The Survivors (Book 3): Winter

by V. L. Dreyer

  "Because she's a person, and every person has the right to choose her own destiny," I answered firmly and resolutely. "I'm not going to let someone force a young girl into marriage. Hell, I'm not going to let someone force anyone into marriage."

  "Amen to that," he agreed, slowly lowering his hands to his sides. "I'm not armed. I was going to negotiate to get her back. What's your plan?"

  "First, we find her," I said. "Then, we figure it out from there."

  "Leave those bikes here and follow me, then," the stranger said. "It took me all day to find them, but I think this is the right place."

  "Show us," I said. I switched off the bike, dismounted, and pocketed the keys. Around me, the others did the same. As soon as they were ready, the stranger beckoned for us to follow him and led the way through the damp, shadowy bush towards the east.

  As we travelled, I realised that there was something familiar about him, but without seeing his face I couldn't put my finger on it. There was something about the set of his shoulders, his voice, or perhaps the way he walked. He had a pronounced limp, but I couldn't recall anyone that I'd known who had the same. Then we rounded a corner, the house came into view, and all considerations were forgotten except for Lily's welfare.

  "Stop," I whispered, my voice barely audible over the storm. "Stay here for a minute while I scout around."

  I only just saw their nods of agreement in the semi-darkness, but it was enough. Leaving my friends behind, I slid out of the bush and across the worn driveway towards the homestead in a military-style crouch-walk.

  The house was nothing special, just another one of the basic, prefabricated boxes that had been popular in the late seventies. The weatherboards were faded and dirty, and the driveway pocked with potholes. I had to step carefully to avoid breaking an ankle, but there was just enough light for me to keep myself safe.

  I crept down the right side of the building, and found myself in a narrow alleyway between the house and a vegetable garden framed by old-fashioned wooden fences. I paused beneath a window where the curtains didn't quite meet properly, and eased myself up to take a peek inside. What I saw made my belly curdle with rage.

  A young girl lay on a filthy mattress, her hands bound cruelly behind her back. Although her hair covered part of her face, it only took me a second to realise that she wasn't just Jasmine's sister – she was Jasmine's twin.

  A twelve-year-old-girl. That man planned to force a twelve-year-old-girl to marry him. Not on my watch.

  I took a deep breath to cool my surging temper, and reached up to carefully test the window. It was firmly latched from the inside. Lily appeared to be either sleeping or unconscious, and didn't respond when I tapped softly on the window pane. I would have to find another way in.

  Easing myself back down into my comfortable crouch-walk, I stepped softly up to the corner of the building and peeked around it. A beat-up old truck sat under a carport nearby, and farther away I could see an open-faced barn. There were no people around, as far as I could tell. A few chickens clucked in a henhouse nearby, but nothing else stirred.

  I paused to consider the evidence around me. It seemed unlikely that the farm could support more than one or two people at the most without extensive scavenging, and there was only a single pair of dirty gumboots by the back door. I saw nothing that indicated anyone else lived there, which meant we most likely only had one enemy to worry about. My hopes soared for a moment, but I fought them back down to avoid letting them colour my reasoning.

  I resumed scouting, checking each window and door that I could reach. They were all locked from the inside, but the back door was so flimsy that I felt sure we could break the latch without any trouble. Then, through a side window, I finally spotted the villain himself. It wasn't much to see: just a fat old man with a balding pate, slouched in an armchair in front of a TV playing a rerun of an old sitcom off DVD. The man had a beer in one hand and the remote in the other, but his eyes were closed and his chin was resting on his flabby chest. As far as I could tell, he was asleep.

  I slipped back down and continued scouting, but I saw no sign of anyone else on the property. Once I was satisfied I had the lay of the land, I crept back to the bushes where my friends were waiting for me. As soon as they saw me approaching, I heard the stranger's voice.

  "Is she okay?" he asked urgently, his voice trembling. It didn't take a psychologist to tell that he was nervous.

  "It's hard to be sure, but she seems uninjured," I answered. "She's sleeping in a back bedroom... and she's still dressed. That's a good sign."

