By the time evening rolled around, I was convinced we must have managed to make up some time on our friends. My only concern was the weather seemed ready to turn on us. Dark clouds filled the sky, and the only shelter I saw was inside abandoned cars.
Still, we’d only stopped briefly twice to get a quick drink and stretch a bit. One can only stretch so much while on a horse. Even if bad weather hit, we’d managed to get farther than I had anticipated.
Despite my new familiarity with riding, I still ached as I dismounted. The muscles in my legs trembled from the exertion, and I almost decided to just crash without supper.
Then my stomach rumbled, and I changed my mind. We loosened the girth straps on the horses enough so they could relax, and we could check for any sores. Thankfully there were none. Since we were constantly on the run, I didn’t feel comfortable removing the saddles completely. It was easier to tighten the straps than to get them fully saddled in a hurry.
Frodo wandered up to us and I saw he was no longer favoring his leg. “Maybe we should swap out tomorrow,” I said.
“What do you mean?” Rex looked up from where he was preparing our meal.
I gestured toward the grazing animals. “The horses. Frodo isn’t limping anymore, and I feel that we should give each horse some time to take a break from being ridden. Tomorrow, you can ride Frodo to give your horse a break. Then I ride your current horse and give my horse a break, and so on.”
Rex watched the three horses contemplatively. “Yeah. Okay. You’re right, he does look quite a bit better. We should probably swap the saddles right away then, huh?”
I groaned at the thought of more work, but agreed. As Rex set up our very temporary camp, I took the saddle and pad off the big gelding and put them on Frodo. They didn’t even look up from their grazing as I worked. Frodo didn’t seem at all bothered when I tightened the girth enough to keep the saddle on him.
By the time I was done, Rex gestured to the spread- out blanket with cans of food laid out on it. “Your meal awaits,” he said with a sweeping gesture.
The soup was cold, but flavorful. I chose a cheesy broccoli potato soup while Rex had the ravioli. Once again, neither of us felt comfortable with starting a fire—even if we had the tools to do so—so we suffered through the unheated meal.
As much as I felt grateful we still had food, I couldn’t wait to be in a position to have warm food again. I tapped the can to get the last pieces of potato that were stuck on the bottom, and Rex grinned. “Dessert?”
He produced a can of chocolate frosting from behind his back. I grinned. “Where did you find that?”
“While you were changing clothes and getting essential supplies, I managed to swipe a couple things you either didn’t see, or didn’t think we’d need. Including these.” He whipped out a couple spoons.
The first bite was like heaven on earth. The sweet snack was delicious after not having junk food for so long. We each limited ourselves to a couple spoons full, so we would be able to enjoy it for a little longer. “I do have a couple other surprises,” Rex said. “But those will keep for another night. We should clean up the food and get some sleep.”
This stop wasn’t near a lake, river, stream, or pond. I had no idea what the horses would drink. We were pretty much camping at the side of the road. “The horses need water,” I finally voiced. “We haven’t found much for them today.”
Rex gestured to the sky. “May not be an issue for long. Pretty sure the rain threat is about to become a rain reality.”
I groaned and took a look at the clouds. A few minutes passed, and I heard some rumbling in the distance. “Thunderstorm coming. Great.”
“If it rains enough for puddles, the horses’ water problem goes away.”
“Agreed. But if it rains that much, we should probably take the saddles and pads off the horses and put them in one of the cars to keep dry.”
Rex shrugged. “Sure. If we’re hiding in a car, and the horses are unsaddled, it just looks like they’re out wandering. Doesn’t scream out: ‘hey, there are people hiding here.’ Might actually be a good thing if anyone comes along.”
It was a good point, so he and I forced ourselves back to our feet to take the saddles and bridles off the horses. By the time we had removed them, I felt a few cold drops of rain on my arms. “Time to find an open car.”
