Side Effects: Book Two: Visions of Despair

by Dusti Dawn Rose

She released the dice and was pleasantly surprised to get three twos’, a four, and a one. She was on point to get her large bonus up top now, even if her next two rolls didn’t garner any two’s. She scooped up the one and the four, gave them a little shake, opened her hand and watched the fall.

  “They’re here!” Micah said, pushing back from the table, his chair falling behind him in his haste to stand. The group stood collectively, all with startled looks on their faces.

  “Who? Your Dad?” Juliette asked, feeling a small flicker of hope bloom inside her.

  “I can feel him. I think they’re getting close, we need to go out and help them,” he said, walking quickly toward the mud room.

  Juliette locked eyes with Kate for a moment before she took off after him. It was entirely too dangerous for him to go outside. “Micah, you need to wait in here. Have faith in your dad, he made it this far, just be patient. When you went after him last time it almost got you killed. You need to trust him. I do,” she said, gripping his shoulder, silently pleading with him to listen to reason.

  “She’s right Micah,” Jimmy said from behind her. “You can’t go out there,” he finished with a gulp. Juliette felt her stomach drop when she turned and saw his face. All of the color had left him, his freckles stark against the ghost white skin behind them.

  “What is it, what do you see?” Juliette asked, dropping to the floor in front of the boy. “Tell me, Jimmy, what’s going to happen?” she begged.

  “Ease up on him,” Emily said as she reached the room. “We all just need to stay calm. Let him sort it out first before he tells us, I know it can be confusing for him sometimes,” she finished, the worry evident in her clear green eyes that were exact replicas of her father’s.

  Juliette released her grip from the boy’s arms, suddenly ashamed of her behavior. “I’m sorry, Jimmy,” she said, as she pulled him in for a hug. “I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that.”

  “It’s okay, Juliette, I’m scared too,” he told her, his voice a soft whisper.

  “Micah, come on, we’re going to go sit down,” Emily said, steering her brother toward the couch.

  Juliette marveled at Emily’s ability to set her fear aside and take charge like she did. She was so much like her dad--a born leader. In that moment, Juliette was relieved to hand over the responsibility to someone else. The chair by the fire offered the best view of the entire room. Juliette made her way there and sat down.

  Anna paced back and forth in front of her, full of nervous energy. “I’m going to go make some tea,” Kate said, excusing herself from the room full of tension.

  “Are you ready to tell us what you saw little B?” Drew asked Jimmy.

  Juliette’s brow furrowed as she tried to figure out why Drew would call the boy “little B.” As far as she knew there wasn’t a B anywhere in his name. She was almost certain that his last name was Cruise.

  Jimmy looked at her from across the room. “Your thoughts are loud, Juliette,” he said, some of the tension draining from his face. “That’s a question I can answer. He calls me little B, for little buddha. He thinks I’m pretty special,” he finished with a small smile.

  “You are,” the rest of them said in unison.

  “Can you tell us anything?” she pleaded, not sure whether she really wanted to know or not.

  “One thing I know for sure is that we all need to stay inside. They have a good chance of making it, as long as we don’t go out there. Even the girl,” he added, his voice sounding hollow as the visions played out for him.

  The vacant look in his eyes caused a chill to run up Juliette’s spine. Her heart was pounding like a conga drum in her ears. She took a deep breath trying to calm down. “What girl?” she asked, as his words finally settled.

  “I don’t know her name, she’s coming back with them. There’s someone else too, but I can’t see him as clearly,” Jimmy said, squeezing his eyes shut, focusing on what only he could see.

  “I don’t want to just sit here and do nothing!” Micah growled.

  “You're not going out there!” Emily shouted, the anger she was feeling earlier returning. “You heard him. If you go out there, you're going to screw it all up, and people will die!”

  “I can’t just do nothing!” Micah yelled. His own anger was climbing a notch, or maybe it was his sister’s anger coursing through him. Juliette felt tremendous pity for the boy. She could only imagine the vast array of emotions that were coming at him from all directions.

