by Brad Knight
“We stopped? Why’d we stop?” Immediately after Amber finished asking her question, the armored van started moving again. The ride was much smoother and slower. Then it stopped again.
Everyone in the back was ready to defend themselves. Mack and Amber sat with their respective weapons pointed towards the back doors. Janae acquired a machete in her journeys and Spencer had a crowbar. They waited for the worst.
The doors opened up to the sight of steel wire. Three reinforced chain link fences with thousands of meat puppets banging on the outside layer were just feet away. Men dressed in the same SWAT gear as the guys who picked the group up were shooting any creatures who tried to follow the vehicle in. A familiar face came into view. It was the calm voiced Galatea SWAT guy.
“C’mon, we’re here.” The SWAT guy ushered them out of the armored van. None of them were prepared for what they saw upon getting out.
Four plus miles of South Las Vegas Boulevard, known as “The Strip” was made into an enclosed settlement. The three layers of chain link fence cut off the roads. Out of sight, and inside the casinos, were more barriers designed to keep out the hordes of meat puppets who desperately wanted to get in.
Towers were built out of metal scaffolding. On top of them were men clad in the familiar SWAT gear. With assault and high powered sniper rifles they stood guard, shooting any puppets who attempted to breach the outside fences.
More impressive than the security of The Strip was the fact that it was lit up. If you didn’t see or hear the meat puppets surrounding the area, you’d think nothing was wrong. All the glitz and glamour of Vegas shone bright. Even the grandiose fountains were still working.
How’s this possible? There’s no way this is all running on generators. Mack was stunned. What he expected to find at the settlement were some hastily built walls and gas lamps. What he found was a little slice of the world he thought was lost.
“Welcome to The Strip!” A middle aged woman walked over to a stunned Mack, Amber, Janae and Spencer. She was dressed in a tight dress that went down to just above her knees. On her face were very expensive looking glasses. The woman didn’t look like a survivor, she looked like she was at work in some office somewhere.
“This is Kerry. She’ll show you around and get you set up in a room,” informed the Galatea SWAT member who brought the group to The Strip. After making the introduction, he got back in the armored van and joined a convoy that was leaving.
Kerry held out her hand for Mack to shake. He did. It was soft. “And you are?” she asked with a smile.
“I’m Mack, this is Amber, Janae and Spencer,” answered Mack, pointing to each member of the group as he said their names.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all. If you would please follow me, I’ll give you the tour.” Kerry started to walk towards the nearby casino named the “Golden Pony”. The group followed.
The Golden Pony was one of the biggest casinos on the strip. Before the outbreak it was a very popular destination. It was home to three theaters, four floors of slots, machines and card games, numerous restaurants, shops and even two nightclubs. Massive doesn’t begin to describe the size of the building. There were stadiums that weren’t as big.
Outside the entrance to the Golden Pony was a light show. Yellow, gold, red and orange lights flickered on and off in such a fashion that they spelled out words and formed pictures. There was a video sign still playing advertisements for a magician who died months earlier. Through the thick glass front doors, they could see people inside walking around.
“This is the lobby and our last line of defense if the creatures get past the fences,” explained Kerry.
The lobby of the Golden Pony was huge. Mack looked up only to see that the decorated roof was over twenty stories above his head. From the ground level he could see a slice of every floor.
In the middle of the cavernous lobby was a golden statue of a horse. Around the statue were piles of sandbags. Behind them sat men, women and children. Anyone old enough to hold a gun. And they had plenty of guns.
“Once you’ve been trained you’ll spend a couple watches here in the lobby,” said Kerry as she turned her head around to talk to the group while still walking.
This place…it’s amazing.
Kerry led the group out of the lobby and into a large area that looked like it was converted into a huge dining room. Mack looked down at the carpet below his feet. It was crimson with gold ponies as far as he could see. At any other time he’d find things like that tacky. But after spending so much time out in the hell of the outside world, everything in the Golden Pony was beautiful to him.
“This is the public dining area. We moved out the slot machines that were here before so we could have a communal area for us to eat. It gives the residents here somewhere to socialize and bond. I’d love to tell you that we have a diverse menu, but we mostly eat canned and prepackaged goods. But you have to take what you can get, right?”
Next they passed through some game rooms. People were playing, but only with chips with no money behind them. Money was useless there. Kerry told them to pay attention to where they were going because it was hard for people to find their way around in the first few weeks. That was due to the fact that it was once a casino. All casinos were labyrinths so gamblers couldn’t find their way out.
“We kept the games around. It helps with morale. We set the machines to free play and volunteers act as dealers.”
Kerry led the group to an elevator. Like everything else in the Golden Pony, the elevator was big. They had no problem fitting in it. There was an annoying little tune playing on the PA system in the lift.
“Now when we reach the residential floors you’ll need to turn over your weapons. They aren’t allowed on those floors. As soon as we get off there’ll be an armory station. This is not optional. You will not be allowed on the residential floors if you are armed. Break this rule and you will be kicked out of The Strip.”
Mack looked over at Amber beside him. She was as bewildered and amazed by what they were seeing as he was. Then he looked at the panel of buttons near the elevator doors. Right above it was a screen that counted every floor they ascended. It stopped at ten.
