The Vanishing (The End of Time Chronicles Book 1)

by Heath Jannusch

  Fallen Angels

  The Vanishing – Day 10

  Big Horn Mountains, Wyoming

  Beaten and defeated, Tyler’s raiders returned home to the Big Horn Mountains, located in northern Wyoming. Their hideout was once used by the infamous Hole in the Wall Gang, as well as by the Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch. Even Black Jack Ketchum and Kid Curry had at one time or another taken refuge there.

  From the late 1860’s to the early 1900’s, the pass was used by numerous gangs and outlaws, but as time went by, it was used less and less and eventually faded into history. At one point, the hideout used to have several cabins, a stable, a corral, livestock and enough supplies for a small army. However, all of the original buildings were now withered and gone.

  The raiders, known as the Enlightened Ones, had chosen the spot because the area was remote and secluded. The hiding place was easy to defend because of its narrow passes and it was impossible for anyone to approach without raising the alarm. The raiders had re-built the hideout to its former glory and it now resembled a small town.

  Hundreds of small cabins, housing thousands of men, dotted the surrounding valley and mountain pass. There was a long rectangular shaped snack shack, where the men would go to eat. Raiding parties, each led by a different man, brought back any food, supplies and livestock they could find. The food and supplies were distributed amongst the raiders equally.

  Any captured women were brought back and kept prisoner in a separate two story house. The house had a saloon on the lower level and bedrooms on the upper level. The men would come here to unwind before and after their raids.

  A man of average size and height, Tyler Snyder was the opposite of attractive. His dirty brown hair looked like it had never seen a brush, his beard was growing in quickly and he looked like he hadn’t taken a shower in over a week. His clothes, looking old and worn, hadn’t been washed in over than a month.

  He was usually excited to return to the hideout, but this time his throat felt dry and he wanted to vomit. For the first time, he was returning from a raid unsuccessful and defeated. What would the Parish brother’s do when they learned of his humiliation? His face became pale and he could feel sweat beading down his forehead.

  Tyler had left the hideout with fifty men under his command, three trucks and two dozen motorcycles. He was now returning with only forty-three men and nothing else. His feet hurt from all of the walking that he’d done and all he wanted was a cold beer and sleep, hours and hours of sleep. Knowing he wouldn’t see a bed or a beer anytime soon, Tyler dismissed what was left of his men. He then set off to report his failure and accept his fate.

  Unlike everyone else who lived in the cabins, the Parish brothers had chosen to dig out a large, preexisting cave and build their home there. The opening was twenty feet high and ten feet wide. Tyler stopped at the cave entrance for a moment, before entering. He peered into the darkness and tried to swallow, but found it difficult.

  “Come in Tyler,” boomed a deep voice, from within the dark opening. “What are you waiting for?”

  Tyler wiped away the sweat from his brow and slowly entered the cave. He blinked several times, trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness. The cave had a fresh water stream that ran through it and Tyler could hear the ripple of water, as it flowed from deep within the mountain.

  “Hello?” his voice echoed against the walls of the cave, but no answer came. So, Tyler walked deeper into the cave. “Where are you?” he called, yet still no response. Suddenly, the light from the entrance behind Tyler was gone, as a large object crossed in front of the opening. The giant shadow of the object consumed Tyler, as he slowly turned around to face Marcus.

  “Hello Tyler,” boomed Marcus.

  Although Marcus was the youngest of the Parish brothers, he was by far the largest. He stood just over eighteen feet tall and weighed close to two thousand pounds. He had huge, thick hands and auburn red hair that hung down to his shoulders. When standing next to Marcus, Tyler’s head barely reached his knee. In fact, Marcus was so tall that he had to lower his head when standing, even in this huge cave.

  “Oh hey there,” said Tyler, startled by the sudden appearance of Marcus. The giant moved like a cat, despite his large size. “Are you all alone? Or are your brothers here too?”

  “They’re here,” answered Marcus. “Augustus, Tye’s back!” The deep rumble from the giants voice and the vibrations against the walls of the cave, sent shivers down Tyler’s back, as he stood there trembling.

