Frozen Flesh

by A J Donovan

  Kayla follows close behind me and we sneak up to the corner of the tent.

  Cole is on the ground. He isn’t struggling but he is definitely alive. A huge weight lifts off my shoulders. He isn’t fighting back. His hands are handcuffed behind him but I am sure he could use his lightning to kill them all if he wanted to.

  “What’s wrong, freak? No magic light shows for us today?” the soldier sneers. He’s pressing the barrel of a handgun into Cole’s forehead.

  I wonder if I’ll be able to stop the bullet.

  There’s no space between them, but there is air in the barrel of the gun and I could tear apart the pieces of the gun. I have no guarantee that the bullet won’t go off. So either way there’s a very real chance of Cole dying.

  I step into view, ignoring Kayla’s whispered warnings. The men see me and turn their guns to me. I do nothing. The only man who hasn’t moved his weapon is the one who is still aiming at Cole.

  Cole sees me and his eyes widen. “Kim, get out-”

  “Shut up, freak,” the man with the gun says. “Keep your gun on him.” He motions to another soldier and the man nods, turning towards them.

  I wait for my moment. He moves his pistol away from Cole and the other man raises his rifle towards Cole. In the fraction of a second when there are no guns pointing at Cole, I burst into action.

  Air wraps around him and a few guns go off the instant the air pressure changes. Bullets bounce off the air barrier around Cole but they don’t penetrate it. A wall of air forms in front of me a second before bullets strike it.

  I wave a hand and the men are thrown back.

  There are almost a dozen of them. I glance behind me quickly to make sure Kayla’s safe and no one is sneaking up on me. My armour molds itself to my body without a conscious decision. My power wants to protect me, so I let it.

  I drag Cole across the ground toward me. The ground is rough and dirt, but I don’t care about his discomfort right now. He’s safe. He will be safe.

  Some of the soldiers get back to their feet. They raise their guns and release long bursts of fire at me. My wall doesn’t falter and I take my time cutting off their air supply until they pass out.

  Cole stands beside me, breathing hard, and I glance at him as I take out the last soldier. He’s not injured but his face is bruised and battered.

  I hug him tightly. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” I say quietly.

  “You shouldn’t have come for me,” Cole says.

  I start to argue but he cuts me off.

  “No, you shouldn’t have. I’m serious. You could have escaped. It won’t be as easy now. Everyone knows where we are. I’ve seen you stop bullets but can you stop rocket launchers? Grenades? They have a lot of weapons, Kim, and sooner or later something will hurt you. You’re not invincible.”

  I don’t say anything.

  “We weren’t going to leave you here,” Kayla says, joining us. “I don’t know you well, Cole, but I know the difference between right and wrong. Coming here, saving your life, this was the right choice. We all deserve a chance to live.”

  Cole nods. “Fine. Get me out of these cuffs and we’ll see who else is still alive and kicking.”

  ***

  Chapter 23 - Water

  Jake

  There has been fighting and Reggie is not happy.

  He and Leo discussed how to deal with it. I tried to ask Leo what they decided to do, but he’s always so busy. He didn’t have time to talk to me. I didn’t get a chance to actually talk to him.

  The group is now massive. We absorbed several different groups recently. Reggie’s men already had a huge stockpile of weapons and ammunition, everything from handguns and rifles to grenades and homemade explosives. After taking in all of these extra people and their weapons and supplies, the group is powerful. That’s the only word I can think of. All the other groups we have encountered are less than two dozen people, at most, and none of them have more than a few guns. Our group is far more powerful than most.

  We had to bring in even more rules and restrictions. They were necessary to deal with the size of the group. There are a huge number of people traveling with us and that number is rising rapidly. We had to implement these rules very quickly after a few people left by themselves to search for food. They didn’t come back.

  People aren’t taking the new rules well.

