The Darkening (A Zombie Awakening)

Copyright 2012

Written and Published by: Cynthia Hickey

Cover Art: Cynthia Hickey

Photographer
:
Dmitriy Tereshchenko

From Russian Federation
123rf.com

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Acknowledgements

To my son
,
Mychal, who is the inspiration for the character of the same name, and to my wonderful grandkids who inspired me to write a YA novel:

Eddy, Alyssah, Faith, Caleb, and Trinity.

Enjoy! Nana loves you.

Chapter 1

             
June

“My fellow Americans
.
It is with a heavy heart that I inform you the mission to blow up the meteor hurtling toward Earth was unsuccessful.” The president looked to have aged ten years in the last week.  Chalice Hart held her breath
and met her mother’s horrified expression over her
younger
sister
Hanna’s
head
.
Her brother,
Mychal
, clutched a
navy
throw pillow to his chest
and kept his gaze glued on the television
.

             
“Although the target was hit, it was not obliterated
as we
had
hoped.
Instead, we now have multiple meteors showering down on us.
Meteors will shower Earth beginning at 5 p.m. tomorrow evening
Eastern Standard Time
. They will range in size from
a golf ball to a school bus
. Some coastal towns will cease to exist as tsunamis
’
wipe them from our continent.
I urge you
, my friends,
if you did not heed earlier warnings to prepare,
to flee these areas
immediately
and head inland
as soon as possible
.
Los Angles, New Orleans, New York, and others will be under water.

“These meteors may strike government facilities which will unleash diseases we’ve only dreamed about in our nightmares. Find a safe place and stay there.
May God be with us all.”

             
“Mom?” Tears welled in Chalice’s eyes. Her skin prickled.
They’d known the chance of a meteor strike, but what did he mean about plagues? What kind of work did the government do in secret?

             
Her mother
, Claire,
wrapped an arm around her. “We’re prepared, sweetie. The pantry and root cellar are stocked with food and water. Living in these Ozark hills, we’re safe from the ocean, volcanoes, and earthquakes.”

             
“But not the meteors themselves,”
Mychal
explained. “They can hit everywhere.
And what if a plague is released? An airborne one?
It’ll reach in a few months.
”

             
“Don’t scare your sisters.” Mom pulled
Hanna
tighter to her and brushed Chalice’s hair from her face. “We’ll be okay. Come on. There’s a lot of work to be done today. We’ve gone over the drill. Everyone knows what to do.”

             
For
six months
, Chalice had ridiculed her mother for preparing for
, and believing
in
,
the worst.
Most people she knew
thought the astronauts would do what they’d set out to. Now, the unthinkable had happened. And Chalice had done the one thing her mother had asked her not to; t
old
others they were stockpiling.
Some of the boys from school laughed and said they knew where to go when doomsday hit.

             
Mychal
ran to grab the backpacks from the closet under the stairs.
Hanna
rushed to put plugs in all the sinks and bathtubs
and
fill
them
with water. It was Chalice’s responsibility to pack boxes with the foodstuffs from the pantry and take them to the root cellar behind the bar
n
.
Not that it would do any good if they were stuck in the cellar.
While they ran around accomplishing their assigned tasks, h
er mother would worry about clothing and weapons.

But Chalice couldn’t move. Cement coated her arms and legs.
Her blood ran with liquid fire
as guilt sped through her
.
She needed to confess.
“Mom, I told people you were stocking food.”

             
“Define people.” Her mother’s eyes narrowed.

             
Chalice swallowed past the mountain in her throat. “Um, Angie, Barbie, the Baker brothers.”

             
“Is there anyone you didn’t tell?” Mom’s face paled. “
Chalice, w
hen something of this magnitude happens, it brings out the worst in
folks
. Everyone in these hills owns at least one gun. What were you thinking?
They can take our food and medical supplies. Everything I’ve spent my paychecks on each month.
”

             
“I didn’t think it would really happen!
Scientists would have told us if the meteor
was going to
hit
here
, right?
” Chalice cried in earnest now.
Her throat burned
,
and she grabbed a napkin to wipe her nose.

