The Onyx Seed - A Story of Survival by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 25

 

The morning sun continued its path behind the heavy cover of dim clouds left in the wake of the westward hurricane. Marty and Julie drove out of the parking lot. Away from the mall. Away from the suburbs of Savannah. Marty felt certain that, unless it became necessary, they would never have to see another city again. Making their way back to the highway that surrounded Savannah, he heard the familiar sound of clothing rustling. Julie finally emerged from the back bedroom clad in the smallest tan shorts he’d ever seen, along with an off-white tank top just tight enough for the fabric to stretch between her breasts. Her long tanned legs greatly lent themselves to her magnificent statuesque beauty. Marty gripped the wheel, trying to avoid impulsively reaching over to her thigh. Julie looked over to him as he continued to intently focus on the road.

“Are you mad at me?” she asked. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

Marty let out a deep sigh. He knew he could never be angry with Julie. Yet, there was a concern that needed to be addressed. His intention was to talk to her about it once they were settled for the next few days, but Julie seemed to want to clear the air. So now, appeared to be as good a time as any. “Julie,” Marty began. “You have to understand, it’s not safe anymore. You know that. Wherever we go, things are always going to be the way they are right now! Every city is going to look like Savannah and Tampa and Corpus Christie and L.A. We can’t go back. Julie, we have to be able to trust each other. You have to trust me to know what I’m doing and I have to trust you not to go running off like that. Do you have any idea how that could’ve ended?” He glanced over at Julie and found her with her arms folded tightly against her chest as tears ran slowly down her face. He hated to see her cry and believed that a face as beautiful as hers should never be stained by tears.

“Julie,” he said gently.

He reached a hand over and touched her elbow. “Julie, I’m sorry. It’s just that...I don’t want anything to happen to you. And I’m not mad at you, okay?” When traveling by sea, Julie was, for the most part, the one in control. She was the reason they were both still alive. But on land, she seemed far too drawn to the accouterments of a once vibrant world. And it was a safe bet that given the direction their lives were taking, the opportunity to wander through a retail playground would likely never present itself again. Julie did understand the hazards of the world as it had become. What Marty wanted from her was the ability to consider the most likely outcomes of a single action before taking even the slightest step. She needed to develop the thinking of a survivalist, how to set her mind for the constant processing of possibilities and resourcefulness. Marty knew that there might come a time that, due to some unforeseen circumstances, he may no longer be present and Julie would be left to her own devices. And given her fear of being alone, Marty was already convinced that she would be unable to cope with any degree of solitude. Julie had a great deal to learn.

“Are you sure?” she asked in a childlike voice. “Julie,” Marty replied. “Upset, yes but I’m not angry, okay?”

Now, Marty discovered something else about Julie. Her fear of isolation was such that she couldn’t stand the idea of driving someone away. The very idea of angering someone to the point of abandonment reduced her to the emotional dependency of a child. But, he also suspected that this fear was not a dominant quality of her personality. Especially, given how she dealt with their experience aboard the Stellar Storm. Julie simply needed to develop a bit more inner strength. According to the directions Marty had marked out on the map, route 516 would lead them out of Savannah and toward the wildlife refuge where they planned to spend several days.

They soon found themselves approaching Garden City, where route 25 splits off toward the bridge over Little Black River. Passing right of Port Wentworth, they slowly drove across the bridge as Marty searched the woods for any signs of human habitation. His mind raced with all manner of images dark and threatening. The outline of a figure standing among the trees. The flicker of a campfire burning quietly in the distant woods. Leaving the bridge, Marty looked to his left for the narrow road leading to the river bend where, according to the map, a cove lay hidden. Julie stared out through the passenger window as the wind pushed at the trees, setting their shadows into a dark dance of malevolent intent. One might think the rising sun would keep these primal elements at bay, to allow their minds to achieve a needed state of quiet. But where they would soon stop was a place devoid of anything familiar and the morning sun, defused by a broken sky, did nothing to ease their tense anticipation of the unseen. To the contrary, it painted a dim pastel of the murky woods, set beneath the random wingbeats of the living wind. Marty brought the RV to a stop just yards before a small industrial trucking yard. Julie looked out through the windshield, her eyes wide with shock. “Tell me we’re not staying here,” she said. “No,” Marty replied. “We can do better than this.” Beyond the trucking yard, the road was awash with mud and river water. The Savannah area had not completely escaped the storm and the river was left flooded well beyond the tree line. Marty opened the driver’s window and leaning out looked behind the RV as he carefully backed out toward route 25. Turning around at the bridge, he drove back across the river and turned right on route 21, returning to route 95.

“So, what now?” Julie asked.

Out of habit, Marty looked both ways before turning into the northbound lane.

“Always have a plan ‘B’,” he answered. “About an hour north of here, there’s a small state park just across the South Carolina line. I wanted us to be near water, so I thought the river would be a good spot. I guess the maps don’t tell you everything.” By this time, the clouded morning light illuminated everything. However, Marty was far more comfortable traveling by night, when he could maintain a low profile. In his mind, daylight was a hazardous condition that brought too many possibilities for trouble. And even though they were traveling well away from any large city, the highway bore an eerie similarity to what Marty had seen in L.A., with only a few dozen cars scattered along the roadway. Some were resting at odd angles off to the side while a few sat parked in their lanes as if their drivers simply slowed to a stop and walked away. Marty cautiously steered around the abandoned cars. Most left with their doors open and not a person in sight, except one. They lay sprawled out on the side of the highway. A crow perched atop its body as though signaling some grave portent of whatever madness was yet to come. It was only doing what crows did. Trying to survive. Driven by eons of instinct. Julie’s attention was pulled toward the macabre scene by simple human curiosity as the crow picked at the rapidly decomposing body. The buildup of gases caused its softening flesh to become bloated and taut as the crow continued to explore its sloughing skin. But, as it sank its beak deep into the rotting corpse, it penetrated through to its gas-filled cavity, breaking open its flesh and releasing an explosion of viscous green fluid. The noxious ooze launched itself out with such force as to leave the inky black bird covered with its greasy foulness. It cried with an almost human hysteria and flew off into the gloomy morning sky. Julie turned her eyes back to the road, bringing a hand to her forehead in an attempt to shake the specter of decay from her mind. Marty, having suddenly felt her tension, glanced over to her with concern.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, fine,” she answered.

