EMP (The Districts Book 1) (10 page)

Sutherland slid the pad of paper back under the bed and sat down. The hours continued to pass without his family being found and he was starting to lose hope. He knew his wife would have told him to stay strong, but she was his rock… and he felt like he was drifting in the middle of the Pacific on a piece of wood.

He sighed and lowered himself onto the bed. It wasn’t nighttime yet, not that Sutherland could tell since he hadn’t seen the sun since he got to the bunker, but he felt tired. He wanted to sleep and not wake up until he could hold Cynthia in his arms again. Sutherland closed his eyes and tried to push all the swirling thoughts out of his mind.

A knock on his door interrupted him and Sutherland sighed. He just wanted to be left alone, but apparently that was too much to ask. He knew his position made him a person of importance, one that people expected to care about what was happening around them, but he didn’t want it and he certainly didn’t ask for it.

“One moment,” he said.

Sutherland stood up, took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind. He knew he couldn’t let anyone else see his current emotional state for fear it might compromise his standing in the bunker. Even though it wasn’t something he wanted, he knew he should do his best until the time came when they found a more qualified person to take his place.

He opened the door and was greeted by the salute of one of the bunker’s personnel. Sutherland was still trying to adjust to the whole protocol of the outfits… he could no longer tell what rank anyone was and therefore couldn’t address them in his preferred manner.

“Yes?” he said.

“Sir? Vice Regent Rodgers is requesting your presence.”

Sutherland nodded, waited for the young man to step aside and he closed the door to his room as he stepped out. Sutherland started to walk toward the conference room out of habit.

“Sir?”

He turned around and the young man was still standing outside of his room.

“Yes?”

“Sorry, Sir, but Vice Regent Rodgers asked me to bring you to her personal quarters.”

Sutherland cocked his eyebrow, thinking it a bit strange… but relented and walked back toward the young man. He had no idea where her room was and was glad for the assistance finding it in the maze he called home.

They twisted and turned for the better part of three minutes before coming to a stop outside of a door that looked like any of the others. The young man turned, nodded to Sutherland and walked off.

Sutherland sighed and lifted his hand to knock on the door. He was starting to feel like Rodgers was putting him in a position to fail and the attack on District Four was just another way for her to get him out of the way. By the time Rodgers opened the door Sutherland had worked himself into a state of extreme irritation.

“What do you need?” he said, his voice strong and stern.

She looked at him, not with the usual irritated gaze on her face… she instead looked worried and not about the way he was acting. Sutherland could tell the last twenty-four fours hadn’t been kind to her and she looked like she hadn’t slept. He almost felt bad for her… almost.

“Take a seat.”

Sutherland paused, but finally gave in. He walked over to the small table against the back wall of her room and sat down. He found the room to be just slightly larger than his, but the sparse furniture was just as uninspired.

Rodgers sat down and looked over at Sutherland. He was expecting her to pass him some folder or paper, but she didn’t… instead she just ran her hands through her hair and let out a heavy sigh.

“What was so pressing that you needed me to come here? Is there something wrong with the conference room?”

“No… there’s… there’s not really any reason why we didn’t meet there.”

There was a certain shakiness to her voice he had never heard before. Sutherland knew she wasn’t telling him the truth and it made him uneasy. He really wanted to push her to tell the truth, but decided not to… he still needed her to find his family.

“Alright... what did you need to speak to me about?”

“It’s district four. Things have gotten worse.”

Sutherland wrinkled his brow. It definitely wasn’t what he was hoping to hear.

“Ok… well… what do you expect me to do about it?”

Rodgers sighed and looked down at the table. He could tell she was having a hard time saying what she was feeling and it had started to worry him. She took a deep breath and looked back at him… her eyes pleading with him before she even spoke.

“We… I need you to go there.”

