by Frank Bates
It was already eight o’clock and Seth was starting to feel sleepy. He had finished three episodes already and it was dark outside. He glanced down at Brodie who was resting by his feet. “Are you sleepy, too, Brodie?” The dog whimpered and huddled closer to him. “Should we go to sleep now?”
Snap.
Brodie’s ears perked up at the sound. He turned his head towards Seth who sat up in his couch and cocked his head to the side, listening closely. It was light and quiet enough but Seth could hear the crunching of grass being stepped on. Someone was outside.
He gestured for Brodie to stay quiet and the dog did though he sat up too and was on alert. Seth lowered the volume of the TV. He picked up his gun off the side table and quietly moved towards the front door and locked it. He proceeded to go to the kitchen but stopped when he heard the latch on the kitchen door open. He stuck to the wall, gun ready. One, two, three, four, five. Five people have intruded his cabin. They must be some of those raiders Father Alain was telling him about yesterday.
The intruders walked lightly through the kitchen, unaware that Seth had already been alerted to their presence. Gripping his gun tightly, Seth focused all of his attention on the sound of their footsteps. As soon as the first man was through the open doorway, Seth fired a shot at him. He got him in the head and the man fell lifeless to the floor.
Stunned, the other four intruders weren’t able to take action right away but when they saw Seth, they automatically charged at him.
One of the intruders punched him on the jaw and tackled him down to the floor. They both fell down. Trapping Seth below him, the intruder had this to say to Seth, “Hey, old man.” Seth looked at him and recognized that it was one the guys he beat up the other day, the one with the bat and the arrogant face. “We still want your truck.”
Seth’s lip split open as the guy threw another solid punch on his face. The guy continued pummeling him. “You.” Punch. “Fucking.” Punch. “Piece of Shit.” Whack! “Thought you got the better of us, huh? I’m going to kill you and take your truck, fucker!”
“Hey, look what I found.” Another guy said. He found the duffel bag where Seth kept his guns. “These are some nice guns. You don’t mind if we take this with us, do you, old man?”
Seth looked at him and recognized that it was the other guy, the one with the knife. He should have known that this would happen. He didn’t know it at the time but those two were probably part of the raiders who were currently causing trouble in Boone. He probably should have just killed them that time.
The goon on top of him was preparing to strike him again but this time, Seth was able to block the blow and managed to deliver a powerful jab. The guy stumbled away from him, clutching his mouth. His nose was bleeding and his glare screamed murder.
Enraged, the guy opened fire at Seth. Spotting his gun on the floor, Seth rolled away, got hold of his gun and hid behind a chair. The guy continued firing shots but eventually ran out of bullets. When he did, Seth took advantage and shot at him. He hit the guy square on the chest.
The two other goons who were busy stealing stuff from the cabin stopped what they were doing and attacked Seth. One of them tried to stab him with a knife but Seth avoided it and instead shot the goon twice, once in the stomach and once in the neck. The other goon’s attack followed right after he had killed the other one and the goon was able to land a blow on Seth’s cheek. Seth stumbled away and the goon was about to stab him when out of nowhere, Brodie appeared and attacked the goon. Letting out a fierce growl, the dog latched on the man’s neck and bit hard, tearing it out. The man screamed in terror at Brodie but Brodie wasn’t done with him yet.
While Brodie was fighting the other raider, Seth was fighting the last remaining intruder. The guy he beat up the other day looked really pissed off.
“Fuck this. What the hell’s with you, man?” He asked.
“I told you the first time to stay away from me.” Seth said. He cocked his gun and pointed it at the other man’s head. “You should have listened.” And fired off the gun.
*****
Seth and Brodie stood by the edge of the mountain after Seth had thrown off the dead bodies of the intruders off the mountain. Looking into the abyss, Seth thought about how many more people like them would go to Boone and put the lives of the residents in danger. He looked at the town from the mountain and watched as their lights casted away the shadows on the streets.
Seth knew that he had a duty to find his family but for now, he would have to protect this town just like Father Alain, Terry, and Bernice were doing. It was his duty as a law enforcer and as a resident of Boone. Once things had settled there, then he would go and find his family.
Chapter Twelve: Mission Start
For the third time that week, Seth packed his stuff and prepared to head out to town. He needed to talk to Father Alain about the situation in Boone, the raiders and how they could keep the town functioning despite the circumstances.
He loaded up his truck and told Brodie to watch the cabin while he was gone. On the way to church, Seth passed by the service station where he found Brodie. He slowed to a stop when he saw someone lying face down on the concrete ground.
Seth got off the truck and took a look around. The service station remained the same as when he left it except for the convenience store. The door was left hanging ajar, the windows had been smashed open, and the inside of the store looked to be in great disarray. Seth wondered if the looters swiped clean the entire store. He hoped they left some stuff in there, like batteries or at least some rolls of tissue paper.
Seth approached the body. He flipped the body around to face him gently and discovered that it was a young male, around fifteen years of age. The unfortunate kid was dead; died of multiple gunshot wounds to the body. He was lying next to a car. He must have been driving and somebody must have stopped the car. It appeared as if the kid was pulled out forcibly from the car and shot.
