Moonflower: Prologue

Prologue

05/19/20

Two days after the end of the world

One family in a sea of doomed survivors.

Darkness lay heavy over the warehouse, the hushed silence of the night only disturbed by the toe-curling echo of an otherworldly scream before plunging back into a still, uneasy quiet. The monsters were only getting closer. Inside, one weary young woman was pulling her knees up to her chest, leaning into her sister's shoulder with a weak sigh as the tension ate away at her already-rattled mind. They had been here so long, and still no sign of rescue… The unspoken fear of what was happening around them pressed in to cage the huddled remnant like jaws devouring a dove.

An unexpected rumble caused her family to sit up around her. Something was happening at the doors, waves of people hesitantly standing to their feet and crowding together as a low chattering grew in their fragile sanctuary. A spark of hope lit in her tired brown eyes as her sister shifted against her and hurriedly pocketed her phone. Was help here at last?

“Okay guys.” The strong sound of her father's voice made her glance up, his otherwise even words wavering with tension for only a second as he observed the momentary peace being disturbed around them. He was pretending he didn't feel it, but she could tell it was there: fear. “Huddle up.”

Usually the youngest daughter would be rolling her eyes at the silly childhood gesture—she was twenty-two years old now, after all—but today? Today, surrounded by horrors beyond imagining, it felt like a saving comfort, a warm and familiar blanket to keep them calm in the danger lurking all around them.

She got to her feet and shook off the fatigue to come in for the hug.

Her father leaned in with determined intensity. “Remember, girls.”

The family instinctively linked arms over their shoulders like players in a football huddle, creating a circle as the four of them began the memorized chant that tied them together.

“We stay side by side, we always stick together, we watch each other's backs and..?”

Everyone looked expectantly at the youngest. She took a second to sigh dramatically. “… And the coin slots in payphones go this way.”

The light laugh was like relief to a wound. She managed a small smile, scooting in a little closer, the simple but sweet stroke of normalcy enough to relax her aching muscles for one perfect moment.

The growing rustle from the doors drew the little family back down to their shattered reality.

“We're going to make it out of here,” her mother stated bravely. Squeezing her girls’ shoulders to support them, her chin dipped down with a sober gravity that was infectious to the rest of them. “Okay?”

Despite their fear the sisters exchanged knowing glances, looking back to her and nodding together, the courageous show of renewed resolution keeping them strong.

Their dad was being brave too. “Okay. Now, everyone stay calm and hold hands. And… one two three break!”

The mother and father quickly started for the doors while their two daughters lagged a little farther behind, too nervous to follow their parents followed the distressed crowd as it flooded toward the outside. It startled her when a small and scared child stumbled as they tried to run past in the rising rush of people, tripping over the youngest daughter's foot and hitting the hard ground with a frightened yelp. The young woman immediately took a moment to help them up, getting on her knees to lift them to their feet as her sister checked in on them, raising her voice over the unrest.

“Hey, are you okay?”

The kid's face was as white as a sheet. The two girls could tell that their shivering was not just from the night air, but the instinctual deep dread of what they all knew was coming after them—something that was creeping into the sisters’ consciousnesses, too.

Without answering, the child darted away in a hurry, scurrying off to join the survivors at the bottleneck exit of this suffocating steel box.

The oldest daughter anxiously took the youngest's hand again and held tight as they watched the pushing and shoving in front of them getting more chaotic. There was no way out but through.

“R-ready?”

She squeezed it back, suddenly feeling a lot more intimidated by the growing unrest playing out in front of them. “Okay, let's go.”

It was a river of people they had entered in with—people who were exhausted, afraid, and most of all, desperate. All were doing everything possible to get themselves ahead in this mess. Getting past the big roll-up metal door was one thing, but what the girls found outside the warehouse was an entirely different beast. The same rolling mass of people were now thrust flat against the high chain link fence walls, screaming and shouting for help in furious desperation at the soldiers on the other side, but none looked like they were listening. The young woman fidgeted nervously, snapping the strap of her gray tank-top against her skin. Everyone looked nearly as frightened as she felt. The evacuation was utter chaos, barely controlled by the space of the yard and the force of the crowd as they struggled to weave their way forward. It was every person for themselves out here.

