The Warning Nobody Heard

The stench in my apartment building was so bad I threw up three times while I was cleaning out everything I might possibly need for the foreseeable future. I didn't check any of the other apartments. I didn't want to. I didn't want to see what I was sure was causing the stench.

The Walmart I went to next wasn't open, but one of the back doors was unlocked. When I got to the grocery section, the produce and meat had rotted in the cases and that smelled pretty bad too, but not like my apartment building. It took me an hour to pack my truck with every canned good I could find. Tucked tightly into the area behind the seat was as much toilet paper as I could squeeze in. The only spot in my car that wasn't completely full was the passenger seat, and I had a reason for not filling that space too.

My next stop was a sporting goods store. It was closed too, so I broke the window in the front to get inside. If there were grizzly bears in the mountains and the stories I'd read were true, I needed some protection. I didn't like thinking about the possibility, but the memories of the old movies about a post-apocalyptic world were also there in my mind. I picked up another shotgun the same gauge as the 12-gauge pump I kept at the house, two .22 rifles, two 30/06 rifles with scopes, and two AR-15's. Those were joined by four pistols -- two nine millimeter semi-autos and two revolvers, one a .357 Magnum and one a .44 Magnum along with holsters for all four.

I'd stowed all the weapons in my front seat and was going back for all the ammunition I could find when another reality set it. It was likely any other survivors would eventually do what I was doing, so after a while, there would be no more ammunition for any firearms left. I would need to hunt game for fresh meat, but that could quickly use up what ammunition I had. What would I do when that time came?

I saw the answer when I passed the archery section. A bow needs only arrows, and I could make arrows if I ran out. I could probably make a bow if I had to, but it wouldn't match the quality of bows I saw hanging there. When I left the store, I had all the ammunition for my firearms I could find along with three recurve hunting bows, all the arrows and arrowheads in the store, and a couple of quivers. I'd bypassed the compound bows. They were lethal looking, but they had too many mechanical parts that would eventually break.

I also loaded my car with as many knives, axes, hatchets, sharpening stones, fishing equipment, and all rope and twine I could stuff into the few empty spaces. Under my feet were four kerosene lanterns and all the fuel the sporting goods store had. Then I got in my truck and drove back to the mountains. I felt a little like Robinson Crusoe scavenging the shipwreck, and I wasn't sure I liked the feeling.

The next winter went as well as could be expected. I spent most of my time in the fall felling trees and splitting firewood, so I stayed mostly warm through the winter. When it got too cold to fish, I spent some time teaching myself how to shoot my bows, and by the time spring arrived, I was adding rabbits and the occasional turkey to my dinners. Most of the rabbits I caught with snares like Grandpa had shown me. The turkeys and one deer I took with my bow to save my ammunition.

I never ventured far from home without the .44 Magnum on my hip. I kept seeing bears, both black bears and the occasional grizzly, and wanted something to at least make a bear think twice about making me his lunch.

Over the next few weeks, I found three deer kills that couldn't be the work of bears because a bear would have covered the kills to be eaten later. I knew there were at least a few cougars in the mountains, but a cougar wouldn't cover it's kill and it wouldn't leave paw prints as large as I saw around the kills. I hadn't seen any big cats at all, but they were there and whatever it was had to be eating the deer.

The proof came one day the next spring when I was out fishing on the stream. My normal way of fishing was to bait a hook with a worm I dug up behind my house, cast it upstream with a bobber, and then sit back and wait while it floated on the current. That's what I was doing when I saw movement on the other shore.

At first I couldn't believe I was seeing what I was seeing, but there it was, a full-grown female lion walking down to the water to get a drink. A few seconds later, two cubs joined her. They got their drink and then faded into the trees again.

The only place she and the grizzly bear could have come from was the Knoxville Zoo, but the only way that could happen was if they escaped somehow, and that raised another concern with me. This one was raising two cubs so apparently the environment was suitable for that. If there was a male lion in the vicinity, they'd be breeding again and the population of lions would increase.

