Black Flag | Book 1 | Surviving The Scourge

by Klapwyk, Dave

  That evening they sat in the cozy cabin listening to the sound of the hot crackling fire. Olivia slept soundly, cuddled in rabbit pelts gently rocking in the old wooden rocking chair on Monique’s lap. Roxie curled up in front of the fire at her feet. Ayesha and Zach sat at the old oak table, eating smarties and ketchup chips.

  “You know,” said Monique, “we are going to need to find some real food eventually.”

  Ayesha was stuffing ketchup chips in her mouth. “What? This is real food.”

  “I agree,” said Zach, separating his smarties on the table by colour.

  Monique shook her head. “I suppose we had a bit of a rough day, so maybe we deserve some junk food.”

  “I’ll need therapy,” said Zach, “but chocolate will have to do for now.”

  Monique held her hand out. “Can I get some Smarties, please?”

  Zach looked down at his little piles. “What colour?”

  Chapter 31

  The C3 parking lot was a flurry of activity as soldiers and civilians loaded the trucks and prepared to leave. Joe, Kevin, Tank, Camille and Earl made their way to the van. Joe took a quick look for the dog, but didn’t see it.

  As he walked to the van, a grey Hummer pulled in and stopped. The glare on the windshield prevented Joe from seeing who was inside.

  He joined the others in the van and drove through the slush out of the parking lot.

  They drove almost a block before Kevin slammed on the brakes. They slid to a stop a few metres from a dog sitting in the middle of the road.

  “Who’s this?” asked Earl.

  “That would be Joe’s crazy dog,” said Camille.

  Joe got out and opened the van’s sliding door. “Come on, boy, let’s go.” He tapped his leg.

  Tank moved into the back seat with Camille, leaving Earl in the middle row alone. Earl slid over and tapped the seat. “Come on, then, I don’t bite,” he beckoned.

  Camille spoke up from the back. “Well, the dog does.”

  Eventually, the dog hopped up on the seat. Joe closed the door and got back in the front of the van. From the back, he heard a growl.

  “I’m serious,” Camille warned, “he does bite.”

  Kevin put the van in gear and continued driving.

  “Okay, two questions,” said Earl. “What is this dog’s name, and why do you keep a dog that bites?”

  Joe answered from the front. “The dog doesn’t have a name, and he doesn’t like being touched.”

  “Well, I think we should give him a name. How about Sir Bites-a-lot or MC hammer.” No one said anything. “You know, ‘don’t touch this’,” he rapped.

  “We are not naming the dog!” Joe yelled.

  The van drove on for a few moments of awkward silence.

  “He’s afraid to name it,” said Kevin. “He’s afraid that when it dies, it will be too sad.”

  “I think the dog’s a girl dog,” said Camille.

  “Kevin, didn’t you say this dog eats people?” asked Tank.

  “Just his previous owner,” answered Kevin.

  “So why keep this man-eating canine?” asked Earl.

  “Proverbs says that a wise man has regard for the life of his animal,” said Kevin.

  “Are you a preacher or something?” asked Earl.

  “Nope, I’m just the driver. Speaking of which, what is the plan here, Joe?”

  “We should scope out the train station, so we know where we’re going. Then we should find a place to wait until Saturday night.”

  It was late afternoon by the time they got to the Charny train station, which was just outside of downtown Chateaugay. There was more traffic here, although much of it was military. They parked a block away from the station and walked the rest. The dog walked behind them.

  As they approached the station, they could see that this was not an ordinary train station anymore. The parking lot was surrounded by a high chain-link fence. Inside the fencing, the train station building was barely visible. The parking lot was filled with military vehicles including jeeps, armoured personnel carriers, tanks and other instruments of war that Joe was not familiar with.

  “What’s the plan, Joe?” Kevin asked.

  “We are going to try the direct approach. Everyone keep your eyes open and try to remember what you see,” said Joe.

