Teenage Wasteland

Chapter 4

The construction of the tree fort was slow going. It took a whole other day just to clear the two surrounding trees. From there it took another three to finish the first platform that rested about five feet from the ground, Will felt that in emergency it was low enough, but in danger it was high enough. They constructed it by laying the doubled up fence planks across the branches and then placing the ply wood on top. That of course was all secured by nails they had taken from the Swanson’s. After the platform was done they took a day took a day to drive back down off the mountain to collect 2x4’s so they could frame some walls. Jason and Will’s dads shared a background in constructions so they knew a thing or two about building houses. Three more days later they had okay looking walls. Even though they were about seven feet tall, Tyler suggested they only cover half of it to save on ply wood and for lookout. If it rained they had gathered some tarp for protection. For the roof Jason threw up braches and some of the tarp, it was pretty effective. With all the extra ply wood they used it to section off a small area on the ground for a fire and cooking area.
Will couldn’t have been happier about their job on the tree house. Even with the elevated home though, he still felt it could be safer. So he got to work on a fence plan. There was still a small pile of branches and they could always get more. That’s the idea he went with. Will instructed the other two boys on his make shift fence.
“This forest pretty dense, so I think if we get enough branches we can weave them through the trees around the house and form a pretty nice fence to keep things out.” He gave a little demonstration.
“Oh, it’s like that hut we tried to make on the river a while back.” Tyler smiled at the memory. It was the end of summer and they had been down on the river bed almost every day trying to build a fort. Then school started and their time was limited. In fact Tyler had almost forgotten it.
The fence was a hard job but after six long days of gathering and building it was done. They ran some tests on it, like throwing large rocks or running and jumping into it. The branches held strong and that was pleasing to Will. As for a way to get in and out, Tyler made two gates. One gate for a main entrance and a back gate, that led straight to a small clearing where Will hid the car. Izzy was especially happy that the tree house was done; her spot in the car was not so comfortable.
Will had been trying to keep track of the days; he assumed it had been a little more than two weeks since Christmas. Snow never stuck around for long in northwest Washington, maybe a drift here and there, but the ground was bare. The only thing that reminded you that it was winter was the cold.
“We missed new year’s eve.” Will said allowed that morning around the fire.
“Wow. It’s really 2013?” Tyler said in disbelief. “It doesn’t feel like it.”
Jason stood up. “We can still celebrate the new year!” He returned a few seconds later with bottles of soda.
They passed around the sweet bottles of pop, starring into the fire reminiscing on the once normal life.
“I think I’ll go hunting later.” Will said breaking the silence.
“I’ll join you.” Tyler said quickly.
“Jason, are you okay with…” Will began but was cutoff.
“Yeah no problem. She feels like my own sister, I’ll keep my eye on here.”
Will and Tyler left shortly after their canned breakfast. Will realized this would be the first time using his new arrows. Tyler was using a rifle; they weren’t too worried about making noise up on the mountain. In fact they hadn’t seen a zombie since the last trip they made for 2x4’s.
Tyler trailed Will as they quietly moved through the trees. The only sound to be heard was crunch of dead leaves under their feet. They found a good spot to sit and wait. Will knocked an arrow as he crouched down behind a fallen tree.
“How have you been doing?” Will whispered.
“Me? Oh, I’ve been fine. Actually I’ve been pretty cold.”
“No kidding, maybe the mountain wasn’t the best place to live in the winter.” Will said with a laugh.
“Probably not, but looks like we have some luck with us today.” Tyler lowered his voice as he pointed out into the forest. A small doe was slowly trudged through the underbrush.
“Alright I got this one.” Will brought the bow string back until his thumb touched the corner of his mouth. He waited a few more seconds and then released the tension. The arrow shot out of his hand and sped towards the deer. Will had aimed for the doe’s shoulder, but at the last seconded it jumped back. The cold metal tip sunk into its furry neck as a spray of blood shot out. Will watched as the deer let out a choked cry and fell to the ground. “Well, that works! Wonder what made it jump back?” Will jumped over the fallen tree they hadn’t taken refuge behind.
Something was off, Will could feel it. The approached their kill, a gust of wind rushed past them. It was the smell, that it, the smell was horrible.
