Chapter 1
Walking through the halls of an empty school can bring back a lot of memories. Some of them good, and some of bad. Passing by the usual hangout spot brought back fond memories of the good days. For a school that survived the wake, it didn't look half bad. The empty lockers creaked as the wind blew through the holes in the walls and roof. Mr. Hudson always joked he would blow the roof off the school and when the wake happened he certainly did. The wake is something that can't be explained, it's just something that happened, it changed people. Many called it the apocalypse, it wasn't. Seven months have past since it occurred. That was when I was still a student here in Clear Dale, just about to write my final exams, and then it happened. The earth shook, explosions went off, and they came. The first creatures to make there appearance are now known as Pikes, short stubby, about the size of a large dog. Though what they lacked in size they made up for it with razor sharp teeth, reptilian skin, and claws that can cut through a door as if it were made out of butter. Nancy Grier a former classmate of mine was the first victim of the Pikes that I saw, before she could even let out a scream her throat had been sliced open by one that had made its way into our class via the ventilation system conveniently located right beside her. After her death all hell broke loose, students ran to the door tripping over bags and binder. The Pike got a few more students before Mr. Hudson blew its head off with a shotgun. Oddly enough that scared me more then the Pikes at that moment, what the hell was he doing with a shot gun in school. It doesn't matter now, can't ask a dead man. My first instinct after I got out into the hall was to grab my stuff from my locker. Yup I had my priorities straight. Students ran past me screaming, a few were covered in blood, don't know if it was there own or of there fellow classmates. John Caldara the local jock of the school laid lifelessly next to my locker, his chest ripped opened. I quickly opened my locker and then realized I had brought all my stuff with me to class. Well I certainly wasn't going back. I ran to down the stairs and was just about to leave when I heard Kris yell my name. "Hale! What the hell is going on?" As if I knew. I ignored him and bolted out the door. It was at the moment I realized maybe staying inside was a better option. Outside was a wreck, cars were on fire, and the Pikes littered the street. I raced across the parking lot to my car and got in. My friends always called me an idiot for never locking my door, bet I didn't look like an idiot now. As I fumbled to get the keys out of my pocket, Kris ran up and started banging on my window. "Dude let me in!", "The doors open Kris, now hurry". I reversed out of my spot and raced out of the parking lot and onto the main road. "So where we going? Can you drop me off at home?" said Kris. I gave him an awkward look and replied "If you haven't noticed those things out there have killed just about half the school, and your asking for a ride home?, Kris for god sakes lay off the weed, your house is too far and its back in the direction of those things". "Sorry man I just thought...never mind, your house sounds cool too". He shut up for the rest of the drive. As we distanced ourselves from the school we saw Pikes, but bodies and burning cars laid waste to the road. "Well were not going any further this way" I said to myself. I looked back in the rear view mirror and saw billows of smoke rise above buildings and tree's. I pulled over to the side and turned the car off. "Why you turning it off man! those things will kill us". I didn't listen, I simply got out of my car and started walking across the street to the park, and I stopped halfway and turned to see Kris standing beside my car just waiting. Stupid conscious. "Hey this way" I yelled, "It's a short cut to my place". We walked through Edison Park and up Ridge mount road to my house. No one was home of course. The whole neighbourhood seemed eerie quiet. Even Miss Newburg, the local crazy cat lady was no where to be seen. As I made my way up my driveway and opened the front door, my basic instinct was to yell "Mom! Dad! I'm home". It was now Kris's Time to give me the weird look. "Dude, I don't think there home man". Kris wasn't really my friend, sure I hung out with the guy, but he was more concerned with how much weed he could sell in a day then his grades. For a guy who was always high, I had to commend him on how calm he was with this whole situation. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and quickly reached in and grabbed it. A text message flashed on the screen from my girlfriend. "Hale please call me, everyone is dead, I'm scared". Sam and I had been seeing each other since ninth grade, I felt like an idiot for not even considering going after her while I was in school. "Dammit" I murmured. I quickly dialled her number, it went straight to voice mail, "Hey you reached Sam, I'm out being awesome, leave me a message and I'll get back to you". "Hey Sam, it's me, call me back as soon as you get this".
