Survive (Book 1): Salvation
Page 15
“What happened to the tentacles after they were severed from the main mutant?” he asked, an idea forming.
“I don’t know,” Chuck replied, looking to Antonio who shrugged, “They went into the pit with our people I guess.”
“On their own?” Rodrigo asked, “Did they crawl? Did the other tentacles pull them in? Were the severed pieces dead or were they still alive?”
“Alive,” Chuck replied simply, remembering the appendages that refused to let go of Carlos even after being separated from its main body, “why?”
“I want to get some pieces of that thing,” Rodrigo replied. “I’m going to figure out how to kill it.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Well, it’ll work for what I’m doing,” Rodrigo said, looking at the small cabin they hastily built. JJ’s skill as a carpenter came in handy to build a small but sturdy structure.
“I’m sorry it has to be outside the gates man,” Chuck said to him, “but I won’t allow anything infected inside the compound.”
“It’s not a problem,” Rodrigo replied, “I told you that. I wouldn’t bring one in anyway. Besides, this is still close enough, if I hear the alarms, I can still run to the gate.”
They went inside and admired their handiwork. It was just a single room with a table, a couple chairs, and a desk. JJ was also able to build the large table from the smaller pieces of wood. There was shelving along the wall that was filled with supplies. There was also a chamber pot tucked discretely in the corner. The table had a large plastic tank sitting on it, similar to what fish or reptiles used to be kept in.
“You really think you’re going to be able to put a piece of that thing in that tank without getting spiked?” Chuck asked him.
“I’m damn sure going to try,” he replied. “Who knows, maybe I’ll find a way to kill all infected, not just this one.”
“That would sure be nice,” Chuck said wistfully. “I can’t imagine that, though; to have a normal life again. I think I’ve forgotten what that was like.”
“I do like what you did with the place,” Antonio joked as he stepped inside.
Adorning the walls were plenty of weapons. Rodrigo wasn’t taking any chances. All four walls had at least three blades or axes on them.
“Now all I need is to get some mutant chunks,” Rodrigo stated, looking around at the finishing touches. He picked up a tightly woven net and spread it out, pointing to another identical one.
“I’ll use one of these to carry it back here,” he said.
“Wouldn’t a thicker bag be safer from the spikes?” Antonio asked him.
“Sure,” Rodrigo replied, “but I want to see what it’s doing at all times. That net won’t be close to any part of me, trust me. If I can see it, I can hopefully anticipate it.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Chuck asked him, putting his hand on his shoulder. “This is a very dangerous idea.”
“But a necessary one.” Rodrigo stood his ground, “I want to do this. For Carlos. For Carmen. For everyone.”
“You won’t be the only one in danger,” Chuck said. “It’ll be dangerous as hell to get a piece of that thing. I can’t order anyone to go with you. We’ll have to get volunteers.”
Rodrigo nodded, “I know but we need to destroy it. Now the hardest part will be trying to figure out how to do just that.”
At dinner that night, Chuck had Rodrigo explain to the others his plans. He wanted ideas and opinions of what to try to use to kill it.
“Are you out of your mind?” Carmen screamed, “I already lost Carlos and now I have to lose you too?”
He’d expected a reaction like this from her, “I’m doing this so no one has to lose anyone to that thing ever again.”
“So we just block off the area,” Carmen insisted, “just much further out. No one has to go near it again; especially not you.”
Now she was crying. She knew her brother was as stubborn as a mule and she’d never talk him out of this but she had to try. Shirley came over and held her, then looked up at Rodrigo with a nod. She’d get with him in a minute with some ideas she had for that monster; and she had a few. Everyone looked uncomfortable; they wanted to voice their ideas but were afraid of hurting Carmen’s feelings.
“Any ideas?” Rodrigo asked, getting his pencil and notepad ready.
“Maybe salt?” Edna suggested, “Like when you dissolve slugs by pouring salt on them.”
