"The Center Pointe" Chapter 3

Chapter 3

          In the first days of Nibiru’s arrival Karen Rich and Brian stayed in the house unsure of what to do.  The emergency system never responded to the catastrophe outside and it was useless to attempt to go anywhere since the car stopped working.  Touching anything metal resulted in a static shock so all three took to wearing gloves around the house.  Karen’s meds were running out  and the food had just run out, it was only a matter of time before the three knew they would have to venture out into this new world to try and find help and meds.  Rich and Brian had begun scavenging local debris for food and weapons, it had become obvious after the failure of emergency crews to respond that no help was coming and the three were on their own.

          On the fifth day hunger began to set in and the decision was made to vacate the house and go out in search of supplies and a safe haven where Karen could be treated by doctors for her condition.  If she were to have a flare up of her crohn’s disease now there was a good chance without treatment it could kill her. 

          They wandered for days not knowing where they were going.  They found only death wherever they went.  Travel was agonizingly slow because they could only walk.  They had decided to head to the closest hospital in hopes to find doctors but navigating the destruction that had spread across the planet made progress difficult.  With each passing day Karen’s meds dwindled and their hunger grew.

          “How much further do we have to go?” Karen said who now was having a difficult time keeping pace with the two stronger men.  “It’s been like three days, I don’t know how much further I can go.”

          Rich waited for her to catch up.  “It will be okay we’re almost there, we’re about three miles from the hospital.”

          “How do you even know anyone will be there, we haven’t seen another person since we left the house, for all we know we’re the last people on the planet.”  Karen said now regressing to a childlike wine to pull at the heartstrings of her husband.

          Rich could not help but smile to himself; he knew that her whining would only fuel her stubborn nature and push her onward to their destination.  When he had Karen under control he stepped up beside Brian who had stopped behind a tree and was peering at something in the distance.  “What is it?”

          “Don’t know.  I think there is movement about a mile down the road but I can’t tell from here if it’s human or animal.”  Brian then reached in his jacket pocket and produced a hunting knife he owned.  It would usually have been used for cleaning deer or fish but now was the trio’s only line of defense.  In this new world everyone was suspect and no one could be trusted.

          “Let’s try and sneak closer and see if we can get a better view so we’re not running headlong into an ambush.”  Rich said drawing Karen close to him.

          “All right but let’s take it slow no sense in being stupid and getting ourselves killed.  We can sneak along the trees there is a grouping of burned out vehicles we can hide behind about a hundred yards from them, we can get a better look at the situation from there.”  Said Brian as he began to depart from the road into the trees and brush that lined the streets.  Karen and Rich followed close behind.

          It took about an hour to sneak the mile to the moving forms but at last they had taken up position behind the burned out cars without being noticed.  About ten minutes before Brian had gotten a good enough look to tell that the figures were indeed people so they should be very careful about revealing themselves before they were able to determine if it was safe.

          With great care Rich and Brian took up position at the front most car with Karen staying a few cars back or safety.  The two took their time before standing just enough to peer at the people that now were only a few feet from them.  Karen watched the pair for a while before they finally squatted  back down looking at each other quizzically then slowly and quietly making their way back to Karen who had become very impatient from the waiting at this point.

“What did you two see?  Is it safe?”  She said her impatience very evident in her speech.

          Rich was the first to reply.  “I’m not sure what we saw, they are people but they’re nude and running around like animals.”  He said just kind of sitting up against an old forest green Ford Taurus they had taken refuge behind.  “I’m not sure what to think but it's obvious that if they were to notice us they would not be friendly.”

          “I don’t know if we can sneak around them.”  Said Brian drawing his knife from his pocket.

          Karen just looked at him as if seeing him for the first time.  “You can’t mean what your suggesting Brian.”  she said with fear in her eyes for the realization had now just crept over her at the things the three of them might have to do just to survive in this new world.  In her life it had never occurred to her that she might have to cause anyone injury or even death just to survive, and now that she was faced with this new reality she was sure she was not ready to have to take that plunge.

          Instead of Brian responding to her inquiry it was Rich who made the first comment.  “Karen.”  He said putting his hand on her shoulder attempting to comfort her.  “We must do whatever we can to survive, there will be many people and animals that we may come across that would require us to kill them in order to survive, up until now we weren’t sure if there was even anyone left alive but now that we can see that there is, we have to be ready to fight or run or even kill depending on the situation.  We have to be ready for this if we want to survive.”  He then took his wife in his arms and hugged her as her eyes began to tear up.

“I don’t want this world Richard, I just want to wake up in our bed with you beside me, and I want this all to be a bad dream.”

