by Chris Blake
Benjamin Hawkins, devoted husband of thirty two years sits on the other side of this door sobbing uncontrollably. In his hand rests his Kel-tec 9mm handgun. He sits and contemplates putting an end to her suffering. A little while after that and he contemplates ending his own suffering and places the handgun against his temple.
He holds the gun against his head for two or three minutes and then loses the courage to pull the trigger and drops the gun in disgust.
Upon hearing the loud clatter, his wife starts growling and slamming her fists into the closet door again.
Ben cannot take it anymore, and he does not have the guts to kill her, or himself. He packs up a single bag, throws it over his shoulder and climbs into his Mercedes. As he peels out of the driveway, leaving his wife in a closet, he feels his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. It is his son Vintago calling him.
After reliving the memory, so fresh in his mind, and retelling it to his son, Benjamin focuses back on what he is doing. He is driving erratically now. Not quite sure where he is driving to, but he is driving regardless.
Vintago brings him back into this world, “Dad, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know son, I could give a fuck about trying to save any of these people. They took my wife away from me and now all I want to do is kill them!” Ben yells into his phone.
“Listen, dad, you need to come up here with us. We have a good place picked out, we have running water, hot food, and it’s safe. It’s not so terrible.” Vin tells his father.
“I don’t have any supplies to bring with me, I would just be a burden on you guys.” his father says in self-pity.
“Dad, you are a doctor, you will bring more than enough to the table. We have enough food and water to go around, just get up here. Stop on the way and pick up whatever else you may need.” Vin says. “Just be careful, the crazy people are starting to come out of the woodwork, and it’s only a matter of time before the looters and pillagers come out in full force.”
“Alright son, if you say so.” Ben complies.
Alright, see you soon.” Vin says and hangs up the phone.
Vintago turns around, and he can hear Cindy and Greg both on the phone still. Greg is talking to his son Donny. They have had an extremely difficult relationship and have not spoken much in the past few years. Now, Greg is pleading with his son to leave the valley and come up north to be with his family. By the sounds of it, Greg is not going to get his way. He keeps telling Donny to think of his mother, sister, and nephew. In the end, he just tells his son that he loves him, hangs up the phone, and cries quietly to himself.
Cindy, on the other hand, is talking to her mother, who lives in Chicago. She is telling her mom to get on the next flight to Phoenix, and if that does not work to get in her car and drive out. If she sticks to it, she could be here in a couple days. Victoria’s grandma is not one to have her feathers ruffled easily, but the idea of driving for two days does not appeal to her.
Eventually, Cindy wraps up her phone call, as well. They both drag their feet on their way to the Outlander and get in quietly.
Vintago gets in the driver’s seat and begs the question “So are either of them coming?”
“Donny isn’t coming he can’t convince his wife that they should come up here, and she wants to be a good sheep and go to Tucson.” Greg says.
“My mom isn’t going to come either, she says it will be too hard on her body to make that long of a drive, and she looked, and all the flights have been grounded.” Cindy adds.
Vintago doesn’t bother replying as he knows that no words will be able to heal these wounds. He also knows that both Donny and Grandma were ultimately doomed. Being stuck in a major city with an outbreak of this magnitude was a certain death sentence. The government might be able to endure it, and they might save some people if they screen them well enough, but for the vast majority of people leaving the cities, it would be nothing, but death.
They make the short drive up to the top of the canyon and everyone piles out. Vintago heads into the forest instead of heading into the hatchery. He walks far enough into the forest where nobody can hear or see him, and collapses on the ground. For a few minutes, he cries quietly to himself and then wipes the snot from his face.
“I can’t believe she’s actually gone.” he says to nobody.
Vintago and his mother shared a pretty decent relationship. He had no ill words to speak of her, and she had none of him. The fact that she was gone, forever, made him die inside just a little bit more. It seems like every time Vintago turned a corner in the past few days someone he knew was dying or he was the one doing the killing.
What kind of fucked up world is this turning into?
Vintago collects himself, cleans up his face a little bit, and treks back into the hatchery grounds. Victoria is standing outside the crew quarters building with a sad look on her face. She cannot know for sure, of course, more than likely she will not see her brother or grandmother ever again.
Vin approaches his wife cautiously he does not do well with feelings, and even less so at helping others with their feelings.
Figuring now was as good of time as any, he explains to his wife what happened to his mother. She quickly loses whatever semblance of control she had previously. It is one thing to know that your family members might not be coming back, but it is another matter entirely to know for sure.
A few minutes go by of Vintago simply holding his wife, and she regains her composure to some degree. Cindy and Greg came out upon hearing their daughter crying, and Vintago explains the situation to them. Everyone stands around, taking in the sounds of the forest, acting singularly somber.
After a little while, Vintago informs everyone that his father Ben is on his way right now, hoping to lift their spirits a bit. Ben was never their best friend as he tends to be hard to get along with, much like his son. Upon hearing that he is coming, it does lighten the mood a little.
