Survival Instincts (Book 1): Sacrifice

by Andersen, J. . J.

  “He didn’t take my brothers stuff though.” Everlynn said softly, grabbing her brothers bottle from the bag and handing it to Rae. Raelynn smiled at her in thanks then went to make James a bottle trying not to turn murderous while feeding the baby. She was already on edge from having to look after a baby straight after losing her own, not to mention that her abusive husband was either dead or hunting her down and their supplies had just been stolen. She was pretty close to losing control on the delicate handle of her emotions, so she concentrated on making the bottle and blocking the rest out, she had to get to her dad, that would make everything better and then they would work out what to do about their information, from there. Their information. The files. Rae paused in her thoughts and frantically looked for her own bag.

  The files. My file! Shit! Nobody could see that, and that information couldn’t get into the wrong hands.

  “We need to go after him!” Rae exclaimed picking up James quickly to put him into his capsule, handing him the bottle to feed himself, which he accepted gratefully. She looked at the group who had paused to stare at her frantic statement.

  “No, I want to go find a liquor store, all our shit is probably long gone, poppet.” John patted her on the shoulder. Rae glared at him. Though what John said was probably true, she couldn't think like that, she couldn't let the files be left out there, where anyone could get them. Her file was in those bags and no one could find out about Jake or her involvement in the experiments.

  “No, we’re going to find our stuff, he can’t have gone far. Plus, he didn’t get everything, I still have my gun which I will definitely use on him and we still have the axe in the car, we can track him down, we have to.” Rae argued, her fists clenching at her sides.

  “I don't care. I ain't gonna last another day in this shit hole without a damn drink.” John growled back. Nix picked up Everlynn who shied away from the argument as Jen moved the capsule to sit by the door. Kenji rubbed the back of his neck and Rae wished one of them would just side with her so it would be majority rules, but they weren’t budging, and neither was John. Well, they could go find some stupid alcohol for the drunk, but she was going after the guy who had her file. She was about to snap back when Kenji came forward and finally put his opinion in.

  “We’re heading to Colorado and that’s where I’m taking you. If we see the guy or any alcohol stores, then we can stop but if we don’t, then we find food on the way to Colorado. Either you suck it up or walk.” Kenji bellowed to the pair bickering and Rae hung her head low as John kept his further comments quiet. Together they all looked for any food throughout the cabin but there was none, Gavin had even taken the toilet paper leaving them with nothing. Jen took charge of the baby, happy to change him before they left as Rae and John cleared outside, so they could get into the van. They all got back in the vehicle moments later, in silence. Rae was still fuming over Johns priorities and she didn’t care why the others weren’t talking. After climbing in, Rae grabbed a map from Nix who had found it in the glove box, then buckled into her seat so she could read it over.

  “We should stop in Walsenburg to see what it has and get some food; we'll all be starved by then.” Rae proposed to the group. Everyone nodded, except John who just stared out the window.

  Half an hour into the trip and Rae was ready to explode. Every few minutes there was a new grumble and she found Jen was quickly becoming her favourite person to road trip with, just because she was the only one who stayed silent. John grumbled about his lack of alcohol, Kenji complained about the amount of crap on the road that was in his way, Everlynn was too cold then too hot and Nix managed to complain about everything else; from the sun being in his eyes, to when we were stopping for food. Even James cried more often than not and admittedly that was probably from being cooped up in the capsule but there was nothing she could do to quieten it and if she was being honest with herself, that was the noise that had her the most on edge. She looked out the window trying to block everything out when her attention was drawn to a dark cloud of smoke up ahead of them. It was billowing from the bonnet of a car that was crashed into another, the front half of it completely caved in. She tried to stamp down the adrenalin that rushed through her at the sight. The smoke and the scent of ash in the air meant it had happened recently, which could mean Gavin had been driving. Another twisting feeling in her gut told her she had to trust her instincts and the last time she had ignored that, she had been screwed over, she was not doing that again.

  “Kenji. Stop the car.” She ordered, unclicking her belt and waiting at the handle for Kenji to stop. He frowned at her then saw the same wreck of cars that she did. He raised his eyebrows, slowing the car down and pulling over to it.

