He couldn’t decide how he felt about the silence. One moment, it felt like the final death rattles of the species. Billions had been sentenced to die, taking one final breath before their species was purged from the planet forever. The next moment, the sounds were peaceful. Nature was thriving as it returned to the equilibrium that humans had so disrupted. Things were returning to the way they had been for millions of years.
But that wasn’t right either.
The freaks had never existed before. Could they have been a vector for the planet returning to its natural state? A weapon of Mother Nature to purge herself of the human plague, as white blood cells fought a cold virus. It was hard to believe such a devastating and sudden disease had come about naturally.
Colin doubted he’d ever know the truth of the infection’s origin. Maybe no one ever would. How many scientist or researchers or virologist were left who could find the answer to such a question? How many of those left had the resources to find such an answer?
Colin sighed heavily.
“How much further do we want to continue?” Rotna’s voice was low as she broke the silence.
“I at least want to check out the conservation area a bit. See if they are camping out there,” Samuel said thoughtfully.
“Do you think they’d really be camping out?” Colin asked. “Wouldn’t that be too dangerous without walls?” He had known this was where they were heading when they started out in the morning, they all had. They hadn’t found the Sovereigns in any of the places that had made sense, so it was time to start branching out.
“I wouldn’t like it.” Rotna scoffed. “I’d rather have something more than cloth to separate me from the freaks while I sleep.”
“Me too,” Samuel agreed. “But the conservation area, everything to the north of Aubuchon Road is empty. No one lives there—or nearly no one. There shouldn’t be many, if any, freaks. It should be relatively safe.”
“What about the amphitheater?” Colin asked.
Samuel grimaced. “There’s that, but it took us three weeks to find out that we were living on the doorstep of thousands of freaks. Maybe they haven’t figured it out either.”
They were here.
According to the map, the Saint Santislaus Conservation Area wasn’t large. A mere few miles across. An almost laughable attempt at a conservation. It was bordered on the west by farm fields, to the north by the Missouri River, and to the south and east by Aubuchon Road.
It hadn’t taken much searching to find the camp. With the small size of the conservation area and the relative lack of human noises, the Sovereigns had stuck out like a sore thumb. The smell of smoke caught their attention first. They hadn’t been able to see any above the treetops, but the scent reached their noses.
The brightly colored tents had stood out among the muted browns, tans, and greens of the heat-burnt foliage. They couldn’t get close enough to count how many people were bustling about. At least fifty, but Colin guessed probably closer to a hundred. The men were there, but women and children made their way through the camp too. They didn’t look frightened. They didn’t look like they were being held against their will. They simply moved through the camp, going about their business. This was just a group of thugs. It was made up of families, children, and the elderly who depended upon the Sovereigns for protection.
Samuel gestured away from the camp. They were silent for a long time as they walked.
“There are a lot more than I thought,” Rotna said when they were far enough away, her voice hollow.
Samuel nodded, his gaze distant as he thought.
“I guess it wouldn’t matter much longer,” Colin said, though in all honesty their numbers did worry him. “We know where they are. Now we know what direction to head in to stay away from them. Our best bet is across the river for sure, but we could go south.”
What worried him more than the Sovereigns was the possibility of other people. Other people like them. No matter where they went, they wouldn’t be able to escape the fighting.
Day 21
They hadn’t made it home before dark. As the sun had set, they had been caught on the far side of the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater. Knowing what horrors it held, what kind of horde it could unleash, they had opted to backtrack and camp out away from it. The night had been long and sleepless. They didn’t dare build a fire for fear of attracting unwanted attention from the freaks or the Sovereigns possibly returning to the camp. At first light, they had returned to Thies. As they approached the farm, Ervin came out to greet them, his shoulders slumping with relief. Large purple bags under his eyes belied the sleepless night Ervin had also had.
“Where the hell have you guys been?” His tone was a mixture of anger and relief. The emotions warred on his face.
None of the scavenging or scouting groups had ever been out all night. When they hadn’t returned before dark, most had feared that they were dead, victims of the Sovereigns or the freaks, and that they would never return.
“We need to talk.” Samuel pitched his voice low so that no one outside of their immediate group would hear. “Not here. Get Eric too. We’ll meet a little later after things have died down.”
Ervin nodded. “I’m just glad y’all made it back alright,” he said, clapping Samuel on the shoulder and looking to Colin and Rotna in turn. “I was really not looking forward to keeping this place running without you guys.”
“Not gonna lie. I really hope we don’t have to spend another night out there again. It was not the most restful sleep I ever got.” Colin stretched muscles, which had become sore from tossing and turning all night.
“No, I imagine not.” Ervin grimaced. “Why don’t y’all go get some sleep? I can at least keep things running that much longer.”
The instant Colin flopped down onto his pile of blankets, he fell asleep. Even the chatter of others going about their day hadn’t kept him awake. The nap had helped ease some of Colin’s exhaustion from the previous day. Even the pile of blankets on the floor had been a blessing. It was nothing like his bed, though. He missed his bed. A queen-sized pillow top mattress. He missed his pillows and his own blankets. He even missed the way Liv would hog not only the bed, but the blankets as well, cocooning herself in them until it was impossible to pull them back even an inch.
