After The End (3 page)

Sunny piped in, nearly propelled in the air
as though the thought stung her,

“We should consider that he may be less than
helpful, too; I mean, if you take his stylish entrance into
account. On the reverse, Cal seems unconcerned about the guy being
a hazard and he’s actually Roman Empire old, so he’s probably
accurate in gauging his own kind. I’m willing to trust his judgment
on this one.”

I waited for the next person to speak, only
to find all eyes fixed on me. At some point, I must have become a
de facto leader; it was both flattering and disconcerting.

I cleared my throat to stall for time.

“Well, I think we should consider that this
Daemon guy is a stranger and we’ve got no idea how he’ll react if
we say he can’t move in; this guy will still need blood to live and
if Cal’s off on a raid, we could end up dealing with him ourselves
in a nasty way.”

I popped and rubbed my knuckles to ease the
pressure.

“That being said, fang boy appears to be
honest enough. He easily could have waited a day or two until Cal
left if he just wanted to drink his fill and bail on us.”

Brows were furrowed as the rest of the group
listened, the gears in their heads whirring. I blathered on, my
nerves forcing the words out in an attempt to appear more confident
than I felt.

“I think as long as Daemon agrees to do a
couple of things, we should admit him to our little society.”

I counted off my fingers.

“He’d have to: follow our pact, fix the
outhouse he decimated, and - for the sake of our toilets - get Cal
to teach him how to fly. Besides, we could all use some luck and
this dude was lucky enough to somehow get out of that collision
without impaling himself on any of that wood planking.”

There were five or six smiles in the mass of
bobbing heads. “Granted, he didn’t walk away scot-free, but coated
in crap is far from dusted.”

Chase broke the silence after a few moments.
I was so overjoyed to be out of the spotlight, I almost didn’t hear
him.

“Okay, we all know what repercussions we
could be facing for any action we choose. We ought to vote for now
to see where the majority stands before the vamps return. First,
hands up if you opt to let Daemon become a resident.”

It was a clear decision.

“Well, all but two hands. Let’s hear your
concerns against and any alternatives you might have, but at the
moment, if he agrees to our terms, the new guy is in.”

The woman stepped closer to the fire pit,
letting the glow surround her. I recognized the other person as her
husband; his stance as timid as hers was unyielding. He stroked his
comb-over while his wife spoke for them.

“There are children here; not just our Lonnie
and Amber, but also their Ellen.” She gestured over her shoulder at
the rest of the community as she talked, “We’re not comfortable
having another blood-drinking demon around these innocent children.
To be truthful, I’m still not keen on having that other one here
either.”

Please don’t let her keep talking. We need to
keep the peace with Cal. We need the pact to survive.

“It would be healthier for us to have just
our kind living here. We should just kill both of the fiends during
the day and be done with it. I’ll not raise my children with even
more of these monsters; if you let this Daemon stay, my family will
leave.”

The husband gawked at her, shifting his
weight from foot to foot, and surveyed the crowd as though looking
for someone to save him from wedded bliss. She didn’t notice.

Cal and Daemon strolled between Sunny and me,
effectively dissolving the standoff. The younger Undead broke the
silence,

“Sorry again about all the trouble I caused.
Cal filled me in on how you guys do things and what this pact
entails; I’m totally square with the rules you keep at this
fort.”

He raised his hand in a Boy Scout salute.

“I agree not to feed more than I need and
never on anyone under 18. No shooting guns and we avoid staying in
areas where the zombies tend to be severe.”

Daemon dropped his right hand and fidgeted
while his babbling persisted over the murmur of chuckles. The elder
vampire silently raised an eyebrow and tracked the youth’s gestures
with an amused crease to his lips.

“Cal even said he’d help me develop my
powers. I’m going to fix the john I broke, so you don’t have to
make like bears and poop in the woods. Also, I’m Kosher with
staying in the woods during the day like he does, if it makes the
group more comfy with my presence.

That’s assuming I get the go ahead to call
this home. If not, I would ask for a few days to get the hunger
down and learn a bit from Cal; I only learned a little from my sire
due to an extreme dusting by Molotov cocktails.”

