Wanderer (Book 2): Hunters

by Lincoln, James

  “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

  I needed to change the topic to something more useful.

  “Where were you going with those explosives?” I asked.

  “What explosives? You mean the ones used to blow up your friend over there?” He said the last sentence intentionally, trying to instigate Charlie. “It was pretty stupid of him to risk your transportation. I guess we did you a favor.”

  I stood up out of the way and Charlie was already mid swing. One well-placed swing to the shoulder. There a sharp snap as the bat shattered the bone. I didn’t need to tell Charlie to swing, nor did I need to tell him to stop. One swing was all it took.

  The scavenger let out a blood curdling scream. Even if he were to survive our encounter his shoulder would never be the same. I peered down at him.

  “You want to tell me now?” I asked.

  “Fuck you!” He screamed. “You have no fucking idea what’s going on here! You’re all just pawns! Pawns in a game that you’ll never win! You fuck…” He was abruptly cut off when the butt of California’s gun struck his temple. The scavenger slumped over on his side unconscious.

  All of us stared at California in pseudo disbelief. California never stepped out of rank like that.

  “My apologies, Captain,” he said to me, but he was speaking to everyone. “We all know he wasn’t going to give up anything and we really should think about moving on. Any scavengers or infected in the area will surely be on their way.”

  California was right we need to be already be gone. With the Jeep gone we would need to requisition the scavenger’s armored truck.

  I said to Declan; “Get this thing started.” I then turned to Charlie; “Get him in the truck. Alive.” I emphasized the last part.

  Charlie was first at it. I’ve seen him take on a dozen infected individuals with just his baseball bat. Stand up to the biggest with nothing but courage. Every ounce of that courage left him when he encountered what was in that armored truck after opening the door.

  The door opened and what came screaming out of there like a banshee was a five foot two-inch-tall, one hundred twenty-pound woman.

  She didn’t look like any scavenger I had seen before. She was clean, for the most part. Her clothes weren’t ragged. And most importantly, she was handcuffed.

  The handcuffs told me she was their prisoner. I had forgotten about the girl. She was the reason we moved in so fast and after all of the commotion she had completely slipped my mind. It didn’t appear they had had her for very long and we may have found her just in time. Lord only knows what they had in mind for her.

  She had reddish brown hair tied back in a ponytail and she was wearing a grey sweater with a name printed on the front, most likely a college.

  When she came flying out of the truck, she wrapped her cuffed hands around Charlie’s neck and almost knocked him down. Showing amazing strength, she held herself up on Charlie’s neck while she sent her knees flying into his abdomen. Charlie was helpless. Every time he tried to grab her one of her knees would hit his wrist or forearm effectively blocking his grasp.

  I don’t know if the blow that brought him down was planned or accidental, but her shin flew right into Charlie’s groin. He was easily our toughest soldier and he was brought to his knees.

  Then she delivered a well-placed side kick directly to Charlie’s right temple. He was now completely on the ground.

  California rushed over to the commotion, “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he said. He grabbed the woman, who was kicking Charlie repeatedly, and lifted her away.

  “Get off me!” She screamed.

  “Calm down,” California said.

  “Put me down!”

  He did so, letting her fall straight to the ground. She landed on her side. She looked back up at him with tears welling in her eyes.

  Charlie stumbled back to his feet.

  “You okay, Charlie?” I asked him while keeping my eye on her.

  “Yes, sir,” Charlie said.

  “Good. Let’s finish up here.”

  Charlie opened the back doors again and continued with his orders.

  The young woman looked around at all of us noticing all of our guns and the carnage around us.

  “Please don’t hurt me,” she said.

  “Who are you?” I asked sternly. Even though she appeared to be a hostage she could still be one of them. “What’s your name?”

  She could only say, “Please.”

  “Are you one of them?”

  “No. Please. They took me.”

  I could see the genuine fear in her eyes. I knelt down beside her. “What’s your name?” I asked her, trying to put her at ease now.

  She looked at California looking for some reassurance.

  “Emily,” she said timidly.

  “Emily, we’re not going to hurt you,” California said.

  I noticed her looking at my patch.

  “Who are you guys?” she asked. “Your patch seems familiar.”

  “We are friends.” I replied.

  “Were you looking for me?”

  “No.” I said. The light seemed to leave her eyes a little.

  “How did you know I was here?”

  “We,” I started to say, but I was cut off by the sound of the engine of the armored truck starting. Thick black smoke, visible even in the night sky, erupted from the two exhaust pipes jutting up either side of the cab.

  There was a loud metallic slam as Declan shut the hood of the truck. He walked around the front of the truck and said; “She’s good to go.”

  California stepped away from me and the woman and proceeded to collect our gear.

  Charlie threw the scavenger not so gently into the back of the truck with a thud.

  “Well, Emily,” I said as I stood. “You are more than welcome to come with us.”

  “And if I don’t?” She asked half serious.

  “You can stay here. Although, I would recommend you don’t.”

  “Where are you going?”

  I looked at the burning wreckage of the Jeep. “I don’t know,” I said quietly.

