by Joe DeRouen
The Jeep was pretty dug in. The field had been recently turned over, and its wheels were buried halfway, with dirt covering the doors up to the windows. I doubted even the four-wheel-drive would shake it loose, so I started walking towards the farm. Maybe they had a tractor I could use to tow the jeep.
By the time I reached the edge of the field, I was covered in muck up to my knees, but I climbed the fence and approached the buildings.
Everything was silent, eerily so. There were no pets normally associated with a farm, no cows or pigs. A hen coop lay on its side, the wall on one side caved in. The creatures had been here.
I steeled myself as I stepped up onto the veranda of the farmhouse. I didn’t bother knocking. The door wasn’t there, having been ripped off its hinges. Holes in the railings and doorframe revealed signs of gunfire. The farmer hadn’t gone down without a fight.
Inside was a scene of chaos. The furniture was overturned, the crockery smashed, but there was no evidence of life, except for the blood splattering every wall, floor and ceiling. I searched through the debris for over an hour, my only reward a set of keys, which I hoped fit the obligatory tractor, and a Remington automatic shotgun. It was empty, obviously, but a search of the closet in the master bedroom, revealed a couple of boxes of twelve-gauge ammo.
The pristine arrangement of the room disturbed me, probably more so than the scene downstairs. It was normal, untouched by the violence inflicted below. The bed was made, and a nightie and pair of pyjamas which would never be worn lay on the pillows. I crossed to touch them, a tear running down my cheek. The normality of the room affected me more that I could have conceived, and I put my head in my hands and cried myself sore.
After a few minutes, I stood up and shook myself. I had to get back to the others, to warn them. Bill’s cabin had satellite TV, but I suspected it suffered the same fate as the phone system. They’d be blind to what had happened, so I went downstairs and walked out the door without a further glance. Ahead of me was a barn, and I saw the rugged wheels of what I sought. A large John Deer tractor lay in the morning shade, the red paint shiny and clean. The farmer had taken pride in his vocation.
Something disturbed me, however. On the other side of the farm from the field my SUV lay trapped in, a field of corn was brown and dying. Another glance revealed the yellow grass of the garden beside the main house. There were roses, dozens of them, all dead or dying.
None of this matched with the bedroom I’d just seen. Along with the tractor, the sight of the corn and the garden disturbed me. Something just wasn’t right, but I needed to get back to the guys, so I climbed into the high cab, trying the keys on the ring until one fitted. The engine roared, and the pipes smoked as it fired. Memories of growing up on my granddad’s farm came back to me.
I’d been nine years old when he taught me to drive his rickety old Massey Ferguson. It was maybe as old as he’d been, but it taught me the basics.
This machine was a whole different animal. Flashing lights and bleeps assaulted my senses, but after a few moments I realised the basic functions were the same. I lurched as I hit the accelerator, unready for the sheer power and torque of the massive machine. I hit the stone wall of the garden, demolishing it, and went on to churn up the rose beds before I managed to hit the brakes. I sat for a second, shaking, before having another go. I shifted into reverse, and this time I was careful to apply a light touch to the gas pedal. With a grinding noise, I reversed over the fallen stones, turning the wheel so I ended up pointing up the dirt track leading between the fields. I saw a gate halfway up, so shifted into first gear and tentatively pressed down with my right foot. The tractor sped steadily down the track, and I reached the gate in seconds. I jumped down and opened it, then drove the tractor over the rough ground to my jeep. It handled the ground easily.
Parking in front of it I jumped down to get length of sturdy rope from the jeep. I’d picked it up from the hardware store, what seemed a lifetime ago now. I looped it in a triple length between the tow attachment at the front of the jeep and the rear of the tractor.
Minutes later, I was back in my jeep, speeding along the highway. I’d taken a circuitous route the night before, angling back around in the direction of Bill’s cabin, so I was only around 100 miles away from it. The journey took me a couple of hours. I stopped in one of the towns to top up with gas again. Again, it was utterly devoid of life, with nothing out of place. I suspected the suburbs would be a lot more bloody, but I wasn’t about to subject myself to that.
