The Rabid Mind

by Bruce Buckshot Hemming

  She opened up the pouch on her belt and pulled out the speed loader. She opened the cylinder, swung it barrel up and pushed the lever down, dropping the empty brass. Then she pointed the gun down, lined up the shells in the cylinder and twisted the knob. All of the shells dropped into place and, with a flip of her wrist, the cylinder slammed shut. She put the speed loader back in the pouch as she ran toward Jim yelling, “Where did they come from?

  “I don’t know. Get your rifle in case there are more.” They looked over at the barn and the Hive swarmed out. “Oh shit. Get in the car and let’s go. There are too many of them.”

  She jumped in the passenger side as Jim jumped in. He started the car and floored it, trying to get the hell out of there. The tires were spinning on the grass, but he didn’t care. The closest one was almost on them when he made it back to the gravel driveway. The tires flung rocks behind them and the car jerked forward. He looked in the mirror and there had to be a hundred of them left. They could never go back there, he thought, but didn’t say a word to Debbie. They made it out of there.

  He almost yelled at her. “What the hell is the matter with you? You just stood there like you wanted to die!”

  She looked over at him. “That’s because I really did want to die. Without my kids, what’s the sense of living? Then I realize I need to kill the infected to save other families from going through this heartache.”

  “Well I’m glad you changed your mind, because I would hate to lose you like that. I don’t think I could have saved you in time if you hadn’t started shooting too.”

  “But you did save me, Jim, even though part of me wanted you to miss and for that thing to kill me, so I didn’t have to go through losing someone I love ever again. I really don’t know how much more of the ‘kill or be killed’ world I can take.”

  “You aren’t the only person in the world to have lost people you love. We all have, but we have to live. We don’t know if those bodies were your children or not. All we saw was charred bodies. We don’t know if they were infected children, some other children, or yours.”

  She thought for a minute and said, “You’re right. Maybe they are still alive.” Her face brightened up. “I was so convinced I was going to see my children today that when I saw the bodies all burned and charred, I just thought they had to be my children. Now that I think about it, they were taller than my children should have been. But if those weren’t my children, where are they?

  “I don’t know, but I do know where to go ask questions - Kevin, the ranch hand in the area who drew the map for us.”

  “You’re right. Let’s go. Where could they have moved the children?” She wondered aloud.

  “Maybe a relative lives close by and they escaped; who knows? The way they didn’t have any of the windows covered up tells me this was the first really bad encounter they’ve had.”

  “The only way we survived our first encounter with a Hive was to drive the hell out of the area. I can’t imagine groups that may have handled two or three all of a sudden faced with 200-300 of them.”

  They drove in silence, each deep in their own thoughts. Just before they reached the house they had saved yesterday, Jim spoke up. “Debbie, after we find out where to go look next, if it is not real close by, I think we should head back to my place and check on Matt and Sandra. We can rest up a few days and make a new plan. I like this car, but with the holes in the windows an infected could break them out the rest of the way. We need something like Matt’s SUV. It may not get as good gas mileage, but it’s a 4-wheel drive and better than my full size truck.”

  “Let’s find out where to look before we make any plans, okay? They could be close by.” She thought he was probably right, but they were so close to finding them, they had to keep trying. She knew having a man with her doubled her chances of survival, just by having two more guns, and it was reassuring.

  They pulled off the road and down towards the house, hoping they wouldn’t get a flat tire from the shrapnel. The bodies of the infected were cleaned up and it looked like they had added more material to the burning car and burned the bodies. They pulled in the driveway and honked the horn. Jim got out, holding his hands out.

  The front door opened and both Patrick and Kevin walked out. “That was fast. Did you get the kids?”

  “Nope. A Hive hit the place and it looks like they got overwhelmed. From the looks of things, it was one hell of a firefight. The cabin was burned on the inside, but it didn’t burn down. Most of the remaining Hive was in the barn and they attacked us. We barely made it out of there alive.”

