The Hunt (3 page)

As he continued to search through the house, it occurred to him that the second story upstairs balcony porch would be the ideal spot to set up his blind.  It was located on the end of the house facing the open field. It gave an excellent view of the surrounding area.  He would bait the field next to the house and take that monster out.  That is… if he could figure out how to not get eaten today.  

By this time it was mid afternoon and Marcus was ready to get back to the safety of the canopy.  He needed to capture a deer to stake out in the middle of the field but he could do that inside the canopy without worrying about becoming someone’s lunch.  He went back to the kitchen and packed some of the more favorable foodstuffs in his backpack.  As he was packing one of the packages, his mouth started watering like a faucet. He hadn’t had a crème horn in forever. His mom had always usually bought some for him and his siblings whenever she stopped at the grocery store.  Supper was going to be great tonight.

While investigating the house, he located the security center for the house. He was surprised that the house hadn’t been locked up tight. Most of the houses he had found that way ended up having a nice rotting corpse to go along with it.  Apparently these people had been away and just forgot to lock it down or it had malfunctioned. Using his electronic/computer skills he learned from his mother, Marcus reset the security system and reprogrammed it with his favorite password and headed to the front door.  As he headed out the front door, he realized that he had made a bad mistake.  When he thought that he had muted the alarm before, in actuality, he had inadvertently turned the array completely off.  The small screen of the array was black.  That was not a good thing. Nervous now, he quickly turned on the switch and waited for the array to power on and sweep the area.  As soon as the array began the sweep…

“Warning, Warning, Warning” blared the array.  It was extremely loud.  Whatever it was; it was almost on top of him. Without hesitation or taking time to locate the danger, Marcus gunned it full throttle and shot back toward the field. Luckily he had moved just in time.  The giant saber tooth had crashed through the underbrush and had launched itself into the air and had landed exactly where Marcus was a split second before.  The cat quickly adjusted, turned on a dime, and was only a breath away from Marcus as they sped across the field.  Marcus thought about turning on the shield but that would slow him down enough to be caught by the saber tooth.  The saber-tooth was extremely fast and he was barely staying ahead of it.  He knew the shield would handle the initial assault by the cat but if the cat kept coming, he was toast.  So instead, Marcus continued full throttle toward the woods on the far side of the field. 

The problem now was what would happen when he reached them. He didn’t drive on a path into the field to get here: he had gone slowly through the densely packed forest.  As he noted before, this was a secluded place and he wasn’t sure how to actually get into it.  The location where he entered the field was so overgrown that he knew he couldn’t drive very fast going that way.  He could see that the edge of the clearing was fast approaching and although he had moved ahead of the beast, it would be on him the second he slowed. He decided to swing it wide right and make a large circle so maybe he could keep the cat behind him.  At the last second as he was starting to swing it around, he noticed another clearer yet overgrown trail coming in behind a small dip in the field that he hadn’t seen before.  Although there were small saplings throughout the trail, most shouldn’t be a problem for the ATV.  He rocketed through the camouflaged entry way and down the trail.  Although close, the saber tooth cat was tiring and as they went deeper down the overgrown trail, finally slowed and stopped.  Marcus slowed the bike somewhat but kept the speed at a steady clip to put as much distance as he could between him and the cat.  He continued down the trail for over two miles.  It twisted and turned and went up and down several ridges.  The trail finally led out of the forest and he was running along the edge of the mountain.  From here he recognized the area and it didn’t take him long to find the main road and head back to his compound.  In about an hour he was rolling through the edge of the canopy and breathing easier.  That had been close.  Too close.  If he had been two seconds later, the saber-tooth would be picking little bits of Marcus Rainwater out of his teeth. 