The elevator doors opened to a long hallway. Like nearly everywhere else in the casino, it was carpeted. A few people walked by. In front of the elevators were a couple of men behind a desk, with a tall metal cabinet behind them.
“Here’s where you can check in your weapons. There’s one of these desks on all thirteen of the residential floors.” Kerry ushered the group towards the desk.
Mack went first, putting his hunting rifle down. He also gave up his hunting knife. One of the men at the station took out a finger length strand of yarn. He threaded it through a piece of paper, on which he wrote the number “23”. Lastly he tied the string and paper on the rifle. The same was done to the knife.
“Don’t lose that. You’ll need it to get your weapons back,” said one of the men at the desk as he handed Mack a poker chip. There was a number written on the poker chip that matched the number tied to his hunting rifle and knife.
Amber, Janae and Spencer did the same as Mack and checked in their weapons. Then Kerry led them down the carpeted hallway. The first thing that Mack noticed was the smell. Or the lack there of. He thought he heard their guide say something about running water. At the time he didn’t believe it. But the lack of a feces, urine or body odor aroma in the residential area made him a believer.
“We got two rooms for you guys. I hope that’s okay,” said Kerry as she led the group around a corner. She stopped in front of one room and took out a keycard and swiped it across a small black box next to the door. A green light lit up above the box and the door to the room unlocked. “So… who’s wants to stay in this room?”
At first no one in the group answered. Mack broke the silence.
“We’ll stay here.”
“Great. Here’s your key. Don’t lose it. And I’ll be back in the morning to give you
two your working assignments. Until then, feel free to explore or sleep.” Kerry kept her smile plastered on her face then left with Spencer and Janae.
Mack and Amber entered their room. The former flipped on the lights. This is nice.
The accommodations at the Golden Pony were like a nice hotel room. All the sheets were pressed. There were no stains on the carpet. And it smelled clean. Amber went into the bathroom and found freshly laundered towels and brand new bars of soap. In the shower there were even little unopened bottles of shampoo.
“Dibs on the shower,” said Amber. Before Mack could protest, she closed the bathroom door.
How did they pull this off? There’s got to be more to this than meets the eye. Mack walked over to the large window in his and Amber’s room. He looked out over Las Vegas.
There’s so many of them. What have I done? If they break through, everyone here would be as good as dead. Amber will be dead. And I brought her here. Mack could see thousands of meat puppets in the streets of Vegas. They were all converging on The Strip. It was an awe inspiring sight. But it was also terrifying.
Mack moved away from the window and laid down in one of the room’s two beds. It had been a while since he’d laid in a bed. The sandman didn’t take long to creep up on him to try and close his eyelids. At first he resisted. As strong as Mack was, the sandman was stronger.
***
The next thing Mack knew he was back in Dallas. He was sitting at the counter of the Homestead diner. Unlike the night of the outbreak, it was empty.
Half eaten plates of food sat undisturbed on the tables. Open newspapers sat in some of the red leather booths. Faucets ran spilling water all over the floor of the kitchen. The place was abandoned.
There was something playing on the TV in the Homestead Diner but Mack couldn’t make out what it was. Instead of a single, cohesive image, the screen showed a collage of random images. It was nonsense. So Mack turned his attention to what was outside.
As soon as he opened the front door of the Homestead he heard screams. From the sound of them, people were in pain and scared. But he didn’t see anybody. It was just like the diner, the streets were empty.
Mack climbed over the barrier that separated the diner parking lot from the interstate. Something drove him. He didn’t know why but his body kept moving. It took him across I-23 and into the city streets that he knew so well.
Suddenly Mack was in his apartment building. He could tell that was where he was by the peeling wallpaper in the hallways. Lining each wall were hunters, SWAT guys and other faces he saw since the outbreak.
The people in the hallway stared at him as he waked by. Some were whole. Other were shot up, chewed up or missing body parts. At the end of the hall he saw the door to his apartment. There was someone standing in front of it.
Gustavo, the poor man Mack and Amber found back at the diner, was standing there. His neck was crooked. There was a bullet hole in the middle of his head. It still looked fresh. Blood oozed out of it and down his forehead.
When Mack reached Gustavo, the dead man opened the apartment door. Everything was just as Mack left it. Except for the living/dining room. There he saw himself, sitting on the floor, slumped against the wall.
Written in blood behind Mack’s corpse on the wall was the word, “Galatea.” His corpse stirred back to life with dead cloudy eyes. It lifted up one of its arms and pointed at the bloody writing.
Chapter 11: City of Sin
Mack awoke to a dark hotel room. The only light source was the dim blue glow of the early dawn coming through the window. He turned over and looked at the bed next to his. The sheets were disheveled. It was clear that it was slept in. But Amber wasn’t in it.
How long was I out? Mack stood up and swung his still booted feet off the edge of the bed and onto the carpeted floor. As he sat there trying to fully wake up, he spotted something on the foot of his mattress.
