Outbreak (Book 2): The Mutation (34 page)

As the bus approached Mike Wall Lane, Walt slammed on the breaks.

“What the hell, Walt!
”
yelled Samantha from the back.

But Walt and Cheryl stared at the sight before them.

Hundreds of the infected walked in the direction of Schoepke Springs. Everyone on the bus held their breath as they watched.

“Something’s not right,
”
Walt whispered to Cheryl. “Look at the way they’re walking.”

“And look at their bodies,
”
Cheryl added. “None of them have any wounds on them. Hell, they’re in better condition than us.”

“Oh my God,
”
Samantha said from the back. “Look at their eyes.”

Of the hundreds of infected that walked in front of them, they all saw what Samantha saw. All of them had yellow eyes. It wasn’t just some yellowing of the whites of the eyes—the entirety of their eyes were a bright, almost fluorescent, yellow.

“What the fuck is going on here?
”
David asked as he scanned the infected.

Walt put the bus into reverse and backtracked to the Spicewood Community Library.

“Where the hell do you think they’re headed?
”
David asked once the bus was parked at the library.

“I have no idea,
”
Walt said, “and I hope we don’t find out.”

“What the hell are we going to do now?
”
Samantha asked. “We’re stuck inside this bus at a library with no place to go.”

“Our plan hasn’t changed,
”
said Walt. “Only the way we’re gonna get there has changed.”

Walt looked through the glove compartment and found a map.

“This is where we are,
”
Walt said as he pointed to the map, “and this is where we need to go,
”
he said as he dragged his finger northeast.

There was no road in the direction Walt traced, but this was Texas, however, and chances were, the land would be flat and dusty.

“Looks like we’re about to go off-roading,
”
David said.

Walt drove through the library’s parking lot, hopped the bus over the cement parking markers, and headed behind the library to Schoepke Springs. Walt wondered how many of those yellow-eyed creatures there were and hoped to Hell he didn’t encounter them again.

11

Ten Miles Outside Schoepke Falls

Spicewood, Texas

Butsko saw the billboard for Schoepke Springs. They were ten miles from their destination. The billboard had a picture of the fresh water springs with happy, smiling families enjoying their vacations. Little did those families know that underneath their favorite vacation spot were some of the most cutting-edge weapons the world had ever seen.

What lay underneath the springs might also be the solution to saving the world.

“Come in, Butsko,
”
crackled the CB radio.

“I’m here, Wilder,
”
Butsko said into the handset.

“We’re ten miles out, Sir,
”
Wilder said. “What’s our approach? Are we going straight to the front gate?”

“If Spicewood is anything like Marble Falls,
”
Butsko answered, “then this place will be pretty empty. Let’s take it to the front gate and see what the conditions are.”

“Roger that, Sir,
”
Wilder said.

Butsko expected the journey through Marble Falls to be a dangerous one. The town had a population of about 7,500 people. Butsko was worried they would have to fight their way through the city and waste valuable ammo they didn’t have.

As they approached Marble Falls, they soon realized that the city was abandoned. There weren’t any humans or zombies roaming the streets. Marble Falls was a ghost town.

The only thing the soldiers saw as they drove through were random piles of mangled bodies. They assumed the piles were the infected who’d gotten in the way of the yellow-eyed creatures. The piles looked the same as the pile of flesh they’d found on the golf course at Lago Vista.

Nobody said anything, but they all thought the same thing.

The yellow-eyed creatures had definitely been through Marble Falls.

Butsko hated not having the correct intel before going into battle. He knew what to expect from the infected—they’d been fighting them for years. These new creatures, however, were an unknown element.

An unknown enemy.

The yellow-eyed creatures had ample opportunity to kill Mears, Vasquez, and Fisher back at the pro-shop, but they’d let them live. But then they’d gone on to butcher Cain and Mane. Butsko couldn’t connect the dots.

The trucks continued down TX-71 toward their destination. Up ahead was the turn off onto the road which would then take them right to the campground’s front gates.

The condition of the roads slowed the two military vehicles down, but Butsko expected to be at Schoepke Springs in about twenty minutes.

12

Schoepke Springs

Spicewood, Texas

Walt had guessed correctly and sighed with relief that the off-road route to the springs was flat with no barriers in the way.

Walt wanted to be sure they wouldn’t encounter any of those yellow-eyed creatures, so he drove past the Springs
’
front gates and flanked the far right side of the property.

They all noticed that the iron fence that surrounded the property was intact, but that was also their biggest problem. There was no place they could enter the Springs except through the front gate.

“What if those things are all over the place?
”
Samantha asked.

“I know this is not the perfect scenario,
”
Walt said, “but we’ve been in worse situations, right?”

Walt looked at David, Cheryl, and Samantha. He knew they were scared. There was something unsettling about those yellow-eyed things they’d seen along the road.

“At least we haven’t seen any of those things around here,
”
said Walt as he tried to find something positive to say.

Walt pulled the church bus around and drove slowly to the front gate. The bus sounded like a tank rolling through a china shop and worried that the noise was attracting all the creatures to their location.

