Changing the topic, I gently stretch, the pain in my chest is not as bad as it was back at the office buildings in the city. Avery joins me, she does yoga every night to help ease some of the stress of being Redemption’s only doctor.
“If Invictus have Lily, where would they take her?” I haven’t forgotten my friend, but Kaleb did have a point, injured I was only going to die out there. I needed to get better so I could rescue her. And I was going to rescue her. There was no way I could go to Litchfield without her. Lexi and Ryan would be destroyed, and I couldn’t add that to my list of sins.
Avery makes a tutting noise. “I don’t know. But it would be suicide to try and find her, Anna, you have to know that.”
Now it’s my turn to say nothing.
“These woods aren’t safe,” she says. “There are monsters lurking, waiting everywhere. You need to stay in here.”
“I’ll stay for now, but I won’t stay forever.”
The looks she gives me is one I don’t understand. There’s an edge of sadness tied in with fear, and I want to hug the poor girl. Instead, I pour us both a cup of tea, and we talk until voices carrying in the darkness reveal that prayers are over.
Looking out the window at the moon, I almost miss it when she whispers, “It’s almost time.”
Chapter Sixteen
Donovan
After our disaster of an attack, Galen makes us set up a camp for the night in the back of an artic lorry we find further up the road.
“Everyone’s had enough adventures and enough walking for one day. Rest up, tomorrow we scavenge until lunchtime, and then we head back towards Hattonfield,” he commands with a firm voice as he pulls down the metal roller shutter. Fischer and Sonia light a few candles as we prepare to wait the night out. Luke settles in beside me, his head resting against my arm as he dozes off, both of us sat against the inside of the truck. I think this afternoon scared him more than he cared to admit.
I drift in and out of sleep, waking every now and again to the sound of Luke whimpering, his dreams filled with God knows what horrors. At one point, he cries out, and so I lay him down, placing his head against my leg, and as he groans, I whisper to him, stroking his hair as I do. Eventually, he stops making little noises and falls into a deep sleep.
We wake to the sound of rain hitting the outside of the truck. Fucking typical British weather, sunny one day and pouring down the next.
“Well, I guess we better hope it stops soon,” Sonia chirps, way too cheerful first thing in the morning.
Galen just grunts as he rubs his tired face, the pitter-patter noises dying out. “Let’s give it an hour and move out.”
That suits me just fine as I lean back and close my eyes once again. I’m not sleeping, I’m thinking about the conservatory we had installed the summer before the outbreak. The rain would sound like this as it trickled down the glass. I think about how Elise used to sit and watch it with her favourite throw, a book in her hand, and a steaming cup of coffee. My chest starts to ache, and I decide that’s enough thinking for one day, otherwise I’d drown in my memories and I’d never get up and carry on.
When we finally make a move, the rain has stopped completely, the roads are slick, and the air smells fresher somehow. Clouds still linger above us, but it’s like nature is taking pity as we carry on walking.
“What the hell are those?” Sonia asks an hour later, pointing at some graffiti dotted all along our path.
“Gang signs,” Galen says grimly as he tightens his hold on his gun and the radio.
“Should we go back?” Fischer whispers as we all pause.
Gangs always sounded like such a dangerous word before the apocalypse, you pictured thugs in hoodies with guns and drugs. Now it was just bands of survivors, using whatever weapons they could find or build, trying to stay alive. The only problem was, they saw other survivors a threat to their resources, so they tried to kill or capture them before rivals could do the same. Military members weren’t exactly looked upon favourably either, given the role they played in the whole zombie drama. End of the world and society turns on itself—how clichéd.
“I think we’re okay for now. If anyone sees or hears anything, we move to the tree line and hide.” Galen watches the trees with a serious expression, we’d been caught out before and barely escaped. “Got it?”
We all nod.
