The Age | SHORT STORY

words: 3811

We're not sure how it all began. Most of us just remember
waking up to the end of the world. My name is Valerie
Harper. It was days ago when I had just lain my head down to
sleep in my bed. My parents were still awake and setting the
alarm after checking the doors to make sure they were locked.
It was a dreamless night.

The next morning I arose to find myself alone. I stepped
outside my room and called for everyone, but no one replied.
I checked all the rooms, but found nobody home. My parents
vehicles were still in the garage, but the door was open. I
stepped outside in my panties and long t-shirt.

It was a macabre scene. Blood along the driveway and down
the street. Cars were either parked or crashed into
something. Garbage was thrown about. What happened?

I went back in and made sure the door was locked and the
alarm set. I quickly dressed myself in slightly baggy cargo
pants and a tank top. I wasn't sure what I was dealing with
or what I was going to do. I remembered my dad was an avid
hunter. So, I decided to gather some things. I laid out my
tablet PC in it's bump case on my bed with all its power
cords and accessories. I stored it into my backpack and then
moved to my parent's room.

Once there, I set out the things I thought I could carry. I
got his large knife, binoculars, and a handgun. I hated
guns, but what was a girl to do in a moment like this?

From there, I made my way to the kitchen and searched for
simple items of food that would come in handy and were easy
to carry. PowerBars and Paydays were easy enough, and made
of peanut butter. Those were always good for energy and
protein. My pack was now full, but I needed drinks. Water
would be best, but I did not know if it was contaminated. I
gathered a small vinyl cooler and stored as many Gatorade
drinks as I could. I had a sturdy blue clip I kept my keys
on. I removed those keys and attached the small cooler to my
pack. It was heavy, but I could handle it. I used to hike
in the mountains during my summer break from college.

I took a deep breath and moved out of the house and made my
way down the street. It was an eerie feeling to do so. I
noticed all the vehicles were dead. The gasoline had been
ran out of them. No one was in sight. No animals either. I
feared to be the only human left alive.

We lived several miles from town and it was a hell of a walk
for me with all this weight. I took breaks every few miles
and always checked for wi-fi signals. Nothing.

I found my way through some of the streets and always saw the
same thing. There weren't any dead bodies, just blood and
lots of it. Of course, there was still trash thrown about,
as if something had rummaged through it.

I located the one place I believed people would retreat to in
a crisis situation, and I hoped, I prayed someone would be
there. It was getting dark and I didn't want to be alone.

I reached the Civic Center as the sun began to sink and the
sky grew dark. That's when I heard it. It was the most
horrific noise ever. It was a cross between a growl and a
screeching sound. It sounded like nothing of this world.
Was it aliens? Did aliens do this?

I beat and bashed on the door to the Civic Center and prayed
someone would respond. The noise was getting closer. They
wanted ME!

I turned to see what was sneaking up behind me, but it was
too dark. Suddenly, my back was against the door. As the
creature got closer, I fell backwards and then heard the door
slam. I looked around and I was safe.

This had been our home for the past three days. No one knows
for certain what happened. Everyone's story is different.
Some say it's aliens. Others speak of absurd government
projects about plagues and zombies.

Johanna Mahler, a young girl half my age, became my closest
friend. She took to me and looked to me for help. Everyone
had stockpiled the food from the Center laid it all on top of
a table with several drinks. Sure, people had their secret
stashes and stayed away from those, but this was the first
uniform thing we've done. Everyone was so freaked out about
the problem at hand, I had to offer up a plan to keep
everyone alive. The food idea wasn't much. In fact, it was
common sense.

That night we heard an awful noise of crying and screaming
and that horrid alien growl. We all assumed people were
being attacked. Then came the bashing. That was the night
that SHE came.

They allowed her in. Her name was Amelia Carlisle, a
pathologist at the University. I knew who she was. She
wasn't one of my professor's, but I had heard stories about
her. She was working on something for the government. I
couldn't remember what exactly, but it was a virus. Then
again, it might've been a cure to an ailment. She had so
many projects that I had been told about. Of course, those
could have been rumors.

Against everything that I had heard, she was a nice woman.
She was polite, well kept, and well educated. She became
friends with me.

