Days of Smoke and Shadow: Young World, #1

By R.A. Hargreaves

A Virus has swept through the world, killing off all the adults and leaving the kids to survive on their own.

Fourteen-year-old David has survived by staying hidden, too preoccupied with raising the baby left in his care to dream of much by way of a better future.

But a chance encounter with three amnesiac survivors, along with reports of angels and strange disappearances, forces David and the other survivors to consider the possibility that not all the adults died from the Virus and the ones who survived, may not have good intentions for the surviving children.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.A. Hargreaves
• Release date: Jan 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201325695

R.A. Hargreaves

R.A. Hargreaves lives with her family in Oklahoma. Her hobbies include watching Star Wars and superhero films and writing fanfiction. Days of Smoke and Shadow is her first novel.

Book preview

Chapter One

Every time he woke up, David hoped it would all be different. He would hear his dad or his mom’s voice again, the house would be warm and cozy, and there would be so much food to eat he wouldn’t know where to begin. He would eat everything; he would eat it all twice.

The cold and silence waiting for him, revealed the hard truth. Nothing had changed. David was alone, trapped in a creaky apartment at the end of the world with a baby.

The baby had fallen asleep in the basket where he’d left her. Something that young and small, could only cry for so long, before giving up in exhaustion. She was barely two weeks old, not much bigger than a doll. At least he’d remembered to bundle her up properly.

Her skin was all pink and warm. The blue knit cap he’d given her, still looked too big for her, sliding over her eyes. Eh, it’ll keep her warm. David’s breath fogged on the air.

Last night, the baby had the last of the formula. He should have gone out, but it was blacker than pitch outside. With no electricity, nighttime became dead time. It had been safer to stay in and endure as best they could.

David scratched his head, hoping he would suddenly remember where he had squirrelled away some more food. But aside from three cans of green beans, there was no food. In any case, the baby was too little to eat any of it. His options were few. Either he went outside and tried to find some formula for her, or he stopped dragging his heels on the decision that had haunted him since her mother died.

David gathered his possessions: the cans of green beans, flashlight, can opener, and his father’s Swiss Army knife.  He wrapped the baby in blankets and slipped her inside the sling he wore around his neck. He froze for a moment, positive that she would wake up and start wailing, but she didn’t. His mom was right: at that age, the little ones could sleep through just about anything. David cast one look at her face, took a deep breath, and stepped outside.

Outside the iron gates of the Heavenly Hills Apartment Complex, the whole world had grown more cold, grey, and dead. The city was a massive empty husk, with less than a percentage of its original population.

The chaos the Virus brought with it guaranteed the birth of gangs. As the adults dropped, the gangs took more control of the city, warring with each other as they tried to defend their own blocks and claim new ones.

Sometimes David wondered if even the various gang soldiers knew why they were fighting each other. They were like a bunch of hounds, fighting over a bone that had only the memory of flesh on it. It was a stalemate that dragged and dragged. Maybe they kept the fight going simply to give themselves something to do.

Maybe most of the survivors were like him, undersized and scared, with no interest in taking over city blocks. However, in the New World, everyone got dragged into these conflicts, even those on the fringes. Bullets could travel a frighteningly long distance, wind up killing some poor kid scrounging through a dumpster, over a mile away from the fight. Death by stray bullet was still probably more merciful than death by starvation. David slipped outside and crossed the cement courtyard. He stood at the wrought-iron gates, took a deep breath, then opened them.

The creak from the gates felt like a scream. He darted his head around, positive that someone had heard him. When no one appeared, David took the super’s keys, locking the gates behind him.

The sky was ash-grey, broken only by the black, smudgy smoke as survivors burned whatever they could to stay warm.  It felt like days since he had seen the sun.

Even before the Virus, he had been a small, mousy kid. It made him well-suited to hiding and scurrying from one spot to another. In the Post-Virus world, if someone couldn’t be strong and fearless, they had to settle for being quick and silent to survive. As he moved from one hiding spot to another, David kept an arm wrapped around the sling, hoping she wouldn’t wake up. He didn’t know what he’d do if she did.

At every new spot, he studied the graffiti covering most of the buildings. With the adults dead, there were no newspapers, TV, radio announcements, or bulletins. Graffiti had become the most reliable source of information around, announcing who was in charge. Though the mutilated bodies swinging from the lampposts was enough of a sign.

Kull... The name felt like miasma as it rose out of him. David looked around, half expecting to see him there, pointing a gun, his eyes gleaming with a rabid madness. But there was nothing, only the dull, metallic creak of bodies swaying in the breeze.

The bodies swinging from the lampposts had been stripped naked, spray-painted, and mutilated, until they barely looked human anymore. Not all the damage had been inflicted post-mortem, as the bulging eyes and anguished expressions made clear.

