Notes from the Edge America the Dead Episode 7

 Notes from the Edge America the Dead Episode 7

Good evening.
It has been an exhausting week. AToo much work, but I have finally managed to purchase some tools that really help. First: Relate Social. I opted into this when they were building it because I get my server and domains through them as well as hosting.
What is it? It is a social poster tool, it doesn’t cover every social presence like some do, but it does include the heavyweights you need to be present on, X, FB, IG, LNKIN, TikTok, Google Bs and the ability to create custom feeds you can send feeds too, so you have those available to you when you post. I have been in since the beginning, I would like to see YouTube added, maybe VK other that it is good to go. You can of course schedule, you can also mass schedule in case you want to run the same post several times during a week or a month. It also posts immediately. I like that feature because when I update something or drop a new game, blog post or book I can send that link/news to all my social accounts in seconds: Relate Social – Your Social Media Manager Tool – Namecheap Works well, I get nothing from recommending them I just think that since I have tried dozens of these social posting apps this one actually works well.
The other tool I have been using for a month or so now is a photo App called Fotor: https://www.fotor.com/ This is AI for images. You should know I am not Anti AI. There are purposes for it and reasons to use it. This deals with photos and videos. You can generate images or videos with words. Like: ‘A wrecked car on the highway that hit a truck.’ Just type it in, no quotes and in a few minutes, it will kick out an image. You can also do all sorts of custom stuff to images, remove the background, sharpen, change the quality just about anything you can find yourself in need of. I like the new video part of the app. Write a short scenario and then turn it into a video. Add a style to it as well. Like it? Keep going with the video after it generates the first part. Can’t find the words? Use an image, yes turn your image into a video. It actually works very well. I have used FOTOR for over a month and purchased a year subscription for it. I like it that much. Again, my review or mention is my own real experience, I’m not paid for it.
One last app I picked up several months back was Tiny Wow:  https://tinywow.com/tools/write Maybe you know it. It is an AI generator app that works very well for me in limited circumstances. First, I have to say, I write all my own material. I have tested some of these apps that can write sentences or very short stories. The quality isn’t there, maybe it will be someday, but it isn’t now. You end up with stuff that makes no sense the further you get into it, at least that was my experience. But Tiny Wow breaks the usefulness down into sections. There is no need for an actual writer to need AI to write for them anyway. But what about tightening some writing up? That works. I use it to rewrite some of my sentences. It does this very well. You can set the tone it uses too. I have used it on paragraphs as well. That is the rephraser tool. I spent quite a lot of time with it help me to clean up text translated from French to English. It handled that job very well and saved me dozens of hours. Every time I don’t like the way my sentence is reading; I will run it through it. I may not use what it gives me, or I may use a combination of it, but I use it. Again, no payment just something I am using and finding useful.
So, this week has been really busy, and I am grateful it is over, and the weekend is here. My wife and I burned up all there was uploaded of You and began watching Bridgerton on Netflix. I am not a Rom-Com guy. This is along romantic lines, but it is not drenched in overapplied comedy. I was prepared to deal with watching it as my wife wanted to try it. I protested “But it’s a Rom Com labeled series!” I think I tried hard to get that exclamation mark on the end of my protest so, she gave in, and we picked something else for an hour. At the end of the hour, we both agreed we were never going to get that hour we had wasted back, and I apologized for steering her away from Bridgerton because of the Rom Com tag and because, since it was conceived and produced by Shonda Rimes (Grey’s Anatomy) I had been afraid it would be like that series. And I agreed I was hyper critical of that show for allow it’s once male star to basically get rid of an actor who was gay simply because he didn’t like him? Or the fact that he was gay? I don’t know It just soured me on the series.
So, Bridgerton. We watched 1 episode and that was that. I will be honest I was into it almost immediately. We burned that up two days ago, at least as far as it has gone and last night we began to watch the Prequel series: Queen Charlot. It is a limited series, just a short one-year deal but also very good. So, we will begin tearing it up later tonight if my wife can get her nose out of the New Stephen King book: You Like It Darker All I have heard from her the few times she came up for air today is “I have to find out who killed this woman.” That shouldn’t be a spoiler.
Okay, that is me. I will leave you with a free episode 7 of the first America the Dead book. Enjoy it, Dell…