Everyone stared at the prim little elderly woman.
“Not that I ever did such a thing!” she exclaimed.
Everyone was quiet for a minute, eyeing her.
“Okay, maybe when I was younger but don’t tell me you never did it,” she admitted.
The younger ones shook their heads. In this post-apocalyptic world salt was a rare commodity. They’d never waste it on slugs. Now they all whispered to each other, wondering.
“I don’t know that we have enough salt to use on an experiment,” Rodrigo said, writing that down, “But it’s an idea. Maybe I could try a tiny bit on a small piece of mutant.”
The meeting when on for a couple hours more. Some ideas were good and Rodrigo wrote all of them down. Others were farfetched and although he wouldn’t try them all, he wrote it down anyway. Besides, some of the best ideas came from crazy ones. When he walked out of the meeting, he felt rejuvenated; he had a purpose, a goal to reach. If he could do this, he could avenge his brother’s death.
“Bleach, laundry soap, window cleaner, and ammonia,” Shirley listed off as she set the little plastic bottles down on Rodrigo’s desk. She was extremely nervous to be outside the gates but Mason Henry was on duty and she trusted his eyes over anyone else’s. So much that she even refused an escort.
“We had all this?” Rodrigo asked, looking at the primly marked bottles; the bottles used to hold soda and water.
“Bottles?” Shirley replied with a grin, “You wouldn’t believe how many of those we have. The first couple of years I was here the raiders brought back every single empty bottle they found. Everyone else wanted to throw them out, too small to store any decent amount of water, but I’m a packrat. I don’t throw out anything that I may have a use for later. I washed all of them out and kept them in a huge box in my room. The world may start again someday, these might help with that.”
“What about the chemicals?” he asked. “I thought this stuff was hard to come by.”
“We actually have a good amount in storage but not enough for us to use all the time.” Shirley said, “That’s why we came up with alternatives. Turned out that our alternatives aren’t as harsh on the clothes as these old chemicals were. Our clothes last longer now. No more stores to buy up, so we have to make them last. This looked like a pretty good reason to break some out.”
Rodrigo smiled and thanked her. He added these bottles to his ever growing samples. The salt idea must have been a good one because at least six people brought him the little single use salt and pepper packets. He put the salt with the others and set the pepper aside to take back to the kitchen; he couldn’t see a use for it. Every time he was inside the compound, he was given small samples of shampoo and hand soap, hand lotion and deodorant. He was even given a tube of KY Jelly from a pretty woman named Lori who smiled at him when she handed it to him. He turned very red and stumbled out his thanks. He had cloves and cinnamon, which he hated, so maybe the pit monster would too, perfume, and Alka Seltzer tablets. He had such a variety, he was sure he had enough to start his experiments.
All he needed now was some pieces of the monster; that would be the hardest to get. It might kill him and anyone else who went with him to try to get it, which was why he decided to sneak out before dawn to try for the sample. Chuck and Antonio would never let him go to the pit alone. They’d insist on coming with him if no one volunteered. He wouldn’t allow that to happen. He didn’t want anyone dying just to get samples when he wasn’t even sure it would do any good. He knew what time the sentry shift change was and he planned to sneak out th
en. It would be easier since he was outside the gates. He’d tell them he wanted to sleep out here since he worked late into the night. He just needed to get some bedding and supplies for the trip from inside the compound back here without arousing suspicion. He hoped that Mason Henry wouldn’t be on sentry. He didn’t think he could get out with him on watch.
Getting what he needed from inside the compound and back out, to what he started calling the ‘Lab’, was much easier than he thought. Everyone slapped him on the back and handed him some more samples of items to experiment with and no one wondered what was in the large duffle he was carrying. He felt a little guilty about keeping it from them, but he knew someone would stop him if they found out. He’d have to go on foot since all the vehicles were inside the fence. He had his backpack packed after checking the nets three times for any weak spots. He kept it by the barred door and lay down for a few hours of sleep.
