“Maybe she’s the second messenger,” Larson suggested.
Claire shook her head. “I’m not a messenger. I’m coming with you guys.”
“With us? Scavenging?” Jon raised his eyebrows.
“And why can’t she come scavengin’?” Rose immediately challenged him. “I’d love to have Claire join us.” She draped her arm across Claire’s shoulders. “We need another woman.”
“I noticed on the board that your team only consisted of five people,” Claire quickly explained. “From my understanding, scavenger teams are usually six people, so I added myself to the roster.”
“That’s when we have a cart, not on foot,” Danny pointed out. “But there’s nothing wrong with having another set of hands to help and another bag to fill.”
Jon didn’t look so sure, but Claire had known he would be like this before she had left. Even though it was only post-zombie adoption that made them siblings, Jon still looked out for her like any big brother. Ever since he had driven her to the hospital on the back of his dirt bike on the Day, weaving through a city of chaos, he had watched over her, so, of course, having her outside the walls would make him uncomfortable. But Claire wasn’t a terrified little girl anymore, and she was more than capable of helping out in this way, and so she was going to.
“So what was that you were talking about before I got here?” Claire asked as they continued walking. “Something about a messenger?” She hadn’t been the only one dashing about between groups. Several runners had been delivering last minute messages concerning various details. With the speed this operation had been put together, some information had been left out.
“We heard that the groups who are going to cross the bridge have run into a substantial pack of zombies,” Bryce filled her in. “There hasn’t been a call for back-up though.”
“We might run into a bunch of them too,” Larson added. “All those zombies that Boss and them lured away with the fireworks could still be hanging around somewhere.”
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Rose said with a wide grin.
It wasn’t much longer before they had exited the container maze. They passed the old warehouse that had been half flattened, following the groups who weren’t headed toward the bridge. The farther away they got from their home in the shipping container yard, the more alone they became, as various teams split up to head in different directions. They passed a few dead zombies, slain by those ahead of them, but had yet to come across one still moving.
“So where is it we’re going?” Claire finally asked. She suspected her presence had disrupted the usual easy camaraderie of the group. Rose hadn’t joined the boys before either. She had lived at the Black Box with Claire, but she used to be a scavenger back on board the Diana, before she lost her hand, and therefore knew how to fit in with them. For Claire, this was the first time she had been allowed out like this.
Jon slid off his pack and grabbed a map out of a side pocket. It was battered and covered in various colours and markings that Claire didn’t understand.
“This is home,” Jon told her, pointing it out on the map. “This is where we’re going.” He pointed a fair distance away, where there were no coloured markings. “If we get separated somehow, go south-east. You’ll hit the sea and can follow it all the way back home. Don’t try to find us unless you’re certain you know where we are. The meeting point is always back home, understood?”
“I got it,” Claire nodded.
“Do you have a compass?”
“No, they ran out, but I don’t need one.”
“I’m going to give you mine anyway, just in case.” After Jon returned the map to his bag, he took out a sturdy brass compass and pressed it into Claire’s hand. She put it into one of the side pockets of her pants, doing her best not to feel offended or that she was a drag on the team.
It wasn’t much later when they came across a zombie that was still mobile.
“Dibs,” Rose called out, walking toward the slow moving thing while pulling her hammer off her belt.
As she watched Rose approach the zombie that was stumbling its way up out of a drainage ditch, Claire decided she would call dibs on the next one. It would help show the guys that she was capable, which was probably why Rose wanted to take out this one. Living at the Black Box together, Claire had seen how Rose always felt a need to prove herself capable despite her missing hand. Maybe she was just trying to prove it to herself; Claire couldn’t be sure.
Rose raised her hammer, and was just about to bash the zombie’s skull in, when she suddenly screamed and toppled over backward. Claire started to run to her aid along with the others, but stopped dead when they all received a shot of ice into their veins.
