The Devil Dog Trilogy: Out Of The Dark

by Boyd Craven III

  At first, I was all for it. But the more I talked to Luis, the more I realized how ill-equipped he was for this kind of journey, and I was already taking two greenhorn women with me. I thought Chicago was bad, but recovering working radios from the Russian crew at the warehouse near the wharf had been very enlightening. I’d quickly figured out what channels the cargo ship had switched to and had hailed them a time or two, inviting them to come out and visit. They didn’t feel like it since we’d had people positioned as snipers all around them.

  I personally didn’t know what was in the containers, but by the sound of it, they had a hold full of grain and long rectangular crates full of goods. They could probably stay on the ship forever, except the remaining citizens of this shithole town were angry at them and by now knew who’d been buying up the women and children. For what, we could only imagine the worst. So yesterday Mel woke me up with the news that the cargo ship was sailing north towards northern Michigan, Wisconsin, etc. I wasn't surprised.

  There was no good plan to take down the ship that I could come up with, not without being torn to pieces, so those on the ship would have to stay and I would have to resign myself to the fact that I’d done the most I could. I had told the group to put somebody on coms and warn the Great Lakes region about the ship and the men it carried, but I wasn’t planning to stick around long, so I left that up to Salina.

  “Hey Dick, you ready to say your goodbyes?” Mel asked me.

  I had been staring off into the shattered skyline of the Windy City when she’d walked up. She looked like how I imagined my daughter to be. Half-grown, just starting to become a woman. Still, she wasn’t my Maggie. I hadn’t slipped up as much lately, and to be honest. Living aboveground for almost a month now had really done a lot to clear out my mental fog. I didn’t know if it was the effects of the sunlight, but I never missed a sunrise and sunset if I could help it. It was turning nighttime, and the sun was setting now.

  “Not yet. I promised Mouse one more hug and a kiss.”

  “Mom’s over there too. Salina had some last-minute stuff to trade. Walk with me there?” Mel asked.

  “You know the rules, you don’t go anywhere without a grownup,” I told her, realizing she must have done just that.

  “She wasn’t alone.” I heard Luis’s voice from over my shoulder.

  “Good,” I said, turning and offering him my hand. “For a second there I thought the world had gone back to normal, and everybody forgot to tell me.”

  “No, it’s still messed up. You’re still looking like Mad Max, though,” Courtney’s voice answered from a shadow.

  She stepped out into the light and walked towards us, carrying an AK-47 I’d originally looted from one of the smaller gangs. How she’d got Jeremy to trade for one was a mystery and something I wasn’t going to stick my nose into. Danielle was now Jeremy’s woman, and if I asked too many pointed questions, I was liable to stir a pot best left to simmer. Naw, on second thoughts, it couldn’t have been anything like that. He probably gave it to her because she’d be coming with us. He was a good boy, not quite as wary as I’d have liked him to be, but at eighteen he was a man now. Well, at least, a young one.

  “I wear my guns for quick access; you’re doing the same thing.”

  Luis smirked. “Yeah, we’re all loaded for bear for this trip, and Salina is putting together a care package. I just worry how much we can carry, you know?”

  “I do,” I told him and stood. “Let’s get going. I want to move out when it gets dark.”

  “You’ve only got two pairs of night vision goggles though,” Courtney said.

  “Figure that’s all I’ll need. I’ll wear one pair, Luis the other, and the girls can follow us. I don’t think we’ll need them much after we clear West Chicago. Then it’s just the big cities. I still don’t feel comfortable taking to the road.”

  “It’s the fastest way though,” Courtney whispered.

  Coming close, I could see the marks of her abuse were mostly healed. Gone were the bruising and scabs from the cigarette burns that had dotted her. Instead, there were small white puckered scars that looked like they could have come from a mild case of acne, if you even noticed them. You’d have to be looking for them. But the fierce woman still exuded a savage aura.

  “I know,” I admitted. “I’m just worried we’re buying more trouble by going that way,” I admitted.

  “We’ve been over this, man,” Luis said.

  “Yeah, let’s go.” I started walking, knowing they would follow me.

