In the Aftermath: Burning of the Dawn

by Coleman Thompson

The large mass of running people was quickly overtaken as the Sayona sought out the sounds of the gunshots. Andrew caught sight of one man with a shotgun firing into the Sayona. He aimed his camera as one of the beasts appeared directly in front of the armed man. The man put a shot directly into the Sayona’s face, but the beast took the shot with unworldly grace and simply shook it off with little effect. She then took a blind swipe at her attacker with her claws. The man dodged the attack, but a dozen of the beast’s sisters were at her side in an instant. The man dropped his weapon and turned to run. It was too late for that; the Sayona brought him down and proceeded to rip him apart. Another Sayona came to a stop directly in front of Andrew and blindly snapped her teeth in his direction. Both humans and Sayona were on all sides as Andrew ran to escape the brutal madness. A Sayona darted past him and knocked a young woman to the ground. The camera caught it all as Andrew momentarily stopped running in an attempt to help the girl. His good intentions had their limits. The Sayona grabbed the woman by the leg and sank her pointed teeth into her victim’s ankle. The screaming woman reached to Andrew, but her screams only brought more monsters. Only her arm remained visible as she disappeared beneath the shadowy tide of Sayona.

  Soon Andrew was in the city streets with some of the other survivors. A man ahead of him stopped to catch his breath; Andrew did the same. He began to pan his camera around his surroundings when a streak of shadow darted past him. “Shit… what the hell…” Andrew gasped. Then a second blurry shadow tore past him throwing wind and debris in its wake. The man ahead of Andrew was equally as confused and startled. In his state of startled confusion, the man took a step towards the middle of the street looking in the direction from where the speedy shadows were coming from. Andrew aimed his camera ahead to try and see where they were going. Then there was a third shadow. It made a horrific thud as it struck the man in the street. The Sayona went sliding down the road; the man was knocked to the ground – his right leg torn from his body.

  “Did you see that?” Mary whispered.

  “They’re so fast…” Serena added, equally as quiet. “How is that possible?”

  Wisely, Andrew ducked out of the street and hid behind a nearby car (Lake Tahoe still had vehicles at this point). He filmed as the Sayona backtracked down the street looking for the victim she had just cut down. A few more of her sisters darted past her at extraordinary speeds. Eventually, she found the man and began tearing at him with claws and teeth. He was in shock and bleeding badly; he gave the beast no fight. Andrew did not film the scene long as the car he was hiding behind brusquely knocked him to the ground. A Sayona traveling at more than fifty meters per second unintentionally smashed into the back of the vehicle, sending it careening onto the sidewalk. Andrew was temporarily stunned, but not injured. He filmed the Sayona that had just struck the vehicle. She was currently lying on the ground, but she did not stay there long. The beast got back to her feet, shook off the impact, and began surveying her surroundings via touch and sound. More of her sisters raced by. The two Sayona in the street began communicating in their usual manner, which caused their speedy sisters to slow down and stop. Some joined in feasting on the man in the street while others explored the surrounding buildings. The beasts were blind in the light of day, so none of them took any notice of Andrew. He perceived this fact and continued filming them. One of the Sayona went to a nearby building, stood upright, and placed her hands upon the structure. Effortlessly, the beast then proceeded in walking up the vertical wall on all fours and then vanished over the second story rooftop. The Sayona’s sharp, ragged claws and spiny hands and forearms made this feat possible, but Andrew, Serena, and Mary knew nothing of this fact. All of them were stunned by what they had just witnessed.

  The streets were rapidly filling up with Sayona. Andrew panned around behind him to see even more of the monsters in the streets and climbing on the buildings. The Sayona that had struck the car that Andrew was hiding behind caught his attention again. The tentacles upon her head were moving, slowing erecting skyward. Andrew knew what was coming next. This Sayona made the same sonic blast of sound that the other one had made earlier on the beach. This blast, again, momentarily malfunctioned Andrew’s camera, and also destroyed every nearby window. The other Sayona reacted to the blast of noise by fanning out in every direction; one of which headed directly towards Andrew. He moved away from the beast in a hurry. She stopped as she reached the spot where Andrew was just standing. The Sayona then began making noises. It was difficult to tell if they were growls or very angry purrs. Whichever it was, it was clear that the Sayona was now aware of Andrew’s presence.

