by R J Murray
Chapter 4 - Encounter
Dogg was running as fast as he could from the last three members of the group he had joined. Food had gotten scarce fast, between the earthquakes, the fires, the volcano and the dog packs had been pressing them harder each day. Dogg had taken what he wanted from the supplies and had been caught by the storekeeper, Myrtle. She was the woman with the big bust that Dogg thought might have possibilities at first. She was all business though and didn't have a second thought for a punk like Dogg.
Dogg wasn't ready to leave and in the struggle to keep her quiet, killed her. Her death didn't bother him much, but he was worried that he would be caught and killed the others, so he drug the body into the ally about a block away and left her for the dogs. He got back to the storeroom and cleaned it up before going back to his room and going to sleep.
The next day they woke him up and told him that Myrtle was missing. Acting was second nature to him by now, having years of practice with his family, so this group was easy. He jumped up, acted concerned and went out with the search parties. While he had cleaned up all evidence of a struggle in the pantry, when the group went in to check supplies, it was obvious that food was missing.
Dogg managed to keep the suspicion off of himself for a while, but as he was still stealing food, it was only a matter of time before he was caught again. This time it was Richard, the group leader, but Dogg was prepared and killed him immediately, slicing through his throat with the knife he always carried. Richard looked surprised as he put his hands to his throat and tried to stop the blood. He opened his mouth to call out, but only gurgled as he fell to the floor and died.
When he fell, he hit a stack of canned goods and they fell to the floor with him, creating a racket which brought the rest of the group running. Dogg didn't try to run. When the group arrived and stood at the doorway looking in, Dogg just lied, boldly and without hesitation. “Bastard was stealing food. I bet he killed Myrtle just like he tried to kill me when I caught him.” There were looks exchanged between the rest of the group, but no one challenged him. Not openly.
Over the next week he caught strange looks from different members and whispered conversations which stopped when he walked in on them. After a few more days of this activity, Dogg made arrangements. He started leaving scraps of food by the boarded up back entrance and when the dog pack got used to finding food; he made sure that they got inside one night. He stayed on the roof with the supplies he had been stockpiling and waited for the screams to stop. When they did, he climbed across the roof to the next building and looked into the first floor window to the common room.
Unfortunately for him, the dog pack wasn't as efficient as he had hoped and the three survivors were looking back at him with bloody axes and a machete in their hands. Dogg ran and they gave chase. He was ahead of them for awhile, but they were determined and wouldn't stop. Dogg was getting tired and they were getting closer. He could hear their footsteps on the concrete and the sound of their breathing.
In a desperate move, he threw the bag of supplies at the closest man and then sliced at him when the bag caught him in the face. The man went down in a heap and didn't get up. Only two now and Dogg was feeling more in control. He didn't stop running, but he started thinking again and looking for an opportunity. He grabbed up a piece of pipe from a pile of debris as he passed and spun around swinging the pipe. He caught the second man square in the face. The man screamed as the blood gushed, the pipe pulling an eye out as it passed through the bridge of the man’s nose. He went down, blood running from his face and crushed eye socket.
Dogg stopped and waited for the last man, who was suddenly less enthusiastic. Dogg chased him down and beat him to death with the pipe, then went back for his bag. It was hard to breath and the smoke was increasing each day, so, when he had picked up his bag, Dogg kept walking, heading east.
Elizabeth continued to hurry her group through the streets, avoiding fires and whatever material the volcano was still throwing. Behind her Mary was struggling to keep her kids together as they fled.
Elizabeth had her dog leash and chain in place and her kids followed along like a well trained crew. Her pack was heavy, but she knew that it would get light much faster than she wanted. She was tired, but kept going until the kids started dropping.
Only when she had no choice did she let them rest, taking them off the street into a convenient store. She was hoping to find supplies they could eat and drink there and save what was in their bags. She was in luck, finding the store was almost intact. Canned drinks remained on the shelves and canned food as well. They ate and drank and Elizabeth put a few more things in her bag, heavy though it was. Mary and her group showed up after a few minutes and collapsed on the floor, panting and exhausted. Only two of the kids still had their bags and Mary was empty handed. “Why didn't you wait? You were supposed to wait for us.”
Agitated and fed up Elizabeth snapped back. “You are supposed to be the adult. You are supposed to be taking care of me. I am not your MOTHER! I am ten years old and YOU need to grow up! Where is your bag? Where are your supplies? What are you going to do, eat MY food? Eat the kid’s food? What are you going to do? What are WE supposed to do?”
Her head recoiled and she hit the floor when Mary slapped her across the face. “You just shut up. I took you and these other brats in and you don't talk to me like that, ever. You're just a stupid little kid.” Mary took Elizabeth's bag and stood over her. “If you're lucky, I'll let you come with me.”
“Nice job. You get my vote.”
They both turned to see who spoke.
