Apartment 905

by Ned Sahin

  They say an average attacker can cover 21 feet in 1.5 seconds. This camera shows at least 100 feet in the front yard. It gives enough time for watchstanders to warn others.

  The Hernandez family already has a big collection of guns. Automatic rifles, shotguns, handguns, and plenty of bullets in different calibers. We did a short firearm practice this morning to make sure everyone is ready for a gunfight. Miguel and Val are expert shooters. Yolanda and Diego got the target in at least half of the shoots. The shooting practices they held as a family activity before the pandemic seem to be paying back. It was the first time I fired a gun, but Miguel helped me to get used to both handgun and rifle.

  We opened a small hole on the storage room’s ceiling and piled up tiles around it to create a shooting point. It’s big enough for one person to fire an automatic rifle. Whoever is watching the live camera footage at that time can quickly climb up the ladder and surprise the unwanted guests. However, the watchstander needs a way to alarm others before taking action.

  We put light rocks inside soda cans and tied their tops to one side of a fishing line. Once the line is pulled from the other side in the storage room, rocks make noise by rattling around in the cans. We placed a group of cans in the living room and hallway. This primitive alarm system should work well to warn others about an approaching danger during the day. If it’s nighttime, it’s better to wake everyone up quietly by going into their bedrooms.

  There is one more preparation I wanted to help the family with before I leave for California tomorrow morning. It’s a bug-out location near the house.

  About three hundred yards from the house is a hillside with the view of their home and its surroundings. We built a tent from branches, leaves, shopping bags, and an old couch in between three trees. It looks ugly and funny, but the family can use it as a shelter in emergencies. It would protect them from weather conditions at least.

  We buried food in mylar bags, water in a steel container, and a ready to fire assault rifle near the tent. These will help them stay alive for a while if their house is compromised. They can wait here until the invaders are gone or they can plot and launch a counterattack.

  “How does our mansion look from there?” Val asks while I adjust the hunter binoculars to see the house better. I have been working on the tent with her and Miguel in the last few hours.

  “Hernandez Castle looks ready for centuries to come,” I say, adding to her witty description of their house.

  She smiles and reaches out for the binoculars. I notice the little plane tattoo on her right wrist.

  “Where would you like to fly to if you had a chance?” I ask, pointing to her tattoo.

  “Venice Beach…or Monterey. Somewhere by the ocean on the West Coast,” she says while scanning the area through binoculars. “What about you, Matt?”

  “In addition to California? I would love to go to Alaska... Amazing nature with not many people. Sounds like a perfect combination,” I say. I used to watch a TV show called Alaska: The Last Frontier. Even though I love being in urban areas, seeing the self-sufficient locals deep in the Alaska forests always made me want to spend time there, away from everything. If not for my entire retirement, it would be a great escape for at least a part of it.

  “We should build a pool here, amigos,” Miguel says. His humorous approach to life always reminds me of my father.

  “Tequilas are on me at the pool party!” I say and then add, “I owe you that!”

  “You already helped us a lot, Matt. I am in debt now,” he says with the familiar friendly eyes. The lines in his forehead become thicker as he looks around to analyze our lookout spot.

  I am glad that I have been helpful here. They were very generous about the supplies and gave me a handgun and rifle for my cross-country trip. I promised them my stock I had buried in the woods. I haven’t told them about the treasure in the storage unit yet.

  Miguel and Val pick up the tools and move down to the house.

  “I will stay a few more minutes to enjoy the view. I will catch up with you guys,” I say. They smile and nod before turning their heads toward downhill.

  I lie down and look at the blue sky while they are on their way downhill. I go through my trip plan one more time. It will be a long walk or bike ride if I can find one. I will try to stay away from big cities unless I am desperate for supplies.

  My only concern is the Nevada deserts. If I find a 4x4, I am willing to take a risk of being noticed because of a loud engine. Otherwise, walking or biking that tough terrain would be too risky.

  I hear someone screaming in pain. Shots from an automatic rifle follow it.

  Three people are nearing the front fence, and one of them falls in the trap. I can see only half of his body.

  They must have heard shots from our practice this morning. We thought the woods would prevent the noise enough to be heard from Old Fort. They must have been patrolling the area at that time.

  It was Diego’s watch. I see him continuously shooting at them from the opening on the storage room’s ceiling.

  Miguel and Val are running inside the house from the back door.

  I look for Yolanda. I see her hiding behind the farmer cabin. She doesn’t have a gun or anything else to protect herself. I don’t know what she was doing there. Miguel told her to stay home until we came back.

  A fourth person on the right side of the fence and is getting closer to Yolanda.

  Another person is crawling toward the back of the house.

  I wish we had radios. There is no way I can warn them from here. I also cannot shoot to cover them from this distance. There is only one option left.

  I dig in the dirt next to the tent and take out the rifle. I did not think anybody would need to use this rifle anytime soon.

  I run down the hill to get to the house as soon as possible. The Saviors are yelling, but I can’t figure out what exactly they are saying.

