by Nikita Eden
Audrey was one of the few in the room that seemed to be excited about the news.
She smiled to herself, New people would be a nice change.
Mr. Davies pounded his fist on the desk a couple times to regain order, “I know this seems overwhelming, but we have been fortunate. We have an excess of resources and it will not hurt us to accept these new people.”
Audrey watched the continually flip-flopping crowd quiet down again. She was glad the conversation had drifted away from trying to restrict the Runners and shutting the gates. She was sure the less the people thought about it, the more likely they wouldn’t vote to end the program. She looked at the Council and knew that Mr. Ruthers was aware of what Mr. Davies was doing too.
“We have been blessed to have many of our day to day activities remain the same during this trial and many of us have not suffered through the loss of family like most people in other communities,” Mr. Davies spoke slowly and calmly. “I hope that with time everyone will come to see the benefit of having more people among us. One benefit that will be instantaneous. We will be gaining a trained doctor! Which is something we haven’t had for a while.”
More people settled into a considerate silence as Mr. Davies spoke to them about what would be changing in their near future.
Audrey was happy to find out there would be someone new in Roswell who would be medically trained beyond the few nurses who lived in Roswell. They were extremely helpful and people respected them, but they mainly just treated minor symptoms and physical injuries.
“Does this mean the women who are pregnant will receive more comprehensive care?” A pregnant woman with a rather rotund stomach in the front row asked.
Mr. Davies nodded his head, “We need more people to keep the community growing. We need people of different trades to come in and help us so we can learn.”
“What about the dregs coming out during the day?” A man asked.
“That is something that we’re unclear about at this time,” Mr. Davies admitted. “Dean has more information on the precautions everyone should take and will answer any questions you may have about this to the best of his abilities.”
Dean patted Audrey’s knee and he stood up again energetically. He took his spot on the floor and cleared his throat again, “As most of you know, it was discovered this last week that dregs are staying out into the early afternoon. The Runner—Peter—who discovered this has taken me out and it has been confirmed. There is a small group that is out during the day near the orchards and the North West part of the wall.”
“What are you people going to do to keep all of us safe now?” An old man asked.
“We are going to be enlisting the help of former National Guard members who will be coming to us from Artesia,” Dean answered. “They will be issued firearms that they will use to keep the dregs from both the north and south gates.
“How will the Runners prevent themselves from being infected if they’re going to be coming into direct contact with them now?” another man asked.
“We will be starting new training exercises. All of the Runners will be issued weapons so we can start dealing with the dreg population as we encounter them,” Dean assured the man.
Audrey shifted anxiously in her chair at the thought of being required to handle a firearm, but it was nothing to what went through her mind when she realized it meant killing a person.
“How is that going to help us in the future?” A woman with a baby in her arms asked.
“Currently, the Runners have mainly been trained on how to avoid the dregs. We will each be issued surgical masks and will be following orders to kill them when possible as soon as we’re properly trained,” Dean responded stoically.
The future was an abstract idea to Audrey. Sure, there may be a day when people didn’t have to be fearful of going outside the walls, but no one knew when that would be. It was easier for her to focus on day to day things that would affect her immediately.
“Blowing their disgusting heads off isn’t that hard to train for,” the woman’s husband said loudly. “It’s like shooting at bottle on a fence.”
Peter guffawed loudly and nodded his head in agreement. He leaned over and asked Audrey, “Who wouldn’t kill one? It’s like asking to die if we just keep avoiding them all the time like we do now.”
Audrey rolled her eyes, “We haven’t really had to worry about it until now since they’ve only come out at night before and we’ve had a community-wide curfew.”
She turned her attention back to the meeting in time to hear the answer Dean gave to someone else, “The Runners will be given new time constraints on runs. On top of that anything that hasn’t been approved by the Council and myself will not be allowed.”
Audrey scowled at Dean and imagined sucker punching him in the stomach. She should have known he was going to try to find a way to keep her closer to Roswell.
He looked at her quickly and hurried to turn his attention back to the crowd, “We will also be working with our new doctor, Dr. Searle, when he gets here to improve the decontamination process Runners have to go through when they come back from their trips.”
The crowd hummed with approval, but Audrey was seething. She tapped her heel on the ground quickly and stared at the red carpet until Dean finished announcing the plans for the Runners’ new guidelines. He took his seat next to her and put his arm around her back.
“I’m sorry, Audrey,” he whispered in her ear while the meeting was being closed with the vote on the Runner program. “It was the only thing I could get the whole Council to agree on.”
She snorted and turned her head away from him, “You could have done more. Your father is in charge of everything and we all know he’ll listen to you when it comes to what the Runners do.”
“I’ll make it up to you,” Dean said giving her shoulder a squeeze. “I promise.”
He didn’t give her any idea of what he might do to make up the possibility of no longer going to Carlsbad to her and instead turned to talk to Peter.
After the Council held a vote to see if there was general consent to the new guidelines for Roswell citizens and Runners the meeting was closed and people started branching off into groups.