Cal gave his new protégé an approving look
and stepped forward. The quiet laughter broke off. He took his time
before speaking, each word felt deliberate, yet unrehearsed.

“I have spoken with Daemon during our brief
jaunt to the stream and back. It is my opinion that he will make a
fine addition to our populace. I acknowledge personally feeling a
certain responsibility to guide the young man in the ways of our
species, in light of his sire’s untimely demise.”

He halted and looked into everyone’s eyes
directly.

“Ultimately, the decision of his acceptance
is endowed upon the majority; nonetheless, I have given Daemon my
word to act as his mentor until he is adept with his new abilities.
I am honor bound to remain with him, wherever that may be, until
that level is realized. We will leave you all to discuss the matter
further. Please inform us once a decision is reached; we will be
disposing of the shattered latrine and it’s... contents.”

With a gentle hand upon the shoulder, Cal led
the fledgling vampire out of the fire’s illumination. The rest of
our assembly remained in silent reflection, the glow flickering
across our faces, thoughts flashing in our minds. The only sound
was the stacking of fragmented wood and a bullfrog in the
distance.

Sunny drew a slow, deep breath before taking
the floor.

“It’s time we tally up where we all stand. We
know all of the pros and cons we are facing with either
arrangement. We either trust in Cal’s judgment and have two
vampires in our society or we lose both and are human only. Hand’s
up if you choose to bring in Daemon.”

There was no reason to feign counting; the
only hands not raised were crossed in front of her chest. We all
knew that our deal with Caelinus greatly helped our odds of
long-term survival. Chase announced quietly

“Only one against.”

The defiant wife snatched her husband’s arm
from the air so swiftly she was a ninja. I glanced at Sunny and
Chase; they held hands as they urged me to make the
declaration.

“It’s resolved then,” I proclaimed, hoping it
sounded official. “Daemon is the newest member of our
community.”

I locked eyes with our sole dissenter,

“It’s your call whether your family stay and
accept his presence or leave to fend for yourselves. I think I
speak for everyone here when I say, we’d prefer for you to remain
here; we have the numbers and defenses to protect one another. It’s
your right to do either, but no one would think any less of you if
you chose to stick around.”

I surveyed the crowd, I checked my watch, and
excused myself to sit my turn as sentry.

From my perch on the tower in the center of
the fort, I saw the bunch disband after a few minutes of chatter.
Sunny and Chase immediately welcomed our new resident as I waved my
greeting.

Guy looks pretty good without the layer of
crap.

They were accompanied by some of the other
denizens for a few moments, before the community tapered off to
rest for the coming day.

I continued to scan the tree line,
intermittently checking inside the wall as well. An hour before
dawn flooded our hamlet with its radiance they left.

The family wore their rucksacks. I could make
out Lonnie’s Sponge Bob backpack covered in stickers from my
vantage point. The father took a spear from the weapons shed, in
addition to the katana on his left hip. The other guard at the gate
took off his canteen and gave it to Lonnie. He then knelt down to
give something small to Amber.

I suppose it was a nice trinket because she
gave him a hug, her stained sock monkey pressed against his
shoulder. The kids shuffled sleepily out of this haven, Amber
reminding me of Cindy Lou Who as she held her doll close. I always
try to remember them that way…

The following day the tension in camp was
palpable; every person was unsure how the night would pan out.
Little things like misbuttoned shirts and burnt meals signaled how
restless the sleep had been. It was already too late to change what
happened the previous night; we could only hope for the best and
mentally prepare for the worst. As I went into the cabin for a
short rest, I secretly wished we would see that family again.

It was lunchtime when Sunny popped in to
rouse me. Someone made a lunch of roasted fish, squirrels, frogs,
and assorted plants. I launched into my supper with a vengeance. As
I was chomping on a squirrel, Sunny looked over.

“Cannibal” she teased while Chase grinned
wide enough for a Buick to drive through. The laughter made me
sputter and my eyes water; the strain lessened, but continued.

