TRIAL: A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Thriller

by Murray Mcdonald

  “Drop the gun!” she commanded. “Zach, are you okay?” she asked, not taking her eyes off the gunman in front of her.

  “Fine, I think,” he said, feeling himself. Somehow, the man had missed him. He had felt the bullet as it flew past him, tearing at the fabric of his t-shirt. Spinning to his side had save his life.

  “I’m on your side! He’s the danger!” The man raised his pistol high in the air, letting it spin on his trigger finger.

  “Just don’t move,” she warned, her pistol aimed at the back of his head.

  “It’s true,” said Zach, standing and somewhat in a daze joining Kate. “He ran over here and kicked the rifle away and pointed the gun at him.”

  “Can someone get this dog off of me!” howled Neil from the ground. Hank was still clamped to his right arm.

  Everyone ignored his pleas while they worked out who was who.

  “His name’s Neil, he’s militia, and he was our prisoner! My name is Alex. My partner who is following slowly behind is Nick!”

  Kate didn’t drop her guard.

  “And who are you, Alex?”

  “I’m sorry that I can’t tell you, only that we are on your side.”

  “And what side is that?”

  “Not theirs!” he said, pointing to Neil.

  Kate turned to look back down the road. A man was hobbling awkwardly towards them, his pistol remained holstered.

  “Is that Nick?” she asked, allowing him to turn and look.

  Alex turned around, catching sight of the woman they had kept watch over for almost two weeks. She was just as stunning in the flesh as from a mile away through a lens.

  He caught himself from staring. “Yes, that’s him.”

  Kate kept her pistol in her hand, but lowered it. “Danny, stop Hank from eating that man. God knows where he’s been. Zach, can you take them inside?”

  Nick joined them and failed to stop staring.

  “Is your friend okay?” asked Kate. “He’s staring at me, it’s a bit weird.”

  “Drugs. He got shot in the butt,” explained Alex, although he wasn’t sure it had anything to do with the drugs. Nick was smitten and had been for two weeks.

  “We should get inside. There are more militia men coming,” suggested Alex.

  “What about your prisoner?!” she spat. He had put his hands on her son.

  Nick reached down and helped him up with one hand, while throwing a punch straight into his face with the other. Neil crashed to the ground. Alex reached down and flipped him over and bound his hands behind his back.

  Kate approved of their tactics and held the door open as they pulled their dazed prisoner unceremoniously into the empty hospital.

  “Everyone, this is Alex and Nick. They’re on our side,” announced Kate as she pushed past the men and rejoined Ava.

  While Alex dealt with Neil, Nick caught sight of the family scene across the room and a clearly very ill young girl. He rushed as fast as his wound would allow to their side, pushing Sophie and Kate aside. “What’s wrong with her?” he asked, checking her temperature and feeling for her pulse, clearly knowing what he was doing.

  “Sepsis, she was cut last week and it wouldn’t heal. We’ve got no antibiotics. She’s called Ava.” Tears were streaming from Kate’s eyes, the look of worry on Nick’s face was not helping the situation, which she already knew was dire. Having it confirmed by someone who knew what they were doing was not unexpected, but she hoped she had been overly worried.

  “Throw me that pack!” ordered Nick of Alex. It slid across the floor and was quickly joined by Alex. Both men looked at Ava with great concern. Nick rummaged through the pack, producing a syringe pack. He broke the seal, checked the instructions and promptly ignored them. Injecting every fluid ounce of the contents into the young girl.

  “What was that?”

  “That was all the antibiotics we had. Every drop. It will buy us a little time, I hope.”

  “How much?” Kate’s voice was cracking as it spoke.

  Nick shrugged. He wasn’t even sure it wasn’t too late. He had never seen anyone that far gone with sepsis before.

  “Wait a minute! You’re the guys with a phone!” she suddenly remembered what she had seen earlier in the day.

  Before they could think of an answer, the windows exploded around them in a hail of gunfire.

