She tipped the mask up and broke into a wide grin. “Elijah! Mateo said you’d be coming out this way. Thought you’d be farther north, I was afraid I’d miss you.”
“You know I had to squeeze in a last couple hands of spades with you before I went, Lucia,” he said with a startled smile. She turned to wave at the parking garage and then Elijah stepped in to hug her.
“Welcome. Just in time for lunch,” came the speaker voice. “We’re having… ooo Vienna sausages and baked beans. Of course. Wednesday, after all.” The speaker squawked and cut off.
Lucia let Elijah go and shook her head. “Benji’s such a smartass. Mad at his mom because she’s got him on messenger runs until the boundary move.”
“Something happen?” asked Elijah.
“He got cornered. A high school on Quaker Hill road. It was a designated quarantine station. There were a lot of Infected left. Someone was trying to take care of them, we found buckets of fresh water and lots of opened food cans, fairly recent ones. Lots of kids. We didn’t really expect… anyway, Benji froze and got cornered in one of the old locker rooms. I don’t know why. Maybe he recognized one of them. Got bit twice before the darts could take effect. That was almost a month ago and Shay hasn’t let him cross the outer boundary since. I don’t think he’s really that angry with her, he’s still jumping like he touched a live wire every time we see any movement. But he’s bored and bored makes trouble.” Lucia sighed and shrugged. Then she turned toward Neil. “But enough about that. You must be the famous Neil. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. It’s not often someone pulls Shay’s butt out of the fire, usually it’s the other way around.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Lucia, nice to see you,” she said when he grasped it.
“I’m Neil but— you already seem to know that. Not sure what Shay’s told you but really, I didn’t do anything that special.”
Lucia smiled. “I’ve never known Shay to embellish the truth. Never mind, I can see it’s making you uncomfortable. We don’t have to talk about Before if you don’t want to. No one will press. Come on, Benji’s right about lunch, anyway.” She pulled the helmet off and stuck it under her arm, leading them back toward the garage. Neil glanced up as they drew close and could see several figures leaning over the edge of the top tier. There were more sitting in the windows of the domed building across the way.
“Is Shay here?” asked Neil, following Lucia and Elijah into the dim coolness of the parking garage. His voice echoed off the cement.
“She’ll be back tonight. Some kind of incident at Dr. Taylor’s camp, she had to go sort it out.” Lucia glanced back at him. “You aren’t leaving before then, are you? She’ll be devastated if you leave before she gets back.”
“No,” said Elijah, “We were hoping to bunk down a night with you before we head out. One last good rest before we’re on our own.”
“Good,” she said. “Give me a chance to win some chips off you.”
Elijah laughed. “You’re scav team, what do you need chips for?”
“It’s been almost a year since I had anything that wasn’t canned. The Farm’s holding a whole crate of apples for me, after this tour, but I need the chips.”
Elijah lagged behind, swinging his pack down to the ground. Lucia didn’t notice and kept climbing the ramp, Neil glanced back but Elijah didn’t seem concerned, so he kept going. Small domed tents sat on the empty concrete, scattered across each tier. A few had names painted sloppily on the sides, some had canvas camp chairs and small coolers sitting beside them as if it were the remains of some strange tailgate party. Five dusty ATVs sat parked near the entrance. He could still hear one of the engines ticking as it cooled.
“How many of you are there?” asked Neil, trying to count the tents.
“Normally each team’s about twenty people. Not so big that it gets hard to control and not so small that a building packed with Infected could easily overwhelm us. But the boundary wall— oh,” she stopped and turned toward him. “Sorry, you just woke up, right? Probably all ancient Greek to you. We’ve got these big panels outside the City. Hollow concrete things. They got built in the early days. Before I reached the City, anyway. They’re on wheels. Sort of. They take an enormous amount of resources to move. And every time we do, we’ve got to pour some more or build some other sort of structure to cover the gaps. So we don’t do it often. The zo— the Infected don’t— they don’t really know how to get past the panels. There are gates every mile or so, but the City’s got ’em guarded. Anyhow, we’re getting ready to move it again. Big advance this time. Biggest yet, I think. It’s dangerous and takes a while to get the panels in place. So behind us, we’ve got the military governor’s men. And we’re the— oh I don’t know, advance guard I guess you’d say? So we group up at checkpoints where the Infected might be more concentrated until the boundary’s in place. Got five teams here on this side of the sector, plus a few extra messengers. I think we’re at a hundred and thirteen in this camp now. Varies.”
