Forsaken World (Book 3): Rite of Passage

by Watson, Thomas A.

  Cutting the steering wheel hard, Lilly sped through the slalom chute. Coming out inside the diversion fence, Lilly stomped the accelerator to speed down the slope. Just about to tell Lilly to slow down, Lance grabbed ahold of the frame as Lilly dodged a trap.

  “Girl can drive,” Lance said, grinning over at Ian.

  Holding on as Lilly reached the cabin fences, Ian’s eyes got wide when he saw the rolls of razor wire on the outer fence getting closer. Jerking the wheel hard, Lilly sped alongside the outer fence and Lance pulled his body further inside the side by side.

  When Lilly came to the front corner, they saw Jennifer standing at the outer gate and opening it long before they got there. Lilly sped through as Lance and Ian jumped out to cover Jennifer. “You wait until we are closer before opening the outer gate,” Ian snapped, looking around and Jennifer closed the outer gate.

  “I know, Ian!” Jennifer cried out, sounding very happy and smiling as she locked the gate. They climbed in the side by side as Lance closed the inner gate.

  Lance climbed in, “What’s going on?” he asked as Lilly took off, forcing him into the seat.

  “You have to hear it,” Jennifer cheered, bouncing up and down in Ian’s lap.

  Pulling around the cabin, Lilly stopped and Jennifer leapt out in a dead run for the backdoor. Allie was the first one out following, then the others followed. Allie ran through the open door and saw Jennifer running down the basement stairs. As Ian, Lance, and Lilly ran in, they saw the top of Allie’s head disappearing down the stairs.

  Running into the bunker, Jennifer dropped into the chair as the others ran in, breathing hard. “Now, just listen and don’t talk,” Jennifer told them, spinning around in the chair and clicking the mouse. Looking at the screen, Lance saw Jennifer had clicked on a file in the radio monitoring program and it was a HAM frequency.

  “This is Ruben in Colorado, who’s on now?” a voice called out. A few minutes went by and Ruben called out again.

  “Ruben, it’s Teddy from Ohio,” a voice answered.

  “How’s the stinkers in your area?” Ruben asked and everyone jumped, never having heard anyone but them say stinkers.

  “Stinkers?” Teddy asked.

  “Yeah, the infected,” Ruben answered.

  A few seconds went by, “That’s the best name I’ve heard for the infected,” Teddy said.

  Cackling laughter came over the speakers for a few seconds, “Me, too. Had a group stop by four days ago and that’s what they called them. Said their son named the infected that,” Ruben called out.

  Jennifer turned around, looking at everyone and grinning. When Ian was about to ask something, Jennifer held her finger to her lips. “Good name,” Teddy laughed. “I haven’t seen any travelers in two months. The only ones moving around here are bandits.”

  “They are the first anyone around here has talked about in two months,” Ruben said. “Gave us a heads up on a very large gang attacking Fort Garland over the mountains. With that warning, when the gang sent a small plane to scout us, we shot it out of the sky. A small group left yesterday to check on Garland.”

  “These gangs here are small and move fast,” Teddy said.

  “Most around here too, but this group had over a hundred vehicles,” Ruben said. “That group saved our hide. Got word down to Cuchara and the folks set up nice surprises, in case they show up on this side of the mountain.”

  Static came over the speakers for a second and then cleared up. “Been a while since I heard people doing something nice,” Teddy said.

  “Get this, they came all the way from Hawaii,” Ruben laughed out and Lance’s legs went numb. “They are heading to Tennessee. I told ‘em what I’ve been hearing, but they didn’t stay but a few minutes and took off.”

  Dropping to his knees, Lance stared at the speakers. “Ruben, I been getting bad reports south of inf-,” the transmission garbled and then came back, “-stinkers moving like a flood,” Teddy said.

  “Yeah, seen a large group going down the interstate yesterday heading south,” Ruben said.

  “W-,” Teddy’s voice stopped as Jennifer clicked the mouse and Ian wobbled on his feet.

  Spinning the chair around and looking at them with a beaming smile, “That was recorded this morning at 0510,” Jennifer announced and Ian stumbled back into a shelf and Jennifer jumped up as Ian fell to his knees.

