Dennis was walking up the driveway towards him and when he saw Matt had turned towards him, he waved with a huge grin on his face. “Aw man, I’m sure glad to see you. I’ve spent the last week scouring the town looking for living folks and you’re the first person I’ve come across with a pulse! Hey, how long have you been lifting cars like that? That was mighty impressive!”
Matt studied Dennis for a minute before laughing to himself and shaking his head. Dennis was as tame as they came and he had nothing to fear with this older gentleman. Dennis had come by his house on several occasions while it was being built to lend a hand, but really it was to get out of his house that reminded him too much of his wife and his now much different life.
“I actually just realized that I can pick up vehicles the same time that you did. Come inside and I’ll explain it all.”
And over a cup of coffee, Matt relayed his whole bizarre story to Dennis while Dennis listened, his mouth hanging open in disbelief. “Wow man, that sure is something. I wish I had woke up this morning with that kind of strength but instead everything just ached a little bit worse than when I went to bed the night before.” The men shared a chuckle and then the mood became serious as Matt let it sink in what Dennis had told him about not finding another soul alive in town.
“Dennis, if everyone was dead in the city, all the way to my friends cabin and all the way into this town, then that must mean this sickness spread a lot further than I originally thought. I can’t get any channels on the tv, no one will answer on the CB and the radio is just static on every channel.”
“Yep, before the lights went out, I kept the tv tuned to the news and heard the reports of the sickness spreading in other countries as well. They kept airing a list of areas that survivors could go for an air rescue that they said would take you to a safe area until the sickness could be contained. I reckon that some folks took that advice and they are squirreled away somewhere safe now. The trick will be finding where they were taken.” Dennis replied
They were silent for a moment as they both mulled over the situation.
“Dennis, would you like to team up and work together to search for survivors? We’ll need to find a reliable vehicle and outfit it with supplies to keep us going for a few days at a time while we search.”
Dennis lit up at that suggestion. “Sure thing Matt. Let’s start first thing in the AM! This old body needs some rest, I’ve been walking this town all damn day!”
Matt clapped Dennis on the back “Let’s get you setup in a bedroom here so you don’t have to make the trek home and tomorrow we’ll get a game plan together of what we’ll need to get started.”
Dennis smiled sheepishly at Matt. “Hey Matt, do you think I could stay here for awhile? My house is too lonely now that all of my neighbors are dead. I didn’t realize how much I would miss the loud music and barking dogs, but it sure is spooky now.”
Matt nodded at Dennis and they shook hands. A new alliance had been formed and if they had to search to the ends of the earth to find other survivors, they would do so.
Chapter 18 – It’s the dysfunctional house on the prairie – Present Day
The days began to blend together for Maya as everyone got into their routine and played the role that fit them best. Her days were filled with taking care of the baby and regaining her strength, Krista did the cooking and cleaning, Matt kept the firewood supply up and the fire blazing and spent a lot of his days in his vehicle or out somewhere with Dennis. Dennis was a nightly visitor, coming to join them for coffee and dinner and to regal them with stories of his younger years when he was much better looking and a trouble maker. He would bring Buddy with him and the dog would do his happy wiggle routine, dancing around each person in turn until he felt he had received the proper greeting before promptly curling up in front of the fireplace.
One morning Maya woke up with her sons name repeating in her head. “Cade” she announced to everyone over breakfast. Matt smiled slightly and Krista abruptly got up from the table and busied herself washing dishes. Maya looked questioningly at Matt and he reached over and touched Cades head. “Well okay then, Cade it is!” And then he left Maya and went outside to his vehicle.
Maya sat quietly at the table breastfeeding Cade and watching Krista’s stiff back. Something was upsetting her but no one would tell her anything. Every time she attempted to ask questions, she would get the response that there would be a time for answers when she was better. But she felt better and yet everyone was still avoiding her.
“Krista” Maya said quietly.
Krista turned around towards Maya with a haunted look in her eyes.
“Please, talk to me Krista. I know we don’t know each other well, but I want to change that.”
Krista smiled and Maya could see the glimmer of tears in her eyes. She wiped her hands off slowly while she contemplated and then came to sit across from Maya.
Reaching across the table, she lightly rubbed her thumb across Cades tiny hand and sighed.
“I had a daughter when the virus came. She didn’t stand a chance and all of the children in her school were dead inside a week.” Krista said as a tear slowly made its way down her cheek.
“Oh Krista, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” Maya replied feeling the tears forming.
“Don’t cry please. Lord knows I’ve shed enough tears already.” Krista smiled at Maya as she swiped her hand across her face.
“Matt is going to take me back to the compound soon. I don’t need to stay here much longer. You have regained your strength and you and Matt need some time alone so he can explain everything.”
“Compound? What compound?” Maya asked
“That’s one of things he needs to tell you about. There are quite a few of us that live a couple of hours from here. We are working to rebuild our own town and I need to get back and do my part.”
