Brian Keene - Deluge - The Conqueror Worms II

Sarah leaned back in the chair, closed her eyes, and began humming The Church’s ‘Under the Milky Way Tonight’. In year’s past, the song had always brought her peace.

And that was when she heard footsteps pounding up the metal staircase outside. Seconds later, the doorknob rattled.

CHAPTER 26

Something thumped against the door. The knob rattled again, more forcefully this time. Sarah jumped out of the chair and dropped into a crouch. She glanced around, searching for the gun, unable to remember where she’d put it. The door shook in its frame.

Did I lock it? I must have. Otherwise, whoever… whatever is out there wouldn’t be having so much trouble opening—

The door crashed open and a figure lunged into the room. Shrieking, Sarah scrambled backward and ducked behind the chair. The figure answered her scream with one of its own. Sarah peeked up over the top of the chair. The bedraggled intruder was a young man—maybe seventeen or eighteen years old. He was dressed in some kind of makeshift burlap kilt. His arms and legs were covered with mud and blood, and there were dark circles under his eyes. The boy’s cheekbones were sunken and his scalp showed through his wet hair. His skin was too pale, his arms and legs too thin. She could see his ribs sticking out beneath the soaked burlap. If he was infected with the fuzz, she couldn’t see it.

Spotting her, the intruder held his arms out. Water dripped from his fingertips and elbows. He let out a strangled, sobbing cry and said something that sounded like “Moxey.”

Sarah spied the pistol laying on top of the communication equipment to her left. Taking a deep breath, she darted out from behind the chair and grabbed it. The boy stumbled backward toward the door. Holding the weapon in both hands, Sarah pointed it at his chest and spread her feet apart shoulder-width.

“Freeze! You take one more step and I’ll blow your fucking lungs out the back of your chest.”

Eyes wide, he thrust his hands higher. “Don’t shoot. Please. The bastard killed my Moxey.”

“Who are you? What do you want?”

“My name’s…” The boy paused, blinking. Then his mouth fell open. “You… you’re naked!”

“So are you, sunshine. Now what the hell are you doing here?”

He stared at her breasts for a moment, and then his gaze traveled down to her crotch. The boy sighed. Then his attention focused on her breasts again. Suddenly self-conscious, Sarah relaxed her shooter’s stance and brought her legs together. Then she waggled the pistol.

“Those are tits. Not ears or eyes. I’m up here, asshole. If you need to gawk at something, look at my gun.”

He jerked his head up and stared into her eyes. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

“You’re bleeding,” Sarah said. “Are you okay? Did the worms attack you or something?”

“Worms?” He frowned. “No, the only worm I saw was a dead one. Biggest damn worm I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t want to come across a live one. They’d make good bait down in the river, though. A person could catch Old One-Eye with one of them.”

By his accent and his reference to the same fishing hole Teddy had mentioned, Sarah made the youth for a local. But who was he? Teddy and Carl had seemed convinced that everyone else in the area was either dead or evacuated by the National Guard—except for Earl Harper, of course. But even Earl was dead now. Sarah studied the intruder closely. He was unarmed, and clearly in bad shape. Weakened, distraught, and just as scared as she was. Crazy? Perhaps. But he didn’t seem threatening. She didn’t lower the gun, but when she spoke again, her voice was softer.

“Look, kid. You barged in here and scared the hell out of me. Why don’t we start over. Who are you?”

“My name’s Henry Garrett.”

“Nice to meet you, Henry. My name is Sarah. Where did you come from?”

“Me an Moxey were living in the top of Mr. Laudermilk’s grain silo.”

Sarah shook her head. “I don’t know where that is. I’m not from around here.”

“I didn’t think you were. Never seen you around before. How did you end up here?”

“It’s a long story. Why don’t you finish telling me yours first?”

“We were in the silo. It’s in Renick, down yonder at the bottom of the mountain. We had to leave. We were starving, and there were… things. So we left. I carried Moxey once we made it to land.”

“Is Moxey your girlfriend?”

“No. She’s my… was my… cat.” His voice choked and his eyes welled up. “She was so weak. Like I said, we were hungry. I knew that Mr. Garnett was alive, so we—”

“Mr. Garnett? You mean Teddy?”

Henry flinched. “Yeah. You know him?”

Sarah nodded, and the boy continued.

“We made it to his house. I cut the hell out of my feet on the way there.”

“Did you find Teddy? Is he okay?”

“No.” Henry’s expression darkened. “The whole place was in ruins. Looked like something smashed it flat. An explosion, maybe?”

Sarah lowered the gun, and sagged backward, leaning against the radio equipment.

“I didn’t see his body,” Henry said. “Reckon he could have escaped. Mr. Garnett was a tough old bird.”

“Yeah. Yeah, he was.” She wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “So how did you end up here? And where’s your cat?”

“Earl got her.”

“Earl? You don’t mean Earl Harper? Don’t tell me that crazy son of a bitch is still alive.”

“I’m afraid so,” Henry said. “You know him, too?”

“We’ve met. He hurt your cat?”

“He… killed her. And he’s not right anymore. Not that he was ever right to begin with. But he’s changed. He’s not the same. It might sound crazy, but he’s got this white fungus growing all over him. I ran away after he… after Moxey, but I’m worried that he might be following me here. That’s why I was trying to get inside—so I could hide.”

Sarah stood up. “He’s coming here?”

“Maybe,” Henry said. “And I’ll tell you something else. He’s not alone. There’s a whole bunch of people out there who have the same stuff growing on them. Animals, too.”

“And they’re all heading this way?”

“Yeah.” Henry shrugged. “I reckon they will be.”

“Shit…”

CHAPTER 27

The first thing they did was get dressed. After he’d cleaned himself up, Sarah gave Henry the last of the spare forest ranger uniforms. The outfit hung loose over his emaciated frame. While Henry looked at himself in the mirror, Sarah turned away, stifling a grin. A few months ago, she would have found the sight horrible rather than darkly comical, but a lot had changed since then, including her.

Using the first aid kit, Sarah tended to Henry’s cuts and bruises as best she could. Judging by his reaction, she guessed that the youth missed his mother. She didn’t ask him what had happened to his family. She didn’t have to. In this world, it was a safe bet that they were now worm food. Or mermaid food. Or worse.

Henry talked while he ate. Clearly ravenous, he wolfed the food down with both hands, shoveling it into his mouth and speaking between bites in short, clipped sentences. He told her of his harrowing journey from Renick to Teddy’s house, and what had happened when he arrived there. His expression darkened when he talked about the death of his cat, but the mood passed as he turned his attention back to the meal. Henry punctuated his story with grunts and groans of pleasure as he ate. His lips kept smacking together. Sarah wasn’t sure if the teen was even aware that he was doing it.

As she watched and listened, Sarah considered her new companion. Despite his age and physical condition, Henry was obviously tough. Assuming his story was true—and she had no reason to believe otherwise—then he’d been through as much shit as she had, and appeared to be holding up just as well. Strong and resilient—he reminded her of Kevin. Her stomach lurched, and for a moment, Sarah thought she might vomit. The memory of shooting him played through her head like a film. Biting her lip, Sarah wiped a single tear from her eye and focused on Henry again. If he noticed her emotional reaction, he didn’t mention it. She smiled and nodded at him, encouraging him to continue. He did, reciting a bestiary that rivaled her own, complete with a half-human, half-shark monstrosity.