The Road to Nowhere 2: Paths Taken

By Lee Argus

As a global pandemic transforms humanity, one man must struggle to stay alive, stay human, and recover his former life in this apocalyptic adventure.

The blight of the Kuru virus has spread, leaving few alive in its wake. The world is now populated by those who have succumbed. Only a few scattered survivors remain, struggling to escape the merciless appetites of the infected.

After enduring an accident that would have left most dead, John Doe faces even more terrifying odds. His only chance for survival takes him down a path no one could possibly anticipate. Still suffering from amnesia, unsettling questions about John’s past begin to surface.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: May 31, 2014
• ISBN: 9781618682796

Book preview

tmp_5ed0398330083df8bc55b0b2cdf7a51f_WF_lT0_html_mac6eb93.jpgtmp_5ed0398330083df8bc55b0b2cdf7a51f_WF_lT0_html_m5a42c7a2.jpg

A PERMUTED PRESS book

Published at Smashwords

ISBN (Trade Paperback): 978-1-61868-2-789

ISBN (eBook): 978-1-61868-2-796

The Road to Nowhere 2 copyright © 2014

by Lee Argus

All Rights Reserved.

Cover art by Matthew J. Mosley

This book is a work of fiction. People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or historical events, is purely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.

tmp_5ed0398330083df8bc55b0b2cdf7a51f_WF_lT0_html_m57db3c65.png

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1: Fading to Black

Chapter 2: The Road Ahead

Chapter 3: Passing Through

Chapter 4: Shadows in the Dark

Chapter 5: The Road Behind

Chapter 6: Schoolyard Gates

Chapter 7: North

Chapter 8: The Mortuary

Chapter 9: Decisions to Make

Chapter 10: The Short Distance

Chapter 11: Breaking In

Chapter 12: The Stop

Chapter 13: The Carnage

Chapter 14: Chancing an Escape

Chapter 15: Rachael

Chapter 16: Something in Sight

Chapter 17: The Unknown

Chapter 18: The Next Town

Chapter 19: Their Story

Chapter 20: An Unexpected Turn

Chapter 21: Through the Glass

Chapter 22: Fading Black

Epilogue

Author Biography

PROLOGUE

It began with an infection that rapidly spread. As violent outbreaks swept across the nation, there was little the government could do to put a stop to what would later lead to the death of millions.

Early symptoms of the infection had been mild enough to go unnoticed. They included; headaches, fever, insomnia, dizziness, vomiting, and irritability. Later symptoms became more grievous in nature. Irrational anger, dilated pupils, blood excretions from the mucus membranes, coma, paranoia, and mental instability were the final stages.

Those infected were reported to have committed extreme acts of self-mutilation, murder, rape, and cannibalism. The infected lost the ability to rationalize or communicate. It was almost as though they reverted to being predatory animals and had forgotten nearly everything that made them human.

Scientists coined the term Kuru to describe those who had fully succumbed to the infection. It was a new strain of the original Kuru disease. This new disease was caused by an infectious protein similar to the one that had originated from cannibalism. Its neurological symptoms were inexplicably altered, and it was unknown if it had been a lab grown disease or natural mutation.

Within a matter of months, survivors became few and far between. I can remember details, but nothing that could be called a coherent memory. Amnesia took most of my past, leaving me with a few useless dregs.

1

FADING TO BLACK

My eyes opened. Trying to focus on my surroundings, I felt disoriented. Mental pain—like a bad hangover—crept into my thoughts, bringing a swifter return to clarity. In the lingering haze, I struggled to remember what had brought me here. Sorting my thoughts, the silence in the vehicle quickly became unnerving. As I felt the flecks of dried blood that stubbornly clung to the enamel of my teeth, memories began piecing themselves together.

How long had it been since our fall?

Unbuckling my seatbelt was the first thing I could think of. I knew I had to get out of the RV. It seemed straightforward enough, but with the vehicle resting on its side, there was too much of my weight pressing against the seatbelt to unlock it. Straining with my thumb didn’t so much as shake the belt’s button. After a few moments of futile struggling, I gave up. Whoever had engineered the seatbelt hadn’t considered not being upright while unlocking it. As the narrow strip of fabric dug into my stomach, it caused further pain. It had been comfortably fastened during the drive. Now it felt as though it dug into every internal organ.

