The Survivalist (Solemn Duty)

by Arthur T. Bradley

  When Tanner reappeared in the infirmary, he was carrying the fireplace poker that young Peter had been using as a spit. The chargrilled squirrel was noticeably absent, but the steel tip now glowed a soft orange.

  He shooed Samantha and Purdy aside.

  “Stand clear. This thing’s hot.”

  “What in the world are you doing?” asked the reverend.

  “When I was a kid and I came home from the woods with ticks on my neck, my mom would stick a hot match to them. More times than not, it would cause the little buggers to rethink their dinner and let loose.”

  “But the boy, you’ll—”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”

  Tanner leaned the boy away from the creature so that the seam of mustard-colored paste was visible. As he carefully brought the tip of the poker toward it, the yellow goop began sizzling like butter in a hot pan.

  “My god,” muttered Purdy. “The paste… could it be alive, even now?”

  Tanner inched the tip closer, careful to keep it from contacting the boy’s flesh. After a few seconds, the paste began letting loose of his skin as it slowly retreated back to the safety of its now dead host.

  “That’s it,” coaxed Tanner.

  He carefully slid the poker along the seam, careful never to make contact with the boy’s skin. As he did, Purdy and Tyler gently pulled the boy free an inch at a time. As soon as he was clear, they rolled him away and onto his belly. Almost immediately, the boy began moaning, as if waking from a bad dream.

  Purdy turned to Tyler. “Fetch his mother, hurry!”

  The man wheeled about and raced from the room.

  Purdy motioned for the nurse, and she hurried over to check on the boy.

  Feeling his neck, she said, “His pulse is growing stronger.” She opened one of his eyelids and flashed it briefly with a pen light. “Brain activity appears normal, as well.” She turned to Tanner. “I think you did it, you saved him.”

  Purdy added, “You not only saved him, you saved the lives of others who might become hostages to these despicable creatures.”

  Tanner motioned toward the dead hermaphrodite.

  “I’d suggest throwing that on the burn pile out front.”

  He nodded. “Yes, of course.”

  “Now that you know their weakness,” said Samantha, “your people should be safe, right?”

  “I wish that were true. While this revelation is certainly helpful, it doesn’t solve our larger problem.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s rare that we catch the creatures before they’ve carted away our loved ones. And once they’re gone, they’re usually never seen again,” he glanced over at the creature, “at least not like they were.”

  “This helps though, right?”

  Purdy smiled. “It certainly does, and as such, it seems only fair that I give you a token of our appreciation.”

  “What kind of token?”

  Purdy turned and motioned for both her and Tanner to follow.

  “Come along, and you’ll see.”

  Tanner and Samantha looked to one another, gave a collective shrug and followed after him. They passed Tyler in the hallway, who quickly ushered a tearful woman into the infirmary before hurrying to catch up with them.

  Purdy led them through an exit at the rear of the building that opened to a wide stretch of asphalt that had once been a parking lot. Children ran and played under the watchful eyes of several women, all of whom had rifles slung across their shoulders. A handful of 4x4s, flatbed trucks, and fuel-economy cars had been parked to either side of the lot to act as protective barriers.

  “This way,” Purdy said, carefully navigating through the playing children toward a smaller secondary structure with a matching magenta-colored metal roof.

  As they crossed the playground, Samantha studied the children. Some were barely old enough to walk, others were nearly her age.

  “Tanner?”

  He glanced over at her. “Yeah?”

  “Am I still a kid?”

  “What kind of question is that?”

  She shrugged. “I’m just wondering when a person changes from being a kid to a grown up.”

  “Darlin’, if you do it right, you can stay a kid your entire life.”

  “Really? How?”

  “Make it a point to see the wonder of wherever you are.”

  She let her eyes study everything around her.

  “There is a lot of happiness here. I guess that’s a wonder, especially given the way things are nowadays.” She watched as one of the kids balanced a soccer ball on his foot. “But if I’m still a kid, shouldn’t I have toys?”