“Look!” Her sister pointed beyond the gate and shook her arm with a thrill of excitement. Military vehicles, sitting green and empty, waiting just out of reach—their escape. She tensed her jaw in determination and they pressed on with the uneasy crowd.

The soldiers were going on about staying calm and remaining in an orderly line, but not a single soul seemed to care. Every person was clawing and shouting to claim their place among the dwindling number of seats on these Noah's Arks that were already filling up. It was a complete and total panic they were entering into, and their only hope of an exit was the tall gate in the fence sitting at the opposite end of the parking lot. They had to make it through—and fast.

A muscular older man shoved roughly past the girls.

“Get outta my way!”

“Ow—hey!”

The young woman was nearly knocked to the ground from the arbitrary elbow, but the crowd was too dense to even let her fall. Agitated by the thoughtless man, she brushed the disheveled black hair out of her eyes, anxiously glancing around the sweaty bodies of the pack surrounding her. Her sister was reaching backwards between angry strangers for her hand, checking in on her after the push that had broken their hold on each other. Her brow was knit in concern and her soft voice had to raise high above the noise again to be heard.

“Are you okay?!”

She eased her older sister's worry with a firm nod as she drew closer to prevent the frenzy from overcoming them. “Yeah, I'm good! Let's go!”

They made sure to cement a better grip as they heard their mother calling out for them in front.

“Girls! Come on, we have to stay together!”

Their mom and dad stood out amongst the loud crowd and the daughters hurried back to them to finally reunite the family of four. Her sister kept their mother's hand tightly this time as their father attempted to lead them faster through the throng as one connected unit.

The pressure on her arm was enormous from the many battered and bruised survivors trying to force their way through the family chain, spitting and swearing at the two cowering girls who were getting in the way of their road to freedom, but the determined young woman was not about to let their bond break. She clutched her sister and grit her teeth to bear the pain and block out the obscenities. They were not getting separated again.

The people near the gate were packed impossibly close, leaving little hope of breaking through for the four of them, but the frenzy of those near the back shifted the flow just enough for the family to make a final attempt at reaching the edge. It looked like the military men that were supposedly here to rescue them were only allowing small waves past the gate and over to the trucks, keeping the rest penned inside this fenced-in parking lot like cattle queuing for slaughter. The street lights above them flickered and a wave of doubt rippled through the restless herd. Everyone wanted out of this cage, and they wanted out now.

A ruckus by the fence caught her attention. A frazzled looking mother was screaming herself hoarse to let her and her child through, and the barking orders from the nervous soldiers to fall into line were growing louder and louder, agitating the mob around them. The woman was becoming red in the face with anger, cursing wildly as she insisted that the boy she was dragging behind her should be her free ticket past the others who were stuffed inside—though she didn't seem to care that her death-grip on his arm was drawing tears. The soldiers tried to ignore her, one of them anxiously pushing her back towards the impatient crowd with an insecure and shaky order to wait her turn. That only made her more furious. Her temper boiled over and she jumped back up to shove herself in his face, demanding a way through. In a flash, his frustrated partner reacted with force, striking the mom across the cheek with the butt of his gun as he roared to get back in the damn line! and sent her and her son tumbling back into the frantic throng.

The girl cringed nervously at the brutality and sped along, clinging even tighter to her sister as they approached the gate. Soldiers were all around, trying to break up fights between a few survivors and shoving others toward the tall fence, their faces a mix of stony determination and paranoid anxiety. The guns clenched in their shivering arms did little to reassure her. She turned her head and slowed down to overhear two of them arguing as they rushed by.

“… to the trains, the roads are full of fucking cars!”

“No signal… Shit, the satellite must be down! Does anybody know the way to the train station?”

Before she could hear any more a sudden sting of pain shot up through her forearm, forcing her to yank her hand to her chest with a sharp cry.

“Ahh!”

Before she had a chance to reach back, the closing gate that had pinched her arm slammed shut in her face with a wild CRASH! The sudden surge of the people surrounding her shoved her up into the chain link fence with painful force, and in a terrible moment that stopped her heart in her chest, she realized that her family was nowhere to be seen.

“Diana!”

