“Mom,” Toby said as he walked up. “I heard a weird noise.”
“It’s alright, baby,” Lena said, reassuring him. “Everything’s fine. We just had a little trouble with the monster, that’s all.”
Toby looked over to the body, and the smaller one next to it. He didn’t say anything, but Travis could tell he was a little disturbed about it. The kid turned away, and went to lie next to his mother. She snuggled him tightly, stroking his hair as he looked at Travis.
“Why did Melanie turn into that monster?” Toby asked.
Good question,
Travis thought. “I have no clue, buddy.”
“My old school teacher, Mr. Greene, said that the world is filled with monsters masque… masquerading as people.”
Travis smiled. “He’s right,” he said. “A lot of people are monsters, and Melanie was one of them.”
Lena looked over at him with a sharp glance. He pursed his lips and turned back to the fire, watching the flames grow. The heat was becoming more comfortable, and Travis relaxed enough to close his eyes. That’s when he heard the shouts of Eric and Cliff at the gate.
“Oh boy,” he said. “This’ll take a lot of explaining.”
The glow from the campfire was unusually bright when Dan and the rest pulled up to the gates. The circle of sheds did little to mask the brightness, and flames could even be seen above their roofs.
“What the fuck,” Dan said.
Drew honked the horn a few times to let everyone know that they were back. Within a few seconds, Cliff appeared in the headlights, waving as he unlatched the new cargo container gate. Everyone piled out, grabbing their gear, and the spoils of war, and Cliff gave Jake and Toni a friendly greeting.
“Hey there,” he said, giving Jake a nod and looking Toni over. “What’s up, girl?”
She gave him a skeptical smile.
“Cliff,” Dan said. “This is Jake and Toni. We found them in Nashville.”
“Along with a veritable shit ton of supplies,” Max added.
“
The
Jake?” Cliff asked. Dan nodded.
Jake stuck out his hand, and Cliff shook it. “Damn,” Cliff said. “You’re a big mother fucker.”
Jake grinned. “You’re not such a hobbit yourself.”
Cliff turned back to the pickup, eyeing their score. His eyes lit up immediately. “Looks like you guys hit the motherlode,” he said. “Right on.”
Dan grabbed a few packs out of the bed, still wondering what was going on with the fire. “What’s up with the bonfire?” he asked. “It’s a bit bright, don’t you think.”
Cliff shook his head, giving Dan a “you’re not gonna believe this” look.
“Come check it out,” he said. “Have we got a story to tell you.”
“What a mindfuck,” Dan said, still mesmerized as he watched the spindly corpse burn to ashes. “It was her?”
“Damn sure it was,” Travis said. “Had her eyes, her hair, and everything, man.”
“And the bitch was pregnant?”
Everyone nodded. Dan felt the strange creepy crawly sensation that usually accompanied news of this sort. He thought back to Lenny and his Valkyrie wife, the hunter-thing he and Drew had killed at his house, and the number of other stalkers they had encountered. He supposed this wasn’t any different; every stalker was probably known by a few people who would likely have the same reaction. At least the human ones.
“But she was dead before,” he asked. “For sure?”
“You shot her right through the heart,” Cliff said. “She couldn’t be any deader.”
“Did anyone notice if she was pregnant before all this?”
Everyone shook their heads, shrugging.
“And you didn’t find her cocoon?”
Again, everyone shook their heads.
“Well,” he said. “What the fuck? I suppose the hunter-thing transformed even after its original body was dead. We didn’t find a cocoon for it, either. Then again, it may have been underneath the house. That’s where the creature made its first appearance.”
“I cut her open,” Travis said. “Cut one of the shufflers open, too.”
“Dad’s been busy,” Eric said.
“I didn’t find anything that I wasn’t already expecting,” Travis explained. “The shufflers have brains that are mostly consumed by some kind of fungus. But there was also some new growth right on the medulla oblongata. It was connected to the abdomen by some kind of fleshy cord. It was like some kind of puppet string or something, man. Seriously way out there.”
“What about Melanie’s brain?” Dan asked.
“I can’t explain it,” Travis answered, shrugging. “It was completely alien to me. It didn’t resemble a human brain at all.”