Sutherland cringed. He had a feeling that’s what she was going to say, but he was still trying to not think about it. Cynthia, his wife, had first told him about the power of creation on their first date years earlier and it had stuck with him ever since. He didn’t believe her at first… he thought it was a bit out there and it sounded like some kind of New Age mumbo jumbo. That was until she convinced him to try it and things started happening. Sutherland got the promotion he had no shot at and they got pregnant a few weeks later. Since then he always was careful about the kind of thoughts he put out into the universe.

“No.”

The fire shot back into Rodger’s eyes in an instant. She glared at him for a long moment before standing up and pushing her chair out of the way. Rodgers walked around the small room while doing her best not to make eye contact with him.

She finally stopped and sat back down, but still didn’t look at Sutherland when she spoke.

“Let me guess… you’re not going to help until we find your wife and daughter.”

Sutherland nodded. It had become the most common response any time she asked him to do something he didn’t think fell in direct line with his responsibilities as Regent. He had really only complied when it had to do with the day to day operations of the bunker and those decisions had been vanilla.

“Isn’t there anything I can do to convince you to help? This is all that’s left of America… you owe it to the people of this country to help.”

“No, this isn’t America. It’s some perverse world where you do whatever the fuck you want. I didn’t ask to be a part of this.”

“Fucking wonderful,” she said, shaking her head in disappointment.

Sutherland shrugged and stood up from the table.

“Sorry I can’t be of more help.”

Sutherland stood up and walked toward the door. Rodgers reached out and wrapped her small hand around his much larger wrist to stop him. He took a deep breath and turned to her.

“Let go of me.”

She stared back at him. He could see it on her face… she didn’t want him there at all.
The feeling is mutual
, he thought. She finally let go of him and Sutherland walked to the door.

“I’m not going anywhere until you find my wife and daughter,” he said, calling over his shoulder.

Sutherland walked out of the room and slammed the door before Rodgers could say anything else. He stormed back to his room, his whole body teeming with anger.

He closed his door and locked it before sitting down on the bed. He understood where Rodgers was coming from… he knew he was in a position of power that would allow him to help the people in district four, but he felt like he couldn’t do anything without first knowing Cynthia was safe.

Sutherland put his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes. He wasn’t particularly tired, but he felt like he needed to push everything out of his mind and focus on the power of creation. He took a deep breath and tried to envision himself holding Cynthia in his arms… how warm her body would be… he imagined the smell of her hair… and Sutherland felt a calm envelop his body. The anger, the hatred of Rodgers, all faded and he was left in a state of serenity.

He knew in that moment he would see his wife again. Sutherland surrendered himself to the universe… acknowledging her safe return and took two deep breaths before opening his eyes and sitting up.

Sutherland stood up, walked out of his room and made his way toward Rodger’s room. He knocked on her door and released the last of his animosity toward her as he waited for her to answer.

The door swung open and Sutherland looked down at the much smaller woman. He could see the remnants of a tear on her cheek and redness in her eyes.

“I’ll do it,” he said.

Rodgers smiled up at him and stood aside for him to enter her room. Sutherland smiled back at her, walked over to the table and sat down.

“Now… tell me what I need to do so we can help district four.”

Mike and Nick stood on the edge of the pitfall and peered down inside. The spikes were set and it looked quite ominous. Nick definitely didn’t want to know what it felt like to fall in and be impaled on the branches he so dutifully sharpened.

“Nice work,” Mike said.

“Is it done?”

“Yeah… we just need to cover it.”

Nick nodded and went over to the pile of boughs he had cut earlier while Mike put the spikes into the ground. He carried them back over to the pitfall and dropped them on the ground. They spread the boughs over the hole, discarding two that weren’t quite long enough, and stood back to admire their work. The hole was still a little visible, but Nick thought if he didn’t know it was there it might as well have just been a pile of chopped boughs on the ground.

“Is it good enough?” Nick said.

Mike shrugged and walked over to the pile of dirt. He picked up the shovel, got some of the dirt and walked back to the pitfall. Mike sprinkled the dirt over the top of the boughs. After another three trips it was starting to look more natural… like dirt had blown over some branches someone had cut and never bothered to move.