Galen had radioed back to camp to let them know our whereabouts, and even though I know he wanted to turn back and go straight to Hattonfield, they’d given him orders to scout out the motorway a little more and see what we could find. Long term I wonder if they’ll find a way to get these roads protected so that people can use them, create a network where survivors can move more freely than we can now. But the first priority to the army is the base, everything else comes after that.
The rest of the day is quiet and uneventful, and again, we make camp, this time in a coach. The back of it has been in an accident with another vehicle, but as long as we stick near the front and keep watch, we should be fine. Galen, Sonia, and Fischer take it in turns to keep watch while we try and rest. But sleep doesn’t come, it’s like we’re all just waiting for the next attack or the next emergency. Something is coming, and it’s like I can taste it on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t vocalise it.
In the early hours of the next morning, I hear the low rumble on the horizon, but I can’t see anything. Fischer locks eyes with me, and I know she can hear it too. It’s a motorbike, a sound that was once familiar but now means danger. She wakes Galen, who wakes Sonia, as I gently shake Luke. We grab our packs and get down on the floor of the bus. Luke tucks himself under the seats as best he can while I commando crawl up the aisle to the back of the bus. Fischer is close behind, and when we get near the back, where the side is cut open from the accident, we peer through the gashes in the metal.
A startled squeak makes me turn, and I see that Fischer has recoiled and is now on her knees. Following her line of sight, I see the body of a small zombie child trapped under some buckled metalwork. Layla springs to my mind. I grab some rags from one of the seats, it’s someone's bloodied jacket, and I cover up the small creature, a lump in my throat. Fischer nods, tears in her eyes as she chokes back a sob. Part of it is horror at what this world has become, but it’s mostly pity for me, I can see it on her face. Galen hisses from his position further down the bus, and that snaps her out of her daze as she carefully pops her head up to look out of the shattered window. We both say nothing as a bike rolls by slowly, it’s rider and passenger both wearing motorcycle helmets that have been painted with white skulls and a red circle with a line. Fucking gangs. The biker looks around, but isn’t paying close attention. Why would he? This is gang territory, who would be stupid enough to come here? He stops, and the passenger climbs off. Pulling off the helmet, we see a woman with a shaved head walk around, peering inside the cars.
“I don’t know why they think she’ll come back here. I’m telling you that Bible Basher Kaleb has her.” Her eyes were ringed with black makeup, her clothes are old and faded, but they’re clean, and the lack of backpacks or supplies makes me think that their base isn’t far from here.
We can’t hear what the biker says in response, but the passenger sighs. “Fine, let’s go back to camp. We don’t need another mouth to feed anyway.”
As quickly as they came, they disappear up the road.
“Where are they likely to be based?” Galen says softly, in case anyone else is outside lurking.
Sonia whispers, “There’s a service a little further up. That’s where I’d set up a base if I was out here.”
“We should check it out,” Fischer replies.
“No, we shouldn’t. We should go back.”
Fischer crosses her arms. “Galen, we’re not just here for supplies. We’re here to do recon, to find out where’s safe to go, where the best source of supplies are, and if there is anyone to trade with. We need to know what’s happening outside the safe little bubble of the base.”
“Fischer…” There’s a warning in his voice that makes me pause.
Fischer shoots him a look, and gone is my fear of him. She is way more terrifying. “Galen, you are my superior...at base. Here, anything can and does happen, and if you can’t be flexible then you’ll die. I’m not going to run away when we need information.”
They lock eyes for a minute or two before Galen backs down, muttering about ‘Fucking insubordination.’
We grab our shit and move out, creeping along the tree line up the motorway until we reach the turning for the services. Cars have been moved to create a barricade of sorts, with only enough space for one car or truck to come through at a time. A wire fence covers the gap, and we can see two men guarding it, while others are placed on top of the cars and vans, watching out for intruders.
Galen shows seven fingers, meaning he can count seven people altogether, but from my viewpoint, I can see four more. If there are eleven bodies just guarding the entrance, then how many are watching the perimeter? How many are inside? The services looks like one of those large ones as we spot signs for a hotel, several shops, and three choices of fast food restaurants. Following Galen, we move deeper into the trees and try to find a better vantage point.
