by Eric Vall
“I have never really been a fan of water,” Tara admitted as she squeezed some into her drink. “I mean, I like it a lot more now than I did before the world ended, but I still prefer something with a little more flavor, like vodka.”
“Yeah, I’m glad you thought to grab these,” Paige said “I forgot how much I missed drink options until I get offered something like coffee, or soda.”
“We could actually make some of our own tea easy enough,” I said. “There are plenty of flowers and herbs in the forest that would boil up nicely.” I took a seat on the back of the jeep and pulled a chunk of mountain lion jerky from my pack along with a small package of crackers.
“Is there anything you don’t know how to do?” Tara asked as she shook her head.
“Plenty,” I replied.
“Well, you could have fooled me,” the platinum blonde replied.
“My skill set just happens to be exactly what you need right now, but I don’t know much about farming, gardening, or proper care of animals,” I said. “That’s why I have you guys do all that research in the library.”
“It is fun getting to use the library for more practical reasons,” Paige said.
“I honestly never thought I would spend this much time inside of a library,” Tara admitted.
“This whole thing probably helped me get out of it more often,” Paige said with a shrug. “Weirdly this whole situation seems to have worked for our benefit. Besides the whole ‘people trying to kill us’ thing, of course.”
“Of course,” I chuckled.
“Man, you couldn’t have sounded more casual about that if you tried,” Anna said as she walked up to us and unloaded another bag into the trailer.
“I guess I am getting used to the way things are now,” the brunette mused as she chewed her food and looked off into the partly cloudy afternoon sky.
“That’s good,” Bailey said as she too joined us. “I mean, I think it is anyway. Should we be okay with all of the stuff happening around us?”
“Yeah, it will make life easier,” I said. “It might seem weird to normalize the strange things we now need to deal with but I think doing so will help you keep your sanity. After all, we can’t exactly change what happened to the world.”
“That’s true,” the athletic redhead said as she took a seat atop her ATV and pulled out her lunch. “This is normal now and no amount of wishing it wasn’t will change that.”
“Do you want to go back to the way things were though?” Paige asked.
“I honestly don’t know,” Anna said quietly.
For a moment we fell into a sort of introspective silence as each of the girls seemed to stare off into nothing.
I wondered if this was the first time they had truly considered that question. What had happened had been a huge change and things had only gotten more dangerous since I found them. Yet I had a feeling that they felt more complete now than they had when they were going to school only a couple months before.
“The idea that I might never see my family again is a little sad,” Bailey said to break the silence. “But what we have here is special, and I am pretty sure that I wouldn’t trade it away if I was given the chance.”
“Yeah, I don’t even miss my electronic luxuries as much anymore,” Paige agreed with a nod.
“Indoor plumbing would be nice though,” Tara muttered. “But, like, once we have that shower I think I won’t care about that as much.”
“I am glad you guys are adapting,” I said with a smile. “I know things have not been perfect but I am doing all I can to make life easier.”
“Don’t think we haven’t noticed,” Anna said. “You have done so much for us since your arrival, and I feel pretty safe in saying that none of us want you to ever feel like we do not notice or appreciate everything you do.”
“Thanks, but I have never felt underappreciated,” I said. “You guys have done a good job of making me feel welcome and rewarded. Very rewarded.”
“If the others weren’t here, I would show you exactly how much I appreciate you right now,” Tara purred.
“We can make ourselves scarce if we need too,” Anna joked.
“Yeah, but is there anywhere in town far enough away from them to escape the noises Tara makes?” Paige chuckled.
“You guys are just jealous,” Tara said.
“There’s no reason to be jealous,” Paige said. “Not like I’m getting skipped over.”
“I do try to keep things fair,” I added.
“You do very well,” Anna said. “Some of us just don’t feel the need for theatrics.”
“Hey, I don’t fake anything,” Tara snapped.
“Ladies, let’s settle down,” I said as I raised a hand to calm them. “Nothing to fight over.”
“Sorry,” Anna said. “I was just poking fun at you, Tara. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“I know,” Tara sighed. “I am still getting used to the fact that you guys, like, are not always attacking me.”
“Why would we do that?” Bailey asked. “We are kinda like family.”
“Some things just take longer to get over than others,” Paige explained. “I still struggle with old crap sometimes.”
“Well we’re better than that,” Bailey said as a bright smile spread across her face.
“You’re right, we are,” Anna said with a smile.
“Wait a minute, let’s not gloss over the fact that Bailey didn’t contribute to our last conversation,” Tara said.
“Hey, yeah, have you really not spent a night with Tav?” Paige asked as she looked at the now blushing blonde.
“Guys, don’t make her feel bad,” I said quickly. “It’s not a requirement for being part of this team.”
“No, but it’s certainly one of its best perks,” Tara said.
“I’ve thought about it,” Bailey admitted as she rubbed at her arm and looked intently at the ground. “I just…” her words trailed off, and she shook her head.
“Hey, don’t listen to them,” I said. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to with me.”