  Mary was too engrossed by what she was seeing to pay it much mind, but Serena had an idea on what the Sayona were doing. Those sonic screams, she surmised, were the Sayona’s way of seeing without their eyes: echolocation; biological sonar… as if the beasts didn’t have enough weapons at their disposal. Serena was accurate in her surmising, though the Sayona’s sonar abilities were almost exclusively used only in the water where they were far more effective. Nevertheless, they proved somewhat useful on land as well; mostly as a call to arms.

  The Sayona continued her deliberate pursuit of Andrew. She was moving in his direction, but not directly towards him. Andrew took no chances and quickly and quietly fled into a nearby shop, only to discover that he was not alone. A dozen other people had also taken shelter in the shop (a shoe store); all of them huddled against the back wall. Andrew took cover behind the checkout counter and continued filming. There was no electricity in Lake Tahoe, so the shoe store was fairly dark inside. The only light source was a large window at the front of the store. Andrew then spotted the Sayona that was pursuing him.

  “God please help me.” Andrew could be heard speaking; his voice was stoic and hoarse. Nobody else in the shop made a sound as Andrew’s Sayona approached. The front window was broken out, and the elegant monster gracefully slithered her way inside. She examined the place harmlessly enough, quietly chirping as she went. The hiding inhabitants distanced themselves from the Sayona as best they could while remaining steadfast in their silence. The Sayona came to a standstill about twenty feet ahead of the frightened people. She was facing in Andrew’s direction, and he filmed her intently. The Sayona’s heavy eyelids flickered at first and then gradually opened. Her eyes were a solid, glowing green, and even though they were open the beast could not yet see. With quick, rapid movements of her head, the Sayona gauged the light sources all around her. Satisfied with her assumptions, she raised her arm to block the light from the window and turned her head away from the glare of the outside world. Her slit-like pupils then split open. The beast could see again.

  It was only a moment later that the Sayona’s gaze went directly to Andrew, who still hid behind the counter. Mary and Serena also gazed into the monster’s eyes as Andrew never ceased in his filming. The Sayona could clearly see him, but she made no move towards his position. Instead, she turned her gaze to the other people within the store. She then lowered her arm and turned the rest of her body in their direction. The Sayona began to growl as her tail violently undulated back and forth, knocking shelves and displays to the floor. The people against the wall, now aware that they had been spotted, started to make their own noise – cries and screams. Andrew stood from his hiding spot and slowly maneuvered himself towards the door. The Sayona paid him no mind. Amongst her growls she began making a succession of terrible barking sounds, which caught the attention of her sisters. As Andrew reached the door, the Sayona roared one long, final scream and then leaped maliciously into the group of frightened people. Their fate was never seen, but their screams left little to the imagination as a tide of Sayona funneled their way through the broken shoe shop window. Andrew distanced himself from the carnage he unintentionally played a part in and was nearly hit by a car for his troubles. The driver of the wayward vehicle did not care much as to what was in his way. The same could be said for the car that followed that one, and the dozens of others that came
afterwards.

  Andrew yelled and motioned desperately for someone with a vehicle to assist him. None of them did; they were too afraid to stop moving. While blinded by the sunlight there was little that the Sayona could do about the vehicles fleeing from their presence; the beasts didn’t even know what they were. Andrew’s cries for help, however, did get their attention. Many nearby Sayona advanced towards his location, which caused havoc within the streets. Drivers dodged the Sayona by any means necessary. They quickly learned that hitting the beasts would do more damage to their vehicles than it would to the Sayona. The chaotic traffic caused just enough raucous and confusion to allow Andrew to escape.

