Devour: Death & Decay Book 1 (7 page)

Liv spun around and retched. She had never had a weak stomach, but the smell of iron, the sight of the contorted body, the head that looked like raw hamburger brought her dinner back up.

Elli startled at the sudden movement. Liv gently jiggled the child as she spat out the last of the bile. She bounced nimbly from foot to foot as she stepped around the blood splatter on her way back to the door. Once in the house, she closed and locked the garage door with the irrational fear that the lifeless creature might still rise to come after her. Perhaps it wasn’t so irrational, considering the situation. She looked around the room. The darkness was more frightening, the shadows more threatening.

There had been so much blood in the garage. Certainly all of it wasn’t from the dead man. The person he had been hunting had undoubtedly been injured. As she headed towards the stairs, Liv stopped to inspect the front door again. A small streak of blood marked the inside knob. Perhaps whoever had been injured had wandered outside in search of help.

A soft thump echoed from the second story. Liv looked around. The dog cowered by the sofa, its lips curling back in a snarl.

Something was upstairs.

Liv looked up the stairs, then back down at the toddler sleeping in her arms. The downstairs was safe and she didn’t want to take Elli somewhere unsafe if she could avoid it. She had no idea what she would find upstairs.

But they couldn’t leave. If they went back outside, they would die. Liv had to dispatch whoever, or whatever, was upstairs so the house would be safe.

The ensuite in the master bedroom would be the safest place for Ellie while Liv confronted the threat. All the walls were interior to the house, so if she began to cry it was less likely to be heard outside and noticed by the infected. There also weren’t any windows that they could use to get to her.

As carefully as possible, Liv unbuckled the straps of the carrier and eased them off. As she gently laid Elli down on the plush mat in front of the pedestal sink, Elli’s arms shot out and grabbed for Liv’s shirt. She arched and screamed in protest. The sound wrenched Liv’s heart but she had to take care of the threat that lurked within the house. She flipped on the light and closed the door before Elli could right herself on the floor.

The wails followed Liv through the living room. Upstairs, heavy footsteps smacked against the ceiling. Liv attempted to swallow the fear that rose as she tightened her grip on the wrench and ascended the stairs.

Like rest of the house, the upstairs was cast in deep shadows. The flashlight revealed no immediate threat at the top of the stairs. The bedroom door directly to her right stood open. Inside was an office with some bookshelves, a desk cluttered with papers, and a single empty spot where a laptop could be placed. At the end of the hall, the door to a small bathroom stood open.

Across the hall from the office was a closed door. Behind it, footsteps shuffled back and forth. As she approached the door, the dog, which had followed close behind as she toured the rest of the house, hung back. He lowered his head and a low growl reverberated from his throat. She didn’t want to open the door. She didn’t want to fight one of those things. However, she could never feel safe with the thing in the house, even if it was behind a door. The hairs raised on the back of Liv’s neck as she reached for the doorknob.

After a deep breath, Liv seized the knob and shoved the door open. With a screech, a woman lunged from the darkness. Liv backpedaled and swung the wrench. The woman’s bones shattered with an unmistakable crunch.

The woman fell to her knees as the blow landed on her right shoulder, her face contorting in a grotesque sneer. Adrenaline coursing through her veins, Liv rushed forward and brought the wrench down on the woman’s head. The sickening thud of breaking bone announced her success and the woman went limp.

For a moment, Liv stood perfectly still, holding her breath as she listened for an indication that any more infected were in the house as she glanced around the corners of the room. When nothing stirred, she breathed a sigh of relief.

The smell of copper washed over her. Liv stepped back a bit and turned away from the scene. A dark pool slowly seeped out from underneath the woman onto the carpet.

After a couple of minutes, when Liv was sure she had control of her stomach, she turned back. The body lay in the hallway, obstructing the pathway to and from the other bedrooms.

It seemed disrespectful to just leave the woman there in an unsightly heap. The thought of touching the body, though, made her skin crawl, and the ever-present threat of infection still made it dangerous.

