Apocalypse Then

by Al Lamanda

  If and when this nightmare was over she would go west to San Francisco to live with her older sister Mary, the wife of a prosperous banker. She would sell the ranch, pay off the debt and start anew.

  If and when.

  Powerful words.

  Little Sky entered the kitchen and sniffed the air. “Smells wonderful. What can I do?” she said.

  “Know how to make dough for bread?” Maura said. “We need to bake biscuits for Mr. Red Foot’s trip.”

  “I know how,” Little Sky said.

  For ninety minutes, Maura and Little Sky baked biscuits and fried corn dodgers. By six in the morning, they had enough to last the ten day trip. They packed the biscuits and dodgers into grain sacks, then readied saddlebags with coffee, beans, jerked meats, chocolate bars, hard candy and condensed milk, all compliments of the church pantry.

  “We best make more coffee and get some breakfast ready,” Maura said. “I hear voices in the hallway. The men are waking up.”

  They rinsed pans and dishes at the cold water pump beside the sink and then set about making pancake batter.

  “Little Sky, can you…did the missionaries ever call you anything but Little Sky?” Maura said.

  “They gave me an English name,” Little Sky said. “They called me Lucy.”

  Maura smiled. “Lucy. I like it. Tell them men breakfast in twenty minutes.”

  The sun was barely up when breakfast was consumed and the dishes soaked in a sink full of hot, bubbly water.

  Then there was nothing to do except wait for the herd of ghouls to make their way out of town.

  Except some of them didn’t.

  A barrel-chested ghoul hung out in front of the Blacksmith Shop. Four or five ghouls milled about in front of the hotel. Two took up residence near the jail. A few more stood in front of the Sundry store.

  “They ain’t leaving,” Poule said. “Why the fuck ain’t they leaving?”

  “Deputy Poule, do you see two women in our company?” Lane said.

  Poule swallowed hard and looked at Maura and Little Sky. “Apologies for my language. I’m just a bit upset is all.”

  “I’ve heard worse,” Maura said.

  “I’ve been called worse,” Little Sky said.

  “Well, why aren’t they leaving, Marshal?” Teal said.

  “I think the preacher was right,” Lane said. “They have some bits of memory that keeps drawing them back somehow.”

  “So what do we do?” Teal said. “Can’t expect Charlie to mosey on down to the livery for his horse with them hanging around.”

  “Load up,” Lane said. “We’ll go down and give Charlie some moseying room.”

  Chapter Thirty Three

  Scripture, a long range shooter in the Army during the war, kept post on the church steps with a .50 caliber Henry Rifle. He had a clear line of sight to the center of town and could easily pick off any threat unseen by the others.

  Poule carried a shotgun, two pistols and a rifle slung over his shoulder. Red Foot carried a Winchester and his pistol. Teal armed himself with a shotgun and his Schofield .44 revolver.

  Lane opted for his two Colt revolvers.

  All had hundreds of rounds of ammunition in their pockets and belts.

  “We’ll take out the ones in the street and then do a door-to-door,” Lane said. “Let’s go before they see us and we lose the advantage.

  Lane took point with Red Foot, Poule and Teal on his flanks.

  Closest to Lane was the Blacksmith. When Lane and the others were within a hundred feet of the massive wall of a man, he focused on Lane and immediately became animated.

  Arms outreached, teeth showing, the Blacksmith charged at Lane, snarled loudly and when he was ten feet from Lane, Lane calmly shot the Blacksmith in the head.

  Well over two hundred pounds, the Blacksmith hit the ground with a loud thud.

  “Jesus Christ,” Poule whispered.

  “Here we go,” Lane said.

  The movement of the Blacksmith coupled with the gunshot caught the attention of a dozen to fifteen ghouls. They focused upon Lane and the others and went into an immediate charge.

  Lane, Teal, Red Foot and Poule opened fire and for a many seconds the echoes of gunfire was deafening.

  Ghoul after ghoul fell dead to the ground from head wounds until the last one was down and unmoving.

