Mia’s eyes met each of her fellow tribesmen and she offered them a hollow smile. She could see the fear on their faces. They’d followed her and she couldn’t promise them that they were any safer than they would have been on the outside. She was surprised to see a familiar face when the door on the opposite wall slid open.
“You can follow me now,” Connor said.
He made no attempt to explain the entrance requirements even after she caught up to him in the adjacent hallway. Connor came to a stop before Mia gathered the courage to bark at him. He opened a door and motioned into the room beyond.
“This will be your people’s holding area while your case is awaiting a final decision from the colony commissioners.”
The room was simple and plain, but in it there were more conveniences than Mia could ever imagine. Three rows of cots ran down the center of the space, each with its own footlocker. Individual blankets lay perfectly folded in the center of each cot beneath a large stack of rations.
“Someone will come in and address any injuries noted during your entrance process.”
Mia had issues with the simple description of the entrance process, but she found herself focused on the rations. It was more food than she’d ever seen in one place. She wasn’t positive how they were supposed to get inside the packages or what kind of food could be hidden within, but her roaring stomach was motivating her to find out. She stepped out of the way and encouraged the growing line of people behind her to go inside.
Jacob left her near the door, muttering to himself as he plopped down on the first cot in the row along the far wall. Connor waited in the hall, nodding as each person passed him. Mia felt the tension growing as they stood opposite one another waiting for the line to come to an end. Connor shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. Mia let him off the hook quickly.
“What are we in for?” she asked then headed in. “Are you going to lock the door when you leave?”
Connor scoffed. “No need,” he said, following after her. “You can’t get into any of the other areas from here.”
Mia settled on the cot next to Jacob’s and sat down. She heard the old man somewhere behind her, moving from cot to cot, giving instructions on how to open the rations. She slipped one of the packages onto her lap and tugged at the ends. Connor took it, pulled the bag open and handed it back. Mia rummaged through the contents.
“Most of it’s better than it looks,” he said.
Mia was more impressed by the amount. She had a full mouth of crackers a moment later. Her words were barely audible.
“What if the council says we have to go?”
Connor sat down across from her.
“The commission,” he said, correcting her. “There’s always a chance. It all depends on space.” He held up a container and unscrewed the cap. Mia took a drink. “They’ll offer you a place in the family quarters.”
Jacob shooed Connor over then sat down. The cot creaked as it bore the weight of both men.
“Are the family quarters down in one of the other elevators?” Mia asked.
“Yes,” Connor said. “There are numerous levels in each section.”
Jacob snatched the last of the crackers from Mia’s packet and took a bite.
“But they’re not all housing areas, right?” Jacob asked.
Connor became noticeably uncomfortable.
“There are several administrative levels,” he explained. “There’s an entire section dedicated to support systems, food production, and power.”
“How do you get from one section to the others without going topside?” Jacob asked, pressing for information.
Connor sighed.
“There are personnel tubes connecting each of the sections on several levels.”
Jacob nodded, apparently realizing he’d reached the end of Connor’s patience. Mia tried to change the subject.
“How long have you been here?”
“All my life.”
Mia was surprised by the answer. She’d assumed a majority of the compound was more of a gathering place for lost people.
“Most of us have,” Connor continued. “People come and go. We’ve found that living here doesn’t suit everyone. We do what we can to help and then most people go on their way.”
Jacob butted in.
“Will we get our things back when we leave?”
“Of course—”
The door slid open cutting off Jacob’s line of questioning. Connor got to his feet as a soldier rushed into the room. The new arrival found Connor and waved him over.
“Topside, now.”
Connor focused on Mia.
“I have to go, but I’ll be back to check on you.”
Jacob waited until Connor cleared the doorway before he spoke up.
“I think we should get out of here as soon as we can.”
Mia’s frustration got the best of her.
“And where do you want us to go?” She said it loud enough to cause a few heads to turn. She caught herself and lowered her voice. “They have food, they have a place to sleep without having to worry about being eaten…” She looked down at the floor and rubbed her hands over her face. “I don’t know what else to do.”
Jacob pressed his lips together then replied in a measured tone.
“I can’t explain it,” he said. “Somethings wrong here, something I can’t put my finger on.”
Mia put her hands down in her lap. She looked up at the light radiating through the clear panels on the ceiling. After everything that happened, her first long look at artificial light was breathtaking. She found herself lost on the idea of what the world once was.
“Was it like this everywhere?”
Jacob looked up at the ceiling and snickered.
“Yep, just a flick of a switch and we took it all for granted,” he admitted. “It was much more than that. God, I miss television.” Mia glanced at him. “Moving pictures…,” he waved it off, “…never mind. We were so happy with ourselves.” He shook his head.
“I was happy once,” Mia said. “And I didn’t need anything more than what the tribe could provide.”
Jacob smiled, showing all his teeth.
“I know what you mean,” he said. “There was a time after the infection took hold when we thought we were safe—”
“You and your sister?” Mia cut in. “You said we.”
