Zombies on the Rock (Book 2): The Viking Trail Page 24

  "What do you want?" Tina had been waiting for Ted to come back. His daughters were frightened and needed their father.

  “Warrant Smith wants to talk to you about Ted." The private had a split lip, but Tina couldn't take her eyes off him. His light complexion and blond hair allowed his blue eyes to shine. His solid jawline was covered with short stubble.

  "About what?" Tina was confused; what could they possibly want to talk to her about? Eric had warned her that Ted was losing his mind, but she refused to see it. Ted would do anything to protect his children. Eric just didn't understand his actions.

  Private Byrne pushed the door open and pointed to the terrifying scene. "Have a look for yourself."

  Ted stood at the side of the road surrounded by members of the Central Biker Gang, a severed head raised in triumph above his head. Blood dripped from the detached head; Ted was embracing the depraved and sadistic nature of the outlaws. Jessica and Katie screamed bloody murder at the sight of their brutish father. Tina tried to hold the girls close to her chest, but they refused to look away from the repulsive exhibition Ted was part of.

  "It's okay, girls, your father is just keeping us safe." Tina tried to comfort them to no avail as Ted made his way over to them.

  Ted appeared in the doorway with an angry scowl on his face, two of the bikers at his side. They grabbed the private and wrestled him from the sleeping quarters while the young man struggled valiantly against the gargantuan hoodlums. Ted pushed his way inside and slammed the door closed behind him, locking the entrance. Every vein on Ted's neck and forehead stuck out like a roadmap to his madness.

  "What’s your Goddamn problem now!" Ted screamed at his children, his wild eyes filled with fury.

  "Ted?" Tina pulled the girls closer for she could feel their bodies shaking with fear.

  "What were you talking about with that soldier?" Ted turned his anger towards Tina. "You plan on leaving with him, taking away my children?"

  "What? No, never-" Tina had never seen Ted act this way with her.

  "Get over here, girls." Ted reached out for his daughters, but they refused to budge. "Now!" Barking at the top of his lungs, Ted reached out and pulled Katie out of Tina's grasp.

  "Daddy!" Katie struggled to get out of his clutches, kicking and screaming.

  "Stop it." Ted hauled back his hand, and struck his daughter in the nose.

  "Holy fuck, Ted." Tina watched as a stream of blood erupted from Katie's nose. Jessica cowered behind Tina, hiding from the monster that her father had become.

  Ted stopped, a bewildered look on his face. He let Katie go and put his hand on the door handle. "I ... " Ted exited the cab without saying another word.

  "Come here, darling." Tina tried to stop the bleeding by plugging Katie's nose, but she could feel the broken bone underneath the skin. Searching for anything to clot the wound, Tina ripped the pillowcase into tiny pieces and put them into nostrils. Katie's eyes welled up with tears and Jessica trembled in the corner of the cab, trying to stay far away from the entrance as possible. Tina had never been so afraid in all of her life. Even the deceased monsters hunting them constantly failed to terrify her like Ted did. He was slowly becoming a monstrosity, losing his grip on his humanity just like the zombies they were struggling to survive from.

  David could no longer see the building, he had driven down the mountain and the trees were blocking the view of the metallic structure. The valley was wide and David had pushed the skidoo several kilometres across the barren countryside and about half way up the next hill before the engine finally spent the last bit of fuel and died.

  "Fuck me."

  David kicked the hood of the skidoo, angry that it couldn't carry him the rest of the way. The snow was much deeper up on this mountain than it had been near Pinchgut Lake. There was a clearing about five hundred meters ahead, but David was dreading the gruelling climb through the deep snow. The snow was nearly two feet deep up here on the mountaintop, and the forest ceiling shaded the snow from the rays of sun, preventing the warmth from melting the snow at all.

  Fighting with the heavy powder to hoist his legs up the slope and using his hands to help drag himself along, David quickly got winded from crawling through the snow. Looking up towards the clearing, David could pick out one side of the old tower. The metal siding was smoky grey and there was a tiny window facing him, but the glare from the sun reflected harshly back into his eyes, temporarily blinding David. Scaling the steep mountainside was exhausting, but he didn't have any other choice. Wishing he had taken the time to syphon gas from some of the wrecked vehicles along the side of the highway, David mumbled to himself. The wind blew flakes of snow into his face as it whipped down the mountainside. Mother Nature was mocking David.

