Have Hope: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller (The Pulse Book 1)

by Hayden James

  Without noticing the two bicyclists who wore the green and white jackets saw that Rachel had traveled along with the group who was headed toward Otisco. They made a bee-line for her and came up on either side.

  Rachel saw the green jacket on her left in the corner of her eye and jumped out of her seat. Trying to avoid him, she swerved to her right, only to find the other man with the white jacket on that side. The two men sandwiched Rachel between them. Rachel once again felt her face tingle, her hands and fingers become numb, and her chest constricting not allowing her to take a deep breath. Tears streamed down her face as she was certain these men were going to attack her. The man with the green jacket said, “Hey there, we saw you yesterday. My name is Gary.”

  The man in the white jacket introduced himself, “And my name is Vince. What’s yours? You’re very pretty.”

  Rachel shaking, responded, “Rachel. My name is Rachel.” She did not look at either one of them in the eye, she only pedaled forward hoping the encounter would soon be over and they would move on.

  “That’s a pretty name,” replied Vince. “A pretty name for a pretty lady.”

  Gary intervened Vince’s compliments, “Vince, stop being so weird. Those comments make people feel awkward. I know you’re just giving her a compliment, but it makes others feel weird.”

  Vince replied, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to make you feel weird. I do think Rachel is a pretty name. And I do think she’s pretty. I was just trying to make her feel special.”

  Gary steered the conversation back to their task at hand, “We wanted to tell you that we were looking for you yesterday.”

  Rachel’s heart sank. Here it came. This is where they are going to hold her hostage. She mustered up, “And?”

  Gary answered, “We wanted to make sure you were safe.”

  “Safe?” Rachel asked. “What in the world are you talking about?” Her nervousness lessening as the conversation went on.

  Vince answered, “Yesterday, we stopped a couple of guys trying to abduct another woman earlier in the day, right where we saw you. Since you were riding by yourself, we thought you might want to ride with us.”

  “Really?” Rachel asked. Her preconceived notions of these men seemed to be the opposite of what they actually were. Or were they? Rachel immediately realized that she could not trust these men on face value alone. They sure did not seem like they wanted to ride with her yesterday. They seemed like they wanted her for something else.

  “I swear,” Vince replied. “The two men grabbed a woman and were dragging her into their vehicle when we stopped them.”

  Gary confirmed, “Yeah, who knows what they were going to do with her.” They all three rode further down the road. Then Gary asked, “If you want, we can ride with you where ever you’re going. It won’t be any trouble at all. We just want to make sure that you are safe.”

  Rachel had an uneasy feeling. This offer seemed too good to be true. A personal escort to wherever she needed to go? There had to be a catch. Whether it was that they’d mug her and steal her supplies when they were alone, or worse, use her for their own benefit somehow, there was no way she would travel with two men. “Thanks, guys. That is a nice offer, but I could not burden you. I’m going to go at it alone.”

  “It’s not a burden,” argued Vince.

  Gary interrupted Vince, “She said no, Vince. Let’s leave it alone. Let’s respect her decision.” The two men slowed down, allowing Rachel to get ahead of them.

  Rachel wasn’t sure if they were really going to leave her alone or if it was a ploy to have her let her guard down. In any case, Rachel was beginning to get hungry and was in need of a break.

  The crowd of people traveling to Ortisco was all taking a break, pulling off to a parking lot and stopping for lunch. Rachel did the same, staying in the thick of the crowd and tried not to draw attention to herself.

  Groups of people sat on curbs in the parking lot, eating nonperishable items like protein bars, some at beans out of a can, while others ate crackers and peanut butter. The notion that people were not sharing like they once was interesting to Rachel. The tide had definitely turned from people sharing what they had with they intend on surviving together to now, every man for himself. Strange what a few days make.

  Rachel finished her lunch before most of the others in the group. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gary and Vince sitting not the curb, eating protein bars and drinking a sports drink. She walked by them purposely to see if they would follow her. They both look in her direction, but they keep eating.

  While Rachel mounted her bike and pushed off, heading down the road little ways she looked behind her. She caught a glimpse of the green and white-jacketed men still sitting on the curb eating. Perhaps they were telling the truth. It would be odd for her to travel with them, however, so she felt justified with her choice. In the back of her mind, she did believe the story they told her.

  Rachel made her way down the road several miles. She had left the group, and wanted to get to Indianapolis and back to her family sooner rather than later. Practically flying down the highway, she was making very good time. Traveling without the crowds of people surrounding her was much easier, and she was beginning to see the end of her journey in sight.

  A few miles more down the road, Rachel pedaled as fast as she could. She could make something out on the horizon. As she traveled closer, she could make out the outline of a small truck, stalled out. The truck blocked the shoulder of the road.

  Rachel approached the vehicle, she could gather that it was an older model truck, one of those vehicles that Paul told her to try to get if she could. It was a vehicle made before the mid-1970s. Which meant that it should not have been affected by the pulse or whatever Paul explained. So why was it stalled out on the side of the road?

  Expecting the vehicle to be similar to the stalled out Ford Bronco she saw the day before, Rachel figured she might be able to salvage items from it. She pedaled faster in hopes of acquiring some kind of weapon to use if she felt uncomfortable again.

