Blood Ever After

10

Tyler stared out.

He was sure he recognized the dark figure standing in the middle there.

The thing wasn't smiling, or didn't appear to be. He noticed, even in the dull glow of the moonlit night, that the thing appeared to be trying to mouth something up to Tyler.

Tyler undid the lock of the glass doors, stepping out into a night so chilly it felt as though it were about to rip the skin off all his arms.

Wind blew over his face, stinging his eyes. A sudden urge to tape a piss hit him, his bladder having shrunken from the chill. A smoky taste sat in the air, as though something was burning far off.

"Joshi ... Joshi ... that you?" he muttered, and something laughed within his brain. As he stood on the balcony, a few meters above the creatures, he heard from beneath the low gurgling moans and labored breathing, smelled the rot.

What are they waiting for? Why do they refuse to attack the house?

An arm slipped through his. He turned to see Charlotte's glossy brown eyes staring at him. "Do you think we'll make it out," she said, "when it's time? With the beasts out there? Do you think we'll make it out?"

Angel trotted out, nestling through their legs, panting, a look of fear in his glassy dark eyes as he stared to the stream of undead amassed out front.

Tyler stared at the girl, down to her hand which he now held, and then back up. "God is with us." He squeezed those hands, gave her a tight, reassuring smile. "God is with us ... that's what Luke would have said." He gave her a hug, and she broke down and started weeping.

"Then why wasn't he with everyone else when they died? Why did he desert Luke who adored him more than anyone else? What hope do we really have, Tyler? What hope do we really have?"

The next day, Tyler took-in the woods before him, before looking to the left, then the right. Brett stood behind him, almost bopping on the spot. "Come on, we need the fireworks ... come on, Tyler. Nelson told us so."

Tyler turned, pointing back at the house. "Brett, like I said before, if you're going to act like a brat out there, I'll be asking Nelson to keep you at home."

"No such luck," Brett stated, flicking at Tyler's crotch. "Come on, loser, get outta me way." He tried pushing past Tyler.

They soon walked through the woods, moving past the tent in the clearing.

"Shhh, Brett, walk quietly. We don't wanna draw their attention."

Brett was now dashing through the woods, running up toward the parrots foraging around in the foliage, feigning to grab at them (which he probably would have had he got the opportunity).

Around them, the trees sank off into the distance, large boulders erupting from the leaf-scattered surface now and then. Birds squawked in the trees, the odd dear or rabbit seen from the corner of the eye, dashing across the foliage.

Tyler stopped, staring down at the paper map with the red circle around one of the town's shops. "We're nearly there, Brett—stop messing about."

Finding the shop came with no great difficultly, and the smile on the boy's face was as bright as the sunset as the two walked out of the shop. The backpack banged against Brett's back as he strutted.

As they walked out of the city and back into the woods, the sun was lost to the canopy of trees above. Dimmer, the world became.

Tyler stared around, a strange thrill running through him at the sight of that golden orb forever reaching towards the horizon. His voice was dry and coarse when he spoke. "Brett ... goddamn, kid .... now look at the sun—all because you took so long, pal."