Monsters of the Apocalypse

by Rawlins, Jordan

  Jacob smiled and blew smoke into the air, as Arian struggled to return the even unblinking gaze.

  "What happens tomorrow?"

  "Well, Dr. Thomas, we disappear for awhile. We move, as quietly and quickly as we can. There is almost nothing we can do to change what will happen next. To show ourselves now would be a disaster. So, we must make sure that when we finally do, we are where we need to be."

  "Which is where?" Dr. Thomas asked, less out of curiosity then out of discomfort from the intensity of the staring match that was occurring between the two mutants with whom he shared the fire.

  "Los Angeles. That is where the human survivors are being taken by Bragg. There is a considerable tunnel system, the nuclear fallout will be less there. It will be Los Angeles where we will go and make our stand against the humans."

  "And what of Nestor?" Arian hissed.

  "Oh Nestor," Jacob chuckled, "I forgot to tell you, Arian, news arrived. Plans have been put into action. We should have Nestor in our hands presently. What say you and me take a walk, old friend?"

  Arian stood up in silence and followed Jacob into the darkness of the night, leaving Dr. Thomas alone at the fire.

  Chapter 80

  ***

  The drone helicopters moved silently through the night until they reached their destination, where they hovered momentarily. When they turned and flew back in the direction they had come they were just as silent as the men who they had left behind. The soldiers wore black and their faces were painted to match. They moved quickly and sure-footedly over the ground of the dead park where they had landed, into the closest house. They perched at all of the windows and waited to see any sign of being followed or seen, but nothing came.

  The sergeant raised the small device to his mouth.

  "Miho, we have landed."

  "Good. There is a mutant band two clicks north of you, which means they can probably smell you. Satellite imagery suggests it numbers about five and has set up in an old condo complex. Use caution and good judgment."

  The sergeant lowered the device and steeled himself. He looked into the darkness of the house and inhaled the stale smell of death and decay.

  They moved silently out of the house and into the night and when they fell upon the mutants they killed with quick efficiency.

  Chapter 81

  ***

  Caleb and Nestor breathed the smoke and ash for miles before they saw the flames burning over the horizon. When they were close enough to feel the heat they stopped and watched in awe.

  "What the hell is that?"

  "The Mississippi River?"

  "How the hell is that possible?"

  "Gas tankers, see," Nestor pointed. "Drones blew them up to cripple us. They leaked out, caught fire. Enough gas with all these tankers, it'll burn for months."

  They just sat and watched the river burn. And so did everyone. On The Island, in the mutant camps of the east, in the human fortress in Los Angeles, they all just stopped and watched the Mississippi burn through Nestor's eyes, because maybe it meant something, or maybe it was just good TV.

  Eventually one of them shifted and the other stretched and they moved on, finding a bridge that they were able to pass without incident. The road they followed till sunset ended in a city that once had a name and an identity, but was nothing but a gravestone anymore. The city was empty. Not a corpse or mutant to be seen. From the smell they knew that there were some rotting bodies in the buildings, but they didn't go searching for any sort of visual confirmation.

  Suddenly, without word, Nestor moved up ahead. He stared at an empty building for an unbroken minute before grunting and moving on. He seemed to be seeing signs, but to Caleb there was nothing special or different in this city, nothing on the ground or the empty buildings that towered above that deserved Nestor's attention, but he didn't question it. He'd learned anything that made Nestor fidget was best left in the dark.

  At sunset they built a camp in one of the city parks, away from the looming buildings.

  In the middle of the night Caleb woke, long past the fire having burned down to smoldering coals. He sat up and looked around the camp's perimeter, looking for Nestor. Off in the distance he saw the orange burn of a cigarette and he cocked his pistol and walked in that direction.

  "Nestor?"

  "Something is following us. Not on a delay, not through my feed, but by scent or sight. They have been since we entered the city. Go back to sleep, we'll leave early."

  "What do you see?"

  "Nothing, I just know it. We're being followed."

