The pain was unbearable. Deron cried the whole time, wishing with each passing second that he would die. He pleaded and pleaded, but the man didn’t stop. Not until Deron’s face was smashed to pieces. Not until he was struggling with every single breath. And only then did the man open the door of the speeding car and let Deron’s limp body fall from the vehicle.
Deron’s head smacked against the pavement and he was forced to watch the car drive away with his final shuddering breaths. What is this place? Deron thought wearily where am I?
Hell, his own voice responded in his head as he drew his final breath.
Only darkness followed.
Twenty
Jake
“I don’t like this...he looks like he could really hurt someone. Let’s just drop him somewhere.”
“And then what? Have a murderer wandering around in the town we’re stuck in? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“And having him in the car with us is?”
Jake pressed his cheek to the cold window pane. The car was cruising along slowly while the men in the car bickered about what to do. It seemed strange to him that he was being branded as dangerous. Even after what he’d done, he was just a normal guy. At least, he desperately wanted to just be a normal guy.
But the blood on his hands was still fresh. Even though his hands were bound and he was a prisoner, he felt like he was capable of anything. He wasn’t himself anymore. He’d killed two people. Now, no matter how innocent he might look to someone who looked at him, he knew he wasn’t.
He thought about killing the men in the car. It might be better than letting them take him somewhere. He could slash the driver’s throat before the others in the backseat had time to react. He could fight his way out of the slow moving car and battle them out on the road. There might be three of them, but were they any match for him? He’d already realized he was more ruthless than he’d ever expected.
But the last thing he wanted to do was kill these people. They were practically still kids. They were just trying to do the right thing. He deserved whatever they planned to do with him.
But he had a wife to go back to. People to protect. People love even in these dark times. It might be wrong for him to hurt other people, but he’d done it with the best intentions. It might not have made sense even the week before, but now it did. People were willing to do crazy things to live a little longer.
And now he was going to do another crazy thing.
With his tied wrists, he pulled his arms back and then smashed both his hands into the driver’s face. He cried out and swerved, crashing into a ditch on the side of the road. As the men cried out in shock, rattled to the bones by the crash, Jake used the crash to his advantage. He grappled for the door handle and it swung open. He managed to grab his confiscated knife as he got out of the car. Then, he impulsively slashed the tires and began to run.
He knew there was a possibility the men would try and follow him, but he hoped he’d got a head start. They wouldn’t be able to drive after him with their slashed tyres and busted up hood. He heard them shouting behind him as they clambered out of the vehicle, but he remembered they didn’t have any guns. If they didn’t follow him, he’d gotten away with it all.
They hadn’t made it far in the car, but Jake knew he had to get back to the cabin quickly. If the men did decide to follow him, then he needed time to prepare his escape. He made it back to the pickup truck and clambered in, his supplies still intact. He took a single moment to catch his breath and process what he’d just done. He didn’t know if he’d injured anyone in the crash, but he didn’t have time to care. He’d done what he had to do.
There had been a moment back there when he was so tired of the world that he was happy just to leave it behind. But it wasn’t just about him. His love for Aby was enough to revive his survival instinct. And at that moment, as he started up the pickup truck, he knew he was a survivor. Nothing was going to stop him now.
He drove back to the cabin at way past the speed limit. Did speed limits apply anymore? There wasn’t a single other car on the road. He had a pile of weapons on the seat beside him and adrenaline in his veins. If anyone tried to give him trouble now, they’d regret it.
His mind was a mess. He was flitting between feelings of guilt and superiority. He was unstoppable and yet completely vulnerable. He didn’t know how to feel. He told himself to try feeling nothing at all. Once he was back with Aby, it would be okay. Once he was back with Aby, he wouldn’t have to hold back anymore.
The cabin was in sight, but something felt eerily wrong as he approached. The door was hanging off its hinges. There was no one outside, but it felt like something had happened. And then, as he got out of the truck and approached, he saw the body lying in the doorway.
At first he panicked, thinking it might be Aby. But the huge form on the floor definitely wasn’t any of his group. His skin went cold. It must’ve been an intruder...did that mean Aby had shot him? Were there more men?
He rushed inside with fear in his heart, but he saw Aby almost right away. She had a fearful, but cold expression on her face as she and Megan tried to drag another body from the room. She looked up to see him and her features melted into unbelievable relief.
“Jake,” she breathed. She dropped the body at her feet and ran to embrace him. He closed his eyes, allowing himself a single moment to enjoy the feeling of having his wife back in his arms. She smelt familiar, even as the smell of death hung in the air.
“You made it. Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Megan asked him tentatively. He stepped away from Aby, his hand lingering on the small of her back for a moment.
“No...but things got bad out there. I killed the guys who came here...but there are others out there. They might...they might be looking for me. They know what I did.”
Aby took a deep breath. “Alright. It’s going to be okay. The last thing we want to do is panic…”
“Nobody’s panicking,” Jake said firmly, though his heart was racing in his chest. “We just need to prepare the cabin for an attack. And move the bodies…”
He didn’t even want to know what the story from the cabin was. He just wanted their disturbing saga to be over. Aby nodded in agreement with him.
