Surviving Chaos

by Ryan Westfield

  Off in the distance, two flashlight beams poked at the trees.

  “Come on,” said Dale. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

  “I can’t believe he’s dead.” Cynthia was still sobbing. Dale’s death seemed to have hit her hard. Maybe it was just too many deaths. Too many lost friends.

  “Get it together, come on. Get your stuff. Get your sleeping bag in your bag. Go!”

  John took Cynthia’s hand and practically dragged her to her sleeping bag. He kept the flashlight on, but kept his hand over the glass, keeping the light very low, just enough to see what they were doing. Even so, it wouldn’t be enough. Soon enough, the others would come for them. What they wanted, John didn’t know. But he figured it had something to do with the nearby compound.

  “Get your stuff!” hissed John.

  But Cynthia just stood there like a statue, sobbing and unmoving. Had she completely lost it? He wouldn’t be able to carry her out of there. She’d have to get it together. And they couldn’t afford to leave her gear behind. Not even a sleeping bag. Without it, they might die of exposure when the weather got colder.

  There was valuable stuff in Dale’s pack. But there wasn’t enough time to sort through it and take what was really good. So John would carry both packs. He worked furiously and as silently as he could, stuffing his sleeping bag back into his pack. He grabbed a couple things from around the fire, and jammed those in too. Fortunately, there wasn’t much left lying around the campsite. He kept the flashlight off, doing it mostly by feel.

  John turned to see the two flashlight beams dancing along the ground and trees. They were closer now. They didn’t have much time left.

  John took a risk by shining his flashlight onto Cynthia and her pack. He kept his hand mostly over the light. It might have been dumb, and he knew it was a risk, but he also needed to know whether Cynthia was going to be able to function. To his surprise, Kiki was there, licking Cynthia’s hand. That seemed to spark Cynthia back to life, and she started rushing to pack up her sleeping bag.

  “You still with me?” whispered John.

  “I am now,” whispered Cynthia.

  John shouldered his own pack, tightening all the straps as quickly as possible. Next, he grabbed Dale’s bag and got it against his stomach and chest, working the straps over his arms. Dale’d been a big guy, and his pack was heavy. But it was worth taking. It contained food and ammo, not to mention the shortwave radio that was buried somewhere safely at the bottom.

  It’d be slow going, weighed down by both packs. But it’d be worth it if they got out of there alive.

  There wasn’t a doubt in John’s mind that those flashlights out there belonged to people who were intent on doing them harm. John and Cynthia were being hunted like wild animals. To what purpose, though, he didn’t know.

  “Ready?” whispered John. The flashlight was off. They’d have to do it in the dark if they wanted to keep their position secret.

  “Yeah. Come on, Kiki.”

  “She’ll follow us. Don’t worry.”

  John turned to see the flashlights getting closer. He took Cynthia’s hand in his own and started off, heading the way they’d come.

  7

  Kara

  “They’re both dead,” said Smitty, moving McCarty’s corpse with the toe of his boot.

  Kara stood at the abandoned campsite, examining it with her flashlight. If only they’d had more power available to them than their simplistic kinetic generator, she would have been able to use the high-powered beam setting, allowing her to find the two who’d escaped.

  She didn’t keep her flashlight on for long. The longer she kept it on, the greater the chance was that she’d be shot. Max’s brother could very well still be close by, with a rifle trained on the campsite.

  “Looks like they should have fought better,” said Smitty, giving a cold laugh that seemed to echo through the darkness.

  "Stop gloating,” said Kara, her voice unemotional. “If we’re not careful we’ll end up like them.”

  “They’re gone,” said Smitty. “There’s no way we’re going to find them. They’ve got their flashlight off.”

  “You’re an idiot. We’ll find them. We need that woman. Come on, you go first.”

  Kara shone her flashlight directly onto Smitty’s face. She had ordered him not to do the same to her. Being completely lit up made for a perfect target in the pitch black night. Shining the light on him wasn’t just a threat, it was a real danger.

  A look of terror briefly crossed Smitty’s face before he got it together and nodded. “OK,” he said. “We’re moving out. We’ll find them, Kara.”

  Kara said nothing. But she moved the flashlight away from Smitty. He breathed a sigh of relief.

  The advantage Kara and Smitty had was that they didn’t have much with them. They could move quickly and lightly. The people they were pursuing were likely weighed down with huge packs.

  “You first,” said Kara.

  They moved through the darkness. There wasn’t any sound except for their footsteps.

  As they walked, an idea occurred to Kara. “Smitty,” she said. “Turn your light on. And scan the forest as we walk.”

  “They’ll see me,” said Smitty.

  “Maybe,” said Kara. “But that’s a risk I’m willing to take. There’s no way we’re going to find them unless you put that light on.”

  Smitty understood very well what she was asking him to do. There was a good chance he’d get shot.

  It was a risk for Kara too. She didn’t want to lose Smitty if she didn’t have to. After all, he was useful for her.

  And what was more, it’d be hard to take on two of them herself if she lost Smitty. But if he didn’t turn that light on, it seemed like they’d never find them.