The cabin was small, and well off the beaten track. I had to drive over a mile up a dirt track to reach it. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw the smoke coming from the chimney. I pulled the jeep and trailer up beside Bill’s old Chevy, the first smile in days forming on my face. The first thing that greeted me banished the smile from my lips. I’d been to Bill’s cabin over a dozen times, and one of the things that always reminded me of it was the smell of the forest surrounding it. The scent of the pine trees always made it smell fresh and alive, but now, even though I could still smell the pine, it was overshadowed by a blanket of decay.
Looking around, I watched as the trees slowly shed their needles, but it wasn’t this sight that filled me with the most dread. The door and windows of the cabin were all smashed to smithereens. A cold pit formed in my stomach as any hope of finding my friends alive deserted me. I ran into the interior, desperate to find them. Maybe they’d managed to fight off the creatures. Both had hunting rifles after all, but all hope left me as I took in the blood splattered interior. I called out, but there was no reply except silence. My heart thumped as panic threatened to overcome me. I grabbed the worktop as the room span around me. Like the farmhouse, everything was ruined. Every window was smashed, and even some of the logs had been forced inwards. The smell of death was fresh in my nose and the bile rose in my throat. I staggered outside and threw up; well, I would have done if I had anything in my stomach. Dimly, I realised I hadn’t eaten since the previous morning, but I wasn’t about to go back inside the cabin ever again.
I was alone. My family was probably...definitely dead, as were my friends. I would soon, no doubt, follow them. I stood up straight, the reality of what had happened washing over me. The normal sounds of the forest were eerily missing. I knew I couldn’t stay here, but I had no idea where to go. Was anywhere safe?
Then I remembered where we’d spent the last week. We called my fishing lodge ‘dark country,’ because it was so far out in the wilderness there was no cell or television signal. Yeah, I could have installed satellite TV like Bill had, but I didn’t want anything to distract from the fishing or the beer. Yes, that might be the last safe place left, but I needed to eat first, so I grabbed a few chocolate bars to keep me going. I wanted to put as much distance as I could between me and this place before I ate.
I stopped at a roadside diner. It was all locked up, but the lock stood little chance against the twelve-gauge. Upon entering, I thought the beasts had paid a visit. Rubbish covered the floor, and dirty plates littered the table. I couldn’t imagine the establishment’s owners closing it up in this state. As I walked further in to the shaded diner, I raised the shotgun to rest firmly against my shoulder.
“Hello...anyone in here?” My finger settled onto the trigger as I heard a rustle coming from behind the counter. “I know you’re there. I’m armed so just come on out with your hands up.”
I almost pulled the trigger as a dark shape ran for the door. Lowering the gun I grabbed a slender arm as the girl tried to escape. After a brief struggle, I managed to pull the hysterical teenager into my arms.
“Hey, it’s ok.” She renewed her struggle. “I’m not going to hurt you.” It was no use. The girl was terrified so I just had to hold on until she wore herself out. It didn’t take long, and the grunts and screams became gentle sobs as she relaxed into my arms.
“Come on, honey, let’s take a seat, and get you checked out, ok?” She allowed me to lead her to a table and sit her down. Her ey
es kept flitting to the open door, but I sensed it wasn’t because she wanted to run.
“We’re safe during daylight,” I said. “I’ll do something to fix it before night-time.” I looked at her face for the first time. Her dark eyes were red-rimmed and wide, but as I watched, the expression relaxed, and her face became a mask. She was slipping into shock.
“What’s your name?” No reply. “Mine’s Jason, but my friends call me Jaz.” Still nothing, but I thought I saw a spark of life in those dead eyes.
“How ‘bout I fix us something to eat. I dunno about you, but I’m starving.” I got up and took a proper look around. It looked like the girl had eaten at a different table each time, not bothering to clear up. I switched on the griddle in the open plan kitchen, making sure I could see her. A quick rummage through the cooler netted me some eggs and bacon, so I made a couple of omelettes.