“Family spats are always so interesting to watch, but as entertaining as this might be, I don't think we have time for this. That mountain is still throwing stuff at us, so maybe we could finish this later.” Dogg gave them his best and sweetest smile and took the bag from Mary. Turning, he held it out to Elizabeth and said, “This yours?”
Elizabeth stood up and took her pack, her cheek red and stinging from the blow. “Thank you.”
Dogg turned to Mary and pulled a couple of empty canvas bags out of his back pack. “Why don't we fill these up first, then we can keep going, what do you say?”
Mary had the grace to look embarrassed as she took the bags from Dogg. Looking at Elizabeth out of the corner of her eye she mumbled her apologies and headed for the canned goods. Dogg grinned and winked at Elizabeth, then followed Mary.
Sarki was tugging at Elizabeth's elbow. “He's cute. He sure told Mary off, didn't he.”
Elizabeth looked at Sarki like she was crazy. “He's weird. I don't trust him. Did you see his eyes?”
“He helped you, didn't he? And he gave you back your bag, right? Besides, he's getting more stuff for Mary and them to carry, right. Your eyes changed too, didn't they? We didn't dump on you because of your eyes.”
“Yes, but that just means that there is enough stuff that he needs help to carry it all. Doesn't mean he's going to share. A lot of people have green eyes, but his are just weird.”
“You're just mean. I like him.” Sarki stalked off to gaze at her new found love.
“Stupid kid. You're only nine and he's really old, like in his twenties. He won't want anything to do with you.”
Sarki ignored her, her back stiffening, tossing her hair as she left.
They moved through the store, filling the bags, Mary and the new guy moving together, talking. Sarki joined them and the man smiled at her and rubbed her head, then continued through the store. After a few minutes, Sarki came back and stood in front of Elizabeth. “He said I was cute.” She stuck out her tongue as she walked past. “And he said to call him Dogg, 'cause it's his nick name.”
Elizabeth wished she could hear what Mary and Dogg were talking about. They looked way too close for people who had just met.
Fred shaded his eyes with his hand and looked toward the dust cloud. It was small, and moving slowly toward them. There was a black shape in the front of the dust but it was hard to tell what it could be.
“
Any ideas?” Ben asked.
“Nope. Could be people, wind or a herd of giraffe for all I can see.”
The kids waited with them and watched the dark shape turn into a team of horses pulling a covered wagon. They moved to meet the wagon and the people they could now see walking beside it. When they were a few yards apart, the wagon stopped, one of the men getting down and walking over to Ben.
“Hi. My names Myers.”
“I'm Ben and this is Fred. Where you headed?”
“Next town for now. We haven't seen any government relief so we started looking for people. You seem to have collected a few yourselves.”
“They sort of found us and I couldn't just leave ‘em behind, you know.”
“Yes, I do. We have the same problem. A lot of kids alone out here and not many adults to care for them. Have you had any trouble with dogs?”
“We had a little.” Ben looked to see where the kids were before he added, “We lost a woman to a pack a few weeks ago. The kids don't know and I'd like to keep it that way.”
Myers nodded. “I'd do the same, except our kids saw it happen. You find any working guns?”
Ben was quiet for a moment. “Never thought to look for one. Never used a gun in my life.”
“Really? Huh. Well, don't bother. Something happened and as well as everything synthetic melting down into slime, all the guns we've found don't work. Nice bow you got there. Can you use it?”
Fred nodded. “I can.”
Ben added, “He can hit a fly with that thing. Either eye.”
Myers smiled. “You people want to join up with us?”
“I'd like that. Be better for the kids. Where you headed?”
“We were headed for Newton. You look like you're coming from there.”
“We are.” Fred said. “It's falling down around us so we left. Not much standing back there.”
“Falling down?”
“All the buildings just started to collapse. Schools, water towers, houses, everything except the trees were either burning or a pile of ruble. No people left either, except us.”
“Where we were it was bad enough, but it was still standing. Well, we came from the west and you came from the north, so either east or south is left. Anybody have a preference?”
After another few days the group found a huge lake and stopped. Ben looked out over the water. Most of the people were taking advantage of the lake to bathe and just sit in the cool liquid. Ben watched as the kids splashed and played near the edge, with Fred floating nearby. Nearly seventy five people now formed a large camp on the edge of the lake and many were building shelters from whatever they could find. There were trees all around the lake and a large forested area not too far to the south. A small town had stood close by not too many days before, but now was just piles of wood and concrete blocks. There was a lot of material around to salvage, if these people would stop to do it. Ben decided to talk to Myers when the kids were done swimming. He didn't have to wait that long as Myers walked over to him, drying his hair.
“Man, that felt good. You going in?”
“Later, after the kids are done. I gotta watch out for them in there, play lifeguard.”
Myers smiled. “You'd make a good dad. Did you have any family?”
