Grace Lost (The Grace Series) (29 page)

“I wrote out instructions for
them.  I just hope they don’t need to leave for any reason.”

“We’ll try to not be gone long,”
he said.

Gus was back from the shed within
minutes.  I watched out the back of the Explorer as he hauled a small
bucket, a section of garden hose, and a homemade funnel to the van.  He
fumbled in the cab for several seconds before climbing down and joining us in
the SUV.

“Did you put the keys in the glove
box?” asked Boggs.

“You bet,” answered Gus.

Boggs had turned the heater on
before following us back to the cabin and the Explorer was just starting to
warm inside.  We went through a final checklist, and then proceeded back
down the drive to the highway.  Once we reached the main road, we drove
back the way we had originally come so many days ago, knowing that we hadn’t
enough fuel to make it as far as the crash site we had siphoned from the day
before.  Gus and Boggs both agreed it would be wisest to stay quiet for
the drive, allowing me to focus on any intrusions into my mind.  I watched
the trees pass as we drove.  Leaves had changed colors and many had fallen
since we had driven this way last. 

“I see snow on that peak,” I said
softly. 

“Me too,” said Gus. 
“Winter’s coming early.  I can feel it.”

“How’s the gas, Boggs?” I asked.

“We have maybe five miles till we
have to turn around, Zo.”

After awhile Gus spotted a blue
minivan off on the side of the road, nose-end in a ditch.  We stopped and
all three of us got out, careful to stay alert.  The passenger doors on
the van were open and the inside was covered in blood.  The ditch was
filled with water from the storm that had blown through during the night. 
Tears came to my eyes when I saw a child’s teddy bear, stained with blood,
floating in the murky water by the front tire.  I felt my breathing
quicken when I realized the water was dark with blood.

Boggs walked up behind me and
placed his hands on my shoulders.  “We have to keep it together, Zoe,” he
whispered.  “There’s nothing we can do for them.”  I knew he was
referencing the people who had been in the minivan.

I nodded my head silently, wiping
away the tears.  Rain started to fall again, as if crying in my
place.  Not wanting to, but needing to, I stepped closer to the open
slider door of the vehicle and looked inside more closely.  The interior
was light gray, or rather had been.  It was mostly blood-stained
now.  The bench seats in the middle and back had been slashed and
ripped.  The windows were streaked with blood.  When I took notice of
a tiny red handprint on the window next to me, I covered my mouth with my left
hand and turned away.  I had to bite on my own fist to keep quiet.  I
was filled not only with great sadness, but also with rage. 

Gus and Boggs had siphoned almost
ten gallons of gasoline from the minivan in the ditch.  I had been sent
back to the Explorer to keep watch while they worked, but I knew it was the men
showing mercy by getting me away from the scene of obvious death and
carnage. 

We all sat in the shelter of the
SUV now, continuing on the highway.  None of us recalled seeing anything
significant in the way of buildings between the cabin and the town where we had
watched the woman being attacked and
eaten
so many
days ago.  Going back there seemed like a poor choice, so we decided to
take a turn-off we had ignored when first driving through. 

The rain continued to come down
heavily, and was beginning to look like it was mixed with snow.  I
fleetingly thought about how it would make a good tomato-soup-and-crackers
day.  Tomato soup turned to blood in my mind and my thoughts turned to the
child from the minivan, and what had happened to him or her. 

“There’s one close,” I said from
the back seat, my voice lacking in feeling.  I didn’t have the emotional
strength to panic at the moment.

“Zoe?  You sure?” asked
Boggs.

“Ya, positive.
  It sees our car driving by.  It’s running after
us.  God it wants to eat us…”

“I’d speed up,” said Gus to
Boggs.  “No point taking risks.”

“We can’t come back this way,” I
said as Boggs pressed his foot down on the gas pedal.

“Talk to us, Zoe,” said Gus calmly
but with tension in his voice.

