The Remnants of Yesterday

by Anthony M. Strong

  After about an hour of walking, we came across a stream running through the woods. The pristine, clear, water bubbled over rocks and around boulders on its way downhill. Here and there, a larger slab of bedrock was exposed, and in these places the water flowed down over the edge in mini waterfalls.

  “We should stop here for a moment.” I squatted down and let the cool water run over my hand, then scooped some up in my palms and drank before reaching into my pack and pulling out a couple of empty plastic water bottles saved for just such a fortuitous occasion. “We can restock on water.”

  “Good idea.” Clara knelt beside me and started to fill her own water bottles. “Now if only we could find some food that wasn’t baked beans and sandwich bread.”

  “Really?” I laughed. “A few days ago you were complaining about having nothing to eat but chocolate and chips.”

  “What I’d really like is a big fat cheeseburger with extra pickles.” She pushed the bottles back into her pack and splashed water on her face. “With a side of fries.”

  Emily finished filling her own bottle. “Would you quit it? You’re making the rest of us hungry now.”

  “Sorry.” Clara grinned.

  “Fried chicken.” Darwin spoke up. “If I could eat anything in the world right now it would be fried chicken.”

  “Fairground fried dough covered in powdered sugar,” Emily said. “See, now you’ve got me at it.”

  “Movie theater popcorn,” I weighed in, “dripping in butter.”

  “Ohh. That sounds so good,” Clara agreed. “Not much chance of finding a movie theater around here, I’m afraid.”

  “That’s alright. There aren’t any good movies playing anyhow.” I joked.

  Clara laughed, the sound music to my ears. “Who cares what the movie is… It’s all about the popcorn.”

  “You are so right. I stand corrected.” I stood up and stretched. “Tell you what, if we ever get out of this-”

  “Shhh.” Darwin waved at me to keep quiet. “Do you hear that?”

  “What now.” The sparkle left Clara’s eyes, replaced by a look of sheer desperation. “Please tell me we’re not going to have to run again. I’m so sick of running away from things.”

  “Hush.” Darwin frowned. “Just keep quiet for a moment and listen.”

  For a while no one spoke, each of us straining our ears, listening for whatever Darwin had heard. High above, in the canopy, a bird chirped, eliciting an answering chorus of tweets from somewhere off to our left, the wind rustled the leaves, and the stream made small gurgling sounds as it wound through the landscape. None of this was out of the ordinary.

  “I don’t hear anything,” I said at last.

  “I don’t hear it now either.” Darwin looked perplexed. “Maybe I imagined it.”

  “We are all very tired,” Clara said. “Lack of sleep can do odd things to a person.”

  “I’m pretty sure it was real,” Darwin said. “Besides, I don’t feel all that tired right now.”

  “What did you think you heard anyway,” Emily Asked.

  “Music,” Darwin replied. “I heard music. It was faint, but definitely there.”

  “What?” I found it hard to believe anyone would be playing music in the middle of the woods. Even if there was somebody else out here, which I highly doubted, they would have to be insane to go around playing music given the circumstances. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” Darwin looked indignant. “Yes, I’m sure. It was Madonna I think.”

  “Madonna.” I repeated, incredulous. “Is it possible to get flashbacks from too much pot?”

  “Very funny.” Darwin stuck his lip out. “I know what I heard. It was Madonna.”

  “I believe you.” Emily put a hand on his shoulder. “What song was it?”

  “I didn’t hear much of it, just a few snatches,” Darwin said, “but I think it was Like a Virgin, the old Eighties song.”

  “Well, I’m convinced. How about you?” I turned to Clara, a grin on my face.

  “Stop it.” Clara punched me playfully on the arm. “You’re teasing him.”

  “Maybe a little bit.” I rubbed my arm in mock distress. “You have quite a left hook there. Let me guess, your father taught you in between showing you how to break in to diners with crow bars.”

  “Of course. Who else.”

  “Shh.” This time it was Emily. “Darwin’s right. I can hear music.”

