Terminus_The End of The World As We Know It

by Lee Ragans

  We had plenty of food and an entire floor of a condo building to ourselves. Actually, we had the entire building to ourselves, if you did not count the few wandering dead.

  At one time in my life, I could have afforded a place like we were in. Well if I married well and worked in the city. The view from the top apartments was amazing. You could see the whole of Centennial Olympic Park. It satisfied the boys need to see everything and the previous owners left in a hurry. There was still boxed and canned food in almost all of the condos. One place had way too much meat in the non-working refrigerator. To stop the smell, we rolled it on to the balcony and threw it over into the small gathering of dead below. I was fascinated and disgusted as one of the zombies that had been crush and split in two reaching into the pile of spoiled meat and started eating. It was a new low for the end of the world. The more fascinating part was watching it pick up the food as it fell out of its chest and eat it again. I could not begin to fathom what was happening on a biological level that let something like that live.

  We had the top floor cleaned out and made it secure. The pool on the roof had turned to green sludge. Josh without discussion found the lines and opened the drain letting almost all the water out. I watched in amazement as he put in chlorine with just a foot of water left and the next day he finished draining the now mostly clean water. It was empty, but it did not smell. We used the grills and propane tanks from the unused outdoor heater to cook. It was nice having hot food. Though one can only do so much with Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

  It was easy to build barricades in the stairwell. The non-working elevator made the elevator shaft safe.

  We kept lights to a minimum at night. We did all of this without a great plan. We had just been on the road long enough. It was time to rest and eat what we had found. After a few days, the three of us had cleared all the dead from the building. Well, we killed them all. If that is the right word, and tossed the bodies out windows into the street. No need to let the stench rise to our new home. We found food and took all the non-perishables with us. The fact that we had running water, though no longer filtered made it hard to even think of leaving. We boiled the water every day to drink, but the giant walk-in shower was our true luxury.

  Josh found a small portable Honda generator. Someone had it in their storage close along with their tailgating supplies. It also had a Yeti cooler and a plug-in ice maker. It became our mission to fill that yeti with ice. If we were smart, we would have thought about finding a way to purify water easily, but all I wanted were cold drinks. So, I boiled the water and made the ice as it cooled. I felt like I was contributing something by doing it.

  I never asked why there were in the bar that day, in full battle gear. It didn't matter. From that moment on we were together. With a safe place, a shower and a 12 pack of cold beer it was time to talk. I knew they were special forces, but what branch was never clear. They did not talk about the Army or Navy like most guys who tried to get in my pants. They talked about places and events.

  We spent a very comfortable evening in the shower. Four beers in it was obvious that we had all lost our tolerance for alcohol. With all 3 of us sitting naked in the cool, wet tile of the shower avoiding the heat. I looked at my men and asked, "So why were you two there to rescue me and not fighting with your unit?"

  I don't think I could have made it more uncomfortable if I had squatted in the shower and dropped a turd. They both looked away from me. They looked into each other’s eyes and then back at me and said in unison, "We deserted."

  These two were the most loyal men I knew. The idea of them deserting their duty was impossible for me to understand. I wanted to ask, but I knew they would answer in time. Life was nothing but time now. No need to rush them.

  David started after finishing his beer and stacking the can in the corner of the large shower. "We were traveling back to Fort Bragg when our transport was ordered down at Jacksonville International."

  Josh added, "We are Delta Force. Those people that do the things the Navy Seals can't because it is immoral, or just too politically risky to have soldiers caught or killed."

  David continued, "We have been a sniper team for 5 years. That is a long time, even for Delta. We don't carry ID with us when we are working. When we landed they thought we were CIA, it happens. In fact, it’s really difficult to tell Delta Force from CIA operatives most of the time. Hell, we might be CIA for all we know. Not that it matters now."

  Josh was silent, and David opened another beer before continuing, "As they took us and our gear off the plane the Captain in charge of reassigning the soldiers from the transports stared at us and then asked where he should send us. I suppose I could have told him what we did, and he might have made a better choice. I just pointed at Josh's bag with the Barrett and told him we are a sniper team. I left off the rest of our skills and abilities. No need to mention demolitions, infiltration, assassination, reconnaissance. The guy had no idea what to do so I asked, "Do you need snipers or someone in guard towers? He sent us to the MPs."

  Josh jumped in, "We got some new gear and something that looked a little more military, and we agreed to take the new watchtower that overlooked the main entry. The engineers went to work day one and built one I guess."

  "We already had our plan in place without speaking. Instead of setting up a rotation we asked for blankets and a case of MREs."

