The Crash Box Set, page 20
part #1 of EMP Crash Series
Although he had been careful to watch their backs, it was possible that people from Mr. Smith's group, or some as yet unknown party, had followed them. He looked back at the cars but didn't see anyone swarming around them. So he decided to venture farther into the forest, keeping his ears strained to listen for any more noises.
Another twig snapped! And then there was the rustling of something moving through the leaves. It was to his right, so he changed direction. Mack moved carefully forward, watching his step as he didn't want to give any clues to his position. He was sure this mystery person was keeping his ears peeled, just as Mack was.
Mack kept his breath low and made sure to check back to keep the road in the same position at his side. The last thing he wanted to do was get lost in the woods in the middle of the night. At one point, he heard a cough. This made the hair on the back of his neck stiffen, and a chill ran down his spine. It was definitely a person, and whether it was friend or foe had yet to be determined.
Mack's body went into fight-or-flight mode. He could feel the adrenaline rushing through his body as his senses heightened and he became more aware of his surroundings. There was another cough and then more rustling. Mack tilted his head to try pinpointing the direction from which the noise had originated. He turned slowly, stepping silently as he approached a bush. He had heard only one person. So it was likely another lonely wanderer, and, hopefully, he wouldn't have to use any kind of force. But he had to keep in mind that there was a mental hospital and a prison in the area, so it was possible this was a first encounter with an escapee from one of those institutions.
Mack weighed his options. He could dive into the bush and drag out whomever was in there, then frighten them into submission before figuring out what they were doing there. This was risky as it was diving into the unknown and he didn't know what kind of weapons this person had, if any. He could wait for them to emerge, as they certainly couldn't stay in that bush all night. But at some point Mack wanted to get some sleep, and if he returned to the car to switch with someone else the person may move, and Mack never would know who it was.
The only other thing to do was to call out and try making contact with this person. Yet that would give away Mack's position, and if they were hostile it would leave him in a vulnerable place. However, it seemed the best way to give him a chance at connecting with this person, so he whispered hello. There was no response. He tried it again, this time a little louder, and followed it up by saying his name.
This time there was another cough, followed by what sounded like a sob.
“Come on out, it's okay, I just want to talk,” Mack said in a soft, soothing voice.
The leaves on the bushes rustled once more and he braced himself for whatever emerged, ready to defend himself if necessary. However, when he saw what came out of the bushes he instantly relaxed, and his heart almost broke in two. What he saw in front of him was a child in rags, a thin, gaunt body that was covered in dirt, carrying a stained teddy bear. The child could have been no more than six or seven years old. Mack was surprised he could be alive after all this time, for it was evident he had been in these woods for a while.
“Hey buddy, are you lost? Do you have any parents around, or anyone looking after you?” he asked, but the little boy didn't respond.
Mack tried a few other things, but either the boy was incapable of talking or he simply didn't want to do so. Mack imagined what it must have been like from a child's perspective. The effects from the EMP were difficult enough to understand as an adult, to a child it must have been utterly confusing. Since talking wasn't working Mack dug into his back pocket and pulled out a piece of beef jerky that he had been chewing on while he had been on watch. It wasn't exactly the healthiest midnight snack and he would apologize to the boy's parents if he ever found them, but the kid obviously was starving. As Mack offered the food the boy looked at it with suspicion, then darted forward and snatched it from Mack's hand, returning to a safe distance as he nibbled and tore at it with his teeth.
“That's better,” Mack said, “I have more with my friends if you want to come with me, and maybe you can tell me your name and where you're from?” he asked.
But, again, the boy only looked at him. Mack stayed there until the beef jerky was all gone, and the boy held out his hands for more. Mack shook his head but pointed to the cars and repeated that he had more food there. He stepped away, and the boy followed him, although he stopped whenever Mack looked back. Mack couldn't help but laugh as he made his way back to the cars and saw the boy looking at him with curiosity. Mack went to his own backpack and pulled out some food, and the boy's ravenous hunger ensured that it did not last long. Mack watched him eat with pity. It was hard enough to survive for himself, he couldn't imagine how this boy would be able to hunt and forage without guidance. Somehow he had survived this long, but how much longer could he possibly last?
When only one morsel remained, the boy looked at it. He scampered up to Mack and offered him the last piece of food, which warmed Mack's heart and almost brought a tear to his eye. In that moment, even though he knew taking care of a child was a difficult and dangerous task in such a world, he realized he had to make sure this kid was safe. In the morning, he would try finding the boy's parents. Although from the look of him, Mack surmised this kid had been on his own for a while. He also assumed his silence was a result of some trauma. Perhaps it was the only way he could deal with the world at the moment.
