by Misty Vixen
“I’ll give you more than that if you can find me some kind of power supply,” Donald replied.
“Okay, I’ll just-”
They froze as a gunshot sounded, and then another one. And several more. A couple of dozen shots were fired off, one after the other, and they heard several shrieks and moans. Everyone remained frozen, and Cait, David, Donald, and Janice, who had stood up, had their weapons out now. A few seconds passed after the final gunshot echoed.
They all jumped as someone knocked firmly on the door.
“Donald? You in there? What the hell happened out here?”
“Ellie?” Cait asked, and David almost did as well.
“...Cait? What are you doing in there? Is everything all right? Open up.”
“Coming, coming,” Donald said. He hurried over and unbarred the door, then got it open. Ellie stood there in all her blue-furred glory, and David felt a tremendous happiness at seeing her. She looked a little surprised to see him, though not necessarily unpleasantly so. She slipped in and Donald resealed the door behind her.
“What happened? Is everyone okay?” she asked.
“We’re fine,” Cait replied. “No injuries, no causalities. Save for those shitheads out there.”
“I heard all the shooting and decided to see what was up, since it sounded like it was coming from here. What were they doing here?” Ellie replied. “And hi, David.”
“Hello, Ellie,” David replied with a small smile.
“They were shaking us down, basically,” Donald said. “They wanted meds from us.”
“Fucking bastards. Where’s the others?”
Cait quickly brought Ellie up to speed on the situation. She listened, then nodded, then frowned suddenly and stared first at Cait, then at David.
“What?” he asked reluctantly. He didn’t like the look on her face.
“So...I might know where we can find a few solar panels. But...it’s going to be really dangerous,” she murmured.
“Where?” Donald asked, sounding genuinely curious.
“About two miles east of here, there’s an abandoned bunker of some kind. A prepper bunker, I think.”
“Prepper?” David asked.
“Yeah. It’s what they called people who prepped for the end of the world before the world actually ended. Sometimes rich people did it and had bunkers built out in the middle of nowhere with shitloads of supplies. It might not be that, but whatever the hell it is, it’s got solar panels on top of it. It’s this little concrete building.”
“Two miles east is stalker territory. Like, heavy stalker territory...” Cait murmured.
“Yeah. Hence the danger.”
“Fuck,” David muttered.
“I can help with this. If we’re fast, and lucky, we can go salvage one, they aren’t big but they are high quality, built to last, and then get back without running into any of the fuckers,” Ellie said. “But it’s your call.”
“Is there anywhere else we can get some power?” Cait murmured, clearly considering it.
“Not easily,” Ellie replied. “Certainly not for free. I could make it happen in a day or two...”
“We don’t have that long,” Donald said.
Cait sighed and looked at him. “David?”
“I’m ready to do it,” he replied.
She frowned, then slowly nodded. “Okay. We’ll do this. The three of us. We’ll go strip those bastards for more ammo, and then we do this.” She looked at Donald. “We’ll try to be back as fast as we can.”
“Thank you so much for this,” he replied. “And...good luck.”
It almost sounded like a goodbye.
CHAPTER EIGHT
After leaving the building, they checked the corpses. There wasn’t as much ammo on them as David was hoping for, but he was already decently decked out with gear. He still had his SMG, and now he had two pistols. The other two women were about as equally armed, and definitely more skilled than him with fighting, and had better reflexes, clearly. As soon as they were finished, the trio set out, heading due east.
For a bit, nobody spoke.
Finally, David began to find the silence oppressive and tried to strike up a conversation. “So, Ellie, um, how have you been doing?” he asked.
“Fine,” she replied after a few seconds, like she’d been lost in thought and it had taken her a moment to realize that he’d spoken. “You?”
“Well, we’re moved into the campgrounds. We’re making good progress. Evie and April are doing okay,” he said.
