The Rat Collector: A Dystopian Thriller (Age of End Book 1) (5 page)

Saul held the blade up in the moonlight, admiring its metal glow. He had never held a hunting knife before. “Where did you get these?”

“They belong to my father. He uses them to hunt. These ones are old.”

They approached the woods and Saul pointed. “That’s where I saw him. Right there.”

“Right here?”

Saul nodded.

“I don’t see anything. No sign that anyone was here.”

“Do you see tracks or anything like that? Something we could follow?”

Vince briefly looked around. It was dark, but his eyes had adjusted. “I don’t see anything. What did you say he looked like?”

“I didn’t get a good look, but he was tall and skinny. He wore a tight black suit.”

“What kind of suit?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen anyone wear clothes like that before. He looked strange.”

“So what do you want to do? We have no leads, no trail to follow.”

Saul threw his arms in the air, both disappointed and frustrated. “Do you think I’m lying, Vince? I know what I saw. There was a man in a suit standing here, watching us.”

“I don’t think you’re lying. I just find it a little hard to believe. Maybe you were imagining things.”

“I was not imagining things.” Saul pointed deeper into the woods. “I saw him go that way. Let’s keep walking. Maybe we’ll find something out there.”

Vince did not argue. He was not in the mood to argue. This was something Saul needed to get out of his system, and then they could go home. As they trudged deeper into the woods, Vince peered up at the tall trees. The branches and leaves were growing thicker as they walked. The moonlight faded with each step they took. And then he noticed a small rectangular box perched high up in the branches. It looked like metal and had a round stubby piece on the front. He pointed up. “What is that?”

Saul followed his finger up the tree and saw the strange box. “I don’t know.”

Vince scratched his head. “It’s not part of the tree. It’s made of metal or something. Someone must have put it up there.”

“How would anyone get up there? That tree’s impossible to climb.”

Saul was right. The tree was ten times taller than the one they were climbing earlier, and the stepping branches were scarce. There was no way anyone could get up there.

“I don’t know but…Wait! Did it just move?”

Saul looked at Vince. “Move? It’s a hundred feet up in the air. How would it move?”

“I saw it move.”

“You’re just tired. You’re seeing things.”

Vince strained his eyes, waiting for it to move again, but it did not. “You’re right. I
am
tired. And do you know why? Because you woke me up in the middle of the night to go searching for an imaginary man in a suit. I let you have your fun, but let’s face it, we’re not going to find anyone out here. Can we just go home?”

“Soon, I promise. Just give me a few more minutes.”

As they continued further into the woods, Saul frantically turned his head, looking for any signs that the man in the suit existed. Vince followed closely behind, observing Saul, rather than their surroundings. After several minutes with more of the same, they both stopped to rest, sitting on a nearby log. They stared into the darkness as an ominous silence washed over, and a thick cloud of fog rolled in. Chills crawled over Vince’s skin, and Saul was visibly trembling.

“I give up,” Saul muttered. “Let’s go home.”

“Finally!” Vince stood up, but quickly realized the fog had grown thick. They would get lost if they wandered off now. Saul was only a few feet away, but he could barely see him at all. He sat back down. “Let’s wait for the fog to pass.”

Saul’s face was a mess. He turned to Vince. “This was a mistake. We never should have come out here.”

Vince looked back with disdain “You’re the one who dragged me out here in the first place. I could be lying comfortably in my bed right now.”

“Don’t blame me for being here. I didn’t force you to come. If you had said no, I would have left you alone.”

“And then you would be stranded out here by yourself, hunting down some mystery man. Who knows what could have happened to you? You should be thanking me.” Saul’s lack of gratitude was getting under Vince’s skin.

“Look, I don’t want to argue right now. Let’s just both shut up and wait for the fog to pass.”

They waited, but the fog did not pass.

ELEVEN

THE FIREPLACE CRACKLED, its warmth filling the air. Rupert, Fred, and Ella all huddled around Vince as he told his story. They had so many questions. Who was this man in the suit? Why was Saul so dangerous? But before he could answer these questions, his story was interrupted by the sound of screaming from outside. Rupert looked at the others curiously and got to his feet.

When he opened the door, a crowd of people ran by, holding torches and shouting. Vince and Ella followed Rupert outside. They stood in the road while people passed by. Ella stopped one of them. “What’s happening? Where is everyone going?”

