Chapter 15

The full moon glows just strong enough to light up the contents of this apocalyptic town. The dim illumination adds to the eeriness of destroyed and decaying enterprises long since abandoned. The remains of each building are in horrible repair and, similar to my barns, contain collapsed roofs and deteriorating walls. There’s little glass left in any of the windows nor hardly a door hanging from a hinge. All signage has long since faded to a blank state. Tumbleweeds rolls carelessly along the deserted streets and the ground is scorched black with nothing green or growing to be found in any direction.

If I didn’t know any better I’d of guessed this town had been deserted decades ago, but I know this isn’t the case, for I was just here a few months back and it was full of life and as vibrant as ever back then.

What the fuck happened here? I wonder before remembering why I’ve come to this godforsaken hellhole. “Hello!” I call out anxiously. “Is anybody here?”

Is it wise to be so loud? I consider this a moment as I meander up, of what’s left of, Main Street.

Fuck it. I need help. “Hello!” I yell louder still.

“Who goes there?” A cautious voice answers me from within the remains of an old shop. “Are you friend or foe?”

I whip around and spot a gruff, young bearded fellow walking tepidly in my direction. He has a massive hammer in one hand and a middle aged woman, dressed in a frilly dress, holding his other.

I think I recognize the man. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’s the town’s top blacksmith. I’ve done business with him and always found him reasonable.

“Harry?” I ask as he steps closer still.

“And you are?” the man cocks his head before stopping a few feet in front of me.

The woman moves to his rear and asks, “Are you one of those monsters?” She’s armed with a baseball bat and is keeping her distance, a step behind her companion.

“No!” I reply adamantly.

“How can we know for sure?” Harry asks the obvious.

“Come on, I don’t look fucking dead do I,” I shrug my shoulders. “And all those things have red, glowing eyes.”

“It’s true,” the lady nods her head enthusiastically. “That thing, that killed James, had horrible eyes, just like the man says.”

“I haven’t seen one up close you see,” Harry replies apologetically, lowering his hammer. “But you can’t be too careful.”

“What’s your name?” the lady asks me.

“It’s Buck, and you?”

“I’m Melinda,” she offers a strong handshake and I notice a knife tucked under the ribbon of her dress. “And this is Harry.”

“Good to meet you both,” I say, wanting to get the formalities out of the way as quickly as possible.

“Nice to meet you too,” Harry strokes his brown beard. “What the hell do you think is going on around here?”

“I wish I knew,” I say as I continue scanning our surroundings. Decayed buildings wrap around us on all sides but there doesn’t appear to be any immediate threats. However, we’re sticking out like sore thumbs in the middle of the dusty street. I don’t like being this exposed. “I was hoping to find answers here and maybe some supplies.”

“Sorry,” Melinda pulls the curly hair from her face. “Haven’t seen anything in the way of food or weaponry save what we’re holding.” She shows off her blade and bat.

“No guns?” I ask a little too eager.

Harry shakes his head. “Sorry friend. It’s like they’ve all been taken away.”

“Are there demons here in this town?” I inquire.

The two strangers stare at one another for several moments before Melinda finally replies. “Yes, but we call them monsters. Just barely survived an attack. Happened only a few minutes ago.”

“Yeah, and there were five of us then,” Harry says dejected. “But only me and the lady here made it out.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t really know,” Melinda begins. “I woke up in that pod, but when I stepped outside I was home somehow, in the mayor’s house.”

“You’re the mayor’s wife?”

“Yes, but he wasn’t there at first. It was just me and I was so happy to be home you know...” Her eyes well up with tears. “It felt so good to be free and I rushed off to find my husband, to share the good news ... but then that horn blared and everything changed. It...”

“He turned into a monster,” Harry finished Melinda’s sentence as crying overtook her. “Same thing happened to me, only I was at my shop. Nobody attacked me. But I heard that horn and stepped outside and watched the town die right before my very eyes. One second it was lovely, as always, and then the next ... well it turned into this shit.” He waves his hand about. “Then this lady comes running wildly towards me, screaming her head off.”

“My husband was trying to kill me you see,” Melinda managed. “He had those red eyes ... awful really. But my brothers were there and they fought ... it was bad. He was killed but so were they. It was an awful thing to watch ... So much hate.” Melinda starts sobbing once again. “So much blood...”

“And then you showed up a few minutes later, calling for help,” Harry concludes. “What about you?”

I tell them of my morbid tale, only I offer the quick and condensed version. I really want to get off the street and search for weapons or food. However, it seems etiquette has to be satisfied first.

“That’s awful,” Harry shakes his head. “So what do you make of it all?”

“Has to be the Rapture,” I reply all matter of fact. “Nothing else makes sense.”