As soon as the Council ended the meeting Audrey stood up from her chair and walked toward the door of the conference room. She was stopped by the third councilmember, Sandra Jimenez. She was a short stocky woman who spoke quietly and took notes during town meetings instead of engaging with the people.
“Audrey,” she touched Audrey on the shoulder to get her attention. “I just wanted to see if you would be okay with organizing a service project for the Runners?”
The woman’s kindness threw Audrey off for a moment, but she gathered herself and smiled, “Sure, what will it be for?”
“We’re going to need all the help we can get to prepare dwellings for new citizens,” Mrs. Jimenez said. “If the Runners could help us it would be appreciated.”
“I’ll let Dean know and we’ll make a schedule,” Audrey looked over her shoulder to see where Dean was and hurried to end the conversation. “I’ll bring whatever we put together to you later.”
“Thank you, sweetheart,” the older woman said before heading back to the Council’s table.
Running into Mrs. Jimenez helped Audrey calm down enough so she could rehearse possible arguments she could have with Dean about why none of the new restrictions were okay with her.
It was unfair for the Council to try to take away the extra perks she had for putting her life on the line as a Runner—like going to Carlsbad. It’s not like she asked for an apocalypse to happen.
She stormed out the building and wished there were more doors she could slam. She grabbed the handlebars to her bicycle and started walking north.
“Audrey wait!” Dean called from behind her.
She bit her tongue and stopped to wait for him, “I’m not okay with having to go to you for approval for my runs to Carlsbad, Dean.”
“Well
, there isn’t much of a choice right now,” he countered.
“Of course there isn’t. You’re not even going to try fighting the restriction because you know you’ll have the chance to stop me from going now,” Audrey climbed onto her bike.
Dean sighed and dropped his hands to his sides in defeat, “What do you want me to say, Audrey? I know how dangerous what you’re doing is. You know I haven’t been okay with it either.”
“I want you to trust me,” Audrey stared at her handlebars.
“I do trust you,” Dean said. “But the dregs are becoming more unpredictable and I don’t want you to do anything that might make me lose you.”
“You won’t lose me, Dean. I’m being as careful as I can,” Audrey knew he had more to say, but she refused to look at him. She pushed on her pedals and headed home.
She welcomed the cool breeze on her skin. She pulled her hair out of the ponytail and let her hair flutter in the wind behind her. She did her best to distract herself and let her mind wander back to the things she had to look forward too, like the Runner’s service project… and finding out who would be coming to stay in Roswell with the people from Artesia. She focused on that and couldn’t help but smile.
CHAPTER FOUR
Audrey panted and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand as she pushed herself to stay ahead of Dean.
The night before he had given her time to get home and cool down before he came to talk to her. When she had opened the door to her house to him standing there she still felt like chewing him out, but he had promised her that he would make it up to her for the new restrictions he had agreed to for the Runners. One of the ways he tried to make it up was by offering to train with her every day to help build her speed up during her runs.
“Your endurance is really good now, but don’t think this will guarantee you a trip to Carlsbad every month, Audrey,” he said between heavy breaths when they finished running.
He sat on the grass in the middle of the track and patted the ground next to him.
“I know I’ll get the trips,” Audrey said as confidently and sweetly as she could while being covered in sweat with bright red cheeks and sat down next to him.
Dean smirked and laid down, “How can you be so sure?”
“Because you don’t want me to be mad at you anymore so you’ll approve the trips,” she said laying down on the dry, prickly grass next to him. She fanned her face with her hand, “You’d think with all the clouds floating around it wouldn’t be so hot out.”
“They just trap everything down here and make it humid and gross,” Dean closed his eyes and scooted closer to her. “I’ll approve your runs as long as you do well with the weapons training, but I can’t guarantee Pat Ruthers will make things easy for you.”
“Your dad and Mrs. Jimenez never pay much attention to him anyway,” Audrey laughed. “I think they’ll keep letting me go as long as I follow the new decontamination and time restrictions.”
“Hopefully,” Dean said.
“We’re going to have to get back inside the gates before they close them,” Audrey whispered. A cloud moved over her and she closed her eyes. “I don’t want to be out here when the dregs start coming out again.”
“Let’s go then,” Dean stood up and brushed the yellowed grass off his shorts and then helped Audrey up. “There are other places that are taking new precautions too. It isn’t just the dregs here. We heard from Gallup and Albuquerque that the same thing is happening there.”
Communications from other towns usually came in sporadically from the places that had the internet available, but multiple towns and cities had been reporting to each other for days. A lot of people were terrified after the news came.
Bigger communities, like Albuquerque, had decided to start training groups they called “elimination forces”. Their sole purpose was to wipe out as many dregs as possible. The Council had talked with the Runners while Audrey was gone and they had considered the idea as well. It was something the Runners were willing to do on top of the duties they already had.
“Really? How is everyone else reacting to the idea of being the elimination force here?” Audrey inquired.
