Death's Children (Book 1): Cat's Eye

by Higgins, Baileigh

  The impulse to run out of the house in search of her mother, the one person in the world who'd always been there for her, tore through Cat. At the same time, she couldn't abandon her new charges.

  The two opposites warred within her until she had to stifle a sob, She bit down on her lip to keep from screaming in frustration. I don't know what to do!

  Her head dropped into her hands, fingers clenching at the roots of her hair until her head ached. A soft touch on her shoulder startled her, and she looked up into Theresa's eyes.

  “Are you okay?” Theresa asked. “Did you lose your mommy and daddy too?”

  “You're worried about me?” Theresa nodded, and Cat was amazed that such a small child could carry so much love inside her. “I'm sorry. I'm the grown-up here. I should be looking after you, not the other way around.”

  Cat opened her arms, and after a second's hesitation, Theresa crawled onto her lap. Juan followed, and Cat held them close, comforting them as they grieved. “It's okay. It'll be okay. I won't leave you. I promise.”

  As she uttered the words, Cat knew they were the truth.

  This is what mom would have wanted me to do.

  Chapter 3

  Cat peered through the leaves on the bush that provided her with sanctuary and stared at the road ahead. Night had fallen, the heat of the sun giving way to a stiff, chilly breeze. It was the kind of wind that promised rain, a promise reinforced by the thick clouds that covered the face of the moon.

  She stifled a curse and searched the area around the minibus for movement. Her eyes were stretched open to allow the smallest grain of light to penetrate.

  Pitch black. That's what this was. She was living the movie she'd watched with such ghoulish delight during a sleepover with Nadia. Like the movie, her town was a strange, hostile planet where no sun shone, and monsters lurked in the dark. Unlike the film, there was no hunky convict with strapping muscles and inhuman reflexes to save her ass. I'm on my own.

  Her injured shoulder throbbed in time to the beat of her heart. She flexed her cramped fingers around the hockey stick and rose into a low crouch, preparing to launch herself into the open. Please, please, please let there be keys in the bus.

  Earlier in the day, Cat had realized that the route to survival lay in getting out of town and away from the infected. It was only logical. After resting for an hour, they'd set out once more, heading for the edge of town.

  That proved to be a mistake. Not only were the streets crawling with zombies, but Juan was a severe liability. He tired fast, his short legs unable to keep up the pace. Too big to carry and too small to understand, he descended into a tearful state, whimpering and crying non-stop.

  The stress caused another asthma attack, and three blocks into the journey, Cat called a halt. A big Jacaranda tree provided the answer, and she boosted the kids up into its branches, leaving the backpack with its precious cargo of food with them. “I'll be back as soon as I can.”

  “Where are you going?” Theresa asked, her eyes wide. “Don't leave us.”

  “I won't, I promise.” Cat squeezed the little girl's hand. “I'm just going to look for a car, okay? So we can get somewhere safe.”

  “Okay,” Theresa replied, putting a brave face on it though her lips trembled with fright.

  “Be as quiet as a mouse. No crying,” Cat told Juan. “You have to be a brave boy now until I get back.”

  Juan nodded, sucking on his fist and huddling closer to his sister. With a sigh of relief, Cat set out to look for something they could use to get to safety. She didn't care what it was as long as it got them out of town.

  She found nothing but disappointment on her quest. Many of the cars she came across had crashed or still contained occupants, infected who couldn't open doors or undo their seatbelts. Others had no keys. For a time, she felt like giving up, but she wasn't a quitter and thought back to what her mother always said when things got tough.

  “We're strong, Catherine. You and I. It doesn't matter what life throws at us. We'll always fight, and we'll always have each other even when we aren't together. Remember that.”

  That had been four hours ago. Her mother's words echoed through her mind and kept her going. The sun had set, night had fallen, and her fear had increased with each step she took. But she persevered until finally, she'd stumbled across her current target: A minibus taxi that had been abandoned in the middle of the street with the doors still open.

