Dust: Before and After

by S. E. Smith

  Fading again, he stepped out of the car before reforming. He didn't want to take the chance of waking Sammy and Todd, or anything else for that matter that might be out there. Glancing inside the car once more to reassure himself that Sammy and Todd were real, he turned and began walking toward the remains of the building.

  He walked around it first, checking to make sure that nothing was hiding before he passed through the door. The floor was scattered with debris. Empty shelves lay twisted among broken bottles, empty wrappers, and pieces of the roof and walls.

  Turning, he gazed around trying to see if there was anything worth salvaging. His eyes lit up when he spotted a scattering of maps along the floor near where the counter used to be. Climbing over a section of the roof, he scrambled over to where the circular wire display had stood.

  He squatted down and picked up one of each one map. Standing up, he stuffed them into his back pocket. He spent the next twenty minutes walking through the inside. By the time he was done, he had picked up a bag full of stuff he thought they could use.

  A soft sigh escaped him as he sunk his teeth into another Twinkie from the box he had found under a shelf. He paused at the door and frowned. He wondered if it was locked. Pushing against the door, he groaned until he saw that it said pull. Pulling, he was surprised when it opened.

  Stepping out, he reached in and pulled another snack cake out of the box. Raising it to his teeth, he tore open the packaging and started eating it. He could feel the sugar high coursing through him. A surge of power swept through him as well now that he had eaten quite a bit.

  He walked over to the shell of one of the trucks. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out one of the napkins he had picked up. He wiped a small circle in the glass so he could peer inside.

  A low curse escaped him and he fell backwards, tripping over his own feet as he jerked away. He ignored the contents of the bag as it spilled across the ground. Instead, his gaze remained locked on the pair of sightless eye sockets staring back at him.

  "Oh, man," he muttered, standing back up and brushing off the back of his pants.

  He swallowed. His gaze instinctively went to the car where Sammy and Todd were sleeping. He was glad that he had decided to explore tonight.

  Releasing a deep breath, he quickly picked up all of the stuff he had collected. He placed the bag on the hood of the truck. He would need to check out all the vehicles. There was no way he wanted Sammy and Todd to see this.

  A shuddered went through him when he tried to open the door. It was locked. Walking around to the other side, he tried the passenger side door. It was unlocked. Pulling it open, his face wrinkled in disgust.

  Climbing in the truck, he shuddered again as he leaned across the skeletal remains and unlocked the door. He quickly pulled back and slid out of the truck. Dust walked back around to the driver's side door and opened it.

  "Now, what?" He muttered, staring at the remains of the man. "I really don't want to touch this. I really, really don't."

  He looked around, trying to decide what to do. His gaze paused on the store again. There had been several boxes of trash bags mixed in the mess. Turning, he jogged back to the store. Pulling on the door, he cursed when he hit the glass instead. He should have pushed. He shoved the door open and stepped over the debris until he found the section where he saw the boxes. He skipped the small bags and went straight to the huge lawn bags. The last thing he wanted was for the bag to get a hole in it.

  "No dead guy's bones littering the ground," he said, picking up a second box just in case he needed it.

  He looked down when he stepped on something. His eyes lit up with relief. It was only a plastic bag. He bent and picked the package up, curious when he saw something inside it. It was a pair of large, yellow rubber kitchen gloves.

  He forgot to pull the door open - again. Pulling it open, he headed back to the truck. He quickly opened the package containing the gloves and pulled them on before he opened the box of garbage bags. Holding his breath, he pulled the thick, black bag over the head of the skeleton.

  "This is so gross," Dust grumbled when part of the body pulled away.

  It took him an hour to bag up the three bodies that he found in the remains of the vehicles. He decided he didn't have the time or the resources to bury the bodies. Instead, he carried them as far away from the store as he felt comfortable before dropping them. Not sure what he should do next, he stared at the six bags in uncertainty.

  Releasing a sigh, he reached down and grabbed a handful of dirt. He tossed it on the bags before wiping his hand down his pant leg. His mouth opened and closed several times before he groaned.

