Seven Days: A Post-Apocalyptic Novel

by G. Michael Hopf

  “I suggest you put down your gun or whoever’s in that car will get shot,” the woman said.

  “No,” Reid barked.

  “I’ll shoot her!” the man said. His voice sounded like someone with a speech impediment.

  “Do as my boy says,” the woman ordered. She slipped out of her bindings, grabbed a revolver she had hidden, cocked the hammer, and pointed it at Reid. “Best you drop it.”

  After he heard the distinct cock of the hammer, Reid realized he’d made a colossal error in judgment. He had two choices: shoot the man and hope he could get the woman, or give up and suffer whatever fate these two had in store for them.

  The woman walked up behind Reid and said, “Drop it.”

  “What do you want? If it’s food, we have it. If it’s water, we have that too. Just tell me what you want.”

  “I want you,” she said. “And whoever is in that car with ya.”

  “It’s a little girl, Ma, a little girl,” the man said excitedly.

  Hearing the man speak again, Reid now recognized that the man sounded as if he had special needs, maybe even Down syndrome. “My daughter is sick.”

  “How old is she?”

  “She’s nine, but she’s sick. You need to let us move on. You don’t want to get the dog flu.”

  The expression on the woman’s face shifted to joy. “She’s sick with the H5N7? How perfect.”

  Reid cocked his head back and gave her an odd look just as she struck him in the head with the butt of the revolver.

  The blow to the head was enough to knock him out.

  Hannah screamed in horror as she watched her father fall to the ground.

  The man laughed hysterically.

  The woman approached the car, stopped at the driver’s side window, and said, “I hear you’re sick, sweetheart.”

  “Daddy, Daddy!” Hannah screamed.

  “It’ll be okay now, sweetheart,” the woman said, motioning for her son to lower his rifle.

  “Leave us alone,” Hannah screamed.

  “Look, Marvin, her eyes. She is sick and only a day or two. This is perfect.”

  “Ha ha, we did good, didn’t we, Ma?” Marvin chuckled.

  “Leave us alone!” Hannah screamed again.

  “Sweetheart, it’s your lucky day ’cause my name is Dr. Hillary Cobb and I can heal you.”

  ONE MILE NORTHEAST OF LOGAN, NEW MEXICO

  After coming across a fourth building, Brienne knew she was closing in on a town. With a town came people, which translated into possible trouble. She needed to get a better vantage point than what she had, so that required her to find higher ground.

  She climbed out of the dry creek bed she’d been traveling down and headed towards a rugged slope to the west. There she hoped to get a view of her surrounding area.

  She crossed a road, and it was there she saw a sign that read SNOWFLAKE. “Isn’t that quaint,” she said to herself with a chuckle. She quickly navigated around small boulders, rocks and brush until she reached the top. She took cover behind a massive boulder and removed her pack. She dug through it and pulled out one of the lucky finds from the Camry, a set of binoculars.

  “Let’s see what’s out there,” she said to herself. She put the binoculars to her eyes and adjusted them until she could see clearly. In front of her, which was south, she saw the edge of Snowflake. It was a small town and just before the war had boasted a population of about five thousand people. She carefully scanned the buildings in sight but saw no one; however, she wasn’t satisfied. The last thing she needed was to make an assumption the town was vacant only to start heading that way and get caught again, which had happened back in Woodruff.

  A scream echoed in the distance and gave her confirmation that the town wasn’t a proverbial ghost town.

  With her elbows propping her up, she pivoted on the boulder and scanned the area to find the source of the scream.

  Another scream bellowed out.

  This second scream enabled her to narrow the area where it was coming from. She adjusted the binoculars and scanned, but still came up empty. “Where are you?”

  Out from around a building a young man ran. It was Chase.

  She saw the movement, turned, and caught him in the binoculars sprinting, and by the look on his face, he was terrified. She guessed him to be late teens. Another group of men appeared from the building, and by the looks of them, they were not happy. She watched as Chase tore around another building and took cover in a shed.

