Travis's Journey Through the Apocalypse

Chapter 18

I Might have fucked up

Okay, so it wasn’t really over. We spent the next two hours cleaning up the stragglers and the rest of the day after that helping the people who had been held captive by these. I think cultists might have been a fair word to use. At one point, some assholes grabbed some people and held them hostages to negotiate their safe release.

When Janet showed up, she threw a few knives, and the ones remaining alive after that surrendered. That was about as exciting as the clean-up got. Once the clean-up was done and there was just a bunch of fucked up and traumatized people left to deal with. Once Franks people had things under control, Beth and Janet returned to the tree house to get Tilly. I stayed back to help Frank’s people with the wounded.

Before Janet and Beth left, they emptied their bags of holding of the Senzuketa Beans they left, and I started passing Senzuketa Beans out to the worst off of the previously enslaved people. Most people were pretty fucked up, so once I ran out of Senzuketa Beans, I started giving out mana-kissed water to help get people back on their feet.

After a little over 2 hours, Janet and Beth returned with Tilly in tow. Once they were back, Janet, Beth, and even little Tilly helped me and our friends get everyone something to eat and a blanket that had been scrounged up from around the compound. Most of the resources came from the leadership area. It seemed like they kept most of the good stuff for themselves.

The rest of the day was filled with relieved and thankful looks and comments from the folks we were helping, but mostly, people kept their distance from us unless we were handing out previsions or blankets. I don’t think they trusted us yet. I had the feeling they were wondering if they had traded one hellish master for another, but I think they were warming up to us.

That night was quiet. Everyone was camped out in the largest open area, which was the old sleeping area for the cultist Mad Max people. We had to clean up the bodies, burnt tents, and belongings, but then everyone found a spot and passed out. We had set up a fire pit in the middle of the impromptu camp, and Janet, Beth, Tilly, most of our new friends, and I gathered around it.

No one was talking. We were all just sort of watching the fire. Even Tilly felt the gravity of the day and was in a somber mood. Out of the sleeping bodies around us, Frank walked over to the fire pit and sat beside me.

“You and your friends, I… I just don’t know what to say. I didn’t say anything before, but my wife and son were taken and held captive by these monsters. A few other folks in our group were in similar positions as myself, and I know many didn’t make it out of this hell hole, my wife included.”

Tears were falling from Frank’s eyes now, but I didn’t think he was even aware. “My son is okay, though. I got him back, and even though I lost the light of my world, I will fight for my son and die for him if I must. So, thank you for what you have done today. You are all heroes this day, and I will never forget it as long as I live. So thank you.” With that, Frank stood back up, then walked back into the sleeping bodies and disappeared.

We all sat there in silence for a bit longer, then slowly, one by one, the people gathered around the fire disappeared into the sleeping mass of bodies until it was just me and Janet at the fire. Beth had taken Tilly to bed after she had started yawning.

“We did a good thing today, Travis, but I can’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t enough. It feels cheap,” Janet was whispering now.

“I feel like for everything these people endured, it wasn’t enough. Those assholes should have died slowly. I should have pulled them apart piece by piece till they were begging to die. It just doesn’t feel like justice. I wanted them dead so bad, but it was too quick. I just want to kill them over and over again… you know?”

Janet finished speaking, and I put my arm around her and pulled her close into a tight side hug.

“I know exactly how you feel. Those mad max freaks got to die fast and easy, and their victims had to suffer for weeks. It’s not fair, but all we can do is kill them and make sure this kind of thing does not happen again. If that means we take the whole dam planet and force the issue, so be it. Janet looked up at me, smiled, and cuddled in tighter. We stayed like that for another hour, then we went and found a corner to fuck and sleep, both badly needed at that moment.

The following day, Janet and I woke up late. I found a place to take care of the morning drop-off. Soon after Janet and I had dealt with the morning’s necessities, Tilly found us. Shortly followed by a slightly frantic Beth, afraid of losing sight of Tilly in the many people now moving and sitting around.

“I found you! Where were you guys? Beth and I got some food for all of us, and we wanted to find you guys before we started eating, but you weren’t there. Where did you go?” Tilly berated Janet and me.

