Johnny Apocalypse and the Fight for a New World Read online

  Johnny Apocalypse and the Fight for a New World

  Mark Robijn

  Blue Forge Press

  Port Orchard | Washington

  Johnny Apocalypse and the Fight for a New World

  Copyright 2018

  by Mark Robijn

  First eBook Edition

  March 2019

  First Print Edition

  March 2019

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever, except in the case of short excerpts for use in reviews of the book.

  For information about film, reprint or other subsidiary rights, contact: [email protected]

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, locations, and all other story elements are the product of the authors' imaginations and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or other elements in real life, is purely coincidental.

  Blue Forge Press

  7419 Ebbert Drive Southeast

  Port Orchard, Washington 98367

  360.550.2071 ph.txt

  Dedication

  To my junior high science teacher Leo (.037) Christofferson, who stopped teaching science on Fridays and read us science fiction stories instead. Thanks for instilling in me the love of writing and science.

  Acknowledgements

  I’d like to thank all the great writers and friends who gave me feedback and encouragement over the years, especially my good friends Carl Palmer and Rob Miller, who sadly is no longer with us. I’d like to thank Blue Forge Press for believing in me and my stories enough to take a chance on my novels. I’d also like to thank all the great authors who fueled my imagination through the years, including Jack London, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Without their great examples and inspiration, this series of books would probably not exist.

  Johnny Apocalypse and the Fight for a New World

  Mark Robijn

  Prologue

  The days of the Great War with its Mushroom Monsters and the Great Sickness are over. Life has slowly begun to return to the desolate wasteland.

  Johnny Apocalypse, a boy of only fifteen seasons is chosen as the leader for his people who call themselves the Tribe because of his courage and strength. Johnny is in love with a beautiful blond, blue eyed girl named, Deb. Johnny’s Tribe lived in an abandoned mall they called Sanctuary in the city that used to be called Philadelphia. Attacked by a roaming gang of cutthroats calling themselves the Doomsday Prophecy led the evil Ripper the Tribe is forced to leave and travel south to the city of Washington D.C. With the help of wise man knowledgeable in the magic of the world before the Great War they call Misterwizard, they hope to rebuild a new society on the ancient principles of democracy and freedom.

  In the new city they settle into an old museum known before as the Museum of American History. They rename it New Sanctuary. But Ripper and the Doomsday Prophecy follow them, and they also find a new enemy waiting for them. He calls himself Lord Algon. Lord Algon has organized the people who wander the wasteland called Wildies into a fighting force and declared himself their king.

  Meanwhile, Misterwizard tries desperately to find the secret code for the President’s underground bunker where there might be medicine and supplies, because Johnny’s girlfriend Deb is very sick, and his sister Carny is about to have a wriggler.

  Johnny and his best friend Starbucks meet Lord Algon but don’t tell him about the Tribe, but thanks to a traitor named Leader Nordsttrom, Lord Algon finds out. Now Johnny and Starbucks, captured by the Wildies, head back to Lord Algon once again, to face his wrath for not telling him the whole truth.

  Chapter 1

  Lord Algon sat in his royal robes in the ruins of what used to be called the “White House” at a table in a room named the “Presidential Dining Room.” Looking bored, he chewed on a cooked dog-beastie leg, ripping pieces off with his teeth.

  Sitting across from him in a chair by the wall, Leader Nordstrom gazed at the dog-beastie leg with hunger. Despite his best efforts to look dignified, Leader Nordstrom licked his lips as he thought how tasty the meat looked. He closed his eyes and tried to keep from fainting. His stomach ached, and he felt miserable and wretched. Lord Algon was not giving him the respect he deserved, but he didn’t dare complain, not after seeing the Lord’s two bodyguards. They looked like they’d enjoy ripping him apart just for sport.

