This Is the End: The Post-Apocalyptic Box Set (7 Book Collection)

by Craig DiLouie

  ***

  “Because.”

  “Because? That’s the best you can come up with?”

  “No. It’s the least I can come up with. I don’t owe you or the old man any explanation,” Kole said.

  Mara tucked her hands underneath her arms to accentuate the way they crossed her chest.

  “You’re a real asshole,” she said.

  “That’s the best you can come up with?” he asked, mocking her.

  Major stared out the window while Mara and Kole faced off. He shook his head and mumbled to himself when he no longer heard Samuel’s feet above.

  “He’s off the roof, and the creatures are moving toward that tree.”

  Mara and Kole stooped to have a better view, jostling like brother and sister.

  “Do you think he’s going to make it?” Mara asked.

  “Make it where?” Kole asked. “Before you get your panties all wet, consider where we are. I don’t see him—or us for that matter—outrunning that fucking cloud, do you?”

  “It might be possible to survive it.”

  Kole looked at Major after he spoke and shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

  Major sat back and looked into Kole’s eyes. He could see the darkness eating the man from the inside out.

  “Like surviving a tornado or a flood. Even though the disaster lays waste to the land, people survive it. Somehow, people always survive it.”

  Kole reared back, his fists balled and blood rushing to his face. “I’m done with you. I’m done with your cryptic bullshit. If there is more about this place, us, those fucking creatures, anything—if there is more, I want to hear it now, or I’ll split your fucking head open with my bare fists.”

  Mara stepped in front of Kole, her face inches from Major’s. “Tell us.”

  “There are ways to slip out of a reversion. I’ve done it before,” Major said.

  ***

  Samuel scanned the horizon, above the cabin and as far as he could see in the empty gloom brought by the cloud. He looked toward what he thought was the east, hoping to find a glimmer of ambient light struggling to break through the darkness, but he saw nothing. The shapes of nearby trees stood out in relief against the cloud, the leafless branches scratching at the sky with bony fingers. He could see over the Barren and cabins. He thought of Mara. He saw her at the table, sipping a mug of coffee and enjoying the outlook of optimistic youth. He felt a twinge in his chest and pushed his emotions aside.

  The horde had reconfigured. Half of the closest creatures swayed beneath his tree, no longer looking up or reaching into the sky for him. The other half inside the Barren circled the cabin, standing silent guard and waiting to pounce on Major, Kole or Mara if they came out.

  He thought about those three.

  I really don’t know who they are. I can speak with them in dreams. Maybe I’m not concerned about getting them out. Maybe I’ll swing through these trees like Tarzan and make them a distant memory.

  As much as he tried, he could not convince himself to abandon them in the cabin.

  They are my responsibility now. I’ve got to go back.

  Samuel shook the thoughts from his head and focused on the immediate task. He shimmied around the trunk until he was able to climb onto another branch on the opposite side of the tree. This one grew out toward another twenty yards away. He looked down at the huddle of creatures and then inched out, locking his feet behind him, toes down on the surface of the branch while he used his knees to squeeze it between his thighs. Samuel put his chest on the rough bark, shuffling forward. He had made it halfway across when he looked down.

  The branch angled upward toward the sky at a sharp angle. The creatures had reassembled, following his motion. They shambled along, twenty feet below. Samuel closed his eyes and kept moving until the branch brought him to the main trunk of the next tree. He sat up and hugged the trunk and swung his legs around until he was standing upright in a new tree. Samuel slapped the trunk and let out a victory holler, the only sound in the barren landscape. He stood and surveyed the situation again. Although the darkness and the cloud fought over the locality like two mutts over a hunk of meat, he had gained a different perspective. The Barren stretched out a bit behind him, facing west. Samuel thought he could see a faint, blurry area between the edge of the advancing cloud and the black sky. The strip glimmered as if hanging above a bonfire. He watched the shapes break and meld, and wondered what would happen if the cloud swallowed the entire sky, as he thought it would. Beyond the Barren, and as far east as he could see, Samuel spotted another rise, probably a mountain. The peak extended into the blackness as if surrounded by clouds. He strained to see a fine line meandering down the tree line and into the valley at the base of the mountain. Whatever it was, Samuel believed it was proof something other than the horde created a path beyond the Barren. He committed as much of the landscape to memory as he could before sitting on the branch and resting. He looked down at the swaying heads of grey flesh and bone beneath him.