  As innocent as Marcus seemed, he was truly a cold blooded killer. Tyler had personally witnessed the giant kill, dismember and even eat dozens of men, women and children. Of one thing he was sure, he never wanted to be on the other end of the giant’s wrath. Despite Marcus’s size and blood lust, it was his older brother Augustus, who was truly evil.

  “What’s all the racket?” called Augustus, from back in the cave.

  “Tyler is back from the raid,” bellowed Marcus.

  “Well it’s about time. What have you brought me?” asked Augustus, as he emerged from the rear of the cave, wiping blood from his hands onto his pants. “And what took you so long to get back?”

  Unlike his younger brother Marcus, Augustus was a very little man. At only five feet four inches tall, he had a Napoleon Complex that could rival most. Augustus had lighter skin, with red hair and green eyes, in contrast to his brother’s darker skin, hair and eyes. It was impossible to tell that the two men were related. Although Augustus was not much to look at, he was the brains of the outfit. He’d been using the strength and stupidity of his younger brother to his advantage, ever since Marcus was born and he had every intention of doing so until his death.

  “Well,” Tyler hesitated and cleared his throat, “that was what I wanted to talk to you about. We, um, well we ran into a little trouble.”

  “Hold on,” said Augustus, raising his hand to halt the explanation. “Darius, Lucius, Severus! Get out here! You'll want to hear this…”

  Before he was done calling to his brothers they were already on their way out, weapons in hand, ready for anything. Darius was the first one out of the back of the cave. He was almost as short as Augustus and almost as old. He brushed back his sandy blond hair, revealing light green eyes, in order to get a better look. Never saying much, he just smiled and sat down, waiting to hear Tyler speak.

  Next, the twins came stumbling out. Lucius and Severus were identical twins with dark black hair and light blue eyes. They were slightly taller than Augustus and much better looking. If it wasn’t for the scar in the top right corner of Severus’ mouth, you couldn’t tell them apart.

  “What’s going on?” the twins ask in unison, as they fought over the last good chair left to sit on. Thanks to Marcus, nothing lasted long.

  “Okay, continue,” said Augustus, an evil smile spreading across his face.

  “Well,” continued Tyler, “we captured this guy who was part of a small scouting party. After leaving him with two of my men, I set out with the rest to find the remainder of his group. We tracked them through the mountains, until we reached a point where the terrain got pretty rough and had to leave our vehicles behind. They were camped in a valley on the other side of a narrow mountain pass. We set off on foot and were about halfway to the pass, when we heard shots coming from behind where we’d left the vehicles.”

  “Were the vehicles guarded, and did you return to check on them?” asked Augustus, as he started peeling an orange and eating it, with his unwashed hands.

  “Y-Y-Yes…I left one man there on guard. When we heard the shots I sent a group of men back, but when they got there, they found the guard dead. One of the trucks was missing and the tires had been slashed on all of the other vehicles. We had to abandon our transportation and walk back, which is why it took us so long to return.”

  “I see,” said Augustus, biting into a juicy slice of orange. “Continue…”

  “I led the rest of the group toward the narrow pass, only to b
e stopped, by what we thought were twenty men laying in ambush.”

  “What do you mean you thought that there were twenty men?” interrupted Severus.

  “When we got a look at the tracks in the daylight,” Tyler cleared his throat again, “we found out there had only been one man. He’d used several guns to fool us into believing there were more.” Sweat was now noticeably dripping off of Tyler’s head, as he tried to continue. “We backed off and re-grouped. I sent in a smaller group of men to explore the pass and see what we were up against.” Tyler paused, looking down at his boots in shame. “The men were entering the pass, when suddenly a huge fire enveloped them and three men died.”

  “That’s four men so far that you lost,” pointed out Augustus. “And then what happened?”

