by Connor Mccoy
The three travelers, with their backpacks on, approached the door. The bikes rested against the wall. “I kept checking, but I never saw any sign of those young men,” Liam said. “I’m guessing if they were out all night, they’re fast asleep. They probably hunt during the night.
Conrad stopped at the door. “Liam, unbolt it.” Conrad drew his gun. “And you take two steps back.”
“Dad…” Liam began.
“That’s how it going to be.” Conrad stood in front of the door. “Anyone starts shooting, you slam the door shut again, even if I’m on the other side.”
Liam obeyed. With the door unbolted, the young man pulled it open. Conrad stood front and center, ready to take the certain death that might come.
Instead, nothing but the sun greeted him.
“Wait.” Conrad said. Fearing that snipers might pick them off, he took a few steps outside. But even after nearly a full minute, nothing happened.
He turned to Liam and Carla and waved his fingers. “Looks like they’ve found other fish to fry. Bring out the bikes. We’re heading off.”
Conrad eyed the houses around them. The three of them walked the two remaining bikes down the road from the abandoned building, with Conrad walking his bicycle and Carla walking hers with Liam helping. So far, the four men had not reappeared, and no one new accosted them. However, the air smelled different. It was arid, hot, and as they proceeded through the neighborhood, whiffs of smoke blew past them.
“It isn’t going to stay quiet like this,” Conrad said, “In fact, it’s only getting to get worse. This was a town on fire last night.”
The three of them turned onto back roads that ran behind a number of fenced off back yards. Conrad hoped they could find another bicycle that they could commandeer for Liam. If there was one to be found, it might be a sign that the house was abandoned. That would be good news if they needed a place to flee to. People who still were hanging around would know their bike was a necessary mode of transportation and secure it, or maybe have fled on it days ago.
“Always have an eye on an exit…or two,” Conrad said.
As they passed by their fourth house, the rustling of the back door drew their attention. Then, a hand started pushing the door open. Liam started to slow down, but Conrad turned to him and said, “No, keep moving. Wait and see what he does. He might not think anything of us just walking by.”
Before long they had outdistanced the yard, but soon it became clear this town was stirring back to life. Perhaps most of these folks didn’t mean them any harm, but it just took one or two bad actors to cause real trouble. Conrad knew they couldn’t afford to stay on foot any longer.
Conrad stopped his bike, then jammed his hand into one of the bottom compartment of his backpack. “Carla, I’m going to need you to ride on the back this time. It’s going to take Liam’s strength to keep the bike going for both of you.”
“Dad, what are you talking about?” Liam asked as Conrad pulled out a pair of what looked like metal cylinders. “Hey, are those bike pegs?”
“Quick, drop the bike on the side,” Conrad said, already turning to Carla’s ride. Carla did as she was told, while Liam looked on, surprised his father had been carrying those pegs.
As Conrad started screwing one of the pegs on the rear axle, Liam said, “Why didn’t you bring those out earlier?”
“Thought we might find you a new ride in time. This was just if we had no choice.” Having finished one side, Conrad flipped the bike over to attach the next peg to the opposite side of the wheel. “Keep an eye out. Anybody coming toward us?”
Liam and Carla looked around. The yards nearby had people coming out. Since Conrad, Liam and Carla had stopped moving, it was easier to linger on the sights of the people. The ones in sight all seemed quite thin, even gaunt, with dirty clothes, ones that possibly hadn’t been cleaned since the solar storm.
Conrad finished. He stood up Carla’s bike. “Liam, you’re pedaling. Carla will get on behind you.”
Liam quickly mounted the bike. Carla got on the rear end of the seat, with both her boots on the pegs. Conrad got on his and started pedaling.
By now they were speeding down the street, pulling out of easy range of any bystanders. Their speed wasn’t as great, as Liam’s bike had to carry two passengers, making Conrad slow a little to keep from getting too far ahead of them.
