Wanderer (Book 2): Hunters

by Lincoln, James

  Declan looked nervously around at all of us.

  “Well?” I said.

  “What do you want me to say?” he said almost immediately.

  “I want you to tell me what’s going on.”

  “Nothing is going on.”

  “Bullshit,” Charlie said and got up in Declan’s face.

  “Stand down, Charlie,” I said.

  “You’re crazy,” Declan said to Charlie.

  “Am I?” Charlie said.

  Charlie was seconds away from putting Declan’s point to the test.

  “Stand down, Charlie,” I said again. Neither of them moved nor said anything. “I said, stand down.”

  Charlie slowly turned his head and glared at me then reluctantly stepped away. I stepped forward and took Charlie’s place. “You have one chance. What the hell is going on? It’s clear the plane isn’t going to work, so why are you lying about the reasons? Why don’t you want a plane?”

  “You’re really asking me that?” Declan said defiantly.

  “Answer the question.”

  Declan stared into my eyes. I couldn’t read him.

  “No,” he said.

  “That’s bullshit,” Charlie declared.

  “Close it, Lieutenant.” I turned back to Declan. “Give me your weapon.”

  “What?” Declan said.

  “Give me your weapon. You can have it back when and if you decide to talk.”

  Declan glared unflinchingly as he unclasped the strap to his rifle and shoved it into my chest.

  “We keep moving,” I said.

  For the most part the base was pretty well left intact. The foliage had overgrown, and grass and weeds had broken through the cement as with everywhere else, but not much else was touched. Because of this when we stumbled upon the base’s Wal-Mart, I decided that we should check it out. It was a possibility that it was still stocked with some supplies.

  We parked the APC just outside one of the main entrances.

  I tossed Charlie a crowbar so he could pry open the sliding doors while I made sure the scavenger was secure. We didn’t want him running away while we were inside.

  It wasn’t completely dark inside the store; skylights were placed every few feet or so along the roof and it gave the store an eerie glow. I paused and listened for a minute, there was no sound coming from inside.

  “Two groups,” I said. “California and Charlie take the south, Declan, Emily, and myself will take the north.”

  “Can I get a gun?” Declan asked.

  “No,” I said. “Stay close.”

  Our side consisted of the medical and hygiene section. The store was mostly ransacked, but there was still a fair amount of supplies on the shelves. Once the shit started hitting the fan, the military must have locked the building down and rationed supplies. We took what we could of what was useful and put it into canvas bags. Once we pillaged the racks up front we headed toward the back of the store and the sporting goods section.

  I was still thinking about the events that had led us here. I let Declan get a little bit ahead then confided with Emily.

  “Are you certain that that flight computer was missing?” I asked.

  “I’m positive, Captain,” she said hesitantly. “I don’t mean to cause trouble because I’m grateful for you taking me with you, but the computer was missing.”

  “Why the hell would he say it was fried if it was missing?”

  “Because if it’s missing, you can replace or bypass the terminals. If it’s fried, you have a bigger problem on your hands.”

  We had only known Emily a short time, but I found her to be truthful. As much as I didn’t want it to be true, she wasn’t lying. It was hard to swallow, but I needed to act on my instinct of him not confessing in front of everyone.

  “Stay back,” I said.

  We had entered the camping section of the store, which was a particularly dark section of the store. Declan had started to investigate items on the shelves and place them into the canvas bags. I put mine on the ground and started toward Declan. Emily stopped walking at the pile of canvas bags. Declan noticed me a split second before I got to him and turned quickly. I grabbed him by his jacket and slammed him up against the shelves. His face was plastered with a look of shock.

  “What are you doing, Captain?” he said, not knowing what to do.

  “I ask the questions. You have one opportunity to get this right. The rest of your life depends on how you answer me. Got it?”

  He nodded. His lip was quivering.

  “Why don’t you want a plane?” I shouted and shook him.

  “Because,” he said.

  “Because why?”

  “Because I don’t want to go home.”

  His comment took me off guard. I loosened my grip. “What?”

  “I don’t want to go home.” Tears were starting to form in his eyes.

  I had never thought about it before. He’d spent so much time over here, so much time in harm’s way, that he didn’t know anything else. Soldiers during wartime experience the same feelings.

  I slammed my fist into the shelving behind him, he flinched.

  “You know that plane could’ve helped people, right?” I asked.

  “It also meant that I wouldn’t have an excuse anymore.”

  I stepped back.

  “I’m sorry, Captain,” he continued. “I was being selfish. You saw what they did to my hometown. I just didn’t know what I would do if I ever saw my family again. What if they weren’t the same people? What if I was different? What if they were dead?”

  I turned and headed back toward Emily, trying to process what had just happened. I understood his feelings, but what I didn’t understand was the lying. It didn’t make sense. I would be angry with him for a while, but it would eventually subside.

  “Please,” he said, starting after me. He was going to say more, but his words were cut short by the arm of the figure that wrapped itself around Declan’s neck. Emily jumped in terror as Declan was pulled behind the shelves. I quickly pulled my rifle around and headed toward Declan.

