The Hive: A Post-Apocalyptic Life Read online

  He ran up to Alexa and picked her up and hugged her to him. Laura was just staring at the dead man; the dead man had a large part of the back of his head blown off. Brain matter leaked out and Quinn could see the scalp and bone fragments open, like a flower.

  “Laura?” Quinn asked and shook her gently. She jerked as though waking from a daze and looked at him.

  “He..he grabbed Alexa. He..he had a knife to her throat. He said if I didn’t give him food, he’d slit her throat. Just like that. He didn’t give a shit that he was holding a child.” She said, almost dreamlike, her eyes wide.

  “You okay? Laura? Alexa is okay, she’s safe, you saved her.” Quinn said quietly, rocking the child back and forth in his arms, her small arms locked around his neck in a death grip. He watched as Laura’s eyes came back into focus and then they turned hard and narrowed.

  “Yeah, I’m okay, but that fucker will never hurt another child.” She reached over and peeled Alexa away and the child clung to her mother. Laura walked back to the house and up the steps and past her mother, who stood open mouthed. Then a slow smile of pride spread across the older woman’s face. Quinn grinned as well. Laura had been magnificent. He guessed that she’d just crossed over to the new world.

  Ӝ

  Kansas City, MO

  Trish was tired, it had only been a six-hour shift, but it had been nightmarish. Their medical supplies were dwindling fast and they’d not gotten but a quarter of their normal replenishment. It didn’t help that violence throughout the city was over the top crazy. They had twelve stabbings, nine gunshot wounds, three stranglings, and eight beatings. All vicious and all over food. Some were victims, but most were perpetrators. There were only a few police, because so many of the officers were scattered all over the city, trying to put down riots and fights.

  She’d driven to work that morning, freezing because of the missing window, there had been snow flurries. She’d been quoted five times the cost of a normal replacement window. It had been crazy. Hogan had put up heavy plastic. It wasn’t great, and it flapped loudly, but it helped with the worst of the cold. She’d gotten a gun, however. Hogan had gone with her and gotten a Taurus PT 709 Slim. It was small enough, to hide well. She had it in a bra holster. It had cost her three times the normal price and Hogan had been livid, but the shop owner had thrown in extra ammo for her weapon and for Hogan’s Glock.

  There hadn’t been a lot of weapons left in the store. The shelves were nearly empty. Hogan had talked the man into selling a used AR15, it was the store owner’s own weapon. He’d boasted that he had several.

  “Look, we’ve got three children, all under the age of three. We need to protect them.” Hogan had told the man, who’d lost the hard line across his mouth. Apparently, he was a father. Trish had to turn her head away, Hogan was talking about the dogs, but the man didn’t know that, and it had worked. They’d gotten enough ammo and looking back; it had been well worth the money. Her wallet had taken a beating, but Hogan and she had discussed it. Soon, money would be worth nothing. Period. Things were going to hell fast. The U.S. dollar was in the toilet.

  They’d been watching the news, someone inside Washington D.C., had divulged that the members of Congress, the Senate and House of Representatives, were living like kings. People inside the parameter of central D.C. had been removed from their homes. The displaced people of both the House and the Senate were given the expensive apartments in the surrounding areas. The man’s face was blurred, and his voice altered. Then, suddenly, the TV station had gone blank, off the air. Hogan had looked at her.

  “That can’t be good. Sounds like the government is getting whatever they can get their hands on. Jesus Christ.” He’d said.

  “That’s because someone else is building those goddamned Hives. Did you see them? They look like prisons. With high fences all around and razor wire on top and not to mention the guards with guns, for Christ’s sake.” Trish had said. She still couldn’t believe it. Kansas City was burning, people rioting, fighting for every scrap of food. The government was eating and living in luxury, while most of the time, average Americans were living in darkness. The one percent and the none percent.

  The hospital was in a constant state of flux, lights going on and off. Several patients on the third floor had died. Several died during surgery, because power went down. The generators were losing the war, they’d not had a refueling and the hospital administrators were losing their minds.

