by Hayden James
As the two passed the driveway, Rachel saw a BMW SUV. “Guess this high-end vehicle is useless now,” she muttered.
“Definitely. The pulse fried all of those computers in that thing, for sure,” confirmed William.
“Guess, I’ll be marking them off the list as nonsupporters,” said Rachel.
“Ssshhh!” William said, putting his index finger up to his mouth. “We don’t want to say anything incriminating within earshot. All we need is the Mayor after us.”
After William and Rachel were far away from the Yates’ residence, Rachel whispered, “That got a little tense.”
“Tense?” William questioned. “That was downright hostile.”
“Clearly, they are on the side of the Mayor and Sheriff,” responded Rachel.
“Clearly.”
“They must like sharing all they have,” elaborated Rachel.
“They don’t have anything,” answered William. “That’s why they are so keen on the idea of sharing.”
“I don’t think we said anything too incriminating,” affirmed Rachel. “If the Mayor asks us about anything, we’ll say we were just trying to figure out if the rumors of the town pillaging the different properties were true or not. We had heard that properties were being ransacked by the Sheriff and the Mayor, since that’s not what they’re doing just yet, we’ll appear like we had some bad information.”
“Hope it works,” answered William. Rachel could tell that William was worried that something would get back to the Mayor and Sheriff. Rachel had an uneasy feeling as well.
Day Seventeen
Chapter Five
Prue Dint
East Lake Street
Willow Wood, South Carolina
6:15 PM
“Though you said we were close,” jested Liam as the pair had been walking since he crashed the motorcycle attempting to evade the assailants who sought to take their supplies.
“Close if we were in a vehicle,” responded Prue, not appreciating Liam’s joke. “Too bad we never found a vehicle that worked like we planned,” she added.
Both of them carried a gun, especially since Prue proved herself to be an excellent shot. Liam carried Chewy and the main bag of supplies. Prue carried a small bag that she had kept with her after her accident.
Nightfall was upon them as dusk darkened. They had been walking all day, and thankfully for Prue, the antibiotics seemed to be working and the infection was subsiding. Thank goodness for Dr. Davidson, he treated her without payment and even gave her the antibiotics and bandages. She would be in a far worse spot than she was without him.
The pair had entered Willow Wood as they inched closer to Spartanburg. This was a small town, one that Prue often passed through on her way to Asheville with her parents.
Prue nearly jumped out of her skin as a voice came from behind them, “Give me your bags, and no one gets hurt.” Both Prue and Liam were startled by the voice that snuck up behind them as Liam jumped and Prue’s heart raced.
Liam’s hand immediately reached for his handgun he kept in his waistband. Prue’s was in her bag. They both turned around, their eyes were met with a skinny boy who must have jumped from out of the bushes they had just walked by.
“You can’t have our bags,” answered Prue in a stern voice. The boy was rail thin, with dirty brown hair. He appeared as though he hadn’t eaten in days.
Two more boys came from out of the bushes. One of them shouted, “Let’s get them!” The three boys ran toward Prue and Liam. Prue saw Liam’s hand instinctively grab for his gun, but he never pulled it out.
The three boys pulled at the backpacks. Prue punched the boy who charged at her, staving off his advance. Chewy growled, in an attempt to defend his bag. Chewy nipped one of the boy’s boney fingers and he started to bleed.
Liam protected Chewy, and in doing so, loosened his grip on the supply bag. The other boy wrestled it away from him as they scuffled. Once the boy who further wrestled with Liam got the backpack from him, the three of them then ran away, darting down the street in the opposite direction.
After the altercation, Prue took deep breaths to try to calm herself down. Scared, tired, and her heart pounding, Prue turned to Liam and asked, “I saw you reach for your gun, but never pull it out. Why?”
“I couldn’t shoot them. Did you see how thin they were?”
“I did. They were nothing but flesh and bones,” replied Prue. “Filthy. I don’t think they’ve washed since the pulse hit.”
Liam continued, “They were young, and clearly desperate. I saw one of them had a gun, so they are dangerous. Let’s just get there as fast as we can before we run out of supplies. Thankfully we still have the bag you are carrying.”
Prue affirmed, “Right, let’s speed this up. Yes, I still have my back, but it has not even half of what you were carrying.”
“I know. I know. Let’s just get there fast.” Liam paused for a moment, and then continued, “Good thing you’re feeling better.”
“Right, good thing, I am. I was worried there. Up until today, I was constantly feeling sluggish and run down. That was definitely the infection wreaking havoc on my body,” answered Prue.
“Just two more houses, and we are there,” Prue said with a mix of anxiety and excitement in her voice. They walked down the street that Prue had grown up on, the familiar magnolia trees lined the street of the middle class neighborhood she was raised in. Cicadas gave their mating buzz, a sound that was so familiar that she did not even hear it.
She did not know what to expect. Was she going to find her parents dead? It felt as though she couldn’t get to them fast enough. Whatever the case, she would be faced with it in mere moments.
