The Killer
Scout: Sarah "Ghost"
Days: 38
Last night was a good night. I slept in peace. I slept all night. I even slept in till midday. It was the most rest I'd had since leaving the underground. My lofted sanctuary at the top of an abandoned Shamway food store served as my home, my base, and my life. It felt good to be home.
I had been on the road for nearly three weeks: 18 days. I traveled. I saw as much of the world as I could with my meager rations and ammo reserves. The car I rebuilt from scraps and salvaged fuels, held up well enough to get me there and back. I'm sure it'll need some serious rebuilding now, but it can wait. I don't plan to go anywhere for a while. Today I'll be focusing on preparing for the Blood Moon.
"You awake?" A deep voice softly swayed across my ears. I rolled over and saw Tank standing at my shack door.
"Thanks." I said with a long stretch. "I haven't slept that good since recovering from graduation."
"Well, I owed you one. Letting you get a full night's sleep makes us even. Plus it was nice to get away from my bunker for a while. Had to come make sure you were doing okay." He was wearing a dusty set of steel armor plating. His helmet was attached to his hip and a shotgun was slung over his left shoulder.
"How was last night?" I stood up, wearing only a pair of pants and a top. I pulled on my leather armor, secured all the belts and picked up my trusty sniper. I found a small mirror in my travels and I used it to check my teeth. "One of these days I would love to find a toothbrush."
"The night was quiet." Tank said, as he sat down on the floor just inside my door. "Otherwise you would have heard some thunder." He laughed as he patted his shotgun.
"That thing is too loud. You'll attract every corpse for two miles." I opened my food locker, and took out a few protein bars I found beyond the irradiated zones of Navezgane. I tossed one to Tank.
"I only use it when things get dicey." He tore open the package and ate it in two bites. I nibbled mine as I walked out the door. "Besides that, you've got enough traps around this place to keep anything away." I scanned the terrain as I walked to the edge of the brick building. I had broken out several holes in the roof of the building so that I could shoot down, inside the Shamway, if anything was in the building, and the walls were surrounded by spikes, barbed wire, drop pits, and in the event that things got out of hand, I had a gas trench that I could ignite to burn anything clawing at the walls.
It really felt good to be home.
"I have plenty of space, you know." I turned and looked at my tiny shack sitting on the roof. "You could build up here as well. We could ask someone to come and check the building integrity and show us how to strengthen it. We could turn this place into a fortress."
"You know my bunker is my home." Tank smiled. He has such perfect teeth. "And I better go check in before they think to replace me. I built the damn thing, can't have some yuppie upstart trying to muscle in on me." He turned to the ladder and motioned to go down. "Oh, before I go, any interest in having sex?"
"Tempted." I smiled. "It's been a long time. A long… long time. But I have to get this place ready for the Blood Moon. Come back and check on me after the moon. Maybe then?"
"If the mood hits." He smiled again, showing those gorgeous pearly whites.
I suddenly thought of Sierra. I hadn't thought about her in days, but now she was at the forefront of my mind. I exhaled and tried to push her out of my mind. I looked at the ladder's ledge and saw that Tank was already gone. I walked over and looked down as he navigated through my traps to where he hid his minibike. He turned and waved to me. I blew him a kiss. Tank was my only true friend in this world. He made me feel… human, when he was around. We constantly joked about having sex together, but I was afraid to. This world could kill you at any time, and if our friendship evolved it would be hard to let him go. It would be worse than what happened with Sierra.
To Tank, I wasn't "Ghost, the killer, the unstoppable," I was just a girl he saved 37 days ago. He put that sniper in my hands, taught me how to repair and modify it, and most importantly, he taught me how to shoot it. He was much older than I was, but he was the most important thing to me in this world. Yet as he drove away from me, I could feel the pressure building up inside me once again. That deep cold rage that drove me to be "Ghost, the killer, the unstoppable."
Something needed to die. I didn't care what it was, I just had to kill it.
"Is that why you killed me?"
I spun around and glared into Sierra's eyes. The rage that boiled within me snapped. I lost control. I lunged and punched at her, hitting her in the side of the head. Blood drained from my punch and I pressed my fist harder and harder against her head.
"Is this the reason I had to die?"
"Shut up! Shut up!" I hit her again and again until the blood was all I could see of her face. Then I backed away. I smiled. She was a bloody pulp and the liquid flowed from her like a red river. "I killed you because you were weak! We trusted you! You deserved to die!"
"You know," she smiled and the blood dripped from her wounds, "it was because I hurt you."
"Get out of my head!" I wanted to scream. I closed my eyes and when I looked up again she was gone. I clutched my sniper, climbed down the ladder and ran across the quiet town to a nearby forest. Hunting was always good here. Shooting a pig, a bird, a deer, anything would make me feel better, so long as it died.
It was several hours later before I dragged my kills back to the base. I fired four rounds and brought home four dead animals; 2 deer, a pig and a squirrel. It was quite the haul, and dragging them back to the base was taxing. I had to make a sled out of branches,and dress the deer and pig while out in the field; it was the only way to get the meat back. At the wall of my Shamway, I tied them to my hoist, climbed up the ladder and pulled them up. Once the meat was up top was when I finally realized that I had killed too much for me to possibly eat. It would spoil long before I could possibly eat it all.
