| By: Ty Schwamberger and Penny Mason |
The Wolf
Josephine stood motionless. She had to make a decision before others from the group she was
traveling with noticed she and the two other men had left. “Fucking worthless idiots”, Jo mumbled,
trying to formulate a plan. Her options: Stay and take what the others might dish out, or run.
Jo chose the latter. She knew that whatever sense Mike and Simon might try talking into some of
the scavengers, it wouldn’t convince them all to leave her be. Shaking, she knelt beside the men to
gather what she could from them, and once satisfied that they would serve no purpose, she found
the door which had led her to this scene of devastation. Back in the shopping area, Jo looked to
see if anyone had followed her into the store, there was no one. Just rows upon rows of empty
shelves and bodies littering the floor.
As Josephine neared the glass entrance of the grocery store, she saw several members of her
group approaching. Jo’s heart stopped. She felt the blood drain from her face and adrenaline
pulse through her body. The son and brother-in-law of one of the men she’d just murdered were
amongst the group coming into the store. Josephine ducked behind the nearest produce bin and
secured her pack to her body. Peering over the bin, Jo could see that the men were entering the
store cautiously.
“Bob?” the brother-in-law called out.
“Dad?” the son echoed.
“Shit”, was all Jo could muster.
They must have seen the two men enter the store earlier. Jo’s only hope was that they hadn’t
seen—
“Jo? Dad?” The son yelled out once again.
Josephine’s hope of not being seen entering the store was shattered. Now all she could do was
crouch and wait for the men to make their next move. Josephine watched the men as they walked
towards the butcher’s counter. As long as they searched there, and didn’t go towards the break
room by the bathrooms, Jo knew she had some time. Jo used the shadows and the store to her
advantage. She slowly made her way towards the entrance when the sound of the son’s screams
broke the silence within the store.
“DAD! UNCLE JIM! DAD’S BEEN SHOT!!!! Find someone, get someone in here—oh shit—
UNCLE JIM!!! Get someone in here!”
Jim rushed to the break room and saw the two men lying lifeless on the floor with the half naked
girl.
“Where the fuck’s Jo? That bitch!”
Hearing the men’s lament, Jo shoved the carts from the grocery store’s cart entrance and ran.
Jo ran and didn’t care who saw her run. No one except for the two men in the store had any guess
at what had happened yet, so they watched her in confusion, some of them yelling out and asking
if she was alright, some of them making smart ass remarks, but she ignored them all and ran until
she was in the relative clear.
She found herself on the end of the small town, a mile from the store. Jo ducked into a house to
compose herself. This was it, she was on her own. She didn’t have time to wait for nightfall before
she left – she knew if the group found her, they’d string her up regardless of her living status. She
had maybe minutes before everyone figured out what happened and would come looking for her.
Jo quickly ran through the house searching. She looked for anything that could be useful or
possible hiding places, she found neither. Josephine ran from the house towards the highway and
the trees that lined it.
Josephine walked along the road for hours. The sun went down, the moon came up, the sun came
up, and still she walked. When the sun reached its apex, she collapsed on the side of the highway.
Though she hadn’t seen any for the better half of her walk, cars now littered the highway beside
her. In desperate need for water, Jo began searching the empty cars but to no avail. Jo resorted
to puncturing the radiators for water. Able to gather enough to sustain herself for the day, she
continued her walk.
Jo tried to come up with a plan, but without knowing what lay ahead and knowing what would
happen if she turned around, there was nothing to plan for. Either way, all she could see was death.
As Jo walked, suddenly the familiar sound of laughing broke into her thoughts. Was she hearing
things? Was this real? It was coming from the farmhouse a hundred feet from her. Jo pulled out
her shotgun and ran as quietly as she could towards the sound. She approached the house
noiselessly and sat stunned at the window. Inside there was a young girl dressed in clothes from
the 1800s, giggling while men and women sat around laughing raucously. Josephine watched from
her spot along the window, until she was satisfied that they had all fallen asleep. Josephine put her
shotgun away and pulled out her knife. She needed to see what they had, but didn’t want to wake
everyone with a shot in case anyone attacked. She entered the house through the same window
she had been watching from.
