Alden was about to reach for his own rifle and shoot the cowardly bastard when the man turned the gun on himself and pulled the trigger. In seconds the screams of the woman and little girl were silenced as the Wanderers took them to the ground.
Alden turned and walked to the back of his truck. Opening the gate he reached in and soon came out with a RPG and two rounds. As he walked back up Heath looked at him,“What the hell are you going to do? You can’t kill them all with that.”
Alden’s face was stern and his eyes had the cold look that they had all seen before.“Just get in the vehicles, we’re heading down that road over there,” Pointing to a dirt road that lead south.
Charlie looked at Ceara,“C’mon let’s go” he said with tears in his eyes.“There’s nothing more we can do.” The two headed to the van. Charlie climbed in the driver’s seat as Ceara got in behind Maximus and then reached over and hugged her dog.
Heath watched as Colt took Beth and led her back to the rover. He couldn’t hear what Colt was saying but he knew that Beth wanted to save them all, that was just who she was. Colt though, knew Alden was right. Tabitha had turned and gone to the Jeep and climbed in the driver’s seat. Heath looked at Alden,“So what’s the plan?”
Alden loaded a round in the back of the RPG and handed the other one to Heath.“You watched me load it. Stand to the side, after I fire, load that one and step back.”
Heath stood clear as Alden fired and hit the first bus sending it into a large fireball. Several smaller explosions followed as Heath reloaded the RPG and Alden took aim at the last Bus. As he fired Heath knew what Alden was doing. The only humane thing he could. He was attempting to kill anyone who had not been attacked yet, along with killing as many as those bastards as he could. The second round hit and another explosion was followed by a larger one. A gas tanker on the other side exploded from the shrapnel or maybe even the war head as it passed through the bus. Soon cars and trucks were exploding as their gas tanks caught fire. Alden looked at Heath,“Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Alden got in his truck and turned south. No one in the group spoke as the caravan drove through the flat prairie that lay before them. By the late afternoon the walkie squawked with static as Alden’s brake lights came on. Alden’s voice was calm and quiet as he spoke,“Welcome to Ft Sumner, New Mexico.”
Alden stopped by a little road side park with a picnic table. As the rest pulled up in the semi-circle they’d all come accustomed to making and got out Alden had already started to gather wood.“We’ll make camp and eat light. I’ll take watch.”
Charlie was starting to unpack the van and looked at Alden,“First or last watch boss?”
Alden turned around and looked at him then the rest of the group.“Meand the dogs will take all the watches. I ain’t going to sleep tonight anyway.”
Alden opened the back of his truck and got out the coffee pot and cooking gear and set it by a small grill. He whistled and the two dogs came to him. Looking to the group,“You all know what to do. I’m going to scout things out.”
The group watched as Alden turned and walked back towards the east. They all knew that he had brought them through the wastelands safe and sound and with a little more understanding of what made Alden, Alden….
Chapter 21- The Simpler things in Life
Alden sat on the picnic table with the dogs lying at his feet. The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon and the sky was turning from black to an array of purple, orange,and yellow. With his rifle lying beside him, he sipped his coffee and watched the young ones sleeping. The visions of the day before still fresh in his mind bothered him. The fact he knew it was the only thing he could do, didn’t help, he had killed to save the others from a world he was sure they wouldn’t want.
It was Heath who moved first as he rolled over onto his stomach his arms outstretched reminded him of a soldier in free fall. Then looking over he saw Beth with her head on Colt’s shoulder and Colt’s arm around her holding her safe. He chuckled as his eyes found Charlie and Ceara lying on their sides her back spooning into him as his arm laid across her. Ceara’s arm was lying across Maximus who had nuzzled himself into her. The two reminded him of children sleeping with their pet.
A snap of a twig across the road caught his attention. Tonto too jumped up and growled softly. There in front of them about 40 yards out was a herd of antelope grazing on the brush.
Tonto took a few steps toward the herd still growling then turned and looked to Alden;“Leave them alone boy, they ain’t hurting us. They’re just feeding.”
