HARD ROAD: Heaven Bound

by Terry McDonald

  When the facility (Haven) was finished, it took Avis a month to arrange transportation back to Wisconsin from Georgia. His family was staying at the university there, protected by Jake and the small security force he'd trained. Avis was frantic to get his family to the facility, hoping the seclusion of the area, and the ability to seal it from the outside environment might help them survive the death if it came to America.

  The plague arrived in the USA and Avis had been back in Madison only a few days when the plague started there. Avis and his family were among the first to die. On his deathbed, Avis made Jake commit to a series of promises.

  Jake says the facility is a chance to set humanity on a different course, a better and more humane way of being. He said, with the shallow gene pool and the limited choice of mates, people will become homogenized and there would be no such thing as different racial groups. He honestly wants to start a new world order.

  He thinks family units survived in order for the selected young to have protection. He doesn’t know why women are infertile, but he believes that will be reversed sometime in the future.

  Jake left Wisconsin with a twofold mission. His first priority was the see if Haven is a viable facility. His secondary mission was to visit university centers as he traveled, with the goal of further enhancing the brain pool at the facility.

  He says he met with success, and beginning June or July, hundreds of people will be arriving at Haven. Of course he qualified that with an, “if they make it,” clause.

  Al’s leg healed perfectly. I removed the wrappings last night, and unlike other legs I’ve seen after being in bindings for so long, the leg had none of the wasted look I expected to see. His leg was broken only a few days over three weeks ago. A three to four months’ recovery time was shortened by a factor of five. This lends credence to Jake’s nanobot’ theory. All three of the young ones must be infected with them, if perfect health can be called an infection. They are growing healthier by the minute. I mean this literally. Both Janie and Al have grown at an astounding rate. And Beth, she’s almost as tall as I am.

  Jake is in for more trouble than he can handle where she’s concerned. The girl is in love with him. She asked me how a woman back in the “old days” got a man to notice her. I told her about makeup and perfume, and gave her a few pointers on woman’s wiles.

  Boils down to, she and I are brewing some subtle feminine enhancements she can deploy in her conquest. Not that she’s going to need any. You should see the breasts and hips the sexy little thing is sporting now. I’ve never seen a woman blossom so quickly. I don’t feel sorry for Jake a tiny bit.

  There are other things besides health going on. Janie is fast. A pack of wild dogs rushed us while I was in a clear area out in the cut teaching the kids Ju Jitsu. There were six dogs, with a brute of a Rottweiler in the lead. Janie stepped between the dogs and us, and I swear, she was pulling and notching arrows faster than I could see. Her arm was a blur. From the time the pack began their rush, to the time they had arrows in them couldn’t have been more than eight seconds, and that’s including the three arrows it took to drop the Rottweiler.

  ***

  Addendum: I put this here at the end because I want these statements in one place.

  Jake told us what he thinks is happening. While Avis lay in his bed dying, he made Jake commit to several promises. One promise is that he finds who sent the machines to kill us. Jake vowed to destroy the machines and their makers.

  Another promise is that he makes Haven the center of a new beginning for mankind. Avis came to believe that the reason the nanobots were sent was because of mankind’s destructive nature, not only killing each other, but killing the environment too. He made Jake promise to form a utopian society to counteract these tendencies.

  I asked Jake how he could make an impossible commitment like that. He told us Avis was so intense and persistent, that he agreed simply to make him happy, but then Avis made him promise on the souls of their wives and children. Jake feels he is honor bound to make the attempt, even though he knows that all attempts at utopia are doomed to failure.

  The worst thing Jake promised, I say worst based on the decayed condition of the worldwide infrastructure. He promised to bring all the survivors on the globe to one place so mankind could not decline into Babel. Jake has no idea how he’s going to keep that promise. He says it may not matter anyway. Unless births start again, mankind will soon be extinct.

  The theories about the alien invasion held by the scientists Jake was working with vary in many ways from what Avis Johnson thought. Jake’s beliefs align with the scientists.

  I remember the in-fall event when everyone was excited about a bunch of meteors falling at the same time. Jake says the meteors were seed-pods that gave birth to the nanobots. The nanobots are controlled by an alien entity in orbit around the earth.

  He and the scientists believe the nanobots and the controlling entity, itself a machine, are the precursors of the beings who made them and that the earth is being prepared for colonization by the alien culture.

  They think a small number of humans are left alive as breeding stock to serve as intelligent slaves to the new world masters.

  He gave us the numbers surrounding the plague and war and I am still in shock. The estimated survival rate of the plague was one in six-hundred. The pre-plague global population was seven and a half billion. That would leave only twelve and a half million alive. He doesn’t know how to factor in the deaths that had to result from the nuclear exchange. He thinks another three million have died from natural causes and from the anarchy that’s been going on since the plague ended.

  That would mean, if his estimates are true, there may be only six and a half million people left alive on the entire earth. Of all those billions, we have been reduced to barely enough to repopulate New York City!

