The Trunk
Table of Contents
Title Page
Disclaimer
Chapter One – Survival
Chapter Two – Refuge
Chapter Three – Settling
Chapter Four – Discovery
Chapter Five – Spared
Chapter Six – Mykail
Chapter Seven – Reason
Chapter Eight – Groceries
Chapter Nine – Dinner
Chapter Ten – News
Chapter Eleven – Moment
Chapter Twelve – Return
Chapter Thirteen – Letter
Chapter Fourteen – Paradigm
Chapter Fifteen – Shift
Chapter Sixteen – Stopped
Chapter Seventeen – Ride
Chapter Eighteen – Struggle
Chapter Nineteen – Decision
Chapter Twenty – Futility
Chapter Twenty-One – River
Chapter Twenty-Two – Discussion
Chapter Twenty-Three – Chase
Chapter Twenty-Four – Mossbeck
Chapter Twenty-Five – Birds
About the Author
Sci-Fi Romances by Linda Mooney
THE TRUNK
By
Linda Mooney
THE TRUNK
Copyright © 2019 by Linda Mooney
ISBN 978-1-941321-95-9
Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 (five) years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.
Editor: Chelly Peeler
Cover Art: Dawné Dominique
Chapter One
Survival
Emlee remained hunched behind the abandoned auto and watched the huge mothership floating above the horizon. She’d been observing it for nearly fifteen minutes to see if she could tell which way it was heading, but so far it seemed to be in hovering mode. That was a good sign.
“A better sign would be for it to head on out of here and go someplace else,” she whispered to herself. “Welp, if the mountain won’t move, then Mohammad must.”
Hitching the one remaining strap on her backpack over her shoulder where it wouldn’t rub against the blisters, she grabbed the fireplace poker and kept moving. There was no need to hide from the alien spacecraft. They weren’t interested in the few thousand humans still left alive and struggling to survive. They’d done their job when they initially swarmed the planet and took out nearly every major city in one fell swoop. After which, it seemed that any survivors who were left were dismissed as unimportant, and left to fend for themselves.
Since that time, it wasn’t the aliens she had to watch out for. The biggest danger lay in the pockets of humanity that roamed the devastated land, looking for food, fuel, and clean water. Any loner they came across was either assimilated into their group or killed. There was no third choice.
She stepped carefully around a pile of burnt refuse. At first, it was difficult to tell what had been torched until she spotted a boot protruding from the ashes.
A rumble of thunder caught her attention, and she glanced behind her. The sky was cloudless. The sun beat down on her with relentless fury. Between the temperature, the humidity, and her never-ending exhaustion, she wished there was a nice storm heading her way. The fresh water would be a godsend. But, instead of spotting any visible clouds forming, there was only the immense floating aircraft.
The rumbling sounded again, and this time she caught sight of the cause of the noise. Several smaller spaceships shot out from beneath the larger ship. As each craft appeared, seconds later a sound like a thunderclap could be heard. The ships’ appearances gave her the impression of being expelled, as if the mothership was either shitting them out, or giving birth to them. Both images made her grin. Once each vessel appeared, it tended to hover for a couple of seconds, then sped off, moving so quickly she couldn’t follow where it went.
Emlee wiped sweat from her forehead with the back of her injured hand. It left a smear of dirt on the already dirty improvised bandage she’d wrapped around it. She tried to flex her fingers with some success, but it still wasn’t enough for her to be able to grasp any sort of weapon, which was why she had to carry the poker in her left hand.
Shielding her eyes, she scanned the area around her. She was in some sort of subdivision, but she had no idea where. States blurred into each other. Cities no longer had names. What few remnants of humanity were left were usually found in the outskirts of towns. Normally, she avoided entering any of what once were called bedroom communities or suburbs, and kept to the wide open fields. But finding food and drinkable water out in the vast middle of nowhere was becoming impossible. Which meant from time to time she had no choice but to venture into these dangerous areas.
A small, almost indistinct sound came from behind her. Whirling around, she tried to find out the source. Her hand gripped the poker more firmly. She could hold her own against another, but if there were two or more of them, her best chance of survival would be to run.
The sound didn’t repeat, but she wasn’t going to dismiss it so easily. Keeping her ears and eyes peeled, she continued walking the circumference of the abandoned back lots. This was a relatively new subdivision. Several houses remained in construction, never to be finished. The newer homes still had dirt yards, where grass had been planted but never cultivated into lush green lawns.
Emlee cursed at herself. These sites were the worst. Already she could tell any construction materials that had been left behind, like lumber and especially bricks, had already been taken away, to be used as weapons. Even a small cement mixer had been cannibalized for parts and pieces.
