S3 E7: Fairbunker

            Ian stood before the graves. The group has lost so many since Ian has been gone. Resting in peace before him were people he once knew; survived and fought with. It didn’t even feel real that these people were gone now. Zack, London, Alissa, and Hunter…no. None of this felt right. Zach Golden’s grave spot still stood beside the others. It didn’t belong there anymore. The idea of Zach being dead wasn’t real. Grabbing hold of the cross that had been standing in the ground, Ian pulled it out. It didn’t belong there anymore, because Zach was alive. If only Ian could say the same for Hunter. He didn’t belong in the ground. None of them did. Recognizing this reminded Ian of the new task at hand: the people at Costco. They had to pay. They were involved in the murder of everyone they knew back at The Property, and they killed Hunter. They have to be stopped.

            [Ian]: Rest in peace, brother.

            Ian walked away from the graves, pulling the hood to his jacket over his head. The weather grew colder.

            Anders’ leg refused to heal correctly. Just as the doctor said, during operation, he’ll either bleed out, or have a limp for the rest of his life. It seemed as though the latter was the verdict. Every step he took became another level of irritation. Every time the muscles in his leg spasmed and gave out served as a reminder that everyone at the Church needed to submit under his rule. Their fuel supply was exactly what they needed to thrive. It was theirs for the taking. Since the shoot out yesterday, Anders has been putting his men to work. Fortifying the facility, stashing as much supplies as possible, and getting his men trained and prepared for when he advances on them. Many wondered why he went to such great lengths of preparation to attack such a small group. “Never underestimate the enemy.” Anders always said. They got away with killing six of their men, and they now have all the supplies that came with those men. They are capable of fighting. They are dangerous. Even more of a reason to wipe them out.

            Sure. If they attacked today they would most likely win. But this wasn’t about beating another community. It was about showing their power. It was about showing Anders’ abilities as a leader. He had to make an example of these people. He had to show that he was in control. He had to prove his worth. To do this, he had to be calm. He had to be collected. He had to show control throughout the entire ordeal and the way to do so, was to draw this out. Contain the situation. Expand the anticipation, and in the moment that everyone thinks that the church might have a chance…Anders’ will pull the trigger and destroy them. Then his people’s loyalty will strengthen all the more. His people would be safe, and his value would be proven all the more.

            He would often stand in his office staring at the same object for hours at a time. A custodian’s uniform hung in his room. He would look at it and run his fingers across his name that had been sown into the uniform. It would drive him. Motivate him to succeed, and it would anger him.

            [Anders]: I’ll show them.

            Anders would often say to the uniform.

            [Anders]: I’ll show them all.

            [Sherman]: Sure. We got ourselves a few guns yesterday. But the fact is that ammo will only last us so long. We need more ammo, and we need more guns to arm everyone here. Simple as that.

            Sherman pulled his hardhat off and scratch his head. Rich, Brittany, Mrs. Reed, Lee, Zach, Dylan and Tim all stood together in one of the empty classrooms. Sherman stopped talking, but everyone knew there was something else he wanted to say. But for some reason he was reluctant to speak.

            [Mrs. Reed]: What is it, Sherman?

            [Sherman]: …I know where we can get more guns and ammo.

            Bailey held her ear against Lauren’s brother’s heart. He hadn’t opened his eyes in the past three days. Bailey guessed he was in a coma. She was no expert. She mostly worked on animals at the zoo, but the basics were almost nearly the same. Temperature, space between heartbeats, breathing stability and many other factors came into play whether she dealt with people or animals. Lauren stood behind her. Lauren had gotten so thin the past few days. Her eyes were dark and baggy. She was pale, and her voice worn and tired. The group had tried to feed her but her body rejected everything she ate the first two days. She gave up trying eat last night. She gave up sleeping three days ago.

            [Lauren]: Is he okay?

            [Bailey]: As far as I know, I think he’s stabilizing. The stump isn’t warm which means no possible infection, his breathing and heart rate is a little fast but much better than yesterday. I think he’ll be okay.

            [Lauren]: (Crying)…Really?

            [Bailey]: I’ll check with him tonight to see if there’s any improvement but…yeah, I think he’s going to make it.

            Lauren’s face after such hardship had finally expressed a smile. Tears streamed down as she hugged Bailey. Bailey gave up trying to resist hugs a long time ago. Now she just let it happen.

