by DeLeon, Jon
They were waiting for Philip to come and give them the arranged tour of the survivors’ camp. Liz would get her own tour with a different group a little later that morning. She had already been given her job. After being so personable with the group dancing last night, they immediately called dibs on adding her to their water-filtration team, or the “H20 crew,” as they called themselves. Liz, Kurt and Tyler didn’t ask what that meant, but Liz still enthusiastically signed up. Her later tour today let her sleep in, something both Kurt and Tyler were jealous of.
They had both been sitting or pacing near the fire, tired and cold, for almost twenty minutes now. Philip, the leader of the camp and their tour guide today, was late. Annoyed and bored, Kurt kicked a small rock. It sailed through the air and flew right past Philip’s head. Kurt’s face turned white with shock and apologetic embarrassment.
“That’s one heck of leg,” Philip said, readjusting his hunting cap. “Are you a kicker?” He was dressed in full camouflage. He wore a thick hunting coat and utility pants and carried a thermos full of coffee.
“My bad, sorry. No, never played football . . . just connected, I guess.”
Philip shrugged. “You two look tired.”
Tyler stood up from the log, stretching a crick from his lower back. “Yeah.”
“Want some coffee?” Philip dug two plastic mugs from his pocket.
Kurt declined. Tyler accepted with vigor.
“Coffee was somewhat of a routine for me. Before going on the run, I would have three cups a day, minimum. I’ve been detoxing. We ran out of coffee the day I met Kurt.” Tyler turned toward him. “Probably why I wanted to shoot you so much. Wasn’t in a good mood.”
“You better drink up then,” Kurt said.
Philip filled one of the mugs and handed it to Tyler. Philip returned the other mug to his pocket. One sip and Tyler visibly regained his feeling of being alive. The warmth of the mug and its liquid treasure shot a river of comfort through his body. “Ah.” He shuddered as a shiver of warmth and energy melted through his body.
“It’s good stuff, right?” Philip had pride in his coffee.
“Perfect.”
“Great, well let’s get this tour going. I’m due to relieve my sons at the gate.” Philip turned with a wave of his arm and began to lead Tyler and Kurt through camp.
Philip started with an enthusiasm only a tour guide with an immense pride for something he created could have. “This is the fire pit, obviously. You are parked third spot in, right in line with the West tree sign.” Philip pointed at the pit and then the wooden “W” sign hanging from the tree as he spoke. “You’re farthest from the fire, but you’re new here, so that’s just the way it goes. The rest of the homes are arranged in a semicircle following the fire, and the road is the bisecting border, with my home being the closest to the gate, right next to the road. You’ll find water tanks to draw from if you go about midway between ‘W’ and ‘N,’ and midway between ‘N’ and ‘E,’” Philip said, again pointing at the wooden signs.
“Are those compass directions?” Tyler asked.
“Yeah,” Philip replied. “Sorry, I could have been more clear about that. The wooden signs with the letters equal the directions they represent. Um, what was I saying? Oh, that’s right. Like I said, you’ll find water reservoirs if you head straight out from the fire pit, going directly up the middle of West and North, and North and East. You’ll also find some outhouses near those tanks, and we have another outhouse directly to the north, or about a hundred yards into the forest past the ‘N’ sign. They are port-o-johns, so they aren’t exactly fancy, but they work. We do have one actual bathroom in a building to the south, across the road, but I’ll show you that one in a minute here. That’s the real bathroom for the camp. The plumbing still works, so we demand that all number two is done in that building. None of us wants this to turn into a shit camp.” Philip chuckled at his own joke. “Also, we try to save the outhouses for the ladies and use trees in most cases. Oh, and no dumping of your RV waste. We really don’t want to deal with that issue yet. So just don’t use it, if you can help it. Got all that?”
“Yep,” Tyler said, taking a quick break from the coffee he was slowly sipping.
“Yeah,” Kurt said. “I am curious though. Where are you getting your water from?”