  I glanced at Clara and raised my eyebrows, because now I heard it too. From somewhere out in the woods, drifting on the breeze, came the unmistakable sound of Katrina and the Waves.

  4

  8

  “THAT SOUNDS like Walking on Sunshine.” I could not believe my ears. “What the–“

  “It is.” Clara shook her head. “Walking on Sunshine. There must be another survivor out here.”

  “With a boom box and a bunch of cassette tapes from the Eighties apparently,” Emily added. “My mother used to play that song.”

  “We have to find them.” Emily’s eyes grew wide. “What if the Crazies get to them?”

  “I agree.” It felt surreal to be listening to pop songs out in the middle of the woods. Did the person playing the music not know that they were in imminent danger, or did they just not care? “But let’s proceed with caution. Whoever is playing the music might be friendly, but on the other hand it may be a trap.”

  “Why would it be a trap?” Darwin said. “What purpose would that serve?”

  “Think about it,” I said. “What better way to keep us off balance, to get our guard down, than to lure us in thinking we’ve found someone who doesn’t understand what they are doing.”

  “Okay, I see where you are coming from. But why would they bother?” Darwin pressed.

  “Food, water, guns.” I glanced at Clara and Emily. “To get their hands on the girls.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Emily said, but there was a hint of concern on her face even so.

  “He’s right.” Clara put her hands on her hips. Now she sounded nervous too. “God knows we’ve had enough surprises over the last couple of days. I’m with Hayden.”

  “We find them, but if there’s even a hint of danger, we hold back and assess the situation before revealing ourselves.” I looked around the group, searching their faces, pleased to see they were all taking my words to heart. “If it looks fishy we walk away. Agreed?”

  “Agreed.” AS one, the group spoke up.

  “So how do we find them?” Emily asked.

  “I guess we follow the music.” I listened for a moment. The song was winding down, but I thought I could pinpoint the general direction of the sound. “It’s this way.” I pointed, taking a step toward the waning music, pushing branches aside as I went.

  Without hesitation the others followed, first Clara, then Emily, with Darwin bringing up the rear.

  We walked in silence until the song ended, then paused, waiting to see if another track would start up. I hoped that whoever was playing the music hadn’t decided that enough was enough. The seconds ticked by, one by one, and I started to think we might have imagined the music after all. After a pause of maybe half a minute, it started up again, louder now.

  We were getting closer.

  “Come on,” I whispered, getting my bearings once more and pushing forward toward the sound.

  After a few minutes, we came to a ravine, a deep trough in the ground that I could see no way around. Without hesitation, I started down the slope, almost slipping a few times on the treacherous leaves that dotted the bank. When I reached the bottom, I turned and reached out, taking Clara’s hand and helping her the last few steps, then waited for the other two before starting up the other side. It was a tough climb, but the music was much louder from here, and I was sure we would come across the source soon.

  I wasn’t disappointed.

  No sooner had I cleared the top of the ravine than I discovered who was playing the music, and why.

  And none of it made a lick of se
nse.

  49

  “IS THAT WHAT I think it is?” Clara stared in disbelief at the sight that now presented itself.

  “I think so.” I stood, mouth open like some kind of idiot, staring. “But I’m as baffled as you.”

  “This is getting too weird,” Darwin whispered. “I mean, really screwed up, strange. If I didn’t know better I’d swear you were right and I was hallucinating.”

  “Yeah.” I blinked, unsure if I was seeing what I thought I was, or if we were all losing our minds.

  There, in a wide clearing about fifty feet ahead of us, stood a cluster of small cabins. I counted maybe twelve in all, arranged in two rows on each side of a central space. Two SUV’s and a bright yellow school bus were parked toward the edge of the clearing, next to what looked like a crudely paved road that snaked away into the woods. But it was the activity in the open space between the rows of cabins that I found so incredible.

  A whole group of people engaged in what I could only describe as a vigorous aerobics session.

  “Are they working out?” Emily asked.

  “I think so,” I replied. “It certainly looks like they are.”

