Sunfall (Season 1): Episodes 1-6

by Meyer, Tim

  Tina extended her hand. Sam grabbed it, and she yanked him to his feet.

  “Saving your ass is getting pretty fucking old,” she said with a weak smile.

  Sam returned the gesture, but it faded when he failed to spot their timid hostage.

  “Where did Rollins go?” Sam asked.

  “Fucker split. It was either chase him or shoot him.” She nodded to the corpse. “I think we both can agree I made the right choice.”

  Sam looked past her, setting his eyes on his son. “Matty? You okay? Did they hurt you?”

  He shook his head and grazed the scar on his cheek.

  “What's that?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Doesn't look like nothing,” Tina said. She moved closer to get a better look. “Jesus, what happened?”

  “That psycho cut him,” Brenda said groggily. “That fucking... psychopath.”

  “What psychopath? Who?” Sam asked.

  “Malek,” she said in a hushed tone.

  Sam wondered what drugs they had given her. Her eyelids fluttered as her mind clung to consciousness.

  “Okay. We're getting everyone out of here,” Sam said. He surveyed the other cages. Strangers peered at him, their faces pressing between the iron bars. He could barely make out their eyes through the filth. Twelve prisoners, he counted, including Brenda, Bob, and Matty. “There must be a key around here. Does anyone know where they keep it?”

  “I have a pretty good idea,” a voice said from behind them.

  Sam turned. “You...”

  Lilah smiled. “Hi, Sam.”

  He clenched his fists. “You tricked us.”

  She nodded. “Yeah. Sorry about that. I was just... doing my job, you know?”

  “I took you in. Gave you food and shelter.”

  Somberly, she turned her head to avoid eye contact. “When my brother first took us to this place, I thought we'd be safe. From what we had seen, the world had gone to shit. We didn't see very many people alive. For days we thought we were the last people left. Then we came across the zoo and discovered we weren't alone.”

  “How did you become... like this?” Tina asked.

  Lilah shrugged. “Feels like forever ago since it happened. My brother, Mark—Malek everyone calls him now—has a peculiar effect on people.”

  “What kind of effect?”

  “He's a great manipulator. Preys on the weak, of course. The kids. They were easy. Surprisingly it didn't take long. After he had murdered the people who worked here, he set out to find other survivors. Are you familiar with Crystal Waters?”

  Sam nodded. “It's by Beaver Lakes. It's a psyche ward for minors. Isn't it?”

  “That's right. Mark had been in and out several times. Apparently he had quite the following. Three days after he left for his old stomping ground he came back with a small army, loyal lost teenagers who shared his vision for a world without order. A world that viewed him as a king. And a king he was, at least in their eyes.” Still unable to look at Sam, she focused on Matty. The scar on his cheek tore at her heart. “They shared his fascination for human flesh.”

  “I find it hard to believe that everyone staying at Crystal Waters was a flesh-eating maniac,” Sam said.

  “Not at first. It was when Mark met Rollins; that's when the game changed.”

  “The bald guy in the meth lab?” Tina asked.

  “You've met?”

  Tina nodded.

  “He found him a week after he freed his fellow inmates. Mark needed something to make everyone share the 'hunger' he felt. The need to feed on humans. There were more survivors out there; he promised. And if we could find them, learn to live off them, we'd survive this crazy fucked-up world. He got everyone thinking we had become vampires and that drinking blood was the only way we could survive. He tested this theory by making a few of his minions challenge the sun. The sun won, and his followers became devout worshipers. The drugs helped I think...”

  “How?” Sam asked.

  “Whatever Rollins puts in his magic sauce makes us hungry. Human meat is the only thing that cures the hunger now.”

  Her skin became milky as she spoke, paler than usual.

  “I haven't taken the needle in weeks,” she admitted. “I don't like what I've turned into. I just want to be... normal again.” Sam wasn't sure, but he thought he saw tears migrate down her cheeks. “When I was sent into Costbusters, I felt something change in me. I felt... normal. Alive. Better than I had in years. Living among you... I felt home.”

