Children of the After: Awakening (book 1) (10 page)

With a lump in his throat, Jack’s stomach twisted within
him. It was the same man on the horse. Even from this distance he knew it, and
the man had seen them. There was only one thing they could do. Turning, Jack
grabbed Will’s wrist as Sam’s panic-stricken face resolved and she turned to
follow his lead, as she took Will’s free hand. Together they turned east upon
the interstate and began running. Even from so far away, the rider would be
able to see which way they were going. He could move five times faster on the
horse than they could on foot. He would catch them in an hour, give or take. Jack
was counting on it.

Weaving in between fallen signs and destroyed cars, Will led
his siblings as fast as he could, guiding them on, looking over his left
shoulder again and again to mark the rider’s progress. Down the far slope of
the overpass they ran, scattering dust and glass as they went. When they
reached the divided lanes of the interstate only a hundred yards further he led
them into the grass of the median, before dragging them to a halt between the
two opposing lanes of traffic.

“Now you listen and listen good,” Jack said, the sternness
in his own voice sounding in his ears the same as his father had that last day.
“Follow the grass back towards the overpass. Stay off the glass and ash on the
road. Go under the overpass, but be careful he doesn’t see you. You’ll have to
be fast and hide up near the top, where the bridge crosses over. Hide and I’ll
come back.”

“You can’t just leave us,” Sam pleaded, tears already
beginning from her eyes. “Not like Dad.”

“I’m not, just trust me, there is no time. Now go!” Jack
shouted, shoving Sam and Will away from himself as he turned and began
sprinting away.

Measuring his every breath he stretched out his strides,
feeling the air pass over his face and through his hair. Running was freedom. Here
in this moment, he could get away from anything. In the past he had used it to get
away from Mom and Dad’s nagging about his grades or preparing for college. He
had even used it to get over his grandfather’s passing, but he couldn’t use it
now. Couldn’t enjoy it. Leaving Sam and Will behind felt like a betrayal, even
if he knew it was the only way. Glancing back, just once, he saw their fleeing
backs. They had done as he had told them.

Stretching each stride to the last inch he pushed his sore
muscles and veered off course, listening to his boots upon the pavement before
moving back into the grass. Ahead, maybe two miles, was a rise and then sight
ahead was lost. Two miles. Twelve minutes, maybe more if he was slower now than
he had been months ago. He had to keep up pace.

Again he swerved onto the concrete, leaving tracks in the
ash on its surface. They were probably useless, but if the rider had companions
who were following, they would follow the tracks. At least that’s what Jack
hoped. One mile down.

On and on he ran, feeling his pulse level out at its normal
running pace and he matched his breathing to the perfect clock of his heart. With
every beat he took a stride, and with every stride he watched the ground sweep
beneath his feet. Minutes slowed as the world seemed to stretch out to infinity
in front of him but on Jack raced, refusing to give up. Another half a mile
down.

Faster and faster he pushed himself, feeling his lungs
tightening from the strain as his body threatened him with cramps, but there
was no time to slow, he just knew he had to keep going. Leaning forward he
pumped his legs harder and harder, driving them down into the soft grassy
ground and he plunged onward, topping the rise that was his goal. Digging his
heels into the soil, he slid to an abrupt stop and turned to witness exactly
what he had bet their lives against.

* * * * *

She couldn’t believe he was doing this. Not now. Not like Dad
had done. Could he be serious? But then she realized that this wasn’t like Dad.
He wasn’t stuffing them in a box saying
stay inside as long as you can.
No. He said
hide and I’ll be back
.
I’ll be back
. That was
different. Blinking the tears from her eyes, Sam gritted her teeth and pushed
away her pain and hurt and grabbed Will’s hand, as Jack turned and did what he
was born to do. Away from them, as fast as his legs would carry him, Jack
sprinted as if trying to outrun death himself. And perhaps he was.

Turning, Sam looked into the eyes of her little brother
knowing it was not fair to him to say what she had to, but knew that it might
be their only chance.

“Hurry, Will. We have to do what Jack said and let the rider
chase Jack, or else he might get us.”

“But, Jack…”

“No buts, little man. Let’s go!”

