"Our ranger station is a place for anyone and everyone to escape the creatures" Overly loud, I voice my opinion as I waddle towards the door. My chest feeling heavy and tense from all the soft, soothing gel he put on me. It was so weird but it's helping so that's what I need to remind myself of other than his rough hand circling my chest. I wanted to do it myself but no, he had to do it...
It was so demeaning.
"We offer help, not work" I finish, wrapping my hand around the doorknob. Two footsteps pound onto the floor, a chair pushes back across the floor, letting out a small squeaking sound as he rolls backwards and into the desk. I freeze, because behind me right now could be the same Patrick I saw yesterday, the one who looked like he would kill anyone as long as it was for Linda.
"We have work to do whether we like it or not. Help is not coming, so we are alone Mark. We fight for ourselves now"
"For each other" Correcting him only makes this talk worse.
I look over my shoulder at Patrick who flares his nose and narrows his eyes at me. I fight back with my own icy looks. Foulness is passed between us. Neither of us agrees with the other despite the fact I am sure we are both right and wrong in our own ways.
"Everyone's welcome here Mark. But now, we have to fight and survive. No more luxury for anyone. I'd learn that lesson and learn it quick. One day, there could be no one else left to fight for you" His words are like knives that stab at me, each sentence holds a powerful truth within it. He's not wrong. I just can't bring myself to think the way he is. I just, can't. I move aside on instinct as Patrick moves past me swiftly. Opening the door and leaving without another word...
I am left alone in the cold room. I'm sceptical of everything he has in mind.
I sigh, turning towards the single square window. Through it, I can see out into the car park where Ed and Maya talk sensibly, a look of confusion on her face and a tinge of pink on his.
* * *
Ed
"You are serious about this?" Stunned, Maya voices her disbelief constantly. Unable to fully understand that I do genuinely want to learn how to fight, wield a knife and use a gun. She crosses her arms, embarrassment on her face. "I never thought you'd actually go through with it" She mutters, looking off to the side.
I frown, dropping my eyebrows and slumping slightly. "Then why offer?" I question her. Maya sighs, "Well if you're really that certain on learning then I guess I could teach you?" Still unsure of me, the black-haired fighter half-heartedly forces a small, pathetic try of a smile on her face. "I mean, I did make the offer"
"Look, if you don't want to. Then don't bother" I give up, throwing my hands in the air and turning to leave. I have better things to do than waste time with someone who doesn't really care deep down. Don't make a promise you can't keep. Don't make an offer you can't give.
"Hey, Ed!" A strong masculine voices booms at me from across the car park. Patrick advances towards us, several weapons on him. From the pistol on his belt to the shotgun on his back and the rifle in his hands, he has every bit of the arsenal he can get. Agape, I can't find the words. Forgetting I asked him to train me as well is now a huge mistake. "So, you ready to learn?" He asks.
Maya looks at me, an even bigger frown on her face than me. "Oh, so you had already asked someone else?" And that is when I see something else. On her face, right there. No anger or even glee that she can back out happily. I see disappointment. Noticing the look, I see that she didn't want to avoid me or get me away from her. She just didn't expect me to do it. Now that I am, she's willing to try it. Besides, it's not just that. After our arguments the other day, this would be the first big step to sealing up any open wounds we have.
Plus I still want to prove I am not a boy.
I am no kid.
I'm more than a child.
Thinking quick, I rush for an answer that comes all too smoothly. "Nah, I went to Maya because you seemed like you had your hands full with other stuff," I say, then secretly snicker to myself because of the pun. I think Patrick picks up on it, which is why he shakes his head dismissively but I see the small grin he hides behind the fierce look of stone in his features. Maya doesn't get it. It's because he is covered from head to toe in weapons. So he had his ‘hands full’. Okay, it was pretty bad. Did it even make sense? It did in my head anyway!
"Ah, good point" With those words, Patrick bids us goodbye and good day. Heaving all the weaponry left him a little, slow. I sigh, a small bubble of relief pops inside me.
"So-" Maya says, making me look at her. We share a look of good faith for a moment, bypassing all my mistakes with asking Patrick, even though there's nothing wrong with that. I feel it's just best we train together, nothing more, nothing less. She gushes, sleekly turning her hips and reaching for the hatchet on her belt. With a single pop of the clip that holds it in place, she steps forward. Maya gets right in front of me, grabbing my hand and thrusting the hilt of the blade into my palm. Awkwardly, I stare into her invariably changing expression. She can't make up her mind on how she feels about this!
I look at the weapon and take a step back when she doesn't. She drops her shoulders, letting a small smile on her face for once. "Let's start with the basics then, yeah?"