He glanced at the rifle that hung on Lucia’s back. “You were military? Before?”
She shook her head, looking confused. “No. I was in school to be a graphic designer.”
“So this military governor— his people aren’t military either?”
“I mean— some are. Not so many anymore, but the older soldiers train the newer ones so I guess it’s kind of the same.”
“Then— no offense but— why do they have you out here and the trained soldiers back there?”
“Oooh,” she said, realizing what he was asking. “It used to be the soldiers went in first and then we went in and basically cleared all the supplies. But then the Cure was found. Some of the soldiers— well, they were used to thinking of you as— already dead. Some of them never really… some of them couldn’t accept that you could recover. It meant— means that any Infected we’ve killed could have been saved, maybe. It was— bad for a while. Lots of breakdowns. Some suicides. And some who— wouldn’t use the Cure. It’s— it’s not just the soldiers that happened to, but it was more often with them. And the City was getting crowded. Needed some more management. Police, firemen, that sort of thing. Having soldiers do it— it’s not ideal but at least they have a little more training than someone like me. And it’s a much-needed break after what they’ve already gone through. So we changed. Scav teams administer the Cure. Cure camps come and pick up the sleeping Infected while we clear the zone. Then the soldiers guard the City. In case we miss some Infected or a scav team gets overrun. Doesn’t happen often, but it’s not never. And they’re helping rebuild the City proper.”
They’d reached the pedestrian staircase. Elijah caught up to them just as Lucia opened the door and a cascade of harmonica notes spilled out and reverberated over the cement. The sound was startling, sweet.
“Here,” said Elijah behind him. “Won’t make you win them from me.”
“But this is your whole allotment for—”
“It’s okay, Lucia. I don’t need them.”
“You will, when you come back.”
“I don’t think…”
The conversation behind him faded, became distant as the notes climbed again. Whoever was playing wasn’t very good, a halting version of some pop melody that Neil barely remembered or recognized. But it didn’t matter. He hadn’t heard music since— well, since when? Since the generators in the hospital died. The moment swam up out of the murk that was his memory. He’d still been near the pool. He could remember wandering away at points but the water had always drawn him back. That, at least, had been the extent of rationality for him. Water. He’d known where the water was. But when the generators went out, he hadn’t yet left the grisly battlefield the pool had become. He’d been crouched over someone, chewing. Had there been piano music on the intercom then? Or had Shay turned it off? As hard as he reached for the detail, all he could find was the sensation of tough muscle fiber between his teeth and the taste of metal and salt. Then the sudden plunge into darkness. There’d been scattered spots
of light dappling the pool water where the bullet holes had ripped through the boarded windows and a thin bar of gold daylight that seeped through the partially opened door and slid over the pile of flesh that blocked it. He could remember an instant of shocked silence and then a deep, reverberating howl of rage from his right and another from behind, and then from his own chest, until the large room echoed with yips and growls and splashes. When something brushed him, he’d let go of the limb he’d been chewing and raked at the moving thing. Found someone else to bite. He could remember that instant of silence so clearly. That meant there had to have been music, didn’t there? He had to have—
Elijah shook him gently. “You okay?” he asked.
The harmonica player dropped the melody and began talking to someone overhead. “Yes,” Neil said slowly. “Just— thought I remembered something.”
Elijah nodded. “It’s always smells for me. But I’ve heard other people say music does it to them. Don’t hear it so often anymore, maybe that’s why. It’ll— get more distant. Wear out a little. Like uncomfortable shoes. Won’t always be the gut punch it is now.”
The idea made Neil uncomfortable. “Maybe it should be.”