  Little could be seen through Andrew’s camera work as he ran up and down the streets of South Lake Tahoe. All that could be heard was the sound of Andrew’s strained breathing and the omnipresent purrs of the Sayona. Soon, Andrew could run no more. He came to a halt in an empty parking lot and dropped to the pavement; he then turned the camera to himself. His eyes were glazed and empty and tear-streaks stained his face. He never looked directly into the camera, but only reluctantly observed his surroundings. “There’s nobody left…” he finally spoke. “They’ve all gone, or they’re all dead.” The sounds of the Sayona could be heard creeping ever closer. Andrew took a quick look over his shoulder, stood from his kneeling position, and then shutoff the tablet. The video was over.

  Serena returned to her seat and sat silently; Mary did not bother to watch that video again. The scenic beauty of Lake Tahoe had now taken on a sinister afterthought that neither woman could deny. The rain continued to fall in misty sheets, and the cold in the air became heavier and less tolerable.

  “Well… that was educational.” Mary powered off the tablet and turned it away from her. “Poor bastard. Is it foolish to hope he got away?”

  “No,” Serena answered. It’s only foolish to think he got away. “I hope he did, too.”

  Both women returned to the house. They found Anthony in the living room sitting on the floor quietly waiting for their return. Serena and Mary joined him. Together they sat for hours; first talking about the terrible video that Anthony had discovered on the tablet, and then moving on to what they all thought they should do in the near future. Despite the horrible things he had witnessed on the video, Anthony was still open to the idea of staying in Tahoe. The moments of near normalcy he shared with both Mary and his mother outweighed his revulsion over the massacre the Sayona had committed. Serena wanted to stay as well. She was tired of running, and like her son, she wanted a brief reprieve from what the world had become and to live vicariously for a little while in the world that use to be. Mary, too, was happy to stay. The brutality of the Sayona impressed her as much as it frightened her, and she still felt that Lake Tahoe was as safe a place that could be found anywhere. In the end, it was agreed upon by all to stay in Emerald Bay for at least a couple of weeks. Once they were well-rested and ready to depart, they would make their way to Southern California and scout out this alleged Eden of peace and safety residing in the City of Angels.

  “Taking directions from the lost; receiving a prayer from a soulless sinner; accepting the truth from the mouth of a liar... his weapons are subtle and his smile is sweet. Welcome to the Devil’s playground.”

  V–Day + 590: Lake Tahoe, California.

  The day was cold and breezy beneath a bright, blue sky. Soggy foliage and a wet terrain from the previous days’ rains had left the area around Echo Lake in a somewhat miserable condition, yet the local wildlife seemed to harbor few qualms as they trekked through the surrounding hills and mountains. Most of the wildlife consisted of rodents and occasionally weasels, but a solitary male mule deer had wandered his way into the Echo Lake territory (about eight miles south of Lake Tahoe). Unbeknownst to the deer, he was silently being watched.

  Mary had brought Anthony down to this murky location for some out of the way target practice and survivalist training. The sighting of the deer was an opportunity that she dared not pass up. Both Mary and Anthony were well prepared and dressed for the terrain, having raided multiple sporting goods stores around Lake Tahoe. Serena was in the nearby small township of Echo Lake. There wasn’t much there (lodges, boats docks, cabins, etcetera) to occupy her time, but she chose to remain behind and relax peacefully in the quiet lakeside resort. Wandering through the damp woods did not appeal to her as much as it did to Mary and her son. Mary and Anthony were in the hills on the south side of lower Echo Lake when they spotted the deer. They both commando-crawled in their freshly acquired camouflaged clothing up to the crest of a hill in pursuit of the deer. After surmounting the hilltop, Mary spotted the deer about sixty meters downhill. It would be difficult to approach any closer without being detected, especially with the damp terrain. It was a long distance and leaves and branches added even more havoc to an already challenging shot. Mary carried the rifle; Anthony carried Isabeau. Slowly and silently, Anthony and Mary exchanged weapons. Bullets were for Anthony to use; Mary needed only her crossbow. Despite the fact that he was a novice to the world of hunting and surviving, Anthony impressed Mary exceedingly. He learned fast, listened well, and was always eager to know more. Though normally a lone hunter, Mary was grateful for his company and for his inherent and emerging skills. They worked very well together.