  “Reload,” Lane said.

  After reloading all weapons, Lane and the others stood in the street and waited. From the alleyway between the Blacksmith shop and Gunsmith store, three ghouls limped and fumbled their way to the street.

  Lane, Teal, Poule and Red Foot turned to look at the three ghouls. The ghouls stumbled their way across the street, snarling and showing their teeth and went down in a hail of bullets as the four men opened fire on them.

  “Reload,” Lane said. “We’re going house to house.”

  A shot rang out and a ghoul not ten feet behind Poule fell dead from a head wound.

  “Shit! Shit!” Poule cried.

  Lane turned and waved to Scripture, who waved back.

  “Charlie, you’re with me,” Lane said. “Teal, Poule, you work the other side of the street.”

  From the balcony windows, Maura and Little Sky watched Lane and Red Foot take the west side of town, while Poule and Teal took the east side.

  “When the shooting is over, I have to go down to the jail,” Maura said.

  “I know,” Little Sky said.

  Lane entered the Blacksmith shop, closely followed by Red Foot. The area was void of ghouls and they went out through the back door and checked the alleyway between the Blacksmith shop and Gunsmith store.

  Two ghouls were standing there, seemingly oblivious. Lane didn’t give them a chance to focus and become animated. He put a bullet in each ghoul’s head.

  Lane waved for Red Foot to enter the back door to the Gunsmith shop.

  Poule and Teal checked several small shops and homes on the block before the hotel without finding a single ghoul.

  They stood before the hotel and scanned the surrounding sidewalk and area. Behind them, several shots rang out.

  “Guess they found a couple,” Teal said, casually.

  Poule opened the breech of the shotgun to make sure it was loaded with two fresh shells, closed the breech and cocked both hammers.

  “Follow me in,” Teal said.

  Teal climbed the steps to the hotel lobby with Poule close on his heels. Teal used the shotgun to push in the door, then he quickly entered and scanned the lobby.

  Poule came in close behind Teal and hugged the wall.

  “Shit!” Poule said. “Shit!”

  Teal pointed to the desk and hallway beside it. “Check the hallway and back rooms,” he said. “I’ll start with the rooms on the second floor.”

  Teal walked to the stairs and slowly started to climb to the second floor.

  Poule took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a second, opened them and slowly walked past the desk into the hallway.

  From a back room in the general store, a snarling ghoul came out rushing with outstretched arms toward Lane. His back to the ghoul, Lane heard the footsteps and turned around with cocked revolvers.

  Red Foot shot the ghoul down with a bullet to the head.

  Lane nodded to Red Foot and pointed to the open backroom door.

  Three ghouls were huddled together beside a rack of canned corn and fruits. They looked at Lane and immediately lumbered toward him with outstretched arms.

  Lane shot two in the skull and Red Foot took out the third.

  “What’s next door?” Lane said.

  “Sundries,” Red Foot said.

  “Good,” Lane said, looking at the blood splatter on his clothes. “I could use a clean shirt.”

  Poule shoved open the hotel pantry door and jumped in with shotgun at the ready. “Fuck!” he screamed. “Fuck!”

  Poule took another deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment.

  Just as a massive, three hundred pound fema
le ghoul stepped out from behind a shelf. In life she had been an assistant chef at the hotel. In death she was just hungry. Her yellowish eyes widened at the sight of Poule.

  Poule opened his eyes just as the woman snarled and raced toward him.

  “Fuck!” Poule screamed as he let both barrels of the shotgun go.

  The double burst of 12 gauge struck the woman in the chest and stomach, but barely slowed her down a bit. She reached Poule and her hands went for his neck and he drew his Colt, cocked it and put a bullet under her chin.

  The massive woman stepped backward with half her jaw missing. She looked at Poule with a fire in her eyes that spelled hunger. She reached for Poule and he cocked the Colt and shot her in the forehead. The bullet splattered bone and bits of brain onto Poule’s face.

  “Fuck!” Poule screamed. “You Goddamm fucking bitch!”

