Page 14 of Demon Shock

It must have worked because I woke up to daylight streaming through my windows and a knock at my door.

Groggy and out of sorts, I fumbled my way out of bed and opened the door without even asking who was there.

The sight of a tall black man caught me off guard. “Uh, can I help you?”

He smiled and chuckled.

“My name’s Bram. Are you hungry? We have some beans and spam if you are.”

It was the weirdest offer I’d ever gotten from a stranger who’d knocked on my door.

But then my brain kick-started, and current events resurfaced. I looked beyond Bram to see who “we” was. Another man and a teen were with Bram, and Gyrik was standing quite a few yards behind them.

He looked a lot different in the light of day. Bigger. Maybe a little scarier–but also not because of the way he nervously shifted his weight from one leg to the other as he rubbed a hand over the top of his short hair.

“You’re Gyrik’s friends?” I asked. “The ones looking for survivors.”

“We are,” Bram said. Then he pointed to his companions. “That’s Will and Zach, and you’ve already met Gyrik.”

Four men. One woman. I wasn’t stupid. I was well aware of the inherent danger. Yet, heading to Duluth by myself to discover the truth of the story Gyrik had told me was more terrifying than the group at my door.

“Come in.”

I stepped back so they could enter the cabin. Gyrik was slower than the rest, hesitating to approach as if I were the one to be afraid of. I waited patiently until he was inside then closed the door on the cold temperature outside.

“The past twenty-four hours have been really weird for me. I’m struggling to believe everything Gyrik said.” I glanced at Gyrik. “Obviously,somethinghappened.”

“It’s like he said,” Zach said. “Earthquakes opened up these caverns where he and his brothers were living, releasing these cursed hellhounds that started attacking people. The hellhounds essentially started a zombie apocalypse. But don’t worry. We’re past the worst of it. Promise.”

I laughed faintly because his cliff-noted version sounded as insane as Gyrik’s more detailed version. Yet, Gyrik’s appearance and what I’d seen in Silver Bay were proof enough to convince me it wasn’t some crazy story.

“How many people got sick?” I asked.

Will and Bram exchanged a long look before Will said, “There aren’t many of us left.”

Exactly what Gyrik had said the night before. Had I hoped the answer would change? Absolutely.

“Okay then, what now? You’re looking for people like me. You found one. What happens next?”

“Next, if you’d like, you can travel with us back to the community Gyrik told you about,” Will said.

“And if I don’t like?”

“You do what you want. We mark our map to indicate where we last saw you, and we check on you occasionally to make sure you’re doing all right and offer help when we can.”

That sounded reasonable and assuring.

In the back of my mind, I’d been worried it was some kind of enslavement thing. It still could be. They might be great liars. But why bother lying to me? There were four of them and one of me. If they wanted to do something, they could, and there wouldn't be much I could do to stop them.

“What are the chances I’m going to end up raped if I leave with the four of you?”

The three humans quickly held up their hands and retreated a step while voicing various denials.

Gyrik didn’t move. He remained frozen in place as he stared at me with an odd expression. He looked lost and a little afraid.

If these men were acting, they were good at it. But I didn’t think their reactions were an act any more than Silver Bay had been.

“I’m not accusing. Just checking,” I said. “I didn’t hear any vehicles, but I’m assuming you drove here, right?”

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