  I just listened. They always had a plan or two ahead. That explained why they always seemed to be moving through places like they were on rails. They would be dead if they didn't think like that.

  "So, we watched the schedule and then 2 days later when it was obvious things were going to shit, we snuck out. Broad daylight, no one noticed. We had all the gear we needed."

  "But why did you come to the hotel?"

  Josh laughed, "We remembered this hot bartender."

  "You are full of shit. You did not notice me."

  David had a big grin, "We had been there 4 months before. We played rock paper scissors to decide who was going to ask you out."

  "Who won?"

  They both said, "We tied."

  David continued, "Eight times in a row. We gave up."

  I slid across the cool, wet tile and got between them. Putting my arms around them, I said, "Looks like I won."

  We were there in the heat of the day enjoying our time on the cool tile. I had lost all concerns, then David said, “We shared our shame. You never told us why you shot your boyfriend in the knees and burned his house down.”

  “I thought 2 years in jail and felony conviction were bad enough. I told you why I was in jail.”

  Josh stroked my hair. He always did that. David held my hand. They were expecting an answer.

  “He raped me. He drugged me and raped me. He videoed it and put it on the INTERNET. The title was good girl loves to be dirty. I suppose the best news is that the servers that held that are all offline now. No one will ever watch him rape me again and think it was fun. I was drugged and helpless. He blindfolded me so no one could see I was not awake. I had no idea it had even happened. I thought I passed out that weekend and maybe we did something. I was not happy about the idea, but he was my boyfriend. Three months later a guy in the office said he like my video.

  I was so mad. I was going to go to HR, and then I thought to ask him what video. I saw it, the dude apologized. I did not even wait. Next thing I know I am walking into the police station and I said I took care of the rapist. It was Florida. I was sent to jail. The only justice is that he got 5 years for rape and was branded a sex offender. I did my 2 and was happy to do it.”

  They did not say anything. They just sat there with me enjoying doing nothing sitting around on the cool, wet tile naked as the day we were born. I still remember that night. We never skipped sex, unless we were on the run. That night they held me. I know they wanted to say they were sorry for what happened to me. They wanted to go hunt down my ex and kill him. They did what they could. They held me.

  After 2 weeks o
f setting up and playing house, Josh came into the darkened living room and said, “We have neighbors. Looks like 4 people at least in the W hotel. They have a generator and from what I can tell they are making supply runs to the interstate. My guess is a semi of foodstuffs. I am going to go check out the interstate on the other side of the hotel.”

  David said, “I will run overwatch from the balcony.”

  “What do I do?”

  Josh said, “Time for you to learn to be a spotter.”

  I was handed a pair of binoculars, and I put on a radio mike on my neck like they used. David had the Barrett, and we were sitting the dark.

  He turned to me and said, “Can you go put on a shirt at least. Those are distracting.”

  I had not even thought about the fact that I was wandering around in just panties. I was never a prude, and with the undeniable proof that all morality was bullshit shuffling the streets around us, I did not think of the effect I had on the men in my life. I pulled on a t-shirt and got back on the balcony.

  Looking through the binoculars, I could see Josh had made his way down the stairwell and opened the barricade. He moved quickly and steadily toward the interstate.

  “You have attracted some attention from a small group. They are about 20 meters out to your right.” David said as I listened. He was using the scope and his naked eye.

  “Roger.”

  “You have a group that is not paying attention 50 meters ahead. If you cross the street, they will probably ignore you.”

  “Roger.”

  Just a few minutes later Josh was out of our site line. I trained my binoculars on the W hotel in the distance. I could see one of the room lit up and the windows open. One of them was watching TV. One was working out, and a guy and girl were snuggled on the couch. It was cute. They looked happy. I thought about it. I was happy. I had not been happy since the day that video surfaced. I was happy. I had my guys.

  I was shaken from my thoughts by Josh’s voice, “No food truck, but they do have a fuel truck. That is what they are doing. Filling fuel cans. Maybe we should grab a few, it would make it easier than siphoning from cars.”

  “Roger that. Sounds like community property to me.”

  I laughed. Everything that was not on your person was community property these days. The things in your pockets were community property if you could not protect it.

  “Your friends have gathered on the road. You need to take a different path back.”

  “Roger.”

  Josh was back inside and secured the barricade just 30 minutes later.

  We sat down and watched the dark night sky in the distance, and I asked, “So why did we come to Savannah and then Atlanta?”

  “What do you mean?” David asked.

  “You guys don’t pee without a plan. You have a plan.”

  Josh said, “Not really a plan. Just an idea.”

