In the Aftermath: Burning of the Dawn

by Coleman Thompson

  “Maria?” Clarissa whispered, thinking that Maria was offering to take over Vita’s care. Maria, however, made no reply. This did not surprise Clarissa. She could feel fingers wrapping around her hand. She knew by their placing and by their touch that it was not Maria’s hands that were touching her. Again, Clarissa beckoned to Maria, a little louder this time.

  “Huh?” Maria clamored out of her light nap. “Mama, did you say something?”

  “Yes.” Her mother quietly responded. Vita now had both of her hands on her mother’s. It took a moment, but Clarissa soon discerned what her daughter was trying to convey.

  Maria whimpered subtly. With the aid of the night-vision she could see her sister delicately pulling her mother’s hand away from the resuscitator bag. Clarissa let her hand slip into Vita’s grasp. For the first time since its inception days before, Vita’s resuscitator was left without an operator.

  The night was, once again, ominously quiet from Daniel’s listening post. It was eerie, but Daniel was happy to have it that way. In time, the light of the imminent sunrise made its way into his quiet room and put an end to another unnerving vigil. He was eager to pass on this relief to the Hannigans, but Daniel exercised caution and waited an hour more to be safe. Once that hour had passed, he made his way to the storeroom. He knocked on the wall and informed the Hannigans that the night was over; afterwards, he pried open the storeroom door. The first thing that Daniel noticed was the resuscitator bag and the intubation tube lying at the end of the pallet on the storeroom floor. Two empty water bottles were also within the vicinity. Immediately, Daniel looked from the items on the floor and over to the Hannigans. She still required some assistance from her mother and sister, but Vita now sat blearily between them both. She looked to Daniel as he entered the storeroom and with a little help from her mother she raised her hand and waved to him.

  Daniel was elated, but he remained composed. “Wow,” he delicately spoke. “Good morning.”

  With aid from her sister this time, Vita raised her other arm and held her hands out towards Daniel. He did not hesitate, and gently took her by the hands. Although she was still weak, Daniel could feel Vita pulling him down towards her. He did as she desired, and as he did so, Vita wrapped her arms around him and softly whispered in his ear, “Thank you.”

  “It’s good to have you back, Vita.” Daniel quietly replied. He embraced Vita a moment more. Her well-being was the most comfort he’d had in as long a time as he could remember. Daniel relinquished his hold on Vita and leaned away from her, though he still kept one of her hands clasped between his own as he spoke, “You’re quite the little warrior, aren’t you?” Vita nodded in agreement. “Everything’s okay? No trouble breathing or anything?”

  “She can’t talk much yet,” Maria answered. “But yeah, she’s breathing really well on her own now.”

  “Good, very good,” proclaimed Daniel. “She’ll be better than new in no time.”

  “Can she eat yet?” Maria asked.

  “We should probably wait a little…” Daniel stopped short as Vita interrupted him with an excessive nodding of her head. “Well, maybe some soup or something, perhaps?” Daniel looked to Clarissa for answers.

  “Nothing solid yet,” Clarissa spoke. “We can try broth or something else light.” Vita was never one to shy away from most any meal; her mother was aware that it must have been agony for her daughter to go without food for so long. Clarissa did not wish to prolong this anguish any longer than was necessary.

  Clarissa was having some agony issues of her own, which she felt even more intensely as she assisted Vita out of the storeroom. Daniel took notice of Clarissa’s pain and offered to take her place. Clarissa declined; she toughed it out and led Vita to a comfortable place on the living room floor. Vita could not walk under her own strength. Her left leg, where the Sayona had stung her, was still unresponsive, but she did have minor control over her right leg now. She did the best she could to ease the strain on her mother.

  After fetching Clarissa a pain pill, Daniel went to digging around the storeroom in search of a canned good that would be sufficiently edible for Vita. He found two potential candidates: tomato soup and beef broth. Vita had no qualms with either; ultimately she opted for the beef broth for her breakfast. Daniel poured the beef broth into a pot and warmed it on his hotplate. Vita did not have enough control over her hands yet to feed herself properly, but Maria was more than happy to aid her sister in her eating endeavor.

