Jake kept his weapon raised. “What are you doing to your wife? That’s no way to treat a person. Look at how she’s bleeding!”
Deron glanced back at the man’s wife. The woman continued to cower as she backed away from her husband slowly. She never took her eyes away from the belt, nor did she lower her arms.
“She was disrespecting my cattle, so I’m teaching her a lesson!” he growled. “None of your business, anyway. Get out of my house!”
Deron must have heard incorrectly. There was too much blood in his ear canal.
“What cattle are you talking about? I don’t see any cattle.” Jake looked just as confused as he was, so perhaps he had heard correctly.
The man scoffed, “You know damn well ‘what cattle’!” He glared at Deron then looked back at Jake with an equal amount of venom. “You two have been trying to steal them from me for years. I’m no fool! Tell your Purple Apple she can’t have them!”
What the hell is this lunatic talking about? Deron honestly could not tell if what he was seeing was real, or if the blow from earlier had knocked him out. Maybe this was all a dream. Or maybe that guy is high out of his mind. Again, he was not sure.
“The Purple Apple didn’t send us! We heard your wife screaming,” replied Jake. “You have no right to assault her like this!” Still, the gun was raised. Jake looked serious and composed. Deron wasn’t sure how he was able to keep it together in such a deranged situation.
The husband took a step towards Jake, holding the bat still. “It is a husband’s right to discipline his wife for offending his livestock, so get the hell off my land! Both of you! Before I break our treaty and kill you where you stand.” He grinned and twisted his hands around the bat in a menacing fashion.
“You’re taking this opportunity to beat your wife because you know the cops can’t be called. This is not okay. I’m taking the law into my own hands here,” Jake said.
The fat man moved threateningly towards Jake, who cocked the pistol and placed a finger on the trigger.
Five
Aby
Ultimately, she decided to walk straight through the crowd. If she was fast and ducked behind some of the dead cars, then she might be able to slip by unnoticed. It was only a four-lane road. She didn’t need to get far. She just needed to do it quickly.
Aby tucked her purse close to her side, pocketing her keys so they wouldn’t jingle. She crept behind a parked van and peeked around to survey the brawl. One of the rioters had smashed through a windshield. He stood on the hood and started kicking the driver in the head. The driver screamed as he tried to free himself from the car. Aby nearly screamed at the sight. She sucked in a breath.
Don’t worry about what they’re doing. Just focus on getting across.
She spotted a bulky SUV in the lane nearest to her. It was about ten feet away. Those fighting didn’t appear to be looking in her direction. She took another deep breath through her clenched teeth. She sprinted to her next shelter, breathing through her mouth to keep quiet. It had taken her two seconds to reach the car. Again, she stopped to check on the mob ahead of her.
Don’t focus on their actions. Focus on their positions, she reminded herself.
The assailant on top of the car was still kicking the driver who no longer moved. His features were obscured by blood. Aby looked away.
Oh God, it’s all going to hell over there.
She sucked in another breath and braced herself to look again. More people had joined the fight, but she wasn’t sure where they had come from. One man had brought a rake and began swinging it at the crowd. He didn’t seem to be targeting any one person in particular but resolving to inflict pain generally.
To the right, she coaxed herself. If you can get behind the truck on the right, then you’ll only have two more lanes to cross.
Again, she dashed towards the next vehicle. This one was farther away than the last and took her five seconds to reach. She whirled around to see if she had been noticed. She hadn’t. But she could see a hooded figure sneaking up behind the man with the rake. She noticed a flash of metal before the man cried out. He fell to his knees before Aby turned away again.
Just one more lane. Just breathe. Look for another car.
Peering around the truck’s tailgate, she couldn’t see any more vehicles within reach. They were either too far away for her to make it or too close to the fighting for it to make a difference. Her heart raced with panic. She looked for another way but found none. The only way to the other side was to run for it and pray she wasn’t noticed.
She took a few calming breaths that didn’t really calm her and checked that her laces were tied. She clutched her purse tightly… and ran.
Her heart raced with fear and exertion. She made it across the third lane without much trouble. She hadn’t gotten too close to anyone with a weapon, but people were starting to notice her.
Oh shit. They see me. Run FASTER.
She bolted as fast as she could, dodging fists and hands as people tried to pull her into the mob. She jerked to a stop as someone snatched her purse. Aby turned and tried to pull it back.
“I need this!” the woman holding it screamed. A tear of blood had dried on her cheek. “You might have something for my babies! They’ll need medicine!”
“I don’t have any medicine!” she shouted. She fought against the woman until someone scratched her face.
“Leave my mom alone!” a boy yelled. He scratched at her again. He couldn’t have been older than twelve. Shocked at the prospect of fighting a child, Aby’s hold on her purse was broken. An unseen person punched her in the face. She screamed and tore away from the fight. Sprinting across the fourth lane and away from the building chaos.
Oh God, that was awful. They could’ve killed me. She stopped behind a building to catch her breath, hands on her knees. Her lungs were burning. I think this is the fastest my heart has ever pumped in its life.
Looking up, she couldn’t recognize any of the buildings. She walked along the alley in search of anything familiar. Avenue by avenue, she searched until she found a street name that she recognized.
