She jumped to her feet and began pacing the floor in a circle around Dick’s body.
“Ok, Sky, that was gross.”
She stopped moving for a second and thought aloud, “It was gross, wasn’t it?”
She switched directions and paced the other way, still staring at Dick’s body and speaking to herself.
“No, not really ... actually, not at all gross. I mean, yes gross, but still — “
She stopped pacing to focus on Dick. His shredded throat should have caused her to look away in disgust, or fear or some other negative emotion. But that just didn’t happen.
“Aaaaaand just like that I’m starving.”
She took a step toward Dick but stopped herself.
“Get it together Skyler. Something is very wrong here.”
She involuntarily licked her lips and took another step toward Dick.
“Boo. Hoo. Bitch.”
She lunged at Dick’s body like a lion at feeding time. She planted her left foot squarely on his chest for leverage and then reached down to grab his left arm. With one hard yank she was able to dislocate it from its socket.
She tore away what was left of his sleeve and started chowing down on the detached arm with the unbridled enthusiasm of someone who had waited all day to try the giant turkey leg at Disney World.
TEN
Their impromptu underground nap was just what the doctor ordered, Jack thought to himself. Well, if a doctor ordered that type of thing. After a few hours of shut eye and a few packets of trail mix Jack, Karen and Alissa continued their journey to the surface.
Alissa was still in charge of the flashlight and still piggybacked on Jack’s back when she pulled on his hair with her free hand to get his attention.
“Ow!”
Alissa giggled and pointed toward a far corner of the garage floor. “Look!”
She trained her flashlight on a big yellow spray painted number.
2
“Nice find ‘Lissa!” Jack was relieved. They had dug through cement and debris for hours and had no idea how far they were from the entrance, or what used to be the entrance, of the parking garage.
Alissa smiled and looked back at her mother.
“Good job, honey,” she said, “but maybe not pull too hard on Jack’s hair next time?”
Alissa rolled her eyes.
“Sorry Jack.”
“That’s quite a grip you got there ‘Lissa. I may have to put you to work clearing some of this cement.”
Karen laughed at the two of them. She thanked God that Jack had been the one who drove them away from town — and away from Dick. He had been a great person to survive the apocalypse with. She wanted to make sure they found a way to always stay in touch, no matter what was happening on the surface.
Buddy made an executive decision while he was hovering over a sleeping Skyler. It was time for her to wake up. With his tail wagging he leaned forward and gave her a nuzzle. And then a lot of wet dog kisses.
“Ok, ok,” she groaned. “Geez. And ew.”
She sat up slowly and brought her hand up to her face to wipe Buddy’s spit away. She was surprised to see there was blood on it. A lot of blood.
Confused as to where she was, a quick look around jogged her memory. She had fallen asleep in the middle of the church at some point the night before. By the looks of the faint rays of sunlight that streamed in from a few cracks in the ceiling it was already morning.
What remained of Dick’s arm along with the rest of his corpse was near by. Her nose wrinkled at the smell of him, but not in the same way it had the night before. He was no longer appetizing.
Everett’s body was where she left it. Seeing him there, lifeless, was too much for her. She felt the need to cover him with something. Maybe she could find a flag somewhere inside the church. For now she would move him away from Dick and his victims.
Skyler got up and started toward her grandfather’s body, crossing into one of the faint streams of sunlight coming in through the ceiling.
A hot burning sensation on her arm caused her to jump back immediately. She spotted a flashlight nearby and grabbed it. She switched it on and shined its bright beam on her arm.
“Holy shit!”
The flashlight revealed her skin to be beyond pale. It was translucent. Her veins and capillaries were visible through it. There was an angry red glow in the area that met with the sunlight.
In her head she heard Dick’s cryptic comment from last night.
“Everything will make sense at sun up.”
She grabbed Dick’s corpse by the leg and dragged him toward a faint pool of sunlight. Nothing happened. She kicked his body aside and approached one of his victims, a neighborhood woman that Skyler recognized but didn’t know.
“I’m so sorry, ma’am.” She grabbed the woman’s body by the ankles and dragged it across the floor and toward the same pool of sunlight, careful to not get caught in the rays herself.
Instantly the woman’s skin turned red, began smoking and then with a muffled POOF! Her body disintegrated, leaving behind only her clothes and a small pile of ashes.
“Again, holy shit.”
One by one, she dragged Dick’s remaining victims into the same pool of sunlight. And one by one each had the same response. Redness, smoke and poof.
Skyler looked toward the last body, Everett, and shook her head “NO.” She would not experiment with him, although she suspected he would survive the sun rays intact. He had not become pale, nor had he had developed the same disgust for regular food she had after ‘XF11 had wreaked its havoc. She stood in the middle of the room, contemplating her next move.
Seeing a break in the action, Buddy got up from his resting place and approached Skyler. To get to her, he had to cross into those same rays of sunlight that had proven to be so destructive to the majority of the people in the church. She had no idea if he too had been affected by — whatever it was she was affected by.
“Buddy, no!” she screamed. “Stop!”
Buddy took another step and then stopped. He was standing directly in the pool of sunlight. He was unaffected, but a little confused by her commands.