  “I don’t need your pity,” he spat, turning to stare at Juliette, the anger she saw in his face was instantly replaced with sadness. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you, Juliette,” he said, his voice low and sincere.

  “It won’t be long now,” Jimmy said as he opened his eyes.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Mitch

  “Come on!” Mitch urged the horse, tapping her sides with the inside of his foot. He had only been on a horse a handful of times. Never in a snow blizzard after the sun had gone down. He had decided a few miles back that they were fools. They should have waited until morning.

  The drive up the mountain had gone well. Mitch had parked the truck and trailer in the clearing at the base of his property that he used for all of his vehicles. They had been able to put three of the horses and one cow into the trailer in its four dividers. Once spring came and the snow melted, he planned to go back. If there were any animals left he would bring the rest of them up as well. They would need all of the resources they could get.

  Hayden slipped slightly in the saddle. “Grip with your legs, Hayden. I know it’s not easy, but you’ve got to hold on.” he urged, trying to secure the girl. She had opted to ride with him, Henry was on with Travis, and Mike was up ahead of them all, leading the cow.

  Mitch knew that the weight of two riders was taxing on a horse in normal conditions, and their conditions were anything but normal. He could feel the animal beneath them panting with exhaustion. They had about a mile left before they would reach the barn. Mitch gave the animal’s neck a pat; a silent plea to keep moving forward.

  Travis stopped on the trail in front of him. “Whoa,” Mitch said, pulling back on the reins. “What’s going on, Travis?” he asked.

  “There’s something up there, I’m going to check it out,” he said, slipping off the horse. Travis grabbed his scythe. “Keep moving, I’ll catch up.”

  “Be safe,” Mitch replied, as he tapped his horse to get her moving again.

  “Thanks Travis,” Henry said, as he shifted into the saddle Travis had just vacated. “Just say the word and I’ll stop so you can get back on.”

  “I think the horse has a better chance of making it if you finish the ride solo. I’m a sprinter, don’t worry about me,” Travis replied, tapping the horse to get him going.

  “Do you think it’s a pack?” Mitch wondered, trying to decide if he should get down to help Travis, or stay with Hayden.

  “I’m not sure, I know there are at least two,” Travis answered. “They’re staying in the tree line. I don’t think they’re mindless, Mitch. They seem like fucking killers, and we are their prey.”

  Mitch gave Hayden’s shoulder a little squeeze. “Don’t leave me,” she whispered.

  “I’m going to keep you safe,” he told her, trying to mask the uncertainty he felt as they moved slowly through the forest. Mitch watched as Travis quickly advanced on Mike. He caught a glimpse of movement in the trees to the left of the trail. Travis must have seen it too because he crouched down in a defensive stance, ready for an attack. “Hold tight to the horn, Hayden. No matter what happens, you have to keep yourself on her, do you understand?”

  “I understand,” she whispered solemnly.

  One of the stalkers lunged from behind a tree and landed directly on the cow, knocking her off her feet. The animal kicked and thrashed around, letting out a long mournful wail as the monster began tearing at her flesh.

  Travis brought down his blade, and with one clean sweep removed t
he monsters head, causing a crimson shower of blood to rain down on Mitch and Hayden. Distracted by the mess, Hayden let go of the saddle horn to wipe at her face.

  Mitch felt her begin to slide and dropped one of the reigns to pull her close. “Remember you’ve got to hold tight. No matter what.”

  Mike had stopped as soon as the stalker lunged for the cow, they were all standing like ducks in a row waiting to go to slaughter. “We need to run the horses, get them to the barns before they get taken down too,” Mitch said.

  “Mike, lead them in. I’m going to hoof it with Travis. Hayden, stay close to Henry, squeeze tight and tell the horse to go. Pull back on the reigns and tell her ‘whoa,’ when you reach the barn. They’re smart animals, she’ll listen to you. You have to put away your fear, you can do this Hayden. You are going to do this,” he finished, sliding down from the horse.