“I don’t understand. Why would we stay here and not go to this compound?”
“We didn’t want to put you through that so soon. You’ve created quite a lovely place here for yourself and your son and we’ve been looking for another location to rebuild and this town seems like a good candidate. I’ll let Matt explain it to you.” Krista was looking over Mayas shoulder and she turned around to see Matt standing just inside the doorway watching them.
“Matt, I think it’s time for Maya to know the situation.”
Matt nodded and Krista got up so he could sit across from Maya.
Chapter 19 – Rebuilding – More than Three years ago
Matt and Dennis took a few days to locate a couple of decent vehicles and in their search stumbled upon the military base not too far outside of town. The hummers seemed like the best vehicles to use for this situation so they brought a couple home with them and went back several more times to accumulate weapons and other supplies.
It was 3 weeks of searching before they found the next survivor in a ski resort town a few hours away in the deep mountains. Scott was around Matt’s age and he had been fishing in the river next to the road when they drove by and spotted him. Scott had looked up in sheer surprise and was so shocked to see other living people that he didn’t try to hide or run. They found that Scott used to live just outside of the ski town in an apartment complex and worked at one of the ski resorts and when everyone began getting sick and dying, he holed up in a mansion that he knew the owners had as a vacation home and weren’t currently there. He had enjoyed living in the mansion so much that he had been there ever since. When he had tried to return to his apartment initially, he found that it had been ransacked and people had turned crazy, attacking others and stealing whatever they could get their hands on. So holing up in a big, well secured mansion was his best option.
Scott agreed to join them and help with the search for more survivors and several months later they had amassed 15 other individuals that they found in various locations all just trying to survive.
After each trip, the new survivor would be brought back to the lodge and given a few day
s to rest and get used to their new area. Everyone they found was so grateful that they weren’t alone that they didn’t object to relocating.
As the group grew in size, they all worked together to work on things that matched their skillset. Dennis turned out to be quite the skilled gardener and he worked with a couple of others to get some food growing in a greenhouse they erected. Scott was good at fishing and with a chainsaw so he was sent out to catch more fish when their supply ran low and to cut up more firewood for the multiple fireplaces inside that they would need when winter time came.
The few women in the group took over the house keeping tasks without any complaints and kept every ones laundry clean and prepared the meals. One of these women was Krista. They had found her wandering through a toy store on one of their earlier trips. She was still distraught over the loss of her daughter and it took several weeks before she joined in with the others to help out. Everyone gave her the space she needed as everyone else was also mourning someone and understood her pain.
When Matt felt that they had found enough survivors for the year and had everyone fairly situated, he asked for a volunteer to go with him to check on Mayas cabin. Dennis eagerly agreed and so they set off together.
Matt was so crestfallen when they reached Mayas cabin and it still sat empty that Dennis couldn’t help but agree to stay there as a scout in case she returned. He had enjoyed the last several months getting to know everyone and helping with creating their new society but he was tired and a little bit of quiet time might do him some good.
It took them a few more trips out to find the cabin that he resided in now and a few more trips after that to outfit it with all that he would need. They setup perimeter monitors around Mayas cabin that would be set off by movement and sound an alarm in Dennis’ cabin and a second set of perimeter monitors were setup around Dennis’ place so he would be alerted if anyone showed up unannounced.
Dennis insisted on having his trusty defender there with him even though Matt wanted him to have a hummer. Dennis knew how to work on his defender and he kept the old girl in running condition.
Buddy was discovered on one of their drives out to Mayas place when they were maybe halfway there. He darted across the road in front of them and Matt slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting him before realizing that the dog didn’t plan on becoming road meat but had simply timed his run to get their attention. When they got out of the hummer, the dog sat patiently on the side of the road wagging his tail happily. Dennis and the dog quickly became attached and after a few weeks of Dennis calling the dog his buddy, the name just sort of stuck.
Dennis spent that first winter with everyone at the lodge but then moved to the cabin in the spring to begin his duties as the watcher for Maya. During that winter they had heard rumors of several of the locations of the facilities that people were being held in and the plans began of checking out each of these facilities to see if any survivors existed.
Chapter 20 – What are you not telling me? – Present Day
Matt finished telling Maya about the last few years and how he had built a new community with the survivors they had found during that time and he sat in silence, watching her expectantly.
She felt that he was holding back in some way. What was he not telling her? She intended to find out but could see that he had told her all that he meant to for now.
“Well, this is a lot of information for one day. I always knew that there were more survivors but I guess I never thought on the possibility of new communities already being built.”
“What was the intention of your boyfriend after he released the virus into your compound?” Matt asked.
Maya was taken aback to hear that word used, boyfriend!
“His plan had been to leave the facility with the survivors and rebuild eventually but he was first going to go to each of the other compounds to see how many other survivors there were.”
Matt studied her for a few minutes and then stood up quickly.
