The Last Revenant (Book 1): The Crash

by J. S. Carter

  He looked down and sighted the buildings.

  I unwrapped what was left of the protein bar and was too hungry by that point to even think about where it had been. I bit into it and watched the scope next to me move ever so slightly. I was too curious not to ask. “What is it?”

  “Not sure.” He put the gun down. “But it looks deserted. How much time do we have left?”

  I turned my back to look at the sun and stuck my hand out so that it rested on the horizon like he had taught me. Each finger it took to reach the sun would be close to twenty minutes until sunset, which meant that we had at least an hour.

  Chris stuffed the rifle back into the bag and helped me shoulder it again.

  “We should be able to make it. We’ll hold up there.”

  We set off again, this time alert so that we wouldn’t be caught off guard. As we got closer, he had me unsling my gun so that I’d have it at the ready and instructed me to stay quiet and keep at least a few meters distance away from him at all times so that we’d make harder targets. I recalled what he had said before and looked to either side and behind us every few steps to make sure no one got the jump on us. I guessed we had about forty minutes of sunlight left by the time we reached the brick wall of the first building.

  I let my shoulder hit the warm surface as my legs struggled to support my weight. I was beyond exhausted. I already had been for the better half of the day, but a new sense of urgency at least kept my arms light. I watched as Chris peered across the corner before turning back to signal me with his hands.

  All clear.

  Follow me.

  Stay quiet.

  I scrunched my eyes together. I was pretty sure that’s what he meant. He put his hands back down and I gave him a nod. This time I remembered to cycle the bolt on my own gun, the familiar sound of a bullet being loaded past the breach giving me a little comfort. I really did hope it would fire the next time I would need it to. I watched Chris disappear around the corner and I swore under my breath as I struggled to catch up to him. The last thing I needed was to fall behind.

  As I took a few steps out into the open, I immediately began to recognize the portable rides and stand up shops and cheesy games. We had found our way into an abandoned amusement park built around a small outlet mall, the evidence of which was strewn around on the ground in front of us. It looked like a small bomb had gone off, but months of wind, rain, and any other natural intervention had done a better job of mixing everything up and setting it lose all around us.

  I tried to stay focused on where to look as I almost tripped over a stuffed unicorn. I had to stop myself from reaching down to grab it for Sarah before I reminded myself how stupid that would have been. I kicked it aside and kept following Chris further into the mess until we reached another building, this one taller than the rest.

  He motioned for me to meet him just outside the doorway. “Stay as close to me as you can. When we reach each room, I’ll clear it right to left, you check front to left. Got it?”

  I nodded and he took an extra second to look at my face.

  “You’re doing great. Don’t let up.” He turned back and I started to feel paranoid.

  I wished he hadn’t said that.

  We stepped inside the mini-mall and cleared one room at a time. It was a painstaking process, but great practice. At the end we would know that nobody else was there, where everything was, and how to decide the best way to get out if we needed to make a quick exit. I also started to pick up on the smaller habits that Chris had, like taking the longer route through the side stairwell instead of walking up the dead escalators in the middle of the building. We would have been completely exposed if something had happened and we tried to take the quickest way. I never would have thought like that before.

  “Clear.”

  I followed suit as Chris slung his rifle back over his shoulder on the top floor.

  “You think it was worth it?”

  I dropped all our bags, almost breathless, but beyond excited that he had decided to visit. “I saw food.” I almost laughed when we both smiled at each other. I made huge plans to pig out. Whatever else he had in store would have to wait. Fortunately, he went along with that and decided it would be okay to split up as long as I promised to keep my gun with me. I quickly scavenged the place and looked for anything I could find that might be useful before coming back up to the top as soon as night came rolling in.

  I sat down with my back against the wall on a mattress that I had liberated from a display. I figured there was no sense in letting anything go to waste, which was exactly why I opened up a tin can with my new pocket knife and indulged in the smell. I let myself enjoy the moment, then crammed a spoonful of chocolate pudding into my mouth and closed my eyes. I’m sure I made some kind of sound after that, but I didn’t care. It felt too damn good not to. I already reached the bottom when Chris came back.

