The Rat Collector: A Dystopian Thriller (Age of End Book 1)

by Chris Yee

  “I agree. Let’s finish packing. The day’s almost half gone.”

  Vince stuffed the box in his bag and went inside to help the others pack.

  THIRTY-ONE

  ELLA AND ALAN sorted through the village supply shed, stuffing their bags with equipment. Melinda stood in the corner folding her husband’s spare clothes. “Do you really have to go out again? You just got back. Surely you can spend a few days to rest first.”

  “No honey,” Alan said. He continued sorting without looking up. “Patrick is still out there. This Saul guy still has him locked up in that cage, and every minute we wait they get farther away. We need to leave now.” He lifted his eyes and looked into hers. “I hope you understand?”

  “Of course, I do. It’s just, that morning when I woke up and you were gone, that was the worst day of my life. I don’t want that to happen again.”

  Ella walked over to Melinda and rubbed her back. “Don’t worry. Your husband is in good hands. We’ll all be there to look out for him.”

  “I know, Ella, but still… Saul sounds really dangerous. We have no idea what he’s capable of. And this Vince fellow. Do you really think we can trust him? Do we know anything about him? He’s a stranger, nothing more.”

  “He is a stranger. That’s true, but I do trust him. He knows Saul. He grew up with him. Maybe he can reason with him.”

  “And what if he’s lying to you?” Melinda said, shaking her head. “What if he’s leading you into a trap? What then?”

  “I honestly believe we can trust him. Rupert agrees, his story sounds genuine. But I suppose only time will tell.”

  Alan took his wife by the hand. “We must find Patrick.” He held her in his arms, and whispered, “Rupert will be there. He’ll look after us. We’ll be fine.”

  “Just be careful, okay?” She wrapped her arms around his head and pulled in closer to hug him.

  “Ella,” Alan said. “Have you told your mother you’re leaving? I can’t imagine Tamara will take this news well.”

  She sighed. “Not yet. I’m sure that will be fun. I’ll go tell her now.” She grabbed her bag and left.

  A minute later Rupert, Fred, and Vince entered the room. “Are you ready Alan?” Rupert said in his jovial voice. “It’s time to go. Where’s Ella?”

  Alan, who had just finished packing, lifted his bag over his shoulder. “She went to say bye to her mother. But I’m all set and ready to go.”

  “Very good. We can wait for Ella outside.”

  THIRTY-TWO

  VINCE WATCHED THE others say goodbye to their loved ones. Alan to his wife, Ella to her mother, and Rupert to all the others. There was a strong sense of community in Snow Peak, something Vince had given up the day he left Rodin. All his family and loved ones had perished long ago, and now he was tracking down his best friend, to kill him.

  When goodbyes were done, they turned their backs to Snow Peak and entered the woods. They carried large bags on their shoulders. Rupert led at the front of the group. “So Alan,” he said, “which way do we go?”

  Alan pointed straight out. “You’ve got it. Just keep going straight.” He looked to Ella. “How did your mother take the news? Was she upset?”

  “Of course she was. You know how my mother is.”

  “You’ve always been there to look after her. It’s hard for her to let you go.”

  “She was upset, but she understands how important this is.”

  “Melinda is the same way. She hates that I’m leaving so soon, but she supports my decision. I guess that’s all we can ask.”

  “I suppose so,” Ella replied softly.

  “What about you, Vince? Have anyone waiting for you back home?”

  “Alan, don’t…”

  Vince raised a hand, “It’s okay, Ella. He doesn’t know. Home for me is far away. I haven’t been there in a long time. My family has passed. Friends too. Really all I have is Saul…” They stopped walking. A somber silence filled the air. Then Vince looked up and smiled. “And of course, I have all of you.” They chuckled and started walking again. “It’s true there aren’t many people in my life, but it’s nice in its own way. It’s peaceful.”

  “You must have met other people in your travels,” Ella said. “I can’t imagine we’re the first ones you’ve come across.”