“I know,” the blonde hippie said with a nod as she refused to meet my eyes.
Our conversation was interrupted by two brown rabbits that shot across the street in front of us. We all watched intently for a few seconds before they disappeared behind a house.
“Huh, wonder what they’re running from,” Paige said as she took another bite of lunch.
“Who knows, proba--”
Tara’s words were cut short as a third rabbit, this one white, ran out in front of us as well. However, before it could complete the same journey as the others a blur of silver grey fur bolted into view, and tore it off the ground with a snout full of sharp teeth.
The terrible sound of the rabbit's screams filled the air for just a moment before it was torn asunder by the grey beast. Bits of fur and flesh filled the air, and after one explosive moment of violence the world went silent.
The large beautiful grey wolf lifted its head, turned to look at us, and casually finished chewing on some rabbit. Its snout was coated in blood, and it stared at the group with cold green eyes a moment before its thin lips stretched back to reveal a mouth of blood soaked fangs as it started to growl.
Six more wolves stepped out from behind various buildings and made their way down the street towards us. Most of them were the same silver grey as the first, but there was one that stood out from the rest. It was covered in a thick coat of jet black fur, and two pale yellow eyes stared unblinking in our direction. It was broader and taller than the other wolves too, and while the others started to fan out it strode straight towards us.
“Fucking shit,” I shouted as I jumped to my feet. My lunch toppled onto the ground as I suddenly found myself with no appetite. The dogs we had encountered several weeks back had been dangerous, but wolves were far worse.
I grabbed the grip of my rifle and slammed it into my shoulder. Then I pressed my cheek to the stock and aimed at the black
beast that now stood at the front. As if in response, the animal bared its blood-soaked maw and started to growl.
Chapter 3
“Hold tight for a minute,” I hissed as the girls moved to grab their weapons.
I stared down the alpha as he stopped. His pack split and went to surround us as we made ourselves a nice huddled group. I gritted my teeth and lined up a shot, but couldn’t take it. These wolves were not the feral beasts that the dogs were, and they did not look like they were starving. That made me loathe to kill such beautiful and majestic creatures.
I let out a shout, pointed my gun up in the air, and fired off two rounds.
The pack barely even hesitated at the sound of gunfire, and they continued to surround us. It was clear that this would only be dealt with through violence.
“What do we do?” Bailey whispered in a frantic tone. “I really don’t want to be eaten.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure Tav has a plan,” Anna hissed.
“You do have a plan, right?” Paige asked as she looked at me and raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, we’re gonna fight,” I said. “Ready your guns.”
As the girls aimed their shotguns and rifles one of the wolves on my right lunged for us.
I swung around to take aim, but Anna was faster. The redhead fired off two shots that tore through the wolf’s chest.
It yelped loudly and crumpled to the concrete. Blood started to pool around the still beast, but as one fell the others went in for the attack.
The sound of gunfire filled the air as the remaining wolves charged towards us. The bullets and shells tore up chunks of concrete as the agile beasts avoided most of the gunfire.
I took a deep breath and aimed at one smaller wolf that sprinted towards me.
“Sorry about this,” I muttered as I squeezed the trigger. The sharp crack of my rifle filled my ears, and the wolf fell as my bullet tore through the length of its body.
The wolf didn’t even have time to yelp before it died, and it left a small crimson streak as it skidded across the pavement to land at my feet.
One of the girls screamed, and I spun to see Tara squeeze off a quick shot at a wolf that barreled towards her. The shot went wide, and the wolf kept on coming. I had just brought up my gun when the wolf lunged towards the platinum blonde. She screamed again, dropped her gun, and threw her hands up in front of her face.
The wolf yelped as Bailey put two rounds though its face. It was already in mid-leap though, and the lifeless body slammed into Tara and knocked her to the ground.
The pack retreated as their third member fell.
“Hold your fire,” I ordered. “Let them leave.”
The wolves scattered and disappeared as they ran behind houses and out of sight.
“Anna, Bailey, make sure they don’t come back,” I said as I dropped my gun to my side and turned to my team.
Paige already had her medical kit out of her backpack and tried to hush the crying platinum blonde.
“How is she?” I asked as I took a knee next to the two.
“I haven't got a great look at it yet,” Paige said as she pulled a bottle of peroxide and some washcloths out of her pack.
“It hurts sooo bad,” Tara whined as she rocked back and forth as blood dripped through her fingers.
“Hey, you gotta let go for a minute,” I said with a small smile. “Paige needs to see how bad it is so she can get you patched up.
“Alright,” Tara said as she sniffled and nodded. She removed her hand slowly from her injured right arm.
I took her left hand and held it firmly with both of mine as Paige popped open the peroxide and started to clean away the blood.
“Is it bad?” Tara moaned.
“Not really,” Paige replied as she inspected the injury. “I don’t think the wolf got you at all, actually. It looks like you banged yourself pretty good during the fall though.”
“That’s good news,” I said.
“Will I be able to use it while it heals?” Tara asked
“Oh yeah,” Paige said. “Once I get this thing cleaned out and bandaged, you’ll be good as new.”
