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The Scavenger

Finding Beauty In The World That Once Was

By Jarred S BakerPublished 3 years ago 10 min read
2

It was hardly past mid-day when I noticed how dark it was growing. I pushed my shopping cart up what felt like the hundredth hill today. The winds had changed, I could smell the storm moving in. I had an hour or less to find shelter before all hell breaks loose. It's funny how much one's senses heighten when the world ends, so much less to distract us from the real world. I cursed the oncoming storm for ruining the peace and quiet of my walk. I always thought it was kind of funny, peace and quiet would've been the last things that I would of expected about the end of the world before the world ended. The world didn't end like in the movies though. No super volcano, no nukes, no meteor or asteroid dished out our devastation. It was a virus that did us in, not a zombie virus or super rabies, just a virus with a ninety percent mortality rate that spread faster than the California wild fires. Those of us that survived formed groups, groups became settlements, and most settlements worked together. Nothing at all like in the movies.

It's not that there aren't bad people out there. Right after the virus first started to spread there were plenty of them. They died off just like everyone else, and with less people overall comes less bad people overall. Those of us who could protected those that couldn't protect themselves and eventually things calmed down to a point settlements felt like home for most. There is the occasional bandit or highway man to encounter, but rarely did they kill their victims. Mainly because it would give us a reason to track them down, but I like to think its that everyone had seen enough death for a long time. It makes me feel safer out on scavenging runs. Not to say I don't enjoy these excursions in the remains of the world that once was to some extent. I mean I volunteer to go out for weeks at a time just me and my cart. There are groups that go out with trucks I was encouraged to join but I've always felt more comfortable on my own. I never was much of a people person before the virus spread, I never felt like I truly belonged anywhere, even now I'm afraid to get close to people. In the old world I spent my days hiding away in my apartment reading a book, a night out to me was heading out to the middle of nowhere alone with a six pack trying to see the stars and forget about life for a bit. I still remember the night the lights went out, I was still alone camping on the outskirts of the city. The power went out, and the sky lit up like some elaborate Christmas light display put together by the gods, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. You saw beauty like this all the time now though, sunsets in the mountains, a gaggle of geese flying over a pond at sunrise, or a fog that hangs low in a valley in the early morning light. This kind of beauty existed before the virus it was just much harder to recognize with the fast paced, social media presence, instant gratification mentality the world had fallen into. Too many screens to keep our eyes on.

After another mile or so I came around a corner to see a small building poking out of the the overgrowth that now threatened to swallow it back into the earth about a quarter mile up the road. Once I got closer a familiar smell hit like an unwanted memory, a smell all too familiar to any who helped reclaim settlements for the living, old death. After a certain point there wasn't enough people to help the sick so many died in their homes, making for a nauseating start to the new world. After quietly pushing my cart between the only two cars in the lot I cautiously approached the building. A sign over the door that was losing the battle against gravity read "Gort's Pub". I slowly made my way to the door keeping an ear out for any signs of life. You always had to be mindful of those dogs that went feral after the spread, sadly most house pets died even though the virus didn't effect them. Once their humans became too sick to care for them anymore they survived however long they could, often times on their late owners, but eventually succumbed to starvation. Those that didn't starve and didn't find new humans to roam with ended up reverting back to their natural animal instincts. And if they catch you off guard a pack of wild dogs is a quick way to ruin your day.

The dust and grime that had accumulated over the past couple years ruined any chance I had of catching a glimpse inside before the big reveal, however it was clear that the cleaners hadn't been here in some time. I kicked the front door to try to rouse anything that may be living inside and after a minute of hearing nothing I pulled on my face mask then gave the door a try. It wasn't locked and opened with no trouble past a chair that had fallen over behind the door. The source of the smell was quick to spot. A booth at the back of the pub was currently occupied by the remains of two men, the table covered with empty bottles. Probably two good ole boys who decided to drink away their final days on earth. It didn't happen often but every once and a while you would come across an old business where people decided to gather to party until the virus had them too weak to keep going. Small tombs for the last good times of the old world.

