In the Aftermath: Burning of the Dawn

by Coleman Thompson

  “However long is necessary.” Mary answered. “I’m a little outta of my element here, I’ll admit that. There’s a lot more Umbra assholes out there and I gotta learn the board before I get my head into the game, know what I mean?”

  “Yeah, do what ya gotta do.” Hernando acquiesced.

  “Good, then we return to the mountains,” Mary looked to Serena and Anthony and added, “If that’s okay with you two.”

  “Sounds good,” Serena always wanted to see Yosemite. “Better to be cautious.”

  “We’re ready when you are, Mary.” Anthony added. He imagined Yosemite would be similar to Tahoe, only without a giant, creepy lake or any nearby major cities for the Sayona to stake a claim on. Anthony liked this idea. Los Angeles could wait; there were still many things he wanted to learn from Mary.

  “Then we got us a goddamn plan!” Mary put her arms around Serena and Anthony’s waists and led them back down the hill as the blaze she had started below continued to drop fire all around them. Hernando quietly followed the others to Serena’s car. All passengers took their familiar places within the vehicle and Serena continued them on in their journey.

  As Mary watched the flames of her fire die away in the distance, she remembered a certain tidbit of wisdom that Jodelle had often imparted to her: I see blood on the mountains and in the oceans; I see deserts flooded with corpses and cities buried beneath twisted shadows. Jodelle spoke those words long before the invasion of Earth. And I see you, my Sweet Marie, setting fire to angels and destroying everything you have ever loved.

  Death and destruction are what I do best, darlin’. Mary silently replied to Jodelle. She glanced around the car, first to Serena and then to Anthony; mother and son were soundlessly serene within their own anxious reveries. Mary did adore them both. She then quietly added: but not to those I love, Jodelle my belle; not today, you crazy, fuckin’ bitch.

  V–Day + 595: Western Wyoming.

  Quiet, so very quiet. More than a year and half since the power went out and the silence was still difficult to suffer at times. Winds provided some relief from the isolation of the permeating quietness, and the birds and buzzing insects did their part as well. However, none of them provided any relief on this day. Thankfully, Vita and Maria more than took up where nature left off. Even through the thick cabin walls their laughter was a sweet respite to their mother’s ears and mind. Clarissa slept more now than she did before. It helped her heal in body and alleviate her stubborn anxieties. The soft bed in the cabin was so very wonderful. She shared it with her daughters and they all slept throughout the entire night now, most nights. Occasionally, Clarissa would need to comfort a daughter who had been plagued with an ugly dream, but that was nothing new to her. Daniel had brought them to a desolate spot—a little house on a forsaken prairie—about sixty miles south of Yellowstone National Park. Both mountains and forests were within an easy trek for humans and especially so for the Sayona, yet the beasts paid this place no mind. There was nothing for them here. Daniel’s spot was perfect.

  The trip from Pennsylvania was slow and tedious; exactly the way Daniel and Clarissa wanted it. Daniel’s second foray into the west was successful. He kept the Hannigans safe and avoided any confrontations with either human or beast. Being that their ultimate destination was still an unknown, this current spot would be their temporary home until that unknown became known. Vita and Maria both liked the place. From the right vantage point they could see for what seemed like forever. Daniel had taken the girls to Yellowstone as well, and they both adored him for it. Clarissa did not go; sightseeing did not interest her.

  It was too quiet to sleep anymore. Clarissa left the majestic comforts of her bed and headed into the kitchen. She could see Daniel and her daughters through the small windows peering out onto a parched driveway. Daniel had procured the girls a basketball and erected a hoop and backboard to help them pass the time. He was currently playing a game of Twenty-One with the twins and thoroughly getting creamed in the process. His score was seven, Maria had thirteen, and Vita was leading with seventeen. Young Vita had completely healed physically from the horrible injury inflected on her by the Sayona. A small scar remained, but no other lasting damage had been done. If anything, she seemed more energetic, agile, and stronger than she was before. Whether this was due to her strength of character, or some little gift bestowed upon her by the Sayona’s envenomation, was uncertain.

  Clarissa drank a glass of water and ate from some crackers and soup – the breakfast remains her voracious daughters were kind enough to leave for her. She continued watching the game between Daniel and her daughters. Vita had made a close-range shot (worth one point) and followed it up with a successful bonus free-throw point giving her nineteen points total. One more successful shot outside of the long-range radius (worth two points) would give her the instant win. One close-range shot followed by the bonus free-throw would also give her the game. A scuffle between the twin sisters ended with Maria kicking the ball away so Vita would not have an easy close range shot. Daniel and Vita both went chasing the ball, but Daniel immediately gave up the race. He was still stuck on seven points and had mostly just fallen into a purely defensive role. Just like I’m back in high school, Daniel mused to his own sad amusement.