  “I got a present for you.” He dropped a pair of hiking boots in front of me. “I think they’re your size. If not, there should be more. Apparently nobody wanted to raid the woman’s section.”

  I probably should have thanked him, but I still had another can of vanilla pudding to go through. I thought better of it at the last minute and offered him some. “We’re not leaving tomorrow, are we?” I really didn’t like the idea of carrying everything again. I was starting to develop cuts around my neck where the straps had been digging into my shoulders, but I didn’t want to complain. If I had learned anything that day, it was that complaining didn't help.

  He shrugged. “It’s not exactly subtle, but at least it's defendable. Not to mention we have a three-sixty degree view and high ground, plus multiple points of egress. We should be fine for at least a night or two.”

  That made me feel a little better. I decided to slip off what was left of my shoes and try on my new boots, careful not to pull out any of the laces. Chris sat back and watched me. From the moonlight through the window and the clear sky, I could tell something was on his mind. He eventually let it loose.

  “You never told me about your family.”

  I immediately slowed down and pressed my fingers against the hard leather. It was a hard thing for me to talk about. I didn’t know what to say to him. I began to rearrange the laces after I dared meet his eyes for a split second. “I know.”

  “How come?”

  I tried to focus on my feet. I was pretending putting on a pair of shoes was way more complicated than it ever should have been, but he made it that way. He shouldn’t have asked. I had to change the subject. I didn't know how long he had been in the military or what his job had been. I'd never asked him anything that was personal. Maybe I was afraid that if I did, he'd expect me to take my turn. I shrugged. “You’re not really an open book, either.”

  “I guess you’re right.”

  I played with my pocket knife for a few minutes and almost sliced my finger open before deciding to hide it in my right boot. I was sure it would come in handy. It also gave me the idea to stuff my improvised lock pick set in the left one before I finally looked back over at Chris. “When do you think we’ll start heading back? To Arrino, I mean.”

  He mulled it over in his head for a moment and I wondered what the actual requirements were. Did he have a mental checklist or was he just making it up as we went along? He put an empty can down and crossed his arms. “Have you ever killed anyone?”

  The question surprised me, but I already knew the answer. Camp Maxwell was eventful for a multitude of reasons. “What’s it matter?”

  He didn't answer, but he didn't have to. We both knew it mattered. If I were to hesitate to pull the trigger when it mattered most, it could end up costing both of us our lives.

  “I killed…” I stopped myself short, the words hanging heavy in the air. It didn’t feel good to admit it out loud. I thought it might, but I was completely wrong. “I shot someone.” I checked to gauge his reaction to that, but he didn’t show anything. “I just…” I tried to shake the thoughts awa
y. “I don’t understand why you have to teach me all this other stuff for something that’s only gonna take a few hours.”

  “Because you’re a survivor, not a soldier.”

  I opened my mouth and he cut me off.

  “Trust me, there’s a difference.”

  I didn’t get what he meant by that, but I figured it would be better not to argue. The only reason we weren't further away from town was because I still wanted to go back.

  “Look, if we’re gonna be doing this, then it’s gonna be for the right reasons.” He brought his knees up and rested his hands on them, getting my full attention. “When do we kill someone?”

  Seriously?

  I thought about it for a few seconds. It seemed simple enough. “When they hurt you.”

  “So we kill the guy that makes us feel bad about our weight? We shoot the guy that hits us? That’s escalation at its best, throwing a tantrum at its worst.”

  I made a face at that. I didn’t realize he was going to be so literal.

  “Try again.”

  I took a breath and tried not to get annoyed. Whatever the answer was that he was fishing for, it would be subjective. It would only make sense to him and I just didn’t see the point in that. I decided to go along with it. At the very least, I was curious to hear his reasons. After a few seconds I came up with another answer. “When it’s the right thing to do.”

