Fallen Grace Read online

  “Zoe, can you grab the medical box on the shelf? There should be some morphine in there.”

  “No,” said Boggs. “No drugs.”

  “C’mon, Brother. You need it.”

  Boggs looked at Gus. He had no anger in his eyes this time. He looked like the friend we all knew and loved, just in pain.

  “No, I have to stay alert.” He grimaced as another wave of pain hit him.

  “Zoe, go ahead,” whispered Gus.

  I nodded and walked to the shelf that held most of our supplies. The medical box was large and heavy, so I sorted through it until I found the vials labeled morphine. Just behind them were syringes and needles. I grabbed a few of each kind, not knowing what Gus would need exactly. I also snatched a hand towel from a pile as I headed back to our injured friends.

  “Here, Gus,” I mumbled.

  He took the vials from me and inspected their labels. “Perfect.”

  I held the syringes and needles out to him. He took them, sorted them, and handed one of each item back to me.

  “Can you take these to Nate? He’ll know what to do with them.”

  I took the supplies and quietly walked to Nate. Susan was beginning to moan and while seemingly still asleep she appeared to be in extreme pain. He took the vial from me and within moments had the morphine drawn up into the syringe.

  “Zoe, help me pull her pants down just to her thigh?” he asked me.

  “Sure.”

  I took hold of her waist band, which was thankfully elastic, and pulled her pants down until the flesh of her thigh was showing.

  “That’s good.”

  Nathan pinched the flesh of her leg between his thumb and forefinger, and with his other hand he jammed the needle in deep. Susan winced and her eyes flashed open. Her moaning was pathetic and hard to listen to, knowing there was little we could do to help.

  “Shhhh, try to keep still,” soothed Nathan.

  “My arm hurts. Oh God, Nate, it hurts so bad.” Tears were streaming down her cheeks and her body was shuddering intermittently. Nate leaned down and kissed her on the top of her head. Her left arm was quickly bruising and swelling. Her hand and arm was grotesquely large from swelling and bruising.

  “I gave you some morphine; it should kick in just any minute, Angel. Just close your eyes and try to rest,” he soothed.

  I could tell that Nathan was on the verge of tears. Abbey was sitting on the other side of Susan by now, but she seemed scared to touch her. Several minutes passed before Susan finally stilled and grew quiet. Her breathing seemed jagged and shallow. I placed my hand upon Nate’s shoulder and squeezed lightly before standing. I walked to where Gus was still tending to Boggs. Bobby had taken her leave and was sorting through the emergency supplies by the shelf against the far wall.

  “How’s he doing?” I asked Gus, who grunted in reply.

  Boggs seemed calmer now, but barely. “Zoe, don’t let him give me anymore pain medication,” he said under his breath.

  I knelt down and placed my hand on Boggs’ forehead. His skin was clammy and cold.

  “You need it, Adam. Please, just lay back and try to be still?”

  “No. I have to be able to take care of you.”

  I shook my head back and forth. “It’s our turn to do that, ok?”

  I had a sinking feeling in my gut. Boggs wasn’t looking good at all. He held his breath for longer than I was comfortable with, and then finally let it out slowly.

  “It hurts, Zo.”

  I stoked his forehead with my thumb. “Sleep, Boggs. Let us worry about you this time.” I leaned down and kissed his temple and looked over at Gus.

  “We need to move him off the cold floor,” he said quietly. “He’s lost a fair amount of blood.”

  “There’s just the one sofa. Susan looks bad too. Gus, she’s having trouble breathing.” What I needed to tell him I didn’t dare say aloud, so hoped he’d hear the thought echoing in my mind. She looks like she’s dying.

  Still looking down at Boggs, Gus took a deep breath and finally lifted his head to look at me. “We’ll keep her on the ground, then. Best not to move her.” He looked back to Boggs, who was nearly asleep from the pain medication. “I need to check on Susan. I’ll be right back, Brother.”

  “I’ll stay with him,” I said.

