“Please, call me Scott, and of course, take me to her.” Scott told me as he dropped all but one of his bags and followed me back to where Hannah was.
Chapter Twenty
Scott kept Sydney back in the room with him but he wanted everyone else out of his way. We all sat where we could in the living room, waiting to hear if he could help or not. It seemed to take forever before the door opened and he came out alone.
“I got the bullet out and we got the wound properly bandaged. The girl needs rest, so Sydney said she’ll stay with her while she sleeps. She said to tell Hunter she’ll get him when she wakes.” Scott said. You could almost see the relief in the air. He smiled as he looked at all of us.
“Thank you for picking me up.” Scott said to Sam.
“Don’t thank me, I was going to drive by, it’s Ashlyn you should thank—she recognized you.” Sam responded as he kept his eyes on the road.
“Well then, thank you Ashlyn.” He said to me and smiled.
“We needed a doctor.” I told him and shrugged.
“So I guess I was just in the right place at the right time.” Scott said.
“I guess so.” I told him and went back to sit on my bed again.
It was good to know that Hannah wasn’t going to be in pain from the bullet anymore. However, we still needed to get her to safety to heal. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Dr. Minnow now being on the bus with us but at the same time maybe he knew what was happening.
I wanted to ask him, but I was afraid he was going to answer yes and tell me that it had been one of the risks. I didn’t want to think that Marie had agreed to something. That she knew it could cause something like what we were facing now.
Sawyer found me again and joined me. I could feel her shooting looks at me like she was trying to read what was going on in my head. After a while she stopped and watched out the window. We passed more vehicles that had found themselves on the side of the road. At least these ones weren’t knocked over.
She looked like she was watching places that could be hiding Red Eyes more than anything else. There was a patch of blue sky showing through the clouds now like someone had punched a hole into the grey.
“How many people do you think the Red Eyes got back there?” Sawyer finally asked me.
“I don’t know. I don’t want to think about it.” I told her as I looked at her.
“If Hannah wasn’t hurt would you have had Sam stop to pick up Dr. Minnow?” She asked, not meeting my eyes. I got what she was saying. She wanted to know if I blamed him for what had happened to Marie and if I would have left him to die as some sort of payback.
“I don’t think I could have let Sam drive by him.” I told her and I caught the little sigh she tried to hide. “Do you really think so little of me?”
“No, just with him being Marie’s doctor and all we’ve been through. We’ve all changed and I just wanted to make sure that wasn’t something that had changed about you.” Sawyer said all in one breath, making it barely understandable.
“I don’t know how I feel towards the guy but he was alone and we did need a doctor for Hannah. I’m not making friends with him or anything but yeah.” I told her trying not to be mad that she had thought I could leave someone to die.
I didn’t say anything else and eventually Micah came looking for Sawyer. She went to join whichever game Axel had picked now. I felt bad that I was glad she wasn’t in the room with me anymore.
I started to cry thinking about Marie, wondering what she would do if she was here right now. I know she would have stopped for Dr. Minnow as well, even if she blamed him. Thinking about Marie made me think about my parents. Would I see them again? Had they made it someplace safe? I turned so I was facing the window as I let myself cry for everything that was lost.
I cried until it seemed like all my tears dried up. I decided it was time to join the group again, I went and washed my face and went to grab another taco. I sat with Aaron at the dining room table and he smiled at me.
“You doing okay?” he asked me.
“Yeah, just needed to cry.” I told him and he nodded.
“So how do you know the good doctor?” Aaron asked me.
“He was Marie’s doctor for her heart transplant. Marie was one of the human trials. She was one of the first to become one of the crazed and a Red Eye.” I told him and watched as he sat back and took it in. His face became blank and cold.
“Do you think he may have known?” Aaron asked.
“I don’t think so. I mean, I know Marie signed papers pertaining to her being in a trail program. I don’t think anyone could have seen this happening.” I answered him, “I just have issues seeing him, it makes me think of Marie.” Aaron stood up and went into the living room, I followed him.
He went straight up to Scott.
“Scott, you worked with the people that this started with, so please tell us, what’s going on.” Aaron stated in front of everyone drawing all their attention.
“Yes, I worked for Clydework but I don’t know what’s happening. Nothing like this happened in the animal testing we did.” Scott responded, “The animals all did really well.”
“How is it that both Hannah and I have been bitten but neither one of us has had any symptoms?” Hunter asked from where he was seated with Daisy on the couch.
“I don’t know why that would be, but could I do some testing on you two when she’s healed? Maybe there’s an abnormality in your blood and since you are related it’s in both of you.” Scott said.
He looked like his mind was already trying to solve the problem, like it was just an equation on a board.
“I’d have to talk to Hannah when she wakes up.” Hunter said as he watched the doctor.
“Let me know, maybe the answers are in your blood.” Scott repeated.
No one had anything to say to that and the conversation faded to silence. Some people from the group headed out of the room and to their rooms to be away from the tension that we were now drowning in.