            The next morning, Lee and Zach were sitting outside on the curb eating canned corn. Fog nestled along the grass line like a cloudy-blanket. The sky was gray, and the sun was white. Sherman was almost done making repairs on the crane. Building the walls might begin this afternoon. Everything went from slow pacing to full speed ahead. The sooner the walls went up, the better. Walls weren’t the only need, however. This predicament would hopefully be fixed within the next day or two.

            [Zach]: You sure you don’t want me to come along?

            [Lee]: As much as I would like to, Sherman said it himself: they’ll kill if more than one approaches their gates. It’s gotta be just me. This place needs every adult on deck, and I’m the supply guy, ya know? I gotta do this. I feel like I haven’t contributed enough.

            [Zach]: Yeah. Just don’t die man, I just got home.

            [Lee]: Will do.

           

            Lee traveled light. He didn’t need much, and there were specific things he was told not to bring. From what Sherman informed, this community took up shop within the fair grounds of the Annual Montgomery County Fair when everything fell apart. Then out of nowhere they used the radios, channeling frequencies inviting those who needed supplies to make trades. However, there were safety precautions. Only one member of a group of survivors were permitted to enter. Any more and they would be gunned down on sight. They were also warned to not bring anything more than a knife unless arriving to trade guns and other weapons which were to be kept in a bag and secured. After that, the traders would offer a trade for what you had, in order for you to get what you wanted. In this case, The Church needed guns and ammo. Lots of it.

            It had been a long time since Lee had time to himself. As he zipped down the roads in a gray Honda Accord, Lee began to wonder about the present. He had never done so in this way before. He always looked back in the past, remembering the good times and the bad, then he’d looking forward to the future, to what earth might be like when everything is okay. But now he finds himself adrift in the present just as the dust rose and settled behind the wheels of the car he drove down the stranded highways.

            Hunter was going to be okay. His leg is healing. Lee knows he’ll come through, but now Lee is living with two times in his life where he failed the people he cared about. His father was bit and he lost his arm because Lee failed him. Hunter was bit and lost his leg because Lee wasn’t thorough. How many more had to die because of him? He didn’t want to live with these burdens anymore, but moment to moment he had to live. He knew he had to. Moment to moment he had to succeed in this mission. So, he kept his eyes open. He listened to the sounds. He focused on the beat of the drums in his heart that represented his courage to outdo death; to stay a step ahead of the misstep. Moment to moment he was going to focus on survival.

            Lee slammed his foot on the breaks. The car screeched to a stop just in front of the truck blocking his path on the highway. Lee climbed out of the car, keeping his knife in hand. He approached the truck slowly, because he could already hear the rover growling from inside the truck.

            Reaching the door to the truck, Lee took hold of the handle and swung it open. The rover immediately lunged forward, only to dive face first into Lee’s knife. Slivering the blade from it’s soft skull as it fell to the concrete, Lee climbed into the driver’s seat of the truck.

            Keys were still in the ignition.

            Turning the keys, the truck gradually rumbled to life. Pulling the truck in reverse, Lee guided the truck up against the barriers of the highway until there was enough space to squeeze the Honda through.

            Just before climbing out of the truck, however, Lee’s eyes caught something. Sitting in the passenger seat amongst the garbage and dried chunks of flesh was an old iPod shuffle.

            [Lee]: Whaaat! No way.

            Picking up the ancient piece of tech, Lee managed to find some earbuds in the glove compartment. Maybe it still had life. He quickly placed the earbuds into his ears and turned on the shuffle.

            “Heathens” by 21 pilots.

            Lee chuckled softly. It had been a while since he heard an actual song. Before the world ended, Lee was getting annoyed with 21 Pilots, but now that he’s listening to it again, and hearing the sticks colliding with the drums, the sweet beat of impactful bangs and crashes married with rhythm and melody. He couldn’t resist the tears. It was the most beautiful thing he heard in a long time.

            Suddenly the shuffle was silenced. The battery was dead. There had to be a charger somewhere. Lee dug through every compartment, every nook and cranny in the vehicle but nothing to be found.

            [Lee]: (Voice breaking) No…nonono are you serious? Come on please.

            Nothing.

            He didn’t move. He sat there in the driver’s seat looking at the shuffle in his hand. He played the music in his head. Every beat of the drums, every rhythmic tune. He relished in the sounds in his mind, dreaming of hearing them with his ears instead of his heart. Many might have thought the music was meaningless; that compared to everything else in the world, music was the last thing people needed. Yet here Lee Balusek was, with a sudden feeling of hope just from listening to the sound of the music in his head. The feelings they produced: passion, anger, anxiety, fear, excitement, and joy. These things were everything. It was all that was needed, and he lost it.