  "Thank God," he whispered, his shoulders slumping. "I'm not sure I could bear to lose another one."

  Sympathy blossomed in my chest. I couldn't see his face, but I knew that tone. It was the same tone that Michael used when he was talking about Sophie, the little girl he'd loved like a daughter.

  "Don't worry, mate," I said, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. "We'll get her back. I have a plan."

  The man nodded silently in the dark, and gestured for me to continue. I turned, and pointed towards the house as I outlined my plan for the others.

  "The house is just your basic prefab – rectangular, one door in the front, one door in the back. The back door leads right into the living room. The farmer is sleeping on the couch. Michael, Tane, Iorangi – I want you to go in the back. Give us sixty seconds to get in place, then storm that door. It's old and thin, you should have no trouble busting it open. Don't kill him, though. Just make sure he doesn't run or grab a weapon. While you're covering him, we'll sneak in the front door and grab Lily."

  "Geez, you should have been on the Armed Offenders Squad," Michael commented dryly from the gloom behind me.

  I laughed and shook my head. "Get out of here, you three. Remember, don't kill him. That's not who we are."

  He nodded and then the three of them were off, mimicking the stealth I'd used earlier to the best of their ability. I beckoned the stranger to follow me, and led him towards the front door instead. A bolt of lightning lit up the sky, illuminating the world for a moment, and then the roll of thunder masked our footfalls in its wake.

  I knelt at the front door and pulled out my lockpicks. The lock was as old as the house; it took me barely a minute to open it, even working by touch. Just as the last tumbler was sliding into place, I heard the sound of wood shattering, followed by deep-throated male shouts.

  I threw open the door and hurried inside, ducking down the corridor that I guessed had to lead to the girl's room. The door at the end of the hall was locked, but it was so flimsy that this time I didn't even bother to pick it. I just threw my shoulder against it with all of my might. A second later, I felt the stranger's mass hit it beside me. The door buckled. One more good, co-ordinated charge from both of us was enough to shatter the lock. The door burst open, and we tumbled into the room.

  I fell and landed on something soft: the mattress. I leapt up as though I'd touched a red-hot element, feeling a twisted kind of horror that I couldn't name. Beside me, I saw the stranger roll up to his feet as well, but he obviously felt no such disgust. His entire focus was on the girl. He grabbed her gently and rolled her over, struggling to untie her hands.

  "Lily!" he demanded urgently. "Lily, wake up!"

  I spotted a light switch on the wall beside me and flicked it on, then immediately wished I hadn't. In the semi-darkness, it had looked like the dark shadows on the bed were just mud, but under proper lighting I realised that it was a mixture of dirt and blood. The girl's cheeks were a mass of bruises, and her hair was matted. Fresh blood shone against her porcelain-pale skin, and made her look like a broken doll.

  I heard the stranger swearing at the sight, but I was too stunned and angry to say anything at all. A cold, dark sense of purpose twisted my gut, and drove me out of the room, following the sound of voices raised in anger. My companions had the florid-faced farmer cornered, but even confronted by three men with guns he was still shouting.

  As soon as he saw me, the farmer
turned his wrath in my direction. "Oi! Are you the leader of these ruffians? Get out of my house! How dare you come storming in here like you own the place? I'm a taxpayer, and I—"

  His words were cut off abruptly, when my fist connected with his jaw. The farmer stumbled backwards, knocking his television off its stand and sending both of them tumbling across the floor. By the time he recovered enough to realise what had happened, I had my shotgun off my back and aimed right at his face.

  "Let me make one thing clear," I told him, my voice soft but cold as ice. "The thing that makes us human is our ability to make choices, and you have made a very, very bad one. If you ever take away someone else's right to choose again, then I will have you held accountable before a tribunal of law. We don't have jails anymore, so you better believe that our justice will not be gentle – but it will be just. You're lucky that we don't have time to deal with you right now, so consider this your lucky night – but if you ever touch anyone else without their permission again, then I will personally bring so much wrath down on your sorry head that you'll wish you'd died in the plague. Do you understand?"

