A World Apart (Part 1): 8,000 Miles

by Sean P. Thomas

  “Thank you, my friends, for trying to save me,” he said to the group of Americans, “but it would seem that you are now just as trapped as I was before you came.”

  CHAPTER 26

  Angie was in the girl’s locker room of the high school. Chris, the man that was with Roy when they first encountered Jerry and Alex, had brought her down here and given her a quick explanation on how to work the make shift shower. Chris was a science teacher before the world changed. The shower rig was really quite simple. The survivors at the school had basically set up a cistern outside, to catch rain when it could, but to be manually filled otherwise. The cistern consisted of a long metal trough, which would normally be used to provide water for livestock. On each end of the trough, near the bottom, there was a fitting that was attached to a water hose. The cistern was centered between the windows that led into the boy’s and girl’s locker rooms and a hose trailed from each end of it and down into the two locker rooms. On the other end of the hose, there was a spigot rigged up to a shower head. The shower head was secured to a pipe, that protruded from the tiled wall, with duct tape. She simply had to turn the spigot to get water to flow in from the cistern outside.

  Chris told Angie that the best time to take a shower was in the middle of the day, because the sun heated up the water quite a bit, but it was night time now. He asked her to take it easy on the water, just enough to get wet, then rinse after soaping up. He said that they were only letting people take showers once a week at this point, until they could find a steadier source of water. Presently, they were using water from the pool to keep the showers going and for laundry, so it would be some time before they ran out. They had been hand carrying buckets of water from the pool to the outside of the building to fill up the cistern when there was no rain to do the job.

  Angie had the shower to herself, which she was thankful for. She had found some gym shorts and a T-shirt to wear after she got cleaned up. There was a large bucket with an old-school washboard next to it that she could use to wash her clothes. She took off all her clothes and threw them into the bucket. She walked to the shower head and turned on the spigot. The water wasn’t that cold, the sun had only recently gone down. Angie thought it felt so good, it had been a few weeks now since she had a shower. She turned the water off after getting her hair and body wet and used soap and shampoo to scrub the grime that had collected over the past few weeks. Just as she was finishing up and getting ready to turn the water on again, she heard a clanging sound coming from the locker area of the locker room. She looked in that direction immediately. She used her arms to cover her naked body as best she could. She thought she saw a shadow move away as soon as she looked.

  “Hello?” Angie called in the direction of the noise. “Is someone there?”

  No one answered, but a few seconds later, she heard what sounded like a door slowly closing on squeaky metal hinges. Angie stood still for several seconds, watching for any movement. She had the sick feeling that someone was just watching her. After a few more moments of silence, she decided she better get done and dressed, she felt very vulnerable standing there completely naked. She turned on the spigot and rinsed off quickly. She used a gym towel to dry off and dressed in the gym clothes. She wanted to leave immediately and find Jerry, but just then, Karen and Grace walked in.

  “Hello Angie.” Grace said in a timid voice.

  “Were you girls just in here?” Angie asked, hoping the answer was yes. “Just a few moments ago?”

  “No.” Karen assured her. “We just came down. Why do you ask?”

  “I heard something just now when I was taking a shower.” Angie replied. “I think I saw a shadow moving too. It might be my mind playing tricks on me, but I feel like someone was watching me take a shower.”

  “Oh dear.” Grace said, looking uneasy about taking a shower herself now.

  “Don’t worry,” Angie said, “I’ll keep a look out. I need to wash my clothes anyway.” She felt safer now that the other women had joined her in the shower room and didn’t feel the need to run and find Jerry anymore. She wanted desperately to try and clean her clothes anyway.

  “Thanks.” Karen said. Grace nodded her thanks as well.

  Angie went to task, using the washboard to scrub her clothes while the other women were getting ready to take their own showers.

  ***

  Jerry, Derek, and Alex were sitting in the cafeteria with Patty and Roy. They had been getting to know each other over the past few hours. They were sitting at one of the tables with a battery operated fluorescent lantern sitting in the middle of it. Jerry was trying to get an idea of the total situation at the school. Kyle had taken Sam with him a while ago, to scout out the room that was being provided for them to sleep in.

  “How is your food supply holding up?” Jerry asked Patty.

  “Well enough, for now, but it isn’t infinite.” She grimly replied. “The stock of food on hand wasn’t as robust as we would normally have during the school year. We were only conducting summer school, so we only had to feed a small portion of students and faculty. We went through all the perishables in the first week or so, but we have quite a bit of dry and canned goods remaining. With the amount of people we have here, including your group if you stay, we could make it a few more weeks, maybe a month.” She said with certainty.

  Jerry nodded, considering her assessment.

  “Our most immediate concern is drinking water.” She said then. “We had a decent amount of bottled water, but it is starting to get low. Without running water, I don’t know how much longer our supply will last. I have been rationing it. We are only giving each person two 16-ounce bottles per day. We emptied all the soda machines on the grounds, so that helped some. I guess we have a week’s worth, at most, of drinking water remaining.”

  “Have you sent anyone out to scavenge for additional water and food?” Jerry asked.