  Jake's healing from the nanobots came after he made the promises to Avis. He doesn’t think they can read his thoughts, but he does believe they can hear what he says, and that leads him to believe they are aware of the promises he made. He believes the machines, for some unknown reason, are giving humans a second chance and are doing things to help him. Until now, he was the only one he knew affected as he is. Now he knows they are affecting/infecting Beth and her siblings. I'm guessing they are attempting to replace his family and supply him with enhanced helpers.

  He’s not a superman or anything near one. All they have done to him, is restore his body and make it capable of performing to the limit of human possibility, and heightened his ability to heal.

  Hot-damn, it’s a little creepy but I know I'm infected too. My gray hairs are turning red. My breasts are firmer and perkier, and I simply feel great. I’m in the middle of a great undertaking and I’ll be double-damned if we’re not going to Heaven. I'm excited and for the first time in years, I am looking forward to the future.

  CHAPTER 10

  After five weeks Agnes declared Al’s break completely healed and he was able to forgo the crutches altogether. Thanks to the nanobots and the daily therapy she lavished on him, the leg was as straight and strong as his other one.

  The abundance of food and the exercise in the fresh spring air worked wonders for them, especially Janie, who no longer looked like an escapee from a refugee camp.

  She was much taller but still thin, not the thinness of skinny, rather the wiriness of a healthy, well-exercised youth. She was so full of energy and enthusiasm none of them could outlast her in any physical activity.

  It gladdened Jake’s heart to watch her run, skip, and laugh her way through the days.

  True to Jake’s prediction, after he drained it several times, the water in the holding tank became drinkable. We were all glad to stop carrying containers from the spring a half-mile from the cabin.

  There were lots of survival books in the basement, which we all read. We learned which plants were edible and collected greens, roots and other fresh fruits and vegetables on a daily basis.

  Al spent
most of his spare time reading the books he found inside a sealed metal case. The books were mainly philosophy and legal textbooks with a sprinkling of other social science subjects. There was also a framed copy of the declaration of independence and a glossy pamphlet of the Constitution and all its amendments.

  Jake approached him one evening while he was studying and asked him if he had any questions about what he was reading. Al told him that he had a lot of questions, but he wasn't ready to ask any yet because he was still “reconciling a great deal of conflicting information.”

  Jake was pleased and astounded by how quickly the three of the siblings absorbed and applied anything they was taught. The only thing bothering him was how fast time was passing.

  His worry eventually prompted him to call a meeting to discuss the fact they had to prepare to leave. That evening, taking another chance on not having a guard posted, they gathered in Janie’s basement. Agnes and Beth prepared snacks and a jar of sun-brewed tea.

  Janie spoke before Jake had a chance to start.

  “We’re here to talk about leaving aren’t we, Jake?”

  “Why honey,” he responded with surprise, “that’s precognitive of you. Are you reading my mind?”

  “I don’t know the other word you said, but I don’t have to read your mind to know it’s time to leave. I’ve seen the way you look at the calendar Agnes made on the wall upstairs, and I know we been here more than the thirty or forty days you said.”

  Jake chuckled. “I guess we can go straight to the snacks. She’s just nailed it.”

  “No, seriously,” Agnes said, “I figured this was the reason for the meeting too. What’s the plan?”

  “This is May twentieth. Because of the groups scheduled to begin arriving at the end of June, we have to be in Haven by the middle of the month. We can stay about another week before we head out. That will give us time to sort our gear and plan our route.”

  “I think Beth and Agnes should be in charge of the food we bring with us,” he continued. “Al, you and Janie can help with carrying things upstairs for them.”

  “What will you be in charge of, Commander?” Beth asked, smiling.

  “I’m thinking to scout the other end of the right of way and check out the road it crosses.”

  “Not by yourself. I’m going with you. You need someone to back trail you.”

  “It’ll be all right, Agnes will need help.”

  “I don’t need help with something as simple as selecting food,” Agnes said with a mischievous smile. “Besides, Beth’s right, it’s not safe to travel alone.”

  “I agree, but if she goes, it will leave you shorthanded for guard detail.”

  “The three of us can split that chore for a couple of days,” Agnes stated. “Besides, we have Janie’s ears and eyes. We'll be quite all right.”

  “Okay, it’s settled,” Jake, replied, giving Agnes an, ‘I could just kill you,’ expression. “We’ll leave tomorrow morning. I estimate it’s about a twenty mile round trip, plus a bit of time to scout the road each way. We’ll be gone at least two full days.”

  “We’ll get things sorted and separated downstairs,” Agnes said. “You two have fun and take care of each other.”

  Jake gave her another look, but she only smiled.

  The next day dawned clear and bright. Jake put Al in charge of keeping one of the big two-way radios charged and ready to receive. By nine, he and Beth were packed and moving north along the utility cut.

  Beth took the lead for the first hour with Jake trailing behind a hundred yards. The pace she set through the waist high brush and the weight of his pack and the other radio had him sweating.

  As he walked, he was again amazed at how the forest and undergrowth had recovered from the long three-year winter. So many birds had managed to survive and multiply, the air was full of their songs. High in the clear blue sky a red-tailed hawk soared, and amidst the branches of the trees, he saw the occasional squirrel. He constantly flushed rabbits and quail from hiding. It was a day that made him glad to be alive.