Her eyes fell upon the open bathroom door. The rack held several large, soft bath towels. Liv pulled two down and draped them over her hands like the gloves of a giant.

Back in front of the body, Liv slid her hands underneath the woman’s armpits. Just about the time Liv thought she had a hold on the body, the woman’s arms would come up and she would lose her hold. So she took hold of the woman’s wrists. As she pulled, the woman’s right arm twisted grotesquely with the strain on her shattered shoulder. The woman’s head lolled side to side unnaturally. Though the woman wasn’t large, Liv struggled to move the body’s dead weight.

The bedroom was a mess. Blood smeared the bed and sagging sheets trailed off onto the floor. The woman must have come up to the room and crawled into bed only to change in her sleep. When she awoke, the woman had haphazardly rolled out of the bed as one of them to bumble around the room. Pictures had been knocked off a nightstand and books off their shelf. A crumpled rag soaked in blood lay discarded at the foot of the bed.

Liv picked up one of the pictures. In it, the woman had her arms slung around a man, probably her boyfriend or husband, maybe her brother. The two looked alike, but Liv wasn’t sure a family resemblance was there. They both beamed at the camera from behind sunglasses as the ocean glimmered behind them.

As delicately as possible, Liv straightened out the body on the floor next to the bed. She doubted she would be able to lift the woman up. She laid the photo on the woman’s chest and crossed her arms over it. Finally, she draped the comforter from the bed over the body.

It wasn’t an elegant burial. It wasn’t even a burial. At least the woman hadn’t been left where she had dropped. Liv knew this was all for herself. The dead didn’t care what happened to them any more than a leaf that had fallen free from its tree cared where it landed. All the same, it gave Liv some peace of mind after unceremoniously dispatching creatures that had once been good people.

Creatures that perhaps could have once again been good people.

Liv shook away the future of regrets that lay ahead if ever a way to reverse what had been done was found. She could hear Elli downstairs bawling. First, though, she needed to wash up. She wasn’t sure what transferred the infection, so she had to take every precaution if—not
if
but
when
—she came into contact with them.

As she flipped on the light, Liv drew back from her own reflection in the mirror. Her hair was a knotted mess that looked more like a bird’s nest. Her eyes looked different. Haunted. They sat nestled in a dirty face. A speckled trail of blood dotted the left side of her face. There was more on her t-shirt. She pulled it off and inspected her skin. The droplets were small and there didn’t appear to be any breaks in her skin.

Underneath the sink, among assorted toiletries, she found hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol. The blood and muck came off easily with soap and water. Liv used the rubbing alcohol as a disinfectant. She scrubbed her face and her hands as long as she dared. Too much scrubbing might make them raw, causing them to become a pathway for infection. When she felt sufficiently disinfected, though not fully clean, she hurried back down the stairs.

“Oh baby,” she cooed as she slowly opened the door. Elli’s cries had turned to desperate sobs. Tears stained her now red cheeks. She immediately stood and reached for Liv.

“I’m sorry, honey.” She held Elli close. Elli’s tiny fingernails dug into her arms as her sobs turned to hiccups and gasps. “I had to make sure you wouldn’t get hurt, baby.” She traced her fingers lightly down Elli’s back.

“Are you hungry, sweetheart?”

Elli answered with a quiet, “Uh-huh.” Liv poured some milk into a water bottle from the cabinet. The refrigerator only had 2 percent. Most people didn’t drink whole milk, so Liv hadn’t expected to find any. She would have to find some other way to get Elli the calories and fats a growing child required.

The milk was gone in no time, and Elli settled into a drowsy daze. After another thorough check, Liv picked one of the two upstairs bedrooms as their refuge for the night. As she closed the door, the dog reappeared, his tail wagging from side to side as he pushed past her into the room. Liv closed the door and pulled off her shoes. The bed beckoned to her, but Liv perched on the edge with one last task at hand.

