Suppressing a yelp and dropping the pallet to the ground, Jamie backed away fumbling for the AK-47. Finally getting it unslung and aimed at the back of the truck, Jamie waited, panting, for the infected to emerge. Time seemed to slow. Everything around Jamie faded away as she waited for the infected’s head to rise above the bed of the truck. The longer she waited however, the less likely it seemed. Jamie had seen enough infected to know they typically didn’t lie in wait.
Moving up to the truck, Jamie did a quick peek in the back. The infected man was still there, eyes wide toward the sky. Jamie did a few more peeks and confirmed he wasn’t moving. Swinging around to the rear gate of the truck, holding the AK-47 with one hand and opening the gate with the other, Jamie stepped back after unlocking the latch. With a loud groan of metal on metal and a slam as the the gate fully opened stretching its chains taught, Jamie had a full, unobstructed view of the bed of the truck. Contained inside was the infected man, apparently dead, lying on his back face-up. All around the man were piles of gore. Someone had met their end in the back of the truck and the infected man probably died with a full belly. He was nearly coated from head to foot in dried or drying blood and gore. Small, red streams were now seeping out of the back of the truck now that the gate was down.
Grabbing the man by his feet, Jamie dragged him down the length of the truck bed and off the back of the gate. As the man tumbled to the ground, a previously hidden head tumbled out onto the ground next to him. It was GHB...Or at least Jamie was pretty sure it was. Most of the face was gone but clumps of her green hair were still attached to the back of her skull. Frowning, Jamie moved around to the driver’s side of the truck. There was a small pool of blood where GHB had been tackled and smears of blood all over the driver’s side of the truck. Lovely.
In an effort to clean the bed of the truck so she could load it quickly, Jamie started it up, put it in drive and lurched forward continuing toward the bonfire at the center of the circle. While not clean by any means, this maneuver at least got a large amount of liquid gore out of the back.
Making stops at several piles of food around the camp, Jamie loaded all the food and water she could find into the back of the truck. Looking over the camp, full of her dead former captures, Jamie felt a tremendous sensation of relief. Their bodies being ripped apart by the wildlife would be a fitting end to how they’d lived their lives. Satisfied, Jamie drove away, not bothering to even glance in her rearview mirror.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
North seemed like the logical direction of travel. West was out, that would only bring her closer to Quebec City. East was the coast and coast lines usually meant people. South was toward the United States. North offered hope. North had the allure of being empty, wooded. This seemed like the safest option to her, despite the fact that she had no idea where she was going.
As Jamie travelled, she tried to avoid main roads but even the smaller roads eventually all seemed to funnel her to a highway called “Route 132.” This appeared to be an east-west highway along the coast. Luckily for Jamie, it seemed she’d stuck to back roads enough that she didn’t encounter any cities. The highway was incredibly scenic but had no real prospects for any type of long-term shelter. Wide roads with panoramic views of the St Lawrence River dotted by large hills and trees...and no people. Any small cluster of buildings Jamie came upon appeared more to have been abandoned than overrun. Maybe all these people evacuated when they saw what was happening in the United States? If Jamie was living on a main highway, she would’ve evacuated as well.
A few pop-up storms were her only distractions as Jamie continued her trek. The storms were short but had driving rain that washed some of the gore and grime from her truck. Jamie was grateful to be rid of the blood but her mood was tempered by signs telling her she was getting closer and closer to some place called Sainte-Anne-des-Monts. Based on the signs and the frequency she was seeing them, this was likely a city and cities were not where Jamie was looking to go.
Slowing down to look for a place to turn off, Jamie almost missed a damaged sign for Parc National de Gaspesie. The victim of a vehicle crash, the sign was bent and almost unreadable, one of it’s support poles knocked away and lying on the ground nearby. “A national park?” said Jamie out loud, the first words she’d said since the camp was attacked.
Pulling over, Jamie pulled open the glove compartment and dug through the pile of paperwork eventually finding what she was looking for, a map of Quebec. Fairly basic and possibly from a restaurant, Jamie had no other options. Regardless, Jamie studied the map locating her likely location and proximity to the park. It was exactly what she’d been looking for: big, heavily wooded, and secluded. She’d lived out of a car before and if she could find some nice wooded place to tuck herself way, Jamie was sure she could make due.
