Darkness at Dawn

by Devin Harnois

  Two more skinned lizards were coming at him. Everson planted his feet and lifted his gun.

  With the skinned lizards dead, he started back toward home. Weariness put a drag in his step. The sun was peeking between houses when he reached the area of low buildings he’d started thinking of as The Shops. When he passed the alley he’d met the girl in, he couldn’t help looking down it. It was empty.

  Everson was a little disappointed. He risked his life night after night, faced things that threatened to break him, and yet running into that girl was the most interesting thing to happen to him in a long while. He shook his head and chuckled a little.

  “You’re bleeding.”

  He snapped his gun and his head up at the same time. Something flashed in a second floor window. He trained his gun on it.

  “You’re fast for a human.”

  Everson frowned. The girl?

  “Can we talk, or are you going to shoot me?”

  “You want to talk?” He lowered his gun slightly.

  A face appeared in the window. “Yes.”

  “What do you want to talk about?” Everson kept the gun pointed in her direction, but he lowered it to his waist.

  “Well, first of all, that you’re bleeding.”

  “Do you expect me to look down to check where?”

  The girl sat up, crossing her arms on the window sill. “You think I’m trying to trick you?” She smiled. “It’s your shoulder. The left one.”

  Everson resisted the urge to check. The first skinned lizard might’ve gotten through his armor with its claws. As far as he knew skinned lizards weren’t infectious. A scratch wouldn’t turn him, but it would land him in quarantine. “So you smell it?”

  She nodded. “It’s not too deep.” Her brows drew together. The interior of the building cast a shadow over her, so he couldn’t see her as well as he had yesterday. She was still beautiful, and he wished he could see the rest of her. “If…if you let me close to you I could smell whether it’s infected.”

  He stared at her. Was this a trick? Or…could she honestly be worried about him? A nasty worried he might become one of them? “It must have been the skinned lizard. It was the only thing that got close enough to scratch me.”

  “Skinned lizard?”

  “They look like huge lizards without skin. Thick tail, round head full of teeth—”

  “Oh. I think I know what you’re talking about. They don’t make you into one of us. But you can probably still get sick from them. Regular kind of sick.”

  “I’ll get it checked out at base.”

  “My name’s Jennifer.”

  “Jennifer?” he repeated, surprised at the change of subject. “You have names?”

  “I was human…before,” she said. “What’s your name?”

  “Everson.”

  “What’s your first name?”

  “Why do you want to know that?”

  Jennifer leaned a little farther out. “You’re the first human I’ve talked to in years. I just want to know your name, that’s all.”

  He hesitated a moment. “Richard.”

  She smiled. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

  “Base to Everson.” He jumped at the voice in his ear. He flicked the button at his waist to take his com off listen only.

  “Everson here.”

  “You haven’t checked in at the line yet. We’re getting worried.”

  “I’m on my way. Shift just ended half an hour ago.”

  “It’s been longer than that. Night shift ended an hour ago.”

  Everson checked his watch. “Shit. I’m on my way. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He flipped mute back on.

  “Getting called home?” Jennifer asked.

  “Yep. No more time to chat.”

  “See you tomorrow, Richard.” She ducked inside the building.

  He studied the building for a moment, half expecting her to come out the door. She didn’t appear, and he found himself disappointed again.

  Jennifer had been right about him bleeding, and Everson was right about the scratch landing him in quarantine. He spent a week in a small room with white walls, bored out of his mind. He told them he wasn’t infected, but this was one procedure even he couldn’t get out of. A nasty breaking the skin got you a week in quarantine, no arguments. Everson had been through this slow torture several times in his career, and he’d been very lucky to escape infection every time.

  On the night of his release, he went out drinking to distract himself from one more night trapped inside the wall. He woke late afternoon the next day with a hangover and sucked down some aspirin to drive the worst of it away. Sergeant Graham gave him the same old lecture, but her tone sounded a little relieved. She might have been worried about him while he was in quarantine. He saluted her and the rest of the night crew as he started off.

  The night was disappointingly quiet. He waited around after his first kill, hoping the sound of gunshots would draw other nasties toward him. No luck. He only bagged two more nasties the whole night. At four a.m., he gave up and headed for The Shops.

  He waited there, sitting with his back against a wall, facing the building where he’d last seen Jennifer. His time in quarantine had given him plenty of time for thinking, and a good portion of that thinking had been about the strange girl. The sky grew from black to gray to hints of pale color.

  A creak and a scrape broke the silence, like a weathered door opening. He straightened, gripping his gun. Silence returned for a few moments. Then shuffling sounds came from across the street and a low, inhuman groan. Everson got to his feet, trying to make as little noise as possible. There was more shuffling, then a face appeared at the window. Wide blue eyes met his across the street.

  “I wanted to be here first this time,” he said.

  Jennifer recovered and leaned out the window. “Where have you been?”

  “The scratch I had landed me in quarantine for a week.”

  She frowned. “Oh. I guess they don’t want to take the risk.”