There were signs around their necks. Maybe the messages were warnings directed towards anyone who considered taking up arms against the sign-maker. It was impossible to tell. They were written in the kind of scrawl produced by someone whose brain was going ten thousand miles a minute, but their hand could only manage ten. Definitely Kull’s handiwork.

Of the gangs, his was the largest and most organized, outfitted with weaponry stolen from various army bases. Slowly but surely, he was swallowing the city up, forcing the various gangs to either join him, pay tribute, or die. 

David didn’t look at them long, no matter how much their frozen expressions pleaded or demanded him to do. Whatever had happened, it was over now and there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Don’t look into their eyes. Don’t look at them, period, unless they have food or batteries or something useful. If they don’t, just keep walking.

All around him were evacuation notices and quarantine signs tacked to doors and poles, though others drifted like tumbleweed through the empty streets. Many doors still had red crosses painted on them, warning that the people inside had the Virus. David ransacked one building after another, collecting whatever he thought might be useful, but while he found a few cans, he didn’t find any formula.

Oddly enough, it was the little stuff that hurt the most, old signs announcing sales, telling everyone to stock up on the latest fashions in anticipation of summer. Painful reminders of a time when there was law and order, and all he had to worry about was gym class and end-of-year exams. David shivered and pulled the baby closer, lips moving in prayer.

It didn’t take long for the old topic of self-destruction to start rattling around in his head. When Mai, the baby’s mother, was alive, there was so much work to do, David didn’t have time to pay much attention to these thoughts. It wasn’t safe for her to leave the apartment complex, so he ran all the errands, collecting water and other supplies.

Following the birth, at first, everything seemed fine, then Mai developed a massive fever, maybe an infection of some kind. David did what he could, giving her aspirin, wiping her body with cool, wet sheets, trying to lower her fever. He didn’t know how many days he spent in this frenzy, hoping, praying, snatching sleep whenever he could or when his body gave up and made him. Then one morning, he woke up and found her cold.

After all Mai had survived, fleeing from Kull, traveling through the countryside mostly on foot, eating grass and dirt to stay alive, it seemed senseless that a mere infection would kill her. If she had given birth in a hospital, the adults would have known what to do and given her antibiotics or something. But there weren’t any adults, just a fourteen-year-old boy armed with bits and pieces picked up from his mother’s textbooks.

With Mai dead, it was just him and the baby, and there was little to drown out that song in his head, the one urging him to kill the baby then himself, telling him over and over that either they died a  quick death via suicide or a slow one of starvation or sickness. As David drew closer to the marina, the message echoed louder in his head.

The moored boats bobbed in the grey water. Before the baby was born, David had thought about taking one of them, getting himself and Mai as far away from the city as possible. Maybe they could find a place and live a quiet life. Let Kull and everybody else kill each other over scraps of the Old World. But so many obstacles kept coming up. Before long, he was at her side, trying to coach Mai through her labor.

A terrible cacophony echoed in the distance, people shrieking and screaming, banging drums, shouting, throwing bottles, smashing glass, a noise both felt and heard. Kull...

David had stayed alive by running and hiding. He lacked the size or the nerve needed to start or win fights, so running and hiding were the only options left to him. Yet rather than duck inside the nearest alcove or alley, David just stood there, feet stuck to the pavement, rocking the baby. I’m done, he whispered.

They were going to kill him, and the baby wouldn’t last long afterwards. David knew he should run, but he was so damn tired. He had lasted for as long as he could, longer than most. If this was how it was going to end, then so be it. He closed his eyes, wrapped an arm around the sling, and recited the twenty-third psalm. The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.

Someone yanked his backpack, wrenching a strap free and nearly pulling him to the ground. David turned around, one armed wrapped around the sling, the other ready to deck the thief. Only to find himself face to face with a redheaded boy, who couldn’t be more than a year or two older than him.

Please... the redheaded boy said, stumbling like a drunk.  He was dressed in thin, white pajama-like clothing. Both his hair and clothes were wet and plastered to the skin. His skin was white. The only color he had, aside from his hair, were his lips, which were purplish blue.  He smelled of the sea.

David shook his head, wondering who would be insane enough to go swimming in the ocean in late fall. Maybe a suicide attempt...the guy set out to kill himself, then changed his mind at the last possible moment.

Help...please... The boy's voice barely rose above a whisper. Before David could protest, the redheaded boy had grabbed him by the sleeve and dragged him into a warehouse.

There was barely any light inside. The warehouse was more of a shell than a building, a metal tin can with a few small windows stuck in at random. David looked around.

Off in the distance, the Warriors bayed and hollered, offering up profane words to the heavens. They were probably holding another bonfire. Kull was fond of those. Whenever he grew tired of hanging people, he would burn them instead.

