Dead by Dawn (10 page)

The man at the door.

John’s dead face staring at her.

Caitlin.

Sarah threw open the closet door and stumbled into the hallway. She covered her eyes because the sun was so bright, coming through a window at the end of the hall. Her head was pounding.

Almost every door that was locked shut the night before was wide open now. Sarah peered inside as she passed. In some cases there would be a lamp lying on the floor or something similar, but for the most part they were undisturbed inside. Just empty apartments.

Sarah observed her own handprints on the doors in blood. It was still on her arms and shirt as well, all black and crusty. Only a shower would be able to get it all off.

She made her way back up the stairs and to the room she was partying in the night before. She stood outside the door, afraid to look in.

“Please be inside
,
”
she whispered.

It took a three count to work up the nerve to step in.

There was a round bloodstain on the floor where John had been laying the night before. John was missing along with everyone else. The wind whipped the curtain that hung around the open balcony door. There were a few tears in it and a couple rungs had been torn from the curtain rod.

“Hello?” said Sarah, her own voice making her jump. “Is anyone here?”

A hand full of knives were scattered across the kitchen floor. One of the cupboards appeared to have been kicked in and the half that was left was still hanging off its hinges.

“Ashley, Caitlin,” Sarah called, hearing the tears and panic in her voice.

She went to the couch she’d hidden behind the night before and sat down.

The placidity was going to drive her insane. She began to cry.

Nobody came to her rescue, or even showed up at all. She was alone.

Sarah eventually gave up waiting and decided to head outside. What she found was no more comforting.

A hot dog cart at the end of the street was knocked over and no one had come around to pick it back up. There was no one. In a jungle of concrete, she and the birds were the only living organisms.

Sarah’s first idea was to find Caitlin’s car. Unfortunately she didn’t have the slightest clue in what direction that was. Also, Caitlin was the one with the keys.

Instead she chose the Empire State Building as a landmark and began walking towards it. That was pretty much the extent of her plan.

New York was a strange place without people. The wind actually made noise as it navigated the maze of buildings. The birds were quite boisterous as well. The city would have been too loud for her to hear any of it the day before.

The first person Sarah ran into was a man who looked like he was in his late twenties. He was sitting on the steps of an old brick building, wailing into his hands as if he were in agony.

Sarah tried to confront him, but the guy was completely incoherent and unresponsive. She tried to get his attention for a good ten minutes before moving on.

She began seeing more people after that. Their numbers were small and most were pretty distraught.

“Repent!” screamed one lady who stood in the center of the street. “The judgment day has come, repent!”

Sarah knew she had to get home. The first step would be getting out of the city.

She decided to attempt the subway. It made perfect sense to her at the time.

It didn’t take long to begin second-guessing herself as she descended down into the darkness. None of the lights or electronics were working. She had to jump the turnstile just to get in.

After a good half hour of waiting she decided the train was never going to come, and headed back into the light. It was a relief to leave the darkness behind.

More people were out when she emerged. She even spotted a car driving down the road.

Most of them were wandering as if lost. She imagined she must look similar.

“Excuse me, miss?” called a male voice.

Sarah turned to find a group of twenty or thirty people all bunched together. At the lead was an older man with a gray beard that was neatly trimmed.

“Me?” Sarah asked.

“You look lost,” said the old man.

“That’s because I am. I seem to have lost… everyone.”

The old man gave her a knowing and sorrowful nod. “Most of us have.” He gestured to all the people following him. “You’re more than welcome to come with us. We’re on our way to the George Washington Bridge to get the heck out of here.”

“Um,” said Sarah, feeling guarded.

“If it helps, you’re more than welcome to follow behind while you make up your mind.” The old man began walking again.

Sarah watched the procession as it passed. A lot of people were sniffling, while some were full-on crying. Had they gone through a similar experience the night before?

She thought about Caitlin and Ashley and knew they were gone. No matter how much she wanted to pretend it was a dream, the night before happened.

Sarah turned and began following the crowd out of the city.

