Survival Instinct (Book 5): Social Instinct

by Stittle, Kristal

  “Being straight laced is not for everyone,” he told them. This drew a chuckle from the older of the two.

  When they got walking again, Evans found himself drawn toward the mules. He knew a lot about mules, more than he knew about horses, because he had travelled with several in the past. But he drifted over to them because he didn’t know much about hawks. The bird of prey sat with its talons wrapped around a padded bar that stuck up from a mule’s supply packs. Its legs appeared to be tied down, but its eyes scanned their surroundings with razor sharpness.

  “I thought they usually wore some sort of hood thing,” Evans commented to Erin, the owner of the bird.

  “She has one, but I only put it on her at night, or if she’s becoming particularly distressed. I’d rather have her eyes looking out for danger, wouldn’t you?”

  “Can you tell when she spots something that we would need to know about?”

  Erin wiggled her hand in the air. “Sometimes, but not always. I have to watch her body language.”

  “What kind of hawk is she?”

  “Falcon, actually. A gyrfalcon.”

  “I heard she was disabled.” Evans couldn’t see anything physically wrong with the predator.

  “I found her with a busted wing. I might have been able to set it right with the proper equipment, but since the uprising, I haven’t exactly had access to that kind of stuff.”

  Evans had heard many names for the time when zombies spread around the globe, and assumed that the uprising was Erin’s. “Did you work with birds before then?”

  “I did, I was a falconer.”

  “You could make a living at that?”

  “Surprisingly, you could. People hired me to bring my birds to airports to clear away the pest birds. Sometimes I was hired to help clear away the pigeons from a certain building downtown, although that’s a losing battle. I would also bring my birds to conservation areas or schools to put on presentations.”

  “What happened to your birds?”

  “I released them. I didn’t know if I was going to survive, and I wanted to give them a fighting chance. I was rather lonely until I met Sheila, here. Never did get along with people much when I didn’t have a bird nearby to talk about.” She grinned at Evans, pointing out that they were currently talking because of the bird.

  “What does she eat?” Evans wanted to make sure they had food for the falcon on their journey, and needed to know what to look out for.

  “Just about anything,” Erin answered. “Other birds, mostly. If she could fly, ground birds would be her preferred target, but small mammals would do in a pinch.”

  “What’s the best way to feed her, since she can’t fly?”

  “I usually hunt a small animal for her, then toss the carcass her way once I’ve put her down in a safe location. She’ll pounce on it and feed herself.”

  “I’ll let the others know to keep an eye out for small animals that you can feed her.”

  “Thanks.”

  Evans drifted away, walking up the line to tell everyone exactly what he said he would. He lingered for a little longer beside Blue.

  “Any sign?” he asked her.

  Blue shook her head. She had been given a special task to keep an eye out for Gerald. He figured that if the kid were following anyone, it would be her, and so it stood to reason that she was the most likely to spot him. He might want to be seen by her. Evans had convinced Blue that locating him was for Gerald’s own safety. He had been exiled from the place they were going to, and he didn’t know what they did there to people who attempted to return. Evans didn’t want Gerald to get hurt, and neither did Blue.

  “Well, let me know the moment you see anything.” It was possible that Gerald wasn’t following them. He might have stayed back at Paddock like he was supposed to, disappearing before everyone left in order to avoid a potentially painful goodbye. Evans could understand that impulse. But he didn’t think that’s what Gerald had done. He was a teenager after all, and teenagers were prone to do whatever they decided was best, even if everyone else told them that it really wasn’t. Evans knew about that impulse as well.

  With such a large group, it was harder to find a place in which to stop for the night. They were crossing a lot of undeveloped land, which was both a positive and a negative. There was a greater distance between buildings whenever they decided to continue on to the next one, but the buildings they came across were often large barns. They found a massive pig farm, which put everyone on immediate alert, but it seemed that none of the animals were still around. The barn they had been housed in was empty of all but a faint, lingering smell. They searched the place, end to end, just in case, but nothing squealed or rushed out at them. The structure was solid, and they were able to lock the doors from the inside, which made them all feel a lot safer. Just because they hadn’t run into any undead pigs outside, didn’t mean that it wasn’t still a possibility. Evans wondered if Gerald was out there somewhere. If he was, hopefully the kid could find himself a safe place to shelter for the night.

  As Evans picked a spot to lie down, he was grateful for the packed dirt floor. He wondered if Sheila ate snakes. Erin hadn’t mentioned them when she talked about the falcon’s diet. The bird of prey probably knew better than to mess with a rattler.

  ***

  Evans was awoken the next morning by a restless Moe. It was early in the morning, too early based on Evans’ internal clock. The ugly horse was apparently dissatisfied with his current accommodations. Worried that maybe a rat was in there bothering him, Evans got up to look. But no, the horse was alone.

  Looking down the row, Evans saw that only Kathy was awake, the last guard of the nightshift. He almost didn’t see her; her small form and rags made her disappear against the pens where she sat. If she hadn’t waved in acknowledgement, he might have assumed she was patrolling outside. Using gestures that weren’t sign language but were hopefully understood anyway, Evans attempted to communicate to Kathy that he was going to bring Moe outside and take a look around. Whether Kathy fully understood or not, she waved in acknowledgement again. After changing his position to gather Moe’s lead, Evans struggled to find Kathy a second time, despite now having an idea where she was. Even the rest of the silent ones, who were all asleep, were hard to make out as human figures. If anyone had come upon them in the night, they would likely have been in for a surprise.