Suddenly, a heaviness settled over Colin, making it hard for him to breath. He couldn’t remember the last time he had thought about his wife and daughter. The panic began to rise. He had to have thought about them, but when? How could he forget them so easily? How could he move on without them? How could he go so long without thinking about them? Before the shit hit the fan, they had been his world.
He knew the truth was that he had been struggling to survive. They all had. That didn’t relieve the guilt of forgetting about them. How had it been that long without his thoughts drifting to them at all. How could he forget about them so easily?
Forgetting was easier than remembering. Forgetting didn’t threaten to send him into a paralyzing spiral of despair. Only remembering did that.
Colin heaved himself out of the blankets, not wanting to be alone with his thoughts any longer. More people were in the store now. Most were getting settled in for the night. Without alarm clocks, most people woke early in the morning as the sun grew bright and went to bed as it dipped down below the horizon.
“Hey, I was just coming to wake you.” Eric’s voice startled Colin. Seeing Colin’s reaction, Eric frowned. “You alright?”
Colin sighed heavily. “Yeah…Well no, but I will be. Just the past making the present seem extra shitty.” Colin ran his hands through his hair as he shook off the remnants of the thoughts. “Listen,” Colin said, uncertain exactly how to proceed. “I’m sorry about the other day. I know you’re worried about me and I appreciate that. I am sorry about what happened on the boat.”
Eric put up his hand to stop Colin’s fumbling words, his lips pressed into a thin straight line. “Don’t worry about it. Shit happens. I still can’t sa
y I’m wild about your take on things, but…” Eric sighed, searching for words of his own. “For better or worse, we’re all in this together. We don’t have enough friends left. At least not from before, I just…don’t want anything to happen to you too.”
They fell into an awkward silence.
“So what’s up?” Colin finally broke the silence.
“Oh! Right!” Eric brought his voice down to a hushed whisper. “Samuel is starting to gather everyone to discuss what happen to you all yesterday. We need to get over there.” Eric gave Colin a quizzical look.
“Not here.” Colin shook his head. “Trust me.”
Ervin, Samuel, and Rotna were waiting in a shed that was set apart from the other building that comprised Thies. It was small and dark and smelled strongly of manure and grass clippings. Colin’s nose wrinkled as they entered, but he didn’t complain.
“Alright. We’re all here. What is the goddamned deal?” Ervin finally asked. “You guys have been giving us the runaround all day. What happened yesterday?”
“Well…” Samuel paused and Colin thought Ervin might leap across the shed to smack Samuel. “We found out where the Sovereigns are living.”
A smile spread across Ervin’s face as Eric relaxed a bit. “Well, that’s great. Now we can take the fight to those fuckers.”
“There’s a lot of them.” Rotna shook her head. “It’s also not just the assholes we’ve run into. There’s families there too.”
Ervin’s shoulders slumped. “What are we going to do about them?” he asked.
“We can’t just attack families,” Eric said defensively.
Samuel held up his hand pacifically. “I don’t know.” Samuel shook his head. “I think our best bet is to cut and run across the river.” Eric relaxed a bit. “I don’t think we’ll have an issue with them once we cross the river.”
“But there’s more,” Colin said.
Samuel’s shoulder’s sagged. “The Hollywood Casino Amphitheater is full of freaks.”
For a beat, no one moved. No one even breathed.
“What do you mean full of freaks?” Eric finally asked slowly.
“A low guess would be ten thousand. I’d say it’s probably closer to fifteen or twenty thousand though,” Colin said quietly.
Eric and Ervin’s eyes grew wide and their jaws dropped.
“You’re joking?” Ervin said.
“I wish I was,” Samuel said.
“That place is only…what, two or three miles from here?” Ervin asked. “If those things head our way, we won’t be able to escape.”
“I know.” Samuel nodded somberly. “That’s precisely why I don’t want everyone to know this. I don’t want to cause a panic. We know where some boats are. Tomorrow we’re going to get one and start ferrying supplies across the river as fast as we can. Hopefully in a few days we’ll be able to start moving people across and move on. That’s why I’m not particularly concerned with the Sovereigns. They can have this place and all the fucking freaks that come with it.”
The others nodded in agreement.
“Can I trust that you all will keep this information to yourselves?”
Again, everyone nodded.
“Alright, let’s all go get some sleep. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.” Samuel closed their little meeting.
Ervin barked a laugh. “Man, if you think I’m sleeping at all with that many freaks at our back door, you’re crazy.”
Day 24
Colin hadn’t thought they had many things anymore. At least not until they started packing to leave. It hadn’t taken them long to find a truck with a boat trailer. After circling the lake a few times, they had settled on one. Clearing a few freaks from the area had been an easy task and then the truck was all theirs. Getting the boat out of the water had taken more time. At the end of the day, though, they had brought their haul home.