She pawed through the diaper bag looking for her phone. Colin needed to know they weren’t at the other address now. As she continued to scramble through the same items, she began to panic. The phone wasn’t there.

That’s when it hit her. Right before going to bed, she had shoved it under the pillow. In her haste to escape Nate’s homicidal spiral of hopelessness, she had not thought to grab it.

Liv lay back on the bed as her body began to shake, and tears flowed freely down her cheeks and onto the soft pillow. She clutched Elli close and let herself sob. She wanted Colin with her. She wanted to know he was alright. She wanted to know her parents were alright. She wanted the world to go back to the way it was when she had woken up that morning. She wanted to be home.

The dog jumped up onto the bed and landed lightly at her feet. He collapsed against her back, his tongue gently caressing the back of her neck.

Day 2
6:35 am

“Mama!” Tiny hands patted her face a little too hard to be gentle. Liv slowly opened one eye to find Elli a mere two inches from her nose.

“Good morning, sunshine.”

“Mama!” Elli squealed with delight. Liv yawned and stretched. Elli imitated, stretching her arms over her head and letting out a little groan.

Soft light trickled in through the curtains. Liv blinked and looked around. Panic hit her like a train and Liv snapped up. Elli startled, grabbing fistfuls of Liv’s clothes as she clung to her. At the end of the bed, a strange dog raised its head and stared at her, undisturbed by her fear.

The room wasn’t her bedroom. Where was she? How did she get here? Then, suddenly, the events of the night before came flooding back: fleeing the highway, meeting Lydia and Nate, running through the woods. Liv relaxed her achy and tired body back against her pillow, holding Elli close.

Liv’s fingers ran the length of Elli’s spine, up and down, and soon the child began to relax again. Elli’s grip on Liv’s shirt loosened slowly as she sucked feverishly on her binky. Her lips brushed against Elli’s head as she placed a gentle kiss there. Feather-soft hair tickled Liv’s nose as she rested her head on top of Elli’s own.

Despite Liv’s desire to get moving, they lay in bed for a bit. As long as they stayed in bed, Liv could hope that order was restored. That maybe St. Louis was picking itself up and moving on. That everything was returning to normal.

She didn’t believe it for a second, but she could dream.

“Dadadadada.” Elli pushed herself up and away from Liv to look around the room. Usually, Liv would respond with: “Where is Dada?” Now, though, the words stuck in her throat.

Where was Dada?

Liv missed him terribly. Colin always managed to find just the right way to make her feel better. Sometimes he’d show up to her work with a small gift—never anything extravagant, but a small gesture that said that he knew her and paid attention. Other times, especially on the crazy days when work and school left her hardly a moment to breathe, he would cook dinner and have it waiting when she came home. Many times at night he would rub her back before bed. Most of the stuff he did for her was small but it was exactly what she needed.

“Dada?” Elli asked again insistently, tearing Liv away from her reminiscing.

“Where is Dada?” Liv finally choked out. Elli’s head whipped around as she looked from side to side. Finally, when Colin was nowhere to be found, she raised her hands up. As if to say, “Where did he go?”

Liv picked up Elli and squeezed her tightly. “Daddy is at work, honey. He’ll be home soon.”

“Oh-tay.” Elli nodded. The little girl wiggled out of Liv’s arms and headed for the edge of the bed, ready to move on now that the matter had been settled.

Liv quickly snatched Elli up again and headed downstairs. The dog jumped off the bed with practiced ease and trotted after them. In the kitchen, Liv toggled the light switch and the light turned on. So far, the electricity had held out but Liv wondered how much longer they would enjoy this luxury.

Had they been home, things might have almost been normal. Liv set Elli down in the kitchen as she fixed a small bowl of cereal and looked around for something for herself. The apples on the counter looked delicious. Fruit was hard to grow. It required a lot of resources and work. Changes in weather temperature or patterns were often enough to devastate the crops.

