farther. Her fangs weren’t like the fangs I had
seen on Stella. They looked like they had barely begun to come in, but they
were definitely fangs.
Up until that moment, I had never thought much about
that part of the process. People had to lose their teeth in order for fangs to
come in. It must have been a painful process. Who knew what else happened? This
poor woman had painkillers all over the place. Did people actually go through
the process of death and then come back as vampires? I had heard them screaming
when they burned or when they were staked, but other than that, they appeared
to communicate in whispers. My eyes went to the throat spray. Did the
transformation cause so much pain that they could only speak in hoarse
whispers?
I felt sorry for the old woman. I had seen many of the
too-old and too-young drop like flies in the beginning. It must have been that
their bodies couldn’t handle the trauma. The ones I saw die were picked off by
looters and other vampires, but I supposed it made sense that many died in
their beds and were never able to come back as vampires.
“Maybe this will save us the trouble of taking her
away and burning her,” James said.
“Very nice.” Beth turned away.
“Let’s please just get on with it,” I said.
James, Dwayne, and Scott carried the woman out in her
blanket. They all wore gloves because some kind of liquid was oozing through
the blanket. It looked like thick dark blood. There was some rope on the fire
escape. Dwayne and Lee planned to tie her up and lower her into the street. The
people below could find out if she had turned enough for the sun to burn her,
or if they would have to cart her away and burn her elsewhere.
I didn’t have time to stand around and watch. We still
had a lot of work to do if we hoped to clear even one floor of the building.
Besides, the stench was making me sick and I needed to get out of that
apartment.
After lowering the old woman’s body, Dwayne and Lee
stayed in the apartment and began boarding up the windows with some supplies we
had taken from the bank and some bits and pieces of wood they found around the
apartment. The rest of us moved on to the apartment next door.
The door was unlocked so we didn’t need to call for
Dwayne’s help. The apartment was in total disarray, but there was no one there
and no sign of death or illness at all. The windows were still locked and
intact.
The inhabitants must have escaped before the
government blew the bridges and blocked the tunnels, or maybe they had died
trying. This would make a good apartment for some survivors to live in. By the
time we were finished looking around, Dwayne and Lee had finished next door and
came over to help secure the windows in the new apartment.
We tried another apartment, but the door was locked.
Dwayne came over with some tools and had both of the door’s locks picked in
less than ten minutes. I thought that once I got back into the real world I’d
probably never feel quite as secure behind a locked door again. At least Dwayne
seemed like a nice guy.
“Does this mean it doesn’t have vampires?” Beth asked.
“Do any of us know whether vampires keep their doors
locked?” Scott asked.
“Good point,” Beth said.
“I don’t mind going first,” Dwayne volunteered.
“No way,” I said. “You didn’t really sign up for this
in the first place, and your construction skills are way too valuable for you
to risk getting hurt. I want to go first.”
“It really ought to be my turn to go first,” Paulo
said.
“No, please let me go now before I lose my nerve.”
“Okay, okay, let’s go,” Paulo replied.
I really was afraid I might lose my nerve if I
hesitated a moment longer, so I grabbed the doorknob and pushed my way in.
I immediately disliked the look of the apartment. It
was far too dark. I could see into the living room where a wardrobe had been
haphazardly pushed up against the window. Was it to keep vampires out, or to
keep light
seen on Stella. They looked like they had barely begun to come in, but they
were definitely fangs.
Up until that moment, I had never thought much about
that part of the process. People had to lose their teeth in order for fangs to
come in. It must have been a painful process. Who knew what else happened? This
poor woman had painkillers all over the place. Did people actually go through
the process of death and then come back as vampires? I had heard them screaming
when they burned or when they were staked, but other than that, they appeared
to communicate in whispers. My eyes went to the throat spray. Did the
transformation cause so much pain that they could only speak in hoarse
whispers?
I felt sorry for the old woman. I had seen many of the
too-old and too-young drop like flies in the beginning. It must have been that
their bodies couldn’t handle the trauma. The ones I saw die were picked off by
looters and other vampires, but I supposed it made sense that many died in
their beds and were never able to come back as vampires.
“Maybe this will save us the trouble of taking her
away and burning her,” James said.
“Very nice.” Beth turned away.
“Let’s please just get on with it,” I said.
James, Dwayne, and Scott carried the woman out in her
blanket. They all wore gloves because some kind of liquid was oozing through
the blanket. It looked like thick dark blood. There was some rope on the fire
escape. Dwayne and Lee planned to tie her up and lower her into the street. The
people below could find out if she had turned enough for the sun to burn her,
or if they would have to cart her away and burn her elsewhere.
I didn’t have time to stand around and watch. We still
had a lot of work to do if we hoped to clear even one floor of the building.
Besides, the stench was making me sick and I needed to get out of that
apartment.
After lowering the old woman’s body, Dwayne and Lee
stayed in the apartment and began boarding up the windows with some supplies we
had taken from the bank and some bits and pieces of wood they found around the
apartment. The rest of us moved on to the apartment next door.
The door was unlocked so we didn’t need to call for
Dwayne’s help. The apartment was in total disarray, but there was no one there
and no sign of death or illness at all. The windows were still locked and
intact.
The inhabitants must have escaped before the
government blew the bridges and blocked the tunnels, or maybe they had died
trying. This would make a good apartment for some survivors to live in. By the
time we were finished looking around, Dwayne and Lee had finished next door and
came over to help secure the windows in the new apartment.
We tried another apartment, but the door was locked.
Dwayne came over with some tools and had both of the door’s locks picked in
less than ten minutes. I thought that once I got back into the real world I’d
probably never feel quite as secure behind a locked door again. At least Dwayne
seemed like a nice guy.
“Does this mean it doesn’t have vampires?” Beth asked.
“Do any of us know whether vampires keep their doors
locked?” Scott asked.
“Good point,” Beth said.
“I don’t mind going first,” Dwayne volunteered.
“No way,” I said. “You didn’t really sign up for this
in the first place, and your construction skills are way too valuable for you
to risk getting hurt. I want to go first.”
“It really ought to be my turn to go first,” Paulo
said.
“No, please let me go now before I lose my nerve.”
“Okay, okay, let’s go,” Paulo replied.
I really was afraid I might lose my nerve if I
hesitated a moment longer, so I grabbed the doorknob and pushed my way in.
I immediately disliked the look of the apartment. It
was far too dark. I could see into the living room where a wardrobe had been
haphazardly pushed up against the window. Was it to keep vampires out, or to
keep light
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