The First Culling

by Michael Eicherly

  The exit out of the bar is blocked by a pile of bodies burning to their deaths. Frank finds a way to crawl over the burning bodies. He crawls down the hallway, body burning calling for Cindy and Matthew. As Frank crawls on the ground, the crowd runs over his body. The force of the foot stomping on his spine is heard. It cracks clunks, and his spline burst. His ribcage thrust into his lungs, as he throws up blood all over his burning flesh. The sounds of his ribs Blood squirts from his mouth up midair. It lands on a young man’s face. A heavy fat man falls atop Frank. The force of the fall, crushes Frank’s head. His brains squirt out of his burning skull and disintegrate on the floor. A large flame ignites from the four-hundred-pound man’s buttock. The flame shoots in the air, igniting another patron. Frank’s screams of pain and anguish are deafening. One party patron tries to make way for the staircase. Without luck, she falls, the stairway now ignites. Smoke is filling the house as bodies burn in agonizing pain. Some drop from the toxic fumes.

  Matthew is pressed against the front exit door. He panics, and yells for Linda and Frank. Timmy, now burning in flames, runs at Matthew trying to escape. Other burning bodes rush the front exit. The force of the weight crushes Matt’s spine and lungs. His eyes pop out of his head and hit the floor. Fiery feet stomp them out.

  The flames spread fast upstairs. There are a few patrons that are stuck upstairs. They were exploring forbidden territories. Some were having sex, others doing drugs. They begin pounding on Cindy’s front door.

  Cindy and Rachel are loaded from the marijuana and Absinth. Rachel smells the smoke and wakes Cindy.

  “Cindy, wake up, wake up!” exclaims Rachel.

  “What, what’s going on? Where’s the smell coming from?” asks Cindy.

  “It’s downstairs. Your house. It’s on fire!” Rachel yells.

  Rachel crawls off the bed and touches Cindy’s room’s door handle.

  “Oh, shit, your door, it’s getting hot, Cindy.”

  Smoke begins seeping through the bottom of the door. The party patrons are pounding on the door begging for entry. The door will not budge. Breaking down the doors in this possessed house will not work. Windows will not break, and there is no escape from this fiery hell.

  “Downstairs, your house is on fire!” Rachel exclaims. Cindy crawls on the ground towards Rachel. Cindy touches the door.

  “Whatever you do, don’t open the door. Flames will shoot in.”

  “I already tried opening. The door is stuck.” Bodies begin to drop outside Cindy’s door. They beg for forgiveness, beg for the door top open, beg for god to save them.

  Cindy runs over to her bedroom window. She tries to open it with no success. Rachel starts crying, saying she’s feeling dizzy. Cindy starts praying. She prays for forgiveness. She prays that God forgive her for pretending to be a witch. She asks God to forgive her for the Angel Ouija board. More smoke starts filling the room. Cindy grabs a big marble paper weight. The window miraculously breaks.

  “Rachel, come here, stick your head out the window.” Cindy begins screaming for help. She hears bodies screaming through the windows downstairs. Both girls are hanging out the two-story home, starving for oxygen.

  Linda wakes up dripping in sweat. She hears knocking at the door. Linda is doped up on ’Ludes. She hears voices of Cindy.

  “Mommy, open the door, we’re burning, help, Mom, fire!” Without hesitation, Linda runs to the door. She opens with recourse. As she opens the door, two fiery bodies run over her, screaming like demons. Linda tries fighting them off with no success. Linda is weak. She can’t move the burning corpses. All she can do is lay there and accept her death. More flames shoot through Linda’s room. The drapes ignite, along with her bed. Linda’s screams soon turn silent. A large party patron on fire runs into Linda’s room. He grabs her large jewelry box and breaks her glass window. The fiery man jumps from the window, landing two stories down, over 35 feet on the concrete driveway.

  Blood and fire sparks shoot from the body as he hits the pavement. It looks like a 4th of July cocktail. Other patrons find way inside Linda’s room. They are almost dead burning, yelling and cursing God. One after another, bodies fall from Linda and Frank’s bedroom window. One after another. At least forty bodies fall upon the pavement. As they hit, crunching and spatting sounds are heard. Sparks and flesh shoot through the air. The smells are disgusting and rancid.

  Steven pulls in front of the house in his Camaro. His girlfriend Kim is with him. Steven and Kim are in shock, total disbelief.

