Day One (Book 1): Alive (10 page)

Jumped when I came out of the gas station and as I thought further into my new desolation, the fear of the door opening and the two Men I had encountered a few nights prior worried me more than anything. It was the concern for my Daughter’s safety that ate at me the most. Was she not far away, captured by the same two assholes that had gotten me as well? Or had she been spared that trauma and was now suffering all alone in her make-shift tomb. The thoughts angered me… no, sliced me to the bone, in a pain I had never known before. If they had a problem with me then I could live with that, but if they had involved my Daughter, then there would be hell to pay… and
they
would surely be the ones to pay.

“Let me out of here you bastards,” I shouted only to find my voice was not all there and sounded more like a loud whisper than anything else. They most certainly had not heard me through the metal walls, so I tried again. “Let me out…” More loud whispers.

The noise of metal on metal came again and I used the anger I was under like a weapon. They were coming to get me. They thought I was still helpless and out of it. Boy would they be in for a surprise when they opened the door. I’d make damn sure of that.

Footsteps upon a metal floor echoed out like heavy rain on a metal room and grew closer. They were on the way. They had heard me.

“Come on… come and get me,” I said and hauled myself upward, using the wall as a brace. I would only get one chance when the door opened, so I had to be ready to react without hesitation or mercy. If they wanted to fuck with someone, then they had chosen the right person. Without a weapon I still steamed with vengeance and the desire to rid the world of such pestilence consumed my thoughts. It was scary how easy the idea of killing someone and actually preparing to do it was. In hindsight though, I see now that I should have killed both of them when I had the chance. That mistake will NEVER be made again!

The footsteps stopped just outside the door. I was standing under my own fading power, my upper body bent slightly forward to help gain that extra hint of momentum I would need as I charged forward into them, took them to the ground and beat them both to death. My lead foot strayed a foot behind so that I could push off with the most powerful weapon I had. Both fists where clenched and I emptied my mind of any fears that were sure to erupt when they entered. I focused on my Daughter and doing
whatever
was necessary to get back to her alive.

A latch was loosened and the door moved an inch. I readied myself by taking a few quick breaths, dug my lead foot into the metal floor as hard as I could, leaned my upper body further forward and stretched my other foot enough to shoot pain throughout my entire body. The pain would act as a blind to the cowardness, letting me kill without thinking.

Go for the eyes when you get a chance… if they can’t see you they cannot fight back!

The door popped and swung open. There was no one standing there. My fear quickly reunited with me and I thought that they were aware of what I had been planning and were taking every precaution known to man not to place themselves directly in front of me.

Go for their legs, if that’s an easier target. If they can’t stand, then they can’t run after you!
My mind assed.

A Shadow moved out from behind the left door. I sunk the fear immediately and lurched forward, catching the Shadow off guard. I hit them with all of my might, which at one hundred and fifty pounds soaking wet, was more than they had apparently expected. They were lifted off the ground and carried backward a few feet before my strength diminished and I stumbled. We both hit the ground and the Shadow was on me before I could even realize what had happened.

I was pulled to my feet, to which I lashed out, swung blindly, instantly feeling a blow to my mid-section that knocked the air from my lungs. I dropped to my knees and grabbed at my chest, eyes searching wildly for the second man, which I didn’t see anywhere. A swift kick knocked me against the metal wall, and then to the floor. The pain was radical and spread. I looked up to see the faint Shadow looking down at me unable to make out any details of who the person was, but I could see they were alone.

“You have an infection from that wound on your arm… you should be lucky to be alive right now,” The Shadow said and tossed me a small bottle of pills and some water. “Take those if you want to live and see your daughter again.”

“I’m going to kill you!” I shouted in a whisper.

The Shadow moved closer and spread their arms. “Then do it! Get to your feet and give it your best shot!”

I tried my best to get up, although the more I tried the harder it became.

“I said get up and do it!” The Shadow yelled. “Here, let me make it easier for you.”

My .9mm was placed on the floor and kicked to me. I grabbed it.

“Go ahead, Mr. Big shot… there’s your gun, now shoot me and see how long you two last.” The Shadow dropped their gun on the floor and stood there with arms wide open. “Go ahead; shoot an unarmed person that’s trying to help you!”

Why would they say they were trying to help if they were just going to kill us and take what we had? None of it made any sense to me, although I knew they had pointed a rifle at me and had every opportunity to pull the trigger, yet here I was, still alive. I shoved the pistol out of the way and turned my eyes toward the pill bottle and water. “What are these?”

“Antibiotics. As I said, you have an infection due to the injury you sustained. They’ll help you, but only if you take them and trust me. If I wanted you dead, then I would have shot you in your vehicle a few nights back when you were playing on your phone in the front seat.”

I picked up the pill bottle and opened the lid. The large pills were exactly what the Shadow had said they were. I knew that because I had taken them enough in my life time to spot them a mile away. I looked up at the Shadow. “What the hell is going on?”

“The end of the world as we know it,” they said and pulled the hood off, revealing a Young Woman that could not have been more than twenty-one years old.

I already knew that, although I didn’t want to admit that to myself. I knew that the world that everyone had known for so long was gone and would more than likely never return. It was difficult to swallow, even sitting there in front of my supposed attacker, who turned out to be a pretty thing, hearing the truth. It was like a slap to the face. Do you retaliate for such an action or simply deal with it and walk away, accepting what happened?

“There was supposed to be a containment area set up at the interstate. What happened to that?” I asked, the quickly popped the pill into my mouth and followed it with a long sip of the cold water. It was refreshing and seemed to make me feel younger, rejuvenated in spirit.

