by J. Axbridge
“What if we don’t make it across those waters? Whatever those are?” Arthur said nervously.
“Or we could get lost and go the wrong way,” Caelyn said, Victoria nodding in agreement. “It’s so dark at night and what if one of those wolves attacks us again?”
“No need to worry about all that kids, we’ll make sure you get there safe and sound. Jax and two of his friends will escort you five the entire way.”
Jax escort us, I guess that’s the closest thing to a Prom Date I could ask for. I thought pushing worry and doubt aside and letting my imagination take over for a second. I wonder if we’re going in a limousine. I smiled wider thinking about the limo, and of course Jax in a snug fitting tuxedo before being brought back to reality abruptly by Arthur.
“Didn’t you hear what he said Addie? We’re going across waters, I hate water!”
“Probably just a small lake or something, get over it, you’ll be fine. We’ll definitely need to pack efficiently though, so only the essentials I assume?” Mr. Morgan nodded affirmatively.
“Ok, we’ll need flashlights, medicines, a few days of clothing and watches. We definitely need to keep track of these crazy new hours. Do you still have that nerdy collection of survival watches Arthur?”
“You mean my All Element Survival Watches? Have one for every color of shirt.” Arthur smiled proudly, although to me he looked as dorky as ever.
“See what happens when you grow up with three sisters in the house. Mr. Macho coordinates his watch to his clothing,” I laughed, bringing a grin to Jax and his father’s face.
“Do you want them or not Addie?” Arthur grumbled.
“Of course I want them,. . . grab one for each of us . . . Actually grab them all, with this new time, daylight hour stuff, using those watches in 24 hour mode will help us get the proper rest at the proper time. Do we need batteries?”
“Nope, solar powered. Of course we need sun for that.”
“Just get the watches Arthur and we’ll get the gear ready. It looks like we’re going on one of those crazy hiking trips you loved so much as a child.”
Chapter 10 - Something Out There
Adelaide
Having made the long hike to the Morgan’s home safely, we finally had a chance to acclimate to the newness of the world we now lived in. We still couldn’t bring ourselves to fully believe what had happened to earth and to the lives we once lived but the homemade pot pies Mrs. Morgan made especially for us, helped fill our stomachs and lighten our mood for the first time in weeks. The crust alone on those pies was simply amazing, they were a perfect shade of golden brown and they flaked apart melting into thin layers in my mouth with each bite. I grinned at its deliciousness and silently hoped I wouldn’t lose that taste in my mouth for days.
Unfortunately we had no choice but to move on, and since the day we arrived at the Morgan’s a week earlier we’d planned for our departure to meet up with the rumored human survivors on the other side of the waters, heading east. We were already packed and ready to leave on a moment’s notice with all the necessities for a long hiking trip along with goodie bags of food from Mrs. Morgan and a few useful weapons from Mr. Morgan.
Jax and two of his close friends Andrew and Charles, who would be escorting the five of us, began drawing maps depicting the current layout of the land to help on our journey.
“Dad . . . Hey Dad, when’s the last time you crossed the waters? We need your input on some of the map drawings.” Jax lifted his head from the map and yelled to his dad.
“I’ve never crossed the waters. You know that Jax.”
“But you said—”
“I said I’ve heard about what’s on the other side, not that I’ve been on the other side.”
“Just give me the map,” Charles said annoyed. “Andrew and I snuck across last week.”
Mr. Morgan looked at the two boys with disapproval, “You shouldn’t have done that boys, it’s dangerous out there alone. We don’t even know the territory over there very well yet.”
Andrew continued to look down ignoring Mr. Morgan, “OK, we’re here in the west and the humans we saw were camped just on the other side of the water and it looked like they were preparing to pack up and leave. . . And look here Jax,” Andrew pointed. “We need to cross a lot of land that has debris spread all over just to get to the waters . . . it won’t be easy to be quiet with such a large group. Still, I believe we should make it in less than a day and once there your father said we’ll find a man named, ‘Sampson’ who will take us across in his boat.”
