The Scavengers

by Gen Griffin

  Chapter 3

  It was getting downright hot inside the bus when a lone zombie appeared on the horizon. I missed seeing it come out of the woods 50 yards to the left of the bus because I was too busy watching Conner, Kennedy and Drake dig around in the bus's engine without their shirts on.

  Drake's chest was made of sleek, clean cut muscle. His dark skin was flawless and almost glowing with good health. His beautiful body made for a stark comparison to Conner's thick hairiness and Kennedy's scrawny white chest and visible ribcage. Kennedy's chest was probably a lot more normal than Drake's sculpted abdomen and chiseled biceps were, but it only served to remind me of exactly why Julie and I had spent months stalking Drake from afar.

  I wondered what Julie would have said if she'd lived long enough to see the day when Drake knew my name. I desperately wished I could tell her. I also desperately hoped Drake was too occupied by the motor to notice my drooling at him.

  Shayla certainly didn't make any attempt to disguise her own lust. She had been watching Conner like a hawk. She made a big show of licking her plump lips with the tiny tip of her pierced tongue whenever he happened to look up from the smoking heap of an engine.

  Conner encouraged her behavior by flexing his muscles or rubbing the tips of his fingers across his own nipples with a lazy grin whenever he caught her looking.

  “That's a little sick,” Jeb muttered the second time we caught Conner playing with himself for Shayla's benefit.

  I nodded in agreement. “Are they always like this?”

  “Unfortunately, yeah.” Jeb shook his head and leaned back against the smoldering hot vinyl seat. I could see sweat beading on the back of his neck and darkening the fabric of his practical long sleeved black t-shirt. “Wait until you're stuck with guard duty and wind up having to listen to them have sex all night.”

  “Gross.” I felt dirty just watching them tease one another through the bus windshield. I could only imagine how nasty I would feel if I actually got stuck watching them do the deed.

  “What does he see in her?” I'd asked the question rhetorically.

  “She's hot. And she's easy,” Jeb shrugged his shoulders in silent apology. “Really easy.”

  “You've slept with her, haven't you?” I belatedly remembered that Jeb had walked to the bus this morning carrying all of Shayla's luggage.

  “She doesn't make it optional,” Jeb confessed. He looked away from me as a dark red blush traveled down the back of his neck. “She told me I wouldn't live through the next hunt if I didn't do exactly what she wanted. I think she'd intentionally get me killed.”

  “Jesus Christ. You're kidding right?” I asked disbelievingly.

  Jeb shook his head no. “A lot of Scavengers die during their first five hunts. I'm pretty sure zombies aren't the only cause of death.”

  “Crap,” I muttered. “You slept with her because you were afraid she'd kill you?”

  “I slept with her because I'd rather have her as an ally than an enemy,” Jeb clarified. “I don't think she'd kill me so much as she'd let me be killed, if that makes sense?”

  “Kind of,” I admitted with a nod. I got the gist of what he was trying to say and I didn't want to think about the repercussions it could have. What if Conner wanted me to sleep with him? Would I die if I turned the creep down? I didn't want to dwell on it.

  Shayla untied the knot that held her top on.

  Drake happened to look up from the engine at the exact moment her nipples popped out. He grinned and let out a loud whistle.

  “Give it to me, baby!” Cooner jeered at Shayla.

  She waved her makeshift shirt through the air like a flag of welcome. Drake punched at Conner playfully.

  “Will you guys quit?” Kennedy gave all of them an irritated glare. “This radiator is shot and I'm going to need both of you paying attention if we have any chance of getting back on the road today.”

  “We're working. We're working.” Conner smirked back at Shayla. “At least, some of us are working.”

  Drake opened his mouth to reply when Cya spoke calmly from the roof of the bus. “Somebody needs to get to work,” she said. “We've got company.”

  Instantly Drake, Kennedy and Conner were on alert. Shayla immediately stopped fondling herself and stood tensely at the front of the bus. Jeb tensed beside me and my own heart went racing. I couldn't see Cya from my seat inside the bus but everyone outside the bus had turned to face the left side of the vehicle. I twisted in the seat and stared hard out the windows as Kennedy grabbed a knife that he'd left lying on the side of the engine compartment and Drake drew a large ax from a holster at his side.

  I touched the barrel of my gun through my jacket. Jeb stood up.

  “Should we go outside?” I asked him.

  He shook his head no. “I don't think so. There is only one that I can see. They should be able to handle it. Drake always says that we should only fight when we absolutely have to. He says no one who isn't absolutely necessary in a fight needs to be involved. Getting needlessly involved in a fight can get us needlessly killed.”

  I forced myself to peer over Jeb's shoulder until I finally located the zombie with my own eyes. A cold sweat was leaking down my spine and soaking the back of my shirt.

