The City of Wanderers - No Peaceful North Part One

Chapter Nine

Just like every other town they passed through, 100 Mile House was also empty. There was still snow on the ground in some places and the road was starting to get rougher. Wes decided to pull off into an old parking lot to let Aditya drive again and also he needed to walk around for a bit.
"Still snow here." Knox observed as he also exited the truck.
"Yes, it doesn't usually all melt until May." Wes told him as Aditya started rambling "Why did they call this place 'One-hundred Mile House'? We don't use that type of measurement here. Should be 'One-hundred Kilometre House'."
Wes knew that his husband was likely trying to be funny, but he knew the reason why.
"They called it that because it's a hundred miles from Lillooet, which was mile zero of the old Caribou Wagon Road during the gold rush. There's more towns with similar names further up the road." Wes explained to Aditya, who looked at him and said in response "Didn't realize you also specialized in British Columbia history."
"I'm getting cell reception here, must still be activity in this town." Knox pointed out as he was texting someone on his phone, likely his sister. It was possible, the town didn't seem to have any power but there was probably something still powering any nearby cell and radio towers. Knox then looked at Wes and asked "Wanna walk around for a bit?"
Wes wasn't sure, he was getting weird vibes from the place but he brushed it off as general uncanniness from the lack of people around. He felt the same way about Kamloops and Cache Creek.
"Sure, why not. But not for long." Wes agreed to it as Aditya said "I'll stay here and keep watch for anyone on the highway."
"Good idea, yell if any road patrol people come by." Knox told him as Wes only gave him the thumb's up before setting off.
The two wandered along the road next to the highway to what seemed to be an old grocery store. The windows were all boarded up with graffiti on them that read "THERE IS NO ONE LEFT."
"Everyone probably left this town too." Knox mentioned as they continued onwards. It seemed like every building along the road had some kind of message spray painted onto it all related to what happened to the town. They read;
"WE WEREN'T WORTH SAVING."
"NO FOOD LEFT. NO GAS LEFT."
"THE UNINFECTED ARE OUTNUMBERED."
Wes tried putting the pieces together and thought they were possibly cut off from any supplies coming in. Those who still lived had left town to possibly live in the cities. Knox was taking photos of it all with his phone.
They eventually ended up at what seemed to be the town's tourist info. There were giant skis out front and, much like other buildings in the town, it resembled a log cabin. Knox went inside through a smashed window as the door was boarded up, Wes followed him. It was completely empty besides for a few counters and chairs by it. Wes noticed there was stains on the floor that looked like old dried blood that Knox didn't seem to notice. He seemed to be recording the inside with his phone. Knox had wandered over to the counter and told Wes "Hey Wes, I found this note."
He went over to Knox to take a look. It was a letter someone had written on a sheet of paper to whoever may wind up in 100 Mile House. It read;
"If anyone happens to come across this note please take it and spread it far. Thieves from some city called Paradise took everything from us. Our resources and our people. They killed those they deemed infected even though they weren't. We are not the only ones. Many more were raided by them. I am the only one left and I will remain here to tend the graves."
Wes was wrong about his previous theory about what happened there. Made him reconsider why Kamloops and Cache Creek were abandoned as well. Knox grabbed the note and said "I should take this."
"I thought Paradise was just a rebranded Calgary. What really goes on there?" Wes asked Knox as he stopped recording.
"Lots of horrible things. They're a fascist nation." Knox answered as they started hearing something banging on a door in the back. They both looked towards it as Knox started recording again. He tried to wander over to it but Wes grabbed his arm and told him "No, don't."
"I'll be fine, I've been through worse." Knox assured him as he let go but followed him closely. He did want to find out what was making that noise as well. He picked up a piece of a clothing rack as a weapon just in case it was hostile. Knox opened the door to reveal that a wanderer from outside was trying to get in through the back. They stood still in the door way before falling to the floor. They seemed to have been infected for a while. Clothes were very dirty, had no hair left, their skin was incredibly discoloured and smelled horrible. The two immediately backed away from them, Knox still recording while Wes pointed his improvised weapon at them. They weren't moving at all.
"Did they just die?" Knox asked as Wes poked them with the metal bar he was holding. They didn't react at all, though their fingers were twitching. He then answered "They've been dead for a while."
"I meant like, stop moving completely kind of dead." Knox clarified as suddenly the wanderer grabbed Wes' leg. Wes hit their arm with the metal bar while shouting "G'AH FUCK!"
The wanderer let go and was trying to get back up but couldn't. Wes' shouting seemed to trigger their fight response. They both backed out of that room as the wanderer managed to get back on their feet and darted after them. Knox hopped over the counter and Wes tried to do the same only to fall to the ground on the other side, dropping the metal bar. The wanderer ran into the counter and somehow managed to climb over it, landing on Wes. He was able to shove them off of him as Knox started shouting from the other end of the room to get their attention away from Wes. It worked, buying enough time for Wes to get back up and grab the metal bar. They grabbed Knox's arm as he tried to run away from them. Wes hit the wanderer in the head with the metal bar and they let go of Knox. He struck them again and they went completely limp as they fell back down to the floor.
Wes stood there for a few seconds to take a moment to breathe and process what had happened.
"Think they're fully dead now?" Knox asked Wes, who was really hoping they were. Wes tried poking them again and there was no reaction.
"I think so now." Wes replied as he was nudging them at that point.
"Do you also think that was the person who wrote that note?" Knox asked again. It was very possible, the infection could spread even after the victim was dead. Wes hoped he didn't get infected, though he was not bitten nor did he ingest any fluids they produced. He responded with "Maybe. They're out of their misery now though. That's what matters."
Wes then heard what sounded like multiple vehicles pulling up to them outside. He went over to the smashed window they entered from to look and it was his truck along with two other newer ones that weren't familiar. Aditya seemed to have found a group of three people who were all wearing black and showed no skin besides their eyes.
"You two exploring? Find anything?" One of them asked upon seeing Wes and Knox in the window frame.
"Dead wanderer, that's about it." Knox answered before asking "But who are you?"
"People who deal with wanderers. Let us handle it." They answered as Aditya told them "They're not road patrol."
Knox climbed back out of the window while saying "He already handled it."
Wes followed him out, leaving the metal bar behind. Once outside again he noticed that he was shaking.
"Did you kill them?" One of them asked Wes, who only nodded in response.
"Yeah, can tell. Don't worry, they were already dead. You did them a service now that they can properly rest." They told Wes as the other two climbed inside the building to investigate. Wes still wasn't sure how he felt about it. For sure he was shaken up from the experience and was definitely gonna have more trouble sleeping.
"I thought we wanted them still moving?" Another asked from the building as they answered "Doesn't matter now. Bury them."
They then shifted their focus back to Wes, Aditya and Knox to tell them "You three keep going north. It gets better the further you go. If road patrol gives you any issues, tell them you've been authorized by the Peace River Peacekeepers."
Wes recognized that name. Peace River, that was the name of the river that flowed near Fort St. John.
"Wait, are you from Fort Saint John?" Wes asked as they tried to walk away. They stopped to reply "We're not, but our boss is. We just work for them. We are their Caribou division."
Wes assumed they were the zombie hunter group that Matt had previously mentioned that operate out of Fort St. John. Didn't realize they operated in different regions as well. He then knew he had to spend a bit of time in his former hometown to truly find out what was going on.