And with that, Samuel closed his eyes and went still. And as with any vampire’s final death, his body evaporated, leaving only a pile of ash.
Lexi’s sob rang through the apartment. She felt a white-hot rage inside her, burning every part of her cold, dead body. She clutched at the ashes, grabbed them tightly in her small fists.
Sienna’s and Miguel’s arms were wrapped around her tightly as her body collapsed into itself with her cries. Her father was gone. Truly gone. And he had started something so terrifying that it would change the world as she knew it.
***
Hours later, she sat comatose on the recliner. The other three made themselves busy, sweeping up the ashes and putting them in a vase, cleaning the couch and then deciding to get rid of it altogether.
All this went on and she was oblivious. She blankly stared at the end table lamp, the one they bought in Brazil. It had been a beautiful trip; it was her first time abroad with Samuel.
As she remembered stories of her human life, she went back to the day that she was turned. It had been a cold, brittle night. Her father had taken ill the day before after coming back late from his bread store. Her mother had hovered over him all day, keeping the children at bay because back then sickness could take whole families in a month’s time.
That night her father had gotten out of bed. She had heard the noises and crept into their big kitchen, the biggest room of their house. He was standing by the window, too still and Lexi remembered the fear that had chilled her heart.
“Father?” she had said.
He turned slowly, his skin almost translucent against the dark robe he wore. She gasped at his color. He looked dead.
“My dear Alexis,” he had whispered.
“Father, let’s get you to bed. You need not stand by the window and get chilled.”
“The cold doesn’t bother me now. It is me. I am the cold.” His head cocked to the side. Lexi’s head told her to run, to go get her mother. Something was wrong, terribly wrong.
“I am sorry to do this, Alexis. For I loved you very much in life.”
“Father, you aren’t making sense. Come now; let me take you to your room.”
Then he charged. Faster than any animal, he was at her side, his cold arms wrapped around her. Her heart had frozen at that moment. She knew she was going to die. That whatever father had, it had made him absolutely insane. It was one of those mental sicknesses and Lexi recited the Lord’s Prayer as her father’s face loomed inches from hers.
“This will hurt. I’m sorry,” he growled, his dark eyes a mix of guilt and eagerness. He opened his mouth and right in front of her, his canine teeth grew. Those fangs, they symbolized the evil that she had heard stories about in childhood. The evil that this world concealed.
As he bit into her neck, and as the pain ricocheted through every nerve, her final thought as a human was that she was going to turn into the evil she once feared.
Chapter Seven
Will stood in Josh’s doorway, his tall frame taking the whole space. He held a gun and a long sword you would find in a ninja movie at his side. A katana.
Myra had stopped at the edge of the living room, growling, teeth bared, her two canines long and pointy.
“Josh—don’t look,” Will commanded as he held the gun up, pointed at Myra. She took two steps towards both men.
“What the fu—”
A loud pop sounded, momentarily deafening Josh. He saw Myra’s body jerk with the impact of the bullet, and then her body collapsed into a pile of ash.
“The fuck?! What the fuck, man!” Josh turned toward Will, rage burning his insides. Fear and hatred pumped through his veins and he attacked him. He was unarmed, but he didn’t care.
He attacked his best friend. His wife’s killer. His fist connected with Will’s jaw and then he was on top of him. He didn’t care about the gun Will had, or the sword. He didn’t give a damn about anything. Except hurting Will.
Myra was gone. She. Was. Gone.
A loud, guttural roar sounded, and Josh realized it was coming from him. Will was bigger than he was, but he wasn’t fighting back. He just lay there as Josh punched him over and over.
Another scream sounded, but this time it wasn’t from Josh. It was from outside. Another scream was unleashed, and Josh could tell it was a male voice full of terror.
“What the fuck?” Will hissed, spitting out blood on the floor. Josh rolled off him and both men stood. The third scream had them running outside, Josh unarmed and Will with his sword. For an instant Josh felt maybe this was a dream. He had never seen Will handle a gun or a sword. His friend from elementary wasn’t this man. That’s it. It had to be a dream. A really messed up one, a nightmare.
He would wake soon.
And Myra would be there beside him. The thought comforted him and took away the heartache and fear that held his heart hostage.
Brendan was outside with a huge gash on his arm that was gushing blood, and a smaller cut on his face. He was in his pajamas, which consisted of shorts with the Superman logo and a wife beater. Josh would’ve given him hell any other night about his shorts, but not now.
Brendan was carrying Mari in his arms. She had on a nightgown with princesses, but she wasn’t bloody, no visible marks on her. She was crying and clutching to her daddy tight.
“It’s Claire!” Brendan sobbed.
“She’s coming!” the little girl wailed.
“What’s wrong with her?” Josh asked.
“She attacked me. She finally woke up and got out of bed and I was in the living room. She just…just attacked me. Like an animal.”
“Dammit,” Will whispered. He took out his sword.
“What is that? What are you going to do?” Brendan cried, frantic.
“Mommy!” Mari screamed. “Don’t hurt my mommy!”