  "Rest in peace," he finally muttered before turning on his heel and jogging back to the store.

  Dust grabbed the bag he had packed off the truck and walked back to the car. With a sigh, he realized he was either going to have to leave the bag outside of the car so he didn't make too much noise or take a chance of opening the car door and waking Todd and Sammy.

  The problem was solved when Sammy suddenly opened the door and slid out of the car. Dust watched her stretch before she stepped away from the door. She stared suspiciously at the bag he was holding.

  "I, uh... I decided to see if there was anything worth salvaging," he finally said.

  "What did you find?" She asked softly.

  Dust pulled out the box of Twinkies. "There's only two left," he replied with a crooked grin. "I was hungry."

  Sammy stared at him for a moment before she shook her head and laughed. Reaching for one, she opened it and took a bite out of it before she released a sigh. Her hand reached for the second one before Dust could grab it.

  "Thank you," she replied.

  "You're welcome," Dust responded.

  "For getting rid of the bodies, too," Sammy added as she walked toward the building.

  "Oh," Dust replied, watching her as she walked toward the store. "Where are you going?"

  Sammy glanced over her shoulder. "To the bathroom," she said.

  Dust watched as Sammy walked away. He blinked when she pushed the door open and disappeared inside. He released a loud sigh and felt around in the sack for some potato chips. Opening the package of chips, he leaned back against the car and started eating while he waited for Sammy to return.

  It's good not to be alone anymore, he thought.

  Chapter 8

  The storm:

  Sammy leaned her head against the back seat and stared out the window. Dust was driving now and she had given up the front passenger seat to her little brother. He had been talking non-stop to Dust for the past couple of hours.

  Her gaze briefly flickered to the front and she locked eyes with Dust in the mirror. A small smile twisted her lips when she saw the questioning look in his gaze. A moment later he broke contact to focus on the road in front of them.

  “Sammy, can I have another snack cake?” Todd asked, glancing over the seat with a hopeful look.

  “Just one more,” Sammy murmured. “I don’t want you getting sick to your stomach.”

  “I won’t,” Todd promised, turning back around to dig into the bag.

  They had gone through the store one more time looking for things they could use while Dust had siphoned gas from the underground tanks. They had talked for a little while when she came back from using the bathroom. She was thankful that she had Todd for the past year. Dust had been all alone. She couldn’t imagine not having someone else there to talk to. Sure, Todd was young, but he had given her a reason to keep going.

  “What’s that?” Todd asked, sitting up in the seat.

  Sammy sat up and peered between the seats. A low curse escaped her when she saw the dark, rolling clouds and flashes of lightning. This wasn’t your typical storm. It was a mega-storm. Since the comet, the weather had been extremely unpredictable. The nights changing from warm to freezing within minutes and the days were not much better.

  “We need to find cover,” Dust muttered under his breath. “Are there any towns
nearby on the map?”

  “I’ll look,” Sammy whispered, grabbing the map next to her and opening it up. Looking down, she ran her finger from the last town they went through and along the road in the direction they were traveling. They had to detour a few times because the main interstate was impassable in a few sections. Right now, they were on a back road. “I don’t see anything,” Sammy said with a frown.

  “Look at that!” Todd exclaimed, pointing out the front window.

  Sammy’s head jerked up in time to see a line of lightning running in a long pattern along the ground. Swallowing, she watched the ground explode upward where it struck. She couldn’t imagine any safe place from such a force.

  “Dust,” Sammy murmured, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

  “I know,” Dust muttered, turning left when another road came into sight.

  “Where are you going?” Todd asked, looking out of his side of the window at the approaching storm.

  “I’m going to see if I can find an overpass, bridge, or one of those huge culverts,” Dust bit out through gritted teeth as the high winds began pushing on the car.

  Sammy flinched when marble-size bits of ice hit the window next to her. She reached over and touched Todd’s shoulder. She wanted him away from that side of the car in case the ice broke the window.

