Premonition (2)

There is a common saying that no one can live in isolation. Thus, they made communities. Even after the end of the world, they began to regroup. Settling down, they built walls around them. Most of them were made of wood; thick and tall, kept them safe and guarded them from outsiders. After that, the biggest issue was hunger. Even so, they had solutions for that. By forming one or more groups, they would either go fishing or hunting animals in the forest. Some of the groups would go around abandoned towns, from house to house and supermarkets to gather food like canned goods. However, even though there was a high risk of encountering cannibals, in the face of hunger, they were forced to bow their heads.

On the contrary, there were certain groups that lived by plundering others. Among them, one of the notorious groups was called “The Riders” which was led by a man named Arnold. This group exchanged “safety” for rations with such communities. At the end of each month, the targeted communities had to fulfill their demand. During that period, the Riders would visit the communities to collect their rations. There was a time when Arnold himself led these operations. But over time, he distanced himself from all of this. If anyone tried to withhold rations or rebel, it often resulted in the group’s taking women from those communities, with some being returned but others never coming back. A few years back, a community named “Rust” decided to attack and wipe out the group. Unfortunately, they failed. They also had to pay the price for their “excessive bravery”. No community had ever shown such boldness before, and Arnold was amused by it. He began orchestrating many devious acts through Ethan, a spy within the community, which led many members to face death but narrowly survive. But when his cover was blown off, he had to flee. The community never survived, a herd was behind their destruction. At least that was what the Riders thought.

Even though one of the sources of rations was gone, the people of the Riders never had to worry about that as they had other communities doing their part. But the incident with Rust certainly made the Riders more strict and violent. One reason for this was to ensure that no other community would dare to act in such a way. Arnold knew that to maintain control, fear had to exist among the people. But it is in people’s nature to stand up against injustice. Sooner or later, someone would raise a voice. It was no different for people of the communities either. Among them, a community named “Hillside” was refusing to provide promised ration. But the issue was somewhere else. It was not surprising that among these communities, some of them had connections with one another. If the people of Hillside had started a rebellion, it would have likely led other communities to rise up as well.

The time for collecting rations was already over. But as the people of Hillside refused to give their part of the share, the one in charge of handling these matters, Luis, warned them and gave them two more days to reconsider their decision. However, the deadline was never met as the Riders were attacked by cannibals on their way to Hillside. That led to postponing the operation.

Once again, it was time for them to visit the community and sort out the matter. But this time, Arnold was not leading the operation as he found other interests. The responsibility fell on three members.

…

“Fuck yeah!” Tyler gestured with the bottle and said, “Tonight’s going to be a fun one.”

“Wine, huh,” Scott didn’t seem so enthusiastic, “Such a big house. The owner must’ve been a rich bastard. What do you say, Ethan?”

“Huh?” Ethan was not paying attention. He was looking outside through the window. They did not see many cannibals roaming around outside. But they could be lurking around in the dark. Ethan was very cautious about it. He did not forget about the last time. He barely got away with his life last time they planned to visit Hillside. But this time they took a different path, through an abandoned town.

“Kid, Chill out. They ain’t gonna bite you here,” Tyler laughed.

“I was just making sure,” Ethan replied, “We shouldn’t make much noise. It’s already dark. They'll hear us more easily now.”

Scott smiled and patted his shoulder, “Come on, sit down. We still have a long way to go tomorrow. Rest for now.”

Tyler pulled out the cork and smelt the wine, “Umm, smells good.”

He poured some to Scott when he held out his glass. Scott finished his drink in one gulp. He let out a sound of satisfaction.

“Take a sip,” Tyler said to Ethan.

“No, I’m fine.”

“You don’t drink?” Scott asked.

“Rarely,” he replied, “I hate the taste.”

“Don’t be such a baby,” Tyler also poured some wine in Ethan’s glass, “Drink up and be a man.”

Ethan couldn’t refuse his senior.

Tyler; one of the oldest members of the Riders. He had been here since the birth of the group. A Tall and muscular male in his late 30’s. On the other hand, there was Scott. He was either in his late 20’s or early 30’s, Ethan did not know for sure. The square-framed glasses suited his clean-shaven face quite well. Both of them were assigned for this job along with Ethan.

