“So, why are we here? Why didn’t we stay in the van and have Eraser drop us off somewhere else?” Root looked both scared and excited.
“Because I left someone else there in that little shack.” Zero pointed up the road. “I have to get back there.”
“Someone…who, exactly?” Root asked.
“A woman.”
“What’s a woman?”
Zero looked at Root, but didn’t stop walking. He decided it would be better if he just told him the entire story, so he started from the time he ran away from Quirigua. He spoke quickly, explaining how he wandered around the woods until he stumbled upon the city of Gualan where he met Mud. He skipped the details about how he helped her escape, and went straight into explaining about her pregnancy.
“A baby person,” Root said, his jaw open wide, shaking his head slowly back and forth. “A woman with a baby person inside his belly?”
“Her belly,” Zero said. “A woman is called a her, not a him.”
Root looked at him, confused. He continued to shake his head. “A baby person inside her belly. And it’s going to come out soon. How does that work, exactly?”
“She didn’t tell me.”
“If it’s in her belly, it has to come out her mouth, obviously. She’ll vomit it out. Right?”
Zero shrugged. “I guess that makes sense.”
They were close to the group of remnants again now, who were packed tightly around the little shack. Zero felt a jolt of adrenaline surge through him, and he picked up the pace.
“What do we do if one of them bites us?” Root asked.
“I’m still not sure,” Zero said. “Just don’t let it happen.”
Root laughed. “Says the guy running straight into the middle of a pack of Remnants.”
Chapter 12
Zero had no idea what he was walking into, but he couldn’t allow his fear to hold him back. Not now. Not when Mud was still inside that shack with a pack of Remnants gathered around. Or, at least, he thought she was still inside of it. For all he knew, she could be out wandering around the forest. There was a real possibility she could have a bite mark somewhere on her body and he would find her in transition, turning into one of the Remnants. Or perhaps she wasn’t even alive anymore. He shuddered at the thought.
“I don’t have the slightest idea what they’re going to try to do to us,” Root said. “Are they going to charge us? When they fight, do they fight one-on-one or do they attack all at once?”
“In my experience when they attack, they attack all at once. But we may get lucky. They may not attack us at all. Not all Remnants are equally crazy. Some of them—” Zero stopped walking as some of the Remnants noticed them coming and were now watching intently. At least 15, maybe 20 of them now stood near the door.
“What do you mean they’re not all equally crazy?”
“The first thing we look for is whether or not they have black saliva. If that’s the case, we’re in real trouble. The ones with black stuff dripping out of their mouths are the worst of the worst—the most brain-fried…I think.”
“You think?” Root laughed nervously. “You’re not very reassuring right now.”
“I’m just telling you what I’ve observed, and what I’ve observed is only based on a few encounters. It’s not like I’ve lived amongst them for a long time.” He wanted to charge the shack at full speed, barrel through the Remnants like an angry bull, and force his way through the door. But that would be like punching his fist into a wasp hive. Nothing would agitate them faster and more ferociously than something stupid like that. He did his best to calm his nerves. Lefty used to tell him on a weekly basis that animals can sense fear.
He slowed his pace and tried to calm his breathing. He tugged on the back of Root’s shirt when he began pulling too far ahead of him.
As they drew closer, some of the Remnants began to divide to the left and to the right, leaving only a small handful near the door. At first, this seemed like something positive, but as soon as Zero and Root were within a few paces of those guarding the entrance, the rest of them closed in from behind, encircling them. There was nowhere to go now. The circle that had formed around them was now at least three people deep in every direction. Now that they were in the midst of them, Zero could see that he had miscalculated their numbers. Zero and Root froze, standing back-to-back at the center of the pack.
A small man with a shorn head and skin the color of coffee approached. The top of his head reached the center of Zero’s chest. He looked Zero up and down, muttering nonsense as he did. In all his mutterings, Zero heard the word “go.” It was the first coherent thing he had ever heard come out of a Remnant’s mouth, and he said it repeatedly. Pointing away from him at the horizon, he said it over and over. “Go! Go! Go!” His way of speaking was awkward, but there was no mistaking it. He was actually trying to communicate, and Zero understood perfectly that they weren’t welcome there.
Zero felt encouraged by the fact that these Remnants hadn’t yet tried to attack, and even more so that this one in front of him had at least some level of intelligence. Zero pointed at the shack’s door, then tried to step around him.
The Remnant slapped his open hand onto Zero’s chest and pushed back. “Go! Go! Go!” he yelled, pointing into the distance.
Zero shook his head and began pushing back. When the Remnant pushed back even harder, Zero grabbed him by the shirt and threw him aside. That started the very thing he had been hoping to avoid. His fist was in the wasp’s nest now, and there was no way to take it back.
The circle of Remnants collapsed in on them. Grabbing. Clawing. Pushing. Pulling. Zero couldn’t control his own movements as the swarm of Remnants brought him to the ground. As he struggled against those pinning him down, he could faintly hear Root’s helpless voice over the Remnant’s gibberish yelling, “Get them off me! Get them off me!”