AMERICA the DEAD: BOOK ONE

Based on the series by W. G. Sweet

Episode 7

PUBLISHED BY

Writerz.net Publishing

AMERICA the DEAD: BOOK ONE

Copyright © 2019 by Writerz.net All Rights Reserved

Writers: W.W. Watson, Geo Dell, W.G. Sweet, G.D. Smitty

This book, in this blog format, is licensed for your
personal enjoyment only. If you would like to share this book with another
person, please point them to this blog entry. Thank you for respecting the hard
work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places or
incidents depicted are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to
actual living person’s places, situations or events is purely coincidental.

This material is NOT edited for content! This
material is licensed to DIYGK.com and is used with permission.

This novel is Copyright © 2019 Writerz.net No part
of this book may be reproduced by any means, electronic, print, scanner or any
other means and, or distributed without the authors permission.

Permission is granted to use short sections of text in
reviews or critiques in standard or electronic print..

AMERICA the DEAD: EPISODE SEVEN

~

Watertown NY: Joel

A few days of rest had made a huge difference in
how he felt and his leg had responded as he had hoped it would. It was still
stiff, something was wrong in the knee, maybe, but he could walk and the more
he walked the better he felt. He sat in a chair on his front porch now,
drinking hot coffee, and watching the snow melt and drip from the trees: Once
again it was warming.

 He had
found a truck in the parking lot, managed to get it started and driven to his
own house on Linden Street. His house had seen better days, but it was still
standing. The house itself still leaning, but it was no worse than it had been
that first morning when he had awakened to… whatever this was, he thought. He
had had a hard time getting around the public square. Sometime in the days that
had passed the entire downtown section had sunk and then flooded. Probably as
Glenn had said, the cave system under the city had collapsed. Either all or
partial, it hadn’t made much difference to the downtown area, it had crumbled
and the water now owned it.

He had taken Massey street to get around the
downtown area, and then cut cross streets to get to Linden. He had seen no one.
Not even signs of anyone. Nothing. Bodies, smoke, nothing. Winter had returned
and the entire town was covered with snow. He had driven to the top of State
street hill and looked out over the city. Dead. No footprints in the snow.
Nothing, and that seemed all wrong. There should be people. What had happened
to all the ones who had stayed behind? Had they left too? Something else?

There were no clear answers. He had driven back
to Linden street, stopping at a few stores on the way, searching out food and
medicines and dug in. There was the old wood stove that he had used to heat the
basement. A little work and he had got it going. There was a cord of wood that
had been stacked outside the back steps that led down into the basement
forever. He couldn’t remember how many years. He had rarely used the wood stove
after the new heating system he had put in. It heated the basement, there was
no need for the wood stove. He had promised himself that someday he would yank
it out. There were two guys, had been two
guys, he reminded himself, at work who had offered to buy it. He was glad
he had never gotten around to it.

The wood stove had heated the house up fine. He
had spent a few hours looking over the house after that.

It was rough. The foundation was cracked and had
dropped about eight inches on one side. The house was leaning, but still solid.
Maybe a few years of leaning would take its toll. Maybe the next earthquake, if
there was one, but for now it was stable, and that was all he cared about.

He had taken another dose of antibiotics, along
with three aspirin, and had fallen asleep in his own bed and slept for… He
didn’t know how long, but time didn’t really matter a great deal anymore. He
had slept a long time. He didn’t know how long a period and he didn’t care. He
only cared that he had awakened with the headache gone, the swelling in his leg
lessened, and the redness mostly gone when he redressed the two wounds. He had
taken another dose of the antibiotics, skipped the aspirin, and restocked the
wood stove before he ate a breakfast of canned meat and toast made on the top
of the glowing wood stove.

He had been sitting here trying to figure out
what to do. Something, maybe while he had slept, had worked its way into his
brain and it would not leave. What if,
his thoughts had asked, What if Haley was
not dead? What if she had survived? Wouldn’t they have wanted to keep the women
alive?

It troubled him because how could he know it? He
had been badly injured, he had looked around, but right now, in the clear light
of a day removed by several days of rest he couldn’t be sure what he had done.
What he had looked at. How well he had searched. Whether she was there, gone,
dead, alive. There was no way to know, except… Well, except to go back and find out, his mind supplied.