            Lee had to get it back.

            [Lee]: Focus on the mission, man. You’ll get it back. You’ll see. ‘Bet you’ll have it back by today.

            Stepping back into the Honda, Lee continued down the highway system. He knew the area well. He knew where the Montgomery County Fair took place the year before. Looking back made him chuckle to himself. He had met up with Zach and Timothy there at the fair one time. Small talk turned into conversations, and eventually, Lee found himself with a group of all of Timothy Roland’s friends playing the dumbest dare game he’d ever played. Zach asked Lee to get a handful of ketchup and run around throwing the ketchup in the air, and then later he got asked to sleep in the bucket of a tractor for a minute. The pointless dares had continued for a while up until it evolved into a game of hide and go seek. With hundreds of people at this local event, hide and go seek in the middle of a fair was more fun than what he had anticipated. It was almost-

            [Lee]: No. Stop.

            Focus, Lee. Focus. Live in the now.

            Live in the now.  

            I knew where I was going. I turned left off the highway. I knew it wasn’t far from here so I pulled off the road and parked halfway into a ditch. I made sure I had my bag with me. All I had inside were a few snack bars, two water bottles, a knife and some matches. All I really needed. I opened the trunk and took out the two-five-gallon gas tanks that I was going to negotiate a trade with. They had to be worth something. Everyone needed fuel these days. If you ask me, I’d say gasoline was the number 2 most valuable thing right now aside from ammunition. With these two tanks of fuel, I hope to get my hands on enough ammunition at least to arm all the automatic guns we got our hands on after the shoot out a couple of days ago. I didn’t expect that much ammo, but ammo all the same.

            I approached the outskirts of the fairgrounds. All the rides and tents were still set up. It was almost a cold, menacing sight: the Ferris wheel was running. Like nothing was wrong with the world. The lights, the chiming tunes, the small rides spinning and twirling with ominous glee. What was even more disturbing was the fact that there were rovers strapped to the rides. I came in closer. My eyes fixated on the entire scene. I moved closer and closer with each passing moment that by the time I realized I was walking, I was standing beside the ticket booth.

            [Lee]: …what…

            A rover stood growling at me from inside the ticket booth. He was locked inside wearing a white and read-striped, long sleeve button up shirt, and looked dressed for the role he played in this dark fair ground. I continued deeper into the grounds and noticed some lose rovers shuffling towards anything making noise. Many of them if not all of them were broken and torn in many places. Their bodies busted open and dragging their insides along as they strode down the dirt path. I knew I couldn’t go any further. If I was spotted, I’d have a whole herd on my tail.

            As I turned around I immediately felt a heavy blunt weapon ram into my forehead. Everything went black for a moment. I woke up a few moments later on the ground. My vision was blurry, and I couldn’t feel anything above my lips. Two men stood over me with faces white-stricken with fear. They had a bag in their hand. They quickly pulled it over my face and started dragging me. I dropped my supplies…I needed my supplies.

            My hand quickly reached into my pocket for the iPod shuffle. I still had that at least. I heard footsteps, the grazing of grass and crumbling dirt as they pulled me across the lot. After what seemed like an eternity, I heard what sounded like a metal latch twisting out of lock. Footsteps clattered and soon I felt the sun cease to beat down on me; I felt the cold air get colder…then warmer. I heard voices. Dozens of them. I heard conversations, and arguments…laughter and small talk.

            My senses were slowly growing clearer. I could make out words and sentences:

            “…I’ll take two of these…”

                                                                        “…I’ll give you one box of 22s’ for the…” “…compound…”

                        “…What are these made of?...”

“…These are hardcover so more valuable than a

 “…couple…”

“…How much for the quiver and arrows?…”

            Was this the place? Was this where the trading commenced? But Sherman said it all went down at the fair…what was going on??

            Suddenly I felt the voices fade away and I heard a door close. The sounds barely vibrated off the walls, like I was in a room made of fur. I almost smiled when the pillow case covering my head was lifted and I realized I was in a room with animal furs blanketing the walls and floor. In front of me was a large, mustached man. He wore the attire of a wise, old, country man. The white cowboy hat, the fancy vest over his white button-up, the Wrangler jeans, the giant silver buckle, and the snake-skin boots marked him as the Texan stereotype. He sat in a brown leather chair behind a fancy desk. He was looking at me intently. I could barely focus my eyes.

