The Phoenix Trilogy (Book 1): World On Fire

by Scottie, Charles

  The room was silent, and Natalie hadn't brought her eyes up to meet the men since she started talking. It was Marco who first broke the quiet. “Well. Sounds like our little lady has the right spirit. Whaddya say, boys?”

  BJ grunted again, which Natalie began to take as his universal sign of approval. Raising her gaze, she caught the three of them nodding. Rico waved his hand at the table. “If you're willing, this will be your kit. It covers the basics.” Picking up the items one by one, he began to explain their purpose.

  “Mossberg 500, common model here in the States. Buckshot ammunition, easy to find and hard to miss with. We'll fit it with a stake for safety.” As he spoke, he set the gun down and picked up what Natalie had previously mistaken as a bayonet. It wasn't a traditional blade, looking more like a reinforced railroad spike than anything else. Rolling it in his hand, Rico continued.

  “This is what we've taken to calling your prom-tip. Fit it at the end of your barrel. If one of those things rushes you and you don't have time to stop it, you put the stock hard into your shoulder, keep your gun square between you and it, and brace yourself. If you're lucky, you'll get knocked down, but this little baby will make sure your partner stays at arms-length.”

  He fixed Natalie with a look, his face breaking out into an almost proud smile. It was obvious he was waiting to see if she got the joke. To her credit, Natalie managed to keep a straight face in spite of the groan she could feel welling up in her chest. Maintaining her composure, she nodded. “I get it. Prom-tip. That's... a clever name.” Hearing that, Rico chuckled and shrugged.

  “Look, we didn't come up with it. This was a military invention all the way, and when have those guys ever come up with a good nickname?” Natalie gave in, letting herself laugh for a moment with a hint of real sincerity. Even the men managed to muster enough good cheer to join her, each adding to the sound with their own signature. Marco's cavalier snicker, Rico's reassuring chuckle, and BJ rounding it out with a single, deep-seated hah.

  The feeling didn't last long as their attention returned to the task at hand. Even so, Natalie tried to hold on to that sense of lighthearted camaraderie. She suspected it might be a while until she got to experience it again. Evidently having come to the same conclusion, BJ rose from the table, his size immediately dwarfing the two men beside him. He fixed Natalie with a stern eye, his hands resting over the gear on the table. It gave no uncertain indicator that this equipment was not hers yet.

  “You need to understand before we arm you that you are not, under any circumstances, to fire this weapon without our consent. If this were an ideal setting, we wouldn't be outfitting a civilian in the first place, but drastic times call for drastic measures.” BJ's tone had taken a grave turn, an impressive feat considering he was always serious to begin with. Even Marco had a more somber attitude.

  “Firing a gun in this day and age will get you killed. It will get the people around you killed. The absolute only time you can resort to using your weapon is if you are certain that you will die if you don't. Do you understand?” Again, Natalie found all three men staring at her while BJ awaited her response. The only problem was, she had no idea what to say.

  The gravity of life outside, of the world she was about to walk into, began to dawn on her in earnest. Running and hiding was a relatively simple life to lead. There were plenty of places you could lay low for a while without disturbance, so long as you were careful and avoided high traffic areas. But this? This was willingly going into a heavily populated and dangerous area. This was traveling in a group, which meant more supplies and more noise all around.

  Worse, being with a group meant responsibility to others. That was what bothered Natalie the most. Looking out for yourself might be less secure, but it was easy. Any mistake you made you dealt with as best you could and called it a day. The idea of screwing up and having somebody else pay the price was nerve-wracking, especially in a world where screwing up was frequently synonymous with getting somebody killed.

  Silence was settling in as Natalie mulled over her thoughts. She had a brief flashback to interview anxiety, knowing she'd just been asked an important question and then completely blanking on how to respond. Glancing back at the men before her, she noted that their expressions had not changed. BJ seemed to note her apprehension. “Take your time. It isn't a small question, and our lives depend on an answer you believe in.”

