by Cass Kim
She’d been walking for almost an hour, taking alternate lefts and rights between trees, with no clear direction of travel when she heard the sound of something crashing through the forest off to her left. She let out a yelp, then covered her mouth tightly with her hand. Dropping into a crouch she froze listening hard. Holding her breath, she counted to ten. Not hearing further movement, she risked another quick breath in. It could have been anything. It could have been a deer. Or a bobcat. Or maybe just a really big racoon. She’d read once that even owls could sound huge when they dived down to snatch up a mouse then beat their wings to rise again.
It could have been a Wilder.
What if it was Benjamin? Or the stranger that had saved her. Was he saving her, though? Or just attacking the most enticing prey? She shivered as a strong breeze began whistling through the trees. Renna felt the first cool drops of a rainstorm plop onto her head. She remained crouched, listening hard over the patter of rain falling faster. There was the roll of thunder echoing off the mountains around her.
She would have to find shelter. Just something until morning when she could see better. At least with the storm brewing nothing else in the forest would be able to hear her picking her way through the underbrush. The cover of noise worked both ways. Cautiously she rose, scanning for the dark hunch of the rocky hills scattered throughout these forests. She didn’t need a whole cave, just a little indent would do. Somewhere to put her back safely against while she waited out the night hours still and quiet.
Once she reached the rock face, she slid a hand over the rough surface as she edged along it. Her tee shirt and sweatpants were heavy with the rain. She knew if she just kept at it a little longer she’d find herself a safe spot. With at least five more hours until morning, there were no other options. She thought about Alyssa, probably at home hunkered down in her room, fingers flying over her phone as she texted half the school. She wondered if she’d started freaking out yet about not being able to reach her. Alyssa would probably climb a tree and hunker in, counting it as some great adventure to be surviving. She thought of Benjamin again, lost to the human world. Not even Alyssa could make a positive spin on this one.
Finally, Renna felt the rock curve away under her sliding hand, leading deeper into the rockface. She followed it out of the drenching rain and a little way into a cave. She sniffed deeply for the musky scent of an animal den. Her nose was running and snot filled, but she didn’t think she smelled anything. Even so, she didn’t explore further. She sank gratefully down, back against the cool stone, and hugged her knees to her chest, staring out into the darkness.
Renna cracked her eyes against the rising sun, rubbing the crust of dried mucus off her upper lip. She was really thirsty. What was it those old survival reality shows had people do after a rain? Drink off leaves or something? Suppressing a groan as she unbent her knees, Renna tried to get her bearings. The trouble with living in one of the towns located within the Adirondack forest was that she could miss her home, or even her town, by less than a mile and never even know it. Being in an isolated area at the start of the infections had been ideal, as the outbreaks had started in big cities. But it didn’t take long before there was no safe place. The woods had become the holders of boogeymen and off-gridders alike.
How had she fallen asleep out here? Her shirt was still damp across her midriff where her legs had been curled up all night. The areas on her feet and palms that had been scratched up stung as she stretched. Remembering the sound of her hair being ripped from her head, she gingerly touched around her scalp until she found a swollen area that felt shiny and thin. If anybody saw her now, she wouldn’t blame them for mistaking her for a Wilder.
She stepped out from the edge of the shallow cave, pleased to see there was a field just a few steps away filled with blueberry bushes. It was a little late in the season, but most bushes still had the later berries on them. Renna spent the next hour as the sun rose picking the tiny berries and shoveling them in her mouth. If she didn’t find her way out of these woods today, she’d need a whole lot more sustenance than that.
As she began walking again along the rock face, Renna could not shake the feeling of being watched. Every few steps she paused, listening. Once she thought she heard the snap of a twig just after she’d stopped. As the hairs on her neck refused to stop prickling, she turned her back to the rock wall and scanned the tree limbs. Was it just her, or did it seem like the birds had stopped singing in the immediate vicinity? Something stirred in the woods in front of her. Straining, Renna saw a subtle shaking of the undergrowth. With an ear-piercing shriek, a hawk streaked down, intercepting a rabbit as it made a break from the undergrowth, and carrying the squirming creature off into the heights of the trees.
Hands shaking, Renna decided that the first thing she had to do was find a weapon. She cursed herself for spending time eating berries, oblivious to her vulnerability out here. She was the rabbit, not the hawk.
She suddenly felt exposed making her way along the smooth rock, clear to be seen by anything hiding in the bushes and trees around her. But in the forest, predators could come from any direction. All of the school drills had focused on survival within a building. As if attacks never happened on sidewalks, or open fields. Because people, now, lived only in these enclosed, safe spaces.
Renna decided to compromise and walk just inside the treeline. She would be better hidden, but also able to have a clear view of anything that came at her from the rock face on her left. She picked up a large stick, testing its weight. It looked sturdy, but as she shoved it against the ground with force, it broke apart, spewing a swarm of ants that she danced away from. The next stick she found was better, stronger. She used it to push back branches as she walked steadily onward.