The sound of explosions roared in the distance, life was pretty much going down hill. At this point the possibilities for what was happening ranged from simple to impossible. The ground shook beneath our feet and a loud bang came from the basement. "Whoa, I think something's in your basement" Kris said as he stared blankly at his hands. I ran up to my dad's room. I knew he kept his hunting rifle in his closet, I knew I wasn't allowed to use it, but I'm sure he would understand. I came back down opened a drawer in the living room and threw Kris a flashlight. "Follow me, and stay close" I said. "Sure thing, but you sure it's smart to go down there?" We both knew the answer to that; we just didn't want to admit it. Can you really blame us? Curiosity can be a terrible thing. They say curiosity killed the cat, but a cat never had a hunting rifle for protection now did he. I slowly opened the door and immediately a Pike jumped out and ran off into the kitchen. "Son a bitch" I screamed. I lifted my rifle up and we slowly made our way towards the kitchen. The sound of the cabinets flying open and pans again tossed across the floor sent shivers down my spine. Breathe Hale, Mr. Hudson killed one so can you. I stepped in, took aim, pulled the trigger, and nothing. "Crap" I muttered. The pike turned, its red eyes staring directing at my neck, drool seeping out from the right side of its mouth. A deathly scream filled the kitchen and then it jumped at me. I managed to knock it away with the rifle, but it turned back. Kris was just standing like a statue and pale as ghost. "Kris a little help would be nice" I yelled. Still he just stood. "KRIS HELP!" I yelled again. That snapped him out of it, he took two frying pans from the ground and started banging them together and yelled "Hey freak over here, I got some magic mushrooms for you". Again the creature roared, and got ready to pounce. I grabbed the rifle, and quickly noticed the safety was one. Of course it was. I switched it off, and right as it leaped in the air I fired. The Pike flew across the kitchen and into the sink. Getting up to me feet, I turned and faced Kris, "Magic mushrooms? Really?" I said. Kris laughed and shrugged. Figures, all hell break loose and I'm stuck with a pot head. I made my way to sink to look at my achievement. The shot had gone right into the Pikes left eye, a blank stare was left on its face, its claws were retracted. Just as I was about to reach down and touch it my phone rang. Quickly grabbing it saw it was my dad. "Dad! What's going on? Are you ok?" I said fearfully into the phone. "Hale oh thank god your ok, I'm stuck at work, the building next to us collapsed, were stuck inside, these things came out from the ground, started ripping people apart. Where are you?" he said. "I'm at home, those things came into my school Dad, they killed Nancy and a lot of others, can you come home I'm scared, I have your hunting rifle" I tearfully told him. "Did you turn the safety off" he replied. I didn't want to tell him about my blunder, so I told him it was the first thing I did. He said he was going to meet up with Mom and try and find a way home safely. That was the last time I spoke with him, if I knew it was going to be our last conversation I would have said more. I had faith in my dad; he was once a marine and served in the Gulf war. Every year during hunting season we would go hunting, each year he would tell me "Hale, next year I'll let you shoot a buck of your own". I think it would make him proud that the first shot I took was against a creature more terrifying then a little deer.
Kris left an hour later, no matter what I said he refused to stay indoors. He ran up the street and turned down Pine crest Road. After his departure I sat down in my living room flipping through channels on the TV trying to find any news on what was going on. There was nothing, just static. The radio provided the same amount of luck. "Be calm, don't worry, I'm sure the army will deal with this problem, they always do" that's what I thought as I paced around looking for anything I could use just in case another of those monsters showed up.
Day turned into night and night turned into day. 3 days of camping out in my house I came to the conclusion I needed to get out of this house. If the help won't find me I'll just have to find the help. I grabbed my backpack and loaded it with food and water, a baseball bat and finally my dad's rifle. Before I left I wrote a note just in case my dad came back and wondered where I went.
Stepping outside I gave one final look at the home I grew up in and wondered if I would ever return. I got in my car and decided I would west towards the army base. I don't know if anyone would be there to greet me I don't even know if anyone was alive. The thought of me being the last human on earth scared me. What would I do? Living my life alone didn't really sound appealing. My journey to the base was riddled with thoughts; this would turn out to be the longest ride of my life.
The base was in flames. This was not the welcome I was hoping for. The area was littered with machine gun rounds, a sea of dead pike lay across the tarmac. This is where the army held its last stand. I continued forward, but nothing could prepare me for what I saw next. A dozen tanks were ripped open like someone had taken a can opener on them, blood stains on almost every surface of the base. I found the army, or what was left of them. Three soldiers appeared out of no where aiming directly at me.
"Step out of your vehicle with your hand where I can see them" said the soldier on the right.
Slowly stepping out I put my hands above my head, the soldier in the middle put down his gun, and the other 2 followed his lead.
"A kid? What's your name son?" the soldier in the middle asked
"Hale" I stammered
"Nice to meet you Hale, I'm Mark Sanders, that's Alex Diaz, and the fellow to my right is Commander Hank Garret"
After the introductions we went to the barracks which was now HQ. It was heavily fortified with four spot lights at each corner of the roof. The windows were covered in barbed wire and the door was now replaced with steal bars rolled in barb wire. Inside the barrack guns lined the wall and a table was covered with explosives of every type. Mark showed me around and set up a bunk for me.
