In the Aftermath: Burning of the Dawn

by Coleman Thompson

  “She’s right, Daniel.” Maria spoke. “We’ll be fine. Hell, maybe we’ll even make dinner for ourselves tonight, and you, too! Wouldn’t that be a treat?”

  “Yeah, you need your beauty sleep, dude.” It was Vita’s turn again. “You’re lookin’ kinda grungy.”

  Arguing with just one Hannigan was a losing battle; doing so with all three was nothing short of masochism. Daniel knew that they would keep at him until he gave in. Plus, he was actually feeling tired at the moment. Maybe a few hours of rest would do him some good. He had to stay alert during the night; that was what was most important. Daniel gave in to the Hannigans and agreed to get some sleep. He did not want to use the mattress, but instead opted to make his sleeping place in the opposite corner near one of the windows. Daniel had grown accustom to more spontaneous sleeping arrangements. Soft bedding and fluffy pillows just didn’t have the allure that they once did.

  Maria brought Daniel a pillow anyway. He thanked her for it and then gave her an odd task. His M14 rifle was nearby. He procured the weapon and removed its magazine; he then handed the clip to Maria. The young girl was a little perplexed by his actions, but she stayed silent on the matter. Whatever his reasons, she knew that they had a purpose. Daniel propped his pillow against the wall and closed his eyes. He tried to simply pretend to sleep at first, but the dimness got the better of him and ultimately he succumbed to slumber. Clarissa and her daughters lowered the music volume and spoke in hushed tones so not to disturb Daniel’s well-deserved rest.

  It did not feel like he had slept that long, yet even before Daniel had opened his eyes he could tell that night had fallen. When he finally did open his eyes, the light of the bright moon confirmed what he already suspected. Daniel nervously looked around the living room. The storeroom door was shut and the Hannigans were nowhere to be seen. Had they closed themselves in for the night? Why did they not awaken him first? He agreed that he needed the rest, but this was dangerous. What perturbed him even more was the fact that the windows were uncovered. The Sayona could easily see inside if they came near the house. Daniel was vexed; he had designs on his mind to respectfully reprimand the Hannigans in the morning, or at least question them on these foolish actions. Right now he had to close these windows and get upstairs to his listening post. Daniel reached for his rifle, but it was missing. Where had it gone? He remembered giving Maria the rifle clip, but not the rifle itself. Daniel’s worries were increasing fast. Did Clarissa leave the house? Did she and her daughters silently slip away while he was sleeping? Why would they do that? As Daniel put his hand on the windowsill to help himself stand, he noticed a shadow pass in front of the moonlight. He turned to the window to find himself staring into the horrible, green eyes of a Sayona.

  The beast struck instantly. She broke through the glass and slammed into the metal bars on the other side of the window. The Sayona grabbed Daniel by his shirt and pulled him towards her as she powered her large head in between the bars. Daniel grabbed the Sayona by her hair-like tentacles with one hand and around her jaw with the other in an attempt to force her back between the thick bars that bent to her will – bent as if they were made of flimsy rubber. Daniel had removed all of his knives from his possession days earlier and had never bothered to reacquire them. In this moment of panic he still made note of how stupid that was on his part. The situation then took a turn for the even worse. Daniel heard what he thought was Maria’s voice.

  “Daniel?” She quietly called to him.

  ‘No!’ He screamed silently. ‘Don’t let them hear you!’

  Daniel fought harder to push the beast back. The Hannigans were still here; he had to keep this monster out. He then heard Maria’s voice again. This time she sounded frightened.

  “Mom…” She called. “Mom!”

  The Sayona was unrelenting; the beast would not budge. The monster then grabbed Daniel by one of his arms and began shaking him. She hissed violently and shook him even harder. The Sayona’s hiss had a tone to it; a tone that was almost human. A moment later the hiss turned into an actual word – his name. “Daniel.”

  In that moment the Sayona vanished. The moon and the night went with it. The light of the day poured in through Daniel’s window, which was no longer shattered by the Sayona. He clung tightly to the bars on the window – they were not bent or contorted in any way. He could, however, still feel a hand on his arm. The realization of what had happened was clear to him now. Daniel’s fear of the spectral Sayona was abated by a new fear: the fear of facing Clarissa, who was knelling beside him.

