Beginning of the New Beginning Vol 3

by W. Joe Taylor

  “Yes, you were right. It’s not that I didn’t believe you. I just had no idea it would be like this,” he replied.

  “Harvey gave us directions to a farm outside of Billings,” Bill said. “I figure we can make it there before midnight tonight. It’s about seven hours away. Dennis, have you ever driven that way before?”

  “Well, sure. It’s been a year or two. But it’s pretty level being as how it’s on this side of the Rockies. I figure we can cut that time by maybe an hour.”

  “Bill, some of the rigs are going to need gas before we get too far,” Charity said.

  “No worries. We’ll stop at the Kum & Go just up the road. For those of us that just came back from Denver, we need to relax and let someone else do the driving. I don’t want any accidents when the fatigue sets in. Try to take a nap or something. You need to be fresh if anything comes up along the way. Ok, we have a long way to go and a short time to get there. I want to be on the road in like ten minutes.”

  An hour and a half later, they reached the corporate limits of Cheyenne Wyoming. Next to the freeway, on the right side, was a large home improvement store, and someone had hung a hand-painted sign on the side. It was made out of a tan tarp and orange paint.

  “Can anyone tell me what that sign says up there?” Dennis asked.

  Bill got out his binoculars and saw several people standing on the roof, waving.

  “Looks like it says, ‘Kick their ass, RV people.’ Well I’ll be, they must have been listening to the radio conversation we had. They knew we would be coming this way,” Bill said. Then he stuck his arm out the window and waved back.

  “If that’s the case, then we really need to keep our eyes peeled for bad guys that want to stop us, or just plain ol’ rob us,” Dennis replied.

  It was just before sunset when the convoy stopped in the very small town called Glendo for gas and a pee break. The very first thing everyone noticed as they exited the freeway, was the district lack of thrillers. The consensus was that someone had already dispatched of all of them. They were filling up the second set of vehicles when D spoke up.

  “Hey, everyone, I have two people walking up. They are unarmed. I don’t see anyone else hiding yet,” D said.

  “Ok, Cootch, Q, with me. Let’s go find out what they want,” Bill said.

  They walked towards the road by the town until they saw the people approaching them.

  “That’s close enough. What do you want?” asked Bill.

  “Huh? We don’t want anything, mister. We came to see what you were doing here.”

  “We are just getting some gas. Then we will be on our way.”

  “Oh, we were hoping you could stay for a while. We haven’t had any company in a while.”

  “Sorry to hear that, but we have places to be and shit. So, we can’t stay if we wanted to.”

  “But you’re the RV people, right?”

  “Yes, we are. I guess you have a ham radio.”

  “Yea, it was my dad’s, and he showed me how to use it a little. But he didn’t like me to mess with it ’cause he said I could get him in trouble with the government if I said the wrong thing.”

  “While your father was correct before the world changed, those rules don’t apply anymore.” After a long, awkward silence, Bill said, “Big Gulps, huh? Whelp, see you later,” and then he turned to walk away.

  “Hey, wait. Um, do you think we could go with you?”

  “Why?”

  “Well, it’s just me and my sister here now. Our mom survived the initial outbreak, but my dad killed her. We spent some time cleaning up the town a little bit, but we haven’t seen anyone else since it all started.”

  “What’re your names?”

  “I’m Brad Kerr, and this is my sister, Danielle Baker.”

  “I take it you have different dads, then.”

  “Yes, we do.”

  “Y’all wait here. Let me go talk to the others.”

  “Thank you, mister.”

  The three guys walked back to the RVs and gathered everyone around.

  “Daddy, we can’t just leave them here,” said Sam. “They barely look over fourteen.”

  “I know. I didn’t really plan on it, but I had to make sure everyone was ok with it first. Does anyone disagree with takin’ them along?”

  Bill looked at every face, and he could tell nobody wanted to leave them behind.

  “Ok, I’ll let them know. I think they should bunk up with you, Shaun. You’re the only one alone at this point. Shaun, you good with that?”