“I hate to tell you this,” Marty began. “But, we’re probably going to see a lot more of that.” Marty had seen it too, but he had seen battle and didn’t find it nearly as disturbing as Julie did. As a nurse, she was accustomed to the sights and smells of sickness. However, those whom she had seen pass were generally not in a state of decomposition. That was an issue that fell to the expertise of medical examiners.

Within the hour, they arrived at Santee State Park. A large metal sign pointed to its entrance on the left. Marty slowed the RV to a crawl as he turned into the entrance of the park. The only signs of human activity was a tent that had been blown over by the storm and a camper that sat in ruins, destroyed by a fallen tree. Pressing down on the brake, Marty stopped for a few moments to survey the tree-lined road in front of them, as well as the surrounding woods. He opened the window and leaning out, took in a breath of the cool morning air. It wasn’t that he simply enjoyed the smell of the woods. During his time in the Army, he learned how to use all his senses and what he was attempting to find was the scent of a burning fire. However, the only scent wafting through the air was the smell of Pine trees that stood scattered through the park. Marty briefly debated over where they should camp. He wanted to be near neighboring Lake Marion but didn’t want to be too close to the waterline, for fear of being noticed. At the same time, if they were too close to the main road, the risk would be the same.

“What is it?” Julie asked.

She hadn’t seen anything, no shadows creeping through the woods, no eyes staring back from the trees. Now, it was the quiet of the woods she found terrifying and in her mind, even silence had become unpredictable but could be broken by the slightest movement, and if a sound could not be readily identified, it represented an immediate threat -- real or imagined.

“Nothing,” Marty replied. “I was just thinking for a moment.”

Bringing his foot off the brake, he touched the gas and continued. He made the decision to camp at the far end of the park. They would still be near the lake but deep enough into the park to reduce their chances of being seen, and with only one way out, finding a way to remain hidden was critical and Marty was a firm believer that one should always expect the unexpected.

Having found a small camping spot deep in the woods of Santee State Park, Marty slowly drove the RV into its parking space. He turned the engine off and both Marty and Julie sat in the numbing silence of the heavily wooded park.

“Can we get out now?” Julie whispered. “Not yet,” Marty answered.

Another moment passed in silence. “What are you doing?” she asked. “Listening,” Marty replied.

“For what?” Julie inquired.

“Anything,” Marty replied. “Stay here.” Marty quietly cracked the door open and studied the woods. Seeing no signs of movement, he retrieved his nine millimeter and got out of the RV.

“I’m going to get a look around,” he began. “Lock the door and stay put.”

Closing the door, he aimed the pistol toward the ground and circled the RV in a wide spiral pattern. After conducting a methodical search, Marty returned to the RV. He tapped on the passenger window while tucking his pistol behind him, under his belt. Julie opened the door and stepped out. As she closed it, Marty abruptly interrupted, saying, “while we’re here, we need to be as quiet as possible, okay?” She nodded in nervously. By now, Julie had become keenly aware of the need to avoid being noticed as well as what could happen should they be discovered. As a woman, the possibilities were especially terrifying. Julie gazed around the thick stands of pines in astonishment.

“Is this where we’re staying?” she asked. “For a few days,” Marty answered. “What do you think?”

She turned and looked out at the lake. “It’s beautiful,” she replied. “How long can we stay here?”

Marty hadn’t considered exactly how long they’d be there, but after a few moments thought, he decided three or four days would be enough time to get some rest and figure out what the next step was going to be. Julie seemed satisfied with his answer. Yet, there was another reason for his decision, one that he did not share with Julie. Where they were staying was exceptionally quiet and completely devoid of the sounds of human activity. Marty, once again, glanced around at the woods. The soldier in him would continue to be vigilant. Alert for any signs of trouble. “Okay,” he began. “I think we need a few ground rules.”

He paused to organize his thoughts. “Alright,” he continued. “I want you to stay close to camp, so don’t go wandering off. We don’t know this area, so if you go out there and get lost, I’m probably not going to be able to find you. And during the day, stay away from the lake. It’s too open down there and anyone within a quarter of a mile will be able to see you.”

He took a step back and examined her scantily clothed physique. Julie grinned slightly as she looked at him with brown, almond-shaped eyes. “Yes?” she asked.

Her answer reflected her interest in him as she anticipated something of a romantic response.

She heard his voice but most of her attention was focused on what she considered to be a more pressing matter.

“Wow,” he began. “You are really beautiful.” She responded immediately as her face flushed, her skin breaking into a slight sweat.

“But, we’re near a lake and that means lots of mosquitoes, so you might want to think about putting on some jeans, okay?”

Julie agreed but also realized that while Marty wasn’t much of a romantic, he did have his moments and after a pause, she glanced down at the ground and back up into Marty’s eyes.

“What about a fire?” she asked.

Part of him wanted to lie low for the night. On the other hand, part of him was unable to say no. “Let me see what I can do,” he answered. Julie’s eyes lit up with childlike excitement as a broad smile came to her face. Having come from Texas, she’d spent little, if any, time in the woods. And while she’d never considered it before, she wanted to experience at least one campfire. However, one thing did take priority -- food.

