by V. L. Dreyer
I paused in front of a rack full of children's clothing. The tiny garments attracted me, in some way that I couldn't quite name. I reached out and trailed my fingers over a baby-sized romper, marvelling at the softness of it. The texture brought back memories of holding Skylar when she was an infant. So soft and fragile, a tiny doll that smelt like baby powder and milk. She'd been so completely helpless, and reliant on us for everything…
Suddenly, I felt nauseated. I barely made it back outside before the heaving began, with such force that it knocked me to my knees on the cold pavement. My entire body convulsed, but to my relief nothing actually came up. Just dry heaves, enough to make me feel miserable without actually wasting any food.
When the heaves finally passed, I lifted my head and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. It was only then that I realised I was being watched from the bushes across the street. The shotgun trembled in my hands as I lifted it, but I did my best to hide the weakness as much as I could.
"Who's there?" I demanded. My voice was hoarse, but it was still strong and confident. That was what I needed.
There was a long moment of silence, then a familiar voice called a greeting. "Is me, Mama. Priyanka."
"Priya!" I gasped in a mixture of relief and anxiety. "Oh, honey, you worried me so much when you vanished last night. Are you okay?"
"I fine, Mama. No worries about me," she called back. I saw her head pop up, easily visible under its bright pink raincoat, but she didn't immediately come to me. Instead, she looked down into the bushes and seemed to be holding a soft-spoken conversation with someone that I couldn't see.
I swiftly put two and two together. "Is that Melody with you? Or is it Jasmine?"
"Both, Mama, and Solo too," Priya called back. Someone hidden near her protested, but she just gave them a glare and made a curt gesture. This time, she spoke loud enough for me to make out what she was saying. "You shoosh! That is my mama you talking about, you not say like that. I love Mama."
My eyes blurred with tears all of a sudden, and I felt a rush of warmth at her words. Though it took strength that I wasn't entirely sure I had, I levered myself up to my feet and put my shotgun back over my shoulder.
"I love you too, honey," I called back. "Tell your friends that they can take as much time as they need. I understand how they feel. It's hard to trust."
Priya glanced at me, but before she could say anything, a second youngster popped up beside her. It took a few seconds before I realised that it was Jasmine, all wrapped up in a dark green oilskin raincoat. Jasmine said something that I couldn't quite make out, then shoved her way out of the bushes and crossed the road towards me. I just waited, watching her approach without making any sudden moves that might frighten her.
My caution was unwarranted. Jasmine came at me with stalwart determination, and didn't stop until she was standing right in front of me. She crossed her arms over her chest, and regarded me curiously. "Are you okay?"
"Huh?" I blinked in surprise; that wasn't quite what I expected.
"Are you okay?" she repeated, as if she were speaking to a slow child. "We saw you being sick."
"Oh!" Realisation hit like a sledgehammer, and left me feeling stupid. Of course, they were worried about illness. They'd seen all of their families die of the plague. "Yeah, I'm fine. I had a concussion a few days ago – a hard bump on the head – and sometimes that makes your body do dumb things like want to throw up for no reason."
"Oh. Okay." Jasmine nodded her understanding, then turned and looked at the bushes across the street. "You can come out. It's safe."
"She better not be infectious," a third voice called. There was a momentary argument between the third voice and Priya, but it ended when Priya made a rude noise and stomped out of the bushes. She came over and gave me a hug. I hugged her back, and planted a kiss on the top of her head, to which she responded with a much happier noise.
"I'm not sick," I called back, trying to clarify the situation for them. "I had an injury to my head, and it hasn't healed fully yet. That happens sometimes when you have a bump on the noggin. You're Melody, right? Gavin was telling me about you."
Finally, Melody stood up, along with a slender youth that I presumed must have been Solomon. I couldn't make out many of the details of their features from afar; just like the rest of us, they were wrapped up in raincoats to keep the storm at bay. Melody glanced around warily, then finally she crossed the road towards me. I caught a glimpse of fair skin tanned golden-brown and ash-blonde hair, but that was about it. She stopped a few feet away from me, studying me with an expression that was an odd balance of hostile neutrality.
