I pissed myself.
"Oh God," He muttered to himself.
Danny reloaded his pistol with shaking hands. When he was done, he looked at the mirror in the flip-down visor. His face was covered in blood. He closed his eyes taking another deep breath.
Okay. Okay.
CHAPTER FORTY
COME ON, SOPH.
Danny couldn't keep his head from scanning rapidly. He would move to the spot he saw movement, but on a second take, it was just a tree.
Calm down, Danny.
The low branches moved back and forth as a woodpecker echoed off in the distance. Eric moved past, disappearing into a thick bush. Danny could feel something looking at him. He took a knee next to a lone aspen.
"Etter."
Danny looked over to see Eric waving him forward. Slowly, he moved to the bush. Small twigs lashed at his face as he walked through the thick vegetation. The brush finally cleared, revealing the SAW still resting on its bipods untouched. Beyond the weapon was an open view of the road and the cabin that was half-hidden in the trees. From there, Danny could see the two bodies still lifeless in the driveway.
Eric's eyes danced on the ground like he was reading a book.
"What are you doing?" Danny said as he took a knee next Eric.
"Dan," Eric whispered. "I don't like this."
"There is something out there," Danny whispered. "We should have never left her."
"I don't see any blood or anything."
Danny looked down at the dirt. There was no moisture buildup on the surface that happens when someone lays in the prone. The ground had been pushed down, and boot heel marks showed signs of a struggle, but that was too hard to tell accurately. It was like she just disappeared.
"I never heard anything when we were clearing that house," Eric said.
Leaves rustled.
Eric raised his rifle. Danny racked the SAW and shouldered it with his shaking hands. The forest was silent for a few moments as each man could hear one another breathing. The rustling was closer now. Both men slightly stood readying themselves. It was right on them now, just behind the bush.
WHERE? WHERE IS IT?
A chipmunk shot up the aspen closest to Eric. Both men exhaled. They lowered their weapons as the little creature started to bark at them in its shrill, weak voice.
Danny put a hand on Eric's shoulder. "We gotta go."
Eric nodded subtly and stood. Danny led the way back to the SUV holding the SAW at the low ready. After what he saw, he almost felt like running, but he knew it wouldn't make a difference. If they were going to be taken out by that thing, he wouldn't even know it was happening. With the sun nearly setting, they would have no chance being out in the open like this.
Danny looked out towards the cabin. He could see something glimmer in the window. He tried to see what it was as he moved closer to a tree using it to support the SAW. His eyes settled on the off shade of white, then a face emerged. Danny's mouth froze half-open as he looked deeper into the window.
"Eric, we have to go," Danny said.
"Dan, just a couple more minutes!" Spit emerged from Eric's mouth and dripped down his beard.
Danny yanked Eric's chest rig. "We are being watched!" His hand pointed to the window as Eric thrashed at Danny. Then Eric fell still, and Danny saw his eyes stiffen as he looked at the second story of the cabin. A curtain shifted.
Eric's voice was flat when he spoke. "We have to go."
They both took off towards the Excursion. The branches slapped each man in the face as they tried to move faster. Danny jumped into the passenger seat with the SAW resting in his lap. Eric started up the SUV and backed them out from the side road.
"Back to the compound," Danny yelled as he slapped the outside of the door.
Eric kept looking around as sweat began to run down his face. The Excursion kicked up gravel until it jumped up onto the asphalt. Danny got one last look at the cabin as the tires squealed around the bend.
Where are you, Soph?
Danny couldn't help but watch the tree-line hoping to see Sophia limping out with a giant smile on her face. Each mile passed and his hope of seeing her dwindled. He felt himself getting choked up as Eric made a hard right onto a dirt road. They went a few hundred yards in until they reached the compound that they had slept in the other night. Eric drove to the side and backed into the gate that looked untouched. He turned off the engine and sat there, staring at the steering wheel.
