Stay Out of the Shadows: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller

by A. P. Madden

  Caelan stood up and came around the desk to join Luke at the window.

  “And you’re thinking about how close you came to becoming one of their subjects,” Caelan said.

  Luke glanced at him. “What’s the point of saying anything out loud if you already know what I’m thinking?”

  “Saying it is important. If it stays in your head, it’s a messy, intangible, confusing beast. Putting it into words can help, sometimes.”

  Luke raised an eyebrow at him.

  “What?” Caelan said. “I know things.”

  “Could have fooled me,” Luke said, giving him a weak smile.

  Caelan didn’t buy it. “Saying it to someone helps. It doesn’t have to be me. Writing it would work, too. Do you want a notebook?”

  Luke sighed. “No. I want to go back and change it.”

  Caelan’s voice was soft. “You can’t.”

  Luke saw a bird soaring above the trees, careless and free.

  “I need to do something,” he said, thinking out loud. “By myself, just go off alone for a few days... There must be something - recon, retrieval, a supply run.”

  “No way,” Caelan grunted.

  “Why not?”

  “It’s dangerous, obviously. We can’t afford to lose you.”

  “That’s a nice thought, but you’d get on just fine without me,” Luke said. “I’ll be okay,” he added, seeing the thunderous look on Caelan’s face. “You won’t lose me.”

  “You’ll stay here, inside the walls,” Caelan said firmly.

  “You can’t stop me.”

  “Of course I can.”

  “Are you threatening to throw me in a cell?”

  “If it’s necessary. But no, actually, I have a better idea.”

  “What?”

  Caelan smirked. “Have you told Naomi?”

  Luke frowned.

  “I doubt she’s going to be very happy that you’re running off and putting yourself in danger. Again.”

  “What makes you think she’d care?”

  “Everyone can see the sparks between you two.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “So you won’t care if I call for her right now.”

  Luke glowered at him. “This is low, even for you.”

  Caelan chuckled. “I fight dirty. Let’s go find her, what do you think?”

  “Caelan-”

  A knock on the door interrupted him, and it opened before they responded.

  “Sorry if I’m interrupting,” Naomi said. “I was just looking for- Oh, Luke, there you are.” She stepped inside and closed the door, and Luke gave Caelan a sharp ‘don’t-say-anything’ look.

  “I just ran into Jackson,” Naomi said. “He told me you might be going through something and suggested I come and find you.”

  “He did?”

  “Well, his exact words were something like ‘Luke is upset and he needs a shoulder to cry on.’ Then he walked away. I’m not fluent in Jackson, but I think he was trying to help.”

  Luke gritted his teeth. “I don’t need a shoulder to cry on.”

  “Of course not,” Naomi said. “But if you want to talk, we can.” She glanced at Caelan. “I can come back later if you’re busy right now.”

  “He’s not busy,” Caelan said immediately.

  Luke sighed. Was everyone working against him today?

  “Okay,” Naomi said. “So, Luke?”

  “What?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “You know what I’m asking.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t look fine,” she said.

  “I just said I’m-”

  “He wants to go outside,” Caelan told her. “He needs some space.”

  She frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Caelan looked pointedly at Luke, and he sighed and gave in. “Alright. I have to leave. I need to... I need to figure out what’s going on in my head. I’m going out of the factory for a while, I don’t know how long, but I’ll be back.”

  Naomi frowned. “Out there? It’s dangerous. Take some time in here, take a few days off, whatever. Everyone will understand if you need space. You went through a traumatic experience, Luke.”

  “I can’t, Naomi. I can’t explain it, I just... There are people everywhere in this place. I need to get away from everything for a while.”

  “How long?” she asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “What if something happens to you out there? You could get attacked or trapped or captured-”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “No, you won’t! You’re not thinking clearly, Luke. This is a stupid decision-”

  “So now I’m stupid?”

  “No, but you’re acting like it.”

  He took a deep breath to steady himself against the anger that rose in his chest. “You can’t stop me.”

  “Then I’m coming with you.”

  “You can’t.”

  “Why? Because it’s too dangerous?”

  “Yes,” Luke said.

  “Then you shouldn’t be going out there, either.”

  “It’s not the same thing,” Luke said, dragging a hand through his hair.

  “I can take care of myself,” Naomi said. “Just as much as you can.”

  Luke felt the fragile strands of restraint starting to break. “Naomi-”

  “Luke.”

  He took a few more deep breaths, but he couldn’t calm himself. His body refused to relax. He paced around the room. “I can’t stay here,” he said. “Every time someone talks to me I feel like I’m suffocating. I need to-”

  He stopped as he passed something new on one of the walls. It was a series of red pushpins on one of the maps. They were bright red, the colour Caelan reserved for the most important things.

  “What’s that?”

  Caelan waved a hand dismissively. “It doesn’t matter. We can talk about it later.”

  Luke didn’t budge, and Caelan sighed.

  “We’ve heard stories about one of Morgan’s vehicles making its way east, in our direction.”

  “An attack?”

  “It doesn’t look like it. The car is alone, and from what we’ve heard, the passengers aren’t armed. A woman and some young kids.”

