Trying to Survive (Part 3)

by Crowley,C. J.

  I slowed down so he could catch up. “A place like this could save hundreds of people… There aren’t much of us left, Walt. We need to try and help as many people as we can, not just ourselves. I know I probably sound like a dick using this line, but… People like us really are the future of humanity.”

  “I gotcha, and I agree, but hear me out… I was looking at the map and I noticed there’re a bunch of islands directly east. One of them even has a wildlife sanctuary, which means we could have real food instead of chips and Little Debbies. And it’s only a short trip to an area that has stores and houses to search.”

  “I actually really like that idea. Go back and grab the map so you can show Jenny. We need a second option anyway, and it’ll give us something to talk about… This is gonna be boring as shit.”

  Chapter 18

  I was wrong. I stared at the two men guarding the top of the wall for hours. And continued to stare when two others eventually took their places. I couldn’t tell whether they were good people or not. Their beards were overgrown, their clothes had blood stains and they looked dangerous and desperate.

  The only problem is that I know we do too... I tried to imagine what someone would think if they studied me from afar. My scars, the bandage over my eye and the blood on my jeans probably made me look like the type of person who should be avoided. Yeah, I had a clean shirt, but I looked about as untrustworthy as it gets. The way a person looked meant absolutely nothing. They looked like us. Just some normal people trying to survive.

  I knew our paranoia was warranted, but I also worried it could manifest things that don’t actually exist. It could end up convincing us to leave, and we’ll lose out on something that could make it so no one else will die.

  As I listened to Walt explain his idea to Jenny it became increasingly agreeable. It would most likely make it so we never ran into any more people, but we’d also be secluded and safe. The only issue could be that others will have the same idea, and we’re such a small group that we’d be easy to overcome.

  That’s what made all of this so difficult. It seemed like no matter how good an idea was, once my mind got going the potential for danger was almost endless.

  Jenny broke me away from my silent state of confusion and uncertainty. “They’re just talking and laughing… They don’t look like they’re recently been attacked or lost people.”

  Walt replied “It could have been a week ago or something.” He put his hand out. “You mind if I look?”

  Jenny handed Walt his rifle so he could look through the scope. “You’re right. It definitely looks like someone tried to run a car through that wall... And fuck that’s a lot of bullet holes.”

  Walt handed his rifle back to Jenny, stood up and walked over to one of bodies near the front door. He got to his knees and rolled the body over so it was face up. He reached out and spread open its eyes. “This was a shredder.”

  He quickly checked the other two bodies in the store and said “I wanna check some outside. I’ll be right back.”

  Jenny snapped “Make sure to listen for cars and voices. Pay attention.”

  “I will.”

  There was a red convertible left crooked in the middle of the road. It was riddled with gunfire and three of the tires were flat. Walt checked every direction, and then approached the two bodies right next to it. After leaning down to inspect their eyes he turned back and began to nod. He jumped up and sprinted back to the store.

  “Those two weren’t shredders... There was a small war here.”

  Jenny said “It has to be all the people who escaped from Savannah. A large group of them must have come this way.”

  “The question is what happened.” Allen remarked.

  I said “There are so many different possible scenarios… It’s a waste to even try and guess.”

  “We should just go to the island.” Clara pleaded. “We don’t need more people to help protect us if we’re safe and far away from everyone else.”

  Walt added “That smaller island with the national forest will most likely be completely empty. Only shredders out there would be forest rangers who turned, campers or something like that.”

  Without looking away from the scope, Jenny said “That’s the new plan if we don’t feel comfortable once we really get a good look at them. We’ll leave and never look back.”

  I said “Things are just going to get worse. People are going to get more desperate and hungry. More likely to try and steal. Seclusion does seem like the best idea at this point… Especially since a place like that will have plenty of hunting opportunities. It’s just… What happens if someone attacks us? We’re a small group. And we’ll be stuck on an island.”

  “If we do end up meeting with these people, maybe we should pitch Walt’s idea to them. Convince them to come with us and possibly avoid ever being attacked again. We already know they have a massive supply of… everything.”

  Jenny suddenly tensed up and repositioned herself. “James, it’s starting to open. Everyone else get down for now.”

  I quickly brought the scope to my eye. A large section of the wall was sliding to the side, slowly revealing a beat up truck that looked like it’s mowed down a lot of shredders. The two men stayed on top of the wall, one was pushing the section of the wall open and a woman stood next to the passenger window. She was speaking to the three men I could see inside the truck.

  “I see seven, what about you?” Jenny asked.

  Just as I was about to confirm the number, another man approached the driver’s side and held his hand out. The driver dug around and then handed him a cigarette through the window. “You see the eighth one?”

  “Yeah.”

  It was hard to see any real details due to the distance. I could barely even get an idea of how old they were. I was beginning to worry that watching them wouldn’t tell us much.

  When the truck pulled out, I was hoping it would come straight for us so I’d have the opportunity to get a good look at the three men. Instead, it immediately turned left and took off like they were in a hurry.

