Transformation Page 22

  Soon they were brought food and locked in their rooms. Ben went silent which was actually worse than when he was making noise and they knew where he was.

  §

  Cooper was comfortable with their safety and tried to fall asleep but Rachael paced the room and kept him awake.

  “You need to sleep.”

  “I can’t.” Rachael was distracted. She seemed to have made the comment unconsciously as if she were deep in thought.

  “We know they took his weapons. They locked him in his room. I won’t fall asleep. I won’t even sit down if that makes you comfortable.”

  “Or we can leave right now.”

  “Nah” Cooper said. “I would love to but we don’t know where we are. It’s too dangerous to go out there in the dark. I think we’ll be OK.”

  “I know Ben. There’s no way I can relax with him around. I want to be far away right now.”

  “Let me know if you need anything,” Cooper laid down and was soon asleep.

  Rachael intended to stay awake, but once the room fell silent, Cooper started to softly snore, she felt the weariness in her bones. She tried the lock then clicked off the lights for Cooper’s benefit. She lay in the dark with her eyes closed wishing that she could fall asleep. She had been on the go all day and was exhausted but felt wide awake knowing who was under the same roof with her. But she was out within minutes.

  The next thing she knew it was morning and Rachael was being pulled out of her bed and to her feet. Cooper was already standing, being held in place by two big men. They were taken back to the main house. It looked as if everyone was there in the large room.

  “What’s this about?” Cooper was still half asleep and confused. He heard Rachael swear and looked over at her. She was eyeing Ben. He was sitting at the big table with Cap and a few others. He knew things weren’t going to be OK.

  “Now you are our prisoner.” Cap was harsh and didn’t look Cooper in the eye. “I have no idea what to do with you.” She looked like she’d been awake all night, possibly crying.

  “What did he tell you?” Cooper looked at Ben who was talking to a woman with a straight expression and a slight smile.

  “What did he tell you?” Cooper demanded. “What’s going on?”

  Cap ignored him.

  “Let me tell you a few things.” Now she locked eyes with Cooper and she was angry. She walked around the table and stood in front of him. She uncovered a bloody knife.

  “We found the murder weapon in some bushes by the pool. We found drops of blood in the pool house and a small smear of blood on the door sill to your room.”

  “Murder weapon? What are you talking about?” Cooper’s eyes had gone wide.

  “You slit Shaw’s throat in his sleep.”

  “Shaw?” It took a second for Cooper to place the name. “The guy who punched me yesterday?”

  Cooper felt his knees go weak. He knew Ben was behind whatever happened.

  “I did not kill him. I was in my room all night,” his voiced wavered.

  “Then why was your door unlocked this morning? We locked you in, both of you. Ben’s door was locked this morning—locked from the outside—and yours was unlocked.”

  Cooper was silent. He didn’t know what to say.

  “For now, we are locking you back in your rooms. Sheila’s a lawyer and will take statements from all of you.” She slammed her hand on the table.

  “This is bullshit.”

  Cooper was too scared to speak. But Rachael wasn’t.

  “So how does this work? Will we have a trial of some sort or are you just going to kill us?” Rachael demanded, confident, angry even.

  “You will do as we say,” Cap barked back.

  “Bullshit,” Rachael shot back.

  Cap’s eyes widened at the offense. “Now you listen to me …”

  “No. You listen to me. If you are going to look into this you will find that we are innocent and you will apologize. If you are going to kill us then do it here in front of all of your people.”

  Cap took a step back and a breath. She held her hand up as if to bring a stop the everything.

  “Alright. You will be held as we look into this. You will each be interviewed by Sheila. She was a prosecutor and the closest thing we have to a detective.”

  Rachael nodded.

  “OK. Maybe one of you is innocent and if that is the case I apologize in advance. But you have to understand that you are strangers to us and one of our own was murdered. All the evidence points to you. What would you have us do?”

  She had been addressing Rachael and to her it felt like the assumption was that Cooper was guilty.

  “This is just the sort of thing we have fought hard to keep out of our community.”

  Cap turned her back and waved her hand.

  They led the three back to the pool house. Ben was smiling, Cooper was concerned, but when they led Rachael to a separate room from Cooper she panicked.

  Rachael pushed back from the door, her guards grabbed her arm and pushed her forward but she put her feet on both sides of the door.

  “No!” She yelled. She screamed and fought, her guards fought back.

  Cooper was led willingly into his room but turned and addressed his guard.

  “Let me talk to her.”

  The guard nodded and stepped aside.

  “Hey Rachael,” Cooper got her attention. “It will be OK. Just go.”

  “No Cooper, it won’t be. I refuse to be a prisoner.” She had a foot on each side of the door, supported by her guards. “How can you go so willingly?”

  “We have no choice, and I think these people are OK.”

  Rachael looked him in the eyes, relaxed and entered her room calmly.

  Cooper entered his room. The guard poked his head in before closing the door.

  “Thanks for the help. We really don’t like doing this.” The guard was a big guy, one that looked as if he could take out four Coopers at once, but he looked sincerely apologetic.

  Cooper felt good about the exchange, but it occurred to him that it was odd that the guard didn’t act like he wanted to kill him.

