Yet To Be Discovered

And so it was that I would be the one to go

No drawing of straws

No names in a hat

No vote

Nothing so trivial

Someone had to do it

And I was the logical choice

It was unspoken

But well known

It's not like I was the only one capable

Sure, I knew the lay of things around the town

Had lived here most my life even

And, yes, as far as fitness went and my ability to defend myself,

I was well off enough in those regard

But there were others that equaled or surpassed me in each of these categories

Brenda, Mick, Stacey, hell even Oliver could have done it

But they all had children to look after

Or offspring rather

I'm not so sure that there was such a thing as a child left in this world

Destruction of everything around you makes for rapid ascendency into adulthood

But, the fact was that we were down to just over a weeks food

Three weeks on starvation rations

Maybe four

But come that fifth week, we would all start to die an agonizing death

I didn't plan to let that happen

Two months ago today we had sent out Bentley

Suited him up in whatever gear we could muster

With his protective mask we sent him into the godforsaken streets that he (we all) once called home

We all knew the danger

What limited radio contact we'd been able to make had made it clear

Outdoors, hell even above ground, was no place to be

We all were fortunate enough to have made it to what had previously been a private school

The concrete walls of the maze like basement were anything but cozy

And it seemed one was always ducking a water line or furnace duct

But it was our new reality

And we made do with what we had

Likely we were better off than most

The school had a kitchen

A nice one

And its stores held us over quite a while in the beginning

The library was a useful resource in countless different ways

Inexplicably the bombing had not managed to wipe out the grid

Or at least not entirely

From time to time we would hear the buzz of electricity flowing through the wires

And at such times we made the most of it

I, a carpenter by trade, spent my time in the wood shop

Making various items and utensils that seemed useful at this time or that

I'd even made a little cart, a wagon of sorts, for the kids to play in

Poor bastards, they never had a chance

Never knew anything of the world before it turned into a rotten death trap

It was for them, as much as myself that I now donned that same protective gear as Bentley had before me

Hopefully my fate would be better than his

It had to be

We had heard the stories over the radio

Rumors really is all they were as far as we knew

Of the wild and mutilated dogs that now ran rampant through the streets

Feasting on whichever unlucky prisoner of the underground who decided to peep his head out into the old world

Maybe for food and medicine, maybe out of curiosity

Maybe because they were tired of waiting to die

Most recently there were even accounts of wild men running in packs

Distorted and animalized

Cannibals, doing any brutal or bestial thing conceivable to survive

This on top of the toxic fumes still permeating the air

Poisoning plants

Infecting minds

Imprisoning what ever survived of the cruel joke that was humanity

He returned half mauled

Bentley, strongest and smartest among us

But even with his injuries he managed to carry on his back a months store of various foods

And quite a quantity of antibiotics, insulin (for Trina), and other bandages, disinfectants, and amenities

He lasted only eight hours upon his arrival

He begged us not to waste the bandages on him

Said he was a goner regardless

We should have listened

The man was a f!@*ing doctor after all

But once he'd lost consciousness we tried our best to mend him

All for naught

Yes the dogs had gotten to him

He spared us the hideous details

Telling us only that they were ferocious, persistent, and atrocious to look at

As if transformed into monsters by this equally ugly world

It was time

There could be no more delay

Daylight didn't seem to last quite as long anymore

And most of the time there was a grayish haze masking the sun anyhow

Before I made my way to the stairs I made it a point to look each man, each woman, each boy and girl in the eye

If ever came a moment I thought I couldn't make it back, I would use those eyes

Seared into my memory as a last motivation not to fail in my mission

As Bentley had

I would return

Even if it meant the death of me

There were no good byes

No good lucks

They helped me get my gear on

And I strode to the stairs without a second thought

As my foot hit the seventh stair I heard a voice from below

I turned and there was Trina

"We'll see you in a little while, ok?"

She said it as much for her as she did for me

"Few hours." I replied

She seemed satisfied with that

I couldn't tell whether I believed it or not

Far better men and women than I had tried to make similar voyages before me and never made it back

But now the situation was more dire

We had only two gas masks left from the vault of the chemistry lab

I was wearing one of them

If I did not return

There would be no more room for error

Stepping upstairs I shut the door behind me. I heard the "Snap Snap" of the double locks I'd installed as I walked towards the exit

Past the library

Past the teachers lounge

Past the gymnasium

And finally, to the double door

Reinforced by a half dozen horizontal iron post holding back a two thick wall of cinder block

This was it

It would be my first time stepping foot outside of this school in almost 8 and a half months now

There was no telling what was beyond that door

I knew not what to expect

Only that, according to Bentley, the grocery over on Hennipen had yet to be fully raided

I would start there

And then make my way to the pharmacy on Meadows

The insulin would soon run out

And I needed to replace those bandages we used up to do nothing but soak up so much death

As I moved aside the last of the block

I gripped my weapon

And flung open the door stepping out

Adjusting my eyes to the light I felt my heart rate increase

And that's when I glimpsed him in my periphery

I was not alone