Out of the Dark: An apocalyptic thriller (43 page)

     Trevor nodded, so Sam put him down and kept a tight grip on his hand. “Come on, buddy.”

     Fearing too much of a delay would leave him weakened, with the adrenaline draining out of him, Sam pressed forward. He took two hard steps and then felt his hand jerked back.

     Trevor stood solidly and yanked again. Sam’s forward momentum and the backward effort of Trevor pulling combined with the man’s exhaustion. It was the recipe for the Bringer’s release and Sam had played right into it.

     Sam collapsed to one knee, unable to force his body to recuperate fast enough to grab at Trevor again. The boy’s body, in the possession of Wounds, darted away into the dark.

     Sam screamed angrily as he instantly lost sight of his son’s form. “No!” he roared. “Bring him back here, you bastard!”

     The thirty seconds of rest he’d taken would have to be enough. He pressed on into the night, following the trail of the Bringer who was after those he needed to protect and in control of his oldest child. He wouldn’t let the Bringer win. Even if he didn’t know the game they were playing, he knew for a fact he didn’t want to be on the losing side of the board.  

Chapter Thirty-Six

     Midway through the drive to their planned destination, Darcy pulled her vehicle to the side of the road and parked it. Shane and Stephanie followed suit. They sat for a moment, waiting to see if any of the corrupted would approach them under the shadow of the storm. When none did, Stephanie threw open her door and ran to Darcy.

     “Let me see,” she demanded as she opened Darcy’s door and thrust out her hand. “Is something wrong with it? Did she…infect you or something somehow?”

     Darcy grimaced and shook her head. “It does hurt. I don’t feel like one of those things is in me now, though. It just aches into the muscle. Even down to the bone, I’d say.”

     Shane walked over more slowly, carrying a well-bundled Leila. He deftly switched places with Stephanie, handing the small girl over and taking Darcy’s hand in his.

     “We need to get it cleaned. Whatever this thing is, we still need to deal with wounds in a smart way. Just because people are going full-on zombie or some shit doesn’t mean they aren’t transferring normal bacteria or causing typical problems we have to treat for. Lucky you, we grabbed everything we could want from the pharmacies. Because the kids need some time out of the car seats anyway, I think we should stay here for a bit. Eat something, get you treated and bandaged up. How does that sound?”

     Darcy looked in the backseat at Dylan. The fussy boy had fallen into a fitful sleep. She didn’t like how much he’d been sleeping since the Onset.

     “I think it sounds like a good idea. Do you think we could shift some of the stuff from the back seat here into Stephanie’s? Then the kids could hang out in back.”

     “I’m good with that.” Stephanie opened the back door and began stacking things under her free arm. She didn’t wince or hiss in pain as her bandaged cuts shifted painfully beneath the soft material. They would all have to put up with pain and inconveniences. She wasn’t going to be a puss because she had some uncomfortable, superficial wounds.

     “I’ll do that, Steph,” Shane suggested gently. “Why don’t you look in the back and find me some bandages, some of that saline wound wash, and an antibacterial ointment? I know we put them altogether in a couple of those big plastic carrying cases. Then, take Leila back to my truck and sit with her. I don’t want either of you getting cold.”

     Stephanie replaced her small load on the seat and said, “Gotcha. I’ll just bring one of the cases up.”

     Shane studied Darcy’s wound as Stephanie shuffled through their supplies in the back. He kept his eyes on the road–ahead of them, beside them, and behind them–and devoted the rest of his attention to the study of Darcy’s injury.

     “We’re not going to have to…cut it off or anything?” she asked as Shane accepted the medical case from Stephanie. The other woman spoke softly to Leila as she walked with the girl back to Shane’s vehicle.

     Shane gave Darcy a reassuring smile. “Of course not. We’ll get it treated and wrapped up, give you something for the pain, and get back on the road. Once we’re settled, we’ll keep an eye on it. I’m sure you’ll be good as new in no time.”