“Maybe it should be,” Elijah agreed, “but it’ll fade a little anyway. Maybe we couldn’t survive otherwise.”
“You coming?” asked a boy’s voice from the top of the stairs. “Holding lunch for you, you know.”
Elijah started up the stairs and Neil followed. Lucia stopped to shed her makeshift armor on the landing.
17
Benji turned out to be a tall, nervous boy of about fourteen. He greeted Elijah enthusiastically but drew back when he saw Neil, offering him an uncomfortable smile and a small wave.
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” said Neil, trying to put him at ease. “You helped my little girl when she left. Randi. Did you know her? Your mom says it was your fireworks that were used to distract the Infected.”
The boy shrugged, but his smile relaxed a little. “It was just an old box of roman candles we found. Nothing special. Mom went ballistic when we told her we had ‘em.” Benji laughed. “Turned out ok, I guess.”
“It did. Thank you for helping them,” said Neil sticking out his hand. Benji reluctantly took it and Neil solemnly shook.
“She was nice,” Benji offered after a minute. “Randi. For a little kid. You know. Addicted to checkers. She used to drive Laila— that’s my sister, used to drive her nuts asking to play all the time.”
Neil nodded, tried to swallow the unexpected ache in his throat. “Did you meet her in the library?” he asked after an awkward silence.
“Yeah,” said the boy. “At the end. They didn’t let us out of the little rooms until Mom came.”
“Was she— was she okay?”
“Sure. Her mom was there, too. She was okay. Kept asking when we were going to come find you and her grandmother. I— I don’t know about her grandmother but Mom told them what happened to you that night. Or— I guess what she thought happened to you.”
“Was she—”
Elijah squeezed his shoulder. “Awful heavy conversation before lunch, brother,” he said gently and Neil realized he probably shouldn’t make the boy relive more of those days.
“Right, yeah, beans and Vienna sausages,” Neil laughed.
“Every Wednesday,” said Benji brightly. He turned toward the far end of the parking garage, intending to lead them to the line of plastic camp tables set up there. There was already a small crowd of people gathering and talking. Halfway there, Benji turned back to him. “Hey, uh, Neil, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Did you— did you really do those things? Lure all the Infected to the pool and run down there to set off the alarm so my mom could get out?”
“Your mom helped with the luring part.”
The boy thought for a second, then shrugged again and darted at Neil, wrapping his arms quickly around him. “Thanks, man,” he mumbled and then quickly moved away, embarrassed. Elijah squeezed Neil’s shoulder again.
“That kid’s not easy to impress,” he said.
Much later, when the evening wind cooled the top of the garage and the street below was just a shadowy blank between buildings, Shay leaned against the low wall that faced a domed government office and rubbed her forehead, clearly exhausted from her trip. Neil thought about telling her to go to bed rather than shoot the breeze with him, but he knew he wasn’t the only thing keeping her up. “So,” she said, after a moment. “You know how badly we need a decent cook. Or someone willing to do stupid, risky things. Like luring Infected into the open to get the Cure. Or any other job you decide you want to try. We need you. I’m going to try one last time to convince you and Elijah to stay. You don’t have to go to the City if it’s too much. And I could use a hand. Scav teams are getting too spread out, I’m going to have to recruit again once the barrier moves. Can’t run them all myself anymore.”
Neil watched the solar lights across the way as someone shifted in front of them. “I have to find them, Shay. I have to know they’re okay.”
“They’re— they’re not,” she said, touching his arm. “Before we started doing this, being out here beyond the City, I was able to believe they made it. And you have even more reason than I do to want to believe it. But— there were— are so many Infected. And so many hazards. I don’t think— I don’t think they made it, Neil. It’s a big world. Bigger than you remember. I don’t think you’re going to find them. Won’t you stay? You could do so much good. Make the world safer for other little girls and—”
“You’d go if it were your children. No matter what a friend told you.”
She sighed. “Yeah. I’d go.”
“We’ll come back,” he offered, mostly to keep the misery from spreading across her face. “Next year, in the spring. Or in a few when we’ve got things up and running. We’ll be back. Maybe with help.”
