The Aftermath Read online

  The only things I’ve seen moving are the remaining dead that are still roaming the streets. I don’t think I’ve seen a single living person since we started searching for survivors.”

  “The fact that the streets are covered with motionless decaying bodies is telling me that the infected are finally beginning to die off,” Doc said. “To find the living, perhaps you should realign the satellite to search the rural areas. The cities, especially with all the decaying bodies, are going to be uninhabitable for quite some time. The cities are probably so contaminated with the virus that any living person that tries to enter any of the cities will become infected in a matter of minutes.”

  “I’ve been looking at the rural areas too,” Chervy replied. “To tell you the truth, I feel like I’m looking for a needle in a haystack.

  I’m running out of ideas as to where to look next.

  Each day I pick a city, then I slowly begin to search the suburbs and then the outlying areas for about a hundred miles out.

  Every day it has been the same thing.

  Is it possible that there aren’t going to be any survivors?”

  “The odds are that there will be someone else besides us that has managed to survive,” Doc replied. “It’s a big country.”

  “But as far as we know, there is only one place like Granite Mountain and we were the ones to find it. I doesn’t look like anyone else was as lucky as we were,” Chervy sighed. “As far as how big the country is, I can only thoroughly search a few hundred miles a day. Trying to search the entire country for a few survivors is going to be next to impossible.”

  “When the infected are gone, it should be a lot easier,” Doc replied. “I know if we were out there, we would be doing our best to stay out of sight until we knew it was safe. Hopefully when the infected are gone and people can safely move around again, we’ll start to see where the survivors are.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Chervy said. “We knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but I never expected it to be this hard. I guess my time in the Navy has made me impatient. The Navy always demanded results yesterday. But you did say this could take us months or years to accomplish anything.”

  Chervy thought for a second then looked up at Doc.

  “Do you think your evening broadcasts are reaching anyone? This could all be for nothing!”

  “I don’t know but I hope so,” Doc replied. “We just have to keep trying. It’s just like being a farmer. You plant the seed and hope. You never know for sure how things will turn out, but you plant the seed anyhow then wait and see what happens.”

  “I was thinking, when you make your next broadcast maybe we should try to ask the survivors, that is if there are any out there listening, to do something that would make it easier for us to spot them,” Chervy said.

  “I been thinking about that too. I thought, when the time is right, of asking anyone that hears my broadcast to build a large bonfire some night. You could pick up the light on the satellite,” Doc replied. “That would give us an idea of where the survivors are hiding.”

  “That’s a good idea Doc,” Chervy said. “Why don’t you say that on your broadcast tonight. I would really like to know if there is anyone else out there. This not knowing is starting to drive me crazy.”

  “Not yet,” Doc replied. “Be patient Mr. Chervanak.”

  “Why not?” Chervy asked. “You could also find out if your broadcasts are reaching anyone or if we are just wasting our time. I know that you have to be as curious as I am Doc.

  Besides, if there isn’t anyone else alive, maybe it’s time to decide what we want to do with what time we have left. Maybe we could find a way to go to Hawaii? Spending my final days on a beach sounds like how I would like to go out.”

  “We need to wait until the infected are gone,” Doc replied. “Building bonfires at night will not only let us know where the survivors are located, it will also tell the infected where they are. We wouldn’t be doing anyone any favors. We need to be patient. We need to use our heads and be sure what we do doesn’t make things worse.

  We need to wait until conditions stabilize so we have a clear picture of what we have to work with. When the infected are gone, we’ll figure out something.

  But, if we don’t find anyone else out there, I have to admit that I like your Hawaii idea. But I don’t think we should give up on our efforts to find other survivors just yet.”

  Chervy smiled, “I know you’re right, Doc. I would feel like hell if I was lying on a beach enjoying the sunshine and working on my tan and a bottle with a note inside floated ashore telling about people that would have survived if only someone had been there to give them a little help.

  I guess we, and any survivors, are lucky to have you doing all the thinking instead of me.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Doc grinned.

  Chervy laughed to himself for a second.

  “Since we are talking about being frustrated, how are our two new wannabe helicopter pilot’s training progressing? I saw Rogers earlier this morning at breakfast. He looked like a deer in headlights. Even for Rogers, he looked confused as hell.”

  Doc laughed out loud.

  “Are we really going to get in a helicopter being flown by Rogers and Davis?” Chervy asked.

  “Not unless we are surrounded by the infected and we are going to die at any second,” Doc smiled.

  “I don’t think I would even get on that helicopter then,” Chervy grinned. “Maybe on your broadcast tonight you could tell anyone that is listening that we are taking applications for an experienced helicopter pilot. Hell, I would even consider an inexperienced helicopter pilot or anyone that has experience riding a bicycle.”