Thies buzzed with excitement. People wanted to be doing something. Something purposeful. The plan to move across the river had given them a purpose.
Colin hefted another heavy box into the back on an SUV and slammed the rear door closed. So far, they had packed three carloads of food and supplies that were then taken to the river and loaded onto the boat. There was still so much to pack, though: blankets, clothes, food. It all had to go.
Yesterday, Ervin had led a small crew of three across the river to find vehicles. Two vans, three SUVs, and a truck later, the crew had returned and the great move had begun.
They needed gas, though. Most of the cars hadn’t had a full tank, and some spare gas wasn’t a bad idea either. Rotna, Laura, and a few others had gone out that morning to siphon gas for the vehicles.
The sun was still high in the sky, but Colin found himself wondering when they would return. There was still four hours of daylight left, easily. They had plenty of time.
Colin hated the lack of communications. Before the outbreak, he had taken for granted how easy it was to get in contact with people. Pick up the phone, hit a few buttons, and speak. Or text someone if you couldn’t talk on the phone. Dozens of forms of social media to keep track of how friends in different states or even different countries were doing. Now they just had to hope and pray their people would return. If they didn’t, well, they were just gone.
Tires squealed and gravel flew as a large Ford Explorer pulled in to Thies. Cries rang out as people scattered as the car came to an abrupt stop.
Colin’s heart thudded hard against his chest as the car idled at the edge of the buildings. It was pockmarked with bullet holes. A spray of blood painted one of the doors. The front end was worse, dented in and painted red with gore.
It was the same vehicle they had waved off early that morning, but when it had left there hadn’t been a scratch on it.
Suddenly, Colin was running towards the car. Who had come back? Who hadn’t?
The driver’s door opened and Rotna spilled out onto the ground. Her shirt was covered in blood, which spilled down her front and dribbled down her pants. A large spray of blood covered the right half of her face.
“Someone get the nurses out here!” Colin bellowed as loud as he could.
He skidded to a halt and fell to his knees next to Rotna. His eyes roved over her, trying to find the most critical of her wounds.
“Where are you hurt?”
Rotna shook her head slowly. “I’m not,” she finally managed, her gasping breaths transforming into sobs.
“You’ve got blood all over you! Rotna, where are you hurt?” Colin forced her to sit upright so he could get a better look at her. He was vaguely aware of the crowd of onlookers growing behind them.
Rotna lifted her head, finally looking him in the eye. “The blood isn’t mine.” The splatter across her face made it look as though she was wearing a gruesome masquerade mask. Tears trailed down her face, cutting a clean path through the blood.
Colin suddenly became aware of the fact that Rotna was the only one who had come out of the car. His eyes wandered past her towards the vehicle’s interior. Laura sat slumped in the passenger seat. The passenger-side window had been blown out, and there was a large gaping wound in her head.
“What happened?” Samuel skidded to a halt behind Colin.
“Where’s my dad?” Greg pushed his way to the front of the crowd, panic written across his face.
“Jesus!” Eric darted forward and stared into the car, his hands on his head. Colin looked between Eric, Rotna, and Laura in horror.
“It was the Sovereigns,” Rotna gasped, her eyes darting to Eric before quickly averting. A murmur rippled through the crowd that had gathered. “We were siphoning gas from cars that were clustered around a gas station when they caught us.”
One of the nurses finally appeared, dropping down next to Rotna and looking her over. Rotna slapped the woman’s hands away.
“I’m fine,” she growled. She glanced back towards the car at Laura’s lifeless body. “They killed Daniel on the spot. Laura and I managed to get away, but they fol
lowed us. They caught up to us…” Her words trailed off.
“Where is my dad?” Greg demanded again. One of the nurses went to him. Though Greg was practically grown, at that moment he looked for all the world like a lost child. Tears filled his eyes as the nurse led him away with an arm around his shoulder, whispering quietly to him.
“Alright, people!” Ervin bellowed, startling both Colin and Rotna, who had been oblivious to his presence. “Move on. We have work to do.”
“Come on.” Colin got to his feet, taking Rotna’s arm and gently helping her up.
“We left Daniel behind.” The tears began anew. “We didn’t have a choice. We didn’t want to, but we couldn’t get his body into the car. They were trying to kill us!” Colin heard the car door creak open. Eric and a few others cautiously opened the door and tenderly lowered Laura’s body to the ground. Colin swallowed around the lump in his throat.
“It’s alright,” Colin said gently. “You did what you had to. You’re alive and that’s what matters.”
“They’re coming back.” Rotna looked him dead in the eye.
“What do you mean?” Colin asked slowly, his blood running cold.
“They said they were tired of us. That we were a thorn in their side and it was time to rip the thorn out.”
Colin glanced to Samuel. His lips were pressed into a tight thin line. The crowd around them erupted into fearful cries and unintelligible chatter.
“People! Please! Calm down!” Samuel called out, trying to rein in the panic as Colin ushered Rotna away.
Death & Decay (Book 2): Divided Page 15