Born in the Apocalypse 2: State of Ruin

by Joseph Talluto

  Chapter 18

  I don’t remember much of the conversation I had with Rutledge, my head was filled with other thoughts. I think I agreed to ride the boundary of the town and deal with any Trippers wandering nearby. If there was a bunch of them, I was to ride away and sound the alarm. Or maybe I was supposed to ride over them. I can’t really recall. I do remember seeing a blue-eyed face looking in the window from time to time. I also remember Rutledge saying something about proving I could shoot when I had to, but maybe he said something about shoes and tobacco. I’m not really sure either way.

  I was out on the edge, letting Judy set the pace when she suddenly lifted her head. I looked in the direction her ears were pointed and saw a horse and rider headed my way.

  My heart turned over when I saw long brown hair flowing out from the rider, matching the waves of the mane of the horse that came this way. She rode with ease, and turned her pony to ride alongside me.

  “Hi, Josh! Thought I’d find you out here. How’s the patrol?” Cindy spoke with a smile on her face, and I doubted I’d ever seen anything so pretty. Cindy’s cheeks were slightly flushed from her ride, and I was partially mesmerized by them.

  “Not much happening. I can’t believe your dad is willing to pay me in room and board to ride all day and do nothing,” I said. “I do have a worry, though.”

  Cindy’s brow puckered a little. “What’s that?”

  “If I’m the only one out here, who’s watching that side while I’m on this side?” I pointed to the other edge of town, on the far side.

  Cindy’s mouth formed a neat little O, then her brow puckered again. “I don’t know, Josh,” she said seriously.

  I laughed. “No worries. It takes me two hours to ride around the community at a slow walk. I keep an eye out on the horizons, and if anything’s moving, I’ll wait for it.”

  We walked for a bit, talking about ourselves. I told Cindy about where I grew up and about my friend Trey. Cindy told me about her dad and how she grew up in the town that seemed to be beating the odds.

  We talked for a good half-hour, and I was so absorbed I didn’t even notice the Tripper that was crawling out of a copse of trees until Cindy’s face went from one of attention to one of shock and fear.

  “What the…Oh, hell!” I said. I walked Judy up until we were about ten yards away and I pinned the Tripper to the ground with an arrow through his head. I dismounted to retrieve the arrow and that’s when Cindy screamed.

  I spun around and saw three Trippers lurching out of the grass and moving in to surround her horse. Cindy was frozen as the infected advanced, wheezing in their terrible way and reaching with bloodied hands.

  I didn’t have time to get over there, so I fired an arrow at the one closest to me, killing it instantly. As it dropped to the ground, I slapped Judy on the rear. “Go, girl!”

  Judy took off, and Cindy’s horse leaped after her, taking her cue from the older, wiser horse. Thankfully, Cindy had enough sense to hold on tight and she bounced away on her pony.

  That left me with two Trippers who were really mad now that their meal had just ridden away. One was a teenager, who fairly ran at me with his mouth open, his bloodshot eyes trying to sear through me with sheer hatred. I put an arrow through his left one for his trouble.

  The other one was a small boy, probably no older than ten or eleven. His eyes were nearly black, and I could see he had been through the meat grinder. Huge scratches covered his face and arms, and there was a large bite taken out of his left shoulder. The weird thing was there was a shine to his wounds, like something had grown over them to prevent them from bleeding too much. I had never seen one like this before and I was actually very curious about it.

  Not so curious that I was going to invite him for dinner, since the little monster was charging at me at a speed I would consider uncomfortable. But I was curious enough to step aside and trip him as he went by, sending him to the ground in a fit of snarling rage. I knelt on his back and with a couple of quick grabs, managed to hold his arms behind him long enough to tie them there with small leather strings I kept on my belt for securing things to Judy’s saddle.

  The boy snapped at me and I took advantage of his open mouth to shove a large stick in there as he bit. I looped leather around the ends and secured it to his head by tying it in the back. I pulled him to his feet and he lunged again, biting deep into the wood bit and straining at his bonds.