  I found Salina at the market, but not before I had to walk through security. A man with a cast on his wrist grunted, and his good hand gripped the stock of his double barrel shotgun tightly. It sent danger signals running through my brain, and I was about to draw on him when he let out a breath and relaxed. On closer inspection, I realized he’d been the one who’d tried to knife me when Jeremy was in the brawl with the pickpocket.

  “How’s your hand?” I asked him, a smirk on my face.

  “Doc says it should heal fine. I don’t have the jack to get the cast off though, no thanks to you.”

  “Jack?” I asked him, confused.

  “Jack, goods… you know, when you don’t have shit, you’ve got jack shit? Jack?”

  “I guess that makes sense,” I told him. “How much she want for taking the cast off?”

  “I don’t know, I’m working here to see if I can save up for it.”

  “Well, I guess you could always use a hacksaw when it’s time,” I told him. “Hopefully you’ll think about who you’re fucking with when you pull a knife on them.” My words were cold, and I meant every bit of it.

  I had debated killing him for half a nanosecond when I was in the moment but instead I’d just busted him up enough to keep him out of the fight I was breaking up. In a rare fit of charity, I’d had Salina cast him at my own expense. I must be getting old and soft.

  “Ok, we’re just saying our goodbyes and then blowing town.”

  “Which way you headed?” he asked.

  That question raised my eyebrows, so I just shrugged and grunted something noncommittal.

  “Come on, twilight’s wasting,” Courtney said in an annoyed voice, annoyed at me.

  “Yeah,” Luis said, patting the man in the cast on the shoulder. “Don’t want to kill more people than we have to today.”

  I knew Luis was joking, but the color drained out of the guard’s face. I grinned and walked on past, clinking with almost a full load in an old framed backpack that I’d gotten from a surplus store. It was gear I knew well. I’d already traded out all the spare ammo for calibers I didn’t have guns for, and one of my pistols from the looters to get some of the gear I’d had packed away. Some enterprising individual had looted an outdoor camping store early on. The archery supplies had already been picked through, but he’d had the foresight to grab all the camo and camping supplies he could.

  It didn’t take us long to pick our way through the assorted goods people had laid out. I didn’t see as many rats or feral pets for sale as before, but more canned goods and MREs than I expected. The warehouse and Uptown Boys locations had been cleaned out, and they’d been sitting on literally tons of food and supplies. All things considered, when it came to eating an MRE or a rat, I might take the rat instead.

  “Good. She was worried you weren’t going to come say goodbye,” Salina said, her sultry voice making me smile.

  “I wouldn’t ever leave without saying goodbye to little Dormouse,” I told her.

  Mouse and Pauly were sitting behind the table, and I could make out the huge head of Salina’s son Jerome. He was a large and menacing-looking fellow, but he was simple. I think he’d die before he ever let someone hurt his mom or the kids, and I had watched Mouse transform from a sickly little girl who’d endured abuse more than any girl her age should, into a vibrant, laughing demon on wheels.

  “Uncle Dick!” she shouted, causing heads to turn. She dropped the handful of cards she’d been holdin
g and ran under the table to try to tackle me at the knees.

  She almost got me, and I heard somebody laughing behind me as I got my balance. Courtney was holding a hand to her mouth, and Luis was smirking.

  “Hey Mouse,” I said, pulling her up to eye level and then crushing the wind out of her.

  “Hey, owwwwwww! You’re squishing my guts out!” she said, and I put her down amidst squeals and giggles.

  “Is it time for you to go?” Pauly said, crawling under the table in a more subdued manner.

  “Yeah buddy, it’s time,” I said, kneeling to hug him.

  I broke off, and there were tears in his eyes. “We’re going to miss you,” he said.

  “I’m going to miss you too,” I told him.

  Funny, the wind wasn’t blowing, but somehow a piece of grit had lodged itself in my eye. I wiped the moisture away and stood up.

  “Where’s Jamie?” I asked Salina.

  “She trading,” Jerome answered, standing up.

  “Oh, I didn’t see her,” I said.

  “She’s over at Lucky’s,” Salina told me, hugging her eldest son. “Getting pegs on the bikes.”