Frantically tugging on the opposite side of the fence, Diana's sister pushed past the others who had made it through, screaming over the crowd behind her for her little sister. Her startled words were shrill and her big brown eyes huge with fear.

“Diana?!”

At last their shocked parents noticed what was happening at the gate and rushed back in a panic. Diana was speechless, the horrible claustrophobia of the mob sending her hyperventilating in the cold midnight air as her clammy hands grasped uselessly at the chain link between her and her freedom.

She watched her mother shake the fence like she could to break it by sheer will and look wildly over her shoulder at the guard in control. “You have to let us back!”

“I'm not opening this gate!” The commanding soldier's voice was barely audible over the roar of those trapped on the other side with Diana. He pushed up the intimidating rifle in his arm and pointed angrily to the street. “Get in the vehicle!”

Diana couldn't suppress a yelp of pain as the pressure of the horde pushed her a second time, the myriad of their pleading curses and furious threats drowning out her cry. They were on edge and the situation was only growing more dangerous. Her father's eyes widened helplessly at the terrified look on her face, and he rushed back to the soldier in charge, insisting for his daughter. She could barely hear his words spilling out in a frantic mess over the anger all around her.

“We're a family—we're all together! Please, sir, you have to let her through!”

The man pushed him in the direction of the trucks roughly. He wasn't listening. “Move!”

“Please, we need to stay together!”

Her mother was appalled at the soldier's callousness and got to her feet. “We are not leaving until—”

“Now!” The shine of a rifle lifted to her father's chest frightened a cry from Diana's lungs as she saw her startled mother lunge forward to intervene. “N-no, wait! Just listen—”

“Now!”

“Dad! Mom! Stop it!” Diana's high shout broke over the commotion, bringing their attention back to her. Her frightened parents raced back over to the fence, and her sister's hands still gripped her fingers through the chain, with no way to help but desperate to hold onto her in any way possible. She was trapped.

What could she do? Diana's frantic gaze flew over their shoulders as her vision began to spin with adrenaline, the terrifying thought of what could happen if they stayed here only sending her deeper into panic. The cars were right there, parked on the street and still in view from the opposite side of the fence! How would they all get out of this alive?

Her mind was still searching for any trace of hope when her heart suddenly leapt into her throat. In her moment of distraction, the chaos of the crowd had lifted her off of her feet, the shock of fear at the abrupt lack of control pushing her to the brink of tears.

No, focus! Diana stubbornly clenched her teeth and craned her neck, ignoring the fear and forcing her feet to the ground through the mess of legs under her. She could just spot two of the trucks stuffed with people pulling out and driving away from the road behind her terrified sister, leaving only two remaining vehicles—and they were filling up quickly. The escape was so close, the safety of the armored cars waiting only a few hundred feet away on the street. Her family was in danger staying here. She knew that this pause in the city's carnage would not last forever—they had to do something now.

An idea appeared through the frenzied haze. A terrible idea, a horrifying risk that froze the blood cold in her veins.

There's no other way.

Diana bit the inside of her lip and breathed in sharply, her brain scrambling for any other possible option, but deep down she already knew the truth. There was only one thing left to do.

“It's okay,” she lied through a nervous smile, banishing the dreadful tears before they even had a chance to well in her eyes and speaking to the ones she loved as clearly as she could manage in the noise of the riot. “I'll take the next one.”

They stared back, appalled beyond understanding.

Her mother scoffed at the absurd idea as her father shook his head slowly. Self-sacrifice—he knew what she was suggesting, but she could see the faint flicker of undying hope resisting the thought in his eyes. “Diana…”

“Sweetheart, don't be ridiculous!” Her mother interrupted in outrage with a shake of the gate. “We're not going without you!”

“It's okay!” She was fighting her pounding pulse to keep herself composed but her throat had already begun to tighten to a choke. Another packed truck was leaving the lot behind them and the sight of a dozen frightened survivors climbing into the only vehicle remaining scared her more than anything else. They were out of time—but they were supposed to stick together, right? The frightened young woman stuffed the sinking feeling deep down into her gut, the thought of being left alone making her sick, yet she simply nodded with a brave face to reassure her stunned sister in the impossible choice. “I'll be right behind you.”

