by Ned Sahin
“Thank you, Asheville COP. Over and out,” she replies and closes the connection.
“You heard that, William?” I turn to him sitting at the next desk.
“Yeap. Let me tell Big Six,” he says.
When there is an intel about a potential stockpile, a vehicle with two people is sent out from the camp, which reminds me of the two Saviors I saw when I was at the storage unit in Old Fort. They must have been on a similar supply run.
“He wants you and Toshi to check it out,” William says as he puts his headset down. I am not surprised Big Six wants me in this mission. I am one of the only three guys who have an IT background in the camp. One of them works on the night shift. The other one is William. Since he has a senior position here, he doesn’t bother risking his life for some computer cases and printers.
I am happy that I will go on this mission with Toshi. It’s my first outside task, and Toshi is the only person I trust here. Despite losing his sister during the riots in the early days of the second wave, he kept his faith in humanity.
He is dreaming of going back to Japan to be with his parents again even though he knows it’s next to impossible to make that trip in this new world.
I go to the newbie barrack to take my everyday carry bag and sidearm. Toshi seems to be ready.
“Ready for your first outside mission?” he asks sarcastically.
“It’s about time to go after some computers!” I say, and he laughs.
“I will drive. You enjoy the view,” he says, referring to the downtown streets as the view. The location given to us by the headquarters is one of the main streets in Asheville downtown. I know that there is already a Saviors patrol there all day long.
We leave the camp and head to downtown. It’s only about two miles away. I see abandoned businesses, upside-down cars, shattered bus stops, toppled garbage containers, hateful graffiti, a pillaged grocery store, and a dead body.
Toshi parks the car in front of a boutique. The car is a normal size sedan with Saviors stickers all around. Toshi’s hoodie and my jacket have Saviors badges too. Seeing their logo of an eagle head looking at the objective with red eyes and an orange beak sickens me.
The patrolling Saviors see us. They slowly walk to us while we get ready to break the boutique’s window.
“What’s up, folks?” one of them says. We see them at the camp cafeteria occasionally. Like other patrols, they don’t always stay in the camp. They probably occupied an apartment downtown.
“Got an intel about some supplies here. How is the neighborhood?” Toshi asks.
“Safe and sound. No drama,” the other patrol guy says.
We enter the boutique while the patrols walk away. Women clothes and shoes are lined up on the shelves.
I see my reflection in one of the mirrors. Despite my messed up hair and dark bags under my eyes, I look healthy, but I know I am mentally devastated. The last time I heard from my family was about two months ago.
Knowing what I had done to my neighbor Kathleen and still unable to find out where Val is held are adding to my stress and anxiety as well.
“Look at this stuff, buddy,” Toshi says, standing behind the cashier counter. I see several laptops, barcode scanners, security cameras, RFID cards, external hard drives, and cables. I have no idea how this stuff made it to this boutique, but they can certainly be useful.
Toshi finds shopping baskets and fills two of them with the equipment. Once he walks outside to put them in the car, I pull the radio from my pocket and set it to the higher frequency Saviors never use.
“Miguel, are you there?” I ask. On my second day at the control room, I stole an old model radio and threw it on the other side of the wall where Miguel checks for my paper notes. Since that day, I have been radioing him whenever I get a chance. I am the one always initiating communication. He stays near his radio all the time to answer my signal right away.
“Aquí, Matt. Any news?” he says.
“I haven’t had a chance to talk to headquarters to find out where Val is. I will try to do it today,” I say. I have been looking for an opportunity to talk to the headquarters about her. They are the central base overseeing three states including ours. They keep records of every person working in the camps and every person who is captured by Saviors.
“Looking forward to it, hijo. Me and Diego are still in the same place,” Miguel says. They are still at the condo we had discovered when we first came to Asheville.
I didn’t see Toshi come back from the car. I quickly switch the frequency back to the Saviors channel. He looks at the radio in my hand.
“Any new orders from the camp?” he asks.
“No... William was curious about what we found here.” I’m hoping he didn’t hear Miguel’s voice. Toshi nods and starts filling the shopping baskets again.
“Stop right there!” one of the patrolling Saviors yells outside. I see a teenage girl running by the boutique.
Toshi and I run to the door to find out what is going on. The patrols are a block away and running in this direction. I wave my arms, pointing to the right and left streets. They get separated running to parallel streets to cut her way. I run after the girl. Toshi follows me.
She keeps running straight and checks if we are behind at every block. We are faster. She decides to enter an alley. We follow her.
She slows down while holding her chest. She looks exhausted. Toshi grabs her arm and pulls her back. She falls down.
I see a broken basement window next to a garbage container.
“Quick! Get inside!” I say, helping her to get on her feet and through the window. Toshi looks at us but doesn’t do anything. I see her landing in the basement.
“Toshi, help me move this container!” I say. After a second of hesitation, he helps to push the giant garbage container to cover the window. I check the ground to make sure there is no trace of her.
One of the Saviors runs toward us from the other side of the alley. “Where did that bitch go?” He says trying to catch his breath.
“We lost her... She was faster than I expected,” I say.
