Saga of the Scout

by Cliff Hamrick

  Ethan moved unseen past the raider and through the door. Inside was people huddled shoulder to shoulder together on the floor. Some cried, some were sick, most were silent. Then he moved to a face. Her face.

  Madison.

  She sat with her head laid back against the wall behind her. Her eyes fluttered to try and sleep, but pain kept her awake. Blood soaked through her shirt at the shoulder. She was exhausted. They all were. Soon, they would be worked to death.

  Andrew was there, his head laid down on his bent knees. Angel sat next to him, the wheezing from his chest wound told Ethan that he was unlikely to live through the night.

  Ethan’s vision shifted quickly straight up through the ceiling and up into the sky. He looked down and saw the stadium and the dark city around it. The only movement were dots of torchlight around a large bonfire in the center of the stadium.

  Soldiers slept there. Great prehistoric beasts rested where was once a place of food and comfort. There were no spotlights from the Army, no vehicles moved. Then he saw something strange.

  His vision moved down away from the stadium. Nearby was an indistinct object. It was large about the size of a house. Waves of energy blasted from it, shattering the reality that surrounded it. Each wave struck Ethan and pushed him back slightly, stinging eyes that he did not have.

  It sat on a black line that stretched to the horizon in either direction. Ethan could only make out a strange outline of the massive object. It wouldn’t let him see anything more than that. He knew that it was a weapon, and it filled him with dread.

  He heard a voice nearby, and his vision glided to find it. He saw the redheaded girl speaking to a soldier. In the dream, he could see her shift and change before him. A redheaded girl, an Army officer, a queen, a monster. She was all of them at the same time.

  Black shadows erupted from the redheaded girl’s mouth and covered the soldier’s eyes and mouth. The soldier nodded, saluted, and returned to other soldiers to give commands. They were preparing for something, but Ethan could not understand what they were saying.

  His vision rose up again, high into the sky. Higher than before, reaching to the clouds. Below him was San Marcos and the stadium of misery. He looked to the south and saw San Antonio. It was dark and he saw nothing there. He knew that it was lost, fallen and doomed. He looked to the north and saw Austin. There were lights, though few and far between. It could be saved. There was still time. But he had to hurry.

  Hurry.

  “Hurry!”

  CHAPTER FORTY

  Ethan woke up with a start.

  “Hurry! You’re going to miss breakfast,” shouted a woman to a child who was climbing on the mounted animals as if they were an indoor playground. The mother and child left the display room hand in hand.

  Ethan laid his head back. The sun had risen and sunlight came into the room through the few windows above. He felt movement on his left and looked over. He smiled when he saw Ashley lying next to him and staring into his face. She looked hopeful. He tried to think of what to say after last night.

  She spoke first, “You know what you have to do now?”

  He blinked at her. “What do you mean?”

  “You saw, right? You saw what’s happening? In the dream?”

  He was confused. “My dream? How do you know…”

  “I have them, too. Sometimes, I can see what other people dream. Maybe even control them.”

  Ethan was happy to know that he wasn’t crazy. “What do you see in your dreams?”

  She looked at the ceiling as her mind turned towards the past. “I’ve seen myself as a cavewoman taking care of a small tribe of other people. I know they are my family. Sometimes, I’m casting spells and making things to protect people from evil spirits.”

  “Spells? You cast spells?”

  “Yes, but no. I mean, in my dream it seems like something out of a movie. But I also know it isn’t really like that. It’s confusing. But most dreams are confusing.”

  Ethan thought about the implications. “Have you been controlling my dreams?”

  She shook her head. “No. I mean, just last night. That’s why I came to you. I have to be close to the person to be able to enter their dreams. But I needed you to see.”

  “See what?”

  “Something is coming. I don’t know what it is. I just know it is there and it's going to destroy everything.” She looked back up at him. “You have to stop it.”

  “Stop it how? Wait, what is going on?”

  She sat up and looked around to make sure no one was around. Through the large door into the display room, they could see other people moving around. Some had just gotten up. Others moved with a purpose. She turned back to Ethan and spoke quietly.

  “Like I said, you know what’s going on—at least part of it. I do, too. You know on that day, the day that all of this started?”

  Ethan nodded as he listened.

  She continued, “Some people changed a little bit. They went crazy and just started killing people. Some others changed more. They started killing people, but they became stronger and faster. They could do things that they couldn’t do before. And they seemed to like what was happening to them.”

  Ethan thought of Emily.

  Ashley went on, “I think some of us changed like that, except we didn’t go crazy. I think there are others out there who have changed or are still changing. It's like we are becoming something else, but still remembering who we are.”

  “So, you couldn’t see people’s dreams before?”

  “No. That started on the first night. When did your dreams start?”

  He paused to think. “The first night, I think, but I thought they were just dreams. You know, because of the trauma that’s happening to us.”

  “I thought so, too, at first. But some of the dreams felt like memories. Then I noticed I was inside other people’s dreams. People I’ve never met before would say that they dreamed about me. And I remembered dreaming about them. I just kept it to myself. I was afraid people would think I was going nuts and might start killing people.”

