Created (Book 1 of the Created) (22 page)

To taunt me, he replayed the soundtrack of the afraid
female. He hastened my need to determine if Veronica was safe.

Neither was as large as John, though both possessed speed
and strength when I was drained of both. In a straight fight, I thought I could
survive against one, but certainly not two, and since there were no fresh
zombies around, then I would have to find another way to improve my odds.

He screamed and laughed. The wolf was Tristan. The cocky
wolf stated, "Her death was easy, but yours won't be. It will be fun to
rip you apart vampire and feast on your undead bones."

Haley joined with a crazy laugh.

The two separated and moved closer.
 

I needed to think. "Neither of you could have killed
her. You should have heard the screams of that bitch John as I beat him to
death. He begged for mercy and he got none. What do you think I will do to you
to pathetic excuses for wolves?"

Haley spoke as he crawled over a deep tree that had fallen.
"You couldn't have killed him. You are unworthy to say you did."

They two bared their huge fangs in disapproval.

I laughed then smirked as I remarked, "The answer you
need stands before you dogs. I stand here to bear witness to the fact that his
crumpled body lies dead in his own piss back on the road."

Neither of the two wolves knew how to handle the fact that
their leader had been killed. Tristan and Haley turned their attention to each
other for guidance. There was a power void that had to be filled before the
pair could move forward. Haley gnashed his teeth at Tristan to get him to bow
to his leadership while the other stood his ground without regard to the
snapping teeth.

Tristan drew nearer to Haley, nudging him hard with his
head. This enraged Haley who in turn rammed his friend and pack mate. The need
for power was driving them both. The two snapped their jaws and swatted at each
other with their giant paws.

My plan had been to create more time for my body to try to
heal and think about a way to defeat both of the wolves at once. In my
admission of guilt, I had triggered a fight for control which did not involve
me.

Tristan and Haley were preoccupied with each other which
allowed me to slip away undetected. Soon the sounds of the two wolves fighting
violently filled the sounds of the night.

Veronica was nowhere to be found.

Making my way through the woods and back onto the roadway, I
walked until I reached the other Town on the Farm. The Town was devoid of
light, life or the slightest sound. The shining lights overhead offered little
comfort. The entire time I walked between the temporarily deserted buildings
was unnerving. I would have thought there would have been a comfort in the
light, a certain security, but the Town made me nervous. Crossing past the set
of row houses that were very similar to our own, I settled into the possible
fact that Veronica could be dead and suddenly the darkness of night was my
friend.

Trudging the final distance to my town, I felt the tears
begin to flow until there was a torrent pouring from my eyes. Veronica had been
my friend and protector. I had not lived up to my end on either account.

There was a cracking of a tree limb and the rustle of leaves
to my right. No smell was in the air. Truthfully, any of my fellow monsters
could have been hunting me and I would not have cared because I had failed her.
If the beast mirroring my approach wanted to fight, then I would give whatever
it was one hell of a fight. I was going to go into the darkness to defend myself.
Taking the offensive approach to battle took heart and mine was gone with her
death.

She was dead wasn't she? If not, then where the hell was
Veronica?

Another sound.
Crack

"If you want to fight then come on!" I yelled
while facing the tree line.

A form stepped from the protection of the shadows of the
trees with its hands on its shapely hips.

"Haven't you had enough of that tonight?" The form
asked.

The voice was one I already knew well.
 

I was happier than I needed to let her know.

Wiping at my eyes casually I said, "You know it, but in
case you want one too, I am ready."

Veronica was flirty, "What kind of fight are you
wanting."

The comment was tempting. It deserved a flirtatious response
which I was capable of returning and wanted to say, though I over thought the
situation.

Instead the question scurried out. "Where have you
been?"

"Worried?" She laughed.

Moving closer to the ditch, I extended a hand to help her
across. "Last time I had saw you, the idiot twins were chasing you into
the woods. When I finished with John I entered to help you, but all I found
were Tristan and Haley saying you were dead. There was a little concern to be
totally honest."