  Moe seemed happy once he and Evans were outside, and quickly set to work cropping the grass. He must have just been hungry. Evans guided Moe in a slow circle around the outside of the pig barn. He studied the grass for any movement of undead pigs, but he also searched for where Gerald might have spent the night. There was a lot of open terrain around the pig barn, not conducive to providing shelter. The safest place that was not inside the barn, was on top of it, but there was no way Gerald had the skill to get up there without the sound-sensitive silent ones hearing him. A group could spend the night in the grass after flattening out a large clear spot, but Gerald would be on his own. Where would Evans go if he were by himself and trying to follow the party? A small stand of straggly trees presented the best option. If there was no indoor shelter, then up off the ground was where you’d want to be.

  With Moe in tow, Evans made his way toward the trees. Whenever he wasn’t checking for danger around him, he scanned the branches.

  Ah, there you are, Evans thought to himself as he picked out a suspicious bump within a large fork in a tree. As he approached, he kept expecting Gerald to stir, but the kid was fast asleep.

  “Good morning, Gerald,” Evans softly called up once he stood directly beneath the tree.

  Gerald flinched and nearly toppled from his perch, managing to grab a branch and steady his balance at the last moment.

  “Comfortable?” Evans asked him.

  Gerald looked down at him with a sullen expression.

  “Trees don’t make the best sleeping spots,” Evans went on. “Too much fear of falling out of them, but they make do in a pinch.”<
br />
  “I’m not going back,” Gerald told him, loosening the straps of his pack. He had used the bag to secure himself to the tree, which was clever. If Gerald had fallen over in the middle of the night, he would have ended up hanging by his armpits, his neck and head scraping painfully along the bark as he and the pack changed places. Still, he wouldn’t have fallen.

  “I know you’re not going back,” Evans spoke up to him. “I can’t force you, and I’m not going to waste a day trying.”

  Gerald’s mouth moved. He had clearly planned on an argument. “So I can come with you, then?” he eventually decided to say.

  “You’re still not allowed in the container yard.”

  “I want a new trial. I’ve changed.”

  “Whether you have or not, I don’t think they’ll care. You tried to strangle an old woman.”

  “That was after the battle, after all those zombies came. Everyone was kind of out of their mind then.”

  “You tried to strangle her because she told people about the zombie you had somehow smuggled over the wall, which got it killed. I don’t think your defence is going to hold any water.”

  Gerald sat in the tree, pouting, his pack now held tightly against his chest and stomach. “It’s my decision.”

  “And it’s my decision as to whether you can travel with the party or not.”

  “I’m going to keep following you.”

  “I know, and I’m tempted to continue letting you stay at a distance. Maybe being on your own out here will teach you something important.”

  “The others will let me walk with you guys.” His tone was becoming that of a petulant child.

  “Will they? You were banished from the place where they are hoping to live. How hard do you think it would be for me to convince them that treating you as a hostile would be in their best interest? I wouldn’t even have to convince all of them, just a few would be enough to force you to keep your distance.”

  Gerald’s face turned a sickly pale. He clearly hadn’t considered that.

  “So how was your night up there?” Evans asked. “Bet you didn’t sleep well. Hear any strange noises in the night? Feel anything creeping along your skin?”

  The way Gerald turned his head away, Evans knew it had been a bad night. Of course it had been. Evans knew what it was like to be out there alone. He had learned how to take care of himself after years of travel, but even then, the first night after leaving a party, he always struggled to sleep.

  “Your body is going to be sluggish today,” Evans continued. “You’re a teenager, so it won’t be as bad, but travelling will be hard, especially alone, and especially while trying to follow a group without them noticing. You’ll be less alert, and it will be easy for danger to slip your notice. Tomorrow, after you fail to sleep well a second time, it’ll be gruelling. There will be times when the only thing you can focus on is putting one foot in front of the other. Even if you spot the danger before it reaches you, your reaction time will be slowed. You may even misinterpret the danger, thinking it’s less severe than it really is. Or more severe, and end up wasting more energy that you don’t really have to waste. Your muscles will ache, and your head will throb, and your guts will get all twisted up. Tell me, Gerald, does any of this sound worth it to you?”

  Gerald was refusing to look at him, but Evans could see the tear rolling down his cheek.

  “Do you think Blue is worth it? You barely know her. You’ve travelled together for a few days, which is a lot different than living in proximity for weeks. She barely even knows what life is like outside of the silent ones. She’s going to go through some things, internally, and that may change the person you believe she is. Hell, on the flip side, she barely even knows who you are. At least she had the wherewithal to realize that. She knew better than to stay with you in Paddock. She knew that you weren’t worth it. So come on, Gerald, tell me. Is all of this worth it?” Evans was unconcerned about going too far or saying too much. He was actually hoping to eviscerate Gerald with his words, and knew that the kid’s exhaustion would help him in that matter. “Answer me, Gerald!”

