Rusty had taken an old map and made changes to reflect the state of the United States. It wasn’t really an old map to John, it was a land and country he had seen not weeks earlier. Rusty scratched out roads no longer viable and marked highways that were no more than trails.
What happened to the world?
It was known that there was a limited nuclear exchange on American soil. The solo journey back to Rusty gave him ample thinking time. He wondered what would have happened if they were released when they were supposed to. John would have come out of stasis in the thick of war. Or what if it were only a year or two.
The virus was out of control, there was no turning that back. Would John have survived? The worst thought for him was thinking about his family. How if he had been released decades earlier, how he would have had to watch them die. If, of course, he wasn’t killed with them.
A part of him was glad he missed it all. Missed the pain of losing family and the horror of nuclear war. All that was behind him.
The only bad thing was despite the fact that everyone he knew was gone and the cities he loved were dust, John still carried the memories and feelings of his former life. It wasn’t that he was spared the hurt, he was just experiencing it differently.
It was a quiet journey. He didn’t realize how much Meredith talked until he wasn’t with her.
He supposed Rusty would be like, ‘What the heck? I just left you’, he and John would have a chuckle, smoke some of that weed and John would enjoy the look on Rusty’s face when he told him about a Wrecker world beyond the savage ones.
John recognized the surroundings and route, albeit in reverse. He distinctively recalled seeing the old rusted mini van parked on the side of the road as they left Rusty’s property. A van rich with the growth of weeds and bushes, its own apocalyptic botanical garden. It had caught John’s eye, and now it was a landmark to let him know he had arrived.
He saw the dirt road just ahead and heard the dogs barking the moment he drove on the dusty road.
The horses had been turned out and were exercising in the fenced in area just to the left of the road. What surprised John was Scooter coming out of the house. Rusty’s son looked just as shocked to see John.
John stopped the buggy.
“Hey, John, everything okay?” Scooter asked. “You guys just left. Is Meredith alright?”
“She’s fine. We’re fine. I came back to see your father. Hoping he may be able to…” John stopped when Scooter lowered his head. “What it is? What’s wrong?”
“My father died this morning.”
It was as if John had been hit with a baseball bat. He stumbled back. “What? What happened?”
“Weirdest thing. Two nights ago he got sick. I came by yesterday and he was pretty bad. I mean real bad. Whatever bug he got, knocked him out. He never woke up, and died in his sleep.”
“I’m… I’m terribly sorry. I mean really sorry.”
“Yeah, me, too. He was all I had. He knew it though. He knew he was gonna get really bad and die.”
“How?”
“On his way back from taking you guys, he saw a Wrecker on the road. It was sick. My dad said it looked like the old virus. He was even gonna try to help him, but the Wrecker died. My dad just sensed the virus was back. After all these years, it’s back.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Me? I’m fine.”
“Scooter, was the Wrecker you father found a violent Wrecker. One of the ones that hurt people.”
“What other kind are there?”
“There are civilized ones,” John said. “We happened upon them and that was why I came back. This virus has hit there as well. We were hoping to get some of your father’s herbs. His medicine.”
“I don’t know if it can help, but I can get you some.” Scooter stepped back to the house. “There really are civilized Wreckers?”
John nodded.
“And they’re hit with the virus, too? Scooter shook his head. “Ain’t that the darndest thing? All this time, and the virus is back. Scary.” He walked into the house.
It was scary, in more ways than Scooter realized. John began to process his thoughts as he stood waiting on Scooter to get the medication. The stasis stranger that strolled into Matthew’s village was without a doubt the carrier of the virus there.
But what of the violent Wreckers over a hundred miles away? Or Rusty for that matter. John recalled waking to the sound of Rusty sneezing.
The only stasis strangers they were exposed to were him, Meredith and Grant.
John was fearful that when they woke from stasis, their presence woke the virus. If indeed they weren’t carriers themselves somehow.
And while they were determined to look for the living, something inside of John told him, that maybe that was a task they should put on hold. They were placed in stasis to ensure life, and John was starting to wonder if the best way to make sure the human race survived, was to stay as far away from everyone as they possibly could.
NINE – NOT QUITE
Christian Life Church. That was the name of it and it took Jason a good twenty minutes to remember. That was all he focused on. What was the name of the church? It was one of the first places he did a worship service. A traveling Christian band with Jason as Worship leader, not yet a full-fledged preacher, singing his hit song. Bring it.
He slipped into the a reminiscent phase after Grace pulled out an older CD.
Jason had longer hair, his face not as smooth since he hadn’t had any peels yet. His eyebrows weren’t plucked. He supposed they’d never be again, and without a doubt, his teeth weren’t as perfect.
“You were young,” Nora commented.
“Not really. Just not polished physically,” Jason replied.
Grace gave them supplies, wished them well, and told them they were welcome back. She drew them a map, which resembled something more like a treasure map from an old pirate movie. Grace also said, while they picked a good spot in Champaign, the survivors were actually in an outlying town called Rantoul.
Rantoul.
That was when it clicked for Jason.
He had been there.
“If she’s right,” Nora said in the drive. “What are we gonna do?”
“Huh?” Jason was preoccupied.
“About the others. We said Champaign. Do we wait in Champaign or do we look for survivors in this Rantoul.”
Jason stared at her. His mind was elsewhere.
“I guess we could leave a note. I mean. We aren’t supposed to be there yet. But for the life of me…”
“That’s it.”
“What?”
“Life.”
“Okay.”
“The name of the church. Christian Life. In Rantoul. I played there.”
“Really?” Nora asked. “That’s actually pretty cool. Is that one of the memories that just popped back at you?”
“Yeah, it is.” Jason sat back.
“I had one yesterday. It was eighth grade. I got my period.”
“Is that a joke?” Jason asked.
“No but it could be.”
“I have no doubt.”
“I have a new one.”
Jason shook his head with a smile. “Go on.”
“Did you hear Fred and Wilma Flintstone found Betty having a good time in a nuclear apocalypse?” Nora paused. “She was under Rubble.”
No reaction.
“Get it? Rubble. Barney. Betty? Barney is her husband. Under…”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it.” Jason sat up. “Are you writing these down?”
“I am.”
“I figured.”
“So what should we do?” Nora asked. “Go to Rantoul or leave a note.”
“I think we should see if there are people in Rantoul, then if there are, we leave a note.”
“Okay, that’s what we’ll do. So you really were in this town?”