  He shook his head and I started to get angry. It was a trick answer. Chris was the one asking the questions, so only he should have known when that would be true. “So then who gets to decide when it’s right or wrong? What makes them so special?”

  I was starting to get enough of his bullshit again. “You’re seriously gonna wait for me to answer a riddle?”

  “If you really want my help, then yeah. I’m seriously gonna wait for you to stop thinking like an idiot.” He got up to brush his pants off. “I'll take overwatch tonight. Get some sleep. You’re gonna need it tomorrow.”

  I turned away and watched as his shadow passed over me and down the hall. After only a few minutes, I started to feel bad about attacking him like that. I was starting to get used to his company, no matter how irritating it could get sometimes, and I didn’t like being alone. I tried focusing on answering his question. Maybe I could make it up to him in the morning.

  Chris seemed like a good guy—genuine, at the very least. He must have had his reasons for teaching me the way he did. I stretched my mind for the most extreme examples I could think of. I grabbed the heart pendant around my neck and slowly traced the shape with my thumb and forefinger. The girl in my dreams had killed people, but she almost seemed to enjoy it. I assumed Chris didn’t, but they were both killers, so what set them apart? After a few moments, I thought I had it, and it would explain why he didn’t like talking about his past either.

  He was a killer with a conscience.

  Practice

  “You got a thick head, you know that?”

  I scrunched my nose in self-defense as a pillow hit my face.

  “Come on, princess. Get up.”

  I tossed the pile of feathers away and turned onto my side, a super-hot, totally attractive mutter escaping from underneath my morning breath. Supposedly it wasn’t audible.

  “What was that?”

  I kept my eyes shut and let out a stream of air.

  Some people…

  “I said princesses usually get their beauty sleep.” Another pillow hit my face and I finally turned back to peer at my mom standing over me through rusty eyes.

  “Come on, breakfast is ready. Everyone’s waiting on you.”

  I grunted at that. She always had a talent of making everyone seem like they had gone out of their way just to help me, but really it couldn’t have been any more inconvenient. For starters, I had to get up. That was already asking a lot.

  I wasn’t even committed to the cause or halfway awake by the time I dragged myself downstairs and took a seat next to everyone else. I yawned past dreary eyes and grabbed a glass full of orange juice, barely paying Zach any attention in front of me.

  “What’s up, raccoon-eyes?”

  I gulped half of it away before putting the glass back down and stared back at him, not even bothering to wipe my mouth.

  Not much, boy-that-keeps-me-awake-at-night.

  It was hard enough that I was stuck in a room with my little sister, but it only got worse once I had found out through text that my ex-boyfriend was going out with one of my best friends. I had been stuck in the same house with my family and Zach for days. I needed to get away with him for at least a few hours. I really wasn't expecting anything to happen. I just figured it would do me some good. But first I decided to ignore him for the time being and go to town on the orange juice again. I needed to come up with some better comebacks anyway.

  “So,” said Oliver, rubbing his hands as he sat down. “I was thinking that we could all head into town today. You know, get out of the house a little bit and see what’s new.”

  I frowned as I automatically stared down at my phone. It was beginning to turn into a really bad habit. I had somehow become one of those girls.

  “What do you think, Jessica?”

  I looked back up at Oliver, only paying half attention to what he had been saying. “Oh, ughh...yeah, sure. Sounds great.”

  He must have watched me fumble with the piece of junk in my hands. “What’s wrong?”

  I finally gave up and put my phone on the table. “I can’t get a signal.” It had been fine since the day before. I was surprised that I had even gotten a connection so far away from home, but the timing could have been better. I knew I shouldn’t have cared. I just wanted to learn more about my lost love life.

  “Maybe they’re doing maintenance?”

  I frowned. “Maybe...” I really wanted to know, too.

