by Jez Strider
~Your Neighborhood Association
“The Park?” I said out loud to myself. We had a small playground and picnic area at the center of the suburb I had lived in. It was my only lead, so I headed that way. My pace had been swift. The clue had given me energy and excitement. It faded almost as quickly as it had begun the closer I came to the center of the neighborhood.
Skeletal remains littered the ground. The bodies had been exposed to the elements and to scavenging animals for a long time. I turned away from the scene, dry heaving, but managed not to vomit. Breathing hard, I made myself inch closer to the corpses of the townsfolk. A few foam cups were still scattered around the park seemingly immune to the rigors of decomposition. Not that I knew much about forensics, but I did notice a couple of skulls with what I guessed were bullet holes.
Closing my eyes, I turned away again. The images were still there as if they were burned in my mind forever. I had to get away. No more sneaking or stealthily moving around the town. My plan to rush back to the house was interrupted by a lone figure a short distance in front of me and it was moving closer.
“I’m not going to harm you.” The old man called out and held his hands up to show me he was unarmed.
“Who are you?” I asked. “What happened here?”
He gazed passed me at the dead strewn across the park. “I did this.” His voice held apparent contempt for himself.
I stepped back. “You did this? Why?”
“The idea was mine. We all gathered for one last mandatory celebration. Men played cards and women laughed as they watched their children play on the slides. Several residents had disappeared during the nights, but it was before anyone knew the full extent of the vampire crimes against humanity. Only I knew what was happening. I had seen one. I knew we were doomed.”
“So you shot them?” I asked.
“Heavens, no. Just the few that didn’t drink the special punch. They were going to run. I had to do what was necessary.” He informed me as if it were logical.
Another human. Another monster. “You poisoned them.”
He nodded. “Yes. When the vampires came they found the entire town dead. They feasted. They must believe the entire town committed mass suicide. I spared my friends suffering, did I not?”
“No! You killed people without their consent. And yet you still live.”
“It is much worse to live with this guilt. I didn’t feel worthy to leave this world with them. This is my burden.” He pointed down the street from which I had come. “Leave tomorrow with your friend. Your presence defiles this graveyard.”
Horrified, I fled. Perhaps I should have attacked him, but my first concern was to get back to Darcy. We had to get away from the terrible place. The fantasy of a home for us was destroyed the moment I saw the bones littering the playground. Thankfully, Darcy had stayed behind and wouldn’t have live with the nightmares.
I burst through the door to see her pouring a glass of a red liquid from a bottle. “This wine was a gift from the Neighborhood Association or something. It had a card. Do you think it’s still good?” She said as she lifted the drink to her lips.
“Don’t!” I screamed and charged into her so hard she dropped the glass to the tile floor and it shattered into pieces. Red liquid like blood spread across the white marble flooring. “It…it’s poison. Some lunatic gave it to the entire town, even the kids, to save them from the vampires.”
She stared at the bottle, stepped away, and tripped over one of the kitchen chairs. I caught her before she could fall into the shards of glass and held her close to me. I was shaking. Once again, I had almost lost her when I had left for only a short time. If I’d stayed, I reminded myself, we both would have drunk the poison.
“We’re going to find that refuge. If we don’t, we will find somewhere safe that we can have a life.” I promised her once again.
“I don’t think anywhere is safe, Preston.” She said, clinging to me as I locked the doors and led her upstairs. I had to pry her away and make her sit down on the bed as I gathered our things for the early morning trip.
“It’s too late to leave today. We are out of here first thing in the morning.” I told her.
She was biting nervously at her fingernails. “What if the radio broadcast and the clues we’re following are just a sick trick? It could be from vampires or another crazy asshole like the one here who killed his entire town.”
It wasn’t like Darcy to curse so I stopped what I was doing and kneeled in front of her, taking her hands in mind. “We won’t know until we get there for sure, but we’ll face it together.”
“Maybe the guy that murdered everyone was right. This world is barely worth living in. We could leave it together with the poison.” She didn’t look me in the eye as she said it.
“Darcy….” My mouth hung open in shock and I squeezed her hands. It pained me to hear talk like that. She had never been so defeated. “We can’t give up. We have to fight. I want to see your beautiful smile and rosy cheeks for every minute of life that I can.”
After a deep sigh, she nodded, sending teardrops falling from her wet lashes. “I know….” Her voice was full of despair. “It’s just so hard.”
“I know, baby.” I didn’t let go of her hand, but stood and sat down beside her. She wrapped her arms around my waist and cried until I don’t think she had any tears left.
Life wasn’t fair and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
The night had been long. I was glad to be traveling away from the place bright and early. We had been on our way to the next checkpoint when we stopped to rest in that terrible neighborhood. Our destination was ambiguous at best. The only hint we had was the word “warning” scribbled on a piece of notebook paper. It was followed by a large NW telling us the place was northwest of the silo. I had no idea what it meant, but hoped I would know I was there when I saw it.
