Adaptive Instinct (Survival Instinct)

by Stittle, Kristal

  When the forests and farmlands gave way to suburbia, a terrified excitement buzzed in the bus. Everyone was scared because there were bound to be more zombies here, but they were also excited because it meant they were closer to their destination. It was also exciting for many of the kids because they hadn’t seen suburban housing in roughly two weeks. The motel in the woods had been an essentially foreign place to them. These houses, although in a different city, were laid out in familiar patterns and routes.

  The houses quickly began to disturb Lauren. All over the place, windows were shattered. Cars were abandoned in unusual places, or smashed into poles, other cars, trees, and even a few of the houses. The mesh hanging from a basketball net waved in the light breeze, a corpse still clinging to the top of the post where the person had taken refuge and died. Road hockey nets were set up on one street; the sticks, balls, and gloves were abandoned between them while a burnt house smouldered in the background. Help was spray painted on a roof, but no one was up there, and all the windows of the house below were broken. Here was a turned over tricycle, there was a shotgun surrounded by expended shells. A flag flown at half-mast, a car through a picture window, a torn-up rose bush scattered across a lawn, a naked dead body in the street, a dog running past with a leash dragging behind it, and everywhere smoke and the smell of dead flesh.

  Lauren couldn’t look anymore. She held tightly onto Peter, who was playing with a pair of blocks in her lap. Claire was asleep beside her, her head on Lauren’s shoulder. Across the aisle, Jon stared at his hands. As she looked back, Lauren saw that nearly every kid was avoiding the windows, where they had first been so riveted by the suburban sights.

  “Are we almost there?” Lauren turned and asked Winchester.

  “Soon. Maybe ten, fifteen more minutes,” he answered.

  Lauren nodded and went back to watching Peter smack his two wooden blocks together. Clack, clack, clack, were some of the few sounds on the bus. She thought about playing another game with the kids, or starting another song, but she couldn’t muster the energy to do it. They rode the rest of the way in a whispered silence.

  ***

  It was impossible not to get excited when the airport finally loomed ahead. They wove through crowded roads, scraping past the vehicles of those who had tried and failed to escape the city by plane. It was obvious that a path had been cut through for them by someone else. Cars were shifted and jammed together in ways they hadn’t been on other roads. That and the shear volume of cars suggested a high improbability for a pathway to appear naturally.

  The Hummer in front of their bus passed through a massive chain link fence that was topped with barbed wire. Signs on the fence announced that it was electrified, although the current had probably stopped running through it quite a while ago. Lieutenant Boyle stood by the fence, holding the gate open for everybody.

  On the other side of the fence, they entered a massive field of cement. With so much space, their bus could move alongside the Hummer and give everybody a good view. They were on the tarmac.

  Monstrously huge hangers loomed to one side, a 747 hooked up in one for repairs that would never be completed. Hulking masses of planes towered over their vehicles as they drove along. Some of the planes were a smaller kind, nestled amongst the behemoths, but it seemed like the smaller the plane, the more likely it was to be gone. Probably easier to escape in, needing only a small crew.

  Lauren had flown places before, but seeing the planes so close and from ground level was an entirely different experience. She felt like a child again, wondrous and amazed. The kids were ecstatic. At first, they had been silent, too amazed to speak, but then they began shouting to each other, pointing out all the awesome stuff. The vehicle had gone from a silent hearse, to a school bus again.

  “There’s our ride.” Their paramedic driver pointed out through the windshield.

  Lauren leaned forward for a better look. Out on the tarmac, like monstrous beached whales, were two massive 747 planes. They sat as closely together as possible, facing each other and overlapping, with their noses next to one another. As the convoy got closer, people could be seen hanging around the landing gear. Lauren’s first thought was that they were zombies, but they started to wave in a friendly manner. These were other survivors. The vehicles rode up and parked not far from the planes. The other survivors began walking toward them, smiles on their faces. Lieutenant Boyle rode up on Jon’s bike to greet them. After a few words were exchanged, he waved for everyone to climb out.

