Dying Days (Novella): Family Ties

by Rosamilia, Armand

  "Hurry up, we need to move. There are, like, a dozen of them after us now," Mason said and stepped onto the other side. He sighed when he saw the obstacles in their way.

  "We won't make it," Emalee said. She stood on her tippy-toes, hoping to get a glimpse of a road or something in the distance but all she could see were dead trees. In a couple of spots, smoke still lingered, drifting lazily off the ground.

  Mason took a step forward and his pant leg was immediately snagged in a thorny bush.

  The first zombie slammed into the fence behind Emalee.

  Chapter Four

  Mason tried to call the twins, with his thought, for help, knowing how mad his sister was going to be if she found out he'd done it. Even with the threat of zombies all around them, she'd rather struggle and get bitten than ask for help.

  Especially from those two.

  He'd been reading her thoughts since they'd encountered the pair, even though Emalee had told him not to. He couldn't help it. Most of the time, they sounded like his own thoughts, anyway.

  Mason couldn't get a reading on where the twins were. They could be miles away by now or on the other side of the fence. Parker was much better at controlling and blocking than Mason was. He wondered if the twins had gotten actual training from an older person with powers.

  Emalee and Mason had been called freaks, as children, when their powers had begun to manifest, subtle things at first like Mason completing sentences and Emalee talking to people no one else could see. Their parents had always been fully supportive but didn't quite understand what was going on.

  "Hello? Anybody home?" Emalee asked, tapping on Mason's head. He hated when she did that.

  "What?" Mason was really annoyed.

  "We're about to be eaten by zombies and you're staring at the sun. I need you back with me so we can get out of this mess," Emalee said.

  "Oh. Right. Sorry." Mason tried to pull his leg free but the thorns only wrapped tighter around his pants. "I think I'm stuck."

  Emalee sighed loudly and tried to help free her brother, but he was held in a vice-like grip by the bush.

  "Take off your pants," Emalee said.

  "No way."

  Emalee looked back at the approaching zombie. Mason could see a second had found the opening and was getting close.

  "Take them off or we're going to die," Emalee said.

  "You go on without me," Mason said. Maybe he could stand in this spot and fight off the zombie horde, letting his sister escape.

  "Don't be such an idiot," Emalee said. She walked daintily around the bushes, looking at them from all angles. "You're stuck."

  "Thanks. I had no idea," Mason said sarcastically.

  "I think if you go forward you might be able to get free. At least you could try," Emalee said.

  Mason could hear the lead zombie shuffling at them, now only a few feet away. Any second now rotting hands would grab him by the shoulders and attack.

  It was worth a shot. Mason tried to run forward but he nearly fell. Somehow he kept his balance and didn’t have to use his hands to cushion a fall into more thorns. That would've hurt.

  Emalee grabbed his arm and tried to pull Mason.

  "I'm not kidding. Take off your pants and let's run," Emalee said.

  "Nope." Mason managed to lift his right leg a few inches off the ground and began kicking at the bush. If he could break a part of it free, maybe he'd have a chance.

  Emalee started to kick at the bushes but her own pants were getting tangled now, too.

  “This isn’t working,” Mason yelled. He turned just in time as a zombie leaned down to bite him. He put out his hand and caught the zombie by the chest, pushing to keep it back.

  Mason called out in his head for Parker and Reading to help them, turning his head back and forth to shout out the message.

  “What are you doing?” Emalee asked, managing to get herself free from the thorns. She joined her brother in holding back the zombie but they couldn’t knock it over and there were more getting through the gap in the fence.

  Mason ducked under the zombie’s arms and punched it in the stomach but it had no effect. His next blow was a kick to the kneecap. He heard the crack a second before the zombie started to tip forward.

  Emalee gave the zombie a shove and it landed in the thorny bushes. The zombie tried to roll over and was caught in the bushes, unable to rise.

  Mason stopped struggling and stood perfectly still.

  “What are you doing now? I need your help,” Emalee yelled.

  “I’m looking for help. Stop talking to me so I can do this,” Mason said and concentrated.

  “I don’t want those boys anywhere near us. Reading is rude and he hates us,” Emalee said.

  Mason ignored his sister, who was struggling with the bushes around them with a renewed strength, groaning as she tried to yank the bushes out by their roots.

  Mason could feel a presence nearby, just the faintest trace, before it was gone. He closed his eyes and reached out with his mind to get a better location.

  Nothing.

  It was as if it had been a false reading of someone, which was impossible. Once Mason used his power he could find what he was looking for. This time he’d found a new target and he knew it wasn’t Parker or Reading.

  Mason tried and tried but couldn’t connect with whoever it was.

  He felt his pants being tugged at and opened his eyes to see Emalee, scrunching her face and staring at the zombie, yanking his jeans down to the ground.

  Mason reached down to pull them back up but Emalee smacked his hand away.

  “Once you step out of them I can get them back for you. Don’t be such an idiot,” Emalee said.

  Mason didn’t want to fight with Emalee. Once she got something in her head, she’d never give up until it was done.