The Riders had not been doing very well. There was a time when the group had more than 50 members. Over the years, the number went down. No one left the gang; rather, the gang's numbers began to lessen for other reasons. Even just a few days ago they lost around ten members. They could not risk losing more people. So, instead of sending a big number, Arnold and Luis decided to send a select few.

Tyler and Scott, both of them were qualified for this job. They had been dealing with these kinds of problems since the beginning. But that was different for Ethan. In any regard, he was not suitable for this task. Even Ethan himself knew that. But there was a different reason.

He wants to keep me away and distracted, Ethan thought.

Ever since he fled from Rust, he hadn’t been himself. Although he was assigned there as a spy, Ethan grew to care for those people due to spending a lot of time with them. Over time, his feelings for them began to fade due to his absence from Rust. But they came rushing back when he saw Will again. Arnold was completely aware of that. The matter with Hillside was just an excuse to keep Ethan away from Will.

“What’s wrong, Einstein?” Tyler asked, “You look worried.”

“N-no, nothing’s wrong,” Ethan finished his drink, “Just tired.”

“I don’t blame you,” Scott said, “Hillside is quite far away.”

“These fuckers,” Tyler smirked, “They have no idea what they are dealing with.”

“They’re being delusional,” Scott said while pouring some wine.

“Ethan,” Tyler took a sip from his glass, “How old are you?”

“Twenty two.”

“You’re young. Let me give you some advice,” Tyler continued, “Things like this, they’ll never stop. There are always these thick heads who’ll get in your way. But you know what? You see, when people get lost in false hopes, they can’t tell what’s real and what’s made up. These shitheads, they don’t know what they are getting into. But the solution is quite simple,” he leaned forward slightly and said, “Take out one, and the rest will align.”

“Wait, are we planning to kill somebody?” Ethan seemed agitated.

“That’s the plan,” Scott said, “If they refuse to give us rations.”

“I really wanna blow someone’s head off,” Tyler laughed, “It’s been a while.”

“We shouldn’t be doing anything unnecessary though,” Scott said, “Boss will be furious. You know how he is about these matters.”

“No, he’ll really like it.”

He will love it, Ethan thought to himself.

“Ahh! Enough with this work talk,” Tyler almost shouted, “Ethan!”

“Y-yes?”

“Have you ever been in love?”

Scott tried to stifle his laughter with his hand.

“I am sorry, was I being funny?”

“No, carry on.”

“Don’t mind this asshole,” Tyler said to Ethan while pointing at Scott, “He has never fucked a woman.”

“Love, huh?” Ethan mumbled, “No.”

“What about you, dickhead?”

“Me?” Scott said, “You wouldn’t wanna hear about it.”

“Don’t be such a pussy.”

“It’s not interesting,” he added, “I am sure Ethan wouldn’t want to either.”

“I don’t mind,” Ethan replied to him with a shrug.

“Huh, alright then,” Scott continued, “I was a college freshman. There was this girl in our class. Her name was Amelia. She was very popular. The boys wouldn’t stop chattering about her. I had a crush on her. But I was too shy to approach. Matt always pushed me to go and confess my feelings to her. Matt, he was my best friend since middle school. He had a dog. Cooper, we called him. I’d go to his place and play with Cooper. We three were like Charlie, Linus and Snoopy, you know,” he smiled and drank some wine from his glass, “Anyways, after a lot of hesitation, I built up the courage to stand in front of her one day. I was scared shit, I couldn’t stop my legs from shaking. But somehow, I confessed. And surprisingly, she agreed to become my girlfriend. I couldn’t believe it. A girl like her, agreeing to go out with a guy like me, it felt like I was dreaming. After that day, everyone started noticing me. Wherever I was, I would hear my classmates gossiping. I am not gonna lie, I was enjoying it. To have something that others can’t have, it was exciting. I was living in heaven for a few months until that day, when one of my classmates came to me. She showed me a photo. A photo of a guy standing by a street. But that’s not what caught my eyes. Two people were captured in the background. One of them was Amelia. And the other one…” he let out a deep breath. He slowly spun the glass he was holding.