  Footsteps from behind the cages caused them to avert their attention.

  “Oh, Lilah,” the approaching figure said. “How disappointed Malek would be if he heard those words fall from your lips.”

  “Baker?” Lilah said, squinting.

  Several figures followed the tall figure with curly brown hair. He cracked his knuckles as he entered the center of the room, grinning and revealing his pointy fangs.

  “I've suspected your allegiances lay with the light. For quite a while now.”

  “Well, congratulations. You cracked the case,” she snapped. “Let these people go, Baker. It's over. Malek has poisoned us. Can't you see that?”

  “He can't see it, little sister,” Carp said, entering the room through the saloon-style doors. “Because he's as blind as a bat.”

  “Carp?” Baker asked. “Glad you could join us. This concerns you, too.”

  Tina raised her gun. “Alright, assholes. No more fucking around. I have the gun here, so drop your weapons and get down on the fucking floor!”

  No one moved. Baker and his five followers stood their ground, anxiously waiting to use the bludgeons in their hands.

  “Don't make me shoot you,” Tina warned. “You saw what happened to your friend. It could be you, motherfucker.” She nodded at Baker.

  Smirking confidently, Baker snickered. “Stupid woman. You can't shoot your way out of everything.”

  “Wanna bet on it?” She stepped forward and directed the gun at Baker's face. She hesitated pulling the trigger thinking the kid would stand down, but he didn't.

  From behind Baker, the baton came at her face. She heard the electricity crackle before the blue sparks entered her vision. Missing her face by inches, the electrically-charged weapon smacked her chest. Her body pulsed, and everything went numb and fuzzy. Her head felt brainless. The tingling sensation swam throughout her, wrenching her nerves. The gun fell from her hand as she collapsed on the ground. She watched helplessly as Sam dove for her firearm. Baker kicked the weapon aside, and it skittered across the room. The curly-haired cannibal drove his knee into Sam's face. Starlights flared in front his eyes.

  “Dumb bastards!” Baker screamed. “I can't wait to tear you apart!”

  Before Baker could lift his foot and stomp on Sam's head, a barrage of bullets tore through his chest. Clouds of red mist exploded around him like fireworks. After the magazine had been emptied into his body, Baker's vision gave way to darkness and he collapsed.

  Lilah dropped the exhausted weapon on the ground.

  “You killed him,” one of the cannibals muttered. “You bitch!”

  Another turned and snarled. “I'm going to gut you, you little twat!”

  He lunged at Lilah holding a butcher knife above his head. Gnashing his teeth, he sped forward. Before he could get within striking distance, Carp tackled him to the ground. Lilah watched listlessly as the two struggled for position.

  “You okay?” Sam asked Tina.

  Tina nodded. “Let's get the fuck out of here.”

  They both scrambled to their feet while Carp climbed on top of the cannibal and twisted the knife from his hand. He stabbed the kid over and over until the curses falling from his lips were replaced by bubbles of bloody spittle. Within seconds, the kid's body went limp.

  Carp tossed Sam the keys to the cages. He snatched them out of the air.

  “Get them out and get as far away from here as possible,” Carp told him. “And take her with you.”


  “I'm not leaving you,” Lilah said.

  “Yes. You are.”

  “No...”

  “Goddammit, Lilah. This is your chance to make things right, to start over.” He squeezed tears from his eyes. “I know you're not like him, Lilah. You're like me. You have to fight that urge. I know you can.”

  She nodded. “I don't want to be like him.”

  “I know you don't.” Carp whimpered. “I wish I had been stronger. Wish I could have stood up to him. Who knows? Maybe Mom and Dad would still be alive.”

  “It's not your fault.”

  “Sure it is. I could've done something. I was weak.”

  “There's nothing you could've done.”

  Carp glared at the four remaining members of Malek's army. They charged forward as the taste of blood filled their mouths.

  “Go. Now. These people will keep you safe.” Carp glanced at Sam. “Promise me you'll keep her safe.”

  Sam nodded.

