One Minute to Midnight

by Steve Lang

  "WHHOOOOOOP!" It said. The mutant tried to tear Falcon from the ladder as he began to climb, a pistol in one hand, a rope step in the other.

  "Go away, I don't want to shoot you, but I will." Falcon said.

  "WEEEEEPPP!"

  A sharp cracking sound emanated from between the houses, and suddenly the mutant had a crossbow bolt lodged in the top of its head. It gave Falcon a questioning look, and then dropped to the ground.

  "You're welcome! Now get up here before you get killed." Danny said. She disappeared back inside with her crossbow.

  The four of them ate beans for dinner, and slept in separate rooms of the large house, while they were serenaded to sleep by the whoops, wheeps, and grunts of the mutants outside. Falcon was so tired that he passed into dreamless sleep as soon as his head hit the dust-covered pillow. In the morning, they regrouped in the hallway outside the master bedroom where Danny slept. She was inside, getting dressed when Falcon accidently bumped the door, allowing it to swing open. Tony turned his head out of respect, and walked down the hall with Baxter in tow.

  "After we make sure there's no mutants outside I've got something to show you guys." Danny told them.

  She was braless, her back to him, wearing only her faded blue jeans while Falcon stood mouth agape in her doorway. The mural of tattoos on her back and arms mesmerized him as he stared at her, forgetting for a moment that they had just met. Danny sported a purple and blue dragon that began somewhere below the top of her jeans and wound up her slender back. On the left and right scapula was the wing of a dark angel. On her arms she had been inked with skulls, demons, and robots from nineteen fifties movies. She turned toward him with a smirk on her face.

  "Get a good look?" She asked.

  "I'm sorry, I uh, just bumped…"

  "Don't sweat it. I don't mind. Who else am I going to show these to?" She said.

  Danny pulled a t-shirt over her head and slid her hand down his cheek flirtatiously as she walked by, grinning as she passed. "Come on." She said. Falcon felt the blood rush from his head, and quickly followed her out the door with a warm fire brewing down below. He was hooked. She went to the window and looked outside to see if any mutants were milling about, and seeing that the coast was clear, placed Baxter in her sling, tossed her rope ladder over the side, and climbed down.

  "Follow me to the back yard." Danny vanished around the corner.

  "Wait up, you guys it's not all that easy to climb down a danged rope ladder when you're literally just bones." Tony yelled.

  Danny entered a two-car garage a moment later, and slid the large white door up manually. She stood in front of a mid-sized sport utility vehicle and took a bow as Falcon and Tony approached.

  "You are a lady of many surprises. Does that thing run?" Tony asked.

  "Of course it does. I changed the oil, tuned it up, and even put a fuel stabilizer in the tank to keep the fuel fresh."

  "Right on! A Toyota 4Runner! These things last forever, at last that's what my dad used to tell me." Falcon's smile wavered a bit at the thought of his parents, but Danny rubbed his shoulder, her eyebrows raised in concern.

  "Let's get to the airport and see if anything still flies out there." Danny said.

  The 4Runner fired up, and then they drove out of Dannyville, headed for the freeway. When Danny arrived at the off-ramp, she was confronted by a sea of rusting cars. Torn up hulks littered the highway, stretching into infinity. In the distance, they could see the remains of a city skyline, touching a beautiful morning sky of azure blue. Danny wound her way through the twisted wrecks, their passengers still at the wheel where they had died. The highway was a mass grave. Signs for the airport began to appear along the right side of the road, and she followed them while Tony and Baxter sat in the back, and Falcon rode shotgun; he had, after all, called it. When they crossed over a bridge, Falcon could see a herd of mutants battling a pack of wild dogs, all of them competing for their only source of food.

  "I hate what this world has become." Danny said.

  "It wasn't much better than this when all of the people were here, though." Tony said.

  "True, but even though it was a miserable shit hole, there was company." Danny replied.

  "I just hope my parents are still alive out there. It's been too long, and I'm not sure of anything anymore." Falcon said. He was looking out the window.

  "Boo hoo! You make me sick, Falcon. Not only was my family killed in a neutron bomb blast, but I'm a walking, talking skeleton, dammit!" Tony screamed.

  "I'm a talking beaver, are you serious? What the hell is that about? Don't get me wrong, you guys are great, but I would love to have my life and wife back again."

  "Yeah, well everyone's lost someone, you know what I mean?" Danny said. She took the exit for the airport, and when they arrived, they saw a variety of airplanes, big and small, and all of them defunct.