  Vita ran down the ball and proceeded in bringing it back. Her sister and Daniel stood side by side just ahead of the long-range line. They would double-team her now, she knew it. Even though Daniel was not a great shot when it came to basketball, he was pretty decent when it came to defense. Maria was now at fourteen points, which was five away, but she could make that up easily if given the chance. Vita walked back towards her opponents and stopped about twenty feet from where they stood. She eyed the basketball hoop for a moment. She then looked to Daniel and Maria, gave them a rascally smile, and then heaved a fifty foot shot into the air.

  Vita felt a noticeable difference within her after she recovered from her ordeal with the Sayona venom. Her body felt as if it were lighter, stronger, and more pure – as if she had somehow been physically cleansed in some strange way. This extraordinary sensation was a little scary for Vita at first, but also invigorating. She felt as if she could do almost anything now and not even the sky could limit her. Daniel and Maria watched as the ball sailed high over their heads and towards its destination. The ball came down with a bang as it flew nearly fifteen feet beyond its intended target and crashed into the metal solar panel box on top of Clarissa’s car.

  “Awe, shit!” Vita lamented. Almost anything.

  “What the… what the hell was that?!” Maria fell to her knees in laughter.

  “Well, it was a pretty good throw… kinda, sorta.” Daniel added as he took off after the ball which was now rolling its way towards a nearby, dried-up creek.

  Vita approached her laughing sister sitting in the middle of the driveway. “I’m still winning, you know.”

  “Yeah? Well…” Maria tried to both speak and breathe through her jovial hysterics. “We should… we should play… who… who can throw the best fifty-foot brick… and destroy mom’s car…” That was as far she could get. Her laughter only intensified.

  “You suck.” Vita tried to keep from laughing, too, but she failed in that as well.

  Clarissa did not always see the humor in some of the silly things that her daughters found amusing. Nevertheless, their laughter and jubilant personalities were infinitely inestimable – precious to her and Daniel both. Clarissa left the kitchen as her daughters and Daniel continued their game. Daniel managed to score three more points before Vita inevitably won. Maria scored no more as her unabated laughter skewered her aim; although one of her missed shots was intentionally aimed at her mother’s car. Clarissa headed over to a large, old, walnut chest and opened its lid. Inside were hundreds of issues of National Geographic magazines. The former owner of this cabin had collected them his whole life. She had already read through many of the magazines, but Clarissa still retained plenty more to choose from. As she sifted throug
h them, one in particular caught her eye; she took it from the trunk and looked it over. This issue was from July of the year 2014; on its cover was a picture of the planet Jupiter and its moons Io and Europa. The caption on the cover read: Is Anybody Out There? Life Beyond Earth. Clarissa could not help but laugh a little after reading that.

  The cabin echoed as Clarissa tossed the magazine onto a countertop near the kitchen entryway. She took a seat and pulled the magazine to her. Just before she opened its pages she took note of something nearby: a handheld, digital, shortwave radio. Daniel had found the radio a few days prior in the town of Big Piney. The batteries were dead, but Clarissa had others stashed away. With little else to do at the moment, she decided to give the radio a go. She put the new batteries in and set the little radio to automatically scan for any transmissions from anywhere it could pick them up. After finishing setting up the auto-scan, Clarissa set the radio down and let it do its thing while she went on with reading her magazine. She did not have the slightest expectations of the radio actually picking up any signals. The white noise it produced was comforting to her in the silent, empty cabin. About thirty seconds later that comfort was shattered as the radio let out a loud whistling, which nearly startled Clarissa, as it adjusted to a mystery transmission. The whistling abruptly stopped and a voice came through instead: “My name is Dinah Ortega…”

  Slowly, Clarissa stood and took the radio into her hands as she listened to the message. Once the message ended it repeated itself in Spanish; Clarissa could make out enough to know that it was the same things that had been spoken in English. After the Spanish version was done, the English version was back again. Los Angeles was safe, it claimed, and still had power; Nevada was dangerous; humanity wasn’t dead. Distrust was Clarissa’s first instinct: this message is either a trap or a trick. After distrust, however, came intrigue. The lights were still on in Los Angeles? How did they manage that? How were they sustaining themselves? How do they cope with the Sayona? Assuming any of the message was for real. Clarissa shut off the radio and placed it back onto the counter. She then quietly proclaimed, “How very interesting.”

  In The Aftermath…

  Thank You! so much for reading my book. It’s appreciated more than my mere words could ever convey. I hope it wasn’t too terrible and I hope I have it in me to crank out a few more before I die… and hopefully they’ll get better. :)

  Thanks, again, everyone!

  And a special thanks to Judy, my awesome aunt, for helping me finally finish this thing.