Released (2 page)

“Do you think we should stop for extra supplies?” I asked. “A smal town like ours is more likely to have stuff left then any big city we might pass through.”

“She has a point,” Max added, and we both looked to Carter.

“Yep, you’re probably right,” he said without even looking up. Max and I both roled our eyes and decided to stop at the Yoke’s grocery store about fifty miles south of us. Neither of us wanted to go to a store we knew wel, on the off chance we might see someone we knew, or more like a piece of someone we knew.

“What are you writing in there anyway Carter? Don’t you think it would benefit us if we al knew?” I hadn’t meant to snap at him, but I was stil on edge about this trip and he was my easiest target at the moment.

“There aren’t any bodies; I just thought that is kind of weird. That’s al.” Carter turned in his seat to look back at me, his blue eyes were ful of questions. “What do you think?” he asked.

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Do you think they’re eating them?” A shiver roled down my spine as I said it.

“Or maybe everyone else got away and they just didn’t tel us,” Max added with a crooked smile while looking at me through the rear view mirror.

“Shut up Max,” I replied, making sure my tone wasn’t too harsh.

“What? I was just trying to lighten the mood.” We tried making smal talk for the next few miles, but it felt forced, so we al sat in silence until we arrived at the market an hour later. It was stil too early in our journey to know for sure, whether or not this was a good idea.

A mountain of shopping carts were stacked haphazardly near the main entrance. We had each opted for quieter weapons, as to not draw unwanted attention, but I always kept my shotgun on me. Max had grabbed one of our old wood chopping axes, which I had voted we not bring because it was dul and there was no way to sharpen it plus the blade head was coming loose from the handle. I obviously lost that argument but we did al have large hunting knives strapped to our legs.

A few days ago Max had gone to our local fish and game store to salvage what he could. He had managed the knives, some handguns and a crossbow for Carter.

He wasn’t as good at hand to hand as Max and I, but he was a very good shot. Which he attributes to al the hours of HALO he used to play. I roled my eyes at that comment, but I couldn’t argue with him, he was a good shot.

I had emptied my duffel bag into the back of the Bronco before we started to head in. Moving the carts was out of the question so we opted to push a nearby car under a broken window at a side entrance to the right.

“Carter you stay by the window and watch our backs.” He already had an arrow loaded and the strap for his knife was undone.

“Got it. You two make it quick and stay together.”

Max grabbed the empty duffel bag and swung it over his shoulder as we made our way between the registers. We both quickly turned at the sound of DVD cases faling to the tile floor.

“Sorry.” Carter whispered and Max and I just mumbled under our breath and continued walking. We headed straight for the middle of the store, avoiding the perishable food lining the outer aisles that had rotted long ago.

“You think he’s ok by himself?” Max asked as we reached the canned goods.

“I’d rather have him there, then in here. It’s safer. At least he can make a run for the Bronco if he needs to.” Max nodded silently. We both had an unspoken understanding that we felt Carter was the most valuable of the three of us. He was the brains behind our little operation, and if we were ever going to survive this, it would be because of Carter.

I watched Max as he removed the bag from off his back. “Keep an eye out while I fil this,” I told him as I took the bag from his grasp. Our fingers brushed slightly and I did my best to act as if I didn’t notice. I dropped the bag and opened it, surveying the shelves of what was available.

Max walked further down the aisle to scout more of the store while I grabbed what food I could, staying away from anything with blood on it. Seeing him standing guard over me made a flush of warmth flow through me, but I pushed it away. There were more important things I needed to focus on at the moment.

We quietly made our way through more aisles, picking up what we could, until we found ourselves standing before the double doors to the back of the store.

“What do you think?” I asked Max.

“I think you’re crazy, but maybe we could find something useful back there I guess. It’s risky though.” He whipped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. “It’s your cal Abs.”

“Let’s go,” I said as I zipped up the bag and handed it to him. I took the lead since I was unencumbered and pushed open the doors.

I was preparing myself for a demon, but the smel of decomposing bodies is what almost overpowered me. I fought back the urge to vomit as I puled a rag from out of my pocket and held it over my nose and mouth. I looked back to Max for his reaction.

