Chapter 4

Present Day

The next morning I started my day out with some thought. Before the tv stations had gone off the air, there had been some statistics on the news. Somehow there were numbers given of 95% communicability and 95% fatality rate. So effectively that meant practically everyone who got sick died. Knowing that Killeen was a good sized area told me there should still be several thousand survivors spread out amongst the city. Logic would say that of those who survived the disease, there would be many more who hadn’t made it the 2 months time past the majority of the deaths we were currently at.

A person having immunity to the superflu didn’t mean they weren’t suffering from other similar problems. Accidents were also bound to happen, plus some just may not have the chance to live; a young kid whose family had died for example. There would also almost have to be those who would use this to their advantage. The lawless types who would feel more free with society collapsing. Sure, I could continue to bunker down and see what happened, but I was starting to think I had an obligation to at least see what was out there, didn’t I?

With that in mind I started my preparation that morning. Even though the truck had a half tank of gas I topped it off from my storage tank. I kept the things I already had stored of course. 20 gallons of gas, 2 boxes of MREs, the water can, clothes, a first aid kit, toolbox, and my crates of 5.56mm and 9mm ammo. I was starting to think of that load as my SOP for leaving the cabin.

Unlike the end of the world movies, I was no superhero who could defeat any enemy. I had to plan smartly and take calculated risks, I knew what it was like to not only be shot at but to actually be shot and I definitely didn’t want that happening without a Blackhawk medevac chopper on standby. I couldn’t even take myself to the ER after all. With that in mind I made a mental note to only go into town while wearing my plate carrier. Sure, it added about 20 pounds when carrying it, but the plates could help protect vital organs. There was also the added benefit of it giving me places to secure magazines, a knife, and a small first aid kit and have them easily accessible.

The unfortunate part about wanting to carry a combat load on me is it forced me to wear the plate carrier over my clothes, making it easily visible to people. But considering I would be carrying an AR-15 assault rifle with ACOG scope, I wasn’t exactly going for subtlety. I was going for effective. I didn’t want to be thought of as the sheep going out, I didn’t have it in me. In certain scenarios looking like the wolf rather than the sheep was a deterrent in itself. If I could make someone run by my visible armaments all the better. I was not going out unarmed into potential enemy territory. As much as I hated to admit to myself, my mind was going through the same preparations it did when I had gone into battle years ago.

As I drove into the city of Killeen proper I couldn’t help a morbid thought: unlike in tv shows or movies when people sicken and die over weeks they don’t just leave vehicles stuck on the road abandoned. They actually drive themselves either home or to the hospital for help or to die ... mostly.

As I drove I kept the windows down and my speed down as well. Similarly to when I used to hunt I kept my eyes scanning the area around me. I left the radio off - there was nothing but static on it anyway- but also didn’t use my phone for music, either. This wasn’t a weekend fun drive, afterall.

One disadvantage to making this drive during the day was that I couldn’t visibly tell any houses or areas that may have had power. If they did it would show they were either on a generator or had solar power like my cabin. The city itself was fairly spread out, at regular road speeds you could drive main roads for 20 minutes or more and still be in Killeen, especially depending on the specific parts of the city. Harker Heights, Belton, Temple, and Copperas Cove were also all close cities with Harker Heights and Copperas Cove being the cities adjacent to Killeen.

I would definitely not be going regular speeds though, it would defeat the purpose since I’d blow by anything potentially going on. Instead I felt like I was creeping along doing about 20 mph. I decided to stick with downtown as a start point. It made sense to me that if someone was struggling they might try to scavenge from some of the stores along the frontage road just off the freeway. I wasn’t sure what would be around to scavenge several months after most people were gone. Walmart and HEB (that’s Texan for grocery store) I was sure would have been pretty picked over by now.

You know how in the movies the hero just manages to find where they are supposed to go in their first stop so they can rescue the damsel in distress? Yeah ... real life isn’t like that. I drove around for about 2 hours without anything more unusual than a cat running across Business 190. Shortly after that though things would change.

I had made it up to drive along Rancier and on a whim decided to turn into the shopping plaza that had Subway and Little Caesars. Nothing of note so far, but the buildings did have a right angle turn to the left along with some space between them as it went. That was when I heard it, a high pitched scream. Definitely female and the end of it cut off in a muffled silence. Something was preventing her from screaming more.

Jamming my foot onto the gas the powerful engine of the pickup roared to life and lunged forward. The scream had come from a space between the buildings. Pulling up at the end of it I angled the truck so that the truck itself gave me cover and some concealment. Throwing the door open I leaped out carrying my rifle in my right hand. Looking down the alley I could see two men struggling with a woman. None of the three looked to have been doing well even before this. Dirty clothes and unkempt hair, the woman with a ripped shirt, although that was unfortunately very fresh and spoke to the intent of the two men. The bigger of the two had a knife in his right hand and despite the noise of the truck his attention was too focused to have noticed me. The same could also be said for his partner. The girl though was a different story.

Her struggles renewed and she evidently bit the hand of Mr Knife as he pulled it away. “Help me!” the woman screamed out. Before Mr Knife could do more I set up across the hood of my truck, rifle pointed towards the group.