Life After Death

Chapter 10

The next day, we rose early and began our mission to find the vehicle from Canada. George told us that it had stopped just short of Erie on route 90. 

I drove north on I19 and then east along I90 towards Erie. Highways were beginning to show signs of decay. Without cars traveling along it on a regular basis, a roadbed would suffer from sprouts of weeds and grass growing through cracks. Winter would make this decay worse because water would get in the cracks and then freeze and thaw, opening larger cracks and potholes. Occasionally, I had to juke a deer or two and even a bear on my way to the location where the vehicle from Canada had stopped alongside the rode. 

When we arrived on the scene, growling, snarling dogs, which were trying to get at whoever was inside, surrounded a Subaru. 

“You take the shotgun and extra ammo,” I told Diane. “We’ll have to shoot several of them to get to the car.” 

“I’m ready,” she said, sounding nervous. 

I got out with my AK-47 ready for action. Diane got out the passenger side and readied the Ithaca. We moved toward the car, but had to stop when the dogs turned and came at us. 

We both fired repeatedly, hitting dog after dog, dropping them or blasting them into the air, but it didn’t stop the attack. I slammed a new clip of ammo in my rifle and Diane loaded more shells into the shotgun. We started shooting again, killing more dogs, but it was obvious that we wouldn’t be able to stop the huge number of dogs from getting us. 

That’s when something unexpected happened. A girl got out of the Subaru and began shooting at the dogs with a handgun. This made the difference. Together, we managed to kill most of the dogs and the rest ran away. 

Diane and I rushed to the girl. She was young like us, with short black hair. She stared at us as if we were ghosts. Then, she swooned and fell. 

“She passed out,” Diane said, kneeling to check on her. 

I nervously looked around to see if the dogs were returning. “We have to get the hell out of here. I’ll carry her to the van.” I handed Diane my gun and picked her up. 

After putting her in the second row of seats, I climbed behind the wheel and started the van. Diane got in with the girl and poured water on her face from a bottle. The girl sputtered and her eyes fluttered. She licked the water on her face, prompting Diane to let her drink. 

I pulled back on to the road and headed west on I90. 

The girl sat up. “I’m sorry. I guess I passed out.” 

Diane offered her a candy bar, and the girl quickly consumed it. 

“When’s the last time you ate?” Diana asked her. 

“I don’t remember . . . maybe two or three days ago.” 

I turned to look at her. “I’m Jack Siefert from Ohio.” 

Diane gave her a welcoming smile. “I’m Diane Hobert from West Virginia.” 

Her bright eyes shot back and forth from Diane and me. “I’m Janet Williams from Toronto. I had no idea if anyone else was alive . . . what happened?” 

“I assume from that question that you didn’t find anyone else alive in Toronto,” I said. 

“No, I . . . I’m the only one . . . “ 

“We’re not sure what happened,” I said. “We think it’s a biological weapon that went wrong, but we don’t know for sure.” 

“Did you see the lights in the sky?” 

“What lights?” Diane asked, wide eyed. 

“We saw lights moving above the city, People said that they were UFO’s. They flew over and then vanished.” 

“When did this happen?” I asked. 

“The night of June 5th.” 

Diane and I exchanged surprised looks. 

“When did you decide to come down to the United States?” I asked. 

“Two days ago. I ran out of food and water.” 

“Well, you’re safe now. We’re living in a walled compound and there’s lots of food and water as well as heat and electricity.” 

Janet didn’t respond to that revelation. She was still in shock. 

I stopped at a mall in Erie. 

“Is this the compound?” Janet asked. 

“This is a mall. You have to pick out some clothing.” 

“I’ll help you,” Diane said. 

That made Janet smile. 

We broke into the mall and helped ourselves. The place had not been disturbed, except by rats. Diane helped Janet pick out clothes, including coats and sweaters. Because the incident happened in early June, the only things of that nature were sale items left over from the last winter. 

I drove back to the compound and parked in the large garage. 

“She had better shower before entering the main house,” I told Diane. “We don’t want to bring any contamination in there.” 

“Come with me, Janet,” Diane said. “We’ll get you cleaned up.” 

I waited by the truck until they were finished. Diane came out and selected an outfit for Janet. After several minutes, Janet emerged cleaned up and in new clothing. 

We entered the main house and I went to the kitchen to start supper while Diane showed Janet around the main house. 

I sat a meal of steak, potatoes and corn in front of them along with glasses of Merlot.. 

Janet ate as if she were famished. “This is delicious. I haven’t had a good meal like this in months.” 

“This is an automated farm,” I told her. “We have plenty of food here. The property has a natural gas well that fuels the generators and also provides us with heat and air conditioning. We also have plenty of rooms.” 

“I’m bunking her with me,” Diane said. “If you don’t mind.” 

I shrugged. 

“I see that you have found another, Jack Siefert.” George said from the screen above. 

“We found her in the car that you tracked. Again, it was just in time. The dog packs are becoming more aggressive. We had to kill most of them to rescue Janet.” 

“Welcome to Life After Death, Janet.” 

Janet nodded just before the screen darkened. “Who is that?” 

“That is the virtual rendition of George Talbot, the son of a wealthy coal baron.” 

Janet looked confused. 

“He’s dead,” Diane explained. “That’s his virtual image you saw. His brain was saved in a computer and it runs this automated facility.” 

“This has been a wild day,” Janet said. “I hope that I can sleep.” 

“You will, honey,” Diane said in a soothing tone. 

I wondered if I would be able to sleep after what had happened.