Dan thought for a moment. If dead people could still transform, then there had to be some kind of process that either revived them, or just made them appear to be dead. But, after they died, how would they get to wherever they were going to form a cocoon? Did they just stumble around half-dead and bleeding, looking for a place to crash?
Suddenly, the pale, ghoulish things popped into his head. “Shit,” he said. “Maybe that’s what the ghoulish things are.”
“Like the ones we shot in the woods?” Eric asked. Dan nodded.
“They transform somewhat,” Dan suggested. “Just enough to get them moving and find a place to mutate all the way. That would explain why they’re not aggressive, and just wander around.”
“Guys,” Jake said, finally. “Me and Toni saw something new.”
Dan looked over at him. Toni had given Jake a sharp look, as if she didn’t want him to say anything.
“What is it?” Dan asked.
“I’m not really sure we even saw it,” Jake explained. “But it came shooting after us in a house, screaming like some sort of demon or banshee or some shit. We shot at it. But instead of dying, it just disappeared.”
What the fuck?
Dan thought. He had never heard of anything like that, at least not in reality. That sounded like some kind of ghost or something. He was about to suggest that when Toni interrupted him.
“I saw a shadow person,” she said.
Everyone froze and stared at her. She shifted uncomfortably.
“When I was standing guard in a candy shop in Nashville,” she related, “I saw one cross the street. I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never seen one until then. I’m not even sure I really saw it.”
“I’ve seen them,” Dan said, nodding. “More than once.”
“Let’s all sit down, chill, and watch the fire,” Travis said. “We have plenty of time to go over all of this. We have new friends to welcome. I look forward to getting to know Jake. I was impressed with his Apocalypse Compendium.”
“Why thank you, sir,” Jake said, smiling.
“Well guys,” Drew said. “We still have a bunch of shit left in the pickup to bring in. We got food, ammo, some new guns, medical supplies, everything.”
Travis’ eyes lit up. “Alright then. Maybe I can finally get my little clinic set up.”
Dan chuckled. “You sure can,” he said. “And Toby will be happy to know I found him a couple of good guns.”
Jake sat at the desk in Travis’ makeshift clinic, just off the main room of the office building. He cringed as Travis blotted his wound with alcohol swabs, and cringed even more when the antibiotic cream was applied.
“This is crazy,” Travis said. “It’s definitely a bite mark, but you’re not infected.”
“Are you sure?” Jake asked, crossing his fingers.
“Am I sure you’re not infected?” Travis clarified. “Of course, man. That’s what’s crazy.”
“Toni thinks maybe it was my glucose levels at the time.”
Travis grunted a little. “That’s possible, I guess,” he said. “But not directly. Glucose metabolism produces a lot of oxygen, and
that
can kill pathogens.”
“Even cancer?”
“Even cancer,” Travis said. “That’s far out, though. I don’t think this thing is a cancer, but I could be wrong.”
“Fungus, virus, bacteria. I’ve heard so many theories.”
“Me too,” Travis said, sliding Jake a handful of antibiotic pills. “Take these twice a day until they’re gone.”
Jake nodded, swallowing one of them right away.
“I think the important thing is surviving,” Travis said. “And making sure we continue on as a species. I don’t always agree with the way we do things, but maybe those of us who survive can build a better world.”
“Fuck the world,” Jake said, grinning. “I kinda like it the way it is.”
Travis laughed. “Yep,” he said. “Other than all the damn monsters, it’s not all that bad is it?”
Jake would have to agree.
Dan stared out the fence toward the gully, where the path wound its way up to the church. Though he knew the church had to have burned down, he still couldn’t shake the feeling that Melanie and Mason may have found their way to its ruins. There, they could possibly have found shelter in order to transform.
Cliff had said that he and Eric went looking for the bodies, and any evidence that they had transformed, but had found nothing. But, Dan realized, short of trying to find shelter in the camp where they had just been killed, any potential stalkers would try to find the closest possible place to hide.
And that was the church.
He heard the gentle crunching of gravel behind him, and saw Toni move up out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t know her, but he had a sense that was a good person. She had taken care of Jake, after all, and for that he was thankful.