  “Get down!!!” screamed Alex unnecessarily.

  Nick ushered them all into the room at the back of the ward, a storage cupboard with no windows.

  “Wait here,” he instructed as Alex awaited his partner.

  Kate rose to leave with them.

  “Leave this to us!”

  “Three guns are better than two and no offence, but as my family’s life is on the line, there is no way you’re stopping me.”

  She picked up her Remington and slung it over her shoulder. Alex had his Dakota and all three had a pistol each. At close quarters against seven men with automatic rifles, it wasn’t great odds.

  “How long until darkness?” asked Nick.

  “At least another couple of hours,” replied Alex.

  “What difference would that make?”

  “We own the night!” winked Nick. Kate had no idea what he was talking about and put it down to the drugs as Alex had explained earlier.

  “So what’s the plan?” asked Kate as another hail of bullets tore through the hospital. Fortunately, the walls were thick enough to stop the .223 rounds, unlike the windows. Keeping low was key.

  “They’ll be moving closer each time they fire.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “Start shooting when they come in!”

  “Great plan!”

  “Thanks, thought it up all by myself,” smiled Nick.

  “We just want the woman!” shouted Trey as the onslaught ended.

  “That’s Trey,” explained Kate. “He’s the cousin of Bob Jackson, the leader of the militia. He’s got a thing for me, crazy, he met me outside the supermarket and…”

  “Not the only one,” mumbled Alex quietly to Nick, receiving a punch in the ribs.

  “What?” asked Kate, spotting the punch and the smile on Alex’s face. “It’s not funny, the guy’s a psycho. It’s his fault that Ava got cut in the first place. That son of a bitch is responsible for killing my…”

  “Hey, we’ll get you out of this. We’ll save Ava.”

  “How? You said it yourself, that was all the antibiotics you had. There aren’t any more. The world, in case you hadn’t noticed, is fucked!”

  “We’ll work it out,” Nick looked at Alex, who shook his head.

  Nick stopped himself from saying any more.

  “You promise me you can save my daughter?”

  “Yes!” said Nick with a sincerity that Kate believed.

  She stood up. “I’m coming out!” She dropped her Remington and walked out of the door, catching both Nick and Alex by surprise.

  Before they could stop her, she was gone.

  Chapter 67

  “What the hell is she doing?” shouted Nick in frustration, watching the door swing closed behind her.

  Alex looked at the floor where she had dropped the Remington. Only one weapon was there.

  “Shit, she’s still got her pistol.”

  “It wasn’t in her holster?”

  “She must have tucked it under her shirt…you don’t think?”

  “That’s exactly what I think. She blames him for her daughter’s condition. She’s a mother, she’ll give her life for her kids!”

  “Not on my watch!” said Nick, racing to the door. Alex knew he should stop him but didn’t, he raced after him. He had stood by and watched far too much to stomach over the last two weeks. It was now time to act, time to do what they had both trained their entire adult lives to do and what their country had spent millions of dollars training them to do. Kill the enemies of the United States of America.

  ***

  Trey’s mouth exploded into a grin as Kate burst out of
the hospital with her hands in the air. Finally, she had seen sense.

  He waved for his men to lower their weapons. The last thing he wanted was for someone to shoot her by mistake.

  He stepped forward and scooped her up in his arms. She recoiled at the smell of his stale sweat, pulling her face as far back from him as the curvature of her spine would allow. His arm was wrapped around her waist just above where her pistol was lodged in the small of her back in her beltline. Although he wouldn’t feel it, he was stopping her from getting anywhere near it. Her arm not long enough to go over his and dig out the handle. She was stuck in his grasp. Her plan, as much as she had thought it through, had failed. Although, beyond killing Trey, her plan was fairly fluid.

  A crash of the door followed by gunfire had her flying through the air as Trey unceremoniously tossed her aside to get to his rifle and return fire.

