The New Night Novels (Book 1): Rippers: A New Night Novel (6 page)

     “Really?” Leland stopped squeezing the back of the chair he stood behind and brought his wide eyes up to meet Jameson’s. “I mean, I’ll try not to slow you down. I can run.”

     “Can you fight?” Jameson thought the question was more important than the kid’s ability to keep up. If the vampire ran at full speed, Leland wouldn’t even be able to see him, let alone keep pace with him.

     “I haven’t much,” Leland admitted, “but I can learn. I’m tough, and I’m strong.” His dad had taught him there was a distinct difference between the two. He sought to be both.

     “We can only travel at night,” Jameson said with no explanation. He didn’t even know what answer he would give if Leland asked why, but thankfully, he didn’t. “We move quiet and smart. No cars, no guns.”

     “No guns?!” Leland protested. Jameson relented with a sigh.

     “Fine, if we find a gun we can take it with us. But you need to listen to what I say. You need to trust me.”

     “We have to trust each other.” Leland’s firm voice reflected in a sheen of steel in his onyx eyes. The kid had spirit, Jameson thought. There were far worse companions out there.

     “You’re right,” Jameson agreed as he reached out his hand for a shake. Leland shook his and the vampire nodded. “We have to trust each other. Now, we have to leave. Grab what you can. We need to try to find some other people.”

Chapter Eight – Crash – Phoebe

     Rain began to lash the windshield of the van Phoebe drove through the quickening darkness. She mentally raged against it, but kept outwardly silent. It wouldn’t do the kids any good to hear her cursing and shouting at the rain. They’d already seen her run out of a house chased by the rabid, blood-drenched parents of one of the car’s occupants.

     If Phoebe thought taking Carmen home was the best option to help her, she now found she had been sadly mistaken. Carmen had withdrawn even further into herself. She didn’t acknowledge any physical contact or words from the others in the car. She seemed robotic; doll-like with her unfocused eyes and shallow breathing. Phoebe didn’t know what to do for the girl, and that terrified her as much as anything else had as she drove into the fast-approaching night.

     They’d seen more evidence of chaos the farther they’d moved into the city. Some buildings burned. Others had jagged teeth of glass in the frame where solid windows used to be. Bodies were on the street. Few at first, but more as they drove down the roads empty of vehicles.

     The first body Phoebe had seen had been a teenage boy a little older than her. He’d been wearing a green hoodie with what looked to be their school logo on it. Her insides churned when she recognized his remarkably untouched face among the wreckage of his neck and upper body. Dark skin had been torn to bloody ribbons around his throat and blood pooled in the hood of his sweater. He wouldn’t be playing football for the school anymore.

     A woman lying motionless by an overturned stroller clutched a previously pink blanket to her equally red-drenched chest. Phoebe turned away from the scene of the slaughtered mother holding the last bloody remnants of her child. She just couldn’t look at that.

     Walkers who approached the vehicle were avoided and driven away from at high speeds. Most of them had blood on them. Many of them were injured in ways that should have driven them to the hospital but instead drove them to roam the roads, seeking victims to likewise wound.

     “Phoebe,” Eli whispered from the backseat. “Where going?”

     Phoebe’s hands jerked on the steering wheel. The involuntary response sent them lurching for a curb before Phoebe could right the wheel. After a few deep breaths, she responded to Eli in what she hoped was a calm voice.

     “A farm, buddy. My uncle has a farm. There are horses there, and chickens. He grows his own food and has firewood stacked ten times taller than you. We’re going to stay there for a while and wait for your parents.”

     She didn’t mention that she had no way to tell his parents where they would be. Mostly, she hoped whatever had happened to the city would be seen to by military forces or scientists or some version of the good guys. Then, she could send the kids with someone who would get them home. Maybe Carmen had other family she could go with. She certainly couldn’t go back to her mom and dad.

     Or, Phoebe thought, maybe her mom and dad were just sick and whoever came to help could make them better. Then, Carmen could go back to them and Phoebe could stop feeling sick over the fact that she’d run away from them with their daughter.

     After a long while, Eli agreed in a thoughtful tone, “Okay, Phoebe.”

     The rain poured down harder, accompanied by the occasional flash of lightning and a wail of wind. Phoebe was surprised at the amount of pull the stormy breeze had on the large vehicle. Though she was able to right the van the first few times it swerved, she was no match for the next gale. The van hitched hard to the right and planted itself in a ditch.

     Phoebe shook as she turned to check on the kids. Though the girls had been dozing, they wakened when the van shuddered to its violent stop.

     “Are you guys okay?” she asked. She couldn’t find a way to get her voice up above a whisper. She felt any other words were captives in her throat.

     Hannah nodded uncertainly. Eli said, “Yeah.” Carmen stared, her blank eyes taking in all the interesting views the back side of the passenger seat had to offer.

     “Okay, we can’t get the van out the ditch without help. We need to get out and move.”

     She didn’t explain why, but the kids didn’t question her. Phoebe had seen some of the glassy-eyed, violence-prone walkers not far back. Chances were high they’d heard the crash and would be coming to investigate. Phoebe wanted to get the kids moving well before that happened.

     Down the road, two people had already begun to approach the vehicle. Phoebe trembled as she observed them moving toward her and the kids. She had to get them away.

     “Hey, wait!” the man called out. He pulled his female companion along as he held up a hand toward Phoebe and the children. “We’ll help you get the van out. Just stay there a second.”

     Phoebe waited. They were the first normal people she’d seen since they left the daycare. Her spirits lifted at once. Having more adults around to help her with the kids would be a huge weight off of her.

     The man met Phoebe first with the woman close behind. He shook her hand rapidly. His brown eyes darted around, seeking out threats from the darkened homes and businesses nearby. As the sun set, it became harder to see approaching dangers, but there was a group of people who all looked abnormal. They stumbled and growled as they approached the van. It seemed their steps became quicker and surer the more the daylight dissipated around them.

