Reclaimed By Elimelec Gonzalez-Roman
Reclaimed
EpisodeI
By
Elimelec Gonzalez Roman
Smashwords Edition
*****
Published By:
Elimelec Gonzalez-Roman onSmashwords
Reclaimed
Copyright ? 2012 by E. G. Roman
First and foremost, thank you fordownloading this eBook. Enjoy the content and share it with yourfriends!
Your support and respect for theproperty of this author is appreciated. Again, thank you.
This book is a work of fictionand any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events orlocales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of theauthor's imagination and used fictitiously.
Please Note: Adult Language ispresent.
Thriller, Mystery, Sci-Fi
[Tableof Contents]
Preface
Escape
Captured
[Chapters]
TheBeginning
Catalyst
ForgingArmageddon
FirstEncounter
ForgottenCivilizations
Erased
Enlightened
Mutuality
Reliance
Discerned
TheGreat Flood
Unprecedented
Vulnerability
Encapsulate
InThe Beginning
Cleansing
TheTime of Departure
Unveiled
Departure
***
27 May 2013
Preface
Ialways did wonder…
Howmy life would’ve turned out if I took an alternate course. WhereI’d be if I said no to the question I said yes to.
Haveyou ever wondered about your life? Where would you be if you tookthat different course? Think about it… imagine that unreality ofthe alternative world: Howdifferent would it be from the world you created around you?
Iapologize for continuing on off subject. I’ve been on the run forquite some time now, and my mind likes to wander off course quiteoften. It’s liberating and a way to escape the chaos engulfing thereality that I live in.
Myname is Wesley Stamps and I’ve been on the run for three month.First let me explain what’s happened. Catastrophe struck nationwideon sixth of May of this year, 2013.
Itwas spontaneous, one moment I’m sleeping in after a long night andthen the next I’m traveling down Interstate 65 southbound leavingbehind the city of Birmingham, Alabama that was turned to a pile ofrubble by an unknown explosion.
“Wes…”
It’sRonald Jenkins, a kind Army Sargent that saved my life. He’s beenwandering with me since the beginning of this mess. I set the pendown and glance up at him.
“What’sup?”
“Wehave to move,” His gaunt and sallow face strings his lips to agrimace, “I have an eerie feeling about this place, kid.”
Islump my eyebrows and stare away. It pains me when I stare into hispale blue eyes.
Iclose my journal, pick up my backpack from the floor, and stuff boththe pen and journal inside.
“Where’sAndrew?”
“Diggingthrough the shit-pile over there trying to find food.” Ron replies.
Isnicker. “Awesome. I guess he didn’t see the grocery store rightthere.”
Ipoint through the broken window at the Publix across the street.
Whereare we you wonder?
Well,we’re currently in an abandoned Chevron gas station lounge inDothan, Alabama.
Droppedby to see if there’s any gas. Ron, Andrew, and myself, have beenpushing the car for about five miles now… it’s exhausting, andnot a single gas station in this strip has a nip of gasoline.
Ronpats my shoulder, “Hey Wes you ok kid?”
Inod.
“Y-Yeah,yes… sorry,” I hesitate and fake a smile, “I’m just.” Apain washes over me that leave tears streaking down my cheeks. Mysoul radiates in an omnipresence that catapults an awkward irk to mystomach.
“Ahf*ck Wes.” Ron mutters. He spreads open his arms. “You look likeyou need a hug kid.”
Hegives me a hug and embraces me as though my father.
“Justrelax, everything will be ok, we just have to stick together and keepon pushing forward. We can’t give up… or they’ve won.”
Thethey in his sentence is this unknown force that has somehow, notonly, invaded our nation, but also managed to obstruct allcommunications without anyone outside our little group.
Isob, “I k-know I k-know it’s just I feel so helpless,” I soband press my head against his shoulder, “My world, our world,everything I strived for is over, all over”—
Ihear Andrew clear his throat, “Y`all seriously f*cking with me?This isn’t the time for this.”
Andrewand his typical comment… I lock my jaw shove Ron away and leave thestation.
“Goddamnit Andrew, don’t make me ram an oar up your ass.”
Ineed a respire of fresh air. This cooped up claustrophobia is gettingto me. The loneliness is nibbling and nibbling on my sanity… Idon’t know how much longer I can remain me.
“Dude,Wes I was kidding man, lighten up!” Andrew yells.
Isigh. “Guys please keep your voices down.”
“There’snobody around. Look around you kid.” Ron says. “And if therewe’re I’d for damn sure like to see a new face for god’s sake.Where the F*ck did everyone GO!” Ron yells at the top of his lungs.
Andrewsnaps in fingers, “Don’t say that shit, I’m expecting zombiesto pop out anytime now.” Andrew says.
“Youshut the f*ck up. You and your god damn zombie bullshit is driving meinsane.”
“Lookhere dude, I ain’t lying. They’re coming. Just give it time.”
