Born in the Apocalypse 2: State Of Ruin (3 page)

Chapter 6

A week later, when the air was finally warm and the sun was waking up the world from an unusually long winter, I saddled up Judy and started her on a journey. I had been thinking about my friend Trey for the last few days, and I finally decided to head out to see him and his family.

I put together a pack for the trip, and decided to take my Colt and Winchester instead of my bow. I had actually managed to practice a little with the weapons, scaring the hell out the horses and Kim for a bit, but I was gratified to see that with the rifle I could hit an eight-inch target at fifty yards with no problem. Of course, that target wasn’t moving and trying to kill me, but it was pretty good nonetheless. I practiced my fast draw all the time, more so because of all the westerns I was reading.

Unfortunately, practicing the draw and actually firing were a couple of different things. When first I tried it, I managed to shoot the ground in front of me. A few more practice rounds and I was getting better. When I tried to hit a target, though, things weren’t so good. I really didn’t know how I killed that wolf way back when. I knew now that it was nothing but a serious case of amazing luck. But I got better, and I found that I could hit targets while aiming from the hip. All those years of gauging distance and wind speed for my arrows held me in good stead with my gun.

Speaking of luck, I had managed to scrounge up a set of reloading equipment, and I was able to reload my own cartridges. Probably the most frightening thing I have ever done was shoot .45 rounds that I had made myself. But I followed the instructions carefully, and was rewarded with bullets that went bang every time. The only thing I had to do was make sure I recovered my brass so I could make more cartridges. I had the means to make other calibers, but I wasn’t interested in those. At least, not now, anyway.

I saddled up Judy and she was anxious for the trail, having been cooped up in the yard for a while. She had more room than she ever had before, but like any horse, she loved to be on the move. I stopped by Kim’s house, and she wished me luck on my trip. At the same time, she asked me to bring her something. When I asked what, she just shrugged and said it was up to me.

I rode up the road that led out of the subdivision I lived in, and as I did, I walked down a hallway of memories. The house at the bottom of the curve where no one actually lived, the Simpson’s house where my friend Lucy and her family died. Out on the road, I passed the school where Trey and I almost bought it, and a little while later, I crossed the bridge where Trey and I sent a horde of Trippers out towards a group of men who were less than nice. It was the same place where I killed a wolf.

At the top of the hill, I looked back and could see the school and the church on my back trail. I could also see the woods as they stretched behind my house and the area beyond. As I watched, a tiny figure stumbled out of the woods onto the road. It walked around for a bit before tumbling into the ditch on the other side of the road. I almost turned around, but then I realized Kim was behind solid walls and Pumpkin would tell her if a Tripper approached. Horses were good for that sort of thing, which was one reason my dad had worked so hard to acquire Judy.

Judy had come to live with us in a rather sudden way. My dad had gone out on a run to the south, and when he returned, he was riding a horse. I never knew what he did to acquire her, or where she came from, but she’d been with us for years, and she was literally a family member. I really didn’t know what I’d do without her.

At Pfeiffer Road, I turned south, and rode carefully past the two houses there. I paid attention to Judy’s ears, but she never flicked once in that direction.

The road turned from mostly paved to completely gravel, and Judy crunched south in a mile-eating walk. When we reached the end of the road, I turned east for a brief moment, then south again. My destination was Manhattan-Monee Road, which I knew would take me to where Trey and his family had gone. 

A lot of people had gone to the new town, especially those who were escaping Frankfort. That town finally gave up the ghost and joined the ever-growing number of towns that were either dead or very close to it. At least around here, anyway. I had no idea what the rest of the state was like.

The land opened up and I could see for quite a distance. The trees to the south and the grass to the east and west were welcome companions. The grass was taking over the road Judy and I walked on, and in a few years would be covered in grass. Trees wouldn’t grow here, but grass would, and this flat area would become another game trail towards water. A few years after that, and no one would even remember there was a road here.

Sometimes, I wondered why we bothered. We didn’t seem to be getting a handle on the Tripper problem. Every time I killed one or three, four more seemed to wheeze out of the shadows. I figured after fifteen years we’d run out, or at least the Trippers themselves would start to die off from something, either hunger or thirst. But they didn’t. They just kept going on and on. I think they were evolving somehow. They seemed to be getting more dangerous as time went by. They used to just wander around, attacking whatever happened to get in their way. But more and more they were hunting, getting into places they couldn’t before, showing signs of rudimentary intelligence. For all I knew, they were healing from the effects of the virus in their brains and were getting their faculties back.

