“Eat less,” he advised them. “It will be hard, but you want to conserve your food. You never know what kinds of delays you may come across, and you can’t always count on foraging to fill in the gaps. Eat only what you must, and save the rest.”
The inexperienced travellers obeyed, allowing Evans to show them what a good meal size might be.
“I have a request for all of you,” Evans told the silent ones as they ate, their hoods still hiding them in shadows. “I need to see all your faces, and I need names. I won’t travel with strangers.”
A flurry of sign language ruffled the rags, as the silent ones seemed to argue amongst themselves about this point. Gerald was eating his own meal on the other side of the barn, and didn’t offer to translate any of it.
“Okay,” one of the silent ones eventually whispered once their conversation had finished. There was still a hesitant pause before that one pulled down his hood. “My name is Ang.”
“It’s good to meet you, Ang. I’m Evans.” He offered his hand to the silent one, who shook it.
One by one, the silent ones removed their hoods, and pulled down any scarves that were still up. Evans found out that he was wrong about there being three children. There were, in fact, only two. The third turned out to be a woman with dwarfism. Evans introduced himself to everyone, always offering his hand and not being offended when some of them didn’t accept it.
“That’s Gerald over there,” Evans said by way of introduction. He noticed that the majority of the silent ones travelling with him were either quite young in appearance, or very old. Only two looked like they fell between thirty and seventy. One of them was Ang, and the other Evans felt certain was the one he had thought of as his host, the one who had introduced himself as Burt.
“Thank you for agreeing to do this,” Burt said. All the silent ones continued to whisper, despite Evans speaking at a relatively normal volume. It was a habit for them, one that would likely be hard to break. Two of the silent ones hadn’t yet spoken at all; their names had been given by one of the others.
“No need to thank me. We’re making a fair trade. I get you to where you want to go in exchange for you letting me out of that cage.”
Ang and Burt both nodded.
“Now, let’s get some ground rules out of the way,” Evans addressed the group. “When I speak, I highly suggest you listen. You waited until I could bring you before leaving because you wanted someone with travel experience to guide the way. Listen to that experience. If you see anything you think might pose a threat, you let the group know. Better to be over cautious than surprised by something deadly. Also, point out food and water sources if you think I haven’t noticed them. Don’t eat anything you don’t recognize. In fact, even if you do think you recognize it, it’s probably best to ask me first. In the past, I’ve mistaken one plant for another, and let me tell you that you don’t want to do that. Until I get to know you all better, I want you to keep your scarves off.”
A ripple of discomfort went through the silent ones.
“I know.” Evans nodded his head. “You’re not used to your faces being visible. But I can’t yet tell you apart when they’re hidden, so I need you to keep them off. You can keep your hoods up while we’re walking. In fact, I advise it to protect you from the sun.” Evans himself had gotten more sunburns over the years than he cared to think about. He assumed that if something else didn’t get him first, skin cancer would be the thing that ultimately took him down. “I believe that about covers it for now. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. There are no stupid questions.” Evans waited a moment to see if there were any right off the bat, but no one spoke up. “All right, finish your breakfast and then let’s get going.”
While the silent ones finished up, Evans walked over to Gerald. The teenager had already packed up all his stuff and was ready to head out.
“You should try talking to some of them,” Evans advised.
“Why?”
“Because it’s a lot better knowing the people you’re travelling with. Several of them look like they’re not too far off your own age. I’m sure they’d feel more comfortable not thinking of you as a stranger.”
Gerald rolled his eyes. “Still seems pointless. Once you take me to that community, it’s not like I’ll ever see any of them again.”
“Trust me, it’s good to have contacts in other communities.”
“Sure, whatever you say.”
Evans hoped that he had used sarcasm just to be annoying, and not because he wasn’t going to heed Evans’ advice.
Once everyone was ready to go, Evans led them out of the barn. He handed Moe’s reins to Gerald, and requested that Ang and Burt walk with him. They seemed the most likely to talk, and Evans still wanted a bit more information.
“Do you think we’ll be pursued?” Evans asked in a low voice. He wasn’t sure how much the silent ones wanted the two kids to know.
“Hard to say,” Burt whispered back.
“But what do you think?”
“I think so, but not for long,” Ang answered. “Having us walk all night, and again now, we will probably be far enough away by the time the sun sets that the others won’t bother to come after us.”
“Why did you want to leave so badly?”
Neither of the two men answered.
“Look, I need to know so that I can tell people to avoid that area if it’s for a reason they disagree with. You clearly read my notebook. I’m assuming you chose the community you have, because it’s the closest place without anything about it that makes you uncomfortable.” Evans knew that the container yard might be a little bit closer, but he hadn’t yet written about it in his notebook. He didn’t want Gerald stealing it and finding his way back there, so he had planned to write about it after dropping the kid off.
Burt sighed. “It is a breeding place.”
“A breeding place for what?”
Ang gestured to himself and then all the others.
“People?” Evans guessed.
