They all shook hands. “What’s going on, Kevin?” Joe asked, “What are you doing here?”
Kevin was looking past Joe. “Are those friends of yours?”
Joe turned around. A group of three men were walking towards them, led by Rafael Javier. The same Latino that had pummeled Joe at the jail.
“Hola, hermanos, I see you found me some transportation.”
Tank spoke to his friends. “You guys better get in the jeep.”
“What about you?” asked Joe.
“I’ll be right there.” He stood with his legs apart, and his hands clasped behind his back in front of the jeep. Ben jumped in the back, Joe sat in the front, and Kevin got behind the wheel.
Tank stood unwavering as the four men approached and stood in front of him.
“You need to tell your friends to get out of that vehicle, and then nobody will get hurt,” said Rafael.
“I’m sure there are many other vehicles. You need to go find your own,” Tank responded.
Before Rafael could react, Tank punched him in the throat. He gasped for air clutching his throat as he fell to the ground. The three men behind him paused in disbelief. This gave Tank the second he needed to punch the first man in the stomach. The second man took a swing, and Tank ducked and came up with an uppercut to the man’s nose. The last man managed to hit Tank on the side of the head, knocking him over. The man swung back to kick Tank while he was down, but Tank deftly kicked at the side of the man’s knee. There was a cracking sound as his leg bent sideways, and he fell sideways in pain. Tank jumped up and ran around to the side of the jeep and got in beside Ben.
Rafael was on his knees clutching his throat. His three friends weren’t in any better shape. One of the men was trying to catch his breath. One was trying to stop the bleeding from his nose, while the other was screaming in agony while grasping his dislocated knee.
Kevin started the jeep and drove down the road away from their ephemeral prison.
“That was crazy!” said Ben. You’re like Jackie Chan except your what, Russian?”
“I’m Canadian, but I was born in Ukraine.”
“Well that was incredible, where did you learn to fight like that.”
“Army and MMA.”
“What? You’re a mixed martial artist? I went to an MMA show once. One of my clients gave me tickets. I think his name was Kevin, just like our fearless rescuer here – wait a minute, how and why are you here, Kevin?”
“That is something I too would like to know,” said Joe.
Kevin gave them a brief synopsis of how he had met Garret and had convinced him to drop the charges. He told them how he had tried and failed to get information from the police and how he had met Zach, Ayesha and Blender and Laurel. How they had all moved into a big mansion near Commerce City. He gave him the news of his friend Laurel’s passing and how he had handed his letter to one of the guards.
“I went to the jail to try to visit you again, yesterday. I arrived just as those blue buses pulled in. I was told that you were all being moved to a larger facility, but they wouldn’t say where. I raced back to tell Monique. She agreed that I should follow you to find out where they were taking you.”
They drove on as Kevin relayed the story. “It was difficult to get through the new military checkpoints they are setting up. I assume they are quarantining every town in hopes of stopping the spread of the Scourge. I followed the buses all the way here. I almost lost sight of them at the last checkpoint. They were just starting to set up that checkpoint when I drove through. I don’t think it’s going to be so easy to get back.”
Joe turned to him. “Why? Why did you go through all of that just for me? We’ve only met once. You hardly know me?”
A light armoured vehicle drove through the intersection in front of them.
“Because that’s what Jesus would do – he would go after the lost sheep,” he responded. They drove down the almost empty streets.
From the back, Ben spoke up. “Are you one of those Bible thumpin’ Jesus freaks?”
“I try to be a good Christian, yes.” He maneuvered the jeep around a pickup truck that had grey smoke streaming from the hood.
Three armoured vehicles passed by them going the opposite direction.
“I knew a Christian once,” said Ben. “Actually, he was a Mormon. He tried talking to me about some Joseph Smith guy who had a vision. He believed in modern-day prophets, but he never warned me of an impending virus that was going to kill everyone. He died at the very start of the Scourge on his birthday of all days. Do you believe that? I thought…”
“Okay Ben, stop already,” Joe called to the back. “Kevin, where are we going?”
“We are going shopping. You guys are going to need something a little warmer. We could be getting a cold snap soon, and I would hate to come all this way to save you, only to have you die of pneumonia.”
Chapter 22
Monique looked out the window as Blender pushed the snow off the driveway with the ATV. Monique made Ayesha and Zach help keep the house clean and tidy, while Blender looked after the meals. She hadn’t heard from Kevin since he left to follow the prison buses. She hoped he was okay.
Once the first snow fell, she told Blender to find something in the garage to plow it. He grumbled and complained until he found an ATV with a plow attachment. He was having a lot of fun driving fast down the laneway. When he came in, he had a big grin on his face.
“Was that fun?” asked Monique.
“Yes, it was. When you have the right toys, anything can be fun.” He took his boots, coat and gloves off. “I saw something outside the gate.”
“What?”
“Tracks. I’ve rarely seen anyone on this road, but today when I plowed outside the gate, I saw tracks. They were tire tracks from a vehicle that pulled to the side of the road near the entrance. I also found several boot prints leading up to the gate.”
Monique rocked Olivia gently. “Okay, thanks for telling me.”