David listened, trying to determine how close they were to the warehouse. He didn’t know any reason why they would burst into this place—it had nothing to offer, save for shelter—but Kull’s actions had ceased to make sense, even to someone who had once known him.

The sound of their revelry died down. They had moved on. 

The boy’s hands were cold and clammy. He could not move without shaking.  Please help us... His teeth clattered. He gestured towards the floor, where two young girls lay.

The two girls wore the same thin, white pajamas as the redheaded boy. They too, were soaked to the skin. As David walked toward them, the elder of the two girls, who appeared to be of Asian descent, turned her head. At first, he thought she could give him some answers about what was going on, but though she was awake, David wasn’t sure how well she understood what was going on. She was as shaky and unsteady as deer on a frozen pond. Her dark eyes followed his every movement.  She wrapped her arms around her companion, a girl with brown hair.

The brown-haired girl was the smallest of the three and in worse shape, so pale and still that at first, David thought her dead until he felt the fluttering of her pulse. David gestured at the boy to come closer. Together, they started rubbing the girls' skin, trying to stir some warmth into them.

David shook his head. He didn’t know why he was getting involved in all this. Life was hard enough, trying to take care of himself and a baby. If the redheaded boy hadn’t dragged him away, Kull probably would have killed him. Whoever the three were, they needed someone with actual medical training, not a fourteen-year-old armed with bits and pieces taken from his mother’s textbooks.

The redheaded boy followed him, as David worked. He kept staring at him with such frightened eyes, that David had to reach back and say, I’m here.

The more he studied the situation, the less sense it made. Their clothing was too clean, and they were too well-fed to be survivors of the Virus who somehow found their way here. Getting clean water required so much work that it was used primarily for drinking. Food was so scarce that even the great and mighty Kull, had the hollow, pinched look that came from not having enough to eat. 

What happened? David said.

I don’t know. The boy’s eyes were wide, like he had just looked into some deep blackness, the depths of which he could only guess at. I can’t remember. Please believe me. If I knew, I’d tell you. I just remember waking up in the ocean.

It’s okay. I believe you. David bit his lip. He didn’t really, but that wasn’t important right now. He’d have time to sort out all the hows and whys later. Get everyone taken care of first. Then he could move on, without getting mixed up in whatever scheme these three were pulling.

The older girl wrapped her fingers around his arm and tried to sit up, while the younger softly moaned. David looked them over, before turning his attention back to the boy. Do you have any blankets or any change of clothes? We need to get them warm.

The red-haired boy shook his head. We don’t have anything except what we’ve got on.

We have to warm them up or they’ll die. Help me move them. He and the boy moved the two girls together, hoping that their combined body heat would help keep them warm. They searched the warehouse for something they could use as blankets. But the warehouse had been stripped and cleaned out ages ago, so there wasn’t much left, except broken crates, cardboard, and empty burlap sacks. David piled them on top of the two girls. The red-haired boy followed his lead, shivering and shaking all the while.

Gradually, some color began to return to their waxen pale skin. Both girls began to look and act more aware, murmuring questions under their breath. They probably wanted answers, but David didn’t have any to give. His attention was soon diverted by more practical concerns.

He turned to the red-haired boy. I need to find some fresh clothes for them. David winced, as he studied the warehouse, noting the entrances and exits. I promise, I won’t be gone long. But could you look after the baby for a bit?

It was an insane idea, entrusting a baby to this stranger, but she was probably safer inside the warehouse. The place provided some shelter from the elements and whatever happened inside, would be more merciful than what would happen if Kull found her. It would be easier to move around if he didn’t have to worry about her crying.

David reached inside the sling, feeling her warm limbs stir, as he handed her to the boy. He reached into his pack and placed what few supplies he had on the ground beside him.

As the red-haired boy took the baby into his arms, his face took on the expression of someone handed a live grenade. He seemed at a loss was to what to do with a baby. Does she have a name? he asked.

Not yet. David cracked the door open, listening for any sound of Kull. From the looks of things, Kull had moved on. With any luck, he could slip away without too much trouble. 

He crept around, ducking behind alleys whenever he thought he heard someone coming.  As he scrambled from one hiding spot to another, David looked through some of the places he’d passed on his way to the marina. It didn’t take long to realize that it made little sense to keep looking through the already-looted shops. Finally, David gave up and started making lefts and rights until he reached the Ivy Hills Mall.

Back when he, Mai, and his cousin, Justin, were friends, they went there often, spending most of their time at the movies. Justin used to love the movies, anything with superheroes or spaceships, as Aunt Clare would say. He always seemed disappointed when reality didn’t live up to the bright and bold epics running through his head.

David shook his head. No matter how much he wanted to dwell in the past, it kept leading to the horrible now. When he saw his reflection in the tall glass windows, he didn’t recognize the gaunt creature staring back at him. He forced the door open.