“It was Matt, wasn’t it?” Ethan asked.

Scott didn’t show any gesture. But his silence answered Ethan’s question.

Tyler poured some wine into his glass. After a few seconds of silence, Scott continued, “I asked the girl where he got that photo. She told me that the guy in that photo was her friend. He posted it on Facebook. At first, I didn’t want to believe what I saw. The photo wasn’t really that clear to actually say for sure whether it was Matt or not. At least that’s what I wanted to believe. I wouldn't have cared much if it weren't him. I kept saying to myself that it wasn’t him. It was someone else, maybe her brother, or maybe her cousin who looked like Matt, But no matter what I told myself, I wasn’t convinced. I wanted to make sure. I wanted to see what I saw with my own eyes. I started stalking Amelia. I went everywhere she went, kept a close eye on her. Her daily routine was almost the same. Sometimes she went out with her friends and cousins. After stalking her for a few days, I began to believe that maybe what I saw in the picture was wrong. Maybe it wasn't Matt. I was able to convince myself. The guilt I felt for doubting my best friend was eating me up inside,” Scott continued again after a small pause, “One day, I saw her go out at an unusual time. She seemed more concerned about her surroundings than usual. Normally, she never looked around, but this time, she kept glancing over her shoulder, checking if anyone was following her. You know that feeling when you're about to do something wrong, but you sense that someone is watching, seeing all of your misdeeds? It was just like that. I followed her for around a half an hour. She suddenly started waving. I looked ahead. A cafe, in front of it, a guy with a leather jacket. It was costly. I knew it because I was the one who gave it to him on his birthday,” he exhaled deeply, “They kissed each other and went inside the cafe.. I was heartbroken, not just because she cheated, but because it was him she chose to betray me with. Something inside me began to boil. I was furious. Sure, I could have stormed in and caught them red-handed. But I didn’t. I wasn’t looking for answers. I wanted revenge. And that’s what I did,” he finished his wine, “I took revenge.”

Both Tyler and Ethan eagerly waited for him to carry on. But he had gone silent once more. Ethan didn’t want to bother him any further. He was already hurting enough from remembering his past.

“What did you do?” Tyler broke the silence at last.

“Well, that’s a story for another day,” he was too drunk to even speak at that point.

“You little,” Tyler got up from his seat and grabbed Scott’s collar, “What did you do?! I wanna know!”

“Tyler, calm down,” Ethan grabbed his hands, “You both are drunk.”

“But I want to know.”

“Yeah, once you both get sober.”

“But I want to know now,” Tyler returned to his place and poured the last bit of wine into his glass.

“Since you brought up this topic, I am assuming you have a story of your own,” Scott said to Tyler.

“Story, story, story,” lying back in his seat, Tyler closed his eyes, “Yes, I have a story. Her name was Clara. She used to work at a restaurant. It didn’t take much time for us to get to know each other. We soon fell in love. I proposed to her. We got married soon after. We had a baby on the way. She was two months pregnant. I couldn’t be happier with my life. Everything was perfect,” pausing for a moment, he continued, “One evening, I was working late when she called. Judging by the time she called me, her shift had ended a long time ago, and she would’ve been heading home by then. She rarely called when I was working late, knowing I was usually busy, and only did so when it was urgent. Sensing something was wrong, I answered immediately. Her voice was filled with panic. She told me someone was following her, and there was no one nearby to ask for help. I told her to call 911 and reassured her that I’d get there as quickly as possible. I told her to head toward the nearest police station. I rushed out of the office and ran as fast as I could. I couldn’t reach her again because she had to stay on the line with 911. As I neared where she said she was, I heard police sirens approaching from behind. A squad car sped past me, and I knew it was for her. I kept running, chasing after it. The car turned a corner and stopped. I reached the spot, breathless. She was…” his voice wavered as he continued, “Her body, it was lying by the roadside, all covered in blood.”

“Did they catch the killer?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah, it was a fucking serial killer,” Tyler replied with disgust, “Should’ve let him rot in prison for the rest of his life. But they hanged him,” letting out another deep breath, he said, “Not long after, I met Arnold. He was gathering men for his gang at that time.”

The room fell silent as Tyler finished his story. Three of them sat there without a word.