Seth peeked in through the open door of the driver’s side. Seth was right for the most part. It seemed that there was another passenger. There was a bag with a cute cartoon character and some other stuff that might have belonged to a girl. She was probably this kid’s sister, friend or girlfriend.
He looked around for another body but there wasn’t any in the vicinity. Seth concluded that the kid’s companion must have been kidnapped by the same type of people who intruded his house last night—raiders—the ones Father Alain was telling him about the other day. Looking at this situation and what happened last night, not to mention the other day too, this raider situation in Boone seems to be getting worse. They had to control it before it escalates any further.
Seth said a silent prayer for the kid. After that, he returned to his truck and continued his drive down to the local parish to meet up with Father Alain.
Seth arrived at the parish shortly after leaving the service station. He opened the simple but elegant double doors of the parish. It was silent as a tomb inside but the wide glass windows let the sun in and the interior of the parish was bright in spite of the dark furnishings. The candles were still burning on the candelabrum on the altar.
“Father Alain? Are you here?” Seth called out.
A shuffling sound came from behind the altar. Father Alain came out wearing a robe, his hair in a high small ponytail, eyeglasses askew. He was sweating even though it was still early in the morning.
“Good morning, Father.” Seth greeted. He took in the priest’s disheveled appearance. “Err, what were you doing?”
“Ah.” Father Alain looked down at himself and noticed his bedraggled appearance. He laughed. “Oh, I was just cleaning. The backroom has become really dusty, probably because I haven’t held a mass in quite some time. Most of the parishioners have perished and… the altar boys too… and the choir… and the gardener…”
“Okay, let me stop you there.” Seth said. The priest’s voice had gradually gotten lower and more depressed with each reiteration. “Why were you cleaning so early in
the morning? You could have just done that later. You could have also asked me to help you.”
“Thank you for the offer. I couldn’t sleep—haven’t been able to, really, ever since the outbreak—so I thought that maybe if I tire myself out enough I might be able to sleep.”
Seth doubted he was successful judging by the large dark circles under his eyes. “Had any success?”
“No, actually. I haven’t slept a proper wink for days now. I’m afraid I might follow my parishioners soon. Maybe that’s for the best. Every night, their voices as they cried to me for help, would haunt me that’s why I can’t sleep. There are raiders now too and I have to be doubly careful. I’m so tired of having to watch my back at all times and…”
Seth held up a hand to stop Father Alain’s increasingly despondent monologue and prevent the old priest from falling deeper into depression. “I’m sorry for asking.”
Father Alain cleared his throat and sighed. Adjusting his glasses, he smiled at Seth. “Do you want some orange juice? You look like you could use some refreshment.”
“Sure, thanks.” That would be you though, Father, Seth thought.
Father Alain led Seth to the kitchen. “Please sit. Have you eaten breakfast yet?” He asked.
“Yes, I have.” Seth answered as he sat in a chair.
“I see. You don’t mind if I eat, do you?”
“Of course not. Please have breakfast. I just came by because I had a few things I wanted to discuss with you.”
“Oh?” Father Alain brought over two glasses and a pitcher of orange juice to the table. He returned to the counter and got a plate of sandwiches. He poured orange juice into their glasses and sat down opposite Seth. “What did you want to talk about?”
“How’s Boone so far? The people? How many are left?” Seth asked.
“Hm, let’s see.” Father Alain murmured as he took a bite of his sandwich. “Well, it’s not in any good condition but I dare say not too bad either; at least our town’s not as chaotic as most major cities are. But, we did lose a lot of people. Just last week, we buried a total of twenty-five people. It’s terrible, really. Most of the people who were able to have driven out of Boone when the announcements for an evacuation came on, some went away in hopes of escaping the virus. Although, how they thought they could manage that, I have no idea.” He shrugged. “I mean, it’s an airborne virus! Were they expecting to outrun the air?” Father Alain finished, clearly puzzled.
“I don’t think that’s what they meant to do, Father.” Seth said. The priest looked doubtful. “Anyway,” Seth took a swallow of his orange juice. “Let’s talk about the raiders. When did they start appearing here in Boone and have there been many incidents so far?”
Father Alain scratched his jaw. “I think we started receiving reports about their presence around last week. There haven’t been that many incidents yet but I’m afraid that they’re getting more active every day. Several people’s homes have already been intruded upon and got things stolen.”
“I met some of those intruders last night.”
“Goodness, are you all right? Now, that I look at you, you’ve got bruises all over your face.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I don’t think they attacked me last night because they wanted to steal my stuff in particular.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you remember the two goons I told you about? The ones who were trying to steal my truck?” At Father’s Alain nod, Seth continued. “They came back for me together with their friends. There were five of them. I killed them.”
Father Alain choked on his sandwich.
