by Cass Kim
“Who cares? You think they care?” She gestured behind them, where Jackson, Andre, and Yvette carried the packs with their food and water.
“They might care that they’re carrying all the extra stuff for you to help us move faster, and you’re busy jabbering away and laughing like a loon.” Emerson adjusted his own pack, nodding pointedly at her empty hands and back.
Alyssa stuck her tongue out at him but then returned her focus to breathing in for every four steps and out for every three. If she’d thought the sisters were scary, they had nothing on Yvette and Andre. Both were the type to stand too still, and grunt non-word answers during introductions, heads moving in isolated arcs from person to person. Apparently even Emerson had had limited interactions with them prior to this morning.
She had no way of knowing for sure, but she’d be willing to bet they’d jogged three or four miles through the rugged terrain already. The further they got from camp, the more important scouting ahead became. Nobody knew exactly where the quarantine lines started. Or where the newly changed may have made it out to.
Having the scary Wilders from their camp with them was reassuring for that reason. If they did come across any newly changed Wilders, the odds were highly in their favor to escape with little damage. At least on the way to town. Coming back everyone would be laden with the supplies. It would be an entirely different story then.
By the time they took their first break, Alyssa was too tired to resume teasing Emerson. She drank deeply from the water pack he handed her and forced herself to gnaw on a hard granola bar. How the hell was she going to get back on her feet and keep jogging?
“All right, so I’ll take the lead now.” Emerson scanned the group then rested his eyes on Alyssa. “Let’s take a slower pace for a while. We’re not all Wilder fast, and we don’t need to get too exhausted too quickly.”
Alyssa gave him a thumbs up and a dirty look. No need to point it out. Everybody already knew she was the weak link here.
The day carried on in a blur of walking and jogging intervals, broken only by short breaks to eat and drink. When the sun dipped below the tree line, Emerson led them to a small area that was mostly clear of bushes and rocks.
“Thank God.” Alyssa huffed out the words as the others slung packs to the ground and dug out sleeping bags.
Jackson, who had been silently trailing behind her all day to be sure she didn’t get left by the others looked up briefly at her and then gave her a slow wink.
Alyssa jerked and blinked twice in a double take, doubting she’d seen that correctly.
The scary-hot Wilder chuckled and continued to unpack the contents of the large bag he’d hauled all day. Bagged dried soups came out, followed by heavy jugs filled with water. The sisters paused in their own unpacking to look up at Jackson’s chuckle, their movements jerky. Yvette and Andre were throwing large rocks off into the woods, clearing the area for sleeping.
Alyssa trudged her heavy legs over to where Emerson was dragging out matches and little bits of old worn cloth from his pack.
He glanced up. “Hey, can you gather a bunch of small sticks? Make sure they’re dry.”
“Sure. But then I am so sitting down and not getting back up until morning.”
He snorted. “Make sure you stretch while you pick up sticks, then. You’ll be awfully sore and stiff tomorrow.”
Alyssa groaned and shuffled away from him, eyes searching for small, dry sticks hidden in the leaves. Taking his advice, each time she found a stick she bent at the waist and took a moment to stretch her tight hamstrings before standing back up.
It wasn’t until they’d finished their rehydrated soup dinners that Alyssa realized how different it was to be here than in camp. Looking around the circle of reflective eyes and jerky, quiet movements, she was acutely aware that she was the only full human within miles. In the darkness, even Emerson seemed strange and potentially dangerous as the firelight flickered and danced in his copper pupils. How much did they really know about the stability to the others with them? If one of them went rogue, would Emerson be enough to protect her?
10
Renna
Alyssa and Emerson had been gone for three days, and already Renna felt abandoned. Sure, she had Syd, but mostly Syd was working in the labs for long daytime hours. And, with Emerson gone, Soo had stopped making it a point to return to the cabin at regular intervals. Renna still had a few more days before more blood draws were scheduled, so she had a lot of long hours and very few things to fill them with.
At least for the most part she had Tim Tam back. She still had to be careful not to move too quickly around him, but he seemed content to stay near her. Sometimes he’d wander off for a few hours. The first time she’d gotten worried and gone looking for him. She’d found him on the trail to the reinforced Wilders tents. Apparently, he was carrying on Alyssa’s old habit of visiting Benjamin. At least somebody was. Even if it was the cat.
Renna stirred the gluey mixture of oatmeal, seeds, and tubers. With supplies running low, each meal was roughly the same. A lot less food, and always pretty flavorless. But she’d promised both Emerson and Alyssa that she’d make herself eat all of each serving she was given. She had just heaved another sigh and was scraping at the last of the mixture when the noise began.
Her heart rose, a grin tugged at her lips. They must have made great time through the woods to be back so soon. Maybe all the talk about the quarantine was exaggerated. She shoved the last spoonful into her mouth and dashed to put the bowl and spoon away.
Renna took the straightaway portion of the path at full Wilder speed, at once nervous and excited to see Emerson again. Would he still feel the same about her after a few days away? Maybe he’d sweep her up and kiss her in front of everyone, like in the movies. Renna checked her pace as the shouting and voices became louder. She couldn’t make out what was being said, and she was still a sharp bend away from seeing anything.
