Monster of the Apocalypse (2 page)

“Look,” Lecti said, “not too fast and watch ahead.
If you can’t see far enough ahead, then slow down.”

“Sounds good to me,”
simpered Toshi, “I’d just as soon get down in one piece. Deo, you go first.”

“Yeah, fun!” Deo was all too ready.

“No, Deo goes last in case he needs to help us if we get in trouble,” vetoed Lecti. “Besides, I don’t want him to leave us behind.”

“Well then, I’ll go first,” said Toshi. “Try to keep up.”

She sat on her board, her pack in front between her legs, ready to use her feet as brakes. Putting her feet up on the board and pushing with her arms, she was off.

Lecti was surprised and didn’t want to get left too far behind. Despite her feelings about Toshi, she did not want to see her get hurt.

Hurrying, she sat on her board and pushed off just as Toshi rounded the curve, out of sight. She could hear Deo close behind her.

Catching up with Toshi was easy. She was cautious but fast enough to have fun. A couple of abandoned cars, a tree across their path, and a gully cut through the road. Minor stuff in Lecti’s mind and she was relieved by the easy distance they covered. If it had not involved a grueling hike back to the top, she would have done it again, and even faster.

Deo passed her when they could see the bottom, and the look on his face said it all.

A couple of skateboards abandoned in the sagebrush attested to the idea having been tried already. Their boards joined the others, and with packs slung over shoulders, they approached Carson City.

C
arson City, Nevada, had grown to just under two hundred thousand souls when the plagues hit. The valley filled, and as it overflowed with people, the outlying areas of Moundhouse, Washoe Valley, and the south Carson Valley either industrialized or filled with cardboard shanties just as other towns had.

The state capitol had a good number of emergency procedures in place and the equipment to back them up. Hazmat suits were the only real defense against airborne contagion, but they only helped if a problem was recognized. The first plague operated unusually. It infected and lay dormant for months while still being incredibly contagious. Within weeks, everyone who was going to be infected was infected. Those tainted began to die suddenly with few symptoms or warning. Then the other plagues hit. Some communities had greater numbers of survivors by percentage, others less. Roseburg, Oregon, had over ninety that lived, even though it was a smaller community than Carson. Baltimore, a city that had grown into being a large part of the East Coast Metroplex, had none. In Carson City the number was twelve.
By percentage, a typical outcome. What followed was typical as well.

Of the four adults, two committed suicide within a month. Two of the remaining eight were teenagers. One took a motorcycle and all the food he could carry and headed north to Reno, then east on I-80. He had mechanical problems and died in the desert. Of the six children, two were killed by the other teenager as they played in the street. He was racing through side streets in a beautifully restored Hemi Cuda. That evening he drowned when he passed out in a swimming pool after chugging a bottle of expensive scotch.

Of the remaining two adults, one was a woman that seemed to be able to function despite the horror. She was lucky to find and eventually gather the four remaining children to her. After moving them all into a cozy house close to a grocery store, she started to raise them as her own. She made sure they all had chores and lessons and tried to teach them to be self-sufficient and independent. She failed one night when she forgot to turn off the stove before she went to bed.

The remaining adult was named Hal, a thirty-eight year old man with thin hair, glasses, and a checkered past. Petty crimes involving larceny and more serious crimes involving arson and child pornography were part of his police file.

When he saw the big smoke of a fire he naturally gravitated toward it. He was enjoying the show when a toddler with soot covering her face grasped his pant leg, startling him. When he leaned down to wipe the soot off with his thumb he discovered her skin was just as dark.

From that moment until Lecti, Deo, and Toshi entered town twenty years later, the indigenous population of Carson City was two. The end result of the plagues was that within a year of the last disease-caused deaths, after suicide and sudden accidents decimated the remaining
survivors, on average there was just over one person remaining for every one hundred thousand souls in the pre-plague world.

The city looked like others Deo had seen. Ever since his and Lecti’s father had died in Roseburg, Oregon, they had traveled and seen enough that the condition of an abandoned town didn’t surprise him. Roseburg had a significant population that survived the plagues and attracted others from among the survivors that drifted through. The other cities and towns they encountered had very few survivors and sometimes none at all, so the common appearance of any town became one of disrepair and abandonment.

As Deo surveyed the road into Carson, he was on alert. He knew Lecti was scanning the buildings and any obstacles for signs of movement. He had learned from his father to be cautious but did not understand the deadly importance until they were on the road themselves. Now he moved up to the front in order to put himself between the women and any threat. At the same time he kept track of any shelter he could dive behind should it be necessary. The light rifle he carried was loaded, and his finger was on the safety.

When her brother moved forward, Lecti didn’t object. She knew what he was doing to protect them and knew that any serious threat would just as likely take out the people in the rear first. Still, she appreciated his thoughtfulness and admired the way he had grown up on their journey.

Danger was the last thing on Toshi’s mind. She was hoping to find a distraction from the boredom of the road. Entertainment being the priority, she stuck to the sides of the road most likely to contain buildings in good repair, hoping to find something interesting and maybe even signs of people. She almost missed the faded spray paint on the inside of the storefront window she was passing.

