One Syllable

There was no blue in the sky all that month. Not a trace of blue. Bleak gray clouds, fat and dark. All seemed an odd shade of gray. The ash, the bones, the rocks and the dried blood. No good guys, though. Still can’t find them. We were late. Or here too soon.

I stared out of the car, rubbed my eyes. I scanned the sky. Where was the sun?

Brin was at my side, her face a mask of fear. "They’ve been here, too," she said with a sigh.

"Yes." I hoped they had left. Shades. It was a bad way to die, by their hands. The car was now out of gas and we’d have to find some more. That was first on my list. Well … I glanced back at Brin.

And she turned to the seat in the rear. There was a dead man there. We did not know his name, but he saved us both. But a Shade bit him, and soon he died. He died in the back of this car, while I drove, and while Brin slept.

Brin snatched her stole and stepped out in the gray mist. "Damn all this ash," she said in a low growl. "I’m cold."

"It will be a cold spring." I grabbed the keys; I hoped the spade was still in the trunk. I waved at the shacks at the side of the road. "Check them for – "

"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill," and she was out of sight.

My shirt was torn. Bad. The wind cut through me like a blade. I hoped Brin would find us some fresh clothes. I lacked sleep, my hands were bruised, and the ash choked my lungs. But it would be dark soon and I had a good man to put in the ground.

Some time passed; I don’t know how much. I broke a sweat. The ground was hard, and my hands bled. By night the man with no name was gone.

Brin was still out in the small town, though.

I kept my sights down the road. Both sides. There was no noise but the wind, and there was no sign of … them. But still, I did not like this at all.

Back at the car I pulled the nerve gun out from my boot. Still packed a charge. Good.

But now it was too dark to see. Weird blue flames shot up past the lake, five or ten miles due north. That was the sole source of light. Faint and vague. Gas, meat, and a mine lamp. That’s what I hoped Brin could find.

She’d been gone too long, though, I thought. Should I risk a yell, a shout in the night, or would that bring Shades to us?

"Rick!"

I heard the sharp call, quick and high, but could not place where it came from. "Brin!" I moved down off the road, near the dark shapes that once were homes. I kicked a dead thing and gasped; what else lay off in these fields?

"Rick!" She was near, and I sensed fear in her voice. The nerve gun was out, primed, and I wished I could see more than a few feet in front of me. If a bolt from the gun hit her …

But I felt her arms on me, and she pulled me in. "Oh, Rick!" she cried, and I felt hot tears on my face. Hers. She shook, and I held her tight. She smelled bad, but so did I, and at this point we did not care.

"No gas?"

"No." A pause. "And no meat. It’s all cleaned out. They were just here. Still are I bet. We have to leave. We have to leave now! Where can we go with no gas?"

I shushed her, stood back. I found that I could not spot the car. But we’d be dead in it, with no fuel to get out of this town. I tried to think. Brin would ask me soon what we should do.

Sweat and ash dripped down my face, in my mouth and on my tongue. What was that ash made of? Part of me knew. Skin. Blood. Bones. Wood and rock. And I knew it would kill us in the long run.

As long as I could keep them from me. From us.

"Let’s go." I pulled her hard up the slope, back to where I thought the road was.

"Where, you oaf? Where can we go?" She was mad at me, real mad, for the first time in her life. I could not blame her. I’d been a fool.

She fought me, but my grip was firm. I hurt her, more hurt than I had done so far. "Brin – "

"No, Rick. You brought us here. You. What else do you want? What else?"

"I don’t know what to say to that, Brin."

"Then shut up."

"I tried." I let her go. "I tried my best … I thought we’d be safe …" I sat down, in the dark. It was just then I heard the noise. Them. Shades. Here, now. Of all towns, this one. I reached out, for Brin, but she was not there.

"Brin!"

I rose to my feet, ran back to the shacks. I fell, hard, with a shout. The gun went off as I hit the ground, and the sky lit up.

They were on the road, by the car.

They saw me.

I tried to get back up, but the pain was too much. "Brin!" I cried out, and sat up. The nerve gun still held charge, I saw. I risked another blast.

The sky flashed hot white, and I saw the Shades. Close. They’d soon be on top of me. But I saw – no!

There was a shape in the car.

Brin?

"Damn you," I growled. "There’s no gas in the car!"

Brake lights came on, and I saw them smash through the glass.

"No," I yelled. "I’ll save you, Brin!"

A blow slammed my head from the side, and then all was dark, for a long, long time.