by Jack Hunt
“Not so far. You?”
“Just a few.”
We kept moving through the neighborhood going house to house. Though now we were even more cautious than before. We had cleared eight and found several dead bodies. The violent nature of those that murdered was becoming even more evident. They weren’t just into shooting people but inflicting pain and at times humiliating them. Some of the dead were covered in feces, and the smell of urine was strong. Others had their hands tied, and their faces mutilated before being stabbed to death. Old, young, it didn’t matter to them. It was a pack mentality and like savage wolves who were starving, they tore their victims apart while leaving a bloody trail behind them.
“You think we should pair off? We could cover more ground.”
“No, it’s too dangerous,” Murphy said. “We stick together.”
“I’m starving.”
“The next house we enter, see what you can find, but make it quick.”
The door was slightly ajar on the next home. As with the previous houses Murphy went in first. Once clear we entered the kitchen and began rooting around the cupboards for anything to eat. Corey grabbed up a box of cereal and scooped handfuls into his mouth then washed it down with water. Billy found five cans of peaches. He tore the tops open and devoured them while I searched inside the fridge. It smelled a little. It wouldn’t take long before all the food in the stores would expire, then what? We hadn’t even had a chance to think about the basics. We lived from moment to moment fully expecting to be attacked.
“Do you think they’ll eventually move on once they see their group dwindling?” Billy asked.
“No,” Murphy said. “Being as they went to great lengths to kill a shitload of people, I expect they are ready to die if need be. They are in this for the long haul.”
Billy scooped a few fingers into a can. Peach juice dripped down the side of his mouth.
“So are we going to have to kill them all?”
Murphy scoffed. “I hope not.”
I slammed the fridge closed feeling frustration at the entire situation. We were nothing but puppets being led around by the nose. For the first time since this had started I was beginning to see how war could change a person. The lack of sleep, the hunger, the moments of terror and the images of horror could send a person over the edge. And we had just begun.
“A month, I don’t think I could handle another week,” I said.
Murphy kept an eye on the corridor. “You’ll adjust. Right now you’re not used to this. Your mind is telling you one thing. It will soon settle down.”
“You make it sound like an addiction.”
He chewed off a piece of bread that had been sitting on the counter. It was stale and there was even some funky purple fur growing on the side of it, however, it didn’t seem to faze him.
“That’s because it is an addiction. You have spent the last seventeen years of your life on a diet of ease. Warm beds, hot showers, an abundance of food, more technology than you know what to do with it. Pull away from all of that and your mind doesn’t know what to do.”
“Are you telling me you didn’t have a cellphone?”
“No, I did but I wasn’t attached to it the way some folks are. It’s all about balance. People don’t know what to do with themselves if you take away their gadgets and toys. That’s because their identity is intrinsically wrapped up in that next email, that next post, that next… fill in the blanks.”
Suddenly, Murphy tossed the bread on the ground and got a real serious look on his face.
“Get down and stay quiet.”
We didn’t argue with him. We dropped down and listened intently. What had he seen or heard? He signaled for us to back away from the kitchen opening. There was a moment of silence then we heard a door creak open and glass crunch beneath shoes. Whoever it was, there was more than one of them. All four of us had our weapons aimed at the doorway to the kitchen. The footsteps got closer. The moment I saw a leg come into view I pushed Billy’s gun down.
“Sara?”
“Murphy.”
We all got up and Sara hugged Murphy. Behind her were two of the older women that I’d seen from City Hall.
“Where’s Ally?”
“I don’t know. It all happened so fast. We heard three knocks at the back door of City Hall and thought it was you guys, when we opened all chaos broke out. There were three skinheads. We managed to kill one of them but the other two ran off. We assumed they would come back with others so we ventured out hoping to find you guys or another place to hide. Then we ran into more of them and somehow we got separated.”
She had tears in her eyes when she was recalling what had taken place.
“Where did you last see her?”
“In the west end over on King Street.” Sara looked around. “Where are the others?”
“They are north of here.”
Murphy got on the radio. “McCabe.”
He came on the line. “Go ahead.”
“We have found Sara and a couple of others. Seems the rest are in the west end. You might as well work your way back down. We’ll meet up at the Stardust Motel.” When he got off the radio he motioned for us to get going.
“What about your daughter?”
“I’m going down there, I want you guys to keep an eye on Sara.”
“No, let us do this. Take Sara back.”
“Are you joking?” Murphy said to me.
“I get it, Murphy. Trust me. I’ll take Corey and Billy. We’ll be there and back before you know it. Besides,” I glanced over to the older women, “they’ll just slow us down.”
“Let them do it,” Sara said. It was clear that she was terrified.
He cast a glance at them, looked at us for a minute or two and then handed us the radio. “Be sure to stay in contact. You understand?”
“We’re not dumb,” Billy said.
