After The End

by Melissa Gibbo

  “He’s not breathing.”

  The Nurse began CPR.

  “Were they attacked? Does it look like fleshies or humans did this to him?” I asked while checking for signs of a struggle or blood on the ground.

  “Looks like he was bitten by a snake.”

  I hopped back about a mile and clenched my weapon tightly.

  “SNAKE! Where?”

  The others watched me lose my cool with bemused expressions and tilted heads. I forced a confident posture and regrouped my wits.

  “I mean, uh, okay. Everyone watch for snakes.”

  “Don’t worry, sweetness, I’ll keep the bad serpent away from you.” Troy laughed as he brought himself to my side and threw me a wink. “Unless you really want one.”

  “Nancy probably had the same reaction as you and ran.” Jake offered while I ignored the advance and inspected the ground for a scaly nightmare.

  We began calling her name while the Nurse continued his attempts to save Ellen’s Father. Troy and I glanced back at the man’s dedication; we had no way of fighting snakebites. Finally, we heard a response back toward the path.

  “Over here! Hurry!”

  Troy and I followed the voice. Jake stayed to keep the Nurse and Sindbad company. We found her at the edge of the woods sitting in a pine tree. I thought out loud as we approached.

  “Why would she climb a tree after running from a snake?”

  “Kill it!” Nancy yelled as we reached the trunk.

  “Honey, I don’t think she’s trying to escape a snake. That stinky fellow looks like the culprit.”

  I saw it moving through the grass. The top half of a zombie was pulling itself by bony fingertips; the nails had been ripped off sometime prior. I assumed it had once been a woman from the exposed breast implant hanging from the torso.

  Gray skin clung to the silicon and patches of blond hair with brown roots persisted on its scalp. The eyes were clouded except for the sky blue contact lenses. The left one was crooked on the eyeball revealing the milky pupil like an eclipsed moon. The creature inched closer to the scared woman. I grew calm, realizing I wouldn’t be facing a snake.

  In a blink, my spear tip protruded at an odd angle through the woman’s forehead. Its snail-like progression towards Nancy halted abruptly and it found a final end. While she climbed down, I reclaimed my weapon and took note of the tribal butterfly tattoo on her assailant’s lower back.

  Nice ink. It really held up well.

  “Let’s get back. No telling if there’s others. Just kick the cadaver into the path, and we can carry it to the burning grounds on the trip home.”

  I led the pair back to our companions. We found Jake standing over the body; his windbreaker lay over Ellen’s Father. The Nurse was cursing and kicking a tree repeatedly. Troy set his hand on the frustrated man’s shoulder. Without any words, we carried both sets of remains to the camp. We left the fleshie to be torched and sent Nancy ahead with the Nurse to notify his family.

  We entered the gate to the sounds of his wife bawling and his daughter sobbing gently. The community was lined up at the entrance to pay their respects to our fallen member. Jordy hugged his mother while Michael and Bobbi held tightly to Randolph. I felt ashamed that I hadn’t been able to prevent such an unnecessary death.

  Memories played through my mind. I thought of the five people who died over the last winter of illness and the three others who’d been killed by random accidents. The Reaper still likes to do things the mundane way sometimes. Pointless losses. Each person we lose is another generation that won’t be seen later.

  The night was doleful and we postponed our discussion on retaking the city. I lay awake until midnight. Giving up on rest, I went outside to chat with Daemon about anything but death.

  After ten minutes, I found him sitting on the center tower with the sentry. Randolph tilted his head when I climbed over the top of the ladder.

  “I thought Marley Guy was relieving me in an hour?”

  “Oh, sorry. Couldn’t sleep and thought I’d come be social for a bit.”

  Daemon sat on the edge looking into distant obscurity, swinging his legs and humming. Randolph chuckled quietly.

  “Uh huh. Well, I think maybe I’ll hit the outhouse real quick and you two can be social and keep a lookout.”

  I held out my hand for the night vision binoculars to cover him.

  “No problem.”

  As Randolph descended, I heard him mumbling indistinctly to himself.

  “Heard that, Randolph.” Daemon called after him. “We have a room, but Cal’s bunk is between us.”

  I blushed at the truth of it, even though we laughed it off. The Roman had insisted on the arrangement.

  Our eyes met and the full moon shone on his eyelashes, creating a halo of illumination. The weight of the binoculars reminded me to check the tree line. The fledgling rose to stand beside me.

  “How come you couldn’t sleep?”

  “Dunno. Just too much in my brain to get any rest. Why are you hanging out on the platform?”

  He shrugged.

  “Because I thought you’d be sleeping and I didn’t feel like taking lessons on being a proper Undead citizen with Cal.”

  The breeze shifted, sending a chill up my back and a mild shiver through my weary limbs.

  “You cold, Squirrel?”

  “You’re not?”

  “Nope. Vampire.”

  “Oh. Yeah, guess that makes sense.”

  I scanned the horizon. I turned away only to feel his hands rubbing my arms gently. I warmed up, but a different shiver came over me. Daemon spoke softly into my ear.

  “Better?”

  I cleared my suddenly dry throat.

  “Yeah, much better. Thanks.”