“Store open,” it proclaimed, and underneath, “north thru town.”

There was no reason to hurry. They had seen other signs that led to disappointments and even danger.

Main Street turned north
off the ancient freeway as soon as they reached the lower elevations. There was no parking on Main, so cover was scarce. Most storefronts were looted as well.

After peering in a few windows and opening a few doors, Toshi suggested they move one street up toward the foothills. Her motivation was to find more interesting attractions. Lecti and Deo were glad to oblige her so that they would have better cover with more vehicles parked along the sides of the road.

The wood sculpture gallery was bypassed without interest because the huge pieces, so painstakingly fashioned and intricately carved, had been chain-sawed and hauled off for firewood. The grocery was looted thoroughly, the canned and dried products hauled off, remnants of fresh produce lay as dry and brittle husks in their cases.

Lecti noted the lack of product on the shelves.

“There might be a population here. The shelves are too bare to be scavenged by travelers like us.”

Deo had noticed something, and he had a different take on the missing goods.
“Yeah, but look here, the smoked oysters and mustard sardines haven’t been touched, but the rest of the canned fish is gone. A bunch of people would have taken everything because there would be different tastes, but this looks like somebody didn’t like oysters. I think that someone took everything to set up that store…you know, the one on the sign we saw.”

Lecti was impressed. It was something that she had missed, and it made sense.

Toshi hadn’t joined the conversation, but as she moved among the aisles away from her companions she sang her strange little melody. She was betting on people.

Attached to the old grocery was a small sporting goods store. Deo looked longingly at the kayaks. Lecti looked for a new sleeping bag with no success. A winter hat with several tasseled balls hanging on long, knit dangles caught Toshi’s eye. She wore it out of the store, but by the time they reached the street again, she dropped it on the ground mumbling that it was too hot.

Next, a casino held no interest and was bypassed. So were the car dealerships. A magnificent tree, the rare survivor of a garden center, was casting a cool shade on local grasses that had repopulated the area. The heat of the day had sapped enough energy that all three felt a nap was a good idea. They lay among the surviving garden sculptures and snoozed a good portion of the early afternoon away.

Lecti slept lightly. She was wary in strange surroundings and was expecting to wake to Deo and Toshi off doing their usual.

When Toshi started to snore in a serious way, Lecti quit dozing and decided to scout around.

A cow path cut through the garden center, meandering between obstacles, always taking the path of least resistance. Lecti knew that the trail would lead to water, and dodging fresh cow flops, she made her way downhill along it. Soon it crested the old roadbed above a swampy area, full of cattails and reeds and dark water.

Across the swampy area, a museum housing restored steam locomotives and railcars remained fairly intact. What appeared to be a parts area full of time- and weather-wrecked railroad equipment lay to the north of the wet spot and would afford access to the restored trains. This would be a good place to spend the night after offering some interesting entertainment.

Returning quickly, Lecti found Toshi sitting on a stone bench beneath another tree close to the cow path.

“So,” she said softly, eyeing Lecti, “what’s ahead?”

“Swampy area, kinda small but might have fish, and a cool kinda place full of old trains. It’ll be fun to explore. Looks like the cows will probably come down for water there, too. If we could make some noise, I’d say let’s eat meat tonight.”

“I’m all for that. I’m tired of this crap we scavenge.”

Lecti looked thoughtful. “Yea, but I’m not real comfortable with gunfire in town. Don’t know who might be listening.”

“Oh, Jeez,” Toshi said with a disgusted look and a roll of her eyes. “You’re not gonna be that way, are ya? We haven’t had meat since forever, and if I get a chance to, I’ll take my shot and take my chances too.”

Lecti paused, looking directly into Toshi’s eyes. Toshi knew she was being stared down and let Lecti have the win. She would wait her chance.

When Toshi lowered her gaze, Lecti spoke, “You aren’t the only one here. If you shoot that gun you put us all in danger. Please, Toshi, let’s be safe.”

Toshi shrugged her shoulders and without looking at Lecti, mumbled under her breath, “We’ll see.”

“C’mon, let’s get Deo. You’re gonna want to see this place. And if we can we’ll catch fish.”

Deo was sleeping with his mouth open and a big fly crawling across his lip. He woke reluctantly as usual. Hearing about the trains interested him and got him motivated, and he was ready to go quickly.

The swampy pond held their interest first since they had to skirt it as they approached the museum. It was small and thick with water plants. With no sign of fish, they decided to not waste time making a fish trap much less try to fish with lines.

A broken door provided access to the museum. Dust lay heavy on display cases, some of which were broken, the contents either missing or scattered on the floor. They wiped the dust in smears from the intact ones in order to peer inside. The huge black locomotives with all their brass and exposed mechanics were fascinating to Deo in particular. The restorations were meticulous and had lasted well in this giant sealed hall.

“Come look!” exclaimed each of them many times as they found wonderful thing after wonderful thing.

At one point Deo speculated, “This stuff must be a hundred years old. Do you think Dad ever rode on one?”

