Empty World

by Zach Bohannon

  “It is,” Paul said. “And it’s absolutely worth us fighting for it.”

  Shell remained silent as the two men talked. A surreal feeling had come over her. When she had begun traveling with Dylan, he’d helped her quickly realize that her home was gone and that she would not be returning there. Now that she was back and saw the raiders who’d overtaken it yanking her crops out of the ground and laughing and having a good time in front of her house, the violated feeling she’d had when they’d thrown her into the barn returned. She felt sad, angry, and even ashamed. She’d let her parents and Lewis down. She knew their graves lay on the other side of her house, and she couldn’t bare letting these men parade around her home with her lost loved ones nearby.

  She breathed, trying to push aside all the emotions flowing through her. She needed to be focused if she wanted to help get the town back.

  The scream of a goat struck her ears, and Shell’s eyes opened wide. She turned over onto her belly and crawled up the hill again.

  Two men had Lisa, her goat, out of the barn and in the open. Lisa looked confused, running in circles and crying out. One of the men tilted his head to the sky, pressing a metal container to his lips and downing a liquid. He wiped his mouth, then frowned as he brought his leg back and kicked the goat in the stomach.

  The goat cried out.

  The man said something, then kicked Lisa again.

  Shell’s eyes glassed over. She clenched her fist and snorted like a bull. Reaching for her quiver, she removed an arrow and sat up to load it into her bow. Keon and Paul grabbed her from either side.

  “Let me go!” she said.

  “Stop,” Keon said, trying to quiet her down. He and Paul pulled her out of sight and held her down on her back.

  Shell kicked her legs out at them before letting the tears flow. The goat screamed again as the men laughed. Shell quit struggling and pushed Keon and Paul’s hands off of her. She ran her arm across her eyes.

  “It’s not going to do any of us any good if you act on that emotion now,” Keon said. “Save it and bring it with you tomorrow.”

  “He’s right,” Paul said. “You need to—”

  “I get it,” Shell said, cutting him off. She wiped the rest of the tears from her eyes.

  She slid down the hill and started back the way they’d come.

  Shell didn’t care how outnumbered they were. She was coming back to her home, and she was taking it back from the bastards who’d stolen it from her.

  40

  On the way back to camp, Shell said nothing. Paul and Keon talked some, but they stayed mostly silent, as well. All Shell could think about was how much she wanted to kill every one of the people who’d stolen her home from her. She’d never been one to think that way, but the town was her home, and these men had stolen it from her. Her family had kept it as a peaceful place of refuge for years, and Shell had done the same for several more after everyone else had passed. Those thugs had no right to be there, and she was going to be sure they knew that—especially the two men she’d seen senselessly abusing Lisa.

  As they approached the building where they’d made camp for the evening, the front door opened. Not one person had taken rest. They’d all stayed awake, waiting for Shell, Paul, and Keon to return. Most in the group stood as they walked through the door.

  Caleb and Katrina moved to the front of the group. Katrina hugged her brother, then Paul.

  “Glad to see y’all made it back,” Caleb said. “We were starting to get worried.”

  “What’d you find out?” Katrina asked.

  “The place is every bit as beautiful as she described it,” Keon said, looking over at Shell.

  “Beautiful farmhouse. Plenty of land to plant crops. Animals. There’s other houses nearby, too. Plenty of places for all of us to live. The town seems to be in pretty immaculate shape.”

  A glow spread through the crowd. Everyone smiled and conversed with each other.

  “It’s not all rainbows, y’all,” Paul said. Everyone went quiet and focused back on him.

  “Dylan was right,” Keon said. “There’s a whole hell of a lot of them. Got us well outnumbered from what we could tell.”

  “So, what are you trying to tell us?” Martin asked.

  Paul put his hands on his hips and stared at the ground. He looked up and scanned everyone’s faces.

  “This isn’t going to be just my decision. I can’t hold that burden anymore. You all have to decide for yourselves if this is what you want. As much as I want to think otherwise, it’s unlikely we all make it out of this fight alive. It’s your lives, and you’ve gotta choose how you want to live them.”

  Shell looked around the room. The people seemed tired, broken. No one spoke aloud, but their faces said everything.

  Julia grabbed her bag and stepped forward. “I don’t think we should do it. In fact, I think we should leave tonight and head back.”

  “Same here,” Jesse said.

  Two more people came forward, nodding in agreement.

  Julia said, “We can find somewhere else to make our home. This doesn’t seem worth it. We’ve already lost enough on this trip.”

  “This is our best shot at settling somewhere,” Martin said. “Nowhere we have found since leaving Georgia has been sustainable. I’m tired of running.”

  “Then you go in there and get yourself killed!” Jesse said. “I ain’t doing it!”

  An argument broke out between the opposing sides. Shell felt her heart rate increasing. A tingling feeling ran down her arms, and she began to sweat. She balled her fist, then stepped forward.

  “Stop it!”

  The room went silent and looked her way.