  He got the jeans off and was able to step out of the patch of thorns and onto a narrow strip of dirt without obstacles.

  Emalee yanked the jeans from the bush and most of it came along, with two big rips in the front of the pants.

  “Oops. My bad,” she said and tried to cover her grin.

  “Not funny, Em. My jeans are ruined.” Mason loved his last pair of jeans. He put them on and wanted to cry when he saw how torn up they were.

  “We can find you another pair of pants later. Right now we need to escape,” Emalee said. She looked at the zombies advancing on them. “If we can get the bushes between us and them, they might walk right in and get snagged.”

  “Good idea,” Mason said and began walking as quickly as he could, stepping gingerly over anything that might snag what was left of his jeans.

  The chance of finding new jeans and a pair that fit was slim. He knew it wasn’t going to happen. What if it got cold outside at night and he had no pants on?

  The field was overgrown but Emalee found a path they could follow, single file, and they took it; the noise from zombies crashing through the bushes behind them was very loud.

  Mason hoped it wasn’t loud enough to attract even more zombies.

  “Where are we going?” Mason asked his sister.

  “Out of this field as quickly as we can. If we can’t find another place to hide, we can always come back to the train station and sleep in the box car again.”

  Mason looked back at the dozen zombies in slow pursuit.

  He thought he caught a glimpse of one of the twins peeking through the gap in the fence, but when he stopped to get a better look he was gone.

  Chapter Five

  She didn't think going back to the train station and the box car was safe or really smart but, after wandering the area for a few hours and not finding any place they could hide out for the night, Emalee reluctantly agreed to follow her brother back.

  "If I see either of those boys again, I'm going to punch one in the mouth," Emalee said.

  "No, you're not. We need them as friends and not enemies. Parker and Reading are really strong," Mason said.

  "And really scary."
r />   It looked like Mason was going to argue with her but he stopped, settling into his spot in the box car.

  "I'm not tired. I'll take first watch," Emalee said. She sat down on the floor and put her face near a break in the slats so she could see the train station.

  It would be dark within the hour and she could already see the long shadows reaching across the ground to touch the box car.

  "Make sure if you see anything you wake me up," Mason said. "But only if they're still alive."

  "I will." Emalee moved her head to see from all angles but there weren’t any zombies or dead people in sight, which was always a good thing.

  She felt like she was being watched but when she stood to get a better look out one of the bigger cracks she couldn't see anyone.

  Emalee turned to her brother to ask if he felt it but Mason was doing what he always did well: he was snoring in the corner.

  She had no idea what time it was but figured she'd wake him after it had been dark for awhile, especially if it remained quiet. Mason was able to fall asleep quickly and he didn't need as many hours as she did, which was a good thing. It was why she tried to take first watch whenever possible.

  "Hi," a girl's voice said just outside the box car, startling Emalee. She nearly fell back into her sleeping brother, which would've been a big mess. Especially since, when Emalee recovered, she peeked back out and saw the girl who'd spoken was a ghost.

  "Keep it down. My brother is sleeping," Emalee whispered.

  "He can hear me, too?"

  "No. But he can hear me talking," Emalee said.

  "Duh." The girl smiled. She was about the same age as Emalee with long, dark hair and wearing a faded blue dress that dragged in the dirt behind her. "I just figured, if you could see and talk to me, he could, too. Is he your brother?"

  "Yes."

  "Can you come out and play?"

  Emalee shook her head, not knowing if the girl could see her face clearly. The sun was dipping behind the train station building now. "I can't. It isn't safe for me."

  "There aren't any zombies around. Those mean boys led them all away," the girl said. "I'm Henrietta. My friends call me Henny. I'm bored."

  "Where did the mean boys go, Henny?"

  "I don't really know. Far away from here, though. The zombies started to follow them but I didn't like the way they were acting," Henny said.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I just had a really bad feeling about them. They weren't scared of the zombies at all. I think the one brother could control them, which is scary, right? I've only ever met a couple of people who could actually see and hear me. One of them told me you were also around and you would play with me," Henny said.

  Emalee was scared now. She turned and shook awake her brother, who was complaining before his eyes even opened.

  "This had better be good," Mason said.

  "I'm talking to a ghost," Emalee said.

  "Big deal. You do that all the time. I'm going back to sleep."

  "No. Get up. She talked to Parker and Reading. Parker told her she needed to talk to me. I don't know why," Emalee said.

  "Well, I have a crazy idea: ask her. I can't. I can't even see her. Sometimes I think you make up people to tell me weird things or to mess with my head," Mason said.

  Emalee grinned. Sometimes she did just that, like the time she'd pretended their great-great-great grandmother was in his room and saying she saw Mason hiding candy.

  She'd never really made an appearance but Emalee knew he had M&M's somewhere in his room. They were under his bed in a backpack with a half-eaten box of Oreo cookies.

  Mason had reluctantly given them up but was so mad when he found out she'd lied to get them.

  Emalee turned back to Henny but she was gone. Where did she go?

  "What are you doing?" Mason asked when Emalee put her hand on the sliding door to the train car.

