Human Extinction Level Loss (Book 1): Nicole's Odyssey

by McClimon, Philip A.

  Not only did this moniker do nothing to garner him a circle of close friends, fun adventures, or a sweet girlfriend, it facilitated the ridicule of his peers.

  He was addressed by neither “William” nor “Billy” by them, but rather “Willy”, and always in the most disdainful and mocking of tones. “Do you have any plans or are you Free Willy?” “Willy Wonka” (almost always changed to Willy Wanker) and of course, “When your dad plays with you, he’s playing with his little Willy.” The taunting crowd’s greatest hits. William “Willy” Watkins just wanted to be “Billy”, but no one ever called him that.

  When the apocalypse hit, William’s parents thought their money would save them. Certainly, provision would be made for the elite of society, as important as people such as they were to life and culture. The government and the “powers that be” would have some secret location for the rich and privileged to go, isolated and protected from the huddled masses, ready to emerge to rebuild society again in their image. It came as a shocking reality, a reality for which they were not prepared in the least, when society crumbled around them and no fleet of black SUVs came, amid the shouts and protests of the less fortunate, to whisk their kind away. Unprepared to face the harsh reality, and unwilling to use their wealth to help themselves or their neighbors, William’s parents huddled against a wall sized bookshelf of first editions and were torn apart.

  William loved his parents and wanted to feel sad at losing them. He was certainly afraid about the state of the world, and was concerned about who was going to take care of him now that his parents were gone. But, the fact of the matter was, he was not particularly close to his parents. They were emotionally distant, being immersed in their societal concerns. They kept him at a physical distance too, sending him off to the finest boarding schools which always seemed to be far away.

  When it became evident to seemingly all but William’s parents that things were not improving, all the students at William’s boarding school were sent home, “to be with their families during such dark times.” When William arrived, he found his parents fretting about what someone was going to do about the current state of affairs, and who was coming to get them. They saw their son’s return as something of a nuisance, an intrusion into their own self important fretting.

  When the horde pushed their way into his parents' mansion, William ran and hid in the wine cellar. The Dead did not look for him there as he hid among the bottles, bottles that were always displayed but never consumed. He covered his ears there in the dark as his parents’ screams were cut short, replaced by other sounds… Eating sounds.

  William wanted to be an ordinary kid, but of course he wasn’t. At first nannies, then butlers, followed by headmasters and teachers saw to his needs, what they thought he needed. He had never had to take care of himself, and so when the time to do so was thrust upon him, he failed.

  Dirty, hungry, and tired, he wandered the streets of Montgomery Heights, one of the most prestigious suburbs of Lake City. Forced into a constant state of hyper-awareness by thousands of the Dead wandering around much more hungry than he was, he had little time or fortitude to come up with a plan. When a man, who introduced himself as Dermot Mullney, approached and seemed sympathetic to his plight, William was receptive.

  Mullney wore a dark green button up shirt and pants, the uniform of Lake City Electric Company. He looked to William to be about fifty years old, the same age as his father. Mullney said he was alone and scared too, and suggested that maybe the two of them could travel together. William knew enough not to talk to strangers, especially those who wore “laborer’s clothes” and “were always looking for a handout”, or so his parents told him, but William was alone and scared. When Mullney told him he would take care of him, he accepted the offer. It was only later that he learned that the Dead were not the only predators out there.

  At first things were fine, Mullney fed him, gave him things he had found. That first week with Mullney made William feel like maybe things were going to be okay. The second week, William knew they weren’t.

  Mullney said he wanted to show him something, something in his basement. He followed Mullney down. When William asked what it was, Mullney said it was right in there, and pointed to a chain link cage in the corner. When he asked why Mullney had a cage in his basement, he was told it was because the thing in there was valuable, and times being what they were, he kept it locked up so no one could steal it. Of course there was nothing locked in the cage of any value, not until William was locked in there. At first he thought Mullney was playing a game, he was laughing after all. But when he refused to let him out, William became concerned. Mullney’s explanation did nothing to alleviate his fears either. Mullney said there was no emotion in killing a bug you found in your house, anybody could do that. The real pain and misery, pain and misery that most people avoided and shunned, but that Mullney welcomed and embraced, came from killing something you had grown to love. Mullney loved William now, and so soon William Watkins would have to die.

  Mullney kept him locked up for a long time. William lost track of how long because there were no windows in the basement to see the sun, to track the progress of days. He had no resources to help him deal with his new circumstances, having been cared for his whole life, but William had always been a quick learner, and he was receiving a crash course.

  He learned for instance that acting afraid and docile caused Mullney to get careless and do things like turn his back on him. Mullney would bring him his meals and pet his head while he ate, telling him how bad it was going to “hurt ol’ Derm to end him”, relishing the thought and almost quivering with pleasure at the prospect. When William would question Mullney as to why he did not do it already, “Ol’ Derm” would get mad. When Mullney was mad, he never forgot to lock the cage door behind him.

  After eating, if William had acted scared and docile enough, Mullney would take his dishes and place them in the utility sink against the wall. He would leave the cage door open sometimes when he did this. William watched Mullney, learned his behavior and planned his move. His plans did not extend beyond running out of the cage, grabbing the metal fork left to dry by the sink, and stabbing “Ol’ Derm” with it, but it was enough.