  I kept my eyes on the lenses but I was sure he could hear my heart pounding. My thoughts grew foggy as I tried to think of how to look him in the eyes without feeling that desire. The steady thuds below announced Randolph’s return. Daemon stopped his caresses and kissed where my cheek met my ear.

  “For what it’s worth, my heart races when I’m next to you, too. Sweet dreams.” he whispered before taking flight. “I think I’ll go work on my control with Cal after all.”

  When the guard reached the top, I handed him the binoculars and moved towards the ladder. In total silence, Randolph reclaimed his post and I returned to bed. Lying there, I listened to the snores and breathing of my roommates and replayed our one night together in my head. My sleep was a pleasant escape from the day’s loss and doubts.

  I dreamed of flying and laughing and all the things I never let myself wish for. I dreamt of Daemon and peace and fearlessness. I lost myself in hope and forgetting the last year had been real. I rode roller coasters and ate ice cream, watched movies, and played cards with my family. There was funnel cakes and friends and fireworks. It was the last time I remember having such repose.

  CHAPTER 25 OCTOBER 16TH YEAR 2

  The vote was clear and we decided to stay in our current fort — at least until after the rampaging cannibals were handled. Although there had been only five hands for retaking the town immediately, over half of the remaining twenty-one other adults said they wanted to revisit the option later. It seemed like we would either be moving or splitting the camp in the future, possibly both.

  Everyone with children, as well as Sunny and Chase, debated enthusiastically for remaining where we’d built a secure life. One of Troy’s men stood and argued that the town was ours for the taking; he fumed when the raised hands revealed he’d only swayed four others. Neither Troy nor Seth was part of that group. The guy spit on the ground and stormed off talking about loyalty and priorities; he didn’t bother to return for the discussion of Seth’s old neighbors.

  For the entire portion of the council regarding our foes, Seth sat cross-legged and watched the dust settle on his shoes. I began the topic as I’d rehearsed with the others from the raid.

  “Alright everyone, we won’t worry about going back into O
rlando for now. That’s a matter for a later date, and we’ll consider it strongly at that time. With that said, it’s time to get down to the reason we’re staying here: there’s a group of people raping, killing, and eating other survivors. We all know that this last raid put us in direct conflict with them. Several of us witnessed the level of cruelty and sadism they inflict on others. It’d be crazy to expect them to treat us any differently if they find us.”

  “What exactly did you guys see them doing?”

  I calmly looked at the man who’d asked.

  “I won’t discuss it now; there are children present. Find one of us later and we can tell you. None of us want to relive those events. I’ll say that those people may be human, but there is no humanity or decency left in them. The things they did are barbaric and unforgivable. Those weren’t actions of survival, they took pleasure in the things they did.”

  “So we should take your word that it’s worth staying here and running back and forth when we could just kill off the last few zombies and get the world back in order?”

  “No, you have to use your best judgment. But that world is long gone. If you want to go try, go ahead. But you haven’t volunteered for a raid in over six months and you’ve got no idea what it’s like; the world isn’t that simple. Let it go.”

  “But…”

  “Shut your mouth or leave!”

  Sunny glared at me; I’d lost focus out of frustration. I heard Daemon whistling Let It Be and breathed deeply.

  “I’m sorry for that outburst. You have a right to your say, but please let me finish first. Alright?”

  I tried to plaster a polite smile on my face like I used to do when dealing with rude guests at work. His alarmed expression hardened and he nodded before crossing his arms. I tried not to stare at how much his fingers shook on his elbows or the red of his face.

  “Thank you. The issue is, we have several ways to manage this problem and we need to decide how to proceed as a community. The first is what we’ve been doing since we first heard about pillagers: increase our defenses and training, while limiting our travels from the fort. They’re getting closer and actively seeking us out — not a great long-term solution.”

  I hesitated. All of my years of sales came to mind as I presented the real choices.

  “The second is a team of volunteers and one vamp locate their home location and eradicate them. That includes any other survivors who reside there. This option would mean killing people who may not have even know about many of the atrocities that gained them supplies; it would also be extremely dangerous since we don’t know how many or how well armed our enemy is.”

  I purposely paused to drink some water to let these choices sink in. Cal said fear sinks in best with time. Time gives a person time to think of everything that could go wrong.

  Here goes nothing, convince them and everything will be fine.

  “Third alternative is we let Cal and Daemon go on this task alone.”

  Already heads were shaking and eyes flicked over to our non-human residents. Little Bobbi sat drawing in the sand with Ellen, both completely unaware of what was happening. Her brother just watched the grown-ups and pursed his eyebrows; I suddenly knew how uncomfortable it must be for a parent to realize the jokes in a Mel Brooks film no longer went over their child’s head. My palms sweating, I elaborated.

  “One trip to survey and evaluate how they’re set up. Another trip to make the final decision on whether or not we’re even capable of taking these dudes down. They’d be risking everything to keep us safe; but we would have to trust their judgment.”

  This was the moment we’d prepared for, the opportunity we hoped would be selected. I waited and watched the assembly for signs of a favored path. I doubted anyone would opt for the first. The second meant extra danger for all of us except Cal and Daemon, but it also meant that the distrust of the pair had grown to where the risk was considered acceptable.

