Born in the Apocalypse 2: State of Ruin

by Joseph Talluto

  I looked around to get my bearings and was a little surprised by what I was seeing. There was a long cliff face in front of me, a road that stretched away to the north and south, and a river at my back.

  I knew what was north, so I took the gamble and turned Judy’s head south. She didn’t argue, and we were on our way again. The weather was warm, but the breeze coming off the river was nice on our faces, and the cliffs shaded us from the morning sun. We took it slowly, just enjoying where we were and what we were doing.

  After about an hour, I noticed a man walking towards me. He was taking it slowly as well, sticking closer to the cliff side of the road. He was wearing a backpack and carrying what looked like was a long spear. He had a handgun on his hip and long black beard adorning his face. As we passed each other, he raised his spear in salute and I raised my rifle.

  “Morning!” Black Beard said.

  “Morning,” I replied.

  “How’s the road?” he asked as he passed by.

  “Empty for the last hour,” I said.

  Black Beard nodded. “Been on the river road a while?”

  “Just the river,” I said. “I set out from near Galena.”

  Black Beard stopped. “You’ve traveled some.”

  I nodded and kept going. “Started southwest of Chicago.”

  Over my shoulder, I heard him mutter, “Holee….” I smiled to myself, and glanced back. The man was walking down the road, shaking his head. He glanced back a couple times at me, and each time, I just nodded and waved.

  About an hour later, Judy started to twitch a little, like she was smelling something in the wind. I kept my rifle handy and alternated from searching the shoreline to searching the cliffs.

  After a few minutes, I saw them. Under a bunch of bushes, there were four bodies. I went over to look and saw it was a man, a woman, and two kids. The man had been stabbed in the throat, while the woman had been stabbed in her chest. The kids had been both stabbed in the neck.

  My tracking skills came into play and I saw there was not much blood on the ground. They hadn’t been stabbed here, so they must have been hidden here. I looked around and saw drag marks, so I followed them to a campsite that was tucked back in a small cove in the cliff face. There was a tent that had great rents in it, like someone had cut open the tent and killed the family inside. There was a huge amount of blood on the ground, and it was easy to see that they had been killed while they slept.

  I didn’t understand what motivated people. There was nothing anyone had that couldn’t have been found someplace else, and there weren't enough people around that necessitated killing. I understood self-defense and revenge, but this was flat-out murder.

  Behind me, Judy nickered and I turned my head in time to see a flash of silver headed for my neck. I stumbled back as the spear just missed my face. I could see a man with a black beard pulling the weapon back to try and stab again. I swung my rifle up and fired it three times from the hip. The bullets slammed the man back and down, and the spear dropped to the ground. The echo of the shots rang along the cliffs and wall, startling birds to wing.

  I covered the man as he writhed in the grass, and soon he was still. I left him where he lay and got back to Judy.

  “Thanks, girl. You can have some extra corn tonight.” I gave my horse an extra pat on the head. I noticed as I climbed back in the saddle my hands were shaking. I had a hard time breathing, and I realized I was coming down off a massive adrenaline dump. I had read about this, and I just spent some time sitting there letting things readjust.

  I got back on the road and kept moving. I didn’t bother to bury the dead. I didn’t know them and I certainly didn’t care about Black Beard. The worms were welcome to that murdering scum.

  Chapter 30

  Around midday, I reached the small town of Elsah. It was a town that was tucked in a break in the cliffs that lined the river. It looked like a long time ago the river had carved out a lagoon, and when the water retreated, the town of Elsah popped up.

  I dismounted from Judy and walked her towards the entrance to the town. There seemed to be a kind of barrier running from one side of the cliffs to the other. It was a fence made out of whatever they could find. There was a lot of driftwood, some old furniture, several cars that had been tilted over, and the holes had been filled in with dirt and rocks. A single entrance, roughly wide enough for two people walking side by side, was the only entry. That passage was secured by a garage door. The door fit into slots in the wall, and Trippers weren’t going to muster enough strength in that narrow space to push it down. Above the door, on either side, was a platform manned by two people. I raised a hand in greeting and they lifted their long, metal tipped poles.

  A scream caught my attention, and I turned to see two children running for the wall. They must have been down by the river and were surprised by a Tripper. The older child was pulling the younger one, and the Tripper, a young man likely in his teens, was chasing them and gaining on them. The gatekeepers began shouting to try and distract the Tripper, but he was too focused on his prey to notice.

  I gave my rifle a brief thought, then decided on my bow. I was more accurate with it anyway. I pulled it quickly off Judy, who stamped and blew at the commotion.

  “Behave yourself, girl,” I said to my horse, more in irritation than alarm. I didn’t need her getting in the way of my shot and getting someone killed.

  I gauged the Tripper’s movements, and when he was about ten feet from the kids, I let out my breath and released. The arrow flew over the younger child’s head, missing the older one by inches, and struck the Tripper in the eye. It was a close shot, another inch and I would have missed him completely. But it went true and the Tripper fell to the ground.

