TRIAL: A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Thriller

by Murray Mcdonald

  “See? We do need to think about the freezer stuff,” said Ava, joining Kate.

  Kate turned to her daughter, the questioning look on her face was enough for Ava to crack.

  “Okay, maybe I was helping Sophie out,” she admitted. Ava was not a liar. She was incapable of lying, especially to her mother. “But we do need to do something or it’ll waste.”

  Kate walked over and gave her a hug. While Sophie was thinking about alone time with Zach, and Danny just thought about having fun, Ava was thinking about the long-term practicalities. She was the sensible one. She was Kate.

  “It all comes down to how long do we think the power will be out?” mused Kate.

  “Best case, a few days, I’d guess,” said Ava.

  “In which case, let’s get this open and see what we can salvage!” suggested Kate, opening the lid.

  “Salvage how?”

  “Cook and eat what we can over the next few days.”

  “Cook how?” asked Ava.

  Kate held the lid high, wishing she hadn’t broken the airtight seal. Cook, the reason she was worrying about the freezer was because they had no electricity, the same thing that powered their stove and oven. She really wasn’t getting with their current situation at all.

  “That’s a good plan,” said Harry, joining them. “Cook it before it goes bad.”

  “Cook on what, though?” asked Kate, holding a pack of frozen meat in her hand.

  “Cool, barbecue!” said Danny, following in behind Harry.

  Ava and Kate shared a look. Why the hell hadn’t they thought of that? They were supposedly the brains in the house.

  “Do you know how we can maximize the life of what’s here?” she asked Harry.

  Harry joined her and scanned through the contents. “To be honest, I’m no expert, but I’d say cook it all and consume it over the next two to three days.”

  Kate looked at the amount of food. It was far in excess of what they needed for the next few days. “Well, I guess you’re eating with us for the next few days then,” she smiled.

  “You sure?”

  “Well, it’s either that, or a lot of this will go to waste.”

  “I’ve got a few things in my freezer and fridge, not a lot, but I’ll bring it over and we can cook that too.”

  “Sophie?!” shouted Kate.

  “Yeah,” she appeared sullenly, a defiant and angry look, following Kate’s earlier intervention in her love life.

  “Do you want to ask Zach to stay for lunch?” asked Kate, ignoring the mood.

  “Yeah, okay,” she huffed and walked back to Zach.

  Kate listened. “Hey, my mom wants you to stay for lunch,” she said happily.

  An urgent knocking at the front door drowned out Zach’s response.

  Kate turned to Harry whose hand moved to his revolver.

  “Kate, it’s Roger!” accompanied the next urgent round of knocking.

  “Can nobody just knock a door normally anymore?” she asked, as she approached the front door.

  “Are you alone?” she asked through the door.

  “Yes,” replied Roger, sounding relieved. Kate waved Harry away. He had followed her with his revolver at the ready.

  “What, Roger?” she asked, opening the door carefully just in case he had lied.

  “Thank God you’re okay,” he gasped, on seeing her.

  “Why? I’d have thought you were more likely to be hurt than me!”

  “I didn’t stay. I got out of there after you left. I never signed up to kill anyone.”

  “So what did you sign up for, Roger?”

  “It was a bit of camaraderie, weekend hunting trips, some fun with the guys, you know. We shared similar views and gave me an outlet for my frustration at the government...” he paused, trying to think why he had joined Bob Jackson’s militia. He couldn’t. “It all seems so stupid now.”

  “And deadly. Just as well you didn’t stay. All that gunfire earlier was the police restoring order.”

  Roger shook his head. “I’m afraid not, the police attack failed. Bob was prepared for them.”

  “Oh, God,” gasped Kate, remembering the faces of the policemen she had spoken with. “But wait, why are you worried about me? If you know the police were beaten, you were there long enough to know I was out of the area.”