  “All right, kids!” Winchester ordered as they bounced in their seats. “Stay with your buddy and stay close to Lauren and me, okay? We don’t want anyone getting lost or separated.”

  The other soldiers and their driver got out first, lugging the big supply bags with them. Once they were out and all the kids’ things were repacked into their own bags, Lauren got them to stand up. She carried Peter off the bus and did a headcount outside the door.

  The kids all grouped together, excitedly bouncing up and down, looking at the massive planes and all the space that surrounded them. When Lauren looked to the new survivors, she saw most of them looking at the kids. One woman was in tears at the sight of them. They probably hadn’t seen such a large herd of children in awhile.

  Mobile steps were driven up against the sides of both planes, and the doors popped open. All the survivors who had been living in the planes came out to meet the new people. Lauren’s group was vastly larger than theirs was and they were ecstatic to see so many live faces. They had only three kids among the lot of them.

  After the important introductions were made, some men got into the vehicles to drive them over near the buildings, out of the way for when they would take off. The kids loved being in such a massive, open space, so Lauren let them play a game of freeze-tag, provided they didn’t go too closely to the landing gear. Having all their armed guards around and being able to see anything coming from a long way off, Lauren felt very safe. There was a man with binoculars on each wing providing an even earlier warning system.

  “All right, I think we should get them settled inside.” Winchester finally walked over. “We’re not sure when the others are going to get here, but we want to be ready to go when they do. Besides, I’m sure they’re hungry for a real meal.” On the bus, they had eaten mostly snack foods.

  “Okay kids, locate your buddy! We’re going to check out the inside of the plane, find some seats, and get some food. What do you say?” Lauren called to them.

  Some groaned, having too much fun, but they all obeyed.

  At the top of the huge flight of steps, a man in a rumpled pilot’s uniform greeted them.

  “I’m Forrest, I’ll be your pilot when we take off,” he said. He introduced himself to all the kids when they came up, telling them that they could see the cockpit later if they wanted. Many of them liked that idea, especially Jason.

  “We’re going to be flying?” Leelo asked as they found seats. All the kids’ seats were along the right side of the plane and there was much arguing over who got the window seats.

  “Yes, that’s why we’re here.”

  “I don’t like flying.” Leelo sounded genuinely frightened.

  “But flying’s fun,” Jason told her. “I got to fly all the way to India once when my cousin got married there. It took so long, that we slept on the plane, and they showed movies on these screens. Have you ever flown?”

  “No, but I don’t like heights.” Leelo was one of the only kids who didn’t want a window seat.

  “You’ll be fine then, especially if there’s clouds. When you fly over clouds, it’s like sailing on a ship through snow.”

  “Really?” Leelo looked at him sceptically.

  “I promise.”

  “Will you hold my hand if I get scared?”

  “Of course.”

  Lauren gave Jason a smile of gratitude as he led Leelo to find them a pair of seats. He and Jon had both been really big helps. She would have to find some way to thank them. />
  As she took her seat and a real stewardess came around with dinners for them, Lauren looked out the window. She couldn’t help but think about Leighton and that massive horde of zombies heading toward it. Wherever Abby might be, Lauren prayed she didn’t run into them.

  24:

  Nicky Hui-Chang – Day 17

  When Nicky woke up again in the truck, absolutely everything hurt. It was a dull hurt though, not sharp, as she had expected. She remembered being saved by Brunt, but not much else. When she tried to open her eyes—well, eye, apparently, the other was still swollen shut—a light from above stabbed into it. She quickly closed it again with a groan.

  “Nicky, are you awake?” a familiar female voice spoke from nearby.

  Nicky tried to open her eye again, more slowly this time. The light wasn’t as painful, and she could finally focus.

  The woman near her looked like someone she knew, but the hair was all wrong. “Cameron?”