An explosive boom shattered through the voices, and they did not start up again. Instinct carved her heels into the hard dirt path and she skidded to a halt. Tim Tam, just a few feet behind her, arched his back, then turned and ran back the way they’d come, fur puffed out straight. Renna debated chasing after him.
No, she decided, it would not be wise to turn her back on what was ahead. Her seven-year-old self knew all too well what the boom had been.
It had been a gunshot.
Dodging into the trees, intent on sneaking closer to find out what was happening, Renna debated the possibilities. It most certainly was not the supply team. It could be that the quarantine had grown. Or a real Wilder had been hunted through the woods to here. Maybe the National Guard had finally decided that the unmanned, unsecured woods were too dangerous with the mutating virus.
Now hidden within the tree line, Renna crept forward, staying low, careful to keep her head below the scrubby bushes along the trail.
A deep, commanding voice rose over the stunned silence.
Renna froze.
The voice was deep enough that she couldn’t catch the exact words, strain though she might. However, the tone was clear. Authority rang through the voice, confident, no hesitations.
It didn’t sound like warm, teacherly authority.
Not liking the situation, she pushed her sunglasses closer to her eyes and cupped her hands around the edges to block out the extra sunlight. She scanned the surrounding forest for hidden figures.
When she saw none, she checked the ground for any sticks or dry leaves that would betray her movements with snaps or crackles and inched forward.
Lower softer sounds- sobbing, murmuring, feet shuffling- came as she crept closer, sliding heel by sliding heel in the undergrowth.
Holding her breath, Renna rounded the corner and poked her head around a stand of trees and into late afternoon sunbeams crossing a clearing.
Squinting, she knelt and took in the scene.
Five burly men and two women in tactical gear held enormous guns. Despite the wei
ght of the weapons, and the long trek through the woods, each person was sunglasses free. So, they were just tough humans. Not Wilders.
Across from them, lined up in a loose arc stood many of the camp. She recognized the backs of some of the scientists. Both Dr.’s Kim stood near each other, each in a rigid straight-backed posture. Syd and her Mom were not far from them, Janeece’s shoulders curved inward, head bowed. Syd’s hands clenched and unclenched behind her back, but her posture seemed oddly relaxed.
Sobbing came from somewhere in the front, blocked from Renna’s view by the thick legs of Dr. Blake, the geneticist she saw for assessments every other week.
Before she could move to see what was happening there, the voice boomed again.
“What happened here today was a situation that can be prevented moving forward. If we work together.” The man speaking with such authority had removed his shades and was somehow wrinkle and dirt free despite the surrounding forest. His face was stoic and weirdly smooth. As he spoke, his cheeks seemed frozen in place, his lips moving stiffly.
“Cooperation is the new name of this operation. I don’t want to use force to get the information your government needs, but I will if you compel me to. That’s why they sent my team and I.” As he continued, Renna realized his face was so still and weird because he’d had Botox. She’d seen that on TV before but never in person.
Ignoring his continued droning, which was all in the vein of the importance of working together, she focused on getting the few feet forward she needed to see what everybody was looking at. He’d said something about a situation that could be prevented. She’d heard a gunshot.
Renna steeled herself to be brave. She was a Wilder now. She should be fearless. Grateful that she knew everybody she loved was either out of camp or right in front of her, alive and well, she shuffled deeper into the woods. If she could see them, there was the chance they could see her movements.
Once she had a few rows of trees hiding her, she stood, looking before each foot placement. Irritated with herself, she knew she should have been spending these past few days working out and working on her knowledge of the woods. Instead, she’d laid in bed and daydreamed of how the trip was going, wondering what Emerson and Alyssa were talking about. And reliving those stolen kisses under the stars over and over again, her heart still giddy.
When she’d made it forward enough, she began the slow progress on hands and knees toward the edge of the tree line. She had to see what had happened. Why there was crying. The pit of her stomach told her she already knew. What she really needed to know now was who.
Another gunshot, this one from somewhere behind her, startled her out of her concentration. She froze, half crouched, hands shaking.
What on Earth was going on? The scientists hadn’t expected their government contacts to come in with firearms and force. Renna swallowed hard and darted her eyes from tree to tree. The camp leaders had been out of contact from their former co-workers and supervisors for years now.
Renna knew all too well that the typical government response to Wilders was to shoot first and ask questions later.
When the woods behind and in front of her came crashing to life, Renna didn’t wait to ask questions either.
She ran.
11
Alyssa
It hadn’t taken long to figure out the quarantine was going to be a big problem. The blocked off area extended out to the next two towns over as well, forcing the supply team to travel further North than anticipated.
The expanded quarantine also meant that the best chance for getting the supplies they needed was in a larger town than they’d expected. Placid Falls was the largest city, if you could call it that, this side of the park. It was where, before the Change, tourists had stayed and geared up for their treks into the preserved national forest. It had remained a mecca for the local population as the only place with large box stores where you could get everything you possibly needed in bulk, not just the canned goods.
