Chapter 3 – Jeremy
Zach and Ryan informed me that the RV couldn’t drive in its condition, and we would need a new axle, a new frame, and a new fuel tank in order for the RV to get back up and running properly. To me, this was some good news, because I wanted to investigate what was going on in this town, like who ignited the fire, why they did it and where they are. I decided to investigate the flaming building first. I grabbed a pistol and a police baton and headed out. I decided to take Haley, Wilson and Caitlin with me to leave Weir, Zach, and Ryan to attempt to fix up the RV. Haley carried a long butcher knife and a revolver, Wilson carried a long shank and a baseball bat, and Caitlin carried a saw and a hammer. We circled around the burning building the long way, taking an adjacent street into the alley behind it. As we approached the back of the building, we heard voices talking to one another. None of us could make out what they were saying, so we forged onward more sneakily. Backs against the wall and crouched, we inched further towards the voices. I looked around the wall into the intersection where the backs of 4 buildings, including the one we were crouching behind and the burning building, connected and made a small area in between the buildings. In this small area was where the voices were coming from. I could see one man was short, gruff, and plump. The other was considerably taller with a much cleaner look to him. I decided to get a better look, so I told my three companions to wait as I inched forward and behind a dumpster. Behind the dumpster, I could make out the voices more clearly.
“They didn’t trigger the mine, but their transportation has been disabled” the cleaner one of the two stated, obviously referring to my group and the RV.
“How long until we can grab ‘em and go?” asked the gruffer one.
“All in due time sir, we must focus on making them wait it out and weaken, we cannot let them find the parts to their recreational vehicle.” It was obvious these men had set the trap, and it also looked like I had found the reason. To strand innocent survivors and take them prisoner. But one thing is still unclear; why do they want to hold survivors prisoner? It’s not adding up yet, but I was sure it would, in the meantime, I had to stop these guys from harming my friends.
“Freeze!” I yelled as I revealed myself from behind the dumpster. Both men looked at me not in fright, but in delight, as if they had been expecting me. Haley then came out with her revolver drawn, but I saw neither Caitlin nor Wilson.
“You fool, do you really think that you have the upper hand in our territory?” the gruffer one asked as he pulled out a semi-automatic rifle. At the same time, the cleaner one pulled out what looked to be an army grade M4 automatic rifle. What were these men doing with such powerful and expensive weaponry? There was no time to question that, I had to act fast. It was then that I noticed that the small area we were standing in had a downward slope, I had the height advantage. I needed a way to act on my advantage, and then I thought of the dumpster. I jumped back behind the dumpster and yelled for Haley to do the same. She did as she was told, as bullets whizzed past the sides of the dumpster. I told her to kick the dumpster on the count of three, and she understood why. It looks like she was observant as I was, if not more so. The three-count came and with all of our mights combined we kicked the dumpster toward the saboteurs. If the dumpster did anything, it would faze them, which is all the opening I needed. Haley and I rushed to the dumpster where fortunately, the saboteurs were lying flat on their backs. We had no choice but to shoot them, they were an obvious threat, but something in my gut told me not to. Haley was taking aim at the head of the cleaner one, but I put my hand on the gun and made her lower it. She gave me a confused look, as if I had done something that no one ever expected from me. I then kicked the gruff one in the face with all of my might. Haley did the same for the clean one. We kept this up for about 5 minutes before we finally put their unconscious bodies in the dumpster, rolled it on its side, and pinned it shut onto one of the walls of the buildings. This couldn’t have been a 2-man operation; there have to be more than these guys here in Denver. It had just occurred to me that Wilson and Caitlin still hadn’t reappeared.
“They were supposed to circle around to get them surrounded; I don’t know what happened to them.” Haley said as if reading my mind. Next to us, the burning building was starting to crumble, if we didn’t get out of this alleyway soon, we would be either crushed or burned to death. I grabbed Haley by the arm and ran back the way we came. Just as we got out of the alley and into open air, smoke billowed out of the alley and filled the air. I looked up over the building we were in front of; the burning building wasn’t there anymore. It had fallen, and I was hoping Wilson and Caitlin hadn’t been caught up in that. Haley and I figured Wilson and Caitlin would return to the RV once they saw the building down, so we returned to find that Weir, Zach, and Ryan were having no success.
“We can’t get started working on anything until we have the thing we need to get this thing running again.” Complained Ryan, frustrated that he couldn’t do anything to help. Fortunately, a few minutes after Haley and I arrived, so did Caitlin and Wilson.
“We heard yelling and saw the building starting to fall, we couldn’t risk it. I’m sorry Jeremy.” Caitlin explained. If anyone else was put in the situation Caitlin was put in, they would’ve come into the alley anyway. This isn’t the first greedy move Caitlin has done either. She’s snuck food out of the weekly rations, and stolen ammo without it being issued. I was about a fingertip away from telling her to screw off and fend for herself, when she said that she and Wilson found an apartment complex down the road.
