The Departed

by Chase McCown

  “We have to find a place to stop, or a car, or something,” Charlie croaked.

  They continued walking for another five or ten minutes before a grayish-blue pickup truck came into view. It sat undamaged in the median.

  “Up ahead,” Howard said, pointing to the truck.

  “I’ll be right back. Stay here, guys.”

  A feeling of uncertainty and apprehension crept over Susan. I shouldn’t have let Howard go by himself, she thought. What if it’s a trap?

  She tried to tell herself that it was only paranoia, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong.

  Howard walked over to the pickup and gave the handle a tug. The door was unlocked and opened easily, and the keys sat in the ignition.

  Howard sat down in the driver’s seat and gave the key a quick turn, and the engine whirred to life.

  “Alright, it looks good! Let’s go!”

  “Hold on,” a voice said from behind his seat.

  Howard’s hair stood on end as he felt cold steel pressed up against the back of his neck, and the voice began again.

  “You’re going to—very slowly—exit this car. Then you’re going to hand me your supplies. After that, we can discuss whether or not I’m going to let you live. Nod if you understand what I’m telling you.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” Howard was cut off.

  “I didn’t ask you to speak. Just nod,” the voice demanded.

  The gun pressed hard into Howard’s neck. Howard nodded slowly.

  “Good. Now, get out of the car slowly. If you try something stupid, I will not hesitate to shoot you.”

  Howard cooperated, and soon the two stood outside of the pickup truck. The stranger kept the gun pressed up against Howard’s skull, using him as a human shield.

  “Listen up!” the voice ordered. “Your friend here is in trouble, but all you have to do to get him out of this in one piece is follow my instructions very carefully.”

  “Don’t listen to him. Just get out of here,” Howard said.

  “Shut up!” the man ordered, pressing the gun harder against Howard’s skull and cocking it.

  “Now,” he said, regaining his composure. “if you fail for any reason to do as I ask, I will shoot this man. Do you understand?”

  The three nodded carefully, searching desperately to find some way to rescue Howard and neutralize the bandit.

  “Carefully stack in front of me all of the weapons and provisions you have with you. Once you’ve done that, I’ll take them, give you your friend back, and leave. Got it?”

  They nodded and began stacking up their gear.

  “Stop,” Howard demanded.

  “Shut up, I said! Don’t make me kill you, old man,” the bandit said.

  “You can kill me if you want, I’ve lived a long enough life, but I won’t be shot in the back like some animal. If you’re going to kill me, you’ll look me in the eyes when you do it,” Howard said.

  He grabbed the man’s gun and spun around, placing the gun on his own forehead and turning to face the man.

  “What’s wrong with you, Howard? It’s not worth it, just let us give him our supplies, and we’ll find a car down the road,” Jacob said.

  “No. You aren’t giving him anything. Not like this. He can kill me if he wants to, but he’ll face me when he does.”

  The man blinked in surprise, then took a firmer grip on the gun and steadied his hand on it.

  He leveled the pistol on Howard’s forehead and prepared to fire, but when his eyes met Howard’s, he faltered.

  He fought to pull the trigger but ultimately cursed aloud before bringing the gun down and sitting on the bed of the pickup truck. He stared at the ground and shook his head in shame.

  “I can’t do it. I just can’t do it.”

  Howard sat down beside the man on the truck. “What’s their names?” he asked.

  “What?” the bandit asked.

  “I don’t know, whoever the supplies are for. Is it your kid?”

  Tears filled the man’s eyes, and he nodded his head. “It’s my daughter. Her name’s Jasmine. She hasn’t eaten in days, and I don’t know how much longer she has left. How did you—”

  “It was just a feeling, I guess. Look, I don’t have much, but I want you to have these.”

  Howard handed the man half of the food and water he had left, and the others—with a little persuading from Susan—did the same.

  “Why?” the bandit asked.

  “It doesn’t matter why. Maybe I’ve seen enough people die already, and maybe I used to have a little girl too, once upon a time. Or maybe I just feel like a little humanity in this troubled world is all we need sometimes. Just take it to your daughter and make sure she eats well tonight.”

  “I will. I promise I will. Thank you.” The man rubbed his eyes before continuing. “You can take the truck. I don’t need it. It still has some gas in it. Bless you, and thanks again.”

  “God bless you,” Howard replied, and the four got into the pickup and drove away.

  After an exhaustive day of driving, running into roadblocks, and having to make several detours to find passable sections of interstate, they came to a stop on the side of the highway.

  “We should try and get some rest,” Howard said. “We’ll start driving again tomorrow.”

  “Howard?” Susan asked.

  “Yes?”

  “It’s still early—the sun’s just begun to set. Do you think we could...talk?”

  “Of course,” he replied, shifting his attention to her.

  “Do you mind if we talk privately?”

  “Oh! Sure, let’s go over here.” The two walked a few yards away and began speaking in hushed tones.

  “What did you want to talk about, Susan?”

  “Well,” she began, “you always seem so…confident. So sure of yourself. Not to say you’re arrogant or half-cocked. You just always seem so calm, even in the worst situations. How do you do that?”

