Shadows in the Sun

‘Who?’ Megan asked. Jack glared at her like she was retarded.

‘Sing us a song you’re the piano man…’ Jack paused and still she showed no knowledge on Jack’s favorite artist, ‘sing us a song tonight. Well we’re all in the mood for a melody and you got us feeling alright.’

‘Never heard of it,’ Megan replied.

‘Uptown girl, she’s been living in her uptown world. I bet she never had a backstreet guy I bet her momma never told her why; I’m gonna try,’ Jack sang.

‘He sings that? That’s one of my favorite songs,’ Megan told Jack.

‘See you do know Billy Joel. He’s the greatest artist to ever grace the presence of the earth. Here just listen,’ Jack grabbed a remote and pushed a button turning on the CD player to the song Christie Lee:

Let me tell you a story
About a woman and a man
Maybe you will find familiar
Maybe you won't understand

The man's name I don't remember
He was always Joe to me
But I can't forget the woman
She was always Christie Lee

He was working in a night club
That's where he played the saxophone
He used to fake to stock arrangements
He left the customers alone

But one night before the last song
About a quarter after three
He saw her standing at the coat check
And made his move on Christie Lee

Christie Lee, Christie Lee
Christie Lee, Christie Lee

The upbeat sound of the song cheered Megan up at once. She started to move with the beat of the song and Jack couldn’t help but smile.

‘I have to admit Jack…Billy Joel is a very good singer,’ Megan said as Jack turned up the CD player a bit. It was about an hour till sunset so Jack saw no danger in this.

‘Billy Joel wrote a song; You’re Only Human Second Wind to prevent teen suicide. He wanted to try to make a difference in the world by trying to give the kids hope. Hope that tomorrow will be better,’ Jack told Megan.

‘Oh, I guess people want to make a difference to the world with anything they do,’ Megan replied. ‘Tell me Jack…what kept you sane? I was alone for a few weeks and almost lost it and here you are almost completely normal and you have been alone for three years.’

‘Well I haven’t been alone. I had something to love me…my dog Butterball,’ Jack told Megan. ‘He has been my best friend…my only friend who watches me and keeps me safe and would do anything to try to protect me. Man’s best friend…they got that one right. A dog will love you no matter what you look like and will never judge you. They know that everyone has goodness deep down in their heart and because of that they will stay by our side even when everything goes wrong.’

Megan smiled as Jack looked at his dog laying on the couch remembering everything the two had gone through. It would seem that the two had a bound greater than any two people ever had. They depended on one another and loved one another. Jack finished cooking dinner and for the first time in three years made three plates; one for himself, one for Butterball, and one for Megan. Jack sat two plates on the table where Megan sat and the third on the floor.

Butterball ran over to the plate and started to eat as fast as possible. Jack sat down and started to eat. Megan did the same and said, ‘you have a strong will Jack. You have survived many long days and night with only one desire in mind…to stop the JC virus once and for all.’

‘What would you have me do? Comment suicide and end all hope for man? I won’t do that…I know I can fix this. I will find the cure and I will return the world to normal,’ Jack told Megan. ‘All I need to do is figure out how to transfer our immunity to the Shadow Walkers.’

‘Shadow Walkers?’

‘That’s what I call those infected because they act basically like vampires…hiding during the day and coming out during the night.’ Jack answered. ‘Just you wait…once I have the cure and everything is back to normal this will be nothing more than a shadow hidden in our past as we try to rebuild the future.’

‘I hope so Jack…I pray to God everyday asking him of that and asking why he did this to us.’

‘God didn’t do this Megan, we did. We tried to play God and because of that he punished us by turning our own cure against us,’ Jack replied. ‘We even named it the Jesus Christ cure trying to make it seem like we have reached the level of Christ but all we did was anger the Lord. We have a vengeful God and we forgot that…we must rewrite that which is wrong and pray to God that He will forgive us and give us a second chance.’

‘Of course God will. He is the God of second chances. God will fix this and’

‘No He won’t!’ Jack shouted before Megan could finish. ‘We went into this alone without asking a thing from God and so He punished us. He will not help us now; this is our punishment. Just like He won’t help those in hell…because they got what they deserved. We got what we deserved and so the Lord has no need to help us…he doesn’t owe us or anything. We owe Him and yet we still disobey Him so tell me why God should help us?’

