Highway 957.
Highway 957.
I always found it amazing; the heat. It boiled and bubbled the blood in their veins, compelling them to go further. You could feel it from ten feet away.
She rocked back and forth, steady and in control; bent forward, eyes unseeing.
He was sprawled across the bed, slack and unmoving; head cocked slightly, breathing shallow.
Both were emaciated, and bugs were jumping around, sucking blood every now and then.
This had been the last thing they remembered doing, right before the sickness had hit them.
I closed the door to the room; they were beyond saving.
Everyone was like that. Living their last memory. Repeating it over and over and over. Sometimes they couldn't keep doing whatever they were doing, and in those cases they had simply died, their bodies just turning off.
Except me.
It was depressing really, and if I let my thoughts linger on it for too long I could feel myself start to break down.
I put a highly illegal (unfiltered) cigarette to my lips. I covered it with my left hand, bringing the zippo up with my right. Smoking was outlawed, but when it was just me and the rest of nobody, who the hell gave a crap? I pulled a drag to get it going, then clinked the zippo shut. I looked around the house once more, rubbing the stubble on my chin. Maybe I should burn the place down...
Then again, fuel was hard enough to find.
I stepped outside, squinting into the sunset.
I had to live, to figure out what had gone wrong.
I climbed into the U-Haul's cab, and with a sigh, turned the ignition.
I had been traveling for about a year, searching in vain. I wasn't sure how the bodies lived longer than a few days. I had read once you couldn't live for a over nine days without water and food, even if you were completely still.
Some people were still running, going around parks with eyes glazed over, stumbling on those dead around them. THEY sure weren't eating.
I had, at first, killed all those I found, hoping to put their souls to rest. But I had seen the error of my ways. They didn't have souls any more. You could tell by looking into their eyes long enough. The will had left the body that twisted day.
The trailer truck rumbled to life, and I popped the clutch, shoving into second by accident.
The beast made a whining sound, then stalled out. The Hydrogen Fuel Cell tech was relatively new, and a pain in the ass to drive, but much easier to refill.
As I slid to a halt, I sighed again, and looked around, unconsciously scanning for anyone who might have caught my embarrassing mistake. It was an old habit, one I hadn't been able to break yet. After a moment of thought to that, I snorted. Who would care?
I started it up again, then slowly turned out of the driveway, onto the path that led back to the highway.
As I pulled onto the cracked asphalt, a flash of reflected light hit my eye; off in the distance a vehicle was moving, weaving in and out of the packed vehicles.
I turned out of the rusting cars onto the sideway, smashing a few with the snow plow front I had rigged up for city movement. I hoped the jarring wouldn't mess with the hooked on trailer I was towing. The bolting was in severe need of replacement, and I didn't have the proper tools to fix it.
I pulled a few breaths through the near end of the cig, felt the hot smoke caress my lungs, then spat the smoldering remains out the window.
A car was rapidly approaching, light glaring off of the windshield, preventing me from seeing if there was a real person driving. It wouldn't make sense to see a changed person actually driving still. The car would have run out of gas a long time ago.
Which really only left a real person to be the logical answer.
My hopes didn't rise though, it had been a while since I had actually listened to them.
I honked twice as the two-door raced towards me.
The white 2002 Dodge Neon, a relic from an old time past, swerved to avoid a van, then fishtailed to a halt next to a white ford anti-grav truck about 30 yards away, red and orange light gleaming from the reflective surface.
And then it hit me. Nothing could still be running without maintenence! It had to be a normal person!
Slowly, so as not to startle whoever it was, I tried opening the door. It resisted, so I kicked at it hard, sliding out with a croaking curse.
I hadn't spoken in a long time.
I got up, and with as much dignity as possible, brushed my hurting ass with a few tender swipes.
Something pounded on the driver's side of the Neon. Quite suddenly the passenger side door flung open, spilling it's contents onto the dusty freeway.
The girl couldn't have been more than 16, a snake with big yellow irised eyes, jungle-green scales all over, marred with grease, dirt, and other less identifiable things. Her white tank top was soaked with grime and hugged her large breasts in, and the overly large pants she had on was held up by what seemed to be a bit of line, tied off with an intricate knot on the right side. Her shoes were tatters.