“Shit. I had amazing plans for her,” he says with an annoying smirk.
We walk back to the boutique and finish loading the equipment with Toshi. He drives us back to the camp.
“I hope Big Six doesn’t hear about what I did there,” I say, looking at Toshi. I try to get a clue about his intentions.
“You can trust me...” he says. I know that he meant what he said. He is not like other Saviors.
We unload the car in the storage room of the camp, and I go back straight to the control room.
“How did the treasure quest go?” William asks.
“Oh man, we found a whole bunch of laptops and cameras. We can set up our own CCTV system here. Do you want to check them out?” I say.
“I do. You stay here. I will be right back.” He leaves the room with a satisfied look. This is the opportunity I have been waiting for. As soon as he closes the door, I put my headset on.
“Fairfax, Fairfax… This is Asheville COP, over,” I say.
“Asheville COP, this is Fairfax, over,” she says.
“We have an AWOL. Can you check her last recorded location in the system? Over,” I say. I hope pretending to be worried about a fellow Saviors will help me get the information I need.
“Go ahead, tell me the name, over.”
“Valeria Hernandez, over,” I say.
“Checking, Asheville COP, give me a second, over.” I wait impatiently. It won’t take too much time for William to come back from the storage room.
“No record found, over,” she says. It’s unlikely for them not to have a record of her. It’s been a week since she was kidnapped. The operator on the other end of the radio either found my request suspicious or there is really no record of her for some reason.
“Fairfax, can you repeat the name? Over,” I say.
“Valerya Hernandez, V-A-L-E
-R-Y-A Hernandez, over,” she says.
“Bad copy. Correction. It’s Valeria, V-A-L-E-R-I-A. Over.”
“Copy, one moment, over.”
I should have spelled the name at the beginning. I am running out of time. William might be back in any second.
“Last known address is Raleigh base, over,” she finally says.
I got what I wanted. It looks like they took her to the state capital.
I think about asking Kathleen’s location as well, but I quickly decide not to. I don’t have enough time. The operator may also get suspicious about my queries—if she hasn’t yet.
“Thank you, Fairfax. Over and out,” I say turning off the channel right on time before William opens the door.
On my way to the barrack after my shift is over, I go behind the bushes near the far end of the perimeter and change the frequency of the radio.
“Miguel, can you hear me?” I say.
“Yes, Matt. What’s going on?” Miguel says.
“Val is in the Raleigh base. We will have a regular delivery to Raleigh leaving the camp at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow. I will try to get a seat in the truck. Wait for me at the Highway 40 ramp,” I say. Whoever he would be, I hope we can find a way to neutralize the second person in the delivery truck.
“Got it, Matt. I owe you, son.”
Chapter 12
It’s the first time I am driving a moving truck. I have a challenging time switching the gear, especially when I slow down, but it should be a smooth ride once we are on the highway.
“You are doing okay there, Matt?” Toshi asks. Toshi was supposed to be in the delivery pair next week but he replaced shifts with another Savior to accompany me today.
Delivery is not one of my duties in the camp, so I had to go out of line. I told William that I wasn’t feeling well today. He was fine if I stayed in the barracks until noon. Then I had to give my weekly salary to a Savior who was supposed to be in this truck with Toshi today. Everything worked out well so far. William won’t notice where I am at least until noon.
“I’m okay... Thank you for doing this for me,” I say.
“No worries. This is at least something I can do for the good of humanity,” he says. After working for Saviors for weeks, he is fed up with how they treat people. Saving the girl yesterday from patrols encouraged him to do more for civilians.
We arrive at the highway ramp within fifteen minutes. I pull over the truck, but I don’t see Miguel and Diego around.
I notice I told Miguel what time we would leave the camp, but I didn’t tell him what time we would be at the ramp. I hope he did the math.
This ramp would normally be packed with cars going to the major cities in the state. There is only post-apocalyptic silence now. I only hear some birds cawing happily without knowing what kind of world we live in now.
With close to zero human activity, animals started wandering in cities. The whole world is their playground now. I had seen deer, wild turkeys, boars, foxes, and even a wolf in urban areas through the window of my apartment before bugging out.
When there were still news broadcasts, I watched a bear with her two cubs enjoying a mansion’s pool in California, an elephant family chilling on a highway in India, lions playing hide-and-seek at a golf club in South Africa, and kangaroos trying to get on a Ferris wheel in Australia. They took back the world.
Toshi and I both are still in the truck. He scans the front and sides of the truck while I constantly check the mirrors to see a sign of Miguel and Diego.
Several dogs screech aggressively in the distance. It keeps getting louder. On the left rear mirror, I see Miguel and Diego running toward us.
“A bunch of dogs are chasing behind them!” I say while getting off the truck. I run to the back of the truck and roll up the rear door. Toshi gets off as well and runs to the rear edge of the truck. He checks his handgun magazine.
“Get in now!” I yell at Miguel and Diego. They are running as fast as they can, but it’s not enough. Dogs are closing the gap. I see four dogs chasing them.