  As soon as I reach the fence at the backside of the house, I slow down to scan the backyard. It’s getting darker. It makes it harder to see Saviors, but it will also work to our advantage since we know the house and the area.

  Shots stop from both sides. I hear voices coming from the front of the house.

  I enter the back door quietly and check the rooms one by one. A Savior is filling containers with our food in the storage room. He is facing the shelf. I think about taking him hostage, but I quickly abandon this idea. With the lack of tactical training, I may not be able to handle a hostage situation. It’s time to use my gun practice.

  I shoot him from one leg. He winces and shouts for help. I pick up his rifle as well as his handgun and throw them far into the hallway.

  I run to the living room to see the front of the house. All windows are down in pieces. Walls and furniture are full of bullet holes.

  Miguel, Val, and Diego on their knees in the front yard while two Saviors point their guns at them. As soon as they hear the shot from my rifle, they start firing randomly to the house.

  “Retreat!” the older Savior says, dragging Val with him. He uses her as a shield while he steps back to the front fence. The other Savior follows him. They keep shooting at the house. Miguel and Diego drop down on the ground to avoid bullets.

  I take position behind one of the living room windows to have a clearer shot. They are getting farther away. I don’t want to take a chance since they’re using Val as a cover.

  I wonder where Yolanda is. I hope she found a gun and ran behind them to take them down.

  They continue shooting until they are no longer in sight. I wait a few seconds to make sure they are gone.

  I glance around the front of the house. One Savior is dead on the ground inside the fence. Diego must have shot him from the roof.

  Another Savior is stuck in the trap with no sign of life.

  Miguel stands up with a devastated look on his face. He runs to the farmer cabin. I understand why shortly after.

  Yolanda is lyin
g with her clothes drenched in blood from her bullet wounds.

  I run after Miguel. He checks her heartbeat. Then he hugs her desperately. My legs feel weak and shaky. I crouch on one knee and close my eyes in grief. This shouldn’t have happened.

  Diego starts screaming while running to his mother with tears running down from his eyes. I get back up and stand in front of him to block him from seeing his mother in a pool of blood. He puts his head on my shoulder and keeps calling for his mom.

  Miguel rushes toward the cabin door. “I am going to send these bastards to hell!” he yells, opening the cabin door that had been struck with numerous bullet holes.

  I walk to the door. I see the SUV with a riddled hood and shattered windows.

  He ignores how the car looks and gets in the driver seat. He turns the key several times, but the engine makes only a hissing sound. He throws punches to the wheel. Then he takes his head between his hands.

  “Let’s take our bug-out bags and follow them! We have to get Val back and make them pay for this!” He gets out of the car and goes over to the dead Savior. He spits on his face after kicking his gut. He tries to rip his badge apart.

  “Miguel, we are going to find them, but we shouldn’t try it now. They probably ran away in a car. They might have already passed Old Fort by now. We don’t have a chance of tracking them in this dark,” I say. As much as I want to find Val and take our revenge, I know that we need a better plan.

  “No comprende. What is the difference between going after them now and tomorrow?” Miguel asks in disagreement. “How are we gonna find them tomorrow?”

  “I have a plan,” I say.

  Chapter 10

  “Who are you?” the man next to the steel gate asks. Another man is on the lookout in the watchtower. Both are heavily armed.

  This is how a Saviors’ camp entrance looks like.

  After being attacked by them yesterday, staying at the house wasn’t safe anymore. We interrogated the Savior I shot in the storage room, then we left the house with as many supplies as we could carry in our bags. We walked almost all night to get to the nearest big town, Asheville. We rested a few hours in an abandoned condo. Early in the morning, I left the condo and walked to this camp the Savior had revealed to us during the interrogation.

  “I am Matt. I heard that you guys are recruiting,” I say with a smooth voice and a forced smile.

  “Drop your bag and step forward,” he says, slowly approaching me. I drop my almost empty bag and walk toward him.

  He checks my arms, torso, and ankles. He takes my ID from my wallet. Then he searches into my bag. I only have some energy bars and a bottle of water inside. I didn’t bring any sort of weapons.

  “Follow me,” he says. He makes a hand gesture to the guy on the lookout to open the gate. The eight-feet tall steel gate begins sliding steadily. Once upon a time, this place used to be a local military base but is now Saviors’ camp for suburban supply chain and human resources.

  He takes me to a room and asks me to wait there. After about an hour, a shorter than average guy with long hair and a dirty beard enters the room. He resembles one of the bisexual characters in Queer Eye.

  “Here is your ID, Mr. Macaine. They call me Big Six here,” he says as he sits on the other side of the table.

  I am not sure why they call him Big or Six.

  “So, tell me about your story,” he continues. “Your address is in Charlotte. What are you doing here in Asheville?”

  I tell him that I ran out of food in the city, so I headed to the mountains hoping to survive in the woods around small towns. After encountering a human-like creature, I gave up and decided to join Saviors for more comfort and safety.