“Yes,” Burt nodded. “They think we need many more people to take back what we lost to the dead.”
“Do they rape the women?” Evans felt his hand turn into a fist. He couldn’t stand places that allowed that. He once helped set up an escape system for dozens of women who had found themselves in just that kind of trouble.
“No.” Ang shook his head. “No, it’s not that bad. The women have the right to chose, although they are pressured into having children. We all are. It made things very difficult for people like Burt and myself.”
Evans looked from one to the other. He couldn’t see why it would be particularly hard for them.
Burt caught the confused look on his face. “Ang and I are gay,” he told Evans, somewhat hesitantly. He probably hadn’t said that out loud in a long time.
“I understand. And the others? Did they just disagree with what was going on?”
“The old folk were worried about being put to death. They’re still strong, but they know if they show any signs of weakening, of not being useful, they will be disposed of.” Ang glanced over his shoulder, confirming that they were too far ahead for anyone to hear their whispers. “It’s happened before. The weak are removed to make room for the strong.”
“And the other three?”
“Each has a different reason.” Burt shrugged. “Patterson is gay like we are, and also the mother of the two children. She didn’t want her kids to grow up feeling trapped like she did. Blue had her tongue cut out for being too loud. Patrick has had the same treatment, by the way.”
Evans knew that Patrick was one of the old folk.
“As for Dev, he never wanted to be there to begin with, but was caught like you and decided that assimilating was his safest bet. Kathy’s always worried she’d be seen as a defect, and that she’d be completely removed from the gene pool.”
Kathy was the one with dwarfism.
“So Gerald and I were caught to be assimilated?”
“Y
ou, definitely,” Ang told him. “Even if you didn’t want to join, you’d be forced to breed.”
“I thought you said there wasn’t rape?”
“The women aren’t raped,” Burt clarified. “They get to chose. Sometimes the men they pick don’t get a say in the matter.”
“Is there anyone else caged up there?” Evans was thinking that he might have to make his way back after seeing these people to safety.
“No. People haven’t been caught in a long time.”
“What would have happened to Gerald if he didn’t assimilate?”
“He’d have been killed,” Burt put simply.
Evans was definitely going to warn people away from the area. He would get the word spreading through the connected communities, so that no one else was snatched up.
“Is there anyone else who wanted to leave but couldn’t come with you for any reason?” Evans asked.
Ang shook his head. “None that we could find. We had to be very careful in our planning, you understand.”
“I understand.” Perhaps Evans would gather a large, well-armed group and return to that place. He would challenge the silent ones to come out, and then invite anyone who wanted to leave to go with them.
He thought of the woman who had spoken to him while he had been trapped in the mud. The one with that twitch for a smile. Evans bet that she was the one who wanted to claim his genetics for herself.
“Thank you for telling me all of this,” Evans eventually said.
“It’s strange to have spoken of it,” Burt admitted in his whisper voice. “We’ve kept it inside for so long.”
“It’s a relief to finally let an outsider know,” Ang added.
Burt agreed with him.
The two men stopped speaking after that. It was probably the most they had said out loud in a very long time, and Evans doubted he would have gotten as many answers had they not shared the burden between them. He still had a few more questions, mostly about the size of the place and how they sustained themselves, but decided that those questions could wait.
Whenever zombies came, Evans had all his new travelling companions prove that they could kill them. Only the children were exempt from this, because at seven and five years of age, they couldn’t be trusted to do the right thing even if they knew what that was. Evans was a little concerned when Kathy’s turn came, as her low stature meant she couldn’t reach a zombie’s skull as easily as everyone else. She carried a javelin, however, which she could both throw with great accuracy, and use like a spear. After seeing how proficient she was with it, Evans saw there was no need for him to worry about her.
By nightfall, they reached the edge of another town, one that wasn’t so suspiciously clean. An old clothing store, picked over by scavengers, became their camp. Evans had his new party pile up all the remaining racks and mannequins against the windows, and then set a watch schedule. Everyone was wiped. The silent ones had taken turns riding some of their camels, as they were unused to walking so much. The children even spent some time on Moe’s back, learning the basics of horsemanship. Evans was used to walking, and did so all day despite his injuries. He needed to appear strong for the silent ones. When he finally got to lie down, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Gerald claimed a sleeping spot beside him, while the silent ones kept to themselves a little distance away.
“So did you try talking to any of them today?” Evans asked Gerald.
“A bit. They weren’t really interested in talking.”
“Did you try sign? They seem more open to using sign language.”
“That’s how I was trying. No one really wanted to have a conversation with me.”
“Did any of them tell you anything?”
“Blue commented on the weather, and Elmore asked me my age. That was it.”
“Did you see them talking to each other at all?”
“That Patterson woman sometimes signed with her kids. I couldn’t catch it all, but it just generally seemed to be mom stuff. Asking how they were, warning them against doing stupid stuff, that kind of thing.”
“Keep spending time with them.”
