End World: Corruption Undone

by David Peters

  “Probably just the old military training coming through, that or my complete and utter distrust of ‘Rupts. Either way, take a look at this,” she grabbed a stubby pencil off the desk and drew a half circle around the townships Niccole had marked with a large X. “Assuming that you aren’t able to reach much further because of this small mountain range, all of these townships are centered more or less on Twin Falls, or at least a point on this map about thirty klicks south of it. Doesn’t Folkesburg kind of stand out as the anomaly in that circle? Are they still on the radio?”

  Niccole flipped through a small binder, “We aren’t scheduled to talk until Sunday but I’ll see if I can get them on the radio. Laurie is usually working in her house and she is the main radio person in that town.”

  Niccole turned several dials on the ancient UHF box on the desk, “Folkesburg radio, this is Paradise Falls, anyone listening?”

  The channel was filled with white noise for several moments before there was the familiar click of a microphone activating and a young female voice answering back, “This is Folkesburg radio, didn’t expect to talk to you for several more days, Paradise Falls. Is there some sort of problem?”

  “Everything is fine here, Laurie, I just had a quick question. We lost contact with Elko and I was wondering if you had heard anything from them in the past week or so?”

  “Not a peep. In fact, it is has been really quiet the last month or so. Only one Hunter sighting last week but then we don’t send anyone out to look for them either. I guess one had perched on a bluff a mile or so out and just sat watching the town for several hours. Guys on the wall thought it was pretty damn strange but then if they want to stay a mile away we’re okay with that.”

  “Can you give us a call if anything strange happens? I’m getting a little concerned.”

  “Will do, Niccole. I’m sure it’s just power or transmitter problems. Should I still plan for our call on Sunday? I don’t have our numbers ready just yet so I’m not ready to go over them with you.”

  “We can go over numbers later. I’m just concerned about Elko. I’ll talk to you Sunday.” Niccole put the microphone back on the table. “Sounds pretty normal to me. They usually don’t see many Hunters and they only send a patrol out every few days. It is kind of creepy that one would just sit out there and watch, but who the hell knows? They are a pretty big township but they aren’t anywhere near as well equipped as we are.”

  Jen continued to stare at the map, “Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I’ve got even money that something is brewing there and Folkesburg will be the next to find out what it is. ‘Rupts are getting ready to party and the dance floor is in Folksburg.”

  ~2~

  Dylan pushed the heavy oak door open and walked into the patrol command cabin. A short woman with a long braid of red hair was leaning over a table looking at schedules.

  He dropped his hat on the table and cleared his throat, “Sara, do you have a few minutes?”

  “Sure do. I’m just trying to figure out how to work some of the schedule changes in that Caperson is suggesting. Is everything okay?”

  “Jeff came by my cabin this morning.”

  “Damn him!” she said as her fist pounded the table. “He has been blathering on to anyone that so much as looks in his direction about ‘Rupts in town that no one else can see! I’m sorry, Boss. I’ll talk to him.”

  “I’m not here to complain about him. He obviously believes he is seeing something. Either that means there’s something there no else is seeing or there isn’t anything there and the guy needs a break,” Dylan told her.

  “He still shouldn’t have gone around me.”

  “If you can agree with the two things I just said, than you can agree he did the right thing. Pissed off or not I know you well enough that you can see both sides and that you’re man enough, pardon the expression, to admit when you might be wrong. Either he is seeing something and it needs to be investigated further or the man needs a break. Neither of those things happened.”

  “Okay, okay,” she held her hands up in surrender. “The scout teams have been getting it pretty rough lately. Jeff was probably not getting a fair deal but he was the last one to ever complain. We’ve all been burning the candle at both ends and don’t know when to quit. Jeff isn’t the only one who needs more time off. How about moving forward they take a mandatory day or two off after five or six on?”

  “How open will that leave us?”

  “Like I said earlier, Caperson and I have been working on changing things up a bit. We have so many patrols now that never report seeing anything that I think we can safely dial it back a bit. We can change out some of the patrols,” She pulled a clipboard off the wall and flipped through several pages, “Yeah. I can make it happen and not open us up to a lot of risk.”

  “Sounds like a solid plan. I know a few of these folks have ridden every day for more than six months straight.”

  Sara ran her finger down the long schedule then looked at Dylan with a raised eyebrow, “Looking over the schedule here I see that you are first in line for a day off. If you really want me to ease the load on these guys, you’re the first one to go.”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “If I’m not serious, then you weren’t being serious and this entire conversation was a waste of my time.”

  Dylan sighed in defeat, “Fine. Tell me what my new schedule looks like when you get it put together.”

  Dylan shook her hand and continued on with his workday. He passed Jeff in the stalls and told him about the time off.

  Jeff was given a week off but he didn’t let a day go by without visiting the wall and talking with the other people still on patrol. Sara had become far more insistent that in the very least he accompany Jeff down to the bluff and see what the man was so upset about. Dylan had to agree it was the right thing to do and they headed out early the next morning.

  ~3~

  Dylan watched Jeff as he rode the patrol route. His head never stopped moving as he scanned the hillsides and tree lines. Every footprint on the path that wasn’t horse or human received an extra look as they passed by. He had no doubts that the man was a good scout and knew how to do his job.