"This will do temporarily, we don't plan to stay here for much longer. The attacks have been less and less each day and we've been hoping to pack up and make our way to the city" explained Mark as he set down his rifle.
I took a seat at the edge of my new bed and placed my bag on the floor. Even though a part of me was happy to know I wasn't the only one left, the other part was saddened at the fact that the army was almost completely wiped out. These three had beaten a lot of odds to still be alive. They were fearless, the fact that they hunted the creatures made me feel like we had hope. The night was one to celebrate, they retold the story of how they killed over 100 of the Pikes by themselves. I told them of my only kill, a lucky kill.
"Luck you say? You've got a fair bit of skill, you know how to hold a rifle, tomorrow Alex here will teach you the basic's. We need all the help we can get, the three of us can only do so much. If your willing we would like to have you join us" said Hank as he placed a hand on my shoulder.
"I'm in, any way I can help I will" I replied
"Well this deserves a toast, Alex get me my brandy" laughed Hank
The night was filled with drinking and stories. I also found out a bit more about my companions. Alex Diaz is the youngest of the three at just twenty eight years old. He joined the military when he turned eighteen and has been serving ever since. An amazing marksman, and has the highest score ever achieved at this base. His weapon of choice a M24 sniper rifle. His unit was ambushed while he was on the firing range, he was the only one to make it out alive. He was found by Hank who spotted him up in a tree sniping Pikes that were well over a quarter a mile away. Mark Sanders is the second oldest at the age of thirty two. Serving since he was 16, Mark was a highschool drop out. He never really liked sitting in class, he spent most his time skipping and hanging out with the older kids. He enrolled in the military so he could explore the world. The limit to his exploration has been 2 tours at the US army base in Iraq. He uses an M16 rifle and Ka-Bar Combat Knife. Marks team was the first team to encounter the Pikes along with Hank his commanding officer. A Pike had tackled him into the ravine along the North end of the base, he was almost killed, but managed to slit the Pikes throat with his knife. Hank is the oldest and most experienced of the group. A rugged man who served in both the Gulf War and in Iraq. At the age of forty three, Hank has seen his fair share of combat. All his years of training though could never have prepared him for this. He had just got the call about the Pikes and was heading to inform his troops when they suddenly appeared. It was his idea to use the mounted guns to mow them down as the Pikes ran towards them. Using the tanks as a makeshift barrier between his troops and the Pikes, unfortunately he was unaware how sharp the Pikes claws were. Slicing through both his tanks and troops like they were nothing. Hank was knocked unconscious when one of the tanks to his right exploded. When he awoke the battlefield was in ruins. Pikes lay strewn across the field, the bodies of his troops ripped into pieces unidentifiable.
A rage filled Hank has he continued with his story. He was known to be a calm man, but the site of this battle left a void in him.
"I don't know where they came from and frankly I don't care, all I know is that when I shoot them they will bleed"
Around ten shots later, everyone was asleep, except for me. I laid staring at the ceiling, complete silence filled the air except for the occasional snore from Hank. When I witnessed the Pikes at school, I truly believed I had seen the worst, but after Hanks story I knew I had seen nothing. Sleep escaped me, the thought of the Pikes attacking during the night kept stirring me awake. Mark assured me that the Pike never came at night. It did little to ease my mind.
I awoke to the sound of birds chirping and a kettle boiling water. "Hey look who's up?" Hank smirked as he walked over with a cup of coffee. "Sorry we don't have sugar, hope blacks ok for you". I grabbed the cup and thanked Hank. Black coffee, bitter but good. From the outside I heard Mark and Alex arguing over something. "I'm telling you thats my kill, my bullet hit him first" Alex argued. He walked in with a huge smile on his face. "Hank put me down for 100 points, I got one right between the eyes". Mark followed Alex in he wasn't smiling. "You know what, take it, im still 30 points ahead of you"
"Alright you two lets just settle down a bit, none of you get the points" said Hank as he cleared the white board. "We have the kid here now, and we cant have you boys have such a demanding lead"
They all turned toward me and smiled. I must be dreaming, are they actually thinking im going to kill those things. "Umm Hank I don't know.." I was cut off before I could finish by Hank "Nonsense my boy, Alex here will be training you how to use a gun, better get dressed your first lesson begins now"
Learning how to assemble and disassemble a gun wasn't new to me, I did it a million times with my dad. What was new was the shooting. I never shot a gun before, besides that one time at home when I killed the monster. Alex was a patient teacher, he didn't rush and made sure I fully understood what I was doing before moving on to the next lesson. After getting the basics down the rest of the day was target practice. Mark and Hank came out later in the afternoon. "The kids has some skill, he might even give you a run for your money Alex" laughed Mark.