MARZ | Book 2 | MARZ 2

by Davis, James

  "Forty yards." He said, seemingly to himself. Before turning toward the empty street behind him.

  "You heard him! Get on out here and handle it!" Bud shouted.

  At that, doors flung open and a flood of seemingly regular people burst out onto the street beelining for the barricades. There had to be a hundred of them by Johnny's best guess, all armed with one weapon or another. Some carried assault rifles and others, shotguns or pistols, and even the odd longbow or crossbow, a few teens even ran out, slingshots in hand. The man on the roof had dropped his binoculars, letting them dangle from his neck, and was now peering through the scope of a rifle.

  "Take our friends here somewhere safe, don't uncuff em just yet." Bud said to one of the men standing next to him.

  “Wait a minute, uncuff us and we’ll help take these things out.” Roosevelt said as the man ushered them away. Bud didn’t reply. He simply flipped the cylinder out on his pistol and popped out the two spent rounds he had fired at their feet before dropping two more fresh rounds into the chambers. Johnny and Roosevelt were taken to a small home down the street and locked in a room. They found seats on the edge of a small bed and sat down just as gunshots started to fill the air.

  “Jesus Christ, where the hell did they get all of that ammo? I bet they’ve fired at least a thousand rounds already.” Roosevelt, trying to find a comfortable position for his cuffed hands.

  “Who knows. Let’s just focus on making a good impression with these people. I don't want to end up in the pile with that herd they’re taking out.” Johnny replied. Twenty minutes later Bud stepped into the room, his mustache turned up in a smile.

  “Comfy?” He asked as he stepped in the room.

  “Been in worse situations before.” Johnny replied. Bud pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket and used it to wipe the sweat from his face. He looked at them both as he stuffed the white cloth back in his pocket.

  “So, Johnny, Roosevelt, if I have one of my men take them cuffs off are you going to play nice?”

  “Of course. We aren’t here to cause any trouble.” Johnny said.

  “What about your friend here? He don’t seem none too happy with us.” Bud said.

  “He’s harmless. He gets cranky when he's hungry.” Johnny replied.

  “That right? You get cranky when you're hungry?” Bud asked, looking Roosevelt in the eye.

  “Yeah. That’s right.” Roosevelt replied in an annoyed tone.

  “Well you boys are in luck! Miss Mary just finished making a huge pot of stew and some homemade bread. You play your cards right and you just might get a nice heaping bowl full.” Bud said. Roosevelts mouth started to salivate at the thought of a hot meal.

  “Hey Will, get in here and take the cuffs off these men. They can help us pack the dead over to the hole.” Bud shouted over his shoulder.

  “We don’t like free loaders here in Sweetwater either so here’s the deal, you help me and my men haul the dead off, and we’ll let you boys stay for dinner. After that, you have to go. We have a deal?” Bud asked as Will removed the cuffs. Johnny rubbed his wrists as he thought about the deal, but Roosevelt was on it. He shoved his hand out toward Bud and said.

  “You got yourself a deal!” Bud chuckled.

  “I figured you’d see it our way. Come on then. We have work to do before supper.” Bud said standing up to leave the room. When they got outside, they saw a ton of people carrying the dead out of the road and around the back of a house.

  “Just jump in there and start helping out. You can get a shower when you’re finished.” Bud stated as he ran his finger and thumb down the length of his thick mustache. They walked up to the pile of mangled bodies and grabbed the arms and legs of the thing and then fell in behind another set of men packing limp bodies around the house. When they made it around to the back of the house, they spotted a small bridge curved over the top of a small creek. A massive hole had been dug out on the far side of the creek and then men were tossing the dead down into the pit one at a time.

  “You have to burn them to kill the disease completely. Once we get that hole full, we’ll pour diesel over it all and light it. By morning it'll be nothing but a big pile of bones.” Bud said as he and another man tossed their own corpse into the hole. The body hit the side of the pit and rolled the rest of the way to the bottom, crashing into a woman's body with a chewed-up face. After an hour of running back and forth they had finally moved every single corpse from the road to the pit. Johnny and Roosevelt watched as several men poured gallons and gallons of diesel fuel into the pit before tossing a lit match in. The fuel caught with a woosh and black smoke started to rise into the sky like pillars. Bud stepped over to them and gave them each a pat on the shoulder.

