Applewood (Book 1)

by Brendan P. Myers

  External links

  Grantham Official Website

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  Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps

  Topographic map from TopoZone

  Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA

  Satellite image from Google Maps or Windows Live Local

  2

  Epilogue

  In the darkness of the late evening, a man leaned against the hood of his car smoking a cigarette. He was standing in the small parking lot of a place called “Ribs ‘n Things” just outside the center of town. The building had been added onto more than a few times over the years by its multiple owners and was now painted a garish purple.

  The front of the building was short and squat and still looked a little something like a railroad car. That effect was spoiled by the two larger wings that had been appended haphazardly to both ends and the large slanted addition that loomed up behind it. Folk art murals had been painted all along the outside of the building, colorful caricatures of brightly dressed musicians.

  He had arrived at the designated time but was now fifteen minutes late for his appointment. When he walked into the lobby, he had been spooked to see a Grantham cop making small talk with a nice looking woman in a cocktail dress standing behind a podium. He felt nausea and the onset of the shakes. Freezing for a moment, he thought he’d step outside for just a minute to get some air and gather his strength. In the few minutes he’d been out here he saw someone who might have been a middle-aged Mark McCaffrey get out of a car and walk through the front doors. He’d find out one way or the other in a few minutes.

  Dugan hadn’t seen any one of them since those days and weeks following his change. How much time might have actually passed as he traveled the netherworld between darkness and light he would probably never know and wasn’t the least bit interested in finding out. Michael Harris had called it the gestation period. He did remember waking up with the Hunger, but Jimmy and his friends had been prepared for that and Dugan did not want for meat. But the meat they provided didn’t deaden the Hunger or lessen his newly acquired instinct to hunt. He half-remembered tearing at his restraints and crying out for blood while familiar voices drifted in and out of his head—Jimmy and Andy discussing him in hushed whispers outside his bedroom.

  After his uncle showed up, it wasn’t long before there was a needle in his vein pumping the precious life-giving plasma into his body. He knew that its effect on him was like that of morphine on a human in pain, or heroin to a smack addict. While it didn’t completely satisfy the Hunger, it was better than nothing. In those days following the drip, his shattered body began to heal.

  He heard another voice after the change. It was a darker voice, taunting him to become what he already was. The voice cried out to him that it was lonely. It wanted Dugan to accompany him. To go places and eat things. Although the voice was strong, Harris had made a critical mistake. He had not had time to consolidate his power. Without the Colonel’s knowledge and guidance, in the beginning Harris was just a kid playing with his daddy’s gun. As weak as he was in those first days, Dugan managed to fight off the voice and over time it drifted out of his head.

  But he heard the voice other times throughout the years, had in fact sought out the voice, but by that time it only served to let Dugan know he was getting closer. The last time he had heard the voice it was just a maniacal, taunting cackle, though it chilled Dugan to know the thing was still out there, still hunting. If the thing wanted the final battle to take place here in Grantham, where it had all begun, then so be it.

  He remembered being placed in the back of an ambulance belonging to a friend of his uncle’s. It raced him out of town. Uncle Dan was in the back with him, dressed in surgical greens to augment the illusion. They bluffed their way through the various checkpoints that had been set up throughout the town, passing men in black uniforms that bore no insignia. Dugan would learn later that those men wore the uniform of a classified squad of the U. S. military known only to each other as “Sherman’s Brigade.” He also learned that they were men to be feared and avoided at all costs.

  His ambulance had passed underneath the flashing searchlights of a dozen circling black helicopters, and in that way, his uncle and his friend succeeded in getting Dugan out of town. His uncle was attendant to Dugan’s special needs, and over the years the two would follow closely the advancements being made by both the CDC and the French in the treatment of blood-borne diseases and fevers of unknown origin.