  We both sat in silence for a moment, I then turned my head back to her.

  “Well?” I asked her.

  She held up her handcuffed wrists to me wanting them off and accepting my invitation.

  Chapter 7

  None of us spoke for a while. We just sat in a state of shock from. A red light on the roof of the cabin of the APC was the only thing illuminating everything. California was sitting in the seat next to me. I noticed him keeping a close eye on the girl, Emily, who was curled up on the chair asleep on the opposite side of the cabin. He seemed worried about her. I was more concerned with Charlie. He seemed to be taking it rather well. His rifle was standing between his legs. He was resting his hands and the barrel and seemed to be staring into nothing.

  We had been driving a while and I felt we had reached an adequate distance. I pounded twice on the hatch separating the front and back cabins. Declan pulled the hatch open. “This is far enough,” I told him.

  “Right,” Declan answered back.

  The APC slowed to a stop. California opened the back door and stepped down. The girl was still asleep, and Charlie was still in a state of shock. I placed my hand on his shoulder which brought him back to reality.

  “Let’s get a fire started,” I told him.

  He just nodded.

  Declan had stopped us at the edge of a line of trees in a small clearing similar to the one we had just left. It was completely dark out. We couldn’t even see the glow of the explosion fire anymore. It was quiet too. The world was a quieter place anyway, but we usually had the sounds of our camp as white noise. Now there really was nothing.

  Charlie and Declan were gathering wood for a fire while California and I scoured the APC for something to start a fire with. I was also keeping my eye open for some blankets; the temperature was steadily dropping, and I wasn’t sure the fire was going to be enough.

  “Foun
d some MREs,” California said.

  “Meal Ready to Eat, my favorite. Anything good?”

  “I have a steak and lobster and a pepperoni pizza.”

  “That sounds good.”

  I moved some random items in an overhead compartment when I found a map. Since we had just lost ours in the Jeep this was great. I opened it to see if it was going to help us.

  I instantly recognized it as the coast of California. This was perfect. One thing caught my eye as I was scanning it. In the Southern California section, east of Los Angeles was small circle at the edge of the Cleveland National Forrest.

  “Look at this,” I said to California and handed him the map.

  He studied it for a second, looking a little perplexed.

  “Looks like where we’re going,” he said.

  “And where they were headed.”

  “You think?”

  “Keep it to yourself for now.”

  The fire was going pretty good now and we had a moment to collect ourselves and truly survey the damage. Charlie had a spot up against a tree in front of the fire. Emily was in a sleeping bag that we had found in the APC to the left of Charlie, and California was sitting cross legged next to her. California had taken a real liking to Emily in only the short time she had been around.

  I had found a small mirror in a supply container and was using it to see as I pulled the shrapnel from the blast out of my face as I sat in the back door of the APC.

  Declan walked up to me from the front cabin.

  “How are you?” I asked.

  “I could go for a shower. And maybe a cheeseburger,” he said.

  “I think there’s a McDonald’s right down the street.”

  “I heard they closed that one.”

  I detected a bit of sadness in that answer.

  “How is he?” I asked him, referring to California. He now had a bandage on his cheek covering the wound on his face he had suffered during the skirmish.

  “He’ll look like the Joker for the rest of his life, but he’ll live.” Declan said.

  He examined the small pile of shrapnel I had piled next to me then regarded my face. “How are you doing?” he asked me.

  “I’m picking pieces of skull out of my face. How do you think I’m doing?” I snapped.

  Declan just ignored my comment. “The radio’s busted.”

  “It figures. We need to get moving as soon as possible in the morning.”

  “I agree, but I want to an inventory check on the APC before we go. I need to know how much fuel we have. That way we can plan our route accordingly.”

  “Why don’t you just ask him?” I said jokingly, referring to the unconscious scavenger that was currently handcuffed to the bumper of the APC.

  “Call me crazy, but I don’t think he’s going to be too helpful.”

  “Yeah,” I said turning my gaze to his motionless body. “What do you think they were doing out here?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps we do need to interrogate this guy properly when he wakes up.”

  “My main concern is keeping Charlie away from him.”

  “He seems to be doing all right.”

  “For now. He’s still in shock. You just wait, once Charlie comes around it’ll be easier for us to jump to the moon than keep him off of this bearded schmuck.”

  I noticed over Declan’s shoulder that California had fallen asleep and Charlie was still staring blankly into the fire.

  “You look around here for something useful,” I said. “I’m going to go talk to Charlie.”

  “Right.”

  The shadows from the fire danced across Charlie’s face. I could see that he had been crying, although he would never admit it to me. I sat down in the dirt next to him. We sat in silence for a moment, not knowing what to say. When he finally spoke the sound of his voice startled me.

  “When we were kids, we used to go camping as a family,” Charlie said. “Me and Eric were closer in age so we would always go off together and leave Johnny at camp. At the time we were little, so we were relieved to get away from him, but as I got older, I started to feel bad that we had left him behind all those times. He missed out on a lot of experiences.” He paused for a minute. “Eric and I had grown apart and hadn’t spoken in years, and we didn’t exactly split on the best of terms, so I was excited when Johnny wanted this job. It was sort of like me making up for all that time we had denied him.”

