Table of Contents
Chapter 1 ~ Back Again
Chapter 2 ~ A New Life
Chapter 3 ~ Missing
Chapter 4 ~ Search
Chapter 5 ~ Baseball
Chapter 6 ~ More Troubles
Chapter 7 ~ Road Trip
Chapter 8 ~ Along the Watchtower
Chapter 9 ~ Reunited
Chapter 10 ~ Horses
Chapter 11 ~ Where’s Harish?
Chapter 12 ~ Reunited
Chapter 13 ~ Stealing Rabbits
Chapter 14 ~ Stakeout
Chapter 15 ~ Crisis
Chapter 16 ~ Under Attack
Chapter 17 ~ Deeper & Darker
Chapter 18 ~ Wounded
Chapter 19 ~ Turning
Chapter 20 ~ Negotiations
Chapter 21 ~ Gone
Chapter 22 ~ People
Chapter 23 ~ Our Savior
Chapter 24 ~ The New Boss
Chapter 25 ~ Drawing Straws
Chapter 26 ~ On The Road
Chapter 27 ~ Hitchhikers
Chapter 28 ~ Atlanta
Chapter 29 ~ Unlikely
Chapter 30 ~ The Big Smoking Peach
Chapter 31 ~ Final Conflict
Chapter 32 ~ Lights Out
Chapter 33 ~ Spoils of War
Final Days
Written by Norman Christof
Published by Digital Storm Solutions Inc.
This is a work of fiction. If you find any similarities to real people, places, events or planets you're sadly mistaken.
© 2017 Norman Christof / Digital Storm Solutions Inc.
No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.
The author greatly appreciates you taking the time to read his work. Please consider leaving a review wherever you bought the book, or telling your friends about it, to help him spread the word.
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If you liked Final Days, you'll love these books by Norman Christof:
EMP Survivors Series
Destination Lost
America's Sunset
America's Sunset
Coming Home
Final Days
Parables From The Apocalypse
Endings
Revealed
Mutation
Awakening
Rising
THANK YOU FOR READING!
Norman Christof
Chapter 1 ~ Back Again
“What I want to know is, why in the hell did we get stuck driving this reject hippie Volkswagen van, while the real hippies ended up with a frigging Humvee fully equipped with a machine gun.”
No one else in the van paid much attention to Rick. It wasn’t just because they didn’t like what he was saying. It had more to do with the fact that the beat-up old hippie van was making so much noise. It was hard to be heard over the racket as they made their way down the most depressing, desolate stretch of road that any one of them had ever seen.
Rick tried again. “Please someone explain to me how we got stuck with this stupid piece of junk while the pacifists ended up with the ass-kicking machine?”
“I told you before,” Chase said. “You never know when some other big bully is going to come back and make life miserable for those people. We couldn’t just leave them to die out in the middle of the desert.”
“It’s not that desolate of a place.” Rick glanced out the window as they weaved their way through the wreckage of a road. It looked like some giant had picked up an entire junkyard and shaken out the entire thing onto the road. The abandoned vehicles looked like they’d been sitting there for years. Windows were smashed, upholstery was ripped out and strewn over the road. Every vandal within miles had apparently made this stretch of road their personal playground.
Fortunately for Dawson, who was driving at the moment, it was still a relatively easy road to navigate down. This wasn’t the first time they’d driven this way, and others had made the journey. There was a serpentine-like path that wove through the abandoned vehicles. The only pieces still strewn along the cleared path were small. Dawson still choose to bide his time. He’d rather nudge his way past ripped-out car seats than go racing over some engine part that had been yanked out and left on an unseen part of the road. Visibility wasn’t all that great, as a lot of the vehicle hoods were left open by looters looking for batteries and other valuable engine parts.
“We could have just smashed through here with the Humvee or the light armored vehicle in half the time. I can’t believe we left both of them with those people.” Rick wouldn’t let it go.
“They’re our allies now,” Jake said. “This isn’t just about fighting everyone we see.” Rick glared back at him. “Look, I know and understand where you’re coming from. There aren’t a lot of people we can trust anymore. That’s the way of the world. But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some we can trust. They needed our help this time, but next time, we may need theirs.” Dawson and Chase looked back at him from the front seats of the van.
“They’ll be fine,” Dawson said, as Chase nodded in agreement.
“Guys, I hope you’re right, but we all know things could have gotten bad back home. We just don’t know what to expect.”
“Maggie’s smart, and tough. She’ll take care of them.”
“No doubt. Maggie will do everything in her power. She’ll fight for her family like a mother bear with cubs. I know that. She’ll do everything in her power to protect them, no matter the cost to herself.”
No one else said anything for a while. They all knew what was at stake here. Things had gone south shortly after they left Big Springs. They’d heard the word that the town had fallen under martial law, but they didn’t get a lot of details. They all did their best to think positive thoughts, and to deal with whatever lay ahead when they got there.
