Sleepers 2

by Jacqueline Druga

  I was pleased at that time we had already loaded the kids in the cars. For some reason, I didn’t want them to know we had more children. Randy argued that if the ARC knew about the kids, it may keep them from doing anything rash, like firing upon us. My argument to that was what they might do if they thought the kids were like Phoenix.

  We had no way of knowing, and we certainly didn’t want to stop and find out.

  Before we moved on, before we arrived at that small town, I had to speak to Alex. It had been days since he and I had spoken.

  We looked at each other, no words. He looked scared and to be honest, I was still angry. But with the increasingly calm threats from the ARC and our arrival at the real New Jerusalem on the horizon, something inside of me told me to make peace with Alex Sans.

  He looked somewhat surprised when I approached him. I didn’t know what to say or how to introduce an end to our current silence even though I knew I was the key.

  “Your face looks much better,” I said as I sat down next to him. Maybe that wasn’t the best start, but it was a start. “How does it feel?”

  “Better, thank you.”

  Again, silence, no words, we just stared.

  “Do you hate me?” he asked.

  “No. Not at all. I understand now why you did what you did.”

  “I’m trying, Mera,” Alex stared at his hands. “I am trying to figure out how to get Keller back. They don’t want him, and I don’t want them to do anything to him.”

  “Me either,” I whimpered. “My heart breaks for him, Alex. It truly does. Then I keep thinking about what Randy said about Keller in the Doctrines.”

  “Mera, you know my feelings on them.”

  “But you know they’ve been right so much of the time.”

  “I don’t think Keller is the Antichrist.” He gave a gentle smile and reassuring wink.

  “I don’t think that either. I don’t think that the part that tells that he was abandoned and left to the wild is too far from the truth.”

  Alex reached over and grabbed my hand. “If I can change that, I will.”

  I nodded.

  “So…” he exhaled. “What brought this on? You haven’t looked at me in days or talked to me.”

  I hesitated before answering. “I’m scared, Alex. We have all these kids. We can’t run, we can’t hide all that well. Every so often, a chopper flies over. They’re waiting, you know. I’m scared if we don’t willingly hand over Phoenix, things could get ugly. Especially since they think he’s a threat to mankind. And I have to take that seriously.”

  “Because of Javier?”

  “Yes, yes. If the New Jerusalem is looking for him, he has to be important. If he is respected, and he’s saying Phoenix needs to be contained and used, then to what lengths will they go to get him?”

  “He’s just a baby.”

  “I know. But he’s a baby who can bring an end to the tragedy. So, I don’t hate you Alex. I appreciate you. I want you to know that in case trouble brews, in case I don’t get a chance to tell you that I appreciate all that you have done. Know that and that I love you.”

  Alex shot a swift glance at me, apparently stunned. He crinkled his nose and looked at me seriously. “I love you, too.”

  My breath shivered as I leaned into him, kissing him on the cheek. I then whispered in his ear, “I am so scared right now. Tell me something, Alex. Anything. You’re good at that. Tell me something to make me not afraid.”

  I wasn’t looking at him, but I felt him shake his head before he answered softly, “I can’t. I can’t tell you that with all that’s going on. Everything seems to be coming to a head and...” He pulled back, looking at me. “I’m scared, too.”

  37. RANDY BRIGGS

  It was better for us to cut back in toward the west. We still faithfully checked radiation levels, which they were minimal as we neared the border of Colorado where it met Kansas.

  Cuttersville was the last town nestled in the hills that my tablet showed me before the flatter land. From what I picked up, it seemed safe. We had a storage truck one hundred miles from there. I was able to link to a satellite, but not the ones that the ARC was tapping into.

  Our caravan of cars was growing. While the hand held walkie-talkies were intended for the children, they served their purpose for the short distance between vehicles, especially for stops for bathroom or vomiting breaks.

