Families of Blood and Water

By Jacob G Morris

Overpopulation and the over-dependence on modern medicine has resulted in the emergence of a highly resistant strain of bacteria, decimating the human population. While struggling for their own survival in the new world, survivors are competing against one another and putting their trust in strangers. The strong get stronger and the weak are preyed upon in the constant battle against extinction and each other.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Jun 12, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543400373

Jacob G Morris

J. G Morris is a graduate with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Biology. He was born in Sydney, a city in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and this is where he has chosen to set his first novel. With a particular interest in the eventual inevitable end of the human race, he studied the patterns of evolution and the extinction causes of many dominant species, which inspired his novel, Families of Blood and Water. While his novel is fiction, it draws on many of the current issues the world is facing, overpopulation and antibiotic resistance just to name a couple. He wanted a voice to try to spread the issues he felt passionately about, so he started writing a novel with the hope to create an entertaining and engaging medium to do so.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

The heat of the afternoon melted away as the sun set behind the trees that surrounded Daniel Goodwin. He sifted through the last of the once filled garbage bags, counting and recounting what little supplies they had left. Daniel and his brother had been on the road for almost a year since the outbreak, three hundred and fifteen days to his brother’s count. This can’t be everything, he muttered under his breath. The sweat was dripping from Daniel’s brow, faster than his hand could wipe. It stung as it snuck into his eyes.

He burrowed deeper and deeper into the trunk of the car, with the occasional check over the shoulder to make sure Leo hadn’t snuck up behind him. Daniel was not short, but he was not tall either; he had messy light brown hair, short enough so it didn’t cover his eyes or ears. His face was mostly smooth, but he did have patchy facial hair here and there. He gave up a long time ago on growing any sort of facial hair as Leo could.

We barely have enough fuel left to last out the fortnight, and that’s with minimal travel. Daniel knew his brother would be returning soon, gloating with the amount of food he was able to hunt. Leo was always better than him at survival; it was as if his personality suited the new world more than the old one. He enjoyed hunting for food, where at first Daniel could not stomach the thought of killing an innocent creature. Hunger along with the lack of edible vegetation forced Daniel into killing, but it was strange, he did not feel bad about it when he ate it. Maybe it was because he was starving to the point it felt as though his stomach was eating itself, or maybe he was just simply adapting to the new world; either way, he knew he was only killing to survive. Leo is going to want to do another raid.

Daniel hated raiding other camps, even though he knew there was little choice. It always ended the same: Leo would threaten to raid the camp alone and Daniel would feel forced into going along. Either his brother would be killed all alone or he would likely be made to kill people in order to protect himself. Daniel had but one rule. No one is killed, unless it is absolutely necessary.

‘How’s the gathering going, little brother? Hah.’

Daniel bumped his head on the roof of the trunk, startled from his brother’s voice.

I am not gathering. ‘Seems like you had a better time hunting.’ Daniel rubbed his head from where he had struck it, watching his brother as he walked over; he had small carcasses hanging from his shoulder, with Darwin strutting on behind him with a bone of some animal in her mouth. Darwin was their adopted dog, a mix of many breeds, by the look of her. She was a scruffy thing, with shaggy long deep-brown hair knotted all over. They had found her half starved to death, locked in an abandoned house. She had almost clawed the door down when they found her.

‘The food you got there, plus what we have here should get us by for some time. However, our fuel is low, we have little to no medical supplies. Ammo is low, I will have to make some more arrows if we can’t find some bullets soon and we need to find some sort of fresh water.’ Daniel shook his brother’s hand as they approached each other. Leo always had a firm handshake. Daniel thought it was to assert his dominance, being the elder brother.

Leo Goodwin had a full face of neat brown facial hair down to his neck tattoo of a howling wolf. The colour of the stubble matched that on his head, which was about the same length. Leo was more muscular, where Daniel was lean. Leo always made time to keep his hair at a controllable length. Their time on the road since the collapse of society had given him a rugged look, but beneath it all, Leo had deep blue eyes, so calm and peaceful.

‘You see a problem where I see an opportunity. I know a place where we can find all the supplies we need to last us through the next few months.’ Leo bent into the trunk and pulled out an apple, biting into it. Daniel could see the juice escape his mouth and fall into his beard. Puzzled, Daniel bent over and gave Darwin a pat behind the ears; she liked that. Her tongue hung out of her mouth and she started panting, tail wagging behind her.