  They attract each other like powerful magnets, he thought. Too many to fight. There has to be another way.

  Before his mind had time to contemplate the thought, a swift motion caught his eye. The cabin door was flung open.

  ***

  “You think if he gets out in front of those monsters that he’s going to repel the cloud, stop the reversion, and come back to save you? How fucking romantic,” Kole said.

  “We should leave the cabin now while they’re distracted by Samuel,” Major said. “We’re not in a position to wait things out. Time is not in our favor.”

  “What is, chief? Every time we face a rotten situation, you lay some bullshit on us, something you’ve been holding back. Well, I’ve had enough.” Kole stepped behind Mara and put his back to the door. “Nobody is leaving this cabin unless I open the door.”

  Mara stepped forward and slammed her balled fists into Kole’s chest. He stood motionless. Mara winced as her hands lost the battle.

  “What’s it going to take, son?”

  “I’m not your son, first of all. And for me to open this door is going to require some answers. Like right now.”

  “To what questions?” Major asked.

  “Don’t be fucking cute with me. You know what I’m talking about. I want to know how you’ve slipped reversions.”

  Major sighed and brushed his hand at Mara as if signaling that her attempts were futile. “Fine.”

  Kole nodded at Major and crossed his arms on his chest. He did not step away from the door.

  “This isn’t my first rodeo.”

  Mara felt a perplexed look creep onto her face. Kole shook his head at her, signaling not to interrupt the old man.

  “And you ain’t the first folks I found here. This is the third or fourth locality I’ve entered with a slip. Based on what’s outside, I’d say it’s the most depressing of the lot.”

  “You’ve slipped.” Kole said.

  He waited, expecting Major to explain why they hadn’t done so yet.

  Major nodded.

  “So how do we slip outta this shithole?” Kole asked.

  Major raised one palm and shook his head with a smirk. “Not so easy. If you want answers, you gotta shut up and quit asking me questions.”

  Mara smiled and Kole closed his mouth.

  “The last one had only wolves, not the horde. It felt more like winter than whatever the hell we’re in here, and it was forest as far as you could see. No mountains, hills, valleys. Just trees. I came across two people in that one. Two men, older. They had the growing paunch and shrinking hairline of middle age, although they didn’t seem to know each other. I found them arguing on a path that led to the Barren.”

  “This place?” Mara asked.

  “No,” Major said. “It was a series of caves, but I think it served the same purpose. The men called it the Barren, and so that’s what I called these cabins when I found them.”

  Mara shook her head.

  “Don’t
know if it’s the slips or the fact that I’m always landing in a locality that happens to be fighting a reversion—and I don’t remember how I got there or where I came from. But I do know I didn’t slip from my birth locality, what you guys might think of as your ‘real world’ existence.

  “Anyways, the wolves eventually became like the undead and they served the same function. Whatever runs the different localities must reformulate in different ways, because the wolves did the same thing. They pinned us down inside the cave. If someone went out, they pushed ’em back in. I know what you’re thinking, muscle man. I can see it in your eyes.”

  Kole smirked.

  “I searched every square inch of the inside of that cave, and it was solid rock, no way out.”

  Kole stopped smiling.

  “So we’re in the same boat. One of the guys decided he would make a run for it, not sure if the wolves would get him or not.”

  “The wolves are here too, aren’t they?” Mara asked.