  The giant woman stumbled backward and hit a shelving unit, dropped to one knee and stayed motionless for several seconds.

  Then, slowly, miraculously, the woman rose to her feet.

  Poule cocked his Colt and shot her in the neck. “You bitch fuck, why won’t you just fucking die!” he yelled.

  Still the woman rose up.

  Poule cocked and fired three more shots, the third hitting the woman in the center of the brain. She staggered a few steps as Poule cocked and pulled the trigger and his Colt made the sound of an empty gun.

  Poule holstered the empty Colt and pulled the second one from its holster. “Die, you fucking bitch!” he screamed and shot the woman six times in the head. “Fucking die you bitch fuck!”

  Nearly headless, the woman dropped like stone, twitched for a second or two and went still.

  Poule backed up until he hit the wall and slid down until he was squatting. He looked at the massive, ghoul of a woman. He could see bits of her brain through the blood and goo on her scalp.

  He could feel her blood and flesh on his face.

  “Oh Jesus God,” Lane said and started to sob.

  A noise caused Poule to turn, cock his Colts and pull the triggers. Empty clicks sounded and Teal flinched as he stepped through the door.

  “Christ sake, Poule,” Teal said.

  Poule dropped his Colts and started to cry.

  Teal looked at the dead woman on the floor. “Put up some fight, eh,” he said. “Come on, reload and let’s get out of here.”

  Poule reached for a Colt, opened the hatch and discarded a spent round. His hands shook so badly, he missed the chamber with a fresh round.

  “I’ll do it,” Teal said. “Pull yourself together, man.”

  From the balcony windows of the church, Maura and Little Sky watched Lane and the others gather in the street in front of the saloon. They knew the shooting was over when the men entered the saloon and didn’t come out.

  From behind the bar, Lane set out four shot glasses and opened a bottle of Rye Whiskey. He filled each glass.

  “I know it’s barely eight in the morning, but I think each of us deserves a drink,” Lane said. He corked the bottle and set it on the bar, lifted his glass and held it toward Red Foot.

  “Charlie, here’s to a successful ride,” Lane said.

  “I’ll drink to that,” Red Foot said.

  The four men downed their shots in unison and set the glasses on the bar.

  “Let’s go,” Lane said. “We have bodies to burn.”

  The saloon doors swung open and Maura and Little Sky walked in. “Is this saloon for men only?” Maura said.

  “I didn’t see a sign,” Lane said.

  “What are you having?” Maura said.

  “Rye.”

  “That will do,” Maura said. “One for each of us.”

  Lane set two more glasses on the bar and filled all six.

  “Did you kill them all?” Maura said.

  “All that we saw,” Lane said.

  “Including the jail?” Maura said.

  Lane tossed back his shot. “No.”

  “Then you didn’t kill them all,” Maura said and raised her glass.

  Chapter Thirty Four

  Light came in through the window above Seth’s shoulder and illuminated the tiny jail cell. He sat on the cot, unmoving and out of focus. He had no idea where he was. He had no idea how he arrived inside the cell. He had no thoughts or feelings. His mind was void of ideas, time, knowledge, even language.

  He had no memory of the past or that there was a present.

  He wasn’t even aware of the fact that he existed.

  There was a fire in his belly, a deep hunger that raged, but for what and where it came from he had no idea.

  Loud noises sounded outside the cell window. Seth didn’t stand up from the cot to try to look out and see where they came from. He didn’t care. He had no idea what the noises were and they meant nothing to him.

  All his brain could process was the hunger he felt deep inside his stomach.

  But a hunger for what?

  More noises sounded, but not from outside the window.

  Seth turned to look at the bars of his cell. His vision was blurry and out of focus. The noises were distorted and fuzzy and seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

  The noises grew louder and shadows on the floor of the cell caught Set’s eye. He turned his head and looked at the cell doors and at the people standing on the other side.

  The people made noises at him, but Seth had no idea what the noises were or meant.

  Then, so slowly that his mind couldn’t process the information for several seconds, Seth’s vision cleared and he saw the people for what they were and he knew what the fire in his belly was aching for.