  “I know he was still green, but I had no doubt he would have made a great member of this team.”

  “I already miss him so much.” Charlie started crying.

  “We all do,” I said and put my hand on his shoulder. I tried hard to keep in my own emotions. Visions of Moyer kept filling my mind’s eye. Another of my team members, a friend, had been killed and I was powerless to stop it.

  I regained my composure. “Charlie, look at me.” He turned his head toward mine. “I need you to gain control of yourself. Do you understand me?” He looked into my eyes. “Do you understand?” It took him a second, but he eventually saw through to my second meaning.

  “Yes, sir,” he choked out.

  I gave him one last reassuring gaze and got up.

  “Try to get some rest. We’re leaving at dawn.” I said.

  “I don’t think I’ll be sleeping tonight.”

  I tousled his hair as I walked back to the APC. Declan was sitting on one of the fold down seats in the APC riffling through a storage container.

  “What did you find? Anything out of the ordinary?” I asked.

  “Nothing about this is ordinary.” Declan said and let out a chuckle. “Rations, ammunition, medical supplies, this is all standard issue stuff.”

  “Yeah, if you were part of an armored regiment. These are scavengers. This truck should be a jerry-rigged piece of steel with an engine in it, not an armored personnel carrier.”

  “I did find this,” Declan said reaching to his side. He threw a grey sack at me; it was filled with about a dozen small brick shaped objects.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  “C4” Declan said nonchalantly. I froze. “Don’t worry, Cap, it’s safe. There are no primers in them. Short of throwing them in the fire, you’re fine.”

  I glared at him.

  “Sorry.” Declan said.

  “What the hell are they doing with this type of firepower?”

  “I guess we’ll have to wait until sleeping beauty over here wakes up.”

  “Yes, we will,” I said and threw the bag back at him.

  “Hey, be careful,” he said catching the bag.

  Maybe it was the trauma from the night before, but I woke up without thinking about Moyer. The fire was now a smoldering pile of ashes. I grabbed my M-16 and painfully got to my feet, my age was starting to get the best of me.

  Declan was in the front cab of the APC toying with something.

  California was loading the scavenger into the APC. He stopped when he noticed me.

  “Hey,” he said.

  Emily was sitting in a seat to my right on the opposite side of the scavenger. “Good morning,” she said.

  “Good morning,” I said. “How did you sleep?”

  “As well as one can under the circumstances.”

  “Are you hurt at all?”

  “No,” she said. “A few bumps and bruises, but that’s about it.”

  “Good.” I turned to California. “What are you doing?”

  “I thought it was best if he was strapped into a seat as opposed to on the floor,” California said.

  “Ok,” I said. I didn’t agree with him, but I didn’t exactly disagree with him either, so I let it go. “Where’s Charlie?” I asked.

  California nodded behind me. I turned to see Charlie walking out of the tree line, his rifle slung across his back.

  “Where were you?” I asked Charlie.

  “Taking a piss,” he said.

  “Get your stuff we’re leaving.”

  “Relax, I’m all ready to
go.”

  “All right, I’m just checking.”

  Charlie walked right up to the APC and put his boot on the footstep that hung below the carriage to hoist himself up. I shot my arm across the door jamb blocking his entrance.

  “What are you doing, Captain?” he asked me.

  “You’re sitting up front my friend,” I told Charlie.

  “But, Captain.”

  “No buts, you heard me.”

  There was a tense moment between us. Charlie was staring me down, but I wasn’t budging.

  “Ok,” he said, finally backing down.

  Declan appeared from the front of the APC. “So, what’s the plan?” he asked.

  “Things are different now,” I said. “We all need to decide what our next move is.”

  “We can’t stay here,” California said.

  “He’s right.”

  “What about Camp Bravo?” Charlie offered.

  We all thought about it for a moment.

  “Why not?” Charlie continued. “We’ve been in contact with them before and my brother is there. We would at least know someone. And if we run into any other camps along the way, we can reevaluate.”

  “I agree,” Declan said.

  I looked to California. He nodded.

  “And what about you?” I asked Emily.

  “Where else am I going to go,” she said.

  “Good,” I said.

  Normally I would’ve pulled out the map, but we had just lost ours and I didn’t want anyone seeing the one we had just found.

  “Anyone know where we’re going?” I said.

  There was no answer.

  “No one? Charlie, you must at least know the general area?”

  “The last I heard his camp was on the edge of the Cleveland National Forest.”

  California and I shared an uneasy look.

  “That’s about four hundred miles south from here,” Emily said.

  “It’s probably best if we follow the coast on Highway One,” I said. “Better landmarks along the coast, and with winter here, we could very easily get snowed in and get stuck if we follow the Five. Can you get us there, Declan?”

  “I’ll try,” Declan said.

  “Once we get to L.A., we can then make our way inland toward Camp Bravo. Any objections?”