Whispering Hills Tribe

Storm clouds are quickly forming and the day begins turning dark in an instant. Paul is running aimlessly into the nearby woods behind the ruins of his house. Spider lightning invades the sky producing powerful thunder. Panicked, he runs as fast as he can trying to keep up with the rangale of deer ahead. Determined to catch his prey he forgets about the excessive lightning and he increases his speed. The path is filled with fallen tree limbs and brush debris. Two of the three deer veer off while one deer remains on the path heading toward the upcoming brook and hops across to head up the hill. Paul jumps over the brook and climbs up the hill focused intently on catching up and overtaking the deer. The rain is pouring and the path is becoming more and more slippery. While climbing the hill slowed him down, he quickly begins to catch up to the deer after reaching the level ground. He stays focused and gains speed and reaches into his pocket for his hunting knife. He’s fiercely catching up to his target. He reaches forward just about to touch his prey then suddenly trips on a bridged tree root on the ground and falls. He looks up so as not to lose sight of the deer but it’s rapidly escaping him. He hears the loud thunderclap and pulls his body under a canopy of brush and foliage. He drops his head onto his extended arm and stabs the earth with his hunting knife while lying defeated in the mud.

The markets were looted shortly after doomsday two weeks prior and his wife, Lavonna, was lying dead in the living room from stab wounds after she attempted to save all that she could from the savage invaders that robbed them the previous night. In shock, Paul frantically ran for help only to find that his neighborhood is abandoned. The robbers took his car and his cell phone was of no use to him. Knowing that it wasn’t likely that he would find help, he went back to his wife and laid next to her; her heartbeat had stopped. He felt a mad rush and began to scream and beat himself on the head and chest. He had not been able to save her. He moaned and wailed as he laid next to her for several hours until he finally closed his eyes and fell asleep.

The tick-tock of the battery-operated clock on the wall in the living room echoed loudly during the still of the morning hours. Paul suddenly woke up grief-stricken and wailed again and again, “WHY!?” “WHY?!” Crying profusely, he didn’t know what to do. Thoughts raced through his mind. He didn’t want to leave Lavonna alone; he didn’t know what to do with her body; he couldn’t bear the thought of doing anything with her body because this was not supposed to happen. He goes from room to room repeatedly yelling, “what’s happening?”

Frantic, he looked around the house for anything that he could find in the rubble that he might be able to use for survival. He found his hunting knife underneath the coffee table and put it in his pocket. He hoped that he could find some of the food that he and his wife had collected in their storage room but it was all gone. The room was ransacked of everything except the shelving units. As he walked back into the living room he saw a deer from the window run across the yard towards the woods. He hurried outside so that he would not lose sight of it. Without giving it a second thought he quickly followed the deer.

As he lay in the mud after tripping on the tree root, he picked himself up, yanking his knife from the ground. He began to run in the direction of the deer in hopes of catching up with it again. As he gains speed he slips and falls again but this time into a ditch next to a dead body. Startled he races his feet back and forth across the mud to get up. He manages to find a grip and stands up. He runs out of the ditch and then looks back at the body of the dead man. Breathing heavily he looks at his surroundings and sees another dead body. He realizes both men have been there for some time. He sees a semi-shiny object on the chest of the body lying in the ditch. He bends his body closer to get a closer look. It looks like a locket. He reaches down to pick it up. It’s a heart-shaped locket. He removes the necklace from the body and opens it to come across a compass inside. He also sees the letters W.H. engraved on the inside flap. He holds the compass up for direction. He puts the locket in his pocket and then heads in route back to his house. Along the way the rain stops. It’s early evening when he gets back to the house. As he approaches the back door he sees an unfamiliar woman inside. He quickly hides out of view and keeps his eyes on her. She’s weeping and looking in the kitchen cabinets. He slowly walks in and pulls out his knife. The woman hears the floor creak and turns around, startled. They lock eyes. “Who are you? What do you need?” Paul exclaims. Frightened, she leans back against the counter with her hands on its edge. “I…I need help. I’m Sarah. I’m sorry. I haven’t taken anything. Please don’t hurt me.” He points his knife to her and motions her to the door. She quickly moves towards the door keeping eye contact with Paul. She puts her hands up and says, “Please, I mean no harm. My husband hasn’t returned in days and I need help.” He yells, “Who are you? I can’t help you!” She falls to her knees, weeps, and begs, “Please! My husband is gone! I can’t find him! I don’t know what to do! Please!” She continues to weep as Paul lowers the knife. He drops his head and puts his hands on his waist. He thinks for a moment then asks, “Where do you live?” She points in the direction of the woods and says, “I live behind the woods in Whispering Hills. I don’t know where my husband is, I haven’t seen him in four days. He disappeared when I was asleep!” She said frantically, “He built a bunker underneath our home, but it’s locked; I can’t find the key. We have food and survival gear down there. Please, you’ve got to help me! I need to find him!” “What’s your husband’s name?” He asked. “Walter. Walter Hicks,” she replies. Paul pauses and then pulls the locket out from his pocket. He looks at her and extends his hand with the locket in his hand. “Does this belong to him?” Her eyes become fixed on the locket and tears come streaming down. “Yes, it’s a compass; his initials are inside the flap.” She stands up and runs to grab the locket. Crying she asks where he found it. His voice cracked as he told her where he found it. She nearly fainted but he caught her as she leaned to fall and he carried her to his couch. He let her have time to grieve. Nearly an hour later as she holds the locket in her hands and to her chest she says, “I had this made for him on our 25th wedding anniversary. He cherished it.” She continued to weep and mourn her husband.