He sat there sipping at the hot coffee looking
for reasons to ignore the thought that had just seemed to drop in on him, but
he could not. He had to go back. He had to be sure. And it wasn’t just about
Haley, maybe she was gone, maybe she wasn’t, but what about the others? Could
he really have been the only survivor? Had it been their plan to kill them all
or were they looking to take the men out so they could get to the women? That
seemed more logical. And yes, there were bones, he remembered, blackened and
burned by the fire. And body parts. He could see them vaguely in his mind, but
he saw no faces. He saw nothing that convinced him they were all dead, in fact
the longer he thought it out the clearer it became that they had to be alive.
At least some of them. He had most likely survived because he had appeared
dead. He must have appeared dead. Hell, he had
been halfway to dead.

 He sighed,
leaned forward, and the legs of the chair came back down to the floorboards of
the porch. There was nothing for it and no reason to put it off. There was
nothing here. This town was dead. Dead as dog shit, as they used to say. He had
to leave anyway and he had no intention of heading east so west it would be.
And Rochester was west anyway.

It could get him killed.

“It could get you killed,” he said aloud. And it could, he agreed, but that
made no difference either. He stood, drained the cup and set it down empty on
the rail. A half hour later he was winding through the stalled traffic of
Arsenal street; heading out route 3 for Rochester.

Rochester NY: Joel

Joel sat quietly in the dark, his weapons
gathered around him. He had gathered them from their own arsenals and they
hadn’t even missed them. They, the people running this section of Rochester,
might think they had their shit together, but they were nothing but amateurs.
He had looked the weapons over several times. Thought out his plans more than a
dozen times. There was nothing left, but to do it.

He had seen enough to know what was going on in
Rochester. The entire city had been divided into territories by different
gangs. He had watched the city for the last two days and nights. Walking boldly
where he wished in the daylight, sticking to the hard shadows through the
night. He couldn’t ask for a better picture.

The power was on still. He didn’t know how that
was possible or why it was possible, but in the scheme of things it made his
work easier. People with lights weren’t so concerned with people sneaking in.
The lights gave a false sense of security at night. He had worked his way in
and seen everything he needed to see, and then made his way back out in the
gray light of morning that first day. Since then he had slipped easily back and
forth across their lines as if they didn’t even exist.

He had started with the wreck. It sat where he
had left it, on the outskirts of the city, near the downtown entrance from East
Avenue. He had spent the best part of two hours going over it and there were
more than a few things he had missed.

The first, and major thing, was that the Jeep he,
Haley, and the others had been traveling in had not been directly hit. The one
behind them had also not been directly hit… Scott, Jan, and Lilly had been in
that Jeep.

Both Jeeps had been destroyed just the same.
There was a large area of asphalt gouged out, and the tar had melted around
both vehicles. The fire had been serious and had probably killed anyone who had
not escaped the Jeeps, but some of them had escaped the Jeeps. More than just
him.

There were bones, blackened, and wet now from the
near constant rain. The body parts he remembered seeing were gone. Even so
there were not enough bones to account for everyone. It didn’t mean that Haley
was one of those that had made it out, it only meant someone had. So he had set
out to find out who might have survived and where they were.

The second night had paid dividends. He had
followed a returning group on foot with prisoners and slipped right back into
their protected area along with them. From there he had simply followed those
they had bought in as they were pulled and shoved along the streets to a two
story house off Culver Avenue.

The house was guarded, but again, it was guarded
to make sure no one escaped, not to keep people from slipping in. And even that
was slip shod. It was late the next day before he had seen her, and he had wept
freely as they had dragged her from the buildings front door along with Scott,
Amber and a few others he didn’t recognize. Either the others were somewhere
else or they had died or already been killed.

He had shuddered to think of what they might have
been through over the last several days as he had made his escape and then
finally decided to come back. It was too much to take in, and so he shut it
down and followed them as they were dragged through the fresh snow, barefoot he
saw, to another building and turned over to armed men there.

His mind had screamed, Do something! Do something right now! But his common sense had
fought it down. That would be suicide. It would benefit no one. It would surely
get him killed and probably them too if they realized that he had come here to
free them.

