The Survivor Chronicles (Book 3): The Forsaken (10 page)

"What did you find?" Bobby asked.

Xander lifted the gas can into the air. "Riley found a full can of gas."

"That may be our best find out of all of this," Carl said as he climbed out of the back of the car.

Al was smiling as he walked up to them with a four-foot piece of rubber tubing. "Looks like we're going to stay in business."

She slumped against the police car as relief filled her. "Good let's get some more gas and get back on the road."

Taking hold of Xander's hand she stayed close to his side while they walked back to the others. Mary Ellen waved at them and pointed to a small pile set up beside the truck. Riley spotted a set of jumper cables, a few granola bars and four cases of soda amongst the pile. A spare donut tire was propped against the side of the Cadillac.

"What did you guys find?" Mary Ellen asked.

"Gas cans," Riley told them with a smile. "And some tubing."

She sat on the ground next to the Cadillac and leaned against the side of it. Tilting her head back, she stared at the sky. It was still the color of blood but on the horizon she could see a steady spiral of smoke drifting into the air. There was something almost soothing about the billowing smoke, something that made the frantic beat of her heart finally ease.

Taking a deep breath, she shoved herself back to her feet as Carl began to siphon and fill the other gas can. She moved through the cars closest to them, inspecting the inside of them for keys. She found a set shoved above the visor of a Ford. Sliding the key into the ignition she turned it over enough to make sure the battery still worked and to see where the gas gage was at. The gas light instantly blazed to life, the needle didn't even give a little jump off the line.

"I don't understand why they didn't search the other vehicles before leaving here," she said to John as he stepped next to the car.

"They might have, but they might have given up when they couldn't find anything right away."

"Yeah, I guess."

"You think it was something else?"

She shook her head and sat back in the seat. "They probably thought walking was their best bet, that they could find help somewhere. We've all been there."

"You've given up on finding any help?" he asked.

"Haven't you?"

He rested his hand on the glass of the open window as he looked down at her. Normally she wouldn't have been able to smell the beer on him, but the oppressive heat seemed to magnify the smell of it on his breath. It wasn't unpleasant though, not compared to the other scents that hung in the air.

"I think I have," he admitted. "I'm not saying help's not out there somewhere, I'm just not sure it's anywhere near us and I'm not entirely sure I want it anymore. After the gas station I don't really want to be around people."

"Neither do I. We did find Donald though."

He glanced over to where the stranger stood with Xander and Carl as they siphoned gas to fill the truck. "Yeah I don't trust him either though and he's only one guy. Imagine being around a bunch of people?"

"No," she said as she pulled the key from the ignition and climbed out of the car. "No I can't."

She surveyed the empty highway as they walked back to the others. Taking hold of Xander's hand again she enfolded it in both of hers. No, she absolutely did not want to be around other people anymore. She just wanted to get somewhere safe with all of the people surrounding her. It didn't seem like much to ask for but she couldn't shake the hideous thought that it would be impossible to do so.

Carl,

It was July but night fell early as the sky darkened to a shade of red that reminded him of the lava that had flowed through Foxboro before becoming completely black. He couldn't shake the feeling that the sky was as angry and hungry as that lava had been as he took the exit ramp toward the Connecticut Welcome Center. His jaw clenched as the headlights splashed over the woods and picnic tables spread out around the area. Headlights bobbed like fireflies in the side mirrors of the truck from the cars following behind them.

"Connecticut," John muttered and shook his head.

"What's wrong with Connecticut?" Carl asked him.

John shrugged as he surveyed the parking area they pulled into. If it wasn't for the headlights Carl wouldn't have any idea where they were parking as he pulled up in front of the gloomy building. The pines and oaks surrounding the parking lot probably blocked the lights from the interstate on a normal night, but tonight they made it nearly impossible to see anything when he turned the truck off.

He could barely see John but he could hear him fumbling for the flashlight on the dashboard. "Hopefully a lot less than what was wrong with Massachusetts," John said as he clicked on the flashlight.

Carl couldn't help but agree as he pushed the door of the truck open and stepped into the night. They'd made better time than he'd expected once they'd finally been able to start moving again, but the early night had forced them to stop far sooner than he would have liked. He was eager to see what Connecticut had to offer too, there just may be something better in this state.

He didn't think that was likely but it was something to hope for.

He cupped his hand around his lighter as he lit his cigarette and surveyed the woods around them. Grabbing the gun from inside the truck, he kept it close to his side as he closed the door and shut off the bulb inside. Ever since they'd hit the highway they hadn't seen any of those sick, violent humans on the road. He'd spotted them amongst the towns they had passed but he hadn't seen any beside the interstate. But then there had been few other people traveling on the highway and they'd had no contact with the ones they had seen. The sick would go where the food supply was and the supply seemed to be concentrated amongst the towns and homes.

