Myths of Humanity- Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A couple days later Brendan and the others have fixed up most of the compound.  Brendan and Tori are chopping and cutting some wood as Ray and Bridget unload it from the truck.  They have gone through a lot of wood with the repairs and need to replenish their stock.  No one in the compound had outright talked about what happened.  Perhaps they were afraid that if they did then what they had seen would be confirmed real.  Everyone seemed to want to believe it was a collective hallucination.  Brendan knew different though.  He felt the pain from those creatures.  He felt his body come back to life.  He will never forget either for as long as he lives.  

Then without warning, almost to prove the collective hallucination theory wrong, the portal of blue light that the strangers disappeared into reappears right where it had disappeared that bizarre morning.  Out of the portal steps Alex, Ashley, Lindsey and Megan followed last by Dixie.  The portal closes again behind Dixie.  Word spreads quickly throughout the compound that the strangers are back.  Soon the whole compound has come running over to see the four mysterious strangers who had performed astonishing acts.  

Brendan walks up to them without hesitation and with a somber expression on his face, “Welcome back.”

“How is everyone doing here?”, asks Alex.

Brendan responds flatly, “Physically fine, repaired most of the damage.  But mentally well that’s another story.  We all have come to accept zombies really existing but what we all saw that morning…well that was something else entirely.  Now you promised us an explanation.”

“And we will give you one”, says Alex, “but I warn you it may bring up more questions then it answers.  Either way it will turn your world upside down.”

“It already has”, Brendan retorts back.

“Well brace yourself for more then.  Sorry in advance”, says Alex.

Megan touches Alex’s arm, “Why don’t you take it easy honey and go slowly from the top.”

Alex nods, “Yea that’s probably best but I guess that means Lindsey should start off.”

They all turn to Lindsey who says, “Oh boy.  I guess you’re right.  But…um…I don’t know how to start.  I mean I haven’t explained this to this big of a group.”  

“It might do you good.  Help you process it”, says Megan to Lindsey.

Lindsey takes a deep breath, “Ok well here goes nothing I suppose.  I was a vet tech before the…well…you know zombies.  So I was working our kennels one day and the hospital was closed and we didn’t have that many animals boarding with us so it was just me there as the only…well human worker.  Anyway I was doing some cleaning when I walked by our dog runs…..

Almost a year ago…   

Lindsey is walking down a hallway at a vet clinic when she suddenly stops in her tracks.  She looks through the window of a door and sees Dixie laying on the floor outside the cages.  “Oh Dixie, you bad boy.  Did I forget to lock the door to your run”, says Lindsey to herself.  She smiles and shakes her head and goes into the runs.  She puts a lead on Dixie and gently leads him back to his run but her eyes go wide and her jaw drops when she sees that the door to his run is securely locked.  She examines the lock and sees it is in fact secure.  She drops the lead and walks into the run examining it but sees no way for a dog the size of Dixie to get out.  “Did I put you in a different run?”, she mutters to herself as she walks up and down the hallway of runs examining them but all the cages are secure.  Lindsey turns to Dixie who stares back at her calmly.  “What are you?”, she again says to herself out loud.  

Dixie then casually trots over to the door leading out to the hallway and gives a little bark.  He then passes right through the door.  Lindsey screams and jumps back.  “You’re a ghost dog!”, she screams.  Dixie then passes back through the door again.  

Lindsey stares at Dixie in disbelief and then she hears a voice that seems to be coming from Dixie himself that says, “No, I am not.  Please come with me.  It is important.”  Dixie then turns and passes through the door once more.

“Did…did you just speak to me?”, Lindsey says.  

She hears the voice once more, “Yes.  I will explain but please it will be easier out here trust me.”  Lindsey grips the cage doors as she walks herself on her wobbly jelly like legs down the runs and out into the hallway.  Dixie is standing there calmly waiting.  The voice comes again, “Thank you.  I take it you can understand me now.”

Lindsey slowly lowers herself and sits on the floor, “That’s…that’s you talking?”

“Yes”, says Dixie.  “I apologize I had to reveal myself like this to you but my more subtle attempts were going unheeded and we are running out of time.”

“What are you?  Why can I hear you?”

“I am a dog.  But my spirit did not originate on this planet.  I am really one of the members of the high council of a distant planet called Chironusope.  I was incarnated in this body as a dog here on the planet you call Earth as part of a special mission.”

“You’re an…alien?!”, stammers Lindsey.

“Yes.  You may still call me Dixie which is my dog name here on Earth.  As for how you can hear me well anyone can hear me if they are open to it.  However that being said it was decided because of who you really are that you out of all the human carnets would be best for me to make contact with first.  You did agree to it when you were in your true form.”

“My true form?”

“I apologize for my bluntness but as I said we are running short on time so I will just come right out and say it.  You are in fact a fairy incarnated in human form.”

“What!?!”, cries Lindsey.

“When you were a child didn’t you here the animals and the plants talking?”

