by Carter, John
“Not as good as I thought he would be,” Trevor smirked at Chloe, who stood near a fire barrel and shook in terror.
“What the fuck are you?”
He grimaced, “I don’t know. I guess, I’m a Riser. Kind of?” He laughed as she attempted to hide in the tent. “What the. What are you doing?”
“Hiding from you.”
“That makes sense. I can hear your heart beating and smell where you are. I’m pretty sure I can pinpoint the next spot of where you’re thinking of hiding.”
Chloe stopped and watched as Trevor walked over to her. His bloodshot eye had turned milky white while the other eye remained normal. He doubled over in pain, “Damn it.”
“Can you still see out of it?” she asked as she inspected him.
He shook her hands off, “Yes. I don’t need to though.” He finally showed her the scratch he received from Parker. Her eyes widened as she moved away from him. “I won’t bite you.” The purple veins circled the area of where the scratch was at one point. The skin surrounding it had peeled off and deteriorated when he touched his arm. The rank smell she discovered before had come from the scratch. He showed her the gunshot wound, which appeared to have healed quickly after he stitched it up.
“How did that happen?”
He looked at her, “I guess, I heal quickly now.” He looked at his arm, “I suppose no retro-heal then?”
Her thoughts focused on the bandit, “What about him? Is he going to turn?”
“I don’t know,” he waited and watched the bandit’s body. “I hope so.”
The bandit’s body lay motionless for a few seconds as Chloe and Trevor walked toward the fire barrels and looked outside for more bandits. They walked back into the tent and found the bandit standing. He stared at Trevor and watched as he got closer to him. Chloe stayed quiet and remained near the fire barrel.
“So, can you understand me?” Trevor asked the bandit, who instantly nodded. “Are there more of you?” The bandit nodded once again and pointed toward the entrance of the tent. “How far are they?”
The bandit dropped his arm, “A few miles south of here.”
“Are they on their way here?”
“No, I go back,” the bandit walked to the entrance and snarled at Chloe.
“Leave her alone,” Trevor said as the bandit snapped out of it. “Let me know when you get here.”
The bandit nodded and walked out.
Trevor laughed, “Did you see that? I can have a freaking Riser army here.”
Chloe looked on in shock as he continued to laugh. “Ar-army?”
“Yes, an army. They really won’t be expecting that.” She started to tear up and sobbed quietly. “Oh no, no no. We don’t have time for that. The instant these Risers see you crying, they’ll think you’re ready to be eaten and I know you don’t want that. Right?” She shook her head. “Okay, so you know what we do? We set up a trap for these bandits and “recruit” them for our needs. I’m sure Parker and Jeremy would appreciate the troubles we’re going through to get back at those who harmed them.” Chloe nodded and continued to sob. “It’s okay, you can cry for now but don’t let the others see you. I can’t really guarantee your safety if you look weak.”
Mark waited for Emma outside of the lab. “Emma, we need to talk. I’ll be leaving to Canada to check in with Paul.”
“We really don’t, Mark. You have your responsibilities now,” Emma said as he followed her to the triage room. “I’m very grateful that you stayed with us so long, and for helping my sister when this whole thing went out of control. I really couldn’t have done it without you.” She hugged him and walked over to her bed.
“I don’t feel right leaving and not tell you thank you,” Mark looked down.
She sat down, “For what? All we’ve given you are a few years of headaches.”
“No,” Mark sat down on her bed beside her. “You made me a part of your family, when I didn’t have one.” She smiled at him as he hid his own smile. “Don’t look at me like that you goober.”
“Now we’re starting with the names again,” she said as she poked his arm. “Thank you too. We’d be in different places.”
He nodded and got up from the bed. Emma slid her feet under the covers and sat up. “I can’t say how much we’ll miss you.”
Mark gave her small peck on the cheek as she lay down and covered up, “Get some rest.”
“You better come back in one piece though. You wouldn’t want me to get my ass up and hunt people down,” she muttered as she turned over.
“Jeremiah must really like you, huh?” Mark asked as she became quiet.