  “Do it,” said Kara.

  Smitty obeyed.

  Kara followed the light. The ambient light from the beam made it easier for her to walk.

  “Look,” said Smitty, bending down and directing the beam onto the earth. “Tracks.”

  “Good work.”

  “Heavy treads,” said Smitty. “They’re carrying a lot. Or one of them is, at least.”

  They picked up their pace, to the point that they were practically running.

  There was no way Max’s brother and the woman would escape them. They couldn’t move fast enough with those packs. And they couldn’t move fast in the pitch-black night.

  Up ahead, there was a noise. It sounded like a body had fallen down. Maybe someone had tripped.

  Smitty had turned the light to the spot where the noise came from in an instant. Kara looked, expecting to see someone.

  But it was nothing but a big dead log, still rolling slightly.

  “Is that their idea of a trap or something?” said Smitty, letting out a laugh.

  A shot rang out, sending Kara’s ears ringing.

  She looked to Smitty, expecting him to have received a bullet. But they’d missed.

  “Almost got me,” said Smitty, switching off the light.

  “Turn that back on,” said Kara. “We’ll never find them without it.”

  “They’re hiding somewhere, behind some trees. Didn’t you see? I wasn’t able to find them with the light. But we’ve got them now. They’re close enough to shoot us, so we’re close enough to get them.”

  “Turn it back on.”

  “I’m a dead man if I do.”

  He had a point, but Kara didn’t care. She was too filled with anticipation of reaching her goal, of finding another woman to bring back to the compound. Her breathing had gone ragged and intense, and she could feel the desire pulsing through her, the desire to not just keep her power, but to make it live past herself. She needed a legacy in this world, and this was her way to do it.

  Before Kara had a chance to speak, she heard something rushing towards them. Some kind of animal, snarling and growling deeply.

  Smitty screamed.

  “It’s got me!”

  He swung around i
n the darkness, trying to get the animal off him. He couldn’t use his gun in the dark, apparently. He switched on his flashlight.

  It was a dog. A huge German Shepherd that had sunk its teeth into Smitty’s thigh. The dog was viciously pulling its head back and forth, tearing open the wound.

  “Shoot it,” cried Smitty, struggling to get his own gun into position. “Shoot it, Kara!”

  But Kara knew she needed to save herself. Now that the light was on, Smitty only had moments to live. He’d been right about not turning the light on, and she recognized that now.

  She dashed away from Smitty, finding shelter behind a large tree trunk. She pressed her back into the roughly textured bark and turned her head to Smitty.

  Another shot rang out.

  Smitty fell down. The flashlight rolled away from him.

  Kara had her handgun out and ready. She knew the dog would be coming for her.

  She waited, staring into the darkness, listening for the dog.

  But it didn’t come. Someone called out a nonsensical name. “Kiki,” or something like that. It was a female voice. She heard the dog running off somewhere.

  Kara had heard the woman’s voice. The woman was close. And Kara needed her.

  She wasn’t going to give up. Not when the woman was so close. This was her chance, even if it was crazy, even if it was too big of a risk.

  “Kara!” cried Smitty. His voice was full of agony.

  Shit, he wasn’t dead. It hadn’t been a clean shot.

  “Kara! Help me.”

  Kara said nothing. If she moved towards him to help him, she might get shot herself. And even if she could avoid that, there wasn’t any point in trying to save Smitty when the woman was there, ready to be taken.

  Kara could take care of the woman. All she needed to do was neutralize Max’s brother.

  Thinking of Max, Kara shuddered suddenly with anger. That whole family was… there was something wrong with them. Something too intense about them. They’d ruined everything.

  But not this time.

  “Kara!”

  Kara got up and started walking silently away from Smitty, to where she imagined the dog had run off to. She had to walk bent over, with her hands touching the ground and the trees when she came to them.

  She wouldn’t let the darkness stop her.

  “At least shoot me, Kara, if you’re going to leave me!” Smitty’s voice was as full of pain as any voice she’d ever heard.

  If she shot him, she’d lose a bullet. And she’d risk giving away her position.

  Kara didn’t respond. She was determined. She’d get that woman, if it was the last thing she did. She knew she might not have been thinking or acting rationally. She was putting herself in too much danger. Another woman might come along sometime later. But the anger and desire distracted her every move. She let herself be swept along by the coursing anger.

  8

  James

  “James,” said Sadie.

  “What is it, Sadie?”

  He could hear the worry in her voice, the sorrow, and the depression that had been creeping over her like some slow-growing but intense fungus.

  “Never mind, I don’t know.”

  James glanced up from the squirrel. Sadie was lying flat on her back on the ground. Normally she was concerned about getting herself overly dirty. Especially her hair. But that had all gone completely out the window. There were leaves stuck in her hair and on her pants.

  “Come on, Sadie, get up and help me with this.”

  “I don’t now how to do anything. I’m no help. I’m useless.”

  “That’s not going to get us anywhere. There’s no point in feeling sorry for ourselves.”

  “I’m not feeling sorry for myself. I’m telling the truth.”

  “Listen,” said James. “You’ve got to cut this out, seriously. We’re both worried about Mom. But words aren’t going to help her.”

