by Maxey, Phil
“Drink some water,” said the doctor, but Shirl suddenly grabbed her own throat, then fell out of her seat onto her knees, trying to get to the side door. Anna pushed past Barry and kneeled trying to understand what was causing Shirl to have such difficulty. “Have you swallowed something?”
“B…” Dribble came from Shirl’s mouth as she crawled forward.
“Get the water from my bag!” shouted Anna while keeping her attention on the older woman. There was no movement from behind her. “Barry get—” She turned to face the boy whose eyes were black, then after the realization struck her that Barry was an Alkron, turned back to Shirl who had managed to push the door open and was crawling out of the RV. Anna looked back to the boy. “Barry! Stop it!”
He looked back at her, his face full of shock, his eyes their usual brown. “I… what did I do?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Anna stepped out of the small room at the back of the RV. Shirl was sleeping. Dalton sat at the small table, while Joel stood.
She looked along the aisle through the front screen to see the boy with Corine in the other vehicle. “A few more seconds and I think she would have died,” she said to those nearby.
“Lasting affects?” said Joel.
“I did a basic examination, she seems to be okay, but I suggested she rest. She’s not happy about traveling with him.”
“So he’s like one of us?” said Dalton.
“Looks like it,” said Joel.
“And this thing he does, didn’t affect you?”
Anna shook her head. “No, only Shirl was affected.”
“So it doesn’t affect us?” said Joel. “Or he just directed his ability at Shirl?”
“I don’t know.”
“How’s it even work?” said Dalton. “Does he have to be close to someone?”
Anna raised her arms briefly. “I don’t know! I don’t know how any of this works! I’m not Max, or Rachel. I’m just a country doctor!”
Dalton looked away frowning.
“Sorry…”
“And you want him to be in my vehicle?”
“We can’t have him in the RV,” said Joel. “And obviously we can’t leave him on the side of the road. We got no other choice, but we do have to find out more about what he can do. Who he’s a danger to.”
“I… ” Anna glanced towards the SUV again. Barry was still there. “Think that was how his mom died. Maybe they had an argument and it triggered his ability. He seemed to not know it was happening. Like he was in a trance or something. That could be the ability or maybe he’s just in shock when it happens. Hard to say.”
Joel sighed. “So we got a kid who can kill anyone one of us without knowing… Great.”
“He didn’t mean to do it Joel. It’s not his fault.”
“Could come in useful against the corporation…” said Dalton.
Anna turned on him angrily. “So now we’re using a kid as a soldier?”
Joel shook his head. “No one’s saying that! But we can’t leave him with anyone, because he might kill them.” His voice got louder than he wanted it too.
“I know…”
“I’m sure the corporation would love to have him. Even if his ability just works on humans, he could do a lot of damage…”
“We got to keep him with us,” said Anna. “It’s the safest option for us, him and everyone else.”
“Agreed.”
“His ability appears to trigger when he’s angry, so—”
Dalton stood. “So we keep him happy.”
“That would be a good plan.”
Together Anna and Dalton walked back to the SUV, the remains of the stag now in the bed. Anna pulled open the rear door, while Dalton got back in the driver’s seat.
“I didn’t mean to do it! I’m sorry! Is Shirl okay? It’s just I—”
Anna held up her hand. “Shirl’s fine. Just tired.”
“Don’t leave me here! I promise not to do it again!”
“Nobodies leaving anyone anywhere.”
“We’re buddies,” said Corine in the front. “You’re like us now.” She put her fist forward over the back of her seat, which he gently bumped with his own clenched fingers.
“We are going to look after you Barry,” said Anna. “You don’t have to worry, but can you promise me two things?”
He nodded.
“Stay away from Shirl.”
“Okay.”
“And try not to be angry? I know it can be difficult sometimes—”
“I can do that. I won’t get angry.”
“It’s just we think your ability happens when you feel anger, so if you don’t get angry…”
He looked away slightly. “I can’t hurt anyone.”
“No.”
He looked back with a smile. “No more angry.”
Anna shook his shoulder, forcing a smile then closed the door and walked back to the RV.
Dalton looked over his shoulder to the boy in the backseat. “You sure you don’t want any blood?”
“No, sir.”
Dalton turned the key, starting the engine. “Okay.”
*****
Sparkles from the moon reflected off a river to the right of the two-lane road, while on the opposite side train cars sat abandoned stretching to the horizon.
“Pheromones,” said Anna in the RV’s passenger seat after some time of silence.
Joel looked over to her. “Uh?”
“Normal human bodies secrete them. They’re chemicals that we put out into the environment, which can affect those around us. I think Barry’s body does something similar, but obviously what he’s doing is toxic to people. What control he has over what he does, who knows.”
“Right…”
“If it is pheromones, then the area affected would be quite limited, maybe a few yards around him…” She shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s something I guess. If I had access to a lab, some equipment I could…” Joel’s hand was on her arm. She looked at him and smiled. “One thing at a time. I know.”
He nodded.