  “What are you talking about? You’ve got plenty of toys.”

  “Like what?”

  “That lovely knife at your back, for one.”

  She nodded thoughtfully. “It is a good knife. Still, I don’t know that I’d call it a toy.”

  “What about those books you got from the library?”

  “I guess they’re sort of like toys.”

  “And don’t forget old Major. Biggest toy of them all.”

  “True. I hadn’t thought about him.” She smiled. “I think you’re right. I am still a kid.”

  Tanner reached over and ruffled her hair.

  “Of course, you are.”

  Purdy stopped at the door to the secondary structure. A short, wiry man with a crew cut stood guard. Like a mercenary deep in the bush, he wore a mishmash of military clothing, tall black boots with laces wrapped around their tops, and a Molex vest with both knife and firearm attached. An FN SCAR-H hung down in front of him, and at the sight of people approaching, his grip tightened on the weapon.

  “Is there trouble, Reverend?”

  “No trouble, Brock,” answered Purdy. “But we will need to get inside.”

  “You sure?” he said, eyeing Tanner with suspicion.

  Purdy smiled. “It’s okay. We’ll be in and out in a few minutes, I promise.”

  Brock reluctantly pulled a key from around his neck and unlocked the door. Purdy motioned for Tanner and Samantha to enter, but when Brock and Tyler tried to come in behind them, he stepped in their way.

  “If you wouldn’t mind, please keep an eye on things out here.”

  While clearly displeased with his decision, both men stopped and took up positions outside the door.

  Once inside, Purdy closed the door and retrieved a battery-operated lantern from a nearby hook. When he clicked it on, Tanner and Samantha let out a collective gasp.

  Before them lay six enormous stacks of gold, each measuring ten feet on a side and three feet in height. Several covered pallets also lay around the room, but none could take away from the real star of the space.

  Gold.

  “Wow,” breathed Samantha, “that’s a lot of gold.”

  Purdy smiled. “It is, isn’t it?”

  Tanner turned to him and said, “I suppose you’re going to let us take our fill on account of my saving the boy.” It sounded too good to be true, which meant that it almost certainly was.

  “I couldn’t even if I wanted to. The entire council would need to approve something like that, and believe me, they wouldn’t.”

  “Do you know how many bars there are?” asked Samantha.

  Purdy shook his head. “No, but surely many thousands. We think there were even more on the train when it derailed, but the soldiers guarding it took what they could and abandoned the rest. That’s when we found it.”

  Purdy approached the closest pile of gold and used both hands to lift off one of the bars. At nearly thirty pounds, his fingers strained under its weight.

  He offered it to Tanner. “A token of our thanks.”

  Tanner took the bar and held it out for Samantha to see. Unlike jewelry, the block of unpolished gold was dingy and dull. Its only distinguishing feature was a six-digit alphanumeric code stamped into one end.

  “It’s not as pretty as I thought it would be,” she said, gently stroking th
e bar.

  “Not yet, but with a little elbow grease, it’ll shine up real nice.”

  She gently pulled him to one side and whispered, “Even prettied up, one bar’s not going to be enough for Mother.”

  “No, but it’ll prove we found it. That’s all we signed up to do. Mother’s goons can come and get the rest.”

  Samantha’s whisper sharpened. “You know we can’t do that. Think about what they would do to those kids outside.”

  She was right of course, but it had sounded so easy.

  Tanner let out a frustrated breath. “Why do you always have to go and complicate things?”

  “Because that’s my job. You dumb things down, and I smarten them up.” She offered a friendly smile. “So, what are we going to do? We can’t very well take the gold ourselves. Even if we could steal it, it’s way too heavy for the two of us to move.”

  Purdy let out a little cough, and they both turned to face him.

  “I can’t help but think there must be a way for us both to get what we want.”

  “I wondered how long it was going to take you to get around to that,” said Tanner.

  “What on earth do you mean?”