  Rachel slowed down to come to a stop to scavenge through the vehicle when out of the blue, a man ran toward Rachel knocking her off of the bike. Rachel fell on the road, a loud thud reverberated the road as she made an impact. Skidding on the hot asphalt from colliding with the road, the momentum carried her further, scrapping her skin and tearing her flesh.

  She screamed, getting to her feet. The man ran and took Rachel’s bicycle, throwing it in the bed of his truck. Two more men come out from behind the truck. They came to her and Rachel started screaming and running.

  The two men chased after her, and they soon caught up with her. Rachel found herself to be in the fight for her life. The two men grabbed for her arms to drag her, but she pulled her arms back and ran further, trying to escape. The third man trailed the other two men, once the other men caught Rachel, the third would help bring her into the truck.

  Running as fast as she can down the hot concrete, one of the men grabs her by her arm to pull her in again. She smacked him right in the mouth before darting off again, running at full speed.

  The other sped up and tackled Rachel, pulling her to the ground. The man jumped on top of her. Rachel tried the best she could to punch at the man, but she was no match for him. He held down her arms, pinning them to the road. She felt the hot asphalt under her upper arms as she realized that this was going to be it.

  Bang. Bang. The man who once held her down now fell on top of her dead. The second man also dead. The man who put Rachel’s bicycle in the flatbed of his pickup and was trailing the other two men saw what had happened. He darted as fast as he could back to his truck. Bang. He fell to the ground, dead.

  Rachel climbed from underneath the man’s body and became visibly shaken by the two corpses that laid in front of her. Still, in shock, Rachel looked up to find that Gary and Vince were running toward her. “Rachel! Are you OK?” Vince shouted as he sprinted toward her.

  Rachel wasn’t all right. She had tears s
treaming down her face, and she was hyperventilating. Both of the men still had the gun they used to shoot the men who ambushed Rachel within their hands. They both had guns on them that Rachel hadn’t seen before.

  Vince attempted to calm Rachel down, “It’s all right. Take deep breaths. I’m sure that must have been hard for you.”

  Gary put his arm around Rachel, “It’s all fine. You’re fine. Other than a few scrapes and bruises you are just fine.” Rachel didn’t believe them, but as she calmed down, she realized that they had saved her life as she really was OK, minus the scrapes she had.

  As the terror and fear wore off, Rachel was able to speak. Still shaking she muttered, “Thank you. Thank you.” Vince and Gary hugged her harder as they walked toward the truck, passing the third man on their way.

  “How can I ever repay you?” Rachel asked.

  “Think nothing of it,” replied Gary. “We are both just glad we got to you in time.”

  They arrived at the truck and Vince pulled out Rachel’s bike from the flatbed, standing it up using its kickstand. Vince said to Gary, “Should we try to see if we can get this vehicle to work?”

  “Nah,” Gary replied. “I don’t want any part of it. Seems cursed if you ask me. Plus, I think we’ll have an easier time riding our bikes. Especially when we hit those big crowds.”

  Listening to this, Rachel asked both Gary and Vince, “Guys, do you mind if I ride with you?”

  Gary replied, “It would be our pleasure, that way we can make sure that you’re safe.”

  The three of them continued on their bikes, getting back on Route 31, making their way toward Indianapolis.

  Chapter Twelve

  William Conner

  Amity, Indiana

  1:26 PM

  “Girls, keep up,” shouted William as they rode farther and farther. After making it several miles out of Franklin, Indiana, William and his daughters found that the road opened up with fewer crowds of people traveling down Route 31. That was a relief for William, he grew concerned over the hostile nature and the aggressive actions of the people as they grew more desperate. Panic came over the people, which was expected, given how they were dealing without any power, access to new resources, and the entire communication infrastructure completely shut down.

  As William and his twin daughters rode down the highway, he thought about what Ron had told him. How this blackout affected the entire nation. William did not know a great deal about CMEs or EMPs, but he knew some from his father. Even if this disaster was an enormous CME, William could not fathom that it would be enough to take down the power grid from coast to coast. Perhaps a large region, but not from the East to the West coast.

  Despite his disbelief, William grew concerned that there were no government entities as of yet. FEMA was nowhere to be found. Neither the National Guard. It’s been days since the event, and he had expected to see some government aid by now.

  William and the girls found themselves in Amity, Indiana, a small unincorporated community in Johnson County. “How are we all doing?” William asked, seeing if his girls needed a break yet.

  “We are doing all right,” shouted Maddy. “But, I think Addy would like to switch with me. It’s my turn to pull Regis.”

  William replied, “All right, we will pull over in this church parking lot and you two can transfer the trailer over to Maddy’s bike. I’m sure Natasha would like a chance to stretch her legs. Also, put Regis on his leash and take him for a short walk before we start back up again.”

  William led them to the church parking lot. The small community was practically a ghost town, not a person in sight. The community was small, to begin with, with less than 30,000 that lived within a five-mile radius of Amity. The twin daughters parked their bikes and Maddy transferred the trailer to her bike while Addy leashed up Regis. William took Natasha out of her bike trailer and they played a game of tag. “You’re it!” Natasha shouted as she caught William while he ran from her.

