The Revenant Mutation

Chapter 6: King Moon Base

The convoy drove for almost twenty minutes before reaching an area that resembled a Government Reserved Area. The roads were paved, and the buildings appeared to be government offices. Although most of the names on the buildings had begun to fade, they were still legible.

They soon reached a roadblock where trucks, cars, and other vehicles had been piled up to form walls. In the center of this makeshift barrier was a gate, with men patrolling on top, rifles in hand.

“This was the Government Reserved Area, an exclusive zone, so it wasn’t heavily populated when the apocalypse hit. That made it easier to reclaim part of it and turn it into a base,” Deji said. He sat beside Victor, staring out the window.

Victor looked at Deji in mild surprise at his lack of hostility but decided to remain silent.

“If you were infected, you would have turned by now. And if you were one of those bastard Brigands, you wouldn’t be able to do much damage to the base anyway. Believe me, others have tried,” Deji continued, still not looking at him.

“I don’t even know what a Brigand is.”

Deji stared at him with a gaze of scrutiny for a moment. “I guess nomads like yourself haven’t encountered as many problems.”

“I’ve met my fair share.”

“I’m sure you have,” he said, extending his hand. “I’m Deji, Team Medic. That is Michael over there, he is the team mechanic. We are the team’s support crew.”

Victor shook his hand courteously. “Victor.”

“I know. I heard. You should try to stay away from James. Some of us cope with the end of the world by keeping to ourselves and meeting our quota. People like James hurt others to forget they’re the ones bleeding,” Deji said, patting his left chest.

Victor nodded, understanding what Deji meant.

“What is a Brigand?”

“Bandits, lawless bastards. They take advantage of the fallen world. No laws, no morals, no government, no enforcement. They steal, loot, rape, kill, and destroy. They’re bandits, mercenaries, and terrorists. Occasionally, they try to overrun a base to subdue or loot it. In the past year, our base has welcomed refugees from bases destroyed by brigands. Everyone hates them,” Deji explained.

Victor understood why people would worry he might be one of these lawless scavengers. Even thinking about brigands made his blood boil. Without government or order, people could act without consequence.

King Moon had towering barricades made from rundown cars, containers and trucks, sacks filled with sand and stones were placed on top of the barricades, acting as battlements to protect the guards from enemy fire. 

The guards standing on top of the barricade were equipped with machetes and crude crossbows. He could see flood lights placed at intervals on top of the barricade.

A dense creeping vine draped over the barricades, its leaves were a muted silver-green, with a velvety texture that shimmered softly in natural light. There were many inconspicuous flowers that were pale yellow, almost blending with the leaves. The vines gave a faint, earthy scent that made it impossible for Victor to catch the scent of any of the guards on the barricades or even on the other side of the wall. He could tell that the veins also gave the barricade extra protection from attacks due to their thickness, and it made the walls of King Moon breathtaking.

‘Amazing’

Deji noticed his amazement, “That is the Veilvein, it cloaks our scent from the zombies, it grows slowly, but it has a lot of coverage and gets more effective over time. We haven’t had an issue of a zombie sneaking into our settlement for more than a year now thanks to it.”

This was the first semblance of safety Victor has seen since he woke up.

The convoy stopped in front of the barricade. The grinding sound of a container being pushed could be heard, apparently, one of the containers had wheels welded under it to act as a makeshift sliding gate. Two men, with machetes at their waists and crossbows in hand, walked out of the gate. After confirming with Paul and checking the convoy for zombies or anyone infected, they waved them in. They didn’t even ask who Victor was; it was common to find wandering refugees.

The gate opened fully, and the convoy continued down the street. Victor saw the gate close behind them. The buildings on both sides of the street were minimalistic, typical of government structures. They soon reached a compound on the side of the road, marked ‘Governor’s Office’. Opposite was the Deputy Governor’s Office. Both buildings shared the same minimalistic theme, with old, worn flags in the compounds.

The convoy entered the spacious compound of the Governor’s Office, stopping in the car park. Everyone disembarked immediately.

Victor noticed there were fewer ash clouds in this region. The sun brightened everything, and he felt the heat on his caramel skin. The raiders began offloading the loot from the truck.

A man with graying hair approached from one of the buildings. He wore a brown coat over a white shirt and brown trousers, looking like an experienced elder.

“Paul, how was it?” the man asked with an accent Victor couldn’t place.

“Get Victor settled in,” Paul ordered. The Raiders all stood at attention as he went to meet the man halfway. Only after he left did they become at ease.

“Come,” Deji patted Victor and led him to the rest of the group.

“Who’s that?” Victor asked, looking towards the elder man in brown.

“That is the base chief, Mr. Uche. He was a trader, his shop was actually two neighborhoods from here. After the apocalypse, this area was more peaceful since it was a reserved area. He proved his leadership skills during tough times, and for a year, we’ve managed to build a sustAminable base here when the military failed to protect the masses.”

“From trader to leader. Tough times create tough men.”

“He earned the respect of many other survivors. That’s not easy to do in desperate times.”

After offloading the loot, they headed towards one of the buildings in the compound. Michael joined in, and as they talked, Victor learned a few things about King Moon.

King Moon was the name of the collection of shops Uche owned before the apocalypse. 

He also learned they had just lost a team member before he joined, explaining their initial wariness. Listening to both raiders, Victor learned more about the base and its issues.

“...hot baths are a thing of the past,” Michael complained. “I can’t even remember the last time I saw a light bulb light up.”

“You lived in this city before it fell?” Victor probed.

“Hmm... came around looking for work. I had just finished my National Diploma, and wanted to make some money before returning for my Higher National Diploma. Then the apocalypse happened. That was four years ago. Spent a year running from house to house.”

“We found Michael hiding in an unfinished building on a construction site. That’s also where we got the heavy machinery to build the wall of cars that protect the base,” Deji added.

Victor nodded silently, but his mind was racing.

“Four years? Four years... Did my plane crash four years ago?’

He couldn’t believe it.

He wanted to ask more questions about the apocalypse and why it looked like a war had ravaged the city. So many questions, but he knew they might find his ignorance suspicious. What would he say? That he’d been asleep for four years?

He buried his thoughts and kept a smile on his face, though it didn’t reach his eyes.

The trio reached the building where new members' information was recorded. It was just a few meters from the Base Chief’s office. The attendant, Ademide, was in her twenties. Her hairs were pinned in a bun and she spent the first few minutes tallying some information in a book before attending to them.

Once she was done, she wrote down Victor’s information and that of his family. His heart sank when she wrote ‘Deceased’ in front of their names, it reminded him of the loss that he had experienced. It might have been four years since then, but to him, it was just yesterday.

After Ademide filled up all necessary information and took a picture of him for the records, she assigned him to the kitchen department until other departments requested people, a measure to preserve their numbers and keep everyone busy. Everyone had gone through the same process.

Ademide looked through a notebook on her table. “I’m not sure there are any open bunks, so you might need to make do with mattresses on the ground.”

Michael quickly refused. “There is an empty bunk.”

She looked up, her eyes cloudy as she understood Michael’s implication. She sighed. “Who?”

“Matthew,” Deji replied.

“That fool,” Ademide cursed in her language. Victor understood the language; his bilingual upbringing had finally come in handy.

“I’ll assign you to the bunk when the captain gives his report,” she said.

Victor nodded.

“You can earn points with the base management through hard work. Those points can be used for clothes, extra food, and other amenities. Deji and Michael will guide you.”

“Thank you,” Victor said in the local language, causing her eyebrows to raise. She smiled and handed him a small tag.