The Rat Collector: A Dystopian Thriller (Age of End Book 1) (6 page)

“I think we should go,” Vince said nervously. He tugged on Saul’s shirt. “Come on.” They started to back away.

“Wait! Don’t go,” the man pleaded. “I understand your skepticism, but please just hear what I have to say.” His voice jumped up to a desperate tone. “I can’t mess up my first presentation. Greene would be furious. Give me five minutes. Then I promise I’ll let you go.”

The desperation in the man’s voice was genuine, and the boys were curious about his intriguing offer. They kept their distance but let him continue.

“Thank you. I promise you will not regret it.” He paused again, to gather his thoughts. His lips moved quickly as he mumbled to himself, trying to find where he left off. “Okay. So, immortality.” He reached into his bag and pulled out two tubes filled with liquid. “These contain the secret to eternal life. Now you may ask, ‘How is this possible? What is this strange concoction he offers us?’ And to that, I say, it is a concoction that will change your life forever, in the most literal sense.” He pulled a device from his bag. It was a long metal rod with a needle sticking out from the bottom. He loaded one of the tubes into a slot on top. “This is a compound designed to alter your body. Just one small injection and in moments you will gain access to life everlasting.” With these words, he cocked his chin up and spread his arms above his head. “I can already see your questions. ‘How does this work? How will I live forever?’ and the answer is quite simple. Once you take the injection, you will have the amazing ability to drain the energy of life.”

“Drain life?” Vince interrupted. “You mean kill?”

“Technically, yes. Whatever you drain will die. However, think about it like this. You hunt and kill for food, right? You already kill animals to stay alive. Draining is no different. It works on plants, too. On trees. These woods are overflowing with energy right now. You’ll feel younger. Stronger. This is the end of age as you know it. Just think of the possibilities. You could live forever.”

Vince looked to the horizon and saw the orange sun rising. Rays of light peeked through the trees and scared away the darkness. The fog had completely passed, and the woods were now clear. “Saul, the sun’s coming up. We have to get home.” He turned to the man. “Sorry, we’re not interested.”

“I understand your hesitation. I am a stranger after all, but I assure you, this product is completely safe. I do not wish to harm you. I only wish to help.”

“Thank you for your presentation,” Vince said, “but again, we must respectfully decline.” He pulled on Saul’s arm.

“No, please!” the man pleaded. “You mustn’t leave. I
need
you to take these injections.” He had dropped to his knees. “Please! Greene will not be happy if this transaction fails. I can’t mess this up.”

The boys stood and watched as the man fell apart.

“You must accept my offer. It’s the only way.” He got to his feet and stepped towards them, the loaded needle in his hand.

Vince clenched the knife from his belt. “Stay back. Don’t come any closer. We gave you your chance. We listened to what you had to say. Now let us leave.”

Saul found himself standing between the two. He stared at the man with nervous anticipation, and carefully backed away toward Vince.

Silence fell upon the woods. The man halted, staring at them with conflicted desperation. Vince backed away, one hand around Saul’s arm, the other still gripping his knife. He kept his eyes locked on the man as he inched back. The boys took one step. Then another. And another. And
bump
…Vince’s heel caught a root, sending him tumbling over. He twisted around and hit the ground, face first. In a daze, he rubbed the dirt from his cheek, when he heard Saul cry out in pain. He hopped to his feet and turned around. The man stood crouched over Saul. The needle he held was now empty. Saul was on his back, frozen with fear. A red mark swelled on his arm.

Vince marched forward and pulled out his knife. “Get away from him!” He raised the blade over his head and brought it down with all his strength. The dull metal pierced through the skin and sliced through the jellies of his eyeball. When Vince pulled it loose, blood and juice spurted out.

The man dropped to his knees and clasped his face, screaming in agony. “My eye! You cut my eye!”

Vince pulled Saul up from the ground. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.” They turned their backs to the blood-soaked man and sprinted away. The painful screams grew faint in the distance until they were completely gone.

The sun continued to rise. The morning birds awakened, filling the tranquil woods with their songs. The boys kept their pace somewhere between a walk and a jog. Perhaps it was the adrenaline pumping through their blood, or the dazed confusion of the whole situation, but the trip back felt shorter than they remembered.

