After The End (21 page)

Jake, Forrest, Cal, Troy, and myself left the
trucks and pried open the door. Seth and the other two drove slowly
through the lot to lead away or run down any fleshies outside. I
wound my flashlight and shone its beam across the near empty
shelves. It appeared the shop had been untouched in months after a
frantic rush during the initial outbreak. We spread out slowly in
search of supplies and vigilant against the risen deceased.

The cones of light helped me track the
progress of all but the vampire; Cal saw fine without the aid of
the electric torches. We only came across two corpses in the store.
There was a shotgun between them and only fragments of their heads
to keep their bones company. Troy gave a low hiss to signal us and
the streaks of radiance converged. Most of the guns and ammunition
had been taken from the counter, but nine crossbows and around a
hundred arrows had been left behind.

Smiling, we loaded ourselves and continued
through the shop, gradually acquiring almost the entire list. We
flashed our lights out the door three times. The trucks pulled up
and we hurriedly unburdened ourselves. Cal flew up above us,
assessing our situation. As the Roman touched down he frowned.

“We should go. There are still many more on
the way and the night is half spent.”

Our team moved quickly into the vehicles in
search of shelter for the day, far away from the outlet. Seth eyed
the haul and nodded at Bubba and me.

“Not bad. Is there anything we still need
from there or are we moving on altogether?”

“Place is about done cleared out fer now, but
we should keep it in mind next trip.”

Our convoy backtracked towards the edge of
town as we scanned each passing home for livability. The tides of
Dead seemed much fewer than they had been in months previous as we
unloaded and examined three different places. Finally, coming upon
an old cinderblock house, we set up to bed down for the day.

The house sat back from the road and on a
decent patch of land apart from its neighbors. There were even some
of the items from our list inside and — best of all — it was free
of carcasses. Cal made one last sweep of the area before we locked
the door and retired.

We paired off for shifts on watch, ate a
simple dinner, and arranged our sleeping spots. The other female
volunteer laid her sleeping bag next to my blankets although she
continued locking eyes with Jake.

I swear to God if they try
to hook up right next to me, I’m going to beat them both senseless.
And if she tries to start girl talk like this is a slumber party,
I’ll kill myself.

Troy and Cal took the first watch, whispering
as they checked the windows and looked for items of use that may
have been missed. I drifted to sleep thinking of my night with
Daemon and the look in Troy’s eyes.

The past two days had been uneventful, making
the evening’s search almost pleasant. Our party had already located
everything on the list including baby books and supplies by 4AM.
Driving into an upscale neighborhood, we’d only run down a few
dozen fleshies.

My heart began to let in a glimmer of hope as
I realized how few of the corpses remained and that most of those
seemed utterly beyond concern; we may be able to resettle in town
one day. The thought of being able to reconnect the pathways to
other cities and find more survivors like us was intoxicating.

After moving the wreckage of a Hummer and a
Cadillac, the convoy pushed further into the gated suburb in our
quest for daytime shelter. Scorch marks, bleached bones, and torn
clothing stood testament to previous looting. Ahead of us were
scattered bodies on formerly manicured lawns.

I noted the crushed or fragmented skulls;
these corpses wouldn’t be stalking us. Troy stared at the bullet
hole in a small cranium at the stop sign. There was a bit of skin
holding the jaw to the rest of the head, the arm of another carcass
still within the mouth. He and I locked eyes and nodded to other to
move on. Seth pulled into a driveway and cut the engine. The other
two vehicles followed and we geared up to assess the location.

I realized his reason for deciding on the
house when I saw the garage. It could have easily held five or six
cars. Inside we found an Infiniti SUV, a Harley motorcycle, tools,
camping equipment, sporting items, and fishing rods for the ocean.
Our vehicles were brought inside for the day and we moved into
formation to clear the mansion itself.

Silently, we checked each room on the first
floor. Nancy pointed emphatically at the open cans on the kitchen
counter; someone had eaten here very recently. I gripped my sword
more tightly and felt a bead of sweat run down my neck. Everyone
froze as the reality sunk in: we have no idea how many people are
in here or what arms they may be carrying. The ground floor was
empty. No Dead or living lurched at us as we swept for hazards.