“Never considered that,” Harry mulls it over. “So that horn announced the Tribulation?”

“Exactly.”

“Holy crap,” Harry connects the dots and his composure shifts to one of defeat. “God has abandoned us. We’re fucked then...”

“I’m Catholic,” Melinda counters. “We don’t believe in that Rapture bullshit.”

“Not sure that rightly matters,” I say and am about to further my case but a loud howling interrupts us all.

We turn in unison, towards the sound emanating from up the street, at the edge of town where a group of silhouettes has just gathered. We can’t see their faces, or their features, as they’re standing some hundred feet off in the foggy darkness, but I know they’re my demon corpses by the way they carry themselves and how they struggle to stay upright.

“Are those your creatures from the graveyard?” Harry asks.

“I’d bet my fucking life on it,” I suddenly wish I’d spent the last few minutes rummaging for guns instead of shooting off my goddamn mouth.

“Here take this,” Melinda gives me her baseball bat. She’s clutching her long blade instead.

“Thanks,” I reply while inspecting the crude weapon. It’s not sharp, but at least it’s well balanced.

“Should we run or stand our ground?” Harry asks as he tightens his grips on the blacksmith hammer.

“You know of any safe hiding spots?” I ask while keeping a vigilant eye on the looming threat, getting ready to advance on us.

“Not really,” he replies truthfully.

“Me neither,” Melinda says.

“Most buildings are caved in and those that aren’t don’t have working doors or windows,” Harry adds. “Not sure if they’d provide sufficient cover.”

“Guess we stand our ground then,” I reason as I test my new bat. “Those things don’t carry weapons; aren’t smart enough. And only the first wave is a real threat as they’ll be the fastest and strongest of the group. If we can withstand that initial attack, we just might survive.”

“Why’s that?” Melinda asks as she rips away most of her dress. Clearly she’s been in a fight before and knows this thick garment will only slow her down.

“The first wave will be the healthiest while the others will be more and more decayed.”

“And ergo, slower,” Harry says. “Makes sense. Gotta get to round two. Any other tips?”

“I killed my wife by stabbing her in the heart.”

“That’s messed up,” Melinda says with disgust.

“Yeah, but it worked,” I try to stay focused, but images of her wild red eyes suddenly overtake me. I remember her anger, her rage, her rotting flesh peeling from her bones and the smell of death and decay that followed her about. It was so disgusting. Now I had to face a small army of those goddamn creatures. “The head is likely another weak spot as I doubt they can survive without one.”

More howling beckons from the horde of beasts standing at the edge of the town.

Our battle is about to begin.

“Okay,” Harry rocks his head back and forth, while breathing all the louder. “Go for the head or the heart ... the head or the heart.”

“Ha, ha, ha,” I hear that faint laughter once more, but am not afforded the time to process its meaning still.

The army of the dead has taken up its charge. They’re heading straight for us.

Four of their foot soldiers are much faster than the others and reach us in no time at all. As they approach it becomes plain to see that each of their eyes is burning red as was Susan’s. Chunks of flesh are also falling off their exposed bones. This mindless stampeding accelerates their deterioration and yet they continue to charge with reckless abandonment.

One jumps wildly at me. His tattered suit and tie flail in the wind. He grunts his hideous battle cry as he takes flight. However, I manage to strike him in the abdomen, with my bat, just in nick of time. The creature yelps in pain as it falls hard to the ground.

I glance over my shoulder only to spot two demonic corpses ripping Melinda to shreds. She screams in rage, while putting up a good fight, slashing wildly at her attackers with her short blade. But she’s outnumbered. She’s stabbing one repeatedly, but the second knocks her to the ground and starts clawing at her chest. She punches and kicks back as valiantly as anyone could in her situation, but she’s taking too much damage.

Harry is faring a lot better. He’s smashing the shit out of his attacker with that big hammer of his. The beast wails in agony, but Harry doesn’t let up.

“Take this motherfucker!” he screams as if possessed himself. He delivers numerous blows to the face of the dead man.

“Get off me!” Melinda shouts desperately. There’s more urgency in her voice now as she can’t free herself. The two beasts keep striking while she lies helplessly on the dusty street.

She’s running out of time.

“Melinda!” I rush over to her defence, but don’t get very far.

“Gotcha!” I hear a gargled voice yell out from behind me.

I turn around but am too slow. The animated corpse tackles me to the ground, forcing me headfirst into the dirt.

“Fuck off!” I call out, but the monster doesn’t listen. Instead it takes a huge bite right out of my left shoulder. “Goddamn that hurts!” I try to spin around, but this asshole has me pinned well. Its full weight is pressing against my back, keeping me immobile as shit.

“Motherfucker!” I hear Harry scream, followed by the sound of his hammer striking the back of the creature’s skull.