“Damn! There are bodies here,” he looked as shocked as I did, as he surveyed the room.

From what we could tel it seemed like a group of people were trying to hold out here. There were a few cots and chains on the outer doors. Body parts lay strewn al over, mostly in the smal sleeping area they had set up.

“Looks like they got them when they were sleeping.” Max pointed out to a woman stil lying in a cot. Her face was frozen in horror. Long deep gashes were torn across her chest. Another person was completely mauled. The head had been torn clean off and they were roled over onto their side in a fetal position. They probably didn’t even see it coming.

“Poor bastards,” Max commented quietly.

Stepping through as quietly as we could, we found the office door. A man’s hand hung from the door knob in a frozen death grip. I was afraid I would have to break a couple fingers to get it off, but Max was able to pry it loose. As he went to lay the severed hand down on a cot, the door slowly creaked open and we both froze. A wave of nauseating odor wafted from the room, carrying the smel of rotting meat.

“Go!” Max shouted as he shoved me out the double doors. I glimpsed a flash of silver as I fel to the ground. I got up to pul my gun free as the hound came barreling out the doors toward me. Max’s knife was buried to the hilt, deep into its side and it didn’t seem to slow it in the least.

It swung at me and missed, but got me on the back swing taking my feet out from under me. It sent me tumbling into a shelf sending cans of dog food down on top of me. My shotgun had been knocked free and was too far out of my reach.

The hound lunged to bite at my leg sending bloody drool flying, but I puled away and kicked it hard in the head. I dazed it only for a second and it lunged at me again.

I grabbed a can of food and chucked it at its grotesque face as hard as I could, and then another. I dove for my shotgun and my fingers closed around the cool smooth metal.

As I roled over cocking it, the hound was charging for me. It let out a deep guttural growl as bloody slobber dripped from its mouth.

I aimed and shoved the barrel of the gun in its mouth and puled the trigger as it bit at me. The hounds head exploded, sending blood and brain matter everywhere.

The dead weight of its body fel onto me and pinned me to the ground. Hot blood poured onto my chest and neck as it seeped out of the open wound in a sudden rush.

“Abby!” Carter shouted as he came running down the aisle.

“Get this demon off me!” I grunted as I pushed.

“Are you ok? What happened? Where’s Max?” Carter hammered me with questions.

“Shit Max!” I shouted as we roled the beast off me. “Carter get Max’s knife.” I ordered as I ran for the double doors.

“I got it!” Carter caled out as he folowed after me. I heard the squeak of his boots as he stepped through the puddle of blood on the tile floor leaving bloody footprints in his wake.

I found Max slumped on the ground near a far wal and ran for him. Carter stayed by the door and when I heard him vomiting I ordered for him to suck it up and help me. As we lifted Max up to a sitting position, I took the bag from off of his back.

“Did I get him?” Max asked wearily. A smile crept on my face as I sighed in relief.

“Yeah,” I lied. “You got ‘em. Are you hurt Max?”

He began a pat down of himself and located a gash on his leg. “We wil get that fixed up in the Bronco,” I said.

“He charged at me and slammed me into the wal. I remember shoving my knife into its body, then...then… I must have blacked out.”

“You’re lucky you didn’t get eaten!” Carter said harshly holding up the broken axe like some kind of evidence. “What the hel were you doing or what the hel weren’t you doing? You almost got Abby kiled!”

“What?” Max looked at me and his eyes grew wide at the sight of me covered in blood.

“Shut it Carter! It wasn’t Max’s fault, he shoved me out of the way, but...” then I realized, “it didn’t go after him. It knocked you out of the way.” I pointed to Max,

“And then it ran out through the doors and saw me.”

“So…” Carter said with a bit of attitude.

“I don’t think that it liked being locked up,” I said. “It wanted out more than it wanted to kil Max.”

“Wel lucky him. Now come on, we got to get the hel out of here,” Carter said as he grabbed the duffel bag and headed out the double doors.

“Can you walk?” I asked Max and he nodded. I took his hands and balanced our weight while he stood himself up.

“Abby,” he said as he grabbed my shoulders “I’m sorry. I’m realy sorry. I just keep screwing things up.” He took the rag from out of my hand and started to wipe the blood off my neck.