It had been many hours since they last ate and both felt the pangs of hunger almost at the same time. As in previous meals, lunch was simple. Coffee, canned beans and biscuits. They had several bottles of cooking fuel, but Marty wanted to conserve as much of it as possible. So, the beans were brought to a simmer over a small open fire. In the light of day, a small campfire would likely go unnoticed. However, even a small fire could be seen for at least a mile on a clear night. For now, they spent the remainder of the day gathering firewood and exploring the immediate area. Even though the day was warm, Marty realized the night air would bring a chill from the lake. However, concealing its flickering light would be a challenge and staying warm would be difficult unless they had a fire. And when the time came, Marty constructed a one-and-a-half-foot tall ring of stones, building a low-lying fire inside it. This gave Julie the campfire she wanted while doing what he could to keep it concealed. He knew that wherever they went, firewood would always be a necessity. And according to the stories told to him by his parents, winters in the Adirondacks were notoriously cold and brutal, but it was still early summer and while winter would bring its own form of crisis, it wasn’t something that required immediate consideration.

As Marty and Julie busied themselves collecting firewood and reorganizing supplies, the afternoon sun drifted across the sky, leaving in its wake the first of a multitude of stars, hanging in the slowly chilling air of the oncoming night. Human experience is guided by many things; the icy grip of a winters morning, the sound of a crying baby, the primal satisfaction of a cold glass of water on a scorching summer day as well as a host of emotional responses echoing from deep within the psyche. But the nocturnal woodland brings an eerie silence, capable of creating a reality of its own. This is especially true when the air is still and the mind wanders off, searching to make sense of a soundlessness it cannot grasp.

Having started the fire, Marty and Julie settled down for the evening, absorbing its warmth and losing themselves in its flickering hypnotic flames. The air moved back and forth with a growing chill as the night marched onward, prompting Julie to move into Marty’s side. He responded in kind, putting an arm around her shoulder and gently pulling her into him. The crackling of the fire provided a soothing comfort for both body and mind as they sat near its life-giving warmth, just as many others had since the beginning of time.

“Oh, wait,” Marty said.

He stood up and made his way to the passenger’s door of the RV.

“I’ll be right back. There’s something I meant to get.” He disappeared for only a few moments but returned with two coffee mugs and the bottle of wine he’d procured when they resupplied their stock of water. “What’s that?” Julie asked.

“Well,” Marty began. “I picked this up from the store we got water from. I don’t know a lot about wine, but I thought ‘what the hell?’, just because the world’s gone to shit doesn’t mean we have to live like complete pigs, right?”

“Wait,” he said. “I need a corkscrew for this, don’t I?”

Julie tried to hide the smile that momentarily fought its way to the surface. After clumsily removing the foil and wire from around the neck of the bottle, he fished into his pants pocket, retrieving his folding knife.

“You’re not going to open that with a knife, are you?” Julie asked, still trying to conceal a playful smile.

“Oh...no,” Marty replied. “Don’t worry, I got this.” Unfolding the knife’s corkscrew, Marty sat down and placed the bottle between his knees. He turned it deeply into the cork and pulled upward, unsealing the bottle with a high-pitched ‘pop’.

“There,” he said. “That wasn’t too hard.” Setting the knife on the ground, he began pouring the clear, yellow-tinged liquid into the coffee mugs. Julie let out a slight giggle of amusement. “What?” Marty asked.

Julie watched as the wine gurgled onto the mug, stopping him when it filled to the halfway point. “You’re not very good at this, are you?” she asked. “Really?” Marty replied. “I think I’m doing pretty well, don’t you?”

At this point, Julie stopped trying to hide her amusement at Marty’s well-meaning but befuddled attempt at wine etiquette.

“If you say so,” she answered with a grin. With their mugs both half-filled, Marty placed the opened bottle on the ground in front of them. Marty gave a sigh as he composed his thoughts. “A toast,” he said.

Julie had finally managed to suppress her amusement and brought up her mug as well.

“A toast,” she responded.

“To Luke,” Marty began. “I think he would have really loved it out here.”

The conversation was followed by a respectful pause as both sat with coffee mugs raised.

“To Luke,” Julie replied.

Touching their mugs together, Julie slid back over next to Marty, who again, put his arm around her. As they both took a sip of wine, each immediately felt its warm glow growing within their bodies. “So, what do you think?” Marty asked. “Is it okay?” Julie had already broken into a warm sweat and set her mug down next to the bottle.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” she replied. “It’s just that I’m a little sensitive to alcohol.”

Marty looked at her with concern. “Sensitive, how?” he asked.

“Oh, it’s just that me and wine don’t really get along. Now, you give me a beer...now, that’s a different story. I used to drink a lot of my friends under the table.”

Marty looked at her in astonishment, unable to fathom the idea that a woman of Julie’s build could tolerate any amount of alcohol.

“You? Really?” he remarked. “You’re shitting me!”

“Do you know what it’s like to be a nurse?” Julie asked.

“Nursing is stressful. I’ve taken a lot of shit from people, so you either party and get it out of your system or you go nuts.”

“Uh-huh,” Marty replied. “So, happy hour becomes happy weekend, right?”

Marty took a moment to absorb the conversation while Julie sat with a devilish grin. “Damn,” he continued. “You learn something new every day.”