  "I need to go find her and ask Henny what she meant," Emalee said.

  "Just go back to sleep. The ghosts come and go. If she wants to talk with you, she'll be back," Mason said and got back down on the floor. He was asleep in seconds.

  Emalee slid the door open a crack and tried to look outside but it was too dark. She didn't see Henny or anyone else.

  A voice inside her head kept telling Emalee to close the door and get back to watching, a nagging feeling she was going to do the wrong thing.

  She took her hand away from the door and went back to the slot, trying to see both ways. What if this was a trick? Henny seemed nice but she'd met some mean ghosts in her time.

  Emalee remembered the old man ghost near her bus stop a couple of years ago. He'd wander out of the woods, all dirty and wearing tattered clothing. He'd try to push the kids out of the way but he went right through them, which seemed to make him angry. He'd get to the corner and be unable to keep going. After a few minutes of swinging his arms and cursing, he'd turn back, try to knock kids out of his way and fail, and go back into the woods.

  This happened for two straight weeks until one day, as he tried to push through, Emalee moved out of the way.

  The man had stopped, squinted his eyes and frowned. He had stared at Emalee, who couldn't help but stare back.

  "Can you see me?" he had asked.

  Emalee smiled. "Yes. Where are you trying to go?"

  "Get out of my way, you freak," the man yelled and ran past Emalee, crashing into an invisible barrier at the end of the block.

  He turned back and pointed a finger, the nails caked with dirt, at Emalee.

  "Stay away from me. No one can see me. I'm dead. I'm buried where no one will ever find me and I don't care anymore," he said. "Leave it be. You're not normal, you know that? If you can see dead people, you need to be put away, little girl."

  "Who did this to you?" Emalee had asked. She was frightened by the man's anger but she wanted to help him.

  "My own brother. He's always been jealous of me. He did it in his office and dumped my body where no one will ever find it. I can only walk from my burial mound to this corner but no further," the man said.

  "Show me where," Emalee had said.

  He hadn't at first but she had worn him down, wandering into the woods and missing her school bus. She had followed him to the spot, covered in leaves and debris.

  "I will tell my mother and she'll call the police. Give me all of your information so I can help you and put your brother in jail," Emalee had said.

  And it had worked.

  The police, skeptical at first, had gone to the sight and found the body.

  Emalee had lied and said she'd been wandering in the woods when she found the site.

  She had never found out if the brother had gone to jail for the murder or what had happened. Now she wished she'd asked her mother about it before all of this happened...

  Emalee opened the train car door, ignoring the voice in her head screaming for her to stop, and went in search of Henny.

  Chapter Six

  Mason woke with light shining in his eyes.

  He turned over to go back to sleep.

  "Why didn't you get me up for guard duty?" he asked his sister.

  When she didn't answer, he rolled back over, annoyed she was either also asleep or she was staring at him without a sound. It meant she was talking to a dead person somewhere nearby.

  Emalee was gone, the door to the train car closed.

  Mason was awake and in a panic, throwing open the door and rushing outside into the late morning sunlight. He called her name even though it was dangerous. Luckily there were no zombies in the area.

  He was hoping she'd be standing outside, enjoying the sunshine.

  Mason began using his thoughts, sending them out to her. If she was nearby, she'd feel his call and respond. He knew he could talk to his sister if she was within two miles.

  Emalee didn't respond and he couldn't feel her presence. If she was not thinking, she might be automatically blocking him, which she did far too often. He'd been in her head one to
o many times and she hated it.

  He walked over to the ruined train station. They hadn't explored inside but he knew Emalee was interested in it before those weird twins had shown up.

  Mason went around to the front doors, which were ripped off the hinges and leaning against the walls. He peered inside but it was too dark to see more than a few feet.

  There was dirt and broken furniture blocking the entryway but he thought he could climb around without disturbing it too much.

  Something moved inside and Mason stopped.

  He used his mind to find out who was hiding inside but he found the animal thoughts of a field mouse, scampering inside the building and looking for food.

  Mason turned away. She wasn't in there and he didn't want to walk around the creepy place in the dark, either.

  Emalee, where are you?

  Did you lose your sister? That can't be good, a thought filled Mason's head. It was Parker but he seemed really distant.

  Do you know where she is? She wandered off.

  There was no answer back.

  Mason walked around the building but didn't see any clues. He realized he should be looking at footprints but there were so many, especially where they'd first met the twins and the zombies had attacked. He didn't know what his sister's shoe prints looked like.

  He got back to the train car and tried to contact Parker again but it was no use.

  Mason went to the fence they'd gotten through yesterday. Maybe she'd retraced their steps for some weird reason.

  There were zombies caught in the bushes and thorns in the field but nothing else, and when one of them spotted Mason he began to shift position to get him. His struggling got him loose and he began walking slowly towards the fence.

  It was time for Mason to leave. He turned and ran back to the train car, going inside and hoping Emalee had magically returned in the few minutes he'd been gone.

  Mason went to jump back down when he heard walking near the train station but, when he saw it was just another zombie, he slipped back inside the car and closed the door slowly.