The Long Fall of Night: The Long Fall of Night Book 1

by AJ Rose

  The sun had risen about half an hour before, and they felt safe enough to build a fire for boiling water, so while the food wasn’t exactly the best thing he’d eaten, it was hot. Jennifer made the group coffee from her meager stash of instant granules, and Jason and Tim had praised her by getting bowing down on their knees, swearing allegiance to her under pain of death. She’d giggled, but the strain of the night was showing on everyone’s faces. They all had bags under their eyes and looked particularly haggard. Even Riley was a lifeless heap, sitting on the ground with his legs crossed lotus style. The coffee, even instant, was a bonus.

  “Okay, so we have a choice,” Ash said when he’d scarfed down his tasteless freeze-dried scrambled egg omelet. “We can keep going and try to hit fifty miles today, putting some distance between ourselves and the troops we saw last night, or we can walk a little more and bed down for the day, take some time to relax and regroup in a more secluded area, and hit it hard tomorrow.”

  “Keep going,” Jason said. Tim echoed his assent.

  “I don’t mind either way,” Aaron said. “Babe?” he turned to Jennifer with his brows raised.

  “I can walk more,” she said agreeably. “I’m tired all the time anyway, so a few more hours won’t be too much trouble.”

  “Charlotte? Riley?” Ash asked his sister.

  “Can we play it by ear?” she asked. “Riley has a lot of energy, but we’re all pooped out. If we can keep going, fine, but if we can’t, maybe we can just holler when we’re at our limit.”

  “I can carry Riles, if he gets too tired to go on,” Ash offered. “Someone would have to take my pack, but it’s pretty light now that I only have a couple cans of veggies left. We can distribute my supplies among the other packs, too, and spread the weight.”

  Brian nodded. “That’ll work. The rest of us I think are good to go.”

  “Elliot?” Ash said, knowing he was asking a lot of his… what did he call Elliot now? Lover sounded too romance-novelish and boyfriend was presumptuous. Partner had worked when they were students, but in its current connotation it was way too permanent, and friend wasn’t enough. Date made it seem like they’d be hitting up a sushi place and going for a walk along a romantic beach, which… blech. Ash had never been one for that kind of date anyway. Not that he needed a word to say out loud. Charlotte and Brian knew what was up, but they weren’t advertising.

  Why are you thinking about that at a time like this? Get your shit together. He must be tired.

  “I can make it farther, I think,” Elliot said with a dip of his chin. “I’m not too bad.”

  “Stressed?”

  “Less than I was last week,” he admitted. Last week being when his music disappeared.

  “Okay, we might be able to take a midday break, too, if we come across a good stopping place. Longer than the usual hour, anyway,” Ash offered. There was a collection of nods, and they cleaned up. Since they’d eaten straight from the food pouches, all they had to do was wipe out the water and coffeepots, and their cups, and squirt a little water on their utensils. Elliot had given Ghost half his biscuits and gravy pouch, claiming they were too heavy for a lot of walking anyway. Ash saw him discreetly take his seizure medicine and was satisfied they were on track for getting the most mileage out of their early departure.

  A few more hours passed, and they neared a tract of land that looked good for walking off the road just past where they’d crossed I-80 south of Ashland, Nebraska. One of the trees sported a sign: No Tresspassers! Violaters will be shot on site.

  Beside Ash, Elliot snorted. “Needs spelling lessons,” he muttered.

  “Will they really try to shoot us?” Riley asked tiredly, hanging on Ash’s back like a monkey.

  “We’ll stay off this guy’s land so we don’t find out, ’kay?” Ash assured. “Next field, we get off the road,” he called to the others. “Maybe find some shade and rest.”

  Beside them, Ghost panted. The dog had stuck to Elliot like glue, and while the day was warm, it wasn’t overly so, and they’d stopped for a few minutes every hour or so to give Ghost water. Aaron had checked the dog’s paws for signs of injury, such as blisters or rocks between the pads, but had declared Ghost ready for more. He didn’t seem overly fatigued by the mileage they’d put in already.

