Chapter 21.
As the day wore on, Hud continued to lead their scouting missions. Sasha, confused and trying to stay out of Derek’s way, stayed on Hud’s heels, trying to keep herself as busy as possible. They ran into a few stray monsters, who were slowed by the sunlight, but nevertheless hell-bent on feasting on human flesh. They were easily defeated by Hud’s quick shooting and Sasha’s powerful shotgun. As uncomfortable as the thought made her, Sasha was getting quite used to killing these things. She didn’t even consider them human, even though she knew that they had been, once.
Derek did his part, mostly covering Sasha with gunfire when needed, and being a keen pair of eyes to help in trying to locate any survivors. To no one’s surprise, no survivors turned up, and they only got a few cans of food. The scouting ended early that day, everyone seemed distracted, and they all knew that was a dangerous frame of mind to be in when facing deadly, ridiculously fast and strong opponents.
Hud announced his decision to search for a more secure place to park the Mauler that night, a place nearer to the three dark warships that were docked. He planned on trying to breach the ships the next day, looking for survivors and larger arms, and possibly working communications.
Sasha was not happy with that idea. Someone was going to have to stay with Nora, which meant they would be split up, and far more so than when they left Nora in the car for only moments at a time with Ripley as they searched houses. She wanted to argue, but Derek seemed completely resolute with the idea, strangely diverting from his normal stance of taking as few risks as possible.
They drove towards the Western most part of the base, near the water, but not close enough to the water to detect the stench of the bodies on the shore. Hud parked inside a short right angled concrete wall that looked like it used to be a part of some larger structure. The back end and passenger sides were sheltered by the wall, and Sasha and Nora sat in the cargo area, eating a few cans of food, sharing with Ripley. Sasha was talking to Nora, telling her stories from her own childhood, trying to pass the time. Hud was filling glass bottles with gasoline he had taken from someone’s garage, and had ripped a shirt into strips for fuses. Once they were done, he placed them right side up in a cooler and closed the lid on them.
Derek had been paying even closer attention to the dynamics between Sasha and Hud today, and he was sure that he was being used. He could not fathom the idea of driving around this empty base any longer, wasting time and delaying rescue. Sasha was trying to stay near Hud and protect Nora, that was obvious, and although it could have been interpreted as noble, Derek didn’t much appreciate the role he was playing in that plan.
Hud had been barking his orders as usual today, and it seemed that Sasha was even more quick to respond to them, almost as if competing with Derek for Hud’s approval. He may not know women’s intentions most of the time, but she was making hers well known. She was going to follow Hud, without regard to Derek’s wishes, while he had been the one worrying about her and Nora’s wellbeing from the beginning. He had to keep telling himself to get that angry look off his face while he was thinking, in case it gave him away. He was making his own plan, and didn’t want to risk it in any way.
The next few hours passed excruciatingly slow for Derek. He was awake far past anyone else, and when sleep finally overtook him, he dreamed of Sasha.
When the first rays of morning broke into the Mauler’s interior, Derek’s eyes slammed open. He had dark circles under his eyes, and looked exhausted but he couldn’t afford to sleep any longer if he was going to be successful in his plan to leave this morning. He moved as stealthily as possible. Hud was asleep in the driver’s seat, and Sasha and Nora were on the bench seat in the second row. Derek had chosen the cargo area on purpose, and as he stood, he grabbed his pistol, put it silently in his backpack, and zipped it up. Ripley was standing, eyeing him intently. She knew he was leaving, and she was going to make sure she was going with him. He made a face at her, one that he hoped she understood, of his gratitude for her loyalty.
As silently as possible, he unlatched the heavy cargo door in the back of the vehicle. The Mauler had been pulled backwards up against the concrete wall, and although the cargo door wouldn’t open all the way, it was wide enough for Derek to fit through. The wall blocked most of the dim morning light, so the cargo area remained dark. Derek eased out sideways, then turned to help Ripley down. He grimaced as he shut the door, a loud click resonated off the wall as the door locked into place. He froze for a moment, waiting for any sounds, but none came. He was fighting his self at this point, extremely reluctant to leave Sasha and Nora in the care of Hud alone. He felt responsible and protective of them both, but he was also not about to give up his chance of rescue because of some twisted romance going on between Hud and Sasha, especially when they made it so obvious that Derek was only tolerated because he could hold a gun.