  “You waited here for me.”

  “What’s it like? The city?”

  He decided not to press her. “Nervous,” he said. “Like a tribe of cavemen huddled around a fire, going about their lives but always aware of the darkness all around them.”

  “How many people are left? I never knew how bad…how many people were killed.”

  “In the city? The country?”

  “How many in the city?”

  “About two hundred thousand.”

  She took a moment to absorb that. “Do you have radio, TV, music?” Her face looked even younger as she asked.

  “A little of each,” he told her. “They try to make it as much like the old world as possible. It gets a little better all the time.”

  “That’s good. It’s good that they’re trying.” He saw the longing in her eyes.

  After a moment, he said, “If you promise not to attack me, I promise not to shoot you.” A promise from a nasty couldn’t mean anything, but still, he wanted to trust her.

  She smiled. Whatever other weapons she might have, he thought that smile was her most dangerous. “If you promise not to shoot me, I promise not to attack you.”

  His lip twitched, wanting to smile. “Come down, Jennifer.”

  She lingered a moment longer, then disappeared from the window. She didn’t make a sound while coming down the stairs and through the building. She didn’t use the front door, but came around from the back. Perhaps the top floor didn’t connect with the bottom. Jennifer was nude again, and watching her walk toward him was by far the highlight of Everson’s week. She stopped in the middle of the street, studying him.

  “Want to walk with me for a while?” Everson asked.

  There was that smile again. “Yes.”

  Without waiting for her, he turned and walked down the street. Within a few steps she was beside him. “You’re due back soon?”

  He nodded. “I’m late already.”

  “What wo
uld happen if you didn’t come back?”

  He stiffened and turned to look at her.

  She met his gaze for a second, then turned away. “If you wanted to stay out here, if you didn’t come back for hours, what would happen?”

  She was making an offer then, not a threat. He eased. “They’d worry. I’d get in trouble, risk being suspended.”

  “I suppose you shouldn’t stay out then.”

  He watched her out of the corner of his eye, noticing the way her breasts moved as she walked. Jennifer was completely comfortable in her nudity. She was only a foot away, close enough to touch. Not human, he reminded himself. Not human. “What are you?”

  “Do you really want to know?” Her eyes searched his.

  “Yes.”

  “Tomorrow,” she said. “I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

  “Why not now?”

  “Because if you come back, I’ll know you’re serious.”

  He looked at her for a moment, then turned back to the street ahead. They had to veer around large pieces of wall and roof from a damaged house. It looked like someone had torn off the front of the house, and all the rooms inside were visible. Like a doll house. Three years of weather damage had destroyed much of what was left, but there were still reminders of the former owners—the smeared remains of posters on the wall, broken knick knacks in the living room, the skeletons of furniture, a child’s stuffed bear. All those things that marked a typical American life, now only left in scattered fortified cities, surrounded on all sides by monsters out of nightmares.

  One night three years ago, the nasties had invaded the world. No one knew where they’d come from, or how. The science boys had theories and so did the religious types, but it all came down to the same thing. The world they’d known was gone.

  Because of the nasties. Because of Jennifer’s people.

  He turned and met her gaze. She’d been looking at the house too. “So much is gone…” she said.

  He looked down to step over a last bit of debris. “Aren’t you worried you’ll cut your feet?” he asked.

  Jennifer shrugged. Her steps were as light and easy as a cat’s, making her body move in interesting ways. “It doesn’t bother me.”

  “It doesn’t hurt? Or getting hurt doesn’t bother you?”

  “It hurts,” she said. “But it’s not bad. I heal fast.”

  Everson wanted to ask her again what she was, but assumed he still wouldn’t get an answer. “Must come in handy.”

  “It does.”

  Most of the street ahead of them was clear. The farther sectors could be so deceptive. The houses could almost be occupied by sleeping families. Though if there was actually anything sleeping in these houses, it wasn’t human. “Are you always out here? Is this area your…territory?”

  She shook her head. He caught the motion out of the corner of his eye. “I was farther out in the—what used to be—the suburbs. I wanted to be closer to the city.”

  “Why?”

  “I have my reasons.”

  He wondered if those reasons included killing humans. She wasn’t attacking him, but she might be playing with him. She was much smarter than any other nasty. Maybe this was all a trick to get him to walk her right up to the line so she could attack the day shift. But what purpose would that serve? She could go there herself. She couldn’t possibly think he would take her past the outer wall.

  “Why do you come out here so far by yourself?” she asked.

  “I like to work alone.”

  “But that’s dangerous.”

  He shrugged.

  “Have you been doing this the whole time? Since…it happened?” She tucked her hair behind her ear and his heart beat faster.

  “Yes. I had partners sometimes. Don’t want ’em anymore.”

  “Hmm.” She looked down. “I guess after three years of this there’s not much left to be afraid of.”

  Except yourself, he thought.

  Jennifer walked with him halfway back to the line, then turned and cut through one of the overgrown yards. He felt a nagging sense of loneliness once she was gone.