  “Breathe,” Jennifer said, reaching him and Allie looked at Lance with utter hope on her face.

  “Were they talking about momma and daddy?” Allie asked in a breaking voice.

  Numbly, Lance nodded his head, staring at the computer screen. “They made it,” Lance mumbled.

  Throwing her hands up, Allie jumped up and down cheering as Carrie jumped out of her chair and joined Allie cheering. “Come here,” Jennifer said, tapping Ian’s shoulder and sitting back down. She held up a sheet of paper, “These are the towns Ruben spoke of. Grab an atlas,” Jennifer smiled.

  Jumping up, Lance grabbed the chair Carrie had been sitting in and moved it up to the desk, taking the mouse from Jennifer. Clicking rapidly, “You better open faster than that, pecker slime,” Lance spat at the computer.

  Then, a satellite image filled the screen. Grabbing the sheet of paper, Lance typed the names in and the screen zoomed in. Lance clicked the mouse, stopping the image over Colorado. “Okay, they could’ve only landed in northern California,” he mumbled, clicking and moving to one of the markers of the two towns Ruben had spoken of.

  “Holy shit, they’ve already traveled over a thousand miles!” Lance shouted.

  Running over, Ian stuck his head beside Lance’s to look at the screen. “They made it over the Rockies!” Ian gasped, hyperventilating. Seeing the computer line on the screen on California, “You think they landed there?” Ian asked.

  “Hell, if I know,” Lance said, grabbing a pen.

  “I think they would land where they know. Remember that spot we camped at?” Ian asked as Lance grabbed a sheet of paper.

  Looking at the screen Lance zoomed in on California, “Klamath River,” Lance mumbled and then found it. Studying the satellite image, “I’ll bet money you’re right,” Lance said very excited. “It’s secluded and has those stores they could try to find supplies.”

  “Forget the stores, when we were there, I bet there was a hundred RVs there. They could hit those RVs for anything they needed,” Ian said.

  After marking the spot, Lance zoomed out. “There’s no way they walked that,” Lance mumbled and then cocked his head, arching his left eyebrow. “They had trouble riding bikes on the Appalachian Trail, so how did they get that far?”

  “Horses,” Lilly answered, moving beside Lance. “You don’t use cars. Well, I guess you could, but you can’t do over thirty, forty at the most. But I’d guess they are on horses.”

  Glancing back at Lilly as she spoke, Lance turned back to the screen when she stopped. Making a few mental calculations, “Then if they are on horses, they should be further,” he said.

  “Lance, I’m sure they used what they found,” Lilly said. “There are ranches all over the west and they probably started walking, maybe found some bikes, and then moved to horses. Or they just walked until they came across horses.”

  Holding the sheet of paper, Lance started working on math problems and Ian picked up Jennifer and sat down in her chair, putting her in his lap. Scooting the chair up, Ian looked at the equations and answers. “It’s only a thousand miles, why are you working with eighteen hundred?” Ian asked.

  “They can’t move in a straight line,” Lance said, not stopping. “I figure they made landfall March twentieth, maybe twenty-fourth. If they found horses, they haven’t been on them long, like a few weeks. They are averaging like fifty miles a day.”

  Leaning back in the chair, Ian pulled Jennifer close. “They should be home in a month,” Ian sighed.

  “Guys,” Lilly said, putting her hands on each boy’s shoulder. “They are out west and through the Midwest they will
make better time, but once they cross the Mississippi River, they won’t make that much distance. Even on horseback, they will be dodging stinkers and moving way off the beaten path.”

  Everyone groaned and Lance dropped his pen. “I’m only saying it, so you won’t be let down,” Lilly cried out. “They will make it. Like I said, you two got your genes from them and that radio broadcast just proved it.”

  Leaning his head back, Lance looked at Lilly’s face. “How far do you think they can manage a day once they are over the Mississippi?” Lance asked.

  “Thirty, and in some places forty,” Lilly answered. “It’s not only moving, but you can never really rest. They will get more than I did, but your body won’t let you relax.”

  Pulling his head down and looking at the screen, Lance stared at the image of the US. “All that matters is that they are coming,” he said softly.