"So, you're the one that saved Lily?" she demanded, her voice carrying an edge of violence that made me equally wary of her motives.
"I wasn't alone, but yes. I saved Lily." I straightened up to my full height and gave her a long, frosty look. Although I had no intention of acting in a hostile manner towards her, she clearly needed something a bit tougher than my usual mannerisms. Tougher was something that I understood. "Our doctor has taken care of her all night. She's going to be fine."
"Good." Though she was almost a hand span shorter than me, Melody did not look intimidated in the least. She folded her arms and met my eye with unwavering confidence. "As soon as she's well enough to walk, I want you to send her home."
"She's free to go any time she chooses, so long as she's sober enough to make the trek safely." I shrugged, but didn't break eye-contact. I sensed in some instinctive way that there was a contest happening, and the first of us to look away would be the loser. "My people stay with me because they choose to, Melody. Because I offer them protection, and all I ask in return is their best efforts to help the group survive. No one in my company is a prisoner."
The girl's gaze wavered. Finally, she blinked and looked at Jasmine. The two exchanged a few whispered words, then she looked at me with great interest. "Why are you going south?"
"Because there are monsters coming from the ruins of Hamilton," I told her bluntly, making no attempt to sugarcoat the truth. "They've already killed our friends, and members of our group. One of them was a girl, the same age as Jasmine and Lily. The monsters tore out her throat, and she bled to death in her uncle's arms. I have no intention of staying around to let them kill anyone else."
"Monsters?" Jasmine gasped and looked at Melody with wide eyes. Solomon looked back and forth between them nervously, hugging himself. Suddenly, all three of them looked at Priyanka, who just nodded.
"Bad monsters. Bitey. Screamy. Maddy told me." Priya cuddled up against me, and hid her face against my shoulder. "Mama protect us. Take us far, far away from the bad monsters."
"Have you guys ever seen a pig?" I asked, looking back and forth between the three young faces in front of me. Jasmine and Solomon shook their heads, but Melody nodded hesitantly.
"Only once," she said, her voice dropping to a quiet, almost reverent tone. "It chased me for half a day before I managed to lose it."
"Well, these new monsters, they're like that... except they look like people." I hugged Priya's wet little body against me, stroking the back of her hooded head. "They have arms and legs, and they can run as fast as you or I if they want to. They hunt in packs, and if they catch you they'll rip you to shreds." I glanced up and caught Melody's eye. "I outran a whole pack of them to get back to my family so I could lead them away from danger, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
"Is true," Priya echoed, backing up my story. "Mama ran and ran, so far and so fast! And Mama saved me and Baba from the bad mans that wanted to make us dead, too. Mama is very brave." She tilted her head back and looked up at me with those enormous eyes of hers. "Mama teach me to be like her, yes?"
"I don't think I have to teach you anything, little miss." I grinned and gave her a playful squeeze. "Did you tell your friends about the time that you fought a pig?"
The three youngsters gasped in surprise. Priya shook her head, looking a little embarrassed. "No… not yet. Too busy."
"Well, why don't you go tell them about it?" I suggested, gently releasing her from my grasp. "I need to go get a few people to come and see what we can retrieve out of this store, before the rain gets in and ruins everything." I shifted my gaze to Melody and the others, and gave them a smile that was a little bit playful and a little bit friendly. "As for you lot… we're leaving town as soon as we're done at the radio station. If you want to join us, then you're welcome to."
None of them said anything, so I turned and walked away. It was a risk, but a calculated one. Michael was right about Priya; she'd survived for ten years without me, and she'd clearly managed to forge some kind of bond with the little pack of ragamuffins. The likelihood that her friends would hurt her was slim, and even if they tried… well, I'd already learned that she could hold her own. It was hard for me to detach myself emotionally, but intellectually I knew it was for the best.