Almost everyone had already headed to bed when Sam decided that we should stop for the night and rest. He pulled the bus off the road a bit to be out of the way, where people would leave it alone. Tone switched seats with Sam so if we had to leave quickly there would be fresh eyes on the road. I stayed in the living room with Aaron; I felt better knowing he was on the other couch. Scott went and slept on the floor in the room with Sydney and Hannah in case they needed him during the night.
The sun was barely turning the sky pink when I noticed the smell of meat cooking. I found Aaron and Hunter working in the kitchen together.
“Did you guys go hunt?” I asked as I rubbed sleep from my eyes.
“Yeah, only managed to get a few rabbits.” Hunter answered.
“It’s enough to feed everyone.” Aaron said.
Tone started the bus to get us on our way. The bus rocked forward but didn’t move.
“Sam we got a problem.” Tone was telling Sam as Aaron headed to the door to check out what was going on. He came back looking grim.
“We got the back tires sunk in mud.” He announced, “I’m going to take the old clothes out and see if we can get some traction to get us out of here.”
“I’ll come out with you.” Sam told him and hauled himself out of his seat.
“Me too.” I added and sat up. We were heading out the door when Micah, Hunter, Daisy, and Sawyer came out of their rooms. They followed us outside and saw what we were facing with the tires stuck into the mud.
“I’m going to get the clothes as much under those tires as I can.” Aaron told them.
“How about after that, when Tone tries to move it again, we all try pushing and see if we can add some force to get it out.” Hunter added and Aaron nodded. Once Aaron had the clothes set up as best he could he nodded to Sam.
“Tone let’s give it a shot.” Sam called out to Tone and he started pressing the gas as we all pushed. The bus didn’t budge. Sam looked defeated.
“We need to
get what we need off the bus and get to walking.” He said to all of us as Tone leaned out the door of the bus to see what was going on.
“It’s going to be hard to move Hannah.” Hunter was saying.
“Hey before everyone starts panicking, let’s give this one more shot.” Aaron said making everyone look at him.
“Better be quick. Looks like we’ve got company.” Tone said pointing to a group of Red Eyes heading our way. I counted at least fifteen of them but I kept losing count as they moved.
“Tone if we get the bus out don’t stop until you get back onto the paved road. We’ll catch up but if the bus gets stuck again we’re done.” Sam called into the door.
Aaron was throwing more of the clothes he had grabbed under the tires. He joined us at the back as soon as he was done and put himself in position next to me. Sam followed him over and found an open spot between Daisy and Sawyer to place himself.
“Go Tone!” He yelled and Tone hit the gas.
The bus lurched forward and we all pushed with everything we had. The bus kept going, spilling all of us onto the wet ground behind it. Looking up, I saw the Red Eyes were almost on us. Tone got the bus back onto the solidness of the paved road, then the first Red Eye made a grab for Daisy.
She screamed and kicked as Hunter grabbed her under her arms and pulled her away. He got her onto her feet and sent her running towards the bus before he turned and kicked the one off Micah.
Aaron had Sawyer on her feet and got her heading to the bus with Micah right on her heels. Next he turned to me while Hunter held off the Red Eyes that got too close. Sam was ahead of us heading to the bus.
Scott was standing outside the bus helping everyone get on. Hunter was right behind us as we ran, I heard him fall and turned grabbing Aaron as I stopped. We got Hunter back up between us.
The Red Eyes were catching up as we jumped onto the bus. Followed by Scott who was reaching for the door as the bus started moving. He stumbled forward missing the door. Sam caught him by his shirt and pulled him back kicking the door shut as he did. We all stayed on the floor panting as Micah started to laugh.
“You know we were almost Red Eye kibble, what’s so funny?” Daisy demanded.
“We survived a scene straight out of a horror movie.” Micah gasped between laughter.
“He’s right.” Aaron added agreeing and shaking his head.
“Yeah, if this was a movie what would they call it?” Tone called from the front of the bus.
“The wheels on the bus.” Hunter answered as both Daisy and he gave into laughter. Even Sam was laughing as he joined Tone at the front of the bus.
“That was too close.” Tone said as he glanced into the rearview mirror at us.
“Yeah, but Aaron was right to try again, which means we’re not walking.” Sam agreed.
Chapter Twenty-One
I didn’t know how long we had been driving while we all recovered from the adrenaline that had run its course. The laughter had died down leaving silence. Sydney had come out and made sure everyone had eaten but she quickly returned to Hannah’s side.
“Sam, I hate to tell you this, but we’re going to need gas.” Tone said, breaking the silence.
“Can we make it till it gets closer to dark so we can park near the station for the night?” Sam asked and Tone stayed quite while he thought.
“No, we have till about lunch then we’ll have to stop.” Tone answered.
“Okay.” Sam said after a minute. “Next gas station you see we’ll stop. By the time we eat we should be away from places people might hide to set up an ambush.”
Tone nodded and kept watching the road. He tapped Sam when he saw one that looked clear. As we pulled up a man came out and waved to us. Sam looked like he’d rather keep driving but since Tone was driving, we stopped. Tone rolled down his window and the man came up to it.
“Hello there.” The red-haired man greeted, “I’m Evan Smith, welcome to my station.”
“Your station?” Tone asked.