“Well we actually have a pump that is drawing from a local well. It’s located directly past the ‘E’ tree over there,” Philip answered.
“What?” Kurt exclaimed, alarmed. “You have to stop!”
Philip furled his brow.
“Before I started running, I saw a news story online. They were saying that the water was being contaminated.”
“This isn’t tap water Kurt,” Philip said calmly. “It’s a natural spring the Russians drilled a well into. Plus we have a filtration system that is pretty robust. As a matter of fact, I can tell you with certainty, we are okay. It hasn’t been too long since this whole thing started, but when we first got here and formed this settlement, our water reserves were empty. So we’ve already been drinking the water for over a week now, and we’re fine. So we’re good. Heck, I even made the coffee with it.”
Tyler choked on the sip he was taking. “How can you be sure we won’t get sick off weird bacteria?” he asked, suddenly nervous.
Philip laughed, “Ha ha ha, let me show you.” He led Kurt and Tyler on a short walk toward the road. When he reached the road, he began to talk as he walked across it at an angle, heading past his own home, to the other side and into the opposing woods. “The well is there,” he said, pointing into the woods to the northeast. “What we do is fill a designated reservoir, or water tank if you prefer easier terms, and label that dirty water. This tank here,” Philip said as all three of them arrived at a plastic square container about four feet wide, four feet deep and four feet high with a metal grate surrounding it and a wooden sign with handwritten paint spelling ‘Dirty’ hanging on the side. Philip continued. “It’s the job of some of our residents to pump the water from the dirty reservoir through the filter and into clean water reservoirs using this.” Philip pointed to a hand pump that looked like an old-school railroad cart. “You can see the clean water tank is half-full. In most cases, this doesn’t happen, but the bonfire tends to mess with the schedule. In any matter, today someone . . . actually I think your traveling companion and wife, if I understand correctly, will pump for the first time and fill the clean water talk up fully. Then the full tank will be taken out to the forest, where they replace the depleted water reservoirs out there. Those empty ones will be brought back and filled with clean water, and the cycle continues. That’s how we have clean water nonstop. All that clear?” Philip asked.
“Yeah,” Kurt said, nodding.
“Yeah, that solves the water problem. What about food?” Tyler asked, now more awake, thanks to the caffeine he was ingesting.
“Well let’s take a walk down the road here.” Philip led them a few hundred feet down the road heading away from the gate. “Here we have the grocery store.” He pointed at a semi truck parked off the side of the road in a small open area where no trees had grown.
Tyler nodded and took another sip of his coffee. Kurt wandered around the back of the semi truck and saw a second one behind it, parked deeper in the forest. It was literally wedged in between two trees, head first. “Guess it doesn’t need to go anywhere, huh?” Kurt said, looking at the scratch marks the trees had left as the semi had plowed between them.
“I assume they’re locked,” Tyler said after swallowing his sip of coffee.
“Yep,” Philip answered. “Both the cabs and the trailers are locked with some heavy-duty master locks. I have the only sets of keys. Every week, on Monday, we all come together and divvy up supplies. The weekly allotment can be reduced for community infractions, like dumping your waste or missing assigned work duties. So we kind of have a built-in incentive to keep everyone working and in order, as well as rationing the best way and not running out of supplies
too early.”
“What’s that?” Kurt asked while pointing at a bright-blue tarp tightly pulled over a stack of boxes in the forest, sitting on their own a few hundred more feet into the forest.
“That, my friend, is Enerjax,” Philip said confidently.
“What?” Kurt and Tyler said in unison.
Well amazingly enough, it was on one of the trucks. So after realizing it was there, we separated it from the other items and even burned the boxes sitting closest to it, just to be safe. Luckily all we had to torch were lots of adult diapers. As for the Enerjax, we put it under that tarp to keep it away from us. We thought about trying to burn it, but we were afraid that the smoke may be just as dangerous, so we all agreed to put it way out in the forest. So stay away from it.”
