Less Than Human (15 page)

  
    
ENDS

   
CHAPTER THIRTEEN

A DAY LATER...

T
he truck died just outside of Brown Valley, Pennsylvania, the town Melissa had moved Jake to. The gas light had warned them many miles ago, but since none of them knew where the nearest pit stop was, they chanced it. The Barker Brothers had stripped them of their cellular devices, even though they would have been useless anyway. Ben thought back to the first day everything fell apart and remembered his cell phone refused to find a signal.
Things don't look too different over here,
he thought while cruising down the empty, residential streets. 

They saw signs pointing toward Brown Valley and Ben told them they were close. As soon as they reached the border, the engine sputtered and finally ceased. Josh cranked it a few more times just to make sure. It choked, but never started.

“Looks like were hoofing it,” Josh told them.

“
What if
they
are out there?” Emily asked.

Josh turned to her. “Then we probably shouldn't wait around for them, right?”

They
were
out there. Ben could smell them, that old familiar odor.

“
Let's hurry,” Ben suggested, hopping out of the cab.

The five of them started down the street.

“Do you know where you're going, man?” Josh asked, following the rest of the group.

“
732 Crown Avenue.”

“
And which way is that?” Josh asked.

Ben sighed. “I don't know. But this town isn't that big.”

“So we're just going to what—walk around aimlessly until we find it?”

Ben shrugged. “Got a better idea?”

“Let's head back to the highway. There's gotta be a convenience store something. Maybe they have a map.”

“
That's backtracking.”

“
Sometimes you gotta go backwards before you can move forward,” Josh said confidently.

Ben closed his eyes, shaking his head. “You go. I gotta find my son.”

Victoria looked around. “I have to be honest, Ben. Things don't look very... lively.” She surveyed the surrounding houses. Ranches. Most of them appeared empty. Abandoned. No signs of life. “Do you think whatever happened... reached here?”

“
No,” Ben said immediately. “No, they probably evacuated once they heard about the East Coast.”

“
What makes you think your ex and son are still here?” Brittany asked. “Wouldn't they have evacuated with the rest of them?”

“
I told them I was coming.” Ben shrugged. “But they might have. If it wasn't safe anymore. I'd like to think my ex would at least give me
some
time to get out here. Things were looking up the last I spoke with her. We had just been
saved
. Remember?” Ben smiled.

“
Saved. Yeah, right. Funny.”

“
I wonder what
my
ex is doing right now,” Victoria asked, hoping to change the subject.

“
Hopefully he's dead,” Brittany muttered.

“
Brittany! Don't talk about your father like that. Not in front of your sister.”

“
It's okay, Mom. I never knew him anyway,” Emily told her.

“
Still... that's not the point.”

“
What? He's a scumbag, drug addict.” Brittany nodded to Josh. “No offense.”

“
Oh, none taken,” Josh said sarcastically. He changed his tone immediately. “Ben, I have to protest. We need a map. Otherwise we'll be here for days looking for Crown Avenue.”

Ben stopped in the middle of the street. While his eyes darted from house to house, toward neighboring streets, an overwhelming, panicky sensation coursed through him. He placed his hands on his knees, preparing to vomit.

“You okay?” Victoria asked.

“
Just tired.”

“
Ben? Map?” Josh asked.

It took Ben a moment, but clarity washed over him. Nodding, he rose. “We can search the houses. Someone is bound to have a map.”

“I doubt many people have a map of their hometown just sitting around, but yeah,” Josh said. “It's worth a shot.”

“
Better than walking around aimlessly, right?” Brit asked.

“
Right.”

“
Okay.” Ben pointed to Josh. “You take Brit and Emily. Victoria come with me.”

“
I'm not leaving my babies again,” Victoria said sternly.

“
Mom—” Brit started to say, her face reddening.

“
Don't
Mom
me.” Her eyes welled. “I almost lost you two before. It's never going to happen again. Understand?”

Together, Brit and Emily nodded.

“Okay. I'll go by myself,” Ben said.

“
I'll go with you,” Josh said.

“
No, you go with the girls.”

Josh didn't argue.

“Five minutes in each house. Not a second longer. We meet back in the street before entering the next one. Agreed?”

Josh and the girls agreed silently.

T
he first house they stepped foot in had been ransacked. The refrigerator was open and empty. The stained oak cabinets were ajar, unwanted contents tossed haphazardly on the countertop. Pet bowls filled to the brim remained untouched. Chairs around the kitchen table were pushed over. The couch cushions were overturned, a few them on the floor.