He turned to look at her profile. She seemed like the strong silent type, always watching and listening, never revealing her own thoughts unless it was necessary. He knew her type. He
was
that type.
“What are we looking at?” she asked.
“A theory,” Dan said simply. “But I don’t know if it’s worth checking out.”
“A theory isn’t a theory unless it’s tested,” Toni said. “Until then, it’s just a hypothesis.”
Dan laughed. That was the most intelligent thing he had heard since the shit hit the fan. “You know your scientific terms, eh?”
“I read a lot,” she replied. “So what’s this hypothesis?”
Dan pointed off in the direction of the church. “There’s a church up there that Eric and I burned down. There was a stalker in it, don’t worry. I think maybe Melanie and these other guys woke up and went up there to transform. It’s the only place besides this camp where they could have gone.”
“Do you know that for sure?” Toni asked. “Have you been everywhere?”
“No,” he said. “Not really.”
She turned to him, cocking her head. “And that’s why it’s not yet a theory.”
Dan folded his arms across his chest. “So what do you suggest?”
“Test your hypothesis,” she said with a sly grin. “Just like a real scientist would.”
Dan nodded. “Alright then. Wanna go to midnight mass?”
“I thought you would never ask.”
“This regulator is top-notch,” Max said, turning the device over in his hands. “I can have this grid up and running in no time.”
Jake and Eric leaned in for a closer look.
“How long will it take for the batteries to charge?” Eric asked.
“No more than a few days,” Max said. “But the way it’s installed, the solar panels will provide approximately 2000 watts of power during the day. Once the batteries are fully charged, the power can be rerouted to provide more than that, while still keeping a good flow to the battery bank. We should be all set.”
“Nice job,” Jake said. “Make sure to add your custom circuit to the book.”
“Will do,” Max said. “We have all added things over the past few days since Dan and Drew arrived.”
“Cool,” Jake said. “I can’t wait to see how fat it’s gotten.”
“First things first,” Max said. “Tomorrow when we have more light, the actual panel we procured from Nashville will have to be installed.”
“Right, right,” Jake said. “Then we’ll have to figure out how to heat everyone’s shed. We could probably find some extra propane lines and small heaters for that purpose.”
“I saw a bunch of Heater Buddy units in the bed of the pickup,” Eric said.
“Those will do,” Max said. “All that’s left is to find the right hoses, and maybe find a propane truck to keep the tank full.”
The door to the office opened up and Dan and Toni stepped inside, strapped up, and ready to go on a trip.
“Eric,” Dan said. “We’re going back to the church. You should probably come with us since you’ve been there.”
“Alright,” Eric said, standing up. “Let me grab my shotgun.”
“Be careful,” Jake said. “And don’t let my girl get hurt.”
He shot her a grin, which she returned with a shake of her head. “
You
be careful,” she said. “And get some sleep.”
Jake turned back to assist Max, hoping that his friends would return safely. He knew Dan wouldn’t let anything happen to Toni,
or
Eric, but better safe than sorry.
“So,” he said. “Whose idea was it to put Dan in charge?”
Max grinned.
“Are you guys nuts?” Lena asked as the trio prepped for their hike. “It’s the dead of night, and you’re all running on no sleep.”
“We’ll be alright,” Dan said. “Trust me, we’re good.”
She went to Eric, and Dan watched her eyes as she looked up at him. “You haven’t slept at all,” she said. “After that shit earlier, I’d think you would want some sleep. Why doesn’t Cliff go with you guys instead?”
“He had the same kind of day I had,” Eric reminded her. “But he has the better eyes. That’s why he stands guard so often in the tower. He can see a lot better than the rest of us.”
Lena sighed, throwing her hands into the air. She then turned to Toni, who looked at her fondly.
“And what about you, Toni?” she asked. “When was the last time you slept?”
“I never sleep,” Toni replied. “How about you?”
Lena shook her head in frustration, turning to go back to her shed.
“Lena,” Dan said. “This is important. We’ll be alright, I promise.”
She ignored him, continuing on. Dan shrugged. Toni grinned.