There’s a hill that seems to overlook part of the complex, so leaving Fischer, Sonia, and Luke keeping watch, Galen and I crawl up the embankment and up the slope until we can see groups of people going about their day. There is a group of women, doing washing, a collection of vehicles parked and being looked over, and another group sat around an open fire. That isn’t everyone though as more bodies move in between buildings, coming and going like bees in a hive. There must be over a hundred people here.
A scuffling noise reveals a certain eight-year-old who cannot follow instructions wriggling up beside me.
“Luke,” I breathe with a warning. He just flashes me a small smile in response. I was never going to be able to go anywhere these days without my new shadow. I should have known that.
We watch for a little while longer as three women bring out food for people working on the cars and bikes. There’s a fourth woman with them, we can hear her shouting orders at them. Threatening punishment if they don’t move faster. Galen’s jaw clenches as we watch her whip one of the women carrying a basket of fruit, knocking her to her knees. When they’re done, they sit near the fire on the floor. The three figures don’t speak or look at one another, just sit silently like lawn ornaments as the rest of the camp bustles by.
I feel a tugging on my sleeve. Bringing a finger to my lips, I hope Luke will stay quiet. He tugs again.
I hear a soft whisper, “That’s Lily. She’s Lexi and Ryan’s mum.”
“You sure?” I hiss, my heart racing. Lily is one of the women who helped Anna back at the Wharf, they were supposed to escape together and find their way to us. I look around the encampment. I can see a few women, but none are the one I’m looking for.
He nods.
Lily is sat by the fire, and while she doesn’t look like the picture of health, her bruises are almost faded. Obedience is the only option we have sometimes. I wonder how long she’s been here? It’s been over a month since we left London, but we don’t know if Lily and Anna left when we did, if they hid out somewhere and waited. I hoped so. I don’t like to think of either woman being here for very long. I signal to Galen that we have a problem, and he watches me carefully as I point to the woman and mouth Lexi and Ryan to him. Thankfully, he understands what I’m trying to say, and he nods in Luke’s direction, and I know he’s thinking the same as me.
If Lily is here, then where the fuck is Anna?
Chapter Seventeen
Anna
The days blur, and I try to keep myself busy while I heal. Avery gives me a tour of Redemption, and I’m surprised at how untouched it all looks. London was ravaged, a shadow of its former self with decay, blood, and destruction everywhere you turned, but it was like Redemption was inside this perfectly preserved bubble surrounded by woodlands.
The small church dominates the centre of the town, its spire stretching beautifully above the tree line, casting a shadow when the sun begins to set across the town. Then there are a few buildings, but unlike in the city, they aren’t all within touching distance. Instead, they’re scattered about in little clusters. The river runs alongside the town, it’s where they get their water supply from. Avery grimaces as she tells me how she has to check it every other day to make sure it’s still drinkable. Something about her expression tells me that there have been times when it’s not.
Then there’s the school building turned hospital. It’s arguably the largest building near the middle of the town and is surrounded by a makeshift allotment, the old football fields dug up to create vegetable patches. I help Avery with the clinic, and I’m surprised at how well Redemption seems to be booming. There must be something in the water making them all fertile as fuck, as we mainly seem to be dealing with pregnant women or babies. Avery doesn’t laugh when I say this aloud to her, instead she looks like she may cry, and I wonder once again what her story is, but I don’t press her.
I understand why Avery thinks she’s safe here, because it feels safe. Kaleb and his ‘disciples’ have built a fence around the town, they patrol it all day and night. They’re armed thanks to Invictus and well-hidden thanks to the forestry. I know for a fact that only the tip of the spire is visible from the motorway. Then there’s the fact that there is only one road in and one road out of Redemption. You have to cross the bridge on one side, something that Kaleb has set up a heavy defence on and the road turns into a dirt track on the other side. It really is a pocket of humanity tucked away well.