The entrance was a large iron gate with two rock pillars on either side of the opening, which stood around fifteen feet tall.  Walt would feel better after they were on the other side.

They exited the bus and walked to the gate.

“How the hell are we going to get in there?
”
asked Cheryl.

“This thing is locked tight,
”
said David as he pulled in vain on the gate.

Walt looked at the bus, but before he could say anything, he heard noises off in the distance.

“What the hell?
”
Walt asked as he walked toward the sound. There was a wide dirt road that led from the main road to the front gate. This was the only way to or from the Springs.

“Everyone get back in the bus,
”
said Walt, almost whispering. The noise became louder, and he realized it sounded like a stampede.

“Back in the bus!
”
Walt shouted. “
Now!
”

The others ran to the bus and Walt shut the doors behind them. He jumped behind the steering wheel and twisted the screwdriver he had jammed into the ignition, but the engine wouldn’t turn over.

“Dammit!
”
Walt yelled.

“Come on, buddy,
”
David said, obviously trying to remain calm. “Get this thing started.”

The bus’s engine roared to life just as the first zombie ran down the dirt road. Walt studied the creature for a second and realized this was one of those yellow-eyed things.

Walt’s eyes grew wide as he saw at least twenty more of those things running behind the first creature, right toward the bus.

“Holy shit,
”
Cheryl said.

Walt quickly moved the bus in front of the gate and shut the engine off.

“What the hell are you doing, Walt?
”
Samantha asked.

“We’re getting over that gate one way or another!
”
Walt barked back. “If we just drive away, we’ve got nothing and have nowhere to go. We need to get inside this property.”

“How the hell do you propose that?
”
David asked.

Walt saw the yellow-eyed creatures quickly approaching.

“I bet this bus is about ten-feet tall,
”
Walt said as he stood from the driver’s seat. “We get on top of the bus and jump over the gate.”

“Okay,
”
Samantha said, “but what’s gonna stop those things from following us?”

Walt’s face sunk. Before he could say anything, Cheryl spoke.

“This,
”
said Cheryl as she held up the remaining can of gasoline and a pistol. “We’ll get over the gate and then we’ll blow up the bus with these.
”
Cheryl emphasized her point by shaking the gas can and pistol.

“That plan didn’t work out too well last time,
”
David said as he remembered Darren’s fate.

“We’ll be safe behind the gate and far away when it blows,
”
said Cheryl. “Or you could always take your chances and fight those fuckers off hand-to-hand.”

The first creature slammed into the bus.

“Come on!
”
Walt yelled. “We can get to the top of the bus through here.
”
Walt pointed to the sunroof-like feature in the ceiling. Around the sunroof was written,
God is always looking down at you
.

Cheryl closed her eyes and turned her head as she thrust the crowbar into the sunroof and shattered the glass. After removing the shards from the window frame, she tucked her crowbar into the back of her waistband and pulled herself through the hole.

The others handed her their backpacks and weapons just as more yellow-eyed creatures joined the first one and started rocking the bus.

"These bastards are getting stronger,
”
David said to no one in particular.

Samantha was the next one through the roof and screamed as she tried to keep her balance.

David followed Samantha and threw the backpacks over the gate.

“Come on, Samantha!
”
David yelled. “I’ll help you over the gate.”

Samantha grabbed the iron bars and placed her foot against the gate. David pushed against her buttocks to hoist her up higher, but Samantha’s foot slipped and she fell. Samantha managed to grab hold of the iron bars, but now she was dangerously within reach of the creatures below.

The yellow-eyed creatures now surrounded the bus as a few of them wedged their way into the gap between the gate and the bus.

One of the creatures reached up when it saw Samantha fall and grabbed hold of her loose shirt.

“Get them off of me!
”
Samantha screamed.

David reached for her and tried to hoist her up, but couldn’t regain his balance as more of the yellow-eyed creatures slammed against the bus and rocked it back and forth.

Samantha screamed as she felt more hands on her shirt and body.

Walt climbed onto the roof of the bus and got down onto his belly. He reached for Samantha, but it was too dangerous. The yellow-eyed creatures grabbed at Walt’s arm.

Samantha’s eyes grew wide and her screams died out as one of the creatures grabbed her around the throat and chin and began to pull. She choked on her cries as the pressure and tension grew in her neck.

From the top of the bus, Walt and the others watched helplessly as the creature twisted Samantha’s neck and pulled her head from her body. Blood sprayed everywhere as Samantha swung back and forth like a gory piñata.

David turned away in horror at the sight of Samantha’s lifeless body, but as the rocking motion of the bus increased in intensity, it made him focus on the situation.

Walt, Cheryl, and David couldn’t gain enough balance to stand and get over the gate. 

Walt held Stevie tightly, but was too high up for the weapon to be of any use. All three of them held onto the gate for balance, but knew they were trapped and that it was only a matter of time before there were enough of those things to turn the bus over. There were already twenty of the creatures around the bus, and more were running down the dirt road.