RATH - Desperation

by Jeff Olah

  RATH

  DESPERATION

  Volume 2

  Jeff Olah

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2014 by Jeff Olah

  All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, locations and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, events or locales is merely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Join Jeff’s Exclusive Reader Group and get a FREE copy of “ORIGINS”, the Prequel to the Best Selling Post-Apocalyptic Series “The Dead Years”.

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  Contents

  Contents

  Copyright

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  What’s Next?

  SNEAK PEEK of The Dead Years

  1

  2

  3

  How long would it take for the entire planet to starve to death?

  This was the question asked that set in motion the chaos that would lead to the death of over six billion people in just a few short years.

  It was only a matter of time…

  1

  He was unsure what needed attention first, the insatiable hunger pulling his stomach toward his spine or the fact that every joint within his tortured body felt as though it was encased in a thick layer of concrete. Running his tongue along the roof of his mouth, the bitter metallic taste of well water saturated with his own blood brought back the images of the past day. Attempting to sit forward, he slid his arms in behind his lower back and noted something binding him to the wooden surface he was laying on.

  He assumed that even though the room he found himself in was completely void of light, save for the flickering shadows that climbed the door frame, his vision must be playing games with him. He felt as though there was someone else in the room, or was there? Could it be the lack of sleep or the too few calories attempting to service his severely lacking body? He didn’t think so; he assumed it to be something much less sinister… he must still either be asleep or his mind was somewhere in between the two states of consciousness.

  The temperature inside was much warmer then he remembered the outside world to be. His jacket, now completely dry, lay across his lower half. His eyes finally adjusting to the room, Rath squinted into the darkness and at the opposite corner, he was just able to make out a silhouette sitting in the chair. Still a bit foggy on the details of his whereabouts, he scanned the room and with no other light source, familiarity escaped him. He tried to question the mysterious figure twenty feet away. No luck, the words arrested before reaching his mouth.

  The silhouette raised its head, stood and moved quickly to the door. He sensed it was male and through the now partially opened doorway, Rath made out at least three separate shadows headed back his way.

  The voice of a young boy came first. “Dad, I think he’s awake.”

  “Okay, stay with your mother and help watch over the girl. I’ll make sure he’s alright before moving him. Now go.”

  The door now completely open, light from the adjoining area flooded in and brought with it another male, only larger than the first. From his horizontal position, Rath assumed this to be the father who spoke only seconds before. He moved to Rath, began to remove the restraints and held out his hand.

  “My name is Symon; I am here with my wife and son. They’re in the next room watching over your little girl.”

  Accepting help from the man he’d just been introduced to, Rath struggled to sit forward. His eyes now adjusting to the room, he noticed he’d been strapped to a decorative mahogany door stretched across two desks. His head still spinning, Rath walked carefully to one of two chairs offered up by Symon.

  The men sat across from one another, washed out by the illumination spilling in from the next room. Rath composed himself and finally found his voice, “Where am I, what the hell happened?”

  Symon leaned in and smiled. “I’ll tell you everything you want to know, but we may want to get you and the girl something to eat first.”

  “Where is she… take me to her.” Attempting to stand, Rath was forced back to his seat. His head began to swim once again and his legs buckled, advising him that now was not the time.

  “She’s fine, she’s still sleeping and from the looks it, you both need as much rest as you can get.” Symon sat back and pulled at his beard. “How long were you and your daughter out there on the road?”

  As Rath’s vision crystalized, he sensed that the man sitting before him hadn’t seen more than a few days’ worth of the outside world and most certainly wasn’t a resident of Extinction. From his unstained cargo pants to the lack of visible skin damage, Rath assumed he and his family had been on the road less than a week and were in much better shape than he and Chloe.

  Shaking his head, Rath said, “She’s not my daughter, her name is Chloe. My wife was taken just before we arrived at District Two and her mother was taken by the same transport. I’m helping her get back to her mother.”

  “Your wife…taken?”

  “Yeah, we were in the clearing beyond District Two as one of those transport drones flew in. We tried to run, although they got to her and hit me pretty good with whatever those things are that they carry.”

  “They call them Compliance Rods. They have a few different functions.” Symon pointed into the other room. “You seem to have found one of your own.”

  Rath stood, his head and legs now nearly sixty percent, although not close to what he was comfortable with. “My pack… where is it?”

  Meeting his gaze and also moving to stand, Symon motioned through the doorway. “It’s in the next room. Yes, we looked through your bags. Everything is all there and accounted for. We just needed to find out if you were someone we wanted to help or if you needed to be tossed back outside to die.”

