They'd started to make a home here and these insane, rotten and inhuman things had intruded upon her illusion and completely destroyed it.
She'd become so focused on her anger that she hadn't realized the laughter had stopped. Her muscles tensed, she straightened away from the tree. She clutched the gun so forcefully before her that she was sure it left an imprint on her palm. Her teeth ground together, she counted the seconds and braced herself for the people she knew would be materializing beneath them any second now.
Al turned in a small circle on the stand; his eyes searched the tops of the trees surrounding them. The hair on her neck stood up as she turned to survey the trees around them too. The leaves were so thick she wasn't sure she'd be able to see something approaching them until their attackers were leaping through the trees and coming straight at them with the objective of shredding their skin and devouring them.
She couldn't think of anything more horrific, all she could picture was a spider reeling back on its hind legs before launching itself at her. She'd never actually seen a spider do that before but she'd seen the videos of the spiders that could do it and they terrified her. A shudder ran down her back, her gaze remained pinned on the tree across from them as she became even more certain those things were going to come from the trees.
Her arms began to shake; it took everything she had not to start firing at the leaves across from them as they blew in the slight breeze tickling her hair. The leaves rustled, her finger tightened on the trigger. She focused on an area where the leaves began to shake more forcefully. Those things were there, she was certain of it. Right there, waiting, watching, and silently laughing as they prepared to launch their attack. Time stopped, her vision became pinpointed upon that area and the shaking leaves.
The leaves finally parted and a chipmunk zipped out. The small creature froze when it spotted her; its blown out cheeks worked as it chomped on whatever it had in its mouth. Alarm registered on its tiny face before it turned and scurried back into the leaves. Mary Ellen didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry as her trembling arms dropped down. The relief that filled her was short lived as a branch snapped beneath them. Unwilling to turn her back on the tree behind her, she glanced down at the four sick humans that stepped into view.
She became completely rigid, unable to even breathe as she watched them move. They had stopped running and now moved through the woods with their heads swiveling back and forth and their nostrils flaring. A sinking sensation slid through her as she recalled the cut on her head. Could they smell her blood, were they tracking them through her?
Her gaze briefly met Donald's as more of them crept into view. She should have stayed on the ground, she should have run in a different direction, if they were following her blood it was only a matter of time…
Donald's eyes narrowed on her face, he gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head at her. She glanced at the blood still smeared across the back of her forearm. If they were following her scent, wouldn't they have already spotted them huddled on the stand as close to the tree as they could get?
Her attention returned to the tree behind them. She was certain she was going to see a rotting face, surrounded by leaves poking out at her. In her head she could clearly picture the deformed and rotten face leering back at her before it decided to pounce. Not even the chipmunk had reappeared. Another loud crack drew her attention below her again as six more of them emerged.
There were so many of them. She was glad Al had insisted they climb into a more advantageous position; it may be the only way they'd be able to shoot all of them if it became necessary. Her heart rate skyrocketed as the people beneath them swept through the area. The look of them reminded her of a corpse in various stages of decomposition, but they couldn't be decomposing, it was impossible. She knew they were all still alive. A leper was still alive too, she reminded herself. But a leper was also sane, or at least she assumed they were, she wasn't exactly an expert on the disease and she'd certainly never met anyone with it.
There were clumps of hair missing from a few of the people beneath them; the rest had only tufts of hair left. She could see the skull on two of them, and one man was completely naked to reveal the sickly grayish hue that covered him from head to toe. Pieces of skin were missing from some of their faces, dried blood caked a few of them, and one was missing half of its left foot and hobbled awkwardly as it walked.
Watching the hobbled one, she realized that more than its foot was affecting its movement. Its leg wasn't grayish, it was an ugly red color that suffused its entire foot and ran up to the middle of its swollen thigh before disappearing beneath the tattered and stained denim shorts it wore. A massive infection was also working its way through that one, she realized. Its ungainly movement caused it to trip and sprawl face down on the forest floor.
The one on the ground pushed itself into a sitting position but it didn't move any further. Its back heaved with the breaths it took as its head bowed down. Pity filled her for it. It would eat her in a heartbeat but it had once been a human being and she realized now it was dying. The infection from its severe injury and the sickness had taken their toll on its body. This one wouldn't be going any further anymore. Its cohorts seemed to realize the same thing as their heads turned toward their downed companion.
A sick feeling rolled through her stomach as the others began to close in on their sick friend. She knew what was coming and yet she couldn't bring herself to look away as they began to circle the one on the ground. This was what the weaker embryos of the sand tiger shark felt like in the womb, she realized as she helplessly watched the healthier ones close in on their weaker member. The extremely sick one didn't realize what the others were doing as it didn't lift its head to look up at them and it didn't attempt to get up again.