  “Trey, Bob’s cousin. He was very interested in you. I’m worried he…”

  “What? That he comes here? But how would he know where I live, unless…”

  Roger couldn’t have looked any more sheepish. “Trey’s a very scary guy. It’s one of the reasons I left them. There are a few that are just, well, they’re just not right in the head. Unhinged.”

  “So you gave him my address???!!!” she shouted. “Are you out of your fu…”

  “Roger, is that you?” The shout came from further down the street. Barbara had just spotted her missing husband.

  “Oh, God,” panicked Roger, as his wife rushed towards him. He looked at Kate. “Please don’t tell Barbara…”

  The crack of gunfire cut his pleas dead.

  Chapter 10

  Alex threw his hand in the air and clenched his fist. The man by his side stopped instantly.

  “What can you see?”

  “Utter- -chaos!”

  “And more precisely?!” asked Nick as he grabbed his backpack and retrieved his binoculars.

  “I’ve got a group of men, at least twenty, and they…well…” he struggled to understand what he was seeing through his binoculars. “They seem to be forcing people out of their homes at gunpoint. And I mean forcing, literally throwing them into the street. Men, women, and kids.”

  Nick followed Alex’s line of sight towards the small group of houses clustered at the very edge of Boise, just under a mile away. Large homes with perfectly manicured lawns and gardens created an affluent estate, built on the banks of the river. As Alex had said, a group of men were throwing the homeowners out into the street. A large group stood in the middle of the street with their guns at the ready, while smaller groups cleared the occupants out house by house. It was clear that those being thrown out were terrified. Their screams and shouts echoed across the hillside and Nick could see the fear in their faces.

  Alex and Nick had flown into Boise the day before. A last minute, unexpected change of plans had given them the opportunity to visit an area neither had visited before. A quick tour of the Boise outdoor retail emporiums supplied the men with the finest all-weather hunting gear that money could buy. A further trip to Boise Guns ensured they were adequately armed for their unexpected excursion. They both loved the outdoors and despite the late hour, had hiked up into the hills and set up camp, high above the city below.

  The explosion that morning had rocked them to their core. The mushroom cloud rising in the distance, a sight neither had hoped ever to envisage, had them both checking their kits to ensure they were adequately equipped for what both knew was going to be a longer and harder trip than expected.

  “Oh shit!” exclaimed Alex

  “What?” asked Nick, swinging his binoculars to where Alex had focused his attention.

  The crack of gunfire answered better than Alex ever could. Nick watched as a property owner fell to the ground, the handgun in his hand spilling across his driveway.

  “We should do something!” said Nick.

  They were just less than a mile way at the brow of a hill, with little or no cover other than their camouflaged fatigues.

  “There are at least fifteen civilians out in the open…” argued Alex, “and over twenty heavily-armed gunmen.”

  Nick grabbed for his MacMillan Talon .340 Weatherby Magnum rifle. “We can’t just sit here and watch!”

  Alex glanced at his Dakota 76 Safari .338 before looking back to the scene below. There was no doubt the rifles they had purchased were up to the job, but not without endangering the homeowners who faced an overwhelming force at close range.

  As a second gunshot rang out, Nick chambered a ro
und and took aim, he couldn’t sit back and watch as unarmed innocent civilians were gunned down in front of them. Their only crime, defending their home.

  Alex laid down his binoculars, unable to watch any more as a second homeowner fell to the ground, “Nick?”

  “I’ve got the shot!” said Nick, tracking one of the killers.

  “All you’ll do is make us a target. There’s nothing we can do. You can’t take that shot.”

  Another gunshot, another murder below.

  “Those are innocent people being slaughtered down there. What if that were your family and there was someone deciding not to help them?”

  Alex reached over and raised Nick’s rifle gently, aiming it away from the targets below.

  “Damn,” said Nick. “We need to help.”

  “You know we can’t!” said Alex. “It’s as hard for me as it is for you! There are probably thirty heavily-armed men down there. We are two men with bolt-action rifles and no working communications. All we’ll do is get ourselves killed and for what? Something we had no power to stop in any event.”

