Freedom Rock Chronicles (Book 1): Death Has Fallen

by Kris Beus

  With a slow pace they carried on with me behind them watching. After a couple miles they made their way into a grove of pines. As I lost vision my heart began racing since I no longer knew if Amanda was safe or not. Quickly I made my way towards the grove stopping a hundred yards out. Even with the scope direct vision of them was impossible. The only thing I spotted was movement. This was certainly their camp so I began looking at the best vantage point to enter.

  As I spotted to the left there was nothing, but flat ground. To the right of the grove a small hill rose which would give good vision inside, though making me easy to spot as well. I decided to make my way around and climb the hill from opposite of the grove. It took quite some time, but I finally made it to the other side. Slowly I climbed attempting to be silent as possible. There was only a light covering of grass on the hill which aided muffling my footsteps. As I neared the top the voices seemed to boom within my ear drums. Though the men seemed quite aware of survival by picking such a well-covered campsite they had no idea of how far their voices would reach.

  The top of the hill gave very little cover, but to see me they would have to look directly at me. I laid getting my scope in line with the campsite. From this position I could make out the majority of their camp. Amanda was easy to spot laying on the outskirts tied at the wrist and ankles with some type of cord. To my horror she was not the only prisoner held within the camp. I saw a woman who looked near death lying on the ground tied and stripped with only a blanket. As I saw this rage grew within me and I was glad the only way to stop these two men would be ending their lives. No police, no judge, no jury, as a people we now only had the justice we were willing to deal ourselves.

  One of the men entered my scope blocking the view of the young woman tied up. I thought of pulling the trigger, but felt it was not a good plan since I had no idea where the other man was. The man attempted to talk with the young girl, but she was not responsive. He did the unexpected by stomping on the girls midsection. Again I felt completely justified in taking the life of these two. I began scanning the grove attempting to locate the other man who seemed to disappear. After ten minutes or so he came into view holding a roll of toilet paper. He set it next to a stump which seemed to contain cups and other dishes. They both sat on a log which was placed for sitting. Laughing and joking filled the air as one man talked and pointed to Amanda.

  As I looked back to Amanda I saw something which I hadn’t seen in her before. Her face once filled with a fierceness and life now looked as if dead. The rage only seemed to grow and my patience began to fade. The two men were still sitting on the log just staring and talking to and about the women they captured. Looking at them I noticed they didn’t really seem like the men you would suspect of capturing and hurting women. The one sitting on the left had a short beard and short black hair. As he smiled at the other man if I hadn’t seen the prisoners I would have suspected him to be as normal as myself. The other man looked a bit more suspicious, but still lacked that serial killer/rapist look. His beard seemed to be quite a bit longer and rather than having the jeans and t-shirt the other one was wearing flannel.

  I was unable to see the man’s face on the right since he was sitting with his back towards me. Slowly I held my breath as I placed the crosshair on the back of his head resting it right on the top for any drop that may occur. Not wasting a second I pulled the trigger watching his face disperse across the other gentleman’s profile. As quickly as possible I grabbed the bolt kicking out the empty shell and placing another in the chamber. When I looked through the scope the other man ran to a box in the middle of the camp looking for a weapon. He was lucky a small pine trunk blocked a good shot. I had to make due with putting a bullet through his calf. Again a crack rocked the hillside as I pulled the trigger and I felt the power of my gun as it pushed back into my shoulder. I must have hit the leg just right because the bullet split it in two leaving the remnants scattered behind him.

  The man fell over in pain giving me a much better shot at more deadly spot. I took aim at his midsection and shot. With most guns it would have taken minutes if not an hour to bleed out, but with a 300 Weatherby and bullets made for dropping a moose he died in seconds. These kills were nothing like Caz or even the hordes of zombies I have maimed. I felt absolutely nothing after watching their life leave their bodies and spirits shoot straight to hell. The best explanation for what I felt was self-righteous justice and the rage which built release with each bullet fired.

  Before running into the camp and saving the prisoners I first waited making sure only two men called the camp home. After about ten minutes I decided the camp was empty and began making my way down. As I approached a new fear came across me. I wondered how Amanda would react to more blood spilled, but looking upon her and the look of relief, the fear subsided. As I took the gag they had placed, out of her mouth she began repeating “Thank you”. I untied her and helped her up. We walked over to the other woman who also looked quite shocked and pleased her nightmare was over. She was not gagged and did not say anything as we untied her feet and hands. I asked her if she had any clothes in camp.

  “No they burned them so I wouldn’t try and run away,” she said while looking towards the ground with shame.

  I asked Amanda if she had any extra clothes. She went over to where they had thrown her pack and began looking through pulling an undershirt and pair of panties. Turning my back to give the woman privacy, she put the clothes on. I went over looking through the two men’s supplies and found some extra clothes they had brought. Both men were quite a bit larger than the young woman. The shirt was small enough it would not fall off, but the pants would have to be cut down to size and tied on with the cords they had used to bind their victims.

