Cadence and Dog

by Lashbrook, Lillan

  Good day dear reader. I would like to take this opportunity to warn you

  away for this terrible, terrible story. Not terrible as far as the writing style or

  anything like that. Oh no! I have absolute faith in our writer. I feel she is perfectly capable in conveying the horror and disgusting acts that are to occur.

  It’s just, from what I have seen and heard so far….

  Let us just say this is not a children’s book. Surely this is not a story for anyone.

   But then why would someone write such a story you may ask?

  Because such things must always be written. However, I do want to stress the fact that everything within the cover, all the acts, names, places, even the

  writer and I myself, are 100% FICTION in your world. *sigh*

  That doesn’t excuse it. Nothing does.

  Please put this book down, I beg you. If not for your own sake then for mine. If

  you don’t read it; I won't have to either. This is a two-party system, well three parties now that you are here, I suppose. She sees the world; I interpret it to you and you get to put it down whenever you choose. I implore you to do so now!

  No? Alright then, IF we must continue then I shall do my best to convey the

  story well. Please bear in mind we are venturing into a very dark, dangerous, and

  wholly unpleasant world. However unreal it is, and do remember it is fictional,

  this will still be an uncomfortable journey to say the least. If you are ready, and I’m not sure if there is a way to be because I certainly am not, let us head in.

  Cadence & Dog

  The world has become a very real place for our heroine. She was cold, hungry, felt alone in the entire world. It seems years ago that she was celebrating her grandmother's 82nd birthday. But it'd only been days. Time was measured in meals now, by the passage of the sun, by the space in between sleeping.

          It was whispered this might be "Grandma's last birthday! So, make it memorable." For as long as Cadence could remember, it had always supposedly been her last birthday, her last Thanksgiving, Christmas...her last year. She just kept living, despite these repeated predictions. She had fallen a few years or so back, Dr. said that she would "never walk again" and yet she walked into his office 2 months later with barely a limp. Smoked till the day she died, fighting for what life she had left. Who said cigarettes will kill you?

          Dog barked, just once but that was all that was needed, and they both dropped to the ground. She held her breath, squeezed her eyes shut, and prayed. God had never answered her, so she prayed to Grandma. Grandma always heard and always helped. She remembered a Sunday school teacher telling them that God always "helps those who help themselves." When she asked why God would need to help you after you've already taken care of yourself, she was told that's just the way it works. Cadence knew grandma didn't have those kinds of rules. She had sent dog to her when the scary men came. Had left food she could eat in the house they slept in last night. Now she made her invisible until the scary man walked away.

           "We should find some place." Dog looked at her and seemed to agree. Raising her head slowly, she looked around. Down a hill and a few blocks over she saw a big concrete building. It had a picture of a fish surrounded by trees painted on the big front doors, but it had no windows. "That looks safe." Again, he didn't disagree. They walked slowly around to the back alley, walking carefully, silently, until they got to the building. They went around front and when she reached for the door, it was (not surprisingly) unlocked. The world had changed so quickly that day. No one had had time to close up shop. Once inside, it was dark, but Dog could see well enough to get them around. Cadence found flashlights and grabbed a couple extra as spares. The quiet seemed ominous at first, until she remembered that the scary men are never quiet.

  She thought about finding a fuse box (like daddy would do when the lights went out at home). But she knew that the outside lights would turn on too, and that didn't seem smart. Grandma had always told her “It’s a hard, stupid world out there sweetie. You have to be strong and try not be stupid whenever possible if you want to survive it” So she tried to never do anything that didn't seem smart.

        "Food or clothes first, do you think?" Dog veered off towards shoes and clothes so she followed. Dog seem to know what he was doing. She figured dogs are just smarter than humans; they have instincts and actually follow them. They passed a pair of purple hiking boots that she liked and tried them on. She even found some baby shoes that would fit Dog with a little modification. "Now we don't have to worry about your feet anymore." Smiling, they moved on to finding a change of clothes and something to carry supplies in. Dog stopped by a rack of dog harnesses that doubled as a backpack. "You want that?" When he pulled it down on his own, she helped him into it. "Well don't you look spiffy, all geared up?" Dog barked and wagged his tail in approval.

          There wasn't much in the way of food. Mostly candy and jerky, a few MREs but our pair made do. She put the clothes on Dog and the heavy stuff in her own pack. "I think I need something else. I should find something to fight with, but nothing too loud. Daddy took me to the gun range once and I saw a man shoot a crossbow...I think that could work." They set out in search of weaponry. Sure enough, she found one that she could pull and, with practice, she got accurate. She thought back to her friend Andria. Her daddy had always called her Andy, and trained her like the solder he was and hoped she would be. She knew weapons and camping and food. “She would have been perfect for this world” Cadence thought. She would always come to Sunday school with a new survival story. “How I climbed a mountain” “The dog that tried to eat me, but I didn’t let it” “shooting daddies gun!” Her sister Derdra was every bit a girl. Always wore a dress and ribbons and couldn’t even sit if the seat was dirty. Identical twins who were nothing alike. She would be miserable here. “Who to say they are even alive”. She had played at their house so many times. Listened to each of them giggle and laugh when their world was safe. Now all she could hear was the howling wind outside and screams in her nightmares.

