by Lee Argus
That seemed strange. Why would the house be so clean and organized, except for this closet? I wrinkled my brow in thought. If someone was in a hurry to grab some things and leave, that would make sense. I decided to have a closer look.
Surprise replaced my expression. The clothes on one side of the closet had been roughly slid aside to reveal a tall safe. The safe had been left open, and inside was a rack. All of the slots of the rack were empty, except for the end one which held a large black pump action twelve gauge shotgun.
There was a small shelf at the bottom that had a few scattered papers, and four boxes of shells.
I put my sword down, and picked up the shotgun. It felt solid in my hand. I pocketed the shells and took both the shotgun and sword downstairs.
The sun was still shining brightly enough for me to see into the living room and kitchen. The kitchen didn’t have much in the way of food, but a wine-rack I’d found in the pantry caught my eye. Next to the wine rack were several harder liquors. I looked at labels that read vodka and Everclear. Both had much higher alcohol contents than I felt comfortable drinking, the Everclear was a grain alcohol at ninety-five percent alcohol. I didn’t want to have alcohol poisoning.
Several bottles dark bottles were resting in the small shelves. I looked at a few, but not knowing anything about wine I chose one at random. It took a few minutes to find a corkscrew, which was in the dish washer.
The bottle opened with an audible pop. I inhaled the aroma from the bottle, enjoying the sharp and subtle scents. After pouring a glass, I took a generous sip. It tingled on my tongue, and I felt a heat and warmth pass down my throat into my stomach.
As the wine took effect I brought both wine glass and bottle to the couch in the living room. Taking off my shoes felt like releasing a constriction around my feet that I had grown used to. The soles of my feet were sore and aching.
I left the bottle on the table after refilling my glass. It was nice to put my feet up. They softly throbbed, but the feeling soon faded. I yawned, and let the hand that was holding the glass dangle over the edge of the couch.
All that had happened left me feeling more weary than tired. I took another sip of the dark red liquid, which did didn’t do much to quench my thirst.
I wandered back to the kitchen, and dug through the cupboards, but there wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen the first time, except for a box of cookies. They didn’t go well with the wine, so I had to switch back to water.
The sun was setting too quickly. The light was rapidly fading from the closed drapes. I thought about trying to board up the windows, but I hadn’t seen any tools in the house, and didn’t have boards and nails even if I did. I remembered the hammer in the garage I’d slept in, but I hadn’t seen any nails there. I didn’t want to be banging nail in after dark either.
The backdoor was solid metal, so I didn’t have to worry about that. The windows, especially the large one near the front door would be more of a problem. I securely closed the blinds and drapes.
I dug through my pockets, and laid the shells out on the table. There were twenty four, not including the four already loaded into the shotgun. If they did break in, I would fall back to the top of the stairs. I could hold them off the longest there.
I put them back in my pocket, and moved the couch so that it faced the large window. I wanted to be comfortable while looking outside. Hopefully there wouldn’t be anything to see outside, but I might not be that lucky. They did find me in the garage.
How had they found me? Smell? Maybe they noticed that it was closed then, but open before. That would mean they were more intelligent that they appeared to be. Could they have been watching from one of the surrounding houses?
I looked at the dark empty windows across the street, seeing nothing. For all I knew, they could be staring at me.
I shook the thought off, and went to make sure all the blinds, curtains, and windows were securely closed. I looked around the house for more flashlights to use, but the only one I’d found had a dead battery. Of course, there were no replacements.
There was little I could find in the kitchen drawers.
The lighter I took wouldn’t make enough light to scare anything away, but it was better than nothing.
In a surprisingly short time the sun had set, leaving the house in darkness.
4 BURNING BRIGHT
I couldn’t make out much in the night filled house, except for the vague shapes of furniture around me. I’d put the couch in front of the large windows so that I could sit on the back of it to keep watch outside without being tired of standing. I wish I had something to keep my sword in, but since I didn’t it lay propped against the wall. My shotgun rested across my knees.
I leaned forward, peering into the dark front yard. I didn’t see anything move but thought I heard something.
I couldn’t tell what the sound was but I was glad to have the heavy shotgun in my hands. The moon must have been barely visible, as I could see most of the yard and street beyond. The car was still parked where I’d left it.
The shadows could’ve concealed anything at the edges of where I could see. I kept my eyes roaming so that I wouldn’t miss anything in the dark. There wasn’t anything…wait. I saw a shape dart quickly from one patch of darkness to another. I squinted and saw something crouching. It was near the car.
It crawled around the door, and what looked like its head twitched around. I held my breath, convinced it was staring at me.
It didn’t move any more than I was. What was it doing? I didn’t dare to even blink. The hand that was holding one of the curtains aside felt like it was trembling, but I couldn’t be sure.
