“That’s our cue, girls,” I said. “Take your positions.”
I pointed to different corners of the building where we were stationed. Our job was to attempt to kill any that came back our way while the others tried to put down as many as they could. Kayla went immediately, but Emily just stood frozen to the spot. She was scared. She had a reason to be. Russ was going to be on a rooftop, but Jason, Tera, and, more importantly to her, Trevor were going to be on the ground.
“Do you want him to die?” I asked the girl who was saying his name over and over again, attempting to get louder as she did so.
“No,” she sobbed.
“Then shut the hell up. Your loud ass voice is going to get the attention of any zombies near us and shift the horde back this way. Also, your distress is going to distract Trevor. Your negligence could cost him his life if you aren’t watching for any zombies sneaking up on him, so get your shit together and do your job.”
She took in a few large breaths, nodded, and went to her position.
I understood the girl’s fear. Jason was down there after all, but how I felt for him didn’t matter right then. What mattered was them getting the job done and getting it done without us losing one of our own in the process.
In the end, we didn’t have to worry about that. The sounds of the gunfire aided in luring the zombies toward the pit. Their numbers shoved the majority down into the hole, leaving a manageable sum ambling around it that our people were able to easily kill.
Twenty minutes or so after the first gunshot, Jason radioed for us to help them move the remaining dead bodies into the hole. Emily refused despite Trevor’s pleading, so Kayla and I left her on the roof.
We felt comfortable that the group of zombies that they’d just taken down was the majority that was left on the island, and we were right. From that day on, we didn’t run into another horde only the occasional straggler.
To ease everyone’s—and by everyone I mean Emily—fears, though, we did spend the next few days driving around the island seeing if we could draw out any more hordes. We didn’t. That wasn’t to say we were zombie-free, we’d still found plenty locked inside homes and buildings, and the bridge was down, so some ambled our way, but there were no more hordes.
Almost a week to the day when we had originally planned to go look for my parents, Tera, Trevor, and Russ left in search of a vaccine. In the days before that, though, Jason tried to get me to leave, but I wasn’t ready. Running into that horde shook me more than I thought. I repacked, prepared, but every time he said, “Okay, we’ll head out today,” I’d make up some excuse to stay. I understood that I was now terrified of what the world outside the island would be like. Eventually, I promised him that we would go right after Tera, Trevor, and Russ did.
Fortunately, for me, two days after they left, Katrina showed up at our door, which postponed our trip another few weeks, and by that time, I’d regained my need to find my family.
I was on one of the roofs the afternoon Katrina and her people showed. I, of course, didn’t know who they were. I just knew that humans, living beings—a group of about eight—was coming onto our island.
“Jason,” I said, calling him on our link.
“Yeah,” he asked, instantly sounding worried. We’d been avoiding intimate situations or being alone together, but that hadn’t stopped our feelings for each other from growing, and it didn’t prevent us from worrying about each other.
Inside Shore Haven, we did things separately, but outside of it, we were almost always together.
Even though I was on the roof and technically in Shore Haven, he got a little on edge whenever I took my turn on watch.
I smiled and said, “We have company.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, we have people, about eight, coming across the bridge.”
I heard a few curse words, and then him talking to Jasper, whom I was sure was monitoring all the cameras, looking for them.
“Where are they now?” Jason asked after a few minutes. He was also looking at the screens, but the people weren’t close enough to the compound for him to see them.
“They’re heading our way like Shore Haven is their destination, but they’re moving slowly.”
“Why?”
“I’m sure they’re looking out for zombies. They look a bit battered, so I have to assume they’ve been in a battle recently.”
“Can you see faces?”
“No. They’re covered nearly head to toe. I can’t tell ages either. I don’t think there are any children or elderly people, but they could be anywhere from fifteen to sixty and both men and women from what I can tell.”
“What are they carrying?”
“Hiking packs. All loaded. I see a few rifles, handguns, and a few crudely created weapons, but that’s it. You should be able to see them soon. They’re about halfway here. The one in the front appears to be the leader. They stop when he/she stops or gives a command. They aren’t giving the homes or business around them more than a cursory glance, which makes me sure they are looking for something specific, and I’m certain that something specific is us.”
“You’re probably right. We’ve been heavily advertising this past year, there’ll probably be more than one survivor out there who will see this place as a safe haven if they know about it.”
“Do you think it might be those people you met a few weeks ago?”
“Probably. Come inside. I don’t want anyone seeing you up there.”
I was more than happy to oblige him. By the time I hit the first floor where the main door out of the building was, Kayla, Emily, and Jason were already there, and Jasper was giving them a play-by-play of what the newcomers were doing. They weren’t doing anything that they weren’t doing when I was watching them. They only shifted their actions when they spotted the compound or when a zombie approached. That happened twice.
Once the group reached us, they didn’t immediately approach the building. They stood in the middle of the road, taking in every inch of the compound that they could see, and they were talking amongst themselves.
“I can’t make out any facial features, even this close-up,” Jasper said. “But I’m pretty sure the person in charge is a woman.”