  I rode with Pastor Michael. It was nice. We had about five kids in the vehicle. It was good to be around children. Bonnie and Jillian were behind us in the van with more kids, Beck, Mera and Mera’s children held up the rear, while Sonny and Alex led the way in that pickup truck. Only one child rode with them. Marissa, who’d taken a liking to Alex.

  I did find pleasure in the fact that one of us was always telling Alex to pull over, and he’d always complain.

  We took a lesser known road, and it was hard on the gas and the kids. The heat index was unbearable, and we had to keep stopping.

  A two-day trip would surely turn into three. Hopefully the town would be a safe place to stop for the night. I needed to rest myself and hopefully find a dentist’s office where I could extract my front tooth. It was broken at the nerve from the hit I took, and it was starting to throb and ache.

  About fifteen miles away from the road, we could see the town. When we were about five miles away, we pulled over to try to take a look before getting too close.

  “It’s an old highway town,” Alex said. “It was probably kept alive by people taking the scenic route.”

  “Population could commute, next big city is about thirty miles,” Sonny said taking the binoculars. “I’m not seeing anything.”

  It was bigger than it looked on the screen of my tablet. One main road ran through town, but there were a lot of side streets that branched off.

  Beck had his own binoculars. “No movement that I can see. We’ll come in from the northeast, head straight through. Looks like the main road has a bank, store, one of those doc in a box places. Oh. Wait. Far end. Jackpot.”

  Alex looked and then handed me the binoculars. “Take a look all the way to the end of town, off a little. Service station.”

  I looked. There was a gas tanker there. “Do we want to take gas from that?” I returned the binoculars.

  “Hell, no.” Alex said. “I want to take the whole thing. We won’t have to stop again if that thing’s got gas.”

  “Hold on,” Beck announced. “Movement. To the right.”

  All of us turned around.

  “Sleepers?” I asked.

  “Hard to tell,” Alex said. “Can’t see the faces from here. Looks like a man working on his truck. Hood is up. Oh, wow, a woman pushing a stroller.” He handed Sonny the binoculars. “I think we have survivors.”

  After we took another look and decided it was more than likely safe, we turned to gather everyone.

  Bonnie was approaching.

  Alex asked. “Everything okay?”

  “We need to have a talk,” she said. “All of us. It’s important.” She peered over her shoulder and called Mera and Michael to join us.

  Mera was by the cars, we were more off the road. She handed Phoenix to Jessie. Danny stayed behind with the kids. They sat in a grouping.

  “What’s up?” Alex asked.

  Bonnie had a tough appearance, but it was obvious that she was worried about what she was going to say. “Another chopper grazed by. They want Phoenix, and I don’t think they’re going to stop.”

  Alex nodded with one eye squinted to block out the sun. “They aren’t rescue choppers, though, they’re infantry birds. Scouting, attack choppers. It’s possible they are part of The Reckoning.”

  That was a valid point, and I had to agree, adding, “No one knows how long The Reckoning will take. We assumed it was a one-day thing. It could take six months. Alex is probably right.”

  “You know I’d be apt to believe that,” she said, “if that doctor hadn’t radioed and given a final warning.”

&nb
sp; “Honestly don’t think they’re gonna lay fire on us,” Alex insisted. “I don’t.”

  “I wish I had the same feeling, Alex, but I don’t,” Bonnie stated. “They might not bomb us or hit us all, but they have us on the run. Do you think this place we’re headed, you think they want that? And what if this doctor is right? What if Phoenix is harmful?”

  Alex stood. “Bonnie, he’s gonna be a lab experiment. Isolated. What kind of life is that going to be? And we don’t even know if they’ll hurt him.”

  “You made a deal.” She pointed at Alex. “You made a deal. Wasn’t it that they could take him for six months?” She shifted her eyes around. “Randy?”

  “That’s true, but that promise and deal were made before they realized that Phoenix was a virus hive.”

  She tossed out her hand at me as if I were foolish. “I don’t believe that for one second. They knew, they just didn’t know how contagious he was.”

