by KJ Nelson
“That’s your new home. I hope you like the decorations,” Cameron said, with a wicked smile. Drac just stared at her aghast at her treatment of him.
“This is how you treat prisoners on this planet? Is there no creed or decorum to which you hold human?” Drac said, his thick accent coming on strong.
“My decorum crumbled away with the rest of the world,” Cameron said quietly. She opened the door to the container and pushed Drac inside roughly. Inside were mounds of green and white Fertilizer bags.
Cameron slammed the heavy metal door behind Drac without letting him say another word. She pulled a padlock from her pack and secured the door. There was no way he’d be going anywhere.
Relieved to finally be alone, Cameron made her way back to her apartment. She checked the lock and was relieved to see no one had messed with it while she was gone. Hopefully, they would let her rest peacefully for a couple of hours.
She stripped off her sweat-drenched clothes and climbed into her luxurious bed. She grabbed the matted teddy bear she slept with every night and passed out shortly after her head touched the pillow.
16
Cameron woke with a start and grabbed the small double shot pistol she kept inside of her stuffed bear. She held the gun shakily expecting to be completely surrounded.
There was no one there. She woke up like this at least three times a week, but it never failed to make her heart pound out of her chest. Swimming before her eyes were all of the people that she’d killed since she became Warlord.
It was only in those dark moments, on the edge of wakefulness that she saw them. It was when her mind was most relaxed that it betrayed her. Otherwise, she never thought about what she’d done in order to survive.
As she pieced back together the carefully crafted facade of herself, she felt true excitement for the first time in years. In her pack on top of her dresser, was the solution to all of her problems.
She climbed out of bed and walked over to the bag and grabbed it. Her pale emaciated form caught her eye in the mirror over the dresser. She could count the ribs poking out all the way up her side. Her legs had the bowed out shape that happened when the muscle started eating itself. In her hands, she had the solution.
She quietly unzipped the bag and pulled out the metal disc. Again, she was taken back by how heavy the small item was. She was tempted to try to use the device again but thought better of it almost immediately. From Drac’s reaction the first time she used it, she had the distinct feeling that the replicator could be very dangerous.
As Cameron sat and studied the device, three quick knocks sounded on her door. She squinted her eyes towards it wishing for the hundredth time that security cameras were still an option. She hated never knowing who was waiting for her outside of her apartment.
She paced quietly over to the door and said just loud enough to hear. “Who is it?”
“I know we didn’t come up with a secret code yet…” Brody said in his loud chipper voice. “...but I promise it’s only me this time, Cam.”
“Give me just a second,” Cameron replied, stepping back from the door. She pulled out a match and started lighting her candles. She opened her dresser and pulled out her usual outfit, leather pants, and tank top. This time she chose a blood-red shirt and a white beanie.
Her head was incredibly sore from the bullet wound the day before. Cameron winced as she pulled the beanie on over her hair. She glanced down at the black screen of the dead cell phone she always kept on her dresser. For the first time since that horrible day two years ago, Cameron smiled when she looked at it.
I’m finally doing something right for once.
When Cameron was finally ready, she opened the door quickly, gun raised ready to shoot. There was no one waiting for her. Brody was 15 feet away sitting on the ground slowly drinking a half-filled bottle of water.
“Told you it was just me.” He smiled up at her. His enthusiasm hadn’t dwindled at all regardless of the previous day’s events.
Cameron looked up to the sky and saw the sun was about two hand-widths from the horizon. That meant it was a little after 2:00 pm. She was glad she hadn’t slept the entire day away.
“For future reference, the secret word is hungry. If you ever come to my door and tell me you’re hungry, I’m coming out shooting.” Cameron said smiling at Brody. The motion felt strange on her face. She’d stopped smiling as a habit when the world ended. The muscles in her cheeks felt tight as they moved in the unusual direction.
“Sounds good,” Brody said, as he looked at her. He took in her smile and froze staring at her. He blinked twice, comically, and shook his head. “Are you okay?” He asked, pulling his eyebrows together.
Cameron shook her head without saying anything, rolling her eyes. She slung the backpack with the replicator over her shoulder and started walking toward the medical container. Brody fell in beside her, quiet for a long minute.
“The mission went well, didn’t it?” He asked, in a quiet voice. “I thought since Stafford got hurt…” He trailed off. He stopped moving as he thought, Cameron kept walking, so he hurried to catch back up. “What did you find?”
“Nothing,” Cameron said, looking around to make sure they weren’t overheard. It wasn’t in her plan to let him or anyone else know about the alien technology. She wasn’t sure how people would react. Of course, they were probably going to be suspicious when they started handing out enough food to fill people’s bellies.
“Right,” Brody said, his eyes narrowing. There was nothing he hated more than being out of the loop. Cameron was going to have to work overtime to keep him from finding out about the replicator, let alone the alien she was hiding in the fertilizer container.
“How’s Stafford?” Cameron asked knowing he was okay, otherwise Brody would have led with the news.
“He’s in better shape than he was three hours ago. Jeb finally got his arm set back in place. He’s sleeping now. Joanne had to give him a heavy dose of painkillers to keep him sedated.” Brody said speaking quickly, as was his way.