  “Stay back,” I yelled to Emily.

  I could hear Declan screaming and the hungry zombie tearing through flesh.

  “Regroup,” I shouted as loud as I could across the store.

  On the other side of the shelves Declan was being ripped into by about two dozen zombies that had filled the aisle. I quickly took out the ones closest to Declan then dispatched the others. Declan was bleeding badly when I got to him. I grabbed his collar and pulled him out of the aisle. I looked up at Emily and watched as scores of other zombies had amassed behind her. One reached out his hand to grab her just as its head exploded. Charlie and California had reached us. The two of them took out more. California grabbed Emily and pulled her away from the approaching horde.

  To his surprise, Emily grabbed his pistol from the holster on his hip and began firing into the zombie horde. Heads exploded and limbs were blown apart. She continued firing and dispatching zombies.

  Charlie had one of his bats out and was swinging at the heads of zombies when they got close. Their bones where so brittle that their heads would cave in like watermelons.

  Even with the team’s skill we would run out of ammo quickly and be overrun in no time and there was no way we could fight them off.

  “Get back to the APC,” I ordered.

  Emily and California sent more bullets flying into the zombies as they grabbed the canvas bags and headed toward the front of the store. I yanked on Declan’s vest and pulled him toward the front door as Charlie kept the zombies at bay.

  Declan started pulling at my sleeves. I stopped.

  Charlie yelled back, “Captain?”

  “Go,” I shouted.

  Charlie turned and darted for the door. The remaining zombies were stumbling over their downed comrades.

  Declan looked up at me. His eyes were already glazing over.

  “What is it?” I said, trying to ignore the obvious.

&n
bsp; “Not like this,” he said gargling over the blood in his mouth.

  I stared into his eyes for what seemed like forever. I couldn’t believe that I was losing another friend. I couldn’t help but wonder if I hadn’t confronted him here if we would still be in this situation.

  “Please,” he said quietly.

  “God damn it,” I said and pulled out my pistol. I placed it to his temple.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “Me too.” I pulled the trigger.

  As I ran toward the front, I noticed more zombies approaching from other ends of the store. My head was almost taken off by another group just outside the store. I emptied my clip into the group then headed toward the APC. The engine was already running. I heard gun fire to my right. Charlie was trying to hold back more zombies. They were approaching from all angles now, filling the parking lot.

  “Charlie, get in the rig now,” I shouted.

  I boarded the APC. “California, get us out of here,” I said.

  The scavenger looked up at me smiling.

  “Lose someone?” he said.

  The APC lurched forward.

  I stopped and turned toward him. I raised my foot and brought it down as hard as I could on the top of his. I could feel it snap under my boot. He screamed in pain.

  “What is your problem?” he screamed in pain. “I won’t be able to walk.”

  “That’s the point,” I said.

  Charlie hopped onto the rear door jamb and noticed the exchange. He smiled.

  Charlie freed the scavenger and jerked him up. He hauled the scavenger over to the open door as we sped away.

  “You can’t,” the scavenger said.

  Charlie stared at him fiercely.

  “Please,” the scavenger pleaded.

  Unbeknownst to any of us, the scavenger was hiding a large piece of shrapnel in his sleeve. He thrust it into Charlie’s ribs and twisted.

  Charlie screamed and then shoved the scavenger in the chest, sending him flying out of the back of the APC. He landed hard and rolled violently to a stop. He got to his feet, favoring his broken one. He tried to walk away but could only manage a few short hops. Charlie and I watched as the approaching horde grabbed him and tore him apart while the APC drove away.

  We watched the zombies mill about in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart from the safety of a nearby hill. I noticed a small red spot on the concrete from where the horde tore the scavenger apart. I was beginning to wonder if that was the best idea to throw him to the sharks. I still didn’t fully understand what their mission was. I suppose we would never know.

  We had managed to stop the bleeding on Charlie’s wound, but if we didn’t find the other camp soon, he was in big trouble.

  Charlie was going through the canvas bags, one hand covering the bandages on his wound. He rifled through one hastily then he rifled through the other. “There’s nothing useful here,” he said.

  “It’s all useful,” California said.

  “There’s no food here. Unless you figured out how to digest bandages, then we are out of food.” Charlie kicked one of the bags and it flew out of the APC and landed in the dirt. “Captain, I suggest we make for the camp. Now.”

  “I agree,” I said.

  Chapter 9

  We had been moving through the hills for days now. I had no idea where we were, hopefully California did. As Charlie so bluntly put it, we were out of food. We hadn’t eaten since before we had stopped at the Wal-Mart. The lack of food was starting to make us all irritable.

  The entire APC was quiet. I noticed that a lot lately. Charlie sat across from me staring at the floor. He was looking more like a ghost as the hours moved by. California and Emily were up front. I sensed them getting closer. That was good for him. I actually saw him smile for once.

  The APC crested the top of yet another hill when Emily spoke up.

  “Stop the truck,” she said.

  California slammed on the brakes. Charlie almost fell over.

