Born in the Apocalypse 2: State of Ruin

by Joseph Talluto

  “Son, it was self-defense, that’s for sure. I don’t know what came over Mahome, but I’d take it as a personal favor if you never came back to Manhattan,” he said.

  “I didn’t shoot him!” I protested. “My gun never left my holster!”

  “Check your loads, Josh,” Bowers said quietly.

  I pulled my gun and sure enough, there was a spent round under the hammer. I felt sick. I liked this town.

  “Time to go, son,” Sheriff Bowers said. “And please don’t come back.”

  “What if I do?” I said, starting to feel angry.

  “I’ll have to tell the men on the wall to take you down. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is.” Bowers seemed genuinely sorry.

  I looked back at Trey and his family, and every single one of them couldn’t look me in the eye.

  “He shot at me! That’s not fair!” I said. Even as the words left my mouth, I knew it was useless.

  “Maybe not, but a man who don’t know he’s killing is a man I can’t afford to have in this town. You’re unholy fast with that six-gun, son. You might want to leave it behind next time you go to a town,” Bowers said.

  I didn’t say a word. I just left. I didn’t look back, left or right. I just walked away from the eyes and the whispers.

  I rode Judy all the way home. It was dark by the time I got to the house. I put my horse away and went inside. I spent a long time staring at my gun and the empty shell casing that used to be a man’s life.

  I didn’t understand why they didn’t understand. I didn’t want trouble. But they threw me out anyway.

  Guess I won’t be seeing my friend anymore. One more person out of my life.

  It was a long time before I was able to go to sleep.

  Chapter 12

  As the weather warmed up and Spring decided to stick around for a while, I busied myself around the house and the yard. I went through my home room by room, removing the things I no longer needed or felt any connection to. It didn’t make any sense to me to have a bunch of belongings that just gathered dust. To me, I felt like an empty room was more useful.

  For a week after Manhattan I was busy, but in the back of my mind, I was restless. It wasn’t fair that I had to leave that town, just because that idiot Mahome couldn’t keep his gun in his holster. I didn’t even know I had drawn my gun.

  Oh, well. Who needed a town anyway? I liked my freedom, not walls. I didn’t bother to think about the fact that walls defined our lives these days. Walls to keep the rest of the world out, walls to keep the Trippers out, and walls to keep everyone else out of our lives.

  By the second week, I was going crazy. I needed something to do, and I didn’t know what it was. I happened to be at my father’s bookshelf, and just randomly pulled a book out. It was an atlas, and I spent a few minutes wandering the states and wondering what it would be like to see them for real. I focused a long time on Illinois, and suddenly it came to me.

  I wanted to see what the rest of the state looked like. I was feeling the urge to look over the horizon, and there wasn’t any way to satisfy that by staying here. As I looked around the house, I began to wonder, and not for the first time, what it was that made me stay here.

  My mind having been made up, I began to prepare for the trip. I gathered my gear, and looking it over, I realized I needed to decide on whether or not I should bring Judy. I didn’t know if Kim would be able to care for both her and Pumpkin, or whether or not it was even fair to ask. I thought about my bicycle, and decided that I really needed to think this through.

  I decided to enlist Kim to help me with my dilemma, and she answered the call with her usual tact.

  “You bump your head recently, or something?” she asked. “Why in hell would you want to leave a safe place, a place that has food, shelter, and water? Makes no sense, Josh. Who will look after Judy?”

  When I looked at her, she shook her head. “Uh, no. Pumpkin is a handful already, and I’m pretty sure Judy doesn’t like me. Oh, by the way, here.” Kim leaned over and grabbed my head with both hands, planting a full kiss on my surprised lips. She kept it there for a full count to three, then let go, smiling at my reaction.

  “That’s for the necklace, thank you,” Kim said.

  I stammered a response while my face blew up in flames. There was no way I was going to tell her I picked up the necklace in a house I raided on my way back from Manhattan. I had told her about the town and the kids, and she was sympathetic about the shooting. She also said it wasn’t fair for me to be kicked out because of Mahome, and I was grateful to have an intelligent neighbor.

  In the end, I decided to bring the horse, to keep myself from worrying about her. I also figured she’d be able to carry more than I could, although I wasn’t planning on bringing too much.

  Two days later, I saddled Judy up, stuck my Winchester in my saddle boot, shrugged on my backpack, secured the saddlebags, and mounted up. Kim came outside to see me off.

  “Take care of yourself, Josh. I’ll watch your place,” she said.

  “You’ll be okay? You can come with, you know,” I said. Part of me wanted her to say no, but another part wanted her to say yes.

  “No, I’ve done my run. I want to just live. I get why you’re going, and I know I’ll see you again.” Karen put a hand out on Judy’s neck. “Take care of him, girl,” she said softly.

  Judy nickered and tossed her head. She knew what the saddle and bags meant, and she was ready for another journey.

  “I’ll be back before winter,” I said, looking at the sky.

  “If you don’t, I’m taking your stuff,” Kim said with a wink.

  I tipped my hat and Kim smiled, and as I walked Judy past, Kim gave me a small wave and suddenly went inside her house. I didn’t know what to make of that outside of she was baking something and had to get it out of the oven.

