Chapter 6

I'm going to run for Mayor." Jay said.

"You're gonna play their stupid game?" Grass asked. By "their", Grass meant Ross and his gang.

"Yes, and then I'm going to break it." Jay plotted.

"Are you talking about staging a coup?" Bria asked.

"Yes, dear. I plan on staging a coup. Right now we have the chance to gain full control of this town. We will have access to resources which, mind you, will be running out in the near future. We're the only people who know about the Supramivir and its effects." Jay said.

"Who would we rule if everyone is dead?" Grass asked.

"We'd only keep those we like alive. Everyone else can go to rot." Jay said.

"You need other people besides those you like, Jay. I don't want you to purposefully let people die. I'm okay with the coup, just no killing people. Please." Bria pleaded.

"I can't promise anything, Bria." Jay remarked.

"I fucking know you can!" Bria shouted and stormed off.

Grass and Jay sat in silence for about a minute. Jay seemed to be holding back more than just rage, it was an urge to hurt, to induce pain. Grass examined his face, his eyebrows, his lips, his eyes, his jaw muscles. He knew Jay was a force to be reckoned with, but now he never wanted to face him.

"The election is in 2 days. What we need to do is… campaign." Jay plotted with a hint of mischief.

"What do you mean by that?" Grass asked.

"I mean, we'll threaten people to vote for us." Jay said.

"With metal bats and shit like that? At some point everyone is just going to gang up on us." Grass said.

"Not necessarily with bats. We tell them about the radiation poisoning, the Supramivir and that we're the only people with access to it. Surely we will win after that. If they wish to live, they elect me. If they wish to die, they vote for whoever else is running. It's quite simple." Jay said.

"Whatever you say, Jay." Grass said.

"Are you having doubts?" Jay said, getting in Grass's face.

"No." Grass said, bluffing.

"Good." Jay said, stepping away from Grass.

Hank Cortez was aiming the bolt action rifle from the second story window of his home. Within his sights was a sickly looking mountain lion. It was looking right back at Hank from 50 feet away, across the dirt road.

The rifle kicked back, punching his shoulder as he fired. Screams from downstairs. The big cat fell over as it died. That was the third one in the last 24 hours. Hank figured the ill mountain lions had decided that Hank and the tourists were food.

Hank slung the rifle over his shoulder and walked downstairs. There, huddled before the two front windows were 2 kids, older than him, most likely 16 or 17. One was a girl, she didn't speak much English. He had extracted her name from her brother; Nathalie. She was a skinny redhead who seemed to have never stepped out of her country, which Hank presumed was France. The brother was a brawny, strong looking kid, and a redhead as well. He spoke the most English out of the two. His name was Mathias.

Hank had saved the two from a turned over Jeep, a mile or two up Camp Deer road. Camp Deer road was generally a Jeeping trail, but the first seven to ten miles was just normal dirt road. The road led into the real mountains. The locals in Copperton and even Crestway thought they lived in the mountains. Hank always thought that was funny, his family had always lived up Camp Deer road. It was secluded most of the year, except summer, which saw dozens of Jeeps every hour climbing the trail into the San Juans.

Hank had seen fire a couple miles away, and assumed it was a wildfire. He carried 2 large Home Depot buckets with him when he saw the Jeep. The red Jeep had been fortunately safe during the over turning. It could've overturned a mile up the road where the trail started, luckily it overturned at the beginning of the hill. He quickly pulled the passengers out, Nathalie and Mathias.

Hank had walked them back to his house while observing their wounds. Nathalie had a couple bruises and scratches and looked overall just fine. Mathias had a broken arm. His right arm had broken at the forearm and seemed extremely painful. Hank told Mathias that he could help his arm.

Now, there were worse problems than broken arms or everyone disappearing. There were pseudo-zombie cougars attempting to raid the house. He would go up into the short tower of the house. It had windows facing in each cardinal direction which made watching for cougars very easy. All he had to do was aim and fire before they made it across the dirt road. In his mind it was just a video game, which was strange to him because he was killing living things.

"Are you guys alright?" Hank asked.

"Yes, yes." Mathias said. Nathalie just nodded her head.

