Survival Instinct (Book 2): Adaptive Instinct

by Kristal Stittle

  At that, Nicky tried harder to stay awake. She didn’t want to die. Things came into focus again. She looked up at one of the planes and saw the faces of children pressed up against the windows, watching her. So many children; maybe the morphine was still working?

  She fought her heavy eyes and heavy head, but she couldn’t do it. Despite Edward shaking her, shouting at her, Nicky’s mind pulled away.

  She fell asleep.

  25:

  Bryce Christopherson – Day 17

  Bryce was dragging his feet through the dirt. His legs felt like lead, and his shoulders throbbed with every step. He couldn’t keep walking; Becky was just too heavy for him.

  “I need to stop,” he panted.

  “Fine with me.” Larson collapsed where he stood, startling Maggie. She sniffed him all over, but when Larson unclipped her leash, the retriever began to patrol the area.

  Bryce found a spot where he could put Becky down without waking her up. She was taking her afternoon nap in the papoose carrier, which Bryce had worn like a backpack. They didn’t get very far before her weight began to feel like that of a grown elephant. The carrier had a stiff but padded back so when Bryce laid Becky down, it was almost like being in a bed. At least that was Bryce’s hope.

  They were in the woods again, but constantly kept the road to their left and in sight through the trees. They had decided the trees would be safer after they had seen one of the monsters trapped in a car.

  “What are you doing?” Bryce asked when he saw Larson start looking through his backpack.

  “I’m hungry.” Larson frowned at him.

  “We don’t have a lot of food. I thought we agreed we wouldn’t eat anything until Becky woke up from her nap.”

  “But I’m hungry now.” Larson turned back to his pack and rummaged through it.

  “Larson-”

  “Bryce, I’m hungry. Shut up, okay? If you want to wait to eat, then wait. I’m eating my share now.” He pulled out some crackers and began munching on them.

  Bryce couldn’t do anything beyond roll his eyes. He started to rub his sore muscles, knowing they had a lot farther to go. They needed to find some place with walls and a roof before nightfall came. Bryce didn’t like the idea of sleeping exposed. They didn’t even have a tent.

  Next to him, Becky murmured, squeezed her eyes shut tighter, and clenched her little fists. Bryce stared, willing her to stay asleep longer. She did. Her body relaxed again, and she went on dreaming whatever she was dreaming. Bryce hoped it was about something nice, like ponies.

  “How much farther do you think we have to go?” Larson asked around a mouthful of cracker.

  “I don’t know.” Bryce shrugged. “Probably not too much further.”

  “We should have checked out the motel.”

  “But a bunch of those things were there,” Bryce reminded him.

  “So? We could have avoided them.”

  “No we couldn’t have. I barely escaped the one in the woods.”

  “That’s because you were weighed down by Becky.”

  “Becky wouldn’t be able to avoid them on her own.”

  “So, we could’ve left her in the woods while we checked it out.”

  “By herself? Are you nuts? She’s barely even two years old.”

  “So?”

  “So?” Bryce was frustrated by now. “She would be scared all by herself.”

  “I’m scared now.” Larson was also getting frustrated. “I’ve been scared for the past I don’t know how long. Not everything is about Becky, you know.”

  “And not everything is about you!”

  “I never said it was!”

  “I’m hungry, I’m scared, I think we should have checked out the motel.” Bryce knew this wasn’t fair, but he couldn’t help it.

  “You know what… Just… Fuck you!”

  Despite knowing all the words, neither of the boys had ever sworn before. The use of this most forbidden of words shocked Bryce out of a response.

  “At least your mom came with us. She tried,” Larson continued. Tears began to fill his eyes. “I don’t even know what happened to my mom. Or my dad. I mean, why didn’t dad come with us? Didn’t he want to take care of me? Didn’t he want to make sure I was safe? Didn’t he love me?”

  Bryce could only respond with tears of his own. He hadn’t really thought about what this must be like for Larson. He was spending all his energy thinking about Becky, and trying not to think about himself. He hadn’t thought much about Larson.

