Desolation (3 page)

Jerri looked away, quickly got up, and kept walking.
The officers turned and kept walking in the opposite direction.

She discovered that the best way to deal with the police was to
avoid them. Since the police stopped getting paid with extra rations most
of the officers who stayed on the force were those who liked the power.
That made the remnants of the FEMA police dangerous beyond belief.
Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Jerri emerged out of the alley and walked out into the camp’s
large concrete plaza as she headed towards the camp’s mess hall.

The camp’s towering administration control tower stood in the
center of the plaza. It was a monolithic cement structure with a large ‘6’
painted on it. A tinted glass control room sat on the top of the structure
crowned with an array of antennas, loudspeakers, and a tattered American
flag. At the base of the tower a small battalion of FEMA police officers
stood sentry duty at the tower’s access door.

A few yards behind the control tower sat the camp’s gallows. It
looked like a depraved swing set. It had five nooses hanging from it and
they were rarely empty. Two men were swaying with the desert breeze as
Jerri walked past. One wore a sign that said ‘THIEF’ and the other wore a
sign that said ‘RAPIST’. Jerri knew why they had the gallows sat up where
everybody would see them; they stood as a stark reminder of the camp’s
swift criminal justice system.

Past the gallows sat the mess hall.

The mess hall looked like a long windowless gymnasium from the
outside. It was built to accommodate a large number of people but hardly
anybody wasted their energy to walk inside lately. Some days, when
supplies were really low, the kitchen didn’t open at all.

Next to the mess hall sat the camp’s vehicle staging area. Six
black solar-powered Humvees adorned with Homeland Security logos
were parked in it alongside a broken army tank. It was common
knowledge that none of the vehicles operated anymore and did little more
than collect dust. They used to have some old buses, used during the
evacuations from the cities to the camps, but they were all stolen months
ago.

Past everything, in the hazy distance, the tall razorwire-topped
wall that wrapped around the perimeter of the camp was visible. The wall
had watchtowers, air raid sirens, and spot lamps along its length. She
didn’t even think that the massive rolling gate functioned anymore. The
wall had two purposes; it kept the infected out and kept the residents in.

Fortunately, Jerri thought, the days of dealing with the faster
moving original infected victims were long gone. The sprinters, as they
were called, died off after a few weeks. All that remained of them were
putrefied corpses strew across the entire country. The slower variants of
the infected, the reanimated corpses courtesy of the government’s failed
attempt at a vaccine marketed as Acexa, were rumored to still exist. It was
said that the slower variants were capable of roaming the earth for years
due to their suppressed decomposition rate.

However, gossip in the camp was common and unreliable.
Nobody inside actually saw an Acexa variant for a long time. As far as
anyone knew, the Acexa variants were as extinct as the dinosaurs.

Marauders were the real danger.

 

Jerri pushed the button to enter the mess hall sally port and the
rusty door slid open.

 

“
Attention. Please stand in the center with your arms above your head. Do
not move during the decontamination process.
”

 

Jerri stepped inside and sighed as the door clanged shut behind
her. It sounded like prison bars slamming shut and always made her jump.
The red light flashed and the shower head spat out a trickle of
rusty water.

 

“
You are now clear to exit the sally port. Let your skin air dry. Thank you
for your cooperation and remember that no food is allowed to exit the kitchen.
”

The mess hall door opened and Jerri stepped inside. As expected,
it was mostly vacant. Rows of dirty tables lined the center of the mess hall
alongside wooden benches. Filthy trays lay everywhere and roaches
scurried underneath the tables. An empty salad bar sat pushed against the
wall next to the empty soda dispenser. A hot buffet bar sat in the center
of the room; it was full of cobwebs and hadn’t been used for quite some
time.

A poster hung on the wall next to a framed American Flag:

Two large soup pots, containing warm water mixed with spices
and a little sugar, sat on one of the center tables. Some dirty bowls and
cups sat stacked next to the pots.

No meat was being served.

A cook wearing a stained yellow apron adorned with the FEMA
logo sat next to the pots and flipped through an old porno magazine. He
was there to make sure nobody took seconds. Since they weren’t serving
any meat, seconds probably weren’t going to be a problem.

A few people sat in the mess hall and slurped their spiced water
in silence.

 

It was about what she expected.

 

When the camp first opened they had fresh salads, warm bread,
and average food.

Now they were lucky when the camp even tried to put together a
meal that involved more than an ounce of protein. Even bread was
extremely rare. God, she missed bread. Hell, she missed carbs period.

Jerri let out an exasperated sigh and walked over to the pots and
helped herself. A dead bug floated up to the top in pot she got her soup
from so she dumped the bowl and got a helping from the pot next to it.

“Excuse me,” she said to the cook. “Will there be any meat
served tonight?”

 

“Do I look like a fucking psychic?” he said without looking up
from his porno.

Jerri frowned.
“No, but you don’t seem like much of a cook, either,” she said.
“Fuck off,” he snorted, staring at the centerfold.
“There’s a roach in one of the pots,” Jerri said.
“And!?”

“Well… it’s not very sanitary,” she responded. “Shitty cooks
making shitty food.”

 

“Well, feel free to take your happy ass down to Burger King,” he
said, turning the page.

Jerri almost cursed the man out but knew it wouldn’t do any
good. The man was totally apathetic. She knew that he would welcome a
confrontation just for the entertainment. Instead of giving into his game,
she took her bowl and left him alone to wallow in his self-pity and
loneliness.

She took a seat behind a man huddled underneath a blanket. She
didn’t like sitting by herself in the mess hall and never understood why
exactly.

She slurped the water from her bowl and downed most of the
disgustingly bland concoction in a few seconds.

 

“I’m surprised,” the man behind her said without turning around.
He slurped his soup loudly.

