The Cleanse

2 The Camp

Charlie woke up. He glanced out the window and realized it was already well into the morning. He got up and looked through the house for some food. Unfortunately there was nothing left. He decided to grab his backpack and head out. He did his best to stick to the trees along the road. The last thing he wanted was to be found after all he had went through. He made it back to town in about half an hour. Charlie decided he wanted to see his house, just to see if his earlier hunch was correct. He walked on for a bit through town and couldn't help but notice how empty everything seemed. There were no people walking down the sidewalks, nobody pumping gas at the local Kwikstop. He kept walking and tried to keep his eyes up away from all the people laying in the streets. It was so quiet, almost quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
That's when he noticed the footsteps echoing from the next street over. He ran as quickly and quietly as he could to a brick building on his left. It was a simple two story building that housed the local hardware store. He went inside and ducked behind a shelf full of drill bits and screws. Peering around the corner, he could see a group of three men walking past. Unlike the men in the truck, these men were wearing normal clothes. One was carrying a 22 rifle, another had a machete, and the third was carrying an AR15. They were coming his way, in a direct path for the hardware store. Charlie scanned his surroundings realizing he still was unarmed. He spotted an axe hanging on the wall and grabbed it, hoping he would never have to use it. He ran to the counter near the back of the store, not taking his eyes of the group. They walked in just as he slid behind the counter. Charlie held his breath, hoping they hadn't seen him.
     "Split up!" One of them shouted. "We're only taking what's important." Charlie was staying as still as he could but he knew it was no use. He heard them walking towards him.
     "How about a new weapon Tim?" One of them yelled. Tim, Charlie assumed, yelled back.
     "Yeah I'm sick of this machete, why don't you find me a baseball bat or something, maybe they got one here." Just then one of the men came into view at the end of the counter. He was looking directly at Charlie, and Charlie was looking right down the barrel of an AR15.
     "Wait! Don't shoot!" Charlie yelled.
     "I ain't gonna shoot ya kid, stand up." The man replied. Charlie got to his feet and walked toward the man, leaving his axe behind.
     "What's your name kid?" The man with the Machete asked.
     "I'm Charlie" he said.
     "Well Charlie I guess it's your lucky day because we could use another guy to help us out," the man said. "I'm Tim, the man with the big gun there is Philip, and my buddy over there with the rifle is Mark."
     "Thanks for asking but what are you even doing that I could help with? What's going on with the whole town?"
     "We're all asking that same question kid but right now we're just trying to survive, it's every man for himself, I guess your lucky we got to you before the W.C.P. did."
     "W.C.P.?" Charlie asked.
     "Yeah, that's who started this whole thing. It's short for the World Cleansing Party. They think they're helping us by cleansing the population of sinners and corrupt souls. Unfortunately for us that means they kill everyone unless they're wearing a W.C.P. patch, which isn't easy to get." Tim said. Charlie couldn't believe it.
     "What about the police and the army! Can't they help us?"
     "That's the problem, they're in on it. We think this is some sort of government-run operation. All the electricity is gone, no running water, nothing. That's all we know Charlie, so now we need to keep moving or risk being found," Tim replied. They gathered up their stuff and did a once over in the store to see if anything else useful was there. Charlie grabbed his axe and they walked out. They walked through town a little bit but most places were already ransacked or burned to the ground. It was sad to see his hometown in such disarray. The W.C.P. didn't leave anything useful behind. Charlie was lucky to have found the axe. They walked as a group through the town, splitting off into the woods just past the city limit. Charlie was surprised to see a small makeshift camp.
     "You made this?" Charlie asked.
     "All of it, didn't take long either with two other people to help," Tim replied. The group set their supplies down and sat near a small tent. The camp was small, it consisted of three tents and a small fire pit right in the middle of them. It looked more like they were camping than hiding from the W.C.P.
     "So I've got a few questions..." Charlie said. "Why didn't you just kill me at that store? Everyone else seems to be dead, why did you spare me?"
     "We didn't do this kid, we're just trying to survive and we need all the help we can get. I'm sorry if we scared you at the store." Tim replied. Tim looked at Charlie for a second, pondering how this kid had made it. Just this morning he had watched buildings get burned to the ground, people still inside. He had seen mothers with their children dragged into the street and then executed. Tim hoped they could find a way to outlast this and fix whatever was going on. He looked at Charlie again. "So kid, what's your story? How'd you end up on your own?" He asked.
     "I don't really want to talk about it Tim... I'm sorry" Charlie replied. Tim gazed at him sadly, knowing the hurt he had probably been through. Charlie stared back with blank eyes, tears were forming but he quickly looked away and wiped them away. "So what's the plan then?" Charlie asked.
     "We don't have a plan, kid" Mark answered. "If we had any idea how to fix this we would have done it already. For now we need to lay low and stay out of sight. These guys mean business and they won't stop until they've exterminated everyone that's not wearing that stupid patch."
     "So how do we get a patch then?" Charlie asked.
     "It's impossible kid, they handed them out before it started." Philip replied.
     "What do you mean? Before what started? This doesn't make any sense to me!" Charlie yelled.
     "The Cleanse" Tim answered.