  “Uh, yea, I guess. I’ve never really had roommates before.”

  “Why don’t they stay with us? We have more space in our trailer,” offered Shannon.

  “Yea, the new RVs are nice, but they can get crowded pretty fast,” said Mike.

  “Ok, sure. Shaun, looks like you’re off the hook now. Maybe we will find you a little hottie in the next town.”

  “HAHAHA! Ok, man, it’s a deal.”

  “All right. Well, Mike, you want to take them to their house and pick up their things?”

  “Yea. I want backup too, though, just in case it’s some elaborate ruse.”

  “No worries. Charity and I will go with since our rig is already filled up too.”

  Bill and Shannon walked back over to the two teenagers and let them know they could go and what their living arrangements would be. They all walked back to the two rigs and drove five blocks away to the teens’ house. They stopped in front of a small ranch-style house that was painted green. Bill and Charity walked around and did a perimeter check.

  “There’s no one here. We killed all the zombies over a week ago. Then we hauled them off with my dad’s truck to the train overpass on the south side of town and burned them. We were hoping that the Army would see the smoke and come help us, but nobody came,” said Brad.

  “Yea, it was hard work, but we have been safe here since then. But we don’t know what to do. Our house ran out of food in the first couple of days. We went to the store and left a note for the owners that we would pay them back for anything we took,” said Danielle.

  “You just said you killed all the thrillers,” said Bill.

  “We never saw Mr. and Mrs. Welk though. We were hoping that they would come back.”

  “Oh, I see. Anyone else you didn’t see that you know of?”

  “No, that was pretty much it. We didn’t see the Welks’ car either, so we figure they were out camping when it happened.”

  “All right, well, let’s get you guys loaded up so we can go. So, tell me, how did you kill all the thrillers?”

  “My sister is a couple of years older than me. I’ll be fourteen next month, but she is amazing with a crossbow. So, we just sat up on top of one of the storage units, and she shot a bunch, and I was using my dad’s old .30-30. He had a thousand rounds for it. I only have a few hundred left now. After we killed all the zombies in town, we went around on our bikes and killed all the zombies that were camping by the lake for the weekend.”

  “Wow, so you two have been pretty busy, then. Town looks good. Maybe someone will want to live here again.”

  “Thanks.”

  A short while later, everyone was back at the gas station and ready to go. By then, it was well after sunset, and it was a cloudy night. They drove with lights off and used the NVGs, as they usually did while traveling after dark. Dennis mowed through a pack of thrillers on the freeway in Casper and a roadblock set up on the overpass in Kacey, Wyoming.

  There was a feeling of excitement among the group of survivors that formed the convoy when they merged back onto Interstate 90 in Buffalo. Bill knew it would be the road that carried them most of the way back to his hometown. Hopefully, this fiasco in Billings wouldn’t take them long.

  Chapter 6. Billings.

  Alex and Abe were tied back to back to a pair of chairs and were fading in and out of consciousness. The room was completely dark, and they had lost all track of time. Occasionally, one would nod off, and the ba
cks of their heads would clack together.

  “Fuck, dude, how many times are you going to do that?” asked Abe.

  “Sorry, man. We haven’t slept in so long. I don’t even know what day it is anymore,” Alex replied.

  “It’s only been, like, a day, maybe.”

  The door to the basement opened so forcefully that it slammed into the wall, startling both men. From the light streaming in at the top of the stairs, they could only see the dark outline of a person. Two bright flashlights clicked on and shone directly into their eyes, blinding them. They could hear the approaching footsteps of several people. Alex and Abe looked around the room, but everyone that entered stayed behind whoever was holding the flashlights.

  “So, are you guys ready to talk?”

  Abe recognized the deep-bass voice of GM.

  “Look, man, I already told you. We don’t know anything.”

  “I don’t believe you, Abe. You were in Harvey’s office yesterday. What were you talking about?”