  Hayden gave a small nod, her whole-body trembling with fear. He watched her take a deep breath to gain composure as a firm look of determination and strength slid onto her face. She ran her hand down the animal’s neck and whispered some unknown secret into her ear. Grabbing the reins firmly in her hands, she kicked the horse in the sides with both of her heels and yelled, “Yah.”

  Henry gave a nod and took off after her at a fast pace. Before he was out of sight, one of the stalkers lunged at the back of his horse, causing the animal to buck wildly. “Get off mother fucker!” Henry yelled. He swung his knife wildly at the monster with one hand, while clinging tightly to the horse with the other.

  Mitch and Travis reached him in moments. Travis used the sharp point that had been added to the end of the scythe to pierce the monster in the head, taking him down before he had a chance to turn on them.

  Henry’s horse continued to buck wildly, deep bloody gouges visible on her back. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Henry chanted quietly, trying to calm her.

  Mitch walked to the front of the animal. He made a grab for the reins, missed, and reached out again. This time, his hand connected with the thin leather strap and he slowly pulled her down. “Whoa,” he told her firmly.

  He watched as she began to relax, her flanks heaving as she continued to breathe heavily from fright and pain. She snorted, nostrils flaring, as she stomped her front hoof and twitched her head.

  “Get her up there fast and hold tight. She’s scared, and fear makes everyone’s actions unpredictable--even horses,” Mitch told Henry.

  “Are you sure it’s safe to take her? She was bit, or scratched. She’s bleeding Mitch, and at this point I think I’d feel better with my feet on the ground,” he answered.

  “I don’t know what happened to her really, it’s just as likely that you caused her injuries the way you were swinging that knife around. I’m not just going to write her off. Get her to the barn. It’s the least you can do,” Mitch said, trying to tamp down the anger that he was feeling after watching Henry’s recklessness with a weapon.

  “You think I did that to her?” Henry replied, a look of sorrow and deep regret taking shape on his face.

  “I think we need to clean her wounds when we get her back to the barn, and see what we’re dealing with before we make any decisions,” Mitch answered, with a softer tone. “Now go!” he finished, tapping Henry on the leg.

  Mitch watched as Henry was quickly swallowed by the darkness. “He’s just a kid Mitch, he doesn’t know any better. Not everyone has had weapons training, and I’m sure he was fucking petrified. We’ll train Perk, and the others that need it. He won’t make a mistake like that again.” Travis said as he walked beside Mitch, both of them tense and ready to fight.

  “What’s with the name?” Mitch asked.

  “What name?” Travis questioned back, as they made their way through the woods.

  “Perk,” Mitch answered in exasperation. “You knew the kid for about 30 seconds before you gave him a nickname, what’s up with that?”

  “How long did I need to know him? He wasn’t trying to eat me, or be a dick like Gus. So that makes him one of us. I figure giving him a nickname will make him feel like he’s a part of this group. You know as well as I do that he’ll be with us until he’s dead. Strength in numbers, Mitch, for the sake of humanity. Besides, I like it,” he chuckled.

  “You get to train him. I’ll work with the girls, but that one’s all you,” Mitch finished, still trying to tamp down his anger. So far, the kid had attacked him and stabbed the horse in the ass. He was starting to dislike him.

  They continued on in silence. Mitch heard a twig snap to the left of him. With a 12-inch blade in each hand, he turned toward the sound. He preferred the small blades for the control they awarded him. The scythe was cool, but he was a practical man. “Looks like we’ve got company,” he said over his shoulder. Travis was standing directly behind him with a similar stance.

  The monster strode out from behind a tree, crouched in front of Mitch and let out a challenging roar. Its whole body shaking back and forth with the force of the scream. A smug grin spreading across the evil face as it lunged at its prey.

  Mitch swung his blade, but missed the vital parts, he sliced into the collarbone instead. “There’s more of them,” he heard Travis say, as three more of the stalkers attacked as one.

  Mitch lunged once more at the monster before him. This time his aim hit the mark as his blade sank into the soft flesh beneath its chin. It let out a final startled cry and slumped toward him. He quickly dislodged his knife and the monster fell to the forest floor.

