You and Me against the World: The Creepers Saga Book 1 (19 page)

The C2 was not equipped with brake lights and Thorn’s only warning was the smoke that poured from its tires. He hit his own brakes hard, but there wasn’t enough space to stop the overloaded van. It slammed into the back of the C2, and steam sprayed from the punctured radiator.

Austin had a moment’s notice of the impending disaster. He had the advantage of well-tuned and youthful reflexes born of
baseball
and video games. He also had a good measure of risky teenage bravado. He pumped the brake once, abandoned the option when it became apparent that wouldn’t work, cranked the wheel ninety degrees left, and stuffed his foot hard on the accelerator. The Tahoe shot past the van with less than an inch of clearance. He lost the SUV’s side mirror as it sheared off on the van. Past the wreck, he twisted the wheel right and slid into the empty space between the dead C2 and the Escalade.

Brandon stopped the Escalade, and he, Adam, and the girls ran back to the crash.

“Is everyone okay?” Devin asked.

They were shaken but with no injuries.

“Fuck, now what?” Adam yelled, frustrated.

“Let’s move quickly. Caroline and Susan, get the kids in that van.”

“Dev, I think the van is dead,” Thorn said apologetically.

“Nope, it’s still running, and we have no other options. Let’s see how far it will go. Everyone else, we need to hold off the horde until the kids are moved.”

“What about all the supplies in the van? Should we dump them?”

“No, just pile the kids on top of it. This isn’t about comfort.”

“Dev, look,” Austin pointed down the street. It was impossible to tell how many were galloping at them in the dark. The moonlight provided enough light to see that it was a lot.

Devin looked around at the deep, dark woods. There really were no options. They could not run. They needed to get the kids moved and get mobile.

“Just make a line and kill everything you can kill,” Devin called out and then whispered, “We’re screwed this time.”

Austin felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Golden staring at him. She nodded to the Escalade. He understood and he grabbed Annie by the arm and whispered, “Get Brad and let’s go.”

She didn’t understand until he smiled his little devious grin and looked back at the Escalade. She laughed and grabbed Brad’s arm, dragging him toward the vehicle.

Austin jumped in the driver’s seat as the three others piled in. He hit the roof lights. Golden didn’t wait on finding a CD in the back but instead took off her iPod and attached it to the Aux input. She hit Play and then turned the dial all the way to maximum. The speakers screamed. Austin gunned the engine and backed the big SUV at the highest speed he could maintain. Lights blazing and stereo blasting, they rushed passed the crash at a high enough speed to blow back the standing group’s hair. Austin continued his high-speed reverse through the oncoming horde, crushing several beneath the vehicle.

“What the fuck are they doing?” Adam asked.

“Dammit, Austin!” Devin yelled. “You’re gonna get yourselves killed!”

Austin piled through the Creepers until he had put some distance between the truck and the now reversing horde. As anticipated, the lights and music drew the Creepers away from the van. The music blared, but none of the occupants needed instructions. They fell out of the SUV and began shooting everything in range.

“That’s pretty heroic,” Thorn said as they moved the crying children to the van.

Devin shook his head. He, Adam, Nick, and Brandon and the two young girls formed a short wall between the Creepers and the van, but it was unnecessary as all focus was on the lights and music.

“It’s dumb,” Devin replied. “He’s gonna get himself killed.”

“You know what I find alarming?” Brandon asked.

“What?” Devin looked over at his friend.

“That your dad had this song on his iPod.”

Devin could not help but laugh. The thought had occurred to him also; his dad hadn’t seemed the Miley Cyrus type.

Nick sang a few lines of the song. The others turned and gave him a critical stare.

“What? It’s ‘Hoedown Throwdown.’ You all have something against Hanna Montana?”

Devin shook his head. “I got something against you singing Hanna Montana.”

The distraction worked. When the kids were loaded, the van backed and ready to go, Devin and his team moved forward. Vanessa didn’t move. She just looked down at her feet. Brittney stopped between her friend and the advancing group. Devin turned and saw the problem.

“Brittney, forget it; just get her in one of the trucks.”

They moved forward and pumped bullets into the Creepers that stood between them and the Escalade. They aimed carefully to avoid catching their friends in the crossfire. Austin’s team saw them, took out a few of the closest infected and then scrambled back into the SUV and sped forward.

It was a cramped, uncomfortable ride, and the van’s temperature gauge quickly rose to Hot. However, they had escaped with only the loss of the C2. Overall, they had been very lucky. That worried Brandon. In his experience, God had a way of collecting on those lucky breaks. He would have preferred to be wrong, to have judged God too harshly. Unfortunately, in a short time, his fears were confirmed.

Here kitty, kitty

“Austin,” Devin called from the CB radio.

“Yeah, bro?” Austin called back, his tone conciliatory in anticipation of his brother’s anger.

“Dude, that was dumb. You guys could have been killed, or worse.”

“I know, I know, but something needed to be done.”

