Devour: Death & Decay Book 1 (5 page)

“Aaron, take Elli and go hide in your closet now!”

Obeying his mother’s command, the boy, his eyes wide with fear, picked Elli up against her protests and ran off.

Nate made it to the front door first and threw it open. The bloodied hammer that had remained sentry at the entryway was once again in his hand.

“Wait!” Lydia grabbed his arm. Outside, in the front yard of the house with the gore-covered steps, a man lay on the front lawn fighting off a woman who clawed at him and screamed in her efforts to reach him. The front window was broken out and shards of glass glittered maliciously in the frame and among the grass.

Movement at the window caught Liv’s attention. A boy of about fifteen slithered out the window and flopped onto the ground. As the boy stood up, he revealed a fresh gash, ragged from where the glass in the window frame had torn a hole in his stomach.

He was one of them.

“What do you mean wait?” Nate barked. “We have to help Mark.” He pulled his arm back from Lydia. Tears now streamed freely down her face as she tried desperately to grab him again.

“You can’t go out there. We need you here. I need you. Your son needs you. If you go out there, you won’t come back. You’ll become one of them!” She managed to snag the sleeve of his shirt. The monsters were trickling in from the woods and between the houses, dozens of them converging on the man, who fought hopelessly for his life.

“They need our help! We can’t just abandon them!” Nate shouted. A few of them turned at the sound of his voice as they sensed more prey.

“Nate, please. They are already dead. We can’t help them.” They were on the front lawn. Their arms swung up and the ones that could started to run as they approached the house. Nate growled and slammed the door closed. Seconds later, a resounding thud hit the door, followed by another. A steady thump reverberated from the door as though it was the heartbeat of the house itself.

“We should leave as soon as possible,” Liv said as she took a few steps back from the door. “Just gather up a few essentials and—”

“We will die out there,” Nate growled. “We are staying here.” With that, he turned and walked out of the living room and down the hall.

“I’ll talk to him.” Lydia fled after her husband.

Liv sighed and rubbed her hands across her face. She could hardly blame Nate. For now, the house was an oasis in a strange and dangerous land. That couldn’t last, though. They would need food and supplies. As the population of the infected grew, it would become riskier to venture out. They needed someplace secluded from this madness.

All the doors in the hallway off the living room were closed, but it wasn’t hard to guess what each of the four doors led to. The first door on the right was the bathroom. The second door had the name
aaron
painted across the top in big block letters. The last two doors were a toss-up. One had to be the master bedroom. The other was a spare bedroom or an office perhaps.

“Aaron,” Liv gently called as she opened the door. There was no response but she could hear Elli fussing from the closet. She walked over and slowly pulled the door open.

“You can come out now.” She crouched down and held out her arms to Elli.

The boy looked up at her with red eyes and tear-stained cheeks, the fear making him look even younger than he was. “What’s going on?”

“I honestly don’t know, honey.” She wasn’t sure how much to say. Certainly, she didn’t want to scare him any more than he was. Some information, just being included, might put his mind at ease, but Lydia and Nate clearly did not want him to be privy to the events that were unfolding outside.

Aaron huffed. “No one will tell me anything. I’m not a little kid.” Liv held back a smile, as the comment was almost always said by a child too young to get what they wanted. “I know something bad has happened. Jacob and I were playing together when Jim and Sue came home. Why did Jim…do that to Jacob?”

Liv reached out and pulled Aaron into a hug as tears slid down his cheeks. “Oh, honey. I think…I think Jim was sick. He didn’t mean to.”

“Does that mean that Jacob is sick now too?”

Liv bit her lip, Aaron was smart and she’d have to be more careful about what she said. “Yes, but we have some of the best scientists in the world. I’m sure one of them will figure out how to make Jim and Jacob better.” The words were nothing but lies. How could their broken bodies ever be mended?

Elli squirmed away from Liv’s arms. She shifted from Liv to Aaron and snuggled her way under his arm.

“I think she likes you.”

Aaron smiled a bit. “I like her too. For a girl, she’s pretty cool. She likes dinosaurs!” He leaned over to pick up the green, plastic Tyrannosaurus rex figure Elli had been playing with earlier.

“Well, you have done a wonderful job helping me watch her.” Aaron chest puffed out with pride at the compliment.

“I always wanted a little brother or sister.”

“Well, I’m sure Elli would love to pretend you’re her big brother while we’re together.” A big grin spread across his face. “Now come on, let’s go see if we can gather up some stuff we’ll need so we know exactly where it all is.”

“Come on, little girl!” Aaron jumped up, but when he took Elli’s hand he was gentle and let her set their pace.