“We knew you were out there,” The voice came from the darkness behind her, “we really didn’t
mind either. Everyone can use a good laugh these days.”
“Are you going to shoot me?” Jo choked out.
“Shoot you? Shit no, lady. It’s pretty rare to see anyone knew these days.”
“Well, what are your plans then?”
“For us? Survive.”
“I meant what are you going to do wi—“
“Hey now, you broke into our place. Don’t be getting any ideas about who the fringe of society is
right now. We’re just passing through, minding our own business. I don’t reckon we’ll do anything to
you as long as that knife gets put away and the shotgun stays where you have it.”
Josephine turned to face the woman who was speaking to her, “Thank you…?” Jo said and offered
out her hand.
The woman took it “Call me Olive. We can offer you a hot bath and a place to sleep for the night. I
figure we’ll be here one or two more nights and make our way ourselves. You aren’t with anyone?”
“Josephine, or Jo, and no.”
Within hours the woman had introduced Jo to the rest of the group. Most of them had come
together at random, all from different places; the young girl had been abandoned when her parents
were killed in an attack. It wasn’t the sick that attacked though, it was a group of scavengers like
the group Jo had been traveling with. Jo got her hot bath, and curled into the bed the group
offered her. She slept until the next morning. Josephine looked out the back window, the group
had a fire going to cook breakfast.
Jo walked out back and saw that Olive had water boiling to make coffee.
“Oh thank God for the French press!” Josephine said to no one in particular.
Olive smiled, “And your friendly neighborhood coffee shop dear!”
Geoff, who Jo recognized from the night before said, “Jo, where do you plan to go from here?”
“Well, right now I don’t really have any plans. I’m not even really sure if I’m coming or going. I
thought when I got to a place I liked, and it was clear of the sick, then I’d try to set up.”
“And you’re planning to do it all alone?” Geoff pressed.
“I was with a group, but it didn’t really work out.”
Olive joined the conversation “What happened, Jo?”
Josephine recounted for them what had happened at the grocery a few towns back.
Geoff and Olive were stunned at Josephine’s reaction to the situation, but not surprised by what
the men had done.
“I would’ve done the same God damned thing.” Geoff told Olive and Jo. “Without a moment’s
hesitation”.
After breakfast, Jo joined the group as they looked at their map to see where they would go next.
Olive looked up past Jo and the smile on her face dropped off. Jo turned and saw what made
Olive’s mood change. There was a large group coming up the road. Josephine recognized the hat
on the lead man and turned to the rest of the group. She could see that this group had separated
from Mike and Simon’s group; this was the rowdier group Jo had tried to avoid. She knew Mike
and Simon must have had enough of their shit.
“I’m so, so, sorry, but we need to move.”
“Jo, I’m sure if you explain to them what happened—“ Olive began.
“No, you don’t understand. They’re scavengers. Living, sick, or dead, if they want what you’ve got,
they’re going to take it. We need to go.”
“Jo, what if you hide? They don’t need to know you’re here,” Geoff suggested.
“You don’t get it, it doesn’t matter if I’m here, they will kill you.”
Geoff looked into Jo’s eyes and yelled to Olive. “Get everyone out of the house. Tell them to grab
anything useful, but we’ve got to go.”
Josephine ran into the house and began helping the others gather what they could, Jo led the group
into the woods behind the house.
“We need to get as deep into the woods as we can; GO!” Jo was beginning to panic.
These people don’t deserve what’s coming. Josephine felt a responsibility for the group.
Geoff and Olive looked behind them as the group made their way through the woods: Josephine
was back by the edge of the woods. Geoff saw Jo reach for the shotgun in her pack and check
the barrel. Olive saw her reach for the same knife Jo had on her the night before. They both knew.
Josephine waited until the scavengers approached the house. They made their way inside and she
could hear things crashing down. There were five men around the house, looking around, but not
doing anything. Jo made her way towards the one man who had wandered towards the back of the
house and she sunk the blade of her knife into his neck. She let him fall in his place, then she
grabbed the back door and jammed a stick into the doorknob – no one was getting out the back.