  When he changed places with Beth, he noticed something odd, but could not put his finger to it. When his time on point was done, and she came to where he was waiting, it struck him.

  “You smell like a flower,” he blurted and then blushed like a boy.

  “You smell like sweat,” she replied past her smile of pleasure. She left him there, his mind whirling and planning a multitude of ways to get even with Agnes.

  Beth stopped short of her hour, and when Jake came to where she waited, she pointed out a structure barely visible off to the right of the wide utility cut they were following.

  “That looks like a barn,” she said, “should we check it out?”

  “You know me. I can’t pass a place without at least a look.”

  The structure proved to be a very large, modern barn. Inside were the normal things you would expect to find, a tractor, and assorted attachments arranged along one side. Sitting out in the middle was a huge enclosed utility-trailer that looked brand new. Even the tires were so good Jake had to take a closer look.

  “Whoa, the farmer had money to spend. This trailer’s state of the art. The body and chassis are made of Carbon Nano Synthsteel and the tires are the Wearever synthetic that came out just before the plague. This thing’s practically indestructible.”

  Beth regarded him with amusement. “I don’t have the slightest idea about what’s got you so excited, but I’m glad it makes you happy. You want to see if we can find the farmhouse that goes with this barn?”

  Following her, he said, “I just enjoy looking at something well made,” he said, doing his best not to look at something in front of him, very well made, packed in tight camouflaged jeans.

  They followed a graveled drive barely negotiable because of the encroaching weeds. The house was a good distance from the barn, tucked into a patch of old growth hardwoods.

  The farmhouse turned out to be a huge mansion constructed of stone and stucco, stunningly majestic and in reasonable condition considering the years of neglect. Even the windows were intact. Again, the undisturbed dust and windblown debris on the steps and the porch indicated no one had entered through the door in the recent past.

  Parked in the paved circular drive in front of the house was a Rolls Royce sedan with the passengers’ door open. It hurt Jake to see the toll the elements had exacted on such a fine automobile. There was a pile of bones scattered in and around the drivers’ seat. A human skull with a hole in the forehead, with a bigger hole in the back, lay in the spokes of the steering wheel.

  Beth stood in awe, looking at the huge tiled front porch with its massive pink-granite columns and oversized stained glass entrance doors.

  “What a beautiful place,” she said. “One day I wish we could have a place like this.” She caught herself, “I mean,” she stammered, “for all of us. Janie and Al would love it too.” She ran up the wide stairs leading to the porch, leaving Jake to deal with the confusion.

  “Come on,” she called from the doorway, “it’s not locked. Let’s look inside.”

  Jake raised his hand and shook his head. “Hold up. Let me scout around the place. Keep guard where you are.”

  Minutes later, Jake joined her at the door and let her know he’d seen no signs the house was being used. At the left side of the entrance was an ornate plaque with the name, Fredrick Walsh, in raised brass letters.

  “I recognize the name,” he told her. “If it’s who I think it is, he was an executive with a mercenary group. They had a bit of trouble, and went through a few name changes, but they took a load of money off the taxpayers. That would explain the wealth.”

  The inside of the home was breathtakingly opulent. The huge foyer led to an open area large enough and high enough to hold a small home. The furnishings were heavy and ornately carved. Many were inlaid with precious metals, ivory, and mother of pearl. Ornate tapestries adorned the walls. Everything was of Mid-Eastern origins. Wide marble staircases on each
side rose to a balcony that lent access to the rooms above. Beth fairly swooned at the grandeur.

  “How could anyone have so much?” she asked.

  “Lots of people had this kind of lifestyle before the death. Most of them earned it with their talents and skills. This particular piece of trash earned his with the blood of humans spilled in a dozen different countries. I never had much respect for those mercenaries. They were too often out of control.”

  “He’s probably dead now, but this is still a beautiful place. Can we take a little more time? I may never get a chance to see a place like this again.”

  “Go ahead, I’ll wait here. I know it seems safe, but treat the place as potentially occupied. Be careful.”

  Beth let her pack slide from her shoulders and took off at a run, headed for the stairs, taking them two at a time. Jake shrugged off his pack, settled into a comfortable, but dusty armchair that gave him a view of the door and most of the room. He settled his rifle across his knees and checked the contents of a humidor on a side table. The Cubans inside it were dry as tinder, the aromatic oils long since volatilized off. After a few minutes, Beth came rushing back down the stairs.

  “The rooms upstairs are wonderful,” she called to him as she ran through an open set of double doors leading off to the right. A moment later he heard her shout his name. He found her standing in a man’s office furnished in heavy oak with walnut wainscoting.

  Sitting in a chair behind the wide leather-topped desk was a skeleton, which, though it had settled a bit, was somehow still erect. On the desk in front of the skeleton were a pen and a sheet of paper with writing on it. The wall behind the skeleton held a large tapestry with the words, ‘TO THE VICTOR GO THE SPOILS,’ woven into it.

  Jake went around the desk, suppressing a shiver. He stood beside the bizarre skeleton to see the writing on the paper and began reading it aloud for Beth’s benefit.