CREEPERS Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17
Stalked

It had been three hours since they had emerged from the spring, battered but alive. Calvin was exhausted, hungry and thirsty. Kim was even weaker, she stumbled behind him in a daze, constantly tripping over vines and falling. Her hands and face were scratched and smeared with blood. She kept her focus on Calvin’s wide back, his shirt was soaked with sweat and blood and his muscles bulged under the exertion of hacking his way through the endless jungle. The heat and humidity were brutal. It felt like they had been dropped on an alien world. Creepers big and small were above and below knitted together into a spongy mat, no matter what direction they looked it was the same, an overgrown, tangled, green, maze.
Calvin raised his sword to strike another thick vine blocking their path and spotted the guard tower covered in vines like a Mayan ruin. “Look! We made it.”
Vanessa raised her head and tried to focus, all she saw was more jungle. “Where? I don’t see anything?”
Calvin pointed with his sword. “There on the horizon. That has to be one of the guard towers of the prison. We should be able to get some help there.
It took another forty-five minutes for them get to the main gate, no one was in site. Calvin had never been to Imokolee he’d just heard about the place when it opened. The thirty foot walls that surrounded the twenty acre facility were overgrown one tower had collapsed. Calvin couldn’t imagine how that had happened. There were no vehicles in the parking lot and no sign of life anywhere.
Vanessa said, “It’s deserted isn’t it?”
Calvin nodded, “I’m afraid so.” Calvin wiped the sweat from his eyes, they itched from the pollen and so did the scratches that covered his arms but the torment was less than it had been during his first encounter with the plant. “Is the pollen bothering you? Your eyes don’t look to bloodshot.”
“A little but it I think I’m building up a resistance to it. These scratches itch like hell, but not as bad as that first night. I can’t go any further.” Vanessa wanted to just sit down and rest but there wasn’t an inch of ground in site that wasn’t covered in vines. The grounds were crisscrossed with them, some huge others string like. The larger ones had blossoms and more of the empty pods they’d seen earlier. They needed water but they didn’t see anywhere to get it.
Calvin sheathed his sword. “I’m spent too, but we have to find some place safe. We have to try and keep moving. If we stay on the main road it should be easier going and we might come across someone who can help us or a house that still has running water, maybe even some canned goods. I want to stay out of the jungle, we’ve had enough of that. There’s a small town a few miles from here, Leigh Acres.” **********
The sun was blazing and they were not wearing sunscreen, at least they were both wearing long sleeved shirts, it was there faces that were exposed. They set off on route 22 the road had a creeper growing across it every dozen yards or so but it was easy to step over the. For now the danger was the heat.
It took them two hours to reach Leigh Acres, the town looked deserted, which was what Calvin expected he knew it was on the evacuation list. The houses were all over grown, the 30 foot palms that lined the center of Main Street were alive but tightly wrapped in vines, the blossoms were in full bloom and their sickly smell hung in the humid air. “Let’s see what we can find in that house.”
“OK, I can’t go much further, I feel dizzy.”
Calving felt her forehead, it was hot and dry, Vanessa was on the verge of heatstroke, if he didn’t do something soon she could die. The front door to the house was locked and covered with a thin vines, pads the size of frog feet anchored strings of them to the door and frame. Calvin unsheathed his sword and easily sliced threw them, one kick and the door flew open. The interior was free of vines, it was unbearably hot inside. Calvin went to the kitchen and turned on the tap, clear cool water shot out. He got a glass from the cabinet, filled it and handed it to Vanessa. She gulped it down.
“Easy baby, you’ll make yourself sick if you drink too fast.” He grabbed a dish towel soaked it under the tap and draped it around Vanessa’s neck. He made her sit at the kitchen table while he searched for food. “Jackpot!” There was an unopened box of granola bars in the pantry. He tore open the box and gave Vanessa one and opened another for himself. He found a half gallon of spoiled orange juice in the fridge, and dumped it in the sink. He rinsed out the jug and filled it with water. He went though the house looking for anything they could use he found a couple of baseball caps and a scarf. He fashioned a pack out of beach bag and filed it with useful items: a box of raisins, a can of nuts, a kitchen knife, all the matches he could find and a bottle of SPF 30 sunscreen. He returned to the kitchen. Vanessa had her head down on the table and was sound asleep. Calvin looked at his watch, 6:30 they still had a few hours of daylight. The house was sound, there was food and water, he thought: maybe we should just crash here and set off in the morning. He woke Vanessa and led her into the living room and told her to lie on the couch and get some rest. She was out in seconds. Calvin found half a dozen candles and placed them around the house for later when it got dark. He was thankful that there would be a full moon tonight. At least it won’t be pitch, black outside. While Vanessa slept he took a cold shower. There weren’t any clothes in the house that would fit him, so he washed his shirt in the sink and laid it on a chair in the sun room to dry. He felt better, he cracked the windows to let in some air and then laid down on the bed in the guest room, he was asleep in minutes, dead to the world. Several hours later Vanessa woke him. “Calvin, wake up.” He stirred, opened his eyes and saw her standing above him. She looked refreshed, she’d showered she was wearing a light blue blouse that had obviously belonged to an elderly woman but it looked good o her. The candle was lit next to the bed and another was on the dresser on the other side of the room. “What tie is it?” He answered his own question by looking at his watch. “Wow, 11:25. How are you feeling? Better?”
She sat down beside him and put her hand on his chest. “Yea, I’m sore all over and it hurts when I take a deep breath.”
“You’ve probably still have some water in your lungs, it’ll pass.”
“Are you hungry?”
Yea, starved, why don’t we order a pizza?”
“Funny, but I did find a bottle of wine and there is a block of cheddar cheese that’s eatable, and I found a box of crackers. There was also a salami in the fridge, you think it’s safe to eat?”
“It should be.” He lifted himself up and winced.
“You OK?”
“Just sore, every muscle in my body aches. I’m too old for this. Too bad I didn’t meet you when I was younger.”
“You would not have had a chance Babe, I’m not into violent men, not even gentle giants who pretend to be mean. Age has mellowed and matured you. I don’t want a young guy. I want you. How old are you anyway?”
He smiled. “I thought you said it doesn’t matter.”
“I didn’t say that, I said I liked you as you are.”
“I don’t see the difference? I’m 48 how old are you?”
“27.”
“Great, now I really feel old.”
“It doesn’t matter, if we don’t figure out a way to get out of here and kill these creepers we won’t live long enough for our age difference to become an issue.”
“That’s what I love about you: you always see the bright side. Let’s eat.” Calvin picked up a candle and they went into the dining room, Vanessa had already set the table There was a plate of cheese and crackers another of sliced salami the wine and two glasses.
“Can you open the wine, there’s a corkscrew on the bar.”
Calvin opened the wine and poured, to better days.” They touched glasses and started on their meager meal. The salami was fine and they both had enough to it, the wine went down easy. The curtains billowed. Calving peered out. “A storm’s brewing, that’s good. Maybe it’ll cool things down.”
Roundtree and four of his minions couched in the shadows. “Give them another hour to settle in, then you two bust in through the back, we’ll take the front. I want them both alive, understand?