Dead by Dawn

by Wellman, Bret

  Joe couldn’t believe the old man. His wife wasn’t someone to be crossed. If he got caught he would probably have to bring her flowers every day for the next year, that or risk her wrath.

  “You been to the doctor yet?” Joe asked.

  “Ah, I don’t need to spend the better part of a fortune to have an over-educated kid tell me I have a cold.”

  “You make a fine point,” said Joe, turning back to the cow.

  “So what’s the deal with these coyotes Rose was telling me about? Your front yard looks like the shower from that movie, Psycho.”

  “Damn things killed my dog.”

  “Sorry to hear that. Beau was a good dog.”

  “Yea,” said Joe. “The strange thing is I didn’t even hear it when it happened.”

  “They must’ve got him quick then. That’s a good thing, he didn’t suffer.”

  “I suppose.”

  Charlie grabbed a bucket and pulled a stool up to one of the cows.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  Charlie rubbed his hand against the cow’s side. “It’s torture letting these cows sit here without being milked. Just look in her eyes and you’ll see how much pain she's in.”

  “You’d think a man as sick as you would know when to rest,” said Joe.

  “Sweating this thing out Joey, that’s the trick.”

  “Fine, but if you die and I’m the one who has to tell Rose, I’ll kill you,” said Joe.

  Charlie smiled. “You have yourself a deal.”

  Charlie went pretty slowly while Joe kept an eye on him the entire time. It took a little under a half hour to finish the rest of the cows. By the end of it, Charlie was breathing heavy.

  Joe had him sit on the porch while he fetched a couple glasses of ice water. Charlie sat there and rested his head against the railing. Sweat beaded across his forehead.

  “Laying down is starting to sound like a pretty good idea,” said Charlie after taking a sip of ice water.

  “I bet it does,” said Joe.

  “That sun is burning me. I didn’t know it was going to be so hot today.”

  “It isn’t,” said Joe. “It’s only seventy. You should probably have Rose check your temperature when you get back.”

  “Yea that’s probably a good idea.” He sounded drained.

  “You need me to give you a lift?” Asked Joe, eyeing his red GMC truck.

  “Nah, I’ll just rest here a minute. I should be fine.”

  Joe eyed the old man as he moved further onto the porch and into the shade. He moved like a man that belonged in a hospital. When he was sure he wasn’t about to die, Joe grabbed the hose and began spraying down all the gore on his front lawn.

  The blood mixed with the water, fading to a light pink. It ran in pools and mixed with the scent of the grass. Joe did his best to get all of it that was in the yard. He held his thumb over the nozzle to get the spray far enough to reach the edge of the corn.

  It wouldn’t make up for the death of his dog, but at least he wouldn’t have to stare at the constant red reminder anymore.

  He had a good portion of it sprayed when he spotted a police cruiser coming up the driveway. It was a newer model; one of the three new police cruisers the county bought the year before. Joe didn’t know what was so wrong with the old cars, but that was beside the point.

  “This should be interesting,” he said.

  “Hide the moonshine,” croaked Charlie.

  The cruiser pulled up next to the truck and Sheriff Brooks stepped out. His wide brimmed hat hid everything above his mustache in shadow.

  “What brings you all the way out here, Sheriff?” asked Joe.

  “A little disturbance in town. You mind if we talk about it?”

  Joe killed the hose. “I’m listening.”

  “A lot of people are upset,” said the officer.

  “Brooks, you asshole,” said Charlie. “Quit dicking with us and tell us what's going on.”

  Sheriff Brooks did a double take at Charlie; he must have been seeing the same thing as Joe. Right then he had to be taking in Charlie’s frail figure and sickly complexion. He appeared to try and shake the image out of his mind before going on. “Old lady Greer woke up this morning to find somebody stuck the head of a dog on the fence in her front yard. It was a yellow lab. That led me to think about the only three people I know who own yellow labs. So far today I’ve already checked on two of them.” The sheriff placed both hands on his hips. “Where’s your dog Joe?”

  Joe glanced around at all the blood he still had to spray. The trail was still there, but faint, running directly underneath the sheriff.

  “You’re standing on him.”

  Joe could feel anger churning in his throat. Coyotes didn’t kill dogs to impale their heads on fences, people did.

  Chapter 6

  “What if you’d gotten hurt?”

  Sarah rolled her eyes and silently cursed her brother for ratting her out.

  Why can’t the little idiot keep his mouth shut…

  “It was fine mom.”

  “It wasn’t fine, and don’t you roll your eyes at me!”

  “I don’t see what the big deal is, no one got hurt.”

  “You don’t see what the big deal is?” she gaped at her with incredulity. “Ten years ago a boy broke his neck jumping off that bridge. Is that what you want, to break your neck? To make it so we have to feed you through a tube and change your diaper for the rest of your life? What were you thinking?”

  “It’s not like that Mom. I thought it’d be fun.”

  “Fun? There’s nothing fun about risking your life.”

