Children of the After: The Complete Series: A Young Adult Postapocalyptic Action and Adventure series (38 page)

Looming before Jack in the darkening night ahead was a scene he could hardly believe was real. Like the blade of a knife thrusting up from the ground, the giant alien structure rose what seemed thousands of feet into the air. Constructed of salvaged bits of the only evidence of humanity’s existence on this earth, the thing looked unworthy of habitation, let alone structurally sound. With what appeared to be seemingly random applications, the giant tower was a hodge podge of metal plates and iron beams stolen from any available source. Here was the hood of a sports car and there a mass of twisted and interwoven pipes. Wires dangled everywhere, some arcing and sparking, showering down a torrent of dancing lights each time they collided with the side of the structure, seemingly having lives of their own. From various places upon the structure’s side, where gaps remained in the steel sheathing of the building, odd glowing and pulsing lights shone out in eerie shades of blue and green. Steam and smoke were exhaled from the abomination and about its base and surface could be seen the crawling and scampering bodies of many apparent workers. Though they were barely perceivable silhouettes against the backdrop of a darkening sky, Jack could tell they were of many races. He needed a better look at the place.

“I think we should go on foot from here,” he stated to no one in particular.

“What do you think we should do? I doubt we can just walk up to it,” Sam replied, leaning forward in her seat as if the difference of a foot would give her a better view.

“I dunno,” Jack answered honestly, “We need to have a better idea about what we’re getting into. Any thoughts, Tammy?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. I doubt it is a spacecraft. It appears to be anchored into the ground. I think a city is more like it. Maybe a base of sorts?”

“It’s their evil lair,” Will added, drumming his fingers together.

“I hate to say it, sweetie, but I think you might be right,” Sam admitted. “This thing gives me the creeps.”

Looking all about for miles in all directions, there wasn’t as much as a tree remaining. Nothing was left for cover. There was no place to hide. Remaining with the car would get them discovered for certain, if they hadn’t been spotted already. Jack hated giving up the security of the car, but he knew it would attract too much attention.

“We’re gonna have to ditch the car and find a place to hide for the night so we can get a better look in the morning,” Jack said, planning out loud.

“Hide where?” Sam questioned, as Jack noted all of their looks of concern.

“I don’t know. I doubt we’ll find anything comfortable,” Jack admitted.

“Why not go back a ways, sleep in the car, and return tomorrow?” Tammy asked.

“We could, I suppose,” Jack nodded. ”But we’ll have to walk back.”

“I’d rather be safe and get some rest tonight and have to walk tomorrow, than lie in a ditch all night awake hoping something doesn’t eat me,” Sam replied.

Jack couldn’t argue with that kind of logic. Pushing the compact car ahead with his mind, he turned it around in an intersection and began back the way they had come earlier. If he judged it right, about ten miles back had been the remains of a small town. It was nothing more than basements separated by streets now, but would have to do.

“What about Fairy Pickle?” Jack asked his younger brother, disliking the name a little more each time he was forced to say it.

“He’s following just like he’s supposed to. I’ll have him stand guard while we sleep,” Will replied happily.

“You don’t think he’ll turn on us in the night and make a snack out of you?” Jack asked half joking, though it was a serious question.

“Nah. Looks like he follows commands for a long, long time.”

All Jack could do, all any of them could do, was to hope that young Will was right. With his newfound power, Will was able to control the more than twelve foot tall, gorilla-like creature, but none of them knew to what extent. He was hesitant to trust his little brother’s control of the beast, but what choice did he have? Stay awake all night? Send the creature away where it might tell others of its kind where they were? No way. They had to keep it close.

Straightening the wheel to steer them back in the direction they had come, Jack focused his mind on accelerating the small car and strained with the effort.