  “Go with them, Lilah,” he said sternly.

  Lilah watched the menacing figures close in like wolves, baring their teeth and growling bestially.

  “Come find me,” Lilah said, then dashed to the other end of the room.

  Carp lashed out at the four figures, swiping the blade at their necks. One of them took a baseball bat to his knee. The sound of his kneecap shattering filled the room.

  While Carp took his beating, Lilah helped Sam and Tina spring the prisoners.

  “I know a back way out,” Lilah informed them as Matty was released from his cell. “But we have to hurry.”

  -12-

  In no rush to return to captivity under Susan's watchful eyes, Dana took her time in the bathroom. As she thought of Susan, her thoughts wandered to her mother and the past. She wished things had worked out differently; wished her parents had never split. She couldn't remember much about their time together, but the thought of Sam and Brenda living under the same roof with their children made Dana smile. She still didn't understand how it had happened. What caused two people who displayed so much love and affection in old photos to hate each other so much that they badmouthed each other in private and no longer spoke? She had friends in the same boat. It was a topic of discussion at the lunch table. But even her friends whose parents separated didn't know the why. “Because they fell out of love” was the most popular explanation, but Dana didn't buy it. How could people fall out of love? From her innocent perspective, family meant forever, no matter what.

  She finished up, flushed, and moseyed to the sink. As she filled her palms with soap (always wash your hands! her mother's voice noted), something that sounded like thunder banged from the front of the store, causing her to jump. She quickly washed off the soap, grabbed some paper towels, and headed to the door. She peeked her head out of the bathroom and listened. She heard shouting from the front of the store. It sounded like Soren and the others. Then glass broke and she ducked out of the bathroom and sprinted down the back aisle toward the loading bay. They're here! she thought. The impact was so loud she thought someone had driven a car through the entrance. Scampering along, she stopped when she reached the swinging doors. Standing on her tippy-toes, she peeked inside and witnessed the most vile act her mind could ever conjure.

  The mutilated corpses didn't exactly look like Joel and Craig, but she could tell it was them. The heads gave it away, the two orbs the size of soccer balls resting in pools of blood several feet from the rest of their dismembered parts. She watched their murderers fill their mouths with flesh and rip the muscle from a large man's thigh.

  Scampering away, toward the offices, she lost what little breakfast she had eaten earlier.

  -13-

  The Costbusters crew didn't put up much of a fight; everyone but Brian surrendered willingly. He opened his mouth and insulted the cannibals with childish names, calling their mothers whores and speculating about the diminutive size of their genitals. In return, they battered him. One of them took a steel pipe to both of his knees. If they weren't broken it was a miracle, but the group suspected otherwise. After his legs buckled and his body lay on the floor, another carnivorous monster climbed on top of him and repeatedly punched his face. He felt blood gush from his nose. His eyes swelled and his vision blurred. Unable to walk, Shondra and Mouth helped him to his feet and guided him down the aisle toward the other side of the store where the cannibals herded them.

  Soren had been taken elsewhere. A few of the flesh-eaters had escorted him down the electronics aisle, and no one had seen or heard from him since. Shondra figured they would try to turn him, make him one of them. Although she didn't think they could break him, the possibility frightened her. She didn't trust Soren much, but the man was their only shot of getting out alive. He's resourceful, she thought. He'll think of something.

  But as the moments passed, the chances of escaping their unfortunate fate dwindled.

  “What do you think they're doing with him?” Mouth whispered.

  Shondra shook her head. “I don't know.”

  “You think they're gonna kill him?”

  “If they wanted to kill him he'd be dead already.” Shondra examined Brian's face. His eyes had already begun to purple, and blood seeped more slowly from his nostrils. “How you holding up?”

  He groaned.

  “They fucked him up pretty good, huh?” Mouth gritted his teeth. “What I'd love to do to those fuckers.”

  “There a problem?” one of the cannibals asked.

  Mouth tried keeping the words contained, but alas, he was the Mouth. “ Yeah, I got a fucking problem.”

