Desolate The Complete Trilogy

Fifteen



Soo couldn’t stop sobbing. She pulled over and crawled into the back seat so Dave could drive. Howard pulled Soo close on one side and Emily on the other, comforting them. He told Soo again there was nothing they could have done. He said it to Soo, but meant it mostly for himself. Maybe he could have done something differently. Maybe they had been still alive in there, fighting them off, and he just left them behind.

“Hey,” Dave snapped. He looked at Soo in the rearview mirror. “Plenty of time for crying later. I need you to get your shit together. Okay Soo? Don’t fall apart on me now, girl.”

Soo wiped her eyes and nodded. “Sorry.”

Dave’s face softened and he let out a big sigh. “I know it hurts. We’ll talk about it over beers on that fancy yacht of yours. Right now we all need to stay frosty until we get out of this mess.”

He swerved to avoid another creature in the road. As they got closer to town, the numbers increased. Dave pulled off the A-1 onto The Queens Drive, heading downtown to the harbor.

Howard leaned forward, staring out the windshield. “Oh, my god. They’re everywhere.”

Their numbers had to be in the thousands now. In every direction they looked–every side street, every alley, every lawn and parking lot– the creatures roamed.

“And they’re homing in on us like flies to dog shit,” Dave said. “Take a look behind us.”

Howard turned around. Dozens ran after the van, trying to keep up. As the streets grew more narrow and filled with cars and debris, Dave found it difficult to maintain a speed to stay ahead of them.

“Turn up there,” Soo shouted. “That’ll take us down by the harbor.”

Dave did a hard right, just missing a parked car. They crested the hill and had a clear view of the harbor below. A docked cruise ship dominated the horizon. On the other side of the bay, the marina of the yacht club held the keys to their salvation. Dozens of boats of all sizes waited for them. Soo studied the boats, trying to find an ideal candidate before they arrived at the docks, to save time.

Dave cursed and slammed on the brakes. The yacht club was on a small peninsula off the mainland and only one road led to it. A fire had consumed the entire area. It had long burned out, but not before weakening the foundation of a four-story building, causing it to collapse. It completely blocked the one and only road to the marina.

The van had stopped just long enough for the following swarm of creatures to catch up. Dave shifted into reverse and attempted a Y turn as they attacked the vehicle. He accelerated and plowed through a group of them before they started leaping out of the way.

Howard leaned forward and pointed. “What about that one?” A yacht sat anchored a hundred yards off shore beyond the cruise ship.

“How in the hell are we supposed to get to it, genius?” Dave asked. “And why is it even sitting out there?”

“That’s at least an eighty footer,” Soo answered. “They probably anchored it there and took the tender to shore. A lot easier than trying to dock it.”

“All we have to do is get to the water,” said Howard. “We already know they won’t follow.”

“Shit.” Dave muttered under his breath.

More of them streamed down the hill to join the chase. It seemed every single one of them in town was now after them. He took a hard left, pushing the van’s center of gravity to the limit as the tires squealed in protest.

The yacht sat almost directly off shore. Speeding directly alongside the cruise ship at forty miles an hour, Dave saw the road end abruptly at the end of the dock. The creatures behind couldn’t keep up at that speed, but hundreds swarmed from the left. Within seconds they would be in the van’s path.

“Okay,” he called. “We’re gonna swim for it, going in hard. We won’t have time to stop at the edge and jump in.”

“Are you nuts?” Howard said.

“You’re goddamned right. Quick, open that side door.” Dave lowered both front windows all the way down. “When we hit the water everybody get out as quick as you can before it goes under.”

Howard grabbed Emily tight and opened the sliding door on the side of the van. The end of the road was just seconds away.

Dave gripped the wheel and slammed the accelerator to the floor. “Brace for impact! Keep your seat belts on, it’s gonna be rough.”

The van left the pavement, hitting an uneven dip before going airborne. The steering wheel wrenched violently, ripped from Dave’s hand. The van hit the water at an angle doing almost fifty. Water crashed through the open door and windows, slamming into them like a wall.

A handful of overzealous creatures couldn’t stop in time and tumbled into the bay after the van, thrashing in the water before drowning. The rest of them stood at the water’s edge, squealing and hissing in frustration as the vehicle slipped under the surface and was gone.