  “Pegs?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” Pauley broke in, “so you can stand on the back wheel and do tricks and be all hardcore.”

  I didn’t know about being hardcore, but if she was getting modifications done to the bikes, there had to be a good reason. I just hoped the five bikes I had been wanting to trade for were ready like they were supposed to be.

  “I’m going to miss you,” I told the kids. “But I have to go. Salina, if you ever need me, send up the bat signal. I’ll get it if I’m not too far away.”

  “You’ve got a wife and daughter to find,” Salina said. “We have our lot sorted here mostly. The radio guys say the EMP took out a lot of the country, but some parts weren't affected. They’re building supplies, and they say we’ll be good within the year.”

  I hated to burst her bubble, but I believed the transmission I’d been hearing was propaganda. Silicon Valley wasn’t in the area that had been spared, so unless the state of Washington or Alaska suddenly started making transformers, controllers, and a myriad of other specialty things, I just didn’t see it happening. Still, if it gave them hope, it was fine by me.

  “I’ll find them. Thank you, for taking care of the little ones, and I don’t just mean this little—”

  A silver brush was put into my hand, and I looked down to see Mouse’s big brown eyes looking back up at me.

  “You’re crying,” she said.

  I wiped the moisture off my face and scowled at her. “No I’m not, the wind blew some crap in my eye.” I turned to Salina while I started brushing the little girl’s hair. “I meant the other ones. The rest of my crazy crew that’s with Jeremy and Danielle.”

  “Oh, ‘tis no problem,” she said, choking up. The Caribbean lilt to her voice that she hid so well came out only when she was emotional, like now. “Those angels will be safe, I promise. Jeremy promises.”

  “I know,” I said, not knowing what else to say. “Well, bye.”

  “Wait,” Jerome boomed, and walked around the table.

  I looked up and then up again. There weren’t many men my height, and there were even fewer men the size of Jerome. He crushed me in a very un-manly hug then gently squeezed me as if he realized he was over three hundred pounds and looked like a black Incredible Hulk on one of his good days. Surprised, I hugged him back.

  “Thank you for my new brother ‘n’ sister,” he said.

  Shit, I couldn’t blame the grit in my eye any more. I patted him on the shoulder and gave him the nod. I wiped the moisture away again.

  “Hey,” Courtney said from behind me. “I see her.”

  “Who?” I asked.

  “It’s my mom, waving us over,” Mel told me.

  She’d been silent during the exchange. Of everyone here, she was probably the most uncomfortable. Probably because before the EMP, she’d been heavily into Nicholas Sparks novels and movies, like The Notebook. What? Sue me; the kids had been catching me up on culture. I’d missed out on a lot living underground.

  “Oh, well guys, that’s my cue. Dickhead, exit stage left,” I said and, through the tears, Salina let out a surprised laugh that almost sounded like a duck call.

  “I thought we were getting five bikes?” I asked Jamie, feeling more than a little disappointed. A little pissed, truth be told.

  “He sold two of them before I even got here,” she said. “And he can’t find enough parts to outfit another two for at least a week or two.”

  “This… there’s no way. How are five of us going to…?”

  “The pegs.” Courtney pointed. “One of us sits or stands behind the rider.”

  “How are we going to do that with our packs on?” I asked her.

  “Well,” Jamie said, putting her hand up to stop my tirade, “two of these have baskets on the front that can strap the driver’s pack down. The passengers would have to wear theirs.”

  “Ok, so what’s the other biker do?” I asked her.

  “He wears his pack,” Jamie said.

  “He?” I asked.

  “Well, I figured you’d rather ride alone than have somebody…”

  Oh yeah, she was right. She’d had to play off being my woman in front of people and had gotten too close to me almost a month and a half back. It had always been platonic between us, the adults in the group… but I was still a man, and she’d awoken something inside of me, making me feel guilty and leaving me missing Mary. We’d buried the hatchet on that, but it was hard to try to be just friends with a woman when you were in such close quarters. That was why I kept my distance, and she kept hers - or at least that was what it seemed like to me.