“Do you think it’s Katrina,” Emily asked, sounding excited about seeing the woman again.
“Most likely. I mean, it could be anyone, but the chances are high it’s Katrina. I told her where to come once they were better. Does anyone look sick?” Jason asked Jasper.
“No. The group looks healthy. No one’s coughing or nursing a wound of any kind…that I can see, that is.”
“What are they doing?”
“Nothing. I think Katrina and her people are debating on what they should do.”
“Should we go out there and greet them?” Kayla asked.
“You might have to,” Jasper said. “They don’t look inclined to want to knock or anything.”
“I’ll go,” Jason said, turning to suit up.
“I’m going with you,” I said, following him.
He gave me a look that said he wanted to argue, but he didn’t. As soon as I said the words, though, I wondered if he took my desire to follow him as jealousy. Yeah, I had been a little jealous of Tera at first, because I’d assumed they’d been a couple, but nothing about what he’d told me of Katrina had me thinking he had romantic feelings for the woman. I simply didn’t want him going out there alone.
I gave him a loving look that I hoped portrayed my reasons for wanting to go with him, as I didn’t want to tell him my feelings right then, especially not with the girls following behind us. My look said something to him…what, I don’t know, but he smiled back and escorted me to the room where we stored our gear.
Ten minutes later, we were bracing ourselves to open the door.
“Where are they?” Jason asked Jasper.
“Directly across the street. You can’t miss them.”
“What are they doing?”
“Still standing around and talking to one another. They keep glancing toward the building, but they can’t seem to agree on what to do.”
“They’re probably waiting for us to go to them,” I said. “I’m sure they know we have cameras and have seen them approach. I bet they’re waiting to see what we do.”
“They’ll need to go through quarantine before entering the main building,” Jasper said.
“Trevor and I didn’t have to,” Emily said, sounding offended on Katrina’s behalf.
“People I know and trust were with you for days before you showed up. They vouched that you two hadn’t been infected. We barely know them and can’t take their words on anything. They’ll be okay in there for three days. We’ll give them clean clothes and food.”
“Jason and I had to go through it when I came. We’d been badly exposed, which was my fault. If we can go through that, and Jason’s uncle owns the place, they can go through it as well,” I told the girl.
The fact that Jason and I had spent three days in quarantine seemed to pacify the girl. The word quarantine apparently meant something bad to the girl, but I assured her we wouldn’t harm them in any way until they turned if they were infected.
With a sigh and look to me, Jason opened the main door just far enough to allow the two of us to exit without anyone outside being able to see inside or see the girls. The second we stepped outside, the group in front of us froze. They didn’t go for their weapons, and we didn’t go for ours. They didn’t step closer to us, but we did approach them.
Jason left off his facemask for the sole reason that if Katrina were in the group, she would recognize him. None of them removed theirs, which was understandable...for the moment.
The leader of the group eyed us, or well, Jason, as if she might know who he was, but she didn’t say anything until we were nearly upon them, and she was able to see him fully.
“Oh, thank God,” she said, stepping away from her group and removing her own face covering. “I wasn’t sure if you’d made it back or not. I was trying to decide on the best way to approach the door.”
The two didn’t hug or shake hands or get more than a few feet from each other.
Jason smiled and said, “We made it back in one piece. A little banged up, as I see you guys are, but intact and not infected.”
“And the kids?” she asked.
“Pains in the ass, or mostly Emily is, but they’re with us. Actually, Trevor is with Russ and Tera on another mission to find a vaccine, but Emily is inside. You’re welcome here, but we have some conditions.”
“We assumed there would be,” she said, nodding back to the group. They didn’t move.
“First and foremost you have to go through quarantine. It won’t hurt, but you’ll be bored for about three days. You’ll have to relinquish all of your stuff for decontamination, go through the shower, and wait in a sealed apartment for three days. After that, you’re welcome to move about the place. We have some ground rules. Mostly, don’t start shit and don’t argue with Jasper. He runs the place and can make your life miserable. He isn’t a dictator, won’t force anyone to have sex with him, or any of that crazy shit, but this is his place, and all he really asks is that you keep the place clean and help us prepare it for the future. You are also free to come and go as you please, but if you leave and come back looking even slightly like you might have been infected, you will have to go through quarantine. Agreed?”
“I agree,” Katrina said, then looked back to the group to see their response. They all nodded their heads—some a bit reluctantly.
“Good,” Jason said, turning away from them. “Samantha and I will lead you toward the quarantine ward. Would you prefer we do women in one and men in another? There are more rooms, almost enough for you all to have one of your own, if you like, but I figured you might want to stick together for the time being.”
“Men and women should be all right,” Katrina said, again looking to the group to see if they agreed. They did.
I don’t remember entering the building the way Jason took the group, but he had to have taken us in via that route if we’d gone through the same thing the newcomers were about to go through. He stopped in front of the large metal door between the main door and the garage door and waited for someone inside to hit the automatic unlock button.
“Jasper, open the damned door,” Jason said into his earpiece when the door didn’t open.