I remembered that we had been driving down the highway when there was a sudden attack by a pack Kurus. The front windshield quickly became covered by several of their diseased forms. As they clung to the exterior, trying to smash their way inside, little could be done to prevent the RV from wildly swaying under Phil’s attempt to drive us clear.

The roads had still been slick from what remained of the melting snow. It wasn’t as though we’d been speeding. Instead, the drive had been slow.

Seeing the Kurus just before they struck, a jarring dread began to well up deep in the pit of my stomach. In what seemed like moments later, we careened into a guard rail. A few feet might have made the difference. Had we been further along the road, we would have missed the drop and could have continued pressing forward, in spite of the Kurus.

After only a few brief seconds, the quick flash of memory ended. Rallying myself to do something, I took in a deep breath and struggled to shift my weight, hoping to loosen the seatbelt. When I tried to push myself upward on the arm rests, pain surged from my forearm. It washed out everything in a darkness that threatened to rob me of consciousness. The pain forced a sharp hiss of air out of my mouth while nearly taking my breath away in a scream. My thin thread of rational thoughts was stretched near to breaking, adding to my confused disorientation. Ignoring the pain in my forearm, as well as the throbbing ache from my skull, I turned my head. The ground moved beneath me, sending everything into a nauseating spin. I took a dozen deep breathes before my vision finally cleared.

The interior of the RV was nearly unrecognizable in its post-crash state. Items that I remembered having been neatly put onto shelves and cupboards were now scattered haphazardly around the compact space. No windows were intact, and broken glass was thoroughly strewn around me. Everything from pots and pans to plates and silverware had been roughly spread throughout the living area.

Bringing up my working arm, I tried to rub some clarity into my still blurred vision. A few fingers brushing against my cheek brought another sharp wince of pain. Gingerly prodding the area revealed a chip of glass embedded in the flesh. The glass beneath my skin stung with a sharp, burning pain. When my fingers reached to touch the shard, the discomfort only increased.

As my shaking fingers tried to pull the small glass shard out, they slipped on the still wet blood that dripped down my face, rather than coming out in a steady trickle. My fingernails were able to pick at it enough to pull it free. Tracing the fingertips farther along my skin revealed even more pieces embedded into the flesh. While clearing small pieces of broken glass from my face with the uninjured hand, I tried to get my bearings. Most of the glass fell away, but several jagged pieces still remained lodged.

After picking out the larger chunks, I looked around. Much of the damage could be explained by the next flickering memories that seemed to be coming unbidden.

The RV had lurched in a steep downturned angle before we plunged into the precarious ravine. The sounds faded as our wheels left the ground, but returned as Bernice howled out shrieks of terror. Dozens of scattered bushes did little to slow our decent as we struck them on our way down. Their feeble roots were torn from the earth or disappeared under the RV.

Kurus were knocked down from their clinging perches, only to be pulled under the wide vehicle’s frame. The noise of their crushed bodies hadn’t been noticeable in the awful din.

As we raced dangerously downhill, a larger, more substantial obstacle got into our path. It might have been a large boulder or tree. From where I sat, I couldn’t see.

Bernice’s screams had been cut shockingly short and replaced by shattering glass and groaning steel. All that remained was a hallow ringing in both ears.

My seatbelt had kept me from being flung about the RV while my upper body slammed into the console and interior under the centrifugal force.

The metallic taste of old pennies filled my mouth while something fell from an overhead cabinet. My upraised arm kept the impact from shattering my skull by taking the brunt in its place. Pain had erupted in a liquid fiery torrent from the outstretched appendage.

We had slowed long enough for the rear to swing around, which then sent us tumbling sideways the rest of the way.

A vicious blow to the back of my head was the last memory I had before everything faded to black.

Debris had landed all around the far wall, which was now the floor. I couldn’t reach anything to cut myself loose. Nervously looking for something sharp, I saw a long shard of glass that still hung loosely from the rubber window gasket. Reaching over, I wrenched it free. Using the tips of my fingers, the glass’ serrated edge quickly cut through the seatbelts fabric. As the last few inches were parting, I realized my mistake.

The threads ripped all at once. It dropped me the rest of the way down. As I collided with wooden storage shelves, the impact knocked the wind out of me. My injured arm landed above me, but the pain in my forearm now felt worse. It was difficult to tell under my jacket, but the fabric felt tight under my arm’s swelling. Trying to move it proved nearly impossible.