They had not been long at the building, those
that had bought them had stood around talking. Low tones, subdued, it seems
they were none too happy about their own circumstances. It had been on the way
back, after they had brought them back out and were headed back to their
prison, that Joel had overheard their conversation.

Scott was alive because he had told them he had
skills with carpentry. They needed skilled workers. So far he had refused to
work for them. They had beaten him several times. Most likely they would kill
him soon if he didn’t give in. He was probably holding out, enduring the
beatings, hoping for some way out for the women, for himself too.

Haley and Amber were a different story. They had
been brought over to be looked over by a rival gang who might purchase them as
part of some trade. From the sounds of the conversation they had liked what
they had seen. The deal would go down tomorrow if they decided to go with it:
If he intended to get them out alive it would have to be tonight.

It had not taken long to gather what he needed.
He had found weapons of every kind. Rifles, pistols, knives, hand grenades
even. He had gathered them and bought them to the small wooded area in back of
the house next door where he had been hiding watching the prison. There was
nothing left to do.

A few minutes before, the guard had changed. The
night shift consisted of only two guards, and they were already sharing a joint
together out back of the building. He heard their low voices and laughter as he
worked his way out of the woods, bringing only what he needed, and around to
the front of the house.

He hesitated at the front door. He was fairly certain
there was no one inside, but he couldn’t be positive. Anyone could have slipped
in while he was out gathering weapons. He closed his eyes for a moment, shifted
the pistol in his hand slightly, and then reached down and turned the knob.

The door swung open to a dark interior. Cold, no heat… No sounds. He
stepped inside.

Rochester NY: Joel

Midnight

It had almost gone without a hitch. It had taken
him a few minutes for his eyes to adjust, but once they had he had set off
through the house. He thought back on it now as he bent his weight to the
shovel, digging more out of the bottom of the shallow grave…

As he had searched his ears began to tell him
things too, they were upstairs, he could hear minute creaks as body weight
shifted on the floors above him. He could hear weeping from somewhere above him
too. The sound made a sob catch in his own throat before he choked it back and
headed for the stairs.

Scott had been out in the open, tied to a post
for the railing. Joel had caught him in the process of trying to fight his way
free. His mouth was gagged, but he immediately stopped his struggles when Joel
came into view at the top of the stairs. Joel bent forward carefully, the step
creaking loudly, and cut the bonds on his wrists. A second later he was passing
Scott a pistol as he worked to free his jaw up. Joel passed him a canteen, and
Scott sipped carefully, his lips blistered and cut, before he handed it back.
His voice was scratchy, rusted.

“Kill the ones out there?” Scott asked in his
whisper croak. His eyes were hard.

Joel shook his head. “They’re getting high…
Won’t be a problem… Where are the girls?”

Scott nodded and headed down the hallway with
Joel following. He stopped in front of the door. “One of them went in a little while ago… Probably… Probably…”
He shook his head, unable to continue.

Joel whispered, “Don’t lose it… We’ll go on three, fast, but don’t let the door make
a lot of noise. Try to stab him, not shoot… Don’t want to alert those
others.” He held Scott’s eyes until he nodded.

Joel turned the knob slowly and counted down
quickly. His shoulder hit the door but it didn’t give completely, just flexed,
cracked loudly, and then sprang back at them. He cursed under his breath. “Take
it down, take it fucking down,” he
whisper croaked.”

The door splintered and finally opened. The guard
inside was waiting, a gun in one hand, the form of a nude female beside him, a
vague shape tied to a radiator across the room. A hand rose and pulled the gun
down. The gun went off as they were tackling the man, and then everything went
bad fast.

Joel drew his knife across his throat to cut off
a scream that had begun, but even he knew it was too late. Scott scrambled up
and made his way to the radiator and began untying the woman there. Joel bent,
pushed the man aside and saw Amber. She moved quickly and he pulled her to her
feet. They were out the door seconds later, all armed with the pistols Joel had
bought, all ready, scrambling down the stairs two at a time. The front door
burst in as they hit the bottom of the stairs and the two men that burst
through never stood a chance. They ran over the top of them as they were still
falling and spilled out into the night.

