by L. T. Ryan
Five minutes later, he stood outside of the bunker. He removed his clothing and the gas mask and placed them, the flashlight, and the pistol inside a contamination bag, which he left on the ground. Tears had begun to cloud his vision, and his guilt over stranding his wife had begun to cloud his judgment.
He opened the door to the bunker. Barbara sat on the couch. Her face showed her fear. He looked at her, then at the computer. The camera focused on the barn exit. Somehow she had unlocked the system.
“How much did you see?” he asked.
She stared up at him. Her eyes were wide. She licked her lips and opened her mouth to speak, but barely managed to get an audible sound out.
“She’s sick, Barb. There’s nothing we can do for her. She made her way down here, putting all of us at risk. Do you understand?”
Barbara nodded slowly and unconvincingly.
“Don’t tell Emma. No matter what you do, don’t mention it to her.”
Barbara nodded again, this time with more conviction.
Only then did Sean realize he stood naked in front of the woman. He brought his hands up and apologized and headed toward the bathroom to get a shower. He washed, then changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt he had underneath the sink. By the time he returned to the main area, Barbara was gone. Sean stood outside of her door, his fist raised and ready to knock. But he didn’t. Instead, he unlocked and opened the gun cabinet. The bottom drawer had a combination lock. He entered the correct code, opened it, and pulled out a bottle of 151. He retrieved it and walked over the kitchen area and found a shot glass. He brought the glass and the bottle to his computer desk.
The image on the screen remained unchanged. Sean cycled through the cameras, starting inside the house. Room by room, he verified his home was empty. He checked the garage, then the perimeter of the property. He did not see Kathy in any of the feeds. Finally, he selected the barn feed. The hatch was closed, as was the barn door. He threw back his third shot of 151, wincing at the burn in his throat. Then he selected the camera positioned on the other side of the barn passage door.
Kathy was there. She pounded against the door. Her mouth opened wide over and over again. He didn’t need to be a lip reader to know that she called out his name.
Sean took another shot, and then another. He lost track after ten. All the while, he watched as his tormented wife relentlessly tried to regain access to the passage. When he could take no more, he exited out of the feed, changed his computer password, and then locked the machine. He brought the bottle and shot glass with him to the couch. But he’d drink no more that night. The moment his head hit his pillow, he passed out.
Chapter 19
The cold air bit at Addison, causing her to sink deeper into her sleeping bag. The first traces of light filtered through the tent. She glanced around at faces she shared the structure with. Four women, all alone, ranging from ages fifteen to forty, had become her roommates. Despite living with them for a week, she still couldn’t remember their names. But it wasn’t like she made an effort to get to know them. The first opportunity she got, Addison was going to make a break for it.
The rest of the community did their best to help her integrate to their way of life. They worked throughout the day, preparing food for winter and constructing houses. Addison had been assigned as a digger for the next structure, which meant from eight in the morning until sunset she held a shovel and carried scoop after scoop of dirt up a ramp. They were smart, she thought, building the structures in this manner. The house portion, while useless from what she had seen from the completed buildings, provided a sense of normalcy. Everyone would live below ground. Sealed off from the world should those things she saw on TV make their way to the small community.
It turned out that Phil was the leader of the group. His reach was wide, but only a small percentage actually made it to the compound. They considered it their mission to keep humanity going, and to eliminate any shred of evidence of the sick. That was why they had burned an entire community to the ground.
How many innocents had died at their hands that day?
Addison shuddered and pushed the thoughts aside.
Aware that she would not fall back to sleep, Addison unzipped her sleeping bag and rolled out of it. Quietly, she slipped on her shoes and crept toward the front of the tent. She pulled back the flap and stepped outside. The frost-covered ground reflected the early morning sun’s rays, sparkling like diamonds. The patrol to her right looked in her direction. His eyes didn’t linger long. He went back to watching the tree line. She’d learned that the four men she saw were only the beginning. There were also four positioned in the woods at all times. To escape, she’d have to get past them, and as it stood, she had no idea where they were located. At some point, she wouldn’t care. And then, she’d take her chances. For now, though, she had to stick to the status quo and do as told.
She made her way to the main house for breakfast and coffee. The ground crunched under her feet. She couldn’t recall a frost this early.
Would it be an early winter, or a particularly harsh one? How would they survive?
She’d never roughed it in her life. Constant heat was taken for granted, as was a roof over her head. There wasn’t enough room for everyone inside the structures that were close to being completed.
Would the rest be forced to sleep outside?
She pulled the heavy wooden door open and stepped into the room. The fire in the fireplace cast an orange glow across the room and provided ample warmth. Addison shrugged off her coat and draped it over her forearm. She walked toward the food table. Eggs and bacon were the meal of the morning, just like every other morning that week. She wondered if they had chickens and pigs somewhere, or was this what they had managed to pilfer from a grocery store? She had seen no livestock, but that didn’t mean they didn’t keep them elsewhere in an effort to keep predators away from the camp.