Chapter 16 - Disquietude
Ed
"Shush now Eddy" Ben whispers giddily as we manoeuvre through the dense forest. A week had passed since the radio tower. Life for the group has been a roller coaster. Small dips mostly. Things haven't been terrible but there has been the odd incident here and there. No one had been killed or hurt and that was something I think we all cling to. It gives us a sense of security under Patrick's leadership. In a week, so much had changed.
"I got this" My voice is shaky but there is an underlying confidence to not mess up this time. Last time I and Ben went hunting, Inevitably, I ended up giving away our position and on our way back, we had attracted several creatures. That was the first time we had encountered them since the outbreak. I personally still wonder about the monsters from time to time...
Anyway, when we got back, Patrick was fuming at me! It was harsh treatment but I accepted it. All the training in the world from Maya had not prepared me for hunting with Ben. He's like an expert next to me while all I can do is live in his shadow. Luckily, when those creatures followed us back, anyone on guard duty was able to clean it up fairly quickly.
Taking a deep breath and steadying myself, I aim down the sight with the rifle. "Come on now..." Ben encourages, more childlike giddiness in his voice. With Ben being a hunter as a former occupation, he proved to be extremely useful to the group, going out several times in the week to hunt for food. Patrick had assigned me to him in the hopes I'd learn from him. I'm always at his side as an assistant in a way, although I would prefer the term pupil. It's just a better way to put it than, Ben's assistant.
Ben taught me how to survive. I would even go as far to say we're quite close now. He's a trustworthy friend and a great guy to kick back with. Each scavenging hunt is more fun than the last. We would make bets on what we'd find. Rarely, we would ever actually be right on our bets though so no one ever benefitted. The thrill of it was still worth it nonetheless. We were never really able to get close to being right on the things we would bet on. Unless it's obvious what we would find because different parts of the forest harbour a different type of life to find. Ben having scouted most of the land here before everything went to hell gave him a huge advantage. He even got lucky once or twice, but even he said it's emptier than he remembers.
Never found any corpses of the animals, leading us to believe they either cleared out when this resort went to hell. Either that or they were digested whole. We don't even know if creatures hunt animals. No dogs, cats or house animals have been found either. More questions to my ever-growing list no one seems to care about since the subject has already long lost its jazziness. One lucky thing I was able to find though was a silencer! Making me unknown to everything if I shot this gun, except it’s not perfect. It isn’t completel
y soundproof. But it sure as hell made a difference!
Deep breath-
Finger on the trigger-
One shot.
I pull trigger-
Ben jumps for joy and almost skips along to the deer that stumbles slightly before keeling over.
"Meats back on the menu boys!" Ben laughs out loud to himself. Indifferent, I get up from my little hidden spot in the bushes. Stepping out into the open, I feel sun glaring down on my neck through the gaps in the trees. "Nice," I remark. I'd just bagged myself my first kill on the hunt. A deer; just a lone deer, all alone, isolated...
"Come on, let's get this back" Ben leans down and begins preparing. I, on the other hand, find my feet taking me elsewhere. Wandering the area and taking it all in, I enjoy the sights as a way of distracting my constantly curious, but apprehensive mind.
"Come on Eddy" Ben pesters, overly eager to stuff the deer into a bag.
I frown, "You know we have to venture out further and further to find prey now" I state, implying how little we find any more and how riskily far we have to explore. When hunting, you'd have to go out so deep into the forest where the chances of getting lost are higher. "I know Eddy boy" Ben continues to grin away as he begins to pull a black bag over the deer's body.
"What if we get lost?" I look around more, finding a mossy covered tree and marking a small circle on it with my machete. This is the furthest we've come before.
"Something on your mind?" Ben asks as he ties the black bag up at the top in a knot to seal the deer in tight.
It's been a week. I think it's time I started raising some awareness to this oblivious fool. "Where are they, man?" I place a finger on the trigger wearily. Circling the area once more, I do a perimeter check for safety. Regardless of the silencer or not, I'd hate to attract more creatures. When I finally face my hunter boy Benny again, I see confusion written all over his dirty face. No words from Ben either. Nothing remotely useful or intelligent, just someone who hasn't been questioning what should matter. No one has even thought about the issue that-
Well-
Where are they?
A better question is why aren't we looking for them?
They become less and less of a sight every day. Hundreds upon hundreds of people would have been up at this resort and yet, it feels scarily empty. Like there was nothing here in the first place. Yeah, don't question good things when they happen. I know that but...
I think it's time to raise the even bigger question.
"Have you noticed some... corpses went missing?" It takes me a moment to get it all out. Ben begins heaving the bag from the little area and I go to help him. Two hands are better than one. "Well, I suppose I did" not really good enough of an answer is it, Ben? How can you just suppose you did? You either DID or you DIDN'T.