  “I know you’re all scared,” she said. “I am, too. If I wasn’t scared, I wouldn’t have run away from my home in the first place. I would have stayed there, and I’d likely be dead now. Now I know a lot of you think that I only want your help so I can get my farmhouse back. And yes, that is part of the reason why. It’s my home. But the fact is, it can be our home. We can all live in the town together and bring some normalcy back into our lives. We can stop running, and we can live.”

  Shell walked over to Julia. “You said you all can just keep traveling and find somewhere else. That might be true, but if it were so easy, then why haven’t you found anywhere yet? Do you think you’re just going to stumble upon a place that’s going to be perfect?”

  Julia breathed slowly, staring into Shell’s eyes but saying nothing. Shell looked around the room.

  “Did we really come all this way just to turn around and go back to square one? No matter where we go, it’s going to be hard. There’s going to be a fight, and there are no guarantees. But I can tell you that I lived here for my entire life with almost no incidents until these bastards came and took my home away from me. We can do more than survive here. We can make lives for ourselves. Real, enjoyable lives. Is that not worth fighting for?”

  Everyone looked at each other as the room fell silent. Shell’s words hung in the air. Shell was ready to fight, but knew it would be impossible on her own. She needed these people at her side. She wanted them with her, to start a new life together.

  Julia looked at the others in her newly formed group, and a smile formed on her face as she looked at Shell and nodded. Jesse did the same.

  “We’re with you,” Julia said.

  The room erupted, and there was new energy.

  Paul and Keon looked at Shell, smiles across their faces. Shell returned the looks with a grin of her own.

  We just might have a chance after all.

  41

  As the sun poured in through the windows, Shell sat in the corner with her arms over her knees. She hadn’t slept much the night before. None of them had. The room had remained silent all through the night, without even one person snoring or breathing loudly. Everyone was scared, and they all knew they’d have plenty of time to sleep whether they succeeded or failed.

  Shell had passed some time that morni
ng by taking a white shirt she had in her bag and tearing a piece of it off. She’d pulled out a pen and covered the piece of cloth with names. Those of every person who had lived in the town with her. In the center were the three loved ones dearest to her: her parents and Lewis. She looked over all the names, and they were a reminder of the legacy she had to protect by getting the town back from those bandits.

  She wrapped the cloth around her forearm and tied it. She’d positioned it where the three most important names stared at her. They would bring her strength during the fight.

  Others in the room began to stir, but no one spoke. While everyone checked their gear, Shell quietly waited. She’d counted her sixteen arrows as many times. Her bowstring was set, the crosshairs calibrated. She was ready.

  Paul opened his eyes, and Shell saw determination and focus in them. He stood up, and everyone watched him as he walked to the middle of the room. He scanned everyone’s faces.

  “Today is our day. Let’s go take it.”

  Everyone raised their weapons into the air and cheered as they stood. Everyone but Shell. She didn’t smile. Didn’t cheer. In her mind, there wasn’t anything to cheer about until every member of that gang had been put down.

  She grabbed her things and stood. As she threw her bag and quiver over one shoulder, she felt a hand grab her other.

  “Are you ready for this?” Keon asked.

  “Are you?”

  He smiled. “I feel a lot better having you on my side.”

  She could see his hand shaking. She took it and squeezed. They stared into each other’s eyes, and the trembling in his hand calmed. There were no words to be said. Shell leaned in and kissed Keon on the cheek. The shake in his hand faded entirely with that, and he smiled.

  Everyone exited the building, leaving Paul, Keon, and Shell as the last three people inside. Paul extended his hand to the door, offering to let Shell walk out before him.

  “This is your show. Lead the way.”

  With focused eyes, Shell went outside. The others all stared at her. Paul and Keon walked past her and joined the rest of the group. Shell looked into all of their faces. They were waiting for her to lead.

  She nodded and stepped onto the road. She headed in the direction of her house, and everyone followed.

  They arrived at the Holstead farm, a quarter-mile away from Shell’s. It was the rendezvous point she, Paul, and Keon had decided on the previous evening.

  “We’ll split into our three teams here,” Paul said. “My squad will go at the house from the east, Keon’s from the north, and Shell’s from the west. We’ll surround them and hit ‘em with everything we’ve got.”

  Shell’s group held Martin, Julia, and Trent. They’d been chosen to go with her because the west side of the house required the most travel from the Holstead farm, and these three were the most athletic in the group. They’d be able to move faster and stealthier through the rural farmlands to reach the west side of Shell’s house.

  “Only bring your essentials,” Paul said. “We’ll leave everything else here at this house and come back and get it when all this is over.”

  “There’s a shed in back we’ll keep everything in,” Keon said.

  They walked to the shed and everyone dropped the gear they didn’t need inside.

  Shell left the few things in her bag that weren’t essential. She only needed to pull out her extra clothes and a few other non-essentials. Everything else, she needed with her, including water, a small assortment of first aid items, and some nuts and berries. The bag she kept was small enough to where she could carry it with her without slowing her down or impairing her in combat. When she’d finished, she stepped away from the shed and waited for the others in her squad to finish unloading stuff. Keon noticed her and walked over. He had his hands on his hips and looked back for a moment before putting his eyes on her again.

  “Listen, I know you’re the last person who needs to hear this, but take care of yourself out there. I’d like to see you on the other side of this.”