She struggled up, and with a sobbing sound charged headlong into my solar-plexus, knocking the air out of me.
I grunted, trying to pull her clinging arms from around me, but it was no use. She held onto me like a limpet, as if holding me was the only thing keeping her sane and on this world.
It was probably the most depressing thing I had come across yet, and it made my squeezed guts curl up even more to think of what she must have gone through. So I pulled her shuddering, weeping form up more, hugging her filthy body close, partly to show her that I was real, and partly to prove to myself this wasn't a seriously fucked up dream.
After affirming that, yes, she was in fact, NOT going to disappear suddenly, I dragged her to the back of the U-Haul.
I slid the door upwards, and helped her into the makeshift bathroom/kitchen I had made, clicking on the generator, lights flickering, then solidifying.
I turned the shower on, running it till it was hot to the touch, then pried her hands from my back.
'Jump in for a bit, I'll sit here.' I said, turning around, slouching into the collapsible chair I had welded to the inside. 'The left knob is pressure, the right is hot/cold. turn right for colder.'
With a few hiccups, she settled down. 'Where should I... put my clothes...?'
'Ah, give them to me,' I said, holding out my hand behind me. 'I'll get you some clean ones.'
She snuffled her acknowledgment. 'O-okay...'
With a wet slupping sound the shirt came off, followed by a snapping sound and a grunt as the pants came next. Both were slapped into my hands, and then the sounds of water running over a body and sloshing onto the bottom of the mini-tub could be heard over the quiet thrum of the genny.
I pulled my hand to my front, looking the clothes up and down. They weren't salvageable, but I hung them up on the side anyways. She might want to keep them for sentimental value.
I hopped down out of the back of the U-Haul, scanning the horizon again. The sun was almost all the way down now, and soon the night animals would appear.
We would have to hurry up.
I pulled open the trailer door and jumped in. I started to rummage through the drawers for something that might fit her smaller frame. Everything I had seemed too large for her use.
Finally I decided to take out the biggest shirt I had found yet. I don't even remember where I got it from. Either way, it would tent over her, probably past her knees even. I yanked a towel and blanket from a hand closet, and headed back outside.
It was dark already.
I closed the trailer door with a slam, and bolted it tight, then lowered the armored guard across it.
Something clattered behind me, and I stopped dead still. The lurkers were coming out earlier now.
Slowly, ever so slowly, I unbuttoned the holster, and slid the Martin Merrier 355 out. The fletchette pistol had a 50 round mag, good for approximately 12-13 shots.
With speed like lighting I spun around and shot, barely pulling up in time to avoid hitting the dripping wet girl.
She squealed in panic and I cursed in surprise.
'Don't DO that, damnit!' I growled. She had spooked the shit out of me, and I still needed to lock the cab down for the night. 'Here, take these,' I said, tossing her the towel, shirt and blanket. 'Now get back inside, it isn't safe.'
She choked a sob, but jumped back into the truck, tail flailing for balance, affording me a good view.
I watched for a moment, making sure she was okay.
With a start, I realized my pants were getting a bit restricting. To take my mind off of it, I went around to the front of the truck. I popped the cab door open, and pulled out the 36 gauge, auto-shotty. I checked the safety, then holstered my pistol. I looked over the shotty for a second, then pulled the chamber loader, racking in a new shell.
It always made a satisfying ka-clacking sound.
I yanked the shutters down over the windshield and windows, then locked the cab up for the night. With a last once over, I checked the rest of the vehicle. Everything seemed in order, so I went to the back.
The girl was dried and clothed, the blanket wrapped around her waste, shirt coming down to her knees, just as I had thought it would. The towel was hanging up next to her old clothes.
'I want to burn those.' she said, pointing to them.
'Alright.' I said, pulling out my zippo. 'You smoke?' I asked on a whim.
She looked at me, confused for a second. 'What?'
'Never mind.' I sighed, laying the shotty on the counter. I put the lighter to the clothes and flicked it on. The clothes set aflame instantly, so I threw them onto the road far from us.
I looked away from the burning refuse on the ground. I needed to lock up.
'Stand back.' I said, motioning her inside. The light from the fire that reflected in her eyes was cut short as I rattled the door back down. I locked this with the giant bolt.
'My name is Quantum Brooke,' I said to the wall. My voice as starting to get even more gravelly. I needed to practice talking again. I pulled my shirt off, throwing it into the corner.
