BEGINNING OF THE END

CHAPTER 6

The woman who was on the phone with Emergency Services, finally ended her call.

‘We need to barricade the windows and doors, don’t let anyone in and we are to remain silent till help arrives.’

Some people started doing as they were told, while others began to ask questions.

‘Well, how long till someone arrives?’

‘What the hell is going on?’

‘What if people are trying to seek shelter, are we really just supposed to turn them away?’

Another and another, questions after questions. The woman put her hand up to silence everyone at once.

‘They didn’t go into detail about how long, their emergency vehicles are on other routes right now and they are trying to send someone this direction as fast as they can. Until then, I suggest we board up the windows and secure the door the best we can and as quietly as we can. I don’t want any more of those things to get in here.’

She then started assisting others in securing the bar. The bartender let go of his wife and son, kissing them both before helping the others with securing the bar. He knew every door had a locked security system with its own private generator just in case the power went down in the area. He grabbed a few weapons he had from his office and handed them to a few select people he trusted with them.

After the windows were blocked off and the front and back entrances were secure, people looked for spots to get comfortable in while they waited for help to arrive. From time to time, you could hear the screams of women, children, and men as creatures tore them apart. The bartender’s son cried in his mother’s arms as they listened to the screams echoing in the distance. There were others in the bar sobbing as well as listening in silence.

‘Shouldn’t we do something?’ someone spoke from the back of the room. Someone else replied.

‘What can we do? Did you see those things? Why didn’t they attack her?’

Multiple people looked to see who he was pointing at.

‘Whitey….’ A faint whisper came from his wife’s mouth. He looked to see that everyone was looking in their direction and another was pointing directly at his wife. Whitey spoke sharply.

‘Don’t start pointing fingers and blaming.’ We need to stick together and wait for help. If those things come back, we need every able body to fight if it comes to that. Anderson, you keep pointing that finger at my wife and I’ll break the damn thing off.’

Some of the people around them started whispering amongst themselves, taking quick glances at his wife.

A few hours had gone by before someone spoke again.

‘Why haven’t the police shown up?’

For a moment, no one said anything, no one ever stirred. A woman began to cry.

‘Maybe they’re dead!’

People started whispering, a sense of panic started to arise in their voices as the octave level was becoming louder than a whisper. Whitey spoke next.

‘Shhhh,’ quietly whispering as he held a finger to his lips and motioned his hands for everyone to tone their voices down.

‘The best thing to do, is to keep calm and wait for daylight. No one should be walking around outside at night with those things out there, we would just be tripping over ourselves.’

A few people nodded in agreement while others pushed themselves to the front, removing the barricade from the door to the outside. Whitey approached them.

‘You are going to get yourselves killed! Not only are you putting yourself in danger by going out there, but you are also putting everyone else at risk. I’m begging you, don’t do this.’

The man standing in front of Whitey, looked Whitey over, up and down. He rubbed the scruff on his chin, then pushed Whitey out of his way as he rudely spoke.

‘Get out of my way old man. I’m getting out of here.’

He pushed Whitey aside and moved the last of the bar stools from the door. He grasped the doorknob, twisted, and pushed the door open. A gust of wind swept into the bar, blowing paper, dust, and dirt through the room.

There was a sickening smell in the air that made your stomach turn and twist.

The man took a step through the doorway and on to the sidewalk. The door to the bar closed behind him. He walked, heading straight to his truck, searching through the darkness to spot any movement. He walked, heading straight to his van, searching through the darkness to spot any movement. He walked, heading straight to his van, searching through the darkness to spot any movement. He reached for the handle, to open the door of his van, creaking as the door opened slowly. He quickly got in his van as soon as he had enough room to squeeze through, then slammed the door behind him as he quickly searched for the keys in his van. Jingling and jangling in his hands as he desperately searched for the key to start the engine.

Finally, holding it between his index finger and thumb, he put the key in the ignition and started it. The van roared and revved to life as he pushed on the petrol pedal. Just as he reached for the gears, there was a deafening shriek outside his van. Then, something jumped in the back of the bed of his van.

The people in the bar, watched through the windows as the creatures ripped the man’s body apart. Some of them couldn’t watch and stepped back to comfort one another.

‘Whitey, why hasn’t the police shown up yet?’ The room went quiet, a long silence filled the room as people waited for a response. Whitey held his family close to him, his gun in a holster on his hip, his hand grasping firmly around it.

‘I don’t know, but it looks like we’re in for a long night.’

Whitey then searched for some flashlights and started turning them on.

‘I need someone to come with me to the basement, there should be a couple boxes of blankets down there.’

A scrawny, sickly - looking man in the back of the group, raised his hand. Whitey casually waved him to follow, holding a flashlight to see down the basement steps. Cautiously walking down, he scanned his light over some boxes that read ‘Donations’ on them. He walked over, grabbed a box, and handed it to the scrawny fellow and then grabbed the other, heading back up the stairs.