  Jenny barked “Fuck… This isn’t going to tell us anything. We really need to get closer.”

  I interrupted her. “I’m thinking we wait until its dark and try to get up on one of the nearby roofs. I’m sure they’ll build a fire tonight to cook and all that… We’ll be able to see them, but they won’t see us.”

  Walt said “Don’t you think that’s a little risky? They could have snipers around that we just can’t see.”

  “It’s the only way… And I’ll go alone.” Jenny bluntly replied.

  “Go alone? At night?”

  “They’ve killed all the shredders.”

  “We thought there weren’t any around in the gated community either…” Walt reminded her.

  Jenny snapped “I’m doing it alone, so no one else has a say. I’m taking the risk for all of us.” She looked away from the scope and turned to Walt. “It’s my choice. And I need to go alone to lower the chances of being seen.”

  I wanted to join Walt and try to talk her out of it, but I couldn’t help but feel that if Jenny hadn’t volunteered I would have… It has to be done, and I knew everyone else agreed because they all joined me in silence.

  I expected Clara to protest, but she just sat there and quietly examined the store. It was full of old, but pristine furniture, paintings and decorative pieces that seemed to date back hundreds of years. There wasn’t much light making its way inside, though I was able to perfectly see the abnormally large painting hanging behind the front counter.

  It depicted the end of a great battle. A man on a chariot who appeared to be a Greek or Roman General was riding through the crowds of soldiers and corpses, showcasing the victory of his army by holding up their flag. His white stallions were embellished with tapestries and armor of red and gold, matching his own.

  Pillars of smoke rose into the sky from the city burning in the background. Men, women and children were being corralled by the soldiers to
be taken as slaves or forced to join their ranks.

  As I sat there in awe of the detail I began to grow nervous. It reminded me that since the very beginning, man’s nature has been to form groups and war over territory, resources and power. I started to wonder if the most dangerous times would come when the shredders are gone and the fight for survival between those of us left alive begins.

  In most cases a war is not agreed upon, but forced by the aggression of one side.

  Chapter 19

  As the hours passed, Walt made several more attempts at convincing Jenny to allow him to tag along. He insisted she needed someone to watch her back in case any shredders come out of hiding. She refused to have it any other way, and I agreed with her. It needed to be done by a single person.

  If anything, I wanted to go just so I wouldn’t have to wait around for hours wondering what’s happening. Or if she’ll ever return.

  The truck eventually returned, but they were quick to let it back in and close the wall. We noticed that only four different men rotate guard duty on the wall, which led us to believe they’d lost more than a few people during the fighting that took place.

  Once the sun went down and we could no longer make out the two men on the wall through our scopes, Jenny stood up and swapped out the bolt-action rifle for the M4. We all watched as she made her way over to the front door. Walt was tightly pressing his lips together and shaking his head. Allen, Veronica and Clara shared the same look of concern and doubt.

  Jenny put her hand on the door and said “Don’t come after me if I don’t return… It means they killed me and that you need to just get away as fast as you can… If they take me hostage, they’ll let you know.” She turned back. “Just promise you’ll leave if there’s no sign of me by tomorrow.”

  Walt bluntly replied “No.”

  I said “That’s not how this works, Jenny.”

  “Sorry, but I’m with them.” Allen added.

  She gave us a quick, half-hearted smile and left the building. My heart began to race as she disappeared into the darkness.

  “This is bullshit.” Walt scoffed.

  “If anyone can do this, it’s Jenny. She has the training and patience it takes to do something like this.”

  “I guess we’ll find out.”

  Veronica stood up and leaned against the wall. She shook her left leg as if it was falling asleep. “I think we should just head to that little island. This is making me nervous.”

  I replied “Me too, but we’re also extremely paranoid… We can’t let that make us lose out on good opportunities. We aren’t going to get many.”

  The tension and worry soon brought the conversation to a halt. She was already gone. Discussing “what ifs” and what we should have done instead was pointless. It would only add to the frustration of being powerless to make a move until she returns.

  Walt and I spent a good deal of time trying to spot her on the rooftops, but it was just too dark. The moonlight was being dimmed out by a never-ending mass of clouds. It was torture for us, but better for what Jenny was doing.

  I was lost in the astounding detail and size of the painting again when I heard Clara’s voice. “Why are you staring at me?”

  Veronica stuttered a bit and glanced over to Allen. It was dark so I couldn’t see her expression, but her voice suggested whatever her answer may be was something that brought about pain.

  “I’m sorry… You just remind me so much of my best friend’s daughter… She loved me. I was like her favorite cool aunt or something, even though we weren’t related.” She sighed. “It always made me want a daughter.”

  To my surprise, Clara asked “What was her name?”

  “Gwen… Her name is Gwen.”

  “Maybe you’ll see them again one day.”

  Just as Veronica was about to speak, Walt excitably announced that he could see Jenny. She couldn’t have been gone more than an hour and a half, so I suspected something forced her to retreat, but I didn’t care at all. I was just happy to see that she was unharmed.

