Saga of the Scout

by Cliff Hamrick

  “I can go to the left and risk getting close to the highway or go further off to the right and up another hill,” he said. “I just have to make sure that I don’t get lost.”

  He scanned the highway with his binoculars and saw much of what he had seen before: wrecked cars, black smoke, and bodies. More vultures danced among the cars to feed. He thought he saw people moving through the vehicles, as well, but he couldn’t see what they were doing.

  Ethan trusted his hiking and camping skills more than his ability to take on whatever might be along the road. He turned towards the right and carefully made his way down the hill.

  By the time he reached the bottom of the hill and walked wide around the blazing inferno of the gas station, the sun set behind one of the hills. Though there was enough light to see where he was going, Ethan knew he would have to find a safe place to camp for the night.

  The best that he could find was a small gully overgrown with tall grass and some juniper bushes, which provided some concealment. He did not see anyone all day, and he wondered if anyone walking through this area might find him. Perhaps the fire would keep everyone away?

  Sitting in the bushes, he ate spoonfuls of crunchy peanut butter and drank much of his water. His legs ached as he sat, and he felt the blood pulse in his feet when he took off his shoes and socks.

  He remembered he needed to let his feet dry out overnight so he wouldn’t get blisters. He remembered how Ryan, one of the scouts in his troop, could barely finish a short hike because of a big blister on his heel.

  The air cooled quickly once the sun dipped below the horizon, so he wriggled into his sleeping bag and stared up at the stars as the sky grew darker.

  The stars were untouched by all of this. The fire, the raiders, the violence, and the fear did not touch them. They were constant. They were the same stars he looked at on his first camping trip. They were the same stars that the people who drew the pictographs looked up at.

  The consistent nature of the stars comforted Ethan. He hoped it was a sign that, no matter what happens on Earth, life will continue. Maybe different than before, but survival was possible. It might even be inevitable.

  He drifted off to sleep and dreamed again. When he awoke to the sounds of birds announcing the dawn, he could remember little of the dream except for the image of scaly tentacles writhing out of desert sands and an overwhelming fear of serpentine eyes watching him.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  He was cold when he woke. Spring mornings in Texas can still get chilly.

  Ethan scanned the path in front of him with his binoculars while eating some stale crackers. The grumbling in his stomach made it easy to ignore the chewy texture.

  He saw a paved road and a small building but could not make out any details. He decided to walk there and see if he could get more supplies. He didn’t grab enough food at the house, and he was already running out of water. The gas station was still burning, but rather than a violent blaze, the fire had died down to smoldering oil which produced a thick black cloud into the sky.

  After packing away his sleeping bag, he checked his phone again. It still had some power, but there were no messages today. He listened to the previous message from his mother again, and the desperation in her voice pressed upon him.

  Please, come home, sweetie.

  The walk down the hill and towards the road was uneventful. Now and then, he would scan the area towards the road. He could see some movement there, but not as much as before. Except for the vultures. They were everywhere up and down the road, and the sky was full of them.

  When he reached a spot where he could see the building more clearly, he hid behind a scrubby juniper bush and checked it out through his binoculars.

  It was a fire station. A relatively new, two-story fire station built to protect the newer housing subdivisions that had sprung up around Central Texas to accommodate all of the recent transplants.

  There were no houses near the fire station, only open fields with tall grasses and short bushes surrounded it. Parked on the side of the building were two police cars and an old minivan. He saw movement and followed it with his binoculars.

  It was a policeman, his hat missing and his collar unbuttoned, but he still wore his badge on his chest and his gun on his hip. The policeman walked around the building and looking out over the fields. Ethan thought he was on guard duty. Probably a good idea.

  Ethan then saw another man, middle-aged with gray hair and wearing a blue uniform Ethan couldn’t recognize. The middle-aged man approached the policeman and gave him a cup of coffee. They stood and talked in front of the fire station. The older man pointed in the direction of the column of black smoke rising into the air.