Sunshine flashed across a broken window, sending fragments of light across the weed-infested lots. She paused to admire the odd beauty in it before moving on. With the sun starting to set, she needed to be thinking about where she could spend the night in relative safety.
As she turned around to keep going, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. It came from the house with the shattered glass window. She tensed as she froze in place and peered at the small sliver of daylight visible through the other side of the opening.
One thousand one, one thousand—
A dark figure passed by, briefly obliterating the light.
Emlee took off running. She stayed on the back side of the houses, but she knew she couldn’t keep it up. Some fenced-in property loomed up ahead, which meant she either had to go around it, or cut through the narrow lot between the houses, which would take her to the front of the houses.
Realizing they’d spooked their prey, a voice yelled out to her.
“Hey! Hey, you! Stop!”
A quick glance to the side revealed a man running parallel with her, but he was on the front side of the home. Within seconds, a second figure joined him, but she didn’t take the time to see who the other person was. She couldn’t waste that precious head start she had on them.
She could feel her energy flagging as every breath became harder to take. Her feet felt like she’d tied weights around her ankles. She pushed herself, hoping somehow to find a way to elude or hide from the guy and his acc
omplice.
She reached the tall, wooden fence. Knowing the man was off to her left, that meant she had to go right, around the structure. Gasping for air, she rounded the small hill and the outside of the barrier, to find herself at a scene of devastation.
At first, she couldn’t comprehend what had demolished the row of homes lining the opposite street. All she could detect was a series of houses that had somehow been blown up or burned. Her gut told her to head toward them just as she heard another shout.
“Hey, you! Come back here! Hey, girl!”
They were getting closer. In her current physical state, they’d catch up with her within a short span of heartbeats.
She dove into what appeared to have been a garage. The door leading into the house itself was open and lying at an angle against the cracked door frame.
She found herself in what remained of the kitchen. Past the kitchen was the living room area, where a huge section of the roof had collapsed. Beyond the living room was a staircase leading to the second floor. To her left, the plate glass doors opening into the back yard were shattered. If she took the stairs, she could be trapped up there. And if she went out the back way, there was the possibility she could run into others of that man’s party.
She eyed the fallen roof and made her decision. Shrugging out of her backpack, she dropped onto her hands and knees, shoving it into a narrow crevasse. She kept shoving it as she went deeper underneath the dislodged tile and wood beams. The space was narrow, and exposed nails scraped across her skin, tearing into her clothing. The darkness quickly swallowed her in its shadows.
The muted sound of footsteps entering the house caught her attention, and she froze in place. More footsteps came inside, confirming her supposition that there was more of them.
“Where do you think she went?”
“Hey! There’s a set of stairs here! Want me to go up and see if she’s up there?”
“Yeah. You and Pat both go.”
The two men pounded up the stairs, making dust and debris rain over her. Emlee pinched her nose and tried not to sneeze or cough as the grit entered her lungs. Meanwhile, another person joined the first one, and she could tell they were checking the back rooms, as well as the patio area where the glass doors were located.
“She’s not back there,” one man noted.
“She probably went out through the back,” the original yelling man remarked.
Movement upstairs drew their attention.
“Well?”
“No sign of her up here.”
The man sighed loudly. “She went out the back way. Maybe Carl caught sight of her, but she can’t go far. Did you see how badly she was limping? She’s about ready to go down, and I want first shot at her when she does. Come on.”
The men left out the rear of the house. Emlee strained to hear as they exited. When she could no longer detect any footsteps, she took deep breaths through her mouth and tried to will her racing heart to slow down. There was no way to tell how long those men would remain in the area as they searched for her, which meant she was stuck here at least until nightfall. With her black clothing and a little bit of luck, then she might try to leave. Until then, she would make use of the opportunity to collect herself, rest, and get ready for whatever came next.
Covering her mouth to muffle her cough, she laid her head against an exposed beam and closed her eyes.
Chapter Two
Refuge
She had no idea she’d fallen asleep until something awoke her with a start. Jerking her head forward, she banged her face on a piece of lumber, right above her hairline. Emlee managed to keep from crying out in pain, but ended up biting her lip. She tasted blood as she reached up to check the damage. Not feeling any wetness from her scalp, she blinked several times to reorient herself to her present situation.
Oh, yeah. I’m underneath a collapsed roof inside a house.
She had a cramp in her leg that was steadily becoming too painful to ignore. Adjusting slightly, she gritted her teeth, hissing through the agony streaking up her leg and settling in her calf. It took a while for the hard, tight pain to subside. By the time it finally eased, and she was able to breathe, she hadn’t heard anything out of the ordinary coming from the interior of the house.