The others moved so fast she didn't have time to close her eyes before they were on top of it. She almost lifted her hand to cover her mouth as vomit surged up her throat but she didn't dare move. She closed her eyes but the crunching sounds of the slaughter filled her ears. There was nothing she could do to drown out the tortured squeals of the one they attacked. Nothing she could do to muffle the sounds of fists against flesh, of a ripping sound that brought forth images of intestines and limbs being torn from the body. Images she knew she would never be able to shake.
Hours stretched by but it was probably only minutes before the cries of the one they'd turned on faded away. She didn't know why but tears began to slide down her face. It wasn't until the sounds of the murder blessedly stopped that she finally opened her eyes again. The sun had sunk lower in the sky. It filtered through the leaves and warmed her face and tears in a soothing way; it was a sensation that was completely out of place after the horror that had just unfolded and it only made her cry more.
Bracing herself, she looked toward the remains sprawled across the forest floor. The other sick ones had retreated away from what remained of the bloody carcass. They were covered in blood but the amount of flesh and bone strewn across the forest floor, and their flat stomachs made her realize they hadn't eaten their fallen.
She frowned over that realization as she tried to ponder why they'd left his flesh behind. They'd eat every healthy person, they'd eat The Lost Souls, but they wouldn't eat the ones who shared the same illness as them. It was good to know even they had their standards, she thought with wry amusement.
She exchanged a look with Al and Donald as the sick humans grouped together. She didn't hear words coming from them but some sort of communication went on as they gestured at the woods. She didn't dare move but now that they'd stopped to regroup beneath them, she was becoming increasingly aware of the fact that she was exhausted. Her legs trembled from exertion, her feet throbbed, but she remained as still as stone as the sun continued its descent in the sky.
She had no idea what they were going to do if those things didn't move away and they were forced to stay up here all night. They would eventually draw attention to themselves. Donald had food and water in
his backpack, but she already felt a growing pressure in her bladder. For the first time since she was six, she may actually pee her pants again, but that was a problem for later. Now she was more concerned that one of them would tilt their heads back and focus upon them.
That concern was short lived as they began to move into the trees. Mary Ellen remained completely still while she watched their backs fade away in to the trees. A flock of birds took flight but this one was smaller than before as night had begun to settle in.
Mary Ellen wanted to find relief in the fact that they'd left but her heart started to race as she lifted her eyes to the trees in front of her. She couldn't see the cabin from here, not through the foliage, but she knew where it was.
Directly in the path of the horde.
CHAPTER 21
Riley,
From behind her the sound of metal crashing against the linoleum floor with a rattling ting echoed through the store. It was accompanied by the sound of plastic rubber balls bouncing across the floor. The familiar, hollow sound of those balls caused an odd shift in her reality. Memories of being at school and running around the playground flooded her. The memories were so vivid that she was briefly uncertain as to what was actually real, this store around her, or the vibrant laughter of her childhood friends.
She shook her head in an attempt to clear it of the disconcerting images flooding her mind. Another crash reverberated through the store, causing her fight or flight instinct to kick into hyper drive. She glanced behind her to see the rack that had contained dozens of children's balls in the toy section now on its side and the balls bouncing across the ground. They were such a strange array of bright colors that were oddly out of place in this nightmare store. The spectacle of a pink and yellow ball fading away into the lengthening shadows created the impression that the ball had been sucked into a completely different universe. She couldn't see it anymore but she could hear it as it continued its bouncing path across the floor before hitting something with a small thud.
The ball may have vanished into the shadows but something else emerged from the ones to her right. Reacting on instinct, she lunged forward and shoved John in the back. A loud grunt escaped him but even as he fell forward, she threw herself back. The figure that had rushed at them crashed into the back wall. Containers of electrical wires and other assorted things fell on top of it as it sprawled upon the floor just feet in front of her. The unsettling realization that the only sound it had made was its impact into the back wall hit her as it began to rise to its feet again. Xander grabbed hold of her arm as she swung her gun up.
Lips skimmed back to reveal the black gums and missing teeth of the corrupted human. A hiss escaped it, a mottled pink tongue flicked out from between the missing front teeth. She felt no remorse as she held its empty brown eyes and pulled the trigger. The creature's head snapped back when the bullet slammed into its forehead and it fell to the ground.
Its feet kicked on the floor for a few seconds before they finally went blessedly still. "We have to go," Xander hissed in her ear as something clattered to the floor in one of the aisles just behind them.
Riley nodded, her ears were still ringing from the gunshot but she heard something else crash in an aisle ahead of them. Her hands used to shake after firing a gun, they remained perfectly still before her as she searched the shadows for the impending next attack. There was no way to know how many of the sick were in the store but she had a feeling the sick were only trying to delay them until the ones that had been coming in through the automotive center could join in the fun. Even with the guns they would be overrun by a large number of those sick things.
"Hurry," she whispered as another loud crash sounded from behind them. Josh jumped and swung his gun up, Carl reached out to try and stop him from shooting but it was too late, he'd already pulled trigger. Carl swore and threw his hand over the ear that Josh had fired near. The bullet slammed into the shelves across the way but nothing emerged from the darkness.