The party made it to the road that led out of Wynwood and toward Redmond. By now they had traversed the entire length of Wynwood, which brought them closer to their destination. Along the way, they continued seeing people stepping out of doors, standing in windows, or walking into their yards.
Then, Conrad’s nostrils twitched. Whiffs of fresh smoke blew past them. Ahead, smoke poured from a building. The same was happening in a small store on the other side of it.
Conrad began figuring out these people. They seemed indifferent, but their bloodstained clothing and the fresh carnage told a different story. Perhaps it was those four men, or more like them, but a group of people decided to have a party last night, and these people were on the losing end. Perhaps the marauders operated mostly at night, leaving these people to emerge into the daylight.
The road curved. The buildings and houses started to vanish. Open fields were returning, and it wasn’t even noon yet. They were making good time.
Before they left the town limits, they got one final reminder of this town’s bleak fate. A green sign off the side of the road read You Are Now Leaving Wynwood. At least that’s how it was supposed to read. The letters “Wyn” in “Wynwood” were painted over with the word “Dead” in red ink, spelling out “Deadwood” in its place.
Gazing up at the night sky, Conrad reclined against a tree. Liam just had finished tending to the tent behind them. Carla lay down in a sleeping bag nearby. Conrad tapped the bark on the root that ran by his leg. They had been fortunate to find a wooded area off the side of the road. This tree was big enough to offer some concealment for the night.
Liam sat down beside Conrad. “You know, it’s weird. Just now, I reached for my phone in my pocket, and I keep forgetting it’s not there anymore. I left it at your house. I know it doesn’t work anymore, but I keep expecting it to be there for me.”
“It’s going to be like that for a long while. It’s hard to let go of the modern world,” Conrad said.
“The sad part is I have over a thousand pictures in that phone and a bunch of videos.” Liam shook his head. “Now they’re all gone.”
“I still have pictures from when you were a boy. They’re all photographs. Some of them are printouts. I still have the old camera, but I haven’t had a chance to see if it works.”
Liam looked at Carla. She was sound asleep. “Dad?” Liam asked, “Can I ask you something?”
“Well, we’re prepared for the night, so I imagine all we can do is talk. Go ahead.”
“I kinda wonder if I really can protect Carla,” Liam said.
Conrad exhaled loudly. “It’s all that stuff about losing the gun earlier, right? Better you make a mistake like that and learn from it now.”
Liam shook his head. “Carla, she’s a special person. I told you she saved my life. Before we arrived at your house, we had some trouble on the road. We had stopped at an emergency clinic in a small town. It didn’t look as though it was ransacked. We went inside, found some nonperishable supplies, but there was a hobo in there.” Liam chuckled.
“Well, he definitely looked like one. He had taken up inside one of the rooms. The room stunk like hell. He had crapped in there. I think he was nutsoid. Anyway, we suddenly ran into him and he freaked. He came at me with a scalpel, and then Carla kicked him good in the stomach. We ran into the waiting room. I was too busy looking for something to barricade the door. She suddenly told me she had locked the door.” He paused a moment, scratching the side of his cheek. “I didn’t put two and two together until I saw her spring that door at the miner’s building. She’s a whiz at picking locks.”
“Does t
hat disturb you?” Conrad asked.
“Maybe a little. But I think I’m just more disturbed that she’s pulled my fat out of the fire more than I have for her.”
“Feeling a little inadequate against her, right?”
Liam nodded. “Yeah. It’s a little embarrassing. I shouldn’t compete with her. But things have changed so damn much. I can’t just be Liam Drake, college graduate, former basketball player. I’ve got to handle Nature. I’ve got to handle stray dogs. I’ve got to handle crazy psychos who want to shoot at us.”
Conrad rested his knuckle on his right leg. “It’s like anything else. When the occasion comes, you rise to it. Don’t worry about what you’re not. It’ll only fill you up with doubt.”
Liam smiled. “You’re something else, Dad. I bet you skinned snakes to make your belts.”
Conrad chuckled. “No, no. I wish I was as deserving of being on that pedestal.”