  Doc laughed and replied, “Give them time.”

  “In this case I don’t think time will make much difference,” Chervy grinned. “I know those two and I suggest we might want to think of another way to get off this mountain while we still have time.”

  “As a last resort, I could fly the helicopters,” Doc added. “In my younger days, I learned how to fly a small helicopter somewhat similar to what we have in bay #47.

  The ones we have here were made special for Granite Mountain so that anyone could fly them, even Rogers and Davis.” Doc smiled. “After they practice on the drones and simulators for a few weeks and learn a little about flying, I’ll give them some real lessons.”

  “Thank God,” Chervy laughed. “You had me worried. I was beginning to think you had finally cracked under the pressure of dealing with all of us.”

  “I think it’s important, with our small group, that each of us learns to do a number of different jobs,” Doc replied. “If something happens to one of us, the rest still have to carry on. The more all of us can do, the better our chances of surviving. In fact, I was thinking about asking you to give me some lessons on the computer.”

  “That makes sense, Doc,” Chervy said. “I should have known you had a good reason for having Rogers learn how to fly a helicopter. Whenever you have the time, I’ll be happy to teach you a few things about our computer system.”

  “But not today,” Doc replied, “I have to complete some research I’ve been working on down at the lab. You keep watching what is going on outside.

  I know you are frustrated that things haven’t changed much since we arrived here, but I have a gut feeling that a lot is going to start happening in the next few days.

  I need you to keep me informed about what you are seeing out there. When things start to change, we’ll have to act quickly.”

  “Because if there are any survivors they will be starving?” Chervy asked.

  “That and starving people are desperate people,” Doc replied. “Desperate people can be dangerous.

  When the survivors begin to come out of hiding, competition for food and shelter could cause conflicts to develop.

  We will need to intervene and offer assistance before the interactions between survivors get out of hand.

  But one problem at a ti
me, we first need to find out if anyone else has survived.

  I’ll be down at the lab, let me know if you see anything interesting.”

  “Thanks,” Chervy said. “Our talk has made me feel a hell of a lot better about a lot of things.”

  Then Chervy smiled and continued, “Now that I know that I don’t have to get on a helicopter piloted by Rogers.

  But I’ve also learned that when you have a gut feeling about something, something always happens.

  I’ll keep at it, Doc.”

  Chapter 2

  June 28th, The Summit above Johnstown

  Tony, Mike, Linda, Jamie and George had been at the small log cabin house at the summit above Johnstown now for over a month.

  They had been lucky when they stumbled upon the small house in the mountains.

  Mainly because it had been an unoccupied rental property, which meant that they didn’t have to fight off the zombie remains of the previous owners to use the house.

  Death and violence had become a way of life, but knowing that no one had died in the house, by their hands or otherwise, let them hang on to an ideal that was quickly becoming extinct – the feeling of being civilized.

  Doing the right or decent thing was no longer important.

  The only thing that mattered was surviving.

  It was kill or be killed that was now important.

  Fortunately, their time at the house had let them all hang on to the illusion that their old life and civilization as they had known it, might still be possible.

  In reality, civilization and life as they had known it no longer existed.

  They all had listened religiously every evening to the radio broadcast by Doctor Thomas Kennedy of the U.S. Navy, waiting to find out when help would arrive.

  The broadcasts said to stay put, if you were somewhere safe, you should stay there until you were informed when it was safe to go back out into the world.

  They stayed at the house and waited.

  It had now been a month.

  By listening to the broadcasts, they had learned how the infection had started and how it had spread across the country.

  They now knew that all the cities and major urban areas in the country were gone, overrun by the infected.

  They were informed each night where the infected were headed and where they had been.

  They heard many reports about the infected.

  If the reports were to be believed, the infected were everywhere and there wasn’t much left of the world they had known.

  However, recent reports seemed to suggest that the infected were beginning to die.

  But what they didn’t hear was anything about survivors or about when the military was going to do to anything to help them.

  All they heard was to be patient, help would soon be coming.

  But it had been a month and the message was still the same, be patient and wait.

  However, there was a problem with the message to wait and be patient.

  You could only wait for so long before you ran out of supplies.

  The idea that help would be coming was only good news if you knew you would still be alive when help arrived.

  They began to question what they were hearing.

  The country had been destroyed and the infected were everywhere, they began to think that help would never come.

  Tony was the first one up this morning, as usual, and made his way quietly downstairs to make coffee.

  The task of making coffee was a lot easier now than when they first arrived at the house.

  The first day at the house they discovered that they didn’t have any running water.

  After they had used the water in the tank on the back of the toilet, they knew they would have to find a source of water somewhere if they were going to remain at the house.

  Two days later, Tony discovered the old well out next to wood’s line out behind the house.

