Looking up to Jack, she knew he didn’t have the answers. He himself was scouring through the remains of other newspapers upon the floor, hoping to glean something else useful. Returning to her work, Sam carefully began separating the pages of the paper between her knees upon the floor. The first several layers of pages had been ruined and were too wet to work with, but peeling them away, the lower layers still held nearly perfect text. The problem was not the legibility, but the fact that the pages were damp. Moving them, she had to be extremely careful not to tear them to shreds as she pulled the pages apart.
Looking over to her smaller sibling, she found he was doing almost precisely the same procedure as she, and within minutes so too was Jack. Together, all three of them began separating pages, spreading them about to dry, as they worked hour after long hour through the tedium together. Though she didn’t make an actual effort to read any of the pages as she worked, it was impossible to ignore the words that stood out among them, especially headlines. One said Judgment day has arrived, and another asked the question, Is this the end? There was a smattering of pages that appeared irrelevant or unrelated, but Sam did not bother trying to distinguish any page’s importance, deciding instead to just keep working and read what she could when the pages dried.
It was evening when they called it quits, collecting the pages that had dried through the day in an effort to bring them to the cellar with them. In stiff, crumpled piles the various pages were gathered up, and Sam followed both of her siblings back to the cellar. The day had been long and primarily quiet, each of them concentrating on the task at hand, but even so, they spoke enough to decide they would eat before settling in to see what they could learn.
With all of them anxious, however, their meal was short-lived, and before long they were back to the disfigured pages, searching the contents for any answers they could find.
* * * * *
When Will had entered the vault months and months ago he remembered that he had not been the best reader. At school he received extra tutoring, and was making progress, but then the event happened. Months inside a steel box could really change a person, and with nothing much to do inside the vault, Jack and Sam had both read with him, and helped him to sound out hard words, and before they finally opened the door, he could read anything in the vault, and had, multiple times.
Sure he preferred his comic books, or even a couple of the story books that were written for an audience Sam’s age, but in this task, Will was excited that not only could he help his brother and sister, but he could read just as good as either of them. This in mind, when his siblings took up their first pages, he too slid one off the top of their pile and began working through its contents. It wasn’t long before he discovered something interesting.
Continued from page 1A:
…are undermined by their technological capabilities. With their infrastructure destroyed in every major city, analysts and military advisors say it is time for Europe to throw in the towel and run. At the same time, rumor spreads that Canadian forces, although sustaining heavy losses, have found a way to disrupt the enemy’s stealth technology. Could this mean the battle is turning? It has been less than six hours since the attack commenced, and all sources say that this massive strike is likely to spill over onto American soil within hours, not days. We can only pray that our military is up to the task. -- Written by Chief Editor, Mckenzie Rayne
Finishing the article, Will didn’t know what to say to Jack or Sam, and without words of his own did the only thing he could think of. He began the article again, this time reading it out loud for his siblings to hear. Glancing up between the sentences he read, he looked over the page to two pairs of transfixed eyes, their expressions frozen, and mouths open in disbelief. After finishing the passage once more, the cellar fell silent for what seemed an eternity as everyone processed the information.
“Europe, Canada, and the United States? Stealth technology? Who could it have been? The Chinese? But why?” Jack asked no one in particular, continuing on without awaiting a response. “They have been working on stealth for years. They made aircraft, drones, and who knows what else. What if they made stealth long range nukes? They certainly have the manpower. Even the direction makes sense. First Europe and then over the pond to Canada, and then here. It’s like no one saw it coming.”
“Like a blitzkrieg?” Sam asked, referencing the German’s rapid assaults in World War Two.
Will just listened, not knowing anything about most of what they were talking about. He tried to put the pieces together like Sam and Jack had, but it didn’t make sense to him. He didn’t know stuff about China or Canada. All he did know is that he was scared. Europe was attacked first, and Mom was in Europe. Maybe that’s why Dad had to leave them in the vault. Will wished Dad was here now.
Rising to his feet, he crossed the small room with tears running down his cheeks, aiming towards the outstretched arms belonging to Sam, thinking in that moment that nothing could get any worse. But he was wrong. Way wrong.
Chapter Sixteen
Hearing the words that Will had read made Jack feel dizzy, but it seemed to have a deeper effect on the smaller boy, who stood with tears streaming down his face. Watching as Will was collected into Sam’s arms, Jack thought to speak again but decided against it. He and Sam could talk about it after Will was asleep. Turning to help calm and comfort Will, Jack was caught completely off guard when the door to the cellar was ripped open from above, as a cold wind swept through the small room and the darkness of night stared back at him from above with eyes of steely grey.
Like his nightmare the day before, the bearded rider strode out of the darkness with blood in his beard and a tree branch under one arm as a crutch. Though he limped heavily, he carried a shotgun under the other arm that was more than enough warning for Jack to stay still. The man was covered in red brown mud, his duster seemingly having changed colors from black to this new hue, and in the man’s face was a strange look that bordered on disbelief, fear, and anger. Jack did not doubt the severity of the situation.