  “Well,” continued Tyler wiping sweat off of his head with his sleeve, “when the fire died down, we continued through the pass, only to find that the small group had escaped.” Grasping at straws, Tyler hoped to get Augustus’ anger pointed in another direction. “The two men I left to guard the guy we captured, said that a stranger ambushed them and freed the kid. My trackers tell me that the stranger was driving a dune buggy. It was he who started the fire and killed three of my men. While he stalled us at the mountain pass, the kid sabotaged our vehicles.” Tyler finished talking and a moment of silence followed.

  When Augustus finally responded, his voice was laced with disgust and contempt. “So, what you’re telling me is that you have completely failed in your mission! How many men were in this group?”

  “It couldn’t have been more than a dozen,” answered Tyler. “I apologize for failing you sir, it won’t happen again.”

  “What else can you tell me about these men who defeated you?”

  “I did take the driver’s license off the guy we captured. His name is Cole Higgins. He lives in a small town named Clearview, Nevada.”

  “Give it to me,” demanded Augustus. Tyler reached into his pocket and handed his leader the Nevada driver’s license. “Now, explain to me why you’ve returned with seven fewer men. So far I’ve only heard you account for four of their deaths.”

  “Oh right, I forgot,” answered Tyler. “We lost one more man on our way back. We were passing near a town that we’d previously visited, when he was shot in the head. It must have been a sniper or something, because we never saw the shooter.”

  “And the other two?” bellowed Augustus, losing his patience.

  “They, um, well, they deserted sir.”

  “Deserted you say,” replied Augustus, rubbing his face, too irritated to do anything else for the moment. “You see what happens when you fail just once. Our enemies no longer respect our power and our own men flee from our ranks. This we cannot have. What are the names of the two men that failed to properly guard this Cole Higgins?”

  “George and Kyle,” answered Tyler.

  “Good, go and fetch them,” commanded Augustus.

  “Yes sir,” Tyler sighed in relief, as he turned and hurried from the cave.

  “What are you going to do?” asked Marcus, when Tyler was out of earshot.

  “No one makes a fool out of me,” hissed Augustus. “We’re going to march on Clearview and destroy the town! We’re going to kill every man, woman and child!”

  “But Nevada is so far away,” pointed out Lucius. “I thought you said we need to keep a low profile and only operate close to home?”

  “That was before,” Augustus admitted. “The time has come for us to branch out and make our presence known elsewhere. If we don’t make an example of this stranger and the town of Clearview, others may find the courage to stand against us.”

  “Augustus?” the giant’s voice was full of sorrow.

  “What is it Marcus?” sighed Augustus, his patience thinning.

  “Can you tell me the story again?”

  “You already know the story,” hissed Augustus. “I’ve told you a hundred times, if I’ve told you once.”

  “I know,” said Marcus, staring at the ground. “But I like it when you tell it. Please?” begged the simple-minded giant.

  “Fine,” the older brother gave in, frustrated. Ever since Marcus was born, Augustus had watched, as his younger brother had grown in both size and stupidity. Yet, without the strength and power of Marcus, he would never have been able to gain control of this group of outlaws. Marcus provided the fear and awe factor, that forced them to obey and kept them all in line.

  Augustus sat down on a small boulder next to the campfire and tossed the remainder of the orange into the flames, watching as it burned. “It all happened about thirty years ago,” he began, “when I saw our mother taken into the sky by a bright light.”

  “Was she pretty?”

  “Yes,” spat Augustus, “you ask that every time. If you want me to tell the story then just be quiet and listen! No more questions, agreed?”

  “Okay,” moaned Marcus.

  “She returned the following day, a full nine months pregnant. A few days later, she died while giving birth to you. Unable to cope with her death, my most recent stepfather committed suicide. I was only fifteen years old at the time and your brothers and I didn’t really know what to do, so the four of us brought you here to this cave, where we’ve lived ever since. The recent vanishings and complete loss of law and order, have now given us the opportunity to come out of hiding and show our power.”

  “But who’s my father?” asked Marcus. “You all know who your fathers are, but who’s my father?”