Jessica mainly kept to herself during the whole emotional roller coaster, since she has no family to mourn, or to care for. She was raised by her aunt after her parents were killed by a drunk driver when she was a small child. Her aunt had died a few years ago, and that was what caused her to live in this lonely little fish hatchery.
Jessica could see that everyone was starting to wind down from their emotional slump, so she asks if they would like to start winding down for bed as it was more than dark by now. Everyone just nods their heads.
They get ready for bed using the crew quarters bathrooms which Jessica was more than happy to provide, and then, they head over to their tents to settle in for the night.
Vin tells everyone to get a good night’s sleep because things are going to start getting much more complicated.
Chapter Seven
Acclimation and Extermination
February, 2013
Morning breaks on their little shanty town at the fish hatchery, and along with it starts a new month. The last week of January seems to have flown by almost like it was not real. Vintago silently prays to himself that this month will end with them returning to their homes and this whole virus situation being wrapped up. Being realistic, he knows that it is most likely a pipe dream.
In the middle of the night, a new car rolled into the parking lot at the fish hatchery. Vintago decides to walk down to the parking lot and peek inside the car. With his seat reclined as far as it will go, his father sits inside, curled up as tight as he can be, sawing logs like a lumberjack. Vin taps on the window lightly, which startles his father and he rises up and smacks the horn. The sudden noise erupts through the trees and just about scares the shit out of Vintago and everyone else in the hatchery.
Ben unlocks the doors to the car and steps outside. He stretches a few times, working out the kinks. After he has a little bit of flexibility restored, he reaches out and gives his son a hug. Normally, Ben and Vintago would not be caught giving out hugs, but under the circumstances, it feels right.
Vintago grabs his dad’s o
ne bag and shows him to where they are staying.
“It’s not much, but it is what it is.” Vin says.
“I thought you said you had running water, electricity and warm food.” Ben gives him a puzzled look.
“We do, over there in the crew quarters, we just can’t stay in there yet.” Vin replies.
“Why not, are there people in there already?” Ben asks.
“There is one woman, named Jessica, but she is waiting for her friends to come back.” Vin says, even though he is pretty sure they will not be coming back.
“Well, I don’t have a tent or anything, where am I going to sleep?” Ben asks again.
Vintago explains to his father how he plans on running back into Payson today and getting some extra supplies. The Robertses forgot more than a few things, and so did his wife.
“We can pick up whatever you need at Walmart when we head into town.” Vin tells his father.
“Sounds good to me, I guess. We better get a decent air mattress, because my ass is not sleeping on the ground” his father replies with a grin.
Vin chuckles, but knows that it is true. Both he and his wife and the Robertses are sleeping on air mattresses. It just makes it more hospitable that sleeping on the cold ground.
Jessica comes out to let everyone know that she has made up a batch of scrambled eggs and bacon.
When she sees Ben, she says “Uh oh, one more mouth to feed?”
“Jessica this is my father Benjamin Hawkins” Vin replies.
“Nice to meet you” Ben steps forward to shake her hand.
With introduction out of the way, they all pile into the crew quarters kitchen and are served an outstanding breakfast.
“Well at least she serves as a good cook” Vin thinks to himself.
They finish up their breakfast, and Vin tells the group that he is going to go into town and get some supplies. He explains that he would like if it Greg and Ben could come with him. They both nod their heads, and the decision is made.
Before leaving, they empty the contents of the Outlander into the other four cars, mostly Ben’s car as it is totally empty. Vin grabs his rifle from the Corolla and hands it to his father who is in the passenger seat. Ben looks at him with a funny look and asks him what’s it for.
Vintago briefly explains what happened with the armed robbers yesterday, and this fully changes Ben’s demeanor. Now he grips the rifle with a subtle intensity.
They make the thirty minute drive into Payson with no problems and when they turn into the parking lot of the Walmart with their eyes open wide. The scene in front of them is unquestionably chaos. People are running around with shopping carts spilling over with merchandise, running to and fro, bumping into each other and cursing. They wander into and out of the building like wild fire ants.
They leave the rifle in the car, but all three men have their handguns on them in holsters. Ben and Vin both have their guns concealed, but Greg does not have a concealable holster. Nothing like adding a little fire to the gasoline already flowing about, so to speak.
The three men grab one of the abandoned shopping carts and enter the store. They go to the grocery aisles first, and find that most of the shelves are empty. The place has been picked clean in some areas. They look at their list, and obviously they will not be able to get everything, so they pick out what they can and move on. The men move to the back of the store towards camping and sporting goods. The camping equipment has not been picked through as much. People just do not want to go camping right now.
Not sure if it’s the cold, or the whole virus outbreak, Vin just laughs to himself.
Vin says that it would be smart to buy extra sleeping bags and two more tents, just in case Donny and his wife do decide to come. Subconsciously, he knows it will not happen, but the more supplies the better.
They also pick up some extra fishing equipment, lanterns, flashlights, and a few other random things. While it is amazing that they have electricity and plenty of food right now, it may not be that way for long, so Vin decides to be prepared for the future if that is what the future holds.
