Inside the hut, there were three shapes, two hanging from the wall and one lying on the ground. Tyson walked over to the one on the ground. Tyson had found Jake. His stomach was sliced open, his intestines spread around him like some sort of grim halo. He wasn’t quite dead though, just almost. The smell of excrement was strong in the air, tinged with the dark coppery smell of blood. His friend was going to pass, in moments, and when he did he would turn. Monsters. The people they were fighting were monsters, not people.
Tamra took the other two down from the wall. Both were beaten and bloody, barely able to stand on their own. Tyson said, "I'm going to fucking kill them all. Every one of them."
"He was your friend?"
"Yeah, best friend. We were captured together. I haven't seen him since we were captured."
"You want me to?"
"No, I owe him that much. I'll do it."
Tyson took the same blade he'd killed the guard with and gently, slowly, drove it deep into Jake's skull. There was nothing else he could do for his friend, no other way to help him. He wouldn't be able to burn the body even. Just this, the small mercy of making sure he didn't come back. Tyson sobbed, fat tears dropping into the pool of blood. Then he gathered himself, took a deep breath, and turned back to Tamra. "Let's go, I'll take the bigger one."
The man said, "Thank you, I'm so sorry. So, so sorry."
"Yeah, me too. He was a good man. Now, get your ass moving so we don't all end up like Jake."
The man leaned his weight on Tyson, he didn't weigh much. His gear was missing, of course. Tim, Tyson was pretty sure Tamra and Chad had said the man's name was Tim. They made their way out of the hut, slowly moving through the dark night. The village was so close to empty they almost didn't have to be careful. They walked in shadow though, hiding and moving as fast as possible through open space.
The woods loomed ahead of them, dark and welcome, inviting them inside. They made their way slowly, carefully, when a female voice behind them said, "Stop."
She was speaking quietly. Tyson turned, looked at the woman, a young one, pretty and fair, she looked like she was just entering her teenage years. Tyson locked eyes with her. She looked back at him, an intensity in her eyes. "Please, please, take me with you."
"What?"
"If I stay here they will make me marry him. Oh god, make me have his babies. Please, please, if you have any mercy, any love at all in you, take me with you."
"Come, keep up. Keep quiet."
The girl trailed along behind them. She was having trouble keeping up, her long dress catching up on the branches. Tamra turned to her and grabbed the hem of her dress, putting it off the girl. "No time for modest, move your ass."
The girl turned bright red, but she kept going, wearing a shift that was much more than many women would wear, and a bra that could easily be considered a tank top.
The five of them made it to the shelter. It was challenging work. Getting both the newly rescued prisoners and the village girl to the shelter without leaving a clear path was so very, very hard. Luckily Chad had taught him and Tamra some of the tricks he'd learned in training.
The shelter was there, closed and secure, but tiny with all the extra bodies inside. If they had to stay inside there for long it would be bad. Luckily the plan was to leave the next evening, so only a day of basically lying on top of each other. Hell, it had been small when it was just the three of them.
Tamra looked at the girl, "What's your name sweetie?"
"I'm Evie. Thank you, ma’am."
"Huh, don't thank me yet. We might all get captured."
"If we do kill me."
"Why?"
"I'm to marry Junie. He's cruel, crueler than his father. I hate them all, they are stupid, ignorant. They don't know, I've been reading, my brother taught me. He wasn't supposed to, but he did. They killed him. Found out he'd been reading other books, not just the bible. They killed him and burned all the books. I kept a few, hidden, but that's all. I've read all six of them a thousand times. I hate them. I hate them." The girl's voice didn't rise or fall, and even tone, no inflection at all.
The five of them made themselves as comfortable as possible and settled in to wait.