* * * * *

Sam watched the road disappear under the car again as the miles swept beneath them. Though she had looked for signs the entire day and night, she had found no evidence that suggested there were other humans nearby. Retracing the road they had come by, she didn’t bother looking again, already knowing that there was nothing to see. Behind them now stood an homage to human destruction and ahead a wasteland of what was once a thriving farming community.

It didn’t take long for Jack to get them back to the last small town they had seen, if you could even call it that. Judging by the slabs of concrete and cinderblock basements that remained, it was little more than a few dozen households accompanied by a gas station and perhaps a small store. Just off the interstate, it probably had just been one of those quiet towns between two larger communities, but now it had been reduced to virtually nothing. Taking the exit to enter the collection of concrete clad holes in the ground, Jack stopped the car beneath the overpass. Sam knew it was an attempt to hide the car, but had a sinking suspicion that it really didn’t matter what they did. If something had seen them and wanted to find them, it wouldn’t be difficult to do so.

From the interstate above it had been easier to distinguish the foundations that remained of what were once homes, but now on the same level, all the darkness blended together making it nearly impossible to discern one thing from another.

“We have to leave the car and find a place to sleep for the night,” Jack nearly whispered.

“Will. Get out your light,” Sam said, knowing they couldn’t locate anything without being able to see.

“You think that’s safe?” Tammy asked.

“We can’t stay in the car. It’s too obvious,” Jack began. “Our best bet is to find a place in one of those basements out there. It won’t exactly be a freezer truck, but it’ll have to do for at least one night.”

Sam listened as Will rustled through his bag and extracted the light. Shaking it briefly, he turned it on, illuminating them all in its soft glow. Turning, Sam pulled the lever on her door and pushed it open, noting her siblings and Tammy doing the same. Climbing out of the car she could hear the rhythmic thuds of footfalls growing louder with every second.

“C’mon, Fairy Pickle!” Will shouted as if calling a dog.

“Shh. If anything is out there it’ll hear you,” Sam whispered.

“If anything’s out there, it already saw the car, my light, and will hear him coming anyway,” Will replied.

He was right and she knew it. Even so, she felt uneasy. Moving slowly, both Sam and Jack walked beside their younger brother with Tammy trailing a step behind. Out in the open, Will’s small emergency light seemed to produce hardly enough light to see by, but carefully and slowly they walked towards what was once the town as they all listened to the giant ape’s rapid approach.

Within moments they were amongst the ruined remains of what were once homes and businesses. Unlike most places they had been in the past, where the charred skeletal remains of the houses remained and plumbing and wiring clung to the ruins, here was nothing. Beyond old, greasy ash, everything had been stripped away from the ruins minus the concrete of the basements themselves. Peering down into what must have been the tenth basement, Sam knew they weren’t going to find anything better. Each had looked the same as the previous.

Wondering how they would manage to get down inside one of the basements, Sam noticed a large shadow extracting itself from the dark emptiness around them, and watched cautiously as the giant ape loped over to join them.

“Hey, Fairy Pickle,” Will greeted. “C’mere, boy.”

Without another word the giant ape approached with a peculiar expression that bordered on wonder and insanity. Sam didn’t dare to guess which. As the large ape grew nearer, its giant feet and fists struck the ground with such force that she could feel it through her boots as if the ground trembled.

Oddly, though it could snap them like twigs, it sauntered up to Will and bent down low as if to look him in the eyes.

“Good boy,” Will praised. “You have been very good. Now listen, me and the others are going to go hide down in this hole. You stay up here and don’t let anyone hurt us or take our stuff. Understand?”

The ape grinned, banging its large fists on its chest as if to show how strong it was. Sam had seen the same at the zoo and on TV but it was different with an animal this large and this close. Even if it was under her brother’s control, it was intimidating.

Falling back onto all fours, the beast seemed to hop up and down a couple times as if it were excited, before lumbering off across the town, leaping the very basements they had inspected just moments before. Sighing loudly, Sam was glad the thing was gone. Controlled by her brother’s telepathy or not, the beast was a wild animal, and wild animals couldn’t be trusted.

