Nowen motioned for the other two to come close and in the shelter of their bodies she switched on a small penlight and studied the map, ripped from a several-years-old phone book. Nowen checked the street sign and flipped the ragged paper around in her hands to orient herself.
“Ok, the next street is N. Seventh. We’ll turn right, and follow it for awhile. We’re going to have to cross I-90, no choice about that, but Seventh will take us out to the railroad tracks.” Nowen paused in her whispered recitation, checking for any disagreement. In the waning moonlight the girl and the woman’s faces were serious and unquestioning. She continued. “The tracks turn and go along I-90 eventually, but for right now this is the best way. Stay off the highway, say out of sight, and try to find some transportation.” She folded the map and slid it back into her coat pocket. The coat, a puffy red thing with sleeves that were just a little too short, had come from the thrift store. Suzannah had liberated a long faux-fur jacket and Sage a deep purple hooded sweatshirt that fell almost to her knees, and while the scavenged clothes provided warmth on a cool night like this, Nowen knew it would not be enough once winter came.
Nowen took one last glance and then rose from her crouch and darted across the street. A spot on her back, high up between her shoulder blades, itched in anticipation of a bullet finding its way to her. There was no way to tell if any black-shirts were tracking them now and the uncertainty was like a straight razor across her nerves.
She reached the next corner and dropped down next to an overgrown hedge to wait for the other two to catch up. Once they did she pointed straight ahead, up the long and silent street that stretched away from them. Suzannah took the lead, with Sage in the middle and Nowen last, and they made their halting way up the thoroughfare, darting from one bit of cover to the next.
Nowen found the absolute silence unnerving. Nothing moved; no birds, no insects, not even the wind, a near-constant of late. Each sprint across open space was a few seconds of terror. Each pause in her progress from point to point was harder and harder to move on from. I loved the night, once. Now the empty world loomed over her, an unseen wave that could fall and consume her at any moment.
Someone hissed at her and she looked away from the sky to see Suzannah waving her forward. She joined the red-haired woman in the shadow of a wood fence that at one time, she was sure, had made the homeowners feel safe and secure. At first she couldn’t see the girl; then a blur of movement flashed across the white stone of a driveway halfway up the block. Suzannah grabbed her hand and led her at a trot in Sage’s wake.
The block of N. Seventh they were on continued straight as far as Nowen could see in the pale light. Off to the right, however, was a huge parking lot, the metal of abandoned cars glinting here and there in the moonlight. At one side of the lot Nowen could distinguish the long outline of a building that seemed to stretch as long as the parking lot. Suzannah leaned in and whispered in Nowen’s ear: “Walmart. Let’s go shopping!”
Nowen shook her head. “We don’t know that it’s safe. And what’s the possibility that anything’s even left?” she whispered back.
Sage was there suddenly, materializing seemingly out of nowhere. She joined Nowen and Suzannah in their huddle. “It looks ok. I don’t see anything moving - Revs or black-shirts. Let’s go.” The girl said, slightly out-of-breath.
“And can you see through walls?!” Nowen startled herself with the vehemence of her words. “We don’t know how safe it is. We need to keep moving, put as much space between us and New Heaven as we possibly can.”
Suzannah laid a hand on Nowen’s shoulder. “Look, think about it. You’re right, the black-shirts have probably swept through and taken most of the goodies. But look at the size of that building! It’s fucking huge! I can’t believe those jackasses could have taken everything out of there. And as for the CZs - uh, Revs - the black-shirts would have taken care of them when they cleaned the place out.” She turned to Sage. “Right? Tell me that doesn’t make sense.”
The girl stood with her back to the moon, and her face was shadowed as she said “Nowen, Suzannah is right. If nothing else, we could get bikes here. And there could be other stuff, too. It’s worth a look.”
Nowen looked at the building across the sea of the parking lot. “Fine. But maybe we should wait until morning.”
“Nah. We need to do it now. We got flashlights, and weren’t you just saying you wanted to get as far away from New Heaven as possible?” Suzannah turned away as she spoke and started off across the lot. “So, let’s get in, get out, and get away.”
Nowen could feel Sage’s eyes on her and then the girl turned and followed Suzannah. Nowen took a couple of halting steps forward. Her feet touched down on the line where the grassy verge gave way to hard-top and she froze.