Decision made, Jamie drove off, exiting the highway the next chance she could. She didn’t want to get any closer to a city if she could help it. If she could cut across from Route 132 to another smaller road which went north-south right into the park, she wouldn’t have to take the risk of navigating a city. Low-risk was what Jamie was all about now.
It took Jamie a few tries and several trips back-tracking before she finally found the smaller highway, Route 299, and headed south toward the park. It wasn’t long before signs advised her she was now within its boundaries.
It was getting dark and the daylight was fading fast, so Jamie would need to find a place quickly. As she rounded a bend in the road, out of the corner of her eye in the fading light, Jamie thought she saw a structure through the trees. A few more turns brought her right to a large hotel. Jamie was unsure if there’d been signs and if there had been, she’d completely missed them. But a hotel was a mixed bag of good and bad news. If it was abandoned, that possibly gave her a place to stay, if it was full of infected…
Jamie pulled up in front of the hotel and parked. She could see a sign advising they were closed for the season. Jamie blew out a sigh of relief not realizing she had been holding her breath. That was a good sign. Exiting the truck, she found the door to be locked. Smashing her way in was an option...if the hotel was truly abandoned. Jamie wouldn’t know until she got inside. Instead of finding out, Jamie chose to drive to the far corner of the parking lot and park. Hopefully this night would be slightly more restful than the previous.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the break of dawn, despite the lack of infected, it had been a mostly sleepless night for Jamie. She figured she’d dozed off several times, but restful sleep was just not something Jamie was going to get in the truck. She’d seen too much in the last few months. Too much death, too much surviving. She was exhausted but her body refused to give in.
Forcing herself up into a seated position, she found the hotel and the surrounding parking lot unchanged from the night before. It’d been so dark the previous night, Jamie wouldn’t have been able to see anything sneaking up on her so she was glad for this.
In an effort to save on gas, Jamie decided to look around the area, AK-47 strapped to her back. It was quiet and peaceful in the morning hours. Birds in the trees, wind blowing through the leaves, it was the most peaceful and serene place Jamie had been in recent memory. She couldn’t stand it. Jamie had grown up in downtown Boston and had lived there most of her life. She loved the city and all the noise and bustle that came along with it. Being out in the wilderness was very much outside her comfort zone. But she was a survivor, she’d survived this long and if she had to spend a few years alone in the woods, that’d be a small price to pay. She’d make it back to Boston eventually.
Jamie did a lap around the hotel and from what she could tell, it was abandoned. All the windows were still in place and all the doors were locked. She was fairly certain there were no infected inside. If they were, they would’ve been trying to break out; these windows wouldn’t stop them. However, Jamie’s cautious side got the best of her. No need to poke a sleeping bear.
After checking the exterior of the hotel, Jam
ie walked down the road headed south. After about 10 minutes of walking, the trees lining the road seemed to be growing closer and closer. Walls of green closing in around her. Accompanied with the ever-present din of the forest, Jamie decided she’d gone far enough and made her way back toward the hotel. Passing it by, Jamie walked north. Not seeing anything useful to the south, Jamie hoped there was something to the north that she’d missed on her drive into the park at dusk. She wasn’t disappointed. After about ten minutes of walking, Jamie finally came upon a sign. Cottages. Seasonal and year-round cottages were just up around the bend according to the sign.
The encroaching forest forgotten, Jamie broke into a jog as she turned the corner onto a small road she’d missed before. As the road continued on and on, Jamie couldn’t help but think she’d made a wrong turn somewhere when she finally came to a driveway. Continuing another half-mile down the driveway, the forest parted and the driveway opened up revealing the cottages. There were four of them clustered around a cul de sac in which the driveway terminated. Two large cottages and two smaller. Off in the distance, a large house was visible but Jamie headed for the larger cottage, gray smoke twisting from its chimney.