He grit his teeth and began walking, Ripley a few feet ahead of him, nose to the ground. He had decided to head back to the entrance of the base. He had left Lawrence’s truck there, what seemed like ages ago, and inside that truck he knew there was a manila envelope that contained clues that would lead him to a cabin in North Carolina. He could find shelter there, if he didn’t find rescue on the way. If he made it all the way to the cabin, he would be so close to home. He hesitated to plan any further than that, because it seemed futile and depressing.
As he walked across the sandy base, he kept his mind on his surroundings. The monsters had began emerging more during the day. Derek had surmised that they were probably becoming desperate. If they survived off of the flesh and blood of live animals, or humans, they were running low on food. He was expecting to be hunted, and was grateful that he was not very far from the entrance. He stayed close to buildings, weaving in and out of shadows, with Ripley in check, trying to keep from being out in open areas with nowhere to hide. There was no way he could outrun those things, even when they were impaired by the low light of the early morning.
After about an hour of treading through the base, Derek made it to the road that he had entered on, and could see the parking lot he had left the truck in.
There was debris and garbage all over the road, and the smell of decaying bodies lingered heavily. He felt like he was being watched, but nothing jumped out at him, nothing began chasing him. He retraced his steps back to the pickup truck. He opened the door, startling when it creaked, and Ripley jumped up inside it like she had already understood his plan. He sat inside and pulled the door closed and picked up the manila envelope.
His dirty fingers rummaged through the papers until he found the photo of Lawrence and his wife in front of the red door on the cabin. He looked at it solemnly for a moment, then flipped to the sheet of paper Lawrence had shown him. It was an approved building license, allowing Lawrence to add a deck to the cabin. The cabin’s address was printed right on the letter, all Derek had to do was find it. He wanted to head back to the same convenience store he had broken into so long ago and get one of the roadmaps he had seen inside. He was just about to turn the key in the ignition when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye.
He jerked and looked towards it, eyes narrowing. He was expecting an ambush and was already moving his hand towards the backpack with Lawrence’s gun inside. Instead of a predator, he saw Sasha rise from beside a car nearby. She began running to the truck, and Derek opened his door, surprised and unexpectedly happy to see her.
Chapter 22.
“Where are you going?” Sasha demanded, her eyes fierce. Derek stepped out of the truck and was speechless for a moment.
“Are you leaving?” Sasha asked, her voice sounding meek, her eyes softening. She let her arms fall to her sides.
“Sasha, staying on the base is hopeless. I think I should go.” He could hardly remember why he was so angry with her yesterday, looking into her heartbroken face.
Sasha looked at the ground, obviously trying to control tears, and after a moment she looked back up at Dere
k.
“Without me?” She asked.
For some reason, those words stung. Yes, of course he had been planning on leaving without her, but he had no idea she would care. He was still unsure as to why she did.
“You said you wanted to be here. With Hud.” He offered. Mostly to her, but he was trying to convince himself that he had a reason to be as mad as he was up until a few moments ago.
“I want to be where you are.” She said. Derek knew that regardless of what he previously thought about her and Hud and his own confused feelings, he wanted to be where she was, too. He felt silly and childish, and he still was trying to convince himself that right now, during these last apocalyptic few days, the last thing that should have ever gotten into his head was a girl.
Sasha couldn’t stand it anymore, she fell forward, wrapping her arms around Derek and the tears started pouring. The hellish events of the past week had overwhelmed her. She had lost her family, her whole reality had crumbled. She had taken on the responsibility of caring for Nora, and had become a member of a partnership with Hud and Derek, even if it had been forced. She had seen things that made her worst nightmares seem like lullabies, and had somehow remained detached enough to keep from letting her emotions take over like they normally did. Now there was no way to stop them, everything was coming out and she was powerless against it.