Again the night seemed too close, too heavy. The parking lot was a sea of midnight, the cars just reefs in that black ocean. A certainty filled her that, if she took one step forward, she would sink beneath the waves and never be seen. The thought of crossing the dark lot, not knowing what danger could be lying in wait, was enough to send cold water through her veins. The thought of entering that darker building turned her bones to ice. She could see Suzannah and Sage were already half-way across the lot. I can’t let them go in there alone. If there’s trouble, they’ll need me. There seemed to be nothing on this earth that would carry her forward, and she could hear her breathing rasping fast and anguished in her chest.
She tilted her head up to look at the stars. I used to love the night. We used to love the night. Where are you, wolf? I’m fragile and human without you. I never realized how much I need you. And miss you. The stars doubled and trebled in her vision, the bright points running together into a smear of faint, faint light. Nowen swayed. She was going to fall to her knees, she knew, fall to her knees and then to the ground where she would lie forever, crushed under the weight of her fears.
Damn him. A spark kindled. Vuk. Damn him. Damn him for what he did to us. The spark flickered and grew, and Nowen fed it all her hate. Hate. I’ve never felt this before. Even Tuck, and Oliver, and Matt...they were annoyances, obstacles to my goal. Killing Tuck was enjoyable, but not done out of hate. Ah, but Vuk...he has shown me how to hate. The spark was a flame and then a fire, pure white heat that melted the ice keeping her locked in fear.
Nowen looked away from the stars. The night still pressed against her but she held firm to her burning hate and found that she could move again. She strode after Sage and Suzannah, catching up to them near the closest entrance.
Suzannah glanced up at Nowen’s approach and then turned back to the girl, obviously continuing a conversation. “And so help me God, if you get any damn asparagus I will kill you.”
Sage’s teeth flashed white as she grinned. “No promises.” She looked up at Nowen. “Are we ready to go in?”
Nowen flashed her penlight across the entrance. The glass in the double set of sliding doors had been smashed out, probably long ago. An overturned shopping cart lay near a large wooden swing set. A body dangled from the cross bar that held the swings; it was too dark to tell how old the body was.
The doors showed only darkness. Anything could be in there. Nowen quashed that thought and looked at Sage. “You’ve seen and heard nothing?” The girl nodded eagerly. Nowen caught Suzannah’s eyes; the same eagerness was there. “Ok, let’s go. But carefully, please!”
Suzannah laughed. “Yes, mother!” She pulled two large flashlights from the tote bag looped over her shoulder and passed one to Sage as they approached the entrance. Nowen slid the penlight into her coat pocket, switching it for the flashlight stowed there. She joined the other two and together they switched on their lights.
They had entered near the produce section. Nowen led the way, sliding her light over the empty stands that had once held fruit and vegetables. Nothing rotten...someone got here right as things were falling apart and cleaned it out. She stopped at the canned food aisles. The shelves were as empty as the produce section.
Sage moved up next to her, clutching a handful of store-branded tote bags. She shone her light down the aisles, and the disappointment in her voice was evident when she spoke. “Nothing? They left nothing behind?”
Suzannah called softly from behind them. “Hey, I’m gonna go check the pharmacy.”
Nowen looked at the red-haired woman. “I don’t like the idea of splitting up.”
In the reflection of her flashlight Suzannah’s face was hollow-cheeked and alien but the exasperation as she rolled her eyes was easy to read. “This isn’t a horror movie. Ol’ Man Jenkins ain’t gonna jump out from behind the tampons and yell ‘Boo!’“
Nowen took a step forward and laid her hands on the other woman’s shoulders. “Suzannah, either take this seriously or go wait outside.”
Suzannah sighed, but the light-hearted look left her face. “Ok. Sorry. I am taking this seriously. This is just how I handle stressful situations - I get a smart-mouth.” She looked around, and then stooped to the floor. When she rose she held a thin piece of metal that used to be part of a sign. “Look, I even got a weapon.”
“I still think it’s a bad idea. Just, be careful, ok? And call out if you run into trouble.”