At the mention of painkillers, Cameron’s hands broke out into a cold sweat. The old hunger, so much different than food cravings rising in her mind. She pushed back at the feeling, trying not to think about it. It had taken months to wean herself off the pills after the Crumbling.
“It was a terrible time for our only actual doctor to die.” Cameron shook her head at the timing. “I’d like to go see him.” Brody nodded and they picked up their pace a little. Cameron was anxious to hear from Jeb and Joanne that everything was okay.
“Anything interesting happen last night?” Cameron asked, hoping there were no deaths to deal with.
“You mean other than the earth-shaking explosion?” Brody’s eyes narrowed at her as he spoke gauging her reaction.
“There...was an explosion?” Cameron asked lamely knowing she’d given herself away. She wasn’t surprised that they were able to hear when the outpost popped. She really didn’t want to talk about it or answer any of Brody’s questions.
Brody just looked at her. As if reading her mind, he simply nodded and moved on.
“No deaths, thankfully.” He said with a sigh and a pained expression. She knew how much it killed him to not have every single scrap of information he could.
“Good,” Cameron said, simply nodding to herself. Hopefully, no one else would succumb to hunger before they figured out a plan for how to use the replicator to fill their bellies.
“Everyone did hear about Stafford being injured in the raid,” Brody said quietly. “People are very on edge about what that means for the future of the co-op. If he dies, I’m afraid we’re going to have a major rebellion on our hands.”
Cameron nodded at his words. Her position as Warlord had never been so tenuous. She patted her guns with both hands making sure they were with her. She was ready as ever to take whatever steps necessary to maintain her power.
They walked the rest of the way to the medical container in silence. As they app
roached the white-painted cube directly next to the headquarters she had met with Stafford the day before, she saw a large crowd of people milling around.
Cameron never liked being around more people than she had bullets in her guns. It made her uneasy knowing she would be at their mercy eventually, if they all attacked at once. Several people turned as she approached with Brody.
Cameron could see the anguish in most of the gathered people’s expressions. In a few faces, she saw the beginning of anger directed at her. Fortunately, she didn’t see the look that made her draw one of her pistols. The problem was, the ones who made plans usually did so outside of her presence.
“Clear out,” Brody said loudly, as the way forward was blocked by bodies. The smell of sweat and unwashed armpits swelled as Cameron moved through the crowd. People slowly moved out of the way, allowing them to pass.
“What happened?” A quiet female voice asked from somewhere on her left.
“Is Stafford going to be okay?” Another deeper voice spoke behind her.
“Was the raid a success?” A third voice with more desperation asked.
“Food?” One said followed by a ragged breath.
Cameron knew she couldn’t simply ignore the crowd as she wanted to. It was too dangerous to let them make their own assumptions about what was going on. She had to give them hope, while at the same time maintaining their obedience.
Cameron turned and faced the crowd. More and more people were speaking over one another and before long she knew they would start yelling in order to be heard.
“Silence, please,” Cameron said, raising both of her arms above her head. It took a few seconds, but everyone quieted down enough to let her speak. One voice still rasped “Food?” over and over quietly.
“We will have a full co-op meeting today at dusk,” Cameron knew it was the only thing that would appease them. “I will walk everyone through our plan going forward at that time.”
People nodded their heads. Some grumbled, but no one outwardly defied her. She would have her work cut out for her winning them back over. She had a plan that she thought would work, but they had to move quickly.
17
The inside of the medical container was the best lit room in the entire co-op. They had spent hours hand cutting holes in the roof and installing glass skylights so the doctor could see during the day.
With the death of the only actual doctor, it only left Joanne and Jeb. Joanne was a dentist before the Crumbling and Jeb was a taxidermist. Both knew just enough to be valuable in times where people couldn’t be picky about who was there to help them when they got hurt.
Jeb met them at the door wearing his traditional camo shirt with both sleeves ripped off. Cameron never understood what the man had against sleeves, but she’d never seen him wear a shirt that had them still attached.
It wasn’t as if his arms were much to look at either. They had copious amounts of loose skin that waved freely anytime he lifted his arms above chest level. His gray hair stood straight up off the top of his skull giving him at least another four inches in height. He had kind laughing eyes that always looked for something funny to say.
“Hey there, Cammie Girl,” Jeb said, enveloping Cameron in a bear hug. Jeb was one of the very few people that were completely undeterred by her reputation of shooting first and asking questions later.
Cameron hated his nickname for her, but no amount of asking or demanding had ever got him to stop, so she went with it. She patted him on the back and the hug ended quickly. There was nothing but fatherly warmth in the gesture, otherwise, Cameron would never have allowed it.
“Hi Jeb, how’s it going?” Cameron fought to keep a smile off her face. Despite everything, she really did like Jeb.
“Finer than a frog hair on Sunday morning,” Jeb said as he grabbed Brody by the back of the neck and fake wrestled with him. Brody ducked and grabbed Jeb by the arm twisting it behind his back playfully.
“I surrender, I surrender,” Jeb said in a mock pained voice. “You got me hooked like a ten-pound bass.” Brody laughed loudly and released Jeb from his hold.