  Howard nodded, and a warm smile spread across his face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a worn, leather Bible. He held it out to her, and after a slight hesitation, she took it from him.

  She flipped through the Bible slowly, not sure what she was looking for. Was there a code? A hidden message of some kind?

  “Are you saved, Susan? Have you accepted Christ into your heart?” he asked.

  “No. To be honest, after what I’ve seen, I’ve always found it hard to put any trust in anything I couldn’t see. Is this really what gives you so much peace?” she asked.

  “It is. You can have it, too, if you ask for it. ‘Ask and you shall receive; Seek, and you shall find; Knock, and it shall be opened to you,’” Howard quoted.

  “Is that in here?” she asked.

  Howard nodded. “If you ever want to talk, I’m always here.”

  Howard walked back to the car, and Susan remained, thinking over what he had said.

  *

  Back at camp, Howard and Jacob began to settle in for the night.

  “Hey, Howard,” Charlie said.

  “Yeah? What is it, Charlie?”

  “I just wanted to say I’m sorry about the way I acted when we first met. You’re a pretty nice guy.”

  “Don’t worry about it. You were just scared. This whole thing has been rough for all of us, but you can’t dwell on the choices you’ve made, Charlie. The past is the past, and we’ve all made mistakes. I’m glad I met up with you guys when I did,” Howard said. “We’d better get some rest, though.”

  “Sure,” Charlie agreed. “Thanks again.

  “No problem.”

  Howard drifted off to sleep quickly, but Charlie sat awake, deep in thought. He considered how much his life had changed in such a short amount of time. For one, he now carried a gun. He would never have even held a gun before, but now he carried one around without even thinking about it.

  Chapter 23

  May 10th, 2025. San Simon, Arizona.

 
; Howard, Charlie, Susan, and Jacob cruised down a lonely section of interstate, hoping to find somewhere they could stop for supplies.

  “I saw a sign a while back that said there was a grocery store up ahead. Hopefully, they have some supplies left,” Howard said.

  “Sounds good,” Jacob said. “We’re almost out of gas, too.”

  “Yeah. Hopefully there’s a gas station nearby as well,” Charlie said.

  They wound their way down a narrow back road which seemed to twist and curve in an unending loop. Just before Howard was going to give up and head back to the interstate, they found the grocery store.

  “Wow, is that it? It’s kind of small. Do you think it still has supplies?” Jacob asked.

  “I hope so. There’s only one way to find out, I guess,” Howard answered.

  Howard parked the truck, and they cautiously got out to investigate the store. The parking lot was empty except for a few deserted cars. There were no infected nearby, at least not that they could see. They crouched down and crept as quietly as they could to the entrance.

  The store appeared to have already been ransacked. Some shelves had been shoved over, leaving food and scraps of paper scattered across the floor. There were also scuff marks in various places on the wooden floor.

  “I hope they still have supplies here,” Jacob said, beginning to worry.

  “I’m sure there’s something left. I mean, there has to be,” Susan reassured them.

  “I guess so,” Jacob said.

  “Let’s split up and see what’s left,” Howard said.

  Susan hated that idea. She still hadn’t been able to shake the bad feeling the dream had given her, and the idea of losing sight of Charlie made her uncomfortable. She wasn’t sure whether she believed he was actually in danger, or if the dreams actually meant anything or not, but she was filled with a sense of uneasiness that she couldn’t seem to move past.

  She didn’t want to sound like a madwoman, so she kept quiet and simply tried to find as much as she could as quickly as she could so that they could leave.

  There wasn’t much there that was salvageable. Most of what Susan found was either expired or trampled on the floor. Empty shelves dominated the store, and she had little hope that there was anything in the store worth taking.

  Then she heard a noise.

  At first, she thought she had only imagined it, but then she heard it again. This time, more clearly than the first.

  It sounded like a hum, or a low growl perhaps, or maybe a moan.

  She still wasn’t sure what it was, but she was sure she’d heard it. She looked around, but all she saw were empty shelves and the walls of the store.

  Then, in the back of the store, she saw something move with a stumbling, shuffling sort of movement.

  Her heart sank.

  She started to head back toward the front of the store, trying to move quietly, but as she began to turn, she could see another shape, and then another. She realized that the four of them were surrounded by infected.

  It was only a matter of time before the creeps spotted one of them.

  Susan walked as quickly and stealthily as she could.

  After a few minutes, she spotted Jacob.

  “Hey Susan, find anything?” Jacob asked.

  “Jacob, go back to the entrance. Don’t run, and don’t say anything,” Susan whispered.

  “What? Why?” Jacob asked in a hushed voice.

  Susan pointed to the creeps that had begun to gather around them, and Jacob gasped in shock.

  “Go back to the entrance. I’m going to look for the others. Don’t let them see you,” Susan warned.

  “I’ll find Howard. I remember seeing him earlier. You go find Charlie,” Jacob said.

  Susan nodded, and the two split up.

  Susan headed back toward the back of the store.

  She crouched down low and snuck along the shelves. She paused to check for the locations of the nearby infected before hurrying across an open area.

