Emperor of a Dead World (23 page)

Due to Brad’s assistance, they rescued several new people and in the evenings, he and Lisa listened to the stories they had to tell. Most were horrifying tales of how they had watched loved ones ripped apart. The ones that escaped did so through luck and trickery but most felt ashamed to have lived while others died.

One man explained how he had started out with several others and after weeks of battling for their lives by fighting these gruesome things, they almost gave up hope. Every minute of every day, they endured a relentless pursuit for survival as they engaged in persistent fight-to-the-death conflicts. Never had he envisioned a world of such constant horror. Eventually, all his friends suffered vicious deaths and perished at the hands of these demons. When at last he found himself alone defending himself to the point of exhaustion, he saw a miracle. Above his head, he first heard and then saw a drone fly past. With tears of joy, he followed it back and dropped in front of the gate. The next thing he remembered someone had delivered him to safety. 

Many others related similar tales of terror but when a few stepped forward and told of the things they had seen in Sacramento, Brad was particularly interested. He scrutinized everything he heard until he finally came to the sad conclusion that his parents could not possibly be there.

Now that he no longer had a desire to travel north, he was ready to go home. He had only waited as long as he had because he needed to practice with the drone and he wanted to celebrate Lisa’s birthday in a place she felt safe and had friends. Once the celebration was over, he told her it was time to leave. His truck was ready and he could take his drone apart and put it back together with his eyes closed. As far as flying, he was almost as good as the Dennis and Danny.

The morning they set out, Brad could see Lisa was very apprehensive of leaving the campus. “You can stay here if you want,” he told her.

“No,” she smiled, “I feel safer with you than anyone else.

He was almost ashamed at how good her statement had made him feel.

After thanking Danny and Dennis, Brad took Dr. Moreau aside. “There is something that concerns me,” he began.

“What is that?”

“The advanced creature we encountered. Did he slip past here or are others changing further south?”

“That I cannot answer but I am glad you brought this up. I had Dennis and Danny check your route and I believe you will be better off going back by way of Interstate 5. Most of the people that were fleeing took either the 80 or the 10 so the 5 is relatively clear of cars.”

“What about creatures?”

“The faster you travel the safer you will be. If you leave early I believe you can make the trip in one day.”

“That is a lot faster than we got here.”

“I have also been thinking about the men that took you to Santa Barbara. They may have friends along the other route so that is another reason I believe you should avoid it.”

“I agree. Someday I may find out why they took me there but to tell you the truth I really don’t care and I hope I never see them again.”

“I hope that as well. There is enough danger in the world as it is without having to worry about regular people trying to hurt each other.”

Brad thought for a moment then asked, “Have you ever heard of a person by the name of Kay Ed?”

“Kay Ed?”

“Yes. I met a crazy old man that said his name was James Joyce and he kept repeating her name.”

“She does not sound familiar.”

“It was very strange. He kept repeating, ‘If you see Kay Ed’.”

The doctor started laughing. “You said he claimed his name was James Joyce?”

“Yes.”

“I could tell you what he was spelling but I would rather not say.”

Brad reflected a moment then chuckled. “I guess he was right.” He now shook the doctor’s hand. “Thank you for all you have done for us.”

“You have done even more for us. You have taught our people how to protect themselves and you have also rescued many others.”

Brad flushed with embarrassment then told Lisa it was time to go.

When they got to the truck, Danny walked over and shook the plane. “She is solid as a rock and has a new battery. Just don’t forget to keep it charged.”

“How long will it last?”

“These batteries are top of the line. You can get up to eight hours if you don’t do any funny stuff. Just fly straight and level.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Take a look at this.” He pointed to a box. “That is a charging station. I have it wired to the truck so it will charge as you drive. You can also plug this extension cord into a 110 outlet if you find one that is live.”

“I’ll do that, how long for a full charge?”

“A couple of hours but did you notice the wings?”

“They are really shinny. What does that do?

“It is solar material. It will not do much in the air but on the ground, you can recharge in about twenty-four hours. That is twenty-four hours of sunlight.”

“We have also raised our antenna and increased our power so we can watch you from here,” Dennis added as he walked over and pointed at the camera on the drone.

“Good to know. Thanks again.” Brad said as he and Lisa got in the truck and waved goodbye. As they headed toward the gate, Dennis and Danny hopped on a couple of bicycles and rushed off so they could follow them with the drones.

When they got on the freeway, Lisa looked at Brad. “You are going to protect me right?”

“I will protect you,” he promised.

The freeway was clear and at some spots, he got up over seventy miles per hour. Of course, as they approached Los Angeles Brad had to slow considerably. They had set out shortly after dawn and as they were exiting the freeway and heading for home twilight was upon them. Having a full tank of gas and plenty of food, they had no reason to stop. When they pulled up to the gate at Sunny Park Estates, it was just after dark.

Chapter 19

“Home sweet home,” Brad said as he punched in his code.

When the gate opened, Lisa got goose bumps. “Is it really safe here?” she asked.

“You bet,” he replied as he drove in.

Before the gate closed, two strange men walked up with AK-47s. “Stop right there,” one of the men said as he pointed his gun at Brad. “How did you get that code?”

“My dad gave it to me when I was old enough to drive,” Brad said as he reached for his gun. “My name is Brad, who are you?”

