Chrysalis: An Apocalyptic Thriller by Darrel Sparkman

Author:Darrel Sparkman [Sparkman, Darrel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781685493127
Publisher: Rough Edges Press
Published: 2023-07-10T23:00:00+00:00

They skirted the camp at the bottom of the hill. While they didn’t hear the flies from their vantage point, what they did hear was worse. Dogs. Growling and fighting with each other. Colt slumped for a moment. He hadn’t thought of dogs. How could they hope to survive if he didn’t think of something obvious like that?

“I’m thinking Mary was smart after all, giving us the shotguns even after I told her I didn’t want them.”

“Why?”

Colt nodded back toward the camp. “Fido.”

Beth shuddered and didn’t look back. “That could be bad. I didn’t think about dogs.”

“I didn’t either,” he said. “And I should have.” His voice turned so serious Beth turned to look at him. “I’ve got to get ahead of the curve. If I don’t, I’m going to get us killed.”

“We,” Beth replied. “Partners, remember?”

From their vantage point, they couldn’t see the houses of the old neighborhood. Skirting the empty homes at the bottom of the hill, they climbed a rocky point where the highway department had cut through the limestone rock to make an exit for the highway.

“Dammit,” Colt cursed, looking at the housing addition. “All that food and water is gone.”

“Now what do we do?”

They could see several dozen people going from house to house. All were armed and seemed to be acting as a unit. As some would pause at the door, others would stand guard as the first members went in. Just like they used to see on TV with all the police and SWAT shows. Only these men had no uniforms, just red headbands or armbands.

“Gangs. They’ve finally moved south.”

“Thank you, Mr. Obvious,” Beth said.

“Someone finally got smart and started organizing them. Look what they’re carrying.”

At nearly every house, men and women would carry out buckets of water. On the street, there was a large container on a wagon with gang members filling it. It was two or three times larger than a hundred-gallon water heater, and it was nearly full. The tanks were on wagons, and waiting to move it were men and women kept under guard. Human horsepower. Slaves. It had come to that.

“Well, I guess they figured out your water heater method of getting water. Too bad,” Beth quipped.

“Water is the main problem for everyone right now. We’ve been concentrating on food, but we need about a half-gallon of water each day. That is going to be hard to find. I know water is heavy, and we can’t carry enough water to last more than a few days. How many bottles did you pack?”

“I found a case of twelve, so we’ve six apiece. By your figures, we need four a day.” She sounded worried. “That’s not going to last long for us.”

Back in the other world, before the breakdown, one of the things that made Colt good at his job was his ability to compartmentalize a job, break it down to its finer points, and find a solution. He tried to concentrate on that skill now.

“C’mon,” Beth said, pulling at him.

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