“Alright. Let’s move.”
Jake glanced around the room, noticing someone was missing. “Where’s Deron? Hiding upstairs?”
Megan sighed. “I’m sorry, Jake...we couldn’t stop him. He ran off…”
Jake shook his head. “I shouldn’t have trusted him here...he’s such a coward. He ran off and left you the first chance he got…”
“He saved my life, Jake,” Aby said quietly. “He’s not a bad guy. Cut him some slack...I know he wasn’t much help, but I’d be dead if it wasn’t for him. He just couldn’t handle the pressure.”
Megan sniffed cheerlessly. “I just hope he’s okay out there…”
Jake almost told her to pull it together, but he knew that was the wrong thing to say. He’d already offended Deron when he’d apparently acted like a hero. He might’ve been prepared for this new world, but not everyone was. He needed to be sympathetic.
“I’m sure he’ll be okay. He’s got some common sense...he’ll either come back or he’ll find a new group to keep an eye on him. Besides...we know he’s got a survival instinct in him now. Maybe he’ll use that to live. But now we need to use ours or we’ll end up dead.”
Megan nodded, wiping her face and once again picking up the corpse at her feet. Silently, Aby and Jake moved to help her. With the third set of hands, they moved the body more easily into the backyard. Jake tried not to think about how heavy death had made the man.
As they headed back inside after both bodies were removed, Aby helped Jake to fix the door back into place. He found some tools in the kitchen and focussed on getting the hinges fixed, trying not to look at his wife’s beaten face. She wasn’t badly hurt, but he could see the bruises forming on her neck where some man had gripped it.
He fe
lt so much guilt that he hadn’t been there to help her that it made him feel nauseous. Another minute at the hands of the men in the backyard and she wouldn’t have survived. He knew he couldn’t blame himself when he’d been trying to save her all along, but he still felt like he should’ve been there.
“Hey,” Aby said, putting a hand on his shoulder in comfort. “I’m okay. We’ll stick together now, but everything is okay. We’re still alive. That’s a blessing.”
Jake nodded. She was right. They were lucky. They were able to care for themselves from this point on, which was lucky considering they couldn’t exactly stroll into a hospital anymore. They still had their base, even if it was a little worse for wear. Sure, they’d lost a man, but it was Deron’s choice to walk away. Jake couldn’t help thinking that even though he’d saved Aby, he was still a liability. They were better off as a trio.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t leave?” Megan asked nervously. “We could still get in the truck and go...we might find somewhere with less trouble.”
Jake shook his head firmly. "This cabin is all we have. We can't leave. It's not like we're going to be able to survive out there on our own...we need shelter. We need supplies. We need a place we can defend. We have all of that here, even if we have to fight for it. People around here will soon learn not to mess with us."
He looked to his wife, thinking she’d agree with him, but there was shock in her eyes as she looked back at him. It was like she was looking at a stranger. And maybe that’s what he was becoming, he thought. He was a violent, dangerous man now. He’d done things he’d never thought himself capable of. But that was the way of the new world, he guessed.
Only monsters would survive.
All of a sudden, there was the sound of a car approaching. Jake sprung into action, rushing over to the sofa.
“We need to barricade the door. Let’s move this in front. Quickly.”
“Who can it be now?” Aby asked anxiously as she rushed to help him. Jake grunted as he began to move the sofa.
“No one good…”
They moved the sofa and Aby handed the gun over to Jake. He checked the bullets with shaking hands. He only had a few left. He had to be careful. Getting trigger happy wouldn’t help at all. Still, he felt better as he raised the gun toward the door, waiting for someone to show up.
The knock on the door was almost polite. The trio stayed completely silent.
“This is the police. Open up,” a man called from outside. Jake’s heart sank. If it really was the police, they’d be armed. And if they were on his doorstep, maybe they knew what he’d done.
“We know you’re in there,” another voice said. “We received reports of a murder in these parts...this is the only place for miles. Plus, your truck matches the description given by our witnesses. Come outside with your hands in the air. If you agree to cooperate, we might cut you some slack.”
“Things have been a little crazy the past few days. We’re sure there’s a good explanation for what happened...and why you murdered two people.”
The men began to argue in hushed whispers outside the door. Jake knew that they were trying out the good cop bad cop routine. He’d seen enough movies to know that no matter what they claimed, they weren’t on his side. They wanted him to be locked up for what he did, even if he told them why.
They didn’t understand that society was about to collapse. They were at the end of the line. It didn’t matter what anyone did anymore. There were no rules in the game of survival.
There had to be another way.
Twenty-One
Aby
"What are we going to do?" Aby whispered. She felt sick. They’d only just gotten themselves out of one scrape and now they’d landed straight into another one. She wished someone was there just to make all the hard decisions for them. Someone other than her husband, that was.
She didn’t like the look in his eyes. Something about him had changed since he left the cabin earlier that evening. Now he was stone cold and seemingly heartless. She didn’t know what he might do next. She watched how he held the gun with ease, as though it was an extension of his own arm. She felt he was getting too comfortable with the idea of this lawless world he kept mentioning. Was it possible Jake was taking things too far?