  The clearing ahead opened up, showing the old weather station on top of Marble Mountain; at least David knew where he was now. The two round structures on top were dimpled metallic weather Doppler radars that had been abandoned almost ten years ago. David noticed a peculiar pattern around the building: snow was piled up around the entrance and around the side of the building, almost as if it had been shovelled. Had someone taken refuge from the apocalypse here? David had to admit he was surprised by how resourceful these Newfies could be.

  The last ten feet of the trek was a gruelling workout for David's leg muscles. They began to cramp with every step, and to pull his feet out the deep holes they made was a mighty strain. David finally made it to the shovelled path, collapsing to his hands and knees. Drawing long, heavy breaths, he could barely catch his breathe. David heard sounds of footprints inside the old weather station approaching the door. His panting must have alerted the resident of the nearby threat.

  David stared at the ground even though the blinding white snow hurt his eyes as the sunlight sparkled like glitter underneath him. The door creaked open and the snow crunched under heavy boots as the owner walked towards him. David strained his neck to look up at the stranger, but he couldn't believe his eyes. Rubbing them vigorously, David sized up the odd spectacle standing in front of him, ignoring the silver barrel inches away from his face.

  "You're a long way from home." The woman's voice was hoarse, but still retained some softness.

  "You're a sight for sore eyes," David wheezed, still out of breath. He stared up at the strangest woman he had ever seen. She had furs draped over a black leather body suit, the Pharmakon logo embroidered on the left side of her chest. Long red hair fell over face, and her rosy checks were sun burnt.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:

  THE SET UP

  Eric knelt down at the edge of the trees, trying to get a handle on the situation facing them. He didn't recognize any of the faces in Frank's group, but they were busying themselves with loading supplies into trucks and vans parked in the driveways. Frank hadn't mentioned that they were leaving, and his truck was missing from the convoy of vehicles near his cabin. Nobody noticed that they were watching them from the edge of the tree line; they only focused on their task like a group of worker ants scurrying around for queen.

  "So, what do you think? You see any of Pelley’s men?" Jason was getting anxious.

  Eric studied the faces of the survivors. Two of the men looked familiar, but he didn't know where he had seen them before. "I'm not sure…"

  "What should we do, we can't wait here all day." Jason started to stand up, ready to make his presence known.

  Eric holstered his weapon; he didn't want to run in waving a gun around scaring everyone and made sure that the safety was off. "Alright. Let's go."

  Ducking under the tree branches, they walked into the open and headed straight for the commotion. At first no one paid them any respect, but Eric noticed a man and woman pointing at them. The woman strolled towards them gracefully with a welcoming smile on her face. Everyone else continued to work diligently to load the vehicles, minding their own business.

  "Hi." The woman's voice was friendly. "My name’s Kim, are you okay?" Kim was trying to hide jagged scars under the sleev
e of her black leather jacket, and the black straps of her backpack hung loosely over her frail frame.

  "Where's Frank?" Eric didn't recognize Kim, but he was all too familiar with the cuts on her wrist. He had seen this mark on a lot of drug users, sent into a spiralling depression from the smorgasbord of drugs available to them. The same drugs that had been brought onto the island by the Highway Hangmen and the Pelleys.

  "Frank has headed to the Pelleys’ compound to secure it, we’re heading there as soon as he gets back. Are you looking for a place to stay?" Kim looked at Eric with large, dark curious eyes hidden behind black-rimmed glasses. Her complexion was flawed by acne and her jagged yellow stained teeth flawed her smile.

  Eric still didn't want to let his guard down. Something was wrong here, he just wasn't sure what it was. "I want to see Frank."

  "Well, you are welcomed to stay here and wait, or you can try and head to the compound if you know where it is." Kim's friendliness was unsettling. Everyone around them kept working at their task, ignoring the strangers that had stumbled amongst them. They were bringing out boxes loaded with food, blankets, tools, and weapons. It was almost too good to be true -- had they really stumbled across safety or was it all a false sense of security?

