Solaris Mortem: The New Patriots

by Rusty Henrichsen

  There were no survivors. He started to jog to the daylight on the West end. As he emerged into the blinding light, a shot whizzed by his head, nicking him just above the right ear. Terry hit the ground again, putting his hand to his head. It came back blood slicked. I just got shot in the head, he thought. He ran his finger over it and decided it was just a scratch.

  Terry peeked his head up and saw only their backs. Rick was running away with Alisia in tow. Goddamnit, I need a rifle! Terry ran back inside the tunnel and took one of the soldiers’ guns. He test-fired one round, adding to his mounting hearing loss. He ripped two spare magazines away from the man’s jacket and dashed back.

  By the time he got to the tunnel exit, they were already gone.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Terry grappled with what to do next. Should he chase after them now or should he run back to Kat first and tell her what had happened? He didn’t want to run off and have Kat think he was one of the cadavers in the tunnel. He didn’t want Rick to get too far ahead, either. He had to pursue him—now.

  Terry ran past a storage container at the side of the road. Duncan’s body lie there in red snow. Vince’s too. He was afraid of that, but not entirely surprised. He kept running, following the tracks in the snow, when another gunshot rang out. Terry dove for cover behind a silver Prius. Inside were two dead kids, college students.

  “Stop following us, Terry!” Rick yelled from somewhere ahead. “Stop following or I kill her!”

  “Let me see her!” Terry yelled back.

  “She’s fine! See for yourself!”

  He rose to look over the hood. A shot whumped into the side of the Prius. “Sonofabitch!” Terry said, and he dropped to all fours.

  “Oops!” Rick said, laughing. “That was an accident, I swear it! Here, have another look!”

  Terry sneaked his head out behind the car this time. Another shot rocked the car gently, and he dropped to a prone position.

  He didn’t see Rick or Alisia, but he heard her cry out. “Stop, please!”

  “Did you hear that, Terry? She wants you to stop!”

  “I’ll never stop!” Terry retorted. “Not until you’re dead!”

  “You can’t win this, Terry! The best you can hope for is escaping with your own life! The doctor’s going back with me!”

  “Just go, Terry!” Alisia cried. “I’ll be okay!”

  Terry pushed himself up, crouched, and leaned his back against the car. His breath steamed in dense plumes.

  “Go now, and I’ll let you and your family live!” Rick shouted.

  Terry considered the offer. “Okay!” he shouted. “I’m going!”

  “Good choice!” Rick yelled. “Don’t let me see you again, Terry! Next time I won’t miss!”

  “Oh, you won’t see me again,” Terry murmured, then retreated.

  * * *

  Terry ran back to his sister, the kids, and Diane.

  “What happened?” Kat said and threw her arms around him.

  “Where is my daughter?” Diane said. “You said they wouldn’t hurt her!”

  “We got them,” Terry said, breaking away from the embrace, “except for Rick. And…he’s got Alisia.”

  “What?” Diane said. Her face dropped. “I knew we never should have come.”

  “We have to get her back,” Kat said.

  “I’m cold, Mommy,” Tabitha said.

  “I know!” Kat shot back, a little too harshly.

  “We’ll get her back,” Terry said. “They’re going to have to come back this way. My money’s on tonight…and I’ll be waiting.”

  “What are you going to do?” Kat said.

  “I’m going to pick a good spot, and I’m going to wait for them. When I have my shot…I’m going to take him out.”

  “What if you miss?” Diane said. “Then what?”

  “I’m not going to miss,” Terry said. “I need you all to hunker down just a little longer. This will all be over soon, and then we can get to Duncan’s cabin and rest.”

  “Did you find Duncan…or Vince?” Kat said.

  Terry nodded his head, yes.

  “And?”

  Terry shook his head, no. “I’ve got to get back out there,” Terry said, grabbing a can of Vienna sausages and a sleeve of Ritz crackers, stuffing them into his pack. “Stay here. Keep your heads down and be really careful about going outside for bathroom breaks and such.