Zero felt a sharp pain just above his ankle. He couldn’t see that far down his body, and he was helpless to do anything about it, but he knew exactly what had just happened. He knew that if he were to escape this attack, he would find a fresh set of teeth marks now on the lower part of his leg. He cried out in pain, finding a new level of strength in his urgency to escape. He was able to break his left arm free, buying just enough time to smash his fist into someone’s nose, before five pairs of hands latched onto it again.
A voice cried out. It was a quiet voice—mild and controlled. But it was unique enough to stand out from all the rest. The air went quiet. Zero heard the voice again coming from someone a few feet away. The words were incoherent, but he somehow felt like he could understand their meaning. Sifting through the random syllables, it was as if he could hear the voice saying, “That’s enough. Let him go.” And just as he thought that, he felt the grip of those hands that held him down begin to slacken. One by one the Remnants released him and jumped back until he was left lying on his back in the dirt with nobody holding him down. Root lay a few feet away.
Zero looked him over. “Are you okay?” he asked softly.
“I think so,” Root said.
“Were you bit?”
Root shook his head. “Were you?”
Zero could feel the bite on his leg pulsing heavily in sync with the beating of his heart. He was about to pull up the leg of his pants to steal a look when someone not much larger than a child pushed through the crowd and stood in front of him.
Zero rolled to his side and rose to his knees. At this height, they were almost eye to eye.
“What’s wrong with that Remnant?” Root asked. “He looks like he’s half dead.”
Zero looked the Remnant in the eye. “I don’t think it’s a he. I think this is a she. A woman. A very old woman.”
“How old? You think she’s old enough to remember the old world? She must be a hundred.”
She stood calmly in front of Zero and allowed him to
look her up and down. She held out her hand. It took him a moment to understand what she was doing, but she was offering it to him for him to feel. This was her way of making peace—to calm him, as if to say she meant him no harm. He placed his hand inside of hers and felt the calluses in her palm. Her fingers were crooked, bending sideways at the knuckles. Her hands were wrinkled up like a raisin, almost as much as her face.
He reached up and held a strand of her long gray hair in his fingertips. She smiled, revealing only one tooth on top and two on bottom. She mumbled something incoherent, continuing to smile as well as nod.
He stood to his feet. He began to step around her when he felt her hand grab hold of his. She looked him in the eye.
“Baby,” she said, pointing at the door of the shack. “Baby. Baby. Baby.” She pointed at her abdomen, then back at the door. “Baby.” She smiled, nodding repeatedly.
Zero copied her, nodding in unison. “Yes. Her name is Mud. She is going to birth a baby sometime soon.”
“Baby.” She placed her hand on his back and gave him a slight push toward the shack.
By the time he could reach for the door’s handle, Root was so close behind him that he could feel his breath on the back of his neck. He pulled the door open and found Mud sitting on the floor with her back against the opposite wall. She propped herself up from the floor with her hand while she held her left hand underneath her belly. Her blue hair was so drenched in sweat that it looked as though someone had splashed water in her face.
“You made it back.” She forced a smile. “I wasn’t sure whether or not you would ever make it. I didn’t think you would make it in time for—” She gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, obviously in pain, pressing her hand to the underside of her belly.
“What’s the matter?” Zero asked. “Are you hurt?”
She breathed through her teeth before crying out.
Zero dropped to his knees and took her hand in his. She squeezed his hand tightly for almost a minute before the pain seemed to subside.
“It’s all part of being in labor. I’m contracting.”
“You’re contracting!?” Root asked. He looked alarmed. “You mean, you’re shrinking?”
Zero looked alarmed now, too. He looked at her, waiting for an answer.
She laughed. “No. I’m contracting. It just means the muscles around my uterus are tensing up.”
Zero looked up at Root, who just shrugged his shoulders. He clearly had no idea what a uterus was either.
“It’s just labor pains,” Mud said. “It’s all part of the process.”
“Oh, good.” Zero sighed. “For a second there you had me worried, like you were about to have this baby right now or something.”
“I am.” Mud tensed up again and squeezed Zero’s hand. He felt his knuckles cracking under the pressure.
“You are?” He asked frantically. He jumped to his feet, looking around the room, with her hand still clamped on to his. “What do I need to do? Do I need to get you anything?”
She held onto his hand and pulled him back down to his knees. She breathed through her teeth again, then cried out so loud that it hurt his ears.
The door flew open. Zero turned to see the tiny old Remnant lady standing in the doorway with a crowd of others close behind.
“Baby,” she said, pointing at Mud.
“Don’t let her anywhere near me.” Mud cried out in pain again, pressing her chin to her chest and gritting her teeth. “I don’t trust—don’t trust her.”
The old lady stepped into the room and stood between Zero and Root. She looked up at them. “Baby. Baby.” She pointed down at Mud again.
Mud’s pain subsided. She took some deep breaths before gathering herself enough to speak. “I don’t trust her. The first Remnants found me a few hours ago. This old one came about an hour ago and she has been obsessing over my baby.”
Zero didn’t know what to say. Part of him wanted to think this little woman was harmless, but he had never thought that about a Remnant before. Perhaps her calm demeanor was all part of something more cunning and dangerous. She didn’t seem nearly as crazy as those with whom he’d had run-ins in the past, but perhaps her level of intelligence actually made her more dangerous, not less.
