\nHe stood there in a rain, chilled in the early spring air, blood and green slime and death rushing around his feet. His stomach felt as if it were plunging towards the ground from some great height, his throat went dry and he tried to move away, but the two creatures held him in an iron grip.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat of the agreement?\u201d the young woman asked.<\/p>\n
Daryl worked his mouth, shook his head. Agreement?<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has killed.\u201d The man from the police car said \u201cHe has killed one of the Evolved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen he must be killed.\u201d The woman replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is still the agreement,\u201d the cop said, somewhat desperately. There was some sort of power struggle going on here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you?\u201d Daryl asked, surprised he could speak clearly.<\/p>\n
The woman looked surprised. \u201cWe are\u2026\u201d she cocked her head as if listening to something. \u201cWe are Evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t heard your CD\u2019s, you\u2019re not one of those folk bands are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman tilted her head again, a confused look on her face.<\/p>\n
\u201cShut up!\u201d the man from the police car screamed, somewhat hysterically. He stood, but kept his distance from the monsters. \u201cYou have no idea what you\u2019ve just done! You have broken the agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the fuck\u2026\u201d Daryl shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can take his woman,\u201d the monster said, her voice pouting. \u201cYes, we\u2019ll take her.\u201d She moved a few steps closer, an arm\u2019s length from Daryl, then leaned forward, wild eyed, and hissed between her teeth, \u201cMolly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou leave her!\u201d Daryl screamed.<\/p>\n
One of the creatures holding Daryl let go and drifted towards the van as if he were walking a few inches above the ground. A graceful, inhuman movement. The body freed of the weight of sin and worry and the world. It pulled Molly out of the van and ripped open her shirt. It tilted her head back slightly and caressed her chest with a scabby, filthy hand. \u201cYour colleagues will be pleased,\u201d it said to the cop, \u201cTo have captured such a high ranked morsel.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cop flinched, but said nothing.<\/p>\n
Daryl blinked, his mind burning. He now regretted crying back at his neighbor\u2019s house. There was nothing human left in these creatures. Nothing good left in them. He focused on the creature holding Molly, watching with wide eyes as it caressed her breasts, feeling a boiling rage drift through his stomach and rise in his chest. \u201cMother of God!\u201d he shouted. \u201cAre they Vampires? I am Legend<\/em>, Richard Matheson. You ever read that?\u201d He looked at the cop. Innocent face, wide eyes. The guy was a simpleton.<\/p>\n The cop looked unsteady already. He glanced over Daryl\u2019s shoulder at the creature, then looked at Daryl, \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n The creature holding Molly paused as well. Surely it was too far away to hear everything, but it seemed to be listening none the less.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Omega Man<\/em>. Charlton Heston. Last Man on Earth<\/em>, Vincent Price. They were going to remake it, big studio style but, thankfully, the world ended.\u201d Daryl chattered.<\/p>\n The cop stared at him, slack jawed. \u201cYes\u2026 I saw the Heston movie\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cExcellent!\u201d Daryl said nervously, \u201cWe\u2019re on the same page, then. So what did you think of it? Kind of screwed up the Matheson story, eh? But closer to our current situation, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n The creature holding Molly stared incredulously at Daryl.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s amazing,\u201d the woman rasped. \u201cThey\u2019ve always been like this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlways?\u201d Daryl asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll check in,\u201d the cop said, \u201cGet some real orders.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood,\u201d Daryl replied, \u201cYou\u2019d better do that. These vampire aliens are amateurs, if you ask me.<\/p>\n \u201cShut up!\u201d the woman spat.<\/p>\n \u201cOh my God!\u201d Daryl shouted, \u201cHurry up, man!\u201d<\/p>\n Then the creature holding Molly dropped her to the ground and turned towards the road.<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d Daryl\u2019s creature said, as if answering a question, \u201cIt is the other truck.\u201d<\/p>\n They could hear each other\u2019s thoughts. Daryl shook his head. What the fuck were these things?<\/p>\n \u201cNo it fucking isn\u2019t!\u201d the cop said, standing up and running towards the police car. He peered at the road.<\/p>\n Daryl moved his head slightly, listening. All he heard was the rain, and the idling of the big truck the monsters had used. Then, faintly, he heard the whirring of an approaching car.<\/p>\n \u201cIt must be the other truck. There\u2019s no\u2026\u201d The creature holding Daryl mumbled to itself.<\/p>\n \u201cIt fucking isn\u2019t!\u201d the cop screamed.<\/p>\n Molly\u2019s creature nodded in agreement and drifted out into the open. Daryl\u2019s captor released him.<\/p>\n Daryl smiled. \u201cRival vampire zombie death clan?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not the truck.\u201d Daryl\u2019s monster said.<\/p>\n \u201cYour friends said that already, sweetheart.\u201d Daryl whispered in a mocking conspiratorial tone, backing away.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is them,\u201d the creature replied, looking at Daryl.<\/p>\n \u201cThem who?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe must remember the agreement at \u2013\u201c The cop started to shout.<\/p>\n \u201cThen we had best leave,\u201d the woman replied, gazing at Daryl. \u201cKill his woman.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[404],"class_list":["post-560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nachos-lousy-novel","tag-nachos-lousy-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=560"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":758,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560\/revisions\/758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}