  William was not strong and Mullney was meaty, so the wound was superficial at best. It was enough to surprise him however, and give William enough time to run up the stairs and out of the house.

  By the time Mullney pushed his way out the front door and down his front steps, William was gone. Mullney came looking for him though. He had his van and knew the area.

  It was two towns over, in Little Bend, that Mullney almost caught up to him. He was chasing William through the woods that stretched along the I-70 heading into Little Bend. Mullney saw him running, and almost had him, when he saw William dart from the woods and run into a large old school bus. Mullney smiled and was about to step out of the tree line, when he saw the shufflers approaching. Mullney ducked back into the trees and waited. When the horde had passed, so had Mullney’s opportunity.

  He watched as Sam, Walt, and Nicole climbed down from the bus, watched Walt shoot a tight pattern into the windshield of the overturned HUMVEE. He remained hidden in the trees and watched as William stared at him through a window in the back of the bus. For a second, Mullney thought the kid was going to rat him out, that he would convince the three with guns to come after him. Mullney tensed and thought about bolting, but the pointing finger never came, the three with the guns never turned his way. William simply ducked down and disappeared. It was then that Dermot Mullney knew, William loved him too. He crouched down and slunk off into the cover of the trees. He would give William some time, the kid was scared was all. He would give him some time and then come for him. As he retraced the miles he had come chasing William through the woods, Dermot Mullney vowed he would get his William back.

  Nineteen

  Billy stood on the steps of the bus with his hands raised. In one hand he held a torn open bag of frozen raspberr
ies. Nicole kept her gun pointed at Billy. Taking his cue from Nicole, Sam kept his gun leveled at him as well. Nicole stared at Billy.

  “Where the hell did you come from, kid,” she asked.

  Billy looked back down the highway. Nicole did not follow his gaze.

  “Well, what were you doing on that bus?” Nicole asked.

  Billy got nervous.

  “I wasn’t stealing, I promise,” he said.

  Nicole looked at the bag of Raspberries in his hand. Seeing her gaze, Billy looked at the forgotten bag, his face revealing an expression of shock, like he did not know how they got there and had never seen his hand before. He sighed and hung his head.

  “There’s your crunching, Walt. You want me to plug him?” Nicole asked.

  Sam looked over at Nicole in shock. Seeing that she did not flinch, he resumed his vigilance, keeping his gun trained on Billy. Billy’s anxiety amped. He was about to plead when Walt spoke up.

  “Nah, man. Don’t kill him. He just looks hungry and scared, you know.”

  Nicole maintained her stance for several more seconds, then lowered her gun and sighed.

  “Alright, off the bus, kid. We’re going West so…” Nicole said as she stared him down.

  “I… I could go West,” Billy said. His words made Nicole’s face twitch ever so slightly. “It’s just I needed to get out of the city, and one direction is as good as another,” Billy said.

  Nicole looked away. “Sorry, kid. We don’t have the room, so… you best be on your way,” Nicole said.

  Walt looked over at Nicole. “Well… he could ride with me on my bus. I’ve got plenty of room,” Walt said.

  Nicole looked sharply over at Walt and was about to protest further, when she saw Sam staring at her, a “Mom, can we keep him” look in his eyes. Nicole’s mouth clamped shut as her eyes darted back and forth between Sam and Walt.

  “You know— this is getting—,” Nicole sputtered as Sam, Walt, and Billy all stared at her.

  Nicole rolled her eyes almost all the way out of her head before turning back the GTO.

  “Alright!” Walt exclaimed as he and Sam, all smiles, approached Billy. “My name’s Walt and this here’s Sam. The girl, well she’s Nicole, man. We’re all going to Colorado,” Walt said.

  Half way back to the car Nicole shouted. “Not standing around, we’re not!”

  Sam waved to Walt and Billy and hurried after Nicole. Walt waved Billy into the bus and climbed aboard.

  Sam hustled up and climbed in the passenger side of the GTO. Nicole looked back at Billy, who was sitting in the front seat near Walt. She climbed in behind the wheel and started the engine.

  “Were you really gonna plug that kid if Walt had said yes?” Sam asked.

  Nicole put the car in drive and did not look at Sam.

  “No, but that kid didn’t know that, did he?” Nicole said. She hit the gas and headed down the highway.

  Twenty

  The city of Woodford loved its Football. The citizens loved all their professional sports franchises, and the mayor and city council loved its revenue. To that end, the civic powers that be had made it all but impossible for the state’s football and baseball teams to build their stadiums anywhere else. Huge tax incentives, kickbacks and glad-handing ensured that if anybody wanted to see a major event, they had to come to Woodford to do it.