  No pressure. Just our lives depend on it. Great. Natalie shifted in her seat. Focus. If she took the gun, she'd be safer and could potentially help out if things took a turn for the worse. She might also get somebody killed, by accident. Or all of them killed. Natalie winced. Ultimately, all she had to do was wait for the signal. That was simple. She could do that.

  Then a thought struck her. “I'm guessing that your 'consent' could be taken as you actually giving me permission to fire, as well as if you were already pulling the trigger yourselves, right?” She had aimed the question at BJ, but she looked at each of them in turn as she spoke. It stood to reason that one extra gun firing wouldn't exactly make a whole world of difference.

  The men exchanged glances before BJ nodded, a slow and deliberate motion that suggested he wasn't wholly comfortable with that idea but could find no argument against it. It was all the confirmation that Natalie needed.

  “Done. I can do that.” Her voice was filled with more confidence than she felt, but the commitment remained. She was tired of hiding, and if she was going to be out in the open, she needed to have every option available to her. There was going to be a lot to learn; Natalie had never fired a gun in her life. At least now there would be no more excuses. She was on the right path, or at least the best path that seemed to be available to her.

  Without a word, Rico began to prepare her gear while BJ shifted his rifle into a ready position. “I'm going to go upstairs and survey the area before we head out. Rico will give you a rundown on your gear, Marco, you teach her some basic signals.”

  The brisk tone was like a switch. The team set to work immediately, Rico and Marco sharing a quick exchange over who would handle their job with Natalie first. Apparently satisfied with their decision, Marco began scavenging the last of the supplies from the house while Rico jerked his chin toward her. Rico first, I guess. Fine by me.

  Most of the equipment was fairly straightforward. Her shotgun was easy to use, and Rico explained that maintenance would take some practice but would eventually be second nature. The handgun, a Glock 26 according to Rico, was meant for a last resort. Natalie decided against carrying any of the offered melee weapons, a variety of knives and batons, in favor of her crowbar. Rico laughed at that, but let her keep her decision to use whatever was comfortable.

  He was more insistent about replacing her swim goggles. Tapping a lens, he shook his head. “These gotta go. They served their purpose just fine, I'm sure, but now it's time for an upgrade.”

  With a flourish, he presented a pair of tactical goggles that matched his own. They were bigger than Natalie's, with a single amber lens that stretched from eye to eye. Taking her silence as one of admiration, Rico continued. “These babies are great. Fog resistant, sturdy, the lens helps filter your vision to keep it clear, and most importantly, nobody can argue against their style.”

  Natalie chuckled again. She was beginning to really appreciate Rico's attitude. He almost made things feel normal, even when they were discussing what zombie-related gear she should be sporting. Rico smiled, clearly pleased he could continue to raise her spirits. With another reassuring pat on the back, he returned his attention to a pair of earmuffs that Natalie almost mistook for being headphones.

  “Ear protection. Traveling with us, you're going to learn a lot of stuff. Biggest thing you'll pick up on is that basically everything you've ever thought about combat is bullshit.” He gestured for Natalie to put the piece on before pointing to his own set hanging around his neck.

  “Wear these at all times if you don't want to go deaf. Firing a gun makes a lot of noise, and
it'll rattle your head if you're in tight spaces. Flick the headset on, and they'll filter out any noise above a decibel level that would damage your ears.” He absentmindedly ran a finger behind his ear, massaging it with a brief look of discomfort.

  “Or at least diminish it to a point where you won't be left senseless. Can't say my hearing is so great these days.” He paused, doing a mental summary of everything they had to cover.

  “Weapons, eyes, ears... that leaves mouth and nose.” Resuming his pace, he picked up a heavy cloth and a backpack.

  “Cloth is pretty obvious. Wrap it around your mouth to keep any unwanted fluids at bay.” Natalie couldn't stop a shiver from running up her spine. The idea of protecting yourself from being infected like that brought back a vivid flashback of her near-death encounter from the day before. The feeling of spit and blood nearly seeping into her nose was nauseating, and time had done little to diminish the potency of the memory.