Addison grabbed a plate and scooped scrambled eggs onto it. She grabbed four pieces of bacon. She used a ladle to fill a mug with lukewarm coffee. She’d never been a big fan of the stuff, and never would have considered drinking it at this temperature. But this was not a time to be picky. The beverage provided the jolt she needed to get her day started.
There were few others in the room, which left plenty of tables unoccupied. She sat at one in the corner, away from the others. Her solitude would not last long, though. A woman close to her age sat down across from her without trepidation.
“Hi,” the woman said. “Name’s Jenny.”
Addison nodded and looked down at her plate, hoping that Jenny and her country twang would get up and leave.
“You got a name?” Jenny asked.
“Addison,” she said through a mouthful of eggs. A small piece fell and landed on her hand. She flicked her wrist and brushed it off the table.
“I never seen you before now. How’d you get involved?”
Addison set her fork down, swallowed the eggs and took a sip of coffee. Through it all, the woman across her did not move. She didn’t put food in her mouth or drink from her mug. She appeared to have no plans of leaving, so Addison decided to go along with the conversation.
“I was never involved, as you put it. I was on the road, trying to get out of town. Those two behemoths stopped me and forced me to come here at gun point.”
Jenny lowered her head a little, looking ashamed. “Which two did that?”
“Ralph and Phil. They didn’t do anything to me. I mean, apart from the kidnapping thing. It’s not like they touched me or even acted like they were going to. But still, they forced me against my will to come here.”
“Where were you going?”
Addison paused for a moment before responding. She took another drink from her mug and shifted her gaze around the room. No one appeared to be listening in on their conversation, but she still wasn’t sure how much information to divulge to the young woman.
“I was going to my grandparents,” she said. “They live in North
Carolina, north of Charlotte.”
Jenny’s eyebrows rose into her forehead. “You were going to ride a bike to Charlotte in the middle of all this?”
Addison sat back and folded her arms across her chest. “How did you know I was on a bike?”
Jenny chewed on her bottom lip for a few seconds. She looked over her shoulder, presumably to see who was in the room. “I’m sorry about my father. He takes this seriously.” She leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table and her hands in the air in front of her face. “As he should. I know this is important. The world is going down the shitter, Addison. The last reports I saw, well, let’s just say that most people are dead or dying. Those that are left, it’s gonna be a race to see who can grow the fastest. He who is strongest shall outlast all the others. That’s what Daddy says all the time.”
“Which one is your father?” Addison asked.
“Phil.”
Addison struggled to see the resemblance. She also realized she should say little else, if anything at all, to Jenny.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Jenny said. “You can trust me.”
“Let me get this straight. You’re father abducts me at gunpoint and you think I should just trust you?”
“I don’t like what they did to you, forcing you to come here. I believe in his heart, he thought he was helping you. Maybe he saw me when he looked at you. I know if I were out there alone, he’d want someone to reach out and take care of me.”
“Reaching out and helping is one thing. Jamming a rifle into my back and forcing me into a pickup truck is straight up creepy.”
Jenny looked down at the table. “I’m not disagreeing with you, Addison. I’m not. But look, you’re in this situation now. You need to figure out how to make the best of it, ‘cause this is life, Babe. My dad listens to me. Somewhat, at least. If we become friends, you and I, I can get you some benefits and privileges around here. Get you out of that tent and off digging duty. Wouldn’t you like that?”
“Why should I believe you?”
“You ever seen me around here before?” She paused, but Addison did not answer. “Ever seen me digging in that hole, or sleeping in a tent? Hell, ever seen me eating in here before now?”
Addison shook her head.
“I only came in here this morning because I saw that you had.”
Addison studied the woman for a moment. She looked believable, but something nagged at the back of her mind. “What’s in this for you?”
Jenny reached across the table, grabbed a hold of Addison’s hand and squeezed it. “Companionship. I’m alone here. The others don’t interact with me. They think I’m spoiled. They’re right, you know. But it’s not like anyone else is running around my cabin to keep me company.”
“So the moment I become your friend, they’ll all shun me, too?”
Jenny nodded and then looked away, perhaps feeling defeated. After all, it wasn’t the best proposition for someone who wanted to be a part of the community.
“Fine, I’ll do it. Tell him we’re best friends and get me out of that damn hole.”
“It’s not going to be that simple,” Jenny said. “But we can start by—”
The door burst open. The light that filled the room was quickly blocked out by Phil’s wide frame.
“Jenny,” he said. “Get away from her.”
The young woman’s eyes watered over. She sat motionless, defying her father’s orders.
Phil lumbered over to the table. He glanced down at Addison and said, “Don’t let my stepdaughter poison your thoughts. She’s worthless, that’s why no one will associate with her. I only keep her around because of a promise I made to her mother while she lay on her deathbed. At some point, Jenny here will need to take care of herself, and I figure that’s when nature will take its course.”