“I’m sorry, Tills. I had to use the bathroom. I told Janet where I was going, and she tagged along, but the food sounds amazing.” Tilly looked at me like she was thinking about whether she was still mad at me or not, then she smiled and told me.

“Duh, you dummy, let’s eat. It’s probably getting cold.” As she said that, Janet realized what she’d just said, and then her eyes went wide, and she dashed off.

“Tilly, wait for me! If you can’t see me, I can’t see you! Shit, I swear if she gets lost again.” Beth said and then darted after the girl. I realized that neither Janet nor I knew where they were set up, and if we lost them, that meant no food, and if there was bacon…

“Wait, fuck food. Janet, they have the food! Follow them, go go go!” I yelled at Janet. She jumped about a fucking foot, then slapped my arm like, what the fuck. After a second, she realized I wasn’t kidding, then my words registered to her, and her eyes went wide.

“Fuck!” Janet said. Then, the next second, I had an idea. I mean, it was time for drastic measures. Bacon might be at stake here. These weren’t hypothetical stakes. It was game time. I grabbed Janet’s arm and activated Step Lightly. The next second, I was dragging Janet after me. Once we stopped, Janet looked a little shocked, and then I saw Beth right before she disappeared again.

I activated Step Lightly two more times. Then I was standing next to Beth and Tilly, holding a slightly pail Janet by the arm. The next thing we all knew, Janet was running over to a wall and throwing up. After a few minutes, Janet walked back over, and I turned to apologize for my rash actions. Right before I turned, I heard Beth exclaim,

“Hey, Janet, what the?” As I turned fully to Janet, I came eye to fist with Janet’s, um, fist. That wasn’t the end of it either. She jumped me and punched me right in the fucking head like three more times.

Janet honestly got me pretty good. Her strength now wasn’t anything to laugh at, and her blows hurt. I was, however, just as strong and had increased constitution, so I could handle it, and I thought it only fair I did make her puke. I fucking hate that shit. When Janet had finally calmed down and thoroughly given me a piece of her mind, we ate, and there wasn’t even bacon. I was so bummed.

I almost brought it up, but then I met Janet’s eyes. I shut my mouth and finished my breakfast. When we were nearly done eating, Tilly told us about her time alone in the tree house. How board she had been, and what she had had to do to entertain herself. Near the end of Tilly’s story, Frank, Devin, along with two women and a man we’d never met before, walked over to us.

It was a bit awkward at first when they walked up. I had a piece of egg stuck to my mustache. I was trying to get it with my tongue. Janet had her mouth full, Beth was cleaning Tilly up, and they were just standing there. Then Frank just started in.

“I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance to finish eating, but um… well, people are starting to ask questions. For example, what do we do now? What happened to the world? And who’s in charge?” Frank let that last question hang in the air as he looked at us. The people who came along with Frank had varying expressions on their faces.

One woman looked like she wanted to punch me in the face. There was such a palpable aura of fuck off about her. The other woman looked concerned, and there was a tiny bit of fear there as well. I was pretty sure. The man looked like he wanted them to think of him as imposing. He was puffing out his chest and was standing. Arms crossed, legs shoulder width apart like he was a bouncer at a club or some shit. Devin looked resolved, and Frank looked like he was in dire need of our help, but it was hidden well under his stoicism and charm.

They were all in combat gear and were members of the team that took the hotel. I finally got that little fucking piece of egg. Fuck you bitch ass egg, I win. So I was a little distracted listening to Frank when he started talking, but I still got most of it. I looked over at Janet and Beth and kind of raised my eyebrows in a, well, fuck here we go sort of way.

“Sidebar,” I said.

Everyone looked over at me like, what the fuck? Janet just laughed at me, and Beth chuckled. Beth looked over to our guests and asked them. “You wouldn’t mind if we had a quick word amongst ourselves for a moment, would you?” Frank smiled at Beth and then told us that it would be fine. Beth, Janet, and I all walked about ten feet away from Frank and his party and huddled up while Frank watched Tilly for a second.

