Monsters (1/?)
It had been so long since The End. It wasn’t global warming, it wasn’t an asteroid, it was something no one had even thought to worry about: creatures from the center of the Earth, crawling out of the volcanoes and the fissures to kill anything and anyone that threatened their existence. Only when the sun was out were we safe.
Cities and countries fell. The world we once knew was ending. Only a handful of humans were able to survive the initial attacks, including my parents. They taught me everything they knew before they too were sacrificed to the monsters. By then, I was old enough to take care of myself. I took their knowledge and retreated to the woods, living in a damp cave for a week or so before two hunters found me and brought me in. They were kind men, always treating me as an equal, never asking me to do too much to help but wanting me to pull my weight during the winter. For a woman out in the apocalypse, it meant the world that they trusted my strength and knowledge.
I taught them to use the soil in the spring, making use of the seeds I had hidden in my breast pocket. They taught me to hunt properly, quietly. Summer was plentiful, and by autumn, we were living less in fear and more like a family.
Hudson was the protector. He stood watch every night, sleeping only when the sun would begin to peak over the horizon. John would make good use of my youth, having me climb trees for their fruit, dig deep into the ground to create obstacles for monsters, making fences out of mud and twine and sticks, building and rebuilding our cabin until finally we had a sanctuary of our own.
Hudson and John then decided to leave me to tend to the cabin, going into the town far to the north for more supplies. “We’ll be gone for a month or so,” John had told me as he finished tying up his supplies to the old wagon we had gotten moving again. He seemed worried. I touched his arm in knowing, and he nodded to me before unlocking the gate.
Hudson pulled me close to him, the ripe smell of hard work coming through his dirty clothes. “Please be safe,” he said as he pressed a kiss to my temple. “Never go out at night.”
“Come back safe,” I called to them as they waved goodbye. I closed the gate, tied it up tight, and waited for their return.
It had been at least two months now. The moon was becoming full again, the monsters desperately trying to get through the defenses we had created together. Repairing them was no problem at all. As the days passed, I grew more and more determined to keep surviving. I was lonely, but I knew Hudson and John would return soon with plenty of supplies and stories to keep us going.
I hunted in the early mornings, finding rabbits to feast on throughout the day. Fishing at the nearby river was a little harder without Hudson’s help, but I managed to get a few big fish every once in a while. I kept my strength up, climbing and digging, repairing and farming. The crops were growing more ripe by the day. The tomatoes were turning red, our wheat growing like weeds. I wondered if the men would be back in time to help with the bounty.
As the sun made its way across the sky, I heard something I hadn’t heard in a long time: another woman’s voice was calling out from within the woods. I knew not to run out into the woods this late into the day, but I had no qualms with looking over the fences, climbing up onto the roof to see if I could see this woman.
A flash of red caught my eye, and I saw a small woman limping towards our sanctuary. I squinted, trying to see what was wrong from above. Not being able to make it out, I called out to her. “Hello?” My voice sounded strange from disuse. “Hello, can you hear me?”
The woman looked in my direction, eyes wide. She froze, trying to find where I was around her. “Who’s there?” Her voice was light, but it carried. “Who is this?”
“Come to the fence,” I yelled, knowing that she was only a few feet away from the gate. “I can help you!”
“Who am I speaking to?” she insisted.
“Dawn,” I told her my name. “Please, you’re only a few more steps from where I am!”
“Dawn,” the woman repeated, moving forward a little bit. Even from here, I could tell that she was in pain. “Is this your fence?”
“Yes,” I said, climbing down from the roof. “I’m going to come to you, okay? Please wait there.” I ran inside the cabin, grabbing what little first aid we had left, and quickly ran to the gate. Once I unlocked it, I shut the gate behind me and went to the red haired woman.
She was braced against a tree, crimson painting her blue skirt. She was so pale. “What happened to you, miss?” I asked as I approached her, setting my supplies down and grabbing her with both hands. She was almost weightless, easily collapsing into my arms. We met the ground and I looked at her face to see if she was still awake. Her eyes were open, but they were distant.
I reached for the fabric I had brought with me and took her leg, propping it on my lap as I revealed the source of the blood. A deep, jagged cut ran up her delicate leg, stopping just above the knee. I took the fabric and pressed down as hard as I could to stop the bleeding. She cried out in pain, but I continued to put pressure until the bleeding stopped flowing so freely.
“This is going to help clean this cut out,” I told the woman, reaching for the bottle of alcohol and water I brought with me. “It’s going to sting, but it will get whatever is in the wound out. Is that okay with you?”
“Yes.” Her voice sounded so weak. I popped the cork and poured the mixture over her leg. A piercing scream erupted from the red headed woman’s lips, and I tried hard not to jerk away in pain.
“I told you it would sting!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!!” She gripped onto my arm with surprising strength. I looked into the wound, not seeing nearly as much damage as I thought I would. The woman continued to whisper apologies to me as I grabbed another roll of fabric and wrapped it tightly around her leg.
