A tall man strode towards her across the grass. He glanced casually at his companion, who lay there moaning.
He held a large caliber pistol. His arm was level and he pointed it at her.
Janet let the shotgun go. It rolled off her and fell onto the grass. She struggled to her feet, reaching for her handgun.
Her left arm hung uselessly at her side. The pain roared through her.
Her right hand found her handgun’s handle. But before she could draw it, another shot slammed into her. This time it hit her knee.
Janet collapsed before she registered the pain.
She managed to stick out her arm to keep her head from slamming into the ground.
It was hard not to let go of the handgun. As the pain hit her, all she wanted to do was reach out and grab her knee.
It was the worst pain she’d ever felt. Like the physical expression of a nightmare, like a monster devouring her from the inside.
The tall soldier continued with long strides to close the gap. He walked at a steady pace. His face was emotionless.
The sun was setting now. Darkness was growing around them.
The baseball field, with its overgrown grass, remained impassive to what was happening. Just a short while ago, it had hosted baseball games and get-togethers. There’d been teenagers there sneaking off to smoke cigarettes and make out. There’d been people who’d stopped there on their lunch breaks and cried into their steering wheels in the parking lot.
All sorts of things had happened there. But nothing like this. A gunfight? Life had been difficult before the EMP. It’d been fraught with problems, personal and otherwise. But the intensity had been dialed up.
Janet managed to get her handgun up. She aimed it, holding her breath and trying not to let the pain distract her.
She pulled the trigger.
The gun kicked.
The shot rang out.
But nothing happened.
She’d missed.
The soldier kept striding towards her. He hadn’t reacted to the shot.
Maybe she’d been so far off he hadn’t needed to. Or maybe he had a death wish himself and simply didn’t care if he got shot.
Janet was getting weaker. Her right arm felt weak now, as if it was filled with lead. She couldn’t hold the gun up anymore. Slowly, she felt her arm falling down until it rested on her torso and leg. She couldn’t raise it again no matter how much she struggled.
The pain was intense. She closed her eyes for just a moment.
When she opened them again, the tall soldier stood before her. He looked down at her. His eyes had a glazed, distant look to them. His lips, tightly closed, barely moved. There wasn’t the twitch of a smile or frown forming at the corner of his lips. There wasn’t a look of sadness around his eyes.
There was just nothing.
His gun was pointed right at her head. His arm was stretched out, angling downward towards the ground.
She didn’t see him pull the trigger. She didn’t even hear the shot.
But she knew that was it.
Finally.
15
“Come on, kid, don’t worry so much about it all. What happens, happens.”
“I don’t know,” said Dan. “I think one of us needs to be awake.”
Rob sighed and gently pushed some of the food away from him on the table. “Yeah, you’re right,” he finally said. “I’ll take the first shift.”
“It’s OK,” said Dan. “I’ll do it. You get some rest.”
“You sure?”
Dan nodded.
“Anyone ever tell you you’re mature for your age?”
“Yeah,” said Dan. “But that was before the EMP. I bet everyone my age is mature now.”
Rob said nothing. “OK,” he said. “I’m off to bed. Yell if you need me. Although if something happens, I’m sure I’ll hear it.”
“Where you going to sleep?”
Rob had initially been saying that they didn’t need to keep watch, that they should both just try to get some rest. He’d said they’d hear it if someone broke in.
Dan was still a little worried about Rob’s seemingly cavalier approach to safety. Would Rob want to go up to one of the bedrooms so he could rest comfortably? It would mean he’d be farther away if something happened, possibly out of earshot.
“I’ll sleep right here in the kitchen. That way I’ll be at the back of the house and you’ll be at the front of the house.”
“You’ll be OK on the floor?”
Rob laughed. “I’ve slept in worse places,” he said, getting up from his kitchen table chair and settling down onto the floor. He lay on his back, without even taking off his shoes. His head rested against the hard floor, but it didn’t seem to bother him.
So had Dan. But he knew it wasn’t easy.
But to Dan’s surprise, Rob had already started lightly snoring. He was out like a light.
Dan made his way back into the living room, where the unnamed woman was also asleep.
Dan was tired himself, but he knew that he wouldn’t fall asleep. The possibility of one of the scroungers breaking into the house would keep him awake. It was something about his personality. He wasn’t the type of person who would let himself succumb to fatigue.
The hours ticked by and Dan found himself lost in thought. His mind drifted here and there, but he managed to keep his thoughts focused on the future, rather than the past. There was no point in dwelling on what had happened, on what he couldn’t change.
It seemed like the only course for the future was to get to Max’s camp.
But what if that didn’t work?
Dan would need to come up with another plan. He couldn’t rely on others.
In his limited experience so far, the populated areas seemed simply too dangerous. It would be a cat and mouse game, hiding in abandoned houses, always waiting for the next intruder, the next soldier or individual who wanted what Dan had.
It’d be a life of constant fights, constant encounters. Dan knew he could live with feeling on edge if that was what it took to survive.
But he knew that he couldn’t survive endless encounters. Statistically, there was no reason he should remain alive if he kept fighting. He had no special abilities, no special training or skills that would make him superior.
Either he had to get out into the woods somewhere, away from everything, or he needed a group.
So he’d go to Max’s camp. If that didn’t work, for whatever reason, he’d press on, finding some safe place. He’d worry about food and drinking water when the time came. Simply not getting shot was the first priority.
The unnamed woman was starting to stir. She opened her eyes and looked around the room.
She saw Dan and made a little jump. Her face showed her fear and surprise. She let out a little yelp.
“It’s OK,” said Dan, getting up and moving over to her. He spoke in a calm voice, the way one might speak to a spooked horse. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
She stared at him with her eyes wide.
“I’m Dan. Remember me? We were captured by the soldiers together.”
The woman started to relax a little. Her body started to loosen up, the tenseness slowly fading.
“You got shot,” said Dan. “A new friend, a guy named Rob, got the bullet out of you. Do you remember him?”
She nodded.
“Are you still in pain? Can you speak?”
“Yeah,” said the woman. Her voice was hoarse.
“What’s your name?”
“Olivia,” she said.
“Nice to meet you.”
She nodded.
“Someone broke into the house when Rob was taking the bullet out of you. We had to fight him off. And now we’re in a different house, but in the same area.”
“Was he one of the soldiers?”
“No, I don’t think so. Just someone looking for food or weapons. Just a regular guy gone mad with desperation. I think the soldiers gave up on us. You’re the one who got us out of there, you know? If it wasn’t for you, who knows what would have happened to us.”