I unclipped my radio and called it in. "Zone A10 to anyone within earshot. I've got too much damn food. Come and get it." I hated it, but I didn't want to waste it.
~"Ghost? You're offering dinner? Seriously?"
~"No fucking way! Really?"
~"This has got to be a trap."
I exhaled with frustration. "7.62mm ammo and ammo material for trade. First come first serve." The scouts went wild on the radio with voice chatter. I wasn't going to fuel their banter. I dropped the radio and dragged the meat to my fire-pit. I'd have to cook it all. Even after cooking there was only so much I could store and dry out.
The sun was setting when the first few scouts started to climb my ladder. I made a few of them stand guard as dusk became night. I had cleared my town of the dead, but you never know when a wandering horde would stumble in. As the night progressed my rooftop base was becoming crowded with men and women eating away at the meat I served. Kevin happened to have heard my trade request and stopped by. It was good to have a trustworthy set of hands with me. I let him eat for free so long as he managed my trades while I cooked up the meats.
Everyone took turns keeping watch for the dead. Some took the meat and left; those who could afford it anyway. I was even able to sell a few uncooked pieces that I hadn't yet dropped on the fire. It was a profitable night. I picked up well over a thousand rounds of sniper shells, and at least three buckets of gunpowder. I was sure to store that in a safe place.
It was actually an entertaining night. There was only one fight among some of the more raw scouts. Apparently someone stole a beer from another scouts backpack. They all knew better than to steal from me, I'd kill them. It wasn't a threat, it was a promise.
The dead never came, despite the singing and cheers that went on throughout the night. Gatherings like this rarely happened in the wild. Old man Silo said they used to call this a Bar Be Queue in the days before the dead; drinking, eating, talking throughout the night. I just know that I made a hefty bounty from too much killing.
When the sun came up most of us toasted the arrival of a new day; some drank beer, some could only manage to drink water for fear of puking. I put out the fires, woke up the drunks, and kicked nearly everyone off my roof. Found a couple having sex in one of my storage closets on the far side of the Shamway, "Clean up when you're done," I closed the door and walked off.
I got a lot of praise. "Fantastic night, Ghost!"
"Thanks for the food!"
"If you ever need a partner out here, let me know!"
One of the braver souls walked up to me directly. "You've got a bit of a reputation around here." She said as she tightened her gear. "People fear and respect you. I understand the respect, but not the fear."
Kevin walked over. "Thirty five hundred confirmed kills and she's only been on the surface for 38 days." He told her. "And that's not including how many she may have killed while she was away."
The older woman nodded. "That's admirable. I don't see a reason to fear you because of that."
Rob walked by, "She has a tendency to kill her partners. Four so far." He climbed down the ladder and began walking east. I was the first words I had heard out of his mouth all night.
The woman looked at me. "Did they betray you?"
I walked away without answering. I started cleaning away trash the mass had left behind and saw Kevin talking to the woman. She looked at me and then climbed down the ladder. Kevin came over and sat down. "You need any help?"
"No." I exhaled. "Thanks for collecting for me."
"Thanks for the food." He looked out over my small town as scouts began to drive and walk away. "Heard from Tina?"
I stopped cleaning. "She wanted to stay…"
"I swear to God, Ghost. If you killed her."
"She didn't want to come back!" I glared at him. "She is traveling with a caravan looking for the White River Settlement. I begged her not…"
"She left with you on your adventure, and didn't come back. I was hoping to see her here. But you can understand why I don't believe you, right?"
I gave him a stare that I wish could have killed him where he sat. "Sierra…"
"Don't even say her name!" He stood up and towered over me, my knife was up and at his throat before he could react. "Go ahead. Add me to your dead friends' list."
"Back. Off." He took a step back. "I understand you're angry. What happened between me and Sierra… it happened. We both made a mistake, hers cost her more than me."
"She wasn't a fighter, Ghost." Kevin paced. "You knew she couldn't beat you."
"You weren't there. So stop trying to analyze the situation. What happened, happened. It was her or me… and yes, that's why Tina didn't come back. Just like I lost you as a friend, I also lost Tina and Rob and Kim. You can hate me for Sierra, I'll accept that I am a killer, but I am not a lier. Tina stayed out near Navezgane with a caravan of survivors looking for the White River Settlement. I even gave her my radiation suit."
Kevin exhaled, gathered his gear and went to the ladder. "Bye, Sarah."
I closed the latch and sat on a crate overlooking the ladder. Kevin was the last to disappear on the horizon. It had been a long night, and an even longer morning. I hadn't thought about Tina, Sierra and all the others in a long time. I may have gained a lot of ammo, and upped my reputation with the scouts who didn't know me, but felt as though I had made a lot more enemies.
I grabbed my radio and turned to channel 9.3. I pulsed the signal six times and waited.
~"Yeah."
"Hey."
~"How'd that feast go? Couple of my guards came your way after hearing your offer."
"It's over. They should be on their way back."
~"You don't sound to happy. I'm sure you made a mint last night."
"Can you come back tonight? I could use some company."
~"Wish I could. We've got an elder here and I have to take him back to the capital. We're hitting the road tonight. I won't even be back for the blood moon. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just… old memories. Be safe on your trip." I turned it off and glared at the sun. Tomorrow would be dog day. Just another cursed moment in this fucked up life. I stood up, grabbed my tools, supplies, and side arm. Time to focus on my defenses.