"Maybe she went to Bakersfield," Danny said.
"Not a chance," Eric took a deep breath in and exhaled. "She can’t get very far with that leg of hers. She might be hot headed, but she isn’t stupid."
Danny was about to say something, but the words couldn’t come to him.
Eric kept his head lowered. "If you wouldn't mind. I want to stay the night here."
"I think we should---"
"One night!" Eric's teeth were showing as he tensed in the seat.
Danny gripped his rifle slightly harder as he leaned away. The door was gently pushed open and Eric slipped out. The shocks jolted as the door slammed shut.
From the rearview mirror, Danny watched Eric walk away from the vehicle. He disappeared out of view, leaving the loneliness to grow around Danny. The world felt like it was crashing in from all ends. He sat there sitting in his own urine like a child. A few minutes had passed until all the fear and sorrow had receded slightly. The empty void had begun to take hold, making him focus on himself.
What the hell was happening?
The door popped open as Danny jumped down from the SUV. The inside of his pants felt moist and soggy as he walked towards the old shed. Everyone’s armor was sitting right where they had left it. Danny looked back to see Eric had walked off towards the creek, leaving Danny to wallow in his thoughts. The fall breeze was starting to bite at him as he slid a jacket over his chest rig. Wearing only his piss-stained boxers made it even worse now as he took them off and donned a fresh pair that was rolled up in his bag. Danny had taken a seat on a small stool as his pants flailed in the wind like a flag.
Fuck this.
Danny buried his face into his hands as he sobbed heavily.
What happened to you, Soph? It couldn’t have been that thing. Could it?
"I’m so sorry," Danny whispered to himself.
His legs stood outcast in the greys and browns that surrounded him. A few moments later, raindrops started to fall. Danny retreated to the Excursion with his pants still hung up on the car antenna in the rain.
It’ll at least get washed a little.
Eric had been gone for quite a bit of time, which made Danny begin to get worried. He loaded up a fresh magazine and stowed it in his chest rig. He had five mags left for his rifle and three for his pistol. They were okay, but not great by any means. Danny scrubbed down his rifle and pistol as well. When he looked up, Eric was walking back to the SUV. All his clothes had been drenched, and his beard sat limp like a wet mop.
The door popped open, and Eric eased himself into the driver's side. He shut the door, shaking the excess water that was in his beard. His eyes were swollen and red, but his face was tense.
Eric looked over at Danny. "I've got watch first. Figured, we would wait till tomorrow morning in case she got stuck out there."
"Eric---I---"
"Dan!" Eric said as he opened the door again. "All I'm giving her is a chance. Our agreement is still good."
The door opened all the way, and Eric hopped out. The sound of rain was muffled as the door was slammed shut. Eric walked around the back of the Excursion and then disappeared into the shed. Danny took a deep breath and then let it out. The windshield was beginning to fog up, and the light was fading from behind the mountains. Suddenly Danny's eyes felt heavy, and it was dark.
***
A small amount of light broke through the dark hallway. Danny was stuck. His arms and legs wouldn't move as he felt the presence of something near him. His eyes darted around trying to hone in on that six
th sense of predatory nature.
Where is it?
Danny knew what it was. The smell was unbearable now. He could hear the cracking like it was right behind his ear. Danny looked up. It was upside down on the ceiling with an elongated smile. His breathing became laborious as if something heavy was pushing on his chest. Suddenly, it jumped forward. Danny's arms reacted, and he was pulled from the horrors in his dreams.
When he opened his eyes, it was all quiet. The windshield still had raindrops on its surface from the heavy rain. His skin from his exposed legs peeled off the leather seat, making him wince. He looked at his arm and noticed it was time for a new bandage. As he was wrapping it up, Eric emerged, pacing back and forth on his radio. Danny opened the door just as Eric's hand left the headset.
"You able to reach her?" Danny asked.