When he woke, he peered out the door to see the same night sentries still on their shift. The early morning shift wasn’t there yet. He put the backpack on and sat in the open doorway, with no candles or lanterns on to give him away, and he waited. Within twenty minutes, he could hear the muted voices from behind the fence.
This is it!
When the sentries looked down at their replacements, he slipped around to other side of the lab. He still had to cross the road between it and the quarry, he should’ve thought ahead when he built this but didn’t realize he’d be deceiving his family. He was in perfect position as he watched the sentries drop out of sight. He knew he only had seconds before the relief crew poked their heads up. If Mason Henry had been up there he’d have been screwed. He swore that man had built-in radar or something. He ran as fast as he could and made it to the first rock, which was barely big enough for him to hide behind. He looked at the fence and saw the new shift doing their first overview of everything in sight; the three guards on the other side of the compound would be doing the same. He only had to wait five or ten minutes for them to finish scanning the area. They would relax a bit and look around randomly. If he timed it right, he could be at the second rock down the road, then work his way off-road toward the quarry. He wasn’t rushing and he still had to keep an eye out for any other zombies or mutants around. Once he got out of the sentries’ view, he was on his own.
The sun was up when he got within sight of the quarry and the early morning fog had cleared. He walked as softly and quietly as he could until he stood against a rock not far from the tire tracks. The quarry was quiet and there was no sign of the pit mutant. He was grim at the sight of the uprooted earth and stayed completely away from that side. The appendages must still be down inside. He knelt down and felt the earth. He was shocked to feel almost a patterned vibration, barely perceptible, similar to breathing. Holy shit! It’s really breathing!
The others had told him about this but he didn’t believe it; the dead didn’t breathe. This was something different and he planned to find out what. Experimentally, he went five feet closer on tiptoe and checked the ground again; then again, another two feet. It was stronger each time, the closer he got to the pit. That was good to know. For a minute, he was afraid the entire ground beneath him had turned into the mutant. He looked around, trying to think of a way to get an appendage to come out so he could cut it off with his axe. He’d love to get two of them but if he only got one he’d take that and not push his luck. He was crouched behind a rock that was obviously in the danger zone but somehow the mutant didn’t know he was there. It must not have felt him coming; he had been so careful to walk as soft and slowly as possible. He could use that. Maybe if he threw something behind him, an appendage would fly out past him to get it and he could chop it off. It would know where he was then and he remembered Chuck saying the ground ‘opened up’ under Carlos and he stared down at his feet. If he ran right after chopping the appendage, maybe it couldn’t get him. The time it would take him to get the severed piece into the net would leave him vulnerable to attack. Unexpectedly, he remembered a silly sign that they saw on a door during a scavenge. It said, Closed for the Day – Gone Fishing. Carlos just had to have it and he took it home. He’d cleaned it up and hung it up in their room. The fire the ghouls set burned everything in their old home but it remained in his memory. He just needed something that would work like a large hook.
He walked back past the safe zone for another fifteen minutes and took stock. When he thought he was far enough, he took out all his knives and set them out, deciding which would be best used as a hook. He chose the one with finger holes in the hilt. It looked like a set of brass knuckles attached to a knife. He had brought at least fifty feet of nylon rope with him and tied one end to the hilt, looping thru the ‘brass knuckles’, cutting it about ten feet long. He used his axe and some strong rocks to chip out parts of the blade. Now it looked like a dangerous barbed blade. He just hoped it would be strong enough to hold and drag the appendage out of the danger zone and get it into the netting.