  “Not yet,” Patty answered, “it hasn’t been an immediate need yet, and I kept hoping that the government would come to our rescue by now.”

  “I wouldn’t count on the local government.” Jerry told her. “Someone left a sign on an overpass back at the interstate that basically said Las Cruces is lost. We will have to start planning for a long wait if we want to continue to survive until we get news of where the government is at with restoring…well…pretty much everything.”

  Patty and Roy nodded their agreement.

  “How about security?” Derek asked. “You said that you had a visitor before that wasn’t friendly.”

  “We had a man come here, about a week and a half ago.” Roy explained. “He seemed harmless enough, so we let him join us. It was the humane thing to do, right?” He asked rhetorically. “He was only here a day when he started behaving hostile towards others. He tried to challenge Patty for leadership. He said that we had no idea how to survive in this new world.” Roy continued. “Patty tried to reason with him, but he became irrational. I was checking all the exterior doors when it happened. Anyway…he lunged at Patty, tried to overpower her. Chris, one of our teachers, ran to the athletic department and came back with a field hockey stick. He smashed the guy over the head with it. When I got back to the scene, the man was unconscious on the floor and everyone else was shaken up from the event. Chris and I carried the guy out of the building and left him lying in the grass outside.”

  “Damn,” Jerry responded, “what happened to him?”

  “He must have been unconscious the whole night, but the next morning he was banging on the back door, trying to get back in.” Roy explained. “I went to the roof and yelled at him from above. I told him to leave this place, that he wasn’t welcome here anymore. He yelled some obscenities back at me, then went back to banging on the door. I fired my sidearm, just a warning shot, the bullet struck the ground next to his foot. I told him to leave and never come back. He reluctantly left and walked down the road away from the school. I stood guard for a few days on top of the roof, looking for him to return, but he didn’t, I gu
ess he got the message.”

  “Have you had any other issues?” Alex asked then. “How about the zombies, or other survivors?”

  “We have the occasional monster wander onto the grounds.” Roy told him. “We haven’t had to kill any yet. We have just been staying inside and keeping everyone quiet until they leave. Our school is a good way off from any populated areas, so it hasn’t been much of an issue. As for other survivors, your group is the first we have seen since that guy. Before that, we had a few families show up and they stayed here with their children. We have seen others drive past on the road, but we have avoided contact.”

  “It seems like this high school is a good place to wait this out.” Jerry said. “It is away from the populated areas, it is pretty defensible in its construction, and we have plenty of room here. I would like for my group to stay here with you, help you keep this place going, at least until we have a better idea of just how bad it is.”

  “You seem like good people.” Patty said. “I think we would have no issue convincing the other people here that you should stay.”

  “Thank you.” Jerry replied, appreciatively. “I think there are a few things we should start considering then.”

  “Like what?” Patty asked.

  “Well first,” Jerry began, “we should start going out in small groups, to find supplies. You said it yourself, you don’t have nearly enough drinking water, and the food will run out eventually.”

  “We could do that.” Roy agreed. “We don’t have a lot of guns here though, even with what your group turned in.”

  “We have quite a few more out in that SUV.” Jerry admitted. “Sorry about that. We didn’t know how much we could trust you either. We have enough guns to go around to almost all the people here, but just like the food, the ammunition is finite. We should look for more of that too.”

  “I don’t like the idea of people being armed inside here.” Roy said. “After that guy attacked Patty here, I made the decision to lock all the weapons up, except for my own.”

  “That makes sense,” Derek put in, “but we need to have some plan in place to react to any potential threats. We could lock all the weapons up in the armory and only take them out for specific things, like going out on supply runs. I think we should establish a guard rotation on the roof as well. Two people up there at all times, and armed.”

  “It’s a good idea.” Roy said. “Only half the people here are adults though, the other half are kids.”

  “They have to learn to defend themselves.” Alex put in. “They are teenagers, that’s almost adulthood.”

  “I could start training the kids in firearms safety, we could set up a class in the gym or something, even outside if there aren’t any zombies on the grounds.” Derek suggested. “The adults could attend as well. If you are open to it, I would be willing to handle the guard situation, I have some experience in that area. I would make sure that there is always an adult on guard with any of the teens we employ.”

  “Patty, I think Derek here is making a lot of sense.” Roy told her. “I could assist in the training and help him with keeping an eye on the guard shifts as well.”

  “You all have considered a lot of things that I had not.” Patty told the others. “I’m glad you showed up.”

  “We have had our share of problems out there on the road in the past few weeks.” Jerry said. “It’s all about survival now. We can’t just sit on our hands and wait for the government to fix this, if there is a government anymore.”

  “I see your point.” Patty said. “I think I am going to be happy that you chased after Hector instead of driving past. Let’s discuss some of these ideas tomorrow and see what kind of plans we can put into action. I think you all probably need some rest.”

  “Thanks for listening.” Jerry said gratefully. “And thanks for taking us in.”

  They all got up from the table and exited the cafeteria. Roy led Jerry, Derek, and Alex to the classroom that was provided for the group to sleep in for the night.