            [Stranger]: ‘ can’t tell if ya have bad eye sight, or if ya need contact lenses. We got contact lenses if you need some. We got anything and everything you could ever want here at the ‘Fairbunker’.

            I blinked hard and opened my eyes. I can see better. Crap. Did a tear really just fall down my face??

            [Stranger]: Aw, darn it. Don’t mean to freak ya out, son. The strike on the head is just a precaution. We take things seriously around here, but I promise ya, were not bad people. Just business men. Now question is: what kinda man are you?

            I cleared my throat. How do I answer that, exactly?

            [Lee]: I need ammo.

            [Stranger]: Everybody needs ammo, son. Question is… how do you plan on getting it?

            [Lee]: I have two tanks of gasoline.

            My hopes began to go downhill when the stranger smiled. The man’s mood suddenly changes when he stands up in his chair and walks over to me. He reaches out his hand to me so as to shake it. What is going on…? I am reluctant to comply and shake his large hand but I do so anyway.

            [Stranger]: Totally forgot my manners. I’m Gregg Vernon Perry. Many people just choose to call me Gregonerry. Kinda a nickname I s’pose.

            [Lee]: Lee Balusek.

            [Gregonerry]: Okay, Lee. Why don’t you follow me?

            I stood up. Gregonerry walked through another door in his office that led down a long, hallway. The two of us walked down the halls and I began to notice the many doors along the way.

            [Gregonerry]: If you’re wondering where we are…I won’t give specifics for our own safety. But this is a bunker. It was set up the week everything began to fall apart. About a week into the epidemic it was overrun, but that same week, me and my hired field hands and distant neighbors cleared it. From there we saw an opportunity: to not just house supplies, but to endeavor in a grand mission to bring back what we knew was going to die: currency. It’s the key to everything. Whether it’s a green piece of paper or box of ammo, everyone finds value in something. For many people today, they find different things more valuable than what other people see as valuable, and that’s how trade is born.

            [Lee]: A friend of mine told me about this place…that you lived in the fair grounds and made trades with anyone as long as they followed rules.

            [Gregonerry]: Of which you have followed. I respect that a lot. We get a lot of rebellious types. They don’t last long. I thought it was smart, however, how you parked your car in the ditch to avoid suspicion. Smart kid. That’s why I’m gonna let you in on a secret.

            Gregonerry stopped walking and stood beside one particular door. He looked down at me and I made a few brave efforts to look back up at him. But most of my attention was on the door.

            [Gregonerry]: The fairgrounds are a cover. We are located a mile from it. The rovers you saw strapped in and riding the rides and manning the tents?

            [Lee]: Yeah. Weird.

            [Gregonerry]: Actually I see it as genius. See, for those who don’t follow our rules, who try to rise above the law and take what’s mine, I dispose of them. Because anyone willing to steal from a trading compound, will steal from anyone. When the new world returns it’s the thieves and murderers who will become the new threat. I’m thinning the numbers of the new threat one by one and placing them in the fairgrounds. You’d be surprised at how many people come our way. We go through the same process you went through, find out what they want, and we do business from there. When the job’s done, we cover their faces and send them back out, and they never find us again. Ever. We only do business once with anyone who comes in. Everything we do, every trade, every man and woman who comes here, is never seen again. The question is why we don’t see them again. When me and you do business…why won’t I see you again?

            [Lee]: Cause I’m following the rules. You won’t have to kill me.

            [Gregonerry]: Exactly. I like ya, kid. Now. Back to what your offering. There’s only one small issue: fuel is the number one item we trade in. Right now we are at the max.

            Opening the door and flipping a light switch, I peered inside. At least a hundred drum barrels of fuel.

            [Gregonerry]: As valuable as it must be to you, it isn’t to me. I won’t trade it for what you want.

            I didn’t know what to do at this point. What am I supposed to do? I don’t have anything else on me except a couple of snack bars and a knife. That won’t get me anywhere.

            [Lee]: I…I don’t know what else to offer you.

            [Gregonerry]: Then I’ll give you an option: your services. See, what often happens is the dead on the fairgrounds get lose or find a way off the rides or out of the tents. I can’t have that. It’s bad for business here at the Fairbunker. I need someone to go in and kill all the dead who got out. You do that for me, and I’ll give you five-fifty-round boxes of whatever type of ammo you need. Sound like a deal?