“It’s ok Max. I’m ok and you’re ok.” I took the rag back from him and slid my body under his arm and we made our way out of the store as fast as we could.

Max cursed as we walked past the hound. “They smel worse dead then they do alive don’t they?” Carter asked.

I could tel his anger had already dissipated and his mind was reeling with the new information we had just discovered. Although I couldn’t understand how that knowledge would be of any use to us. So, the hounds didn’t like being locked up, big deal. I sure as shit wasn’t going to ever try to lock one up myself.

Seeing the blue Bronco parked out front gave me a smal burst of adrenaline and I ran for it. Carter already had the engine running by the time Max and I had even opened the back door. I tossed the bag in and we jumped in as Carter sped off. I could have sworn I heard the cal of one of those demon birds as we drove away, but I didn’t say anything.

I crawled into the back of the Bronco and started digging through our things, looking for our first aid kit.

“Carter, where did you pack the first aid kit?” I asked.

“It’s in the green bag. Dad’s old A1 bag.”

I knew that bag wel and found it quickly. I crawled into the seat with Max and tried to assess his wound. He clenched his teeth as I gently to pul away his pants from the wound, pieces of fiber were already sticking to the wound.

“Take off your pants,” I ordered. Carter must have seen a smile pass Max’s face because the Bronco suddenly jerked to the right. I shouted at Carter to watch it and he apologized while constantly looking back at us through the rear view mirror.

As I helped pul his pant legs down, being careful not hit the wound, I was relieved to see the cuts weren’t as deep as I had thought. I puled out what tools I needed from our kit and got to work.

“Ok Max, this is going to hurt. A lot.” I looked in his eyes and held up a bottle of alcohol to show him.

“Aren’t you suppose to lie to me?"

I smiled. “Oh yes, ok Max, this isn’t going to hurt a bit. You’re just going to feel a slight tingling sensation and then you’l be right as rain,” I said in my best doctoral tone.

He started to laugh, so I poured a bit of the alcohol on his wound and he yeled out in agony. The wounds bubbled up and I quickly placed a piece of gauze over it pressing down as hard as I could.

Max pressed his head back and closed his eyes letting out a moan as I slowly pried the gauze off and placed a couple bandages over the wound trying to close it up the best I could. After placing another piece of gauze on it and securing the bandage, I assured Max I wouldn’t have to take the leg and he laughed.

Feeling the blood starting to dry on my skin, I quickly wanted to clean myself up. Smal chunks of demon hound were stuck in my hair and I tried to control the bile rising up my throat while I puled them out.

I crawled into the back again and took off my t-shirt. I roled it into a bal and shoved into a side pocket of my duffel bag, I wanted to try to clean it someday, if I could. After a thorough wipe down using baby wipes we swiped from the store, I puled on a black top with a picture of Eeyore and the words Moody on the front. I let Max take the back seat so he could keep his leg straight as I crawled up front with Carter and grabbed our map.

“So where are we?” I asked.

“We are about ten minutes outside of Spokane I think.”

“Wow already?” I said. “I didn’t think we would hit a bigger city so quickly. What’s the plan?”

“I think we should just stay on the highway and try to make it through as quickly and quietly as possible. Keep an eye on the map for me though Abby, just in case we have to make a detour.”

“So what are you thinking Carter?” I asked.

“What?”

“Come on,” I said. “I can almost hear the wheels spinning up there,” and I tapped him on the head.

“Geez Abby,” he said as he took the folded up map and slapped me on the leg with it. “Grab my book from the glove box would ya? Open it to the fifth page.” I turned the pages and found Carter’s almost ilegible handwriting describing the hounds. I wrote down what Carter told me to after I had narrated what happened at the back of the store. He seemed to relax a bit after we had added the information to the book, I’m sure he would read through it a milion times as soon as he got the chance.

I wanted to tease him every time I saw him with it, but I was starting to understand his need for it. This book was his lifeline to reality, or at least the reality that we once knew. It was his ticket to our old way of life, and whether or not it would realy be of any help in the end didn’t matter right now. What realy mattered was that it was getting him through each day.