Our food run was immensely successful and within half a day we had filled our two massive cargo hold and half of the third one. Marcus proved himself once again rigging conveyor belts to drop food directly into the cargo holds. Soon enough we had enough food to feed a town for a year. We encountered close to twenty infected people whom Marcus discarded with ease. By the third infected I stopped looking at Marcus as he took them down. Something about him knocking them down was deathly sexy, which in all honesty was my favorite kind of sexy.
We stopped by any agricultural products outlets picking up seeds and fertilizer of any kind we could lay our hands on. In order to survive for a decade underground we had to at some point grow our food and hopefully raise animals. I found myself envisioning living the farm life with Marcus. A quick slap on my forehead dispersed those mundane thoughts. I would rather die than live an ordinary life. However with all things considered being alive in the apocalypse was already an amazing feat so setting down would not be that unthinkable. Another self administered slap and I banished those thoughts.
"You like animals right?" Marcus asked out of nowhere surprising me.
" They are the only things I love why?"
He answered by pointing at a pet store. I had missed it while debating on my quick sand future. Against all odds there were pets inside. All the fish tanks were mysterious empty. The plump cats and kittens were however living their best lives. There were dogs and puppies were playing with their food, which seemed to be in surpplus. We spent the next three hours chasing and loading all one hundred and twenty dogs and ninety cats and their food into the cargo hold. We then made a few more stops for more pet food. It was half past ten when we finally headed back. After driving for two hours I realised we weren't going to the show room.
" Where are we going?"
" To the shelter. Charles is standing guard there."
The infected were a nuisance but hardly one that required guarding against. Simply locking a door would be enough deterrence. I wanted to pry further, but the thin line where his lips used to be quelled my curiosity. I could not keep up with his mood swings. Something was bothering him, that much was clear. He was also a fully grown man who could take care of himself. If he wanted help, he would ask for it. If he wanted to burn in a furnace of his own making, then I would enjoy the warmth.
It wasn't long before we branched off the main road into a beaten path. Marcus turned off the headlights depending on the moonlight for illumination. Maneuvering the massive truck with a triple cargo hold, on a dry weather road, in the dark proved challanging but after an hour we arrived at the bungalow. Charles, who had been standing at the gate, opened the gate letting us in before closing it behind us again. He set to work rigging wires across the gate while we made our way into the house. The house was in fairly good shape, it's rustic decor uncharacteristically out of place. Something about how undisturbed the place was, was unnerving, given that the rest of the world was in shambles.
Charles joined us and asked us to follow him after a curt greating. We followed him down into shelter and it was better than we had hopped. The space would comfortably hold all of us and then some.
" Oh my God! We have to get farm animals now. We just have to. I am not sure about you but I am not ready to spend the rest of my life a vegan." Marcus looked taken back, he had probably never enthusiastic before.
" I agree with that. I saw some gazelles outside that we have to raise no matter what and buffalo's too. We can get some chickens, cows, goats, sheep and and any other farm animals we can get out hands on." Charles said speaking the longest sentence I had ever heard him say voluntarily.
"We have cats and dogs in our truck. Speaking of which we need to off load them. I think they will like it here."
The way Charles face lit up was enough to make him my most favorite person. It seems like we shared a love for animals and a dislike for all else. Marcus disappeared after having a hushed conversation with Charles. Charles and I spent the better part of what was left of the the night taking the animals in. We had just finished taking the last wriggling puppy in when Marcus finally returned bloody and bruised. He wobbled a few steps into the compound before collapsing face first into the concrete driveway. A second later, a tree of a man appeared heading straight for Marcus his axe raised.
The idea of killing someone had been at the back of my head. The idea had been so deeply burrowed into my head it had only been a matter of time before I would have eventually gone off the rails. Without Loice insight my parents had been on edge around me and I had done my best to ease their fears by avoiding any form of confrontations. However, the world had changed and seeing Marcus taking down the infected had stirred something in me. Desire had been at the forefront, but underneath lay a longing for destruction that I had quickly snuffed out, but not for long it would seem, as it rose like a fiery beast that would not be denied. Despite my best efforts to keep my mask of sanity on, a situation to be who I was without compromising my debatable principles had arisen. I was not one to spit in the face of a gift by the universe.
I simultaneously reached for the firearm strapped to my waist, that I had carried at Marcus's insistence, and shouted at the man drawing his attention from Marcus to me. He whipped his head in my direction but didn't get the a chance to react as i fired at him without hesitation. I heard the wet squelch as the bullet hit it's mark, right on the man's forehead. I did not get the chance to recover or even contemplate my insanity as more men appeared from the woods charging towards us. I aimed and fired taking out the ones who made it past the gate. Charles who had been taking the last puppy finally showed up.
He took in the scene and pulled out his gun and set to work. He was faster and his aim was more accurate. He had everything under control so my I abandoned 'shoot the invaders' game and went to the still Marcus. There was a deep gnash on his arm that was bleeding into the ground. I half carried half dragged him into the house leaving Charles to deal with the invaders.
YOU ARE READING
AGE OF INSANITY
Science Fiction...The world did not end with a bang or a whimper. It ended with the hysterical screeches as it was plunged into madness.... With no clear horizon and a burning furnace at the end of the proverbial tunnel, will the survivors last. Will thier fragile...