  There was a low rumble of conversation.

  I prayed our community wasn’t already that concerned about the Pact. The third was the safest and most logical. It left all humans in camp and able to defend against attack, as well as able to acquire more food for winter. The third choice also meant the relationship between the humans and vampires was stable and the camp wouldn’t be divided easily.

  The chatter and banter made my head buzz. Only a handful of people seemed emphatic in their motions and tone. I sat down and looked in all directions as the fate of every person I knew hung in the balance. I’d cast my line and it was time to wait for a fish to bite.

  My chest was bursting with every slow minute that dragged by without a resolution. I reminded myself that I had to remain patient and mellow so that the crowd would decide without feeling influenced. Chase, Troy, and Sunny had all agreed that it was a matter of trusting in our companions to make the right choice — even if we were trying to nudge them towards the third option.

  After thirty-seven anxious minutes, it was agreed that we should vote. This time everyone wanted to vote by paper ballot. I cringed inside at why so many wanted to vote anonymously, but consented with a smile at Cal’s urging.

  “Of course, I’ll get the supplies.”

  The meal table was transformed into a polling place. I placed torn squares of notebook paper under a rock and six or seven pens beside them. An unused pot was laid in the center of the table with its lid. As each adult walked up, I handed him or her a scrap of paper and they wrote their choice, folded the paper, and dropped it inside.

  “One vote per adult, write one, two, or three. No one may abstain and the first couple to vote, please cover the sentries so they can voice their opinion as well.”

  I watched as a line formed; some fought to join the end in an attempt to gauge how the vote was leaning before casting their lots. As the end of the line reached me, I jotted down a shaky three and steadied myself to see the results. Each of my conspirators had placed themselves in the line at intervals in the hopes that they might subtly influence their neighbors that the third choice was optimal. It was a coordinated effort and I felt guilty until I began tallying the votes on the ground.

  It hadn’t worked.

  “Only one vote left and we stand at: first option has three votes, second and third options are tied at eleven apiece.”

  The crowd leaned forward and my chest hammered as I unfolded the tiny piece of hope. I showed the number to the group and composed myself to announce the decision.

  “The second alternative is our course of action.”

  CHAPTER 26 OCTOBER 17TH-19th YEAR 2

  The planning process sucked. We spent two days deciding who was going on the hunt and whether or not the cannibal we’d seen was the only ones we’d execute. Very quickly it became apparent that the camp was once again divided; half wanted to destroy every person that lived in the hostile encampment while half wanted to just assassinate the leader and negotiate a truce with the remainder.

  “Everybody shut the hell up!”

  I rubbed my temples in an endeavor to make their bickering stop reverberating in my mind. The volunteers all froze and gawked at me.

  “We aren’t going to risk the lives of every person in this fort to kill one guy who might already be deceased. If we’re going to search out and exterminate another living person to protect ourselves, we are going to completely eliminate the danger. If we enter their camp, none of them walk out.”

  I raised my head to peer into each of their eyes.

  What did they think this would be? They voted to do it this way, did they think it was an easy decision to kill people?

  Jake walked towards the door.

  “I can’t do this; I’m not volunteering anymore. Not for a slaughter.”

  Marley Guy and two others started to follow him.

  “Marley Guy, you’re staying.”

  “Wha? Why you think I’m gonna stay and go do this? I can leave just like them three.”

  Cal stepped closer, his concern as visible. I took m
y hands from my head and waved him off.

  “Because, you kept ranting about how important it was the whole populace vote for this choice and not the third option. You personally swayed several people to choose this path. It’s only right that you see it through.”

  I turned to face each of my accomplices.

  “I know I don’t have any formal authority to force him to stay and do this, but if he gets to walk away from the burden he helped create, I’ll refuse to take any part in this. We all know that the third option was wisest and I only agreed to participate in this to keep our people safe.”

  I pointed at the forty-something Jamaican man.

  “Either Marley Guy pulls his weight in this venture, or the entire village does another vote; I’m not ending lives with my own hands when he chose to put me there and gets to sit here without a care.”

  The lull in the cabin grew longer as each volunteer glanced at each other. Their faces spoke volumes about how much they wanted to completely rethink this mission. I doubt many of them actually believed we’d be taking human lives; they’d grown accustomed to putting down the Dead, but this was different. I was surprised when Seth broke the quiet reflection.

  “They know what’s happening. All of us knew, even in the beginning. Anyone who didn’t leave is a part of those actions. I knew these people before the outbreak. The big guy is their leader, but taking him down won’t do anything but make them target us more. That suburb was full of followers, the next guy to step up will do the same.”

  A tear ran down his cheek.

  “I voted to let the vampires do our dirty work. I knew the only way to stop them was to massacre all of my neighbors. I have to live with what I’ve done to survive but I never found joy in it. Those people do.”

  His fists clenched, as he seemed to gain some determination.

  “Maybe the kids can be saved, but I’m not even sure they won’t just try to kill us in our sleep. It’s a shitty thing to have to consider, but these are the actions we settled on with the vote.”