“No way. You think of everything. You even had those bike pegs to help me out after I lost my bike,” Liam said, “That was pretty amazing.”
“I thank you, son. I’d love to think I’ve always got the answer.” He swallowed. “But the truth is I think we both have a lot in common. Of course, you were always the bigger talker. You get that from your mother.”
A short moment passed. “We better get settled in for the night,” Conrad said.
“I’d rather sit out here and chat some more,” Liam said.
Conrad nodded his head. “I would, too. Maybe…a little bit longer.”
Chapter Nine
Perched on the hillside, Carla looked through the binoculars. “What are they doing? Wait, those look like bodies.” She let the glasses dangle loosely by the rope around her neck. “My God.”
Conrad picked up his own pair and took another look down below. They had stopped off the side of the road before they crossed into Redmond. Fortunately, the road ran alongside the town before it made a sharp turn into the city limits. The raised ground here also afforded them a good view into the town’s eastern side.
However, what really drew them to stop were the rising columns of smoke they spotted in the distance. Having taken some time to scout it out from up here, they spotted a band of survivors wheeling carts of debris and trash out into the grounds just outside Redmond. They then tossed them into burning flames.
“Why are they burning bodies?” Liam asked, “They can’t even bury them?”
“Dead bodies attract disease, vermin,” Conrad said, “I hate to say it, but burning them isn’t exactly a bad idea. You let the dead lay in the streets and it becomes a recipe for a disaster for the survivors.”
Carla put the binoculars back to her eyes. “Some of the people down there have guns.”
“They don’t look like soldiers. My guess is it’s a militia, which could be good. It means Redmond’s got some good people running it, or at least parts of it.” Conrad frowned. “Or it could be worse. Some strongman may have rounded up some followers, and is just cleaning up so he can run the town himself.”
“Damn.” Liam paced back toward the road. “We can’t risk running into them. Maybe we can go around?”
“Your mom’s in the north end of the city, right?” Carla got up and faced Liam. “We’ll just go off-road and head downhill.”
Liam looked down the road. “May have to walk the bikes a little, but we’re most of the way north now. It shouldn’t take too long.”
Conrad put up his binoculars. “As long as we get there before it gets too late. We don’t want to be caught in the dark without shelter, especially if this place has fallen to someone who doesn’t like visitors.”
This was the high income, affluent part of the city. The houses were bigger, the yards wider, the fences fancier, and the streets cleaner.
Well, at least prior to the solar-generated EMP.
Conrad blinked his eyes as the sunbeams washed over the neighborhood. They had arrived in Redmond about half an hour ago, and just had turned into this part of the city. Once again, the air was punctuated with the smell of burnt smoke, though at least it was a tad staler this time.
They approached a street sign that read Sedger Lane. Liam pointed to the intersection just beyond it. “There,” he said, “turn right and stop.”
Conrad followed his son’s directions. Father and son halted their bikes in the intersection. Before them, Sedger Lane sloped downward into a neighborhood located within a valley. It was definitely a beautiful place to live. The green hills on either side of the street, beyond the backs of the houses, supplied a lush backdrop to live among. Though to Conrad, it seemed you’d need as much money as God to live here.
Can’t be surprised, Conrad thought. She did clean me out good.
Carla sank her head. “It’s even worse than I thought.”
Liam clenched his lower jaw. “Mom. She’s down there. Her house, her house is.”
Conrad pushed up on his bike pedals, beginning a slow coast. “Well, nothing to do but get moving.” Then he pedaled harder, taking himself down the street.
As Conrad and Liam pedaled their way down the street, it became sickeningly clear that arsonists had had a field day with the houses here. Ugly black burns had been scorched into house walls. Some fences were totally burned down. A few automobiles parked in driveways were reduced to metal frames and piles of charred ash. And it got worse the closer they got to the bottom of the valley. As the ground started to level off, all the homes surrounding them had been burned to the ground.
