Chapter Two

 

The bullet smashed the dirt several feet from Eric, bringing a smile to his face. That crazy son of a bitch did survive, he thought, waving an arm in the air as he walked along the split rail fence, admiring the horses.

Ethan laughed as he watched his old friend wave his arm. Yup, it’s him, gotta be. Anyone else’d be runnin’ like hell, he thought, as he stepped out on the porch of the small cabin. It had been fifteen long years since he had seen Eric. He hoped their reunion would not stir up the memories, but he was overjoyed to see him nonetheless. The last time they spoke seemed overwhelmed with visions of Kevin, mutilated like he was, and it had been too much to bear. Too many reminders of things best left ‘Unremembered’, so he had moved on, finding refuge in this little cabin, deep in the Montana wilderness.

They greeted each other with a brother’s hug. They had become brothers after all, and no amount of time would change that. They shared a mutual respect, a profound honor, and a world of painful memories and shared evils.

“Thought you was gonna piss your panties when that slug hit dirt,” Ethan laughed.

“Anywhere else an I woulda. Had to laugh a bit at the hello. Damn glad to see you’re still kickin’, bro,” Eric replied.

“Just makin’ sure it was you brother. Been watchin’ for ya fer bout a week now.”

“Dreams?” Eric asked.

“Yuppers. Every night for a week now. Got me a damn ghost in the cabin too. Mean lil’ asshole. Hey, and congrats, damn fine looking wife and kid you got.”

“How the hell do you do that, bro? It’s fuckin’ creepy.”

“Part gift, part curse, I suppose.”

“I half expected you’d have a wife and cluster of kids yourself.”

“Well, I do, brother, I do”

They shared a glance and a nod, leaving it at that, not yet wanting to recall the past.

“You say you got a ghost, huh?”

“Yup, called me a son of a bitch too, you believe that?”

“Actually, I do as a matter of fact. He must have gotten to know ya rather well then?”

They laughed and carried on for a good while, overjoyed to see each other alive and healthy. Eric told him of Angie and little Kevin, who was not so little anymore. They talked of the attacks and shared their stories of survival. After a bit, they headed inside. Ethan grabbed a bottle of whiskey and sparked a joint. They smoked and passed the bottle, both wondering why it had been so long.

“So, I knew you was comin’, but I ain’t quite figured out the rest. Everythin’ all right? Family good? Ethan asked with concern.

“Yea, family is real good. Kev is a crazy lil’ shit. Might’a lost him a while back if not for the neighbors, but he is just like his ole man was at that age. Had a few folks come out looking for a place to hide from the chaos. Said there is a lot of shit goin’ on out east. Be headin’ this way for too long.”

“I been thinking ‘bout yins a lot, bro. I need to go kick it with your brother and J.J. Feel kinda bad we never stuck with our yearly meetins. Think I ‘bout had enough of this place anyhow. Fuckin ghost creeps me out.”

“Ya, I been keepin’ up the tradition. Hey, speakin’ of ghosts, I scared the shit out my neighbor Budd. Brought him up to the Nip and he saw that thing with the smoke. He just about shit himself, turned all pale. I just acted like I didn’t notice. Still weird’s me out a bit too, but I’m glad to know they’s still partyin’ with us. He’s good folk, Budd, Wife too. Bettin’ yall’d get along just fine. They had a bear trap ‘em in this bad ass little smoke shack they built. His wife, Rae, was poppin’ out a baby an that damn bear was goin’ nuts tryin’ to get at ‘em. Fuckin’ nuts man. Damn glad I got there when I did. Been crazy times, brother.”

“I’s hopin’ I didn’t get all packed up fer nothin’,” Ethan laughed. “I been ready to roll since that first dream. Just gotta get them horses in a trailer, ‘less you feel like takin’ a ride.”

They decided to rest up for the night, catch up on some drinkin’, and hit the road come first light.

They awoke the following morning to a bottle and began building a joint, much as they had in days long since passed. A chill lingered in Ethan’s spine as he recalled the visions that visited his dreams. Over the years, he had dreamt of evil and darkness many times, but this was something new, something different altogether. This vision was of a profound, perfected horror.

“We gotta roll, brother,” Ethan disclaimed. “I got bad vibes man, bad dreams, a sick kinda bad.”

Eric finished twisting the joint and looked up. “What you mean?”

“Just, well fuck, I don’t even know man, just bad, a twisted kind of bad. I seen bodies, lots of ‘em. Not like battle or war, just, man, I don’t wanna fuckin’ say it but, it was a display.”

Eric looked up again. A tear began to stream down his face. The image of his brother’s death, and the sickening display in which he had found him flashed vividly in his mind. He cleared his throat, took a long hard swig from the bottle, the passed it back to Ethan and lit the joint. “I miss him bro, miss him bad.”

“Seems like only yesterday brudda. I sure miss him too, ain’t gone a day without thinkin’ of him. Hell, I ain’t gone a day without thinkin’ bout all y’all,” Ethan agreed.

A silence took over as they fought off the memories. For an endless moment, they shared their loss, eventually forcing the thoughts back to the hidden, unremembered storage in the back of their minds. They smoked the joint down to a speck of a roach before either offered anything further.

“He ain’t far gone bro. You know that as well as I do,” Ethan offered.

“Ah shit man, so what did you see?” Eric asked, changing the subject.

“Just bodies mostly, maybe a hundred, maybe more. They’s all stacked up like a fuckin wall. Seen a silhouette of a guy too, but, fuck I don’t know man. Looked like he was studyin’ them, or posing them maybe. Then I seen this girl too. Was like I was lookin’ at her through his eyes. He reached out, grabbed her throat and slammed her against the wall. Then I watched the life fade from her eyes. I thinkin’ she was important somehow, like she was the centerpiece or something. I can’t quite explain it, bro, was like I felt his satisfaction.”

A silence once again set over them as they thought about his dream and prepared for the road. Ethan had a large horse trailer, which they hitched up to Eric’s truck before loading the horses, and they tossed a few bags and some gear into the bed. Once the truck and trailer were loaded, Ethan took a last look inside the cabin. He grabbed the near empty bottle of whiskey and looked around.

“Well, I hope you find your Cora, or whoever you’s lookin’ for,” he said, before heading back out to the truck where Eric was waiting and they hit the road.