  The men in pursuit ran past the shed and continued in the direction they felt Chase had gone.

  “Don’t look in the shed; please don’t look in the shed,” she said to herself.

  A full minute went by.

  Chase stuck his head out and headed back in the direction he’d come, only to be spotted by the men again.

  “You’d better run,” Brienne said.

  Chase raced around a single-level commercial space, stopped when he spotted a pipe lying on the ground, and picked it up. He put his back to the wall and waited.

  “Smart, best to fight back,” Brienne said, happy to see him finally take a stand even though she felt his luck would probably run out.

  The men made the turn.

  Chase swung the pipe and hit the closest man in the jaw. He toppled to the ground.

  “Ouch.” Brienne chuckled.

  Chase took a step and swung once more. This time he missed as the man jumped out of the way.

  “What are you going to do now?” Brienne asked, referring to Chase’s harrowing situation.

  Surrounded by three men, Chase kept swinging the pipe but to no effect.

  “They’re just wearing you down,” Brienne said, frustrated.

  Movement to the west, about a quarter mile out, caught her attention. She lifted her head from the binoculars and looked to confirm that she’d seen something. She caught sight of the movement again. It was someone ducking and covering as they moved. “Hmm, who are you?”

  A scream echoed from below; this time it sounded different.

  She peered through the binoculars to see Chase had been caught, but they weren’t taking him prisoner. One of the men had driven a knife into his chest. “Shit.”

  Chase yelped one last time. He dropped his head and fell to the ground.

  The men mumbled something unintelligible and walked off, carrying their colleague who had been struck with the pipe.

  She watched them intently until they went back to the building from which they’d come. It was then she spotted something near the far side of the building. She focused on it and realized it was a body. Blood was spattered on the wall behind it and the body was lying on its side. She could tell by the size and build that it was a man, and the only distinguishing item was a dark green military field jacket. Were this person and the young man just killed together? she wondered. “Damn killers,” she said. The movement to the west caught her attention again. This time she brought the binoculars into play. It was a younger boy, and by his look she guessed he was anywhere from fifteen to sixteen years old. “Don’t do it; don’t go into town.” What she didn’t know was it was Michael, and he was there to find Chase and his dad.

  Michael had taken cover behind an abandoned car. He lifted his head, looked left then right, and tucked his head back down.

  “Just stay where you are.” Brienne gritted her teeth.

  Unaware of what had just transpired with Chase, Michael shot out from his hiding space and sprinted across a small gravel lot and took up a hiding place behind a dumpster. He was heading in the direction of the original building Brienne had seen Chase and the other men come from, meaning he was headed into the arms of the very men who had just killed Chase.

  In shock and distress, Brienne could see what was about to happen as if it were a slow-motion train crash.

  Like he had at the abandoned car, Michael peeked around the dumpster and looked around.

  Through the binoculars, Brienne could see he had fear written all over
his face. “No, please just stay where you are.” She also could see a resemblance. “You’re family, aren’t you?”

  Now less than a thousand feet from the building where the men had retreated to, Michael only had to run to his right at a forty-five-degree angle to be in front of it.

  “Don’t do it. Just stay where you are,” Brienne grumbled.

  As if Michael had heard her, he shifted to the left side of the dumpster, looked around the corner, and took off in the opposite direction of the building.

  Brienne sighed. The tension for her was riding high. After witnessing the murder of Chase, she did not want to see the boy killed.

  Hollering came from the building.

  Brienne shifted and looked to see the three men had stepped outside and spotted Michael running. “Oh, c’mon.”

  The men gave chase and ran towards Michael, who had now spotted them and was racing away.