  “He’s okay, right?” Elliot asked Ash on their last stop. “Not too tired? I’d hate to push him too much, but we obviously don’t know his limits.”

  Ash had studied the dog, who looked back at him with what could only be described as a grin. “He seems good to me, but I’m not a pet person, really. Couldn’t afford the vet visits.”

  “Dad wouldn’t let me get a dog since we traveled so much, and my building doesn’t… didn’t allow it. Always wanted one, though.”

  “We’ll take a break once we get past the suspicious guy’s trespassing signs. It’ll do us all good.”

  “He’s good off-leash, that’s for sure,” Elliot mused, still talking about the dog. “Must have been really well trained. It’s a shame his owner lost him.”

  “Dog like that, as loyal as he seems, wouldn’t just leave his people,” Aaron said. “He was probably left behind or dumped. I bet it killed his people to do it, too.”

  “Or they’re dead,” Jason muttered.

  Jennifer smacked him on the arm halfheartedly. “Be nice.”

  “What, like the dog is going to get offended,” Jason scoffed. “Sorry pooch. I hope your owners were just assholes who didn’t think you worth it when they saved their own skins, rather than someone who died unexpectedly and set you free before they went to the great Doggy Heaven to wait for you.” Ghost panted at him. “See?” Jason said to Jennifer. “He ain’t bothered.”

  She rolled her eyes, then stopped abruptly and pointed ahead. “Dead end.”

  As they neared the end of the road, marked by three reflective red signs and a big yellow one declaring it to indeed be a dead end, Ash could see a bit of well-kept grass beyond the trees. In fact, the perimeter of trees shielded a tended—well, Ash wouldn’t exactly call it a meadow, but it looked a hell of a lot more inviting than the dirt road they were on. The meander of the trees farther in suggested a water source. Ash had his hoodie tied around his waist since the noonday sun had grown too warm to keep wearing it, and Riley the Sweat Monkey on his back wasn’t helping, so he’d already gone through all his water for the day.

  “Yeah, let’s take a load off,” he said with relief. Just like the dead ends they’d hit in Iowa and Illinois, they kept going straight, passing through the perimeter of the trees. Beyond them, he saw no signs of a house, making him wonder who maintained the property so well. The shade cooled his face, and he closed his eyes and moved to unseat Riley when a loud bang sounded to his left.

  “Jesus Christ!” Tim shouted, high-stepping away from a tiny cloud of smoke rising into the air from about shin height. “What the hell?”

  Another bang sounded on Ash’s other side, and Charlotte yelped, jumping away from another little cloud of smoke.

  “Uncle Ash?” Riley said in his ear, frightened and squeezing his arms to the point of choking him. Brian knelt near Charlotte, picking up a small piece of cardboard smoking amid electrical tape.

  “Booby traps. Noisemakers, but they’re harmless.”

  “Fuck, some people are a little crazy, aren’t they?” Jason said to Tim, stooping to examine the blown-out firework at their feet. “Well, if someone didn’t know we were here, they might now.”

  Ghost barked at the air, unsure from where the threat was coming. Elliot bent to soothe him. “Shh, good boy. It’s okay.”

  Aaron studied the ground several yards in front of them. “I think it’s okay,” he said. “I don’t see anything else ahead. Maybe just perimeter warnings to keep people from going any farther.”

  “Maybe we should listen,” Jennifer suggested, frowning around them like she expected someone to step from behind the trees and shoot them on “site” like the signs had promised.

&n
bsp; Ash studied the terrain. “We could turn around. I think there was a crossroads about a mile back, and we could circle this land.”

  “Backtracking is just going to make it that much longer for us to get anywhere,” Jason complained. “These aren’t designed to hurt people. Probably just someone playing at perimeter defense or scared with the power out.”

  “In the middle of nowhere?” Brian countered. “I’ve heard about these kinds of people, Ash. New World Order, who preach about the how the United Nations will invade the US and subjugate us all, abolishing our freedoms and establishing a government bent on world domination. There are whole cults that believe that shit, and they’re all full of preppers who take home security to the extreme.”

