Boneyard Rumblers

by Gina Ranalli

  “So, what do we do now?” he asked Helena, who was now blowing her nose into a tissue, her eyes red-rimmed and full of misery.

  “We go after them. You still have the blade, don’t you?”

  Quinn pulled the Phoenix Blade out from under his coat, which he hadn’t bothered to remove. “Don’t leave home without it.”

  “Good. Let’s pack the Cherokee. No telling how long we’ll be gone. We should just assume we might not make it back.”

  Their eyes met then, holding one another’s gaze for what felt like an eternity and Quinn knew she was right. This fight felt epic. Probably unwinnable. And they were already down a soldier. He didn’t know Nick and had no way of knowing what kind of man he was, if he would join them at some point, but even if he did, they were vastly outnumbered yet again and that equation never boded well. The fact that Sam was now so close to death was proof enough of that.

  As Quinn went up to the room he’d called his own for going on two years now, he pondered how many others had done the same thing. How many had slept in the same bed, probably on the same mattress. How many had stared at the same ceiling, switched the same lamp on and off, looked out the same window at the same backyard with the same ancient oak dominating the view?

  How many had secretly fallen in love with Helena? How many had wished she would just notice him, really notice him, even one time? He didn’t know how those others were perceived by her but he suspected it was the same. Brotherly love at most, probably, not unlike that of soldiers in the same platoon.

  And how many had admired Sam to the point idolatry? His guess for that answer came immediately: all of them. But he knew he couldn’t think about that now. There would be grieving, he was sure, but that would have to wait. For how long, he didn’t know, but he suspected not long at all. If they were lucky enough to be allowed to grieve. He knew they undoubtedly wouldn’t be able to because they’d also be in graves before long. He stopped shoving clothes into his duffle bag, pausing to feel something he hadn’t expected to.

  He felt pride. Not only had they seen something in him that deemed him worthy of fighting beside them, but also of dying beside them. He didn’t know why that would give him a sense of pride but it did. Despite all the others who had been in his place, here was something that was only his. He couldn’t think of a better way to go out, really. Even if it was the worst possible death a person could experience, it would still be a hero’s death. He would go down fighting and he knew Sam would be proud. Helena would be proud. And he would be proud. The most proud of himself he’d ever been and even though that might not be much, it was something.

  When he was finished packing, he met Helena downstairs. There was so much stuff she and Nick had already gathered as far as weaponry went, going down into the area of the basement that was considered the armory wasn’t even necessary. Everything was already upstairs which meant loading the Cherokee was that much easier.

  They would be nothing if not prepared and what they were prepared for was war.

  The last thing they grabbed was the laptop, which was living up to its name as it was riding on Quinn’s lap for the journey. They would stay updated on the monster’s whereabouts for as long as possible. Until they discovered the hidden phone or its battery died. Quinn suspected it would be the latter. He didn’t think they’d be washing too many dishes during their travels.

  Helena popped a cassette tape into the deck and they both smiled when the music began to blare. It was Credence, Sam’s favorite band, and even though it seemed more than just a little bit cliché, Bad Moon Rising was the song.

  Neither of them were the ‘singing out loud’ types, but they both bobbed their heads with the beat, leaving the house behind and driving off into the dank night, with dawn still too many hours away.

  CHAPTER 24

  Opal lay on the master bed in the RV, Willa beside her, stiff-still, while Opal twirled the other woman’s stringy blonde hair between her fingers. It was a lazy, lost in thought kind of movement. They hadn’t spoken in nearly half an hour and Opal, despite everything, felt at peace. She didn’t care where they were going; it didn’t matter one little bit as far as she was concerned. What she was really thinking about was children. Wishing she’d had one or two and wondering if that ship had already sailed and would she ever get to experience the joys and anguishes of motherhood, something she hadn’t thought much about in life, but now, in some form of death, felt she’d surely missed out on.

  In another bunk, Melosia lay alone, not sleeping but not quite awake either. She seemed to be in a fever trance of some kind, hallucinating things both good and bad, for she laughed uncontrollably at times, and cried out in terror only moments later.

  Opal was supposed to be keeping an eye on her while John drove the RV, Joshua beside him. She didn’t understand why they couldn’t keep an eye on Melosia. They were right there. All it would take would be for Meadows to turn around in his seat and he’d be able to see Melosia just as well as she herself did.

  She was also vaguely annoyed she wasn’t driving the RV. After all, she’d been the one to procure it. It seemed entirely stupid and sexist to not be the one driving it. She had a feeling it was because John didn’t want to pay attention to his “wife.” She wondered if he cared at all whether Melosia lived or died. Maybe he just thought of her as a nuisance at this point and if that were the case, Opal couldn’t help but feel bad for Melosia. She herself had been treated as a nuisance nearly her entire life, first by her parents and then by her husband. Thinking about the fact that all of them were now dead is what was giving her such a peaceful feeling now. She found thoughts of this nature constituted her ‘happy place.’ Her only regret being that she hadn’t been the one to end the lives of her parents. That would have been something. Those two had been made for each other, both mean as day is long and bullies until the night they died in car accident when Opal had been eighteen. It had actually been two days before her eighteenth birthday and she remembered thinking it was the best present she’d ever received, or was ever likely to receive. Even now, years later, she celebrated her birthday with a gusto she’d never imagined before their deaths.