“Look, all these people here are fucking weak as fuck, and they could probably really use our help getting started in this new world, but I’m gonna tell you right now I’m not putting my name in the ring to run this place, fuck that. Still, I think one of us needs to be in charge. I just don’t trust any of these people, and we have the power to make people listen. Beth is the smartest, most empathetic, and most well-spoken of the three. So, I think It should be you, Beth.” I said. Beth looked shocked, and then Janet chimed in.

“Fuck yes, hast to be Beth. They need someone to lead them. Protect these weak people from the fucking hell our world is now. I agree it should be you, Beth.

I know before the whole integration thing happened, I was a pretty shitty stepmom. I mean, it’s not like you needed me. You were a grown-ass woman when we met for the first time. I guess what I’m saying is I’ll never be your mom, Beth, but I think we’re friends.

Over these last weeks fighting to survive and defeating that dungeon, I’ve seen you become a force of nature. You will make these people strong, and they need you.”

Janet finished what she had to say, and Beth looked like she was going to cry for a second. Then, she just hugged Janet as she tied up. They split after a long moment, and I grabbed Beth’s shoulders,

“I’ll help. I just don’t want the title. I’m not the in-charge of like 150 people type person, you know. We’ll kick these guys and gals into new world shape in no time.” I told Beth, and she rolled her eyes at me and called me an asshole. She still smiled at me after so I was pretty she wasn’t really that mad at me.

“We do have to be careful. These people have been through a lot, and we can’t push them too hard. It could go bad, and with stats, a strong, angry, traumatized person would not be a good thing.” Janet reminded the Both of us, and we nodded back to her.

“Let’s get back there and talk to Frank and his people. Let’s see what they’re thinking,” I told the ladies. They both nodded, and we headed back over to rejoin the group, sidebar over. Tilly was telling the group all about how much she loved breakfast, to a mix of reactions. She was right in the middle of telling them about how bacon needed to be just crispy enough. Too underdone, no good, too overdone, no good, had to be exactly right. A bacon lover after my own heart, it was so precious I almost teared up.

When we reached the group, Beth addressed Frank, “Who are your friends, Frank? I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced?” Frank looked at Beth for a second as if wondering who she was talking about. Then his eyes filled with realization a little.

“I’m sorry, how rude of me. This is Rose, Tess, Brad, and you know Devin already. We do need to have a word with y’all, so maybe we could speak somewhere a little more private?” Frank asked us, and we all nodded. I told Frank to,

“lead the way.”

We left Tilly to her own devices and headed off but told her not to wander far, and she agreed. Then we headed off with Frank and friends. We ended up in a small courtyard by the secluded pool area. It didn’t look like people liked coming here. It must have brought up bad memories for some, so I got it. When we were all gathered up, Frank started in.

“Right, well, I guess I’ll start by saying thank you. Without your help, I don’t know if we could have ever taken this place. They were just too well-armed and protected, or so we thought until y’all came in. So again, thank you for everything.”

Frank bowed his head to us, along with Rose, Tess, and Devin. Brad rolled his eyes at Frank and let out a little scoff. Once Frank was done, he looked at Brad with disapproval but didn’t say anything about it.

“It’s all good, Frank. We only did what we would have done anyway. People like that don’t deserve to live,” I said. Frank gave me a smile and nodded. Brad didn’t seem to like that, and he said so,

“damn, who died and made you judge, jury, and executioner. Even if those dip shits were evil, they still had a right to life and a fair trial. You are nothing but vigilantes. You only cause chaos. You need to leave this kind of shit to the professionals. Let us do our job and get out of our way.

Unlike Frank, I have complete faith in my men and women. We would have taken the Claremont in the next two weeks, and we would have done it without you. We’re not playing around here. This is real shit hitting the real fan. I appreciate your help, but at most, you helped accelerate our timeline a bit, nothing more.”

Brad was staring at me with hatred burning in his eyes. It honestly felt like he hated us for no dam reason. I mean, we basically fucked those Mad Max fucking guys up alone. This asshole was pissed at us for helping. It wasn’t like he had a monopoly on helping people, so fuck him, and I told him so.

