Simon lay in the bed; they slept in shifts. As the runners of the group, the two of them were used to being on edge. They had grown accustomed to sleeping with one eye open, if they slept at all. Simon tossed and turned; sleep evaded him until he finally rose. He stretched and made little fists with his toes against the carpet before joining Petrova at the window. The thing with his toes was a technique for relieving stress. He learned it from a movie, and he’d be damned if it didn’t work.
“Can’t sleep?” Petrova asked. She leaned back into a chair in a darkened corner but was still within sight of the window.
“No. Why don’t you go lie down?” He yawned. “I’ve got this covered.”
“I’m fine,” she said. “It’s ironic. Give me the back seat of a broken-down car on the side of the road and I’ll be out in five minutes. We get an honest-to-goodness motel room and I won’t be able to sleep.”
“I feel the same.” Simon ruffled through his bag and produced a warm can of soda. The pop when he opened it was louder than expected, causing Petrova to jump back to the window.
“It’s fine,” he assured her. “There’s nothing out there to hear us anyway, even if it wasn’t raining.”
“Nerves. Like I said, give me the car.” She gestured to his can. “It’s stuff like this I don’t miss. I never really liked soda. Most of it’s too sweet.”
“Mm, sweet and warm. Like melted candy.”
“When your teeth start falling out, don’t complain about our lack of a dentist.”
“You’re joking, but that’s what we should be looking for. Supplies are essential and all, but we should really put an effort into finding people with specialized training. We got lucky with Miller’s friends being doctors.”
“And how in the hell are we supposed to do that? It’s not like we can advertise that we’re looking.”
“I don’t know.” Simon took a seat closer to Petrova on the edge of the bed. “You ever get tired of running?”
“Not really. I used to be behind a desk all day or in boardrooms, translating for my father or others like him. I longed to be outside then. I like the freedom of the road—the adventure of someplace new every day. Why? Is something on your mind?”
“Yeah, there is, actually. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now.” He tensed up.
“You know anything you tell me stays in this room.”
“I know. Saying it out loud makes it real. Well, it is real, but you know what I mean.”
“Just spit it out.”
“I’m not sure how much longer I want to do this. I think I might want off the team.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised.”
“Not going to try to talk me out of it?”
“Why would I do that? It is dangerous out here. If your head’s not in it, you shouldn’t be here.”
“I knew you’d get it.”
“So what are you thinking about doing?”
“Well, speaking of specialized training, I want to start a school. We have a lot of children on the ship that are going to grow up with this as the only world they’ve ever known. I think it’s important that they have some sort of education beyond how to fight.”
“I like the sound of that.”
~~~
Sometime in the night, the rains stopped. By morning, the baseball diamond where the strange girl showered had become a mud pit, washing away any signs she was ever there. Her tracks would have been impossible to follow to the concession stand had they not watched her duck into the shelter the night before. Bull and Ulrich stood sentry while Petrova searched the surrounding area for signs of the woman. The others used this time to scout the small shack for supplies. At this point, anything would have been welcome. Sometimes even the smallest luxury felt like a blessing. There was no sign of the strange girl, save for empty bags of pork rinds and spent ketchup packets.
“I told you!” Simon exclaimed while stuffing his bag full of condiment packets. “Ketchup.”
Genevieve dumped a handful of mustard packs into Simon’s bag and gave him a pat on the back.
Petrova peeked into the building. “This way. I’ve picked up her trail.”
The team followed a set of tracks through thick mud. In time, the earthen path gave way to pavement. Muddy footprints seemed to circle back toward where they touched down in Shipwreck Cove a few days ago.
“Do we follow or keep going?” Petrova asked while she rested her forearms on the butt of her rifle.
“I wanted to circle around anyway and start heading back. There’s nothing more here. This place is a waste of time.” Cortez waved off the rest of the town.
As they gathered their bearings for the return trip, the distinctive blast of a shotgun startled them. The gunshots were followed by yelps and cries for help.
