The Rabid Mind Two

by Bruce Buckshot Hemming

  “Thanks!” Shannon said and called out to her son. The little boy ran out of his hiding place and into her arms.

  “There’s more to you than meets the eye Shannon. What were those moves? I’ve never seen a ‘loco’ killed with a machete before. That was impressive.” Jim said, while Debbie just looked at her in awe.

  “This one is really generous with the compliments, isn’t he?” She said to Debbie to which the latter replied.

  “Not with me he isn’t.”

  Shannon chuckled, “We should keep going. We don’t want to run into more of our friends when it’s too dark out”. She retrieved her shotgun, quickly reloading. She led the way down a path behind the building to the forest.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Friend or enemy.

  Matt worked hard at digging the holes for the support posts. Sandra sitting on the front porch watching with the rifle handy. He glanced at the truck parked a few yards away, and finding it had been sheer luck really.

  When he and Sandra had woken up in that house the next day, he left her behind to search for new wheels. They needed a truck, winter wasn’t very far off and they needed as much wood as they could get. A truck was a must have, preferable 4-wheel drive. As he stepped out he saw the old truck, still on its side, with the smashed windshield he’d kicked out in front of it, a quick search produced a good-sized gas can, and he went and punched a hole in the gas tank and caught most of the gas in the can with just a little spilling, then he closed the can and set off in search of a truck.

  The first one he found was burned nearly beyond recognition, and all the tires were missing. A lot of cars had been destroyed in the chaos and Mayhem that ensued during the riots, and from the looks of it, that was one of them. The second one he saw was involved in a crash with a smaller car and the front fender was badly mangled, although the second car was by far, worse off. He decided to give up and take the next good car he found, he didn’t feel alright leaving Sandra alone in her condition for so long. He found a Toyota Camry with the keys still in the ignition, and when he tried it, it started, he was about to drive off when suddenly, he thought he spotted truck tires from inside a half open garage of a house across from where he was. Turning off the ignition, he went and checked and saw a clean Ford Ranger parked in the garage, he nearly jumped for joy, but the garage door was stuck. Bending down he crawled inside. Once in, it was only a matter of looking for and finding the manual override cord, he pulled it and hoisted the door open all the way up. Checking the truck, he was amazed the keys were sitting in the ignition. Must have left them there for quick escape.

  Turning the key, he was meet with silence. Hopefully there are jumper cables somewhere. He looked behind the seat, no luck. Walking back to the Camry he popped the trunk lever and walked back to check. No luck. He checked the glove box and saw a small battery looking thing with battery clamps. What the heck is this thing? He pulled it out and looked at it. It said PowerAll-PBJS12000RD 400A Jump Starter. A memory came back of a commercial where some guy jumped started ten vehicles with this little unit. Hooking it up to the truck he hoped there was enough juice to start this one, crossed his fingers, said a little pray and turned the key. The engine turned over slowly. “Come on baby, you can.” Vroom the engine caught. He looked up and said thank you God.

  To his surprise and delight, he found it still had a full tank, he couldn’t believe his luck. He drove back to the house where they’d spent the night and he and Sandra drove back home. Her fever worsened that night, and they stayed indoors all day the next day. The fever let up a bit later the next day and she was finally able to sit up and eat some of the biscuits Matt managed to prepare, even managing a criticism or two about the taste. By the next morning, she was much stronger.

  Matt decided he could leave her and start work on the holes for the support posts.

  As he dug the last hole for the second side of the house he decided to take a rest for a few minutes, the sun was out with a vengeance and his back was killing him. He sat down, and his mind strayed off to Jim and Debbie, he wondered how they were doing. He hoped they were fine, he hoped they didn’t run into anything they couldn’t handle, and most importantly, he hoped they found Debbie’s children. He didn’t like the thought of children separated from their mother, with the way the world now was. If anything happened to them, Debbie would be crushed, no mother wanted to outlive her kids. He drank some water and returned to work, thinking how much even the slave driver might even be impressed with his dedication.

  ***

  Jim and Debbie were very impressed with the fort. The fort was home to twenty-five survivors, fifteen men, ten women, and one child. It was comprised of five good sized cabins and four sheds, surrounded by a strong fence, not unlike the one they had in their former home, and was located in a clearing in the forest. It was surrounded by tall trees providing good vantage points to take out enemies. Lookouts took shifts at the top of the towers, watching the entire area surrounding area, watching for threats from raiders, or looters, or infected, armed with rifles and binoculars. The shifts spanned the entire 24 hours of the day. There was never a time when the fort was not being guarded. Everyone pitched in. Three of the cabins served as living quarters, while a fourth served as a mess hall of sorts and the fifth and smallest cabin, served as a store house for ammunitions and provisions they had collected. They also had a small farm where they grew some food, mostly vegetables, which they also stored in the cabin. They were an organized lot, the people here, they had traps set in the surrounding forest and each person knew where they were and how to avoid them. The only weakness was the ten-foot-tall chain link fence. If a determine hive hit them they could overwhelmed the fence support post and come pouring in.