“Fuck you, asshole. If you really think you could have done this whole raid without us, you are more stupid than I thought. You fucking meathead. Were you a cop? Do you realize that there’s no government anymore? Are you gonna be the new chief of police? You? You’re a joke. I could kill you with one arm tied behind my back. You probably don’t have your strength stat about fifteen yet. Real you couldn’t even touch…”

Okay, so I was definitely being immature, but this asshole was pushing my buttons. I had helped these people. Janet, Beth, and I had won this fight, but now I was getting yelled at by a cop. He had no right. There was no government backing him up. Lawlessness was everywhere. So who the fuck was he to tell me shit.

It was at this point that Brad lost it. I mean, he fucking lost it. His face had been turning more and more red with every comment I made. He had almost turned purple when he couldn’t take it anymore. That’s when he came at me. Brad was big, over six feet tall, white, stocky, and looked like an old, fat, once-great high school football star, but his better years were undoubtedly behind him.

I was pissed at Brad now, and my now familiar fight reaction kicked in. Now, I might have just been around too many things trying to kill me lately, but when Brad stepped forward and cocked his arm back to throw a jab at my face. I reacted instinctually. I ducked his jab when it came, and when Brad Lind up a haymaker after that, I snapped out a punch that met his fist knuckles to knuckles.

I probably should have asked them for their levels earlier, but as it was, I might have put a bit too much oomph behind my punch. I was pissed through, and I kind of let him have it. Brad’s hand broke, bad. Bone was poking out through the flesh, and then Brad went pale and fell to the ground. Brad passed out from the pain before his head hit the ground. As Brad’s body went limp, Rose screamed and ran to the man.

“You killed him! You fucking killed him!” Then Rose was crying. Everyone else was just sort of looking at Rose, sobbing over Brad. I was shocked. I hadn’t meant to fuck his hand up that bad. I really need to be careful with low-level people. I could really do some damage on accident, fuck, this wasn’t good. A few moments passed, and everyone was too shocked to speak. So, after a little, I spoke.

“Fuck me. God dam it. I’m sorry, that’s on me, but he fucking started it. You know, I could have killed him, but I’m not that much of an asshole.” I knelt down next to the man and started slapping his face lightly. Rose began to hitting me as I did, but I couldn’t even feel her punches. He couldn’t be dead. Could he? No, his chest was moving. He was breathing. Brad was just passed out. Still, why did I have to solve all my problems by punching them fuck!

“Hey, come on, man, wake up. Lady, he’s gonna be okay. Can’t you see he’s breathing? A week or so, and his hand should be good as new.” Rose didn’t seem to hear me, or maybe she heard me but was actively ignoring me. Brad was definitely down for the count, and honestly, a part of me thought, fuck him. He picked a fight, knowing full well that I was so much stronger than him. Another part of me, however, felt sorry for the guy. His world had been rocked just as much as mine was when the integration hit. His might have been more intense if he was actually a cop, too. All those people who died during the first few hours after the integration. It must have been hell.

The next thing I knew, Frank had a hand on my shoulder. I had fucked up, but there was nothing to do about it now but push forward. I stood up and dusted my hands off before turning and addressing Frank and his people.

“Look, here’s what’s going to happen. Beth will run things around here from now on with Janet and me as a backup. You don’t like it? We have enough people who need and want our help. You all know that we are the strongest people here. I want that power to be used to protect the people we set free and others needing our help. I would also like this power transfer to go over without a hitch. Can you all agree to this for now? We can talk about maybe a council or elections later, but for now, will you assist us in making this a place to call home?” I looked at each person Frank brought to meet us in the eyes to ensure they were listening. Rose was staring at me with a burning rage.

“You didn’t have to hurt him!! Fuck you!! You are no fucking heroes! You’re pieces of shit. That’s what you are! Fuck You!! Rose was screaming at that point. That’s when she stopped speaking and started crying again. Tess knelt down next to Rose and rubbed her back.

“It’s okay, shhh, it’s okay,” Tess said. She was trying to get Rose under control, but Tess’s empathy seemed to open the waterworks, and now Rose was crying hard. I felt awful about destroying Brad’s hand, but I had been on a hair trigger for so long now that my nerves were shot, and almost anything related to danger and combat would probably set me off now. Then Beth spoke up.