Tonto turned back and walked to the edge of the road. One of the antelope saw the large red dog, turned and bolted with the rest of the herd following.
Tonto jumped straight up and started to bark loudly as the herd ran away. His barking woke everyone else straight up as Alden stepped off the table.“Okay everybody just settle down. Tonto just had his first introduction to the local wildlife.” He pointed off to the north where the tail end of the herd could be seen running away.
Alden walked over and poured a fresh cup of coffee,“I was going to let you cupcakes sleep a little longer but since you’re all up we can get this day started.”
Charlie walked over and grabbed his cup off the table,“HOLY SHIT JESUS H CHRIST!!” The cup flew into the air and large tarantula fell out as it hit the ground.
Alden laughed,“Okay Cupcakes lesson one, out here in the desert, remember to turn your cups upside down when you go to bed otherwise you may find visitors such as this.”
Alden reached down and picked the spider up and held it in front for everyone to see.“This here guy is one of the nicer ones you’ll find, he ain’t as bad as his cousin the scorpion who will sting you and definitely put a damper on your day.”
Ceara scurried behind Charlie stifling a scream, breathing hard she peeked over his shoulder.“Alden… killthat damn thing!”
Colt reached over to Alden allowing the tarantula to crawl to him,“Ceara, I had one of these as a kid and to be honest they are pretty damn tame. Watch this..” He moved one hand over the other letting it crawl back and forth, then set it on his shoulder.
Ceara had hold of Charlie’s shirt pulling it so tight he was starting to choke.“Colt, just get rid of it before she kills me, please!”
Colt laughed but turned to walk out of camp to free his new friend. Once he was far enough away Ceara let go of Charlie, he quickly pulled his collar away from his throat.
Beth called from the back of the pickup,“Ok everyone, leftover biscuits and the last of the bacon. First come, first serve!!”
Charlie bolted to the truck getting both him and Ceara a couple each, walking back he sat at the picnic table grabbing a water.
Ceara sat beside him, biting into her biscuit,“I thought you wanted coffee?”
Charlie smiled,“Kind of lost the mood when that damn thing crawled out of my cup.” Ceara nodded,“Agreed.”
She looked over to Alden,“So, I’ve been thinking, why are just humans affected? Do you think this infects our DNA?”
Alden sipped his coffee and looked over pointing to Beth,“I’m in charge of the military affairs… She’s the damn Doctor, ask her.”
Beth took a deep breath and looked over at Alden then snickered,“Gee thanks Alden for putting it so nicely,” Beth gave him a wink to let him know she was alright with what he had said. Sitting down she grabbed a couple pieces of bacon and fixed her a small plate.
As she was doing this she began talking,“Let me start off by saying I have been keeping a journal since our run in with the YMCA children. I saw some disturbing things which I had to write down in order to process the information later. I have not even begun to look at that stuff and won’t until we get settled in a few days.”
Taking a sip of her coffee she continued,“Ceara has a very interesting question that I can answer without doing any research at all. Several years ago, thanks to extraordinary advances in the field of genetic modification, the scientists that
I worked with were able to do things that were once unthinkable.
Part human, part animal hybrid monsters are being created by scientists all over the planet. These people would justify mixing the DNA of humans and animals by claiming that it will help them‘cure diseases’ and‘feed the world’, but the reality is that all of this genetic modification is a tremendous threat to the human race and that is where I think it all went to hell.”
Placing a piece of the bacon in her mouth she chewed it very quickly and noticed that everyone was looking at her as if they were to say“Come on…….finish eating and spit it out!”
When she had finished Beth solemnly sat and folded her hands then pushed her plate from her.“Human DNA is an amazing thing all alone by itself. However mixing the two can cause many problems. The temptation to insert the genes of animals or plants into people in order to create‘super soldiers’ or a‘superior race’ was certainly proven to be too much of a temptation.
So taking all of this information in….. well, it sounds like to me somewhere along the line someone used a wrong amount of a certain DNA and not enough of the other with animal being the less of the one.”