  “There were others, but only in passing. I never stayed in one place too long. No more than a day. I’m constantly moving to keep up with Saul. He moves fast.”

  “And then you found us,” Alan said.

  “Yes, I found Snow Peak.”

  “Why did you stick around so long?”

  “My feet were torn up. I couldn’t walk. If I could, I would have left right away.”

  “And when you catch him, what are you going to do? Kill him?”

  The question rang in his ears. Would he kill him? Could he bring himself to kill his only friend?

  Rupert interrupted before he could answer. “We’ll worry about that later. Let’s focus on getting there first. Alan, would you lead the way?”

  “Yes sir,” He jogged to the front, with Ella walking by his side.

  Rupert fell back to speak with Vince. “The two of you must have been close. You and Saul I mean.”

  Vince nodded. “Yes. Very close.” He raised his eyes to look at Rupert. “He’s not going to stop. He will resist, and given the opportunity, I believe he’ll kill me.” His eyes dropped down again. “But I don’t know if I can kill him.”

  THIRTY-THREE

  AFTER HOURS OF walking, they reached the edge of the woods. The terrain opened up to a vast field of snow. The snow plains. Alan looked around. “It was somewhere around here.”

  Rupert walked up beside him. “Let’s sweep the area and see if we can find anything.”

  They all walked off in different directions to search for clues. Fred flew up high to get a better view. It did not take long for her to spot the trail in the snow. She shrieked and flew towards the tracks. The others looked up and followed her lead.

  Rupert crouched beside the lines in the snow, leading out towards the snow plains. “Well, it looks like he made it easy for us.” He pointed his finger out. “He went that way. We’ll follow, but first, we need some rest. The sun is low and the night will get dangerously cold. We shouldn’t be outside for that. When the sun rises, we can follow these tracks.”

  They had two tents; one for Vince and Ella, the other for Alan, Rupert, and Fred. After pitching the tents, they entered the woods to gather firewood.

  Night fell, and they huddled together. A kettle of beans hung over the crackling fire. As they ate, Vince retold his story. Ella and Rupert had already heard it, but it was important for Alan to know about his powers, and his relationship with Saul, as well.

  When his story was done, Alan’s reaction was one of disbelief. “Two hundred years? You’re telling me that you and Saul are two hundred years old.” He darted his eyes from one face to another. “You all actually believe this?”

  “He’s older,” Rupert said. “And yes, I do believe it. This draining business may sound farfetched, but Carl saw it with his own eyes. And Vince’s feet are healed. That’s all the proof I need.”

  “I assure you,” Vince said, “I’m telling the truth.”

  “Amazing,” Alan said. “How can anyone live for so long? It’s ridiculous.”

  Ella turned to Alan. “The giant tortoise can live for over two hundred years.”

  They all looked at her. “Why do you keep bringing that up?” Rupert asked as he scooped more beans from the kettle.

  “I don’t know. I read it in a book, and that sentence stuck with me.”

  Alan ignored Ella and continued with his thought. “You drained his horse, huh? Can you drain something else? That is something I would like to see.”

  Rupert nodded. “Yes. I would too.”

  “Me too,” Ella said, raising her hand.

  Fred shrieked and hopped to Rupert’s other shoulder, away from Vince.

&nbs
p; “Easy girl,” Rupert said. “He isn’t going to drain you.” He turned to Vince. “You said it works on trees. Drain that one.”

  Vince looked at the tree. “I suppose I can if it helps convince you that I speak true.” He stood up and placed his hand on the trunk. “Are you ready?”

  The others nodded.

  The tendrils stretched from his skin, burrowing into the bark. “Okay, here it goes.” He closed his eyes and started draining. Leaves fell until the branches were bare. Cracks formed near the base of the trunk and worked their way up. The bark crumbled off to reveal the rotting core. The colors faded to shades of ash. Within seconds, the tree had gone from vibrant and beautiful to hollow and dull. An empty shell of what it once was. When he was done, he opened his eyes and turned to face them.