As the fire began to die, Marty and Julie continued sitting in front of the brilliant red blanket of embers covering the ground within the high stone circle. They both began to feel a degree of tension as Julie took Marty’s hand and pulled it down over her shoulder. Moving in closer, she gently began stroking the hair on his arm with her fingertips as Marty broke into a flushed sweat. It had been a long time since Marty had been with a woman and his confidence was more than a little rusty. But occasionally, there exist moments that transcend social foreplay when the elements of nature gather in strength for a whirlwind of passion and a deep knowledge of one another. She felt him inch closer and turning toward him, became locked in his anticipating gaze. Up to this point, they had experienced each other with a mix of sexual tension and a deep fear of death. Their lips met in an act of true intimacy as Julie pulled Marty’s hand tightly against her breast. They quickly became enveloped in a flood of passion. With quickening breath, Julie made her way to Marty’s ear. And while gently taking it between her lips whispered a single yet near-silent request. Reaching up to pull the edge of her tank top away from her chest, she guided Marty’s hand down to her breast. She took a deep gasp of arousal as the tips of his fingers drifted across her nipples. Her flesh took flight at his stimulating touch, while she broke into a feverish array of chilling bumps. She turned her body into him, slipping a hand under his shirt. And as she turned her back to the dying fire, she let fall the strap of her tank top that partially concealed Marty’s inquiring fingers. Their passionate exchange was suddenly interrupted as Julie stood up and bending down towards Marty, whispered, “Give me a few minutes.”

After again, kissing him deeply on the mouth, she disappeared into the RV. Marty had a good idea of what she was up to, but as the minutes ticked by, he felt himself being driven to the edge of insanity by anticipation and arousal. He glanced at his watch repeatedly, wondering what it was that could take a woman so long to prepare for a night of passion. Fifteen eternal minutes had passed and Marty could no longer stand the anticipation. He rose from in front of the passing embers and approached the passenger door. Not to appear completely taken over by his desires, he tapped on the passenger side window. Moments later, he heard a similar reply mimic through the thin wall of the RV. Opening the door, Marty stepped up into the lightless vehicle and quietly closing the door, made certain that both were locked. He was not expecting that they would be interrupted, but even before the infection, he always felt safer behind a locked door.

“Julie?” he whispered.

Feeling his way through the darkness, he heard a girlish giggle coming from near the shower. And as if on cue, the sky fractured, letting the moon shine its celestial beam over the RV. It streamed in through a side window, illuminating just enough of its interior to expose Julie standing in the center of the living area. Her hair was damp and her body clad only in a bath towel. She stepped towards Marty in the searing moonlight as her skin ran with beads of water, her body cleansed of the last few days of hardship. Their eyes met in the narrow sliver of moonlight as their bodies drew closer.

“I decided to change out of the shorts,” Julie began. “What do you think?”

Led by his arousal, Marty quickly wrapped his arms around her, kissing her passionately on the mouth. “Hey, a girl’s got to look good,” he answered. Julie looked into his eyes and smiled broadly. “Damn right,” she said.

They wrapped their arms around each other and continued their passionate exchange as Marty loosened the top of the towel hiding Julie’s angelic physique and let it fall to the floor. Julie’s toes curled in excitement as Marty gently ran his fingertips down the length of her spine. She gasped in arousal as he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. They knelt on the bed and facing each other and continued their passionate outburst as Julie, almost violently, fumbled to remove Marty’s clothes. Falling back onto the bed, their bodies merged in an erotic dance of sweat and unrestrained passion. They rolled across the width of the queen-sized bed, their bodies intertwined. Once on her back, Julie surrounded Marty’s hips with her legs as she let out a giggle. The night sky was beginning to clear as the moon continued to cast its pallid light through the RV’s small bedroom window, illuminating the thin layer of sweat welling up on their skin. Coming to rest in the middle of the bed, Marty kissed her deeply as they explored each other’s mouths with curious tongues. Considering what Julie had been through, Marty chose not to be too rough with her. At least, not yet. Julie, however, seemed not to harbor that sentiment and responded to him like a hungry lion.

She pulled Marty in by the hips and looked into his eyes.

“What are you waiting for?” she asked. She reached down the front of his abdomen and grasping firmly, guided him into her warm supple body. They took a sudden gasp of passion together as their bodies fit like a key in a lock. Now, Marty was quick to realize that Julie had been starving for companionship and the simple touch of human intimacy. Together, they played with childlike innocence, without pretense or hesitation. Living in the breathless moment of each other’s existence. They moved together as one as Marty repeatedly withdrew and pushed himself back into Julie’s soft, moist body. And with their souls laid bare to one another, they each took a long gasp of deep satisfaction as both experienced their release together. Letting out a long sigh as the tensions of a meager life of hiding lifted into the humid air within the small bedroom. Marty and Julie lay next to each other on the sweat-soaked sheets, their bodies still glistening in the moonlight. Julie turned over and delicately ran her hand up Marty’s body, stopping at his chest. “Well,” she began. “That’s something I haven’t done for a while.”

Marty looked over into her admiring, playful gaze. “You mean I’m nothing more than a plaything to you?” he asked jokingly.

Julie smiled and kissed him on the lips. “Absolutely,” she answered.

She closed her eyes and laid the side of her face on Marty’s shoulder.

“I know almost nothing about you,” she said.

“So, what do you want to know?” Marty asked. Julie looked up at him as she put her arm around his waist.

“Everything,” she answered. “Tell me about your family.”

“My family?” Marty replied.

“Well, we moved to L.A. when I was a kid, no brothers or sisters. It was just me and my parents.”

“Where did you move from?” Julie inquired. “Upstate New York, near Albany. It’s a pretty small town called Gloversville,” he answered. It started out as a small village called Kingsboro, so it’s been there forever."

“Sounds like a nice little place to put down roots,” Julie said.

“Well, evidently my parents didn’t think so,” Marty replied. “Maybe they thought they’d find something better out west, but things didn’t work out so well. My father took out a ‘business loan’ with the wrong people and when he couldn’t pay it back...they sent him a message by executing my mom. Anyway, I was just getting out of high school and I wanted to help my father pay back the loan, but he said that L.A. isn’t the place for anyone who wants a future. So, I joined the Army and six months later, I get called into my commander’s office and told that my dad was dead. Turned out the people he borrowed money from got tired of waiting.”

Julie was horrified.

“Oh my God!” she reacted. “How did you get through all that?”