“There you go.” I put the plate in front of the girl, sitting down to face her across the table. I began to eat, pretending that everything was normal.
“Jennifer,” she whispered. “My name’s Jennifer.”
I smiled. “Pleased to meet you, Jennifer.” I beckoned at her plate. “Now, why don’t you eat up before that gets cold?” I had a name, but I wanted to take it slow. She was clearly on the edge. I reckon if I hadn’t shown up today, she might have done something stupid.
Thankfully, she picked up the knife and fork and attacked the omelette. Judging by the leftovers on the other plates, she’d lived on cold cuts and cereal for the whole time. I decided to do a little gentle probing.
“So, Jennifer, how long have you been hiding out here?”
Her chewing slowed, before stopping as she finished the last of her meal, but she kept silent.
“If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine by me, but I’ve been told I’m a pretty good listener.” I kept my voice low and soothing.
Jennifer put her knife and fork down, and placed her hands in her lap. I could tell she was fidgeting with them, trying to decide if she wanted to tell her story.
After a long minute, she sighed. “Since it began, on Halloween.”
So, she’d been here over a week, alone. “Do you know what happened?”
She looked up at me with furrowed brows.
“I’ve been out in the wilderness for a couple of weeks,” I explained. “All I know is what I read in a couple of newspapers I found.”
Her eyes glanced at a large TV screen mounted on the wall. “I watched it all on that. Most of the major networks went off the air within a few hours of the attack, but there’s a dish on the roof. The local stations stayed on for a few days. They’re gone now too.”
Tears welled in her eyes, so I shifted my seat round beside hers and took her hands in mine. “How did you end up here, all by yourself?”
She paused. I knew the memory was tearing her up.
“I wasn’t alone. My dad was with me.” She looked around the interior of the diner. “This is his place. I work here sometimes, and we were just closing up when my mom called.” Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks.
“My dad wouldn’t tell me what happened, but I heard her screaming over the phone. I heard what sounded like gunfire.”
I gave her hands a reassuring squeeze.
“He told me to wait here, to close the shutters and lock up, and not open up to anyone until he got back with mom and my sister, Jessica.”
“He never came back,” I said. It wasn’t a question, but she nodded her head. The diner was about thirty miles outside Deadwood. I assumed that’s where her family lived. Judging by what I read in the papers, the city hadn’t lasted long. Her father probably didn’t even make it home.
I took Jennifer into my arms as she finally broke down and cried. I held her, saying nothing as I stroked her dark hair. For all I knew, we were the last two humans alive, but I wasn’t about to share my thought with her.
“Maybe he got evacuated, with the rest of your family,” I said.
Jennifer shook her head. “He’s dead. They all are. Everyone’s dead, and I will be soon too.”
I clung onto her. “Hey, shush. Tell you what, why don’t you come with me. I know a place, way out in the boondocks of the Montana wilderness. That’s where I...where we were, when this all started.”
Jennifer’s eyes showed a spark of interest, the first time I’d seen anything other than trauma in them. “We? There are others?”
I hated myself for deflating her burgeoning hope. “There were four of us. They didn’t make it.” I spared her the details.
Jennifer gave me a hug. “I’m sorry.”
Tears came unbidden to my eyes. Here was this kid, who had just lost everyone and everything dear to her in the world, and she was comforting me.
I sniffed, reaching up to wipe the tears from my cheeks. “So, what do you say, kid? Want to tag along with this old guy?”
The first smile I’d seen lit her face. “I’d like that, thank you...Jaz?”
I smiled. “You see? We’re friends already.” I got up, taking the plates into the kitchen. I looked at my watch. It was already past 3pm.
“You know, it’s getting a little late to start out today,” I said. “It’ll be dark in a couple of hours, and we need to find somewhere to hole up in. How about we stay here tonight, and start out first thing in the morning?”