Back in the Saddle Again
A last effort. He felt something tear in his stomach, but his body hopped up on the rock, enough of him over that his weight was secure. He slowly, carefully hauled himself up, turned and checked behind him. Nobody had seen him, the child providing the distraction he needed. Now he would have simply vanished, hopefully. He crawled across the top of the boulder, the high ground on the other side of it providing an easy exit. Moving back to the village was still a matter of careful movement, every step was painful, and exercise in patience. His stomach hurt, it hurt a lot. There was a subtle wrongness to his every move.
When he got far enough from the villagers he broke into a slow, loping run. It was hard to manage in the dense forest, but he knew he could do it with his gear, and besides, what other option was there?
The village came into sight in a few minutes. There were still people moving around, but it was close to empty, most of the people had followed him. Perfect. Well, almost. That pain in his stomach was far from perfect, but he figured he'd probably survive.
Chad crept in on his elbows and knees, staying as low as humanly possible. The plan didn't call for him to even be here, Tamra and Tyson had either done their bit by now or they weren't going to be able to do their bit at all. The town was quiet. Chad crept to the fish drying rack, grabbing fish, as much as he could.
The woods were close, he made his way into it and started through the forest to the shelter.
As he crept through the forest he heard something ahead of him. Well, that wasn't good. He was in front of a small bear, a cub by the look of it. So, if it was a baby, where was the mom?
Chad made his way up a tree, staying close to the trunk. He prayed that the mother hadn't seen him.
The bear cub wandered around underneath him, and then the much larger mama bear came through, slowly shambling. She was massive, the largest bear Chad had ever seen. To be fair she was also the third bear Chad had seen, and the cub was number two, but she was definitely bigger than the stuffed bear they had in New Hope.
As the bears wandered off Chad started to make his way down the tree, hearing other noises. Of course, the villagers were passing through now, going back the way he had come from... a half dozen of them. The group were combing the woods, would be for a while. Once they made it back they would probably redouble their efforts. He stayed as still as he could, barely breathing. Not that he could take a deep breath at this point. Damn his stomach.
Once they had faded from hearing he slowly made his way down, moving stealthily through the woods. The shelter was ahead of him. He made a last check to ensure he wasn't being observed and then opened the door. The dark room lit green in his night vision, it was full of people. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Tamra was there, beautiful as ever. Lying on her was a young girl in a shift and bra. That was unexpected. He whispered, "Hey."
"Hey, you made it!"
"Yeah, barely. It was close for a bit. I met a bear. A long night."
"Find a few square inches of floor and lie down. This is Evie. She's from the village, might hate them more than I do."
"Did Tyson find his friend?"
"No, well, yeah, but not someone we could save. They cut him open and spread his insides all over the floor. Tim and Michelle are in bad shape. We won't be moving fast."
"Wish we could have taken one of the trucks. That would have helped a great deal."
"You know how to hot wire?"
"Not a clue."
"I did it once. Of course, I didn't really, it was for the show. I just took a couple of wires and twisted them together. That was back in the early days when I got to do more than just support my husband."
"I remember that episode. You were wearing those blue shorts..."
"Yeah, fi
gures you'd remember that. Perv." Tamra winked at him.
Chad lay down, his body pressed up against hers and Tyson's. Tim and Michelle were almost on top of each other. The air was close and still. Breathing was a challenge. The six of them made the space in the shelter almost unbearably hot. They stayed there, silent, sleeping fitfully, for the day. The shelter was not quite light proof, very close, but there was just enough light leaking through to allow them to tell when night had fully fallen.
As the light faded they got ready, as best they could. It was a silent process, all of them getting ready to move as best they could. Part of Chad wanted to give Tim and Michelle time to recover, but he didn't want to risk it, didn't want to increase the chances of being discovered, every day left them vulnerable, and he knew they wouldn't survive if they were found. There were too many villagers, and they were too brutal.
