Death (Book Two in the Apocalypse Trilogy)

Chapter 5: A Slight Bump In The Road

Mary-Anne

The country outside of Perth looked different from the last time she'd been outside. It looked better, cleaner. Before, it was the true definition of a wasteland; there was no way that anyone could survive there for a long period of time. Now, she could see people living here, slowly building up the world.

Eventually, they'd run out of songs to sing, so they drove in silence.

"Hey, I have an idea for a game," Damon called alongside the van. "I list a dirty joke, and you guys laugh."

"Damon, we've gone through this. No dirty jokes. Do something constructive," she sighed.

"Yes, Your Highness," he said in a false Scottish voice, and he raised the bike onto its back wheel, whooping as he sped ahead of the van.

"What a crazy idiot," Mary-Anne commented.

"He's one of our best. Besides, he can cook better than anyone alive," Lyon replied.

"That guy?"

"Some people just hide parts of themselves."

"Huh." She got up and walked into the back compartment of the van. That guy, Cal, was holding three shotgun barrels in one hand, and a small cutting torch in the other. He began welding them together.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Triple-barrel," he murmured.

"Have you done this before?"

"Yeah... twice, I think. I watched a crapload of Stargate Atlantis as a kid. The weapons that the characters used seemed pretty realistic."

"Cool." She sat down on a crate, and watched him work. He had amazing control over his fingers.

"What's up with Lyon?" she asked. "I can't read him."

"Read him?"

"I like to work out as much about people as possible."

"Really?" he said with a smile.

"Is there a problem?"

"You remind me of somebody."

He put down the welded barrels. "Williams lost his wife, sister and grandfather in an attack eight or so years ago. His son went missing, and they only found each other a few months ago."

"Wow."

"He used to be in the Marines, and had seen a lot of shit. He was the only survivor of his squad to come home from a fight with a horde."

Richard looked up from his notes, and started paying attention.

"His real name is Collin," Cal continued.

"Really?"

"He changed it after he ran away from home. He's used Lyon since he was sixteen, but it was never legally changed."

"It has a nice ring to it. Collin Williams," she tried.

"I told him that too, but he says that 'Lyon' commands more respect."

"Where did he get the idea?"

"Who knows? He probably thought it was cool."

"Anything else?"

"Well, he has a tattoo of two crossed lightsabres on his shoulder."

"No way," Richard said, grinning.

"He's a hard-core fan, what can I say," Cal laughed.

The van screeched to a halt, and the shotgun fell to the ground.

"Damn it!" Cal muttered, picking it up and putting it in a case. He picked up a regular shotgun and got out.

"What happened?" he demanded. Mary-Anne picked up her MP-5 and followed him.

Lyon was standing over the splattered corpse of a zombie. Damon and Mike had also stopped their bikes to look at it. Damon's bird was circling above them, as if debating whether or not it should eat at the zombie.

"You stopped the van over this," Cal shook his head in disbelief.

"Look at its head," Lyon said simply. Cal looked closely and saw the bullet lying amongst the rotten brain and chattered skull.

"Did you ever see survivors in this area, Cal?" Lyon asked.

"No."

"Damon and Mike, I want you to put the bikes under the van, and help us break out the heavy weapons. Send Stephen Hawking away for now."

"You named a bird Stephen Hawking?" Mary asked.

"He's that smart," Damon replied.

"Hang on a second, why are we getting out the artillery?" Mike asked.

"We don't know if they're friendly," Lyon said, taking a Winchester Model 70 out of a case.

"No you don't. Very safe, Lyon," a voice came from behind them.

***

Mary turned around, and saw a red-headed man standing in the middle of the road.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded.

"Well hello, love. I don't know you, but I believe two of your friends know."

Cal and Williams came forward.

"Is that you, Johnny?" Williams asked hesitantly.

"Indeed, mate. I'd be happy to see you, but the circumstances under which we last saw each other make me disinclined to do so." He turned to Cal.

"And Cal, my dear friend. You know what happened." The man called Johnny punched Cal in the nose, sending him stumbling.

"Hold it," she ordered, holding up her gun. Behind her, Mike held up his AK-47 and Damon slid a bolt into his crossbow.

Instead of hesitating, he just laughed. "Careful, love, you might hurt yourself."

"There are five armed people surrounding you, Johnny. You might be crazy, but you never were an idiot." Cal looked as if he was trying to avoid eye contact.

"No, I'm not crazy. Just high, mostly. I stopped smoking, you might be happy to know. And as for why I'm not afraid, well... Watch this."

He drew a single shot pistol from his sleeve, and fired it into the air. Mary slid the bolt on the MP-5 back and forth; all ready to go.

"What was the point of that?" Damon asked, having loaded the crossbow.

A short, high-pitched choke came from the sky and a shape fell. Stephen Hawking hit the roof of the van and crashed onto the road. An arrow tipped with black feathers protruded from tthe hawk's delicate body.

"Stephen Hawking!" Damon cried, and took a threatening step towards Johnny.

"I wouldn't, if I were you. There're about twelve more, and they don't just have bows."

"Why are you doing this?" Mary yelled at him.

"See, normally we'd just take any weapons or food you have, but me and Cal have a score to settle. Lyon, not so much, but I've got a bone to pick with him."

The sound of horses came from up the road, and a cluster of shapes appeared on the horizon.

"You guys left me to die," Johnny said to Cal and Lyon. "And now, I'm going to return the favour by killing you."

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I'm going to assume that you've read Bloodshed already, so you might be confused as to how Johnny is alive. It will all be revealed, don't worry :)

-Stevo