  There were at least sixteen people in the clearing, a mix of male and female, some young and a few older. They were lined up in two rows, one behind the other, facing a tall man wearing a pair of bright white shorts and a loose fitting tee. He barked out orders to the group, jumping up and down to the beat of the music, his arms swinging wildly as he did so. Even from a distance, I could tell that he was slightly breathless.

  “What should we do?” Clara asked. “Do we go on in and introduce ourselves?”

  “They seem harmless enough,” Emily added. “If this is a trap, it gets an A+ from me for originality.”

  “No shit.” Darwin chimed in. “There are easier ways to ambush someone than that. It looks like way too much work. I’m getting out of breath just watching them.”

  The music ended again. The group stopped exercising and broke ranks, stretching, leaning down with their hands on their knees catching their breath, or chatting to the person next to them. The ringleader just stood with his arms at his side, watching them for a moment, before a new song started to play and he corralled them all back in line for another frantic session of jumping and jogging on the spot.

  “Well? What should we do?” Clara pressed.

  “I guess we go in there and say hello.” I still felt like we may be walking into something we might regret later, but it seemed far-fetched that this ragtag group of people, bopping out to old songs from thirty years ago, would really be much of a threat. How they had come to be in the middle of the woods in the first place was a mystery though, and I really wanted to get to the bottom of it. Plus, they had cabins, and I was not sure I could take another night sleeping on the forest floor with nothing but a small fire to keep me warm.

  “Should we wait for them to finish up?” Emily said. “They look pretty into their workout.”

  “I don’t think so.” I stepped from the trees. “Who knows how long that will be.”

  50

  ALL EYES TURNED toward us.

  The leader of the group squatted down and shut off a portable CD player, killing the music, before standing again and approaching.

  “Can I help you people?” He had a deep bass voice. The kind of voice that made you want to do as he said. “Are you lost?”

  “You could say that.” I stopped walking and waited for him to close the gap between us. It seemed prudent not to get to close to the main group. They looked sane, but on the other hand, they were out in a forest clearing dancing. “What is this place?”

  “This?” He swept an arm around the clearing like a king surveying his realm. “This is Camp Eden, my own little slice of heaven away from the rigors of the real world.”

  “You’re just hiding out here?” Emily said.

  “Well I wouldn’t exactly call it hiding. I’m J.T., by the way.”

  “J.T.?”

  “Jonathan Templeton the third. At your service.”

  “I know that name,” Darwin exclaimed. “I’ve heard of you.”

  I looked at him, confused. “You have?”

  “Yes. This is so incredible.” Darwin was talking fast, the words tumbling from his mouth. “You own Endyne Digital Studios.”

  “Guilty as charged.” J.T. looked proud. He puffed his chest out. “But don’t hold it against me.”

  “Are you kidding me? This is freaking awesome.” Darwin pumped a fist in the air. Apparently he’d forgotten the monsters and the crazy people, at least for a moment. “I wish I had my camera with me. What a selfie that would make.”

  “Okay. Timeout,” I said. “Darwin, who is this and how do you know him?”

  “I can’t believe none of you have heard of this guy.” Darwin grinned. “He’s a legend.”

  “Thank you.” J.T. interrupted.

  Darwin carried on speaking. “Orc Slayer, Dragon Rising, The Halls of Valhalla.”

  “What are you talking about?” Clara said.

  “Video games.” Darwin said. “But not just games… The best games ever, and they were all designed by this guy. He’s a legend in the gaming universe.”

  “Well that explains a few things,” I said. It figured that Darwin would be a video game nerd. “But it still doesn’t explain all this. Camp Eva or whatever it is.”

  “Camp Eve,” J.T. replied. “My personal corporate retreat. I come up here several times a year with my brightest and best employees.” He grinned.

  I wondered if he was aware that his teeth looked unnaturally white, much too bright. His deep tan only accentuated the contrast. “So you came up here to escape the attack?”

  “We don’t know that it was an attack,” Clara reminded me. “We have no idea what happened.”

  “Fine,” I said. “You came here to get away from the Crazies? The beasts?”

