by Mike Kraus
A quick check of the plane’s systems showed that it was surprisingly functional, and Samuel quickly set to work loading his supplies. It was a tight squeeze, but after a few hours of work, he eventually got everything stowed away safely inside the plane. The propeller spun noisily in the cold air and Samuel looked back at his vehicle, triple checking to make sure that he had transferred everything from it to the plane. With his heavy rifle in the co-pilot’s seat and the rest of his supplies in the back seat and storage area, Samuel had no more need for his vehicle.
After loosening and removing the straps that held the plane down, Samuel hurried back in and began to taxi down to what he could only assume was the end of the runway. The rectangular clearing of trees was the only real clue to the runway’s location, so Samuel swung the plane around, putting it right in the center of the cleared area. With one last prayer, Samuel gave the plane full throttle and grimaced in pain as it bounced down the rough runway, making his back throb and ache.
It was only a moment until Samuel was in the air, though, and the bouncing gave way to a steady stillness with a slight background vibration from the plane’s engine. Though the fuel was only at the three-quarters mark, Samuel’s limited knowledge of the plane’s range assured him that he would have more than enough time to search the ground for Leonard and Nancy and locate them before they managed to elude him again.
Leonard McComb | Nancy Sims
2:18 AM, April 21, 2038
“What do you think will happen if we win?”
Nancy’s question came after hours of silent driving, passing through the night as they wound their way towards Anchorage. Half asleep, Leonard opened his eyes and rubbed them groggily as he took in the surroundings. The lights of the APC played over the snowy road ahead of them as Nancy drove cautiously. A green flicker surrounded them, bathing the hills and valleys with a dance of colors. Leaning his head to the right, Leonard looked up, seeing the skies filled with nothing but stars, the blackness of space and the bright lights of the aurora borealis.
“It’s hard to say.” Leonard continued watching the aurora out the window as he replied. “Even if we win, there’s a long road to recovery left. We don’t know how many people are still left, most methods of communication and transport are gone and all the stuff we’ve grown dependent on for the last thirty years has vanished.”
“So, what, you’re saying there’s no hope for us? Humanity’s doomed to die out regardless?”
“I wouldn’t say that. But it’s not going to be easy to get back on our feet. Let’s assume there are enough people left that we can, well, you know… repopulate the planet. I’m willing to bet that most of the people who are left aren’t going to be terrific farmers, electricians, scientists or any of the professions that society will need to come back strong.
“We’ll have to spend several decades rebuilding a foundation from which we can start re-learning the knowledge that our society had as a collective just a few weeks ago. And some of it’s going to be lost forever… or at least a very long time.”
Nancy raised an eyebrow at this. “Why lost forever?”
“Well, I assume that most electronically stored data has been wiped by the EMPs. At the very least, the systems holding that data have been damaged and will have to be repaired, somehow. But how do we fabricate the parts for repairing computer systems when those fabrication plants are all overseas with who knows how many of the workers wiped out by the nanobots?
“That’s just the start, though. What about information that was stored in secured locations? Or, worse, information that was stored in a single location that was destroyed. We’ll never know the value of what was lost, though perhaps that’s for the better.”
“Leonard, you’re not exactly making a strong case for winning.” Nancy laughed as she spoke, but Leonard could hear her worried tone. He turned to look at her, smiled and patted her on the shoulder.
“It’s not going to be easy. But people are resilient. Just look at us and what we’ve managed to accomplish. An office manager and a glorified plumber in a military transport vehicle stuffed to the brim with supplies that we’ve lost and scavenged more times than I can count. We survived the end of the world and the hell that emerged from it and we’ve managed to meet each other and other survivors and form a plan to get rid of the menace that started this whole thing.
“I’d say that if a few stray survivors can pull together to do this, humanity’s got a pretty good chance—if we can give it to them.”
Nancy smiled wistfully as she thought about the possibilities stretched out ahead of them. “If we win this, I don’t want to settle down. I thought I might, at one point, but not anymore.”
“Really?”
“After seeing how the people in Samuel’s little cult village lived, I couldn’t take it. I know it’ll have to be done, but what we’re doing here, being out on the road and being active, I think I want to do that instead. Going from place to place, gathering survivors, bringing them in to communities. That’s how I want to help rebuild. Assuming we win this, of course.”
Leonard was quiet as he contemplated what Nancy said.
“What about you?”
Leonard sighed slowly, thinking back to the job he held before the end of the world. “If we win this, no, wait, when we win this, I think that sounds like a pretty good occupation. I’ve never been one for a lot of adventure, but it’s like you said; settling down just doesn’t sound all that appealing after what we’ve been through.”
Nancy nodded in sympathetic agreement and the two of them lapsed into silence as they watched the road ahead.