  I situated myself next to Boggs and held his hand. His breathing was even and he seemed to be sleeping finally. I used a bath towel that was sitting nearby to cover him. Gus had placed a clean hand towel over his wound and I was glad to see that blood was not soaking through. I looked over when I heard Nathan weeping.

  “She’s not gone, Nate.” Gus wasn’t bothering to keep his voice down. “Hold it together. I’ll do what I can.”

  “What’s wrong?” asked Abbey from across the room. Her voice was full of trepidation. Bobby had taken her to the sofa to make room for Gus to tend to Susan.

  I watched as Gus examined her. When he got to her belly she coughed and blood flowed from the side of her mouth. I stood, knowing that Susan needed me more than Boggs right now.

  “Bobby, keep Abbey over there?” I called out as I quickly worked my way to Gus’ side.

  “Looks like she’s bleeding internally,” he muttered grimly. “Without supplies there’s not much I can do.”

  “No,” cried Abbey. “She can’t die!”

  I grew angry as I heard the dead children outside start giggling again.

  “Do we have IV fluids?” I asked.

  “No,” said Nathan through his grief. “We never found any.”

  “Give me your knife, Gus,” I said.

  He looked at me questioningly.

  “Just give it to me. Now.” It’s her only chance.

  His eyes filled with understanding.

  “Nathan, you need to go sit with Abbey for a couple minutes,” said Gus.

  “I can’t leave her.”

  “Go, Brother. Abbey needs you. Let me and Zoe tend to her.”

  Reluctantly, Nate stood and made his way to where Abbey and Bobby sat. He wrapped his arms around the girl and embraced her as a father might.

  “Gus, you’ll need to hold her down.”

  “I know. I just hate doing this.”

  “Me too. Tell me where it’s safe to cut, ok?”

  He nodded, and then positioned himself to hold Susan’s arms down.

  “I think closest to the heart is best, as opposed to an arm or leg. Just go down the center of her chest; just not too deep. Maybe five inches long? She’ll need to bleed if we have a chance of it working.”

  We looked at each other, knowing that we had to infect her. I straddled her, sitting just above her pelvis. I used the knife to cut down the center of her shirt.

  “Wait, Zoe. Bobby, can you bring us the rubbing alcohol?”

  Bobby quickly ran back to the box of medical supplies and shuffled through them until she found the bottle of alcohol.

  “Bobby, I need you to hold her legs. Can you do that?”

  Her eyes wide, Bobby nodded and positioned herself so that she was sitting on Susan’s shins. She didn’t question our motives.

  “Nathan, Brother, no matter what you hear I need you and Abs to stay over there. I need you to trust us. Zoe, pour the alcohol on her skin and the knife. Let it dry.”

  I did as instructed. I felt sick to my stomach.

  “Your palm, too, Love. I’ll be busy holding her down or I’d do this myself,” he explained.

  I looked up at him in horror, not realizing the plan had been for me to cut myself. I took a couple of deep breaths and poured the liquid onto my own hands, and then rubbed them together.

  Once my hands felt dry, I picked the knife up and held it to the skin on Susan’s chest, just below her neck. As she felt the tip of it puncture her skin, her eyes opened wide. As soon as the initial shock of the pain wore off, she began struggling and screaming. Gus held her good arm and the opposite shoulder. She was unable to fight back with the swollen, broken appendage.

  I
paused right after that first puncture, keeping the knife in place the best I could and looked at Gus for some sort of permission to continue. He nodded, and I focused back on the wound I was creating.

  Not too deep, he warned.

  I tried to steady my shaking hand and drew down on the knife, creating a thin line of bright red blood that was quickly spilling down Susan’s sides. I stopped when I thought the line was about five inches long and looked back to Gus again. His face was strained with the effort to keep Susan immobile. She had seemed so weak that her new struggle was surprising. I looked at my left palm and wasn’t sure I could do it. My hands were shaking almost violently.

  “Zoe, I can’t let her go. You have to do it. Just don’t think about it.”

  I was too scared to reply, so held the knife to my left palm and quickly sliced downward. It hurt like a sonofabitch, and I cried out.

  “Quick, just hold it against her wound,” barked Gus.