  Sarah shot a scathing glance at her brother who was sitting across from her at the table. To his credit, he looked ashamed for getting her in trouble. He mouthed the word “sorry” for the millionth time.

  At that moment she could have punched him and knocked those stupid glasses right off his head.

  “Don’t you dare take this out on him.”

  “I’m sorry,” Sarah pleaded. “I didn’t think-“

  “You didn’t think, that’s exactly what happened. You just wait until your father gets home.”

  Sarah ran her hands across her face, pulling down on the skin. “Can I go to my room now?”

  “Fine,” said her mom.

  Sarah was out of her chair and heading towards her room before her mother could take it back.

  “And don’t think I forgot about you,” she heard her mom saying to her brother as she left.

  Her room was painted with a pattern of light and dark pinks that criss crossed in lines across the walls. Her comforter and pillows matched, while her dressers were painted black. It was a cozy little space where she always kept the shades drawn.

  As she entered it this time, she locked the door behind her and did a belly flop on the bed. It was soft; the sheets puffed out around her. Now that she was alone, she took every emotion she’d been suppressing for the last twenty minutes and screamed them into a pillow. Her situation felt a little better after that.

  She couldn’t understand what was wrong with her family. How could they take something so little and inconsequential and turn it into such a big thing?

  She contemplated the question for a while, just staring at the white ceiling. Eventually she pulled out her phone and went on Facebook.

  She scrolled for a bit and was shocked to find one of her old classmates had died. Almost every other post was about him. She didn’t know the guy personally, but they’d shared a few classes together.

  After doing a little investigating, she found he had gotten what appeared to be a cold at first. His symptoms continued to worsen until they had to rush him to the hospital. His heart stopped on the way.

  It can happen so fast, she thought. Life is so precious.

  For the first time since jumping off the bridge, the thought crossed her mind that it might not have been the best idea. All the mournful posts could have just as easily been about her. />
  After a few minutes of scrolling, she spotted an article that snagged her attention. It was entitled, “New Disease”. She thought of her classmate and clicked the box. The link opened a new tab where she found the full article.

  New Disease Discovered On The East Coast!

  The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a warning as of Tuesday, July 5th. An unidentified disease has appeared along the northern regions of the east coast and is spreading at an alarming rate. Cases have been seen from North Carolina all the way up into Canada.

  The first recorded victims of the disease showed up on the 2nd. Their numbers have skyrocketed in the following days. Some estimates claim that the number of infected has multiplied since the initial outbreak. More cases are appearing daily.

  Even more alarming is the 100% mortality rate. Not one person out of all the recorded cases has survived. This fact alone has garnered more attention than any other.

  Officials are struggling to control the situation as the victim’s bodies disappear shortly after death. It has been rumored that proactive groups are responsible destroying the bodies in an attempt to stop further spreading of the disease. So far the act has only succeeded in preventing further study.

  The president is set to make a speech on this issue. You can watch it live on channel four at 7:00pm/6:00pm central.

  Until further notice, take extra precautions as you go about your daily schedule. Use hand sanitizer regularly and avoid heavily populated areas.

  All public events in eastern coastal states have been postponed.

  There was another article being shared that seemed pretty ridiculous. This one was mostly rumor and hearsay. The theory behind it was that some form of mutant rabies was making its way onto the stage. This new form of rabies was causing never before seen effects in humans. There was no proof of this of course because the article didn’t even cite any references. There wasn’t so much as a single diagnosed patient either. Most of the article made her roll her eyes. She wasn’t even sure why she read it.

  Sarah’s phone went off. She closed her laptop when she saw it was her friend Caitlin. Whenever this girl called, she always demanded full attention. After a moment’s hesitation, Sarah slid her thumb to the right to answer.

  “Hey,” she said.

  When Caitlin’s voice came through she sounded excited. “Tell me you don’t have any plans for the next few days?”

  “I don’t have plans.”

  “Good! We’re going on a road trip!”

  “What?”

  “Come on Sarah, you didn’t think we were just going to sit around all summer did you?”

  Sarah shrugged even though she knew no one could see her. “I don’t know, I guess I didn’t think about it.”

  “Well think about it girl!”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Okay, so you remember my cousin Beth? She got accepted to a school in New York. She moved into her apartment in Manhattan last weekend.”

  “So we’re going to the city?”

  “Doesn’t that sound great? But I didn’t want to go straight there, I figured we could cut the drive in half and spend the night at a hotel with a pool.”

  “But it’s only a four and a half hour drive?” said Sarah.

  “So, we’ll be leaving on Thursday. That way we can still leave tomorrow and make it by the weekend.”

  Sarah thought about it, and the trip sounded fine to her. “Just one thing though.”

  Caitlin sighed. “What is it?”

  “I think I’m grounded.”

  “Grounded, what are you twelve?”

  “Sometimes I think so.”

  “Sneak out.”

  “What?” This made Sarah sit up.

  “You’re eighteen years old, legally an adult. What are they gonna do about it?”

  “Um I don’t know, maybe lock me in the basement for the rest of my life.”