  Abe let out a frustrated sigh. His left eye was swollen shut, his teeth hurt, and he had a fat lip. He was pretty sure he’d pissed blood earlier, though he hadn’t been able to see the urine leave his body.

  “We were going over the progress and details of getting everything ready for the power to come back on. Nothing more. You have to believe me. You’ve already beaten the shit out us, starved us, and we’re sleep deprived. Seriously, can we have some water, please?” Abe asked as he ran his tongue over his swollen, dry, and cracked lips. He tasted blood.

  “Yes. Mary, get them some water,” GM ordered someone Abe could not see. “Tell me again why you came to my house?”

  “We lost our friend. We were checking with everyone to see if anyone had seen her. We didn’t know if she was killed by a Z or if she broke her leg or something,” said Alex.

  “Yes, you did say that last time. It’s good to see that you are sticking with your story. It almost makes me want to believe you. But alas, I have trust issues. It seems as though your buddy Bob and his insolent brother have been trying to contact the very people I want dead.”

  “Wait. What? How? I’m so confused right now,” said Alex. “What does that have to do with Olivia? We do not know anything about what they were doing. Look, man, we’re just trying to survive like everyone else,”

  “I’m going to try a different tactic on you guys, see if I can get you to open up and tell me what you know. Hope you guys have a good time. Ladies, get these two cleaned up and show them a good time,” GM said.

  Abe heard the footsteps disappear up the stairwell, and just before the door closed, the flashlights switched off, leaving Abe and Alex blinking away the blue spots in their vision. Cloaked in total darkness again, GM gave one final warning.

  “You have been very consistent with your answers. I’m testing you two. If you pass, maybe your lives will improve.”

  A small lantern was lit in the corner of the room. Two women wearing nothing but white nightgowns were standing there, and they began to run water into the sink next to the washer and dryer.

  “What are you going to do?” asked Abe.

  “We’re going to clean you up and then pleasure you. Its GM’s orders.”

  “Do you know where Olivia is?” Alex asked.

  “We’re not allowed to talk about that,” one woman said as she walked around to face Alex. He recognized her as the one who’d opened the door of GM’s house. She leaned in real close to his ear and said, “If you go along with what is about to happen, there is a high probability that GM will let you go provided you agree to help him. You didn’t listen to my warning before, so maybe, this time, you will.”

  “Look, you don’t have to do this. Just let us go. You can come with us,” Abe offered.

  “That’s not how any of this works. We would all be dead before we got across the lawn. Now, we’re going to untie you. I can assure you that there are men upstairs listening for anything other than what they are supposed to hear. Please do not try anything. Just sit quietly and let us tend to your wounds.”

  Once the ropes were removed, both men rubbed their wrists and hands, trying to get the blood flow back. After the ladies carefully cleaned and bandaged the cuts on both men’s faces, they tended to the rope burns on their arms.

  “Stand,” Mary ordered Alex.

  When he did, she removed his clothes. He covered himself with his hands while she gave him a sponge bath. Once she was finished, she gently gripped his wrists and moved his hands to his sides. Then she began to massage his man parts.

  “Please, you don’t have to do this,” he whispered.

  “Yes, I do. If I don’t return with proof that you were taken care of until…completion, GM is going to do very bad things to all of us. I’m telling you, do not cross him again, or you will die a slow, humiliating death.”

  Alex and Abe just stood with there while the two ladies used their mouths and hands to do what they needed to do. They collected the samples in clear drinking glasses.

  After the ladies left, Abe and Alex just stood there, dumbfounded by what had just happened. A few minutes later, the door opened again, normally this time. GM came down drinking in the nakedness of the two men. Behind him were a couple of guys carrying mattresses, and they unceremoniously threw them on the floor.

  “You guys have done well. You’re both very handsome and well-endowed.”

  GM smiled and raised an eyebrow at Alex.

  “Get some rest. Tomorrow, there might be a fight. If, and that’s a big if, you survive, I want you to help me regrow humanity. You two are going to father many children.”