  "We need the gate unlocked so we can drive to the compound." Eric expected an excuse.

  "The gate is left unlocked, you're free to open it. Just close it behind you when you're done, please." Kim's generosity was remarkable; maybe her hospitality had not been altered by this heinous world yet?

  "Why didn't you check the gate, we could have drove here." Jason playfully punched Eric's shoulder.

  Eric still didn't feel comfortable here, an alarm was warning him deep inside that a threat was lurking nearby. A diesel engine roared in the near distance just beyond the trees and the vehicle rumbled down the road towards them. Eric turned to the road and was astonished to see Nick pulling the ambulance into the driveway.

  "What the fuck?" Eric headed straight for the ambulance, panicking. The thunderous roar from the ambulance died down as Nick turned off the ignition. Eric threw the door open and he grabbed Nick by the collar. "Where's Dana?"

  "Isn't she with you?" Nick had a worried look on his face.

  Reaching into the ambulance, Eric grabbed the fire axe from underneath Nick's seat. Eric dashed towards the path that had lead him to Frank's cabin. Dana was alone out in the woods.

  Dana jogged down the slippery slope; the slick snow had mixed with mud making traversing the ground treacherous. She had acted brave with Eric, more concerned for his safety than her own. Now, she was alone in the forest with nothing but an old hunting knife to protect her. Dana didn't know if her mind was playing tricks on her or not, but it was like the forest was alive, a thousand eyes watching her every move. The smell of decaying flesh and the low pitched moans of the dead surrounded Dana, while shadows cast from the giant trees concealed dangerous monsters in the darkness. Looking down at the ground to make sure she was still on track, Dana kept following the footsteps they had made on the way over to Nick's parents cabin.

  Thunk

  Dana lost her footing and fell face first into the sloppy mixture of mud and snow, the freezing cold mixture instantly soaking through her jeans. "Shit." A chill ran up Dana's back, the slush was almost two inches thick and she could feel chards of ice scraping against the exposed flesh of her wrists.

  Uurrggghhh

  Dana spun around as best she could in her sprawled out position. She was positive she heard the undeniable moan of a flesh-eating ghoul creeping up from behind.

  Snap

  A tree branch snapped somewhere nearby, the noise seemed to come from a different direction. Whirling around in a panic trying to locate the source of the sound, Dana couldn't see anything through the crowded trees.

  Crack

  The noise was coming from the left, and it was much closer this time. Dana wanted to run away, but she couldn't be sure what was making the noise; maybe Eric had come back for her? She thought he would change his mind and make sure she made it back to the ambulance. Dana could hear gruesome chewing sounds nearby, the sickening wet sounds of one of those demons gnawing at someone's flesh.

  Aauurrrrgg

  A gargled moan from behind alarmed Dana; she turned in time to see a shuffling cadaver stumbling towards her.

  SNAP

  A corpse cracked a root sticking out of the ground on her left, breaking through the tree branches: two zombies were closing in on her. Dana wrestled with the fear that paralyzed her, fighting with her muscles to get up on her feet. Dana turned to run, but stubbed her toe on a partially covered rock sticking up from the ground. She spilled into a puddle of freezing cold, putrid filth. The half-eaten contents of a bear’s stomach spilled into the icy mess, making a sluice of gore and filth. Hunks of fur covered flesh and strands of ripped apart intestines were strewn about the forest floor, and a zombie had its face buried into the bear’s cavity. In a delirious state, Dana managed to get to her feet just as the dead clutches of the demonic creature reached its blood covered hands out towards her. Running away from the throng of dead bodies at a hectic pace, Dana finally reached the clearing where the ambulance should have been parked.

  The road was barren. The gate had already been opened, but a horde of the vile, diseased cadavers stumbled through the forest beyond the steel fence. The path to Howley was blocked by a pack of the undead; the fire at the cabin must have drawn them to this location. Dana didn't know what to do -- the road that led back towards the highway looked clear, but she was too afraid to lose Eric. Dana took the hunting knife out of its sheath, deciding that her best shot would be to try and tackle the three zombies she had already encountered, as there were too many corpses to handle on the road to Howley.