  Mary had lubricated Isabeau, her giant crossbow, that morning, but there was no way to completely eliminate the sound of her crank as Mary loaded a carbon-fiber arrow into her weapon. The deer could hear the cranking of the crossbow, yet it showed little concern as the cranking intertwined with the omnipresent noises from the wind in the trees and the birds singing all around. The deer continued to graze as Mary aimed her crossbow in its direction. The animal lifted its head and looked to Mary’s location, but it failed to see her lying prone amongst the rocks and brush. The presence of humans was something that it no longer concerned itself with. Mary loosed her arrow the moment the deer turned its head away from her position. Her target was the heart just behind and below the animal’s left shoulder, but a rogue twig from a low-hanging tree branch altered the path of Mary’s arrow and sent it directly into the deer’s neck – pinning it to a nearby tree. Mary left Isabeau behind and raced down towards the wounded deer; in route she procured Amy from within her jacket. The deer struggled and soon broken the arrow away from the tree. The shot from Isabeau might not have been fatal, but the deer was not quick enough to escape the lethal blow from Amy the Axe. Mary spilt the animal’s head open with a single blow from her hatchet. She then delivered four more strikes for good measure to separate the grounded deer’s head from the rest of its body.

  Anthony approached carrying Isabeau as Mary stared down upon her kill. The blood flowed from the severed neck of the decapitated deer and began to run down the hill like a macabre mountain stream. Anthony felt that he should’ve felt bad for the animal, but he did not feel anything for it. In fact, he looked forward to tasting freshly cooked meat for the first time in a long time. This is what the world has made me? Anthony wondered. Survival is not for the weak. He aimed to convince himself.

  “Damnit, bastard deer broke my fuckin’ arrow!” Mary spoke in wistful frustration.

  “I’d say you got revenge.” Anthony pointed out.

  “Ha! Bitch had it comin’!” Mary laughed. “Oh well, it’ll be worth it.”

  The task was messy as Mary went to gutting and skinning the deer. Although the woman excelled at killing things, she did not often gut or skin her victims afterwards. Still, Mary understood the basics; the rest she improvised as best she could. Anthony assisted Mary in this grotesque task and provided the knife when Amy proved to be too cumbersome. Draining and gutting the deer was Mary’s primary task; the skinning and cutting of the meat could be done in a more convenient setting. She and Anthony would, however, need to bury the innards and the head. The Sayona finding the animal parts was highly unlikely, but it wasn’t a chance worth taking.

  As they finished burying the animal parts, both Mary a
nd Anthony noticed a sudden quietness all around them. The wind still whistled, but the birds had gone silent. Something was near. Only two kinds of land-based predators remained in the world, and only one of them hunted during the day. Mary had her suspicions and the wind soon confirmed them. The breeze carried voices – the voices of men.

  “Leave Isabeau.” Mary commanded Anthony. He handed Mary the rifle and then placed the crossbow upon the forest floor. Mary then procured the revolver from within her jacket and handed it to Anthony. The both of them left their kill behind and proceeded silently down the hill.

  Raymond Lacroix, Ian Zhang, and Hernando de Las Casas leisurely made their way on foot down Lincoln Highway just south of Echo Lake. They had made it to Walnut Grove and succeeded with the first leg of their mission, but the journey had taken a terrible turn. Their vehicle was gone; they had not eaten for days; they were out of ammunition, and Hernando had taken a .223 bullet just above his right knee.

  “I have to rest a moment,” Hernando spoke as he collapsed to the side of the road. “Shit, why’s it have to be so damn cold today?”

  Ian took a seat next to his friend. He, too, was exhausted; mostly from having to carry along both Hernando and the large duffle bag strapped upon his back that held the remaining radio equipment. Raymond was the largest of the three men and he held in his possession a black AK-12 assault rifle. It was only for show as it no longer possessed any bullets. Raymond scouted ahead more often than not to make sure the passage was safe. Unfortunately, traversing the Sierra Nevada Mountains with no food and little provisions had taken its toll on him as well.

  “How far is Tahoe?” Ian aimed his question to Raymond.

  “I don’t know,” Raymond answered; he spoke with a noticeable French-Creole accent. “This road will take us to it, but it winds. Cutting through the mountains could save us time, but more likely it will kill us.”