A Depraved Blessing

by D. C. Clemens

  “How is Caddoa safer than here?” asked Orins. “Last I heard, there’s a Tower in Trilon and they’re south of the river.”

  “Yes, but Trilon is eight hundred miles away,” responded Neves, “and it doesn’t sound like the military can adequately protect us north of the Iva River. Like Roym says, they hope to use Iva as a barrier, which makes perfect sense to me.”

  Bervin lighted a cigarette and said, “Sense? Did it make sense for us to attack an alien ship a billion years more advanced than us?”

  It was then my turn to intercede, though it had nothing to do with the decision in question. “Can you please put that out?” I asked Bervin as modestly as I was able. “I’m sorry, but Liz can’t stand smoke.” I wasn’t so fond of it myself. Bervin didn’t attempt to fight my request and obliged, not to say he didn’t seem a little bothered, though he appeared more ashamed than irritated. He did take a glance at my mother, whom I was sure he must have seen smoke once or twice, but he did not say anything more. Now that I had opened my mouth, I thought it best to add to the discussion. “Even if we didn’t attack them, we would still have the same problem concerning the infection.”

  “But we might still have our lights on, which means more gas to get somewhere,” countered Bervin.

  I gave him a small shrug, letting him know he had a point.

  “How far can we go?” Liz asked to no one in particular.

  Her father answered, “That depends how packed the streets are. We can end up wasting a lot of fuel idling to nowhere. Best case scenario, we can probably go five hundred miles or so, but even that’s dubious.”

  Informing us of the next problem to ascend, Delphnia asked, “What happens if we get stuck in the road in the middle of nowhere? Can we risk that?”

  “It’s better than the alternative,” I answered, suddenly coming to a clear resolution.

  “Roym?” Liz asked fretfully.

  “I’ve never seen people look so out of it before,” I told Liz, forgetting there were other people in the room. “I don’t know how to exactly explain it, but they saw things I don’t want you or Dayce to ever see, and if that means leaving, then so be it.”

  “So you want to leave, then?” Neves asked me, in a grave voice I had not heard very often from him.

  “I think it might be our best option,” I said, dictating to everyone in the room. “Staying will ultimately mean we’ll be stuck here if things get worse. We can’t go east, west, or north, but from what I remember, there aren’t any Towers directly south of us for at least two thousand miles.” I focused my eyes at Neves and asked, “What do you think?”

  He looked straight back at me, but I couldn’t read him when his mouth was sealed. He then stared at his wife and trailed to Liz a moment later, his aura remaining unchanged. “You’ll go with him?” he asked his daughter.

  I don’t know why, but I became nervous for her answer, as if she would reply with something different from what I expected her to say.

  “I want to take Dayce as far away as possible from those Towers,” answered Liz, momentarily relieving the stress I had.

  His eyes next rotated to his son, equally as steadfast and warm as they were on Liz. “Orins?”

  “I’ll go where you go, old man,” the son responded.

  Neves next placed his unwavering eyes at me and said, “All right. When do you want to go?”

  “I’m thinking we gather as much as we can, get some sleep, and leave as early as we can tomorrow morning. It’s best we go with as much daylight as possible.”

  “Babe, start putting the food in the boxes,” Neves said to his other half, officially kicking off the start our flight. He spun to face his friend and asked, “Bervin, are you coming with us?”

  “Yeah, I guess so,” he replied, seemingly pleased to be considered as part of our family. “Bless my wife she’s not here to see this! May her spirit guide us!”

  The rest of the day was dedicated to procuring as many provisions we were capable of bringing without suffocating the van in the process. We furthermore spent another part of our time examining routes that, with any luck, would not lead us into gridlock. Knowing a life or death destiny was carved into the map, I had many of the roads memorized in the short time I examined it. We were soon as ready as it was possible for us to feel once we packed what we could and chose what initial route to take. However, not everything was completed.

