by A. L. White
“Julie if you don’t mind let me ride with Lori in the truck for a little while and you drive the RV.”
Lori shook her head no. “I can’t drive a stick.”
“Well then looks to me like today is as good as any to learn. Besides, we can’t ask Julie to always trailblaze for us now can we.”
Julie patted her on the shoulder as she gathered Virginia and the dogs back into the RV.
CHAPTER 9
Driving the stick wasn’t as hard as Lori had expected. Bob was a good teacher and showed a lot of patience with her. Not sure how everyone in the RV felt about the first few starts, but Bob didn’t mind. He even chuckled a few times at her and told her to try again, a little easier on the gas or clutch, whichever she let out too fast or pushed too hard. It certainly helped that there was no traffic and very little obstacles in the road. Once they were moving fairly well, Bob started giving her directions. She drove feeling a sense of pride that she could drive a stick and was doing it. When she saw the casino sign she turned left as per instructions. It was peaceful out here, not much by way of housing developments. A few industrial parks but that was it so far. When the electric company drew closer, Lori started counting the stop lights. For now she could only see the one coming up until she was through it and the road curved to the right. As she neared the intersection she glanced at Bob who nodded yes. She turned and crossed the river followed quickly by the viaduct he had told her about. The older houses that her father had called “pill box” houses zoomed by on her left; a sign announcing an off road club course and a water park passed on the right. Then she came to a newer commercial area and a school, followed by the NASCAR track Bob had told her to turn right at.
“Now follow this until you cross the river; after that we will keep going until we are almost in Braidwood.”
She drove on without saying much. Bob fiddled with the radio searching for anything he could find on the AM band that wasn’t static. Deciding there wasn’t anything he turned the radio off with a distinct “humph”. They both chuckled at that.
“You’re telling me that you planned for everything but music?” Lori asked joking with him.
“Well I brought a few DVD’s for Virginia and completely forgot my tunes,” he said laughing.
Then Bob pointed toward the giant spaceman that stood in a parking lot going into Wilmington. “What in the Hell is that? Is that a man on a motorcycle?”
Lori looked but could barely make it out. “Not sure - we should just keep going.”
“Nonsense, pull in there but keep your distance.”
Lori pulled into the lot startling the rider at first. He got off of his Harley and walked toward them. Bob told Lori to stop and he climbed out. When the door to the RV opened Bob told them to stay inside. Everyone listened but the lads, they were out too quickly.
The man walked up and for a long time, Bob and he just looked at each other. Then he said “I didn’t think any dogs made it through this.”
“A little early to say the dogs or anyone for that matter has made it through yet,” Bob replied.
Lori watched as the two men talked, the younger one had painted a red cross on his face. It started on his forehead and ended on the chin. Both eyes were covered as well.
“If God wills it we will survive, that is sure enough,” he said.
“True enough young fella, true enough.”
The man looked toward the truck at Lori and then toward Julie sitting in the RV.
“The Preacher says we need women to rebuild humanity.”
Bob snapped his fingers and the Lads came up beside him, sitting down. Zeus was now completely concentrating on the stranger.
“He’s probably right and I wish you well in your search for women; none to be found here.”
“Old man do you think if I wanted these women that your dogs would stop me? I am on a mission for the Preacher, who has been spoken to by our Savior Jesus Christ.”
Bob smiled and patted Perseus’ head with his left hand, his right resting on the butt of his 45.
“I don’t think you will harm my dogs today son. If you wanted to do that we wouldn’t be standing here now would we?”
Now the stranger smiled and you could see his white teeth showing through the red paint of the cross.
“I guess that would be a fair analysis of the situation.” He motioned behind Bob. “Besides I am a little more concerned right now with that little girl with a big crossbow than I am with your dogs.”
Bob stepped sideways so that he could watch the stranger and see Virginia. Sure enough she was there with a bead on the stranger’s eyes. Bob didn’t doubt that Virginia would take him out in half of a heartbeat if she was given a reason to. That was something he respected about her and feared at the same time.
“That’ll do Virginia, that’ll do,” Bob said. “Could you bring us some chairs to sit on little lady?”
Virginia went to the back of the RV, pulled off an arm that was stuck in the bar that held the lawn chairs and got three. She returned to Bob and placed two by Bob and handed the stranger a folding chair. Sitting in the chair she brought for herself, she raised the crossbow to her lap and placed it facing the stranger. It wasn’t any secret that the arrow was still ready to go but the man ignored it and opened his chair. When he sat down he smiled at Virginia and said “What way are you heading friend?”
Bob motioned off down the road toward the river and said “Up the road a ways.”
“Look gramps, I don’t care where you think you are going or where you end up. That is all in God’s hands now isn’t it? If it is the Lord’s will and he has a reason for your being, well then you will get there.”
Bob wasn’t what you would call an overly religious person and he didn’t like getting preached to before the shit hit the fan and he didn’t like it much now.
“I guess He would know where we are going then”
“Amen to that my old friend, we are just pilgrims on the road to everlasting life in His Kingdom.”