After what felt like an eternity, its head swung back towards the car. My hand felt steadier, and I took a deep breath. It scurried around the car making it impossible to see it in the darker shadows.
I was so focused on the thing car that I didn’t see the other ones gathering on the street. A sharp cry came from the driveway, and more shapes rushed around it. Some were looking in the windows and others sniffed around where the first one did.
They started making their way from the Red Beetle towards the house. I heard a strange yelping cry, which was matched by those on the street. A few dozen shapes started across the lawn. They didn’t move like people. They had a strange gait, more like a cat than a person.
I closed the curtains in what I hoped was a stealthy manner. If I had waited any longer they would have seen me from the porch. I picked up the sword and walked towards the front door. It would be hard to use the shotgun with one hand, so I leaned it against the wall a few feet away from stairs that faced the front door.
I walked as quietly as I could, keeping my weight on my toes. I heard feet padding their way up and down the porch. When I got to the front door the sounds stopped and so did I. The peephole was useless in the dark so I put an ear to the door.
Heavy breathing and sniffing was easily heard through the thick door. Something was scratching at the knob, but I had locked it. Then I heard more sounds, like a small crowd of people were dashing back and forth across the wooden planks of the porch.
My breathing quickened again, and I tightened my grip on the shotgun’s handle. Before I could react, the door shuddered from something striking it hard. I instinctively took a stop back, and pointed the shotgun towards the door. More bangs echoed through the house as the door was struck harder.
I made sure the safety was off of my weapon, and held it tightly against my shoulder. It was hard to keep my hands steady. I took a few more steps backward, until I was next to the sword.
A cracking sound was coming from the wood frame, and the door bulged uncomfortably outward. A sharp snapping sound preceded the door to be half torn out if its frame. I was shocked as several figures fought with each other to get inside the house.
Before I could second guess myself, I opened fire. The butt of the shotgun kicked into my shoulder, and kicked the barrel up. Two figures were knocked backward, and in the flash o
f muzzle fire I could see that they were all as mutilated and tortured looking as those I’d seen at the Strip.
They fell back slightly, either from the shock of the gunfire or the flash of light that followed. Howls of outrage and bestial fury were directed at me from the porch while I pumped a new shell into the barrel. The empty shell casing clattered on the tile floor just before I fired again, clearing the front door before they could surge forward again.
This must have broken their resolve. They shrieked and cried running and leaping from the porch. I was slightly blinded from the muzzle flash, and had to pull the flashlight out of my pocket to see. I didn’t want one of them to try sneaking inside.
It wasn’t easy to hold the light under the pump’s grip, but my hands were large enough. I should have taped it to the barrel with the duct-tape I’d seen under the kitchen sink. Well, too late to think about that now.
The flashlight wasn’t as bright as I would have liked, but it shone far enough to scatter some of the more tenacious of them off the porch.
I looked at the front door, but it was far past salvaging. The frame was shattered, and the metal door was bent in a way that would have prevented it from fitting closed any way. I swept the barrel across the porch, but wasn’t met with any surprises.
The lawn and driveway was also empty. My light couldn’t reach the street, where I saw an ever larger crowd of them building. They were shoving and wildly screaming at one another. If my light would have reached far enough it might have scattered them, but it didn’t. I considered firing the shotgun a few more times, but there weren’t enough rounds in my pockets to deal with their growing numbers.
I tried to think. I might be able to make it to the car with my light and shotgun, but I doubted it. Enough of them could force their way to me, given sufficient motivation. Eating me and tearing me to pieces in that order would be sufficient.
I couldn’t hold them off in the house. The doors obviously wouldn’t do much too even slow them down. Maybe I could scare them off. I set my flashlight down on the front doorway, shining outward. It might keep them back, for a while.
I dashed to the kitchen, and almost ran into the pantry door. My hands reached in the darkness until they felt the two standing bottles next to the wine rack. I couldn’t see which was which, so I carried both to the porch.
Outside they were still roughly pushing each other forward, trying to get someone to start the next charge into the house. My light couldn’t reach them, but the glare must have helped as a deterrent. Those closest had an arm raised over their eyes to shield them from the dim light. If they were that light sensitive, my plan might just work.
After setting the bottles on the porch next to the door I went back inside to the living room. The smaller couch was made of fabric, and closer to the door. It wasn’t as easy to move, and when I got it close enough to the door I put the couch down and moved around it to grab my flashlight. I didn’t want to break it or knock it aside when I went outside.
My shotgun was laying on the couch cushion closest to me, and could be snatched up in a heartbeat. I had to hold the light in my mouth to tilt the couch enough to get it out of the doorframe, but it slid out without any problems.
I grabbed the shotgun off the cushion, and kicked the couch as far past the porch as I could. The crowd was working itself up to a greater frenzy, seeing me out in the open. I grabbed the Everclear bottle off the porch, and jumped onto the lawn.