“But that was just because I had an overactive imagination and was lonely being an only child.”

“No.  That is what humanity and their culture told you but it was not true.  In reality you are a fairy and a powerful one at that.  You like me volunteered to incarnate in the form you are currently in as part of a special mission to save this planet and heal humanity.”

Lindsey’s head is spinning as she says, “What are you talking about!?”

“I know you grew up as human so the myths of humanity made you forget your true identity.  That is why I incarnated in the form of a dog so I would be immune to the falsities humans tell themselves.  It was always known that I would have to make the rest of you remember.”

Lindsey says, “Wait you said ‘rest of you.’  Does that mean there are other fairies like me here?”

“No.  You were the only volunteer selected from your realm.  We felt less was more in this situation.”

“For what?  The mission?  I can’t believe this.”

“Allow me to try to explain.  Despite what you have been taught humans are far from alone in this universe.  Quite the opposite actually.  The universe is teeming with life.  There are a plethora of other inhabited planets in this realm or what you might call dimension as well as many other dimensions that are all connected and intersecting.  All of this forms a sort of nexus.”

“I don’t understand”, says Lindsey trying to comprehend.

“Are you familiar with how the human brain works?”

“Yea somewhat.”

“The human brain is made up of billions of neurons that transmit energy and signals to one another thus making up an individual’s complex mind”, explains Dixie.

“Ok I know that.  That’s actually the first thing you have said I fully understand.”

“Well it’s the same concept with the whole of creation.  All the dimensions, all the planets, all the life forms are connected to each other to make up what you would know as the universe.”

“Wow”, says Lindsey.  She pauses to think it over and then says, “Actually somehow that makes sense to me.  I mean I always hoped we weren’t alone in the universe.  And I always felt life was connected in a deeply profound way.”

“Yes that is because deep down inside you still retain your memories of your fairy life.  A soul is a soul regardless of form.”

“But if the universe is so teeming with life and connected, why don’t we know about it?”, asks Lindsey.

“Humanity did know about it a long time ago.  Your ancient stories and myths have many beings from these other worlds in them.  They are called by various names through various cultures.”

“So all those legendary mythical creatures really existed?”

“Yes and still do exist.  But you see humanity was intimidated and scared by them.  They fought wars over them or blamed them for any ill fortune.  To be fair not all beings from other planets and dimensions were always the nicest or gentlest with the humans.  So over time humans became very fearful of these other beings and the fear turned to distrust and even hate.  Humans turned their backs on the others.  Overtime all the other worlds and dimensions withdrew from this planet.”

“So why are you here and why then am I here?”, asks Lindsey.

“Every action has repercussions.  By isolating themselves and this planet humanity left themselves vulnerable.  Which has made what is about to happen inevitable I am sorry to say.”

Lindsey’s eyes grow wide.  “Wait, what is about to happen?”

“It is best you not know ahead of time.  Just remember it was inevitable and that is why you and I are here.  To help it come to a good outcome eventually and set things right.”

“You are scaring me!  Please tell me?”

Dixie shakes his head, “You will know it when it happens.  And when it does you must come to me so I may guide you.”

“How do I find you?  I mean I can look up your house address on my GPS but what if your not home when this thing is supposed to happen?  I mean your only here for 11 more days.”

Dixie bows his head, “Lindsey, please trust me.  I know it’s a lot but everything will be ok.  Just go about your normal affairs and you will know without any doubt where and when to find me.”

With that Dixie is gone.  Lindsey looks around but doesn’t see him anywhere.  She wonders if she imagined everything like an hallucination.  She walks over to Dixie’s cage and sees him lying on the floor.  Lindsey stares at him wondering if she really had the conversation with him she just did.  Almost to answer her doubts Dixie voice is heard in her head again, “I can teleport and phase through solid objects.  Those along with telepathy are my gifts due to my true form.  You have gifts too but we will save that for another day.”  Lindsey nods in silence and walks away.  

Lindsey sits down for a long time trying to process what just happened.  Eventually she snaps out of it enough to finish taking care of the other animals.  She feels foolish giving Dixie his food and walking him outside on a leash but he says nothing to her but ‘Thank you’.  After she finishes she goes straight home.  She is not usually a drinker but she finds a bottle of wine in her tiny one bedroom apartment and starts drinking it.  She puts on the radio.  The music and alcohol eventually calm her enough to fall asleep.  

Myths of Humanity- Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next morning as the sun is just breaking in the sky Tom out of breath comes bursting into Brendan and Tori’s room to shake them awake.  “Get up now”, he yells.

“What the hell is the matter now?!”, says Brendan.

“We are fucked!”, says Tom as he turns and runs back out of the room.  Brendan and Tori run out after him.  

Outside others are running around gasping and yelling.  When Tori and Brendan see what all the commotion is about their jaws drop.  All around the compound stand zombies.  They can’t count them there are so many.  No one has ever seen this many zombies in one place.  The zombies are just standing there and have them completely surrounded along the perimeter of the compound.  