Folded neatly on Mack’s bed, in a little pile, were some clean clothes. They consisted of a t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, jeans, boxers and some socks. Mack picked up the pile, held it to his nose and took a couple of sniffs. It had been so long since he took in the aroma of freshly laundered clothes. He almost forgot what they smelled like.
Under the pile of clothes was a note. It was from Amber, in her handwriting. The note told Mack to wash up and meet her down in the communal dining area.
Mack headed towards the bathroom with his newly acquired garments. A part of him was surprised when he turned the knob in the shower and water actually came out. He’d gotten so use to living without running water or plumbing that it seemed like a minor miracle.
The water in the shower quickly turned brown when Mack got inside under the stream. Months of accumulated dirt and grime started to wash off. For the first time since the outbreak, he felt like a civilized human being again.
After finishing his shower, he got dressed and headed out of the hotel room. In the hallway there was a fair bit of activity. Other residents of the Golden Pony were getting up and starting their day. He blended into the crowd and made his way to the armory station. There was a line of people waiting patiently. Beyond that was another line for the elevator. As he waited, Mack took out the numbered poker chip the guy behind the desk gave him the day before.
After waiting for ten minutes, Mack reached the desk of the armory station. Just as advertised, he gave over his numbered poker chip and got his hunting rifle and knife back. Now all he had to do was wait for the elevator. Mack grew impatient. Only a handful of people got into the elevator at a time. It didn’t make any sense to him.
What Mack didn’t know was that at the Golden Pony they had a strict rule about how much weight could be on the elevator at once. The rule wasn’t in place for the residents’ safety. It was in place to minimize the maintenance needed. If it broke, they didn’t have any supplies that they could use to fix it.
Fuck it. I’ll use the stairs. Mack got out of the elevator line and headed down the stairwell. He wasn’t alone. Several other residents had the same idea.
When Mack made it to the ground floor he tried to find his way to the communal dining room. If it wasn’t for all the makeshift signs pointing the way, he would’ve gotten lost.
The dining area was very crowded. Of the two dozen tables, not a one was empty. Mack scanned the crowd for Amber.
There were all kinds of people in the communal dining area. It wasn’t just that they clearly came from vastly different walks of life, they were also dressed differently. Some wore lab coats. Another group wore construction vests. Then there were the army of men and women in SWAT gear. The sheer variety of different uniforms and work outfits was impressive.
I’ll get some food and then I’ll find her. Mack had to obey his grumbling stomach. Plus he trusted Amber wouldn’t wander away from the dining area.
Kerry wasn’t kidding when she said there wasn’t much variety in the food to be had in the Golden Pony. There were three components to a meal in the settlement. First they gave fruit drinks with names like “orange” and “grape”. None of them had actual juice but they lasted forever. For those who needed a little pick me up in the morning or at night, there was plenty of coffee.
The second component of Golden Pony meals were the canned goods. For breakfast there was a choice between fruit cocktail and peaches. Whichever fruit you chose, it came alongside some SPAM. Neither sounded particularly good to Mack. Still, beggars couldn’t be choosers.
Bread was the only food they made from scratch at the Golden Pony. They were able to make it due to how easy it was to produce and how little ingredients it needed. The only problem ingredient was yeast. After the stores of the miracle bacteria in the Vegas casinos dried up, they spread out to the surrounding grocery stores. But yeast goes bad and the days of fresh bread were limited.
By the time he was done standing in line for breakfast, Mack had a full tray of food. He had some fruit cocktail, SPAM and a generous slice of bread. In his free hand, he carried a
cup of hot coffee. Like the shower earlier that morning, the smell of the brown beverage made him feel civilized again.
Okay, where are you girlie? Mack walked through the tables looking for the teenager. It didn’t take that long. Amber spotted him first. She stood up and waved at him. Relief brought the slightest of grins to his face.
When Mack got closer, he saw that Amber wasn’t alone. There were five other people at the table with her. Two of them were around her age. The other three were adults.
“You must be Mack,” greeted a man at Amber’s table. He had glasses that were held together by electrical tape.
Mack pulled out the chair next to Amber. Then, not to appear rude, he shook the bespectacled man’s hand.
“Larry, nice to meet you. I hear you two just got here yesterday?”
Mack eased his muscular frame into the seat, after setting his tray and coffee down on the table in front of him. He gave Amber a disapproving look. He wasn't sure how much information about themselves she had shared with the strangers. Amber noticed, but didn't dwell on it.
Larry continued talking. “I only bring that up because that means you haven’t been given a work detail yet. I’m just curious about what you want to do.”
“I’m not sure. What are these ‘work details’?” Mack took a sip of his coffee.
“Wow, you really are new ain’t ya,” commented one of the other adults at the table.
“What Albert is trying to say in his own unique way, is that you have to earn your keep around here. The rules are simple. You either work or you leave.”
That sounds fair enough. I guess. “And what do you do?”
“I’m a maintenance man. I help keep the lights and water running. Before all this I worked for the Las Vegas Power. Albert here works security. Rebecca is a teacher. And the kids, they clean rooms after class.” Larry pointed at each person at the table as he told Mack their jobs.
“Do you have any skills?” asked Rebecca.
What is this, a fucking job interview? “I was a prepress technician.”
