by R. M. Garcia
“Last, you are not allowed to leave the compound unsupervised until we feel you are trustworthy, nor are you to contact anyone outside Tranquility until you are given permission.” Claude made that last stipulation very clear.
“We got it,” Abbie said.
“Good, then welcome to Tranquility,” Claude finished. Donnie and Abbie felt a sigh of relief and finally felt a moniker of peace. Over the next week, Donnie and Abbie helped build their home. It was a simple log cabin. It had a living area and a single bedroom. It was a small building, but it was really all they would need. The people of Tranquility, as it turned out, were experts at building, and the house was ready in less than a week. Abbie was thrilled to have a place that she and Donnie could call home once again. Many of the residents brought them wooden furniture. They were given a bed, a table, a dresser, and a sofa. They later discovered that woodworking was a favored pastime of many of the residents of Tranquility. It was a warm and kind gesture, and they felt immediately welcomed by everyone.
Donnie initially began working as a lumberjack, but his intelligence was noticed right away, and he was moved over to work in the repair shop. He was given all manner of things to repair. He repaired engines, toasters, and even small electronics on a regular basis. Whenever he needed any help, he was allowed to go on the Internet to get schematics. It became a fulfilling life for him. Abbie was also set to work and became a school teacher. Clara had made a note of her tutoring skills and pushed to give her a chance to teach classes at night to the adults and older children. Abbie finally understood why Mr. Simmons, a man who had three masters’ degrees, chose to teach. She found it extremely rewarding. The pay was laughable, in fact none at all, but she would gladly do that forever. Donnie and Abbie spent the next few months in complete peace. Tranquility was far from perfect, but it was better than either of them could have expected when this all began. The holidays came, Donnie and Abbie missed their families and friends, but they had each other and a whole new family now. Before they realized it, they had spent four wonderful years in Tranquility. They were happy, they were in love, and they were finally safe.
Donnie woke up to Abbie violently shaking him. “Donnie, wake up!” Abbie said in panic. “Something is coming!”
“What or who?” Donnie asked as he sprang out of bed and attempted to put on his pants and promptly fell over. Donnie knew better than to doubt her senses. Over the last few years, she had worked to hone them, and they had become razor-sharp. If Abbie heard something, it was 100 percent there. She continued to concentrate.
“Something heavy. It’s smashing through trees,” Abbie replied.
“I need to sound the alarm,” Donnie said as he ran to the door.
“Donnie, wait,” Abbie said as she looked at the alarm clock. “It’s still daylight outside.”
“I have to risk it,” Donnie said as he grabbed a thick blanket and went out into the living room. Abbie recoiled momentarily from the sudden burst of sunlight that streamed into their bedroom.
“It’s coming from the North!” she yelled out. Donnie ran outside. Fortunately, the sun was already setting, but it would be at least another hour before any vampire could safely venture outside. Donnie ran to the guard tower. He was getting looks from the many human residents that were walking around. His appearance in the daylight was astounding some and concerning others. Donnie made it to the guard tower within minutes. A boy named Pierre was manning it this day. He was almost fourteen, as best as Donnie could recall, but he was tall for his age.
“Pierre! Sound the alarm!” Donnie screamed at him from below. Pierre looked down at Donnie and his eyes went wide in disbelief as he looked over to the sun and back down at Donnie.
“Donnie, what the hell are you doing outside? You’ll go up in smoke,” Pierre replied.
“Pierre, just sound the alarm!” Donnie continued to yell. “Something is coming from the North.”
“What?” Pierre asked and he started turning the handle on the siren. “What’s coming?”
“I don’t know, but Abbie can hear it crashing through the tree line.”
Pierre turned the handle on the air horn as hard and as fast as he could and yelled, “Oh merde!” The sound of the horn spread throughout the compound and people began exiting their homes as the sounds of horses began to get louder. Within moments, several guards on horseback arrived at the guard tower.
“What’s going on, Donnie,” Maxwell asked. Captain Maxwell was an ex-Navy seal and was responsible for the safety and well-being of Tranquility during the daylight hours. “And what the hell are you doing outside at this hour?”