Veronica swiped at the dirt covering her boots. I think she
was embarrassed.

Knocking the last of the red clay from the dark boots, she
solemnly asked, "So John is dead then I guess?"

"Yeah, he died back on the road where we encountered
the GVZs," I answered as I reached across the ditch.

She took my hand, and with a light skip Veronica bounded
onto the pavement. Using her surprisingly feminine hand, I helped to pull her
across. She landed gracefully as I pulled her into my arms. It was time I
showed her how much I missed her.
 

Earnestly, she lowered her head onto my chest as I squeezed
her to me. The question of her feelings for me was no longer in doubt, and I
believed she knew exactly how I felt.

She looked up into my eyes mournfully as I held her.
"What about Tristan and Haley? Did you kill them too?"

I wanted to feel her lips against mine and should have
waited to answer. "They decided that control of the pack was more
important than killing me. I slipped away as the two began to fight. Where were
you? I couldn't smell a trace of you."

The sounds and aroma of something unknown to me was heard in
the not so far distance, stomping through the brush. Large limbs could be heard
cracking and being knocked to the ground.

I was too caught up in staring into her gorgeous eyes to
care. Thank the Lord one of us had the sense to get back to focusing on our task.

Veronica unexpectedly broke our embrace, though she did take
my hand. "We need to get moving and finish what we started. I will tell
you as we walk."

Another loud crash about a hundred yards away in the pines
sent us both bumping the final few miles in a trot. Holding hands disappeared
when we had heard the last thud of a large tree limb smacking the ground.

"What the hell is that?" I asked, as I looked back
over my shoulder.

"I think it is a new toy the government is dying to see
how it works. Keep moving and hope it adheres to the rules of engagement,"
Veronica said.

Tree tops swayed as the newest U.S. government and Chadron
project struggled to keep pace.

Clutching her hand tighter, I stated, "Rules of
engagement went out the window when the wolves and zombies were used to see if
we could survive. Let’s take nothing for granted. Run faster."

As we ran, the monster in the trees paralleled our pace. The
beast seemed huge and gave off an odorous stench of freshly rotting meat and
human waste. We never saw the horrible smelling creature. Somehow the large
creation stayed out of sight, but we could hear and see the results. We didn't
talk; we ran.

With a single touch, a fifty foot tall loblolly pine tree
rocked back and forth. Every so often, a low lying limb or smaller tree would
get in the way of its progress. The obstacle would be splintered and discarded
easily.

I imagined the darkness protected the truth that raged
behind. The terror was another thing that went bump in the night. It was not
another nightmare such as the zombies, wolves or vampires. It was much worse.

As the lights of the Town drew nearer the beast began to
slow. The last twisted and broken limb was far behind denoted by a singular
moan that shook the green leaves from the trees.
 

A crowd had gathered, formed by a menagerie of the creations
that inhabited the Farm. There were wolves in human form, wolves in their
unnatural phase state, misshaped and deformed wolves with limbs that were bent
and malformed. There were some caught between phase consisting of fur and skin,
half faces of wolf and man. There were zombies of human form that would have
been easy to mistaken for the real thing had it not been for the masks and
yellow eyes. There were other walking dead monstrosities that were quickly
rotting away. More were bastardized versions of part human, part dead with
metal protrusions and teeth. The dispositions ranged the gambit from docile
servant to berserker who had to be chained and guarded with heavily armed
soldiers. There were vampires, glorious vampires. The remaining generations
were all represented. All of the friends I had met over my short time and the
acquaintances were there. Emotionless were the vampires except for our group:
Liam, Logan, Darby, especially Darby, and Chloe, well maybe not Chloe, were
ecstatic. They all watched as we crossed the threshold of the city limits.

Walter stepped to the center of the street from the
entranceway of a building. He clapped as we began to walk down the street that
was lined with others of our kind. At his behest, the masses joined. A few were
actually sincere while others clapped with disregard.