His mouth was dry and pasty, making it hard to swallow. His pants were soaked still as he pulled them from the antenna. He wrung them out letting the water splash in a puddle by his feet. Slowly he hiked each leg over his boots and pulled them up. The coldness sent shivers cascading throughout his body.
This is better than coffee.
Danny had slept deeply except for the nightmare, but he hadn't remembered ever getting up for watch. "Get any sleep?"
"I let you get some rest, and no. I've been trying to reach her all night." Eric's hands rested on his pistol. "But, I uh, couldn't get anything."
"What do you want to do here?"
Eric's head sank to the floor. "I left some rations and ammo for her in the shed. I don't know what else to do." He walked up to the back of the Excursion and slid his armor back on. "There is an MRE on the dash for you and your armor is in the back. I suggest we head out now." He lowered his head as he walked to the driver's side door.
She can’t be gone.
Something didn't sit right with Danny as he pulled the armor over his head. The velcro sealed it to his body as he clipped the chinstrap of his helmet. He grabbed the SAW and rested it on the back seat. Eric turned the key, and the engine rumbled on. Without hesitation, the large SUV accelerated away from the lone compound. Danny found himself staring at the shed in the side mirror as they drove further away. Leaving like that, with no idea where or what happened to someone, was aching in his bones.
This isn’t right. No, it can’t be. I’m supposed to help these people. I’m supposed to carry the light.
Danny wanted to believe Sophia had changed her mind about not wanting to see her family. There was this slight beam of hope that she had just taken off for Bakersfield without saying goodbye. Danny wanted to believe that. He ran his hand through his beard and kept that feeling of ache and emptiness at bay. He swallowed heavily as though to flush all those horrible feelings down in his gut.
I’m so sorry, Soph.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
THE LEFT DOOR’S seal broke again letting the wind rush into the car.
I’ve been listening to the door for two damn days now.
Eric slowed the vehicle till the speedometer sunk to fifty or so miles an hour. The seal on the door finally came together quieting the wind. Neither man looked at one another as they sat in silence, keeping their eyes in opposite directions. The minutes dragged and the hours felt like life sentences in solitary confinement. Eric would occasionally steal a glance at Danny, but not long enough to invite a conversation. There would be moments when he would ask if Danny said something, but Danny had been quiet since they had left the compound.
Things will never be the same after all this.
The high mountains had given way to the desert. It was an endless sea of nothingness that seemed to go on for hundreds of miles.
The wind started to rattle in the car as Eric was hunched forward on the wheel. Both men sighed as the door started to wobble heavily. Eric let off the gas until the Excursion slowed enough for the door to fall silent.
Eric looked at Danny as he spit into his cup full of dip. "Place looks the same as it did before all this happened."
Danny snickered to himself as he looked out. "There was nothing living out here even when things were good."
"I always used to wonder how the hell people thought they could have a life out here."
"It’s all relative, I guess."
"How do you figure?"
Danny smiled as he sat back in his seat. "Did I ever tell you about my father?"
"Can’t say that you have." Eric kept his eyes on the road, but he was listening.
"Well, my old man grew up in Hell’s Kitchen back in the forties. His mother died from an accident in the shipyards during the war. My father was in his early teens at the time and his father didn’t handle her death too well. My grandfather used to beat the shit out of my father just because he felt like he needed my father to grow up strong."
Eric kept his eyes on the road, but every so often he would look over at Danny.
"You know it is the typical story you hear in the movies. Well, the war ended and my dad wanted out. So, he decided when he turned eighteen he’d join the Corps." Danny sat forward in his chair. "He figured the big war was over for nearly five years. What else could go wrong, right?"
Eric looked at Danny with his head half-cocked to the side.
Danny laughed as he looked out the window. "He didn’t even get to graduate boot camp before he was on a boat heading towards Korea."
"You’re shitting me," Eric said.
"No, I’m serious." Danny ran his hands through his hair. "He was taught how to be a Marine on the boat over there. Real shit sandwich if you ask me."
