Survival Ties (The Outbreak Chronicles Book 1)
Page 18
“You excited about swimming?” Drew asked me as Sam helped Denver roll the grill closer to the pool.
“Yes I am.” I told him as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and we walked to the pool. When we got close he pushed me in, I had a good grip on him that he wasn’t expecting so he lost his balance and came with me.
“Well that didn’t go as planned.” Drew said as we both managed to make it back to the surface.
“I’ve been trained to be prepared.” I told him as I laughed, he was laughing with me when he looked like a thought crossed his mind. “What?”
“Training, that is what we need.” He told me.
“What do you mean?” I asked him.
“Tomorrow we should get together and start training so the next supply run we have to do, we move like a team.” He explained to me as he dunked me under the water.
“How would we train for that?” I asked as I sputtered water and splashed him.
“We will get people to act like Red Eyes. Figure out who will be in our normal supply run team. Then train together so when we are out there we know what to expect from each other and how to help.” Drew said. It was obvious that he was excited; he kissed me only to draw away again and kiss me again.
“Let’s see what Sam thinks.” I told him laughing and weak in my knees.
“After you.” Drew said as he helped boost me out of the pool and followed me. We walked to Sam and he saw almost at once that Drew was practically dancing.
“Either you have to pee or you’re excited.” Sam told Drew as he tried not to laugh.
“I think we should get together a team that will be our supply run team. Have them train together against people pretending to be Red Eyes.” Drew said, “Think about it as a team we would know and be able to predict what each other would do in a fight.”
“Drew, that is brilliant.” Sam told him and hugged him. “We know we will have to do supply runs for whatever comes up and that would make us as prepared as we can possibly be.”
“Right? We wouldn’t have to wonder where everyone was or what they were doing. We would know that everyone would be doing everything as planned. Not necessarily as for the run but in training.” Drew was saying.
“That would be good. You wouldn’t have to go and look for anyone since they would know where they are supposed to be. If they weren’t, then they might be in trouble.” Sam agreed and they went into what would be considered shop talk anywhere else. I went to find Sawyer to tell her what Drew was thinking, and about him kissing me again. She was of course with Micah.
“Hey.” I said to her as I walked up and they both smiled at me.
“Hey.” Sawyer greeted me.
“Drew has a plan to start training people who are going to be in the supply party. So they are more prepared for the Red Eyes.” I told them.
“Where is he going to get the Red Eyes?” Micah asked.
“What?” I was trying to figure out what he meant.
“To train with.” Micah responded like it was the obvious answer.
“Oh, he said we would be training with people pretending to be Red Eyes.” I responded and Micah nodded.
“That is a good idea. Who’s going to be in the supply team? When does training start?” Sawyer wanted to know.
“I’m not sure who is going to be on the team or when training will start.” I told her, “I know Drew is talking to Sam about it and they are making a plan to start doing this.”
“It makes sense to have a team practice together for real situations.” Micah agreed, “We should have thought about it sooner.”
“Where would we have practiced?” I asked him, “The roof of the bus as we drove down the road?”
“That’s a good point. I guess we would have had to get here for us to be able to practice.” He reluctantly agreed.
“Don’t worry I’m sure you’ll think of some other great idea that will keep us all safe.” Sawyer said as she rubbed his arm and winked at me.
“I’m guessing Ashlyn told you what we came up with?” Drew asked as he walked to us.
“You really came up with it on your own, I just happened to say the word that set your thoughts in motion.” I told him as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.
“She helped. What do you guys think?” Drew responded still giving me credit when I didn’t do anything.
“It sounds like a good plan, when do we start?” Micah asked, sounding like he was interested in doing it.
“First we’ll get everyone together. Get seven or nine people to be part of the supply run team.” Drew started.
“Why seven or nine?” Sawyer asked.
“Two people to guard whatever vehicle we take. Four to five people to go inside and two people as a backup if we feel we need more for a run or if someone isn’t up for a run.” Drew answered.
“That seems to be a good number. Keep the groups small enough that we can keep track of each other and learn how to work together.” Micah agreed, sounding impressed.
We followed Drew as he gathered everyone else from the bus, to explain what his plan was. He gave brief descriptions to people as we gathered the group together. It was causing excitement. It felt like we had a real plan to help ensure our survival.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“I guess we should start with who would want to be part of the supply group?” Drew asked as everyone sat down in a circle on the lounge chairs we all dragged over to sit on.
“How do you want to do that? Should we raise hands or do you have another idea?” Aaron asked.
“A raise of hands would be a good start.” Drew decided after he thought about it for a minute. Around our circle hands went up. I saw Drew, Sam, Sawyer, Micah, Tone, Sydney, Hunter, Hannah, Aaron, Evan, and I raised mine. Drew counted and nodded.
“That gives us eleven I think we can work with that. Hannah I’ll let you come to training to watch but until you’re healed you won’t go on runs. Or do anything that could hurt you.” Drew said as he looked around at us.
“Who are we going to get to play Red Eyes?” Sawyer asked.
“I think first we should work together and get to know each other. We need to learn each other’s strengths and weakness so we know what to work on.” Micah responded.