  Moving into the lobby, Rath shielded his eyes from the flood of overhead lighting and made his way over to his pack, pulling it off the reception counter to reveal Chloe’s underneath. Turning back to Symon he said. “So, I take it you decided we were worth saving?”

  “Not at first, you stumbled in here carrying that stick and my first instinct was to throw you outside. We figured you were running from them and that they’d be the next through the door. It had been less than a day from the time my family escaped those people before you showed up and I wasn’t about to gamble our lives for yours. No offence, but I’m sure you’d have done the same thing.”

  “Why’d you let us stay?” Rath asked. “Why the change of heart?”

  “My wife pulled rank and said that there was no way she’d let me throw either of you out in the cold. I usually defer to her in these situations. I guess this time it worked in your favor.”

  Satisfied that everything in his pack remained as it was before they’d arrived, Rath held his hand out. “You did what you thought was right and for whatever the reason we’re still here, I’m grateful. So if you don’t mind, I’d just like to see Chloe.”

  “Yeah sure, I’ll take you to her,” Symon said. “I do have two questions for you first. Seeing as how at the end of the day you’re still around to answer them, I feel you could at least do me that favor.”

  “Shoot.”

  “That thing in your pack.”
<
br />   “The stick one of the guards left behind?” Rath asked.

  “No… that other thing. Looks like you also picked up a piece of that transport drone?”

  “It wasn’t from the transport. A second, smaller drone didn’t make it out of the valley and I grabbed one of the pieces that fell off. You know, sort of a souvenir.” Rath wondered if Symon could sense he was lying.

  Hushed voices coming from across the lobby, Rath turned to Symon. “What else?”

  “The girl… Chloe, in her delirious ramblings, called out for someone named Rath. Was she calling for you?”

  “Yes, but how did you—”

  “Are you Benjamin Rath?”

  “Symon, what are you driving at? Do I know you?”

  “Not really… well you wouldn’t remember anyway, although I’ll never forget. I was only twelve years old the day you were banished. Story was that you died within days of leaving. I guess they were wrong.”

  2

  His pack on one shoulder and Chloe’s slung over the opposite; he strode away from the man who’d saved his life, in the direction of the voices coming from the opposite end of the building. Symon continued to rattle off questions as they walked, Rath ignoring every one as he quickened his pace, his only focus was getting to Chloe. The voices grew in volume and clarity as he approached the former city manager’s office at the end of the long hallway.

  Symon continued after Rath as they entered the room. “She was very weak and has only been awake for minutes at a time. She was much worse off than you and we’ve been slowly giving her water for hours.”

  The decades’ worn, two-person sofa had been positioned in the center of the office, Chloe now sitting in the center flanked by a woman and a young boy. Rath grinned nervously as he moved between them and hugged Chloe. She returned a smile and hugged him back. “Did you find my mom? Is she here?”

  Rath turned to the others. “Not yet Chloe, but we are close… very close.”

  The woman and boy, whom Rath presumed to be the rest of Symon’s family, stepped away and moved to the door, Symon following. “It’s getting late,” he said. “Let’s get some food into the two of you. I’ll bet you’re absolutely starving.”

  Moving from the sofa, Chloe got to her feet and as Rath stood nearby, she wobbled side to side for a moment and finally getting her footing, grabbed Rath’s hand and pulled him to the door. “My head hurts.”

  “They’re right, you need to eat. You’ll feel much better once you do.”

  “OK.”

  They moved through the hall, back to the lobby and all found places to sit along the dusty hardwood floors. Symon showed Rath to the supply closet, which held more boxes of dried cereal and crackers than he could count. Powdered protein lined the bottom shelf and steel canteens were piled along the floor.

  “Those full?” Rath asked.

  Symon nodded.

  “Where’d all this come from?” How long have you been here?”

  “Little over two days,” Symon said. “This place was stocked before we got here. Someone must have been living here before we arrived and decided to pull up stake.”

  Recalling the five lifeless Andros hanging outside, Rath said, “The bodies out front, was that to scare others away and how on earth did you pull that off?”

  “Don’t know, not my doing. Those things were hanging before we got here. We assumed it was done by the former resident. They must have been pretty well fortified here.”

  “Then why leave?” Rath asked. “Why go through all that trouble just to leave this place empty?”

  Symon led the way back to the lobby. “I don’t know and I don’t really care.”