At Steger road, I climbed off Judy and let her feed on the side of the road while I ate what I brought for lunch. Kim had gotten better at making bread, and I tended to trade chores for bread. For this last loaf, I fixed a hole in her fence where Pumpkin had a fit and kicked a few rocks loose.

The sun felt good on my face, and after I finished my lunch, I took up Judy’s reins again and instead of mounting up, I just walked in front of her. Judy didn’t mind, she took things in stride.

We passed several homes that looked like they were occupied, and their secured fences told me they were doing okay. Out here, even before things went bad, the homes were sitting on at least three to five acres. I also passed a couple of places that looked like they were ranches in a past life. Judy caught the horse smell and whinnied a hello, but didn’t receive one in return.

At one house, a man hailed me from his porch, then came out to the fence to talk. We shared news of things we knew about, and he was kind enough to give me some information about the town of Manhattan.

“Decent place, they took some pretty good precautions there against the damn Trippers. Probably have about three or four thousand people there now, I guess,” the man, whose name was Dan, told me.

I whistled. I had never seen that many people in one place. I said as such to Dan, and he motioned at my waist.

“Mind your gun while you’re there. The town marshal is an old school police officer, and he thinks the only way to keep the peace is to make sure only him and his deputies have guns,” Dan said. “I didn’t like that rule much, so I didn’t stick around.” Dan patted his side where a handgun was tucked in his belt. “Feel naked without it. You don’t happen to have any nine-millimeter ammo on you, do you?” Dan asked.

I allowed as I did have a box, wanting to trade it when I reached the town.

“Hellfire! I’ll trade with you! I’m down to my last ten rounds. What do you want for it?” Dan asked. “I’m pretty well stocked with tools and such.”

I shook my head. “My dad collected what tools he thought we’d need, so I’m good there. Can’t say as I need much…”

“Wait! Wait right here! I have just the thing!” Dan scampered back towards his house, and I was left there to talk to Judy, who was far too interested in the alfalfa grass growing by the road to give a flying rat what I had to say.

Five minutes passed and Dan comes walking out with a decent-sized box in his hands. It didn’t look heavy, since Dan didn’t seem to be straining much at all with it, but he had a very proud smile on his face. Whatever was in that box, Dan was sure he had a winner.

“I got this as a gift, and it didn’t fit, but I hung on to it for just such an occasion like this,” Dan said. He pulled the lid off and with a small flourish, handed me the contents of the box.

It was a cowboy hat, black felt with a pinched crown and a leather band decorated with small silver conchos. I turned it over and saw a small painted scene on the silk lining inside. The front of the crown read ‘Stetson,’ while on the back there was a smaller tag that said ‘Seneca.’ I tried it on, and while it was slightly big, it still fit really well.

I caught a glimpse of my shadow out of the corner of my eye and liked what I saw.

“Deal,” I said. I went over to my saddlebags and took out the box of nine-millimeter bullets I had in there.

Dan smiled as I handed the ammunition to him. “Looks like that hat was made for your head, not mine, and was waiting here for you to stop by and pick it up.”

I liked that thought, and after a handshake over the fence, I kept on my way down the road.  The hat rode well on my head, and I fully believed I cut a more rugged, dangerous figure than I had ten minutes earlier.

Chapter 7

About an hour later, I finally reached Manhattan-Monee Road. I knew Monee was to the east, having been there before, so I carefully turned right and headed west.

The homes out here were open and had a lot of space around them. A couple of them had dug large trenches around their homes to keep the Trippers out. I took note of that idea, thinking that might be a very good thing to do back home. I had a shovel and lots of time.

The sun had passed its zenith, and I was watching the shadows grow longer and longer. I wasn’t exactly moving along as quickly as I probably should, so I decided to spend the night in a nearby house.

I got back up on Judy and rode at a good clip until I was out of sight of the houses that looked occupied. I didn’t feel right about asking to stay at anyone else’s home, and I had been alone for so long that trying to sleep in a house with other people in it would feel downright strange.