  I asked her to come stand by me so I could see how much of the pants to cut. She walked with a limp, it was easy to see the affect laying on the ground for days had. As she walked over I found her very beautiful. She had blond hair that fell just beyond her shoulders. Her eyes were dark blue and as she looked at me she smiled as if to say thank you. Her body was extremely thin from starvation. They must not have wanted to share any food, using her only for sex. Once again the rage that filled me took over and I wished they were still alive so I could pull the trigger once more. I held up the pants to her waist and asked her to hold them. I then bent the legs to the length they needed to be and told her to let go.

  In the supplies they had a very nice machete. It cut the pants very cleanly making them the perfect height. I asked her to come try them on and hold them up. She put the pants up holding them to her waist. I went to the cord I untied from Amanda and cut a piece around four feet long. I walked over the woman lacing the cord through the belt loops and tying a bow so she would be able to untie and take them off when needed. Another problem arose when I looked at her bare feet. There would be no way she could come along without some type of foot protection.

  “They didn’t happen to save your shoes did they?” I looked at her with pessimism knowing the answer.

  She looked down at her feet shaking her head letting me know they burned everything that would have made it possible for her to escape. I put my foot up against hers and was disappointed in seeing her feet were extremely small. This meant the men’s shoes would not fit. I walked over to each of them then looked at Amanda asking “Any ideas?”

  Looking at me then the two dead men then back at me she said “We have the materials to make some shoes.”

  She stood up walking over to the dead man lying on the log missing half his face. She reached down pulling the hiking boots from his feet. I looked through the box where they had put all their clothes and other resources they didn’t need for immediate use. Looking through I found a normal pair of white socks and handed them to the woman asking “What’s your name?”.

  She looked into my eyes somewhat frightened at the personal question, but answering “Jaime… Jaime Miles.”

  As she said her name there was a declaration of humanity. Even
though these two men had taken away any individuality she may have had she could rebuild. Smiling I said “Jaime huh, nice to meet you my name is Jake. Jake Olsen.”

  She put the socks on. Amanda was busy over at the makeshift table. As I went through the different boxes I found one full of canned food and a can opener. Looking at Jaime and Amanda I asked “You guys hungry?” They both turned smiling and shook their heads. Jaime adding “Extremely.”

  I found a can of ham and beans, then a couple cans of green beans and one of mixed vegetables. Their fire was out, but not wanting cold corn like I had the previous night I began grabbing the wood to rebuild it. There was plenty of dry wood and pine needles surrounding us which made making the fire much easier. This time I was able to get the fire going quickly having some experience from earlier. As the fire grew I grabbed the pots they had brought to cook food. Looking into them I thought to myself “Well these two may have been nasty individuals, but at least they kept their dishes clean.”

  I poured all the vegetables into one pot and the pork and beans into another. The food cooked slowly. While waiting for the food to heat I walked over to the man lying on the log and pulled him into the brush. I came back doing the same to the other one. Walking back over to the log I rolled it over covering the spot covered in blood. Walking back to the fire pit I noticed the food had begun to boil. Reaching down I burnt myself on the metal handle. Both girls looked at me and began giggling causing myself to laugh a bit. I grabbed a shirt out of the clothing box and brought the pots over to the log.

  Before we began eating I asked Jaime how long it has been since she ate. She sat staring as if contemplating the question. “They let me eat two bites of raviolis four days ago”. Even though I was prepared for her answer seeing that she was very malnourished I sat stunned and angry.

  “Please come eat, but be very careful to not overeat you need to let your body adjust.”

  There was no plates, but I was able to find a few bowls we could use. I poured some of the ham and beans into a bowl and began eating. Jaime sat next to me grabbing the vegetables and pouring them into a bowl. Amanda like me started with the pork and beans. We sat silently, the tension between Amanda and me still quite thick.

  Without thinking I blurted out, “He was bitten and about to become one of them I couldn’t let that happen.”

  She looked at me as tears began appearing in her eyes and said “I know he was bitten, but you should have told me you were going to shoot him.”

  “I know there just wasn’t time. You were asleep and he was beginning to change; I watched my mother change and could not let it happen again. He wouldn’t have lasted the night.” As I said this it felt like I was attempting to assure myself as much as Amanda.

  For the rest of the meal all three of us did not speak. The cold of night began flowing through the air. I began making my bed out of the blankets that were around the camp and placed it next to the fire. “We should sleep together and be next to the fire for warmth.” Looking at the two exhausted women they could see I had no hidden motives especially as I laid down fully dressed. Both of them walked over climbing under the blankets. They were hesitant, but also very cold and wanting warmth. The silence fell once again and I laid thinking of our travels for the next day. As I looked up the moonlight fought its way through the thick covering of pine. Next to me sat the two individuals I had saved and the only good thing that has happened since the virus. As my eyes closed the last thought to pass through my mind was “today was a good day”.

  Chapter 7

  I awoke stunned that I had slept entirely through the night. Perhaps waking every hour last night had worn me out more than I thought. I was surprised to see both women had stayed in camp and were huddled around the fire attempting to make breakfast out of the slim choices the men had left us. Sitting up the smell coming from the pot was much more appetizing than what I threw together the night before. Just for a moment I felt happiness being in the company of two friends and safe for the moment. “What’s cooking?” I asked.