  Cat sucked on her inhaler to ease the tightness in her chest before tucking it away and gripping the flashlight. The moon peeked out from behind the clouds, and its silver rays cast an eerie glow. “Step one.”

  She sprinted out from behind the bush and crossed the open space with terrific speed. Slamming into the open driver's door, she peered inside the interior. It was clean. No blood. A flash of metal confirmed that the keys were in the ignition. “Oh, thank you, Lord. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

  “Step two.” Cat ran around to the passenger door and slammed it shut after a cursory examination revealed nothing sinister inside.

  Step three,” she muttered, rushing to the sliding door that led to the back seats. Her heart hammered as she shone the light inside, its yellow glow feeble compared to the horror of the night and all it hid within. An abandoned handbag, strewn papers, and an empty cool drink can was all she saw. For a moment, Cat felt almost dizzy with relief.

  She slid the door shut and turned. Her torchlight fell on a dark face, the mouth contorted in a snarl. Hands gripped her shoulders and pulled. Teeth snapped at the air in front of her naked skin.

  Too shocked to cry out, Cat reacted on instinct. Her head dropped, and she kicked against the side of the minibus, launching herself forward. Her skull connected with the zombie's chin. Dull pain exploded through her head, and the flashlight clattered to the ground.

  The grasping hands fell away from her shoulders, and she was free. The infected stumbled back a step. Blood poured from its mouth, the tip of its tongue lying on the ground. The stump wriggled back and forth like a loathsome worm.

  Cat swung the hockey stick. It whistled through the air and connected with the zombie's jaw. The bone broke with a loud crack, and the force sent the infected hurtling to the ground. Not pausing, Cat scooped up the flashlight before running to the driver's side and jumping into the seat.

  Her fingers gripped the keys, and she stepped on the clutch. The engine chugged sluggishly then caught, the needle on the petrol gauge shooting to three-quarters full. “Yes!”

  She slammed the bus into gear and lurched forward, thanking the heavens that her mom had taught her to drive during the previous school holidays. The zombie was left behind, swaying in the rear-view mirror.

  Cat raced towards the tree where she'd left the children, ignoring the figures that flashed past in her lights. Her eyes spotted the gnarled branches and purple flowers of the old Jacaranda. Despite the horrors of the day, she smiled. Casting a look around, she saw two infected approaching from the corner. Too close.

  She sped up and roared towards them before turning at the last moment. The side of the minibus slammed into them and knocked the zombies to the ground with the sound of crackling bones as their limbs shattered.

  Honking the horn, Cat came to a stop beneath the tree. She jumped out and left the engine running. “Theresa, Juan! Time to go!”

  Two faces peered down at her from the branches. With a whoop of joy, Cat reached up to help them down. “Come on. Hurry up.”

  She hustled them into the passenger side and closed the door before getting back in. “Buckle up, kids. We're leaving town.”

  With a roar of the engine, Cat pulled away and headed for the nearest exit from town using the back roads she'd explored as a child on her bike. With all three of them safely tucked inside a metal box on wheels, she relaxed and eased back in her seat. The outside flashed past in bits and pieces, like old skin being shed.

  As Cat left her hometown behind, a sense of sorrow seeped in to replace the elation
of earlier. She'd escaped the deathtrap her home had become and even saved two innocent children, but it had come at a cost.

  I'm sorry, Mom.

  I love you.

  Chapter 4

  The night deepened around them with the absence of street lights and swallowed them whole. Tall grass lined the road, obscuring the countryside. It was broken only by the silhouettes of trees reaching to the moon with leafy fingers.

  The storm that had been threatening all night finally broke. Rain poured down in sheets, drumming on the roof of the vehicle with a dull roar. The lights of the mini-bus were poor, barely lighting the way ahead.

  To Cat, it felt as if they traveled through a tunnel with no exit, the end uncertain and feared. Outwardly, she appeared calm, her face smooth and her cheeks dry. Yet, inside she was terrified. What do I do? Where do I go?