  In the morning they made their way west on the straightest street they could find, hoping that the pursuers would have to show themselves or lose them. They did this for half an hour and they never saw a thing.

  "Well, they can follow us by scent then," Nestor shrugged and looked up at the sky, "or satellite."

  "Satellite… you mean Islanders?"

  "Maybe."

  "Mutants?"

  "Maybe. They aren't good at being this quiet usually. This feels different. I don't know, we'll just keep moving."

  Nestor stopped suddenly and turned into a dirty alley. It was covered in dried blood and held the remnants of an old campsite. The tent was torn to pieces and inside was a skeleton, picked clean. Some of the bones were broken where some stray dog had chewed them.

  "Big dog," Nestor mused as he looked over the area.

  The killer had left the man's gun. Nestor picked it up. It was still loaded with only one bullet gone. The deceased had fired one shot before he died. Nestor looked at the walls of the alley. He found the bullet hole where the shot had missed, the shooter had aimed low. He unconsciously dismantled the gun and threw its parts in various directions, not willing to leave a gun behind, even if this man's killer had been.

  That night they built a camp in the parking lot of a convenience store. Nestor didn’t hide their fire. He leaned against the wall of the building, rifle across his thighs and smoked cigarettes. Eventually he heard the howling and the growling and he knew.

  "Caleb, we got a problem."

  "What?"

  "We're being hunted by wolves."

  "Wolves? Plural? How many?" Caleb said with a start.

  "One's enough, but it's more."

  "Are they, are they hungry, Nestor? Are they gonna eat us, cuz, maybe they won't. I've always liked wolves."

  "What do you like about them?"

  "A lot of things. They're majestic."

  "Majestic?"

  "Well, now that one's trying to eat me I'm having doubts."

  "Funny how that works, huh Caleb? Shit. Bragg could have warned me that there were wild animals out here."

  Caleb burst into hysterics drawing a confused glance from Nestor.

  "You need that warning?"

  "Yes."

  "Okay, Nestor, in this radioactive world, populated by nameless mutants of nightmare, this world without law or order or security… there are wild animals out here too."

  Nestor stared at Caleb. Caleb smiled wide. Nestor laughed and then cocked his gun and crept into the darkness.

  "I'll take care of it."

  "Nestor? Aw, Jesus," Caleb said checking to make sure there was a bullet in the chamber of his pistol.

  Nestor moved around behind the store and saw glowing eyes in the darkness beyond the fire's light following his smooth movements, but keeping their distance. Nestor crouched behind a brick wall and closed his eyes tight. In the self-imposed darkness he could hear their individual panting. It would take a minute to adjust his eyes to the dark of the night after having stared into the fire. Until then he would have to listen for a coming attack.

  Chapter 82

  ***

  Jacob stood across from Arian, mutant eyes allowing them see each other clearly in the darkness.

  "I could see your doubt, you know? It was so heartbreaking for me. What happened, Arian? What happened to you?"

  "You've gone too far, Jacob."

  "You worr
y that the plan will fail?"

  "I worry that it will fail. I worry that it will succeed. All the players left are insane. This whole world is insane. I can see that, because I'm not."

  "You're the last sane man on Earth, are you?"

  "I'm not a man, I'm a mutant! I eat men, Jacob! I eat them," Arian turned away and waited for the tears in his eyes to fall before looking back at Jacob. "Unlike everybody else, I can't seem to reconcile that. I remember when the bombs went off, during the Great War, afterward, you and I were talking about whether or not there were any survivors. With so many people in China and India alone, what were the chances that no one survived? And I said: "even if there were, they'd die out in a generation because their world was destroyed and toxic. Their loved ones were gone. They would have to be insane to procreate in that situation." And you said: "they'd either have to be insane… or human." I remember that very well, and I think about what we are, and this world we have left… the fight has just gone out of me, Jacob. There's nothing left worth fighting for. Surviving for."

  Jacob sighed and waited for Arian to dry his cheeks and gather himself.

  "Arian, where's your sense of humor? You used to be such a fun guy."