‘Because God desires us to worship Him. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. God will see us through to tomorrow and God will guide us to the answer you seek,’ Megan answered.

‘No…He won’t.’ was all that Jack said. The alarm started to beep and so Jack shut off the CD player and made sure he locked down the house. Jack showed Megan a spare bedroom, ‘this is where you can sleep. There are guns in the closet, desk, under the bed, and behind the door.’

‘Dang.’

‘Yeah well I can’t take any chances. I’ll wake you at dawn…hopefully,’ Jack said heading across the hall to his bedroom. That night Jack couldn’t help but have nightmares…about Eligos killing Megan and then trying to kill Jack. Jack feared Eligos like nothing he ever feared before; his fear for the Shadow Walkers was greatly surpassed by him. Eligos is superior than the Shadow Walkers and is able intelligent unlike the lesser creatures.

Time seemed to go by slowly as Jack heard the creatures outside. Suddenly the door opened and Jack sat up. Megan was standing in the doorway, ‘I couldn’t sleep. I can hear those creatures outside.’

Jack said nothing in response and Megan laid down next to Jack. Megan curled up next to Jack and closed her eyes. Jack put his hand on Megan’s shoulder and for some reason her comfort alone made him fall asleep. His nightmares faded that night as it appeared that he was finally calm. For three years Jack was alone and just like that he has found someone else…and Jack couldn’t have been happier by this turn of events.

Jack had a strange dream that night; he dreamt there was no war. He dreamt the earth was at peace and the JC virus was gone…what was strange about this was that he dreamt there was no life whatsoever. The world was at peace for man had ceased to be in his dream and because of that all the pain and suffering that the earth felt was finally being healed. Then his dream seemed to have changed completely for some reason:

Jack walked towards his home in a suit and tie. A car drove by behind him with a family going off to dinner. Jack pulled out his keys and opened the door and two children ran up to him. One was a boy and the other a girl. Jack knelt down and hugged his two children and then Megan walked into the room. Jack stood up and kissed Megan and she whispered softly to him, ‘welcome home.’

Jack was awakened suddenly at around midnight by Megan pushing his shoulder. She was sitting up straight as she whispered to him, ‘did you hear that?’

Jack sat up listening for something that may have woken Megan. It was silent…dead silent. Not a single sound uttered from the outside. Jack jumped out of bed and grabbed a rifle from under the bed and loaded it quickly. It was quiet…

(End of Chapter III)

Chapter IV
The Last Resort

Jack woke up by the sound of his watch’s alarm. He looked at the ceiling motionless for a moment and sat up. Butterball slept soundly next to Jack but there was no sign of Megan. Jack looked around the room, ‘Megan?’

No answer came. Jack got out of bed and went into the hallway seeing no sign of Megan anywhere. Jack entered the kitchen and could see no sign of Megan. Jack begun to panic now believing the events that happened was nothing more than a dream brought about by Jack’s desire to find another person. He struck the countertop with his fist enraged at himself for falling for such a pitiful belief that someone is out there.

Butterball soon came wondering in while Jack set on the kitchen’s floor with tears rolling down his face coming to the realization that he was in fact the last human left. Butterball licked his master’s face which brought a slight sense of joy to Jack. Jack knew he would have to work harder to find a cure to the JC virus. Jack had come to acquire some of the original JC virus that was produced in June right before the outbreak begun.

‘What was it…what caused the vaccine to mutate?’ Jack asked himself as he examined the virus. The mutation just couldn’t have happened; it had to have an explanation. There must have been some impurity about the vaccine that reacted negatively to the body thus causing this vampirism effect. Jack continued to look at the effects the virus had on his own blood. Why did it just dissolve like that with his blood? Why was he immune?

Jack was no closer to the answer then he was three years ago. He was shooting bullets in the dark still and missing. It was becoming harder and harder to continue on. Jack finished his work in the lab and crawled upstairs and sat petting Butterball and holding him closer to him praying to God for a miracle. Suddenly something felt strange about his friend; Jack pulled his hand back and looked at it. His palm was covered in the golden retriever’s hair.

Jack took a sample of Butterball’s blood and took it down to the lab to see what was going on. Butterball was infected by the JC virus. Jack begun to tear up as he tried to remember what could have caused this and he remembered the encounter with Eligos. Eligos must have transferred the virus to Butterball when he tried to save Jack. Butterball was immune to the airborne virus…not direct contact though.