  She came through the door, out of breath, then leaned over and put her hands on her knees. Walt must have suspected someone was chasing her so he grabbed his rifle and went to the window. While still trying to catch her breath, she began waving at him. “It’s… okay. No one… saw me.”

  I said “Give her a second” as we all gathered around her.

  After a few moments, Jenny finally choked out “I think that was all of them… They were gathered around a fire eating.” She took several deep breaths. “I found a way up onto the roof of the second building to the left of the wall. I could almost hear them talking.”

  “Holy shit.” Walt said.

  “Yeah… I really do think there’re only eight of them... One of the men was cooking and passing out food, so it’s safe to assume all of them would have been there for that, right?”

  “I’d probably bet my life on it.” I replied.

  Allen said “Could you get a read on them at all?”

  “They just look like normal people… I don’t know what else to say.”

  I’m sure Darren and his gang of assholes would have looked perfectly normal from a hundred feet away too…

  “Eight is still a lot if things go bad.” Walt said.

  “Yeah, but it’s not enough to make them feel comfortable ganging up on a group our size. Especially when they have everything this town had to offer… I really do think the worst case scenario will be them telling us to move on.”

  Veronica asked “What are you going to write on those signs?”

  “I don’t know yet. We can’t say much, otherwise it might be too small for them to read. And I want to stay far away so we have a minute to make a run to the car in case they just start shooting.”

  I said “Well, we’ve got all night to think about it.”

  Chapter 20

  By the time I came to, Jenny was already up and working on the sign. The others quietly discussing what it should say is what woke me up. I said “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

  “Sorry, I know you’ve been having a lot of trouble sleeping so I asked everyone to be quiet and let you be.” Walt turned back and said with an apologetic tone.

  I rubbed my eye, blinked and widened it a few times and stood up. “I appreciate it, man… But please don’t do that anymore.”

  He nodded and said “Okay… So, we have to make it simple, right? We’re thinking – Looking for other survivors so we can work together. What do you think?”

  Jenny looked up at me, awaiting my answer. I shrugged. “I suppose that says it all.”

  Jenny got back to writing on the blank poster-sized paper and said “I’m going to start by hanging the white towel on the end of the rifle. Walt, you stand at the door. James, you watch them and make sure they’re looking so Walt can let me know when to put the sign out.”

  She finished and held up the sign. “The letters should be big enough, right?”

  I nodded and picked up my rifle. Jenny and Walt jumped up and headed for the door. She stopped and turned back to me. “Do you think we should load up the car and have the others wait there in case we have to run?”

  “Good idea.”

  Allen and Veronica sprung into action and began gathering up all the food and other supplies we brought inside. Clara slowly stood up and stared at me for a few moments. I said “Don’t worry, Clara. We’re at the end of the road now. Either this will work out, or we’re heading for that nice little island.”

  She woefully nodded, picked up one of the bags of food and followed behind Allen and Veronica.

  As Jenny approached the edge of the wall and hung the white towel on the barrel of her M4, I brought the scope up to my eye. As far as I could tell, the same two men from yesterday were there. One of them was bald and wore large sunglasses, which made it easy to tell.

  Jenny waited for Walt to post up by the front door and began waving the white towel from behind the building. One of the men was turned to the sid
e, leaning up against the wall, and the man in the sunglasses appeared to be looking straight ahead, but he wasn’t reacting. It looked like they were talking.

  “Not yet.” I called over to Walt.

  He relayed the message to Jenny and I continued to watch as the two men conversed. After another ten seconds or so, Jenny looked back at us and shrugged. I said “They’re talking. Tell her to wave it around more” and Walt relayed the message.

  When the man in the sunglasses jerked his head back and started pushing at the other man’s shoulder my pulse quickened and I felt threatened. When he started to point toward us I barely got out “They’re looking!”

  I wasn’t completely sure that they couldn’t see me through the dark tint of the window, but I took the chance and kept watching. As the other man kneeled down to protect most of his body with the wall and look through his scope, the one in the sunglasses disappeared. I could only assume he was going to alert the others.

  “Just tell her to leave the sign out!”

  I watched as several more men appeared at the top of the wall and took turns using the rifle to read the message. Eventually, one of them held up his index finger, signaling us to give them a minute so they could find a way to respond.

  “One of them signaled for us to give them a minute. I think they’re gonna look for a way to respond.”

  I could see a lot of movement on top of the wall, but they were all staying low so we wouldn’t have a shot. After a long minute, one of them let a white t-shirt hang over the wall. It read “Happy to have you. Please drive up slowly” in bright red marker.

  My heart almost jumped out of my chest… This is it… We’re all going to be reasonably safe from now on. There won’t ever really be a reason to leave those walls. Only work to strengthen them…

  “Tell Jenny to come back inside.”

  Walt called her back and came rushing over to me. “What did they say?”

  “Happy to have you. Please drive up slowly.”