“Let’s pack this thing back to the house.” Will said as we looked around the forest. He felt paranoid the whole way back, he couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Every quick motion of a leaf falling, every snap of a twig, Will flinched. This was not normal.
Will sat by the fire as Tyler skinned the dear. Now that he had time to think his mind drifted off. The smell, he recognized it. Originally he thought zombie, but that wasn’t it. Whatever it was, was still alive or so he hoped. His attention returned to Tyler and the deer.
“We should probably throw those insides far away from here.” Jason suggested. “Up here zombies might be our last problem”
“Did we bring any soap?” Tyler said holding up his blood stained hands.
“No, we don’t. Leave it to the teens to not be sanitary.” Will said sarcastically.
“It’s not even noon yet. Think we can make a quick trip to the store?” Tyler
asked.
“I think we are almost out of gas too.” Will put in.
“It’s a date!” Jason said loudly. Will and Tyler stared at him. “Not funny? I liked it.”
“We should start cooking this think before we leave.” Tyler pointed the bloody knife at the skinned deer.
“We can smoke some of the meat too!” Will added.
“Do you know how?” Tyler asked.
“I saw it on a TV show once.”
Tyler got out his butcher knives and chopped off some meat for Will’s experiment. While the deer roasted above the larger fire, Will made a smaller one with a grill like platform above it. He added leaves to make it smoke and then left it. The meat sat on the platform about three feet above the fire, as the smoke passed through the meat it slowly dried out.
They packed up the car with weapons and water and headed down the mountain. Will brought his bow instead of his revolver this time; he actually hadn’t used the .44 since the ply wood pick up. Besides he could use the practice, his aim wasn’t what it should be. His left hand fell off the steering and checked his side. The knife was hanging from his belt, good.
Will had driven down empty roads before, but it was sad knowing that he probably would never see someone drive past him ever again. The world he had known was gone, even with his friends he felt alone. He wondered if they felt the same way.

The store parking lot was the same as when they visited it last time. Tyler and Jason went in to grab supplies and Will started to siphon gas from the cars around them. He found though, that most of the cars were empty. Weird, he thought, you don’t exactly go to a store on empty. Eventually he filled up the gas can and returned to Izzy, who was playing in the car. Jason and Tyler walked out of the store as Will closed the cars back door. Tyler had a bag full of soap bottles and Jason carried two bottles of soda.
“Well the power is officially out, oh and Will, someone else has been in the store since we went in the first time.” Tyler said as he reached him.
“How can you tell?” Will asked.
“That zombie I killed, the body was dragged into the storage room.”
“And they took some of my soda!” Jason added in. His jaw dropped as his gaze moved past Will. “I think I have an Idea who it might be too!” Will looked where he was pointing. Three people were running down the other side of the street. Twenty feet behind them was a group of ten zombies, stumbling after their prey as fast as their legs would move. The tallest of the runners, a man, was turning every few seconds and firing a small pistol into the crowd of zombies. His companions looked to be two younger girls, maybe a year younger then Will, were running with fear painted across their faces.
“We’ve got to help them!” Tyler blurted out. Will continued to watch as he thought something up. As the man turned around to shot once more he saw Will and said something to the girls. Will didn’t know what he said but he had a good guess.
“No. No. No.” Will began to mumble. “Get in the car guys. Now!”
“Why? What’s wrong?” Jason asked.
“That idiot saw me and now he’s leading that hoard towards us!”
“Oh.” Jason said as he ran for the car door.
Will started the car and started to drive off.
“Will! What are you doing! We have to help them!” Tyler yelled.
“I know Tyler, just trust me.”
By now the man and his companions were already in the parking lot. Will turned the same isle as them. He put more pressure on the accelerator and charged towards the group and its attackers.
“Don’t you dare hit them Will!” Jason said, his knuckles white as he gripped the armrest. Will blocked everything out, adrenaline coursed through his body. The tall man pulled the girls out of path of the car. A few seconds later Will pulled up the emergency brake and turned the wheel. The car slid sideways forming a wall between the zombies and their new guests. Will rolled down his window.
“Get in! What are you waiting for?”