Ben grimaced at the wording, the use of the past tense. “Yeah, I did. Parents and my grandmother. We going to keep moving or maybe think about staying here?”
“It's not a bad place, is it? Water, trees, land looks like it was good for farming. There are three other small towns within fifteen miles, so that gives us some resources to, uh, to loot. We were talking about that just this morning, the council that is. We thought we would put it to a vote this evening, see how many wanted to stop moving and just wait here. We could build a town here, start something going, you know?”
“FEMA shoulda been here by now. Have you seen an airplane or anything fly over since this started?”
Myers shook his head. “That's another reason we think we should stop. Whatever this was, it was everywhere. I don't mean just everywhere on Earth either. You ever look at the night sky, the moon? Or should I say moons?”
“I saw the moons. Never looked at much of that stuff before.” Fred had come out of the water and was listening as he dried off. He nodded in agreement with the two men.
“I did, for years. I was an amateur astronomer, made several nice telescopes. The one moon, the big one is different now, craters are missing, the seas have changed shape and one range of mountains is gone. I could swear that it was water and air now, green patches growing bigger every night. The other moon is just weird looking and I think it use to be in orbit around one of the gas giants, Saturn or Jupiter. It looks a bit like Ganymede. Several star clusters are missing, including the Pleiades. Remember the news about the changes in space? This is big and it's everywhere, the planet, the solar system, maybe the galaxy. I think we're on our own.”
Tiffanie had found people she decided to allow to follow her. There were six of them, four men and two women and one of the men was sure that he was in charge. Tiffanie made sure he learned different fast. He didn't like it and the next morning he had an accident, a brick wall collapsing on top of him. They didn't dig him out, although one of the other women tried for a few minutes. When the others kept walking she stopped and followed, crying and looking back as long as the rubble was in sight. Tiffanie watched her after that.
Clair knew she wasn't part of the group. Theo had found her before they joined and she had argued against it at the time. Theo always knew better and now he was dead. She hoped he was dead, at least. She wasn't sure she would stay much longer with these people, but for now at least, it was safer. Unless she got hurt, at which time she was certain that Tiffanie would walk away and leave her.
Tiffanie and Mark spent time talking as they walked; trying to understand what was pulling them to one particular place. They others felt it, but not as strongly as those two. Except for Clair. She didn't belong with the group and they would dump her as soon as they felt the need.
Mark was a swat team member from California, on vacation in Alabama with his family. His family hadn't made it and he felt strangely unmoved by it. A former Army ranger, he had enough skills to get through this and keep Tiffanie happy as her second. He spent some time finding weapons and equipment each day until everyone was equipped.
After a week, the group stopped and camped at the end of a long low line of hills. There were actual cliff faces, twenty or thirty yards high and a small cave had been found in one. Clair didn't like it and one morning, she was just gone. No one cared. Tiffanie spent days exploring the recesses and found several larger chambers deeper into the cave. They set up a more permanent base camp and started looting the area and stockpiling what they could find.
They found other people and some they allowed to stay, some they did not. Tiffanie was strangely content underground and spent less and less time on the surface. She could see quite well even in the dark and could climb the smoothest rock face. One day she found a small opening and managed to squeeze through into another chamber, perhaps the size of a basketball court. It was filled with crystals of all sizes and some inner urging told her to touch one. Light blazed out, blinding her for a moment. She looked around through narrow slits and knew why she was here. This was home.
Christine lay on the bank, gasping for air. She was aware of someone leaning over her and of Tricia coughing beside her. She tried to focus on the figure, but it was too dark to see.
“Thanks. Who are you?”
“Names Charlie. Well, actually it's Charlotte, but nobody calls me that. What are you trying to do, anyway, drink the place dry?”
“Well, if it tasted better, it would be easier.”
Christine looked over at Tricia, amazed that she was up and talking while Christine was still trying to catch her breath. Then again, Christine had been doing most of the work for the last few days.
“Christy, I'm sorry I wasn't any help. I got scared and
I think I pushed you under the water.” Tricia started to sob, looking down at her feet.
“It's OK. Charlie got us out and we're fine now. Besides, you did pretty well for a little kid who was almost dead a few days ago. I'm more concerned with the water you drank.” Christine had to stop for air again, then continued. “It's not clean and it will make you sick.”
“Can you walk?” asked Charlie.
“Yes, if you give me just a minute.”
They got up, a little shaky and followed Charlie through the dark among the trees. Along the way, Christine reclaimed her bags and leaning on Tricia, continued through the night. A small boat sat at the water’s edge and Charlie helped the two get in before pushing off. A short row brought them to another island where Charlie pulled the boat out of the water and tied it off to a small tree.
About twenty minutes of walking uphill brought them to a fire burning in a clearing next to an overhanging rock face and a small group of people, from teenagers to older adults, who were looking at the newcomers. Not many of them looked too excited about their arrival.