  "I don't know, I guess eating people can really kill a guy's comic timing."

  "Come now, Arian. That was funny."

  Jacob moved closer as Arian slowly removed his coat. Arian's brands had warped during his mutant transformation. Arian felt no fear as Jacob came within an arm's length. Jacob stopped and smiled. Arian lowered himself into a fighting stance. Jacob made no move to counter.

  "Understand, Jacob, this isn't personal. I don't want to kill you. But you know, if I can't die a man, if I must die a mutant, I can at least die fighting. I can at least die a soldier."

  "Of course, I understand. Goodbye, Arian, I always did like you. Now… to the death."

  "Okie doke."

  Chapter 83

  ***

  Flores and Miho moved side by side through the streets of Santa Monica. They didn’t see a soul until they came to the entrance of the subway tunnel on Colorado and Ocean. The opening was guarded by two blonde teenage boys with bright blue eyes that smiled when they talked.

  "Who are you and what are you doing here?" the shorter of the teens asked.

  "My name is Agent Alberto Flores. This is my associate, Miho Walker. We're from The Island," Flores said from a comfortable distance. "We're here for Bragg."

  "Here for him? To kill him?" the taller one laughed. "That's a bad idea."

  "No, just to talk," Flores continued. "Tell him we're here to talk about the survival of mankind."

  "Yeah, he's busy. You know, actually making sure mankind does survive, unlike you Islanders who tried to kill it," the shorter one smiled.

  "Okay," Flores, leaned back and looked at the two boys. "Should we kill them?"

  "No, that wouldn't lead to anything but more killing," Miho shrugged. "It's fine, we're just a little early."

  "Look, kids, go tell him that a very big army of mutants who eat people is headed for the tunnels and we can help him if he talks to us. Otherwise he can just go ahead and die."

  "You see the thing is big man, we don't really take orders from…" the door behind the guards opened and Bragg stood filling it. The two teens glanced back casually and then moved aside.

  "Sorry, my nephew's here, their job is to keep people out, not let them in. My name's Bragg."

  "My name is…"

  "Yeah, I heard you. I was eating my lunch inside the door. I'm about to do my shift on watch, but I suppose you knew that, which is why you got here now. Of course, you got here a little early so it wouldn't seem that way, since you want to keep my suspicions in check. Am I correct?"

  "Yup," Flores nodded.

  "I ain't talking to you, slick. I'm talking to the one in charge. That would be you, Ms. Walker, correct?"

  "We need to talk about the tunnels, Bragg. We need to talk about the coming of Jacob and his Mutant Army."

  Bragg smiled and looked over Miho and Flores before slowly moving over to The Island, just a shadow in the distance.

  "No, I don't think so. I just don't think I'd be able to trust anything you said."

  "Bragg, listen. Jacob and October, these are not reasonable men or good men. You are. You're a good man and there's a place for you in the future of this country, the future of mankind. I want there to be a place for you. We need to talk. I can help you live through what's coming."

  Bragg finished the last bite of his sandwich and then wiped his hands on his pants.

  "When leaders start planning for their own survival, it generally means the people who follow them are doomed," Bragg smiled. "I'm not especially afraid of dying, Ms. Walker. I'm afraid of outliving these people, the ones I'm sworn to protect. You can't help me, Ms. Walker. You can only help yourself. It's the way of Islanders. You should go now."

  Miho and Bragg stared each other down for a minute that seemed endless to Flores and the teens. Finally Miho nodded briskly and she and Flores headed back to The Island.

  "Surprised they left so easy," the tall teen said.

  "Yeah, I thought they'd put up more of a fight," the shorter one replied. "What do you think they really wanted, Uncle Bragg?"

  Bragg watched the disappearing twosome.

  "A wars coming, boys, and she wanted the same thing most leaders want, to make sure they win no matter who loses."

  "You're our leader, Uncle Bragg. What do you want?"

  "I'm the other kind of leader, the kind that wants to make sure if they lose it's for something worthwhile."