  “That’s not fair! Why does he get to go?!” a teenager yells from the back of the room. He’s pointing at Gavin and his gaze is burning a hole in Gavin’s head.

  Gavin doesn’t seem to care too much about this guy’s opinion of him.

  “Life’s not fair, kid,” Diana mutters. Fortunately, no one else hears her. I doubt it would help. Tension is at an all time high. We need water urgently. There are too many people here, all of our supplies are running out faster than we can restock them. Everything is low but water is the priority right now.

  Reggie steps forward. “Gavin is going with the scouting group in case anyone gets hurt. They are leaving the safety of our camp and they will be in far more danger than us. Gavin needs to be where he can do the most good.”

  The crowd seems to agree with him. His words make sense, so they trust him. Reggie is their leader. Besides, everyone knows how important this scouting run is.

  “Reggie wants someone to get hurt,” Diana whispers. “If Gavin gets a chance to heal someone, Reggie can parade him around the group. He can use Gavin to remind everyone why they should stay loyal to him.”

  I frown at her but I don’t get a chance to reply. A frail old man by the window stands up from his place on the couch. The number of comfortable seats is extremely limited. Most people have reluctantly chosen spots on the cold floor. No one complained when he got a place on the couch, he looks like he is about a hundred years old and he looks like a bunch of matchsticks with skin.

  Despite his appearance, his voice carries across the room easily. “Would it be possible for Jake to stay here? I am sure we will all feel safer if he is with us.”

  “I’m sorry, John,” Reggie says. “But Betty has been sensing a beast in the area. We don’t want to send a group out without proper protection.”

  “What if the beast comes here?”

  Several people mutter their agreement.

  Reggie smiles warmly, trying to calm the group. “Molly and Rafael will be here. Before you ask, yes, we could send them instead of Jake. We’re not going to do that. Smaller groups are less noticeable, it will be safer for everyone who has volunteered to go on this scouting run if we keep their group as small as possible.”

  No one is very happy about it but they can’t come with any good arguments so we get ready to leave.

  Diana, Chip, Duke, Gavin are with me. Two Unturned and three normals. Unturned is one of the many things that people have started to call us. I didn’t come up with it but it’s the least offensive or stupid name I’ve heard so far. I’m sticking with it.

  Everyone is carrying guns except for Gavin. He’s holding a big hunting knife which should be more than enough to defend against any walkers and doesn’t endanger everyone around him. He doesn’t have any experience with guns and he gets nervous when he holds one, so the chances of accidentally firing it are very high.

  Diana’s weapon is the biggest by far. The men have lightweight rifles and pistols. She’s carrying a shotgun. She also has another two smaller guns strapped across her back and a six inch serrated blade in a sheath on her belt.

  “We want this to go as quickly and smoothly as possible. No detours, no problems, nothing unexpected.” Duke looks at all of us to make sure we’re listening, then he turns to me. “What direction are we going?”

  “Just follow me, I’ll lead the way.”

  Duke is clearly unhappy but I ignore him. I can’t give him directions to a location I don’t know myself. I can feel a large supply of water nearby but a feeling won’t help me point it out on a map.

  Duke looks at the five of us, probably making some tactica
l decisions I couldn’t hope to understand.

  “Diana, take point with Jake. Chip and I will bring up the rear. Gavin... don’t die.”

  Diana laughs and Gavin turns red. He starts vehemently complaining but he cuts himself off as soon as a walker stumbles into sight just ahead of us.

  Diana darts forward and closes the distance before the rest of us have time to react. The corpse doesn’t even notice her before it’s too late.She thrusts her knife under its chin. The walker stiffens and freezes and when she pulls her blade out, it falls to the ground.

  I give her a quick smile and let the others keep an eye out for any other walkers. I have a job to do.

  I let my mind relax and my power responds eagerly. It feels like it was just waiting for me to ask. I can feel the power swirling and let it pull me in the right direction.

  I start walking.

