Decay (Book 1): Civilization (25 page)

“She must not like the blood all over,” Elliot said. This time it was Tyler who smiled.

“Well, we have a long drive ahead of us. I know I have already thanked you all a million times, but I would like to thank you once more for coming along,” Jonathan said.

As everyone settled in for the night, the stars in the sky shone bright over the hills. Jonathan and Guillermo sat on top of the RV, back to back, and kept watch over the night’s campsite. Nothing moved that night, nor did anything move that morning as Elliot and Tyler finished their shift while the others slept.

When everyone was awake, the group prepared a small breakfast. After eating, Elliot inspected the RV for anything useful but found nothing but another man’s memories. Before setting out, he lit a fire inside on the bed, and one on the couch. He didn’t want to leave it for anyone else to disrespect.

Jonathan stared back out into the hills as they continued on. He didn’t focus on anything important. Instead, he thought about his brother. He was excited about this adventure he found himself on, yet at the same time, he was scared of what he may find.

Chapter 0

Deacon sat in the garage on a metal bar stool. His tundra parked where the BMW used to be. The two tin containers that held the Methyl Ethyl Ketone sat underneath the workbench by his feet. A remote control car lay in pieces, and gun powder was piled up next to empty bullet casings. He had done quite a bit in the few days after Jonathan left. Returning to the maintenance shop, Deacon brought back small pipes, caps, and a pipe threading kit.

On the workbench in front of him, Deacon unrolled a series of maps that covered his work. One showed the state of California while another showed the entire United States. He spun a globe that he had found on a book shelf, propelling it with his index finger. Nailed to the wall above the work bench was another map. This map was of just one state. Different cities were circled on the map. Lines were drawn, connecting different points.

Deacon looked at this large map with an obsessive curiosity. He spun the globe once more, this time much slower. A line was drawn on the globe from California out across the Pacific Ocean. This line stopped in the middle of the large blue area that covered roughly seventy percent of the small globe. At the end of this line was a series of small green dots.

Deacon looked up at the map again. It’s over two-thousand miles away, but he would make his way there. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt he needed to go. He stared at the map and spun the globe for hours before Sophia opened the door to let him know that lunch was ready. He nodded in response and stood. He glanced down at the maps once again, and before he turned to walk inside he said one word,

“Hawaii.”