Having been so cautious her entire trip, Jamie knew she was putting all of her eggs in one basket just going up and knocking on the door. She knew the person or people inside could run the gambit of nice and welcoming to terrible and tortuous. But Jamie’s biggest flaw was also her biggest attribute: her faith in humanity. Before she’d met Seth, she’d believed that everyone was inherently good, some people just had their good buried deeper than others. Seth had taught her the hard lesson of there being an exception to every rule, but this cottage represented her best shot at survival yet. She needed this place to survive; there was no other option.
Pushing aside her fears, Jamie stepped up to the door and gave the outer screen door three loud knocks. Jamie could hear movement inside the cottage and stepped away from the door to be as unthreatening as possible. The inner door cracked open and Jamie could see the muzzle of a pistol point out at her. For a second, Jamie thought she might be shot without even seeing the person holding the gun, but the door slowly opened more revealing a boy, maybe 20, with a beard behind the gun. “Wha-what do you want?” said the man, his voice cracking.
“My name is Jamie. I stumbled across your camp here and I was curious if you could give me a place to stay,” said Jamie spreading her hands out in front of her body to show she was not a threat.
The man paused briefly, “Who else is with you?”
“I’m alone. I have a truck with supplies back at a hotel nearby. You’re welcome to some if you can give me a place to stay.”
“Give me your gun,” said the man curtly.
“Ok, that’s fine,” said Jamie unslinging the AK-47. “Can you tell me who you are?”
The man opened up the inner door all the way revealing a skinny, wiry frame. He opened the screen door and propped it open with the side of his foot. Taking the gun from Jamie, he finally answered, “My name is Jacob. These cottages belong to my family. You said you have some supplies?”
“Yes, they’re in my truck back at the hotel,” said Jamie, smiling at Jacob.
“Fine. We’ll take my Dad’s car to get the supplies and if you aren’t lying, you can stay here for a few days. Then you have to leave,” said Jacob, not returning Jamie’s smile.
“This is the start of a beautiful friendship, I can tell,” said Jamie with enthusiastic sarcasm. “Show me to your ride.”
Without acknowledging her, Jacob strode past Jamie closing the door to the cottage loudly behind him.
“I suppose introverted loner is better than extroverted psychopath any day,” said Jamie to herself, chuckling. Jacob gave her a glance over his shoulder but did not say anything else to her as they walked across the driveway and toward the large house on the far side.
Chapter 2
Jamie was laying on her stomach, head turned and snoring loudly in the early morning hours making it difficult for Rose to stay asleep despite her exhaustion. Spring had now sprung, the second spring they’d spent at the cabins. Jamie and Rose had been busy most of the previous day turning over all the dirt in the gardens with just a couple of spades and a small metal rake. They were lucky they had that much. Aaron had helped for a little while, but Adeline always had some chore that she needed done that took him back to their own cabin. Jacob was no where to be seen when work was happening, but that was nothing new. He’d likely been down by the river, possibly fishing but more likely hold up somewhere reading. Jacob always seemed to have his nose in a book, emotionally distant as well as physically removed from the rest of the group.
It wasn’t exactly what Rose would call warm outside, it wouldn’t be anything close to warm this far north for a while, but under the deerskin blankets on their bed, it was almost too hot. Jamie typically slept naked and didn’t seem to be bothered by the warmth. Rose always insisted on wearing a t-shirt and some sort of underwear, she couldn’t do nude like Jamie.
The sleeping arrangements hadn’t always been this way; Rose and Jamie didn’t even start out sharing a room. This room had initially been Adeline and Aaron’s room, the only true couple of the group at the time. The cabin had three bedrooms, Aaron and Adeline’s, Jacob’s room, and then Jamie’s room. The first few weeks, Jamie and Rose had both slept in the living room, Rose still hadn’t trusted Jamie and she wanted to keep an eye on her. But as time went by, Rose’s suspicions of Jamie waned. She was a hard worker, and as much as Rose hated to admit it, she was funny too.
The first winter had been rough. They got their first big snowstorm the week immediately following Rose, Aaron and Adeline’s arrival. It’d been about a foot of snow but a warm spell immediately following melted most of it. Rose had been hoping for a mild winter but being this far north, she wouldn’t have known the difference. A mild winter up here would still be more snow than a normal winter down in Maine.