“I like that. You’re right that first we need to know what we have in the group. Then we get people to play Red Eyes. By the time we have a supply run to do; we will be working together like a well-oiled machine.” Drew said and it was obvious he was excited. I could see the wheels working in his head to figure out how this would all work. It was interesting seeing his mind work. I found myself wondering if that was a look he learned from his dad whenever they faced a problem together.
Drew let us have our time at the pool relaxing and now all were chattering about training. Axel was hoping he could be a Red Eye and help us train. This started a game in the pool where he was a Red Eye and we were all swimming away from him calling him ‘dead man, dead man’.
He had his eyes closed and was trying to catch us as we called out ‘dead man’ like playing Marco Polo. Sam tried to get Denver to come and join us but he ended up deciding to go and find something else to do. I think he wanted to try and find Diamond who we hadn’t seen very much of since she found out she had slept with Denver.
There was a lot of splashing as Axel lunged at Daisy. She barely made it away, but Hunter couldn’t change direction quick enough. Axel’s hand barely grazed him before he lunged and grabbed Hunter. They were both laughing as Hunter took his spot in the middle of all of us. Everyone started calling to him and he started chasing us around. I noticed he seemed pretty tuned into Daisy’s voice. I was betting he could have found her even if she wasn’t in the pool at all.
“Foods up!” Drew called from where he was standing by the grill. He was cooking some burgers and hot dogs, along with a couple of cans of beans and corn.
“Hunter hasn’t caught anyone yet.” Hannah called back from the lounge chair she was sit
ting on watching us and laughing. Evan was sitting next to her and he had his sketchbook out. I was interested to see what he had drawn of us all in the pool. I planned to ask him after I got some food, since everyone from the pool was scattering up the sides to get to Drew and food.
“Looks like we’ll have to take a break.” Hunter told Hannah as he climbed out of the pool last, “What do you want to eat?”
“I can get my own food you know.” Hannah said to him.
“Oh yeah, how are you going to carry a plate with that sling, smart ass?” Hunter asked her and she glared at him.
“Fine, go be the big brother and fend for your baby sister.” Hannah said to him and stuck her tongue out as he turned away to get food for her.
Seeing them together made me miss Marie. I wondered what she would have thought about everything I’d been through to get here. I wondered what she would have said about Drew and if she would be telling me to go for it or to avoid him. Aaron came over and took my hand.
“They’re cute together, makes me think of Emily and miss her. You miss your sister?” Aaron asked and I nodded. “Let’s get food and we’ll sit together.”
“Mope together?” I asked.
“Yup that’s the plan.” He said as we got closer to the food.
“Hey you two. After we eat the supply group is coming with me to the gym and we’re going to start figuring out what we need to do.” Drew told us as he handed us our plates.
“Sounds good.” Aaron responded.
We were sitting around the gym looking at each other, as we waited for Drew to tell us what he thought the best course of action would be for training. Drew looked like he was taking the measure of everyone. Judging who would potentially watch his back when we faced down Red Eyes. Diamond came in and sat watching, Aaron made a face when he saw her.
“I don’t think princess is cut out for what we will be facing or doing.” Aaron said as he nodded towards Diamond.
“I’m not here to join your stupid team, I’m here to watch.” She replied.
“This really isn’t like a show to watch or anything.” Drew said calmly to her without looking up.
“I can be wherever I want; you have no say in that.” She snapped at him.
“Believe me Diamond, if you get in the way here or cause any trouble with what we are planning to do, I will forbid you from being here.” Drew told her, his voice dropped to ice and his teeth were clenched.
“Well back to business, Evan could you explain to everyone about how to mask our scent from the Red Eyes?” Sam cut in.
“I discovered that if you smell like one of them they leave you alone. They don’t go after each other, or at least most of them don’t.” Evan answered as he glanced over at Diamond.
“How did you get their scent on you?” Drew asked him, leaning forward towards him.
“The first time was an accident. I was too tired to keep fighting and had ended up on the ground next to two of them I had killed. Another group went by and left me alone. There was one that seemed like it didn’t care what it ate and chewed on one of the ones I was lying next to.” Evan explained.
“You actually stayed next to dead things? Sounds more like a sick fetish to me. Where did you guys pick him up?” Diamond sneered and laughed making Evan clench his teeth.
“Look little girl, I lost my wife and daughter. I was tired of fighting and I gave up only to find out most of them would leave me alone if I smelled like one of them.” Evan said through clenched teeth. He was glaring at Diamond who paled a little when she caught the look he was giving her.
“We got him at a gas station where he surrounded the perimeter with chopped up Red Eyes. It seemed to keep the area safe so people could fuel up.” Micah said to Diamond and watched her expression change to disgust.
“So if we really get stuck we can cover ourselves and just keep a look out for one that still thinks we’d be tasty.” Sam said.
“Sounds a little gross.” Sawyer said.
“It is, but if it helps keep you alive it’s bearable.” Evan told her.
“We have a way to cover our scent if we have to. What about making something that’s small enough to carry easily but can be thrown. Then when it hits the ground, it makes noise drawing the Red Eyes away from us?” Micah asked leaning towards Drew. They both looked like they were feeding off each other’s thoughts and ideas.
