Forsaken World (Book 1): Innocence Lost

by Watson, Thomas A.

  Lance came back and joined the two in clearing out the area. Not seeing anything moving close, they collected the empty magazines. “Don’t load them; I want to teach Allie and Carrie how to do that,” Lance said as he walked over and closed the window. “If we are attacked, I want those two loading magazines while we shoot.”

  They moved downstairs and saw a mountain of plastic bags with bullets on the kitchen table. “Lance, since you’re driving, go lay down,” Jennifer said, putting her empty magazines on the kitchen table. “We’ll all lay down after we load these and get these put in the Hummer,” she said, waving at the mountain of plastic ammo bags.

  “Put them in the floorboard behind the driver’s seat,” Lance said, nodding as he headed for the couch. “We need it filled so Dino has a flat area he can lay down on.”

  They watched Lance walk over to the couch, set his notebook on the coffee table, and take off his AR. Leaving his gear on, Lance collapsed and was soon snoring softly.

  Chapter 11

  “Lance, wake up. Your mom and dad are on the phone!” Ian said, shaking Lance violently. The words pierced the fog of Lance’s sleep, and he jumped off the couch, almost knocking Ian over. Lance started patting his pockets under the chest rig, looking for his phone. “Dude, they’re on the sat phone,” Ian said, holding it out.

  Lance grabbed the phone. “Mom, Dad,” he said, wiping the sleep out of his eyes, and heard his parents on speakerphone.

  “Oh Lance, it’s so good to hear your voice,” his mom cried out, and Lance could tell she was trying not to cry.

  “Hey, buddy,” his dad said.

  “Hi, Mom; hi, Dad. Are you doing okay?” Lance asked and looked down at the screen of the sat phone and saw his mom’s number.

  “Baby, we are okay, and your dad thinks he’s found a boat that can get us to the mainland,” his mom said.

  “No, wait till it calms down some please,” Lance begged, feeling his heart speed up.

  “Son,” his dad said in a serious voice. “It’s only going to get worse. All the major networks are off the air. A lot of the internet is still up, but that won’t last when the power starts fading. The reports aren’t that encouraging for this to settle down.”

  “Dad, Uncle Doug got shot. Stinkers don’t shoot. Uncle Doug said people were the main threat right now,” Lance said, looking around and noticing lights on.

  “Yes, Ian tried calling his mom and dad, but their phones don’t have reception out here. He called ours and told us you were asleep. Ian and Allie talked to their mom and dad for a while,” Lance’s dad told him.

  “Baby,” Lance’s mom cut in. “Don’t worry about us. You get to the cabin like you planned. There isn’t anything you and Ian can’t do together.”

  “Did Ian tell you I’m driving because he’s chicken?”

  Lance could hear his mom force a laugh. “Baby, you’ve driven the Hummer before.”

  “Once,” Lance huffed. “Down the road and back by myself, and you got mad at Uncle Doug.”

  “I was wrong,” she mumbled. “You can do it, baby. Ian said Doug had the route planned out for you.”

  “Yes ma’am. The GPS on the dash has the route programmed, and Uncle Doug made us go over the route on maps.”

  “Son,” his dad said. “If something happens and you have to leave the Hummer, break the GPS so no one can follow.”

  “Yes sir. Uncle Doug told us that and wouldn’t let us mark the route on the map.”

  “Baby, when you get to the cabin, G-mail is still up, so check your e-mail. Download it, and watch what you send out, okay? We are still getting internet for the iPads,” his mom told him, trying not to cry.

  Then Lance heard his dad’s voice warbling in static. “—move up to the cabin carefully.”

  “Dad, you’re breaking up. What did you say?”

  “Don’t just drive up to the cabin. Park in the field below, and move up to the cabin carefully on foot.”

  “Yes sir,” Lance said and heard static. He looked at the screen and saw he had excellent satellite signal.

  “It’s on their end,” Ian said, moving over. “Just give it a minute.”

  “Son, you there?” he heard his dad’s voice from the phone.

  Putting the phone back to his ear, he said, “I’m here, Dad, but you’re breaking up.”