I carefully moved out from underneath her, pulling her up onto my back as I told her, “We’re going to my cabin. I can finish helping you there.” I hauled her back to the gate, getting to the cabin as fast as I could. I sat her on my bed and rushed back to the gate to lock it up, knowing that the orange tint of the sky meant night was coming.
When I got back to the cabin, the woman was crying softly, holding her leg gingerly. The wound was still bleeding, but I could tell that the flow was substantially less now. I had to act quickly. “I have to stitch that up after I make sure there’s nothing inside of that cut, miss,” I told her, walking past her to the closet where we kept our sewing supplies.
“S-stitch?”
“Yes,” I confirmed.
A whimper left the woman’s body, but she nodded anyway. I undid the bandage, cleaning the injury as best I could. “What did this?” I asked her, trying to be gentle.
“One of those monsters,” she said quietly. “I was…I’m lucky I made it away with my life.”
I looked up at her. “Were you out overnight?”
“Yes.”
“Why?? Don’t you know it’s not safe?”
The redheaded woman looked away from me, shame clearly eating at her. “I…I couldn’t stay where I was, so I had to leave.”
I shook my head and went back to her injury. It really did look awful, but the bleeding had stopped completely. “I’m going to start working, okay?” I handed her a flat piece of wood wrapped in leather. “Bite on this to avoid biting through your tongue.”
“Have you done this before?”
“Yes,” I said, trying to convey the confidence I was lacking in the moment. I hadn’t stitched up anyone besides my parents or Hudson and John for a long, long time. Steadying my hand, I began the long process of stitching up her injury. Her screams were muffled by the wood I made sure she placed in her mouth, but they were still piercing. I tried my best to focus on the task at hand, failing to block out the cries. I knew it hurt, but I was not used to this kind of reaction.
It felt like way too long, but I finally finished. “I have to wrap this up again,” I told her, trimming off the excess thread.
“Dawn,” she said, her voice hoarse. “Thank you so, so much.”
I looked up at her, trying to give her a kind smile. “You are welcome…um…”
“Penelope.” She offered her name. Her mouth twitched, seemingly returning the smile.
“You’re welcome, Penelope.” I started wrapping up her leg.
“Do you live here alone?” she asked me. I shook my head. “Where are the others?”
“Gone,” I said. “They went for supplies and haven’t come back.”
“Supplies…from Riverview?”
“Where?”
“The town up north.”
“Oh, yes,” I said. “I didn’t know it had a name.”
Penelope took a deep breath, then cleared her throat. When she spoke, she sounded almost apologetic. “I don’t think there’s anyone left in Riverview.”
My hands stopped their work and I looked up at her again. Her words confused me. “No one…left?”
“The monsters, they attacked a few months ago,” she said, unable to meet my gaze. “I don’t think anyone made it out alive.”
Suddenly I was standing. “What are you saying?”
“This was a few months ago, so your friends might have missed the attack,” she offered, sitting up a little straighter. “I only know about it because my father was part of the rescue group. You said they’ve been gone how long now?”
“Two months,” I said, my voice shaking.
Penelope offered a smile. “The attack happened before then, so they’re probably fine! I wouldn’t be surprised if they moved on to a different village or town. That might be why they’re taking so long!” She winced in pain as she tried to sit up even straighter. “Please, I didn’t mean to scare you, I just…”
“Don’t move,” I told her, rushing to her side. “You need to rest that leg if you plan on walking again.” I laid her back against the wall, making sure she was comfortable before sitting on the end of the bed. “So, Riverview…is gone.”
“Yes.”
“Hudson and John probably went to the east, then…” I thought out loud.
Penelope nodded. “They probably went to Kittering. That’s northeast, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know any of the names of the towns around here,” I told her, almost embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Penelope said. “I’m from Kittering. That’s how I know it’s northeast.”
“You stumbled all the way here from there?”
“No, no,” Penelope shook her head. “I was already traveling when I was attacked. The monsters killed my horse and almost killed me.”
“How…how did you make it out alive?”
Penelope looked a little cold as she spoke. “I’ve been practicing killing monsters for my entire life. I lost my weapons out in the woods after I was attacked, but I fought until I couldn’t anymore.”
“Impressive,” I offered, not really knowing what else to say. There was a moment where we sat in silence. Penelope’s breathing was heavy, but I knew she was just in pain. I stood, saying, “Do you want anything to eat? I have some food left from this morning, but I can go hunt and find some more food for the both of us. If you plan on healing quickly, you should eat.”
Penelope nodded, almost shyly. I went and got the rest of the rabbit I had cooked this morning, adding some greens and a chunk of bread to the bowl. I handed it to her and said, “Eat. I’ll be back soon. Please, don’t try to move, okay?”
“But the sun…it’s too low to be hunting right now.”
I looked outside and saw that it was almost dusk. When I looked back at Penelope, she was clearly worried. I then looked at the food she was holding, knowing that that was supposed to be my meal for the night. I really shouldn’t leave her here alone…
“Fine. I’ll go hunting first thing tomorrow morning.”
Penelope breathed a sigh of relief, biting into a bit of the rabbit meat. I walked into the main room and grabbed some greens and another chunk of bread. Not having the protein would leave me hungry later in the night, but I ignored that thought, instead going back to my bed and sitting next to Penelope. We ate in silence.