“Gator!” Rose screamed needlessly. The beast had reared up out of the drainage ditch in an attempt to make a meal out of her, narrowly missing. Fortunately, it battered the zombie in the process, knocking the dead thing away from her. Rose kicked at the pavement, pushing her way back from the alligator. It was momentarily distracted by the zombie getting back up, but it soon returned its attention to Rose.
No one had any bullets, but Jon stepped forward anyway. He drew his long katana, and slashed at the gator’s nose. It hissed and turned its attention toward him. Rose continued to scramble backward until Bryce and Larson grabbed her shoulders and dragged her a short distance away before setting her on her feet again.
Jon faced down the alligator, which was clearly infected by the same virus that turned people into zombies. The disease reacted differently in the gators. The large reptiles stayed alive, but they became a lot more aggressive, like the rats. They were far more prone to leaving their territorial waters as well, often spotted walking about on dry land.
The alligator hissed and roared and snapped at Jon, who continued to take it on. Dancing out of the way, he slashed and stabbed at the beast. His sword was sharp, but the gator’s scales were thick and tough. Jon was clearly aiming for weaker points, like the eyes and throat, but couldn’t land a successful blow.
Claire remembered the zombie while everyone else was distracted by the battle taking place. She pulled out her knife and went after the dead thing, which took her dangerously close to the alligator. It looked like the shuffler was going after Jon, who couldn’t afford to lose focus. Claire drove her knife through the zombie’s eye socket. Blackened and gooey blood leaked out along with the greyish mass that had been its eyeball before the zombie dropped to the ground.
A hissing alerted Claire to the alligator taking offence to her proximity. She didn’t bother to look at how close it might be; she just rapidly sprang farther away. The hollow wap of its closing jaws was far too close for comfort.
When Claire finally did turn around, she saw the alligator spinning away from her, back toward Jon. He had used her distraction to slash at the side of its belly, delivering a nasty cut, but not a killing blow. The gator charged Jon, who narrowly stepped out of the way in time. When the alligator’s jaws next made that flat wap, they managed to snag a few teeth on the fabric of Jon’s pants.
Jon shouted in surprise and fell to the ground as his leg was yanked out from under him. The alligator shook its head, and therefore most of Jon, who was barely managing to keep a hold on his sword. If the large reptile decided to change its hold, then Jon’s leg was in danger.
Danny jumped into action. He threw himself onto the alligator’s back. With one arm, he pressed its muzzle down to the pavement, while with the other, he did his best to cover the gator’s eyes. The alligator thrashed some more, trying to buck Danny off, but at least Jon’s leg was safe for it couldn’t open its jaws.
Larson threw himself on top of the alligator behind Danny, and Bryce approached the side of its head.
“Move your leg,” he instructed Danny.
The moment Danny lifted his leg out of the way, Bryce thrust at the side of the animal’s throat with his spear. Its efforts to thrash off the other two increased with the pain, but as it began to bleed out,
the gator weakened. Once it had stopped moving altogether, Danny and Larson climbed off. Jon grabbed the top of its mouth in order to open it, quickly freeing his torn pants before letting the upper jaw drop back down.
“That was some Steve Irwin shit right there,” Rose commented to Danny.
“You pick that up watching the Discovery channel with Emma?” Jon asked as he got to his feet.
“Yeah, probably,” Danny said quietly, a look of distress momentarily crossing his features.
“Damn it. Sorry, man, I forgot that you were with her when…” Jon didn’t bother to finish his sentence.
Danny shrugged. “Its okay. It was a long time ago now, right?”
Claire wasn’t sure what they were going on about, only that Jon gave her a weird look.
“That zombie might have gotten you if I hadn’t stepped in,” she told him, misunderstanding the thoughts behind his expression.
“It could have,” Jon nodded, surprising her by agreeing. “Thanks.”
Claire shuffled her feet, momentarily confused, for she hadn’t expected gratitude. “Well, you’re welcome, then.”
“So how do we drag this thing back to the container yard?” Bryce asked.
“Why would we bring it to the container yard?” Larson wondered.
“Food,” Danny simply replied.
“It’s got an active infection,” Jon pointed out.
