TRIAL: A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Thriller

by Murray Mcdonald

  “Where are you from?” shouted a doctor, or at least Kate assumed he was a doctor, but under the bio-suit he was wearing, it was hard to tell.

  The doctor abandoned the patient he was dealing with and walked quickly towards Kate.

  “Suburbs,” replied Kate quietly not wanting anyone else to hear her, nor was she going to be more specific. Certainly not when this was what happened when too many people lived in close proximity.

  “You’re about the healthiest person I’ve seen outside of the militia in a week!”

  “What’s wrong with them?” asked Kate, her mouth hanging open as she stared at the scene in horror.

  “Dysentery, Cholera, Botulism, a mix of them all probably, and God knows what else. We’ve no way to test, but we’re talking old world waterborne diseases. We’re so used to clean water that our bodies have little or no natural protection from contaminated water. The slightest bacteria and we’re here,” he said, waving his hand across the forecourt.

  “Oh, my God,” breathed Kate in disbelief, covering her mouth.

  “You should be okay. I don’t think any of it is contagious, just whatever you do, don’t drink any water that’s not from a sealed bottle or been properly boiled.”

  “Surely most people would have boiled water first, the river…”

  “Appeared to be perfectly fine for a few days. The problem was, it was a week before this took hold, this has all happened in the last few days. Before that, it was just violence-related problems. That, we could just about cope with, although not much we can do. No power stops us doing a lot of things.”

  “And now?”

  “We’re out of everything. No pain meds, no antibiotics, no clean bedding, no nothing. We’re having to boil river water to hydrate people, but the volumes are just impossible. To be honest, most people here will die. We just can’t cope. They are too ill and we don’t have the food or fluids to help them. We are fighting a losing battle. The strongest have a chance…”

  Kate looked again at the fluid running towards the gutter from the sea of patients. It was their life, pouring from them. Had it been a darker color, it would have been more evident that it was human waste. It was almost clear, a sign of how little remained in the patients and how little nutrition and chance of a survival they had.

  “How can you do it?” she asked, when a section of young children caught her eye.

  “It’s what we do,” he shrugged. “So, why are you here? You obviously don’t need any help, as I said, I’ve not seen anyone as healthy as you for a few days.”

  Kate felt embarrassed, seeing the despair, pain, and suffering in front of her. “My daughter,” she brushed it away as nothing. “Cut herself and needs antibiotics.”

  “Describe it?”

  Kate gave a detailed description.

  “And she’s healthy otherwise?”

  Kate nodded. “Like me. We’ve got enough provisions, probably for a couple of weeks and I think we have a source for fairly clean water.”

  “Don’t tell me where!” he advised. “People would kill you for what you have and probably kill me to find out.”

  “Okay, I won’t,” she said with a heavy heart. It felt wrong not to offer the doctor the information when he was helping her.

  “You’re right about your daughter and she would have been a candidate for antibiotics here. Most of these people are too far gone, we wouldn’t waste it on them. But we ran out a couple of days ago. So, I’m afraid I can’t help.”

  “Anywhere else I can try?”

  The doctor thought, “There is a rumor about the Capitol building. The tunnels beneath that double as a shelter in a crisis. I’d imagine they’d have thought of the basics and I’d certainly make sure that was in any kit I had in a shelter.”

  “Thank you,” said Kate. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

  “Just make it out of this alive. Some of us have to,” he said, meaning every word.

  Kate wanted to hug him and thank him but whatever he’d said about contagion, she wasn’t taking any chances.

  She began to cycle away and he shouted after her. “And you really need to get her started on them within the next seventy-two hours!”

  Kate waved a thank you over her head, turned the corner and was stopped almost instantly, by a wall of people blocking her path.

  Chapter 44

  The arrival of Sean and his partner Lonnie, had been a surprise to Alex and Nick. They didn’t realized their reports would or could result in additional resource being allocated. However, the militia’s almost instantaneous rise to power had caught everybody by surprise and more information on exactly how it had come about was wanted. Sean and Lonnie had been parachuted in over twenty miles away from Boise during the previous night and had trekked all day through the woods to Alex and Nick’s location, catching them by surprise that evening.

  It had been a quick and short-lived reunion. Sean and Lonnie had one mission, to infiltrate the militia and understand more about it, how it had come to be and its setup. After one night with Alex and Nick, they had offered their services the following day. Both had been chosen for their knowledge of the city and previous ties, unlike Alex and Nick, who had been chosen for the opposite reason, to ensure their reports were free of emotion and were objective. It was understood that to be able to join the militia, Sean and Lonnie would need to know the area and have a reason for being there. It also helped that both had been adorned with prison-style tattoos, suggesting they had a less than stellar past. A reference to the number of prison tattoos on members had been noted in previous reports. Although not permanent, they would at least last a couple of months to ensure their cover remained intact.