Devin was silent. He closed his eyes for a moment. “Yeah, okay, but no more heroics.”

“Roger. And bro … I love you too,” Austin said, and made kiss-kiss noises.

“Just follow orders.”

Brandon saw the smile flash on his friend’s face.

He took the mic from Devin. “Austin, I want my Escalade back and in one piece.”

“Yeah, a question about that …” Austin called back.

“Did you ruin it?”

“No, I’m just wondering if you ever turned on the GPS system. Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

Devin and Brandon looked at each other. Satellites were still unaffected. They had never even considered it.

“Austin”—it was Thorn—“this van is not going to run much longer. Can that GPS find us a place to stop?”

“Oh, look at that,” Austin said sarcastically. “It has a Google map. Let’s see. Brandon, turn left in … shit, never mind.”

A few seconds later, the black Escalade sped past the other two vehicles and took the lead.

Annie’s voice came over the radio. “Austin says to follow us.”

A small dirt road wound through the woods. It led to a two-story building surrounded by an eight-foot-high chain-link fence. The gate was open, and the vehicles drove through and then stopped in front of a large roll up door.

“You saw this on the GPS?” Susan asked as she got out of the van.

“Sort of,” Annie answered. “The thing had a Google Earth file. Those maps aren’t current, but it was worth a shot.”

“Okay, Adam and Brad, let’s check it out. Everyone else stays put until we’re sure it’s clear,” Devin said and led the group into the dark building.

At one time, the building had served as a small machine shop. It was mostly empty now, but the thick cement two-story walls, the high windows, and the heavy doors made it the best safe haven they could hope to find. There was one large, empty room, almost eighty feet long and half as wide. A short hallway flanked by three offices connected to a second room. This room was half the size of the first and had no windows. High on the wall, almost at ceiling level was a line of vents. It also had two large exhaust fans hanging from the ceiling. In addition, there was a generator, and it was full. It started on the first pull. Adam flipped a switch, and lights came on in every room. They were low, but it was better than the sitting in the dark.

“This seems pretty damn secure,” Brad said.

“I agree,” Devin nodded. “Let’s get everyone in and figure out what to do about the van and the supplies.”

There was much to accomplish, but the adrenaline rush from the narrow escape had left them exhausted. Thorn leaned on the van and watched as Susan and Caroline unpacked dinner from a storage box. The two talked and laughed, and Thorn suddenly realized how close in age they were and how old he was by comparison. Beyond them, he saw Brad, the former high school football player, talking with Annie. She had taken his hand, and he looked around nervously to see if anyone noticed. The rest of the group sat in a circle and discussed their next move. Adam was showing a lot of animation as he made some point, and Austin absently hefted his baseball bat.

“I bet you want to brain him, don’t you, kid?” Thorn said to himself and smiled.

Thorn felt like he was being watched. He looked around. In the corner near the front door, he saw the two younger girls, Vanessa and Brittney. Brittney was talking to her friend, but Vanessa just stared off into space and gave no indication that she listened. Thorn reminded himself to speak with both the girls; he still worried about their mental health. They were more alone than the rest. They hadn’t known any of these people before the end. In a way, they were on a treadmill of following directions, of trying to stay alive, and he wondered if anyone had ever asked them about their families or their friends lost in the apocalypse. The feeling of being watched persisted; he turned again and then looked up. On top of a tall metal cabinet, nearly ten feet high, he saw the blue-eyed girl watching him. He realized that she probably saw as much as he did, probably thought about things as much as he did. Locked in her iPod world with nothing to do but think. He wondered what went on in her head. Wondered what she thought of while she sat high up there. Was she the sentry, or was she the observer?

“Dr. Thorn, got a minute?” Devin called.

End of the world and the kid still practices his manners
, Thorn thought.

“Sure, Dev, what’s up?”

“Another slight difference in opinion.”

Thorn didn’t intend to but he looked at Adam.

“Yep, the pain in the ass,” Austin snickered.

“Not this time,” Devin countered. “Adam has a valid idea, but I want to throw around the options.”

“Reflections Lake part two,” Austin laughed.

“You know what?” Adam yelled and stood up. “Maybe we should just settle this outside.”

Austin stood up and spun his bat with one hand. Thorn thought how much the piece of wood was an extension of the kid’s entire being.

“Austin, come on. Seriously, give Adam a break, will ya?” Devin said.

Austin nodded his head.

“Yeah, okay. Sorry man, I’m just screwin’ with you.”

He walked over to Adam and extended his hand. Adam hesitated for a moment, unsure if Austin was serious. Then he took the hand and they shook.

“I swear, Austin, you get under my skin like my kid brother,” Adam said and smiled. The memory of his kid brother must have surfaced because the smile faded.

“I know; I do it on purpose,” Austin smiled back.

Friends at last
, Thorn thought.

“Hey, if you two aren’t gonna kiss, can we get on with it?” Nick said, and they all laughed.