When they reached the edge of the woods, the sun had fully risen. They returned to Vince’s house. He climbed through his window and whispered to Saul, “How are you feeling?” He glanced at the mark on his arm. The swelling was worse, and the redness was brighter. “Are you okay?”

Saul nodded, gently rubbing the mark. “I’ll be fine.”

“Good. I’ll see you at school then.” He closed the window and jumped into bed. Hoping for just a little rest before school, he shut his eyes and began to doze off.

Knock! Knock!
His father burst through the door with loads of energy. “Rise and shine, kid. It’s a beautiful day. Hurry up. You’re going to be late.”

Vince slumped out of bed, ready to face the day, completely exhausted.

FOURTEEN

THE BOYS WANDERED into school like mindless zombies, arms swinging from side to side. The whole class, including the teacher, noticed their pale skin and vacant eyes as they took their seats in the third row. “What happened to you guys?” said a voice from behind. “Did you get beat up or something?”

They turned around to see the boy sitting behind them. Long locks of curly brown hair dangled in front of his face, hiding his dark eyes. He wore a shirt slightly too tight for a boy so chubby. “Excuse me?” Vince said. “Who are you?”

Before the boy could answer, Ms. Martin started class. “Good morning class. Now that everyone is here,” she glanced at Vince and Saul as if to point them out, “I can introduce our new student. Roger, please come up here with me.” The chubby boy stood up and made his way towards the front of the room. He stood at Ms. Martin’s side and turned around to face the class. “This is Roger,” she continued as she placed a hand on his shoulder. “He and his family just moved into town. I want you all to make sure he feels welcome. Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself, Roger? Where are you from? What kind of things do you like?”

“It would be my pleasure, Ms. Martin.” He joined his hands together and excessively cleared his throat. “My name is Roger. I moved here from Vassor.”

“Vassor?” Saul whispered to Vince. “He must be one spoiled kid.”

Vince hushed him.

“I enjoy reading and school. And of course, nice teachers.” He flashed a quick smile at Ms. Martin, who blushed and smiled back. Saul rolled his eyes. “I especially enjoy hanging out with kids who can’t defend themselves.” He flashed an identical smile at Saul, this time to mock, not flatter.

“Is this guy serious?” Saul muttered to Vince as the rest of the class chuckled at the uninspired insult. “Is this what people in Vassor are like? You were right. He’s obnoxious.”

“Relax, Saul,” Vince said. “He’s just messing with you. It’s just a joke.”

“Okay Roger,” Ms. Martin said as the laughs finally stopped. “Enough of that. We don’t tolerate that kind of behavior, but it’s your first day. I’ll excuse it just this once. Don’t let it happen again. Now please, return to your seat.” He walked back, nudging Saul along the way. Saul tensed up. He wanted to punch the new kid, but he managed to stop himself.

Before Ms. Martin could continue with her schedule for the day, Vince raised his hand. “Ms. Martin, I have a question.”

“Go ahead, Vincent.”

“I was thinking about it last night. What’s outside of the Pugg? What is the rest of the world like?”

“That is a very good question. One that I do not have an answer to. I’m afraid no one knows what lies beyond the Pugg’s four towns. There are a handful of curious people who have journeyed across the flatlands, but none ever returned. I’m sure some of you have heard of Harry Hedcrown, one of the Pugg’s top innovators, born right here in Rodin. He planned such a journey off to the east. He told the people that if he found something, anything at all, he would return to report it, but we never saw him again. So, as far as we know, there is absolutely nothing out there… Does that answer your question, Vincent?”

Vince nodded.

“Good. Now let’s get along with the class. We have a lot to cover.”

The class was like any other, bland and uninteresting. Vince was one of the top students in the group, but a night with no sleep made it hard to focus. Saul slouched in his seat, eyes drooping as drowsiness pulled him deeper. But then he sat up, fully alert in an instant. Like a switch, he had gone from zombie to living. He squirmed in his seat with anxiety, tapping his foot rapidly against his desk. Where had all of this energy come from? For the rest of the class, Vince ignored Ms. Martin and kept his focus on Saul.

