Chapter 10
We loaded the gear back into the APC the next morning in preparation for our journey to the camp. California was standing behind the APC and looking back the way we came. “Want to go back?” I asked.
He turned his head slightly and made eye contact with me then turned back the way he was looking and nodded in the same direction. Curious, I walked over to him and gazed into the distance. At first it looked like another rain cloud, then I saw it changing shape, twisting and turning in the wind like it was alive.
“Birds,” California said.
I watched the cloud some more. The birds were circling their abundant food source and judging by the size of the cloud it was a large group.
“We need to move,” I said.
The faint glow of the fire from last night had been replaced by light grey smoke. The fire had burned through the night and the ashes were now smoldering. Emily watched nervously.
The only road leading around the hill where the supermarket sat was on the edge of a cliff, so we had a little more troubled navigating the derelict cars. As we made our way down the hill I watched through the windshield as the smoke rising into the air got closer and closer.
At the bottom of the hill Emily instructed California to turn right. The smoke had disappeared behind the tall overgrown trees and I had lost track of it. The moment we had turned onto the street Emily had said I saw it again. Emily’s reaction told me all we needed to know.
“Oh my God,” she said.
California stopped the APC in front of the house that had been half burnt out by the fire the night before. Emily jumped out of the cab and ran for the front door of the house.
“Emily, wait,” California shouted after her then jumped out himself.
It was a fairly large house with a U-shaped driveway and half burned white truck parked in front of what used to be the garage.
Charlie and I joined California in front of the house, he was now holding Emily as she cried and tried to get past him into the house.
“Let me go,” she pleaded.
“We go in first,” I said. “Come on,” I said to Charlie.
“Please,” Emily said.
“Look at me,” California said. She looked into his eyes. “They need to go in first and make sure it’s safe.”
Emily just nodded.
“You ok to do this?” I asked Charlie. He was pale and sweating, but fully aware of what was going on.
He nodded. “Let’s see if we can find some food. I’m hungry.”
Charlie and I began to clear the house. Even though the house was mostly gone, going into buildings was a risky proposition, there could be zombies lurking behind corners. And of course, the obvious safety risks of entering a building that had just burned to the ground.
We entered through the front door, which had to be kicked in, because the white truck was blocking any entrance through the garage. There was a hallway to our left and a living room in front of us. A smoke haze accumulated throughout the house.
The north side of the house, to our right, had been completely burnt down, there was nothing left. There was only about half a house left starting with what looked like the kitchen. I found the twisted remains of a bow in the burnt rubble, but it was no longer useful. Not much else though, just the thicker pieces of lumber protruding through the smoldering ash.
What was interesting to me was the other side of the house. It was clean and looked cared for. Besides piles of glass on the floor from light bulbs and TV’s exploding, the house was immaculate. It was clear her brother, or someone, had been living here.
There were no pictures or anything on the walls or shelves. He most likely had packed everything up at one point. Kind of weird, but I guess I didn’t blame him.
We continued down the hallway. The first bedroom we came to was decorated in pinks and purples. Emily’s room. The bed was made, and it had probably sat like that for years. I opened the closet doors, moving the clothes aside, looking for any surprise guests. It was clear.
In the back bedroom I found a bed that looked like it had recently been slept in. Next to the bed there were two dishes. One was half full of water and the other was empty. They were animal food bowls. Lying next to the bowls was a chew toy. I picked it up. It had fresh bite marks in it.
The last room was laid out pretty similar to Emily’s, albeit a lot larger. Most likely their parent’s bedroom. Their bed sat in the middle of the room and there was a sliding glass door on the far wall that led to a small enclosed patio. The closets and room where clear, just like the rest of the house. We were about to turn around and leave when I heard a noise come from the back patio.
I got Charlie’s attention and we headed for the patio.
Through the glass it looked clear. I slowly slid the door open and scanned the area.
“Hello,” a voice blurted out.
I quickly brought my rifle up to the source of the noise. It was a human voice, but what greeted me on the top of the wooded fence surrounding the patio surprised me. It was a Macaw. It stared at me, its red and green feathers ruffling in the light breeze.
“Hello,” it said again.
We stared at each other for a moment longer before it flew off without saying anything else.
“That was weird,” Charlie said.
“No kidding.”
I realized Charlie was looking a little worse for wear.
“You feeling ok?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said.
“One more place to check, then you can rest.”
He nodded.
The last place we had to check was the attic, or what was left of it. The door to the attic was located in the hallway just outside of her brother’s room. I grabbed the rope hanging from the door and pulled it down. The door creaked and popped with paint and dust as it angled open. A ladder was secured to the door, so I unfolded it and started my ascent.
