Peripheral Encounters: Slowpocalypse, #4

By James Litherland

Two together, alone against the dark.

Sent to scout the area surrounding the FURC, what Kat and Tony find among the crumbling remnants of civilization convinces them that for all the challenges they've faced inside the compound, they've had it easy.  Hoping to help some of the survivors, they encounter difficulties and dangers—but the real risk they run comes from a secret aspect of their mission Tony hasn't shared with his partner, a gambit that will put the pair in extreme peril from a ruthless enemy…

The series continues with Book 5: Political Homicide and Book 6: Seismic Disruption.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Outpost Stories
• Release date: May 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524222888

James Litherland

James Litherland is a graduate of the University of South Florida who currently resides as a Virtual Hermit in the wilds of West Tennessee. He’s lived various places and done a number of jobs – he’s been an office worker and done hard manual labor, worked (briefly) in the retail and service sectors, and he’s been an instructor. But through all that, he’s always been a writer. And after over thirty years of studying and practicing his craft, he took the plunge and published independently. He is a Christian who tries to walk the walk (and not talk much.)

Book preview

The Slowpocalypse

AS SOCIETY SLOWLY started falling apart, influential lawyer Jonathan Miles helped design a massive new government project—a network of secure, integrated Federal University and Research Complexes, each with its own self-sustaining, experimental support community. And hidden within those plans he placed what he would need to transform those compounds into arks that would weather the encroaching collapse of civilization. When the first had been completed, he was appointed its director.

But events beyond his control forced him to seal that FURC in central Florida, cutting it off from the outside world prematurely and making it a target of those who wanted the facilities for themselves. Now, while that community struggles to survive and begin building a new society at the same time, two brave people have ventured outside its walls to survey conditions in the crumbling old world which surrounds them.

First Night

The Honeymoon is Over

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Investigating Boom Town

8:25 p.m. Thursday, June 19th

KAT TURNED AND jogged down a side street, as much to get the setting sun out of her eyes as for any other reason. That put the bright yellow ball sitting on the horizon off to her right, but though the cold air muted the sun’s warmth, patches of snow left over from last week’s blizzard amplified the light into a harsh glare that assaulted her eyes from every direction as she ran her gaze across the neighborhood. She had yet to see a living soul and didn’t expect to, not until her rendezvous with Tony. Still, she needed to stay alert for any sign someone might be lurking around this abandoned town. If for no other reason than to avoid being surprised into shooting them.

Everything seemed so empty here. The whisper of the soles of her shoes rolling against the asphalt, the faint whistle of breath through her nostrils, and the thrum of her heart beating were the only sounds she could hear. But that silence could be deceptive. The broken windows and battered-down doors she saw everywhere spoke forcefully of the violence that had visited this town so recently. Presumably looters looking for food or anything else useful that was small and light enough to be carried off. They likely wouldn’t have lingered long—there was no power or running water, and little left to steal, so why would they stick around? But people weren’t logical, especially these days. So someone could be skulking in the shadows, and if they were, she intended to find them. And she was likely to hear another person before she saw them.

While it would be impossible to take the time to investigate each building on every single street, the town was fairly close to the FURC, and they needed to check it out thoroughly before moving on. So she continued scanning her surroundings with her every sense heightened, a deliberate vigilance.

At least all this activity had kept her warm. The physical exertion, plus her jacket and the weak sun. But as night fell, so would the temperatures. She’d be with Tony then, though. Her husband. She was still getting used to the reality of that.

And she missed him. Of course his suggestion they split up to search made sense—the two of them separately could cover the ground more swiftly than they could together—but she didn’t like being apart from him. She didn’t know how he felt about it, but at least he no longer tried to push her away.

Turning her thoughts away from Tony with reluctance, Kat forced her mind to focus on the homes she was passing. The residents of Boom Town had all evacuated months ago. Many of them had been brought into the FURC just before Christmas, while the rest had fled somewhere else. Presumably to a place they thought safe, wherever that might be. Of course they’d taken most of their possessions with them when they’d gone, but they’d left a lot behind too. They must’ve imagined they would be coming back. She wondered what they thought now.