  After waking from a restful nap, thanks in no small part to having Dayce between Liz and me, my eyes uncovered themselves to the dipping sun to see Lizeth was still fast asleep and Dayce was gone. I could have slept longer, but I had unfinished business with Siena. Seeing Liz sound asleep, I thought it no better time to find out Siena’s verdict. It felt wrong not telling Liz about my excursion, but I thought my best option was to inform her only if Siena’s family did decide join us, seeing no point to pile on old memories needlessly. I informed Neves of my design, and while he did not seem overly pleased to hear of my project, mostly because I was keeping it from his daughter, he did not dispute it either. I told him I would just check what their decision was and I would tell Liz everything afterwards, to which he begrudgingly agreed.

  Taking Neves’ truck, I journeyed down a road I never thought I would tour again. The drive was definitely more hectic than it was earlier in the day. By this time, everyone had heard the military’s recommendation to evacuate and many did not waste time in heeding it, despite night looming just over the horizon. Each home I passed was either frenetic or it was quiet and deserted looking; there was no in between. I also saw police and soldiers who stayed behind to keep order and to help those who could not help themselves. I couldn’t say I envied them, but I could say that they were better people than I.

  Regardless of the tumultuous streets and nine years removal, the boulevards leading to Siena’s first home came back to my memory as easily as if I visited it yesterday. When I finally arrived at the driveway of the old-fashioned two-story house, I almost believed I was going to see Siena run out from the screen doors, jump into my car, and we would drive off to a weekend stay at the beach. But I was not in my old convertible, and any weekend plans were indefinitely postponed. I knocked on the screen door, the metal resonance sounding uncannily familiar, and after a short eternity passed, Valssi opened the inner door. I could not help being taken aback by the alteration in her appearance. She looked tired, far too tired to even give me the harsh look I anticipated she wanted to give me.

  If anything, she sounded grateful when she opened the screen door and stepped back to let me in, saying, “Siena said to expect you. She should be right down.”

  “Have you decided what to do?” I asked her, knowing blowing by meager salutations would be appreciated by the both of us.

  Valssi nodded, looking as if it required a considerable effort on her part, and answered, “We’re leaving. Siena and I have been getting ready, but-” She was cut short by the sudden presence of her younger sibling coming down the stairs. “Did you get to Mom’s stuff or do you want me to start on it?”

  “I haven’t yet, but you need to get some sleep for Spirit’s sake,” Siena answered with clear frustration. Obviously, this was not the first time she had told her that.

  All Valssi could reply in return was, “I can sleep when we’re on the road.” She then clambered up the stairs like a mountain climber near the summit.

  “Hi, Roym,” hailed Siena. “As I’m sure you’ve heard, we’ve decided to leave. What did your family choose to do?”

  “Same thing. Where are your parents?”

  “At the hospital. Dad’s trying to convince her to leave. At first I thought she was worried about leaving her patients, but now I think she’s also trying to occupy herself as much as possible.” Her voice dropped and became gloomy. “I’m worried about her. She was running on fumes the last time I saw her and she didn’t want to leave. Dad told us to get everything ready and then went back for her.”

  Trying to sound sympathetic and pressin
g at the same time, I asked, “Do you know when you’re supposed to leave?”

  “Early in the morning, so we can try to go with as much daylight as possible.”

  “We were thinking the same thing.”

  “Did Lizeth say anything about your plan to travel together? Wait, let me guess, you haven’t told her you’re seeing me, have you?”

  “I told Neves, but I didn’t see a point complicating matters if it wasn’t going to be necessary,” I replied, not being able to think of a better way to phrase it.

  “Oh? So I’m a complication?” she asked, forming a sly smile as she feigned her resentment.

  “Since the day you were born.” I clenched my fists to remind myself to keep serious. “Anyway, Liz should be okay with you coming along. If anything, I would think it would be you who would have the problem with her.”

  “I was once mad at her,” she responded, losing the smile, “or more precisely, I was mad at everybody, but I’ve long since realized…”

  “Yes?”