“Holly crap, you are Brad,” the man said as he immediately lowered his gun. “Pleased to meet you sir, we have heard so much about you.”

“Can I please shake your hand,” the other man said as he stepped forward. “We thought you were dead.”

“Not yet,” Brad laughed as he let go of his gun and extended his hand.

“Everyone is going to be so happy to see you,” the first man said as he vigorously shook Brad’s hand. “You are urban legend around here.”

Lisa was smiling from ear to ear due to the great reception these men gave Brad.

Brad glanced at her then turned serious. “Have you guys seen Tyrone or Rudy?”

The men exchanged glances. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, have you seen them? Are they alright?”

“What have you heard?” the first man asked with concern.

“I haven’t heard anything. I’ve been out of town,” Brad anxiously replied.

They exchanged glances again. “It has been two or three days, maybe a week,” the second man shrugged.

“Since what,” Brad persisted.

“Since they were here,” the man replied.

“They were here?” Brad exclaimed.

“Sure, they come here all the time.”

“What do you mean they come here? They don’t live here?”

“No.”

“Where do they live?”

“The racetrack,” the man shrugged.

Brad could not believe his ears. Not only were his friends okay, they had recovered the racetrack. “I have to go see them,” he insisted.

“Whoa, hold on a minute. You cannot drive off in the night like this. I know you are some kind of superman but it is dangerous out there after dark when you cannot see them coming. Besides, everyone here wants to see you.”

“Can we please stay?” Lisa pleaded. Excited by the way these men revered Brad. “You don’t want to disappoint all your fans.”

“All right, we will stay the night,” he relented.

The men cheered and Lisa clapped her hands.

Brad drove slowly along with the men walking next to him. “There are a lot more lights than I remember. How many people live here now?”

“I don’t know. We probably got about one hundred houses filled up by now,” the man replied.

“A hundred houses,” Brad exclaimed.

“They filled up pretty quick,” the man said. “Every time we found somebody, they knew somebody else. I knew three families myself.”

“How long have you been here?”

“A little over two months I guess.”

Brad parked in Tyrone’s driveway and Tom came right out.

“Is it really you,” Tom asked as he walked up. “I always knew you would return some day.”

“The community has really grown,” Brad smiled.

“I hope you approve.”

“Of course I do Tom. Tell me about Tyrone.”

“He and Rudy have taken up residence at the racetrack.”

“Yes, these men told me as much.”

“Tyrone has a lot of stories that I am sure he wants to tell you himself so I will just tell you of ours.” He looked at the drone in the back of the truck then noticed Lisa. “It looks like you have a few stories of your own. Who is this?”

“I am just an orphan he saved,” she replied.

“She has been a great help to me and I probably would not have made it without her,” Brad smiled.

She blushed and said nothing.

“Come and meet everyone,” Tom insisted. “The ones that know you will be happy to see you and the others are very anxious to meet you.” He led the way past his house to the recreation hall. There were so many people that they now congregated there.

When they walked in Brad could not believe his eyes. All around people were laughing and joking while others enjoyed a game of Bingo. At the rear of the hall, another group was playing guitars and singing songs. Brad stood with his mouth hanging wide open as he looked around. Just outside the walls, the horrors were unimaginable but inside this refuge, the people were happy and carefree.

“This is amazing,” Lisa said. “Did you do all this,” she asked Brad.

“No, this is all Tom’s doing.”

“Not me,” Tom said. “This grew as a joint effort by everyone here.”

Tom’s wife came over and hugged Brad. “I am so happy you have returned. We have been praying for you.”

“Thank you.”

“Could I have everyone’s attention please,” Tom said in a raised voice as he held his hand up in the air.

The music stopped and everyone gave Tom his or her full attention. He obviously held a great deal of respect.

“A wonderful thing has just happened,” Tom said as he pointed to Brad. “Tonight our founder has returned.”

Everyone cheered and gathered around. They all wanted to meet and shake the hand of the man who was responsible for their safety.

“We have heard so much about you,” one man said. “Tell us where you have been and what you have been doing.”

Please give him a few minutes to relax,” Tom said as his mother brought over a plate of food for Brad and Lisa.

“Sit down and eat,” she said to them.

While they ate, Tom told many stories of finding people and explained how everyone had joined in to help with the community.

After finishing his meal, Brad gave a brief recap of how he had found Lisa and then told of his new friends to the north.

“I can hardly wait to see this drone of yours fly,” Tom said.

“I will use it to find survivors,” Brad returned. “I only hope I do not run into any more bad people.”

“If you do, Tyrone and Rudy will deal with them. They are the law around here and they don’t put up with any kind of foolishness.”

“The law,” Brad chuckled.

“I’m serious,” Tom insisted. “They even have deputies.”

“Deputies,” Brad exclaimed.

“You met two of them at the gate.”

Brad looked over at the men.

“Don’t worry,” one of the men said. “I sent a couple of others out to guard the gate. Rudy wants two men on guard at all times.”

“Rudy gave this order?”

“Yes sir, he is very strict about security.”

Brad was impressed.

A man walked over with his wife and daughter. “Thank you so much for allowing us to stay here. We had given up all hope of survival. If your people had not rescued us we would surely have died.”

Another man touched his shoulder. “We as well were doomed. If the supply runners had not found us when they did…” He could not continue.