  “Your group can spread out after tonight if you want.” Roy said. “We have plenty of rooms in this building. Just about any of them can be converted into sleeping quarters. Maybe when we start doing these supply runs, we can look for some proper beds.”

  “Thank you, Roy.” Jerry told him. “We will be just fine sleeping in here tonight. It sure beats our last accommodations.”

  “Goodnight then.” Roy said, then he left.

  Jerry, Derek, and Alex walked inside and found the others already sleeping. It appeared that they were all wearing clothes from the athletic department, so Jerry assumed they had all gotten the chance to get cleaned up. “I guess we talked too long and missed our chance to take a shower.” He told the two other men.

  “We can do it tomorrow.” Alex said. “I’m beat.”

  “Me too.” Derek agreed. “Besides, I have been dirtier and for longer during training in the Army.”

  Jerry nodded and walked over to where Angie was lying next to Sam. She looked up at him as he approached. “How was your shower?” Jerry asked her.

  “Heavenly.” She said. She decided she didn’t want to share her full experience with him just yet, at least not tonight. “You stink.” Angie teased him.

  “Thanks.” Jerry replied with a smile.

  “How was your meeting with the principle?” She asked him.

  “Great.” He answered. “I think we are going to stay here for a while, as long as everyone else agrees. This place has a lot of potential.”

  “I think so too.” Angie agreed. “I took a shower. I would stay for that perk alone.” She said with a smile.

  Jerry giggled then laid down close to her. “Goodnight Angie girl.” He said to her.

  “Goodnight.” Angie said, then rolled over and looked at Sam. She studied his face as he slept and saw John in his features. It made her think of her husband. She fell asleep trying to imagine what John was going through, thousands of miles away.

  CHAPTER 27

  “Is everyone okay?” John asked the rest of his group, after they had a moment to collect themselves inside the building. Everyone except for Susan nodded.

  “Are you fucking crazy bringing us in here?” Susan said angrily. “You are going to get us killed, and to rescue some Afghan we don’t even know.”

  “Take it easy Susan.” Ed tried to calm her down.

  “Yeah, shut the fuck up.” Shelly added.

  “I’m sorry you feel that way Susan,” John said, “but I won’t leave anyone to die like this if I can help it.”

  “Thank you, my friend.” The Afghan man said appreciatively. “I fear your friend may be right though. It seems you have condemned yourselves for my sake.”

  “It was our only option.” John said, determined he had made the right decision. “We should move away from this door, maybe they will thin out in time if they can’t hear us.”

  The Afghan soldier led them through the building, up a few flights of stairs until they emerged onto the roof of the building. In the center of the roof, there were some blankets, several empty cans, a backpack, and a couple of books. It appeared that the man had been sleeping on top of the building. John took a moment to study the soldier. The man was very thin, as if he hadn’t eaten in sometime. His right sleeve was ripped and John noticed that there was a white bandage wrapped around his forearm with a bit of blood that had soaked through. He looked around the roof and saw a body lying near the east edge. He would inquire about the wound and the body later, after they figured a way out of the mess they were in.

  John moved to the west side of the roof and peered over. Directly below him was the door they had entered and at least thirty zombies still crowded around it. The monsters closest to the door were repeatedly banging on it, as the others crowded in behind them.

  “How much ammo do you all have remaining?” John asked his friends.

  The others dropped the magazines from their rifles and ejected the clips from their side arms and took an inventor
y of their remaining ammunition. John did the same. After a few moments, all of them reported their ammunition status. They had forty-six rounds of 5.56mm remaining between them and they each had almost a full clip for the 9mm pistols. Susan still had a full clip, she hadn’t fired a single round when they made their way to the building.

  “Okay,” John said, “everyone give your 5.56 rounds to George, he is by far the best shot here. Keep your 9mm ammunition, we will use the hand guns when we make our escape out of here. George will take out as many of the zombies below with his rifle until they are either all dead or he runs out of ammo, then we make a break for it and get back to the gate. We are not going to wait here for the situation to get worse.”

  John walked over to George and handed his magazine of 5.56mm ammunition over. While the others were sorting out their ammo, John moved to the Afghan man.

  “What’s your name?” John asked the man.

  “I am Samir.” He answered.

  “Hello, Samir, my name is John.” He introduced himself. “We’ll save the rest of the introductions for when we get out of here. Do you have a weapon Samir?” John asked him.

  “Only this knife.” Samir said in a regretful tone. “This is why I have been stuck here. I can’t fight them all, with only a knife.”

  “Fair enough.” John said. “We are going to get out of this, just follow the group when we make a break for it.”

  “I understand, John.” Samir told him.

  George was just about finished consolidating the ammunition into two magazines.

  “We will all go down to the exit, except for George, and we’ll remove the barricade that Samir put into place.” John explained the plan in more detail. “We’ll wait for George to finish his work up here and join us down below. Once he joins the group, I’ll lead us out. Have your pistols ready as soon as that door opens. We are going to move swiftly to the gate and take out any zombies we encounter along the way. Does anyone have any questions?”