Several hours into the day, she was hungry, and thirstier than she’d ever been in her life. She still felt as if she were being watched, but with hours passing and nothing attacking her, she decided it must just be a reaction to all of the stress she had been through. She sighed and walked on. If she could just find a road. She’d walk all night tonight if she had to.
As she rounded one of the largest tree trunks she’d ever seen, something shiny caught her eye. Gazing around her, she heard and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Limping on blistered and torn feet, she shoved aside the long grasses where she’d seen the shine. Gasping, she picked up a shiny foil wrapped granola bar, cushioned against one of those sealed emergency water packs. Whipping her head back and forth, she looked for signs of a camp, or a backpack, or something to indicate where it’d come from. She swept her stick through the bushes and grasses, hoping for more packets, but scared to find a body.
After finding neither, she gripped the packets and darted forward through several stands of trees before leaning against one and breathing hard, listening for pursuit. When she heard none, she ripped the water pack open and sipped on the corner. She crunched into the granola bar between sips. The tiny chocolate chips had never been sweeter than when they melted onto her tongue. After she finished her bounty, she carefully tucked the wrappers into the pockets of her sweatpants, stepping out onto the trail as the sun started its long dip into the tree tops.
For a moment, with birds singing, and the fireflies sparkling in the fading light, Renna felt like she was in a fairytale world. She didn’t react until the man already had his hands around her shoulders, pressing a cloth over her nose and mouth.
Chapter 6
Renna heard the voices first. She woke with her head pounding and a vague sense of panic. Struggling to keep her breathing even, she took stock of the situation with her eyes closed. The more she learned before whomever was talking realized she was awake, the better. She could still feel her entire body, including her aching feet and knees from her long walking. That had to be a good sign. If they were Wilders they would have killed her.
“What were you even doing that close to their house in the first place? And why did you keep following her?” The voice was male, adult.
“But we saved her. I saved her. Did you really want me to just pretend I didn’t know what was happening. To walk away, again?” A third voice responded.
“Yes, I did. I expect you to understand that there is a bigger picture here. And now we have a freshly changed, overly strong specimen with no prior preparation to deal with it, and one that might yet change.” The first male voice spoke again.
“What’s the point in a bigger picture when we aren’t any closer to an answer, and people are turning faster and faster?” Voice three rose with frustration.
Renna felt a shadow fall over her face. She couldn’t help flinching as warm hands rested on her forehead.
“Oh!” the female voice was right next to her, “you’re awake. And no fever yet.”
Renna cracked her eyes open to see a shadow standing over her. “Where am I?” her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, making the words clumsy and indistinct.
The woman gestured into the gloom around them, “You’re in a cabin in the woods several miles from your home. You are safe for now. Here, let me sit you up. Slowly. The chloroform makes you feel sick as you move at first.”
“I…I can’t really see anything. Am I going blind?” All Renna could see as the woman carefully pulled her into sitting position were gray and black impressions of objects.
“Oh! Boys,” the woman clapped her hands briskly, “please light a few candles for our… guest.”
As the matches flared to life and candles were lit, Renna was able to see a little more clearly. As Renna’s eyes adjusted, she was able to take in the people looking back at her. And she could see the telltale copper pupils reflecting out of their eyes.
“You’re infected!” Renna bolted off the wooden bench she’d been laying on and abruptly collapsed back down as she was overtaken by a wave of dizziness.
“Shh. I warned you you’d feel poorly. I’m not going to hurt you. We’re,” she swung the candle toward the other two, “not going to hurt you. Oh! Well, not more than when Daniel knocked you out.” She winced slightly, and reached out to offer Renna a hand.
Renna ducked away. “Don’t touch me!”
The woman nodded brusquely and backed away a few steps. “Yes, of course. I’m so sorry. I didn’t think about how frightened you must be.”
“Where is my brother?” As the men continued to light a few more candles she was able to see that one was wearing a red shirt. “Did you kill him?”
“No.” The older man answered. “We didn’t kill him. He’s chemically restrained right now.”
“Chemically…? What?”
“He means he drugged him.” Red shirt supplied helpfully.
“That’s not possible. They tried that with the changed. It didn’t work.”
The older man nodded. “Yes, that’s what they told the public.”
“What?”
“Maybe you dosed her a little too heavy, Dad.” Red shirt set his candle down and passed over a rubber drinking pouch.
She recoiled from his extended hand, refusing to take the pouch.
“Okay,” the woman clapped her hands. “Boys, out! Let’s just give her a little space. I’ll answer her questions until she’s a little calmer.”
The red shirted guy, closer to Renna’s age than she had initially thought, looked like he was about to protest when the woman grabbed the drinking pouch and waved him out the door.
“Okay,” she sat across from Renna in a wooden chair, placing her hands deliberately on her own knees, “ask me anything.”
Renna studied her carefully. She looked nothing like the infected she’d seen on tv or in real life. The woman was calm, composed, and her long black hair was silky smooth and carefully brushed. “Who are you?”
“I’m Dr. Soo-Kyong Kim, but just call me Soo. And may I have your name?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m Renna. But I mean, like who are you? How are you infected but… human?”