     “Shane, do you really think it’s going to be that easy?” Darcy looked around, seeking a distraction while Shane squirted the claw marks from the full corrupted with the saline solution.

     Shane didn’t immediately answer as he prodded the damp skin around the tears left by the talons Gina had grown. The puncture wounds weren’t his main concern. The deep bruising around the wound, already coloring Darcy’s pale skin an angry plum, told him the wound was more than superficial. Gina’s enormous strength once the corruption was fully underway could have caused more than just skin damage. Though he assumed Darcy would be in much more visible pain if Gina had managed to fracture bone with the pressure of her grip, he couldn’t discount the possibility.

     “I think we need to get the arm wrapped because the bruising is so pronounced. We don’t have any way to do an x-ray, so I don’t know if she was able to fracture the bone. Best thing would be to wrap it, put it in a sling, and use it as little as possible.”

     A roll of medical wrap was in Shane’s hand and he began to wind it around Darcy’s wrist. “We should probably put ice on it when we’re no longer mobile,” he suggested. “Do you think you can handle the rest of the drive or should we try to work something else out?”

     Darcy winced but didn’t complain as Shane wrapped the meaty part of her forearm, where the damage was most severe. “I want to get to where we need to go as soon as we can. I can drive one-handed as long as the storm doesn’t get any worse and the snow doesn’t come and mess up the roads.”

     Shane nodded and finished the wrapping. He pinned the material with two silver clips and rubbed his hands together. “We didn’t grab a sling. I don’t even know if the pharmacies would have had any.”

     “They did,” Darcy interjected. “Damn it, I should have grabbed at least a couple.”

     Shane cupped her face with one hand and smiled as he patted her cheek. “Don’t worry about it, kid. You can’t think of everything.”

     Darcy returned the smile and sighed as Shane dropped his hand. “If we don’t think of everything, we’re going to end up slipping. We have to be smarter than what it seems most people have become.”

     “Hey,” Shane said in an encouraging tone, “we’re working on it. When we can hunker down and start defending a place, we’re going to have a better chance to prepare and keep ourselves safe.”

     Darcy looked at the truck, where Stephanie had mixed a bottle of formula and begun feeding Leila. “That didn’t work out so well at the motel,” she reminded Shane.

     “That wasn’t intended to be our permanent place, though. The island is remote. We can make it secure.” He sighed and pulled his coat closer around his chest. He’d slipped his thick, fur-lined leather gloves back on but he couldn’t banish the chill from his skin.

     “It’s going to be dark by the time we get there now, isn’t it?”

     Shane nodded. “We took longer than expected gathering our supplies and you need to rest your arm. If we hadn’t fallen for what Gina was selling…”

     “Hey, it’s hard to believe everyone’s an asshole. Even before they wanted to eat us, I didn’t do a very good job judging most people.”

     “Well, hopefully we won’t have to do much of it when we get to the island.” Switching topics, he gestured to Dylan. “Do you want to take the little man out for a bit? I’ll start moving this stuff to Stephanie’s open seat.”

     “We didn’t pack the overhead storage hardly at all, either,” Darcy reminded Shane. “Some of it can go up there, too.”

     With a nod, Shane moved to the back seat and started to grab things that could be put inside the topper storage. After a few minutes of moving supplies around, his skin glowed warmly within his heavy clothing. A thin film of sweat had appeared on his forehead and he wiped at it with the sleep of his thick wool coat before returning to his own vehicle.

     Stephanie held Leila against her, cocooning the girl in warmth and steady arms. Leila snuggled comfortably with the soft-hearted blonde, choosing to lay contentedly instead of struggling to be released.

     “You’ve still got a seat free,” Shane told her as he hopped into the driver’s seat. Without doing physical work, the cold had quickly crept back in and stolen his warmth from him. He sighed his relief as the warmth of the truck’s cab warmed him once more.

     Stephanie nodded as Leila peeked her little head up so she could look at Shane. Stephanie handed him the infant girl with a smile. “I saw you were putting things in the toppers. Not likely that I’ll try to pick someone up again, though. Believe me, I can do without another screw up like that.”