“Something is approaching from the North.” Donnie tried to keep himself covered as the sun beat down on him. He wasn’t sure if he was starting to smoke or if all he smelled was a nearby fire.
“Are you sure?” Maxwell asked concerned.
“Abbie can hear it. Whatever it is, it’s knocking over trees,” he replied. “It’s headed this way.”
“OK, men, let’s get a scouting party together,” Maxwell said. “I will start getting the civilians out of harms way. Pierre keep sounding the horn, we need to make sure all of our nighttime friends get woken up.”
“Yes, sir!” One of the men under his command said and rode off.
“Yes, sir!” Pierre said and he resumed sounding the alarm horn.
“Donnie, get inside and get ready to run, if it comes to that,” Maxwell said and rode off. Donnie nodded and ran back to his cabin. Abbie was already packing a single duffel bag for both of them.
“Abbie,” Donnie called out.
“I heard. I am getting a duffel bag ready for us,” she replied. Donnie walked into their windowless bedroom and shut the door behind him.
“Are you OK?” Abbie asked as she inspected him. “Any burns?”
“No. I’m fine,” he replied. Abbie allowed Donnie to finish packing their bag. She sat on the bed, closed her eyes, cocked her head and began to listen.
“The scouts are almost to the noise.”
“Can you tell what it is?”
“No. I can hear a lot of squeaking and trees being knocked over,” she replied. “It’s still too far to tell for sure, but it doesn’t sound familiar.” The following minutes were quiet and tense for both of them. Over the last year, Abbie’s senses had increased ten-fold, so much so, that she was required to work the guard tower two nights a week. The silence was broken as Abbie gasped.
“What?” Donnie asked.
“It’s a tank!” Abbie replied, she turned and looked at Donnie in disbelief. “One of the scouts just yelled out tank.”
“Oh Lord! No!” Donnie gasped.
“Now I hear gunfire!” she said. “They have machine guns. The scouts are riding back.”
“We need to warn everyone!”
“They radioed it in, the guards know.”
“What do we do?” Donnie wanted to act, to do something, anything.
“We have to wait,” Abbie said and grabbed Donnie’s hand. “They have trained as hard as we have. We need to trust them now.” Donnie turned and hugged Abbie.
“I want you to run, Abbie,” Donnie said. “I’ll meet up with you at the boathouse as soon as I can.”
“What are you saying?” Abbie asked scared. “We need to run, you and me.”
“There are a lot of good people here. I’m not going to run away. I need to help.”
“So I’m supposed to run and hide?” Abbie asked angrily. “Hell no!”
“Do as I say, Abbie!” Donnie yelled. “I don’t want you getting killed!”
“If you stay, I stay, period and end of argument,” Abbie said. “I love this place too. It’s our home.”
“Please, just go,” Donnie begged.
“You need to get it through your thick skull,” Abbie said. “I love you, and if this is your fight, it becomes mine too. I’m not going anywhere without you by my side.” Donnie clutched her tightly to his chest.
“My beloved ball and chai
n,” Donnie whispered softly.
“Damn straight, better get used to it too,” Abbie said, smiling at him. A loud whistling noise could be heard. It got louder and louder, until a large explosion rocked the compound.
“Shells,” Abbie said. “One of the guards is yelling out shells.”
“Find me when you can,” Donnie said as he got up and began walking to the door.
“Donnie! No! It’s still daylight,” Abbie said.
“I have a plan. I think it might work,” Donnie said. Abbie got up and hugged him. Another shell whistled in and after it exploded, the alarm horn ceased abruptly.
“Pierre?” Donnie looked at Abbie, but she couldn’t talk and simply shook her head and covered her mouth with her hands. Donnie ran out into the full daylight and headed northward. As he passed the watch tower, he could see that it was no longer standing. It lay on its side and was on fire in several places. A few yards from it, he could see a body covered by a blanket. Donnie tried to push his anger down, but it was hard to do at this point. He could feel something building in him, something he had tried to hold back in the past. He continued northward as the sun was beating down on him and hurting his eyes a bit, but so far no harmful effects. As he ran, he started to concentrate. He needed it to rain; he called out to skies and tried to make the skies darken with clouds.
