And so we come to the end of this tale. I hope you all have enjoyed the read as much as I enjoyed the writing of it. If you want to be notified about when the prequel comes out, be sure to comment on the Story Archive thread, accessed through the table of contents of this here story. Again, I hope you enjoyed this, and hopefully the next story comes out soon.
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Blood of the Damned
Part 20
Jay laid on his back, relaxing in the comfort of the bed. Another farmhouse, another dawn. After only a few days and nights they were already used to travelling under the shroud of nightfall, and taking their rest during the day.
Lila pulled the bandages off Jay's stump, and used a clean cloth soaked in water and vodka to clean off the wound once again. She had been unable to find any proper medicine and so the booze would have to do to kill any possible infection.
"How's it looking?" Jay asked weakly, he didn't seem to have much strength left anymore, and Lila couldn't really blame him. He had been through so much, and the loss of a leg was a traumatizing event.
Cauterizing it with a frying pan had not been a pleasant experience either.
"No signs of infection. It looks as clean as I can get it," Lila said, dunking the cloth in a bowl of water beside her, turning the liquid a light pink from the blood.
"Good... I think I'm just going to rest awhile... wake me up for my shift," he said, and laid his head back on the pillow, almost immediately falling asleep.
Lila didn't say anything, but simply reapplied the bandages and looked back to the door, barricaded by the dresser that had been sitting in here. She took a quick peek out the solitary window and squinted against the morning sun. No zombies, no vampires. Just nothing.
She sat herself down and leaned against the wall, holding a sawed off shotgun in her lap. They had found the weapon downstairs in the hands of a man who had apparently taken his own head off. A bite mark had been visible on his upper arm. She only had a few shells tucked away in her pocket. She prayed to whoever might be listening that it would see them through to the end.
Setting her head against the wall, she let her eyes flutter closed, and sleep overtook her.
~~~~`
The moon looked down upon them as they walked together from the farmhouse and towards cottage country. Their arms wrapped around the other's shoulder to help Jay stay on his solitary foot. Lila's spare arm held the shotgun, Jay's a walking stick.
They didn't talk, wanting to keep as low a profile as possible.
For hours they walked, eventually coming upon carefully trimmed grass and perfectly planted trees. Cottages hidden within the shade leered at them, daring them to explore. Both ignored the temptation to find another place to rest, fearful of the death that could be lurking within, and simply walked along the road, not finding the strength to care anymore if a zombie found them.
They passed a tree, someone hanging from the low hanging branches. Either the birds of the undead had gotten to the ragged remains slowly shifting in the breeze. Neither could even identify gender, or age. They simply pressed on.
A few more hours slowly rolled by, until they found themselves coming to a large waterfront home, behind it a large dock and a boathouse. Out on the water, anchored off the shore, was a large sailboat, shadowy figures moving about onboard.
The two exchanged glances, not daring to hope, but moved down to the dock anyway, hoping to find some way to call out or to get out there. They moved past the boathouse without checking it, and as soon as their feet hit the planks of the dock they heard something shift behind them.
They turned, to see Haley sitting on a barrel that had been hidden from their view. She wore a wry and tired smile on her features, fangs hidden beneath her lips.
"We were waiting," she said getting to her feet, and striking a flare.
As the bright green light flared to life, Lila frowned.
"Where the fuck have you been?" she demanded.
"Clearing a path. Securing a way off this island for you two," she said, as shouted started to come out over the water, a small rowboat starting to make its way to land.
Jay almost laughed, but simply pulled himself out of Lila's helping hands and sat himself on the edge of the dock and looked out towards salvation, and waited. Lila flicked her gaze between vampire, human and the ship coming towards them, wondering if it was more of Haley's kind, or more of hers.
"Thank you," she said simply, sitting beside Jay on the dock.
Haley held the flare high for a few moments, before tossing it into the water.
"I hope they hurry," she said dryly under her breath.
On the horizon, behind the ship, the glow of a new dawn started to light the sky.
The End
DarkX64
The only thing that mars this ending is the fact that it's sunrise and Haley's a vampire. But the ride has ended. The struggle is over. And even though I never commented on the previous chapters, this was a ride I enjoyed from start to finish. Because I did read it all. Enjoyed it all. Remembered it all. And there's no way I'll forget this. It's been a hell of a ride. Nice riding with ya.
Thanks for the grade A read,
DarkX.
PS: Did you get my last comment on the semi final installment? I left a comment that was unanswered. When you reply to this (and you will, you know it), give me your answer. Thanks a lot.
PPS: Sometime within the next two-three days, I'm gonna make a new post. My last one was kinda dumb and I aim to fix it. Nothing important, but what the hell.
sinfulwolf
I'm very happy you enjoyed, you've always delivered good feedback and gave me something amusing to read with your comments. So you're welcome for the read.
Now, as for Haley being out on the dock while the sun is starting to rise, I was aware. Alluded to that with Haley's dry remark of "I hope they hurry". However, it could become less "out there" after a bit of a dip into War of the Damned.