  “You boys did a good job. Now let’s get you cleaned up and fed.” Bud said before turning and leading them away from the burning pile of corpses.

  Chapter Fifteen

  6:53 p.m. January 3, 2049

  Sweetwater, Tennessee

  “Miss Mary I’d like to introduce you to Johnny and Roosevelt. They’ll be staying with us for a day or two. Let’s try to give them a nice Sweetwater welcome.” Bud said as he led them into the kitchen of the big white house.

  “You boys look famished. Get on in here and get something to eat!” The dark-haired woman said, waiving them over to the kitchen table. Johnny and Roosevelt took seats at the table and minutes later Mary was setting down two massive bowls of stew along with big torn off hunks of sourdough bread. Roosevelts mood instantly improved after taking the first bite of the delicious stew. He dipped his bread into the juice and devoured it in three bites.

  “Slow down. There's plenty more if you’re still hungry after you finish that.” Mary said with a chuckle. Bud sat down across from the two men and lifted a spoon full of the stew to his lips and started to lightly blow on the steaming food. A loud slurping sound came from across the table causing Bud to look up. Roosevelt had his bowl tilted up to his lips drinking the last bit of juice from his stew. He sat the bowl down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The entire table of people stared at him as he finished.

  “What? It was good.” He shrugged. Mary started to chuckle as she got up and grabbed his bowl to refill it.

  “Don’t do that shit again! It’s rude and unpleasant while these people are eating.” Johnny scolded. Roosevelt simply shrugged as Mary set another bowl of the stew down in front of him along with an even bigger hunk of bread.

  “Miss Mary you’re a fantastic cook!” Roosevelt said before digging into the new portion of his meal. She waved off the compliment and sat back down to finish her own food.

  “So, I guess you and your people have been doing just fine in this new world?” Roosevelt asked in between bites. He was taking his time now that his stomach wasn’t twisted into a knot of hunger.

  “When a town full of like-minded people work together, they tend to have an advantage over other communities.” Bud stated as he popped the last piece of his bread into his mouth.

  “What are you boys doing out here in Sweetwater?” Mary asked and she took a bite of her own bread.

  “To be honest we just kind of stumbled across this place. We came from Florida and just tried to avoid the interstates along the way.” Johnny said between bites.

  “Where’d you say you were headed?” Bud asked, sitting back in his chair and shoving a hand in the waist of his pants.

  “My dad's place in Denver.” Johnny replied.

  “Does he know you’re coming?” Bud asked.

  “No. I haven’t talked to him since before all of this started last week.” Johnny said.

  “Johnny Truman! Roosevelt Parker!” A female voice sounded from the kitchen. They each turned to look at a short redhead with crisp green eyes, a stubby nose, and thick lips.

  “Laura do you know these men?” Bud asked, leaning forward in his seat with a suspicious look on his face.

  “You don’t? As much news as
you used to watch, and you don’t recognize these two?” She said, pointing at Johnny and Roosevelt. Bud eyed them for a long moment trying to decide if he’d ever seen them before. Shaking his head, he looked up to Laura.

  “No, I can’t say that I do. Who are they?” Bud asked.

  “Johnny Truman is the one that found that spaceman all of them years ago and they both just returned from Mars on Tanner Washington's shuttle Gungnir. I can’t believe you’ve never heard of them.” Laura said, excitedly. Bud looked at the two men for a moment and started to say something but was interrupted by another man at the table.

  “Oh yeah! I thought your name sounded familiar. I remember seeing you two on the tube last week when y’all touched back down in Houston.” The man stated.

  “So, we got ourselves a couple of celebrities in Sweetwater huh?” Bud chuckled. Feeling uncomfortable with all the attention Johnny and Roosevelt started to play down the ordeal.

  “I wouldn’t say we’re celebrities. We’re just scientists that just happened to get on the news for our work with Mr. Washington.” Johnny said.