He nodded.
“Alicen, her name was Alicen,” he said. “We’d made it to a safe colony, and for a while everything returned to normal.” He thought about it for a moment. “At least as normal as it could get. Most of the conveniences of life were already lost, but we never really noticed. Just being safe and together was enough.”
Mia felt a lump in her throat. She couldn’t help but think of Jonah. The thought only made Jacob’s story more emotional for her. She urged him to continue.
“What happened?”
Jacob scratched at the scraggly hairs of his salt-and-pepper beard.
“It started with one,” he said. “We were still kids and the grownups had convinced us that the infection couldn't reach our island. I was old enough to see the fear in their eyes when the first infection took someone. They covered it up for as long as they could then one night.” He trailed off for a moment and tried to gather his thoughts as he went back through the memories silently in his head. “Alicen and I got off the island and back to the California coast. It was as if we stepped into hell. We were on the run from then on.”
Mia swiped a tear off her cheek before Jacob could see it. He took a long, deep breath then pulled his gaze from the overhead lights. He scratched his beard again then slid his hands into his lap. Mia drew another small packet from her rations and opened it.
“Maybe this can be our island?” she said without much thought.
Jacob nodded, but didn’t say anything else. She held out the packet and the two ate the rest of the contents together in silence.
18
Sweat poured over Rowan’s
face and down across his chest. A forced run started sometime in the night, spurred on by a barrage of footsteps somewhere in the darkness behind them. Jonah was close on his heels, but the boy had nearly collapsed half a dozen times. Rowan had a hold of Garret’s arm, which he was forced to keep a tight grip on or he would have fallen behind. Erin’s fear spurred her to run ahead of the small group of survivors and they hadn’t seen a sign of her since she took up the lead.
The long night had given way to a picture perfect day; however, the hilly terrain proved to be a terrible burden. Throughout the afternoon, Rowan tried to use the hills as a means to hide from their pursuers, but he had no way of knowing which way was safe to turn. The burning in his legs told him that the end was near. Garret stumbled and nearly took all of them down with him in one fell swoop.
“We have to stop.”
Jonah made the announcement a split second before Rowan lost his grip on Garret and the trio went down. Rowan rolled over onto his back and tried to get his bowstring out of his face.
“We can’t stop,” he said, knowing full well he barely had enough strength to walk let alone run. “Get up.”
Jonah was on his knees. He started to complain when his hand went up, he arched his back as he convulsed, and then proceeded to vomit what little he had in his stomach onto the ground. Rowan waited until he was done. Garret was already trying to get up onto his feet. The sounds of nearing dead-speak was loud enough for them to understand the full truth of their situation. Jonah’s voice cracked as he forced Rowan to confirm his fears.
“Are we going to die?”
Rowan tried to think of a response, but he didn’t have the heart to say it. His darkening thoughts were interrupted by a high-pitched yell from somewhere beyond the hills directly in front of them. The call was enough to get them moving again. Rowan had to drag Garret up to the crest where they found Erin down on the other side waving her hands above her head. The rolling hills came to an abrupt end beyond the next rise. A low valley running east and west opened up at the base of a steep decline and a single structure sat out in the open grassland.
Rowan pushed Garret and Jonah to keep moving until they reached Erin. The lone structure revealed itself under the afternoon light. It was massive with perfectly straight, high walls running around the entire site. Movement in a corner tower gave Rowan hope that someone might be able to help them.
“What is this place?” Jonah asked.
“I’m not sure,” Rowan replied. The dead-speak reached his ears and urged him to continue down the hill. “But it’s the only chance we have.”
A response from the compound reached Rowan and the others the moment they stepped foot onto the valley floor. A loud pop was followed by a small burst in the ground directly in front of them. The hit startled Rowan, but he wasn’t sure what happened. It wasn’t until he took another step forward that Erin yelled at him.
“Stop. They’re shooting at us.”
Rowan froze.
“Shooting what?” he asked and searched the ground for arrows.
“They’ve got guns.”
Rowan knew what a gun was from pictures and stories he’d heard from the elders of the tribe. As far as he knew no one had them anymore, at least not any that worked.
“How could they hit me from there?” he asked himself more than anyone else. Rowan studied the distance between him and the tower with renewed amazement. His surprise was cut short by the growing sounds of their pursuers. “They can’t leave us out here.”
Rowan took another step closer and was met with a similar result. He held his hands up to show his intentions then forced himself to step again. He looked back long enough to see his companions were taking a wait and see approach. Jonah bit his lip and squinted his eyes as if certain Rowan was about to be killed right in front of him. Rowan turned a determined glare on to the gun tower.
“What the hell do you want me to do?”
His yell was met with silence. Although it didn’t provide an answer, it appeared to stop them from shooting at him, if only for the moment. Rowan remained where he was, hands up, ignoring the frightened pleas from Jonah behind him. The eventual response came from a narrow gate on the exterior wall along the compound’s southwestern edge.
