Creatures

by Michelle Khonsari

  “She was so brave,” Cassie remembered aloud to Matt. “She knew she was going to turn, and we said our good-byes, and she just closed her eyes and waited for me to pull the trigger. I had wasted six months being angry at them, convinced they had ruined my life. I could have spent those last six months enjoying what time we had left.”

  “Come on, Cass, don’t beat yourself up,” Matt replied. “They would be proud of you, of how much you’ve overcome. Unfortunately, that’s the shitty thing about death. No one’s ever ready when it comes, and there are always regrets. I have no doubt your parents loved you, and I’m sure your mom thought she had a very brave daughter, because she knew what you had to do so you and Trey could survive. Trust me, she would’ve hated dying, knowing she was going to come back and eat her own children.”

  There was no Halloween that year, for the second time, and probably never would be again. There was no candy or cheap little toys to hand out. There were no costumes for the kids to dress up in. There were no pumpkins to make jack-o-lanterns, and no decorations to cover the lawns and homes. It was now just another day. She sat that night, smoking a cigarette alone on the back porch, wrapped in a fleece blanket, thinking of Halloweens past. She didn’t remember what her parents dressed her up as when she was a baby, or even a toddler. It was written in her baby book, which lay in a town of desolation in Midtown, Nebraska, never to be recovered.

  At four, five, and maybe even six years of age, she had been like all other little girls and went as a Disney princess. She remembered being Ariel one year and Jasmine another year. She also remembered being Cinderella at one time. After her Disney princess phase, she got into the “scary” costumes. She had been a witch, a ghost, even a zombie. At the time, she had felt very scary as a zombie, with her tattered clothes, face paint, and fake blood. Looking back, she could have never envisioned the true depth of real fear encountering a real zombie. At that time, zombies were fictitious, made up for movies and scary stories. They were just pretend, a creation of someone’s imagination.

  Matt came out to check on her after a couple of hours. “Feeling depressed?”

  She wiped at some stray tears and took a drag of her cigarette. “A little, I guess.”

  He sat down in the chair next to her. He didn’t know what to say that he hadn’t already said ten times over, so he just sat with her in silence. After some time, she finally spoke, sharing the memories of costumes and trick-or-treating that filled her mind. It was not that she wanted to dress up and go door to door in hopes of filling a plastic pumpkin with as much candy as possible, but the surreal actuality that life would never be as it was before. A week passed by without incident, but on this fateful day of Friday, November 7, the world as they knew it came to a most abrupt end. It had started off without any indication of ruination. Cassie spent the morning washing out their clothes and hanging them to dry. Matt had left early that morning, with the rise of the sun, for the supply run, and Trey was out with the lawn care team to rake up all the fallen leaves. She had some peanut butter and crackers at lunchtime, then sat down to play a game of solitaire with Trey’s playing cards. Unbeknownst to her at that moment, a group of men had approached the gate and demanded entry.

  “We haven’t any more room,” Alan declined. “I apologize, but we’re full here. We don’t have enough room for your entire group.”

  “Now, listen here, you better make some fucking room,” the leader of the group returned with obvious anger. “We see what you’ve got here, and we want in.”

  The altercation progressed, and soon all had guns drawn. The leader of the outside group opened fire, hitting Alan in the chest. He fell to the ground as the other two guards returned fire and sought cover. At this point, Cassie could hear the gunfire, and she grabbed up the pistol at her side. She looked from the windows first, but couldn’t see the commotion. She cautiously exited her condo and noticed several other citizens had come out armed as well. They inched together toward the front gate, and soon saw Alan in a pool of blood on the concrete. The other two guards were shooting at the intruders, and the intruders were firing back. One had jumped into their giant tank of a truck and started ramming the gate. Cassie and the other residents started firing as well.