“Oh God,” I moaned.  “There’s
so many of them.”

“Zoe?”  Gus’ voice was stern
now.

“Hundreds, Gus.  There’s so
many I can’t see right.  Boggs, hurry…”  I started crying
softly.  The intrusions inside my head were too much to bear.  The
desire for raw flesh and still-pumping blood, and the multiple images flashing
one after another were making me nauseous.  “They’re planning to set an
ambush.”

“Zoe, where?” barked Gus. 
‘Talk to me!”

“Behind us.
  We have to go, and
fast
!  They’re
growing in numbers, organizing, ambushing this stretch of the road.”

“Zoe do you see any ahead of us?”
asked Gus, not skirting the issue at all.

“No.  Just behind.  They’re
the same ones who attacked the minivan, and all the people from the wreck
yesterday.  They ripped them all apart.”  Tears were falling down my
cheeks now.  “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“Zoe, I can’t stop,” said
Boggs.  “Not till I know it’s safe.”

“Try to take some deep breaths,
Zoe,” said Gus as he climbed over the center console to join me in the back
seat.

“They were enraged,” I whispered
as he sat down next to me. 
“Angry that they didn’t get
us.
  They were so focused on eating the people from the van they
missed us…” my voice broke off.

Gus tried to sooth me, holding me
in his arms.  “Ok, we’re getting farther away Zoe.  Can you still
feel them?”

I shook my head no.  “No,
they’re gone.  Gus.”  I looked him in the eyes to get his full
attention.  “They’re using one of us. 
A human.
 
As bait.
  I saw it in their thoughts.  They
keep one of us alive and make them walk the road till someone driving by stops
to help.”

“Shit,” said Boggs from the
driver’s seat. 
“You sure Zoe?”

I sniffled, my nose starting to
run from crying.  “I’m positive. 
And the family
from the minivan.
  They took them into the woods.  God, they
tore them apart while they were still alive.”

“Try not to think about it,” Gus
tried to soothe me.

We drove for several miles in
silence, Gus continuing to hold me.  My ears popped as we descended in
elevation.  The rain was still falling, but not as heavily.  I tried
to focus on the many native plants as we passed them by, trying to keep my
thoughts from returning to the bits and pieces of foreign images of horror that
had flashed though my mind.  I longed to be back in the cabin with Emilie,
Louisa, and even Susan.  I was growing tired, as I had noticed happens
when the zombies fill my head, so leaned against Gus and closed my eyes. 
He held me as a father might hold a frightened child.

Gus shook me awake.  I had
fallen asleep against him. 

“Zoe, wake up darlin’.  We
need to get out soon.”

The car was still in motion, but
going slowly.

“Zo, hun, do you sense anything
here?” asked Boggs from the front seat.

“Where are we?” I asked, slightly
disoriented from sleep.

“We turned off the highway a few
miles back.  You’ve been asleep for about an hour.  We saw a sign for
a bed and breakfast coming up soon.”

“Why did you let me sleep? 
What if they came after us?” my voice was rising with concern.

“You have to sleep, Zo,” said
Boggs.  “Nothing bad happened,
it’s
ok.”

“Zoe, darlin’ do you feel anything
here?” asked Gus trying to get my focus back on track.

 “No. 
Nothing.”

“Good girl,” said Gus.  “We
should be coming across this place anytime.  We’ll be more careful this
time.  Go in together.  Stay together.  Come out together,” said
Gus.

I saw Boggs glance at us in the
rear view mirror.  “Zo, keep your revolver in hand.  If you need to
put it down, shove it in a pocket.”

I nodded, knowing he could see me
in the mirror. 

Boggs picked up speed a bit and
after a couple of minutes we saw a sign off on the right marking the bed and
breakfast.

“
The Winthrop Inn
,
charming,” said Gus.  “Let’s just hope we’re welcomed.”