  “Don't need to convince me of the importance of that one. Already made that mistake once and nearly got myself killed for it.” Natalie spoke wryly, trying to fight down her urge to vomit. She wasn't certain she was winning the battle.

  Thankfully, Rico picked up on her struggle. Rather than moving to comfort her, he resumed his teaching in an effort to get her mind focused on something else. The backpack was the last thing he had to cover on the list.

  “This one is less about gear, and more about action. Your backpack should hold, among other things, at least two days’ worth of food and water. Until now, you've been stationary. You need to understand that sitting still and eating is a whole other world from being on the move and eating.” As if making his point, Rico picked up a nearby can of food.

  “Take this for an example. Canned food is great if you actually have the time to eat, but not exactly perfect if you can only snack and run. You'd be hard-pressed to find a way to stuff this into your pocket without making a mess in between bites.” He set the can back down before patting his stomach knowingly. Natalie had to stifle a grin as she found herself suddenly picturing a fat Buddha statue.

  “Granola, protein bars, anything you can eat fast and put away. Candy bars work in a pinch if you've got nothing else, but try to avoid eating too many. Not exactly a healthy long-term diet plan.” Rico mimicked his gut ballooning outward with his hands, puffing his cheeks for emphasis with a low whistle.

  “Extra weight makes it a little harder to escape the bad guys, but hey, there's no better way to lose those last five pounds.”

  Marco rolled around the corner with arms full of supplies, his face just peeking out above the pile of goods. “You're gettin' off track, bro. And you people tell me I'm the one with poor focus.” He grunted and dropped his load off on the counter before tossing the both of them a terrible wink. He was gone before Rico could respond, off to the last corner of the house.

  Natalie was torn between being amused and annoyed. She had to admit, Marco was remarkably talented at coming into a room out of nowhere just to throw everyone off-guard before disappearing. Rico was clearly thinking along the same lines. They exchanged a shrug of defeat before Rico held up a finger.

  “He's right. There's one last thing to keep an eye out for. Caffeine. Or, really, any kind of alertness booster. Chances are pretty good we're not going to be getting a whole lot of sleep out there, so anything that can keep us up and at 'em is like gold. Beyond that, Hell, you're a smart girl. If you find something you think could be useful, stuff it in your backpack. Just remember that extra weight to carry means extra energy spent to carry it. Don't bog yourself down if you can avoid it.” He smiled again, but it was different this time. Natalie couldn't put her finger on it, but it felt forced, like the look you give somebody when you want to cheer them up but don't feel very cheery yourself.

  “Just... be careful out there. The world isn't the same as it was. You're going to see a lot of shit, Natalie. More than you already have, believe me. We're going to do everything we can to make sure you're alright, but I'll be honest. It isn't going to be pretty.” The grave look of concern on Rico's face bothered Natalie more than she'd expected.

  It wasn't that the world outside was scaring her, or that the journey now seemed more daunting. She knew what she was getting into, and she'd made her peace with that.

  It was the way Rico looked. The cheery disposition he normally had was something Natalie had guessed was more forced than he'd let on, but this change of character was more serious than she would have thought. She didn't know what he had experienced, or what weight he was carrying in his heart, but she didn't need to. Taking a page from Rico's book, she grinned back at him.

  “I used to work retail. Surviving customer service through the Holidays, I'm pretty sure I've seen the worst the world has to offer. I'm thinkin' the end of days might be a slight improvement, all things considered.” Her sudden cavalier attitude made Rico guffaw, his old smile plastered back on his face. Natalie chuckled, pleased that he seemed to have returned to his usual self. He'd managed to cheer her up more than a few times already, it seemed fitting that she should try and return the favor.

  “Fair point, Natalie. That's a fair point. Now, as much as I hate to do this to you, I need to hand you over to Marco. He'll be finished scavving soon, and then I'll need to divvy his finds up for the crew. The guy is great at sniffing out supplies but lousy at organization.” Natalie would have laughed, if Marco hadn't taken that exact moment to reappear. His consistency was remarkable.