  It dawned on Ethan that they were talking and drinking. So far, none of the raiders or changed people had ever done anything so normal. Ethan wondered if these two men were like him and were trying to survive the changes happening around the globe.

  A woman, bundled up in a blanket to protect herself from the chilly morning, came out to the two men. She talked with them for a little bit, and then when back inside. Ethan decided they must be survivors, too. His heart jumped at the idea. He wasn’t alone.

  He put away his binoculars and walked with a renewed vigor towards the fire station, though he tried to stay as hidden as he could. He was worried about whoever might be out by the road or raiders lurking in the woods.

  He traveled along a small gully, which gave him some amount of protection until he came to the road. Then he decided just to walk up and make his presence known, smiling with anticipation of having real people to talk to.

  The policeman was on the other side of the fire station, but when he walked back around and saw Ethan approach, he immediately drew his gun and pointed it at Ethan, ready to fire.

  “Put your hands on top of your head and get down on the ground!” the officer barked at Ethan.

  Ethan stood there, confused for a moment. He wasn’t going to hurt anyone, and he hadn’t done anything wrong. His smile evaporated as the policeman approached quickly, his gun pointed at Ethan’s chest.

  “I said, get the fuck on the ground, now!” the policeman repeated.

  Ethan put his hands on top of his head and slowly got to his knees, not wanting to make any sudden movements that might provoke the policeman. He was beginning to wonder if he had made a mistake.

  He saw the older man in uniform come out of the fire station. Behind him was the woman. Without the blanket, Ethan could see she was a little older than him and wearing blue jeans and a maroon T-shirt. She was wielding an aluminum baseball bat, and by the way she held it, Ethan could tell she knew how to swing it.

  “I’m not going to hurt anyone. I promise,” Ethan tried to explain.

  The policeman got within a few feet of Ethan, his pistol sights never leaving his chest. Ethan saw the officer’s name, Novicki, on his badge. The woman ran past the older man and stood just behind the police officer.

  “I said, get down on the ground! Are you alone? Who is with you?” The policeman’s questions prompted the young woman to look up and down the road for anyone else coming.

  Ethan laid face-down on the rough asphalt, the feeling reminding him of hiding under the car. He could hear the older man shuffle up beside the policeman.

  “What the hell is going on?” asked the older man.

  “This guy just comes walking up the road with a gun on his belt.”

  The woman asked, “Did he say anything? Anything weird? You know like they say sometimes.”

  Ethan laid on the ground, his face turned towards the trio, but he could only see their shoes. The men wore work boots, but the woman wore running shoes.

  “My name is Ethan. I’m not going to hurt anyone. I just need some food and water. I’m going back to Austin.”

  The older man squatted down to look at Ethan’s face. Then he spoke to the policeman, “Hell, Jeff, this is just a kid. He sure ain’t no crazy type. Come on, kid, get up.”

  Etha
n paused. He didn’t want to move unless the policeman told him to. He didn’t want to get killed on a road in the middle of nowhere and his mother never knowing what happened to him. The older man seemed to realize what was going on and stood up.

  “Come on, Jeff, put the gun away.”

  The woman didn’t wait and squatted down to help Ethan stand up. As he did, he noticed the policeman still held his gun, though he was pointing it at the ground now.

  “Madison, take his gun. I don’t want him walking around armed until we know what is going on,” the policeman directed to the young woman. She reached down and took Ethan’s gun out of his belt while giving him an apologetic look.

  The older man told everyone, “Alright, let’s go inside, get something to eat, and Evan can tell us what’s going on.”

  Ethan didn’t want to be rude and correct the older man. Now that he was closer, he could see he wore a fireman’s uniform with the name Tully over his left breast pocket.