  “Come back here and buckle up, Todd,” she ordered, undoing his seatbelt.

  “Okay,” Todd replied in a slightly quivering voice.

  Sammy helped Todd over the console between the seats and quickly buckled him up. Picking up the blanket that was on the floorboard, she opened it up and spread it over his lap. She winced when the hail grew stronger. She could hear it bouncing off the gas cans on the roof.

  “Dust, we need to find shelter,” she shouted above the growing storm.

  “I know,” Dust replied, jerking the wheel to the side to avoid some flying debris. “We can’t stay out in this.”

  “Sammy!” Todd whimpered in terror when a bolt of lightning hit close to the road.

  Sammy reached over and covered Todd’s head as dirt and rocks pelted the front and side of the car. She felt Dust struggling to keep the car on the narrow, two-lane road. The tires kicked up dirt when the car ran off the road onto the soft shoulder. The car swerved back and forth for a moment as Dust tried not to flip the car. He had just straightened the car out when another explosion sounded behind them. Sammy twisted in time to see a portion of the road disintegrate behind them.

  “Hang on,” Dust yelled as he turned again, this time onto an old dirt road.

  Sammy used one hand to hold onto the back of the seat and the other one she wrapped around Todd in an effort to keep from being thrown around despite the seatbelt she had on. Dust accelerated as more hail struck and lightning flashed. Sammy swore she could feel the back of the car start to lift up off the ground before Dust pulled away in a cloud of dirt.

  She didn’t know where he was going, she just hoped he found some place soon that would protect them from the elements. A cry escaped her when he fishtailed on a curve in the road and she felt her hold on Todd loosen. She was thrown sideways against the window. Pain exploded through her head when it hit with a sharp thump. Turning her head, she wished she had kept it straight when she saw the huge tornado bearing down on them.

  “Dust,” she whispered in horror.

  “I know, Sammy,” Dust replied in a grim tone. “I see it.”

  Sammy didn’t say anything, she kept her eyes glued to the twister even as Dust turned the wheel again. This time, she held on to the seat in front of her with both hands. She was slowly counting, trying to measure the distance between them and the dark, swirling cloud.

  “We’re not going to make it,” she whispered, her eyes growing bigger as the tornado expanded.

  “Yes, we will,” Dust replied, spying what he was looking for. “Hold on!”

  At the corner of her eye, Sammy saw Todd reach out to grab the back of Dust’s seat. A scream formed in her throat when she felt the car suddenly take a nose-dive. Forcing her eyes around to the front, she saw that Dust had left the road and was going down into a deep gully. Her eyes widened when she saw what he was aiming for, a huge culvert under the road. Overhead, large deposits of rocks, soil, and ice pounded on the car, leaving deep dents in the top. The front windshield suddenly cracked as several large chunks struck. Just as the sound of the tornado grew to a deafening roar, everything went black as the car skidded into the large, concrete cylinder beneath the road.

  *.*.*.

  The dark shadows of the devil dogs emerged like ghostly shapes later that afternoon. Their sides moved rapidly in and out as they drew in panting breaths. The female had driven the remaining pack hard. She wanted to catch up with those she was hunting. One of the pack had fallen behind. She knew if she let it live the others would soon follow. She had killed and eaten it with a viciousness that warned the rest of the pack what their fate would be if they didn’t keep up.

  The Alpha paused as she smelled the approaching storm long before she saw it. Her pack could sense something, but they did not have the same awareness that she did. With a snarl, she drew to a halt outside of the dilapidated store. She had been following the faint scent of the metal beast that had carried the creatures off. With a snap of her jaws, her pack sought shelter in the remains of the building.

  She would seek shelter, but not yet. Even with the growing wind, she could smell the one she sought, the one whose powers she wanted. Pressing her nose to the ground, she trotted back and forth until she found where he had gone. He had spent time at the other metal machines before moving off into the desert. Following the path of his scent, she soon came to the pile of black plastic bags.