          Just then Brian turned and hushed the pair.  “Shh, there’s one snooping around here.” his blade was at the ready.  The three could see in a cracked rear view mirror the person sniffing around where they were hiding.  It was a woman if you could call it that.  She was nude with cuts and scrapes over her entire body.  Her skin was a very pale grey color and although it was cold out she looked as though she were sweating.  Her movements were less human and more animal.  She moved around in quick jerking motions and looked to be easily excitable.  It was like her humanity had been stripped and just the animal side was left.

          The trio sat in hushed awe as this creature moved in and out of the cars right near where they were hiding  Brian had the knife at the ready should they be discovered and she proved hostile.  Closer and closer the creature inched toward them as if smelling them.  Every time the creature touched something metal you could see small exchanges of electricity.  The trio noticed that it extended beyond the mere static electricity that they would experience when touching metal. The current was almost fluid or plasma like and seemed to emanate from the creature instead of coming from the metal.

          As the woman got closer Karen tightly shut her eyes and covered her ears as the two men braced themselves for what they surely thought was going to be a fight.  They looked at each other with knowing eyes; they wanted to take her down quickly so as not to alert the two bigger male creatures she had been with.  Rich separated himself slightly from Brian to corner her and prevent an escape then the two waited for the inevitable.

          Just as she was about to round the corner the silence was broken by a blood curdling scream that brought the female to frenzy and she rushed off back to the other two males.  Rich and Brian quickly rose a bit above the car in order to see what was happening.  The sight that caught them was one of pure horror.  The two males had cornered a small group of people.  They looked to be a family.  There was a male a female and a small boy and girl.  Rich and Brian looked on as the father was trying to ward off the two males with a baseball bat while the mother hugged the two children in close to her body.  He was swinging in long and powerful hits trying to fend off the attackers.  The female creature came rushing in tackling the man and causing him to stiffen as if shocked by a jolt of electricity, he lost his grip on the bat sending it rolling out of reach.  Now disarmed, the man fell to the ground as the three creatures swarmed him and began tearing at his flesh like animals, the wife and children began screaming for help but by the time Rich and Brian were able to make it close enough to them they stopped short.  The creatures made quick work of the family, all four were dead before Rich and Brian had a chance to move even fifty yards.  To their horror the creatures began feeding on the flesh of the poor family, a sight that made Rich turn his head and vomit as they again dropped out of sight behind the line of vehicles.

          The two quickly made their way back to Karen who was hunched over shielding herself from the dark reality they had just encountered.  Rich and Brian came and sat beside her staring at each other not being able to say a word about what they just saw.  All the trio could hear was the cracking of bones and the tearing of flesh as the creatures fed on the family.  All Brian and Rich could feel was remorse that they had not been able to help them. 

          After about an hour of the feeding frenzy the air became still and the grunts of the creatures faded off in the distance.  The trio slowly made their way to the scene of the attack, they had wanted to avoid it but there was no other way to get to the hospital other than through the carnage.  Rich tried to shield Karen from the scene but when they came upon it she tore he eyes from his hand in order to catch a glimpse of what had occurred.  Before Rich could again shield her it was too late and she had taken it all in.  Her first response was to vomit her second was to fall to the ground sobbing.  You could not tell there had even been people there.  The scene looked like nothing but chunks of flesh and blood, like a deer battered by a semi-truck on the highway, there was no way to even make out where one body began and the other ended

          “I don’t understand what’s happening!” said Karen sobbing on the ground trying not to look at the grotesque scene.

“I don’t know.”  Rich responded solemnly.  “One thing is for sure, if we run into those things again its kill first before they kill us.”

          “Did you see what happened when she touched the guy?” said Brian who after all this time still had a death grip on the hunting knife he had brought for defense.  “It was like when she touched him she had discharged electricity to incapacitate him.  Man! If they even touch us were as good as dead.”

          Rich looked at the scene then back to his companions.  “We need guns.  We need to be able to fight these things from a distance.  For the time being just grab something long to keep them at bay.  If we run into them again, Brian you keep them distracted and I’ll use the knife to go in for the kill.”

“No fucking way you’re having all the fun you bastard.  You keep them at bay while I go for the kill; I’m not letting you outscore me Legolas.”  Brian said with a short chuckle.

          Although he was trying to be funny Rich knew that Brian wanted to try and keep him safe for Karen’s sake and wanted to assume the larger risk.  Rich would let Brian have his way for now but was damned if he would let his best friend put himself in such danger.  They would look high and low for better protection and safety.  Rich thought to himself he would rather they all die together than any die alone.  He would make it his personal mission that they all get to the hospital in one piece.  There had to be a safe haven out there somewhere.  This wasn’t a zombie movie, this was reality.  Although be it a reality that never could have dawned on him, he knew the human race would survive.  We were like a virus and there was no cure that could stop our spread.  They would find safety, Rich was confident of this fact.