“The hardest part will start once we’re across though,” Charles added. “The humans have probably moved on by now, so we’ll need to track them ourselves and be careful not to be seen until we get to the group safely. I just hope there aren’t any rogue wolves tracking them too or we’ll have our hands full.”
*****
Leaving the Morgan’s home in the early hours of the day, the never ending pre-dawn hue was dreamlike. Yet everyone seemed refreshed and anxious to get going so we started with a semi-quick jogging pace.
After four hours of jogging, stumbling, climbing debris, walking through giant craters and stepping over dead . . . just about everything, we arrived at our first major obstacle.
“Is that bridge safe?” Ethan asked as Charles led the way climbing what was left of a steep highway overpass.
“Oh it’s safe kid; you just need to do exactly as we do,” Charles grinned at Ethan. “Otherwise it’s over the side and you’re yesterday’s news. It’s too far down to even look for you. Not that it would matter, you’d be dead - instant rogue wolf bait for sure.”
Walking the rest of the way to the top of the overpass in silence we finally figured out what they were looking at. A semi truck had wedged itself between the two halves of the overpass creating a bridge in itself that we needed to cross in order to get to the other side.
“OH Man, I hate heights just as much as I hate water,” Arthur complained, “How did this thing even make it through the storms?”
“Don’t worry we’ll be fine, they go first and we’ll follow, just don’t look down,” I said, reassuring my trembling brother.
Climbing gingerly up the frosted over rear door of the semi truck trailer one at a time, we all slipped at least once before regaining our footing and making it to the slippery top. Once up we took turns cautiously walking across to the other side except for Ethan, Caelyn and Victoria. They crawled on their hands and knees afraid they’d slip off and I couldn’t blame them, it was one of the scariest things I’d ever done.
To prove my thoughts Arthur yelled out, “This has got to be the scariest thing I’ve ever done. Next time we go down and around.” He complained, his anxiety still heightened even after making it safely across. He lifted his hand watching the subtle shakiness before shoving it in his pocket. “Let’s just get off this damn bridge, like now, before it collapses,” he said and began walking down the overpass, relieved to be on the down-slope.
The total journey to the waters-edge took us nine and a half hours. Having left during the first sun at 6am we arrived about in the middle of the first darkness at 3:30 pm, right on schedule, just as Andrew and Charles had planned.
Jax, Andrew and Charles along with the five of us stopped behind a large pile of rubble and debris, sitting down on the cold dirt, rock and ash covered ground to take a break before moving to the lake. The distant sound of water lapping the shores was clearly heard and we knew we’d finally arrived near the water’s edge. Jax asked Andrew and Charles to go on ahead to make sure the area was safe and to search out Sampson, the man who would take us across to the other side in his boat while the rest of us hid and waited further back for the “OK” to move on.
After ten uneasy minutes Jax peered above the rubble into the darkness, listening intently to the silence while checking his watch ever two minutes wondering what had happened to his friends. “This isn’t right.” He said, sounding agitated.
“What isn’t �
�right’?” I questioned, casually adjusting my position trying to make my tight jeans a little more comfortable.
“They’ve been gone too long, they should have been back already; can any of you hear or see them?” Jax asked. But no sooner did he ask when he received his answer.
Turning his head ever so slightly like positioning an aerial antenna he said he heard their footsteps coming towards us at high speed. “Something’s gone wrong,” he whispered. Arthur pulled out his hunting knife and I squeezed my bat tight, the taped grip whining under my fingers as I rotated them back and forth slowly. Caelyn, Victoria and Ethan each pulled out the survival knives Mr. Morgan had given them, preparing to defend themselves the best they could against who knows what.
“Jax, something is chasing us. . . Sampson is dead . . . they killed him,” Jax relayed the message to us after attaining it with his super hearing.
We then waited in tense silence not knowing what was going on until Charles and Andrew rounded the pile of debris less than a minute later and slid down spraying dirt and rocks into the cool dark air.