  The zombie was old. Really old. She'd probably been a grandma or a great-grandma before she'd died. Her back was so far bent that she appeared to be folded in half as she lurched past the tree line towards us. Her gray hair was tangled with sticks and bits of bushes. Half of her head had dissolved into bloody mush. The blue house dress she wore was filthy with dirt and gore. Her left leg was gone at the calf but the ancient zombie was oblivious to pain. She lurched towards Drake on the stump.

  I was anchored to the floor with my own dread as I watched Drake grin at Conner and Kennedy. “Paper, rock, scissors?” he asked them. He swung the ax loosely at his hip.

  “Nah.” Kennedy shook his head and turned to look at the top of the bus. “That the only one?” he asked.

  “As far as I can see,” Cya replied. I could hear her feet hitting the roof as she turned to scan the horizon in all directions.

  “It’s probably a loner.” Conner sneered nastily at the zombie. There was a dark hunger in his cruel eyes. “Look at the leg. They've already started to cannibalize it.”

  “Will one of y'all just kill the damn thing already?” Kennedy asked with an annoyed humph. “We have real problems to worry about and that thing is distracting me with its smell.”

  “Whatever your pleasure.” Drake grinned handsomely as he took three quick steps towards the zombie and swung his ax without any further posturing. The blade hit the zombie's neck cleanly and a moment later her ancient head was laying in the dirt next to her crumpled, completely rigid torso. Drake kicked the head with the toe of his boot so that it rolled up against the side of his body. He reached into his pocket and deftly pulled out a matchbook. He struck the fire and dropped the tiny stick on the corpse. A moment later the smell of burning, decomposing flesh hit my nose and I saw Julie again, screaming with agony as the burns that refused to heal rotted her alive. I felt her skin flake off against my arm as she clung to me with the nubs of her charred hands. Her chest had rattled with the effort of her last breath. Her blind eyes had staring into mine as she rose from the bed, free of pain and hungry.

  “You've never seen a zombie before, have you?” Jeb's concern jarred me from my hideous memories.

  I flinched as he took my arm and gently eased me back into my seat. “It's okay,” he said. “I promise it gets easier. You get used to it.”

  I swallowed the charred lump in my throat. “It’s not that,” I croaked out the words. Jeb stared at me doubtfully. He clearly thought I was trying to save face. I ducked my head back into the seat of the bus and rested my forehead against the hot seat.

  “Really. It's not the zombie. I've seen enough zombies.” I was afraid he'd think I was weak and tell the other Scavengers that I didn't have what it took to be a member of the team.
>
  He raised one eyebrow at me skeptically. “It's okay.”

  “It’s the fire,” I whispered. “I worked in the hospital ward when the brickyard caught fire. I've seen plenty of zombies. I just can't stand the smell of burned skin.”

  “Oh. Shit. I'm sorry.” Jeb blinked in surprise and sympathy. He opened his mouth to say something else but a loud, angry shout from outside took us both by surprise. A horrified scream echoed through the woods and blood spurted against the side of the bus, coating the glass windows with bright red ichor.

  Jeb and I rushed for the back of the bus in time to see that a huge male zombie had gotten within biting distance of the three men working on the engine without Cya noticing his approach. Shayla was screaming obscenities as she jerked on the lever to open the bus door.

  Someone cursed and a loud thump sounded as a weapon connected with the side of the bus. An angry shout echoed through the metal wall.

  “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.” Cya kept repeating the same words over and over again from above our heads.

  Drake rolled out of the way as the doors opened and Shayla rushed the zombie with her long bladed knife clutched in her left hand.

  “Die, you bastard!” She howled as she jabbed the knife straight through the zombie's right eye. The massive man twitched once and dropped to the ground. Shayla stood tall above the body, shaking with rage as she spun to face Drake. “Are there any more?”

  “No,” Drake was shaking his head furiously as he stood next to the front of the bus. “Just that one.” He gestured to the man Shayla had just dispatched.

  “How bad did he get bit?” she demanded as she turned her attentions to Kennedy. Her green eyes were focusing on everything around us except for the dying man directly in front of her.

  Conner was laying on the ground at Kennedy's feet with his arm ripped off of his body. The arm was laying in the dirt next to the bus. Conner was making a strange gurgling noise in his throat as blood covered the cracked asphalt. His eyes were rolling around inside their sockets. Kennedy shook his head no. His skin had gone pale except where drops of Conner's blood had landed on his bare skin.

  Drake picked up his ax from where it was leaning against the bus's tire. Conner had been attacked so quickly Drake had never had the chance to grab his weapon.

  “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. I am so sorry,” Cya's faint pleas to a higher power were going unheard by the group surrounding Conner.

  With a grim look on his handsome face Drake took two steps towards Conner. “Rest in peace,” he muttered just loudly enough to be heard as he swung the ax down and severed Conner's head from his body with a loud thwack.

  Conner abruptly stopped gurgling.

  “Oh my God. Oh God please. Oh my God.” Cya's mantra was the only noise to be heard other than the sizzling of the burning zombie flesh.