Mack gave him some water and then went to get a blanket so he could stay warm, but when he returned the boy had disappeared without a trace. Mack ran back into the woods to try finding him. He called out for the boy. He offered more food, but the boy did not return. Mack's heart was heavy with sorrow, for he was sure the boy would be a casualty of the wilderness.
Feeling glum, he thought of the child that he and Anna were planning to have. Now he thought perhaps it was for the best that they had not been pregnant earlier as this world was not the best environment for a child to grow up in. But his gaze lingered to the woods and that child with the stained teddy bear would stay on his mind for a long while.
A few moments later Saul rose and placed a hand on Mack's back, letting him know that he was ready to take the second shift of the night watch.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
Mack sighed and nodded. “Yeah, everything's fine. Just...just keep an eye out. I'll see you in the morning.” And with that Mack returned to the car and tried getting some sleep, attempting to find some source of light in the gloom of the apocalypse.
Chapter 7
The following morning the group awoke. Grace had taken the last shift, so she greeted them all as the sun rose. They soon gathered their packs and started making their way up the road toward the city. Before they left, however, Grace noticed how often Mack was staring into the woods. She asked him if everything was okay, but he replied with a neutral comment.
He decided that knowing about the child only would cause them to get depressed. While part of him considered searching for the child he knew it would take time that they did not have to waste. Even if they spent days searching the area there still was no guarantee they would be able to find him. No, he would have to leave the boy to his own fate and hope that fortune protected him.
There was still a fair way to walk to the city, and now that they didn't have the shade of the trees the sun beat down on them relentlessly, making them more tired. Mack had to remind them to drink their water sparingly, for he did not want to take time out of their journey to return to the river. Without that body of water in close proximity there was no telling if they would find another source of water before they reached the city. While they walked along Mack had the child of the previous night on his mind. He continually glanced to the forest to see if there was any sign of him, or anyone else.
There must have been many children in the same situation and his heart went out to how lost they must feel. Society had crumbled and there were so many people who had slipped through the cracks; with everyone so focused on their own survival who was out there looking after the people who were truly in need? The sick, the elderly, the young. They all were going to be left alone and most of them wouldn't survive.
Mack had noticed an attitude that had become more prevalent in modern society; that the world was becoming over-populated and natural selection should take more of a role in keeping the population under control. There had been a surprising number of people talking about how, in years past, most people today would not be alive. Advances in health care and general quality of life ensured that people were living longer, and some people saw this as a bad thing. They wanted a cull, as though somehow this many people were diluting the gene pool. Mack never could understand this attitude. He wanted as many people to live as possible, for living was the only thing that people had. There was nothing else. And to want some sort of a cull so that only the fittest would survive was an expression of the ugliest parts of human nature.
But now it seemed as though the world was undergoing such a thing, that humans would die off in the millions because of simple things like no central heating, or diabetics not being able to get their hands on insulin. Children who weren't cared for eventually would wink out of existence and the whole thing made Mack sad. If it had been a world power who had caused this it was the worst act in human history, even outstripping the Nazi horrors.
They kept an eye out for other signs of life, but there were none. Occasionally they saw some equipment lying around, like abandoned tools and containers, and, of course, there were still cars at the side of the road. Animals scurried near the forest edge as well, such as foxes and raccoons, and one of those would become their dinner. Grace and Luis still walked behind Saul and Mack, and to Luis' relief, Grace seemed to have forgiven him for whatever he had said that had set her on edge, which he was still not sure about. For Grace's part, she had decided to leave it be, as she did not want to explain to Luis why she had been so defensive of people in jail. Only she and Mack knew her secret, and that was the way she wanted it to stay for the foreseeable future.
The four of them walked on in silence and the hours seemed to drag. Although they were glad to be safe they were hoping that, at some point, they would come across some horses or other animals that would be a better mode of transportation. Walking was taking too long, and if Mack ever wanted to make it back to Anna, he would have to find some way of making it across the country. The idea of getting a boat wasn't a bad idea, but they would have to make their way to the coast and then work down. Even if they made it to the coast there was no guarantee they would find an available boat. Although Mack had many skills, building a seafaring vessel was not one of them.
The bodies they came across seemed to have died of exhaustion. Most of them were laying in cars, and Mack assumed that they had ran out of water and died of dehydration; probably wondering what they were going to do to survive. It was a sad fact, but he imagined many people probably committed suicide rather than trying to make a go of it in the new world, simply because it was too hard a thing to face.
“This is when I'd usually be scared of them turning into a zombie,” Luis said as he approached the cars and peered in through the window. It was always strange to see the calm, final expression on someone's face, their eyes staring into an infinite nothingness as everything that they ever were, all their hopes and memories and dreams, were gone from the Earth.