  ***

  We’re looking for water for the group. It used to be as simple as walking into the nearest shop or house and finding a few dozen bottles of water. Nowadays the group is too large and the areas we travel through have already been raided. We had to get creative.

  I can create ice but we don’t have time to wait for it to melt. Besides, even if I create blocks of ice that are big enough to sustain our massive group, they will be far too heavy to carry around to different locations and we would need huge containers to collect the water. Not that it makes a difference. We don’t have the time for it to melt and we don’t have the resources to carry it around until it does.

  Fortunately, I can sense water. I learned that when the raincloud passed over us a few days ago. I pushed myself to recreate that sensation, to find out if I can sense water on purpose. It worked. There’s a big water tank somewhere nearby.

  That is our mission. We will find and retrieve water for everyone waiting for us at our current base. They need it urgently. We finished the end of our stores last night, over twelve hours ago. There are several bowls, jugs and a sink that have small pieces of ice in them. The problem is that there are too many people. So the water is being rationed. Only the kids and the elderly are getting it for now.

  Failure is not really an option.

  I remember the rain cloud and what I felt when it passed overhead. Trying to focus on it made my connection scatter. It was less tangible than my connection with ice, harder to grab hold of and easier to lose. I wasn’t concentrating on it, I think that was the key. When I push at it, it vanishes. I need to relax and calm my thoughts.

  I feel something tugging me and when I open my eyes, it’s like there is a second layer over everything I see. It looks like I put on a pair of thermal vision goggles, but instead of heat I can see water. I turn my head and look around. I can see water in the shape of a bottle in a house to our left. There’s a wall between us. I can’t see the bottle itself or the table it is probably sitting on, but I can see the water.

  “It’s working,” I exclaim.

  “You see the target? How far away is it?” Duke asks.

  I look in the general direction I can feel the water tank, and spot something in the distance. “Two or three minutes at most.”

  “Perfect.”

  We move towards it quickly. Diana deals with most of the walkers we meet, sticking to her knife to be as quiet as possible. She’s faster than the others, though Duke and Chip deal with a few themselves. I think I can hear Diana counting under her breath.

  We come around a corner and I see the water tank. It is beside a small house and I come to an abrupt stop when I see water through the walls. The water is moving, walking around. It takes a moment for me to realise that I’m looking at people.

  “What’s wrong?” Diana whispers.

  Before I can explain, a few walkers shuffle from a side alley in front of us. My vision is still flipped to see water and their bodies show up like dull, hazy silhouettes. They are nothing like the people I saw in the house. The undead barely have any water and I have to concentrate to see it.

  Diana kicks at the leg of the first walker and it falls, and she brings her knife down on the back of its head. She flashes a smirk at me but I’m too excited at my new power to be impressed or annoyed. It’s usually a bit of both.

  Duke and Chip repeat the process with the other walkers. It’s getting so much easier to deal with them. I remember the first day of the Outbreak and I can’t believe how much everything has changed.

  I sigh. Now is not the time to reflect. “There are people in that building.”

  Diana whirls and raises her rifle and Duke and Chip prepare themselves too. Gavin pulls out his knife.

  “How do you know?” Diana demands. “I can’t see anything.”

  “I can see their water,” I say.

  She frowns. “What?”

  “Just trust me. We need to look for water somewhere else. We can’t take theirs if they’re still using it.”

  “The hell we can’t!” Duke exclaims. “Our people need it.”

  Jake.

  “Betty is in my head,” I say. “She wants to talk. Give me a minute.”

  The others reluctantly pause our argument and I follow them as they move behind cover.

  Duke shakes his head wearily. “The kid can see through walls and now Betty is talking to him inside his own head. Some days all of this seems too crazy to be real.”

  Chip chuckles and Diana grins. She reminds him that Gavin can literally heal wounds and injuries and they all laugh at the insanity of our lives.

  Jake?

  I open my mind to the psychic.

  Betty.

