In the Aftermath: Burning of the Dawn

by Coleman Thompson

  “Always be careful of dark rooms.” Mary spoke as she pushed the door open. The room would’ve been dark indeed with the door closed. Mary rose form her knees and walked into the room; she then looked back to Anthony and tapped on the door handle.

  With closer examination, Anthony could see small scratches on and around the doorknob. From inside the room it was also easy to see that the inner doorframe had been torn off. How Mary had established that this room was empty of any living things with barely more than a touch was beyond Anthony’s comprehension. “What happened here?” He asked. He already knew in some sense, but had no desire to acknowledge this strange knowledge.

  Mary reached down and retrieved something off of the floor; she held it up for Anthony to see. It was clothing that had been ripped apart. “Someone got eaten.” Mary answered. “Kinda fucked up, no?”

  “Yeah, it really is.” Anthony stayed in the doorway and never fully entered the room. Mary began rummaging underneath a desk up against the back wall. “Need any help?” Anthony asked, very much hoping that she did not.

  “Nope… Ha! Score!” Mary celebrated as she pulled a thousand foot spool of Ethernet cable out from underneath one of the desks. She brought it over and handed it to Anthony.

  “For rope, right?” Anthony surmised.

  “Yep, we won’t be scaling any mountains with it, but it still has its uses. Let’s keep our looters luck goin’!”

  “All right…” Anthony stepped aside to let Mary out of the room. She then began examining the shelves for more items. “I’m still curious,” Anthony spoke as he followed behind her. “What did you mean by keeping a secret?”

  “Things may or may not get a little…” Mary stopped her search as she spoke. “Messy, soon, maybe…”

  “That’s a little vague, Mary.” Anthony stated.

  “I’m a woman of few words.”

  “Since when?”

  “Since never, but nevertheless, your mother might not like my little plan.” Mary was sympathetic, but also unwavering in her confidence. “She’ll want to run, which will get her killed. And us, too, which would really suck.”

  “Okay, I won’t tell her.” Anthony despised the idea of holding back anything from his mother, but Mary was right. Serena would grab her son and flee at any hint of danger: a good idea against humans, but much less effective against monsters.

  “We’re being followed,” Mary stated. “I think.”

  “By who?” Anthony doubted that he could completely hide the twinge of fear that Mary’s statement had sent through his body. “By the others, like those men who wanted to kill us?”

  “Yep,” Mary answered in an inappropriately cheerful tone. “They’re assholes, but they are good hunters… too good for their own good.”

  “But they won’t go near the Sayona, right?”

  “Um, well, not normally,” Mary’s enthusiasm seemed somewhat artificial now. “But they might make an exception this time.”

  “They want you.” Anthony remembered back a few hours prior when he, Mary, and his mother were making their way through the city of Fallon: Mary had left Amy’s ribbon behind.

  “Who wouldn’t?” Mary replied as she pulled out a blue five gallon bucket from the bottom of one of the shelves.

  “And you want them to find you.” Anthony was sure he had pieced together the pieces of Mary’s plan. She wanted the Sayona to finish off the desert-dwellers.

  “Yes, I do.” Mary confirmed.

  Anthony found himself in a conundrum. He didn’t like the idea that Mary was planning something so dangerous without even consulting him or his mother first. In fact, she was almost using them as bait. However, Anthony was well-aware that his mother would have nothing to do with Mary’s plan. She would deem it far too reckless, which she might be right about, and want to run. That did not matter to Anthony anymore. He wanted those wicked men hiding out in the desert dead just as much as Mary did. The more vicious the death, the more justified it would be… so he told himself, for now.

  Serena stood impatiently next to her vehicle. She had parked it close to the hole in the ground where the fuel was waiting just out of reach. Her son and Mary had only been gone a little more than fifteen minutes, but that was more than enough time for Serena’s anxieties to weigh on her mind. Thankfully, they were soon mildly eased away as Anthony and Mary emerged from the hardware store. Both of them had their arms full. Mary carried two red gas canisters and the blue bucket, which had a large, red funnel and some towels and rags inside. Anthony carried the Ethernet cable along with a case of glass jars.