Rontakes a breath, “Wes hold me back kid, I’m going to knock somesense into this moron!”
Iturn away from the compulsion of stupidity and examine the Ford F150that we’ve hauled this far parked about ten feet away from me. It’snot just a typical pick-up truck; it’s become our home.
Ourbelongings and random stuff we’ve collected since the beginning ofour journey is piled in the back.
Iface Ron and Andrew, both an inch from each other’s face, staringeach other down.
“Let’sgrab some food and just get going to Florida please!” I beg.
Ronscoffs, “Psh, don’t have to tell me twice.”
Ronleaps through the broken window and sprints off towards the Publixacross the street.
“Hurryup then, this place gives me the creeps.” Ron says.
Ishake my head and hurry behind him.
“Whatdo you mean?” I mutter.
“Therehas to be something around here, I can feel it… no gas from everysingle one of these gas stations isn’t normal. Some one, orperhaps, people, have taken refuge around here.”
Ihear Andrew closing behind us as we cross the street.
“Thanksfor leaving me behind a*sholes.” He says.
“Yourdigging through shit while there’s a grocery store there.” Ronreplies.
“WellI didn’t see it.”
“Youdo seem to be the average height of a woman.” Ron adds.
“F*ckyou!”
“Don’tbe mean Ron,” I say as I burst out in laughter.
“God,You’re both a*sholes.”
Igroan. “Weren’t you the one that wanted to lighten the mood?”
Ronslows down to a walk, “Shut it for a minute. Draw your weapons.”Ron says.
Igrab my Smith and Wesson nine-millimeter sterling silver Enigma, cocka bullet in its chamber, and draw it forward.
Ronaldhas his Military Issued 5.56mm M-four Carbine assault rifle with aTrijicon ACOG scope and Andrew with his gargantuan twelve-gauge autoshotgun… for his zombie slaying, obviously. Me, I’m scared of bigguns and their recoil, so I’ll stick with this nine-millimeter.
“Pointthat bitch towards the ground kid, don’t want a bullet in my ass ifanything decides to jump out.” Ron says.
Ibreak a smile. “S-Sorry!”
Ilower the pistol to my side.
Aswe go up the hill we get to a ten-foot chain-link fence and noticethe empty parking lot before us.
“Strange.”I say.
“Y`alltall f*cks couldn’t have noticed this too?” Andrew says. “Youexpect me to climb that?”
Ronfaces him and gives him the evil eye. “Don’t make me go fetchthat katana.”
Andrewgives him the finger.
“Canyou two quit with the profanity? Have you heard me say anythingseriously offensive?” I say.
“Yeah,remember when that big explosion picked up our car and dragged us tohell, you said Oh Shit.” Andrew replies.
Iroll my eyes. “Ok, that’s once, and I believe I lostconsciousness too.”
“Ha,so. I still proved you wrong”—
Ronclaps his hands, “Both of you quit the whining and open yourf*cking eyes for a second. Look at this, a big fence is blocking thisarea, people have got to be taking refuge in there.” He glances atme, “Let’s check it out.” Ron says.
“Youdo have a point… this is the first Publix I’ve seen with a fenceblocking its surrounding,” I stare at the driveway, “Hell eventhe driveway is blocked off.”
“Exactly.Let’s take a look inside."
Ronaldflicks open his knife and starts cutting down on the metal fence.
“Hurryup, look at the sky man, i-it’s getting ugly.” Andrew says.
Ifeel the profound hot gusts of wind blow against my body. The blackclouds hasten across the sky at an unnatural pace. A storm is comingno doubt about that.
Ronbegins to yank on the fence, “Wes, pull on the other side.”
Ihand the gun over to Andrew and begin pulling on the fence. I stripit down and roll it to the side. With the applied force I manage toyank the rail clean off the gravel.
Itake the gun from Andrew and go through the slit.
Theground trembles.
“Ohf*ck.” Ron mutters.
Iglance back and see him staring into the sky.
“W-Whatnow?”
Roneyes met mine, “Aftershocks.”
“Noshit?” Andrew says.
Anothertremble occurs, this one more powerful than the other. I drop to myknee and plow my hand into the dirt. Andrew falls on his rear andthen grabs a hold of the fence. Ronald on the other hand just standsthere like a statue unfazed by the powerful earthquake-likevibration.
“Thisisn’t normal guys… this means there’s still a resistance outthere somewhere. But where in god’s name could they be hiding?”Ron says.
“Itold you, Alaska.” I say.
Ronaldshakes his head. “No, they can’t be that far away… doubtfulthey’d have a base of operation in that shithole.”
“Exactly,the most unlikely spot.”
Anaftershock picked up debris and swirls of dust from the parking lotand bathed us with it.
“Ifthere is or isn’t anyone in that Publix best to crash there untilthis storm is over with.” I say.
