Dead Days

Chapter 23

      We were in Marion, South Carolina by the time Cassie woke up. It was around noon, if I had to guess.

     "Someone was tired," I say, mockingly.

    "Oh, shut up," she says through a yawn and long stretch."Where are we?"

    "On the outskirts of Marion county just outside of Georgetown county," I say, matter-of-factly.

     "You're speaking to me like I know every inch of South Carolina. I never left New York City, remember?"

    "Right. Sorry, we're maybe seven hours out from Charleston."

     "The closer we get the more my nerves go awry, I'm really scared, Jack." She looks at me, the fear in her eyes bigger than I've ever seen it. She is truly afraid.

     "Cass, we'll be fine, I used to do stuff like this for a living."

     "Not against undead, or a Russian that possesses superhuman abilities."

     "A bad guy is a bad guy. They're all the same, I was confused in my life for a long time. I didn't know what I wanted to be or do with my life. Then I found the world of the military and service. After that I knew what I wanted to do, I loved helping people and being the good guy. I loved seeing the bad guys get what they deserve."

     "I don't want you to die..." she says, looking into my eyes, with tears welling behind hers. "I wouldn't know what to do or how to defend myself-" the tears fell and found purchase on her chin. "I need you to live, Jack."

     "I told you before, Cass, I'm not going to-"

     "I don't care what you told me. Life is so fragile and it can be taken in seconds," she tried to wipe her tears but they didn't stop falling. "I can't... I just can't lose you."

     "I'm not saying anything will happen to me, but if something does, you'll have your parents." I say, trying my best console her.

    "I don't know what's going on with my parents, Jack. I'm afraid that they've been brainwashed or something. I mean, my mom was yelling that they had a deal. I don't know what that deal is or what it entails but I know it can't be anything good." She says, drying her cheeks on her shirt.

     "Remember how I told you I've been getting these visions?" I ask, distaste filling my mouth on the last word.

     "Yeah, why?"

"A while ago I had one that showed me your dad inject himself with something and he stood up. That was all I seen, and I didn't want to say anything because I wasn't sure if it was real or a dream. But now that you've told me about this deal your mom was yelling about, I'm certain something is going on."

"Great." She says, newfound tears begin to fall. "What do I do, Jack? I can't just leave my parents, and I don't want to join them. Why would they do this?" She says through her tears.

I drive by a sign that welcomes us to Georgetown, "We'll figure that out when we get there, Cass. I'm sure they are just doing this to survive, once we free them, I'm positive they'll come with us."

     Cassie puts her head down and doesn't say anything for a long time. I try to say something to cheer her up but there is nothing else to say.

     She finally breaks her silence and says, "they're not brainwashed, I don't believe it. I think you're right, Jack. I mean, my parents have always been good people. Surely they have to see the evil that surrounds them."

     "See, that's the way to look at it. I'm sure everything is fine." I say, putting on a toothy smile. "Okay, we need to find a place to rest up, because we're no doubt going into a war zone in a couple of hours."

"I can drive if you want?" Cassie asks.

"No, even though you slept, you still need more. You haven't had a proper nights sleep in almost two weeks, it'll start to hit you early when stress is applied, trust me."

"Okay, but I don't exactly know how I'm supposed to get a proper nights rest when the end of the fricking world is happening around me." She says, emphasizing her statement by waving her arm to the outside world.

"We'll barricade ourselves in a room somewhere and then we won't have to worry about anything bothering us in our sleep." I say, and that seems to do some type of convincing, all she does is grunt in approval and look to the road ahead.

***

"That looks like a good place, right?" Cassie asks, pointing to a lone house on the side of the highway.

"Yeah, I think that's the best we're going to get." I pull in the driveway and hop out of the truck. The cool dusk breeze ruffles my hair and smells like autumn.

The house sits lonely and unoccupied, well from the outside it does. There is a few boarded windows, but the front door is ajar.

If it didn't look so creepy, it would be a beautiful house, it was a light gray with black painted railings on the porch and black trim around the windows and doors. It was surrounded by open land and an enormous pond lay still in the backyard. 

     The steps creak and moan as I walk up the front porch. I unholster my handgun and creep to the front door, Cassie follows close behind with a sub machine gun.

    The hinges squeal as the door opens more. I hold the pistol at eye level, ready to fire if needed. I step into the doorway and realize that house is silent, besides this odd squeaking noise coming from somewhere upstairs.

    I move to the kitchen, which is the next room to my left. Pots and pans lay scattered about the floor, the table decorated with a table cloth depicting a scene of autumn.

    A rustling comes from the living room, and I stop, holding up a fist signaling for Cassie to do the same. The rustling continues, almost like someone foraging through a pile papers or clothes.

    I creep my way to the door leading into the living room, gun at the ready. I turn the corner quick and aim down the sights of the pistol, sweeping the room but finding nothing.

    Then the rustling happens again but from behind a reclining chair. I lightly make my way over, as to not disturb what ever is making the noise.

    I get the arm rest opposite of the source of the rustling and do a quick three count and jump around with the pistol aimed down.

    A pair of bright, light blue eyes look up at me, and a sharp bark emits from its throat. It's fur is white around its nose and covers one eye, the other eye has a circle of black around it. While the body of it is a mix of black and white here and there.

     Cassie comes up behind me, hearing the bark.

     "It's a Siberian Husky," I say. "Better known as sled dogs."

    "That is literally the cutest dog I have ever seen," Cassie exclaims and bends down and calls it over. The dog is nervous at first, but as soon as Cassie starts to pet it and play with it, it quickly warms up to her.

     "Stay here, I'm going to check out the noise coming from upstairs." I tell Cassie, she doesn't answer though, she's too busy playing with the dog.

     I walk up the stairs, which are impossible to creep up because every single one of them creaked on the way up.

     The squeaking noise is coming from one of the rooms on the left so those are the rooms that I start to search first.

     I go through them one by one and come up empty handed. Until the last door. I slowly open it, creeping my head around it.

     What I saw nearly took the heart out of my chest. My breath became a knot in my throat.

     Hanging from a ceiling fan, with a broken neck was a shirtless man. He was severely emaciated and had bruises covering his body.

     Carved into his chest were the words "You're next."

     Almost like a whisper I could hear the Russian laughing.

     You sadistic fuck. I thought to myself when I could finally catch my breath.