Derek put his arms around her and let her sob. After a few moments, she pulled away, wiping her eyes and tried to straighten herself out.
“I hate when I do that.” She said, trying to smile. Derek smiled back, waiting for her to initiate any further conversation. She was thoughtful for a moment, then she began explaining.
“I don’t want to stay here. I want to leave, I want to find others. I just didn’t want to make a mistake and put everyone in more danger before I had a plan.” She stopped, trying to choose her next words wisely.
“Hud has helped keep us alive. He knows this base, this is his life. I know why he wants to stay. I just wish all of us could leave, I wish we had a goal outside the base. We don’t know what’s out there, Derek.”
“I know that there is a cabin in North Carolina with a generator and hot water and food and it’s far from a big city. I know that there has to be more people out there, and we aren’t going to find them here. I know that you and Nora would be better off coming with Ripley and me, I am going to-“ He stopped, eyebrows furrowing. “Where is Nora?”
“I left her with Hud, in the Mauler. They are both asleep, I was waiting for you to come back this morning. I heard you leave. When you didn’t come back I just followed you.”
“You left Nora with Hud? That’s a first.” Derek said.
“I didn’t want to, but you were leaving.” She said.
“I’m not leaving without you. We better get back.” He said. Neither of them liked the idea of Nora waking up with no one but Hud around. Hud wouldn’t hurt her, but he could care less about her emotionally fragile state, and how he would react to both Sasha and Derek being gone was hard to guess.
Derek was already reaching into the truck to get his backpack, letting Ripley jump down to greet Sasha. Sasha realized that yet again, she had jumped into action without thinking about the full consequences by leaving Nora in such a hurry to chase Derek across the base. She hoped that Nora was still asleep, and that Hud would wait for them to come back before he tried to go on with their unspoken routine.
As they hurried back toward the Mauler, they made a plan. Derek told Sasha about Lawrence and his cabin. They decided to try to convince Hud to come with them. If he would come, they could use the Mauler for travel, although it would be slow, it would be safe. Find storage for extra fuel, siphoned the same way Hud had done it earlier. If he wanted to stay, they would take an SUV from somewhere, as long as they could find the keys. That shouldn’t be a problem, except for cargo space. They would have to cut down on their supplies. As they neared the place where the Mauler had been parked, they heard gunshots ring out in the eerily quiet air. Close.
Sasha flinched and Derek immediately started running. Sasha was just a few steps behind him, coming around the building that was hiding the Mauler. Both of the Mauler’s two doors were open, and there were several of the cowered monsters fighting to get inside. Hud was at the driver’s door, kicking at four of them that were trying to climb inside and shooting towards the back end of the Mauler. They could see Nora, behind Hud, as he fended off the monsters inside as well as outside the vehicle.
Without a thought, Sasha ran unarmed towards the driver door, and slammed her body into one of them as hard as she could. The target was blindsided, and fell. Sasha kicked at his face, which was looking up at her with hunger, and before he could react, her foot made contact with his chin, snapping his head up. There was a sickening crack.
“Sasha!” She heard Derek yell, but it was background noise, she was concentrating on getting the door clear so Hud could protect Nora from the ones inside. She heard gunshots, too, and hoped Hud was aiming well.
She had caught the attention of the others who were at the door, and two of them gave up trying to enter the Mauler to come after her. She backed up, helplessly, as they prepared to pounce.
Suddenly Derek was on top of one of them. Derek and the monster went down, and Derek landed several solid punches to the side of the screaming monster’s head. The other one was still moving towards Sasha, oblivious to his downed comrade, and Derek reached for him. Sasha took the opportunity to escape, screaming for Hud. She saw a body fly backwards out of the Mauler, and Hud was yelling at her to get inside. She jumped onto the step to enter the vehicle, looking back at Derek. He had been overtaken by the last standing monster, and was desperately trying to keep the dripping teeth of his attacker away from his neck.