“She wants to take this life away from me, I’m sure of it,” Mud said. “I can see it in her eyes.”
The old Remnant reached forth a hand to touch Mud’s belly, but she slapped it away.
“Get away from me. You can’t have this life,” Mud said.
The old Remnant stood over them, saying nothing. She tented her fingertips and pressed them to her mouth as she stared at Mud.
Zero had seen enough. This old Remnant needed to be removed from the room. He bent down, wrapped one arm around her waist, and pulled her onto his shoulder like he would heft a large sack of potatoes. She pounded him in the back with her fists, kicking her legs wildly as he stood up. She screamed something incoherent, and the Remnants who had been waiting outside rushed in.
At some point in the struggle, one of the Remnants grabbed the old lady off his shoulder. Hands clawed at every inch of him again as he was brought down to the floor. He crashed into the side of the table, splintering it into a dozen pieces.
Then came the worst sound, as Mud’s voice resonated over everything else. “Zero! Don’t let them take me! Don’t let them take me!” She repeated those words over and over throughout the course of the next 30 seconds. Her words became faint in his ears as she was lifted off the ground and carried out the door. He fought with everything inside of him, but he was helpless.
“Get off me!” Root yelled.
Zero’s heart pounded inside of him. He was able to break one arm free. He punched, smashing his knuckles into the belly of one of the Remnants, who then toppled backward. One of those who had been holding onto his leg reached to grab hold of his arm, but Zero landed a blow directly to the center of his nose. The Remnant fell backward, clutching his hand to his now bleeding face.
Zero rolled, and was able to break free from most of the other hands. In one fluid motion he was able to get to his feet and swing a swift kick into the ribs of one who held Root down. He grabbed two more by the collar and jerked them off the pile. As he peeled them off, he expected them to latch onto his back, but instead they retreated from the shack.
As soon as Root was able to get up, they bolted for the door, pushing past Remnants and knocking them down.
Zero saw Mud about a hundred yards in front of him. She and those who held her captive were standing next to an old white pickup truck. The old lady stood next to them with her hands on her hips as they pulled Mud into the truck’s bed.
“Don’t let them take me!” Mud screamed. “Don’t let them take this life from me!”
Zero ran at full speed. One of the Remnants jumped in front of him and tried to latch on, but Zero barreled through him, knocking him flying through the air. His forward progress was not slowed. Just as he was about 50 feet from the truck, its engine sputtered to life and it began pulling away. Mud continued to scream from the back of it while being pinned down by five Remnants.
Zero continued to chase after it, but the pickup was getting farther and farther away.
Chapter 13
Zero and Root ran after the pickup truck as hard as they could, but it didn’t take long before it was out of sight. It had escaped along a different dirt road than the one they had driven upon arrival, so Zero and Root had no idea where they were going or even if they were running directly toward more trouble.
But that didn’t matter to Zero right now.
The only thing on his mind was finding Mud.
Even when the dirt road forked in two different directions, they didn’t break stride. Zero instinctively followed the one that looked like it had been driven more than the other, and Root followed after him. It wasn’t until they
had been running for 20 minutes that they reached the main highway again.
Zero’s lungs felt like they were going to burst. He bent at the waist and placed his hands on his knees to catch his breath. “Which direction do you think they went?”
“I—” Root interlocked his fingers on top of his head and pointed his chin upward as he sucked air into his chest. “There’s no way of knowing.”
“We have already driven on the roads down that way,” Zero pointed a finger down the road to their left, “and I don’t remember seeing any big Remnant settlements. I say we go this way.” He pointed to his right.
“Big Remnant settlements? What do you mean?”
“These Remnants are obviously different than any of the others I’ve seen before. They’re smart enough to say words.”
“Any parrot can learn a few words,” Root said.
“Maybe so, but can any parrot drive a pickup truck?” He looked at Root and raised an eyebrow. “If they’re driving a truck, that means they’re smarter than those mindless zombies who do nothing but pick fruit all day. A truck means they have to go somewhere to get fuel. I bet there’s a fuel station somewhere, for them to fill up their tanks. And if there’s a fuel station, then that fuel station is probably getting fuel from some other, larger supply source. And if that’s so, then…you get the picture.”
“I would be lying to you if I said I was keen on wandering into a large settlement full of Remnants,” Root said. “What if one bites one of us?”
Zero knelt down and pulled up the leg of his pants. In all the excitement, he had forgotten that one of them had sunk their teeth into him. He traced his finger along his wound, which had begun to scab over.
Root took a few steps back. His eyes were huge now. “One bit you.”
“I guess that means you’re going to have to make a decision. I’m heading in that direction,” he pointed a finger down the road. “I may never find Mud. My mind might become scrambled before I even get there. An hour from now I may turn on you and sink my teeth into you without realizing what I’m doing.” He stared at Root, waiting for a response. When one didn’t come, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and began to walk at a brisk pace. “I’m not waiting around for you to decide.”
The Elite: a dystopian post-apocalyptic young adult novella series (Remnants of Zone Four Chronicles Book 4) Page 7