“Yes sir. Got myself all set up inside and been getting food as payment for filling people up.” Evan answered and smiled making his blue eyes look playful.
“How are you keeping the Red Eyes away?” Sam asked and Evan looked a little sheepish, the smile leaving his eyes.
“Red Eyes? That’s what you call them? I’ve been calling them Shadows, but heard all sorts of names for them.” Evan said, “I keep them out with a perimeter I set up. It’s of cut up Shadows. Keeps them immobilized, but the others seem to stay away since they don’t smell me over them.”
“Gruesome, but smart.” Tone responded.
“Yeah, I got them out of sight, don’t want to scare people.” Evan said.
“People will stop coming this way.” Sam said, “Why don’t you fill us up and come with us?”
“I’ll be fine here; people won’t stop coming.” Evan said as he hooked up the pump to fill the bus up. Sam was watching him the whole time. “You are all set.”
“Look, I’m serious about people not coming this way. The Red Eyes are figuring out how to stop people.” Sam told him, “You should come with us, you have skills we could use and we have plenty of room.”
“Where are you heading?” Evan asked, looking like he was thinking about the offer.
“Paradis Roulette, it’s in a bio dome.” Sam answered.
“Has the outbreak happened there?” Evan asked.
“No.” Sam answered.
“What makes you so sure it won’t happen?” Evan questioned.
“We’re not, but our chances in there are better than our chances out here.” Sam responded. “With what we’ve seen on the road we would be leaving you to die if we drive away without you.”
“Why are you so sure people won’t make it this way?” Evan asked.
“The Red Eyes are staying to the side of the road and charging cars. There’s a bunch they’ve knocked over, we made it because we are in a heavy bus.” Sam responded and Evan’s eyes widened with the thought of Red Eyes having the capability to think.
It was scary that they were thinking enough to figure out how to get to people inside cars.
“Well you have convinced me that going with you is my best chance for survival.” Evan finally said after thinking. “Let me go get my stuff.”
“Sam do you know what you’re doing?” Tone asked once Evan was out of earshot.
“He’s been here for a while and he figured out how to keep the Red Eyes away. That’s a skill we might need even after getting to my nephew.” Sam responded.
“Why would we need a skill like that after we get to the dome?” Tone asked as he watched for Evan’s return.
“As Evan said, we are not sure if the outbreak will stay at bay once we are in the dome. Plus if it does happen there we need to be able to survive.” Sam responded as Evan came out walking with a bag slung over his shoulder and a wagon dragging behind him.
“What’s in the wagon?” Tone asked as he jumped out to help Evan load up.
“The food I have. Figured I’d add it to what you have if we’re all together now.” Evan said as he handed over the bag to Hunter.
“Welcome aboard.” Hunter greeted as Evan stepped onto the bus.
“Thank you.” Evan responded and bowed his head slightly, “Now I assume you all know my name—who am I traveling with, may I ask?”
Hunter went around the bus and introduced Evan to everyone in turn. Evan shook everyone’s hands and met their eyes as he was told their names.
“How did you figure out the Red Eyes wouldn’t come around if they smelled others like them?” Axel wanted to know, speaking out what most of us were thinking.
“By accident actually. I was attacked and by the end was too tired to drag the bodies away I couldn’t even make it to cover. I woke up and the other shadows just walked by me, the bodies had covered my scent and saved me.” Evan explained.
“That was lucky for you.” Aaron commented.
“Yes it was and I fou
nd that if I set up the perimeter with them they wouldn’t come sniffing about.” Evan said.
“Why do you call them shadows?” Sawyer asked.
“Because they are shadows of the people they once were.” Evan answered, “Not really any different then you calling them Red Eyes.”
Evan went through and added the canned food he had brought with him to the pantry. He was impressed to see that we had a working refrigerator that had the rabbit meat in it. Tone got us back on the road again, heading away from Evan’s gas station.
He watched it disappear out the window. He looked almost sad and I wondered how he had ended up on his own in all this. I tried to think about how it would have been to be caught in the outbreak all alone. Thinking back to all the close calls we faced as a group, I knew if I had faced them without help I would be dead by now.
There was a fire burning way off in the horizon. The smoke column was black and angry looking from what I could see out the window. It made me think of Hunter’s father’s garage and the fire that ate away his life.
He seemed happy to have Hannah still and I wanted to ask if that meant he was closer to her. Or if it meant she was the only member of his family he had worried about. I couldn’t ask him though; it would be cruel to make him talk about the loss of his family.
I looked towards where Sam had said Paradis Roulette was and I could see that the dome was looking bigger. More of it was visible which was a good sign. It meant we were closer.
Evan hadn’t integrated himself into the group. He was sitting off by himself watching everyone else interact. He was staying quiet but he had a notebook in front of him that he was doing something in. I finally got curious enough to go and see what he was doing. I sat down next to him and looked at the paper in the book he was holding up with his knees. He was drawing everyone on the bus. Even with me sitting next to him, he kept working on a girl sitting by the window looking out. The girl was me, where I’d been sitting before coming over to see what he was doing.
Survival Ties (The Outbreak Chronicles Book 1) Page 13