Chapter 15

              Joe sat on the front steps of his porch, drinking his coffee and watching the corn grow. So far there were no new leads on his neighbors
’
disappearance. He knew this because he called the police station three times a day to find out.

The whole thing left a sour taste in his mouth. The fact that something so horrible could happen in his hometown, and to people he was close to no less, seemed unreal. If only there was something he could do about it. He decided that putting his hands to work was the cure.

He mowed Charlie’s lawn the day before. Thankfully, the police allowed it. The act kept him from going mad.

Now he could only reflect on what nice people he lost. The thought always brought him back to the murderer.
If I ever get my hands on that son of a bitch…

A trail of dust was coming up his driveway. Joe squinted his eyes enough to make out a small, blue Chevy S-10. It was a vehicle Joe had come to know well.

The truck slid to a stop and Keith hopped out.

He was wearing a black compression shirt with a tan bulletproof vest. He still had on his snakeskin boots. Joe hadn’t seen him since their birthday celebration at the bar.

Keith went around to the bed and began unloading gun ammunition.

“What the hell are you doing Keith?” asked Joe.

“I always said when the shit hit the fan I wanted to be next to you,” said Keith, still unloading ammunition.

“I’m gonna ask one more time. What the hell are you doing?”

“The shit hit the fan,” said Keith. He stopped what he was doing and turned to face Joe. “Haven’t you heard?”

Joe waited.

“The whole country is on the fritz. People are disappearing left and right. Vampires, demons, and terrorists seem to be the responsible parties. If you ask me, my money’s on terrorists.”

“Quit wasting my time Keith.”

“This isn’t a joke Joe. People really are disappearing left and right. They’re not even getting sick anymore.”

“What do you mean getting sick?” The image of Charlie flashed through Joe’s mind.

“You know, the whole pandemic of people getting sick and their bodies disappearing? What the hell Joe, you been hiding under a rock?”

“I’ve been working a lot. Haven’t gone into town all that much.”

“Damn it Joe, buy a computer…”

“What else?” asked Joe.

Keith shrugged. “No one’s getting sick anymore. They’re skipping that step. One minute everything’s fine, they go to bed like normal, but in the morning they’re gone.”

“Gone?”

“Vamoose, gone, no one knows where they went.”

“How many?”

“Thousands Joe. Enough that the National Guard is being called into action.”

Joe took a sip of his coffee and gestured towards the pile of ammunition. “And your plan is to turn my house into some kind of fortress?”

“Not without your approval of course,” said Keith.

Joe shook his head. “Just put the damn guns in the living room and try to make as little a mess as possible. You can stay here tonight, but I’m not making any promises about tomorrow. I’m not taking in strays here.”

“That’s all I can ask for,” said Keith.

Come to find out, Keith brought somewhere around twenty-five guns with him. In the stash were several shotguns, a few assault rifles, and some handguns.

Joe let him take in two loads before he joined in. After they moved all of the ammo boxes, Joe’s living room looked like a small armory. He could barely walk to his recliner.

With the guns in the house, Joe decided to make Keith pay his way. He put him to work. There was a large elm tree in his front yard that had died from Dutch Elm disease.

They were standing under the tree when Joe informed him of their task.

“We’re going to cut it down.”

Keith held up his hands in confusion. “Don’t you think now isn’t the time.”

“I need it down and you’re here to help. It seems like the perfect time to me.”

“I understand there’s work to do Joe, but we still have to figure out the best way to defend ourselves.”

Joe shrugged. “We can come up with a plan as we work.”

“You’re ridiculous sometimes. You know that?”

“You gonna help me or not?”

“Yea yea, get the saw.”

Joe cut the tree down with his chainsaw while Keith split the logs with an axe and stacked the wood. Unfortunately, it was impossible to talk when the saw was running. Any idea of formulating a plan soon fell to the wayside.

Both men were hard workers and were quite proficient when working together. They moved like a factory: cutting, chopping, and stacking. Chatter was minimal when the chainsaw was idling and neither of them took breaks.

Joe had one goal and that was to keep ahead of Keith. Keith in turn was working to get ahead of Joe.