‘Enough to last us that long? Really? Even our most successful raids haven’t given us the supplies to last a couple of weeks, let alone months.’ Leo grabbed the keys, biting into his apple once more; this time, he smiled. More of the juice flowed into his beard. Daniel had not seen his brother smile in a long time. ‘Brother, I have stumbled across something, maybe it was luck, maybe it was God finally answering your prayers, but I found it.’

‘What do you mean?’ Daniel slapped the trunk and Darwin almost immediately jumped up into the car. ‘Good girl.’ Daniel closed the door and turned back to his brother. ‘How can you be certain a place is this well supplied, and if it is this well supplied, that means they have manpower, more than we can likely handle.’

‘Probably more people than we are used to dealing with, but we can use that in our favour, the raid will be the easy part. The only thing we will have to do is wait. Sooner or later in this world, the set-up they have. Something is bound to go wrong, it always does. Safety in this world, playing family like nothing is wrong. It doesn’t work.’ Both men turned toward the forest behind them. Daniel could hear something. The faint rustling of leaves made him uneasy. Daniel silently slid his hand down towards his handgun, as he stalked towards the trees and raised his gun to the plant life. Daniel’s eyes were fixed on the darkness beyond, and he could feel his breathing accelerate. Leo’s hand pushed his down, Leo then held up a knife and mouthed the word ammo and also pointed to his ears. The sound, the sound could bring more. Daniel could not feel his knife on him. He must have left it in the car. With his gun tucked away into his pants, Daniel raised his fists, and then it happened. Daniel and Leo were only steps away from the trees; his heart was in his throat. Daniel was capable of self-defence, and his brother definitely wasn’t frightened of the confrontation; he rather enjoyed it. Daniel did not enjoy it. Faster than the men could react, a bird shot out the top of the leaves and disappeared. Daniel and his brother locked eyes as Leo put his knife away, and smiled to each other. Daniel even let out a little laugh. Daniel looked at his hands and raised his gaze to the trees in front of him; the darkness engulfed him. Unclenching his fists he knew they were in trouble as he felt for his near-empty gun.

‘OK, Leo, you’re right, we need the supplies, and we need the ammo and the medical gear.’ The brothers slapped their hands together. ‘Where is the camp?’ Daniel could see his brother’s eyes light up as they strolled back to the car.

‘Like I said, I can show you. The people who started the joint are obviously clever, it is beneath a cliff. The cliff offers protection from one side. They only need to be wary of carriers from the east. However, I believe we are capable of descending the cliff.’ Leo walked around the car and opened the passenger door, pulling a map from the glove box. Daniel felt wary of the plan. These people are clever. Who knows how many people are in there? What weapons they have. What choice do I have, but to follow? I cannot survive on my own, and I cannot let my brother go alone.

‘Look, Daniel, it is right here. Not too far in that direction, the walk would only take an hour or so.’ Daniel followed his brother’s finger as it passed through the map and pointed to the final destination. ‘They have defences though, big walls, but if we strike at night from the cliff side when the security is weakest, I believe we can get in, and then it is just a matter of acting natural. People will not question us once we are in, the community is too large to notice, and we will act as if we belong. Fill our bags, leave the following night. As you like it, nobody gets hurt.’ Leo chucked the map back inside the glove box and patted Daniel on the shoulder. ‘We can do this… together, then we will be set for ammo and medical supplies for a long time.’ Daniel eyed off his brother, trying his best to offer Daniel some sort of comfort and trust. Daniel could see the wariness in his brother’s face, the wrinkles forming on his forehead, and the dark bags beneath his eyes; they needed a break. Daniel nodded in agreement. ‘Show me where this camp is, then.’ We need the ammo. ‘We will sleep here the night, tomorrow we will begin the preparation.’ The pair stood there with no words for each other, with locked eyes and just the silence.

Darwin started to get restless in the back of the car. ‘All right, you didn’t see any signs of the disease while you were hunting? Should we move to a more hidden location?’ Daniel peeked inside the window to observe Darwin’s behaviour. ‘Darwin seems to think so.’ Leo glanced at Darwin and shrugged it off. ‘She just does not want to be cooped up in the car all night, she wants to run, to hunt. We have bushland on either side of us for cover, a straight road either direction to see potential oncoming cars and I did not see anything on my hunt to suggest there would be any infected joining us. This far west, it is nothing like the chaos in the city.’ Leo tapped on the glass, attempting to calm Darwin down, and sat inside the car, lowered the seat, and shut his eyes. Daniel walked around to the trunk of the car, opened it, and comforted Darwin. He could hear her gentle growls towards the darkness in front of them. ‘Leo, I really think we should leave.’ Leo shuffled in his seat and offered no response.