“It looks good.”

“Just don’t fall in,” Mike said, as he drove the shovel back into the dirt pile.

Nick shook his head at the terrible joke… but it was true and something he would need to remember because the last thing he wanted was to walk outside, not paying attention, and fall in.

“You’re a regular comedian.”

“Thanks… ya know, there’s not a lot of competition these days, so I was thinking about taking my act on the road.”

Nick just shook his head, but he did crack a small smile. He wasn’t quite ready to laugh, he felt like that was probably still a long way off, but it still felt good to see the humor in something.

They went back inside the cabin to grab a drink of water and to rest. Nick rested his head against the wall of the cabin and closed his eyes, he felt like digging the pitfall had really taken its toll on his body.

“Tired?” Mike said.

“Yes… I’m not sure I’ve ever worked that hard over a couple of days in my entire life.”

Mike laughed. Nick didn’t bother opening his eyes, he felt like it would take more energy than he was willing to spare in that moment.

“What’s so funny?” Nick said.

“Your comment. I get it was a lot of work… but working hard for a couple of days is nothing compared to the pain and suffering that your life will hold.”

Nick thought it was a little bit of a harsh comment, perhaps a little jab at his overall unpreparedness, but he still had a feeling there was truth to it. The world had become a harsh place, as Mike kept reminding him, but Nick was still having a hard time believing it was really as bad as Mike kept saying.

Mike stood up from his bed and walked over to the supply shelf. Nick opened his eyes for a brief moment, his curiosity getting the better of him, but he quickly closed them again when he realized what Mike was doing.

“You ready to go?” Mike said.

“What?”

“We have work to do?”

Nick sighed and took a deep breath. He had thought they were done for the day… all he wanted to do was sleep.

“You don’t have to go… it’s fine.”

Nick stood up and shook his head. He didn’t want Mike to think he was ungrateful or unappreciative of everything he had done. Mike nodded toward the door and Nick walked outside, grabbing his water bottle from the couch before leaving. Mike followed him out, closed and locked the door.

“Where are we going?” Nick said.

“A little scout mission.”

Mike stepped off the porch and started walking toward the main road. Nick was a little surprised by the prospect… they had avoided people since the trip to the small grocery store in town and now Mike was implying they would be looking for people.

“What are we looking for?”

Nick felt the muscles in his legs tighten. He winced, but forced his legs to keep moving… he just hoped his muscles would loosen back up as they walked.

Mike pulled his pistol out of its holster as they walked, popped the magazine out and put it back in. It was something Mike did every time they left the cabin. Nick had to wrap his mind around that state of readiness, but he hoped it would never come to that.

The walk took longer than Nick would have imagined, which didn’t surprise him that much since he had only been down the road a few times and not since the day after their arrival at the cabin.

“Is it safe to walk on the main road?” Nick said.

“No… not really, but the terrain between the cabin and town is pretty rough. It’s actually one of the reasons I chose to buy it… I knew the chance of someone walking out of town and finding it would be pretty small.”

It was amazing, Nick thought, that Mike really had thought of every little detail. He sometimes wondered if Mike was getting off on the whole
end of the world
survivalist thing… it seemed like a possibility, but Nick promised himself to never even suggest it to Mike.

They walked for the next few minutes in silence. Nick still had plenty of questions, but he was focused on keeping up with Mike. The one thing that made all their physical activity bearable, aside from the fact it kept them alive, was that Nick knew eventually keeping up with Mike would no longer be a problem.

Mike froze and turned his head. Nick wrinkled his brow, not wanting to stop, but did so when he saw the look on Mike’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Nick said.

“Follow me.”

It was the only answer Mike offered before turning and running down the steep slope next to the road. Nick picked his way down, trying to not lose sight of Mike as he ran toward the tree line. As Nick reached the flat ground he finally heard what had spooked Mike… the sound of a vehicle.

Nick ran, as fast as his exhausted legs would move, toward the trees and ducked behind a tree just a few feet from Mike as the howl on an engine grew louder.