  “Not too fast, Vita,” Clarissa spoke in regards to Vita’s voracity in attempting to acquire successive spoonfuls of her soup. “I know you’re hungry, but take it slow. It’s been a long time since you’ve eaten anything. Take all of it too quick and it might not stay down.”

  Vita did as she was told. She actually had little say in the matter as her sister was the one who was controlling the spoon. Seeing Vita’s sudden, rapid, positive progression was a blessing to them all. She could breathe on her own now, but she was still reliant on her family in nearly every other aspect. Vita’s upturn inspired Daniel, her mother, and her sister that much more as they now understood that her ordeal with the Sayona venom was nearing its end. Vita finished her beef broth in due time; it didn’t fill her up, but it would have to do for the time being.

  Clarissa did not want to miss any of her daughter’s recovery, but she could neither deny nor hide how tired she was. With some coaxing from Daniel and both her daughters, she finally gave in and took a few hours of sleep on the nearby mattress. During this time, Maria aided Vita to the first-floor bathroom so her sister could take a much desired and required bath. Meanwhile, Daniel upgraded the girls’ pallet on the storeroom floor with semi-fresh blankets and new pillowcases. With Vita no longer on life-support, the storeroom would now be a little more comfortable for the Hannigans to spend their nights. No matter how healthy Vita was, or would eventually be, Daniel still wanted Clarissa and her daughters to remain in the storeroom throughout the night every night. Clarissa had no misgivings concerning this plan as she, too, desired that which would keep her daughters the safest. Daniel offered to make something to eat for Clarissa and Maria, but both of them declined – not wanting to eat something whole while Vita was still so limited.

  After Clarissa awoke from her nap, Maria and Vita took her place on the mattress and soon dozed off themselves. Her pain being subsided for the time being, Clarissa began lurking around Daniel’s house in search of an item she knew he was in possession of. It was not long until she found it. Daniel himself was on the second floor putting his observation room in some kind of order. There wasn’t much else that he could do with what he had. Live camera feeds instead of microphones would have been nice, but it was not plausible. Cameras often had small lights and reflecting lenses which would make them easy for the Sayona to spot. Night-vision would also be necessary with video, and some cameras used infrared lighting to accomplish this. Despite that spectrum of light being invisible to the human eye, the Sayona had no problems spotting it. Daniel was content enough: the Sayona were noisy and their sounds were very distinct; their presence would not be difficult to detect even without visual confirmation. As Daniel returned to the first floor, he found Clarissa at the kitchen counter. She was studying one of his maps.

  “Looking for some place special?” Daniel asked her. He was slightly vexed. Was Clarissa planning on leaving again? He accepted that she was steadfast and hardheaded at times, but surely, he thought to himself, she would not make the same mistake twice.

  “I’m looking west.” Clarissa brusquely answered.

  “West is not a friendly place,” stated Daniel.

  “No, it’s not,” Clarissa replied. “But is any place?”

  “Some less so than others; though I fail to see what merit there is in unnecessary risks.”

  “You were right when you said I was reluctant to head west. I know the dangers and I know that I’m unfamiliar with the territory. It’s a risk, but it’s one I have to take. And as soon as my da
ughter and I are fit to travel…”

  “It’s not a risk,” Daniel interrupted. “A risk implies that there’s at least a slight chance of success. I’m sorry, Mrs. Hannigan, but you have no chance of success on any journey westward.”

  “Staying here is no better… it’s worse, in fact.”

  “Here you have food, you have shelter, and you have a secure place to hide.”

  “For how long?” Clarissa inquired bitterly. “How long until the Sayona find this place?”

  Daniel had no immediate reply. The Sayona would never give up the search for him and sooner or later they would find this house. The house was as secure as it could possibly be, but it would not hold out against a Sayona attack for very long.