  Although they could only travel with what they could carry, they had managed to bring at least a few supplies to supplement Alex and Nick’s ability to fulfill their mission. Most importantly, a satellite phone, a solar charger and night vision equipment, including binoculars and scopes for their rifles. They were items they’d had initially, but had been destroyed despite their best efforts. The night vision equipment opened up their ability to travel and report without exposing themselves, using the cover of darkness. While Boise slept, Alex and Nick explored unobstructed and unobserved.

  They had watched and reported the growing health crisis that had swept through the city over the previous few days, being reassured by satellite phone that they were in no danger, as long as they boiled or sterilized their water.

  They had also watched over and reported on the increasing violence by the militia. Thanks to a couple of secret night meetings with Sean and Lonnie, they had been made aware of the scale and capability of the militia, which was far greater than they had envisaged. The brutality of its members, which had stunned even Sean who had seen plenty throughout his military career, included some of the worst terrorist atrocities. The militia was as bad as any jihadist terrorist he had experienced. He and Lonnie had witnessed entire families being killed by the militia, including children, to deter the populous from further uprisings against them. Sean and Lonnie had both managed to avoid the actual killings, as there was always someone keen amongst the group to pull the trigger. However, watching the killings was becoming harder and harder to stomach. Both had requested to be pulled out. Alex had to tell them their request was denied, the information they were gathering was far too important.

  They maintained their base above Warm Springs Mesa. A couple of bikes that had been acquired during one of their night-time excursions into the city had transformed their travel time and opened the entire city up to them over the course of the night. They managed to stash the bikes above the community, just off the trail that led them closest to their hide. Despite their new hours, Nick had maintained his interest in the tight-knit community and in particular, his interest in the woman and her family.

  There was no doubt that the community was faring far better than the wider city, but there was a definite reduction in contact and movement throughout the day. In fact,
over the previous two days, barely a soul had ventured out of their house. Resources were running low, of that Nick had no doubt. Less and less trash was being deposited each day. Alex warned him to lower his expectations. When hunger set in, the community would, as he’d always predicted, fall apart. It was just a matter of time. Nick prayed the community spirit would live on, but the lack of interaction between families was leading him towards Alex’s way of thinking. It wouldn’t take long.

  “They just need to follow the trash,” observed Alex. Replacing ‘money’ with ‘trash’ in the well-known phrase.

  It was true. While some houses in the community had not deposited trash for a few days, others added daily. It wasn’t hard to detect who still had food. He, through pure interest and for no particular reason, had noted the woman was still depositing trash. However, she was smart, it’d been at night and not outside of her own house. While their trash pile remained unchanged, others’ grew. He had also noted something else about her at night, having spotted her a couple of times as he and Alex had prepared to leave. He couldn’t help but think it was a very smart move, given all that had transpired.

  Watching her cycle off that morning, he couldn’t help but worry. He knew it was crazy and had absolutely no attachment to her, other than the voyeuristic oversight he had maintained over her and her family over the previous ten days. When he followed her cycling towards the city and not towards her target range, his concern grew. He looked at Alex, but he was sound asleep. They had only just returned from another night of exploration and reporting. She crossed the bridge, and he could taste the stench that would be assaulting her as she disappeared from sight. He looked back towards the trail and where they had stashed their bikes and then back at Alex. Their orders ran through his mind, ‘avoid contact at all costs’. Keeping watch over a lone woman in a city overrun by a militia hell bent on killing any and all signs of authority would probably be construed as disobeying that order.

  He checked the pistol on his holster and slipped out of their hide. Alex stirred as he moved.

  Chapter 45

  Kate rested her hand on her pistol grip as the group that were blocking her path refused to move. They were a pitiful sight. They could barely hold their own weight, but it wasn’t stopping them brandishing a variety of weapons. Kate looked around desperately for help. Nobody who waited in the line looked as though they were fit to care, never mind help.

  “We’re wondering where you live?” asked one of the men in the group. The group stepped forward threateningly as he spoke. They were just a few yards from Kate with a number of pistols aimed at her. There wee twelve men against one woman while hundreds watched. What the hell had become of the city?

  “Back up, guys,” she said in as an authoritative a voice as she could muster, pulling her PPQ to bear and aiming squarely at the talker.

  “Lady, look at me,” advised the man. “Do you think a quick death is really something I’m worried about?”

  Kate lowered her aim to his genitals. Earning a laugh from a number of the group.

  The men held steady, not retreating but not moving forward. Kate hoped the pause would have some of her fellow Boise citizens coming to her aid, but few even raised their heads to see what was happening. A week of killings by the militia and illness had all but knocked any fight out of them.

  “So which is it?” asked Kate, wanting to take control of the situation.

  “We don’t want you. We just want some food and clean water!” offered another man, his voice more pleading than demanding. A number of nods from the group echoed his sentiment.