 

“About what?” Jerri asked, still miffed.

 

“That you spoke up to the cook,” the man said. “Most people are
scared of anybody who wears the FEMA emblem.”

 

Jerri scoffed.

 

“That idiot’s nobody. A frightened little man with imaginary
power,” Jerri said.

 

“I don’t know…” the man said reflectively. “The hand that feeds
you… You shouldn’t bite it.”

 

“…The hand needs to have food to feed you with first,” Jerri
said. “If I could survive eating bullshit I’d want for nothing in here.”
They were quiet for a few seconds, backs turned towards each
other, and then laughed.

 

“It sounds like you’re a little disheartened,” the man said,
finishing his soup.

 

Jerri pushed her bowl aside and shook her head.

“Just fed up,” she said. “I’m fed up with hiding. I’m fed up with
starving. I’m fed up with these FEMA pricks waving their little dicks
around like power-hungry idiots.”

The man chuckled.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Jessica,” Jerri lied.
Silence lingered for a few moments before the man finally spoke.
“You never asked my name,” he said.
“No, I didn’t,” she responded, smirking.

“Well, I’m Andrew,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to meet someone
who speaks so freely.”

Jerri ran her finger along the brim of her bowl and stayed quiet.
“Where are you from?” Andrew asked.
“Phoenix,” she said after some hesitation.
“Oh? Ever think about going back?” he asked.
Jerri scoffed.

“A jokester, huh?” she mused as she turned towards the man
behind her. She couldn’t see anything underneath his blanket shawl. “Did
anybody ever tell you that you’re kind of an asshole?”

Andrew laughed.

 

“Just my parents. They reminded me all the time,” he said. “As
you can imagine, family reunions were a blast.”

 

Jerri laughed.

“I miss them though,” Andrew reflected. “If I wasn’t on a plane
from Pittsburgh on the other side of the country when the outbreak
happened, I wouldn’t have the pleasure of enjoying this bounty of sugar
water. I’d just be a glowing pile of ashes.”

“I think,” Jerri said as she turned back to her table, “that the ones
we all lost in the blasts were the lucky ones. They were dead before they
even knew what was coming.”

Andrew nodded.

 

“True, true… do you always get so philosophical over breakfast,
Jessica, or do you just like to depress people for fun?”

 

“Asshole,” Jerri said, smirking.

 

“I’m just saying… we could talk about the weather or
something,” Andrew said.

 

“We’re in Arizona. The weather is hot as hell. End of story,” she
snipped.

“Funny thing is, I always said that I wanted to visit here and go
see the Grand Canyon or something… After staying here one summer,
my mind quickly changed. You have to be somewhat of a masochist to
live here,” he said.

“You’re just a snowbird who can’t hang. Ever think of going back
to Pennsylvania?” Jerri asked.

“Now who’s being the asshole?” Andrew asked, smiling.
Jerri giggled.

“You’re lucky I’m talking to you at all,” she said. “With all of
these FEMA dicks walking around, I tend to just keep to myself.”

Andrew let out a hearty laugh and stood up. As he stood, the
blanket fell of off him and revealed his black tactical pants and shirt. He
wore neither emblems nor a badge, but everybody in the camp knew the
uniform. He was an Eye.

The Eyes served as intelligence operatives within the camp and
their job was to sniff out possible rebels and domestic threats.
Jerri’s gut churned and her heart froze as Andrew stood next to
her, letting her see his uniform.

 

Andrew stood a little over six feet tall and had a head full of dirty
blonde hair. He had piercing blue eyes that had the glint of intelligence.

“Ah, fuck,” Jerri muttered.
Andrew smirked and crossed his arms across his chest.

“So I guess this is the part where you arrest me for being a
subversive element to the safe and secure running of the institution?” Jerri
asked, closing her eyes. She knew her big fucking mouth would get her in
trouble one day.

Andrew shook his head.

 

“No, this is the part where I go wave my little dick around like a
power hungry idiot… I believe that’s the way it goes, right?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have said it if I knew you were what you were,”
she said.

 

“But you still would have thought it, right?” Andrew pried.

“Absolutely,” Jerri answered. “In hindsight, I probably wouldn’t
have sat behind you though and we wouldn’t be in this predicament. Live
and learn. Let’s get this over with.”

She held her hands out, ready to get cuffed. She held her hands in
front, hoping he would make the mistake of cuffing her that way. After he
took her into the sally port to leave the building, she figured she would
fish for her knife and attempt escape.

Andrew thought for a moment and then shook his head.

“Yeah, you wouldn’t have sat behind me, but then we wouldn’t
have had the chance to chat. It’d be my loss. You have a good day,
Jessica.”

Andrew turned and started to walk away.

Jerri lowered her hands, baffled. She was sure he was going to
take her away and interrogate her. She was absolutely shocked. Before she
could say anything, he was already half-way across the mess hall by the
cook.

Andrew grabbed the porno magazine out of the cook’s hands.
“Hey! You mother–” the cook started. He froze at the sight of
Andrew’s uniform.

 

Andrew slapped the magazine up aside the cook’s head.
The cook startled and raised his hand where the magazine struck
him.

“Get that roach out of the pot and get a fresh batch out, you
idiot. Have some pride in your work before I personally make sure you
get reassigned to a detail outside the wall,” Andrew said, giving the cook
an icy stare.

“Y-yes sir, right away sir, I apologize sir for my mistake, sir,” the
cook stammered, quickly grabbing the pot with both hands.

Andrew nodded and walked away towards the sally port. As he
walked away he half-turned towards Jerri and wagged a finger by his
crotch jokingly, shooting her a quick wink.

Jerri couldn’t help but smile.

She finished her soup and decided to head to medical. Some
powerful decongestants for Krystal would be nice. She made a checklist in
her head and made her way towards the sally port.