Suddenly, Liam skidded his bike to a stop. Carla clung to him from behind. Conrad quickly stopped his bike before he got more than a few feet out. His son had stopped near the opening of a house’s driveway. Conrad backed up slightly, then kicked open the kickstand to park his bicycle. There was no need for Liam to explain why he had stopped. Conrad knew they had arrived.
The house’s outer frame was built out of classic red brick, which was about the only part of the home that looked in good condition. The gutters hung off the house sides in black, burned strips. The front door was lying on the ground, off its hinges, similarly blackened. Many of the roof’s shingles had broken off, but it seemed mostly intact, although it still could sport smaller leaks not visible from this distance.
Despite the horrific state of the house, Conrad thought he still could smell Sarah from it. He took a step closer to the home. He thought about the many times he had seen Sarah’s face, with her auburn hair that seemed to glow when she stepped in the rays of the sun. The memories gave him great peace and joy. He almost forgot his times of bliss had come to an end.
He took another step across the lawn, but stopped. What would he find in there? Would he discover her dead body? Had the arson fire snuffed out her life?
Dammit, Sarah, what am I going to do if I find you’re dead? Am I going to spend the rest of my life wondering why you tore us apart? That I’ll never get another chance to make it alright?
Liam and Carla slowly approached. Carla, normally upbeat, was somber, though she held onto Liam’s arm tightly to provide comfort.
“Her car…it’s not here,” Liam said in a quiet voice that reminded Conrad of when Liam was a boy.
Indeed, the driveway was empty. But what did that mean? The EMP would have shorted out the electronics in most cars made in the past few decades, and Conrad doubted Sarah’s car was old enough that its components could survive an electromagnetic pulse. Sarah also could have been out and about when the pulse hit and had to abandon the car. Perhaps she did come back here. But that meant she could have been caught in the arson as well.
“It looks stable enough.” Conrad chewed on the inside of his mouth. “Might provide us some shelter for the night.”
Liam nudged Conrad’s arm. “Dad, c’mon, let’s go inside.”
Conrad nodded. Neither one of them could delay the inevitable. They began their trek across the lawn to the open doorway.
But suddenly, the doorway wasn’t so open.
A man had emerged. In the
shadow of the house, his features weren’t easily visible. His face was pudgy, his cheeks puffed. His dirty blond moustache was bushy and unkempt. As the man took two steps forward into the light, Conrad and his party could see the white apron he was wearing. Ugly brown stains dotted the fabric. What the brown came from, though, was a mystery. It didn’t look like dirt, and it seemed too thick to have come from a drink. The smell, however, was familiar.
The man held up his right hand. He was brandishing a meat cleaver.
Suddenly, Conrad got it. This man’s apron was caked in blood. But whose? An animal’s…or a human’s?
The man’s eyes shot wide open. Then he stuck his left hand in his mouth and whistled real loud. Conrad’s hand reached for his firearm. What was the whistle for? A warning? Maybe it was to let other people in these parts know that fresh victims had arrived. Whatever the reason, he wasn’t about to stick around to find out.
He backed up. “Let’s get out of here. Now. This place is about to get a lot less friendly.”
Conrad hurried to his bike, but made sure Liam and Carla mounted theirs before he started pedaling. The man with the apron and knife whistled again and again, but did not pursue them.
The trio left Sarah’s house behind. Conrad’s heart sank. Now he might never get to see if Sarah was in there. The presence of that man strongly suggested that if Sarah hadn’t escaped, she wouldn’t be alive right now.
As they pedaled down the street, movement stirred in the charred houses around them. People, usually one or two per house, emerged into the open. Neither Conrad nor Liam bothered to stop to get a good look at them, to see if they were carrying weapons.
“Just worry about getting to a safe place,” Conrad called to Liam and Carla behind him. “We’ll hunt for some shelter, maybe somewhere out of this neighborhood.”
Unfortunately, they weren’t alone. A single man was racing after them, dressed in black clothing with a matching hood that covered his face, and a brown bandana covering his neck. He was thin and fast, making up ground on them, even though they were on bikes.