“Come on, this way!” Miller led the charge to a few blocks over, where the strange girl was in a standoff with a pack of feral dogs.
The woman had a group of children gathered behind her. The pack flanked her in a semicircle. Behind them, three more dogs ravaged a man. The dogs snapped at each other as they greedily ripped flesh from the helpless man’s body. A smaller dog—but just as vicious—snuck his way into the fray and tore out a large chunk of innards before taking off with a line of entrails dragging behind him. One of the encircled dogs leapt for the strange girl; she downed it with a single blast from her sawed-off shotgun. The girl was cautious; she only fired if one of the dogs got too close; she was clearly trying to conserve ammo and wait out the pack.
Cortez, Miller, and the rest of the team came in fast. Their shots were deliberate, and four more dogs fell; the rest of the surprised pack fled. Without hesitation, the strange girl trained her weapon on Miller.
“Easy, easy,” Miller said as he lowered his rifle. The rest of the group followed suit.
“Petrova, Simon, Ahole, secure the perimeter.” Cortez pointed to nearby alleyways. “Genevieve, Bull, make sure those kids are alright.”
“Not so fast, cowboy.” The strange girl pointed her shotgun at the man giving orders. “I don’t know you.”
“We’re not here to hurt you,” Cortez explained calmly. “We just want to help.”
Miller gestured to the group of huddled, frightened children. “Some of those kids could be hurt. We just want to check them out.”
With her adrenaline wearing off, the strange girl conceded.
Cortez motioned for the others to go check on the kids as he and Miller approached the girl.
“Well done,” Miller said to her. “You saved those kids from a horrible death.”
“Pack of dogs.” Cortez scanned the battlefield and the remains of the ravaged man. “Not the way I’d choose to go.”
The strange girl’s breathing finally slowed as she holstered her weapon in a makeshift sling on her back.
“What’s your name? Are you out here alone?” Miller asked.
“Just me,” she answered. “I heard all this noise, and when I rounded the corner, I saw their dad or whoever that guy was fighting these things off with a stick. By the time I got over to them, he was already dead. I jumped in front of the kids and then I saw you guys.”
“Well, it’s over now,” Miller assured her.
“Thanks for the save, by the way.” She nodded.
Ahole and the others finished their perimeter sweep and rejoined the group. “Dogs are gone, boss, but all this commotion is bound to bring a heap of those dead fuckers down on us. We should skedaddle pronto.”
“Agreed. Petrova, Simon, police up any gear lying around. Bull, get those kids up. We’re leaving.”
“Wait a minute. Who says they even want to go with you?” The girl had reservations about Cortez and this group of strangers suddenly taking charge.
“This place is going to be crawling with those things any minute now,” said Cortez. “We’re going and we can’t leave them here. That much is obvious.”
Genevieve smoothly glided into the conversation. “We’ll bring the ch
ildren to Haven with us,” she suggested. “They’ll be safe there.”
“What’s Haven?” the strange girl asked.
“Haven is our home, a floating city far away from the dead,” Genevieve said calmly. “It can be your home, too. All you have to do is trust us.”
“Trust you? I don’t even know you.”
“Trust is a rare currency these days indeed.” Genevieve removed her locket and handed it to the girl.
“Aw, babe, no.” Ahole knew what the piece of jewelry meant to her.
“Quiet,” Genevieve continued. “My name is Genevieve. I was a police officer in Paris before the world ended. My family has had this necklace in its possession for twelve generations. It has witnessed the rise and fall of empires and the birth and death of countless families. It is the only thing I have left in this world to remind me where I come from.” She closed it in the girl’s palm. “You can return it to me when my promise is fulfilled.”
The strange girl jiggled the necklace in her hand as she eyed this group of strangers. “What’s stopping you from taking this off my dead body once we get these kids back to your boat?”