  “What are you talking about, dear boy?” J.T. looked genuinely confused. “What attack?”

  “Four nights ago,” I said. “The virus. People going insane, cars refusing to start, cell phones not working. The total collapse of society.”

  “Oh, this is too good.” J.T. grinned, flashing those pearly whites again. “Did Donaldson put you up to this? That old bastard. I knew he would come up with some way to get me back for last year’s Christmas party.”

  “What? No.” I stammered. “What are you talking about?”

  “Alright, you almost had me, but it’s time to drop the act.”

  “This isn’t an act. I’m serious.” I pointed back toward the woods, to where we’d just emerged. “People are dead. There are burned bodies on the highways, crashed jets, and lunatics trying to kill us. The world has gone to shit.”

  “Of course it has.” J.T. looked puzzled. “A practical joke, right?”

  “You don’t have a clue, do you?” I realized that J.T., and by extension his entire group, actually had no idea what was going on in the outside world. “Don’t you guys have cell phones up here? TV? Internet?”

  “None of it. This is a retreat. We leave all of that stuff behind and come up here to brainstorm. You know, we remove the distractions.”

  I looked at him in disbelief. He really, truly didn’t know. Behind him, the aerobics class had dispersed and was heading toward the cabins, chatting and laughing among themselves. How was it possible that these people could have been up here all this time blissfully unaware of the hell being wrought all around them? “Didn’t you notice something was wrong when the electricity went out?”

  “We have electric,” J.T. said. “It works just fine.”

  “That’s impossible. Nothing works,” Clara protested. “The power is out everywhere.”

  “Not here,” J.T. insisted. “Everything is off the grid. Look.” He pointed toward the cabins.

  I looked past him, my eyes roaming the clearing, the structures and the vehicles, and then I understood why they hadn’t noticed anything amiss, why they wer
e going about their business as if nothing had changed. Every one of the buildings sported an array of solar panels on the roof, tilted toward the sky. The tree branches that overhung the clearing had been cut back by several feet around the cabins to allow the panels to do their job. They probably had well water too, which meant this place was completely self-sufficient. No ties to the outside.

  “They have power.” Emily looked like she was about to kiss J.T. “Holy crap they actually have power.”

  “We do indeed.” The look on J.T.’s face had changed from one of bemusement to one of concern. “And now I think you should accompany me to my quarters, and then you can fill me in on what’s been going on.”

  51

  “TELL ME EVERYTHING.” J.T. sat opposite us in his sparely furnished cabin, occupying a high backed leather swivel chair next to a dark wood desk that contained exactly three items, a lamp, a pen, and a spiral bound notepad.

  I took the lead, explaining everything from the headache, my collapse, and finding Clara behind the counter of the gas station, to the motel, and the creatures crawling along the roofline. I told him how we were attacked by Walter, how we came to save Emily, and all about the crazy waitress locked in the cooler. Through all of this J.T. sat tight lipped, his fingers arched under his chin, a puzzled look upon his face.

  When I finished telling my tale, he remained silent for a moment, his brow furrowed. Finally, as if coming to a mental conclusion, he raised himself from the chair. “Follow me.”

  He crossed the room, to a door set into the back of the cabin and drew a key from his pocket. Unlocking it, he invited us through.

  The room beyond was a surprise. Unlike the rest of the cabin, which was devoid of all but the most basic items, no TV, no media center, no computer, this room looked like a high tech playground. Although small, the space contained an array of gadgets. A metal desk, utilitarian in design, occupied one wall. Upon the desk sat a razor thin laptop in sleek aluminum. On the far wall, a large curved screen TV was mounted, probably sixty inches or more, and beneath that a small cable box with HDMI cords that snaked into the wall, probably to reappear behind the unit. I guessed that somewhere up on the roof, possibly concealed from sight to preserve the ambience of the place, was a satellite dish, although J.T. never confirmed this. It was the object on a small cart near the door that drew my attention. A square, bulky radio base station with a handset clipped to the side.