  “Only that I’d be a real bitch if I held a grudge for this long.” Her slender lips reformed into a smile, but one without its usual luster.

  I knew that was not what she was going to say and would have tried jabbing her a bit longer if our attentions weren’t embezzled by a strange and distant uproar coming from beyond the walls.

  “What’s that?” Siena alertly asked, tip-toeing to look over my shoulder toward the entry behind me.

  Something inside me did not want to know what the cause of the haunting melody was, but my instinct differed. I stepped up to the screen door in an attempt to catch sight of the source, my body not having the will to actually open it. Siena followed close behind me. The noises became louder and clearer, soon becoming apparent that they were made up of a multitude of animalistic shrieks. They were emerging from the right side of the house to the east, meaning there was still a trace of the setting sun’s gleams still lingering on the skyline. I beheld a dark cloud inhabiting the eastern sky, not dissimilar from what I was familiar in seeing during the intermittent thunderstorm. Yet none of its acquaintances in the sky matched it, and there was something about it that went against the laws of nature. It was drifting and plummeting faster than any cloud was capable of doing.

  Next, pieces of it started separating from the rest of its great body, diving at the ground like a shower of harpoons. All at once, it struck me. I knew what they were. It was a flock, or more like a swarm, of carrion birds. They were known as kites, so named for their diamond-shaped, leathery wing, which could expand to over eight feet wide in mature adults, allowing them to glide hundreds of miles with a few flaps. Never before had I seen them congregate in such massive numbers. The shadow they emitted below was blacker than the evening sky. More and more of them charged the ground, heading to where we were standing at exceedingly faster speeds. Their clamor was hideous, but it did not defy the more upsetting screams that often followed their dives.

  “Are those what I think they are?” I overheard Siena ask in a quivering voice. “What are they doing? Are they attacking!?”

  “Fuck, they must be infected!”

  I wasn’t expecting to exclaim it as loudly as I did or even to say it at all, since the last thing I wanted to do was heighten Siena’s distress. I had not thoroughly come to terms with people mutating into senseless killers, now I had to come face to face with beasts doing the same. Nature was being turned against us.

  “Roym, they’re coming this way! Close the door!”

  She was right in her message; they were no farther than half a minute in reaching us. Siena began running up the stairs, undoubtedly with her sister in mind. I followed her into the master bedroom where I saw Valssi gazing out the window, though it looked out west, so she could not have known of the impending horde approaching us.

  “Was that screaming? What’s going on?” asked Valssi when Siena touched her shoulder to make her aware of our presence. Her eyes were cloudy, though I knew it now had nothing to do with exhaustion. Even if she could not see it, she knew something frightful was about to arrive.

  “Infected kites,” I answered. “Hundreds, maybe thousands, of them.”

  “Kites,” Valssi repeated in a monotone. “Oh, Spirits… What do we do?”

  “The closet!” said the other sister. “We’ll hide there until they pass!”

  Some nearby gunfire erupted, followed quickly by pained yells. All three of us mutually flinched. No doubt they had reached the neighborhood. Without a gander or word, the three of us migrated into the walk-in closet. When I shut the door, Siena turned on the little flashlight she had stashed in her back pocket. The dreadful outcries muffled into a dim reverberation once the door closed, somehow making them sound more unpleasant.

  “I hope Mom and Dad will be okay,” Siena stated after a short time of only hearing the repulsive resonances surrounding us.

  “Either they’re in the hospital or in Dad’s truck, there’s no way they were caught outside,” Valssi reassured her relation.

  The cries of the kites grew to a fevered pitch as the minutes went on. Sometimes they bashed themselves against the roof, causing us to recoil.

  “Why are they making that noise?” Valssi wondered.

  “I think they’re in pain,” I answered. “From what I heard, it’s one of the side effects of the infection.”