Boggs pulled off the highway and
brought the SUV to a slow creep, eventually parking in front of the bed and
breakfast.  The inn looked old.  The outside was white-washed with
dark blue trim.  A short wrought iron fence surrounded the grounds and
building except for the drive.  I focused again, but sensed none of the
living dead near. 

“Look at the front door,” I
said.  “There’s a sign in the window.”

 “Good eye, Zoe,” praised
Gus. 

Boggs turned the key to shut off
the motor.  We all got out and closed our car doors.  Gus held the
sawed-off shotgun off to one side, holding both arms out, and walked to the
front door.  “Hold your weapons out like I am, and follow me,” he called
back to me and Boggs. “It’ll show we’re not hostile.”

Boggs and I did as
instructed.  The rain had stopped falling, but the wind was picking up
again.  The sky was dark gray and held the promise of more precipitation
to come. 

Once we had all gathered on the
modest sized porch, Gus blindly handed his gun to Boggs.  I noticed he
kept his eyes on the door and whatever might wait within.   “I’m
going to knock,” he whispered.  “Whatever happens try to keep your cool.”

This was perhaps the first time
since meeting him that I noticed that Gus seemed genuinely nervous.  He knocked
on the door.  No one answered.  I stepped forward, situating myself
beside Gus.  I pointed to the sign that was taped inside the door.

Closed for the Season, please
come again.

“Maybe there’s no one here?” I
whispered.

Boggs stepped up behind me.  “Let
us go in first, Zo.”

I tried the knob, ignoring
Boggs.  It was locked, of course.  Gus motioned me back.  Boggs
took me by the arm and encouraged me to stand back with him.  Gus raised
the butt of the shotgun and used it to knock out one of the small panes of
glass near the door knob.  The glass shattering broke the intense silence
that had built around us, causing my heart to speed.  The silence
returned, and time seemed to slow.  Rain began to fall again, breaking the
stillness.  Gus used his elbow to knock out the remaining shards of glass
and then reached in to unlock the door. 

“I’m not staying out here alone,”
I whispered as Gus turned the knob and pushed the heavy front door
inward. 

“Ok,” whispered Boggs back to
me.  “Stay alert, and stay near me.”

We walked into the foyer of the
house.  The floors were a dark hardwood with intricate area rugs placed
strategically.  A small podium held a guest book.  I noted that the
last entry had been about three weeks prior. 
A Dr. and
Mrs. Duffey.
  Victorian style furniture adorned the room with book
cases taking up the entire far wall.  The large front window had burgundy
curtains gathered on either side with sheer white panels covering the panes of
glass. A large stone hearth took up the far corner of the room.  We stood
there for several moments acclimating to the lack of lighting and listening for
anything that might signal danger.  Gus signaled for us to follow
him.  He walked to a large arched opening to the kitchen and Boggs and I
followed him through.  The counter tops were dark granite with quaint
baskets spread about.  The theme seemed to be “country” with a chicken and
cow motif.  It was strikingly different than the foyer.  Hues of
green and yellow made the large room feel bright and energetic.  An old
fashioned distressed kitchen table was meant to seat a crowd of ten by the
chair count.  Pleasantly there were no signs of people, living or
dead. 

We left the kitchen and climbed a
narrow staircase to inspect the upper floor.  One of the treads squeaked
when Gus stepped on it.  We all stopped and listened.  We heard
nothing but the rain falling against the building.  Gus motioned for us to
continue, which we did.  The second floor boasted the bedrooms and two
bathrooms, likely shared by all guests.  We searched them all quickly to
make sure no dangers were about.  The bedrooms each had their own theme,
and I wished that Emilie could see how beautiful they were.

“Ok kids, let’s pack up what we
can and get back on the road,” said Gus quietly. 

“This place gives me the creeps,”
said Boggs.

“Not me.  I wish we could
stay,” I whispered.

“No, Zoe, we need to get back to
the others,” said Gus.

“I know,” I said. 

“Let’s start loading the Explorer
up,” said Boggs.