Shatterbones Page 11

  Chapter Thirteen

  Reunion

  Oregon

  A dragonfly darts erratically over a small tree-lined pond. Greg Cavanaugh’s back is aching while sitting against the rough-barked tree. His legs are asleep, and his body is yearning to move. The discomfort he’s feeling puts a smile on his face as he lightly runs his fingers through Evelyn’s hair. She has broken through her sorrow over the loss of their baby and chose to join him away from the camp.

  “I’m glad you came out here with me.”

  She is silent but grabs his hand and gives it a quick squeeze of acknowledgment.

  “I didn’t only want you to see the pond here, I needed to get away from all of the new additions that have been coming to the camp. You don’t have to say anything yet, just having you come here with me is enough to let me know you’re getting better. I am here for you as I have always been whenever you want to say something.”

  Greg continues silently watching the insects and occasional bird go about their business. The blue haze hasn’t affected them, and the world seems oblivious to the problems people have. Two dragonflies begin to chase each other to and fro, causing Greg to chuckle inwardly.

  “You should have seen this one man named Jordan, he came in yesterday. He arrived at noon with his parents, and when he saw all of the children at the camp, his eyes lit up.”

  “Is he a human?”

  Startled for a second by her question, he continues trying not to make the reappearance of her voice such a contrast.

  “No, he’s one of them, but it’s what he did that made the scene so bizarre. This Jordan is easily over six feet tall and has more muscles than you could believe. I mean he looks like a pro wrestler that forgot to get a tan. The best way I can describe him is just huge.

  “So I’m watching him look around at everyone and he’s watching all the young kids running and playing. One of the women walks up to his family and offers to show them where they can put their things to settle in and John, the vampire, walks up to this new guy and whispers something in his ear.

  “Now, picture this. You know how big John is and he’s whispering in Jordan’s ear. Two humongous men in the middle of the forest having a private little chat. Jordan literally jumped up and down a few times then turned to his parents and asked them something. Guess what he said?”

  She just looks up at him and smiles.

  “He asked them, ‘Can Johnny and I go play?’”

  Evelyn sits up and turns to face Greg. “He did not.”

  “Yes, he did. Can you imagine it? I laughed out loud, I couldn’t help myself and had to turn away. It is so strange seeing these…these children the way they are now. I hate calling them vampires even though I know that’s what they are. I’m even getting used to their pale skin, but I can’t seem to wrap my head around the fact that they are still mentally little kids in these giant, adult bodies.

  “I found out later that they were both ten years old before this haze changed them. Somehow, they could sense they were a similar age and wanted to go play. They ended up playing some version of cops and robbers with some of the other vampires that looked like a movie running on fast forward. It’s amazing how quick they are.”

  Evelyn reaches her hand out to Greg’s neck and softly rubs the two small red holes he has just below his left ear. “Was it frightening when you were bitten?”

  Nodding at first without saying a word, Greg grabs Evelyn’s hand and presses it down on the bite at his neck.

  “I was terrified, I thought I wouldn’t survive. It was a girl named Sasha, I’m not sure if you met her or not. I didn’t believe her when she said she wouldn’t need much, just a little more than people give up when donating blood. I thought, Sure, I’ve seen the movies, you’re going to suck me dry. I didn’t say it out loud, but I know she felt my fear.”

  “Did anyone else have to give to others?”

  “Not at that point. We were only here for three days, and she was the first whose hunger had returned. I was hoping they would be able to return to eating normal food, but when I heard from Cora that one of their vampires needed to feed, a part of me felt relieved. I stepped up and volunteered to be the first.”

  “You were afraid she would drain you, but you still volunteered. Was it because of me?”

  “Yes, a part of it was. I won’t lie and say things have been easy on me.” With a bit of painful anger in his voice, Greg takes a deep breath and tries to continue without sending his wife back into her silent depression. “I know the pain you are feeling. We both lost our son and our baby. That is a pain we have both had to endure. On top of that for me, you hadn’t left the tent since we arrived and you stopped speaking to me. I thought we were all going to die anyway and you seemed to have given up. I couldn’t stand to watch you slowly waste away, not after losing Lloyd and the baby, and I wanted to be able to drift away and disappear the way our world has.”

  She nods and grips his hand but doesn’t interrupt or make an effort to stop him.

  “I also feel responsible for the others and know it is what I should have done. If I or anyone could survive one of the vampires drinking our blood, it would change everything. We would still have to fear them to a certain degree, but arrangements could be made to save humanity. I had to step up and be the representative people expect me to be. I have to be involved in this if we are going to find a way to live together in the future.”

  “I’m sorry I haven’t spoken to you. I just needed time, thank you for giving it to me.”

  “At least you had that talk with Cora.”

  Shaking her head, her eyes show an honest innocence. “I didn’t speak with her. When she came into the tent two days ago, she did all of the talking. I listened, but she didn’t ask anything and I didn’t give any replies.

