Getting man to get over his innate distrust of strangers was not going to be easy. And then there was also the problem if Xavier decided to do an ‘end around’ on us. There were only so many frontier places we could assist; if he went further east, he would find places ripe for the picking where Lycan and werewolves were only tales talked about by traveling merchants. Without firsthand experience, those towns would never prepare until it was too late.
Unbeknownst to me, Azile had arranged a plan with the Landians to track any movements of humans. The Lycan would have to bring their war machine into plaBaisit sizece before the moon turned full. Humans on foot were slow, noisy, and always left tell-tale signs of their passing; especially an assemblage of that many. We’d know soon enough if Xavier was trying to press further east.
CHAPTER 19 - Mike Journal Entry Thirteen
Ten men and women of Talboton marched out to Denarth. I made sure I was not among them. The last thing I wanted was Lana hanging from my arm. I was to find out that the council had initially refused the ‘assistance’ but yielded after Lana wore her father down. I’d known that feeling once. Daughters could be relentless; Nicole, on more than one occasion, had worn me down to a nub to get whatever she had wanted. Then I’d always had the pleasure of dealing with my wife after she’d found out that I had once again caved to the wishes of my diminutive daughter.
The only time I’d ever held firm was when she’d wanted a mixed-sex sleepover for her seventeenth birthday. I’d let her have it now if I could only hold her in my arms for just a moment. I stopped what I was doing. Nope…that was a lie, I still wouldn’t do it.
Wheatonville had been more responsive to the offer of aid. They had firsthand accounts of the slaughtering going on around them being as they were the closest community to the now destroyed and defunct Harbor’s Town, a place in which they had done a fair amount of trading over the years.
Ft. Lufkin, which was really nothing more than some rolling hills and a small barricade, flat out refused any help and became hostile, which worked in our favor as the refused gunmen came to Harbor’s Town and bolstered our beleaguered defenses. Azile had decided this was where we would set up shop. The farthest settlement to the south that anyone knew about, New Georgia also turned down the help, those soldiers unfortunately returned to Talboton.
I watched the moon every night with apprehension; we were in a state of war, and how strange it was to realize we were tied to a schedule. I’ve been in hostile situations and truly never knew when the next bullet, bomb, missile, or diseased mouth was going to strike. I don’t know if this was worse or better. Sure, there were the pros of being able to prepare; but, man, the apprehension…that’s the shit that wears you down. Every time you think of the upcoming fight, a heavy squirt of adrenaline cascades through your body, everything in its wake starts tingling, and then when your body catches up and realizes nothing is happening. You suffer a serious crash. This was the cycle, and I could see it taking its toll on these people who were essentially farmers and merchants. They had yet to fight for what they loved.
That’s not entirely true, fighting for one’s existence is a challenging job. Battling the elements, bugs attacking crops, the hunt for game, these are human endeavors to survive. But they had not yet had to fight a savage enemy that wanted only one thing: the destruction of their foe.
I’d seen battle-hardened Marines break on occasion, and besides me, those were on short supply. War sucks. There’s no glory in having your innards spill onto the ground, no dignity in having your head caved in. No songs of triumph as you’re hewn in half. The resBaisisidents of Wheatonville would fight because they had to. What was the alternative? I just wish we had a little more than rakes, shovels, sharp pointy sticks, and small hammers. The werewolves were stupid, they only knew one direction, and possessed zero tactical sense, but they were merciless and strong. We’d inflict damage. I, however, had my doubts that Wheatonville would survive the coming onslaught. Tommy and Bailey were in charge of teaching the people some rudimentary fighting skills. Azile had locked herself away doing lord knows what, and me? Well, I was busy fretting heavily.
I repeatedly walked around the small city, looking at the myriad of weak spots and possible points of attack. Without a twenty-foot high stone or steel wall, there was just not going to be any way to stop the invaders. A moat filled with alligators would be welcome. We had mid-sized logs we had chopped down, and sharpened the ends, stuck in the ground at a forty-five degree angle, and then propped up with a stout brace. So now as long as the werewolves ran into them we’d be all set. The best we could hope for was to create a couple of easy access points, ways in which to direct the flow of traffic, so to speak. I don’t know if werewolves adhere to the ways of water, flowing in the easiest route, but we could try.
I had a feeling that they weren’t going to line up all nice and pretty and wait patiently to get inside. The seven-foot high stonewall which seemed fairly daunting to me was most likely nothing more than a speed bump to a loping werewolf.
“What is your concern?” Bailey asked as she came up beside me. I was underneath one of the logs looking up.
“Not sure if these are going to do a damn thing,” I told her.
“These are formidable defenses.” She slapped the side of the tree.
“Yeah, we’ll probably cause a few stubbed toes for sure,” I told her. “Maybe rip off a claw or two…but they’ll hurdle these easy enough.”
“What do you suggest?”
“We let them.”
She looked at me questioningly.
“They have to land somewhere,” I told her. She looked at me a moment longer. The dawn of recognition lit up in her eyes.
“I’ll get a crew on it now,” she replied.