  “We need to keep doing what we’re doing,” Ian said, still holding Jennifer tight. “Securing the area.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  June 4

  Peering out, Johnathan watched a group of stinkers moving west down the dirt road. Making a quick count, Johnathan toyed with the idea of going out and shooting the eight with his bow, but changed his mind.

  Easing his face back around the door, Johnathan looked toward the other end of the barn and saw Sandy looking out the back bay door. “All barns should have a loft,” Johnathan mumbled as Sandy faced him and held up four fingers and pointed west.

  Very slowly, Johnathan eased his eye back around the corner and saw the group had passed. Looking up the road as far as he could, Johnathan saw it was empty, but that didn’t mean anything. Pulling back, he turned around to run to the back and his heart stopped, seeing Sandy pulling her bow back.

  Breaking into a run, Johnathan saw Sandy release the arrow. Gripping his bow tight, Johnathan stopped beside Sandy looking out the door and saw three stinkers stopped, looking down at one on the ground with an arrow in the side of his head. Pulling his bow back, Johnathan released the arrow in one smooth motion, watching the arrow sail out and striking the closest one.

  The arrow hit with a ‘thunk’ and the other two turned watching it collapse in front of them. Both raised their faces toward the barn as Sandy released, hitting the next one right between the eyes. It fell over, hitting the last one standing which made it stumble back.

  When the stinker stopped stumbling, Johnathan released another arrow. Before the stinker looked back at the barn, the arrow punched through its nose. Pulling another arrow out, Johnathan ran back to the front door and saw Dan looking out with his hackles raised.

  Cursing under his breath, Johnathan reached the door and saw the group that had passed was coming back. “Stay,” Johnathan commanded, stepping out and looked east and didn’t see stinkers on the road heading towards them. Making a quick sweep with his eyes, he couldn’t see any more stinkers as he pulled out two arrows, putting them in his left hand that was holding the bow.

  Turning back to the group, Johnathan saw them walking through the ditch into the yard. Pulling the bow back, Johnathan aimed at the closest releasing the arrow as the group growled and moaned. The stinker jerked and dropped. The one behind it face planted, tripping over the body as Johnathan grabbed an arrow from his left hand and pulled the bow back, releasing quickly. The arrow hit the new leader in the mouth and the stinker fell face first, driving the arrow into his mouth.

  Nocking the last arrow from his left hand, Johnathan pulled back to release the arrow and hit number three as he pulled out three more arrows, putting two in his left hand. Nocking another arrow, Johnathan heard the hum of a bow shot beside him and saw one drop as he pulled back.

  The stinkers now ten yards away, seemed a little too close, but Johnathan held his ground and shot, hitting one stinker and watched it drop. Grabbing an arrow from his left hand, Johnathan paused for a second, watching a stinker fall beside the one he’d shot and it hadn’t been shot.

  “Yeah, stay there,” he mumbled, pulling the bow back and releasing the arrow to catch the next one in the left eye. Not taking his eyes off the one left standing as he nocked an arrow, Johnathan saw an arrow bury in the stinker’s face and it dropped.

  Pulling his arrow back, Johnathan sighted in on the one that’d tripped as it stood up. Before it raised its arms he released the arrow, dropping it again. Taking the last arrow from his left hand, Johnathan saw Sandy moving past him at full draw. Aiming at the one that had fallen down like it had been shot, Sandy stopped and released the arrow, sending the arrow through the side of its skull.

  Looking around again, “You see any more coming out back?” he asked, moving over to the bodies.

  “No,” Sandy answered, pulling another arrow from her quiver and covering while Johnathan retrieved their arrows. “This makes twenty-one on our shift.”

  “Forty-eight, counting Bill and Mary’s,” Johnathan said, wiping the arrows off. Grabbing one of the bodies, Johnathan pulled it off to the side. Moving over, Johnathan grabbed a stinker he’d shot an hour earlier and pulled it over. They had started saving one, letting it cure a bit to start the next fire faster.

  When the bodies were piled up, Johnathan heard a lighter striking and turned around as Sandy tossed a flaming cotton ball on the cured stinker. It didn’t ignite fast, but it did start burning faster than a fresh kill.

