Chomper Universe Series (Book 1): Chompers

by J. Okuly

  The electricity continued to hold out and the internet still worked. Kitty kept track of the great worldwide war against the Chompers. CNN news reports depressed me so I limited the time I spent watching “battlefield reports.” There was no clear winner in this fight … at least not for the moment.

  Mark called my name from the front door. “Hey Gee, can you help me with something?”

  I walked over to him. “What is it?”

  “I found flood lights at the abandoned construction site. I can't believe they were still there. When we get them up, we'll have an extra layer of security we can use in case we hear someone approaching our house.”

  “When did you go back to the site?”

  “Last night while Rebecca was on watch. I thought it better to go at night.”

  “I would have went with you.”

  He wouldn't meet my gaze. “Didn't want to wake you.”

  “Next time wake me, okay?”

  Anger spiraled through my veins so I took a deep breath to calm myself. I worried about him when he went out on his scavenging runs. I attempted to go with him as often as possible. But lately he took off by himself in the middle of the night. I knew a night run was the most dangerous run of all. It was harder to see a Chomper sneaking up on you … not to mention a human with evil intentions.

  He seemed to sense my conflicted emotions. “Next time I'll take you with me. I do this because it's safer if I go alone. Then I don't worry about another person getting hurt. Now let's get these lights up.”

  The issue was closed.

  When we finished, Mark flipped a switch and the front yard lit up like a Christmas tree.

  I clapped my hands together and did a victory dance.

  “Is there anything you can't do?” I said with admiration.

  “Believe me, there's plenty.”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, I have no idea how to make dollhouse furniture or bake a souffle. I don't know how to build a rocket to escape to Mars and get away from all this.”

  I giggled. I found his sense of humor whimsical and unexpected.

  I enjoyed sitting with him and drinking coffee when he had the watch. I made excuses to be near him but I wasn't fooling either one of us. All I knew is I felt safe when he was around me.

  One night we drank coffee and kept the watch. “Kitty told you I have PTSD,” I said. “I do but I don't. Okay, let's be honest. Ninety-five percent of the time I do. The other five percent I'm in complete denial.”

  He nodded. “It's a big club. I've known guys who live with PTSD every day of their lives.”

  “How about you?'

  “I'm one of the people in denial.” He gave me a teasing grin. “Are you kidding? I have a metal plate in my head after all. That kind of changes a person. How can it not change me?”

  He sharpened his knife on a piece of field-stone. The blade gleamed with fury under the full moon visible from the window.

  I couldn't look at him. “Something happened to me a long time ago,” I began. “I don't talk about it much because it still hurts.”

  He stopped what he was doing and looked at me.

  “Keep sharpening,” I said. “Its easier to talk if you're not looking at me. More like a priest. Anonymous you know?”

  He nodded and went back to his knife.

  I took a deep breath. “When I was six, I was abducted.”

  There it was, the hardest part of all. The beginning. “A guy who did yard work for my dad took me out of my bedroom window. He knew I slept with the window cracked because I liked the fresh air even when it was cool outside.”

  “The guy threw me in his car and drove me to San Antonio. He took a shower when we got to his house. He had me gagged and tied to the bedpost. But the bedpost was loose. I unscrewed it and removed it and then I was free. I escaped his house and ran down the street. I wandered around until I found a Denny's restaurant. I went inside and told a waitress a bad man kidnapped me and I lived in Austin. It was on the national news when they returned me to my family. My dad never forgave himself even though it wasn't his fault. He had a heart attack a few years later and passed away.”

  I touched my face and was not surprised to feel tears flowing down my cheeks.

  Mark touched my cheek with his big hand and wiped away the tears. He handed me a tissue and went back to his knife.

  I couldn't meet his eyes as I struggled to get through my story. “It changed me. I started eating a lot and I got fat. By the time I started middle school I weighed over 300 pounds. But you know what? My friends stuck by me. These same friends who live with us now. They were there when I needed them.”