  The woman laughed, sounding just like Cameron. “I’m her sister, Riley. Cameron’s over there.”

  Nicky looked to where the woman was pointing. Sitting on the other side of the truck, for that’s now where she realized they were, was the same woman but with very short hair.

  “Do you know where you are?” the woman named Riley asked.

  “Back of a white truck,” Nicky answered as she tried to sit up.

  Riley and Cameron both assisted her in sitting upright on the floor, handing her a bottle of water in the process. Nicky sucked down several, large swallows of water.

  “That’s good.” Riley quickly checked her pupil reflexes. “Do you remember what happened?”

  “I was climbing, and then falling. Brunt grabbed me.”

  “What about after that?”

  Nicky slowly shook her head.

  “Well, you got shot in the leg for one thing,” Cameron told her. It was weird hearing the same voice from two different sides. It was as if one person was constantly moving around her.

  “Shot?” Nicky looked down at her calf where it was heavily bandaged. She became aware of all the bandages she was wearing at that point, including a splint over her mangled fingers. “Who shot me?”

  “I did. Sorry,” Riley apologized. “You had a zombie hanging off your leg that we had to take care of.”

  “She’s also the one who patched you up though,” Cameron defended her sister. “And before you ask, Isabelle and Jasmine are fine. They’re in the other truck right now, and we’re heading back to the prison where the evacuation should be occurring shortly.”

  Nicky nodded, and took another drink of water. Her thoughts felt like they were on a delayed timer, always taking a moment or two to process.

  The ride back to the prison was blissfully uneventful. Nicky managed to remain conscious the whole way, eating, drinking, and receiving doses of painkiller when Riley allowed it. The woman was apparently a doctor, and a godsend whenever a dose was injected.

  When the ride suddenly got consistently bumpy, Nicky knew they were back at the prison, running over zombies. They stopped, listening to the hammering of zombie hands on the outside of the truck. A rattle of gunfire went off, but not near them. Nicky figured they were the second truck to pass through the gates, which meant waiting for the other truck, the truck Orson and Hank had stolen, to go through first.

  Riley looked especially nervous about the banging and moaning from outside. She sat with her shoulders hunched in a defensive posture, her hands gripping her knees, her head still, but her eyes darting about. Cameron also looked uncomfortable, but less so. Nicky was so doped up she didn’t care at all about the zombies.

  Finally, they got to roll forward, and the hail of bullets rained down around them.

  Once the truck was parked, the back was quickly opened, and the women inside were rushed out. Well, as rushed as they dared move Nicky after seeing her pummelled face and body. Riley and Cameron were quickly moved off. It was clear the evacuation was already underway, and they were being moved toward the mobs of other people.

  “Nicky,” Brunt called out, running over to her. He replaced the mercenary who was currently helping her stand. “You’re going to be riding in the helicopter.”

  “Helicopter?”

  “Riley brought our helicopter back. We’re using it to move the worst of the injured, which includes you.”

  Nicky remembered in a flash that Riley Bishop had been one of the people to steal their helicopter. Why would she bring it back?

  “Others should use it,” Nicky insisted. “I can ride in a truck again.”

  “No way.” Brunt shook his head. “Those trucks are going to be jammed pretty tight. With your leg, we can’t risk it.”

  “Nicky!”

  Nicky looked up and saw Edward Owen running toward her across the yard. She tried to smile for him, but it was painful and lopsided. She saw the pain cross his own face after seeing hers. When he reached Brunt and Nicky, Edward draped her other arm across his shoulders and helped carry her toward the prison.

  “What medications have you been given?” Owen asked, taking over as her doctor.

  “Umm.” Nicky wasn’t sure. She couldn’t even remember how many times Riley had injected her. Could have been anything between two times and a hundred.

  Brunt rattled off a list of what was in the back of the truck, one of which was morphine, and Edward figured it out from there.

  “How’s the evac going?” Nicky asked as they entered the building.

