Patriots

by Max Masen

  Chapter 2:

  Is The Doctor In?

  I was sitting by the fire in my torn clothes, greasy and dirty from going unwashed for so long. I looked around the area. Across from me were the two Hyenas that escaped with us. Their names were Dave and Chuck. They had become vital in showing us the way to the Hyena outposts. We started in St. Clair, Michigan and our goal was an outpost located in Abbott, Texas. It was a long shot but it was our only chance of survival.

  The government gained some of its strength back and had been using drones to destroy the Hyena outposts all throughout the country. Texas and a few other southern states were the only ones I'd be welcomed in. The Hyenas resorted to burrowing underground once again. Therefore, they were harder to find when we did come upon them. We couldn't stay long when we did find them, though. Many of the outposts we actually made it to were destroyed a week or so after we left. It wasn't safe for our kind anymore.

  The worst part of all of it was knowing I didn't even believe in the cause. I was being hunted down for something I didn't want to be a part of. The worst part was putting Levi at risk because I was too scared to go it alone. I traded a false sense of security for our livelihoods.

  “Y'know, after we make it to the next outpost, there won't be another for a long time,” Chuck said to me. “Do you think you're ready for that?”

  “We won't have any ammo or food,” Dave said to back up Chuck.

  “I don't know.” I was becoming uncertain about everything. I couldn’t protect Levi. I couldn’t even protect myself. “I wish I knew. We have food right now. We're already running low on ammo but Levi found the bow he's been using to hunt.”

  “That won't take down a drone.” Chuck laughed a little, most likely out of annoyance.

  “But your gun can?” I raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Or will you be punching it down with your bare hands? Please, tell me more about your hands of steel.”

  “Alright, guys, that's enough,” Dave butted in.

  “Look, we are fine,” I asserted. “And you have no right to talk to me like that.” I held onto my false sense of leadership for the roadtrip.

  “I know you're not the real Marley.” Chuck furrowed his brow and shot me a daring glance. “Even if you were, it wouldn't make a difference. You're just a prick that can't lead and can't fight.”

  “You'd all be dead if it weren't for me,” I said.

  “He's got a point,” Dave said in support of me.

  Levi came up quietly from behind a tree with a row of rabbits he had caught. He held his bow tightly and looked much older.

  “What were we discussing now?” Levi asked. “Politics?”

  “Something like that,” Chuck replied.

  Chuck didn't normally act so aggressive. It was most likely his hunger that was getting to him. It was getting to all of us. Hostility was reigning when hunger took over. Luckily Levi had managed to bag some rabbits for dinner. It didn’t help either that the air was getting colder. I was beginning to see my breath in the air, and the leaves began to change. We had to adapt to the changing climate. The Hyena outposts we passed had supplied us with warmer jackets, gloves, and hats. The cold of winter was still a few months away. We prayed we'd be somewhere warmer when it came. We still had hope and that kept us going.

  I got up and walked the perimeter. Upon seeing Levi's footprints farther out, I realized there was a second set of footprints. Fear set in and I raced back to camp.

  “Levi!” I yelled.

  “What's going on?” Levi asked.

  “Were you followed back here?”

  “No. Why do you ask?” Levi said with a confused expression.

  “There was another set of footprints next to yours. We need to keep moving,” I said dramatically.

  “I just finished building this fire,” Chuck said angrily.

  “And now you'll have to start putting it out,” I barked back. The urgency in my voice must have been apparent, because he immediately went to work smothering the flames. Either that, or he knew I was right.

  “I'm gonna have to agree with Dustin on this one,” Dave said. “I don't want to die today.”

  “There's a town close by on the map,” I said. “We can go there and see if we can find a spot to spend the night.”

  It was decided unanimously that we head out for the town. Chuck wasn't happy about it but he knew it was for the best, therefore, he agreed with us. Most of the walk was in silence. We were getting tired and weak. We walked most hours of the day. We walked every day. It was starting to take its toll. I looked at Levi as his head started to weave and bob. He collapsed a moment later.

  “Levi, can you hear me?” I asked.

  “He'll be fine,” Chuck said. “He's probably just dehydrated.”

  “Do we have much water left?” Dave asked.

  “Down to three and a half bottles. Give him one,” Chuck demanded furiously. He swiped the bottle from Dave’s hand. He was becoming defensive over my brother.