  She supposed she’d be living forever at this point, which meant many more celebrations were in her future. She looked forward to each and every one and hoped Willa would be beside her for them all. She wanted her friendship with Willa to last well into the future. Together, they would watch decades turn into centuries and laugh at the mortals whose lives meant so little in the grand scheme of things. Try as they might, so few of them would ever make any lasting difference on mankind or the planet itself. They were doomed.

  But not the Rumblers.

  She imagined she would be the one leading the monsters into the future. Not Bliss. He was a fake. She was surprised the others didn’t seem to see it. Either that or they just pretended not to, maybe out of fear of him. Opal wasn’t afraid though. And she wasn’t about to pretend Bliss walked on water like the others did either. She had every intention of calling him out on his bullshit at the first good opportunity. If she and Willa had to part company with the others, then so be it. She would make her own gang and she wouldn’t be so fucking choosy either. The fact that Bliss wanted everyone to reach a certain standard which existed only in his mind was why there weren’t already more of them. They could easily have been ruling the world by now. People died every day. Hundreds of them. She would raise as many as she could and it would be fine. Look at Willa. She was a perfect example. Maybe she wasn’t full of bloodlust or whatever it was that Bliss thought they should have but Opal felt she would be eventually. She wouldn’t have a choice. She would have to feed and when she got her first taste of how powerful the act would make her feel, she’d never want to stop. Like Opal herself, she would have to restrain herself from eating every damn human being she passed. They were just so tasty and…what was it? Alive, Opal thought. They tasted like life itself and as far as she knew, nothing else could match it. Just thinking about i
t, thinking about the future, made her tingle with excitement, made her forget Bliss and his stupid shit.

  Melosia moaned again and there was something about the sound which excited Opal further. Without thinking about it, she leaned over and kissed Willa on the mouth, allowing her lips to linger there when the other woman didn’t turn away. She pulled back a little, watching Willa’s eyes. She saw desire there. So much desire…

  Opal kissed her again, this time sneaking her tongue out just a bit to taste Willa’s lips. She’d never kissed a woman before and found she liked it. She liked it a lot.

  For her part, Willa surprised Opal by meeting Opal’s tongue with her own and before Opal even realized it was happening, the two were kissing deeply and Willa’s hand was burying itself in Opal’s hair, pulling it, not enough to hurt, but hard. Willa let out a small groan and Opal found herself rolling on top of the other woman, cupping one of her breasts in her hand. The breast was so soft, like touching a cloud, and Opal could hardly contain herself.

  The kissing grew more frantic, both of the woman nearly frenzied in their movement. Opal was aware the others in the RV could easily be watching but she didn’t care. Maybe that made it even better.

  She reached up under Willa’s sweater, pulling the bra aside to touch flesh, somehow warm and cool at the same time. She pinched Willa’s nipple between her thumb and forefinger and Willa let out a cry of pleasure, lifting her hips up off the bed, grinding her crotch into Opal’s thigh.

  How did Opal go her entire life without this? It felt so different from being with a man. So much more natural and pure.

  Soon, she found herself sitting up just long enough to remove her own shirt and bra, unzipping Willa’s jeans and shoving her hand inside, between her legs and into the secret dark place that welcomed her so lovingly. Rapidly moving her hand, Willa cried out beneath her and Opal, just from sheer friction, cried out with her and still they didn’t stop. Opal didn’t want to stop. Not ever. This was her place. She’d found it at last and everything else be damned.

  She barely noticed Melosia screaming, thrashing in her bed, clawing at the air as though she were pinned down by a demon trying to suck her soul out through her mouth.

  She felt Willa doing that very thing. Sucking out her soul with every breath, with every frenetic motion of her body. They rocked together, harder and harder, faster and faster, and they didn’t let up. It was as though they’d both been starving for this very thing for longer than either of them could have imagined or ever suspected.

  Bliss and the rest of the world was forgotten. The fact they were in a vehicle, miles of highway rolling beneath them, also forgotten. She would make this moment last as long as she was able and when it finally did end, it would be only for a breather.

  Once again, she was glad she had forever spread out before her like a banquet and she intended to feast for all of the days that lay ahead, always satiated and never satiated, both at the very same time.

  CHAPTER 25

  Justin Cash could hardly believe his ears. If what Bliss was telling him was true…well, he didn’t know what it meant. His upbringing had been a lie for starters. His mother had told him his biological father had been a soldier who’d died in battle but he’d grown up with a kind enough stepfather. His parents weren’t the reason he’d been a bad seed. He’d always known that. What he hadn’t known was why he was the way he was.

  Maybe now he had the answer.

  He thought back to Janey and how he’d blown her parent’s heads clean off their shoulders. That had been far from his first crime but most certainly his worst. In general, he hadn’t been much for violence until his teen years but then, something strange had happened to him. It was as though something in his brain had snapped, making him furious with the entire world.

