After The End

by Melissa Gibbo

  CHAPTER 27 OCTOBER 20th YEAR 2

  The day was a waste. Seth’s former home was exactly as the vamps had described it. On seeing the inglorious heaps of human remains, the spearman climbed out of the F150 and walked into one of the cookie-cutter houses. Seth walked past the refuse and bone shards to the barren flower garden, retrieved a key from a false rock, and opened the beige door. I watched as he wiped both feet on the gore-laden welcome mat.

  Vincent, Marley Guy, and Bubba stayed with the vehicles, providing coverage in case of attack. Troy and I followed the former accountant inside. Cautiously we peered around the rooms in search of our companion. Pictures and clothing were strewn over the floor. I tripped over a bowling trophy and fell into a bookcase. Tomes on bookkeeping and investing toppled onto me, blanketing me with a layer of dust.

  Troy helped me to my feet, kicking the useless books to the side. We continued our exploration of the house. The kitchen cupboards were bare and a trail of footprints was revealed. Sunlight streamed in the cracked windows and onto the take-out menus covering the counter. Troy called out.

  “Seth. Seth where are you?”

  Reaching the master bedroom, we found him. The former accountant sat on the closet floor mumbling gibberish. In his hands was an open shoebox of various items.

  “Mom’s earrings, Dad’s favorite fishing lure, Granddad’s medals from the war…”

  Troy brushed past me.

  “Seth, hey man, whatcha doing there?”

  I watched as he knelt and reached for the cardboard box. Seth’s head snapped up and he glared at his friend.

  “Don’t touch. Just…just leave me alone.”

  He moved a foot away and went back to rifling through the memento package. I noticed the photos on the nightstand; they all showed a smiling man surrounded by loved ones. The same man sat in the dust on the cold floor, a good thirty pounds lighter and aged ten years by misery.

  “Troy, give him a minute. It’s his house.”

  Troy glanced around and relaxed his stance.

  “Alright, Seth, we’ll be right outside the room. Let us know if you want anything.”

  Gradually, the bowman stood and made his way to the doorway. As though stung by a bee, he straightened, turned, and picked up his friend’s gun. As he passed me he whispered.

  “Don’t take your eyes off him. I’m going to look around for a few minutes and then we need to go.”

  I nodded and watched Seth nervously.

  After ten minutes, the accountant closed the little box and rose to his feet. I looked away while he wiped his eyes and nose. I smiled weakly at him and realized a lot of the spark had left his eyes.

  “Thanks, I’m just going to grab a couple of things and we can go.”

  Without another word, the three of us carried our belongings out of the lifeless abode and rejoined our detail. The others surveyed the broken man and avoided asking questions. Our detail clamored into our gas-guzzling chariots and advanced to the main road. We’d be in the familiar clearing by sunset, detail one arriving within an hour past. It was expected to be a mellow return to Nova Nocte. We should have known life doesn’t conform to such plans.

  CHAPTER 28 OCTOBER 21st YEAR 2

  We heard the rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire before our vehicles reached the clearing. The sun was still lingering above the horizon as we pulled into the field. Vincent and Bubba jumped into the third vehicle, the soldier readying his weapon in the passenger seat. We did the same while our convoy plowed through the brush and grasses to our encampment.

  Marley Guy kept muttering as he drove and I found myself praying that we made it in time. I heard a variety of blasts; there was the boom of a shotgun in the midst of the quick bursts from an automatic weapon, the regular bang of rifles, and several handgun pops. I wrapped the rifle sling around my wrist and locked it into my shoulder as we neared our home. I looked ahead and saw Troy already leaning out his window with a sawed-off shotgun in his right hand and a pistol in his left.

  Coming over the last hill, the situation became clear: the big guy had rounded up the rest of his headhunter pals and tracked down our place. There were nine or ten men unloading round after round into the steel wall and wooden platforms. Sparks and splinters flew on each impact. We were behind the assailants; their thundering barrage of bullets masked our arrival.