  GM turned on his heel and walked out, closing the door behind him.

  “Dude, what the fuck was that all about?” asked Alex.

  “I think someone likes you.”

  “No, about what he said. Is he going to force us to have sex with random women?”

  “You make it sound like a horrible thing.”

  “Ok, yea, not terrible. But I’m not a rapist either. What do you think he means by ‘If we live’ tomorrow?”

  “Sounds like he’s going to put us on the front line or use us as bait or something. I think that is the perfect opportunity.”

  “For what?”

  “Either escaping when shit goes down or faking our deaths.”

  The convoy was on the final stretch into Billings when it passed a sign on Interstate 90 that read: “REST AREA 1 MI.”

  “Dennis, pull off at the rest area. Since we’re here ahead of schedule like you said we would be, I want to stop here and do some recon.”

  “You got it, boss. Slowing down now.”

  Dennis pulled off the freeway, and as he pulled in the parking lot, the hair on the back of his neck stood up and his stomach twisted.

  “Shit, we might have a problem. I don’t feel good about this at all.”

  “Talk to me, goose,” Bill replied.

  “There are a couple of Humvee’s up here, and I thought I saw movement dash off to the restrooms.”

  “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Ok, everyone, get ready. It could be nothing, but we’re not taking any chances. As soon as you stop, I need Mike, Q, and Cootch to meet me over by the Humvees.”

  While the other guys were giving their verbal confirmation, Bill jumped out of the still-moving 4Runner, leaving Charity to park it next to Dennis’s big rig. Using the sound from the other vehicles as cover, Bill ran up beside another eighteen-wheeler already parked there. As he stalked next to the driver’s door, he heard the sound of a hungry thriller inside. He scanned the walkway up to the small building and saw nothing in the green hue of the NVGs. There was a three-foot-wide partition wall to keep bathroom privacy when the door was open.

  Bill quickly crept toward a group of trashcans in a neat little bearproof brick housing. He crouched down and peered around the backside towards the bathrooms again. Still unable to see the door, he lay on his stomach and began to crawl across the grass, parallel to the building, until he could s
ee the door.

  “I have visual on at least one person in the east-side bathroom. I can only see their foot. Wait. They opened the door. It’s a male. Jeans, light jacket, looks like he’s holding an M4,” said Bill.

  “Copy. Let us know if you need backup,” Cootch replied.

  Bill clicked the mic switch twice, indicating a negative. The man in the bathroom opened the door all the way, and another two men slowly stepped out. All three were armed, and they moved slowly. The man in the lead approached the edge of the privacy wall. He squatted down and peeked around. Bill noticed that all the vehicles were now silent and the men at the bathroom were not moving. The man looked out across the grass, towards the freeway, and his eyes swept right over Bill. Bill felt his heartrate spike, and he thought for sure the three men could hear his heavy breathing. The man continued to look around, having not noticed Bill. Bill swept his vision towards the parking lot and saw three of his people move towards the Humvees. He heard a scuffle and saw the men moving towards the Humvees also.

  “Freeze, motherfuckers! We have you surrounded!” Bill hollered out.

  “That’s impossible. You just got here!” one guy called back.

  Bill aimed at their feet and fired off two rounds at the sidewalk behind them. The men turned and ran back into the bathroom while firing wildly into the night. Bill could hear the rounds impact the pavilion behind him and to the right.

  “Guys, I have these three held down. Go check the other side.”

  Bill saw four bodies run towards the other side of the building. He heard some shouting and a couple of shots.

  “Fellas, I need a site rep. How is it going over there?” asked Bill.

  He saw the door on his side open again. One man stuck the barrel of his rifle out and fired off a few shots. Bill shot back at the door and heard someone yelp in pain on the inside.

  “Come out with your hands up, you fucking cocksuckers. Come out now, and I’ll let you live. You fucking shoot at me again, and I’ll throw a goddamned grenade in there!”

  The door came open again, but nobody appeared.

  “Hands in the air!” Bill warned again.