I was thinking about that again as we walked, and when I got the woman back to my house, she confirmed my suspicions about where the exotic animals came from. While I was roasting two rabbits in my fireplace, I asked her again about Chicago and how she got to the Smokey Mountains.

"OK, while dinner's cooking, tell me how you got from Chicago to here without catching the virus and dying."

She smiled again, and I was starting to like seeing that smile.

"I worked at the "American Indian Center" in Chicago as a curator of native exhibits. The exhibits were mostly the work of current Native American artists. I'm half Peoria and half Ojibwe and I'm also an artist, so they hired me to help decide what exhibits we'd display.

"When the virus started infecting people, one of the older curators told me I should do what the WHO said. He'd lived through COVID-19, but a lot of Native Americans in Chicago didn't. He was a smart man and I believed him, so I bought a month's supply of groceries, locked myself in my apartment, and sealed all the doors and windows with duct tape. I didn't have to worry about central air conditioning, because the building was older and had only window units for cooling and radiators for heat. After the first week, it didn't matter anyway because there was no electricity.

"I stayed there for that week listening to what was happening on my radio until the batteries died. One of the last things I heard was they were going to release the animals from the zoos in Chicago. I grew up in Oklahoma, so I knew what cougars could do. Cougars have killed people before and I figured if they were going to release those animals along with bears, lions and tigers, people would be in real danger. I decided it was time to get out before things got really out of hand.

"It was going to be hard to carry much, but I remembered what my grandfather used to say. He said, "Our ancestors survived for centuries with almost nothing. If you have a knife, can hunt and make a fire, you can survive about anywhere". He taught me how to do that, so I packed four changes of clothes, a knife, his old flint and steel, and of course, my bow and arrows. The only food I had that wouldn't spoil was a box of raisins and a big jar of peanut butter. I figured I was gonna be hungry for a while, but it was better than staying in Chicago until I died. The last thing I put in my backpack was an old atlas I'd kept because by then my cell phone wouldn't work. I needed a map of some sort to figure out where I was going.

"I started out at daylight the next morning, but I didn't intend to walk out of the city. It was risky enough to walk through some areas when everything was normal and I figured it would be worse now. I wanted to stay away from people as much as possible and the only way I could figure out how to do that was to use Lake Michigan. The Columbia Yacht Club wasn't far from my apartment, so I walked there that morning. It was closed, of course, but there were the little boats tied up at the dock the rich people used to get from the shore to their big boats tied up out in the water. I guess I'm a criminal now because I picked the biggest one and stole it.

"I rowed down the Lake Michigan lakeshore for the next three weeks until I got to Indiana Dunes. I'd row until I got tired or it looked like it was going to storm, and then look for a place to pull in for the night. Usually that was house on the lake shore because when I passed some of the parks, I saw wild animals like zebras and kangaroos and figure there would be others I didn't see.

"Like with the yacht club, there wasn't anybody home at most of the houses, so I helped myself to whatever I could find that I could use and then spent the night there. Usually that was canned food, but I did find a couple of good knives in one. It was easy to just break a window, climb inside, and go through the house. After two weeks, I didn't even knock on the door before breaking a window. From what I could see, there weren't any people anywhere...well except for this one house. I was going to go inside, but as soon as I broke the window, the smell...

"Anyway, when I got to Indiana Dunes, I beached my boat, sorted through my stuff for what I could carry and left the rest. What I wanted to do was stay as far away from people as I could. By then, I realized about everybody was either sick or dead, so a house in any town or city would probably give me food and a relatively safe place to sleep, but there was still a risk of meeting other people. I also wanted to go south, because it would be easier to live where the winters weren't as cold as in the north.

"In general, I followed the major highways on my atlas, but walked around the towns unless it was getting close to night. I didn't have to worry about meeting other people because there were no cars on the roads at all. Once I got into the Indiana farmland, finding food got easier because there were more rabbits and other wild animals, and sometimes I'd find a chicken or a duck at a farm. I just kept walking and surviving and that's how I got here."