“Oh, they had one set up, but only for a few hours. They were apparently told to pull back and left in a hurry.”

“How in the hell do they expect to save anyone if they hang around for only a few hours, and then run away? That doesn’t make any damn sense.”

“They weren’t there to save anyone.”

“Come again?” I asked, a look of confusion burning across my pale face...

“They weren’t there to feed and shelter those that showed up. They are the military for God’s sake. They were there to quarantine those that were infected and neutralize those that were too far gone.”

“Neutralize?” I said ignorantly. “You mean kill?”

The Young Woman, now coming into the dim light of a nearby candle, looked directly into my eyes and nodded her head. “That’s right. So had you gotten there any earlier, you and your daughter would both be dead right now.”

“Bullshit! That’s our military… they wouldn’t kill their own people, the same people they swore to protect. Besides, we aren’t infected or sick!”

“Are you so sure about that – better yet, would you be willing to risk your daughter’s life to prove me wrong?” she asked.

I took another sip of the water and swallowed. I handed the pill bottle back to the Young Woman, who pushed them back at him. “You hang onto those… you need them more than I do.”

“Where’s my daughter?” I asked from the floor.

She stood and held out a hand to me. I reluctantly took it, still not sure if she was really there to help or just making me think she was so it would be easier to rob and then kill me. She pulled me to my feet and we moved together out of the large container into a warm sunlit day. I shielded my eyes from the stinging sun; feeling like a vampire turned back into a human, and was helped along until we came to a small tent.

The Young Woman, now shown in the full glory of daylight was no longer just that. I looked to see her pointing at the tent. She had long dark hair, which was pulled into a pony-tail, big blue eyes that peered back at me from a slender and beautiful face. Her lips formed a slight smile that moved to one side and she turned and walked away. I watched her leave. She had combat boots on, black pants that fit her well with several cargo pockets up each leg and a black zip up hoodie.

She headed back into the metal container that I could see now was a truck trailer at one time that had been converted into a shed of some sort. She slipped inside and I quickly turned my attention back to the tent and crawled in to see Kember lying on a sleeping bag playing with a few dolls. She saw me and immediately smiled and came to me, hugging me as she jabbered.

“Da Da.”

I pulled her into my weak arms and hugged her tightly. Her hair smelt as though it had been washed clean, she had new clothes on and a dozen baby dolls to choose from. Her sippy cup sat next to the pillow and I could see it was full. Two opened trays of crackers and cheese sat next to it. The Woman had taken her time and great care in watching over my Daughter. I was thankful to her for that and would tell her the next time I saw her.

For several hours, Kember and I played with her toys, helping her to forget about what we had been through so far, yet deep down I realized I wasn’t fooling her at all. She knew nothing of the world outside of our home. Knew nothing of politics or even that the world revolved around a massive yellow sun. Her perception of the world was true and without limitations. There were no failures or screw ups in her daily life, only eating and playing while being surrounded by an extensive and largely unexplored world that she saw from time-to-time.

No, my words had not been for her… they had been for me.

When she had had enough and grew tired, lying done on the sleeping bag, I left the tent and stood just outside scanning the area. It was a completely unfamiliar location to me, but very well hidden and roomy. It made the fear of the unknown even worse. I had no idea which way the interstate was, how close it was or what I would do if any of those things showed up. Yet with the setup the Young Woman had, I did feel a little better about our safety compared to living in the Pathfinder. Plus there was more room.

I made my way to the container and peered in to see the Young Woman bent over working on something. Curiosity pulled at my shirt tail and I moved in closer to find out what she was up to.

“Did she finally get tired and go to sleep?” The Young Woman asked.

Her voice startled me and a thrust my eyes up to meet hers. “How did you know I was coming up behind you?”

“You spend enough time alone; you acquire certain abilities that aid you when you need them most.”

“Certain abilities?” I asked, growing closer to her. “And yeah, she fell asleep on me.”

She smiled. “I could feel a set of eyes looking at me, and since you and I are the only two here… that kind of narrows it down, don’t you think? Not only that, but I could hear your footsteps.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” I said and took a look at what she was doing. “So, what are you doing, if you don’t mind me asking?”

She pulled a Remington 870 shotgun into view that had been cut down in barrel length. “The barrel length was a bit too long on this thing, so I cut the bad boy down and did a few modifications to it.” She let me get a good look at it before placing it back on the work bench.

“I’m not a gun expert or anything, but isn’t altering a factory weapon against the law… especially when you chop the barrel and make it shorter than a certain length?” I asked, unsure if I was right or wrong.

“You bet your ass it’s against the law. It’s against the National Firearms Acts, which makes it a
major
felony with a punishment of twenty-five years in a federal prison.”

I was shocked at her words. “Then why the hell are you doing it?”

The Young Woman looked at me and smiled. Apparently I was as clueless as she thought I was. “The world as we know it is no more. You do whatever you have to do to survive and those weapons were too long and bulky to actually be of any real use… besides, who is going to come and arrest me for it? Or try to anyway?” There was a look that formed on her face that told me she was not to be played with. If anyone crossed her or tried to take from her, it would be their last mistake. She was beautiful… but just as dangerous.

I knew a little about shotguns and reached out for it and she handed it to me. I shouldered the weapon and spun it a few different directions, feeling that most of the weight had been stripped off and that it was far more maneuverable in its current form than it had been. “Feels a lot better like that, but it’s going to knock the hell out of you when you pull the trigger, especially if you’ve got buckshot in it.”