“I’m going to be taking Krista back home tomorrow. I would appreciate it if you stayed here with Dennis and I’ll be back in a few days.”
Maya searched his face for some sort of emotion, anything there that would tell her he still cared for her. But he remained stone faced as he waited for her reply.
Maya shrugged her shoulders in response and brought her attention back to Cade snuggled quietly against her. She realized that he was awake and was watching them both and his big blue eyes were looking from her to Matt and back again.
Matt frowned and left the house and Maya to her thoughts.
Chapter 21 – What I can’t tell you – Two years ago
The first surprise that they encountered was on one of their later journeys back into the city. Matt figured that the blast radius hadn’t been big enough to affect all of the surrounding suburbs and the population density there alone would dictate that other survivors would be there. He was also still curious about his new abilities and thought maybe going back to the city would provide some answers.
He had tested himself many times over the months alternating between not sleeping for several days at a time and not eating for weeks at a time at one point. At no point had he become too tired or too hungry that he felt he needed either and lately he had been going without either and would continue to work all through the night while the others slept. If anyone else noticed his abilities, they didn’t say a word except for Dennis. Dennis was still curious about the SUV lifting incident and would tell Matt to lift this or to move that and then watch intently when Matt would push a tractor out of the way or lift a 40 foot long log upright. Matt would entertain his friend knowing that he had already witnessed enough to know something was different about him. It also gave him one person to talk to about it and Dennis became his confidant about his new abilities. He told Dennis about the dreams he would have when he did sleep and they both puzzled about the nightmares. The nightmares alone were enough to make Matt not want to try to sleep anymore but some of them just seemed so real. Sometimes he felt he was seeing through another persons eyes and other times he could hear their thoughts and cries for help. There had been a few times when he was completely awake and just thinking on something when one of these visions would slip into his mind. It was startling when it happened and he just didn’t know what to make of it.
When they ventured to the city that day, he finally got some answers in the form of a teenage girl.
He felt that they were being followed while they traversed through the city streets and he tried to act nonchalant while he covertly scanned the alleyways, windows and roofs.
He knew that when they found her, she had chosen how they would find her and when. He sensed her energy before they turned the corner and found her standing in the middle of the street holding an AK47 and he heard her thoughts just seconds before she lifted her gun and began to fire on them.
He had grabbed Scott in the seat next to him as soon as he heard her thoughts and had him down on the hummer floor milliseconds before the bullets begin hitting the vehicle. He heard the pinging and knew that the vehicle was bullet proof and she would have to get right up on them to have a chance of hitting them. While they were down on the hummer floor listening to the bullets ping and whiz, he was racking his brain wondering how a young girl even knew how to use an AK47 and why the hell was she trying to kill them when they didn’t pose a threat to her. Couldn’t she tell that they didn’t pose a threat or was she so scared out of her mind that she was killing any other living being she encountered. As these thoughts ran through his head, the shooting stopped and dead silence ensued. He popped his head up above the dash and saw her walking towards the hummer and at the same time felt her thoughts. Before he could respond to her thoughts of peace and apology, Scott pointed his gun out the window and shot her square in the chest. Matt screamed and jumped out of the truck in one fluid motion, running towards the girl as she fell to the pavement. Scott was yelling behind him to stay back since she was still holding her
gun and could still be a danger.
When Matt reached the girl, she was laying flat on her back with her arms out to the side and the AK still gripped in one hand. She smiled up at him, “Well that hurt more than I thought it would!” then she laughed.
Scott came up beside Matt and stared at the girl in disbelief. There was only a little bit of blood on her chest where she had been hit and she pushed herself into an upright position and yanked her shirt up to her neck revealing her black lace bra and a quickly healing hole in her chest. Before Matt and Scott could even blink in surprise, the hole was completely gone with no evidence it had ever existed.
The girl dropped her shirt and hopped to her feet. “Done catching a peep pervs?”
“You were in the city when the nuclear plant exploded.” Matt stated
The girl studied him and nodded. “Yeah I figured you were another one when I could hear your thoughts wondering how the hell I knew how to handle an AK47.”
“Another one, what?” Matt asked
“Well, those of us that seem somewhat normal call ourselves Anomalies. The ones that weren’t so lucky we call Freaks.”
“There’s more of you?”
“Yep, but only a few that are anomalies. There seems to be more of the freaks than anomalies and the freaks seem to know how to kill us anomalies even though we heal crazy quick. Hey, why don’t you give me a ride in your sweet hummer and I’ll introduce you to the rest of my clan.”
Matt nodded and they all climbed into the hummer. She directed him several miles away into a nearby suburb until they reached a large, tall gate surrounding what looked to be a huge estate. The girl punched a code in on the box at the gate and the doors opened and then quickly closed behind them. Inside the driveway stretched for at least a quarter of a mile and the house they came to at the end looked to be a castle. “Holy crap” Scott exclaimed when the house came into view. The girl grinned at him “I know, isn’t it rad?”
After Days Page 8