Jerking her little brother nearly off his feet she tried to
mimic her older brother and run, but Will’s little legs couldn’t keep pace. Like
Jack had warned, they followed the grass, moving as fast as they could, back in
the direction they had come. Already she could hear the rhythmic falls of the
horse’s shod feet upon the asphalt of the city streets and with every sound it
grew louder. They weren’t going to make it.

Turning, she spared a look back over her shoulder to see
Jack already an incredible distance away. He was
so
fast. On and on the
sounds of the horse came as Sam began to think that they would reach the
overpass in time. But her hope was suddenly torn away from her as her hand
yanked back driving her to the ground.

Rolling upon the grass, she spun to look upon Will who had
gotten his leg entangled in the tall grass and tripped, pulling her with him. It
wasn’t Will’s fault, but his fall had ruined their chances of making it to the
underpass and Sam knew it. On and on the horse came, its hoof falls now echoing
out from the very underpass they were supposed to hide in.

Dragging Will back to his feet, Sam pulled him through the
grass, her heart pounding in her ears as a scream threatened to spring from her
lips. They couldn’t go to the underpass. She knew that without a doubt, and
then it struck her.

All about her, on both sides of the median, charred vehicles
sat abandoned and destroyed as if the event had happened sometime around rush
hour. Though far from whole and even further from ideal, they provided for her
and Will a place to hide, allowing Jack to carry out his plan of leading the
rider away. Ahead the hoof beats began to slow.

Turning abruptly, Sam pulled her younger brother with her as
she neared the pavement. Again her arm tugged. As she looked back to her little
brother, he swung his head wildly from side to side, reminding her of Jack’s
warning.
Stay off the road. Good call.
Turning again she pulled him
another dozen feet nearer to the underpass, dropping to the ground and pointing
under a large SUV.

Watching as Will vanished under the hulking piece of charred
metal, Sam dropped her pack and kicked it under before dropping to her belly
and pulling her body beneath it too. It was slow going, and with all the rubber
melted from the tires the clearance was barely enough to permit her.

Cursing her bubble butt, as Mom had called it on more than
one shopping trip, she nudged Will farther beneath the metallic mammoth and
together they hid in silence. She hoped for all of them that Jack’s plan
worked. She could not and would not tell Will that Jack was gone too. She
couldn’t break his heart like that. Not again.

* * * * *

Will slid over, crushing the thick grass beneath him as he
struggled for a more comfortable spot and vantage to see the road beyond. He
could hear the horse approaching and the sound sent shivers down his spine,
causing his leg to jerk, accidentally kicking his sister. Fortunately, she
didn’t yell at him. She didn’t even look in his direction. Instead, they both
watched on towards the underpass, staring intently across their narrow field of
view as the horse’s steps slowed to a crawl somewhere just out of sight. Will
wondered what the man was doing out there on his horse. Why was he chasing
them? What did he want? He knew people could be mean. Mrs. Dervish, his first
grade teacher had been mean, but she’d never tried to hurt him. This was
different.

Flattening down the grass in front of his face, Will dug his
toes down into the ground and pushed himself forward for a better view. Apparently
Sam had another idea, and grabbing the back of his pants she pulled him back
under the truck again. Still the horse moved slow, but Will realized that it
was now moving in a different direction. Not only that, but it was getting
close. Really close.

Turning slowly, he watched Sam’s head slowly swiveling to
follow the sound and he did the same, listening to every fall of every hoof as
they grew ever nearer. Holding his breath for fear that the man would hear him,
Will watched as the horse’s hooves came into sight just a short distance away,
riding the edge of the road. Then, at his absolute closest to their hiding
place, the rider stopped his mount. They had been discovered. Will knew the man
had found them. Panic surged within him and when he moved to crawl out of
hiding and make a run for it, Samantha’s reassuring hand reached out to him and
touched his arm. The rider yelled and his horse leapt forward again.

Off down the pavement the rider raced, his horse’s hooves
pounding out a steady rhythm that grew farther and farther away with every
passing second. After a few minutes of listening to the retreating sounds, Sam
released his arm and she began to move. Will didn’t know what the plan was now,
but instead of asking, which is exactly what he wanted to do, he simply
followed her and extracted himself from beneath the SUV. Seconds later they
were on the move towards the overpass, just as Jack had told them to do.