“Someone’s coming out of the woods. It’s got to be that monster, here to take someone else. We have to stop him. Come on, this way.” The man ran off. Rupert and Ella followed.

“No, wait,” Vince hollered. “He’ll kill you all!”

But no one heard his yells. He pushed the wheels of his chair, but the thick snow and steep incline made it impossible to keep up. His arms cramped as he groaned in frustration. He could not let another town vanish. He could not let Saul win again. He jumped to his feet, but the burning pain was too much. He dropped to the ground and squirmed helplessly on the ground. There was no way he could stop Saul. Not like this.

Behind him, he heard the dampened clop of large hooves in the snow. Rupert’s horse was still tied to the post in front of the cabin. Vince could ride it over to the others. He crawled over to the majestic beast, but there was no way for him to mount the thing from the ground. He could barely even stand. He looked into the creature’s gloomy face. “Sorry buddy, but I have to do this.” He pressed both hands into the horse’s warm stomach and closed his eyes.

The creature turned from calm to agitated, shaking about with discomfort. Its white hide withered to a fiery crimson. Agitation turned to anger as it wildly kicked in all directions. Vince dodged the powerful blows, keeping his hands glued to the delirious animal. The horse jumped and threw its hind legs in the air, groaning loudly. Its amber hide darkened to a deep black. Its energy depleted as it slowed its kicks and finally stopped. It stumbled and fell to its knees. Vince moved his hands up to the creature’s back. It sat in the snow, wheezing and exhausted. It let out a final cry of agony and collapsed into a lifeless corpse. Its black hide faded to a pale gray.

Adrenaline coursed through Vince’s veins. He stood up with ease and dug his feet into the snow. No more pain. No more exhaustion. He felt unstoppable.

Carl was standing behind him, stiff as a board, eyes wide open. His whole body shook as Vince walked over. “Sorry you had to see that. I’m afraid I don’t have time to explain right now.” He walked past Carl and sprinted towards the woods. Hopefully, everyone was not already dead.

Carl stared at the corpse of Rupert’s horse, confused and frightened.

TWELVE

THE CROWD WAS gathered just outside of the woods. Vince slowed to a casual walk when he saw everyone was safe. They were gathered in a tight circle, and a steady chatter of whispers filled the silence. “What’s happening?” he asked. “Where is Saul?”

The lady in front of him turned around, startled. “Saul? Who’s Saul? Is that the person who came out of the woods? I can’t see from back here.”

Vince agreed. He needed to get closer. He circled around, but couldn’t get a good view. He could hear Rupert’s muffled voice, coming from the center of the group. He weaved his way through, cutting between people until he saw Rupert.

Rupert stood with a man, shaking his hand and patting his back. The man’s face held a wide grin. A woman broke through the crowd, passed by Vince, and flung herself into the man’s arms. She kissed him, tears pouring down her face. Rupert’s smile grew larger when he noticed Vince among the crowd. “Vince…you’re walking! And you look terrific. This is truly a miraculous night. Come here, I want you to meet someone. This is Alan.”

Vince stuck his hand out. Alan grabbed it and shook with enthusiasm. “Good to meet you, Vince.”

“Alan,” Rupert said. “You’ve been through a lot. We can talk about what happened to you in the morning, but for now, you should spend the night with your wife.” He turned to the crowd. “Our good friend Alan has returned!” A cheer rang through the people. “We will rejoice tomorrow, but for now, we let him rest. Of course, those who are volunteering, please continue your shift. It is much appreciated.”

The crowd dispersed, and the people returned to their cabins. Alan went home with his overjoyed wife. Rupert, Ella, and Vince walked back together.

“You’re walking!” Ella said. “And you look great!”

“I feel great. Much better than I have in some time.” He looked back to the cabin Alan had retired to. “Who is that man, anyway?”

“Alan was the first to go missing,” Rupert answered, “two nights ago, before Patrick. If Alan returned, maybe Patrick will too. We’re not going to stop looking, that’s for sure. We’ll learn more about what happened tomorrow morning when we talk to him. I’m excited. We finally have something more than just speculation to help us.”

They walked in silence for a moment, and then Rupert asked, “Vince, how are you walking? I wrapped up your feet no more than a day ago. They were torn to shreds. How is that possible?”

Vince knew they would ask, but he had no idea how to respond. No explanation. Would they even believe him if he told the truth? Before Vince could answer, Ella shrieked with terror. Fred followed up with a frightened screech.

