But Jim was still standing. It didn’t appear to be his blood. Which was good.
“You made it,” said Rob, when he reached Jim.
It seemed like a stupid thing to say, but he just didn’t know what he was supposed to say. Here he was with his oldest friend and he was really at a loss for words.
Jim said nothing. He just looked up at Rob, still leaning on Aly, and gave him a wink. It was a slow wink, though. A wink of fatigue and exhaustion. A weary wink.
“I can’t believe we ever left you here,” said Aly. Rob saw now that she was crying. Real tears pouring down her face. Impressive considering that Rob knew that she was severely dehydrated.
“If you guys hadn’t,” said Jim, his words sounding weary, almost to the point of slurring, “then some of us would be dead.”
Rob noted that Jim hadn’t said “all of us.” And it was true. Probably they all wouldn’t have died. Maybe Jim would have lived. Hell, he’d lived through that on his own. But someone would have died.
“Well,” said Jim. “Time to head south. Come on.”
And with that, he let go of Aly, who he was more or less clinging to, and took a single step forward.
It wasn’t a normal step. Instead, it was more like he lurched forward shakily.
And a second later, he’d collapsed to the pavement, barely managing to break his fall with his hands.
“Jim!” cried out Aly, who lunged forward, trying to grab her husband and pull him to his feet. But she wasn’t strong enough. She, like the rest of them, had been through too much, and was simply too weak.
They were all underfed. Most of them were dehydrated. They’d all sustained injuries. Their minds were all weary.
Rob took a step forward and grabbed Jim under his arms and hauled him to his feet. “Come on, buddy. Let’s get you back into the pharmacy.”
“We’ve got to keep going,” muttered Jim, his face showing at the same time both utter exhaustion and utter determination.
“We’re going to keep going,” said Rob. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to let us become sitting ducks. Come on, guys, follow me.” He addressed the last bit to Aly and Jessica, who were just sort of standing there, staring at Jim, their mouths open and agape.
That wasn’t their normal behavior. They were almost never useless. They were the kind of people who were always on the go. Always doing something.
And now? They’d simply been through too much.
Jessica, Aly, and Jim didn’t seem to understand how bad off they were. It was as if they’d gotten so good at pushing themselves, pushing their limits, and continuing on despite the terrible circumstances, that this new skill of theirs actually prevented them from understanding how bad off they were.
Jim wasn’t the type of man who’d ever admit weakness. It was good, up to a point.
And Jessica? She was so headstrong and independent. It’d gotten her far in life, both before and after the EMP. But now? She wouldn’t even admit that there was something horribly wrong with her eye. When Rob had asked her about, she’d acted as if he was crazy, as if there couldn’t possibly be anything wrong with her eye or her vision, despite the fact that her eye was swollen and discolored, the eyelid barely opening even a crack.
Rob had been through as much as the rest of them. But it was then, as he was basically dragging Jim across the pharmacy parking lot, that he realized that he was doing the best of the four of them.
It wasn’t that the other three wouldn’t recover. They’d been through hell, but after some rest, food, and water, they’d be more or less back to their former selves. Sure, they’d have physical and mental scars, marks in their minds, that would never leave. They’d have indelible nightmares, the kind that didn’t leave until death.
But so what? Everyone was messed up. Especially now. After the EMP, there wasn’t going to be a human in the US that didn’t have horror stories and terrifying images that they’d never be able to shake.
“We’ll all be fine,” Rob was saying, speaking to Jim, Aly, Jessica, and to himself too. “We’re going to rest up, and we’re going to get ourselves out of here. I happen to be doing the best of the three of us right now. So I’m in charge until further notice.”
There wasn’t even a hint of grumbling at Rob’s declaration of being in charge, and Rob took that as a sign that on some level the other three did understand how messed up they were. Not total understanding. Nothing close to it. And that was evident from what Jessica started to say.
“Are you planning to have us rest here in the pharmacy?” said Jessica. “Because we’ve already been attacked here. We need a new location. We’re doing fine. We just walked all night. We can walk a little farther.”
“Jim can’t stand up,” said Rob, grunting with effort as Jim’s limbs went once again completely limp. “And we can’t stand out there in the middle of the road. So we’re going into the pharmacy for right now.”
It seemed to take forever to get Jim across that parking lot. Jessica and Aly both tried to help, but they quickly found that they themselves were too weak. All they were able to do was hold the door open for Rob to drag Jim through.
“You’re going to be OK, buddy,” said Rob, as he laid Jim down against a wall over to the side. For a moment, Rob was worried that Jim would simply slide over to the side, but it turned out that he was able to support himself somewhat in that sitting position.
“He’s been through so much,” said Aly, leaning down over her husband and smoothing his hair back across his head.
“We all have,” said Jim, surprising everyone by talking. Then he winked, as if to say, “hey, I’m not dead yet.”
“OK,” said Rob. “Aly and Jessica, you two gather up as much food and liquid that the four of us will need for one meal.”
“Just one meal? We’re going to need more than that.”
“Just do it,” said Rob. “We need to get rested. Get our energy back. Then we’ll worry about the other things.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Don’t worry about that. Just do it.”