  “She sat there and spoke about her family and what life had been like up until the change. She told me how afraid she was that the others are all looking to her for guidance when she doesn’t know what is going on. She basically told me everything she was going through and it was exactly what I was feeling. Looking back, I guess that’s probably why she did it. I keep forgetting she can read minds. After she finished her stories, she left and I haven’t seen her since.”

  “No one has seen her since that day, at least no one in the camp. All of the new arrivals have been sent here by her, and they say there is some type of reorganizing of where people live and zones of control. One of the new vampire children told me when Cora gets back, I’m supposed to speak with her about it.”

  A brief lull in the conversation is interrupted by the fluttering of wings overhead. High in the sky, a massive group of winged vampires floats overhead. From this distance, they look like large birds, but the pale wings followed by human legs give the outlines away for what they are.

  “Speaking of Cora, I think that’s her.”

  Cora’s wings are another thing that make her stand out. Like everything that has happened in the past week, wing shape is something no one truly understands. Why some children got them and others didn’t and why they aren’t all the same. Except for Cora, all of the vampire wings they have seen so far look like giant bat or dragon wings. Cora’s, while they are still all skin like the others, took the shape of bird’s wings. There is a layered and rounded look to them making it appear like they are covered with feathers until you get right next to them.

  While the winged mutants fly above the camp in a slow circular motion, one tucks its wings and darts down to the group like a falcon diving to its prey. Landing between the trees only twenty feet away, Greg and Evelyn stand up. For a second, they see only this vampire’s back and notice his wings are identical to Cora’s.

  When he turns to face them, Greg’s eyes narrow and Evelyn leans on her husband for support. The winged vampire looks like Greg, yet with wings and pale skin.

  “Mom…Dad?”

  “Lloyd!”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The Morning Light

  Co
lorado

  Heavy wings flap in the early morning air above a landscape of farms. The searcher is heading toward sorrow. A feeling of despondency woke him thirty minutes ago, and he realized the feeling was not his own.

  Jared was struggling as all the others that have experienced The Shattering to come to terms with the new thoughts and emotions they could pick up from others. For some, it made them angry and violent. Others absorbed with empathy the feelings of their fellow changelings. It made them want to be better people than they had before. Jared is one of the good ones.

  His wings beat slower as he brings himself down to land in front of a barn with sobbing emanating from inside.

  Standing outside the door in a soft placating tone, Jared calls. “You should come out.”

  “I can’t. You don’t know what I’ve done.”

  “I know what you’ve done, and I know you couldn’t stop it. The same thing is happening everywhere, all over the world. The same thing happened to me.”

  “But I killed them. I didn’t mean to but I killed them.”

  Jared looks out at the penned-in field over the bodies of several cows to the remaining cattle huddled in the farthest corner. He can sense their fear, he could taste it when he opened his mouth to speak. The cattle aren’t the ones this boy is mourning over, and as much as Jared wants to help, he knows it would be unwise to enter the barn. He must wait for this boy turned man to come out.

  “If you come with me, you can be with others like us and we will work through our problems together. I don’t want to leave you here all alone. Please, come out.”

  A large mass begins moving in the barn and approaches the door. The twelve-foot height of the opening is a few inches too short for the figure inside to exit. He has to duck down before entering the world being lit up by the morning sun.

  Jared steps back as the creature leaves the building. He is a giant, but not like the others his group encountered so far. For one thing, this giant can speak well and has complex thoughts where the others had only strong emotional signals and limited vocabulary like that of a two year old. Another difference with this giant is his shape. He still looks like a human, a man, albeit a gigantic one standing over twelve feet high. The other giants encountered were taller than this one and became hugely massive around the middle, looking like misshapen, lumbering sumo wrestlers.

  “Who are you?” the giant asks while wiping his eyes.

  “I am Jared. I have assembled a group outside of Frederick and would like you to join us.”

  “I’m Carl.” He turns and looks back into the barn and begins sobbing once again. “My parents… I didn’t want to… I couldn’t stop myself.” His tears flow with force as he drops to his knees. In between the sobs, Carl continues. “I don’t think I can be trusted around others. I don’t know what I will do.”

  “The thirst is the strongest during the change. Once you gain your final form, it dies down.”

  “How do you know? What if I haven’t finished changing?”

  “Did you kill the cattle in that field?”

  “Yes.”

  “You didn’t kill them all. You stopped or were able to stop when your body replenished itself.”

  Carl looks to the bodies in the field and thinks for a moment. Returning his gaze to Jared, he notices something odd about the man.

  “What is that on your back?”

  Jared’s wings spread out behind him and he flaps them twice before folding them up once more.

  “I would rather have wings than be this tall.” The small smile on his large face belies an innocence still present in Carl that Jared wishes he could regain.