  “Baby, you be careful, but get to the cabin,” his mom said as her voice started to warble over the phone.

  “We will, Mom. I’ll try and call or e-mail you when we get to the cabin,” Lance said and waited but didn’t hear any reply. Knowing it wasn’t from his end, Lance just held the phone to his ear until he heard a beep. “Call Failed” was across the screen.

  Hanging up, Lance tried his mom’s number and his dad’s but only got messages. “It’s hit and miss, bro,” Ian said, watching Lance dial.

  “How long did you talk to your mom and dad?” Lance asked, hanging up the phone.

  “Altogether almost an hour,” Ian said, turning to Allie on the couch. “They talked to her for most of it.”

  “Do they have stinkers there?”

  “Yeah but not many where they are.”

  “Why can’t they just stay there and wait?” Lance said, dropping down on the couch.

  Letting out a sigh, Ian sat down beside him. “They want to be with us,” Ian said, patting Lance’s leg.

  “I want them to be here, but they don’t have guns. The easy part will be crossing the ocean. Then, they will have to cross the country through who knows what,” Lance mumbled. Suddenly, Lance jerked his head up and slapped his forehead. “I’m such an idiot!”

  “What?” Ian asked, feeling very confused.

  “The news!” Lance said, jumping up. “We could’ve watched the news and found out what was happening everywhere.”

  Ian shook his head. “I already made that connection and felt like an idiot then too.”

  Looking at his watch, Lance asked, “It’s eight. How dark outside is it?”

  “Still pretty light out. The street lights didn’t come on till around nine.”

  Lance nodded as he looked around the room. “Where are Jennifer and Carrie?”

  Slowly standing up, Ian cast his eyes down. “They’re upstairs looking around. Jennifer and Carrie were trying not to cry as Allie and I talked to Mom and Dad.”

  “Get them down here, and get Jennifer to change everyone’s battery on their radio. Then, have Allie and Carrie put extra batteries in bags for the night vision, flashlights, lasers on the rifles, and anything else we are carrying,” Lance said, walking toward the office. “Get Carrie to put food in bags for Dino.”

  Ian took off as Lance sat down at the desk, looking at the laptop screen with all the views from around the cabin. Minimizing the screen, he started surfing the web and found several sites down, but enough were online that he started downloading information.

  The images from major cities made a shiver run down Lance’s spine. Tens of thousands of stinkers were filling the streets. Finding several chat rooms, Lance saw people talking about the stinkers. Cutting and pasting, Lance started printing what others had found out. On a survivalist site, there were warnings about gangs roaming the countryside near any big city.

  Ian walked in to find Lance loading the printer with paper. “What are you printing?” he asked, seeing the stack of printed pages beside the laptop.

  “What others have found out and what they know.”

  “What have you found out?”

  “Nobody knows where the president is at, and the stinkers are on every continent. There’s even a report from one of the Antarctica research stations being wiped out by stinkers.”

  Ian stepped around the desk. “They’re calling them stinkers like us?”

  “No, most are calling them ‘violent infected.’ A few people are calling them zombies.”

  “They don’t look like zombies,” Ian said, looking at a screenshot of Chicago. “Except for the pasty white skin and missing body parts, the
y look like sick people. I thought zombies were like rotting.”

  “May not be long enough yet,” Lance offered, hitting the print button.

  “It’s almost nine, and we need to pack the satellite link box and laptop up,” Ian said, standing and stretching.

  Nodding, Lance started closing windows and shut down the laptop. “The girls get finished?”

  “Your batteries are on the kitchen table, and Jennifer’s fixing sandwiches for the trip. I just looked outside, and no stinkers are close,” Ian said, snapping the satellite linkups case closed. “That was good thinking to get Jennifer, Allie, and Carrie to stop crying.”

  Finding the shoulder bag for the laptop, Lance closed it and put it inside along with the cables. “We have to stay busy,” he said more to himself than to Ian.

  “I know, buddy,” Ian said, lifting the case off the desk. “I’ll help you drive some if you need me to.”

  Stunned, Lance looked up. “Really?”

  “I don’t think I’ll be pulling into a garage, so I’ll try but only if you can’t go anymore.”