  They had all risen to their feet, speechless. Even Fred’s beak hung open. They had never seen something so hauntingly beautiful. They stared at the tree, and then at Vince. He was grinning. “Alan, I’ll take your silence as a sign of belief.”

  “Belief?” Alan yelled. “I feel terrible for ever doubting you. That was incredible!”

  Rupert placed a hand on his shoulder. “Calm down, Alan. It was indeed incredible, something I hope to learn more of in the future, but it’s getting late. We need sleep. We leave as soon as the sun is up.”

  “What?” Alan exclaimed. “I can’t sleep after seeing something like that.”

  “Try. We have a long day ahead. You’ll need all the rest you can get.” He tugged Alan’s arm. “You’re with me. See you two in the morning.”

  Vince and Ella put out the campfire and entered their tent. Vince opened his bag and pulled out the metal box.

  Ella glanced at the device as she climbed underneath her covers. “You’re not going to sleep?”

  “I’m not tired. I’m going to spend the night taking this thing apart.”

  She picked it up and turned it around in her hands. “What is it?”

  “I don’t know, but I intend to find out. Rupert and I found it in a tree back in Snow Peak.” She yawned as he spoke. “I won’t keep you up, though. I’ll do it outside.”

  He grabbed the device and opened the front of the tent. “No,” she said. “I want to watch. Now I’m curious.” She plucked it out of his hands and studied it’s shiny surface more closely.

  He sat down next to her. “Okay, if you insist.”

  “If you had to guess, what do you think it is?”

  “I’ve seen them all over, but never this close. Perhaps some kind of monitoring device.”

  “Monitoring device?” She held it to her ear. “Who would want to monitor us?”

  “That’s the question, isn’t it? It must be someone powerful. These things are all over the world. Someone well-traveled.” He grabbed it back and tinkered with the cut wire sticking out the back. “Someone that doesn’t want us to know they’re watching.” He pulled out his tools. “Now let’s get started.”

  *****

  By morning, they had fully disassembled the box. All of the parts were splayed across the ground. Ella helped sort the pieces. “Organization is key,” she had said and insisted on forming different piles for different types of parts. The first contained exterior parts. The six metal plates that formed the outer shell, a cylindrical piece that extruded from a hole in the front, and the wire that Vince had cut. The second pile held an assortment of curved glass parts, mostly pieces from the inside of the front cylinder. The third pile held the larger interior pieces. Plates with strange patterns on them. And the final pile held the smaller interior pieces, consisting mostly of tiny gears.

  Vince placed his tools down and leaned back to admire their work. “And that does it.”

  “What do you think it is now?”

  He looked at each pile carefully. “I still don’t know. I have never seen anything like this before.”

  “Me neither.”

  “It is very advanced, no doubt. And it has a defense system.” He held up the wire. “It almost killed Fred before I disabled it.”

  “So whoever placed it up there didn’t want us to find it.” She picked up an interior piece and turned it in her hand. It was nothing special. Just a rectangular metal plate. As she placed it back down, she noticed something in the corner, under her thumb. It was a small gold colored symbol. She brought it close to her eye, but it was too small.

  Vince handed her a curved piece of glass. “Use this.”

  She held it up to magnify the symbol. Printed in gold paint were two overlapping ovals, one slightly angled to the right. A large “C” sat in the center, with the words “City Property” engraved below. She smiled and handed it over. “See, being organized helps. Take a look.”

  He examined the symbol. “City property, huh? Well, it’s our property now.”

  “What is City?” Ella asked.

  Vince placed the piece down. “Alan heard Saul talking about it, right? He said he was taking them there.”

  “Why would this City place plant this device in Snow Peak?”

  He shrugged. “Not just in Snow Peak. They’re planted all over.”

  The front of the tent opened up, and Rupert walked in. “I see you two are already up.” He looked at the mess on the ground. “And you took apart that box.”

  Ella jumped up with excitement. “We figured out where it’s from.”

  Rupert placed his hand on her shoulder. “That can wait. The sun is almost up. Pack up. We need to get moving. You can tell me as we walk.”