  “Yeah, I thought there was something wrong with me, too. But I just didn’t think about it.”

  “I heard your dream the night before you arrived. I knew you were coming, but I didn’t know who you were until I saw you.”

  “How could you know that?”

  She smiled at him. “I can see you, how you really are.”

  Her answer confused him, and he decided not to press further. “But now you think that I can go to San Marcos and stop whatever it is that is coming for us?”

  “Look at you,” she smiled at him as she pressed her soft hand against his chest. He looked down at her hand and wondered when he got muscles. “You’ve changed even more since you got here.”

  He put his hand on hers and squeezed it. “I can’t do this alone.”

  “You have to. There is no one else. And if you fail, then that thing will get to Austin, and I don’t know what happens then.”

  He thought about his mother. He felt that he was so close. With the bike and the plan he set out yesterday, he was sure that he could be home by the end of the day.

  He told her that he would come for her, and now he was being asked to go back on his word. He felt that she needed him and that he owed it to her to be with her and take care of her.

  He looked back at Ashley and saw the fear in her eyes. She was afraid of that thing in San Marcos. He felt the same fear.

  Whatever it was that he saw in his dream, he knew that it created a path of destruction and it was on a line straight to Austin. He had the strange realization that by abandoning his mother, he was helping her.

  He nodded to Ashley. “Alright, I’ll do it. I just don’t know how.”

  She smiled and leaned in to kiss him. “You’ll figure it out. You always do.”

  He looked puzzled. “What do you mean by that?”

  She paused, thought, and then shrugged. “I don’t know. But you always do.” She sm
iled, and then she rolled away to get up and return to the other people in Cabela’s as they started their day.

  Ethan laid there for a few more moments, thinking about what she had said. He stretched and felt the tightness in his body leave him. He felt that his muscles did seem bigger. He wondered if anyone else would notice.

  It made sense that he would get a little leaner and perhaps a little more muscular after all of the walking and bike riding he had been doing over the past few days, but this seemed a little more than normal. Maybe there was something to what she had said.

  He got up, got dressed, and packed away all of his things. He went into the main area to look for Ashley. He wanted to ask if the dream was the only reason why she came to him last night. He wanted to know if it was her first time, too. He wanted to know if she enjoyed it. But he saw that she was eating breakfast with her father and thought now wasn’t the time to ask those questions.

  During his search, he noticed there was a lot of activity around the store. The day before, people seemed to be milling around. Today, people moved with a purpose. Small groups of people stood together and talked as if making plans.

  Peter and Rachel noticed him and waved him over to join them at one of the tables. Breakfast turned out to be just French fries with a choice of condiment as long as that condiment wasn’t ketchup, which apparently went bad a few days ago.

  Peter waved to Ethan. “Good morning.”

  Ethan said, “Good morning. So, what’s going on?”

  “We’re going to start getting this place ready for the long term. We’ve got people gathering stuff to fortify this place, and we’re coming up with teams to get supplies from the area that we can keep here. I think running out of hamburgers last night sent the message that we could end up running out of food before anyone comes to help us.”

  “If anyone comes to help us,” Rachel added. “Larry may be right.”

  “Either way,” Peter continued, “we need to be ready to take care of ourselves for the time being.”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” Ethan said.

  “Did you sleep well last night?”

  Ethan smiled. “Yeah! Great. It was much better than sleeping under a truck during a thunderstorm.”

  Rachel asked, “Did you get everything you needed yesterday?”

  “Yeah, Ashley showed me around.”

  “Ashley? I don’t think I know who that is,” Rachel said and looked to Peter for confirmation.

  “Isn’t she that girl with blond hair about this tall?” Peter held his hand at his shoulder to show how short she would be.

  “No, no. That’s her over there.” He discretely pointed to where she and her father sat.

  Rachel and Peter shook their heads. Peter said, “No, sorry. I don’t think I know them. But there’s so many people here, and we haven’t really been focused on getting to know each other.”

  Rachel added, “I suppose we’ll have to change that, too, if we’re going to survive as a community. Are you going back to Austin today?” She had the same hopeful look on her face that Ashley had.

  Ethan wondered if he should tell them that he wasn’t going. He said that he would send help when he got there. Now he was going back on his word to them and his mother. He glanced over at Ashley, who was cleaning up from eating with her father.

  “No. I need to go back to San Marcos. Some people there need my help.”

  Peter and Rachel looked at each other. Then Rachel said, “Isn’t the army in San Marcos? I thought your mom needed your help.”

  “Yeah. They are. She does. But…I think I just need to get down there and do something. I can’t explain.”

  Rachel looked concerned but didn’t say anything. Peter nodded and shook his hand. “Of course. Good luck to you.”

  Ethan finished his fries and said his goodbyes to them. He gathered up his supplies and went to exit the store, but stopped as he reached the hallway that led to the offices with the phones.