  Chapter Three

  He was waiting at The Shops again before dawn the next morning, sitting against the same building. He watched slime drip from the body of a nasty that had followed him. It didn’t stink much, just smelled like wet leaves with a hint of something metallic, slightly different from the smell of blood. The lower canines were large enough that they might make a nice trophy, and he was considering getting up to take them.

  He heard noises across the street, the same noises from the morning before. The groaning and shuffling lasted for a few minutes, then Jennifer appeared in the window.

  “Good morning,” Everson said.

  For a second she looked surprised, then she said, “Good morning. I see you’ve been busy.”

  “He followed me here.” Everson wondered why he felt the need to explain himself.

  “Should I come down? Or should I tell you what I am first and let you decide if you feel safe?”

  He very much wanted to know what Jennifer was, but he didn’t want her to think he was afraid. “Come down, and you can tell me face-to-face.”

  “Brave soldier.” She smiled and disappeared from the window. A few moments later she came around the side of the building. This time she didn’t stop in the middle of the road. She walked right up to him.

  She studied his face. “Last time. Are you sure you want to know?”

  He met her eyes. “Yes.”

  “I’m a werewolf.”

  He actually felt relieved. After spending days wondering what horrible thing was hiding inside that beautiful body, her being a werewolf seemed almost…mundane. He reminded himself though, that werewolves were contagious. One bite from her and he would live out the rest of his life as a nasty. “A werewolf,” he repeated. “In the scheme of things, that’s not too bad.”

  “Not too bad?”

  “What? Did you expect me to run screaming? I see worse every night.” He nodded toward the fanged nasty.

  Her eyes narrowed. “No. I don’t know what I expected. I wasn’t sure you’d be curious enough to come back.”

  “Curiosity killed the cat.”

  “Huh. Curiosity also led to every single bit of equipment you have, and where would you be without all that?”

  He stared at her for a moment. “Fair enough.”

  She smiled a little. “How curious have you been about what it would be like to touch me?” Jennifer didn’t step toward him, but she shifted slightly.

  Everson couldn’t help the way his gaze moved to look down at her breasts, then lower. His head snapped up when he realized what he was doing. Her smile widened. She didn’t have to say anything. He let go of his gun, letting it hang by the shoulder strap, and reached out. She tensed a little. He brushed his fingers against her cheek. He couldn’t feel the texture of her skin with his gloves on, but he felt the warmth of her. Although he wanted more, he pulled his hand away, warring with himself about what to do next.

  Now Jennifer lifted her hand and brought it up to his cheek. She hesitated just before her fingers touched him, then she moved that extra inch. There was no glove between them. The smooth skin of her fingers traced the stubble on his cheek. Everson watched her face, saw the wonder and yearning in her eyes. “You’re just as curious as I am.”

  She pulled her hand back. “Maybe I am.”

  Everson glanced around, reminding himself it was dangerous to be so focused on her. The street was silent and empty.

  “I’d know if something was coming,” she said.

  “I suppose you would.” He turned his gaze back to her. She smelled like summer, like heat and earth. He tugged one of his gloves off and touched her cheek again, this time feeling the smooth texture of her skin. He traced his fingers along her jaw, under her ear, and touched her hair. The gold streaks didn’t show without direct sunlight. He sank his fingers into her hair and she sighed. How long had it been since someone
touched her like that? The look in her eyes said too long.

  Everson leaned closer. He waited a few heartbeats to see if her expression changed, to see if her mouth opened wide, displaying fangs before she bit him. Jennifer stayed as she was, looking so vulnerable and so human. He kissed her. She tasted like a woman, felt like a woman. And she reacted like a woman, kissing him back, putting her hands on his shoulders. Somewhere in the back of his mind a voice screamed at him, telling him she was a monster, a nasty. He should be killing her, not kissing her. Instead of listening to that voice he gripped her waist and pressed her against his body.

  She made a little moan against his lips, and there was nothing confusing about what his body wanted.

  “Base to Everson.”

  He jerked back. “Fuck!” Jennifer took a step away from him, her expression wary. He took the com off mute. “This is Everson.”

  “I thought you might like to know you’re in danger of being late.”

  “How thoughtful of you to warn me, Jenks.” He recognized the com officer’s voice as a man who’d worked the evening shift until he lost his leg.

  “I didn’t think you’d want to give the commander another reason to chew you out. Better start back.”

  Everson sighed. “I’m on my way. Out.” He looked at Jennifer. A hint of concern had replaced the wariness.

  “Something wrong?” she asked.

  “No, just that I’m going to be late getting back again.” He didn’t want to go. He wanted to stay here and find out what she felt like on the inside.

  She frowned a little and then shrugged. “I’ll walk you back.”

  Everson picked his glove up from where he’d dropped it sometime during the last few minutes and slipped it on. “All right.”

  The large-toothed nasty he’d killed the night before was gone. Dragged off and probably eaten. Did Jennifer eat other nasties? What else was there to eat out here?