  “When were you going to share it with me?”

  David answered, “You know, I guess we forgot you don’t think like we do. Take it as a compliment.”

  “So teach me.”

  “We have been doing black ops for so long that this does not even feel strange. It feels like a mission gone bad. So we are looking for information and supplies.”

  “I think that is called surviving.”

  “Sorry, I mean weapons caches. Every major city has a CIA drop site or 10. Depends on the city.”

  “So you are looking for guns?”

  “Sure, and there will be other gear. But the one that really matters is the satellite radios. That will let us get in touch with anyone still running ops. Or at least talk to others like us that are on our own.”

  “So where are these caches?”

  “There is one around here. To be honest, we are just waiting to see if anyone else is there. No need to go and get shot.”

  “Where is it?”

  Josh started to talk and then looked like he changed his mind. Then he said, “You want to learn. You are way more book smart than either of us. I am sure you are smarter than both of us put together so let's teach you what to look for, and then you can tell us when you see it.”

  David smiled.

  “Okay. Teach me.”

  “The cache needs to be publicly accessible, but not somewhere people will wander into. It has to be large but has a reason for people to go in an out of it and use part it for daily use.”

  “So some kind of government building. But I bet not an office building. You need it to be somewhere you can carry boxes in and out of without drawing attention.”

  “You are on the right track.”

  “Are they marked?”

  “No. And that is one of the telling features.”

  “So with all that, I also have to assume that it is visible from here. Since you two were eager to come right here.”

  “Obviously.”

  “So I am going to say America’s Mart building we can see. There is a street-level side door that has a keypad. I remember you guys looking at it when we passed.”

  “Good memory,” David said.

  Josh added, “That is one of them.”

  “Interesting. More than one here.” I thought for a few minutes. I tried to think of where Josh and David looked all the time. That was impossible. They looked everywhere.

  “In the park. That building across the way.”

  “Bingo. The park maintenance building. One half of it is a cache. That is the one with the most promise.” David said.

  “The one in the Mart could be huge,” I said.

  “That is why it is probably already compromised.”

  “How much longer do we watch?”

  Josh looked at the W, “I was watching to see if the hotel crew were in the company. Looks like they are just lucky survivors.”

  “So we go tomorrow?”

  “No, tomorrow night.”

  It was exciting. For once there was a goal. We had been talking about Philadelphia, but I was not sure that was real. Josh talked about family there sometimes and then others not at all. I had no family. Well none that cared, and I was fairly certain they were no longer alive so no chance to make amends.

  “So, what comes after we get the radios?”

  “We see what the world looks like. We don’t have to reveal where we are. We might just let it all rot and live out our days here.” David said.

  “I think I like that second option.”

  9

  I spent the next day thinking about the possibilities. There may be a government operating that wanted their operatives back. There may be a cure. There could be millions of survivors in other cites, and just the South was hit.

  I also spent plenty of time worrying that their bosses would take them from me. I had seen enough movies and read enough books to know the CIA did not care about home life. It was highly unlikely that anyone above them in the chain of command would approve of our marriage. They would most likely not understand it and dismiss it.

  The chance to have contact with a larger world also brought fear of my new world falling apart. A big part me wanted to tell them not to call in. I held them extra close all night. When I was close to them.

  I took my turn on watch while they slept. I like the middle watch. We did not always set watch all night, but this was a time that we need to know there were no surprises waiting for us.

  I spent my 4 hours walking in the dark from balcony to balcony and spent a large amount of time on the pool deck. The fact that mosquitos seemed to be out in abundance was truly disturbing. Why did they not die off like all of humanity? I had to keep moving to keep the bugs from eating me alive.

  The next night we set out and set a marker to let us know if someone broke into our new home. The dead were occupied elsewhere for some reason. We were in our full travel gear, and we had enough food for a week and 2 days water on us.

  I did not know why this made sense, but I would have felt naked and exposed without enough gear for us to survive on the run again. Instead of
moving around and hiding we moved directly to the location of the cache. If someone were watching David said they would be watching us no matter what route we took. No need to waste time or energy he said.

  When we got to the building at the far end of the park, there were a few dead blocking the way to the door. I took one out with my aluminum baseball bat while Josh and David put the rest down with their knives. The smell was past rancid, or I was getting used to it. Heat and humidity did nothing to make the walking corpses smell better.

  David tapped in a code to the door's keypad and tried the lock. Nothing happened. Josh typed in a code, and nothing happened. David tried again. I assumed a different code, and then the door lock opened. I never asked them how the code thing worked. I don’t think they even thought to tell me what I did not know.