  He sighed as he realized that he should make one last effort. Using his flashlight, he went down the dark hallway to find the empty office that he used the day before and dialed his mother’s phone number. It rang several times until it eventually went to the same upbeat message he had heard many times before.

  “Hey, Mom, it's me again. I just wanted to let you know that I am not going to go to Austin today. There’s something I need to do. I know you need me there with you.”

  He paused as he worked up the courage. “But there are people who need me more. I have to go help them. If you can, go to the Army camp. I think there is one in Austin. I will go to you in a couple of days. But for right now…”

  Another pause. “I just can’t take care of you right now.”

  He hung up the phone before it could beep at him. He slumped into the chair as he felt the heavy weight of guilt, pressing down on him. But the memory of the dream, Madison’s face, and Angel’s wheezing reminded him of another duty he had to people who he knew needed him. For all he knew, his mother was safe and didn’t need him at all.

  He left his cell phone sitting on the desk in the office and walked back to the front door to prepare for his trek south. At the door was Larry, talking with a couple of other men about getting kids to search the cars for anything valuable. Ethan was surprised when Larry shook his hand on the way out, considering their interaction the day before.

  Larry said, “Thanks for your help. If you hadn’t told us about the guns not working, we would have been sitting ducks. I think that lit a fire under everyone’s asses.”

  Ethan shook his hand. “No problem. Thanks for the supplies. I’ll send help as soon as I can.”

  Ethan walked his mountain bike out of the store. Ashley stood outside, waiting for him. She put her hands on his arms and leaned up to kiss him. She looked up into his face, resolution in her eyes.

  “We will be here waiting for you when you return.”

  “If I return.”

  She shook her head. “No, when. I’ve seen it.”

  He nodded without the same confidence she showed and made his way through the parking lot towards the start of his path back to San Marcos.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  The rising sun was low on the eastern horizon as he made one last check of his map to confirm his route. It was going to be easy. Thanks to the map, he could see that the same railroad tracks that he had seen over the past few days ran north and south.

  He could follow them all the way to Austin or south to San Marcos or even San Antonio if he wanted. And the tracks ran just behind Cabela’s. With a bike and some basic equipment, he figured he could be in San Marcos in no time. Maybe even before noon, certainly before sunset.

  He made sure his gear was secured and started pedaling. The weather was still nice. Not as cool as the day before, but once he started moving quickly, he was glad he had the coat to block the cold wind as he pedaled faster.

  He reached the railroad tracks and turned south. Bumpy railroad ties and loose gravel made riding on the tracks uncomfortable, so he rode on the grassy area next to the tracks and just followed them. He smiled at how fast he was traveling. It wasn’t as easy to pedal on grass as it was on the pavement of the highway, but he didn’t have to worry about dodging debris and weaving through crashed cars.

  Within minutes, he was out of Buda and away from the few houses and buildings that were near the railroad tracks and back into the Texas scrubland that he traveled through for the past few days. No one was on the railroad.

  It was like the first day all over again. He could easily forget all of the horrors around him. The bright blue sky, green grass dotted with vibrant wildflowers, and chirping birds gave the illusion of just another bike ride in the country. No bodies, no raiders, no smell of rot or burning chemicals.

  Occasionally, he rode past an abandoned business or an empty field, but otherwise, it was just him and the beauty of nature around him.

  After the first hour, he hit the first signs of neighborhoods. T
he railroad ran behind a housing subdivision. He stopped to use his binoculars to scan the area ahead. The houses were rather large and new, a part of the new growth that was happening in Central Texas.

  He did not see any signs of life, so he pedaled on, watching for anyone who might try to surprise him. He quickly discovered that it was him surprising people. Though some people were in their backyards or peeking out of windows, most people didn’t think to watch the railroad tracks. By the time anyone noticed him, he had already buzzed past their house.

  He saw more houses ahead of him and soon realized why. A sign on a large building to his left read: Kyle Flea Market. He knew he had to be even more cautious. He saw people milling around in front of the flea market, but none of them wore orange jumpsuits. He reminded himself that didn’t mean that they weren’t dangerous.

  Luckily, no one seemed to be paying attention to the railroad, and by the time anyone noticed him, he was already gone. There were houses along the railroad tracks, but they weren’t as close as the subdivision before. Their backyards were facing the tracks, and all of them had high wooden privacy fences.

  He had no idea of what lay on the other side. But from his experience in the housing development with Madison, there was probably nothing but rotten food and rotten bodies inside.

  There came a break on his left where there were no houses and few trees. From the railroad tracks, he could see the highway and the familiar wreckage that lay on it. He could see men in orange jumpsuits moving through the abandoned vehicles, and they could see him riding by on his bright red mountain bike. But they were too far away and could only watch him as he casually rode along the tracks.

  Soon after, he was past Kyle and back into the countryside. Once he was far enough away, he stopped for water and to eat a power bar and some trail mix he brought from Cabela’s before continuing.

  He saw some buildings and houses off to his left and right in the distance, but they were too far away and hidden by trees to worry about. He rode for an hour until he spotted movement in the distance.