by Amy Cross
We stay on the porch for a little while longer, both of us watching the dark horizon. But the lights don't come on, and they're still off when – a few hours later, after spending some time reading and playing guitar – Jon finally decides it's time for us to sleep.
Settling at the foot of his bed, curled tight, I figure everything will be back to normal tomorrow.
***
The bang is loud and sudden, and I immediately sit up at the end of the bed. The room is still dark, but as I look over toward the window I hear another bang in the distance, and then a third.
“What was that?” Jon asks groggily as he sits up. “Harry? Did you hear it?”
Staring at the dark window, I try to calm myself by focusing on the fact that the bang sounded distant, perhaps a couple of miles away. Still, I'm almost certain it was a gun, and every muscle in my body is tense as I wait in case there's any further sign of danger.
“Don't worry,” Jon says, putting a hand on my shoulder, “it's just -”
Before he can finish, there are two more bangs in quick succession.
I immediately get to my feet, standing on the bed and snarling as I look toward the window.
“Hey, buddy,” Jon says, climbing out from under the duvet and walking around the bed. He heads to the window and stops, looking out. “Did that sound to you like someone shooting a gun?” He pauses, and I can see his silhouette against the treeline and the starry night sky. “Why the hell would someone be firing a gun in the middle of the night, huh? It sounded pretty far off, but still...”
He pauses, before heading to the door and making his way out into the corridor. I immediately jump down off the bed and follow. The sound of the gun already had me worried, and now it's clear that Jon is concerned too, which makes things even worse. In fact, as he opens the back door and we both step out onto the cool, breezy porch, I can't help noticing that his heart seems to be beating much faster than usual.
“It wasn't too close,” he says after a moment, as if he's trying to persuade himself that nothing's wrong. “Sounded like it was coming from the main road, at least. Maybe even further.”
Looking toward the trees, I realize that the forest seems quieter than usual. Even in the middle of the night, there should be the sound of animals out there, but right now I hear barely a scratch. It's as if the sense of alarm and concern is starting to spread, and all the rabbits and deer have moved on.
“I think the power's still off,” Jon says finally. “Outages don't usually last this long, I wonder what the hell's going on down there. Probably goddamn panic.”
He reaches down and pats the top of my head.
“Well, we did come out here to get away from civilization,” he mutters. “I'm sure there's no reason to worry. Julie'll show up tomorrow and we can get all the gossip from her. Come on, buddy, let's get back to bed.”
He heads inside, but I remain in place, watching the dark forest.
“Harry, come on,” Jon calls out from the doorway, clapping his hands together.
I know I should go to him, but I want to sit here for the rest of the night, just to make sure that there are no more bangs, and that nothing approaches the cabin.
“Harry, get inside right now!” Jon says firmly, and I realize I have no choice.
Turning, I head inside and Jon quickly slides the door shut and locks it.
“There's no need to be worried,” he explains, leading me back to the bedroom. “Everything's okay, you know. If some drunk asshole wants to fire his gun in the middle of the night, then let him. Let's not be typical city guys and get freaked out by every little sound.”
Once we're back on the bed, he falls asleep fairly quickly, but I remain wide awake and alert. Curled at the foot of the bed, I keep my eyes trained on the window. It's hard to smell much of the outside world from here, but at least I can listen out for any hint of something getting closer. Instead of sleeping, I'm going to spend the rest of the night like this, guarding the cabin and making sure that everything's okay. I just hope that tomorrow, everything goes back to normal.
Chapter Four
“So we'll leave this note here,” Jon mutters, pinning a piece of paper to the cabin's front door. He's drawn squiggly lines all over the paper. “If Julie arrives while we're out for our morning hike, she'll read the note and she'll know to stay put and wait for us to come back.”
He turns to me and smiles, but I can tell he's worried.
“We won't go too far this time,” he continues. “I want to be back in a few hours, just to check whether she's here yet. And she will be.”
He pauses, as if he's considering changing his mind and staying right here at the cabin, but finally he makes his way down the steps and claps his hands loudly.
“Come on, Harry! Let's stop worrying and go take a look around, yeah?”
***
I don't want to go into the forest, but that's where Jon leads me and I have no choice but to follow. After all, I have to stick close to him, and he doesn't seem to have noticed just how still and quiet the world seems right now.
“Picking up any fun scents?” he asks, tossing another stick into the distance.
I ignore the stick.
“Harry? Don't you don't feel like playing this morning?”
I keep my nose close to the ground. There are scents out here, but they all seem a little stale. Usually I love coming to the forest early in the morning, when I can pick up on the trails of all the animals that have been through during the night, but this time it seems that the forest stayed completely empty after the sun set. It's hard to believe that Jon hasn't noticed the change. I know he's not very good at picking up scents, but even he should surely have noticed by now that the forest around us is not only empty, but also completely quiet.
Sometimes I think humans can barely smell anything at all.
“Still no signal,” he mutters, checking the black device he pulled from his pocket a moment ago. “That's over twenty-four hours now. I can't remember the last time phone coverage was out for that long.”
