The Phoenix Curse (Book 2): After

by D. R. Johnson

  Ali offered me a faint smile, but I knew she couldn't possibly understand what I was feeling. She had never known. The corners of my mouth twitched in an attempt to return the smile, but I failed. Instead, I turned away to stare out the dirty pane of glass, not wanting any interaction. I just wanted to find out what Jerald had done to Sundown.

  "I don't get people, Ali." Clive started. "We had a good thing going here. A real good thing. We had a shot to make it last for a long time."

  "It's not over. We can help you rebuild." Ali began but Clive cut her off.

  "And that's appreciated, but did you see those people out there? They're broken. In a way, what Jerald did was worse than when the plague hit. Seeing the evil inside someone, to see the dark side of someone's soul... Witnessing that has stolen their faith and their hope."

  Clive exhaled loudly and Ali said, "You have to tell me what happened here. Vanessa filled me in on some of it. I know about Nic. Tell me about him."

  Clive winced at the mention of Nic. The despair in his voice sunk into his posture and he slumped forward. "Poor Nic. Do you know what Jerald was before the plague?"

  Ali shook her head, but I knew. Clive continued. "He was a preacher. A man of God. Somewhere along the way, the good word got twisted in his mind and you became a demon to him. It's hard to argue against the book of Revelations right now and he had you pegged as one of the four horsemen. Disease. He thought you started it all."

  Ali gasped, and my eyes went wide with shock. I hadn't been raised religiously, but Jerald had told me some things about the bible. I understood what Clive meant. He looked up to see the shock on both our faces and he gave a wry chuckle, completely devoid of mirth.

  "Don't worry. You're safe." He said waving his hand dismissively. "No one was buying into it at first and he wasn't pressing the subject. It wasn't until Nic stepped up did he turn into a zealot, screeching his bullshit to anyone who would listen. He gained a few followers, maybe twenty or so. I thought they were annoying but harmless. I should have paid more attention.

  "He was constantly saying we needed to banish the devil from our midst or God would never be with us again. Three days ago, he took matters into his own hands and decided to purify our town. Gabriella, that little engineer graduate, you remember her?"

  The name rang a bell, but I couldn't recall a face. Ali, however, was nodding in answer.

  "She went over to his side. We didn't know it then, but she had laced the whole town square with explosives. First thing I heard that morning were the screams. Won't ever forget walking outside to see Nic crucified in the middle of the square and a bonfire lit beneath him."

  Clive's voice cracked and he buried his hands in face, dropping the old baseball cap. Horrified, I looked at Ali helplessly to see her face was drained of all color. She stood frozen, still as a statue. Heartbeat after heartbeat passed as we absorbed the news.

  Clive went on, his voice faint. "Jerald's followers had him surrounded, protecting the sacrifice from being saved by us non-believers. We couldn't even get close. They'd doused him with some old fuel and he was being eaten alive by flames.

  "We don't have much ammo left to spread around so what bullets we have left are precious. Everyone knows to only use them in dire emergencies." Clive finally raised his head. His eyes were red from tears. "Sean Porter did the right thing when he put a bullet through Nic's head. There was no saving him, we all knew that. He just put the poor man out of his misery."

  I reached out for Ali, searching for solace. She wrapped her arm around me in return. I couldn't comprehend what I was hearing.

  Clive continued, "I don't know how they had originally planned to set off those explosives but I'm pretty sure what happened next wasn't what they intended. Sean's next bullet took Jerald in the shoulder. The third hit what was left of the fuel tanks they'd used on Nic, busted one of them open real good and the fuel was draining towards the fire.

  "It was chaos by that point. Some had run, others were grabbing weapons. We had Jerald's men circled around the bonfire when I ran inside to grab my shotgun. That's when the first explosion went off. Best I can tell, the fuel leak from the tank had spread the fire to the fuse, or whatever Gabby had concocted. That blast took out Jerald, his followers and most of the men and women that were keeping them at bay. We lost Sean in that blast. I would have been gone too if I hadn't went back for my gun."

