FSE

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I sometimes wondered if the urge for power was unalterably ingrained into all of us. Sure seemed that way. You'd think after a worm ate the brains of 99 percent of the Earth's population that the survivors would band together to help keep the human race from dying off. It was disappointing really. I wondered how many bandits there must have been to have wiped out 60 Marines and then corral and execute 200 people. I wasn't sure how many humans were left, but I was certain a tangible percentage of the human race had been killed in that town. I was glad we'd missed that event but at the same time, wished I had been there to help those Marines push off those bandits because maybe, just maybe, we could have stayed there.

"Hey Cameron?", Raf asked.

"Yeah", I answered.

"Why is it that people still feel the need to murder each other when there are plenty of other things that do that for us?"

I sighed, "simple stupidity little brother. That's all it is."

Raf didn't answer, I don't think he knew how, so I didn't say anything else.

More time passed. It was nearly eight now and I was beginning to feel the effects of driving all day. Raf and Jericho had already given into sleep and I knew that I wasn't that far off either. We need to stop for the night. I drove for another few minutes before thinking to hell with it and pulling over on the side of the Interstate. There was another strip of road about 60 or so feet to my right with a strip of grass in the middle. Set the tent up there, beats sleeping on asphalt. I killed the truck and slid out into the cool night air. The sky was clear and the stars were out. I could see more than a few constellations just from where I was standing. The wind was blowing the sharp air straight through my field jacket and stinging my arms, it would be cold tonight.

I dropped the tailgate of the truck and pulled the tent out. I unpacked the bag and laid the ground cloth out and spread the tent out on top of it. There were two poles s that filled sleeves on the outside of the tent to keep it up and two more that crossed the large rain cover. I put the two tent poles together and threaded them into the sleeves, sticking the ends into the base, which propped up the tent. I tied them together at the top and then pounded the four stakes into the ground to stretch the base tight and hold the tent to the ground. Next, the rain cover. I set it on top of the tent and threaded the two poles for it into the sleeves on the cover and stuck them into end points, completing the tent set up.

I went back to the truck and grabbed our sleeping bags and mats out of their bags and spread them out in the tent. Creating a thermal barrier between us and the ground. I also stuck a few hand warmers into our bags and underneath the blankets on the floor of the tent as a way of warming it up before we settled in for the night.

Once that was all done, I walked back to the truck and pulled the stove out. I pressed the rubber button a few times to prime the stove and then ignited it. I set water to boil and then sat in the bed of the truck, moving supplies aside to make room. The countryside was flourished with the sounds of nocturnal wildlife and the ever present wind. As I lay there thinking about what to cook for dinner, I began to hear what sounded like clucking. I grabbed my M14 from the gun bag and screwed a suppressor to it before peering down the scope. In the moon lit night, I counted three chickens. My guess was that they were loose from a near by farm after their owner either left or succumbed to Agent Six. Taking careful aim, I fired two shots, striking two of them in the necks. I set my gun down and ran over to them.

They were both huge chickens each about a foot and a half wide. Maybe I was just going crazy from all the salt in my food, but all I saw here was dinner.

I picked them both up and carried them back to the truck. I stripped them of their feathers and then ran my knife down their stomachs, slitting them clean open and gutting them with very little difficulty. I was in the middle of pulling them apart for cooking when the passenger's door opened and Raf slid out, gun in hand and Jericho in tow.

"I take were stopping for the night?", Raf asked.

"Yeah", I said wiping the cutting broad down, "I feel like we've got enough distance to stop for the night."

"What's for dinner then?", Raf asked.

"Chicken", I said, "I just shot two big ones."

He didn't say anything, but I saw him mouth, "thank you."

"Sick of MRE's huh?", I asked.

"Yeah", Raf said, "too much salt."

"You weren't in Iraq", I said, "try eating them from age 18 to age 29 non stop."

"Sucks to be you", Raf said.

I laughed, "yep. My life sucks. How should I do the chicken, strips, drum sticks, plain breast or what?"

"Strips", Raf said, "deep fried style."

"An excellent choice", I replied.

I finished stripping and cleaning the chicken, set the oil to boil and the set about getting the chicken ready. I crushed up a bag of puffy Cheetos and mixed it in with the rest of the breadcrumbs and some flaked red pepper. I rolled the chicken in it and filled the pot of boiling water with Mac'N' Cheese. Once the oil got going I placed the chicken in it. I had enough of the breadcrumb mixture and chicken to make almost twenty strips the scraps and the dark meat, I gave to Jericho, who swallowed it without breathing and then proceed to whimper at the smell of the food on the stove.

"You ate yours", Raf said pulling him away from the stove, "this bit is ours."

"He doesn't comprehend", I laughed.

"Sure doesn't seem that way", Raf said. He looked Jericho in the eyes, "I will tie you to the guard rail. Leave our dinner alone."

Jericho gave Raf a big slobbery lick.