  “I’m sure your dad loved you,” Bryce finally responded. “He told you that, remember? Before we left? I’m sure he wouldn’t have stayed behind if he didn’t have to. He trusted my mom to protect both of us, and she did. She did the best she could.”

  Larson sniffled and wiped an arm across his eyes.

  Bryce moved over to sit down next to him. “It’s just us now though. We have to take care of each other, and look after Becky. I’m sorry for what I said.”

  “I’m sorry too.”

  The boys sat next to each other, trying not to look at one another, knowing the other was ashamed of his tears. Maggie sat a short way off, looking at the two of them with her head cocked to one side. She certainly didn’t understand why the boys had been yelling at each other.

  ***

  After several more minutes of rest, Becky began to stir again. Although Bryce tried to will her back to sleep once more, she woke up anyway. She started to struggle with the carrier, trying to get out and becoming frustrated with it. Bryce quickly got up and helped her out.

  Once Becky was standing, she looked all around.

  “By!” she cried out, giving her older brother a hug. “Lasan!” She then went and gave Larson a hug. It was the first time she had ever hugged Larson, and he was clearly surprised by it, but Bryce thought he had certainly needed it. “Gie!” Maggie the dog also got a hug, and she thumped her tail in appreciation.

  Becky started looking around some more. She then turned back to Bryce, frowning.

  “What?” Bryce didn’t know what she wanted.

  “Mommy?” she asked.

  Bryce’s heart sank into his guts. How do you explain to a two-year-old that they’re never going to see their mom again? “Mom’s not here.”

  “Mommy!” she started calling into the woods. “Mommy!”

  “Shh!” Bryce ran over to her, hoping to quiet her down. “Becky, you have to hush.”

  “Mooommmy!” she called louder. “Mooommmmy!”

  “Shhh! Shh, Becky!” Bryce tried to hold her but she pushed against him. “Mom’s not here. She can’t hear you.” Tears threatened his eyes again. “She’s not here. You have to be quiet. Quiet time, Becky. Like when mommy’s sleeping, remember? Quiet time. Mommy’s sleeping.”

  “Mommy speeping,” she repeated but was clearly not paying much attention. She continued to look frantically around, perhaps thinking her mother was sleeping nearby.

  “What’s that noise?” Larson asked before Bryce could try soothing his sister again.

  Now that he mentioned it, Bryce could hear a slight rumble and it was getting louder.

  “By?” Becky grabbed Bryce’s hand as she began to hear the noise too.

  Everyone started looking around for the source, but it was Maggie who was looking up. Bryce and Larson followed her gaze.

  Just as Bryce focused past the tree leaves, a plane streaked by overhead. It was much too low, and the landing gear was down, but worst of all, the propellers were barely turning. Bryce could tell right away that it was a crashing plane.

  “By!” Becky screeched as it passed over. “By! Scary, By! Scary!” She started crying loudly, burying her face in Bryce’s stomach.

  Bryce’s eyes went massively wide as the plane swooped by. It was scary, as Becky had said, but Bryce had also thought of something else: a plane meant people.

  “Come on, Larson, we have to find where that plane’s going down.” Bryce looked down at his sister and began trying to c
alm her.

  “Why? Won’t the monsters go there?”

  Bryce hadn’t thought about that. “I don’t know, maybe. But that was a small plane; it’s possible that someone could survive that crash. People, Larson. Adults. We won’t have to be alone.”

  Larson thought it over some more while Bryce calmed his sister again.

  “Becky. Becky, calm down.” He was able to pry her off for a moment so that he could kneel down in front of her. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “It’s okay Becky. It’s not scary. Not scary. That was a plane. You know planes. You’ve been on a plane, remember? Remember when we flew in the sky? You liked the plane. It wasn’t scary was it? It’s not scary.”

  Becky looked him in the eyes, her own huge and watery. “No scary?”

  “No, no scary. Just a plane.”

  “Plane.”

  “Yeah, a plane. Planes aren’t scary. No scary.”