'I'm Cahssah,' she responded simply. She looked like she was on the verge of tears again.
'C'mere.' I said, opening an arm out to her. 'You need to rest, and so do I.'
When she was out of the way, I pulled the mattress down from the ceiling. It was a twin size, and I could barely fit my massive frame on it. I laid down, back to the mattress, then put her on my chest, her breasts getting squished between our torsos. With a grunt, I reached over and flipped the switch to the genny, killing the lights.
'I'm hungry,' she said softly.
I grunted again, and pulled a flashlight from under the pillow. 'Help yourself.' I said, turning it on and handing it over.
She mumbled a thanks, then got up, looking for food. I heard a thunk and then a hiss as she opened the cooler.
After she ate, she came back and sat on my stomach, tail twitching between her legs in satisfaction.
She flicked the light up and down my chest. 'Why are you so muscled?'
'505th mechanized combat suit brigade. When you wear over a ton of metal, you better be damn well prepped for it.' She dropped the subject, so I didn't mention that I had my suit in the trailer. She would see it soon enough.
'You're the first person I've seen that was still alive.'
'Yeah, well... you too for me. We're gonna head out tomorrow morning. You should get some sleep.'
'There isn't anyone the way you are going.'
'If you want, you can go where you were going, though I wouldn't recommend that. Too many lurkers.'
'Lurkers? Is that what you call those... things...?' she asked.
'Yeah, mostly they were wild animals, but some were pets. They come out at night, and hunt for the living... and the dead. There aren't many, but when you find them, they are in large packs. Its weird though, I don't think they breed.'
'Oh... there weren't many in the city... for the most part I could outrun them indoors.'
'Yeah, doors help stop them. Now be quiet. It'll be a long night.'
'Why do you say-?' She was cut off by a loud sound. The lurkers warble. They had found us, and now they would stalk the outside 'till morning.
Cahssah shivered as the calls grew louder, then abruptly halted.
'Why are they so quiet? They don't normally do that...'
'They're waiting for us to come out. One will touch the outer plating, and then ZAP, get fried. The rest will learn from it.'
'Oh...'
She twisted onto her side, lying along my body. As she did, her tail slipped out for balance, pulling the back of the blanket up around her waist.
Her exposed slit unintentionally ground against my abs, mashing lightly on them.
She grunted once, and rolled around, pulling the blanket back down again.
It took all of my self-control to keep from getting erect; it wasn't right, she wasn't human. She was too young.
Her cheek burned against shoulder.
A lurker tapped the side of the truck, and an angry shocking sound sparked up. The lurker got out a partial yelp, and was fried to death.
Cahssah moaned and buried her head into my chest in fright.
It was going to be a long night.
*****************************
The next morning came so slow it seemed I hadn't even slept yet, which, coincidently, was exactly what happened. Cahssah had been too afraid of the near silence and had kept whimpering. The sounds she made reminded me too much of something I had been trying really hard to avoid.
I got up, setting her finally sleeping form on the mattress. I pulled down the shotty, clicked the safety off, than opened the back up. A quick sweep of the surrounding area only revealed the dead lurker's carbonized body.
I undid the locks on the trailer, putting the reinforced plating into the storage bays. Next was the truck's cab, and then we would head out.
I put the shotty in the back of the truck, then slid the doors down as quietly as possible.
As I got into the cab, I pulled out a cig. I looked at it for a few minutes contemplating whether to wake Cahssah up or not. In the end I decided not to. I put the smoke, unlit, between my lips, and slid the keys into the ignition.
I was about to start the beast up when I remembered the Dodge Neon. I pulled the keys out with an exasperated sigh.
I would have to wake her up after all.
As I stepped out of the cab the stuttering sound of the back sliding up sounded, announcing sleeping beauty hadn't been as sleepy as I thought.
As I rounded the corner, something set my alarm bells screaming.
I dodged back the way I had come from, barely avoiding the scorching heat of the 36 gauge's fire. I rolled to a kneeling firing position, fletchette pistol in hand, ready to make smeared paste.
'Cahssah?' I called out, hoping to hell it was her. 'Was that you?'