“The inner Boy Scout is always prepared” he chuckles to himself, thinking about their motto.
Lastly, they stop at the guns and ammunition section of the store. The guns and ammo have been picked through. That is one of the first things people buy in a situation like this. Since Ben does not have a rifle or a shotgun, he advises his father to pick out a hunting rifle. There are only a few left, so there is not much of a choice. His father asks what he thinks would be sufficient, so Vintago asks the clerk to see the Remington .308 long rifle. The .308 round should be enough to take down a buck elk at five hundred yards, let alone a human being.
Vin also picks out a decent scope to place on top of the rifle, and the last five boxes of .308 ammunition.
The 9mm ammunition is nowhere to be seen, but they did have two boxes of .45ACP and three boxes of .380ACP. Vintago purchases all of them. Vin asks Ben and Greg if they have decent knives, and they both shake their heads, so he picks out two long hunting knives with serrated edges for them both.
With the majority of their shopping done, they stand in the hour long lines and check out. Ben offers to pay for everything, and neither Greg nor Vin objects. This is how he can pull his weight Vin figures.
They load up their purchases in the back of the Outlander and start heading out of town. As a last thought, Vin stops at a small gas station and runs in, where he finds two five gallon gas cans. He fills up the two cans and loads them in the back of the Outlander. Being that they are thirty minutes away from town, he figures it would be smart to have a little extra fuel.
The journey back to the hatchery is uneventful, which nobody minds at all. When they get to the hatchery, they unload some of their gear and leave the rest in the back of the vehicle.
Jessica by now has seen all their gear, and can tell they did not plan on just staying a few days, but after spending a little bit of time with this new group, she does not mind having them around. She can tell that they mean her no harm. Besides, her friends had all left, and none of them had returned yet.
The three men finally make it into the crew quarters where the women are getting all settled in and flop down onto the couches to take a break. It looks like Jessica, Cindy, and Victoria are getting along, and they are all acclimating to the new situation.
The women have set up a bunch of toys for Gray to play with, and he sits in front of the fire playing with his trucks. Vintago scoots off the couch, to sit on the floor and play with his son for a few minutes. Gray’s face lights up as his dada comes to see him. Vin wonders what Gray thinks about everything going on lately. Poor Gray is in a new place, running around all over the state, plus he had to suffer through the shootout with the armed robbers. The little guy’s been through a lot already, and it has only been a week.
Vin walks into the kitchen to check up on Victoria and she seems perfectly happy preparing some lunch for the group. Jessica and Cindy are sitting at the table drinking coffee and chatting quietly.
“How are you holding up?” Vin asks his wife.
“I’m doing OK. Just trying to keep busy to keep my mind off everything.” she replies.
“Well, just hang in there, things will get better soon, you’ll see.” he tries to reassure her.
She nods slowly and gives him a hug.
Vin tells her that he is going to look around the hatchery grounds a little bit more and see what he can find. She says that is fine, and he heads out of the building. His father Ben decides to come with him.
They walk over to the edge of the parking lot and start walking down the road a little ways. Vintago is playing scenarios over and over in his mind about how he could protect their little compound if they need be. Being off in the middle of nowhere only works for so long, eventually someone, or something will find them.
Luckily, the road leading into the hatchery is cut right out of the side of the canyon. On one side of the road is a rock w
all about twenty feet tall, and on the other side is a vertical drop off into the stream below the road. Vin figures that if they can just block off the road, which will keep anyone from coming up that way. The only way to get to the hatchery after that would require the intruders to be on foot on top of the ridge. Vin climbs up on top of the ridge to see how far out it goes, and it looks like it goes on forever. Unfortunately, there is no way to guard against that.
Ben and Vin walk back to the hatchery and starts poking around in the other buildings. The main storage building has a small Bobcat loader and backhoe, a big truck with a tank on the back, probably for carrying water and fish, an oversized flatbed truck, and two large hunting four wheelers. There are all sorts of tanks, hoses, and an variety of things neither Ben nor Vintago understand. There also is hundreds of pounds of fish food ranging in all sorts of sizes. Additionally, there is a maintenance area with a workbench and mechanics tools, probably for maintaining their equipment.
In the office building there are all the items found in a typical office environment, cubicles with desks, computers, monitors, printers, and all kinds of office supplies. Vintago doubts there will be anything of much use in this building.
In the visitor center, it is the same story. They explore back in a couple rooms and find all sorts of knick knacks, and an assortment of random junk.
Lastly, they find a small shed that Vin did not catch on his initial scouting session. Inside the shed are power tools, chainsaws, shovels, rakes, and all sorts of other tools. This must exist for maintaining the grounds of the property Vin assumes.
Vintago takes a mental checklist of the area and sums it up. While the main road would be easily defendable, the rest of the property is left wide open with positively no way to defend it. The only solution would be to encompass the entire two acre property in a giant fence of some sort. Where they would get that much fencing or material, Vin has no idea. A problem for another day, he figures.