  Debbie stepped out of the car and walked over to them. “Is there anywhere you can think of that they may have taken the children? Another ranch close by, or relatives?”

  Kevin was stunned that the ranch had been taken out. “Nothing I can think of. They should have been there. The only other place they might have taken them is an old bunkhouse up in the mountains. They used it for their summer range. It’s just a Line Cabin, but you can only get to it by horseback or walking.”

  Excitedly she asked, “How far is it?”

  “Ten miles up into the mountains. In fact, the more I think about it, that is where they would have taken the women and children if they had any kind of warning. It’s a beautiful place. You cross over the mountain at about 5000 feet and then come down to a valley with lush grass for the horses and cows. A stream runs through it that’s full of fish. The elk winter down there it and it would be one heck of survival place. No roads leading to it. That is the only place I can think of.”

  “How hard would it be to walk it?” Jim asked.

  “Not bad. About 5 hours, if you are used to climbing up. The down side is easier of course, but how are you going to reach the trail with that Hive still hanging out at the barn?”

  Jim said, “We have to head back to our camp and get some supplies so we can backpack in. We thought we’d wait for a week, then hopefully the Hive would have moved on by then. Is there a farm close by with a bulk gas tank? We need to fill up before heading out.”

  “You can check on your way back. On the third dirt road heading south from here, which is about three miles in, there is ranch and you can check to see if people are around. If not, their bulk tank is behind the barn and you might be able to fill up.”

  Jim said, “Thanks for the information.”

  Patrick asked, “Would you two like to stay for dinner?”

  “We thank you, but we really need to be heading back. The rest of our group is most likely getting worried about us.” They said goodbye and started walking to the car.

  Patrick told them, “Good luck on finding your children and God speed.”

  “Thank you.” Debbie called out. “Good luck to you and your group.”

  They drove off and Jim noticed that it was only a little after 2:00 in the afternoon, according to the car’s clock. They found the ranch and the bulk tank, right where he said it would be. There was no one around so they filled up the tank.

  They drove back to the place they had spent the night on their way there. It was still early, but they figured it was safe spot to hole up for the night. They zipped their sleeping bag together and slept like a couple.

  In the morning, they were back on the road and making good time. When they reached the truck that Jim had parked when they switched to the Focus, Jim noticed fresh tire tracks going up the road and they weren’t from Matt’s CRV.

  Jim said, “I don’t like the looks of that,” pointing to the tire tracks, “I sure hope they are okay.”

  They drove the truck the rest of the way up and could see that someone had stopped at the cabin, but appeared to have left. Jim was out of the truck with his shotgun in hand, ready for anything. He saw the door open and Sandra and Matt stepped out. Relief flooded over his body as he thanked God they were okay. He called out to Matt, “Everything okay?”

  “Yep. Some traders came by yesterday, but they left.”

  Deb and Jim walked into the cabin. �
�So tell us everything about the encounter with the traders.” They told their story and Jim replied, “Smart move on your part. Talk about red flags...looking for women to trade...trying to flank you. This is not good. If they come back, we need to show them a sign of force, not shooting them, but have a couple of guns pointing out the window and you,” pointing to Matt, “and me standing on the front porch armed.”

  Chapter 26

  The next morning Matt met Jim on the porch for his coffee and cigarette. “How you doing on smokes?” Matt asked.

  Jim took a deep drag and slowly blew it out. “Stretching them out as far as I can.” He replied. “You and Sandra should be good for a few months, before I run out and turn into a bear.” His face turned serious. “Now tell me what you really think about the traders or raiders.”

  Matt rubbed his chin, feeling the stubble of his beard, and said, “I got real bad vibes right off the bat. I just got the impression they were more interested in information than trading. That clown trying to flank me really didn’t sit well with me. But it also means there are other survivors in the area. After the riff raft gets cleaned out, maybe we can set up a town and get it going again. That would give us more numbers for mutual defense.”