Skyler let out a sigh of relief.
“It’s ok. Good boy. Come here Buddy.”
He finished the journey and with his tail wagging he sat in front of Skyler, ready for the next thing, whatever that would be.
Although rays of sun were sneaking into the structure up ahead, the ground level of the parking garage, or what was let of it, was still fairly dark. Jack, Karen and Alissa had finally made their way to the top level. Cars were everywhere, smashed together, upside down, ripped in half. Victims of the powerful force of nature.
Jack looked over toward Karen and Alissa. Even in this low light it was clear to him that they were unnaturally pale.
A group of 3 young men walking in front of them, caught their attention. They were all wearing Islander jerseys and were clearly happy to be making their way outside for the first time in weeks.
Karen smiled. “Glad to see we aren’t the only ones who made it out of this place alive.”
“Yeah,” Jack agreed. He wondered if their experience had been better or worse than theirs.
“Jack.” Alissa tugged on Jack’s sleeve. “Jack.”
He looked down at the little girl. “Mmmmhmmm?”
Alissa pointed to a large pile of cars. Jack’s Pacer could be seen peeking out from the very bottom.
“Of course.” He shook his head. “We’re going to have to find another vehicle to get us on out of here.”
Karen nodded. “I’m sure we can find another car around here that we can use.”
“Yeah. Not every car looks like it was run through a hydraulic press. There’s got to be some sort of — “ Jack was interrupted.
A loud but short yell from the parking structure’s entrance got their attention.
They all looked toward the exit but there was nothing to see.
“I guess they’re happy to b
e be out of this place,” Karen mused. “It’s been so long since we’ve all seen the sun. Jack, do you mind if we get some fresh air and then look for a car?”
“Good idea. We all could use some fresh air, and no offense but, you two are looking kind of pale.”
Up ahead of them the rays of sunlight streaming into the structure extended an invitation to all who saw them. Alissa could not resist the promise of sunshine and fresh air and ran ahead of Jack and Karen, eager to go outside.
As she got closer to the entrance, and the sunshine, something caught the little girl’s eye. She stopped short and pointed at the ground in front of her.
“Mommy look!”
Jack and Karen both looked toward the patch of cement flooring she was pointing at. In front of her, a pile of clothes sat in a small pool of sunlight.
Jack quickly surveyed the immediate area. He saw a number of similar piles dotting the area near the entrance. Most curious to him was that the three piles nearest to Alissa seemed to be smoldering, and each of them had a familiar article of clothing resting on top.
“Islander jerseys.” Jack said to himself. And then he began to yell. “Alissa! Don’t! Move!”
Alissa looked up at Jack and slowly started backing away from the pile closest to her. She did not see the pile and its corresponding sun beam immediately behind her.
“Mommy?” The little girl was unsure if she was in danger or in trouble, either way she was frightened by Jack’s reaction.
Karen had come to the same conclusion as Jack had.
“Alissa!” she screamed as she bolted toward her daughter.
Alissa looked up at her mother as she continued to step backwards, toward another pile of clothes and another ray of sunshine. Karen threw herself at her daughter, able to shove her away from immediate danger in the nick of time.
The act of saving Alissa, however, put Karen squarely in the middle of the sun spot she so desperately wanted her daughter to avoid. The look of relief on her face as she saved her daughter didn’t have time to shift with the circumstances. Instantly she began to smoke, caught fire and then turned to ash. Her clothes becoming just another smoldering pile near the exit.
Alissa shrieked “Mommy!” and took a step toward the spot where her mother had been standing only seconds before.
Jack swooped in and snatched Alissa. He carried the screaming girl back toward the shadows, carefully avoiding the sun rays along the way as if they were security lasers.
Once out of harms way he gently placed her on the ground beside him. She turned and hugged his leg tightly as he looked back toward the entrance, still in shock himself, still trying to make sense of what had just taken place. There were dozens of piles of clothes near the entrance, and now he knew that each one represented a person or a child who had wanted nothing more than to feel the sun on their face once again.
He leaned down and brushed Alissa’s hair behind her ear as he had seen her mother do whenever she needed comforting. The lighting was better near the entrance way, and it gave him the opportunity to take a closer look at the little girl’s face. “Pale,” as a descriptive, was an understatement. Her skin was translucent and he could see her veins and capillaries pumping blood just beneath the surface.
As he stroked her hair he took note of the skin on his own hand. It was completely normal.
Buddy watched on as a mostly naked Skyler dug through a large plastic bin with “GOOD WILL” scrawled in marker on the side. Next to her, the clothes she had worn on her way into the church, were now bloody and ready to be discarded.
Out of the bin, she pulled out a pair of folded designer skinny jeans. She checked the size.
“Two? Please.” She tossed them aside.
Next up, she grabbed a black hooded sweatshirt from the bin. She gave it a visual once over. It looked fine. She checked the size which was also fine. Lastly, she gave it a sniff.
“Could be worse.”
She put the sweatshirt down nearby and continued her search for a new outfit.
She found another pair of jeans, Levis this time. Skyler held them up for inspection. No holes, no stains. She looked to the back leather patch for the sizing info.
