Mark Tufo - The End Has Come and Gone

"Will do.”

*

Ron waited a minute before changing the frequency. “You catch that?" he asked BT.

"Got it,” BT said.

"You'd better be careful or you'll end up passing him by.”

"That would serve him right if I did and then saved the day, so by the time he got there I had Eliza's head on a pike. I’d be drinking the last ice cold Molson on the planet and he’d get stuck having to kill some crippled ass old zombie and drinking a piss warm Schlitz.” "Umm, still a little pissed that he asked you to stay behind?" Ron asked.

"Does it show?" BT asked seriously.

Ron decided wisely to not answer. “You know the drill. Next time he calls, wait a few, then switch to frequency two and we'll discuss what we want to do going forward.” "What I want to do is kick his…"

"BT!" Tracy said.

"Fine, we'll be in touch,” BT said menacingly.

"Always a pleasure,” Ron responded.

A loud growl came over his headset. He truly hoped it had something to do with the curvature of the earth as it came in line with sunspots, as opposed to any sound emanating from a human being.

Ron stood there a moment longer basking in the quiet of his home. He hoped that someday soon the quiet would be replaced by the noise of the living, many of the living.

CHAPTER NINETEEN – Talbot Journal Entry 9

"All right Justin, I know this was partially my idea, but I'm not feeling all that great about it,” I said to my son.

"Dad, we've already decided that I can skip one day of shots without any ill effects. This is just one more day and it means that they will last longer,” Justin answered. He had a brave face on, but I wasn't completely convinced. Hell, I was scared and the bitch wasn't in my head nearly as deeply as she was within his. I could feel her on the periphery of my consciousness but that was it. Kind of like a mosquito on the other side of a screen door, somehow we now shared a link from the 'kiss of death' she had given me before the downfall at Little Turtle. But it was more a knowledge of something bad than actually being bad.

As the effects of Justin's shots wore off, it meant that Eliza could begin to hold sway over him. It was not a comforting thought. We sat at the edge of I-95 for a few hours waiting; we actually saw a few cars pass by. It wasn't rush hour by any stretch of the imagination, and they were about as friendly as Yankees fans after losing to the Red Sox, but it was still nice to see actual living breathing, not trying-to-cut-my-throat people.

"Oh Dad,” Justin said with a moan. “I'm beginning to feel her.” He began to scratch his arms like a junkie.

"It's not worth it,” I said, digging through his bag for a shot.

He seemed to rally his reserves. “It's alright, I can do this,” he said, taking a big breath of air. “I need to do this.” He sat there a few moments longer, eyes closed, body shivering even though it was a fairly balmy 40 or so degrees, which after this winter seemed like the tropics. Gary and Travis were busy having a snowball fight, oh how I wanted to join them.

"Do you think we should maybe try this at another time?" I asked Justin. A cold chill wind buffeted my back, although I think the chill was more internal than external.

Justin opened one eye. “She's least active during the day. This is our best chance to go unnoticed.” Unnoticed under Eliza's watch? I didn't share in the optimism.

Justin seized up, his entire body going rigid. I grabbed him, fearful that he was going to topple like a redwood tree.

"Found her,” he meted out.

"Wonderful.” To those of you that might possibly find this journal having not read the previous three, here is just a brief moment of explanation. ‘Wonderful’ in this context is primarily meant as a term of sarcasm. I in no way relished any more contact with Eliza than was absolutely necessary. “And?"

"Not yet,” he said stiffly. “It's not like there's a set of directions.”

“Sarcasm returned.” I didn’t know it was even possible but Justin seemed to stand even more ramrod straight. Gary caught a snowball with his ear hole as he turned to watch.

"Uh oh,” Justin said.

"Uh oh is bad Justin, what's going on? The last time I said uh oh I had… yeah, I think I'll just hold on to that thought.” Even under the heavy concentration, Justin was able to spare a moment to give me a sidelong glance. I smiled weakly.

"Whoa, I thought she felt me. It's good now though. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this connection without her feeling me though. And I'm still no closer to reaching out to Marta.” "Forget it then. There's no sense in giving her a heads up about us especially with no upswing.” Justin looked as if he was just about inclined to agree, “Wait… wait… she's there!!" he said excitedly.

All I could figure was that it was Eliza. I damn near panicked and shoved the shot in his sternum.

"Marta?" Justin asked. “It's me, Justin,” he said touching his chest. “I can't stay long, but we're coming to help. Where are you?"

Travis, Gary and I were now in a semi-circle watching the birth of a potential new means of communication. Is this what it was like when Edison invented the telephone? Talk about a Smart Phone!

"We're on our way, stay strong!" Justin said beaming, “Hold on, my dad has one quick message for Paul.” Justin relayed the message exactly as I had given it to him even if he now wore a panicked expression on his face. “Dad, she's coming! Hit me!"

I was momentarily lost in the reverie of marketing the new telecomm age, but that quickly changed as I watched elation turn to fright in the span of a blink. I plunged the needle in and the fear in him receded slowly, but the taint of evil took much longer to leave. He spent the majority of that day huddled in the back seat with a couple of blankets on him. Eliza needed to be dealt with quickly.

Eliza and Tomas Interlude

"I am intrigued, brother,” Eliza said coolly. “Why is it that you would allow our enemies to converse?" she asked as she arched an eyebrow. She feigned indifference but it was clear her brother had upset her.

"Does it not make the task at hand easier if they are all together?" Tomas asked.

"Perhaps, my brother, but I do not yet know if I trust you.”

Tomas smiled as he walked away. That smile lay somewhere between conniving and triumphant. Even Tomas did not know to whom he had given the benefit when he allowed Justin a moment to communicate with Marta.

CHAPTER TWENTY - Alex and Marta

Marta's arm shot up as she grabbed Alex' forearm. “They're coming!" she said excitedly.

‘She's gone,’ Alex thought sourly. ‘She's finally lost it.’ Alex was wondering how he would be able to live out the remainder of his days without her.

Marta watched the sadness in her husband’s expression as it traversed across his face. “No,” she said tenderly. “Mike is coming!" she said softly but excitement punctuated the words.

"Oh Marta, you cannot know this,” Alex hitched. It was one thing to witness the destruction of one's body, a completely different form of torture to watch one's mind disintegrate.

"The boy who was scratched,” she said as she wet her fever dried lips.

"Justin?" Alex asked.

"Yes, Justin,” she answered, putting her head back on the pillow. “He says that we are in danger and that they are coming to help.” Alex had a look of astonishment on his face.