I first thought those are just abandoned pets who are desperate for food. But these are different. The red spots on their skins become visible as they get closer. Just like the spots I saw on that Rica I fought in the jungle.
Toshi steps forward and starts shooting at the dogs. One of them gets shot in the head. Two others get shot in their bodies, but they keep coming toward us. Another dog was about to catch Diego’s left foot before I ended the canine’s misery with a bullet to his head.
The bullets slow down the other two dogs as they continue closing the distance. They don’t seem to feel pain. Their eyes are filled with anger and hate. It’s the same look I saw in the Rica’s eyes.
Miguel and Diego jump in the truck. I roll down the rear door, but I don’t have time to latch it. I run back to the driver seat. Toshi goes back to the truck as well.
I start the engine and try switching the gear. It doesn’t move.
“Push the clutch as hard as you can!” Toshi yells while trying to move the gear forward. Two dogs jump over each other and scratch my window. Their barks sound more like roars.
“Let’s go!” Miguel yells punching the back of the cabin.
One of the dogs jumps on the hood and manages to crack the front window, which won’t stay intact long. The other one continues to hit his head on my side window while barking loudly to the direction of the woods. It seems like he is trying to call the rest of the gang.
I push the gear one more time, this time with as much strength I can muster. The handle clanks. It’s finally in the right place. The engine buzzes and the truck jumps forward. The dog on the hood hops over the cabin.
I push the gas pedal to the floor. I hear the dog’s body bouncing in the back roof of the truck. Then I see him falling on the road in the mirror. The truck speeds up on the highway.
“What the heck!” I say.
“Looks like animals can become Ricas too?” Toshi says. It looks like animals or at least dogs can get to the same aggressive state of mind if they are exposed to Oxyrica somehow. They must have bitten a Rica unless they decided to go to a pharmacy and asked for the drug.
We didn’t need more problems in this already messed up world, but animals are against us too now. At least some of them.
There are a lot of stalled vehicles on the highway, but we can go pretty fast by switching lanes whenever there is an obstruction.
We pass several small towns dominated by dust balls and overgrown plants. Many buildings have been burned and destroyed.
I drive for almost three hours, but I am not tired at all. Before the pandemic, I used to drive five hours to Washington, DC, without any breaks. As long as the gas tank is large enough, I can drive five or six hours non-stop. Besides, it’s too dangerous to stop anywhere on this road. The noise of the truck’s engine can quickly draw hungry people and Ricas.
We are close to a bigger city, Greensboro. I see a Saviors’ checkpoint ahead of us.
It’s not even noon. Unless William or someone else goes to the barrack to look for me, they shouldn’t be aware of my absence. Even if they become aware of my absence and they radio the Saviors at this checkpoint, their tiny wood barricade can’t stop this truck.
I slow down as I get closer to the barricade. I see two Saviors in a sedan on the other side of the road. Another Savior gets off an SUV and walks toward us. I stop right next to him. He looks at the Savior stickers on the truck.
“Getting some good stuff to our boss?” he says with a Southern accent and a cigar between his lips. He should be around our age.
“You can’t believe what we found at a raid yesterday. We are taking them to Raleigh,” I say trying to sound as excited as possible.
“Is there a chick back in the truck?” he asks, showing us all of his front teeth with an annoying laugh.
“No hostage transfer in this delivery. Only some computer equipment if you are interested,” Toshi says. Th
e Savior pauses for a second and stares at us. Unless he is super bored, he shouldn’t bother checking our cargo. What we carry in an official delivery is none of a checkpoint guard’s business.
“Nah, I ain’t interested in checking some stupid cable mess,” he says. He looks at the Saviors in the sedan and nods his head toward the barricade. They get out of the car and move the wood out of our way.
I drive the truck slowly and pass the guard. Before he turns back to go to his SUV, he looks at the rear of the truck.
“Hold on! Stop the truck!” he yells. Something must have gotten his attention. The other two Saviors grab the rifles that are swinging on their shoulder straps.
I think about hitting the gas pedal and flying away. I would do it if I hadn’t known an army of Saviors would be waiting for us at Raleigh. I decide to stop the truck. I open the window and stretch out my head to look at him behind the truck.
“What happened?” I say.
“It’s half-open,” he says while approaching the rear door. I remember that I didn’t have time to latch it. It must have opened on the way.
I glance at Toshi for a second. I check my 9mm glock to make sure it’s still in my belt. Toshi grabs his rifle and watches the other two Saviors.
I get off and walk behind the truck. He is about to push the door up, but I grab the door on one edge and pull it down hard. I then reach for the latch to turn it.
“Okay, brother, calm down. I ain’t touching your truck… You sure there are no chicks in there?” he says with the same annoying laugh.
“We are already late,” I say, walking back to the driver seat. Toshi puts the rifle back aside. I know that he was ready to take those two Saviors down if the guard insisted on checking the cargo.
I look at the Saviors one more time to make sure they don’t intend to do further inspection. The engine revs up as I switch the gear and move the truck. The Saviors get smaller in the side mirror as we drive away.
We approach Raleigh as the sun heats the land at the top of us. The glass exteriors of the downtown buildings are shining.