“We will have to keep it clean though,” I said.
“Well, of course,” Paige added. “I’ll take care of that though.”
“Thanks, guys,” Tara sniffled.
“Tav, I don't think the wolves are coming back.” Anna called over to me.
“Good,” I said. “Stay ready until we finish up here though. It won’t be much longer.”
“Will do,” Bailey said. “Tara’s okay right?”
“Yeah, she is getting patched up now,” I replied.
Paige finished disinfecting, and she started to dab gently at the arm around the wound to clean away the dried blood to reveal the jagged gash. The bleeding had already started to slow, and once the area around the wound had been properly cleaned our medic applied a fresh bandage, and attached it to the arm with medical tape.
“How does that feel?” I asked as Paige finished applying the tape.
“It still hurts like hell,” Tara said.
“Yeah, it will do that for a while,” Paige said. “I pretty much stopped the bleeding though, and now that it’s clean the pain will fade with time.”
“Take it easy for the rest of the day,” I said as I patted the platinum blond on the shoulder.
“I don’t think that’ll be hard to do,” Tara said with a small smile.
“Alright, group up,” I shouted as I stood.
Paige helped Tara to her feet, and everyone rallied around me.
“Since we know those wolves are still out there, I think we are going to spend the rest of our day together,” I said.
“Probably a good call,” Anna said. “Those guys are mean.”
“Wolves are not the type of creature to fuck with,” I stated. “We did good though. Nice shooting ladies, things could have been a lot worse if you guys could not land your shots.”
“It’s nice to know that I can hit more than stationary cans,” Bailey said.
“Yeah, but I really wish I had time to put in my ear plugs,” Anna said.
“You and me both,” Paige said. “I didn’t think about it until we started to shoot, but my ears are still ringing.”
“I think from this point forward we might want to think about keeping them in when we are in any situation that could even possibly turn dangerous,” I said.
“Won’t that will make communication a bit difficult?” Anna asked.
“We will work on non-vocal communication methods and when we need to talk, we will just have to yell,” I said with a shrug.
“Good thing I can be loud,” Tara said.
“Oh, we know,” Paige chuckled.
“Nice to see your humor survived the attack,” Bailey laughed.
“Hey, you think we can finish our lunch?” Anna asked. “I barely had time to eat before those wolves showed up.”
“Yeah, take ten,” I said as I scooped my remaining food off the ground and sat down on the jeep again.
The girls all sat down again, but they looked far from relaxed. Most of them had their guns across their laps as they ate, and everyone was very mindful of their surroundings.
“So what’s the plan after we eat then?” Paige asked.
“We will head to the police station,” I said. “I don’t think we are going to find much, but there could still be some police gear that survived the fire.”
“Man, that would be a sweet find,” Paige said.
“Don’t get your hopes up too much,” I warned. “The place looks pretty ruined and even if there was good stuff in a locked room, I doubt it survived the intense heat.”
“Still, it would be cool if there was some riot gear or something,” Bailey said.
“I really doubt a town this small would have full on riot gear,” Anna said.
“She’s right,” I agreed. “Though who knows, maybe we will be surprised.” I shrugged and finished my meat before I washed it do
wn with a large drink of water.
“Hey guys,” Tara muttered after she cleared her throat. “Before we go, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. If I hadn’t panicked, then maybe I would have been able to hit that wolf before it got to me.”
“It’s okay,” Anna said with a small smile.
“Yeah, we got your back,” Paige said as she clapped the platinum blonde on the back.
“I just feel like a colossal screw up right now,” Tara admitted as she blinked her eyes a bunch.
“You’re not,” I said. “We will train harder to help ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
“What if it does though?” Tara asked.
“Then we’ll have your back just like we did this time,” Anna said.
“Yeah, we’re a team,” Bailey added with a bright smile.
“Thanks guys,” Tara said as her smile returned. Then she set her sights on Bailey. “And thank you for making that shot. If you didn’t, then I might have more than a single scratch.”
“I’m glad I could help,” Bailey said as she went red and looked away.
“Alright, I said what I wanted to say and I think I’m ready to go now,” Tara said as she stood up and brushed the crumbs from her pants. She pulled her pistol and kept her injured arm close to her chest.
“Yeah, me too,” Bailey said.
“Paige, Anna, you guys ready or do you need a couple minutes?”
“Nah, I’m good,” the redhead said as she shook her head and shoved the rest of her lunch into her mouth.
“I can finish as I walk,” Paige said as she stood with a shotgun in one hand, and food in the other.
“Alright, let’s get this done,” I said as I readied my rifle.
We approached the large square building, stepped over the rotting, headless corpse on the lawn, and made our way through the burned out entryway.
The building was made mostly of brick which is why it still stood even after being torched. The once red stone of the walls was now stained black with soot, and every bit of exposed wood was charred and broken. Bits of glass littered the floor as not a single window survived the attack, and the whole place smelled of melted plastic, and scorched metal.