  It was pure chaos from that point. The truck broke the gate enough for them to get through, although they managed to shoot a few of them. They ran in like wild beasts, shooting into the crowd. Cassie found cover behind the dumpsters and fired out at them from there. Some of the residents had been hit, and some of the intruders had been hit. Then one of the intruders threw something into the crowd. Cassie wasn’t sure what it was, and she couldn’t see where it went, but after about ten seconds, an explosion erupted that sent debris flying and knocked Cassie to the ground. She could see the world shake around her. She looked out, spotting the one who had thrown the homemade explosive into the crowd. She took aim and pulled the trigger. He fell to the ground, and she ducked back behind the dumpster. She could hear the bullets hitting the other side. There was suddenly another large boom, and she saw one of the front condos go up in flames.

  The flames spread to the attached condos on either side rather quickly. She saw some kids come running out the front of one of them as it caught fire, and a couple of them were shot. She saw the terrorized look frozen on their faces as they fell to the ground. She wanted to run to them, hold them in her arms, but there was no safe way to do it. She heard the heartbreaking screams of the mothers as they ran to their children. Cassie had to look away. She prepared herself to shoot again. They were moving in closer, even as they were being shot at, and some falling to the ground in their own blood as it poured from their wounds. They were just feet from the dumpster now. She had to move.

  Her eyes darted for a safe place. The only way to go was behind the first row of condos. She wouldn’t be able to shoot from there, but maybe she could make sure anyone inside was safe. She got to the first condo and crawled into the screened in porch. She called out for anyone to let her know they were safe. It was one of the guards’ wives.

  “Chelsea!” Cassie called, recognizing her. “We’ve got to move down. They’ve got a huge group and bombs.”

  She could see Chelsea was crying. She crawled out and asked about her husband.

  “I don’t know,” Cassie told her honestly. “The last I saw him, he was okay. Alan’s dead, though.”

  “Oh my God, I can’t believe this is happening,” Chelsea cried.

  “Chelsea, where’s the kids?” Cassie inquired.

  “Right inside their room,” she answered, and turned to motion them out. Jody, Janie, and Justin Price all crawled out to their mother. They were all three crying.

  Jody had recently turned six, and Janie had just turned five. Justin was only three. He clung to his mother when he reached her, making it difficult for her to crawl off the back porch. Somehow they managed it, and went to the next condo. No one answered and they moved on. More bombs went off, and Cassie wondered if all they did was make explosives in their spare time. It allowed them to wipe out a lot of people at once, and finally the residents started to retreat and take shelter instead. The middle row of condos were burning wildly now, and people were scrambling to safety. A majority of the men were out on the supplies run, and the two small groups of men that did the lawn care and the sanitation work had joined the fight. Cassie worried about Trey the entire time. As they reached the end of the front row of condos, Cassie could see people heading down the street.

  “They must be heading for the center,” Cassie told the others. “We’ll have to make the gap to get behind the next row of condos, and then we should…”

  She was interrupted by fresh screams, and she peeked around the condo. Not being able to see the reason for the screaming, she went into the last condo and ran to the front, where she could see down the street from the window. Several were lying in the street, blood pooling up around them, and those still on foot were scrambling like stirred up ants. She went back out to the small
little group she had gathered.

  “They’ve branched out down the streets,” she informed them. “We need to go back down and see if we can get through the gate.”

  They rushed across the gap between the condo at the end and the office building. The intruders had spread out and moved up from the entrance, so there were no eyes on the entrance. As they came up past the building, they could see Alan sprawled out in front of the gate. His weapon had been picked up. Chelsea was a little hesitant.

  “What about the others? James is still in there!” Chelsea cried, referring to her husband.

  “I’m going back in,” Cassie told her. “But, first of all, you need to be as calm as you can, and second of all, you need to get these kids out.”

  So the small little group of mothers and kids slipped out the contorted gate. Cassie went back up, keeping against the office, and then the dumpsters. The condos in front of her and the row of condos down the side from the parking area were all burning. She ran down the road, between the burning buildings and looked around. There were three intruders with their backs to her. She took aim and fired. She caught one in the back, and as they whipped around, she caught another in the chest. The third guy shot at Cassie, and she ducked back behind the burning building as he fired at her. The distraction gave another a chance to shoot, and the intruder was hit in the back of the head. Finally, all the intruders were dead, and the gunfire ceased. Cassie just stood there, looking at all the damage, all the dead bodies on the ground.