Whitey cut the tape to open the box and distribute the blankets to the people in the bar. Just as Whitey grabbed the last blanket out of the box. The scrawny man spoke.

‘My name is Johnny by the way. I’m not from around here, was just passing through honestly. Stopped to have a couple drinks with my girl. Trinity. If there is anything we can do to help let us know.’

Whitey watched him as he spoke, Johnny was twitching and scratching his neck as he talked to him. His eyes were dark, and his nails looked as if he was trying to chew them off. As Johnny handed a blanket to an elderly couple, Whitey watched him nervously. Johnny’s hands were shaking as he handed out blankets. As Johnny spoke to people, his eyes were always searching elsewhere. Johnny walked over to where Trinity was sitting, throwing the last blanket across her shoulders. He then kissed her cheek and squeezed her close to him, his nose nuzzled into her neck.

Whitey’s wife looked around the room casually, smiling at people, even walked over to where Trinity and Johnny were sitting.

‘Hello, are you two doing alright? Would you like some water or crackers?’ She watched them both closely, waiting for a response. Johnny was the first to say something, but she couldn’t hear him as she stared at Trinity. Sweat poured off her body as she sat with her knees to her chest, rocking, back and forth.

‘Darling are you alright?’ she asked as she continued to watch Trinity closely, her hand moving cautiously towards her as she reached for her shoulder. Trinity’s head rose and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Like as slow - motion movie, she watched Trinity’s arms go limp and her body slowly falling to the floor. Whitey dodged his wife just in time to catch Trinity before her head hit the wood floor. Trinity’s body seized and her arms tightened against her body starting with her body. Starting with her toes and working up her legs to the rest of her body. She started shaking and foaming from the mouth.

Whitey’s wife snapped.

‘What did you take Johnny?’

Johnny stood there, staring at Trinity.

‘JOHNNY!’ She snapped her fingers in front of Johnny’s face. His eyes were wide, and his voice trembled.

‘Nothing, I…I… don’t know what you’re talking about.’

Whitey grabbed Trinity’s arm, there were needle marks all over. One of the many needle marks was bleeding and fresh. Whitey’s wife ran behind the bar and grabbed some towels and bottled water. As she hurried back, she slid one of the towels underneath Trinity’s head to help with the foam coming out of her mouth. Trinity’s body went limp as Whitey and his wife finished cleaning up her mouth.

Whitey placed two fingers on her neck, searching for a pulse, his wife staring at him cold and hard. The colour in Johnny’s face left as he stared at Trinity’s body, waiting for Whitey to say something. Everyone waited, Whitey spoke very softly.

‘Her pulse is weak, she needs a doctor and soon.’

He pressed the back of his hand against Trinity’s forehead, waiting a moment before speaking again.

‘She’s burning up honey, quickly bring me some ice and more towels.’

Whitey’s wife came back with a handful of towels and a bucket of ice, both now tending to her. A man towards the back of the room started walking towards the window by the front door. The next thing they heard was a scream and then shattering of glass.

A creature toppled the man over as he screamed, tearing into his stomach, eating his flesh and organs. People screamed, some even ran out through the broken window, while others tried to hide. Whitey ran behind the bar to grab his gun, while his wife ran to their son. As the creature finished feeding on the man, it started moving around the bar, heading in Johnny’s direction. Johnny, who has now stumbled down onto the ground, was crawling away from the creature and towards Trinity’s body, next to Whitey’s wife and son. Whitey’s wife screamed and hollered as she watched her son get ripped apart, his grip still on his mother’s shirt. She grabbed his hand and tried getting the grip off her shirt. Another creature came through the broken window, drawn to the screams coming from inside the bar. The creature lunged, tackling the woman to the floor. Whitey looked in the eyes of his wife, tears streaming down her face and into her hair. The creature took its’ knife - like fingers and tore right into her stomach, pulling her ribcage in the opposite direction till there was a loud snap. Her body went limp, and the creatures fed on her lifeless body.

Whitey sat there in silence as he watched the creatures tear the flesh off his wife and son’s bones. More creatures came in, sniffing the ground, smelling the bodies that the two other creatures were feeding on. People were panicking and screaming as they watched the blood spill and spread across the floor. The few that screamed were taken out first. The creatures jumped, slashed, and ate. Whitey stood in silence as he watched the people around him get slaughtered. Everything around him felt as if there was a slow - motion picture on around him. He watched the creatures come through the window, the glass shattering and falling to the ground, yet Whitey heard nothing. The only thing Whitey could hear was the sound of his own shallow breathing. He closed his eyes, tightly shutting them, watching his wife and son get slaughtered over and over in his mind.