Daniel stared into the nothingness; the sun had set and the moon barely provided a weak light. After what happened with Ciera, he will never trust my judgement. His imagination was getting the better of him as his hearing seemed to pick up every little sound in the darkness: leaves gently rustling in the wind, Leo bumping up against the chair, the occasional twig falling from the shrubbery, all these sounds made Daniel uneasy. And then he saw her. Darwin began to bark; the woman was stumbling closer to the pair in the car, legs flailing in all directions. Her hair was balding, and it was poorly maintained. Her skin was cracked, bruised, and scarred; dried blood covered her clothes and skin. Daniel reached down for his gun, but it was not there. In that instant, he slammed the trunk shut, locking Darwin inside, and ran to the woman. Without a weapon, he approached the woman with his hands raised in front of his face. ‘I don’t want to hurt you.’ Daniel pushed the woman away, her feet fell away from beneath her, and she followed them to the ground. The woman began to murmur, but it was drowned out from the barking and scratching Daniel could hear from the car.

Daniel felt arms around his body from behind. ‘Leo, let’s go now!’ he screamed, but the arms did not belong to his brother. They were covered in blood too and were heavily scarred. Daniel struggled to escape the grasp of the stranger; he used his head, slamming it into their face. Daniel lost count of the amount of times the back of his head collected his attacker in the face; he felt the jaw break, as they fell to the ground. Daniel, finally free, could see the woman regaining her feet and lunging for him once more. His head was throbbing where it had bashed against the man’s jaw. Dazed, he managed to get to his feet, but there were more, screaming and chattering, fighting with each other as they bumped into one another. The things were everywhere. Once again, he pushed the woman to the ground and gingerly made his way to the car, stepping over the man who grasped him. There were three of them on the car. Daniel was caught; he could see them banging and clawing on the glass to get to Darwin and the food. Leo kicked out his door and pulled out his handgun; he made short work of the three before they damaged the glass too much. The gun was too loud, but at this point, what choice did they have? Daniel’s head was spinning, he felt dizzy, and his vision was failing him. He felt himself stumble, knees struggling beneath his own weight, as if they had forgotten about the danger surrounding him.

‘The car! Get in the car! Daniel! The car!’ Daniel could hear Leo calling but his brain was not registering the thought. Daniel was on the ground again; he could feel the beating from fists and kicks from the infected around him. One by one, there were fewer and fewer impacts; he could see Darwin and Leo circling around him. Daniel felt himself get to his feet, but he was not controlling his movements; he could feel Leo’s arms around him. He was in the car, lying down in the back seat; he could see the stars out the window shooting across the sky, and the moon had escaped the shield of the clouds. Daniel could hear his brother yelling at him, but his words went in and out. He looked down at his body. He could see his hands covered in blood, his arms, his legs and his head was throbbing. Am I infected? Is this the end? Daniel watched the stars fly past as he looked out the car window; he closed his eyes and prayed to his god that this was not the end.

CHAPTER 1

Noah

The rain from the night had left the ground damp; Noah could feel the oozing sensation of the soil between his toes as he followed his father through the crowded streets. He liked the feeling. Noah had never been to see a breach before. His father had assured him that one of the traps had caught the trespasser before it could cause any damage. Just the thought of a breach gave Noah chills. He still had haunting memories from before they found refuge in the town. Noah hated thinking about it; he was always left behind, wherever they were hiding, with his slightly older sister Josie. His parents had no choice; they needed to scavenge for food. Noah’s eldest brother and sister would leave with them as well. Two was not enough for a hunt; evidently, neither was four. One night, only his father Zach, brother Matthew, and eldest sister Sienna returned, and they had not spoken about what had happened. Noah was just told, Mother will not be coming back. This is what his father had said. Noah missed his mother, but he also missed Matthew. He was never around much since they arrived at the town. He was either out looking for food, wood, water, or some excuse to be out of the town. Noah never understood why he wanted to be out there. Walking through the streets, Noah examined the walls surrounding the town. They seem tall enough, strong enough, but those things still get in. Noah thought to himself. He watched the men and women pace back and forth on the top of the walls above, armed with all sorts of weapons, from snipers to big barrels that explode with fire—Noah liked those the best. Though he always fancied himself to be a good sniper; he was small and skinny and could fit into all sorts of places where nobody could see him, but he could see them. Best of all, he’d be far away from the danger. Some nights, when the security on the wall was reduced, Noah and Josie would sneak up to the top and follow the spotlights with their eyes as they beamed through the forest like a lighthouse across the ocean. Together they would pretend to defend the town; as long as they were on top of that wall, they felt invincible with their guns made from their fingers. Josie was just as slim as Noah, but where Noah had his mother’s and Sienna’s blonde hair, Josie had her father’s dark brown hair, also shared by his older brother Matthew.