There is more to this than meets the eye. Corpses don't just go missing. Do they?
"Well, if you ask me, I think it makes the area that little bit more cleanly" Ben smiles to himself, positive as always.
"I don't think it's something you should shrug aside so easy" A certain level of seriousness in my tone to throw Ben off his game a little bit.
"You've changed so much," Ben says as if he is a proud father.
Annoyed, I spite him. "Stop changing the subject" my voice raises slightly as he really begins to irritate me now. "What do ya' want me to say, boy?" Ben's innocent voice unknowingly provokes me.
Oh, how I hate being called boy. I'm a young adult, not a child. All I ever have been to the people here is a childish immature kid. There's nothing wrong with it. I get that during a post-apocalyptic time like this, you need all the biggest, ballsy people around on your side.
But I am NOT a child.
"I want you to think about how screwed up that is. Corpses don't just go missing, do they? They don't just die a second time, get up and wander off"
"Actually, I’ve seen that several times now" Ben keeps his eyes forward, playing the smartass act as we climb over a fallen tree. "Well yeah-" I think for a second. "But, I mean, I killed one that already came back! Then when we went to that same area again, it was gone" The whole situation had me troubled. A part of me considering, you know, maybe I am over thinking this or... Maybe there is something going on?
"Look, boy-"
"Stop fucking calling me ‘boy’" I drop the bag at a slope, the weight of it causing Ben to be dragged down, his feet digging into the dirt as he gains his footing. Ben wrinkles his nose. "Look, Ed, I don't know any more than you do where the bastards are going. But as long as I am alive, it isn’t any of my concern"
Is he really this thick headed? How could he be so stupid? Who just pushes something like this aside? Shouldn't Patrick be concerned at least? In fact, he commented on how it was nice the bodies were clearing themselves up. I can't do this. No more! I like Ben, I really do. But he is just in his own little world. "Fuck it. I will find out where they are going on my own" I don't care if I sound harsh. I don't care if I look like a prick as I walk away now. "Good luck taking the deer back!" I call out, not looking at him. I say the words and carry on walking like a boss.
"Best of luck out there, boy!" Ben cries back. His voice for the first time loses that chirpiness he always maintains. Maya says it's an act, I guess she was right.
I keep walking and walking and walking. No end in sight. I have no idea where I am. Away from that numbskull at least.
Nature begins to settle down as the sun sets above me, the warmth eventually becoming a nice cool temperature on the world. A breeze slowly picks up and the sound of-
Is that water?
"Water," I say after thinking it. It can't be. Where am I? Breaking out into a fast jog, I let my ears guide me towards the sweet blue, freshwater running in a river. I behold my eyes on what is below me. In a little canyon is a refreshing looking stream. We stopped getting water supplied a little while back. Now, we rely on a huge container for the very liquid that gives us life. Although, it has been running dry for a while and Patrick refuses to go to the lake to try and get water. Dirty place anyway, even if Ben thinks he could purify it.
"Now the question for the big money prize is-" I take a moment to look around. I need water. It looks so good! "How do I get down?" Scanning the area; I keep searching hard for an easy path down. Luckily for me, a slope is right there. How, convenient? A slope leading down into the river...
Looks recently made, a bit too obvious that it is a man-made slope.
"Ah," I say faintly. A young girl lies at the bottom of the slope.
She's dead.
She's been clawed to nothing and I think I know what did the crime. Unable to find its way out, a lone creature wanders around in the river. It spots me straight away as I move towards the slope. "Don't worry little one. I'll avenge you" I say as I slide down the slope, past the dead little girl and towards the creature. Pulling out my own machete (Marcus has his father's back. I was fortunate enough to get my own) and swinging it around like Maya had taught me, I begin whistling, directing the creature to me. Limping towards me, the creature makes a barely audible groaning sound. The creatures throat looks smashed in. What a lovely sight. Wait; was it the little girl who did this? Judging from the hammer stuck behind a few shallow rocks, I can only guess she puts up one hell of a fight at the top of the slope and they both came down together. The victor however was not the child; it was the evil that bested her.
My feet are left dampened and wet after stepping into the cold, low running steam that seeps its way into my brown boots. I am not even mad, it feels nice. Once your everyday water is taken away, you realise how useful water really is. How, without it, you aren't anything. Water is something you would get every day easily from a tap or whatever source you can think of. It's not the same for everyone of course. But for me, it was something so basic. I didn't really care for it until it was taken from me. Water keeps me alive. Keeps me clear headed. Dehydration is a dangerous thing once it kicks in.
The Carnage Trilogy (Book 1): The Carnage [Unbending, Unyielding, Unforgiving] Page 14