Dust: Before and After

by S. E. Smith

  Dust grinned and polished his fingernails on the front of his shirt. “Of course,” he replied with a grin. “I’d like to see if I can find extra gas to take with us, just in case.”

  “Okay, but that means less for us to pack in the car,” Sammy said, looking at the shopping carts.

  “No, I’ll tie them to the luggage rack,” Dust said with a shake of his head. “We can’t put the gas in the car. It wouldn’t be safe.”

  “Oh, right,” Sammy said with a slight blush. “I knew that.”

  “I helped Dust start the car, Sammy,” Todd boasted. “I’ll take care of this stuff while you and Dust get the other stuff.”

  “Thanks, Todd,” Sammy said with an affectionate smile. “One more trip should do it.”

  “I saw some gas cans in the auto supply store. I’ll grab them and anything else I think we could use and meet you back here. I’ve got to change a couple of the tires, too,” Dust explained. He decided he’d better test the engine by turning it off and back on before he left it. He grinned when it started again. Deciding not to waste any more gas than necessary, he shut it back off. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Todd, will you be alright?”

  “Sure! If anything comes at me, I’ll jump in the car and close the doors,” Todd said. “I’ve done that before.”

  Dust paused and stared at Todd. “When?” He asked in a tight voice.

  “Once on the way here,” she said, looking to stare down the road. “There were some other creatures, not as big as the devil dogs, but just like them.”

  “We saw them attack a stray cow,” Todd said in a somber voice. “Sammy and I hid in the car until they were gone. When we finally got out, there wasn’t nothing left of the cow, but a few bones.”

  “They were near the town where we used to live,” Sammy said, looking back at Dust. “That’s why we came north. We were hoping that they wouldn’t be here.”

  “But they were, just not as many,” Todd added.

  “How many were there where you were at?” Dust asked, looking at Sammy.

  She shrugged and looked down, was silent for a minute before she looked up at him and bit her lip at the dark memory. “I don’t know, a dozen or more,” she finally said. “It was hard to look and count. They were everywhere and I was afraid they would see us.”

  Dust’s eyes narrowed and he pressed his lips together. A dozen was more than he’d seen at any time. Four, maybe five, but more than a dozen wasn’t good. He had noticed back in his home town that they worked together as a pack. It had been difficult, but he had eventually killed the last one. Unfortunately, like him, they needed food, a lot of it to survive and had cleaned out the town fairly quickly. He was surprised that they hadn’t done that here. The only reason he could think of was because they hadn’t been here for long.

  “We’ll keep an eye out,” he said with a sharp nod. “Todd, pack the car. Sammy, get all the food and supplies that you can. I’ll find more gas and anything else I think we might need. How far away is your town from here?”

  “Twenty, maybe twenty-five miles or so,” Sammy said, pushing her hair behind her ear.

  “We need to get out of here,” Dust said, turning away. “Something tells me with that many, they are going to be looking for food and traveling fast.”

  Chapter 6

  The Beginning of the Pack:

  "That's it," Dust said, pulling on the straps he had found in the auto parts store.

  "Dust," Sammy called out suddenly from the other side of the car.

  "Yeah?" Dust said, jumping down from where he had been standing on the edge of the open door.

  "Look," she murmured, nodding her head. "It's that devil dog I shot with an arrow."

  Dust looked at Sammy before turning to see where she was looking. Further down the road, between two abandon vehicles, a dark shadow emerged. He stared at the black beast as it stepped out into the road. He could see the broken shaft of the arrow sticking out of its front shoulder. It looked like it had bitten off the end in an attempt to get it out. Swallowing, he continued to stare at it as he slowly opened the front passenger door.

  "Todd, get in the back seat. Sammy, do you know how to drive?" Dust asked, keeping the beast in his view.

  "Yes. Well, sort of," she admitted. "My dad used to let me drive the truck on the farm."

  "I think now would be a good time to use that skill," Dust said, slamming the back door shut before sliding into the passenger seat. "Go!"

  "Sammy, there's more of them!" Todd cried out, looking around as more devil dogs suddenly began to appear.

  Dust glanced at Sammy as she slid behind the wheel and slammed the driver's door. Her hand shook as she reached for the key and turned it. He breathed out a sigh of relief when the car started again.

  Sammy slammed the gear shift down and pressed her foot on the gas. The car fishtailed as it slipped on the loose gravel in the road and the force of the acceleration. Dust glanced at her face. It was tense, but he saw a focused determination which showed that she was in control. She was leaning forward, staring at the gathering crowd of devil dogs. It would appear that the pack from her and Todd's town had arrived.

  "Todd, put your seat belt on," Sammy ordered as the car picked up speed.

  Dust braced his hand against the dashboard as Sammy struck the first several creatures. Their massive bodies flew up, shattering the windshield before rolling over the top of the car. He glanced behind them and grimaced when he saw one of the gas cans he had just secured rolling along the road.

  "Todd, duck!" Dust ordered, throwing his palm up and sending a bolt of electricity out.

  A tiny hole appeared in the back window as the bolt melted the glass. The silvery-white thread struck the gas can. A huge, fiery explosion erupted, sending a shower of burning gas over a number of the creatures that had turned to follow them.