He fiddles with the device some more.
“I wish there was some way of contacting Julie, just to find out what the hell's going on,” he continues. “I'm not worried, but I'd still like to know for sure.” He turns to me. “Have you noticed anything weird, buddy? Anything tickling that super-strength nose of yours?”
Ahead, the forest-floor drops down a shallow incline, and I can see the light of a field in the distance. Glancing over my shoulder, I look back the way we just came, and I can't sake the feeling that the entire forest seems completely lifeless. There's no strong, local scent of blood, so it's not as if there was some kind of incident here. Nothing died in the forest. Instead, all the rabbits and mice and other animals simply seem to have cleared out, preferring to go somewhere else, perhaps further away from the city.
Maybe they smelled the blood too, as its scent drifted between the trees.
We stop at the edge of the forest. The lake is spread out in the distance, and the city is even further off. The wind is blowing the wrong way for me to pick up any strong scents, so I can't tell if the city still smells of blood, but I can tell that the whole world still seems strangely silent. I'd usually be able to hear a distant rumble from the roads, and an electrical buzz in the air, yet for the second day running there doesn't seem to be anything at all.
“Have you noticed any planes?” Jon says suddenly.
I turn to him and see that he's shielding his eyes from the sun as he looks up into the sky.
“Remember last time we were up here?” he continues. “Remember how I was bitching about planes going over, on their way to the airport?”
He pauses for a moment, before turning and looking the other way.
“I only just realized,” he adds finally, “but I don't think I've seen or heard any sign of a plane since a couple of days ago. I would've thought the airport'd have its own generators, but I guess not.”
He looks back toward the c
ity.
“Hell, it's almost as if the power outage is still going on. What's going on down there? How can the city be out of power for this long?”
He takes the black device from his pocket and checks it again, although after a moment he lets out a faint sigh.
“This is going on for a little too long for my liking,” he mutters, clearly concerned. “Harry, I'm not gonna start panicking, but if we don't hear from anyone by tomorrow morning, how about we take the car down to the main road? I know we were supposed to stay up here the whole time and get away from the crazy world, but I'd like to just make sure that nothing too bad has happened. Does that sound good to you?”
Again, he forces a smile, but again he seems more worried than he's letting on. His heart-rate is faster, his breathing is shallower, and his voice sounds more clipped.
“Maybe there's been a terrorist attack or something,” he adds, “or... I don't know. Something.”
He pauses.
“I'm sure it's nothing,” he continues, patting me again before setting off across the field. “We'll be laughing about this tomorrow. Julie'll show up tonight, I guarantee it, and then she can fill us in on whatever's been going on. I'm sure it'll be hilarious.” He glances back at me. “Come on, dude. Let's take the path back to the cabin. She's probably there already! I bet you a dog snack that Julie's on the porch, waiting for us!”
***
As the rest of the day passes, Jon becomes more and more concerned, even if he's trying to act normal. He checks the black device a lot, while muttering to himself, and he keeps mentioning Julie's name as if he expects her to suddenly show up. He spends a lot of time on the porch, too, watching the dirt-road that leads up here, as if he's waiting for her to arrive.
Usually we spend our afternoons exploring the area nearby, but this time Jon seems to want to stay close to the cabin.
“In her last messages,” he says a little while later, as he taps at the black device in his hands, “Julie mentioned something about having to work a double shift at the hospital.”
He runs his finger against the device. I don't know what it is, exactly, but that rectangular object really seems to absorb his attention sometimes.
“She said something about people getting sick,” he adds. “I didn't really pay much attention at the time, and she didn't seem too worried, but...”
He pauses.
“So maybe that's it,” he continues, turning to me and forcing another nervous smile. “Maybe there was some kind of incident and everyone's having to pull double or even triple shifts in the ER. Meanwhile, there also happens to be a major power outage, which is making everything ten times harder. Seems like quite a coincidence, but...”
His voice trails off, and finally he sets the black device aside and reaches over to rub the fur on top of my head.
“Don't worry,” he tells me. “Everything's going to be okay. I promise. This isn't the end of the world. It just feels a little bit like it right now.”
For the rest of the afternoon, however, he keeps checking the black device every few minutes. He reads for a while on the porch, then he plays guitar, then he reads again, and then he just sits and watches the trees. He talks to me a lot, too, although I only understand a few of the words. He mentions Julie several times, and I think he's a little more worried about her.
Finally the sun starts to dip in the sky, and the fields and forest become darker. While Jon plays his guitar, I sit at the top of the steps and look toward the horizon above the city. Again, the stars are much easier to spot than usual, and once night falls it becomes clear that there's still no light glow in the distance. It's as if the entire city has suddenly disappeared. Or rather, the city is still there, but all the people are gone.
“I guess she'll be here tomorrow, then,” Jon mutters finally. “Probably bright and early.”
