Chapter Two: A Long Way From Home
(No P.O.V)
As two vehicles zoomed through the highway heading to California, Johann's caravan truck along with his escort which was a pickup truck modified with metal sheets welded into the hood, rims, front and back of the truck itself. It had fences welded into the windows making them somewhat bulletproof.
The back was the interesting part since it had a mounted .50 caliber on rotating platform. It was armored to the boot keeping the gunner safe.
"Why do they need my help when they have a chance against the outcast, I mean they have all the firepower they need to wipe out any outcast that try to ambush their cargo." Harper thought.
Harper was sitting beside Johann with his rifle at hand observing the now abandoned and rotting Los Angeles. He looked all around to see cars, buildings and either skeletons, burnt or fresh corpses laying on the ground now decomposing with nature itself.
The whole city had either grass, tree's, veins, and make shift river made by the bombings of the military when the "Freak's" overruned the city itself.
The Freak's still had their human form, still had human thought. But they acted strange at first it was just a normal fever, cough and colds. Then their skin started to turn green followed by some random plant growing from their skin as if it was soil from the earth. Then they started to grow mad, started killing people and infecting them with what they called "Mothers Gift". They force the victim to eat some sort of seed they grow out of there body before they turn into one of them.
Soon they overruned the city claiming earth as their own, and leaving the rest of humanity to fend against them.
Harper looked around before noticing some movement ahead, He pushed Johann's shoulder lightly. Johann looked at him with a questioning face.
"Is there something wrong?" He asked.
"Yeah tell your caravan to stop, make sure you turn off your engines." Harper ordered.
Johann got his radio telling the caravan to stop, the lead truck stopped before the radio buzzed back to why they are stopping. Harper got out strapping his rifle around him walking slowly as his cloaked moved to the right from the wind, his hair was blooming along with it before he took cover behind a police cruiser.
He looked around noticing it was shopping district mostly having shops and restaurant's either broken into, closed, or boarded up. He got his rifle out looking at the scope to see a bunch of freak's roaming around the street. They still had their clothes still so they must recently have turned, judging by how fresh their skins are.
Harper moved to the right looking at a feral with brown skin with rough edges forming some kind of bump on their skin. He looked carefully to see it was an armored feral. It was some sort of mutation from the virus turning their skin into tree bark. Harper ran into these a few times, they were hard to kill since there skin was hard. A knife or pistol would take much of your energy or bullets by the time they fall.
Harper counted six freak's roaming around the street most of them talking to themselves like their taking to nature itself. They were petting, touching feeling every vine, root, moss, leaf or flower from the ground itself.
Harper breathed in, looking at the scope focusing on the barker. He slowly placed his finger on the trigger. His mind calculating the right time to pull it due to the heavy wind coming from the right.
Then he pulled the trigger followed by a loud "bang" echoing scaring the ravens in the process. A loud shriek can be heard from the distance as Harper grasped gliding the bolt hearing the bullet come out and fall to ground satisfying him. He pushed the bolt back as it glided back into the position rotating the bolt handle locking it in.
He fired another shot cocking the bolt, and again and again. Hearing shriek after shriek until silence filled the air. He looked into his scope seeing all feral's laying on the ground their blood with a mix of red and green flowing out of them.
He walked back to Johann's truck, some of his men looking at him in awe as he walked back. One of them holding a binocular which to his guess looked where Harper was shooting at.
He got in Johann's truck nodding his head forward motioning them to move. Johann got the message and buzzed in the radio. He got a reply before hearing the engines turning own followed by his as they got back on track.
Harper looked at his window, as Johann looked at him carefully. "I guess you want to ask some questions I suppose, right trader?" Harper asked.
This surprised Johann, he tried to think of the words he could ask carefully avoiding to struck a nerve. "Well what got you into to this sort of business Mister Drake?" he started.
Harper chucked, "Are you always this formal Johann, should I call you trader Johann for now own?" He asked looking at him with amusing look.
"Well you see, I came from a family with an etiquette of manners. So yes, you may call me Trader Johann it's actually pleasant to say." He said answered with a small smile.
Harper smiled under his mask, "Well I was the son of a mayor who tried to keep our town organized he is well a man to look up to. He's all the things a leader should have, responsible. brave, understanding and other traits one should need. My mother well she liked animals but she was also a doctor in training so yeah..." he ended with a sigh.
Johann was confused, "Not to disrespect but what does that all have to do with your job description?"
Harper scoffed. "What's there to say I killed someone and it gave me the idea to do it for a living!"
Johann panic since he tried not to strike a nerve. "Forget I asked." He said simply.
Harper sighed, "Look I'm sorry for that it's just the things I did I would rather burry then dig up, and one more thing Trader Johann. You're my client we are not friends we don't talk about each other's back stories so leave those out we are discussing business understand." Harper said in an authoritative tone.
"Yes, loud and clear Mister Drake." Johann squeaked out.
