"Wolves are supposed to love snow," I said.
"Why's that?"
"The rest of their prey is starved. Weak. They can spot it easily in the snow. Winter is their harvest season."
"That's damned cheerful, Bonnet."
I held up my gloved hands. "It's the truth!"
If any one of us were to survive the end of the world, it would be Fenrir. He found two rabbits before the afternoon. The first one he gave to us. The second one he devoured on his own. I figured he was probably tired of jerky and gourmet popcorn.
We moved north, along a freeway. Alex said that if it was safe, we could follow it west and north to Canada through Michigan and hopefully reach Saulte Ste. Marie without being molested by city vampires.
And it seemed safe. There were no human tracks this far. We appeared to have God on our side.
Especially when we found the fireworks factory.
Alex paused at a guardrail at the edge of the road, staring at a boxy metal building. The rotted and frozen remains of a produce stand stood outside in a gravel lot. There were no cars.
The last time we'd come upon a structure like this, Alex had steered us away. I asked why.
"It's an adult bookstore," he'd said. I could swear that he blushed.
"Aren't most bookstores for adults?" I was familiar with libraries. Unbeknownst to my parents, I had frequented the one in the town near our home. Most of the books there were for adults, but some had been for children. I supposed that, in the English world, perhaps there were separate bookstores for adults and children.
"Nnnnoooo. This is a euphemism. For p**n ography. Magazines with na**d women and videos of men and women in the act. In a lot of acts, really. Sometimes men and men. Women and women. Doing stuff that you really can't imagine. With props." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Trust me, it would blow your mind. Maybe . . . if you really want to, we'll go on the way back after the end of the world is finished."
"Oh." My brows drew together, and I looked back over my shoulder. I was curious, but not curious enough to risk entering a den of vampires who had been slavering over pictures of na**d people. And whatever else was in there.
But Alex was quite keen on this building. The cartoon figure of a superhero was painted on the side, sporting a cape and shooting magical blue fire from his hands. The sign read CAPTAIN BLOWTORCH'S FIREWORKS.
I squinted at it. "I saw fireworks every year on the Fourth of July. They set them off in the nearby town. They were pretty."
"And also highly flammable. And probably better than any other weapon we could find against the vampires . . . if the place hasn't been cleaned out."
"It's worth checking," I agreed.
We walked down the exit ramp to the store. Fenrir sniffed vigorously along the side of the building. He caught a vole and swallowed it in two bites.
There were no windows in the small metal building. That made me a little nervous. Alex tugged on the front door. It was locked with a padlock. I supposed that was a good sign. Nothing had gotten in-or out-in a long time. And there were no tracks but ours in the dusting of snow.
"Locked. But not for long." He produced one of the tools from the camping aisle: a flexible cable saw. He tugged it through the hasp of the lock, back and forth, until it fell in pieces and metal dust on the ground.
He rubbed his hands together. "Let's see what we've got in here to fight the vampire apocalypse, eh?"
I lifted my flashlight as he opened the door.
The fireworks factory was nothing more than a pole barn set up on a gravel floor. Picnic tables were arranged on the gravel, and they were stacked high with wooden boxes and brightly colored cardboard bins. I swept the light beam around, up into the rafters, into corners, searching for vampires. I saw only an opossum with its babies scuttling along the floor.
Alex let loose a low whistle as he peered into a box labeled NUCLEAR GLITTER MELTDOWN. He held up red white and blue colored boxes in two fists. There were eagles printed on them and a backwash of fire. "Jackpot."
"What is that?"
"Not sure. But if we follow the instructions and set fire to it, it promises a 'blaze of wrath.' Also plenty of 'glittery aftertrails.'"
I picked up a stick labeled MORTAR FURY CANNON. "This looks promising."
"Swweeeeeet."
Alex and I did some quick calculations about the amount of additional weight that we could carry. Horace was saddled up with almost a hundred pounds of gear, and we didn't want him to break a leg now that there was danger of ice. We decided that each one of us could carry an extra bag of anti-vampire weaponry if we committed to walk on foot with fifty additional pounds for the horse.
"I don't know how to use these," I said.
"Set fire to the fuse end," Alex said. "Throw it. And then I think we run."
We walked out into the gloom of the evening, our arms and pockets full of artillery. The sun had set, and shadows gathered thick around us. I felt irrationally cheerful at pulling off the fireworks heist . . .
. . . until we stepped out onto the parking lot. A siren sounded, and blue and red strobe lights flashed. I squinted. I could make out the shape of a police car, one that said HIGHWAY PATROL. A figure stood before it.
My heart plummeted into my gut and bounced into my throat. It plunged at the thought of being caught stealing, but soared to think that there was someone human here. That there was law and order in the world.
The silhouette walked toward us. He wore a broad-brimmed hat. His boots crunched in the gravel, and I saw him rest his thumbs in his gun belt as he approached.
"You two wouldn't be disturbing the peace, would you?" he said. He pulled his gun from his holster. "Breaking and entering?"
I stared down at our cache of weapons. We were caught. But better a night in jail than a night out here.
"Officer, are we glad to see you," Alex said.
"Not nearly as glad as I am to see you." He lifted his head and smiled.
In the flash of red and blue light, I saw fangs glint.
"Damn it," Alex said.
I was rooted in place. I didn't know which I was more afraid of: the teeth or the gun.
A low growling emanated from our left. The trooper turned, aiming his weapon toward Fenrir.
"No!" I shouted.
Alex threw his box of fireworks at the trooper. It knocked him off balance, and the gun went off with a deafening crack. The bullet sparked on the gravel. Fenrir lunged for the cop's gun arm, and the vampire hissed.