Beth held her head up and even though she felt like hanging it low, she took a deep breath then spoke,“There are or were scientist in the world who wanted to do right and make the place a better world, but others out there wanted to play God and well…,”
The silence was deafening as Beth could not say another word and looked to Alden in hopes that he could add something so it was not so morbid.
Alden looked at the group; Ceara had a deer in the headlights expression on her face. Reaching across the table he patted her hand,“I think what Beth is trying to say is…. Well in military terms. Someone screwed the pooch. So now what we have is a major SNAFU, and the majority of the population is now FUBARED.”
Heath spit out his coffee trying to keep from choking on it as he began to laugh;“Only you Alden, would come up with the correct analysis for this shit.”
Charlie looked at Ceara who now seemed to have a grasp on the situation. She smiled big,“I remember hearing that term in a movie once…Saving Private Ryan… I know it means things are going to get screwed up bad, right?”
Heath smiled as he began to roll up his sleeping bag, picking it up he looked to Ceara,“Okay Acronym 101… FUBAR means,‘Fucked Up BeyondAll Recognition’ and SNAFU means‘Situation Normal All Fucked Up’.”
As he turned and headed to the Jeep to stow his bag and get ready to move out.
Alden took his new atlas to his truck,and came back with his thermos.“Anyone wanting coffee to go better get it now, because I’m pouring what’s left in my thermos?”
He watched as Charlie and Colt, each grabbed a travel cup and filled them then placed the pot down. Soon the group was busy breaking camp.
They were all packed and Alden smiled,“We don’t have a lot of options out here. So I figure we’ll get through the town of Ft. Sumner and head north to Sumner Lake. I think that would be our best bet for shelter. The water and food part is fairly self-explanatory. The lake and we’ve all seen the wildlife. So let’s get partnered up and MOUNT UP.”
He turned heading to his truck he could hear the snickers and chuckles behind him.
Charlie smiled at Ceara and spoke softly as he laughed,“Do you think he does that on purpose or does he really not know what he’s saying?”
Beth turned around looking back over the camp to make sure that she hadn’t left anything. When finished, she grabbed her little carry-on bag that she liked having with her in the front seat and headed to the Rover. She saw Colt bent over picking up something, with all the fun with the spider and Colt for once being on the brave side, Beth wanted to have a little fun too.
She quickly swatted his behind and briskly walked over to the Land Rover as though she had done nothing. Once inside Beth tucked her bag underneath her seat and closed her eyes to say a short prayer in hopes that they would make it to where they were going. Beth’s beliefs in a Higher Power were beginning to fade but she didn’t want to take any chances if there was someone out there listening.
Colt grinned as he climbed in the driver’s seat,“And what was that for?”
Beth smiled back at him,“What are you talking about?”
He shook his head as he pulled out behind Heath,“You know damn well I will repay you for that, and I get to add to it.”
Beth cocked her head to the side,“My goodness Colt are you threatening me?”
Colt glanced around wondering just where they were going to end up,“I’m not threatening young lady, Iam promising.”
The road lay out in front of them as the war torn caravan made its way to wherever it was that they would rest their heads that night. Ceara bounced in the seat beside Charlie squealing,“I just saw a cactus!!”
Charlie swerved but recovered quickly,“Shit, don’t do that!” He was looking out to see what she saw but it was long gone. Soon enough there were cacti every quarter mile and even patches of thirty or forty on the roadside.
Ceara leaned her head on the glass but quickly lifted off,“Crap that’s hot!”
Charlie burst out laughing,“Honey, we are in the desert.” Ceara tried to look mad but failed miserably.
Everyone’s playtime was soon broke up with Alden coming over the radio,“Ok Cupcakes, we may have issues soon. We will be coming up to the town of Fort Sumner in about five minutes, there is only one way to get past and that is right through the heart of the town. Everyone stay close and pay attention! Whoever has their ass in the passenger seat grab the radio and keep it. If there are any problemsI want to know as soon as it happens”
The radio went dead for about ten seconds then his voice came over again,“Immediately, not tonight and not with a melody from Colt.”
