Earth's Survivors: box set

by Wendell Sweet

  She looked up at him from his arms, “Might?” She asked.

  The surrounding symphony continued as the rays of sunlight fought their way deeper into the forest to awaken its inhabitants; they held each other and allowed the calls and whistles of bird-talk to dispel their fears. Its calming effect soon overcame the fear and apprehension thinking of the trip had heaped upon them. Billy worked with a pair of nail clippers, tweezers, and peroxide, pulling each piece of dental floss from her head.

  “Put some iodine on it too,” Beth told him as he finished.

  “That's gonna hurt like a bitch,” Billy told her.

  “Really? Like a bitch?” Beth asked.

  “I didn't mean it exactly like that,” Billy told her. He let the dropper suck up some iodine and then squeezed drops onto each small hole that the dental floss had slipped out of.

  “Oh,” Beth said. “That does hurt like a bitch,” she gritted her teeth as Billy continued until each hole was done. A few minutes late he was done and Beth got up to walk it off. “The hard part is wanting to itch it,” she told him.

  Billy nodded his head and looked into the eyes of a small, gray ground squirrel that sat watching them on a gnarled limb of an older nearby pine. Its tiny hand-like limbs were clasped together across its white belly, and to Billy it seemed as though the squirrel were an old and wise man, sitting and watching them from his pine perch. The squirrel chattered briefly, adding its voice to the bird-talk of the forest, and then scampered across the limb, into the upper reaches of the pine, out of sight.

  Beth came back a few moments later. “Well, I guess we should get moving if we're going to.” Billy nodded his head in agreement, and said. “We need to go into the next city or town and get a map, Beth.”

  “I was wondering about that,” she answered, “Wouldn’t the park office have maps?” She lowered her head. “Itches a lot less... How's it look?”

  “I didn't think about that, but yeah they should. We can check on the way out, and if they do it'll save us having to travel the main road into the next city, we'll still need a state map eventually though.” He looked her head over. “Looks good. Your head probably won't get infected.”

  “Right,” she replied as she stood upright once more. “But if it does you are the first son of a bitch I'm going to talk to.”

  Billy looked comical for a moment and then burst into laughter.

  A few moments later, after they had both quieted down, Beth spoke. “The map... Even if it's not a state map it should at least get us heading in the right direction, Billy. And maybe we should avoid the main roads... Just in case someone is following us... Sounds crazy, I know.”

  “Even if we don't find a map we can get ourselves pointed in the right direction anyway, and eventually we'll have to come to some sort of small town, or village, and then we'll get a map, okay?” he asked.

  “Just so long as you don't think I'm being stupid, or foolish,” she said.

  “You don't have to explain it to me, I know. I feel it too, and I have no intention of not listening,” Billy stated calmly. “In fact I intend to listen to whatever either of us feels. I think it’s probably the only way to make sure we stay alive...” He paused briefly, and then changed the subject. “We need to pick up ammunition, you need it for that machine pistol of yours, and I think I'll pick up some for that machine gun I took from that guy. It seems a lot better to have that in my hands than the Remington...” he shrugged his shoulders, “You think?”

  “Yeah, I do, if I hadn't had the machine pistol, I think we would've been in deep trouble. That Remington is nice, but it just can't match that machine gun, no way, and I really think we'll need it before we get... Well, wherever it is we get to,” she finished lamely.

  With that they both got up and began to break camp. Together they loaded the Suburban. Billy drowned the small fire and they edged the truck through the trees and out of the camp site, to the accompaniment of the bird-talk and the chatter of the squirrels.

  Manhattan NY: Adam

  Adam closed his notebook and slipped it into his shirt pocket. He sat quietly for a few moments and then lifted his eyes looking around the factory floor. The longer he was here the more convinced he was that someone had been here for a length of time directly after everything fell apart. His eyes fell on the three where they had settled in.