  Her gaze rose to the growing storm before returning to the bags. Stepping forward, she tore the first one open with her front claws. The remains of bone, dried flesh, and clothing pierced her senses. She reached forward and sank her teeth into the bone. Pulling it out, she quickly tore the material away from the remains and devoured the tough, dried out flesh.

  A deep snarl escaped her when the growing wind sent a rain of sharp sand against her side. Her gaze returned to the growing storm. The hair on her nape rose at the electricity in the air. In the distance, bolts of lightning struck the ground. Realizing she wouldn’t have time to finish feasting on the remains, she quickly dug a hole and buried the bags. She would eat afterwards.

  She was just finishing when the first stinging blows of ice began to fall. Turning back toward her pack, she soon realized that she had misjudged the speed of the storm. Fighting against the wind, she noticed an outcropping of rocks. She focused, hating to use the limited amount of energy that she had, but knowing she had no choice. Dissolving, she breathed a sigh when the pain from the sharp ice and sand passed through her instead. Within minutes, she was cocooned inside a recess between the rocks. Reforming, she watched the storm with an appreciation for its intensity and power.

  Power, she thought with a jerky, sudden awareness. Yes, power. The… boy, he has power. Power that I want. The… others will give me the strength I need to defeat him. He… cares for them, she realized with satisfaction. That will be his weakness. He will not like it when I kill them.

  She scooted back further and closed her eyes against the stinging wind. She would rest. Her dissolving had taken more out of her than she realized. She had never dissolved for so long before. She would definitely need to feed after the storm.

  I will eat, she thought as sleep pulled at her. Then, I will hunt.

  Chapter 9

  Not alone:

  Dust rested his forehead on the steering wheel as the loud roar of the massive tornado moved closer. He could hear the rocks hitting the back windshield of the car. It was hard to breathe as it went over them. It felt like the twister was sucking all the air up out of the car. His head jerked up when he felt the car shift and begin to rise.

  “Dust!” Todd cried in terror.

  “I won’t let anything happ
en to you or Sammy, Todd,” Dust said in a hoarse voice, glancing over his shoulder.

  He heard Sammy’s soft gasp and knew his eyes must be glowing from the fear that flashed through them. He could feel the change in him. The power was surging through his system. Turning back around, he focused on his glowing hands.

  The car shifted in the air for a moment before it settled back down. He could feel the heat radiating out from him. His teeth gritted as he battled for control of the energy spreading like a fiery wave outward. He watched as if in slow motion as a soft blue light stretched outward to form a partial dome over the car. Sweat beaded on his brow as he fought to maintain it. The sound of the wind and the rain of debris hitting the car faded as it struck the shield instead.

  “Sammy,” Todd whispered in awe.

  “Shush,” Sammy replied under her breath.

  Dust looked in the rearview mirror at Sammy. He could see the fear, but he could also see that she knew that he was doing what he had promised – he was protecting her and Todd. That knowledge gave him the strength to push away the darkness clouding the edge of his vision.

  It seemed like hours later, but was really just minutes, before the faint sound of the storm moving away echoed through the culvert. Dust’s body shook from the force of expending so much energy. His knuckles were as blue as the field of energy where he had them wrapped around the black plastic steering wheel.

  “It’s gone,” Sammy whispered, tentatively reaching out to touch his shoulder. “You can stop now.”

  “I…,” Dust started to say before he just nodded.

  The moment he released the power, his body slumped like a limp noodle. He was as weak as a newborn kitten. This was far worse than back in town.

  “Dust?” Sammy asked when his head fell sideways against the driver’s door.

  “F… food,” Dust muttered, closing his eyes as nausea welled up inside him.

  Realizing he wasn’t going to be able to keep it at bay, he struggled to open the door with a trembling hand. He fumbled for the release on the seat belt that was holding him in the seat as the door swung open. It snapped free and he rolled out of the car, hitting the ground hard as his body starting heaving in waves. There was nothing to eject. He had used up all of the food he had eaten plus some. The force of the dry heaves sent his body into spasms.