            [Lee]: Ten boxes.

            [Gregonerry]: (Laughs) Six.

            [Lee]: Eight boxes or I’ll keep looking elsewhere.

            Gregonerry stopped laughing and just smiled.

            [Gregonerry]: I really like you, brother. Ya got yourself a deal, son.

            Gregonerry reached out his giant hand. I smiled and shook it firmly. Following that trade-off, Gregonerry walked me out to a separate room containing dozens of melee weapons. Staves, swords, knifes, bats…anything that could be used as a hand weapon that didn’t involve a trigger or a bullet.

            [Lee]: Guns?

            [Gregonerry]: We used to offer guns as aid for those that traded and cleared the fair…in fact…those guys should still be tied to the Ferris wheel if I remember correctly. No guns.

            In front of me was a table. Strewn over it were different types of melee, but there was one I couldn’t help myself from being drawn to. It seemed only logical for the moment, and in my preferences was simply an awesome hand weapon in general. I felt the handle and lifted it to test the weight. It proved true. I nodded in admiration as I looked over to Gregonerry who stood beside one of his guards ready to blindfold me and carry me out to the fair grounds.

            [Gregonerry]: Good selection. Good luck out there.

            I smiled. The man pulled the pillow case over my head, and it was taken back into the gray cold.

            As the metal latch behind me closed, I suddenly felt an urge to count my steps. As I reached the fifties, I was beginning to fathom just how far I had been dragged. No wonder my lower back bone was so bruised. I could tell I was just outside the fairgrounds before they pulled the pillow case off my head. Upon doing so, my thoughts were confirmed as I stood in the exact same spot as I was knocked out. My back pack and two tanks of fuel was dropped back off in the same spots, and the guard handed me my chosen weapon.

            [Guard]: Good luck.

            I nodded in reply. They seemed cool. Sure, the clock to the forehead sucked but it was all just safety precautions. I respect them. It’s because I respect them, and my dedication to getting those bullets that I manage to find all the drive needed to survive this trade-off. Stepping past the ticket booth, I entered the fair grounds.

            I was already being welcomed by two rovers. One was protruding different bones from his body as if it had fallen from great heights, the other must have been part of the balloon popping tent, cause his face and chest was riddled in darts.

            How ridiculous this must seem, I thought to myself. I’m here at the fair to kill loose rovers for bullets and because a man in a cowboy hat wants to draw a crowd. I almost grinned as I brandished my rusted crowbar. I shuffled towards the two rovers.

            [Lee]: Just another day in Texas.

            I arched the crowbar over the balloon-dart rover, then pulled my bowie knife out and jammed it into the second rover’s temple just before it closed in on me. Both dropped the ground, the broken boned rover creating a discomforting cracking noise as it’s bones grinded against each other. I continued deeper into the park. As I peered down the corner, I realized most of the rovers had gathered around the speakers as they blared the fair-music. They were distracted enough for me to sneak around looking for any stragglers.

            For the most part, I didn’t find much action. Most of the rovers that didn’t gather around the speakers were rovers that were completely immobilized; some corpses crunched under rides or smashed to bits from the great heights. After making one giant walk around the grounds, I returned to the gate with only six kills at the moment. I counted nearly twenty-six rovers left to take out. But there was no way I could make a move on the herds surrounding the speakers without having all of them scrambling towards me. I needed a strategy. I needed a way to get their attention; to draw them out in some form or fashion so that I could pick them off one by one.

            I needed to turn the speakers off.

            Eyeballing the wire from the speakers, I followed the trail of wires leading up to a breaker box. Opening it up, I looked at five black switches. Once I turned these switches off, there was no going back. I looked at the heard and relayed the game plan in my mind. I looked confidently at the switches and breathed in deep. I yanked all five switches down.

           

            The fair was silent.

           

            I wasted not one extra moment as I scrambled for the Ferris wheel. The giant, circular ride was still activated and rotating as I reached the gate entrance. I screamed so loud…it had honestly been so long since I’ve raised my voice so high. I was always so scared of drawing in unwanted attention, yet here I stood, screaming and banging the crowbar against iron gate supports for that same purpose. The herds came closing in. I watched an empty cart rotating towards me from the Ferris wheel. Before the cart reached me, a rover got within arm’s length of me first, but was simply batted away with a single swing of my weapon. Just as the rovers closed in, the cart came my way, and leaped inside the cart, and fell hard on my back as it carried me into the air. I ignored the brutal pain in my spine and stood up to look over the edge. I chuckled as the other carts that rotated to the surface behind me knocked the herd off their feet, some managing to get decapitated or smashed into piles of damp skin and black blood.

