Desolate The Complete Trilogy

Fourteen





Howard had only a second to feel the crushing blow of helplessness and despair as he watched from the lobby as the swarm rushed the suite. He heard the gunshots, the squealing creatures, followed by the screams of his friends. The creatures in the tail end of the horde spotted him and charged.

For the second time that day, Howard ran for his life. He tried not to think that all it would take was for him to trip on the large area rug beneath this feet, slip on the smooth tile in front of the door, or twist his ankle as he rounded the corner outside to reach the van. Because all they needed was the smallest of openings and they would be on him, ripping him to shreds.

Soo saw him coming and scrambled into the back seat to open the door. Howard hit the van in full stride, smashing his shin against the door frame and his face into his rifle as he ran into the back of the seats. Soo slid the door shut just seconds before the hoard slammed into the side of the vehicle. She thought for a terrible moment the force of the impact might actually tip over the van. Emily screamed. Howard shouted something from the floor of the van as he tried to untangle himself. One of the rear windows broke. The roar outside the van was deafening. Claws and teeth, mandibles and flesh, pounded and scratched and clawed against steel and glass.

“What happened? Where are they?” Soo shrieked.

“Gone,” Howard managed between gasps. “They’re gone.”

“What? No!” Another rear window shattered.

“We have to get out of here, now!”

After what felt like minutes, Soo finally climbed into the driver’s seat. She shoved the van into gear and floored it, shaking off only about half of the creatures. Some still hung on by any crack or crevice they could hook into. One of them attempted to crawl through the broken rear window before Howard shoved his rifle into its face and pulled the trigger. The gunshot inside the vehicle was deafening but effective.

Soo drove around the circle driveway, fighting the overwhelming urge to keep the accelerator to the floor, and steered back toward the front of the hotel. Dave stood on the awning over the front door, waving his arms like a mad man.

“What the hell?” Soo gasped. “What should I do?”

Dave stood at the edge and frantically pointed to the driveway below him.

“Pull up there,” Howard said. “I think he wants to jump onto the roof.”

Soo swerved to miss one creature but hit another head on, crushing it under the front wheels. She floored the van and plowed into the swarm below Dave. She slowed down as much as she dared and was relieved to hear the loud thud as Dave hit the van’s roof. He pounded with his fist and Soo floored it.

The creatures swarmed the van again. Soo jumped the curb of the driveway and ran over the shrubs. For a moment she thought they were stuck as the vehicle slowed and the engine struggled. It managed to break free and Soo regained control, steering the van back onto the driveway and heading for the gates.

The last straggler fell off the van moments before they smashed through the front gates of the resort. Soo turned onto the A-1, heading east toward Montego Bay. The trail of creatures on the highway had thinned, the closest being at least a hundred yards away, so Soo stopped.

Dave slid off the roof and hopped into the van. His triumphant grin faded. “Where’s Tre and Ann?”