Jo saw two of the other men enter the house, leaving two outside with her. One of the men went
into the barn. She saw him emerge with a canister of gasoline. He began to douse the side of the
house. He made his way to the back of the house, and she saw it was “Uncle Jim”. His eyes met
hers, and before he had the chance to alert the others, she fired one shot point-blank into his
chest. Jo thought the barrel pressed against his flesh would be enough to muffle the sound, but
she thought wrong.
The other man ran out back to see what was going on. He saw Josephine with the gun, and ran
inside to yell for the others, but it was too late. Jo made her way to the front of the house, finished
pouring the gasoline, and lit it with a shot from her gun. The dry old house began to go up in a
cloud of orange and black. As the first floor of the house erupted into flames, two of the men came
down wanting to get out of the house, Josephine pointed her shotgun at them, and they looked for
another exit.
“If you get out,” Jo yelled into the inferno, “don’t bother looking for me, ‘cause you won’t find me.”
Jo was shocked at the velocity at which the flames overtook the house, but all the same, she knew
these assholes wouldn’t get anyone else.
Josephine made her way back towards the forest, where Geoff and Olive looked at her, stunned.
Jo silently made her way past them towards the front of the pack, where she could lead her new
family to safety.
Josephine stood motionless. She had to make a decision before others from the group she was
traveling with noticed she and the two other men had left. “Fucking worthless idiots”, Jo mumbled,
trying to formulate a plan. Her options: Stay and take what the others might dish out, or run.
Jo chose the latter. She knew that whatever sense Mike and Simon might try talking into some of
the scavengers, it wouldn’t convince them all to leave her be. Shaking, she knelt beside the men to
gather what she could from them, and once satisfied that they would serve no purpose, she found
the door which had led her to this scene of devastation. Back in the shopping area, Jo looked to
see if anyone had followed her into the store, there was no one. Just rows upon rows of empty
shelves and bodies littering the floor.
As Josephine neared the glass entrance of the grocery store, she saw several members of her
group approaching. Jo’s heart stopped. She felt the blood drain from her face and adrenaline
pulse through her body. The son and brother-in-law of one of the men she’d just murdered were
amongst the group coming into the store. Josephine ducked behind the nearest produce bin and
secured her pack to her body. Peering over the bin, Jo could see that the men were entering the
store cautiously.
“Bob?” the brother-in-law called out.
“Dad?” the son echoed.
“Shit”, was all Jo could muster.
They must have seen the two men enter the store earlier. Jo’s only hope was that they hadn’t
seen—
“Jo? Dad?” The son yelled out once again.
Josephine’s hope of not being seen entering the store was shattered. Now all she could do was
crouch and wait for the men to make their next move. Josephine watched the men as they walked
towards the butcher’s counter. As long as they searched there, and didn’t go towards the break
room by the bathrooms, Jo knew she had some time. Jo used the shadows and the store to her
advantage. She slowly made her way towards the entrance when the sound of the son’s screams
broke the silence within the store.
“DAD! UNCLE JIM! DAD’S BEEN SHOT!!!! Find someone, get someone in here—oh shit—
UNCLE JIM!!! Get someone in here!”
Jim rushed to the break room and saw the two men lying lifeless on the floor with the half naked
girl.
“Where the fuck’s Jo? That bitch!”
Hearing the men’s lament, Jo shoved the carts from the grocery store’s cart entrance and ran.
Jo ran and didn’t care who saw her run. No one except for the two men in the store had any guess
at what had happened yet, so they watched her in confusion, some of them yelling out and asking
if she was alright, some of them making smart ass remarks, but she ignored them all and ran until
she was in the relative clear.
She found herself on the end of the small town, a mile from the store. Jo ducked into a house to
compose herself. This was it, she was on her own. She didn’t have time to wait for nightfall before
she left – she knew if the group found her, they’d string her up regardless of her living status. She
had maybe minutes before everyone figured out what happened and would come looking for her.
Jo quickly ran through the house searching. She looked for anything that could be useful or
possible hiding places, she found neither. Josephine ran from the house towards the highway and
the trees that lined it.
Josephine walked along the road for hours. The sun went down, the moon came up, the sun came
up, and still she walked. When the sun reached its apex, she collapsed on the side of the highway.