Jennifer smiled at me. If there was anything that made her feel nervous about spending the night with a total stranger, the fear of being alone again banished it from her thoughts.
“Sounds like a plan,” she said. “Um...you wouldn’t happen to have a spare sleeping bag, would you? I’ve been sleeping on the tile floor all week. It’s not very comfortable.”
I laughed for the first time in what seemed like years. “I can do better that that, kid.” I walked out to the jeep, opening the trunk. From there I picked out two sleeping backs and two self-inflating vinyl mattresses. Returning to the diner, I tossed a set to Jennifer. “There you go; all the comforts of home.”
Her face darkened, and I blanched as I realised my mistake. Her smile returned a second later. Jeeze, this kid was strong.
“I’ll go and do something about the door that Mr. Shotgun damaged, shall I?”
Jennifer chuckled. “I’ll clear some space on the floor. Sorry about the mess. I wasn’t expecting guests.”
I stood watching for a moment as she brushed up the rubbish littering the floor. I wondered if my daughter might have grown up to be like her. I hoped so. I would’ve been proud of her if she had.
After I repaired the door by jerry-rigging a bar on the inside of it, we sat and talked. It began with small talk, but I needed to know what happened, and Jennifer had watched it all on the TV. I didn’t know how to bring it up. I didn’t need to.
“You know, you don’t have to pussy foot around me, Jaz. I know I was freaked out when you found me, but I’d just spent over a week alone, thinking I was the last person alive. I’m sure you have questions.”
I shrugged. “I guess I do, but I reckoned it’d be too hard for you.”
She nodded. “It will be, but you need to know. I don’t know much, but thanks to the TV, I know a lot more than you.”
I reached over and squeezed her hand. “Thank you.”
She returned it. “Well, as you saw in the newspapers, the cities went first. There was a live feed from a helicopter on NBC. It showed some sort of huge portal covering over half of Central Park in New York.” Her voice shook as she described it.
“It was literally like the gates of Hell had opened. Hundreds, thousands of creatures of all shapes and sizes climbed out of the pit, streaming out across the city. The view cut to the studio just as it was hit. I had a ringside seat for the butchering of the two anchors. The feed actually stayed up for a couple of hours. I kept flicking back to it, hoping that someone was still alive. The other majors were already down, so I tuned to the west coast channels. It was chaos. The people tried to escape, and the army had a few hours to prepar
e, but it was no use. I watched as a portal opened up in downtown LA. The Army and Air Force threw everything they had at it, but it was useless. For every one of those things they killed, two more appeared. Soon enough they overcame the tanks and soldiers. Demons with wings took out the jets.”
“I saw a news article about them nuking Boston.”
“Hah, yeah, that worked out well,” she replied, bitterly. “All they succeeded in doing was to destroy the city. Those things just kept coming.”
Her voice grew quiet. “After the cities, they took the towns, then the smaller settlements. I can only guess that, though. After day three, there was no more TV; anywhere. Except for the emergency broadcast, and we both know how useful that was.”
I chuckled, before becoming grim. “Jennifer, I’m so sorry you had to go through that alone.” She squeezed my hand, jumping as the small light we huddled around went out. She squealed.
“It’s ok, kid. It looks like the power just went out. Had to happen sometime.” I heard her breathing in the darkness. She was close to panic again. I pulled my cell from my pocket. I thanked the stars I’d had the foresight to charge it. The dim illumination was enough to keep Jennifer from teetering over again.
The power had indeed gone. The noise of the refrigerator and cooler was absent.
“Here, you hold onto this.” I gave her the phone and got to my feet.
“Where are you going?” Her voice shook.
“I have some candles in the trailer.”
“Are you crazy? You can’t go outside. What if....?”
I bent down to touch the side of her face. “Jennifer, if those things were around, we wouldn’t be alive. Seems they’re attracted to population centres. I think the reason you lasted so long is this place is so far away from anywhere. That’s why I want us to go to my lodge.”