  The man just stared at me, open-mouthed, blood leaking from his split lip. I narrowed my eyes and tightened my grip on the shotgun, but I didn't have to use it. The gesture alone was enough for him. He nodded frantically, shoving himself as far back away from me as he could, terror written across his face.

  I nodded once and left the room without another word. This time, no shouting followed me. No sounds. Nothing but silence, and the distant sound of begging.

  "Lily? Please, honey, come on, wake up... It's okay, Onīsan is here…"

  I re-entered the bedroom to find our hooded stranger kneeling on the mattress, cradling Lily's battered body in his arms. He'd managed to free her hands and feet, but the girl was still unconscious. It took all of my willpower to work up the courage to kneel down beside him on that awful mattress, which brought back so many painful memories. As soon as I did, the stink of alcohol struck me. I hadn't smelt it before, so I knew it wasn't coming from the man; it had to be coming from the girl. Then, I spotted something even worse, lying on the mattress beside her.

  "He's drugged her," I surmised, picking up the little white prescription vial. "Sleeping pills, and alcohol by the smell of it. Our best bet is to try and get as much of it out of her system as possible. It's not going to be pretty, but we need to make her vomit."

  The man just nodded. With surprising confidence, he turned the young girl onto her belly and stuck his finger down her throat. Her entire body convulsed. The man held her until she finally threw up the entire contents of her stomach all over the floor. The stench of it was terrible, a combination of far too much alcohol, and half-digested sleeping tablets. As soon as she stopped convulsing, the girl curled up in a ball and started sobbing piteously.

  The man just sat beside her, gently holding her through it all. "It's okay, honey. You're safe. I'm here."

  "Onīsan?" she sobbed, her voice slurred. "I want to go home."

  "I know, Lil. I know." The man looked up at me suddenly, and the light finally hit his features. "Thank you so much. These kids mean everything to me."

  I had no response. He'd gained a lot of scars and one of his eyes was milky and blind, but I would have recognised his face anywhere.

  "…Gavin?"

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The man blinked his one good eye in obvious surprise. "You know me?"

  I didn't have any words to express how I felt. I just reached up and folded my hood back, revealing my own face for the first time. It took a few seconds before recognition dawned, and his mouth fell open.

  "Sandy!" he cried. Before I quite knew what had hit me, I felt a strong arm clamp around my shoulders and I was pulled into a hug. "I thought you were dead, kid."

  "I thought you were dead, too," I admitted, my shock finally passing enough for me to figure out how to use my words again. I shoved myself back out of his embrace, and gave him a long look. "You've seen better days, old man. We'll have plenty of time to catch up later, but for now let's focus on getting Lily home."

  Gavin nodded his agreement, and looked back down at the battered young body nestled in the crook of his arm. "How about it, little sister? You ready to go home?"

  The girl nodded weakly and gave him a smile. I took one look out the window at the driving rain, and then I shrugged off my coat and held it out to him.

  "Here," I said. "Wrap her up in this. It won't keep her entirely dry, but at least it'll keep her warm."

  Gavin hesitated for a second, but Lily's needs outweighed any concerns either of us might have had about me. He took the garment and gently wound it around her frail body, pulling the hood forward to protect her face. I took a deep breath, and used the moment to broach the subject of what to do with the farmer.

  "Gavin," I said quietly, resting my hand on his shoulder. "The man who did this to her, he's still alive. You probably heard that we don't kill indiscriminately. However, we do have a code of justice. I've already put the fear of God into him on your behalf, but if you want to, we can bring him back with us and have him put to trial before a judicator--"

  "No," Gavin answered sharply, shaking his head. "I don't want to put Lily through that. Right now, the only thing that matters is getting her home safely."

  I nodded silently and rose to my feet. Gavin picked up the child's leather-wrapped form, and followed me back to the front door. We found Michael and the others waiting for us there.

  "Where's the farmer?" I asked, shooting a wary look back towards the living room.