  Debbie had almost stepped on one such trap, a bear trap, that would have bitten through her leg, bypassing skin and bone, and rendering it useless, but Shannon had been quick and stopped her before she could step on the trigger, much to Debbie’s relief.

  She had taken them to the leader of the group, a gruff man of about Jim’s age, she had told them beforehand that nobody really knew his name, they all simply called him “the General”, and he looked the part. At first glance, Jim could tell two things about him, he didn’t smile very often, and he probably had military training, because the setup had elements of military precision in its execution. She’d explained to the General in few words how she’d met them and told him how they were searching for Debbie’s kids. He had been skeptical at first, wondering if they were not just raiders trying to infiltrate the fort and find weak spots, taking it out from the inside somewhat. He didn’t know where the Double K was located either, as he was not a local of Meeker, originally, but instead, he had suggested that she take them to get them something to eat, and show them to where they could get some rest so they could talk better the next day. Then he had called her aside, and told her to watch their every move, be a tour guide/ babysitter of sorts, and she had nodded her understanding. That night though, Debbie had been eager to meet the Ernest person Shannon had spoken off, but was told he and a couple of men had gone out on a provision run a few towns away, and would not be back till the next day or two. She grudgingly went to bed, but not before she had asked around a bit nonetheless, just to make sure no one else had an idea where the ranch was. She and Jim slept in the second cabin.

  The next morning over breakfast, Jim asked. “So Shannon, how’d you and the General come to be acquainted?”

  She smiled, “That’s a long story” she replied,

  “Good thing I’m only halfway through my eggs then,” Jim replied.

  “Yeah, and Ernest and the others are not back yet, tell us.” Debbie urged, so, with a deep sigh, she told them her story, starting from when she first heard about the virus.

  Shannon and her husband, Joshua Rogers’s lives had been thrown into chaos just like the rest of the world, she was a school teacher and he worked at the local
dealership. That first night, as they’d watched the news, while Matt did his homework, they knew their lives would never be the same again. The news was awash with talk of a mutated rabies virus that was washing over the planet and causing people to act with extreme violence and savagery. The virus was transmitted by body fluid such as saliva, and other bodily secretions, and so far, had no cure. She immediately ran to her phone and called her parents who stayed at Meeker while her husband, Joshua, called his sister who was with her husband and two children at Denver. She confirmed that they were okay, but Josh could not reach his sister, so they decided to go over to Denver to see if they were ready to escape the death trap of the city. That night, the family did not sleep well, they kept hearing screams emanating from different places in town, and early the next day, they packed their things into Joshua’s truck and armed with Joshua’s shotgun, drove to Denver.

  They arrived at his sister’s place without a serious hitch, surprisingly. The journey there however, revealed how much the world had fallen to the scourge of the virus in such a short time. Riots were breaking out in different places, as people spun various conspiracy theories about how the U.S government had released the virus on purpose to reduce the population and had inoculated themselves with the vaccine beforehand and were now waiting out the storm in pre-prepared bunkers, as well as, all sorts of other theories. People took things indiscriminately as jungle law had taken over, Darwinism, survival of the fittest, at its finest. Supermarkets lay in waste and they almost lost count of the number of car pileups they’d been almost drawn into and had had to drive around, to avoid, during the journey. Everybody was scared. When they got to his sister’s house, they met it in ruins, Joshua was heartbroken to discover the dead bodies of his sister as well as her family. They had bullet wounds, showing it was probably a looting gone wrong. Joshua and Shannon had quickly and sadly buried them in the backyard, and with heavy hearts they’d driven down to Meeker, praying silently in their hearts that her parents had not met the same fate. The journey to Meeker should have taken 5 hours on a good day, but they had to take a different route to bypass rioters and spent longer than they expected. They got to Meeker, and found her parents were alright, they were really sad to hear about Joshua’s sister and her family. They stocked up the house with a month’s worth of supplies stayed indoors, while outside, the world went to shit. They had to ward off looters on various occasions, and on one such occasion, her parents were killed. Eventually, they had had to go out for supplies, they fortified Matt’s room and always left him in there with instructions to not come out unless he absolutely, completely had to, a contingency, in case they were attacked by infected, or the house came under attack from raiders in their absence.

  They’d stayed there for five months, successfully surviving a virus that had left most of the town desolate. They always cooked during the day, and ate only canned foods at night. Her father’s extensive gun store gave them a sense of reassurance, then one night, it happened. A hive of infected attacked their house, they’d just come back from heir provision run. The hive must have followed them somehow. They attacked, her and her husband had tried their best to ward them off, but then, one of them managed to bite Joshua’s arm before being taken out. Realizing what had happened, he told her to take Matt and leave through the back door and take the car which they always kept pre-packed with supplies and drive away in the opposite direction. She’d been reluctant to leave, she told them. Joshua and her had been high school sweethearts, she could not bear the thought of going through this mess life had become, without him. He talked her into it, reminding her that she had to live for Matt, and if they did not survive, his sacrifice would be for nothing. It was already too late for him as he had been bitten, and she understood. They’d run out through the back door, taken the car and driven off. That was the last time she saw her husband.