  “Then one day something happened to me. I don't know what caused it or how it happened but I decided to change everything. I made a conscious decision to stop feeling sorry for myself. Do you know how to stop feeling sorry for yourself, .Mark? You start helping other people. I volunteered at the Childrens' Hospital and this made me want to be a nurse. I focused my energy on other things besides eating. It took me two years to lose the weight, but I did it and it never came back. I'm a different person, and yet I'm the same person. I still suffer from nightmares and I battle this thing as if it's a chronic disease … as if it's my cross to bear.”

  I smiled. “Sometimes long periods of time go by and I'm able to forget for awhile. Life goes on and I work and go to school … or at least I did until the world went to Hell in a hand basket.”

  He nodded. “These monsters have put everyone's life on hold. At least we're still alive to keep hoping the old life will return.”

  “And if it doesn't?”

  “Then we make a new life for ourselves in this new world. We redefine what normal means.”

  “A new normal?” I asked.

  He didn't answer and in the silence I heard the growling. Nova stood at the front door. A menacing snarl came from deep in her throat as if she could see see what awaited her on the other side of the door..

  Her growl grew louder and I realized the sound wasn't coming from Nova. Mark and I ran to the window and heard the roar of a large vehicle as it rumbled down the street and grew closer.

  Mark flipped on the flood lights and the yard erupted in blinding light. The vehicle stopped somewhere down the street but didn't come any closer.

  “It sounds like an 18 wheeler,” I whispered.

  “No,” he said. “It's something else. Get your gun. Wake everyone up.”

  I woke everyone and we were at the window in less than a minute. We had practiced emergency drills so many times that everyone knew what to do. Everyone had an emergency pack with food and water on their back and we all carried a knife … even Breanna.

  The vehicle started to move again and it grew louder as it rolled toward our house.

  “What is it?” Dharma asked.

  Breanna's voice quivered. “It sounds like a dinosaur.”

  “It's not a dinosaur,” Mark reassured her. “It's a very big truck.”

  The engine revved and a moment later the monster truck plowed into the electrified fence.

  Chapter 15

  There was a sharp sizzling pop of electricity followed by the harsh sound of metal scraping on metal. The truck smashed into the electrified fence and razor wire clawed at its hood. The flood lights flickered and darkness descended upon us. The men who filled the back of the truck sprang from the vehicle and sprinted toward the house.

  The sounds of explosions forced us away from the window. Some of the men tripped the buried land-mines. Their bodies sailed into the air like dolls tossed by children. The earth beneath us convulsed as our entire yard became a battlefield.

  “Go!” I said to my friends. “Over the fence to the Olson's house.”

  Bonnie helped Dharma and Breanna scramble up the ladder and then scaled it herself. Nova growled and seemed ready to attack the intruders. I feared she might get hurt so I threw her into Swagger's arms and pushed him up the ladder.

  I screamed at him. “Take care of Nov
a or I will hunt you down!”

  “I got her!” he said. “Keep your knickers on!”

  Mark pushed a button on the remote and the remaining mines went up in an explosive fireball. Screams and cries filled the air. I turned from the ladder to see a Chomper walking out the back door.

  “Hurry!” I pushed Kitty toward the ladder but she resisted.

  “Not a chance,” she said. “Don't even think about it.”

  “Then we'll all go. Rebecca, you next!”

  Rebecca was halfway up the ladder when a guy dressed in army fatigues and a camouflage jacket grabbed her. He caught her around the waist and wrenched her to the ground.

  Mark aimed his Glock at the intruder. I aimed my 22 as well.

  The guy turned to find two guns pointing at him. Immediately, he pulled Rebecca in front of him like a human shield.

  “Stop! You'll hit her before you hit me, man.” The guy spoke with a slow stoner drawl which made him sound like one of those turtles in Finding Nemo.

  Mark's glared at the intruder. “Let her go. And get out of our yard.”