Colt got an indignant look,“I thought I sang pretty good! Old goat probably didn’t know the song.”
Beth’s eyes widened,“You did not just say that?” She had turned bright red as Alden came back over the radio.
“Yeah Colt, the old goat knows the song but your version was a little hard to figure out what the hell you were caterwauling about. Radio silence now unless there are issues”
Beth glanced at the radio then to Colt,“I must have hit the button when I grabbed it, I didn’t notice till I set it in my lap.”
Colt smirked,“Guess I will be on his shit list now…. You goingto make it up to me by letting me catch you again?”
Smirking and giving a sheepish grin,“Maybe…. I don’t know if you can catch me again with all the roaming terrain out there.”
Colt winked at her,“Oh I think I can manage, and by the way I thought he said welcome to Ft. Sumner last night?”
Beth looked around as they started noticing small sun bleached farm houses, the yards were all full of dead grass.“I think he just meant the area, you know like this is where the real Ft. Sumner was.”
Colt gave a little head nod but kept his eyes on the area around them. He couldn’t for the life of himself figure out just what the hell they would grow out here, but maybe when there was a civilization here they could’ve had a lot more water. He thought he remembered Colorado sent water down here but that may have been Arizona.
As they drove into town they learned quickly what the term Ghost Town meant. The stores and building windows were smashed out and broken. Store fronts were destroyed by either looters or Wanderers. Some of the doors were falling off the hinges. From the upper windows of what looked to be apartments curtains were flapping in the breeze through open windows. The streets were littered with wrecked cars and trucks and tumbleweeds were rolling and bouncing off them. An eerie silence was all around. Only the sound of metal signs squeaking in the wind.
The caravan had driven into the heart of the town before they had an issue. Charlie was once more in the back making sure everything was ok. He felt like a bow string ready to snap, any movement drew his attention. So far all they sawwere a few newspapers and plast
ic grocery bags blowing around. Biggest thing was a calico cat with orange and gray markings that caught Maximus’ attention. Max had bolted to the front seat wanting out the window and Ceara had to force him back, screaming she would tell Alden on him. Once in the main part of town they had to slow to a crawl, never getting over fifteen miles an hour. Store fronts were destroyed by either looters or Wanderers.
Ceara looked over at Charlie,“This town isn’t like the other one is it?” Charlie just shook his head no. She took a deep breath holding the radio in one hand and pulling out her knife with the other.
Charlie saw her,“I don’t think this is a knife fight babe, get out your gun. I’m not letting them get that close.”
Ceara gasped and pointed to the Jeep, a wanderer had snagged the back end and was being drug but was working on climbing up the back. Ceara put the radio to her mouth,“Heath, Tabitha… you have a hitchhiker on the back of the Jeep, I would shoot it but I may miss and if I do I might hit one of you guys.”
“AHHHHHHH HELL FUCKING NO!!” Tabitha turned around, straddling her seat and looked over to Heath,“You just keep your eyes on the road and let me take care of this little stowaway.” She thought about using her crossbow but with the intensity of the situation, she wanted to be precise. Leaning over in the back seat Tabitha retrieved a machete and when the zombie was fool enough to poke his head up to meet her face,Tabitha knocked the son of a bitch’s head off with one fell swoop. All that could be heard was the swing of the blade and her voice yelling,“BATTER UP!”
Heath turned his head a little and saw Tabitha’s rear end swaying back and forth as she whooped about killing the wanderer. Looking in the rear view mirror he saw the body roll as Charlie swerved to miss it.
Alden called on the radio,“Everything okay back there?” Heath answered quickly and explained what had happened. Alden shook his head as he pushed another small car out of the way with his truck. Turning right on highway 84 he saw that the road itself was clearing. Soon they were out of town and heading north.
Surviving Day By Day (Book 2): Fears, Flames, and Future Page 41