  “Why?” Valssi asked, near hysteria and at the verge of shedding tears. I had not noticed until then how every tormented sound was degrading her mental condition. “Why doesn’t the infection just kill? What’s the point of making everything go fucking insane? Do those fucking cock suckers think this is funny?!” Siena embraced her sister to comfort and quiet her, or I believe she would have kept her rant going.

  Her agitated words had merit. The sophisticated intelligence our unknown assailers displayed through their mastery of space travel suggested it should have been a child’s pastime to synthesize a virus capable of killing every living thing in our world. Yet, that clearly was not their goal. So what was it?

  Valssi calmed herself down in the subsequent minutes, but the shrieking of the kites continued unabated. If I closed my eyes, I almost supposed I was child again, with a horror film playing in the other room and I was simply hiding until it was over. In time, the clatter did start to dissipate, disclosing the end of their coming. Siena gave a small sigh of relief in behalf of all of us, but she was too premature. A window shattered downstairs. It was immediately followed by the wretched screech of a kite.

  “Shit! It’s in the house!” Valssi said at the same time she cried out in panic.

  “It sounds like it’s coming from downstairs,” said Siena, with more poise than what I would have expected. “What do we do now? Do we try to kill it?”

  “No!” Valssi replied. “What if the infection is contagious and bites us or something?”

  “And just wait for it to pounce on Mom and Dad?”

  “I don’t think they’ll come in with that racket going on,” I responded. “I’m sure they’d know it’s in here.”

  “And then what?” asked Siena. “Someone has to get rid of it.”

  “Dad will see it and then call soldiers here,” Valssi rejoined.

  “Don’t you hear what’s going on out there? They’re already busy, and for who knows how long.”

  “Fine,” snapped Valssi. “I’ll just put on my suit of armor, go down there, and use my brand-new assault rifle, how’s that?”

  “I was just throwing it out there,” said Siena, with a submissive tone. “Actually, I think Dad left his hunting rifle in his study downstairs. Maybe we can use that.”

  “We don’t need to get his gun,” I coolly interposed.

  “And why’s that?”

  “Because I have mine.” I pulled out my revolver, which had been tucked away between the waistband of my pants and lower back, concealed behind my shirt. There was a look of disbelief on Siena’s partially lighted face. “What are you looking at me like that for?
You know I learned to shoot after you and your brother kept making fun of me.”

  “Of course I remember, but I also remember Liz absolutely hates guns and would make you get rid of it if she knew. Or has that changed?”

  “No, she still hates them,” I quietly answered, as though confessing a sin. But I hastily reminded myself of the situation we were in and said, “So I kept it hidden. It never made sense for me to get rid of it.”

  “So are you going to try and kill it?” asked Valssi, an outpouring of trepidation escaping her.

  “Let’s wait a little longer,” I said. “There’s still some out there, and I don’t know if a gunshot will attract more, but I’m definitely not taking the chance now.”

  This wait was more nerve-wracking than the former. The unrelenting thrashing and the more horrible shrieking made by the fiend that now dwelled in our midst constantly reminded me of how many of our own brethren shared in the same crazed state. Between the furors of their kite stuck inside, the three of us struggled to listen to the cries of its external kindred. They seemed fainter than they were previously each time I perceived them. I heard almost nothing of them about ten minutes later.

  “I’m going to go out and check,” I told the girls as I rose to my feet, making sure no hint of cowardice came through.

  Feeling her grab a hold of fabric from my lower leg, Siena asked, “Are you sure? We could just wait it out.”

  “You were ready to kill it five minutes ago.”

  “That was the adrenaline talking. I’m slightly less senseless now.”

  “Well, my adrenaline is still going and I don’t like the idea of my family worrying any longer. I’ve been away too long and they might start fearing the worst.”

  “Shouldn’t you wear something more protective?” I heard Valssi ask.

  “Nothing here seems particularly protective looking,” I said, quietly reclosing the door. It did not appear like Mr. Tillar kept any of his old captain’s memorabilia in this closet, and unless he had riot gear armor, I doubted it would have mattered.