Although we went about our regular rituals,
the pressure was building as twilight approached. Eventually, the
sun bowed out and the full moon took the stage. Time to see what
havoc we had unleashed.

Daemon arrived before Cal. He stood outside
the gate. I chuckled slightly at seeing the powerful immortal
humming and stretching – while clad in a Hawaiian shirt and camo
pants — to pass the time. The nervous energy poured off the guy
like Niagara Falls. He exercised for nearly twenty minutes before
the elder Undead arrived.

Through the open gate, I heard Cal mock his
protégé.

“You are aware that calisthenics are quite
unnecessary once you have been turned, aren’t you?”

The Roman smiled as Daemon laughed and they
ambled through the open wall together. You could see relief wash
over him. Cal waved me over to them as they entered. I brought two
papers out of my pocket.

“Hi fellas, I have new calendars for you
both.” I stated as I held out the new donation schedules. “I
rewrote these this afternoon. Daemon, some of the community is a
little wary of how much blood you may need, so the first five names
are all volunteers. After that, everybody has agreed to the regular
rotation; but if any concerns arise, the five of us will have to be
specifically your donors and everyone else will take turns as Cal’s
entrée. If that happens, they’ve agreed to cover some extra guard
shifts in case we start to get too drained.”

I think I forgot something again. Flicking
away the love bugs, I pressed on.

“By the way, Sunny is on this list but Chase
insists you feed on him instead if the Hunger is particularly
strong. Also, I’ll be assisting Caelinus while you get situated, so
if you need anything or have a question that doesn’t need super
powers or centuries of wisdom to answer, let me know.”

I noticed Daemon was staring at the
loose-leaf paper in his hand like it was a puzzle with the pictures
face down.

“Um, Daemon, is everything alright?” I looked
to the other vampire for insight, but he just shrugged. Daemon
opened and closed his mouth twice before communicating a
response.

“How do you have a calendar? It’s a real
calendar with exact dates and days of the week; I get knowing the
time, watches are still running with the batteries from before, but
a calendar? Why would anyone grab a calendar of all things while
fighting or running from flesh-eating dead dudes? Seriously, where
the hell did this come from?”

I gawked at him, dumbfounded. The whole thing
amused the bejeesus out of Cal; he clapped my inquisitor on the
back exclaiming,

“By Jupiter, you will add some entertainment
to our drab existence!”

Daemon abruptly appeared sheepish and a
high-speed prattle flooded from his mouth.

“I’m sorry. I just tend to fixate on random
stuff and it seemed so odd to me. And you came up all professional
and I don’t have a clue who you are and you hand me a calendar with
names of my next week’s meals. It was too surreal that with all
this serious survival crap that you have, like, office
supplies.”

Cal continued laughing and I watched a pair
of the flying pests narrowly miss being swallowed by the Roman as
he guffawed. After being distracted by Cal, I tried to follow
Daemon’s parading explanation.

“...sort of freaked me out by making drinking
a stranger’s blood sound like a corporate merger and there was even
paperwork and I got all confuzzled in my head and all joking aside
how did you keep up with the correct date in all this mess? I can’t
even get power to charge my phone.”

By this point, the Roman was bent over in
stitches and I struggled to restrain my own snickering. Cal
composed himself long enough to breathe out,

“That is Squirrel.”

Daemon excitedly looked around asking
“Where?” and it was too much for us; I let out a fit of giggling
and the ever-serious Caelinus of the Roman Legion snorted and wiped
his eyes. Some of the camp was beginning to gather nearby at the
sight; their confusion matched the expression on Daemon’s face.
After several minutes, I was able to catch my air inside my aching
ribs.

“My mistake. I’m Squirrel, that’s the name I
go by around here.” I forced the hilarity from my mind. “I
completely forgot to introduce myself. The calendar thing is a long
story and it’s a bit hard to explain why I kept one; I’ll tell you
another time, I promise. For now, let’s just go about our evening.
We need to show you around the fort and get you acquainted with our
Nova Nocte.”