  “That’s a decent haul.” Serena spoke as Anthony and Mary approached.

  “No one burgles like I do!” Mary replied as she dropped everything to the ground.

  They all immediately went to work in retrieving the fuel. Mary took the end of the Ethernet cable, ran it under the bucket handle, and then wrapped it around her arm. She then took a position on the opposite side of the hole, as Serena and Anthony managed the spool from their side. They lowered the bucket into the hole where it came to a rest floating upon the gasoline. With a few jerks on the cable, Mary was able to knock over the bucket which then rapidly began to fill with fuel.

  “Get ready,” Mary spoke. “It’s gonna get heavy.”

  Mary was right. As the bucket filled it began to pull more cable from the spool, which Serena quickly rectified. In unison, Mary, Serena, and Anthony backed away from the hole and hosted the bucket from out of the fuel. They all walked a few steps towards Serena’s car and lowered the bucket onto the ground. Serena could not help but smile.

  Mary unraveled her arm and carried the bucket the short distance to Serena’s car. Mother and son then went to work using the glass jars to pour the fuel from the bucket down the funnel and into their vehicle. While Serena and Anthony refueled, Mary retrieved the rifle from the car. She wanted to be prepared.

  One bucket was not enough to fill up the vehicle, so using the same strategy they had used before, the trio fished out another bucket of fuel. Two was also not quite enough, so a third bucket full of fuel was acquired. Anthony was ominously quiet throughout the whole procedure. Mary knew why.

  “So, baby boy,” Mary spoke to Anthony in a docile voice, trying to rouse him from his conspicuous quietness. “Many girlfriends back in the day?”

  “Not really.” Anthony answered meekly.

  “No? I find that difficult to believe.”

  “Sorry,” was Anthony’s only reply.

  His mother was too concerned with the refueling to notice any difference in Anthony’s behavior, or so Mary was hoping. The boy had made her a promise and he wasn’t likely going to break it, unless he was coaxed. Serena began coughing while dipping the jars into the fuel bucket.

  “Sorry,” she apologized through her coughing. “Fumes are getting to me.”

  “Need me to take over?” Mary asked as she laid the rifle on the ground and moved towards Serena.

  “No, that’s okay.” Serena answered clearly after a few more coughs.

  Three buckets filled up Serena’s car. Two more buckets of fuel were obtained to fill the gas canisters along with the glass jars. The funnel and the spool of Ethernet cable were placed into the trunk with the gas canisters. The blue bucket would’ve been too large to take with them, so it was left behind. Mary’s plan to obtain the fuel looked to be a complete success. Serena was pleased.

  “Thank you, again, Mary.” Serena praised with a genuine smile.

  “No need to thank me, hon’.” Mary spoke as she took a seat upon the edge of the fuel hole with her feet dangling well above the gasoline below. “Just doin’ what I do best.”

  “What is it you do best?” Anthony asked.

  Mary looked to him with vivacious eyes, “Surviving.”

  “You do it very well,” Anthony had no doubts. “I’m trusting you’re good enough to keep my mom and me alive, too?”

  “You can count on it, little brother.”

  “It’s gett
ing dark, we should be leaving.” Serena said as she looked to the sky above and around her. The sun was now setting. She had indeed noticed Anthony’s odd change in demeanor; she knew he was hiding something. Mary had said or done something to him, Serena was aware of that, but she was almost certain that Mary wouldn’t do anything to cause harm to her son, intentionally. Anthony adored the strange girl; that much was obvious. The two of them had bonded instantly and that bond had only grown stronger with every passing moment. “Come on, let’s go.” Serena spoke, but neither Mary nor Anthony moved.

  “We can’t leave,” Mary replied somberly. “It’s too late.”

  “We can’t stay.” Serena rebutted. “We got what we came for, now it’s time to go.”