  “I don’t know,” Daniel eventually replied. “But I tried the heading west plan once and it failed – it failed beyond any scope that words can even begin to describe. It was the crème de la crème of bad ideas… it was a disaster and I don’t want you and your daughters to repeat my mistakes.”

  “So learn from your mistakes. If the Sayona are as revengeful as you claim, then they’re never going to stop looking for us, are they? If we stay, they will find us.”

  “That is a possibility, yes, but if we leave…” Daniel paused. Something Clarissa had just said finally caught up with him. “If we stay?” He asked, slightly perplexed. “You want me to go with you?”

  “Like you said, you’ve made this trip already,” Clarissa asserted. “You know more than I do what to expect and, hopefully, how to avoid the dangers now.”

  Rarely did a day go by that Daniel did not think about his attempted excursion into the Wild West. The things he would have done differently and the better choices he could have made haunted him habitually. Leading the Hannigans out of Pennsylvania was a monumental task and a hefty burden to carry, yet it could all be very well worth it. It was obvious that staying here too long was tempting fate and that there was no way that Clarissa was going to rely on chance alone to protect her daughters. The Hannigans were going to go no matter what; Daniel’s choice was already made.

  “I trust you with my daughters,” Clarissa added reluctantly, though honestly. “Their safety is all that matters to me and with you around their chances are better… I can’t deny that.”

  Bestowing kindness unto Daniel was not Clarissa’s intended purpose. In her mind, she was only speaking the truth of the situation, to which Daniel was fully aware of. Nevertheless, her words were appreciated. He persistently questioned his motives and actions, especially concerning the well-being of others. It was nice to know that, at least sometimes, he did get things right.

  “Together, the chances for all us are better,” proclaimed Daniel. “I probably need you guys more than you need me. I’ve existed here for some time, but the amount of actual living I’ve done is debatable at best.”

  “I neither need nor want you to patronize me, Daniel.” Clarissa declared. “We need your help and you’ve proven that you can handle the task, so please, spare me the sentimentality and stop trying to fellate my ego.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Daniel answered directly. His answer was followed by a muffled outburst of laughter. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come off as condescending, but I do mean what I said.”

  “Whatever… do you think you can get us out of this place?”

  That was a heavy question. There were huge amounts of uncertainty and equal amounts of danger, and Daniel understood that Clarissa had no patience for reservations or excuses. Confidently, he answered her question: “Yes, I do.”

  “Good; I want to go as soon as Vita is well enough.”

  “Go where? There’s a lot of open road out there.”

  “I don’t know. We’ll go west until we hit ocean or find some place better, for now.”

  “I’ve never been big on spontaneity,” Daniel proclaimed as he moved next to Clarissa to get a better view of her map. “Structure and predictability: key foundations to the life I like to live.”

  “No one hates surprises more than I do, but we’ve worn out our welcome here.”

  Clarissa and Daniel discussed possibilities and ideas concerning a westward voyage for a while longer, but no plans were ever set in stone. Clarissa had no real idea of any actual locations that she wanted to flee to; the only notion she possessed was a strong desire to leave Pennsylvania and to never return. Daniel didn’t share much of his experience with Clarissa during their discourse. He feared that in doing so would lead her to ask questions and request more details regarding his previous attempt at journeying west. Daniel had no desires to delve into any life stories from that particular period, especially the ones that made him look less than decent. Daniel’s worries were not necessary; Clarissa cared little about what he had done on his last journey. He had already told her that he’d killed many people out of necessity. That was something Clarissa had done herself on a few occasions, so she didn’t hold that against him. All that she desired was a safe passage for her daughters, and Daniel was her best chance at obtaining that.