  “No problem, but you better not hurt her.”

  The guard nodded and left. Cooper didn’t get any sense from these people that they’d do them any harm.

  He lay on the bed wondering what he was going to do. Could he prove Ben did it? How did Ben get in and out of the room?

  He stood and started looking around. Maybe the way Ben escaped didn’t exist in this room. The windows were locked and shuttered. He looked around for something that could be used as a weapon. He found nothing. He paced for what felt like hours. He worried about Rachael.

  Hours later the door unlatched and was jerked open. Two armed men grabbed Cooper and dragged him outside without a word. They met up with a third man and they all walked to the back of the pool house.

  He thought he was being brought to see the woman Shelia, or Cap, but as the men dragged him away from the pool house and towards the woods. He fought them.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “Shut up!” A big burly man ordered.

  “I didn’t kill Shaw, I swear.”

  Cooper received a punch to the gut in response. Once he recovered, he kept talking.

  “Look this guy Ben is evil, a real asshole.”

  The burly man leading the two armed men stopped and spun around.

  “I said shut up. Next time you talk, I cut out your tongue.”

  Cooper was led to a clearing. Rachael was already there, standing and sobbing. An armed man and a woman stood watch over her.

  The woman spoke. “You sure Cap is out on patrol?”

  “Yes,” the big burly man snapped.

  The woman pressed him. “What do we do when she returns and her prisoners are gone?”

  “You let me deal with Cap. She needs to know you don’t deal with murders by locking them in a mansion.”

  Cooper was looking around, trying to get a feel for the
people involved. He saw a lot of doubt and fear on most of the faces. He spoke up.

  “I can see that most of you know this isn’t right.”

  Burly rushed him and grabbed him by the throat and took him to the ground. “I said shut up!” He screamed, spittle hitting Cooper in the face. The man had pulled a pulled a large knife from a sheath on his leg and had it to Cooper’s throat.

  Two men pulled him off Cooper and helped them both stand. One of the older men spoke up.

  “He’s right. What we are doing here isn’t right. We need to give Shelia time to sort things out.”

  “Sort things out?” Burly scoffed. “How much more obvious can it be?”

  One of the armed women stepped up. “Anyone who doesn’t agree with us should leave.”

  Burly backed up and gave everyone who left a glare. Cooper did too.

  “You know what they are about to do and you are walking away? You are worse than he is you cowards. Look me in the eye I dare you. One of you look me in the eye.”

  One older man split from the group and walked up to Cooper. “I’m saving myself, son. You would do the same and you are a liar if you say otherwise.”

  “You don’t know me you fucking coward,” Cooper spat in his face.

  The man looked shocked and backed off. Burly spoke up.

  “He’s right Don you are a fucking coward. Now get the hell out of here before I spit in your face too.” He turned to Cooper. “Just because I agree with you doesn’t mean I hate you any less. You will die here today, soon.”

  Cooper looked at his feet, fighting the urge to vomit. He was scared and his blood felt like ice water. He wanted to look at Rachael to assure her, but couldn’t bring himself to. It was his fault she was here.

  Three of the five guards walked off.

  Burly addressed the remaining two. “OK.” The woman held her rifle on Rachael. Burly and the other man grabbed Cooper and he fought them. The woman pulled a knife and placed it against Rachael’s throat. He submitted.

  They bound his wrists and tied him between two trees, his arms stretched out.

  “You are going to pay for what you did to Pedro and Shaw. I’m going to beat you until I get tired, and I don’t get tired.”

  29.

  The crash was loud on the quiet morning.

  Donna was up first, about to brew coffee, when she looked out over the parking lot. She dropped the empty carafe she was holding. As far as the eye could see the dead covered the ground, but they weren’t moving. She moved closer to the edge and looked down to get a closer look at the corpses. They were all laying in a massive tangle that stretched for miles, or so it seemed. As far as she could see across the runways, the entire parking lot, into the office parks, was all covered in a tangle of dead bodies.

  She ran to the other side of the structure and looked out. The ground all the way to the highway was carpeted in the dead and the carpet was complete up to, and almost certainly under, the structure. She ran to the girls asleep on the sofas.

  “Wake up and come see this.” Donna sounded alarmed enough that both girls jumped to their feet.

  “What is it?” Ana and Lisa both asked.

  “First put these on.” Donna handed them both the pro grade masks they used to filter the air when needed.

  “Not sure this will help with disease,” Donna mumbled but the other two didn’t hear her.

  They all looked over the edge of the structure together.

  “What the heck?” Lisa said.

  “Gross.” Ana turned away and removed her mask. She walked over and started sweeping up the broken glass.

  “I guess she has the right idea.” Donna walked after Ana and Lisa followed. They both removed their masks.

  “What do you think happened to them?” Lisa asked.

  “Well, no matter what drove them, they are human bodies and are bound to fail at some point. I’m surprised they lasted this long.”

  “Yeah.” Lisa said. “But it looks like they all died at once. Like something turned them off.”