  Leader Nordstrom opened his eyes and gazed about the room. One of the few rooms with a ceiling that was intact, it was sparsely decorated. The main object in the room was a giant painting of a tall man in a black suit with a black beard and square black hat on his head. Leader Nordstrom thought how the painting took up the whole wall, the biggest painting Leader Nordstrom had ever seen. He didn’t know paintings could be that large, and it frightened him. Even though it was faded and small areas in the corners were white with age, the man in the painting still looked so real it seemed like he was staring right at Leader Nordstrom. Something about the man in the painting’s penetrating gaze made Leader Nordstrom uncomfortable, as if the man knew Leader Nordstrom was up to no good and disapproved. Leader Nordstrom scowled at the man and thought dark thoughts about him before turning away. He tried to sleep, and not to think about his aching stomach.

  Lord Algon grinned at Leader Nordstrom with cruel humor, took another bite of the dog-beastie leg and then with a mouth full of meat said, “Be ye hungry?”

  Leader Nordstrom opened his eyes with a start and began to anxiously nod, but with a supreme effort stopped himself. He knew he had to appear strong, if he was to maintain his stature as the Leader Nordstrom of his Tribe. Instead he simply gazed at the food on the table.

  Lord Algon chuckled darkly, enjoying Leader Nordstrom’s suffering. “Here.” Lord Algon threw the Dog-beastie leg at Leader Nordstrom. It landed on the floor near his feet. Most of the meat was gone, and yet it still took a supreme effort on Leader Nordstrom’s part not to leap for it. “Best grab it, matey, ‘fore my dog-Beasties beat ye to it.”

  Realizing that he might lose it, Leader Nordstrom dove for the leg and snatched it up, to Lord Algon’s amusement. Leader Nordstrom sat back down and greedily chewed on the dog-beastie leg, totally forgetting about his dignity. Lord Algon and his guards laughed as they watched, but Leader Nordstrom no longer cared. He was so hungry he would have eaten bug-beasties.

  Lord Algon picked up a glass of red liquid and took a sip. “Soon, the two men ye called criminals be back. If what ye say be true of them, then ye shall eat to your heart’s content.” Lord Algon sat forward and stared at Leader Nordstrom, making him pause in his eating. “But if ye be lying to me, my dog-Beasties ‘twill feast on ye, while ye yet be alive.” Leader Nordstrom gulped and wished he could simply find a moment to slip away.

  Leader Nordstrom ate what he could off the dog-beastie bone and then nodded off, weak from the lack of food but also from the tension and lack of sleep of the last few days. The smells of the roasted dog-beastie in the pot at the end of the room in the fireplace filled his nose, and it caused him to dream of a huge banquet with mounds of roasted meat and piles of potatoes. In the dream, he sat in the old food place in Sanctuary, where the Tribe gathered for special occasions. He sat all alone at one of the round white tables. Many more table surrounded him as far as he could see, all covered with mounds of delicious foods, meats, vegetables, and fruits lay, some Leader Nordstrom had only seen in pictures.

  The table in front of Leader Nordstrom didn’t have food on it. On it a giant mountain of small, colorfully wrapped balls rose up to above his head. There were called chocolates, a special treat he’d only se
en but not eaten himself. Johnny had some once. He remembered the moment, and it burned in his memory like fire. One day in Sanctuary he passed by seeing Johnny surrounded by his friends and family, and they were all excited by something Johnny held in his hands. Without being noticed, Leader Nordstrom listened as Johnny told them about it, knowing they were something Johnny had found on one of his forbidden trips outside Sanctuary.

  “They’re called, “chocolates,’ Johnny said, as they all gazed at the brightly wrapped balls in Johnny’s hand. “Here,” Johnny gave one to Deb. She smiled and looked at it, not sure what to do.

  Johnny laughed. “You unwrap it, silly, like this.” Johnny twisted the paper at the ends of the ball, and it fell off, revealing a small brown ball that looked somehow delicious and magical. “Now put it in your mouth.”