He went back to the pit the way he did before, picking up several large rocks along the way. When he got to his spot behind the rock, he gently put down all three of the rocks. He knelt and felt the ground again; still the same rhythmic light vibrations. He waited another five minutes, setting out all he would need. He propped his axe against the rock and hung the nets from his waist. He set down his ‘barbed’ blade fishing rope and tied the other end to his elbow. If he caught one and it found a way to get back into the pit, it would drag him with it. He’d have to take that chance, he couldn’t risk dropping the rope and losing this specimen. He’d never get this chance again. He picked up his axe, looking fondly at it. He’d had this axe a long time. He would probably have to leave it here behind the rock. Once he threw the rock and used the axe, he would need both hands to impale the severed piece with the barb. Then he’d have to run like hell, dragging the limb. He had no idea how heavy it would be, so leaving the beloved axe behind was the only option. If he’d find a way to kill the mutant, he could retrieve it later.
He picked up the largest of the three rocks he brought and threw it as far as he could behind him, and next to the rock he was behind; then he raised his axe, his grip on the handle firm. He felt the ground rumble and prayed that nothing would burst from the ground beneath him and claim him as its meal. He heard a loud whooshing coming from the pit and an appendage flew past him to the rock. It wrapped the first two feet around the rock with lightning speed and began pulling back. He was shocked at the speed but didn’t waste another moment. He brought down the axe with as much force as he could muster. The appendage was about four inches thick where he cut it. His axe bit through; severing it in one hit. He heard an unearthly scream from the pit and almost pissed himself. He’d never heard anything like that before and he almost froze in fear. He quickly shook it off, grabbed up the ‘barbed’ knife, and ran towards the end of the appendage where it was thinner. He slammed the knife into it and it came out the other side, catching on the barbs. He wrapped his arms around the rope and ran as if his life depended on it, because it did. In his panic, he ran for almost ten minutes before stopping. He looked back, panting, and saw the severed appendage weakly trying to curl in on itself. After a quick glance around, he walked quickly up to it, pulling out the first net. He threw it and was happy to see it completely cover it. He pulled the cord quickly, pulling it underneath and around the appendage. It thrashed around in the net but couldn’t get away. Green pus oozed from the spiked tips; must be a defense mechanism. He’d figure that out as well when he got it back to the Lab. He backed away from the net and untied the barbed knife rope from his arm then stopped in amazement.
I did it!
He looked down at himself and patted his arms and legs.
I did it, and managed it without getting infected! Wait until the rest of Sabaton sees this!
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Rodrigo!” Chuck called, pounding on the door with his fist.
When there was no answer, he and Antonio op
ened the door and went inside. It was dark since there were no windows, only an unlit fireplace and a lantern, which Antonio quickly lit. They checked the entire room and were dismayed to see his bedding on the floor against the wall. He’d spent the night out here in secret.
“What the hell is he doing?” Chuck asked.
“You don’t think...” Antonio began as Chuck nodded.
“If that thing doesn’t kill him, I will!”
They ran out the door and back into the compound to get a truck.
He’d been dragging the net for what seemed like days although it was only a few hours. He briefly remembered a scene from a movie with Will Smith and smiled and almost yelled out I could’ve been at a barbeque! He decided against it, as it would’ve taken too much energy, the appendage was a lot heavier than it looked. An oozing green trail followed them and it stunk worse than the rotting dead. He had just stopped to rest and drink from his water bottle when he heard the engine. After looking around frantically, he dropped the net and hid behind a thinning shrub. He jumped back out when he saw it was one of the trucks from Salvation. He came out grinning, careful to step away from the net. He was still smiling as the doors to truck opened and Chuck and Antonio got out.
His smile faltered when he saw their faces. They were pissed!
“Before you get upset, let me explain,” he said, putting his hands up.
“I should kick your ass!” thundered Antonio.
“But I got it!” he said, quickly, stepping aside so they could see the squirming net.
For a moment both Chuck and Antonio were speechless. They looked back at Rodrigo and he nodded excitedly.
“Look how big that piece is! I can do plenty of experiments with this much; which is a good thing because I don’t think we’ll be able to go near the quarry again. It was really pissed off. Almost as much as you two,” he looked at them hopefully.