“They just appeared right before the sun rose.  I don’t know if we couldn’t see them because of the darkness but before we knew it they had us fucking surrounded”, says Tom.  

“They haven’t moved since we saw them”, says Mike who runs up to them along with Ray.

“Zombies don’t act like this dammit”, adds Ray.  “They just attack the first moving thing they see.”

“Why are they just standing there?”, asks Lakota who also runs up to the group with Kristen.

“How the fuck should I know!”, snaps Tom.

“Uncle Brendan what are we going to do?”, asks Kristen.  

Brendan looks down at his niece and into her eyes and says, “What we always do.  Survive.”  Brendan then turns to Mike and Tom and says, “Get everyone up and out here.”  He then turns to Ray and Lakota and says, “Find anything that can be remotely used as a weapon and get the vehicles out here.”

The others run off per Brendan’s orders.  “We will never survive this if they all attack.  There is just too damn many”, says Tori.

“Doesn’t mean we ain’t going to try baby”, says Brendan squeezing Tori.

“What is that?”, cries Kristen pointing to something hovering in the air and coming towards them.

Brendan’s eyes grow wide as he tries to comprehend what he is seeing.  What looks like a large metal platform hovers in the air coming up to them.  It has a little over half a dozen humanoid looking figures standing on it.  They look almost amphibious with smooth skin and large worms growing out of their backs.  There heads seem to melt into their shoulders but it looks like they have several large eyes but no mouth.  They appear to have two legs but four arms with what look like knives at the end of each appendage. 

The platform slowly descends in front of Brendan and the others who are all speechless and paralyzed by fear and disbelief.  A booming voice that seems to be coming from the bizarre creatures says, “Where are they?”

Brendan manages to stammer, “Wha the…?”  Just then someone manages enough awareness and cohesion of thought to fire a gun at the creatures.  The bullet hits them but has no affect.  The creatures stand on the platform before them unfazed.  Again the booming voice is heard, “Tell us their location or suffer.”  Then one of the creatures extends one of its appendages towards Brendan. 

Just then Brendan feels a piercing pain in his head.  He cries out in anguish and agony.  He falls to his knees clutching his head.  It feels to Brendan like a thousand nails are piercing his skull all at once.  He continues to scream as Tori cries out trying to figure out how to help him.  The others stand there watching helplessly confused and afraid not knowing what to do. 

Suddenly a wall of rainbow colored light appears between Brendan and the creatures.  As soon as the wall of light appears Brendan stops screaming.  He is disoriented and feels woozy but the pain has stopped.  Lindsey’s voice is then heard yelling, “Leave them alone!  It’s us you want!”  Everyone turns to the voice and is surprised to see the four strangers along with their dog Dixie standing behind the wall of zombies high up on the hill from where they first appeared.  But this time Megan is carrying a large golden bow and Lindsey is floating in the air.  Megan then takes aim with her bow and a beam of bright gold light shoots from the bow and hits the zombies in front of them.  The zombies hit with the light fall.  At the same time Lindsey forms a ball of white light in her hands and also hurls it at the zombies in front of them and more zombies fall.  

Megan then says, “Ok opening made let’s do this I guess.”  She then starts running at an incredible speed towards the compound through the gap in the wall of zombies.  Lindsey flies through the air following her.  Suddenly Dixie just disappears from beside Alex and reappears by Brendan and Tori’s side and quickly the other dogs and cats and horses start grouping behind Dixie all growling at the wall of zombies like they are preparing for battle.  Megan and Lindsey then reach Brendan and Tori and the others.  “Ok everyone stay close and get ready.”  

Before any of the inhabitants of the compound can comprehend what is happening the zombies begin charging the compound.  But Megan is shooting beams of light at the zombies and Lindsey is throwing balls of light at them.  The zombies stop and fall to the ground immediately when hit with either one.  But there are still too many for all of them to be prevented from reaching the compound.  So the inhabitants of the compound use whatever weapons they can and fight the zombies along with Lindsey and Megan.  Dixie also seems to be leading the animals in defending the humans against the zombies.  

Alex meanwhile somehow creates a waterfall that just falls from the skies over the beings on the platform.  The deluge of water smashes the platform to the ground and seems to keep the creatures pinned down.  Ashley then puts her hands on the ground and the entire earth begins to shake.  Alex says to Ashley, “Not the entire ground.  Your going to send the people in the compound fighting off balance too.  Just where the Mologs and zombies are.”  

“Aw your no fun”, says Ashley as she stops the entire ground from shaking and only makes it shakes where clusters of zombies are and the creatures.  Several of the zombies seem to slip into the ground and disappear like sand in a sieve but many still remain for Megan and Lindsey to blast.  The people of the compound as well as the animals are fighting valiantly alongside Lindsey and Megan but there are many zombies attacking in a frenzy.  

