Desolate - The Complete Trilogy

by Robert Brumm

  Dave pulled a folded map of Jamaica from his back pocket. “We need to start thinking long term. I think it’s a good idea to get as far away from Mo’ Bay as possible.” He unfolded the map and jabbed his index finger on the eastern half of the country. “We could set up here in the national park or maybe farther east near Moore Town. Plenty of remote areas. It would take some time and a hell of a lot of work, but we could probably get some gardens going. Work on getting some livestock together. A cow or two, some chickens. Maybe a few pigs.”

  “Wouldn’t it make sense to settle closer to the coast?” Howard asked. “We could do all that plus have access to fresh seafood.”

  “What are you guys talking about?” Ann said. “Why would we leave when we have all this?” She waved her hands around the room. “I grew up in an apartment building. I don’t know shit about farming!”

  “It’s not safe here, kiddo,” Dave said. “Eventually we’re gonna run out of food and fuel for those gennys in the basement.”

  “Don’t kiddo me. You’re not my fucking dad,” she snapped. “Don’t we get a say in this?”

  “Ann, I’m sorry.” Dave reached over and tried to put his hand over hers but she pulled it away. “Those things are barely ten, fifteen miles away and may be getting closer. Pretty soon they’re gonna run out of prey in the city and start branching out. All it takes is one of ‘em to get in here.”

  “Shit, I’m wit’ her.” Tre scowled. “I don’t know no-ting about no pigs.”

  Ann’s frown melted and her lower lip started to quiver. “I just wanna go home.” Soo leaned over and comforted her.

  “I see your point, Dave,” Soo said. “But farming? Hiding out in the woods? Can’t we just concentrate on finding other survivors? We can find plenty of weapons and there’s strength in numbers. We could make some sort of, I don’t know, fortress or something until we kill all those things.”

  “Hon, some of the survivors I’ve come across since shit went down ain’t much better than those creatures out there. Tre, you know I’m right about that, man. There’s exactly five people in the world I trust right now and every single one of ‘em is sitting at this table.”

  Tre crossed his arms and shifted his weight in the chair but said nothing. Soo let out a big sigh.

  The only sounds in the room were Ann’s sniffles and the clink of metal spoon against bowl as Emily finished breakfast.

  She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and looked around the table. “Why don’t we just go to ‘Merica?”

  Howard looked up. “Go where?”

  “Mummy said someday we to go ‘Merica, after she saved up enough money. She say we live in a big house and I’d have lots of toys and my own room.” She looked hopefully at Howard and then Dave. “Can’t we go dere?”

  “The airport’s all shut down and that’s one heck of a long swim.” Dave playfully punched Emily on the arm.

  Ann’s face lit up. “We don’t need to swim! Didn’t you see all those boats down at the marina? There are dozens of them.” She flipped the map over, showing the entire Caribbean Sea and the southern tip of Florida. “Look! It’s not that far. They have to be better off in the States. They just have to be!”

  Dave frowned at the map. “Yeah, that’s only about 500 hundred miles to Miami as the crow flies. But look. There’s big ol’ Cuba in the way. We’d have to sail around that and it would take twice as long.”

  “It’s possible,” Ann protested. “It’s something.”

  “And what if it ain’t? What then? Then are you gonna wanna find a way to hump a thousand miles north to your hometown because you’re convinced things have to be better in Canada?”

  “Guys, please,” Howard pleaded. “Let’s not fight about it. Ann, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to agree with Dave.”

  “Big surprise,” she muttered.

  “Now wait,” Soo said. “Ann is right. It is possible. I saw some of the boats she’s talking about down there. Fifty-, sixty-, even hundred-foot yachts.”

  “I don’t know about you, but I don’t know a damn thing about boats,” Howard said. He looked at Dave and Tre. Both shook their heads.

  “Well, I do. I may just look like a nurse but I know my way around the bridge of a ship. Well, a fishing boat anyway.”

  “Get out of here,” Dave mused.