  "Jesus, Clive." Ali finally managed to groan. She slumped against the wall as Clive choked back tears again.

  Once he regained his composure, he finished the traumatic tale. "The fire just kept spreading, setting off more explosions every now and then. We had no way of knowing what all Gabby had trapped, and we weren't safe. We evacuated everything we could here. Figured it was the best place for now, but we need to find a better solution soon. The nights haven't gotten below freezing yet, but that doesn't mean another cold snap isn't on the way."

  "Clive," Ali said, her brow furrowed. She turned to glance out the window at the people beyond. "Are we even safe here?"

  Clive grunted before he responded. "I never thought we needed to be afraid of our neighbors. I never thought they were capable of doing something like that. The best answer I can give you is that none of those folks out there harbored any ill will against Nic. All of Jerald's followers are gone. We just need the help now."

  Ali looked to me and I understood her fear. She didn't want to share Nic's fate and I sure as hell didn’t, either. She turned back to Clive, "What about food?"

  "The food shed burned, but the fire didn't spread to the fields so bad. Guess we have the snow to thank for that. We were only able to pull enough out of the houses to last a few days at best. The livestock's scared but unharmed. Figured we'd need to butcher one of the pigs here soon."

  I looked out the window at all the desperate people, the children and the elderly living in a muddy tent city in the middle of winter. It made my heart hurt. I couldn't believe they were capable of the horror story I just heard. All I saw were people barely surviving. Remembering the look in the old woman's eyes that had pleaded for our help, I knew what I wanted.

  I squeezed Ali's hand until she turned to me. I whispered, "We can help them, right?"

  Her face was stern, but then sympathy and compassion melted her eyes. The corners of her mouth tugged into a hint of a smile and she nodded.

  Turning back to Clive, she asked, "Where do we start?"

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Clive exhaled, a sense of relief washing over him. Ali offered him all the supplies we had in our Murano and he nodded gratefully. We led him to the SUV, curious eyes following us the whole way. Clive called to a couple men that were working on repairing openings on a large travel trailer, probably intending to use it for another shelter. They broke away from their work to follow us while Vanessa met us there.

  "This is Carlos Gandera," Clive pointed to a dark skinned, dark haired man who nodded in return. I thought I may have recognized him. Then he pointed toward the tall, older man walking behind him. I knew I'd never seen this man before. I would have remembered the huge scar that ran along the side of his face. "And that's Wade Shultz. He showed up not long after you guys passed through here last spring. You get used to him."

  I frowned, wondering what he meant. I didn't have much time to ponder it though as Clive finished the introductions. Ali and I both nodded a greeting and then we emptied the Murano of all its supplies. Clive and his group carted everything back to the camp as Ali and I watched from our post by the vehicle.

  "You sure you're okay with this?" I asked Ali once we were alone. She had her arms crossed in front of her as she watched the town folk with apprehension. She tossed a worried glance my way before she answered.

  "Helping them, yes." She said softly, "But not so much spending the nights here."

  "Yeah." I said, agreeing with her. I didn't think it would be difficult for us to find our own place away from the town. It was odd to feel frightened of people like this. It was a new emotion for me
and, I realized, one that Ali had been dealing with for a while now. I watched her for a few moments, her green eyes studying the scene in front of her. She seemed oblivious to my scrutiny.

  "Ali." I started, not completely sure how to say what I needed to tell her. "I didn't know..."

  That caught her attention and she shot me a sharp look.

  I continued as best I could, searching for the right words. "Things make more sense now. I just didn't understand before. I..."

  "Stop." She interrupted me, reaching out to squeeze my hand. "You don't have to say anything. I'm sorry that this is the world you're a part of now. That you had to find out this way."

  She turned back to the people still going through their new supplies. A few were waving at us, calling out their thanks, but they didn't approach. With a deep breath, she spoke. "It isn't always like this. Sometimes we're normal, like in Lubbock. Here we're accepted, but it's obvious the lines are still drawn. At the worst I've been asked to leave. Nothing like what happened to Nic, though. I've never seen that before."

