Children of the AFTER: AWAKENING

by Jeremy Laszlo

  Pressing her body up from the concrete shelf, she began to slide forward as a flicker of movement caught out of the corner of her eye made her freeze and turn in its direction. There, in the darkness upon the opposite shelf as she, something moved in the shadows. She saw the glint of eyes, and watched as shadows moved within the darkness, hinting at its size and shape. There was something there, and it was watching them. She wanted to scream but couldn’t find the air. She wanted to climb down the wall but found herself frozen, her body unwilling to cooperate. For that instant she could do nothing but watch as it moved awkwardly through the darkness towards the opposite end of the cement structure.

  Again and again she tried to make out its shape, watching as it appeared that it was leaving. Down to the end of the shelf it maneuvered amongst the darkness. But it didn’t leave. Instead, reaching the farthest corner from her it turned and backed into the corner, its reflective eyes peering back at her across the darkened distance. There it waited. Unmoving. Unblinking. It stared. Sam willed her own body to move.

  Never taking her eyes off the creature she rolled over the edge of the shelf and slid down upon her back to the roadway below. Instantly Jack and Will were upon her, pulling her up and off the ground and into their arms but it brought no comfort. Not now.

  Raising her arm, she thrust out a finger towards the thing that still watched, and finally managed to stammer.

  “There. There in the dark. Something is there, Jack. It’s watching us.”

  “What?” Jack asked, as he spun to peer in the direction of her finger.

  Though she still felt stiff as the effects of fear held her in place, Jack released her and lowered Will to the ground before turning to have a closer look. She wanted to warn him against it, but couldn’t manage the words. Something within her warred with her impulse to scream and vent the fear out, telling her to let Jack go and things would be fine, but she didn’t trust it. On Jack walked, slowly towards the concealed eyes.

  Darkness outside the underpass grew thicker by the moment and here, under the road above, was becoming nearly impenetrable. But still Jack moved for a better look. Watching as he neared the end of the tunnel, Sam saw him pick something off of the ground before leaning forward as if to try and peer into the blackness. Then, as the scream broke from both her and Will’s lungs, the watcher lunged from its concealment to kick off of one of the great cement girders above, before launching out into the blackness of the night and vanishing.

  Startled beyond anything she could ever recall, Sam felt her heart trying to hammer its way out of her chest as she reached up to cover her mouth that, though soundless, still remained open. Will trembled, clutching to her leg, just as startled as she. Away went her fear, and in its place an odd calm washed over her as she looked down to the boy who clutched at her.

  “It’s OK now, baby. Whatever it was, it’s gone. Jack chased it away.”

  Though Will didn’t reply, he was breathing heavily but fine, and Sam brushed her fingers through his hair to calm him as Jack retraced his steps towards them.

  “What the heck was that?” her older brother asked.

  Sam shook her head in reply. Her mind couldn’t make sense of what she had seen. At least, what she thought she had seen.

  * * * * *

  Will had to pee again. But not now, not with that thing out there. Nope. He was gonna wait and hold it as long as he could. Maybe forever. It didn’t matter now.

  Wanting to know what they thought about it, he began listening to Jack and Sam’s conversation.

  “I think it was a monkey or something,” Jack said, already leading them away from the underpass.

  “A monkey? Like a chimp or something? Cause that thing was bigger than a monkey,” Sam replied after a moment.

  They walked as they talked, though slower than they had done over the previous days, and Will wondered what kind of monkey looked like that. He’d been to the zoo lots of times and never seen a monkey like that, even if he couldn’t tell exactly what it had looked like. But, instead of interrupting, he kept his opinions to himself.

  “Maybe a baboon or chimp, I dunno. It moved like a monkey anyway, but I didn’t see any fur. Did you?” Jack asked.

  “I don’t think so, but it was so fast and it’s dark.”

  “Yeah I know, but I was pretty close and it looked weird, like skin but different. You know?”

  “Maybe it got burned or something or maybe radiation made it lose all its hair?” Sam offered.

  “Just more questions, I guess,” said Jack. “But we need to move. You guys screamed really loud. The rider might have heard you, and who knows what or who else might have heard?”

  And with that Will gave his hand to Sam, and through the darkness they took to the median of the interstate and turned west away from the city and the rider.

  Though he didn’t want another run in with the monkey thing or the rider, it was only about an hour later when Will just couldn’t go any further. Shaking his hand free from Sam’s, he dropped his book bag and began running towards the nearest abandoned car. He heard Sam giggle while he peed but it didn’t matter. At least it didn’t feel like his tummy was going to explode anymore. But the problem with peeing was that now that his bladder wasn’t full, he was hungry again. He knew they needed to keep going. Jack kept on saying it. But they had been moving all day and now it was night and they hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and Will was certain if he didn’t eat soon his stomach would swallow another one of his organs.

  “Guys?” Will asked.

  “Yeah, buddy?” Jack replied.

  “I’m hungry.”

  “I know, little man. Me too. But we need to keep going a little longer. Eat your Skittles while we walk and when we find a safe place I’ll cook us something.”