  The guy tightened his grip on Rebecca's waist. “Look man, we want some food. I figured this place had extra rations since it's protected like Fort Knox.”

  “Take the food and get out of here.”

  The guy seemed to consider this bit of advice as he ran his hand through his greasy, oily hair.

  “Well dude, here's the deal. It's better if she goes with us,” he finally said. “You might decide to take revenge on us later on and we can't have that.” He buried his face in Rebecca's hair. “Besides she's cute and she smells good.”

  “Stop sniffing her,” said Mark.

  I thought of the defenseless child I had once been, and the evil man who had tried to hurt me long ago.

  I stepped forward and raised my gun. I pointed it at the guy's forehead.

  “Whoa!” Stoner Dude lowered his head so he was was blocked by Rebecca's body.

  “No.” Mark touched my arm. “You might hit her. You don't have a clear line of sight.”

  Rebecca squirmed and attempted to wiggle free but it didn't work. Then I noticed that the slow-moving Chomper was behind Stoner Dude and getting closer to him. Almost there, I thought. Almost there. Of all times for the monster to take his sweet time! Hurry up already ...

  The pain in his head alerted Stoner Dude to the presence of the Chomper. He turned to see what was behind him. Rebecca took that opportunity to stomp down hard on the top of his foot with her hiking boot. He cried out in pain and hopped around on his other foot. She pushed the weight of her body against him and he lost his balance. They both fell to the ground and she rolled away from him. The Chomper was almost on top of him. It appeared he had forgotten about the counting trick, if he ever knew it at all. He lay on the ground like a frozen lifeless statue.

  “Start counting stupid,” said Rebecca, “if you want to get out of this alive. Not that I much care one way or the other.”

  The Chomper bent down and sunk his teeth into Stoner Dude's arm. He screamed for all he was worth and then finally remembered to count. Within a few seconds he shoved the creature off him. He vaulted from the ground like a grasshopper on a hot pavement. He held his bleeding arm and his ripped jacket. He turned and sprinted toward the patio with Mark chasing after him. The monster truck revved it's engine again. We ran to the front yard in time to see the few remaining men who had not died in the mine field jump into the back of the truck.

  The huge vehicle backed away from the fence and roared down the street. The last of our supplies went with it as Stoner Dude ran after it.

  “Hey wait, man!” he yelled. “You guys forgot me!”

  I checked the garage. “Our food! They took almost everything!”

  Mark wrapped his arms around me in a protective bear hug. “It's not the end of the world. Besides, we knew we couldn't stay here forever. I have food hidden in other places and we won't starve.”

  “So how far away is this construction site of yours?” asked Kitty. “You said it had heat and air conditioning...correct?”

  “So far it does,” said Mark. “As long as the electricity holds out.”

  Kitty looked from Rebecca to me. “Ladies, it sounds like we're ready for an upgrade. It's amazing what you can do with a fixer upper.”

  Chapter 16

  “The construction site is across town.” Mark looked at each of us as we sat around the Olson's dining room table.

  We listened to him speak as we ate toast and orange marmalade for breakfast. “It's actually the perfect place because it's under construction but almost completed. We won't care that the carpet isn't laid because the important stuff is done. The building is next to Zephyr Park so we can plant a big garden in the park. We can get more seeds, more plants, more fertilizer, more everything.”

  Bonnie frowned. “But we won't have a stove.”

  “I can get one of those stoves people use for camping. There's already a microwave and a toaster oven in the break room.”

  Bonnie nodded. “I could live with that.”

  “Me too,” said Dharma. “Eating more raw food is the latest thing anyway.”

  As the discussion continued, I thought about everything which had happened last night. The most shocking thing was not that our food had been stolen. Rebecca had almost been abducted but that wasn't the most shocking thing either. What shocked me the most was that I, the most passive person on earth, pointed a gun at another human being. On top of that, I had been willing to shoot him.