“What’s going on?” a woman asked Katrina.
“Jasper’s being overly cautious or a dick, I’m not sure which,” I said, hoping I didn’t piss the man off with my words. “I’ve never met him, but for a man who built this compound exactly to be a refuge for the survivors of a situation like this, he’s been reluctant to bring said survivors into the place.”
“It’s because of the virus,” Jason told them in defense of his uncle. “There aren’t any doctors here to work on a cure or vaccine. He’s worried about not being able to contain an outbreak inside, even though we built the entire building to hold such a thing. Right this second, I’m sure he’s making sure everything in the rooms you’ll be staying in are working properly and having the girls fetch you clean clothing and food for after you get out of the showers. Give it just a minute.”
A minute was all it had taken before the doors opened, and Jason led everyone inside. To our left was a closed glass door that led into the central area of Shore Haven. To our right was a long hallway with a solid wall on the right and sporadic doors on the left. I vaguely remember leaving one of those rooms when Jasper let us out of quarantine.
“Each set of doors are linked,” Jason said, opening a door and motioning for the first group to enter. “This first door leads to a room that works as a med bay and quarantine shower. You will enter it first. In there, you’ll disrobe, place your clothes and belongings in one of the bins, see to any wounds and the like, and shower. There are specific shampoos and soaps you’ll need to use. There are individual shower heads along the back wall, or you can hit this button, and the entire room turns into one large shower.”
I remember him telling me that we had to use the overhead showers because we had blood all over us and the room. Looking up at the ceiling, I could imagine how frightening that would be.
“If you use the overhead showers, once you’ve finished, you’ll go through that door, which will take you to a small apartment. There is a button on the other side of the door, hit it once you’ve closed the door and the room will clean itself. Also, once the door closes, it’ll lock. You won’t be allowed back in this room unless there is a medical emergency. Your belongings will go downstairs for decontamination. You are not allowed to keep anything on you. I’m sorry, but anything could be carrying the virus. We will take care of all of your items and return them to you once they are safe.”
A few people started to complain, but Jasper silenced them by announcing himself via the intercom, telling them that if they didn’t like his rules they are more than welcome to leave. No one took him up on that offer. They still hesitated about relinquishing their stuff, but they did it. We waited at each door to see them doing it, not wanting to have to tell them that if we didn’t see them do it, then Jasper would turn on the cameras to the room to make sure they did before they left the shower area.
Once they were in the showers, we got out of our gear before going to help Kayla and Emily make the newcomers something to eat.
Chapter 25
~~~Jason~~~
Katrina’s arrival postponed our journey to Ashlyn another week. At first, Samantha didn’t mind, but eventually, she started to get antsy even though she understood the need to wait until the newcomers had settled or until Tera and Russ returned. Kayla had been in Shore Haven longer than them, but since she was a teenager, the adults in the new group would be less inclined to listen to her than they would Tera. The woman was a force to be reckoned with that was for sure. I knew I’d be able to leave the group with her and come back to it pretty much the way I’d left it. Sh
e’d obey Jasper, and the rest would follow her.
Samantha understood the logic behind our not leaving, but once she’d decided she was ready to try again, she wanted to go immediately. Every time we postponed the trip, she feared it upped her family’s chances of dying before we got to them. I didn’t tell her that statistically speaking they’d probably died during the initial wave of the outbreak. I think she knew that which was why she’d hadn’t been more adamant about going to Ashlyn. That didn’t mean I was going to start a fight by mentioning the fact.
She grew tenser and tenser as the days passed. She spoke less and less to anyone but me, and she only said what she had to say. She checked her pack every day to make sure it had everything she needed in it. We didn’t take the S.U.V. that time. The sound of the vehicles would draw too many zombies, so she didn’t have that to check, but by the time Tera, Russ, and Trevor had made it back, she’d packed my bag and helped Katrina, who offered to go with us, pack hers.
One of the newcomers, Bryan, was on the east wall and saw the group coming across the bridge. He gave me notice so that I was ready to greet them when Russ radioed in that they were back. They didn’t have anyone else with them, which I didn’t take as a good sign. On a positive note, they claimed to have a vaccine.
Jasper didn’t believe them when they said that they’d taken it or maybe he didn’t think that it worked, as he insisted that Samantha and I search the group for bite marks before letting them too far into the building. I had no interest in seeing that much of either man but did as he ordered, knowing Jasper would lock me out of Shore Haven as well if I didn’t obey.
Everyone was clean, bite free, and dying to tell their story. Since we were eager to listen and they were anxious to hear about how Katrina and her people survived and got to Shore Haven, we decided to have a special, early dinner so that we could all catch-up and swap stories. In the old days, we would’ve grilled out on the patio or something, but we didn’t want to draw any unwanted attention, so we settled for an indoor barbecue of hamburgers and hot dogs cooked on the Forman, with as many fresh vegetables as we could get out of the little garden. Too impatient to get to the stories, we talked while we prepared the food.
Shore Haven Page 22