  The kids ran past me while I looked for more threats. Another Tripper was making it’s way up from the river, and I walked that way, pulling the arrow I had just used out of the dead teen’s face. I quickly wiped off the arrow and nocked it, heading towards the infected person. This one was a woman, and the bath she had taken had given her an even more pathetic look than if she had been dry. Her clothes were ripped and torn, and it looked like she was wearing what was left of a bathrobe around her waist.

  I stopped and drew back the bowstring, and killed her with a shot to the head. She died barely twenty feet from the river. I took my arrow and washed it off, using her bathrobe to wipe it dry.

  I went back to my horse and saw that I had gained a bit of a reception at the gate. Several men were standing there and a couple of women as well. I put my bow away, and while my back was to them, I took the hammer thong off my Colt. I didn’t think they were hostile, but I had taken a beating before when I thought things were peaceful and didn’t need another lesson in caution.

  I took Judy’s reins in my left hand and walked toward the group. I could see the men looking me over, and I knew what they saw. I was a tall young man with broad shoulders and long arms. I had a gun on my hip and I had proven that I was good with a weapon. I was sure they were wondering if I was good with my gun as well.

  I was slightly surprised when the two women of the group approached me first.

  “Hello. My name is Barbara Westgate, and this is Jennifer Houser. We’d like to thank you for your help today. Mr.…?” Barbara was about my mother’s age, had she lived, and was a handsome woman in her own way. Jennifer was about Kim’s age, and she was a pretty blonde with her hair in a tight ponytail. Her features were a little distorted by the fierce look she was giving me, and I decided to ignore her for the time being.

  “Andrews. Joshua Andrews. Glad I was in the right place at the right time,” I said.

  Barbara smiled. “Is there anything we can do for you, Mr. Andrews? We do have a nice little community here, and we would like to show you some gratitude.”

  I looked at the sky. “Well, the day is getting a little long. If there is a place I could spend the night and spot for my horse, I’d consider that payment enough,” I said.

  “I thi
nk we can accommodate you there, Mr. Andrews,” Barbara said. She turned to the woman by her side. “Jennifer? Could you show Joshua to the red cottage? I think it will suit his needs.” She turned back to me. “If you don’t mind, I would like to speak to you later this evening.”

  I shrugged. “Sure thing. Whenever you want.” I looked at Jennifer. Her expression hadn’t changed. As a matter of fact, she looked like she had just eaten something that didn’t agree with her. “After you,” I said.

  Jennifer led the way through the gaggle of men, and they all nodded at me. A couple put their hands out to shake my hand and introduce themselves as I passed. Their mood was definitely more friendly than my guide’s seemed to be.

  The red cottage was exactly what you might think it would be. It was a small house that was located just inside the wall, near the south cliffs. Large trees provided a canopy of shade, and there was a nice yard full of grass for Judy to decimate.

  Inside, the house was sparse but neat. There was a simple table and chairs in the kitchen and the bedroom was small but serviceable. Each room had a hurricane lamp for the evening, and I was pleasantly surprised to find the water worked.

  I mentioned this to Jennifer and she shrugged. “We pump it in from the river, and collect it in a tank up on the cliffs. It works just like it used to. No hot water, but you get used to it,” she said.

  I laid out my guns and weapons on the table, and rummaged in my bags and packs until I found my cleaning kits. Jennifer’s eyes got wide at the sight and she stepped back.

  “You’ve traveled a bit, I guess,” she said.

  I nodded. “More than I think I should have, sometimes.”

  “How long were you on the river road?”

  I thought back. “About an hour or so. My boat was marooned on an island. You can have it if you can get it out of the mud. Maybe if it rains up north, it will pull it out of the mud,” I said.

  “You’d give me your boat?” Jennifer asked, incredulously.

  “I don’t need it anymore, and Judy didn’t really like it.”

  “Did you happen to see a family of four on the road? They just left here today,” Jennifer asked.

  “I did,” I said, looking down. “They had been murdered by a man with a black beard carrying a spear.”

  Jennifer sat down in a chair, put her face in her hands and started to cry. I didn’t know what to do or say, so I just set about cleaning my weapons. They had been dried after their dunking, but my dad always said to get oil in the guns after they got wet or they’ll fail you when you need them to work.

  After a minute, she looked up at me and I set down my rifle. I had cleaned out the action and chamber, and ran an oiled patch down the barrel.

  “What happened to the man?” Jennifer asked.

  “He brought a spear to a gunfight. He lost,” I said. “Judy saved my life on that one. She warned me in time to turn around, and where he missed, I didn’t.”

  Jennifer thought about it. “Those three shots we heard. That was you killing that man?”

  “Unless anyone else was doing some shooting, then yes, that was me,” I said.

  Jennifer looked at me, squinting her eyes and trying to sort something out in her head. “Are you a good man, Mr. Andrews?”

  I shrugged. “ I don’t like to be pushed, but I don’t go out of my way to bother people. Not sure if that makes me a good man or not.”

  Jennifer stood and her mood was considerably lighter than when she had walked me into this place.

  “You might just be a good man, Mr. Andrews. Try not to die on your travels,” Jennifer said.

  After that, she abruptly left the house and I watched her leave the yard. She stopped to pet Judy on the way out, and I could see her say thank you to my horse. Maybe she wasn’t such a sourpuss after all. But then, what the hell did I know about women?