Things had finally quieted down enough inside the FURC to allow her and Tony to take this expedition outside the walls of their compound, to discover how their nearest neighbors were faring. And at least they had some idea what to expect.

Before they’d lost communication with the outside world, it had been clear civilization was deteriorating rapidly. Particularly in Florida, because of Governor Roberts’ increasingly unhinged decisions. Even before Kat’s dad had sealed the FURC, people in the larger urban areas had been trapped there as law and order had broken down. The governor had called out the state National Guard to try to contain the violence, but that hadn’t helped the residents of those cities. She’d seen some videos of the mobs in Miami, when they were still being posted to the internet. And she strongly suspected Tony had actually been there, in the thick of things.

Kat sighed as she considered how changed her world was. Even a year ago, she’d still felt part of a connected global civilization, despite large parts of the planet having ‘gone dark’. But the previous seven months had made what was going on in the rest of the country mostly a mystery. For a while, spotty communications had painted a picture of what was happening across America, but then the cell towers had broken down and the media infrastructure had completely collapsed, leaving everyone uninformed about the fates of their nearest neighbors, much less people in other states. There hadn’t even been any emergency broadcasts from the government, or the governments, to be more accurate. Which wasn’t to say they didn’t have any sources of news.

Techs in the FURC labs had constructed shortwave radios with which they had received sporadic reports from amateurs transmitting into the night, but those were mostly pleas for help which went unanswered. What they’d heard had been disturbing, but being unable to confirm who was sending those messages or whether they were true, the Community Council had decided not to risk responding. Apparently nobody else was willing to take the chance either. Kat thought that was horrible.

She also didn’t care for the cruel joke of calling the technology ‘ham’ radio, since the FURC had run out of pork, and now she had visions of bacon dancing in her head. Not fair.

Glancing around at the houses along what used to be a suburban style street, and remembering the condition of some of the vandalized businesses she had inspected, Kat would consider herself fortunate to find anything fit to eat here. Thoughts of sausages were utter fantasy. A pleasant one, but definitely distracting when she had work to do. And if she got hungry enough, there were plenty of dense little nutrient bars in the flat, streamlined pack she wore on her back. She hadn’t gotten that desperate yet.

Besides, pondering what the people outside the walls of the FURC must’ve been going through had put a definite damper on her appetite. Not that she was sure she wanted to know, but it was imperative they find out. And as Tony had been tasked with the mission, she’d demanded to be a part of it. Not that her husband had tried to stop her.

Of course, even swinging as far south as Orlando was too far. On foot and in the limited time they were taking, just investigating the immediate vicinity was going to be quite a job. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the details of what all had been happening in the big cities. Anyway, as long as they had to ration their gas, ranging farther afield would not be permitted. And finding out what was waiting right outside the walls of the FURC was more essential.

They knew plenty of people had fled the state of Florida entirely, when it had become clear how bad things were going to get, while it had still seemed as if there were somewhere to flee. And from what Kat had witnessed on her previous mission outside the compound, many others had likely hunkered down in their homes. Hoping to wait out the storm.

That’s what the wife and daughters of her boss, Chief Cameron, had been doing when Kat had come for them. Trying to fend for and defend themselves on their isolated ranch. Others had closed ranks in their small communities. At least those would have the support of their neighbors so they could face difficulties together. And one of those challenges was having to protect against the people who were helping themselves at the expense of others.

Kat knew only too well there were predators out here. She’d had to deal with some of the worst when she’d faced those white supremacists in the spring. She didn’t need the evidence she was seeing now to know some people would be scavenging to survive, moving from place to place as they searched. Many would even prey on people weaker than themselves without a qualm. Hopefully she’d run into some of those.

Glancing around again at the destruction which had been inflicted on this abandoned town, she just shook her head at the senseless violence of it all. Of course, some of those responsible would’ve been under the influence of the Gravity Bug. That wasn’t an excuse, really, but considering how the parasite had affected people in their own community, the things they’d done, she shouldn’t be too swift to judge people who’d been struggling under even worse conditions. And she knew personally how easy it was for someone who was infected to lose control. Though in her case it had worked out for the best.