  “I spent four summers during college working for my uncle on his salmon troller up near Vancouver Island. It was a sixty footer and he taught me a lot.”

  “No shit?”

  “No shit. My father thought it was the perfect character-building experience, even though my mother was convinced it would somehow hurt my chances at landing a husband. I guess she could have been right.”

  “And you’re saying if we got one of those boats up and running you’d be able to navigate it back to the States?” Howard asked.

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  Ann slapped the table. “See? I told you we can do this!”

  Dave rubbed his face and stared at the map. “I don’t like it. I think it’s dangerous, and even if we made it, we’d be in the exact same situation. Only in Florida.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Tre, you’re the only one here besides Emily from this country. What do you think?”

  Tre shook his head and stared at the table. “Dunno, mon. No reason for me to stay here but I don’t like no boats neither.”

  “Pleeease?” Emily pleaded.

  “Look, I ain’t the boss around here and I don’t pretend to be.” Dave looked around the table. “But I take everybody’s safety very seriously. We need to take this slow and think it through. Look at it from all angles. Okay?”

  “Will I get my own room?” Emily asked.

  “Hey!” Howard feigned being insulted. “I thought you liked being my roommate. And you even have that big queen-size bed to yourself.”

  Emily looked at Howard and thought for a moment before answering. “Yeah, but you snore and fart sometimes at night.”

  Howard’s face reddened for the second time that morning as everybody had a good laugh at his expense.

  Ten

  Once again, she caught the scent trail too late. Once again, she was tardy for the kill and would go hungry. The teasing coppery scent of blood hung heavy in the air as she wavered, knowing it was no use trying to get closer to the kill. Dozens already fought over the scraps and it would be over in seconds. It wasn’t worth getting injured.

  She got her hopes up when she first noticed the trail. It had been days since her last kill, a skinny and foul-tasting feline. It was the fresh flesh of man she craved, and when she smelled not one, but two, she squealed in anticipation. That’s when the screaming began and she knew it was too late. She was a fool to think she was the only one to pick up the trail, and now that the prey called out in fear, others would be on them in no time.

  As the frenzy died down and the fortunate ones left satisfied, the unlucky, slow, and weak moved forward. They searched for an overlooked scrap of meat, a single drop of blood, and found nothing.

  She turned away, disappointed and frustrated. Something would have to change soon or she would go hungry and fall to be sustenance for the stronger ones. She had already fed on some of the weaker ones herself, but it was man she was after. The sweet taste of flesh and bone, sinew and entrails.

  She spent the rest of the day roaming the outskirts of town, giving up on man for the time being and searching for lesser beasts. She found and killed a rat that only made her hunger worse. She was just about to give up and turn back to shadow the others, and hope to profit from their fortunes, when she caught another scent.

  It was extremely faint. She wasn’t even sure if it truly was the scent of man. She got low to the ground and breathed deeply, opening her mouth and tasting the air with her tongue. Yes. It was there, in this…no…the other direction. Getting stronger. Two of them. Two scents of men, side by side, intertwined in a delicious concoction of sweat and dander.
She moved slowly down the road, keeping her face to the surface for fear of losing the trail. She clucked in anticipation as it grew stronger and then…stopped.

  The trail went cold, right at the very spot of tarmac beneath her. She squealed in frustration, stomping her feet and spinning, desperate to find the trail again. She was so upset that the other scent mixed with the man went unnoticed at first. It wasn’t quite as strong, but steady nevertheless, leading down the road from where the trail went cold.

  It was the scent of one of those machines, the machines that gave man such an unfair advantage, a layer of protection and incredible speed their unprotected bodies could not match. So the trail did not go cold. It was the scent of the machine she needed to follow. It was difficult, since the parts that touched the surface left considerably less stench than the scent of man, but it was there. She could follow it.

  She headed down the road slowly, careful not to veer from the trail for fear of losing it altogether. She passed others just as hungry and desperate as she was.

  They watched her for a moment before deciding to follow. No scent of man was nearby but this one was on the trail of something. With nothing to lose, they decided to follow.