Meanwhile while all this is going on Kristen and Tori try to revive Brendan who is still out of it.  A zombie rushes up and grabs Kristen.  She fights back kicking and punching.  Tori then springs up and grabs Kristen away from the zombie in a quick movement.  No sooner has she rescued Kristen then another zombie grabs Tori from behind.  Tori takes out a knife she has on her and starts hacking the zombies head off.  The first zombie now runs at Tori and tackles her on the ground.  Brendan snaps to attention and grabs the zombie off of Tori.  The zombie fights Brendan.  Brendan is still weakened from whatever it was those creatures did to him but manages to break the zombie’s arm on the fence.  The zombie though is unfazed by his injury and shoves the jagged bone protruding through it’s skin right through Brendan’s side.  Brendan cries out in pain as Kristen who went and grabbed a shovel hits the zombie over the head.  The zombie turns to face Kristen when Brendan using the last of his strength runs at the zombie and pushes him into a fence post impaling the zombie.  Tori who finishes hacking the zombies coming at her then runs over and takes the shovel from Kristen and smashes the zombie to pieces.  Kristen’s cry of, “Aunt Tori!”, snaps her back from taking her frustrations out on the zombie.  She turns to see Kristen by Brendan who is lying on the ground clutching his wound blood oozing from it.  

Tori runs over to Brendan and holds him and puts pressure on the wound, “Stay still baby.”

“Is he going to be ok?”, Kristen asks with concern.  

“I don’t know find me something to hold against the wound.”  Kristen runs off to fulfill Tori’s request.  “Hang in there baby.  Don’t you dare leave me know, you hear.”

By this time most of the zombies are taken care of thanks to everyone’s efforts.  Alex says to Ashley, “It looks like the zombies are taken care of but the Mologs’ biomechanical suits are giving them too much protection for me to handle.”

Ashley stands up and the ground stops shaking, “Steam bath?”

“Let’s do it”, says Alex.  With that  the waterfall disappears and the creatures slowly begin to stand up again.  Alex holds out his right hand and out of nowhere there appears on the right side of Alex a small dragon with eyes the color of fire.  The dragon spreads his wings and hovers over Alex.  The dragon then opens his mouth and shoots fire out of it.  Alex somehow guides the column of fire coming from the dragon with his right hand which is unfazed by the heat.  Meanwhile with his left hand Alex shoots out a column of water so the fire and water meet and rapidly create a great deal of steam.  

Ashley then begins to levitate in the air behind Alex.  She reaches up to her hat and takes the feather and waves it at the cloud of steam building up.  With the simple wave of her feather a great and mighty wind begins blowing.  It doesn’t seem to faze Alex but it blows the steam he is creating towards the compound.  The people at the compound brace themselves against the fierce wind but it knocks most people to the ground.  Only Megan seems to be able to hold her own against it and continues to fire her light beams from her golden bow as she braces herself with what seems to be superhuman strength against the wind.  Lindsey flies high in the sky above the wind as both woman pick off the last of the zombies. 

The creatures upon getting hit with the steamy wind seem to writhe in great distress and their is shrieking sounds coming from them.  They then hold their hands up in the air.  No sooner have they done this then a vortex forms in the sky above them.  The vortex seems to reach down to where the creatures are writhing and fighting against the steamy wind.  The vortex sucks up the creatures into it and just as quickly as it appears the vortex disintegrates.  The dragon stops blowing his fire and seems to fade away.  Alex stops making water and the steam dissipates.  Ashley puts the feather back in her hat and lowers to the ground and the wind dies down.  Alex and Ashley then begin calmly walking towards the compound.  

Now that the wind and zombies are all gone people start wandering around the compound trying to process everything that just happened.  Lindsey descends to the ground and yells out, “Everyone ok?”

“No!”, screams Tori.  Everyone turns and makes their way to her.  Tori is in tears as she clutches Brendan who is breathing heavy and turning white.  “He lost too much blood!  I think he is going into shock!”

“Oh my!”, gasps Lindsey upon seeing Brendan.  

“I got it”, says Ashley as her and Alex enter the compound.  Ashley walks up to Brendan and lays her hand on Brendan’s wound.  “Just relax.”  To everyone’s disbelief the wound begins closing up before their eyes.

“You…you are a witch”, Brendan mutters as the color begins to return to his face.  

“Something like that”, says Ashley.  Ashley heals Brendan’s wound completely.  Brendan feels his strength return to him once again and can think clearly.  

Before anyone can say anything else a circular portal of blue light appears next to where Dixie is standing.  Ashley gets up without saying anything else and walks through the portal.  

“Wait just a minute!  Where the fuck do you think you are going?”, says Tom.

“Sorry we have to recharge”, says Lindsey as she flies through the portal.  

“I don’t give a shit what you have to do we need some fucking answers dammit”, says Tom.

“We understand believe me.  And we promise we will be back to give them as soon as we can”, says Megan as she walks through the portal.  