  I placed my wounded palm down flat against her chest and willed whatever it was inside of me to transfer into her; to heal her. She began screaming for God to forgive her for aborting her baby. I cried with her. I cried for her.

  CHAPTER 4

  Within minutes, Susan closed her eyes and with a shuddering breath lost consciousness once again. I forced myself to stop crying and looked back to Gus, who still sat facing me. I held my hand out to him, my palm throbbing and still bleeding. He let go of Susan’s shoulder and arm and took my hand in his. He gently wrapped a thin kitchen towel around the wound, tying it at the back of my hand.

  “All we can do is wait,” he said quietly.

  Abbey was still being held back by Nathan, and her sobs were muffled against his abdomen. I was glad she had him, especially if Susan didn’t pull through this. Boggs was beginning to stir again. I un-straddled Susan and stood stiffly. I hadn’t realized I had been tensing. My hip stung from the activity of the dead outside and my head was heavy with their presence. I walked to Boggs and sat beside him. I took his hand in mine and he looked at me through heavy eyes.

  “How’s the pain?” I asked.

  He squeezed my hand. “Better.”

  My heart was aching seeing him like this.

  “You’re a bad liar.”

  “No, really, the morphine’s helping. God you’re beautiful.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “Do you want some water?”

  He shook his head side-to-side. “Is Susan ok?”

  “She’s in rough shape,” I said truthfully. “We’re hoping she pulls through.”

  “I should go to her.”

  “Shhhh. You need to just stay still. Nate’s with her.”

  “Nate? He’s ok, right? And Abbey?”

  “Ya, just fine. Bobby and Gus too.”

  “Good.”

  He closed his eyes again. Bobby knelt down next to us and handed me a cold, damp washcloth. I took it, smiling my thanks to her, and set it upon Boggs’ forehead.

  Outside, a little girl started calling out “Red Rover Red Rover, send Adelaide on over!” It was followed by group laughter; malevolent laughter.

  I shivered. I looked immediately to Gus, knowing that when he was so ill after being stabbed, he had muttered that name. He looked pale and angry.

  “Boggs,” I whispered into his ear. “I need to go talk to Gus for a minute.” I kissed his cheek and made my way to where Gus had been busy sorting through the medical supplies.

  “Gus?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Who was she? Adelaide?”

  He paused what he was doing, and after taking a heavy breath he looked at me.

  “My sister.”

  “When you were so sick, you called out her name. I hadn’t wanted to ask you.”

  He grunted. “I don’t talk about her. I haven’t in many years. But you know you can ask me anything.”

  “If you ever need to, I’ll listen.”

  He took hold of my uninjured hand and squeezed. “I know, darlin’. I know.”

  “We should get back to Susan and Boggs,” I said.

  “I’ll go take a look at Susan. I want to talk to Nathan about our next move. We need to think about getting out of here.”

  “Ok.”

  He leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips. His touch made my insides felt like they were on fire, almost as if I had been cold and unaware until his lips touched mine. By the way he tensed, I knew Gus had felt it too. We touched foreheads and just took in each other’s scent and warmth for a long moment.

  “I love you,” I said so quietly that I could barely hear my own words.

  “And I you,” he breathed back.

  I found it hard to catch my breath, needing to be with him but knowing I had to let go. Knowing we might die. My moment of feeling an overwhelming love was interrupted by the sound of Susan coughing. We both stood quickly and went to her side.

  “Nate, Brother, let me look her over?”

  “She looks bad, Gus.”

  “Abbey, honey, let’s go see about Boggs while the guys tend to Susan?” suggested Bobby.

  The girl stood but was quiet. I could tell she was quickly withdrawing into herself. I walked with them to Boggs’ side.

  “He’s sleeping,” I said quietly. “That’s good.”

  The crying outside began again; weeping. My head was beginning to pound from the constant torment of the dead. Their noises were now joined with that of heavy wind and loose sand beating against the building. The dead children all began screaming; this time a fearful shrieking that hinted of something even more evil approaching.