  They made a pile of blankets and sleeping bags for a bed. With a full belly, a warm bed, and a crossbow within reach, sleep was not hard to find. Dog laid his head across her middle as though to say sleep child, I'll keep watch. She dreamed of Grandma, and of her friends and father. Dreamed of all the good warm memories before the disaster. But good was not meant to last. As always, her mind turned to the darkness. To the how, to the badness of that day only 3 months ago.

  Breaking news on the TV. Everyone gathered together to see the fuzzy jerky video taken of the madman, screaming as he ran naked down the street. It wasn't a scream really...it was more of a crackling squeal...no longer really human at all. Broken glass, wire, and some things you couldn't identify sticking out his skin, almost like they were growing that way. Long black twisted nails sticking through his fingers like claws. The fingers that still had flesh on them anyway; some were just bones and tendons. It was reaching out, trying to grab at those people running away.

            It looked at the camera, opened its mouth and squealed its chattering clicking sounds. His teeth were broken and jagged. His tongue was missing, gushing blood down his face, presumably where he bit it off. The madman stood still. He was scraping at his skin, cutting gashes and odd designs. But he still kept making that awful noise as though trying to communicate with the person holding the camera. The camera was shaking now, then suddenly dropped as the madman ran towards it.

            End of video

  The n
ewscaster continued on but no one was listening. Now another video from a surveillance camera, this time there were more of them, as the madness spread. All having little or no clothing on, all covered in glass, wire, chains, and chunks of anything they thought interesting. Men and women, and a little boy that couldn't be any older than Cadence herself. All running down the now-fleeing patrons of some department store. Some made it back inside, others were not as lucky. Cadence didn't see what happened, her father turned her head and walked her out of the room, mumbling something about how he was happy that there was no sound.

             That was the last day of normality. Daddy ran out to board up the house and make sure everyone was inside. Some family members went to the store. Cadence didn't see them after that, no one new if they were dead or mad. When the screaming started down their street grandma said it was time to leave. They gathered all the food and any possible weapons in the truck and into the unknown they went.

  Cadence woke up screaming. Crying out for daddy and grandma. Dog licked her cheek, and nuzzled her till she was calm again "I want my daddy." Cadence wrapped her arms around Dog's neck an indulged in one little sob. Taking a deep shaky breath, she checked her crossbow and lay back down. Sleep wouldn't come now, so she decided to wander around the store. There was a giant fish tank along the back wall. No living fish left. Some carcasses floated near the bottom of the tank. She wondered if it would be safe to swim. Cadence and Dog looked at each other and shook their heads. There was an indoor laser shooting range but no power, so she used her new crossbow. Seeing how far back she could get before she faltered. The bathroom still worked and she decided a bath sounded like a good idea. Not like Dog minded if she had clothes on or not. When she was clean, changed and calm she tried going back to sleep. This time the dream was different, not the past but somehow familiar all the same.

          The stone was huge, black, and towering over the Mad Men below. Its sits in what must have once been a vast green forest. It was like no stone around it. But it was too massive to have been moved by human hands. Square and liquid smooth except for the carvings in its sides. They were made visible by white stones shoved into them. In the muddy ground around what must be considered the front of the stone was a semi-circle of pillars made from de-branched trees. Many of which had children tied to them. Bonfires burning in every corner of the clearing with mad men and women dancing all around. Piles of bodies, squirming and writhing in the mud.

            A figure appears on top of the stone. Bright red against the black rock and the blue sky. The scream of Mad Men echoes across the valley as all at once they raise their voices. The noise becomes deafening, and then suddenly cuts out. Leaving the listener anticipating, knowing something must be about to happen. The Mad Men circle the pillars and the stone. All eyes on the figure atop it, hands in the air, they chatter-squealed quietly. Seeming desperate for what was to come.

         The figure on the stone raised a staff. Green and blue gems inlaid in the gold accents of what appeared to be stained glass. A light shown out from within, getting brighter. Slowly something floats up from the children. Some scream in terror, some cry, most just passed out. Energy flows up pale and shimmering into the staff. All at once the crowd cheers and most of the children have disappeared! The three remaining are set loose, stripped by many hands as they are brought into the mass and lost beneath it. They have become part of the madness.

         This time when Cadence woke up, she wasn't scared. Somehow knowing this hadn’t been a dream, and hadn’t been chance. Questions roll around in her mind. Was that real? What was that energy? That staff, does it control the scary men? If you break it will they change back? Cadence knew she wouldn't find the answers easily. She also knew she needed to find them anyway. If there was a way to end the scary men, then she would find it. They had taken her family away from her. She was lost in this world of death, depravity, and evil. Thinking back to the days of going to church with her grandmother, listening to the preacher tell about Satan and Hell and the evils of the world. She wondered briefly if hell looked rather like this. Her Sunday school teacher had told her Hell was the worst thing you could possibly imagine, and then it never ends or ever gets better. She could imagine worse things now; they were around her all the time.