Lincoln Street? That’s even farther into the city! I must have run a lot longer than I thought. It’s going to take a while to get back to the ‘burbs.
She kept walking south, sticking to the alleys as much as possible. She heard some shouting in the apartments above. Forty minutes later, she saw a skirmish down another alley but raced by without any of the offenders noticing her. Some police ran in to break up the fight, but two broke off and went into an abandoned shop. Aby stopped to see what they were up to. They emerged moments later, stuffing things into their pockets. She could not see what those things were.
Aby returned to the main roads once the alleys stopped following the path home. As she walked along the street, a mother led her two young children around the corner. Her son was crying.
“Mommy, I want. To. Go. Home!” he said between sobs. “My feet hurt!”
“I know, sweetie. I know,” his mother cooed. “We’ll be home soon. We just have to walk a little bit longer.”
The trio kept walking when a policeman approached them.
“Where are you headed, ma’am? Not safe out here right now.” It was the officer who had stopped Aby earlier. She wasn’t sure where his partner was at.
“I know, officer. We’re trying to get home,” she said with exasperation. “Our car died on the other side of the city, and we have ten more blocks to go.”
His mouth pressed into a concerned line. “Like I said, ma’am, it’s not safe outside. If you’d like, I can escort you home.”
The woman smiled a little. “That would be wonderful, sir. Thank you.”
“My feet hurt!” the little boy shouted. He blubbered as he looked up at the officer, who chuckled.
“Would you like a ride, mister?” he said to the boy. “You’ve had to walk an awful lot today. I’m sure you did a very good job. I can carry you the rest of the way if you’re tired. Would you like that?�
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The boy snuffled snot back up his nose and his blubbering waned. “Yeah,” he said simply, wiping his face with his little forearm.
The officer picked the boy up. The child immediately rested his head against the man’s chest and stuck his thumb in his mouth. “What do you say to the nice police officer, Nathan?” his mother chided gently.
He removed his thumb briefly to say, “Thank you, Mr. Police, sir.” Then he placed his thumb back into his mouth.
The officer chuckled again. “You’re very welcome, mister. Now. Where to, ma’am?”
The woman picked up her daughter and led the way. They turned at the end of the block, and Aby could no longer make out their conversation.
I suppose he is a good guy after all. The thought made her smile.
Aby continued on her way home. The sun was getting low, and she figured there was only another couple of hours before dark. She should be able to get home before then as long as nothing else went wrong.
Ten minutes after she had lost sight of the mother, a car drove past. It stopped abruptly and reversed. The car pulled up alongside Aby, who kept looking straight ahead. The driver rolled the window down as she drove next to her and spoke. It was a woman.
“Hey, are you okay? Do you want a ride?” she asked Aby. She looked at the driver. She was a short, tanned woman with a sleek haircut. She wore long earrings that did not match – one made of small feathers and the other of carved wood. There was nothing strange about the woman’s features, but her expression gave Aby pause. The driver was staring at her intently with a smile that wasn’t quite right.
I’m not sure what it is, but I am getting weird vibes from this woman. I’m not sure I should trust her.
“No, thank you!” Aby chirped with false cheer. “I’m almost home. It would probably take longer to get in and out of the car than it would to keep walking,” she lied.
“Are you sure?” the driver asked again. Her eyes widened slightly as she stared even harder at Aby.
Yeah, something strange is definitely going on here. “Yes, I’m sure. I appreciate the offer, though!” She smiled at the woman. “Get home safely!”
The woman said goodbye and drove off. Aby had considered taking a few random turns to keep her off her trail, but the car disappeared before she reached the end of the block. She kept walking, but it wasn’t long before another car drove up next to her. The window rolled down, and she prepared to give the same story as she had with the previous driver. Then she stopped.
“Hi, Aby!” a thin man greeted her. It was Herbert from the diner. He often worked as a cashier during her shifts. “Can I give you a ride? You don’t live in the city, do you?”
Aby considered his offer briefly. I don’t think Herbert could hurt me. He can be creepy when he looks at me a little too long sometimes, but he’s never been mean or lude. She smiled and accepted his invitation, thanking him for his generosity.
Once she was settled in the passenger’s seat, Herbert asked, “Where should I drop you off?”
“I’m just outside the city in Sunset Apartments. Do you know where that is?”
“Indeed, I do!” he responded boisterously. “I used to live there when I first moved to Pittsburg. That’s not far at all.”
They drove in silence for several minutes before Herbert asked her about work. They chatted about their supervisor, agreeing that she was one of the nicest managers in the world. They swapped stories about difficult customers. She was surprised to find the conversation rather pleasant.
“You seem pretty calm, Herbert. Are you not worried about what’s going on?” she inquired.
“Bah,” he answered with a wave of his hand. “Things like this happen all the time. It’ll all blow over soon.”
I don’t think things like this happen all the time, but I appreciate your optimism.
Soon they arrived at her apartment building. Aby thanked her coworker again as she stepped out of the car.
“Are you sure you want me to let you off here? Doesn’t look like anybody is around,” he said with concern.
