Wampir

Those were the dark days. For me at least. They're over now, obviously. Pretty much everything is over now. Well, almost everything. I know that there are a couple of them out there looking for me. Of course, I'm looking for them too though. Them or anyone else…

INTRO

My name’s Wallace. That’s what everyone calls me at least. I’ve been alone since last night, when Mindy was attacked by a vamp. We hadn’t seen one in weeks and thought that we were going to be all right just the two of us up here. I guess we were wrong.

I remember the “good ole days,” when mortals ruled the earth, when vampires were the stuff of fairy tales and fantasy writers. It’s almost comical that mankind’s reign on earth ended this way. I would have guessed nuclear war would have been the end. Maybe global warming or pollution of the waters could eventually have knocked us all off. Or maybe a plague could have extinguished us. Although, I guess in a way, one did.

It’s been about a year now, since the initial outbreak took place outside Philadelphia. It’s amazing that the birthplace of the old US of A was also the birthplace of the end of civilization.

Valley Forge. Two hundred some years ago George Washington and the colonial army camped there for the winter. Thousands died from the cold. Thousands more died from starvation. I can all but guarantee you though that none died from a vampire bite. Yet that’s where it all started. I know because I was there. I saw it happen. I saw the meteorite. I saw that young girl touch the stone. And I saw her transform before my eyes into what would doom humanity as we knew it.

CHAPTER 1 – WALKING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND

It’s wintertime. I think that I’m somewhere that used to be part of Midwestern Canada. It’s hard to say for sure how far west I am, but I haven’t reached the Rockies yet. Everything is white and quiet and peaceful. It’s been snowing for the past twelve hours or so and it doesn’t show any signs of stopping. The visibility here isn’t great, but not so bad that anything could easily sneak up on me.

I’ve been on my feet for about eighteen hours and I’ll need to find shelter soon. I had to leave the farmhouse that Mindy and I stayed at thanks to the French Canadian vamp that found us there. It wasn’t a bad place to stay and we’d enjoyed the peaceful surroundings for the past couple months. We were always ready for them at first, but we eventually let our guard down.

Last night he made his move. I killed it, but not before it crept up on Mindy while she slept. I was in the basement going through the canned goods the owners of the place had left there. They wouldn’t need them, their bodies were still decomposing on the front porch by the time we got there. Drained by the vamps. This one was still sucking on Mindy’s arm when I impaled it with the fire stoker.

So here I am on the move again, this time alone. I couldn’t stay at the house. The vamps seem to know when one of their kind falls, and it would only be a matter of time before more showed up there. So I left. There must be other survivors like me out there. I can only hope to find them before the vamps find me.

The going is slow. I grabbed snow shoes, some cold weather gear and as much food and water as I could carry from the farmhouse but it won’t last more than a week. I’ve already asked myself if it’s even worth going on. I do go on though. What other choice do I have? To lie down in the snow and be gripped by hypothermia? I’d rather the quick and seemingly painless death of the bite.

Miles go by as the flakes continue to fall. Here and there I see a tree or a fence. They seem as lonely as I am in this cruel winter wonderland. No animals show their heads or tracks in this winter storm and no birds fly past with their chirps or caws or honks. I look behind me every couple of minutes to see if I’m being followed but the same frozen desert is all my eyes can see.

I can’t stop thinking about Mindy. It’s no use blaming myself for what happened, but how could I not? I should have been on the lookout while she slept. Instead I assumed we were safe. Instead of protecting her I went to look for something to eat. Instead of watching over her I watched over the cans of chicken noodle soup and corn chowder. And instead of leaving the farmhouse together after dispatching the vamp, I left alone with only the quiet of a Canadian winter to keep me company.

Eventually I spot a green and yellow sign through the haze ahead of me. As I approach, the sign slowly reveals itself as a giant lime-colored shield with “BP” stenciled over it in lemon. A gas station with a mini market attached I’m relieved that I’ve found shelter, and just as important, possibly more food.

The market’s covered in snow and the windows in ice. All around the market the snow is smooth and unmarked. No footprints in sight is probably a good sign. Not that I’d expect the vamps to travel out to the middle of nowhere in this weather. They don’t seem to mind the cold, but they apparently know that their prey does.

I walk up to one of the frosted windows of the mart and begin to scrape a small patch of ice off so I can see inside. Darkness covers everything inside the market. I wait a moment and tap on the glass to test whatever might be inside for movement. No response. Walking toward the front doors I turn back to the road to check again if I’ve been followed. It’s a complete white out though. Nothing’s out there.

The door to the market is not surprisingly unlocked. Opening the door I step into a musty stench of still water and rotting fruit that slaps me in the face and stings my eyes. The place must have been deserted for months. It’s dim inside, but not totally dark, thanks to little light coming in through the frost-covered windows. I lock the door behind me as my eyes begin to adjust to the lack of light. Slowly I walk over to the counter, my eyes darting back and forth, waiting for anything to jump out of the shadows and take me down in my exhausted state. I walk around behind the counter and lie down, relieved that I may have found a place to call home for at least a day or two.