She plucked one of the apples from the bowl and took a big bite. The taste reminded her of many nights when she was little. Her dad would read her stories before bed while she ate apple slices dipped in peanut butter. She cast a dismal look at the apple. She would have to savor them while they were still good. Who knew when she would get to have them again.

The dog looked up at her glumly as she chewed her piece of apple.

“I guess you’re probably hungry.” Liv cast about the kitchen. She had no idea where his owners kept his food. She hadn’t seen any big bags of dog food so far. After a few useless moments of standing around, Liv pulled open the fridge and examined the tubs of food. In one, she found a large hunk of meatloaf.

“Here, buddy. I guess you get an extra special breakfast today.” She set the open Tupperware container down in front of the dog. The poor animal didn’t dig in like she’d expected. He just looked back at her with big brown eyes.

“It’s alright,” she coaxed, gesturing to the container again. “Go ahead.” Reluctantly, the dog lowered its head to the container and took a tentative lick of the meat. Within a few seconds, he began chomping his way into the delicacy.

In one of the cabinets, Liv found a coffeemaker and a small plastic container of ground coffee. Based on the dust accumulated on the coffeemaker, both probably hadn’t been touched in weeks, maybe even months. With a shrug, Liv set up the simple device and started brewing a small batch of coffee.

The divine aroma of the brewing beans filled the air, and Liv smiled as she took in a deep breath. Liv took her time sipping the tan-colored liquid from the biggest mug she could find. The coffee wasn’t great, but she intended to savor every bit of it.

Liv put down her coffee as she saw a small, blocky fixture on the kitchen counter. Slowly, she reached over and picked the small cordless phone up from the dusty charging stand. She mashed down the call button and lifted the phone to her ear.

A dial tone.

The phone lines were still up. Liv quickly dialed Colin’s cell number. While she didn’t have many memorized, it was one of the few she knew by heart.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

The voicemail picked up and Liv gritted her teeth in frustration.

“Colin, please pick up.” Of course, he wouldn’t hear the message until later. At least, she hoped he was still around to hear it later. “We had to leave the other house. Things got…bad.” She relayed the new address to him and fell silent for a long moment. “Where are you? Elli was asking about you this morning.” Tears choked her words. “We need you. Please hurry up and find us.” She took a deep breath and steadied herself. “I don’t have my cell phone anymore. It got left behind. Try calling this number back and I’ll answer if I can. I love you, Colin.”

Liv quickly hung up, taking a few more deep breaths. As the tears subsided, she dialed her parents’ home number.

Ring. Ring.

“Hello,” a familiar deep male voice answered. Liv’s heart leapt at the sound of her father’s voice.

“Dad!” She gasped. “I’m so—”

“We’re sorry,” an automated female voice cut in. “All circuits are busy. Please try your call again later.”

“Dad! Dad!” Liv shouted but the only answer was a repeat of the automated message.

With a growl, Liv punched the “end call” button and hit redial.

“We’re sorry. All circuits are busy. Please try your call again later.” Again, Liv hung up and redialed. Nothing answered. Not her father. No ringing. Not even the aggravating automated voice.

“God damn it!” Liv shrieked, slamming the phone repeatedly against the counter.

The plastic outer case fractured and the phone fell to pieces in her hand.

Oh no
. Liv dropped to the floor, scrambling to gather the pieces. But it was too late. She had no idea how they fit together.

Fresh tears streamed down her cheeks. She had shattered her only connection with the outside world in a stupid fit of rage.

A quiet muffled sob broke Liv from her panic. Elli stood just outside the kitchen, her eyes locked on Liv. Her chin quivered as tears ran down her cheeks.

“Oh, baby.” Liv rushed to Elli and snatched the child into her arms. “I’m so sorry. So so sorry.” Elli broke into a full sob as Liv cradled her close. She was frightened. The world was frightening and now her own mother had frightened her.

Liv swayed back and forth, clutching Elli close and crying with her.