“Will you keep it down, Jeb?” A small portly woman said from the back of the container. Joanne was standing over the large form of Stafford who was laying on a cot covered in a white blanket. The man was comically large in the one-size-fits-all bed that barely went past his calves.
“Sorry mammy…I mean, Sorry Joanne,” Jeb said with a huge grin. Joanne rolled her eyes. Jeb walked over and stood behind Joanne and kissed her sweetly on the neck. She brushed him away with a girlish giggle.
“Quit, you old hound dog.” She said quietly adjusting the blankets covering Stafford’s large chest. Cameron smiled at their exchange. The Crumbling had led to a lot of heartache and misery, but every now and then some good came out of the end of the world.
The relationship between a low country taxidermist and a big city dentist was one of those bright spots. It proved that even through all the misery and pain, there was hope for a world where love continued to exist.
“How’s Stafford?” Cameron asked quietly, noticing the slow rise and fall of Stafford’s chest. He looked to be asleep, but Cameron couldn’t tell if he was purposefully put under, or just resting. He had a bright white cast covering his left arm up past the elbow.
“He’s doing as well as can be expected,” Joanne said, just as quietly. “I’ve got him on a heavy sedative to keep the pain at a minimum. All we can hope for is that the bone heals properly.”
“He’s heavier than a dead preacher,” Jeb said, shaking his head. “I ‘bout near threw out my back just trying to get him turned over by the gate. Took four strapping men to get him here. But all that was nothin’ compared to settin’ that bone.” Jeb let out a low whistle between his teeth as he remembered the ordeal.
“He bowed up like a banty rooster as soon as I started workin’ on it,” Jeb said, shaking his head slowly. “Joanne had to stick half the morphine we got into him just to calm him down. I think I got her lined up nicely though, in the end.”
“You did great hun,” Joanne said, holding Jeb’s forearm. He smiled down at her appreciatively.
“Now it’s just a waitin’ game to see if his body fixes itself, or if…” Jeb trailed off at a look from Joanne. They all knew what he was going to say. If it didn’t heal, they’d have to cut the arm off.
“How long will he be out?” Cameron asked, hoping to talk with Stafford to hear from him how he felt.
“I’m awake,” Stafford said groggily from the bed. “Jeb made sure of that, talking about how huge I am and all that.”
“Ain't my fault you’re as heavy as three prize hogs,” Jeb said, his grin showing yellowing teeth.
Stafford chuckled lightly, still not opening his eyes.
“Can you give us a moment?’ Cameron asked, turning to Jeb and Joanne. They both nodded and went back toward the front of the long container.
“You too,” Cameron said looking at Brody. He sighed loudly and slumped his shoulders. He walked behind Jeb and purposefully stuck his foot under the old man’s left foot. Jeb stumbled slightly and turned to face Brody with a playful look. The two of them wrestled back and forth their laughter echoing off the metal walls.
“How are you, really?” Cameron asked in an undertone.
“I think I’m going to be okay. The bone aches worse than anything I’ve ever felt, though.” Stafford said grimacing.
“Is our friend doing okay?” Stafford asked, putting extra emphasis on the word friend.
“He wasn’t happy with his accommodations…” Cameron trailed off with a smile. “I haven’t been over to check on him since I woke up. I’m sure he’s fine though. No one goes anywhere near that container.”
Stafford nodded in agreement then closed his eyes. He stayed still and silent for a while, Cameron wasn’t sure if he’d fallen back asleep.
“What’s the plan?” He finally spoke after a couple of minutes. “We need to be careful how we proceed.”
<
br /> “Agreed,” Cameron said quietly, looking over her shoulder to make sure Brody was still out of earshot. “I’ve called a full co-op meeting for tonight. I plan to raid the reserves and give everyone a decent meal. Then start using the replicator on everything we can.”
That was as far as Cameron had thought ahead. She wanted to also speak with Drac to see if he could tell her any more about the replicator that would be useful. She wasn’t sure what to do with him after that, though two bullets in the head sounded pretty nice to her.
“What about Garland?” Stafford said in a near whisper. “We can’t just leave him to the Freeriders.”
Cameron sighed loudly as he spoke. She’d forgotten about Garland again in her exhaustion from the raid, and worrying about Stafford.
“We don’t even know where they’ve taken him, let alone how we would get him back.” As Cameron spoke Stafford shook his head once sharply.
“We have to try to find him. He’s my friend.” Stafford spoke with resolve. Cameron had no idea how they were going to pull off a rescue mission with everything going on.
“Plus, he said he had something we needed to hear. I can’t imagine what would have brought him all the way back to South Carolina, but it must have been really important.”
“You’re right. We need that intel.” Cameron nodded at his words. “After we solve the food crisis we’ll work on a plan to get him back.”
Cameron knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task, getting Garland back. Just when they had some good news about the food, another huge problem raised its ugly head.
18
Cameron left Stafford to rest. Brody joined her as she made her way outside. The crowd had all left the area, appeased that they would get some answers at the meeting that evening.
“I need you to go pack up enough food for everyone to get something to eat tonight.” As Cameron spoke Brody’s face contorted in surprise.