  I cringed, still not wanting to believe a horrible thing like that had happened. If we had stayed here, would that have been Ali instead? That brought more questions. "Why?"

  "Fear, as best as I can tell. We're different. Maybe they think we share more in common with the freaks than with regular people now. Maybe they think we're a threat. People have so little left, they can't afford to take any chances."

  We fell back into silence as I considered what she had said. It was still a hard truth to swallow but I did my best to accept the idea. Finally, I broached the subject of another topic that had been tormenting me. "How did they know you were immune?"

  Her lips pursed as she looked at me. She sighed. "I told them. I had to. They were about to kick us out if I didn't do something."

  "So you made supply runs for the town?"

  "Yes." She shook her head. "Jerald turned on me almost instantly. With him reacting the way he did, I knew our time here was limited."

  Anger tried to resurface again, but I pushed it away. Everything I had witnessed had been enough to help me understand Ali's actions, even though I didn't agree with it all completely. "You still should have told me."

  She bowed her head, staring down at her hands for a moment. "Maybe."

  "Maybe?" I snapped, hurt that she would doubt me. Her green eyes flashed with pain and guilt as she looked back at me.

  "Maybe." She reiterated, sternly this time. "You don't know how you would have reacted before you were infected."

  That gave me pause as I considered it, but I couldn't see myself pushing her away. My mind raced through the scenarios, looking for evidence that would support my claim, but it all shattered as I thought of Jerald. A had thought him a friend, a father-figured that I'd desperately needed at the time, and it had all disappeared overnight. I was shunned, and I hadn't even been the one infected.

  "Okay." I said weakly, conceding the point. I still wanted to believe I never would have reacted the way Jerald did. Not wanting to dwell on that any longer, I shook it off, deciding to stay focused on the positive. It was hard to get the words out, but I pushed past it. "So what's our first step?"

  Ali relaxed again as she mulled over the question before she answered. "Food first, I think. Then shelter."

  "Should we start now?" I asked, thinking we had plenty of daylight left.

  "Yes," Ali agreed quickly. "The sooner, the better."

  CHAPTER 2 – ALI

  Clive had a prospective list of sites to move everyone to for the remainder of the winter; an elementary school, a nursing home, and an old shopping center. The town’s decisions were made by a small council they referred to as Elders. The group consisted of five people; Clive, Carlos, Denise, Wade, and Vanessa. After a brief discussion between them, they settled on the nursing home.

  Needing to see what we would be dealing with, Joss and I left out early the next morning to explore the area. There were only a few freaks out in the open, most of the diseased population had already been taken care of by the previous settlement of Sundown, but what we found inside the nursing home was shocking. None of the patients had been evacuated or moved. We found a crowd of old, but now healthy, freaks wandering all the halls. The ratio of patients to staff was nearly ten to one.

  "What now?" Joss asked, looking around bewildered. He was still uneasy being this close to so many infected, but I could see his curiosity rising. "None of them look like they should have been in here."

  I shrugged, but he was right. Aside from their dress, they all looked like healthy retirees and not the poor bedridden bodies of elderly nursing home patients. Stepping close enough to poke one in the shoulder, I said, "We have to find a way to lead them out of here."

  The freak I poked shuffled a couple steps backwards and continued to watch me with its red eyes. If she had any hair left at the time she had been infected, it was all gone now. She was nothing but a white, pasty, humanoid shell. I turned back to Joss in disgust.

  "Sing." Joss responded and I frowned at him. It was his turn to shrug.

  I scoffed. "What? No."

  I didn't like the sound of his responding chortle, but I knew he had a point. Just our conversation had drawn most of those in earshot to us, even the ones that had been sitting at the recreation room tables had stood to investigate. I knew that herding them out of the building wasn't going to be the hard part. I dreaded the killing and disposing of the bodies.

  "Let's just get out of here for now." I said. "Take what still looks good. I need to talk to Clive to see what our options are."

  Joss didn't argue.