  Levi was still awake, but appeared disoriented. His eyes looked around the area but he didn't appear to know where he was. I put my hand out for Chuck to give me the water bottle. After a moment of consideration, he finally put the bottle in my hand. I told Levi what I would be doing so I wouldn't alarm him. I then sat him up and put the top of the bottle in his mouth.

  “You're gonna be alright, buddy,” I said to Levi.

  He started to come to and looked at me with knowing eyes.

  “What happened?” Levi asked,

  “You passed out,” Chuck said laughing.

  Levi always seemed to cheer Chuck up. I wasn't sure why, and I was afraid to ask.

  “Let's get going,” Dave said.

  I helped Levi to his feet and he held onto the water bottle tightly for the rest of the journey into town. We came over a hill and found what we were looking for. The town was sitting quietly and was smaller than I imagined. Most of it had been cut off from the center which was barricaded. The only way in was through the middle of town. It looked like someone made it so whoever entered would have to funnel in through the narrow passage.

  The sun was setting in front of us and we knew time was short. We had to get in there and set up camp quickly. First, we had to secure the area. This meant making sure it was safe to stay in.

  “I don't like this,” Chuck said.

  “I know. Do you have any other ideas?” I asked, sincerely hoping he would.

  “We're being followed. This is the safest place,” Dave said.

  Chuck finally nodded, and our short discussion ended. We only had two options, anyway. Levi was looking down at the ground as we entered through the town square.

  “Are you scared?” I asked him.

  Looking offended, Levi quickly answered, “Of course not! I'm fine!”

  “Alright, alright,” I said laughing. “Just checking on you.”

  “I've killed lots of things,” Levi tried to reinforce his point.

  “You've killed defenseless rabbits and woodchucks. They don't fight back. Don't get me wrong, you're a good shot, but you're not a killer,” I said.

  “I could kill those soldiers, though,” Levi said sporadically.

  “Don't talk like that,” I scolded. “Those soldiers are people, Levi. They have families just like all the people that lived at the camp with us.”

  “They're trying to kill us,” Levi was upset, anger bled from his words.

  “That's because the people we're with have taken everything they've ever known,” I replied.

  “You almost killed them, though, Dustin. You wanted to. I could see in your eyes when they killed Jess,” Levi remarked.

  I looked down to the ground. I was about to reply, but before I could there was a snap, and a whine of running rope. Dave smacked against the ground, and was lifted high into the air. He had broken a wire that activated some mechanism that hung up a few feet above us.

  “Dave! You okay?” I screamed
wildly. My heart started pounding. I surveyed the area briefly to see if there were more traps around.

  “I'm fine! Just get me down!” Dave yelled back.

  I looked at Chuck and Levi for ideas. They looked back at me, both looked just as confused. We had knives, but there was nothing close to Dave we could climb on to get to him.

  “Guys, the blood is rushing to my head,” Dave said worriedly. He’s running out of time. We need to get to him. He can’t stay upside down like that or the blood rushing to his head will kill him. There’s nothing around here we can use to get him down.

  “We're gonna get you down! We just need to brainstorm first!” I replied loudly. Dave is going to die. There’s nothing anywhere we can get our hands on that will help us. He knew I was bluffing when I said we would help him. He had to have known.

  Suddenly, the rope broke and Dave fell. He landed on his head with a sickening thud, and the all-too-familiar sound of breaking bones. Chuck approached him cautiously. Dave was dead, his neck bent at an impossible angle, and Chuck looked back at us knowingly.

  “We need to get out of this cursed town,” Chuck said to us.

  “Agreed,” I replied.

  I was terrified. There was no way to know what lay beyond in the town. I don’t think any one of us really wanted to know. If the rope death was the welcoming committee, what could possibly be beyond it?

  “No! Look, the gate is closing!” Chuck yelled.

  We all looked back the way we came in and the gate was indeed closing up our only exit. There was no escape. We had to dig in for the night. No way out. No, this can’t be right. I promised Levi I would protect him. A night in this town will surely kill of all of us. We’re not alone. We can’t be alone. Is that someone in the window?

  “Which building looks safest to you guys?” I asked.

  “No! I'm not spending the night in this place!” Chuck yelled madly.