  “Should we put a guard on the house?” I asked Mark after Stoner Dude and his gang took off with our food.

  He shook his head. “They've already taken everything we have and there's nothing left to steal. They won't be back tonight.”

  One thing was for sure. No one wanted to stay at our house because it had become a graveyard.

  I tore myself from the window and looked around the Olson's kitchen and living room. Their house was old-fashioned, cozy, and full of antiques. Quilts were strewn across sofas and a tea set rested on a sideboard. Lamps were the sort you saw in old detective movies. French crystals hung from silk lampshades. If I closed my eyes, I could imagine I was five-years-old again, sitting on my grandma's settee sipping hot tea with plenty of sugar.

  “We need to take another vote,” said Kitty. “Mark, what are our other options?”

  He looked around at the frightened faces which stared back at him. Our tribe had now grown to ten people. The Olsons' had decided to go with us. They had lived long enough to realize there was safety in numbers. Dharma and Breanna weren't going anywhere either because they had grown attached to Bonnie.

  Mark nodded. “This is my thought. In fortifying the house against Chomper attack we made it too attractive to looters. They knew we had food because we had an electric fence and flood lights which guarded something. Correct? Wherever we decide to go next, we need to make our security measures more subtle and inconspicuous. In other words, keep a low profile.”

  “You mean no electric fence?” I said. “No flood lights?”

  “Definitely no flood lights, but we should still have explosives. We can blow them in case of emergency, but they shouldn't be obvious to the outside world. This time we'll fly under the radar.”

  Everyone nodded because his words made sense.

  “There are three options I can suggest at the moment. One is the Baptist church, the other is the survivalist camp, and the third option is the bank. This is the best choice.”

  “I'm nervous about the bank,” said Mrs. Olson. It seems like it wouldn't be very comfortable. Not that comfort takes precedence over survival,” she added. “Mine is a swing vote. I will go with whatever the majority decides.”

  “Let me explain more about the bank and the area surrounding it,” said Mark. “It's that new credit union they were building next to Zephyr Park. It's surrounded by trees which is good and bad for our purposes. It's constructed of solid stone and the structure is three st
ories high, with an underground parking garage. No monster truck could make a dent in the stone and there are no windows on the first floor. That's another thing to consider. It will be easier to protect with no first floor windows. The vending machines in the break room are already stocked full of snacks. Not ideal food but it will help us survive until we bring in more supplies.

  “I'm liking the sound of this,” said Kitty. “It's been way too long since I had a Snickers bar.”

  “I agree,” said Rebecca.

  “I mentioned the bank is next to Zephyr Park where we could grow a garden,” he said. “If we went out as a group, we could work on the garden. Breanna could play in the park for short periods of time if their weren't too many Chompers around the area.”

  “It hurts your head if there are too many Chompers,” said Breanna. “You have to count and count and it's not much fun. Then you have to run away before they get too close to you.”

  Mark smiled at the little girl. “You have a point. With all that square footage in the bank we could spread out and not be on top off each other. We could take our sleeping bags and loot furniture stores to furnish our personal areas. This place is so big we could use the offices for bedrooms. We could bring your families up here and it still wouldn't be crowded. There are two bathrooms on each floor and they have running water. The only downside is there are no showers or bathtubs so we would need to wash ourselves in the sinks.”

  “Bummer,” said Kitty. “But not a deal breaker.”

  “We could place charges in the stairwells which could be detonated in case of emergency,” said Mark. “We could disable the elevators so no one could sneak up on us even if they could find a way into the building.”

  “I like that!” said Bonnie.

  “And here's the best part.” His voice held enthusiasm. “The best part of all is there are cameras monitoring all the entrances and parking lots. We could disable the cameras where people sleep but keep the ones in the public areas such as the break room and the perimeter.

  I saw how proud he was of finding this place which no one had yet discovered or possessed. We held a vote but it was a no-brainer. The bank won by a landslide.