by Maya Riley
“I think it might be a little more than only being protective,” she replied with a laugh. “I’d be surprised if one of them wasn’t watching right now.”
I glanced around, but couldn’t see any prying eyes. It looked to be only us two in this area, with the guys at the tree line preparing the food. They even moved the car between the trees to be more hidden, now that we knew we weren’t the only ones trying to find the Salvaged Lands.
“It’s cool. Hey, do you remember when we were dragged along to Mama G’s work picnics?” she asked, changing the subject.
I scrunched up my nose. “Memories with her in them aren’t exactly my favorite.”
“Mine neither, except for the ones where we learned to skip rocks. I got so angry that I couldn’t do it, so I just threw them all straight in until one accidentally skipped, then I started trying to do it on purpose again.”
“And you eventually figured out how to do it on purpose on most of your tries.” I smiled, glad to have a good memory now. “It’s been a while though, want to try with me?”
“Of course.”
I stooped over and picked out a few, nice flat rocks that would be good for skipping, and split them between the two of us.
She took hers and held one out, as did I. We stood side by side at the bank, angled our wrists, and then I began to countdown. “Ready?” She nodded. “Three… two… one… go!”
Apparently, skipping rock was a skill we’d lost at some point, because both of ours flopped straight into the water.
“Let’s try again.” We held out another rock and I counted down. This time, I managed to skip mine a short distance, but Maura’s sunk into the water again.
“Let’s keep going,” she said. “I want to get this. I’m determined.”
Each holding another rock, I counted down once again, and we let them fly. This time she managed to get two hops out of hers.
She screamed and jumped for joy, throwing her hands into the air in her elation. Her head fell back with her eyes closed, as a howl of achievement erupted from her mouth so loud, that birds flew out of the trees.
After she came down from her high, Mateo called to us that food was ready, and we walked over to join them. They had a nice fire going, and pieces of freshly cooked fish covered seven large, flat rocks.
I noticed the rocks immediately. “There are seven servings?”
Mateo didn’t even look up when he grumbled, “I know the damn dog already ate a fish, but there’s an extra one just in case. So if she wants to steal a few pieces before they’re ready, it won’t mess everything up.” I looked around. Puppy was laying in the grass a few feet away, cleaning her paws. She didn’t seem to take notice of the cooking fish.
“Has she taken any from you yet?” I inquired.
“No, but if she does, it’s cool.”
“Hey, man, I don’t think Puppy seems interested,” Adam remarked, as he tried to bite back a grin.
“Figures,” Mateo grumbled, “the one time I set aside some pieces for her, she doesn’t even want it.”
“She’s an animal. She likes the hunt. Taking food from you when you don’t want her to is what she thrives on. Like how she caught her own fish earlier. If you give it to her, then she doesn’t want it. Besides, she may be full right now. That was a pretty large fish earlier.” Lincoln’s words only seemed to deepen the scowl on Mateo’s face.
“Whatever. Let’s eat. If the dog doesn’t want any, then that’s more for us.” Mateo closed the matter and lifted a chunk of fish to his mouth, taking his first bite.
The sun was low in the sky, and we decided to camp here rather than to continue to drive in the dark. Traveling was safest during the day when you could see the threats before they came at you. We opted to sleep outside, since it would have been pretty uncomfortable to jam six people and a dog into the car while trying to sleep. Mateo and Jonah decided to keep the first watch. Mateo was too annoyed to sleep right away, still butthurt that Puppy didn’t want the cooked fish he’d set out for her. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that while we were eating, she managed to snag herself a second fish from the river. Apparently, Mateo could hold grudges pretty well.
I was snuggled up with Maura, humming a lullaby I used to sing to get her to go to sleep. It’d been a few years since I’d needed to do that, so I couldn’t remember every one of the words.
Her eyes fluttered closed in the firelight, right as I felt Lincoln get even closer. He was laying behind me, winding his arm around my side, until his palm was caressing my upper arm.
His front pressed up against my back as he leaned his head in close. “How are you doing?”
I finished humming the tune and brushed some strands of loose brown hair out of Maura’s sleeping face.
“Doing good,” I whispered back, careful not to wake her. We were all becoming much lighter sleepers with every chaotic night.
“I’m glad.” His warm breath tickled over my neck, sending goosebumps fluttering across my skin.
Soft snores drifted over from where Adam was asleep on the other side of Maura. These guys kept subconsciously forming a protective circle around the two of us, and I really didn’t think they even realized it. It was adorable.
Soft lips kissed the skin on the back of my neck, before pulling away and being replaced with his forehead. He took a deep breath, and then let it out.
It wasn’t much longer before I was drifting off as well.
Blyss
We finished packing up the car and took a walk along the area, looking for anything else that may be useful. The guys wanted to take the canoe, mostly just for the hell of it because you never know when you could use a canoe, but we had no real way of tying it down. Lincoln suggested tying clothes together to make a rope, but Mateo growled and shut down that idea. Although, if no one had a better idea than that, we were going to end up trying it out anyway.