The air was heavy and reeked of death, a smell Noah and the rest of the world had become quite accustomed to. All around, Noah saw unfamiliar faces, old faces, young faces, but mostly faces filled with fear. Some faces he recognised: the farmer he visited once a fortnight to pick up his family’s designated rations, with a big bulgy nose and eyes so close they almost touched—the farmer’s face was a hard face to forget. The face of the nurse that treated him when he was first brought into the town—she had a gentle face with big blue eyes and had always smiled at him when they crossed paths, but not today. When he looked up at his father, something was not right; his eyes gave away the troubled thoughts behind them. Noah’s father wasn’t a large man, but he was far from slender. He had broad strong shoulders and an aged face. Noah saw the large pit in front of them now; he paused for a moment as his father gazed down into it. Before Noah could even think to look down, his father pushed him back.

‘You requested my presence, Mr Swann.’ Noah heard his father yell out across the yard; there were three men standing with their backs toward Noah and his father. Noah had seen one if the men before as they turned around; it was Mr Swann. The two other men slowly walked back towards the town hall. He hadn’t spoken to anyone really besides Sienna, Josie, and his father, especially since Matthew was never around.

‘Yes, Zach.’ Noah’s father nodded as the man walked towards them from across the yard.

‘We caught a trespasser yesterday, a trespasser who bore a striking resemblance to how you described your wife that night we picked you lot up and we went searching for her… Or what was left, anyway.’

‘That’s impossible,’ Zach exclaimed. ‘Is there any way we could have this conversation somewhere more private?’ Noah’s father pointed behind him to the crowds that had formed. ‘I don’t want to be the town gossip.’

As his father was occupied with Mr Swann, Noah took the opportunity to peek into the pit his father was standing over; it was so deep he felt as though it was pulling him in as he looked further down. Disappointingly it was empty; his father had told him that his mother had died. If there was even a chance she could be alive, he would have given anything to see her just one last time.

‘Come inside, Zach, it may be best for your son to stay out here.’ The man walked away toward the town hall, gesturing towards Zach to follow. Noah stepped back as his father turned around and knelt beside him. ‘You can come in with me, or you can make your way back to your sisters. The choice is yours, Noah, you are ten now, soon you will have to make decisions by yourself, you are almost a man. I wish I could give you the childhood I had, but I can’t. I cannot promise who you will or won’t see in there, but I can tell you it won’t be anything nice, it will stay with you. Up that close… The trespassers are not something easily forgotten. I have protected you this long, but sooner or later, you will have to deal with them.’ His father’s voice was soothing, stern yet nurturing, never harsh.

‘I want to come, I want to see her—it.’ Noah quickly corrected himself, and his father gave him a worrying look. I need to see it.

A part of Noah knew he was being foolish. He imagined entering the town hall, seeing his mother across the room, arms outstretched, with that smile that made him feel like the most important boy on earth.

‘Noah… I know you want it, but your mother won’t be in there, ehh, I don’t know how to put it, even if she looks like Mum, it won’t be her, not really.’ Noah nodded as his father messed the top of his head. He followed his father as he began to walk towards the town hall, even though he did not understand what exactly his father had just said. ‘Remember this is a safe place, there is no reason to be afraid.’

‘I’m not afraid,’ Noah lied as he stared at the doors of the building, getting larger as he got closer, until he was inside. Noah cautiously continued in with his father, observing as his father greeted the men inside. On the walls, Noah could see the outline of art that used to hang around the room; he had never seen a place so empty yet so grand. The whole building was made from large blocks of sandstone, and the roof was higher than any man could reach.

‘And what is your name, sport?’ Mr Swann stepped past Zach and outstretched a wrinkled hand in front of Noah. He had never seen hair so thick and white, almost covering the whole man’s face. Up close Noah could see the old man’s skin, wrinkled, scarred, and spotted.

‘Noah, Mr Swann.’ Noah felt his father nudge him. ‘Er, I mean sir.’ Noah shook Mr Swann’s hand; his grip was tighter than expected.

‘No need for such formalities in here, sport, we are all men, friends. We are friends aren’t we?’

‘I guess so,’ Noah replied, forcing a smile, as he looked up into the large man’s eyes.

‘Good, call me James, then.’ A man all dressed in black padding and armed with a machine gun whispered something into Mr Swann’s ear. Noah could not make out the words or see the man’s face.