We got lucky on the second vehicle we tried. Thankfully. There weren’t many others to try. Unluckily, it was a small car. Not a lot of sleeping space, or storage room. “Saddles in here,” Rex called. “We can check the next one to see if it’s open. That van right there would be way more comfortable.”
He wasn’t wrong. It also wasn’t open. The rain grew heavier, my clothes were now cold and wet.
“Let’s break a window,” Rex suggested after a moment of hesitation.
Car alarms were a very real risk, and would likely draw the attention of anyone or anything within miles if it were to go off. Thunder cracked loudly, and I knew we had to take the risk.
“If we break in one of the front windows, we should be able to hide in the back and still stay dry,” Rex added, unaware that I’d already made up my mind.
I gestured for him to go ahead, and he used the handle of his gun to smash the window. We waited a moment, but no alarm sounded.
After we unlocked the doors, we put all our bags inside, and set up our blankets near the back of the vehicle. Just as we finished, the thunder boomed so loudly that I could feel the vibration through the vehicle. We closed the doors just in time to miss the sudden downpour.
“Good call on the van, Rex,” I said.
Yawning, I crawled over to my blankets and settled in for the night. “Should be a fairly quiet night, I would guess,” I added.
The thunder rumbled again, and Rex chuckled. “Yeah. Other than the storm, that is.”
“If we’re sleeping and there’s no sign of movement, we shouldn’t attract attention from anyone or anything passing by,” I clarified. “And I always keep my senses open for zombie threats.”
“True. Sleep well, Z,” he said, settling on his own bed area on the floor between the captain’s chairs. I got myself comfortable on the back seat. Covered with a dark blanket, even if someone looked in, they would be unlikely to notice us.
We could only hope the horses wouldn’t wander away during the storm. There had been no way to keep them around without giving away that they were currently in use.
Snuggling under the blanket, I decided that would be a worry for the morning. Now, I needed sleep.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Mike
After riding in the RV for a few days, it was hard to go back to walking. That’s right. On foot, walking. No horses, no wagons, no vehicles. Just us and the pavement. Or grass. Depending on what surface was available.
The fight at the RV had not been without damage. None of the wounds acquired had been bad, thankfully. Kate had a wound to her arm, we weren’t sure exactly what caused it. Shanti had a bullet wound to her side. A graze, and not bad, but it gave her grief if she moved wrong or something rubbed it. No one else was injured, barring Jake’s already present damage.
It could have been much worse. Even without a vehicle we should still make it to the headquarters in time for the deadline. At least from what Kate and Jake said.
Alex and Lia walked together, Lia occasionally whispering something to Alex. Both stopped suddenly and looked at each other in surprise. Lia leaned to say something to her brother. After a moment he nodded and turned to us. “Guys, we think we can feel Zero. She’s getting closer to us.”
I frowned and tried to sense whatever it was the two could feel. As usual, I felt nothing. If it wasn’t for my ability to connect to Zero several days ago, I wouldn’t even acknowledge that I was one of the experiments. I’d never felt a connection to the creatures, or to the others who’d been experimented on.
If what they suspected about my parents was true, then my entire situation had come about differently th
an the others. I hadn’t been kidnapped and experimented on. No lost time. So whatever they did to me had manifested in a unique way.
“How far? Can you tell?” Jake moved faster than I’d seen him move since before he was injured. He had his arms up on Alex’s shoulders and his muscles taut as if restraining himself from shaking the boy.
Not that I could blame him. Zero and Rex were like Jake’s kids. From what I learned since joining them, the three had been a family group before anyone else had joined them. While I could admit to myself that I felt a bit envious of their close relationship, especially considering my own lack of family and friends, I was happy for them, too.
No matter how bad things got, they could always count on each other.
The siblings tried to concentrate again, but shook their heads regretfully after a few minutes. “It’s hard to say. We haven’t been able to test this ability before,” Alex answered Jake. “When we found her in the woods we could tell where she was by how the sense grew stronger if we went one direction over another. Here, we have no frame of reference for how it would feel if Zero’s two feet away or two miles away.”