“Close enough,” she said and placed them on top of the sweatshirt.
Another return to the bin yielded a tank top. Skyler held it up to check out the graphic on its front. It was a vintage Ramones concert tee that proclaimed “I Want To Be Sedated.”
“You are perfect.”
As she stood up and began to dress herself, a garment bag hanging on a hook nearby got her attention. Once dressed she walked over and unzipped it. Inside she found a man’s dark blue suit, seemingly in perfect condition.
She looked back at the body of her grandfather, laid out on the alter, hands folded over his chest in the next room.
ELEVEN
As a distraction, for both of them, Jack and Alissa began to walk around the main floor of the parking structure. While many cars had been totally destroyed, there were a few that survived with just water damage. Jack held Alissa’s hand with an iron grip, determined not to let the little girl suffer the same fate as her mother.
Alissa seemed to be lost in thought as they toured the lot. Eventually she turned to Jack, a look of seriousness on her face.
“Jack?”
“Yes ‘Lissa?” He stopped walking and knelt in front of the little girl, giving her his full attention.
“When Grandma died, Mommy told me God needed her to be with Him in Heaven.”
Jack never considered himself to be very religious, much to his parents chagrin, so he was not entirely comfortable with the conversation. But the solemn look on Alissa’s face was all the evidence he needed that this was a particularly serious topic of discussion for her, so he tried his best to hold up his end of the conversation.
“Ah, ok ... Well that makes sense, ‘Lissa. What do you think?”
“I think maybe God needed Mommy.”
Jack smiled and nodded at the little girl in front of him. “I think maybe He did.”
Alissa continued. “He’ll need me one day too, I bet.”
This caught Jack off guard. Such serious talk from such a small child.
“Not today though, ‘Lissa.”
“No, not today.” She agreed. “You need me today.”
Jack leaned and kissed Alissa’s forehead. Kids really did say the darnedest things.
Just two weeks ago, a day like this would have been considered ‘perfect,’ Skyler thought to herself. The sun was out, the sky was a beautiful shade of blue and peppered with big fluffy white clouds.
But that was then and this was now. Standing at the entrance of the church, she hoped she was covered enough to ward off the fate the sun had in store for her. Just one step through the doorway and into full-on daylight, and she would know for sure.
She had briefly considered staying inside the church for the day and traveling by night, avoiding the sun altogether. In the end though, she just couldn’t bear to stay in the building any longer. Spending ten or more hours there with her grandfather, his murderer and the piles of ash that had been the other victims was just too much to consider.
So there she was, covered from head to toe, not an inch of skin peeking through, ready to step across the threshold and into the bright sunshine. She had had amazingly good luck with the Good Will bin inside the church. Her new outfit was surprisingly comfortable; combat boots, jeans, Totes gloves, and a tank top — plus the sweatshirt, which was zipped to her neck, hood up with drawstrings pulled tight around her head. Her red bandanna covered the lower part of her face, and a pair of Anna Wintour style sunglasses she found covered the rest. Around her neck she wore one of her grandfather’s dog tags on its chain.
“Here we go,” she said and stepped through the entrance way into the light of day.
She waited to see if she would suffer the same fiery fate as those poor people inside had, but after a moment she realized her new gear was working as intended.
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Now that that was out of the way, she had another important piece of business to take care of. Skyler sat down on the grass right outside the church’s entrance and pulled one of the rucksacks onto her lap. She began rummaging through it and after a few seconds found what she was looking for. Out came her solar powered transistor radio.
She extended the antenna, switched on the power, and turned the volume up all the way. She slowly moved the tuner dial hoping to hear something, anything.
There was nothing but static.
With a sigh she switched off the radio, retracted the antenna and placed it back in the rucksack. She stood up and stretched. It was time to start the journey westward.
“Buddy?”
She glanced around the churchyard for the dog and spotted him digging at something a hundred yards away.
“Buddy! Come here boy!”
Buddy looked back at Skyler and wagged his tail in acknowledgment. He then went back to digging.
She shook her head and started to walk toward the pit bull. As she did, Skyler studied the grounds of the church. The land surrounding it had once been beautifully landscaped and dotted with ornate cement benches, well-manicured trees and bushes along with a half dozen marble religious statues and fountains. Flowers had lined all of the church’s walkways and paths. People routinely opted to have their weddings held outside the church because it was so picturesque.
Now everything had changed. The bushes and flowers were gone completely. The trees that remained were either uprooted or snapped in half like toothpicks. Random items that had no business being in a churchyard were scattered everywhere. A huge “EZPASS This Lane Only” sign was precariously balanced on top of an industrial sized refrigerator that was half-buried in the lawn. A coin operated washing machine from God-knows-which laundromat took the place of one of the statues. On the roof of the church itself were the remains of what looked to be a once impressive luxury sport fishing yacht.
There was more of the same in every direction she looked. But in addition to those absurdly random things, there were, of course, the piles of clothes. On her way into the church the night before they had meant nothing to her. This morning, however, she knew exactly what each one represented.
Plagued (Book 1): The Girl Who Chased The Shadows Page 8