  “I’m sure it’s fine.” Oliver put a hand on my shoulder. “A little time away will do you some good.” He nodded at the cute boy in front of me spooning scrambled eggs into his mouth and lowered his voice, careful not to let my parents overhear—though I doubted they would have been able to; Sara was too busy entertaining them. “Maybe Zach can finally take you shooting?”

  I had been excited to do it since he had first brought it up, but we hadn’t gotten around to it with the weather. I watched Zach smile and then wink as he washed down another bite. I knew he had wanted to do it too.

  He offered me food and I shook my head. “Sure. You ever shoot an AR-15 before?”

  I wasn’t sure what that was, but for some reason I wanted to say that I thought my car ran on four AR-15’s. I was glad I didn’t. “Nope. Nothing.”

  He grinned. “Trust me, you’ll love it. It’s not like anything else.”

  *

  I pushed the bolt on the Model 700 away from me and loaded another bullet into the chamber, closing the breach and cocking the firing pin. I leaned my cheek against the butt stock and gazed through the lens in front of my eye, careful to let a breath loose as evenly as possible. Every small deviation in elevation or direction would affect the accuracy of my shot. Fractions of an inch in front of my face would turn into feet a hundred meters down range. Any motion had to be deliberate.

  I let the memories seep away, but for some reason I took the time to realize that Zach had been right after all. There really was nothing quite like shooting a gun, yet it was what happened afterward that he had neglected to go over. That part was something else entirely.

  “You see him?”

  I flexed the muscles in my hand and slowly turned the gun until I spotted the familiar markings that we had been looking for. I watched as the wind blew the tall, spent blades of grass towards my left. I had to make a mental note not to adjust as much as I thought I should. “Yeah.”

  Chris lay right next to me, also on his belly, and peered through a set of binoculars. “Bearing—zero. Range…” He bounced his head to either side. “Fuck it. One hundred meters.”

  I adjusted the tabs on the opt
ic to match the distance and tried to keep the barrel from swaying. It was the longest shot I had done yet. After a few days out in the middle of nowhere, I’d finally gotten to play with the big toys. We were also quickly starting to run out of food again and Chris had wanted to see me kill something. I didn’t care what we did as long as he didn’t make me shoot at the same mangled set of tin cans.

  “He’s moving.”

  “I see it.” I made sure to keep the white-tailed deer in my scope as it took a few steps towards my left before its head bobbed down to take another bite of grass.

  “Try not to be a badass. Just aim for center of mass.”

  I readjusted my aim and tried to relax. How did he know?

  “How’s the target?”

  “Still got it.” I waited for Chris’s words and kept my crosshairs equidistant from both pairs of legs.

  “Send it.”

  I held my breath.

  Sorry, little guy.

  I pulled the trigger and the gun kicked back into my shoulder. A shard of metal spewed out away from me faster than the speed of sound in a controlled explosion that managed to hurt my eyes and ring out my ears. I waited, already getting used to the feeling, when the bullet tore through the air and into soft flesh a football field length away from me. I looked up and Chris confirmed the hit.

  “You got it.” We smiled at each other. “Good job, rook.”

  I shouldered the long range rifle and brought up my M4 in case anyone was curious enough to find us. The shot was loud and we were in open terrain, but we should have been far away enough not to warrant a gander. After a few minutes, we found the blood stained patch and began to follow its trail.

  “Looks like he’s a fighter.” Chris motioned for me to take the lead. “Track him. He can’t be too far.”

  I reluctantly took the steps to get in front of him. I had been hoping for just the opposite. I didn’t want to have to see the poor thing lying on the ground and gasping for air. I was hungry and I just wanted to be done with it. I followed the trail as best as I could. Chris had only briefly explained the process, but I figured the patches of blood were a good enough place to start as any. Bent pieces of grass had to do when I couldn’t find those and I assumed the thing had run away from the sound of my gun, which pretty much narrowed down the guesswork. I finally found it after a few meters, almost exactly like I had imagined it, except that it wasn’t trying to breath. It couldn’t.