In the Aftermath: Burning of the Dawn

by Coleman Thompson

  “I hate to break it to you, Mr. Holloway, but neither would your rifle.”

  “It won’t kill them, no, but they sure as hell would feel it.”

  “I don’t care how they feel. I’ve managed to avoid them since they arrived here. I do, however, keep running into other people, unfortunately, so I’d prefer something that can better handle them.”

  “The greatest victory is that which requires no battle, right?” Daniel preached. “But if you do plan on heading west, those battles will be much harder to avoid.”

  “Going west is an idea, not a plan.” Clarissa replied. “The only plan I have now is to keep my daughters safe. My execution of this plan has not been perfect, but they’re still alive and relatively well, so I see no need to make any drastic changes.”

  “You’ve done remarkably well, Mrs. Hannigan. It’s just your constant moving is a little… concerning. I’m sure you know the state pretty damn well by now, but you never know for certain what’s gonna happen.”

  “It’s best not to get too attached to any one place. It tends to mislead you into a false sense of safety. This land all around us is not ours anymore. This house you have here, it isn’t yours. It belongs to the monsters now; you’re just a squatter. You said it yourself: this is their hunting grounds. You’re a cunning individual, so maybe they’ll never find you. But this isn’t a home – it’s a landmine.”

  “It’s a well-stocked and well-hidden landmine.”

  “It’s not as difficult to find as you might think.”

  “You’re the only visitor I’ve ever had.” Daniel argued his cause in an affable manner. “It’s much safer here than it ever will be out on the highways, or in some random deserted town. Your strategy, to me, is essentially to keep running in circles, which I’m failing to see the purpose of exactly.”

  “There is no strategy,” Clarissa retorted. “There is no grand design and there is no method. I do what needs to be done to the best of my abilities; that is all.”

  “Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat, my dear.”

  “All right, I’ve got one for you: to know your enemy, you must become your enemy. Who’s your enemy, Daniel? Have you become a monster yet?”

  “For a while I did… and it worked, too. I know the monsters well, and I’ve even killed a few.”

  “But you don’t fear them.” Clarissa proclaimed. “Death means nothing to you. If the Sayona ever did show up here you’d probably welcome the opportunity to fight them again. You hate them. I understand hate, I even respect it, but I don’t have the luxury of not having to be afraid. I have to fear death, because if I die then my children are alone… and that I cannot allow.”

  Daniel did not answer directly. Clarissa made a decent argument; just because he was content with the home he had made in this place did not mean that it was safe. Then again, nowhere was safe anymore. Daniel still believed in his convictions, but he could see that Clarissa was just as obstinate in hers. He conceded defeat.

  “Fair enough,” Daniel replied. “You have a family to look after, and you know far better than I do as to what’s best for them. I’m sorry to pry so much. I never figured I’d find a family at my front door.”

  “I guess families aren’t as rare as we thought.” Clarissa spoke, recollecting back to two days prior.

  “That’s right, you met one, too.”

  “Yes; I wasn’t quite as hospitable as you were.”

  “No one blames you, or I don’t blame you anyway. Your daughters understand; they might not agree, but that’s easy for them – they don’t have to make the tough choices.”

  “Oh, I stand by my decision.” Clarissa declared with an unflinching air of certainty. “Morally wrong maybe, but morals I can live without – my daughters I can’t.”

  “Well said. Do you remember where they were last? That family? I don’t mean the exact location, but maybe a general direction? Maybe I can track them down.”

  “I could give you some idea. You’re going to offer this place to them now?”

  “No. That offer is binding to you and your daughters. If, for whatever reason, you need to come back, know that it’ll be here. Nonetheless, I might still be able to help them out a little.”

  “Vita and Maria would appreciate that. It might ease their sulking when we have to leave.”

  “I’ll do what I can.” Daniel spoke in an elusive tone. “So, shall we check out the armory now? Time for me to honor my end of the trade.”