  Before she could argue, Rupert was gone. She looked at the four piles. “So much for being organized.” They scooped the pieces together and dumped them in an empty pouch. Vince threw it in his bag and helped Ella disassemble the tent.

  THIRTY-FOUR

  THEY WERE PACKED and up walking as soon as the sun peeked over the snow. The cold wind blew as they followed the tracks deeper into the snow plains. Alan turned to see their progress. The woods in the distance were just a small speck now. He turned again to look at the snow tracks, stretching far ahead into nothingness. “Hey Vince, how long do you think we’ll be out here in the middle of nowhere?”

  “Hard to say. All we can do is follow these tracks.”

  “But we could be walking for days. Weeks even. How do we know when to stop?”

  Vince glanced at Alan. “We never stop. We keep walking until we find him. A day, a week, a year…whatever.” He stopped walking and turned to face the others. “I hope you all understand. I will not stop.”

  Rupert nodded. “Yes, we understand. We will stay with you for the time being, for Patrick, but you must understand that we have lives back in Snow Peak. We have loved ones waiting for us. And we will return home.” He looked to see if the others agreed. Both Ella and Alan nodded. “We’ll stay with you for now, but if we don’t find him, we’ll have to go home.”

  “I understand. I must say, I am starting to like this little group we’ve formed. The company is nice. I very much enjoy your presence, and I hope you feel the same.”

  Alan walked up behind Vince and patted his back. “Of course we do, buddy. I only just met you, but I can tell you’re a good guy.”

  Ella grinned. “Yeah Vince, you’re our friend. No matter what happens, you’re always welcome to visit us.” Fred left Rupert’s shoulder and flew over to Vince, rubbing her face against his cheek. Ella chuckled. “It looks like Fred likes you too.”

  They all laughed.

  They started walking again. Vince noticed a set of footprints alongside the tracks they were following. If Saul was riding the cage that Alan described, why would there be footprints? “Were these here before?”

  “No,” Rupert said. “They were not. I noticed them as well. Do you suppose Saul has a follower?”

  “Perhaps. I imagine he has many enemies.”

  “Maybe someone got lost out here,” Ella said, “They might be following the tracks in search of a town.”

  “I suppose it’s possible, but where are they coming from? The on
ly place around here is Snow Peak.”

  “We should continue on this path,” Rupert said, “but with caution. We know Saul is dangerous, but this second person could be even more dangerous.”

  Someone more dangerous than Saul. The thought frightened Vince.

  THIRTY-FIVE

  THE NEXT TWO days were quiet. They walked. Ate. Slept. Vince had many stories to pass the time, tales of his early years, about his troubles as a child lost in the vastness of the open plains. He enjoyed telling stories to his new friends. He had traveled in silence for so long, it was nice to have people who were willing to listen. Occasionally, Ella and Alan would share a story from Snow Peak, and Vince was fascinated. Rupert barely spoke at all. He told no stories. He only listened, a wide grin peeking through his beard.

  The third day in the snow plains was not as pleasant. It was horrifying.

  The day began just like the first two. The five woke at sunrise, packed their bags, and walked along the tracks. They discussed languages and the difference between Snow Peak’s dialect and Vince’s Pugg speak. The two were remarkably similar. Grammar was almost identical, but there were minor differences in vocabulary.

  “Pelon,” Vince said, “a word I presume you have never heard, is a unit of measurement. It measures distance. An inventor from the Pugg coined the term. Rodin’s very own Harry Hedcrown.

  “Hedcrown?” Ella raised her head as the name caught her ear. “That sounds familiar.”

  “Yes. I mentioned him earlier in my story about Saul. He left the Pugg to explore the outside world, but he never returned. In Rodin, he was an inventor. The pelon came from an experiment of his. He was testing the limits of the human body.” Vince stroke his chin. “I believe a pelon is the average distance a person can walk in a day.”

  “How far is that?” Alan asked.

  “I don’t recall. It once held truer meaning, but now I use it as more of an expression. On a slow day, I say I walked a bad-pelon. On a good day a good-pelon.”