The whole area was on alert. The guards were out,
dogs running everywhere, Joel saw. The dogs were no problem. It wasn’t like the
movies, the dogs didn’t know who they were looking for. They managed to make it
three blocks north, nearly out, before Joel realized that Amber had been hit.
She stumbled, he pulled her to her feet, but she stumbled again and when he
looked back he saw the blood that covered her entire side and soaked her leg.
There was no time, he bent and took her over his shoulder, hearing her cry out
in pain as he did, but there had been no other option. They had made the blockade
a few moments later and had, had to stop while they tried to figure a way
around.

There were too many of them. Two dozen standing
around watching, but they were not trained to do it. Most of them had never
hunted, didn’t know how to watch, what to look for. Joel had laid Amber on the
ground and Haley had pulled her into her arms and held her, both crying
silently. Behind him, several blocks back at the house where they had been held
the grenades he had rigged to a timer finally went off. The men scattered, ran,
started to regroup and then began to run through the streets back to where they
had been. Joel and Scott picked up Amber together and ran through the darkness,
sticking to the deepest shadows for the next half mile until they were well
beyond the city and the gangs that were out looking for them.

Joel and Scott collapsed onto the ground while
Haley held Amber as she died.  Dawn had
not been far away so they had taken refuge in a nearby house and waited the day
away. No one had come near. They had rested up during that time and when it was
dark once more they had left the shelter and brought Amber with them…

Joel bent to the shovel once again. They had all
taken turns, it was nearly done. He took a deep breath, stepped away from the
hole and the others nodded. A second later they were lowering Amber into the
hole.

She was dressed in clothes the Haley had taken
from the house just a short time before. A long dress, her face pasty white and
smeared with dried blood. But peaceful nonetheless. A half hour later they were
back in the house ransacking it, looking for anything that might help them.
They had a half mile to travel, a short distance, Joel had thought when he had
hidden the truck he had driven here in, but a long walk now that he knew they might
be anywhere looking for them. They left a short time later and made their trip
to the falling down garage next to a flattened diner where Joel had hidden the
truck.

The house had given them virtually nothing. No
water. No food, a couple of coats and that was it. The truck was a welcome
sight with its cache of food and water, and they had spent the next hour just
sitting quietly, eating, replenishing their fluids, not talking.

“You were dead,” Haley said at last. “The guy
went over, kicked you, was going to shoot you in the head, but he decided not
to because you were dead.” Her eyes were bright, tears perched on the lids
ready to fall. They fell as Scott spoke.

“I couldn’t do anything, Joel. Nothing.”

Joel caught his own emotions. They had been right
on his sleeve for days, it seemed. He took a minute and composed himself.

“Alive. I was alive. I came to and thought all of
you had died. I was in bad shape, bleeding, leg messed up… I thought you were
dead.” He stopped, gained his composure once more and then started again. “Later, back in Watertown, I couldn’t remember if I looked well enough., If I
made sure you were dead, but I decided I didn’t. I didn’t and it ate at me.”
His throat tightened up and he had to stop. “So, I came back,” he said at last.

Haley came to him and hugged him. “Thank you,”
she said. “I am so glad you did.”

Scott nodded and they all fell silent once more.
Haley wiped at her eyes and then stood and walked away. “Sorry… They were
about to trade us… Pat…” She choked. “Amber and me.” The tears nearly
overtook her once more, but she fought them back.

“Okay… So, we go back to Watertown again… I
have my house set up. We go back and decide what’s next.” He looked down at his
leg. Blood had seeped through the bandages. “Leg’s shot,” he said by way of
explanation. The silence held for a second.

“I should look at that,” Haley said.

“Later,” Joel agreed. “Ready, Scott?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

“Okay, let’s get going. I want to be as far away from this fucking place as
I can be by daylight tomorrow.” A few minutes later they were running a fast as
they dared in the moonlight, heading back toward Watertown.

April 15th

Watertown, New York

Joel

Joel sat on his front steps and quietly stared
over Linden Street. It had changed for the worse. More than a dozen small
quakes had hit over the last few days since they had been back. The houses were
leaning more, including his own. Last night they had received some skip coming
out of Manhattan. For twenty minutes they had been in whatever pocket that had been
there, and they had talked back and forth like they were right next door. There
were no more illusions. The people he had talked to had come cross country, all
the way from LA. There was nothing left. It was all gone. There was no help on
the way. The Army was not on the way to put things right.

