Boyscouts of the Apocalypse

Chapter 9

“I can understand that,” Mike said with a nod. “I feel like I have no control right now, too.” He looked down at the town. “How about untie me and show me that little manoeuvre again?”

***

Mike stood beside his truck watching the town. It had been more than an hour since Steve had driven down into Spring Valley. In that time he had seen the battered red van cross the main street/highway twice. Steve must be combing every street.

The boys had practiced their rope trick on Mike twice more before he gave up being their guinea pig. Since then they had kept busy working on tying various knots.

Mike ran a hand through his thinning hair. They would have to make a decision soon.

“Dad!” Kyle’s voice held a combination of excitement and fear.

That got Mike’s attention. The moan that immediately followed got Mike running toward his son. He grabbed the axe that he had left leaning against the truck as he ran.

“Kyle! Are you all right?”

“Just hurry, Dad and bring an axe!” Kyle shouted.

Mike rounded the truck and skidded to a stop, his jaw dropping in astonishment. The boys who he had thought peacefully working on knots were standing in the now-familiar  pattern with their ropes tight around one of the undead creatures.

Ricky was the first to see Mike. “We got one, Scouter Mike!” he shouted. Sweat was dripping down the small boy’s face but he was smiling.

“What the hell.…?” Mike said.

“It came out of the bushes about five minutes ago, Dad,” Kyle said, struggling to keep his portion of the rope tight and the monster contained. “We decided to try out our rope trap.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” Mike said, taking a firmer grip on the axe. He started walking toward the creature.

“We knew we could handle it, Scouter Mike,” Martin said. He jumped back as the creature stepped toward him, its teeth snapping.

“But why didn’t you call me?” Mike said again.

“Because we wanted to show you we could handle this,” Kyle said. “Now, if you don’t mind, could you kill this thing, please?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Mike said, walking to stand beside Kyle. “Give me your section of rope.”

The boy looked at him, clearly questioning his father’s motives.

“If you boys are going to deal with these things, you need to be able to do it all.” Mike set the axe on the ground and grabbed the rope from Kyle, being sure to keep it tight on the monster. “Take the axe and finish this poor creature off!”

“But….”

“No buts, Kyle. You wanted to show me that you could handle this. So handle it.”

Kyle, looking a bit green, nodded and picked up the axe. He looked at Mike.

“Don’t wait, Kyle. There might be more of these things coming. Any wasted time could cost one of your friend’s lives.”

Kyle set his jaw and raised the axe, tentatively walking toward the imprisoned creature. It moaned and tried to lunge at Kyle as he got closer. Kyle jumped back and almost dropped the axe, looking scared. When the creature didn’t get any closer to him, he wiped the back of his right hand across his forehead and lifted the axe again.

This time, he walked right up to the creature and swung as he got close enough. He swung the axe at the thing’s head.

The blow of the axe made a sound that was a cross between a walnut crack and the shattering of an overripe pumpkin as the axe blade bit into the monster’s head. A gout of dark, rancid blood gushed out of the wound and the thing went limp in mid-moan.

Kyle dropped the axe to the ground and stepped back. He ran away from the grisly scene around the back of the truck.

Mike could hear him being noisily sick.

Mike and the three remaining Scouts held the ropes taut for another minute to ensure the creature was truly dead before they dropped the ropes. Kyle came from the back of the truck, wiping his mouth.

Mike waited for him to rejoin his fellow Scouts before he spoke again. “Good trial of the rope trap, boys. I’ve got a few suggestions to make it work better, though.”

“Work better?” Kyle said, his voice almost hysterical. “Do you think we’re going to do this again?”

Mike stared at Kyle until the boy began to squirm. “You wanted to show me how well your rope trap would work and you did that. It worked exactly as you planned. What you forgot was to have someone around to kill the creature when you caught one.”

“I thought you would do it,” Kyle said.

“So, you expected there to always be a leader around to dispatch these things whenever you caught one?”

“I suppose.”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to have someone, Scout or Scouter always ready to do that when you catch one? If you are prepared, then you will never get into trouble.”

“How could we get into trouble, Scouter Mike?” Ricky asked. “We had it caught. It couldn’t get us.”

“Maybe that one couldn’t,” Mike replied. “But what if one or two or a dozen more show up? What then?”

“We could run,” Todd suggested.

“You could do that,” Mike agreed. “In fact, you probably should, but then, you would be leaving your rope and possibly whatever weapon you had, behind too. Wouldn’t it be better to kill the one you’ve caught and use the same trick on the next one or ones?”

“You think we could, Scouter Mike?” Ricky asked.

“I think if you are aware of what’s around you and don’t waste time you will be better off,” Mike said. “For example, if you had someone kill it as soon as it was secured, you could reclaim your ropes and be ready for the next one.”

Mike picked up the axe. “You also have to take better care of your tools.” He held it up and checked the edge of the blade in the light. “See, this axe was dulled by a rock when Kyle dropped it. It might not be effective now on the next one until it’s sharpened again.”

“Sorry, Dad,” Kyle said, looking embarrassed.

“Don’t apologize, Kyle,” Mike said. “You all did very well here, but you don’t have time to feel sick or proud or anything else. If there are more of these creatures around, you need to be ready.”

“Now, another way to improve your little trap is to.…”