At last, Scott raised his glass, “To Clara, may she rest in peace,” he continued, “And to that motherfucker, may he burn in hell.”

They all raised their glasses, “To Clara.”

…

Ethan couldn’t fall asleep all night. He felt like he was being suffocated in that house. So he came outside for some fresh air.

The sun was slowly rising, spreading its light throughout the sky. Although the snowfall had stopped a long time ago, a chill breeze was still blowing. However, that was the least of Ethan's worries. Hearing all those things from Tyler and Scott made him reflect on himself and his friends.

Is that how they felt when they knew I betrayed them? he thought to himself.

Hearing about Tyler's past reminded him of his own relationship with Will—except it was he who had taken something precious away from Will. Ethan knew what Will was going through, and the guilt was eating away at him from the inside. But there was no going back.

“What are you doing out here?”

As someone spoke behind him, Ethan turned to look.

Scott yawned, “It’s still dark. You should be more careful about your surroundings.”

“Don’t worry,” Ethan replied, “They won’t attack if you’re not afraid of them.”

“Is that so?”

Ethan nodded slightly, “They can sense fear.”

“Um, well,” Scott yawned again.

“Are you sober now?”

“I guess.”

“You don’t get to sleep much, do you? You've got dark spots under your eyes.”

“Sleep hasn’t always been my best friend.”

The two of them stood there wordless, enjoying the fresh air and the sunrise. Scott had been part of the gang for as long as Ethan could remember, making him one of the most experienced members. Despite being in the same group for so long, the sheer number of people meant Ethan hadn’t interacted much with everyone, and Scott was one of those. Ethan had always treated him like a senior, but after spending almost a day together, he realized they could actually get along well. Which led him to become more interested in Scott's matters.

“Say, why didn’t you finish your story?”

“...”

“I- I mean it’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it,” Ethan found himself stuttering, “I was just curious, that’s all.”

Scott pulled out a packet of cigarettes from his pocket.

“Where did you get that?”

“Found it earlier,” he opened the packet, “Still fresh.”

“You smoke?”

Instead of answering his question, Scott offered him a cigarette.

“I don’t smoke.”

“One won’t kill you.”

Ethan reluctantly took a cigarette.

Scott pulled out a match box. He lit their cigarettes. As they smoked, both of them started coughing.

“Fucking hell,” Scott glared at his cigarette with disgust, “I’d choose death by getting shot to the chest over cancer any day. I hope this answers your question.”

Ethan took a drag from his cigarette.

“It’s not like I don’t wanna talk about it,” Scott blew out a thin stream of smoke, “I've done many things in my life, and most of them I'm not proud of. When you tell a story, you send a message. And I don’t wanna fill your head with evil thoughts. You’re young. You have a lot to learn. Well, not saying that I’m old either,” Scott continued, “I also have a lot to learn.”

“...”

Scott began to speak after a brief pause, “I was hurt. Something inside me shattered that day. I was sad and angry. I had to do something to let the flame inside me wash away. I wanted them to feel what I was feeling. It’s surprising what you can do when you’re not really yourself.”

“What did you do?”

“I killed the dog,” Scott let the smoke escape from his lungs, “I killed Cooper.”

Ethan was left speechless. But compared to what he did, his sins were far greater.

“Poor Cooper, his eyes were full of questions.”

“What did Matt do?”

“Cried, of course. What else could he do?”

“Did you…cry?”

“No, my emotions were already damaged enough by then.”

“Did he ever find out that it was you?”

“Maybe he did. But he never said anything to me,” Scott answered, “We went our separate ways.”

“...”

“And as for Amelia, I paid a bunch of chicks from our class to give her a hard time. Transferring to somewhere else seemed easier for her than fighting back.”

“...”

“I eventually dropped out of college and joined Arnold. That’s where I found peace. You could say Arnold acted as a savior for a lot of us.”

“...”

“You might see me as a monster—and honestly, I am,” he said, “What I did, I did out of anger and frustration. But the funny thing about all these is that I enjoyed it.”

He threw away his cigarette along with the pack, “There’s evil in good and there’s good in evil. From time to time, one will take over you. But don’t forget who you really are. Don’t become like me.”