In that sense, it was perfect for a supply run. The trouble was that, because it was more densely populated, it also had a much larger output of electricity. And a much longer walk through that power-laden town into the area with the stores. Not something their Wilder-filled group could tolerate.
When the camp had first started, they’d sent groups to the big stores to get the tents and coolers, generators and first aid supplies. They’d had more access to cars then. And fewer Wilders. Now, they had one car hidden off an old dirt road as far into the forest as they could get it. That was for when they sent humans to Placid Falls, where they’d stuff the car as full as possible. But, with expired tags and no way to renew them legally, the car was a risk.
It was also inside the quarantine lines.
“Look, Emerson, you already checked and rechecked the boundaries of the quarantine. Checking again isn’t going to make a damn difference!” Alyssa felt her temper rising but couldn’t control herself. Three long days of walking, jogging, and minimal rest. Two days of Emerson trotting back to the lines, reporting they’d have to try the next town. Well, they’d found the boundary, and now they needed to get this done and get back to camp. Get back to Renna and Jammin and hopefully their government fix-alls.
“You. Don’t. Get. It.” Emerson bit out the words, stalking back and forth, kicking at the ground. “We can’t go into Placid Falls.”
“It doesn’t have to be ‘we.’ I’ll go.” Alyssa jutted her chin out, crossing her arms firmly over her chest.
“And how the hell do you plan to carry back enough supplies for an entire camp by yourself?”
“I’ll take a few trips. You guys can meet me at the edge of the city.”
Emerson threw his hands up in frustration, letting out an inarticulate sound. “What are you going to do? Steal a shopping cart and push it around the streets like some homeless lady? I’m sure that won’t look odd at all! Especially with your likely status as a missing individual—” His voice rose to a shout— “from a quarantined town!”
Alyssa sucked in a deep breath, ready to shout back at him when Jackson stood and snapped his hands out, one gripped her shoulders, one covering her mouth.
“Silence. We’re not alone.” The older Wilder gestured to Andre and Yvette, who unshouldered their packs and assumed a fighting stance, looking into the woods.
Alyssa struggled against the hand clamped over her mouth, smooshing her lips into her teeth. She swatted at the Wilder, and twisted, dislodging his sunglasses, but he didn’t let go. His posture was rigid. He pointed to the sisters and then to the woods on their left with his free hand.
The sisters nodded and dropped their packs with a thunk, backs turned to the group, facing to the left. Jackson shuffled her closer to Emerson and released her slowly. He peered at her, face too close, his bright blue irises an eerie contrast to the copper of his pupils. In exaggerated deliberateness he placed a finger over his lips, indicating for her to remain silent.
Alyssa nodded, running her tongue along the inside of her lips. Painful but no blood. She turned to Emerson, whose rigid posture and strained expression frightened her far more than the hard hand covering her mouth had.
Biting her lip against asking what they heard, Alyssa listened hard. Only the thuds of her heartbeat, pounding through her ears, broke the silence. What were they so scared of?
Then she realized. No birds. True, the birds sensed the oddness of the group, and those nearest went quiet. But this was different. It was like every bird within miles had stopped chirping. No calls. No flight. No squirrels jumping through the undergrowth. But that wasn’t scary in itself. Maybe their shouting had carried too far.
Jackson cocked his head and adjusted his sunglasses before unsheathing the knife at his ankle, the handle wrapped in heavy rubber layers.
Alyssa shook her head, terrified. What did the Wilders know that she didn’t?
The thicket of raspberry bushes to their left trembled, the last of the later berries dancing in the late sunlight
. Then twigs snapped, and a medium-sized black bear rumbled from the bushes.
The animal froze, sniffing at the air. The Wilders tensed. Alyssa held her breath. A bear. A wild black bear. She’d never seen one in real life before. The huge head swiveled back and forth while the black eyes, which held an unexpected intelligence, looked them up and down. The animal snuffled and cleared its nose before slapping the ground with its massive paws. Explosive puffs blew from its snout as it bared its teeth.
Jackson stepped in front of her, poised on the balls of his feet.
The bear swiped at the ground again, backing away a step, and looking away from the three Wilders inching forward. The Wilders didn’t hesitate, didn’t look away.
With one last hard shake of its head, it backed back into the bushes then turned and galloped away.
Alyssa expelled a woosh of air, her heart about to burst from holding her breath as the sounds of the bear crashing through the forest faded.
She cracked a tight smile at the Wilders, ready to resume her argument. But they were still on alert, none of them paying attention to her relief.
The bear bellowed a deep resonant sound that sent shivers up Alyssa’s spine.
Kina and Shelly took off at a run.
When the bellow turned into a human-like scream of distress, Andre and Yvette charged into the woods at full Wilder speed.
Growls and cracking branches echoed through the trees, nearing moment by moment. The large form of the bear backed through the bushes, surrounded by the darting forms of Wilders.
“Emerson, why are they hurting it? It walked away.” She knew they were low on food, but they’d have no way to store that much meat. It was wasteful.
Jackson flicked a look her way before indicating for them to back up.
Emerson tugged her back, shoving her behind him. “They’re not the ones hurting the bear. Count the Wilders.” His voice was grim, and he pulled his own knife from the sheath at his side, knuckles white.