As I tried to climb to my feet, the sharp smell of leaking propane and gasoline penetrated my nostrils. Body shaking, I tried to see a way out.

The door would only open to the ground. It was useless. The front end was completely smashed in.

Terror struck when my eyes were met with a scene I’d vainly sought to deny. Blood had been splattered on the roof of the RV, trailing down to the front seats. Phil had been driving with Bernice sitting in the passenger’s seat. There wasn’t much time to think. Body shaking, I called Phil’s name.

There was no reply.

Phil? I called again, trying to crawl over piles of provisions that littered the ground. Bernice?

The silence in the RV brought shivers up my spine. What was I expecting?

I knew there wasn’t much time left, but I couldn’t leave them there, not without knowing if they were still alive. Maybe they were just unconscious.

The smell of propane was getting worse. Trying to slow the trembles in my hands and legs, I took slow breaths.

For all I knew, the RV could be surrounded by Kurus, or was close to catching fire and exploding. I had to be careful, but move with haste and stealth.

It was difficult to make much out inside the crushed vehicle. Although it was a risk, I reached a hand into an inner pocket. Using the penlight I’d brought with me didn’t do much to penetrate the dark. If it was fast approaching dusk, I must have been out for longer than I thought.

Kicking aside a few cans, I finally made it to the front.

Phil was still in the driver’s seat. His hands were still tightly affixed to the wheel. It had been pushed hard enough during the impact to drive it into his chest. Blood had dribbled down his mouth and chin, staining his formerly white plaid shirt.

Trying to stomach the sight of his lifeless body, I quickly looked towards Bernice. The windshield’s glass had cut her once kind face to pieces. One large shard was still lodged partway through her neck, but the blood that flowed out of the cut had stopped long ago. She was no longer recognizable under the gouges and gore.

Closing my eyes for a moment, I abruptly breathed in. Body now in trembles, I opened my eyes. I saw that there was no way I would be able to get out through the windshield.

It had been damaged to the point where anyone trying to climb though would be cut to ribbons. Besides, I would have to climb over Phil to even try. That was when I remembered the windows that had been smashed. It would be an ideal way out if I could remove the remaining glass.

Stumbling away from Phil and Bernice, back the way I came, I tried to figure out where we had ended up.

We had been driving through a heavily wooded part of the highway when the Kurus attacked. If I had to guess, I’d say there was about another ten miles until we would’ve reached the bottom of the mountain.

If we hadn’t been driving so slowly, the Kurus wouldn’t have been able to latch on the way they did, but the road had seen better days. Winter storms had knocked a few large branches across parts of it, which made Phil slow to a crawl while maneuvering past them.

Bringing my wandering thoughts to focus, I scrambled to the exit. The window I had been sitting near was small, but the others were as well. A few glass shards still remained.

Knowing time was limited, I grabbed the small kitchen rug out of a pile of debris, then laid it over the window’s frame. I hoped it would keep the loose shards of glass from cutting into me while scrambling outside of the RV.

Through the shattered window, the sun was thankfully still visible. The bright light filled the surrounding area, which was more than enough to make me feel safe to climb out.

Taking one last look outside, I tried pulling my body through the opening. The window was higher than I could manage with a single good arm.

The acrid odor of propane assaulted my nostrils. Hurrying, I piled the loose shelves into a makeshift step. The few feet made the difference.

My center of balance shifted as my upper body cleared the window. The weight drove one of the remaining shards of glass through the rug, digging into my side. Panicking, I swung the rest of my body out. Tumbling through the air, I slammed onto the ground. My breath forced from my lungs with enough speed to barely allow a groan of pain. Struggling with the lingering disorientation, I tried to squint to block out the light.

The exterior of the RV looked as though no one would have survived the crash. The frame had been twisted, with large gouges torn out of its siding. The smell of propane and gasoline was rife in the air.

Realizing that the vehicle was now at risk of catching fire or exploding, I turned to get away. As I ran from the RV, in my haste, I tripped. My legs shook beneath me as I tried to get back on my feet. Breathing heavily, heart still pounding in my chest, sweat began to run down my face.

With each blink, the still images of Phil and Bernice flickered through my mind. Bruised and in pain, I kept going, heading up the ravine.

As I continued on, there was an unsettling fear that I hadn’t been going in the right direction to reach the bottom of the road.

I wasn’t sure what I had expected of the day. I was more curious than anything. Now I began to regret leaving the campground in the first place. We’d exhausted most of our supplies, but waiting a day or two would have been nothing compared to what had happened.