I stay awake again all night. This time, Jon doesn't sleep much either. At least there are no more loud bangs in the distance. In fact, I don't hear a single sound at all.
Chapter Five
“Okay,” Jon mutters the following morning, as he takes the old piece of paper from the door and pins a new one in its place, this time with a completely different set of squiggly lines. “Just in case Julie shows up while we're gone. Which she probably will. We'll only be a few hours, but...”
He pauses for a moment, clearly lost in thought. I can tell that he's really worried now, and he's not even trying to hide the fact that he thinks something is wrong. After a moment, he glances at me and forces a smile.
“Fancy a ride in the car, Harry?” he asks, leaning down and ruffling the fur on the side of my neck. “Remember that gas station we passed on the way up here last week? It can't be more than ten miles away. How about we go touch base with civilization and make sure the rest of the world didn't go up in flames, huh?”
***
As the car comes to a halt in the gas station's parking lot, I look out the window and immediately see that something seems different. I remember coming here a few times before, and there were always lots of other cars, and lots of other people too. This time, there are no other cars at all, and all the lights are off. The main road is empty, too, whereas usually there are always a few cars passing in either direction.
“Do you see any sign of anyone?” Jon asks as he switches the engine off. “Anyone at all?”
We sit in silence for a few minutes. Jon seems reluctant to get out of the car, maybe because he'd like to see at least some hint of movement first. He's much more cautious than usual, and it's clear he's starting to pick up on the fact that something is wrong. Maybe he's finally picking up on some of the signs that I first noticed a couple of days ago.
Finally he turns to me.
“I know I usually make you wait in the car, buddy, but do you want to come with me this time? It's not like there's any traffic to worry about.”
He pauses before getting out of the car and then, to my surprise, he opens the door next to me and claps for me to jump down. Cautiously, I hop out and make my way across the tarmac, while carefully sniffing the air. There are tall trees all around, so it's difficult to really pick up any proper scents from afar, but the first thing I notice is that no-one seems to have been to this place for at least a day, maybe longer. In fact, there's no sign of recent human activity at all.
“I don't mind admitting,” Jon mutters, stepping past me and heading toward the gas station's main building, “I don't like this too much. Stay close, buddy.”
Not wanting to let him get too far away, I hurry after him and then keep pace. The building up ahead looks completely dark and empty, and after a moment I realize I'm picking up the scent of blood from close by. I immediately stop and let out a low, rumbling growl, to warn Jon.
“Harry?”
He stops and looks down at me.
“What is it, buddy?”
Keeping my eyes fixed on the door ahead, I maintain my growl. There's definitely blood somewhere on the other side of that door. Not a lot, but enough to make me really, really not want to go any closer.
“You're freaking me out, Harry,” Jon says after a moment, leaning down and patting the back of my neck. “Come on, let's not overreact here, okay?”
He keeps walking, heading toward the door.
I bark to warn him, and he immediately stops and turns to me.
“Harry?”
I bark again, followed by another low growl. I don't know exactly what's wrong, but I know there's a strong scent of blood and I can tell it's coming from inside that building.
“What are you picking up?” Jon asks. He turns and looks toward the door. “Is someone in there?”
I bark again, before lowering my head a little and snarling to warn anyone who might be watching us from those dark windows. The scent is so strong, it's hard to believe that even Jon can't sense it now.
“Hell, Harry,” he continues, “you really know how to put me at ease, don't you?”
He stares at me for a moment
, before looking toward the building again.
“Are you saying we shouldn't go in there? Is that what it is?”
I continue to growl at the door as Jon hesitates, but finally he takes a couple more steps forward.
I bark again, and then again, to make him stop.
“Calm down!” he says, holding up a hand. “Harry, quiet!”
Ignoring him, I bark at the door.
“Harry!” Jon says firmly. “Quiet! I'll be fine, okay? I'm just going to take a look! Quiet!”
I know what that word means, but I also know that the sense of blood is getting stronger. The wind has changed direction a little, and now I can tell that whatever happened on the other side of that door, it caused human blood to get spilled about a day ago. The blood has definitely had time to start drying, but its scent is rich and strong, and I think there's a lot of it.
“You can wait out here if you want,” Jon tells me, his voice tense with anticipation, “but I think I... I have to go take a look inside, okay?”
He pauses, before stepping closer to the door.
I bark again, desperately hoping that he'll stop.
“Harry -”
And again, louder this time.
“Harry, seriously...”
Realizing that he doesn't seem to understand, I hurry toward him and paw at his leg.
“Harry -”
I bark again, and then I growl as I stare at the door. A moment later, Jon reaches down and runs a hand across the back of my neck.
“Jesus, the hairs are standing up,” he mutters. “Harry, are you picking up on something?”
Stepping past him, so that I can protect him if something comes out through the door, I snarl a little louder. The scent of blood is even stronger now, and although I can't hear anything moving inside, I still don't want to let Jon go any further.
“Hello?” he calls out. “Is anyone home?”
Still snarling, I watch the door, poised in case there's any hint of movement.