  Maria and Vita soon emerged from their short slumber and immediately desired some form of sustenance. Daniel and Clarissa obliged the girls. Vita was given the tomato soup and Clarissa, Maria, and Daniel settled on small portions of soups as well. They refused to dine hardily while poor Vita was still stuck with just swallowing broths. After their meager dinner, Maria took Vita into the living room and coaxed her sister into small exercises to try and speed up her recovery from the paralysis that the Sayona had so viciously inflicted on her days before. Clarissa sat silently watching her daughters; Daniel was nearby doing just the same. Clarissa’s mind was mostly clear. She was dreading the impending night, but that was something she did out of habit now. Other than that, she was delightfully numb. Daniel, on the other hand, had many things running amuck in his mind. The thought of traveling across the country with the Hannigans instilled in him both fear and encouragement. Slowly, but assuredly, the latter was gaining the upper hand. The responsibility was great and any form of failure would be devastating beyond all forms of comprehension, but Daniel enjoyed being with the Hannigan family. They gave him a reprieve from the many horrible things that had happened to him over the last two years of his life, and for this he was forever in their debt.

  The routine at dusk went on as usual. The Hannigans went to their hiding place and Daniel upheld his role as hidden sentry. With Vita now off of her improvised life-support, the storeroom proved to be more accommodating for all three of the Hannigans. Even with the more comfortable settings, Clarissa still had no plans on sleeping. She could at least rest a little easier with her daughter no longer requiring her perpetual attendance, but she did not trust the darkness. Clarissa was not alone in her distrust of the night. A floor above her, Daniel had again summoned his inhuman patience to steadfastly listen for any monsters prowling around the town. This night, like the others, was completely quiet. Daniel used this silent time to ponder over the voyage Clarissa was determined to make out of Pennsylvania. He would be leading this expedition to the west and he still was not completely sure how he felt about this plan. However he felt was inconsequential; there was no way Daniel could stay behind and let the Hannigans face the many horrors he had previously witnessed on their own. It would be an arduous and dangerous journey, but Clarissa was right: it was now a necessary undertaking.

  Their mother might have had issues with sleeping in the dark, but Maria and Vita did not; they slept the whole night despite their earlier nap. Upon the dawn, it was discovered that Vita’s improvements over her paralysis had progressed substantially. She could now speak clearly and had full use of her arms and hands. When Daniel opened the storeroom door that morning, Vita walked from her hiding place under her own strength. She only held her sister’s hand for support. Her left leg still had issues with numbness and mobility, but her right leg was nearly under her full control.

  “Good morning, Daniel!” Vita greeted as he stepped aside from the storeroom doorway
to give her more room to roam. Vita’s voice was a little raspy, but her words were easily understood.

  “Good morning, Ms. Vita.” Daniel returned her greeting. “It is a pleasure beyond measure to hear your voice again.”

  “Yeah, I’ll be swelling songs and singing swears in no time,” declared Vita as she came to a stop just in front of him. “Thanks again for watching over us.” She spoke as she leaned into Daniel and embraced him with a happy hug.

  “You’re more than welcome.” Daniel willingly accepted Vita’s hug, yet he soon found himself in a precarious situation as the young girl seemed unwilling to release him. “Though I really don’t do much – just sit around all night like I’ve always done.”

  “Nonsense,” protested Maria. She followed up that remark with a lengthy yawn as she attempted to stretch out her morning rigidity. “You’re not foolin’ us, fella.”

  Clarissa followed her daughters out of the storeroom. Vita’s odd behavior towards Daniel was not odd to her mother. Daniel was going to be with the Hannigans for the foreseeable future, so Clarissa deemed it best for him to quickly accustom himself to her daughters’ odd and eccentric intricacies. She no longer harbored any fears of him attempting any inappropriate contact with her girls. Daniel had earned Clarissa’s trust and, to an extent, her respect; though she still found him frustrating at times. His variable nature perplexed her. In moments of tumult, Daniel possessed incredible degrees of equability and fearlessness, but otherwise he often came off to Clarissa as insecure, overly complaisant, and mousy: qualities that irritated her. Nevertheless, she was conscious of the fact that he was her best hope for survival in this truculent world.

  “Definitely nonsense,” Vita affirmed; she looked to Daniel, still unyielding in her embrace. He was discomfited and she could tell. She smiled and added, “I’m not letting go until you make me a decent meal.”