  “They are, sweetheart, and I’m not sure why or where they’ve gone. Maybe they can smell the rotting corpses out there,” Major said with a light chuckle. “Good thing we can’t.”

  “You said you got out,” Kole said, trying to force the pace of the old man’s story.

  “Eventually. We tried a few times to get past the wolves. Hundreds of them blocked us in with fangs bared. Once we realized the cloud would get us before the wolves would let us out, things got desperate.”

  “How desperate?” Mara asked.

  “Bad enough that the two men came to fisticuffs, almost the way our two meatheads did.”

  Mara looked at Kole, and he avoided her stare.

  “The man that tried to get past the wolves had it all along. He just didn’t know how to use it.”

  “Had what?” Kole asked.

  “The talisman. It’s a physical item that somehow punches a hole in the locale and sets you up to slip and to take others with you. I can’t remember what mine were, but I must have had them to get here. It’s the only way of escaping the reversion. The kicker is I keep slipping into another locality that’s in the same shitty condition. The cloud keeps following me.”

  Mara paused and looked at Kole. Major remained quiet, letting them process the information.

  “You think one of us has a talisman that’ll slip us all out of here?” Kole asked.

  “Nope. He knows that neither of us has it,” Mara said.

  Kole looked at Major and then back to Mara.

  “Then that means—”

  “Yes,” Mara said. “That means Samuel has it. And if he doesn’t, we’re all going down in this reversion.”

  Major sat back and folded his hands on his lap. He smiled at Mara.

  “And you let him go They have needs to fulfillout there, carrying our key out of this place, to fend off the horde?” Kole said.

  “It was a test,” Mara said, pointing at the door, “and now Major has his proof.”

  Kole turned his head sideways as he looked at Mara. It never occurred to him the horde pursued Samuel because he was carrying the talisman. The creatures tried to devour Kole because he attacked them, but it was the talisman they were meant to isolate. If given the opportunity, the horde would have torn Kole apart, but not Samuel. Their role was only to contain him, protecting the talisman.

  “So I guess it’s time we get him back here and find out how he’s going to slip us the hell out,” Kole said.

  Chapter 12

  The horde responded to the opening door with a consistent, sludgy movement. The creatures slithered toward the stimulus, dragging remnants of clothing and tattered flesh behind them. Samuel placed a hand over his eyes more out of reflex than necessity. No sunlight existed here to play with his vision. He saw Major, followed by Kole and Mara, stepping outside the cabin to stand shoulder to shoulder.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he yelled.

  Mara stepped down and ran to the opposite side of the cabin, drawing a portion of the fluctuating mass to her. Major yelled something to Kole, who dashed in the other direction, creating a narrow gap between the undead. Major looked at Samuel and waved him down.

  Samuel noticed there were only one or two creatures remaining at the base of the tree. They both paced tight circles, bumping into each other, mindlessly moving like forgotten leaves tossed by the winter wind.

  Major waved again, his motion more urgent this time.

  “Damn it,” Samuel said.

  He turned for one final look at the path extending out of the Barren, blinking several times in hopes he could burn the features of the landscape into his memory.

  He tied the loose end of the rope around the trunk of the tree, threading it over the top of the branch that held him aloft. He then checked to make sure the other end held fast around his waist. Like an expert rock climber rappelling down the face of a mountain, Samuel gripped the rope in both hands. He backed off the branch, using his feet to push outward while allowing the rope to slide through his hands. Samuel cried out as the friction of the rope on his palms began to burn. He descended in a lazy arc from the last push, and the rope slackened as his feet landed on the ground. Three of the creatures shambled in his direction, angling in a way that pushed Samuel toward the cabin. He cut the rope from his waist and ran to the steps of the cabin, where Major stood with his arms crossed on his chest. Kole came around the cabin from one side, and Mara appeared on the other. Like a drain clogged with blackened sludge, the horde oozed back out and around the cabin, encapsulating it. The creatures moved forward, tightening the noose, letting them know it would be best if they opened the door and went back inside.