  Aaron snapped his fingers in recognition. “There’s a faction of believers who are also part of the religious right who think the UN will be taken over by the Antichrist, and the book of Revelations will come true. It’s part of that one book series about the Rapture. If you don’t have the Mark of the Beast, or something like that, you’ll be sent to FEMA camps in the midst of a national disaster to be exterminated. It’s population control, survival of the fittest, and the establishment of One True Religion all wrapped up in one theory.”

  “I bet these people are having a field day with the blackout,” Ash grumbled, squinting the way they’d come. As much as he hated to agree with Jason, he didn’t relish the idea of retreating and going around. They had no way of knowing how large the tract was that belonged to this landowner, and retracing their steps for a different route could mean losing all of their progress for the day. But rushing and not heeding these obvious warnings was equally detrimental.

  “Let’s keep going,” Jason pushed.

  “Easy for you to say,” Charlotte snapped. “You’re not pregnant or watching out for a ten-year-old kid.”

  “There are enough of us to protect Riley and Jennifer, and we should be able to keep a close eye on where we step. It’s faster through than around, and who’s to say the field beside this one isn’t rigged, too?”

  Ash looked to Aaron and Brian, who frowned as they studied the ground. “The road dead ends,” Brian said. “Trying to walk around without backtracking puts us on someone’s land. I say we go back. It’s too dangerous, and Charlotte’s right. We have extenuating circumstances for a couple people.”

  “If you mean me, I’m fine,” Elliot said stubbornly, crouched beside Ghost to keep him calm.

  “Vote. All those for going forward,” Ash said. Jason and Tim immediately raised their hands.

  Aaron did so more reluctantly, and Jennifer smacked him in the chest. “What? I think it’s some wannabe survivalist scaring people off his property but won’t mean any real harm. It’s faster to go straight through.”

  “Raise your hands for backtracking and going around.” Ash interrupted what Jennifer was about to say.

  She shot her hand into the air, as did Charlotte and Brian. Riley was slower to speak. “I want to do what Uncle Ash wants to do. We should have listened to him at home, Mom,” he said when Charlotte started to argue. She snapped her mouth shut and looked away, mutinous.

  “Elliot?” Ash asked. “You didn’t vote.”

  Elliot gave Brian a defiant look. “We keep going,” he said, breaking the tie.

  Ash lowered his head, thinking.

  “It’s dangerous, and you know it,” Charlotte said. “And we’re in the middle of nowhere, so if someone gets hurt, we can’t get help.”

  “Hello, I’m a medic,” Aaron protested.

  “Yeah, you gonna fix up someone’s gunshot wound?” Jennifer fired back. “Maybe do a little field surgery while we’re running from some gun-crazed whackjob who thinks it’s his duty to keep his lands holy for the Second Coming?”

  Aaron shot her a dirty look. “Overreacting much?”

  “Not if it gets someone hurt!” she shouted.

  “Shut up,” Ash hissed. “Keep your voices down. The longer we stand here, the more we risk whoever set these alarms coming along and finding us. If we go the way we came, we’re exposed, and they could give chase. We’d be out in the open because this is the only shaded spot anywhere in this stupid state, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t much want a bullet in the spine. It’s not like we can knock on Trespasser Skeeter’s door back there in case we need help, so I say we go forward. If these are this far from the guy’s house, he probably set them as a warning and is expecting them to be enough to keep people out, and by the time he got out here, we could be off his property and on the other side.”

  “He should be right about it keeping people out!” Charlotte said through gritted teeth.

  “Fine,” Ash said, just as angrily. “You guys take the long way, and the five of us will meet you on the other side.” He stepped over to where Aaron, Jason, and Tim stood together. Elliot moved with him, as did Ghost. After a second, Riley did, too, upping the count to six.

  “Are you sure about this?” Brian asked, his tone deadly serious.

  “No, Brian,” Ash said. “Half the decisions I’ve made have been gut feelings. This is, too. But I tell you what, either way, I’m going with the medic.”

  “So am I,” Elliot agreed.

  “We’re wasting time,” Jason said.

  “Tick tock,” Tim goaded.

