by Eric Vall
“Great,” I said. “Everybody going down there grab one after you put your vest on, and then grab a second one to give to the people down there.”
“Got it,” Dan said.
“Make sure you grab plenty of ammo,” I said. “We’ll be back soon.”
“Be careful,” Jenny said.
“We will,” I told her with a small smile.
“I got you a coat too,” Tara said, and she shoved a large winter jacket into my arms. “And gloves too.”
“Have I told you that you’re the best today?” I asked with a grin.
“Not nearly enough,” she chuckled.
I threw on the coat and gloves and headed outside with the platinum blonde. We hopped on the ATV, and I took us through the woods toward where Rolly and I had traveled to Betty’s on our first trip over there, but instead of continuing straight I cut to the left and started to climb the mountains between the campus and the farms.
The wind cut across my face, and I felt the sting on my cheeks as I drove. Tara’s face was pressed against my back, and I could feel the warmth of her breath through my coat.
“How much longer?” she mumbled against me.
“Not too much I don’t think,” I said, and I pushed us further up the mountain.
I had to keep my eyes narrowed to keep the wind and snow from blinding me, but the gloves helped with my grip, and I was far warmer than I had been before. Still though, the snow came down in large flakes that blew around me in a flurry.
The ATV tried hard to get up the mountain, but we slipped a few times, and I had to gun it to accelerate us forward.
As we climbed, I looked around to see if I could spot the road below us, but no such luck so far.
The trees became thicker as I drove further up the mountain, and eventually I came to a spot where I was unable to pass through, so I stopped the ATV and felt Tara’s head pop up.
“Are we there?” she asked.
“We’ll have to walk from here,” I said.
“Shit,” she grumbled, but she hopped off the ATV and followed me as I made my way through the trees.
We walked for a few minutes before we came to a break in the trees. The top of the mountain was cold, and I felt my teeth chatter as the wind pelted my face with more snow.
“God, it’s even colder up here,” Tara said, and her teeth chattered.
“We won’t be up here long,” I told her.
“Okay,” she said.
“Let’s see if we can find a good spot,” I said.
Tara followed me as I walked further up the mountain. The snow was thicker up there than it had been by campus, and my shoes made large imprints as I walked.
“Today has been crazy,” Tara said as we trudged along.
“It has been difficult,” I agreed.
“It’s just been group after group,” Tara said.
“Most of them have been small,” I said.
“Yeah,” she said. “But there’s been a couple that were pretty big.”
“We handled it,” I told her. “And we’ll handle whatever else comes our way.”
“I know,” she said softly. “But aren’t you worried?”
“Of course,” I said. “But you have to worry strategically.”
“That sounds like a contradiction,” the platinum blonde chuckled.
“Sounds like you’ve been hanging out with Paige too much,” I teased, and I flashed her a quick grin.
“Hey!” she scoffed. “I learned that from Betty, actually.”
“My mistake,” I laughed, and then I thought for a moment. “I suppose it is somewhat contradictory, but what I mean is that as long as we’re prepared, we can use that worry to our advantage.”
“I guess that makes sense,” the platinum blonde said.
“Besides,” I said. “I have full confidence in our team.”
“I don’t know,” she chuckled. “Justin isn’t the greatest shot.”
“Tara!” I scoffed.
“It’s true,” the platinum blonde laughed. “He tries though.”
“Yes, he does,” I said with a smile.
The snow continued to come down around us, and so far we had been shit out of luck in finding a good view point.
“What if we climb a tree?” Tara asked.
“That could work,” I said. “But let’s look around a bit more. We may be on the wrong side.”
“It could be the snow,” the platinum blonde said. “It’s kind of hard to see with all this white stuff in your face.”
“That’s what she said,” I joked.
“Oh, my God!” Tara exclaimed with a laugh. “That was good. You’re learning.”
“I try,” I chuckled.
“I’m so proud of you,” Tara said with mock sentiment.
I led us back around to the ATV and then headed up the other direction. It was possible I had gotten turned around in the snow, it was often so difficult to find your way once the elements started to take over, and snow was no joke. After all, people had been lost just miles from civilization without any snow, and the added danger of the blizzard meant that we needed to be particularly careful. At the rate the snow was coming down we probably wouldn’t be able to follow our tracks back to campus. Luckily, I knew that area well, but up here on the top of the mountain I had to be extra careful.
“Hey,” Tara said and I turned to see she was gone.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“Right here,” she said, and she popped her head out from behind a tree. “I think I found something.”
“Can you see the road?” I asked.
“Hang on,” she said, and I followed her past the trees to a sharp drop off with a large rock at the edge.
“Tara, don’t,” I said as she tried to climb the rock.
“I’ll be fine,” she said, and she continued the climb up.
The rock looked sturdy enough, and I realized it wasn’t at the edge, though it was close, so I waited for her to get to the top.
The platinum blonde stood up and looked around.