  After grabbing some various supplies, we took the dilemma back to Clive and the council. I explained the situation to the Elders, and the issue was discussed at length while we sat around a small fire at the back of the tent city. It wasn't a simple solution like it was in the early days when no one was bothering to conserve ammo.

  The first idea – and most obvious one – was for Joss and I to kill the freaks inside and bury the bodies. I was glad when Clive down voted the idea before I had to speak out about it. To even think that we had the manpower to dig graves and bury the bodies was a far-fetched notion. Even if we dug trenches to burn them, that process would still be slow and time-consuming.

  I knew what we needed was a way to get all the freaks out of the building at once and lead them away from the town. That seemed like the best course of action, but I wasn't sure how well I could get them to follow. At least if I got the majority of them out, we could deal with the stragglers later.

  It should have been a simple thing, but Denise wanted to argue. She didn't want me leading the freaks anywhere, afraid they would swing back south and find the camp. It was a possibility, but one I didn't think likely. She refused to listen and Clive wouldn't make a decision until the council was unanimous.

  "What about that old construction site near I60." Carlos said. "There is a place where they were working on the water pipes. We could lead them in, drown them. The diseased don't swim."

  I shot Joss a look. Make a deathpool? The smell would be rancid for months.

  "How far away is this construction site?" I asked, trying to judge the reaction of the other elders.

  "About five miles back east, give or take." Clive said, scratching the whiskers on his chin. "It would be a long shot."

  "If it got even half of them out of our hair, wouldn't that be worth it?" Carlos asked. My brow furrowed as I tried to plot out the solution in my head.

  I caught Clive eyeing me and I shrugged. It sounded good but the repercussions were nagging at me. I said, "How long do you think it will take for nature to right itself after so much disease?"

  Many moments of silence followed. Carlos was the one to finally speak up again. "Gasoline still burns. Oil still burns. We can burn off the top every now and then to help purify it. Kill the smell."

  "I don't know if that's going to work, Carlos." Denise said, shaking her head. "We might just have to
deal with the smell."

  "No." Wade said, ending the proposal. "Even five miles out, there's still a chance it could contaminate the well water. No reason to take that chance when Ali and her boy can lure them out and knife them all, one by one."

  I tried not to glare. Wade had been fascinated with me ever since he found out I was immune and wanted to watch me take out every freak by hand. He had been quite persistent about his idea since the meeting started and I was growing irritated. Even Joss shifted at my side and looked away.

  I somehow managed to unclench my jaw and turn my attention back to Clive. "I can still get more ammunition. More guns. We can find a place to lead them and execute them all. Burn the bodies." I offered for the third time.

  "But the gunfire will just call more out." Denise countered, again, for the third time. "You can just kill them and we can bury the bodies."

  It was getting harder to hide my growing frustration. The fact that she was in Wade's corner now wasn't helping. I ignored her last comment and pressed my solution. "But that's what we want. We want more to be called out. The more we get out in the open, the more we can end. It will lessen the threat."

  Denise, old enough that her auburn hair was graying at the temples, crossed her arms over her chest and kicked a stick into the fire with a childlike pout. I took a deep breath, trying to ignore my irritation as best I could, but I only promised I would help them, not become their slave to single-handedly slaughter every freak out there. The fact that this is what Denise expected of me was becoming more and more apparent.

  "She's not wrong." Wade finally broke the silence and interrupted my thoughts. My eyes cut to him, thinking at first that he was backing Denise, but he was nodding towards me. When he caught me looking, he tipped his head to me in the briefest of gestures. I looked back to the fire, unwilling to offer any gratitude just yet.

  Wade was an older man, a drifter that had shown up at Sundown not long after we had passed through. He had spent too many hours in the sun, giving his skin a leathery look that was unnatural. He was uninfected, but he had traveled the countryside alone, just like me. Somehow, he had found a way to deal with the freaks, proving to the townsfolk he was careful and resourceful. That had earned him more than a small amount of respect as well as a position on the council. That being said, he still managed to make my skin crawl.