“I hope so,” She incoherently muttered as he smiled. He waited until she fell asleep and walked out of the room. He decided to stop by the lab before going to talk with Tony.
Jeremiah was typing away at the console and cursing at it. “Come on, you piece of shit. Give me those read outs.”
Mark knocked on the wall near the doorway, “hey man.”
“Hey Mark, got a blunt object that I can hit this thing with?” Jeremiah looked back at Mark who smiled and walked further into the lab. He stopped close of the console Jeremiah was working on.
“If you want it broken, then yes,” Mark crossed his arms.
“Might as well be,” Jeremiah sulked and returned to his stool behind the last row of tables. He fumbled through some of the printouts and layers of cords that lead to frayed ends of plastic. Mark picked one up for further inspection and dropped it back into the pile.
“Rejected pile?”
Jeremiah nodded, “Gets bigger everyday with all these failing components. I’d give anything for a fully functional keyboard.”
“I’m probably taking off tomorrow. I need you to keep an eye on Emma and her sister.”
“Are you sure you want that?” Jeremiah looked up at Mark, who leaned his back onto the higher table near the console. “I mean, I’m fine with it but do you even want me near her? I don’t want to get in the middle of something you guys have.”
“Yeah, man. It’s not like that,” Mark sighed. “I’m like a brooding older brother to her and she’s the annoying sister you’d want to lose in a busy store. Always have been and probably always will.”
Jeremiah sat still, “So I take it the feeling is mutual?” He braced himself for a sudden punch to the face but was surprised when Mark nodded and shrugged it off.
“Yeah,” he smiled as his stare shifted to the console. “What’s really wrong with it?”
Jeremiah exhaled and covered his face in frustration, “I don’t know. It’s the keyboard. I think.”
Mark walked over and checked the ports to the keyboard. “That’s your problem.” He showed Jeremiah the frayed cord. “How did you not notice this before?” Jeremiah gestured towards the other piles of frayed wires. “Ah, yeah, you’ve got a point there. We just need electrical tape and it should work better. At least this one looks like a real cord. The others don’t even have the end part to plug in.”
“They kept melting off. Summers are brutal in here.”
Mark laughed, “Well man, I gotta go talk to Tony and see what I need to do.”
“Going to see Paul in Canada, huh?”
Mark nodded, “Yeah, we’ll see what’s going on over there. Maybe we all can go sooner or later.” He walked over to the door way and waved back at Jeremiah. “See ya.”
Jeremiah returned the wave and returned to his pile of cords. The front two rows of tables were filled with lab equipment and old microscopes. They were much higher than the last row of tables where Jeremiah enjoyed sitting and hiding. He loved hiding from people, even if it was just from Dani or the occasional Tony or Kayla visit. The console sat on a desk in the second row of tables. It was a high desk so the stool made him feel short. He walked over to the console and remembered where he last saw the electrical tape.
“Crap. It’s in the triage room,” Jeremiah wasn’t dreading having to go over there, but the fact that he couldn’t help bein
g awkward around her. He stood up, “Well, it’s now or later tomorrow.” He sighed and walked towards the triage room. Emma was fast asleep as her light snores alerted him to be quiet. He opened the drawer closest to the door and heard a loud creak.
“Jeremiah?” Emma looked over her shoulder and flipped to face him, “What are you doing?” She rubbed her eyes to focus on him.
“I was running some tests and I needed tape. And I woke you up.” He dropped his arms, “I’m sorry. This could’ve waited until tomorrow.” He attempted to rush out of the room.
Emma sat up, “You’re not running away that quickly. What’s your rush to get away from me?”
“It’s not that, I’m just trying to give you your space. I kept bothering you all day. And the one time you’re actually resting, I wake you up. Where’s the sense in that?” Jeremiah looked down. “I’m sorry that I keep bothering you.” He looked defeated and swore under his breath.
“Look, I’m sorry that I snapped at you earlier. I didn’t mean it. I know you’re trying to help me, and it’s hard for me to accept that anyone would do that.” Emma moved slightly and leaned back onto the bed. “Why are you really in here?”