  Jim finished swallowing his coffee and said, “Good thinking. Deb and I are going to be heading off to try and find her children. What I want you to do is set up a perimeter fence made from wooden spikes. If a Hive ever finds us, we need to keep them off the cabin.”

  Matt set his coffee cup down and said, “What do you mean?”

  Jim snuffed out his cigarette and said, “I am thinking a fence all the way around the cabin, something that has spikes on it, would stop those things from getting over it. Build it like an inverted V, putting a cross pole for support every 4-feet. Tie sharpened poles on top facing outward, making two rows of them, having the first sharpened spike at gut level and then the bottom one at knee level. If we can find some barbed wire, string it along the bottom. If we do it right, we should be able to better defend the cabin.” He paused a second and then continued. “I’m guessing you are going to have to bury the inverted V about a foot in the ground, making it sturdy enough to withstand the force of a body hitting it. There’s a shovel and a pick in the wood shed if you hit rocks.”

  Matt pulled out his handkerchief and blew his nose, saying, “You’re not asking much, are ya?”

  Jim had a serious look on his face and said, “After seeing how that Hive overran that ranch, I think we need all of the help we can get. I figure you and I can go cut the fencing poles and cross members and haul them back here. That should take us four, maybe five days. Then we head to town to look for more ammo and barbed wire. We take the CRV and top it off, cause that’s what Deb and I are going to take on the trip. You keep the truck up here with you and we should stash the Focus on another side road, out of sight. There’s no sense advertising people live here. Matt nodded his understanding and Jim continued. “We also can get some 2x4s and long nails to bury and spike down the boards in the ground for the first line of defense, and then the spears and barbed wire. Maybe we could even work a trip system so the infected fall on the nail boards.”

  Matt was thinking about everything Jim had just said and asked, “Okay, where’s the nearest lumberyard?

  Jim looked off in the direction of town and said, “There’s one within driving distance.” He looked like something just dawned on him and said, “We need to get some ¾-inch rebar, cut it at 45-degree angles and then sharpen the point with files. We can bring back some heavy wire and lash that to the fence giving it a much better chance of holding off any attack than wood by itself. Rebar comes in 20-foot lengths, so you’re going to have to cut it in half to haul it in the truck anyways, so we might as well do a 45 degree angle cut and that will be done and ready to sharpen.”

  “Great plan, but since those guys came up here, I want to go to town and get more ammo.”

  Jim agreed and said, “I think we should take a drive and see if my elk guide friends are still around. If they are, we should be able to get some ammo from them.”

  “First, let’s get the barbed wire and top off the gas tank and then we can switch to my truck and take a drive tomorrow.”

  After breakfast they headed to town in the truck, with a list of supplies in hand. They found plenty of barbed wire and fence staples for pounding them into the wooden supports. Matt got a posthole digger and a pry bar, just in case he did run into rocks.

  They hauled everything back and unloaded it, then took both the truck and the SUV and drove around until they were able to fill up both tanks. They added Sta-Bil and Heet, to stabilize the gas and keep water out of the lines, making sure they kept running.

  Jim said, “The gas is going to start breaking down soon and I have no idea how long we’re going to be able to keep driving these vehicles.”

  “Then I guess we had better make the most of it while we still can,” said Matt.

  “Yeah, like hauling three years’ worth of firewood would be a good idea.”

  “My God that would be backbreaking work, hauling all that wood with no truck, or even a chainsaw to cut it. It would mean chopping it all by hand.”

  The next day they headed to Jim’s friends, the Brannon brothers. They were back in off the highway about twenty miles. Hopefully they were still there and in good shape, having weathered the winter. Jim was thinking if they knew what to do in time, they would have survived. The road was a mess with ruts and mud holes so big they looked like they could swallow the truck. As the cabin came into view, Jim smiled, “They should be okay, look.”

  Surrounding the house were cattle panels, which were used to load cattle. They also had tin cans strung on them, with barbed wire on the top. It was a perfect early warning system.