The tree didn’t stand a chance. They finished so fast, in fact, that Joe decided to get his old tractor and pull the stump.

When they were finished, it was as if the tree had never been there in the first place. The yard looked a lot more open too.

Keith leaned the Axe against the porch and sat on the steps as Joe handed him a nice cold beer.

“Sweet nectar,” said Keith, wiping the sweat off his forehead and taking a swig. “You should really get some chairs to put on this porch.”

Joe was leaning against the railing a few feet away. “Why, so you can come over more often?”

“You know, some people would say having guests isn’t all that much of a bad thing.”

“I don’t need the distraction.” He pointed at the bulletproof vest laying in the yard. “You gonna put that thing back on? I wouldn’t want the terrorist vampires to shoot you.”

Keith went to retrieve his gear. “Knock it all you want, but when you’re the one eating a bullet and I’m still living to fight on, don’t come bitching to me.”

“I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

Keith watched the corn as he drank. “You really take care of this whole place by yourself?”

“Yea.”

“You don’t have any help at all?”

“Nope.”

“Seems like a lot of work. A guy could save a lot of time if they were to hire it out.”

“I don’t mind it,” said Joe. “Keeps me busy.”

“No shit. I can see why you stopped coming out to the bar.”

“I stopped coming out to the bar because only a damn fool would waste his time and money there.”

Keith smiled. “You didn’t always think that way.”

“I wised up, something you should think about doing.”

“Maybe one day,” said Keith. “Just not today.”

Both men took a drink of their beer and the conversation lapsed.

Chapter 16

              A Humvee passed by the front of the house: its diesel engine humming.  It was painted all black with a turret on the top. A row of soldiers marched behind, each one holding a rifle. The National Guard was running their first patrol of the night.

The sun was still up, but sinking fast. There were similar patrols being run all over the east coast. Each unit was tasked with guarding a two-mile area. For almost every man and woman on the ground, it was shaping up to be a long night of marching.

Barry and Adam watched out the front window as they passed. Barry was taking pictures with his phone.

“This is getting out of hand,” he said.

Adam took a Sweet Honey BBQ chip from the bag they were sharing. “It’s about time really. Do you know how many lives could have been saved if they did this yesterday?”

“I don’t know man,” said Barry. “How do you prepare for something like this?”

Adam stared straight out the window, watching the boots of the soldiers as they marched. The loss of his mother still felt like a knife wrenching its way into his heart. If only they had taken action earlier, maybe she would still be with them. Well, that wasn’t true, technically she was still with them. She was out there, waiting to lure them to their deaths in the middle of the night.

“I just hope they kill all of these pale bastards,” said Adam.

“Yea,” said Barry. “I say we prop up a few chairs, crack a few beers, and watch the show from the front porch.”

Adam took one look at the front porch and knew that was a horrible idea. It was small and the wooden railing offered little barrier between them and the night. “How about we stay inside until
after
all the vampires are killed.”

“True, wouldn’t want another run-in with your mom.”

Adam flinched.

“Sorry,” said Barry.

The soldiers continued down the street until, one by one, they disappeared around a corner.

“You ever had a curfew before?” asked Barry.

“Yea, I guess,” said Adam. “But not since I was twelve.”

“I haven’t, it’s weird.” Barry took a handful of chips and shoved them in his mouth. He continued speaking while he chewed. “What are the rules? Do we get arrested if we go outside after dark?”

“You’d probably get mistaken for a vampire and shot.”

“You think? I’m not that pale and creepy, plus I think vampires are skinnier than me.”

“It’s still dark out, idiot.”

“All I’m saying is that it sucks being stuck here all night against my will,” said Barry.

“You would still be stuck here either way. Remember the vampires?”

“Well you don’t have to get smart.”

Adam shrugged. “I’m just saying.”

After a good ten minutes of sitting there the streetlights came on. The television, muted behind them, flashed an emergency broadcast to let them know a curfew was in effect. Shortly after, each of them received a text alert on their phones saying the same thing.