            Soon the cart was headed back down to the ground. There were still a few more rovers standing. As I came back down I swayed my iron weapon across multiple skulls in one shot, taking down three rovers at one time and showering myself in droplets of brain matter and gore. Back up the Ferris wheel I went.

            Suddenly the Ferris started slowing down. I looked down to see what was happening. Typical. Several rovers began pouring from the stables and had managed to bump into the control desk, shutting down the Ferris wheel. The ride stopped and I was several stories from the bottom.

            [Lee]: Are you serious?!

            I counted heads at the bottom of the ride. Sixteen rovers left.

            [Lee]: Okay…okay, okay, okay, okay.

            I know. I know. I’m panicking. I admit it. But what else am I supposed to do? I am suspended in a steal cart several stories above a herd of rovers, what else would anyone do in a situation like that??

            Climb down.

            No way. Do I really expect myself to try to climb down this thing? There’s too much of a risk.

            What else are you gonna do?

            I don’t know…

            Climb down.

            This is stupid. I can’t believe I’m doing this. Oh, and on top of that, I feel a tear forming in my eye as I grab hold of the steal arm holding the cart. I slowly start shifting from the cart using my body weight towards the frame of the Ferris wheel. My feet are dangling, and my crowbar is barely hanging on from the belt loop of my pants.

            [Lee]: Ohhh sh*t, curse word, curse word…son of a curse word. I swear, God if this is how you decide to kill me off we’re gonna have a serious talk when I get home.

            My arms barely wrap around the thick steal bar, and yet I was just barely inching along and almost a few feet from the framing. I lunged my legs back and forward to carry me further down the bar.

            My hand slips.

            Thank God no one was around to hear me scream.

            Watching from a sniping position from afar, a guard intently watched through his scope.

            [Sniper]: (Smiling) Heard that.

            [Gregonerry]: (Over radio) How’s the kid holdin’ up?

            [Sniper]: He’ll be wanting more than eight boxes of ammo when he’s done.

           

            I was so freaking close! I could almost touch the framing with my feat. Just a few more feet. My arms were getting so tired. The thought of just letting go and dropping to my brutal death may have crossed my mind once or twice. The only thing preventing me from doing so was the fact that my feet were literally set firmly on the frame and all I had to do was get my arms around it.

            [Lee]: Hold off on the death thing for now, Lee.

            Taking hold of the angled framing, I looked down at the end of the frame and saw the ten-foot gap between it and the herd of rovers watching and following my every move.

            Bracing my foot against the frame attachment and grabbing hold of the framework and bolts around the contraption, I pulled out the crowbar, setting it over the angled frame and prepared for the scariest zipline of my childhood.

            I pushed off.

            Taking hold of the crowbar on both sides, I sped down the angled frame and towards the ground. The time spent between the center frame work and the ground coming straight at me was almost calming. The cold wind blew hard into my face, the feeling of my insides piling up in my chest, the adrenaline pumping and the breathlessness of almost free falling took over the moment. I lived in this moment and I didn’t want it to end. I wanted to stay in this moment. No more thoughts about the future, no more glances into the past and remember the good and bad times, only focusing on the now. But all good things had to come to an end.

            I hit the ground hard, rolling away from the Ferris wheel and skidding across the gravel. I absorbed the pain and ignored the dirty blood dripping from my beaten and bruised body and simply stood at the ready to face the rovers coming towards me.

            [Lee]: Come on!

            I beat one to death. It’s blood splashing all over the legs of my pants. I jammed the end of my weapon into several skulls, popping all kinds of gore and brain juices into the air. I kicked, stabbed, decapitated, bashed, rammed, dismembered, and destroyed. So much blood that it soon felt like water on a rainy day. It just kept falling and collecting under the stones of the earth. I never realized it as I killed…but I was emotionless, I wasn’t feeling, fearing, hoping, praying, or desperate. I was empty. All that there was was a man and his crowbar. I was in the moment, listening to the beating of my heart as I smashed into the dead and beat their skulls into pulp. I ignored the fact that I was surrounded by the dead, I ignored that more than sixteen rovers had joined their numbers in an attempt to kill me. I even ignored the fact that I lost my crowbar and was left with only my knife. I ignored everything and simply focused on killing the dead. I focused simply on surviving. I wasn’t alive. I was simply a moving moment.