  “You could have had a gold bar brought out to us. It certainly would have been safer. You wanted us to see the entire haul so that we’d know what was on the table.”

  “You caught me,” he said with a slight bow. “I only hope that my methods haven’t sullied this opportunity before us.”

  “What opportunity?” said Samantha.

  Purdy turned and motioned to the huge piles of treasure.

  “The gold, it’s impressive, yes, but it means nothing if we’re slowly picked off by those monstrous creatures.”

  “So?”

  “So, if someone could help rid us of those horrible mutations, I’m sure the council would be much more generous.”

  “How generous?”

  “Generous enough to send you on your way with sufficient gold to ensure the release of your beloved Issa.”

  At the sound of Issa’s name, Tanner’s gut clenched. Was she safe? Did she know about the helicopter crash? If so, she must be wracked with worry. He had to hurry and get back to her before she did something stupid, like coming out to look for him and Samantha.

  “Even if we wanted to help, it would take Sam and me a month to find and kill all those little beasties. They could be hiding anywhere.”

  Purdy came closer. “That’s not entirely true.”

  Tanner’s eyes narrowed. “You know something you haven’t told us.”

  “We believe that most of the creatures reside in a single location. Kill the hive; kill the monster.”

  “Hive?” said Samantha. “Like bees?”

  “If you want to think of them that way.”

  “But why do they take people in the first place? They’re obviously not eating them. If anything, they’re…” She hunted for the word.

  “Assimilating them,” he said.

  “Assimilating?” She wrinkled her nose as if the word smelled particularly foul.

  “It’s the best description I can offer. Somehow, they manage to dissect and recombine their victims, spawning creatures that are both unnatural and dangerous.”

  “Where exactly is this hive?” asked Tanner.

  Purdy pointed off to the east. “In an old underground Atlas missile silo over near River Ridge, perhaps two miles from here. We’ve witnessed the creatures coming out in the evening and returning in the morning.”

  “If that’s the case, why didn’t you just go and kill them?”

  Purdy’s face flushed an uncomfortable shade of red.

  “Indeed we tried. Only yesterday, four of our best men went into the silo, husbands, fathers, good men that I asked to volunteer.” He took a breath. “None have come out.”

  “I see,” growled Tanner. “So, you’d send one man and a girl to do what they couldn’t.”

  “We’re desperate.” Purdy started to add something but stopped himself. “We’re desperate,” he repeated in a soft voice.

  “Why not just move away?” asked Samantha. “The whole world is empty now.”

  “Therein lies the problem. Without supplies, we would surely suffer and die.”

  “You’ve managed to find them around here.”

  “Only because there happens to be an enormous wholesaler’s distribution point nearby that’s filled with food, drink, tools, clothing, and nearly everything else one might need.”

  “Like a Walmart?”

  “Like twenty Walmarts.”

  She turned to Tanner. “That must have been the huge white building we saw from the tracks.”

  “There are several similar structures,” added Purdy, “all of which contain useful supplies. The truth is that this is an ideal location not only to survive, but to thrive for years to come.”

  “Except that there happen to be monsters living in your backyard,” said Samantha.

  “Yes, there is that.”

  “Let me get this straight,” said Tanner. “You can’t leave because there are giant buildings full of goodies nearby, and you can’t stay because there are creatures dragging your women and children away at night.”

  Purdy nodded. “I couldn’t have said it better.”

  Still carrying the bar of gold in one hand, Tanner began to pace. When he stopped, he turned to Purdy, a look of determination on his face.

  “Let’s say Sam and I go and kill this hive. What do we get?”

  “As much gold as you can carry.”

  “On one of those flatbeds outside?”

  He nodded. “Fueled and ready to go.”

  Tanner mulled over the proposition.

  “What do you think, Sam? And before you answer, remember how you felt when that creature from the train tried to make you his lunch. It’s likely to be more of the same.”

  Her heart skipped a beat as she recalled her confrontation with crab-man.