  His men were caught with their rifles facing the ground, as instructed. Two fell as Alex and Nick exited the hospital their guns blazing, both rolling in opposite directions, shooting and moving. Another two fell.

  Kate landed awkwardly, her head whipping into the tarmac of the parking lot. An audible crack as her skull hit the hard surface, sent a wave of nausea through her. Her mind began to swim, everything felt surreal, as though nothing was real. A haziness began to envelope her. She fought against it. She knew she had to save her kids. Her hand reached behind her, the butt of the pistol felt natural, she pulled at it, it felt as though it were floating away from her as she pulled it around in front of her face.

  The element of surprise was gone. The militia men had their weapons to bear and the bullets were beginning to spout from their rifles. Nick and Alex looked at one another, a last nod as they fired their final rounds.

  Kate was barely holding onto consciousness, only the booms of the guns firing around her were stopping her mind from completely shutting down. Her hand appeared in front of her, the pistol pointing at a man who she could barely see. She was struggling to even remember why she was holding a pistol.

  Bang, bang, bang, the explosions were like an electric shock, bringing her back to life with each shot. Her mind focusing briefly as each bang shocked her back into the moment. The sight on her pistol rested on a face she recognized, a man she hated like no other. She pulled the trigger, feeling it break, just as her world went black.

  ***

  The shooting stopped. Nick opened one eye then the other. He was still alive. A searing pain emanated from his right shoulder, but he was still alive. He looked across to where he had last seen Alex. He looked away quickly, it was not a sight he wanted to remember. He wanted to remember the sly nod they had given to each other as their last memory together.

  He looked around at the militia men, two were moving, the others were dead. Trey, the man who had wanted Kate was one of those still moving. She had shot him, hit him in the head, but he was coming to. Nick could see the wound. It was on the side of his head, probably removed a small portion of his skull but had not penetrated the brain, not that there was probably much in there, he thought, as he tried to reach for his gun. His pistol lay next to his right hand. Nick sent the signal to pick it up, aim it at Trey, shoot, and kill him. His hand, despite his brain telling it to, didn’t move.

  He sent the same signals to his left hand, it reached across his immobile right arm. The pain exploded in his shoulder as he moved, sending him backwards onto the ground in agony. He looked over helplessly as Trey was pulling himself to his feet. His AR-15 was still in his hand. Blood poured from the wound in his head, but he was clearly fully conscious as he stalked towards him, an inane grin of achievement fixed to his face.

  Nick tried again to reach his pistol, but the pain was debilitating, his body fighting against the pain to protect itself, not realizing it was doing the exact opposite.

  Trey glanced over at the unconscious Kate. “You can only imagine the fun I’m going to have with her!” he cawed, raising the AR-15 to Nick’s head.

  Chapter 68

  Zach waited for a few minutes of silence before venturing outside the storage cupboard.

  “Wait there!” he instructed, closing the door behind him. He carefully worked his way to the window and took a look outside. Not one person remained standing, all were on the ground, including Kate. He grabbed her rifle, chambered a round and rushed to the door.

  He stopped dead in his tracks. In the time he had taken to get the rifle, Trey was on his feet. Trey, the man he fully believed had killed his parents, stood over Nick with a gun to his head, laughing in his face. Zach raised the rifle. He had never fired one before. He had never killed anyone or anything before. Nor had he ever wanted to kill anyone more in his life. He fired. The rifle propelled him backward. He wasn’t prepared for the amount of kick and had not rested the stock on his shoulder. His shot flew upwards. Had he been any more than a few yards away, it would have been a catastrophic error. Instead, his body shot became a headshot. Where Kate had failed with her pistol, Zach had succeeded with Kate’s rifle. The massive bullet obliterated the laughing head. The headless body crumpled to the ground.

  Zach pulled himself back to his feet and racked another round into the chamber. The only other living militia man stopped moving. He had no intention of ending up like Trey. While he covered the militia man, Zach helped Nick to his feet.

  “Can you pass me my pistol?” he winced.

