Sundown Series (Book 4): Torment Read online

  They agreed to search quickly for the keys. Before coming back to the building, Alex had checked the pockets of the infected and found them empty. She had high hopes the keys were inside somewhere and tried not to imagine them in the pocket of some infected wandering miles away. As they looked, Alex took in the condition of the room. In the corner there was a makeshift bed with coats and wool blankets thrown on the ground. By the amount of blood in that area she assumed the man died there while trying to hide from the infected that swarmed the safety zone. There were empty food wrappers as well. Judging by that, Alex guessed the man was only alive a day before succumbing to the illness.

  The sound of shaking keys pulled Alex's gaze to Marcus. He held up two sets. Both had fobs on them, so Alex motioned for him to try them. She cheered quietly when the car lights blinked when Marcus hit the unlock button. Before leaving the office, Alex wandered around. She didn't find any additional information that may give them any idea of what Callahan had control over. She avoided touching any of the walls, as they were all covered with blood and black gore. In her mind she could see the infected man bouncing off of the walls as he tried to find a weak spot to escape from. The sound of any nearby vehicles or people would have riled him into a frenzy in the small building.

  They made one more check of the area before starting up the truck and backing it up to the supply building. Alex stood watch, keeping an eye out for any threats, while Marcus started loading the truck with boxes. She knew the process would go faster with two sets of hands, but she didn't have time for one of them to get hurt. She smiled ruefully at her thoughts, realizing her concern was really about the inconvenience of getting hurt, not the possibility of real trouble. Marcus came out of the building just in time to see the strange smile on her face.

  "Something funny?" He asked, looking around for the joke.

  "Nope. Just thinking to myself."

  "I feel like I should be worried that you're smiling like that when thinking to yourself. Have you officially cracked?"

  Alex turned to look at him as he hefted another box into the truck. In thirty minutes, he had almost two layers of boxes loaded. They wouldn't be able to fill many more. Marcus was a hard worker and Alex appreciated that trait about him. She never had to worry that he wouldn’t get his work done in a day. As he loaded boxes and Alex just stood watch, he never complained or asked for a break. He knew the process of getting things done and getting back into the safety of their vehicle.

  "Not completely cracked, but maybe a small scratch is starting," Alex said, only partially joking.

  Marcus seemed to realize it was closer to truth than she was letting on. He didn't continue with the joke, but nodded his head and walked back into the building. A shuffling sound from behind the storage building caught Alex's attention. Seconds later she pulled her gun and had it up in a two-handed grip. She slowly circled around the truck, keeping it as a protective shield between her and the building for the moment. She could see the door where Marcus would come unaware of a possible danger. Using the gun, she tapped on the truck. She was answered by a hissing growl that could have come from the throat of a four-legged predator, but Alex knew better.

  She didn't turn when she heard Marcus on the metal stairs. He immediately realized the threat, and he pushed the last box into the truck quickly before pulling his own weapons. Alex nodded toward the back of the building, just as a dark form stumbled around the side. Only one, thought Alex. Nothing more challenging or dangerous? Her own callous thoughts shook her, realizing she wasn't as concerned about her life as she should be. She allowed Billie’s and Henry's faces to flash in her mind. Then Easton and Candace. What would those children do without her?

  While the inner war waged in Alex, Marcus stepped forward to end the dead life of the infected. Alex assumed it was another FEMA worker, wearing a similar color to the man they found in the office building. It was hard to see any sort of logo on his shirt, as it was completely covered in dried blood. This infected had feasted often after waking as a zombie. The idea made Alex sad. How many had this infected been able to kill before he came across Marcus and Alex? The numbers could be huge, and Alex had to stop thinking about it. There was nothing they could do to save everyone that was still alive. They could only end those they came across as they survived every day.

  With the truck packed, Alex ran back to the Bronco. Marcus followed her to the school parking lot. Alex insisted on entering the school to look for the education materials she wanted to collect for the compound. The dark doorways seemed ominous, but Alex just told herself it was because there were no windows in the inner corridors. Though that was probably true, it didn't account for the dead that could be inside as well.

  "They left fast," Marcus commented as the two stood in front of the wide-open front office door.

  "Everything fell apart too fast. They weren't ready," Alex replied.

  "All set?" He asked, nodding toward the dark entrance.

  "As ready as you can be in the apocalypse," she replied.

  Leading the way, Alex held her 9mm up with one hand and a flashlight under it with the other. She had learned the technique from her father, though it wasn't practiced often. He was very clear about moving your hands together as one, so your flashlight beam was pointing at whatever you wanted to shoot. Her light cut through the dingy darkness of the school hallway. It was the destroyed chaos that Alex had pictured in her mind.

  The school office had clearly been taken over by the military. Papers and school handbooks were strewn across the ground. One desk held a satellite phone and a heavy-duty laptop case that was on its side. When Alex turned the laptop, she wasn't surprised to see the screen smashed. The satellite phone was completely dead, but she added it to her pack to give to Rafe. Her brother was a wiz with technology, and she thought he might be able to do something with the device. She’d noticed the blood splattered across the front desk of the office. An attack happened here, leaving Alex to wonder how many people had made it out and how many were dead wandering the halls they were about to walk down.