It was a fascinating story, especially since she was a woman. Not many women I'd known would have the courage to start on such a trip. I guess the fear of death can spur you to do things you normally would never consider, but still...

"Did I hear you say your name was Morning Star?"

She smiled that smile again.

"Yeah, Morning Star White Cloud. My dad's last name was White Cloud and Mom thought I should have a Native American first name too. Most of you white guy's think it's silly, but I like it. My boyfriend back in Chicago thought it was cute. Are you going to tell me your name, or do I have to guess?"

"I'm William Hayes but I like to be called Will. If you had a boyfriend, why didn't he come along to help you?"

Her face sort went blank then, like she was remembering something she didn't really want to remember.

"I called Matt to tell him he should stay with me. He said he had to go to New York for a meeting but he'd stay with me when he got back. That was the last I heard from him, so I figure he's dead. I guess it's a good thing he didn't come back and stay with me. If he had, I'd be dead too."

It was obvious she was upset by that, so I tried to change the subject.

"So why did you head for the Smokey Mountains?"

She wasn't smiling when she answered.

"I stopped for the night at a farm in Indiana and the people who lived there were inside and dead, so I didn't go in. It was too late to keep going, so I spent the night in their barn. The next morning, I heard voices outside, and when I looked through the barn window, there were three men with guns going into the house. They came right back out for the same reason I didn't go in and they left in a truck then, but they scared me. Here I was, a lone woman with only three knives and a bow, and there were men still alive and roaming around with guns.

"If they'd found me...Well, I decided the safest place for me would be somewhere there weren't a lot of people living. People didn't live in national parks, and the mountains of the Smokies would probably keep anyone else from going there to live.

"You surprised me by being there today. I hadn't seen anybody else for at least two weeks and that told me I'd made the right decision. Why are you here?"

"Well, I think the rabbits are about cooked, so I'll tell you while we eat."

I went through my story though it was a lot shorter then Morning Star's. She listened quietly until I got to the part about taking things from the grocery store and the sporting goods store.

She chuckled then.

"I guess I'm not the only criminal left in the world then. I kept worrying that someone would see me and then the police would chase me down."

I had to chuckle myself then.

"Morning Star, from what I saw when I went to Knoxville, there aren't any police left. I don't think you're in any danger of getting arrested. Eaten by another tiger or a lion or a grizzly, but not arrested."

Finally, she smiled again.

"Well, I feel better about what I did now anyway. I didn't think it was wrong to do those things to survive, but it still bothered me."

I was curious about some other things, and it was nice to have some one to talk with for a change.

"So, did your grandpa teach you how to shoot a bow too?"

Morning Star shook her head.

"No. It had been so long since the Peoria people used bows and arrows he didn't know how to use one. When I moved to Chicago, I didn't know anybody so I looked for something to do where I could meet people. I found an ad for the Chicago Archery club and I thought since my ancestors used bows and arrows, it fit me. I joined and started taking lessons. I competed for almost a year before the virus shut down everything, and I'm pretty good. I won the last women's match."

"So I saw, but your arrow was tipped with a broadhead like mine. I didn't know target shooters used broadheads."

She sort of frowned.

"We don't, but one of the guys in the club was supposed to take me deer hunting that fall, so I bought two dozen arrows with broadheads and this hunting bow. I used a dozen to practice with so if I broke any, I'd still have the second dozen left. I didn't break any so when I left I put them in my quiver with the target arrows I had.'

I had another question I wanted to ask her, but I was a little leery of asking it. I didn't want Morning Star to think I was suggesting anything even though I liked her in spite of the fact we hadn't known each other very long. Probably it was the human contact I missed, but it didn't hurt that she was easy to talk with.

There was another reason I liked her, and it was a rather unusual feeling. After she'd killed the tiger and while we were talking, I'd had a chance to look at her up close. What I saw stirred something I hadn't felt in a long time. I know that's not what men are supposed to think about when they see a woman, or at least that's what the girl who did our payroll told me, but it's basically impossible to ignore something that's biological.