Climbing up the sloped wall beneath the overpass just
moments later, Will found that there were several great places to hide, and
quickly picked one in the deepest shadow where he could see out and down the
road a long way in the direction Jack had run. Jack said he would be back and
Will knew he would be. They just had to wait until he got back. Will hoped it
was soon. He was hungry again.

* * * * *

Standing atop the small rise just two miles from the
overpass where he hoped Sam and Will had found a safe hiding place, Jack watched
as the rider emerged from under the overpass. Still atop his steed, the man did
not notice him at first, but Jack had a plan. Turning, he faced away from the
rider, and took a deep breath.

“Run!” he yelled waving his arms like a stark mad, raving
lunatic.

Then, looking over his shoulder as the rider began to move
towards him, Jack leaned forward and began pumping his legs again. His ploy had
worked, the rider thought them still running. All of them. Racing down into the
ravine between two hills, Jack took to the grass to eliminate leaving tracks
for the rider to follow. It was a simple plan, really, and looking around, he
spotted the perfect location to complete it. With the thundering hooves growing
louder and louder, Jack reached the small car and heaved up on its partially
closed trunk lid.

Inside the trunk were bits and pieces of blackened clothing
and a melted tire that smelled worse than death, but there was no time now to
find an alternative. More or less rolling into the trunk, Jack reached up to
grasp the underside of its lid and pulled it down until it was nearly sealed. All
that was left to do no was wait and listen as the rider thundered nearer.

Laying in the trunk of the small car with something pressing
uncomfortably into his ribs, Jack listened as the thrumming beats of the
horse’s shoed feet grew near. By sound alone he knew when the rider reached the
crest of the ravine and slowed as he guided his beast down the slope. Jack
listened intently as his heart hammered in his chest to match the beat of the
horse’s hooves. Down the rider came. Nearer and nearer. The horse left the road
as its steps became muffled in the grass. In the darkness of the trunk, Jack
shook his head. The rider must have noticed that the trunk wasn’t closed.

Feeling sick to his stomach, remembering the rider’s steely
eyes, Jack braced himself to kick out at the rider as soon as the trunk came
open. And then the horse was on the road again, its hooves pounding away from
him, continuing on in the direction he had led the man. His plan had worked. Sighing
in relief, he waited several moments to let his heart slow and the adrenaline fade
from his blood. Now, he just needed to get back to Sam and Will.

Counting the seconds in whispered breaths, for nearly twenty
minutes Jack listened as the rider thundered away until he was certain it was
safe to leave his hiding place. Twenty minutes, and it would only take about
twelve to get back to his brother and sister. Cautiously, he pushed the trunk
lid open.

Looking about he was surprised to find that evening was
already upon him, the sunlight in the sky fading more rapidly than he would
have imagined. The day was nearly gone and they were still in the city. There
was no way he would stay here another night. Taking a deep breath to calm
himself, Jack sprang forward into a dead run.

Keeping completely to the grass this time, in order to leave
no trail that gave away his deceit, he pressed himself just as hard as he had
earlier, stretching his stride and pushing every step to the limit. It was only
moments until he reached the top of the ravine and looking back he could see no
sign of the rider. Assured, he continued on as fast as his body would carry him
all the way back to the overpass where his siblings should be hiding in wait.

Slowing to a jog as he approached the ever darkening
underpass, he focused on lowering his heart rate and leveling his breathing. It
was not until he walked nearly half way through the concrete structure when he
heard a familiar gasp and looked up, to be greeted by familiar faces.

* * * * *

Sam could hear Jack running in her and Will’s direction and
found herself focusing on his muffled footfalls. She had seen him run enough
over the last few years to know his stride and pacing, though until now never
thought she would recognize it by sound. Listening to him slow as he came
nearer she found herself relieved, knowing he wouldn’t slow if he was being
followed.

Peering out of her darkened hiding spot among what she could
only call the rafters of the overpass, she glimpsed over to see Will’s smiling
face. Looking down, Jack came into sight, huffing and puffing as he fought to
breathe normally. He looked up then, his eyes connecting with her own for a
moment in a look that said
I told you so
. And indeed he had. He had said
he would return and he had come back. Sam wouldn’t have to tell Will that Jack
was gone. A weight lifted off of her shoulders that she hadn’t even realized
had been there. She felt lighter, happier, and more secure. She couldn’t help
but smile in reply as Jack turned his attention to Will, who was already
scrambling from his hiding place to rush down the concrete wall.