The mall was dark, lit only by battery-powered lanterns. It stank of rotting food and garbage. All around him was unsold merchandise, flirty bikinis and tight jeans waiting for customers that would never come. David searched the racks, grabbing whatever looked comfortable, whatever looked like it would fit the people at the warehouse. As he stuffed the clothes into his backpack, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned and shined his flashlight.

Standing in the dark, was a former classmate, Kitty, along with her two friends, Louisa and Merry on either side of her. David gulped and reached for his Swiss Army Knife. Hey, he squeaked.

He had been in at least one class with Kitty every year since the fifth grade. Kitty loved the color pink and was obsessed with fashion, but on the whole, David didn’t hang out with her much. Now, the only trace of her wild, trend-setting self was her faded pink hair. She had buried every inch of her body in thick, heavy clothing.

What are you doing here? Kitty said. Are you one of Kull’s lackeys?

Despite her drab wardrobe, she had taken time to apply her makeup. It amused David a little. Of course, Kitty would want to look her best, even during the apocalypse. But she hadn’t put the care into it she normally did. It was streaked and smeared. Her eyes were red and swollen. She looked like a rag doll someone left out in the rain. 

No, no. David shook his head and raised his hands. I’m not with Kull or anybody. It’s just me.

Really? Kitty and her friends advanced closer. Louisa gripped her baseball bat, body poised and itching for a fight. Merry tried to emulate her hard gaze. Well, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but if you think I’m just going to let you walk out here with our stuff for free, you’ve got another thing coming. Her thin arms trembled as she spoke.

Maybe we could make a trade. David squeaked. He started going through his stuff, trying to think of what he could give them. When he left the warehouse, he only took a few things with him. David sorted through his pack. He couldn’t give up the knife or the flashlight. Finally, he pulled out a couple of cans of green beans, setting them on the ground in front of Kitty.

She studied them, weighing them carefully. I think our clothes are worth more than a few paltry cans of green beans. What do you think, girls? Both Louisa and Merry nodded in agreement.

Look, I really need these clothes, David said.

So do a lot of people in this city, but if we just handed them out to everyone who walked in, we’d be pretty damn stupid. Kitty drummed her fingers against one of the mall’s columns. Tell you what, maybe we can help each other out. Me and the girls need to eat, but right now, with the Warriors and everyone fighting in the streets, it’s too dangerous for us to go outside. So here’s where you come in. Go outside and bring us back as much food as your little arms can carry and we’ll let you keep the clothes.

David nodded and turned to walk away. Before he could, Louisa yanked his backpack away, leaving him holding just a flashlight.

Consider this insurance, she said. Gotta make sure you’ll come back.

I will, David said. He didn’t know how he was going to find food with Kull controlling much of this sector, but he had to try.

As he stepped outside, the air echoed with the sound of a distant battle. David didn’t know who was fighting and why. He focused his attention on the sounds, trying to gauge how close the fight was, what weapons were being used, and how much danger he was in.

The noise was loud, crushing, and ever-present, pops, cracks, pounding thunder. Even at a distance, it made his ears ring. After every boom, his mind would turn to jelly for a brief moment, and he could do nothing except lie on the ground and shake. 

David had to continually remind himself that there were plenty of blocks separating him from the fight. He had to keep moving. However dangerous it was to walk down the streets during all this, it was far more dangerous to panic and run screaming into the nearest hidey-hole.

The whole errand seemed absurd. Why was he doing this, going to so much trouble to help complete strangers? He should go back there, get the baby, and keep walking. He shouldn’t have left her there.

Still David knew that by trying to help the red-haired boy, rather than choosing to run, he had silently pledged his services. Maybe once he gave them some clothing, helped them find somewhere to live, he’d be off the hook.

There was a loud boom. David dropped to the ground, knees to his chest, arms around his head. He breathed slowly. That one had been closer than the others. It was far enough that if he kept moving and played it safe, he would be okay, but the noise of it scared him. His ears rang, and his limbs shook.

To keep himself from losing his mind, David thought about the baby he’d left back at the warehouse. She needed him the way no other person in the city did. His family and friends were gone. If he died, no one else would notice or really care that much, but she would.

David had no long-term plans regarding the baby. The first few days after her birth, he had assumed she wasn’t going to make it; Mai had died, so it seemed perfectly reasonable to assume her baby would soon follow. Yet the baby was still alive and she kept looking at him, her bright  eyes so full of hope.

After crossing so many blocks and rendering his blister-covered feet even more raw, David found a supermarket. He grabbed an empty cart and braced himself, banging on the doors and windows. When no one came, he took a deep breath and went inside.

During the Virus, there was such a panic that supermarkets could barely keep up. He wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if somebody hadn’t already cleaned it out. Not exactly a brilliant deduction to make that grocery stores might have food.  Maybe there was something was left; maybe there wasn’t. Or maybe he’d just