Turning back to her companions, Tammy thought to ask how they planned to descend when suddenly she was jerked from her feet and into the air. Screaming at the surprise, she quickly covered her mouth with both hands and watched as she floated up and over the basement’s opening only to lower slowly through the night time air until her toes reached the concrete below. Spinning, now that her feet were on solid ground again, she watched as Tammy, Will, and then Jack himself touched down as well.

Sam couldn’t help but shake her head. Once again she had forgotten about her own ability. She could have blinked down here instantaneously. She doubted she would ever get used to it, though knew that in the day or days to come she had better remember her new power. There might come a time when she would need it.

It took only minutes to realize there was nothing to do, see, or lay upon in the concrete hole and as such all four gathered in one corner of the structure and, using their packs as makeshift pillows, laid down beside one another. Sam listened for a long time but no sounds came. Without trees or buildings or cars, the town was silent as death. Not even Fairy Pickle grunted or hooted. No matter how hard she tried to stay awake and listen, it wasn’t long after both Will and Jack started snoring that Sam drifted off as well.

* * * * *

Will awoke with a start, and looking around he couldn’t see anything out of place in the predawn hour of the morning. Not knowing what had startled him awake, he sat up and looked about to no avail. Straining his ears he heard a grunt right before a loud growl erupted from somewhere above and behind him. Fairy Pickle!

Within an instant Will noted his siblings and Tammy scrambling to their feet to join him. Knowing he couldn’t get out of the hole on his own, he turned to Jack just as Sam vanished from sight as if she had been nothing more than smoke.

“Get me outta here,” Will said, not sure if he was commanding or requesting.

In either case, he, Jack, and Tammy lifted up and off the concrete floor and into the air to be deposited upon the edge of the basement’s remains. Spinning towards the growling and snarling, Will couldn’t believe his eyes.

Opposite what remained of the small town stood Fairy Pickle, locked in battle with another of his kind over their car. Like an epic game of tug of war, the two beasts gripped the car from either side and heaved it first one way and then the other. With each pull one of the beasts grunted in exertion as the once smooth panels on the car crumpled like tin cans beneath their mighty grasps. Will appraised the battle and knew that Fairy Pickle couldn’t win. The other beast was larger. Much larger. But still his befriended ape didn’t relent to the larger foe.

Back and forth the two behemoths fought and Will wondered if he should command the larger beast to stop. Too late. With a growl of anger and rage, the larger ape ripped the small car free from Fairy Pickle’s grasp and using the vehicle as a weapon it lashed out, smashing Fairy Pickle in the shoulder, neck, and face. Fairy Pickle cried out as he toppled over backwards, slamming into the ground with his arms and legs flailing.

Again the behemoth lifted the car, this time above its head as if to smash Fairy Pickle with it and end the battle. Will knew he had to intervene. Taking a deep breath so that he could yell loud enough for the creature to hear him, Will witnessed as a pair of cinder blocks hurled through the air, smashing the behemoth in the leg and side. Jack had joined the fight as well.

“Freeze right there, you big ole meanie!” Will screamed as the giant creature blinked in confusion and turned to look in their direction.

Will knew the creature was under his control but turned his attention to the injured Fairy Pickle. Watching as his befriended beast slowly dragged itself away from the attacker, favoring its injured shoulder, Will knew that Fairy Pickle was hurt.

Angered by the behemoth’s injury of his pet, Will turned his glare back to the larger beast.

“You wanna hit things with cars?” he screamed. “Then hit yourself!”

Without hesitation, the behemoth heaved the car upwards over its head as high as it could reach before releasing it altogether. Down the car came, smashing the giant ape atop the head as it roared in pain. Falling to all fours, the large beast got its bearings as the car smashed to the ground, somehow landing on its wheels. With pain in its wet eyes, the large ape roared in anger and rage before it looked to Will, awaiting his next command.