  Brienne had seen enough. She lowered the binoculars, slid down the boulder, and grabbed her rifle. “Time to make this a fair game.” She got back up but now had the rifle in her shoulder. Using the boulder to steady her, she peered through the optics. “God, I hope this is sighted in.” She placed the reticle of the scope on the first man in the pack. She flipped off the safety with her thumb and placed her index finger on the trigger. She steadied her breathing and began to apply pressure to the trigger.

  The rifle fired.

  The first man tumbled to the ground; dirt flew up around him. His body lay motionless. She turned her sights on the next man, who was looking around in fear at what had just happened. She fired again and dropped the second man with a well-placed shot to his chest.

  The third man stopped, turned around and ran away.

  Brienne wasn’t done. She put the reticle on his back and squeezed the trigger. Like the other two times, the rifle fired and her aim was true.

  The 5.56 mm round struck the third man in the center of his back. He collapsed to the ground face-first, dead.

  Satisfied, she mused, “It appears it’s sighted in.”

  Michael, fearful that he could also be a target, disappeared in a drainage ditch.

  Brienne looked at the building, anticipating others might emerge, but after a few minutes, no one did. She knew there was another man, the one who had been hit with the pipe, yet he didn’t come out. She lowered herself off the boulder, flipped the selector switch to SAFE, and grabbed her pack. She felt good that she’d helped a young kid and chalked it up as her way of getting good karma. “Well, this town is a no go.”

  Michael sat in the ditch, panting. He looked at his pants and saw they were wet. At first he didn’t know how; then he recalled urinating on himself out of fear. He wasn’t sure if he should get up and make a run for it or just stay and pray that no one was coming for him.

  With her rifle at the ready, Brienne made her way to the ditch. She stopped twenty feet away and hollered out, “Hey, kid, I’m not here to hurt you, but if you want to live, best you come with me.”

  Michael sat frozen.

  “I won’t hurt you, I promise,” she said.

  “I’m armed,” Michael cried out.

  “No, you’re not. Now c’mon before some others come out.”

  Michael thought about it and came to the conclusion that she was right. He didn’t know what he had been doing in the first place and quickly discovered he wasn’t ready to take on anyone. Plus if she was a threat, why hadn’t she shot him when she had a chance? “Don’t shoot,” he said. He slowly stood with his arms raised.

  When she saw his youthful face appear, she laughed. “Hurry up.”

  “Please don’t shoot me,” he begged.

  “I’m not going to shoot you. Now hurry up,” she said.

  He climbed out of the ditch just in front of her.

  She saw that his pants were soaked in his crotch and down his left leg. “Where were you going?”

  “To find my father and brother,” he said.

  “They were in town?”

  “Yeah.”

  She thought of the young man who had been killed and wondered if he had been his brother.

  “If they came here, it might not have been such a good idea,” she said.

  “Hey, you!” a voice boomed in the distance.

  “Listen, kid, more of those guys are coming, and now they’re going to be pissed. If you want to live, come with me.”

  “But my father and brother?”

  “Like I said, if they came here, it doesn’t look good.”

  A series of gunshots cracked in the distance.

  She lowered herself and barked, “You come with me now or stay; but I’m leaving.” She faced north and sprinted away.

  Michael followed her.

  The two ran north for ten minutes. When they had put more than a mile between them and where they had been, she stopped and said, “Let’s take a break.”

  He was out of breath and ready to stop.

  They took cover in the dry creek bed, with him on the ground exhaling heavily and she near the rim keeping an eye out.

  “Why did you help me?” he asked.

  “’Cause you needed it, that’s why,” she replied.

  “Thank you.”

  “Where are you from?”

  “That way a few miles,” he replied, his finger pointed west.

  “Luckily for you, I’m headed that way,” she said. “What’s your name?”

  “Michael, my name is Michael.”

  “How long have your father and brother been gone?” she asked, her gaze fixed on the south and her rifle nestled in her shoulder.

  “Well over a day,” Michael answered as he took deep breaths.

  “And you’re sure they went to town?”

  “Yes.”