  He nods and leans back. The tension around his jaw loosens up. It looks like he is buying my story.

  “You came across a Rica? What was it like to deal with one of them?” he asks. I guess they call them Ricas because of the drug Oxyrica that made them what they are.

  I tell him about my fight in the jungle. How the creature kept walking despite being sprayed twice. I tell him how I ended his miserable life with a rock. He enjoys the story, especially the last part with a rock dropped on the creature’s head.

  “It’s a lot more intense than my first encounter with a Rica. I just run the hell out of there,” he says, grinning at his own encounter.

  After asking several other questions about my life and family, he looks satisfied with my story.

  “It all adds up, but I am still not sure about letting a stranger in,” he says. I am not sure if he is bluffing but it sounds like it’s time to play my last card.

  “I can give something in return…” I say.

  He seems more interested now. He leans forward.

  “Do you need a cache of masks, protective clothes, and food?” I ask. I tell him about the storage unit full of valuable supplies. I offer the address of the place in exchange for my admission to the camp. He doesn’t even think twice.

  “Well, you know how to convince people… We can also use your help for setting up equipment in the camp,” he says.

  “What about my family? Do you think you can reach out to someone in San Francisco and find out their whereabouts?” I ask. I know that it’s too much to ask considering we have just met, but I need to know it before giving away the storage unit.

  “Let’s see how you do here first. I may try reaching out to some folks there in the Highland Republic depending on your performance,” he says. This guy must be coming from corporate America. He uses performance-based rewards in post-apocalypse.

  It looks like the West Coast is now called the Highland Republic. I hope it is as democratic and humane as the name “Republic” implies.

  One of his men takes me to the newbie barrack and introduces me to other guys. There are five men in the room and are having lunch around the table in the middle of the room. I see metal bunk beds by the wall.

  I walk to a corner bed that looks unoccupied. I push my bag under the bed and sit on the clean sheets. One of the newbies approaches me.

  “Are you hungry? We have some extra soup,” he says, smiling. I nod and stand up to follow him.

  “I am Toshihiko, but they call me Toshi. Welcome aboard!” He gives me a chair at the table and brings a bowl of soup.

  They each introduce themselves and welcome me to the team. It’s a more friendly environment than I thought. Most of them are in their 20s. Toshi and I are probably the only ones in our early 30s.

  After a quick introduction round, they continue talking about their daily routine. It sounds like their days are filled with cleaning, repairing, growing plants, and taking tactical and weapon training. From what I understand from the conversation, newbies eventually are tasked for supply runs and other operations outside.

  Toshi asks me to help him clean the overgrown thorns inside the wall perimeter after lunch.

  I go to the restroom before we leave the barrack. I use the small pen I brought with me to write a few notes of what I have seen in the camp so far on a piece of toilet paper. I then put it in my pocket.

  We pick up tools from the greenhouse. I see a lady watering plants. Toshi tells me that they grow veggies and raise chickens. They have a kitchen behind the greenhouse where they cook for the entire camp.

  While we cut thorns and put them in the plastic bags near the wall, he tells me more about each building in the camp. I couldn’t ask for more. Even though there is no sign of where they may keep hostages, this is a perfect first day for me to get to know how a Savior camp works.

  I don’t see many people and vehicles in the camp. It looks like a small camp. They may not even be participating in outside operations in which I have witnessed a few times.

  While he is busy trying to remove a stubborn piece of weed, I take the toilet paper from my pocket and wrap it around a small rock. I throw it to the other side of the high wall. This is the east side of the camp we agreed with Miguel to communicate i
n an old-school way. I hope he finds my note soon. I may not get any response from him because he won’t throw anything inside the walls unless there is an absolute emergency.

  I will continue to inform him about Saviors and any clues about where Val might be. I hope she is safe and somewhere close.

  “Let’s check the South wall if you are done over there,” Toshi says. I stare at the deep blue sky while following him. I wonder where the plane I saw a few days ago went. I haven’t seen any aircraft since that day. I thought about asking Toshi, but it’s too early to ask many questions. I decide to keep it low-key for a while.

  While scanning the sky, I notice Big Six looking at our direction from the guard tower.

  Chapter 11

  “Asheville COP, Asheville COP… This is Fairfax, over,” a voice calls out in my headset.

  It’s been almost a week since I joined the Saviors Combat Outpost or as they call it COP. Thanks to my knowledge of computers and other electronics, Big Six placed me in the control room. I work here with a seasoned radio operator, William.

  William is an ex-military who worked at a private security company before the snowball of civil unrest and mob take-over. Saviors had recruited everyone in his company to control the streets and key locations.

  I return the message and say, “Fairfax, this is Asheville COP, go ahead.”

  “We have intel about equipment storage at 3741 Haywood Avenue. Requesting immediate pick-up. Over,” she says.

  “WILCO, Fairfax,” I respond, letting her know that I received the message and will comply with the order.