“It could be another trap.” Haley interrupted, “Plus, an apartment complex is super close corners, I don’t like it.” Haley was right to be cautious, after that nasty surprise on the road and the two guys in the alley; I don’t trust this city already. However, we were starting to run low on supplies, and that apartment complex was starting to look like our only hope. I was going to give Caitlin one last chance, if this apartment raid goes wrong, she is going to be to blame because she didn’t check it out herself and make sure it was ok. I was set to take Haley, Ryan, and Zach; Haley with her revolver and butcher knife, Ryan with his Desert Eagle and Automatic silenced pistol, and Zach with his wrench and baseball bat with nails in it that he calls ‘The Equalizer’. We were about to leave, when Wilson asked me for a word. I agreed and we went into the RV to talk privately.
“Listen dude, I wanted to run into that alleyway and get you and Haley out, but Caitlin wouldn’t let me. She said if I stepped one foot in that alley that she would bash my head in with that hammer of hers. I don’t know what her deal is.” He explained.
“It’s ok bud, I know it’s not your fault, I know you’ll always have my back. As for Caitlin I think she needs to go, she is definitely causing more harm than good.
“I replied, and it looked like Wilson agreed.
“If anything goes wrong on this heist, I’m leaving her when we get the RV running.” I told him. He nodded once more in agreement and held out his hand. I grabbed it with mine and chest-bumped him, our little silent way of saying ‘I love you man’. I stepped out of the RV and continued to the apartment complex with my three companions. As we progressed toward the complex, the scenery became more eerie. The trees we passed started turning a sickly brownish-green color, their leaves were all dead, if they had any, and theirbranches were so weak, they would break at the slightest breeze. I felt as if I were in a horror movie, or approaching a haunted house on Halloween night. It all felt so surreal, I couldn’t believe any of this was real life anymore. I had been living in a zombie outbreak for 3 months now, and this was the only time in which I have felt this way. We stepped on the steps of the complex and eyed it up and down. The cement blocks that held the structure together were all full of mold and blood. I guessed they would break away any minute. Almost all of the windows were still boarded up, which could be a good or bad sign. Fi
nally, I decided to enter and my colleagues followed closely behind. The lobby was torn to hell. Papers were strewn every which way, dried drink spills and rotten food filled the floor, while cobwebs filled the ceiling, even though the fan in the center of the room was still spinning.
“Pan out and search for valuables. Zach and Ryan stay down here in the lobby, and Haley, you and I will search one level up.” Everyone agreed to this plan, and so Ryan and Zach got started rummaging through the drawers of the former manager and the various footlockers. Haley and I proceeded up the stairs to the first floor and saw 4 rooms. We decided that I would search the two on the left and she would search the two on the right. I watched Haley enter the room, and only after I was sure there was no danger in her room was when I entered mine. As I opened the door, the stench of animal waste and body decay filled the air. I scanned the room to try to find the source; it wasn’t long until I found it. The remains of a German Shepard were strewn along the floor of the kitchen. It looked like it was trying to get into the fridge or the cupboard, but due to its lack of opposable thumbs, it was impossible. It was a disgusting and unsanitary task, but I stepped through the dog remains to get to the fridge. I opened the door and found nothing; the fridge must have been looted long ago. Out of the corner of my eye, I then saw a bookshelf in the living room. I walked over to it and searched it for books. I picked a few off the shelves and set them aside on the coffee table. I walked across the living room and into the kitchen to search the cupboard, but heard a deep scream filled with an echo. I knew it wasn’t Haley, due to the tone of the voice; it was much deeper than Haley’s. It seemed to come from a hatch that was right under the air-conditioning vent. I walked over to it and examined it; it looked a little bit like the air conditioner itself, but was much smaller and didn’t seem to transport air. I opened the hatch, and all of a sudden, my feet were swept from underneath me and I was now tumbling into an abyss. I knew I was falling, I could feel it; so I tried to torque my body to where my back would hit the ground first. The only problem was, I had no idea which way was up and which way was down. I braced myself for impact everywhere in my body, because I had no idea how I was going to land. I then felt a sharp pain in my right side and felt my head smack against something hard, I then felt myself flying once again and then landed on my left side. I rolled on my back and laid there. The only source of light in this room was from the hatch that I opened in the apartment. It looked like it was 25 feet up, considering the length of my drop. I tried to yell for Haley, but had neither the energy nor the will. I then started crawling, hoping to hit a wall. To my luck, I did, and propped myself up to where I was sitting up with my back against it. I then remembered I had a flashlight in my jacket pocket. I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled it out, which made my arm burn with pain. I felt myself beginning to black out, so I flipped the switch and dropped it. There is now a source of light that overpowers the only other source of light, which should make my position obvious if my friends can find me. Fortunately, Haley knew which room I was in; hopefully they would find the hatch. I then let myself fade away into sleep, in hopes that my friends would find me.