  “I’m sorry,” Daniel spoke in a barely audible voice.

  “Are you all right?” Clarissa asked.

  “Yeah, I’m sorry.” He repeated in an equally low tone.

  “It’s okay.” Clarissa reassured him; her tone was nearly sympathetic. She stood from Daniel and walked over to her daughters. He could hear her speaking to them. “He’ll be fine.” She stated.

  Slowly Daniel released his grasp on the bars. He looked behind himself slightly, but kept his face towards the floor. From the corner of his gaze he could see Vita and Maria standing nearby. His shame multiplied. ‘Those poor girls,’ he thought. ‘I must have terrified them.’

  Neither girl was terrified. They were, however, deeply distressed. To them, Daniel was this strange kind of super being: an indestructible enigma who conquered any challenge laid before him by man or beast. Vita and Maria still measured him in this high degree, but now they knew that what he had was not a gift. Daniel had paid for his valor, and the price was devastating. The twins approached him, first Vita and then Maria. They both knelt down next to him.

  “I’m sorry, girls.” Daniel spoke; his voice slowly beginning to gather some tenor. “I’m sorry if I frightened you.”

  “You don’t frighten us.” Vita replied as she clutched Daniel around the arm. “I’m the one who’s sorry.”

  “Me too,” stated Maria. “We’ve been so selfish.”

  “No, you haven’t been selfish. I should’ve said something – warned you at least. I wasn’t honest… that was wrong.”

  “Don’t be afraid to be afraid,” Maria professed. “You had your reasons for not telling us. We understand.”

  “Whatever’s happened to you, Daniel,” added Vita. “And whatever you’ve done, it changes nothing. Maria, my mother, and I, we’ve seen things we wish we’d never seen and we’ve done things we’d rather not remember. Please, stop thinking you’re any worse than we are… ‘cause you’re not, believe me.”

  “Thanks, girls,” Daniel was thankful and grateful that the twins were empathetic to his plight, though their empathy did not surprise him. He then added, “You’re the little sisters I never knew I wanted.”

  The understanding nature of the Hannigan twins was much appreciated, but Daniel was still concerned about their mother. Would Clarissa still trust him with her children? Did his living-nightmare moment prove to be more than she could tolerate? These questions infested Daniel’s mind – a mind already grossly over-plagued. Daniel parted ways with Vita and Maria and sought their nearby mother. Clarissa was in the kitchen perched over one of the counters reading a book she had taken from the bookshelf used to conceal the storeroom door. Echoes from the Macabre was the book. That was one of the few books that belonged to Daniel before the world went mad. Most of the others he had acquired after the war. He had only gotten around to reading one of the stories in this book: The Birds. Macabre echoes were in ample supply these days, so Daniel never had the nerve to read any more. Clarissa’s demeanor was ominously calm; she seemed completely unaffected by Daniel’s nightmare.

  “I’m sorry about that.” Daniel stated as he approached Clarissa.

  “I heard you the first two times.” She replied, irascibly.

  “Right… now you know why I avoid sleeping.”

  “Not sleeping makes it worse.”

  “Yeah, it probably does. I hope you’re not too concerned.”

  “What do you care if I am?”
Clarissa stated more than asked. She followed her question-statement with a groan of annoyance and then followed that with, “This is your house. My daughters and I are guests here; you don’t have to tip-toe around us all the time, so quit apologizing so much… it’s very annoying.” Clarissa had flashed Daniel an irate kind of glare, but she now attempted to quell it. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for us. That’s not saying much, I know, but it’s all I have. Your nightmares are not an issue for me, but your servile behavior is. That disposition is fine to use with my daughters, but please, spare it with me. We’re going to be together for a long time, so let’s attempt to not get on each other’s nerves.”

  “I understand.” Daniel replied. He then gave Clarissa an impish smile and added, “I’m sorry.”

  “You’re an asshole.”