  “Hey!” I shouted to Chuck. “We don't know who's watching us and if they're listening or not right now. Why don't we get comfy and lie low?”

  “No! I'm not gonna stand still and let this asshole kill all of us!” Chuck yelled back to me.

  We were in the middle of town surrounded by tall buildings. Each building had numerous windows that someone could have taken a shot at us from. This realization put me on edge. Chuck was flailing wildly and waving his pistol in the air. I suddenly saw a glimmer from one of the windows and instinct kicked in. I tackled Chuck to the ground and narrowly avoided a round from a high-powered rifle. The sound was deafening, with its echo against the large buildings making it worse. Chuck threw me off of him and motioned for us to get into one of the buildings. The three of us ran frantically for a destroyed building with enough cover to keep us momentarily safe. A second round rang through the air that also missed us.

  “You okay, Levi?” Chuck asked.

  “Yeah, don't ask if I'm fine or anything. Not like I just saved your ass or anything,” I said in reply to Chuck.

  “I'm okay,” Levi said.

  “Good,” Chuck remarked to Levi. “But touch me again and you're dead, Dustin.”

  “That guy's still out there,” I reported. “Do we have any plans?”

  “I'm thinking!” Chuck said rabidly.

  “There's no way out of here,” I asserted. “We have to take him head-on.” I was still looking around the area for ways out as I said that. As much as the reality of a looming fight was setting in, I still would have rather avoided it.

  “We're down to fifty-six rounds of ammo for various weapons,” Chuck disclosed.

  “We can work our way through the buildings to get to him,” Levi chimed in.

  I said back: “Good thinking. Cover and flank.”

  “We don't know how many there are of them,” Chuck stated.

  “There can't be more than one,” I said back.

  “What do you base that off of?” Chuck asked suspiciously.

  The three of us were talking very rapidly. Our nerves had gotten the best of us. We were in a standoff that we weren't sure anyone could win. Our enemy clearly knew the environment well. He or she had already taken one life from our party. The buildings could have traps in them or could come down easily. They appeared to be all bombed-out during the last battle this town had seen.

  The early days were rough in the war. Many people had lost their homes, families, or their own lives. Bombs were dropped, cities were destroyed, and lives were torn into pieces. Drones patrolled the area and killed on-sight. Whoever was living in this town clearly was no stranger to killing and death. Killing was what most of us had known. I tried to keep Levi away from the violence, but it was inevitable. He had to learn and, at that point, I was regretting not teaching him how to fight or fire a gun earlier on. He was thrust into the world of taking lives and having casualties on his own side.

  “That's how many I want there to be,” I replied to Chuck viciously. I felt more determined than I should have.

  “I'm giving Levi the pistol,” Chuck said to me.

  “No!” I yelled angrily.

  “Shut up! You're gonna give away our position!” Chuck hissed as quietly as he could.

  “Why not, Dustin?! I've been shooting the bow!” Levi pleaded loudly.

  “That's a lot different, Levi,” I tried to reason with him. “You're not killing anyone.”

  “You need me for this,” Levi said to me. He had a determined look on his face that attempted to convey to me that he was ready. I wasn’t convinced.

  “No, Chuck and I will handle this,” I said.

  “The kid has a point. He needs the gun in case he runs into trouble,” Chuck remarked.

  “I'll be there if he runs into trouble. He doesn't get a gun and that's final,” I said definitively. A bullet ricocheted off the wall in front of us. Whoever was taking aim at us was toying with us. He or she was attempting to draw us out. It got us jumpy and ready to move. Their plan was working.

  “That's it!” Chuck yelled nervously. “I'm going for it! Cover me!”

  “Chuck, no!” I shouted to him.

  Chuck jumped over the wall and ran for the building adjacent to us as quickly as he could. He tripped but quickly regained his balance and continued running. From the time he jumped the wall to the time he made it to the other building, our adversary had shot two more rounds at him. I saw the glimmer of the scope and made note of it.

  “You're welcome!” Chuck yelled from his new position. “Did you guys see him?”

  “Yeah, he's in the far building to the east,” I replied.

  “I'm making my way to him!” Chuck yelled.

  I screeched back to him: “Alright, I'll cover you!”

  “I need a gun,” Levi said to me, pulling at my shoulder gently.