  Gunfire erupted below, and the screams echoed up the hillside as the sustained fire cut through the homeowners. Both men felt sick to their stomachs.

  Alex glanced at his watch. It was just after 10 a.m., two hours since the explosion and less than five hours since the power had gone out. Nobody had envisaged such a quick breakdown in law and order. Not even the wildest modeling had predicted anything like they had just witnessed.

  “We’re screwed, totally and utterly screwed!” whispered Nick, cradling his rifle and watching the events unfold below.

  Alex nodded gently.

  “We need to do something,” said Nick exasperated.

  Alex reached into his backpack and withdrew a notepad and pen. “You’re right, we do need to do something. Take notes, as per our orders.”

  Nick looked at him, and just stared at the heartlessness of the situation. “Sir, yes Sir,” he mumbled, taking the pad and pen.

  Chapter 11

  The small estate, one of the newest in Boise, consisted of twenty homes built with the most advanced building materials available. Superb insulation ensured heat was retained or kept at bay, depending on the season. The tiles on the roof were not merely to keep the weather at bay, they were solar panels. The roof itself became one large solar panel, producing more energy than each house required.

  On the very edge of Boise, the only road beyond the estate led to a dam. A bridge over the River Boise offered access to a large housing estate to the front while behind lay hundreds of miles of forest and mountain. The road that followed the river led back towards Warm Springs Mesa and a few smaller estates. The bridge was key, as the main threat to them lay across the river in Boise, not the small communities that lay on the narrow strip of land on their side of the river and in the foothills of the mountains. Tactically, Bob didn’t think he could have chosen better as he looked around at their new homes.

  “Probably best we killed ‘em,” said Trey with a smile. “They’d have always been resentful of us taking their homes, always a threat. This way, we have no personal vengeance to worry about.”

  Bob couldn’t argue. He hadn’t planned it that way, but when the owner had appeared with a handgun, it’d been necessary for him to show his resolve and leadership. His men needed to see once again, he was going to do whatever it took. He looked back at the homes. They really were perfect and Trey was right, he smiled to himself, they were far more secure this way. Killing kids wasn’t something he had considered, but it seemed winners really could do whatever was needed when the time came. Two of his men had paused when they had aimed at the two children amongst the homeowners. But once again, he had proven his leadership and hadn’t flinched as he’d shot the two. It was a new world and Bob was going to be someone. It was a world for winners and Bob had proven throughout his life, he’d do whatever necessary to win.

  “What about the bodies? Toss them in the river?” asked one of his militia.

  Bob shrugged. “We’re upstream, the dam’s behind us, our water will be fine. Yeah, saves the hassle of burying them or smelling the corpses.”

  “Bob, you got a minute?” asked another militia man, coming out of one of the homes.

  “Yeah, Charlie, what’s up?” he asked of his electrician. Bob had had a strict selection criteria for his militia. None realized a number of their memberships rested partly on their trade. Charlie was an electrician. Bob had covered most bases with his selection from medicine to plumbing. There wasn’t much that could go wrong that one of his guys couldn’t handle. Being single was a major plus, followed closely by unhappily married. Happily married with kids was a definite no. He wanted a strong, focused militia, not men who worried about their wives and kids first, and their duty second. A propensity for violence and time spent in a correctional facility most definitely helped.

  “These homes are dead, d-e-a-d,” he spelled out.

  “Come again?”

  “Even though they’re off the grid, their electrical circuits are completely gone, fried.”

  “And you can’t fix them?” asked Bob, following a headshaking Charlie towards the house and its electrical system.

  Charlie pointed to the circuit boards. You didn’t need to be an electrician to know they were useless.

  “They need complete new circuitry,” he pointed to the board. “These’ll all have to come out and be replaced, and I’d imagine we’d need to get them from out of the area. Everything in Boise is gone. I’ve not seen a board anywhere where the circuits have not been completely burned out and irreparable.”