  “There’s no time to run far enough,” stated Mary. “We have to stay a little longer.”

  “A little longer and it’ll be dark.”

  “Yes it will.”

  “Heh, okay, what are you talking about, Mary? I don’t need riddles right now.” Serena was confused, and the setting sun and creeping darkness were fueling the fires of her fears. She, too, remembered Mary leaving Amy’s ribbon behind. She didn’t think much of it at the time, but now she was chastising herself for that mistake. The highway was the obvious road and it led right to the general location of where they were now.

  “It’ll be all right, Mama Bear. Just trust me.”

  Serena picked up the rifle lying behind Mary. She switched off the safety and cocked the lever just as Mary had shown her earlier that day. Mary looked back to Serena, who was aiming the rifle in her direction.

  “Mom, what are you doing?” Anthony understood that his mother had her anxieties, but even he did not expect this.

  “Give the gun to my son and you can still come with us, but we are not staying here any longer.” Serena’s voice was shuddery as she carefully watched Mary rise from her place by the fuel pit. Mary still had the revolver and it was currently hidden somewhere beneath her sweater. Serena’s aim was unsure. She held the rifle low on Mary; she could not bring herself to fix on a fatal target.

  “Serena,” Mary showed no signs of anger or fear. “If you leave you’ll kill yourself, and your son.”

  “What’s your plan? To stay here with the monsters? There could be dozens of them out there.” Serena kept a close eye on Mary’s hands. The girl was fast and strong; she made sure to keep her distance.

  “No doubt there are.” Mary calmly replied. She turned from Serena and looked down the highway they came in on. Mary could hear something in the distance. “There you are…” She quietly added.

  It took a moment, but Serena noticed the sound as well. It was faint, but in the quietness of the fading daylight it was still audible. “What is that?” Serena asked. It sounded to her like an engine.

  Mary was turned in the other direction and Serena had never taken her eyes from the girl for a single moment, but still she lost the rifle. It was out of her hands before she realized what had happened. She looked to her son in a dazed state of shock. Anthony backed away slowly with the rifle in his hands now.

  “I’m sorry, mom,” Anthony spoke in a soft, despairing voice. “But the Sayona are smart, and they’ll see what we’ve done.” He motioned towards the desolate semi-truck sitting conspicuously in the parking lot, along with the big hole in the pavement the truck had been used to create. Mary had explained all of this to Anthony while they were hunted for supplies.

  “He’s right,” Mary spoke as Anthony handed her the rifle. “The Sayona will see what we’ve done and they will know that somebody was here. Close and far, they will search for what they’re lookin’ for until they find it…” Mary paused as she looked over the rifle, and then added, “And I’m going to give it to them.”

  “Is that them?” Anthony, too, had picked up on the sound of the engine, only now it was much clearer, and there was more than just one of them. “Are they here?”

  “They’re here.” Mary smiled maliciously. “Those murdering fucks are about to save our asses. You two go inside.”

  Anthony started towards the service station, but stopped when he realized his mother wasn’t following him. Serena stared back at Mary. Mary was normally extremely good at reading people, but Serena’s face was currently a blank map. Still, Mary could detect the anger.

  “It’s all right, Mama Bear;” Mary attempted to console. “Go look after your cub. You can kick my ass later. For now, let me do the other thing I do best.”

  “What’s that?” Serena asked stoically.

  “Chaos,” answered Mary.

  Serena turned from Mary and headed towards the service station, grabbing her son by the arm in the process and running the rest of the way there as the sounds of the engines encroached upon the gas-station.

  Mary had two glass jars full of fuel sitting beside her. She took one from the ground and then took cover behind the back of Serena’s car. Five men on three motorcycles made their way up the highway. They were armed, and moved cautiously. Two of the three bikes were electric, but they were all nearly equal in noise distribution. Three of the five men were wearing helmets; one of which was on the fuel-driven bike that was leading their little pack with a helmetless man sharing the bike with him. Mary took aim and fired a shot from the rifle. The bullet entered the side of the lead rider’s helmet and a stream of blood burst through the visor.