Corey chuckled and Billy jabbed him in the side with his elbow
With that said, Murphy led Sara and the two women out the door. Murphy handed Sara a Glock and she just released the magazine, checked it and slapped it back in as though she had been around guns all her life.
We waited until they were gone before we ventured out. Threading our way through backyards, we decided to head into the forest that surrounded the town. It would make it easier to get across to the west side without being spotted. I focused on the trail ahead of us while Corey kept his eyes on the left and Billy focused on the right.
“What do you think they will do to her if they already have her?”
“Shut up, Billy,” I said.
“Just saying.”
“Yeah, for once keep your mouth closed.”
“Whatever.”
The forest floor was thick with vegetation. It was like wading through a green river. All that could be seen for miles were pine trees. In the local museum there were photos that dated way back to the time of silver mining. Mount Pleasant just looked like a speck among the surrounding greenery. If a plane went down it would take people weeks to find it, and that was if they were lucky. The forest was as dense as it was vast.
King Street ran south away from the town, then merged with Placer Creek Road. When we reached the edge of the trees and could see the homes, all three of us had our game faces on. It was quiet, we weren’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
I dashed across the street and took cover behind an RV. I kept my hand raised and then motioned for the other two to join me once the coast was clear. King Street had homes on either side along with small apartment blocks. We began at the corner of High Street and worked our way down.
“I say we split up. There’s too many. At least we stand a better chance of finding her and the others.”
“There’s only three of us.”
“So I’ll go alone,” Billy said acting all confident.
I shook my head. “No, we need to stick together. Like Murphy said.”
“Murphy ain’t here.”
“More reas
on to stick together,” I said.
Billy scowled. “Who put you in charge?”
“I’m older than you, dick.”
“What, by a year? Big deal.”
“Well, five years if we take your mental age,” Corey said.
I chuckled.
“I’m out of here.” With that Billy double-timed it across the road.
“Go with him.”
“No, if he wants to go by himself and get shot, let him.”
“Corey.”
He sighed and dashed across the road. When they were out of view I entered an apartment block. It wasn’t big. There were two apartments on the second floor that could only be reached by stairs on the outside of the building. Inside there were five apartments. There was no doubt about it, I was taking a big risk going in there by myself. For all I knew it could have been full of skinheads still asleep. I slung the AR-15 around my back and took out the Glock. I went to the first door and turned the handle ever so slightly. It was locked. I repeated the same with the next. The third door opened. It made a slight creak. Inside it was dark, humid and smelled musty. The curtains were drawn. The smell was atrocious. I placed a hand over my mouth and kept my gun close to the side of my body. All I could make out was the silhouette of furniture. It was a single bachelor pad with one bedroom, a washroom and a kitchen that joined the living room. I could vaguely make out the shape of two people on the couch. I shuffled over to the curtain and eased it back, just enough to get a better view.
I wished I hadn’t.
Hunched over on the couch were two adults in their early forties. The man had both of his eyes removed and his throat slit. The woman’s clothes had been torn from her body and she was slumped over the end of the couch with her naked rear end facing upward. I didn’t even want to dwell on what they had done to her. Both weren’t moving.
Horrified, I exited there quickly, trying to push the images of depravity from my mind. Outside the sun cast its warm light down. I went house to house checking for survivors. By the looks of things people had fled as most of the homes were abandoned.
The sixth property had people inside. If the teenage son hadn’t recognized me, I was sure my brains would have been all over the floor. I had entered and silence permeated the house. I was in the middle of checking the fridge when I felt the cold gun barrel pressed against the back of my head.
“Put the gun on the ground and don’t look around.”
“Okay, okay. Don’t shoot. I’m not here to start trouble.”
“Yeah, that’s why you have been killing people in our neighborhood.”
“You’ve got it wrong. That wasn’t me.”
“Don’t bullshit me, boy.”
“I swear.”
I went to turn my head and he smacked me hard with the butt of his gun. I fell to the floor.
“I told you. Don’t look around.”
“Dad, I know him.”
I looked up and saw a kid by the name of Tom Barrington. He was a jock in the school. One of those kids who spent all his time on the football field and talking about the latest game.
“Tom?”
He crouched down and helped me up.
“I don’t care whether you know him. Look at him. He’s one of them.”
“Sir, I swear. I know how this looks but…”
“Dad, he got sent away to Murphy’s camp.”
“Murphy? Do you know where he is?”
“He was the one that sent me to find his daughter.”
They helped me to a seat and got a cloth for the cut on the side of my face. I brought them up to speed on what occurred.
“Bastards took my wife. I haven’t seen her. She wasn’t with your group, was she?”
“She might be there. There were a number of people at City Hall. I don’t know all of them.”
Despite it being a small town, I didn’t know everyone in it. I’d only been there two years. But in that time it seemed as if my reputation preceded itself but for all the wrong reasons. Tom’s father didn’t trust me. He kept his gun on me while I downed a glass of water.