  After the front office was cleared, they used an inner door to enter the hallways. Just inside they stood quietly, listening for movement. The smell was between dusty and roadkill. The infected had been inside and not long ago. But the question was if they were still there. Far off somewhere in the school a banging could be heard. Alex decided to go the opposite way of where she thought that sound was originating from.

  The first door they found that was unlocked led to a kindergarten classroom. They quickly cleared the room and let the door shut behind them. In the relative safety of the room, Alex put away her gun and went straight to the corner that held small bookshelves. She quickly sorted through books that would be good for Henry and packed them in her bag. She then went to the teacher's messy desk. It was easy to tell that no one had used the room for anything after the school was taken over. The desk was still covered with lesson plans and homework pages. Alex grabbed a stack of writing practice sheets and coloring pages and packed those away as well.

  Marcus busied himself with gathering the stacking blocks and crayons from around the room. Alex found him putting a few bags of crayons, markers, and pencils in his bag. They could only carry so much, so they had to be selective in what they took. Thinking also of creating the little school time on the compound, Alex took the electric pencil sharpener that sat near the door of the room. She looked back around, wishing she could take the colorful posters from the walls that had cute sayings. Or the bean bag chairs that sat all over the room for kids to lounge in. Another time, she thought to herself.

  Done with the kindergarten room, Alex pulled her gun again. They opened the door a crack to listen while they held their breath. No sounds came from the hallway and Alex carefully opened the door fully. She pointed her flashlight down both sides of the hallway. It was empty, just as they had left it. They took a left-hand turn to go deeper down the hallway, away from the office they’d entered through. After two mor
e locked doors they opened another door.

  This room was in disarray. After confirming the room was empty, they quickly entered and shut the door behind them. This room had sleeping bags along the walls and tables set for meals and toiletries in the center. Alex came to a quick conclusion that this was used as shelter, but the lack of the blood meant these people had evacuated before the slaughter began. Ignoring the shelter items, Alex went to the teacher’s desk where textbooks were stacked. She flipped through the mathematics book. She knew that Billie had learned her basics of addition and subtraction, but she was only in the second grade. This book seemed slightly more advanced, but Alex guessed that was the point of school. She took one book each of math, science, and social studies. She found a small stack of library books behind the teacher's desk. It was easy to decide which Billie would enjoy reading. Max's daughter, Jack, was a year older than Billie, so Alex hoped these books applied to her somehow as well.

  "I think I have all I can carry," Alex said in a whisper.

  "We can always come back another time. Or unload and head right back in today," Marcus replied.

  "I need to go to the other side," she said.

  "For Candace and Easton? I don't think we'll be alone there."

  Alex nodded her head, contemplating. In her mind she envisioned building a library for the kids. This was just the start. She wanted to get into the middle school side, the side she was sure the banging was coming from. That would be where she could find things for Candace and Easton. She knew they had all of their basic learning done, but education had been so important to her at their age. She wanted to make sure she provided what they needed to survive now, but also later when—or if—the world repaired itself.

  Deciding that they still had plenty of hours in the day, the pair made their way back to the office and out of the school. They went straight to the Bronco and emptied their bags of all the education materials. Alex noticed Marcus was more focused on the fun items such as math games, blocks, construction paper, scissors, and popsicle sticks. She had to smother a laugh thinking about the difference in their priorities. She carefully stacked the books that she had brought, making room for more.

  When they turned back to the school, Alex handed Marcus a bottle of water. They studied the school in silence as they sipped the cool liquid. The sun was high in the sky, Alex assumed it was getting close to lunch time. She guessed if they made one more run into the school they would break for lunch after. Marcus agreed with the plan and they headed back toward the office. Though they cleared the area before, they still moved carefully, checking dark corners and making sure doors were secured as they passed.

  Alex took a deep breath before turning the direction for the middle school side of the building. She hoped she understood the layout from the map inside the office. They would have to pass through the large gym and on the other side was where the middle school classrooms would be. As they walked down the hallway, the banging sound became more prominent. The sound felt like they were walking toward the serial killer in a horror movie. Alex had hated those movies, always despising how the heroine would escape death even after running upstairs instead of out the open backdoor.

  They arrived at a door with a large sign above it that said "Gym". Alex stood and stared at the door. It shook under the assault of banging that was coming from the other side. Of course, her mind ironically thought, Why wouldn't the killing infected be locked in the very building we need to cross through? She huffed a breath, trying to make a plan in her mind.

  "Sounds like only one," Marcus whispered close to her ear.

  She didn't think it mattered if the infected heard them. Clearly it had been banging against the door for a while, with nothing to take its attention away from the last place it heard the living. If there was only one, it would be easy for them to handle. However, she worried about what else was in the gym that wasn't banging against the door.

  "Do we take the chance?" Alex said quietly, almost to herself.