  Eleven

  Howard was bored and felt a little guilty about it. The whole notion of boredom felt foreign to him, considering how abnormal his life had become over the last year or so. He strolled the halls of the hotel and tried to think back to a time when he was truly bored and not in some stage of fighting for survival or living in sheer terror.

  Then again, he didn’t get bored very often back then either. Most of his free time was spent in a booze-induced haze. As long as his right hand held a can of beer, he always had something to do. Howard found he could spend hours at a time watching drivel on TV as long as he was half in the bag while doing so.

  It felt like he was thinking about a different person, some poor slob on one of those intervention reality shows, not Howard Bell of the past. He really did feel like he had left that old life behind and was starting fresh. AA had nothing on the way he got sober. Still, the twelve-step program didn’t involve manslaughter, life sentences, aliens, or pandemics. It would make for a pretty interesting AA brochure though.

  The temptation was still there and it irritated him to no end. The hotel had four bars stocked with enough alcohol for a bender of world-record proportions. It didn’t help that they were stuck in some sort of limbo, half of them wanting to stay and go east, the other half wanting to go west and onto a boat. In the meantime, they had all just wandered the hotel aimlessly for the last few days. Eating, sleeping, eating some more.

  He rounded the corner and entered the lobby. A hot, steady breeze came off the sea through the open patio doors. Soo sat in one of the deck chairs on the patio, looking down at a book from the hotel’s library. She looked up and smiled at him when he walked out, sending shivers down his spine and a flutter through his chest. Another thing to feel guilty about, but he couldn’t help it.

  “Howard!” Emily came running up out of nowhere, waving her arms. “Look! Look!” She held out her hands and wiggled her fingers, each nail glistening with a brilliant shade of yellow.

  “Wow! Those are pretty.”

  “Soo painted dem for me. Look down here too!” She held out one foot to show off her matching toes, partially obscured by sand.

  He sat down in the chair beside Soo. “Yeah, those are something else. I’ll be able to see you coming from a mile away.”

  Soo swatted his arm, releasing a fresh batch of shivers. “Stop it! I asked her what color she wanted and she insisted on yellow. We happen to think it’s beautiful.”

  “Yeah, booootiful!” Emily jumped off the edge of the patio and ran down the beach to the water.

  Soo laughed and crossed her legs, bouncing her foot up and down while she went back to her book.

  “Looks like you had a little manny and peddy yourself,” he said, pointing at her toes.

  Soo looked at him over the top of her sunglasses and raised her eyebrows. “Manny and peddy?”

  “Hey, in case you didn’t notice, I’m a hip guy. That’s what you call it when you’re out on the town with your gal pals, isn’t it?”

  She tilted her head back and laughed. “Most of my gal pals consisted of overworked and overtired nurses in scrubs. We spent our free time eating hospital cafeteria food and gossiping about other nurses.”

  Howard looked at her toes again. “Well, I’m disappointed you didn’t go with Emily Yellow but they’re lovely all the same.”

  “Thanks.”

  Emily ran up and down the beach, dragging a large stick in the sand and drawing pictures with it.

  “You know,” Howard said, “I have to admit I’ve been thinking about the whole boat thing. It seems crazy, but I can’t help but wonder if they really are doing better back home. I’m worried about Emily. She’s been through so much already and I really want what’s best for her, you know?”

  Soo closed her book and turned toward him. “I know we could do it. I just wish we could convince Dave.”

  “The thing is,” Howard looked away at the ocean. “If things are better, I mean really better, that might not be such a good thing. For me.”

  “Oh, yeah. I forgot about…your past.”

  “Technically, I was sentenced to life. No parole. And I deserved it. I’m not saying I think I have the right to be a free man just because all this happened. I dunno, I’m just thinking from Emily’s point of view. We’re the only family she has now and if we go back to the States only to have her taken away from me…”

  “Howard, whatever happens, whether we stay here or go anywhere else, I’ll always look out for Emily.”