Everyone else wanted to know what had occurred, but she wasn't
sure. She had been traveling with her family to get here
from the University and had done so quite well, but upon
getting here, they were attacked. She was the lone survivor.
She had no clue what it was though. She had not clearly
seen the creatures.

The creatures, that what we called them. They only attacked
at night, so we thought they were allergic to the light,
which could have been caused by some mutation. That lead us
to believe this was a vampire-like disease.

That also lead us to today. We sat at the breakfast table
discussing our next move.

"Oh, come on!" I complained loudly. "We know their attacks
are only at night. They're resting during the day. Everyone
who has ever arrived here claims to have only seen these
creatures at night.

"Maybe we should try to locate them," Mr. Johnson spoke.
"Maybe they can see reason."

"We don't even know what these things are," Amelia added.
"They could be extra-terrestrial for all we know."

"Exactly," I stated. "Now, Mr. Johnson, we desperately need
to get supplies. The mall is less than five blocks away."

Mr. Johnson rubbed the bald part in the center of his head.
Then he looked up at me and nodded. "Fine, but it is too
dangerous for you to go alone."

"Listen, I'll go with Amelia and Johanna. The less of us
there are, the less likely we'll be attacked or get
separated."

"I believe Amelia and Johanna should go with two men. We may
need your help here, Val." Mrs. Johnson chimed in just once.
She looked at Mr. Johnson as he adjusted his glasses.

"Fine," I replied as I stood and gave my pack to Amelia.
"I'll be fine." I could tell the blonde pathologist was
apprehensive about leaving me alone.

I couldn't remember much of the next several minutes, since
it all went by in a flash. Amelia and Johanna had gone with
some other women and two men, Jack Bright and Martin Finn.
After that, I found myself in my corner of the Center, but I
wasn't alone.

Mr. Johnson brought his son, Robert, over to talk. I
remember wondering why it took Mr. Johnson and another man,
David Ross, to bring the boy. The second they came too close
for comfort, I froze up.

I was forced onto the ground by the two older men while Bobby
tried to procreate with me. I gritted my teeth and squirmed
and kicked and wished to hell I could reach the knife in my
boot. I wanted to castrate that mother fucker trying to
grope me.

She must've forgotten something or came back on a whim. My
pants were barely unbuttoned when Amelia returned. I sat up
to see Mr. Johnson holding his nose. I also noticed the
blood spot on the wall. David limped away like a pup, and he
held his hand. Amelia shocked me with her show of force.

Though, I did get my wish. She had my pack, so she must have
gotten my dad's hunting knife out. She held against Bobby's
groin.

"Back the fuck off!" She yelled at him. "I'll cut your
balls off faster than you can blink."

He was speechless and slowly backed away from the mad woman.
I don't know if it was some motherly instinct, but I
appreciated her help. I very much like being a virgin and
planned to stay that way until I married.

"I knew something didn't feel quite right," Amelia stated.
"Now, if anyone wants a go at us, you'll be the one picking
your dick up off the ground."

She was amazing!

I rose completely to my feet and walked with Johanna. The
two of us with Amelia walked to the door.

"We're going to the mall to gather supplies," Amelia barked
at them. "We'll be back before dark, if we can. If not,
we'll return by breakfast." Then she stepped out. I
followed my savior and dragged Johanna along.

It was the tensest moment I had ever experienced in my life.
I looked down at the scared red headed Johanna. "It's okay,"
I told her, trying to not only calm her, but myself too. All
three of us were silent for the entire five block walk to the
mall. My mind stopped thinking about what might have been
and worked on what might come. I worried they would not
welcome us back.

The streets were desolate except for vacant cars and trash, whether newspapers or garbage. The parking lot of the mall was the same as the town. With no one to clean it up, everything was in shambles.

Upon entering the mall, I felt safer and relaxed. Being outside where those things were, freaked me out. It made me more fearful. My mind never crossed the thought that these creatures could be inside.

Amelia continued onward to the food court. I hoped for a cooked meal, or a few cooked meals. Most of our past few meals were cold. It was horrible.

We all set down anything we had in our arms or on our backs. Then we searched for anything that would be great to carry back. We had been there for hours stocking up some bags we found in a department store with frozen foods. We even found several small camping stoves.

"Would you girls like anything to eat before we have to head back?" Amelia asked. "You name it, I'll cook it."