  “Sometimes, but you’re really okay with what happened? I don’t want you to think I’m crazy or dangerous.”

  “There are two reasons why I don’t sleep at night:” Clarissa stated as she went back to reading her book. “One is to look after my daughters while they sleep, and the other is to comfort them when they wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat and terrified out of their minds. They don’t always wakeup; sometimes they just cry in their sleep instead, which isn’t any better.”

  “That’s terrible.”

  “Yes, you should know.”

  “Maybe I can relate to your daughters, but I can’t imagine how difficult that is for you.”

  “I have it easier than they do,” declared Clarissa. “Don’t worry about your dreams; they’re not going to scare us away. But we do need you strong, physically and mentally, so get whatever rest you can whenever you can. That’s the way it has to be.”

  “Understood; thank you, Mrs. Hannigan.” Daniel was relieved, and pleasantly surprised, to find Clarissa somewhat sympathetic to his condition. It did disturb him to know that Vita and Maria were also haunted by similarly tenacious nightmares, and he sincerely hoped that they did not have it as bad as he did. If they could find a safe place, Daniel hoped, then maybe this burden could be lifted from the young girls’ minds, and maybe even lifted from his mind as well. Daniel looked down to Clarissa’s book and then spoke, “You should try The Birds.”

  “I’ve seen the film.” Clarissa stated.

  “Yeah, but the book is a lot different, and even better than the movie,” replied Daniel.

  He then left Clarissa in peace. Despite his rude awakening, Daniel had still managed to attain a few good hours of sleep. He was feeling spry and much less fatigued now; his wretched rest did prove to be effective. Daniel and the Hannigans had a quick meal before the fall of dusk, and soon afterwards the Hannigans were shut into their hiding place for the night. Daniel continued with his preparations for their forthcoming trip for as long as the dwindling daylight would allow. When all semblances of the sun were finally extinguished, Daniel proceeded up to his listening post on the second floor.

  For many hours the quiet darkness persisted just as it had done for the previous nights. Daniel was left only with his silent introspection and the unobtrusive hum of the white noise emanating from his microphones. In this relative silence, he began to wonder when exactly he and the Hannigans would make their foray westward. Vita was recovering remarkably fast, but Clarissa’s injuries would take much longer to fully mend. Of course, Daniel was sure that mother Hannigan would not wait for a full recovery before attempting this journey. She was refusing pain-killers now, so the wait would not be much longer.

  The wait would actually be even shorter than what Daniel was speculating. After many hours of ceaseless silence, Daniel’s microphones finally picked up a sound. Their purpose had been served, for this was the sound that Daniel had been waiting for. The Sayona had returned. The beasts did not sound to be especially rowdy on this night, but they were still their usual noisy selves. Daniel believed that the two Sayona he had most recently killed were the familiar residence who usually surveyed this particular area. These new Sayona were probably unfamiliar with the terrain; Daniel wasn’t sure if that was in his favor or against it. He could not make out exactly how many there were, but there was definitely more than one.

  There were four Sayona in Daniel’s town that night: three new ones and the one who had escaped death just a few nights before (unlike her two unlucky sisters). She fled from Daniel on that night, but she did not flee for very long. Just long enough to escape the blinding light of his vehicle and to recover from its short, but painful, assault on her senses. She had screamed her sonic scream into the night that terrible night, trying to beckon any of her sisters that might be nearby. It was ultimately in vain. The Sayona could have pressed her search for siblings further, but her anger got the better of her—as was common with Sayona—and losing Daniel and the Hannigans would be incredibly disappointing. Eventually, she returned to the house where her sisters had been slain. The sight of their dead bodies filled the Sayona with both rage and sorrow. She stayed with her sisters for a moment; she wanted to bring them back with her so that none of the aberrant and exceedingly vile infidels of this planet could taint their remains. However, the pangs of righteous indignation swiftly overwhelmed her grief. The Sayona first made a short trek south to investigate a panel of glass that she and her sister had left upon the highway. They had been utilizing this method of tracking travelers for months, and with high levels of success, too. Once she realized that her would-be victims had not likely travelled south, the Sayona turned and sprinted north. Daniel’s decision to spend the night at the truck stop proved to be a wise choice. The surviving Sayona missed him by mere seconds. She ran past the truck stop and proceeded right on into Meadville. She made multiply trips that night back and forth between Meadville and Lake Wilhelm, but in her irate and befuddled state she could not muster the composure to search for her victims properly. They had escaped her, for now.