Lia tugged her brother’s sleeve and whispered something else. “She doesn’t think it’s much farther than a couple miles. I would agree. If Zero was far enough away, we definitely wouldn’t feel her.”
“We still need to keep moving, Jake,” Kate reminded him, one hand gently resting on his shoulder. “If Rex and Zero are catching up, great, but we’re still pushing a deadline.”
I was about to offer to backtrack when Caleb cut in. “I’ll go back,” he said. “I can follow our path until I meet them, that way they’ll know we’re still okay, and that they aren’t far from us.”
“You’ve been leaving signs for them, right?” I asked.
Caleb nodded. “Yeah. But they have no timeline from those. They won’t know if they were left a day ago or only a couple hours.”
Jake nodded and smiled. “Thanks, Caleb. Go. We’ll keep moving. Catch up as soon as you can.”
Caleb gave a quick grin, then took his small bag of supplies and jogged back the way we’d come.
“Okay, everyone, let’s get moving,” Jake said as we watched Caleb disappear around a bend. “We’ve got a ways to go.”
I looked back the way Caleb had gone. Should I have offered to go with him? It seemed too dangerous to let one person run alone.
“He’s good on his own.” Shanti’s voice interrupted my musing, her eyes following my gaze. “He can hide if he sees anyone, and he’s pretty quick. If Z and Rex are nearby, even better.”
She sighed at my less than convinced look. “We haven’t had any trouble since the RV, so I wouldn’t worry too much. From what we can tell, there aren’t any major threats right behind us.”
Not the most reassuring speech I’d heard, but I nodded and turned back to the rest of the group. I picked up the bag of supplies I was in charge of, and Shanti and I continued to walk together.
“How much do you sense?” I asked her. “I mean, do you sense the creatures when they’re near? Or Zero?”
“I don’t sense Z,” she answered. “And the enemy has to be pretty close for me to feel them. Before Lia and Alex joined us, I couldn’t sense them. Just affect their ability to see me.”
“I don’t sense any of them. Not the monsters, not Zero. I don’t get why any of us would be able to sense Zero to begin with. It doesn’t make sense.”
Shanti frowned thoughtfully. “Yeah… Zero is different from the rest of us. She’s always had more of a connection to them, and it grows stronger anytime the rest of us are nearby.”
She shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll get some answers at the headquarters.”
We lapsed into silence for about an hour. To occupy myself, I watched my friends as they walked. Once in a while Jake would stumble, but he refused to stop. His wound was healing, Kate had assured us of that. Still, he wasn’t up to full strength, and the injury wasn’t fully closed.
Shanti held an arm over her side, but continued without complaint. The only sign of Kate’s discomfort was that she didn’t let her arm swing freely as she walked.
Alex and Lia, as always, walked together. They’d begun to look behind us fairly often over the last hour or so, and I made the assumption that Zero and Rex were catching up. Other than a pending attack—which I guessed they would have mentioned—it was the only thing I could think of that would make them check behind us so frequently.
I still didn’t hear, see, or sense anything behind us. Why I couldn’t sense Zero, when my only role seemed to be connecting to her, I had no idea. To some extent I wished I was a bit more like the others. Even if we were all a bit different, they could each sense the creatures or affect them in some way, even on their own.
I almost stopped walking at the realization that I actually felt… jealous. At least a little. Not that I wanted a connection to the monsters, but it would be nice to know when an attack was coming. Or even to be able to tell if Zero was nearby. I would also like Shanti’s ability to hide herself from the zombies, Alex and Lia’s power to keep them away, or Zero’s ability to scare them off with a scream.
All of those connections were positive. What could I do? Try to direct Zero as she connected to the horde? The majority of the time, she’d been in complete control. I wasn’t necessary for her to control the zombies. It was only once Brent had appeared to threaten her connection that I even realized I could do anything.