  Donna huffed. “I don’t know.” She fell silent for a bit as the two women walked back to the kitchen area to join Ana. “I haven’t had much of a chance to think about how or why all this happened. I guess it wasn’t a priority. I’m still not sure how it would serve us to know.”

  The three ladies brewed coffee, took an occasional glance over the edge, and hoped the stiff breeze that kept the smell almost completely at bay would hold up. They relaxed as much as they possibly could.

  Donna was worried about Ron. He was gone, and she didn’t know where. Now searching for him was almost an impossibility. She used the binoculars to look for him off and on. She looked down at the can she was about to open. Peaches. She smiled. Just like the last time she was worried about Ron. She smiled because it made her think of Jeff. He was odd but a real sweet kid.

  §

  “What the fuck?” Jeff hissed as he looked over the ocean of corpses. Between him and Wendy and the structure.

  “Yay. More bodies,” Wendy said.

  “No, not just more bodies. Look.” Jeff pointed.

  Wendy hesitated, but leaned over and looked at what Jeff was pointing at just outside his window.

  “What the fuck?” Wendy hissed.

  “I know, exactly.” Jeff said.

  “What do you think it is?”

  Jeff and Wendy were several yards from something that looked humanoid, but was odd in several ways. It was hairless, smooth skinned, and looked like a burn victim might look. The flesh looked like melted wax poured over wounds and gashes. They were too far away to see, but the thing looked like a statue. It just stood still, slightly hunched forward.

  Wendy shuddered. “Jesus, it’s disgusting.”

  Jeff dropped the van into gear and drove slowly towards the structure.

  “Maybe I’ve watched too many movies, but I am not going near that thing.”

  “What if it attacks us? What do we do?”

  “Well, after I shit myself I am sure I will think of something as I am running away from it.”

  “I loves me a brave man,” Wendy said.

  Minutes later the van crunched and squished up to and inside the structure. The elevator platform was lowering as they arrived. Nothing was moving so they both exited the driver’s side and onto the slanting surface. The platform was resting on a layer of bodies. Jeff grabbed his giant bag.

  There was much hugging and happiness and many questions. Jeff told his story of how old Francis took off with Ron. Donna updated Jeff on her apparent death and how she came to be alive. Wendy told the events of her last few days and how Sal was still out there along with a handful of people pursuing them because of the apparent murder of one of their own.

  Jeff got the binoculars and looked for the thing they saw and tried to point it out to the others, but it was too far away to see clearly. Jeff couldn’t ignore the thing. He was tempted to go have a look at it, but even his overpowering curiosity was subdued by caution. He went back and forth watching it for several hours not wanting to let it out of his sight.

  Finally there came the time he went to look at the creature and it was gone. This made him even more nervous. He spent the rest of the evening looking high and low, but it was nowhere to be found. Jeff dreaded sundown and didn’t want to sleep alone, or be alone anywhere in the structure.

  When night fell he went to sit on the sofas with everyone, he brought his giant bag and offered to share. The girls had on some horrible movie Wendy had taken from the big box store. While they all oohed and ahhed, he slipped on some earphones and turned up the volume. He was exhausted and fell sound asleep.

  In the dark of the night, in the darkest and most silent part of the night, a breeze barely blew through the structure. Donna walked the dark fourth level and looked over the edge every so often. It was so dark that nothing much could be seen. To make things worse the layer of dead bodies made it hard to see if anything was out of place. When the lot was empty, the ground
clear, they could see if anything or anyone moved for a long distance out. Now it was such a chaotic jumble she didn’t think her being on watch made a difference but felt like it was something she should do. She also couldn’t sleep, couldn’t even sit still. She tried, and failed to distract herself with a book than a movie.

  She wondered where Ron was, prayed he was OK. Worse still, he thought she was dead. She didn’t know how she’d deal with it if she thought she’d lost him.

  Donna came back around to the living room. Everyone was asleep on the sofas. She could hear Jeff’s music faintly when she drew close. She debated whether she should turn the music down. The kid had to be damaging his hearing. She found the kid’s iPod and unplugged it. He rolled over and she could feel him relax. He smiled in his sleep. But then his eyes opened.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “No, it’s OK. I’ve been dying to get back and work on some stuff.”

  Jeff got up, grabbed some junk food and soda and went towards his area to work.

  She looked at Lisa, Ana, and Wendy with gratitude. She was blessed with such a wonderful group of people to survive such a horrible situation.

  Donna tried once again to relax. She took another shower, tried to read, walked around the structure again and stopped on the far side on the roof. She looked out over blackness.

  “Oh my Ron, where are you?” she whispered to herself, to God in case he was listening.

  She walked back down the ramps to the second level. She figured one more walk around might take the edge off and allow her to sleep. As she passed the fourth level she looked in on the folks there.

  The second level was near black. She was surprised the corpse smell was almost nonexistent. She padded along silently in her tennis shoes. The night was still and quiet, so quiet that Donna could hear the faint sounds of footfalls in the dark several yards in front of her. She froze.

  Donna turned to run away, to warn the others, but wasn’t able. She felt hands grab her, a knife pressed to her throat, and more hands clutching at her arms and legs, a few copped hard feels of her more sensitive areas. A coarse cloth was wrapped around her face.