Paul walked to his wife’s body and kneeled beside her. He put his head on her chest and held her hand. Sarah remained sobbing on the couch with the locket clutched in her grasp until nightfall. Paul turned to her and told her that he would help her get into the bunker if she wanted to show him the way.

They headed toward the bunker and once they arrived Paul looked for a large rock to break the lock. He was successful. He opened the bunker door and they entered. Inside the bunker, there was a backup lock and key. There was food supply, tools, water, and much survival gear that had been gathered and thoughtfully stocked over the years. Paul said in wonderment, “You guys prepared! I can’t believe this! This is amazing!” Sarah told him that Walter had been preparing this since they met 20 years ago. “Will you take me to him?” she asked. Paul replied, “Yes, but there was another man with him, who might that be?” She looked at him as her mind began to reflect. “What did he look like?” Paul replied that he had a white beard and was somewhat heavy set. She became anxious and asked to go see the bodies immediately. He warned that it was dangerous. He asked if there is defense gear in the bunker. She showed him the stored gear in the closet by the bedroom. There are bulletproof vests, guns, rifles, and knives. He said they can use that gear and head towards the woods, but he asked if he could have food before they headed out. She took him to the storage room next to the kitchen where he selected canned stew. They both ate a proper meal. He advised that they should head out toward the woods the next morning. Sarah agreed.

The next morning as they approach the bodies. Sarah runs up to her husband’s body. She lifts his hand from off the ground and holds it one last time. She burst into an uncontrollable sob. A few moments later she turns to look at the other body. She recognizes the man and says, “Oh no, that’s our neighbor, Clyde. Oh no, Caroline! We have to get to Caroline!” Clyde and Caroline were long time friends of the Hicks and they had prepared for a doomsday disaster too. While they had not built a bunker, Sarah knows that they are stocked with survival gear and she feels an urge to find Caroline to see if she is okay. Sarah aids Paul to navigate their way to Caroline’s house. When they arrive, they see that the house is ransacked and empty. She remembers that Caroline has another property where she stores their survival resources and it is just up the road. The property has an underground cellar that can be accessed from the outside.

After arriving at the cellar door, Paul breaks the lock with a heavy rock. They hear footsteps inside as they enter. It's Caroline. She's hiding behind a column. When she notices Sarah she runs out to her bursting into tears and they embrace each other firmly, both weeping and moaning. Caroline had been isolated, alone, and afraid. She is relieved to see Sarah. They exchange stories and Paul is introduced to Caroline. Sarah and Caroline continue to weep as they mourn their husbands. Paul found another lock inside the cellar and puts the lock on the cellar door.

Paul and Sarah took Caroline back to the bunker and the three of them remained there except to make trips to the cellar as needed. They built upon their resources and eventually expanded into a small tribal community that relied on their skills, talent, and natural resources. The community continued to expand and they became known as the Whispering Hills Tribe. The land had beautiful tall trees that paved a nice entryway to the tribal land. On one of those trees, Paul carved a heart-shaped locket with the flap open that showed a compass on one side and the initials W.H. on the other. This became known as the Whispering Hills Tribe heirloom.