  “I wish I knew,” said Augustus. “You ask me that every time too! Do you forget the answer, or do you just enjoy frustrating me?”

  “I’m sorry,” Marcus dropped his head. “Don’t be mad at me Augustus. I didn’t mean nothing by it.”

  “Forget it,” said Augustus, regaining his patience. “Your father is probably an alien, or something else with strange powers. Why do you always ask about him?”

  “Because sometimes I think he’s talking to me and sometimes…”

  “What is it,” asked Augustus, “sometimes what?”

  “Sometimes, I think that he’s taking control of my body and my actions.”

  “Why have you never mentioned this before?”

  “I, I guess I thought that you might get mad at me,” said Marcus, avoiding the stares coming from his brothers.

  “I want you to tell me the next time that this happens, do you understand?”

  “Yeah,” mumbled the giant.

  Just then, Tyler walked up with George and Kyle at his side. The three men all seemed nervous, as they stood before Augustus’s cold stare.

  “So, you are the two that were unable to guard a tied up kid?” asked Augustus.

  “It’s not our fault,” argued Kyle, “we were ambushed.”

  “That’s right,” said George, shaking his head in agreement.

  “You’re about to be ambushed again,” said Augustus, with an evil grin.

  Marcus knew exactly what was expected of him, before the men had even arrived. He’d casually taken up a position directly behind the two men. At his older brother’s signal and without hesitation, Marcus reached down and wrapped his large hands around each man’s waist and lifted them into the air. The sound of the two outlaws screams were broken off, when Marcus snapped their necks with his thumbs, as though they were a couple of twigs.

  “No!” Screamed Tyler, as he watched in horror, but it was too late, the men were dead. “Why?” he cried, dropping to his knees, as Marcus tossed their lifeless bodies out of the cave. Tyler heard the bodies of both George and Kyle land with a thud, outside the cave opening.

  “Because they failed me,” answered Augustus, “and so did you. I suggest you don’t ever let it happen again, or next time it will be your neck that snaps.” Augustus walked up and punched Tyler, knocking him over onto his side. “Now ready the troops! We march on the town of Clearview!”

  Tyler stood up and tried to swallow. His tongue felt like a dry stick in his mouth. “How m
any of the men do you want assembled?” he asked, drying his eyes.

  “All of them,” answered Augustus.

  “Yes sir,” said Tyler, regaining his composure. He turned to leave, when the chilling voice of Augustus stopped him in his tracks.

  “Wait! In your report you said that two of the men deserted. I want them found and executed for their betrayal. Who’s our best tracker?”

  “I’d have to say Francisco,” answered Tyler.

  “Very well,” said Augustus, standing up from the small boulder. “I want you to give Francisco ten men, with orders to find and hang the deserters. Tell him not to return without their heads or his fate will mirror theirs.”

  “Yes sir.” Tyler turned and quickly walked away, as fast as his feet could carry him.

  Homecoming Party

  The Vanishing – Day 11

  Clearview, Nevada

  It was a sunny afternoon, when Mayor Sam Sullivan and the scouting party finally returned home to Clearview. Lex and Cole led the way in the dune buggy, followed by Sam driving the truck. When they reached the checkpoint, on the outskirts of town, they pulled to a stop.

  “Welcome back,” called Ian, when he saw Cole sitting next to Lex in the buggy. As usual Ian carried a rifle cradled in his arms, but with a grin on his face that Cole was not used to seeing. Ian had been sober since assuming command of the town’s defenses and he appeared to be genuinely happy. Cole wondered what must have changed while they were gone.

  Sam jumped down from the passenger seat. “What’s going on here boy-oh?” he asked Ian. “Why’s this here road blocked?”

  “Oh hello Sam, welcome back,” greeted Ian. “We set up road blocks at both ends of town to protect us from any invaders,” he explained. “We also built lookout towers and a warning system. We knew you were coming over an hour ago,” smiled Ian, with a sense of pride that Sam hadn’t seen on this face in a long time.

  “Who ordered this lad?” asked Sam.

  “I did,” said Ian, with confidence.