  “That’s strange,” Luke said. “Are you sure she’s coming from Morgan’s camp?”

  “That’s about the only thing we are sure of,” Caelan said. “The rest of the information is secondhand, so we’re can’t be sure about the number of passengers, whether they’re armed or who they are. We haven’t had a chance to send anyone to confirm it, yet. It’s probably just a rumour, but it’s worth checking out. I’m sending out a team tomorrow morning, as soon as the sun rises.”

  Luke examined the map, following the line of pushpins from Morgan’s camp, across the river and past the farmlands.

  Caelan misunderstood his silence, and he sighed. “You’re angry that I didn’t tell you. I didn’t mention it because...” He hesitated. “You haven’t been yourself. You have a lot on your plate right now, and I didn’t want to add to it.”

  “I don’t care,” Luke said. “It sounds perfect.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’ll do it.”

  Caelan frowned. “No, you-”

  “I’m doing it. I’ll be fine. It’s just a recon mission. I won’t engage them if I find them. I’ll just find out what I can and come back, and I can clear my head at the same time.”

  He felt a slight weight lifting off his shoulders, and he knew it was the guilt he felt when he thought he was abandoning the factory for no reason. Now, he actually had a reason. He could do something useful.

  “I thought my luck was going against me, but this couldn’t be better.”

  Caelan was still frowning. “You’re not going.”

  “I definitely am.”

  “No way,” Naomi said. “You’re n
ot going alone.”

  “It’s just recon,” Luke said. “I’ve done it dozens of time before.”

  “Not after an experience like you’ve just had,” Naomi said. “You’re distracted.”

  “I’ll be fine. I’m finding one car, taking a look at the people and then coming back. Simple.”

  “You’re not a tracker,” Caelan said.

  “It’s a car, not a deer. I’ll find it.”

  Caelan was quiet for a few seconds, considering Luke’s suggestion. “Alright,” he finally said.

  Naomi threw her hands into the air. “This is insane.”

  “He’s going anyway,” Caelan told her. “At least, this way, we know where he is. And he’ll be back,” he added, giving Luke a firm look.

  “Sure,” he said.

  Caelan’s eyes narrowed. “Tell me you’ll be back.”

  “I’ll be back,” Luke said.

  “Give me your word.”

  Luke sighed. “You have my word.”

  “Okay. You’ll leave in the morning.”

  “But-”

  Caelan cut him off. “No. You’re not leaving now, it’s getting dark and you won’t be able to find shelter before the mutants come out in droves. Leave in the morning.”

  “Fine.”

  Naomi didn’t look happy. “Do you care about my opinion at all?”

  “Of course I do.” He put his hands on her shoulders and slid down her arms until he was holding her hands. “I’m sorry. I need to do this.”

  She was quiet for a long moment that stretched out until Luke tried to think of something else to say. That guilty feeling was back, and his stomach twisted into a knot around it.

  “Okay,” Naomi said.

  “Wait, really?”

  “Yes.”

  Luke frowned. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure.”

  “Okay. If you say so.”

  She just smiled and turned towards the door. “I’ve got some things to do. I’ll see you around, Luke.”

  The door closed, and Luke frowned at it. “Do you think she’s actually okay with this?”

  Caelan laughed. “Definitely not.”

  ***

  Chapter 26 - Breathing

  Luke was ready to leave before sunrise, but he was forced to wait until the first rays of dawn broke over the horizon. He watched through the windows as a handful of mutants scurried back into the safety of the dark forest. He also thought he saw something big and dark moving around in the depths of the woods. From this distance, it could have been a bear, but he knew better.

  Just to be safe, he waited an extra few minutes for the sky to lighten, and then he set out.

  There was no sign of the big mutant, but he could see smaller creatures scuttling around at the edges of the path. He kept his gun ready and stayed right in the centre of the dirt road.

  He could have waited longer to leave, it might have been safer, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Naomi’s sudden change in opinion. He guessed she was planning to come with him and she knew he would argue if she told him.

  But she couldn’t join him if he was already gone when she woke up.

  Luke quickly slipped into silence. Being away from the factory was good - it gave him space to breathe, to think, to process.

  He didn’t like what he saw.

  Without any distractions, his memories were free to run rampant through his head, stirring up every dark thought and feeling that came with them. He forced himself to think about something else - anything else - but it didn’t work. Maybe being alone wasn’t such a good-

  He heard movement and whirled around with his gun raised.

  “It’s just me,” Naomi said, glancing at the weapon.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I wasn’t letting you go alone.”

  “I told you to stay in the factory.”

  “I told you the same thing. Now we’re both out here.”

  Luke frowned, and then realised he was still pointing the gun at her. “Sorry,” he said and lowered it quickly.

  “No problem. I’m sure I look pretty close to a mutant right now. I’m really not a morning person.”

  Luke chuckled and fell into step beside her. “I get the feeling I won’t be able to change your mind about coming with me.”

  “No, you won’t. Unless you want to turn around and we can both go back-”

  “I don’t.”

