“Agreed. It’s safer if we go on foot. We can leave the kid with the horses. We won’t be able to carry as much, but we’ll be safer in town on foot.”
Dallas turned to Einstein. “You okay with that?”
He nodded. “I don’t see that we have much choice. We need water and we ought to get it every chance we can.
“Good. We’ll ride to the nearest cover, leave you there, and set out on foot. It’s a small town and it’s possible it hasn’t experienced the kind of looting that’s probably happening in the cities.”
“Well, we know it’s very possible the man eaters have made it this far, so be on your toes.”
“Roger that.”
Twenty minutes later, Dallas and Roper made it to the small town of Wilsonville. It was so still and so deserted, Dallas half expected tumbleweeds to roll by.
“Ghost town,” she whispered to Roper.
The small, wild west-kitchy town did, indeed, appear unpopulated. There was no movement in the streets, no one working their businesses, nothing at all to indicate that this was once a thriving small town community.
“Don’t be fooled. There are eyes out there looking at us, sizing us up. Don’t forget the four Billy Bobs. We need to assume everyone is hostile until proven otherwise. It’s survival of the fittest now, Dallas.” Roper stopped and removed her sunglasses. “Look me in the eye and tell me the truth. Do you truly believe you can shoot another human being?”
Dallas thought for a moment. Her whole adult life had been about saving lives, not taking them. Did she have what it took to murder someone? “I’m not sure.”
Replacing her glasses, Roper nodded. “Good to know.”
“It’s not that I—”
“No need to explain. It is what it is and we are what we are. I’ve hunted with my granddaddy and killed some beautiful creatures that were no danger to me. Killing a man or woman who poses a threat? Piece of cake. If you can’t pull the trigger, I can, and you can take that to the bank.”
Dallas pulled the rifle around to the front. “Well, you may know I’m unsure, but they don’t.”
As they wound their way through the small streets, Dallas did, indeed, feel watched. It was incredibly disconcerting, like a bug on your back you can’t quite reach to flick off.
“They’re watching, huh?”
Roper cocked her head as she listened. “Yep. So look. We’ll have to do a bash and snatch of the mini-mart over there.”
“I can’t believe they haven’t been looted.”
“That’s the difference between country folk and everyone else. We’re not quite as ego-centric as others. We tend to take care of our own. Come on.”
Dallas followed her to the side of the mini-mart facing a parking lot. There was no movement to speak of—just an eerie silence that penetrated her leather jacket like a coastal fog.
After smashing the window and hearing the alarm go off, they went in, list in hand, and rifled through the goods to locate their necessities.
“Watch the windows,” Roper said as she filled her backpack with boxes of energy bars.
As Dallas stood guard, she saw movement. “They’re coming.”
“Man eaters?”
“I don’t think so. Townies, I think.”
When Roper’s backpack was full, she took Dallas’s and began filling it up as well.
“Yep. There are ten…fifteen, maybe, and they don’t look very happy about our presence.”
“Do they have weapons?”
“Yep. A couple of rifles, some baseball bats, even a pitchfork. You’d think we were Frankenstein or something.”
Roper stopped stuffing the backpack and stared at Dallas.
“Oh. Right. We may not be…but they’re certainly on their way.”
“Maybe we ought to be as well.”
Dallas looked both ways. “I count fourteen men, and they’re waiting for our exit.”
Roper rose and handed the heavy backpack to Dallas. “Got any good ideas?”
She shook her head. “Plumb out.”
“We’re not leaving without supplies and we can’t shoot our way out.”
Dallas stepped up to the front door and waved. No one waved back. “We can expect trouble, that’s for damn sure.”
Roper stood next to her. “I imagine we’re surrounded. Well, I’m not gonna be taken out by a bunch of town folk.” Roper headed toward the back of the store. “There are only four out here.”
“What are you suggesting? We try to make a run for it?”
“We could try telling them the truth…that the danger is on its way.”
Dallas shook her head. “If they don’t buy it, then what?”
Before Roper could answer, a beat up Chevy pick up gunned it into the side of the shop, sending glass and wall debris flying everywhere.
“Get in! Get in! Get in!” Einstein yelled as bullets pinged off the side of the truck. Roper and Dallas jumped into the bed of the truck without question and he backed up, whipped the truck around, and nearly ran over three of the townies as he sped out of town.
“Okay, okay, slow down!” Roper yelled through the busted out cab window.
When Einstein finally slowed to a stop, he turned, eyes wide, sweat dotting his upper lip. “I left the horses where you left me and wanted to keep an eye out…you know…just in case. When I saw these guys gathering at the other end of town I ran down and checked about a dozen parked cars before I found the keys in this one.”
“And that would be why your nickname is apropos.”
“They didn’t seem too keen on having us pillaging their shops.”
Roper mussed up his hair. “You done good. We were trying to figure out how to get out of there. Thanks.”
Einstein was beaming. “That was the bomb-diggiest thing I’ve ever done, man.”
Dallas smiled at him. She really liked this kid, with all of his nerdisms and gearhead ways about him he’d saved their bacon. “It really was great, Einstein. I’m proud of you. See? You do carry your weight.”