Months ago, Clara suggested that Donnie could control the weather. It explained the rain and lighting bolts that seemed to pop up when he was in trouble, but to date, any tries to duplicate the effects on purpose had been met with failure. As hard as Donnie had tried, he hadn’t been able to summon a single sprinkle or gust of wind. It was a long shot, but he gave it another try now. As he ran northward, dark clouds rolled in from the west along with strong winds and the feel of moisture in the air. It was starting to work. The sun became blotted, and for now, Donnie was safe from its rays.
“Yes!” Donnie called out, “I’m clouding the skies. Abbie, if you can hear me get everyone up!” Donnie continued to run and just as a few droplets began to fall the tank came into view. It was massive, and the sheer size of it frightened him to no end, so he was thankful there was only one. Donnie didn’t recognize what type of tank it was, but the swastikas painted on its side gave him the certainty it was a German tank, and that too made him very uneasy. He was sure the Reich was here!
Donnie watched as the turret swiveled and fired off a shot. Donnie followed the shot as it flew and hit the compound wall. The blast easily splintered the wall. He had to stop that machine from going any further, in hindsight; that was not one of his best ideas. Donnie ran out in front of the behemoth, braced himself, placed his hands on it, and pushed; he hoped his strength would be enough to halt its progress. The tank began to slow, but only for an instant. Donnie could hear people excitedly screaming in German within its shell. The driver hit the gas, and he was easily mowed over by the mechanized assault vehicle. As the tank rolled over him, he could hear laughter from inside the vehicle. “Damn you!” Donnie yelled as he punched up at the under carriage repeatedly. It was no good; he didn’t even dent the armor. He needed a different approach. As the tank finished rolling over him, Donnie sat up. To his surprise, he could see other vehicles trailing far behind the tank. They were also armored, but they were not tanks. They had six heavy tires and unless Donnie was mistaken, he believed them to be troop transports. He stopped counting at ten, but he was sure that there were more. He got up and looked at the tank as it leisurely rolled on. He failed to notice the ambushers that sprung from the brush.
“Light him up boys!” a voice said from behind Donnie. He turned just time to catch the hail of hundreds of bullets. After they had emptied their clips, the mercenaries were surprised to find Donnie still standing.
“Now it’s my turn boys!” Donnie said as he advanced on the humans. As he moved on the men before him, he was sure that they were only human, it was the one true ability he was sure he had. Donnie had discovered a few years back that he could determine by sight alone if a person was human or a vampire. It only took a glance and Donnie knew right away. So now he was sure, the men before him were not vampires.
“He’s a Pire!” one of the men yelled. “Switch to black clips.” The men began reaching for new clips but Donnie didn’t give them much of a chance and knocked them all out with a swift series of blows.
“Donnie . . .” a weak voice called out. Donnie looked around and saw one of the scouts, leaned back against a tree, and ran over to him. Donnie recognized the man that lay gravely injured before him.
“I’m here, Anton,” Donnie said.
“You need to stop the tank, anyway you can,” Anton said. “It will tear right through us if you don’t.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Then please get my son out, get Pierre out, please,” Anton said as he let out his last breath and died in front of Donnie.
“I’m sorry, Anton,” Donnie said as he closed Anton’s eyes. “He’s already gone.”
“I’ll go find him on my own then,” Anton said from behind Donnie. He spun around to see Anton running through the brush. But he was not all there, he looked ghostly and translucent. “Grab my grenade and see if it can help you!” Donnie watched as Anton ran right through a tree and then out of his sight. He looked back to the lifeless body before him.