Jack felt helpless as it seemed nothing could save Jack from losing his old friend. He worked endlessly in the lab trying to get a cure trying samples on rats…none effective. Jack begun to shake scared and frightened at the very thought on losing his friend. He couldn’t find the answer…he couldn’t find the reason…he couldn’t find the solution. Jack felt his entire world splitting through his fingers as he spent half his day in the lab and the rest playing with Butterball.

Jack spent his days crying knowing that if nothing could be done he would lose that which he cherished most…something he cared for more than himself. It became apparent that Jack wouldn’t find the answer in time. He raced against time and couldn’t get closer to that hidden from him. He shivered at each failed attempt for each failed attempt was Butterball’s hope slipping through into the depths of reality that stripped Jack away from all joy…all hope…and all reason to continue living.

Butterball was almost hairless on the fourth day with only hair on his tail and each time it moved strains fell from it. Jack believed he found the cure for a rat injected with it showed signs of depilation in the virus. Jack took Butterball downstairs and injected the vaccine into the dog’s veins. Jack embraced the dog and rocked slowly back and forth with the dogs in his arms begging to God to spare his dog’s life. There would be no comfort for Jack…no tomorrow…and no reason to go on. It would all perish with the dog.

Sadly Jack begun to sing Through the Long Night, ‘the cold hands…the sad eyes…the dark Irish silence…it’s so late…but I’ll wait…through the long night with you…with you…’ Jack checked the dog’s pupils to see that they were fading but he continued singing, ‘the warm tears…the bad dreams…the soft trembling shoulders…the old fears…but I’m here…through the long night with you…with you,’ Butterball licked Jack’s face as tears ran down his face, ‘what has it cost you, I almost lost you a long, long time ago. You should have told me but you had to bleed to know.’

Right when Jack sang bleed to know Butterball bit Jack’s right hand. His pupils gone…his hair gone…and Jack’s friend…gone. With his left hand Jack pulled out his knife and closed his eyes whimpering and sobbing nonstop and delivered the blade into Butterball’s head killing him. Jack removed the knife and threw it across the lab and embraced Butterball crying.

‘No! GOD! WHY!? Why…why…’ Jack asked unable to let go of his friend. The sheer thought of life without Butterball was too much for him to handle…

The next day Jack spent the morning burying his friend. With the dirt back in the hole Jack sat on his knees on Butterball’s burial crying uncontrollably. He couldn’t bring himself to do anything else. The last strains of sanity that was kept in place by the dog was broken…and for the first time Jack felt he was alone. He had no one to comfort him…no one. He buried his face into the dirt mourning without cease as time passed.

At around eleven Jack went inside and sat in the corner of his bedroom looking at Butterball’s ball that he would play with. Time didn’t help…how could it? How could any amount of time fix the pain of losing the only living creature that loved you? It was too much for Jack to bear…it would have been too much for anyone to bear. Jack couldn’t get Butterball out of his mind…and he couldn’t get Eligos out of his mind either.

‘The…bas...tard,’ Jack muttered to himself sitting in the darkness of the room. Sorrow was now turning to rage…rage for Eligos…and for everyone. Jack wanted him dead…he wanted everyone dead. He lost his grip of reality and knew that they would pay for what they did. Jack cursed their names but the tears did not let up. All that Jack wanted was to feel Butterball lick his face once more. Jack curled his hands into balls with pure hated now feeling his eyes.

Jack knew this night he would go out to face Eligos. Jack spent the day preparing getting ready for what will become. He went down into the lab and started to put all his documents and all his work onto a backup drive. ‘This will be my legacy.’

Jack took the backup drive to the Landing and set it under the bench before returning home and started to work around the house building, rearranging, modifying, and anything else that needed to be done. He moved cars to where he found fit and started to get a bunch of UV light bulbs replacing the old worn out light bulbs on the light posts. Jack did not eat that day…he only moaned. He worked endlessly with only the desire to kill Eligos remaining.

Jack would go into the backyard and look at the grave of Butterball and cry more. It felt as there was nothing for him to do now but to cry. Jack tried to stop the pain by drinking but that failed to do anything but get him drunk. Jack rigged the entire street wanting Eligos to find him now. Jack drew his own blood and left drips of it on every street corner on San Mateo. The creatures would smell it and come for Jack.