Sunlight from the open hole in the house illuminated some of the attic, but it was still dominated by heavy shadows. I grabbed a flashlight from one of my pockets and clicked it on. It looked like what anyone might think an attic would look like. It was filled with boxes, insulation, and dust. And just like the rest of the house, it was empty.
I opened one of the boxes closest to me. It was filled with all the photos and whatnot that were missing from the house. I pulled out one of the frames. It was a picture of a family of four. I recognized a younger Emily with her brother and parents. I placed it back in the box.
The box next to it seemed rather dust free compared to the rest of them so I opened it up. It was filled with small black, leather journals. I grabbed one and opened it up. It was filled with writings. I placed it back and grabbed another one. It was the same handwriting, but different notes. I checked a few others and found the same. Emily’s brother, or whoever it was, had been keeping a log of his daily activities for years. It was probably the only thing keeping him sane.
“You ok up there, Captain?” Charlie called up to me.
“Yeah,” I said. “Coming.”
I tossed the journal I was holding back into the box.
At the front door I motioned California to let Emily go. She immediately darted into the house.
Emily was sitting in a partially burnt chair that sat in what I assumed was the family room, she was staring at one of the family photos I had found in the attic. She had tears slowly running down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Did you find any trace of them?” she asked.
“Emily,” I said. “I think there’s only one person who’s been living here.”
“What?”
“I found some journals in the attic, and I don’t think anyone else has been living here with whoever is writing them.”
“Is it my brother?”
“I can’t say.”
“Is he here?”
“No. He’s been here recently, but I don’t know where he went.”
“So, he’s al
ive?”
“Captain,” I heard coming from the back of the house.
I left Emily’s question unanswered and went to California, who was standing at the top tier of the backyard next to a chain link gate. The back yard had three levels packed full of fruit trees and bushes. There was a small garden to the south of the property and a hot tub on the opposite side. Running over head was a simple yet effective lattice work of pipes and wires that were used to collect rainwater. Charlie was standing on the second tier peeling the rind from an orange.
“What is it?” I asked California as I ascended the concrete steps to his location.
“Footprints,” he said pointing to the ground.
I looked down and saw muddy boot prints all around the top of the steps. They were fresh and it was only one set. California knew it too so there was no need to address it, but these were not left by a scavenger or zombies.
“What are those?” I said, pointing next to the boot prints.
“Paw prints,” Emily said running up from behind me.
“Paw prints?” I said.
“Yes.”
“From what? Coyotes?”
“Maybe.”
“No,” Charlie said.
“How do you know?” I asked.
“Because there are wolf prints are over here. There were several of them. That is only one set of paw prints. Unless the wolves were hunting the coyote.”
“It’s his dog,” Emily said.
I looked at her skeptically.
“Remember, I gave my brother a dog for his birthday a few years ago,” she said.
“Where do the tracks go?” I asked.
“South,” California said. “I’m guessing he was forced out by the fire. Couldn’t be more than a few hours ahead of us.”
“Let’s go then,” Emily said.
“We don’t know it’s him,” I said.
“Captain?” California said.
“It could be a scavenger. These tracks could be weeks or months old. He could be dead.”
My intention wasn’t to be evil, but the facts remained, and I was still responsible for getting the rest of my team to the other camp alive.
Emily walked up to me, not with tears in her eyes, but conviction.
“If your mission is to protect those out there, then you are about to fail. Whether that person is my brother or not, or even if he’s dead then you have a duty to find out.” She continued to stare into my eyes. “Please, Captain.”
She was right.
“We don’t have much time,” I said.
“Thank you.”
California drove the APC up the street. At the end was a dirt field that we were able to cut through a small chained gate and make our way toward the camp and hopefully find the kid. The only problem was we had no idea where he was or where he was going.
Chapter 11
“Captain,” California said from the front cabin. “Look at this.”
I peered through the partition and saw a ten-foot-high cinder block wall that was lined with razor wire. Protruding from behind the wall were long arms of several satellites pointing toward the sun, 144 in total. The entire place looked like a compound.
“Solar generators?” Emily asked from the passenger seat.
“Could be,” I said.
California pulled the APC around behind the compound of satellites. A moment before we passed behind the wall, I thought I saw something move underneath a tree, it was small and black, but it was gone from my mind when I couldn’t see it anymore. My attention was now turned toward the razor wire that circled the top of the wall of the compound.
“Drive up to the gate.”
California steered toward the gate then stopped.
“What is it?” California asked.
I didn’t say anything as I opened the door and got out. Something else had caught my attention. It was a small piece of cloth caught in the razor wire. Probably just nothing, but upon closer investigation I could see blood dripping from the razors. I pointed to it and California nodded.
I walked up to the gate and lifted a small panel that revealed a keypad. I looked back at California in the cab of the APC and he returned the same confused look I had.