  There was some sort of tension there that he couldn't quite define. For the last few hours it had seemed as though a whispered argument of some sort had transpired between Madison and John. Adam didn't think much of John, but he was surprised that Madison was with him. She seemed too strong to need someone like that. He turned away and shook his head to clear it. People belonged to themselves, maybe more now that they ever had. The wrong thing for John to be thinking is that he could tell a woman like Madison what she could or couldn't do. He stared back into the fire for a moment, and began to think once more about his own losses, wondering where Tosh might be. It was always like that. 'I need to get some batteries, maybe some more ammo too, and I wonder how Tosh is?' … 'Looks like rain today, but I can still get some things done, and I wonder if Tosh is safe and dry somewhere.' Her memories kept sneaking up on him. His feelings, his longing for her, something like that, kept it absolutely fresh and ever present. It made his chest ache almost instantly, and so he turned his thoughts in a different direction.

  Adam had been sitting out front of the factory building a few days back when he had met a guy that said he had worked at the Army base over in Jersey. He had wandered by like it was an ordinary day like any other. Adam had nearly shot him before he had realized he had no intentions that were bad. A little food, drink, and they had talked a few hours before he had slipped off into Manhattan at night fall, refusing the place to stay Adam had offered.

  He had said he knew what it was. What had happened to the world, and so Adam had listened. The man had squatted, eyes watching the clouds move across the sky and told him. He said the planes came from somewhere down south, but stopped there in Jersey on the way back to re-fuel. What he had said was that the blue stuff was designed to strengthen the survivors, keep them alive a little longer, make them stronger somehow. Some dip shit scientist's idea.

  Adam supposed it was meant as a boost for human kind, a help. The world had fallen apart; everything stopped working. They knew the government couldn't get to the survivors to help them. They would die. So they sprayed the blue shit on everyone, and Adam supposed further that some of them had survived the first few months because of it. He couldn't prove it, but he suspected it did help them evolve into...

  He didn't know. Whatever the hell they were now. He knew they we're alive. He knew his heart beat. He still felt human, and he truly thought he was still human. If it made changes to the living, they are very small changes... at least so far.

  He sat now thinking his thoughts. He was lost in them for a few seconds, but he came back fast when he caught a disturbance across the factory floor.

  Madison had been watching him from across the factory floor where she had made a clearly defined space for herself and Cammy, a few feet away from John. John hadn't liked it at all. But she didn't really care too much about what John thought. He was all right, but he was not her leader... She wasn't sure what kind of leader she needed, but not a leader that didn't respect the boundary lines of a relationship. She looked over at Adam where he sat close to the fire. Maybe she had found her leader, or at least someone she was willing to follow. She hadn’t wanted to interrupt him while he was writing, but now that he seemed finished. She got to her feet, dusted her palms.

  “Baby?” Cammy asked.

  Madison squatted back down beside her. She smiled and then leaned forward and kissed her lightly. “You know I love you, right?”

  Cammy smiled back. “I do...” Her smile slipped. “But?”

  “Just got to have a conversation.... See if this is someone we can travel with... I'll be right back.” She leaned forward and kissed her quickly, and then stood. Sh
e caught Johns eyes as she straightened.

  “Him?” John asked. He shook his head and turned away. Madison shook her own head and then walked over to where Adam sat.

  “This was really nice of you,” she said as she walked up. “We were staying in that old school building. None too stable. Last night was the best sleep I’ve had in a long while.”

  “Funny,” Adam replied, “I was thinking the same thing. For me it was just having companionship.”

  Madison smiled. She caught his eyes and smiled again.

  “Mind?” She asked, gesturing at the ground beside him.

  “Not at all,” Adam smiled.

  The silence stretched out for a few seconds, each of them looking around the factory floor waiting for the other to begin.

  Madison fixed her eyes on him. “I was just wondering what you were planning on doing. I mean, have you thought about leaving? I know you spoke a little about it yesterday when you were talking to John. Seemed like you two don't really see things the same way.” She let the last words rise like a question.