Kurt unconsciously took a step backward, away from the Enerjax pile. Tyler jumped behind Kurt and grabbed his shoulders, yelling, “Boo!” Kurt jumped nearly a foot in the air and took three running steps down the road before catching himself and regaining composure. Tyler and Philip were laughing so hard that they were nearly crying. Tyler said between laughs, “It’s not gonna bite, man.”
“You’re a dick, man,” Kurt said, catching his breath.
“Ha ha, that made my day. Come on, the best stuff is still to come,” Philip laughed and said with a massive grin on his face. Kurt rejoined Tyler and Philip as they walked down the road, farther away from the gate and fire pit. Philip pointed to his left as they walked. “Here we have the fuel depot. We are rich in gas. Four full tanker trucks. We don’t really need it much though. Not sure about you, but our RV runs on propane for most of our electrical stuff.”
Tyler responded, “Yeah, ours too. Actually we’re running low on that. I wasn’t sure how much longer the lights were going to stay on.”
“Well that’s pretty much why we chose to set up here,” Philip said proudly. “Follow me, boys.” As Philip led the three-person tour around a slight bend in the road, they came upon a turnaround, and at the far end sat a small brick building with large metal pipes running to an industrial maze of small metal pipes shooting into the ground and twisting around each other. Several trucks with built-on round tanks sat next to a pipe with a hose attached. The smell was unmistakable.
“Is this a propane well?” Kurt asked, surprised.
“I know, right!” Philip exclaimed. “Not only is it operational, but it pumps 24/7 into reserve tanks under the ground. We came upon it, and luckily enough, the Russian workers here, one of whom spoke English, weren’t sure what to do. Well my boys and I originally had commandeered a second RV so that we could each have a comfy bed. Well we traded an RV and access to whatever supplies we find, like food and water, and they stay here and keep the system running. They man the facility and provide propane for all of us to use. Come on, let’s go inside.”
The trio entered the building. Philip waved to three men who sat behind a window on the right. They waved back at the group, smiling. After a quick wave, they turned back to a board of dials and readouts.
Philip pointed to a door at the end of the hall in the small building. “That’s the shitter. Don’t clog it, and close the door tight when you’re done. Gotta keep the flies out.”
A few minutes later, the three of them were back on the road outside and were walking toward the gate. Philip continued the narration of the tour as they slowly paced. “This way is the gate, as you already know. Basically the camp is a circle around the fire pit, and the supplies and resources are along the other side of the road here. Everything was put together pretty quickly, obviously, but it should be good enough to get us through the winter that is fast, fast approaching.” Philip stopped walking as he stared into the sky for a second. “It’s going to be cold.”
Kurt broke his moment of thought. “Philip? Where did all this stuff and the people come from?”
Philip started walking again, heading now past the camp and nearing the gate. “Well the water tanks are ours. We had them and the pump to stay out here, well not here, but in Russia, and hunt the whole season while camping in our RV. Montezuma’s revenge doesn’t only happen in Mexico, you know. As for the people, semis, tankers and delivery trucks, day one of this outbreak was crazy. Once we found this place and made the deal with the propane workers, we drove down the road to the nearest intersection and flagged down anyone we could. The Russian propane workers gave us a simple map to the most densely traveled road, so we got a lot of attention. Then after a few days, we started hunkering down and putting up some tree roadblocks. At that point, we figured most of what would be coming down those roads would be either zombies or people we didn’t want around. We had to make sure we stayed safe. I’m glad y’all made it though.”
“Thanks,” Kurt said. “What about the forest? How can you be sure we’re safe from the forest?”
Philip smacked his head with his open palm. “Oh, I forgot to mention that to you. Obviously you’re on the only easy way in and out of the settlement, this road. As you can see, we are almost at the gate that blocks the only way in or out on it, but the main protection of this camp is another blockade. This one is a huge ring of safety. If you were to walk out from the camp in any direction, a few hundred yards into the trees, you would find a web of barbed wire and strings with bells attached every so often. In one big circle encompassing the whole settlement. It’s both a fence and an improvised early warning system. If anything human, zombie or animal comes through the forest, the camp will hear those bells ringing.”