It felt weird protecting practically seniors. He had just gotten out of his freshman year and was always intimidated by the upperclassmen at his school. Now he held the position of relative power. He was now the protector and the caregiver.

Nathalie looked genuinely terrified. Hank noticed a tear streaming down her face as she hugged Mathias. Mathias looked frustrated that he was useless without his right arm. All he could do was help alert Hank of mountain lions and help prepare food.

"It's getting late. We should make some food and try to get some rest." Hank to the two. Mathias turned to Nathalie and relayed what Hank said but in French.

Hank was lucky. The day before the disappearances took place, his parents had gone shopping and dropped off enough food to last the month normally. If Hank was to ration the food, it would last three times as long. Before that, he would have to go into town, looking for food where surely there would be resource wars springing up.

Hank sat down at the kitchen table, exhausted mentally and physically, partly from having to lug the rifle around the property and house all day, and from always trying to be alert in case another cougar decided to drop by.

He went to change into fresh clothes when he noticed a raw put in the side of his torso about an inch wide and long. Had one of the cougars touched him, Hank thought. Surely no, he had shot each one before they crossed the property line. None of them had ever come near the house let alone Hank. The cougars had looked very sick and had similar pits on their bodies to Hank's.

Hank had little to no knowledge on disease and whatever this pit could be a symptom of. He would have to get help from someone. His trip into town was to take place very soon. For now, all Hank could do was bandage it and place some Neosporin in the wound.

Mathias had begun to boil some water in preparation for pasta and Nathalie began to produce a basil sauce of sorts. Hank's stomach growled and screamed. He realized he hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning, which consisted of a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch.

It was around 8 in the morning, on the 4th day of what kids were beginning to call the Rocky Mountain Youth Sector, and there was a massive crowd in main street. In the middle of the crowd sat Jay atop a crudely produced small stage. Grass and 3 other of Jay's cronies were guarding Jay with bats and other metal tools.

"Election day is today everyone. As some of you may know, I am running for Mayor. I am aware many of you have intentions to vote for Cristina Hyde who has put on a good show representing herself as the proper candidate. I commend her for that. I also am aware that many of us have been experiencing a mysterious illness, one that is eating at our flesh and causing pain in our minds. I have overcome this illness." Jay said, playing the crowd, leading them towards a conclusion.

Ross, Trenton, Jack and Cristina sat atop the roof of the restaurant, watching and listening to Jay's show. Cristina was tense and obviously frustrated with Jay.

"Well, what the fuck is the disease?" a boy asked from the crowd.

"It's a good thing you asked, sir, because I have the cure. The illness is radiation poisoning." Jay revealed. Gasps and sounds of shock echoed throughout the crowd.

"Like that Chernobyl thing?" a girl asked.

"Were we nuked?" another girl asked.

"From what we know, no. We were not nuked, and no it was not a similar event to Chernobyl. There are no operating nuclear power plants in the state and the closest ones are in Kansas and Arizona. We believe it is a natural form of radiation, perhaps there has been a solar storm or a sudden release of Radon gas from the earth below us. But, we truly do not have the answer. What we do have is the cure." Jay said.

A crony handed Jay a bottle of Supramivir.

"This is Supramivir. It was developed by DARPA and the United States Department of Defense as a super soldier serum, similar to Captain America. Evidently it failed and was sold to a pharmaceutical company. It is most commonly used as a flu symptom treater, but it has been proven to heal and stop radiation poisoning. We have more, but we are not going to give a single capsule out until you all vote for me for Mayor." Jay said.

A silence fell upon the crowd.

"The election is in 4 hours! Go on, make up your mind." Jay said.

The crowd walked off in a brooding silence.

"I need to go campaigning." Cristina told Ross.

"I'll go with you." Ross said.

"Why? I can handle myself."

"I'm aware, but if Jay or Grass shows up with his cronies I know you can't handle yourself, nor could I."

Cristina started to argue with Ross, but realized he was right.

"They can kill people, they will kill people. You need all the help you can get. I'm here, standing with you." Ross said,

"Thank you. I'm going to need all the help I can get." Cristina said.