The Night the Vampires Came

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"I didn't mean what I said about making girls pay on a first date," Jack explained triumphantly as we drove away. "I was trying to distract those military dudes from taking us all to the quarantine cells. You gals know that, right?"

I rolled my eyes and ignored him. We were safe for now. Finally, we were beyond the borders of the towns affected by the Blight. Holly was right. I needed a good night's sleep if I was going to go back for Grace. This day was beyond exhausting, even for a girl in the best of health. For someone with my health problems, it was practically fatal. People like me were not meant to survive in harsh times like these.

I leaned my forehead against the window. It felt cold to the touch. At least I was still a warm-blooded mammal. That was all I had left in this post-apocalyptic world; the red, hot blood flowing through my veins. That was all that separated the three of us from the monsters that pursued us. It wasn't wealth, skin color, religion, or culture as it had been in the wars of the olden days. Now, it was a vital difference of several degrees Celsius.

"Seriously, I want you to know I would totally split the cost of the coffee! Right down the middle!" Jack whined. "Down to the last penny."

"Oh, just shut up," Holly mumbled. "No matter how many coffee dates you go dutch on, no one is going to want to jump on your Cheeto-dusted ass. I don't think you can find a girl to touch your pee-pee even if you were the last man on earth."

I knew the two of them were bantering to lighten up the mood, but after everything that had happened, I found the mindless chatter irritating. Then again, being left alone with the silence of our own thoughts could be far worse. We might start wondering what had happened to our families, our friends, to everyone we ever knew. Perhaps the ones who had died in the Blight were the lucky ones. The survivors had to live with our memories of those that were lost.

As Jack opened his mouth to retort, we heard gunfire erupt behind us. All three of us instinctively ducked. The dreadful silence that followed was worse than the noise that could come from a gun. We were all breathing hard as we listened for an alarm to go off, signaling a vampire attack.

No alarm came on.

Nothing, just silence.

It was the eye of the hurricane. I stared into the rearview mirror. The military-grade high beam lights from the checkpoint had gone out.

All that was left behind us was darkness.

It was the end of humanity, as we knew it. I felt a sickening feeling creep into my stomach as I stared at the emptiness behind us. It was a dark woodiness that was utterly devoid of human life. I thought back to the glitzy neon lights of South Beach and wondered if somewhere out there, the calming presence of other people still existed.

Even then, how long could South Beach hang onto normalcy? How long could Manna City? When the last light went out, it will be the end of our kind.

"Go!" Jack screamed and patted the back of Holly's driver seat with the intensity of a man who was about to crap in his pants. "Go, go, go! Dammit, Holly!"

Holly floored the gas pedal, and I heard the aging engine of my dad's Honda roar in rage. It made a bigger show of huffing and puffing with activity than providing actual speed.

My body was pressed against the back of my seat as we sped up. I heard Holly whisper, "Shit shit shit," under her breath. In the rearview mirror, I saw a silhouette appear against the darkness of the twilight forest. It was hard to see because the glare from the setting sun blinded us. The shadow was dodging in and out of the darkness of the woods.