Rise of the Prepper: A Story of the Coming Collapse (12 page)

The mornings were hot but the nights were cold. It was particularly chilly that night. Seth hugged his jacket tighter around him.

Seth and Brodie had turned a corner and walked a few blocks in when Brodie started growling and barking at something.

"What's the matter, Brodie?" Seth frowned down at the dog. Brodie was usually a very calm, quiet dog. He only got like this when something or someone bad was around.

"What is it?" Seth asked and looked around. He spotted a car down the road. "Is it that car?"

As if in response, Brodie growled even louder and snapped his teeth.

"All right, then. Let's check it out, buddy."

Seth and Brodie approached the car. There were a lot of abandoned cars around so it was no surprise to just see a car out in the middle of nowhere. But something about this car piqued Brodie's instincts and Seth can't deny that the closer they got to the car, the more he felt that there was something unusual about it.

When they were within earshot of the car, Seth heard a noise coming from inside the vehicle. It sounded like something was grunting and panting in pain.

Seth's first thought was that maybe it was another sick dog. He reached the side of the car and leaned in through an open window.

It wasn’t a dog or some other animal he saw but a person curled up in the backseat. Whoever it was seemed to be in terrible pain.

Alarmed, Seth pulled open the door and reached in to touch the person’s shoulder. “Hey, are you all right? What happened?”

Seth turned on his flashlight to see the person better. The person jumped in surprise and turned around. Seth’s eyes widened at the spectacle before him.

Seth could tell that it was a man. He looked grungy as was the norm these days. But that was not what shocked Seth. It was the festering open wounds on the man’s face. His face was filled with sores and blisters that seemed to have never stopped forming even when they have ruptured. The man’s face was nothing short of grotesque. In a fit of panic and fright, the mysterious man jumped out from the car.

“Wait!” Seth called out to him.

Seth ran to the other side of the car but the man had disappeared among the trees. He had escaped before Seth could chase him.

“What was that all about?” Seth said to himself. Was he one of those infected by the virus? If Seth remembered correctly, Robert told him once that infected people usually displayed symptoms of the smallpox. If that’s so, then that guy was in huge trouble. He seemed to be in the late stages of the infection too. Feeling the need to take action, Seth decided to visit the hospital and talk to someone about the guy he just saw.

Seth and Brodie arrived at the hospital. It was late at night and most of the town was asleep except for the members of the Frontier Justice who were out patrolling and the hospital staff who were always ready for any emergency.

Seth left Brodie by the waiting area while he walked over to the counter to talk with Noah Kagan, one of the few medical assistants left in the hospital.

“Evening, Noah.” Seth greeted.

“Hey, Seth. How are you doing?” Noah smiled. He waved at Brodie. “Hey, Brodie! Nice evening.” Brodie barked in reply. “Your dog is so cool. How’s he doing?”

“He’s feeling better thanks to you.” Seth said.

“Oh, don’t mention it. I like animals. I’ve always said this, but if I weren’t a medical assistant, I would have been a veterinarian. And besides, ever since Doctor Lois died, there was no one who could take care of the animals anymore so, I had to step up.”

Seth definitely had a lot to thank the red-haired young man. If it wasn’t for Noah, Brodie might have been able to enjoy taking walks anymore.

Seth smiled at the younger man. “Yeah, you were truly a lifesaver.”

“Oh, right. What are you here for? Did you run out of meds for Brodie?” Noah asked.

“No, Brodie’s still good. I came here because I needed to talk about something. I saw a man in a car while Brodie and I were on our walk. He seemed to be in an awful state. He had blisters and wounds all over his face. I think he had a fever too. Was he…?”

Noah nodded solemnly. “Yup, he was definitely infected. Late stage, too, based on your description.”

“What are you guys talking about?”

The two men turned to look at the newcomer. It was one of the other staff remaining at the hospital, Dr. Tara Kagan, Noah’s wife. Seth almost couldn’t recognize Tara with her hair pulled in a tight bun and stern expression. She used to be one of the funniest and happiest person he’d ever known and now the outbreak had changed her. Seth supposed that seeing all the people you’ve known all your life fall to the virus and die one after another is bound to make anyone, even Tara, lose their sunny disposition.

“Hey, darling.” Noah said and kissed Tara’s cheek. “Seth was just talking about an infected man he saw a while ago.”

“You saw an infected?” Tara asked, dismayed. “I thought we had sent everyone to Atlanta.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it. From what Seth told me, it seemed like that guy was at the late stage.” Noah said, rubbing Tara’s back to comfort her. He turned to Seth. “People at the late stage tend to be really mistrustful and scared of others. Well, it’s our fault though I guess. Back when the outbreak was just starting, some of the more paranoid folks of the town proposed burning the infected—even if they were still alive.”

Seth made a sound of indignation. He understood where those people were coming from but burning the infected—alive, at that—was just too much. Now, he understood why that guy just ran away from him. He probably thought that Seth would tell people about him and he’d be burned. The thought left a bad taste in Seth’s mouth.

“Still, this is bad. We have to do something about that guy. The virus is strongest at the last stages and becomes even more contagious than before.” Tara said.

“What are you going to do?” Seth asked.

“What we always do, of course.” Tara said, looking straight into Seth’s eyes.

Seth frowned as understanding dawned on him. “Tara, don’t tell me—”

A loud bang reverberated throughout the hospital followed by a tirade of gunshots.

“What the—” Noah started. Seth jumped in behind the counter and pushed down Noah’s and Tara’s heads, forcing them to crouch on the ground.

“Stay down.” Seth told them. He pulled out his gun.

“What the hell is happening?” Tara asked, squealing as a shot came too close to her.

“Raiders, I’m guessing.” Seth said. “Keep yourselves safe and don’t get up no matter what, understand?”

Noah nodded and hugged Tara closer to him.

The shooting stopped and Seth took advantage of the situation right away. He appeared from behind the counter and aimed multiple shots on one guy. He looked around and was a bit surprised to see that two of the men were already down and bleeding to death on the pristine tiles of the hospital. Brodie had gotten to them first. The last raider remaining got wind of Brodie and turned his gun on the dog. Before he could pull the trigger, however, Seth aimed a gunshot to his head, killing the guy in one hit.

Brodie’s aggressive demeanor immediately changed after the last guy had dropped dead. Seth walked over to him and petted the dog’s head. “Good job, Brodie.”

Tara and Noah came over too and were showering Brodie with praises which the dog seemed to love. Of course, they did not forget to thank Seth. Noah even offered to give Brodie free medicine from then on to which Seth heartily agreed.

The three adults looked around at the mess of dead bodies, broken furniture and blood-stained walls.

“Who’s cleaning this up?” Tara said and looked at the two men at her side.

Seth and Noah looked at each other and sighed. It was going to be a long night.

To Be Continued…

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Table of Contents

Chapter One: Parasites

Chapter Two: Seth

Chapter Three: The Beginning of the End

Chapter Four: Ghost Town

Chapter Five: Saved by the Cabin

Chapter Six: Prison Break

Chapter Seven: So It Begins

Chapter Eight: The Two Convicts

Chapter Nine: Amelia Meets Whitney

Chapter Ten: A Hidden Agenda

Chapter Eleven: Intruders

Chapter Twelve: Mission Start