She patted his arm. “No. You won’t. That’s— that’s okay. I’ll try and imagine you happy in some woodcutter’s cabin with a fairytale life. Gets even colder up there. You make it a few years and you won’t have any more Infected to worry about. Most likely, you’ll starve along with them.” Her voice broke and she took a shuddering breath looking out across the parking tier instead of at him. “Either way— it’s a better way to end up than locked in that awful hospital mad and starving.” She wiped her eyes quickly.
“It is. It is,” said Neil and hugged her. “Thank you for coming to find us.”
“I’m sorry it took so long to reach you,” she muttered. “Shitty way to repay somebody who saved my life.”
“What? Taking care of my family and then wandering out into the end of the world to come back for me? I’d say I’m the one who owes you. Don’t ever feel guilty about my fate, Shay. Or Joan and Randi’s.”
Mateo and Elijah appeared at the top of the nearby stairs and headed toward Neil. “But I’m not going to stop Elijah from staying if that’s what he wants.”
“Have you asked?”
“No. I just know that he was burning out in the camp. I persuaded him to come with me. But maybe he’d be happier here.” He let her go, watching Elijah and Mateo laughing about something as they crossed the tier.
“Who’d be happier here?” Mateo called. “Send ‘em by. We could use a hand. Or several.” He stopped beside Shay and leaned over the edge of the wall to look into the street below.
Elijah pulled out a pack of gum and held it up. Neil shook his head.
“We were talking about Elijah,” said Shay. “That he might want to stay.”
Elijah’s smile contracted slightly. “Stay and do what? Join another camp? Heard you just got back from Dr. Taylor’s. You planning on sending me there?”
Shay glanced at Mateo and then away. “No. It’s— not Dr. Taylor’s camp anymore. There was an incident. It’s a— it’s a mess. Guess they’ll shutter it and send the workers to other camps unless Dr. Ryder decides to take over now. Not send
ing you into that. Maybe you could stay with us. In the scav team. I could send in a request for a new assignment if you—”
“And let Neil keep going alone?” he shook his head. “Can’t do that, Shay.”
Neil frowned. “I don’t want to be the reason you’re unhappy, Elijah. You have friends here—”
“Sure, brother,” he said quickly, “but they’ll be here when we come back. And they don’t really need me. They’ve got waiting lists for their scav team, don’t let Shay fool you. You do need me, you said so yourself. And I— need to see what’s out there. For my own peace of mind. I want to see some hope, some reason to keep clawing back places for the City. Some kind of benefit for whoever’s left out there. Glad to go with you, Neil.”
Shay gave them a tight and worried smile. “Well then. I had to try. Best I can do for you is supply you then. At least for a few days. And warn you to stay on the large roads. We just got scouting reports from Hampton. It’s bad. Must have been another quarantine station up there. Or the military set up a checkpoint or something. It’s still a battlezone. Whatever you do, stay on the highway until you’re well past. There’ll be places to get supplies before it and I’ll give you as much as you can carry. Write it off as scouting supplies. Make sure you stock up again in one of those tourist traps on the beach before you get too far north. There won’t be a rescue for months if we even get that far.” She walked back toward the center of the tier where a plastic table covered in maps sat. A radio and a few weapons sat on top of it, bathed in the bright glow of a camp lantern. She pushed a few items aside before picking up a pair of guns. “Here,” she said, turning to hand them to Neil.
Neil shook his head. “Can’t, Shay.”
“I remember,” she said, still holding them out toward him. “It’s not just the Infected who are dangerous. There are perfectly healthy people out there who’ll gut you for the water you’re carrying. Or because you still look Infected and they didn’t stop to ask questions. I know, I’ve met some. And animals. Dogs are bad now. Been starving too long. They’re not friendly anymore. Not even scared anymore. And there are bears up where you’re going. Take them. They aren’t loaded. You can forget them in the bottom of your pack if you want. But they’ll be there. In case. Even if you just need to bluff. Take them, so I can sleep at night, okay?”
Before The Cure (Book 2): The Infected Page 16