For now.

Though the last part of the day had been a good reprieve, he knew it couldn't last forever. The sick ones would spread out even further when the food source started to run low, but maybe their luck would hold up and they could stay on the highway for awhile. He turned toward the Welcome Center and studied the shadowed building. It was just a simple brick building with a few port o' potties on the outside of it, but it looked better than a dozen cartons of his favorite cigarettes right now.

Riley stepped out of the Ford and stood beside him as she surveyed the building. He glanced at the car as Bobby and Donald climbed out of the backseat and Xander slid out from behind the wheel. "How does the new guy seem?" he asked her discreetly.

Her gaze slid to Donald and she shrugged. "He seems harmless and he's friendly enough."

"But?" he prompted when he sensed more behind her words.

She gave him a halfhearted smile. "But nothing, I'm just not the most trusting person anymore."

He released a snort of laughter that caused his smoke to trail before him in the air. He hadn't been the most trusting person before this, now he was likely to shoot first and ask questions later. "I'll keep an eye on him."

"We all will," Riley said.

"Let's go see if there's something of use inside."

"A place to sleep would be nice, even if it is on a cold hard floor."

He stepped on his butt and crushed it into the ground. "We'll have to find some blankets."

"Never thought I'd hear those words in this heat," John said as he stepped around the front of the truck.

Carl had to agree but he didn't say so as he walked toward the front of the building with Riley and John close at his side. He heard the others behind him but he didn't look back as he approached the glass front doors. Leaning forward he pressed his hands to the glass and peered into the windows. The wall of impenetrable darkness that enshrouded the inside of the building reminded him of being buried beneath the waves of the Atlantic ocean with no way out. It had happened to him once, as a child when they had gone to the beach, but his father had been there to pull him out. There was no one to pull him out now.

"This place reminds me of the grocery store," John said.

Carl shot him a look. "Now why did you have to say that?"

John shrugged and lifted his flashlight to shine it in the windows. "Because it does."

Carl followed the beam as it bounced over metal railings that led into what he assumed was the bathrooms. He saw papers on the bulletin board across from them but he couldn't make out what they said. He glanced over his shoulder to find Riley surveying the roof with her light. Taking a step back he looked at the slanted roof but all he saw up there were pine needles, pinecones and sap. Even still, Riley kept her beam focused on the roof as he stepped under the alcove once more and grabbed hold of the handle.

"Be prepared," he hissed to John.

John shot him a look that made Carl think he was about to heave the flashlight at him. Carl almost threw his arm up just in case, but John only continued to glower at him. He had expected the door to be open and wasn't surprised when it gave way beneath his hand. Raising his gun he cautiously entered the welcome center. The no pets allowed sign that had been scribbled on a piece of paper in marker slipped from where it had been taped to the door.

Stepping over it, the first thing that hit him was the smell that wafted from the men's room on his left. It wasn't unbearable, but there was no doubt what the room was used for as the potent odor of days old ammonia made his nose wrinkle. He kept the gun raised as he turned the corner and swept into the main room. The beam of the flashlight played over broken pieces of glass that littered the floor from the empty vending machines. Both soda machines had also been kicked in but he thought he spotted a few cans lying in the bottom of one of them.

He nodded toward the men's room. "Come with me," he said to John.

Riley moved further into the main room and stopped outside of the woman's room. Xander moved passed her to stand by the back door. He craned his neck to try and see out but Carl doubted Xander could see anything beyond the wall of black pressing against the glass. There was something about that blackness, something so absolute that made it seem as if there was nothing beyond that glass, nothing beyond this building, nothing left to the world anymore.

He could almost believe that the world had completely ended and there was only a void out there. A void he swore he could almost hear licking at his heels as it threatened to suck all of them into it.

A shudder rippled down his back as he turned away from the unnerving spectacle and toward the bathroom. He walked past the metal railing and stepped cautiously into the room. The potent stench of urine hung heavily in the still air. The squeak of his shoes on the linoleum floor made his hand clench on the gun as he crept forward. John's flashlight beam caused his shadow to stretch forward like some sort of demented boogeyman that looked like it was going to turn on him at any second. The unnerving sight of that shadow caused his skin to tingle and his groin to tighten as it bounced and floated over the yellow and brown streaked floor.

He moved passed the first urinal and stopped at the door across from it. He didn't hesitate before he pushed the stall door open but he wasn't entirely sure he was breathing as he continued through the room to the last stall. John was still waiting near the front of the bathroom when he was done. Even in the dim glow from the flashlight, Carl could see the sweat beading on John's forehead and trickling down his cheeks as they left the room.