  They turned a bit spooked not expecting me awake.

  “Oh a little bit of this and a little bit off that.” Jaime said with a slight smile.

  It was a magnificent thing to see the perseverance of someone who went through the trama she went through be in such a good mood. “It smells wonderful” I said standing up to stretch my legs. “We will still need to figure out how to make you some shoes.” I looked down at her feet.

  “Yes we will, but I have been barefoot for quite some time and have begun to get used to it.”

  As she said this the smile had left her face and her previous experience shown through. Not wanting to push her to tell me anything more than she wanted about her past I dropped the subject and once again began looking through everything they had. I began sitting out all of their belongings so we could see what they had. To my shock they had a couple pare of sandals. I asked Jaime to come try them on once she was done helping cook breakfast.

  She did and as the straps cinched up they seemed to almost fit. She stood up to try them out. They jiggled only a bit as she walked, but for the most part would stay on her feet. Perhaps there would be some way to tighten them up. I asked her “How do they feel?”

  Before she could answer Amanda brings her the shoes she had made as well.

  “Now you have two pair.” Amanda said gently.

  She turned smiling and said, “These are much better than going barefoot.”

  “Glad to help.” I smiled back then stood and helped Amanda serve the breakfast into the bowls we used last night. They had all of the food mixed together in a large bowl over the fire. It was difficult to identify all the different ingredients. The corn was easy to identify and the Vienna sausages stuck out as well, but somehow they found a nice tomato sauce that brought it all together. Amanda filled her own bowl and went to sit down. I scooped a large portion for Jaime and myself. I handed the bowl to Jaime then we both went and sat next to Amanda.

  The silence was once again thick Jaime identified the tension quickly between Amanda and I.

  To break the silence I asked, “Would you two like to come with me to see if that quarry holds any hope?”

  Jaime looked up quickly with a confused look on her face. “Quarry?” She asked.

  “Yes an old friend who was travelling with us told us about the quarry where people had begun rebuilding.” As I discussed Caz my thoughts once again fell to the sadness which his death had caused me. Looking over towards Amanda I could see her gaze intently at the food before her contemplating my statement. Finally she spoke and very quietly said “I suppose it would be safer for us to stick together, now I know what type of people are around.”

  “Glad you are coming Amanda, what about you Jaime?” I asked, but already knowing she would accept.

  “I would love to tag along.” Again it was almost startling to see her with such optimism, but it seemed to be a part of her character. With her able to lighten the mood in such dark circumstances she would be a valuable companion. The two men had done a wonderful job packing up for a long stay. They had every piece of survival gear needed to survive in the wilderness. Looking in my pack it was quite full of all the weapons and ammo I grabbed from the pawn shop and from Caz’s pack. I emptied all the supplies and grabbed Amanda’s pack which had been dumped out by the two men. I then looked through the camp finding a pack that would be suitable for Jaime.

  With the three packs empty and spread in front of me I began going through all the different camp boxes lying around. The organization system the two men had made it easy to pick and choose the best things to place in each pack. I packed my backpack first. Starting with survival gear I placed a compass, my lucky board, canteen, lighters, 7 different cans of food, and two pots. Most of the items fit quite well into all the little pockets covering the front of the pack. I then grabbed a couple blankets and one of the men’s set of clothes that would be a suitable change. Since it was getting so cold at night I picked th
e flannel. I then picked one of the 9 millimeters and a half box of bullets.

  Amanda’s bag came next. In her bag I placed an extra canteen, one lighter, the large cleaver from the pawn shop, a couple bowls and the boxes of plastic silverware. Walking over to where they dumped her things on the ground I picked up the little clothes she had, some blankets, and a couple pistols and placed them in her bag. In the extra pockets on the outside of the bag I placed the can opener, two cans of food, and a box of ammunition for the pistols.

  Julie’s bag was next and I was worried about how much weight she could carry. Trying to keep the load light I only packed a few extra shirts and a couple cans of food. In the front pockets I placed a box of .22 ammo and handed her the rifle so she would have something to protect herself with. It was cool enough we needed jackets, so we left them out ready to put on once we left the warmth of the fire.

  It was still early morning, the little sun that made it through the thick cover of pines above felt good on my face. Since we were far from other people and hopefully the walking dead I felt safe and we stayed put for a couple hours just enjoying the day. It seemed Amanda had begun to forgive me since she began asking me about my life before the disease. With the question, my mind floated back in time to a much simpler place where death wasn’t waiting around every corner. I told her about my passions which included reading, playing games, and spending time at the old folk’s home back in Jackson. With the last passion her eyes perked up showing interest.

  She asked, “What would you do there?”

  “Usually read, play chess, or just take time talking.” I said.

  Thinking more about it I realized it was the one part of my life I knew mattered. In our society we quickly throw the old aside and with them their wisdom. The newer generations constantly felt that wisdom was worthless and if someone could not pull their weight then they didn’t need the basic respect every human deserved. I knew that going into the home twice a week did little to circumvent the societal structure years and years put in place, but it was all I could think to do.