“That’s good, at least. You’ve got a good place there. Pretty secure, not a lot of dangerous people or things around...what about you, Cait? It’s been a few days since I’ve seen you. Where have you been exactly?” Ellie asked.
David glanced over. Cait was blushing. “You know...around,” she murmured.
“What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?” Ellie asked, shooting her a glance. “You’re blushing. What’s going on? What could you possibly be embarrassed about?”
“Well...David and I are...an item?” Cait replied.
“You’re embarrassed about that?” David asked.
“No! I mean-” she sighed heavily. “No. I’m not. I just...Ellie’s...difficult.”
“How the fuck am I difficult?” Ellie snapped.
“How are you not?” Cait replied immediately. “I know you want to give me shit for this.”
“No I’m-not,” she said, stumbling, probably realizing that she was gearing up for that.
“See! You knew it! You always give me shit.”
“I’m just fucking teasing you, Cait! That’s our relationship...I mean, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. It is. It’s just...sometimes, it feels too...genuine. It has teeth, you know?”
Ellie fell silent for several seconds. Well, this had certainly gone from casual to serious in record time. “I’m sorry,” she said finally, her voice quiet. “I don’t mean to. I never mean to hurt you, Cait. You’re my friend. I just...have difficulties...with trust. And...letting people get close to me.”
“I know,” Cait replied quietly. “It’s okay. I understand. This whole thing has me feeling vulnerable, and I’m realizing it’s actually been awhile since I’ve felt vulnerable and...well, I have let you close, Ellie. I care about what you think. Your words hold more power than most.”
“I get that. I’m sorry, I’ll try to be less of a jerk in the future.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So, you two are...an item? Where the fuck does that phrase even come from? And what? Are you an item on a shelf with other items in this relationship?” she asked, then groaned and looked down. “I’m sorry, that was mean.”
“No,” Cait said, and giggled. “It was kinda funny. It’s okay. But yeah, I guess you could say that. I’ve decided to...not really move in, per say, but have a room dedicated to me. Well, me and you actually. I thought, you know, you might like a room to call your own...that you shared with me, if you felt like being social, maybe getting some David dick for the night?”
“I’d like that,” David murmured.
Ellie laughed. “Obviously. You fucking love fucking me. I do remember that much. Well...okay. Yeah, I wouldn’t mind having a safe, quiet place to stash some stuff with friends nearby.”
“We’re friends?” David asked.
“Aren’t we?” she asked, defensively. He looked back at her. She sighed again. “Sorry. Yes. I’d count you as a friend. Don’t let that go to your head.”
“I won’t,” he said.
“Good. Well, I think that’s cool. Though it’s a little weird, I have to admit. I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone you actually claimed as a boyfriend, or girlfriend...have I?”
“Uh...” Cait fell silent, thinking about it. “No, I guess not.”
“So...is it love, you two?” she asked.
“Uhhhh...” David began, completely at a loss as to how to respond to that.
Cait laughed. “Come on, Ellie. What did I just say about being a jerk
!?”
“You’re right, I’m sorry, David. Again, just teasing. But really. What made the two of you get together?”
“I mean...I like him.”
“You like a lot of people. You like me,” Ellie said.
“I’d date you if I thought I could get you to agree to it,” Cait replied.
“Oh really?” Ellie shot back.
“Yeah, really, Miss Prissy Blue Bitch,” Cait replied.
Ellie huffed in annoyance. “Stop derailing the conversation.”
“Fine. I feel...” she looked at him with her bright blue eyes, smiling serenely, “...a spark. A real spark. You know? You know when you just click with someone? Like it just happens and you just know? That’s why.”
“Fair enough. And David?”
“Do you even need to ask? Cait is capable, kind, smart, badass, focused, motivated, insanely hot, and so good in bed, and okay with me fucking other women,” he replied.
“All valid points,” Ellie said.
“And, you know, I feel it, too. I feel connected to her. Like I feel a connection with Evie and April.” He frowned suddenly. “Hopefully they’ll feel the same way...”