“But we have to keep him out of it, Joel. We can’t have him anywhere near, when the fighting starts. It’s not just about keeping him safe, if he reacts, maybe fear also triggers his scourge response. He could be extremely dangerous to people near him.”
“I’ll try, but the one person we could leave him with, Shirl, is the one person we can’t.”
“So he will have to be alone.”
“At least until we rescue Amos and Kizzy.”
“If… we are successful, then what?”
“Head south, find a boat and get to the island. That’s the only plan I got.” He looked at her. “But one thing at a time.”
Small towns with smaller homes came and went. Joel concentrated his senses best he could as they passed through the farming communities, with 80s trucks and rusting barns becoming reclaimed by the land, but wasn’t able to feel any danger within. He wondered if the citizens had packed up and left, or they had become victims of the scourge.
“Hey what’s that?” said Anna looking out into the night.
Joel saw it too. A tiny spark of light which extinguished as quickly as it appeared. “I saw it.” He clicked on his radio. “Did any of you see a light about—”
“Corine saw it,” said Dalton on the radio.
“It looked like it was in the sky. Over.”
“There’s a small town coming up, you want to stop there… Over.”
“Yes. Over.”
“You think it could be a helicopter?” said Anna.
Joel shook his head. “If it is they are flying completely in the dark. Maybe it’s something else.”
The two vehicles moved along a narrow track, with the rectangular shapes of buildings ahead. Headlights glinted off rows of seats on the periphery of a large overgrown field, then on the red brick of school buildings.
“Can you feel any vamps?” said Anna.
“Nothing yet.”
Orang
e school buses sat parked on a lot to their right and they arrived at a junction with single story homes at regular intervals.
“Take a left here, then a right. Over,” said Joel into his radio.
After two turns they moved into a long road with no markings. In the distance a shadow rose into the sky.
“Could the light have been at the top of whatever that building is?” said Anna.
“Could have been.” He held the radio to his mouth. “Lets check out that building a—”
Night turned to day as intense light surrounded the vehicles which skidded to a halt.
“What… what’s happening,” said Barry in the back of SUV.
Dalton squinted, while being prepared to leap out. “Be calm kid.”
Joel tried to see beyond the glare of the lights, all focused on their vehicles.
Why didn’t I sense them?
“Is it the corporation?” asked Anna, her voice full of fear.
“I don’t know… I can’t see. Get in the back.”
She went to stand, when a screech came from a loudspeaker.
“To those inside the vehicles!” shouted a male voice. “You have illegally entered the town of Goodstock! Leave any weapons you have, and step outside!”
“Can we just go?” said Anna.
Joel strained his vision and could just make out a wall of vehicles blocking the road ahead. “I don’t think that’s an—”
“There are a shitload of guns aimed at you people. I strongly advise you get out of your vehicles now!”
Joel knew what Dalton’s reaction would be to the provocation and held his radio up again. “Dalton, everyone else, stay calm. I’ll get out and talk to these people. Over.” He put his hand on the door handle and felt Anna’s on his shoulder.
“Be careful.”
He looked back and nodded then got out. As he stepped down he held his hand above his eyes to better see what was around them. Four pickups were to the left, three blocking the road ahead and a few more on their right. Behind that were block like structures.
Trailer park.
All the vehicles had people in the beds, kneeled and true to the word of the man on the speaker, guns and rifles aimed in his direction.
“I don’t want any trouble! We have a child in the SUV!”
“We don’t care son!” came from the man who Joel could now tell was in the closest SUV to his left. “You came into our town illegally, and you have to pay the penalty!”
Joel’s blood accelerated through his body, but he fought against his eyes turning black or his hands becoming claws. “Do you want to do a trade? We have some food and other items we could give you, for safe passage through—”
A boom echoed out.
“That’s a warning son! Get out or the next…” The man cleared his throat. “Or we…” He coughed into the speaker, which screeched once more.
More coughs came from Joel’s left, then ahead at the roadblock, then to his right. He flicked his head towards the SUV then ran to it, pulling the rear door open to an argument.
“You’re killing them!” shouted Corine towards the boy behind her, who was red faced, his eyes still human.
“I’m not doing anything! I don’t know—” The night was now filled with vigorous aggressive heaving and coughing. “— how to stop it!” He looked at Joel. “How do I stop it!”
The side door to the RV swung open. Anna came down the steps with Shirl over her shoulder then as a blur disappeared into the night.
Some of the cones of light swung away from the vehicles, then just as quickly as it started, the coughing from the surrounding humans stopped. Dalton pushed his door open and got out walking forwards.
Joel looked back to the kid. “Stay here.” He then walked around the back of the pickup and towards the silence beyond the few lights still aimed at them. His eyes quickly adjusted. Men and women lay still near weapons in the beds of their vehicles. He walked to the one with the loudspeaker, leaned in and shook his arm with no reaction back. “Damn…” he said under his breath.
As he walked over to Dalton the distant sound of vehicles vibrated the night air. “We need to leave. Now. We’ll back out the way we came in, find another route west.”