“Oh! Yes, of course. Well let’s see, it’s a bit of a story. Let’s just parse it down for now okay? My husband, Daniel, and I used to work for the CDC. We were part of a high security research team. There was a conflict with our management; a disagreement in how to manage the virus. We knew we had to leave. We knew of a place where other scientists, specialists within the field, had moved.” She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. “We packed up our life, our family, and moved into the wilderness. As far from any technology, or telephone poles, or power grids as it gets. And we continued our research. Part of that included testing vaccines for the virus. We were our own specimens for a batch, several years ago. It took longer to return to our minds than I had anticipated, but Daniel’s hypothesis on the timing was impressively accurate. We are very close now, to a working vaccine.”
Renna stared at the petite woman, dumbfounded. She’d just casually announced that people could survive the virus. That there may be a vaccine coming. When, for who knew how many years after they’d discovered it, the changed were still executed on sight. “How long? How long have you known? How long have you been changed?”
For a moment the placid expression on the woman’s face morphed into a deep sadness, before she smoothed it over and spoke, “We were infected only about three years ago.” She cleared her throat. “You may have heard about it on the news.”
Renna's mind flashed immediately to the last multi-person attack directly in Cupboard Lake. Just under 3 years ago. A teenage boy, Thomas Kim from DC, had somehow gotten all the way to northern New York and attacked a group of day hikers. There was a lot of speculation on how the authorities should have handled the missing hikers, since hiking in the Adirondacks was no longer legal. They’d refused to send out search parties for survivors after one of the five hikers ran out of the forest, followed by the Wilder who used to be Thomas Kim. The Wilder had been struck dead by a car as he was tearing the hiker’s abdomen open in the middle of the highway.
She studied the woman’s face. The high cheekbones, almond shaped eyes, the smattering of freckles across her nose, “You’re Thomas Kim’s missing family.”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“The news never said anything about you working for the CDC.” The throbbing in Renna’s head was intensifying.
“Yes. As I said, it was a high security position.”
“Why am I here? Why did you guys take me from the woods?”
“Partly because my son, Emerson, involved all of us unwillingly. You were attacked. You may be infected. There are more than a few scrapes on your hands, your feet are a mess. Those are both avenues for infection. We have to be sure.”
“Wait, so you’re just going to keep me here for… months?”
“Actually, the infection to incubation period has been rapidly decreasing with virus mutations, so it should only take a few weeks to be absolutely sure. You saw how quickly your brother changed.”
“Where is my brother?”
“Somewhere safe. Please, take this water. You show clinical signs of dehydration.”
Renna felt her voice rising with the pounding in her head, “Tell me where he is! Where I am.”
“You’re at a hidden base camp. We can’t really give you that information right now. For the safety of everyone involved in the project. Now,” she smiled softly and proffered the water again. “Please, have some water. It’s perfectly safe.”
Renna looked around the cabin. When Daniel and... what had she said? Emerson? Left, they had not taken any candles with them. The candles on the fireplace mantle illuminated a rustic cabin, simply furnished with mostly wooden furniture. There were worn socks and a few other clothing items hung from nails on the mantel, like bizarre Christmas stockings. The windows were wide open, with wooden shutters stretching invitingly into the night.
“There’s no metal.” Renna gasped, realizing what looked so very wron
g.
“Naturally, no. Not in these outlier cabins. Not everyone here is hosting the virus. Some of the cabins use more modern means for light. There are even some generators in the center of camp. Those of us who have sensitivities live a bit off from the rest of the group. It’s more comfortable.”
“So it really does hurt?”
She nodded, “Yes, you should hope you never have to experience it.”
Renna opened her mouth to ask more questions but was overtaken by a yawn. Now that the adrenaline was seeping from her veins, she felt her exhaustion keenly.
“You should eat and rest. We’ll put you in Emerson’s room tonight, and bring you into the group tomorrow.”
“I don’t know if I could sleep here.”
“I think you’ll surprise yourself. Here, have a bit of jerky and the water. We’ll get you a proper meal in the mess hall tomorrow.”
Renna hesitated, then decided she’d do better sorting out the situation tomorrow, in the light. Afterall, they were the changed. She couldn’t outrun them. If they wanted to kill her they’d had ample opportunity already.
Chapter 7
She woke slowly, her brain struggling to put the pieces of the past few days together. She felt groggy, and sore in so many large ways. Her bones ached. Could she have been infected? There had been so much blood around, and she was covered in scrapes and cuts, with no real way to discern which were from the short fight with Benjamin, and which were from her long trek through the woods. The door to the small room cracked open and a body slid in quietly, head turned away from the bed. It was the guy in the red shirt. He groped quickly through a pile of clothes in the corner and then he ducked back out the door without a single glance in her direction.
She must be in his bed. She felt awkward that she was probably laying in the same sheets this strange boy had been in the night before. If he was infected was that safe? Nothing would matter if she was already infected anyhow. She saw crisp folded lines in the sheets still, perking the stiff fabric across her waistline. She vaguely recalled the woman, Soo, bustling in and out of the room while she’d obediently consumed some tough dried meat. Weak morning light illuminated the room from a small window set high up in the wall.