They started out into the night, the group sticking close to each other. The night was hot, close, no breeze in the forest where they were. They stuck to rock where they could, trails where that didn't work. Chad went last, trying as best he could to cover their path. It was much, much harder to cover them for a number of reasons. There were more of them, they were all injured except Evie (although Tamra was mostly healed by now), and perhaps most importantly, Chad had picked paths between the village and the shelter very carefully, with a lot of scouting, they didn't have that luxury now. At least his NVG's were still working. Given how much he relied on them it was a miracle, and the battery was almost done, but by using them in bursts he was able to see their trail better than anyone else would be able to.
They needed to make sure they made as much distance as they could before being found, because once the villagers were on their trail it would be nearly impossible to pull ahead. Chad kept them going all night, and well past daybreak. He was keeping an eye out for a secure location. There were only a couple of shots left between the rifle and the pistol, then they were relying on his bow, a weapon intended more for zombies and small animals than humans.
The day was hot, the way Indian Summer gets on the east coast. Flies buzzed around, a constant droning noise. They kept landing on the blood trails on Tim and Michelle's back. The tall undergrowth tugged at Chad's legs, brief moments of resistance. He was grateful for the lightweight steel mesh, even as he hated how hot it made him. He imagined it must be torture for the rest of the group, many of these plants had thorns.
They hit a clearing, long grass summer browned, clover lending small splashes of color to the sepia, the drone of honey bees adding another note to the constant buzzing of the flies. The pastoral scene made him feel relaxed, for just a moment. He felt a wash of well-being sweep over him, a feeling that everything would be alright. The tall grass was much easier to walk through. Of course, it left a trail, broken stalks under their boots, well, for those that had boots. Tim, Michelle, and Tyson didn't have much in the way of clothing.
The far side of the meadow led to cliffs very shortly, a descent of a hundred feet at least. Chad and Tamra probably could have made the climb if they had more rope. As it was there was no chance the group could make it down, so they started along the cliff face, no idea which direction was better. Chad chose the right at random.
After an hour or two, the group was exhausted. They needed shelter, they needed sleep, they needed shoes. Tim and Michelle were leaving bloody footprints behind them, their feet shredded from the rocks. Tyson seemed to be doing better. Evie had fallen to silence a while ago, walking without complaint. It seemed she could keep going forever, she wasn't breathing hard, her footsteps were still light, active. The rest of them though, including Chad, were nearing the end of their rope. Chad said, "I'm going to scout ahead a little, you guys find a spot to rest. As soon as I find a real shelter I'll come back."
"Okay, don't be long. We need to get out of the sun."
Chad took off, moving at a fast walk. He knew that he didn't have a lot left, but at least he had some dried fish. He munched on a filet as he walked, thinking how very much he hated the taste of seafood, and how very, very badly he wanted to be back home.
The cliff overlooked evergreen forest as far as the eye could see. There were a few lakes dotting the landscape, Chad took compass bearings on them, they were going to be essential if the group wanted to survive. There was nothing obvious in terms of places to rest, but he did reach a narrow defile that seemed to go to the base of the cliff. It was too far for him to scout with his current energy level. There was a small depression in the ground between two trees somewhat close. That would have to be it.
He made his way back as fast as he could. The group was sitting in the shade of a low tree, the tiny bit of shelter not nearly adequate. Evie and Tamra were both in full sun, making sure the rest of the group were as covered as possible. "Come on, I have a spot not too much further. Better shelter, if not by much."
"Okay, come on folks, let's get a move on," Tamra said, standing up. "Not much further and then we can sleep for a little bit."
The group all started moving, slowly and stood as best they were able. They walked on, at the edge of their ability.
The walk wasn't far, but Chad knew that once they reached the end of it, he would have to go out again. They had no water, and they needed it desperately. Dehydration was going to rapidly become an issue. As the rest of the group settled in Chad said, "Okay, I have to go a little further, I need to find some water for us. I'll be back in a few."
Evie said, "No, you shouldn't."
"How come?"
"You are clearly exhausted, I want to be able to contribute. Let me go find water. I can keep going, I'm used to it."
"Okay... I guess. Can I trust you?"