  That was good enough for Will. Candy now and hot food later? Yup. That would do it. He thrust his hand into this pocket, pulling out the twisted red, plastic bag and untwisting it carefully he tipped his head back and poured a mouthful of candies into his already watering mouth. Whoever invented candy was a genius and Will hoped one day he could thank that person face to face. If he or she hadn’t died in the event.

  Tramping along through the grass for several more hours, it had to be sometime near midnight when Jack approached the remains of some sort of delivery truck on the shoulder of the road. It was a tall thing as Will approached it with his siblings, and he looked up at it, wondering what it had been used for. An air conditioner-looking box protruded from part of the back of the truck that was separate from the cab. It reminded Will of a moving truck, except for the air conditioner.

  Rounding the back of the truck they found it closed, and Will watched as Jack reached up and worked the handle, thrusting the wide door upwards. Looking inside they found the truck nearly empty, containing a wooden pallet and a cart used for moving boxes.

  “Looks like we found ourselves a room for the night,” Sam said.

  Before he even knew what was happening, Sam lifted him up and placed him in the back of the truck before she used her hands on the floor and hopped up, pulling herself over the edge too. Seconds later Jack was inside, and handing Sam his pack, he turned and pulled the door down behind them. Fortunately there was a handle on the inside too, because Will heard the door click when it closed.

  After a moment to move the pallet, Will helped Jack and Sam pull out their cooking supplies and the jar of spaghetti sauce along with a couple other cans of goods they had managed to scavenge along the way, and Jack went to work opening cans as Sam set up their small camp burner and pot. That done, they allowed Will to pour in the sauce and vegetables and he watched as they were all mixed together and the smell of it all began to fill the air as his tummy growled over and over and over.

  It could have been because of all the walking, or because he was starving, but he barely tasted his food as he ate from one of the emptied cans with a spoon from the security vault. It wasn’t anything special. Just some veggies and some sauce, but
it tasted like heaven, and Will finished all that was left while Sam began painting her face.

  As Sam and Jack worked to put their supplies away and wipe off their dishes as best they were able, Will laid down on the metal floor of the truck’s box and wondered about the monkey creature they had seen. It had long legs for a monkey, and he hadn’t seen a tail either. He would have to remember to ask Sam and Jack about it when they weren’t busy.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jack awoke and immediately regretted it, hoping sleep would claim him once more. With his muscles in knots he struggled to calm them, stretching which appendages he was able and trying to relax those he was not. His head pounded like there was a drum between his ears, and no matter what he did, no amount of the pain subsided. With muscles clenching in painful agony, he reached out to his bag and felt through its contents. With his fingers wrapping instinctively around the bottle, he pulled it from the canvas bag and using his teeth twisted off the top.

  Cool water poured into this mouth and throat, and just moments after swallowing several mouthfuls he could actually feel the change spreading over his body. Water. His body needed water, and a lot of it. But there wasn’t a lot to be had. No. For now he would have to sip and conserve.

  Laying upon the cold metal floor he found that the sensation reminded him of the vault back home, but at least there he could drink all the water he wanted. Even if it had tasted funny and been discolored at the end. A prisoner in his own body, Jack was forced to wait until his cramping muscles relaxed before pushing his thoughts of water aside and sitting up.

  Giving both Sam and Will a shake he woke them, allowing them to get their bearings before he raised the door to their hiding place a few inches and pressed his face to the floor to look outside. By all appearances it had rained during the night as every surface shone with the reflection of that element which his body desired. But all in all, nothing appeared different and so far as he could tell, they were alone.

  Shoving the door open the rest of the way, he swung his sore legs over the edge and hopped down to the edge of the street below. The world was different now that it was light outside. Sure, they had walked on the grass median the day before, but it had become dark hours and hours before they had stopped walking. Where in the city and just beyond there had been only charred and burned stumps of once magnificent trees, now, having traveled further from the city, the scenery was much, much different. Looking about him he was surprised to find that the forest south of the interstate was intact and trees flourished, their leaves turning off color with the coming of fall. Trees were alive. The world wasn’t destroyed. Maybe only the city had been consumed in whatever catastrophe had transpired. It was something to hope for, anyway. And hope he did.

  Carefully and silently he crept to the corner of the truck, and peered back the way they had come the night before. Nothing moved. No one followed. Sighing to himself, Jack turned back to the pair of faces that watched him for any sign of danger. It was odd how he had taken on this role. They depended on him. They expected him to know what to do, where to go, and in all honesty, Sam was likely more educated about half of this stuff than he was. She was the good student. She could read things once and recite them years later. But it wasn’t her job to protect them or lead them. It was his. Dad had given it to him.

  Reaching up to run his fingers through his too long hair, Jack pulled his hood over his head. The morning was both cool and damp and smelled oddly like worms. It was a day they would usually stay indoors, all gray and miserable, but they didn’t have the luxury now. Their supplies were dangerously low again. They needed to find a place that could sustain them for a while and for right now that place was Grandma’s house. They needed to move. Jack felt like something was coming and he didn’t want to be here when it came.

  Waving both Sam and Will to him, he watched as they gathered their packs and swung their legs over the edge of the truck’s box just as he had done. Reaching up, he grabbed Sam by the waist and helped her to the ground before snatching Will up just under his arms. Twirling once, with his little brother smiling in his arms, he placed him on the ground beside their sister and looked them both in the eyes.