“Do you see anything?” I asked.
“Not yet,” she said, and then she raised her hand to cover her eyes from the snow. “Wait.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“You better get up here,” she said softly.
Shit.
I climbed up the rock and stood by Tara, and she pointed out in front of us. I narrowed my eyes and raised a hand to block off the snow. The white stuff flurried around me, and I couldn’t see anything at first, then it came into view.
It looked like the entire population of Canada was heading our way.
“Holy shit,” I gasped.
Chapter 9
The horde on the road far below us was like nothing I had ever seen before. I wouldn’t have realized they were people if not for the fact that they were moving. It looked like one large landmass that covered the entirety of the road as far as we could see.
“There’s so many,” Tara breathed.
“Yeah,” I said lowly. “And however many you think there are you have to double it since we’re so far away.”
“What are we going to do?” the platinum blonde asked, and she turned to look at me with wide eyes.
“We’ll be okay,” I said, but I didn’t feel the words.
I looked back out to the massive horde and felt my breath catch again. There were thousands upon thousands of them, and they were all heading toward us. Further across, I could see that there were even more that had chosen a different road that wouldn’t lead them to us, but with all the ones that continued on the path to the campus, well, we were in trouble.
As much as we had prepared, and as many battles as I had been in, I had never encountered such a massive group of desperate people, and if dealing with the others this morning had taught me anything, it was that most of them wouldn’t pass by quietly.
“Let’s go,” I said, and then I hurried off down the rock and sprinted toward where we had parked the ATV.<
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“Tav!” Tara yelled as she ran behind me.
“We’ll be okay,” I assured her. “But we have to warn the group.”
I rushed as quickly as possible through the snow to the ATV and brushed off the seat before I hopped on.
Tara plopped down behind me and put a firm grip across my stomach.
I turned the key over, but the machine stuttered and didn’t start.
“Come on, dammit,” I said.
“What’s wrong with it?” Tara asked with a panicked voice.
“It’s too cold,” I hissed, and I tried again, but it stuttered once more.
I hit the front of the ATV with my fist and gritted my teeth.
“Start dammit!” I commanded, and then I cranked it one more time.
The vehicle stuttered but caught to life, and I quickly turned us around and tore down the mountainside.
We bounced up and down as I raced through the trees, my face stinging once more from the cold wind and snow that pelted me relentlessly. I finally made it to the flat land that meant we weren’t far from home. The sun had started to come down, and the twilight surrounded us, coating the forest with a dim orange light that threw shadows in every direction.
“That’s one of our traps!” Tara yelled over the wind, and she pointed to our right. “We’re almost home!”
Just a few minutes later I pulled through the trees by campus, shut off the ATV, and ran into the dorm building.
“Where’s Paige and Anna?” I asked, and I tried to keep my voice as calm as possible to not cause a panic.
“I think they’re in the library,” Cathy said, and she stared at me with wide eyes. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s alright,” I said. “I’ll explain later.”
I jogged out of the building and across the courtyard with Tara at my heels. Once we reached the library door I burst in to find Paige, Anna, and Winchester sitting at one of the large circular tables.
“What’s wrong?” Anna asked, and she jumped up and rushed toward me.
“The Canadians,” I said.
“How many?” Paige asked with wide eyes.
“Too many,” Tara growled.
“Tav?” Anna asked, and she looked from the platinum blonde to me.
“She’s right,” I said with a nod. “Thousands.”
“Shit,” Paige breathed.
“Are they all headed toward us?” Anna asked.
“Not all of them,” I said. “About half of the group is on the farther road, but that still leaves thousands on their way toward us.”
“Fuck,” Anna cursed. “We’ve been dealing with them all morning.”
“Yeah,” Tara agreed. “There’s no way all of them are going to pass by peacefully.”
“You’re right,” I said calmly. “Paige, I need you to do a count of our ammunition.”
“I’m on it,” the brunette said, and she took off toward the door with Winchester behind her.
“It’s snowing pretty hard,” Anna said. “Do you think that will slow them down?”
“Maybe,” I said. “But we can’t count on it.”
“We have the bridge ready to blow,” Tara said.
“We do,” I said, and I thought about it. If we blew it right then that would trap everyone out, but it would also trap us in. We just had to make a run to get Frank the medicine he needed, and something like that could happen again. I didn’t want to trap us before it was absolutely necessary.
“So should we blow it?” Anna asked to bring me out of my thoughts.
“Not yet,” I answered. “I don’t want to blow it until it’s absolutely necessary. For now we have it handled.”
“Alright.” The redhead nodded.
“So,” Paige said as she burst through the door of the library, and outside I could hear gunfire from down by the bridge.
“Where are we at with ammo?” I asked.
“Well,” the brunette said, and she bit her lip. “It looks like we’ve gone through about one third of what we had.”
“One third?” Anna groaned.
“That’s crazy!” Tara said.