Josh looked from Will to Brendan and his heart kicked into overdrive. “No, Will don’t,” he pleaded.
“You don’t understand,” Will answered, and Josh saw the guilt in his eyes. The next second he was gone, running the short distance next door and entering the dark house
“What’s he doing? We just need to call an ambulance.” Brendan’s voice was high pitched and wobbly.
“Mommy!” Mari wailed.
Josh stood there, feeling helpless. He wanted to wake up. He’d had enough of this stupid dream.
He heard crashing, maybe a window breaking. He wasn’t sure. Then he saw Claire in the yard, crouched down on all fours. She really did look like an animal. Sweet, small Claire. A flashback of Claire and Brendan at their door the first week they moved in, handing over a plate of cookies, came to his mind.
This was not the same Claire. Now, Claire had blood staining her mouth, her eyes were dark, and she bared her fangs at us. This Claire was a monster. Mari saw her and screamed, and this made Claire smile. The act made bile rise in Josh’s throat. They were all going to die. But Will jumped out a second later, katana raised.
Since Claire was focused on Josh’s house, she didn’t notice Will. He gripped the sword in both hands and in one swoop, swung it down and across. Brendan shielded Mari’s eyes the exact moment when the sword made contact and went through Claire’s back. Within seconds, she turned into ash. Just like Myra.
It was over that fast. Will bent down, his chest heaving hard, his shirt soaked with sweat and blood. Josh stood there, mouth agape, as Mari’s screams echoed through the night. What just happened?
***
Like Josh, Brendan’s disbelief quickly turned into rage. They had moved inside, to Josh’s house, careful not to disrupt the pile of ashes that Myra had been turned into.
Mari had huddled on the couch in the fetal position, crying until she was hiccupping. Snot ran down her face. Brendan ignored her while he hurled insult aft
er insult at Will. Blind rage drove his mouth as it spewed curse words.
Will stood there and took the verbal assault, just like he took Josh’s physical one. Bruises were starting to form on his face, his eye already swelling up. Josh felt guilty as he stared at his friend. He remembered the times Will had stood up for him in middle school, fighting his bullies. Why can’t we go back to simpler times? he wondered.
Only after he was spent, Brendan collapsed on the recliner, eyes bloodshot and puffy. Mari immediately raced to him and became enveloped in his arms. They both cried together and the sight was enough to make Josh’s eyes water. He didn’t have anyone to mourn or grieve with about Myra. They’d had each other and now it was just him.
Will spoke after it was silent. “They weren’t your wives anymore. They were turned.”
“Turned? Into what?” Josh asked.
“Vampires.”
“Bullshit.” Josh spat out.
“You saw them. Claire bit Myra, from what I gather from what you told me. While she was over there she attacked Myra and glamoured her. Turning times vary. But Claire probably got bit that day. And once you’re bit, it’s over.
“News of a group of vampires came across my feed a week ago. That’s what I do. At night, I go and hunt vamps. I’ve been doing it for years, but there hasn’t been this much activity in a while. It’s an infection, and it can spread like crazy.”
“Is that what’s going on at the hospitals? With Choy?”
Will shook his head. “No that’s something else entirely. But I think it may be related to why the vamps have flocked here. They’re going to quarantine the big cities. I have a buddy who knows someone from the CDC and this other thing is spreading fast like wildfire.”
Out of all the years he had known Will, vampire hunter weren’t two words that ever would come up to describe his friend. The whole conversation had Josh scared. He didn’t believe in supernatural type stuff, not even ghosts. Myra had, but he never could wrap his brain around it. But he had seen Myra, the state she was in, and that was definitely not human. The thought chilled him to the bone.
“I’ve seen one with the new sickness. During daylight, so I know it’s not a vampire. But they aren’t human, either…”
“What are they?” Brendan finally spoke up, his crying ceased.
“Truthfully, it’s like zombies. You know. Dead people walking around.”
“What the fuck, give me a break. You read too many damn sci-fi books,” Josh scoffed.
“Well, I think you just saw something sci-fi now, didn’t you? When your wife sprouted fangs.”
It was silent for a few moments.
Will continued, “I know it sounds crazy. I know it does. But you’ve seen it yourself now.”
“All this is just impossible.”
“No man, it’s possible. You think I’m lying? You saw yourself how Myra was. You saw Claire jump out of the window. Just ‘cause you don’t know about it doesn’t mean it’s impossible.”
“It’s the damn government,” Brendan said quietly. “They never tell you the truth about anything.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Area 51, aliens? Now they’re hiding the vampires? And trying to keep the zombie thing quiet?” Josh questioned.
“Well I think they know what this ‘sickness’ is,” he said, using air quotes. Brendan had always been a little paranoid. One of those guys who had a fall-out shelter in the basement and read survivalist handbooks. Josh had seen firsthand his array of weaponry, food stashes, and other tools he had saved up for just in case. He said he got it honestly; it was how he was raised. He didn’t trust the government, either.