  The bike went down on the spot. The other two bikes hastily pulled behind the cover of nearby cars. The helmetless man riding behind the now dead rider was pinned beneath the motorcycle. He quickly fought himself free and began limping towards his fellow riders. He did not make it far. Mary cut him down with a single shot that hit him between the shoulder blades and tore through his chest. Mary then aimed her rifle at the downed motorcycle and put another bullet through the gas tank. All was quiet for a moment, until one of the men spoke.

  “Sweet Marie…” The man called in a calm, but aggravated voice. He was large and very strong. “What the fuck do you think you’re doin’?!”

  “Target practice!” Mary yelled back. “Step to the right a little and help me out a bit!”

  Inside the service station, Serena and Anthony could hear some of what the man was saying and all of what Mary was saying. Mother and son both looked to each other. “She knows them.” Serena softly whispered. Mary fired another shot that sailed just millimeters above the large man’s head.

  “Stop shooting!” The man hollered back. “Are you insane?!”

  “That’s what people keep tellin’ me.” Mary answered.

  “You’re gonna get us all killed!” The man had a 9mm handgun in his possession, but he dared not fire any shots.

  “Look to the sky, motherfucker;” Mary laughed. “You’re already dead!”

  Intruding upon Sayona territory was relatively safe in this part of the world, so long as it was done judiciously. Normally, the beasts wouldn’t be anticipating any human visitors, so the fear of impending darkness wasn’t as vital here as it was in other areas of the world… until now.

  “Stupid, fucking, cocksucking, little bitch…” The man spoke in a low tone, but Mary clearly heard him.

  “Hey!” Mary screamed, and then fired another shot which hit one of the defunct cars and flung shards of glass and metal into the ill-mannered man’s face. “Don’t call me little!”

  “Fuck you, Mary Murder.” The man laughed as he wiped blood, glass, and metal from his brow and cheek. His remaining riding mates were less amused, but none of them did anything without his consent.

  Mary put down the rifle and removed a lighter and a rag from her pockets. She lit the rag and stuffed it into her glass jar filled with fuel. She then tossed it over her head and into the street. It was a direct hit onto the downed motorcycle. The fuel tank lit immediately and a small explosion engulfed the bike. The desert-dwellers had had enough. The three surviving hunters wasted no time in fleeing from Mary. As they took off back down the highway, Mary picked up the rifle and steadied her aim for one
final shot. She let the man she had been speaking to pass by and aimed her shot at the next bike, which was carrying two riders. Mary’s shot hit its mark. Neither rider was harmed, but she put a hole through the radiator. That bike would not get very far.

  Mary, Serena, and Anthony met up with each other as soon as the fleeing riders were out of earshot. Serena’s countenance and demeanor confessed her anger and discontent, but Mary was glad of this; she would rather have Serena angry than afraid. Fear would embrace them all soon enough.

  “They won’t be back.” Mary spoke as she reloaded her rifle, even though bullets would be of no use after dark.

  “They know we’re here now, don’t they?” Serena stated her question. “The Sayona?”

  “I’m sure they do.” Mary answered. “I need you to hide your car again; same place you did before.”

  “Hide my car?” Serena laughed.

  “It’s too late to run,” Mary asserted. “Trust me for a few more hours, darlin’. I will get us through this”

  Serena stared indignantly at Mary. She wanted to hit her, take the rifle, take her son, and run as fast as she could… but she didn’t. Trusting Mary was her and her son’s only chance to survive, even if their odds of survival were looking grimmer every moment. Serena took a step towards her son, but Mary took the rifle in one hand and grabbed Anthony by the shoulder with the other.

  “Nuh-uh, you’ll be too tempted to run.” Mary spoke. “Put your car back into the garage, close the garage door, and meet us back here. I recommend you do it fast, we don’t have long.”