  Dust's gaze locked on the lone figure that calmly stepped through the remaining group. It didn't chase them, it just watched with red, glowing eyes. Another creature came up to it and bit down on the broken shaft embedded in its shoulder. With a savage pull, the remains of the arrow were ripped from its body. Within seconds, the creature turned and attacked the one that had helped it.

  Dust turned back around in his seat. He pulled the seat belt free and secured it around him. His gaze moved to Sammy. Her lips were pressed into a tight, straight line. He could see her gaze flickering to the rear view mirror before they moved back to the road.

  After several long minutes, she finally relaxed a little. Dust watched as she pulled her seat belt over her shoulder and hooked it. He waited, knowing that she wouldn't let go of what had happened.

  "When we find a place where it is safe to stop, you have some explaining to do," Sammy finally said.

  Dust released a tired breath and nodded. "I figured you'd say that," he mumbled.

  Hungry, he reached for a can of peaches in the bag at his feet. Sitting back, he popped the lid and drank the syrup before using his fingers to pull them out. From the look on Sammy's face there was going to be a lot of talking done, primarily by him. He turned when he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

  "I thought that was pretty cool," Todd said, glancing at Sammy. "I guess you can't teach me that either, can you?"

  Dust chuckled and shook his head. "Probably not," he admitted.

  "Ah, well," Todd replied as he sat back in his seat. "It was still cool."

  "Thanks," Dust responded with a crooked grin before he glanced at Sammy. "Where to now?"

  Sammy frowned and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know," she said. "See if there are any maps in the glove box. We need to make a plan. Obviously we can't go back the way we came."

  Dust licked his fingers and placed the empty can back in the bag before opening the glove box. There were tons of napkins from various fast food restaurants, the car registration, some plastic utensils that he could have used a minute ago, and three straws. Closing it, he sighed. He hadn't thought to check to see if there were any m
aps in the grocery store or the auto parts place.

  "Nothing," he said.

  Sammy sighed. "Hopefully the next town we come to won't have those creatures in them and we can find a store that has a map," she replied, glancing at him with unease when she said the word 'creature'.

  Dust nodded, trying to ignore the pain caused by her suspicion that he was anything like the devil dogs. Sure, they could do some of the same things, like dissolve. The only difference was he could dissolve all the way and they could only do it a little and for a lot less time. It took a lot of energy to fade, as he thought of the process. Frowning, the only other thing that he knew they could do as well was heal fast, but again, it took a lot of energy to do that which meant they needed food.

  He reached for another can of peaches. Opening the can, he drank the juice again, but this time he used one of the plastic forks from the glove box to eat it. Resting his head back against the headrest, he chewed the fruit and wondered what else would happen today.

  *.*.*

  The creature did not understand what was happening to it at first. It had woken with its litter mates under the remains of the house where its mother had given birth to ten puppies. It had staggered out when the rush of ash had fallen and the ground had shaken on trembling legs.

  At barely eight weeks old, it was the runt of the litter, but also the most adventuresome. Its mother had tried more than once to keep it hidden from the large, two-legged creatures that walked the ground. That first day, it had fallen, shivering and confused, as strange, green flashes of light mixed with the glowing ash that coated its tiny body.

  Its eyes had closed as a strange feeling swept over it. Pain burst through its small body as it grew, twisting and pulling on the bones and tissue until low, whimpering cries were ripped from its throat. When it finally woke several days later, it was hungry. Its mother had come out several times to check on it after the first day, but assumed that it was dead. She returned to the rest of her litter and waited for the world to stop shaking.

  It had smelled its mother and siblings hiding under the house. The mother tried to protect her pups, but it had devoured each one before turning its attention to the larger female that it had wounded.

  The creature had learned quickly that food gave it the energy it craved. It had learned over the next year how to stalk and kill its prey. There had been other creatures like it, but they had not been as smart.

  It recognized that it was different. It was the alpha bitch. She would rule those under her. Only three others had recognized her power and submitted to her dominance. She had allowed them to live, to serve her.

  Licking her muzzle clean from the dripping black blood of the beast that ripped the arrow out of her shoulder, she tilted her head and stared at the remaining creatures around her. There were ten of them counting her. Her gaze moved to the ones that were dead or dying. Her pack would need food.

  With a low snarl, the others attacked the remains. She bent and ripped another section of black flesh from the beast she had killed. A strange consciousness emerged in her mind. She wanted the powers of the strange two-legged creature and she wanted to kill the female who had challenged her.

  But first, first I need food, she thought.

  Chapter 7

  First Night:

  Dust watched Sammy as she peeked in the rear view mirror for the hundredth time to make sure her little brother was alright. The light banter that Todd had kept up turned to a stony silence when he finally fell asleep an hour ago. That silence now sat like an invisible passenger between Dust and Sammy.

  Dust stared out the window at the passing scenery, trying to think of something to say. It had grown dark several hours before, so there wasn't much to look at as they were traveling through western Oklahoma.

  "The landscape was just rolling hills of nothingness," he muttered under his breath.