She debated with herself whether to remain where she was hiding until daylight. It was risky to venture out into the night. Maybe too risky, considering the possibility that Yelling Man and his entourage may still be around. This area could be their territory, and she’d stumbled into it by accident. If that was the case, the sooner she got out of here, the better.
Her stomach clenched, followed by a familiar wooziness. She needed to find something to eat, and soon. It had been how long since she’d last had anything substantial? Emlee shook her head. It was difficult to remember. The days blended almost seamlessly into each other. She couldn’t even tell what day of the week it was, or the month. Even her flow had stopped some time back, so she no longer had that monthly reminder to keep her on some sort of track. The only indicator she had to go by were the seasons. Judging by the hot, muggy days and nights, it was summer. Other than that, she’d lost track of everything else, including time.
What if I barricaded myself inside one of the upstairs rooms? It was worth a try, especially since the men had already searched that area. If worse came to worse, and she was discovered, she might be able to jump down to the ground. If she was lucky, the roof would slope at a steep enough angle to allow her to slide to the ground.
First I’ll check out the kitchen in case there’s something there I can scrounge before retiring upstairs. Crossing her fingers for luck, she felt around the side pockets of her backpack for the little glow sticks she kept for emergencies. Pulling one out, she snapped it to activate the dim light and shook it. The space where she’d taken refuge took on a pale green luminescence, but it was enough for her to be able to get a better idea of where she was. Emlee blinked at the sight of the wicked end of the four-inch nail protruding less than six inches away from her face. If she’d move the slightest bit to her right, it would have gone through her eye. Instead, she had a knot on her forehead.
She’d been damned lucky.
The space she’d entered was too narrow for her to turn around in. She’d have to back out, reversing the way she’d gotten inside.
Stuffing the glow stick into her jeans pocket, she slowly started to crawl out from underneath the collapsed debris, when her foot hit a beam or support. The roof tilted sideways, and pieces of tile began sliding. Chunks of something fell on top of her, including bits of shredded insulation. Emlee threw her arms up to protect her face and head, when the whole thing began to shift. She realized it was all about to come down on top of her, trapping her, maybe crushing and killing her. Panicking, she hurried outward, when the pile slumped further inside the house.
Through the hole in the roof, she could see the cloudless sky brightly illuminated by the almost full moon. She watched as the debris shifted again, and more of the roof cascaded down, landing on top of the staircase. The steps disintegrated under the weight, sending clouds of dust swirling into the air. She buried her nose and mouth inside her shirt, but that little bit wasn’t enough to keep her from coughing, or to prevent her eyes from tearing up. She backed up a little more and waited for everything to settle, when she remembered she’d left her backpack underneath it all.
Swearing softly, she dug through the rubble until she finally came across the bat she kept tied to it. She tugged on it until she eventually found the strap. The wreckage moved again, threatening to bring down more of the roof. Grabbing the strap, she gave it a hard jerk, freeing the backpack. At the same time, the whole thing went sideways in an avalanche of tile, brick, plaster, and wood.
She remained where she was for a couple of minutes to see if the sound alerted anyone. After a while, no one came to check so she got to her feet, when she saw something metallic glint in the moonlight. Curious, she moved closer to see what it was, and disco
vered it was a door handle. There was a full-size door set into the wall under the stairs.
Probably a closet, she mused.
Hefting her backpack, she returned to the kitchen area to search for anything remotely edible. Although she already suspected the place to be cleaned out, it was still disappointing to find the shelves and pantry empty.
She returned to the living room area and glanced around. The house was pretty much destroyed. With the stairs gone, she couldn’t go up to the second story as she’d hoped.
I might as well try the next house over. If this place has been ransacked, that means every other house in this suburb has also been thoroughly cleaned out. But I might find a spot where I can safely spend the rest of the night.
She turned to leave, when another flash of light drew her attention. For some reason, something about that door set into the wall under the stairs intrigued her, and she began to wonder if maybe she could hide in there. It would be a lot safer than venturing back outside.
The door was partially blocked by some of the fallen timbers, but the handle moved easily, and the door opened outwardly. She managed to pull it further open, far enough to squeeze through it.
Once inside, she was surprised to find the enclosure wasn’t stuffy. Neither could she detect any clothing or other articles. Pulling out the glow stick, she stared in surprise at the flight of stairs a little further inside that led downward, underneath the home.
Caution took over, and she tried to peer into the absolute darkness. “Hello? Is anyone here?” Self-preservation told her not to go down those carpeted steps, but she remained where she was, straining her ears for any sound that would alert her. “Hello? Is anyone here?” she repeated.
Her stomach tightened again, sending another wave of dizziness through her, and she began to have second thoughts about leaving the house. Her energy was almost gone, and there was little chance she’d be able to elude Yelling Man a second time. Not until she got something substantial in her stomach.