“But what if those creatures or more zombies come back”, asks Kristen.

“They won’t.  Not before we do at least.  Trust us”, says Alex as he walks through the portal.  Dixie then gives a bark which Brendan suddenly realizes is the first time he ever heard that dog make a sound.  Dixie then jumps through the portal and it closes behind him leaving everyone in stunned silence.

Myths of Humanity- Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next morning Brendan is walking to the barn but stops dead in his tracks as he comes around to the front of it.  All the around the entrance to the barn sit the cats and dogs along with many different birds.  They are all just sitting there not interacting with each other.  Like they are waiting for something.  He slowly walks towards them but none of them scatter.  Before he can enter the barn Jim comes up to him and says, “Brendan I think we have some trouble.”

“What’s the matter?”

Jim motions for Brendan to follow him, “Come on we and the others better speak privately.”

Brendan sighs and follows Jim.  

They enter a room together and Jim closes the door behind them.  Inside the room are Tori, Tom, Ray and Bridget.  

“Oh boy.  What’s going on?”

Tori starts off, “The four strangers that walked up the other day have got to go.”

“Why?  What did they do?”

“They are creeping us out”, comes Tori’s response to Brendan’s question.  

“You haven’t noticed things have gotten bizarre and unsettled around here since they showed up?”, says Tom.

“What do you mean?”, asks Brendan.

“Well the ghost last night for one”, answers Tom.

“Come on ghosts aren’t real.  And we found nothing when we searched.  Who knows what you and Kristen saw.”

“Maybe they were seeing things but others saw it too and are freaked.  And when I was searching by the creek look what I found”, says Ray taking out a long knife.  

Brendan examines the knife, “How did one of our knives get all the way out there?”

“I’m betting Bill had it with him before whatever happened to him happened”, says Ray.

“You find anything else?”, asks Brendan.

“Nothing not a trace of him.”

Brendan then says, “Maybe some animal carried him off.  Who knows.  I am sorry but if he was out in the woods with one of our knives without us knowing about it he was probably up to trouble.  Sorry but I say good riddance.”

“I agree with you”, says Ray, “and if it was only Bill missing I would let it go maybe but his disappearance along with all the other stuff has people starting to get concerned and agitated.  Including me.  What if one of us is the next to go missing because of these strangers.”

“What other stuff?”

“Well for one I saw Ashley levitating off the ground yesterday evening”, says Bridget.

“Your eyes must have been playing tricks on you”, says Brendan.

“I know what I saw and I asked around and I’m not the only one who has seen that.  And Mike swears he saw a Cobra lunge at him.  He refuses to walk in the grass.”

“I may have been the only one to see Alex’s hand go in that fire and come out fine but lots of people saw Megan get trampled by Jezebel and walk it off.”

“And did you see Lindsey just sitting last night with the horses in the middle of the pasture”, says Tori.

“No crime against that”, says Brendan thinking his trusted friends are all becoming a little too superstitious.

“There was something off about it”, adds Jim.  “I know you saw that weirdness at the barn with the animals too.  Between that and what that young lady was doing with the horses last night people have worked themselves into quite the lather.”

“Look”, says Tom, “You know I got your back no matter what.  We go way back.  But bottom line is people are getting freaked out and working themselves up into a frenzy.” “Gossip makes things get away from you real quick and you know how on edge everyone is already with the zombies”, Jim adds.

Tom continues, “Maybe we are all being silly.  Maybe it is all nonsense but if you don’t do something the others might do something irrational or even worse lose faith in you.”

“My personal feelings aside, he is right”, says Tori.

Bridget adds, “When we started this community we gave up the luxury of doing what we want to do.”

Ray says, “I don’t want to send them out anymore than you but if we don’t we could lose everything and that’s not going to help anyone.”

Brendan sighs and looks down and says, “You are all right.  I did tell them it was a trial run.  If they are sowing discord, even unintentionally, we can’t allow that.  I will take care of it.”

Tori puts her hand affectionately on Brendan’s, “I know you have a good heart but it’s the right move.”

Brendan nods, “I will tell them to leave now.”

“You thinking they will go peacefully on their way”, asks Jim.

“Yea maybe we should get some weapons and come with you”, says Tom.

“I still believe they are good people and deserve respect.”, says Brendan.  “I will talk to them myself so they don’t feel threatened or like they are being run out of town with pitchforks and torches like Frankenstein’s monster.”

Tom seems hesitant but says, “Ok, if that’s the way you want it.”

As Brendan turns to leave he gives a startled jump upon seeing Dixie sitting in front of the door staring at him.  “What the hell is their dog doing here!?!”

“See this is what I am talking about!  I swear that dog wasn’t in here when you came in!”, cries Tori.  “How did he just appear in here?!”