They both peeked around their trees toward the road, Nick tried to not expose himself, and watched as a lifted black diesel pickup truck sped by. There were three men in the bed, all armed with various rifles. Two of them were looking toward the woods, but didn’t seem to notice the two hiding men.

Nick finally felt like he could breathe again as the sound faded into the distance. Mike stepped out from behind the tree and headed back toward the road. Nick followed him in silence, still a little spooked by what they had seen.

“Let’s head back,” Mike said.

“Yeah?”

“Yes.”

Mike didn’t elaborate. He turned toward the cabin as they reached the road and started walking at a determined pace.

Nick could tell Mike wasn’t in the mood to talk, so he hung back a little as they walked. He was curious and hoped Mike would be able to explain the reason they had turned back. The only thing that entered Nick’s mind was the possibility that Mike was concerned the men might find the cabin, but it seemed sort of remote… not to mention Nick didn’t want to tangle with such heavily armed men.

They didn’t speak a single word until they were back in the cabin. Nick felt like Mike was relieved when they got back and the black truck wasn’t parked in front of the cabin.

Nick sat down on the loveseat and kicked off his shoes as Mike methodically went about starting the fire in the wood stove and opening a can of beans for their dinner. It wasn’t that exciting of a meal, Nick was starting to get tired of beans, but at least they had the elk meat which made it just different enough.

Mike scooped the beans and elk onto a plate for Nick, handed it to him, and did the same for himself. He sat down on his bed, took a bite of dinner and finally spoke.

“Sorry for turning around,” Mike said, “those guys spooked me a little. I know I keep saying things are bad out there… I just didn’t expect them to be that bad around here.”

Nick took a bite of his dinner and looked over at his only friend. He wondered what Mike meant… he knew the men had guns, but so did they.

“What do you mean?”

“The guy in the back… the one with the AK-47… did you notice him?”

 “I… I’m not sure.”

“Do you know what an AK-47 is?”

“No… not really. I feel like I’ve heard the name before, but I wouldn’t be able to pick it out specifically when looking at guns.”

Mike paused as he took another bite of dinner.

“It’s the one that looks like parts are made from wood and it has the big curved magazine.”

Nick thought about it. The truck had passed quickly, but it did sound vaguely familiar and he saw something that looked like wood.

“Yeah… I think I saw that.”

Nick took a bite of beans, set his plate down and reached for his water.

“Did you happen to see his shirt?” Mike said.

Nick shook his head, his mouth still full of water.

“There was a rather large blood splatter across the front of it… and it was fresh.”

Nick cringed at the thought as he reached for his plate. His fingers touched the edge of it, but he didn’t pick it up… suddenly not feeling as hungry as he had before.

“That’s… that’s….”

Nick wasn’t even sure what to say.

“Yeah… it’s unfortunate,” Mike said, “but it’s further confirmation that this is the human condition. This is what people have become.”

Nick took a drink of water and tried to think about what Mike was saying. It was true… for the first time he had seen firsthand what Mike had been telling him since the day of the event.

“What… what do you think happened?”

“With those guys?”

Nick nodded in response, taking another drink of water… food still didn’t appeal to him.

“Well,” Mike said, “if I had to guess… I would say they probably have some kind of camp up in the mountains and they went into town for a raid.”

Nick just shook his head. It was an obvious answer, one which was probably right on the money and that made him sad. He had a hard enough time when they bought the supplies from the grocery store in town… he felt like they took advantage of the kid, and that was nothing compared to whatever atrocity those men committed.

“Get used to it,” Mike said, the tone of his voice completely matter of fact.

Nick stood up and walked over to the open door. He walked outside and sat down on the porch. He got what Mike was saying… anyone who wanted to survive had to be tough, but Nick wasn’t sure he could kill another person if it came down to it.

He wasn’t sure what was going to happen, and it scared him, but he felt like there was nothing he could really do about it other than try to be tough and keep the advice of Mike in the back of his mind.