  “There’s no way they knew,” I argued. “The Phoenix child was a legend in the Doctrines. The virus is new to them.”

  “You’re actually still thinking the people from the future released that virus?” Bonnie snorted. “Never mind, that is an argument you and I will have at another time. My concern is, there are twenty of us. Over half are under the age of twenty. Is one child worth it?” She stared at Mera. “One child worth every life here? Life you gave birth to? And it is six months. If Alex keeps his word, I think they will, as well. They wouldn’t have saved our asses when we were overrun. In six months, Phoenix may not remember you, but he’ll love you and learn you again. I promise.”

  Mera dropped her head. “I don’t want to give him up. I don’t, but honestly, if it would come down to everyone in danger, then I would have to consider it.”

  Beck’s strong voice rang out. “No. Phoenix will not go with them. I don’t give a shit. You wanna worry about everyone else, I can respect that, but if need be, we’ll leave. Me, Mera, the kids, we’ll go off on our own. No radio contact. Nothing. You go your way, we’ll go ours. That’s my opinion. No one takes Phoenix.”

  Alex drew a sharp breath. Hands on hips, he shook his head once projecting that Alex attitude. “While we all appreciate your noble Father Knows Best notion, don’t you think that might be an option on which Mera may want a say so?”

  “If Beck feels that’s what we should do,” Mera said, “we all agreed that’s what we’d do.”

  “What!” Alex blasted. “That is such bullshit.”

  A twinge of annoyance hit Beck’s face. “No. It isn’t. Mera lost her son and her husband, I lost my family. They are my family now, and I’ll be damned if she and I will lose our family again.”

  “Well, fuck me, right?” Alex said. “Did it occur to you that all of you are my family now, too? And I’ll be damned if I’m gonna lose a single one of you. No. No. It won’t come to that.” He turned to Bonnie. “I’ll figure out something. I will. We’ll work this out, I promise. First things first. Let’s pack everyone up. Fuel up in town. If it’s safe, we’ll stay and think of a plan. Okay?”

  Bonnie nodded.

  Alex turned to me and Sonny. “Okay?”

  Neither of us had a problem with that.

  “Padre?”

  Michael shrugged. “Fine with me. I’ll do what everyone decides.”

  Then finally to Beck. “Okay?”

  Beck seemed to ignore him. Placing his hand on Mera’s back, he led her to the car.

  “Beck!”

  “Yes, Alex, yes,” He snapped. “It’s okay. Check your ammo, everyone, just in case.”

  There was a look on Alex’s face I couldn’t quite place. Sadness, disappointment. It wasn’t anger. A lot of unspoken responsibility had been placed on Alex’s shoulders. I felt sorry for him. He just wanted to make the right decisions and make everyone happy.

  Problem was, not everyone wanted the same thing.

  38. ALEX SANS

  There was an odor that permeated the town. I knew the second it carried through my open window that something wasn’t right.

  We rolled into town on the main street all together, Sonny and I leading the way. Two blocks before the town were the chain stores, one of which was auto parts store, and I think that was what sent the first warning sign. If it was me and my truck broke down, I’d pretty much raid the hell out of the auto parts place. Yet the truck was parked, hood open in front of the gas station at the other end of town.

  Then again, the driver might have come in from that end of town.

  We soon pulled into the shopping area on the main drag. Local shops, businesses, a bank and the doc in a box all were on that street. I pulled close to the small-town police station. At the very least, I was thinking about obtaining ammo. I stopped the truck.

  “Hang back, everyone,” I instructed over the walkie-talkie. “Sonny and I are gonna pull up. See if it’s clear up ahead and get to that tanker.”

  “Why does it smell so bad?” Sonny asked. “I thought at some point bodies would stop smelling.”

  “You’re right. In this heat, you got a thirty day tops decomposing stage before the body starts petrifying. Something isn’t right. Leave the shotgun, take the automatic. Too much reloading.”

  Sony looked at me. “No one’s here.”

  I grabbed my weapon and opened the door.