  I hit the trail and headed west, for no other reason than that was the direction I hadn’t gone recently. I turned off the trail to head south for a quarter mile, then back to the west. That route would take me around what was left of the town of Frankfort. Over the last two years, the place had largely been abandoned, the stately homes falling into disrepair after the looters had been through. The shops, what few there were, had moved on and set up themselves in Manhattan.

  I had a bitter taste in my mouth when I remembered that place and didn’t bother looking to the south, where I knew I would probably see the smoke of cook fires.

  On the other side of Frankfort, I stopped Judy and walked her for a while, stretching my legs and looking around. The land here was pretty open, broken only by the occasional home and barn. There were trees around as well, but nothing like the woods I was used to. I paid attention to the landscape, because once I crossed the edge of Frankfort, I was in a land I had never seen before.

  I passed a group of long, low buildings, and as I did, three Trippers spilled out of the broken doors. They blinked in the sun, then started across the hard pavement towards me. Three men, all roughly the same size, with dark red eyes and torn hands. They set up a wheezing and began pursuit.

  I put my hand on my bow, then thought better of it as I saw the men progress across the distance between us. They would be on me before I could kill them all.

  I climbed up on Judy and gave her a quick kick in the flanks. She didn’t need any more motivation, she leapt away and we quickly outran the Trippers. About fifty yards away, I stopped my horse, dismounted, and took my bow out, pulling three arrows from my quiver. I tracked the closest one and let fly, striking him in the chest and putting him down. The second one got closer, so I put one is his chest as well.

  The last one I shot in the head, as he was only thirty yards away. The arrow struck him dead center in his nose, and killed him instantly. I put my bow away and walked toward the bodies, keeping my hand on my gun.

  I took the arrows out of their bodies, wiping them on their clothing. I didn’t have many to spare, and if they were still intact, I was keeping them. My gun
I would use for emergencies and living men. I hoped I would not have to do much killing of the latter, but as I had seen, some people just made it their choice.

  Chapter 13

  I remounted Judy and we rode away at a mile-eating trot, taking us away from the edges of civilization and out to the countryside. It happened suddenly, unexpectedly. Judy and I crested a hill and before lay nothing but road and empty land. There were pockets of trees in the distances, and I knew from experience that those were where farmhouses usually were, or had been in the past.

  The world was greening up, turning from the yellows and browns of the winter to the warm tones of spring. A warm breeze blew up from the south, and it carried with it the promise of rain to come in the evening. I was hoping to gain at least the outskirts of Joliet, but I may need to find shelter before then.

  I passed a huge structure as I traveled further west, a large building with rows and rows of benches that climbed into the air. As we went by, both Judy and I looked into the large structure, and saw a huge road that made a single loop. It served no purpose that I could see. Why would anyone want to watch cars drive in a circle?

  Further west, the land began to dip downwards, and I knew from the maps I had studied that there was a river ahead of me. To the north was a large town, but I had no idea what kind of mess it might be in. My dad always told me that the larger the town, the bigger the problems. This was true even before the Trippers came out to play.

  I decided to walk Judy down to the river, and from there, I would try and find a place for us to spend the night. Ideally, I would stay on a farm that had a barn or someplace that I could put Judy up. Push come to shove, I’ll just bring her into wherever I manage to find shelter.

  The land opened up into a large valley, and across the way, about a mile or so, was a ridgeline of trees standing sentinel to the river. The waterway itself, a ribbon of dark green and brown that flashed in the evening sun bouncing off the placid surface, wound through a collection of bridges, trees, and stone embankments to disappear to the south. I looked at the river and felt a weird pull, like it wanted me to follow it to where it ended. Large buildings to the south and north broke up the scenery, and I would be guessing as to what they were ever used for.

  Right now, I needed to find a way to cross before I was caught outside with a large city directly to the north of me. The lack of any human activity at all told me that Trippers were frequent visitors to this part of the state.

  We followed a road that took us closer to the river, and as we did, I kept Judy to the grass. I didn’t want her horseshoes clicking on a hard surface if I could help it.

  As we passed a low white building, my fears were founded. The door of the building was open, and I could see blood splatter all around the ground inside and outside the walls. There were bloody handprints on the door frame, and near a truck lay a corpse, torn open from its neck to its legs. It looked like they tried to get under the truck for protection and were dragged out and consumed. Scattered around the parking lot was a bunch of gear and supplies, but I wasn’t going to go anywhere near it. There were a few dead Trippers in the parking lot as well. Those were the ones in the ragged clothes with the bullet holes in their heads.

  I pulled my bow from Judy’s back and replaced my backpack with my quiver. The blood on the ground was still red, which told me this had happened within the last hour. If there were any Trippers around, they would be close.

  We went through a tunnel that took me under a railroad, and I winced every time Judy’s hooves hit the pavement. Nothing to be done for it, I just hoped the Trippers weren’t just around the corner and were about to jump us. I’d read about leather cups for horses hooves, but I never got around to making them.