Josh shook his head and got up. He stretched his back, his body feeling like it had been run over by a truck. He lumbered to the fridge and grabbed three ice cold bottles. He went back to the living room and passed them out silently.
“So. What will we do?” he asked after he sat back down.
They sat, quietly drinking, no one able to answer.
Josh had clicked on the TV and the news from earlier was on repeat. There was a story about a nearby hospital, the same hospital Josh and Will had taken Choy to, where people had been attacked by patients. Deceased patients had escaped in the midst of the chaos. Other attackers were still inside and people were reported to have been barricaded.
The city was now officially under quarantine and the National Guard had been sent out. Will took a long pull from his beer and whispered, “It’s the beginning of the end.”
Chapter Eight
The next several weeks changed Josh. It changed his whole perspective on everything. Myra, the love of his life, was gone. Brendan’s wife was gone. Apparently not only were there vampires, but also a zombie plague.
The world had turned into one shitastic sci-fi movie.
Exactly three weeks after Myra had died, there was another vampire attack. Will was staying at Josh’s place, as were Brendan and Mari most days. They had gone to work the first week for nothing. Nobody had shown up. Everybody was staying home. The news was depressing, scientists arguing about what the sickness was, what was restarting the dead. Except they weren’t restarting; they still had no beating heart, no breathing lungs. They were completely dead. And nobody knew what to do.
The three week anniversary had them all inside. The TV had on a cartoon movie, Garfield; it was the only kid movie Josh had and it was on VHS. Mari liked it.
She was a cute kid, still sad, but Josh grew fond of her. Thought of her like a niece; he never had any, so it was nice to have a kid around. But he feared for her. The little girl now had to grow up in this new world.
She asked about school, if she was going to go to kindergarten that year. Her dad put her off, giving her different answers depending on his mood. Josh felt sad for her; her whole life had changed. No mom, no school; she wouldn’t know that exciting yet fearful feeling of stepping into a classroom that smelled like glue and Lysol mixed together. She wouldn’t play freely on the playground at recess. She would have to skip that part of her childhood, at least for now, and it made Josh feel horrible.
He still talked to Myra as if she was there. He was sure the others heard him in the middle of the night, but nobody had said anything. He would lay there in the bed, pretending she was next to him. Telling her about what happened that day, about what had happened. He would pause, thinking of what she would say, which facial expressions she would use. Most nights his pillow became damp with the silent tears that he couldn’t stop, and he would fall asleep with his arm thrown over her side of the bed.
Night had fallen, and they could hear the shuffle of the dead outside. Sometimes they would get close to the house. They were curious, trying to scratch at the windows and door. Brendan made Mari sleep with headphones on.
The knock at the door scared the crap out of them. All three men jumped up and grabbed something. Josh peeked out and saw two men standing there. They looked fine, very pale but no bites; their eyes weren’t glazed over.
With Will right behind him he cracked the door. “Can I help you?”
“We were wondering if you could come out here and help us with our car. It seems to have broken down,” the taller one said. He looked at them, but didn’t make eye contact. A bad feeling swept over Josh.
“Can it wait till morning? We don’t go out with the dead walking around. It’s hard to protect ourselves,” Will answered.
“I understand. But it won’t start at all. Maybe we can stay the night here? We don’t like to be out at night, either.”
Will took a step towards them but they didn’t move. He was blocking Josh, standing on the door frame. “Listen, I get it. Y’all can just stay out in the car overnight and we can come out in the morning.”
“No. No you don’t get it,” the other one stated. In a flash, his fangs popp
ed out and he grabbed the front of Will’s shirt. “You don’t get it at all. We’re starving.” And then he flung Will like a rag doll. Josh watched as he sailed in the air and landed in the front yard with a noisy thud. They were on him in an instant.
“Shit!” Josh exclaimed. He and Brendan were outside in an instant, slamming the door behind them.
“You go inside. Go with your daughter,” he tried to tell Brendan, but he didn’t hear him. Brendan had the gun and grabbed the back of one vampire off of Will.
He shot him and Josh winced. Ashes scattered on the lawn. That’s gonna bring the dead out. They had to hurry. He took his knife and held it out in front of him. Will had his forearm up against the other vampire’s throat. They were both growling and grunting and Josh came up behind and grabbed a handful of the vampire’s hair.
“You don’t understand. We need you. We need to feed,” he growled.
“Oh the fuck well!” Josh growled and stabbed him through the back, piercing his heart. In an instant, he was ash.
“Get inside. Now!” Brendan yelled, wide-eyed. Behind him there was a swarm of the dead, shuffling faster to find the cause of the sound. Will scrambled up, grabbed his katana from the ground, and booked it up the porch stairs.
One of the zombies was right on their tails. It had once been a tall man, whose last outfit alive was a basketball jersey and shorts. Half his face was gone, chew marks all up and down his arm. His stink filled Josh’s nostrils, making him gag. He slammed the door shut, swallowing the bile that had made its way to his throat.
After setting the bookcase against the door, they slumped down to the ground, breathing heavily.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I should’ve just stabbed him,” Brendan said, his hand thrown against his forehead.
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