I made it almost twenty metres back towards our base of operations before I heard running footsteps coming up behind me.
"Hey, wait up!"
I turned back, and saw the four teens running after me, their feet splashing wildly through the puddles. A few metres away, they skidded to a halt. The other three looked at Melody, who in turn looked at me.
"We'll help," she said simply.
"With what?" I enquired, lifting an eyebrow.
"With the shop," she replied, gesturing back towards the Salvation Army store. "If we're going to come with you, then we need to contribute somehow. That's how it works, right?"
It took a moment before her meaning sunk in, but once it did I felt a slow smile creeping across my face. I nodded. "Yep, that's right. Are you sure about this, though? Tokoroa is your home."
"It's not our home," Melody said sharply, shaking her head. "Our home is wherever our group is, and my group wants to go with yours." She paused for a second, and gave me the tiniest of smiles. "And I want to go with you. Just for a while, though. I mean, if anything happens and we decide that we don't like it, then we're gone."
"Like I said, any member of my group is free to go at any time." I shrugged and gave her a smile. "While you're with my group, you're going to need to follow my commands. I won't ask you to do anything that I wouldn't do myself, ever. But, I need to know that I can rely on you to do what I tell you to the best of your abilities. Can you do that?"
Melody lowered her head and thought it over for a moment, then she nodded the affirmative. "Yeah. Yeah, we can do that. I can't promise we'll like it, but we'll do it."
"Good." I grinned at her, and beckoned for the group to follow me. "Come on, then! We've got lots of work to do, and not much time to do it in."
***
By midday, we'd cleared out most of the Salvation Army store, and brought anything that was salvageable back to the office block where our own little army waited for us. There would be no salvation for any of us except that which we made ourselves, but we were certainly grateful for the stuff.
Introductions were made between our newcomers and the rest of the group. To my surprise, it was Jasmine that meshed with the rest of the group most swiftly; Melody was wary and standoffish, and Solomon was so quiet that I wondered if he was mute.
It was Priyanka that really came into her own, though. She spent the entire morning darting back and forth between the new members and the old, and I could practically see her carefully weaving a web of understanding between them like an artisan creating a complex tapestry. I was grateful for it, too; I spent most of the morning feeling mildly queasy, and it only started to pass by lunchtime.
Everyone gathered in the little kitchen for lunch. There weren't enough seats, so we stood or sat around chatting while we ate. Priya sat with her new friends in a tight circle, talking softly amongst themselves. I stood by Michael, discreetly watching them and keeping to myself.
"Thank you."
The voice was so sudden and unexpected that it made me jump. I glanced over, and realised that Gavin had snuck up beside us undetected.
"For what?" I asked, genuinely surprised by the gratitude.
"For taking us in," he said quietly. His eye swivelled to the children, and he gestured towards them with a tilt of his chin. "For having the patience to take them in. I know it's not easy."
"It's not meant to be easy," I answered, slowly shaking my head. "It's meant to be bloody hard. I knew that when I took this mission on. You don't decide to rebuild a broken world and expect anything to be easy. We are going to have to fight tooth and nail for every little thing, just like we have for the last ten years. But, do you know what the difference is?"
"Yes." He gave me a lopsided smile, and nodded. "Now we get to do it together."
"Exactly." I made a broad gesture towards the people all around us. "And every one of these souls is going to fight at our side. With teamwork and effort, we can achieve anything."
"Speaking of which," he said, changing the subject. "The radio station is up and running. We just need to record a message to put on infinite loop. I think you should be the one to record it."
"Oh yeah, that's not terrifying at all. My voice on record for all eternity, broadcasting into the ether." I heaved a dramatic sigh, then put my plate down on the table with the others. "Let's go get this done, then."
