A Dead Man's Tale

Chapter 14 (Jessica)

Jessica shoved the journal into her pack. Her eyes were beginning to hurt in the low light. Back at the Judges' Place, Craig informed her how the military dropped a nuclear warhead on the city to control the infection of the area. She confirmed it with Dennis that the bombs were dropped on several cities across the United States in the spring after the first outbreaks occurred. Jessica speculated that Howard's point in the journal was late fall or early winter, so currently he would have no idea about the military's plan to eradicate the city. He'd never make it.

She pushed the thought out of her mind. It wasn't anything she didn't already know. Jessica looked around the building they were using as a camp, a large biker bar along a side road far enough from a town or any major roads. The booze that managed to survive the two years was just the thing to put their nerves at ease. Craig had drunk too much and was now sleeping off the alcohol in the storeroom. Dennis was checking over their supplies that remained. It had been at least a month since they left the Judges' Place, the mount given to them was used as bait to escape a horde of infected and now the food they received from the Judges was running thin.

"We need to talk," he said.

"About?"

"Supplies are low," he reminded her unnecessarily. "No car, little food, even less ammunition. I think we made a mistake leaving the Judges' Place."

"Would you really have stayed?" she pressed.

"Yes." He still didn't sound certain. "Maybe or for a while, at least."

"Craig was eager to stay but we didn't." She pointed out.

"Civilization is overrated," grunted Dennis. "Different groups, different people but it's all the same."

"What is?" she asked.

"People, no matter what group we join there will be the same problems. If we stay here, in the wilderness, it's easier to deal with things."

"You just said we shouldn't have left the Judges. So which is it?"

"I don't know," he said breathlessly.

He was pacing back and forth behind the bar.

"Everything was just easier back then...before the outbreaks. I miss being a Marine."

"Thought there was no such thing as a former Marine?" Jessica asked.

"It's a myth now. I used to believe we were doing something good but then the outbreaks brought out more evil that will ever be seen again. All those colonies that may exist out there are just remnants of the old world. Once they're gone will things be different."

Jessica didn't know what to say to him, caught between survival and the distrust of humanity. Dennis' world was different now, not quite sure what he wanted or what was right for him. He was lost with nothing to make sense in this life except that killing the walking corpses was the only constant. Things had been hard on them since leaving the Judges' Place and now they seemed directionless, lost somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. The seclusion and the terrain were to their advantage. The land is too uneven and rocky for the hordes.

A sharp yell broke the silence and their thoughts. It came from somewhere close by. A second yell was heard and it was getting closer to their hideout. Craig had appeared from the backroom, his steps uneven from the alcohol. He was confused from sleep and intoxication.