  Food!

  “Seth, it’s me,” Maura said. “Your mother.”

  Maura, Little Sky, Lane, Red Foot, Teal and Poule looked at Seth inside the tiny jail cell.

  “Seth?” Maura said. “Can you hear me, Seth?”

  Slowly, Seth turned his head and looked directly at Maura. His yellowish eyes were glassed over, hazy and she wasn’t sure if he saw her or not. She tried not to gasp at the sight of his greenish skin or the deep set eye sockets that cast dark shadows on his cheeks.

  “I don’t know if he can’t hear you or doesn’t understand,” Lane said.

  “Seth?” Maura said with a sob in her voice.

  Seth’s eyes locked on Maura’s voice and all at once they came into razor sharp focus and with surprising speed he was off the cot and at the bars of the jail cell.

  Seth snarled and reached through the bars with his hands. He whined and clicked his teeth savagely; snarling and spitting like an animal in the wild.

  “Mrs. McCain?” Lane said.

  “I’m sorry, Seth,” Maura sobbed. “I am so sorry.”

  “Take her outside,” Lane said to Little Sky.

  “No,” Maura said. “I gave him life. I saw him the moment he opened his eyes. I will see him when they close.”

  Lane stepped closer to the iron bars.

  Seth’s rage seemed to grow stronger the closer Lane got to him. White foam formed at the corners of Seth’s mouth as he snarled and snapped his teeth like a savage wild animal.

  “I am truly sorry son,” Lane said.

  Lane drew his Colt, cocked the hammer and placed the barrel directly against Seth’s forehead and pulled the trigger.

  Chapter Thirty Five

  The remains of the ghouls smoldered as the fire went out and their ashes scattered across the prairie from a strong easterly wind.

  A hundred yards outside of town, Lane, Maura, Little Sky, Red Foot, Scripture and Poule stood over the gravesite of Seth and bowed their heads.

  “I wish there were words to say to you Seth,” Maura said. “But there isn’t any, or at least none come to mind that would make sense of this situation. I hope that when you arrive at your final resting place, wherever that may be that you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

  There was a long moment of respectful silence.

  “Let’s get
back to town,” Lane said. “Charlie has a ride to prepare for.”

  “Push hard, but don’t kill my horse,” Lane said to Red Foot. “It’s a long walk to Keogh, Charlie.”

  Red Foot and Lane shook hands.

  Then Red Foot mounted Lane’s horse, gave Lane a slight wave and rode down Main Street and out of Big Sky.

  “Teal, Scripture, let’s load as much supplies as possible into the church,” Lane said. “If we have to we’ll empty every store in town. Poule, watch the street and keep your Winchester handy.”

  Poule looked at Lane and slowly nodded his head.

  In the general store, as they filled sacks with canned goods and supplies, Teal said, “Marshal, I waited until we were alone and things calmed down a bit to say something.”

  “About?” Lane said.

  “Poule.”

  “What about him?”

  “He’s coming apart,” Teal said. “Earlier I found him sobbing on the floor and if it weren’t that both his guns were empty he’d a shot me walking through the door. He shook so bad I had to reload his Colts for him.”

  “There’s more than that,” Scripture said. “When I relieved him on watch he was talking about running off to Harding to see his wife. He said he would steal a horse and sneak off on his own because she was pregnant.”

  “We need every man for watch, but we’ll give him last shift so if he has any ideas of running off he won’t be able to until the town clears,” Lane said. “By then we’ll all be up and able to watch him.”

  “Maybe you should talk to him?” Teal said.

  “And tell him what, not to love his wife anymore?” Lane said.

  By late afternoon, the interior of the church looked like a combination general store, sundry shop and gunsmith store. Cases of canned goods lined the walls, along with sacks of flour, wheat, beans and coffee. Cases of ammunition filled the pews. Rifles, shotguns and hand guns were lined up along the walls of the balcony. Lane even found some flares used by miners and ranchers for emergencies.