It was about two hours before dusk and Jack went to the mall and found some a manikin and brought it home. Jack placed his clothing on the manikin and set it standing in the front door and he slashed it with some of his blood. Jack found himself prepared as he grabbed weapons; three knives, duel pistols, two assault rifles, grenades, and even a long sword that he had kept as a reminder of his grandfather.

The sun was beginning to sink over the land and Jack prepared himself for the long night ahead. He finished his drink and smashed the bottle on the wall of the house. He unscrewed the front door and went inside and placed bottle rockets on the top and bottom corners. Jack looked at the time and waited. He sat looking at the door with anger in his face…and tears racing down to the floor. He kept saying, ‘I’ll kill them all’ in a whisper.

Then the sun fell over the land and silence covered the streets for a moment. All was at peace. Suddenly the terrible roar of the creatures echoed and slowly they came out. It was dark…

(End of Chapter IV)

Chapter V
Through the Long Night

Eligos stood before the front of Jack’s house with a gathering of Shadow Walkers behind him. Eligos gazed upon the shadowy figure standing in front of the door with guns in his hands. Eligos chuckled as he slowly approached, ‘so…you finally come to accept your fate? Why do you not answer me O’Neil? Have you learned that nothing you can do can stop me?’

Eligos now stood a foot away from the shadowy figure when he heard something…like a fuse being lit. Eligos looked around and suddenly the door flew forward crashing into the manikin and into Eligos throwing them forward. Jack jumped out of the house screaming and firing both rifles at the Shadow Walkers. The creatures charged at Jack who fired without stop until he ran out of ammo and pulled out his pistols.

Eligos tossed the door and manikin off him and stood up seeing Jack killing the creatures one by one by one. Eligos became enraged and started to approach Jack. Jack turned around and fired into the house. The bullet struck a propane tank setting off a chain reaction. Jack had placed a propane tank in everyone room of the house. The entire house exploded in flames throwing Jack who made it to the edge of the lawn and the creatures back.

The creatures tried to flee but the flames caused the cars around it to explode creating a circle of flames keeping the creatures within dying by the heat. Jack stood up glaring at a frightened Eligos who had no way to escape the flames. Eligos turned to see Jack drawing his sword and seeing that the blade was covered in oil. Jack dipped the blade into the flames sitting it alit.

‘Eligos…I will kill you for what you did to Butterball,’ Jack told Eligos with nothing but remorse in his voice. Eligos for the first time was afraid backing slowly towards the flames as Jack approached with his sword.

‘Ha! Foolish O’Neil…you have doomed yourself! These flames will kill you!’ Eligos shouted believing he had victory.

‘I know…in fact if all goes as planned this entire city will burn,’ Jack replied destroying his short lived victory. Jack drew his sword up and slashed Eligos from the neck down causing him to burst into flames. The creature fled helplessly diving into the ring of fire. Eligos was no more. Jack dropped the sword and stood motionless in the flames. His hatred had turned to sorrow. The fire quickly moved across San Mateo engulfing the city.

Jack knew this was the end…he knew he had doomed the human race. He looked up into the heavens and uttered his last words, ‘what right…what reason…what purpose was there in killing off every man? ANSWER ME!!’

~~~
Jack became obsessed in finding a cure that he didn’t realize he already had it. The creature he experimented on, that he neglected because of Butterball, was rid of the JC virus. Jack had found the answer and through him the human race would slowly return. Jack had alas found the vaccine. But he became too depressed and angry to realize he did. He fell into the same fate as everyone…thus ending humanity’s hope.

These are his final notes:

‘I…I can’t go on. I’m afraid I am the last human on earth. This pain is too much to bear. My only friend…my dog was killed at the hands of those creatures. And with it so has my sanity. I can’t go on. I will kill all of these creatures! My God…My God why have you forsaken me? Why? I can’t find the answer but maybe I will. But I doubt it now. I am losing faith…and I am losing time. Please…please find a way to save those who hide in…the shadows in the sun.’

THE END

(And that ends the story. Now to work on the rewrite and try to make it better and maybe a bit longer)

Well the first three chapters remain basically unchanged but everything after is different so I'll post the new ch.4 and up. I will go more in depth on the JC virus and how it spreads and how it turns people into vampires, how Eligos is different, as well as just go more in depth with Jack himself.