“There are ways to cook infected meat so that it’s safe,” Rose mentioned.
“Yeah, but no one really trusts those methods, and so they don’t eat it,” Jon reminded her.
“People will eat it,” Claire told them. “I mean, we’re out here to find food because people are starving, right? They’ll cook the meat properly and they’ll eat it.”
“I agree,” Danny nodded.
“Are we taking a vote?” Jon looked around the group.
“Claire’s got a point. Our whole reason for being out here is to get food,” Bryce sided with her and Danny. “If we don’t bring it back, then what are we out here for?”
Rose stepped alongside the dead alligator and grabbed one of its limbs with her good arm. “Come on, boys. I can’t carry this bitch by myself, grab hold. If we get movin’ now, we can make it back to the container yard before dark.”
With Jon lifting the tail, Danny, Bryce, Rose, and Larson each hoisting up a leg, and Claire holding its long jaws, they were able to carry it between them. It was awkward for Claire at first, because she wasn’t sure of the best way to hold it and still walk comfortably facing forward. Eventually, Danny helped her out by hooking its upper teeth through a strap that hung off her bag, allowing the weight of its head to rest on her shoulders while leaving her hands free.
As they passed people who were still outbound from the container yard, they received a lot of attention. A couple skittered fearfully out of the way, as though the alligator might still be alive. A small handful clapped and cheered for them. Claire found herself both proud and uncomfortable with the attention.
By the time they reached the container yard once more, all the parties sent out were long gone, and all evidence of the ramps had been removed. The sky was a dull orange, the last remnants of the sun’s passage.
“Hello, up there!” Jon called out once they were near the wall.
A head poked out through the opening created by the blasted doors. “What is that?”
“Food,” Danny replied.
“We killed an alligator,” Bryce elaborated.
“Can we get a ladder?” Jon asked.
Once the ladder was in place, it took a lot of manoeuvring to get the gator’s dead body up. Getting it down the far side was a lot easier: they dropped it.
Groaning from the continuing effort, the team picked up their designated gator part once more. They muscled the thing through the container yard to the community centre.
Claire couldn’t help but notice how empty the shipping container yard was. Even at that time of night, she’d always seen a number of people walking about, but now she had to actively search in order to spot anyone. It was eerie.
“Do you think our leaders did the right thing in sending so many people out?” Claire wondered.
“You were originally listed to stay,” Jon reminded her. It seemed that despite her help with the zombie, he’d still rather have her remain behind.
“I think it’s the right thing,” Rose responded to Claire’s question, ignoring Jon’s remark. “We had too many people to feed. This way, those who can fend for themselves outside are doin’ just that, while also workin’ toward improvin’ our future by reachin’ out to other groups. Killin’ two birds with one stone.”
“You don’t think they should have left more people behind to defend this place?” Danny asked.
“From what?” Larson questioned him. “The people at the Black Box? Crichton himself is going over there to see if there’s any of them left. No zombies are going to be coming by anytime soon, not with all the parties that just went out clearing away any that are nearby. What’s there to defend us from?”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Bryce shook his head at his cousin-turned-brother. “We don’t know just what kind of threats could be out there. I don’t know whether it was a good idea to send out so many people at once or not. Yeah, it helps with the food situation, but it does also make this place more vulnerable.”
Their conversation ended when they entered the community centre and were suddenly swarmed by the remaining trio of cooks who had been cleaning up. They took the alligator and hauled it over to where it would be diced up into thin slices and thrown over a low fire that was using what little fuel remained after all the body burns. The infection would be sizzled out of it.
“It’s too late to head out again,” Jon decided. “We’ll meet by the wall again at sunrise.” With that, he walked off, probably to find Mark. The runners who had come to warn them of the coming zombie horde hadn’t yet decided what they wanted to do. Their purpose in life for the last decade or so had been to follow around the mega horde and warn people of its coming, at the same time trying to find an opening in which to take down the intelligent zombie that controlled it. Now that the intelligent zombie was dead, along with a good-sized portion of the horde, they didn’t know what to do with themselves. They had been offered the chance to stay, but none of them had made that decision yet. Not even Mark, who had been best friends with Jon before the Day, and had lived in the same apartment building as Claire. She didn’t talk to him much, but she was glad to see that he had survived. Seeing him reminded her too much of their apartment’s swimming pool, and everything that had happened to her there.