  Daniel entered the house followed by Clarissa. They both made their way quietly to the bedroom where Daniel had stored his excess weaponry. Clarissa wanted something smaller than a rifle, yet larger than a handgun. Daniel would have gladly allowed her to take whatever she wanted, but she only wanted one gun. She settled on a Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun. Daniel approved of the choice; the MP5 fired 9mm rounds, which he had in large supply. He took one of Clarissa’s empty crates and loaded it up with boxes of ammunition. Daniel had rigged the gun’s magazines similar to the way he had done with those of his M14 rifle: tying them together in twos. He had two sets, which gave Clarissa four in total. Each magazine held thirty rounds apiece; all of which were loaded to full capacity.

  Clarissa and Daniel departed from the gun room and headed back to the living room. When they arrived they found Maria awake and waiting for them. She was standing beside the open front door looking out across the yard; a somber tone was ambient about her presence. This place seemed safe and serene and it was the first time in a long time that Maria had slept soundly. The thought of leaving weighed heavy on her now; not just with sorrow, but with a fear, too, of never seeing it again. Her mother approached her holding weaponry in both hands.

  “Buongiorno, bambina.” Clarissa greeted.

  “Good morning, mama.” Maria softly reciprocated.

  “Hello, Ms. Maria.” Daniel greeted.

  “Hi, Daniel.” Maria responded faintly, but with a smile. She was glad her mother had kept her word and let him out early.

  “I hope you slept well within the hidden cupboard.” He added.

  “I did; it was very comfortable – thank you.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.”

  “And how’d you do in your cupboard?” Maria asked wittily.

  “Actually, that’s the most content I’ve been in a very long time.”

  “Didn’t sleep much though, did ya?”

  “No, but I don’t do that anyway… sleeping gives me headaches.”

  “Well, that’s kind of depressing; though I guess being an insomniac has its merits, sometimes.”

  “Maybe, though I wouldn’t really say I’m an insomniac. I’m more along the lines of a sleepless somnambulist… yeah, think on that one for a while.”

  “Okay, I’ll try and do that.” Maria laughed.

  “Insomniac can be an anagram for aniconism, oddly enough.” Clarissa spoke from within the kitchen. She had the MP5 magazines on the kitchen counter and was undoing the ties with which Daniel had bound them together.

  Daniel and Maria looked to one another. He then whispered to the young girl, “That one I’ll be thinkin’ on for a while.”

  At that moment, Vita emerged from the storeroom, slightly groggy, but mostly cognizant and somewhat comprehensible. Daniel and Maria greeted her, as did her mother. With all of the girls now in an awakened state, for the most part, Daniel decided to reiterate his offer to prepare breakfast.

  “So, would you ladies like something that almost resembles a breakfast?” Daniel’s question was primarily aimed at Clarissa.

  “That’s fine.” Clarissa replied.

  “All right then, how ‘bout scrambled eggs and bacon?” Daniel asked, to everybody.

  “Really?” Maria implored.

  “Mostly.” Daniel responded.

  “Cool…” Vita blearily added.

  Daniel put the hotplate back to use again by boiling a pot of water. He then retrieved two twenty-ounce canisters of freeze-dried food from the sto
reroom: one contained the eggs and bacon and the other was a cereal-like mix of granola, milk, and blueberries. Ten minutes later, Daniel had the meals prepared and ready to eat. Clarissa and her daughters joined him at the small coffee table.

  “Wow, this looks really good!” Vita gleefully stated, now well beyond her morning weariness. “I guess them survivalist gurus were on to something… and here we thought they were all crazies!”

  “Not crazy, just stupid.” Clarissa pointed out ever so tactfully. “Well, no, crazy works, too.”

  “Well their food’s still good,” Vita added. “Or maybe my standards are just really low nowadays.”

  “No, they are actually pretty good,” Daniel assured her. “And they last for decades – can’t beat that.”

  All four of them began to eat. Daniel didn’t have very much; he wanted the girls to have as much as they wanted and more. Clarissa had the same idea; she ate more than Daniel, but left a healthy share for her daughters. Vita and Maria did not hold back; they happily devoured all that was edible.

  “Say, Mr. Daniel,” Maria spoke as she finished up her last bits of soggy granola. “You wouldn’t happen to have any freeze-dried orange juice in there, would you?”

