Funeral Pyre

Issac sent the text to Soren and put the phone away. He had just arrived in Raytown and was looking at the destroyed Wal-Mart building. It was the biggest landmark, as far as Issac was concerned, when coming in from highway 50. You passed by it on the way in, and on your way out.

Now, it was nothing but a pile of scraps. He doubted that anyone had survived. Issac took another glance over the destruction, shook his head, and got back into the car. He headed straight for the place where Carol was staying.

Even if he had never been to her friend's house, he still knew where it was. Issac had made a point of running a background check on all of her friends once he had got in a position where he could. He never told her because he did not want her mad at him, but after starting their life out in a cult and living in the foster care system he did not trust others.

Issac was almost to the street where Carol was staying when he caught sight of a group of people walking. He was going to keep going but the man leading the group caught his attention. The red hair caught his attention, at first, when he took a closer look he realized he knew who it was.

He pulled to the side of the road and stepped out of the car.

"Mason?"

The redhead leading the group stopped and turned to him. Mason was wearing a dark blue, graphic T, and khaki pants. In his right hand was a shovel. The dozen assorted people following him holding a variety of weapons; everyone, including Mason, was sporting blood splatter of varying degrees.

"Issac! Have you been in town long?"

Issac shook his head, "Just got here. I'm heading for Audrey's place."

"She's not there. I got here late last night and stayed at Audrey's thinking she'd come back at some point, but she never showed. Neither of them came home. I ran into this group on my way to search for Carol."

Issac could not help but frown. It was not like Carol to be out all night, especially when things had become so dangerous. It did not even occur to him that Mason might be lying. It was well known that Mason was in love with Carol. He had confessed his feelings to her years ago. Carol had not felt the same way, though they continued to be close friends.

Issac had no fear that Mason would do anything to hurt his sister. That's not to say that he approved of them being friends. When the three of them had met in a foster home Mason was a wild child who frequently ran away and got into trouble. He seemed to change a lot as he developed feelings for Carol, but Issac had never liked him and barely tolerated him as they grew older.

"I won't waste my time going there, then. I'll probably start checking the shops and restaurants she might have gone to."

"I'll go with you."

Issac shook his head, "No, stay with your group. I actually have a job for you."

Issac returned to his car to grab a small notebook from the center console and a pen. He wrote out the address to Soren's place and general directions then returned to Mason and held out the paper.

"Get you a vehicle large enough to carry everyone and head to this address. Everyone will be safe there and they have a vaccine that'll keep you from mutating."

"Shouldn't we stay here and wait for the government?"

Someone from the crowd spoke up. Issac looked over the group with his best agent face; a combination of indifference and command.

"The government isn't coming. The last I heard the President went underground. The military bases and the local police are dealing with mutated people in their ranks with most of the locals completely wiped out. If you want to wait it out, go ahead, but I doubt you'll make it a week.

"Where I'm sending you is a safe place. They also have a vaccine, because if you are bitten you will start to mutate yourself."

Issac turned back to Mason. As much as he had disliked Mason in the past, he knew that it was because the man loved his sister and Issac felt that no one was good enough for her. If he thought about it, Mason was a good man. Issac had always known that he could trust Mason to keep Carol safe when he was not around.

"When you get there, speak with Soren. He's the man in charge. Let him know that I sent you. He's building a sanctuary there and needs good people to help." Issac locked eyes with Mason, his tone serious. "If you're interested in helping, let him know."

Issac turned away and walked back to his car. Mason looked like he was going to say something but stayed quiet as he watched Issac pull away. Issac did a U-turn and retraced his steps. This time he went down the main road and made his way to the main shopping area.

Issac took a detour from the main road through town, his destination was the cafe that Carol liked to frequent when she stayed with Audrey.

He knew that the tornado had hit the area a little after seven in the morning. If he knew Carol's habits well, she would have been there right when the place opened up. Which meant that she had been trapped there during the tornado. The tornado had mainly stayed on the 350; most of the businesses off the main road were destroyed. This far out there were tree limbs blown onto the road and powerlines down.