“The only thing to be scared of is the living,” Saul said grimly as he searched the bodies and scavenged whatever useful items they had, usually things like matches and knives. One car even had a packet of condoms and Saul waved them with a lascivious grin on his face. Grace rolled her eyes at this gesture.
“Do you have to do that all the time?” Mack said, still thinking of that little boy, hating the idea of coming across his limp, lifeless body staring up at the sky.
Somehow it was easy to forget these bodies once had been people just like the four of them, with their own lives and personalities. Just because they hadn't made it, it didn't give them the right to just loot their corpses. There had been so much tradition throughout human history when it came to death that it was almost a shame that those rites had been lost. It meant there were no final words or amazing graces. They would just pass by these bodies and leave them where they lay.
“It's not like they're going to need them anymore. Leaving it would just be a waste,” Saul replied.
“You could at least show some respect.”
“I respect the fact that I'm living and I don't want to turn out like these,” Saul said, and didn't stop what he was doing. Mack didn't argue any further and walked on up ahead. Grace skipped ahead and joined him.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, I just, I hate feeling like we're losing our humanity. I don't want to get used to seeing all these dead bodies and just walking by them like they're nothing.”
“I don't either, but you know we can't spend all our time digging graves or having funerals.”
“I know, but I think about the people on the plane, and the soldiers at the bunker and I just think...I mean, we all have ideas of how we'd like to be treated when we die. It seems so wrong to leave them out in the world. Maybe we are just like animals,” he said in a grave tone.
“You know that's not true. If we were like animals then we wouldn't even care about things like this. And don't let Saul get to you. Part of me thinks he's doing this just to rile you up.”
“Yeah, I know. What do you make of him so far?”
“I was about to ask you the same question. You are the best judge of character around here.”
Mack smiled. “It's not like my powers are flawless. I think he could be an asset, and he certainly knows how to survive, but I'm not sure that he'd ever put the group before himself. And I still get the feeling he's hiding something.”
“You don't think he was telling us the truth about what happened before?”
“I don't know yet, but it's just a feeling I get. I can't explain it. It's the same feeling I used to get whenever I was interrogating someone and they were giving all the right answers but there was just something nagging at me. Maybe I'm over-thinking it. It's not exactly like these are ideal conditions.”
“Certainly not. But are they ever going to be? Do you have a plan for when we get to the city?”
“Find some more people, see if there's some sort of organized community there. I'm hoping the people in charge in city hall managed to maintain some sort of order. If we can meet up with them we can try to find out more information about the rest of the country.”
“But what if there were riots and people went crazy?”
“Then I guess we'll have to keep our eyes peeled and be careful.”
“And what about after the city? What then?” Grace asked, a sense of urgency creeping into her voice.
“I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead. I thought we agreed to take it one day at a time?”
“We did, but I don't know what's going to happen and I hate it. I'm just...I'm worried that we're trying to get to the city because we think there's going to be something there that we can use and it's not going to be what we think it is. And then what? Do we just keep moving until we find the right place? What if there's nothing out there for us? What if we never find what we're looking for? I know you want to find your wife, and I want to help you, but I don't know what I'm looking for. I don't know at what point I'll be able to look around and say 'Okay, I'm happy now.' Do you know what I mean? Are we ever actually going to be able to have a life again?”
“It'll be okay, Grace. I know that things don't look good right now, but eventually things will get better and we'll find humanity again. Somewhere in this country it's out there, and I'm not going to rest until we've found people like ourselves.” Yet even he was doubting the chances of that happening.
The longer the days went on the more he began questioning his own ideals and if anyone else shared them. In his mind's eye, he could visualize coming upon the city and being welcomed at the gates. They would be taken into a room and told the people had come together to make the city a safe haven for all those who traveled there, and they were working on contacting nearby settlements to create a trade network and rebuild civilization. But that was just a dream. Equally viable was the possibility that the city would be in ruins, buildings crumbling and windows smashed, with people scared to even walk the streets for fear of being attacked. There were two sides to human nature and only one of them could come out on top. Which one would it be?
While they walked along the road they often took turns at the head of the line, although most frequently it was Mack and Saul taking the lead. While Grace and Mack were talking, Saul hissed at them to stop and held out his hand. They crouched down and ran to the side of the road where they hid in the tall grass. Saul raised his finger to his lips and then pointed down the road. Mack looked in the direction Saul was pointing and saw four bikes being guarded by just one person, who was looking idly in the opposite direction. There were no signs of the other people yet. The guard was leaning against a tree, his gaze drifting slowly from side to side. Mostly he was looking up at the sky, and didn't seem to be anticipating anyone coming up to him.