  Jeff’s horse moved slowly but steadily several yards down the steep hill ahead of him as they made their way down the long muddy path. They rode in silence as they looked along the ridge lines for any movement. Well trained eyes scanned the trail beneath them for any signs other than hoof prints, and along the tree line for anything that appeared out of place. The Corrupted were the biggest threat now, but they certainly weren’t the only thing out there that could possibly hurt them. They couldn’t afford to lower their defenses when there was always the possibility that a lone survivalist would like their horses or weapons.

  Watching the man do his job, there was no doubt that he was good at it. Dylan had ridden this exact path several times a week without fail. He couldn’t help but watch Jeff as he worked. The man kept his head on a swivel, his eyes constantly looking for movement, a turned patch of mud out of place, branches that shouldn’t have been broken. He seemed to be a damn good scout and not in the slightest bit jumpy. If anything, he was entirely business and nothing else. The guy needed a promotion if anything. He would be a damn good trainer for new scouts. When he was working he wasn’t the same shy and withdrawn man he was in town.

  After an hour patrolling the hillsides, Overlook Bluff was laid out before them. Dylan coaxed his horse next to Jeff’s and took in the broad view of what used to be downtown Sumter.

  Jeff looked through a large pair of field binoculars, “If you look down toward that white, partially burned out building there you should see them. Just to the left of it is a building that has the set of double roll down garage doors. Follow to the right of that black and red sign hanging all wonky off that roof.”

  Dylan fished his binoculars out of his pack and looked in the same direction, “Yeah, I see it, double garage doors, looks like maybe it was a car
repair shop or something. The building to the right looks like a small apartment or office.”

  “You have it. So that’s where I keep seeing stuff move, in front of that garage for the most part. Occasionally I see them on the corner near that light pole, but it’s pretty rare.”

  Dylan handed his more powerful binoculars to the scout, “Do you see anything milling around at the moment?”

  “It usually takes a minute before I notice anything.” He was quiet for several moments as he continued to watch, “Okay! There, just to the right side of the door on the side of the building. Something is moving there, kind of like it’s looking around. I can see it shifting back and forth like it is looking up and down the street.” He handed the binoculars back.

  Dylan looked for several moments and failed to see a single thing moving, “I’m looking but I don’t see anything, Jeff. What color is it?”

  “Kind of a blotchy green I guess? Kind of hard to say, my eyes aren’t what they used to be so it’s kind of blurry, it might be blue or gray too.” His voice trailed off as he got noticeably uncomfortable.

  “I see the off-white side of the garage, a pile of black garbage bags with something red on them, writing maybe, beat-up car hood leaning against the pile of garbage. I don’t see anything moving. I’m just not seeing anything but ghost town down there.”

  “I know there is something down there and I’m damn sure it isn’t some trash rat. I don’t know, Boss. I just...” he trailed off in silence for a moment. He looked at the town then sighed heavily, “Maybe you’re right, and maybe it is simply me just needing a break. Maybe I’m just losing my marbles.”

  Dylan handed the binoculars back to Jeff and patted him on the shoulder, “I wouldn’t be too concerned about it. You spend six or seven days a week looking for movement that isn’t there and you are bound to start seeing something, if anything just out of boredom.”

  Jeff continued to stare down at the garage, “Well it sure doesn’t feel like I’m seeing things, Boss. I’m pretty calm right now and I swear that is something down there. I mean, it isn’t like a shadow or something. I can see it, it’s there and not in my head.”

  “Let’s head back and get some lunch, what do you say?”

  “Whatever you say, Boss,” Jeff said through a frown. He sighed heavily a second time and turned his horse around. He looked over his shoulder as they started up the trail toward town. “Guess I’ll just take things day by day.”

  “Have you been sleeping well?”

  “For the most part I guess. Good as anyone else can with all this crap going on.”

  Dylan could hear the bitter disappointment in the young man’s voice but he wasn’t sure what he could do about it. He had been on patrols even longer than Jeff but he had learned when to trust his instincts when he thought he saw something. That was the main reason he was so concerned now. He hadn’t worked alongside Jeff enough to really get to know him, but he didn’t give the impression that he would make something up simply to get out of a job.

  ~4~

  Dylan was holding the open end of a barn door about a foot off the ground as Caperson attached the new hinge plate to the main post.

  “This thing isn’t getting any lighter you know. It sure would be great if you could go ahead and pound those little nails in. Only if you have the time, I know you are pretty busy trying to figure out which end of the hammer does the work,” Dylan smiled as he struggled with the weight of the heavy door.

  “You want this door falling open again? The header post is damn near rotted through. This board you have shimmied in here isn’t anchored to anything. I can attach the door to it, but the first time anyone puts any real effort into swinging this thing open, the door is going to simply fall into the mud and probably flatten whoever is standing on the other side of it.”

  “I’m still not convinced you know how to use that hammer,” Dylan chuckled as he strained to hold the heavy barn door in place.