At Kaleb’s insistence, I’ve attended a few of his ‘services,’ where he talks about redemption for Redemption, the family unit, and the cleansing of sins. There are whispers of a ritual, where he asks God for protection of the village, but everyone clams up when I ask for specific details. Most of it is pretty standard stuff, but I can’t get over how enraptured everyone is with him. I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. He keeps trying to win me over for some reason. The first day he brought me a bunch of wildflowers, I thanked him and thought nothing more of it. But now, I get flowers daily. He always stops by to see how I am or to invite me to attend another service. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was courting me, as my mother used to like to say. The younger women in this little village seem to adore him, they flock around him like moths to a flame. But I was a grown woman with no interest in slimy sweet talkers, that's how I’d ended up pregnant in the first place. God, Jason was always a charmer, and sometimes when Luke got his own way, I would see flashes of his dad in him.
I don’t know if the attention Kaleb got was more noticeable because the ratio of men to women in this place was weighted in the woman’s favour. There were young women or girls everywhere, and the only men seemed to be Kaleb’s disciples, and there were only about fifteen or so of them.
One afternoon, we walk along the riverbed, collecting pebbles, which we throw back into the water as we wander along. Avery is quiet beside me, as per usual, as we make small talk. It’s been almost a week, and she’s still clamped up tighter than a nun in a brothel. I barely know anything about her, just that she was twenty-eight, and was still undertaking her training to become a GP when the outbreak happened. She wasn’t a specialist with babies or expectant mothers, but she was the best thing they had. It was lucky they had her, really, especially as we seemed to be in some sort of super fertile town.
Further down river, I notice a woman across from us standing beneath a tree, reaching up to the branches. It’s only as we move closer that I realise she’s not reaching up, she’s suspended with a rope, wound around her wrists and weaving up across the branch. It pulls her body taunt so that her tiptoes are barely brushing the dirt. I step towards her, but Avery grabs my arm.
“Don’t,” she warns, her voice low as she looks down, refusing eye contact. There is no on
e else nearby, so I don't understand what she is so afraid of. But this isn’t my town, I’m merely passing through, and so I step back.
“What’s going on?” I ask, my motherly instincts are screaming at me to help the young girl. She can’t be more than fifteen as she just dangles there, watching us with tears in her eyes. The skin on her wrists is raw, and as she licks her cracked lips, I shudder.
Avery guides me past her, her voice soft as she links her arm through mine. “She’s being punished.”
“What did she do?” I glance back over my shoulder, unable to just leave.
“She was late to prayers last night.”
Avery’s words bring me to a halt. “I didn’t realise it was compulsory. I mean, I don’t go and neither do you.”
I can feel myself frowning, as I withdraw from her. Kaleb was the benevolent leader, they worshiped the mud he strolled in on, so how could he be this harsh over a teenager running late? Where was his so-called mercy?
“You’re still new here, and there are a few perks to being the only doctor in the town.” Her fist clenches as she talks. “I’m not religious. And he can’t make me pretend otherwise. His power doesn't stretch that far.”
His power? So, Avery did have an issue with Kaleb being the almighty prophet or whatever the hell he was selling himself as. Why didn’t she stand up to him then? I bite my tongue, I was being a hypocrite. I’ve been in her shoes. I’ve stood where she stands, watching, silent and powerless as Leo and the other bastards back at the Wharf did as they pleased. I endured the beatings and watched from the side-lines as others suffered. Survival is brutal. Death is the easy option.
I sigh softly. “How long does she have to stay like that for?”
The sound of the river drowns out any noise the girl makes as she twists against the cord of her rope. I grimace. Something about this rubs me the wrong way. Actually, everything about this does. Beneath the pretence of being civilised, Redemption was just the same as the Wharf, only with hanging flower baskets and a Sunday service.
The Survival Games (Book 2): Hide & Seek Page 9