"They're playing with us until the others get here, we have to go," Riley said frantically.
"Can you walk on your own?" Carl demanded of Josh. Blood had soaked through Xander's shirt and was seeping down the front of Josh's, he was still abnormally pale but he nodded in response. "Don't shoot that again unless it's at one of those things. We're going to need those bullets," Carl told him before releasing him and stepping forward. "Let's go."
Riley didn't have to be told twice, she stepped over top of the body of the one she'd just killed. Bent over, she stayed low as she searched the tops of the shelves and the beams of the ceiling for more of those things. Something ahead of them fell to the floor with a rattling ting that caused Carl to stop abruptly and throw out his arm to halt Josh. They all stopped behind him as they waited for something else to emerge. Riley strained to figure out what had caused the noise as a spinning sound continued to echo through the store. It was difficult to make out anything over the loud breathing of those around her. Those things were closing in on them, she was positive of it.
"They're playing with us," Riley whispered.
Carl hesitated for a few seconds but then his jaw clenched and a muscle began to twitch in his cheek. It seemed that he'd come to the same conclusion she had. These things had enough reason to know how to unnerve and frighten them, how to keep them afraid of moving forward when that was what they had to do right now.
It took everything she had not to scream and start firing at anything that moved; at any little sound as something else crashed to the floor about twenty feet away from them. Instead, she took a steadying breath and followed the others along the back wall. John stumbled in front of her and nearly went down, Riley moved to help him but he managed to catch himself before he fell.
They arrived at a partition that blocked their way to the door where they had entered. Riley stared at the picture frames full of fake smiling families, and camera accessories that hung from the hooks on the wall before them. A self-developing digital photo booth sat to her left at the end of the aisle. To her right was a photo desk with a scattering of photo paper still spread out across the top next to the cash register.
Frustration filled her as she stared at the wall before them and then at the end of the aisle. The door was so unbelievably close, they were almost out of here but she knew if they went to the end of the aisle they would be pounced upon. Those things were there, she was certain of it. They were waiting for them, playing with them.
She glanced at the photo desk again, she could climb onto the glass counter and try to peer over the wall but that would only confirm that those things were there and it would probably cause the sick ones to spring into action sooner. She turned back to the way they'd come but the aisles remained empty and nothing sat on top of the shelves, watching them. That's because they'd already laid their trap, she realized with a sinking sensation in her stomach.
"We can push it over," John whispered.
"What?" Xander hissed.
John stepped closer to them. "Let's not pretend those things haven't set a trap. We're not making it around this aisle and out that door without being attacked. Those things are smart but they're not going to expect us to push this thing over on them, or at least I don't think they will."
Riley stepped back to examine the large partition blocking their way. "This thing's probably bolted to the floor," she whispered.
"I have no doubt it is but I'd rather take my chances of not being able to get it over than walking to the end of it. It's thinner than the shelves are, we should be able to get it over."
"It could work," Carl muttered as he rubbed at the stubble lining his chin and jaw. "It will also get them to move out of the way. The door opened to the outside, we won't be blocking it."
Xander started to respond but silence descended over the store once more. Were those things trying to listen to them she wondered as she continued to study the shadows around them. She held her breath while she waited for those things to emerge but the store remained ee
rily silent as the seconds stretched endlessly on.
Something clattered to the floor, it was close but she got the impression that it had been an accident this time. These things were done playing; they were waiting for their food to make a mistake now. Her skin crawled, her heart was in her throat as her eyes continued to search the shadows but nothing moved and no more sound followed.
"Push it over," she breathed.
It was the only way they were going to get out of here, she was almost positive of that. Beside her, Josh began to nod enthusiastically as he stepped back. His heel scraped against the partition, the noise probably didn't travel beyond their cluster but it sounded louder than the gunshots had in her ears.
"Together," Carl said. "Now."
Riley spun, threw her hands out, and placed them against the partition. She knocked some of the hooks aside, picture frames clattered to the floor around her as the others did the same thing. Glass shattered, wood splintered and bounced against her sneakers but she didn't care about any of it. Those things already knew where they were, keeping quiet now wasn't going to do them any good. Adrenaline poured through her body, she planted her feet and shoved against the partition as hard as she could.
A wrenching noise filled the air, for a second the wall didn't move but as the wrenching grew louder, the partition began to inch its way backwards. A cry escaped her, her feet started to slip on the floor but she continued to shove at the wall.
John pulled away from the wall and scrambled a few feet back. With a shout he raced at the partition, leapt off the ground and slammed his shoulder into it. The partition shuddered and then began to go over at a much faster rate. Riley lost her traction on the floor, her feet slid out from under her and her knees crashed down.
Pain lanced through her battered knees but she scrambled back to her feet. Someone on the other side of the partition cried out as it finally tipped over and crashed backward. The partition didn't make it all the way to the floor; she didn't have to see what was beneath it to know that some of those things had gotten trapped under its weight.