Apocalypse Weird: Genesis (The White Dragon Book 1) (2 page)

“Kasey. Kasey.
Kasey
!”

She opened her eyes. A wave of dizziness lingered for a moment.

“You okay?” Jack asked.

“Yeah. I’m fine. What happened?”

“Nothing. The music stopped and you didn’t, that’s all.”

“I think I drank a little too much.”

“You wanna sit?”

“Yeah.”

The fire had burned down. A few people had left the party. Did she dance for that long?

“How about over there?” she asked, pointing at a spot closer to the water.

“Sure.”

They sat down in the sand next to each other.

“You want something to drink?” Jack asked.

“Water maybe.”

“Coming right up.”

Jack disappeared and came back thirty seconds later with two water bottles in hand.

“Thanks!”

“You’re welcome.”

“Tell me about Albuquerque,” she asked.

“There’s not much to tell really. We weren’t there for that long. Three years, I think.”

“And before that?”

“West Coast. San Francisco. A bit north of it.”

“That’s nice.”

Kasey leaned her head on Jack’s shoulder. There was a part of her that objected but she was too tired for that to give her pause.

“Why are you smiling?” she asked.

“Because you didn’t like me two hours ago.”

“That’s a long time.”

“True.”

“Besides, who says that I like you now?”

“Well, for starters, there are about twenty of your classmates around the fire. And you’re sitting here. With me. Actually next to me. Your head is on my shoulder and you’re talking directly to me. So, yeah, I think you like me.”

“Why do you always have to be so logical?”

Kasey could hardly keep her eyes open.

“You want me to drive you home?” Jack said. “It’s no trouble.”

“That’s sweet of you. But if you don’t mind, I’d just like to sit here with you for a while.”

“Sure.”

She shivered.

“You cold?”

“A little.”

“Don’t go anywhere.” Jack got up and disappeared again.

In the distance, on the dark horizon, something red illuminated part of the sky. Then it disappeared. Jack returned, his sleeping bag under his arm. He sat next to her and pulled the bag around both their shoulders.

“Thanks.”

“Sure.”

They were quiet for a while. All Kasey could hear was the surf gently rolling onto the beach and the soft voices of her friends around the fire.

“Can I ask you something?” Jack asked.

“That was already a question.”

Jack laughed quietly. Kasey liked that.

“Go ahead. Ask away.”

“Where did you get that amulet?”

“How do you even know I have one?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No.”

“You took it off when we first went into the water. And then you reached for it a few times when you talked to me before. And now you’re holding it again.”

“I didn’t even notice.” Kasey let go of the necklace.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me.”

“It’s not a big deal. Some guy gave it to me when I was eight.”

“Like a gift or something?”

“No, not really. I was playing on the beach and he came toward me and gave it to me. Then he took off.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah. That’s it.”

“Did he say anything?”

“As a matter of fact, he did. He said he was sorry. And he said something else that I can’t remember.”

Kasey felt warm. Not so much on the outside but on the inside. She could smell the sweat and salt on Jack’s shirt. Somehow he made her feel comfortable. His presence was restful and she knew she didn’t have to worry about anything right now.

“You wanna hold it?”

“No. No. I don’t… No. It’s fine.”

“I’ll let you hold it if you want.”

“Really?”

“Sure, why not.”

Even though she’d never let anyone else touch the amulet in all the years she’d had it, this time it felt right.

“Okay,” he said.

Kasey hesitated for an instant. Then she unclasped it.

“Here,” she said. She hung the necklace around his neck and closed it.

“Wow, it’s heavy!”

“Do you feel different?” she asked.

“Yeah. I feel... wait, I feel…” and in a much deeper voice he proclaimed, “The powers of the heavens and the earth now belong to me! TOO MEEEEE!”

Kasey looked at him in disbelief.

“I’m just kidding. I don’t feel anything.”

“Ass!” she punched his arm.

“Ow! That… didn’t… hurt. At all.”

“You are so bad,” she smiled. “You can keep it for a while if you want.”

“I’d love to,” he replied.

“You wanna lie down?” she asked.

“Is that a question?”

“Yeah.”

“In that case, sure.”

He pulled the sleeping bag off their shoulders and lay on his back. Kasey lay on her side next to him, her head on his shoulder. He spread the sleeping bag over both of them.

“You comfortable?” he asked.

“Very. You?”

“Very.”

The stars shining in the clear night sky gave off just enough light to illuminate Jack’s hand on his chest next to hers. She touched it ever so slightly. And for a brief moment, before she fell into a dreamless sleep, Kasey wished that she could lie here with him forever.

Before she opened her eyes the first thing Kasey became aware of was the splashing sound. Bits and pieces of a memory from last night crept into her mind. It was mostly the way Jack held her that had stayed with her. That and the fact that he was very gentlemanly and didn’t push her into anything she wasn’t ready for. He’d just held her and she’d felt warm and comforted in his arms.

When she lifted her head, disoriented at first, she couldn’t quite focus her eyes. The sun rose out of the ocean, out of the bank of fog far out at sea. The splashing sound was much closer than that. She could barely see the ripples in the water at first. When she sat up, she saw those very same ripples all the way up and down the beach. There were forms scattered on the beach — some still, others twitching, convulsing, somehow trying to move.