Lydia was back in the living room when they emerged from Aaron’s bedroom. Worry was written plainly across her furrowed brow, but her expression changed quickly. A strained smile replaced the frown.

“Who wants dessert?” she asked, her voice a bit too cheerful.

“Nini?” Elli inquired. It was her word for candy.

“Does Elli like Fudgsicles?” Aaron asked, his face lit up and the worries of the day gone with the promise of a treat.

“I’m not really sure.” Liv shrugged. “She’s never had one.” Aaron stared back at her in horror, as if this fact was the worst thing he had ever heard.

“Can we have one, Mom?”

“Sure. Why don’t you grab two from the freezer and show Elli the toys you have in your room?” Aaron bolted for the refrigerator almost before Lydia finished speaking and snatched two white, plastic packages out of the freezer. With the sweets in hand, he coaxed Elli back to the bedroom.

“They should probably come in here,” Liv said. “Elli can be a bit sloppy. She might get chocolate on the furniture.”

Lydia waved her hand dismissively. “In a world where people are eating each other, ice cream on the furniture is hardly something to worry over.” She plopped down onto the sofa.

For a moment, Lydia stared at the television. “Riots spreading across St. Louis area” the headline read across the bottom. The picture was a bird’s-eye view from a news helicopter focused on a small strip mall.

“It’s on every channel,” Lydia murmured, her eyes fixed on the screen. “I had to turn the volume off. I couldn’t stand the sound of those things.”

The scene on the screen was chaotic. At least three dozen people crushed against the storefronts. The image pulled out to give a wider view of the street. A building a block over was on fire and almost completely obscured by smoke. Small groups of the infected stalked through the streets and around the buildings. A few groups knelt together on the ground, hunching close and jostling each other.

“It doesn’t seem real.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “How can this actually be happening?”

Suddenly, the camera zoomed back to the tiny strip mall. The mob of infected that had gathered outside the stores was now flooding in through the broken windows.

Liv gasped as she watched the creatures push and shove their way past the shards of glass. Lydia clasped her hands together in her lap and hunched forward as she watched the scene.

The camera shifted focus again, swinging towards the back of the buildings. Three men dashed across the parking lot at an all-out sprint.

“Oh dear god.” Lydia’s voice trembled as the infected began to pour out the back of the building after them. Every muscle in Liv’s body tensed as she watched the figures running for their lives.

One of the survivors tripped as he stepped over a curb and crashed to the ground. Liv gasped, her hands flying up to cover her face as she continued to watch through her fingers.

The infected fell upon the man a second later. His friends paused for a moment, but as the infected surged forward after them, they turned and ran, leaving their friend behind.

“Mom.” Aaron’s quiet voice made Liv jump. “What’s going on?” He was standing behind them, framed by the hallway, Elli at his side.

Lydia quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. “Uh…” She tried to collect herself. “It’s alright, honey. Things are just a little bit…crazy right now.”

Aaron regarded her suspiciously.

“Honey, I bet Elli would love for you to play games with her on the PlayStation,” Lydia suggested.

“I don’t think she even knows how to play those games,” Aaron replied, unimpressed by his mother’s suggestion.

“Maybe you could try and teach her.” Lydia picked up the remote and switched the television away from a pair of distressed newscasters. She quickly shoved two game controllers into his hands. “I’m sure you have something she might have fun with.” Aaron nodded slowly and watched Liv and his mother walk into the kitchen.

Lydia dropped down onto one of the stools at the island with a sigh. Liv got the sense that there was something Lydia wanted to say, and she took a seat across from her.

For a few moments, Lydia stared off at some unknown point in the kitchen, her mind a million miles away.

Finally, she looked to Liv. “I’m sorry for Nate’s behavior.” She rubbed her hands tiredly across her face. “He’s not usually like this. He’s never like this.” Lydia glanced over to the children, her face softening as she watched Aaron patiently try to teach Elli how to hold the controller. “Today has just been hard for him.”

“Today has been hard for everyone.” Liv nodded. “Everyone processes things differently. Maybe he just needs some time to himself, but I’m sure he’ll come around.” Liv hoped the words were true but she wasn’t so sure. Nate worried her.

“Nate’s always been a good man. A good father.” Lydia let out another tired sigh. “He never had the best grades in school, but he has a good job in construction. He likes working with his hands.” She smiled for a moment. “I don’t think I could ever imagine him sitting behind a desk or putting on the front he’d have to in the corporate world. He’s too genuine for that.”

Lydia lost herself in her thoughts. “You’d probably never guess it, but he’s just a big old teddy bear.”

