Dog Days: Book One

16

"Lake Iroquois? Isn't that an hour from here?" Claire recalled.

"Yeah..." she muttered. The car went quiet again. The hum of the motor along with the continuous squeal of the windshield wipers against the glass filled the silence.

"What happened to your arm?" Austin questioned. His eyes followed the drop of blood rolling down her arm. A dark red trail followed the drop.

"My cat. He's turned. He- he scratched me."

She heard Claire suck in a breath.

"What if I turn? What if I hurt you guys? I don't wanna to turn. I don't wanna...die. What do I do?" Arryn sobbed.

"We don't know if scratches turn you. We've only seen bites," Austin spoke, trying to comfort the sobbing Arryn. "Here." Austin handed her a damp paper towel. "Clean yourself up. You don't want that getting infected."

She took the soggy rag from him, wiping the wound and surrounding areas clean of blood. The wound stung as the cloth brushed against it. Once she had finished, Austin handed her another towel, this time dry. She fixed it over the wound, applying pressure in hopes to stop the bleeding.

"Well," she sniffled, "should we head for the lake house?" She had to change the subject on her possible impending death. For now, she would carry on and make the best of what she had.

"I know I have nowhere else to go," Claire said solemnly.

"Neither do I," Austin agreed.

"You'll have to give me directions. It's been a long time since I've been there with you all."

"Alright, Claire."

And with that, they took off. Along the way, Arryn found herself thankful that Claire's mom has owned such a big SUV. Along the road, cars were left deserted. Some cars had large indentations in the metal and broken windows. Some had blood and limp bodies inside them. One car, in particular, a small yellow smart car, had been on fire.

Bodies littered the road, both human and animal, dead and living dead. Some corpses lay eaten down to the bone: Others were still being feasted on. The rabids were running after cars that zoomed by, trying to capture their food.

The storm let up, becoming a slow trickle and an occasional rumble of thunder. Arryn's teeth had quit their continuous chattering as the warm air touched her skin, drying her off slightly.

When Claire drove on the ramp leading to the interstate, she let out a loud gasp, slamming on the brakes midway through the ramp.

"What?" Arryn asked exasperated, her heart pounding.

Trinity had fallen asleep clutching her stuffed bear. At the sound of Claire's gasp and the sudden lurch forward of the car, she shifted in her sleep, scrunching her eyebrows.

"It... we can't... look." Her finger pointed out the windshield, towards the eight-lane interstate.

A gasp escaped Arryn's lips as her eyes settled on the massacre. Cars were piled on one another, appearing to be nothing more than pieces of colored warped metal. Gunshots hung in the air as fleeing people fired aimlessly at the decaying beasts behind them.

A loud screech, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass came from the roadway. A high-pitched scream cut through the air as Arryn watched a woman fly through the windshield of her truck. She landed on the asphalt hard. The rabids were on her in seconds, tearing her apart limb from limb.

"Back it up Claire," Austin ordered. He turned around, stealing a look out the back window. "It's clear behind you."

She jerked the gearshift in reverse. The car rolled back as she gently eased the car down the ramp.

"We've got company," Austin muttered.

Sure enough, a few of the rabids from the highway were chasing them down the ramp. She couldn't make out their features all that well. One had been a woman due to the long blonde hair bouncing as she ran. Her red sequined dress looked shredded on one side as if she too had been thrown from a car and dragged across the pavement. The other two were dogs. Both had black fur and red exposed muscles.

"Arryn, can I see that gun?" Austin asked, reaching his hand back towards her.

"I- I lost it when Oliver attacked me," she replied sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

"Dang," he muttered. He fumbled around his belt, hand clasping around one of his other guns. He pulled a different gun out of the sleeve. This one, unlike the one he had given to her earlier, had a long silver barrel with a black handle. On the side, the words Desert Eagle were etched into the gun in small writing. He pulled out a clip and loaded long, bronze bullets into it.

"You may want to cover your ears. This one is loud," he warned.

He placed tiny earplugs into his ears, handing a pair to the focused Claire, and rolled down the window. His body leaned out of the moving vehicle, hair flipping wildly in the wind. Through the rearview mirror, she watched his eyes squint as he took aim. She reached over and placed her hands over Trinity's ears.

A loud bang echoed, muffled only slightly by the wind. A faint ringing sounded in her ears as she pressed down harder on Trinity's. She squinted her eyes shut, leaning one ear against her arm to muffle the loud cracks. A few seconds later another shot followed, and another, and another, until the sound of the window rolling up lead her to open her eyes.

Trinity's eyes opened. She looked groggy and unaware of where she was. "Mommy?" her voice cracked.

"It's me, Arryn. You remember that you're staying with me for awhile while mommy and daddy are sick. "She had said that louder than she meant to, the ringing still lingering in her ears.

"I miss mommy." Her fingers stroked the bear in her hands.

The car braked as Claire let out a relieved sigh. "Okay," she breathed. "What's Plan B?"