“You kids are hard to track,” the man said in a deep and sinister tone. “I wouldn’t have found you if it wasn’t for this,” he added, holding up an empty red Skittles wrapper.
Jack cursed their luck as his eyes darted around the room looking for some way to get Sam and Will out, his eyes falling on the shovels and rakes hung neatly on the wall.
“Now now, boy. Let’s not go there again,” the man added, his expression grave before being overcome by a fit of coughs.
Watching the man’s shotgun bounce with his coughs, Jack slid across the floor, placing himself between the man and his siblings. If he was going to hurt them, he’d have to get though him first. The coughing lasted a few minutes, ending with fresh specks of blood in the man’s beard, but he remained blocking their only exit.
“I probably would have missed you again, had it not been for your light there,” he said, pointing to Will’s police light. “Still, you kids did good. It’s no wonder you made it this long all alone. You’re resourceful, intelligent, and fast on your feet. You’re gonna have to be to keep ahead of them.”
Again the man was wracked by coughing. Jack’s eyes returned to the wall of tools. If he moved quickly he could get a shovel and hit the man before he knew it was coming. If he wasn’t fast enough, it would be another story altogether, and Sam and Will would be all alone. That thought stilled him, causing him to look again to the rider who had been chasing them for days. The coughing stopped.
“I realize I may have had the wrong approach the first time I saw you three in Chicago. I wasn’t tryin’ to hurt ya, though. I was trying to keep you away from them,” the man stated.
Jack tried to make sense of the man’s words. Who did he mean by them? The Chinese? He wanted to ask, but the man beat him to it, obviously seeing the confusion on his face.
“They have scouts everywhere, finding those of us who are left and picking us off. They have a big force coming this way, t
hat’s why me and Charlie were leaving the city. We were trying to scrounge up some supplies when I spotted you three. If I hadn’t seen you, and been sent halfway across the city being dragged by my horse, I probably wouldn’t have made it. When I got back, looking for Charlie, he had been taken. They got him.”
The man kept talking but wasn’t saying much and Jack was getting frustrated. He had put together that Charlie had been the man driving the wagon, but who had got him? Who were they? He almost asked, but then the man started talking again.
“They’ll be here in a couple days, their scouts are already in the area. Got me one this morning,” the man bragged. “You kids can’t stay here or they’ll find you. Keep going south, head towards St. Louis, I heard once that resistance fighters have a base there. You kids shouldn’t be alone. I’ll take ya as far as I can, but I ain’t gonna make it too far,” the man said, bobbing his head towards his leg. “Ya’ll did good with that trap back there, but I busted my leg. Had to put down my horse too. I’m sorry if I scared ya, but it had been a long time since I saw any kids, and I just panicked. I didn’t want you kids getting caught.”
“Wait. What?” Sam asked from behind Jack.
“Yeah, what are you talking about?” Jack asked.
“Whudaya mean, what am I talkin’ about?”
“Who are they? And what happened to everything?” Jack demanded to the rider, whose face paled dramatically as his mouth fell slack.
“You mean to tell me that ya’ll don’t know what’s going on? Holy cow. Where have ya’ll been? Under a rock?”
“In a security bunker.” This time it was Will who spoke up.
“Oh man,” the rider explained. “You kids… Wow,” he said, shaking his head. “Look, I can explain it all on the road, OK? I usually don’t advise traveling at night, that’s when they’re moving around, but you can’t stay here.”
Jack didn’t know what to think. Was it the truth? Could he be a friend? Ally? Was he trying to trick them into leaving to keep all the food for himself? But he said he would come with them… Could they trust him? He had no way to know. He needed more answers.
“Listen, stranger,” Jack said, accentuating the word. “I don’t know who you are, or why you have been following us for days, but unless you have some more specific answers, I would prefer you just be on your way.”
“Kid, seriously, there isn’t time. All you need to know is that I am not going to hurt you. I am trying to help. They are coming this way, and I can’t protect you from them. If we had more time we could probably find a way to secure this door and hide from them, but there isn’t time. We have to run, and we have to do it now.”
Jack was beyond aggravated. The man wasn’t telling them anything. Not anything of use. Rising to his feet, Jack reached over to the wall and pulled a shovel down from it, showing the man his seriousness. He wouldn’t wait for the man’s explanations any more, and in that very instant, he realized he wouldn’t have to.
* * * * *
Sam watched and listened to the exchange primarily between her brother and the rider, and felt uneasy beyond belief. She didn’t know how, but she knew what the man was saying was true. They were in danger. They did need to leave. Regardless of the argument she had given Jack the previous day, now she wanted to leave. Right now. But it was too late.
Out of the darkness behind the rider, something leapt upon his back, driving him forward as he tumbled down the stairs with a startled yell. The shotgun discharged, making her ears ring as smoke filled the small space, making everything look surreal. Looking across the floor she clutched Will to her, rolling to cover him as much as she was able with her own body.
When the rider settled at the bottom of the stairs, the thing was on top of him striking and beating him about the chest and face; the rider, barely able to defend himself from the barrage of blows, raised his hands trying to defend himself. The thing atop the rider was odd, and yet familiar. She had seen one just a few nights before, fleeing the shadows beneath the overpass.