  Trish sighed, she just wanted to get home. She was so hungry. She’d stopped bringing food to work. Rina had simply stolen her food at every turn. She was tired of feeding the bitch. Lisa Pools, one of the other nurses, caught Rina red handed and beat the hell out of her. Lisa broke Rina’s nose and three fingers. Lisa was put on administrative leave and Rina was fired. Her hand and nose were bandaged up and then she’d been sent packing.

  Trish grinned at the memory. Hogan laughed until he cried, over the story.

  “Jesus. She got what she deserved; I’ll tell you that.” He’d sniggered.

  Trish giggled at the memory, but then the smile left her face. Ahead, there was traffic backed up. Cars were turning around and going back the way they’d come. Her heart started beating rapidly. She just wanted to go home. No, she needed to go home, get the hell out of the city and all the incredible violence. There were fires around her, some of the buildings smoldering. Most of the windows shattered. What had happened since she’d gone on duty this morning?

  She moved up slowly, but each vehicle far ahead, turned and went back the way they’d come. By the time she got up to the front, she was shaking like a leaf. Her heart hurt in her chest and she felt queasy. Her fear was nearly over the top. Her mouth was so dry, it hurt to swallow. Tears hovered in her eyes and she tore the plastic away. A woman, in uniform, National Guard, she thought, or a private security? She didn’t know, and she didn’t care.

  “I’m sorry ma’am, the city is shutting down. No one in or out until further notice.” The woman said, her mouth grim. Trish was sure the woman had been cursed at and yelled at. Trish couldn’t help it, she busted out crying. She’d been wound so tightly with constant fear, hunger and exhaustion, she couldn’t help it.

  “I have three babies; my neighbor is watching them. But she won’t stay. If I’m not home, she’ll leave my babies alone. I have a three-year-old, two-year-old and a newborn. I have to go ..hoo…hoo… home.” Trish blubbered hysterically.

  “What…what about your husband?” The woman stuttered, shock on her face.

  “He’s deployed in the Middle East. I’ve had all this shit on my shoulders. I’ve had to work extra shifts at the hospital to get enough money for enough food. I have to get home. My Christ, I have to get to my babies. She’ll leave them.” Trish’s voice rose in a crescendo. The woman looked frantically around. She then leaned into the window.

  “Go, but anyone asks you, you were turned away from coming into the city. I could get into serious trouble. I mean it. Don’t tell anyone you were let out of the city.” She hissed in a low voice.

  “Thank you, God bless you. Thank you.” Trish choked out and pulled ahead, trying not to run the woman over. Her eyes were filled with tears and she heard the woman wish her luck. She wiped at the tears and sped away. She had to get home, she had to get out of this nightmare. She turned and breathed when the light turned green. She didn’t want to run a red light, but she didn’t want to stop either. She looked around and saw no police.

  They were shutting down the city, she couldn’t come back. How long would it last? My god, what would others do? If that woman hadn’t taken pity on her story, she’d be stuck there! Where were people going to live? Would they put them into the Hive? Was that their plan? Once more, she thought about WashingtonD.C., was the government pushing to corral people? Was that why they refused to put out more information about the detonation sites? She wasn’t, nor ever would be a conspiracy nut, she didn’t have time for that, but things were moving sideways, not making any sense.
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br />   Wasn’t aid coming from overseas? Where was that aid? She knew with the bombings much of their food supply had been destroyed or cut off. That was why she’d gone to the box stores in those first days. As a prepper, she knew it was vital to gather supplies for the worst-case scenarios. Trish had then buried and hidden a lot of her supplies. Hogan had been the only person she’d told, and she was thankful. She wiped at the tears that were continuing to fall. The air was so cold, it made her ears hurt. The plastic taped to the window was rattling loudly.