  “You think it’s him?” Kenji asked as the rest of the van finally fell into silence. She jumped from the vehicle, gun in her hand then turned back to Kenji.

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” She bit, clicking the safety off her gun, and slamming the door shut behind her as she walked towards the wreckage. She moved slowly forward; her gun aimed as she inched closer to the driver’s seat. Her instincts had been right. Gavin was there but she was too late to follow through on her threat to kill him because he was already dead. Kind of. He was frothing at the mouth and stuck between the seat and the airbag. His blood and flesh peeled from his face and scattered across the window as he banged at the glass, growling. His fingers scraped down the glass as he tried to get to her, but his body was crushed in by the bonnet, with his belt still on so he couldn't break loose. She stood back and aimed her gun, with a triumphant smirk. She had caught him and had her fears confirmed. He had lied. He had either taken the drug himself or found her samples in the briefcase. Either way, he took the drugs and lied about it. And taken her shit. She peered into the backseat, confirming that their things were there then looked back through the sights of the gun. She wasn’t going to lie, she was going to keep her promise, zombie or not, she was killing him. Her finger pressed down on the trigger, a loud echoing shot rung through the air, piercing the window and diving straight into Gavin’s skull. He stopped growling, his head falling lifelessly back, and his arms dropped from where they banged against the window, leaving blood streaks across the glass. Rae grinned. Still a perfect shot, despite being out of the game for years. Her victory was short lived though. Phoenix flew out of the car and started screaming at her.

  “Are you insane Rae?! Have you not seen any zombie movies, ever?! Never shoot the gun!” He screeched, his voice high and quivering, his fists clenched at his sides before running over his hair. She had to admit, he was right. Making loud noises, like shooting a gun was never good news but despite that, she was still proud of herself. She had killed him, kept her promise and found her files. He didn’t understand how important it was that she had found him, but she supposed that was her fault too for not telling him. Not to mention, maybe she could have just used the knife. Too late now. Ignoring Nix’s dramatics, Rae yanked open the door of the back seat and grabbed their things, collecting all the spilled files, cursing that her samples of the drug were gone. She protectively grasped the briefcase then handed the bags over to Kenji who had jumped out of the van to help carry everything over. Once they had everything, Rae slammed the door to the car shut, the briefcase still in her tight grasp. She walked back to the van where the others were waiting for her, climbing in, ignoring the narrowed eyes of Nix on her briefcase and the way she refused to let it go. She shut the door and buckled her seatbelt before Nix started ranting again.

  “Do you realise how stupid that was, Rae? We are so done for, now. That’s it, no Colorado, no meeting with your dad, we won’t even get out of the state before they’re on us. We’re zombie food.” Nix panicked, “Chomper chow. My names not Phoenix anymore, just call me dead cause that's what we're gonna be. There's gonna be hordes of those things coming after us now. What if they can follow our smell? Do I smell?!” Phoenix rambled. Rae turned around to tell him to shut up and that she was going
to shoot him next if he didn’t, when her attention was caught by the glistening on Everlynn’s cheeks and her hunched over position against John. Nix was terrifying the poor girl.

  “Nix shut up.” Rae whispered harshly to Nix then nodded her head towards Everlynn. His eyes followed her line of sight, before going wide eyed in realisation. He slumped down in the seat, looking out the window at the moving trees, red staining his cheeks. Finally, he sighed and turned back to Everlynn, patting her knee.

  “But you know what,” Nix leaned into her, she looked at him expectantly, “Rae is a badass with the gun and she won’t let them get us.” He laughed nervously cowering underneath Rae’s glare, “You won't let them get us, right?” He asked, his voice quivering as he tried and failed to hide how much he needed reassurance as much as Everlynn. Raelynn rolled her eyes at him and turned to Everlynn.

  “I won't let anything get you. I promise, nothing will ever hurt you, no monster will ever come near you. As long as I’m here, you’re safe okay, Evie?” Raelynn reassured her. Evelynn beamed from ear to ear at the words.