‘We better be moving along, then. Zach, Noah, please join me downstairs, these men will take you down. I will be with you shortly.’ Noah glanced over at the men, all dressed as if they expected an attack. Mr Swann hurried through a door and out of sight.

Noah and his father followed the masked men downstairs. They walked in formation, with guns raised as the group gently descended the spiralling steps. Noah reached out and grazed the sandstone as he walked; the grains eroded from the walls as his fingers rubbed against the large blocks. The air was getting colder with every step they took. This is a safe place. There is no reason to be afraid. Noah replayed his father’s words over and over in his head. If this is such a safe place, why do these men have to be here, with their guns?

At the bottom of the stairs, Noah stood with his father; the men dressed in black stood by the walls. The room was dark and the damp smell reminded Noah of his old basement. The room was everything Noah imagined a jail to look like. The walls were dressed with nothing, but bricks and the walls were lined with small cells. From what Noah could see, the cells were completely empty, but there was a soft murmur escaping from one at the far end of the room. The padded men did not seem too worried about it; they didn’t even flinch as the soft murmurs evolved into inaudible chatter. The words were nothing but nonsense from what Noah could hear. ‘Dad, I’m not sure this place is safe.’

Zach looked down and placed a hand on Noah’s shoulder as the chatter grew faster and louder.

‘Nothing will ever happen to you while I am here, I promise.’ Zach grabbed Noah’s hand and led him down the room. Noah shifted his eyes back and forth, eyeing off the padded men. Their gaze was focussed; they didn’t even seem to breathe. ‘I am going to show you what they are, Noah, they are only people, just sick people.’ The sounds from the cell were drawing Noah closer. Noah ran his fingers up his arm, feeling the nervous bumps. His father stopped and knelt down beside him. Noah could see the inside of the cell. It was dark; he could make out some sort of shape towards the back of the cell, muttering under its breath, but he could not be sure of what it was. He wanted to approach the bars to get a better view, but his father was holding him back.

‘Stop! No closer.’ Mr Swann was at the bottom of the stairs. ‘I know you believe your wife isn’t in there, Zach, but do you really want the first experience Noah has with these monsters to be his mother attacking him from behind a jail cell, charging the bars as if she cannot feel pain, biting down on the metal trying to escape?’ Noah did not like Mr Swann calling his mother a monster. Mum is not in there, she would not be in that cell, making those noises, why would they keep her down here.

‘You cannot be serious, James, you are keeping these things locked up within the town? They’re dangerous and infectious. God only knows how it’s transmitted.’ Noah felt his father wrap his arms around the top of his chest and pulled him back.

‘Relax, Zach. Sport, come here. Your father and I just need to sort out the situation we are in and the actions that need to be taken. When we are ready, you can come and have a look. Everybody needs to remain calm and, most importantly, quiet, until we are ready for the madness that follows.’ James Swann gingerly strolled down the cell block, passed Noah, and stood by the metal bars where the noises were escaping. Noah could hear the thing in the back of the darkness getting restless as the discussion between the men escalated. The shape was moving more violently and the muttering turned to a soft scream.

‘Zach, do you know this woman?’ James banged his fist on the bars of the cell and stepped back. The shape stopped swaying; immediately the screams stopped as well. The silence that followed seemed to last an eternity. Noah watched his father slowly approach the cell; time seemed to stand still and Noah was frozen in that instant. This is a safe place. They are only people, sick people. My mother is not in that cell, she is not, even if it looks like her. Suddenly all anyone heard was the noise it made when the thing charged at the bars, violently thrashing against the metal, bloody arms reaching out trying to rip off his father’s face. Noah fell backward, and Mr Swann wrenched him back to his feet. The scream from the woman echoed through the whole room. Noah covered his ears. He wanted to run away, run up the stairs and hide; he had forgotten that this thing was supposed to be his mother.

‘Zach?’ James exclaimed. ‘Do you know this woman?’

Noah saw his father stumble back, never averting his eyes from the cell. The woman slammed her battered body towards him, as if the bars were not even there.

‘Yes, but I don’t understand how this is possible.’ Zach turned to face Mr Swann. ‘This woman isn’t my wife, she lived in the town, I have seen her among us.’

‘Zach, you must be mistaken, that sort of suggestion… It’s not plausible.’

Noah walked towards the cell, the thing still beating up against the now bloody bars, screaming hysterically. Noah and the woman locked eyes, both filled with fear; the woman’s rapidly moving eyes were bloodshot, and the rest of her face