  Their escorts stopped in their tracks and turned. The leader stared Mouth between the eyes and parted his lips.

  “Speak your mind, fool,” the shaggy-haired kid said.

  “Where the fuck are you taking us?”

  “To get the rest of you.”

  Mouth smirked. “We're all that's left, fucknuts. No use in taking the tour.”

  “Nice try. We know there's more of you stashed somewhere. Perhaps in the greenhouse? Yes, I believe we saw a whole group hiding in there. Lots of women. And children. We do love children. Don't we?”

  His buddies giggled in agreement.

  “Won't be long now. We'll round the rest of you up over the next twenty-four hours.”

  “What do you mean?” Shondra asked. “The rest of us?”

  “Oh, it appears some of your brave men, the last line of defense between us and the greenhouse, decided to abandon their posts.”

  Shondra shook her head. “They wouldn't do that.”

  “Well, sister. Looks like they did.” The cannibal smirked, relishing the momentary advantage. “You people have no idea what's in store for you.”

  -14-

  Despite his cooperation, Malek felt the need to punctuate his victory and did so by bloodying his opponent's face, breaking a few ribs, and choking him to near death. Soren took the abuse and acted as if it was nothing more than a gentle massage. He curled his lips into a proud smile.

  “You're enjoying this too much, old man,” Malek sneered. “Perhaps I should kick things up a notch.”

  “Perhaps,” Soren replied.

  “Maybe I'll pluck each one of your toe nails. Or remove your genitals. I could hang your balls around my neck like a souvenir. Would you prefer that?”

  Soren grinned. “Whatever you think would suit me best.”

  His comment was rewarded with a speeding fist that dislodged Soren from his seat. Malek's cronies helped him back onto the chair. Blood trickled from his nose and the few gashes that had opened on his forehead. Escape no longer seemed possible. If they let him live past the beating, then perhaps he had a chance, but Soren assumed they wouldn't. What did they need him for? They had what they wanted. They had plenty of slaves and plenty of meat.

  So this is it, he thought to himself. After all I've been through. This is how it ends.

  He recalled memories from a time he felt alive. In that moment he tasted his favorite foods, snif
fed his favorite flower, and his lungs filled with phantom smoke, absorbing the effects of imaginary nicotine. His mind even allowed him to feel the touch of a woman. Closing his eyes, he experienced every sexual escapade simultaneously. He had done it all, lived the fullest life he could. The only thing left to experience was death.

  He almost begged Malek to end him.

  “You're too precious to waste,” Malek muttered. “The fun won't end here. You're gonna be my new favorite toy.”

  “As you wish,” Soren spit. Blood sputtered from his lips.

  “Oh, I wish. After I cull your women and children, decide who is worth stocking and who is not, I'll be back for you.”

  Malek commanded his slaves to chain him and to make extra sure he wouldn't escape. One of them offered to cut his legs off so he wouldn't be able to run. Malek entertained the thought but decided against it.

  “Chains will do,” he told them.

  Several minutes later, Soren found himself alone in the back office. Zinc-plated chain fastened his body to the comfy office chair. He tried to roll himself toward the exit, but when he reached the door knob it didn't matter; with his hands bound behind his back, there was no way he could let himself out.

  Sitting there for what seemed like forever, he gave up formulating an escape plan and surrendered to imprisonment. It wouldn't be the first time he'd been used as a slave. In fact, for most of his life he had been somebody's servant. Whether it was his first job mowing neighborhood lawns or unclogging toilets at the local high school, Soren had always served somebody. The role reversal had been nice while it lasted.

  Lost in his daydreams, he hadn't realized he wasn't alone. As his reveries ended, he noticed Dana standing in the doorway. He blinked to make sure the girl was not imaginary.

  “Dana?” he asked. “Is that you?”

  She placed her finger over her lips.

  He mouthed the word “sorry.”

  She hustled over to where he sat.

  “How did you get away?” he asked quietly.

  “I asked Susan if I could use the bathroom,” she answered, controlling her volume. “Before the attack.”