“That should be something that would be fairly easy to put together.” Drew agreed, “How much noise are we hoping these will make?”
“Enough that it draws away the Red Eyes. Loud enough that it’ll be a signal to the rest of the group that we may need to hustle and get out of there.” Micah responded.
“What if we could make a dice that when thrown would go off like those poppers only longer.” Drew added on. I noticed them getting excited with this idea. They were both almost bouncing out of the seats they were in. They both had their heads down while they were thinking designs.
“I guess we know what their strength is.” Aaron said as he smiled, it was amusing to watch Drew and Micah together.
“Yes we’re both smart and like to make things.” Micah said to Aaron and everyone laughed.
“Hey the idea they have going is a good one, so we know that if we need to figure out gadgets we’ve got people for that.” Aaron said as he looked around at all of us.
“So now the redneck wants gadgets to play with.” Drew said to Aaron and smiled.
“Yes, yes I do.” Aaron answered. It was nice to see them getting along and not looking like they were going to go after each other.
“Who else has things we can use?” Sam asked, looking around the circle we had sat in, “We have thinkers and weapons people so far.”
“Or has anyone trained in anything?” I asked.
“I have.” Hunter said, “I’m a third degree black belt in tae kwon do.”
“Good that means you get to go over basics with the rest of us.” Sam said as he clapped his hands together. He seemed to think things were falling into place. When to me it just seemed like random stuff was getting brought up.
“This may be gross, but maybe we could come up with a bottled Red Eye smell we could spray on ourselves. To help cover our scents when we have to be up close and personal with the Red Eyes, it would help keep them away.” Evan suggested.
“That’s brilliant!” Drew told him. “Yes, it would be gross on one hand. On the other it would help keep us out of situations where we may have to gut a Red Eye just to cover our scent.”
Ideas were getting shot all around the circle. Seemed like this was a brainstorming session of what we could do to keep the team safe. Things we could use when we would have to venture out of the dome. It was telling us how everyone’s minds worked when faced with a problem. Drew, Micah, and Evan were going to go into a shop Drew had set up to bring the ideas we had into reality.
The rest of us were going to head back to our rooms. Diamond looked annoyed where she was sitting outside of our group on a stationary bike. I noticed she was watching Drew with longing, but she didn’t approach him and he ignored her. I wondered if she had talked to Denver at all or if she was just avoiding him and hoped he would move on. Part of me wanted to ask her but I knew even if I did she wouldn’t answer me.
“How long do you think he’ll be intrigued by you?” Diamond surprised me by asking, and I noticed we were the only ones left in the gym.
“What are you talking about now?” I asked her, getting annoyed with these little conversations of ours.
“Right now, you’re new and different. You survived out there with zombies running around. You’ve got Drew’s attention because he thinks you’re brave and a survivor.” Diamond responded, “How long do you think you can keep his attention?”
“One, we call them Red Eyes. Two I’m not playing to try and keep Drew’s attention. I’m not like you where I have to pretend to be what someone wants to get them to want me.” I snapped at her as I walked past her to head back to m
y room.
Diamond didn’t say anything else to me, but I was sure she was glaring at me. I could almost feel her eyes throwing daggers at me as the door shut leaving her alone in the gym with her thoughts.
I was glad to get back to my room and have a bit of alone time. I found DVD’s of TV shows in a cabinet under the TV and DVD player.
I ended up picking Buffy the Vampire Slayer to watch, I used to watch it all the time with Marie. It made me feel closer to her. I could almost pretend that she was making popcorn in the kitchen and complaining at me for not pausing. It hit me that I would never see her again, I missed her and I missed Carter. While we had been on the road trying to get here, I didn’t let myself think about either of them too much.
Now that we made it here I kept wondering if there was anything I could have done differently. Anything that would have meant they’d be here with me. Just had all the ‘What if’s’ going through my mind. I didn’t notice I was crying or that Drew had come into my room and was now sitting with me on the couch.
“I knocked but you didn’t answer and the door wasn’t closed all the way so it opened a bit.” He said to me as he took my hand, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just thinking about my sister and brother-in-law. Keep thinking about what if I did something different, would they be here now?” I told him and squeezed his hand.
“Your sister turned didn’t she? From the transplant? What happened to your brother-in-law?” Dew asked all at once.
“Yes, she did. Marie bit Carter—she tried to attack Sawyer and me, but Carter grabbed her and she bit him before Sam shot her.” I answered, “I feel like I should have been mad at Sam but I never was. Marie wasn’t Marie anymore when she lunged at me and I watched Carter change.”
“You’ve seen quite a bit in all this haven’t you?” Drew asked as he put his arm around me.
“Not as much as other people may have, but I saw a bit.” I told him.
“I’m going to get your mind off it.” He said and kissed me. His lips were gentle on mine at first, searching and waiting for a response. When I kissed him back he brought his hand up to the side of my face, his thumb was slowly moving back and forth. He didn’t deepen the kiss but stayed gentle. When he pulled away he rested his head on my forehead and looked into my eyes.