The place was pristine and peaceful, and she now understood why Emma had wanted to come here. With the supplies they had, combined with Brian’s, they should do very well here. Bar anyone taking their things. That would be something they’d need to be ready for. At least there was the two dogs. She was pretty sure that Buddy would guard the place and Daisy might as well. Buddy might teach her to be a great police dog.
From just the little she gleaned from Brian, he seemed like good people. Taking the child in and caring for him. It would seem that he’d lost a lot, as had they all. Paadi was sure it would be a common theme with anyone they met. Here in this place, she was sure their souls could heal. It was peaceful and beautiful. She’d never been the outdoor type, a city dweller all her life, but she could appreciate this place, and what it would mean for their survival. She’d been lucky that she’d met Emma and that Emma had taken her with her. Life was funny, she’d have never envisioned herself here. She’d never been camping or grew things. She’d been a cop and that was all she’d ever wanted to be. Now, this was a whole new world to her. A whole new life. She’d jump in with both feet.
SIX
Flynn walked along the streets. The stench was still there, but was now mixed with the smoke and foulness of burned hair and skin, rubber and plastic, toxic he was sure. Casper, because Flynn could no longer think of his friend as Cramer, had ordered pyres build and bodies thrown on. There were more people showing up, pledging their loyalty to Casper. Flynn thought their loyalty was over rated. They were hungry and desperate. Also, brought in at gunpoint. He didn’t like it one bit, they were not given much of a choice. He’d found himself a place to stay, though it was nothing like a home. It was hot as hell, and finding a place for a toilet was difficult. It was only a matter of time before the bottled water was gone. Then what?
Not only that, but the bodies of some of the animals were popping up. There was a dead hippo over on the corner of Filbert street and North Juniper street. When it had died, Casper had his people build a fire to cook the meat. It had stunk badly, since no one knew how to butcher the animal. Several of them had gotten sick from eating the animal. Now the remains of the carcass were rotting. Flynn felt he was caught in some kind of bizarre apocalyptic nightmare. And Casper was at the eye of a shit storm that would not end well.
Flynn considered himself an average joe. He’d been fine with that, and knew he’d never amount to anything more than a middle-class working man. He’d hoped one day for a wife, couple kids and a mortgage. He never had any ambitions to be rich, or make a ton of money or climb a corporate ladder. His needs and wants in this life were very simple. A few beers, some game time on TV and a girl. Now, he was trapped with a madman, he’d once called friend.
He knew he had to leave and soon. He’d been smart enough in high school, during science and biology classes, to know disease would run rampant in the midst of large-scale decay and corruption, fires notwithstanding. He thought about the girl, Xandra, he’d started dating and thought perhaps today, he’d go and look for her. Maybe if she were alive, they could escape this hell hole. She’d been a sweet girl and he’d really hoped something would have bloomed, before EV-01-H. He was only sorry that he’d been such a coward as to not checked on her. Now, a month or better had past and he wondered.
He saw Casper, sitting at the LOVE Park fountain and walked over.
“Hey Casper, I’m going to head out and do a bit of scrounging, I’m also going to look for more survivors. I’m just sorry I’d not done it before.” He confided honestly, though not the complete truth. He’d been busting his ass to gain Casper’s trust and confidence. He’d done everything he’d been told with a smile on his face. It had damned near killed his soul.
“Good, that’s good Flynn, yeah, go ahead. The more we can gather, the better. We can start our own rebuilding of the human race here.” Casper smiled a rare smile. It sent a shiver down Flynn’s spine. Rebuild here? Hell no. And what woman would want to willingly bring a child up in this place, he wondered, horrified at the thought. Would they force women to become pregnant? Rape them to accomplish it? Christ, no. His mind recoiled at the thought of it.
“Okay, if I have to go a little out there, is that okay? I don’t want your people blowing my brains out.” Flynn laughed nervously.
“They’re your people too. No, just give them the password. If you have new people with you, don’t let them hear it. The password is King Casper.”
“Good to know. Is there any specific foods you’re looking for right now? Or just everything I can gather?”
“Everything you can gather, you can also check with the occupied stores and make sure our people are still there, guarding our supplies.”
Flynn nodded and turn to leave. He held his breath,