Dawson hit the brakes and leaned over the steering wheel, staring off into the distance. The others looked to the road to see if there was something that needed clearing. Finding nothing, they followed Dawson’s stare off into the distance. There was smoke rising from an abandoned semi truck in the middle of the road. While it was abandoned and partially dismantled just like every other vehicle on the road, it was also blackened and burnt. None of the other vehicles had burned. Looters had been siphoning gas and pulling spare parts, while the vandals were content to smash windows and scrape their names onto the paint of the cars. This truck had obviously experienced a whole different level of trauma.
Significant pieces of the side panels were peeled from top to bottom, like someone had used a giant potato peeler on them. The slices of steel hung there precariously.
Dawson slowly inched the van forward as everyone leaned to get a better view. Rick double checked his sidearm to make sure it was still on his hip, which prompted Jake to pull the rifle from the back of the van.
Dawson stopped the van about fifty feet from the truck, and they all got out. Slowly they approached. Rick kept an eye on the other vehicles, looking for any movement. He motioned for the others to do the same, tapping each on the shoulder and pointing to the four points of the compass. Something had blown from inside the truck. It was blacker, with more soot caked on the inside. The outside of the truck only showed residual blackening where the side panels had been torn open.
They inspected all the vehicles around the
truck and, confident that there were no obvious ambushes waiting, they proceeded directly to the truck itself.
“What a frigging waste,” Jake said. “This thing would have been full of all sorts of supplies.” The others looked at Jake. “Someone did this deliberately. Some damn kids probably just decided to blow it up for fun.” He pointed to the tattered lettering on the side. “This is a Wally-Mart truck.” They all bent down to get a better look. That’s definitely what it was. “This truck would have contained all kinds of useful things which could have helped people. Not everyone prepares like I did for an event like this. Such a damn waste. People need to start using their heads for more than a place to hang their hats.”
“I’m not so sure it was vandals,” Dawson said. “Have a look over here.”
Dawson was pulling a big tarp back. Underneath lay some overturned barrels with their contents spilling out. A few feet away from the barrels was one of those big stainless steel grills, the kind that looked like an entire kitchen. There were cupboards underneath, multiple burners off to the sides, and a rack big enough to fit a whole pig. The once shiny stainless steel was covered in ash and soot, scratched and dented. It was the barrels that drew everyone’s attention. Every one of them was full of bones. Human bones.
“Is that what I think it is?” Chase said. “That can’t be …” His hands went to his mouth as he stifled his gag reflex. “Didn’t we drive by here on the way to Taos? We would have noticed something like this, wouldn’t we?”
“It was dark a lot of the time,” Dawson said. “This looks recent. We would have noticed the smell if it was here when we drove by.”
Burnt plastic and diesel fuel permeated the air. No one said it, but they were somewhat grateful the other smell masked the smell of human remains. Dawson reached to lift the lid of the grill, but Jake stayed his hand.
“We don’t need to see what’s underneath that,” Jake said.
Chase had already turned away from the scene of the barrels, semi-keeled over and holding his stomach. He looked like he was trying to find a place to throw up.
“There could be nothing. Shouldn’t we at least check?”
“To what end? Whoever was responsible for this is long gone, or buried in the rubble somewhere. We’ve seen all we need to see here. I’d rather we just move on. A family is waiting for us back in Big Springs.”
The image of Dawson’s daughter Veronica waiting for him typically made Dawson smile, but given the current surroundings, he too felt queasy. This place was a war zone of depravity and desperation. It represented the worst of what people were capable of when pushed to their limits. Dawson would have had a difficult time believing it if he was only hearing it secondhand. Standing in the middle of it, surrounded by the sights and smell, it was too visceral to dismiss. It couldn’t be denied. The world had changed, and they were wallowing through the worst of it. Knee deep in what would happen if good people didn’t do everything in their power to restore civilization.
* * *
Rick finished searching inside the truck trailer and jumped out the back. He kicked debris out of his way as he joined the rest of them.
“Find anything?” Chase asked.
“Nothing but cheap crap. Anything usable has been looted or burnt to a cinder.” He looked back disappointedly at the truck. “Well, and a few more bodies inside. Not just bones, like the ones out here in the barrels. There’s still flesh on those.”
“This is disgusting,” Chase said. “It’s like something from a bad horror movie.”
“More like a war film,” Rick said. “I found exploded propane tanks inside the trailer. That’s more than likely what caused all the damage. I’d say there was some sort of battle over the contents of the trailer. There would have been some valuable supplies inside, plus some non-perishable foodstuffs. I’d say the bones in the barrels were the guys that tried to take over the truck and lost the battle. Then, someone else came along and blew the shit out of the guys inside the truck. Probably hoping to steal what they had, but instead they ended up destroying everything in the process. Could have been family of the ones in the barrels looking for revenge, or hungry marauders. Not the smartest tactic, but people don’t always come up with their best ideas when they’re desperate.”
In spite of the heat, Dawson felt a chill travel down his spine. He resisted shuddering. “I’ve seen more here than I needed to. Let’s get home to our families.”