In a perfect world, I would have been able to find one of the homes that had been a ranch as well, which would have allowed me to put Judy up in one of the stalls for the night.

However, the world is seldom perfect, and I wound up securing a small, single-story house for the night. I put Judy in the garage, rubbed her down with a handful of rough grass, then spent an hour finding a way to get some water for her. Eventually, I found a bucket which I filled at a nearby creek, and gave that to her. She promptly knocked it over, and I had to hang it on a bike hook so she wouldn’t do it again.

I fell asleep in a small bedroom painted pink, with a bunch of dolls looking at me with fixed grins on their faces.

I woke to the sound of voices coming from the outside of the house. Grabbing my gun belt, I went over to the window and carefully looked out. The bedroom I was in looked out toward the rear of the house, and a quick glance showed me that no one was there. I put my shoes on and belted on my gun, and slipped quietly toward the front of the house. Once there, I could hear the voice much plainer.

“Thought he headed this way.”

“Could be anywhere, we’re wasting our time.”

“That was a good horse he had. And a damn fine gun. Had him a levergun, too.”

“You didn’t mention the gun before. You holding out on me?”

“No, you can have the levergun, I already have one.”

I had heard enough. I moved into the garage carefully and caught Judy’s nose before she could nicker at me. I needed her quiet while the two outside kept moving along. I didn’t want to get into a gunfight in this house, and I couldn’t open the garage because the men outside would have me at a huge disadvantage.

I looked at Judy, and then at the door leading into the house.

“Well, girl. It isn’t the smartest idea I’ve had, so try and watch your step,” I said quietly, slipping her halter over her head and leading her through the door. She balked a little, but trusted me as I lead her through the house towards the back door. We didn’t knock anything over, and I managed to get the back door open quietly enough. My biggest worry was Judy taking a bad step on her way out the door and then I’d have even bigger problems than the one I already had.

Judy was nervous and stamped her feet several times inside the house, but she allowed herself to be led outside, and once she smelled the outside air, she moved through the door quickly enough. I tied one of her reins to the doorknob, and went back inside quickly for my saddle and gear. I don’t think I ever saddled that horse faster than I did at that moment.

I walked her out to the front of the house and carefully scanned the road. To the west, there were two men walking down the road, and both of them were carrying rifles. I was at a disadvantage already. If I had my bow, I could have easily hit them, but I wasn’t so sure about my skills with the rifle.

I took my Winchester out of its scabbard, just to have it handy, and started walking in the same direction as the two men. I kept Judy to the side of the road, walking in the grass to keep things quiet. I wasn’t hoping to kill anyone today, and if I could avoid it, I would.

The men kept talking to each other, and they were about two hundred yards ahead of me. They didn’t seem to bother to look behind them, and I was just as happy they didn’t.

They turned down a long driveway that was lined with pine trees, and I used that as an opportunity to get up in the saddle and ride a little faster. I reined up at the edge of the trees and watched through the branches as the men looked into the house. They then walked towards the barn in the back. I waited until they were inside before I gave Judy a kick.

“C’mon, girl!” I said. “Let’s ride!”

Judy took off like she was shot out of a cannon, and I rode low along her neck as she raced down the road. She loved to run, and I didn’t have many places to let her go, but this straight stretch of road suited her just fine.

Behind me, I heard yells and a couple of shots. They were hard put to aim at a moving target, or so I hoped. One went right by my head and made me mad enough to swing my rifle back and fire a shot in the general direction of my pursuers. I must have come close enough to give them a scare because they dove for cover in the brush beside the road. I guess they had little stomach for .45 caliber bullets headed their way.

After Judy ran for a bit more, I slowed down and let her breathe. She blew for a bit, but her breathing seemed okay. I gave her a reassuring pat on the neck and scanned my back trail for my would-be robbers. There were two small figures standing on the road, and I sighted down my barrel at them for a minute. They were about five hundred yards away and I was tempted to launch a shot at them, but it would have wasted a bullet.

The morning sun felt good on my back as I resumed my ride, and the world stretched a bit out in front of me. To the north, I could see several rows of houses, and to the south, there was a scattering of homes and farms. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the day so far, aside from being chased and shot at.