Into Ruin

Chapter 27 Air Force Base

Marcel's eyes swept across the golf course's torn up and weedy lawn. A few trees stood, battered yet sturdy, and birds chirped as they flitted from branch to branch. The greenery was nowhere as nice as the times he had brought Winston down to near the Rio Grande to hunt, but the fresh air was a relief.

Cynthia walked beside him, tension radiating from her body. She hadn't spoken more than a few words to respond to his queries since they left the facility. Her eyes rested on the AR-15 slung over his shoulder for a moment before she gave her son's shoulder a squeeze. Marcel had kept his weapons stored away for most of their stay at Nouveau Depart. They'd only been necessary as a scare tactic at the beginning to deter potential groups who would rather try to rob them than join. He hadn't wanted to waste the bullets as he could never be sure who would come after them and how well equipped they'd be.

In front of Marcel, Olivia led another group of thirty or so people who were a little agiler and would be able to scatter and defend themselves better should they encounter trouble. Most carried a bag of a few of the possessions and supplies that remained after their months in the warehouse. Their group had run through most of the food reserves as ration portions grew last week to prepare for this journey. The sick were starting to lurk in great numbers near the warehouse.

Olivia's companion, Edward, kept trying to make conversation judging by the way he kept turning to her, yet she made no moves to engage him. She'd been avoiding Marcel too and wouldn't talk about the two missing boys beyond what Reggie had already told him. Losing them had always been a risk, especially since the unknown nature of the environment had prevented anything but an improvised plan.

From what anyone knew, the young men were both still alive, and the move to head towards Gunnar's old territory near Carnuel was the only assurance he could offer both Vita and Olivia that the boys would find them without having to leave instructions, which could be found by the wrong person.

"Will the monsters follow us?" Winston asked, gripping his mother's hand to the point she grimaced.

Cynthia's eyes shot to Marcel for a minute before she sighed. At the beginning of the pilgrimage, she'd looked back when he and Reggie had gone to take out some of the potential threats that they had known would lurk behind and prey on the slow. There was no telling if their area had a higher concentration of sick people given their proximity to the industrial sector or if other pockets of the city were slowly flipping around. They hadn't been going out on scavenging missions for weeks.

Winston looked again between the two silence adults. "That's why Mr. M has the guns, right?"

"Yes, Winston, they are to keep everyone safe," Marcel answered. After the group of uprising community members left, he didn't want to take any chances and risk being ambushed. He'd distributed the rest between Olivia and a few other people who had experience handling weapons of this nature.

"We should have done this weeks ago," Cynthia muttered. Her movements were slower and more labored than they had been in the past. She'd been feeding her rations to Winston whenever she could despite Marcel's protests.

When they made it to the airport, Olivia and her group made the choice to walk behind the runway, as far from the buildings as she could. Wings, jet engines, propellers, seats and wheels littered the tarmac, likely victims of the first rounds of tornadoes. Further down, a few smaller planes remained untouched. It was eerie how pure luck and possibly man's intervention could determine what remained and survived.

The sun beat down on Marcel's dark skin and left sweat training down his back beneath his heavy backpack. A nighttime departure would have been more tolerable, but far more dangerous, assuming they were not spotted and shot down like sitting ducks. The howling wind offered a little relief and blew in their direction, masking their footsteps from those ahead, but also doing the same for anyone following their trail. Marcel stopped and scanned the horizon: nothing new beyond the buildings and golf course they left behind, plus a few circling birds, occasionally crying out.