'Brooke?' She said unsteadily. I heard the shotty clatter to the ground, and she ran around the corner, hands partially covering her face, eyes wet already. 'It was s-s-so quiet! I didn't know if you had d-died!' she stuttered.
'No, no, I'm still here. No need to worry.'
When I finally got her calmed all the way down, I asked her if she wanted to keep the car.
'No, it's old, and the gas is almost out. There's a few things we should take out though.'
'Alright, you start on it, and I'll put the guns away.'
I holstered the pistol, and stooped around the corner to pick up the shotty. The butt was slightly more scuffed, but other than that, everything was safe.
I put it back in the shock frame in the cab, then went to see how she was doing.
I stopped about halfway to her. She looked like she was about to wage war with the universe.
Bandoleers festooned her body, holding up shotgun shells, grenade launcher canisters, magazines of at least nine different calibers. She was carrying a 16 gauge pump action shotgun. There was an antiqued Mk1k14 slung over her stomach, and I could swear I saw a 18r-57Kn Rail Rifle jangling on her back.
Craning my neck to see over her shoulder I could see a mass of ammunition and other weapons sticking out of the trunk and rear passenger doors. There were rifles, pistols, rockets, plasma throwers, and even a small mini-gun turret with the full coolant compliment.
'I ah... I'm gonna go open up the trailer...' I stammered. I turned around, already trying to think where all of it would go. There wasn't enough room for all of it, and we only needed so many guns as to ammunition. I pointed to a spot near the trailer's entrance. 'Put all the ammo there.' I pointed to the other side. 'And the weapons there. Leave the explosives next to the car. We'll have to leave some stuff behind.'
She started to sling the ordinance down in their proper places. 'Okay... can you handle the storing? I'm kinda tired.'
'Yeah, no problem...'
It took us about 45 minutes to sort it all out, and in the end, Cahssah looked dead on her feet.
'Here, go get something light to eat, then go sleep. I'll pack what I can fit, and then I'll start driving. If you wake up before we hit a stopping point, you can crawl through the opening to the front.'
She stifled a yawn, but nodded her head nonetheless.
I lit up, then got to work.
I put most of the heavy ammo in the storage bins in the trailer. The weapons went into the lockers, and the explosives went into the luggage spaces on the sides of the U-Haul.
The mini-gun turret went on the top of trailer. I secured it with double reinforced metal struts, then welded them down, just to make sure. The housing for the gun could fold out and down, making for an excellent cover for the delicate mechanisms that was be the targeting system. There was a perfectly sized area the ammo feed could go through on the roof, connecting to the ammo drum I settled into the already cramped inside space, next to the powered suit's carrying cases.
The targeting system was a combination of infrared monitor, motion scanners, and advanced CPU set with specific algorithms, hooked via Net-Link cable, and if need be, portable tele-communicator. It could fire with deadly accuracy on fully automatic for about 5 kilometers, with a full fire cone of 153 degree angle on the Y axis and higher at maximum stable firing height. If it took shots at enemies farther than 5km, it would snipe in two second burps. At 13-27 high explosive rounds per second, the fight would be woefully one sided.
I took one last look at the remaining weaponry before, once again, climbing back into the cab. I squinted into the distance, and rubbed my face. My watch said it was about midday.
My skin was hot, and burned with welder's tan. My lips stung where I had forgotten my cigarette and payed the price. I was wet all over from sweat, and I smelled heavily of B.O.
I would take a shower later.
I put the keys into the ignition, but didn't turn it on.
I rested my head on the top edge of the steering wheel, and with a guilty pang, thanked My Dark Lord Murphy that I had someone to share this miserably lonely fate with. I couldn't wish it on anyone, but I was damn thankful I wasn't completely alone.
With a resoluteness I didn't feel, I twisted the keys, and began the ride down the road, sliding through the deserted traffic.
The movements must have woken Cahssah, because she popped her green head through the hatch and took a look around.
'Wow, you really have it decked out in here...'
'Yeah. Come on in,' I swept my arms around the small area. 'Best view around.'
She slithered through the narrow space, and sat in the driving bench, slightly squished from all of the junk I had in the cab.
I squinted off into the distance, barely seeing a scraper poking over the ridgeline.
I pulled out a new cig from my ever dwindling supply and lit it. I took a puff and leaned back into the seat with a sigh. It was gonna be a long drive.
******
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