Chapter 436: Survival Isn’t Always Pretty
Ruth and Shelby looked at each other, clearly dismayed at what had transpired. As per their plan, Laz should have been affected by the music which would have made him under their control. While what they did wasn’t considered brainwashing, it was pretty close.
"We uh..."
"No lying please. It will only make this harder," Laz said politely.
"We were trying to use out music to implant some new memories in your head." Shelby answered back when Ruth couldn’t. Shelby’s face looked downcast but determined, like she had made up her mind about something and was going to follow through. Seeing this, Ruth’s eyes took on the same glint.
"So mind control?" Laz said, actually somewhat intrigued.
"No... Mind control... that’s...."
"Impossible?" Laz said, finishing up her thought.
"Yeah. How did you know that?" Shelby asked back.
Laz had to notice that it was strange that ever since things had ended up this way, Shelby had been the one talking all the time and Ruth was staying quiet. It was quite the change from how they acted before.
"I’m not going to answer that. So... why?" Laz had already heard that they were going to try to make him believe that he was Shelby’s husband so that was obviously the plan. Laz just didn’t understand why. Did they need slaves or something?
"Are you from around here?" Ruth asked, taking the lead.
"Nope. I’m from a lot of different places," Laz responded with a laugh. Shelby nudged Ruth and shot her a look like "You already knew that idiot sister."
"Right. Right. Yeah. I knew that. Anyway, things around here have gotten bad, like really bad. We are on the road right now cause there were C-dogs sniffing around the complex I used to live at. Saw them there one day after work. Now, I’m not an idiot or nothing, but people used to say that infected were going missing in the middle of the night, but I didn’t believe them. Talked to my sis here and she said she’d heard the same. So I’m thinking it ain’t going to happen but what if it did?" At this point, Ruth relaxed thinking that Laz didn’t appear to be a threat as he just sat there and listened.
"So anyway, I got on a website and it gave some recommendations for those who have yet to adapt to the change... Well that’s what they call it anyway. Apparently some people are able to understand, process and move their lives around once they knew they were infected. But many people are not and don’t see the danger in it. For them, the website says, it’s the most dangerous but instead of trying to get these people to listen to reason, it instead makes a recommendation."
"Which is?" Laz asked when Ruth stopped, thinking back on what had happened in the middle of telling the story.
"They say to pack a bag, buy a cheap but disposable cell phone and print out a listen of instructions and recommendations just in case people ever come to your house." Ruth replied.
"A list of instructions? Like print an actual list to put in your backpack?" Laz said with a smile. For him, this entire thing seemed rather humorous that people would actually print out a survival guideline.
"Yeah. Seems stupid, I know. But since me and Ruth were in the same boat, we kind of encouraged each other to do it and supported each other through it. There were other things of course to do to prepare; have a stockpile of cash by keeping all your money except the bare minimum out of your bank account. Snag some plates off someone else’s car if you get a chance. Park your car somewhere away from your house and walk back and forth to and from it using a predetermined path. Uh... and there were a few other things you could do to prepare." Shelby answered.
"Actually, that doesn’t sound so bad. And what about the survival guide?" Laz asked. Having heard the prep guide, a lot of those things made sense.
"It’s common sense travelling ideas. Stick to busses and small crowds or avoid people all together including any sort of air travel. Camp outside whenever possible. And the very last thing was to save and dial a certain number. The weird thing about that was that the number on both of our survival guides was different so we didn’t want to call it incase it was one of those things they could track."
"Makes sense. But none of this explains what you’re doing trying to trick people into believing your married...: Laz commented, leading them back to the original topic.
"It leads to that," Ruth said, taking a deep breath before continuing.
"So I come home and head inside, my car parked in my driveway since we were only taking thing’s half seriously. Then when I am in the shower, I get this sensation like someone is watching me. So I slip out and look outside and there are over a dozen police car’s and other government vehicles that have my place surrounded. It was only then that it clicked, ’shit. They are here for me,’ and got dressed in a hurry, grabbed my bag, sent a text to Shelby and made sure it sent before putting my phone in the microwave on high for twenty minutes."
"Smart," Laz commented.
"It was in the guide. Apparently fireplaces are only a last resort. So I was stuck in the house which was surrounded but luckily it was an old farm house I’d gotten from my grandparents. In the basement there was a long hallway that connected to the outdoor shed which was off a ways in the lot. When my grandparents lived there, we weren’t allowed to play in it since they feared it would collapse. But since that wasn’t an issue, I ran down there, bolting shut the door behind me and was able to sneak away from the outside shed. If it wasn’t for that weird quirk, I wouldn’t have gotten away so easily. Anyway, after meeting up with Shelby, we realized we had never gotten anyone else’s plate and needed a way to leave where we couldn’t be tracked or followed. So after ditching the car, we ended up at a truck stop and made a few wrong moves trying to get a ride. They kept talking about lot lizards which we didn’t get but after almost getting kidnapped, we found this guy Dave here who was like us and figured he would be our man shield from here on out."
"So two girls traveling the country is suspicious but not if there is a guy along with you?" Laz asked, thinking about some parts which had to have been left out.
"Exactly."
"Then why did you try to get me as well? For the two couple cover?"
"That and... we didn’t realize how weak Dave actually was. I mean, his strength is lower than both of ours so while he could still scare off other men with bad intentions, he wouldn’t be able to protect us if things got bad..." As Ruth said this, she dropped her head, obviously understanding what she had just admitted to.
"Makes sense," Laz said, standing up and dusting off his hands.
"It does?" Shelby and Ruth both said, surprised.
"Sure. Survival... it’s not something most people in this country ever thought about. I mean, why would you? As for you two, I don’t know you or your situation. But considering the circumstances, doing whatever you can to survive? That takes guts. Most people I think would find it easier just to give up and let whatever would happen, happen. But not you two. You used your abilities along with a bit of good advice and managed to get this far. For that, I can only say ’well done."
Laz then turned and made for his tent, not looking back.
Just before he climbed in though, he said one last thing when it popped into his mind.
"You can try all you want to borrow someone else’s strength, but in the end you can only rely on yourselves. I’m not saying your wrong with what you did, but your mind set is in the wrong place. If you really want to be able to survive, then you need to get stronger. Your realms are what they are so obviously you have some knowledge, but in a real fight, neither of you would be of any use. Strength isn’t just a realm, it’s everything, every part of you. Work on that and you might just have a chance." Laz then closed the tent flap and laid in his sleeping bag next to Jill.
"Do you think you could take them?" Laz whispered to her as he covered up.
"I don’t know. Are they really that strong?" Jill asked, having heard the whole thing.
"Higher realm doesn’t equal strength, it just means more energy. But even all the energy in the world won’t be able to save someone who doesn’t know how to use it."
"I want to learn," Jill said, her voice full of conviction.
’Good,’ Laz thought.
"It’s about time."