  “Then I guess we’re stuck together.”

  Luke glanced at her again, trying to figure her out. He didn’t know why she was so determined to follow him out here, but he did realise something else. When he talked to Naomi, he didn’t feel like he was suffocating.

  Since he came back from the lab, talking to her was the only time he felt like he could breathe.

  ***

  Morning had given way to afternoon, and they were still walking.

  “We should be getting close soon,” Naomi said. She was scanning the map again. Simone had charted the car’s potential route and possible timelines. “Keep an eye out. If we don’t see it soon, we’ll have to consider that the car might have gone down one of the backroads. I don’t see why they’d bother, but it’s possible.”

  Luke grunted a reply, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

  He couldn’t switch his mind off. His thoughts spiralled and bounced from one thing to the next. The lab, the cell, Naomi, Caelan, Jackson, Simone...

  “I should have brought a rifle,” he said.

  Naomi glanced at the gun on his belt. “You have a gun.”

  “It’s too small. If we run into trouble, we’re going to need more firepower.”

  “I guess so, but it’s too late now. We’ll just have to be more careful to make sure we don’t run into trouble.”

  Luke shrugged and tried not to focus on it.

  A few hours later, they came to a small back road that broke off from the main road and looped around to the east. It went in the right direction, so they stopped to take a closer look.

  “Tracks,” Naomi said, pointing.

  “They look like they’re going the right direction,” Luke said. “And they’re fresh. What do you think?”

  “I’m not sure. I don’t really know what I’m looking at.”

  Luke hesitated. “It’s probably her. If it is, then she must have gotten behind us while we on the main road.”

  “Okay, so let’s double back and find her.”

  “It might not be her.”

  Naomi frowned. “But you think it is.”

  He hesitated. “Yeah, I think so. They look fresh. Don’t they? Who else would have come through here recently?”

  Naomi shrugged. “I don’t know, Luke. This isn’t my area of expertise, but what you’re saying makes sense.”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s her.”

  “You fill me with confidence.”

  Luke laughed. “Okay, okay. Let’s follow them.”

  They followed the tracks until dusk began to creep across the sky.

  “That looks promising,” Luke said, pointing to a seemingly abandoned farmhouse up ahead. “What do you think?”

  Naomi nodded. “Better than sleeping in the next unlocked car we find.”

  The gravel road leading from the gate to the house ran beneath several huge apple trees. Luke stepped into the shade, glad to be out of the glare from the setting sun.

  “We should pick some apples after we clear the house,” Naomi said, looking up at them.

  “Good idea,” Luke said. “We used to pick them all the time when we were kids. My grandparents had a few trees in their garden, and we spent every summer there.”

  “That sounds lovely,” Naomi said.

  Luke’s smile faded when he thought about his family. His grandparents didn’t live nearby, and he hoped they had escaped the worst of it when society collapsed. And his brother...

  The faces of the poor victims from Warren’s lab flashed through his mind and his breath caught in his chest. His
brother might have ended up somewhere like that. He didn’t know what happened to him, and the darkest parts of his mind were eager to come up with horrible possibilities. Another Warren, another lab, his brother screaming for help, and Luke wasn’t there to stop-

  The bushes rustled and a mutant leaped out in front of him. It was small but it flexed its claws and snapped its teeth together, and Luke knew it could kill him in an instant.

  He fumbled for his pistol. The beast snarled and sprinted at him, and Luke cursed and stumbled backwards.

  Naomi fired once, and the mutant collapsed.

  “I had it,” Luke said.

  “Sure, you did,” she grinned, walking up to check that the mutant was dead.

  “I did.”

  She turned back to him and frowned when she saw his face. “You didn’t even know it was there, did you?”

  Luke laughed. “Of course I did.”

  Naomi obviously didn’t believe the lie. “It was stalking us since we passed the gate. I assumed you saw it - it was making a lot of noise.” She moved closer and put her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry, I should have said something.”

  Luke didn’t meet her eyes. It was obviously not her fault - the mutant was so obvious that she never imagined he didn’t see it. He couldn’t believe he let himself walk right up to a mutant, and he had no idea it was there.

  “I was just...”

  “Distracted,” Naomi said. “It’s okay. Let’s look inside the house. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find some extra food.”

  Luke sighed and followed her up to the house.

  ***

  A couple of hours after they set out in the morning, they saw smoke over the tree line. It billowed up from the forest, thick and black, coming from one specific place.

  “Probably a couple of miles away,” he guessed.

  “It could be our target,” Naomi said.

  “Could be,” Luke said.

  Naomi was already going towards the smoke, scanning the road ahead, and Luke walked faster to catch up with her.

  He would have preferred to stay off the path when they got to the forest, but they couldn’t risk being attacked by anything lurking in the shadows. If anyone else was walking to or from the site of the fire, they would be completely visible.

  The smoke and crackling sounds of the fire brought them to a clearing. A car was burning in the centre of the space, away from the trees surrounding it. At least, Luke guessed it was a car. It was some kind of vehicle. The flames and smoke obscured most of it, and he could feel the heat on his face even from where they were standing.