  That solved the water problem, so long as they were able to go outside to get water.

  Using the hand pump and two rolls of garden hose he found in the shed at the side of the house, Tony found a way to get water to the house.

  Bolting the hand pump to the kitchen sink and running the hose out the window and to the well, they no longer had to go outside to get water.

  Tony heated the water on the camping stove, then poured the water through a paper filter filled with coffee beans, to make a cup of coffee.

  He knew with the way things were that he would probably have to give up this luxury one day soon, but was determined to keep enjoying his morning coffee as long as he could.

  Tony smiled as he smelled his steaming cup of coffee, then he walked over to the couch.

  As he did every morning, he sat his cup down on the coffee table in front of the couch then walked over to the window.

  He removed the boards that braced the panel that covered the inside of the living room window, removed the panel and sat it on the floor below the window.

  Tony smiled at the sunny view out through the window as the tree leaves swayed in the morning breeze and the sun cast soft shadows across the back yard.

  Tony always enjoyed the early morning sun and the peaceful view out the back window.

  The crazy squirrels and chipmunks chasing each other up and down the trees always seemed to amuse him.

  It reminded him of the good old days, and for now, made him feel like all was right with the world, even though he knew that really wasn’t the case.

  But he had learned long ago to appreciate the little pleasures in life.

  When the squirrels ran up a tree, the birds would fly down to find bugs or worms until they were chased away again by the squirrels coming back down to the ground to continue their chase.

  That was nature, the way things were supposed to be.

  Tony was just about to return to the couch to get his coffee and sit down to enjoy the morning show, but lingered at the window, staring outside.

  He didn’t know why he stopped and stared out the window, all he knew was that he did.

  Something felt different this morning, but he didn’t know why, so he just stared out the window and studied the back yard.

  It slowly dawned on Tony that he wasn’t seeing any squirrels or birds.

  The branches swayed, the beams of sunlight streamed through the branches casting moving shadows on the ground, but this morning the squirrels were nowhere to be seen.

  Rocky and Fred were always out back.

  He felt so attached to the two squirrels that entertained him each morning, that he had given them names.

  He always enjoyed those two so much each morning, he had never tried to shoot them with his bow.

  At least not yet, not as long as the group had something else to eat.

  Like his morning coffee, he would enjoy their antics for as long as he could each morning.

  But this morning it seemed strange that the squirrels weren’t there.

  As Tony stared out through the window, he spotted something moving near the tree line.

  Tony began to relax and smile as he anticipated seeing Rocky chasing Fred out of the woods.

  Rocky was the larger of the two and always did the chasing.

  Tony often thought that maybe he should have named the two squirrels Rocky and Fredricka, but not knowing much about how to tell a male squirrel from a female squirrel, decided to stick with the original names for now.

  Maybe if he ever saw Rocky catch Fred, that would make everything perfectly clear as to what their names should be.

  As Tony studied the tree line, the smile on his face quickly disappeared as a skinny, boney leg shot out through the brush with a dark gray bare foot that landed in plain view on the grass.

  When another gray leg broke through the weeds five feet to the right of the first leg, Tony quickly lifted the panel off the floor and set it back in place over the window.

  He saw movement all along the tree line and decided that standing at the open window was not a
good idea.

  Tony forgot about his steaming hot cup of coffee.

  He ran up the steps and stopped in front of Mike and Linda’s room.

  He opened the door and quietly looked inside to see that Mike and Linda were still asleep.

  Tony walked in and shook Mike’s shoulder.

  Mike’s eyes shot open.

  “We have visitors,” Tony said quietly. “I don’t know how many yet, but I thought you should get up in case we have a problem.”

  “What’s going on?” Linda asked as her eyes opened and a concerned look spread over her face when she saw Tony.

  “I’m not sure yet,” Tony said quietly, “I just spotted some walkers coming out into the yard from the woods out back. It might be nothing, but I think you should get up until we know what is happening.”

  Mike crawled out of bed, slid his legs over the side of the bed and pulled up his jeans.

  Tony retrieved Mike’s bow from the corner of the room and handed it to him.

  “Let’s go over to my room,” Tony said. “We should have a better view from the windows over there.”

  “Get dressed and wake up Jamie,” Mike said as he walked across the room.

  “OK,” Linda answered. “I’ll get my bow and we’ll be over in a few minutes.”

  “How many are out there?” Mike asked as he followed Tony out into the hall.

  “I only saw two, but there seemed to be a lot of movement deeper in the woods,” Tony replied.

  “I wonder where they came from?” Mike said. “We haven’t seen any walkers up here since we came here. Why now?”

  “Hopefully it’s just a few locals that have been wandering around for the last month,” Tony replied. “Any other reason could spell trouble.”