"I'm dying for a spicy chicken sandwich," I told her as I stared at the menu. Even though I told her what I wanted, I continued to stare. The food looked so lovely compared to the potted meat, cheese, and crackers.

"I want a cheeseburger," the ten year old Johanna stated excitedly.

"Coming right up," Amelia smiled and began to work.

The three of us would have a time hauling all this back to the civic Center. My mind shifted to that as we waited for Amelia to finish cooking. Johanna was too young to carry much. With that in mind, I walked off to find something that could be dragged. A rolling suitcase would work perfectly.

Johanna was eating by the time I returned with a suitcase.

"How dare you start without me," I joked.

Johanna just giggled and continued to stuff her face. She was like the sister I never had.

Amelia brought around my food and set down her plate before sitting herself. She had something from the Chinese booth. She took to us and became our surrogate mother. She was amazing and so protective. "All right, you two," she said once she finished. "We better get a move on before the night catches us."

"Well, I believe everything is ready to go," I told her as I gathered all that I could. She did the same, as did Johanna, and we all marched out.

We thought we could make the five blocks before the sun faded completely, but we were wrong. We made it half way before the howls came. Chills rushed down our spines and we ran as fast as we could. They were right on our heels for a few blocks, until we dropped some of our weight.

Johanna dropped her suitcase and was able to speed up. She was so scared, but I didn't blame her.

We reached the civic Center and beat on the entrance door.

"Let us in!" Amelia cried out as she continued to bang on the door. "We're being followed."

"You lead them here!" Mr. Johnson stated. "We're not compromising our compound."

"We have supplies," Amelia pleaded. "Let us in! Let Johanna and Valerie in."

"No," Mr. Johnson replied.

"You son of a bitch!" Amelia yelled out and turned to see the beasts getting closer. She looked around quickly for a place to escape to for the night. She pulled out my father's handgun and fired at the shadows. "GO! THERE!" She pointed to the closest building.

I grabbed Johanna by the hand, dropping all our supplies and rushed to the building, which had large glass windows on the ground level. I pushed the door open and forced Johanna inside before turning to look at Amelia.

She was running toward us, but fell. She continued to fire at the approaching attackers to keep them off her. They closed in faster and were ready to pounce on her.

I could see the teeth of the creatures and the drool drip from their teeth. The rest was too dark to spot. I grabbed Amelia by the backpack and dragged her in just in time. Johanna closed the door, but was knocked down as one of the creatures jumped at it, trying to get her.

Amelia and I rushed the door and put our bodies' weights against it. That's when I saw the attackers completely. They were rabid looking canines. "What the hell?"

Johanna put her back against the wall as she stared out at the fierce dogs. They appeared wild and hideous. Their fur was mangy and their mouth foamed. The thing that shocked us the most was their size. These creatures were three times their normal sizes.

Amelia latched the door to keep the dogs out. We all prayed they didn't wise up and break through the glass. With that eerie thought pervading our nightmares, we searched the building for a more suitable place of safety.

On the top floor, there was an executive board room with lots of space and couches to sleep on. Next door to that room was a small break room with simple snack foods. It would work for one night. Another precaution we took was to lock all the doors we came through.

Johanna had no problem sleeping since we were safe for now. I, on the other hand, could not sleep a wink. My mind was still on the creatures outside. How could they have gotten so large? Why are they so vicious?

There came a sudden loud bang followed by a crash. Amelia jumped up to look outside and spotted the Civic Center under attack by the creatures. They had broken in, somehow. They discovered a weak spot.

"I guess old dogs can learn new tricks," Amelia stated coldly as screams came echoing from the Civic Center.

I swallowed hard and wondered if we were next. I was so glad Johanna was sleeping like a rock. It was the best sleep any of us had had since all this began. I blocked everything from my mind after that and lay down to sleep. Amelia did the same.

The next morning, we woke up to a brighter day. We felt wonderfully rejuvenated from the slumber we obtained that night. Breakfast consisted of dough nuts from the break room and tea that Amelia had made.

"I'm so glad things settled down," I told her. "I don't think I could take staying with those people any longer."

"Well, you might need to put up with it once more," Amelia told me.

I furrowed my brow and gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"We need to get whatever supplies they have left and bring them here," she told me.

I felt my heart drop drastically. That sounded like an adventure into a morgue. I nodded hesitantly.

"Let's go," she said. "Johanna, wait here, okay?"

