Chapter 3: Aftermath
Shaun had been oddly disturbed by how empty the streets and roads had been. Ever since they entered Lubbock the atmosphere seemed almost…dead. It was early in the morning so he didn't think too much of it but it was still odd. As he entered Samantha's neighborhood, the dark of dawn was just staring to diminish from the approaching sun. As they crept up to Samantha's house Samantha gathered her things and Shaun also assisted her. "I'll walk you."
Samantha nodded and jumped down from the truck. Shaun did likewise as he pulled free her luggage and threw the bag over his shoulder. The two walked up to the door and Samantha slowly slid the key in and turned it. "Well…finally home. It was a long trip huh?" Shaun nodded, sliding his hand up and down the bag's strap. "Well…I better get inside. I don't want to wake anyone."
Shaun nodded and handed over her bag. "Yeah, sleep tight."
Samantha accepted the bag and then raised her hand to gingerly graze Shaun's cheek. "I'll call you tomorrow okay?"
Shaun smiled lightly and cupped her hand within his palm. "Yeah, tell your folks I said hi." With that Samantha slid inside and waved behind the door as she slowly closed it. Shaun saluted in return and then scampered back to his truck. As he was driving off he saw someone in the distance running rather quickly. As if he was being chased. As curious as Shaun was to see what the commotion was about, he decided to just go home. Shaun was relieved as he pulled into the drive way. He didn't even bother taking his stuff inside and merely grabbed his wallet and keys and hurried inside. He was cautious not to make much noise as he came in and blindly made his way through the darkness to his room. He tossed his wallet and keys to the ground and leapt on his bed. As he allowed slumber to slowly come over him he found himself thinking about Samantha. He wasn't even sure if they were together anymore but he knew that he at least had one more day to figure things out. Next he thought of the news and all the confusion that surrounded the incident. Before he could string together some opinions he drifted into a swift sleep.
…
Shaun stirred in the midst of morning and rose to see that his room was slightly altered. Like things were shuffled and moved in order to locate certain items. The sight startled him. He quickly got up and looked to see if anything was taken. For what he could tell after minutes of inspecting, nothing of high notice was missing. His jewelry was still there, along with his game systems and televisions. His money bank was the only thing that hadn't been accounted for which angered him but still left more questions. If he was robbed than why weren't his other valuables taken? He guessed his mom needed some extra cash so he shook the issue aside. His mother was always good for paying him back and it wasn't like Shaun spent much money on himself. If he wasn't buying things for Samantha then he was usually saving his money. He paced from his room to the steps to confront his mother but the house had a feeling of emptiness. He glanced around to see that the house had mimicked the appearance of his room. Things were knocked over and moved but again the things like the television and DVD players were still there. This raised a slight panic within Shaun as he leapt the rest of the steps and staggered to the kitchen. Everything was still there for the most part. The flat screen, the fridge, everything.
What the hell is going on? Shaun was about to reach for the phone but out the corner of his eye, he caught a figure in yard through the window. It was a little girl, in fact his neighbor. She stood stiff and upright in the grass as she stared at him through the shade of the tree's branches. Shaun couldn't see her face very well but she seemed to be perfectly calm. Maybe she knows what happened here…. Shaun went to the window and called out to her. "Hi, Sarah…!" Sarah quickly slouched into a slight pouncing state as if she were ready to run at the slightest disturbance. Shaun jumped at her reaction. Usually she would always bother him when he was home. Between working with his dad and school he was hardly home. So Sarah and his little sister would always pester him. The fact that she was acting this way was unsettling.
Shaun kept an eye on Sarah as he reached for the phone. He began punching in the numbers to call his mother but the phone's message came on explaining that the number he was dialing couldn't be reached. Confused he looked away to the phone and listened for a dial tone. He heard nothing. What is going on here? He ran from the kitchen to the front door and halted at the sight of a young man around his age wearing a green jacket and a red cap. He had ripped up jeans with boots and wielded a crowbar in his hand. He was rummaging through the living room with no sense of worry or attempt to be furtive. Shaun wasn't afraid of a crowbar so he stepped out into the open allowing the man to notice him.
The guy looked up at him with no shift of expression but rather he smiled. "Hey, guess we both came to the same place huh? I didn't even see you come in, did you come from the back?" Shaun looked at him with such puzzlement it even made the man raise a brow. "What's the look for…?"
Shaun grabbed a knife from the knife holder and this made the man jump. "What the hell are you doing? Get out of my house!" The man raised his crowbar in a readied position as the two stared at each other. "I told you to get out!" Shaun took a step towards him.
The man held his ground. "What's wrong with you, I'm normal man. Can't you hear me talking to you?" Shaun ignored his baffling words and lunged at him poking the knife at him in attempt to scare him. The man dodged but his jacket tore as it caught on the blade. Shaun swung it back forcing the man to leap back. "Calm down man!"