Addison broke the stare between Phil and her and shifted her gaze to Jenny, who now had tears streaming down her cheeks. The woman refused to make eye contact and had released her grip on Addison’s hand.
“Get up and get back to the cabin,” Phil said. “And don’t let me see you around this girl again.” He hovered over the table while Jenny pushed back in her chair and stood up. She looked at him for a moment, then turned and left the room. “As for you,” he said to Addison. “Finish your breakfast and get to work. You’ll be wanting that building to be done a month from now.”
Addison glanced down at her plate and began scooping forkfuls of eggs into her mouth. The desire to leave the camp had never been greater, not even on her first night there. She gulped down the remaining coffee and then put on her jacket. She brought her plate to the table in the corner where everyone stacked their dirty dishes. Leftover eggs and bacon littered the floor. Addison dropped her plate, but that was it. She tucked the fork in her waistband and the mug inside her zipped up jacket.
As she turned, she noted that not a single person in the room looked in her direction. Her shunning had already begun.
For what? Jenny sitting at her table?
Maybe they were all embarrassed to have her witness how they really operated. End of the world or not, people were still people, not cogs in a machine.
She passed through the room and pushed the door open. The air hit her face, cooling her flushed cheeks. The bright sunlight hampered her vision. She had no idea who, if anyone, stood in front of her. And she didn’t care. Addison turned left and continued along the front of the building. Her eyes adjusted. She took a quick glance to her right and behind her. No one followed, and it didn’t appear that anyone watched her. At the corner of the building, she turned left again. Here, she had the woods to her immediate right. She pressed against the structure and took three deep breaths. With one last look to her left and her right, she lunged forward and dove to the ground. The grass felt damp and smelled sweet. It had been a long time since she had laid down in the grass. And that was under much different circumstances.
She crawled toward the woods, now just a few feet away. She didn’t stop once she passed the first few trees. Sticks and undergrowth tugged at her clothing and scratched her arms, legs and stomach. The pain did not hinder her movements. After a few minutes, she rose to her hands and knees and crawled on all fours. When she finally came to a halt, she glanced back. She could no longer see the building where she had eaten breakfast.
As best she could, Addison traveled in a straight line. From this point, she could continue in the direction she had crawled, or turn left. Going any other way would bring her too close to the camp.
A twig snapped behind her. She scooted toward the closest tree. It wasn’t the biggest, but if she turned sideways, it hid her from view.
Another twig snapped, this time closer. She reached for the fork in her waistband, but it wasn’t there. She patted her legs and lifted her pants. She’d lost her weapon while crawling along the forest floor. As she straightened up, she felt the heavy ceramic mug inside her jacket pressing against her side. She slowly unzipped her jacket and reached for the cup.
Whatever was out there was no longer moving. That, or she’d not heard its last steps. Addison leaned to her right, using the tree for support, and took in the area. There was nothing there. She convinced herself that she’d heard a squirrel or raccoon. It didn’t matter what it was, though. She had to get moving. Staying in one spot was asking to be found. That was the thing to do when lost, not when trying to escape.
She faced the direction she’d been heading and turned left. West, she presumed. Not the ideal direction, as it would ultimately take her into the mountains. She didn’t plan on pursuing the path for long. Once far enough from the camp, she’d circle around in an attempt to find the road. Any road, for that matter.
Addison began walking, cautiously at first, and taking in the sights and sounds. Nothing seemed out of place. The forest floor was littered with dead leaves and twigs and branches. A few of the trees had already begun to turn. Their leaves were varying shades of red and gold. No one would drive through the mountains
to enjoy them this year. The world would never be the same.
She picked up her pace. Someone would have noticed she wasn’t where she was supposed to be by this point. They would soon begin looking for her. She had to distance herself.
A shotgun blast cut through the air. Addison looked back at the barren forest. She heard ATV engines revving up. She knew if they headed her way, there was no way to outrun the vehicles. They were made for the terrain, and their drivers were likely familiar with the area. This also meant that any structures available for hiding would also be known to them.
She began to run, but in her haste tripped over a large branch. The fall knocked the wind from her lungs. Blood trickled from her nose across her cheek. She picked herself up off the ground and looked around. She couldn’t run fast and stay safe at the same time. The obstacles on the ground made it impossible. She couldn’t hide behind a rock or on the ground. They’d know where to look. She had to go up.
It had been years since she climbed a tree, but she figured it was like riding a bike. She scouted the area until she one with low branches she could reach.
A few minutes later, Addison began her ascent. Ten feet off the ground, she spotted an ATV. She shifted to her left and hugged the tree. The ATV’s engine went silent. She remained motionless, attached to the tree as if part of the bark.
“What’re you doing up there?”
She recognized Ralph’s voice.
“You can climb down on your own, or I can shoot you. Don’t make a difference to me. From this point on you’re just gonna be a drain to us.”