  “I picked up another gun, so I’ll leave the shotgun with you. I trust you remember how to use it.”

  Kat nodded. “When will you be back?”

  “When it’s done. Hopefully soon…and Kat…if you hear shooting, but I don’t come back…wait at least twenty-four hours before coming out.”

  “Don’t say that!”

  “I’m just saying,” Terry said. “Just in case. He should be long gone by then if it goes wrong. Okay?”

  Kat nodded, fighting tears and hugged her brother.

  “It’s going to be okay,” Terry said. “And don’t freak out, but I’m going to leave the map here with you.” Just in case. “Jonathan—help your mom with things here, okay?”

  “I will,” Jonathan said.

  “I’m counting on you, buddy.” Terry tried to smile and took one last look at the people in the van. Three of the most important people in world—and Diane. Jonathan did his best to be brave, Tabitha was openly scared and clutching her teddy bear. Kat was fighting tears, and Diane was crying, not for Terry, but for Alisia. “I’ll be back, you guys, and Diane…I’ll bring Alisia back.”

  Terry turned away, slid the van door open, and slid it closed again without another look-back. One hot tear escaped each eye, and he walked.

  He looked for the perfect place to hide, where he could see, but not be seen. A little ways off the road maybe, but not too far. His rifle had open sights, no scope.

  Terry stopped several hundred feet short of the storage container. He didn’t wish to see his dead friends again, and he didn’t want to risk bumping into Rick accidentally. He was counting heavily on the element of surprise. Without it, he was likely a dead man.

  Terry selected his foxhole, a black Yukon with broken glass, stopped on the curve of the highway. It offered good visibility and reasonable protection from being spotted himself. He climbed into the back seat, and he waited.

  Hours passed, and the sun began going down. Terry sat shivering and tried to think warm thoughts. The beach. Him and Alisia on the beach…. That’ll be the day, he thought.

  It started to rain, and then to hail, and then it stopped again. Another hour passed and still, no sign of them. Had they already passed? Snuck by him somehow? What if they took an off road route? Impossible, he decided. Maybe not impossible, but highly unlikely and he waited some more.

  He felt himself drift into pre-sleep and shook awake. He slapped himself, once and then twice. It had been way too many hours without sleep’s restoration.

  He drifted off again and startled awake once more. This time, he bit his lip—hard. A little blood and fresh pain to keep him awake. He had to piss but refrained. Holding it might be enough to keep him awake awhile longer.

  * * *

  Another thirty minutes passed. Terry decided he couldn’t hold it any longer. He would get out, empty his bladder and rub some snow on his face. He would’ve preferred coffee to keep him awake.

  He leaned for the door when something caught his eye. Was that movement or am I delirious? He froze and watched the road ahead. It was movement all right. Two bodies, heading his way. Terry cocked the rifle, chambering a round and prayed a little prayer. Steady hands and a true shot. Amen.

  Terry waited for them to close the gap, his every nerve screamed to pull the trigger. Rick and Alisia advanced, Alisia in front, effectively shielding Rick. Coward, Terry thought, but smart. It was too dark to see their faces, to be certain it was them, but who else could it be? Terry was certain enough that he would take the shot right now if he thought he could make it. Patience, he told himself. Patience.<
br />
  Five agonizing minutes later, the time came. Terry steadied his breathing and lined up his shot. He aimed for Rick’s heart. The shot would come from forty feet out and pass by Alisia within eighteen inches. He wished the distance were shorter, the room for error greater. He squeezed the trigger.

  Silence shattered by the crack of a gunshot, Rick was spun around by the impact, and he fell to the ground. Alisia screamed, and she ran, then ducked behind a dead car.

  “Alisia!” Terry cried, fumbling to open the door. He shouldered his rifle and ran to her. “Alisia, it’s me!” Terry yelled again, feet churning in snow.

  “Terry?”

  “Yeah, it’s me!” Terry was only twenty feet away now, his only focus on Alisia.

  He never saw Rick claw his way to kneeling behind a forever stalled Toyota.