“No, problem. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.”
An hour later, Monique put the baby down for her nap and joined the others for dinner.
“We need to have better home security,” said Monique as she scooped some cream corn on her plate. “There may be other people that want this house to themselves, so we need to be ready. Blender, have you found any guns in this house?”
“No, and I’ve looked everywhere. All I’ve seen for weapons are some golf clubs and a fire poker.”
“Zach, are there any security cameras outside that we can tap into?” she asked.
“There are some security cameras, but I can’t hack into them. I think they have an encrypted password,” he answered.
“Tomorrow, I need two of you to go into Commerce City and get some security cameras and a gun.”
Zach stared at her with his mouth agape. “Really? Can we find some chocolate too?”
“You,” Monique pointed at Zach, “are in charge of getting the cameras. We need to have at least one for the backyard, one for the front yard and one at the front gate. We’ll need a lot of cables to run from the house to the front gate…”
“No, we can use a wireless camera, but we might need an extender to reach that far,” said Zach.
“Blender is going to have to find a gun.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” he asked.
“Things are falling apart out there and you might have to get creative,” she said.
The next morning Blender and Zach took the white pickup truck from the garage into Commerce City. Every time they drove into the city, which was usually once every two weeks, things seemed to be getting worse. More stores were either boarded up or closed. Fewer people were walking or driving. Credit and debit cards were useless, and cash was becoming less valuable. The government and the police services seemed to have dissolved. The only sign of order in the chaos was the military. There was some looting, but because the population had been decimated, some businesses remained un
touched. Fresh food was in short supply, and many other necessities were dwindling as nothing new was being produced.
Occasionally, outside some businesses and homes, there were black flags. They were made of different materials, including ribbons, shirts, towels, socks and rags. They were on mailboxes, handrails, doorknobs and sometimes eavestroughs. There wasn’t a lot of them, but they were all black. On previous visits to the city, they had been told that the black ribbons and flags were to signify that there was a dead body inside.
“Have you noticed how many military vehicles there are?” asked Zach.
“Yeah, I guess, why?”
“Every time we come to the city, there is less traffic, fewer people, but more military. Why do you think that is?”
“I guess the government is using the military to help keep society together.”
“Maybe.”
They drove into the city. The roads were not plowed, but fortunately not much snow had fallen.
“Where are we going to get a gun?” Zach asked.
“Let’s get your camera’s first, and worry about the gun later. Where do you suggest we find these cameras?”
“I remember a Best Buy near the stadium,” said Zach.
“Weren’t the front doors all smashed in? I’m sure the place has been looted.”
“Maybe, but we just need a couple of WiFi cameras. They couldn’t have taken everything.”
“Look at that,” said Blender pointing at the side of the road. A large transport truck was overturned on the side of the road. The back end was open, and it was empty inside, but there were lumps under the snow. “What do you think was in that truck?”
“Maybe pigs or cows,” said Zach.
“How do you know that?”
“It’s a livestock trailer, and those lumps are the animals that died when the truck crashed. I assume the vultures picked them clean.”
“You’re smart for an 11-year-old.”
“I’m 12 and a half.”
Blender drove the pickup to the Best Buy and parked near the door. The windows were smashed in, and the interior was a mess. The snow had blown in through the window, and there was a light blanket of white on the store’s tiled floor.
“Are those hoof prints?” asked Zach, pointing to the prints in the snow.
“Maybe it’s a deer,” said Blender, “Let’s just find these cameras. This place gives me the creeps.”
Many of the shelves were overturned, and electronic devices were strewn across the floor. It was slow going, as they had to push items aside to get through. The lights were all off, but the light from outside was enough to see where they were going. They made it to the back of the store with the large screen televisions.
“We’ve gone too far,” said Zach.
“What’s that noise?” Said Blender.
Zach stopped and listened. There was a noise from the laptop section. It was grunting, and it was getting louder.
“Is that a pig?” asked Blender. “Maybe we can take it home so I can make some braised pork in sweet soy sauce.”
Zach started to back up. “That pig has been out here for at least two months, and it may be feral.”
“What are you talking about? It’s a little pig.” Blender started walking towards the grunting. “Here piggy, piggy, piggy…”
Out of the shadows, the pig emerged. It was big, black, hairy, and had two long tusks. It stared at Blender with its beady black eyes and then charged, making loud squealing and grunting noises. Blender screamed, turned, and ran towards Zach, who had already climbed on top of an empty shelving unit. The pig ran straight at the shelving unit, almost knocking the two of them off. As they watched, the pig rammed the rack a few more times and then paced around the rack.
“What now?” asked Blender with a look of terror on his face.
“Are you scared of a wittle piggy?” asked Zach in a mocking voice.
“That is not a little piggy. That is a wild boar!”
“It’s a feral pig,” Zach said, smiling. “You need to distract the pig by running that way.” He pointed to the left.
“Why, what are you going to do?”
“I need to go this way,” he pointed to the right, “and find the cameras.”
“So, you want the pig to chase me so you can go shopping?” asked Blender.