  "Curled up in the foetal position, crying like a baby," Michael answered dryly. "I think you scared him, honey."

  "Honey?" Gavin shot a startled look at me, his brows raised. "You have changed."

  "I had to," I answered with a shrug. "Gavin, this is Michael, my fiancé. The bloke with the dreads is Tane, and the one with the tattoos is Iorangi. Guys, this is Gavin. He's… an old friend."

  "Oh?" This time, it was Michael giving me the surprised look. "I wasn't aware that you had any old friends."

  "Neither was I, until about five minutes ago," I admitted sheepishly. "Looks like reports of his demise have been greatly exaggerated."

  "I wouldn't say 'greatly'," Gavin said. "It was pretty close for a while."

  I gave him a curious look, but it wasn't really the time or place to ask. Instead, I pushed my curiosity aside and turned my attention back to what mattered.

  "We need to get Lily back to Doctor Cross," I said. "I don't think she's been… violated, but she's been beaten and drugged. I want him to make sure she's going to be okay. Michael, she's not entirely conscious so I want you to ride double with her. Gavin, you can ride with me."

  "Much appreciated," Gavin replied dryly. "It's a long walk back."

  "In this storm, it's going to be a long drive, too." I shook my head and gave him a wry smile. "Come on. If we leave now, we should make it back before sunset."

  All four men nodded their agreement. Michael started to unzip his jacket with obvious intentions of giving it to me, but I didn't give him a chance. I'd already made up my mind about getting wet, so I wasn't about to let him take on that particular burden this time. Out into the driving rain I went, leading the way across the compacted gravel towards the edge of the bush beyond.

  The rain hit me like a waterfall, soaking me to the bone within seconds, but I refused to let it bother me. Some days, it felt like I was never going to be dry again. By the time I made it to the shelter of the trees, I was absolutely drenched. I paused to wait for the others, hugging the thin fabric of my old army surplus jacket close around my shoulders to preserve what little warmth I had. Michael was on me a second later, with a dark look on his face.

  "You didn't have to get wet," he protested, obviously annoyed with my stubbornness. "I would have given you my jacket."

  "I'm already wet," I said with a shrug. "No point both of us getting drowned."

  "Sometimes I really don
't know what I'm going to do with you," he answered, sounding exasperated. I just grinned at him, and reached out to touch his hand in the cavernous gloom. Before either of us could say anything else, the others caught up with us and our brief moment of privacy was gone.

  We arrived back at our bikes a few minutes later, wet and muddy but intact. Gavin and I helped Lily up in front of Michael, so that he could catch her if she started to slip. The girl was only half-conscious and trembling convulsively; even though he was a stranger, she huddled into Michael for warmth, her eyes glazed and distant.

  I put my hand on Gavin's shoulder in some small attempt to reassure him. He just nodded faintly, and gestured for me to lead the way. I did, and soon we were on our way back to Tokoroa, bouncing along, with me in the lead, and Gavin's arms around my waist.

  Once we burst back out onto the road, I found myself having to contend with stinging rain; I made a mental note to find some goggles for our riders to wear in bad weather, and squinted at the road in an effort to try and see where we were going.

  Maybe helmets, too. Suddenly, helmets seemed like a very good idea. The last thing I wanted was to lose one of the last remnants of my species to a farm bike accident.

  The wind howled around us, wailing like the mournful ghosts of the billions of souls lost to the plague. Lightning illuminated the sky in a blinding flash. The sun had begun to go down by the time we made it back to town, and it was so dark that I barely saw our turnoff in time. At the very last moment, I spotted a light glowing out of the corner of my eye, and that turned out to be the beam of a torch.

  I hurled the bike around the corner with such reckless disregard that Gavin shouted in alarm, but we made it intact. Some part of my brain warned me against that kind of behaviour, but my conscious mind didn't care. I only had one concern, and that was the little girl nestled in my lover's embrace. Another stray. Another child, a forgotten throw-away left behind when civilization abandoned her. At least this one wasn't entirely alone, like my poor little Priyanka had been.