  For years, he’d assumed it was just regular teen angst but of course he’d been lying to himself. Regular teens didn’t fantasize about killing people on a regular basis. Or maybe they did. How could he really know? In any case, most of them didn’t act on those thoughts and feelings. Most just repressed them until, he imagined, they went away. Most kids grew out of it, he assumed. But, he hadn’t. He’d been one for fighting since the age of twelve until, at fifteen, he’d graduated from just fighting to quite literal beatings. Brutal beatings of other boys who’d wronged him in some way, at least in his own mind. It never matter how slight the insult had been. Justin had made it his mission to get his revenge, often times with a bat or a crowbar, if need be.

  Things made more sense now though.

  He glanced at the monster beside him, trying to find some minor resemblance between himself and Bliss and just couldn’t do it. Bliss had blond hair, he had dark. They were roughly the same build, but Bliss’s features were sharp, while his were round. The smile might be the key though, he thought. The charm. The way they carried themselves, as if the world belonged to them and they damn well knew it. He’d assumed he’d grown into that attitude but maybe it had been inherent. Maybe, no matter what else had happened in his life, he had been born to walk like a giant among the lesser beings of the earth.

  “Did you rape her?” he asked suddenly, just as the thought occurred to him. “Did you fucking rape my mother?”

  Bliss gave him a sidelong glance, looking amused. “Son, do I look like I need to rape a woman?”

  That wasn’t an answer and, Justin assumed, probably something a rapist would say.

  “Just ‘cause a guy is good-looking doesn’t mean he’s not a rapist,” he told Bliss.

  “I’m not a rapist. Okay? Feel better?”

  He didn’t. “What, then? Tell me. What happened?”

  “Oh, you’re gonna be one of those kids then, huh? One of the nags who never shuts up. You gonna want me to buy you a pony too?”

  Justin felt his temper rising. “You fucking told me! Now tell me everything. Otherwise, what’s the fucking point in telling me anything at all?”

  Bliss stroked the whiskers on his chin. “I suppose you might be right about that. I don’t know how much it matters, though. Truth be told, she was just a lay. We weren’t in love or anything like that. I didn’t leave her at the altar, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  Justin’s eyebrows shot up. “Just a lay?”

  Chuckling, Bliss said, “No disrespect meant, but hell yeah, just a lay. She wanted it too, you know. Your mother was a bit on the randy side, if you really want to know. At least, she was when I knew her. Course that was after that thing she had with the soldier boy. I don’t think they ever got it on and by the time I met her…well, she was raring to go.”

  Fighting the urge to claw Bliss’s eyes out right then and there, Cash knew how ridiculous it was to feel this way. He was a grown man, far older than he appeared. He’d fucked his share of ladies too and for all he knew, he might be a daddy himself. Hell, maybe several times over by now.

  He nodded, forcing himself to look out the passenger side window. The snow had slipped back into rain but some had collected on the trees lining the freeway. He thought it looked pretty, even in the dark but doubted it would last till daylight.

  “Okay,” he said. “So she was just a screw. How do you know she got pregnant? Or that it was me?”

  “Course it was you,” Bliss said. “And I know because I stayed in the area for a while. Saw her around. Watched the belly grown. All that shit. And then, years later, there you are in the newspapers, all over the country. She was well into her marriage by then of course, but the Albuquerque paper had a picture of your folks right alongside the picture of those people you killed. Talked about how two families were destroyed or some shit like that. I have to admit, I was a proud daddy that day. Not because you killed them but because you killed them for love. I knew then you were mine. I knew too that you were gonna die. Everybody knew that. But I also knew I would just bring you back and we’d be a family. On the road and having fun. And you can’t say that hasn’t been the case, can you?”

  The question was rhetorica
l and Cash didn’t bother to answer it.

  Bliss glanced at him again. “Are you actually fucking mad? Man, I thought this would be the best news of your life! You’re a born leader! Practically a king. A prince at least.”

  “And Meadows? What does that make him?”

  “Remains to be seen. He might be a little touched in the head, but I see potential. I think together we can make him a killer. A Grade-A killer with all the fixings!” Bliss laughed and for what might have been the first time, Cash found the sound to be excruciatingly grating. He lit another cigarette, hoping it would calm his nerves.

  “Come on, boy,” Bliss said enthusiastically. “Don’t tell me we’re gonna have one of those sibling rivalry things, are we? You’re better than that.”

  Cash ran a hand over his face, feeling the roughness of it. He wanted a shower and a shave. Maybe a bottle of rum to go with it. He needed to think. Should he just continue on as he always had or should he try to get back in touch with Helena? Every minute, he was another mile away from the hunters and he couldn’t decide if that was good or bad. Were they his enemies or not? He’d spent so many years believing they were but after watching Bliss and the others kill so many innocents, sometimes just for fun, he’d begun to question their existence. Was it only to kill and nothing more? And the fact he was even questioning…didn’t it make him a hypocrite of the highest order? Why did his conscience bother him so much when the others reveled in their murderous ways? Why couldn’t he just be happy with the way things had been for so long? He had been. He remembered the feeling well. Right after Bliss had raised him, he’d delighted in the bloodlettings and the screams of terror. It had amused him, but only for a while.