  Adam looked at her levelly. “Yeah… I guess it does show. We just don’t click. I wondered if you were coming over to tell me that the three of you might light out... It's obvious we don't see things the same. I also wondered what you thought as an individual... You don't seem like the kind of woman that follows.” Adam shrugged. “I know I can't be nobodies soldier.”

  Madison nodded. “It’s the same with me. I do my own thinking.”

  “Exactly,” Adam agreed.

  Madison nodded. She fixed him with her serious eyes once more. “So what will you do?”

  “Like I said, like everyone else is doing. I don't see them but I can feel it... It's like a drain on the city... They're moving out, the gangs are moving in. So I guess that's me too... I'll leave. Get out of this city... Let them have it. In a few months when they start dying like flies from all the disease, maybe they'll leave too. The whole place can rot then, for all I care. Either way... It's dead. That's first. It's bad here.” He raised his arms to encompass the factory. “I've been here for a few days... False security. They won't come near this place, but that isn't getting me out of the city either. I have got to quit procrastinating.”

  “What's next do you think?” Madison asked.

  “As this goes on?” Adam shook his head “I’m just waiting to see how this goes too... Like everyone, but.... I think the gangs are wining, getting smarter... Meaner too. I know that sounds like bullshit, maybe even paranoia, but I've been paying attention. I saw some a while back that were dragging men and children out of Harlem... Past the buses they've blocked it off with... Shot them in the road and left them. A statement...” He nodded when Madison raised her eyebrows. “Back on Park Avenue with my woman, Tosh...” He blinked and stumbled with his words. “It was after she was gone.”

  “I see that... Sorry,” Madison said softly.

  “So I had to leave... Couldn't stay there...” Adam swiped at his eyes, embarrassed at the instant tears that had appeared. He cleared his throat. “They had been attacking every night. It's like they knew I was there. The morning I left they had nearly made their way through overnight.” Adam raised his hands, palms out and shrugged his massive shoulders.

  Madison hung her head and shook it slightly. “We went through it... They got Cammy and me... I... I can't live that way,” She said as she scrubbed at her face with her palms.

  Adam nodded. “So, what happens next? I’ll probably leave,” He smiled. “I guess that was a long drawn out answer.”

  “No. Not really,” Madison answered. “I’m in the same place.” She looked around.

  Adam shrugged his shoulders. “Jersey's looking better and better, huh?” He laughed a little.

  Madison looked up from her contemplation of the floor. The laughter had caught her by surprise. She laughed too. “It is starting to look better.” She smiled at Adam.

  “Been over there,” Adam told her. “Wandered all over for a few days. It's not so bad. Thinking it might be time to at least spread out a little. I thought that was what John was suggesting at first. Get a truck and get out, but then he wants to come right back. I don't really get that.”

  She nodded and then continued. “Me either... Anyway, I…” She raised her head level with his and locked her eyes on his own. “I just wanted you to know I’m seeing it the same way as you. I mean… I mean I want to be on your side of it... Me and Cammy both” She gave a nod, then firmed her mouth, set her jaw and spoke once more. “I have Cammy to think of,” She blushed and turned away, and then turned right back.

  “I see,” Adam said.

  She nodded and smiled carefully, “Didn't know what side of this you might fall on... John is against it... Thinks I need a man. I’m taking you at face value, I guess.” She smiled.

  Adam laughed. “What a dick.”

  “I just wanted you to know the deal... I don't want to mess this up.,” she said quietly, her eyes serious.

  “So we'll go looking tomorrow,” Adam said. “We'll decide things between us.” He turned toward John “Him too if he wants.”

  “I don't see that working for him, but it works for me, Adam” Madison said.

  “Okay, Madison,” Adam agreed. “Tomorrow it is.”

  “Maddy,” Madison told him. “We'll be with you tomorrow.”