“...”

“How long are you going to smoke that shit? Throw that away.”

Ethan threw the cigarette away.

They both remained there, gazing at the sunrise without saying a word.

…

“Are you sure about this?” Ethan asked as they approached the gate to Hillside.

Tyler let out a laugh, “Take in some fresh air, Einstein! Only a fool would pull a trigger. We’ve been dealing with people like these for a long time. Raising their guns would mean starting a war. Those like them have only read about wars in newspapers but have never been in one.”

“You’re just worrying too much, Ethan. What Tyler has said is true. Drawing a weapon will only bring them harm.”

Three of their bikes stopped right in front of the gate. One of the lookouts saw their jackets and the type of bikes they were riding. He disappeared from his post right away.

“Open the fucking gate!” Tyler screamed.

After a minute or two, the gate opened from inside. Leaving the bikes outside the gate, the Riders went in. Inside Hillside, all of the people were gathered around as if they were waiting for their arrival. Among them all, an old man in his 50’s stood out the most.

Tyler glanced at the crowd and asked, “Who's in charge here?”

No responses. Everyone had their eyes fixed on the arrivals. Some of them were even standing with weapons.

“I said, who’s in charge here?” Tyler asked again. But this time, with a louder voice.

Still no responses.

Tyler smiled as he pulled out his gun, “This silent treatment won’t work on me.”

Ethan felt uncomfortable. But Scott’s gesture assured that the situation was still under control.

“17 bullets are in this gun,” Tyler said, “Shall I count the bullets or shall I keep blowing each of your brains out till I run out of bullets?”

“You came here with only 17 bullets?” The old man finally spoke.

“So you can speak! Thank you!” Tyler said, “Since you’ve decided to talk first, I’m assuming you must be Miller, the one in charge.”

The old man didn’t bother to clarify who he was. Instead, he kept glaring at him with a cold face.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Tyler said, “Now, Miller. We have a bit of a problem here. I think you owe us something that you’re refusing– I am sorry. ‘Forgetting’ would be a better word here. After all, you’ve passed an age where people like you tend to forget things. Very valuable things.”

“...”

“So, I hope you’ve now remembered what you’ve seemed to forget till now. I’ll be expecting them right away, right here. Otherwise, things may get a little dirty.”

“Logan,” the old man named Miller said to the guy standing next to him, “Tell this man that he can take his gun with his 17 bullets and shove it up his ass. Also, tell him to take his goons and fuck off my property.”

“You’ve heard him,” the person next to Miller said.

“Go tell your boss that we are done.”

Tyler exchanged glances with Miller and the guy next to him; Logan. Then he burst out laughing. He kept laughing uncontrollably, putting his fingers against his forehead, “You jokers.”

In an instant, his mood shifted as he aimed his gun at Miller, “Look, old man,” he sounded more serious now, “I’ll count to ten. Then I’ll put all 17 bullets in your head. If you don’t want a head with that many holes, do as you are told like a gentleman.”

“You don’t scare me, young man,” Miller smirked, even with a gun pointed at his forehead.

“Sure,” Tyler began the countdown, “one, two, three,”

“You can still turn around and go back,” Miller said.

“Four.”

“I mean it.”

“Five, six, seven.”

“Tyle-” Ethan tried to approach.

“Ethan, don’t.”

“Eight, nine, ten,” Tyler said, “Too bad, you could’ve lived ten-twenty more years.”

A shot was fired. However, the bullet was not fired from Tyler’s gun, nor was it Miller's head that exploded. The trigger was pulled by one of the people from Hillside using his rifle. Tyler’s side of the head was blown off as he fell down on the ground.

“Shit!” Scott pulled out his gun.

But it was already too late. Miller shot a few rounds directly to Scott’s chest.

Everything occurred in a blur, leaving Ethan momentarily stunned. His entire body felt paralyzed as he stood frozen. Turning his head, he glanced at Scott's lifeless body, stained with blood.

Miller slowly approached him. Ethan was so shocked that he could not even reach for his gun. Although that would not make a difference either.

“You didn’t raise your gun. So I’ll let you live,” Miller said to Ethan, “Tell him we are done.”

___