The Now

What was it like Before? I was very young at the Demise so this is all I knew. I heard stories from Winston. He was older than me and I liked listening to them. He was in a band Before. I’d never heard music but he sang for our camp sometimes. It was nice. Peaceful.

Some people loved telling stories from the Before. It helped them forget how much things have changed, even gave them hope.

We were scouting for more containers to hold water. There had been some rare rainfall and an overflow.

“Over here!” Win said

I went to his spot. I think it used to be a house but there wasn’t much left to it. Only one wall, no roof. I found him at the back of the stairs.

“Looks like there’s a basement, help me with the door” He said

It took both of us and a good belt with my axe to get through. There were stairs leading down a stone walled passage which was intact. There was enough natural light to see down. I’d never seen a basement before or been in a room this intact. Scavengers must have overlooked it because of the door.

“Jackpot” Win said. I never understood what he meant when he said that. He once explained it had something to do with money, but I didn’t understand that either.

It was a large space with boxes and shelves, a lot to go through. Maybe a little of that hope everyone was counting on.

“Check this out!” Win had opened a plastic crate, there were colourful shiny things in wrappers. I couldn’t tell if they were plastic or metal.

“It’s chocolate!” He said excited and tore one open and took a bite. He moaned as he chewed.

“Should I give you a minute alone?” I said, a little grossed out at his intimate display.

“You have to try this!” he threw me one. It said ‘Snickers’. A weird name for a food. I opened it up and bit into it. It was soft, chewy. The sweetness exploded in my mouth. I had never tasted anything this creamy or delicious.

“These could become the new currency” Win said, stuffing some in his pockets.

“Maybe they’ll have that thing you’ve been looking for, Coca” I said. He laughed.

“It’s just Coke, I’ve been looking for it for 20 years” we carried on searching through boxes. There were photos, long pieces of material and a little wooden box. Inside was a necklace. I’d only seen one before, and it wasn’t as nice as this one. I didn’t recognise the shape, kind of like an upside-down triangle with round edges on the top.

“What shape is this?” I asked, holding it up. He looked at me strangely. I think it was sadness.

“It’s a heart, it’s used as a symbol of love”

“It’s very pretty” I smiled

“Open it”

“How?” I asked, he smiled and took it from me. He split the middle and it opened like a clam. There was a small picture of a woman inside.

“People used to wear these so the person they loved was always with them in a way” he explained

“Did you wear one?”

“No, but my mother had one of her mother, it was-” he went silent as I heard it too. A low rumbling that was getting louder. Motorbikes. That sound came with dread. We had been lucky enough over the years to avoid them, but we saw the carnage they left behind. A few survivor stories were enough to know you didn’t want to meet them without a suicide pill. The sound grew louder, to the point we could hear voices. They had stopped to take a break. At least that’s what I hoped. Not to camp out for the night.

Had they seen something that gave us away? We should have barricaded the doorway. It was too late now. Win looked at me with panicked eyes but stayed quiet. We might not have enough ammo for all of them. It would be enough for us though.

Silently we crept into the shadows behind the shelves. If we weren’t facing imminent death I would have been thrilled to see the car batteries and other power sources lining the shelves.

All I could think now was if we could fashion them into some sort of weapon. Win always said how depressing it was that The Event brought out the worst in good people, and true horror in bad people. With such a bleak outlook on humanity’s survival you would think we would be working together. Helping each other. But it’s every man for himself.

“How many?” Win asked. I stretched up to look out the small window.

“Twelve” I whispered. It looked like they were doing a repair on one of the bikes. A few of them were scouting the area, thankfully it was superficial. “Doesn’t look like they’re staying”

“Do you want kids?” Win asked. I never knew if he asked questions like this to calm me down or himself.

“One day, when I know they’ll be safe” I replied, “Do you?”

“Yes, they would be the best thing I could do” he said

“Repopulate?”

He laughed “More like someone to love”

“You haven’t loved anyone before?”

“I did in the Before” he lamented. While the conversation saddened him, it did distract us. The gang slowly started to leave.

We gathered the supplies we needed. There were a lot of useful things. We’d have to come back with more people to bring the rest in. I smiled.

“What are you smiling about?” Win asked as he loaded our little trolley.

“This is going to make the camp really happy. There’s even toothpaste in here. We haven’t seen that in over two years”

“Yeah, they’re gonna freak out” apparently he meant that as a good thing.