  “If you aren’t sure you can control yourself, walk into that field and see if you can keep from attacking the cattle. If you don’t have any strong urges, then you can come with us.”

  At that moment, Jared notices several fast-moving creatures in the distance heading toward them. He stands with uncertainty, and Jared can sense Carl’s fear building.

  “They are with me, Carl. They don’t have wings but can run extremely fast. Please head into the field and see how you do around the cattle.”

  Carl gives a few uncertain glances back to the dust trails kicked up by the approaching runners and then steps out into the field, easily traipsing over the fence like it was a small log in his way.

  As Carl makes his way to the cows, the approaching group of mutants arrive and gather around Jared. Holding his hand up, he stops his assembled fighters. Each of them are carrying some form of weapon. Four are holding rotor blades removed from the tail of a helicopter, and the others are armed with posts and bars removed from street signs or construction areas.

  “Lower your weapons,” Jared tells them all. “We won’t need to kill this one. He isn’t like the others.”

  “How many different mutations are out there?” a pale woman asks to herself more than to the others.

  The ground shakes slightly as Carl runs back toward them with a huge grin on his face. He jumps over the fence and lands before the group in a youthful manner and looks at the new faces around him.

  “I didn’t want to attack the cows. They even stink like regular cows again, not that sweet smell they had yesterday.” Not skipping a beat, Carl continues to ramble in excitement. “You’re all so pale. Were you this white before you changed?”

  “No, we all looked smaller and had normal color yesterday. I am twelve and I looked like a twelve year old. How old are you?”

  “I’m nine.”

  “Have you encountered any other changers? Or any regular people?”

  “No. I haven’t left the farm,” he says sadly, returning his gaze to the barn. “I don’t know what I should do.”

  “Carl, I have the ability to absorb people's thoughts and feelings, some of the others have that ability as well to some degree. Are you able to sense anything more than you did yesterday? Do you feel any differently…other than your size of course.”

  “Um…what does absorb mean?”

  “I can read people’s minds if I touch them. Absorb means I see what they are thinking and their thoughts and memories become my own. Almost like I experienced them. I was twelve yesterday, but I have seen and felt things through regular adult minds that have made me older. Do you have anything like that?”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t feel any different today than I did yesterday. I can’t read your mind.” He kicks at the dirt nervously but then takes a step back when he looks at the others more closely. “Does that mean you won’t take me with you? Is that why they are carrying weapons? You’re not going to hurt me, are you?”

  Jared flicks his hand in a slight motion, not noticed by Carl and the assembled group drop their weapons to the ground in unison.

  “We aren’t going to hurt you, but we haven’t encountered anyone like you before. There are others that changed and they kill everything. They are taller than everyone else the same way you are, but they are round in the middle as well, like their insides are blowing up. They look as wide as they are tall and are extremely muscular. They are dangerous, and I was afraid you were one of them when I came here.”

  “They kill everything like I did to my parents?”

  “They don’t stop killing the way you were able to. They kill everything and everyone they come into contact with including us.” His arms motion to the other mutants.

  “You are welcome to join us, but first we will help you bury your parents.”

  “Thank you. I didn’t know what I should do.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  New World Order

  Cheyenne, Wyoming

  A heavy prattle of raindrops fall on the muddy ground outside the open doorway. The day and sky are as dreary as the mood of the group being relocated to this human internment camp. All humans are being rounded up and placed into camps of various sizes in which the vampires can keep track of them.

  Overlords or protectors, what regular humans call the vampires in their charge, depends largely upon t
he behavior of those that run the camps. This particular camp is being setup on Francis E. Warren Air Force Base just outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

  Sitting hunched over in a chair, hands on his face and speaking in muffled tones through his palms, the president says, “I am the last President of the United States. Do you know how that feels? Do you have any idea what it does to me every time you address me as Mr. President? I have the small comfort of not having been elected and was thrust into this position. But my first day on the job, I declared our complete surrender. I didn’t even try like President Connelly did.”

  “You didn’t have to surrender, sir.”

  “Like hell I didn’t! If we kept fighting, they would have killed us all and you know it.”

  “That is exactly my point, sir. That is why I keep addressing you as Mr. President. You made the decision to place the lives of the American people above your own self-interest. You saw what we were facing and rightfully had our armed forces stand down against the threat we have no chance of defeating.”

  “So why do I feel like a failure?”

  “Because this isn’t a success. Unfortunately, not every correct decision ends in victory. We are alive right now, and millions of Americans are also alive because you surrendered. Sir, like you, I wish that the circumstances were different, but this is what we have. I think we should be thankful they brought us here to Wyoming and took us out of the Denver area.”

  “Thankful!?” Standing up with clenched fists, he stares at his secretary.

  “She’s right, James.” The president’s chief advisor stands in the doorway with several other people waiting to enter behind him. “We need to come in and discuss what is still to come.”