  “Yeah there are way more interesting astronauts that have been to Mars over the years then the two of us.” Roosevelt chimed in.

  “Well those astronauts aren’t the ones here in Sweetwater, are they?” Mary asked, a huge smile on her face.

  “You got us there.” Roosevelt laughed nervously.

  “I hope you all saved room for dessert. I made cake with a homemade peanut butter icing.” Mary replied as she stood up from her seat. Roosevelt's eyes lit up at the thought of cake. He watched Mary walk around the table picking up each person's dirty dishes. When she had an arm load, she disappeared into the kitchen returning a few minutes later with several small plates of sliced cake. She sat the first two plates down in front of Johnny and Roosevelt and then continued around the table.

  “So, what was it like on Mars?” Laura asked.

  “Dry and dusty.” Roosevelt replied with glee as he stuffed half of the cake into his gaping maw. Johnny nudged him in the ribs with an elbow for stuffing his mouth full of the sweet treat.

  “What?” Roosevelt mumbled through the mouthful of cake. Johnny just shook his head at his friend's love of food.

  “That’s it? Just dry and dusty?” Laura asked.

  “Laura let them finish eating before you pound them with questions.” Bud said, taking a bite of his own cake. Laura huffed and got a fork full of cake as she gave Bud the evil eye. After they all finished eating Bud led the two men back outside to the front porch. He took a seat on a swinging bench seat and gestured for them to sit in any of the three remaining chairs. He pulled out a thick brown cigar and stuck one end of it into his mouth as he grabbed a box of wooden matches. He lit the cigar and took a long deep puff from it. He exhaled a cloud of smoke that smelled faintly of cherry before looking back at Johnny and Roosevelt.

  “Smoke?” Bud asked, grabbing his box of cigars and holding it out to them. They each declined and sat there waiting to hear what Bud would say. When the sheriff didn’t speak Johnny sat forward and cleared his throat to talk. Bud held up a hand and shook his head before Johnny ever got a single word out of his mouth. Confused Johnny sat back in his seat and waited for Bud to talk. After several minutes past Bud finally leaned forward in his seat, elbows on knees, cigar between two meaty fingers.

  “Sorry about that. I just enjoy a little peace and quiet after dinner to digest.” He said, bringing the cigar to his lips and taking another puff. Two men holding rifles walked past on sentry duty as the men stared at one another.

  “So, since I do like you fellas, I think it only right to let you stay here for a few days. I know I said a day or two max earlier, but you guys seem to be good men. We’re going to help y’all out as much as we can. We’ll get you some better weapons and some decent food to last y’all a few days but then you will have to go. Like I said earlier, we don’t take in newcomers even if we like em’.” Bud said as he knocked the ashes from his cigar.

  “We appreciate everything you folks have already done for us. Not too many left like you all.” Roosevelt said.

  “It’s not a problem but I do have one condition.” Bud said, the cigar pinched between his teeth.

  “Oh yeah? What's that?” Johnny asked. Bud chuckled.

  “You have to gift me those nickel-plated cowboy blasters you came in with.” He said as he stubbed out the cigar on the bottom of his boot. Johnny laughed.

  “Consider them yours.” He replied. Bud slid the two shiny pistols from the leather holsters on his hips.

  “I thought that's what you would say.” Bud said with another chuckle as he gazed at the two revolvers.

  “So, what kind of weapons are you giving us?” Roosevelt asked, not liking the fact that Bud had taken it upon himself to take the revolvers already. Johnny could hear the edge in his friend's tone as he spoke. Bud eyed him hard in the fading daylight.

  “You’ll get your guns. Don’t you worry about that. I’ll have one of my men take y’all down to the station and let you look at our selection. You won’t be disappointed I assure you.” Bud said, returning the same edge in his tone. The two men stared at one another for a long minute until finally Johnny broke the uncomfortable stare off with a laugh.

  “So, Bud, where will we be sleeping tonight?” Bud turned his gaze to Johnny and said.

  “Laura will show you to your rooms. Y’all will be staying here in the spare rooms upstairs.” He said as he got to his feet and headed for the door. Johnny and Roosevelt stood and followed him into the house.