“Well,” he continued. “After the initial shock, there was, of course, the funeral and all of that. After that, the Army became my new family,”

“Then, there was Iraq and after a couple of tours chasing terrorists, they told me that I was ineligible for reenlistment. I had no idea what I was going to do. I thought I was going to end up as another homeless vet. But the funny about being in a war is that you don’t have the chance to spend any money. So, I came back with forty or fifty grand in my pocket, got a job in a restaurant and lived in the war zone of L.A.”

Julie lay next to him, baffled that anyone could maintain their sanity through a lifetime of such pain. “So,” he continued. “What about you?” She looked up at him quizzically. “Me?” she asked. “There’s really not a whole lot to tell.”

“What?” Marty replied. “No husband? No kids?” Marty suddenly realized that under the circumstances, his question was awkward, at the very least. “Shit, I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t...”

“It’s okay,” Julie interrupted. “I’m not really the marrying type.”

She let out a relaxed sigh as her mind drifted toward sleep.

“And I’ve always tried to stay clear of having kids.” Marty’s thoughts were suddenly spun by the possibility that their act of passion may well have created the opportunity for a new life. “Um, I hate to be a party pooper,” Marty said with anxious concern. “But speaking of having kids...” Julie chuckled at his sudden concern.

“Marty,” she began. “Don’t worry about it. I took care of that about three years ago.” She went on to explain that she’d had an IUD implanted in her uterus and that as long as it was there, her chances of conceiving were near zero. Marty was immediately curious.

“What does it look like?” he asked. “You don’t know what an IUD is?” she asked. “Well, I know what it is,” Marty replied. “I’ve just never seen one.”

She described it to him in detail. That it resembled the number seven, wrapped in a copper coil. Knowing this greatly put Marty at ease. The last thing he wanted was to bring a child into a world where the sight of decomposition was normal. He turned over towards her and together they drifted off into an exhausted sleep as their bodies continued to be bathed in moonlight. And as the night wore on, the surrounding pine trees stood majestically as if standing guard over Marty and Julie’s quiet slumber. The act of passion they had witnessed would remain a secret each would carry to their very end. It was late when Julie was awakened by a sudden chill that had permeated the thin walls of the RV. The sweat and heat that had previously overtaken her body had long evaporated from her skin, and she reached out in search of a blanket. But in her search, the darkness of the nocturnal forest silently called out to her, mysteriously pulling her attention to the nearest window. She stared out through the moonlit pines and was startled into a gasp when a pair of glowing eyes wandered out from the darkness, and before she could take another breath, a second pair of luminescent orbs floated out from the same dark place. Then a third, and a fourth. Part of her was mesmerized by the sight of what appeared to be the drifting incorporeal presence of woodland ghosts, standing guard over what they believed belonged to them. They crept forward and came to rest just beyond the edge of the cool moonlit earth. A torrent of screeching howls suddenly fractured the quiet of the woods, invading Julie’s mind and igniting her imagination into an uncontrolled blaze of terror. The unearthly racket threw her backward onto the bed, waking Marty from a deep sleep. He bolted up in bed, his consciousness immediately restored.

“What is it?” he asked.

By this time, Julie had wrapped herself in a blanket as Marty rose and inquired as to her mind’s sudden flight of panic. The blanket she wore was no longer simply a shield from the cold but an emotional armor from what lay screaming in the darkness. Her eyes were still fixed on the window as her imagination convinced her that something horrible would soon come crashing through the thinly insulated partition of the RV.

“What the fuck is that?!” she asked. Julie truly believed that she would soon be torn limb from limb by something she was unable to identify. Whatever spirits had arrived — in whatever number they came — seemed to refuse to show themselves in their complete form. Marty, however, had spent enough time in the woods to quickly determine the cause of Julie’s sudden terror.

Having jumped out of bed, he noticed Julie had backed herself into a nearby corner as a second chorus of shrieks and cries emanated from just beyond the border between the revealing silver glow of moonlight and the haunting wooded darkness. “What the fuck are those things!?” Julie asked in a panicked scream.

Marty stared out of the small window as more eyes approached the RV. The high-pitched yelps and screams suddenly stopped, allowing Marty to clear his head and identify what it was that had arrived in the middle of the night.

“They’re coyotes,” he answered. “They look like wolves, only smaller.”

“Well, can’t you just shoot them?” Julie asked. As far as she was concerned, it didn’t matter what they were, as long as they left.

“Coyotes are scavengers,” Marty continued. “They’re not after us. They’re probably just curious. So, if we just stay quiet, they’ll go away.”

What Marty wasn’t telling her was that coyotes often travel in packs of up to twelve or thirteen and that by now, they had likely surrounded the RV. If he could keep Julie calm, they might become bored and wander back into the woods.

“I think the best thing to do is to just try to get back to sleep,” Marty whispered.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Julie asked. “With those things out there?”

Marty brought a finger to his lips. “Keep your voice down,” he said. “They’re here mostly out of curiosity.”

“I don’t care why they're here,” Julie replied.

She walked up to the window with an expression of paranoia, expecting to see the woods lit with roving eyes, as though the devil himself had come calling with his legion in tow. But as silently as they had arrived, the pack of ghostly foragers disappeared into the woodland nightscape.

“Jesus Christ!” Julie exclaimed. “Where the fuck did they go?!”

“I told you they’d go away,” he said. Marty went back to bed and pulled the covers up. “Do you think they’ll come back?” Julie asked anxiously.

Marty turned on his side and repositioned his pillow. “I have no idea,” he answered with a tired voice. She continued looking out into the woods; her face filled with fear and anticipation.

“But you’re never going to sleep if you keep looking out the window.”

In her mind, Marty words made sense. But the rest of her saw only the ghostly green glow of eyes floating from place to place. After a few minutes, Julie came to the conclusion that they would no longer be haunted by the wolfish pack of woodland specters, and lying next to Marty again, unfurled the blanket she’d retrieved, covered her chilled body and drifted off to sleep.