“Mark left,” he said as he crossed his arms.
“Yeah, I know. Did he tell you to look out for us?”
Jeremiah nodded.
“Figures, he never thinks we can do things on our own. Minus getting bitten, the last mission we had was fairly successful. We got more food and supplies.” She grimaced and stopped speaking.
“What’s wrong?” Jeremiah rushed over to the bed. “Is it your shoulder?”
“Neither, I was stretching,” she laughed as he sat on her bed.
“Don’t do that,” he looked at her. “I thought you were in some serious pain.”
She sat up and said, “Sorry.”
He shook his head and took out the monitor. “Before heading to sleep,” he motioned to the lancelet.
“Sure,” she jabbed her finger and placed it near the test strip. The machine beeped when it received her blood and beeped once again when it read out her sugar level.
“90. That’s actually better than I thought it would be. After those bananas, I thought it might shoot up your sugar.”
“Well, I dropped the majority of them on the ground,” she frowned and blotted her finger on the bandage on her stomach. “Dani ate most of them.”
“I told you. She can eat almost everything.”
Emma looked uncomfortable as Jeremiah stood up, “Can I ask you for a favor?”
He turned around, “Sure, what?”
“Can you sleep here tonight?” her face instantly reddened. “I mean, Sarah’s out for the night with Rory and I feel really weird being alone.” Before he could protest, Emma watched as he thought about it, “Please. I don’t normally beg many people.”
He slowly nodded, “Let me get my sleeping bag.”
Emma turned to face the wall as Jeremiah walked in with his sleeping bag. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Jeremiah situated the bag onto the gurney. Emma turned over to face him and grabbed his hand before he knew it.
“No, really. Thank you for doing this,” she smiled as he returned the smile and blushed. She let go of his hand and he sat on the gurney. He leaned back against the wall as Emma turned over to face the other wall again. “You don’t snore as loud as Sarah does, either.”
They both laughed and slowly fell asleep.
Chapter 11
Mark sat with Tony in the Mess area as Kayla was making the last bit of instant ground coffee. The makeshift kitchen doubled as a meeting room, mostly to discuss travel and which outposts to help out. The otherwise dark gray walls would be covered with maps and notes during this time. Kayla put the hot kettle near them as she sat down next to Tony.
“There are some tea packages left, if you want some caffeine.”
Mark declined as Tony pointed to a map, “If you take the truck, I would recommend taking some of the farm roads to keep out of sight. The main highways have always been pretty packed of dead and living obstacles. 86 to 78 would work once you get past Langston.”
“I should be there roughly tomorrow afternoon to mid-evening. What kind of outpost does he have so far?”
“The last we heard, he had been working on more generators and was able to get a farm going.” Kayla answered as she sipped from the cup. Her facial expression showed the bitter taste of coffee was something she probably wouldn’t get used to. “He had a few people with him, who are working with him on making it a more solid and secure location.”
“What about this place? Do we need to fortify it more?” Mark looked at Tony.
“Not now,” Tony answered as he leaned back and crossed his arms. “I don’t plan on leaving soon, unless you’re still heading to the coastline after all.”
He shrugged, “I think we should explore that part of the country just to see if there’s anyone out there.”
“I’m more afraid of who’s out there than what is,” Kayla pushed the still full cup away and crossed her arms. “Risers are easy to deal with when you have good weapons. Some people can’t be easily dealt with. Those bandits we saw the last time. They were brutal people.”
“True, but I think we can bypass a lot of that and see what’s really out there,” Tony searched for a map of the area. “See,” he pulled it close to them. “This road should lead us to another farm road and give us a way in without being detected.”
“Anyone will see us with that truck,” Mark said. “It’s loud and unreliable.”
“I’ll work on it and see if I can make it a bit more manageable,” Kayla said as she stood up. “I can take a look at it in the morning. I gotta go to sleep.”
“It’ll be morning in a few hours.”