  Adam nodded, “Maddy it is,” which caused a huge smile to spread across her face. His own smile answered it, but he thought, did she really mean it? He didn’t complete the thought as she stood and walked across the factory floor to where she had put her things and spent her first night. Cammy followed her and then her eyes came up and seemed to question Adam. She turned and looked back at Madison. Adam stood and walked over to help them move their things to their own area. Adam saw the tension in John's shoulders as he helped them move, but John said nothing.

  ~

  John watched as Adam helped the girls move their sleeping bags and back packs over to a clear space on the factory floor. He didn’t see what Madison saw in Cammy, but it was her choice, and she wouldn’t get a second chance with him. He came close to slamming his fist into the cement floor. Not frustrated at all, he told himself. Not even a little.

  He was about to roll out his sleeping bag and go to sleep, maybe tomorrow would have a different spin, he thought briefly, when Adam walked over and dropped down in a squat next to him. He moved so fast and easy for a big man. “Hey,” John was startled into saying.

  Adam smiled. “Didn't mean to startle you... Thought you saw me coming.”

  “No... No, you didn't startle me at all,” John lied.

  Adam nodded. He cleared his throat a little. “Maddy and I talked a little... This place is safe, but it isn't where we need to be, so we thought we'd light out... Tomorrow... Jersey, maybe further, either way, out of the city is the goal.”

  “Maddy?” John asked. “So it's like that.”

  Adam kept the smile on his face. “Listen,” he leaned close, too close, but it was a tactic he reserved for situations just like this back in the old world. “She wants to go... With Cammy,” he spread his hands, huge hands, “It is what it is, man.”

  John shook his head. “I don't see it. It's a new world... Who knows how many of us may have died off... If you look at New York alone it's got to be millions.”

  Adam nodded, not really sure where John was going.

  John leaned close. “So how do you build a population back up if the women are only fucking the women?”

  Adam shook his head. “You know what I said to Maddy a few moments ago?” He didn't wait for John to answer. “She said something about the way you have a tried to impose upon her that she needs a man, and I said, 'What a dick.' That's what I said, 'What a dick.”

  John just glared from under his lowered brows.

  “Grow the fuck up, John, or go your own way, but as for those two?” He looked over at Madison and Cammy. “Don't fuck with them anymore... I understand your thoughts might have
gotten fucked up... It's tough times like this that can do that, but they are their own, not your own.” He patted one huge hand against John's shoulder, smiled and then stood and walked away.

  Kentucky: Billy and Beth

  When they reached the small park office, just before the main road, they stopped the truck and went into the rustic log building to search for a map. They had only hoped for a simple map of the region surrounding the state park, but were instead rewarded with a selection of state maps.

  “Kentucky?” Billy asked.

  Beth nodded. “Otherwise we'll need a boat.”

  Billy found the next large city, Sturgis, and was surprised by how far they had traveled during the night. When they were back in the truck, Billy checked the gas tanks. One was full, but the other was barely above a quarter. He switched to the full tank, and said, “We'll have to get gas soon, does the map show any small towns?” Beth studied the map before her as Billy drove slowly out of the park to the main road.

  She traced out a route on the map with one finger as she spoke. “Follow 1-508, Billy. That should bring us to route 109. That runs right into Sturgis,” she paused briefly as she continued to trace the route. “Morganfield is north on 60. We should be able to get gas and ammunition there, If not in Sturgis.”

  “Well, it’s not a small route, but it is smaller,” he said, “and that's a help, I guess.”

  Route 109 was not clogged with stalled traffic they found, when they reached it a few minutes later. Less than an hour of driving took them into Sturgis, it was not as large as Morganfield, but, Billy reasoned, it should fill their needs.

  They had both decided that it would be unwise to split up for any purpose at all, and so when Billy eased the Suburban into a paved area in front of a sporting goods store, they locked the truck, and taking their weapons with them, headed in the direction of the store together. Billy had reasoned locking the truck up simply enough, if someone did try to get into it, they would have to break the glass, and hopefully they would hear that from inside the store. He would have liked to park closer, and not risk leaving the truck in the lot, or being so far away from it, but all the spaces in the front of the store were full.