Down their younger brother half slid to the outstretched
arms of Jack, who caught him up like a scene from a movie where a veteran of a
war was reunited with his family after years of hardship. But wasn’t this the
same? It certainly felt the same. Watching as Jack leaned back, catching Will midflight
in his arms, the two hugged each other tightly and Sam found her eyes becoming
moist. Again. She was so tired of tears.

She had been worried when he left but never believed for a
moment that he wouldn’t come back. Or had she? Sure she was relieved, and happy
beyond measure that Jack was here, as was Will, but had she thought about
losing him? Though her mind said the answer was an obvious
no
, her heart
screamed
yes
within her. In that moment she realized that Jack could
have been gone forever, taken from her and Will in an instant and they would
have never gotten a chance to tell him goodbye. They would have been alone and
lost without him in a world where nothing was left but desolation and
loneliness. She wanted to hug the breath out of him too.

Pressing her body up from the concrete shelf, she began to
slide forward as a flicker of movement caught out of the corner of her eye made
her freeze and turn in its direction. There, in the darkness upon the opposite
shelf as she, something moved in the shadows. She saw the glint of eyes, and
watched as shadows moved within the darkness, hinting at its size and shape. There
was something there, and it was watching them. She wanted to scream but
couldn’t find the air. She wanted to climb down the wall but found herself
frozen, her body unwilling to cooperate. For that instant she could do nothing
but watch as it moved awkwardly through the darkness towards the opposite end
of the cement structure.

Again and again she tried to make out its shape, watching as
it appeared that it was leaving. Down to the end of the shelf it maneuvered
amongst the darkness. But it didn’t leave. Instead, reaching the farthest
corner from her it turned and backed into the corner, its reflective eyes
peering back at her across the darkened distance. There it waited. Unmoving.
Unblinking. It stared. Sam willed her own body to move.

Never taking her eyes off the creature she rolled over the
edge of the shelf and slid down upon her back to the roadway below. Instantly
Jack and Will were upon her, pulling her up and off the ground and into their
arms but it brought no comfort. Not now.

Raising her arm, she thrust out a finger towards the thing
that still watched, and finally managed to stammer.

“There. There in the dark. Something is there, Jack. It’s
watching us.”

“What?” Jack asked, as he spun to peer in the direction of
her finger.

Though she still felt stiff as the effects of fear held her
in place, Jack released her and lowered Will to the ground before turning to
have a closer look. She wanted to warn him against it, but couldn’t manage the
words. Something within her warred with her impulse to scream and vent the fear
out, telling her to let Jack go and things would be fine, but she didn’t trust
it. On Jack walked, slowly towards the concealed eyes.

Darkness outside the underpass grew thicker by the moment
and here, under the road above, was becoming nearly impenetrable. But still
Jack moved for a better look. Watching as he neared the end of the tunnel, Sam
saw him pick something off of the ground before leaning forward as if to try
and peer into the blackness. Then, as the scream broke from both her and Will’s
lungs, the watcher lunged from its concealment to kick off of one of the great
cement girders above, before launching out into the blackness of the night and
vanishing.

Startled beyond anything she could ever recall, Sam felt her
heart trying to hammer its way out of her chest as she reached up to cover her
mouth that, though soundless, still remained open. Will trembled, clutching to
her leg, just as startled as she. Away went her fear, and in its place an odd
calm washed over her as she looked down to the boy who clutched at her.

“It’s OK now, baby. Whatever it was, it’s gone. Jack chased
it away.”

Though Will didn’t reply, he was breathing heavily but fine,
and Sam brushed her fingers through his hair to calm him as Jack retraced his
steps towards them.

“What the heck was that?” her older brother asked.

Sam shook her head in reply. Her mind couldn’t make sense of
what she had seen. At least, what she thought she had seen.

* * * * *

Will had to pee again. But not now, not with
that
thing out there. Nope. He was gonna wait and hold it as long as he could. Maybe
forever. It didn’t matter now.

Wanting to know what
they
thought about it, he began
listening to Jack and Sam’s conversation.

