Hell Bound (Book 2): A World Apart

Hell Bound

(A world apart)

Book 2

By Kathy Dinisi

Hell Bound By Kathy Dinisi

Cover Design by Kathy Dinisi

Text copyright 2015 Kathy Dinisi

All Rights Reserved

Cover image Kathy Dinisi

All rights reserved.  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the author, except as used in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places, events or incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to places or incidents is purely coincidental.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

To all of the readers who gave a new author a chance. Without you we would be nothing. To my family for your constant encouragement.

All our times have come

Here but now they're gone

Seasons don't fear the reaper

Nor do the wind,

the sun or the rain..

We can be like they are

Come on baby.

Don’t fear the reaper

We'll be able to fly.

Don’t fear the reaper

~So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them to the furnace of fire: there shall be waiting and gnashing of teeth. I open my eyes and all I can see is darkness, blinking several times it takes me a couple minutes to realize where I'm at and what has happened. I know I should get up and go find the others, but I'm so exhausted and scared. For the first time in years, I'm truly afraid of what tomorrow may bring. Four days is all it took for my world to fall apart. ~

My heart aches for my boys, to feel their hugs and hear their voices. I would give anything to go back in time and never leave their sides.

All I can think about is what do we do next? Where do we go? Where do we start to look for our family and friends? Are they still alive?

I hear whispering coming from the direction of the living room of my parent’s house. Slowly getting the courage. I swing my still very tired and achy legs over the side of the twin bed.

Moaning and groaning, I have never been so sore in my life. I pull shark into my lap. I hug it once more, cherishing the smell of my oldest son. Walking out of the bedroom, feeling like a zombie myself. Dragging the shark with me by my side, the silly little stuffed animal gives me comfort and hope. Courage to keep going, to keep moving.

My eyes feel swollen from crying myself to sleep and my head is pounding against my skull almost as if I have a hangover from partying too much the night before. Which I haven’t done since I was in college.

“Mathew?” I whisper, forcing my legs to take one step in front of the other. With every step I take, I can feel my shoes rub against the blisters all over the heels of my feet. The house is so dark I can’t see what’s in front of me. I reach my hands on each side of me, feeling the wall for guidance to where I thought I heard Mathew and Kat.

“Mathew, Kat, where are you,” I say a little louder this time.

“In the living room, Sam,” Mathew answers back.

Finally coming out of the darkness of the hallway, I see a yellow and orange glow coming from tiny candles that are laid out on the coffee table. Mathew sits on the now turned right side over couch; Kat sits on the floor in front of the window, staring outside in darkness.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing, just waiting for you to wake up so we can leave,” Kat says coldly, sounding irritated and on edge.

“We wanted to let you get some rest, you needed it. After you found out the boys were not here you rolled into a ball and started to scream. I had to rock you to sleep just to calm you down,” Mathew says, staring at me. Watching me like I'm fragile and I'm going to break down again.

Embarrassed, I look down at my feet, “I'm so sorry I freaked out.”

“It's OK Sam, I would have done the same thing if I were you,” Kat says with more sympathy in her voice this time. Mathew stands up and walks to me with his arms open wide, I run into his strong arms, cherishing the warmth and comfort of his embrace. Taking a deep breath, smelling his masculine scent. He smells fresh, like his old spice body wash with a mix of sweat. He must have washed up while I was passed out in the bedroom.

“Do I have time to quickly wash up?” I question looking at Kat.

“Yes, just hurry. I haven’t seen any signs of the zombie pack... not yet anyways,” Kat adds.

Leaning towards Mathew I land a big kiss on his cheek. Reluctantly letting go of him I hurry to the guest bathroom. I grab the guest body wash out of the bathtub and a washcloth. I strip down to my underwear and bra. Slathering the washcloth with the body wash, I start scrubbing my arms and legs. Scrubbing the rest of my body, I rinse out the wash cloth and wipe off any extra soap I might have on my body. Brushing out the knots in my hair, I throw my hair back into a ponytail. I instantly feel so much better and awake.

“Let’s go,” Feeling refreshed as I walk out of the bathroom.

“Feel better?” Mathew questions piercing me with his big brown eyes.

“Yes,” I say, trying to sound as convincing as possible. Mathew looks so stressed and tired, new wrinkles formed on his forehead that were not there a week ago, making him look five years older than what he really is. Feeling horrible for freaking out on him and making him worry about me. I need to be stronger for Mathew and Kat. Most importantly for my boys.

Kat jumps up and grabs her backpack that was sitting by her feet. Almost as if she was waiting for me to say that I'm ready to go. Mathew grabs the two backpacks off of the floor and hands me the smaller of the two.

Kat stands by the front door with her knife in her hand, prepared to strike at anything that tries to take a bite out of her. I start to look for my knife that I had with me yesterday, but I can’t seem to find it. I’m about to walk back to the spare bedroom when Mathew holds out the knife to me.

“Thought you might need this,” Mathew says, holding my knife out in front of me, in his other hand he holds out the handgun.