“Stop it, Diana.” Her sister was stubborn and shattered, a rogue tear escaping down her cheek, smiling in denial of the reality of these conflicting emotions. Her weary voice lowered in earnest as their parents argued behind her. “I'm not leaving you.”

“And what about them?” Diana smoothed her thumb over her sister's knuckles, her voice unsteady but sure, the weight of whatever her fate might be if they did leave her behind soaking into her own mind. “You need to get yourself out of here with Mom and Dad.”

“But what about you?”

The longing of her words comforted Diana's shaken heart. She had to be brave. Shaking her head, she ignored the bruises from the crowd at her back and spoke logic where their inseparable bond muddled all rational thought.

“Look how many people are here? It wouldn't be fair for you to leave those seats empty and take someone else's place in the next convoy. And you don't need to worry,” she promised with a big lonely grin, “because I'll be right behind you—and hey, I can always find a payphone, can't I?”

A shout from a soldier at the final car snapped her family from the dread of their conflicted daze like a gunshot. It was now or never.

Her fearful parents only looked at each other and then to her sister, shocked and torn with no words to save her, their family's safety splintered in two by the impassable two inch metal border. Diana knew she would have to push them harder. Her fists tightened on the fence and her voice strengthened and rose urgingly.

“Don't worry about me, get out of here! Go!”

“But—”

“Go!”

They stumbled to their feet and stood petrified in place. For one horrible moment, nobody moved, time coming to a standstill as it does in the shadow of a wave before it pushes you under. The three of them held hands on one side as she stood alone on the other. Slowly, they began to inch backwards with heavy steps, stalling to the very last second to try and think of any other possible way out of this… but what else could they do?

“Go, get out of here!”

They had to move.

Each family member slowly nodded, her mother running back, reaching through the bars to lovingly brush her daughter's bangs away for one last kiss on the forehead before they all turned away and made for the last convoy.

Her sister twisted around for a moment, her matching brown eyes wide with steadfast sincerity in her impossible promise.

“We'll wait for you at the station!”

“I'll be right behind you!”

Diana's encouraging smile was fake as she watched them run away from the fence. She desperately hoped that they were far enough away not to see the faint trembling in her lip as she watched her family making their escape to the welcoming arms of safety—without her.

She watched helplessly as they faded into dots at the trucks, left stranded alone in the crushing herd of the damned with nothing to do but wait for her chance to follow. She winced as she squeezed her slim hand back through the tight bars and stood on her toes to watch them go.

The clatter from the evacuation was hovering over the burning city, echoing endlessly through the night, chaos and in-fighting calling out into the open sky. The selfish crowd was foolish to think that their careless cries would go unnoticed.

The rest of the fractured family clamored quickly into the covered bed of the last truck with shaking hands, all other seats stuffed with traumatized survivors, young and old. The noise of crying children distracted Diana's parents for a moment before the vehicle rumbled to life underneath them. The older daughter gripped the edge of the truck bed. Her hopelessly worried gaze was fixed on the mob at the gate, the shape of the brave figure she was searching for lost in its ever-evolving mass. They began to pull away and the illuminated fence got smaller and smaller as the city road stretched on into the concrete jungle.

She swallowed and her dry throat nearly brought her to tears. Diana was still back there…

Before the unnerved passengers even had a chance to breathe, a sickening roar they all recognized pierced the night and drew their frightened eyes back to the building. Streetlights flickered before plunging the distant parking lot into darkness and hundreds of screams erupted from behind.

“They're here!”

The truck lurched violently as it accelerated forward, away from the echo of terror, away from the gate, away from Diana. The people inside were hurled against the back and cried out in surprise as the panicked soldiers argued with each other from the front.

“What about the people?!”

“They're fucked,” the driver barked as she frantically fumbled with the clutch, “we gotta get outta here!”

“What?!” The startled family was shouting helplessly from the truck bed, but they were powerless to stop anything now.

“Wait, stop!”

“Wait!”

“We have to turn back! Stop the car—”

“Everybody, hold on!”

The vehicle rocked as something enormous made impact with its side, throwing the inhabitants to the floor.

“Step on it! Go go go!”

“Wait!”

“Diana!”