It was getting dark as we walked along the barren road. I liked Win. He was different, he wasn’t pressed down by our circumstances.

I heard it the same time he did. It was almost a scream, but higher pitched.

“It’s a dog” Win said leaving the trolley on the street. We followed the sound and I drew my Axe, dogs were rare here. Any I’d seen before were dead. After a short while we found it underneath a fallen door. Maybe it had been there since the storms. It could have been suffering for all that time. I was glad we found it and not the others. We lifted the door and it ran away whimpering with a limp.

“He might have a broken leg” Win said, following him. I was suspicious, can a dog survive on its own out here? Animals are usually found close to the ocean where there’s still a food source. Unless it was chased here.

I was looking around when I heard a scream, human this time. It was Win. He was on his back scrambling away. I saw a snake circling him. I sprinted over and hacked my axe into it. It took a few hits to sever it. Win was panting in a heavy sweat.

“Did it get you?” I asked. He showed me his arm which had already started to swell. “I don’t know what type of snake that was, but I’m guessing it was the poisonous type.”

“We’d better get back, I’m starting to get dizzy” I helped him over to the trolley, unloading a couple of things to make room for him. “It’s ok, I can walk” he said, swaying slightly. I pulled out an electric cord we’d pack and tied it around the top of his arm.

“Liz told me this helps with wounds, I’ll get you back to her soon” his legs buckled but I managed to get him onto the trolley. We replaced the wheels with large ones to go over rough terrain easier. I was grateful for that. I took off towards camp as fast as I could. If I could build up enough momentum until the slope downwards we’d be home free. He was starting to sweat.

“You can skip leg day” He laughed. He was delirious. We careened fast down the concrete road and into the trees. Our camp was well hidden. Hard to stumble upon accidentally. It was deep in thick bushes, or at least that’s how it looked. I signalled to our lookouts and they raised the section we could get into. I hauled him on my shoulder and over to Liz’s tent. She was a nurse in the Before. We were lucky to have her.

“What happened?” she asked, helping him onto her bench

“It was a snake bite” I replied

“What kind of snake?”

“Um, a big one?”

“Can you describe what it looked like? The colour, the length?”

“It was….I think it was brown” I said, really only remembering the red that splattered from it’s wounds. Liz rummaged around on her bookshelf and started flipping through pages. She showed a few photos to me that didn’t look right “smaller than that one” I said. Win started to moan, the bite mark was turning purple. She showed me a picture of a long brown snake “That’s it!” I exclaimed

“I was afraid it was that one, I don’t have anything for that, did you bring the snake?”

“No, I can go back and get it”

“He doesn’t have much time”

“It’s ok, I’ll take Dolly”

I revved Dolly at the entrance. I didn’t like the sound, it reminded me of the motorbikes. But I didn’t have a choice. I needed to get there fast. They called it a quad bike, good for travelling around this area. I hadn’t had much practice, but I did enjoy my rides.

I was calm on the ride back. I knew Win would be ok, Liz knew what she was doing. It would be one of the stories he’d tell his children.

I had a surprise I was saving for him. I found a guitar a few weeks back. I was waiting until I found a replacement string, but I’ll give it to him after he gets the anti-venom. He’ll be pretty shaken after this. I reached the site quickly. I’ll have to remember to scout for fuel, emergencies like this could come up often. I took both pieces of the snake. I didn’t know how much she needed. As I got back on the bike I heard the whimpering. I’d forgotten about the dog. I understood what the term ‘puppy dog eyes’ meant now.

Roaring on the open road with this small white dog was the highlight of the day. I think I’ll name him Coke, after that drink we can never find. He was cute, his little tongue hanging out of his mouth. If I didn’t know any better I’d say he was smiling.

I honked as I pulled in and drove right up to the tent. I carried the snake in one hand and Coke in the other. Maybe Liz could help his leg.

As I walked into the tent I saw Win looking peaceful. Liz must have given him something to calm him down.

“I got it” I said as I handed the snake to Liz. I went over to Win and put the dog on my lap.

“Win, look who I found back there. I named him Coke. I finally found one for you” I smiled

“Eve” Liz said. “It reached his heart. I didn’t have anything I could use…”

I looked at him. He was still warm.

“He wanted me to give this to you” Liz handed me something small. I opened my hand and it was the heart shaped necklace “He said it was his symbol for you”. I felt a pain that wasn’t familiar to me.

“Not just in the Before then” I said to him. I was sad his guitar would become firewood, and his songs lost in memories. This was the Now.