I walked away. I had yet to walk around enough times to create a groove. It was, however, only a matter of time.
It was three days before the full moon when we received word from the Landians. A large contingent of humans had been spotted on the farthest western point of the lands they roamed. The Lycan party would never have been spotted if the three Landian men hadn’t been out on a hunting party. The large mountain lion they had been tracking had been responsible for the loss of seven of their goats, and they had been single-mindedly determined to keep that number at the max. That was, of course, until the chained line of humans began to make their way past. The men, a father and his two sons, had hid behind a grove of trees as the column passed.
***
“Had to have been a couple of hundred,” Redd, the father, had told Inuktuk when he haduk font raced back to their summer encampment. The mountain lion had been completely forgotten.
“Are they heading east towards Talboton?” Inuktuk asked.
The man shook his head. “They were heading due south, I think doing their best to stay hidden as long as possible.”
“It has to be Ft. Lufkin,” Inuktuk said.
“Will we help them?” Redd asked.
“No, there is nothing to be gained there but the death of our people.”
“If the fort falls…”
“I know what it means, Redd. All that will stand between us and the Lycan is Talboton. This is not an easy decision, but I will not smash Landians against the rocks of futility. Ft. Lufkin was lost before it ever started. Get word to them of the impending invasion and invite them back here.”
“We do not have the resources,” he told her.
“I’d rather go to bed hungry than with the loss of those people on my mind. Go now, I need to get word to the Red Witch.
***
“Ft. Lufkin appears to be the Xavier’s next target,” Azile said to me. I had been summoned to her residence. I hadn’t seen her in close to two weeks and those were her first words to me.
Good to see you, too, I thought. Well, two people can play that game. “When are we leaving?”
“I do not believe that to be their primary target,” she said a faraway look in her eyes. “The men that saw th
em said there were only about a hundred or so humans.”
“Diversion?” I asked. “But why, what could he possibly fear from us? We’re not on the move.”
“Not a diversion…impatience.” Azile said finally taking notice of me as if she just realized I was there, which was funny considering she had sent for me.
“Xavier’s pants getting a little antsy?” I asked. “Big bad wolf wants the world and he wants it now,” I said in my best baby pouty voice.
“I wish this were a laughing matter.”
“As do I.” I replied. “I make fun because I’m scared and pissed all at the same time. We still on high alert?” I asked.
“I have not heard anything from the Landians or my own scouts to indicate that the Lycan are moving further east. No, Xavier will strike here and Ft. Lufkin in three days, believing that both of these will fall as easily as Harbor’s Town. With each coming moon, he will move further east until he has destroyed everything.”
“Why not the West? I was never a fan of California.”
“Maybe you should ask him,” she said, smiling.
I realized I had missed that smile. “I’m sure we can have a spot of tea before we try to kill each other. It’s the civilized thing to do. Do you think he’ll do the raised pinkhe I realie?” I asked, mimicking someone of more culture than myself. Didn’t really have to look that hard, even in this severe day and age I found myself in.
She was looking at me with curiosity. I really didn’t like being under that much scrutiny, especially from a woman, the longer one looked at me, the more likely she would be to find something wrong. I knew a way around this. I’m not going to pretend to say I know women; even as long as I’ve been alive, they are still a complete and utter mystery, but that isn’t to say I haven’t discovered some weapons of my own against their beguiling nature. So listen up if you’re a man and you have discovered this journal – if you’re a woman, God help us all.
Okay, the best way to deflect attention off yourself is to get a woman talking. Sounds stupid, right? Watch this…
“Azile, what happened to you after?” I was referring to one of our last battles against the zombies. She had slipped out into the night. I had never known why. She never told anyone. I had chalked her up as another loss in a sea of them. That was of course until Tommy let me in on his little secret. “I spent close to a week looking for you. Never did so much as find a sign. I was half convinced you had learned how to fly.”
“Wouldn’t that be something,” she said wistfully.
“So you can’t?” I asked. She shook her head. “Because, really, that would be pretty cool. There have been so many flying male superheroes that always take their girlfriends for a spin up in the clouds…I just think for once it would be nice to have it the other way around. You know, like maybe I could strap a saddle to your back and we could go check out the sites.”
“A saddle?” she asked with an arched eyebrow.
“If I’m going to fly, I’d like to do it in style. You know…maybe even have a cup holder or two so I could put my beer in it. You really wouldn’t want to hold me in your arms would you? That seems like it would be a little awkward.”
“I’d probably just drop you…and not because I wasn’t strong enough.”
“Point taken.”
“I had to leave.”
“I saw the change in you after, you could have come to any of us for help,” I told her.
“How many of you were versed in the effects of witchcraft on the spirit?” she asked sadly.
“I read the Cliff Notes.”
She had to grab at her stomach as she involuntarily laughed. When she recomposed herself, she spoke. “I’d always had a proclivity for witchcraft. I guess I hadn’t known what it was when I was a kid. I’d make matches light without striking them on anything.”
“That’s called a lighter,” I told her, she smiled.
“You do remember you asked me, right?”