“Silly little one, this stuff was ancient when your dad was born,” Toshi remarked acidly. “There was a whole world of stuff before your dad. This doesn’t even begin to touch it.”

“Well, tell me about it then.”

“I’d rather stick a knife in my eye. I want to forget before.”

Lecti couldn’t help but wonder why, but she had given up on asking Toshi in any direct way about the past, especially her own. It was probably the best way to piss her off.

Railcars with brocade and velvet trappings astonished Lecti. The opulence of soft seats and rich colors, even seen through accumulated dust, amazed her. She pounced on one seat, bouncing up and down several times before the cloud of dust drove her out, coughing and laughing.

Toshi got bored and wanted to set up camp in one of the open freight cars. Even though there were beds in one of the Pullman cars, the night on the soft mattress in Tahoe was uncomfortable enough to make them steer clear of soft beds.

They talked briefly about a car containing a drawing room with a fireplace and chairs and a table as a campsite, but decided that with all the furniture it would be too crowded. Toshi sent Deo to pull some heavy rugs from the floor of the drawing room into the freight car, saying that it would be better than the bare wood floor.

By the time Deo was back with the first rug, Toshi had disappeared.

Lecti was out looking for firewood north of the building, and Deo was dragging the second rug into the freight car when they heard the shot. Both immediately crouched low and found cover. They knew from the sound that the shot was on the west side of the museum where they had entered, but they also knew that where there was one gun, there could be others in other locations. Deo stayed put inside and, looking out the windows at the front of the building, waited for Lecti to make her way to him. He had seen her go north after exiting through a hole in the glass at the front of the building on the east side and while worried about her, was reasonably confidant that she was okay. It was Toshi he was worried about.

Lecti made her way back quickly. She was relieved to see Deo, and as soon as they were together they made their way to the rear of the building. The rear had no windows and only two doors since there was nothing in back other than the wrecks and the water.

As they approached one door, keeping as much cover as possible and with guns ready, Toshi burst in.

“C’mon, I need your help!” Toshi’s eyes were wide with excitement, and she had a huge smile on her face.

“What,” fumed Lecti, “what’s happened?!”

“C’mon, c’mon, I got one!” Toshi jumped up and down, hands summoning them furiously.

It came to Lecti and Deo, and they visibly relaxed as tensions eased.

“You shot a cow,” said Deo.

“Yeah, I got one! Yeah, we’re gonna have meat tonight. Oh, man, I can hardly wait!”

Lecti and Deo looked at each other. The damage had already been done. If anyone was going to be interested in the gunfire, they were already on their way.

“C’mon Deo,” said Lecti. “Let’s deal with this in a hurry and get back inside.”

As with most animals that go back to a wild state, it did not take cattle long to revert back to their ancestral forms.
Where cattle were once pampered and genetically selected to be hornless and uniform in size and color, the natural conditions quickly weeded out the overlarge, heavily fleshed individuals, favoring smaller, lighter animals with horns and mottled coats.

The yearling heifer was not much more than a calf by pre-plague standards. Toshi had selected well or gotten lucky and shot an animal that they could drag inside in one piece. Fortunately, this one had no mother to defend it, or they might have had to shoot her, too. There was no sign of any of the rest of the herd except for fresh tracks and dung scattered on the trail as they fled.

By placing a rope around its head and attaching a stout branch to the other end, two of them could move the carcass with some effort, and pulling it inside didn’t take long. Once there, they tossed the rope across one of the exposed beams and hoisted the body by its back legs into the air. It took all three to lift the heifer off the ground. Toshi used her knife, and the blood flowed onto the floor.

Deo stood guard by the back door, and Lecti watched the front as Toshi did the butchering. They were spooked. The noise of the gun may have drawn interest, or may not have, but they didn’t like the idea of being surprised.

Toshi didn’t mind butchering. She would not do any more than necessary since they would not be able to preserve the meat. Not bothering to gut the animal, she cut out the tongue first, licking some of the warm blood off her wrists as she worked. It tasted good. Next she partially skinned the carcass, only exposing the back from the tail down to the neck and one haunch. The loin along the backbone, and the meat at the back of the leg was removed, and she was done. She cut the rope and let the body fall. Then she coiled the rope to put back in her pack. Lecti and Deo would have liked the liver, but they knew Toshi didn’t care for it, so they let it go.

As they built their fire using wood found stacked by the pond, Lecti kept watch. By the time the loin was put on skewers she decided to join them, and from then on, fears were forgotten, and they concentrated on the meal.

The haunch was cut into smaller pieces and, with water and some skunk cabbage saved from the mountains, was set to boil on the hottest coals until the loin was eaten.

The tongue was put in a light pot with water and some cattail root. Some cress that was growing in the inlet to the pond was tossed on top. It would need to simmer until morning before they could skin it and enjoy the most delectable part of a beef.

They slept well that night in spite of worrying about the noise that Toshi had made. Even Toshi acknowledged that it was chancy, but with stomachs full of beef and a rug cushioning the rough wood floor, Lecti and Deo managed to sleep until the smell of breakfast woke them.