  We opened fire as we neared. I saw two men fall, one shooting his comrade in the leg as his torso spewed blood onto the parked Hummer. The besiegers rounded on us. We kept driving past the attackers, firing on them in uneven volleys while our sentries inside camp rained down cover fire from the towers. Soon, only five men were standing and we stopped the vehicles to face them. From the wooded area behind our fort we saw the smoke.

  One of the ravagers had sneaked around the wall before we’d turned up; he’d tossed several Molotov cocktails inside. There was screaming from inside the camp as the smoke thickened and grew black against the multi-colored dusk sky. I spotted the firebug running back to his decimated militia, flinging another bottle of flame against the nearby tower as he ran. I saw the sentry jump from the blazing platform; it looked like Jake.

  Seth emerged from the truck and heaved his spear. It drove through the arsonist’s stomach and through his back. The spearman howled with rage as he charged at the man, firing his revolver with each step.

  “How could you do those things, Aaron? How could you! You were a doctor.”

  Holes exploded from the deceased man’s torso, leg, and chin as the projectiles found their marks. I yelled to the others.

  “Get the vehicles to the gate and deal with the fire. Go to Plan B!”

  Vincent, Marley, and Bubba hauled off to rescue our people. Troy and I took refuge behind our lumber stack and continued picking off the cannibals. Soon, there were only two men left and the gunshots tapered off. Hearing the click of an empty magazine, we both charged with our swords drawn; we’d run out of ammo minutes before, but someone in camp had upheld protective fire for us.

  I plunged my blade into the nearest man’s ribcage while Troy beheaded the other in one quick swing. He took three more swings, severing the remains into chunks of gushing red and gurgles of air escaping its human cage. I pulled my blade free and felt a sharp pain in my lower leg as my victim stabbed me with a pocketknife. Furious, I brained him with the pommel of my sword and proceeded to hack at him until I was drenched in sweat and sanguine fluid.

  I wiped his blood out of my eyes and surveyed the situation. The camp was engulfed in flames and everyone was now being loaded into the vehicles with any supplies we could carry. I ran to help, stepping on the leader of this rampage; he’d died of a single gunshot through the back of his skull. The vamps had landed as soon as the evening had begun and rescued most of our residents.

  Ignoring the pain in my leg, I followed Chase back in for whatever items could be salvaged. The supply building had been emptied, but the burning cabins had been untouched. As I ran to retrieve my possessions, I felt an arm wrap around me. Turning, I found a bloody Daemon pulling me away.

  “It’s too late, the cabins are too far gone. Leave it.”

  “No, I can…”

  He shook his head and flew me over the wall to the others.

  “We have to go. The noise and flames have drawn every zombie for miles; we need to get everyone far from here before dawn.”

  The fledgling lifted me into one of the truck beds and loaded his back with four large duffels.

  “Cal and I already took out the other force of marauders to the east. You guys drive towards the base in Winter Haven. Cal and I will fly this gear and help clear the way. Stop each hour so we can meet up and rest a minute.”

  He took to the air and our society began our nomadic life. The Nurse bandaged my leg, double-checked the health of the kids, and monitored Sunny’s vitals as we rode. When we stopped and hour later, the damage was assessed fully.

  Nancy and two others had been killed in the assault, one woman had died on the drive from
smoke inhalation, and four others had been wounded. None of the wounds appeared life threatening, but we had no medicines to fight infection. Thankfully, Randolph had gotten all of the kids to the SUV safely. Jordy’s Mother had been shot shielding him. The preteen had resorted to throwing burning sticks and angry words at the gunman when she slumped over.

  We fought grief and Dead throughout the night before making camp inside a large house. We were miles short of our intended destination. I’d watched the fire illuminate the nighttime clouds while my community mourned around me. My mind wandered numbly to the vibrant paintings I’d seen during the numerous art shows in town; the same colors of this destruction shone in my memory as beautiful.

  I ignored the looks and questions bombarding me. I thought of my journal turned to ash and thought of my printed calendar folded neatly in my pack. Time still existed; so would we. I inhaled the cool air and scanned the air above us for our Undead entourage. Seeing the twin silhouettes just ahead, I closed my eyes and waited for the blood on my skin to dry into flakes.