The man hesitated and then pushed the girls towards the car. Zombies slammed up against the new obstacle, scratching at the windows. With the door still open Will sped off down the road again. He wanted nothing else but to be back at the tree house.
Tyler and Izzy had moved to the back of the car once they had gotten down the road a ways. The newcomers sat in silence for a while. Even though Will wanted to get back to safety, there was no way he was going to expose their residence. He pulled over onto the side of the road and turned the car off. Once they were a good mile away. Will and Jason turned around in their seats and started at the new people. Neither of them recognized the trio and Everson was too small to not know everyone.
“Hi, I’m Will.” He held out his hand.
“I’m Kyle.” The man said quietly as he shook Will’s hand. “This is Kaitlin and Kristy.” Kyle looked to be in his early twenties and the girls looked about the same age will had guessed.
“You must be siblings, with the K’s and all?” Jason said.
“Well, nice to meet you.” Will paused. The girls still looked as I they were in shock. “I don’t think I’ve seen you guys around before?”
“No, you wouldn’t have. We were up here visiting my grandparents for Christmas. Then this… thing started.” Kyle waved his hands around in the air.
“What were you guys doing out there?” Tyler asked from the back.
“We went to that store… we were walking back and the came out from behind one of the other houses in the neighborhood.”
“Is the rest of your family still there?” Jason Asked.
“I’m not sure. Well… uh… I… our parents aren’t… anymore.”
Will stopped Kyle. “Hey, it’s okay, we understand. Why do you think it’s just us teenagers?” He added with a small laugh, with that Kyle returned with a sad smile.
Jason looked over at Will and whispered. “We should take them to their grandparents.”
“Yeah, yeah we will.” He responded quietly back, than looked back at the quests. “I’ll drive you guys back if you want?” Kyle could only nod in reply. Will started the car and turned it around. He hoped for the sake of these three peoples sanity, that their grandparents were still alive. Plus he wasn’t sure the tree houses food supply could handle three more mouths, but if they had to it wasn’t impossible.
Kyle guided them through the neighborhoods and Will, again, had that feeling of eerie loneliness. From where they sat in the car, Will could see no dangers. Well, serious dangers that is. He didn’t classify one lone zombie as a threat especially since it still wandered aimlessly in circles on the street.
“Okay, so I’ll go with Kyle inside, just to be safe. Jason, would you mind dealing with that thing?” Will pointed out into the road.
“My pleasure.” Jason said as he got out of the car. Tyler had given Jason his old machete to use as a melee weapon. He gave it couple experimental swings and walked off.
Will followed cautiously behind Kyle as they walked through the front door. Straight ahead was a living room area, off to the right, right before the living room was a kitchen. He checked there first, the kitchen was his favorite room so why not.
“Hello? Grandpa? Grandma? Is anyone here?” Kyle broke the silence.
They both entered the living room at the same time. It was dark since the power was out, but even darker due to the drawn shades. Will new that was a bad sign, then the smell reached him. His heart sunk, two silhouettes sat on the couch. Kyle moved to get a better view and sunk to his knees. On the coffee table in the middle of the room was a single sheet of paper. Will picked it up and held it close to his face.
Kyle.
If you are reading this, don’t let your sisters see us like this. We’re sorry.
Will passed the letter to kneeling figure of Kyle. He could tell that the young man was crying but let it be. Instead of interfering, he crossed the room to the windows. They were pretty large and there was a sliding glass door in the middle. Will drew back the currents and cursed silently. Well this explains why they committed suicide! As he stood there looking out the window on of the many zombies crowding the backyard saw him.
“Sorry to bother you at this difficult time, but we have to go.” Will regretted getting Kyle’s attention away from the floor, and for opening the window. Now that the room was illuminated, the horror was that much clearer. The wall behind the couch was splattered with blood and the couch was soaked.
The sound of glass braking behind Will brought Will away from the gruesome scene He spun around just in time to shove back the first intruder. The zombie stumbled backwards but was replaced by three more.
“Let’s go Kyle!” Will drug the crying man to his feet and they both raced to the door. Their progress was stopped by a tug on Kyle’s arm. Kyle let out a shout of surprise as a zombie pulled him in for the kill. Will didn’t even hesitate; he drew out his knife and sent it through the head of the zombie. Blood splashed across Kyle’s face as he flinched. Will grabbed him again and pulled him through the front door.