  “No scary.”

  “That’s right.” When Bryce tried to stand back up, Becky clung to him again.

  “No.”

  “Okay. Okay. I’ll carry you.” Bryce heaved her up with him, his muscles crying out from over-use. He wanted to move quickly though. There was no telling how far that plane would get before it hit the ground, or how quickly any survivors would move away from it.

  Larson seemed to have decided that it was a good idea to go, because he picked up the papoose carrier for Bryce. He also reattached Maggie’s leash. The dog led the way, her ears pricked forward and her nose constantly scenting the air. She had been frightened by the plane too, but got over it quickly. Now she looked curious.

  “How many people do you think there will be?” Larson asked as they started walking.

  “I don’t know. At least one.” And that was enough for Bryce.

  “Do you think they came from the White Box?” The hope in his voice was painfully obvious.

  Bryce thought for a moment. “No. I don’t think they did.” Although he really would have liked to think otherwise, Bryce couldn’t recall seeing any planes there. Besides, they would have jets, not planes with props.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right,” Larson said dejectedly. He was probably still holding onto a thread of hope that his parents might yet show up.

  Although Bryce was fairly certain he knew otherwise, he was going to let Larson hold onto that hope. He still had Becky in his life, but Larson had only Maggie. The two cousins may have been best friends, but they had never had to support each other before.

  “You never know though,” Bryce said in an attempt to cheer him up a little. “I’ve been wrong before.”

  “Yeah.” Larson didn’t sound at all cheered up.

  A tiny part of Bryce actually hoped against it being from the White Box. He could imagine his dad being in that plane. He imagined him more pissed off than a soaking wet cat thrown into a room full of dogs.

  ***

  “We’re lost,” Larson said for the fourth time.

  “No we’re not,” Bryce insisted.

  At least Becky was finally walking on her own again, and wasn’t constantly asking where mom was.

  “Then why haven’t we found it yet?”

  “’Cause it crashed far off. You remember how distant that crunch sounded? And we’re not walking very fast because of Becky.”

  Becky was holding his hand while they walked, and they could only go as fast as her legs could carry her.

  “Can’t you just pick her up again?”

  “She’ll probably start crying again. She wants to walk.” Bryce had let her down originally because she wanted down so badly she cried for it.

  Larson huffed but shut his mouth again.

  Bryce hoped they found the plane soon. If they didn’t, he and Larson might break down to shouting at one another again, which wouldn’t be good for anyone.

  Maggie suddenly halted in front of them. Bryce and Larson stopped behind her, Bryce keeping Becky from continuing forward. Good thing she got distracted by a brightly coloured leaf on the ground.

  Ahead, a snapping of twigs and crunching of leaves came toward them, but they couldn’t see anything. Maggie stared intently forward. Her tail waved once back and forth, and then she barked.

  The approaching sound paused for a moment. It was then replaced by a single low chuff, and the sound’s owner headed for them again. Larson and Bryce exchanged a look, neither of them sure about what to do.

  The bush ahead rattled and shook, but the creature doing the shaking must be small because they still couldn’t see it. Not a monster then.

  Abruptly, a squat, floppy-skinned dog popped out of the leaves in front of Maggie. The two dogs began sniffing at one another, walking in circles.

  “A dog,” Larson stated the obvious, although he sounded as surprised as Bryce felt.

  The little dog then comically waddled over to Becky.

  “Woof woof!” she cried out when his big nose entered her field of view. She started patting the dog on the head, not as gently as she should have. The dog didn’t seem to mind.

  “Where’d it come from?” Bryce wondered.

  “The plane?” Larson suggested.

  “Come on, Becky.” Bryce tugged Becky forward, toward the brush that the dog had appeared from.

  Becky opened her mouth to complain, but then shut it again when the short dog followed them. Larson and Maggie cut ahead of Bryce, the golden retriever’s nose to the ground. This was the first time she was scenting the ground as opposed to the air. Maybe she was tracking where the strange dog had come from. Whoever the small dog was, he seemed to like Becky; he stuck by her side the whole time, much to Becky’s delight.

