Jesse found Byron in the grand room. He was staring out at the woods beyond the lawn.

“Sorry, that was so harsh. Mikel has a way of misconstruing things.”

“I’d have to agree.” He replied, still sounding pissed off.

“There were no children involved. It wasn’t an actual village. It was an insurrectionist training camp that had just beheaded several journalists and a few Red Cross aid workers. I personally feel like they got off easy.”

“I’m just sick of hearing about atrocities. Everything is absolutely horrible, man. You know? What happens next? We just start carpet bombing everything? It’s not worth it. Wolves or not. Let’s just see what’s gonna happen before we decide the world needs to burn or, worse, drown in freaking poison.” Byron’s sinuses burned as tears moved through to fill his eyes as his frustration spilled over. Over was his ability to remain calm and collected, and over was his ability just to sit and watch anymore. Over was his patience, as was his grace. He was broken. Broken in mind and broken in spirit.

“I need some air. I’ll be back, or not. I…” his voice was betraying him, “I don’t know anymore. This is all just such…shit. We are all people, so why can’t we just be…people? I’ll see you, Jesse.” With that, Byron walked out the front door and down the path to the lane.

Jesse watched him go. She couldn’t bring herself to go after him, nor could she call out to get the others to stop him. She felt that she had no right to interfere with his decision. He’d either come back or not. She felt deep down that he would be back in a few hours after he had time to clear his head.

#

Julie reached out to wrap her arm around Byron and pull him closer to her. She was a little cold and wanted to feel his warmth against her again before she faced the world again. His side was empty and cold. She sat up and looked around the room, surprised to find his clothes gone and no sign that he’d been there other than the disheveled bedsheets.

She got out of bed, shivering in the cool morning air, goosebumps rising across her naked flesh. Putting on a robe in the bathroom, she tied it and found some slippers before tying her hair back in a ponytail and heading out the door and downstairs for coffee. She hoped Byron had a pot ready for her. Her mouth felt like she’d spent the night slowly licking the deck of a skateboard. It wasn’t pleasant.

Once she made it to the kitchen, she sensed in the air that something was off. Just what that was, she wasn’t sure, but something was definitely off. After pouring a cup of coffee and grabbing a Danish, she walked into the grand room to see Jesse standing there alone, looking out the window at the lane beyond.

“Good morning, Jesse. What’s up?” She tried to sound like her usual, bubbly self, even though she felt like screaming, “WHAT’S WRONG?!” At the top of her lungs.

“Oh, hi Julie, didn’t hear you come in. You’re probably looking for Byron, right?”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“Yep. Seen him?”

“He just left for a walk. Said he needed to clear his head. Been a weird morning.”

“Oh. Is he okay? He didn’t get hurt, did he?”

“No, but there was an…incident down at the lake. Nick went down there last night and never came back. Looks like he passed out and drowned during the storm last night.”

“Oh, no. Goddamnit. I liked Nick. He was sweet. Did Byron find him?”

“No, but Byron reacted poorly to the cause, and Mikel didn’t set the scene very well. So I tried to calm him down. He just needed to blow off some steam or whatever Byron did to calm down. He should be back in an hour or two.”

“Oh…umm, okay. I’ll, umm, I’ll be in the back if you see him. Let me know, okay?” She appeared worried, but there was something more just behind it. She sounded as if she knew something or had a feeling that something darker was happening, and only now was realizing the scope and gravity of it. Jesse caught the look but didn’t say anything more. She just nodded, and Julie turned and walked away.

#

Mikel was watching the birds. They were flying in circles and diving down into the water, pulling tiny fish out, then flying off back to nests filled with chicks that were hungrily anticipating the return of their parents and the feast they would supply. The pickings were easy. The surface of the lake was covered in small fish. It appeared the poison rain had affected the little ones more than the bigger fish, killing them by the hundreds. The birds didn’t realize they were feeding their own offspring certain death.

Julie walked in and broke his reverie.

“Hey Julie, what’s up?” He tried sounding anything but morbid, which was how he felt after watching so many birds pack off their death snacks.

“I’m scared. Byron went for a walk. I don’t think he’s coming back.”

“Want me to go look for him? I’ll take the Rover.”

“Would you? He likes you, and you seem good at finding things. Not that Byron is a thing, but you know, just…yeah, just find him.”

“Off I go. See you soon.” He grabbed his jacket, keys, and rifle and headed out the door.

#

Mikel got out the front door and was stopped by Seth and Becka.

“Where you off to in such a hurry?”

“Julie wanted me to look for Byron.”

“Oh, saw him about half an hour ago. He looked like he didn’t want to be found. I’ll come with ya. Becka wants to cook some food, so it’s just the two of us, I guess.” Becka waved and headed inside.

“Okay. Taking the Range Rover.”

The two walked to the garage, and Mikel unlocked the Rover. It didn’t make a sound. Seth was closer to it and was the first to see the carnage. He let out a loud “Damn!”

The hood was torn off, and the engine compartment was empty. The engine had been torn out and tossed several feet, landing on the Volvo. The Volvo’s engine was just gone. They couldn’t find it. The wolf that removed it must have taken it along. Both vehicles were utterly useless. The tires were flat, and they found the batteries smashed against the side of the garage.

The golf carts in the garage were in worse shape. The wolves had basically folded them into new and unusual shapes, then removed the wheels. From a distance of five feet, it would take a few minutes even to recognize them as golf carts.

“Well…shit.” Mikel exhaled.

#

Mikel found a pretty nice mountain bike that was in pristine condition. He strapped on a helmet and started off down the lane. In no time, he was in view of the gate. It was still closed, but something was off that he couldn’t quite make out. As he drew nearer, he saw what it was.

There were three giant werewolves standing guard at the gate. It was clear they weren’t about to let anyone in or out. Surrounding them on the gravel and partially on the tarmac was a dark pool of liquid that could have been a mud puddle just as easily as it could have been a puddle of blood. The wolves snarled at him, and one growled what sounded like “Go Back.” He didn’t argue.