End of the Suburbs

Chpt 9: The River

I'm exhausted.
I sit in the back seat.
My eye lids slowly start to get heavy.
I look over to see Casper sitting next to me grooming himself.
The cowboy is driving.
I start to fall asleep.
***Dream***
Darkness passes over as I open my eyes.
I'm in a field.
I'm surrounded by white flowers with dark green leaves.
I pick one of the flowers from the stem and raise it to smell.
The clear blue sky behind me lights up with all kinds of colors like I've never seen before.
I look up in amazement.
I feel a hand touch my shoulder.
It's the girl with the bright blue eyes.
I turn and we stare into each other's eyes.
I lean in to kiss her but her entire body turns to liquid.
I look around for her.
Suddenly in the sky above the clouds form two eyes and a mouth.
It's a face smiling at me.
A hand reaches down and brings me closer to the face.
"You have to help them." the face says.
I look over.
Across the field is a clearing.
Inside is something on fire.
The smoke and flame conceal what's underneath but I can hear the screams.
"How do I help them?" I ask.
Instead of responding the face just smiles.
It parts it's lips and a gust of wind comes out that pushes me backwards.
I feel myself falling from the sky.
Just when it feels like I'm close to hitting the ground I open my eyes.
I'm awake.
***Reality?***
I feel strange.
Not in pain.
Physically I'm fine.
Mentally I feel like I'm warped.
It's like connection between my mind and body is delayed.
I try to shake it off.
Everything is fuzzy.
I'm still in the backseat but the car is stopped.
Casper isn't here.
Neither is the cowboy.
I get up.
It's like the world is spinning then suddenly snaps back into place.
Something is wrong.
I take off my jacket and check my body for scrapes or scratches.
I'm clear.
I look down and see the empty bottle on the floor of the car.
I realize what happened.
I was drugged.
I scramble and open the door to the car.
I hop out and call to Casper.
I see him in the distance.
He runs to me.
The car is parked in the middle of a dirt trail. The ground is damp.
About 40 yards away theres a giant cement wall.
On top I see the cowboy.
Whatever was in the water is wearing off.
I jog over.
I don't see a way up.
"Hey, cowboy." I call to him.
He stops what he's doing and peers over the edge and points.
A few feet down I see pikes nailed into the wall.
I go to use them to climb up leaving Casper on the ground.
The wall is about 50 feet high and stretches miles in both directions.
I can't see the ends.
I finally reach the top.
The cowboy is standing there. He has dozens of bottles at his feet.
There's enough water to last a couple months, even without careful rationing.
He stood pulling up a rope.
On the end was two buckets full of water.
I was amazed on how efficient he is.
"Bill."he says.
"What?" I ask confused.
"My name."he replies
I pause.
I realize this is his attempt of making a formal introduction.
"I'm Alex and that's Casper." I say.
There's a long pause of silence before I finally say, "I thought you left."
His jovial attitude is gone.
He seems much more sullen and focused.
"We're partners. A man's honor is tied to his word,"he responds.
There's another pause.
He goes against everything I was taught of the outside world.
"Did you put something in the water you gave me?" I ask.
He pulls out a vial of oil.
"Medicine." he says
"Made it myself. You needed rest and to heal."
I couldn't argue that I did feel a lot better.
"Next time tell me before you drug me." I say halfhearted.
He smiles with one side of his mouth and tips his hat.
As he pulls up the bucket he starts to tell me about the story of the river.
This dam that we stand on was man-made.
Years ago the leader of the Skulkers realized that in the new world, water was power.
He started capturing people he'd find alone or unarmed outside of cities and put them to work.
It took 7 years to build this dam.
The dam redirects the river past the city of Skulkers.
Entire cities south were forced to either join the Skulkers or suffer.
Some joined, abandoning their homes like the town where Bill and I met.
Those that didn't either died from thirst or were ravaged by the infected.
All the ones that were strong enough to fight back and survive were eventually raided by the Skulkers themselves.
Right now the Skulkers are slowly making their way east looking for more places to invade.
Somebody has to stop them.
From what Bill says the Skulkers could be targeting my home next.
He pulls up the bucket and fills the last couple bottles.
I pull out my pistols and dunk them in the second bucket to fill them.
I help him carry the other bottles down and we load them into the truck.
If water is how the Skulkers keep power, I think I have a plan.