“Come on, open up!” one of the cops shouted. “We’re losing our patience.”
Jake watched the door with calculating eyes. Aby and Megan stared at him, wondering what the hell he had planned. Then, to their surprise, he stepped forward.
“Move the sofa.”
Aby blinked in surprise. “But-”
“It’s going to be okay. It’s me they want to talk to,” he said pointedly. Aby thought about the fact that the police would probably be fascinated to know they had two bodies in the garden too, but she didn’t mention it. She decided early on that she had to trust Jake’s judgement. Now, she had to lay all of her faith on him.
She expected him to lower the gun, but he didn’t. As he reached for the battered door handle and opened the door, he was suddenly face to face with the two cops, but he had the upper hand. Neither one of them had drawn their weapons. As one of them reached for his gun, Jake shook his head menacingly.
"Don't take it out of its holster," Jake said, his hands steady as he aimed his gun. Aby couldn’t believe how easily he’d transitioned into the role of a survivalist. "It's too late. If you move your hand another inch, I'll shoot you."
She wanted to tell him no. She wanted to tell him that there must be another way. But the time for negotiations was over. They were at an impasse. Maybe if he’d opened the door unarmed, he would’ve been fine. But he’d been on the defensive straight away...and Aby was scared it would cost them dearly.
"You want to tread carefully, boy,” the cop closest to him said, even as fear entered his eyes. His stomach bulged against his pants and his head was balding. He didn’t look like a cop used to being confronted with dangerous people in his line of duty. “The law doesn't look too kindly on cop killers.”
"Trust me...the last thing I want to do is kill anyone, let alone a cop,” Jake said gently. Aby wasn’t sure if she imagined it, but there was a slight tremor appearing in his hands. “I believe in you guys. I believe in my country. But when it comes to the government and those that represent the government, I can’t trust them anymore. You don’t understand what’s happening here.”
“Oh don’t we?” the younger cop asked. “I think punks like you are finding all sorts of excuses to cause trouble while the power’s out.”
“That’s what you don’t get. The power is out for good,” Jake said firmly. “This is how things will be from now on. This isn’t going to go away. Some people have figured that out already. That’s why they’re out there killing, trying to hoard things for themselves, trying to make a life-”
“You’re talking rubbish. You watch. Everything will be back to normal in a week. And then people like you are going to look real bad.”
Jake shook his head. “I’m not a bad person.I have to protect my family. I have to protect myself. I'm going to do what it takes, even if it means killing you. You can see in my eyes that I don't want to do it...but I will if I have to. I’ve already got blood on my hands that will stain me forever. What’s a little more? I’m not just talk...get brave and I’ll shoot."
The two cops looked at one another in horror. They had no idea how to handle the situation. A situation cops should be ready for, but Jake knew they’d never anticipated something like this. A world gone mad. A world where your job didn’t guarantee you authority or protection anymore. They were all stripped down to what they had left...just their humanity.
Aby felt like she was stuck at a turning point. The next few seconds would determine if they lived or died. She held her breath, wondering if the cops would shoot them.
But then the older cop sighed and raised his hands above his head. The other followed suit. Jake breathed a quiet sigh of relief, but kept his face hardened. Aby could see he was
improvising as he rushed forward to take the gun from the older cop’s holster. Neither of the cops protested as he took anything from them that might be useful. By the time Jake retreated back into the house, the cops were left with nothing.
“Time for you to leave. Don’t come back here,” Jake said. The older cop shook his head fearfully.
“You know we can’t promise that...we’ll leave now. But we have to go for backup. It’s our job. I suggest you get out of here. Take your trouble somewhere else. Our town has good people….and you don’t belong among them.”
Anger flashed through Jake’s eyes. She could see why it bothered him. He was just trying to do the right thing. But the right thing had seemingly landed them in hot water yet again. As the cops headed back to their car, Jake relaxed for a moment as they drove off. Silence fell over the group.
"You should have shot them," Aby blurted eventually. She couldn’t believe she’d even said it. Only minutes earlier, she’d been judging Jake for even considering the idea. But he’d been right all along. They had to do whatever it took to survive.
But Jake looked so tired in that moment that Aby felt a pang of pain in her chest for him. He shook his head slowly.
"I couldn't do it," Jake said. "They seemed like good guys. They’re just small town cops trying to protect their people...imagine all the good they’ve done over the years. They don’t deserve to die..."
Aby sighed. "You're right. Of course, you’re right. They were just ordinary folk. But now they’re going to come back. What do we do? We'll have to really prepare to defend the cabin if we’re going to stay here. We might have enough weapons for the three of us now, but they could bring twenty guys here and kill us in a second...”
Jake shook his head, looking ashamed."We can't do it now," he says. "Megan was right. We need to leave. We have no choice now. We can't engage in battle with the local police force... you know how sieges go...they’ve got more manpower, plus the support of the locals. We’re screwed."
The End of the World Series (Book 1): Survive The Collapse Page 12