Prue took out her house keys from her pocket, her heart racing. She had been carrying that key with her since she left her apartment in Nashville in hopes that she would one day reach this point, and finally, she was taking out the key from her pocket like she had fantasized about for the last two weeks.
“Mom! Dad! It’s Prue, I’m home!” Prue shouted as she opened the door to find that the house appeared to be barely livable.
“No one looks like they are here,” said Liam as he looked around in the kitchen.
“Well, that’s a good sign, right?” Prue said with worry in her voice.
“It’s not a bad one,” answered Liam. “They look like they were here earlier. There are dishes in the sink that don’t look like they’ve been there for longer than a half a day.”
“I will go look for them,” announced Prue.
“Then, I’m coming with you,” said Liam as he followed her out the door.
“Before we head out. Let me check with the neighbors and see when the last time they saw my parents,” announced Prue, running up to the next-door house. Liam nodded and waited for her at the edge of the driveway. Prue knocked on the door of her neighbor’s and waited for someone to come and answer it. She desperately needed to know when was the last time they had seen her parents. Time was of the essence, and Prue had grown frustrated with not being able to track down her parents. Where could they be?
A few moments passed and Prue returned. “No one was home,” she said as she led Liam back down the street. “Let’s head to downtown and see what is going on.”
Prue and Liam headed to the downtown area, trying to figure out where her parents would be. Worry was getting the best of her, but she relied on the notion of the dirty dishes. They must still be alive.
Prue and Liam both walked at a brisk pace, and her parents’ house was not far from the small downtown of Spartanburg. It didnot take them long to get there.
At this point, Prue’s mind was running rabid with scenarios of what could have happened to her parents. It was after dark, so it was not common for them to be out. Prue, on the verge of hyperventilating could not get control of herself.
“Prue, calm down,” encouraged Liam.
Prue began to cry, “I can’t. I don’t know what I will do I something happened to them.”
“You will be useless like this. Take a few deep breaths. We don’t know where they are. They could be out gathering supplies or more water. Back at the house, it definitely appeared that someone had been living there,” affirmed Liam. With Liam’s encouraging words, Prue slowed her breaths and gathered her wits.
“I’m better, thank you,” she said with a smile. “We are almost there.”
The pair turned the corner that led into the downtown area of Spartanburg. “Hey, look at that,” shouted Liam. “What do you think is going on here?”
“No idea,” answered Prue as she saw what appeared to be the entire town of Spartanburg gathered by the center of the downtown area. People were talking to each other, but nothing seemed to be amiss.
As the two made their way through the crowd of people, something familiar caught Prue’s eye. The red scarf with white flowers on it. The red color caught Prue’s eye as she saw it draped and flowing in the wind from the neck of her mother.
“Mom!” Prue shouted.
The woman that Prue had her eye on turned around. The woman’s eyes light up as she shouted, “Prue!”
The man standing next to her also turned around, “Prue! Is that really you?”
Prue instantly recognized him, “Dad! Oh my word it’s so good to see you guys!”
“Oh honey, it’s so good to see you,” said Prue’s mom. Prue bent down to hug her mom, who had been in a wheelchair since she was young. She then whispered to Prue, “But dear, I will need you to be quiet.”
Confused by the odd request, Prue nodded, tears forming in her eyes as she was confused that they were not rejoicing about the reunion.
Liam stood nearby, but Prue did not want to go against her parents’ request of being quiet, so she did not introduce them to him. He stood off to the side.
The meeting soon started, and the Mayor of Spartanburg took the stage. “Thank you, gracious people, for gathering here tonight on such short notice.” The crowd quieted down and Prue stood between her two parents.
The Mayor of Spartanburg continued, “Now, we will be needing to start a community food bank so everyone can take what they need. But in order to do that, we must know what is available to us. Do I have any volunteers to make a list of resources?”
Prue saw her dad’s hand raise. The Mayor called on her dad and said, “Thanks Harv for volunteering to do this. Are you able to do this in two days?”
Harv answered, “Sure thing. I’ll get a list together of everyone’s supplies, so we are able to ration them out.”
“I’ll help him with that,” a male neighbor said to the Mayor.
“Thanks Jim Barnes. So Harv and Jim Barnes, you two have two days to get us a list. The sooner the better.”
A confused look came across Prue’s face as moved closer to Liam who was standing away from her and her parents. “This is weird. No one is objecting to sharing each other’s resources and supplies.”
As Prue finished her sentence, another neighbor shouted, “Let’s store all of these resources in a neutral location. I believe there is an unsold house on Elm Street where we can put all of these supplies in. That way, no one will have a monopoly on the supplies and food.”
“Good idea, Jim,” said the Mayor from the podium. “Seeing that I don’t see any objection to this plan moving forward, the motion passes. Thank you everyone for coming out. Meeting adjourned.”
Now that the meeting was done, Prue rejoined her parents. “It’s so good to see you guys,” she said hugging them once again. The comforting scent of her mother’s patchouli cologne brought back many memories of her growing up.
“Mom, dad, I’d like you to meet someone,” said Prue, holding her hand out toward Liam. “I’d like you to meet Liam. The only reason why I am alive is because of him.”