Stopping at Walter's position, we waited for the
pronouncement of our success. He eased forward as he was delivered a
microphone. Checking to see if the microphone was on, Walter tapped the end.
The sound startled a few of the antsy members of the wolves who howled in
response.

Walter spoke with a steady, booming voice, "Congrats to
the survivors of The Running."

There was a loud cheer that went up from the crowd as he
lifted our joined hands.

Veronica and I embraced in a hug as we were crushed by the
loving arms of our family.

The night raged on for a few hours, dragging its self into
the morning hours. Tales of the fantastic flowed from our mouths until any
false parts became fact. We all parted company. The last two nights and the
battles of the mind and of the body had long since taken their toll on me.

Soon Darby, Veronica and I were left alone and all I wanted
to do was get a couple bags of blood before going into my sleep state. I wasn't
the only one.

Veronica looked beat. "Darby, I think it is time we all
adjourn to our houses and get a little rest. Monday and school will be here
before we know it."

Looping her arm around Darby's, Veronica dragged her chatty
friend toward their respective houses with me in tow.

Delivering Darby to her home, Veronica ushered her inside
then turned to me. "You did a great job tonight Ethan. Thank you for being
so concerned, and thank for being a great friend. There are very few of our
kind that I would trust with my life. I knew there was something special about
you when I found you."

I leaned to kiss her on the cheek. As my lips touched her
skin, I heard the clattering of window blinds being hurriedly closed. The kiss
ended as soon as it had begun as we both noticed the lights go out in Darby's
living room then the blinds were carefully opened again.

Veronica shook her head in knowing disbelief, "Darby
will not go to bed until we do. Goodnight, I will see you later today."

She brushed her hand against mine in a manner that bespoke
of a less than veiled attempt to make an on purpose touch look accidental.

Standing in Darby's yard until Veronica disappeared into the
darkness of her unlit porch, I waited until I heard the door open and shut.

The blinds shuffled again.

I said, "Goodnight Darby."

From inside Darby's voice echoed the sentiment,
"Goodnight Ethan."

Sunday was foggy. I awoke at eleven am then promptly went
back to sleep until around three pm because of hunger. After tasting the real
thing Friday night from
Sunnie
, I wasn't sure the
rewarmed stuff would suffice. Sure it had worked when I was beyond hunger,
beyond tire the previous extreme early morning, but now?

The cold plastic bag seemed slimy and fake. Warming the
blood a smidgen filled the house with the scent of blood. My hunger no longer
cared where the blood came from as the aroma wafted about my kitchen. Taking
the blood directly from the bag through the nozzle, I could feel myself growing
stronger and alert. If one bag could do this then another two couldn't hurt, I
reasoned. Soon three bags of blood lay in the trash. The power spread through
my body, and I began to become myself again. Two more bags were poured into me
before I felt aware of everything around me. This had to the ultimate state of
begin that a vampire could achieve. This was incredible. I vowed to myself that
I would never again be the weak and struggling man as I was last night. The
human side was fragile and easily broken. That side of me had to be destroyed
if I was to be the vampire.

A quick shower and the thoughts of the last night went away
down the drain with the dried blood and dead skin. It was refreshing, but the
bed seemed to call my name before I was through. Drying off, I checked the
clock on my cellphone. I had spent over two hours in the shower yet it had been
just a blink of the eye. This was only one of several times I lost chunks of
time. There had to be a reason. It seemed that all I did was ask questions
these days.

Dressing for bed in only a pair of boxer briefs, I slid
under the covers with the sun fading over the horizon. The rays, though
scattered by the blinds of the sliding glass door, warmed the room enough to
help me fall into my rest state with much effort. I was almost completely
involved in the process when
Sunnie
popped into my
mind. She was on the metal table, half naked and beautiful. The image was
sweet. It would have been the only thing on my mind had it not been for a soft
moan and chain rattling of Chuck as he patrolled outside my door.