  “Nope, sorry dear.” Daniel answered apologetically. “That one must’ve slipped by me.”

  “C’mon, man, breakfast without orange juice?” Maria scoffed. “What were you thinking? Were you even thinking at all?!”

  “I avoid it if I can,” Daniel puckishly responded. “Say little and think less; that’s my philosophy on life.”

  “Hah! I like it!” Maria stated with delectable laughter.

  “Is freeze-drying orange juice even possible?” Vita asked in the midst of eating her meal.

  “If someone had a mind to do it, I suppose it is.” Clarissa answered.

  As Vita finished the last remnants of her meal, her mother stood from her position at the table. Both daughters knew what was coming and neither one of them were looking forward to it. It was nearing time to pack up their things and leave Daniel and his home behind.

  “Girls, you need to get dressed and ready to go.” Clarissa instructed with mild reluctance.

  Daniel could see and sense the dejection in Vita and Maria. He could sense it within himself as well. The more time he spent with the girls the less merit he could see in Clarissa’s plan. Nevertheless, the choice was not his. All that he could do was make things go as easy as possible.

  “I should be getting ready myself.” Daniel spoke with feigned enthusiasm.

  “Where’re you going?” Vita asked.

  “Those folks you girls ran across a few days back, I’m gonna see if I can track ‘em down; maybe help ‘em out if I can.”

  “Oh,” Vita replied; the aura of disappointment around her was palpable. “That’s good… that’s the right thing to do.”

  Maria remained quiet. She left her place at the table and did as her mother had instructed. She acquired her clothes and retired to the downstairs bathroom to change. Her sister joined her shortly. Daniel and Clarissa stood silently in the room together. Daniel had hoped his forthcoming attempt to track down the Doniphan family would lift the girls’ spirits in some sense; yet it had seemed to do the opposite. Vita, in particular, was jealous. The kindness that Daniel had shown to her and her family and the many things that he could offer them would now be the bounty of somebody else, or so Vita thought. Clarissa eventually broke the silence.

  “So, what do you want me to take?” She asked.

  “All that you can carry, Mrs. Hannigan.” Daniel answered.

  Many of the empty boxes, baskets, and crates that Daniel had removed from Clarissa’s car were refilled with the goods from his hidden storeroom. With the help of Clarissa and her daughters, the vehicle was promptly packed to its limits. With Clarissa’s permission, Daniel had acquired his own vehicle from his garage just up the driveway. It was a light blue pickup truck a few decades older than Clarissa’s car. The truck was unremarkable for the most part, with the exception of one thing: lights. Light bars were installed around the cab and along the front of the truck; both equipped with multiple high-powered LEDs. On the center of the truck’s rooftop was also a hefty searchlight. The luminescent power of the entire rig could light up a football field with ease and possibly the entire stadium around it. Daniel parked his vehicle next to Clarissa’s car and exited. Vita and Maria were back in the house; Clarissa was at the back of her car loading in another box of goods. As Daniel came around he spoke to her.

  “You know, I like this look of yours.” He said as he brazenly admired her appearance.

  “Excuse me?” Clarissa replied both perplexed and slightly riled.

  “Yeah, the whole you not threatening me with a shotgun thing… it’s nice.”

  “Keep talking like that and I might fall back on old habits.”

  “I’d expect nothing less, Mrs. Hannigan.”

  Maria appeared in the doorway to the house; she then slowly made her way towards Daniel and her mother. In her hand she held the smart glasses she had been playing with the previous day.

  “Mr. Daniel, may I have these glasses, if you don’t mind?” Maria asked.

  “Absolutely, you take anything you want.” He answered. Her big, brown, appealing eyes were so enchantingly beautiful in the light of the day that Daniel could not look directly into them for very long.

  Even though they were identical to her daughters’, Clarissa lacked something in her eyes. The alluring spark that her daughters possessed was not there for her, and in its place was an unsounded void. Daniel did not notice it at first, as Clarissa had filled that void with unrequited rage at the first sight of him, but as her anger subsided, the nothingness became clear.