            I killed them all.

            So, there I stood, covered in blood and holding the rusted-dripping crowbar in my shaking hand standing in front of Gregonerry. He was smiling.

            [Gregonerry]: My sniper told me everything.

            [Lee]: Good, then you know I’m gonna want more than just the eight boxes?

            Gregonerry laughed so loudly, I could hear the man’s bellowing chuckles echoing down the bunker. He removed his white cowboy hat and sat down in his big leather recliner.

            [Gregonerry]: Ya know, usually I stick to the handshakes, and hold the trade off firm. But you’re lucky; I like you. A lot. You got fire, and you’re god-d*mn hilarious. So, tell you what. You pick out one thing here besides a firearm to add to your eight boxes of ammo, and then we’ll send you on your merry way.

            Anything I wanted. Maybe I should grab another box of ammo for the group. We might need it in the long run…

            No. I have to live in the moment. What do I need to have right now?

            I scanned the different rooms and dozens of different tables down the long under ground bunker. I must have been there for half an hour just looking for something until I found it:

            A charger cord.

            I immediately picked up and smiled to myself. I glanced over at Gregonerry and he smiled once again.

            [Gregonerry]: Of all the things…a charger cord? Haven’t been able to get rid of those in ages! What do you need it for?

            Lee smiled back. He carefully placed it in his blood-dried pants. He subtly walked over to Gregonerry and took the pillow case from the guard standing next to him. Lee gingerly pulled the case covering his own head.

            [Lee]: (Under pillow case) Heathens.

(“Heathens” by 21 Pilots plays as Lee is escorted out of Fairbunker.)

            I waisted no time as soon as they pulled the blind fold off my head. I ran to my car and scrambled inside. It didn’t take long for the iPod Shuffle to charge enough for me to listen to it. I played Heathens, of course. After all, what’s a song left unfinished?

            [Maddy]: He’s here!

            Maddy lowered the binoculars from her face and raced down the balcony stairs. Zach was already in the parking lot with Dylan, Rich, and Christian helping Sherman move cars away from the perimeter. Sherman had already begun the process of marking where they would start digging and posting. The construction of the walls had begun, and Lee was just in time to see the beginnings of it as he pulled in.

            Climbing out of the driver’s seat after parking it beside the other vehicles, he was instantly met with Maddy who hugged him tightly.

            [Maddy]: I missed you okay, sir.

            Lee hugged back.

            [Maddy]: You smell like rovers…and…is that cotton candy that I smell?

            [Lee]: Ah, I’ll tell you about it later.

            Dylan and Zach made their welcomes known to Lee soon after the brother and sister let go of their embrace, and Rich wasted no time to greet Lee with a debriefing.

            [Rich]: Lee, come with me. I’ve gotta bring you up to speed on some things going on.

            Pulling Lee aside, Rich took him into the family life center. They stopped in front of the basketball goal.

            [Lee]: You wanting to hear what I got?

            [Rich]: Yes, report.

            [Lee]: Um, well…I made the trade off, but they didn’t want our fuel so I still have the gas in the car.

            [Rich]: Why wouldn’t they want fuel??

            [Lee]: Trust me. They had plenty. Instead they had me kill rovers for them in exchange for eight boxes of ammo of whatever type I wanted. So I got like three boxes for the automattics, two 38s’, one 45, and one 22. And each box has like 50 rounds. So, we’re well supplied, at least enough to defend ourselves against Costco, ya know?

            [Rich]: We’ll see.

            [Lee]: You said something about stuff happening here?

            [Rich]: Not here. At Costco. We sent Mrs. Reed, Lauren, and her brother there to work undercover for us.

            Honestly, I’m not even sure how to respond to that. Three of probably the most vulnerable people in our group are now in the hands of the enemy.

            [Lee]: What?

            [Rich]: They were the most logical choice. They volunteered. Their mission is to learn their inventory, become one of them, and slowly and subtly compromise them one bit at a time without getting noticed.

            This wasn’t right. What was Rich thinking? What if something happens to them? We won’t be able to save them without a full invasion. Rich just sent Mrs. Reed, Lauren, and her little brother who had just lost a leg… to their doom.

THE END