Suzannah flipped the metal piece in a cocky salute, and then she turned and was gone. Nowen watched as the dark swallowed her up, only the bouncing cone of light indicating that Suzannah was still even there. Damn, this is a bad idea. What if she runs into trouble? What if we do? We should just leave, all of us, right now. There’ll be other places to scavenge.
A soft scuffling sound nearby made her heart skip a beat. She shone her light in the direction of the sound and saw Sage lying on her stomach in the aisle in front of her. The girl was reaching under the bottom shelf and as Nowen joined her a small can rolled out and thumped against her foot. She picked it up; it was a can of beets.
Nowen and Sage managed to collect half a bag of canned food in this way. When they were certain they had gotten as much as they could they headed further back into the store. The shelves told the same dispiriting story of having been stripped with superb efficiency. Sage found several boxes of powdered drink mix of some strange flavor combination that seemed to delight her; Nowen was able to add a package of hard candies and a can of nuts to their small hoard.
She carried the bag over one shoulder and led Sage toward the sporting goods. A light flickered over them from somewhere ahead. Black-shirts! Nowen dragged Sage behind her and raised her flashlight. “Watch it! Are you trying to blind me?!” The whispered words carried a weight of indignation.
“Suzannah!” Sage gasped and ran toward the woman. Nowen joined them and dipped her head at the stuffed bag at Suzannah’s feet. “Get anything good?”
The woman looked up from tousling Sage’s curls and grinned. “Eh, a little bit. Aspirin, ibuprofen, bandages, some of that ointment that heals cuts up real fast - New Heaven or looters had cleared all the hard drugs out from behind the counter but there was some stuff that got knocked under the shelves.” Sage giggled at this. “Oh, and I got some, uh....” Suzannah glanced down at the girl “stuff for, you know, ‘that time of the month’.”
Sage crossed her arms and stepped back. “I know what a period is, Suzannah.”
“Good for you. What other exciting things do you know?”
Nowen turned away from their good-natured bickering. She walked down the main aisle, shining her light down the corridors that branched off. The guns had been cleared out but there was, surprisingly, a lot of random stuff left on the shelves here. She stopped in front of the bike racks, arranged one over the other, and studied them.
Suzannah joined her. Nowen waved her light over the bikes. “I have no idea what would be best for a long trip. Any ideas?”
“Mountain bikes. Big ol’ knobby tires for gripping the road, sturdy frame for going over rough surfaces.”
“We’ll be sticking to the roads for the most part.”
“Yeah, but we have no idea how bad the roads are gonna be, right? There’s been no one out there doing maintenance for a year-and-a-half.”
Nowen nodded. “Good point. See anything you like?”
Suzannah moved down the aisle, studying the bikes. “Yeah, there’s a few that’ll work. Tires are flat, and chains need to be oiled.”
“Ok, tell me what you need-” Nowen realized that there was no one else with them in the aisle. “Wait - where’s Sage?!”
Suzannah grunted as she wrestled a large black bike free of its companions. “She’s just over in the toys.”
“I’m going to go check on her.” Without waiting for a response Nowen turned and walked away. What is with these people and their constant desire to wander off? Safety in numbers. The words, the thought, felt strange to her, and after a moment it hit her. Safety in numbers. As of a few months ago I never believed in that.
Sage darted out of an aisle and slammed into Nowen, cutting off her wandering thoughts. “Oh! Nowen, I’m sorry - I didn’t see you there!” The girl stumbled over her apology and drew her hands behind her back. “Um, is Suzannah by the bikes? I’ll go help her.”
Nowen caught Sage by the shoulder. “Hold on. Why are you acting so weird? What do you have behind your back?”
With a groan of embarrassment Sage revealed a doll, a girl with pink hair, pinkish skin, and what looked like a tattoo of balloons on her face. Sage ran a hand over the doll’s hair, smoothing the curls. “These came out last year, and I really wanted one. My mom said I could get one for my birthday.” The girl looked up at Nowen. “My birthday is July 10th. So, I never got one.”
“It’s lovely, Sage.”
The girl slid the doll into the front pocket of her hoodie. The doll’s cheerily-smiling face poked out from the pocket. “Thanks, Nowen.”