  Vita soon appeared at the front door. She, too, had something in her hands; she brought it to Daniel. It was his Ruger Redhawk revolver.

  “Any chance I could trade you something for this?” Vita inquired with that same entrancing stare her sister had already wielded against Daniel.

  “It’s all yours, Ms. Vita.” Daniel was more than glad to give the Hannigans a weapon with some decent kick behind it. “Take it, hold it, and love it… be careful though, it is still loaded.”

  “That’s a strong weapon, Vita-bella,” Clarissa stated as she looked over the revolver. “You sure you’d want to fire that?”

  “It’s a good choice.” Daniel intruded. “I want you ladies to have something that packs a punch. Nothing against your shotgun, Mrs. Hannigan, but buckshot has its limits, assuming that’s what you’re firing.”

  “You assume wrong, Mr. Holloway,” Clarissa rebutted. “I prefer slugs. They’re more precise.”

  “Well, I stand corrected.” Daniel gleefully professed. “Still, I’d like you to take the handgun.”

  “I’ll trade you this for it.” Vita spoke as she reached for the knife sheath she had hooked onto her belt. Vita had reacquired the knife she had given to Daniel the night before and was now ready to give it back again.

  “You don’t have to do that,” stated Daniel. “Go ahead and keep your knife.”

  “Nah,” Vita replied holding the knife out to Daniel. “It’s too big; I don’t want it anymore anyway.”

  Daniel looked to Clarissa to make sure he wasn’t violating any of her edicts by taking Vita’s gift. Clarissa nonverbally approved the transaction, so Daniel accepted Vita’s knife.

  “Thank you, Ms. Vita.” He spoke as he kindly took the weapon from her. Vita smiled, and as she did a foreboding heaviness came over Daniel. It was as if a cloud had suddenly blotted out the sun. He was worried; his mind crafted visions of Clarissa and her daughters being torn apart by both man and beast. Daniel shook the visions away and calmly spoke again, “You’re going to need some more bullets for that gun.”

  With Clarissa’s permission, Daniel entered the house by himself. He first headed to his weapon cache and collected three boxes of .44 Magnum bullets for Vita’s new weapon. Instead of heading directly bac
k outside, Daniel took a planned detour into the room across from his armory. This was the room where he stored his electronic devices. He hastily made his way over to the desk where he kept random gadgets placed in not-so-random locations. Daniel opened one of the lower drawers and took out two items. One of the items was a transceiver, which he laid upon the desk. The other item was a collar with a small device attached to it: a high frequency transmitter.

  Daniel removed the collar so that only the transmitter remained. It was small and easy to conceal. The transceiver could be used as a standalone device to track the transmitter or be wired directly into an antenna for potentially better range. Daniel switched on the transceiver and then the transmitter; the signal was strong. He thought for a moment about what he was planning to do. If he asked Clarissa to take the transmitter with her, he knew she would either refuse him outright, or discard the device as soon as she left. He could secretly plant it within her vehicle, but she would find it sooner or later and she would not be pleased with him, to say the least. Daniel wasn’t sure why he was even contemplating these ideas; he had no intentions of trailing the Hannigans. Within days they could be completely out of range, if not hours. The battery life was uncertain as well; it could last months, or it could be dead within days. Nevertheless, Daniel stuck with his plan. He switched off the transceiver, pocketed the transmitter, and left the room.

  On his way back, Daniel made a stop at the pantry in which he had spent the night. He grabbed a couple of road flares and then made his way back outside. All three girls were at the back of their car. Daniel could see that the rear door was already closed; this was good for him.

  “I’ll lay these in your backseat.” Daniel stated as he held up the ammunition boxes and the road flares. Clarissa made no visible indications that he should do otherwise, so Daniel opened the far side backdoor and laid the bullets and the road flares on the seat. He then reached into his pocket, removed the transmitter and then dropped it into one of the boxes behind the seat. He hoped it would be a long time before the Hannigans needed anything from that particular box. Within a few seconds’ time he had accomplished his mission; though he still was not certain of its purpose. Daniel joined the Hannigans.