  Kate couldn’t help but wonder if things had become so bad in the city, why they hadn’t already been overrun in Warm Springs Mesa by city dwellers moving out to the suburbs to take whatever they could get. It didn’t make any sense until she realized why; it was the militia. They were based in a suburb and had wreaked havoc over the city for the last week or more. The doctor had mentioned that things hadn’t really gotten bad until the last few days, certainly from an illness perspective. The reason they hadn’t been overrun was because of the militia.

  “I’m with the militia,” she replied confidently.

  “On a bike and on your own?” scoffed one of the men.

  “I don’t like horses.”

  “Whatever. It’s also a reason we should just kill you!”

  She had no choice but to double down and go with it. She had only one option, to talk her way out of the situation. It was clear that no help was coming.

  “Let’s just say, if anything were to happen to me here, I hope none of you have any children or family you care about.”

  “They’re never going to know who we are.”

  Kate glanced over to the line. “What, all those people are going to risk their lives and their families lives to save you bunch?” she sneered. Inside, she was shaking. If her bluff didn’t work she was in serious trouble.

  She could see doubt beginning to enter at least some of the men’s faces, but others remained resolute, it was touch and go.

  “I call bullshit. They’d let a good-looking woman like you wander around on her own, when they ride about in posses to ensure they are safe?”

  “Hey, leave her alone,” came a shout, strong and commanding.

  ***

  Alex stirred, and Nick stopped moving. Alex settled, and Nick moved again, getting out of the hide without waking him. He picked up his backpack.

  “Hey, where you going?” asked Alex. The movement had woken him after all.

  “Just going for a pee,” replied Nick.

  Alex sat up, fully awake, the lie hadn’t fooled him. “With your backpack and rifle?”

  Nick couldn’t tell a blatant lie. No matter how small their operation was. Alex was his senior and therefore, commander, and despite the small size of the team, the importance of the operation had not been missed on them. The weight of the importance bore down on them every day. The operation had been one of the tightest kept secrets in the history of the country. Only a handful of people were trusted with the truth. Alex and Nick were two of those people and the reason they, and they alone, were trusted to oversee and report on the city of Boise. The drones overhead, flying high and out of sight of the people below, were monitored by fewer than a handful of the country’s most trusted men and women.

  “The woman. She’s going into the city on her own.”

  “Nick, please, you know the situation, we cannot compromise our position or our mission.”

  Nick nodded, he wasn’t sure he’d have gone further than the bike. The moment he had stepped out of the hide, before Alex had spoken, he’d already been regretting his foolhardy decision.

  “You’re right. I was being stupid.”

  “So I can go back to sleep?”

  Nick nodded and climbed back into the hide. He prayed for the woman’s safe return and knew, under any other circumstance, he would have helped her.

  ***

  Kate turned. It was the doctor.

  “She says she’s with the militia!”

  “She’s frightened and scared, just like you are. Come down to the hospital and I’ll make sure we sort you guys out!” he offered.

  The line mumbled dissent, but the doctor stared them down. He was saving a woman’s life.

  Kate mouthed “thank you” out of sight of the men.

  She turned back to the men in front of her, three had already stepped aside. Although the leader of the group remained resolute.

  “You’ll help us and our families?”

  “I’ll give you everything I can to help them,” said the doctor truthfully.

  Kate winced silently, she knew the doctor had nothing. His promise was worthless. He was going to pay for his deceit. She just prayed, not with his life.

  The leader stepped aside. Kate didn’t hesitate as she pushed on her pedals and left as quickly as she could. Despite her interaction, she had no intention of heading home just yet. She had to get to the Capitol building and
find some antibiotics. The doctor hadn’t said as much, but the look of concern on his face and his seventy-two-hour deadline were as clear a warning that Ava’s life depended on them as he was going to issue, not wanting to panic Kate.

  Gunshots echoed behind her, she guessed from the hospital. She looked straight ahead, she couldn’t think about the doctor and what may or may not have happened to him. She had to think about her daughter. She also wondered who she had become. She wasn’t the type to turn her back on people in need, but times had changed. She had to think of her children and how best she could protect them. To do that, she had to survive. As cold as it sounded and felt, she had no choice. She prayed the doctor was okay and pedaled on regardless.

  Her heart sank as she turned the corner and the sight of the Capitol building in all its grandeur stood before her. Its stunning façade was bullet-ridden, hardly a window had escaped a brutal assault. Its doors, like those of many other public buildings, hung open. The idea that the tunnels remained intact despite the assault soon evaporated as she neared the bottom of the grand staircase that led to the entrance. Two bodies were tied, bullet-ridden and clearly dead, to the central two pillars. The Governor of Idaho and the Mayor of Boise. Whatever lay inside, Kate already knew it would have been pillaged, including the tunnels, where these two men would have sought refuge, just like every other resource the militia had pillaged in Boise.