“What happened?” Jax asked urgently in a quiet voice.
“We found Sampson easily enough and were talking with him about the crossing when two figures attacked him with no warning, and like that he was on the ground, dead.” Charles said and even though it was dark I could see the sweat glistening off his face.
“Werewolves or humans?” I asked nervously.
“Definitely not human, they moved too fast but . . . , Jax, they didn’t smell like werewolves. Actually they had no scent at all,” Andrew said with a look of confusion on his face. “It was as if nothing was there but, they were there, attacking us.”
“Luckily they went after Sampson first,” Charles said, wiping sweat from his brow. “We took off changing directions multiple times leading them away until we felt safe and then as fast as possible doubled back here.”
“So you’re telling us that whatever or whoever attacked you in the darkness wasn’t werewolf or human?” My brother Arthur confirmed. “I told you weeks ago it was aliens, you guys just won’t listen.”
“Now’s not the time Arthur!” I snapped at him.
“What was it then?” Ethan shifted nervously on the ground.
“We don’t know,” Charles said, his panting finally returning to a more normal level of breathing.
“Well,” Jax began, “it’s too dark to head back home and whoever or whatever is out there may see us move from here, so we can’t risk heading to the boat right now. We’ll just stay put until second sun; it’s only a few more hours anyway. Then we’ll have a look around when it should be safer. At least we’ll be able to see better if someone tries to sneak up on us.”
*****
The two plus hours until second sun arrived seemed like days instead of minutes, every noise we heard no matter how small, weapons were drew ready for a fight; thankfully it was for a fight that never came.
“It’s bright enough to have a look but let’s be smart about this; we don’t want to walk into an ambush again. . .” Jax carefully looked over the debris pile we’d hidden behind all night, staring at the gentle waters in the distance. “Andrew, you go first and head directly to the boat and be on guard. Charles, go around the side and come in from the left, and I’ll come in from the right. If anyone is in this area besides us, then one of us should see them or hopefully catch their scent. Allisters’, you stay here and keep watch, if you see any movement or if anything seems off then whistle and we’ll head back. Let’s go!”
Without incident Andrew, Charles and Jax quickly inspected the area and made it to the boat safely. Given the OK from Jax, my brothers, sisters and I ran up the middle, our backpacks swinging and rattling and weapons on hand as we regrouped near the water.
Jax was already kneeling beside Sampson’s blood soaked body, but he wasn’t so much concerned with all the blood as he was with the wounds that killed him. Andrew and Charles meanwhile hovered over Jax taking in the grisly sight like investigators at a crime scene.
“Look at that Jax; those aren’t werewolf bites or claw marks, much too small. “Charles said, searching over Sampson’s pale face.” They look more like, finger nail scratches.”
“Those small marks there . . . , by his neck, those are definitely not scratches, those are bite marks.” Jax pointed to two dark blue circular marks on Sampson’s neck where blood had dried, forming a trickling stale red stream.
Andrew turned to Jax in realization, “You’re not saying what I think your saying, are you?”
“I am. I know it’s hard to believe but it seems we now know who the other creatures are that survived the meteorite showers and it’s definitely not good news!”
“Who! Who are they?” Ethan shouted unable to contain his nerves. “Are they aliens like Arthur said?”
“Not aliens Ethan, they’re Vampires . . . No doubt about it, just look at the bite marks. The damn vamps made it through the storms too and here I was led to believe they had been wiped off the face of the earth years ago.”
“Hold on . . . you’re telling us that vampires really exist?” I said shocked. “Come on . . . Am I the only one dreaming here? Are we in some sort of movie or reality TV prank show? This must be a dream. That’s it, I’m dreaming. Someone please wake me, I must have eaten too much candy before bed and I’m definitely late for school by now!”
Without hesitation Arthur pinched me hard on the arm.
“Ouch,” I threw out explicative’s, “what the . . . that hurt you idiot!”