  Lance laughed. “What are the odds you and your brother would crash into the back of the garage?”

  “Hey, it was even the same side.” Ian grinned. “Jason did manage to get some of the bumper out the other side where I didn’t.”

  “When we get to the cabin, we will both practice driving the Hummer,” Lance said, putting the laptop bag on his shoulder, and looked around. “Hope we have everything.”

  “Yeah because we ain’t coming back,” Ian said as Lance walked out.

  They put the stuff in the back passenger floorboard then added some blankets for Dino until the area was filled in even with the seat. They went back inside and grabbed the last few things, checked their gear they had on, then everyone moved out to the Hummer.

  It took some work because Dino was used to riding in the back, but it was packed with stuff, but he finally jumped in and climbed onto the seat. Then, he put his front paws on the center divider between the back seats, and Dino’s head was between the front seats.

  With Jennifer lifting them, Allie and Carrie climbed in and sat on the center divider behind Dino, and Jennifer climbed and put her AR between her feet. Climbing up on the running board, Lance put his AR on the dashboard like the note from Doug told him to and a pillow in his seat as Ian climbed in the passenger door.

  “I can’t wait to get there,” Ian said, resting his AR against the door.

  “Me either,” Lance said as he climbed in and reached over, turning on the GPS. After the screen warmed up, “Same Destination” appeared on it. Lance tapped yes and saw the green line run up to Kentucky.

  “Pull forward, and turn right,” a female voice told him.

  “What are all the metal tubes running across the front end and hood for?” Jennifer asked behind him.

  “Professional brush guard with a winch. It’s the same on the brush guard on the back,” Lance said, closing his door and making sure his helmet was on tight. “Shit, forgot to turn out the garage light,” he said, reaching up to turn on his night vision.

  “I’ll get it,” Ian said, jumping out. When he turned off the light, it was freaking dark. Behind him, Lance heard switches clicking as everyone turned on night vision. Only he and Ian had the monster four tubes; there were others, but nobody cared since they could at least see in the dark.

  Lance lowered the goggles over his eyes, and the garage was cast in a sharp, clear, green image. He turned to see Ian walking over with his night vision down. When Ian opened his door, everyone’s night vision shut off, and they groaned. “Shit, it was dark,” Ian said as Lance flipped up his goggles, saw the switch for the interior lights, and turned it off.

  “Wonder how much else I’m not doing right,” Lance mumbled, lowering his night vision and waiting for the safety switch to turn off, and the goggles turned back on.

  “Pull forward, and turn right,” the female voice from the GPS unit said again.

  “I heard you the first time, bitch. Shut up,” Lance shouted, putting the key in the ignition.

  “Okay, listen up. If for some reason you have to drive,” he said turning the key and pointing at the dashboard, “you have to wait till that light goes off before you start the engine. If it doesn’t come on, then the engine is already warm. Understand?”

  Everyone said yes, and Lance turned the key and heard the big diesel engine turn over. “Ian, open the door,” Lance said, taking a deep breath leaving all the outside lights off. Ian hit the remote for the garage door, and everyone jumped as it rolled up.

  “You know we are like in a weird three little pigs story,” Jennifer said, watching the door roll up slowly. “We started in a house of straw, moved to a house of sticks, ran to a house of bricks, and now driving to a house like a vault.”

  “I’m not leaving this house when we get there,” Allie said as the door rose enough for them to see outside.

  Reaching up, Lance had to turn the intensity of his night vision down from the star and moonlight outside. “I hear you, Allie,” Lance said, pressing the brake and shifting into D. The Hummer rolled forward and stopped with a jerk. Confused, Lance pressed the accelerator, feeling the Hummer struggle to move forward.

  “That trailer can’t be that heavy,” Ian said, feeling the vehicle creep forward. He looked in his mirror and swore the trailer was moving up in the air. Suddenly, the trailer dropped down, and the Hummer shot out of the garage.

  “What the hell happened?” Lance yelled, hitting the brakes.

  Ian turned around, pressing the button to close the garage door. “We forgot to unchock the wheels of the trailer. The Hummer had to pull the trailer over the chocks.”