Rowan put his hands down by his sides but didn’t move. He heard someone take a step forward behind him and he urged them to stay put without turning to see who it was. The gate opened and the first signs of life stepped away from the wall. They came in two rows of five, each dressed from head to toe in black clothing. The convoy moved with unspoken precision each armed with a long weapon, Rowan recognized as rifles.
The formation crossed the wide field between the compound and the new arrivals in short time, stopping a few paces in front of Rowan. He was amazed by what he saw. Everything from their appearance to their mannerisms felt otherworldly. The group spread apart with each of them training their rifles on Rowan and the others. The last figure in each line approached, both of them slinging their weapons over a shoulder and pulling the edge of their head coverings down below their chin. The larger of the two’s skin was nearly as dark as his clothing. He spoke to Rowan in voice so deep it caused him to jerk back.
“State your business.”
Rowan wasn’t sure he understood the direction.
“We need help.”
The man’s face soured at the sound of the plea.
“We are not taking in refugees,” he said in a rehearsed manner. “Take your problems somewhere else.”
Rowan shook his head.
“What’s a refugee?”
The smaller of the two took the opportunity to explain in no uncertain terms.
“You are.”
He grinned to make sure Rowan understood that he was being insulted. Rowan was in no position to argue, so he tried a different approach.
“There’s an army following us.” Several of the men in the background snickered. “No, not our army. It’s an army of the dead.” Everyone stopped laughing at once. “The infected are,” he struggled with how to explain it, “they’re leading them somehow.”
The two men out front looked at one another and came to a silent agreement. They pulled their headpiece up on their faces, leaving only their eyes exposed. The big man repeated his last direction as they turned to leave.
“We’re not taking in refugees.”
Rowan was at a loss. Jonah yelled out behind him.
“Don’t leave us here.”
The two men reached the line of soldiers and reassumed their ranks. Frustrated, Rowan turned back toward the hills and in a moment of clarity, something struck him right between the eyes. The words escaped his lips a heartbeat before the answer revealed itself.
“Why is it so quiet?”
The sunlight shined down of the first wave of infected as they poured over the crest of the hill like a tidal wave. Rowan barely had time to register what he was seeing before an explosion of gunfire erupted behind him. The infected lined the high ridge from east to west further than anyone could see. Their maddening desire for bloody sustenance drove them down into the valley with ferocious need. The sight brought with it a panic unlike anything Rowan had ever known.
“Run.”
Erin, Jonah, and Garret started forward at the same time, each getting a shocking glance at what was coming over the hill. Rowan waited until Jonah was past him before throwing one of Garret’s arms over his neck and turning to run. The last thing he saw was the first row of decomposing bodies shambling up to the top of the hill behind the infected onslaught.
The men from the compound were firing as they retreated in paired formation. The precision and skill was beyond Rowan’s comprehension. At the moment, he was satisfied that they were fully focused on what was rushing into the valley and not interested in stopping him and his companions as they ran past them. Flashes of light popped on and off all along the top of the wall around the compound. The sound of the gunfire was swallowed by a veil of groaning death-howls unl
eashed by the walking dead as they advanced over the hills. Jonah and Erin kept their focus on the lone open gate and Rowan kept his attention on them.
Terror pushed Rowan to move faster than he thought possible, virtually lifting Garret’s feet off the ground. The screams of the men somewhere behind him pierced the howls of the dead. The sound of gunfire rose up to fight off the dead-speak as they neared the gate. Jonah and Erin reached the opening first and disappeared inside. Rowan nearly dropped Garret as figures slipped into view from the corners of his eyes.
The big soldier who’d turned them away ran with strides twice as long as Rowan. He made no attempt to help the pair as he overtook them, his weapon lost somewhere out on the battlefield. Dead-speak engulfed the valley as certain doom bore down on the remaining runners. Garret screamed a terrifying screech, but nothing could be heard above the coming horde. Rowan’s entire body shook with pain as he forced himself to keep moving.
Rowan lost sight of the dark-skinned man once he reached the wall and horror took hold as the narrow gate began to close. Rowan gasped for every breath as his lungs burnt in his chest. His dread nearly brought him to his knees until Jonah reappeared, this time waving him on. Rowan dashed through the gateway seconds before it closed and he and Garret collapsed on the ground with the sound of the gate locking in place echoing behind them.
Rowan slammed down on to a concrete slab and the impact knocked the wind out of him. He struggled to get himself over on his back. Jonah pulled at his arms as gunfire exploded from the closest towers. Groups of the black-cladded soldiers ran toward a number of ladders lining the interior wall of the compound. Rowan reached his feet as something struck the exterior of the gate with the impact of a lightning strike. Soldiers on a walkway above the gate opened fire.
The sound of dead-speak washed over the top of the wall in a fierce wave. The fighting ensued as a note of wailing moans joined in with the infected. Jonah grabbed Rowan’s hands, forcing him to look at the boy. Jonah yelled above the chaos.
“We can’t stay here.”
The Decaying World Saga (Book 1): Tribes of Decay Page 16