  I held him at arm’s length until I found a decent stick, then I tied his head to the stick. This way I could pull him along behind me without giving him the opportunity to use the slack to run into me again.

  I caught up to Cindy, who was holding the reins of Judy.

  “My God, Josh. You caught one. No one has ever done that before,” Cindy said. “What are you going to do with him?”

  “I’m very curious about his wounds,” I said. “And maybe he will be able to give us some answers on how to deal with them on a larger scale.”

  “Oh my God. Daddy is going to flip. He’s been saying for years we need to capture one of these things, but every time we tried, someone always got killed so we gave it up. Oh, by the way, thanks.” Cindy leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek, causing said cheek to turn fiery red and my eyes to look away.

  “Nothing to it,” I said stupidly. “Anyone would have done the same.”

  Cindy laughed at my attempt at modesty and we slowly rode back to town. Judy was not happy at all with a Tripper near her tail, and she showed it by keeping her ears flat back at me. Given the chance, I was sure she’d buck me off.

  Back in town, I delivered my package to an incredulous Sheriff Brewster, who looked none to happy about keeping a Tripper in his jail. I had no idea where else to bring the thing, so here I was. After that, I walked Cindy back to her house. Her father wasn’t home, but maybe that was a good thing. I didn’t stick around because I wanted to get back to the jail.

  When I arrived, Rutledge was already there, having been informed by somebody. He glanced my way with a look that didn’t bode well and I was very curious as to why he was mad at me. I dismounted and tied Judy to a fence where she could crop the weeds and grass to her heart’s content. Something about this situation was talking to my instincts and what it was saying wasn’t very good.

  Chapter 19

  Inside, Mack had handcuffed the boy to the bars of the cell. His arms were outstretched and his legs were the same. The bit was still in his mouth and he still strained and raged at his impotence. A small man with thick glasses was looking the boy over, flinching every time the cuffs clanked against the bars.

  Rutledge turned to me. “You can leave, Joshua. I will have words with you later.” He turned his back and I could see the print of a weapon under his shirt in a shoulder rig.

  “Like hell,” I said. I had removed the leather thong off the hammer of my Colt before I came in here and spoke with some anger. I was the one that had captured the Tripper. If anyone was going to examine him, it was going to be me, or at least with me in the damn room.

  Rutledge turned back to me. “You forget yourself. I heard how you nearly got my daughter killed, and it is taking a great deal of restraint to keep from shooting you right here.” Rutledge’s voice was strained and he spoke through clenched teeth. His hand crept towards his side in an obvious threat.

  I hooked a thumb onto the hammer of my Colt, and faced Rutledge directly. He was one wrong move away from getting shot, not that he was aware of it.

  Mack was, though. “Hold on! None of that here!” Brewster shouted. He held a hand up and stood between us. “You ain’t heard your daughter’s side of things or Josh’s, so you need to hold your horses, Rutledge.”

  The president of the council turned an icy stare at his lawman. “Stay out of this, Mack. I order you.”

  “I don’t take your orders, Mister goddamn Rutledge, so unless you want to share a cell with that Tripper, you’d better back off.” Mack put a hand on his gun to emphasize his point.

&nb
sp; Rutledge fumed at this rebellion, but I knew it was far from over. He looked at me like he wanted me dead, and I looked at him like I was ready for anything he wanted to send my way. I figured my time here in Rockford was running to a close, and I wanted to be moving on anyway. It had been nice to take a break from traveling, and I knew Judy liked it as well, but I think she was like me. If I wasn’t home, I wanted to move on.

  “Fine. We will discuss this later, Brewster. The council will have a lot to talk about,” Rutledge said. He turned to the man in the cage with the Tripper. “Proceed.”

  The man took a small knife, and cut the boy on the arm. It bled freely for a second, then stopped. The wound seemed to shine a little, and then it was done.

  “Interesting,” the man said. “It would seem that the Tripp Virus protects its host by healing wounds in a fashion. They don’t heal completely, it seems, but enough to keep the host going.”