“Sis, you’re not dreaming, none of us are. As crazy as this seems it’s . . . freaking . . . real, deal with it. Maybe you’ll get lucky and one of those vamps will be shimmering or something? You already have wolf boy here.” Arthur smiled nodding his chin towards Jax and totally embarrassing me. Although I did see Jax crack a grin while still gazing down at Sampson. That of course made me wonder if he had feelings for me, or possibly liked me more than just a new friend.
But my embarrassment didn’t last long, it was replaced by the realization that this was the first time since the showers ended that I genuinely felt panicked and scared. Yes I learned how to deal with life without parents in a relatively short time, and yes, the nothingness of the new world could be tolerated. I mean even werewolves; they actually made sense; after all they were living, breathing creatures, just a freak of evolution. But vampires . . . that notion pushed my imaginative mind over the edge. How could vampires be real? Is there a Frankenstein and Mummy too? My thoughts suddenly began racing in circles around all the scary fictional characters I’d read in books or saw on TV.
“Addie, how do we kill vampires?” Asked Ethan, surprisingly not fazed anymore by the revelations of a new creature to fear as his young mind was seemingly changing gears from fear to survival which was a good thing considering everything we’d seen.
“I saw it in a movie once; you stake them through the heart,” said Caelyn, making an over exaggerated stabbing motion then strangely laughing.
“No . . . you need holy water and a cross that burns them to death. That way you don’t have to fight them,” Victoria said, making a hissing noise putting her fingers in the sign of the cross.
Jax having never met a “real” vampire before had heard stories from his father and grandfather and knew of a different way to kill them and began sharing them as soon as my sisters were done teasing Ethan.
“My Dad warned me other creatures may have made it through the showers but never did I believe vampires still existed. He’d said they died out ages ago. When I was a child he would tell me stories about how our ancestors would kill them in fierce battles.”
“Do we need to hear this? The look on your face says it must be pretty gruesome,” Victoria said, her emerald green eyes scrunched, with Caelyn bobbing her head quickly in complete agreement.
“We do need to hear this girls; it’s the only way we’ll know how to defeat the vamps,” I said sternly not sure where my bravado
was coming from. “Unless you want to die like Sampson died? And that doesn’t look too fun to me.”
“Change of heart Addie?” Arthur asked as he stared at me in disbelief.
“Whatever killed this man, vampire or not, it’s evil and we need to learn all we can, otherwise this new world will kill every last one of us and I made a promise to Dad and Mom to keep all of you safe. If that means we learn how to take down a vampire, then we’re learning how to take down a freaking vampire!”
The twins’, Ethan, Arthur, Charles and Andrew stood in silence as if trying to determine if my sudden change in attitude was real. Jax smiled though, obviously admiring my sudden change of character and that smile of his was all I needed to grow even stronger on the inside because it was only for me.
“OK then,” Jax broke the silence, his smile fading, “This is how I remember it.”
“Arthur, take notes,” I zipped open my pack and threw my brother a notepad and pencil, “And make sure they’re detailed!”
“Yes ma'am!” Arthur saluted me and I couldn’t help but chuckle. Sometimes he could be goofy even in the most serious of situations and that’s another reason why I loved my annoying brother.
Jax stared at me a moment longer and I must have had a, “what’s up,” look on my face because he blushed before looking down at the ground drawing in the dirt recounting his father’s stories on vampire slaying.
“You kids mentioned a stake, the sign of the cross and holy water. Well you’re not completely off track because you would need to stake them in the heart, that part is correct. Also the stake would look like a cross, and for good reason.” Jax drew a cross like picture with his finger in the loose ground. “It’s made of hollow bamboo like tubes in the form of a cross with a sharp point on the bottom. You’d stab the vampire in the chest, but that alone wouldn’t kill them. Once the stake was impaled you’d turn it like a cork screw driving it even further into the vampire’s body. If you made a direct hit into their heart you’d drain their heart blood, which would kill them and anyone they’d ever bitten and turned into vamps in the process. If you got their creator, you’d take down the whole Vampire Empire. Or so it was rumored.”