I had to put the shotgun down to unscrew the bottle while holding the flashlight. Several of the figures from the street started to approached, emboldened by my lack of a weapon. They were in for a surprise.
I poured the bottle over the far end of the couch, and threw the empty container towards the crowd. The shattering glass seemed to signal them to start their assault. They ran faster than I’d expected, and would be on me in moments. Those running over the broken glass didn’t even seem to notice.
Reaching into my front pants pocket, I pulled the small lighter out, and touched its lit end to the ethanol soaked end of the couch. It burst into flames before the lighter’s flame touched it, probably due to the fumes.
I jerked backwards, narrowly avoiding burning my face in the fire. As it was, I smelled the burned hair from my arm. The light was blinding to me, and must have been a thousand times worse for the Kuru in the street.
Screams of fear and pain erupted from the crowd as it scattered in every direction away from the yard. I had picked up the shotgun, and was ready for any of them that wanted to still fight, but they all ran. Their angry screeching and howls sounded like they were coming from all around the house, fading into the silence.
The couch’s flames weren’t as high when the Everclear had burned off, but it was going well enough to not burn itself out. If they were to come back, I’d need to have enough fuel for the fire to keep going.
I went back inside, and started to drag anything that was flammable out to the yard. When I took out the larger couch, the smaller one was already consumed in the fire. I tilted the large one over it, feeding the flames.
Over the next hour I brought out everything flammable that wasn’t bolted down, and a few things that were. I had to kick some of the cabinet doors repeatedly to get them to break off, but they would burn just fine.
A large stack of odds and ends was now piled near enough to my bonfire to fuel it. I’d even tossed a small mattress from one of the upstairs bedrooms out the window to stack on it. The fire wasn’t as bright as when the Everclear was burning, but it was bright enough to cast light all around the house, and out into the street. The backyard was blocked off by an eight foot high brick wall, so I didn’t worry about them sneaking around the back of the house. I couldn’t watch everywhere at once anyway.
I’d broken into a heavy sweat from all of the lifting and carrying. One of the dining room chairs I’d brought outside was comfortable enough to rest on. After the strain of moving the larger couch, I didn’t want to bring out the large easy chair. Besides, I might have gotten comfortable enough on it to fall asleep.
The fire burned uncomfortably high with the second couch, hot ashes and smoke went up in a thick pillar. I was afraid that the hot ashes could start a fire if blown into another house, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. Without the water working, finding a hose to water it down wasn’t an option.
I got to my feet, and walked to the sidewalk in front of the house. Still within the bonfire’s light, I wasn’t afraid of being attacked, and I wanted to see if any of them were out in the dark waiting. Nothing seemed to be lurking near the street, but I couldn’t be sure.
I went back inside the house, and taped the flashlight to the shotgun. The end was free enough to unscrew and switch batteries, if I ever found any. The inside of the house looked like a tornado had torn it apart. All of the furniture was missing, and the kitchen was in shambles. I hoped the pile I’d built up to fuel the fire would last. If it went out, they might come back.
I stifled a yawn, and looked around for anything caffeinated in the kitchen. The people who had lived in the house must have been very health conscious. No coffee, no soda, just a few boxes of green tea. Decaffeinated green tea at that. I shook my head.
I spent the rest of the night keeping the fire built out. It was monotonous, and I had to go back into the house several times to bring out more things to burn. I was tired, but couldn’t sleep. Instead I spent the time planning where I’d go next. The car would take me to the edge of town, but the distance through the desert between towns would be difficult. In a car I would make great progress, but roads might not be passable.
I had to get some sleep once the sun was up, but I also had to leave while it was too bright for anything to attack me. A short nap, then I’d leave. If I could get some lanterns and flashlights it would be safer to travel. Or a generator.
When the east began to lighten, I felt enormous relief that only added to my weariness. The fire was almost burned out by the time the sun crested ove
r the horizon. I was looking at the fire with my back to the road. The sky was clear, so I wasn’t worried about one of the Kuru skulking around anymore. I’d hate to be somewhere it was overcast most of the year.
I was about to head inside when I noticed footsteps approaching behind me. I’d set my shotgun down, not thinking I’d need it. Panicked, I grabbed the gun, turning sharply towards where I had heard the footsteps.
Two people were almost to the sidewalk behind me, and froze when they saw the shotgun pointed at them. I was too shocked to lower the gun when I saw that instead of two Kurus I had been expecting it was two women.
Two non-mutilated, normal women.
5 BEST LAID PLANS
I stared, dumbstruck. They weren’t moving, eyes fixed on the shotgun barrel pointed at them. A look of fear and shock was written on their faces.
They stood side by side, one taller and much thinner than the other. The taller one had light blond hair that fell far below her shoulders, and was slender to the point of emaciation. Dark circles were the predominated feature on her drawn face, which was gaunt and sharp.