  She heard a noise, a kind of shuffling step and almost the sound of wind chimes, slowly moving around downstairs. Cadence and Dog crawled across the floor to the railing. Looking down onto the first floor she could see a shadow. A man comes stumbling into her safe haven. His clothes are shredded; his long black hair is matted; he is bloody from head to toe. A chain wraps his scrawny upper frame, jangling every time he steps. He falls toward one of the display racks, the food fell over him and he clutched desperately at it, ripping bags open with his jagged teeth.  Choking as he ate, his eyes speed around the room as though searching. Cadence knocked her cross bow quietly, setting aim on the stranger.

  His eyes fell upon the dry water fall and creek running through the middle of the store. Scrambling across the floor, the strange man in his tattered clothes fell into the water, rolling like an animal. The blood washes away, the tattered fabric disintegrated, and he looked almost human. The stranger sat up in the man-made stream, spitting out the foul water. He tried to stand, only to slip on the slime growing along the bottom. Spitting yet another mouth full of water the stranger crawls out of the creek leaving a pink trail of wet as his bare feet slapped across the tile. Cadence kept the cross bow leveled at his neck. Waiting for him to screech, or chatter like a madman. To spin around and see her. But she had never seen a scary man eat people food. They only ever ate meat.

  She studied the strange man, watched him fall again and again, stumbling his way to the restrooms. His scream of joy when the water flowed echoed off the walls. She could hear him slurping and splashing like a child in a fountain. Cadence and dog looked at each other sharing the same thought. What is this man, human or mad? The man came out dragging his chain, his clothes completely gone now. He stood naked in the hallway to the restrooms. Water rolling down his body. Completely unashamed of his nudity he strides back across the floor to the mess of packages. The stranger sat amongst the nest of jerky and candy and began eating again. Cadence stood up keeping the cross bow centered.

  “I would be more careful how much noise I make. The madmen jump on every little sound.” Cadence made sure he couldn’t see her, but that she could see him. “That is if you aren’t a mad man yourself.”

  Startled he jumped up, spinning around desperately trying to find the voice. “I do what I have to too survive. But I am not one of those monsters. Where are you?”

  “I don’t see how that is relevant, I am here that’s all you need to know. No scratch that. You should also know I am armed and a good shot. You get the idea to be squirrely I might get the idea to shoot you”

  “You sound like a girl! How old are you? What are you doing alone?”  He looked up towards the second floor. Scanning back and forth looking for anything out of place, but in the gloom all he could see were shadows. “I don’t even have clothes on. How can I be dangerous?”

  “We are in a hunting store. You are able to stand, and walk. I reason you are capable or getting to any number of weapons in here.” Cadence studied the man; she had ever seen a man naked before. She looked up and down his whole body. At first looking for scratches or injury she may take advantage of like her father had taught her. Then she started to notice his differences from her own body. The man still continued to search for her and would turn to look around, giving her a view of his back.

  “Where are you? Are you alone in here?”

  “I am never alone. In this world alone can be deadly.” When he turned back towards her voice she noticed his extra appendage for the first time. She knew what it was, she had been to
ld the basics. But to see first-hand was a new experience. “Are you so comfortable in your nakedness that you don’t feel you need to find clothes?”

  “What? Don’t like what you see? Or perhaps you want me to put this away so you’re not tempted.” He grabbed his manhood and stroked it idly. “Unlike you I have been alone. It would be nice to have a woman again. You sound young, not yet a woman. Makes no never mind to my cock, a twat’s a twat. And young just means tight in my experience.” Cadence watched his 'cock' get stiffer, till it stood out from his body, thick and proud. “Why not come down here? We can talk face to face.”

  Cadence understood why the man wanted her down there. She had been told about the kind of man he was. “No. I have no need of you or your 'cock'. This store is mine and you just wore out your welcome. Take what you need and get out.” She lowered her aim and fired. The arrow shot thru his legs just under his appendage. He yelped and fell backwards, the blood draining from his face and extremities. “Or I can remove your need for any woman permanently.” The man scrambled to his feet grabbing up what he could carry he made a dash for the door. After a moment Cadence and Dog walked down to the doors and locked themselves in, and locked the world out.

  A few days later the rain was making a quiet hum against the building. Cleaning the air, nourishing the land, slowly washing away what was once humanity. The great and powerful human civilization being eaten away by time and the gentle loving rain. Cadence sat in front of the big glass doors, watching as the rain made the world new again.  A madman stood far out in the parking lot looking up, as though entranced by the failing water.  The gore on his body turned into rivulets and destroyed his designs. Washing into the gouges and running over the objects jutting from his skin. Cadence watched, fascinated, she had never seen one so still before.  As though the rain was weakening him, he began to lean slowly. Could it be that washing his symbols off sapped his energy? Or was there more to it? The madman fell backwards, didn’t even try to stop himself. With a splash he disappeared from view.