She nodded.

"Lock the door behind us and only open it for us," Amelia continued.

Johanna nodded again.

I followed the older woman out of the room and down the stairs. The coast was clear, so we continued on to the Civic Center. It was just as I thought it would be. It was gruesome. Body parts and blood everywhere. It was different than before. Some of these bodies were just mangled beyond recognition while others were gone, which meant those were meals. The dogs never left any behind before. What did that mean? I figured that meant this was out of anger.

"Bobby," I said with a slight smile as I saw the bloodied and gory crotch of the boy eaten out. Of course, his hands and head were gone, but I knew it was him.

"Here," Amelia stated as she gather the few supplies into a single bag. "It's not much, but it will do for a time. I noticed some of our food is still outside too with a couple of camp stoves."

"We can get them on the way out," I told her as I looked away from Bobby's body.

"Well, I'm ready," Amelia told me as she shook the bag showing me the spoils of the search. It wasn't much at all.

On the way out, I grabbed all I could carry. I was shocked the beasts didn't bother it, but I think they have more of a palate for fresh meat.

As we climbed the stairs of our new domain once more, I spotted a wireless router. My tablet could pick it up. The power worked fine from what I had seen so far in the places we had visited or stayed in.

Luckily, I had left the tablet PC in sleep mode, which preserved the batteries considerably without turning the computer off. Of course, the tablet had two batteries that were connected simultaneously.

Once we were settled again, I pulled out my tablet and woke it up from sleep mode. As soon as it was completely booted, I noticed it was picking up the wi-fi signal.

"What are you doing?" Amelia asked me.

I looked up at her with sleepy eyes. I always got that way when in front of my computer. "I just thought I'd check to see if there is any news on what happened or if anyone else is alive."

"Well, I can tell you easily what happened," Amelia said as she sat down next to me. "It's all my fault."

I gasped and couldn't catch my breath after that initial moment of surprise. "Wha-what?!"

"It was an accident," she explained. "It started out with a single dog. We had it quarantined in the lab, where we were running tests on it. It had an unknown disease similar to rabies, but it was much more vicious and advanced much faster. We needed a time table, so we brought in another dog. The thing was that it wasn't passed on through biting, but through mating. Even the offspring showed signs of infection. Before we knew it, the 'creatures' were advanced mentally, too."

"They got smarter?" I asked, still in shock.

"Yes," Amelia replied. "Like any dog that learns to sit, shake hands, lay down, play dead. Though, these animals began to show more advanced thinking skills. They could figure out how to open doors. I don't mean just building doors, but car doors, too. Eventually, they got loose one night and started to turn other dogs. They saw humans as threats and started to kill them."

"How did it spread so fast?" I questioned Amelia.

"That I don't know," she responded. "I didn't hear of any other cases of this disease. It's possible there could have been, but this one dog in the lab seemed to be the only one in town infected. I don't understand it. I didn't have enough time to study it."

"How do we stop it?"

"You can't," Amelia stated. "There is no cure. At least, not one that I could find."

"Do you think anyone else is alive out there?" I glanced over at her. I couldn't hate her for something she couldn't control. Besides, she saved me from rape.

The door behind us slowly opened. I assumed it was Johanna returning from the break room. I felt chills rush over me and my heart pause when I heard the growl of the rabid canine. I looked up and noticed the gleam in its eye. I could not decipher if it was hunger or anger or just pure joy of killing. I wanted to move more than anything, but I was frozen stiff from fear. "Nice doggy," I said out of sheer stupidity. Even Amelia wasn't moving, or if she was, I couldn't hear her. Then the snarling beast lunged at us!

I woke up in my bed at home. I couldn't believe it. It was just a dream. A horrid, gruesome, macabre story all mushed up in my imagination. I wiped the sweat from my brow as I sat up in my bed. The crack in my door widened, but I didn't see anyone enter. My mind jumped to the idea that maybe the vicious dogs in my dream were real. My heart began to pound violently in my chest. I tried to look around for any furry killing machine, but saw and heard nothing.

A brown hairy shape jumped up at me forcing me jump back. I relaxed when I saw it was the short and stocky dachshund. "Carson," I spoke, pulling him onto my bed and cuddling with him. "You scared me." He burrowed underneath the covers and got comfortable, before falling asleep again.