The night passed without further incident and Julie rose the next morning to the sight of the sun's brilliant rays and the smell of hot coffee. Morning brought a healing effect to Julie’s shaken psyche. And during the morning’s first conversation, Marty warned her that the coyotes would likely return. Not just that night but every night. Drawn by the scent of human activity. After breakfast, Marty made a quick search of the area. The paw prints were everywhere and seemed to indicate that either they had been surrounded or the coyotes had simply been circling them in their search for food. Having dressed, Julie stepped out of the RV and walked up behind him as he knelt down studying the tracks. “How many do you think there were?” Julie asked. “I’m not sure,” Marty began. “Maybe as many as a dozen.”

He got to his feet and began examining other tracks. “What is it?”

She wasn’t so much fearful now as she was curious, having seen something she didn’t quite understand. Marty touched the fresh paw print left in the moist earth; its edges sank easily beneath his fingertips. “I would expect one to show up at some point,” he said. “But why would so many of them be here at one time?”

Having spent so much time in the mountains, Marty acquired an understanding of the behavior of wildlife. He knew that coyotes generally sent out a single member to investigate anything new in their territory. He also knew that an entire pack appearing out of the woods at one time was far from ordinary. Granted, when the opportunity for hunting arose, they acted as a single unit in order to bring down whatever they were after. But, for all of them to arrive in the middle of the night was something that Marty could not explain. His mind became frantic with the question of what it was that may have attracted so many of them. The only thing left out was the half-filled bottle of wine. All utensils and cookware had been cleaned and there were no scraps or garbage left about. The fact they had, for some reason, been the main attraction for a pack of coyotes didn’t bother Marty so much as why. The behavior of any animal can be reasonably predicted by the patterns established by instinct. But, what they witnessed last night was not something driven by instinct and until they left, Marty and Julie would neither be unable to explain nor escape it.

The day progressed as did the last as Marty and Julie scoured the surrounding woods for anything they could make use of. Marty decided it might be beneficial to investigate the two campsites they saw on their way into the park. The tent that had been rolled over by the wind was empty, but it was the camper Marty was interested in. He thought it might contain a few useful items such as food or cookware. The previous storm had blown over a large pine tree. Sending it crashing down onto the camper. On closer inspection, Marty discovered the driver’s door had been left open. He found it difficult to believe that anyone would have pried themselves out of something akin to a crushed aluminum can. “Wait here,” Marty said.

Julie stood back as Marty did his best to squeeze himself, at least halfway into the wrecked camper. To his shock, he discovered the bodies of two survivors. He was unable to determine their gender, as their state of decomposition left them with a molten appearance. But Marty noticed something else, something he’d never seen before. A significant amount of flesh had been torn away from their bodies. Their facial bones had been laid bare and their abdominal cavities ransacked. Anything in the RV that was usable was covered in a noxious coating of decayed filth.

Overcome with the confined stench of rotting flesh, Marty backed himself out through the driver’s door and got to his feet. Feeling the effects of what was a truly hideous sight, he stumbled to the back of the camper. And grabbing his knees, bent down to allow the blood to return to his head. Having witnessed Marty’s reaction, Julie approached the camper, curious about what it was that nearly forced him to his knees but too terrified to actually look inside. “Don’t go in there!” Marty said. “There isn’t anything in there we need.”

Wanting to recover as quickly as possible, Marty began a series of deep breathing as Julie stood looking on. Knowing something of his military background, she wondered what it was that could bring him so close to becoming physically ill. Marty stood up abruptly and led Julie away by the arm. “What is it?” she asked. “Marty, what did you see in there?”

His face was a deathly pale and running with sweat. Even in war, he had never seen human remains in such a state of tattered decay. They walked back to the RV at a quick, yet steady pace as Marty’s mind flew back to the previous night that found them surrounded by a pack of coyotes. Now, he believed he knew why they had appeared in their entire number, suspecting that they had encountered an opportunity to sample a horrifyingly different cuisine and had become to the taste of human game. It wasn’t trash or scraps they’d been looking for. They knew what they wanted. And Marty knew they would return in an attempt to satisfy their new craving.

By the time they got back to the RV, Marty’s tension and anxiety had become clearly visible. Having taken Julie by the arm, it was not only his pace that frightened her but the firmness of his grip. “Marty, what is going on?” she asked. He wanted to avoid giving her an explanation and further revealed his fear by glancing back toward the direction of the ruined camper.

“How about we have dinner in the RV tonight?” he asked.

His avoidance of Julie’s inquiry led her frustration to escalate as she neared the fire pit and pulled her arm from Marty’s grip.

“Goddammit!” she began. “Will you stop trying to coddle me and just tell me what the fuck is going on?!”

Marty knew he couldn’t protect her from everything and brought his hands up to his head in frustration. He looked Julie in the eyes as he let them fall back to his hips with a sigh of frustration. “Fine!” he began. “The coyotes aren’t here for garbage!”

He pointed back toward the area of the camper. “There are two people dead back there and it looks like the coyotes got to them.”

The idea of seeing a rotting corpse was horrific enough, but the idea of one being consumed by a wild animal left Julie feeling sick. She put a hand over her mouth as her eyes filled with tears. “Like I said,” Marty continued. “I don’t think they’re here for garbage.”

He walked around Julie and toward the passenger’s door of the RV.

“We should turn in early tonight,” he said. “We’ll eat dinner in the RV. I’ll build a fire tonight and maybe that will keep them away.”

Julie began crying, prompting Marty’s guilt at having raised his voice to her. And walking back over, turned her gently towards him and held her. With both hands over her face, Julie wept into Marty’s chest. Marty rubbed a hand up and down her back, trying to be comforting.