“Good lord!” Rupert exclaimed. They stood over the dead corpse of Rupert’s horse. Carl, who had not moved, turned around to face the four of them. Rupert knelt down, meeting the boy’s eyes. “Carl, what happened here?”

Carl lifted his finger and pointed at Vince. They all glared with horrified disbelief.

Rupert looked sternly into Vince’s eyes. “You’ve got some explaining to do, stranger.”

Vince brought them inside and continued his story.

THIRTEEN

THE BOYS SAT on the log, waiting for the fog to pass, but it did not. It remained thick and grew even steadier. Vince grew restless with every passing minute, irritated at Saul for dragging him out of his house in the middle of the night.

They both stared into the white sheet that had enveloped them. “What do you think is out there?” Vince asked.

“I already told you what I saw. A man wearing a suit.”

“No. I mean what do you think is
out there
? You know, beyond the border. Outside of the Pugg.”

Saul had no answer. He had never left Rodin, let alone the Pugg. “I don’t know. You’ve been out of town more than I have. Weren’t you in Pifftyn a while ago?”

“Yeah, it’s a dump. You’re not missing much.”

“It can’t be worse than Rodin, can it?”

Vince kicked a pebble near his feet. “Rodin isn’t so bad. Sure, it’s no Vassor, but you can’t expect it to be.”

“You’ve been to Vassor?” Saul asked, surprised.

“A while back. A few years ago. My father brought me to help sell meat. We barely got any business.”

“What was it like? Was it nice?”

“Yeah. The houses were huge, and the roads were so clean you could eat off of them. Men wore suits that shined with silver. Women were covered from head to toe in jewelry.”

“Amazing! Imagine what it would be like to live in such a place.”

“No point in thinking about it,” Vince said. “There’s no way we can ever afford to live there. I didn’t really like it anyway. The locals looked down on us. Like they were better than us.”

“Well, they have reason to act like that. They are the wealthiest town in the Pugg.”

Saul was right. Vassor was the heart of the Pugg. It held all of the big stores, all of the important people. When Vince went with his father, they spent the whole day admiring the tall stone buildings, and the majestic horses around every corner. He was impressed and amazed at first, but when he returned home, he realized just how repulsive the people were.

“I’ve never met anyone from Vassor,” Saul continued, “but all I know is, the second I can afford to live there, I’m gone.”

“Believe me, it was way too fancy for you. The place is crowded, too. You wouldn’t like it. There
was
one place I liked there. It was tucked behind the lawmen horse stables. Right next to a strange looking tree. You should have seen this tree. Its trunk was split down the middle three ways, almost symmetrically. I had never seen anything like it. It looked like the tentacles of those deep sea creatures we read about in the books.” He glanced at Saul and could tell he did not care much about the tree. “Anyway, there was a cave hidden next to the tree, behind some hanging moss. Nobody else knew it was there. It was a quiet place I liked to hide in, to get away from the people. It reminded me of the woods here in Rodin. Peaceful.”

“Let me get this right. You go to the biggest, most luxurious place in the Pugg, a place that people would kill for just to see…and you stay in a cave?” Saul shuffled back and forth, baffled. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“You would understand if you met the people.”

A man clumsily leaped from the bushes, almost falling over, but catching himself at the last minute. He wore a suit, fitting Saul’s description, unlike any outfit they had seen before. It was extravagant, but also a bit short for the man wearing it. His lanky arms stuck out far beyond his sleeves, and the bottom of his pants stopped short of his ankles. He had a slender figure, and his short hair was a tangled mess. The strap of his bulky bag stretched over his shoulder and across his chest. Overall, he looked odd.

The man adjusted his posture, clasped his hands together, stuck out his chest, cleared his throat, and began his jovial presentation. “Hello hello hello, gentlemen!” he announced with an animated voice. “I apologize if I stumble over my words. I am not accustomed to making such speeches to fine gentlemen like yourselves, but alas I must. So here we go.” Vince and Saul exchanged looks, both surprised and confused. His accent was foreign. He spoke with the speed and energy of a salesman. “I have an offer for you gentlemen today. A very special offer. Something you have never seen before. An opportunity that will never come again. Just one simple word…immortality.” He paused for dramatic effect. “Yes, that’s right. You heard me correctly. I offer you the power to live forever if you so desire.”