  Don’t take so long to reply next time. I was worried.

  Sorry. What’s up?

  I have been asked to check for updates on the search party.

  It’s hard to tell across a psychic link, but she sounds unhappy. I doubt she enjoys being used as a human phone for Reggie.

  We found some people in a house. It looks like they have a large supply of water.

  When was this? You were supposed to contact me if anything happened.

  Just now.

  Alright. Have you made contact?

  Not yet. They’re in a house across the road but they don’t know we’re here. Should we approach?

  I will ask.

  I return to the present. Diana is watching me but the two men are ribbing Gavin over something I didn’t hear. They look like they’re having fun.

  “Betty is checking with Reggie to find out what we should do about the people inside.”

  Betty reopens the connection faster than I thought she would. Reggie must be with her.

  Reggie says to approach. He also said to make sure that Diana doesn’t do the talking. She is laughing through our mental link.

  No problem, I say, chuckling quietly. I’ll talk, befriend them. Bring them back to base?

  Yes, if they want. If you feel suspicious of them for any reason, do not give away our location. In fact, Reggie says if they look like they could be a threat to us or anything at all feels strange, do not give away our location.

  Got it. Okay, see you soon.

  And Jake?

  Yes?

  She hesitates. Be careful. I trust Reggie’s motives less and less with each passing day.

  Before I can ask her what she means, she breaks the connection. My stomach twists. Both Betty and Diana have voiced their concerns that Reggie is up to something. This can’t be good.

  Unfortunately, there isn’t time to worry about Reggie right now. There are a lot of people counting on us to bring water back to them.

  I nod to the others, pushing my worry and doubt to the back of my mind. “We’re going in.”

  I repeat my conversation with Betty to them and they come with me as I approach the house. The others stop walking about ten feet away from the front door. I walk up to it and knock.

  The silence stretches on for long enough that I look over my shoulder to the others. Diana shrugs at me.

  Footsteps approach the door and I turn around. I don’t use
my water vision, it won’t help me here. If anything, it might distract me.

  A click tells me someone turned their safety off and the door opens and a man points a gun in my face.

  “Who are you?” His eyes flick to the group of armed people behind me. “Get any closer and I’ll shoot him,” he shouts.

  He looks to be in his fifties and a scruffy beard covers much of his face. There are other people inside but none of them have come out to greet us. Maybe the others are his family.

  I give him a pleasant smile. It’s difficult to pull it off while I’m staring down the barrel of a gun but I think I make it work. “We’re part of a bigger group in the area and we want to meet our neighbours.”

  He squints at me for a moment and then grunts. “Alright, but just you. The rest stay out here. If anyone tries to come inside, my son is in the upstairs window. He will shoot you. Understand?”

  Nods and grunts are the reply and he nods. “Alright. Come in.”

  I step inside and he closes the door behind me, shutting me off from my friends.

  “Aren’t you going to check me for weapons?” I ask him.

  “Doesn’t look like you have any.”

  I shrug. “Suit yourself.”

  “Name?”

  “Jake Foster. What’s yours?”

  “My name is Terry Goldstein, Mr Foster. I want to say that it’s nice to meet you but most of your companions look like they would tear me apart for fun.”

  I doubt he’s talking about Gavin.

  “Anyway, you wanted to meet the neighbours. Come on.” He motions towards the stairs with his weapon.

  I turn and climb them, slowly lowering my hands.

  “Everyone, we have a guest.”

  Seven or eight people look up. Adding Terry and his son, who is apparently waiting with a gun in one of the windows upstairs, that makes about ten people.

  “Hi,” I say. “I’m Jake.”

  The people don’t say anything. It’s probably because they have never met me before. Also, Terry is still pointing a gun at me.

  Terry makes the introductions but I forget their names within moments of hearing them. I just have to hope it doesn’t come up again. It took me days of constant conversation to learn the names of all the newcomers in Reggie’s group.