Rachael, Simon, Rosie and her baby had been in the SUV behind us. Were they looking for us? The fall had been too far and steep from the road. A hike down would have been near impossible without the proper equipment. Maybe they kept going. We hadn’t had much ammunition left, and they wouldn’t be able to stop in the dark confines of the overgrown forest. They would have stopped where there was enough light to keep the Kurus away.

Thinking about weapons made me realize how helpless I was. There had been things in the RV I should have grabbed, but it was too late now. With the propane and gasoline, it wasn’t worth the risk.

Reaching tentatively up towards the painful place on my head, my hand became wet. Looking down, there was a small amount of blood quickly cooling on the tips of my fingers. It was already clotting, but every injury added up. The medical kit in the kitchen was something else I hadn’t remembered to take. If I kept making mistakes like this, I wasn’t going to last long.

A sound to my left brought my attention up the ravine. It could have been something that had jarred loose from the cliff and rolled down the steep slopes, or it could’ve been Kurus. The thought of those things stalking me brought the hackles in my neck up. Feeling a form of paranoia creep into the forefront of my mind, I knew I had to keep moving.

My forearm screamed in pain if I did more than a fast walk. A quick trot was possible by keeping it tucked in close, but it wasn’t nearly fast enough. Large rocks and what looked like sand made up the canyon floor. It must have been a stream or a river at one time.

Every time I would take my eyes off the ground, a stone seemed to be in just the right position to trip me. After the third stumble, I made it a point to focus on where my feet were landing.

After a few minutes of further walking, the ravine sharply turned. I could no longer see the RV, and what was worse, I couldn’t see the road either. It had been several months since driving up the road, but I had hoped it would swing back my way.

The rocky terrain turned again a few hundred feet farther down. My footing became more tenuous as the loose earth and rocks were intermixed with small boulders. They were scattered here and there before becoming more difficult to avoid. With my arm, it was hard to keep moving in a straight line. Each detour around a large rock added minutes to my trek.

Despite the bright light that was streaming down from the sky, I feared a Kuru would leap out from behind a rock. Shaking these images from my mind, I focused on the task at hand.

I wove my way through the twisted path between boulders and large stones. Taking in my surroundings, I looked towards the darker section of the forest.

The tightly clustered trees appeared to be motionless, yet an air of menace clung to them. I wasn’t sure if it was because I hadn’t been alone in a long while, but the feeling of being observed lurked.

As I continued on, a strong breeze briskly ran through the forest. It whipped through the narrow ravine. As I pulled my jacket in closer to myself, I could feel the wind numbing the surface of my skin.

My attention was drawn to a sudden noise. I looked up towards the sky, where a large bird called down at me from overhead. After several languidly flown circles, it seemed to grow bored and flew away.

I hadn’t seen many animals throughout the winter. It made sense that they would return with the spring. I just hoped the blood clinging to me wouldn’t attract a bear or wolf.

The sudden spurts of wind died down as quickly as they had started. Although the sun was warming, it seemed as though the cold still clung to me. Pulling my jacket tighter did little to keep out the frigid temperature.

My feet quickly became sore. It had been a while since I was this active. I’d been sitting more than I liked. With each step, thirst struck and remained in the back of my mind.

I wondered if I’d run into any of the Kurus in the forest, then wondered if there would somehow be less of them in the city. Phil believed after winter, the city would be less chaotic.

I had seen the Kurus eat their own if they had no other source of food. With the lack of survivors, it was likely that their numbers would be dramatically reduced by now. Maybe it was just Phil’s optimism rubbing off on me.

The further I walked, the more anxious I became. I hoped Rachael and the others were alright. If they finally made it down, there would be several small homes they could find shelter in. I knew Rachael well enough to know that if she couldn’t find me, she’d wait somewhere at the end of the road for us to arrive. That brought a mixture of grim determination and worry.

Phil and Bernice had seemed as good as family to all of us. It would be strange to not have them around, especially after spending so much time with them.

* * *

As the sun began to slowly set, I knew I couldn’t go farther. I’d have to set camp somewhere that I could easily escape or defend myself if the situation arose. Where?

Eyes searching, I shook my head in frustration. Nowhere seemed safe. If I

Reviews for The Road to Nowhere 2

[hope · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pretty good book, I took one star away because the description didn’t match the books’ content .