Pursuit of the Apocalypse

by Benjamin Wallace

  Jerry raced to the bottom of the fence and began to climb. He quickly reached the limits of the cuffs. “Get up here, you moron.”

  Christopher climbed up just far enough for Jerry to grab the axe and drop back to the floor.

  The pair turned to find another hiding spot when several gunshots rang out in the stands and quieted the audience. Within moments there was only the fading ring of the blasts and the growling of the bear.

  Jerry looked into the stands as several armed warriors in animal war paint made their way through the crowd shoving or beating anyone that got in their way.

  Mr. Christopher saw them as well. “Oh shit. Not them.”

  “Who are they?”

  “They’re out of Alasis. They’re with the Skinners.”

  “You don’t seem happy to see them.”

  “No one is happy to see them.”

  Carrie stood up and began swearing at the men and women in the painted body armor. She rushed up the stairs to yell at one man and soon found herself sliding back down the stairs with a black eye.

  “We are from Alasis!” the man that punched her boomed. He pointed to the cage. “These men are now our prisoners. Anyone who says different will be killed.”

  There were no arguments from the crowd. The Freedom Enforcement Officers made no move toward their weapons.

  The man in the painted mask pointed to another of his group. “Get them out of there.”

  Mr. Christopher dragged Jerry back behind a box. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

  “Oh, okay. Good plan.”

  “The bear is nothing compared to these people,” Mr. Christopher said. “You’ve got to get me out of here. Get me out of here and I swear I will do everything I can to help you find the girl.”

  Jerry felt his grip tighten on the axe handle.

  The bear roared once more, but this time it was a scream of pain as the biker with the bat had taken the offensive.

  His offense didn’t last long as a wet smack and painful screams followed.

  The men from Alasis were making their way to the gate.

  Mr. Christopher was panicking. “Get me out of here, Jerry. I can help you find her, and then you’ll never see me again. I promise. Like I said, I’ll forget all about you.”

  “I’m not sure I want that.” Jerry stood and dragged the man to his feet. The Librarian slapped his left hand on top of the wooden box. Christopher’s right went with it. He pulled the chain between the cuffs taut and set the axe head on the links.

  The bounty hunter squealed. “What are you doing?”

  Jerry raised the axe above his head. “Don’t move.”

  Mr. Christopher took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Waiting for the blow. A second later he opened them and yelled, “Wait! Don’t!”

  The Librarian brought the axe down through the bounty hunter’s wrist.

  Mr. Christopher screamed and clenched his brand new stump against his chest as blood poured down the man’s stupid white suit and turned it red.

  The Librarian pulled his hands back. The severed limb dangled from the handcuffs. He pulled it free and dropped the severed limb at the bounty hunter’s feet. “I’ll bet you remember me now.”

  Mr. Christopher swore through his cries of anguish but was in too much shock to make any move toward his former prey.

  The men from Alasis reached the gate and shot the lock from the door.

  Jerry stood and waved his arms. “Hey, bear!”

  The call and gunshots drew the bear’s attention. It stood. Reaching nearly ten feet in the air it could clearly see over the obstacles in the arena. It spotted the man and roared before dropping back to its paws to charge.

  Jerry ran towards the tunnel on the opposite side of the court keeping the wood and fabric structures between himself and the animal. If everything worked out it would be reaching the one-handed man about the same time the men from Alasis did.

  He reached the other gate quickly and bashed the latch open with the axe.

  The crowd above him screamed at this infraction of the rules but made no move to stop him.

  He swung the gate open and rushed into the tunnel.

  It smelled horrible.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  The inside of Henry and Lynn’s minivan was everything Erica hoped it would be. It had ugly tan cloth-covered seats. There was well-worn luggage peeking over the backseat. There was a cooler full of cold drinks and a bag of snacks so they wouldn’t have to stop. There was even a compass on the dash held in place by a suction cup.

  “I love your van,” Erica said.