“You could break the jewelry or toss it overboard before I could stop you. We only have to trust each other.”
The strange girl paused for a moment. She weighed her options against the cold dank street and the encroaching dead. On the one hand, she had a possible safe home. On the other, an endless stream of sleepless nights. Either future was uncertain. “My friends called me the Wanderer.” She tucked the necklace away in her breast pocket. “But you can call me Alex.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Alex.” Genevieve shook her hand.
“The Wanderer?” Ahole commented with a laugh. “What kind of pretentious douche gives themselves a nickname?”
“This coming from a guy called Ahole?” she mocked. “I have ears, too.”
“Touché.” Ahole smirked. “At any rate, I’ll be having that necklace back, love.”
“Not likely, banana bender.” Alex clutched her breast pocket. “A deal’s a deal.” Alex gathered her things. An oversized duffel bag that she slung over her shoulder contained all her possessions in the world. “I just want you guys to know ahead of time I’m not staying. I just need to know I’m not sending these kids to live with a bunch of psychos.”
~~~
Bull had a delicate touch for such a large man. He was cleaning up the kids’ wounds—mostly scraped elbows and knees. The worst of it was a twisted ankle. “Easy, little fella. We’re just about done.”
The oldest among them watched the man like a hawk and was following his every move. The kid kept a death grip on his baseball bat.
“You know, if you hold that thing as tight as you can all day long, when you do need to swing it, you won’t be able to,” Bull suggested. “Your muscles will be too tense. Ease up, kid. We don’t bite.”
“Those dogs were following us all morning.” The oldest kid finally let his guard down, if only slightly. “Steve said they wouldn’t bother us if we didn’t bother them.”
“Was Steve your father? Older brother?”
“He was just a guy who helped us. He said he lost his family and he would make up for it by helping us.” The kid teared up. “He was nice to us.”
“He saved you,” Bull said sternly. “Steve bought you time for that girl and then the rest of us to come help. I’d say he kept his promise.”
“Are you going to help us now?” The kid was nearly breaking down.
“I am,” Bull insisted. “We all are. What’s your name, son?”
“Joel.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Joel. My friends call me Bull. You can, too, if you like. You’re safe now, but I need you to help me keep these little ones calm. Can you do that for me?”
“I think so.”
“Good. You’re going to be okay. All of you are.”
~~~
Haven’s outline grew on the horizon. Every step brought the excursion team closer to home. They hadn’t scavenged as much as they would have liked, and they certainly didn’t find Petrova’s cart of booze, but they saved lives. And that meant so much more. The rains still came and went in spurts, heavy at times, but even when it let up, a mist lay in the air, soaking them to the bone.
Ulrich was uncharacteristically chatty with the new girl. He asked her a question. “You’ve journeyed alone all these days with no traveling companions?”
“Mostly, yeah,” she answered. If Alex stood just right, Ulrich’s large frame took the brunt of the mist. “Before all this went down, I was on a solo trek cross country, so I already had everything I needed to survive on my own. When the cities got bad, I hightailed it out of there. While everyone else was sucking gas out of abandoned cars, I beat feet.”
Ulrich nodded.
“But yeah, I’m constantly on the run. There’s rarely time to slow down. Out here, your actions dictate whether you live or die. No time for second-guessing. You make a decision and commit to it. Wherever that leads, you make another decision. Repeat until you’re safe or dead. That’s what I do—make a left, make a right. Don’t think about it, just keep moving. That’s how I’ve lived out here alone for so long.”
Ulrich nodded again. If you knew the man, that was high praise. He slowed his pace to switch positions with Genevieve and take up the rear.
“Okay.” Alex shrugged. “Nice chat.”
“He doesn’t say much,” Genevieve commented. “Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure that’s all I’ve heard him say all day. He must like you.”
Alex looked at Genevieve with a puzzled expression.
“What is it?”