  Tank was already scanning the area intently. They walked up to a security checkpoint consisting of a small building with large windows with sandbags in front of it. There was a large hinged gate that was closed. Five soldiers with machine guns stood in front of the gate. As they approached, two of the soldiers pointed their guns at Joe and his group. One of them yelled at them to stop. The group all stopped and put their hands in the air.

  Another soldier came out of the small building. “Can I help you?”

  Joe stepped forward, “Hi, we were wondering if we could buy a train ticket?”

  “Sorry, the station is closed.”

  “Looks like it’s open to me.”

  “Military personnel only. You need to go home. This is a restricted area.”

  “Isn’t this a public area?”

  “Martial law has been declared, and the military is in charge here. So no, this is no longer a public area.”

  “Are you sure you can’t just find an empty car for us to ride in? We won’t be any trouble.”

  “No. Now please turn around and go home.”

  “But…” he took a step forward.

  “Don’t take another step, or you will be placed under arrest!”

  Joe stopped, his hands still in the air. “Okay, okay, we’re leaving. Sorry to bother you.” He turned and walked away. The others followed. Once they were out of hearing range, he asked, “Okay, tell me what you saw.”

  “I saw you taking unnecessary risk to achieve nothing other than to learn the fact that we can’t buy train tickets, which we already knew,” said Kevin.

  “I saw a really cute soldier who I’m pretty sure was checking me out,” said Camille.

  Joe shook his head. “Earl, what did you see?”

  “Oh, my eyesight isn’t what it used to be. Everything past the fence was a little blurry.”

  “Well you guys are useful.” Joe rolled his eyes. “Tank, your former army, you must be trained to be a little more observant than these fools.”

  “I did notice a few things,” said Tank. “The fencing was four metres tall with razor wire on the top. The security checkpoint was manned by five soldiers with C7A2 automatic rifles. Inside the security building, there were two soldiers. On the roof of the train station, there were snipers as well as a Browning 50 calibre machine gun. Inside the fencing, there were multiple light support vehicles, Bison armoured vehicles, a BV206 tracked carrier, a couple of light armoured vehicles, at least one Leopard 2A4 tank and an Oerlikon GDF.”

  “Well,” said Earl, “at least someone was paying attention.”

  “Doesn’t that seem like overkill to you, Tank?” Joe asked.

  “Yes, it looks like they are preparing for an attack and not just from local gangs.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Kevin.

  “The Oerlikon is bad news.”

  “Sounds like a polish delicacy,” said Earl. “What is it?”

  “It’s a Swiss designed, twin cannon anti-aircraft gun.”

  “Oh.”

  They all got back in the van and drove away. “Anyone have any ideas where we should go camp out for a couple of days till Saturday?” asked Joe.

  “I say, we go to a fancy hotel,” said Earl.

  Kevin’s suggestion of a church earned some groans from the back of the van.

  “We should find a huge empty mansion,” Camille proposed.

  “I think we should go to an army surplus store, so we can load up on supplies,” said Tank

  “Your call, boss,” said Kevin. “What’s it going to be?”

  Joe thought for a moment. “I think I like Earl’s idea. Maybe we can find a decent hotel that hasn’t been trash
ed and has a restaurant with a kitchen.”

  “What about heat?” asked Kevin. “It doesn’t look like the power is coming on anytime soon, so it could get really cold at night.”

  “We’ll stop and pick up some generators and heaters.”

  They managed to find a hardware store that hadn’t been looted. They strapped the generators on the roof of the van and searched for a hotel.

  They settled on a high-end hotel that was boarded up and didn’t appear to have been looted or trashed. Tank pried a plywood board off and broke the window behind it. They brought the heaters and generators inside and set them up. Tank set up one of the heaters in the restaurant while Camille and Joe put the others in some of the rooms on the first floor. Earl wanted to move into the penthouse suites on the top floor, but no one was willing to carry a generator and heater up ten flights of stairs.

