Elizabeth Jakes The Clone System

The Failed Robbery

[Should we stop here, Liz?] the female automated voice- Kia, said inside her head, but she ignored it, instead commanding it to go into sleep mode for the next twenty-four hours.  The system she encountered some years back when she woke up half-drowned by the side of a deep river.

Kia served as a great companion, especially when she had the rude awakening that the world is post-apocalypse.

Zombies? She always figured those were just sci-fi fantasy movies. Liz learned so much from the information she gathered from Kia and the two had a sort of odd friendship since sane humans were low.

Hours later three young adults stared at each other untrustingly, not even flinching when a loud booming sound was heard in the far-off distance. Three pairs of suspicious-looking eyes and dirt-covered bodies and clothing that had seen better days. Surprisingly all footwear- boots, were in good condition. The female, Liz, which was obvious, and two dust-covered, tired-looking men just outside her truck.

The two hazel-green-eyed men wore furrows on their foreheads and stared at her and she at them, her black eyes squinting in slight fight but not panicked enough to wake Kia. The system always woke when Liz’s distress was higher than what is considered normal.

"What do you want here?" the woman was obviously stupid to ask that, both men thought as they looked at her. What else could they possibly want? They were robbing her of the truck- duh.

The trio was crossed between happiness to see other humans; normal-looking humans and not some type of zombie breed- and survival mode. They were among the few survivors of a post-apocalyptic world. In this instant, savage humans were better to deal with because you can always talk your way out of a situation rather than the chaotic zombie mode where you would have no other alternative but to k*ll. Then you had that flash thought, “Oh my goodness, was that my neighbor?” Or perhaps, “Did I go to school with her?”

The sun-bleached brown, short-haired man was the first to answer, "We're taking a ride."

Elizabeth had been driving her no-doored van, in search of a new location of food when both men jumped in from both sides, seating themselves in the back. She immediately pulled a gun out and pointed it at them. One, the van might have been picked up randomly from the side of the overgrown weed road, but gas was rare to come by and two; she had three kegs full of it in the back. Her ‘honor’ was the last thing on her mind at the moment and murd*r the closest. She wasn’t giving it up.

Both men shrugged and pointed their own barrels back at her. Averting her eyes, a bit, looking at the weed-covered, dusty, empty dirt road- except for the few scattered overturned or abandoned vehicles that accumulated over the years, she turned back to keep her eye on them, still driving.

What happened to good old running in front of a vehicle and pointing your gun or whatever at the driver, forcing them to brake, the woman is thinking, watching the redhead one eying her gas by their feet, in the back.

The overgrown in length, unkept redhead one, eyed the man who had spoken- the sun-bleached-haired one. They weren't together but he saw what the other man was thinking. They could easily overpower her, throw her out, and then settle it like men between themselves. The thing is, she is pregnant and he didn't really have the set mind for that. He didn't mind the throwing her out part, it was the babe in her tummy part that played with his conscious. He thanked God for it. He was beginning to wonder if he had any humanity remaining…if anyone had their sanity now. K*lling was something that nobody normally would be doing, let alone k*lling many.

The brown-haired man didn’t even flinch, but he also turned his weapon at him. 

Red was uneasy, for the man's gun was bigger than his. Not that he didn't think that the bullet size made a difference, but it was the size of the gun that bothered him. The barrel was too wide. He'd never seen anything like it before and that was a scary thought.

The blazing sun did nothing to calm the ferocious-looking woman. Not that he could blame her. She looked uncomfortable to him; in the get-up she was wearing. A heavy brown dress and a scarf hid part of her face from the dust. And a heavy pink, very soiled jacket. The only thing worse she could do is, wear black in this heat. Unlike the other two, she is wearing a hat.

She is scared. The red-headed man could tell, so he lowered his gun. Even this movement caused her to panic, and she almost ran off the road as she ducked when he raised his arm in surrender. Pressing hard on the brakes she turned back to them.

The sun-bleached, one silently put his gun down too. "Hey lady, sorry if we scared you. I just need a ride as far as I can get it."

"You're not gonna k*ll-" she sobbed cutting herself off, relieved that she didn’t have to take a human life- a regular one that is. She k*lled them all the time- slicing their necks off mostly but they weren’t normal humans. They were sort of d*ad. Like und*ad or whatever.

Both men eyed each other, the redhead figured it was a hormonal thing that pregnant women go through.  "No Ma'am. Randall and I would never do such a thing."

The woman ceased her crying and eyed the man who had just spoken. She swung her gun back at them both as she pulled the key out of the ignition. She ignored the familiarity in the voice that spoke, but she zoomed in on the very recognizable one- the brown-haired one- Randall. This is a hold-up. She was right. Her instincts were never wrong. Randall? He was a high school dropout who worked in the mechanic shop. And he was dangerous. Probably worse than the other, in this situation. She jumped out of the truck and took a footstep to the back, indicating with her gun for them to step out as well.

They complied.

So, who was the other one? His voice felt familiar too. Probably one of his workers…she’d been to his shop before, so the worker was known to her. Not surprising they both survived this far.

Both men slowly got out and she pointed again for them to drop their weapons. They did not but they did lower the Glocks. Everyone had weapons these days and the ones that didn't- well they did not live to tell the tale. More than a few billion people had di*d about six years back when a nuclear war happened.

"Randall?" she questioned the brown-haired one but eyed the redhead as if waiting for him to confirm who he was too but he just stared blankly back. Yes, she is intimidated for both men were tall and huge, but she was the one with the gun so- meh.

A chilled wind blew in then despite the afternoon sun. Weather is mostly unpredictable now when you have no weatherman to update you. A hurricane might be in for all they knew.

Randall looked at her with uncertainty and then he eyed the other man. She hadn't seen him in years. Not since she left here- and his hometown. Kia had informed her of the location earlier when Elizabeth trekked down the mountainous lands but is silent now because Elizabeth had put her into sleep mode.

"You know me?" Randall stuttered for the way she said his name, indicating she did.

"Yea *sshole. You took my money," she returned, and a growling sound had them all turning to look behind the vehicle. A figure was coming toward them, but it was slow. Seeing nothing to fear from it as yet as they recognized the slow dragging was that of a zombie and still, some distance between them and the creature, they continued with their discussion as if it was just an everyday occurrence. Which it was indeed. The nuclear explosion had left them accepting this, years later as the new normal.

"Take your- ay, I've never stolen anything in my life," Randall is quick to defend himself.

The other man was looking back and forth between them. He took out a bandana from his dust-covered jeans pocket and slapped it over his thigh before he wiped his face. The sweat just spread the dust around making a wet-streaked mess, "Dam Rand-"

"Ay, who the f*ck are you?" Randall cut the man off staring at him, taking Liz by complete surprise because she figured they were already acquainted. What a wild coincidence this is.