  “What the fuck’s going on!” exclaims Steven. Kim points up at the top window as another fiery body plunges to its death.

  “Oh my god, your brother and sister are in there. Your whole family may be in there. Steven?”

  Steven slams the door and runs to the side of the house. She stands on the driveway listening to horrifying screams above. Most of the house is engulfed in flames now. Kim thinks of hell, and the sounds of thousands of souls burning. She walks on the driveway, slipping and sliding on burnt intestines.

  Another body falls from Linda’s window. The force of landing spats blood and hot flash all over Kim’s body. Kim stands in total shock.

  “Oh my god!!” she screams. “Fuckin gross man.”

  “Kim, get over here.” Kim looks towards the side of the home. “Kim, over here.” Kim runs through the side gate and sees her boyfriend. Up above in Cindy’s window, Cindy and Rachel sit on the window ledge. The smell of smoke is toxic. Steven and Kim see yellow flames behind them.

  “I don’t want to die, Rachel. We must jump. It’s the only way.”

  “Cindy, can you hear me? Cindy!!” screams Steve.

  “Yes, we can. Steven, it’s me. We’ll jump. You have to catch us,” yells Cindy.

  “Ok, jump for god’s sake! Hurry!” screams Steve.

  Cindy looks at Rachel. She’s frantic and crying.

  “Rachel, we got to jump. Steven and Kim’s there. They’ll catch us.”

  “No way,” says Rachel. “It’s two stories. We’ll break every bone in our bodies.”

  Rachel is delirious with fear and the toxic fumes are making her faint.

  “Rachel, look at me, I said look at me. If we jump hard enough, we might hit the green belt area. We have to try. There’s no other way.”

  Cindy and Rachel are both frantic. This will be their last attempt to live. Their lungs burn, and their skin is becoming unbearably hot.

  “Cindy, Cindy, are you there?!” Steven and Kim yell. There is no answer. The girls are both weak and can barely move.

  “Cindy, damn it, answer me!” yells Steven. Cindy and Rachel are now barely visible at the window.

  "Jump, I’ll catch you!! yells Steven.

  “Ok!! Promise us,” yells Cindy.

  Cindy kneels on the windowsill. She closes her eyes and jumps as far away from the window as she can. Cindy plunges 35 feet down. Steven catches his little sister. The impact throws Steven to the ground, almost breaking his shoulder. Cindy coughs up smoke then vomits on the grass. Cindy hugs her older brother.

  “We have to save Rachel,” cries Cindy. Steven, Kim, and Cindy look at the window and yell for Rachel. They yell for her name. There is no answer. They yell for her to jump. Yet, no answer. They yell until the upstairs window explodes a flame of fire. Rachel is gone. She choked on the smoke before her fiery death. Steven kneels and grabs Cindy’s hands.

  “Where is Matt? Cindy, did you see Matthew, Mom, Dad, Grandma?” Cindy looks at her brother with tears in her eyes.

  “I don’t know,” she says, sobbing. "Everything happened so fast Steven. We were asleep, passed out, then this happened. It’s all I know.

  Another explosion sounds from inside the home. The harsh reality sets in. Nobody left inside will live. Steven looks at the house and smiles.

  “Let’s get the hell out of here,” says Steven.

  Steven, Cindy, and Kim walk hand in hand. Fire trucks are in front of the house now. Neighbors watch as the Walbrecks’ dreams burn to a satan
ic end.

  Steven, Cindy, and Kim now sit in the red Camaro. Steven knocks his forehead slightly on his steering wheel. Kim looks as the firemen spray water over the house.

  “Cindy, sit up here with me,” says Kim. Steven looks at Kim as his sister slides in the front seat next to her. Steven now knows that Kim is the right woman for him and forever will be. Kim kisses her cheek then places her arm around her. Steven looks at Cindy and Kim.

  “You guys both ok?” They both nod yes.

  “You’re both not going to believe this. After Tara’s death, I had a dream. A dream that it would all end, just like this.” Steven smiles at the house. He starts his V8 engine, and for the first time, does not spin the rear tires as he leaves his neighborhood. He drives away slowly and grins. Deep inside, he is happy it’s over. Deep inside he knows Frank has a ten-million life insurance policy. He knows now he and his sister are set for life.