Jason saw the two of them come running out of the house and within a few seconds he had his pistol out. He opened his car door and covered Will and Kyle’s escape. Will wasted no time as he simultaneously started the car and shot his door. The group of pursuing zombies was left in a cloud of burnt rubber.
As they sped away, Kristy and Kaitlin started worriedly asking questions like: “Where are grandpa and grandma?” and “Are they okay.” Kyle ignored them and stared out his window. Will felt like the girls deserved to know what happened to their grandparents, so he told the truth.
“They’re dead. They… uh… they committed suicide.” It was harder to say then Will had anticipated. Tears began to streak down both the girl’s eyes. Will kept his eyes ahead and reminded himself of the new world they lived in.

After about a week, the newest group members seemed to be getting back to normal mood. They started helping around the camp and doing day-to-day things. Will had notice that Tyler had taken a liking to Kristy. He had recently found that Kristy was Tyler’s age, and surprisingly, Kaitlin was almost two years younger. Will could have sworn they were twins by how similar they looked. Tyler had always found jobs close to what Kristy was doing and they talked almost non-stop. It made Will happy that at least some of them could still find happiness in this dark world. Although Tyler wasn’t the only who enjoyed the new female company. Izzy loved having other girls around. Will noticed that Izzy had been following them around and trying to copy things they did.
The only joy Will found was in his deer jerky. The experiment had succeeded and it actually didn’t taste half bad. Everyone carried pieces around to help with the small rations they got for meals.
The fire was warm as they were all gathered around it eating dinner. Tyler, of course, was sitting next to Kristy. He was whispering something in her ear. Will needed to keep his eye on those two. A lively conversation started between Kyle, Jason, and himself, about the best NFL team. It turned out they were all avid sports fans.
“No, no, no” Will began. “Packers are way better than the Jets.”
“He’s right Kyle, I’ve seen high school teams better than them!” Jason said with a chuckle.
“Oh, whatever. I like them and that’s all that matters.” Kyle crossed his arms and made a mock frown.
Tyler hadn’t really been following the conversation, but he did know it was a good time to sneak off with Kristy. He had strategically picked the spot by the fire that was closets to the gate. They slipped out into the cold open forest.
“Come on.” Tyler led Kristy farther away from the tree house.
“Don’t get us lost out here.” Kristy was peering around in the black night. Everyone had stayed up later than usual tonight. The moon had already left the sky and clouds covered the stars. Tyler found a nice spot under a tree and that’s where they stopped.
Back at the fire, something was tugging at the back of his mind. He ignored it and continued the distracting conversation.
“Kyle, Kobe will never, ever be as good as Jordan was.” Jason was saying.
“Durant or LeBron, maybe.” Will suggested.
“Ok yeah, I can see that happening.”
“You guys are impossible.” Kyle complained. Kaitlin had been keeping Izzy company as the ‘men’ talked. She looked up when she noticed their conversation was over. A frown started forming on her face.
“Where are Tyler and Kristy?”
Will jumped to his feet, that’s what had been bothering him! He looked around the fire and cursed. Tyler’s knife was laying down by the log. He climbed into the tree house and grabbed the closest gun. His last choice by far, the .44 was in arm’s length but he didn’t want to waste time. Kyle already had the gate open and he followed Will out into the wilderness.
------------------------------------
Tyler and Kristy laid under the tree. A twig snapped in the darkness that made Kristy jump. She grabbed Tyler’s arm. “What was that?” She couldn’t keep her voice steady.
“Probably a raccoon, just ignore it.”
Another snap, this time it was closer. “Tyler…” The fear was clear in her voice. Tyler sighed and got up to look around. He squinted trying to see into the dark void. He caught some movement and guessed it to be about twenty feet away. Then the moaning and growling started. Tyler turned as fast as he could and lifted Kristy up.
“Run! Straight that way, you’ll run right into the camp.” Tyler pushed her off into the right direction and she took off. He then reached down to his side expecting to withdraw his knife. “Man, you guys choose the worst time to attack!”