  "Let's see if we get anything working, shall we? I need to find a smaller plane like a twin engine Cessna or a Beechcraft." Danny said as she drove through the gates of the airport and headed toward the hangars. "This is a spooky feeling. A few years ago, there would have been an armed escort and a prison sentence attached to this little adventure."

  The airport was dead quiet as they drove past one of the terminals. A seven-forty-seven was parked at the gate, still waiting for passengers to board after all these years. Its tires were flat, and there were two skeletons in yellow vests laying by a cart filled with luggage. Danny drove down the hangar row and found what she was looking for.

  "There it is boys. A small turboprop." They approached the plane and could see that it was in good shape. Being covered from the elements had preserved it, and after she ran a few checks, fired up the engines, and walked the plane, they were ready to go.

  "I sure am going to miss all of this. I mean who doesn't like running from and fighting mutated abominations, right?" Falcon asked.

  "I just hope you're right about people being out in San Francisco, but we'll find out soon enough. This little guy should have enough fuel to get us there." Danny said. She threw her arms around Falcon and gave him a kiss on the lips, and he returned it.

  "Get a room!" Baxter yelled.

  There was a sudden commotion out on the flight line, and when Tony went to check it out, he saw hundreds of mutants wandering around in the mid-morning sun.

  "Guess the sound of the engines must have brought the send-off committee. We should leave." Tony said.

  They all jumped into the plane.

  "Cross your fingers!" She yelled.

  The engine exploded to life with a bang as white smoke exited the exhaust, and she began to move the throttle forward. The mutants were running at them now, and closing the distance fast.

  "There's too many to shoot! We'll never make it off the ground. Bastards have the runway covered!" Danny shouted.

  She taxied right, following the arrows down the runway strip, and as she bumped and jostled along the way, the mutants were still on their tail. The monsters were quickly blocking their only clear route.

  "When I have to turn left up there on the runway to get enough speed for liftoff, I won't be able to because of the obstacles. There's just too many mutants."

  "Hey Falcon! Get back here, I have a plan." Tony yelled. Falcon unbuckled and moved to the back of the plane.

  "That's not a real safe thing to be doing right now." Danny said.

  "Sweetheart, we ain't gettin' off the ground unless one of us does something drastic." Tony replied.

  "Kid, I'm going to open that door and make a run for it. Give me your pistol." Tony said.

  "That's crazy!" Falcon said.

  "No time to argue." Tony opened the passenger door and motioned for Falcon to give up his gun.

  "Here you go. How are you going to keep from being torn apart?" Falcon asked.

  "That's for me to worry about and for you to shut the hell up about. Just close the door and lock it after I'm out. I'll lead them away from you." When Falcon handed him the
pistol, Tony jumped out of the moving plane.

  Tony rolled, stood up, and ran away from the plane, shooting the pistol twice. He was successfully drawing the mutants away from the plane. Danny turned left and they were on the runway, watching Tony run around like a crazy person with a herd of mutants after him. She pushed the stick forward to gain max engine speed, and they were bumping and gliding toward freedom. In less than a minute, she had enough speed to gain lift and they were airborne. The last any of them saw of Tony were his bones being engulfed by hungry, mutated humans in a mass attack. Falcon saw Tony wave at the plane just before he was drug under. Nothing was said between the three for hours as they sat in silence, mourning Tony and the loss of their lives before the wars.

  "Something tells me we'll see him again." Falcon said.

  "I sure hope so." Danny replied. Falcon saw her wipe a tear from his peripheral vision, but didn’t mention anything. They were alive in a world gone mad, and had each other for the trip to California.

  "I'm pleased to be in your company, even if you are humans." Baxter said.

  Danny turned and smiled at him, shaking her head. "Always running your mouth. We love you, too." She said.

  Danny checked her maps to estimate where they were, and because the instruments on her panel were still functioning properly, she ascertained they would be in San Francisco in a few hours. Falcon could feel his parents out there somewhere, and he knew that whatever happened, he was with three stellar companions, and they could start over.

  "I think we're going to have a lot of fun in this new world." She said. Falcon nodded and they both turned to look out into the sky.

  Meanwhile, back at the airport, Tony picked himself off the ground, placed a few torn off bones back on his body and stood. The mutants had lost interest in him because even with all his commotion, there was nothing to eat once they caught him. Tony adjusted his shirt and pants, picked up his stepped on hat, popped it back out, and placed it atop his skull. He brushed some dirt off his jeans, and then pointed west.

  "It'll take me a little longer, but I like the solitude anyway." Tony walked toward the setting sun.

  The whole gang will return in the novel A New Day Dawns

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Steve Lang is a science fiction, fantasy, and horror author living in North Carolina with his wife and son.