“I mean, functionally speaking, not a lot is gonna change about our relationship,” Cait said, but she looked a little worried too.
“Having met them both, I think you’ll be fine,” Ellie said. She opened her mouth, but then hesitated, looking around. “Something’s wrong.”
“What?” Cait replied, adopting a suspicious look as she checked around them.
“We haven’t run into any stalkers yet. We should have by now,” Ellie replied.
They all came to a stop. They were well into the woods at this point, following a very vague path that David could only barely see, though Ellie surely saw clearly. She hadn’t hesitated a single time as she’d been leading them on.
“So what does that mean?” he asked uncertainly, his hands falling to the submachine gun hanging from a strap at his side.
“I don’t know,” she murmured. “I can smell their stink around, a lot of it, but...I don’t really sense any of them actually nearby. It’s different, but fuck, maybe we’re going to get lucky. Maybe someone came in and killed a bunch of them, or maybe they’re busy with something else. Either way, we should probably hurry up. Come on, we’re almost there.”
They all fell silent as they picked back up their pace, this time going faster. The tone and mood dramatically shifted as the tension began to rise. There was something ominous and tense about the forest around them. The dead, skeletal trees seemed to watch them. Several minutes passed as they hurried through the forest, trusting Ellie’s instincts to get them to where they needed to be. As they continued, he looked down at his arsenal, which suddenly didn’t feel so much like an arsenal any longer.
Maybe he should have grabbed some more weapons.
Well, too late now.
“Okay, stop,” Ellie whispered, and both he and Cait froze.
Beyond their blue-furred companion, he could see a decent-sized clearing up ahead, and in it was a simple concrete and rebar structure that vaguely resembled a giant brick. It looked old and weathered, and plants grew across its surface, but it had held up pretty well.
“That’s it,” Ellie said softly.
Sure enough, he could see some solar panels glinting in the dull gray sunlight.
“How have they survived all this time?” David murmured.
“The top tier solar panels from just before the apocalypse had some really, really good, solid casings that could stand up to a hell of a lot, in my experience,” Cait replied. “They’d need polishing, because shit gets on the casing, but otherwise they should be well protected...you sure you can salvage one of those?”
“Yeah,” Ellie replied. “Pretty sure. I’ll need to see to be totally sure, but I should have all the right tools on me.” She hesitated, then carefully scanned the way ahead and the area around them. David could see nothing, and apparently neither could she. “Okay, follow me and keep a damned eye out.” She turned to face them, her gaze level, her expression dead serious. “This is how it’s going to go down: we three will cross the clearing and get straight to the building. If nothing happens, you’ll give me a boost up, then you will stand guard and keep a constant eye out for anything moving at all. This is very dangerous territory, I need to stress that. We’ve been lucky so far. That, or they’re laying some kind of trap.
“At that point, I will assess the situation up there and let you know. Then, ideally, I will detach one of them and lower it down to you, and then we will get the fuck out of here.”
“You don’t think we should try to take at least one more?” Cait asked uncertainly.
“No. It’s far too risky. I think we should come back with some more people, experienced people that we can trust, Evelyn for sure, and Katya and Vanessa, with some heavy armaments, and maybe one or two others, and salvage the rest. And at some point we can try to break into this place. But that’s later. It’s too dangerous right now. It’s going to take two of us to carry just one. So, any questions? Are we ready?”
“I’m ready,” David said, and Cait nodded tightly at her.
“Okay...let’s get this over with.”
They checked the area one more time, then they broke through the treeline and headed into the clearing. It remained empty as they moved quickly across the open space between the trees and the side of the structure. After several tense seconds, they reached it. David spun around as they did and looked back the way they’d come, expecting to see some stalkers slinking out of the trees, but there was nothing. It was as dead as ever.
“Okay, help me up,” Ellie whispered.
They let their weapons rest and each helped Ellie climb up onto the structure. She was pretty light, and clambered up onto it without a problem. They watched her disappear over the edge, her tail the last thing to go, and then pulled their weapons back out and turned around, beginning their portion of this job.