“Ahs-shit, think I busted my tailbone on that fall.” Andrew says as helimps through the fence. “F*ck, y`all ganna get me killed.”
Ronglances my way and winks, “That katana might have come in handyjust then.”
“Ohmy god, shut up!” Andrew said.
Isnicker, “You two are going to end up killing each other. Let’sjust get under cover for a bit.”
“That’sif the zombies don’t appear anytime soon.”
“Andrew,from now on, whenever I hear you say zombie I’m going kick you inthe balls.” Ron says.
“ZOMBIE!”Andrew blurts into Ron’s face and then breaks into a sprint towardsthe Publix entrance.
Ronchases him.
Apparentlydiscretionary precautions swooshed out the window… I might as wellpoint my gun into the air and shoot a bullet. Go in guns blazing.
Andfinally, some more time to myself while we evade this gale that’sbellowing outside.
AsI expected, this Publix we’re in isn’t an enclave of survivinghumans. From corner to corner the place is stripped bare. So no foodor water.
We’recrashing inside the Employee lounge that was locked up. Afterbreaking in we found two vending machines and pulled out a bunch ofsodas and junk food.
Thisshould get us through the week, or so I hope it does, at least untilwe find some real food.
Ronleans against the lockers and crosses his arms, “We need to gohunting tomorrow.” Ron says. He glares at me, “If we’re tosurvive any longer… we need nutrition, real food," Ron flickshis snickers bar, "This shit isn’t going to cut it. I saw aHome Depot near this building, might be able to scavenge some usefultools and some camping equipment.”
“Hellyeah, time to round up couple of deer!” Andrew mutters as he bitesa chunk off a snickers bar, “Goddamn this is good.”
Ronmoves towards the vending machine and shakes it, “Hey Wes let’sbarricade this door with this. Take the other end and push.”
Inod and hurry over to the opposite end. “Ready.”
“Alright,one… two… push.”
Ipush with as much might as I can muster. The screechy grind from therusted metal beneath the machine leave my ears ringing.
“Okthat’s far enough.” Ron says.
“Awesome.”I reply.
Ronglances at Andrew, “Why didn’t your fat-ass come and help?”
“HeyI’m tired.”
“Tiredfrom what?” I say.
“Well,boredom.” Andrew replies.
Ronshakes his head and sits down on a chair, “You’re a lazy fatbastard you know that right? Have you lost any weight at all? How thef*ck do you keep it on?”
“F*ckyou!” Andrew says as he bursts into laughter.
Thefollowing morning…
Wechose to huff it with a bunch of camping gear through a forest. Ronsaid it’s safer to travel through the wilderness since we couldbump into food and it’s good to avoid unnecessary attention.
We’vealready had a run in with a search party of these invaders… and sadto say, they look exactly like a typical human being.
SomethingI forgot to mention: these so-called extraterrestrial life that haslanded on earth aren’t the typical green fleshed monsters that areusually seen on television... they're human-look-a-likes. The two webumped into had the same ivory skin, eye-color, and even height...the differences were not apparent at first glance.
Theyeven speak our native language… so I’m not sure what to think ofthem. However, we did kill that party, so Ron believes they’reafter us because of that. Then again we’ve yet to bump into anyother survivors… which doesn’t make any sense to me.
Where’deverybody go?
That'san excellent question. I have no clue. Hard to believe I know. Butbelieve me when I say, throughout our travel, from Birmingham,Alabama, to right now Dothan, Alabama, there hasn't been a singleinstance when we've met up with another party like ours.
Whenwe started on our journey, from city of Birmingham, our first goal:was to hit Mobile Bay, Alabama, and get into some evacuationtransports that were supposed to take us to Alaska. I missed thatmessage, and I’m sure many others did too.
Andas you can obviously tell, a horrific incident occurred on route toMobile Bay, Alabama that deviated or course to Florida.
Thehumidity is abysmal. The heat unbearable, even cluster cooped insidethis forest full of shadows and occasional breezes. Nothing kept mecool, I’m bathed in my own sweat and I feel disgusting.
Ronpasses his fingers through his damp jet-black hair, “Goddamn thistrip…” Ron says as he wipes the sweat from his brow, “I feellike we’re sucked in some bull shit fantasy novel full of randomass shit. I’m expecting to see a dragon flop on out of that bushright there,” Ronald points over to a clutter of bushes near atipped over tree.
Isnicker, “You’re priceless.”
“Soyou’re imagining that a dragon will sprout out of a bush but youdon’t believe zombies will come?” Andrew says.
Isigh and roll my eyes. “I think a dragon seems more believable."
“Youknow Andrew, where’s my god damn katana, because you know whereit’s going to end up right?” Ron says.
Andrewgroans. “Up a zombie’s ass?”
“No,your ass. Hopefully it’ll rip all that bullshit out.” Ronreplies.
“Youknow what, f*ck you!”
Icouldn’t help but laugh.
***