  “Cassie!” she heard someone call. It was Trey, running toward her from the center.

  He embraced her when he reached her, and they assured each other they were okay. Then Cassie had a thought.

  “We gotta get every living person out of here,” she told him. “Anybody that’s not shot in the head is going to turn. We gotta get out.”

  Even as she spoke, they saw the dead stirring around them. All of the survivors had started to gravitate to the center, and Cassie decided they should just barricade themselves inside. The creatures started to rise and some came right for the center. Cassie locked the doors to the center and had everyone stay cramped as close to the middle as possible. They all understood how important it was to stay as quiet as possible, but some of the smaller kids were crying, as well as some of the women. They didn’t know when the supply team would return, and they were now trapped in the community center building with no food or water, creatures banging on the doors and windows, and buildings burning around them. After about an hour, all had calmed enough to stop crying, and sat mostly in both shock and hopelessness. They felt helpless and wondered what would become of them now. The windows had blinds, and Cassie made sure all were closed. She hoped the creatures would start wandering away. After sitting cramped up in the center, they heard gunshots. It startled them at first, and some of the smaller kids screamed.

  “It’s the supply team,” Cassie realized aloud. “Just wait. They’ll find us.”

  She didn’t know how many creatures were out there, but their ammo was nearly depleted, and she was pretty sure there were more creatures out there than they had bullets for. After another half hour, a normal knock sounded on the door.

  “Hey! It’s us! Are you okay?” a voice called.

  Cassie opened the door cautiously, and the supply team came in. Matt grabbed Cassie up as soon as he saw her. He was nearly in tears from the fear that she might be dead. Trey was by their side a moment later, and they all embraced. The supply team had picked up the little group Cassie had sent out and brought them back. After the reunion, they headed out into the grassy field, now sprinkled with ash from the burning condos, and surveyed what was left of their safe haven. A group of them went searching every condo that wasn’t engulfed in flames to see if there were any survivors. They found Debbie, Carly, and Cody Reynolds hiding in their condo, and little Gage Whittle hiding under his bed. His mom, who was in the group at the center, had been distraught when she couldn’t find him, and had thought he perished. Matt carried him back, and it was a very emotional reunion for them. They didn’t locate anyone else.

  Cassie looked around at everybody, noticing there were a few who sat crying alone. Glen Stuart, one of the lawn care team members, was one who sat alone. His wife, Tamara, was one of the women Cassie had seen get shot when she ran for her nephew, Jacob Wilcott. He had been running from the burning condo and was shot down. Glen and Tamara’s own two children, Haley and Caleb Stuart, died in the fire. Vince Green had perished, and his wife, Myra, made her way over to Glen to sit with him.

  Chelsea Price and her three small kids had been saved, thanks to Cassie, but Chelsea’s husband, James, was not so fortunate. All three guards had been shot to death. John Michaels, also a lawn care member, was killed by one of the explosives, while his two kids, Brandon and Daisy, had been trapped in the burning condos. Lisa Boggart, who had taken over for Cassie the week of her honeymoon, had been shot when she ran to the aide of her youngest child, Drake, who had also been shot. Her two other children, Travis and Hannah, had tried to escape, but an explosive got them both only moments later. Miranda Owens sat with her daughter Lucy and her niece Olivia Cawley. Olivia’s mother, Samantha Atchley, was killed in the battle. She spotted only one child sitting alone, and went over to him. It was sixteen-year-old Deshawn Decker. He was part of the supply team, so he came in with Matt in the aftermath. His mom, Clarisse, and two sisters, Mariah and Faith, had died.

  “Hey, Deshawn, I’m really sorry,” Cassie replied empathetically, giving him a hug.

