Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Twenty minutes later



The cabin was a hunter’s wet dream. Overlooking the grand fireplace, a twelve point buck’s head was proudly displayed. Various stuffed animals decorated the living area, including a bald eagle. Two old-fashioned shotguns criss-crossed each other on one wall, and a hunting rack stocked with various rifles lined the other. Barnes sat on the couch, now in dry clothes that his newfound friend had given him. John was his name, Barnes had later learned. He’d been out on a weekend getaway when the shit hit the fan. He wasn’t married, and no immediate family lived in the area. So, he’d decided to hole up at his cabin and wait it out.

“Take this.” John cracked open a beer and handed it over. Rex accepted it, and was surprised that it was actually cold.

“Generator?” John nodded.

“Yep.” Barnes nodded as he took a sip of the beer. He sighed in relief, he hadn’t had a cold on in a long time. One of the tied up howlers outside let out a mournful ear wrenching scream, causing him to tense up.

“Tell me… how isn’t this place swarmed with the infected? And why the hell do you keep some tied up outside?” John smiled at this.

“Sergeant, this all boils down to basic primal instinct.” John started as he sipped on his own beer. “If you take out the biggest, baddest mother fucker of the bunch, do you think anybody will try to mess with you?” Barnes shook his head, not quite getting where he was going with this.

“Well, I took out six. Those… things out there, they still have part of their mind left somewhere up top. You see, Sergeant, I’ve been watching these creatures for a while now- observing them, if you will. The slower ones out there, they’re afraid of the faster infected. I’ve seen the screamers slaughter the slow ones over a meal.”

“No shit?” Barnes said, John nodded and continued.

“Now, I have six of them out there, trapped like rats. They can scream all they want, hell, I encourage it. It keeps the slower ones away from here.”

“What about the faster ones then? Don’t they still come around?” John shook his head.

“There ain’t too many of them, I reckon. There were more a week back when I first tried out this experiment. The more I capture though, the less that prowl around this area. I’m telling you, those bastards are getting smarter. But as long as you can get over their constant screams, this is probably one of the safest places you can be.” Rex chuckled as he leaned back, the chair was starting to pull him away. His eyelids were becoming heavy, and he wanted me than anything to just rest.

“Can’t argue with that.” He set the beer down on a finely polished cherry wood table, making sure he placed it on a coaster.

“You want another?” John asked him. Barnes was surprised at how willing this guy was to share his supplies with him. Over the last few weeks, he’s seen friends turn against each other. Husbands turn against their own wives, and… he’d even turned against his country for a short period of time. John must have really been lonely out here all this time, not knowing what the hell was going on outside of his cabin.

“No thanks.”

“Hey, I think Joe might be back.” John said as he stood up.

“There’s more of you?” Barnes asked, his eyes suddenly opening up fully. John jogged towards the kitchen door.

“Yeah, just Joe though. He stumbled along my cabin about two weeks back, just like you did!” John disappeared through the doors, they swung in place as he heard him walking throughout the cabin to the back.

“Hmph, maybe it is actually safe here.” Barnes mumbled as John walked back into the living area. Joe was nowhere to be found.

“Who the hell are you?” John asked, his voice suddenly deeper.

“The hell you talking about John?” John’s face changed from angry to apologetic.

“Ah, sorry about that, he isn’t too friendly with strangers.” Barnes cocked an eyebrow as he rubbed his eyes.

“Like hell I’m not.” John said, with the deeper voice again.

“John, what are you talking about? Nobody is there…” Barnes suddenly found his hand slowly reaching down to his holster. Shit, the gun was on the counter in the kitchen drying off.

“Excuse me, pig?” John stormed forward and raised his arm. Barnes jumped back and prepared to defend himself, but John suddenly stopped and fell back.

“Stop it, Joe! We’re all in this together. And remember, this is MY cabin.” John said. “Joe” scowled.

“Listen… Joe, I‘m not here to cause any trouble. I was… separated from my unit, and spent the last four hours running through that forest. I don‘t plan on staying long. I‘m the guest here, you two are in charge.” Barnes said. John smiled slightly, or was it Joe? He couldn’t tell but one of them extended their hand. Barnes took it, shaking it.

“Second thought, John, I’m going to need another beer…”