“Hey,” Haley from beside him. He had been
slipping deeper into thought again.

“You were drifting away,” she said, as if she had
read his thoughts.

She did that a lot lately, caught him, or he
drifted a lot lately, maybe both. “I was… I was thinking about all of it. I
think we should go to New York, wherever they are, outside the city. They
sounded legit,” He raised his eyes to hers.

“As legit as anything in this world,” she
shrugged. She looked around the street that really wasn’t a street any longer.
“Can’t stay here… I know you know that.”

“I know… I think safety, if there is anything
like safety any longer, is going to be in numbers. And we don’t have enough
numbers. We’re too few.” He looked at her and waited for her acknowledging nod.

“We can be there in a few days. If they are where
they say they are,” Haley added.

“Do you think they aren’t? Did you feel
something?” He looked unsure.

“No… I felt they were straight with us, and I
felt their offer to join with them was straight too.”

“Anybody join this conversation?” Scott asked as
he walked out of the house and sat down next to Joel. Joel Laughed.

“Join in. We were talking about New York. Those
people last night,” Haley said.

“Ah. It’s a no-brainer though, isn’t it?” Scott
asked.

“We think so,” Joel agreed. His face was pensive.

“Got concerns?” Scott asked.

“Same old stuff. Really, it’s all about whether
they’re real or not,” Joel said.

Scott nodded. “I think they are I don’t see the
percentage in luring us down there if they’re just fakes. We’ll come armed and
ready for bullshit; they have to know that.” Scott seemed to consider. “I just
don’t see it. I think they’re the real deal. I’ve been thinking about it too,”
he sighed.

Haley raised her eyebrows.

“The finality of it all. I mean the fact that
from here to the other side of the continent the world’s done up,” Scott said
after a lengthy pause.

Joel nodded. “Hard to wrap your head around, I
get it. It’s the same for me. That’s what we were just talking about. So,” Joel
brushed his hands against his, jeans and then stood from the step. He flexed
his leg. Stiff but pain free. It needed exercise to work it out. “I guess we
should go get a truck and get moving.”

Haley and Scott stood with him. “Where you think for
a decent truck?” Scott asked.

“Probably check out on the strip. There are a few
custom shops out there, about a dozen car dealerships and a few truck
dealerships. I’d like to find something setup for off road. Save us some time
screwing around… Probably save road time too.”

“And they aren’t staying there much longer. It
will help us when we move on with them,” Haley added.

“Makes sense,” Scott agreed.

“Or strike out on our own,” Joel said.

“South?” Scott asked.

Joel nodded. “They said the land went into the
sea.”

“They said there was land in the distance
though,” Haley said at the same time as Joel. “It got into my head… Well,
that’s not exactly true. It’s like I dreamed about it before they said it. Like
I knew it would be,” he shrugged. “I know, spooky.”

“Not really. I mean the world is gone. All the
things you count on. Maybe now there is survival… Some sense that kicks in
and guides you,” Haley said.

“Now that’s spooky,” Scott said. They all laughed
uneasily.

“Still,” Haley said. She let her argument drift
away unstated.

Joel reached over and retrieved his rifle from
where it rested against the porch post. He slung it over his shoulder and
shrugged once to make it comfortable. “We,” he stared into the open doorway
into the house and then stopped. “We don’t need anything here. We were running
low all the way around, about time to resupply.” He took two quick steps to the
door, tugged at the handle and began to close it. He stopped with the door
still partway open and laughed uneasily. “Guess it doesn’t matter anymore,” he
said. Haley smiled, a small, sad smile and she shrugged and turned away.

“Not really,” Scott agreed.

Joel released the door handle, turned and stepped
down off the porch. He turned and looked at the house once they were a few
hundred feet away. He walked backwards, taking it in. It looked ready to
collapse. It was leaning, the foundation cracked and crumbled in places. He
turned and caught up to Haley and Scott. He didn’t look back again.