  Through a dozen intermediaries, his uncle managed to make contact with a group of other people who were sensitive to Dugan’s requirements. He liked to think of it now as kind of a chronic condition, one that could be managed with specialized pharmaceuticals, but he knew that wasn’t entirely true. The pills didn’t do away completely with the Hunger, but like Michael Harris had told him that evening long ago, he had learned over time there were other ways. But more than anything, Dugan missed the sun.

  * * *

  “Those things’ll kill ya, you know,” said a voice from behind.

  Dugan jumped and dropped his butt. Turning around, he saw a whitish blond, balding man wearing round wire rim glasses. Dugan smiled and walked over to greet him.

  “I wish,” Dugan said. The two shook hands and then embraced.

  Jimmy was the first to pull away. “You been sloggin the salami?”

  Dugan smiled. “Still fapping away like there’s no tomorrow, my friend.” he answered, before pulling away again to take a closer look at his long lost friend. “You look good, man. I mean it.”

  Jimmy smiled. “Yeah, maybe, but you haven’t changed a bit.”

  That much was true. Dugan had retained the youthful look of a kid in his mid-teens. He still wore his hair long, but longer than it used to be to cover up his still misshapen stub of ear. Dugan had watched his hairstyle come in and out of fashion over the past twenty-five years and knew he’d see it come and go for another thousand more. He thought to himself that one reason he kept it that way was as a reminder of what becomes of stupid decisions.

  But mostly, he kept it that way as a reminder that the one who made him was still out there. He thought that maybe sometime after the next few days he would get the ear fixed, or maybe by then it wouldn’t matter anymore. If things didn’t go his way, he thought, it would be nice to see that bright white light again. In either case, this time, it would be a fair fight.

  Dugan also knew that if Jimmy looked closer, he would see that deep lines had formed around his yellowish eyes, and he might think for a moment that those eyes belonged to someone a thousand years old. As the two stepped away from each other, Dugan reached into his pocket and lit another cigarette.

  “You been in there yet?” Dugan asked after a while. Jimmy smiled and nodded. “They all in there already?” Jimmy nodded again.

  “Yup. We’re just waitin’ on you. I figured you’d be out here, probably beating yourself up over something before you’d come in.”

  Dugan smiled. The two were quiet for a moment until Jimmy noticed the car.

  “How’s it runnin’?” he asked.

  Dugan turned around and smiled at his car, a 1964 Dodge Dart with a push-button transmission. After Dugan himself, it had been his Uncle Dan’s pride and joy.

  “Runs great.” When Jimmy raised his eyebrows, Dugan answered his unspoken question. “Naw, died in ‘98 from the cancer. Went quick, though, which was a blessing.”

  Jimmy told him he was very sorry and that his uncle had been a good man. The two leaned against the car in companionable silence.

  “You ready yet?” Jimmy asked after a while. He looked over to see Dugan still staring at the outside of the restaurant. A long moment passed before Dugan spoke.

  “You think they still got cheeseburgers in there?”

  Jimmy smiled. “Moon told me he arranged one special, just for you.”

  “Rare?”

  Jimmy laughed. “Very, very rare.”

  Th
e two friends embraced one more time before walking arm in arm toward the restaurant and gathering of friends, the impromptu reunion of the Class of ‘84.

  About The Author

  Brendan P. Myers is the author of several novels, whose stories have also appeared in the Northern Haunts anthology from Shroud Publishing, Malpractice: An Anthology of Bedside Terror from Necrotic Tissue, and Night Terrors from Blood Bound Books.

  A Note from the Author:

  Thanks so much for taking the time to read Applewood. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And don’t forget to check out its two sequels, Fledge, in which Scott goes on the run, and The Space of Life Between, in which Scott faces his most dangerous adversary yet.

  If you did enjoy it, I’d be grateful if you’d give the book a rating on your way out (if your e-reader supports that) or better yet, if you could take a moment to leave a review at the online store where you bought it. Even a few sentences can make all the difference, and if I’ve learned anything in my years trying my hand at this, it’s that books without reviews don’t get sales. Your opinion counts!