  He let her hug him, but he didn’t say anything right away. Rod Bernam approached them shortly and squatted down in front of them.

  “Where’s Jasmine?” Deshawn asked, referring to his girlfriend and Rod’s daughter.

  “Jasmine and Shalia didn’t make it,” Rod choked out. Shalia was Rod’s oldest daughter.

  Deshawn cried harder, and Rod pulled him close. Cassie left them alone and went to check on others. Trey came running up to her.

  “Cassie, I can’t find Emily or her mom,” he told her, trying not to get upset. “You’ve seen them, right?”

  Cassie realized she hadn’t. “We’ll look for them.”

  They walked around everyone, searching their faces. Finally, Ashley Fleming informed them as delicately as she could that Emily and her mom, Darla, had got caught by one of the explosives. Trey’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open. Cassie saw the tears start to well up in his eyes, and she wrapped her arms around him. He cried for a good while, letting Cassie hold him.

  “It’s getting dark, Cassie,” Matt told her. “This place is ruined. The two sets of condos are still burning. We’ve got five vehicles, which includes our Suburban. They’re all full of supplies. We need to divide it up and figure out what everyone wants to do. We shouldn’t stay here, though. It’s not safe anymore.”

  It was difficult to get anybody to jump into action on what they should do. So many were grieving, and some of them had lost their entire family that they had left. Debbie Reynolds finally stepped up to help. She had been very close to the leader of the group, Alan, and was dealing with that loss, but she still had her kids and wanted to keep them safe.

  “We should load everybody up, take what supplies we can. Have you noticed any other suitable places on the runs?” Debbie asked Matt.

  “Yeah, there’s some neighborhoods with ranch style houses that may do, at least for tonight,” Matt remembered. “We cleared them out last week, but at least it’s shelter, and we have supplies to take with us. We need to see if we can clear the gate so we can drive in.”

  Several of the adults and teenagers went to work on clearing the gates while the others went to gather things up from the condos that still stood. Cassie’s condo was not one that burned, and she packed up everything she could from it. Trey came with her to help pack, but he did a lousy job at it. Cassie bit her tongue, knowing she’d probably be the same way had Matt died. It was very dark by the time the gate was cleared, but the still-
burning homes gave off plenty of light for them.

  Matt pulled the Suburban up to their condo. “We split up the supplies as evenly as we could at the gate. We’ll have to make a couple of runs to get everyone moved. I’m taking you and Trey on over there.”

  They loaded the rest of the supplies and got in the truck. It was pretty full now. All five vehicles met at the entrance, then drove in a line five miles away to a middle-class neighborhood of ranch-style dwellings. They emptied the supplies into the houses, and went back for more people and supplies. Cassie, Trey, and Matt would be sharing their house with Debbie and her two kids and Chelsea and her three kids. They all grouped up like this to use as few homes as possible and stay close to each other. The next morning, they all grouped together in a meeting to decide what to do.

  “We could make this home,” Debbie Reynolds suggested. “The neighborhood is fenced, and there’s only one entrance. We can block off an area to use. We still have enough people to make it work.”

  “I’m going back to my original plan of heading south to Florida,” Matt input. “I don’t want to put in all the work of making a place safe just to have it ripped away in the blink of an eye. Before we found this group, we had the perfect house. It was a stone mansion with warm water and a working gas stove. I worked day and night for weeks building up a fence. More and more creatures came. After a few months, there were so many the fence didn’t do any good. It was seven feet tall with barbed-wire, and we still were forced to leave.”

  Not one decided to go with them in the final decision. Matt didn’t expect them to split up. They had been a community before any of the world-changing events happened. They had stuck together in trying to destroy the creatures with a massive attack, and then went together to make a new community. He didn’t expect them to split up now, nor to keep moving. They wanted to find permanency as quickly as possible, and they saw the potential of this neighborhood. They stayed a few more days to participate in making the memorial. After all, Cassie had come to be close with the kids those several months, and half of them had perished.