  The night was not young and the Sayona did not stay long. They were only scouting, and Daniel was sure that they would be returning tomorrow night for a more thorough scavenger hunt. That could be disastrous for him and the Hannigans; they could not be ready to depart with only a matter of hours to prepare. Daniel would have to do something to buy more time; a day’s worth at least. He spent the rest of the night conjuring up ideas as to what exactly he had to do to accomplish this task.

  That morning Daniel released the Hannigans from their hiding place and made them their breakfast as usual. It would pain him to inform the girls of their close brush with the vicious visitors, but Daniel had no choice. That was something he could not keep from them. After they all had finished their meal together, he spoke.

  “I have to go back to Meadville today.”

  “To get a trailer?” Vita asked.

  “No,” Daniel hesitated. “The Sayona… they’re close by.”

  Vita and Maria went silent and motionless. Their golden-brown skin seemed to turn a pale gray as they processed the information which Daniel had just conveyed to them.

  “You heard them?” Clarissa asked in a calm demeanor.

  “Yes, they were in town last night.”

  “And you’re going back to Meadville why?” Maria wanted to know.

  “I need to create a diversion – something to draw their attention away from here for at least one more night.”

  “How do you plan to do that?” Clarissa inquired.

  “I don’t know yet, but I’m thinking something involving a lot of light.”

  “Why can’t we leave today?” Vita asked. “Can’t we just grab our things and go now?”

  “Not quite yet,” Daniel answered. “We wouldn’t get far enough and we’re still not ready. While I’m gone, you and Maria can start packing up everything in the storeroom and anything else you wanna take. I’ll have the trailer when I come back. We’ll hide it here for the night and by tomorrow morning I think we’ll be ready.”

  “This whole distracting the Sayona thing is a little lost on me,” Maria professe
d. “You’re just gonna turn on a couple lights in Meadville and hope that’ll do the trick?”

  “No, anyone can do that,” Daniel stated. “The Sayona have to know it was me: the one who killed their sisters.”

  At those words, Maria headed directly into the kitchen and began rummaging through a stack of canvas papers – drawings she had been working on over the last few days. She soon found the one she was looking for; she removed it from the others and brought it over to Daniel.

  “Maybe this’ll help.” Maria spoke as she handed the drawing to Daniel.

  He took the drawing from Maria and inspected it. Daniel had not yet seen any of Maria’s drawings, so he was completely ignorant to anything she had been working on and to the actual degree of her talent. This drawing now in his possession was wonderful. It forced a smile out of Daniel, followed by words of praise.

  “Wow, this is incredible,” Daniel adamantly commended. “I think this’ll do it, kid. You just saved me a headache. The Sayona are going to tear that city apart after they see this masterpiece.”

  Maria’s drawing was of a man in a hooded overcoat (Daniel) who was kneeling next to the body of a dead Sayona. Buried in the back of the monster’s neck was a large, shining blade; the handle of which was clutched by the hand of the hooded man. In the background was a large mound of dead Sayona and in the sky was the bright, brilliant, smiling sun. Maria’s talented had not waned.

  Daniel wasted little time in departing on his mission of distraction. He gathered up a single stroboscopic lamp from his rec-room along with a car battery. He then procured his truck from the garage and drove it over to his house where all of the Hannigans were waiting. From his window he spoke to them.

  “I shouldn’t be gone more than a few hours at most.” Daniel called to the girls. “Bring whatever you wanna take with you and put it by the front door. We’ll load some of it when I get back and get the rest early tomorrow morning, okay?” Daniel looked directly to Clarissa and pleaded, “Mrs. Hannigan, please, no lifting. Play the forewoman; your daughters can handle the rest.”