  “You boys getting along alright?” Mary said as she wiped down the long table.

  “Yes, ma’am, we are. Have you seen Laura?” Bud asked. Mary shook her head,

  “Not since dinner. Why?”

  “I was going to have her show these fellers to their rooms.” Bud replied.

  “I can do it. I’m just about done cleaning up the dinner mess anyhow.” Mary said. Bud nodded his thanks and turned to look at Johnny and Roosevelt.

  “You boys have a nice night. Get with me in the morning and I’ll make sure you get those guns.”

  “Thanks again for everything. We really do appreciate it.” Johnny replied, sticking his hand out to shake. Bud grabbed Johnny’s hand in a firm grip and gave it a single shake before doing the same with Roosevelt. He turned to Mary and tipped his hat at her.

  “Night Miss Mary.” He said and then headed for the door.

  Chapter Sixteen

  5:45 a.m. January 4th, 2049

  Sweetwater, Tennessee

  Johnny woke to the sound of footsteps walking down the hall outside of his room. He sat up in bed and reached for the pistol that wasn’t by his side.

  “Shit!” He growled as he threw the covers off him and stood up. When the memory of where he was came rushing back into his mind he calmed down and took a seat on the edge of the bed. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned deeply before arching his back and smacking his lips. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept so deeply. A light wrap at the door got his attention followed by Roosevelts deep voice.

  “Johnny you awake?” His friend's voice sounded through the door.

  “Yeah man come on in.” Johnny replied. The door opened and Roosevelt stepped inside. He closed the door behind him and found the light switch on the wall. He flipped the switch up and yellow light flooded the room.

  “Damn man! Next time warn me!” Johnny whined.

  “Oh, shut up you big baby! Get dressed, Mary is serving breakfast.” Roosevelt said, rubbing his palms together. After getting dressed they both headed downstairs to the kitchen where Bud was already sipping on a cup of coffee.

  “Morning.” Bud said, lifting his cup to greet the two men.

  “Y’all sleep alright?” Mary asked, setting down two fresh cups of black coffee in front of them.

  “Like the dead.” Roosevelt replied.

  “I don’t remember
the last time I slept so good.” Johnny added, sipping on his own cup of coffee.

  “After breakfast we’ll head down to my office and show you guys what we're willing to part with.” Bud said.

  “Sounds good. What’s for breakfast anyway?” Johnny asked.

  “Pancakes and sausage with homemade maple syrup straight from the maple tress out back.” Mary said, setting down a massive plate of cakes and sausage in front of Roosevelt and a much smaller plate in front of Johnny and Bud as they were the only ones up so early.

  “You sure we have to leave?” Roosevelt asked with a huge smile on his face?” Mary chuckled.

  “Sweetheart if it was up to me you boys could stay as long as you liked.” Bud cleared his throat, annoyed at Mary’s words.

  “It’s not up to you though so maybe you should keep your comments to yourself.” He said, glaring at the older woman.

  “Don’t you eyeball me! I’ll say whatever I damn well please! If you don’t like it, then go have your breakfast elsewhere.” She scolded and aimed her finger toward him.

  “Sorry Mary. I’m just looking out for our people.” Bud replied sheepishly after being set straight. Mary turned back to Johnny and Roosevelt and smiled warmly.

  “If y’all are still hungry after that’s gone just let me know and I’ll bring you another plate.” Roosevelt smiled back and thanked her before smashing the entire plate of pancakes in less than five minutes. After breakfast Bud led them down to the sheriff's office. They entered through a back door and followed him through a long hall to a set of steps that led down into the lower level of the building. At the bottom they entered a short hallway with several doors set into the wall. Bud headed for the second door on the right and then pushed a key into the lock and twisted the handle. He pushed open the door and stepped aside, his arm perched out for Johnny and Roosevelt to enter first. Inside sat multiple racks of AR style rifles, deer rifles, shotguns and a few specialty weapons cops used for breaching a building. There were tables full of every type of pistol a man could ever want and boxes of different caliber ammunition.