  “Aww, thanks for the compliment, cuz! That means a lot to me.” Marco’s final hunt for supplies had been less successful than his previous expeditions. He had returned with only a single handbag half-filled with toiletries, but he seemed pleased with himself anyway. Rico’s kind words were just icing on the cake.

  Unfortunately for Rico, the bag in Marco’s hands wasn’t large enough to keep him from being pulled into a hug. His cheeks flushed with annoyance, but his wriggling attempts to free himself from his cousin’s grip only served to provoke Marco to squeeze tighter.

  “It was a compliment that I ended with an insult, which you would have heard if you paid any attention. Now would you get the Hell off me?” Rico’s tone was insincere, but his younger cousin wore an exaggerated look of heartbreak nonetheless. Shoving Marco back a step, they exchanged a pair of amused smirks. Natalie shook her head at the two of them, trying unsuccessfully to hide the growing smile on her own face.

  They were clearly family, regardless of the little problems they had with each other from time to time. It had been a long while since she'd seen normal people be together. As much as she felt warmed by the thought, her heart was tense.

  Having somebody to love meant having somebody to lose. Before everything fell apart, that was fine. The bet was usually a safe enough one to make. But now, when death literally lurked behind every corner, it just seemed like a liability. Natalie's thoughts cleared up just in time to catch the last of the cousins' conversation.

  “...are so full of crap. Now shut up and get out of my way, we've both got work to do.” To her surprise, it was actually Rico who had spoken. Both men were smiling at each other, clearly accustomed to this good-natured ribbing. Alas, with those words came time for Marco's teaching. Natalie braced herself for the worst.

  “Why do you look like you're about to throw up?” Marco cocked an eyebrow at her, and Rico snorted at him as he started shuffling through supplies on a nearby counter.

  “You really asking? Because I've got about a half dozen reasons for why you make people sick.” Rico chuckled to himself, and Marco pursed his lips with a knowing nod.

  “Yeup, alright, I walked into that. Forget I asked.” Clearing his throat, Marco did his best to adopt a more professional stance.

  “Listen up, Nat. I'm going to give you a crash course in hand signals. It might not seem important now, but talking is going to be kept to a minimum out there. First thing is about rooms.” Stepping away from the table, he gestured for Natalie to follow him to the
entrance to the den.

  “If we're clearing rooms, we have a protocol that the point-man is supposed to follow.” Marco paused, as if suddenly remembering something important.

  “Do you, uh, know what I'm sayin'? Clearing, point-man, all that?” He glanced back at Natalie as he spoke, his forehead wrinkled in thought. To her credit, she wasn't completely ignorant of tactics. Admittedly, she'd picked up most of it from video games, but knowledge is knowledge.

  “Clearing is making sure the room is safe, point-man is the person who is leading the group into each place.” His question had been a fair one, but his look of surprise as she answered annoyed her. That he seemed a little impressed only got more on her nerves.

  “Not bad, for a girl! Not bad at all.” He turned to look back into the den, and missed Natalie gritting her teeth as he did. A flash of violent pictures flew through her mind. She knew she didn't care for Marco, but this was a completely separate kind of intense dislike. Placating herself, she settled on fantasizing about punching the smirk clean off of his face. The thought was cathartic.

  “First thing we do is identify what we're dealing with. That pretty much falls under one of three categories. One finger pointing down is a human, two pointing down is a zombie that's upright, and four down is a zombie that's crawling. Pretty easy so far, yeah?” He stopped at the look of confusion on Natalie's face. With an entirely too confident grin, he relaxed against the wall.

  “Does my student need me to clarify something for her?” Natalie's fantasy now involved pushing him in front of a bus. She snickered at the thought. A girl can dream, after all. Better ask him her question and be done with all of this as soon as possible.

  “You have a whole other signal for them crawling? That seems a little weird to me. I wouldn’t have guessed it was necessary.” Natalie could understand humans and zombies being separate, but crawling versus standing was an interesting distinction to make.

  “Ah, right. I forget that you don't have a lot of experience with these things.” Marco tapped his chin briefly before grunting a huff of impatience at having to switch tracks in his education. Natalie’s face twitched as she refrained from growling at the man.