  Our luck held, and we headed out across the river on a small, two-lane road that served as a bridge across the water. Judy tugged at the reins, and I knew she was anxious to get a drink. We’d been on the move since this morning and hadn’t really stopped for much at all.

  I don’t know what made me look back. Maybe it was what my dad called survival instinct, maybe it was Judy’s ears twitching back, whatever. But I turned to check the road behind me, and there was a Tripper not ten feet from me. He was tall and charging fast, his face twisted and grotesque. His left arm reached out for me while his right formed a white-knuckled fist.

  I didn’t have time to do anything with my gun or my bow. I ducked as his hand passed over me, and I shoved him in the hip backing away when he fell down. I moved away from Judy, as I didn’t want her to get hurt if I had to use a weapon. The Tripper got up quickly and rushed again. This time, I got out of the way and pushed him as he went past. I watched him head for the side of the road, stumble, hit the railing, and tumble over the side.

  I got to the rail and looked over just in time to see his head disappear under the waves.

  I walked back to Judy feeling proud of myself when I looked back down the way we had come. Ten more Trippers were on the street, and heading my way quickly. One of them had blood dripping off his hands, leaving a gory trail I could probably follow back to his last victim if I chose to.

  I quickly climbed aboard Judy, who was already skittish from the fight I just had. “Move it, girl! Go!”

  Judy didn’t need any more encouraging. I held on and just gave her her head and let her run. She stretched out and her ears were flat back as she ran. As she hit her long stride, I was pretty much just a spectator. Judy ran easily away from the Trippers, leaving them stumbling along behind on the bridge. I didn’t bother to stop and kill the infected, I just left them behind. The sun was setting, and I didn’t want to spend the night out in the open. If there were ten Trippers behind me, I had a hundred out there ahead of me. In a perfect world, I would have a secure house with a secure wall around me. Of course, in a perfect world, there weren’t any Trippers and my parents were still alive.

  Judy ran west and we cleared the river and the trees on the other side. I slowed her to a trot and led her out into the open fields. I could see a house in the distance, and I hoped I could use it for a haven for the night. If not, we’d have to keep moving, and I could tell Judy was getting tired and could use the rest.

  The house was set far back from the roads, and was accessible only from the one driveway. It was a ranch-style house, with thickly overgrown bushes blocking the windows. The rest of the yard was thick vegetation, choked with large weeds and feral shrubs.

  I did a quick walk around, and didn’t see any signs of life. For that matter, I didn’t see any signs of death either. This house may have been one of the ones abandoned early on in an attempt to outrun the disease. The sun slipped behind the horizon, and while it was still light out, I was actually out of time. It was this place or I took my chances in the woods by the river.

  I pulled the bushes out of the way of the front door, and with a few twists of my knife, managed to get the door open. I went through the house, and checked every room. There was nothing out of place, everything seemed normal. I would give the house a more thorough check in the morning, right now I needed to be able to survive the night.

  I took Judy in through the front door, and leading her through the house, I brought her into the garage. Her ears were about as far forward as they could be, and she stamped her displeasure when I brought her through the kitchen.

  “Sorry, girl. But there’s no time and I need you out of sight. You know better,” I chided, leading her into the garage. Judy calmed down when she had more room to move around and the garage must have smelled somewhat similar to the one she was used to because she settled down quickly. I took the saddle and bridle off, and filled a bucket of water from a rain barrel outside.

  Once Judy was taken care of, I went back into the house and settled in for the night. I kept my guns nearby, and spread my bedroll out under the front window. Anyone looking in would not be able to see me, so I figured I was safe enough.

  During the night, I thought I heard some shuffling and movement outside, but I kne
w that if the Trippers had no reason to think anyone was in here they would pass the house by. My only concern would be someone else would try to use the house for shelter and led a horde here. It made for a long, light-sleeping night.

  Chapter 14

  In the morning, I rose quickly and quietly. I ate a quick breakfast and spent some time watching the outside for any signs of trouble or movement. Over the years, I had learned that while Trippers were very dangerous, especially at night, they were more likely to kill you in the early morning because they themselves would instinctually look for some kind of shelter from the sun. I always maintained that the sun hurt their eyes and that was what pushed them indoors.

  A brief walk around the house showed everything was well, so I opened the garage door to a very excited Judy who pushed me with her nose.

  “Whoa, girl, easy,” I laughed as I put her halter on and picketed her in the backyard. She happily started cropping the grass and I was content to let her. While she ate I went through the house a little more carefully. Several cans of food were discovered in the kitchen while some dried goods came out of the pantry. I was especially happy to see some small oatmeal packets. Those would make a quick meal whenever I needed one and all I needed was the water from my canteen.

  I looked over the rest of the house, even going into the basement and didn’t see anything that would be of any use to me. The house, and all its belongings, I decided, were useless.

  Disappointed, I went outside to saddle Judy and was startled to see a man holding his hands out to my horse, talking in a low, steady voice. Judy had backed to the end of her picket rope and her ears were back. She was about to do something serious if I didn’t intervene.

  “That’s my horse,” I said. I stayed in the garage keeping me out of sight of anyone who might be lurking nearby.