  Several times, she thought she had been spotted. A creep would grunt, then pause and look in her direction. Finally, though, it would continue its awkward limping shuffle in another direction.

  Then she saw Charlie.

  He had to have some idea of the current situation because he was crouched down, mumbling to himself.

  “Charlie!” Susan whispered as loudly as she dared.

  He spun around, a look of relief crossing his face. He gestured frantically toward the infected nearby, and Susan nodded back to him.

  “You have to come over to me. We can go back to the entrance.”

  Charlie shook his head violently, not willing to cross the open area between them to reach her.

  “Come on, Charlie! I’ll tell you when to move. Hold on.”

  She looked around at the infected, and when they looked away, she gestured for Charlie to join her.

  At first, he hesitated. He didn’t want to stay where he was, but he certainly didn’t want to move either.

  Finally, he ran toward Susan.

  He kicked a tin can as he ran, though, and felt as if a hundred eyes shot toward him at once.

  A moment later, a roar rose up as the creeps stampeded toward Charlie.

  “Run!” Susan shouted.

  The two took off toward the entrance, weaving and ducking to avoid claws and bites from the infected that came at them. They reached the door, but a large creep stood between them and freedom.

  Susan didn’t hesitate. She plowed into the thing, wrestling it to the ground. She buried her hatchet in the monster’s head, and its eyes grew dark.

  The blade of the hatchet became stuck, however, and Susan was forced to abandon it to escape from the horde.

  Up ahead, she saw Howard and Jacob at the truck waving to them.

  “What happened?” Jacob asked.

  “We stirred up a hornet’s nest in there,” Susan explained.

  “There’s no time! Let’s get out of here!” Charlie shouted.

  The four clamored into the car, and Jacob cranked it up and sped away just as the infected began to reach them.

  They may not have come away with any supplies, but at least they escaped with their lives.

  Chapter 24

  May 10th, 2025. Near the New Mexico state borders.

  “Welcome to New Mexico, Land of Enchantment,” Jacob quoted, reading the passing sign aloud.

  “I used to visit here all the time when I was a kid. We’d drive out every summer to visit my grandparents. I would look forward to that all summer, and now...”

  Jacob shook his head. He stared out the window again, wishing he could have it all back.

  “We’d better resupply. It looks like there’s a supermarket off of this exit. We should check it out,” said Howard, changing the subject.

  The others agreed, and they began the detour to the supermarket. The store sat at the top of a hill that looked out over the rest of the town, and a gas station was attached to it where they would hopefully be able to refuel the truck. They arrived after a few minutes of driving and headed to the front door carefully.

  “Be careful, guys. No telling what we’ll run into in here,” Howard warned. “Just grab whatever you can find. I’ll fill the car up and drive it to the entrance so we can get everything loaded up.”

  *

  The mostly empty shelves provided few options for Jacob. So far, he had found only three cans of soup.

  Loaves of moldy bread didn’t exactly appeal to him, nor did the fruit covered in dark black spots and mushy to the touch from the insects that buzzed around. He had almost given up hope of finding anything of value when he stumbled upon a rack of beef jerky which hadn’t yet been completely plundered.

  “Oh, jerky!” he exclaimed. He rummaged through the rack and came away with an armful, all told.

  “Well, not a bad start,” he noted, examining the contents of his cart. “But, I sure do hope there’s more where this came from, or we won’t get far before we have to resu
pply again.”

  He continued his search, hoping to find more sustenance before leaving to meet Howard.

  *

  Charlie wandered aimlessly through the aisles, searching for water. Up to this point, he had found little more than a few gallons of curdled milk. He also had taken a few boxes of soda that had been lying on the floor in one aisle, but Charlie had found no water.

  Finally, he found the aisle which contained water. There wasn’t much left here, but he was able to find a few cases of bottled water. Charlie figured it should be enough to last the group long enough to reach their next stop.

  *

  Arriving at the sporting goods section, Susan was hopeful that she would be able to find some ammunition. She had only seen empty guns and a few knives so far, however.

  She came across a display case where the store had kept boxes of ammunition. It looked as if someone had already plundered the display, and Susan feared she would come away empty-handed.

  She was about to give up her search when she found a door that was ajar in the back of the department. She opened the door and entered slowly, groping around as her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the windowless side room.

  Susan stumbled over something in the darkness, but when she regained her footing and turned on her flashlight, she saw cases of ammunition stacked neatly on shelves all around her.

  She took what ammo the group needed and headed back to the front of the store.

  *

  Howard drove the car toward the gas pump to refuel.

  As he grew closer, however, he saw the dark silhouette of a creep pacing back and forth near the gas pumps.

  I’d better take that thing out quietly. I don’t want to attract any unwanted attention.

  He slid his combat knife out of its sheath and got out of the truck. After closing the door, he ducked down to a crouch, sneaking up to the infected as silently as he could.

  He needed to wait for just the right moment to strike as the creep paced back and forth to avoid being seen. Several times it stopped, just staring in his direction. Howard stayed out of sight and closed in to within a few feet of the infected.