Dixie and Brendan stare at each other in silence for another moment.  Brendan then turns back to the others, “Just in case all of you are right and I’m wrong be on the ready but do it discreetly.  And if I’m not back in twenty minutes assume its not going well.”  He then turns back and opens the door to the room and starts yelling at Dixie to go on and find his master.  Dixie runs off and Brendan leaves to do the grim task at hand.  

Brendan approaches the barn carefully stepping amongst the animals.  He knocks on the door.  Alex’s voice comes from inside the barn, “Come in.”

Brendan enters and sees the four strangers seated on the ground in a circle along with Dixie.  Megan says, “We weren’t sure whether to wait here for someone to get us for chores or whether to find you.”

“Yea about that”, starts Brendan uneasily, “Look there have been some weird things going on, and well it was poor timing I am sure but a lot of people have been attributing it to the arrival of you four.  Just the way it is.  They are working themselves up into quite a fever so I think it will be best for everyone if you went elsewhere.  If you catch my drift.”

“Ok”, says Alex.

“Look I am sorry with everything and how it went down.  With everything people have seen they have lost their humanity.  No compassion anymore just fear”, says Brendan.

“Really we understand”, says Megan.  “Things work out how they work out.  You said yourself us staying here was a trial run.”

“Well thank you for understanding.  I knew you were good people.  We did a perimeter sweep this morning and didn’t see any sign of zombies so you should be ok for at least a little while out there.”  Brendan hands them a handkerchief tied in a bundle with a knot and two knives, “Here all four of you put in an honest days work so you shouldn’t leave empty handed.”  Brendan nods to the handkerchief bundle, “Dried figs.”

“That’s really nice of you”, says Lindsey.  

“I try to do right by people who done right by me.”

Alex hands back the knives and the bundle to Brendan, “We good though.  You keep them.  No hard feelings or worries.  We will be fine.”  The four strangers begin to walk out of the barn with their dog.  

As they leave Ashley turns back to Brendan and says, “Best of luck to you.”  Brendan looks down at his returned gifts confused.  He then goes outside and watches the strangers walk away and disappear over the hill from where they came.

Brendan returns to the room where Tom and the others are waiting with guns.  “Well?”, asks Tom.  

“They went peacefully but I don’t know a little too peacefully maybe.  Something just felt off.  Let’s have double guards on for the next few days and Bridget make sure all our vehicles are ready to go.”  Brendan turns to leave at the room and says, “Just to be safe.”

Myths of Humanity- Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next day Brendan, Tom, Bill and an older gentleman named Jim head to the barn to check on the strangers and bring them breakfast.  The four were already awake sitting together when they enter the barn.  It looked like they had been conversing but stopped abruptly when the group entered the barn.  

“How were the accommodations?”, asks Brendan as he hands the strangers the plates of food.

“Served us fine”, says Alex as the four begin digging in with all of them sharing the food from their plates with Dixie.  

“Good”, says Brendan.  “We thought Megan and Lindsey could help Tori with the horses.”

“Sure!  I used to be a vet technician so right up my alley”, says Lindsey.

“Great.  Ashley we thought you could help me and Jim here with the crops”, says Brendan.

“I don’t know how much experience you have with farming young lady but I would be more than happy to teach you”, says Jim.

“No problem”, says Ashley.

“Alex if you could help me with some metal work I’d appreciate it”, says Tom.

“Is there a place to wash up first”, asks Ashley.

“Oooo please say yes”, says Lindsey.

“We currently have one working shower stall on the northwest corner of the mess hall.  Might be a line though”, says Jim.

“Or if you are feeling more adventurous there is a stream about a dozen yards right though those woods behind the barn”, says Bill.

Ashley turns to Lindsey and says, “You can take the shower stall.  I’ll go to the stream.”

“You sure?”

“Yea I could use a little walk anyway to wake up.”

“I will meet you at the south east corner of the corn fields”, says Jim.

“See you there”, says Ashley as she walks out of the barn.

Lindsey turns to Megan, “Tell Tori I will be there as soon as I can.  I will find you.”

“Sure thing”, says Megan as her and Lindsey head off.

“We can get started whenever”, says Alex turning to Tom.

“Ok follow me”, says Tom as he leads Alex out of the barn.  

“All looks pretty normal and above board”, says Jim to Brendan as Brendan looks around the barn.

“Yea maybe I made a good call after all”, says Brendan.  He then notices Dixie sitting there staring at him.  They lock eyes.  “Go on get!  Go roll in something or chase something.”  Dixie doesn’t move he just continues to stare into Brendan’s eyes.  Brendan is a little unsettled by this and says, “Come on let’s go.”  The others leave and Brendan is the last to exit the barn while Dixie stares at him the entire time.

Lindsey is entering the shower stall and throws her clothes over the side and turns on the water.  A man working on one of the buildings close by with some others notices and saunters over to the shower stall.  He tries to act casual like there is a reason for him to be by the stall.  He pretends he is doing some work but is really trying to get a peek at Lindsey through the slits in the stall.  Suddenly the man notices a huge snake by his feet and is so frightened he jumps back and trips over a rake and lands in a pile of buckets and tools.  One of the buckets actually gets stuck on his head and he starts running around erratically stumbling all over yelling, “Snake!”  