The team quickly disseminated, leaving Claire unsure what to do with herself. She wasn’t tired yet, and hadn’t planned on being at the container yard another night.
“How’d you like to help me with somethin’?” Rose suddenly asked, sidling up behind Claire and draping an arm across her shoulders.
“Sure. What do you need?”
“An accomplice.”
***
Back outside the wall, Claire was feeling particularly energized. She and Rose had done a fair bit of bonding the night before by playing harmless pranks on the kids who had had no choice but to remain behind. It was also exciting to know that no other groups were near them anymore, for now they all had a full day’s head start. No more messages were being run between teams. If something happened, they were completely on their own.
Without the other teams so closely ahead of them, they were able to pick up their pace. They passed the site of the alligator attack earlier than the previous day. It was clearly marked by the gator’s blood on the pavement, and the unmoving zombie corpse.
Rose approached the ditch in which the alligator had lain. She cautiously looked down into it, wondering if another might have taken its place, but none had.
“We should just keep lookin’ for gators,” she had suggested a few times. “A lot of meat, and we know how to kill them now.”
“How? By having me jump on them?” Danny replied. “Not an ideal method in my opinion.”
“We’ll take turns jumpin’ on ’em.”
No one outright refused Rose’s plan to hunt alligators. She was right about the meat they provided, and finding food was their first priority.
The three cooks who had taken the alligator from them had stayed up most of the night. They sliced up and fried all the meat, making sure it was prepared and safe to eat for breakfast in the morning. Apparently, one of the elderly residents who’d been injured and was sleeping on a cot in the community centre had volunteered to try the meat first. She said that if anyone was going to croak because of it, it might as well be her. But the meat proved safe. Doctors had checked the woman’s blood every few hours, but the dormant virus they all carried hadn’t woken up. A few people still refused to eat the meat in the morning, but the majority were willing to try some. Most of the strips had been turned into jerky, and a few had been given to Claire and her team members to take with them. It was the only reward they could be given.
It was a good thing they had been given that little bit of extra food to carry with them, because every time they came to an area that was known to grow some wild edibles, they found it already picked over by the groups ahead of them. It wasn’t until nightfall that they came across some tubers to pick. They had spotted a number of rabbits, squirrels, and birds throughout the day, but without bullets, no one had been able to take any of them down. Jon, Danny, Bryce, and Larson had all been taught how to sling stones, but, so far, none of them had proven themselves as adept at it as Freya. Although they had all made valiant attempts, not a single stone had hit its target.
“That looks like a good place to spend the night.” Danny pointed to a building across a small parking lot. The windows they could see were still intact, so hopefully the place was secure.
Claire, Rose, and Larson all waited outside, while Danny, Jon, and Bryce went to check out the interior. It didn’t take them long, and so they were soon all inside, laying out their bedrolls. In the darkness, they whispered their goodnights and tried to sleep. Claire found it difficult to close her eyes. This was her first time sleeping outside the safety of the walls, and it made her pretty wired. Ever since the Day, she had been kept in relative safety. Her first few nights were spent holed up in a motel, surrounded by army personnel, police officers, and everyone else who had been evacuated from the hospital. After leaving that place, she ended up on the Diana, and the cruise ship became her home for several years. When it was sunk, they had made it to the Black Box, eventually expanding to the shipping container yard, which was her home now that the Black Box had been taken over and destroyed. While there were many terrifying days during these events, whenever she had had to close her eyes, she knew she was protected. Out here, that wasn’t the case. There were only six of them to watch each other’s backs, and the walls could prove to be not as strong as they hoped.
Survival Instinct (Book 5): Social Instinct Page 6