As I closed up the house for the night, Penelope asked me questions from the bed. I answered them all truthfully, expecting her to tell me more about where she came from and who she was. “So, you lost your parents and Hudson and John found you?”
“Yes. I’m lucky. I would have survived, but I would not have been as well off as I am.”
“You’re lucky too, then.” Penelope smiled. “I’m glad they took you in. I would have died out there if you weren’t here.”
I quietly nodded. She wasn’t wrong. “That wound…the monsters will be tracking your bloodscent,” I told her. “I’ll stay up tonight and keep watch, just in case they are extra persistent.”
“But, you’ve patched it so well…”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “Those demons are ravenous for human blood. They’ll be looking to finish what they started.”
Penelope was quiet, but I could see that she understood. I made sure she was comfortable, giving her John’s blanket as well as my own. The moon was rising now, full and rich with light. “Thank you for letting me sleep here,” she said softly, her eyes already fluttering shut.
“Get some rest, Penelope.” I grabbed my bow and quiver and walked out into the night, the air cool and full of that copper smell. She had been losing blood for longer than I thought. The scent filled the air, blanketing me in it. I climbed up to the watchpoint that Hudson always occupied at night. Thankful that the moon was full, I could see through the trees and to the river below. Everything was blue.
I hadn’t kept watch in a long time. Hudson always did so, and I never had to worry while they were both away because I was protected by the fences. I would be able to hear the monsters before they could find me. In theory, I could simply go to sleep and wake up when the monsters were here…but I wouldn’t take that chance with someone else’s life.
Penelope was interesting. She didn’t say much about where she was from, only listening to my story, not offering up one of her own. It was nerve-wracking knowing that this stranger was in my cabin, sleeping in my bed. Something in her, however, kept me from being too paranoid. She seemed trustworthy enough…and knowing that she couldn’t move due to her leg helped quiet any doubts.
Movement took me from my thoughts. I stood up, looking into the forest. A crackling noise, like twigs snapping, moved through the trees. I grabbed an arrow and pulled back the string, readying my bow for a well-placed shot. The soft red and black glow of a small monster appeared in the leaves of the tree directly in front of our gate, fiery eyes staring up at me. I sent my arrow flying, and that fire was put out. A satisfying thud reached my ears.
I knew the corpse would return to the Earth and be born anew the next night, but I couldn’t concern myself with the future problem while more glowing figures were appearing all along the trail Penelope had created with her blood. My arrows flew for hours, and when I ran out, I reached for Hudson’s stash in the post. “Thank you,” I whispered as I continued to snipe all of the monsters out one by one.
Soon, it seemed as if the wave was over for now. I surveyed the area, looking for any more signs of movement. When nothing appeared, I sat back and took a long breath. I was down to eight arrows for the rest of the night. There usually was only a handful of monsters out in the woods, but with Penelope’s scent fresh on the ground, the monsters had all come for her. I grabbed for my daggers and climbed down, going to the second post where I could easily jump and fight if I needed to.
By the time the moon was high in the sky, I could hear more monsters creeping from the trail. I loosed all the arrows I had, and when those were gone, I jumped down. It had been so long since I had fought monsters that I had forgotten just how frightening they were. All around me were the corpses of the bigger ones, arrows in their heads and hearts. I stood, staring up at a black figure, almost man-like. The tendrils around their mouth gave away their unnaturalness, the claws reaching for me as soon as my feet hit the ground.
I dodged their grasp and sliced through the ember skin, the monster letting out a guttural noise of pain. Slitting its throat was as simple as slicing through the tendrils and going underneath the carnage, hot liquid covering my hands and face. I spit, knowing that I would be sick if I tasted the blood of a monster.
I fought until the monsters were all dead. It was easier than I remembered; I thanked Hudson and John for teaching me their ways all throughout the night. By the time the sun was rising, I was exhausted. I collected my arrows and entered the gate, going inside to drop them on the table before leaving for the river.
Naked, I entered the freezing cold river and washed the monster blood and guts from my hair and skin. Then, I washed my clothes. The river ran clear before too long, and I hung my clothes on a branch to dry before using the rest of my strength to run back to the cabin. I tossed on a clean set of clothing, braided my hair, and collapsed onto John’s bed.
Hello everyone! I hope you liked this story! I wanted to write about an apocalypse that was not quite zombie related, not quite climate related, and based in some sort of reality. Obviously, I plan on writing more of this if you guys like it enough! It’s my first foray into this kind of plot, so I figured what better way to see if I can actually write the genre than throwing it on the blog?
Also, I still feel like death (which is why I didn’t write last week), but I’m happy I was able to pull it together to write something this week! I’ll keep you guys posted on what’s going on just in case I need to take another recovery day. Once I figure out why I feel like death, I’m sure I’ll tweet about it, so follow me on Twitter for both blog and Mary updates!
If you enjoyed the first part of this story, please consider donating to my ko-fi! All of the tips I get on ko-fi go into my self-publishing fund. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you all here next week (hopefully) with something new!