Project Bluechip:

Watertown NY:
Subterranean Military base.

Commanding: Major
Richard Weston

Richard Pierce leaned back as Major Weston leaned
in close to his monitor.

“So they’re leaving,” he said.

“I think so,” Pierce agreed. “We lost them a few
times. We don’t have everything covered up there, so I can’t say they aren’t up
to something, but my best guess is that they don’t have a clue about us.
They’re on their way out… I could take it a little further.”

Major Richard Weston looked at him. “How so?”

Pierce reached forward and rifled through a small
stack of messages beside his computer. “Came from your Intel guys…
Communications” He paused to find his place in the message. “Yeah… Seems they
talked via CB to someone outside of Manhattan yesterday… Your guys thought
they would probably head that way. Seems likely that’s what is going on now.
They have a truck, they’re making the rounds… Foodstuffs… Camping gear,
weapons and ammunition,” he shrugged and looked up at Weston.

Weston nodded. “Keep an eye on it.” Pierce nodded
as Weston walked away.

Watertown Center

Joel and Haley

“I say we’re good,” Joel said, He looked over the
back of the truck. “Nothing left, but to…” He stopped as Haley suddenly went
rigid beside him. Her pistol came up fast and a split second later he found he
had shrugged his rifle from his shoulder and into his hands. Scott already had
his rifle off safety and aimed. Joel turned and followed his aim to where a
woman walked slowly down the street toward them.

“No closer,” Haley called out.

“I’m not armed… I’m not dangerous,” The woman
said. “I need some help. Some help to get out of this place… Please.” She
stopped reluctantly and looked back and forth from the rifles to Haley’s
pistol. She wore a long denim shirt that hung over her jeans to mid-thigh. She
lifted it to show she had no weapons belted under it and then dropped it again.

She had a British accent. At times in her speech,
it sounded more pronounced, at others hardly there, as though she were trying
to suppress it, Joel thought.

“Just need a lift out.” She spread her hands out
flat, palms up. “Nothing else. I have been stuck here from the first, it’s
complicated, but I got away from some people that had me.” She seemed to
consider the three of them. “Maybe you have got no room to spare?” She looked
from one to the other.

Joel spoke. “We have room, it isn’t a question of
that. It’s a question of whether we’ll accept you to fill that place.” He
lowered his rifle and motioned her forward. “Scott? Make sure she isn’t armed.”
Scott nodded, lowered his rifle, re-slung it, and started forward. A second
later he was patting her down. His hand found the inside of her thigh and
started up.

“There’s a piece there,” she said quietly.
Scott’s hand stopped suddenly, just below where the shirt overhung from her
waist. He felt her tremble. “It’s small… I’ve been scared. Just something for
safety.”

“But you said you had nothing,” Scott said as his
eyes held her own.

“What’s up?” Haley called.

“Got a piece in her… I guess, her panties,”
Scott raised his hand and carefully felt the small gun. Haley was at his side
when he looked up. “Really small,” he said and shrugged. Haley passed him her
pistol. “Keep it on her.”

Haley reached forward and freed the buttons that
held the fly of her pants. She reached in and came out with a small .22 pocket
pistol. She looked it over.

“Five shot… .22 Mags,” the woman said.

Haley looked up. “I can see that. “So why didn’t
you say something? Or maybe, why did you say something? This is small enough to
stay concealed.”

“Your mate was on his way up.” She shrugged.
“Look. I’m alone. I had to have something. This town may look dead, but it’s
far from dead. I’m just looking for a way out. The road. Leave this place. It’s
been… It’s been bad.” her eyes seemed to cloud at the end. “Mind? It’s a bit
cold.” she looked down at her open fly.

“Go ahead,” Haley said. She buttoned the fly back
and then took a deep breath. “So?”

“So, what’s your name,” Haley asked.

“Pearl… You?”

“Haley… Joel, Scott,” she nodded to each with
her head. “I guess she’s okay,” she told Scott. Scott lowered the gun and then
handed it back to Haley a second later.

“We’re headed for the city,” Joel told her.

“Syracuse?” Pearl asked.