  She glanced at the sleeping forms of Theresa and Juan. Exhausted by the nightmarish day behind them, both had nodded off within minutes. Juan lay curled up on the seat, his head in his sister's lap. Her head had slumped forward, chin hanging onto her chest. It looked uncomfortable.

  Cat glanced at the fuel gauge again, her eyes drawn to it against her will. They had plenty of petrol, but it wouldn't last. She knew that only too well. I don't even know where to go. How far this has spread.

  An hour passed. Then another. A time during which she did nothing but drive at a speed slower than a snail’s pace because of the downpour.

  Along the way, she encountered other towns, but stuck to the outskirts and kept moving, never stopping once. What was the point? Nowhere was safe.

  She turned the knob on the radio and searched for a working channel. Static filled the air, and despair threatened to set in. There has to be someone out there. The police, the army. Someone!

  Refusing to give up, she continued looking. Just when she thought they were all alone, a voice sounded, faint and grainy. She fiddled a bit more until it became clear. It was a woman, a DJ from a local radio station who had the graveyard shift. Her voice, low and husky, was filled with repressed fear.

  “I don't have much time. Infected people have surrounded the station, and they're beating on the doors. My colleagues are...they're gone., but if you're listening, know this. You're on your own. There's no help coming.”

  Cat's breath hitched at these words. They confirmed her worst fears and made her directly responsible for the young lives now under her care.

  “The army tried and failed to contain the infection. The government, well...no one knows what happened to them. If I had to guess I'd say they're either dead, or they ran for it. In a few places, the police are putting up a fight, but they're losing. It's just a matter of time before it's everywhere, and if you're thinking other countries are coming to the rescue, you're dead wrong. This is happening all over the world.”

  Cat shook her head from side to side, trying to deny the woman's statement. It was inconceivable. There had to be someone. All her young life, she'd been able to depend on the authorities. Her mom, her teachers, the police, the government. They all served to keep order. Even when she rebelled, even when she complained about the restrictions, she still knew they were there.

  “This is the end of the world as we know it. Even if humanity survives, it will never be the same. If you want to live, if you want your loved ones to live, you will have to fight.”

  There was a long silence after this. A period during which Cat's thoughts churned with the implications before coming to rest on that single important fact. I will have to fight. For myself, for Juan, for Theresa.

  “They're almost inside, they...” The woman's voice trembled, on the verge of tears. Loud banging noises and the tinkling of glass punctuated each sentence. “Whoever you are, if you're listening. Find somewhere safe, somewhere away from the cities. Get food, get water, and live. Live for me. Live for all of us who are dead or became one of them.”

  A crash. Inhumane growls and screeches. A cry of fear. The connection was severed. Static once more filled the cab of the mini-bus. Tears streamed down Cat's cheeks. For the second time that day, she'd had to listen to someone die on the other side of a line. A stranger, yet not.

  Is that what happened to Mom? Did she hide? Waiting until they found her and ripped her apart? Or was she hurt and then became a monster?

  The thought was too much to bear. Exhaustion crashed over Cat's shoulders and leeched into her pores like poison gas. Her eyelids drooped, and the car wavered on the road. “I need to rest.”

  Forcing herself to stay awake a little longer, Cat searched the roadside for a place to stop. She had no idea where they were or how far they'd come. All she knew was that they'd been driving for far too long.

  A sign appeared. It welcomed her to Bloemhof, a place she knew little about. Some farmer's community, I think?

  Buildings loomed in her headlights, and shuffling figures passed her windows. Cat kept going, too afraid to stop, but the fuel gauge hovered on empty, and she knew it wouldn't be long.

  Not certain where to go, she took a few turns and ended up in on the edge of the tiny town. The road grew worse, and she crossed a bridge. A little further on, a gap in the brush drew her attention. She slowed and squinted into the rain. A dirt road, narrow and rutted, led off into the veldt. Cat turned onto it, praying it lead somewhere safe.

  The tires slipped on the mud, and the yellow headlights illuminated a board, faded by sun and rain. She made out the words 'Riverbend Fishing Resort'.

  Fishing Resort?