Grabbing the knife out of his hand, questioning the gun, “Thank you, but don't you need the handgun?”

“No, your father left a shotgun and bullets behind for us, at least I think it was your father.”

“Really? What makes you think that?” I question feeling hopeful.

“Because the safe where he keeps his weapons was buried behind all kinds of junk in the back of your parent’s closet. Looks like someone tried to hide it.”

Hope fills my heart, it has to be a sign that my family is still alive. But why wouldn't they leave a note telling us where they have gone? Or did they and whoever destroyed the house destroy the note too?

Mathew’s facial expression goes from sweet to serious within seconds, “Same routine, I go first, we stay together and run to the car. Stay quiet and follow my movements.”

Nodding in agreement, Kat and I follow close behind Mathew. Even though the car is only five feet away it feels like it’s a million miles away, being out in the open like this makes me a little nervous. Mathew jogs to the car and unlocks the doors for us. We jump in and slam the doors behind us, almost like this routine is normal for us. Hurry, Run, Quiet... Hurry, Run, Quiet. I guess I better get used to it.

Mathew starts up the car and the lights turn on automatically, lighting up the driveway in front of us. Putting the car in gear and we slowly drive away from my parent’s home. I turn around and watch my childhood home slowly disappear through the back window; I keep watching the house disappear into the harshness of the night. I don’t know what lies ahead of us, but I get a strong feeling that I will never see this house again. I feel a small piece of my heart breaking at the thought of never coming back to the house my father built with his bare hands. To the house that holds so many precious memories. And held so much love and security within its walls.

~In the land of Gods and monsters, I was an angel living in the Garden of evil.~

Thirty five minutes later, we're pulling into our street, I don't even recognize our own street. Almost every house down this block is destroyed or on fire. Clothes and furniture lay spread out across the lawns. The Wind blows trash through the street into yards that were once so clean and pretty. Everything looks dead, lost and forgotten. Across the street from our house was once a beautiful two stories Victorian home. It was a light blue house, but now it’s a charcoal brown. The second story is burnt and has caved into the first floor. A truck smashed through the front door, shattering glass windows, pieces of glass cover the once beautiful red brick walkway.

Blood covers along the side of the car that is inside of the living room. At any given moment, the house is going to crumble down around it. The big willow tree in the front yard has something long hanging down from it.

“What is that?” Kat questions, pointing towards the big willow tree in the front yard.

“It's our neighbor,” Mathew says evenly, almost as if seeing a dead body is no big deal to him. Putting my hands over my mouth I try to hold in my scream. Our neighbor of five years hangs from a big thick tree branch. A thick rope tied around his neck, his hands hang lifelessly on his sides, the breeze blows the body slowly from side to side.

“What do you think happened?” Kat questions, staring wide eyed at our dead neighbor.

“I don't know, maybe he couldn't take the apocalypse and hung himself,” Mathew says as he looks away, “Don’t look at him and lets hurry and get inside,” Mathew adds nervously while getting out of the car.

Opening my door, the smell of the dead burns my nostrils, trying to breathe through my mouth and block out the stench but it doesn't help. My stomach does a flip flop and threatens to get rid of whatever food that is still left inside. My head starts to pound even harder from the crying and lack of water. Mathew jiggles the doorknob, but it’s still locked, I imagine that's a good sign. It’s the only house that doesn't seem to be burnt down to a crisp. Feeling like luck is on our side, a smile forms on my face, maybe my family is in there safely. Pulling my little pink heart shape house key out of my pants pocket I slide it in the key hole. My heart starts to pound rapidly against my chest.

Feeling like I may have a heart attack from the suspense of what may be on the other side of the door. Opening up the door slowly half expecting to see a zombie run at us from inside of the house. Luckily nothing comes out. I slide my hand in the house and start feeling the wall for the light switch that is right by the front door. Finding the switch, I flick the switch up and down a couple times, but the light doesn't turn on. I guess the power is out here too. I don’t smell the stench of zombies or see any sign of a break in from the living. But I'm smart enough to know that these zombies are damn smart and can be anywhere within the dark corners of the house. Creeping inside of our once peaceful house, but now reminds me of a haunted house.

The living room is pitch black, the moon dim glow shines through the double doors of the kitchen. Giving us our only source of light. A whimpering echoes through the hallway. Startled, I jump, a cry escapes my mouth. My breathing picks up and my heart starts to pound. Mathew protectively pushes me behind him. He holds up the shotgun toward the direction that the whimpering came from.

Slowly Mathew starts to walk up to the hallway; the whimpering gets louder and louder as we move closer to the hallway. I hold up my gun in front of me, trying to steady my shaky hands. I point towards the whimpering. Kat shines her flashlight towards the hallway. A little black nose pops out from the bottom of the hallway floor. It freezes as Kat shines her flashlight down toward it. A dog? How did a dog get in the house?

