CHAPTER TWO: DONOVAN

 

Dad used to say, “Life is HELL and, then, you die.”

But, these days, HELL is just the beginning.

‘Don’t know these streets.  Not even sure which way is North or South.  Just a maze of concrete and steel to me.  So, of course, I’m running for my life through them.’

‘Damn, where’s Uncle Tony?  He was just ahead of me.  Where the hell did he go?  I grin and laugh at the absolute absurdity of that pun.  But no time for a laugh today; especially at something so utterly real and sobering.  At every turn, those things are waiting and the sun is setting.  These streets aren’t safe after dark.  And, as far as that goes, these streets aren’t all that safe now.’

‘My name is Donovan Thorn and I’m a normal sized guy with a bigger than normal build; just enough to show that the work outs were…well…working out.  But I’m not from Atlanta.  In fact, I was born and raised nowhere near here.  Wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for dear ole Dad.  Joining the military out of the blue and getting stationed in the deep and dirty south.  Damn, when I find him, I’ve got an earful for him.’

Donovan stopped at a cross street, a bit winded. He turned off his cell phone. The damned thing had become near useless. About all he could do with it was record his thoughts and listen to his play mix. But the batteries were nearly out and, last he checked, there wasn’t a plug with juice anywhere in the city.

 

As he leaned down on his knees, catching his breath, he tried to scan both cross streets down one side and up the other.  But, it wasn’t helping.  There was nothing and no one.  Just the dead streets littered with the remains of the residents of the ATL.  As his breath was coming back, he stood straight up and continued to look to no avail.  There was no Uncle Tony and no clue which way he went.  Donovan looked up just over the horizon.  The sun was setting behind the skyline just west of him.  He didn’t have much time.

Suddenly, there was an explosion in the alley just ahead of him and to the right.  Donovan didn’t hesitate.  He didn’t think.  He just ran.  And, as he ran, his arm lit up with green lightning from the tip of his right finger all the way up to the shoulder.  It was hurting again.  It seemed to hurt a bit more to bring the lightning every time he did it.  But it was his only weapon and it was a good one.  He was low on power too.  He had been fighting those things off and on all day.  And those rednecks with the pickup truck and the shotguns didn’t help any either.  Luckily, he and Uncle Tony had ditched those idiots.  Then, Donny thought about the possibility that it was those Confederate rejects that was causing the noise in the first place.  On top of that, the noise always brought those things like flies to honey.  But he knew, as long as there was a possibility that Tony was there too, he had to go investigate.

Donovan came to a cross way of two alleyways when he skidded to a halt.  Down to the left was a mob of those things.  They were seemingly picking themselves off the ground as the dust and smoke was finally settling.  This was definitely where the blast came from.  And, in the middle of it all, the form of a young female laid out on the ground, not moving.  Once again, he didn’t think.  It hurt too much to do that these days.  After what his Mother had done to him for years and losing Uncle Tony in the confusion of running for what was left of his life, all he could do was act.  All he could do was do what came naturally.  

His arm was blazing by now and the pain was almost too much.  But, Donovan knew the routine.  Once he released the energy, the pain would go away.  And the release of the power from his right arm was his only weapon against these abominations.  As he broke into a run, the walking corpses turned to look at him hungrily.  Another thing Donny knew was that the more power he poured into that arm, the more he attracted these monsters.  They were drawn to him like a bug light.  And, right now, that was just fine with him.  As long as their attention was turned to him, they would leave the girl alone.  He got closer and closer as they began to move toward him.  Suddenly, instinctively, Donovan punched through the crowd of the dead with right punch that caused a bigger explosion than he had heard earlier.  The blast obliterated a good ten to twenty of them and scattered the others; stunning them for the moment.  The flash was blinding as the green lightning shot off the walls and lit up the whole alley; striking another five to ten so hard they exploded.  

The lightning was shooting everywhere now.  Donovan dived onto the prone body of the young woman, shielding her from the green hued energy.  He knew, if she were struck by it, she would be hurt too and he just could live with himself if he killed her trying to rescue her.  After a few moments, the emerald storm subsided and the alley got quiet again.  It was almost nightfall now and those things would be back soon.  But Donovan found that wasn’t his immediate problem right now.  For, suddenly, he found the cold barrel of a pistol resting on his temple.

“I’m not going to ask you what the hell yous is doin’, cause I got a good idea.  I’m just gonna give ya the courtesy of a warning TO GET THE HELLS OFF A ME!!!”

The girl was awake and she was no girl.  This one was a full grown woman and, by the feel of it, she was built pretty well.

“Wells?  What’s it gonna be, boy?!  I got no problem adding to the body count in this here city!”

That’s when those redneck rejects finally caught up with me.  Great.