“Well, get back in, because there are a couple of Hummers cruising around the outskirts of town. I think they’re doing the vaccine thing because there are houses here with a red X next to the sprayed number.”
“The whole vaccine angle makes no sense. Let’s call this what it is. Somehow, someone turned our citizens into zombies and if we can’t get it stopped, we’re fucked.”
Roper rubbed the back of her neck. “That’s what I don’t get. If they don’t really have a vaccine…then what, exactly, are they shooting into people?”
All three stared at each other, answerless.
“I wish I knew, but we need to get back to the horses. Those Hummers will be here any minute.” Einstein drove as close as he could to the horses before stopping and helping Roper with the backpacks. “Damn, these are heavy. What all is in here?”
“Water, energy bars, vitamins…most of what was on our list.”
“We scored.”
Roper examined the horses’ hooves before loading Lancelot down with the supplies. “I’ve been thinking. I’m not so sure daytime is the safest time for us to travel. With the military patrolling the road, and the choppers in the air, we’re really vulnerable.”
Dallas opened one of Lance’s saddlebags and pulled out a bottle of water they all shared. “I was thinking that earlier. During the day, they can patrol land and air, but at night, just land, and we have the advantage of seeing headlights long before they get here. It’s not a bad idea.”
Taking a swig of water, Roper handed it to Einstein. “It’s a little riskier with horses, but it’s safer than travelling during daylight.”
Dallas looked at Einstein. “Your thoughts?”
Einstein studied the bottle a moment. “I’m pretty sure the reception you got in town will be replayed everywhere we go. One thing we know will happen for sure is survival of the fittest. Pretty soon, people will start wanting what we have. People will turn on each other, so we’ll not just be fig
hting the undead but the living as well. If they can’t see us, they don’t know what we have and can’t come after us.”
“It’s settled, then. Let’s find a place to lay low until sundown, and then we can hit the road at night.”
“It’ll be cooler then as well. The horses will need less water and fewer stops.” Leading the way, Roper and Merlin sauntered along as if they were out for a Sunday ride. When Dallas pulled up next to her, she said, “We got lucky back there.”
“Yeah. Yeah, we did. The kid’s all right though, isn’t he?”
“He’s also right about people degenerating. We’ve already seen that more than once. We’re going to need to be very careful in the future about all of our contact with other survivors.”
“Agreed. Assume the worst from everyone and every situation.” She pointed to a cluster of large rocks. “See that rock formation over there? That looks like as good a place as any to stay until dark.”
Dallas shaded her eyes with her hand on the bill of her Harley cap. “Perfect.”
“Dallas…I’ve been thinking. I need you to promise me something.” Roper turned to Dallas and took her hand in both of hers. “Promise me that no matter what happens, if I get bit or scratched or whatever, that you’ll shoot me right away. I don’t ever want to become one of those things.”
Dallas squeezed her hand. “Only if you’ll do the same.”
Roper turned her palm and shook Dallas’s hand. “Deal.”
When they reached the outcropping of rocks, they took everything off the horses and tied them to a nearby tree. The rocks formed a shallow cave, so they stowed all of their supplies in there and told Einstein to take a nap if he needed one.
He was out in ten seconds.
Sitting on the grass with the horses, Roper and Dallas weighed their options and decided the desert was still their best shot for now. Getting out of California was tantamount, and even if they had to inch along at night, anything was better than staying in the red zone.
“You know, I just want you to understand that if we’d had to shoot our way out of the mini-mart, I would have.” Dallas said.
Roper tossed a rock at bug sitting on a leaf. “I know you would have. I’m glad we didn’t have to, though. Once we start killing people, we’ll never be the same.”
Dallas felt tears sting her dry eyes as she managed to whisper, “We already aren’t.”
****
While it was slower going at night, it was much cooler and easier on the horses. There were no helicopters and the two times they saw Hummer lights, they were too far off in the distance to be a threat.
As they clopped along, the smell of hay lingered in the air, along with the sound of creek water as they made their way along the aqueduct and its tributaries.
Every now and then they would hear distant shots firing, but that could have been for anything. The rest of the time there was an eerie silence hanging in the air like L.A. smog—only the clip-clop of the hooves and creaking of leather saddles could be heard.
“I’m starving,” Einstein groaned, looking at his watch. It was a little after one in the morning.
“Me, too,” Roper said. “My stomach’s been growling for two hours.”
“What are those lights down there?” Dallas pointed in the semi-darkness surrounding them.
“By my guesstimate, that’s Rio Nuevo. It’s another smallish farming community.”
No one said anything, until Einstein whispered, “I really need to eat. I feel lightheaded and weak, my ass hurts, and I’m about to fall asleep on my trusty steed.”
Dallas laid her hand on her flat stomach. Hers had been growling for miles, but she and Roper had already spoken about the need to ration what they’d taken from the mini mart. “Fair enough. I think we can scare up something to eat down there.” Dallas pulled Morgana to a stop. She and the horse had become a nice unit in the hours they’d been riding. She was a good horse who seemed to understand the necessity of a consistent gait with a newbie rider. “I say we watch from the hill for a bit and see if there is any movement. If it looks clear, we’ll take the horses as close as we can and then see if we can’t—”
“Look.”