As the ride halt to an awkward yet peaceful silence, well in Harper's case that is during the few hours he wanted to shoot Johann or himself so bad due to his "Epic" tales in his adventures outside the capitol. He wouldn't shut up about someone random guy running in to him which turns out to be a long-lost cousin.
During the ride Johann would look around, seeing the after math of the virus, most of the roads blocked due to the car being abandoned when the evacuation and bombing of the city happened. There were overruned red cross stations, FEMA outpost left to rot as most of the plant life grew on the barricades and left-over vehicles of the national guard.
Dead bodies either decomposing such as dead FEMA doctors wearing hazmat suits which didn't even block the virus over all.
Harper pulled out his knife, toying with it doing tricks, spinning it around his hand, balancing it and what not. He kept a cold gaze due to his googles being taken off after he sniped another set of freak's. Johann looked at the young man guessing he was at his twenties, long auburn hair, piercing green eyes, he looked thin but Johann can tell the man was hiding it under his poncho.
"Johann we're almost there to Berk, but Jerimiah saw an outcast check point up ahead. Should we stop or just go right through it our armor can withstand it." One of the escorts radioed in.
Johann looked at Harper, "So mister Drake what do you propose?"
Harper stopped for a moment sheathing his knife, he thought for a second to just drive right through it but it would sacrifice the escorts in the process. "Gods I never thought this hard." Harper thought.
"Stop the caravan, don't drive unless I say so. Once I shoot this flare." Harper started pulling out a red flare from his right. "It's clear to ram through the checkpoint but make sure to stop so I have time to get in got it?"
"Understood mister Drake, we will be waiting on your signal." Johann responded, radioing the caravan to stop. Repeating the exact same words Harper told him.
Harper got out of the truck grabbing his rifle from the side seat, he was about to slam the door before going back in and taking his Berretta from the dash board. He got the sling of his rifle rapping it around his body before calmly walking to an hill overlooking the area. He got rifle out, looking at the scope surveying the terrain.
He saw a pickup truck with a mounted .50 caliber with a shield facing the road up ahead. Harper groaned silently as it was going to be hard to take him out he thought.
There was outcast on the road walking around, Harper moved to the left to see a makeshift tower out of cars stacked together on top of an old donut shop. He saw an outcast holding a Benelli pump action shotgun to the right, beside him he was holding a Fn Scar.
"These guys must have raided an evacuation zone, those are mostly military grade." Harper muttered
He looked on the checkpoint itself, it had was easy to break through since it was made out of old scrap metal, but Harper looked to right to see an office building with silhouettes which he was guessing was outcast. He saw most of them holding pistols and melee weapons so they were an easy target.
Harper got up slinging his rifle and walking back to Johann's truck, He opened the door startling Johann to see him clipping is nose hair. "Yeah don't do that, here take my rifle. Make sure she's safe in your arms." Harper said coldly before slamming the door even before Johann could answer back.
He pulled out his Berretta, clipping the silence twisting it on the barrel till it was locked in position. He pulled out another handgun, this time it was a revolver. The same gun he used with Demsey's problem. He checked how much ammunition was left inside before slamming the clip shut and placing the gun on the back of his pants.
Once securing the revolver he started to walking to the checkpoint, Harper crept carefully hugging behind the building in the alleyway. As he walked through he can hear the conversations of the outcast, most of them laughing remembering the time when the escaped prison.
Harper reached the office building, pulling out his knife from his chest. He opened the door slowly trying not to make a single sound. He walked slowly reaching the reception table before hearing a series of voices coming from the employee bathroom. He walked there carefully opening the door to see two outcasts doing their business.
Harper crept carefully, going behind the outcast of the left grabbing him by his mouth. The outcast yelped yelling as his mouth was covered before Harper slit his throat dropping as his body fell limp.
His friend stunned by what just happened, tried to pull out his gun only to be kicked away by Harper foot. The outcast charged at him tackling him in the process, his knife sliding away.
The outcast tried to strangle Harper, going for neck applying amounts of pressure on it. Harper on the other hand struggled kicking them man off him, clawing his hands off. But he was too strong for Harper as he started to lose consciousness.
Harper quickly pulled out going for the outcast eyes, placing his hands around his head pushing his thumbs in his socket. The outcast yelled in pain before blood started to ooze out of his eye socket, as it dripped down flowing through his hands dripping down on his face.
While the outcast screamed in pain, Harper mustered all of his strength pushing the outcast off him. He stumbled going for his knife before picking it up. The outcast was still screaming as he clutched his face, he was kneeling down sobbing and screaming in pain.
Harper walked to him, kneeing him as the impact knocked the outcast to the ground. Harper went down to the floor instantly pushing the knife into his skull piercing through it. The outcast gave a three second response before going limp.
Harper breathed slowly collapsing next to the dead outcast, he was trying to regain his breath before he heard a series of shouts, pointedly yelling for someone to check the bathroom. Harper got up pulling out his Berretta before going beside the door. As he muttered on how much an idiot he was for not shooting both of them making is life easier.