"Nice save", Raf said wiping his face, "unfortunately, it also bought you a time out."

Raf leashed Jericho and walked him over to the guard rail, tying the leash tightly around the steel wires.

"He should have listened", I said watching as he lay down with a pouting look on his face.

"Yep", Raf said, "I hate having to tie him up, but what if he spilled that hot water or oil on himself?"

"Yep", I replied, "we'd have PETA breathing down our backs for criminal negligence."

Raf snickered, "think there still around?"

"There Eco freaks who wanted to wipe out humanity", I replied laughing, "of course they are."

"Hope they don't show up", Raf said, "we'd have to waste the breath telling them how idiotic they are for worrying about animals when humanity has been brought to it's knees by Agent Six. Speaking of", Raf continued, "Cameron, do you ever wonder how Mom and Dad got sick, but we didn't?"

I sighed, "I was wondering when you'd ask that, to be honest, I'm not sure. Could have been pure luck, or we could just be immune to it."

"Immune?", Raf asked, "I thought Agent Six was designed to be 100% lethal to everyone."

"So did I", I replied, "but you gotta take into account that no matter what Super Virus or Hyper Parasite the governments of the world create that there will always be people resistant or completely immune to it. Then...Don't you fucking tell him this! Are you an idiot?!."

"Then what?", Raf asked.

I sighed, no matter what I did now, he'd always ask that question, unless I answered it.

"You have the carriers", I said.

"Carriers?", Raf asked.

Moron, why'd you tell him that?

I sighed again, "carriers are people who have the virus and can spread it, but aren't affected, most of the time, they don't even know they got it."

"So", Raf's voice was unsure, "your saying we might be."

"No", I replied, "were not carriers. Remember the blood tests we had done?"

"Yeah", Raf said shivering, "that needle was wicked big."

"They came back completely negative", I replied, "no Agent Six."

"No worms?"

"No worms, promise."

"Good 'cause it be creepy to think I had a brain full of worms that are waiting to eat someone else", Raf said.

"Oh", I said, "I just met there are no worms in your head, they could be anywhere else, feet, hands, stomach."

"Stop it", Raf said, "or I'll get my Nerf Deploy."

"And I'll get my Demolisher", I replied.

Raf and I stared each other down for a few minutes and then burst out laughing. I was amazed at how even serious conversations could dissolve into a Nerf Mexican Standoff. Dinner was ready shortly after that. Raf and I ate in the grass beside the tent, making regular trips to the truck for more food. The two of us together ate everything that was cooked, which totaled two bags of Mac N' Cheese and twenty chicken strips. Jericho got to lick the Mac N' Cheese pot dry while I cleaned the cast iron pan and Raf changed into nightwear and brushed his teeth. Once everything was cleaned and put away, I backed the truck in front of the tent to act as a wind break since the weather was worsening slightly before changing myself. I slipped on a red, long sleeved shirt and flannel lined wool pants I got from the Cold River store, un tied Jericho and then slipped into the tent. Raf was playing Borderlands on my Vita, as usual.

"You know", I replied, "that's MY Vita and I'm sick of you running the battery down, plus, I might want to play Forza, like right now."

"Oh well", Raf said, "tough."

"Tough for you", I said taking it from him.

"Hey!', he squealed, "I was about to hit level 72!"

"Not before me your not", I said, "it may be the apocalypse, but I refuse to let tell me that I can't play video games any more because of all this, "responsibility" crap."

"Don't you have a tablet to play gameboy games on or something?", Raf asked.

"Yeah", I said, "but I beat 'em all."

"You beat Carnage in Ultimate Spider man?", Raf asked, "how!?!"

"You have to beat him up and then jump to the ceiling", I said, "once he does the tentacle thing, you hop down and beat him some more. Rinse. Repeat."

"I'mma go beat him right now", Raf said pulling out the laptop.

Raf and I stayed up till ten or so playing games. At about 10:21, Raf called it quits and went to sleep. Ready to check in myself, I pulled my journal out and wrote.

Getting through these past few days has been like a landslide, to say the least. A couple of days ago, we got stopped and turned around by a cult of sadistic women who were claiming to be protecting people from the violence of men. Then, just this afternoon in fact, we came across a survivor colony, or what was left of one. The city was burning, too many people were dead. There were signs of a small war everywhere. The sheer amount of brass in the roads required me to engage All Wheel Drive on my truck. My guess, the bandits came down from the mountain side and executed a planed, deliberate attack, catching the sixty Marines and two hundred, yes, hundred, people there completely off-guard, costing them all there lives and who knows who many people they kidnapped. I'm hoping that we don't run into them, cause if we do, there's gonna be another war. It's sad really, even the apocalypse hasn't stopped us from killing one another. I'll just need to keep my eyes out for the next few days, and hope human life isn't on the list of must sees.

I closed my journal and lay my head on my pillow, letting sleep take my tired mind and exhausted body.