  BANG

  A gunshot echoed through the woods, and Dana headed straight towards it.

  The glare of fluorescent tube lighting gleamed off the stainless steel tabletops. David followed the woman into the communication room, her shadow dancing across the sleek black tiled floor. The aroma of tea caught his attention: a plate of biscuits rested next to a mug. The hot vapours rose from his mug, swirling around in the air like a lazy tornado. The scent made David's stomach grumble and he felt like a dog, salivating at the prospect of subsistence.

  "Please tell me you have extra." David's voice was coarse and his throat was dry; he hated how weak he sounded.

  The woman picked up her cup of tea and swirled the cup around before throwing her head back and finishing it off. She ambled over to the cupboards and fetched a second mug, placing a teabag in each cup. Carrying them over to the stove, she turned the burner on and filled the kettle with water from a clear plastic bottle. "Are you hungry, sir?"

  The word ‘sir’ caught David off guard. He had almost forgotten that he worked as head of security for Pharmakon, and was just as surprised that this woman remembered him. "I'll take whatever you can spare." David's legs felt like rubber, he needed to sit down. He stumbled towards a computer chair; resting his hands on the back of the green fabric, he spun the chair around and fell into it.

  "Are you okay, sir?" The woman rushed to David's side with a jar of pickled eggs and a box of salted crackers. David snatched the food out of her hands and stuffed the crackers into his mouth. His mouth was so dry he nearly choked on the dry saltine biscuit. He drank the liquid the pickled eggs were resting in; it was salty and made him want to throw up. He looked up at his saviour’s face just in time to watch her grimace, her lips curled up in disgust as she watched him devour the food like an animal. David wiped his face with his wrist, embarrassed by his vulnerability.

  "Mr. Steele, what happened to you? You went missing."

  "What’s your name?" The beautiful woman with emerald green eyes flustered David.

  "Lisa, sir." Lisa ran her hand through her curly red hair, looking over at the kettle.

  "Well, Lisa, I need to get the base in Buchans. Can you help me?" David was sure this was one o
f the satellite offices that Gordon had placed throughout the island as a safe haven for travelling employees.

  Lisa walked over to the computer desk and hovered near what looked like a radio. She fiddled with the switches and turned the dials until the sound of chatter flooded the room. "Headquarters, this is Lima India, come in."

  "This is headquarters, go ahead." The chatter on the other end died down.

  "Mr. Steele is looking for a way back to base, how soon can you be here?" Whispers could be heard on the other end, but David was quickly growing impatient waiting for a response. Lisa must have noticed the anger on his face, her skin turned ghostly pale. "Mr. Steele, this should only take a moment." Her voice was timid; David's reputation had preceded him.

  "We have an escort team on the way, they should arrive within five hours." A great sense of relief flooded over David, he would finally make his way back to base. Even if he couldn't find Jason, he would surely come looking for his wife. If Ted had done his job correctly, it would only be a matter of time. Lisa looked at David, the colour slowing returning to her porcelain skin. The kettle whistled loudly, drawing his attention. He looked to Lisa, his eyes demanding a cup of tea.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:

  DECEPTION

  Jarvik had awoken early that morning, but didn't want to make too much noise. Hank looked like he needed the rest and the poor girl looked like death warmed over. Besides, Jarvik couldn't believe Hank MacDonald was here in his grass hut in Lanx Aux Meadows. In his past life, Jarvik would have done anything to meet the famous movie star, and now the celebrity was under his roof.

  Placing another log on the fire, the flames quickly engulfed the fresh fuel and a blast of heat radiated from the heath. Jarvik placed a frying pan over the spit and placed a few hunks of pork belly in the pan to slow roast for breakfast. Both of his guests looked like they could use a good meal. Leaving the hut quietly, Jarvik headed to the baker’s hut to procure a loaf of fresh bread and, if the rummaging had gone well, maybe some fresh baked muffins.