  The side of her head felt numb and she pulled her hat lower, trying to protect herself from the onslaught of the piercing wind. She trembled at the thought of others knowing what she had. Her mind went to Rina, the woman’s eyes filled with avarice and hunger, looking at her food. Number one rule about prepping, tell no one. She was glad, however, that she’d brought Hogan in. She’d known even in those first days, that she could not do this on her own. But she’d looked up information on the internet, whatever she could about the man and saw nothing that would lead her to believe that Hogan wasn’t a good man. It had been a risk, but it had paid off.

  Slowing down, Trish pulled off the main highway and down toward her own road. She looked at the houses around her. There was a dusting of snow on the ground. Not much. Making another turn, she saw that some of the homes had broken windows. She and Hogan had been hearing more and more gunplay at night. People were hunting and it looked like they were stealing what wasn’t nailed down. She shivered again. She was thankful she picked her home. It wasn’t much to look at, but it was well away from the highway and you had to really know where you were going, to find it. She was sure that thieves would take out easier targets first. Along the main highway, or much traveled streets.

  It was late afternoon and the weak sun was sinking, painting the skies with soft lavenders and pinks. The skies were finally clear now, and when it was a clear day, the skies were a cerulean blue, beautiful. Three months had passed and they were heading into the new year. Christmas was coming up and there would be no joyous yuletide and certainly no happy new year.

  Ӝ

  Hogan was chilled outside enjoying the fresh air and chopping wood. He was breaking the wood down to smaller kindling. He’d gone out with Baby, who loved romping in the woods, to find deadfall. He’d left Jewel and Ralph to guard the house. He found an old cart and had pulled it behind him. He carried the AR15 across his back and the Glock in his holster. He’d seen an increase of people walking past the property. Looking at it. The house was situated far enough back, that it wasn’t that noticeable, though he was sure the people knew it was there. Earlier that day, Hogan stood inside the house, well back from the window, observing the movement. The dogs patrolled the yard and he’d grinned as the people kept to the far side of the road. Baby had a deep bark and though the people might not see him; they could surely hear him.

  The people he saw were thin and disheveled. If they were looking for food, they were looking in the wrong place. They should be out in the woods. He’d brought down a buck that morning, it had been in the pasture and he’d been out at the chicken coop. He’d used the AR15 and brought it down. It had been impromptu, and he’d not had a choice. Trish didn’t have a hunting rifle. The AR15 did the trick however and they had a deer carcass hanging in the barn.

  He stopped chopping and wiped the sweat from his face with a gray checkered bandana. He looked down at Jewel, who was contently gnawing on part of an antler. He’d taken a hand saw and cut the antlers off and then had divided the rack, into three large shares for the dogs. He had to shut the barn, to keep the dogs out. He left the deer to bleed out, he’d already gutted the animal, setting aside the heart, kidneys and liver for the dogs. The rest of the gut pile had been taken off property and buried.

  He’d been able to find quite a bit of deadfall and had hauled it back. They still had plenty of wood in the barn, but Hogan knew that it was a finite resource. The woods surrounding Trish’s property had plenty of future wood, and the deadfall was easy to source. Besides getting wood for the fire, he’d also wanted to get out and walk the land and surrounding area. Keeping busy was hard sometimes, there wasn’t a whole lot to do. Keeping watch was important, but it was also incredibly boring. It also gave his mind time to wander and think about his wife and girls. Painful and frustrating. He spent his days roaming the property, reading books, hunting food. A lot of times, hunting was a bust. But today, the deer had come to him. He picked up another chunk of wood and raised the ax and brought it down.

  The ax had been dull, and he’d found it and a rasp in the barn. The ax was old, he was sure the previous owner had left it behind. There was quite a bit the previous owner had left behind. With the rasp, he sharpened the ax. He’d also found lubricant and had cleaned the ax up. He paused, hearing a vehicle approach. The dogs got up, excited and wagging their tails. He smiled. They recognized Trish’s truck. He buried the ax head in the stump and walked toward the front of the house. Perhaps he’d make some venison steaks for dinner. He noticed that Trish’s shifts were taking their toll.

  With the woman stealing food, Trish had stopped taking food to work. That, Hogan was sure, was taking its toll on her body. She’d lost weight in the last couple of weeks.