Before looking around any further I quickly retrieved my cart and secured it on the front porch just as the rain began to fall. Lighting lit up the sky, thunder shook the pub on it's foundations, and after a moment of waiting for the building to fall on my head I ventured back inside to look around. Using two table clothes I was able to move the corpses back through the kitchen and into a walk-in cooler to get rid of the smell they had left behind. With the help of a bottle of bleach I found behind the bar I was able to mask what remained. Upon closer inspection of the pub I uncovered a dry pantry still containing various dried beans, bags of rice, various economy sized canned vegetables. In a closet behind the bar were a couple of cases of liquor which always made for a good time back at the settlement, and in the back office I found a pistol as well as a box of ammunition. A good haul for such a small place, it would almost fill my cart. I thanked Gort, whoever they may be, and stacked everything on the bar so I could quickly load it all once the storm passed.

As the day moved on but the storm didn't I decided that I might as well set up camp for the night. Braving the storm briefly I gathered stones so I could build a campfire safely, the floor was concrete but I didn't want to take any chances. As I laid the stones out I noticed a back pack tucked away under the table the two men had occupied. I shuffled over on all fours to grab it expecting a bug out bag which may have something useful inside. Emptying the bag I quickly realized this was not the case. It had the typical clothes in it of course but under the clothes was at least twenty thousand dollars, and a small black notebook. The money, more than I had ever held at one time, would of been something I would of loved to have found before the spread but now was nothing more than tender for the fire, and the notebook upon first glance was nothing more than a bookies ledger keeping track of what was owed by people that would never have to worry about paying their debts.

I set everything aside then using a hatchet from my cart I took apart enough chairs to keep the fire going through the night, and using five hundred dollars from the bag was able to quickly get a fire going. I couldn't help to laugh, here I was using what at one point in my life was a weeks pay to light a fire. I laid out my sleeping bag after a small dinner cooked over the fire when loneliness kicked in. Nothing made me feel the isolation quite like eating alone. I lay down as the familiar empty feeling swept over my body. I picked up the notebook and began flipping through the pages more to past the time than out of genuine interest. As I was ready to give up on anything more interesting to read than names and dollar amounts I noticed a couple paragraphs scrawled in the back which peaked my curiosity. So by the light of the fire I read.

"Not sure why I'm writing this, no one will ever read it, but here I go. Matthew and I both tested positive this morning, we cried together before I went to let my family know. After letting my parents know I was infected I came out to them and told them about Matthew, I don't want to die with secrets. My mother handled it well but my father old fashioned as he is would have none of it, I kissed my mother and said goodbye. Who would of thought that me being gay would have been deemed the bad news. After I called Matthew, we decided to meet at Gort's where we first met each other. I had stopped there with some friends while on a camping trip, he lived nearby and just happened to be there that night. We hit it off quickly, did the long distance thing until he moved in with me in the city. We've been together ever since, and I've been so lucky for that. Now we can kick back and spend what little time we have left together enjoying each others company. Seems fitting we end our lives together at the same place we started our lives together. Despite my father, the virus, the world in general, I am just happy I will die with the man that I love. My home is with him, where ever that may be is where I belong"

I closed the notebook, thought about that empty feeling inside, thought about the people I've grown to know in the years since the spread, thought about the world that was, the world that is, and fell asleep with tears in my eyes. I woke at daybreak and grabbed a small shovel from my cart. I found a nice clearing behind the pub then spent the morning burying the couple so they would be together always. The beauty of their final act bringing me to tears again as I finished packing things away into my cart. It's like I said there was always beauty in the old world, sometimes it was just hard to see. I decided to go ahead back home, I had room in my cart to keep going but since waking have wanted nothing more than to be home with the people I belonged with. I had already decided that my future scavenge runs would be with a group. I thought to myself how ironic it was that it took the world ending for me to ever feel like I fit in somewhere, and I thought about how beautiful that word truly is. Home.

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