  Chapter 31

  Half an hour after sundown, Barbara came by. She had with her two men who were on some sort of committee, I didn’t really catch the name. But they brought dinner, and I was grateful I didn’t have to eat my own provisions for the evening.

  After dinner, we talked for a good while. I spoke about my past and what I had been doing. I didn’t go much into detail about the mess in Galena; I’d rather forget about that.

  Barbara told me the story of Elsah, how they survived the waves of Trippers coming up from Alton, and how they kept on surviving through the years.

  I asked the about the wall, and if they had ever tried to see what was on the other side. When I asked that question, the three visitors got quiet and looked at each other.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  Barbara shook her head. “Early on, some people went over the wall because they had family on the other side. They never came back. No one who ever goes over the wall ever comes back.”

  “But if we’re immune to the Tripper Virus, shouldn’t it be okay to at least go look?” I asked.

  Barbara looked at me. “Who gave you that idea?”

  “Woman I rescued told me about the early days, right when things were going bad. She said the virus was airborne, and if we didn’t turn, we were immune,” I said.

  “Good Lord.” One of the men, whose name was Colby, spoke up. “Son, the virus is spread through fluid transfer. If a Tripper bites you, or drools on you and it gets into your system, you’re done. If it was airborne, we’d all be dead.”

  “Okay. Well, that makes me feel better about one thing,” I said.

  “What’s that?” Kevin asked.

  “Having to kill my father because he had been bit.”

  All three heads nodded, and Colby added to the agreement. “Hope if I get bit, my son takes me out before I turn.”

  We talked for a while longer, then said our good nights. In the morning, I packed up and headed out, waving goodbye to the folks who came out to see us go. I got a surprise when I found that one of the men had retrieved my boat from the island. Apparently, the river had risen just enough to get it free, and he brought it as a thank you for saving his children the other day. I was grateful because it allowed me to travel safely for a while longer, and I didn’t have to worry about black-bearded, spear-toting homicidal maniacs.

  Judy wasn’t too happy, but I fed her an apple from the stores they gave me and she perked up right away. We hit the river again, and drifted south. I knew eventually I was going to have to leave the river for good, since the wall was going to prevent me from going further, but it wasn’t a bad way to cover ground. I’d have to say that I had a much more positive view of the state than I did yesterday.

  Chapter 32

  “Two goddamn walls. Who the hell builds a fort and only finishes two goddamn walls?”

  I posed the question to my horse, but she was too tired to care what I was asking at the moment. All she cared about was not wanting to run any further. I was afraid I may have run her too far and she was done for the night. Under ordinary circumstances, I’d just find her a safe place, but unfortunately, we’d been running for the last four hours and what looked like a safe place turned out to be anything but.

  I’d drifted south on the Mississippi for another day, and finally parked my boat on an island near the levees. I didn’t have any logical reason for leaving the river other than I was beginning to think I was running out of it. Alton was a frightful mess, with burnt-out buildings and piles of skeletons and debris. What I could see from the river was not encouraging at all, and the Trippers who looked back at me tried their hand at swimming, only to be swept downstream. I had to wonder if there was a large collection of corpses choking the river at the wall, or if there was some other way the bodies were swept up. That was another reason I didn’t want to head downstream any further. I really didn’t want to see a great island made of Trippers.

  Along the Levee Road, I managed to pick up a quartet of Trippers who were otherwise engaged in eating a couple of wanderers who weren’t as fortunate as I. They followed me for a while, then found a few more friend
s to make the party more interesting. Every time I tried to thin their ranks, another group would pop up and I’d be running again. If it wasn’t for Judy, I’d have made a last stand somewhere and rolled the dice on my survival.

  When I reached this place, I thought I would be finally safe. The sun was well past the horizon, and I knew the hiding Trippers would be making their nighttime hunting trips. In the darkness, I could see the walls, large yellow bastions made of stone. There was a big wooden gate and as I pushed it open, I was practically weeping with relief. I could shelter behind these walls for days.

  That feeling disappeared as I looked around the inner yard. There were several buildings, most of them made of the same stone, but the walls ended at the corners of the ones holding up the damn gates. I was standing in a fort that had only two walls.

  “All right girl. You first,” I said. I knew Trippers wouldn’t try their luck at killing her; they never seemed to be interested in killing animals. But they could hurt her, and that wasn’t a risk I was willing to take. I brought her over to one of the stone buildings and set her up inside. She didn’t put up a fight and I knew she was tired. I made sure she could get out if she wanted to, and that was the best insurance I had for her survival.

  I went back outside to figure the situation. About twenty-five Trippers were on their way here, and who knew how any others would be wandering this way. I couldn’t get caught in a building, and I couldn’t get caught on the walls. This was going to take some moving.

  In the yard, there were some large buildings that were unfinished, and had deep holes for foundations. I went around to the two of them and removed the ladders that led down into them. I couldn’t tell you why these unfinished buildings were here, but then again, there were the missing walls.

  I figured those foundations could be what saves me. If I played it right, I might just survive this mess. I placed myself in between the two foundations and sat down to wait.