“I’m sorry,” he began. “I didn’t mean to yell.” He kissed her on the head while continuing to hold her. She turned and laid the side of her head against his shoulder.

“They’re going to be back, aren’t they?” Julie asked. In her mind, they weren’t just coyotes anymore. They had taken on the human quality of intent. Making them just as dangerous as any person willing to kill for even the most meager of another’s possessions. “Probably,” Marty replied. “Look, if we stay inside, we’ll be fine.”

“Why can’t we just leave?” Julie asked. Marty took a moment to silently weigh their options. If they stayed inside, their safety would be certain, but it was getting late and driving at night brought its own risks. Especially in the woods. Yet, seeing how distressed Julie had become, Marty thought it best to leave. Kissing her on the head again, he whispered, “We’ll find someplace else.”

Julie gratefully wrapped her arms around him. But moments later, a distant doglike yelp reached out from the darkening woods, touching their terrified minds. The ghosts were returning, as Marty knew they would.

“Get in!” he said.

He ran around the front of the RV as the sound of frenzied cackling grew nearer. Shooting them would be too risky. If he missed one, there would be no for a second shot and the pack would have the meal they were seeking. As he closed the door, a coyote bolted out from the woods, its eyes enraged by hunger and leaping up from the ground, flew straight into the closed driver’s windows, landing on the ground with an unearthly scream.

“Marty, go!” Julie screamed.

Fighting off a rapidly growing state of panic, Marty fumbled through his pockets, searching for the keys. The pack tumbled out of the woods, ferociously attacking any part of the RV they could fit their jaws around. Some grabbed the tires, while others pulled at the fenders and chewed through the taillights. Their presence filled the woods as the footsteps of ghosts pacing invisibly through a dark, abandoned house. Their shrieking seemed to come from everywhere. They were surrounded. Julie began screaming as another jumped against the windshield. “Jesus fucking Christ!” she screamed. “Go, already!” The attack happened very quickly, but Marty kept himself together long enough to find the keys and start the engine. Julie was not faring nearly as well, bringing her knees up and firmly covering her ears. Trying to block out the sounds of the pack’s malicious appetite. Marty put the RV into reverse and quickly backing out, felt a bump as the left front tire crushed the skull of one of the bloodthirsty animals, unfortunate enough to have been frantically digging beneath it. It let out a shrill scream before being suddenly cut off by the weight of RV. Marty brought it into drive and spinning the tires along the dirt road, drove toward the park’s entrance. The pack, driven mad by hunger, followed them to the main road. A few ran ahead, only to be blinded by the RV’s headlights and run over like frogs crossing a highway. With bits of blood-soaked fur and viscera clinging to its undercarriage.

Julie cried hysterically as Marty turned onto the main road, leaving the almost psychotic laughter of the coyotes quickly fading behind them. Marty glanced over at Julie, who was still lost in the emotional chaos of the attack.

“Julie,” he began.

The calm and directness of his voice was, by intent, aimed at bringing her back into the moment. Away from the terrorizing choir of otherwise innocent creatures, now driven by a malevolent need for human meat.

“Julie, they’re gone, alright?”

He pulled off to the side of the road and reached over to her.

“Come here,” he whispered.

Taking her gently by the arm, he pulled her towards him and held her against his chest. Her tears soaked through Marty’s shirt as she released a torrent of emotions, having coming face to face with what could easily be the most brutal of all possible ends. People are not often drawn to the reality of their demise, as it can leave one with the realization of their insignificance. That their lives will someday fall into the spiral of faded memories and the uncertain darkness of existence without form.

For many, the only thing worse than living without purpose is to be forgotten, to lie in the cold ground with nothing more than a chiseled slab of granite to speak for a brief summation of their meandering lives. Julie had witnessed only one of a great many possible outcomes for her life and the idea of meeting her maker through the frantic ripping of blood-stained teeth was one so terrifying that it easily pushed her psyche out of its comfort zone, into a place far beyond her mind's ability to comprehend. Julie’s hysteria began to subside as she shifted back into her seat. She forced herself into a few deep breaths while Marty sat with a caring hand on her shoulder. He looked down the long stretch of road in front of them and was struck with a startling realization. In his panic to leave the park, he had failed to make the correct turn. It was a simple matter of left or right. He had even marked it out on the road map. Yet, in their unforeseen exodus, his mind slipped into a momentary lapse. The issue now was how he would tell Julie. Clearly, there was no other choice. They had to go back.

“Julie,” Marty began. “You told me to stop coddling you, right?”

Julie nodded her head while wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Alright,” he continued.

All the mental preparation in the world was of no use. “I’m sorry, we have to go back.”

Julie suddenly looked at him as though he had committed some great act of cruelty. She found it unbelievable that after having experienced such a horrendous assault, they would have to return to what had been a very real battleground. “What!?” she cried. “Are you fucking kidding me?!”

“I’m sorry,” Marty calmly replied. He knew how Julie would react and offered a calm explanation, telling her that in his haste, he mistakenly turned right when going north meant turning left.

“We’re not going back into the park,” he said. “Just past the entrance.”

Julie reacted by covering her head with both hands and bending down towards her knees. “Fuck!” she screamed.

She was unable to put her fear behind her, but within the next few moments managed to recover enough strength to accept the fact that there were no other options.

“Did you want to go into the bedroom?” Marty asked. He was deeply concerned and wanted to spare her the trauma of a second attack. But the fact that they were well protected by the walls of the RV did nothing to soothe Julie’s shattered nerves.