  “Cover the front while I clean the back,” Johnathan told her, heading back in the barn. Passing Dan in the doorway, “Heel,” Johnathan said and Dan turned, moving to his side.

  Reaching the back, Johnathan retrieved the arrows and then pulled the cured one from out back to the group and pulled another one away to let it cure. Pulling out his medicine bottle and grabbing one of the petroleum-soaked cotton balls, Johnathan lit it and then tossed it on the group.

  Glancing around, Johnathan didn’t see anything around them and he could see the curvature of the earth. No houses, barns, or trees, just farmland as far as the eye could see. Feeling the heat from the fire, Johnathan pulled back inside the barn.

  “What the hell?” Sandy said as he came back in. “They are all heading here.”

  “It is the only structure,” Johnathan admitted, handing her arrows back and putting his in his quiver. “Only a few have actually headed for the barn. The way they moved toward it, I think they were just checking it out.”

  “Johnathan, you and Lance have made me come hunting here the last three years. There isn’t that many people in Kansas. We’ve killed enough today and last night to equal this county’s population,” Sandy said, putting her arrows in her quiver.

  Thinking as he moved back to the front, “There is no way that group of stinkers we saw, that had that house surrounded, could’ve followed us, so I don’t know,” Johnathan shrugged. Remembering the lone farmstead that they had passed, sitting half a mile from the dirt road they’d been on, Johnathan fought a shiver.

  It was over a hundred easy, and unlike the last time he’d seen a house under siege, Johnathan hadn’t pulled this group away. Even now he felt guilty, but this wasn’t Utah and the stinkers would’ve seen them for miles, and it had only been two hours until dawn.

  Moving to the backdoor, “Johnathan, the stinkers have come from every direction. Like I said, there aren’t that many people in this state. We had to kill fifty last night,” Sandy told him.

  “Yeah, almost fifty,” Johnathan said, looking out the front door to see the fire already burning hot. Looking at the other black spots in the yard, Johnathan looked up at the dark cloudy sky. “Not the state I want to be in for a thunderstorm.”

  Not seeing anything out back, Sandy walked back to Johnathan. “Honey, something weird is going on here,” she told him. “If this is the start of population, we are in for serious shit.”

  Turning to face Sandy, “Yes, but like you said, something is weird,” Johnathan agreed, but couldn’t put his finger on it. “We haven’t made any noise, but they seem to be converging here. Yet, they move past u
s. We leave one to cure and that doesn’t make them head for us, so they aren’t tracking by smell. I’m worried about not burning them when we camp during the day because those we kill in the morning would flood us with fumes.”

  Listening to Johnathan and not able to add anything, Sandy pointed up at the clouds. “I take it, you’ve noticed the sky getting dark?”

  “Couldn’t help but notice,” Johnathan nodded. “It’s not even three, but looks close to dusk.”

  “Let’s get Bill and Mary up and move to another barn that has a loft. We can’t stay in this one because I don’t think we will be moving tonight.”

  Knowing how hard it was for Sandy to rationalize that to herself, Johnathan nodded as he reached over and grabbed her hand. “It might hold off,” Johnathan offered.

  “Johnathan, as dark as the sky is, we won’t be able to see shit. We tried that in Colorado and I don’t want to try that again. If the clouds move off, we can leave the barn after we find it,” Sandy said in a trembling voice. “Something is wrong, very wrong here.”

  Squeezing her hand, “Wake them up,” Johnathan said, moving to Sandy’s horse. As Sandy woke Bill and Mary, Johnathan saddled Sandy’s horse and then his.

  After gathering his gear, Bill moved over to help Johnathan with the pack horses. “Sandy’s right, something is wrong,” Bill mumbled and then looked outside. “Just what I never wanted to see in Kansas, a thunderstorm.”

  “Thought the same thing myself,” Johnathan admitted, glancing over and seeing Sandy and Mary checking for gear. Reaching out, Johnathan pulled Bill closer and lowered his voice. “Keep a very sharp eye out,” Johnathan whispered.

  “What are you thinking?” Bill asked.

  “These stinkers have come from every direction, I think people are moving all around us,” Johnathan answered and Bill looked off for a second.

  Thinking the scenario out, Bill nodded, “That does make sense. Too bad we don’t know if they are bad.”