“
I don't feel safe in here,” Victoria told Josh.

“
Let's go. It's impossible to find anything in this mess anyway.”

They quickly rushed out of the house, ran down the driveway, and waited in the street for Ben to finish his search. A minute later, Ben emerged from the front door, looking as depressed as he had upon entering.

“Anything?” Josh asked.

Ben shook his head. “You?”

“Nope. We're heading to the next one.”

Ben nodded.

H
e opened the front door, immediately smelling it. Something rotten.
Shit.
At first he stepped back, not wanting to risk the chance of tangling with dead again. Going almost twenty-four hours without seeing a walking corpse was a streak Ben wasn't anxious to break. However, he felt something tugging at him. Begging him to enter.

Hesitantly, Ben stepped foot in the house.

The living room was trashed, much like the neighbor's house.
What the hell happened here?
His nerves were on edge.
What if we reach Melissa's and it's like this?
It was a plausible scenario, one he wasn't quite prepared to handle. He kept telling himself that it was okay, that Crown Avenue—for all he knew—was on the other end of town. Maybe nothing bad happened there yet.
Yet.
Dread set in. His stomach felt hollow. His heart pumped abnormally fast. He closed his eyes, praying to whatever God allowed this to happen, begging Him for his son's safety.

Something moved above him.

Ben's eyes shot open. He listened closely. The quiet noise repeated. Ben glanced at the ceiling.

Jesus Christ. There's someone up there.

Ben sprinted toward the stairs. He bounded three steps at a time until he reached the corridor. He looked down the hall and saw three doors; two open, one closed. Cautiously, he crept down the hallway, passing the two open doors, peering inside the rooms while strolling by. Empty. Well, not quite. Clothes were thrown about messily. Bags of potato chips and candy wrappers littered the floor. Ben could barely see the carpet. The other room was trashed similarly.

He focused on the closed door. Again, something bumped about inside.

I must be insane,
Ben thought. He tried the door knob. Locked. Ben exhaled.
Well, here we go.
Feeling like he was no longer in control of his body, Ben kicked in the door.

Eyes immediately upon him. Ben's heart sunk.

Shit.

J
osh stepped into the kitchen and immediately recoiled.

“
What is it?” Victoria asked.

“
Don't come in here,” Josh told them.

“
Is it... a zombie?” Emily asked.

“
No. Just...” Josh shook his head. “Stay there. All of you. I'll search the kitchen myself.”

Victoria huddled her daughters into the living room and waited. The house was less messy than the previous one. They were able to walk around without stepping in mounds of garbage. Victoria sat herself on the couch. Her daughters followed.

“Don't get too comfortable,” he said, disappearing into the kitchen.

He passed a hanged woman who had tied herself to the ceiling fan and kicked a chair out from under herself. Her skin was gray, a tone he had been accustomed to seeing lately. Josh surveyed her. There were no bites on her arms and legs.
Maybe Ben's kid has a chance yet.
He walked past her, his gaze fixated on her cold, open eyes. He waited for her corpse to spring to life, but it never did.

Josh started rummaging through the drawers, finding nothing useful. No map. No GPS. Nothing they could use to find Melissa's house.
We'd be half way to that convenience store by now.

Josh opened the cabinet above his head. His heart skipped when he saw what was staring him in the face. His nerves tingled with delight. He cooed affectionately, not realizing he had done so. He imagined it smiling at him, opening its invisible arms and hugging him.

The dragon within grinned.

The plastic bottle containing opiates glowed in the dim kitchen. Josh licked his lips. His body and brain clashed.

The dragon crept forward.

Josh grabbed the bottle and felt power ebb through his veins. The rush of how good it would feel to take one pill into his mouth and swallow waded him. That phantom sensation.

The dragon purred.

The name printed on the bottle was Kelly Monroe of 1243 Yardsmith Street.

Josh glanced at Kelly, who remained hanged. “Sorry, Ms. Monroe.” The bottle popped opened gracefully. “Doesn't look like you'll be needing these any more.” He tapped the bottle and watched its contents invade his palm.

The dragon's eyes widened with delight.

Then, he dropped them into the sink. “And neither will I.” He ran the water and watched the pills disappear inside the drain.

The dragon's throat had been slashed, rivers of blood flooding the countryside.

A few moments later he entered the living room.

“
Who were you talking to?” Victoria asked.

“
Nobody,” he said dismally.

“
You okay?” Brit asked.

“
Yup.”

“
Find anything?” asked Emily.