  CHAPTER 29 OCTOBER 24TH-25TH YEAR 2

  Found a new notebook to use as a journal in this house today. It’s just a simple green spiral, but it comforts me to know that my words can continue. I just spent the last day and a half recording all I could remember of my last journal – the few notes from my calendar help me estimate the dates. We’ve been trapped in this house during the day, only getting out tonight after Cal and Daemon were able to help us put down the swarm of fleshies who’d followed us.

  One of our wounded died yesterday after he was bitten by one of the Dead; I hesitated before putting Jake down. Cal glamoured the poor kid into believing he was reliving his happiest moment; he wasn’t aware of any fear or pain. We buried him near the swing in the backyard. Sunny’s baby still has a strong heartbeat according to Daemon and Cal; we remaining wounded are healing fine.

  We now have a traveling pack of two vampires, nineteen human adults, and four children. We have enough food and water with us to last around one month, but not an entire winter. Our only concern is getting to a place we can make habitable again before our rations give out. Especially the water and medicine.

  Tonight our caravan rolled to the outskirts of the National Guard base. The kids stayed in the SUV with Ellen’s Mom and Randolph. The trucks protected them from ahead and behind. We carry a mix of weapons now: the firearms to guard us from humans and the silent arms to save us from the zombies. The vamps met up with us each hour all night, quietly cutting a path through the masses of decayed Dead surrounding our troop.

  Myself and the other adults rotated walking briskly beside the vehicles and riding. Keeping the children and supplies loaded meant a severe lack of space. After only two hours of tonight’s journey, we’d had to replace the F150 with a Chevy in desperate need of a tune up. I was thankful our mechanic hadn’t been killed when the beast of a truck was resurrected in a blast of milky blue smoke and knocking pistons.

  Switching the gear had taken ten minutes. Sunny and I stood watch with Troy while Seth and Chase led the rest on a potty run into a nearby house. They sprinted out seconds after entering. Running to help destroy whoever or whatever they fled, I burst through the crooked door with my arrow ready to fire.

  Looking into the dim foyer for a figure of a person, I eased my bow around the corner to view the living room. Seeing no people and no fleshies, I began to lower my weapon, confused about the reason for evacuating the building so abruptly. Then I felt it wrap around my ankle.

  Looking down, I expected one of the zombies but found instead a writhing snake tangling itself on my leg.

  “Holy shit!”

  I screamed like a baby and shook the scaly monster off my leg while fleeing. I dropped my bow in the process.

  “Snake, snake, kill it! Someone get the snake away from me!”

  I flailed as I sped towards my friends. The thin black creature held fast to me and I drew my sword to pry the thing away. I heard laughter over my screams as Troy strolled over and grabbed the snake behind the head. He freed me from my passenger and held it up.

  “Just a little rat snake, darling. It won’t hurt you.” He drew his knife and cut off the head. “Makes a good meal though.”

  I looked at the rest of our camp clinging to the autos and realized my hands were shaking. Remembering my bow, I quickly picked it up and composed myself.

  “Thanks Troy.” Facing the group, I rambled. “I don’t like snakes. They’re all creepy and snake-like. They just really freak me out. Sorry.”

  Distant moans carried on the light breeze.

  Smooth move leader lady. Way to announce dinner for the fleshies.

  “Fuck. Sorry guys, our potty party needs to relocate to an elsewhere. The departed are arriving so let’s bail.”

  Loading up, we trekked down the road until we found a place to crash for the day. During our march, we managed to hunt up a raccoon and two possums to eat. Using pool chlorine, a bucket of water was slowly made drinkable.

  Seeing the faded brick and concrete house, our community came to a halt. Waking the kids, the vehicles were backed up to the front porch and we disembarked. This time, I stayed back while the building was cleared of enemies and pests.

