Prologue

A Chapter by Tina Kline

Glen, Jamie his wife, Kelley and Shawn his grand kids along with Shannon their vampire friend and Kevin, a vampire also and a stray tag along with their little group, headed out of the destroyed city of Portland, Oregon. Their destination was the forested and rural areas around the city where they hoped it would be safer for them to live. Safer from the zombie gangs and mutant savage dogs roaming the ruins of the city.

The group made their way through the rubble of buildings that were rapidly becoming overgrown with all sorts of plants with shiny jagged leaves, some looking down right threatening, some vines, some bushes, others just plants now twisted and lethal looking. All the plants leaves had one thing in common, their leaves were waxy looking with sharp edges no matter their shapes.

When they came to a freeway they also came upon many abandoned cars that were no longer able to operate because of the many Electrical Magnetic Pulses that had wrapped around the world from all the exploding nuclear bombs.

The kids were weak and tired, having never been healthy. They looked haggard, wan with dark circles beneath their eyes. It was a miracle they had even been born because of all the GMOs in the food supply. One of the many side effects of consuming them was infertility. Add to that all the side effects of all the other toxins in the food chain and environment, yes it was a miracle they were born plus a miracle they had survived to their current age of 8 and 10, Kelley being the oldest.

For this reason alone Glen was overjoyed to come about all these cars and a road that was in good condition so if they found a car that still worked they wouldn't have to walk any longer. Jamie would be pleased as well, as she and Glen weren't young anymore but closer to being old.

Shannon was in the lead and Kevin brought the rear, keeping their sharp senses alert for any danger as they walked along the freeway making their way amongst all the cars when Glen spotted an older car, with the doors wide open, just as all the other cars had their doors all wide open. This car was a 1970s model and would still run since it wasn't made in the era of computers which were fried during EMP discharges no matter what they were stuck into. Glen quickly discovered there was still gas in the gas tank. He got inside and the keys were still in the ignition and he turned them. The car roared to life and the group watching couldn't help but cheer in victory and happiness. Quickly they all had found all sorts of containers of various shapes and sizes with lids. Glen siphoned off as much gas as he could from the cars all around them into these containers and stored them in the back of the car.

Shannon, letting Kevin keep watch, went through the cars along with everyone else and found for herself clothes, make up, grooming items, and books. She loved the books. Shannon had discovered soon after the beginning of her transformation she didn't need shoes. She did a lot better without them hindering her mobility and her feet weren't delicate and did just fine. Thus she wasn't interested in any shoes she came across. Shawn and Kelley had found toys which delighted them to no end while Jamie found clothing and food, mostly junk food that would be a tasty treat for them. Except the vampires, of course.

Once they were done scavenging and Glen had siphoned off all the gas he could fill into the containers they had rounded up they piled into the new vintage 1970 model car and were off. Glen drove slowly, making his way carefully through all the abandoned cars on the freeway until they were finally out of the devastated city.

Outside the city limits they found an abandoned farm house on several acres of land. Their was a wide field surrounding the house and a forest of Douglas Firs surrounding the open field. Here Glen decided they would stay at least for the present. Jamie and the grand kids liked the house and the open land around it. It would be easier to watch for danger as it would be harder for danger to sneak up on them here. Shannon and Kevin saw the place and location as a potential excellent hunting ground for them. So the little family of humans and vampires settled into their new home.

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© 2012 Tina Kline

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Coyote Poetry

I'm glad you are adding to the story. I like the situation and the characters. You have a lot of opportunity with this tale. I like the use of real cities and the problems of real people by the characters in the story. Thank you for the excellent introduction.
Coyote