  “I-I don’t know. What do you think?”

  “Don’t see we have much of a choice. Not if we want to get Issa back.”

  She pressed her lips together and nodded.

  “Okay then, I’m in.”

  He turned to Purdy. “We’ll need a few things.”

  “Such as?”

  He patted the Mare’s Leg. “Ammunition, .45 Long Colt, at least a hundred rounds.”

  “I think I can manage that. What else?”

  “Batteries for our flashlights.”

  “Done.”

  “How about some rope?” offered Samantha. “You did say it was underground.”

  Purdy nodded. “Anything else?”

  Tanner thought for a moment, finally snapping his fingers so loudly that the reverend nearly jumped out of his wrinkled suit.

  “I’ll need two gallons of gasoline, a large box of Styrofoam, and half a dozen quart-size jars with lids.”

  “Those are very specific items,” said Purdy. “What exactly do you plan to do with them?”

  Tanner shook his head. “Sorry, no spoilers.”

  Samantha spotted the unmistakable gleam in his eye.

  “Please tell me you’re not planning to make another bomb.”

  “Nope, no bomb.”

  “Thank goodness,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief.

  He grinned. “I’m gonna make something even better.”

  Tanner, Samantha, Reverend Purdy, Tyler, and Brock stood together in the now empty parking lot at the rear of the complex. Neatly laid out on the bed of a pickup truck was a dingy red gas can, six empty pickle jars, and a clear bag stuffed with Styrofoam packing peanuts.

  Brock nudged Tyler. “What’s this bozo think he’s doing?”

  “No idea.”

  Ignoring the peanut gallery, Tanner picked up two of the jars and passed one to Samantha.

  “What am I supposed to do with this?”

  “Just follow my lead. This is one of those teaching moments.”

  She perked up, knowing that s
uch lessons usually only came around once, and more often than not, they were pretty darn interesting.

  Tanner poured a few ounces of gasoline into his jar, and Samantha followed suit.

  “Now what?”

  “Now we mix.” He grabbed a handful of foam peanuts and stuffed them down into the jar. Almost immediately, the foam began to melt into the fuel. As the peanuts slowly drew down in size, he added a few more drops of gas and then more peanuts. “Go on,” he said to Samantha, “get busy.”

  Still not seeing the point, she dumped a handful of the peanuts into her jar and continued adding them as they slowly dissolved.

  “What exactly are we making? Gas pudding?”

  Instead of answering, he said, “What do you do when you come across a hornet’s nest?”

  “Easy. I go the other way.”

  “If you can’t go the other way?”

  “I can always go the other way. That’s the definition of the other way.”

  He growled. “What I’m asking is how do you destroy the nest once and for all?”

  Eyeing the gasoline, she said, “Burn it?”

  “Exactly. Only thing is, you need for it to stay lit long enough to kill the entire nest. Otherwise, you end up with a whole bunch of pissed off insects.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  He picked up a twig from the ground and gently stirred the mixture in his jar. When he lifted the stick out, it was covered in a glassy off-white substance, the texture slightly thicker than that of honey. Stepping away from the gasoline, he pulled a small box of matches from his pocket and struck one on the bed of the truck.

  “Watch and learn.” He held the match to the white substance, and it immediately ignited, a rich orange flame enveloping it like it was coated in whale fat.

  “Congratulations, Einstein,” Brock said with a sneer, “you just created a marshmallow.”

  Tanner flicked the substance onto the man’s boots. When he went to stomp it out, the flame spread to the second shoe. Pretty soon he was dancing around with both boots covered in small sticky clumps of burning goo that, no matter how hard he tried, couldn’t be put out. When the fire began to burn through the leather, he was forced to pull off the boots and fling them away.

  “You son-of-a—” he said, advancing toward Tanner with his fist cocked.

  Reverend Purdy quickly stepped in front of him.

  “I think Mr. Tanner was making a point, and a very effective one at that.”