The Night the Vampires Came

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The next morning, we emerged from the refrigerator in the basement to find the Walmart covered in blood and dead bodies. Corpses were lying all around like the aftermath of a battlefield. In death, the vampire and human parts seemed oddly intertwined. Ashes to ashes, we were all just cells and molecules in the end.

The honeymooning couple's torsos were lying down aisle six while a pile of their limbs was in aisle seven. They weren't the only ones. There were other bodies of strangers that I didn't recognize along the front entranceway of the store. One of the automatic doors was repeatedly opening and closing on one decapitated man's body. There were several abandoned cars with their doors still open along the front of the Walmart. These strangers must have parked outside and run into Walmart to take shelter from the storm.

I wonder if they also brought the vampires with them. Maybe it was their own family members who had been caught in the rain which took them down. It was a horrifying thought. They didn't all make it into the Walmart in one piece. Some of them got wet. And that was the cause of our attack last night.

The waters from last night's Blight Rain were still evaporating in the morning sun as we emerged from Walmart.

"The sunlight won't keep them away for long. As their bodies merge with the Black Waters, they'll eventually get stronger and more resistant to sunlight," Jack stated. "We need to hurry."

"At least we have our choice of abandoned cars now," Holly replied as she eyed the minivan the honeymooners had been driving.

"You want to go back in there and look for their keys in that pile of bodies?" I asked. "Let's just get back in my dad's car. I don't like taking things from the dead. It's bad luck."

"Yeah," Holly said in agreement. "It's bad karma."

Jack shook his head and handed me the half-eaten Twinkie that he stole from a display stand. I couldn't believe he still had an appetite after the carnage we witnessed. And that was just from just walking out of the Walmart. Who knew what else laid in store for us that day? "We don't have any gas, remember? I doubt we're going to find anything in that looted Walmart. Let's go find the keys to that minivan."

Grudgingly we went back into Walmart and searched through the pile of bodies. I found the lower half of Michael's torso stuffed into the shelf between some toilet paper rolls and some boxes of spaghetti.

I rummaged through his pant pocket. His skin was so cold, and his body was stiff to the touch. I found the keys at the bottom of his pocket, along with an asthma inhaler and a half-empty packet of gum.

"I got it," I emotionlessly announced to my friends who were busy searching through the couple's makeshift tent and duffle bags. As Holly came to take the keys from me, I felt my eyes growing hot with tears. I hadn't cried the night before. I was too scared, too caught up with the struggle to survive. But at that moment, everything — Grace, the honeymooners, the little boy who killed his mother, came back to me. The sorrow hit me like a tidal wave.

"It's okay," Holly said and wrapped her arms around me. She wasn't wearing her matte blue sweater anymore. It was too dirty and stained with vampire blood. She had taken it off and tied it around her waist. Now she was dressed in jeans and a white camisole. I felt the softness of her breasts through the silky material as she pressed herself against me.

She looked angelic, virginal like she was some saint who had come to me in my moment of need. I wiped my tears away and nodded obediently at her.

"I'm sorry, I just lost control right there."

Holly leaned in close and brushed her lips against mine. Although neither of us had brushed our teeth that morning, I was enchanted by the intimacy of that gesture.