  Deb popped it in her mouth as the rest watched, eyes wide with interest. Deb bit down on it and chewed. Then she smiled, as if she’d just tasted the most wonderful thing she’d ever eaten. The rest turned back to Johnny, and he gave each one a piece! Leader Nordstrom remember being so eaten up with jealousy he felt sick. He knew he could never ask Johnny for one, because he’d always treated Johnny bad, and he couldn’t lose face by pretending to be his friend then.

  As if watching them all enjoy the special treat wasn’t enough, Johnny even gave one to the scrabbler Sephie. A little scrabbler, enjoying something that rightfully he should have been given first! It was really the first time Leader Nordstrom really thought about how much he hated Johnny and wanted to see him dead.

  Leader Nordstrom thought about those brightly colored balls, and how much he wished he knew how they tasted. Johnny’s friends and family sure made them look as if they must be delicious.

  Ripper and the Gangers drove slowly into the center of the city. They noticed more Wildies, big groupd of them. They filled the streets and wandered in and out of the buildings. While they were far enough away not to be spotted, Ripper raised his hand out the window and the Gangers stopped their vehicles. Ripper watched the Wildies, scratching his stubbly chin and ponded. The Wildies jabbered among themselves and jumped up and down. They seemed excited about something. As Ripper watched, the whole crowd of Wildies walked away from the Gangers in one direction, towards a large area of white buildings in the distance.

  "Something's going on," Ripper said to his driver, Dog-beastie. "And I'll just bet you, Johnny Apocalypse is in the middle of it."

  Facegash nodded and grinned at him. "Maybe they got him on a spit and they're roasting him."

  Facegash laughed, but Ripper scowled. "I hope not. I want to do it. I want to be the one to mount him on a spit, while his family watches. Turn around. Let’s park. It’s time to find out what’s goin’ on. Facegash drove to the left to head back the way they had come. Ripper motioned out the window, and the Gangers followed in their vehicles. They turned down a side street, looking for a place to park where they wouldn’t be seen.

  Super ran through the dark, empty building she’d escaped into, her heart in her throat. She didn’t know where to go, and the inside of the building so dark she couldn’t see her hands in front of her face. She put them out in front of her, eyes opened wide and groped her way along slowly.

  She touched something cold and gazed up at it to discover it was a statue of a girl in a robe, holding a book in her hands. Super’s eyes began to adjust. Shelves covered every wall, all filled with books. There must have been thousands of them. She thought how much Misterwizard would love this place, and maybe Johnny, too. She shivered, for the marble floors and stone walls made the room cold. She saw a door near the wall. Slowly making her way towards it, she looked up at the sign above it. On it the words “Emergency Exit” were written, though Super had no idea what they meant. A metal bar crossed the door in the middle with the words on it, “Alarm will sound.” Super pressed the bar. The door opened, but no alarm sounded. She figured it must have been disconnected ages ago. Bright sunlight covered her and made her blink and cover her eyes. The door led outside!

  She hurried outside and peered around. She saw no one in sight. With a sigh of relief, she ran down the street, careful to keep watch for any Wildies or Beasties. Now, how was she supposed to find Misterwizard and the Tribe? She saw a group of buildings in the middle of the city. They looked more important than the others, so taking a chance she took off running towards them, hoping she wasn’t just getting herself even more lost.

  The Tribe continued to watch the camera silently but is remained stationary. Carny held her belly and looked up at it, disappointed. “It’s no use, Wizard, I don’t think there is anyone there.”

  Deb moaned and tossed in her woozy state. Misterwizard stood before the camera and spread his hands wide. “If you do not help us, one of our members, a young lady, will die. We beseech you. If you are the descendants of the Leader Nordstroms of this land, you know it is your duty to help its citizenry. We only ask for some medicine, a place comfortable to lay our sick members and a little food.”

  There was no answer. Finally, Misterwizard lowered his hands in defeat. The Tribe shuffled back towards the stairs leading to the upper floors. Misterwizard returned to the door and stared at the keypad. He had to make it work.

  Suddenly, as Misterwizard watched with mounting joy, the door popped open. The Tribe ran back in excitement, all talking at once, and Misterwizard put up a hand to shush them. Misterwizard stood back a step as the door swung ponderously open.