  “You will. I look forward to it.”

  Keon smiled and looked into her eyes again. He leaned in, cupped her face, and kissed her on the lips.

  Shell’s eyes were wide as they kissed, but she didn’t pull back. She put her arms around him, her hands landing on his shoulder blades. She closed her eyes and relaxed, kissing him more passionately. When it was over, they pulled away and stared at each other without saying anything.

  “About fucking time,” Paul said.

  Shell and Keon turned to see everyone else in the group looking at them. Shell moved her hair out of her face and blushed, her arms still wrapped around Keon.

  “I was starting to wonder if you even liked women anymore,” Katrina said to her brother. “’Bout time you grew the balls to do that.”

  Keon laughed. “The hell with both of you.”

  “Not today, friend,” Paul said. “Now, you two finish up so we can move out.”

  The rest of the group went back to what they’d been doing, giving Shell and Keon some privacy.

  “That was a little awkward,” Shell said.

  “Sorry about that.”

  “No, it’s okay. I’m just a little curious about what did take you so long, like Katrina said.” Shell grinned.

  “Now don’t go all acting like that.”

  Shell grabbed his face and kissed him again. “I’m picking on you. Just take care of yourself, all right? I really would like to see you on the other side of this.”

  “I’ll be there. Don’t you worry.”

  “All right, everyone group up.”

  Shell and Keon held hands until they’d moved too far apart, letting go. Shell stood with Martin, Julia, and Trent.

  “Y’all ready?” she asked.

  All three nodded. She saw the fear in their eyes. She was scared, too, but refused to show it.

  “We’ll have to move fast since we have the furthest to go. We don’t want the others waiting on us too long. Everyone okay with that?”

  “I’m here to do what needs to be done,” Trent said.

  “I’m just tired of running away,” Julia said. “If this place is as great as you say it is, then hell yes I’m okay with it.”

  “Same,” Martin said.

  Shell grinned and nodded.

  “Good luck, everyone,” Paul said. “Remember the signals. And once everyone is in position, raise hell.”

  Everyone in the crowd cheered. Shell looked over to see Keon smile and nod at her. She returned the gesture, adding a wink.

  “See you on the other side,” Paul said.

  42

  Shell’s heart raced as her farmhouse came into view. They were several hundred yards away still, but the open farmland gave a clear look at her home. Sweat seeped from her pores, and seeing her home only angered her and caused her to perspire more. She took a deep breath and refocused.

  “Stay low,” she said to the others.

  They were far enough away to where they’d be difficult to see from her house, but Shell wasn’t willing to take any chances. The overgrown grass hid them if they stayed low, and so she decided they might as well take advantage of it. Her squad was making good time, anyway, and she predicted they’d be in position near the same time as the other two groups led by Paul and Keon.

  She was busy looking off at the farmhouse when she heard a noise coming from her right.

  A group of four Deads lumbered by about twenty yards away, emerging from behind an abandoned piece of farm equipment.

  “Get down!” she said, diving to the ground.

  The other three dived down beside her. They were quiet, listening to the snarling foursome.

  “I counted four of them,” Shell said. “Did any of you see any others?”

  “I think there were just four,” Martin said.

  “What are we going to do?” Julia asked. “This is a pretty open field, and they’re far enough away from us where we should be able to outrun them.”

 
; “I’m not worried about outrunning them,” Shell said. “I’m worried about them drawing attention to us. I know we’re still pretty far away from the house, but it’s quiet out here. Once those things see us, they’re only going to snarl louder, and that could carry quite a distance.”

  “We can’t just wait here for them to leave,” Trent said. “The others are—”

  “Waiting on us, I know,” Shell said, cutting him off.

  She thought of what they could do, and only one answer came to her mind.

  “We’re going to have to sneak over there and take them out.”

  “That’s just going to waste time,” Julia said.

  “Do you have any other ideas?” Shell asked. “Waiting for them to leave is going to waste much more time.”

  “Yeah, I have an idea. We run like hell.”

  “Shell’s right, though,” Martin said. “What if they make enough noise to attract the people who are there? Then we put everyone in danger.”

  “Taking those things down is just as risky,” Julia said.

  “I didn’t say it wasn’t risky,” Shell said. “But we don’t have a lot of options. That’s the one I think is best.”

  “I agree,” Martin said. He looked at Trent, and so did the others.

  Trent’s eyes glanced around before settling on Julia. He sighed.

  “Sorry, Julia.”

  Julia exhaled, then shrugged. “It’s fine. Let’s get this over with.”

  She pushed herself up onto her knees, but Shell put her hand on her back and urged her back down.

  “We can’t just up and run over there. Let’s use this tall grass to our advantage. We can sneak behind that tractor and draw them out of sight from the house. Then we’ll take them down.”

  “That sounds good,” Martin said. “We’ll follow your lead.”

  Shell nodded, then crawled on her belly toward the small pack of Deads. She tried making the least amount of noise possible but was confident that the rustling of the grass wouldn’t be enough to garner the attention of the dumb creatures. They made it to the back side of the tractor, the Deads lumbering on the other side of it.