  Her mind cast around for favorite fishing spots within this radius from her home but came up empty. There were, of course, but she knew none of them. Neither she nor her mother had ever been interested in fishing or camping.

  Still, a place like that meant water, shelter, and possibly food. Her stomach growled at the thought, reminding her that she hadn't eaten in a while.

  Maybe there are people there.

  Zombies.

  For a moment, her resolve wavered, and she considered turning around. Then she remembered the lady on the radio's words. “...you will have to fight.”

  Cat's chin lifted, and she glanced at the hockey stick lying next to her on the seat. The woman was right. What was the point in turning back? Who was to say anywhere else would be safer? At least out here, they were far from any big towns or cities.

  “Thank you, lady.” Her voice sounded strange to her ears, dry and croaky.

  The going was slow on the poor road, and she had to crawl along. The rain cut deep ruts into the track, worsened by tussocks of grass growing along the center. After an eternity of bouncing and jostling, the lane opened up and became smooth gravel.

  Cat unclenched her hands from the steering wheel and heaved a sigh of relief. The children were still asleep, a fact that somewhat amazed her. “They must be exhausted, the poor things.”

  Her headlights fell on an old gate. It was closed and latched. Beyond that, she could just make out a clearing of sorts and what might be the outline of a building. She switched off the ignition and chewed on her lip in indecision.

  Exploring a strange place in the middle of the night was out of the question. She could neither see nor guess what awaited her in the dark. Neither did she relish the idea of sitting in the parked bus until morning. It felt exposed. Dangerous.

  In the end, it was her body that decided for her. While still debating her next move, her eyes drifted shut, and she fell asleep.

  Chapter 5

  She awoke the next morning to the sounds of an argument. Her eyes snapped open. She shot upright in her seat, gasping when her bruised shoulder protested violently at the abuse.

  “But I need to go pee-pee, Tessa.”

  “You can't go out, Juan. We have to ask Cat first, and she’s sleeping.”

  “But I have to go now!”

  “Wait for her to wake up first.”

  “Oh, thank God. It's just you two.” Cat slumped in relief. “What's wrong?”

  Theresa looked at her with
those big baby blue eyes of hers. In the early morning sunlight, her hair shone like spun gold, the ringlets mussed from slumber. She really was a pretty child. “Juan needs to go to the bathroom.”

  “Why didn't you just ask me?”

  “You were asleep.”

  “You don't have to be scared of me,” Cat replied. “Next time wake me up, okay?”

  “Okay.” Theresa nodded.

  “Can I go pee-pee now?” Juan asked, jumping up and down with his legs crossed.

  “Sure, sweetie. Just let me make sure it's safe first.”

  By the light of the new dawn, Cat surveyed the area surrounding their bus. Trees loomed on either side, flanked by low brush. The rain had stopped during the night. Droplets clung to the leaves and glinted in the morning sun. It was hard to see more than a short distance through the shrubs, a fact that made her nervous. One look at little Juan's red cheeks decided the matter, however.

  Cat opened the door. Fresh air flooded the cab, bringing with it the scent of grass and wet earth. It was refreshing, and she took a deep breath to clear the remnants of sleep from her brain. “Wait here you two. I'll be right back.”

  She slipped out of the seat and closed the door behind her. The soft click sounded loud in the silence. A shiver ran down her spine as her eyes roved for danger. Gripping her hockey stick in both hands, she walked around the car with slow steps.

  It was quiet but not silent. In the trees, doves cooed their morning greetings, and the leaves rustled in the breeze. Her shoes crunched on the gravel beneath her feet as she ventured further away. She narrowed her eyes, peering through the bushes while her ears perked for any telltale sounds of zombies.

  There was nothing. Allowing herself to relax, Cat turned to go back to the bus where an anxious Juan waited with his face pressed against the glass. He looked ready to pop any moment. “Okay, you two. Come on out.”

  She turned back to the brush. A bird exploded from the foliage above her head and startled her. She jumped, swinging her stick at the empty air while her heart bounced inside her chest. “Crap!”