Now that they had the Lift Virus, the most outrageous behavior had been brought to an end, or at least to a manageable level. You couldn’t cure people of being human, after all.

Picking out one of the small, neatly built houses lining either side of the street in this portion of the town, Kat swerved to jog into the backyard right up to the patio door and peered in. The front door had been off its hinges, but the sliding glass was closed and intact, and none of the windows she’d seen had been broken. The pastel blue paint on the exterior remained in good condition, but what she could see of the dim interior was a mess. Someone had been staying here, and not the owners.

She slid the patio door open slowly and silently and edged her way cautiously into the living room, listening for signs of life. She heard the scrabble of rodents retreating from her presence, but there was no indication of rats of the human variety still occupying this place. Surely she would sense if anybody were still here.

Holding her nose, she didn’t doubt people had been camped out here for days at least, to cause so great a stink, but then that would’ve also been part of what had driven whoever off, in all likelihood. It was certainly more than she could stand much longer. Perhaps there was some ‘body’ here.

Unsure if she wanted to stumble across an actual corpse, she still felt she had to check the place out to make sure there wasn’t anyone living there now. If there were, she’d have to decide how to deal with them.

Although their main mission was to assess the area around the FURC for potential threats, they’d also been given official permission to help those in need. Not that the lack of authorization would have kept Kat from coming to the aid of anyone she came across that she could help, but she liked having approval to actively look for people who needed assistance. Her father had probably given her that since he knew she’d do it anyway. That thought made her grin.

Not that she imagined she’d find some poor lost soul huddled in here for shelter, but she wouldn’t be terribly surprised either. All the buildings she had inspected so far had seemed structurally sound, but they weren’t really fit for human habitation. Nevertheless, as temporary shelter went, it might suit the desperate. And there had to be plenty of those.

Much better if they could bring those people to the FURC and provide them with a proper place to live. Kat only hoped she could find those who needed such help—and who she could feel sure would be suitable additions to their community. It had been left up to her and Tony to make that decision.

The compound had the room and the resources to accommodate hundreds, maybe thousands more, and now their situation had settled down enough to assimilate them. Kat wasn’t sure how she’d assess strangers, or how she could be confident somebody could be trusted once inside the walls, but as it was up to her, she would have to trust her instincts. Always assuming she found anyone at all. Alive.

Covering her nose and mouth as she went, Kat took the mini tactical flashlight off her belt with her other hand and swept its beam around carefully as she examined every room in the house. Only large furniture and appliances seemed to remain of what the original owners had left behind, but there was a lot of trash strewn around as evidence the place had been used for shelter at some point. By somebody. But as far as she could see, whoever it was must’ve left weeks ago.

It looked like they’d been here two or three days—probably they couldn’t have stood staying longer even if they’d wanted to. Suddenly she wondered if they could’ve been Aryans who had escaped the local sheriff’s men...

No. Even supposing a straggler or two had gotten away, it would’ve been three and a half months ago, and they wouldn’t have stayed so close for that long. Surely there were more than enough wanderers roaming through the land without dredging up boogeymen from the past.

Casting a last look around the living room, Kat shuddered to think how much cleaning the owners would have to do when they returned. Or if, rather. Then she stepped out through the front doorway into the rapidly fading light. The sun had sunk below the horizon and would soon take its last golden glow with it into the night. Thankfully the three-quarter moon would be rising to compensate. And of course that wasn’t a coincidence.

They’d deliberately scheduled this scouting trip to take advantage of the extra illumination—a week until the full moon and then another week to another three-quarter gibbous. And hopefully they would be back home by that point.

She took a deep breath of the crisp clean air as she walked away from the sad little house and down the street toward the main thoroughfare. Considerably refreshed, Kat gently rubbed the skin on the inside of her wrist to make the time on her subdermal watch glow faintly, then gazed ahead of her into the distance at the dim hulk of the mall. Not long now before she’d be reunited with Tony, and she wanted to run.

But the last thing she needed to do was trip over her own feet in the dark. So she jogged steadily toward her destination, part of her mind watching her path and part staying sensitive for any noise or flitting movement