  Drake, Kennedy and Shayla were exchanging looks with one another over Conner's corpse. Kennedy was shaking his head no. Drake had his lips pursed closed in anger. Shayla spun around and glared at the roof of the bus.

  “Shut up you stupid bitch!” She screamed at Cya. “You stupid worthless bitch. This is all your fault!”

  I couldn't see Cya from where I was standing inside the bus and I wasn't about to draw attention to myself by moving. Shayla was staring at the roof of the bus with murder in her eyes. The next thing I knew, she had planted one of her feet on the metal rack that ran down the side of the bus and snatched Cya down from the roof by her ankle.

  The tiny blonde squealed in pain and fear as she hit the bloody pavement next to the tires. Shayla still had hold of her bony ankle and she gave Cya a vicious yank. Cya kicked out instinctively but her worthless fragile slipper shoes did nothing to loosen Shayla's grip.

  “You killed Conner!” She practically spat the words at Cya. “You were supposed to be standing guard you worthless bitch!”

  “I'm sorry. Oh God I'm sorry.” Cya was whimpering pathetically as Shayla drug her across the pavement. Her thin clothes were tearing on the rough ground and I could see fresh blood welling up from scrapes on her legs and sides. “I'm so sorry. I didn't see him. Oh my God I didn't see him.”

  “Shut up!” Shayla dropped Cya's foot so that the smaller girl was lying flat on the ground. Shayla planted a vicious kick in Cya's side. “Shut up you worthless piece of trash!”

  I felt pressure on my fingers and realized Jeb was clutching my hand so tightly his knuckles were turning white. I made no attempt to pull away from him.

  Shayla's round face was flushed with fury. Her necklaces and bracelets jangled, clanked and tangled against her reddened skin as she kicked Cya repeatedly with the toe of a pair of wickedly pointed boots. She kicked Cya six, seven, eight, I don't know how many times.

  “Shayla, stop.” Drake's voice cut through Cya's screams as she flailed around on the ground.

  Shayla planted another kick in Cya's ribcage. “She killed Conner.”

  “I know.” Drake moved in between Cya and Shayla. He gently placed his arms around Shayla's shoulders. “But you can't kill her. We need her.”

  “No we don't,” Shayla hissed. “She's worthless. She can't even stand guard. She deserves to die.”

  Drake didn't say anything. He simply stood in front of Shayla and held her immobile while Cya whimpered behind him on the ground.

  “We need her,” he repeated. There was an emphasis on his words that I didn't understand. Cya had screwed up royally, that was for sure. “We can use her.”

  “We need a new radiator,” Kennedy spoke softly from behind Cya. “I can't fix this bus without new parts.”

  Shayla opened her mouth and then shut it abruptly. She stared up at Drake through tear-filled eyes and shook her head. “You can't be serious? It would be suicide to go to Ra Shet now, with this.” She jerked her chin at Cya's huddled form.

  Ra Shet? I was confused. I'd never heard of Ra Shet before.

  Drake shook his head no and gestured to Cya. “She has value, Shayla.”

  “Not enough.” Shayla shook her head, visibly angry and frustrated. “We're not in a good position right now.”

  “We don't have a choice,” Kennedy said. “Unless you're willing to deal with the Church of Chaos.”

  Jeb turned to face me, a look of confusion and surprise on his face. It was clear that the others had forgotten about us for the moment. “Church of Chaos?” He mouthed the words at me silently. I shrugged my shoulders and turned my attention back to the conversation. We could figure out the meanings of words and phrases later on. My gut told me something extremely important was being decided outside the bus.

  “No,” Drake scowled. “The Church's prices are too high.”

  “The Church wants weapons,” Shayla said flatly.

  “Like I said, they want too much.” Drake didn't look at Cya this time but I got the distinct feeling his words had something to do with why he felt we still needed her. I wondered if Drake was going to make Cya trade her weapon to this Church of Chaos in exchange for the parts to fix our bus. I wondered if she could make up for causing Conner's death so easily.

  Cya halfway sat up. “My skin is burning,” she moaned.

  “You deserve worse than that,” Shayla spat at her before turning her attentions back to Drake. “Going to Ra Shet is a mistake. We'll make fools of ourselves.”

  Drake opened his mouth to reply but Kennedy cleared his throat, loudly, and interrupted him. “We need a radiator,” he said purposely looking directly at Jeb and me. I took an involuntary step backwards as his cold blue eyes landed on me. “We can't haul cans back to the Cube without the bus.”

  Drake and Shayla followed his stare from Cya to us and nodded.

  “We need cans,” Drake said calmly. He looked at Shayla as if he was wondering if she was going to challenge his statement the way she had earlier on the bus. Shayla glared at him for a moment and then down at Cya again.

  “We need cans,” she agreed. The smile she pasted across her angr
y features sent chills from the top of my skull to the tips of my toes.