  Rutledge pulled his gun and fired a shot in the cell, hitting the Tripper in the chest. The boy slammed against the bars and his head slumped down, but in a few seconds, he raised his head again and was trying to escape his bonds. Rutledge put his gun back in his shoulder holster.

  “That explains why they didn’t die when they were shot by police and kept attacking,” Rutledge said. “What happens if we cut off his hand?”

  “I would expect the same thing. The wound would heal and he would have a stump,” the man said.

  “Would a hand grow back?” Mack asked.

  I was actually wondering the same thing. But I wasn’t going to try it on a Tripper. As much pain as they caused, I knew they weren’t responsible for their actions. They were sick and completely out of their heads.

  “I don’t know,” the man said.

  “I have a question,” I said.

  Rutledge ignored me but Mack looked over.

  “I have shot these Trippers in the heart with my arrows and every one died. They didn’t heal. Any thought as to why?” I asked.

  “I don’t believe that,” Rutledge said.

  I looked at him darkly. “If you’re calling me a liar, Rutledge, you’d better fill your hand when you do. And if you pull on me, I’ll kill you.”

  The words hung in the air like a dark cloud, and Rutledge fumed. I could see he wanted to try me! But his innate caution kicked in and he kept his hand away from his gun. Instead, he turned to the sheriff.

  “There you go, Sheriff. I was threatened. You need to arrest Mr. Andrews immediately and…”

  “And what? Take him to jail? He’s already here. Job done. You do your business, I’ll do mine,” Brewster said.

  Rutledge realized he was fighting a losing battle and shrugged. “Another matter for the council, then. Doctor, what about the question?”

  The doctor shrugged. “My guess is the Trippers can’t heal if the foreign object is interfering with the process, and normal procedures take over. If you stuck a knife in his heart and left it there, I’m sure he would die.”

  “What about any other place?” Rutledge asked. “Could we stab him in his liver and leave the knife? Would he die eventually?”

  I wasn’t liking where this was starting to go. We figured out why they did what they did and why they survived, but I wasn’t a fan of torture.

  “I think I’m done here,” I said to Mack. “I’ll kill a Tripper if I have to, but I won’t torture them anymore.” I was starting to regret capturing the boy, given the look on Rutledge’s face when he talked about stabbing the boy to see if he would heal.

  Chapter 20

  I left the jail and went took Judy back to the house. I began to pack what little I had into my saddlebags and put in my quiver the extra arrows I had made while I was killing time. Extra food I put into a sack and I gave Judy extra grain. I figured we would take the north road and head towards the corner of the state. The maps I had seen showed land that was very hilly, and I wanted to see hills for some reason.

  In the morning, I saddled Judy and led her out the door. I started a little when a voice called to me.

  “Josh! Are you leaving?”

  I looked over and saw Cindy sitting astride her horse, looking as fresh as a morning lily. My heart fell into my stomach and my throat was suddenly dry. I knew I had to leave, but I was hoping I could avoid explaining why. One look into Cindy’s eyes and I knew that hope was gone.

  “Yes, Cindy, I am leaving. It’s time for me to move on, visit a few more horizons, cross a few more hills.” I tried to sound upbeat, but it sounded hollow even to my own ears.

  “But why? You just got here! And you saved me! What’s the matter?” Cindy said. Her eyes got wet and it seemed like she was about to cry.

  I was about to answer when a sharp voice cut through the air.

  “Cindy! Get away from that boy! You’ve been told to stay away from him! How dare you disrespect me this way!”

  I looked up the street and saw her father striding towards me. Judy pulled her head back and snorted over my shoulder. I put a calming hand on her neck and spoke quietly to settle her down.

  I waited until the man came within earshot before I spoke. “Rutledge, I’m leaving. You don’t want me here and I’d rather not be in a place that has someone like you in it.” I turned to Cindy. “I like you, Cindy. I really do. I may stop by on my way back home from wherever I’m going. But I think I need to head on out.”

  “You’re leaving? Well, good! We never needed any drifter trash around here anyway.” Rutledge was in a fine mood for insults today and he let it show.