  "We came this far. Might as well see what's going on. If it's too much, we slam the door shut again."

  He made it sound so easy. Nothing was easy in the apocalypse, but they didn't have much choice other than turn around and leave. If there was only one, that would be a waste in Alex's mind. She nodded to him and stepped back. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue. Alex knew he expected to be the one that stood in danger’s path and that was exactly why she wanted to do it. She knew she could handle whatever came through the door just as well, if not better than Marcus. They quickly agreed to a plan, and they stepped to their necessary spots.

  Marcus put his hand on the handle of the door. They could see it was the type that just needed to be turned down to open. Once he opened it, he would swing it toward himself, making him blind for a moment. Alex was to handle the infected that came out and then prepare for any additional attacks. If there was anything she could see, she was to yell for Marcus to close the door. Alex rolled her shoulders, preparing for a fight. She held her gun, not wanting to take a chance at hand to hand with an unseen foe. She nodded to Marcus, and he turned the knob.

  Immediately, Alex was glad she didn't think to use her knife. The infected that stumbled out was large, very large. In a quick inventory Alex wouldn't put him much shorter than 6'4" and maybe 250 pounds. She raised her aim. It took a moment for the disoriented infected to see her, but when he did, his black eyes widened, and he raised his hands toward her. With no hesitation, Alex pulled the trigger, punching a black hole into the forehead of the infected giant. Brain matter splashed against the open door and Alex decided to let Marcus know that behind the door was the best location.

  The large infected fell and Alex realized that their plan was flawed and in the worst way. She swung her flashlight up to look into the dark gym and she gasped at the number of bodies that moved. The chorus of growling and hissing rose together, and Alex knew they had made a mistake. Alex stepped back, calling Marcus's name, though she knew he couldn't close the door; the giant infected had fallen directly in the way. And he was too large to move quickly.

  Marcus popped his head around the door when he realized it wouldn't close. One look at Alex's ashen face and he knew there was a problem. The first of the infected started to fight through the door as Marcus stepped to Alex's side. Alex shot the infected that came close to the open doorway, causing it to topple, only to be replaced by five more. They knew immediately they couldn't fight the number that was in the gym and they turned and ran. Alex tried to hold her flashlight as still as possible, giving them a clear view of where to run. In her mind she prayed none of the infected were the faster ones, because she didn't want to look back and find them bounding after them.

  They didn't stop sprinting until they ran into the sunlight of the day. They both gasped for breath. The adrenaline was pumping through them and the fear was enough to take the breath from their lungs. Suddenly Marcus ran back toward the school.

  "Marcus! No!" Alex screamed. She didn't know why he would run back toward the danger, but she wanted him to stop.

  Quickly Marcus yanked on the two big doors that led to the office. Slamming them shut, he stepped back just as the infected began to run into the doors. It dawned on Alex what he had done. He had trapped them inside again. Alex looked toward the opposite side of the school and saw other doors open. She began to sprint that direction and Marcus's footsteps could be heard behind her. She slid to a stop just as she grabbed one door and slammed it. Marcus repeated the action with the other. They stepped back away from the school. Alex held out her hands as if she expected the whole building to implode at any point.

  "We can't be sure all the doors are closed," Marcus gasped.

  "No. But we did what we could," Alex replied.

  "Do we just leave them?"

  "We don't have enough ammo to waste on killing them all. We’ll have to come up with a plan at home and maybe we can find a way to end them. Better than someone else being killed by the mob," Alex said.
r />   Marcus nodded as he watched the building warily. The banging noise was now on the outermost side of the building, instead of on the inside when they’d first arrived. Alex guessed that might be a good thing. People would be immediately warned that it wasn't safe to go inside the school. Finally feeling she could turn her back she walked quickly back to the Bronco. She waited for Marcus to settle in the pickup and she pulled away from the school and the nightmares that plagued its hallways.

  Chapter Five

  Fingers drumming on a desk and the tightening around his eyes were the only sign of irritation. 'The Suit' took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes roughly. A headache was brewing, and he knew it was entirely the Duncans to blame. Dealing with the rebellious group was proving to be harder than he had ever expected. Occasionally he imagined removing Callahan from his position so he could get someone that would be able to actually follow orders.

  Thinking of the Major only made 'The Suit' more displeased. He lifted the satellite phone that he kept in his office. No one else was allowed to use the phone which was well known by all of his staff. Not that regular phones were working, anyway. Only the government links with the satellite phones were working now. Society was without any sort of power grid or form of communication.

  "Yes," Callahan's curt voice came across the line.

  "The Duncans have once again showed up on camera, Callahan. And they seem to be completely alive. What is the problem?"

  "We are doing our due diligence this time, sir. Last round of checks we have found they have added barbed wire to their defenses. We've done some other sweeps to gather information," Callahan explained.

  "These don't sound like solutions, Callahan. I just watched one of the Duncan women take off with enough FEMA supplies to keep a family alive for over a year. They are making sure they are well prepared for the long game. This needs to stop," 'The Suit' replied.