  Jim honked the horn and stepped out. Matt, being a stranger to them, stayed in the truck.

  The oldest brother stepped out onto the front porch. “What do you want?” he called out in not so friendly a voice.

  “Scott. It’s me, Jim. I just came out to talk and see how you and your brother are doing.”

  Scott squinted and looked hard at him. “Jim. Oh, I didn’t recognize you with that beard.” He said. Nodding towards the truck, he asked, “Who’s that with ya?”

  “That’s Matt. He’s a good guy and helped us get through the winter”.

  Scott waved Matt over and said, “Well hell, don’t just sit there. Climb up over the fence, come inside and have a cup of coffee.”

  Matt got out of the truck. He and Jim climbed over the panels and the cans rattled loudly. They walked up and into the house. Inside the cabin was the whole clan - Scott, his wife Linda, their two teenage daughters and an 18-year-old son. His brother Ken was on watch up in the loft with his live-in girlfriend, Susan.

  “So what brings you out this far during the end of the world?” They sat down at the large dining table. Scott’s wife put out cups and poured them coffee. Jim shifted in his seat, wanting to say this just right.

  “Well Scott, we had some trouble with coyotes this winter and used up most of our ammo. We are in desperate need of ammo,” said Jim. Scott just nodded, waiting for Jim to go on. “Have you heard about these new groups of infected called Hives? They run in packs of 100 to 500 strong.”

  Scott spoke up, “Yeah. We heard about them on the ham radio set. Some guys in Utah have been telling us all about them.”

  Matt almost spit out the coffee in his mouth. “Oh my God, you have communication with the outside world? What’s going on out there?” Scott smiled at Matt’s excited request.

  “Well, from what we can piece together, there is some type of mutated rabies virus in Mexico. They are calling it Rabia Loco Disease (Rabies Madness). The Government thought it was going to burn itself out after a couple of months, but that didn’t happen and what they can’t figure out is how they are still surviving so long, especially through the cold winter.”

  Jim interrupted and said, “I can answer that que
stion. They get into buildings and sleep in a big pile, like a Hive, and their body heat keeps them warm. I’ve already encountered them and seen how they function together.”

  Scott’s oldest daughter, Karla, spoke up. “What’s it like out there now?”

  Jim told them all about the Hive that had surrounded a house and attacked the people trapped inside. He also told them of the encounter with the Hive at the ranch and how he had seen them swarm out of the barn. “Those people trapped in the house would have died without our help. I built a big homemade claymore and used it to wipe them out.”

  Karla was confused. “What’s a claymore?

  Before Jim could answer, her father jumped in. “It’s like a big bomb with steel ball bearings going out. Where did you get the ball bearings?”

  Jim smiled proudly and replied, “I didn’t. I used lead wheel weights.” At seeing Karla frown, he added. “You know, the ones they put on your wheels to balance them. They worked well.” Karla nodded with understanding.

  Scott asked him, “What kind of ammo are you looking for and what do you have to trade?”

  With that, Linda’s ears perked up and she smiled, saying, “We need sugar, flour, salt, lots of salt, and pepper. Oh, and feminine hygiene products, soap, shampoo and some toothpaste.”

  Scott added, “We could use some propane too, for the cook stove, and gasoline for the generator.”

  Jim nodded, but didn’t offer any of their wanted items, saying, “We need .270, 30-06, .38 or .357, 9mm, .40 SW, some 12 gauge and .22 caliber ammo.” After a slight pause, he added, “Oh, and a couple of AK-47s and 30 round magazines would be nice too.”

  Scott replied, “No AK-47s, but we do have two SKS rifles and 1000 rounds of ammo that we’re willing to trade, but we need at least two 100-pound propane cylinders, so we can get through another winter.”

  “Now, as for the rest of ammo, we don’t have a lot, but we can get you some of each. We’re only talking a couple of boxes at most. I don’t think we have any .40 cal but .38 and .9 mm we have. Just cast lead bullets though, nothing fancy.”