“I don’t care, I’m going to sleep,” she patted Tony’s head and walked out.
Tony continued to look at the map, “We’ll figure this out when you get back. I’ve got the truck packed and Kayla will look at it before you take off in a few hours.” He stood up and walked over to the doorway. “I might as well sleep a bit. You should too.” He said as he walked out.
Mark rubbed his eyes and looked at the maps as they laid out on the table. “Yeah, sleep sounds like a good idea right now.”
Trevor waited as the ambush played out in slow motion. He watched as the bandits saw him and his bandit Riser was able to subdue at least two while Trevor slashed the throat one with his bare hands and held down the leader.
“Trevor?” the bandit leader squeaked out under Trevor’s arm.
“Never thought I’d see you again,” Trevor held him down with his full weight on him.
Chloe stood by and listened in as the bandit Riser warned her of coming too close of Trevor.
“You better listen to him,” Trevor warned Chloe as she backed off. He switched his focus back to the bandit leader on the ground. “Now, wasn’t Brady supposed to kill you off?”
“No, man,” the leader struggled with breathing. “He was trying to set you up. You and your brother. After that mission went down, he thought you would rat him out to the rest and say it was his idea.”
“Figures,” Trevor said as he bit into the leader’s neck. He waited until the leader stopped thrashing and let go of his neck.
Chloe shook her head and attempted to process what the bandit leader had said. “What mission? The supply run with Jeremy?”
Trevor sighed and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “Yes, the supply run.” He rushed over to her and held her shoulders, “We killed your Jeremy. Not Emma or Sarah. We did.” He let go of her shoulders and she fell to her knees. “You’ve been blaming the wrong people. I can’t believe you nearly killed Sarah.”
Chloe covered her head, “That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”
“Not really. That part was Brady’s idea. Sick, twisted bullshit of an idea,” Trevor looked down at his arm, which throbbed as the wound looked angry with infection. There were more purple veins an
d some were protruding. He slid his sleeve over it and collected his rage. He looked down at Chloe and back at the bandit Riser behind him. “Go secure the area. Make sure there aren’t any stragglers behind.” The bandit Riser ran out of the tent and searched the area.
“You killed Jeremy,” she stuttered and sobbed.
He rolled his eyes, “Not directly no. If he didn’t push Emma out of the way, he’d be fine.” He crouched down and looked at her, “It’s still her fault.”
She glared at him with red eyes and wiped her face with her sleeve. “Now what?”
‘What do you mean ‘now what’? We’re going to get them.” He stood up and walked over to the entrance. The first two bandits jumped up and stared at Trevor. “Well, I suppose it’s time to get you guys in order.” They shifted their feet and looked at each other. The taller bandit snarled at Chloe, who was still crying. “She’s fine, just go and eat someone else.” The two bandit Risers ran out of the tent in search for food.
“Fine? I’m nowhere near fine,” she stood up and faced Trevor. He looked at her and smirked. He walked over and stood in front of her as she started to shake. She finally realized what kind of monster he was turning into, and there was no way to fight him without dying first. Chloe sighed and attempted to gain her composure as Trevor walked around her to the tent entrance.
He stood at the entrance, and said without turning around to face her, “You can stay in here until you’re done. I wouldn’t want one of them to catch you off guard as you’re having a pity party of one.” He walked out and joined the rest as they fed on field mice, weasels and other Risers. Chloe sulked over the decisions she had made and can’t undo. She looked over at the other bandits who began twitching. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and pulled her black hair back into a ponytail. The bandit Risers stood and watched as she fixed her shirt.
Chloe looked over to them, “Outside. They’re all waiting for you outside.” They stared at her with puzzled looks and walked over to the tent entrance. One looked back as the other continued walking. “Let him know, I’ll be out there in a few minutes.” The bandit nodded and proceeded to follow the others. She rolled her eyes and said aloud, “I guess I deserve this. Whatever this thing is.” She wasn’t afraid of being overheard and didn’t care if they killed her. She was sure they’d take their time on her, pulling her apart and she had no problem with that.