  As they returned and spread out the boxes and canteens, Rath pulled a small bowl from his pack and filled it for Chloe. He poured the dry cereal and handed her a few crackers. Once she finished the cereal, he had her drink small amounts of the protein and water mixture while he started into his rations.

  He ate more in the next ten minutes than he’d thought possible. Tossing the empty boxes aside, he noticed Chloe must have done the same and as she lay on the floor next to him, he again surrendered his jacket for her to use as a pillow.

  Symon and his family finished their small portions and after a quick clean up, the group sat in a half circle as Chloe rested.

  Peering through the partially boarded front windows, it was obviously sometime after sundown, although Rath couldn’t quite get a sense of how much time he’d lost. “How long were we out, it felt like I slept all night?”

  Symon chuckled under his breath as he turned to his family. “I just realized I never properly introduced my family. This is my wife Elle and my son Logan. We were residents of District One before all this went down. I can’t tell you how savage the attack was. We lost just about everyone. They didn’t take more than twelve women. The rest were slaughtered in the streets.”

  Drudging up memories of his final moments with Sarah, he shook his head and apologized. “I’m sorry. It’s very nice to meet the both of you. I cannot thank you enough for taking us in and helping Chloe and I. Elle, your husband tells me you are the reason we didn’t get put outside, so again I thank you.”

  “Symon probably told you that he was going to toss you out in the cold, although he really is a softy. He’d never have done that to you.”

  “I like to thank you all the same and in case you weren’t aware, my name is Benjamin Rath. My friends just call me Rath. The District that I called home was overrun a few weeks ago and my wife Sarah and I were on the run when she was taken.”

  Elle’s mouth dropped. “She was one of the ones they took? I am so sorry—”

  He interrupted. “Yes and I’m going after her. As soon as Chloe is back on her feet, we will be out of your hair.”

  “No rush,” Elle said. “Whatever you need from us, just let us know. When you came through those doors yesterday, we were worried you weren’t going to make it.”

  “Yesterday?” Rath said. “How long did you say we were out?”

  Symon leaned in. “You were in that room, flat on your back for over thirty hours. It’s just after midnight. You’ve been here for more than a day.”

  “You can’t be serious,” Rath said. “I have to go.”

  Turning to his family, Symon asked his wife and son to leave the two of them alone to talk and kissed them goodnight. Before moving into the darkened hall, Elle turned to Rath. “Would you like me to take Chloe and let her sleep a bit longer? We have a warm spot just waiting for her in the back. You’ll at least be staying til morning, won’t you?”

  Something about this family, this situation, seemed off. He couldn’t put his finger on it exactly; they just appeared to be too perfect. Too willing to help, even for people that lived in the first District; something wasn’t right. He wanted to keep Chloe within reach until they got to where they were headed. “I don’t see how we can move out in the dark; although I want to be sure we get out at first light. I think we’ll just stay here in the lobby for the night.”

  3

  He didn’t want the people who saved his life to catch on to the fact that he was leery of their hospitality or that he questioned the validity of how they’d ended up in this picture perfect shelter, virtually unharmed. He’d long since tired of the rapid fire conversation with Symon and figured if he couldn’t get free, he’d at least attempt to get some information that may help him and Chloe get closer to finding who they were looking for.

  “Symon,” Rath said pulling the baton from his bag. “What the hell is this thing? I’ve been knocked unconscious twice in the last two days and once at the hands of this thing… how?”

  “Yeah, you were unconscious when we found you at the entrance yesterday evening. That was due, I believe, to the early stages of hypothermia taking over. The other time you probably weren’t unconscious, it was just the effects of the stick those guards stunned you with.”

  “Stunned?” Rath said.

  “I’ve heard quite a bi
t about these Compliance Rods. We had a guy in our District that was sort of an expert. From what I understand, they send an electrical pulse straight to your brain, causing temporarily paralysis and often times short-term memory loss, although I’ve also heard of a few deaths.”

  “A few?”

  “Well maybe more than a few.”

  Moving to his left, Rath took it from his pack and tossed it to Symon. “It’s dead now, so I’ve got no use for it, less stuff to drag along anyway.”

  Symon set the stick gently against the wall and sat back. He took a long moment before speaking. “Rath, I hope you don’t mind, although I’ve got to ask, why’d they send you out? I mean the stories are sort of an urban legend. They say you were the only person to ever question his authority over the people. They tell it as you being the only one to ever turn against the plan for our society and that at eighteen years old, you were asked to either change your ways or—”