             
“Not if they wanted to avoid a panic,” Mychal said. “If they discovered they couldn’t do anything, they might have offered to keep the news to themselves. Can you see how crazy people would’ve been over the last few months?
I mean, if you think about it, and you knew a meteor would strike for sure, what could you do, really? Nah,
”
he grabbed a can of soda from the fridge. “I’d rather be left in the dark
and not know
.”

             
Chalice nodded.
She’d royally messed up. Her mother expelled a deep breath and stormed from the room.

Grabbing
a cardboard box
, Chalice
began
to
empty the pantry. Cans of tuna, packets of dried potatoes, jars of pickles, powder
ed
milk, cereal; her mother had thought of everything. Even vitamins
and baby wipes
.

First box full, she hefted it in her arms and headed to the cellar.
Mychal
had
thoughtfully
propped it open with a rock.

Inside, Chalice set the box on a rickety wooden table and added the box’s contents to the canned vegetables already on the shelves. Two bunk beds lined the walls. Water jugs filled the corners of the room.
A chemical toilet hid behind a hung shower curtain. A radio and batteries took center stage on the table.
Two rifles lay in their racks above a couple of lawn chairs
with boxes of shells stacked beneath them
.
Her brother’s throwing knives were in a can on the table.

She slumped into a chair. This couldn’t be happening! This only happened in the movies, or books.

Mom entered the room and dropped blankets on the beds. “Don’t worry. I’ll install a lock on the cellar door this evening. We’ll be fine. We’ll leave a few items in the house and make it look like we left town.” She cupped Chalice’s cheek
s with
her
warm hands
. “I know you didn’t mean any harm.”

Chalice nodded. “I’m sorry.”

Mom patted her on the shoulder. “No biggie. Once you finish the pantry, help me with the clothes, okay? And have
Mychal
carry in the bags of dog food. Can’t have Lady going hungry, can we?”

“What about the horses?”

“
We’ll give ‘em plenty of hay and water, then t
hey’ll have to fend for themselves.”

“What if we don’t get hit?” Hope leaped in Chalice’s heart. It could happen. The president’s message could be an exaggeration, right?

“Then we
’ll
thank God.”

“Is
this
the end of the world?”

“No. Just the world as we know it.”
Mom
gave a sad
smile and left, leaving a trail of the vanilla scent she wore
wafting in the air behind her.

Chalice emptied out the pantry and cupboards. When things no longer fit on the cellar shelves, she stacked the boxes underneath.
The walls closed in on her, made worse by piles of supplies.

Hanna
carried an armload of board games. “How long will we have to stay down here? It’s
getting really
crowded.”

Chalice shrugged. “As long as it takes.” As long as what takes? The world to go back to normal
, p
eople to settle down and not try to steal and murder
, some mysterious plague to run its course
?
Obviously
Mom
anticipat
ed
them staying underground for months.

Life wasn’t fair. Dad died two years ago
,
and they’d worked harder than ever to make ends meet
. Why
? For everything they worked for to be destroyed?

She climbed the stairs and stared at the sky. Peaceful and blue. No clouds in sight. It was hard to believe that this time tomorrow the sky would be filled with streaks of fire
and the world cast into months of dusk
.
She wouldn’t be able to watch the show, though. Nope, she’d be safe underground like a gopher.

###

             
Colton Morgan
turned off the television and glanced out the window to the patio
. His
telescope
took place of honor
.
He’d known all along they wouldn’t be able to divert a meteor the size of Rhode Island. It was pure conceit to think otherwise.

That’s why the wooden chest under his bed was full of ammo for his rifle
and two thick medical journals he’d stolen from the library. He’d felt a twinge of guilt, but after tomorrow, nobody would care.
. He’d snuck it
all
there two days ago, right under the noses of his foster parents. Not that they paid much attention to what he did anyway.
They were too busy stocking up on booze and cigarettes.
But if his caseworker found out, there’d be hell to pay.