Though she hadn’t seen any for the better half of her walk, cars now littered the highway beside
her. In desperate need for water, Jo began searching the empty cars but to no avail. Jo resorted
to puncturing the radiators for water. Able to gather enough to sustain herself for the day, she
continued her walk.
Jo tried to come up with a plan, but without knowing what lay ahead and knowing what would
happen if she turned around, there was nothing to plan for. Either way, all she could see was death.
As Jo walked, suddenly the familiar sound of laughing broke into her thoughts. Was she hearing
things? Was this real? It was coming from the farmhouse a hundred feet from her. Jo pulled out
her shotgun and ran as quietly as she could towards the sound. She approached the house
noiselessly and sat stunned at the window. Inside there was a young girl dressed in clothes from
the 1800s, giggling while men and women sat around laughing raucously. Josephine watched from
her spot along the window, until she was satisfied that they had all fallen asleep. Josephine put her
shotgun away and pulled out her knife. She needed to see what they had, but didn’t want to wake
everyone with a shot in case anyone attacked. She entered the house through the same window
she had been watching from.
“We knew you were out there,” The voice came from the darkness behind her, “we really didn’t
mind either. Everyone can use a good laugh these days.”
“Are you going to shoot me?” Jo choked out.
“Shoot you? Shit no, lady. It’s pretty rare to see anyone knew these days.”
“Well, what are your plans then?”
“For us? Survive.”
“I meant what are you going to do wi—“
“Hey now, you broke into our place. Don’t be getting any ideas about who the fringe of society is
right now. We’re just passing through, minding our own business. I don’t reckon we’ll do anything to
you as long as that knife gets put away and the shotgun stays where you have it.”
Josephine turned to face the woman who was speaking to her, “Thank you…?” Jo said and offered
out her hand.
The woman took it “Call me Olive. We can offer you a hot bath and a place to sleep for the night. I
figure we’ll be here one or two more nights and make our way ourselves. You aren’t with anyone?”
“Josephine, or Jo, and no.”
Within hours the woman had introduced Jo to the rest of the group. Most of them had come
together at random, all from different places; the young girl had been abandoned when her parents
were killed in an attack. It wasn’t the sick that attacked though, it was a group of scavengers like
the group Jo had been traveling with. Jo got her hot bath, and curled into the bed the group
offered her. She slept until the next morning. Josephine looked out the back window, the group
had a fire going to cook breakfast.
Jo walked out back and saw that Olive had water boiling to make coffee.
“Oh thank God for the French press!” Josephine said to no one in particular.
Olive smiled, “And your friendly neighborhood coffee shop dear!”
Geoff, who Jo recognized from the night before said, “Jo, where do you plan to go from here?”
“Well, right now I don’t really have any plans. I’m not even really sure if I’m coming or going. I
thought when I got to a place I liked, and it was clear of the sick, then I’d try to set up.”
“And you’re planning to do it all alone?” Geoff pressed.
“I was with a group, but it didn’t really work out.”
Olive joined the conversation “What happened, Jo?”
Josephine recounted for them what had happened at the grocery a few towns back.
Geoff and Olive were stunned at Josephine’s reaction to the situation, but not surprised by what
the men had done.
“I would’ve done the same God damned thing.” Geoff told Olive and Jo. “Without a moment’s
hesitation”.
After breakfast, Jo joined the group as they looked at their map to see where they would go next.
Olive looked up past Jo and the smile on her face dropped off. Jo turned and saw what made
Olive’s mood change. There was a large group coming up the road. Josephine recognized the hat
on the lead man and turned to the rest of the group. She could see that this group had separated
from Mike and Simon’s group; this was the rowdier group Jo had tried to avoid. She knew Mike
and Simon must have had enough of their shit.
“I’m so, so, sorry, but we need to move.”
“Jo, I’m sure if you explain to them what happened—“ Olive began.
“No, you don’t understand. They’re scavengers. Living, sick, or dead, if they want what you’ve got,
they’re going to take it. We need to go.”
“Jo, what if you hide? They don’t need to know you’re here,” Geoff suggested.
“You don’t get it, it doesn’t matter if I’m here, they will kill you.”
Geoff looked into Jo’s eyes and yelled to Olive. “Get everyone out of the house. Tell them to grab
anything useful, but we’ve got to go.”