Lori got out of the truck taking the keys with her. She didn’t stop and look at the men or at Virginia. She went into the RV and pulled her crossbow out from the cabinet and sat next to Jack.
Bob could see seriousness come over the young man and now the honeymoon portion of this talk was over. He had planned for things like this to come up and would deal with it per plan. No one was taking the women, his supplies or his vehicles. He would help out if he could, remove the danger if he had to. The means would justify the ends as long as his people were safe and sound.
“I got separated from the Preacher and the Crusaders about three days ago. I have food, water, weapons and ammo. I don’t have decent fuel,” he said looking into Bob’s eyes.
“We can help you get fuel and give you something that will help you get fuel down the road. I guess you could compare it to giving fish or teaching how to fish”
The young man smiled and then laughed. “So you too are a preacher then, ay?”
Bob looked toward the setting sun and knew that they would need a safer place to stay the night then at this small parking lot. Besides, as the shadows grew the damn spaceman was giving him the willies.
“We need to find a decent place to bed down for the night,” Bob said.
The young man nodded in agreement as he now also looked toward the fading orange glow from the sun. “I have a spot down the road across the bridge next to the river. There is room for you to park near me or as far from me as you would like.”
Bob nodded, “The old state park? Do you have gas to reach that?”
He nodded yes and started back toward his motorcycle. Bob didn’t see any fear in him, if there was he didn’t show it. Not once did he look back at Bob or the vehicles, just walked as if all things were right with the world.
They followed him down to the park entrance; Julie waited with the RV until Bob radioed her on the walkie-talkie that it was okay to come in. Bob had half expected for this preacher guy calling himself the P
reacher to be there with a bunch of religious nuts. He was wrong thankfully - just the one he had met with a tent pitched beside the river. Bob loved camping and had preferred a tent, but he would be damned if he was sleeping in one these days. Not without the Lads and a fully functional electrified fence surrounding him.
Bob got out and watched the young man start a fire and then throw on more wood to make it bigger. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the RV roll up about fifty feet from where they were.
Julie climbed out of the RV following Virginia and the dogs and asked, “Whose turn is it to cook tonight?”
Before anyone could answer the stranger replied “Mine, I have fresh wide mouth bass caught just this morning.”
Virginia walked up, still cradling her crossbow. The stranger noticed that the arrow had been removed.
“I am Virginia, that’s my sister Lori, Bob, Julie and Jack is in the camper,” she said pointing toward each as she introduced them.
The stranger threw another piece of wood on the campfire and stood up tall wiping his hands off.
“Of course, where are my manners, I am Jonas Helms. You can call me Brother Jonas.”
“You said something about fresh fish and dinner?” Virginia asked.
He smiled warmly and replied, “Why yes I did! I will clean and cook them as soon as I am done with my afternoon prayers.” He winked at Virginia and glanced over at Bob. “You, old-timer, need to sit and rest a bit. I am afraid it looks like I have caused you more stress than I meant to this afternoon. I assure you that nothing living need fear me, only the demons that Satan has unleashed on the earth.”
Bob wasn’t sure if he should laugh or get everyone packed up and on the move. The young fella was right; he needed to go lay or sit-down while he could on his own free will.
The following morning Bob thinking he was the first one up was surprised to find Jonas sitting by the river with his fishing lines in the water. The smell of coffee hung heavily in the chill of the morning air. Seeing several tin cups on the old picnic table Bob took one and poured some coffee. Ordinarily he would have asked first but figured if the young man put the cups out it was implied. Making his way over to the bank he stood silent for a few minutes when he noticed Jonas was praying. It felt awkward at first, made Bob feel like he should join in. He didn’t, just took in the morning and the wonder that life could be, had been before all of this.
Finished with his prayers Jonas made the sign of the cross and kissed his fingers, picked up one of the poles and handed it to Bob.
“They aren’t as comfortable as a lawn chair but I find these big rocks do just fine,” he said, motioning to the rock adjacent from the one he was sitting on. Bob sat down balancing his coffee as best he could and took over the pole. They sat quiet for a while, both seemingly lost in nostalgia.
“Any bites?” Bob asked.
“Not even a nibble so far today,” Jonas replied reeling in his line and checking his bait. Satisfied that it was still there he cast it out toward the middle.
“This preacher of yours, has a lot of people moving with him?” Bob asked.
Jonas didn’t answer, he often liked being out on his own since the end came. Being with people and talking too much reminded him too much.
Bob looked around at the camp - it looked to him like the camp of someone planning to be alone for a decent amount of time. You would expect survivors these days to have some supplies on them. He wasn’t so sure that someone traveling on a motorcycle would if they had been accidentally separated from their group. Not unless they left on their own or had been forced out. The question now was which one was it?
“Son, your business is your business and I don’t mean to pry.”
Jonas cut him off, “But you’re going to right? That’s what you’re doing now I think.”
Bob was taken back a bit by the way the young man had just snapped at him. They hadn’t seen this part of his personality yet. So far he had been the best of hosts.