  Detective Santos sits up the street in an unmarked Ford Taurus. As Steven drives out of the neighborhood, he follows Steven to a hotel on Harbor Boulevard. There he will sit in his vehicle and listen to the three all night. He will to them, and follow them everywhere they go…

  Chapter Seventeen

  Steven, Cindy, and Kim are at the funeral. Three coffins are displayed. Cindy holds her brother’s hand as they listen to the priest read the rights of the deceased. The priest hugs Steven, Cindy, then Kim. Cindy stands up and throws a red rose over each coffin. There is a small group in attendance. One of the attendees in the distance is Detective Santos. He stands in his khaki colored trench coat and navy suit staring at Cindy. Cindy looks at him, however, will not say a word. As she looks at Detective Santos, she feels a cold chill run over body. He doesn’t say anything to Steve or Cindy. He just smiles as they look at him.

  Steve, Cindy, and Kim now sit inside Steven’s ’68 Camaro. Cindy looks out the window for Detective Santos. He is no longer in view.

  “So, where do we go now?” asks Cindy.

  “We do anything we want. Go anywhere we want,” replies Steven. Kim looks more beautiful to Steven than she ever has. She smiles at Steven and holds Cindy’s hand.

  “Definitely,” says Kim.

  “Definitely also,” Cindy says with a big grin about her face.

  As Steve and Cindy drive away, she looks out the window. She looks at her once neighborhood and the long Thorofare streets. She thinks of her parents, and their deaths. She remembers the good times and bad. She remembers her best friends. But now, she can only think of freedom, and what is like being an adult. And, living the adult life. This is all she ever wanted.

  Steven and Cindy reach a stop light. Cindy looks to her right and sees Detective Santos starring at she and Steven. He says nothing, he does not wave. He just grins. Again, that grin sends a chill right through her body…

  Chapter Eighteen

  Detective Santos drives up to the burn site. He turns off his Buick, then checks his teeth in the rearview mirror. The detective exits the vehicle and walks towards a construction worker cleaning up the mess.

  He first stands on the sidewalk, listens to the neighborhood, then surveys the damage. Detective Santos makes way towards a 35-year-old, white, long-haired worker. He must weigh about 280 pounds, he thinks.

  “So, what’s the story?” Detective Santos asks.

  “Halloween massacre is what happened,” replies the construction worker. The seasoned detective looks at the worker, then the burn site. A slight wind blows over his body, and goosebumps from over his arms. He takes out a cigarette pack, opens then lights one.

  “Want a smoke?” he asks the construction worker.

  “No, I quit a year ago,”

  “Did anyone survive?” asks the Detective.

  “A few,” the construction worker answers with his head downward.

  “Mind if I stroll around here a bit?” asks the Detective.

  “Knock yourself out,” says the construction worker.

  Detective Santos begins his investigation. He looks at the soil, the burnt plastic plumbing, kitchen supplies. He notices that smell. The smell of death still in the air. The kind of death that never leaves a community. The kind of death worth investigating. The kind of smell that exists even after a long hot burn. The kind of death that reads guilty everywhere.

  He gathers his thoughts and continues his walk. He notices a box sticking out of the dirt. He leans down, brushes off the dirt, and opens it. There’s nothing inside. He looks to his left and finds a necklace in the dirt. An old Indian style necklace. Detective Santos looks over the necklace and an icy cold wind runs through his body. He looks over head and notices the clouds darken.

  “Looks like a storms coming.” Says the worker. “We got to get out of here.” Detective Santos looks up to the sky and exhales.

  “Yep.”

  Detective Santos walks back to his vehicle. He sits inside and starts the engine. He places the box on the driver’s seat. He looks over the necklace carefully. He takes the necklace and places it around his neck. He admires the necklace in the rearview mirror. Detective Santos grins and chuckles aloud. He looks at himself in the rearview mirror again. This time he looks different. He feels different. Best of all, he feels powerful. He now has the face of a man he’s never noticed before. A man of new ideas. New absorbed confidence. He feels like he did when he was in the Airforce. He can’t wait to get back to work. He likes Blackhawk, and he knows, that indeed there is a storm coming. A storm that will never dry, and never leave this land. A storm that has been in existence for thousands of years. A storm that wiped out his ancestors.

  Detective Santos places the car into drive then leaves the neighborhood. Slowly, he drives away with a look of satisfaction about him. He drives away. Ever so slowly, he drives away.

  The End