  Oh, and if you have friends you think might like it, don’t forget to tell them! Word of mouth from my own friends is how I’ve discovered many of my favorite authors.

  And please take a moment to explore my other offerings. From humor to horror, I’ve got the H’s covered. So look out, I! I’m coming for you…

  Of course, you can always visit me online at my Facebook page, on Twitter, over at Goodreads, and at my blog. Stop on by! I’m always looking for new friends.

  Once again and most sincerely, thanks for reading. It means a lot.

  Regards,

  Brendan P. Myers

  Books by Brendan P. Myers

  The Space of Life Between

  It's morning again in America . . . but not for Scott Dugan.

  Three years have passed since young vampire Scott Dugan and his uncle found refuge in Mexico. They thought they had put their troubled pasts behind them, until the day a familiar face shows up to enlist Dugan in a scheme that will transport him to the killing fields of war torn Central America and beyond.

  And when Dugan learns the truth about their mission, he must decide whether he owes his allegiance to the human race he was once a part of, or to his newfound self.

  The Mound

  Troubled teen Dani Hogan believes she is about to be made queen of a fairy tale kingdom. And you know what? She may just be right . . .

  Levi Hogan, the new police chief in Bixbie, Massachusetts, is trying to stay off the booze and start a new life. Bixbie doesn't have much in the way of crime anyway, that is, until people start disappearing. While investigating, Hogan learns Bixbie is also home to "New England's Stonehenge," a mysterious mound thousands of years old. Though its purpose is unknown, it becomes clearer when Hogan's runaway daughter comes to town.

  Because what Hogan doesn't know is Dani believes she is to become queen, and local teen Ian Sinclair is to become king, of a fairy kingdom populated by elves and pixies and helpful brownies. Before long, even Hogan starts to believe that maybe, just maybe, the Scots-Irish founders of Bixbie brought something along with them.

  Sincerely Dead

  “So maybe bringing Velarde back into the city wasn’t the best idea I ever had.”

  When a mob hitman learns his boss is about to turn squealer, he takes it upon himself to use the zombified version of the man he was sent to kill to take out the boss, but soon discovers that taking even a single zombie into the Big Apple can lead to devastating consequences. And when the zombie apocalypse is inevitably unleashed, an epic adventure of survival unfolds, as a small band of the still living make a desperate bid to escape this now city of the dead.

  21C and Other Sordid Tales

  Her badge says, “I’m a People Person!” Don’t you believe it …

  Meet Jill. She’ll be your flight attendant today. A word of caution, though. Do NOT irritate her or make her angry in any way, because if you do, you may find your flight turned into a living hell of abuse and intimidation and humiliation … that is, if you survive at all.

  From the author of the acclaimed APPLEWOOD and ADAMSON’S ROCK comes yet another collection of stories that are bound to leave you double-checking your locks and sleeping with the lights on.

  Swash!

  When a late winter storm unearths an ancient shipwreck, the sleepy beach town of Sully’s Rump is turned upside-down, first by the news media, then by the resurrected pirates who come back to reclaim their ship.

  Local historian Arthur Cobb wants the legendary ship for himself, but so does his nemesis, gazillionaire businessman Barney Zimmerman. Caught between the two is Chris Duggan, the boy who found the wreck, who just wants to help the pirates get home.

  He realizes the only way to do that is to rebuild the ship and fulfill the pirate curse, but soon discovers that dislodging the pirates from the Rump may prove more difficult a task than was deciphering the curse that brought them there.

  Spanning a magical summer in the life of an isolated beach community and filled with indelible characters, this rollicking and heartfelt tale is sure to leave you feeling good.

  Applewood

  Twenty-five years ago, a mindless act of teenage vandalism reawakened a long dead nightmare in the small Massachusetts town of Grantham. When Sergeant Lombard finds a mutilated body by the side of the road, he knows the horror of his youth has returned. He calls upon his damaged friend Dugan, who has never forgiven himself for what happened back then, and has lived ever since with the terrible consequences.

