Auburn Hills (Grave Wagon)

Note: Sorry for taking so long coming out with another story. I have Arix and the Magic bottle half written. Today I was struck with a twinge of Halloween spirit and decided to write this Autumn story and post it early for those who cannot wait for the Fall season. This is also going to be a look into this years stories in October.

The cold gentle wind blew through the town of Auburn Hill. Tree branches swayed in the breeze as if the trees were coming to life. Each branch held only the slightest amount of leaves as most of them had already fallen or blown away. The soft sound of a squeaky wheel echoed through the neighborhood. The sound came from the small wheel of a child’s wooden wagon being pulled down the sidewalk. A small child wearing a red coat and blue jeans walked quickly and happily down the dark street pulling his favorite wagon. Night was well underway and the streets were empty, save for this child.

 

            The low rumbling in the distance joined the echo of the child’s wooded red wagon wheel. A giant shadowy mass approach the town, the mass let out sounds like high pitched squeaking wheels in need of oil, rumbling of a heavy weight being dragged across the land and the low roar of a beast waking from slumber. The giant shadow grew closer and closer to the town and as it did the townspeople woke from their beds and turned on their lights. Men and women left their house in their pajamas and night gowns, all standing on their front lawns as they peered out into the night. The mass grew closer and the first thing that could be seen was a giant skull mounted onto the front of some kind of machine. The machine had wheels, was made of wood and metal and was adorned with skulls and bones. It was easily fifty feet tall and must have weighed over a ton. Panic struck through people of Auburn Hill, causing them to retreat back into their houses or take to their cars and drive off into the night. Some used their house phones to call the police, some drove to the police station but many retreated to their basements or left town entirely.

 

            The skull-adorned machine didn’t fit in the normally peaceful and quiet town of Auburn Hill but the towns folk were not surprised by its appearance. The world knew of the Grave Wagon, a ghastly machine that appeared in random towns across the world and would harvest an entire town down to its last and then disappear into the night. The Grave wagon’s squeaking gears and perpetual “chunk-a-chunk-a-chunk” noise was distinct and could be heard across the whole town. This was a sound that would be familiar to anyone who watched the news the day after Halloween. The Grave wagon only harvested towns in October and there was usually one video of the attack every year. Only video could be found the next day, never survivors. No one knew what was inside the machine, where it came from or who drove it. The only thing known about the Grave Wagon was the appearance, the sound and the fact that it wiped entire towns off of the map.

 

            Adults ran for their lives, drove away or loaded guns and hid in the basements of their house. The child with the little red wooden wagon was scooped up by his parents and put in a car. He looked out the back window of his parent’s car as he saw the Grave wagon roll into his neighborhood and as the parent’s car turned down the next street the large tank tread like wheels hit the first house on the block, knocking it over and crushing the wood and glass as if it were made of paper. Light from lit torches danced out from the eye sockets of the enormous skull on the front of the wagon. The child never got to see who or what carried the torches or what happened to his house and red wagon.

 

            As the boy and his parents fled from town in their sedan green glowing mist began to rise up from the ground all around them. Pavement split and noxious fumes boiled up from the cracks in the earth. The ground beneath the car began to shake apart so the father stepped on the gas. Shrieking and howling could be heard in the distance. It could have been the victims of the wagon or the demons that must have been harbored inside of the awful machine. The family sedan rocketed down the crumbling street as fear gripped the family. The houses of Auburn Hil began to shake and sway until they toppled over, debris flew into the road causing the father to jerk the steering wheel hard to avoid the glass, wood and metal. The family car spun put of control and crashed into a tree.

 

            The child awoke to his mothers voice calling to him. As he opened his eyes he saw his frantic mother pull him out of the back seat and lift the small boy over her shoulder. She ran for the woods as thick fog and screaming filled the air. The trees swayed in the wind as it blew harder and harder but it wasn’t just the wind that made the trees seem alive, some of the trees actually started to move and come alive. The trees grew awful faces that dripped glowing green ooze as their branch arms swiped at the mother. The little boy could hear his mother scream as she ran but couldn’t do anything to help.

 

            The Mother ran through the forest and slid down a hill covered in dead grass and dried crunchy leaves. As she slid the sound of the Grave Wagon grew louder and louder until finally it stopped. The screaming and howling stopped as did any sounds associated with the Wagon’s movements. The danger sounded like it was over but the mother was too stricken with fear to move.

 

            For the rest of the night the mother and son huddled together, jumping at every rustling and noise in the forest. The sun slowly rose up over the Auburn Hill and the mother knew the danger was over. She and her son were the first two people to survive the Grave Wagon’s attack.

 

            When the military arrived they found the mother and son and rushed them to the nearest hospital, all reports, and photos showed that no sign of Auburn Hills was left. The town of Auburn Hills was now a giant empty field of black ash. No trace of the town remained.

 

            That day burned itself into the boys mind and as he grew he always thought about the Grave Wagon, where did it come from? Who made it? Why was it wiping out towns? John Pharris was the boy who escaped Auburn Hill and then became the Man who would stop the Grave Wagon once and for all. But that is a different story for a different day.