“No… When people say city around here they
usually mean New York… Manhattan,” Joel said quietly. “Why should we make
room for you, Pearl. Especially since you didn’t want to tell us about this
gun?” He had taken the pistol from Haley and was turning it over in his hand.
It was very small and didn’t seem capable of doing much harm.

“It will kill you well enough,” Pearl said as if
reading his thoughts. “It’s a bad world. You need another shooter. Who knows
what you’re going to run into between here and there.” She paused and then
nodded at the pistol. “You can see I’m resourceful.” She met Joel’s eyes when
they swung suddenly up to her own. “I’m not dangerous unless someone is tying
to hurt me,” she finished quietly.

Joel raised his eyes to Haley and Scott. They
both nodded. He looked back at her. “Guess you’re in, Pearl,” he told her. He
tossed the gun, and she caught it in one hand.

“I like it, but here,” Haley said retrieving a
rifle from the back of the truck. She tossed it to her lightly.

“Zero to sixty?” Pearl asked as she looked over
the rifle.

Haley pulled a clip from a pouch at her side. She
frowned. “Guess so,” she said as she tossed the clip to Pearl. “I guess so.”
Pearl socketed the clip home as she nodded.

“Okay,” Joel said. “Looks like we need another
truck.”

Haley nodded and they all piled into the truck.
Joel turned it around and started back out to the strip.

Project Bluechip

Richard Pierce

Richard pierce watched the two trucks pick their
way around the wrecked pavement.  Lately
he had found himself wondering what the outside smelled like. Was it sterile
the way the air here smelled? Slightly burned? Something like that. It had a
constant smell of hot steel. He really didn’t notice it unless he concentrated
on it.

He had watched the three become four. So, Pearl
had made her way out. He could only hope she would remember what he had done
for her. How he had cut her loose. Anyone else in this place would come unglued
to find out he had not only let someone go, but that the natural containment of
the project, encased over a mile deep in stone was now breached. He had let her
out through the air ducting. It had taken two days of looking over the
schematics to be sure that there was a way out and where it was, but he had
found it and sent her on her way. She had found her way out, and that could
only mean that project Bluechip was not a secure facility any longer. Air was
being exchanged with the outside. Air sucked in from that same ducting,
directly through the opening she had cut into the duct work, and then drawn in
to their clean air supply. So, he thought now, why does it still smell like hot
metal? He had no answer, except, maybe it took time. Maybe the small amount of
air was not so noticeable. No matter, he knew it had been breached, he knew the
truth.

Of course they would know. He had very little
time, maybe only minutes before she was discovered missing. He felt cowardly
about the way he had worked it out. He had sent her first, she had made it and
so he knew it was safe for him to go. He had no intention of going along with
the ones she had found though, He had his own plans, His own ideas, He had
waited a long time to get out of here and he had, had a long time to think
about what he wanted to do once he was out: Where he wanted to go. He punched
up a camera view in one of the tunnels. The hole was obvious immediately.
Ragged sheet steel curled away from the side of the pipe. So, she had done it.
She hadn’t found some other way, she had done exactly what she was supposed to
do. The duct was breached. All he had to do was go.

He leaned forward and punched a series of numbers
and letters into his keypad. Hiding it with the forward movement of his body. A
second later the system switched over to a camera loop that it had released no
more than a few minutes before, and once more the tunnel looked untouched: The
duct piping solid and whole once more. He stood from his console and stretched.

“Christ,’ he complained loudly, as he fisted his
hands and worked at his eyes. “This shit is about to put me to sleep, Graham.”

Graham looked up and smiled. “Not you. Usually,
you’re a bear for this shit.”

“Yeah, yeah, but not today. Not enough sleep. I’m
going to the cafeteria… Get some of that shit that passes for coffee,” Pierce
told him.

“Yeah, but what if Weston comes around?” Graham
asked. He seemed alarmed, Pierce thought, and well he should be. There was no
leaving the monitor station during a shift.

“Cover for me… Tell him I had to use the can,”
Pierce told him quietly. When he looked doubtful Pierce added, “Come on, man,
I’d do it for you, Graham. You know I would.”

“Yeah. I know.” He looked around the room
quickly. “Okay… Just not too long, okay?”

“Not too long,” Pierce agreed. He clapped Graham on the back as he walked
past him. “Not too long at all, buddy.”

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