"Well, I wouldn't if I was you, but if you met Junie then you would."
"Who?"
"The man I'm supposed to marry in a couple of days. The only reason I haven't had to marry him yet is that he's out making life hard for your people at their base. I would rather die than marry Junie. I would rather anything than marry Junie. I hate him, I hate him more than anything. I will do anything to keep it from happening." The girl spoke in her usual emotionless monotone, a strange cadence, almost a droning to her words.
"Okay, you convinced me."
Evie took their one small canteen and ran off, continuing in the direction they had been traveling. Chad sat down beside Tamra, intending to keep watch.
He opened his eyes. Evie was standing over him, shaking his shoulder, one hand to her lips. "Huh?"
"Clyde, he's close," She whispered. "Not here yet, but soon, maybe ten minutes and he'll be in sight. Coming from that way, I don't think he knows we're here at all."
"Fuck. Okay, wake the others. Let's move."
The only way to go was down the cliff, hoping that the defile was passable, that the villagers didn't notice them, that they were able to move fast enough not to get caught.
The top of the defile was narrow, they had to move single file. This time Chad went first, bracing himself against the broken rock on one side. The other side was only a foot or two high, and just past that short lip was a drop hundreds of feet straight down. Chad swallowed, counted down from five, and then started to move. He had his back to the cliff face, moving to his side, it was too narrow to walk any other way, and he wanted to be able to lean into the cliff, even if it was an illusion of safety.
Inch by inch he made his way down, the rest following. By the ten-minute mark, he was pretty sure they would be hidden by anyone who wasn't leaning over the cliff. They made decent progress, despite the terrifying height. Chad felt dizzy every time he looked down, his stomach turned itself inside out and he broke out in cold sweat. It was a very, very long way down. At one point he looked down at a falcon flying past. Still, inch by inch, foot by foot, they were making it, and then there was a scream, and Tim was falling. Tim fell out of view in a moment. Michelle cried out, "Tim, oh god."
There was nothing they could do, no way they could save him, or even affect his fall.
Nothing to do but keep going. Chad asked, "What happened?"
"His legs just gave out, I think he might have passed out," Tamra replied.
"Shit. Shit, shit, shit."
They kept going, down to five. The path got narrower until it was barely as wide as Chad's feet, and the lip was gone, it was just a narrow strip of rock. By the time it ended they were only a couple of dozen feet from the ground, far enough to seriously injure themselves, or even die, but maybe, maybe, close enough to level ground to be able to climb.
"Alright, I'm going to try climbing this. Take your time, be careful."
He found a handhold that would allow him to turn his body around and started to lower himself off the narrow path. His gloves didn't give him enough drip, so he took them off. No way to store them, since he could only let go with one hand at a time, so he dropped them to the ground below. His stomach churned at how long it was before he heard them hit.
Chad felt below him with one foot, until he found a foothold, slowly putting his weight onto it. Once it was clear that it was solid he started to move his other foot out into empty space. His arms were already starting to shake. He had no idea how he was going to do this, let alone how the injured were going to manage it. His other foot found a foothold, slightly lower than the first, and he moved his hands to the path, one at a time. Every moment he made certain he had three solid points of contact. He kept going, slowly, agonizingly. His arms shook so badly he thought he was going to shake himself loose.
Time stopped having meaning, it was a constant state of move one hand, one foot, search, questing until his limb found a purchase, slowly move his weight down. From time to time the hold didn't hold his weight, and he had to catch himself. He had no idea how far he'd come, but he brought his left foot down, trying to find purchase, and it found purchase well before he fully extended it, not only that, but the purchase was large, uneven, but larger than his foot. He looked down. He was a matter of inches from the ground. He stepped off the cliff face, his entire body shaking, and then lay down on the ground. Looking up he saw Tyson making his way down, the same process he had followed. The larger man lost his grip when he just a few feet above the end, he let out a quick scream, aborted as he landed on top of Chad.
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