“Liam, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Sorry about the awkwardness during the meeting. The Mayor has a strict no talking policy when these meetings are going on. My name is Harv, and this is Carol,” explained Harv as he shook Liam’s hand.
“Pleasure to meet you both,” responded Liam.
The group walked back from the downtown area to the Dint residence. The entire time Prue was thinking how this type of system was happening in Spartanburg as well. The very system that Dwight introduced and was actively resisting. She first learned about this type of government control over resources when he took her to the Town Hall meeting after her and Liam made it to Tucker Hollow. Why did people go along with it?
Chapter Six
Liam Conner
The Dint Residence
Spartanburg, South Carolina
7:18 AM
“Can’t believe this is happening here,” muttered Liam to himself. Harv and Carol provided the guest room for him to sleep in. It was nice to sleep in an actual bed rather than in a sleeping bag inside a tent on the ground. The night ended awkwardly, since he met Prue’s parents during a town meeting about supplies. The walk home was awkward as well, but the Dints were hospitable, offering for Liam to stay the night in the guest bedroom. Prue slept in her room; her parents kept it for her when she visited them for the holidays.
Liam was concerned that this is the way the world will be from now on. Everyone sharing everything, but it being mandated by power. On the surface, Liam did not think it was a bad idea, however, looking at that system gave him pause. People who prepared for such a disaster would have their resources pillaged and distributed among those who did not. Ironically, his views on socialism differed from his dad’s and he sided more on the side of his grandfather, Dwight. After going to the Town Hall meeting back in Tucker Hollow and hearing both sides, it seemed to Liam that those who were eager to collect and group the resources were only inclined because they did not have anything themselves.
After getting himself together, Liam made his way to the kitchen, shutting the door to the guest bedroom behind him. “Morning everyone,” announced Liam as he found Prue, Harv, and Carol sitting at the kitchen table.
“Morning, Liam,” answered Carol.
Liam took the empty seat at the four-seat dining table. Looking at the dining table, Liam became concerned that the Dints were sharing two pieces of bread between them. Prue sulked in her seat, not even making eye contact with Liam.
There was no water or coffee offered, a stark contrast to the homestead that Dwight was running. The Dints didn’t even offer Liam a piece of the sliced bread that they chewed. He didn’t want any, it did not look appetizing, nor did he want to take any of their resources. He could eat the supplies that Dwight packed for him in the bag that Prue had been carrying.
“Prue tells me you two have firearms on you,” Harv broke the silence.
“Yes, sir. I have a gun and Prue does as well,” confirmed Liam, assuming that Harv wanted to know how many firearms that they had in case of an invasion in their home, he’d know who could cover him.
“Well, see. I don’t allow guns in my home. Neither of you can have your firearm on you while you are in my house, understand?” Harv explained. He paused and then continued, “I feel horrible you were armed last night. Prue didn’t tell me you two were armed until this morning. You see, I’m a pacifist, I don’t believe in fighting, wars, or guns.”
Liam understood, but did not agree with this stance. He replied, “But what if we are robbed during the night?”
“Then we will cooperate. They probably need it more than us if they’re robbing,” angered Harv.
Carol elaborated on Harv’s sentiments, “See, we grew up in the ‘60s. I met Harv up in Greenwich Village in New York City. Later, the year we met, we went to Woodstock together and have been together ever since. We believe that everyone should have enough and feel loved. As you can see,” Carol took a moment to point around the house, “we don’t have much. We don’t believe in material possessions. Instead, we focus our pursuits on spiritual enlightenment. Harv’s brother was gunned down at a peace rally in the ‘70s, so we really don’t tolerate any sort of weapons. Especially guns.”
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“I can’t believe my own precious Prue has had a gun on her,” added Harv. “She knows better. Ever since Carol had been in this wheelchair, she swore to me that she would never fire a gun or tolerate their presence. This is such a disappointment. ”
Liam understood their stance. However, these firearms had allowed them to remain alive this long. If they did not have the weapons, they would be dead by now. He felt compelled to share his views on the firearms, especially in the world that they found themselves in now. “I understand that guns symbolize killing and fear, and this is your house, and I will respect your rules as long as I am under your roof,” started Liam. “However, this world does not have laws. Only yesterday we were jumped by three teenagers who took one of our packs of supplies.”
Harv interrupted, “See, you had guns, and they still stole your stuff.”
“Because I didn’t want to shoot them,” defended Liam. “Now, before that, we had a bad confrontation with some despicable people. The other night we were in a standoff for at least three hours against six men who wanted our supplies. If it wasn’t for Prue and how she has developed as a shooter, we would not be here right now.”
“I get your point,” started Harv. “But as long as you are in my house, the guns will stay in the garage.”
“Yes, sir,” Liam answered begrudgingly. “I would like to know where you put it in your garage,” added Liam.
“No problem. I already have Prue’s firearm. Go get yours and I’ll meet you in the garage. I have a toolbox that we can store them in.”
Liam went to the guest bedroom and pulled out his gun from the nightstand where he had stored it the night before.