  ***

  As daybreak drew close, I finished my road kill stew and settled in to wait for my watch. I sat on the front porch with both my bow and rifle to watch the sunrise; being on second watch, I saw no point in getting two hours of sleep beforehand. I thought about the people I was responsible for.

  The four children snuggled up in the first bedroom with their caregivers lying just outside the door. The two vampires resting in the crawlspace, hiding from the beams of light that cascaded so gently on my face. And of course the eighteen other adults who were either snoring on the floor or sitting awake for a turn as sentry. There was almost no chatter.

  What are we going to do?

  The front door creaked open and I turned to greet my visitor.

  “Morning Troy. What brings you out here?”

  He displayed his sly smile.

  “Well, I always like to sit alone on a porch with a pretty lady. Besides, who’s going to keep all the bad snakes away if I’m not here?”

  Playfully hitting his arm, I pulled him into the chair next to me.

  “Not funny. It was scary and on me and it wouldn’t let go. Even Indiana Jones doesn’t like snakes. Would you tease him?”

  He shook his head with a little chuckle and looked out into the distance.

  Tendrils of clouds floated along the Technicolor skyscape casting shadows over the ruins of humanity below. I remembered a similar morning from my youth, listening to Bryan Adams on the radio and scribbling little nothings in a notebook. I felt the sides of my mouth crawl upwards at the peace of it.

  “Thinking something good over there, Squirrel?” he teased and laid his crossbow against the wall.

  “Just observing.”

  “And?”

  “Nothing much. Just enjoying the little moments of harmony and dazzling magnificence that occur in the middle of all this hideousness.” I watched a flock of water birds flying over the treetops, then looked at his raised eyebrow. “The world has gone to shit, but it occasionally doesn’t stink.”

  He rocked on the back two legs of the chair. For a minute, we sat in comfortable silence watching the debut of a new day.

  “That sounds about right. And a little less fancy.”

  I stretched my arms overhead and was rewarded with a series of pops from my back. Rolling my head to each side, I stood to extend my legs after a weary night. Turning to ask Troy what he thought, I found his lips against mine and his calloused hands perched on my hips. Startled by the kiss, I stepped back. Troy held the kiss, stepping with me and encircling his arms around my waist.

  As I let my lips part, he gently massaged my tongue with his. My hands found their way around his neck as he did something wavy with his tongue I thought impossible. I ran my fingers up the back of hi
s neck and into his short hair; the soft tips tickled the back of my hand. As my lust for him grew, a thought Daemon flashed through my mind.

  I slid my hands onto Troy’s strong chest and gave a little pressure, breaking our embrace. My body screamed at me for its disappointed lust and my brain for my failure to think logically; my heart calmly debated with both.

  Heart wants what heart wants.

  I thought of Daemon lying under the floor of the house hearing my heart race like this with Troy and felt a pang of guilt.

  “I’m sorry, Troy. I like you, but I just can’t.”

  Without letting our eyes meet again, I stooped to grab my weaponry and strode to the door. I went to open it and was stopped by a gentle hand on mine.

  “It’s okay. I get it. I’ve got plenty of time to wait; if fang boy is my only competition, it reasons that eventually this will work out.”

  With the grin of a high school kid after his first date, Troy pulled the door open for me. Dumbfounded, I stood planted beside him.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t go bragging about our moment.”

  I felt the blush and fought it down as I gave a tiny nod and stepped through.

  “Thanks.”

  “My pleasure. It’s always nice to be able to watch the morning greet the world and just bask in her rays awhile, isn’t it?” he prodded jokingly.

  ***

  The day went quickly. Only two Dead came near the house. Both were so decrepit that the first was put down by hand. The second one was eliminated by bow mid-afternoon after several failed shots from the porch. Both guards decided to keep firing and gathering the arrows for practice.

  I opted to split the first’s skull rather than risk wasting an arrow; I couldn’t even tell if had been male or female in life. The thing had lost everything below the upper ribs and had peeled most of its skin off dragging along the pavement. I looked at the thin trail the rotted cadaver had left behind on the driveway and wondered how long it had been trying to get here.