  “We have to keep moving today. We don’t know if the rider is still looking for us or if I threw him off for good. We need food and water, badly. If we hurry I think we can make it to Grandma’s by tonight. Think you can do it, champ?” Jack asked Will.

  With another smile and a nod he had his answer, and turning he led them back into the grass and away from the truck. It was only a few hundred yards when Sam smacked him in the back of the head, grinning like a fool at him with her dark eye shadow and lipstick.

  “What was that for?”

  “Cause you’re an idiot. Well, actually we both are.”

  “What do you mean?” Jack asked, reaching up to shove her away by her shoulder.

  “It rained last night, genius. We need water, even have bottles, but didn’t think about collecting rain water?”

  He was an idiot. All around them were heaps of abandoned cars that were warped or burned and on their surfaces, at least some of them, were areas where the water was pooling. Sure it was murky and stained dark by ash residue, but it was fresh water. Better than nothing. Within an hour, all of their empty bottles were refilled with almost clean water. For Jack, at least on the water situation, things were looking up.

  * * * * *

  It was midday when Sam thought she had heard the sounds of hooves carried upon the breeze that gusted from time to time, threatening another storm. The day had grown steadily colder, the wind picking up and changing direction over the hours. Now it blew steadily from the north, carrying the smell of ash and decay. Though they had been careful all day to keep moving swiftly and dodge any areas where they might leave tracks upon the ground, she doubted the rider would give up looking for them, though she didn’t know why.

  Hearing the sound upon the wind the first time, she swore to herself that she had been mistaken, but even so she focused on listening more intently in case it came again. And it did. This time, more distinct than the last, she heard the falls of the horse’s hooves upon the road, and looking to Jack she knew it had not been her imagination. There, etched upon his face that looked at her for the same reason, was a mix of shock and fear that she knew mimicked her own features. The sound came again and Will looked up at them. They had all heard it now. There was no mistaking it. The rider was coming.

  Looking all about them for any sign of the rider, they began picking up pace and grabbing Jack’s arm she pointed off to their left, to the trees beside the interstate. He nodded and led them off course, aiming for the forest beyond. Grandma lived in these woods, though miles and miles away. She wondered how long they would have to hide in the woods, though she didn’t wonder long.

  Sam led Will alongside Jack and over the two lanes of interstate from the median. Within seconds they plunged down the hillside and into the trees beyond. Under the canopy of the forest felt like a different world altogether. Leaving behind the ash and destruction was a nice change, considering that someone was searching for them with ill intentions. Here and there ferns gathered amongst the great trunks of old trees. Every time the wind gusted, droplets of water fell from the branches above to rain down on them and Sam discovered a problem they hadn’t anticipated before. Here, like the paved roads covered in slimy ash residue in and around the city, was a surface that marked their passing with ease. Every step they took disrupted the fallen layer of leaves upon the ground and in several locations the ground was so moist they left tracks as they passed. If the rider found their trail, they would be easier to follow now that they had left the hard packed, manmade surfaces.

  There was less light in the forest, much of it blocked out by the canopy of trees above, but even so, one didn’t need much light to follow an obvious trail. Sam could only hope that the rider missed their trail and continued on down the interstate in search of them. Or even better, she hoped the rain would
come and wash all evidence of their passing away. But her hopes were quickly dashed when a horse neighed in the distance behind them. He was gaining on them.

  “Run,” Jack said with a determined look on his face.

  Sam didn’t hesitate. Making sure Will understood with a look, she began to pick up her speed, letting him set a pace for her that his smaller legs were comfortable with. On they ran. Again. Oh how she despised running. Sure it was great for her booty and abs, not to mention the definition in her legs, but really? Couldn’t they just catch a break?

  For an hour they continued moving as fast as Will could go, hearing their pursuer from time to time as a storm settled in above them. Though they needed to keep going, Sam watched as Jack slid to a stop just a few dozen yards ahead, holding out his hands in warning as she guided Will to slow also. There, in the ground at Jack’s feet, was a small chasm in the ground about the size of her old bed, back home, where she wished she would just wake up this very instant. But she knew that wasn’t going to happen. Sadly, this wasn’t just a dream.

  “Why don’t we just go around it, Jack?” Sam asked, both out of breath and aggravated.

  “I have a plan. We can’t run forever.”

  And just like that the storm broke above them as lightning flashed in the distance. Wind whipped through the trees, howling a mournful sound as water was caught up in its grasp to lash at Sam’s face. Nodding her understanding to Jack, she turned to Will and pulled his hood up and over his head, guiding him away from the hole so there were no accidents.

  * * * * *

  Rain poured down through the trees, seeming to dance and sway in the wind in all different directions before striking the ground in a strange symphony of sounds that only a forest could make. Here and there lightning flashed through the trees, casting shadows that seemed to move with lives of their own as thunder rumbled in the heavens, shaking the ground beneath them. But Will paid all of it scant attention. Instead, he watched as Sam and Jack worked furiously in the storm to create a trap.