  “You need to eat at work. Keep the food on you or hide it. But you need to eat.” He’d urged.

  “It’s just so hard, she watches everyone and everything. She gives me the creeps.” Trish had remarked. Hogan smiled, thinking about when Rina had been caught and her nose and fingers broken. Served her right, he thought grimly. The truck pulled into the carport and Hogan noticed that the plastic had come off the window. He’d have to re-tape it. When Trish got out of the truck, he knew something was wrong. Her legs were wobbly, and she was pale as death.

  He went to the gate and called the dogs away; he didn’t think she’d want them jumping around her.

  “Trish, what is it? Were you attacked again?”

  “There…I was..” Trish stammered.

  “Breathe, take a deep breath. Good, you’re safe, and it’s okay.”

  “I was c…cc…coming home from work. There was a roadblock and they were turning people back. Jesus, Hogan, I almost didn’t get out of there. They’ve shut the city down. No one in or out. If you’re in the city, you’re screwed. The only reason I got out was…” She laughed in near hysterics, tears streaming down her face. She held a shaking hand up to her mouth and clamped it over her mouth.

  “Jesus, what?” Hogan asked, afraid what it might have cost her.

  “I lied, I said I had three babies. That my neighbor was going to leave them. I was hysterical, crying. The woman believed me. Thank god. I couldn’t help it. I was so afraid, and I just wanted to come home. I used the story you had told at the gun shop. I just elaborated a bit.” She ended, a tremulous smile hovering on her lips.

  Hogan pulled her in for a tight hug. Her body shook badly, and he tightened his grip. Christ, what would he have done, had she not come home? They were more than fifty-five miles away from her work. Where would she have gone?

  “I wonder where they would have put you?” He asked, leading her to the front porch. The sun was fading, but it was above freezing. He sat her on the glider, his arm still around her. He could feel her body heat, radiating off her. She felt too thin.

  “Honestly, I think they would have sent me to the Hive. There was at least a couple dozen injured in the ER today. There are fires and looted stores all over the city. The violence is escalating. We are having more and more brown outs and there was three hours that we lost power completely. Hogan, people are dying. Do we have power here?”

  “No, it hasn’t come back on. Why do you think they would have sent you to the Hive?” He asked, holding her close. They’d lost power two days before and had yet to gain it back. Luckily, their food could be set on the back porch and kept cold, or down in the basement.

  “There were a lot of cars, I mean a lot of cars and that was just one road out of the city.
What about the others? Where else could they put them? Also, the patients who’d been at the ER, the ones that had been involved in the violence, they were taken away. But not by cops. The people who took away the injured wore the same uniform that the lady wore at the blockade. I don’t know if it is private security or National Guard. But it definitely wasn’t police.”

  “But why would they take them? What jurisdiction would they have, what right? This just doesn’t make sense. I’m glad you got out of there. I think things are starting to spin out of control. I say, we just hunker down here and ride it out.”

  “Yeah, I think I was just freaking out. I couldn’t seem to stop myself. I don’t know what I would have done, if she’d not let me through. I think I would have run the roadblock. Something inside told me I had to get out of there at all costs.” Trish whispered.

  “Well, you’re on an unexpected vacation. Oh, and guess what happened after you left this morning?” His voice upbeat. He wanted to get her mind off the incident.

  “What?” She grinned a little, looking sideways at him.

  “I shot a deer.” He grinned broadly.

  “What? Oh my god, that is wild. I didn’t even know you were going hunting!” She laughed.

  “I didn’t. It was in your back pasture.” He sniggered.

  “Holy shit. How big? It’s been years since I’ve eaten venison.”

  “Come on, it’s hanging in the barn. The dogs have the antlers.” He pointed to all three dogs, who were laying in the front yard, spread out from each other. Each dog had settled down to serious gnawing. Trish laughed and for the first time in days, sounded lighthearted. Hogan smiled and pulled her up out of the glider. He was glad she’d gotten past the roadblock. It had been a close call, too close. It was a haunting thought.