“I already told you this would not work yet you continue.”
Tomas could ‘feel’ Eliza probing through the ‘noise’ trying to figure out what he was up to. He literally began to vibrate from the effort of expanding so much energy and was unsure how long he would be able to conceal Michael’s presence.
Eliza was closing in; she was adept with the workings of the mind after so many millennia of practice.
Tomas urged Mike on, but to where? And to what end? Eventually she would discover that her sworn enemy still yet breathed air, and Tomas could tell that the thread from which Mike’s life hung was frayed and would not be able to take much strain. Tomas amped up his concealment just as Eliza was closing in. Just when he felt that all was lost, he lost Michael completely. He rocked backwards, breathing heavily from the mind strain.
“Done now, brother?” Eliza asked clearly confused.
Tomas did not answer. He was still trying to figure out what had just happened.
CHAPTER FOUR
BT & Gary
Gary was having a difficult time sleeping. Every time he shut his eyes, he saw Michael fall over. Sometimes there was only the loud thud of his head reverberating off the ground. But more often than not, Mike would cry out in pain and anguish; first asking for Gary’s help, then accusing him of abandoning him. It was not all that hard to stay awake, the town was in the midst of a full-scale zombie invasion. Houses were burning, the sounds of gunfire were rampant as were distant screams.
Gary strode over to the couch and went to shake BT awake.
“I’m not asleep,” he said.
“We should get going. Whatever is going on out there is starting to get closer,” Gary said. “Plus, the zombies that were around the house have left about ten minutes ago, probably to go and enjoy the fun.”
“What? They didn’t want to miss out?”
“That would be my guess,” Gary answered in all seriousness.
“What about Mary? Will she change her mind?” BT asked Gary, knowing full well that he didn’t have an answer either. “We can’t leave her here.”
“We both know that, BT, but we can’t force her either.”
“The old bat was right about one thing,” BT said.
“What’s that?” Gary asked.
“Mike would have somehow convinced them to come with us.”
Gary winced at the name of his brother in the past tense. “You’re probably right. I’ll talk to her one last time, but I think we should get going while the getting is good,” Gary said even as he realized the futility of his words falling on Mary’s deaf ears.
BT saw the cherry of the cigarette glow before he realized that Deneaux was standing at the far side of the room. It startled him for a moment because he thought it to be half of a pair of glowing evil eyes.
“Weren’t planning on sneaking out in the middle of the night and leaving us here, were you?” Mrs. Deneaux asked as she took another drag. A small raspy cough following her words.
“Any chance that’s lung cancer?” BT asked Deneaux as he sat up rubbing his eyes raw. The smoke from the burning town was making its way into the house. It was subtle at the moment, but soon it would be impossible to take a breath that did not result in a coughing fit, and that would be followed soon by asphyxiation.
“You’re sounding more like him every minute,” Mrs. Deneaux replied dryly.
“From anyone else I would consider that a compliment,” BT said as he stood. He walked over to the window and confirmed what Gary had already told him, the zombies had taken a break and were out getting some lunch…most likely fast food. BT’s mood soured at his poor joke.
***
“Mary do you have a minute?” Gary asked as he walked into her room.
She had ten candles burning as she tried to keep the dark at bay and was sitting up in her bed. Josh was asleep with his head in her lap while she was absently stroking his hair as she looked at the window across the room. Her gaze slowly swiveled towards him as she came back from whichever distant world she had traveled. “We’re all dead.” She said with conviction.
“Even Josh?” Gary asked striking out as hard as he dared, she flinched from his words.
Her eyes were vacant as she turned back towards the blackened window.
“You have a real chance if you come with us,” Gary nearly begged.
A flicker of anger stretched across her features. “Your brother was a half-vampire, former Marine survivalist, and he fell. What chance do I and Josh have?”
Gary couldn’t tell if she had given up or was looking for a real answer from him. Gary could only respond with a lame sounding, “You can’t stay here.”
He wished he could bolster her argument above and beyond their food stores, but maybe she did have it right. They were alive after so many countless billions had perished; she’d done something right to keep them safe so far. And just because Mike was dead, Gary didn’t think Eliza was done with the Talbot clan by any stretch of the imagination.
“We’re leaving within the hour.” Gary said before he turned to walk out the door. He watched as she blanched from his words. “I hope you come, but I’ll understand if you don’t.”
“Just make sure you lock the door on your way out.” And with those words Mary completely shut the door on the topic.
***
BT lifted his chin to Gary as Gary walked in the room, as if to ask ‘Well?’
Gary shook his head side to side and looked down.
“We’re going to need wheels soon,” BT said, trying to plan out there escape.
“Mary has a car in the detached garage,” Mrs. Deneaux said. “We could take that.”
“No,” Gary said forcibly. “She’ll need it eventually.”
“She’s not going anywhere. Poor damn thing has lost her marbles,” she said as she spun her cigarette laden hand around the right side of her head, the cherry leaving tracers in the murkiness.
“What is wrong with you?” BT asked. “Gary’s right. At some point she’s going to realize she needs to get out of here. Her maternal instinct will kick in eventually.”
“Let’s hope it isn’t like that poor lass that lined up her children against the truck like they were targets. That was horrible,” she added at the end like an afterthought.
BT shook his head. “I’d trade a thousand of you for Mike.”
“But yet here I am,” she smiled.
“I’d leave you here to fester in your own corroded soul, but that wouldn’t be fair to Mary,” BT said. “Ten minutes and we’re leaving.”
Gary started grabbing their meager possessions and loading the guns. Deneaux continued smoking.
BT kept staring out the window. It was still night time, but the sky was lit up from the blaze of at least a hundred houses. Smoke was drifting lazily across the front lawn.
“Yeah…that’s not too fucking eerie,” BT said as he watched the swirls of smoke pass by. “A thousand zombies could be hiding on the other side of that mist.”
“You say something?” Gary asked as he tried to jam a sixth bullet into a five-bullet cartridge.
“You were the fastest sperm?” Deneaux questioned Gary. “Must not have been much to choose from,” she laughed.
Gary stood. “I rue the day I ever met you,” he said as he put the backpack Josh had given him on. He strode over to BT to see outside. “Wow, the city is burning.”
“Rue?” BT asked as an aside.
“It’s all I could come up with.”
“I guess it works. You alright?” BT asked seriously.
“No, I’ve now had two brothers die, neither of which I was able to bury. My father expected me to bring Mike back and I failed.”