Josephine ran into the house and began helping the others gather what they could, Jo led the group
into the woods behind the house.
“We need to get as deep into the woods as we can; GO!” Jo was beginning to panic.
These people don’t deserve what’s coming. Josephine felt a responsibility for the group.
Geoff and Olive looked behind them as the group made their way through the woods: Josephine
was back by the edge of the woods. Geoff saw Jo reach for the shotgun in her pack and check
the barrel. Olive saw her reach for the same knife Jo had on her the night before. They both knew.
Josephine waited until the scavengers approached the house. They made their way inside and she
could hear things crashing down. There were five men around the house, looking around, but not
doing anything. Jo made her way towards the one man who had wandered towards the back of the
house and she sunk the blade of her knife into his neck. She let him fall in his place, then she
grabbed the back door and jammed a stick into the doorknob – no one was getting out the back.
Jo saw two of the other men enter the house, leaving two outside with her. One of the men went
into the barn. She saw him emerge with a canister of gasoline. He began to douse the side of the
house. He made his way to the back of the house, and she saw it was “Uncle Jim”. His eyes met
hers, and before he had the chance to alert the others, she fired one shot point-blank into his
chest. Jo thought the barrel pressed against his flesh would be enough to muffle the sound, but
she thought wrong.
The other man ran out back to see what was going on. He saw Josephine with the gun, and ran
inside to yell for the others, but it was too late. Jo made her way to the front of the house, finished
pouring the gasoline, and lit it with a shot from her gun. The dry old house began to go up in a
cloud of orange and black. As the first floor of the house erupted into flames, two of the men came
down wanting to get out of the house, Josephine pointed her shotgun at them, and they looked for
another exit.
“If you get out,” Jo yelled into the inferno, “don’t bother looking for me, ‘cause you won’t find me.”
Jo was shocked at the velocity at which the flames overtook the house, but all the same, she knew
these assholes wouldn’t get anyone else.
Josephine made her way back towards the forest, where Geoff and Olive looked at her, stunned.
Jo silently made her way past them towards the front of the pack, where she could lead her new
family to safety.
| The Panther, the Lion, and the Wolf |
| August 2011 |
| Serial Fiction |
| Copyright 2011 by Ty Schwamberger and Penny Mason |
| Click this button to go to the Orion's Child Serials Page! |
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About the Authors:
Ty Schwamberger is growing force within the horror genre. He is the author of a novel, multiple
novellas, collections and editor on several anthologies. In addition, he’s had many short stories
published online (including his first ever on Orion’s Child) and in print magazines. He is also the
Acquisitions Editor of Ambrotos Press, a highly selective horror imprint of Dark Quest Books.
You can learn more at: http://tyschwamberger.com
Penny Mason hails from Iowa where she spends her time with her supportive husband
backpacking through dense forests and fending off blood-sucking demonic-parasites (you may
know them as ticks). She enjoys the outdoors, brewing beer, tasting wine, and driving her husband
batty with hypothetical zombie situations. Currently she is scouting livestock trucks as potential get-
away vehicles. Her BOB consists mostly of dried beans, legumes, SPAM, Backpacker’s Pantry
meals, and an array of Trappist-style beers...because everyone knows “Trappist style beers repel
zombies”.
Ty Schwamberger is growing force within the horror genre. He is the author of a novel, multiple
novellas, collections and editor on several anthologies. In addition, he’s had many short stories
published online (including his first ever on Orion’s Child) and in print magazines. He is also the
Acquisitions Editor of Ambrotos Press, a highly selective horror imprint of Dark Quest Books.
You can learn more at: http://tyschwamberger.com
Penny Mason hails from Iowa where she spends her time with her supportive husband
backpacking through dense forests and fending off blood-sucking demonic-parasites (you may
know them as ticks). She enjoys the outdoors, brewing beer, tasting wine, and driving her husband
batty with hypothetical zombie situations. Currently she is scouting livestock trucks as potential get-
away vehicles. Her BOB consists mostly of dried beans, legumes, SPAM, Backpacker’s Pantry
meals, and an array of Trappist-style beers...because everyone knows “Trappist style beers repel
zombies”.