  Delighted at first by the disappearance of the town bullies, Dugan and his outcast friends soon realize that as the undead begin to surround their own neighborhood, they must do battle against a growing vampire army led by the town’s long dead Civil War hero. Along the way, they find clues in the diary of a young boy not unlike themselves, and strength in their own unique friendship.

  And as the battle reaches its climax, for some, life will never be the same.

  Fledge (Applewood: Book II)

  The APPLEWOOD saga continues… Fourteen-year-old Scott Dugan is both desperate survivor and hunted casualty of a vampire outbreak that decimates his small Massachusetts town. His uncle believes science offers hope and takes the boy on the run from shadowy forces tasked with exterminating those like his nephew.

  But when the two separate, Scott embarks on an epic journey that takes him from cheap carnival sideshow act to comfortable refugee in the home of a wealthy and reclusive man with his own dark tale to tell.

  As the chase moves from the low deserts of Arizona to the high peaks of Colorado and into the White House itself, Scott must avoid becoming a pawn in someone else’s deadly game. And when he learns that self-discovery for those like him is found only by embracing all he has become, he must weigh his longing to remember who he was and where he came from against the certainty that in doing so, he will never see the sun again.

  Adamson’s Rock and Other Stories

  A detective investigating a suicide comes away with more than he bargained for … a routine clinical trial goes horribly wrong … an avid book collector learns to just what lengths he will go to hold on to a treasure … and a close-knit New England family comes to terms with the end of the world. From the author of “Sumner Gardens” come eight spine-tingling tales of terror and wonder.

  Hope Town

  In the sleepy village of Hopeton, at the end of a bad day, Parker nurses his wounds at a local watering hole. There, he meets a woman. Turns out her day was almost as bad as his. Almost. But soon, they find themselves thrown together in a deadly race for survival. From the high-rises of downtown Boston, to the high seas of the Atlantic, events move inexorably toward a pulse-pounding climax.

  A Truck Story

  What would happen if a fanatic Red Sox fan and his two nephews became trapped in the back of the equipment truck as it begins its 1487-mile journey to spring training? Aside from the ki
dnappings, the car chase, an Elvis impersonator, some hungry alligators, and a few other surprises, the trip itself is relatively uneventful. A charming and hilarious tale sure to delight baseball fans of all ages.

  Sumner Gardens

  It’s October of 1970 and twelve-year-old altar boy Conner O’Neil has a few problems. He’s dodging some oddly personal questions from his parish priest and learns he has to kiss the creepiest girl in class after getting the lead in the school play. But only after his father has another heart attack do his real troubles begin. A heartwarming and life-affirming coming-of-age tale.

  The Dick Londergan Chronicles

  A Very Dick Londergan Christmas

  It’s Christmas Eve, and when the head honcho of the local Building and Loan skips town with $8,000 the very same day an office complex collapses, trapping a family man architect inside, throwback P.I. Dick Londergan smells trouble. His kind of trouble. But while he sniffs around, his beloved city is somehow transformed into a wholesome family town, and soon, he finds himself trapped in a nightmare from which there might be… no escape.

  Telegraph Hill

  When old school P.I. Dick Londergan stumbles onto a case that smells of sweet tea and fresh baked cookies, it’s Dateline: Danger! because he’ll soon find its ugly underbelly consists of one part smarm, two parts pain, and a heaping helping of primetime “gotcha!”

  Hell City

  Dick Londergan is a private detective from the old school, the kind who likes his women leggy, his scotch neat, and his coffee black. When summoned to Telegraph Hill to investigate a murder, he finds himself thrust into a mystery so deep, even his old school methods may not be enough to solve it.

  Among the sinister questions confronting him: Why was his town suddenly so popular with racket boys and hoodlums? For what nefarious purpose had the two biggest criminal bosses in town set aside their differences? Who was the blonde English chef berating his cooking skills? And why was Londergan himself constantly being hounded by television cameras?