“Danny!” the shout was even closer.
A rustle in the undergrowth to their right caught both of their attentions. A flash of orange amongst the greenery was all either needed to act. They both dove into the bushes, almost knocking each other over in their eagerness to save the boy and avoid the mother.
***
Kate’s heart raced as she turned the bend and was faced with the undergrowth shaking wildly in front of her. A muffled oomph was followed by the bushes calming and the sight of Danny appearing before her. All thoughts of why the bushes were shaking left her as she grabbed her child, checking him for any injuries, while holding him tight.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her breath catching on itself.
He nodded his head, tears were rolling down his cheeks.
Kate pulled him even closer, wiping the tears from his face.
“What happened?”
“A man grabbed me and ran in here with me. He had me in those bushes until the other men came just now!”
“What other men?” asked Kate, the search party was behind her.
Danny shrugged. “No idea!”
Kate looked at the bushes as the voices of the search party closed in behind her. She waited, having no intention of leaving Danny.
“You’ve got him!” said Gary with relief as he rounded the bend.
“Yes,” said Kate, pointing to the bush where he had come from. “A man had him in there!”
Gary withdrew his pistol and with two of his security volunteers, moved cautiously towards where Kate had pointed. They carefully peeled back the undergrowth and bushes to reveal the small gully. A man lay awaiting them, his orange suit shining all the brighter as the morning sun shone through the exposed bushes.
“Well?” asked Kate.
Gary holstered his pistol. “Nothing here, best head home. We’ll keep looking.”
His two volunteers were about to speak when he hushed them.
“You sure?”
“Nothing here!” said Gary with some force, looking at the man whose body lay face down while his face pointed skyward. Whoever had broken the man’s neck had done so with astonishing force and technique.
As Kate, Danny, and the search party dissipated, Gary answered the questioning looks of his volunteers. “People are scared enough without a kidnapping and death on our doorstep.”
“How is that even possible?” asked one of his volunteers.
“I’ve no idea, but whoever did it, we have to thank them, I know that guy from county. He was one sick son of a bitch.”
***
“Jesus,” said Alex, “Could you not just have knifed him? Breaking his neck like that, you know, no one can ever know who we really are!”
“I didn’t want to traumatize the kid.”
“So you spun the guy’s head around like an owl?!”
Nick shrugged. “No blood.”
Alex pulled him deeper into the undergrowth off the trail. “Come on, let’s get out of here before they spot us.”
“That’s the wrong way.”
Alex looked down towards the city below. “Time to find out what’s really happening down there!”
“But I thought we were strictly covert?”
“We are,” said Alex, looking at their jeans and polo shirts.
Nick looked at Alex. He was indeed dressed in jeans and a polo shirt, but it did little to hide his demeanor or physique, nor that general look that screamed special forces, no matter what they wore. They had a look, a look they’d honed to intimidate their opponents, but not one they could easily shed when required.
“Just don’t talk and we’ll be fine!” assured Alex, leading the way down towards the bridge that would take them into Boise.
Chapter 22
Kate didn’t let go of Danny on the walk home. Smiles marked their route home as neighbors who had come to the rescue were relieved that, on top of everything else, a tragedy had been avoided.
Locking the door firmly behind her and with her family around her, she sat Danny down and remarkably, he smiled back at her. His age had saved him from fully understanding the implications of what could have happened. Danny was a fun-loving boy who lived to play. He hadn’t befallen the social media or video gaming trap, he was happiest playing outside in the wonders of the outdoors. He’d been warned of strangers and knew the dangers, but had no idea what those dangers were and from his demeanor, thankfully still didn’t. Kate still wanted to know every detail and looked him straight in the eye. “Danny, you need to tell me exactly what happened.”
Danny described being grabbed by the man and how he had clamped a hand over his mouth to stop him shouting for help. He had fought but the man was very strong, and when he heard shouting, made them run towards the trail and hide in the bushes. Then, two minutes later, two men appeared out of nowhere, didn’t say a word, pulled Danny clear, and took him back to the trail.
“And you heard nothing?”
“I heard a loud snap, but nothing else.”
“And the men weren’t combing through the undergrowth? They just came to exactly where you were?”
Danny nodded.
Kate thought about it. You couldn’t see anything beyond the trail. The undergrowth and bushes were so thick, they’d never have found Danny. Even from a few feet away, he would have been invisible.
“What did the men look like?”
“The man who took me was really smelly and was wearing an orange suit.”
“No, the men that helped?”
Danny paused as he tried to recall what they’d looked like.
“Like guards.”
“Guards?”
“You know, like the guards at our old house.”
Kate looked at her two daughters to see if they could make any more sense of what Danny was saying.
Both looked as confused as she was.
“You know, the base guards, like big, serious, and scary.”
Kate recalled their old home. A place they had spent many happy years raising their children in the safety of Mountain Home Air Force base and where they had fallen in love with Idaho. Danny venturing outside had never been a concern. The base guards were the only people who scared him, as they didn’t respond to his boyish charms and antics. Steadfastly vigilant, they would never crack a smile or give him an inch, where others were putty in his childhood hands.