As I stood at the foot of the hardwood
stairs, Cal grabbed my elbow. He whispered as he held me in
place.

“Someone is snoring up there. I only hear one
heartbeat and no other movement. Perhaps we should remain here and
await our host’s arrival.”

I lowered my foot from the step and glanced
at each of my companions. Seth kept looking at Troy for direction,
while Troy just watched me patiently. Forrest and the others had
already lowered their weapons and waited for a choice to be made so
they could get some rest. I spoke as low as possible.

“Fair enough. We’ll stay down here for now.
We won’t touch anything inside, it’s already spoken for, but we
will leave a note at this guy’s door explaining our presence and
that we’re not a danger.

Sleep is in shifts as usual. Whoever is on
shift will sit here at the base of the stairs; when they hear
whoever is up there stirring, quietly wake everyone in the other
room.”

Cal, Troy, and I sat down for first watch as
the others trailed into the living room to unpack. The old vampire
smiled as we watched Troy stand back up and follow them. I’d tugged
the Roman’s sleeve to keep him from rising when Troy had given him
a tilted nod. As soon as he was out of sight, Cal chuckled.

“Why so uninterested in the gentleman’s
company, I wonder.” He teased. “Could it be that you worry you’ll
be tempted?”

I blurted out a hushed “No.” and pulled my
bag of fruit and meat from my bag.

“Ah, the lady protests far too quickly to be
true. Are you concerned for Daemon’s feelings?”

I winced at the thought of him being hurt by
me before realizing I hadn’t done anything. I hadn’t even intended
to consider doing anything that would hurt Daemon’s feelings. I
glanced at the elder vampire and saw him grinning.

“Squirrel, the boy will have to accept not
having you, just as you will have to move on from him. Although it
may pain you, it is the only option. For now, there is a young man
who is a nice alternative. Daemon will carry on just fine; he has
centuries to find another woman. You’ve tested your luck too much
already; let the lad go.”

He gave me a gentle pat on the arm and began
to scribble out a note for our unknown patron. Soundlessly, Cal
floated up to the door and slid the paper underneath. The next two
hours we sat in silence, the conversation echoed in our minds but
had concluded with his words. I couldn’t argue with Cal; he was
right. But just because we both knew he was right, didn’t mean I
had to acknowledge it.

As Troy and Seth relieved us from our post,
footsteps were heard overhead. Seth hurriedly woke the others and
our bags were packed and hoisted again. At my urging, weapons were
ready but not drawn. In a tense huddle, we waited at the bottom of
the elegant stairs like nervous prom dates. The carved maple cherub
at the end of the banister laughed as the shuffling upstairs
stopped by the door. There was a flurry of movement behind the door
and all around that room for the next full minute. We stood like
statues, muscles taut with anticipation.

Finally the doorknob turned and there was a
crack of light on the wall.

“Hello?”

I cleared my throat.

“Hi. It’s okay, we don’t want any trouble and
we didn’t touch any of your stuff. We just needed a place to stay
until tonight.”

“How many is ‘we’ exactly?”

I did a quick head count.

“Eight including myself. Are you coming
down?”

The light disappeared and we heard footsteps
circling for a moment.

“Why did you people come after me if you
don’t intend to kill me? Are you with that big guy who has those
tourist kids?”

Puzzled faces looked at me; my confused face
looked right back.

“We didn’t know anyone was here until we
heard you snoring. What guy with the tourists? Can you come down,
or can we come up please?”

“No. No, don’t come up. I’ll come down, but
I’m bringing my weapons. Don’t shoot me or those zombies will start
marching towards us.”

I relaxed a little.

“Not a problem, we don’t have any guns on us
and we don’t care much for fleshies either.”

Slowly, the door opened and a graying man in
his forties eased his way down the stairs. He held a pistol with a
silencer in front of him and a military saber hung on his hip. The
man stopped halfway down and holstered his gun.

“Forrest? Bubba is that you?”

Stunned I looked behind me for Bubba, but he
had pushed past and was climbing the stairs two at a time.