“I liked something Travis said early. I think it’s a good idea that after three months, we hold elections, and if the people choose me, I will keep leading. If they choose someone else, then they choose someone else, but until then, I will lead, and Janet and Travis will enforce my words. Does this plan sound fine to everyone?” Beth finished my speech, and I looked at Rose, crying in Tess’s arms.

She did not like that at all. She stopped crying and then stood up. Rose looked at Beth, then me, and then spit on the ground.

“You’re just like every other asshole with power. Do as I say, or I’ll beat the shit out of you, right? Well fuck that, and fuck all of you. We came here to save these people, but that’s done now. If you’re taking over, then I can’t fucking be here. Have fun playing at kings and queens, you fucking sit bags.”

Rose finished screaming at me, then bent down and tried to carry Brad away. She didn’t have the strength. Then, Rose started to scream in frustration when she couldn’t move the man. This meeting had entirely gone off the rails, but that was hard to watch, and I was frustrated with myself for causing this whole fiasco.

Rose looked around for someone to help her. Devin, Frank, and Tess all started trying to help her simultaneously. It was a mess and instantly awkward. Then Janet stepped forward and picked up the big man like he weighed fucking nothing. Everyone was shocked at first. Except for Rose, she immediately yelled at Janet to let him go. Janet told her to shut the fuck up. Then, in a slightly gentler tone of voice, asked Rose where she should take Brad.

Eventually, Rose, Tess, and Janet headed off, Janet carrying the big man cradled in her arms. At that point, Frank and Devin were the only two left to talk with Beth and me. Frank and I both started trying to speak at the same time, but then both stopped. I gestured for him to go first. When he gave me a questioning look, I told him,

“Yes, well, that’s going to cause some problems, you know that, right? I mean, Brad is, let’s be honest, Brad is an ass most of the time, so I don’t think he’ll end up staying with us here. Travis, you have to understand most of the people here don’t know Brad and won’t miss him if he leaves, but he is tight with his crew, and that would be most of the troops you’d need to protect and secure this place. If they all decide to leave, we’ll have to think of a plan to replace them, but that takes time. So again, we’re in a bit of a pickle. Look, you did what you thought was right, and who am I telling you what to do, but you put us in a tough spot.” Frank finished talking, with Devin nodding along.

“he’s right. If Rose and Brad leave with the rest of Brad’s team, then we’re pretty fucked.” Devin said.

“Well, where do you two stand?” Beth asked them.

“I’m with you three. Honestly, I will try to convince as many as I can to stay as well. We’re probably still safer with you three than fighting it out in the wilds.” Frank said.

“Yeah, I’m right about where Frank is, so I say we make Beth the official leader sooner rather than later. Knowing Rose and Brad, they’ll get the fighters all hyped up, and they might all actually leave with them.” Devin said. He said the second half of his statement more to Frank than us.

“I understand that I didn’t put us in the best position here, Frank, Devin, and for that, I apologize. However, I have one thing that may help you sway some people to stay.” I said.

“What would that be?” Frank asked me, a little wary and with a hint of curiosity.

“Let’s just say we know where some good training grounds are, and we have lots of gear to outfit fighters, not guns but weapons. When used with a good strength stat, they will fuck someone up good,” I said, then pulled a breastplate and spear from my Bag of holding and showed it to the two men.

“Very interesting. It should help a bit. If I’m honest, the leveling opportunities will attract people who stay more than anything. They have all seen your strength by now or at least have heard about it. I think every fighter in the squad is fucking jealous right now and would love to get a piece of that for themselves.” Frank said with a bit of a chuckle at the end.

“Thanks, Frank, Devin, I guess yeah, talk as many as you can into staying, but the ones who are dead set on leaving. I guess we’ll just let them go. We can only do so much. Oh, fuck are Brad and Rose like a thing? Do they have kids and shit?” I spoke a little worried about the answer. That would totally make this so much worse. I didn’t want to be known as the big meanie who beat up Daddy.

“No, he lost both parents when he was like twenty and always fucked around. Other than Rose, he has always been single, and I don’t think Rose and Brad were ever really a thing. I know Rose wanted there to be more between them, but Brad never cared about her like that.” Frank reassured me.