“No,” she answered firmly. “I’m staying right here.” There sometimes exists a fine line between courage and obstinance. Courage is useful, bringing with it strength, clarity, and perspective to one who knows what needs to be done. Obstinance, on the other hand, is lacking in judgment and often presents itself as stubborn short-sightedness. It is the common response of a childish demeanor and often expressed in varying degrees of ill conduct. But this was not the case and Julie remembered their recent conversation, demanding that she not be ‘coddled’ and felt that now was not the time to contradict that demand. What she did feel was the necessity to muster her courage and stare down her fear. It came to her like an epiphany as she realized, on some level, that while cannot be eliminated from human nature, it can still be conquered with a clear head and a strong sense of purpose.

“Are you sure?” Marty asked.

He knew Julie didn’t want to be protected, but after witnessing her reaction to the coyotes almost strategic attack; he thought it might be helpful for her to avoid the confrontation of a second offensive. “Just go,” she answered.

Her expression took on an unemotional gaze as Marty turned around and headed back to the park entrance. It wasn’t long before the road and surrounding trees lit up with what remained of the pack.

Their only losses were those who lay on the ground near the campsite, unfortunate enough to be in the path of the RV as well as the one whose head lay crumpled on the ground near the lake. Its disfigured face frozen into a bloody silent scream. Marty turned the high beams on, hoping to scare off as many as possible. But this only served as a magnet, bringing the entire pack out into the road. Julie reached over and placing her hand on Marty’s leg, dug in her fingernails. She was determined to overcome her fear and face down the ghostly apparitions now gathering in the road ahead, as though welcoming them back to the feast. The coyotes closed in on the RV as Marty pressed the gas pedal to the floor. One brazenly lunged from the pavement and striking the windshield, slid down the hood, and tumbled beneath the wheels. It screamed with the maddened rage of a demon dying in battle and just as quickly fell silent. Both Marty and Julie felt a turbulent sensation as the front and rear wheels found their mark across the coyote’s chest. Two or three more impacts took place against the front bumper as the coyotes fearlessly charged toward the RV. It wasn’t that they had lost their fear of people. It was, after all, people who supplied them with the tidbits of trash that aided their survival. But with the absence of people, that supply had suddenly vanished, leaving them insane with hunger. As Marty plowed the RV through the pack, those who remained turned and gave chase with an almost conscious intent of obtaining a warm-blooded meal.

The pursuit ended as quickly as it had begun and Marty and Julie had, within only moments, passed the park entrance and crossed the bridge over Lake Marion. However, in their minds, the experience seemed to stretch out across the whole of time, allowing them to perceive every detail within the space of a single heartbeat. Having reached the far side of the lake, Marty began to relax and let out a deep breath as his muscles released their tension. He glanced over at Julie, whose nails still clutched his leg.

“You can let go now,” he said.

He’d begun to feel a sharp pain as they started penetrating his jeans. Julie had not heard a word of his request, forcing him to pry her hand from his leg. Looking at her again, he studied her face. Her expression was empty and still, save for the occasional blinking of her eyes. She had tried to be strong and rise to the challenge presented by the horror of what she perceived as an unthinkably cruel demise. But her mind had become overwhelmed and in an act of psychological self-defense, fell into a waking unconsciousness, similar perhaps, to sleepwalking. Marty reached over and gently pushed his hand against her shoulder.

“Julie?” he said coaxingly.

Her lack of a response prompted him to push again with a bit more force.

“Julie!”

He found himself briefly shaking her by the shoulder when her head swiveled around towards him, her eyes seemingly staring through him into nothing. Marty had no idea what to expect, yet one thing he felt certain of was that Julie had mentally checked out.

“Julie, come on!”

Julie brought her hands up to her eyes and shook herself back to awareness.

“Are they gone?” she asked tearfully. Taking his eyes from the road, he glanced briefly at Julie, trying to determine if she was at all cognizant. “Yeah,” Marty answered. “They’re gone.” There was no need for explanations. What had actually happened, or how many coyotes had been killed. She dropped her hands and fell back against the seat.

“Goddammit!” she cried. “Marty, I don’t think I can handle this anymore!”

Marty pulled over and stopped along the side of the road. Turning to her with a firm, yet calm voice, said, “Julie, I can’t tell you that we’re not going to run into trouble once in a while. But I can tell you that as long as I’m here, I won’t let anything happen to you, alright?”

Julie sat with arms folded tightly across her stomach, rocking back and forth slightly. She began shaking her head, weeping quietly.

“You can’t guarantee that!” she began. “Bad things are always going to happen. It’s just a matter of time.”

Marty let out a sigh of frustration. He knew Julie was right. The world was a much different place and without the checks and balances that, on a very real level, kept people separated from their own dark nature, life and death would be ruled by lawless unpredictability.

“You know, you’re right,” he began. “Shit happens. But think about how things used to be. Children getting shot and killed right in school. You remember what happened in New Haven a few years ago? And what about 9-11? Did you know that the government closed the borders when that happened? Do you realize how many times we’ve been seconds away from nuclear war? So, yeah, shit happens.”

He pointed a thumb back toward the park. “And if this is as bad as things are going to get, I’m good with that because we both know how bad thing were before the infection. Alright?” He paused to collect himself knowing that Julie didn’t really understand. And the last thing he wanted to do was lose his temper, knowing that could make things much worse. He stretched his head back, trying to work the tension out of his neck.

“I’m sorry,” he began. “I don’t mean to yell or anything. I just think we need to keep everything in perspective, okay? I know that was that a close call back there, and I was scared too. But I’d rather have to deal with wild animals than people.” Julie’s response was silence. She understood exactly what Marty was saying, but this was not what bothered her most.

“You know, I get it,” she began. “I do, but every time things start to go well, something comes along and fucks it up. First, we lost Luke, now, this. Why can’t we just get one fucking break?!”

Her eyes welled up with tears of hopelessness and anger. She knew the world had never been an idyllic place and that was especially true now. But was it too much to ask for an extended period of safety and relative happiness? Julie began to think that last night was as good as it was going to get, and they would likely always be running from something.