There were small makeshift shelters around the edge of the clearing, made of almost everything you could imagine. Under the overhang, somewhat protected from the weather, were boxes and cans, including what looked like gasoline cans, pots and pans and a table with dishes and clothes laying on its surface. One of the people, an older man with a serious look on his face, spoke first.
“You do it again, Charlie? I thought we said no more. Especially not some weird street punk.”
Christine looked at the speaker, a tall man with salt and pepper hair and dark gray eyes. He was standing with his arms folded across his chest and looking somewhat like a parent who just caught a kid with their hand in the cookie jar.
Charlie stared back, undisturbed. “You decided that you didn't want anyone else joining us and then you tried to make us all agree with you. I told you to stuff it. I can tell you again, if you like. Otherwise, shut up and go away. If you don't like our company, leave. Remember, I invited you to stay here, not the other way around. This is MY place.” She had her hand over the hilt of a knife on her waist as she spoke. Charlie turned to look at Christine and finally got a good look at how she was dressed. She whistled, shrugged and turned back to face the group.
Christine wasn't sure what to do, but she put her hand on one of the larger knives at her belt and the other around Tricia. She was sure a fight was going to start and while Charlie had a knife, the man had a pistol in a holster and his right hand was now gripping it and twisting across the leather of the holster. The others didn't seem to be too concerned.
“Go ahead, pull out that paperweight again and wave it around. Guns don't work anymore, just like everything else you keep dragging around with you, just like your laptop, just like the radio and the flashlights and all the rest of the melted junk you still sleep with at night. You'd think it was a teddy bear, the way you hug it. A security blanket or something.”
The man looked furious and pulled out the pistol. Charlie laughed at him again and frustrated, the man threw the pistol at her. Charlie dodged it easily but Christine, still hanging on to Tricia, was hit squarely in the chest. Staggering, she went to one knee, the pistol in her hands with Tricia looking on wide eyed. Catching the gun had been a reflex, but what happened next was just weird. She cupped her hand around the grip, her finger on the trigger and brought the sights into alignment across the man’s chest. She had never held a gun in her life, but she knew exactly what to do.
“Christine, just give it back. It doesn't work. Gary was trying to hit me, so it was an accident that he hit you. Don't take it personal.” Charlie watched her for a minute then said, “At least stop pointing it at him. If you have to vent point it in the air and waste your time with it.”
Christine slowly moved the sights until they were lined up with the branch of a tree, clearly visible in the light of the fire in the center of the clearing. She squeezed the trigger, received a satisfying bark from the pistol and the branch snapped under the impact of the slug. Standing up, she put the sights back on Gary's chest. “Take off the gun belt and toss it over here. You don't need it anymore.”
The group stared at her like they had just had a hungry T-Rex jump into their living room. Gary took a step toward her and Christine pulled the hammer back on the pistol. Gary stopped and slowly unbuckled the gun belt then tossed it gently toward Christine.
Picking it up, still keeping Gary covered with the pistol; Christine draped the belt over her shoulder and spoke again. “I don't know who you people are and I don't know where you came from. It doesn't matter. Charlie saved our lives and if you fight her, you fight me. If you help her, you help me. Understand?” Tricia peeped around her waist, her hands over her mouth.
Charlie stepped up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Thanks for the speech. Just don't get the wrong idea. Gary and me been butting heads from the first day. It's the only entertainment we got right now, so don't hurt anybody. Now, I got a question. We all tried guns, radios, cell phones, everything. Nothing works, not for any of us. Why you?”
Tricia answered. “Green eyes.”
“Huh?” was the group response.
“She used to be a lot older and had like mousy brown hair and brown eyes and was shaped like a pear. Now she's different and . . .” Tricia blabbed on about pretty much everything Christine had told her, no matter how personal.
“Teach me to tell a little kid stuff.” Christine took the opportunity to strap on the gun belt, pulling the excess through the belt loop and tying it into a knot like she had done to her own belt at first. She looked up and realized that Tricia had stopped talking and they were all looking at her, waiting for the next chapter. Gary stepped forward and Christine tensed, not sure what to expect.
“I . . . uh . . . I'm sorry, about hitting you. All this, I just . . . I don't know what I'm doing half the time. It's so frustrating. I used to be an IT man and now I can't even get a flashlight to work. I'm sorry. Can you tell us anything about what happened?”
“No, I just woke up like this and until this moment, I didn't realize I could make some things work. I've never even handled a gun until now. I just knew that it would work. I can't explain it.”
“Well, it looks like we just got ourselves a big advantage over this mess.” Christine turned to Charlie and waited to see where she was going with that thought. “We got ourselves a magic girl. Even if she does dress funny.”
The ground started shaking, and they all grabbed the closest thing to stay up right.