It was nearly another hour later when the familiar sound of hoof beats echoed from behind us. I grinned, and saw the others exchange happy looks. When we turned, we saw Rex, Zero, and Caleb riding toward us.
Both Rex and Zero looked relieved. After several days of travel with just the two of them, there were dark circles under their eyes. Stress and lack of sleep would catch them eventually, but I hoped we could rescue the others before the inevitable crash.
Jake raced to them, hardly showing any discomfort from his wound. Zero practically leaped from her horse to greet him. They threw their arms around each other, Zero a bit more carefully. She, at least, showed some concern for Jake’s still healing wound. Even if he didn’t seem worried about it.
“Don’t you two ever disappear like that again!” Jake ordered, now holding both as if he might never let them go again.
Zero grinned sheepishly. “Didn’t mean to. I just wanted to give you guys a chance to get away. I didn’t consider that I was basically trapping myself with Brent and the guards.”
“She did manage to take control of the horde back from Brent for a bit,” Rex said. “I think she scared them enough that they didn’t even bother trying to follow us.”
Zero stood straight and looked over everyone. We all gathered around the reunion site, and the horses they rode in on wandered to the side of the road to graze.
“We don’t have time to recap everything,” Zero said. She stepped back into the leadership role without hesitation. The position as natural as breathing.
“We need to make a plan to save our friends,” she continued. “We’re only a day or so away from the guards’ headquarters. I think we should send someone ahead to scope things out.”
She looked over the group, a frown on her delicate face. “Any volunteers?”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Zero
After I asked for volunteers, Caleb immediately raised his hand. After a moment, during which Mike and Caleb exchanged a look, Mike did as well. Both would be good. Caleb had always been a decent scout. Not up to Rex’s level, but still good at staying out of sight and getting information.
Mike had lived within a safe zone, and managed to keep away from the guards. He had watched their rotations and learned when it was safe to go into town. They should work well together.
Just as I was about to thank the two of them, Alex slowly raised his hand. I looked at him in surprise, my eyes darting between him and Lia. I hadn’t expected him to volunteer. Especially when it meant he would have
to leave his sister. “Alex? You sure you want to go?” I asked.
He gave a nod. “Yes. There should be someone along who can sense the zombies. The other two can watch the guard rotations, and see if they can spot a likely way in. I’ll monitor to see if they have any of the creatures there.”
Lia didn’t seem happy, but she didn’t try to stop him either. She brushed her hand through unkempt blonde hair in irritation, and refused to look at him.
“As long as you’re sure.” I sent another uncertain glance toward Lia, but wasn’t about to argue the point. He was right, after all. “Then thank you.”
I grinned. Everything finally seemed to be coming together. “Let’s get going, everyone. It’s almost time to get our friends back.”
Seeing Jake looking so much healthier than he’d appeared the last time I saw him made me feel more confident. He still held an arm over his abdomen, and moved a little slower than usual, but he was moving.
Then I noticed a bandage around Kate’s upper arm, and the bulk of something under Shanti’s shirt. Frowning, I glanced up at Jake as we walked.
He must have followed my gaze, because he answered before I even had to ask. “We got attacked by some bandits who wanted our RV. Don’t worry, Z. Only minor injuries. Everyone is okay.”
Kate waved her injured arm as she talked to Shanti. Not bothered by the injury at all, or so it seemed. Shifting my gaze to Shanti, I saw her laugh at something Kate said. Only a slight wince appeared as her movement pulled at her injury.
“They’re good?” I asked, hopeful.
Jake’s hand landed on my shoulder in reassurance. “They are. We all are.”
“You too?” I asked more critically. His wound had been anything but minor.
“Me too.” He grinned self-consciously. “It’s healing well, Z. I promise.”
My trust in Jake had never been in question. Only my ability to believe so many good things could happen at one time. Especially since we’d had so much trouble up until now.
Countdown to Zero (Patient Zero Book 2) Page 18