  Feeling confident they weren’t being followed, she slid down the embankment and laid her rifle in her lap. “Do you have water at your house?”

  “Yes, we have a well with good flow,” Michael replied. “Dad set up a manual pump on it after we lost our power years ago.”

  “How about I escort you back to your house and you repay me by giving me some water and food?” Brienne said.

  “But what about my father and brother?” Michael asked.

  She weighed telling him what she’d seen.

  “Can you help me find them?” he asked.

  “I’m not going back there, and I suggest you don’t either.”

  “But I need to find them,” Michael stressed.

  “You saw those men; if they caught you, they probably would have killed you.”

  “Why would they do that?”

  “Why does anyone do anything? I just escaped from a compound run by cannibals, so trust me, I don’t know why people do what they do. But I will say this, if your father and brother went there and haven’t returned, there’s a good chance those guys got them.”

  “You think they’re dead?” Michael asked.

  Brienne chewed on the idea of telling him what she had seen, but doing so might upset him to the point of making it impossible to get him back. “Anyone at home waiting on you?”

  Michael looked down shamefully and said, “My mom and Nana.”

  “I’m sure they’re worried sick.”

  “I’m such a loser.”

  She could see the sad look on his face. She wasn’t sure about the dynamic at home, but for her he was nothing of the sort. He was willing to risk his life to find his family. “I don’t know why you’d say that, but going out to find them was a bold move. Although I have to ask, what was your plan if you encountered anyone bad?”

  He pulled out a pocketknife and held it in his palm.

  “You were going to stab them with that?” she asked in a mocking tone.

  “My dad gave it to me,” he said. The knife was an old non-locking blade with a fake ivory handle. “It was given to him by his dad.”

  Knowing the sentiment, she shifted her tone and said, “Looks like a nice knife.”

  “They’re dead, ar
en’t they?”

  “I don’t know, but if we hang around here too long, we might be. Let’s get moving to your house, okay?”

  Michael nodded. He got to his feet and brushed off his pants. “Why are you helping me?”

  She shrugged her shoulders and said, “Sometimes we have to help each other. And to prove a point that not everyone out here is bad.”

  ONE MILE SOUTH OF SANTA ROSA, NEW MEXICO

  Reid opened his eyes. Above him was the poster of a kitten dangling from a tree branch with the words HANG IN THERE at the bottom. He went to sit up but found his arms and legs were bound and secured to the table he was on. He looked left and right; around him were stainless steel tables and carts. On the walls more posters were hung. These were not adorned with cuddly kittens; instead one was about the importance of vaccinations, and another covered the food pyramid and eating healthy. A stainless steel cart was parked next to him, and on it was a syringe, empty vials, rubber tubing and cotton balls. By the looks of it, he was in a doctor’s office.

  The only light in the room was a small lamp, which told him wherever he was, they had power.

  “Hey!” he called out. “Where’s my daughter?”

  The only door quickly opened behind him. He swung his head, but he couldn’t see who was there. All he could do was hear the heavy breathing. “Untie me and take me to my daughter.”

  Footfalls approached Reid.

  “Just untie me and take me to my daughter, that’s all I ask,” he said.

  Marvin appeared. His face and mouth were smeared with a dark red substance.

  Reid instantly thought it was blood. “If you hurt my daughter, I’ll kill you.”

  Marvin brought a piece of bread to his mouth and took a bite. He chomped loudly, smacking his lips as he chewed. Whatever was on his face was smeared on the bread.

  Reid looked closer and saw it was jelly. “Who are you?”

  “Ma, this one is awake,” Marvin called out.

  “Tell your mother to untie me and take me to my daughter,” Reid snapped as he struggled with the bindings on his arms.

  Marvin took another bite of the bread. A clump of jelly fell onto the table next to Reid. Marvin used his finger to scoop it up, then licked his finger clean. “Ma, the man’s awake!” Marvin hollered, his mouth full of half-chewed food.