Dalton nodded and ran back to the SUV, while Joel ran past the RV, stopping when he saw Anna and Shirl walking towards him.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Dalton’s voice came from Joel’s radio. “City of Cheyenne is coming up. No easy way around it. What you want to do? Over.”
“Stay on this road. If I sense any danger I’ll let you know. Over.”
Anna briefly looked at Joel then returned to the night and the hint of structures on the horizon. Once the coughing began, she knew she had to get Shirl out of the RV and as far away as she could. The older woman momentarily protested still being sleepy, but on hearing what was happening outside, ran to the side exit, and allowed Anna’s strength to carry her to safety. She still had a fierce bout of coughing though, and it was only when Anna told her that others were coming, that she agreed to get back in the RV and leave with the Alkron child that killed without realizing it.
Voices shouted at the back of the doctor’s mind. Ones that she was increasingly having trouble ignoring.
I won’t leave him… but he will keep on killing… and you’re taking him to more humans… they’re our enemy…
She sighed as they moved past grand homes, sat within fields of waist high grass and weeds, then a series of radio masts and below in a valley hundreds of other buildings sat within a network of roads and parking lots.
Joel nodded to himself. “Picking up vamps down there. Not sure how many.” He let the others know by the radio.
“Maybe… we should find somewhere to stay,” said Anna.
“It’s still pretty early. We could go for another three, four hours before sun’s up.” She looked away and he heard her sigh. “What’s on your mind?”
“I feel we’re traveling with a bomb that can explode at any moment. Those people back there didn’t deserve to die… They survived the scourge just to die at… our hands.”
As the road they were on slopped down to the more dense part of the city, they passed an apartment complex. Which Joel briefly looked towards. “We just have to keep him away from humans.”
She nodded. “I know, but what if we can’t? How can we take him with us to the island?”
Now it was Joel’s turn to sigh, not having any good answers. “One thing at a time.” He spotted distant familiar shapes and clicked on his radio. “There’s a trailer park to our right. Take the next road in that direction. Over.”
Soon they were moving through open gates, the headlights catching skeletal remains up against the stump of a leafless tree, then row after row of trailers and caravans embedded within grass and stems.
The two vehicles parked near the only permanent structure. A sign hung above a door, offering a restroom and eating facilities. The internal door at the back of the RV opened and Shirl shuffled out, trying to see past the drapes. “Why we stopping?”
Anna turned around in her seat. “We’re going to stay here for the night.”
Shirl nodded towards the SUV out front. “Where’s he staying?”
“Far from you, don’t worry.”
The older woman frowned.
Joel opened his door and jumped down. Dalton was already pushing open the wooden door to the old diner, its floorboards creaking as he stepped inside. Joel followed him in while noticing Corine was outside the SUV as well.
He switched on a small flashlight and swept it across the room. A few upturned chairs rested on small round tables, with plastic covered menus on the floor. At the back, a counter stretched across half the space with glass cases on top. Black and green substances that used to be food sat inside them.
Dalton emerged from a door near the counter. “Few rooms back there, some cans of food and water… no bodies.” He looked past Joel to the entrance and those outside. “The kid took down f
ifteen humans.”
“I know.”
“And we’re sure he can’t do that to us?”
Joel shook his head. “Not sure of anything.”
“Then what we gonna do?”
“Lets get everyone situated here tonight, and figure it out once we have a rest.”
Dalton grunted and moved back outside.
Anna passed him moving the other way. “We need to keep Shirl as far from Barry as we can. Maybe at different ends of this trailer park.” Joel nodded and she walked back to the RV.
He picked up a chair and sat.
*****
Shirl stood in the morning light in the diner near the counter and poured some instant coffee into her water flask and shook it. Behind her sat Anna, Joel and Dalton not saying much. After the contents were mixed, she took the top off and had a sip then turned around to those seated. “I reckon I’m going to stay here.”
Dalton looked confused, Joel looked down while Anna shook her head. “What do you mean stay here? There is no ‘here’, it’s just a trailer park,” she said.
“It’s got a well, most of these trailers got food, and in the back of this place, there are other supplies. That’s not to say the homes around here probably have some useful things as well. If you leave me some guns, I can manage.”
“Manage?”
Joel looked at Anna. “If Shirl comes with us sooner or later Barry’s going to kill her.”
She scrunched her face in frustration. “But you’ll be alone! There are vamps in this city…”
“Maybe we can do something about that,” said Dalton. “Been thinking there might be a medical center around here. Could find some blood.”
Joel nodded. “While we have a clear out. Sounds good.”
Anna looked at him. “You’re not in condition to be fighting.”
“I’ll take some guns with me.”
“I’ve been living alone for twenty years,” said Shirl. “This won’t be anything different.”
Creaks came from the boards outside and Corine pushed open the screen then inner doors. “What’s everyone talking about?”
“I’m staying.”
Corine shook her head before replying. “Staying here?”