They walked back to the bike racks. Suzannah had gotten two bikes ready in their absence, and then she and Sage worked on finding one that would fit the smaller frame of the girl. Nowen found a large backpack, somehow overlooked, and as Sage and Suzannah finished prepping the bikes she loaded as many of their scavenged goods into the pack as would fit.
Nowen shrugged the pack on and tightened every strap she could find. I’m tired of leaving our stuff behind. This damn thing is staying with me, come hell or high water. She joined the other two. Suzannah had the rest of their supplies bundled in the tote bag and strapped to her back with a bungee cord and now stood astride her bike, waiting for Nowen. Sage had already mounted her bike and was making small, tight loops in the aisle.
As Nowen threw her leg over her own bicycle’s seat and prepared to kick off she saw Sage pull out of a loop too fast and go down. The girl’s bike slid across the floor, connecting with a rack of baseballs. The balls sprung free, bouncing off shelves with a clatter of metal that rung through the still air.
Nowen was off her bike in a flash, sprinting over to where Sage sprawled on the floor. “Are you ok?” She had to raise her voice to be heard over the falling baseballs.
Sage stood up, quickly. “I’m fine, I’m fine! Just clumsy. Sorry.”
“Ok. Get your bike and let’s get going-” Something cut her off, a noise that rose from the far end of the store and seemed to swell until it was everywhere.
The howling shriek of a Rev.
Chapter Twenty-one
“What the hell was that?” Suzannah hissed. Nowen shoved Sage at the fallen bike. “Get on it. Now.” Nowen whispered and turned to where the red-haired woman stood. She swept her light over the other’s startled face. “Get Sage and get out of here, as fast as you can. I’ll be right behind you.” she said and gave Suzannah a nudge.
“Ok, ok. But, what was that?” Nowen turned away from the question and sought out Sage. The girl was on her bike, and as another fingernails-on-chalkboard shriek echoed through the darkness Nowen pointed at Suzannah. “Go!” she urged and darted over to her own bicycle.
In the few seconds it took her to mount the bike the other two were already gone. Gripping the flashligh
t in her teeth she pushed off, wobbled for a moment, and then she was speeding down the aisle. She swung right at the end of the passage and now she was hurtling down the main path through the store. Ahead of her she could see the outlines of Suzannah and Sage, pedaling furiously for the entrance. The shrieks of the Rev sounded louder. Or doubled. How many are in here?
Halfway down the aisle something lunged at her from the side. Automatically she applied the brakes and the Rev, a blur of mold-colored flesh in the rags of a blue uniform, tumbled past her front wheel. The Rev went sprawling across the floor and Nowen started forward again. Her breath wheezed out around the flashlight in her mouth, her jaws aching from holding it there.
She looked ahead. There was no sign of Sage or Suzannah. Instead, there were two Revs running toward her, their decaying features swimming through the light from her flash. Damn! Nowen turned sharply to the right and shot down a lane. In the flickering illumination she could just make out a large open space ahead. She pedaled harder, the shrieks of the Revs following her.
The aisle opened onto an area dotted with empty racks. The Revs were behind her and the way in front was clear. She wove around the racks with the idea of losing her pursuers in the tangle of metal. A wailing howl seemed to come from right behind her and without thinking she glanced back over her shoulder.
Her inattention cost her. A Rev was less than two feet away and Nowen, startled, jerked on the handlebars. With a squeal of rubber on linoleum the front wheel of the bike twisted sharply to one side and she went down, dragging an empty rack with her.
The rack was shaped like a ‘t’, four bars branching off a central pole. In her tumble to the floor Nowen ended up beneath the rack, the bottom of a triangle with two sides formed by the branching bars. She wrapped her hands around the bars and shoved upward - slamming one of the top bars right through the chest of a Rev.
The Rev’s momentum and weight carried the rack back toward Nowen. Somehow she had managed to keep the flashlight in her mouth and in the bright cone of light the Rev, a wraith in a ragged business suit, snarled and snapped his jaws at her. His dark-yellow eyes were fixed on her, their jaundiced color almost glowing in the grey-green skin of his face. He thrashed violently and his body slid further down the metal bar. Dark liquid drooled from his mouth.
Wolf Hiding (A Wolf in the Land of the Dead Book 2) Page 16