Darcy had been disturbingly quiet, walking with her eyes cast downward to the ground. I started several times to speak, but the right words to ease her mind were nowhere to be found. Every time we had a shred of hope, it was destroyed. The farm had sheltered her from many of the terrors of the vampire world. I had taken her away from her home and shown her how dire the situation was. It may have been necessary, but it didn’t make me feel any less guilty.
An animal’s snort put me on alert and I realized I had been walking with my head bowed as well. A short distance away a brown horse was pawing at the ground beside the paved road. My plan was to avoid him, but Darcy was slowly moving toward the large creature.
“Be careful. He might be aggressive.” I said.
“Now, do you know more about horses or do I?” Darcy asked and I frowned. She spoke softly to the animal, her hand extended in front of her. “Hey there, big guy.”
“Weird seeing a horse standing on the side of the highway.” I looked one way down the road and then turned to check the other direction. Empty. “This road runs mostly northwest. It would be easier and faster to follow it instead of navigating the terrain. We run a greater risk of running into enemies, though.”
Darcy wasn’t listening. I was basically talking to myself. She was reaching into her bag for our last remaining apple that hadn’t rotted. “Look what I’ve got. You know you want a treat.” The horse lowered its head and accepted the food from her hand as she petted its nose. “Good boy.”
“Don’t give it our food...” I had started to say, but I was too late and the words were drowned out by the crunching of the apple. “We might have needed that.” I sighed deeply.
“Oh, Preston. He’s such a good horse. Let’s ride him at least until we need to get off the road.” She begged.
After crossing my arms stubbornly, I shook my head. “No way. Horses make me kind of nervous. He doesn’t have a saddle or anything. Just leave him be.”
Her happy expression crumbled. “I don’t need a saddle. Just for a little bit. Please.” She was giving me the cutest pleading face and I couldn’t help b
ut smile.
“Alright. It will help you rest and we can move faster.”
She ran over to me and gave me a hug. “Thank you! If you get tired of walking we can take turns.”
“I’ll be fine. It may seem simple to you, but the only horse I’ve ever ridden was a pony when I was a kid and it was being led by a rope.” I smirked and she laughed. Hearing that sound of joy made the diversion worth it. I just hoped she really knew what she was doing.
“Give me a little boost.” She said and I did I was told, helping her onto the strange animal. It scared me. The horse was so much larger than her, but it remained calm.
Just in case she fell or was bucked off or something else horrible, I held my hands up in the air to try to catch her. “Everything okay up there?”
She nodded. “Yep. If he wasn’t already, he would have been a great rodeo horse. At minimum, I know he was an awesome friend to someone.”
Darcy gave the horse words of encouragement and made the movements to urge it forward. I was surprised when it listened. She made it look so easy, but I knew she’d had plenty of practice when she was younger. The steady clap of the horse’s feet against the pavement was almost relaxing as we headed down the road. I never ventured more than a few feet from Darcy’s side. The breeze would blow her hair out behind her as she held her head high and road with her back straight. I admired her in that moment. She was content at least one more time in her existence.
“You look so at home up there.” I smiled at her. “I wish I could have seen you ride in the shows.”
“It scared the crap out of my mom when I first started riding. My dad, though, he convinced her that I could do it. She never forbade me, but I knew she didn’t like it.” Darcy stared off down the barren highway in front of her.
Worried about her becoming upset over her many losses, I tried to keep her mood light. “I can understand why she was scared. I’m nervous right now!”
“All you have been through with me in the past week and you’re afraid of a horse?” She grinned widely as she teased me.
“No...” I said, then chucked. “Yes, yes I am.”
She kept her left hand resting against the side of the horse. With her other, she reached down to me. Briefly, I pressed my lips to the top of her hand before releasing it. I didn’t want her riding the horse without the support of both palms.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone. You can’t be the hero all the time.” She stuck out her tongue at me and had the horse increase its pace so I had to jog to keep up.
“You are not funny, Darcy Rose!” I put my fist in the air as if I was actually angry, but I made it apparent it was only in jest. Terrified? Yes. Mad? Never. Not at her.
After about a minute, she slowed down so I could return to walking comfortably without having to chase them.
Her tone was serious and all joking was left aside when she spoke next. “You are my hero.”
“You saved me, Darcy. I’m not a hero, just a man in love.”
Sweetly, she blew me a kiss and I reached out to catch it. We were going to be okay. I just had to keep telling myself that.
The road had been gradually veering off from the direction we needed to travel in. Darcy had been happy most of the day and I hated myself for telling her we should leave the horse behind. The trees would make the area hard to traverse with him when we left the highway.
“Dar, I think we should leave the road. It’s getting late and we should head through those woods over there.” I pointed when she came to a stop and looked.
For a moment, she just sat there on top of the animal and petted its mane. “You’re right.” She said and slipped off the horse. I reached up and placed my hands at her waist so she didn’t land too roughly on the pavement.
“Thanks, boy.” I told the horse, patting his side.
“Yep, thanks a lot.” Darcy said and stood in front of the horse, stroking his nose and then resting her face against it in a hug. Her bottom lip was trembling, but she didn’t start crying. “Run wild and find a pretty filly to befriend out there.”