  He turned his attention to the others. Travis had taken one down right away, but he was having trouble holding the other two at bay. Mitch grabbed the one closest to him and buried his knife in the side of its skull.

  Travis was having a tug of war with the last monster. He and the monster both had a grip on the handle of the scythe that was held between them; a test of strength and persistence. “Aahhh!” Travis yelled, as he finally won the upper hand and tore the scythe from the beast’s grasp.

  The monster stepped back as if to regroup. He wore the tattered remnants of a postal uniform, the bag still draped cross-ways over his body. A large hole at the bottom scattered mail across the mountain. He was small in size, but that didn’t matter, this contamination that was taking place in people gave each of them a strength they would never have had before.

  The beast crouched, determined to pounce on Travis and have his fill; blind to everything else around him. Mitch snuck up beside him, and just as the monster pushed off the ground toward Travis, Mitch grabbed the mail sack--pulling the beast off his feet. He sunk his blade into its temple, causing the monster’s body to still.

  “Holy shit, that was intense,” Travis said, puffs of breath escaping like smoke into the cold dark night. “I hope that was the last of them.”

  “We need to catch up to the others,” Mitch said, giving Travis a squeeze on the shoulder as he walked by him, heading toward his home in the trees.

  Travis caught up quickly and dropped into place beside Mitch, both men remaining silent as they kept constant watch all around. The tree growth was spread well, with plenty of room to walk between the tall evergreens.

  It was so quiet that if Mitch listened closely he could hear the horses making their way through the woods. They should be reaching the clearing behind the barn soon. “It’s time to go,” Travis said, before he took off in a sprint.

  Mitch hung back for a moment, he half expected to see something else dart out after his friend. Satisfied that they were alone, he took off running, it wouldn’t take long to reach the barn.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Juliette

  Juliette had taken Micah up to the crow’s nest. She had convinced him to come by reminding him how much better the view was from this window. They had turned the barn light on before heading up the stairs, Juliette wanted to be able to see the grounds in front of the barn, and without the light, she would be blind to everything.

  It was true the view was better, but her main concern had been getting Micah a
way from the door. She didn’t trust that he wouldn’t take off outside if he sensed that his dad was in danger.

  “Look, I see people on horses coming up around the barn,” she told Micah, pointing at the horses.

  Micah picked up a pair of binoculars that were sitting on the desk and looked out the window. “Looks like Uncle Mike, but I don’t know who the other two are. I don’t see my dad, or Travis,” he finished, his voice shaking with fear.

  “Damn it!” he yelled slamming the binoculars back down on the desk and turning to leave.

  Juliette grabbed his shoulders and spun him around. “Calm down! It doesn’t mean anything, I’m sure they’re okay, maybe they just got separated. You’re not going out there,” she said, locking him in place with her stare. “You heard what Jimmy said, you need to pull it together and realize that staying here is the best way to protect your dad. Look what happened the last time you went out there,” she finished, her stare landing on his arm. When she let her gaze meet his again he had visibly calmed.

  “You’re right, I’m sorry,” he said. “You probably think I’m an idiot, don’t you? I know I shouldn’t even be thinking about going out there, it’s just, I can’t lose him. I can’t! I’m so scared Juliette,” he ended in a whisper, staring down at his feet.

  “I know, I’m scared too,” Juliette replied, pulling him in for a side hug. “But, I’m not as scared as I could be because I know how capable, and strong your dad is, and smart too.”

  “Do you like my dad?” Micah questioned.

  “Of course I like your dad, he’s a great man,” she answered, exasperated.

  “No, I mean ‘like’ like my dad?” he questioned again, using finger quotes for emphasis. Juliette felt the heat rush to her face when she realized just what he was asking.

  “Well, it’s hardly the time to like anyone like that,” she finished, grabbing the binoculars off the desk and checking on the people outside.

  She could feel the heat rush her face as the thought of Mitch and the kiss from last night clouded her vision. She took a deep breath and pushed the thought from her mind while she focused her attention on the barn. The two men had dismounted their horses and it looked like they were trying to convince the girl to do the same.