  Caperson held one of the large nails in place and sunk it to the head with one solid hit, “You should be able to ease off a little now. By the way, I do know how to use this, smart ass. Of course I could continue to sit here and contemplate it for some time while you hold that heavy door and bitch about things, or you could let me finish up. Let me see, does the pointy side of this nail thing go against the wood, or this big flat piece? Gosh, I just can’t remember. Maybe I should get the nail manual. It’s only thirty pages if I remember correctly but it sure does a good job of explaining these things for someone like me.”

  Dylan laughed, “All right, you win, I’ll shut up.”

  They could hear Erica calling for them from somewhere on the other side of the barn, “We’re over here Erica, at the main barn door!”

  She walked around the corner and waved at the two men, “Howdy, Cap-Cap, Dad. I’ve been looking for you two for an hour now.”

  “What did you need? Is there something wrong?” Dylan asked with concern.

  “Apparently, Jeff left for an unscheduled ride early this morning. No one really thought much of it at the time. He’s a scout and they tend to wander around a lot but he isn’t back yet. If he were really running a patrol, he should have been back more than five hours ago. We’ve only got another hour of daylight.”

  Dylan took off his hat and ran his hands through his damp hair, “Crap. I was afraid he was going to do this. I should have made sure he didn’t leave town.”

  Caperson finished pounding in another nail and asked, “So what’s the problem? Aren’t people free to come and go?”

  “It’s not that. He and I had a long conversation a few days ago. He was convinced that there was something moving around in town. I went with him but couldn’t see any of the things he was claiming he could see, even when he could point out the exact spot, there simply wasn’t anything there. He swore up and down that something was moving down there but I didn’t see anything but dead town.”

  Caperson dropped the rest of the nails into his tool belt and removed his gloves, “You think he went into town to try to find out what he was seeing? Get a look up close? Would he do something that dumb?”

  “Yeah, I’m thinking that’s exactly what he did. We know there are still occasional Hunters in Sumter. One man alone in town would be easy pickings for any ‘Rupt he runs into. If he is still there when it gets dark, then we won’t see him alive again.”

  “I can’t argue with that. We can’t fight these damn things in tight quarters.”

  “Cap-Cap, get a few people together while I saddle up the horses.”

  He turned to jog toward the main group of cabins, “Already on it!”

  “Erica, tell Niccole what’s going on. I might be late for dinner,” he smiled at her as she smiled back and turned to jog toward the cabin with the blue door.

  She paused for a moment and turned, “Please be careful, okay?”

  “Will do, Cupcake,” Dylan took his gun belt off a nearby fence post and picked up his rifle as he headed into the barn.

  ~5~

  Dylan was bringing the second horse outside when one of the guards from the wall called out to the team gathering in the yard below.

  “I got a single rider inbound! Looks like Jeff and he’s got a dear or something on his saddle!”

  Dylan cupped his hands and called out to the wall guard, “You sure he doesn’t have a Hunter?”

  Guard looks through is binoculars for several moments, “Hell no. It’s gray whatever the hell it is! Guy is grinning from ear to ear too!”

  Dylan met Caperson and the two jogged over to the wall gate as the guards pulled the brace out and opened the heavy door open. Dylan heard several gasps as Jeff rode through the gate.

  Jeff immediately saw Dylan ahead of him and called out, “Hey Boss, sorry to run off like that. I knew I saw something in town, I just knew it and I couldn’t leave it alone. Was getting to the point where I couldn’t sleep at night. I know it was against your direct orders but, well, see for yourself.” Jeff turn
ed his horse slightly and reached back to release the knot holding the corpse on the back of his horse. The body slid off the back and landed on the ground with all the grace of a dropped bag of laundry.

  The animal lying in a pile on the ground was gray, almost translucent in color. They could see the veins under the slightly opaque skin. It was the size of a large dog or small bear and roughly the same shape as a Hunter. For some reason, it didn’t seem nearly as scary or imposing as other Corrupted they had come across.

  “What the hell is that? It isn’t a Hunter, hands are all wrong,” Cap-Cap said as he poked at it with the barrel of his rifle, “this ‘Rupt doesn’t have any talons. Look at its teeth, they are pretty small, couldn’t get through a leather jacket with those little things.”

  Dylan used his boot to flip the beast onto its back, “The color is completely wrong too. How the hell could I not have seen this thing? It should have stood out, plain as day, even in the damn snow!”

  “It wasn’t that color when I shot it, Boss.”

  “What do you mean? What color was it?”

  “Hard to explain, it was kind of camouflaged in a way but the colors in the things skin shifted quite a bit. Standing maybe thirty feet away I still had trouble making the things out completely. It was kind of shimmery, it matched whatever it was standing in front of pretty damn good.”

  “Wait, things? There was more that one of these?”

  “Might have been as many as three. Hard to say, they jack rabbited the second they knew I could see them. They are a hell of a lot faster than a Hunter, good thing they don’t have the same tool set. I didn’t actually see the others until I took a shot at this one and they changed color and bolted.”

  Both Dylan and Caperson exclaimed at the same instant, “Changed color?”

  “Yeah, when I took the shot and this one dropped, the others flashed red and bolted.”