Liv found her eyes wandering back to the photos that graced the house’s walls: some family portraits, everyone dressed nicely and perfectly positioned. Some of the photos were more candid. One caught Liv’s eye: a younger Nate asleep on the couch with his arms wrapped around an infant Aaron. She had one just like it of Colin and Elli.

The frown returned to Lydia’s face. “I’m afraid for him.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “He was working construction at Mercy early this morning…” Her words trailed off. Suddenly Lydia shook her head and continued. “He said one person came in with a bite. Then a few more. Then they were just pouring in. The place was packed. One of them must have changed and the place just became a bloodbath.” There was a haunted looked in her eyes.

“He won’t tell me everything. I’m not sure I want to know, but Nate barely escaped.” Tears filled her eyes. “He was doing alright until the chaos came here.” Lydia twisted her hair around her fingers nervously. “One second everything was fine and then the next…” She shook her head. “There was just so much blood. Watching his coworkers die, his friends, our neighbors, it’s a lot for him. Too much.”

Liv reached out and took Lydia’s hand as she began to cry. The woman remained strong even as the tears flowed. Careful to keep her whimpers too quiet for the children to hear.

“It will be OK.” Liv tried to make her voice strong. “Maybe he’ll feel better after some rest. We’re all tired. It’s been…” What kind of day had it been? Unexpected? That was an understatement. Chaotic. To say the least. Terrifying. And then some. “We can try talking to him tomorrow.” She squeezed Lydia’s hand reassuringly. “Nate loves you and Aaron. He’ll do what he has to do to protect you. If he can do that for a stranger”—Liv motioned to herself—“he’d go to hell and back for you.”

Lydia gave Liv a halfhearted smile. “Nate would do that for anyone.”

Day 1
10:38 pm

Liv and Aaron spent an hour gathering supplies before Lydia finally emerged from the bedroom. He had helped her find hydrogen peroxide to use for disinfecting surfaces, Betadine for disinfecting wounds, a small first-aid kit, a couple of Nate’s heavier handheld tools, some more easily transportable food and flashlights. The power was still on, but there was no guarantee that it would last.

All the supplies were stacked neatly on the island in the kitchen. Liv had cut two holes through the corners of Elli’s blanket so she could thread the straps of the carrier through it. Hopefully, this would help shield Elli from blood splatter if they got caught again.

Liv had put a few cans of fruits and vegetables in the diaper bag, and a hefty wrench waited patiently on the nightstand. If she had learned anything today, it was that everything could change in an instant. She wanted to be prepared for the worst, though she hardly knew where to begin.

Elli had tuckered out around ten o’clock. Lydia and Aaron opted to remain on the couch and watch movies. Nate had never reappeared. Liv and Elli had retired to the spare bedroom. Once she started rubbing her eyes, Elli had fallen asleep quickly. She slept with the peacefulness that only ignorance would allow.

Sleep, however, eluded Liv. The events of the day kept replaying in her mind. It started out ordinary enough. Wake up, play time outside before it got too hot, relax inside for a little bit, nap time, errands, another nap. Then they had bustled off to have dinner with Colin. Everything after that moment had spiraled out of control.

Just the thought of Colin brought with it a pang of worry. Liv decided to try to call again before they lay down for bed. She pulled out her phone and called Colin. Again the call rang through to his voicemail. After the beep, it took Liv almost a full minute before she could begin speaking.

“Colin, where are you?” Tears broke through her words. “I miss you. This doesn’t feel real. Everything is changing so fast and I’m afraid…I’m afraid it will never be the same.” She confessed to the machine. “But I need you.” She paused, attempting to stifle the sobs that rose in her throat. She didn’t want to say the next words, but she didn’t want to waste more of her cell phone battery than she had to. “If you aren’t here by the morning, Elli and I are going to head for the farm. Just meet us there…I love you.” She shut her phone off to preserve what battery life it had left and jammed it underneath her pillow.

Tears rolled down her cheeks and she hugged Elli tight, taking comfort in the smell of her hair and the softness of her skin. The little bundle of warmth protested the tight squeeze and pushed back against Liv. Against her will, Liv loosened her grip and instead settled for tracing Elli’s eyebrows and jawline lightly with her fingers.

Liv had always loved Elli’s sleepy face. It was so relaxed and peaceful. Her mouth would hang open slightly, her binky balanced precariously on the edge of her lip. Her long, dark eyelashes contrasted starkly with her pale, smooth skin. Her hair was tussled from a few tosses and turns as she found just the perfect sleeping position. Liv could not imagine a more perfect sight.