Chase almost made it back to the van without puking his guts out … almost. He picked up a dirty rag that was lying nearby, and wiped his mouth. Dawson waited for him to catch up as the others got into the van.
“Feel better?”
“Yeah, but getting hungry again.”
Chapter 2 ~ A New Life
Rick sat in the rear of the van this time. Generally, he chose to sit near the front, but ever since leaving the Wally-Mart truck, he’d acted withdrawn from the rest of the group. The smell from the exploded truck followed them even now. They were moving downwind from the truck, but the caustic smell of burnt plastic and the memory of human remains stayed with them. There was soot on the inside door handle that someone had smeared there when they closed the door. Not that they needed a reminder of what they’d seen. It wasn’t something you could easily forget. Chase took the seat in front of Rick, in the middle of the van.
“Who do you suppose would do something like that?” Chase asked Rick. “I mean, they had a whole truck of food to eat. Why do something so disgusting as to eat another person?” Chase waited momentarily, but Rick never answered. “I’ve heard stories about things like that. A bunch of people crashed on a mountain or something, and they were starving to death, but that’s different.” He glanced back again at Rick, but he had his head turned, and just stared out the rear of the van. “Did anything like that ever happen to you during your tours of duty? You must have seen some pretty horrible things there.” From the driver’s seat, Dawson heard part of what Chase was saying, but Jake, who was beside him, was also going on about the pros and cons of living in a bunker vs. the lifestyle of the EarthShip community they had just left behind. At the moment, Dawson was more concerned with what Chase had to say, but there was no stopping Jake once he got on a roll.
Chase asked one more question of Rick that Dawson couldn’t hear, and before he knew it, Rick was on top of Chase with both fists clenching the front of his shirt, shaking him.
“I’m not here to answer your damn childish questions about war! You hear me? I’m not here to entertain you or enlighten you about the ways of the world. I’m not your frigging father.”
Dawson barely had the van stopped before he was out of his seat and pulling Rick off of Chase. Chase was visibly shaken, recoiling against the wall of the van and pulling his feet in close to him. Rick immediately relaxed and retreated to the back seat of the van once again.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Dawson demanded of Rick. “He’s just a boy, and he’s just seen the most horrific thing in his entire life. He’s trying to make sense of things. There’s no reason to get all over him for it.”
Rick stared out the back of the van. “Sorry,” was all he said. The silence hung there like the smell that followed them.
Dawson turned his head to look at Jake, still in the front passenger seat. “Sorry?” he said, quieter this time, with his hands in the air. Jake motioned for Chase to switch places with him. At first, Chase didn’t want to move, but Dawson coaxed him, and he moved, all the time keeping an eye on Rick.
Jake continued the discussion he’d been having with Dawson before the abrupt stop, almost as if he hadn’t even noticed the skirmish. Dawson felt overwhelmed. He wished everyone would just be quiet and leave him to his thoughts.
“I’m undecided as to which is the better approach. I’m trying not be biased towards the bunker style, as that’s the one I’m obviously heavily invested in, but it’s hard not to be.”
Dawson climbed back into the driver’s seat, resting a hand on Chase’s
shoulder. “You OK?” he mouthed quietly to Chase. Chase nodded in the affirmative.
Jake continued his monologue. “I’m thinking that a hybrid of the two designs would be the best approach. The EarthShips obviously have the advantage of being more sustainable, what with the water caching system, the solar panels, the waste removal and those massive indoor gardens. The integration of the systems is, of course, it’s greatest strength. Straightforward and efficient. I do admire that.”
Jake didn’t seem to notice that no one was listening as he rambled on. Thirty-some years of marriage tended to have that effect on him. Even though his wife Maggie wasn’t there with them to listen and nod her head at the appropriate moments, he continued nonetheless.
“Security and safety are obviously not great with the EarthShips though. My bunker design has them beaten hands down in that regard. One door in and another door out. That’s it. That’s all you have to worry about protecting. Assuming, of course, that anyone can even find you to cause problems in the first place.”
Jake’s bunker sat underneath a somewhat large man cave that he liked to refer to as The Shed. Maggie reminded him several times that it was far more than a shed, simply due to the size of it. Jake never quite saw it that way. The primary door to Jake’s bunker was through the shed. Another layer of defense.
“I’m sure that if I made some tweaks to the shed, I could come close to the sustainability of the EarthShip design. Bigger windows would of course …”
Rick turned his vacant stare from the back window to the van’s occupants.
“You’re all idiots,” he said, this time in a very reserved voice. Dawson didn’t stop the vehicle this time, but did slow down as he looked at Rick in the rear-view mirror.
Rick hadn’t been part of their original group at the beginning of the power grid failure. He was a late addition. One that seemed like a very good idea until just recently. His military training and experience were far superior to that which Dawson had from his short tour of duty. They didn’t know many details of Rick’s military tours, and maybe that was a bad thing. Dawson decided to keep a close eye on him going forward.
America's Sunset: Final Days: A Post Apocalyptic Fight For Survival Page 1
