
the thought, a swift motion caught his eye. The cabin door was flung open.

***

“You think if he gets out in front of
those monsters that he’s going to repel the cloud, stop the reversion, and come
back to save you? How fucking romantic,” Kole said.

“We should leave the cabin now while
they’re distracted by Samuel,” Major said. “We’re not in a position to wait
things out. Time is not in our favor.”

“What is, chief? Every time we face a rotten
situation, you lay some bullshit on us, something you’ve been holding back.
Well, I’ve had enough.” Kole stepped behind Mara and put his back to the door.
“Nobody is leaving this cabin unless I open the door.”

Mara stepped forward and slammed her
balled fists into Kole’s chest. He stood motionless. Mara winced as her hands
lost the battle.

“What’s it going to take, son?”

“I’m not your son, first of all. And for
me to open this door is going to require some answers. Like right now.”

“To what questions?” Major asked.

“Don’t be fucking cute with me. You know
what I’m talking about. I want to know how you’ve slipped reversions.”

Major sighed and brushed his hand at Mara
as if signaling that her attempts were futile. “Fine.”

Kole nodded at Major and crossed his arms
on his chest. He did not step away from the door.

“This isn’t my first rodeo.”

Mara felt a perplexed look creep onto her
face. Kole shook his head at her, signaling not to interrupt the old man.

“And you ain’t the first folks I found
here. This is the third or fourth locality I’ve entered with a slip. Based on
what’s outside, I’d say it’s the most depressing of the lot.”

“You’ve slipped.” Kole said.

He waited, expecting Major to explain why
they hadn’t done so yet.

Major nodded.

“So how do we slip outta this shithole?”
Kole asked.

Major raised one palm and shook his head
with a smirk. “Not so easy. If you want answers, you gotta shut up and quit
asking me questions.”

Mara smiled and Kole closed his mouth.

“The last one had only wolves, not the
horde. It felt more like winter than whatever the hell we’re in here, and it
was forest as far as you could see. No mountains, hills, valleys. Just trees. I
came across two people in that one. Two men, older. They had the growing paunch
and shrinking hairline of middle age, although they didn’t seem to know each
other. I found them arguing on a path that led to the Barren.”

“This place?” Mara asked.

“No,” Major said. “It was a series of
caves, but I think it served the same purpose. The men called it the Barren,
and so that’s what I called these cabins when I found them.”

Mara shook her head.

“Don’t know if it’s the slips or the fact
that I’m always landing in a locality that happens to be fighting a
reversion—and I don’t remember how I got there or where I came from. But I do
know I didn’t slip from my birth locality, what you guys might think of as your
‘real world’ existence.

“Anyways, the wolves eventually became
like the undead and they served the same function. Whatever runs the
different localities must reformulate in different ways, because the wolves did
the same thing. They pinned us down inside the cave. If someone went out, they
pushed ’em back in. I know what you’re thinking, muscle man. I can see it in
your eyes.”

Kole smirked.

“I searched every square inch of the
inside of that cave, and it was solid rock, no way out.”

Kole stopped smiling.

“So we’re in the same boat. One of the
guys decided he would make a run for it, not sure if the wolves would get him
or not.”

“The wolves are here too, aren’t they?”
Mara asked.

“They are, sweetheart, and I’m not sure
why or where they’ve gone. Maybe they can smell the rotting corpses out there,”
Major said with a light chuckle. “Good thing we can’t.”

“You said you got out,” Kole said, trying
to force the pace of the old man’s story.

“Eventually. We tried a few times to get
past the wolves. Hundreds of them blocked us in with fangs bared. Once we
realized the cloud would get us before the wolves would let us out, things got
desperate.”

“How desperate?” Mara asked.

“Bad enough that the two men came to
fisticuffs, almost the way our two meatheads did.”

Mara looked at Kole, and he avoided her
stare.

“The man that tried to get past the
wolves had it all along. He just didn’t know how to use it.”

“Had what?” Kole asked.

“The talisman. It’s a physical item that
somehow punches a hole in the locale and sets you up to slip and to take others
with you. I can’t remember what mine were, but I must have had them to get
here. It’s the only way of escaping the reversion. The kicker is I keep
slipping into another locality that’s in the same shitty condition. The cloud
keeps following me.”

Mara paused and looked at Kole. Major
remained quiet, letting them process the information.

“You think one of us has a talisman that’ll
slip us all out of here?” Kole asked.

“Nope. He knows that neither of us has
it,” Mara said.

Kole looked at Major and then back to
Mara.