     “Jeff Bardwell, and this is Lita.” The introductions were offered in a quick, out-of-habit fashion. Jeff didn’t even look at Phoebe as he spoke, but kept scanning their surroundings for danger. “If you and I push, Lita can steer this heap out of the ditch. What do you say?”

     Phoebe felt the offer was even better than she could have hoped for. Not only were there adults around, they were willing to help her with the mess she’d gotten herself and the kids in. Relief weakened her entire body. She couldn’t find the strength to speak, so she nodded.

     Lita sprinted around the side of the van and hopped into the driver seat. She gave Phoebe and Jeff a thumb up as she shifted the van into neutral and gripped the steering wheel.

     Phoebe wasn’t strong, but she offered enough help to Jeff as they both grunted and pushed. The van had angled itself nose-down into the ditch, with more than half of the vehicle well off the road.

     The walkers approached faster, as though they sensed their food had figured out a way to get themselves out of the danger they presented.

     “Little bit more,” Jeff encouraged. Phoebe puffed out a breath and dug her feet into the grassy side of the ditch. The rain had made the ground beneath squishy, slippery mud. Her feet slid, but the van inched backward.

     Lita turned the key and started the vehicle. She switched the gear to reverse and pressed the accelerator down. The van shot out of the ditch and onto the road.

     The walkers were ten feet away.

     “Come on, get in!” Lita screamed through the window after she’d rolled it down.

     Jeff darted forward. Before he got out of the ditch, he pushed Phoebe as hard as he could. He didn’t even mutter an apology as he raced for the vehicle.

     Lita reached over in order to fling the door open for Jeff. He leapt into the passenger seat and jerked the door closed as the first of the group of insane people surrounded the van.

     The sun abandoned them, and the world went truly mad.

Chapter Nine – The First New Night – Phoebe

     Flashes of lightning illuminated the chaos as Phoebe drew the children away from the van she’d already labeled a loss. Her hip hurt from where she’d landed on the ground. She trembled with rage. Jeff thought to steal the vehicle from them. He’d probably planned it as soon as he saw her crash into the ditch. What kind of asshole would do that to a group of kids? How could they not want to work together whenever possible in this crazy new world?

     Phoebe didn’t want to fight them. She couldn’t take out a kid her own age. Chances were the adults who’d stolen her mother’s van would do much worse than push her down if she tried to strike out against them. She watched mutely as they prepared to drive away.

     Phoebe saw their plans were about to be interrupted by the group of transformed people. The turned group had become a nightmare assembly. Though the walkers had only moments before seemed like a mindless and uncoordinated mass as they approached, they were now fast-moving and focused. They sprang at the van, immobilizing the vehicle and its occupants as they swarmed around it.

     Though Lita pressed down hard on the accelerator, she only got a couple of feet through the mass of bodies before they stopped the van. One of the crazy people drove his fist through the hood of the car with a roar of rage and brought it out with engine parts clenched in his hand. The van stuttered to a stop.

     Lita shrieked from within as she slammed her foot on the gas pedal multiple times. Her panicked face imploded under the impact of flesh and glass when another one of the assailants sent her arms through the driver’s window. Her screeching stopped. Jeff picked up on the sounds of panic as he pressed himself into the passenger door.

     “Run,” Phoebe whispered to the kids. They only had the one chance to get out of there while the crazy people were distracted. “Run as fast as you can.”

     One of the attackers tore into the passenger tire as two others went through the windshield. Phoebe didn’t stick around to watch as Jeff succumbed to them. Her only thoughts were to get the kids away.

     The rain reflected moonlight that filtered through the thick clouds as Phoebe and the kids crept between trees and houses. This part of town was sparsely populated, but Phoebe could see the roof of an apartment building across the tree tops. She steered the kids toward it.

     Carmen, who hadn’t been moving nearly fast enough, was in Phoebe’s arms. Phoebe’s limbs burned under the strain of carrying the child, but Carmen seemed not to care about the fact that they’d be ripped to shreds if they didn’t move. Phoebe panted as she ran. She didn’t know how much stamina or strength she had left.

     When they reached the door of the apartment complex, Phoebe found the door was locked and required a key code pressed into a metallic pad in order to gain entrance. She began pressing buttons to activate speakers in apartments within the building.

     “Help us, please,” she whispered into the speaker near the locked door. “Please, someone let us in!”

     Though no one responded through the speakers, the door buzzed loudly. Phoebe heard the click of the lock unlatching. With one hand, she grabbed the door and swung it open.

     None of the insane saw her as she got the kids inside. Because she didn’t know which apartment had responded to her calls for help, Phoebe froze at the bottom of the stairs. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to go knocking door to door in order to find someone who could help them. What if there were other crazy people behind closed doors, sitting docile until they were activated by noise or interaction of some sort?

     Phoebe decided she would climb the stairs. She wanted to be higher than ground level. If any of the deranged ones came inside looking for people, she reasoned, they would search the first floor before they climbed the stairs seeking additional prey.

     Their footsteps pounded on the cement stairs. The sounds of their footfalls bounced back at them from the cream-colored walls as they reached the second floor. Phoebe heard pounding sounds from above them. She decided the second floor was where they would try to find a place to hide.

     She didn’t want to direct the kids to knock on any of the doors. If there were crazy people inside the apartments and they riled them, she doubted the doors would hold. She began turning handles, hoping she would find one left unlocked as the owners fled in panic.

     The third handle she gripped turned easily in her hand. Phoebe pushed the door open and waited for sounds of someone within the apartment. She held her breath, hoping that she hadn’t made a terrible mistake by bringing the kids to the apartment building.