  Gerald flinched and nearly lost his grip on his pack. He finally turned to Evans. “What do you want me to do?” he screamed down at him. “What am I supposed to do, huh? You want me to go back to Paddock? You want to me go by myself?” Anything else he might have said got strangled by sobbing.

  “Well, I want you to come down from that tree, for starters,” Evans told him, his voice becoming gentle.

  He waited patiently as Gerald put on his pack and began to make his way down. When his foot slipped, Evans moved forward to help, but Gerald barked over his shoulder at him.

  “I can do it!” He dropped the last few feet, stumbling as he landed. Up close, Evans could see the dark bags under his red and puffy eyes.

  “I don’t want you travelling back to Paddock by yourself,” Evans told Gerald, letting the kid take hold of Moe. The ugly horse seemed to provide him with a modicum of comfort. “I also can’t spare anyone going with you. What I would like to do, is have you travel with us, but you cannot go to the container yard. I don’t even want them to know that you’re in the area, because I promised them that I would take you away. Once we get close, we’ll find a safe spot for you stay for a few days. And you will stay there. I don’t expect Frannie’s emissaries to stay for very long. When they leave, they will pick you up, and you can travel back to Paddock with them.”

  Gerald snuffled and wiped at his nose. “Will you be coming with us?”

  “I don’t know, but I honestly doubt it. Once I’m certain that the silent ones have settled in, I’m likely going to accompany some people from the container yard to a colony I think they should get acquainted with, if they haven’t already. I’m also thinking about trying to find a way to get the silent ones still remaining in their town on board with some sort of trade agreement, but I haven’t quite figured out how to do that yet. I don’t know exactly what I’ll be doing, but it very likely won’t involve going back to Paddock.”

  “Okay,” Gerald snuffled again, and nodded.

  “While we travel, you try to avoid talking to the others. Even Blue. You say goodbye to her. Understood?”

  Gerald nodded.

  “Make friends with Paddock’s emissaries. And you can make friends with them, Gerald.”

  While Gerald nodded again, it was impossible to tell if the words were sinking in anymore.

  “Come on, let’s get back. The others are probably already halfway through breakfast by now.”

  Gerald led Moe toward the pig barn. Evans followed a few steps behind. He didn’t want Gerald to see him. He didn’t want the kid to notice that his hands had started shaking. What he had just done to Gerald had reminded him far too much of his own father, a man who had graduated from abuse to butchery. A man whose voice could be heard through the walls, and taught Evans to be quiet and still. A man he had had to kill in order to save his own life at just thirteen years of age, although he hadn’t been able to save his mother. Evans knew that that man still lived within his bones, a dark shadow that followed him no matter how far he travelled. And it had kept him alive more often than Evans cared to admit.

  ***

  Gerald kept his word that first day. He didn’t make any attempt to communicate with the silent ones other than when necessary. He also didn’t speak to the people from Bridges, unless they spoke to him first. Even then, he kept his answers short and polite. Although he stayed near the emissaries, especially Mac, he hadn’t yet attempted to strike up a proper conversation with any of them. He mainly just moped along, probably too tired to do much else. Evans let him ride on Moe’s back for a little while after their lunch break.

  That night, they were still in farm country, but the barn they came upon was in no condition to shelter them. Thankfully, the farmhouse was, sort of. The main floor quickly became quite cramped with Moe, Luke’s horse, the camels, and the mules spreading out through the living room and kitchen. With all the p
eople upstairs, there wasn’t much space left there either. Evans made sure that Gerald’s bedding was placed in a corner, and that only Mac and the other two emissaries were near him. He then went back downstairs to take the first watch. The best part about travelling with a party as large as theirs, was that they had enough adults so that everyone had to take only a short shift, and only every other night. Gerald would be able to sleep the whole night through, and be more productive tomorrow.

  They headed out bright and early, and hadn’t gone far before they found themselves in what was once a cornfield. The plants had survived through the years, overgrowing their once neat rows. Several other plants had also invaded their space. The stalks were tall, which was worrisome due to the lack of sight lines, but they pressed through them anyway. With Luke on his horse up ahead, Gerald on top of Moe at the back, and some silent ones on camels in the middle, they had a good number of lookouts to scan the field for signs of movement. As an added bonus, they found some corn that was still edible. Much of it had been eaten by birds or beasts, or become over-ripe, so they gathered it up in order to separate the good from the bad during their lunch break.

  At the far end of the field, a large number of crows flapped and cawed around them. They were angry that the humans were walking through their territory, but they were smart enough not to try attacking. Maybe if a person had been on their own, they’d have had a problem, but the birds were far too cautious around so many people and ungulates. Sheila, the falcon, probably frightened them too. Evans had once been told that a flock of crows was called a murder. As a rule, he wasn’t superstitious, but something about large gatherings of crows always put him on edge.

  Gerald finally started a few conversations with the three emissaries as they walked. So far it looked like he was getting along best with Malala, although she was probably the farthest from him in age. It appeared to Evans that Malala was willing to take Gerald under her wing, which he thought would be great for the kid if he allowed it.