  “Oh well, it would have been a bonus, but it’s still a great location.” He managed to keep his smile, while inwardly wanting to scream in frustration. The main reason he had scouted the location was the ability to have power in exactly this scenario. No power, diminished the benefit of the location significantly. If he had known the power situation, he’d have gone for the Warm Mesa Springs community where there were more houses closer to downtown, with the added benefit of an elevated position.

  He headed back out to find Trey. It wasn’t too late to change their mind.

  “Where’s Trey?” he asked.

  “Helping dump the bodies in the river.”

  Bob raced down towards the river. He caught himself, stupidly checking that no traffic was coming, before crossing the road. The succession of splashes as he reached the bank told him he was too late. The bodies were already making their way out into the main flow of the river. It had been a stupid idea.

  He considered ordering his men to pull them back out, but didn’t want to contradict himself. He looked back at the estate. They’d make do in the short term. He certainly wasn’t going to move downstream towards Boise with all of the bodies in the river. It would soon be the only source of water for the city. With no one upstream of the estate, they were at least going to have clean fresh water for the foreseeable future.

  He watched the bodies float away. His first mistake. He promised himself there would not be anymore.

  Chapter 12

  Kate slammed the door in Roger’s face as the gunfire, once again, echoed around the hillside. A shiver shot through her as the image of the sergeant being shot, just a few hours earlier, flashed through her mind. The gunfire continued as she updated Harry on Roger’s admission. Concern was etched across his face.

  “This Trey guy sounds dangerous,” he said, toying with his revolver.

  “I’ve dealt with Treys all my life.” She waved away his concern. “They’re all talk.” Deep down, she had a feeling Trey was different. She was worried, but wasn’t going to show it.

  “Come on, we need to help the kids,” she prompted. They had a freezer and a fridge full of food to cook. Zach had already fired up the barbecue, by the time they made it to the back garden. The view was as spectacular as ever, but Kate couldn’t help feel that the loss of flow had diminished it. Although beautiful, it looked soulless, which in
a way it was. The city of Boise as she knew it was dead.

  “Are we going to discuss the water situation? I, like, really need to go!” asked Sophie, out of earshot of Zach. Kate smiled, the sight of her daughter gently dancing on the spot, was a welcome interruption to her deathly thoughts.

  “Use the toilet in the main bathroom, if it’s yellow…”

  “Okay, okay, got it, I’ll be flushing though!” she raced away.

  Kate followed her into the house. She needed to switch the water back on. She detoured via the garage, and grabbed a bucket. They could fill the toilet cistern with water from the hot water tank, their only source of water in the short term, and using the ‘if it’s yellow, let it mellow and if it’s brown, flush it down’ mantra, they’d hopefully last a while before they needed to work out a long-term solution.

  As she walked through the house, she couldn’t help but notice items that may no longer have a purpose in their lives. Everywhere she looked, she was reminded of the immense change that was transpiring. Electricity, running water, things that civilization took so readily for granted, and then cleanliness, sanitation, and entertainment. She paused, those were luxuries. She hadn’t even focused on the basics; food and clean water. They’d bought food in stores and from reading the labels, little of it was ever local. Fresh vegetables came from all around the world, transported by planes, trains, and trucks. So, if there were no planes, trains, and trucks, was there even enough food locally for the population and if there was, where was she going to get it? She had three kids to take care of on her own. How was she going to feed them, take care of them? The more her mind considered the implications, the faster her heart raced. Her breath started to catch. She had to calm herself. She’d manage, she told herself, she always did. Over the last few months, she’d proven that to herself, if no one else.

  Kate regained her composure and joined the cooking party. Zach was proving to be a useful addition to the party. His father had clearly trained him to use the barbecue. The more they cooked, the more ridiculous the amount of food they had to eat over the next few days became apparent. There was easily two weeks’ worth of food under normal circumstances, but without refrigeration, she and Harry guessed it would last three days, just to be safe.