He nodded and led the way to the door, with Michael and me following him. For reasons unknown, several of the others decided to join us. By the time we'd reached the radio station and Gavin had helped me get settled into the recording booth, our entire group was crowded around outside the open door, jostling one another to make sure they could hear me. Every single one of them. The only person missing was Doctor Cross, who refused to leave Lily's side.
It was an unfamiliar feeling, knowing that there were so many pairs of eyes focused on my every move, and ears hanging on my word. I should have been used to it by now, but I didn't think I ever would be. It was strange and alien, but it was also a powerful feeling. With that thought in mind, I took a deep breath and nodded to Gavin. He patted my shoulder reassuringly, and pressed the button that set the big microphone in front of me recording.
"Survivors of New Zealand, heed my call," I said slowly, clearly, and with as much confidence as I could project. "The virus has mutated. As I speak, there are new infected spreading across the Waikato region. They came from Hamilton, but they are not stopping there.
"I implore you to leave your homes and head south. I repeat, head south. If you are currently north of Hamilton, exercise extreme caution when you're travelling through the Waikato. Assume that you'll never be able to return, and pack accordingly. Bring as much food and water as you can, along with anything that you hold dear.
"The mutants are pack hunters, and are recognisable by their distinctive howl. Carry a weapon at all times. If you are attacked, aim for the legs and cripple it. Then, you must set it alight, otherwise it will keep attacking you. Usual methods are ineffective. Fire is the only sure way to destroy them.
"My name is Sandrine McDermott. I am the leader of a large group. There is safety in numbers, so we will welcome anyone who comes to us in peace. We will be leaving from Tokoroa and heading south along State Highway 32 past the western shore of Lake Taupo, and then we will follow State Highway 1 south from Turangi. If you wish to join us, meet us along this route.
"If you're thinking of ambushing us, then I strongly advise against it. We are well-armed, well-trained, and we will defend ourselves.
"If you are uncertain whether to join us or not, then know this: our group has formed with one purpose, and that is friendship. We have numerous women and children with us, and every member of my group will fight to the death to protect any other member. We have no interest in power or material gain, only in helping our friends to stay happy and healthy.
"This message was set four days after the first full moon of winter, and will play on an indefinite loop. For further updates, please scan the nearby frequencies."
I glanced at Gavin and indicated for him to stop the
recording. He did so, then he stood back and gave me a long, thoughtful look. Behind him, I heard faint murmuring from the others, then something happened that I didn't expect. Someone started clapping. I couldn't see who it was, but it spread like wildfire through the group. Before I quite knew what was happening, anything else I might have said was drowned out in a sea of applause.
CHAPTER TWENTY
We left Tokoroa at the crack of dawn the next morning, or what passed for it when the sky was perpetually clouded with rain. Before we moved off, I paused to do a headcount and check everyone's name off against a list that I'd written for myself the night before. There were so many people with us now that it was the only way I could keep track.
Michael and I led the way, to no one's great surprise. At some point during the journey, it had just sort of been assumed that was our position and that we were the trailblazers for the rest of the group. In the back seat, Melody and Solomon sat staring out the windows, leaving Priyanka to natter away happily between them. She'd already adapted to life on the road, but it would take the newcomers time to get used to it.
A few hours into the journey, I caught Michael watching me and shot him a curious look. "What?"
"You're scowling again," he pointed out. "What's on your mind now?"
"Oh." I indulged myself in a long, deep sigh, then I shrugged helplessly. "I'm worried about gas, to be frank. I estimate we've only got eight, maybe nine days of fuel left. We've been incredibly lucky so far in terms of fuel, but I don't think it's going to last. Hell, even with Zain working on the trucks every night, we can't guarantee that they'll last forever, either."
"So if that happens, we get out and walk," he suggested with a shrug.
"Even the little kids? The wounded? Doc?" I replied, staring thoughtfully at the road in front of me as I guided the Hilux forward. "No… we need to start thinking about ways to conserve fuel. Or better yet, alternatives to petrol. It's not so bad up here, but petrol was starting to get scarce last time I was down south."