  “This old thing?” Henry asked with both hands safely on the wheel. “I think it’s a little dated, if you ask me.”

  Erica smiled, “I think it’s perfect.”

  “We were looking to get a newer model,” Henry said. “But then the world blew up.”

  Erica laughed at the first dad joke she’d heard since the apocalypse.

  “It’s just as well,” Henry said. “I hate dealing with car salesmen.”

  “Don’t get started, Henry,” Lynn said.

  “I’m not starting anything, woman.”

  “You don’t want to get your blood pressure up.”

  “I’m just saying I don’t care for their attitude, is all. They think they know everything and that you know nothing. But, I know. I know all their tricks. There’s the making you wait trick. And the talking to the manager trick.”

  “Henry,” Lynn chided.

  “And their coffee. Ugh. Their coffee is the worst.”

  “Well, it’s just as well then, isn’t it? We don’t need a new car.”

  “I don’t know.” Henry pulled off his Navy cap and scratched his bald head. “I’ve been thinking about trading it in for one of those newer models. I saw one on the showroom floor the other day that had a jet engine on the back and a metal plow on the front. And big old spikes on the hood. That sure would get those lousy pedestrians out of the way.”

  Erica giggled as if her grandfather himself had told the joke.

  “Stop it, Henry,” Lynn smiled. “You’re being terrible.”

  “I am not. It would serve them right, too. They’re always trying to walk down my sidewalks.” Henry looked at Erica in the rearview mirror and winked.

  Erica genuinely laughed knowing full well what he was saying wasn’t funny in the least. It was just good to see someone so relaxed that they could go on like he did.

  “Don’t you encourage him,” Lynn scolded in a playful tone. “He has this terrible condition where he thinks he’s funny.”

  “I was seeing a doctor about it, but the world blew up.”

  Erica laughed again.

  Lynn rolled her eyes. “Oh, he’s never going to stop now.”

  “I’m sorry,” Erica said. “This is all just too perfect. You two are perfect. This van is just perfect. It reminds me of the one my family used to have. Captain’s chairs in the middle. No guns on the roof. No flamethrowers. No spikes.”

  Lynn made a point to shudder. “I can’t stand guns. They’re horrible, wicked things. Nothing good ever came from a gun. But the whole country went gun crazy just before the end. It’s no wonder we’re in the position we are now.”

  Erica nodded. Out of necessity, she had become very comfortable around guns. In fact, she had become quite proficient with one. But she would happily go back to a day when the world was a safer place and they weren’t needed to survive. “I know. It’s terrible how necessary they’ve become.”

  “Oh, I don’t think they’re necessary at all,” Lynn said. “The only people that have a gun are criminals, plain and simple. There is no good reason that anyone should ever have a gun. Not now. Not ever.”

  Erica understood the sentiment, but with the reality of the world as it was she found it difficult to believe the couple hadn’t found a need to have some form of weapon around. “How do you protect yourself if you don’t have a gun?”

  “I’ve got a Henry.”

 
Henry tipped his Navy cap to the rearview mirror. “At your service.”

  Lynn turned around in her seat and leaned closer to Erica. “He may not look like much, but he’s a mean son of a bitch.”

  Henry laughed. It was infectious and the two women joined in. When the laughter faded, she said, “No really. Listen to this. Henry, do your tough voice.”

  Henry went from jovial to stern with a twitch of his bushy eyebrows. He launched into a stern speech. The words of which didn’t matter. It was the tone. It was the voice of the humorless neighbor telling off the neighborhood children. It sounded as if John Wayne had kids on his lawn and he was explaining to them with no amount of patience the laws pertaining to private property and the requirements of basic lawn maintenance. It was a voice that made you listen. And it made you uncomfortable, because you knew that, whatever it was saying, it wouldn’t be over anytime soon. There’d be a moral to the lecture and a quiz afterward followed up by a conversation with your parents.

  By the end of Henry’s example, Erica felt ashamed. She felt embarrassed and more than a little frightened. And it wasn’t until Henry smiled that the feelings abated.