“I still don’t get why you want me to. If they’re not interested in knowing me, then what’s the point?”
“Maybe I’m telling you to do it for their sake.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Doesn’t it? These people haven’t had to interact with anyone outside of their own for a long time. What do you think is going to happen when I bring them to the community they want to join? If they’re not willing to get to know new people, they won’t be able to stay very long. Communities tend to toss out those they don’t trust.”
“Then tell them that.”
“I want to see if they’re willing to open up on their own, first.”
“You have weird ideas,” Gerald eventually sighed as he rolled onto his back.
Evans would agree with that, but his weird ideas had so far kept him alive in multiple environments, and among many different people.
“Wait.” Gerald frowned up at the ceiling before turning his head to face Evans again. “Do you want me to try to get to know them to prove that I’ll be able to get along with the community you’re bringing me to?”
Evans didn’t bother to respond. It seemed the kid wasn’t totally stupid. Instead, he closed his eyes, and almost immediately fell asleep.
***
The next day, Evans didn’t push the party as hard. He trusted Ang and Burt when they believed that the other silent ones wouldn’t pursue them as far as they had already gone, so he set an easier pace and allowed for longer rest stops.
While Evans himself wasn’t big on talking, he made an effort to chat up the new travellers. He tried to avoid topics about where they used to live, saving all his questions about that place for Ang and Burt. With Patterson, he asked simple things about her kids, and he found Dev knew a fair amount about the camels. Both Elmore and Janet were comfortable talking about their lives before the zombies, and seeing as how they were seventy-two and seventy-five, they had a lot of life to talk about. Kathy was a tougher nut to crack. Evans had yet to find a good topic with which to draw her out of her silence. He couldn’t talk to either Blue or Patrick without an interpreter. Throughout the day, all his conversations happened in short snippets. Evans would chat with one person until they seemed to run out of steam, and then move on to the next party member. He eventually worked his way back to the first person, and would pick up where they had left off as if hours hadn’t passed in between. He noticed that Gerald was studying him, and hoped the kid actually learned something.
When they bedded down the next night in a farmhouse, the silent ones spread out a little more, not minding being closer to Evans and Gerald. They also whispered to one another sometimes as opposed to strictly using sign. Evans didn’t care if they never chose to speak at normal volumes, but he wanted them to get used to talking before joining what would, to them, be a very noisy group.
The following day was much the same, although this time Gerald did his best to communicate with Blue and Patrick. He both signed and spoke to them, occasionally having to ask for clarification when their finger languages differed. Both he and Evans continued wearing the rags of the silent ones, for they were comfortable, airy, and the hoods kept the sun off their faces. Evans also thought it was a good idea for them to be dressed uniformly, or else he and Gerald might stand out as targets should they be ambushed by bandits.
They bypassed a town, as Evans had passed through it before and didn’t like the place. The people who had been there were undoubtedly gone by now, but he still went around on principle. Besides, they had been finding some good foraging along the edges of the old farm fields lately. By avoiding the town, it meant they had to decide to spend the night in an old barn again. Evans went in first to check if it was clear.
While just as drafty, this barn differed from the first in that it was larger and clearly once held animals. Evans began to walk
down the length of the place, verifying that all the pens lining the left side were empty. The boards beneath his feet creaked, which was a little concerning. If they had been built directly onto the ground, then they shouldn’t be able to creak, not like they were. He should have paid them more mind than he did.
His next step did not produce a creak, but rather a crack. Evans stopped moving, but it was too late. The floor gave way beneath him.
Evans hit the earthen floor beneath with a thump, letting his knees collapse to absorb the shock. It was too dark to see anything down there; the fading sunlight coming through the gaps above was unable to reach inside the hole. But Evans’ ears were just fine. He lay perfectly still, not wanting to disturb the rattlesnakes any more than he already had. The buzz of their quivering tails was a sound he knew better than he would have liked. Never bitten himself, he had nevertheless watched a former party member die from their venom. There were no longer hospitals to rush to, no more vials of anti-venom. Depending on the snake, and where he was bitten, a man of Evans’ size might be able to survive. Or he might have to lose a limb, the same as if a zombie had gotten him. The best option was to just not get bitten in the first place.
Afraid to call out, Evans simply stared up at the hole above him. He figured someone would come to check on him. His continuing lack of movement allowed the rattlers to settle. One even slid over his ankle. Evans was glad that he always tucked his pants into his boots.
Ang was the one to come and find out what had happened. It didn’t take long. Evans guessed that his sensitive ears had heard the wood give way, as well as Evans’ resulting fall. Before even seeing Ang’s face, Evans could tell it was a silent one coming to investigate, since the floor above creaked far less for him than it had for Evans.
“Are you all right?” Ang whispered.
“There are rattlesnakes,” Evans whispered back.
Ang nodded. “Are you hurt? Have you been bitten?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“What do you need?”
Survival Instinct (Book 5): Social Instinct Page 25