“Well, we can’t sit here all day. Besides, are you going to be the one to tell Monique that we couldn’t get the cameras because of a little pig?”
“Fine, but if I get killed by this raging boar, I’m blaming you.”
Blender waited till the pig wasn’t looking in their direction. He jumped off the rack and ran. The pig turned and charged after him.
Zach climbed down and quietly made his way to the security camera section. He could hear crashing and loud banging from the other side of the store as the pig chased Blender around the store.
“Hurry up, Zach, I can’t do this all day!” Blender yelled.
Finally, Zach found what he was looking for and made his way to the front of the store.
“Let’s go, Blender!” he yelled and ran towards the car. Behind him Blender ran out of the store, but slipped on the snow-covered tile at the front of the store, landing on his butt. He made it back to his feet just as the pig came charging at him from behind. He ran towards Zach, yelling, “Start the car! Start the car!”
He made it safely to the car and shut the door. The pig snorted, shook its head and ran off.
“I hope you found what you were looking for,” said Blender
Zach held up three boxes. “Yes, I did!”
As they were driving out of Commerce City, the pickup truck sputtered and died.
“We’re out of gas, aren’t we?” Asked Zach.
“Well, there aren’t many gas stations open anymore, and I wasn’t paying attention. Let’s get out and walk. Maybe we can find another vehicle.”
They started walking down the slushy street towards a small subdivision. “One of these houses must have a car,” said Blender.
“Is that a cop car?” asked Zach. Past the next intersection, a police car was pulled over to the side of the road, beside a small church. There wasn’t much snow on the car, so they knew it couldn’t have been there very long.
They walked up to the side of the car and knocked on the fogged up window. They could see a figure on the inside. Blender slowly opened the door. The man inside was dead. Ribbons of dried blood snaked down his shirt from his mouth and nose.
“That’s so gross!” said Zach.
“Maybe we should let someone know about this,” suggested Blender.
“What are you going to do, call the cops?” asked Zach.
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do,” said Blender as reached across the dead policeman and grabbed the radio. “Hello, come in, anybody there?”
After a few seconds, a voice came on. “This is dispatch. Who is this? Over.”
“Um…this is Blender…I mean Sherman Waters. I found one of your guys, and he’s dead.”
“Say ‘over’,” said Zach.
“Right. We have a dead policeman here, over.”
“Are you in need of immediate assistance, over?”
“No, we’re fine, over.”
“Please put a black flag or cloth in a visible location and someone will pick up the body, over and out.
“That’s it?” said Blender.
“They said over and out, so I guess that’s it.”
“Do you think we can move him into that church?” asked Blender.
“Maybe, why?”
“Because, then we can use his car.”
Zach pointed at the policeman’s sidearm. “I found your gun.”
Blender removed the belt containing the pistol and put it behind the seat in the pickup.
They each grabbed an arm and dragged the body out of the car, down the sidewalk and up the steps of St. Edmund Catholic Church. The body was heavy, but slid easily over the fresh snow. By the time they got to
the entrance of the church, they were both out of breath. The doors were not locked, and they pulled the body inside. As soon as the doors opened, a wave of putrid air hit them.
“Whoa! What is that smell?” asked Zach. They both covered their noses and walked into the sanctuary. The pastor lay crumpled on the steps of the podium with a bible clutched in his grasp. There were a dozen bodies strewn across the pews.
Blender looked at Zach. “Let’s get out of here.”
On the way out, Blender ripped down one of the black curtains and hung it on the church sign.
They looked at each other. “What do you think,” asked Blender, “should we trade our vehicle in for one with a siren?”
“Oh yeah!”
As they drove back to the mansion, Zach tried the sirens and the lights as Blender drove and laughed. Zach went to touch the shotgun between the seats, but Blender stopped him. “That’s only for the adults, Zach,” said Blender.
When they got back to the mansion, they parked the car in the garage and brought their finds into the house. Monique shook Blender’s hand. “I’m glad you made it back safely.”
“Thanks,” he said.
Ayesha gave Zach a quick hug, which he returned. Then the four of them talked excitedly in the living room as the dog sniffed Zach and Blender.
Blender inspected the pistol.
“I see you found a gun,” she said.
“The gun was the easy part,” said Zach, “ask him about the little piggy he had to run away from.”
“You were chased by a pig?” asked Ayesha.
“It was a wild boar and twice the size of Roxie,” said Blender, “with razor-sharp tusks and it was as mean as a junkyard dog.”
Zach laughed. “It was a feral pig.”
“Shush!” said Blender, “I’m telling the story.”
Monique smiled as Ayesha listened intently.
“As Zach here was leisurely shopping for cameras, I was risking my life,” he continued. “It was grunting and growling…”
“Squealing,” corrected Zach.
“Yes, it was squealing too. It sounded like the death screams of an angry demon. Its eyes were red with rage as it charged towards me. I raced out of the store with the speed of a man being chased by the devil. I dashed back to the truck with the boar’s teeth gnashing at my heels. If it weren’t for my brave sacrifice, we would never have made it out of there alive.”
Black Flag | Book 1 | Surviving The Scourge Page 13