“Sorry, it’s a bit more difficult to shut off than one might imagine.”
“How about now?”
“I’m good,” I told her.
“I used to do small stuff – the match for one. I had an ability with animals. Nothing miraculous, I didn’t bring tdnld hem back from the dead. But injuries they suffered tended to heal quicker if I touched them. Back when I was a girl, I wasn’t truly sure…maybe I just wanted to be special…to be different, distinct, you know?”
“What teenager doesn’t want to?” I asked, I always thought the song the Beatles sang about ‘Ain’t nothing you can do that hasn’t been done’ (I’m paraphrasing because I haven’t actually heard music in a century and a half – that one still stung) was actually pretty sad. What kind of world would we be living in if there was never going to be anything unique.
She nodded. “Little things, like I said. Sometimes it was just knowing when we were going out to eat, or maybe when the phone was going to ring. When I was old enough and I knew what it meant, I tried to figure out the winning lottery numbers.”
“Any luck?” I asked curiously.
“When you found me in that truck was I wearing a tiara?”
Now it was my turn to laugh. “No…no tiara.”
“There’s some sort of protective realm in regards to personal gain and witchcraft at least on this side of the dividing line.”
“Dividing line?”
“Good, bad, white, black, whatever term makes sense to you.”
“Gotcha.”
“It was taking its toll on me, though. The usage, I mean, like I was dipping into a well with a very finite supply. Everything I did seemed to strip a little more of me away.”
“T
hat sounds terrifying,” I told her honestly.
She did pause for a second to see if I was being sincere. “Leaving all of you was among one of the hardest things I’d ever done. By the time I got up the nerve to do so, I was already beginning to feel like a ghost…no substance whatsoever.”
I wanted to give her comfort, yet I had no words of solace. I’d had no idea she had been going through that. To be fair, I was wrestling my own demons and we were still in the midst of a war, tough to stop and ask people how they’re doing. Besides, we were all suffering in multiple ways – outwards and inwards if that makes any sense.
“I can’t imagine how you thought leaving would be a good idea. You left a lot of people wondering and worried.”
“I’m so sorry I never got to say my good-byes.” She bowed her head.
“Me too.” But I was sorry because I had to my say good-byes.
CHAPTER 20 – Azile’s Story
Nearing the end of the zombie invasion
It was raining the night Azile walked away from the Talbot clan and the safety they afforded.
“What are you doing?” BT asked. He had drawn the short straw that night and pulled the first shift for guard duty. Winter was dnldhe Talcoming, he could see his breath as he spoke and the rain had a hardness to it that alluded to a near freezing condition.
“My shift is next so I thought I’d start early,” Azile replied.
BT looked at her. “Do I look like I just figured out how to put big boy pants on? It’s freezing out here. And I swear Talbot cheated when we pulled cards out of the deck.”
“If I remember correctly, he pulled a five. You were the one who pulled the two.” She realized she had just given herself away.
“That’s right…you had a jack. What are you doing out here, Azile?”
“Would you believe me if I told you I traded?”
“No,” he told her flatly.
“Then you’re going to hate this more.”
“What?”
Azile muttered a few words. BT saw a small flash, and for long moments, he found himself unable to move. Azile had walked past him and down the ladder. She took one long look back at the house before she ran off into the night.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Mike asked, coming outside a few moments lat
er to a stock still BT.
It seemed to be the spoken word that broke the spell.
“Shit,” BT said. “Azile.”
“What about her?” Mike asked.
“Put a spell on me and left.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Mike asked.
“Yeah, Mike, I let ice crystals grow on my eyebrows and eyelids as some funtastical joke for when you came out.”
“Well I appreciate the effort, but it’s not really that funny,” Mike told him.
“The girl split, Mike.”
“Why? Makes no sense. We’re relatively safe here and we’ve seen less and less zombies.”
“No clue. Should we go after her?” BT asked.
“How big a head start does she have on us?” Mike asked.
“Not entirely sure, but I think I lost about fifteen minutes.”
“What would have happened if I hadn’t come out?” Mike asked.
BT shrugged his shoulders. “It was like I was sleeping.”
“I could have had the world’s largest Fudgsicle if you froze,” Mike said with a distant look.
“Politically correct to the end, aren’t you?”
“Well, I doubt you’d taste as good as that sounds. It’s really just an ‘in theory’ thing,” Mike added with air-quotes.
“I’ll shove them fucking air quotes...”
“Hey, man, try to remember I just saved your ass. How about a little show of appreciation? I think that puts me up by two.”
“Are you kidding me? You don’t get a point just for coming on duty.”
“Mull it over,” Mike told him. “I’m getting a flashlight.” Henry walked outside as soon as Mike opened the patio door. “I wish you were a bloodhound.” Mike grabbed the dog’s massive head, gently shaking it from side to side as he pet him.
BT, with no small amount of effort and pain, got down to be on level with the dog. “Good to see you, Henry.” Henry’s stub of a tail wagged as he gave the big man a slobbering kiss. “Want me to come with you?” BT asked, grabbing the handrail to pull himself back up.