I can't say Morning Star was a beautiful women because she wasn't. In her jeans, a button up shirt and hiking boots, she just looked like your average woman, but she was still very attractive to me. I still don't know if it was the long, black hair that she'd pulled back with a headband or her brown eyes or her face, but the attraction was there. She also seemed to be very confident, and that impressed me a lot.

"Now that you know I'm here, what's your next step?"

Morning Star looked at me for almost a full minute before answering, and I could see she was trying to figure out what I was really saying. When she answered, I was a little surprised she'd understood so quickly.

"What you really want to know is if I'm going to stay or leave. That's it, isn't it?"

I couldn't look her in the eyes so I looked down at the table.

"No...well...yes. I mean, I wouldn't try to keep you here, so if you want to leave I'll give you anything I have that will make your life easier. If you wanted to stay here...well, there are a lot of good things here. I have the stream for fresh water and fish. There are plenty of rabbits, squirrels, turkeys and deer. I still have a lot of canned goods left so you wouldn't starve. You'd uh...you'd also have somebody to help you if anybody else happened to come around. You could probably do a lot worse than staying here, at least for a while."

She started to chuckle and ended up laughing. I asked her what was so funny. She stopped laughing and grinned.

"What you just said is so unusual I had to laugh. I've had six men ask me to move in with them, and none of them said they wanted to feed me and protect me. They just wanted me to live with them because they liked having sex with me. Are you sure that's not what's on your mind?"

I shook my head.

"Morning Star, I'd never ask you for something like that. We've only known each other for a few hours. I'm just saying this would be a good place for you to stay until you figure out what you want to do next."

She twisted her lips while studying my face for a while.

"You really mean what you just said, don't you?"

"Yes, I do."

Her smile came back then.

"Then I'll stay for a while. Where do I sleep?"

I showed Morning Star my second bedroom after I cleared the table and washed our plates.

"It isn't fancy, but it has a door that locks so you'll feel safe. I have clean sheets and a couple blankets you can use, but we'll have to figure out what to do when winter gets here. The blankets are what I used last winter and we'll both need more when it starts getting cold...if you stay that long, that is."

Morning Star sat down on the mattress, then bounced up and down a couple of times.

"It's better than that barn I slept in so it'll work. One thing though. I could use a potty right about now. Where is the bathroom?"

I pointed down out the window.

"It's the outhouse out back. There's paper on a peg beside the seat. Just go easy with it. I don't have much."

I thought she might say she couldn't do that, but Morning Star just grinned.

"I grew up using an outhouse when I went to visit Grandpa. I suppose you have some sort of lantern? I kinda like to see where I'm going, so to speak."

I left Morning Star to herself after giving her one of my kerosene lanterns and showing her the way to my outhouse. She wasn't gone long, and she didn't say anything when she came back inside. She just went to her room and closed the door. I assumed she was making the bed with the sheets and blankets I'd put there while she was gone.

It gets dark in the mountains as soon as the sun dips below the treetops. I usually didn't stay up much after that in order to conserve my kerosene. If I wanted to read, I'd toss a couple pine logs on the fire and read by the flames. That night though, I was beat, so I went to bed.

As I lay there, I was thinking about how things were going to work out. I had no reason to think Morning Star and I would do much different than what I'd been doing for the last several months. We might not even do anything together. She might be more comfortable hunting by herself while I was fishing or something like that. I hoped we'd become closer than that, but Morning Star was definitely her own person. After all she'd done to get to the Smokey Mountains, it was obvious she really didn't need anybody else.

When I thought about it some more, I realized I'd become pretty independent since the virus started to spread. What I knew how to do I did and congratulated myself on knowing. What I didn't know how to do, I figured out by myself. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about having another person around all day every day. Would Morning Star try to change how I did things? I didn't think I'd like that very much.

I was almost asleep when I heard my bedroom door open and it scared the hell out of me. I reached for the .357 Magnum on the little table beside my bed and said "Stop where you are. Who are you and what do you want?'