  Lance looked in his mirror as the garage door closed. “Those are some big ass chocks,” he said, looking at the yellow wedges. “Never thought to look.”

  “Shit, me either,” Ian said as the GPS said, “Turn right, drive point six miles, and turn left.”

  “I think I’m going to hate that woman before this trip is over,” Lance said, taking his foot off the brake, and the Hummer pulled forward without him touching the accelerator. Unlike with the truck, they could only idle less than ten miles an hour.

  When they were in front of Jennifer’s house, Ian grabbed the door handle. “Don’t speed up,” he said, jumping out. He ran to her porch, taped a piece of paper to the wall, and ran back before Lance drove past her yard and jumped back in. “Left them a note saying Jennifer and Carrie were with us and safe.”

  “You could’ve said something before we left about doing that,” Lance mumbled.

  “Didn’t know if it would still be clear,” Ian shrugged. “Jen’s dad has been to the cabin hunting before, so that’s all I put in the note.”

  Pressing the pedal, Lance fed the engine fuel until he saw the speedometer at twenty-five. “Don’t take the turn fast,” Jennifer said behind him.

  “Hey, no backseat driving,” Lance snapped as the GPS reminded him about the turn. “God damn it, woman, you don’t think I see it?” Lance shouted at the GPS as a stinky walked out into the road. “Play chicken with me. I fucking dare ya!”

  Thump sounded as the Hummer plowed over the stinky. “You warned the asshole,” Ian said, grinning, as Lance slowed to a stop at the stop sign, and the woman told him to turn left. “Lance, you don’t have to stop; just slow down.”

  “The sign says, ‘STOP,’” Lance said, pushing the accelerator.

  “We don’t have to follow the rules of the road, buddy. You don’t have a license, we are all underage with weapons, in a vehicle that isn’t ours, loaded with shit we can’t prove is ours, and we have stinkers trying to eat our asses. If a cop pulls us over, we shoot his ass like in Grand Theft Auto.”

  “One point two miles, make a left turn,” the GPS said as Lance held the speedometer at twenty-five. “Okay, you have a point,” Lance said, seeing stinkers moving toward the road.

  Jennifer looked around and noticed them coming from eve
rywhere. “When we drove over to Doug’s house, this many didn’t come out.”

  “Ah, Jennifer, the Hummer makes a lot more noise than Dad’s truck,” Lance said, weaving around a car that had crashed into a parked car beside the road.

  “It doesn’t sound that loud in here,” she said as Lance hit a stinky kid that trotted out in front of them. Jennifer watched the kid sail through the air and do two complete flips then hit the ground.

  Lance grinned. “It’s a Hummer, but it has style.” He saw a fire truck in the ditch at the front of the subdivision. A telephone pole and the metal phone distribution box was buried in the front of the fire truck. “That’s the asshole that knocked out our power and phones.”

  “How can you tell?” Jennifer asked, and Lance pointed toward the right down the road to another subdivision, and she could see lights. “Oh.”

  “Left turn,” the GPS said.

  “Bitch, you need to chill,” Lance said, hitting his blinker, and the light almost shut his goggles down again. Pressing the accelerator as he turned off the blinker, Lance pulled out on the road.

  “We are out of the neighborhood,” Ian sang out, and everyone cheered.

  “Seven point two miles, right turn,” the GPS said.

  Ian looked at the GPS. “That bitch is going to get old.”

  Feeling the Hummer swerve, Ian looked up to see Lance move around a wreck. “Can’t people wreck off the damn road?” Lance snapped and drove over a crawling stinker.

  “You could’ve went around it,” Jennifer said.

  “Hell no. I bet he’s the one who caused that wreck and made me have to swerve around the wreck. That bitch isn’t going to brag to his buddies now.”

  “These tires look really big, and I don’t want to have to change one,” Jennifer mumbled.

  Ian glanced back. “Oh, one weighs more than we do, so that wouldn’t be possible. It took Uncle Doug and Jason to put the things on.”

  “They have a run flat core,” Lance snapped. “If you don’t like my driving, you can walk.”

  “I was just saying, geesh,” Jennifer moaned.

  “Can we put the snowman in?” Allie asked.