     “Steph, they plotted it to go that way.” Shane’s voice scolded, but his dark eyes were gentle. “It’s hard to trust instincts with what’s going on right now. You’re a fighter and a survivor. Even if it’s hard to find a way right now, we’re going to find it eventually.”

     Stephanie chuckled and stroked Leila’s silky hair. “I believe it, Shane. But let’s stick with your instincts from now on. I won’t have to fight as hard to survive if you keep us out of shit like that.”

     Shane grinned. “Haven’t I been telling you that for years? ‘Just listen to me, Stephanie,’ ‘Just trust me, Stephanie,’ ‘Have I ever, ever steered you wrong, woman?’ I don’t know why it took the world ending for you to admit I’m usually right.”

     “Oh, ha ha. You’re fuckin’ hilarious,” she said wryly.

     “Hey, watch the language. You have to be a good role model now.”

     “Uh uh, buddy. I didn’t sign on for baby-raising duties.” Stephanie’s words of objection were tempered by a sweet smile as she stroked a finger down Leila’s cheek. “Of course, I shouldn’t swear so much anyway. Maybe I can work on it.”

     Shane steered the conversation to the more dire matter at hand. “We have to go soon. I want to be to the marina as soon as we can.”

     “Does it even matter right now?” Stephanie asked with a frown. “I mean, they can come out in the storm, obviously. Enough cloud cover keeps them safe. Should we wait out the storm somewhere before we try to make it to the marina?”

     Shane shook his head. “At least one of them would see us and follow us if we tried to park anywhere. We don’t have the gas to drive until the storm and the night passes. Plus, I doubt any of us could stay awake that long.”

     “We could pump ourselves full of Red Bull and caffeine pills,” Stephanie suggested in a half-joking tone.

     “Darcy wouldn’t,” Shane objected. “She breastfeeds Dylan and I’m sure she doesn’t want that shit keeping her from being able to produce healthy milk for him.”

     “Are you sure you’re a guy?” Stephanie teased. “I feel like an ass for not thinking of that and I’m a woman.”

     “Three nephews, remember? I had to hear the breastfeeding spiel every time my sister had another.”

     He stared out the windshield for a moment, letting his eyes focus on the storm clouds. Hoping it would distract him from thoughts of his family was in vain. Whenever he had a spare moments, he wondered how
Trinity was doing through the upheaval of the world around them. She’d be taking care of her boys in whatever way she could, Shane knew. She was stronger and more determined than either of the men who’d fathered her children. Shane trusted her to keep Jeremiah, Nathan, and Brandon safe. He just hoped beyond hope that he’d see them again one day.

     “I’m sure they’re fine, Shane.” Stephanie put a hand on his arm and gave him her most encouraging smile.

     He nodded and gave Leila a hug. “Well, sweets, we should get you back into your seat and get ready to head out. I’m going to go check on Darcy again. Do you think you can handle getting Leila strapped in?”

     Stephanie reached out to take the girl. “Absolutely, but you’d best check to make sure I did it right when you come back. I don’t have as much kid experience as you do.”

     Shane approached the van and saw that Darcy had Dylan out in the backseat. He was eating a pack of snack crackers and playing with a small stuffed kitty Shane hadn’t seen before.

     “This is Pink,” Darcy said as she waved at the soft blue cat. “Maggie named it. I didn’t get the joke but I couldn’t call it any other name. Some things just stick.”

     “It gives him some character, I’m sure,” Shane said with a smile. “We’re about ready to head out. You ready?”

     Darcy nodded and stepped out of the van. “I’ll get Dylan back in his seat.”

     Shane moved around the vehicle instead and waved her back to the driver’s side. “I’ve got this. Try to put as little strain on your arm as you can, okay?”

     Hesitant but still hurting, Darcy agreed although she didn’t like it. She watched closely as Shane strapped her boy in.

     Shane stepped back after giving the boy a hand squeeze. “He’s good to go. Want to check out my work, Mama?”