The others notice this and come running over to him.  “Mike!  What the hell are you doing!?”, yells a woman who he was working with.  

“Quit fucking around and get over here and help us!”, yells a man who was working with Mike.

Mike though is still too panicked to get the bucket off his head so the woman has to do it.

“Hold still!”, she cries.  When she gets the bucket off she says, “What in all that’s holy has gotten into you?”

“I saw a snake!”, yells Mike still darting his head around trying to find the snake.  

“That’s what has you pissing in your pants?!  A little old garter snake”, says the man.

“No a huge one like a cobra or something”, says Mike.  

“You idiot we don’t have any snakes like that around here.  Now quit goofing off and help us with this roof so we can get it fixed before the next storm blows through”, says the man as he smacks Mike on the head.

“I swear I saw it!”, says Mike.

“We all know your tricks too well.  Now come on quit trying to get out of work”, says the woman as she drags him back to the where they were working.  

As he is being dragged back he looks around him still frightened.  He doesn’t notice Lindsey coming out of the shower stall with a sly smile on her face.  

Ashley meanwhile is naked washing herself in the stream in the woods.  She doesn’t seem to notice Bill behind her hiding in the brush watching her.  He takes out a long sharp knife and begins sneaking over to Ashley quietly unbuckling his pants.  Ashley stops washing herself and closes her eyes with her back still towards Bill as he comes closer.  Suddenly a fierce wind starts blowing.  The birds scatter from the trees and start cawing and chirping at once.  The flock of birds fly over the pasture where it startles one of the horses Megan is standing in front of.  The horse bucks and gallops forward trampling Megan.  Tori comes running over.  Megan gets up a little disoriented but with no apparent injuries.  

“Holy shit!  Are you ok!?”, cries Tori.

“Yea I am fine.  Just a little disoriented but I’m ok don’t worry”, says Megan.

“Are you sure she trampled right over you?”

“No I’m good.”

Tori looks Megan over and is surprised to see she looks fine, “I’m sorry I know Jezebel startles easily I should have warned you.  Must have been that crazy gust of wind and the birds.  You sure you don’t need to lie down?”

“I’m fine really.  Remember I used to be a nurse I should know.  Let’s just forget about it.”

Tori is still perplexed, “Man you are lucky.  Not a broken bone or a scratch on you.”

“Yea I’m pretty tough.  Come on let’s continue and just move on.”  Megan walks away to continue working while Tori eyes Megan suspiciously.  

Tori then calls out to a nearby woman, “Hey Jess!  Can you and Ray take two of the horses and ride out to where those birds came from to check things out?”

“Sure”, replies Jess.  

Jess and Ray are just getting to the edge of the woods on horses when they see Ashley walking out of them.  Ray calls out to her, “Hey Ashley!  Did you see anything suspicious out there or any zombies?”

Ashley walks right past them on her way back to the compound and calmly says, “Nope, just me and the forest critters.  But if you want to check things out, you can never be too careful these days.”

Alex is working with Tom on forging metal.  Tom is instructing him.  “There is only so much gun powder so we try to use knives, spears or any other weapon we can make as much as we can.  We try to collect as much metal as possible and what we don’t use for the vehicles we turn into weapons for the most part.”

“Creative and smart”, replies Alex.  Then with a smile he adds, “You use them for pillaging or what?”

Tom gets the joke and smirks, “No pillaging.  We just want to live in peace and take care of our own.  But not everyone understands that so sometimes…well things get rough.  We use them for whatever we need them for.  You ok with that?”

“You can’t let others walk all over you”, says Alex.

Tom slaps Alex on the shoulder, “That a boy.  Now to forge metal you need to get the fire real real hot so I’ll take the blower you get some more fuel and I will tell you when and where to add it.”

Alex walks over to the pile and picks up some more wood and stuff for the fire and carries it over.  He trips though on his way back and drops the stuff and stumbles falling over.  He puts out his hands to brace himself instinctively but his hands accidentally go right into the fire.

“Fuck man!”, cries Tom who rushes to get some cold water from the bucket nearby and runs over to Alex.  To Tom’s astonishment and disbelief though Alex’s hands are fine.  

“I’m ok”, says Alex as he stands back up, “Just clumsy.  Sorry about that.”

“I…I saw your hands go right into the fire.”

Alex holds up his hands turning them around for Tom to see.  “No see they are fine.  It must have been an optical illusion or something.  I’ll pick everything up I just have bad luck.”

“I would say you have the opposite considering you didn’t burn yourself.”

Alex laughs nervously as he starts picking up the wood, “Yea.”

The sun is setting as Ray walks over to Bridget as she is tinkering under the hood of a truck.  “Hey Bridget, have you seen Bill at all today?”