“What is that?” Jack asked next to her.

“I don’t know.”

Kasey stood up and took a couple of steps toward the water’s edge. The screams reached her all at once.

“Dolphins,” she said as she stumbled forward and into the surf. She could feel the fear rising in her, taking hold and paralyzing her senses.

“We have to get them back into the water,” Jack said. “Help me put them back in the water!”

Kasey nodded. She couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing. The dolphin closest to them lay half in the water, its body shaking in convulsions. Jack was there first. He lifted its head up but wasn’t able to move it.

“I can’t grab on to it. Maybe we can roll it!” he shouted. Kasey barely heard him. The cries were unbearable, pulling at her with great force. When she tried to grab on to the dolphin’s slippery tail, a wave of terror swept over her. It was as if a gate inside her opened; a doorway to a place of unimaginable horror. And part of her knew that the fear she felt was not entirely her own. The screams were not only in her ear. They were in her mind and they filled it with something unthinkable.

“What can we do?” she heard Jack ask. She saw his helplessness as he tried to push the dolphin back into the water.

“The sleeping bag. Get the sleeping bag,” she heard herself say.

Jack ran to the spot where they had spent the night. It felt unreal now, as if it had happened years, decades ago. When Jack came back he yelled something. She couldn’t hear it at first.

“…it onto the bag and we’ll pull it back into the surf. Okay? Do you hear me?”

“Okay. Yes.” She wasn’t sure how long she would be able to take the screams.

They pushed the dolphin onto the bag.

“Good, that’s good,” Jack said. “Now pull!”

They moved the bag, inch by inch into the water and walked into the surf. When it was about two feet deep, the dolphin slipped off the bag. But it didn’t swim away. It turned toward the beach and pushed itself back onto the shore. Through the tears that came, Kasey saw the blurry dots — hundreds, maybe thousands of convulsing bodies as far as she could see. The image was completely and utterly incomprehensible.

Through the blur, she saw something in her peripheral vision. She turned her head toward it. At first it seemed nothing more than a slight movement far out at sea, but when she squinted her eyes she saw the silhouette of a ship. It was dark with red sails and not quite solid, as if it was not completely in this world. It came toward them, cutting silently through the water and at the same time seemed to stand still on the horizon. Kasey knew at that moment that the world as she had known it was about to end.

“Do you see that?” she heard herself ask. “There.”

She pointed to the spot on the horizon.

“No. I don’t see anything.”

A moment later it was gone, vanished from her field of vision. But for whatever reason, and going against everything she had learned and experienced in her life up until now, she knew the ship was still there. And when she looked down at the dying dolphin and from it to the hundreds and thousands of them, all fighting for their lives and wanting to end them at the same time, the seed of hopelessness was planted in her soul — buried deep inside to fester and to grow in the darkness that cast a shadow in her heart.

She saw the people running toward the water. They yelled to each other but she couldn’t hear them. They tried to do the same, somehow pull the dying dolphins into the water, but to no avail. More and more people stopped their cars on the highway close by.

“We gotta go,” she heard Jack say. She didn’t react. “Kasey, we gotta go!”

“Where? Where can we go?”

“I don’t know. Where do you live?”

“West Babylon.”

“I live in Lindenhurst. No idea what’s closer.”

“I’m closer.”

“Okay. Let’s go to your house. Maybe a news station has something about it.”

Kasey nodded. She wasn’t capable of more.

“Come on!” he urged.

She didn’t want to leave. She didn’t want to leave the dolphins here to die. She needed to stay with them, to somehow help them. A few hundred feet down the beach, a woman began to scream.

“We have to get out of here,” Jack said. “Before they shut down the expressway.”

Jack grabbed her arm. She began to walk, reluctantly at first, but then faster and faster until she was running.

“Get your keys and your phone. Don’t worry about the rest.”

They crossed the dunes and ran toward Kasey’s Jeep.

“Can you drive?” Jack asked.

“I… I don’t know. I don’t know!”

“I’ll drive,” he said.

She handed him the keys and they climbed inside. Jack backed out of the parking spot and accelerated out of the lot. More and more cars arrived. Spectators. Fathers on their way to work who thought they could videotape a strange occurrence and later that night show it to their wives and children. Jack had just turned a corner when someone almost ran into him.

“Watch where you drive, asshole!” the driver yelled at Jack.

Jack swung around him and from there onto the expressway.

“This is not good,” Kasey said. “This is not good.”

Jack glanced at her briefly.

“This is not good.” She dialed a number on her cell. “My mom is gonna know what this is.”

“Why is that?”

“She’s a marine biologist. Mom?”

“Kasey?”

“Mom!”

“Where are you?”

“I’m… can you turn on the news?”

“What’s happening? Where are you? Are you okay? Kasey! Are you okay?”

“Yes. Yes, I’m okay. I’m on my way home, but turn on the news. Something is happening.”

“What are you… Wait, I’m turning it on.”

From the passenger seat Kasey could see the beach on their right side. It was dotted with dolphins as far as she could see.