“It is quite a bit,” I said.
“If we’ve already gone through one third, and there're thousands of people on their way…” Anna trailed off.
“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “We don’t have enough ammo to take them all down.”
“So what should we do?” Paige asked.
“It’s like winter has just started,” Tara said. “And we’re already fucked.”
“We prepared for this,” I told her. “We’ll be alright.”
“What do we do?” Paige repeated her question.
“We keep at it for now,” I said decisively.
“Shouldn’t we just blow the bridge?” Anna asked.
“Not yet,” I said with a shake of my head. “I don’t want to blow it until absolutely necessary in case there’s something else that we need that we didn’t account for.”
“I made a list for sentry duty,” Paige announced.
“Good,” I said. “That will be the first thing. We’re going to up the amount of people down there at any given time.”
“Alright,” Anna said.
“And everyone down there needs full winter gear,” I said.
“The snow is really starting to pile up down there,” Tara said, and she looked out the window.
I looked to see that there were at least four inches on the ground, and it was still coming down in large, sticky flakes that stuck to the top layer and grew it with each drop.
“I think it’s time for a group meeting,” I said solemnly.
“Should I go get everyone?” Paige asked.
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “No sense in everyone coming to us, let’s go to them.”
“Alright,” Anna said, and we headed toward the door.
As we jogged through the courtyard, I continued to hear firing coming from the bottom of the hill. I thought about Frank and Marla and turned around to head to the gym.
“Head in!” I yelled over the wind. “I’ll be right there!”
The girls nodded and made their way into the dorm building, and I reached the gym and pulled the door out, a flurry of snow falling inside with me.
“Hey,” I said with a small smile as I breathed warm air onto my hands and walked over to Marla.
“Hi,” she said. She looked up at me with a far better expression than the last one I had seen her wearing.
“How’s he doing?” I asked as I looked down at the sleeping form of Frank.
“Much better,” she said with a small smile of her own. “Not one hundred percent yet, but he’s getting there.”
“Good,” I said. “I’m glad we were able to get him what he needed.”
“How are you?” Marla asked, and her eyebrows pulled together with concern.
“I’m alright,” I told her.
“You look tired,” she said, but it was more of an accusation. “When was the last time you slept?”
“No rest for the wicked,” I said with a grin.
“You aren’t wicked,” she chuckled.
“Sometimes everyone has to be,” I told her.
“Did you need something?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “I just wanted to check in on you and Frank.”
“We’re better,” she told me. “Thank you for making me take a break before, it was much needed.”
“Good,” I said. “It’s kind of cold in here, do you think it’d be better to have Frank over by the wood stoves?”
“It is chilly,” she said. “I just was worried about moving him, especially with the snow, and…”
“And?” I asked, and my eyebrows pinched together in concern.
“Well, I didn’t want anyone to worry,” she sighed.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I mean they might worry he was contagious,” she said. “Or be uncomfortable having him around.”
“I don’t think a
nyone feels that way,” I assured her.
“I just didn’t want to upset anyone,” she said. “And I was liking having him to myself.”
“I know,” I told her. “But I think it might be better for both of you to be in where it’s warm. We should have thought to put a stove in here as well, but that will be a project for another time.”
“If you think it’s a good idea,” Marla said, “then I suppose I’ll bring him over.”
“Let me help,” I said. “I’ll carry him, you grab whatever else you’ll need for him.”
“Really?” she asked. “I probably would have considered moving him sooner, but Justin was on sentry duty, and I didn’t want to ask anyone else to help.”
“It’s no trouble at all,” I said. “I know you’re used to relying only on your own family, but we’re all family now, and we’re all here for you.”
“Thank you,” she said with a small smile. “I’ll grab the IV line, just walk slowly so I can keep up with you.”
“You got it,” I said. “But be careful, the snow is fairly thick out there now.”
“Alright,” she said with a nod.
I reached down and grabbed Frank behind his shoulders and knees. He was such a small lad, barely fifty pounds, I figured, and I hefted him easily into my arms.
Marla carried the IV bag and the line to keep it from hitting the floor, and we slowly walked toward the exit.
As soon as the gym door opened we were assaulted by another howling wind that carried the snow across our faces. I stepped out into the white mess that covered the ground and left fresh prints with each step. The snow really had gotten thick, and I was sure it was well below freezing when one accounted for wind chill. I would need to check on the sentries as soon as the meeting was over, and I was sure we had some hand warmers in the supplies, I would grab those for them as well.
We reached the door to the dorm room without issue, and Cathy opened it for us, quickly urging us inside.
“Oh, Frank,” Cathy said as she looked at the small boy’s face when I passed by her. “Marla, I’m so glad you decided to come over here, we were all worried, but we didn’t want to impose.”
“That means a lot,” Marla said behind me.
“Here,” Kimmy said, and she stood up and laid a blanket on the couch. “You can set him down here if Marla would like.”