Shaun opened his mouth to shout his final warning but he saw a head of blonde hair sprout out behind the man and clamp to his neck. Blood began to spray from under the waving blonde hair as the man screamed in panic. Shaun recognized the girl to be Sarah once she jerked her head up to reveal a mouth full of flesh that had been ripped from the man's neck. Dark blood rushed from the man's neck at an almost impossible rate as it flowed into the green of the man's jacket. Shaun couldn't pull his eyes away from the mauling as Sarah began to claw at the man and cut more and more red ribbons for blood to flow. The man managed to push her off but Sarah quickly pounced back on him and bit at his face. Before long the man fell limp to her assault and drowned the carpet with his own fluids. Shaun began to shake in horror as Sarah returned to her blank look as she stared up at him. She took two steps towards him and splashed drops of blood into Shaun's face. This was enough to snap him back to his senses as he realized that she was coming after him as well. He stumbled backwards and nearly fell but caught himself and turned for the stares. He was halfway up them when he heard her stomping after him. Not daring to look back he darted towards his parents rooms seeing it was a straight shot from the steps.
She was gaining on him. He heard her frantic breathing, a mad exhale that gurgled a bit of blood drawing closer.
…and closer…
…and closer…
Shaun crashed through the door and endured the wood that cut into his flesh. He fell to a knee and turned to see Sarah lunge at him. He caught her within his arms and swung her on the bed. She bounced off the mattress and left a large dent in the wall as she crashed head first into it. She bounced off the mattress yet again only to fall to the other side with a loud thump. Shaun began to hear his loud breath and could now feel his own panic. He looked around for his dad's gun but couldn't find anything. Only the empty bag that once held it and the bullets.
Shaun cursed loudly. "Come on! He sprung up and backed up to the door. He couldn't see Sarah behind the bed but he knew she was there, but was she dead he wondered. But what was that all about? She seemed like a rabid dog off its leach. She killed a man with such sadism. The thought of that victim's blood on his face made him emotional. He gasped a few times as he wiped his eyes; heart pounding as if wanting release from the entrapment of his chest. Once he settled down he quickly ran down the steps to check on the man, no matter how futile it was it only seemed right to do. It was just as it seemed, the man stared past the ceiling with his mouth hanging open in fear and panic. His cold blood was drunken by the rug below as it continued to leak out. Shaun slide both hands over his head as he tried to keep himself calm. He looked for the phone again and listened for its dial tone.
Nothing.
The phone shattered at the force of Shaun spiking it on the ground. The pieces scattered like glass letting out a loud bang against the marble tile of the kitchen's floor. He kicked the kitchen table into the wall knocking over some chairs. He let out a loud roar as his frustration came over him. He fell to his knees trying to think clearly. I have to call the cops…where is everyone at? Why isn't the phone working…What is going on?
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang on his door, lots of them in fact. They were so loud and strong he could see the door caving to their might. Shaun turned to the backyard door only to see random people banging upon it trying to force entry. They all had a crazed look upon their faces as they viciously stuck the thick glass which rocked to every hit. Shaun backed away slowly and ran back towards the stairs. He had just got a foot on one when the front door crashed inside the house. Shaun looked back and saw what seemed like twenty people fighting to get inside. Wasting no time he ran up the steps and into his room. He flung objects and furniture aside in attempt to find it. And find it he did, his gun that his father gave him. It was meant for emergencies but what he was experiencing was nothing short of hell right now.
He aimed the gun at the door that was in the next second kicked open. Shaun took off the safety and scattered the woman in a business suit's brains across the wall behind her being the first to enter and die. The next two burst inside and were quickly gunned down by Shaun's marksmanship. Footsteps were stomping up his steps forewarning Shaun of their approach so he gathered his ammo and equipment for his gun and next his wallet and keys and faced his window. He opened it and slipped through. He turned to close it but his jeans got caught on a nail within the frame. He wrestled with it and furiously yanked at it as three more bodies entered his room and darted towards him. He aimed his gun and shot two of the on comers but the third grabbed his leg with enraged strength and tried to tear at his flesh. Shaun yelped as he bashed the man upside his head. The frantic man would not react so he carefully yet quickly aimed his gun to the man's skull to where the bullet would not him. The yelling of the mad man seized with the pop of the gun's fire. Blood splattered all over Shaun's clothes but he didn't really care about much of anything at this point. He finally unhooked his jeans from the nails snare and set his feet on the rooftop under him. He saw even more people trying to break inside his house like ants swarming an enemy predator.
"What is all this…" He spotted his truck and ensured that no one was around it before he made an attempt to get to it. He paced along the rooftop's structure and constantly looked behind him to ensure his safety. Once he was right across from his truck he lay flat on his stomach and slid slightly off the roof holding himself up with his hands by gripping the edges and pushing down on them. He saw a frenzy going on in his house as a host of people scrambled around yelling at the top of their lungs and breaking apart stuff as they searched. He secured his gun and the case of ammo to his body with his arm and flipped down to the cold grass below. Once he regained his balance he bolted to his truck. He was never so glad he left the door unlock as he swung the door open and tossed the case inside. He climbed in after it and slammed the door. Upon starting the engine several of the people inside the building stopped in their tracks and looked out towards him. Shaun paused for a second and noticed the flock of runners now filing out the house after him. He smashed the pedal down and quickly sped away as the people ran after him. They kept pace with the truck for several feet but he eventually broke away. What surprised him was that they continued to run at such a pace even in the distance, like they never got tired. As Shaun drove, not really sure where he was going he patted the truck seat in search for his phone when he suddenly remembered…Samantha!