  I grunted in disgust at the smell. There was a feel to the street, to the town, that just wasn’t right.

  Randy and Michael were about twenty feet behind us, with Bonnie on their bumper and Beck ten feet behind her.

  Marissa was waving. I was glad she wasn’t still mad at me for making her ride with Randy again.

  “Something’s not right,” I said, looking to Sonny who had binoculars raised to his eyes.

  “He’s gone.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The truck survivor. The woman with the stroller. Gone.”

  I looked to my left and to the small grocer. It was the only shop on the entire street with broken windows. Out front was the stroller. Again, I spoke in the radio. “Stay in the cars, please.”

  “What’s going on?” Beck responded.

  “I don’t know. Just get ready to move. Don’t see anyone, but call it a bad feeling.” I motioned to Sonny. “Check the buildings on that side.”

  I walked to the grocery store and to that stroller. My stomach twitched, my heart beat strong, and the smell was beginning to make me sick.

  Just at the store windows, an enormous tattered advertisement for bread flapped down and hit me. I jumped a foot from my skin. I cleared it from my head with a slight laugh and moved to the stroller, which was covered with a blanket.

  Reaching for the stroller, ready to remove the blanket, I caught a glimpse of the inside of that store.

  A thump in my gut involuntarily churned my liquefied lunch up my esophagus and into my mouth. That had never happened like that to me. I spit. Got a hold of my bearings.

  Bodies. No, wait. Carcasses. Human, animals, you name it. Sprawled out across the floors, some even neatly piled. Barely an inch of floor could be seen through the bodies. Some eaten, some waiting. It gave new meaning to food store.

  I turned in a rush, and as I did, I caught the blanket on the stroller, and it whipped off the carriage.

  Two, three – possibly more, it was hard to tell— ivory statue stillborn babies were in that stroller, layered and twisted together. Badly decomposed, but their tiny bodies clearly picked through.

  That was it, I was done.

  It was at that moment that I realized Beck had been calling my name over and over, asking if I was all right.

  No. I wasn’t.

  I readied to raise the radio to tell them pull out when I saw her, the woman who had been pushing the stroller. She came out of the store.

  Clearly, she was a Sleeper.

  I lowered my walkie-talkie and raised my gun as she stared at me. Just stared at me.

  Blood covered her hands and mouth, and I determined she
needed to die.

  Then she opened her mouth.

  I expected her to try to attack, but instead she screamed.

  It was an ear piercing, ungodly long, never-ending scream. One like I had never heard in my life. That scream was a siren. A call.

  Pouring out of the store came more Sleepers than I could count. I didn’t have time to pull off a shot or raise my radio. I figured they all knew they had to take off.

  “Sonny!”

  I looked back and saw Sonny was backing up. I could hear the Sleepers running down the road.

  I ran to the truck at the same time as Sonny. We’d barely reached it when Sleepers came from the other shops and stores. Fifty or sixty of them immediately went to Michael’s SUV, surrounding it, making it impossible for them to move.

  Smash. Smash. Smash.

  They broke windows, pulled on doors.

  We both jumped on top of the truck. I started firing, Sonny started firing. We shot, we kicked.

  I felt helpless.

  I could hear the kids screaming and then I saw David, one of the little boys, as he was pulled through the SUV window by six or seven Sleepers, kicking and screaming for help.

  Michael was trying. He and Randy got out of the vehicle and fought.

  Michael couldn’t save David and his muffled cries of pain faded beneath the grip of the Sleepers.

  Then Michael crawled back in the car, but not before another child was pulled out.

  Marissa.

  39. MERA STEVENS

  I screamed the moment I saw them running down the street, coming from the stores, from everywhere.

  “Danny, take the wheel. Back it up and get them out. Now!” Beck ordered.

  “Yes, sir.”

  From the back seat, I cried out Beck’s name, but he opened the door and jumped out firing. I couldn’t see anything – we were a full twenty feet behind everyone.