A Brown furry dog crawls slowly up to us. It looks scared and lonely, its body trembles with fear. It has short brown legs with a black saddle mark on its back. The dog's head is extremely fluffy like a lion. Reminds me of a German Sheppard mix. But a lot smaller than a German shepherd. A big dog trapped in a little dog’s body.

It slowly reaches Mathew and sniffs the tip of his shoes. I lean down and gently start rubbing the dog’s soft head.

“Poor little fella, looks scared, what’s your name cutie,” I say scratching the top of the dog's head. The dog's back leg starts to shake really fast as I start scratching the pup's ear. Grabbing the collar around the dog’s neck it reads, Hello, I am Athena If found please call 909-232-4545.

“Her name is Athena,” I say, standing back up.

“There must be a door open somewhere. Stay alert and let’s keep looking around,” Mathew says sternly ignoring the dog, he starts walking towards the direction that the dog came from.

Athena follows close behind Mathew with her head held up high and her ears pointing back. Almost like the pup understood Mathew’s commands. Mathew opens up the first door, which is our boy’s room.

Seeing nothing; the room is exactly like we left it. Toys scattered across the floor, clothes sticking out of the dresser. I shut the door to their bedroom before the water works start again. Just seeing their room makes me want to bawl like a baby. Checking the other rooms and finding nothing, we walk into the master bedroom.

The door is slightly open; Mathew nudges the door open with the tip of his shoes. A cold breeze whips through my hair, giving me the chills, goosebumps form on my arms. The double doors that lead to the backyard are wide open. Mathew walks up to the French doors and inspects them.

“The lock is broken, someone broke in here. Doesn't look like they took anything,” Mathew says surprised. While shining the flashlight around the room. “Your jewelry box is still here and the Television is too. That's weird.”

“Maybe they just went for the food, we should check it out,” Kat says as she turns around and walks back out into the hallway. Not bothering to wait for us. The dog follows her out of the room and disappears around the corner with Kat.

“I think we just adopted a new pet.”

“Seems it,” Mathew agrees as he shuts the French doors behind him. He pushes the nightstand that sits beside our bed against the French doors to keep anything from coming into the house without us noticing. We walk out of the bedroom to the kitchen, Kat searches through all the cabinets.

“Yup, whoever broke into your house went for the food only,” Kat says irritated as she slams the last cabinet shut.

“I guess we should pack everything into the SUV and then go to the local High School.?” I question looking at Mathew.

“Good Idea, we're going to need a bigger car to fit everyone,” Mathew agrees as he starts walking back towards the laundry room where another door leads out to the garage. He unlocks the door and opens it up, shining our flashlights inside of the garage.

Thankfully, we see our black SUV still there. He walks around the SUV, inspecting it, making sure it’s still in one piece. Giving us a thumb up as he walks back to us.

“Let’s start transferring everything from the lancer to the SUV. We're going to have to open up the garage door by hand,” Mathew motions to the handles at the bottom of the garage door.

“Okay,” Kat and I say in at the same time. Each of us grabs a handle and with Mathew’s command we try to lift up the garage door together. After a couple tries the garage door finally starts to budge and opens slowly. We manage to open it up all the way.

“Let's hurry,” I say speed walking to the Lancer. “I don't like being out in the open like this.”

“I agree with Sam, let's please hurry. The smell of death is getting stronger too.” Kat says as she whips open the passenger back door and grabs as many bags as she can. Mathew pops open the trunk, I start grabbing bags and throw them into the back of the SUV. Athena jogs back and forth from one end of the driveway to the other, with her ears back and her tail sticking straight up. Impatiently waiting for us to finish our task. Nervous I start to move faster, something has that dog all riled up and I trust the mutt’s instinct. Dog’s sense evil and if she is nervous, then I am too. Mathew and Kat must have felt the same way as I do, because they start to unload and load the cars even faster. After we have cleared out the Lancer, we walk back inside the house.

“Start packing up clothes, we have five minutes, move fast,” Mathew says in a hurry as he rushes into our room.

“Kat, can you please gather my clothes for me? And anything you think we can use? I'm going to pack clothes for the boys.” She nods and walks towards our room. I run to the boys' room and go straight to their dresser. Opening up the dresser, I grab a handful of clothes in each drawer and throw it in their school backpacks. After clearing almost everything out of the dresser, I rush to the closet next. Grabbing pants and jackets for each of the boys.

“Sam, are you done yet?” Mathew screams at me.

“In a minute!” I yell back. I just want a minute to breath in the familiar smell of my boys. I remember the day we moved into this house, our boys ran to this room and claimed it as theirs. I don't know why they chose this room and not the other room which is a tad bit bigger. Every time I told them that the other room was bigger Alexander and James just kept saying that this room is better. I remember that day like it was yesterday.

The tears I've been trying so hard to hold in finally manages to escape. Not able to hold it together anymore I sit down on the boy’s bed and cry. I cry until I can’t cry anymore until the tears finally stop pouring out. I wipe away my tears and clear the memory from my mind; I can’t break down right now. I need to be strong. I take a several deep breathes and grab their favorite toys from their toy chest.