Rob needed time to think. Time to plan.
Rob watched as Aly and Jessica shuffled off, weaving their way through the aisles of the pharmacy. Most of the shelves were toppled over, and all the remaining products, as well as quite a bit of trash, were scattered about.
The women looked tired and worn down, their shoulders sloping forward and their backs arching, as if they were simply too tired to hold themselves completely upright.
Rob looked down at Jim, whose eyes were barely opened. They looked unfocused, as if Jim was lost in his own thoughts, and not really looking at anything in particular in the real world.
He’d be fine, though. He’d make it. They all would.
It had felt a little strange to Rob to be giving orders. After all, that wasn’t his normal role. Hell, before the EMP, he’d never been in any kind of managerial position whatsoever. He’d always been the guy under someone else, so to speak.
He’d had to take on more and more responsibility since the EMP. This was just the culmination of that.
With the condition of the other three, the authority fell automatically on his shoulders. It was up to Rob, and Rob alone, to decide what to do. The others weren’t in any shape to make those decisions. He hadn’t quite noticed how bad off Aly and Jessica had been on their walk. But that’s often the way it happened, that the body could marshal its resources for an intense hike or run, and then after, it would collapse into exhaustion.
Strangely, Rob didn’t feel crushed under the weight of the responsibility. It was a lot, and it wasn’t as if he didn’t understand the full implications of his new position. However temporary it was, the position was a big deal. One wrong decision, one wrong move, and all four of them could wind up dead.
For instance, should Rob keep them all here at the pharmacy for a few days while they rested, before continuing south? Should he look for a better spot nearby that they could hunker down in and recuperate, or maybe even t
ry to last it out in the long haul?
No, he didn’t think so. His gut feeling was that they needed to get away as soon as possible. There were the rest of the bikers out there, and there were sure to be others.
The pharmacy had appealed to Rob and his friends, and it would certainly appeal to others. It offered not just the hope of food and water, but also valuable life-saving medications.
So there’d be others that would come. It’d be a terrible place to lay low.
But at the same time, Rob knew they couldn’t simply set off in the state they were in right now.
He’d wait one day. Less than twenty-four hours, if they could manage it. He’d make sure the others were well-fed, and that they got some sleep. Rob knew he could get by with a couple short naps. He knew he’d be all right on sleep, and that he could continue functioning reasonably well as they headed south. So Rob would keep watch while the others slept. Jim, in particular, looked like he desperately needed sleep, and Rob had the feeling that he hadn’t slept at all the previous night.
“Look,” said Aly, approaching Rob, her hands full of food products. Jessica was right behind her, her hands full of plastic bags with bottles of what looked like sports drinks.
“We found a lot of stuff that others must have missed,” said Jessica.
“Good work,” said Rob.
“And what were you doing?” said Jessica, that sarcastic bite readily apparent in her tone. “Just relaxing?”
Rob ignored her question. He knew that for this brief sojourn in a position of authority, all he had to do to have his leadership accepted was to act the part. He didn’t need to explain anything or to justify himself or his actions. He just needed to be respectable, and the others would catch on soon enough.
“The three of you eat up,” said Rob. “And make sure to drink enough fluids. We’re all severely dehydrated, to the point where we don’t even know how much we need to drink.”
“We couldn’t find any water,” said Jessica, holding up one of the sports drinks.
Rob didn’t recognize the brand name, but he peered at the label, and saw that it was full of sugar, or corn syrup, with plenty of added vitamins.
Maybe not the healthiest thing to be drinking in the long run, or before the EMP. But now? Now it was perfect. Their bodies must have been completely depleted of stored sugar, or glycogen, and sugar was the perfect fuel for replenishment depleted glycogen stores. Just like after running a marathon, a person needed to load up on things like pasta, and even cakes and candy.
“You need the sugar anyway,” said Rob. “And it’s not like there isn’t water in here. It’s over 99 percent water, with some sugar and vitamins added. It’ll rehydrate you just fine.”
Rob watched as Aly and Jessica started to slowly feed Jim. They sat down next to him, cross-legged, on either side of him. They gave him sips of the beverages and broke off small bits of the food to feed him. Thankfully, they were so ravenous that they were eating and drinking themselves all the while.
The food they’d gotten seemed to be mostly snack foods. Candy and chips and a couple chocolate bars. That sort of thing. But there were a couple cans of sardines and tuna thrown in there. Maybe a packet of beef jerky too. It wasn’t perfect, but it was something.
Rob knew that their first priority was simply calories. After they had enough calories, they could afford to be a little pickier. And in that case, they’d want to prioritize protein over everything else. Protein was what would help their bodies rebuild themselves. Help them recover. Help them rest.
Rob was glad to see that the three were eating and drinking. He’d start his watch soon. He’d stay on the outside of the pharmacy, circling it, for as long as it took for his friends to rest up.
Rob was glad to do it. Glad to put himself in danger. Glad to exhaust himself. All for the sake of his friends. After all, without them, what would he be? He’d certainly be dead.
And it wasn’t even just that.
It wasn’t like he was that scared of dying.