“Vincent!”

The two men hugged tightly while we watched
the tearful reunion. All the fear and worry dissipated as we
witnessed that hope we all secretly carried: finding a loved one
safe. The embrace was marked with mutterings of ‘I thought you’d
died’ and ‘Can’t believe I found you’.

And then they kissed. It was passionate, to
the point that the forgotten crowd at the base of the stairs became
simultaneously entranced with staring at the floor or wallpaper. I
think Jake was the one who mumbled ‘get a room’ causing the couple
to break their prolonged embrace.

“Sorry, ya’ll. It’s just that, well, I done
forgot y’all was here. Folks, this is Vincent. Vincent these are
some of the people I been living with outta town a ways.”

I stepped forward to shake Vincent’s hand,
followed by each of my companions – Jake needed an elbow to the
ribs to bring his manners to him. After Cal did a brief glamoured
Q&A, it was agreed that Vincent would gather his stuff and join
us. Both he and Bubba appeared overjoyed and inseparable.
Pleasantries exchanged, we sat and had a nice breakfast as a group
and got to know Forrest’s boyfriend.

Vincent was a former Army Captain, hence his
dress sword and sidearm. He’d figured out the Dead followed
gunshots, and had acquired several silencers on a raid of his own.
During the outbreak, he and Forrest had been separated and their
townhome destroyed.

Vincent managed to survive by living off of
the land and scavenging empty homes. He’d been alone all year,
having opted to observe strangers before approaching; the few bands
of survivors he’d seen had been vicious or stupid enough to keep
infected with them. The group he’d spoken about earlier were
cannibals.

Our enlarged crew rested through the day.
Forrest and his boyfriend caught up and reminisced on the second
floor while we slept peacefully on the first. I woke in the
afternoon to the smell of Spam in baked beans and corn cooking on
the Sterno burners. The party gathered around the glory of warm
food and we mentally prepared ourselves for the night’s journey
home.

Vincent had seen the cannibals the day
before. From his descriptions, Seth confirmed they were his
neighbors from before the outbreak. The big guy had been the
Neighborhood Watch Captain and a rep for the HOA. His recon also
established what I’d been worried about; they were somewhere
between our current location and our home camp. With a roughly
sketched map, we debated possible alternative routes home until the
meal was finished. During a lull in the search for options, a
scream fractured the air outside the house.

I rushed to the foyer window, moving the
thick curtain the barest amount to peek outside. The sight on the
opposite yard made my stomach quake and my heart drop. I couldn’t
breathe when I found the source of the scream. Cal stood next to
me, with his eye at the peephole. Crowded behind us, the others
began to push for a view. Troy took one look and shoved them
away.

“Trust me, you don’t want to see.” He
mumbled. His tan face paled and toned arms shook.

Worried expressions and fidgeting hands
waited for an explanation, a plan, and some assurance. I turned to
them and gestured to the stairs. Wordlessly, we trailed up the
elegant staircase and into Vincent’s bedroom. Cal took up a post
watching and listening out of a tiny corner of the window. I tried
to find the words.

“The murderers we’re trying to avoid, um,
they’re across the street. It looks like those Brazilians, Maria
and Fernando, are being tortured and eaten on the front lawn. I can
only guess about the rest of their friends.”

I stared at the carpet, each thick fiber
catching the light differently as I stared at them for an idea. We
couldn’t leave and we couldn’t stay.

We’re boned.

Several minutes passed, the hush punctuated
sporadically by weaker and more desperate screams from the teenage
girl. I barely heard the boy as they cooked him alive over a small
fire. Both of the tourists were naked and beaten; Maria was covered
in blood between her legs and on her chest. I struggled to grasp
the right answer for the situation. Caelinus spoke softly telling
us what was happening so that we wouldn’t have to see it
ourselves.

“They are cutting off strips of the boy’s
skin and eating him alive. One man just cut a thin strip along the
lad’s ribs and up near his armpit and yanked it free. They’ve
already raped both of them in turns. Their leader is questioning
them in Spanish; he wants to know about the fortress with all the
people. The one with the two flying blood-drinkers and the women
and food.”