  “And what is?”

  “This soup.”

  “It’s not a soup. It’s a dead squirrel in some water.”

  James sighed. “Why don’t you do something useful and get me that book on edible plants. The one Max was reading.”

  “There’s nothing to eat around here.”

  “Get it.”

  Sadie sighed and got up as slowly as possible. James could hear her rummaging around in the packs until she found the book.

  She came back and tossed it into the dirt at James’s feet.

  “There you go,” she said. There was anger in her voice.

  “You know what Max says, Sadie, that we’ve got to keep going. We’ve got to keep pushing on.”

  “Max says, Max says,” mocked Sadie. “And where’s Max now? Probably dead.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “Why not? It’s the truth. We’re all just sitting around here like Max is going to come back and save us. But do you really think that?”

  “I think he’s going to come back.”

  “And what if he doesn’t?”

  James was silent for a moment. The reality was that he didn’t want to consider that option. But what would Max have said? “If he doesn’t, we’ll find a way.”

  “A way to what? What are we going to do? We’re going to have to leave here. We can’t survive here. No matter how many squirrels we kill or how many berries we find, it’s not going to be enough.”

  “So we’ll find somewhere else.”

  “How? It’s not like Mom can move. And we can’t push her in that hunk of metal, that stupid Bronco that doesn’t have any gas.”

  “Just shut up, Sadie. Seriously, just shut up. You’re not helping.”

  Sadie fell silent. She lay back down on the ground, closing her eyes.

  The whole thing was starting to sound just like the arguments they’d had before the EMP. They’d gone a while being very civil to each other. Sadie had been trying to do her part, helping, learning how to fire a gun, doing the chores that she’d needed to do.

  But that was when things seemed to have been going their way. That was when Chad had been alive, when they’d been at the farmhouse.

  Things only seemed to be getting worse. Nothing good had happened to them since they’d left the farmhouse.

  James still remembered Chad rushing that man back in the compound. He remembered Chad’s dead, lifeless face. He remembered the way Chad had glanced back at James. There’d been a pleading look in his eyes, a look that James would never be able to forget. Chad had screwed up big time, and he’d known it. But his last act had been to help save James’s life. His last act had been something good.

  James would never forget that.

  The water was boiling. The squirrel sat there in the thin metal pot, looking unappetizing even with his rumbling stomach.

  Mandy appeared at his side. “Good work, James.”

  “How’s my mom doing?”

  “She’s good,” said Mandy. But there was a note to her voice that made James think she wasn’t telling the whole truth.

  “She’s worried about us, isn’t she?”

  Mandy nodded. “I think so.”

  James didn’t know what to say. The situation was just so intense. He’d never dealt with anything like this before. And he’d never thought he’d have to.

  His life before the EMP hadn’t exactly been easy. Compared to the other kids in his class, that was. His mom, unlike the other parents he knew, didn’t have the money to buy fancy things for him and Sadie. It wasn’t like they’d been broke or anything. But money just didn’t flow freely like it did for his friends. They’d had a discussion about James buckling down and studying hard, for instance, rather than taking the SAT prep course that was strongly recommended by the school and all the guidance counselors.

  There’d been moments where James had gotten in trouble. A couple fights here and there, sprinkled throughout his years at school. Once a kid had insulted him, saying that he didn’t even have a dad.

  That was true. And that was why it’
d gotten to James so much. He’d given the kid a good beating, and gotten in a hell of a lot of trouble for it. Georgia, though, when she’d picked him up for his out of school suspension, had told him he’d done the right thing. She was old school like that.

  But that life he’d had… those “hardships” seemed like nothing now.

  Now he was worrying that his mom might die from a gunshot wound to the back. He was worried that he and his sister might starve to death. Or suffer some worse fate should someone come across them in the woods.

  “You still with us, James?”

  “Huh? Yeah, just thinking.”

  “Don’t do too much of that. There’s no point in worrying. Here, I’ll watch this little soup of ours, and you and Sadie can go look for some berries. I see you got the book out.”

  “I think Sadie’s right, there aren’t any berries.”

  “Maybe not. But it doesn’t hurt to look.”

  “We’re just going to use up all our energy looking for those stupid berries,” said Sadie, her voice high and whiny. I’ve already read that stupid book. Do you know how many calories are in a berry? Not enough to go looking for them, that’s how many.”

  Mandy kept her voice calm and level. “There are other things to eat besides berries. Why don’t you have another look at the book, James?”

  “I’ve got to finish this soup.”

  “I’ll take over,” said Mandy. “Why don’t you take a look at the mushroom section?”

  James took the book, and Mandy took his spot by the fire.

  “Sadie, you get up and help me with this. I think it needs a little more water.”

  “It’s practically all water already.”

  “Just do it, or else you’re not helping anyone lying there.”

  Sadie, to James’s surprise, obeyed. She got up and sullenly went over to help Mandy, peering into the soup to see if it really needed more water.

  Sadie looked up to Mandy, and maybe Mandy was the only one who could pull her out of this emotional pit she’d sunk into.