“I think it was a monkey or something,” Jack said, already
leading them away from the underpass.

“A monkey? Like a chimp or something? Cause that thing was
bigger than a monkey,” Sam replied after a moment.

They walked as they talked, though slower than they had done
over the previous days, and Will wondered what kind of monkey looked like that.
He’d been to the zoo lots of times and never seen a monkey like that, even if
he couldn’t tell exactly what it had looked like. But, instead of interrupting,
he kept his opinions to himself.

“Maybe a baboon or chimp, I dunno. It moved like a monkey
anyway, but I didn’t see any fur. Did you?” Jack asked.

“I don’t think so, but it was so fast and it’s dark.”

“Yeah I know, but I was pretty close and it looked weird,
like skin but different. You know?”

“Maybe it got burned or something or maybe radiation made it
lose all its hair?” Sam offered.

“Just more questions, I guess,” said Jack. “But we need to
move. You guys screamed really loud. The rider might have heard you, and who
knows what or who else might have heard?”

And with that Will gave his hand to Sam, and through the
darkness they took to the median of the interstate and turned west away from
the city and the rider.

Though he didn’t want another run in with the monkey thing
or the rider, it was only about an hour later when Will just couldn’t go any
further. Shaking his hand free from Sam’s, he dropped his book bag and began
running towards the nearest abandoned car. He heard Sam giggle while he peed
but it didn’t matter. At least it didn’t feel like his tummy was going to
explode anymore. But the problem with peeing was that now that his bladder
wasn’t full, he was hungry again. He knew they needed to keep going. Jack kept
on saying it. But they had been moving all day and now it was night and they
hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and Will was certain if he didn’t eat soon his
stomach would swallow another one of his organs.

“Guys?” Will asked.

“Yeah, buddy?” Jack replied.

“I’m hungry.”

“I know, little man. Me too. But we need to keep going a
little longer. Eat your Skittles while we walk and when we find a safe place
I’ll cook us something.”

That was good enough for Will. Candy now and hot food later?
Yup. That would do it. He thrust his hand into this pocket, pulling out the
twisted red, plastic bag and untwisting it carefully he tipped his head back
and poured a mouthful of candies into his already watering mouth. Whoever
invented candy was a genius and Will hoped one day he could thank that person
face to face. If he or she hadn’t died in the event.

Tramping along through the grass for several more hours, it
had to be sometime near midnight when Jack approached the remains of some sort
of delivery truck on the shoulder of the road. It was a tall thing as Will
approached it with his siblings, and he looked up at it, wondering what it had
been used for. An air conditioner-looking box protruded from part of the back
of the truck that was separate from the cab. It reminded Will of a moving
truck, except for the air conditioner.

Rounding the back of the truck they found it closed, and Will
watched as Jack reached up and worked the handle, thrusting the wide door
upwards. Looking inside they found the truck nearly empty, containing a wooden
pallet and a cart used for moving boxes.

“Looks like we found ourselves a room for the night,” Sam
said.

Before he even knew what was happening, Sam lifted him up
and placed him in the back of the truck before she used her hands on the floor
and hopped up, pulling herself over the edge too. Seconds later Jack was
inside, and handing Sam his pack, he turned and pulled the door down behind
them. Fortunately there was a handle on the inside too, because Will heard the
door click when it closed.

After a moment to move the pallet, Will helped Jack and Sam
pull out their cooking supplies and the jar of spaghetti sauce along with a
couple other cans of goods they had managed to scavenge along the way, and Jack
went to work opening cans as Sam set up their small camp burner and pot. That
done, they allowed Will to pour in the sauce and vegetables and he watched as
they were all mixed together and the smell of it all began to fill the air as
his tummy growled over and over and over.

It could have been because of all the walking, or because he
was starving, but he barely tasted his food as he ate from one of the emptied
cans with a spoon from the security vault. It wasn’t anything special. Just
some veggies and some sauce, but it tasted like heaven, and Will finished all
that was left while Sam began painting her face.

As Sam and Jack worked to put their supplies away and wipe
off their dishes as best they were able, Will laid down on the metal floor of
the truck’s box and wondered about the monkey creature they had seen. It had
long legs for a monkey, and he hadn’t seen a tail either. He would have to
remember to ask Sam and Jack about it when they weren’t busy.