“Sasha, down!” Hud yelled, and Sasha automatically dropped. She heard the shotgun fire directly overhead, click, and then shoot again. The sound of the shots had left her ears ringing and she was scared to open her eyes. But when she did, she saw Derek, lying on his back, breathing deep, the dead monster off to the side.
Derek only needed a second to get up, and he was heading for the door. Hud had taken care of the two monsters that had climbed in through the back cargo door, and their bodies were laying over the bench seat like wet clothing over a line. Derek got in the vehicle and slammed the door shut. Sasha was already at Nora, looking her over. Aside from shaking uncontrollably, Nora was unscathed, and Hud was glaring at everyone.
“Where did you guys go? I wake up and everyone’s gone, and the back door is open. I couldn’t even fit through there. I got out to see if you guys are around, and here comes the kid, running like a bat out of hell, six or seven of those things behind her. I barely got her in the Mauler.” He stopped to take a breath. Sasha and Derek were both shocked by his sudden outburst of what sounded like concern for all of them.
“Thank you, Hud.” Sasha said, not knowing if that was enough to express her gratitude.
Hud was moving the bodies out of the vehicle now, not responding. Derek decided to try.
“Hud, we have a plan. We want you to come to this cabin with us.”
After pushing the bodies out of the back cargo door, he pulled it shut and latched it. He turned back around and looked at them all, one at a time, slowly.
“A plan. Really. Let’s hear it.” He said, standing with his legs widely planted, arms crossed.
Derek took a deep breath and began explaining it to Hud. He told him about meeting Lawrence before he got to the base, and how Lawrence and his wife were putting the finishing touches on a cabin a day’s drive away. Hud stayed uncharacteristically quiet, offering no sarcastic remarks or arguments until he was interrupted by Nora. She was frantically pulling on Sasha’s arm, it took a moment for Sasha to disengage from the conversation to see what Nora wanted.
When she looked at the girl’s face, it was sheer white. Her eyes were huge, and she was looking out the front of the Mauler. Sasha followed her gaze and saw them.
>
There was a wall of monsters coming. They were climbing over each other, apparently that desperate to get to the living breathing humans inside the vehicle that they were stampeding. Hud leaped over the seats and started the engine, and Nora and Sasha took cover in the back of the Mauler. Derek was sitting in the passenger seat, a steady stream of “come on, come on” emanating from his barely moving lips.
The Mauler started rolling forward, away from the wall it was parked against when the wave of bodies hit it. The light coming through the windshield disappeared as the sun was blocked by screaming people climbing onto the hood, banging their fists into it, scraping at it, with bloody fingers. The Mauler was totally immersed in a horde of frantic, hungry, infected killers. They were beating the sides of the vehicle and their collective weight was making the Mauler sway sickeningly.
“Go!” Sasha heard herself yelling, though she knew Hud was moving as fast as he could. The Mauler was a strong vehicle, but there were so many of them. The view was completely obscured, Hud had no way to gauge how clear his path was. He moved forward anyway, the wheels of the vehicle bouncing over bodies as more of them approached.
The sounds were almost unbearable, a metallic scrape alongside the length of the Mauler, bashing and high pitched unnatural wails coming from their attackers. Nora had her hands over her ears, and her mouth was open in a silent scream. Sasha reached around Nora’s head, holding her tight, and began telling a story into Nora’s ear.
“Princess Nora was finally across the Icy Cold Winterland, but now she had to make it to the top of the biggest mountain in the Kingdom, Monkeyhead Mountain.” Sasha improvised. “She was riding in a hot air balloon, soaring above the trees as all the evil monkeys threw coconuts at her.” Nora’s hand loosened from her ear. As Sasha kept her eyes on the windshield, watching the bodies fall and climb, she spun another chapter in Princess Nora’s saga, another obstacle that was conquered, correlating the story with the background noise.
The Loki Variation Page 13