Great Vine

By Dylan Parker

Part Two: Learning

Chapter Seven – More Answers Equals More Questions

“Yeah, you do!” Robert screamed, “Are you the one who has been following me? Who the hell are you?” Robert screamed at him some more but it was so obscene that it did not need to be in this manuscript. Kael sat and quietly took it and waited for Robert to finish.

“Are you finished?” he asked calmly.

“I guess.”

“Before I begin I need to ask you a question. How many people have died in your presence?” Robert thought back and the question only angered him,

“That really depends. What do you consider people!? Humans, or the monsters too!?”

“Humans…” Kael said consolingly. Robert thought. A few tears may have dropped but he really didn’t remember. ‘Let’s see, Tom, Cleft, the guy with the colt. That’s three.’

“Three. My partner, a man I had just met, and someone I never knew.”

“How many of them did you kill?”

“Directly or indirectly?”

“Both, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t,” Robert thought of the two lives he had ended. A tear dripped down his cheek as he answered, “Two. One I shot, the other was killed when a dead Biclops blocked his path.”

“What is a ‘Biclops’” Robert smiled.

“A Biclops is a creature made of ooze and slime that wields a club. Both of its eyes are gouged out.”

“You mean you’ve already fought a Homo Dual?”

“If that’s your way of saying Biclops.”

“It is.” Kael walked over to a blank wall in the round arena and touched a certain tile. The wall slid open to reveal the outside world. It was light out again and the world just seemed so much different. Across the street was a Pizza Hut with a McDonalds slightly farther away. Both were within the parking lot of five adjoined stores. For some reason the place looked very familiar, though it was not New York.

“How did you know how to do that?”

“I helped build this place, a long time ago. If you have already done battle with a Homo Dual, then there must be a portal to hell in New York”

“What!? A portal to hell!?”

“Yeah. There is one in great vine too.”

“I thought it was just some disease!”

“In one case it is. Do you know anything about the four horsemen?”

“Yeah. Flem and I fought the second. Those two were ‘the hands of the third’.”

“Flem, you mean as in Rylee ‘Flem’ Anderson.”

“Umm, I don’t know. He never told anyone his name. He was a cop, and my best friend.”

“So you have met one of the Andersons?”

“I-I guess.”

“Have you met the other one?”

“What other one?”

“Obviously you haven’t met him. Have you at least seen our sister?” Robert was tired of his games and didn’t even listen to the question.

“Quit trying to change the subject! What is going on here? Who are you? Where is Flem?”

“I will try to answer all three. All I know is that a portal to hell was opened and its shadows are spreading. I am your brother, Kael Johnson. And I don’t know.”

“Does this have anything to do with what happened in Rockport?”

“It has everything to do with what happened there.”

“Why are you here?”

“That information is classified.”

“What can you tell me?”

“I can tell you that you need to do everything you can to be of a good heart, save people, sacrifice, anything.”

“Why?”

“Because I have seen your future. I really couldn’t tell who you were at first, until I saw you in person. Your only chance for survival is to be worthy of it, of life.”

“This doesn’t make sense.”

“It will, eventually. Remember as you get closer to the cave, and the portal, the creatures will become more powerful, vicious, and beast-like.” Suddenly there was a sound of stone rubbing on stone and Kael looked to Robert with fear in his eyes, “I have already said too much. Go, I cannot be seen with you.” Kael moved to is right and walked past a Subway and further down the street marked “8th” Robert felt that nothing would change his brother’s path and let him go.

He looked down the street and saw a mansion with stone gargoyles guarding the many balconies and doorways. He looked at the amazing detail placed into each and every one. He looked at each. All of them were facing west, the bank of the dead, according to Egyptian religion. Everyone was facing that way, until he came across one that was looking straight at him. The sighting was just creepy enough to send Robert moving towards the close Pizza Hut. He pushed inside and saw that it was deserted.

He walked into the kitchen and still saw no one inside. “Is anyone here?” He called. No answer. ‘Another damn deserted town.’ Robert walked into the main dining area and sat in a booth. He could imagine waiters and waitresses moving in and out of the dining room getting orders and bringing them out to customers. His body whined in pain with exhaustion. Before closing his eyes he saw a small plaque on the wall that read:

“In honor of a great man:

Joshua Hose

Mayor of Great Vine,

1976 – 1980”

‘Great Vine, so that’s what this city is called.’ Robert eyes were heavy so they shut seemingly by themselves. He slept well, but dreamed terribly. In his dream he saw a woman. She was tall, not as tall as Robert, and she had brown hair. Her hair fell to her shoulder. She looked strong, as if she could beat someone to death. She was holding a gun and pointed it at something that looked like a tiger with long, glinting spikes that ran down its back. It growled and lunged at her but before it could reach her it was shot out of the sky by a gun blast.

She was so beautiful that her image stayed in his mind for the rest of the night. He woke up in the morning with nothing changed. He walked out of the Pizza Hut and saw that indeed some things had been changed. Parked next to an Albertsons that was across the parking lot was an ambulance. Robert walked slowly towards it, his eyes getting used to the light. In the ambulance were two stretcher covered in blood. Lying next to it was a pastor. The pastor’s shirt was torn off. His wrists and ankles had large holes in it as if he had been crucified. Robert flipped over the body and looked at his back. There were whip marks all over his back. Robert walked into the front seat and saw a young man there. He had been stabbed with shards of glass from the windshield. He looked in the passenger seat and saw no one else. Robert wondered about the second stretcher and looked outside. Nothing.

He walked into the Albertsons and looked around. In front of him was a rack holding different bags of chips, many missing. He looked to his right at a Starbuck’s where a small smear of blood was on the counter. ‘Never a good sign, better check it out.’ Robert walked over to the Starbuck’s and looked inside. The body of a woman about Robert’s age lie on the floor. She was covered in blood. She resembled Kael very much. He realized with horror what a cryptic unfinished message meant on the radio. ‘“Robert, your sis- Static ”’ It was from a woman named Leah Smith from Great Vine. Also Kael had said, ‘“Have you at least met our sister?”’ Robert realized that this was his long lost sister. He checked her over. She had large holes all over the sides of her body. He grabbed her badge, Rene Johnson. He checked her holster and found something that would be very useful. A Beretta 9mm. It was fully loaded and she had a full case in her pocket. The case was unopened with one-hundred shots inside.

The gun held fifteen rounds o this gun would last him a very, very long time. He took the holster off her waist and hooked it onto his belt. He slipped his .357 in the left holster and the 9mm in his right. He put the case of rounds in his pocket. He walked around in the store. He found a nice backpack and shrugged it on. He looked around for any food. He grabbed two cans of original Pringles, a bag of Doritos, five bottles of water, and some canned food. He walked into the Starbucks and dragged the body into the back.

He grabbed some coffee and drank it. ‘Mm, it’s so good.’ He walked over to the chips and opened one up. He had first meal since this whole thing started. Even though it was only Ruffles and some Starbucks coffee. He left the store and looked around some more. He heard a strange sound. He ran into a Dollar Tree and saw the creature he had seen in his dream. It lunged at a beautiful woman but he shot it in the side of the head before it reached her.

She looked in his direction and smiled. He walked over to her and kissed him on the cheek, “Thanks for saving me.” He nodded. “My name’s Michelle. What’s yours?”

“Robert Johnson.” She smiled.