  “I swear to God, if anything happens to my son because of this, I will fucking shoot you all,” Charlotte spat, then went to stand beside Aaron, grabbing Riley and putting him in front of her with her arms locked around his shoulders.

  “Three people up front, watching for more traps,” Ash said, pointing to Tim, Jason, and himself. “Everyone else, fall in behind one of us and step where we step. When we’re across this asshole’s property, we stop for the day and regroup. No talking if you don’t have to, and everyone with a gun, keep it ready.”

  “Shouldn’t Jason and I get a gun?” Tim asked.

  Ash realized he couldn’t make them go first alongside him without arming them. He gestured to Charlotte to give up her rifle and Elliot to hand over his Colt. Brian had the pistol he’d picked up from the carnage they’d come across in Indiana, and Aaron had Ash’s other rifle. They walked three wide and put Riley in the middle. Charlotte, Jennifer, and Elliot brought up the rear.

  Ash took the first tentative step, and they all began to move, cautiously, scouring the ground for more wires to set off further alarms. After several minutes when nothing happened, Ash began to suspect the small fireworks meant as a scare tactic was the correct assertion. The slower pace made his skin crawl, but there was no way he’d rush. They were all tense, and no sounds of life reached them.

  “It’s quiet,” Brian muttered. “Shouldn’t there be birds and squirrels?”

  “The fireworks probably scared them off,” Jason suggested.

  Ghost kept tight to Elliot’s leg, and while it wasn’t possible for the dog to step where they stepped, he didn’t set off anything else. Then Ash had an idea.

  “Ghost,” he called with a soft whistle. The dog trotted up. “Got anything, boy?”

  As well trained as the dog was, perhaps his owner had taught him something about tracking. If the dog could smell something like a trail of human scent, maybe he would alert them when something was coming up.

  They walked for a good hour, covering a tiny portion of their usual distance due to the extreme care slowing their pace. Over the rise of a small hill, a house came into view. Ash thought house at first, but soon realized it was more like a compound. There had once been a house, but it had been added onto over the years in such a way that it sprawled, looking like a Frankenstein masonry and clapboard beast.

  “Stick to the trees. I want no part of whoever lives in that house,” he said to the others.

  Ghost meandered ahead, and no sooner did Ash’s words die than they heard the whisper of unraveling rope, and the crash of branches on both sides of their narrow trail. Two hefty logs swung from perches higher up, their trajectory like a deadly Newton’s Cra
dle. It was clear what would happen when they met in the middle, especially if the dog was there at the moment of impact.

  “Ghost!”

  The startled dog cowered, and the heavy tree trunks crashed into each other amid a shower of displaced leaves right above him. If it had been tripped by a person, they’d have sustained major injury. Someone Riley’s height would have had their head crushed.

  The stunned group looked on while the dog belly-crawled back to them, whimpering. When he reached Ash, he laid there, shaking, his eyes rolling back the way he’d come as if to ask, “What have you gotten me into?”

  “Just a warning, right?” Charlotte breathed, her voice unsteady. “What if that had been one of us?”

  “Charlotte,” Ash warned. “Stop fucking second-guessing me. I see the edge of the field. We’re almost through.”

  “Assuming the next field isn’t owned by the same psychotic fuckwad!” Jennifer hissed.

  “Jennifer,” Aaron barked, shaking his head at her. “We’re all in this together, and fighting won’t help. Let’s just get off this guy’s property.”

  “Should have listened to me,” she said under her breath.

  “You can rub that in when we’re past here,” Aaron promised. “Right before I rub in that we didn’t have to waste a day or two going around this guy’s shit.”

  “You do that,” was her sarcastic reply.

  “Shut up,” Ash said, listening for more trouble. Thankfully, the tree trunks hitting hadn’t been all that loud. After another moment, he beckoned them on.

  “I’m keeping my dog back here,” Elliot said.

  Ash didn’t figure Ghost would want to take point now anyway.

  They neared an open field between the edge of the copse of trees through which they walked and the ones creating a natural border from the next field. Ash didn’t like walking so exposed, but they didn’t have much choice in the matter, so he turned to them with the tatters of a plan in place.