  There was a knock at her bedroom door and jiggling of the door handle.

  “Sarah?” came her dad’s voice.

  “Gotta go,” she said, hanging up the phone.

  “Open the door.”

  She practically ran to the door to open it. About half way she stepped on a hairpin and had to limp the rest of the journey.

  Her dad was a whole head’s length taller than her. He looked a lot like her brother only manlier and more confident.

  She flung herself against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. “Oh how I’ve missed you Father.”

  “Yea yea, we both know you’re in trouble,” he said.

  She peered up at him with one closed eye. “How bad is it?”

  “According to your mother, whom I love dearly and stand behind in all things, you messed up pretty good.”

  “But I-“

  “I’m not finished. You know that bridge you jumped off of, the one that could have killed you? When I was your age I jumped off it too.” He winked down at her. “Now how am I supposed to yell at someone for doing something I did myself?”

  “You can’t?” Sarah asked, hopeful.

  “I can pretend to, so do me a favor and whip up some tears to go show your mom.”

  It wasn’t a very hard task. She had been fearing this moment before her dad walked into the room. The tears were already waiting on standby.

  “Well you don’t have to look that convincing,” he said, a big smile spreading across his face.

  With rising horror, Sarah realized she couldn’t stop the full on cry from erupting from her.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “You should be,” said her dad, glancing back in the direction his wife would hear.

  “I didn’t think it was a big deal.” She sniffed and hated the nasally sound. “I really didn’t.”

  “And what do you think now?” asked her dad, amused.

  “It was stupid, people die every day. I shouldn’t do things that increase my chances of becoming one of them.”

  “Then it sounds like my work here is done.” He turned to leave.

  “Wait,” said Sarah.

  “You have something else to confess?”

  “Caitlin wants me to go on a road trip with her. We’d be going to visit her cousin in New York. Can I go?”

  Her dad shrugged. “I don’t see why not. Let’s give it a few hours before we tell your mother though.”

  Sarah fought back the sniffles as her dad walked away. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve and cursed herself for falling apart.

  As soon as she had pulled herself back together, she called Caitlin back.

  “You sure you want to do this?” Sarah asked.

  “Are you crying?”

  “No.”

  “Don’t lie to me Sarah.”

  “I’m fine, do you want to go on the road trip or not?”

  “Hell yes I do. Did you get permission to go?”

  “I just did.”

  “Sweet, make sure you’re packed. I’ll be there in the afternoon tomorrow.”

  “Wait,” said Sarah. “I just read an article about a new sickness that’s spreading. Do you really think it’s a good time to head into the city?”

  “Oh my gosh Sarah, they say the same thing every year. It’s fine.”

  “You’re probably right. See you in a few.”

  “Tomorrow, be ready.” Caitlin hung up.

  Sarah stood up and began packing her clothes, forgetting all about the article she’d just read. Her thoughts shifted to things related only to the good time she was going to have.

  It would be the first trip she ever took like this: a landmark occasion. First she would take this trip and meet new people, and then she would come home and prepare for her next adventure. Her goal would be to spend the least amount of time home as possible. When the summer was over, she would leave for college and that would be that. The days when her mother ran her life were numbered and it all started with this trip.

  The thought made her happy.

 
Chapter 7

  “Can you come home? It’s Carl, he’s sick.”

  Adam sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He was in the living room of Barry’s two-story town house. They were both on the couch playing Halo. It was one of their favorite pastimes.

  He remembered the last time he was home and how Carl had always bossed him around. He wasn’t proud of that day or the fight they got in. He had every intention of buying his mom a new lamp after her’s had been broken in the fight. He hadn’t been able to bring himself back, however, and the image of his mom crying as he left the trailer was always on his mind. He wanted to make things right, to fix what he had done even if it meant sucking up to Carl. His mother deserved that.

  “If she talks you into moving back in you still owe me first and last month’s rent,” said Barry.

  Adam flicked him the bird.

  “It’s not all that bad,” his mom went on. “I just want somebody to be here and watch him while I’m at work. I know there’s that bad sickness going around and I’m just worried is all. We’re not upset about the other day, I promise.”

  Adam mocked beating himself to death with the Xbox controller.

  “Sure Mom, I can be there.” In truth, he felt like he owed her this. After what he had done, he was willing to do anything if it would make things right.

  “Thank you Adam, I knew I could count on you.”

  “I’ll be over in a few, see you then.”

  “I’ll already be gone when you get here, but the front door’s open. I should be home around five.”

  “Sounds good mom.”

  “Okay Hun, talk to you later. I love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  “You heading back to Carl’s house?” asked Barry after he hung up.

  “Jackass got a little sick so now I have to babysit.”

  “Don’t lie, she wants you there for his hourly ball tickling session. She knows she can’t do it when she’s at work and he’s pretty adamant about getting it every hour on the hour.”

  Adam threw his controller. Barry lifted his arm in time for it to deflect off of his elbow.

  “Ah, you break it you buy it!”

  Adam stood up and stretched. “I’ll probably be back later tonight.”