  “Nooooooo,” moaned Abbey. She sat beside Boggs, hugging her knees, rocking back and forth. “It’s something bad.”

  “I feel it too,” said Bobby, clutching at her own chest.

  I collapsed to my knees, the pain inside my head suddenly so intense that I had trouble breathing. While I had felt the children filling my mind with their presence, I hadn’t been able to see through their eyes. Now, though, something was approaching the motel. It was consuming my own visions with its own. The picture before me was of the dead children running and hiding. They seemed terrified. The images devouring my mind were jumping. One frame would be off center and in the next moment to either side as if the creature were jumping or perhaps stumbling. It was disorienting, to say the least. It didn’t seem to be searching for us, but rather for the dead. I could feel its desire. Not just a desire to devour them, but a desire to make them part of itself. I felt strong arms wrap around me protectively. I had clenched my eyes shut and curled into a ball the best that I could. I knew by his smell that it was Boggs holding me. How he was on his feet again was beyond me.

  “Let it kill them,” I groaned. “Whatever it is, it wants to kill the dead children.”

  I felt something warm drip over my lips. Soon the strong taste of my own blood was invading my mouth. I wiped it away with my arm.

  “Your nose is bleeding,” whispered Boggs.

  “It’s in my head. It hurts, Boggs.”

  “I know. Nate and Gus are working on it.”

  “What do you mean?” My words were strained. They sounded muffled to my own ears.

  “They’re getting weapons ready. They’re about to go out.”

  “No. No, they can’t!” I moaned, trying to keep my voice down.

  “They have to. There’s no choice.”

  “Then I have to go with them.”

  “Look at yourself, Zoe,” said Gus from beside me. “You’re in no shape. Let me and Nate handle this. Stay here with Abs.”

  The creature that was ripping the inside of my head into figurative shreds was busy playing hide-and-go-seek with the children. I heard screams of agony as the hunter found the first one and sensed satisfaction as it tore the dead child apart, limb by limb. Fear emanated from the remaining child zombies as the hunt began again. They were fast, but they knew full-well that they would not be fast enough to outrun the beast. The second screamed louder than the first as the hunter lifted
it above its head. Seeing through the hunter’s eyes, the dead child was small and shriveled; merely bones covered in dried gray skin that was worn through in places. It wore a dress that might have been yellow when it was new. It was impossible to tell now. The girl’s eyes were blue. They were bulging from her head. Her emaciated tongue protruded from her mouth as the hunter squeezed her neck while holding her mid-air. Those blue eyes were full of raw fear. Just before her head was squeezed from the rest of her body, she smiled sweetly. Mockingly.

  The hunter held her severed head in both hands and sniffed at the opening where it would have sat upon her shoulders. I could feel the liquefied brain matter going down my own throat as it tipped the decapitated head up and drank from it. I coughed, ‘tasting’ the rotten slush in my own mind.

  “Nate, are you ready, Brother?” I heard Gus ask.

  I coughed, ready to vomit from the intrusions in my head. “Gus, no. Wait. It’s killing the other zombies. Let it finish.”

  My connection to the dead had never been this strong before; never this hard to cope with. I tried as hard as I could to push the beast out of my mind, but failed miserably. I closed my eyes again as I watched through the hunter’s eyes. It was already searching for its third victim. As it walked, its arms swung at its sides. They were large and bloated with massive green boils festering on the surface. Fluids from the slaughtered zombie children had splattered its arms. The hunter was angry and hatred emanated from its core. It reached the next child in short order, finding it just outside our safe room hiding behind a dumpster. It cowered down as the hunter approached, too frightened to fight back.

  I could hear myself whimpering as the creature ripped the little one’s limbs off one by one and then crushed its skull with what I assumed was a rock. It didn’t feed on this one, but rather began the search for the next. The last two ran together in a feeble attempt to escape. They were so much faster than zombies we had experienced so far. They led the hunter down the beach, where they met their ends together within a matter of moments. The last one to die giggled as the hunter threw it against something hard that was lying in the sand.

  “They’re all dead. It killed them all,” I groaned.