  Erica gasped. “Wow, Henry! Look at you go.”

  He tipped his cap once again. “Thanks, I used to get a lot of practice. I’m worried I’m slipping.”

  Lynn brushed away the comment with the flick of her hand. “It’s always been good enough. We’ve driven from one side of the country to the other in the last few years and we’ve never had a problem that Henry’s Old Bastard voice couldn’t solve.”

  “You’ve traveled that much?” Erica asked.

  “Oh, yes,” Lynn said.

  “Were you looking for family?”

  “No. Henry is all the family I have.” Lynn looked out the window and gestured to the scenery. “We just wanted to see the country. We figured it was finally time.”

  “It was the off-off season,” Henry added. “Everywhere.”

  “Henry doesn’t like crowds,” Lynn said.

  “What about you, kiddo?” Henry spotted some debris in the road ahead and used his indicator before changing lanes to avoid it. “Are you looking for someone in Texas?”

  He settled into the new lane and left his blinker on.

  “No,” Erica answered. “But someone will be looking for me, and he’ll know to find me in Texas.”

  “Henry,” Lynn said. “Your blinker’s on?”

  “My what now?”

  “Your blinker’s on,” she repeated.

  “It is not.”

  “It is so. It’s going clickity, clickity, clickity.”

  “No it’s not.”

  “You can’t tell me you don’t hear it going clickity.”

  “You’re the one going all clickity.”

  “Very funny. Turn it off. It’s going to confuse someone.”

  “Who in the bloody hell is it going to confuse, Marilynn?”

  “Just turn it off, you grumpy old man.”

  Henry smiled and reached for the turn signal. He glanced into the side mirror out of habit. “Now what’s this monkey shit?” He turned the indicator off as the other passengers turned to see what had caught his attention.

  Two men on motorcycles were approaching from behind. There weren’t enough of them to be considered a gang, but there were enough to make Lynn tap Erica on the knee. “Maybe you should get down, sweetie.”

  Erica unbuckled and dropped down between the captain’s chairs.

  Lynn tossed a blanket over her and told her to stay still.

  Lynn straightened up in her seat and took a deep breath. “Get your glare ready, Henry.”

  The two riders caught up to the minivan quickly. They split and each rode along one side of the van, peering in as they passed. When the riders reached the driver’s side window, Henry furled one half of his brow and raised the other. He stiffened his lower lip and put a look on his face that said he had something to say and it was going to take a while to say it.

  The man on the bike saw this look and twisted more gas into the bike’s engine. The two bikes pulled away and sped off down the road.

  “They’re gone,” he said as his face returned to normal.

  Erica emerged from the blanket. “That’s some glare you’ve got, Henry.”

  Lynn smiled, “I told you my man was a mean son of a bitch.”

  “You never did like my mother,” Henry said and signaled to move back into the slow lane.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  Halfway down the tunnel, Jerry met two guards rushing to investigate the gunfire. Dressed in Freedom Enforcement red, it was clear from their panic that they weren’t expecting anyone to come from that end of the tunnel.

  They yelled at him to halt, and Jerry didn’t. He caught the first off guard with the haft of the axe and drove him back into the tunnel.

  The second man yelled and went for a gun at his waist.

  Jerry slid to the right and jabbed him in the face with the axe head. The guard’s nose broke and made a bloody mess of his uniform.

  The first guard recovered and lunged for the Librarian.

  Jerry swung the axe around and cracked the guard’s jaw with the blunt end of the head. This sent the man to the ground.

  The second guard backed away and grabbed for his face while he continued to raise the gun.

  Jerry placed a kick to his chest that sent the guard back against the concrete wall with enough force to shake the gun free. He poked him again with the blunt end of the axe and the guard dropped to the ground. All motion stopped.

  The Librarian picked up the gun, turned, and ran to the end of the tunnel. It terminated in a hallway filled with cages.