  Tully led the group towards the fire station, with Madison following him close behind. She carried the revolver awkwardly, like someone who had never handled a firearm before. Jeff followed Ethan, and he could feel the policeman’s eyes focused on his back.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The air was even cooler inside the fire station than outside. With no sun to warm things, and no power to run the heat, Ethan zipped up his hoodie to keep warm.

  They entered through the main door and into the bay where the fire engines were parked. Most of the bay was empty except for a large red pickup truck, big enough to carry four or five people. But rather than the empty bed of a pickup, this truck was equipped with boxes and containers to carry equipment. On the side of the door was the Comal County seal. Under the seal was the word Supervisor.

  Tully led the group up a set of stairs and into a dining area with a few tables and chairs. At one table was an elderly Hispanic woman with an air mask to help her breathe. Sitting next to her was an overweight Hispanic woman with a boy and a girl. The woman set bowls of cereal in front of the children, who didn’t look old enough to be in elementary school yet.

  At another table was a white man who looked to be in his mid to late twenties, with blond hair down to his shoulders and wearing blue jeans and a dirty flannel shirt. He had difficulty eating his cereal because his left hand was handcuffed to the chair he sat in.

  Tully directed Ethan to sit in one of the empty tables while he went to a small kitchen and poured out cereal into a bowl. Jeff sat at the table across from Ethan.

  “So, where did you come from?” the policeman asked.

  “I’m from Austin, sir,” Ethan replied.

  “I thought you said you said you were going to Austin,” the policeman asked as if he were interrogating a burglary suspect.

  Madison, the young woman in the maroon T-shirt, sat at the table between them after putting Ethan’s gun in a drawer in the kitchen. Ethan noticed her sweatshirt had the words Texas State University Softball printed on the front. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she watched him with green eyes.

  Ethan looked back at the policeman. “I live in Austin with my mom. I was visiting the Natural Bridge Caverns Wildlife Ranch with my dad and my sister. That’s where I was when all of this started. I’m just trying to get back to my mom. She needs me.”

  Tully returned to the table and set the bowl of dry cereal in front of Ethan, with a glass of water, and joined them at the table.

  “Sorry but we’re all out of eggs and bacon, and we haven’t had power the past couple of days and I don’t want to run the generator unless I have to so I wouldn’t trust the milk. Where are your dad and sister?”

  Ethan drank the water quickly. He was more thirsty than anything. But the water caused his near-empty stomach to grumble, so he dug into the sugary cereal. It was the cheap, generic brand was loaded with enough sugar to give an elephant diabetes. His parents would never buy anything like this for him. At that moment, Ethan thought it was the most magnificent thing he had ever tasted.

  “My father is dead, sir.” Ethan paused before eating another spoonful. The words still hurt to say. “My sister is…different. I don’t know. She became violent and attacked people. But she saved me. I think she did. But she went in another direction. I don’t know what happened to her.”

  Madison, Tully, and Jeff looked at each other across the table.

  Jeff spoke up first, “Yeah. That’s happened everywhere. People just started attacking each other. Did she say anything?” Madison leaned in to listen to Ethan’s response.

  Ethan had already finished his cereal, he ate that fast. Shaking his head. “No, sir. I don’t remember anything.”

  Madison asked him, “She didn’t say anything about being clean or pure?”

  Ethan looked into her face for the first time and was immediately struck by how pretty she was. She had the body of an athlete, and she was probably stronger than Ethan. But her long brown hair fell around her olive skin, and her green eyes stood out as she searched his face for some kind of reasoning to all of this insanity.

  Ethan shook his head. “No. She didn’t say anything. But I saw a woman who said some strange things. She said something about purging her weakness. I don’t remember exactly. She was…crazy.”

  Ethan hoped they wouldn’t ask for more details. He didn’t want to describe what he saw her do by the creek or what he found inside the house in front of Madison and the old woman.

  The handcuffed man spoke up at this point. “That kid don’t know shit! Nobody does. Not the cops, not the government, and not some kid from Austin.”