  Matt in the back seat screaming “Don’t leave, Daddy must come.”

  With tears in eyes she tried to explain he was bit and now one of them.

  His words will ever haunt her. “I HATE YOU.” Her eyes watered up and she shook her head and attempted to rid her mind of those God-awful words.

  At this point, she stopped, the pain of remembering proving too much for a minute. Debbie rubbed her arm in a comforting gesture, Shannon smiled, ate the last of her eggs and continued her story.

  That was the last time she saw her husband, and Matt, his father. They’d stayed in Meeker. Taking a summer cabin over. She went out on supply runs with Matt, she was too scared of losing him to leave him alone by himself. During one of their supply runs, they’d been attacked by a large group of infected. She’d told Matt to run and hide and fought them off for as long as she could. The numbers were simply too many for a single person. Running out of ammo, she was down to clubbing them. How long could she last before she was bit too? How long before Matt was alone in this world? Her arms were heavy and swinging the gun was becoming too heavy to swing. AN infected knock her to the ground. Maybe this, was it? Just when she was about to give in and accept her fate, a car screeched to a halt beside her. It sounded like a war zone as rapid fire from several rifles opened fire on the infected. Suddenly silence as quickly as it had started it had ended. Someone tapped her, telling her it was all over, and helping her up. It was the General and his men. They were on their way back from a supply run when they’d seen her fighting from a distance and decided to step in.

  “They brought Matt and me here. We weren’t as many then, as we are now. Our numbers have grown a bit,” she continued. “So you see? I owe him my life, and, my son’s. He’s a very good man, and most of these people…” She gestured around the mess hall, “Would be dead if not for him.”

  “Wow, that’s one hell of a story.” Debbie said.

  “I know, how about you two though? I’m assuming you weren’t always a couple.” Shannon inquired.

  Debbie blushed at her use of the word ‘couple’, and then told her the story, how she was searching for her children and ran into Matt who was in the company of Jim’s daughter Sandra, and how she’d met Jim later that day. All the while as she spoke, Jim just nodded as he sipped his coffee.

  “I’m going to help you find your kids, okay?” Shannon said, and Debbie smiled in reply.

  “Okay, history lesson over.” Jim said, finishing the last of his coffee, “I’d like a tour of this place please. You know, before we go get the CRV from where it’s parked in town. Could really learn a thing or two about guarding a home from you guys.”

  “Okay, let’s go then, I can skip training this morning, no problem.”

  “Training?” Debbie asked.

  “Yeah, training. Those machete moves didn’t just come from watching Kungfu movies you know.” Shannon explained. They left the mess hall, and she took them to the gate, where they’d begin the tour.

  Marcus did not like the idea of those two being treated like guests, they could be raiders for all they knew. I mean, whose word did they base their judgment on? Shannon’s? She was probably just blinded by the fact that they saved her son. That could have been an elaborate ruse to gain her trust and infiltrate the fort. They may have everybody fooled with the ‘mother just searching for her children before they fall to harm at the hand of the infected’ show, but not him. No. he couldn’t be fooled that easily, he refused to be fooled that easily. If the General was too old and trusting to see the potential threat those two posed, he would do his job for him. He had to keep an eye on them. He wouldn’t let them come and destroy everything they’d worked so hard to build. Now Shannon was showing them around, “giving them the tour”, stupid bitch would be the death of them all with her blind spot where her kid was involved. He had to step in somehow, those two could not be trusted. He had to talk to the old man. Make him see reason.

  The General watched the boy approach him. Marcus was as hot headed and distrusting as they come, but his heart was in the right place. His mother and
father had been killed in front of him by raiders, and he still blamed himself even to this day. He had been powerless to do anything to stop them. He’d wandered around for a while after their deaths, until one day he ran into the General’s men. They invited him over to the fort, explaining to him how banding together rather than running around solo, was the best option. Since then, he’d been instrumental in warding off several attacks from raiders and infected alike on the fort, but his hatred for raiders still burned hot, growing in intensity with each passing day and his personal vendetta against all raiders was something the General had been unable to assuage, and he feared it might someday bring the boy to harm.

  “Good morning, sir.” Marcus greeted the General.

  “Morning Marcus, what can I do for you?”

  “Sir, I have an important matter to discuss with you sir, as regards the safety of the fort and the people within.”

  The General almost cracked a smile, he knew where the boy was headed. “Go on.”

  “Yes, sir. It’s about the man and woman Shannon brought into camp sir, I don’t trust them. I fear they might be raiders and think it would be wise to confine them to their chambers and limit their access to the different places in this fort during the duration of their stay sir.”

  “You think everyone with a gun and zeal to survive is potentially a raider son, you have nothing to base your accusations on, and moreover, Shannon vouched for them. They saved her son.” The General said, calmly.

  “An elaborate ruse in my opinion sir. To get her trust and through her, infiltrate this place, I wouldn’t put it past them sir, I’ve seen it happen before.”