  He could hear a commotion coming, working its way down the tunnel from the arena. He didn’t have much time before any number of lunatics were on him. Jerry looked at the cages once more, tucked the gun into his waist, and took the axe in both hands.

  He worked his way down the cages, bashing the latches from the cell doors and pulling the doors open. He set several of the caged animals free before running deeper into the complex.

  He rounded a corner before the screaming began. His would-be captors were startled to find the bears roaming the hallways. And it wasn’t wise to startle bears.

  There were screams and snarls, gunshots and growls. But the gunshots ended long before the growls, and he figured he had bought himself more than a few minutes while his pursuers dealt with the new threat.

  He risked a glance around the corner and was surprised to see the bear charging down the hall. The beast wasn’t as large as the one in the arena, but it was big enough to make Jerry run. He wasn’t convinced the creature was coming for him, but he wasn’t one that believed he had to be sure of everything.

  Jerry turned a corner ahead of the bear and pulled open the first door he came across. He pulled the door shut behind him and pulled against the handle even though he knew for a fact that bears didn’t have enough thumbs to work a door.

  He heard the creature rush past the door without so much as a sniff. It probably wanted its freedom as much as he did.

  A groan alerted him to another presence in the room. He let go of the door and spun around to see another prisoner of Tolerance.

  The biker was slumped forward in a chair with his hands tied behind his back. The groan was the first indication he was coming to. The second was the string of threats he muttered as he tried to raise his head. He mumbled through swollen lips making most of the words hard to make out. It sounded like he was trying to say talons, but that couldn’t be right.

  Jerry crossed the room and stood before the prisoner. He put a hand on his shoulder and shook him until he looked up.

  The man raised his head and smiled through broken teeth. He stared at Jerry for a moment and laughed. “You’re him.”

  “I am?” Jerry asked.

  “You’re the guy.”

  “Which guy is that?”

  “The guy that everyone is after.”

 
; “And who are you?”

  “The name’s Hawk. I’m one of the guys that’s after you.”

  Jerry spotted a leather jacket dropped across a table next to a stuffed bird and put it together. “And how’s that working out for you?”

  “Ah, don’t be like that, man. It wasn’t anything personal. I don’t even know who you are.” His mouth was going dry as he spoke.

  Jerry found a bottle of water on the table and helped him drink. “That was probably your first mistake.”

  Hawk drank until the bottle was empty and nodded his thanks. “Nah, my first mistake was trusting these two morons I met.”

  “I think I’ve met those two morons as well.”

  “No, these guys are a special kind of stupid.”

  “Yep. That’s them.” Jerry tossed the water bottle back on the table.

  Hawk laughed again. “So, who the hell are you, anyway?”

  Jerry shrugged. “I’m the Librarian.”

  Hawk’s jaw dropped. And some blood streamed out. “No shit? You’re him?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re really him?”

  “Really yeah.”

  “Holy crap, man. Everybody is looking for you!”

  “We’ve covered that.”

  “No, I mean everybody. What is this all about, anyway?”

  “You know those big rigs Alasis uses to raid settlements?” Hawk nodded as Jerry crossed back to the door. He cracked it open and peered into the hallway. There was less screaming and roaring, but a moving shadow caused him to close the door. “I destroyed one.”

  “Oh, that is sweet! I hate those things. Nothing runs on my roads unless I let it. Except those. Even the Iron Eagles don’t mess with those. And you took one out. That’s nice work, man.”

  “Yeah. Nice work. Ever since, they’ve been after me and the woman I love. So we tried to hide, then she was kidnapped and now she’s escaped, but I don’t know where, and I’ve got Alasis, the lunatics of Tolerance, a motorcycle gang, two idiots, and a bunch of bears after me.”

  “Sure you kicked over a hornet’s nest. But you knew that would happen, right? You can’t fuck with Alasis and expect anything different, can you?”

  “I guess not.”

  “So why’d you do it?” Hawk asked. The question wasn’t sarcastic like it probably should have been.