Tyler reached out for the first useable thing. He compared it to fishing in his mind. His hand moved around in the darkness, his fingers curled around something. He cursed as it came into sight. “A twig, that’s what you give me?” He scolded his hand. A moan sounded right behind Tyler. Twig in hand he turned and thrust the twig right into the eye of the zombie. The attacker dropped to the ground while Tyler stared at the twig in disbelief.
Two more zombies remained. This time Tyler sent a uppercut motion, jamming his trusty weapon up the nose of the decaying dead. Again the zombie dropped to the ground, but the twig went with it. Tyler dropped down and started to pull on the stick as hard he could. The third and finally zombie was getting closer.
----------------------------------
Will raced through the forest towards the sounds moaning and the battle cries of Tyler. From what Kristy was saying through gasps for breath, he needed Will’s help. He only prayed he wasn’t too late. The cold air stung Will’s face as ran.
Two figures stood in the darkness. The one he assumed was Tyler, took down the other. What was he doing, ripping its face off? Then Will saw the third zombie, he brought out his gun and took aim. Blocking out his past failures, he took a breath.
It all happened at once. Tyler pulled the twig out and began to stand as Will fired his gun. The bullet passed close to Tyler’s head and exploded through the zombie’s. Will watched as Tyler flinched and looked at what would have been his demise, then to where Will stood.
“Hey buddy, thanks for the help there.” Tyler waved and noticed he was holding his makeshift weapon still. “You were good to be, but we must part ways.” He dropped the twig and walked back to the tree house with Will.
It was well past midnight when everyone settled down into their piles of blankets. “We should really get some mattresses up here” Jason mumbled as he drifted off. Will fell asleep thinking of soft beds and warm houses, but his mind didn’t stay on the topic long. His dreams were invades by nightmares. People screaming and dying, zombies crowding him, and losing Izzy, was the sum of his night. The last one was the most interesting though.
Will found himself in the woods, the same spot where he shot the deer with Tyler a week ago. He vaguely remembered the smell, he had recognized it. In the dream Tyler was trying to get his attention. Will looked to wear Tyler was pointing. A monstrous bear was lumbering towards them, he tried to move his feet but he was frozen in place. The bear crashed into him and he sat up, wide awake. He knew what the smell was now.
A few years ago on a hunting trip with his dad, they had stumbled across a bear eating a small deer. The smell of it was rank, bear and dead dear did not mix well. Will wasn’t too worried about it though, he just had to make sure to not make it mad if he happened to meet it.
Will checked his watch; it was a nice gift to have received. He hadn’t used a watch much until now. It was six in the morning; soon a sliver of light would appear on the horizon. Quietly, he moved out of the tree house and down to the cold ashes of the fire. A small pile of wood sat under the tree house on the dry ground. Will threw some cut pieces into the pit and laid some tinder under it. It took a few tries to get the lighter going, but after that the area around the fire began to warm.
Will sat and watched the sun rise up over the trees. No one would be awake for a while. It had been a long night, especially for Kristy. He wondered if she had managed to fall asleep. Will moved the wood around in the growing fire. The crackle and snapping of the fire filled the air. Then a louder sound drowned it out. Will stood up, he knew what it was, a truck. A very loud truck at that. He climbed up into the tree house and looked out over the fence. The truck stopped in the open and blocked their only escape route. This wasn’t looking good or them. Will woke the others from their deep sleep.
“Kristy and Kaitlin, take Izzy and hide behind the trees. Tyler, grab the guns…” Will started on his orders.
“The M4’s?” Tyler asked with an excited smile.
“Yes, the M4’s.” He turned to Jason. “You and Tyler will come out with me. There are five it looks like, but let’s not show all of us right now. Kyle, stay here with one of the rifles, cover our backs.” Kyle nodded and turned around. “And Kyle, if something goes wrong, get everyone out of here.” Will took a deep breath, he was nervous.
Everyone did what Will told them. The three boys went out to meet the new visitors. Will had been right, five men were standing outside of the truck.
“Greetings, mountain dwellers!” One of the men said. Will recognized the voice.
“Who are you and what do you want?” Will yelled to them.
The man stepped closer. “Wait one darn second. I know you guys, you were the ones who stuck guns in our faces!”
“Then it would be in your best interest to go back to where you came from.” Will challenged.