  There was a lot of work to do at the hotel just to stay warm, fed and clean. Tank and Kevin made a run for gas for the generators, which they had to move outside because of the fumes. They also had to buy more heaters. Although the hotel may have been well-insulated, it was a large space to heat, and each of them wanted their own room. Each room needed its own heater.

  The water was barely running since the pipes were starting to freeze. It was too much work to heat water for baths, so they all had quick cold showers.

  They didn’t bother opening the walk-in fridge or freezer as the power had been off too long. The gas in the kitchen still worked, so they were able to have hot meals with what they could find in the large pantry. Surprisingly, Kevin was a decent cook, and they were able to eat well. His only condition for doing all the cooking was that they let him pray before they ate.

  Over the next few days, they all spent their time differently as they waited for the Saturday rendezvous with the train.

  Kevin spent his time reading the Gideon bible he found in his room and preparing the meals.

  Camille found black make-up somewhere and painted her face again. When asked about it, she said, “Just because it’s the apocalypse doesn’t mean I can’t look good.” She also continued her self-defence lessons with Tank.

  Tank jogged a lot. He would jog up and down the hallways as well as the stairs. He also spent a lot of time in the fitness room in the basement. Camille practiced archery with him in the parking lot.

  Joe joined Tank in the fitness room a few times, but refused to run up and down the stairs with him. He tried to get the gas furnace working, but it was nothing like the old boiler systems he was used to. He and Tank also came up with a plan to get on the train. Every night the dog slept on a small carpet in a corner of the lobby. The dog still growled at Joe when he tried to pet it.

  Earl joked around a lot and read many of the books in the hotel library. He would often go up the roof of the hotel and watch the military trucks go by.

  Saturday evening they all sat at the large dining table in the restaurant. They had just finished eating, and Earl had found some wine which he started pouring into glasses.

  “Okay, I want to go over the plan for tonight.” Joe nodded to Earl, who was holding the wine bottle near his glass. “We can’t get on the train when it is at the station because it is too well guarded. The track just after the station is too open, and we could easily be seen. Tank, who is the only one able to keep his eyes open, saw a copse of trees on either side of the tracks just before the station. We are hoping that we can board one of the train cars at the end of the train from there. The plan is to hide in the trees till the train stops, then find a car that looks somewhat accessible and hop on.”

  “Won’t they be locked?” asked Kevin.

  “Probably,” said Joe, “Which is why Tank will be carrying bolt cutters. We should all have backpacks with our supplies so we can run and jump on the cars quickly. Earl, can you run?”

  “Hey, that’s ageism, and I resent the implication,” he said smiling, and poured wine into Tank’s glass.

  “Is that a yes?”

  “Yes, my ankle is much better now.” He brought the wine bottle over to Camille’s glass. “I may be old, but I will keep up.”

  Just as Earl was about to pour the wine into her glass, Tank looked over at Earl with his brow creased and shook his head.

  Earl pulled the bottle back.

  Joe sat back and sipped his wine. “Earl, have you seen anything new from the roof?” asked Joe.

  “Not much. A lot of military vehicles. Some of them are taking bodies away, but it looks like something else is going on too. There are a few roving gangs out there too. I think one of them spotted me.”

  “What? Who?” Joe sat up.

  “I don’t know. He looked Latino. He had a lot of tattoos and earrings and his arm was bandaged up. He was looking at the van.”

  “Was he alone?”

  “No, there were a few mean looking dudes with him.”

  “We need to go, now!” Joe yelled. “Kevin, go turn off the generators. Tank, go grab your bow and arrows. Everyone, grab a weapon, your packs and a flashlight. We’ll meet at the back door that goes to the parking lot in five minutes.”

  “What’s going on?” asked Earl.

  “Raphael is here to kill me.”

  “Who is…” Earl started to say.

  “Shut up and do what you’re told,” yelled Tank.

  As they all got up from the table, Camille held her hand up. “What’s that?”

  They all paused for a moment and listened. The dog growled in the lobby.

  “They’re here,” said Joe. “Change of plans. Forget the generator. Grab your packs and meet at the stairwell in 60 seconds.”

