The Long Dark by B.J. Farmer (reading women .TXT) 📕

The ground beneath the drone expanded as Aadesh expertly dodged the figure it nearly slammed into. “Dad was doo close, you asshole.”

I was about to tell him to stop being a dumb ass. He was the moron who had decided to say fuck it and Evil Knievel the thing. Instead, I watched a line of crouched sniffers slowly make their way towards the left flank of the defensive line.

“Get some altitude, dude. I want to see something.” Aadesh flew the drone upwards until I told him to stop. “Now, let’s just watch.”

“We are only having one battery bar left.”

“I’m betting this is only going to take a second.”

Aadesh sighed.

Within seconds, tiny figures raced towards the center part of the defensive line. The resulting barrage could be seen on the screen but also heard in the distance. Most of my attention was paid towards the Sniffers sneaking up the left flank. I had a sick feeling they were getting ready to get into the attack. Not more than twenty seconds later, my prediction came true. They charged. While they weren’t instantly cut down, the center diversion had gotten them farther than they would’ve gotten, otherwise, I thought, without it.

I grabbed the bottle of pills and took several of them. I can’t tell you how many, but it was more than usual. I was made ill by what I was seeing. We had seen them coordinate back at Walmart, even though it never really registered at the time, and we saw again as they planned their attack. These were not the mindless fucks we saw in Barrow. These Sniffers could communicate and plan out actions. These bastards were dangerous.

“I am going do be bringing de drone back. I dink we have seen enough, yeah?”

I raised the pill bottle like a toast. “Yeah, you can say that.”

Two beams of light shot across the ground, before slowly rotating to the right and then disappearing after only a couple seconds. “What was that?”

“I do nod care. De battery is blinking. I have do bring id back.”

“You’re the one who wanted to check this shit out. So let’s check it out. Battery life is like gas. You always have more than the gauge says,” I said, hoping it was true.

“If id crashes, I will need some of your drugs.”

“I’ll give you some… now--”

“I am recognizing dad wehicle,” Aadesh interrupted, as he brought the drone around, and focused the camera on a tracked vehicle.

“Yeah… can you go a tad lower?”

Soldiers pointed guns at the vehicle as it slowed to a crawl before finally stopping feet short of the double gated fence. A woman jumped out of the tracked vehicle and was grabbed roughly before being quickly released. She pointed back towards the truck. The soldiers then ran up to the vehicle and pulled the occupants out, and very roughly, I might add. With everything that was going on, I imagined they wouldn’t take any chances.

Without being prompted, Aadesh zoomed the camera in slightly more, giving us just a little bit better of a view of the scene. “Jesus Chrisd, Jack… How can dis be?”

“William,” I said. I was pretty sure Sam and Avery were there, as well. The other three I didn’t recognize, including the woman who was now gesturing harshly at a man who had met them inside the gate.

“What the hell are you doing?” I asked.

“Id is ad cridical baddery life and is coming back do de hospidal on ids own.”

“Fuck!” I yelled. “Let’s get the battery changed and get it back in the air.”

Aadesh nodded.

“I’ll grab it,” I said. “Just make sure it doesn’t crash.”

I didn’t wait for an answer. I ran down the long hallway from the breakroom we had taken up occupancy in. I flipped the door switch. “Come on, you fuck,” I said as I waited for the doors to open wide enough for me to fit through. I ran outside and saw the blinking drone above me. I grabbed it out of midair and was running back into the hospital in moments.

For the first time in days, I felt actually good about something. We had a nice little place at the hospital, our friends had somehow made it to Fairbanks, and the military had what seemed like control of the situation.

Looking back now, I wondered what I had been thinking.

Chapter 10

I gasped breaths that weren’t possible moments earlier. Familiar voices were close. A yell came from further away. Footsteps were outside, as well as maybe inside the trailer. I stabbed at a Gray that was digging its elbow into my ribs, trying to wiggle its way out of the maelstrom. As hard as I tried, I only had enough room to move my knife just enough to do superficial damage.

Every second that passed, breathing became easier. I could see the beam of a headlamp. Then the bastard who was digging into me was pulled off.

“Dammit, son,” Sam said as he dispatched the Gray, and with a terrible trimmer to his voice, he added, “You had me worried somethin’ awful.”

I tried for words, but none came. I coughed and spat before garbling, “Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah, we good. We even got two of ‘em sonofabitches ta surrender, sayin’ ‘ey don’t wanna fight no more.” His eyes cast downward slightly like he didn’t want to tell me a secret. “We killed some of ‘em, ‘ough. ‘Ey didn’t give us no choice.”

A sudden burst of energy hit me. “Help me up. I want to,” I had a coughing fit that lasted several seconds. After wiping my mouth with my bloody sleeve, I finished, “I want to talk to them.”

“‘Ey bein took care of. We got ‘em at gunpoint.”

“Please,” I said, extending my hand towards him for help.

Pulling me up, he muttered something about me being a stubborn SOB, but I barely remember the words. I had other things on my mind. The weight of the butcher knife in my hand was comforting.