  Zach bent down and picked up the pistol, reloading it with a fresh magazine at Nick’s request.

  Nick walked over to the last militia man and without a word, shot him cleanly through the temple.

  “What the…” Zach jumped back in shock.

  Nick turned to Zach. “I’m sorry, but that was necessary. You’ll understand soon enough, don’t worry.”

  As crazy as it was, coming from a man who had just executed a wounded man in cold blood, Zach believed him.

  Both went to the aid of Kate, a pool of blood was spreading from the wound at the back of her head. Nick checked her pulse with his one good hand, wincing with every movement. It was weak, but steady.

  “Okay let’s get the hell out of here and get you guys to safety!”

  Zach looked around. They were in the middle of nowhere with six exhausted horses that weren’t going to move another inch for at least twelve hours.

  “Look at the state you’re in. Absolute agony and that’s standing still, never mind what it’ll be like on the back of a horse. And Kate and Ava are in no state to move anywhere.”

  “You’re absolutely right,” smiled Nick. “Can you drive?”

  “Can I what?” asked Zach.

  “Help me,” said Nick. “That way.” He pointed towards the housing estate.

  “I don’t know what drugs you’re on, but…”

  “Just help me, okay!” commanded Nick in a tone that demanded respect. Zach walked him across the Base and into the housing estate.

  “Here,” pointed Nick towards one of the homes, indicating for Zach to take him in. Like everywhere else on the Base, it was empty, everything was gone, every piece of furniture, including the kitchen cabinets were gone. Holes remained in the floor where the cabinets had recently stood. Nick pointed to the door at the back of the kitchen which led to the garage. As twilight was falling, the light in the house began to fade. As Zach reached the doorway, he intuitively flicked the light switch. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t work. The light stayed off. Next to the light switch. a black panel the size of a small iPad was affixed to the wall. Nick pushed past Zach and with a cry of pain, pressed his right hand onto the panel, his left hand pressing his useless arm until a small click sounded. The door to the garage opened. Its wooden façade was exactly that. It was a solid steel door, more like a safe. Nick stepped back to allow Zach to go in first. Zach looked around, not going in.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Looking for a match or something, it’s dark in there.”

  Nick pushed the door open and a fluorescent light automatically trigg
ered and bathed the darkness in light.

  Zach’s mouth dropped and he walked forward in awe of something as simple as a light. He pushed open the door. An SUV sat in the middle of the garage. He rushed in and pulled open the door. It was much heavier than any door he had opened before.

  “Armored!” explained Nick, seeing the quizzical look on his face.

  A key sat in the ignition. Zach turned it, the lights ignited on the dashboard.

  “But…how…I mean…how…” His mind was so full of questions, he didn’t know which to ask first.

  “Help me in and I’ll tell you what I can,” suggested Nick.

  Zach helped him into the passenger seat before starting the engine. It fired up the first time. A clicker on the dashboard opened the garage door. It rose just as every garage door had for the majority of Zach’s life but it somehow, was the most amazing thing he had ever seen.

  “This was our last resort. I really never thought for a second two weeks ago that we would ever need it, nor did I think I’d be leaving here without Alex.”

  “Are you saying that some of the country did survive the attack?”

  “Oh God, you have no idea,” sighed Nick, shaking his head. He looked out of the window, he couldn’t bear to look Zach in the face. “I’m sorry, but there’s only so much I can say. It’s best we just get the others and get moving.”

  ***

  Bob’s eyes opened. Not gingerly, not slowly, but wide as the sound of the powerful engine roared nearby. He sat up and followed the sound. It was coming from the Base. A flash of light escaped between the buildings. Headlights. He wasn’t dreaming, he wasn’t going mad. There was a vehicle moving within the Base.

  He looked around him. The fading light offered a less gruesome image than before. He stood up, his legs less stable than normal, his head swimming slightly. He had been out for hours. It had been mid-afternoon when he had been caught in the explosion.