When class was finally over, the boys met outside. Before Vince could say a word, Saul grabbed him by the shoulders. “It works.”

“What?”

“The stuff that man gave me. It actually works.” A big smile was plastered across his face.

“Are you sure? How is that even possible?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t notice much difference at first. Just the rash on my arm. But in the middle of class, it kicked in.” His eyes were wide open. “Vince…I can feel the energy. It’s all around us. I can feel it coming from you right now. It’s amazing. And look.” He stuck out his hand and gently rubbed the skin on his fingers.

Vince did not see anything at first, but with a closer look, he noticed tiny hairs sticking out from the pores in his skin. A layer of small tendrils was wrapped around his hands and up his arms. They were even on his face. From afar they looked like hairs, but up close they were new and strange. “What are they?”

“I think it’s how I can sense the energy. It’s like these things are attracted to it. They want to absorb it.”

“This is crazy.”

Saul stared down at his hand. “I can’t believe it works. I have to try it out.”

“What do you mean?”

“I want to drain something.”

“Like what?”

“He said it works on trees, right? Let’s go find a tree.”

Vince looked off into the woods. “Alright, but let’s find somewhere a little more private.”

They returned to the woods from the night before. The man was gone, but small patches of dry blood were splattered across the dirt. The needle and tube he dropped lay on the ground, leaning against the roots Vince had tripped over. Saul scooped both of them up and studied them closely.

The needle was long but slim. There were two buttons at the top, near his thumb. He pushed the first one, retracting the needle. He pushed it again, and the needle shot back out. The second button sent a puff of air from the tip of the needle. He removed the empty tube and replaced it with the full one.

“What are you doing?” Vince asked. “Why are you loading that thing?”

“I thought you might want to try,” Saul answered. He gently flicked the tube and watched the liquid swirl around. With the needle raised, he approached Vince. “Hold still.”

Vince pulled away. “Wait. This doesn’t feel right.”

“Feel right? You don’t know how it feels.
I’m
the one who got injected, and I feel just fine. Better.”

“We don’t even know if it works. If it doesn’t, there is no point in injecting myself with that stuff.”

Saul examined his face and nodded. “Okay, I’ll test it first. If it works, if this thing is real, will you try it?”

Vince hesitated. “Maybe. Do you even know what you are supposed to do?”

Saul retracted the needle and slipped it into his pocket. He walked over to a tree touched it with his fingertips. The hairs on his skin latched onto the bark. “I think so,” he said, pulling away and looking at the other trees. “Which one should I try?” There was a small sapling, barely sprouting five feet from the ground. “How about this one? I feel a lot of energy from this one.”

“Hmm, how do the other trees feel?”

Saul found another tree, tall and thick, and placed his hand on it. “It has less, but I still feel it.”

“Try that one first. We should start small…we don’t know what we’re dealing with.”

“Okay. Here I go.” Saul closed his eyes and focused. Vince watched from a distance. He had never seen Saul concentrate so hard. Sweat rolled from his forehead. His cheeks shook as he built pressure in his lungs. Anticipation grew. They both waited, eager to see what would happen next. And then…nothing. Saul opened his eyes and turned to Vince. “Did it work?”

“Do you feel any different?”

Saul shook his head.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

He shrugged. “Maybe the tree is too old.”

“I don’t think that’s the problem,” Vince said. “Maybe it just doesn’t work. Maybe the man in the suit was lying.”

“I really don’t think so. These hairs on my skin are real. This feeling I have is real.” He eyed the tree again. “Hold on, let me give it another try.”

Again, he placed his hand on the tree, closed his eyes, and took deep breaths. And again, Vince watched from a distance. This time, something was different. Saul was calm. Relaxed.

Vince moved his eyes from Saul to the tree. He watched a leaf flutter in the light breeze before shedding off and gently floating to the ground. Its vibrant green descended into a dry, pale brown. A second leaf fell, and a third, and then dozens more. The branches fell bare as a blanket of withered leaves floated down and covered the surrounding dirt. The tips of the branches curled, and the bark peeled in small clumps. Decay crept inward towards the tree’s core. Little pieces of rotted bark crumbled from the trunk. Within minutes, the tree was dead.