“For the most part they’re okay with it. Peter is eager to get started. He thinks it’ll help get the walls taken down faster,” he shook his head. “Audrey, I know it might make you upset, but I don’t know if I would be comfortable keeping you on as a Runner if it happens.”
“Why not?” Audrey snapped at him. “I’ve already proven I’m fast. You think I can’t kick some serious zombie butt?”
Dean smirked and grabbed her hand, “I’m sure you could. I’m just worried about you and it wouldn’t just be dregs you’d have to go after. Eventually it would be the mutants, too.”
Audrey wouldn’t openly admit it to Dean, but mutants terrified her. They weren’t the same as dregs chasing you around mindlessly because you smelled good or infecting you with nonlethal bites. Mutants were out to kill and were still intelligent enough to figure out how to get you.
It wasn’t clear why some people mutated differently when they turned into dregs, but there had been three different kinds of mutants catalogued and reported in different areas: Howlers, Gushers, and Behemoths.
Howlers were the most common type of mutant. They were small in size, but when they were disturbed by something or if they were out hunting they could run at inhumanly fast speed. If that wasn’t terrifying enough, they would emit a blood-curdling shriek that could be heard up to a half a mile away. It made it easier for them to take down prey because the regular dregs would be startled by the screams and would chase after the Howler’s prey. After someone was caught the Howler would rip at their flesh until they died.
Back in the early days before the walls were up there had been a Runner who actually escaped an attack by a Howler, but he didn’t last for long when he got back to the community. It was after that the Council decided infected people would be forced out of the community.
Gushers were something Audrey had only seen near Carlsbad and they hadn’t been spotted near Roswell yet. They were slow moving, but agile—and they were covered with infection filled boils. Audrey knew it was best to avoid them because the pockets of pus that covered them were fragile and broke open when anything came into contact with them.
Audrey had once seen a dreg bump senselessly into a Gusher and it was immediately covered in the foul smelling yellow goo. Audrey could smell the liquid from her lookout area and was glad she wasn’t close. The dregs in the area seemed to be hyper attracted to the smell. They swarmed the dull creature and by the time the smell had dissipated there was nothing left of the dreg who had been covered.
Behemoths were rare and had only been sighted about a dozen times throughout the entire planet. The idea of a huge, muscle bound zombie the size of a small sedan did scare Audrey, but she knew there was no chance she’d ever meet one with how rare they were.
Audrey chewed on her lip while thinking of all the terrible things that could happen to her, but shook her head, “It don’t care, Dean. I’m going to do it. I’ve been a Runner this long, there isn’t anything that will make me quit.”
“Audrey, be reasonable,” his hands trembled slightly and he put his arm around her shoulder. “I know you want to keep going on your outings to Carlsbad, but what would everyone here do if you go through with it and we lost you.”
“Nothing bad will happen,” Audrey stated matter-of-factly even though she knew she couldn’t guarantee it. She hugged him around his waist and walked away. She repositioned her ponytail and straightened her shirt. “You know I can handle myself.”
Dean sighed exasperatedly, “I guess we’ll just have to keep training then.”
They walked back through the north gate together. Dean tried to talk to Audrey, but her thoughts were consumed with the images of mutants and the different ways she could possibly kill them.
“What are you thinking about?” Dean bumped his shoulder into hers.
; “Just everything, I guess. Carlsbad has Gushers near the caves. Even though I’ve never seen a Howler in person I’ve heard them every night for month. Just like everyone else, but if it weren’t for Tanner bringing one so close to here so long ago…”
“Let’s not talk about Tanner,” Dean suggested stiffly as they walked through the Commons Square. “I think it’s almost dinner time.”
“I know,” Audrey stared at her feet while they walked and fidgeted with her hands. “Sorry for bothering you.”
“You’re not bothering me. You know I just want to keep you safe, right?” Dean put his finger under her chin and lifted it so her gaze met his. “I know it’s not really my job, but now that you don’t have anyone left here I want to make sure you’re okay.”
Audrey nodded and crossed her arms. She turned her head away from him and looked at the ground with her jaw clenched. Dean might think he was trying to protect her, but keeping her in Roswell was not what was best for her.
Her watch beeped and her stomach grumbled, “My legs hurt and I am beyond hungry.”
“Let’s get something to eat then,” Dean rested his arm around her shoulders and they walked to the community mess hall.
~~~
The next few days were hectic for the Runners. They eagerly waited to start their new weapons training. In the meantime, each of them was issued a pistol from the old police station armory and they were allowed to participate in target practice outside the walls during their regular training hours which had shifted to the afternoon so they could go out onto the field after the dregs who came out during the day were gone.
“At the end of this week we’re going to bring in a trainer from Albuquerque to help us with our training. He’ll be teaching us basic hand to hand moves and will work with us on our shooting techniques for a couple days,” Dean informed everyone. “Until then you’ll be returning the pistols at the end of every practice.”