“Hey babe”, Bridget and Ray kiss.  “No sorry haven’t see him all day.  Why?”

“I haven’t either”, says Ray.

“Well it’s a big compound honey.  I am sure he is off getting into trouble or hiding from chores as usual.”

“Maybe.  It’s sundown though and he knows better than to stay out after dark.  I have never known him to miss a meal either.”

“Well maybe he went off looking for trouble and finally found more than he could handle.  I’m sorry I know you two fought off your share of zombies together but he always gave me the creeps so don’t look to me to round up a search party.”

At the mess hall the four strangers are sitting together eating.  Everyone is keeping their distance from them as rumors are starting to circulate and people are even more weary of them now and gossiping.  The four strangers seem unfazed though.

Off to the side Jim and Brendan are talking.  “I’m telling you I’ve never seen anyone walk the fields so fast and they were cleared without so much as a leaf or a tiny sprout after she did them”, says Jim.

“Well maybe she had prior farming experience.”

“I had prior farming experience.  Quite a bit of it.  And I am telling you sure as I am standing here there was something unnatural about it.”

Lakota comes over to Lindsey and asks, “Did you enjoy working today Lindsey?”

“Oh yea I used to be a vet tech so it was great to work with the animals again.”

“Yea we used to have more but well…they died one way or another.  Just the dogs and cats you see running around and those 3 horses left with us now.”

Suddenly a woman starts yelling at Lakota, “Lakota!  Quit goofing around and start collecting these dishes!  I swear you’re the laziest son of a bitch I know! 

“Sorry”, says Lakota sheepishly as he starts cleaning up.

The woman continues to berate him in front of everyone, “You always got your head up in the clouds day dreaming!  That don’t cut it with me got it?”

“I was just talking…”

Lakota is cut off by the woman who starts in on him again. “I don’t care!  I don’t have time for your excuses!  I swear you’re good for nothing!”  As the woman walks away she stubs her foot on a table.  As she hops on her one foot she slips on some food on the ground and falls into a chair and lands with a plate of someone’s food on her face.  Some people rush over to help her as Lindsey gives a sly smile again.  

After dinner Bridget is walking outside when she sees Ashley standing there with her back to her.  Ashley is looking up at the starry sky.  Bridget walks up to say hi to her but stops when a cat crosses in front of her.  That’s when Bridget looks down and notices Ashley’s feet aren’t touching the ground.  Bridget let’s out a gasp.  At this Ashley’s feet lower to the ground and she turns towards Bridget.  Ashley looks at her and then asks, “Is anything wrong?”

“Um no …no not at all.  Just looking for my husband”, stutters Bridget.

“Haven’t seen him.”

“Ok.  Well thanks.  Have a good night.”  Bridget then runs off.

Bridget finds Ray and says, “We need to talk to Brendan now!”

“Why?  What’s wrong sweety?”

“I just saw Ashley floating off the ground”, says Bridget checking around her to make sure nobody is in ear shot.

“What?!  Come on now you must be seeing things.  It was a trick of light or something.”

“I know what I saw and it was no trick!”

Ray looks in his wife’s eyes and sees how shook up she is.  “Alright well why don’t you wait till morning and if it still is bothering you I am sure Brendan will listen.”

“I can’t wait I have to find him now!”

Ray sighs, “Ok I will help you look.”

Jim is walking by the pasture when he notices Lindsey sitting on the ground in the pasture with the horses standing around her staring at her.  Jim ducks out of sight to watch her but neither her or the horses move.  They just sit there staring at each other.  “What the devil…”, mutters Jim to himself.

Later that night Brendan and Tori are sleeping in bed when Kristen comes running in and shakes Brendan awake.  “There is a ghost outside in the woods Uncle Brendan!  Come quick”, Kristen cries.

Brendan still half asleep groggily says, “There are no such things as ghosts.  You probably just had a nightmare without realizing you were sleeping.”  

Tom then walks in behind Kristen and says, “No, she is right we saw it.”

Brendan now sits up in bed, “Is this your idea of a practical joke because I’m not laughing.”

Tom is serious though, “No, come on.”

Tori who has now woken up as well says, “First zombies now ghosts.”

“Just go back to bed baby I am sure it’s nothing.”  Brendan follows Kristen and Tom out of the room.  

Outside Tom points to the hill, “She appeared over there moving very fast and then went through the woods.  It looked like a woman but she was glowing and almost transparent.  It definitely wasn’t human whatever it was.  It made the whole forest glow and then the glow got a lot brighter and then it completely disappeared.”

“I saw it too Uncle Brendan.  It looked like they described in this ghost story book I have.  Like a woman floating into the woods just like Uncle Tom described.”  

Brendan sees the seriousness on Kristen and Tom’s faces.  “Suicidal to take a chance going out there in the darkness.  We will do a full perimeter sweep tomorrow morning.  For now get some rest.”