Adam took note of how efficient the text alert system was. Even without the television or radio, they would still know what was happening around them.

“Game on,” said Barry. He got up and fetched them a couple microbrews.

Adam popped the top and sipped his beer. He never understood why people loved beer so much. He understood the fun of getting drunk off of it, he just didn’t get everyone’s fuss over the taste. To be quite frank, to him it tasted like shit. He imagined one day he would take that first sip of a beer and this wouldn’t be his first thought. That day was a long ways off however.

A shadow moved on the other side of the street. Adam sat up to get a better look, grabbing a handful of chips as he did.

“There,” he said. “The other side of the garden.”

He tried pointing it out to Barry, but whatever it was had gone. Adam was alarmed by how hard the thing was to see. It was right in front of him and he saw almost nothing. Maybe if they turned the lights off it would be easier, but he wasn’t sure.

“They’re so creepy,” said Barry. “They give me the chills.”

“That’s probably because they’re blood sucking monsters straight out of legend, Barry.”

“The worst legends anyone ever thought up.”

“I’m beginning to think they weren't so much thought up as observed.”

“No shit,” said Barry before taking a swig of his beer.

Darkness fell across the land as the night crept in. It was a cloudy night, blocking even the light from the moon. Adam and Barry’s vision was cut so short that they couldn’t see past the street lamps. A sinking feeling passed over Adam as he stared out the window. Going out there would be worse than diving into shark-infested waters while bleeding. He said a silent prayer for the soldiers stuck marching.

The sound of gunfire cracked from up the street. It came in short controlled bursts, echoing off the houses. It fired once, twice, three times. Another gun fired, joining the symphony. A third went off, loudest of all, drowning out the others.

They’re using the turret,
Adam assumed, judging from the vast contrast the new gun was making compared to the others.

The rest of the soldiers must have found their targets because the entire street erupted into a war zone. In the short pauses between shots, Adam could hear the echo of other platoons farther off. They seemed to be in a similar situation.

Adam leaned closer to the window, trying to get a better look at the muzzle flashes a mile up the road. He almost had to press his face against the glass to see anything at all.

It looked as though the soldiers were using a couple of spotlights. From the angle he had, Adam couldn’t see much more.

There was a small thump and the sound of feet running on wood. Before he knew what was happening, a face slammed against the window mere inches from his own. With a wicked grin it licked the glass in one long, slow stroke, mocking him.

Adam jerked backwards and tumbled off the couch. He hit the floor and gaped in awe at his mother's dead face. The skin above her cheeks was covered in shadow, as if she had two black eyes. Other than that, her complexion was flawless. Not even her pores were showing on her glassy skin.

She looked starved, like she hadn’t eaten in days.

Adam only had a moment to take all this in before the lights went out.

“Shit!” screamed Barry. He was running.

Adam didn’t need to be told, he started running too. His mother watched them run for a moment before opening her mouth wide and unleashing a blood-curdling shriek. The sound punctured the night and resonated like some nightmarish cacophony, raising gooseflesh on his arms and the back of his neck. He clapped his hands over his ears as he hit the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. He dove onto the mattress they placed in the hallway and threw the blanket over his head. That was where he found Barry.

“What the hell do we do?” Barry panted.

“Wait for rescue maybe. I don’t know.”

“I can’t keep doing this man.”

“What does she want?” Adam said, mostly to himself. “Is she planning to kill me? What’s she waiting for?”

When Barry spoke it came out as no more than a whisper. “I read on the internet that vampires can’t cross a threshold unless invited.”

“You think she can’t physically get in here?”

“Shit man I don’t know, she hasn’t come in yet. Either she’s toying with us or she’s stuck out there.” He paused for a moment. “Unless she’s invited, it said she can’t get in unless we give her permission.”

“That’s what she was trying to do the night she came to my bedroom window. She was hypnotizing me into letting her in. That must have been how they got Carl, and how he got… her.”

Adam laid back and tried to calm himself down. He was shaking. He wanted to throw up.

There was nothing they could do, but wait. They were trapped in a living hell.