I punched a random number on the pad, and it made a beep. There was power running to it. Probably confirmed Emily’s suspicions about the satellites. I don’t know why, but I pressed a few random combinations into the keypad. A part of me thought it might actually work.
I turned back and headed toward the front of the APC. I grabbed the winch on the front of the APC and unspooled the hook and cable. I wrapped it around two grab handles on the front of the gate leading into the compound. I signaled California to back up. The power of the APC tore the gate from its hinges, and they crashed to the ground, sending a big plume of dirt into the air.
As the gate slammed to the ground, I saw him. Emily’s brother. At least that’s who I thought it was. He was young, probably in his late twenties now. He definitely wasn’t a scavenger. I quickly unhooked the winch as the kid started to run.
“Go, go, go,” I yelled at California stepping aside so he could pass.
He slammed his foot down on the gas and the APC raced forward.
Emily opened the passenger door and tried to jump out. I caught the grab handle next to the passenger door and pushed her back in as I entered the cab myself.
“That’s him,” Emily yelled.
“We’ll get him,” I said.
With almost inhuman ability the kid vaulted over the opposite wall.
“Shit,” I said. “Move it.”
“I have the damn thing floored,” California said.
It seemed like it took forever to cross the area of the compound, but we were approaching the opposite wall fast, which had another gate.
“Ram it,” I yelled.
“I can’t,” California yelled back.
California slammed on the brakes and the APC slid to a stop, feet from the rear gate. I hurriedly hopped out of the cab and ran up to the gate to wrap the cable around the grab handles. California backed up and pulled the gate down. I didn’t even wait for it to fall, as soon as there was enough room for me to slip through, I ran after the kid.
I took a guess and headed to my right running as fast as I could through the cars pushed to either side. A moment later the APC exited the gate and followed after me.
California caught up to me at the bend in the road, but that was when I stopped my pursuit. At this point in the road I could see all around the valley that surrounded the compound, however I couldn’t see the kid. I gave a signal for California to cut the engine. Now I was able to listen for the kid.
I stepped to the edge of the road and listened intently, but there was nothing to hear.
Frustrated, I gave up and went back to the APC. Emily was hysterical.
“Where did he go?” she screamed.
“I don’t know,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“Emily, look,” I said. “We are close to the camp. If we can get there, we can round up a proper search and rescue team. Right now, this thing is too slow and attracting too much attention.”
“But…”
I cut her off. “We’ll find him.” I turned to California. “Get us to the camp.”
California threw the APC in reverse and backed up to the gate of the compound. He turned the wheel and drove back into to it.
Halfway through the compound I heard their engines. Several of them, approaching from the south. Dirt plumes filled the trees that lined the far side of the compound and shortly thereafter they entered the compound.
“Finally,” California said.
They came in two four-seater all-terrain vehicles. On the top of each one was mounted an M-60 machine gun, similar to the one we had mounted on top of our Jeep. In addition to the driver and the gun man on top of the vehicle, there were two additional soldiers. I say soldiers because I could see they were outfitted to take down a small scavenger
group, one similar to something that we currently looked like.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said. California eased on the brakes until the APC came to a stop. “Everyone keep your hands in the air.”
“Are you sure they’re not scavengers?” California asked.
“I don’t know anymore, but let’s hope so.”
California shut off the engine before raising his hands like the rest of us. The two vehicles positioned themselves in front of the APC in a way that gave them cover. The eight soldiers exited their vehicles and took tactical positions around them with their guns drawn.
“Get out of the vehicle now,” one of them shouted.
“Slow movements,” I instructed everyone.
Slowly we all stepped out of the APC.
“Move towards the front of the vehicle,” the same soldier shouted.
We complied.
We were now lined up like ducks in front of the APC. I could feel the heat emanating from the engine block.
“My name is Captain,” I started.
“Shut up,” the soldier commanded, cutting me off. “Now turn around.”
We did so. Four soldiers walked up and started to handcuff us.
“We are from a camp just like yours,” I started. “We are not scavengers; we are not your enemy.”
“I said shut up.”
Ignoring our pleas, the soldiers placed us in the back of the APC, two of them guarding us, while two of them jumped into the cab.
Emily kept frantically looking out the windshield through the partition and then out the back window. She had a worried look on her face, probably hoping that her brother was following us.
Chapter 12
Out the windshield I saw two sentries standing in front of a large chain-link fence. What lay beyond, situated at the base of a sprawling mountain was Camp Bravo. Most of it was hidden behind trees, but a few structures were peeking out through clearings.
When the caravan approached the two sentries opened the chain-link gate and let the three vehicles through. It wasn’t long before we reached the building that they used as a prison. I imagined that the residents were crowding around the path of the APC now. They would all be wondering what a scavenger vehicle was doing in the camp and who, or what, was in it.
Wanderer (Book 2): Hunters Page 12