After all, what was the worst that could happen, we lose the canoe on the highway? I’d like to see somebody try and fine us for that.
I spotted some milkweed growing tall and went over to observe it, then called the nearest guy, Adam, to come over.
“I believe we can use milkweed to make a rope. The fibers are sturdy and can be twisted together into a cord.” I began pulling the milkweed from the ground and setting them in a pile to dry out.
Once that was done, I instructed Adam on how to do it. Or, at least I tried my best to from my foggy memory of the passage I once read in a science book during math class.
It took some time, but once the others came searching for us to see what was taking so long, they pitched in too. We all worked together, peeling and twisting the fiber. It wasn’t the best, and the milkweed was certainly not in the most suitable state since it was still pretty fresh, but it was good enough for what we needed it for. Besides, if it failed, we could still tie a bunch of clothes together and see how helpful that would be.
Before we knew it, we had plenty of rope to tie the canoe to the top of the car. Right as we were ready to get in the SUV and head out, a rotter stumbled into our little area. Before any of us could react, Puppy had already run and jumped and taken the rotter down, until it laid completely lifeless on the ground.
She hopped in the car, then sat in the back seat with her tongue lolling out of her mouth, as though nothing had happened just now. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth as she stared straight ahead through the front windshield, waiting for us to get in too so we could go.
Dogs could be so weird at times, but she never failed to make me smile with her antics.
Lincoln brought the vehicle to life, and we all piled in. I was in the passenger seat, trying to help keep an eye out for the most helpful highway signs—assuming there were still enough helpful ones standing. Too many times we drove by empty posts or mangled signs that blew over from nowhere nearby.
The rope we’d made to hold the canoe in place seemed to be doing a swell job. At least, the canoe hadn’t gone flying off the car yet.
/>
Nothing exciting happened as we drove. Puppy was asleep in the back seat, and the others were playing a card game, all hunched together in the middle row. I had no idea how they managed to fit, but somehow, they made it work.
I stared out the window, waiting to find the next sign. For the longest time, there was nothing but flat lands and the occasional hill. Every now and then a rotter could be seen off in the distance, tripping over itself or another one.
We swerved around abandoned cars, only stopping once to siphon the gas, and then continue on our way with a newly full tank. We also made a few other stops outside of that to relieve ourselves and check for usable supplies in abandoned cars or the occasional tiny town.
Nothing exciting happened though. It felt like we were in the eye of the storm. We all grew slightly more on edge as time wore on, knowing it was only a matter of time before something else would happen.
Because something else always happened.
We drove for the rest of the day, which was barely a few hours and really slow going due to the massive amount of debris we had to keep avoiding and swerving around the whole time. Finally, we hit Pinebluff, Arkansas and decided to settle in for the night.
We found a small house with only one bedroom, so it was really cramped, but it was empty and exactly what we needed. It was best to get settled well before nightfall, as the darkness hid too much to be able to make good progress at night.
A loud clang echoed off the walls, the peeling wallpaper not nearly enough to dampen the sound, and we all jumped. Jonah had tried to open the door to the single bedroom, and it fell off its overly rusted hinges and crashed to the floor.
He shrugged sheepishly, most likely having been rocked to the core from the vibrations. Sorry.
The dust settled and gave way to a king-sized bed. I smiled to myself, glad to finally have something big enough to fit more than one person.
I walked over and ran my hand across the unmade bed, being careful not to trip over the crumpled comforter on the floor. Bending my knees slightly, I jumped up and landed on the mattress with a bounce.
Maura ran over and jumped on top of me, and before I knew it, I was at the bottom of a six person and one dog pile. I flailed my arms around, smacking my hands on the mattress and gasping for air. “Can’t…breathe…”
The guys jumped off and Jonah helped me up with a guilty expression.
After inspecting the rest of the space and finding nothing, we moved out into the living room. There was a fireplace, which Lincoln walked over to immediately. The inside still had some logs, so with a simple flick of his wrist, fire was shooting out of his fingertips, and in no time, the logs were ablaze as though they’d already been burning all day.
“Well, this place is cozy,” I commented, taking a seat on the floor near the fire.
Adam and Maura began sorting through the food, and Jonah pulled the deck of Uno cards from his pocket. We started a game with Lincoln and Mateo, and I couldn’t stop giggling like a maniac with how much I kept beating them. It was hilarious. Or at least I thought so.
Once Mateo looked like he was about to blow a gasket from my incessant giggling over kicking their asses, we decided to take a break for food. We chowed down on peanut butter and crackers, and split a bag of nuts.
At one point when Adam was messing with the dials on the radio, I noticed Jonah sitting there next to it, pressing a hand to the top of the radio to try and feel some of the vibrations. I had a brief moment of sadness, wishing I could give him his music back. I decided to keep an eye out for a C.D. of some kind every time I sifted through belongings too look for supplies. If I could get music to play through that radio, it could change everything.
One by one, the group dwindled as yawns overcame each of us and we headed to bed. Finally, there was nobody left in the living room with me other than Adam.