The infected were never far from Rose’s mind either. Despite almost daily screams nearby in the beginning, there had only been distant sightings every once and a while. The cabins seemed to be fairly secluded and far enough away from any main routes of travel that they were not easily stumbled upon. Once or twice Rose had encounters with infected out in the woods but those infected had been emaciated and slow. None had yet made it into their camp, but one did make it as close as the far bank of the river. A slug from her shotgun had taken care of that threat, but Rose had never become relaxed. With everyone’s help, they fortified the camp with passive defenses like pikes made of small trees and trenches filled with sharpened spikes of wood interspersed with lots of noise makers, should someone come stumbling into them. Nothing like the defenses of Paimpol, but at least it would act as an early-warning system should any infected try and penetrate their camp.
The first winter was long and boring with almost no time spent outside, but it went by with little issue. They had plenty of food and wood for heat and while the cabin was not huge, there was enough room that they could escape each other’s company for some alone time should they want it. Aaron and Adeline appeared to need this alone time more and more as the winter dragged on. When the first spring came, everyone’s mood improved substantially. No one was surprised when Aaron and Adeline volunteered to move into the other large cabin and Rose could hardly blame them. They were essentially married now, moving into their own place together was the next logical step. There was no sense living on top of each other if they could help it.
Rose had assumed their bedroom once it‘d been vacated. Sleeping in the living room had gotten old, despite the company of Jamie, which she’d minded less and less. Rose had broken down and allowed Jamie to sleep in her own room early into the winter leaving Rose alone in the living room, just her and the ever-burning fireplace. But as time went on, Jamie lingered longer and longer taking up residence on another couch despite no longer being assigned to it, some nights never leaving. Jamie and Rose would spend
hours talking about all different things, Jamie doing most of the talking at first. She was witty and seemed to have an endless supply of funny stories of things that’d either happened to her or someone she’d known. Rose was grateful for her company and it didn’t take long for the icy shell Rose liked to wrap herself in to start to melt. When Rose moved into Aaron and Adeline’s old room, it quickly became Rose and Jamie’s room. Jamie claimed Rose had the softer bed which in truth, compared to Jamie’s cot, was like a cloud. In truth, Rose probably would have gone along with any bogus excuse to get Jamie to start sleeping in her bed and was grateful for the company.
Rolling over onto her side, Rose lightly drew her hand up and down Jamie’s bare back and along her bumpy spine. Jamie’s back was one of the few areas that was relatively free of tattoos. In the dim light, Rose could see her creamy skin, the occasional random freckle as if some artist had flicked a paint bush on her back. Rose ran her fingers over a tattoo near Jamie’s shoulder blade. They were strangely appealing, her tattoos. Rose had no tattoos of her own, nor had her late wife Kate, but she’d never been opposed to them and Rose respected that Jamie had a story for each one. Some memory or special event forever documented on her skin for the rest of her life. Rose could appreciate that and the skilled artwork that’d gone into each one.
Sighing, Rose withdrew her hand, her thoughts lingering on Kate. Jamie snorted, shifted position, and continued to sleep, her snoring now much less. Kate was ever-present in Rose’s mind in the quiet times, especially now that her and Jamie had grown so close. Rose doubted that would ever change. Kate had been her first love, her wife, and that wasn’t something that she could just forget or replace with someone else. Kate and Jamie were similar in many ways, but they were also quite different. Rose loved Kate, but she wasn’t sure if she’d have been able to survive the trip north that Rose had undertaken. Rose had made some hard choices; she’d done things that likely saved her life, but she wished she’d done some things differently. Rose wasn’t sure that Kate could have made those hard choices; Jamie’s presence in their bed showed that she had. Their past lives were something her and Jamie talked about a lot, but they were just peripheral stories, sanitized versions not meant to shock or offend. They’d both not opened up all the way. That was fine with Rose, she was in no rush.
Jordan Rose Duology (Book 2): Homecoming Page 2