Everyone was gathered in the main room when they emerged. "We'll check out the women's room," he said.

Riley fell into step behind him as he entered the pink room. It didn't smell like roses or perfume but it didn't make his nose burn like the men's room had. "It's the forbidden land." John was trying to sound light but his voice sounded as if he had been coughing all day.

Carl didn't look back at him as he pushed open the first stall with a lot less confidence than he'd approached the doors in the men's room. He was becoming increasingly convinced that he was going to open a door and find someone with a rotting face, standing on the toilet seat with hooked fingers as they waited to pounce on him. In the hush of the room he was certain he could hear the creature's nearly silent exhalations as it eagerly waited to leap on him and rip him open.

The impending feeling of doom didn't get better with each door he opened either, instead it got worse. His hand shook as he pushed open the second to last door. He took a step back, brought his gun up and aimed it into the dark. The door made a small clacking noise as it bounced against the metal partition between the stalls and creaked back toward him. He hated the tremor in his arm as he lowered the gun from the empty stall.

With a heavy heart he turned toward the last door. A cigarette would have been outstanding right now but he wasn't going to be distracted for even the one second it would take to light it. He became aware of the muted plop of water as he continued to stare at the last door. He could walk away, just say it was good and relentlessly watch the bathroom door all night or he could open the door and get it over with. He'd never been the smartest of men, the kindest of men, or the richest of men, but he'd never considered himself a coward either. He didn't know where this cold dread was coming from, didn't understand what was keeping his hand from moving the six inches forward that it had to go. Maybe it was instinct, maybe it was just terror, but he found himself completely immobile.

"Carl?" John asked.

Carl shook his head but didn't look back at his friend. Taking a deep breath he lifted his gun hand and forced himself to close the distance between himself and the metal door. Hundreds of horrible images of leprosy looking people waiting to eat him filled his mind while the door creaked open.

He remained immobile, his gun aimed into the stall, as he waited for something to spring out at him. The solid beat of his heart pulsed in his throat as images of the last moments of his life flooded his mind. He was so ensnared by those images that it took him a minute to realize the stall was empty, that no one was sitting there waiting to eat him.

His shoulders slumped but his hand was still shaking as it fell back to his side. He felt like an idiot as he turned back to the others. John and Riley were so ashen that they appeared almost spectral in the dim illumination filling the room. "Clear," he managed to croak out.

Regaining his composure, he stepped away from the door and noticed his reflection in one of the mirrors over the sink. He barely recognized the scruffy, pale faced man looking back at him. His eyes hadn't been this bloodshot since the drunken benders he'd gone on in his twenties. Using the back of his arm, he wiped away the sweat trickling steadily down his brow and into his eyes.

Not liking the fevered look in his bloodshot eyes, he turned away from the mirror and made his way toward Riley and John. Light flooded the room as Xander stepped around the corner. "Everything ok?" Xander inquired.

"It's fine," Riley assured him.

Carl followed them into the main room where the others were gathered near the vending machines. He'd thought that he'd looked half crazed in the mirror, but looking at the exhaustion and strain on their faces he realized he just looked normal now. "Did anyone check that room?" he asked as he nodded toward the only other door within the building.

"It's just an office and it's safe," Al answered.

"We got a broom though," Mary Ellen said as she held it up.

Carl nodded and walked over to the map of Connecticut pinned to the wall.
You are here,
was written with black marker and a red arrow pointed to where the welcome center was located on the map.

"How do they know where I am?" John asked.

Carl frowned at him as he turned away from the map. "Huh?"

John shook his head as he ran a hand through his disheveled brown hair. "Nothing, it was just a joke I heard once."

Carl's tired mind finally tripped into place and a small snort of laughter escaped him. "Bad joke."

"I never said it was a good one."

Carl continued to study the map as John moved away. He tugged it free of the wall and handed it to Al. "In case we have to get off the highway, you'll know where we're going," he told the older man.

Al nodded and carefully folded the map up. The tinkling of glass caught his attention as Mary Ellen began to sweep the glass toward the ruined vending machines. "Let's get some supplies," he suggested. "I don't know about you guys but I'm starving."

John nodded and stepped away from the wall he'd been leaning against. Riley said something to Xander that he couldn't hear but when she gestured toward his leg Carl got the gist of the conversation. He hoped the kid didn't argue with her again and actually took some time to get off of the leg. Xander had been holding up well given the events of the day, but continued abuse to his damaged limb wasn't going to do any of them any good.