Rachel Walsh | Marcus Warden | David Landry
2:07 AM, April 21, 2038
The refueling process for the APC was agonizingly long without a way to directly siphon fuel from the trucks. After a few hours of work, Rachel and David finally got the armored vehicle’s tank filled nearly to the brim, and they set off again with David taking a turn at the wheel. The next several hours were spent uneventfully, though they made much slower progress than they had when Marcus had been in control. Marcus spent the hours sleeping as Rachel and David traded driving shifts long into the night.
The difference between day and night while under the cover of the storms was barely noticeable, and David and Rachel were growing accustomed to using the constant lightning to navigate instead of relying solely on the APC’s headlights. In the early morning hours, as David was once again driving and Rachel was taking a short nap, she was awoken by the sound of a loud groan from the back of the APC.
“Dammit, my back is killing me!”
Rachel opened her eyes and turned to see Marcus trying to push himself into a sitting position. He held his back with one hand and had a pained expression on his face, appearing oblivious to everything around him. Rachel watched him struggle for a few moments before she reached out to help.
“Here, grab my hand.”
Marcus met Rachel’s gaze and looked her in the eyes for a few seconds before glancing at her hand, which he took with a feeble grip. After pulling himself up into a sitting position, Marcus sat up straight and put his back against the interior wall of the APC, sighing as the pressure and pain in his lower back was gradually reduced.
Still unsure of Marcus’s mental state, Rachel remained in her seat, but held out a bottle of water along with a bag of chips. Marcus took them slowly, thanking her with a slow nod of his head. After downing the food and most of the water, Marcus became more alert. The crazed expression in his eyes was gone, replaced by a mixture of shame and confusion.
“Where are we?” Marcus spoke slowly, sipping on the remaining bit of water in his bottle. Rachel passed a map back to him, pointing to a location in the middle of Virginia.
“We’re not quite sure. Road signs have been hard to come by and we’ve had to make more than a few detours. Plus the storm’s not making it easy, either. But this is generally where we think we are.”
Marcus stared at the map, feeling Rac
hel’s piercing gaze searching his entire body, probing for any hints of aggression or insanity. He waited as long as possible before finally looking up at her and answering the question he knew she wanted to ask.
“I’m fine now. I think.”
Rachel raised an eyebrow ever so slightly, not the least bit convinced by Marcus’s statement.
“Really, I’m fine now. I don’t know what came over me. I’m sorry. I just… lost control or something. You’ve got to believe me.”
David snorted from the driver’s seat and glanced back at Marcus. “Lost control my ass. You went berserk, that’s what you did.”
Rachel shot David a dirty look before responding to Marcus. “It’s not that we don’t believe you, Marcus, but you really did lose control, in a big way. If we had run into a swarm of creatures or some other nonsense out there in the storms, that would have been the end of us, and more importantly, Bertha.”
Marcus started to reply, but was cut off by David. “Wait a second, I think we can get through to Leonard and Nancy!”
Rachel looked out the window and saw that a break in the storms was rapidly approaching as the clouds moved to the east. The closer the edge of the storm grew to them, the faster they would be able to contact Leonard and Nancy, wherever they might be. Before taking the radio microphone in hand, Rachel gave Marcus a sad look, then turned around to deal with the new situation.
The sound of David and Rachel trying to contact Leonard and Nancy grew faint as Marcus slid as far to the back of the APC as possible. Stretched out on the other bench seat, Sam’s soft whining made Marcus all the more saddened by what had happened and he struggled to understand what had come over him. Since he had left the driver’s seat and crawled into the back of the APC, Marcus had slept for most of the time, though each time he woke, he thought about nothing except getting to the coast as quickly as they could. Memories of his nightmares in the days after the bombs fell came back to him as well, and he soon began to dream of the creatures again, wrestling with their terrifying images in his sleep.
Maybe I really am losing it, he thought. Looking down idly, Marcus saw David’s computer case wedged between Bertha and the bench seat. David and Rachel were both engrossed in their conversation with Leonard and Nancy, so Marcus pulled the computer out and pressed the power button, curious to see what data was readily available to view. After a quick startup sequence, the computer immediately resumed its previous tasks. A file download progress bar popped up on the screen, displaying how much time was left before additional satellite images were ready to view.
While waiting for the images to download, Marcus browsed through the open folders, looking at a time lapse of the Alaskan and DC areas that David had obtained just before the storms had rolled in. As the download passed the halfway mark, a small popup appeared in the lower portion of the screen with a red warning label on it. Not knowing what the warning indicated, Marcus ignored it and continued browsing through the satellite images, undisturbed by David and Rachel who were still focused on their conversation.
When the download finally finished, Marcus started to open it, but the battery light on the laptop began to flash and it automatically started to power down. Marcus sighed and closed the lid, replacing the laptop in its case before lying down on the bench seat, thinking nothing more of the computer, its contents or the warning message that had been flashing on the screen.