“Everything is new now, nothing from the past matters now son.”
Jonas picked up a rock and threw it into the lake.
“I wish that was so old man. Nothing you do can undo the things that you have seen. The things you see when you close your eyes at night, things you see in places or smells that remind you of them.”
As much as Bob felt the urge to ask more he didn’t. There was a time to push and a time to sit back and wait. This, he knew, was a time to sit back and wait.
Jonas felt everything rushing forward in his mind. He could hear them scream, see their faces as they died. “We were just outside of Janesville at a campground that my family spent weekends at during the summer when I was a kid. The wife’s family had left word that they were heading to the FEMA camp up by Green Bay and she wanted to go there. My family had decided to meet at the old campground and then go.” He took a sip of his coffee and felt the tension on his line reeling it a few clicks and setting it back down. “When we got there we were the only ones there. After a few days of waiting it started to be obvious that no one else was going to make it. The wife and I started to argue about staying or moving on. It seemed safe enough to me, no signs of anything dead moving about, plenty of fish in the river and lake nearby. I convinced her to stay another week just in case anyone did show up and then I would move on to Green Bay.” There were tears streaming down his face but he continued on as calmly as he could. “Well my family showed up about two days later, or what was left of them. My little girl Annabelle saw them first and went running toward her grandma. From a distance she looked like my mom. She had fairly bad arthritis so she moved around kind of badly to begin with. Moved kind of like the dead do, you see. No way of telling really, not until you got close enough to smell her and get a good look.” Jonas looked over and the tears were streaming steadily now. “I know she was dead now you see but that doesn’t change the vision in my head of my own mother biting the neck out of my daughter. My wife was next, she had run blindly to my daughter’s aid. By that time there were more of them and she was covered in an eating frenzy I guess.”
Bob started to say something reassuring then stopped himself. What could he possibly say that would make a difference? If it was himself, there was nothing.
“I got in the car and drove out of there as fast as I could, never looking back until I ran out of gas. Found this motorcycle and rode it the rest of the way to the camp. I expected to find the army, police, just about anything there but all I found were dead. I got back on the bike and rode west. Must of went three or four days only stopping to get whatever little bits of food I could find when I needed to find gas.”
“The Preacher?” Bob asked.
“I don’t remember where I ran into him, doesn’t matter. He had about a dozen or so followers then and they were the only people I had seen that were alive. You overlook a lot about a person if they aren’t trying to eat you, you know?”
Bob shook his head yes, he could see that these days.
“Anyway, he was setting out to kill anything moving that wasn’t alive or anyone that he found to be helping the dead. I was welcome with them if I joined his flock and marked myself as a warrior for our Lord.” He took a deep breath. “I wish I could say that I joined just so that I wasn’t alone or that I was hungry. I was you know, alone and hungry but that wasn’t it. I wanted to kill everything that had taken my family away.” He looked long and hard into Bob’s eyes; sometimes the soul was visible through the eyes. Deciding that Bob was a good person he continued. “At first he was a good person to be around. I had nothing left to live for and he gave me a reason to go on. I was doing the Lord’s work and setting the world right again.”
“What changed then?” Bob asked.
“A few weeks back we were looking for food. The group or Crusaders as the Preacher calls them had grown to over fifty people so food was always scarce; never enough to get past a day or two. We came upon what I figured had been a real beauty before things changed. Probably had a good
life and had been given everything she had ever asked for. We took her in like we did everyone that we found, especially the women.” He closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths. “This one had something with her in an old dog cage. You know the ones that people used to use to crate train their dogs?”
Bob knew, wasn’t really a fan of crate training then or now. “Only there wasn’t a dog in it?”
“No, no dog; haven’t seen a live dog until I saw your two.”
“What was in the crate?” Bob asked.
Jonas threw the remaining cold coffee into the river and set his cup on the rock. He looked harder into Bob’s face but wasn’t seeing Bob.
“She had a small child, a small dead child that was biting at the cage and making a horrible sound. I looked at the child, looked for a long time you know. There wasn’t anything like a child left, it was just another dead thing that would eat you alive if it could. Big difference was it moved fast I thought. Everyone said I was imagining it, you couldn’t possibly tell that from movement in the cage they told me. I knew, knew it in my soul that it was different. Study something long enough and you can see differences. Like how it didn’t always look at the woman like she was a meal. Like it could tell that its existence was in her hands.” Visions of his own daughter flashed in his head, how much he had prayed that the last look he had gotten from her had been the look the woman had gotten from her kid.
“We all knew the thing in the cage had to be put down. It was God’s will that the demons be sent back to Hell. What I hadn’t seen coming was the woman. The Preacher had said all along that when the Lord spoke to him that it was clear that we were God’s Army and that we had to vanquish the demons and their helpers. I guess keeping your dead kid in a cage is helping. I stayed around a few days after the job was done. I didn’t take part in it; just couldn’t see that I was doing the Lord’s will anymore you see. So I left the only way I could without getting accused of being tempted by the demons.”