  Jeff responded, “Shut up, Andrew! Just eat your fucking cereal and shut up. You’re still under arrest. Why don’t you use your right to remain silent?”

  Tully ignored the exchange and continued to ask Ethan, “Did you see what was happening at the Buc-ee’s just down the road? We see a lot of smoke coming from there.”

  “Yes, sir. It’s on fire. The whole building and most of the cars. I didn’t go near it.”

  Jeff leaned, a concerned look on his face. “Did you see a police officer there? Hispanic guy?”

  Ethan shook his head. “I didn’t get close enough to see anyone. I didn’t see anyone moving around there, though. I don’t see how anyone could have survived the fire.”

  Jeff sat back in his chair and looked at the table. Madison looked at him and Tully, her face also fallen.

  Tully explained, “We’re looking for Ray. He was also a county sheriff. He went to the Buc-ee’s to get supplies for us and to see if it was safe to get gasoline for our truck. When he didn’t return, and we saw the smoke, we assumed the worst. Sounds like we were right.”

  Ethan looked at Jeff. “I’m sorry to hear about your friend. It's pretty bad out there.”

  Jeff looked at Ethan and just nodded his thanks. Madison leaned into the group and spoke a little more quietly, though Ethan was pretty sure the other people in the room could hear her.

  “So, what now? We don’t have much food, and the truck needs more gas if we are going to go to San Marcos. There’s no way we can take I-35. We’ll have to take all of these back roads, and with no GPS, we’re bound to get lost. I don’t want to run out of gas out there.”

  Jeff said, “We have the map. And I know the area well enough.”

  Tully responded, “Let’s just take it one thing at a time. For now, we are safe here. Ethan is the first person we’ve seen since the Martinez family came in yesterday morning. Whatever is happening out there seems to be confined to the highway.”

  Madison shook her head. “It's not going to stay that way. Once they are done with the people trapped on the highway, they’re going to spread out and start to look for us.”

  “Why don’t we just walk?” Ethan asked.

  The others at the table looked at him as if he had suggested flying to the moon as an option.

  Ethan saw their disbelief and just shrugged his shoulders slightly. “I mean, that’s w
hat I did.”

  Tully tried to explain, “It’s too far to walk, and all of us can’t make it that far.” His eyes flicked over to the family sitting at the next table, who seemed to be oblivious to the conversation. “And if we are caught out in the open, then who knows what will happen.”

  Jeff spoke up, “We’ll be killed or captured, that’s what will happen.”

  Ethan asked, “Captured? They are capturing people, too?”

  Madison nodded. “Yes. That’s what happened on the highway. I was there. Me and some friends were driving back to San Marcos from South Padre. Traffic came to a stop, but you know 35, that happens a lot.

  “But that’s when things changed. There were fistfights in between the vehicles. I saw a man in the car parked next to us punch someone in the face over and over. It's like everyone got road rage at the same time. I mean, not everyone. For some reason, none of my friends were affected.

  “Then some guy came at our car and smashed out one of the windows and tried to drag Rachelle out. The rest of us tried to pull her back in. I got out of the car and hit him with a bat. I think I broke his arm, and he let go. He was screaming weird stuff the whole time. He said something about how he had to purify himself.” Her eyes focused far away as if she were reliving the attack.

  She continued, “But a lot of other people came at us. All of my other friends got out of the car and tried to run. I guess I was faster. When I looked back, I saw a lot of the crazy people on the highway had grabbed my friends. They had some other people they had pulled out of cars and were holding them to the ground. They weren’t hurting them. They were just holding them. Like they were waiting for someone to come and get them.

  “I just ran. I don’t know why they didn’t follow me. I just ran with my baseball bat until I got here.”

  Ethan listened to her story. “Some of that is like what happened to me. Except at the wildlife park, no one was trying to capture anyone. They just started killing each other. It started with the animals first, though. And then the other people came out of the pit.”