But what he was scared of now, at least, was becoming once again the type of person that he’d been before the EMP. Before he’d had a change of character. Maybe you could even call it a change of heart.
Back then, he’d been weak-willed. A pushover. He’d been the guy who thought he was getting away with something, but in the end was only hurting himself.
Now he was someone else. He was strong-willed. He was the guy that people could rely on.
As he thought, Rob’s eyes were scanning the pharmacy. There was a door off on one wall that caught his eye. There was blood on it.
Rob walked over to the door, pushed it open.
He walked through the doorway, and found himself in the concrete stairwell that led up to the observation area.
It was dark in there. Not pitch-black, but close. His eyes would take at least a few moments to adjust.
There was the smell of death. Death and blood. It was unmistakable. Once his eyes adjusted, he knew what he could expect to see.
He stood there in the darkness, his fingers and toes starting to become cold as adrenaline started to pump through him. There wasn’t any real danger, but his body thought there was. It was just the idea of death, of a fight, that it was reacting to.
Soon enough, his eyes were adjusted enough that he could make out what was around him.
It was the area Jim had fought in. It had to be. Rob suddenly realized that he hadn’t yet wondered about the lack of bodies in the pharmacy.
Well, now he saw them.
They were everywhere. Corpses of the bikers. They were laid out on the landing, and along the steps.
It looked like someone had dragged a couple more bodies and pushed them in a cavernous area underneath the stairs.
Rob took a sharp intake of breath.
The sight of the bodies was striking. They’d all met their death in various ways. Blunt trauma, cuts, and bullet wounds. Sometimes, it was hard to tell what had killed them.
As his eyes continued to adjust, Rob put his hand on the cold metal and started to climb the stairs. Sometimes he could get his feet on the bare concrete and sometimes he had to actually step on the bodies.
He could see now that the concrete was covered in blood. A lot of blood.
Rob made it to the first landing and stood there, his jaw dropping at the sight of the carnage.
Jim had really put up some fight. Rob couldn’t believe that his buddy was still alive, and that he hadn’t sustained some injury that would eventually kill him. As far as Rob could tell, Jim was more or less in fine shape. Once he rested, he’d be good to keep going.
Rob’s gaze shifted up the second stairwell, towards an open door.
A shiver ran through Rob’s body.
This seemed like an evil place. That was his gut feeling, anyway. It didn’t seem like the site of some gallant victory, some great battle won. That’s how things seemed in the history books. But to those who’d been there? No. It seemed different. To those present for the carnage, to the atrocities. There was nothing spectacular about it. Killing was what it was. Death. Ceasing to exist.
Death and killing weren’t necessarily evil. Or good. Death was simply the ruler of the land. It was the application of power, and power now ruled.
Rob’s mind understood that death and killing were necessary. But his gut didn’t. His body kept shivering. And he decided then and there that he shouldn’t continue up the steps. He didn’t need to totally understand what Jim had gone through. He’d seen enough.
Rob turned around and walked back down the stairs and out the door, into the brighter main area of the pharmacy.
If Rob lived long enough, he was sure that he’d one day find himself in a situation like Jim had. He hoped that it didn’t happen to him, but he was at least smart enough to know that hoping meant nothing, and it was simply a matter of probabilities and likelihoods.
22
Jim
Jim was just waking up.
He was f
inally feeling rested. And more or less full. Or at least not hungry.
Knowing that Rob was on watch had allowed him to sleep. That, and finally losing that edginess from hunger. And what helped most of all was having his wife once again by his side.
He’d had strange dreams. It was almost as if his mind hadn’t had deep sleep in so long that, finally presented with the opportunity to dream, it had gone completely wild. The images still hung in his mind’s eye. Images of the strangest things, giant spiders with long, incredibly thin legs and mouths full of fangs. And there’d been more realistic images, flashes of the men he’d killed yesterday. Those bikers, and the expressions on their faces as he’d killed them.
Jim shook his head like a wet dog, shaking away the images and waking himself up a little.
Jim looked around.
There wasn’t much light. It was once again very dark inside the pharmacy.
Aly was curled up against him, sleeping.
Jessica was walking towards him. Maybe he’d heard her and it had woken him up.
“How long was I asleep?” said Jim.
“About eighteen hours.”
“Eighteen hours?” Jim could hardly believe it.
She nodded. “I just got up myself a couple hours ago.”
“And Rob?”
“He’s outside. He’s kept watch the whole time we were asleep. He hasn’t slept at all. It was part of his plan.”
“His plan?”
“He didn’t think we were in good enough shape to move on out of here, and I think he’s right.”
Jim nodded. It sounded like a good plan. “Is he in good enough shape to move on out of here, though?”
“He says he is.”
“And what do you think?”
“I think he can make it. A night of walking.”
“Walking at night? Is that what you two talked about?”
“Yeah. Just now. Lowers the risk of detection. If we head down south on the roads, we’re likely to run into someone. If we just move at night, well...”
She didn’t need to finish her sentence. It was all self-evident. Obvious.
Final Dread: A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller (Surviving Book 3) Page 15