Several seconds passed in tense silence, the only sounds that of the occasional breeze blowing through and disturbing the dead trees, and Ellie very quietly shifting around. He glanced at Cait. It was interesting to see this side of her again, this stern, serious, professional side. Not that he didn’t think she was capable of it. He wasn’t surprised to see it, more just curious about it. He only really knew her when she was acting flirtatious or happy or sincere and vulnerable. There was something immediately and powerfully attractive about a competent woman who knew exactly what she was doing. And Ellie and Cait had that in abundance.
“Okay,” Ellie said, making them both jump, as they hadn’t heard her approach the edge again, “the good news is that I can do this. I have the tools. The annoying news is that it’ll take at least five minutes, because I’ve got to deal with some rusty bolts. You see anything yet?”
“No,” Cait replied, and David shook his head.
“Great. I’m getting to work.”
She disappeared again and they resumed their vigil.
More seconds passed as they began to hear the sounds of Ellie first getting her tools out, then detaching the solar panel from the roof. David felt sick to his stomach by now with all the fucking tension and anxiety coursing through him. He tried to keep his face neutral, his stance sure, and his mind clear, but it was hard. He’d been in tough situations before, really damned dangerous ones, and some close scrapes that still gave him nightmares and left him wondering how he’d managed to get out of it alive.
He’d gotten half decent at sniffing out danger, and this place was screaming danger. Something about it, the hushed atmosphere or maybe the overt stillness of it all, just...something was telling him to run like hell. Maybe it was nerves, but he didn’t think so. A minute went by, and then two. They felt long and painful.
Still there was nothing moving.
Another thirty seconds went by before, suddenly, he saw something. “Contact,” Cait said as they both raised their weapons.
“What is it?” Ellie asked, sounding distracted.
“Stalker,” David said. Even from a distance he could tell.
“What’s it doing?” she pressed.
“Just standing there...” Cait murmured.
“I think-” he stopped. “Oh my God. Oh my fucking God.”
“What?” Ellie asked. All the spit went dry in his mouth and his heart began hammering violently in his chest. “What?!” she snapped, and stopped working. “David?! Cait!?” she hissed.
“Ellie, oh my God, help us up. Now! Now!” Cait screamed.
There were dozens of them, suddenly, almost as if by magic, all along the peripheral of the clearing. They were standing there. And as he heard Ellie come back to the edge, and then let out a sharp, terrified curse, they began to run forward.
“Get up here! David!” she snapped.
He froze, but only for a second, and then Cait grabbed him and turned him violently around. He saw Ellie leaning down, offering him her hand. He jumped up and took it, and felt Cait grab his feet and help him get up. He scrambled up on top of the building as fast as he could, and then turned and helped Ellie pull Cait up as well.
And as he stood up, that was when he realized how truly fucked they were.
There had to be a hundred of them. Stalkers, coming at them from every direction.
“Shoot them!” Ellie screamed, raising her pistol.
She began pulling the trigger. Cait did the same. David raised his submachine gun, in awe of the rapidly encroaching tsunami of stalkers, and squeezed the trigger. There were so many of them. He had never before in his entire life seen so many of them. And they were fast! So fast! His bullets began finding their targets. He didn’t even have to try too hard to aim, there were so many. David fired off volleys of rounds, trying to go for the head as often as he could. He put down three of them quickly, and then another three, and four more after that before the weapon ran dry and he hastily reloaded. There were so fucking many of them…
Cait and Ellie were firing off with a startlingly calm professionalism, putting their pistols to good use. He saw headshots more often than not. Corrupted blood sprayed on the mud and dead vegetation as stalkers fell to the ground, rolling and coming to a halt in a tangle of limp limbs. He emptied the submachine gun again, putting down another nine of the hideous creatures. As he reloaded again, he heard a hiss behind him.