“Yup, I’ve finally gone crazy,” Donnie said as he grabbed the grenade off Anton’s belt and ran after the tank. He reached it within a few minutes. It fired another shell and leveled another section of the wall. Donnie jumped on the metallic juggernaut and began looking for a way to insert the grenade inside, but there was nothing. The slit holes in the front, the only visible openings were too small for a grenade, but not too small for the barrel of a fully automatic rifle, a mistake that cost Donnie. The hail of bullets began immediately once he reached the front of the tank. Donnie was knocked off the tank and landed in front of its left tread. The driver in the tank once again hit the gas and this time was successful in running Donnie over. The forty-five-ton tank drove him into the soft moistened earth, trying its best to flatten him. Once again Donnie could hear the laughter from within, and it rolled on unmolested and fired another blast from its turret.
Donnie sat up, and rain began to fall. His body was crushed and it hurriedly began to heal it itself. His rib cage popped back out and Donnie took a breath. His legs healed from hundreds of fractures and he stood up. His eyes reformed and he was able to see once again. Donnie didn’t know what to do, he had no idea how to stop the tank, and he was having trouble thinking, or maybe his brain was still healing. Either way, Donnie had no clue how to proceed.
“Any answer can be found in nature, you just need to look for them,” a voice whispered into Donnie’s ear.
“Mom, is that you?” Donnie said, looking around. He was positive, he heard her, but he could not see her. Then he spotted it. Donnie walked up to a turtle that was lying flipped on its back. The tank had displaced earth and rock as it passed and the turtle had been caught in its wake. The turtle was trying to right itself up but there was no way it was going to be able to do it on its own. Donnie picked up the small animal and righted it. The turtle popped her head out of her shell and looked at Donnie completely calm and unafraid. Donnie smiled and placed the turtle back on the ground. She looked back for a moment before heading away from the tracks. Donnie had his answer.
“Thanks, Mom,” Donnie said as he started running back toward the tank. He began calculating the tank’s speed and mass. He formed a route and the necessary force it would take and turned to the southeast. He ran for a while and when he was sure he was over two thousand feet away from the tank, he turned around and began looking for a large boulder. If it had not been for an owl flapping its wings, he would have almost surely overlooked it. The boulder was large enough; he walked up to the boulder and ripped it out of the ground as the owl simply watched him. The tank would almost be at the gate by now, he needed to hurry. “I’m sorry, Abbie. This is going to
suck so much,” Donnie said aloud and began to run at the tank, with the boulder held to his chest. He ran faster and harder than he had ever pushed himself to do so before. He could only hear the air as it whistled by. He reached the velocity that he calculated was needed and then exceeded it easily. The tank came into view and a split second later Donnie plowed into its side. His last thoughts oddly enough were of David vs. Goliath. The crash of bone, flesh, and stone into solid steel was sickening to all that heard it. In the few fleeting moments of coherence before he lost consciousness, Donnie was certain that he heard Abbie call out to him. Donnie hit the tank like a missile. An effect that delivered the desired results that he was looking for. The charge lifted the tank onto its right treads and drove it sideways seventy-five feet before it flipped on its side and finally rested belly up. Every panel and opening in the tank exploded outward violently. The shockwave that resonated inside the tank liquefied the crew instantly; unfortunately, it had the same effect on Donnie. Abbie watched in horror as Donnie’s limp and bloody body flew uncontrolled hundreds of feet. He sailed deep into the western woods off the compound, tumbling end over end like a rag doll. His body felled trees as it hurtled past Abbie’s mortified eyes.
“Donnie!” she cried out.
CHAPTER 30
War
ABBIE KEPT CONCENTRATING on Donnie’s movements as he ran northward, and then she heard him. He was clouding the skies? Abbie ran out of the house and headed toward Clara’s cabin. Donnie was right, the skies were quite dark now and light rain was coming down. He was doing it. Abbie could see Maxwell organizing the men. He was handing them grenades. She became frightened at the level or fear in the men’s faces. She knew that Maxwell had trained and drilled them hard and had even taught her a few combat moves, but this was a real combat, and she just wasn’t sure they were ready. As she ran past the guard tower, she spotted Pierre’s mother crying hysterically over her dead son. Emotion overwhelmed Abbie, and she began to think about her own parents and how it must have felt identical to them, when she was forced to leave them. Why was this happening? she thought to herself as she moved. She reached Clara’s house and began pounding on the door. Clara came to the door and opened it and pulled Abbie in.