  “Fine, don’t worry about it,” Edward answered her.

  “And Crichton?”

  “He’s going along with it. In fact, he’s running it.”

  “What about James?”

  “Not sure where he is at the moment. I think he’s in the tower. Some sort of zombie siege by Roy.”

  “Zombie siege?” Brunt asked the question this time. He must not have been radioed about it.

  “Yeah, Roy’s come out of the woods with a bunch of zombies in tow. I haven’t listened much to the reports he’s giving, but they’re doing some weird things over there.”

  “I have to help.” Nicky tried to pull away from the boys, but in her doped-up state, it wasn’t effective at all. They were able to tighten their grips on her waist before any weight could be put on her injured leg. She was hauled even more quickly to the prison stairs.

  “You don’t need to do anything outside of doctor’s orders,” Edward told her.

  Nicky leaned against Edward and whispered suggestively in his ear. “You’re a doctor. I bet you could give some real good orders.”

  Edward flushed an embarrassed red, refusing to respond in any other way.

  Nicky then turned to Brunt. “These drugs are good.”

  “It certainly looks like it,” Brunt laughed.

  “Brunt, Brunt, Brunt, sounds like grunt. Also rhymes with cu-”

  “That’s enough of that Nicky,” Edward cut her off. “You need to calm down a little. And I think it’s best we don’t give you any more morphine.”

  “Probably,” Nicky agreed, returning to herself a little. She was both ashamed and proud of herself for the brazen pass she had made at Owen, but it certainly wasn’t like her to do that.

  They reached the roof at last, and Brunt left Nicky completely in Edward’s care. He helped her across the roof toward the sleek, black body of the aircraft. Through the open side door, Nicky could see the rest of the sick and injured already strapped in. By the way they looked at her, Nicky knew she was pretty badly off and finally accepted that a helicopter ride would be best. Edward helped her in and began strapping the harness belt around her.

  “It smells like pee in here,” she complained, because it did.

  “Sorry, it smelled like that when we got it,” Edward apologized and began strapping himself into the seat next to her. Dr. Milo was already in the helicopter, and it looked like they were going to be the only two medical staff on board.

  Nicky looked out past Edward, past the edge of the buildi
ng, and past the outer wall. She could just make out Roy’s white lab coat standing in the field, but not much of what was really going on over there. She couldn’t even be sure that she really saw Roy. Their pilot suddenly showed up as if appearing out of thin air and slammed the door closed, leaving those inside with no view of the outside world. They really should have built this bird with windows, Nicky thought.

  She leaned her head on Edward’s shoulder. He took her hand, the one with working fingers, and held it in his own. As the blades started up overhead, Nicky fell asleep.

  ***

  She didn’t wake again until they had landed, and then, only because Edward shook her awake.

  “Nicky? You okay?”

  “Yeah. Just tired,” she mumbled. The morphine had begun to wear off on the flight. Things hurt again. However, the haze clinging to her mind hadn’t seemed to dissipate at all.

  “We’re here. Let’s get you in the plane.”

  Nicky took a second to remember what he was talking about. She couldn’t remember that there was a plane involved until she looked out the door and saw the massive thing.

  Edward frowned at her confused expression. He took out a penlight and shone it in her non-swollen eye. Nicky squinted and groaned. It hurt when he did that.

  “Why does everyone keep shining lights in my eyes?” She guessed she was asking Edward but the question wasn’t really directed at anyone.

  “Just making sure you’re okay,” Edward told her. He helped her out of the helicopter.

  As they moved toward the planes, Nicky began to get really sleepy again. She leaned all her weight on Edward as her heavy head began to drag her down.

  “Nicky?” Edward shook her lightly. “Don’t go to sleep again.”

  Nicky got her head back up, but it was only seconds before the weight of it began to drag it down once more.

  “Nicky!” Edward shook her more forcefully.

  She didn’t want to respond, she wanted to sleep. It didn’t hurt when she was asleep.