“Oh yes,” she replied. “Jake said he would be here. A lot of cars stopped working today, so I’m sure he had to walk too.”
Herbert nodded. “Okay, well you stay safe. I’ll see you at work in a few days, I’m sure.”
He drove off. Aby turned towards her building and noticed only four cars in the parking lot, including Jake’s old car that he refused to sell. Maybe it was a good idea that he kept it. I might not ever get my car back, she thought.
She pulled out her keys, grateful to have stuffed them into her pocket and not her purse. A police officer entered the corner of her vision as she opened the door. He seemed to be on patrol. She closed the door and walked into the lobby. It was freakishly silent, and, again, none of the lights worked. It was difficult to see in the drab room with few windows.
There was a muffled shout from the floor above her. A piercing scream quickly followed.
What in the—
A gunshot went off.
Aby froze. She had been wrong earlier. This was the fastest her heart had ever pumped.
Six
Jake
Deron laid on the floor clutching his head. It had taken a minute before Jake could remember who he was. He hadn’t seen his neighbor in a few months. He used to give him rides to work before he had been laid off. Now the man reeked of stale beer.
Jake kept his handgun pointed at the rotund, sweaty man that now stood inches in front of him. His wife sat in the corner of the room, holding her hands above her head and shaking. He couldn’t stand the way the woman was battered. His mother’s first husband had been abusive, and Jake hated nothing more than men who abuse women.
The fat man spit in Jake’s face. It was clear that he was trying to get a rise out of him, but Jake did not react. He didn’t even move. He wasn’t afraid of the man. The spit was nasty, but he wasn’t about to shoot him for something so trivial. It was obvious that he was coked up or something along those lines. At first, he had thought the husband was having a psychotic break, but his enormous pupils indicated otherwise. His lack of sound mind made decisions even more difficult for Jake drawing his gun meant that he must be prepared to use it, even kill with it. But that didn’t mean he had to use it.
“What a little crab you are,” the husband said. “You’re like a crusty baby boy with a toy rifle” The man spat at Jake again. “You can’t hurt me. You’re just the Purple Apple’s dog. You don’t have the balls to pull that trigger, shrimp boy.”
Jake still does not move. The man is obviously taunting him, but what could he do? He had stopped swinging the bat around. It was evident that the man had no clue what was actually going on. And what was all that nonsense about cattle and apples? His weak grasp on reality at once made the man more dangerous and Jake’s use of a weapon against him less fair. No one was technically in any immediate danger. He wasn’t certain how to handle the situation. But I can’t let him know that.
He made a visual sweep of the room. None of the electronics were working still. There is no way for us to contact the police.
“Ma’am, are you alright? Can you hear me?” he asked the woman in the corner.
Whimpering, she nodded and kept her arms over her head.
“Come with me, please. We can leave your husband here to calm down while we get you someplace safe,” he said calmly to her. “We’ll get you some help and a safe place to stay.”
The big man roared before his wife could answer. “She’s my WIFE! And she is not going ANYWHERE!” He bashed the wall with the baseball bat still in his hands. Glass shattered in their frames. Several fell off the wall.
The man continued to rage. “Don’t you DARE take her away from me! I take care of her! I do a great job taking care of her. Don’t you touch her!” he shrieked. He turned and kicked Deron, who was still on the floor, in the head once for every sentence he spoke. Before Jake could aid his neighbor, the husband faced him again and charged.
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BAM!
Jake shot the man in the stomach. He grunted in rage and stopped for a moment, only to continue charging toward him with the metal bat. He had no choice. He pulled the trigger again.
BAM!
This time the fat man went down. Blood blossomed from his center and radiated outward over his shirt. He looked down at his belly as if he weren’t sure what had just happened. His eyes lost their focus, and he dropped the bat. Jake kicked it away from him and gently scooped up the cowering woman. Her arms lowered, but she was still quivering. She stared down at her husband, at the blood covering his stomach.
Jake removed her from the apartment and set her on the ground in the hall. “Just wait right here, ma’am. I need to go get my friend. Then I’ll check on your husband.”
She nodded absently. She wasn’t looking at him. She just stared straight ahead at nothing, blinking slowly and shaking. He figured she would be fine for a couple of minutes while he grabbed Deron.
Jake went back into the apartment and pulled his neighbor up off the floor. He looked back at the bleeding man as the two of them shambled out of the apartment. There was no treating a wound to the stomach. He was going to bleed out, and no one could stop it.
Serves that bastard right for hitting his wife, Jake thought bitterly. Part of him still wrestled with the idea of killing a man who wasn’t mentally present. It was a thought that needed to be set aside for later. He closed the door behind them, then addressed the woman. “Follow me please, ma’am.”
The three of them walked slowly to the other end of the hall. Jake didn’t think it would be a good idea to leave Deron alone in his apartment with his current condition, so he led them all to his home.
There’s going to be trouble if the cops find his body. Hopefully none were around to hear the gunshot.
Suddenly, Aby appeared. She nearly barreled straight into them when she emerged from the stairwell. It was clear that she had been running.
The End of the World Series (Book 1): Survive The Collapse Page 3