My eyes opened at the end of another long yawn, and I felt Adam’s hands underneath my arms as he lifted me to my feet.
“Let’s get you to bed.”
“You coming too?” I managed to mumble around another, smaller yawn.
He shook his head as he led me to the room with the bed. “I’ll stay out here and keep watch. I’ll wake somebody up to trade with later if I need to.”
Lacking the energy to object, I let him lead me into the room where the others had left a small space on the bed for me, and then crawled in. I snuggled up to the body nearest to me, letting its warmth lull me to sleep.
Each one of us were fed, comfortable, and loved.
Crooked teeth grinned at me as Mama G reached out. Her fingers barely managed to slip through the loose strands of my hair as I pulled back. I squinted my eyes against the brightness of the unknown room, and I continued to fall backward.
Pain shot through my elbow as I landed on the cold, hard tile. This was new and out of place. I didn’t recognize anything, except for the monster in front of me.
I woke up heated, and it had nothing to do with the three guys around me and everything to do with yet another nightmare. This one was different though. Rather than being a memory from the past I’d been trying to forget, it was something completely different that my brain had decided to morph. A new kind of nightmare my mind wanted to torture me with, to tell me that there was always something worse out there.
At least, that was my immediate theory, and I wasn’t a fan of it. Sitting up in bed, I carefully maneuvered my way over the sleeping bodies around me, cautious not to disturb them. They may very well wake up and run around to find me like they did the last time, but this small house didn’t have much space, so their panic would be short in the event that happened.
Once my feet successfully touched the dusty hardwood floor and I was standing up straight, I opened the door and walked out into the living room. Adam was sitting against a wall, watching the front door.
His eyes darted to me as a creaky floorboard alerted him to my presence, and I caught a glimpse of a small smile in the firelight.
I walked over to him, then placed myself in between his legs with my back to his chest. I turned slightly, so I could rest the side of my head against his shirt. I took a deep breath, breathing in the smell of fresh linen.
How he managed to keep his clean scent was beyond me. Although Lincoln constantly smelled like a campfire, so now I was starting to wonder if there was more of a reason behind that.
“Couldn’t sleep?” His chest vibrated underneath my cheek as he spoke.
“Nightmare.”
“Again?”
“This time it was different. It wasn’t something from the past, but something I guess my mind made up to torment me or something.”
He tightened his arms around me as he held me to his chest, and kissed the top of my head. “You’re safe. I’m here.”
“I know,” I whispered into his blue cotton shirt.
My cheek rubbed against his chest and over something beneath the fabric. I lifted my hand to his neck and tugged on the chain. Pulling the necklace free from his shirt, I slid it down to rub the little orb in my hand. “Do you miss it? Flying, I mean.”
“Very much so. One of the downsides to this whole thing is that now I seemed to be pretty much permanently on the ground.”
My thumb ran over the smooth surface. “We’ll find a way.”
“Oh yeah? Any particular plan running through your pretty little head?”
“If a virus outbreak caused this, then maybe it can fix it too.” I turned the little orb in my hand, twisting the chain in the process. I inspected every part of it, and how it glinted in the firelight.
“It wasn’t any normal virus though. It may have been created by science, but it took a lot more than simple science to cause this, and I believe it may take even more to turn it all back.”
“Or we could just travel the world, killing every rotter we can find. No more rotters equals no more virus, right? If we take the cause of infection out of the equation, then we’re left with the human population.” I change
d directions and began to turn the orb the other way, untwisting the chain in the process.
Adam’s shoulders moved up and down with a deep chuckle. “Travel the world to decapitate every walking corpse. That’s your plan for a simple solution?”
“You got a better one?”
“No, I suppose I don’t.” His breath fanned over me as he sighed, then he leaned his chin on the top of my head.
“Then it can’t be a bad plan if it’s the only one we have.”
“Touché.”
“Seriously, though, it really is the only plan I have.”
“I think it may be a little more difficult than that though.”
“How so?” I questioned.
“It’s not the simple living versus dead type thing. There’s a much bigger factor involved.”
“Huh?”
“You.”
I hesitated, my mind whirling at a faster rate than the steady thump of his heart beneath my ear. “Me?”
“According to the mad scientist, at least. But with you and a few others getting some kind of magical powers or whatever they are, it sounds like not everyone becomes a rotter.”
“‘We believed that magic existed, hidden within the DNA of living things.’”
“Mmm?”
“It was what Dr. Crazy said. They were trying to unlock magic or something that they believed was trapped somewhere inside DNA.”
“So this infection… you think maybe it doesn’t turn everyone into a rotter, but certain people may be able to throw fire or something instead?”
“All we really know is that you and Lincoln gained some sort of ability because of me. So, I’m not certain if I’m the only key to it, or if there’s more to a rotter bite.”
His thumb rubbed soothing circles against my forearm, the spot heating up from the friction of the jacket sleeve. “Whatever it is, we’ll find it out. And we’ll find a way to do what needs to be done.”