  For my part, I wasn’t going to let that one go. “Trash? You loudmouthed son of a bitch! If I didn’t want your daughter to see her father get the beating of his life, I’d knock you on your stuck-up ass,” I snarled, stepping away from Judy.

  Rutledge’s face was purple with fury, and he strode up to me with murder in his eyes. I was seeing red as well, and I wanted to vent my fury.

  Blake threw a straight punch to my head, which I let pass over my shoulder. His side was exposed as he did this and I slammed a fist into his ribs, earning a grunt for my effort. I didn’t waste time waiting for him to recover, I punched hard into his chest, knocking him back and causing him to miss with the left he swung as he fell. Rutledge recovered quickly enough, and I saw in his eyes how he suddenly measured me differently. I got away with those two punches because he thought I was just some kid he was going to teach a lesson to. Now it was a real fight and he was going to do some damage if he could. Rutledge had an inch on me and was probably ten to fifteen pounds heavier.

  Blake snapped another fist out, and instead of dodging it, I stepped into it, slipping it along my raised arm. I popped my fist forward from the block, pounding Blake on the nose with the edge of my left hand. His head snapped back and I used the opening to land a punch just at the base of his jawline where it met the bottom of his ear. Blake went down and I heard Cindy cry out.

  I stepped back to put a hand on Judy, who was stamping and blowing, and ready to charge Blake herself.

  Rutledge stood up, shaking his head and wincing as he worked his jaw. My father had taught me that punch. He had said hitting someone in the head was a stupid thing to do. You had to hit them where it was soft, not where it was armor plated. The human skull was a damned hard thing to hit. Blood was running out of Blake’s nose, staining his shirt and jacket.

  “Son of a bitch!” Rutledge charged again, and this time, he reached out to grab at me with clawed hands. I treated this like a Tripper attack and pivoted to grab the closest outstretched hand and twisted, propelling Blake across the yard and into the nearest tree. I wasn’t really aiming for the tree, but it worked out that way. Rutledge slammed into the maple with his face, his chest, and his gut, wrapping his arms around the tree momentarily before he bounced off and landed on his back. His face was a full strawberry from the bark, and he’d have those marks for a long time.

  Cindy rushed over to her father and put a careful hand to the bruises and cuts that were beginning to show. She l
ooked at me and I didn’t like what I saw in her eyes. I could understand what she must have been thinking. Her father had been a force in this town and here I was, somebody who was nobody, and I had just knocked her notions about the world into a heap. I was glad I was already packed.

  “I never want to see you again, Josh! Never!” Cindy cried out.

  I had nothing for that but to tip my hat, mount my agitated horse, and head toward the western side of town.

  As I rode out, I could hear a lot of the neighbors talking about the fight and I smiled to myself as I overheard their conversations. I felt better about the whole situation, and by the time I made the outskirts, I was actually smiling.

  Chapter 21

  Have you met my horse Judy? She’s a mare of rare intelligence, stamina, and pure cussedness wrapped up in an equine body. Most of the time she’s looked after me with a mother’s determination, but there are times, like now, that I would swear she forgets I’m anywhere near.

  I slowly, slowly, slowly raised my head and stole a peek out the window I happened to be lying under. I could see my faithful companion faithfully cropping the grass in the front yard of the house I was currently hiding in. Between the house and the horse, there were about twenty Trippers. I couldn’t get an accurate count because they were out there, I was in here, and since the home I stupidly chose to spend the night in didn’t have any curtains on the windows, I couldn’t move without being seen.

  My weapons were what I had on me, namely my Colt and my knife. My rifle, bow, and arrows were out on my damn horse, who was wandering further and further away as the Trippers crowded around the house.

  Could I make a stand? Maybe. Would my shots call in more? Maybe. I had twenty-five bullets in my belt loops, five in my handgun and another ten in the rifle. It was too close for comfort and the risk of calling in more Trippers was too great. If there were twenty out there now, fifty could be around the corner. I needed to get outside and away from this trap. At least outside I could run.