Just a few moments after Marcus fell asleep, David and Rachel finished their conversation with Leonard and Nancy, having been forced off the radio by another storm rolling in over the east coast. Rachel glanced back at Marcus, glad to see that he was sleeping so that she could talk to David without being overheard.
“What if we give him another chance?”
David chortled in response, scarcely believing what he heard. “Are you kidding me? After what he did? I don’t care what those two say; Marcus went off the deep end and he’s a danger to us now.”
“David...” Rachel’s tone was a veritable growl and David gulped, suddenly remembering why Rachel had always been the dominant personality in the laboratory.
“Fine. Have it your way. But you’d better be ready to stop him if he goes crazy again. One more stunt like that and we’re screwed.”
Leonard McComb | Nancy Sims
2:38 AM, April 21, 2038
Nancy pulled the APC over to the side of the road, or to where she assumed the side of the road was. Stepping out of the car, she was immersed in snow halfway up her calves as she shuffled around to the passenger’s seat to exchange driving duties with Leonard. The smell of fresh air, pines and snow was growing bolder and more overwhelming with each passing mile, though smelling it from inside the APC was nothing compared to what it was like outside. With the engine and headlights off, the only sound was a gentle breeze and the crunch of snow under Leonard and Nancy’s feet.
Back on the road again, Nancy settled in to get a few hours of sleep as Leonard continued driving them around the massive national park that stretched between Alaska and Canada. The road around the national park was long, but it was the only safe way through the area, especially given the recent snowfall.
A squeal of static cut through the quiet cabin of the APC, making Leonard jump in surprise as he tried to keep from running off of the snowy road. After being out of contact with Rachel, Marcus and David for a while thanks to the storms, Leonard had practically forgotten about the radio and hadn’t considered trying to get in touch with the other group, either.
Fumbling with the microphone, Leonard slowed the APC to a crawl and turned up the volume on the radio. Nancy took the microphone from him and held it between them as he continued to drive, depressing the button as he spoke.
“This is Leonard and Nancy. Can anyone hear us?”
“Leonard! David here. What’s your status?”
Leonard nodded to Nancy to speak so that he could concentrate on the road. “We’re making for Anchorage to try and take a boat up the coastline. What about you three?”
David scoffed. “Three? More like two…” The sound of a brief scuffle came through next, followed by Rachel’s voice.
“Sorry about that; we’re doing fine here, just a bit of delay because of the storms.”
Leonard and Nancy gave each other a puzzled look before Leonard jumped into the conversation.
“Uh, Rachel, what was that about two people?”
Rachel sighed deeply and lowered her voice to as close to a whisper as she could. “We had a bit of an… incident a while back with Marcus.” Rachel quickly explained what had happened all the way until David had thought to try to contact Leonard and Nancy over the radio. “We’re not sure what to do right now. He’s been acting normally since then, but still.”
“I’m kind of surprised that this hasn’t happened earlier, and to more of us, Rachel.” Nancy spoke softly, and Leonard could hear the concern in her voice for Marcus and the rest of the group. “We’re not going out for coffee, and none of us are really prepared for all of this. I know we’re not there right now, but for what it’s worth, I think you should give Marcus another chance. I’m sure you’ll need his help again soon. Just keep an eye on him.”
Another sigh came from Rachel, along with a few quiet comments passed back and forth between her and David. “David doesn’t quite agree, but I do. Assuming, of course, Marcus doesn’t go off again.”
Rachel continued to speak, but her voice came through garbled and distorted. “Rachel, we’re losing you. Can you repeat that?” Nancy spoke louder as she repeated her request, but the storms rolling in over Rachel, David and Marcus disrupted the transmission. Frustrated, Nancy slammed the microphone back in its receiver and slumped in her seat. “Damn it!”
Scarcely a moment after the transmission ended, the radio crackled again. Nancy picked up the microphone, giving Leonard a puzzled look as she spoke. “This is Nancy and Leonard; what’s going on? Rachel? Are you there?”
Instead of the familiar voices of Rachel and David, anot
her burst of static flooded the APC. It sounded different than last time, though, and it was much more powerful. As Nancy prepared to speak again, a distant voice passed by in the background. Leonard turned the volume up on the radio, wincing as another loud squeal came through. A few seconds later, the voice returned, and though it was loud enough to hear, Leonard and Nancy couldn’t make out what it was saying.
The accent on the voice was heavy and it sounded like it was either repeating a message or it was a recording on a loop. Leonard pressed down on the gas pedal, taking the APC up to a dangerous speed as he tried to reach the crest of the next hill before the message repeated again. Reaching the top just in time, he pulled the vehicle to a stop, killing the engine so that there would be no background noise to interfere with the transmission.