The Diseased Heart

Chapter 32

This...This was a bad idea.

Even after night had fallen, the humans in this place seemingly never stopped walking around. Hiding atop a garage, I was near invisible in the darkness, of course that wouldn't help if I ran through the illuminated roads of the place for all to see.

The rest of the ally Crawlers sat in wait about a mile away, waiting for my signal to show I had taken care of as many enemies as I could. If I did not signal in ten minutes, they had been told to retreat back and assume I was dead, or incapacitated. They would get Clem and some of the army in the morning. I was going to try my hardest to keep that from happening.

I stared down at the roads below, they were as empty as they had ever been now, it was either now or never. I darted from my perch across the road and up to another roof, following the distinct stench of feral Crawlers.

I could smell the large pack somewhere nearby in this place, but where, I wasn't sure. The whole area was filled with their scent for whatever reason, and it made my own instincts uneasy. They didn't want to encroach on a pack's territory, but my own mind knew just what this territory held. The end of the human race, or another apocalypse.

A pair of armored men passed by the road below me, each were armed with a large gun from which a terrible smell came. I covered my mouth and nose before jumping away quickly to cough to avoid being heard. The smell reminded me of bleach, coffee grounds, and some other sorts of chemicals. Whatever it was, both sides of my mind hated it and wanted to stay as far from it as possible.

Shaking my head to clear my muddied thoughts I climbed half way up a radio tower and sniffed the air, I was downwind, making tracking any scent a million times easier. Springing off the tower and in one direction, I lifted my head to smell the air again. The Crawlers were much closer, but I still could bot find where.

They must be underground. What I'm smelling must just be where they turned, or the upper part of whatever building they're held in.

I looked around the fenced area. Only so many buildings could possibly hold them, others were clearly used for something else. Through process of elimination, I decided three buildings would be my main targets. I darted towards the nearest one.

I didn't even have to land on it before that odor reached me, I hissed silently and turned sharply away. That must be where they make whatever is in those guns...No way a feral Crawler would go near that without tearing someone's head off.

The bombardment against my senses was torturous for me. For several minutes all I could think was to leave the area, and all i could smell was that. Suddenly it hit me, that was what they wanted. Whatever this was, it was a functional Crawler repellent, like what Mary had made all those years ago when I was in the cabin.

How am I going to deal with this?! I'll just have to warn the others, I suppose...

Landing atop the flat roof of the second building, I heard a faint growl from inside. Gotcha. I narrowed my eyes and began surveying the building for a way inside. There were two large barn-like doors across one wall, and were held together with a padlock attached to chains where each link was the size of my fist.

Wow, these people really did not want these Crawlers to get out huh...

There was no other possible entrance to the building, so I tried my luck on the padlock. It was strong, but I felt I may be able to pull it apart with enough force.

The strain on my still-healing hand wasn't helping, I sighed. As useless as my right hand normally is, I hate to say I need it now, and of course now was when it had to be broken.

Someone cleared their throat behind me.

I spun around with one arm outstretched, my fingers tensed like claws as I slashed at whoever was behind me with my razor sharp nails. How had I not been able to smell them coming?!

My nails never connected with anything, but someone grabbed my wrist as if they knew the exact place it would be at the exact time. I yanked my arm back and backed against the door behind me with a growl.

The woman standing in front of me wore thick padded armor so that even if I had connected my strike, it would have done no damage. Her eyes were glaring down at me. I was heavily focused on the gun she held, it fired no bullets, but reeked of that repellent. Uh oh...

A disturbing grin crept across her face, "You seem to know what this thing'll do to you, don't you?"

My eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Not exactly, would rather not find out."

She chuckled darkly, "Oh, that's not an option, kid."

She aimed the gun towards me and fired, the liquid shot out like a water gun, soaking the front of my jacket and neck. I choked at the smell and covered my mouth and nose with my hands. Extending my Crawler legs in the same moment, I climbed backwards up the wall behind me, and darted across the roof. The woman didn't try to stop me, which was a bad sign.

I could hardly breathe in without choking and coughing. I jumped to another roof quickly and pulled my jacket off. Thankfully, that got rid of most of the stench, but I was still lightheaded and felt sick to my core.

I shook off hard, and using the sleeve of my jacket, wiped what was left of the solution off my skin. Several alarms began to sound, and I covered my ears against the deafening sirens.

The repellent was starting to make me seriously sick, I gagged and clutched my stomach with one hand, and covered my mouth with the other, resisting the urge to vomit. Sadly, I was not able to resist that urge for long.

Stumbling backwards, I shook off and mumbled to myself, "Shit...what am I supposed to do now..?"

"Simple. Die."

My eyes widened, but before I could turn my head, what sounded and felt like a metal pipe was smashed across it. I fell forward hard with my ears ringing and vision spinning. I could barely tell if I was on my back or my stomach.

I lost all will to resist, realizing the attempt was fruitless. I willingly stopped all struggle, and as my head was bludgeoned a second time, I allowed myself to loose consciousness.