  She placed her hand over his and gave it a little squeeze before taking it away. Howard desperately wanted to grab it and not let go. They sat in silence and watched Emily play at the water’s edge. She held the stick like a spear and chased after the schools of small fish swimming around her feet.

  “Can I ask you something personal?” Soo said. “Why were you sent to prison?”

  Howard sighed and looked down at his feet. He knew it would come up eventually but he had hoped it wouldn’t be Soo who asked.

  “You don’t have to tell me…”

  “No. You have the right to know, I guess. It’s okay.” Howard took a deep breath and told her everything. His heavy drinking, his daughter Lilly’s death, his failed marriage. By the time he got to The Day and described his confrontation with Steve Creighton and the bloodbath that followed, he couldn’t stop. He held nothing back and described everything in great detail. It was horrifying, yet oddly liberating at the same time, to hear his downfall narrated by his own voice.

  Soo just listened and stared at the water. Howard couldn’t read her reaction behind her dark sunglasses. He talked about the farm, the mine, and the ship. He replayed the confrontation with Carl before Carl tried to rape Liz, and his gruesome death that followed. Lastly, he told Soo about finding Emily after the crash and helping her to safety, despite almost being killed by a psychotic drug dealer. It wasn’t what Soo asked about, but he threw it in as a desperate attempt to convince her he wasn’t a complete criminal monster.

  With his story complete, Howard rubbed the back of his neck and risked a glance at Soo. She continued to stare at the horizon, still not saying a word. She finally nodded her head and turned to him. “Thank you. I know that couldn’t have been easy for you.”

  Howard was at a loss for words. He wanted to jump up and throw himself at her feet. He ached to shake her shoulders and beg for forgiveness. He wanted to let her know he’d never hurt her or the others and that more than anything, he didn’t want to lose her. Instead he sat and stared at a crack in the patio.

  He was about to get up when a shrill scream snapped him out of his self-pity haze. They both jumped to their feet.

  Soo scanned the beach. “Where’s Emily?”

  Howard shouted her name and looked around, not seeing her anyw
here. Another scream came from around the side of the building.

  “Oh God, that’s her!” They jumped off the edge of the patio and ran for the side of the building.

  Twelve

  She-ra held her sword high as she entered the haunted jungle and crossed over a small wooden bridge. Tiny lizards scattered at her feet but She-ra took no mind. After all, she was Adora, He-man’s twin sister and defender of the Crystal Castle. It would take more than a few spiders and lizards to scare the mighty She-ra.

  An explosion of noise a few feet away broke the silence as a bird flew from the brush. Emily jumped and dropped her stick on the stone path. She muttered about the stupid bird and picked up her sword, picturing her long blonde hair cascading over her shoulders and touching the ground as she bent over. Just outside the trees, her beloved steed, Spirit, stood watch while she entered the woods to battle the evil forces of Horde.

  Emily’s friend Jackie had a color television and a VCR. Her family had a small collection of tapes, but the only one Jackie and Emily ever watched was She-ra: Princess of Power. They must have watched all four episodes on that tape a hundred times and knew every line by heart. When they weren’t watching the tape, they were in the street or the alley next to Jackie’s house reenacting their favorite scenes.

  Since Jackie was four whole years older, she always got to play She-ra, leaving Emily to play Madame Razz or Kowl. But now that Emily was on her own, she didn’t have to be stupid Kowl anymore.

  Emily continued to explore the jungle– a garden in the corner of the resort’s property. The narrow path led her past a small pond to a gazebo hidden in the trees. A hot tub sat under the thatched roof. She stirred the water with her stick, wrinkling her nose at the stinky water. It was green and full of leaves and dirt.

  “She-ra, She-ra,” Emily whispered as she left the hot tub behind and walked deeper into the jungle. “I am Adora, He-man’s twin sister.”

  She passed a tiny hut no taller than she was, and did a double take at a face in its window. It wasn’t real, just a pretend lady made out of plastic.