The Apocalypse Exchange: I Can Trade Anything

Chapter 8: Riot

Ryan was directed onto one of the buses.

The infected had switched targets, and the convoy used the opening to push forward again.

He'd barely settled into his seat when a wave of dizziness and nausea hit him, his whole body suddenly aching, hunger crashing over him all at once.

Whatever lingering caution he had about wasting the nutrient formula evaporated. He dug a bottle out of his bag and drained it in one go.

"Hey man, what is that stuff you're drinking?"

"Some kind of electrolyte drink. Never seen it before?"

The bottle genuinely did look like something off a gas station shelf.

"Got any more, man? Let me get a taste. I've almost forgotten what sweet even tastes like."

"Nah, that was my last one. And honestly it's probably expired anyway."

"So hey, you know where this convoy's actually headed?"

"No clue. I asked. Nobody's talking. Just heard it's some kind of shelter."

"Guessing you joined mid-route too, huh?"

"Yeah. Everybody on this bus did."

"See those armored trucks up front?"

Ryan followed the guy's finger. Sure enough, a cluster of heavily armored vehicles rode dead center in the convoy formation, looking every bit as important as they seemed.

"Those soldiers are riding escort for whoever's inside those trucks."

"You know who's in there?"

"Mix of people men, women, old, young. Definitely not regular folks."

"Scientists, probably. Or maybe some of the money crowd."

"Scientists, sure, I get that. But rich people? Does that even mean anything anymore?"

"Heh. Fair point."

"You think those rich folks are happy right now?"

"I used to think I had it made. Turns out none of that matters once the lights go out."

If Ryan had heard that kind of gloating a few months ago, he might've decked the guy on principle.

Now, though? His money hadn't disappeared. It had just changed shape.

Ryan laughed along with him.

Once the convoy regained momentum, it pushed steadily toward the outskirts of the city. Ryan drifted in and out of sleep over the bumpy ride, and by the time he came to fully, the earlier sickness had mostly faded.

The convoy started slowing.

Ryan glanced out the window and recognized the area immediately Clearwater Cove, one of those exclusive lakeside enclaves out past the city limits. Old money and new money alike. A single bathroom out here probably ran bigger than most city apartments. The smallest lot in this neighborhood cleared three acres.

As the vehicles crawled to a stop, Ryan clocked the formation. Armored trucks in the center. Troop transports and supply trucks surrounding them. And on the outer ring buses like his.

The doors stayed shut once they parked. A soldier climbed onto the roof of a nearby vehicle and raised a bullhorn.

"We're resting here for the night."

"Everyone stay in your vehicles until we've cleared the area and confirmed it's safe."

Ryan watched teams of soldiers fan out to mop up the handful of infected wandering the neighborhood. Easy work the only real threats were a few mutated pets, and even those barely slowed the soldiers down working in coordinated teams.

Once the immediate area was clear, the soldiers split into five-man teams and began sweeping each mansion.

Every so often, gunfire echoed from inside one of the houses, and the whole bus went tense with anticipation.

Then the soldiers started emerging from one of the estates and they weren't alone.

Excited murmurs rippled through the bus. Ryan leaned forward, surprised himself.

Survivors were filing out alongside the troops.

"Rich people are built like tanks, I swear. Bet that place is stuffed to the ceiling with supplies."

"Come on, that's not exactly a mystery. Places like this always have basements the size of a warehouse."

"Yeah, I saw a documentary on this once rich people building private bunkers just for something like this."

"Could probably ride out years down there, easy."

"Years? Jesus. That's how much stuff we're talking about. We need to get in on some of that."

"Damn right we do. I cannot survive another week of nothing but stale crackers."

"We'll manage. It's the kids I'm worried about."

More and more passengers started speculating about a supply split.

For a second, Ryan swore he saw a flicker of his old neighbor's face in the crowd's excitement that same desperate hunger.

The guy next to him elbowed him lightly.

"Hey, never caught your name. I'm Jake Sterling."

"Ryan Cole."

"...Cole? Like coal? Guess that makes you the one keeping the lights on around here."

"Ha. Something like that."

"So, Ryan think they'll actually cut us in on supplies?"

"Doubt it, honestly."

"Yeah. Same."

"Still, can't imagine the army's gonna just leave us with nothing."

"Maybe."

Truth was, Ryan didn't need much. Sure, free supplies would help stretch his Survival Points further but he wasn't exactly at risk of starving.

He'd already been circling an idea since he first spotted this neighborhood: barely any infected out here to begin with, and the army had just finished clearing what little remained. Short-term, this place was about as safe as anywhere left standing.

And the setting wasn't bad either. If he held out alone here long enough to hit 300 banked points, he'd start earning two points of interest daily on top of his baseline. Do the math on that, and three points a day sounded like a pretty solid retirement plan.

The bullhorn crackled back to life outside.

"You may exit your vehicles and move freely."

"Remember which vehicle is yours. If there's an emergency, return to it immediately."

"One more thing do not enter any of the villas without authorization. They remain under armed guard."

Bus doors began popping open one after another. Ryan filed out with the rest of the crowd.

An officer approached, flanked by a couple of soldiers.

"You're the one who joined us mid-route."

"Yes, sir. Ryan Cole."

"Tell us what you can about that thing that was chasing you."

"Ran into it on the way to your position. Didn't have much time to study it."

"Fast. Strong. That's about all I can say for sure."

"But I could've sworn I saw human faces embedded in it several of them."

"If I had to guess, it looked like it was made of multiple infected that had fused together somehow. Like they'd been feeding on each other and merging."

"You seem to know a fair amount about these things."

"Read a lot of novels like this, growing up.”