  “It's final, Levi. Stay with me and you won't need one.” I wasn’t ready to give in.

  “I can help you guys.”

  “No, Chuck and I have this under control. He's on his way to finish it up right now,” I said in response to Levi's concerns.

  We waited a few moments until we heard a few gunshots and an eerie scratching sound. Levi and I turned to look at each other. He looked terrified. I knew it was time for me to step up. I looked up and scanned the area to see if the glimmer of the shooter's scope was visible. It wasn't, so I made a dash for the building Chuck ran into.

  My heart was pounding and I was becoming tired more easily than usual. I knew my nerves were getting to me but I couldn't think straight. Time was moving more slowly. I ran through the building to where Chuck had gone. I made my way through an entrance where the door had been blown off. I was still trying to catch my breath.

  I looked to the ground where Chuck was lying. His eyes were open and he appeared to be staring at me. It was unnerving but I continued on. I was more cautious now. It looked like Chuck had tripped some kind of trap like Dave did.

  I kept walking and found my way into a room filled with jars that
contained weirdly-colored fluids and body parts. There was a table that looked like it was used for surgeries in the center of the room. A body with both arms and one leg removed laid on the table.

  Only a little light shone through the window so the room was mostly devoid of luminescence. The quiet was chilling. Seeing the body forced me to stop moving; it made me think what would happen to Levi and I if we didn't make it out.

  I was suddenly hit over the head with a blunt object. I hit the solid floor hard. The blood could be felt on the back of my head where I was hit. I was being dragged by my feet to the operating table.

  “Shouldn't have come here,” a strange voice said. “I don't want to have to operate on you!”

  My vision was hazy and I couldn't comprehend what was happening.

  “They just can't learn to leave me alone!” the voice continued.

  I was then lifted onto the table by the man who had set the traps. I looked on the wall and saw a doctor's certificate. I was lying next to a mutilated body and could barely move.

  “They’re all sick and they need help!” he assured himself. “We have to operate on them for their own good!”

  “What?” I said disoriented. “You- You're operating on who?! How many of you are there?!!”

  “He talks to us!” the man said. What’s going on?! Is the doctor talking to himself or is there someone else in the room with us?

  He had long, unkempt hair. His jacket was covered in mud and filth.

  “Us?! Who's us?!” I yelled worriedly. I tried to get up, but my body ached. I couldn’t move.

  He suddenly went into the corner and stood there for a moment. I attempted to move slowly, finally feeling a burst of energy surge through me, but he turned around quickly and hit me in the stomach with a baseball bat.

  “You can't leave! We haven't had dinner yet!” he said frenetically.

  “No, I'm not hungry. Thanks,” I said. I attempted to play his game with him. My mind was racing with possible escape plans or various dialogue options that could be used to get me out of the situation.

  “We insist!” he said as he grabbed a dirty saw and approached me.

  He put the saw to my arm and made a small cut. I yelled in pain and used my other hand to punch him in the stomach. This made him laugh. He then quickly punched me in the face. His hand was bleeding and he laughed wildly.

  “You can't do this!” I yelled to him.

  “This one doesn't like the saw! What do we give him then, doctor?” he asked himself. “We just have to use a little more force!”

  He grabbed my arm and pulled me off the table. Walking slowly back to his corner, he picked up an ax and approached me once again.

  “No!” I yelled hectically.

  He held out my left arm and knelt into my chest with his knee to keep me from moving. He gripped the ax tightly and lifted it into the air.

  I then looked behind him and saw Levi holding a gun to him.

  “Levi, shoot!” I screamed. What am I doing?! I can’t ask my little brother to shoot someone! But if I don’t then he’ll cut my arm off. It’s the right thing to do. It has to be.

  He hesitated. The ax came down and in one excruciating moment, my arm was separated from the rest of my body. I yelled in agonizing pain. Another moment passed and the doctor looked pleased with his work.

  The gunshot was loud and pierced the doctor's skull, pieces of it flying around and into me, causing small cuts. I was still writhing in pain on the now-bloodied floor. Levi was standing in the entrance, still holding the pistol up where he had taken the shot. He was paralyzed with the thought of what he had to do.

  The blood loss mounted and shock set in. I closed my eyes and darkness ensued.