Josh shook his head and pushed open the front door, the sickness causing his body to tremor.

      
CHAPTER FOURTEEN

B
en's legs weakened. The figure shifted in the corner of the room. Its eyes fixed on Ben's. Eyebrows furrowing, the figure hunched over, as if it planned to leap across a small brook. Ben put his palm up.

“
Wait,” Ben said. “I'm not here to hurt you.”

The figure grumbled. It remained where it was, shrinking back into the shadows the window blinds provided.

“Are you hurt?” Ben asked.

For a second, the figure said nothing. “I've felt better.”

“I'm not here to cause any problems.”

“
Then what the fuck are you doing in my house?” An elderly man vacated the shadows. He reminded Ben of a toad; short, round, with bug-like eyes resting above droopy patches of skin. His flesh was riddled with brown spots. A white gauze pad clung to his neck. In the center of it, Ben noticed a rust-colored stain. “Hmm?”

“
I'm looking for my son.”

“
Well he sure as shit ain't here.”

“
I know. He lives on Crown Avenue. My friends and I were searching the neighborhood, hoping to find a map. See we hoped—”

“
No map here either,” the toad-like man croaked.

“
I see. Perhaps—”

“
Two streets over.”

Ben stared at him blankly, his lips trembling softly.

“That's what you were going to ask, wasn't it?” The man sat down on a nearby chair. “Where Crown Street is.”

“
Yeah...” Tears glistened in the corners of Ben's eyes.

The toad-like man coughed. He scratched the wound on his neck. Ben backed away slowly.

“Goddammit.”

“
Were you... bit?” Ben asked.

The man's eyes broke away from Ben's. “Jack Runion from Hollow Court. Five blocks down. Was chasing a dog when I went to get my paper the other day. Crazy fucker turned direction and attacked me. Bit pretty hard. What the hell is going on with people?”

“And you didn't... change?”

The man's face twisted like a pretzel. “Change? Into what? A zombie? Fuck no.”

Ben shook his head disbelievingly. “How is that possible?”

“
Dunno. Maybe I'm immune.” The toad shrugged. “Lost power a few days back. Haven't really left this room. Only for pissing breaks and food. What's going on out there?”

“
Nothing good.”

The man started coughing. Ben covered his mouth and backed away. The toad waved at him.

“Don't get your panties in a bunch. I'm just getting over this damned flu.”

Ben's heart stopped momentarily. “Did you say... flu?”

“Yeah. Flu season in the middle of fucking summer. Can you believe it?”

Ben thought of Jake and what he said on the phone. That he had been sick the past week. Same as Ben. Same as the toad-like man. What was it the doctor told Jake? Lots of people were coming down with it?

“Fuck's your problem? Look like you saw a goddamn ghost.”

Ben shook his head. He tried to add it all up, but couldn't. The flu. People catching it at the exact same time. The zombie apocalypse. These things seemed like they intertwined, but Ben couldn't figure out how or why.

“Anyway... best be gettin' along,” the toad said. “You have a son to find, don't you?”

Ben nodded. “Yes. Thanks for your help.”

“Not sure I did anyth—” The toad erupted into another coughing fit. “Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.”

“
T
his way!” Ben shouted, running across the toad's front lawn.

“
You found something?” Victoria asked.

Ben didn't reply. Running to the street corner, the rest of the group took off after him.

Please, God. Please be there...

He rounded the corner. The first thing he looked for was the street sign. Yorke Avenue.
Next one over.
He heard Victoria yell something, but ignored her. Josh said something about
waiting up
, but he ignored him too. “You don't know what you'll find!” Ben heard him yell. He didn't care. He needed to find his son. He needed to hold him again.
God just let me find him in one piece... 

He quickly thought back to the dream he had, the one where Jake joined the dead.

Please...

He sprinted past Yorke, focusing on the next sign. He could just make out the letters on the green plate—Crown Avenue they spelled. It fueled him, injected him with vigor. Ben never felt faster. Not in his entire life, youth combined. He ran like Hell itself was burning behind him.

God...

Shouting from behind him, but he didn't care.

Jake...

He prepped himself for the corner, already focusing his eyes toward the houses to see which way the numbers ran. A bush to his right blocked his vision. He readied to round it, his heart feeling like it would explode in his chest. He took the corner the fast, almost too fast.

No...

He skidded to a halt. His heart plunged into his feet.

God... no...

Before him, the street was filled with the dead.

Jake...

They slowly turned to him, their faces long and unsatisfied. Hungry.

God...
please don't let this happen...

Behind him, the women screamed.