"What the hell happened?"
"Well, they landed and started pushing all the way up deep into North Korea. They pushed those commie bastards all the way to the Chinese border until the Chinese decided to get their hands dirty. My dad never told me what really happened over there, but he had this tattoo on his arm that just read ‘Frozen Chosin’ around a blue diamond." Danny smiled as his eyes teared up a little, but they quickly cleared up. "People used to shake his hand like he was the Pope or some shit when we went around town. The truth is he was troubled his whole life. Could hardly ever hold down a job, and when he did, it would usually end with him calling his boss an asshole or getting in a fight."
"Sounds like my kind of man," Eric laughed.
"Trust me you two would have gotten along famously." Danny looked out at the empty road. "I grew up with very little. My mother would make watered-down stew and pretend it was a five-course meal. My father would smile from across the table and say, ‘it’s all relative there, Danny boy. Now, dig in.’ Of course, I was just a kid, I had no idea what that man had been through. All I knew was that we were poor as hell and the stew tasted like dog crap."
Eric sat there for a moment, nodding his head until he looked over slightly confused. "Hey, chief? What the hell does that have to do with being in the desert?"
Danny laughed as he rolled down the window and stuck his hand out. "It means that your situation is different from others. This place might be the best thing in the world for someone."
"You really believe that?"
Danny leaned his chair back to get comfortable. "With all my heart, but to me, this place is a shit hole."
Eric laughed as he rolled his window down. "It’s all relative, like you said."
They kept driving through all the small towns until the massive Sierra Nevadas were parallel on the left. Danny remembered a few of the small towns that were spaced between long stretches of utter emptiness. They had skirted around anything large, but now the towns were so small that both Eric and Danny agreed they could stay on the main highway. They blew through the small towns like they were nothing. Most of the buildings had been burned out and any sign of civilization had faded away. Danny looked out towards the pastures to only find livestock that had been slaughtered and left to rot out in the sun. Suddenly, Eric brought the big SUV to a stop as both men looked out.
What the hell?
Both men stepped out from the Excursi
on. Danny’s footprints turned over the dark ash that sat over the asphalt.
It’s like black snow.
Eric walked forward to the closest vehicle. It didn’t look like much of a vehicle as all the glass had been blown out and the rest had been torched. Eric leaned in close, looking at a burnt carcass that was once a person.
"What did they do?" Danny called out.
Eric shook his head as he stepped closer to the vehicle. "They burned ‘em out."
Danny looked down the congested highway. All the cars were cooked. Rotting corpses sat covered in ash as vultures circled overhead.
"I guess they never let anyone out," Danny said quietly.
A door squeaked open and Danny’s eyes jumped to the sound. It was just Eric who was rummaging through one of the cars. Danny started to walk towards him but stopped. A charred stuffed animal was in Eric’s hands.
Danny swallowed heavily as he took a step forward. "Hey, Eri---"
Eric’s hand shot up quieting Danny. "I need a minute."
His eyes tried to push away from his friend and out to the vast massacre that had occurred on that lone road. Danny could imagine the sheer panic of those who were just gone in an instant. The energy of the place made him feel uneasy. In the distance, a small figure started to approach with an awkward limp.
"Hey, Eric. We have got company," Danny said.
Eric picked his head up. The figure started to pick up the pace. Danny stood there with his rifle to his side watching as the details of the crazy grew more defined. It was a man, Danny could tell, maybe forty-ish years old. Half his body was charred while the other half was dirty. He looked to be an average guy. Probably had a family, a decent home, and maybe even a golden retriever. That was all past tense of course as Danny’s hand fell onto the soft fur of Jazzy Bear.
I could’ve been any one of these people.
It all fell silent. The wind brushed against Danny’s ear and the small squeaking of metal followed. Then Danny heard the scream, that horrible bloodcurdling scream. Eric just stood there and unslung his rifle casually.
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