  “My mom used to call me that.” She smiled. Raelynn offered a comforting smile back then turned around to watch the road. The others stayed in silence for a while until Nix leaned forward and whispered low so only, she could hear.

  “I've seen all your faces, Rae. Scared, happy, sad and when you thought you had lost those papers, you were damn terrified. You haven't shown me everything in those files, have you?” Nix questioned. Rae looked out the window, trying to figure out a way to avoid his questions. He knew her too well though and she hated being cornered.

  “Just back off Nix. Stop asking questions because I’m not giving you the answers. It’s personal.” She snapped, whispering back as harshly as she could. Nix ignored her though and reached over into the front seat to grab her wrist. Rae flinched from his touch but instead of hurting her like she had involuntarily expected, he rubbed the bruise softly with his thumb. He wasn’t stupid enough to ask how she had gotten it but the distinctive way he placed his hand over the discoloured mark, lined up with the handprint José had left on her.

  “Don’t” She whispered, softly this time and pulled her wrist away from his knowing grip. He looked her in the eyes, but she looked away before his green stare could pull her in. She couldn’t let him in that much, she had to let him have his theories but not confirm them because if she did, she would see the pity, the pain and that wasn’t something she wasn’t ready for. He must’ve realised she wasn’t going to answer, because he sighed and leaned back in his seat. Rae yanked back the part of herself that wanted to call him back so she could tell him everything and grabbed for her phone as a distraction instead. She should have known better. Her phone had distractions on it, that she would rather went left unread because they confirmed that José had made it out of the hotel. Alive. With a trembling hand, Rae clicked on the message from her husband.

  ‘Stop running doll, you know I like the chase. I will find you. I always do. You know the info you have is valuable and I can't have it getting into the wrong hands.’

  Rae shuddered and clicked off her phone, looking around the van to make sure no one was watching over her shoulder and contemplated replying. She wanted to ignore him so he couldn’t manipulate her, but curiosity got the better of her. He had more answers than her at the moment and she needed them.

  ‘Is there a cure? Did you know the drug would do this?’

  ‘No, of course we didn't know that all this would happen. We’re working on the cure. Come back and we’ll talk about it.’

  ‘I want a divorce.’

  She was so distracted messaging; she didn't notice John had leant over from the back seat and was looking over her shoulder. She quickly clicked off her phone, blushing as she dropped it between her thighs and looked at John expectantly. Nix must have noticed her behaviour because he let out an over-exaggerated sigh. Rae ignored it.

  “Any updates?” John asked. Rae shrugged and fumbled for her phone. She opened Facebook and looked for some kind of news report. It was mostly just live videos of creatures eating people and idiots taking the drug to see if it was like people said. It was. Finally, she found an article with an update that was posted the day before.

  “Areas of the infected are growing wider. Officials are urging people to stop taking the drug immediately. Hand back any pill that looks like this.” She read out and showed everyone the photo on the article of the drug in powder and pill form. It had another form that wasn’t listed though. One that she couldn’t expose without exposing herself, so she stayed silent.

  “Come to quarantine in Los Alamos, New Mexico if already ingested. You will not be prosecuted. Please, this has to stop.” She continued, her voice hitching at the quarantine site. The lab. There was no cure there, José had said that, so what were they doing with those who had ingested the drug? She would bet they were not as welcoming as those going there were hoping, more like tying up loose ends. Rae’s hand clenched around the phone, they had to get to Los Alamos and that’s where all the people on the drug were going. Perfect. Raelynn looked back down at her phone to keep scrolling through the article. It showed a map with highlighted areas that were already completely overrun. Iowa was highlighted, it was gone. She slumped back into her seat, clicking off the phone.

  “I wonder what we'll find in Walsenburg.” Rae muttered, not expecting anyone to answer, Kenji did though.

  “Well look out the window and find out, because we're here.” Kenji stated and she did. She looked out the window and frowned. It was deserted. No zombies, no people, no cars, nothing. Kenji pulled into the parking lot of the first building of accommodation they saw; La Plaza Inn. It definitely wasn’t a modern building with its high arches and concrete exterior, but it had character and matched the rest of the town. Rustic. She was about to suggest she check the place out first in case it was overrun, but John was out of the van before she had the chance.