  “Terry, look out!” Alisia cried, but it was too late. Rick’s thunder rang and entered Terry’s left shoulder. His bladder released, and he fell to the snowy ground.

  Alisia ran to him, “Terry!”

  “Alisia, no!” he wheezed. Terry could just make out Rick’s pained smile in the darkness. He raised his rifle against a growing storm surge of pain, and fired from the hip, lying on his back. Alisia ducked and covered. Terry passed out.

  * * *

  Terry woke up to shattering pain and bitter cold. “What happened? Where’s Rick.” He tried to sit up, but the pain in his shoulder immediately arrested him.

  “Easy,” Alisia said, binding his wound. “It’s over. You did it.” She smiled.

  “Rick?”

  Alisia motioned behind her. “He’s back there. Dead.” She smiled again, then frowned, feeling a little guilty for her joy over a man's death.

  “Thank God,” Terry said. “I’m so cold. And my shoulder…is it…okay?”

  “It’s going to be. We need to get you up and moving. My medkit’s back at camp and you’ve still got a bullet floating around in there.”

  Terry struggled to gain his feet despite Alisia’s help. “How long was I out?”

  “Just a few minutes,” Alisia said. “I was so worried about you.”

  “I was worried about me.” Terry chuckled then winced.

  “Rick shot you, and you went down…. I swear—my heart stopped.”

  “It’s sweet of you to worry about me,” Terry said. “I shocked out before I knew if I hit him or not.”

  “Oh, you hit him all right.” Right in the face, as a matter of fact. That gory image would be with Alisia for a long, long time she was afraid. Though he deserved it, there was just something very unsettling about watching a man’s brains exit his head. “Is everyone else okay? My mom?”

  “Everyone is fine,” Terry said. “I think we’re all going to be fine, now. Hell, I might even score some points with your mom now. Bringing you back, and all.… And I might get a little sympathy…for this,” nudging his chin towards his shoulder.

  “You’re my hero, Terry Burrows,” Alisia said, and she snuggled in a little closer against his good arm.

  Terry stopped and pulled her in, her green eyes glimmered in the moonlight, and he kissed her. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again. I mean…if that’s all right with you.”

  “That sounds perfect.” She got up to her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “C’mon, Romeo. Let’s go.”

  They walked arm in arm, back to the others and Terry’s imaginings of a future with Alisia were almost stronger than the pain in his shoulder.

  It was an hour later when they got back to the van. It was quiet. Dark. Invisible. “Right there, in that van,” Terry said. “We’re back!” Terry called. “Hey, guys!”

  Nothing, no reaction.

  Terry knocked at the glass. “You guys?” He saw Jonathan’s head poke out of the sleeping bag, and relief flooded him.

  Alisia threw the door open, and Diane nearly shrieked with delight. “You’re okay!”

  “I’m fine, Mom. Thanks to Terry.”

  “Thank you so much, Terry,” Diane said, gushing.

  “You are very welcome. Hey, why didn’t you guys respond when I yelled? You scared the hell outta me.”

  “We were keeping a low profile,” Kat said. “Remember? Your arm—are you okay?”

  “I will be. I’ve got the best medical care in all of the world, right here.”

  * * *

  “I need water, towels, and the peroxide,” Alisia said. Kat would be her triage nurse. She lit the candles for extra light and warmth. Though the toll was heavy, it was nice to feel they were no longer being hunted. That they could light a candle at night and not have to fear it would attract bullets.

  Kat couldn’t believe she’d ever been attracted to Rick. Her picker was obviously very broken, and she swore off men as she prepped the operating room in the back of the van. She realized swearing off men just got very easy. For all she knew, the last of them, other than her brother, were all dead. She chuckled, but it was a worrisome sound.

  Alisia ran her forceps through the candle’s flame, sterilizing them and clicked on her headlamp. “Okay, I think we’re ready. You want to come and sit down for me, Terry?”

  “I’m not sure,” Terry said, climbing into the van. “I have a feeling this will be unpleasant.”

  “Your intuition is correct,” Alisia said.

  Kat washed the wound with water and peroxide. Terry gritted his teeth.