Chapter 4

Today had been too close for comfort.  His dad had taught him to always be alert and not let his guard down.  He had let his guard down today and had almost paid the price for it.  After that kind of close call, he really wasn’t in the mood to capture one of the deer, but as long as that monster was in the area, it would always be a major concern.  He traveled frequently out of the canopy for hunting and supplies and he needed to eliminate this threat.  He checked his watch and it was around four o’clock so he knew he had a couple of hours before the deer would become more active.  Time enough for him to set up his snare and go back to the main house for a much needed supper plus…. Crème horns… He hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and his hunger was overwhelming.  After getting his favorite snare from the outbuilding, Marcus went back to the compound, took his 700 out of the boot and went into the house.  He dropped all his gear on the couch and then took his back pack over to the kitchen table and began to unload the goodies. He had loaded about ten boxes into his pack and he had them spread over the kitchen table. 

“Jocelyn, query.”

“You rang?” spoke the fake feminine deep voiced reply.

“Have you been watching old movies again?” he chuckled.

“Yes, Marcus, you told me to familiarize myself with the media, past and present, so I could better ascertain your queries and give a more accurate answer.  You said that they would help humanize my responses.”

He joked, “Well I wouldn’t put The Adams Family on my ‘must see TV’ list and Lurch is not exactly someone you should pattern yourself after. Anyway… statistically speaking… which animal located currently in this general area would be more likely to tempt a ferocious carnivore into attacking?”  Marcus had been rethinking his decision to trap a deer and stake it out on his killing field.

“Statistically speaking, for a large predator such as this saber tooth cat, a cow would be the most likely to draw its attention. Preferably a young adolescent heifer that is still nursing his mother.”

Marcus was still savoring one of the chocolaty peanut butter candy bars as she spoke.  It almost brought a tear to his eye.  Like his mother, his dad would surprise him and his siblings with whatever candy bar he could find from whatever country he was currently deployed in.  His dad was gone a lot of the time but when he was home, he made it a point to try and make up for everything his children missed. 

Marcus was jolted back to reality with Jocelyn abruptly asking, “Any further queries Marcus?”

He paused for a moment and began to think on her answer.  No way was he giving up one of his prized cows.  They were way too valuable.  They provided milk and on occasion, when his little herd would grow, they would provide beef.  It was then that something occurred to him.

“Yes, Jocelyn.  How would a goat rank statistically for a situation such as this?”

“Based on the animals located in this area, statistically they would be ranked number two.  They tend to be loud, obtrusive, and active.”

There must have been a farm in the area loaded with these before the virus hit.  He saw them on an almost daily basis. Yesterday was unusual in the fact that there hadn’t been a barrier entry by goats.  They weren’t afraid of him like most of the deer were. He had often thought about setting up some pasture for them and keeping them.  Once the dinosaurs had fully migrated to the area, they probably wouldn’t last long. Anyway, just because there weren’t any entries didn’t mean they weren’t there. It was very well possible that there were some inside the compound that hadn't left. 

“Jocelyn, please do a sweep of the compound and let me know if there are any goats present.”

“Yes Marcus, there is currently a small herd of ten in the northwest corner of the compound.”

“Jocelyn, command four; code green; prevent barrier exits for goats for the next forty-eight hours. Save. “

“Action initiated.  Goat exits from the compound are restricted for the next 48 hours.  Any further commands Marcus?”

“No. That will be all.” Marcus grinned. It shouldn’t be a problem to locate one in the morning and tranquilize it, stake it out, and wait on his prey.

Now that his plan was settled and on track, he could concentrate on his job at hand.  “This looks good” he quipped.  He tore open another container. Instantly there was a chemical reaction and the container frosted over on the outside. It was one of his favorites.  Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.  It was smooth and creamy and tasted like a dream.  So many years.  He had tried to replicate it using some recipes that he had found but ingredients were scarce and he ended up with a sloppy, gooey, and tasteless mess.  He took the rest of the containers and put them on the counter in the kitchen and then took his ice cream and stretched out in his recliner. 

“TV: News reel Thirteen Hundred.  Title: The Beginning of the End. Start.”

Immediately the large screen TV came to life. The video started with a female news anchor setting behind the news desk reading her news release.  She was wearing a surgical mask and rubber gloves on her hands.