  “C’mon,” Major said, waving over his shoulder.

  He opened the door and stepped inside, followed by Mara and Kole. Samuel stopped and turned to face the rope dangling from the tree. He watched it sway back and forth, writhing like a snake. Samuel looked at the cloud above, and then to the unseen trail in the distance, before entering the cabin and pulling the door shut behind him.

  ***

  “I saw a path. East.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Sure it does,” Samuel said. “It’s going away from the cloud.”

  “That thing will eventually swallow this entire locality. Going east on the path only buys us a little more time,” Major said.

  Mara and Kole sat on the floor, waiting for their heartbeats to subside after the dash around the cabin.

  “Unless you have a plan for getting us out of here, I’m not sure what choice we have,” Samuel said.

  “You have something that will allow us all to slip with you. Get us out of the path of the reversion and land you in another locality. It might be a world degenerating faster than this one, but it’d be a different locality either way,” Major said.

  “I don’t have much on me,” Samuel

  He didn’t trust Major and was not about to submit to a search. Samuel thought about the fact that Major let him leave the cabin, knowing full well the horde would try to contain him. The old man knew Samuel wouldn’t make it out of the Barren.

  “Then it shouldn’t take long to determine which object is the talisman.”

  Major stepped forward with a smile cracking the lower half of his face. Samuel stepped back into the wall without thinking. He felt the rough planks nibbling at the fabric of his shirt.

  “What are you doing?” Samuel asked.

  Mara stood and looked at her feet. Kole jumped up and moved beside Major.

  “Just let us look at your shit. No need to get your panties in a bunch,” Kole said.

  Samuel exchanged glances with Mara. He saw a flicker of fear in her eyes.

  “I don’t need help from either of you,” Samuel said.

  He separated his feet to match the width of his shoulders. He bent at the knees and balled both hands into fists. Major stopped his approach and held both hands in the air, palms facing out.

  “Calm down. This doesn’t need to be messy. Once we de
termine which object is the talisman, you can try to punch a hole that slips all four of us out of here. I know how it works, and I can show you.”

  “No,” Mara said. “It’s a trick. They’ll leave us.”

  The men looked at her as she trembled.

  “What?” Kole asked with a sneer.

  “Don’t give them anything, Samuel.”

  Major chuckled and shook his head, treating Mara like an insolent child. He turned and spoke to Samuel.

  “We’re going to find the talisman, I’m going to show you how to use it, and then you’ll get us all out of here just like you were doing in the tree. Except this way will work. There’s nothing on that path out there but painful emptiness. More nothing until the reversion claims the last pathetic creatures here. It’ll churn us in the cloud along with the horde and the wolves. If you’re fine with that, then so am I. I’ve been punched through enough localities. I’m tired.”

  Kole stepped between Major and Samuel.

  “Give Major the talisman, you little bitch.”

  When Mara’s eyes met Samuel’s, she knew what he wanted her to do.

  She lunged forward, placing her hands on Kole’s forehead and plunging her thumbs into his eye sockets. She felt his warm, moist eyeballs against the pad of her thumbs as he screamed in pain. Samuel raised a knee upward until he felt it stop against Major’s pelvis. The old man dropped to the floor and pulled his knees to his chest while writhing in the fetal position. When Samuel looked back at Kole, he was on his knees with Mara draped over his back. She removed her thumbs from his eyes while dragging her nails across his face. Samuel watched the crimson lines appear like whiskers. Before Mara could utter a sound, Samuel grabbed her by the wrist and spun for the door. He pulled it open to reveal the horde exactly where they had left them. Black orbs in gray faces lifted at the change in the environment. Samuel dashed forward, pulling Mara with him. They stepped outside the cabin, and before Samuel could slam the door shut, he heard Major.

  “They won’t let you leave,” Major said. His voice sounded shaken, defeated.

  “We can try climbing the trees and get back on the path to the other side of the Barren.”