  The Wranglers were the professional football team. The owner along with the city had completed construction of a billion dollar stadium, complete with massive doors made of eighteen inch thick clear polycarbonate that could be open at either end, and a retractable roof. It sat on the landscape and could be seen for miles in all directions. It looked like the mother-ship recently arrived from some far off exotic alien world. The new stadium was built on the same piece of real estate that the old stadium sat upon. Out of a sense of athletic honor and respect for the old, the new stadium was built around and over the same grass field upon which the Wranglers had played since their forming. The stadium sat across the street from one of the largest stores in the All-Mart chain. “All-Mart, We’ve got it all!” was their slogan. It was not creative or insightful but nobody cared. They had become such a national entity with their big box floor plans and buy in bulk business strategy, that everyone in the country shopped at one at one time or another. They were like “Coke”. If they never had another commercial, business probably would not drop off that much.

  The city of Woodford was laid out in concentric circles. The center being the Entertainment and Business district. All roads led to it. A major thoroughfare ran around the business district, the idea being that citizens could drive the circle and enjoy the many fine eating and entertainment establishments that lined the ring. Parking was free on the weekends and commercial lots on the circle went at a premium.

  At the center of the center, sat the Liberty Bell Stadium. It was not named in commemoration of the country’s founding, and it certainly was not named for the Wranglers who played there. Like everything else, the naming rights were sold to the highest bidder, in this case Liberty Bell Insurance.

  Paul Baxter worked maintenance at the stadium. He knew the building well enough to know that when the massive doors at either end were secured, the place was sealed up tight, like a fortress. He was a divorcee, his wife became convinced that life was too short to stay married to a glorified janitor. Paul and Connie Baxter had one daughter between them, Jordan, a brown eyed beauty of sixteen years who was destined to break hearts. A daddy’s girl, she chose to stay with her father after the divorce. Her mother fought it, not cause she wanted to see more of Jordan, but to cause pain for Paul. In a rare turn of events, the court favored the father in the custody hearing, and Paul and Jordan remained together. Connie Baxter moved two states over and stopped caring about Jordan’s visitations, consequently Jordan did not see much of her mother after the divorce. Of course they never heard anything from her after the apocalypse.

  When current events told Paul things were not going to get better, he knew that his two story townhouse was not the place to be. He and Jordan piled some belongings in the station wagon and hightailed it to Liberty Bell Stadium. Paul activated the massive doors and he and Jordan had a new home of several million square feet.

  Paul knew they could not stay there forever, but with the resources already in the stadium, and the massive All-Mart across the street, he figured they could stay safe and well fed for almost forever. When hundreds of the citizens of Woodford made a run at the military choke points outside the city, Paul stayed put. Those who were left were citizens of a new order, their station in life reduced to Shuffler, Runner, or Crawler. Thousands of them remained in Woodford, each one in a different state of Dead, but all of them hungry. The bulk of them found their way to the central hub and wandered together in a massive horde, like African ants moving their colony. Like those killer ants, anything that got caught in their path was swarmed and consumed.

  Paul knew this, knew it all too well. It was because of this that he had convinced Trevor Hamilton, his assistant at the stadium, that the Dead had to be organized. Everybody thought of Paul as the janitor, but Paul studied things, learned how they worked, what made them tick. He watched the Dead roam the city through the thick clear doors. He noticed that they moved along with no stated purpose. He remembered how they attacked, not as hunters, but as opportunists. They would move along until something got in their way, which made them not as smart as the African ant, but just as lethal. He figured if he could get them all moving in one direction, get them all focused, he would have some room to move himself.

  It had worked, almost. The cost was high, Trevor didn’t make it. The horde now roamed the central hub, turning the circular thoroughfare into a grim merry-go-round. After he got them moving the way he wanted, Paul watched them through the massive clear polycarbonate doors. It took thirty minutes for the entire horde to pass and another ninety minutes to come back around. During those ninety minutes you wouldn’t even know they were there. An
hour and a half window for Paul and Jordan to get out and get back with whatever they needed across the street.

  Paul had watched them for a week, noting the time it took for them to make their round trip, an egg timer of death that meant life for Paul and Jordan. Twice a week, he would go to the All-Mart and stock up on supplies, and today had been shopping day. He and Jordan got back with time to spare. Paul always made sure they got back with time to spare. Occasionally, Paul would cave to Jordan’s pleas to stay out a little bit longer after shopping. They would walk the section of the Hub the Dead weren’t on. Paul kept one eye on Jordan and one on his watch, always getting back with that precious time to spare.

  ☣

  The GTO hit the circle with the bus behind. Nicole scanned both sides of the street as they drove.

  “There,” Nicole said as she pointed at the massive All-Mart.

  She stuck out her arm and signaled to Walt, who flashed his lights, indicating he got her signal. Walt and Nicole pulled their vehicles up to the curb in front of the store. Nicole and Sam got out and met Walt and Billy on the sidewalk.

  “Load up on whatever you think you need, but food is what will keep us from having to stop again for awhile,” Nicole said.

  “You want me to take watch again on the bus, man?” Walt asked.

  “Might be a good idea, Walt. The place looks like a ghost town, but you never know,” Nicole said.

  “How will I notify you if I see something and you guys are inside,” Walt asked.

  Nicole thought about this for a second.

  “When we get inside, the first thing I’ll look for is some radios. We should have them for traveling anyhow. If you see something before then, fire three shots into the air. We’ll leave the doors open and we should be able to hear that,” Nicole said.