“Hold still for a second.” Alex reached into Genevieve’s thick, tightly pulled-back mane and wrestled something free. As gentle as her touch was, she still managed to yank Genevieve’s hair a bit.
“Ow. What was that?”
“I couldn’t let you walk around with this stuck in your hair all day.” Alex revealed a dried piece of shattered bone.
“Gross, thanks.” Genevieve picked at the back of her scalp for any remaining bits of filth.
Alex giggled and flicked the bone fragment away, where it skidded ahead of Miller, who crushed it underfoot.
“Those kids aren’t going to like de-cons,” Miller suggested.
“No, I don’t imagine they will.” Ahole had no witty response this time. The idea of keeping kids in what amounted to prison—even if it was for the safety of more than three hundred people—unnerved him. “At least they’ll be alive.”
“Maybe Todd will let them double up so they’re not so afraid.”
“Todd? Not likely, mate.”
“You can’t tell me you still think it’s necessary to keep everyone in separate cells. It seems a little overkill to me.”
“No idea. We’re making this up as we go. It’s not like there’s a handbook for the apocalypse, you know?”
“Yeah, but you have to agree with me on some level, especially where Genevieve is concerned. What if she was hurt?”
“You’ve got me there, mate. I suppose we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.” Ahole was uncomfortable with Miller’s hypothetical scenario. “I can tell you this. If it comes to Genevieve’s well-being and Todd’s rules, I’ll jam that clipboard straight up his ass.”
A howl rang out in the distance, followed by another, then another still.
“The dogs are tracking us!” Miller pointed to a parallel alley where several of the dogs were shadowing their movements.
Cortez rallied his team. “Keep moving, but pick up the pace. We only have a half-mile to go!”
The howling continued to grow closer. One of the younger kids covered his ears. Joel tried to calm him with no luck. The scared kid finally burst into tears as anxiety took him. He was convinced the march to Haven wouldn’t keep him safe. The child began a mad dash for the nearest building—a decrepit half-collapsed apartment complex.
“Wait, wait!” Joel yelled
. He attempted to give chase, but Bull stopped him mid-stride.
“Stay here. Watch after the little ones,” Bull said as he rushed into the condemned building.
“Bull, stop!” Cortez commanded to deaf ears. “Goddammit,” he shouted. “Simon, Petrova, stay with the kids. If those dogs come back, fire off three shots and we’ll return to your position. The rest of you, with me.”
The floor creaked and moaned under every footfall Cortez’s team made; the building was in shambles. From above, they could hear two distinct sets of footfalls. The ceiling groaned and dust and small debris fell from widening cracks. Up the stairs they went, slowly.
“I want a two-meter gap between each of us,” Cortez warned. “This place could collapse at any moment.”
They made their way to the third floor, where Bull had the frightened child cornered in an apartment. “It’s okay,” Bull whispered. “Everything is going to be okay.”
“I don’t want the dogs,” the child cried.
“They won’t get you. I promise,” Bull tried to assure the child as he approached while navigating dust-covered, toppled over furniture.
Cortez and the others made their way to an adjacent room. “Bull, take it slow,” Cortez whispered.
“Guys, I don’t think we should all be up here,” Alex cautioned.
“I’ve got you.” Bull snatched the child up.
The floor sighed.
“Nobody make any sudden movements!” Cortez slowly inched back.
Bull turned to join the team as a series of loud snaps echoed through the structure. He gripped the kid tight, shielding as much of his body as he could manage while palming the child’s head in one of his oversized hands. Bull’s eyes went wide, along with Cortez’s, as the entire third floor came apart beneath their feet. In an instant, thousands of pounds of flooring and furniture crashed down to the floor below. Alex was fast enough to jump to the side, clutching onto the remains of the stairwell. The others weren’t so lucky. Cortez’s team plummeted to the floor below. As the dust settled, they found themselves intermingled with debris. Some were left unconscious; others moaned as they tried to catch their breath.
The Roaming (Book 3): Haven's Promise Page 18