He could see the small cafe ahead to his right, but what caught his attention was the lawnmower shop to his left. A compact car in a vibrant shade of blue had smashed into the side of the building. The doors were open and a few feet away, near the road, lay a body. Leaning over the body, covered in blood, were two mutated.

Issac felt his heart skip a beat as he parked his car and jumped out, not even bothering to shut the door as he walked across the street. The mutated did not even look up as he approached. Issac's focus was on the body laying on the concrete and on the face that had been left mostly unharmed.

Issac drew the gun from his shoulder holster and began firing it at the two mutated. He needed one shot each to kill them, but his finger kept pulling the trigger on them until he heard the hollow click that said there were no more bullets. Instead of putting the gun away, he released the clip and loaded another in.

He started shooting once more, oblivious to the fact that the bodies of the two mutated had been pushed off the woman's body and lay to the side, little more than a mass of blood and shredded meat. By the time the second clip was empty, he had made it to the body. The gun slipped from his hand, hit the concrete, and landed a little to the right as he fell to his knees.

"C-Carol…"

Issac pulled the body of his sister into his arms and hugged her close. Why didn't you let me protect you? I was supposed to be your knight. We promised…

He had been obsessed with being a knight before the agents had come in and taken them away. Afterward, it had been his lifeline. He had been seven at the time, but he could still remember holding her close as they sat in the vehicle. She had been so scared with the strangers that had suddenly shown up and shouted at everyone.

He had shielded her from seeing what their parents had done, shielded her from all the dead bodies back then. He had promised her that he would always be there, always protect her.

'I'm your knight, Carol. I'll keep you safe.'

They had been kids, pulled from a dangerous cult, and thrown into the foster care system. He had been her protector through all of that, her safe haven, and she had been his guiding light through it all. His only reason for living. And now that reason was gone…

"Fuck…fuck…"

Issac looked down at her face, his hand shook as he moved the hair from her face. Her face looked so serene and he used that sight to tell himself that she had died before they got her. That she hadn't been in pain. He could remember the faces of the victims that had been awake when the mutated got ahold of them, they were not serene.

"Focus, Issac, focus…"

He spoke aloud to try and center himself, to keep from completely breaking down. He still had a mission to complete. Soren expected him to look for Jordan's father and sister, and rescue more people. He had to finish that before he could give up.

Issac took a deep breath and let it out slowly, even with all of the blood and the scent of it surrounding him, his grief had been strong enough to keep him in control. He took a moment to look her body over for wounds, finding bruising on her forehead and a deep wound on the back of her head.

This was where years of training allowed him to detach himself and look at the scene objectively. Or maybe he was simply in shock and suppressing his emotions. Issac stood and wiped his bloody hands on his clothes then wiped away the tears and snot on his face, leaving behind a trail of blood. He took a moment to pick up his gun and switch out the clip.

"Stupid, so stupid wasting so many bullets… Goddamn it, Carol, why didn't you come to me."

He felt the urge to shoot the mutated again, but took another deep breath and put the gun back into his shoulder holster, and secured it. Issac walked to the other side of the car and found the mutilated body of Audrey, Carol's best friend. The look on her face told him that she had been alive when they came for her.

Issac picked up Audrey's body and carried it to lay beside Carol. He jogged over to his car, opened the trunk, and took out one of two gas cans. He had brought these with him just in case he ran out and could not refill the tank. He dug through the center console until he found a lighter and returned to the bodies.

He wiped at the tears that seemed to never stop as he poured the contents of the gas can onto the bodies. He pulled off his shirt and poured the last couple drops of gas on the shirt and flicked the lighter to life. It did not take long for the shirt to catch fire and he tossed it onto the gasoline-soaked bodies.

Issac had no faith that normal life was salvageable after this and did not want to just leave their bodies where they lie. It just seemed wrong to leave them. Issac returned to his car and put the gas can back in the trunk, and retrieved a shirt from the bag on the passenger seat.

He proceeded to break into the lawnmower shop and take out anything he thought would be flammable and added it to the fire. He knew that the five gallons of gas would not be enough to properly burn the bodies. He was not certain if what he was doing would be enough, but at least it would take away the scent of blood and keep the mutated from touching them.