Roper and Dallas looked in the direction of Einstein’s voice.
At first, Dallas had no idea what she was looking at, but then, ever so slowly, she could see the lights in the valley slowly being extinguished, like someone turned down the electricity so slowly that the light dimmed just before dying.
“My god…” Roper murmured.
“It doesn’t take much for the infrastructure to collapse when no one is watching the pot boil,” Einstein said softly. “This is the beginning of the swan song ladies and gentlemen.”
“Are you saying—”
“The electrical grid cannot continuously run on its own,” Dallas dovetailed on Einstein’s analogy. “And if everyone does what the military has ordered us to do by staying inside, then no one is left to run the shop. So, yeah. Now we’re all in the dark, with no cell phone use, no electrical, and—”
“Uh uh.” Einstein stepped up to them and continued pointing.
Roper untied her ponytail and retied it. “Lotta rural folks have generators, especially if they have any kind of livestock. We’ll see more pop up here in a moment.”
“The darkness is our best friend at this point.” Dallas opened her backpack and pulled out two four-cell flashlights they’d swiped. “We should be able to get in and out this time without getting busted.”
“And then what, Dallas? We eat and get back on the horses? I don’t know about you, but my butt is numb, my back is sore, my balls hurt, and—” Then, as if realizing what he’d said, Einstein covered his mouth.
Roper and Dallas both laughed.
“We need to keep moving until dawn, kiddo, but maybe after you eat you’ll feel better.”
Twenty minutes later, after leaving the horses tied up, the three of them quietly and stealthily made their way into the small town of Rio Nuevo.
From about every eighth or ninth house, the hum of a generator could be heard—the low lights of the houses they were running became easier to see.
“Where to?”
“I say we—”
“Shh. Don’t move.”
Lights from a car slowly went by.
“It’s just a truck,” Roper whispered as they watched the vehicle slow down in front of every house. Three men in the back threw something out onto the porch of each house before slowly moving to the next one.
“Is that—”
“Food.” Roper said. “I’m thinking those people are taking care of each other. Keeping everyone fed and healthy. Or maybe they’re just communicating with each other.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
Einstein started backing away. “Suddenly, I’m not very hungry. Or tired. Right. I’m not hungry or tired. Let’s go.”
Just as they turned to leave, there came a scream from one of the houses. Ducking beneath a hedge on the outside of the main road, the three froze.
“They kilt ‘em!” A woman screamed over and over. “They done kilt ‘em!”
The truck backed up quickly, the three men now aiming rifles at the woman.
“What are you talking about, Celeste? Keep your voice down.”
“Or what? I’ll wake the dead? I’m telling you, they’re already dead!”
“Who is?”
“John and Miguel! They were fine until those military men showed up! Come look! They just be layin’ there, side-by-side, like they sleepin’, but they ain’t! They. Are. Dead!” The woman’s hysterical tone rose above the cacophony of shouts from the men as they jumped from the truck and shined a light on the X mark on the side of the house. “You sure?”
“Dead as a doornail.”
Dallas watched in amazement as two of the men ran into the house, only to return shortly after. “She’s right. They’re dead.”
The men conferred with each other before hopping back i
nto the truck and jumping out at the next house.
“Yep,” the tallest one said. “Dead. They’re all dead. That was no vaccine. They…they killed all those people.”
A ruckus broke out now, with everyone talking and no one listening.
Roper looked at Dallas. “The kid hasn’t been wrong once,” she whispered. “There is no vaccine.”
“We gotta get outta here. Far away from here.”
By the time they got back to the horses, they were frightened enough to be able to ride quite a distance before Dallas called a rest stop.
“Okay,” she said, feeling her heart pounding in her chest. “That was fucked up.”
“It’s just like I said. Containment is a scary thing in the games, and it looks like our government isn’t taking any chances.”
“But killing healthy people?”
“We don’t know they are healthy. Maybe they know something we don’t.”
“Regardless of what they thought or what we think we know,” Dallas said, “we need to grab some shuteye and regroup in the morning. I can’t talk about what we heard and saw until I have some time to process it, if you don’t mind.”
Roper shook her head. “Not at all. I’ll take care of the horses, you guys drink some water and try to get some rest.”
Dallas sat with the rifle between her legs as Einstein scrunched down in his sleeping bag. “You were right, Einstein. You’ve been right all along.”
“Why doesn’t that make me feel better?”
“This is an apocalypse, isn’t it?”
“It will be if they can’t stop it. Right now, as in any apocalypse scenario, there are three groups of the living. The first are those who do what they are told and stay inside. The second are those like us, who are making a run for it. It’s the third we have to worry about. Those are the people who take advantage of situations like these and prey on everyone else. Those are the ones we need to look out for. Those are the ones who can hurt us the most.”
Dallas thought about Katrina and how people turned so savage and so barbaric in an instant, that they stole things they didn’t even need. “Get some rest. I promise we’ll get you some real food tomorrow.”
Man Eaters Page 6