Tyler nodded his head and said with a surprised tone, “That’s actually really smart.”
“Thanks,” Philip said. “I’m not sure if I should be flattered or insulted that you are surprised by my wisdom.”
“As you can see, Kurt and Tyler, we have a pretty good system set up here. It’s simple, but it works. Who knows, we may very well be the last of humanity.”
“I hope that’s not true.” Kurt thought of his brother. He hoped that Joe had found a way out of Miami and was alive somewhere.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I hope the world survives, but look around at the people in camp. We are the best of humanity. This apocalypse is just part of the cycle.”
Kurt and Tyler both looked at Philip with confusion in their eyes.
“Think about it, both of you. The world went to hell. A new alpha predator emerged.” Philip snapped his fingers with a loud pop. “Like that. In a matter of hours, we had only our instincts to guide us. Our animalistic traits buried deeply in our genetic makeup took over. Those who survive are the strongest and most cunning. It's nothing as trite and false as becoming a better salesperson or a beautiful movie star. This zombie plague is the real measure of a man. You made it. I made it. Those people in the camp made it. We are the new evolution of mankind.”
There was a pause allowing Philip to bask in his impassioned speech.
The tour was over. It had ended at the gate.
Philip cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, “Good morning, boys!”
Brandon and Jonathan climbed down the ladder of a tree stand that was barely discernible from the forest.
“You’re late,” Jonathan said, clearly grumpy. Brandon stood next to his brother, half-awake.
“Sorry, boys. I was giving Kurt and Tyler here a tour of their new home,” Philip said.
Kurt and Tyler both nodded and said, “Hello.”
Brandon said, “Welcome to your new home. Pretty cool place, huh?”
“Really, you want to start a conversation right now,” Jonathan said, still grumpy. “I’m going to bed. Good night.” Jonathan walked past them, pushing between Kurt and Tyler as he made his way down the road.
“He’s just cranky cuz he’s tired. Don’t mind him. It’s always good to have new people join the settlement,” Brandon said.
“I’m taking the bottom bunk!” Jonathan yelled from down the road.
“I’ll see y’all around,” Brandon said to Kurt and Tyler. He ran after Jonathan, chasing him. ”Bullshi
t!”
“Language!” Philip yelled at Brandon as he ran down road. Brandon raised his hand, waving it off.
Philip laughed. “What can I say? They take after their dad.” He stood, staring down the road, watching his boys walking side by side, in a trance from his love and pride.
“So what now?” Tyler broke Philip’s trance. Philip shook his head.
Philip snapped out of his trance. “Oh right. Well you go home and rest. Then you come back at three o’clock and relieve me of guard duty.”
“What do we do if we come under attack?” Kurt asked.
“Shoot,” Philip answered, laughing. “Don’t worry about that though. We won’t be attacked up here.
“How do you know that?” Kurt asked.
“The only people on this road are lost. No robbers come out here. There is nothing to steal. The zombies won’t stick to roads either. They will walk from the closest cities, if they ever do, which are to the south. I didn’t get to show you that side on the tour, but there is an extra ring on that side. That ring has pressure traps. Any undead coming all the way out here will be trapped. We are safe here.”
“You sound pretty sure.” Kurt wasn’t entirely sold.
“I am,” Philip said. “Now head back into camp. I’ll see you both soon for your first guard shift. Go and get some food and a nap.” Philip turned and walked into the forest, heading to the tree stand.
Tyler and Kurt walked back down the road to camp. When they got back to the RV, Liz was awake and cooking soup.
“Morning! Your timing is perfect. How does chicken noodle sound?”
“Chicken noodle? Where did we get such a delicacy?” Tyler asked.