“Look, all I can say is it’s probably best to hang tight where you are. There are others in the town fighting back. We’ve heard them but who knows how many have died.”
“Do you know how this happened?”
“Not exactly.”
“What do you mean? You are one of them.”
Tom’s father grabbed my wrist that had the tattoo of the swastika.
“It was a mistake.” I yanked my wrist away.
“Really? Funny how you say that now that you have a gun pointed at your head.”
“Oh, Dad, give it a rest. He’s not going to do shit.” Tom looked at me. “Are you?”
“I need to go. I have to find Ally.”
“We saw her.”
“You did?”
“Last night. She was among a whole group that were being chased by them.”
“And you didn’t think to help?”
“There was nothing we could do. They’ve been killing people in the middle of the streets. I watched my neighbor get his head stomped. I’ve already lost my mother.”
“She might still be alive, just hiding. Which way did you see them go?”
Tom pointed.
I got up and Tom’s father reluctantly handed my guns back. As I made my way to the back door, Tom’s father spoke. “Hey, kid, I’m sorry about your head.”
With my head throbbing I started heading south. I was about to head into a residence when I heard a whistle. I turned to see Billy on the other side of the road. He gestured as if to say they hadn’t found them. I had cleared two houses before I came to the old people’s residence. A one-story red brick building with the doors covered in spray paint. Some of the wire-meshed windows had been busted out. I hesitated wondering whether to go in or not.
As I got closer to the door I saw dry blood covering the handle. I pulled it back and noticed even more blood covering the ground. It looked as though someone had been dragged inside. Cautiously I stepped in and made sure to not let the door bang behind me. It was dark inside, except for the areas where daylight seeped in. In the lobby was a front desk, a basement elevator off to the right and a waiting area. The floors were tiled and the carpets were flowery.
I tucked the Glock inside my waistband and pulled the rifle around. I had a bad feeling about this. I glanced back at the main entrance contemplating joining Corey and Billy across the street. I blew out my cheeks and pressed on. On the wall was an outline map indicating where the apartments, the laundry area and game room were. The whole place smelled like rotten cabbage and bedpans. I moved quickly down the corridor in a sideways motion so I could keep an eye on both ends of the corridor. Every time I opened a new door, I had this sinking feeling in my stomach that the next one would have someone with a gun behind it.
After checking six rooms I was starting to think that the entire town had upped and left. Then it dawned on me. We had been away in the wilderness when the terror attacks had started. Was it possible that many of the people had left town after the power went down but before things kicked off? I shook my head. No, maybe younger families might have retreated but not the elderly. Where could they have taken them?
I was inside a room when I heard voices. Whoever it was went right past the room I was in. Laughter broke out and then the sound of a can being kicked over.
“Give me the cigarettes.”
“You should have seen the look on her face when I told her she was going to be spending the night with me.”
“So how was it?”
“Oh, she wrestled a little but I actually think she got into it in the end.”
I pulled the door back ever so carefully. I peered out between the crack and couldn’t see anyone. Right then I heard their voices again as they walked back the other way. I closed the door and waited until they had gone by before looking out. Sure enough, there were two skinheads smoking in the main lobby. I waited until they disappeared a
round the corner before I ventured out. Get the hell out of here, I thought. My pulse raced faster. I rushed down the corridor and came around the corner. I had made it about halfway down the corridor when I heard more voices. I tried the next door but it was locked. I moved along and tried three more but those were locked. I couldn’t believe it. Here I was about to go toe-to-toe in a retirement home.
As I shouldered the next door and it didn’t open, I raised the rifle in preparation. That’s when the door behind me opened. It happened so quickly, a hand went over my mouth and I stumbled backwards.
SHIVER
Caught off balance, all I could feel was a hand, the door closed and that’s when I saw her. “Keep it down. They are everywhere.”
“Ally.”
“How the hell did you get in here without being seen?”
“I just used the main entrance.” I cast a glance around the room. “Where are the others?”
“We all ran in different directions last night. My mother, have you—”
“She’s with your father.”
A look of relief washed over her face.
“Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Whatever,” I said, walking into the room and looking around. It was basically a small apartment for an elderly couple. A simple living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. The walls were covered in some flowery wallpaper. Red string hung from various places around the apartment. It was to be pulled in the event that someone fell.
Ally scowled. “What’s that mean?”
“You are like your father. Oh forget it. I need to get you out of here.”
She frowned. “You. Get me out of here?”
We waited a few minutes until the voices outside died down.
“How long have you been in here?”
“I’ve been moving around most of the night.”
“Why not just go out the window?”
“Because I’m not leaving without Kiera.”
“Kiera Shaw?”
“Yeah,” she replied while she cracked the door a little to take a look.
“Kate Shaw. Officer Shaw’s daughter?”
“Please tell me my father is nearby and he didn’t send just you to find me.”