  Out stepped an ancient looking man with long, gray frazzled hair and a long beard. His face was wrinkled with age and wire rimmed glasses perched at the end of his nose. He looked so old he made Misterwizard look young. The man frowned, but his gaze was not unkind, simply cautious. But when Misterwizard finally was able to tear his eyes away from the man’s craggy face, he saw that he held a gun in his hand, trained right at Misterwizard’s heart.

  “Hello, and greetings from the Office of the President.” The old man cackled at his own joke, bouncing up and down on one foot and then the other until he was seized by a fit of coughing. He bent over and wheezed, but quickly straightened up again and peered at Misterwizard threateningly.

  “You must be our last remaining constituents.” He laughed again wildly, and Misterwizard couldn’t help but smile. The Tribe members grinned as well, all finding the man amusing. “I must say, I have to have had the longest term as President in the history of these here United States!” The old man laughed again, hooting and slapping his knee, and Misterwizard began to suspect he might be a little crazy.

  “Thank you for your gracious salutation,” Misterwizard said, extending a friendly hand. “I must say that I am honored and very excited to meet the current Commander and Chief, after all these years.”

  The old man laughed uproariously again, hopping up and down, this time at MIsterwizard’s joke, and Misterwizard chuckled along with him. The old man raised the hand that didn’t hold the gun and let Misterwizard shake it. Then he looked around at the Tribe, until his eyes rested on Deb lying in the corner.

  “I’m sorry about the chilly reception, but you see, you are the first people I’ve seen in, oh let’s say a coon’s age, what didn’t look either crazy or downright mean and ornery. I couldn’t just open for anyone, you know. I’ve been waiting here all by myself now for forty years. I just about gave up hope of ever seeing any normal ordinary folk again.”

  “Well, I am ecstatic you saw fit to trust us, for our young girl Deb is in desperate need of some medicine. She has a strong case of Influenza which will take her life soon if we don’t act. And we have another young lady with, well, shall we say, another very pressing matter.”

  “Yes!” The old man hooted with laughter. “Quite a pressing matter, as you say. She’s got a bun in the oven about to pop! Even in this present dark age, a baby is still a blessing, hmm?”

  “Let us in!” Thegap, Deb’s father, implored. “Please, help my daughter!”

  “Of course, of course,” the old man said, “but not
all at once.” He lowered the gun and pointed at Misterwizard. “There is only me here, and I don’t know you people from Adam. You could be Russkie spies for all I know, or Nazi sympathizers, or worst of all, tree-hugging liberals!” He laughed again, guffawing loudly. “Only this man who looks more intelligent than the rest of you put together, the young sick girl, her father and the expectant mother, and her father. That’s a boatload already! And that’s it. Any of the rest of you try cross the threshold, I’ll blow yer brains out!” He waved the gun in the air for emphasis. Then he laughed again and stood back from the door.

  “Please,” Bathandbodyworks, Deb’s mother implored, “let me go too. I’m the girl’s mother.”

  “And I’m Carny’s mother,” Teavana said.

  “Of course, of course,” the old man said. “What kind of a scoundrel would I be, to separate a mother from her child? Do you think I’m some kind of Communist?” He laughed again, sounding crazy. “The mothers can come, but that’s it!”

  Thegap ran quickly and gently picked up Deb. He and Bathandbodyworks fell in behind Misterwizard who followed the old man, and slowly they all walked into the dark tunnel beyond. Foodcourt hurried to get Carny and gently helped her walk along next to Teavana. The members of the Tribe watched from the doorway, excited and curious to know what was going to happen next.

  Johnny and Starbucks reached The Capitol building again. Johnny saw the crowd of Wildies grew to double the number from the last time. Three hundred or more now milled about on the grassy lawn in front of the building. The Wildies danced and cheered, yelling and hollering. Some fought with each other over scraps of food or bottles. Wildie scrabblers ran around in circles, playing games like all scrabblers did.