“We’ll see you soon, Travis, Beth,” Franks said, and he and Devin walked off. It was only about two hours later when we saw them again. Janet returned from her Brad delivery after only ten minutes, and soon after that, the three of us decided to pitch in with the clean-up when Frank and Devin found us.

We had made a real fucking mess of this place with our attack. I totally didn’t think about the clean-up when I was tossing bombs left and right willy-nilly. Frank looked a little worn out, and Devin looked about the same.

“Good news or bad news,” I asked them as they approached us. Once they had caught up with us, Frank needed a second to catch his breath. They told us what was going on.

“Okay, I’m telling you right now it’s not gonna be great,” Frank said, and Devin nodded along with Franks’s words and put his hand on the back of his neck.

“In two hours, more than half our fighters will walk out the front gates,” Devin said.

“Yeah, Brad woke up about an hour ago pissed off as hell, and he rallied to get as many people to leave with his as he could. He’s not stupid enough to try and fight you guys for the Claremont, but he will try to take as many abled-bodied fights as possible to fuck us over. That’s just the kind of guy Brad is.” Frank said.

“How many is that gonna be?” Beth asked Frank.

“About twenty men and women.” He answered her.

“Wait, how many people were involved in this plan?”

“A total of thirty-five fighters. We weren’t going to let you know our full numbers. To be honest, it was our contingency plan. Suppose you took over and just copied what the guys here were doing already or something. We would use those troops to ambush you after you were weakened by those mad max looking freaks at the end of the fight. Those fighters were staged in a second base and started their attack shortly after our own.” Frank said he did look a little bit abashed and a bit fearful like we might just kill him for that. We were all quiet for a second until Beth spoke up.

“It’s fine, Frank. I figured you might have more fighters somewhere. It’s good to know I was right about that.” She finished and smiled at him. I don’t know what was going through his head, but it kind of looked like he would rather have been anywhere but right here at that moment.

“You knew, already? Shit. I guess it doesn’t even matter. You three are so strong you probably would still be able to kill all thirty-five. Ambush be damned.” Frank answered Beth. Then Janet spoke.

“Yeah, we really could. probably pretty easily as well.” Janet gave him a dangerous smile and then stuck out her tongue at him.

“Come on, Frank, Travis is the only slap-chappy one of us. I just kill evil fucked that need to die anyways.” Janet said.

“Hey! I’m not murder happy. We’ve been in a lot of high-stress situations lately. Hard to judge your strength when most creatures we’ve fought recently could probably just eat my punch no problem.” Frank laughed awkwardly and then told us that after Brad, Rose, and their companions left, we should come to meet the fighters who would stay behind.

Beth nodded at Frank and told him it sounded like a good idea and that we would be there. Just like Frank said, thirty minutes later, Brad and his people gathered up and exited. They didn’t try to convince anyone to come with them, or I don’t think, but still, a group of about thirty survivors from the Claremont followed in tow. I really hoped they were gonna make it out there on their own.

Believe it or not, I didn’t want Rose’s people to die. We had lost so many lives during the integration that our numbers were too low to go murder people willy-nilly. We needed to unite as the human race and rise up in this new world, not slowly kill ourselves. That was weighing on my mind nowadays. Definitely more after we had killed so many people in our initial takeover of the Claremont and now Brad.

Maybe Rose was right, and I was sick, fucked up in the head? Did this integration traumatize me more than I realized? You know what, I couldn’t go there. I did what I had to survive, and that was fucking that. You can’t live in the past, Travis. What’s done is done. The next thing I knew, I was ejected from my thoughts violently when I was launched from my seat.

Janet had pushed me harder than I think she intended, and that, combined with me being lost in self-reflection, all came together to send me flying out of the chair I was sitting in and onto the floor with a thump.

“Shit! Fuck. What the fuck was that for?” Janet was holding her hands over her mouth, trying not to laugh her ass off.

“Holy shit, Travis, my bad. I guess I pushed you a little too hard there, but you were off somewhere in outer space there for a second. I was just going to let you know that we were about to go over and meet Frank, Devin, and the fighters staying here with us.” Janet said all this as she tried to hold back furious giggling. “Fine, let’s go meet up with Frank and them. Next time just like fucking tap me on the shoulder or something, okay?” I told her, and she just nodded, still dying laughing.