“Mom—”

“There’s nothing, Kay. Nothing unusual. What’s going on?”

“The local news. Turn on the local news.” Kasey couldn’t stop the tears. She sobbed into the phone. “We’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“What’s going on, Kasey? Why are you crying? Did something happen?”

Kasey looked at Jack for a moment. He was concentrating on evading cars whose drivers had stopped to see what was going on.

“The dolphins, mom. The dolphins are dying.”

“What are you talking about? Were you drinking or something?”

A helicopter flew overhead. It had the SKY NEWS Channel logo on it.

“We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

She hung up.

“Two more exits.”

“Okay,” Jack replied.

“What is this, Jack?”

“I don’t have the slightest idea.
Shit!
”

Kasey was pulled into her seatbelt when Jack stepped hard on the brake. In front of them, a tractor-trailer smashed into a parked car. The trailer skidded sideways and began to turn over. Kasey screamed as Jack turned the wheel to the left, evading the trailer by less than a car length. The Jeep flew into the center strip.

“We’re okay,” he said. “We’re okay. I got it.”

He maneuvered the car through the high grass while passing the still-turning trailer and eventually came to a stop. The trailer lay on its side. Behind them, several cars smashed into one another.

“Call 911,” Jack said. “Tell them where we are. Tell them there was a mass collision.”

Jack drove past the trailer and back onto the highway where he stopped the car.

“911, what’s your emergency?”
the voice on the other end came on.

“I’m gonna see if anyone’s hurt,” Jack said, getting out of the Jeep.

“What’s your emergency?”

“Hello… my name is… my name is Kasey Byrne. I want to report an… accident on the freeway between… between…”

“Ma’am, are you okay?”

“Yes. Yes, I’m okay.”

“
Are you in immediate danger?
”

“Pardon?”

“Are you in immediate danger, ma’am?”

“I don’t think… I don’t think so.”

“Okay. Where are you?”

“We’re on Ocean State Parkway just past Cedar Beach. A tractor-trailer has rolled over.”

“Are there other cars involved? Ma’am, are there other cars involved?”

“Yes.”

“How many?”

Jack beckoned to her. He stood on top of the truck, trying to open the door.

“I don’t know. Maybe five.”

“Okay. Stay where you are. Don’t leave the vehicle until help arrives.”

“Okay.”

Kasey hung up and got out of the Jeep. She couldn’t see the beach from here but she could hear the screams of the dolphins as if they were right next to her.

“Kasey! Over here!”

She ran toward the cab of the truck. It lay on its side. When she got closer, she saw the blood on the windshield.

“I have to climb in and push the windshield out from inside. Otherwise we can’t get him out,” Jack said.

“Okay.”

“Can you help me with the door?”

“Okay.” She climbed up on the cab. The smell of gasoline and burning rubber crept into her nose.

“Was there someone in the car?” she asked.

“I don’t think so.”

Jack pulled at the door handle but the door didn’t move.

“We’ll have to smash the side window,” she said.

“The glass is gonna cut the driver. I wanted to avoid that.”

They looked at each other for a moment. Less than ten hours ago, she was still a teenager. So was Jack.

“Look away,” he said.

As she turned her head to the side, he smashed the window with his elbow. The glass rained down onto the driver. Jack reached in and popped the door lock. They lifted the door and Jack climbed inside.

“Be careful,” she said.

In the distance, Kasey could hear the sirens. The freeway was littered with parked cars. Now that the drivers had to stop, many of them got out and ran down toward the water. Kasey felt sick to her stomach. Jack kicked the windshield several times. After the third time, it cracked. A few more kicks and it began to loosen. With the last kick, the passenger side broke out of the frame. Then the rest came loose and the windshield crashed to the ground.

Kasey stood up on top of the cab, waving to the ambulance and two fire trucks that were navigating their way through the cars. A man came running through the trees from the water and toward them. Kasey could hear him yelling something.

“Jack,” she said. “Jack!”

“I can’t get him out. He’s too heavy.”

“Jack!!”

Kasey climbed down as the man came running toward her.

“What did you do to my car!?”

He grabbed Kasey by the throat and pushed her against the cab’s roof.

“What did you do to my car!?”

Kasey couldn’t react. She had participated in a self-defense class one semester at her high school. One of the exercises had been to defend against someone grabbing one’s throat. All she could do now was gasp. She saw the rage in the driver’s face but behind that, she saw something else — a look of complete and utter terror. Jack rammed into the man from the side. His grip around Kasey’s throat loosened. He and Jack went down together. Jack was up in seconds. He grabbed Kasey’s hand.

“We gotta go.
Now!”

He began to run and Kasey had no other option than to run with him. Three EMT’s came around the corner and toward them.

“The driver is hurt,” Jack shouted. “We couldn’t get him out. The man on the ground is the driver of the car. He’s not hurt.”

They ran toward the Jeep as the firemen got out of their truck and a police car stopped next to it. Jack and Kasey climbed into the Jeep. Jack started the engine and they drove off. Kasey saw a police officer behind them, gesturing at them to stop the vehicle.

“We should stay here,” Kasey said. “Talk to the police.”

“No.”