  “Girls, make sure you drink a lot of water while we are stopped. The next leg will be long before we stop for the night,” advised William.

  The twins returned after a walk with Regis and were drinking the water from what they had stored in their packs. William was getting Natasha back in the bike trailer when he noticed something odd. He said, “Girls, isn’t that Ron’s VW camper over there?”

  They looked across the street at a small convenience store parking lot. Addy replied, “It looks like it. But I don’t know for sure.”

  “Huh? Strange. From here, it looks like the side door is cracked open. Let’s go check and make sure he’s all right,” suggested William.

  The twins and William got on their bicycles and pedaled toward the VW camper to find out what was going on. They all stopped a decent distance away from where the camper was parked. William said to Maddy and Addy, “Wait here with Natasha and Regis. I’m going to find out what is going on.”

  William made his way to the camper, approaching it from behind on the passenger side. He saw the side door ajar. The curtains were drawn on the side windows. He moved closer to the front of the van. William surveilled the driver’s seat by using the passenger side mirror. He could see that there was no one in the driver’s seat.

  He looked through the passenger's window to get a full view of the driver’s seat. Cupping his hands around his face to cut the glare from the sun, he was able to get a better view of what was going on in Ron’s van. There was a mess in the front of the VW camper van. Maps threw all over the place. It appeared to have been hundreds of maps of every region of the United States. Books were also tossed in the passenger seat. Newspapers from months ago piled on the floor in front of the passenger seat. William did not see any blood anywhere.

  The scene looked suspicious, or Ron was a hoarder. Regardless, William turned to leave since he didn’t really see anything. Perhaps Ron was out for a walk. Just as he turned back to his daughters back the way he came, instantly he felt the cold metal tip of a gun against the back of his head.

  William froze with terror, raised his hands at the elbows, showing empty palms and indicating that he meant no harm. Obviously, Ron didn’t recognize William, or this encounter would not have turned this way. “Turn around slowly,” Ron said to William.

  William with his hands still raised at the elbows turned around slowly and said, “Hey, Ron. It’s me, William, from last night in Franklin.”

  Ron did not lower the gun but maintained the barrel pointed at William holding it next to his temple. From around the van came two men with black masks pulled up around their foreheads. It appeared to be the same masks that William saw the prior night. “No!” William muttered under his breath after recognizing that these were the men who tried to steal his daughters the previous night. As William began to put two and two together he said, “You guys were working together as a team all along?”

  Ron replied, “You’re a quick one there, partner. Should have just given up your girls to us last night. That would have been much easier. Those are two of the finest young blondes that I have ever seen. We can for certain survive, this a here pulse, with them to barter with. Boys, imagine the weapons we could get for a nice trade?” The two men with the masks nodded their heads.

  Desperate, William reached for his gun that he originally put in his waistband. “Shit!” he muttered, hoping not to tip Ron off. William had moved the gun to his pack during the break while he was playing tag with Natasha. He felt stupid for inspecting a vehicle without his piece on him.

  “Keep your hands up!” Ron shouted.

  “Right,” William replied, tasing his hands past his elbows. “You know what a despicable human being you are, right?”

  “That’s enough out of you,” replied Ron as he took his handgun and struck William in the temple with the bottom handle, rendering him unconscious.

  As William fell to the ground, he could hear Ron shouting commands at the two masked men. “Boys, masks on now! “Get the older two girls and leave the r
est. If you get any lip from the dog, shoot him!” Then William heard footsteps sprinting down the concrete and horrifying screams coming from his daughters. William could not move a muscle as he was in and out of consciousness.

  William was able to gain enough consciousness to see his girls trying to fight off the two masked men. The two girls scrabbled off of their bikes to protect Regis and Natasha, but they were no match for the two men. As the VW camper van sped away, William completely passed out.

  A few moments later, William felt the nuzzling of a dog nose on his cheeks. He also felt two small hands on his shoulders gently swaying him. Natasha shouted, “Daddy wake up, wake up.”

  William opened his eyes, but his vision was blurry. “Natasha?” William asked.

  “Oh good, daddy is up,” exclaimed Natasha. William was still groggy and had a double vision from the concession, but he managed to get to his feet.

  “Natasha, did those bad men say where they were going? Think very hard,” asked William.

  Natasha thought about it and said, “They said something about Christopher Columbus. Why would they talk about Christopher Columbus?”

  “Christopher Columbus? What in the world?” William thought about it a little longer. “Oh! They’re headed to Columbus, IN. There’s a town up ahead called Columbus! Fantastic, Natasha! You did good!”

  William went over to his bike to check his pack. “Oh good,” he said as he felt the cold metal of the gun on top of his sweater. Ron will never suspect that he’s armed.

  Noticing the bikes that were left, tears welled up in his eyes. He has to get his girls back. “Right,” he muttered under his breath. “Regis, in the trailer.” His twins would never forgive him if he left Regis behind since they were willing to protect both Natasha and Regis and put themselves in harm’s way for them.