Looking like a cross between an ape and a man, the skin-toned creature pummeled the rider relentlessly, seemingly bent on the rider’s destruction. But it appeared to Sam that Jack had different plans.
Out of the smoke Sam’s brother appeared, wielding the shovel he had claimed from the wall of tools. Swinging it once, he struck the creature as the metal head of the shovel rang like a tuning fork. As if in slow motion, the creature slumped to the ground beside the rider, who used his arms to scoot back and raise himself up against the stairs. Looking at the odd angle of the rider’s leg, it was apparent that he wouldn’t be going anywhere without help. Even a crutch would be of little use now. Rising cautiously as the rider began coughing violently, Sam pulled Will up with her and joined Jack in inspecting the odd attacker. It was almost like a man, but wasn’t. Instead of four fingers and a thumb on each hand, it had three. Instead of a pointy human nose, it was longer and flat, like some species of ape. It had larger, more bulbous eyes and a wider jaw, but that was all Sam was able to note, as their inspection was cut short.
“Listen, kids. You grab what you can and go now. They would have heard that gunshot and they will be coming. Go south. “
“What about you?” Sam asked.
“I’ll try and keep them busy a while. Give you a head start. You three just get some supplies and go. Keep moving all through tomorrow. They hide during the day, they don’t like the sun. They have some kind of thermal vision or something. Can’t see you if you’re inside an insulated space, or behind certain kinds of glass. That’s why they break it all. They’re strong and fast, but don’t seem too smart. Just keep moving and hide good. Go south and find help.”
That seemed like enough information for all of them, and Sam sought her pack, noticing as Jack handed his shovel to the rider. It was going to be a long night.
* * * * *
With more mixed emotions in his head than he could ever recall, Will rushed about the small confines of the cellar collecting jars of food and dropping them into his bag. The world had been ruined by monsters. Monsters! Neither Jack nor Sam had even considered it when he had suggested it months ago and in several conversations since, but he had been right. Pausing momentarily, he looked back over his shoulder at the thing on the ground. It was still breathing. He could see its chest moving. He put his pack on his back and picked up his police light.
Within seconds, they were headed towards the stairs and the door above it, but Will couldn’t just leave. Turning, he was nearly bowled over by Sam following behind him, but he didn’t even flinch. Looking to the rider, who was not only injured but obviously exhausted, he placed his hand on the man’s shoulder in the darkness.
“Thank you,” Will whispered to the stranger.
“You’re welcome, son. Now you kids get going.”
Without another word, Will turned and ran up the stairs, grabbing Jack’s waiting hand as Sam took his other arm from behind. Into the night they ran, a strange whooping sound calling to them from the forest behind from dozens of locations. Moving as fast as they dared in the dark, it was all Will could do to keep focused on running, his mind seeking to go over all they had heard. Distracted, it was maybe a half an hour later when two shots split the night time air, echoing off the trees all around them. Will knew two things. He would never see the rider again, and there was still much more to learn about what had happened in the world around them.
-End
Begin Book Two Now, Available where you purchased this Novel:
Children of the After: REVELATION
Thank you for taking the time to read Children of the After: AWAKENING. To be the first to know when I release a new novel, learn about the contests I hold (for signed books, cash, and even real armor), or simply to say hello, please visit my web page and send me an email via the Contact page. I am always happy to hear from my readers and look forward to chatting with you. You can sign up for my mailing list by sending me an email right here:
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Books by Jeremy Laszlo
Clad in Shadow (Poetry for a Burdened Soul)
The Blood and Brotherhood Saga
(Young Adult Paranormal Fantasy, Ages 15+)
The Choosing (Book One of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
The Chosen (Book Two of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
The Changing (Book Three of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
Crimson (Book 3.5 of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
The Contention (Book Four of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
The Champions (Book Five of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
The Crowned (Book Six of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
Orc Destiny Trilogy (A Blood and Brotherhood series)
(Dark Fantasy, Ages 13+ for gore and violence)
Twisted Fate (Orc Destiny, Volume I)
Fallen Crown (Orc Destiny, Volume II)
Three Kings (Orc Destiny, Volume III)
The Beyond Series
(Adults only due to extreme mature content)
Beyond The Mask (The Beyond Book One)
Beyond The Flesh (The Beyond Book Two)
Beyond The Soul (The Beyond Book Three)
Children of the After series
(post-apocalyptic, Ages 10+)
Children of the After: AWAKENING
Children of the After: REVELATION
Children of the After: EVOLUTION
About the Author
I live in southern Louisiana with my wife and children, and work full time as a civilian employed by the federal government. I like to spend time with my family and am excited that we will soon have a new addition in February of 2014.
I spend as much time as I am able writing, but also enjoy downtime with the wife and kids, and am a bit of a movie buff as well. I thrive on sarcasm and nerdism and am currently addicted to The Big Bang Theory amongst other things.
Fantasy has always been my reading genre of choice, though I am picky about who and what I read, and I refuse to read a series out of order. I have been known to devour entire sagas in mere days, emerging only when necessary for survival.
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