“So, they were dressed like soldiers?” asked Kate excitedly. The military had not been seen since the power had gone.
Danny shook his head. “No, they were just dressed normally, I think.”
A loud knock at the door interrupted the interrogation. Kate told him not to move as she left the lounge and opened the front door. It was Gary.
“How is he?” he asked quietly.
“Remarkably fine. I don’t think he fully understands what danger he was in.”
Gary nodded knowingly. “Thank God for that. He was one nasty piece of work.”
“Was?” queried Kate. “I thought there was nobody there?”
“Oh, he was there. I just didn’t want Danny to know.”
“So, what, you killed him?” Kate stepped back, visibly shaken.
“God no! He was already dead. His head was twisted around a-hundred-and-eighty-degrees. He was staring up at us even though his body was facing down. Did Danny say who saved him?”
“Yeah, two guys.”
“From where?”
Kate shrugged. “Come ask him yourself,” she said, stepping back.
“Hey, Danny!” smiled Gary, entering the lounge.
“Hey, Sheriff,” smiled Danny in return. His close call with danger already forgotten.
“Great to see you’re okay, buddy!” he said, tousling Danny’s hair. “The two guys that helped you, did you recognize them?”
Danny shook his head. “Nope.”
“He said they reminded him of the base guards at Mountain Home, big and scary,” offered Kate.
“So, they were military?”
/> Danny shrugged. “Don’t know. They were dressed normally, so I don’t think so.”
“Did they say anything?”
Danny shook his head. “No, they just took me to the path and my mom.”
“There was no sign of them when we got there,” said Gary.
“But that was less than a minute after Danny appeared. Why not make themselves known? Why not take the credit for saving Danny? If they were military, why are they hiding from us?” asked Kate. None of it made sense. The total lack of military or of any other federal help after five days was wearing on every citizen. Each day, they thought someone was going to come to their rescue. Each new day would hopefully bring the help they were all certain was coming. Yet each day, nothing came, nobody came to help or even tell them what was happening to the world.
Kate shuddered as a thought hit her. “What if they were military?” she asked with concern.
“And that would be a bad thing, why?” asked Gary, seeing her worried look.
“Because they might not be our military!”
Chapter 23
The trail they picked took them past the Warm Springs Mesa estate and delivered them to the bridge that crossed the Boise River. Nick and Alex both stopped as they crossed the bridge - the smell of decaying human flesh, a smell that once experienced was never forgotten. A look over the bridge into the water below explained the smell. A rotting corpse caught in a swirling pool at the base of one of the concrete supports, bobbed in and out of sight. The eyeless body already victim to opportune feeders.
Nick looked further upstream. Another body lay tangled in bushes at the water’s edge. He shook his head in disgust. This was a modern, civilized American city, not a war-torn, third-world state. Could things have really gotten that bad so quickly?
They kept walking. The street remained deserted. They knew the road led to a shopping area, a supermarket, restaurants, and banks just a few hundred yards ahead.
“You don’t want to go down there!” called an elderly lady from her backyard. She stood at her waist-high fence, a shotgun tucked under her armpit, ready to bring up if required.
“Good afternoon, Ma’am,” offered Alex, walking over the grass verge that separated her yard from the main road.
“Afternoon. Not seen you fellas before.” she eyed them suspiciously.
“We’re from Nampa, just out for a walk.”
“Yeah, whatever,” she said, not buying it. “Nothing left down there,” she said. “All gone, some militia emptied out everything they could, and killed anyone that got too close.”
“Everything?” asked Alex. From their map, it looked like a large store.
“Pretty much. What they didn’t want would be no use to you, but didn’t stop folks taking it. TVs, washers, you name it, it’s gone. As soon as the militia were gone, that place was stripped bare.”
“What about the police?”
“Militia broke them Day One, shot them to hell and back. Big gun fight. We haven’t seen a policeman since.”
“That’s terrible,” offered Alex.
“Better in Nampa, is it?”
Alex had to think quick. He had no idea what it was like in Nampa, but being closer to the explosion, he’d have to imagine not. “Nope, similar.”
“Yet here you are out for a leisurely fifteen-mile walk to Southeast Boise? While folks here are scared to venture into their gardens?”
Alex was going to have to improve their cover story before moving on. Alex took a long pull on his water bottle, changing the subject. “I couldn’t bother you for a refill, could I?”
The woman looked at him like he was crazy. “Now, I know you’re not from Nampa.”
Nick and Alex looked at her quizzically.
She pointed to his bottle. “We’ve not had power or water for four days.”
“No water?”
“Went off same time as everything else. So, where you really from?”
“Nampa,” said Alex, not deviating from his cover, but indicating to Nick that it was time to leave.
“I’m struggling to place your accent. Definitely not from anywhere ‘round here. Lived here all my life!” quizzed the old lady.