  “Yeah, that makes sense. I’d rather not have Luis ride bitch behind me anyways. He might get some ideas,” I snarked, my anger fading.

  “What kind of ideas would that be?” Luis asked incredulously.

  “You know, riding behind me, all snuggled in close…”

  “You’re trying to pick another fight,” Courtney broke in, and Mel started giggling. “And none of us ladies want that mental image.”

  “I don’t mind that mental image,” Jamie snapped back, and Mel's jaw dropped open.

  She slapped her mom's arm loud enough for the sound to carry. There was a lull of silence and then everybody busted up, even me. It felt good, and the mounting pressure of a dangerous journey blew away, if for only a few short moments. There had been disagreements, and I'd lost my temper in more than one case. Luis and Courtney were still coming with us, but I'd had to tell them more than once that if they were riding with me, we’d stick to the plan. Otherwise, they were free to go out on their own.

  19

  “So what’s the plan for getting out of Chicago?” Luis asked me as I handed him a pair of NVGs.

  “Avoid people. Keep our water containers as full as possible. Make as much distance as we can safely. Ride at night, sleep during the day. Post guards…”

  “This doesn’t sound like a lot of fun,” Mel said.

  We’d been pushing the bikes and walking towards the outer edge of the boundary we knew was safe. We weren’t using any noise discipline at this point, but they would learn about it sooner or later. Especially when we got out into the countryside. With this dead-still new world, the sound carried far, and there was nothing more distinctive than a human voice.

  “It’s not. It’s going to suck, and we probably won’t stop to eat every day. I don’t know how bad the rest of the country is, but the smell of food cooking carries far,” I told them, thinking of the rats in the tunnel closest to the roads above. The scavengers would all but attack me and steal my food. Oddly enough, humans weren’t much better when they were in a desperate situation. That’s why, during my month of odd healing rest, we’d gotten as much food as we could into us. Luis and Courtney had put on weight, making them look less gaunt, and Mel had pretty much stayed the same, as well
as her mother. I put on at least ten pounds with proper food, even if it did taste like shit. That, coupled with the PT Salina made me endure, got me into shape.

  “Why can’t we stop every day for food?” Courtney asked, stopping to where Luis almost bumped into her.

  “The smell carries. We’ll eat our food cold as much as we can in the big cities. Too many people around still.”

  “You think it’s going to be any better once we leave Chicago?” Mel asked me.

  “Yeah, I do. I’m sure the first hundred miles is going to be pretty bad, though. Everyone in the city probably fled to the countryside. I don’t think we’ll be safe to have a hot meal for four or five days at least.”

  “That sucks,” Luis said. “Especially as I got some MREs in my pack.”

  “Oh man,” I groaned. “Why pack that shit?”

  “It’s all I could get,” Luis said, somewhat indignant.

  “Well, good news - most of that shit is already cooked. It tastes bad cooked and tastes worse cold but… You know, who am I kidding. It’s food. If you have some MRE heaters to go with it, it won’t be horrible.”

  “That’s looking at the bright side,” Jamie said.

  “Thank you,” I told her, smiling.

  “I was being sarcastic…”

  “Oh… Shit… Well, you guys and gals ready?” I asked, pulling the NVGs on my head.

  “Yeah. How far do you think we can make it in a day?” Courtney asked.

  “To the edge of West Chicago,” I told her.

  “No way,” Luis said. “I did a bike-a-thon a thousand years ago in school and did twenty miles in an hour. West Chicago isn’t too much farther than that, is it?”

  “In your bike-a-thon, did you have to watch out for people looking to steal your supplies, shoot you in the back, kidnap your wife and rape your daughter?” I asked him.

  I was angry again, and part of me understood why, and part of me didn’t care. I mean, to have responsibilities like this… I’d warned him how this was going to be, how it was going to go. He didn’t have to ride with us; I’d already gotten the promise from Mel and Jamie to ride when I said ride, duck when I yelled duck, and run for cover when the bullets flew… and I had no illusions that there would be lead exchanged at some point. The world was just too damned ugly. Despite being the market guard, Luis was a little slow on the uptake.