“Oh no, we won’t be doing that. See, we were going to kindly relieve whoever fired that gun last night, of all his or her supplies. But I don’t think we will be kind now.” He looked around at his grubby companions.
Will brought his gun up. “I don’t think that’s a good Idea.” He was met by four guns pointing back at him.
“You don’t have a say in this, kid. So just...” Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by a gunshot, and then a scream of pain from one of his men. Four guns aimed towards the tree house and fired. Tyler was the first to fire out of the three boys. Will shot at the enemies assumed leader, hitting him in the right shoulder. Jason dove behind a stump and made a kill shot, making the battle in their favor. The initial battle was over. Everyone was now hiding behind a stump or fallen tree. Will could hear the girls screaming inside the fence, he knew Kyle had been shot. He risked a look from behind the stump, three men lay on the ground. One was dead for sure, the leader was still alive, but he wasn’t sure about the first one that fell. Another shot sounded from the tree house. Will looked back, Kaitlin had picked up the rifle and was firing at who knows what. One of the attackers stood up from behind a stump and fired at Kaitlin. Tyler stood up too and returned fire, killing the man where he stood. His body stiffened and a few more bullets shot out. Will’s confidence grew; one guy left.
The opposite feelings were pouring into the last capable attacker. Beads of sweat rolled down his face. He looked at the truck, the driver side door was still open. His hope began to rise. He picked his gun back up and took a few deep breaths. Firing blindly as he ran across the open space between the truck and log.
Will and Jason saw the movement and shot back. One of their bullets clipped his left leg and brought him to the ground. Tyler raced forward and kicked the gun out of reach.
Blood covered the section of road around the truck. Will and Tyler walked around the battle ground while Jason secured the prisoners. The leader was still alive, lucky for him the bullet passed cleanly through. He winced as Jason tightened the rope around his hands. Tyler tied them all so a tree using a steel chain he found in the truck. After they felt the prisoners were dealt with they rushed back to the tree house.
Bullet holes were splattered on the wall of the house. Inside Kaitlin and Kristy were kneeling next to Kyle’s lifeless body. Tears were flowing down both of their cheeks. Will noticed or the first time that Jason’s arm was bleeding.
“Jason, your arm, its bleeding!”
“Ah! Jeez! I didn’t notice.” He lifted up his sleeve and let out a sigh of relief. “Just a graze.”
“Guys! Kaitlin is bleeding too!” Tyler yelled. Kristy looked over at her sister and lifter up her shirt. A single bullet lodged itself in her lower stomach. Tyler had raced over to her. “It didn’t pass through. We have to try to get it out!” He continued to yell at the others.
“Tyler…” Will was shaking his head. “We wouldn’t know what we were doing. It could just cause more pain.” After he said that Kaitlin went into shock. Kristy cradled her sister in her arms.
“Will, what’s wrong?” It was Izzy, she was still down behind the tree.
“It’s nothing Izzy.” Will jumped out of the house to go meet her. “Let’s go sit by the fire.”

An hour later Will and Izzy were joined at the fire by Jason. Will looked up at him and knew immediately that Kaitlin was gone. He stared into the fire, what a horrible world they lived in. The sat around the dying fire in silence for what felt like hours. Tyler disturbed their silence as he came out of the house.
“She wanted to be alone.” He sat down next to Jason.
“I should go check on the prisoners.” Jason got up and headed towards the gate. A scream pierced the air. “What was that?”
“It was Kristy!” Tyler was in the tree house before he finished the sentence. Will followed close behind.
As soon as he entered, Will knew the day could not get any worse. Kristy sat up against the wall, blood running down her neck. Kyle was no longer laying on his back. The zombie version of the man, was feasting on his dead sisters body. Will hesitated and then shot into Kyle’s head. He had to remind himself that that was no longer Kyle. A cough came from behind them, Kristy was spew blood everywhere.
“I… told him n… not to touch… the rock.” She sputtered out.
“What did she say?” Jason asked.
“I don’t know.” Will turned to Tyler and Whispered. “You know what we have to do…”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll do it.” Tyler interrupted. He pulled out his pistol and met Kristy’s eyes. A single tear streaked down his face as he pulled the trigger.