“Nice to meet you,” offered Alex, walking away and pulling Nick with him. It was time to leave before the old lady embroiled others in her questioning.
“No water and the river contaminated with dead bodies. That is not a good combination.” said Nick, as they walked past the deserted supermarket. Trash and discarded crates and boxes littered the parking lot. They watched from a distance as a few stragglers ducked into the supermarket, appearing just minutes later empty-handed.
“So, what next?” asked Nick.
“It’s gonna get dark soon. Think we’ll call this recce quits and come back another time.” A movement in the sky above caught his attention. He looked up, the tiniest of glints catching his eye.
“Is that what I think it is?” asked Nick, following his gaze.
“I think so,” said Alex, fishing in his pocket and pulling out a small flash drive type device, which for the previous five days had failed to show any signs of life. A small diode blinked steadily on the top. It had made contact.
“About time!” said Nick, squinting for a better look.
Alex looked around for a private location, his eyes focusing on a small strip of stores at the entrance to the shopping center.
“I’m just going to try the restroom in here,” he pointed to the café, its door sitting open. “Keep a lookout, will you?”
“Will do,” said Nick.
Alex walked into the café, his weapon drawn and scanning for threats. The stench allayed his concerns almost instantly. He hadn’t been the first to consider using the café, its public convenience had been used to exhaustion. No surprise there. He was sure households nearby had no water to flush their toilets and even if they did, the sewers would only work for so long without water flowing. Pipes would back up to the point that even with water, the waste would have nowhere to go.
He pressed the flash drive as instructed, and the red diode turned green. Contact had been made with the drone flying silently high above and almost invisible. His report was concise and to the point, explaining everything they had witnessed over the previous five days. As he spoke, a number of reassuring thumbs up were thrown at him from Nick outside. All was clear. The flash drive recorded everything he’d said, compressed it into a tiny file and sent it in the tiniest of data bursts to the drone above. Finally, they had checked in.
As the light blinked quickly three times, Nick signaled to him wildly from outside and raced off. The message had been sent. Alex raced out after him. Two teenagers were running away from Nick.
“They were in the back of the café! They crawled out the restroom window!” shouted Nick back to Alex who was struggling to catch up as the teenagers raced away.
Alex screamed at himself in frustration. He had just assumed the smell would have meant the café was empty. He hadn’t checked, he should have checked. They must have heard everything he’d said.
“What should I do?” shouted Nick from almost fifty yards ahead.
“You know what to do!” shouted Alex.
Chapter 24
Kate flinched as the succession of high-velocity rounds echoed from the city below. It wasn’t the random gunshots that had become so prevalent she barely noticed them anymore. These were different. Perfectly spaced, almost indiscernible from one another. Double taps, professional shots. She hated guns, she thought, trying to divert her mind from the vision of whoever had been executed. She had no illusion that was what had happened. Some people had just been executed, in all likelihood, innocent people going about their lives and trying to survive in a new world, where up until then, law and order had kept them generally safe and secure from the less savory elements of the community.
“What’s wrong?” asked Sophie, seeing the look on Kate’s face.
“Nothing,” she said, forcing a smile. She was getti
ng good at it. Sophie smiled back.
“Zach’s coming over, that okay?”
“Yeah, just no closed doors!” she warned. Zach spent most of his time at their house. In all honesty, she enjoyed having him around. He had already helped collect and chop more wood than she and the girls could have hoped to in a month. Kate was planning ahead. She had always been the homemaker in the house. Tim did the easy work. He flew planes while Kate ensured he and the kids had nothing to worry about, other than what they were going to wear that day. Even then, with Tim, that was a given. He wore his uniforms and on his off days, Chino shorts or trousers, depending on the temperature with either sandals or boots, again dependent on the weather.
Kate was afraid to ask how much wood he had collected for his own family. Given the amount of time Zach had been at their house, she guessed very little, if any. But then, she was, she was fairly certain, ahead of the curve. Her mind had always focused on the future rather than the present. Although getting colder, the coldest days of winter were still ahead of them. Many believed help was just a day away. Over the space of five days, the belief had barely faltered. Kate wondered how long before that day became a week, or even a month and the reality finally hit home. Something catastrophic had befallen their world. Whatever they were living through, it wasn’t just Boise. It couldn’t be, not after that amount of time.
“Mom, we need to talk about the, you know…”
Kate turned to Ava who had walked into the lounge. She looked awkwardly towards the arriving Zach. Kate knew what the ‘you know’ was. The toilet situation. She smiled. Zach’s timing seemed to be extremely unfortunate for her daughters.
She would chat it through with Harry later, he may have some ideas. She pulled Ava aside and spoke quietly. “I know, in the meantime, there’s a bucket in the garage. Put some water in the bottom and use that, we’ll deal with it later.”
“Eww. That’s gross!” moaned Ava, turning her nose up at the idea.
“Yet, that’s the best option you have and it’s better than it’ll be in the future!”
TRIAL: A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Thriller Page 10