  “What about the back door?” asked Kevin.

  “They’ll be there too,” said Joe.

  “Everybody, move!” yelled Tank, and they all sprang into action.

  Joe ran to his room, grabbed his pack, and met the group at the stairwell. There was loud banging on the front door, but the intruders hadn’t made it through yet.

  They gathered in the stairwell with their packs and weapons. Tank had his bow and quiver full of arrows, Camille carried a large knife, Joe had a heavy cast iron pan, Kevin had a wooden rolling pin used for baking, and Earl had a steak knife.

  “Tank, I need you to go down the stairs to make sure the basement is clear.” By the time he had finished his sentence, Tank was flying down the stairs. The rest of them waited at the top.

  Earl looked over at Kevin. “A rolling pin? Really? What are you going to do with that? Bake them to death?”

  “Hey, your tiny little knife is smaller than the girl’s,” Earl pointed at Camille.

  “Everybody, quiet!” commanded Joe. He opened the doorway into the hall and looked to the right past the lobby where the banging was coming from.

  Suddenly he heard the back door behind him open. “Gotcha!”

  He whirled around and was face-to-face with Raphael. He had a pistol pointed at Joe’s head. His shoulder was bandaged, and he had a look of pure rage on his face. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

  The pan dropped from his hands as he put them in the air. “Hey, wait a second,” he pleaded.

  Before he knew what was happening, there was a blur of fur, and Raphael’s wrist flew sideways as the dog clamped down on it in mid-dive. He fell backwards, and the gun fell out of his hands. Raphael then grabbed the dog by the scruff of the neck. He pulled the dog off his wrist and threw the dog. The dog made a yelping bark as it was slammed against the wall and went silent.

  While Raphael was fighting with the dog, Joe retrieved his pan. He swung the pan with all his strength at the side of man’s head. The pan vibrated in his hand as it collided with Raphael’s skull. The man went instantly limp.

  Joe dropped the pan and scooped up the lifeless dog. He carried it back into the stairwell, just as Tank came running up the stairs.

  “There are men in the basement,” Tank yelled. “We need to go up.” The others followed him up the stairs. The generators only powered a few lights
on the main floor, so the stairwell was dark. They shone their flashlights up the stairs as they climbed.

  “After five flights, Earl was panting heavily. “Where...are…we…going?”

  They could hear men below coming up the stairs after them. Tank didn’t seem tired at all. “I have a plan. You guys go up two more flights then hide in one of the rooms on level seven.”

  They all started up the stairs. “What are you going to do?” Joe called back as he climbed the stairs, still holding the lifeless dog.

  Tank held his bow in his left hand and pulled an arrow from the quiver behind him. “I’m going to slow them down.”

  Joe followed the others up to the seventh floor. He wished now that he had trained with Tank on the stairs. He heard a scream from below as he opened the door to the seventh level. When he walked into hallway, he could see the wild movements of flashlight beams. Kevin and Earl were trying to open the first door in the hallway.

  A moment later, Tank came up the stairwell and into the hall.

  “Not that one,” he said and ran past them and down the hall. When he reached the middle of the hallway, he reared back and kicked the door in with his heel. They all followed him into the room and closed the door. As they caught their breath, Joe asked Tank, “Why this room?”

  “They can’t see the broken door from the stairwell.”

  “What now?” Joe asked, still catching his breath.

  Tank had his ear to the door, listening. “When they go up a few levels, we run to the other stairwell and get out of here.”

  Joe turned to Kevin. “What time is it?”

  “Almost eleven,” he answered.

  Joe looked at Tank. “We’ve got one hour to get to the train station, and they’ve likely slashed our tires.”

  Camille looked at the dog in Joe’s arms. “Why is she not biting you?”

  “I think she’s dead.”

  “Then why are you carrying her?”

  “She might not be.”

  Tank was still listening at the door. “Okay, time to move. Earl, you okay?”

  He was still catching his breath. “I’m better than the dog, let’s go.”