  "That's the better kind of leader if you ask me!"

  "If you like your leaders alive it's not. Now go get something to eat while I keep watch."

  Chapter 84

  ***

  Nestor kept his eyes closed and breathed.

  Fifty seconds.

  He focused on the panting of the pack wolves in front of him.

  Forty seconds.

  Suddenly there was another sound behind him, the sound of paw steps. Big paw steps and dangerously close, but if he opened his eyes he knew he would only see shadows in the dark. He had to wait.

  Thirty more seconds.

  "Nestor? How many wolves are there? I can't see anything. I'm blind from staring into…"

  "Shut up, Caleb. This might not go well if I mess it up."

  A growl came from behind Nestor that was so deep that he could feel it in his chest. It drew loud whimpers from the wolves in front of him. The whimpers began to recede as the wolves fled in fear.

  Twenty seconds.

  "Maybe we should stop lighting fires every night, I mean, I like fires but they seem to make us more vulnerable, but then again I don't like being cold. It's a toss-up. I think I talk when I'm nervous. Do I talk a lot when…"

  "Seriously, Caleb, shut up."

  Nestor began slowly turning around, leading with his sniper rifle. The growl grew louder.

  "Are we gonna run, Nestor. Should I run? Should I be getting ready to run? We should probably run."

  "Shut up, Caleb."

  Ten seconds.

  Nestor could smell the big wolf now. He could hear the nails of its paws scratching the concrete under its feet. Inch by inch Nestor finished his turn.

  Five seconds.

  "Nestor… I can sort of see a very big wolf right in front of… you should run. We should run."

  Nestor opened his eyes and stared at the huge arctic wolf, its eyes glowing with the translucence of the wild.

  "Easy now. Easy now," Nestor whispered.

  Nestor's gun was aimed at the face of the wolf, but he didn't shoot. The wolf moved another slow step closer, growl growing more and more - his teeth showing under the curl of his snarling lip.

  "Easy now."

  Nestor spun his rifle as the wolf leaped at him and crushed the butt of his gun hard into the wolf's nose. The impact was as loud as a gunshot and blood splattered in all directions. The impact v
ibrated up to Nestor's elbow, but he ignored it and jumped forward, landing with his knee on the side of the prone wolf's neck. He slammed his rifle down a second time into the wolf's ear.

  The wolf lay still. Nestor reached down and felt the warmth of the wolf's chest. It moved only slightly, in small fast jolts of breath until, finally, it slowed down, coming to a normal rhythmic pace.

  "Easy, Girl. Easy now."

  "Girl? How do you… Oh, yeah. Is she dead?"

  "No."

  "Are you going to kill her?"

  "Not if I don't have to, Caleb. Now help me drag her to the fire."

  The two men grunted and groaned, but eventually they managed to get the beast to their campfire. Nestor sat down cross-legged and laid the gun across his thighs and waited. He closed his eyes and listened for anything in the area, but they were alone. The alphas of the city. He opened his eyes and watched the snow-white beast sleeping, a splattering of red around its mouth and ear.

  Nestor looked up at the moon, the only thing bright enough in the night sky to break through the permanent toxic gloom from the destruction of the past. Nestor wondered what this beast must think. Once she ran across the endless tundra of the north he imagined, then a zoo and now... He wondered if it would be a good thing if the wolf didn't wake up. He wondered if when the wolf woke up it would be a good idea not to be here.

  "Can we keep it, Nestor?"

  "It might try and kill you."

  "Yeah, I'm getting used to that."

  The wolf slowly opened her eyes. Nestor sat still, unblinking and unflinching, with the gun still resting on his thighs.

  The wolf stared back at Nestor and for a while they stayed like that. Finally, the wolf raised herself up to her hind legs. She growled at Nestor. He stared back. He slowly reached over, her eyes on his hand, her growl growing in volume.

  "Easy now. Easy."

  He reached over and threw an open can of salmon in her direction. She sat across the fire and together they ate in silence.