Seth shrugged. “I had to do it, Father. Either I killed them first or they kill me and Brodie.” He could tell Father Alain did not approve but the priest refrained from reprimanding Seth. Seth knew that Father Alain understood that the world was no longer the same. It had become a dog eat dog world—survival of the fittest was the new; the only law.
“Hn. Just like you, they hurt the owners of the homes they raided. A few were even killed.” Father Alain sighed. “Really. As if the virus is not killing enough people already—people have to do it too. We have also received news about some women getting kidnapped and raped. What has the world come to?”
“I’m sorry, Father.” Seth said. What else was there to say after all?
“Nah, you shouldn’t be sorry. We all do what we must do to survive and survival is indeed the most important thing we must focus on right now. That being said, it would be good if we could keep the town going and get rid of the raiders.”
“Yeah, that’s actually why I wanted to talk to you. I was thinking about how we could ensure the welfare of the townspeople. With the raiders around, supplies must be low.”
“Indeed. We’re running out of food and medicine. Water’s not really a problem since we have source of fresh water here but everything else, we’d have to get elsewhere.”
“About that, I heard a government announcement over on the radio. They set up relief station in some cities. The nearest one to Boone is in Atlanta.”
Father Alain perked up. “Do they have a cure for the virus?”
Seth shook his head dejectedly. “Afraid not. They do have everything we need. Clothes, food, water, medicine. They said that there would be on-site doctors there too. We could send our sick over there.”
Father Alain nodded in understanding though the news of there being no cure yet visibly disheartened him. “Yes, yes. We could do that.”
Seth tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the table. “We can send a team of people and gather supplies from the relief station to be brought over here in Boone. We can’t have everyone going to Atlanta lest the raiders steal everything.”
“That’s true. That’s a good idea. We’ll send some people to Atlanta together with the sick. The rest will stay here. Those strong enough and capable will be in charge of patrolling the town and keeping an eye out for raiders. I guess now, our next move will be to notify the citizens about our plans.” Father Alain finished and Seth nodded in agreement.
After they finished their meeting and Father Alain had finished his breakfast, the priest cleaned himself up and made himself presentable. He rang the parish bell, calling on the people of Boone to gather at the parish.
Several minutes later, people started arriving at the parish. Seth could see the miserable state they were in. A lot of them looked weak from lack of food. Several were sick. He could tell which of them had lost someone—the ones who did looked lifeless, their eyes were utterly bleak. All of them were traumatized by the wretched fate that had befallen them all.
There were just enough people to have comfortably filled up the parish. “Are these all them?” Seth asked Father Alain.
“Yup, you’re looking at the only remaining people in Boone.” Father Alain replied. He turned to the people sitting on the pews. “Hello, dear friends. We have gathered here not for a mass,” He smiled and a few people smiled too. “But for an announcement. You all know U.S. Marshal Seth Andrews, right?” Murmurs of affirmation echoed throughout the small space. Seth nodded his head at them. “The two of us spoke this morning about the welfare of Boone. He had provided some meaningful insights and we have come up with a plan that we would like to share with you all.”
The townspeople looked up at the priest and Seth with interest. Father Alain could see that he had their undivided attention.
“Seth shared to me the announcement that the government broadcasted on the radio. It seems that there are relief stations set up where we could get food, water, medicine and clothes. They can also provide medical attention to those who are sick.”
The parish buzzed with excitement and for the first time—hope.
Father Alain continued. “We will be sending capable people along with the sick to Atlanta where the nearest relief station is located. The rest will remain here and we will continue patrolling the town in shifts. How does that sound?”
The people erupted with cheers and everyone was in ag
reement with the plan. After that, Father Alain and some volunteers went around listing down who will go to Atlanta and those who will do the patrolling.
Seth stayed at the sidelines and watched. The crowd that resembled less of humans and more of the undead had finally regained some of their energy. He could see the hope blossoming once again in their eyes. They were finally smiling again. He made the right decision—staying in Boone for the meantime and helping the town become okay again.
He pushed himself off the pillar he was leaning on and met up with the other town leaders. There were still some things that needed to be addressed.
Chapter Thirteen: Executive Order 23245
President Hillary White had gone through a lot as a woman, as a mother and wife, and as the President of the United States. She had been all these roles and each of them had not been easy but being the president of such a large and powerful country definitely takes the cake.
There is no denying that the position required handling sensitive issues and weighing the rewards and risks; the pros and cons of each decision she made. Every choice she made demanded meticulous assessment and great fortitude.
Hillary was no stranger to moral dilemmas. She practically ate them for breakfast every day. However, if you were to ask her which decision had been the hardest for her to make, she would most probably tell you that it was the one she was about to make.
Maybe it was because of her recent losses coupled with the gravity of the problem plaguing the country at the moment that Hillary was in no condition to be making any decision especially not one as important as this.
She was in the throes of depression and both her heart and mind had gone numb. But even through her clouded mind, years of constantly weighing consequences made her wary of making any rash judgment.
Sighing, Hillary placed her elbows on her desk and leaned her forehead against her open palms. As she stared at the document in front of her, her meeting with Mr. Kennedy played back in her mind.