  “What the hell?” Charlie said.

  Emily opened her door and jumped out; California followed her. I opened the back hatch and jumped out of the APC. Emily stood at the edge of the hill looking to the valley below. It was late afternoon and storm clouds were starting to roll in.

  “What is going on?” Charlie said.

  “I recognize this freeway,” Emily said.

  As I walked up to the edge, I could see a large freeway spiraling through the valley below. I recognized it too. We sometimes came through here on our way out of town. It was completely clogged with derelict cars, there was no way across.

  “We need to be on the other side.” Charlie said.

  “Well you’re lucky you have me then. I grew up not too far from here. I happen to know that there is an underpass just around that bend. Barring any catastrophes, we should be able to pass through.” She pointed to the east.

  “Well then, let’s get moving,” I said.

  Emily led us along the hillside to the underpass which was a small access road that emergency crews and other personnel used to get to whatever installation was at the end of the road. Once on the other side of the freeway there was another access road that stretched to another entrance located next to the off ramp a few miles ahead. That road curved around into a valley and through the neighborhoods.

  It was still daylight through the grey sky, but the sun had retreated below the horizon by the time we reached the exit to the access road. The sun cast a dark orange glow on the storm clouds as it set. Even inside the APC I could feel the temperature dropping.

  California drove the APC along the sidewalk past the rows of ghost cars. The power behind the APC allowed it to easily make its way over the small trees that lined the parkway, although we sacrificed what stealth we had, not that it had much to begin with.

  The area surrounding us was now a dark hue of grey.

  “Just around the bend here is a shopping center. Pull in behind the supermarket and we’ll camp for the night,” Emily said.

  “Yes, ma’am,” California said.

  “We’re almost there, why not carry on?” Charlie asked.

  “Because we are driving a giant vehicle that smokes. I don’t want to be mistaken for a bunch of scavengers and killed in the middle of the night before we get back,” I said.

  “Good point.”

  California steered the APC through a small clearing in the intersection, pushing a few cars out of the way, and into the parking lot of the shopping center.

  “Pull around back,” I said. The shopping center parking lot was empty, so I didn’t want to draw any undue attention to ourselves.

  The shopping center itself consisted of several stores flanking a large supermarket. The roof of the market had caved in some time ago. I could see bullet holes pock marked through the façade of the building. A greeting card store to the right of the supermarket sat mostly untouched, save for the broken windows. A bank burned to the ground. Mother Nature had started to reclaim the jungle gym of the kid’s center across the parking lot. The pizza joint on the far west side sat untouched, mocking anyone who came up here. Man, I missed pizza.

  It was dark now and we had set up a fire using debris from surrounding trees. It kept us warm for now, but I could hear the sound of rain approaching.

  When the rain arrived, it had smothered the fire, so we all huddled into a corner in the back of the loading area. Emily sat next to California and he had his arm around her to keep her warm, her head lying on his shoulder.

  “I used to work here,” Emily said.

  “As a cart pusher?” California joked.

  “No,” she said in a sarcastic tone. “I was a checker. I liked it up here. It felt secluded and secret. I lived just down the street.

  “What about your family?”

  “My dad was a pilot. Sweet man, a big baby. He was never a dooms day prepper type, but when all that shit started up, he packed the house full of canned food shit and survival gear. He taught my brother a lot
of stuff that he learned from the internet about how to survive in adverse conditions. I always thought that was a little crazy. My mom didn’t buy into it either. She worked at an analytical lab not too far from here. She was more of a realist, though with her background maybe she should’ve seen this coming. And my brother, he always marched to the beat of his own drum. I never knew what he was up to really.”

  “When did you lose contact?” I asked.

  “Not long after the initial outbreak. My dad said he was loading the car and they were coming to get me. Phones went down not long after that. That was almost ten years ago I guess.”

  “Maybe they couldn’t leave. Used your father’s knowledge to stay alive.”

  “Could be. They would be just down the street if they were.”

  “In the morning we could find your house and see,” California said.

  “Really?” Emily said.

  I did not disagree with him.

  “Really,” California said and with that she snuggled closer into him.

  I had watch that night. We were relatively safe in the supermarket, but you never could be too sure.

  After everyone had fallen asleep, I got up and headed toward the door. I was leaning up against the door jamb listening to the rain fall to the ground. It was mostly dark outside except for the occasional flash of lightning. I kept going over in my mind what Declan had said. Maybe he had a point. What else did we lose in all of this? If we found Emily’s family tomorrow, would they be the same? Would she?

  Over the sound of the rain I heard something thumping and cutting through the air. It wasn’t the sound of thunder. The sound was drowned out by another flash of lightning and this time that was followed by a bigger flash on the ground and an explosion of sparks into the sky. A moment later a loud electrical sounding explosion reached my ears.

  I had seen this before. Lightning would strike satellite dishes or other similar devices and cause everything connected to it to surge and explode. A faint orange glow slowly emerged from the same spot. The house attached to whatever the lightning had struck, had caught fire. I fell asleep to the sight not worried because the rain would keep it in check.