We shared what horse suitable food we could spare as thanks. Darcy gave him a pat on the backside and told him to go, but he didn’t want to leave us. It was heart wrenching. We’d both been separated from animals we loved and it brought the memories down hard on us.
“I’m sure he’ll move on when we’re gone a while.” I said.
“What if he just stands here forever waiting on us to return?” She asked.
A gun shot rang out in the distance. This sent the horse’s ears standing straight up. The sound was from the direction Darcy and I were going. We stared at each other. Then, another shot rang out.
“Go! Leave before you get hurt!” Darcy yelled. This time the horse listened and ran off in the direction from which we came.
There was no time to stand in the open and watch him until he disappeared from view. I gripped Darcy by the arm, probably too roughly in my haste, and pulled her toward the cover of the trees. The new growth had us moving slowly. We paused and pressed up against the trunk of a tree when we heard two more shots.
The only sound was our heavy breathing as we waited and waited for more gunfire. None came, but we didn’t move from our spot.
“I’m not sure this refuge is so nice….” Darcy grumbled.
That was my fear, too. “Maybe they were hunting food. I’m sure there are plenty of deer in the area.”
“You think they shot a deer four times just to make sure it was dead?” She asked with an incredulous expression.
“Don’t be smart with me. There could have been more than one.” I was wrongly projecting my fear as anger at her. “So what do we do?”
“We find them. I mean, we’re close. We know that much.” She said.
I placed my hand on the tree and looked down at my feet as I thought about it. “This checkpoint isn’t the last place on the list.” With my free hand I reached into my pocket and pulled out the paper, reading over the words.
Darcy rested her hand on my shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “No matter how much we guess we won’t find the answer, Preston.”
“I want to find a place that’s safe for you, not lead you further into danger.”
“You’re doing the best you can. We both are. Everyone still alive is. I trust your decisions. You got us this far.”
Her words were reassuring. I had been trying hard to be a man, but at times I was little more than a bumbling child in a scary world I didn’t know anything about. She trusted me. That fact kept me going.
“Alright. Let’s go see what awaits us. Hopefully we can get there before nightfall.”
After hiking for a while, the wooded area thinned and we came upon a huge fence with signs posted that warned of a protected military installation and restricted area. The base appeared to be abandoned just like everywhere else. It was late, though. People could be hiding. I curled my fingers through the thick wiring and shook. Not surprisingly, it didn’t budge.
“Let’s see if we can find the entrance. If nothing else we can take shelter in one of those buildings for the night.” I said.
Darcy nodded. “I don’t remember hearing about a new military base here.”
I shook my head. “Me either. I bet it was built when they figured out what the vampires were up to.”
“Lot of good it did.” She said with a frown. “You can’t defend against an enemy so much stronger and faster when it’s taken out half of society before you even figure out what it is….”
“Maybe we could have beaten them if we hadn’t all scurried away in fear and fought together.” I told her. All I got in response was a half shrug.
The gate was shut when we reached the entrance. Frustrated, I futilely started shaking again. I was so angry that it took me a moment to notice the men walking in my direction…with guns.
“Preston. Preston!” Darcy was tugging at my arm to get me to stop with my frantic behavior.
“What!?” I scr
eamed, glanced at her, and then followed her gaze to the people coming toward us. “Get behind me.”
They were all wearing fatigues. It gave me a rush of hope. The government was still working. Military men were fighting the vampires. As quickly as the hope came it was dashed. For all I knew, these men had just found the clothing in the base and they were simply everyday people like my dad, Darcy, me, or worse, the bandits.
“What do you want?” One man asked, stepping forward as leader of the small entourage. “And take your hands off the gate.”
“Sorry.” I uncurled my fingers from the metal and lowered my hands to my side. “We were following landmarks listed on this piece of paper.” Without thinking, I reached into my pocket.
“Stop. Right. There.” He told me and I froze. “We’ve already taken care of your friends. Why don’t you get out of here before you meet the same fate?”
The confusion on my face must have been apparent. “What are they talking about?” Darcy whispered from behind me.
“I don’t know.” I responded in an equally hushed voice before speaking directly to the group’s leader once more. “I’m sorry, sir. We’re not sure what you mean. Darcy’s parents went looking for this location months ago.”
“Have you seen them?” She called out, stepping from behind me. I reached out to stop her. “Please tell me. My last name is Sanderson.”
The tension seemed to fade in the men. The leader gestured with his hand and they lowered their automatic weapons. “We have only had a few people join us. Honestly, we’ve lost more than we have acquired. No one by that name has claimed to have a little girl that wasn’t with them.”
Her head lowered and I put my arm around her shoulders. “We’ve been searching for this place for days. It’s been a…bad journey. We only seek shelter and we can help the group with their chores.” I said.
“And you know nothing of the bandits earlier or a dead man in a corn silo?”
My first instinct was to lie, but my tired mind couldn’t even come up with anything remotely convincing. “The man in the silo was helping us find this place. He stumbled upon the farm we had been living on one day. One morning, he tried to, he…” I cleared my throat, having a hard time retelling the account. “He tried to hurt Darcy here. She stabbed him and I…I finished it. Those bandits were probably his friends he spoke of.”