  It wasn’t very long before they came across a massive farmer’s field. Right away, Bryce spotted the plane. It was hard to miss, what with the trail of broken bits leading across to it. People moved around in front of it.

  “Bryce.” Larson latched a hand tightly on his arm. At first, Bryce thought it was from excitement, but when he looked at Larson’s face, he saw it was from fear. Larson pointed across the field. When Bryce looked, he saw the monsters. The monsters were the same distance from the people as they were.

  “Those people can keep us safe,” Bryce reasoned. “We have to get to them.”

  Without waiting for Larson’s reply, he began running. Becky had to start running too, and she squealed with delight. She was too slow though, so Bryce scooped her up into his arms again, finding a reserve of strength he wasn’t aware he had.

  Larson soon caught up, the two boys stumbling over the uneven ground. Bryce was just so happy to see more people that he didn’t even care how close the monsters were.

  As they neared the group, Bryce was able to pick out details. There were a lot of people, more than ten. He suddenly picked out one that was raising a large gun and pointing it at them.

  Bryce stopped on instinct, gasping and grabbing Larson’s arm. He nearly caused the two of them to tumble to the ground. For at least a second, Bryce thought the two of them were going to be shot, but then the gun was lowered, and the man holding it waved them over.

  “Who’d you find, Shoes?” the man called out as Bryce, Larson, Becky, and Maggie got closer.

  Another man, who was very tall, ran over to meet them.

  “I’m Tobias,” he said, slightly frantic, probably because of the monsters. “Are you kids alone?”

  “Yeah.” Bryce tried very hard not to cry, and he didn’t, but his voice cracked a little.

  “Come on over to the group. Hurry up.” The man, Tobias, ushered them along faster.

  The other man with the big gun looked them over once, and then turned toward the monsters. Bryce recognized his Keystone mercenary uniform. He stopped suddenly, taking a much closer look at everyone. None of them was his dad. In fact, no one else looked like they had come from Marble Keystone. The mercenary was joined by Tobias and a very pale guy, both who were also holding guns. They began firing at the monsters, the air ripping, and cracking with every shot. />
  Nearly everybody from the group was running around frantically, grabbing things from the wreckage. Only three people weren’t: an ancient-looking black woman, a muscular man sitting against a piece of wreckage, and a young woman who was lying on the ground.

  Now that Bryce had reached the people, he didn’t know what to do with himself.

  “Excuse me,” another man approached them quickly. He was wearing dirty hospital scrubs. “Were any of you kids bitten?”

  “Yeah, lots.” Larson held up his arm and showed him a bunch of his mosquito bites.

  A brief smile crossed the man’s face. “I meant by the zombies.”

  “The whats?” both Bryce and Larson asked at the same time.

  “Them.” The man pointed to the monsters.

  The boys shook their heads in unison.

  “Good. We’re leaving here soon; just stand out of the way, okay?” The man took off before they could answer.

  Bryce put Becky down, but she continued to cling to his legs and waist. All they could do was watch the unfolding chaos.

  In addition to the little dog and Maggie, who stood near to the boys and Becky, there were two other dogs present: a white one with only three legs, and a German shepherd. The white one came over and gave them a quick sniff, then went to stand near the shepherd, the two of them keeping a close eye on the monsters. The guy in scrubs was building something near the big man who was sitting down, and a black woman was helping him. A boy who didn’t look much older than Bryce was walking around with some metal thing strapped to his arm. He was picking through the debris with three black, teenaged girls.

  “We’re going to run out of bullets soon!” the pale guy shouted.

  “We’re almost done!” the man in scrubs replied.

  A minute later, they were helping the big, sitting man onto what looked like a homemade stretcher.

  “Abby, time to get up.” Scrubs man helped the girl lying down to get to her feet. “We’re good to go!”

  The shooting suddenly stopped. The mercenary ran up to Bryce, Larson, and Becky.

  “Is it all right if I carry her?” he said, pointing to Becky.