  “This place better have a bar.” He narrowed his eyes on it, then pulled his gun from his waistband and strode towards the old wooden door with more enthusiasm than she had seen from him in the entire trip. Raelynn quickly jumped out and followed in behind John to scope the place out wishing that the others would stay in the van, but they followed in behind her.

  Rae followed John through to a kitchen where an elderly couple were peering out at them from behind an opening in the wall. The couple gasped as they all entered with their guns ready. At least they were alive, but they were pale and frazzled so she wasn’t sure whether they were going to get a warm reception, especially considering they were armed.

  “Please don't hurt us, take what you want and leave.” The man begged from the other side of the wall, only his and the woman’s faces showing.

  “Please let us stay, we have children.” Rae asked them, tucking her gun away, hoping it would endear them to the couple. It seemed to work.

  “You can stay for the day, but you must be gone by nightfall, we can’t take any risks you understand? We have a family too.” The woman revealed. It looked like John was about to argue so she stepped forward and grabbed his arm, pulling him back. That offer was the best they were going to get, so they had to take it.

  “Thank you. We’ll be gone by nightfall. Are there any other guests here?” Rae asked. The woman shook her head at the same time as the man.

  “No. We had them all check out when everything happened, so pick any rooms you need, they are unlocked. You can use the kitchen and whatever you need before you leave, but you can’t come back here. This is off limits, understand?” The man explained. Rae nodded.

  “Understood. Thank you again.” She said before the couple nodded and shut the opening, sealing themselves in whatever safe place they thought they had created for themselves.

  “Yeah, thank you very much” John said from across the room as he raided the bar, grabbing bottles of alcohol with a wide grin, chuckling like a kid on Christmas. Rae shook her head.

  “Real
ly John?” She sighed. He shrugged.

  “He said we could have what we needed. I need it.” He said before taking a swig and sighing loudly. He walked off up the stairs without seeing if anyone would follow.

  “Well I guess we better go up there and make sure he finds a room before he downs that bottle and can’t walk. We can take the kids up too if you guys want to make dinner?” Kenji said and Rae nodded to him.

  “Yeah, just give me the keys to the van first. I’m going to park it right in front of the door so it’s easier to unload and blocks the entrance from anyone else getting in.” Rae said. Kenji nodded, chucked the keys to her then left to go upstairs. She moved the van and grabbed the bags with Nix. He moved straight to the kitchen, already moving about in that way of his, that showed how much he belonged in there. He knew where everything was, he knew what to make and he was already there. Rae went to the bar and popped the cap off two beers, bringing one over to him, her mouth salivating at the look of the steaks he had found to cook. He continued cooking in silence as she moved about the cupboards, packing a few extra things into their bags. Tinned food, first aid, some fruits. She felt bad taking them from the couple, but she had no money and they were going to need it to make it to Colorado alive. Raelynn finished stocking before Nix had finished cooking and sat on the counter watching him cook as she sipped her beer. He took a couple of gulps of his then continued making the salad. She wanted to offer to help but she was being selfish. She loved watching him cook, the way he was so sure of everything he was doing in there, moved so fluidly and put so much effort into each component. It had her staring endlessly at him, her body heating as her eyes caught every flex of his modest biceps, every move of his narrow hips, every strand of hair that came loose from his bun. Rae parted her lips, running her tongue along the bottom one, trying to stop the tingling in it. Her hand held the cold beer tighter and crossed her legs as the pressure in her body built higher than she expected when he reached up to the top cupboard, his shirt rising with his stretch giving her a glimpse of his smooth, tight skin across his abdomen. It had been a while since she had been intimate with anyone and despite José’s horrible way with her, he had been a pretty good lover. He had been able to make her forget what he did to her in the daylight by making up for it at night and she had to admit, she missed it. Missed feeling loved, feeling sexy, feeling like she deserved to feel as good as sex made her feel. But even as she thought about her husband, she knew it would be different with Nix. He was soft, patient, kind, nothing like José and the lure to know just how different that would be in bed, was strong. She had wanted him since High School and they had missed their chance then, she didn’t want to miss it again.