  “I hope you still like me after this,” Alisia said. “This is going to be awful, but I need you to hold very still.”

  Terry nodded his head and forced a weak smile.

  “You might want to bite down on this,” Alisia said, placing a folded washcloth between his teeth. Jonathan watched with dinner plate eyes. Terry clamped down on the washcloth and gave a small nod.

  Alisia fished in his shoulder with the forceps.

  “Oh, fuck!” Terry said, grinding his teeth.

  “I know, I know,” Alisia said. “I need you to hold very still.”

  Kat winced for her brother, but after a couple of minutes, it was out. Kat irrigated his arm, and Alisia bandaged him up.

  “You’re a trooper,” Alisia said as she placed a peck on his forehead, glistening with sweat.

  “Thanks.”

  “Take these,” Alisia said, handing him two pills and a bottle of water. “We don’t want that getting infected. Now—you rest. We’ve got a long walk tomorrow.”

  Terry nodded, swallowing the antibiotics with a gulp of water. His arm sang and kept him awake for awhile, drifting in and out of delirium, but eventually he did sleep, Alisia beside him.

  * * *

  The smell of coffee brewing woke him.

  “Hey, sleeping beauty,” Kat said.

  “Good morning,” Terry said, squinting against the sun’s rays. “How long has everyone been up?”

  “About an hour. Coffee?”

  “Yes, please.” The sun shining through the windows almost made the van a comfortable temperature.

  Alisia handed him an antibiotic and his water bottle. “How’d you sleep?”

  “Pretty well, I guess. Didn’t notice everyone getting up. You?”

  “Not bad. You think you’re ready to travel?” Alisia asked. Kat handed him a steaming cup.

  “Oh, yeah. I’m ready,” Terry said.

  Everyone was packed and ready to go. Terry felt like a lump, sitting there drinking coffee and eating a granola bar, but Alisia insisted he sit and drink his coffee.

  “Alisia, thank you. For everything,” Terry said. “For saving my life last night.”

  “Are you kidding?” Alisia said. “Thank you. Besides, you’re the one that saved me.”

  “Well, then…I guess we’re even,” Terry said, smiling. He tipped his coffee up and burned his tongue. “Let’s go find that cabin.”

  * * *

  They walked through the day and into the night, nearly twenty miles. It was cold, but it was dry. Everyone, Diane included, was too happy to complain. The kids ate the rest of the saltwater taff
y and fruit snacks. Terry wondered if they’d ever taste them again. His shoulder hurt, but he honestly didn’t care. This too shall pass.

  Duncan’s map was good, and they made it to the cabin a few hours after sunset. Outside, the woodshed was fully stocked, maybe seven cords. Plenty to get through this winter, Terry thought. Beside the woodshed was a toolshed, still well stocked with primitive tools—no one had been here. Crosscut saws, a scythe, axes and splitting mauls, hand drills, and handsaws. There was more, too, plenty more. Some of it, he didn’t recognize.

  Inside, was kindling, already split beside the wood stove, newspaper and quarter logs. Alisia made the fire and lit the oil lanterns, casting a warm, homey glow. “You did it, Terry.”

  “You are an amazing woman,” Terry said, sitting in a rocking chair, tingling with admiration. Alisia smiled back and winked.

  Kat sat on the couch with an arm around each child, smiling. Jonathan stuck his finger in a gaped mouth, mock-gagging. Tabitha fought sleep. Diane looked at Alisia and then back to Terry. She smiled.

  Terry realized then that the end of the world might not be so bad after all. He closed his eyes and silently offered up a simple prayer of gratitude.

  Thank you for reading. I hope you’ve enjoyed it! Please take a moment and leave a review at amazon.com and goodreads.com. It is much appreciated and helps keep independent writers writing!

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  Also by Rusty Henrichsen:

  -Emmettville, a novel -On A Wintry Hallow’s Eve, a short story -Face Off, a short story

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  You can see more of his writings at: amazon.com/author/rustyhenrichsen

  or

  rustyhenrichsen.com

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