“This is Laura Sebring with Channel Nine News. I apologize for my appearance but with the recent outbreak of the N47Q virus, we at Channel Nine News feel the need to take every precaution.  Reports have been coming in every fifteen minutes from Europe, where the virus started.  These reports have been scattered and spotty at best.  By the last count we had, over 750,000,000 people have died in Europe from the virus.  Based upon the analysis that they have available, scientists are saying that the virus has an almost 98% kill ratio.  Already in the United States, estimates are that over 150,000,000 people have succumbed to the virus. We at Channel Nine are afraid that this may very well be our last broadcast….”

Marcus’ mind drifted off as he continued slowly eating the ice cream and watching the broadcast.  Yes, it was their last broadcast.  The people that weren’t dead were staying at home or leaving the city in droves but it didn’t really matter.  They died anyway.  He was only thirteen. He had been there when the calls came to his parents that his brother and sister had died.    They were in the military overseas at the time.  Then he had watched his mother and his father die. All the while, he was unaffected. So basically he had been alone for the last five years. He had travelled everywhere and seen a little bit of everything.  He had met other survivors before but most of them were stark raving mad.  It’s hard to deal with a situation of this magnitude and most didn’t.  For some reason, it always seemed like the cutthroats, thieves, and general thugs seemed to gravitate to each other.  There were these nasty bands of renegades that normally just added to the chaos and all of that doesn’t include the prehistoric creatures that roamed the countryside now.  It’s a wonder he ever survived being as young as he was.  His dad had always said that an apocalyptic event like the virus was imminent, so from the age he could walk his dad had taught him how to survive. If it wasn’t for his parents and what they taught him…  His father was a weapons specialist in the military and ever since he was old enough to hold up a gun, his father had one in his hand teaching him to use it.  He trained in every fighting technique imaginable.  While other boys were playing football, baseball, or basketball, he was learning to kick, punch, and guard.  His mother was a computer expert.  Did that exclude her from his training?  No way. In the middle of what his father was teaching him, she was teaching him advanced programming and circuitry. It wasn’t just him of course; his siblings received the same training and Marcus figured that was why they naturally moved to the military upon graduation. He was probably headed in the same direction but the opportunity never arrived. 

His attention focused again on the screen.  Laura was explaining that due to deaths and widespread absentees that almost eighty percent of functional systems in the United States were running on automation.  His mind drifted again.  If this had of happened thirty years ago, the planet would have been sent back to the Stone Age.  The old power grids had been replaced.  Most houses ran off solar power and the grids were basically nonexistent except in your inner cities. All data had been transferred to satellites that had a lifespan of a hundred years.  All the technology was still available but there weren’t many that could use it anymore.  Marcus took another bite of ice cream. He decided to go outside and sit on his front porch swing.

“TV: off.”  The screen immediately went black.  He took his ice cream outside and sat down in the front porch swing.  He was looking at the lake across the way.  It was a picturesque setting.  The sun was just going down, sinking into the horizon just beyond the lake.  There was only the slight rustling of leaves as a gentle wind came through.  Of all the things he had seen, heard, and felt since the outbreak, he thought this was one of the hardest things to get adjusted to.  It was the silence and loneliness that he dealt with day in and day out.  He still tried to listen to his ham radio every chance he got.  He wanted to talk to some of the people he heard but his fear of being discovered in his little fortress usually overrode that.  The news had said that the virus had a 98% percent kill ratio but Marcus felt it was more like 99% or more.  There were people out there but they were few and far between.  He tried to make Jocelyn more human but it wasn’t near the same.  Living alone in this situation tended to make you a hard person but sometimes the loneliness was just overwhelming.  He had considered leaving his little safe haven in search of others but he couldn’t talk himself into it yet.  The last vestige of the sun slipped below the gentle waves of the lake and the sky began to rapidly darken.  He ate the last of the ice cream and placed the container on the floor.  He took a large pillow and stretched out in the swing and was gently rocked to sleep.  He woke up a couple of hours later shivering from the cold.  The temperature had dropped from a comfortable 72 degrees to 58 degrees.  Marcus could tell that the fall weather was coming and it would be in full swing before long.  He picked up the container, went into the house, and went to bed.