  "What?" Sammy asked, glancing at him.

  Dust turned his head to stare at her in confusion. "Huh?" He asked.

  Sammy released a loud breath. "You said something," she retorted. "I didn't hear all of it, just the last word so I asked you 'what' so you would repeat it."

  "Oh," Dust replied, not really knowing what else to say. "Um, what word did you hear?"

  "Nothingness," Sammy bit out in exasperation.

  "Oh," Dust replied again, turning to stare out the window again.

  Dust's lips twitched when he heard Sammy mutter a few things about weird boys who didn't finish their sentences or something like that. He turned back to look at her. She was flexing her fingers on the steering wheel.

  "Alright, I give up," she finally growled. "What about nothingness?"

  Dust shrugged his shoulders. "I was just thinking there is just rolling hills of nothingness out there, is all," he said.

  Sammy slowed down when a rabbit darted out across the road. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was a normal one. A frown creased his brow as he thought about it.

  "Where were you...? " He started to say at the same time as she was asking... "How did you...?"

  "You go first," Sammy muttered.

  "Okay," Dust said. He figured it was better than making her mad again. "Where were you and Todd when the comet hit?

  He watched as Sammy blinked rapidly for a moment before she started talking in a quiet voice. She explained how she was home with Todd while her parents had gone to town. The emergency warning system that they had sounded.

  "We went to the storm shelter in the backyard," she explained. "Mom and I had just finished canning a bunch of vegetables from the garden. We stored them down there. I saw the cloud heading straight for us. The ground... The ground shook so bad for a while that I thought Todd and I were going to be trapped. We stayed there for as long as we could, waiting for someone to come, but they never did," she whispered. She angrily brushed at her eyes. "It was like everyone was just gone. Your turn," she said in a stronger voice. "How do you do the things you do? You know, like the way you disappear and how you shot that bolt of lightning out of your hand."

  "Electricity," Dust corrected before he thought about it. "I guess that's what lightning is, isn't it? I don't know. I remember being in the basement of the house, then everything went black," he murmured, looking out the window. "I woke up a few times. I saw all this dust and strange lights all around me. I remember trying to touch it."

  "And," Sammy said when he didn't continue.

  Dust shrugged. "I don't remember much after that," he replied in a quiet tone that told her he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

  "Well," Sammy finally said with a sigh. "I'm glad you can do whatever it is you can do."

  "Including fixing the car?" Dust teased.

  "Yeah, well, I would have given you that one if you had remembered to get a map as well," she chuckled. "Talking about cars and maps, we need to find a place to fill up soon. We're getting low and I have to admit, I'm tired."

  "Okay," Dust replied, peering down the road.

  Twenty minutes later, Sammy pulled into the ghostly remains of a convenience store and pulled to a stop. There wasn't a lot left of it. The roof was torn off, most of one wall was gone, and the awning over the gas pumps was twisted around the few pumps that remained.

  "I doubt there is anything left worth looking for," Sammy said with a groan.

  "You don't know that," Dust replied, staring at the building. "Why don't we change places? You can put the seat back and I'll keep watch. In the morning, we'll see if there is anything worth salvaging and see if they have any maps. I can also check to see if there is any gas left in the tanks. They were pretty well protected since they are buried."

  Sammy reached for the key and turned the car off with a tired yawn. Twisting the knob for the headlights, she turned them off. She really hoped that the car started again in the morning. Another huge yawn escaped her.

  "Wake me if you need anything," she mumbled, reaching for the door handle.

  "Wait," Dust said, grabbing her arm
. "We don't know what's out there. You crawl into this seat."

  Sammy stared at him with a blank look for a moment before she shook her head. Dust winked at her right before he faded. He moved up through the roof, hovering just above it so he could look around. Below him, he could hear Sammy muttering under her breath and the car rock as she climbed over into the passenger seat.

  Dust focused and settled back through the roof, this time into the driver's seat. He waited until he was sitting in the seat before he solidified again. Sammy released a startled squeak and glared at him.

  "Next time, give me a little notice before you do that," she growled.

  "Sorry," Dust replied with a crooked grin. "It looked okay outside, but I didn't take a really close look. Can you hand me a couple of cans of fruit before you go to sleep?"

  Sammy glanced down at the half dozen empty cans and grimaced. He knew what she was thinking... that at the rate he was going through the fruit there wouldn't be anything left. She was probably right.

  He reached out and took the cans from her. Within minutes, Sammy had pushed the seat back, pulled her jacket over her and was sound asleep. He opened one of the cans of fruit and drank the juice before devouring the contents. Once he was finished, he set the empty container on the dashboard and turned to stare at Sammy's relaxed face.

  He could make out the sprinkling of freckles across her nose. She was pretty, he thought with a surprisingly warm feeling inside him. She was also smart and brave. Shoot, she had saved his life twice. He frowned when he thought about it, or rather about the devil dog. There had been something different about it.

  Turning to look out the window, he stared off into the darkness. His gaze flickered back to Sammy before he glanced at Todd in the back seat. He would take a quick peek around outside to make sure everything was safe before he settled down for the night.