by Amy Cross
“Supplies are a little light,” he mutters, “but... I could probably rustle something up.”
“I'd be so grateful,” she continues. “If you have any more of that meat...”
His smiles grows. “Well, I do but...” He hesitates again, watching her with a hint of amusement.
Something about the look in his eyes is worrying me, and I instinctively turn and try to walk away. Once again, I forget about the rope attached to my collar, and I only manage a few steps before I'm held in place. Staring out into the crowd, I look for some hint that Julie is coming back to get me, but all I see are unfamiliar faces. Some of them are watching me intently, and I can't help noticing the hunger in their eyes.
“We have to look after each other round here,” Thomas is telling Melissa as I turn back toward them and let out a low, worried whimper. “I'd love to help you, but you'd kinda need to give me something in return. Relationships around this place kinda have to be transactional right now.”
“I don't have much...”
“I'm sure you've got something, Melissa,” he continues, with a faint smile. “Everything's got some way they can contribute. An item, or a service maybe. Hey, why don't you come and meet my friends?”
He's saying her name a lot.
She pauses, and I can tell that she's a little worried.
“It's alright,” he tells her, “they don't bite. Listen, I know how it is. People are shit, aren't they? Even in normal times, they're only out for themselves, and with things going the way they are right now...” He sighs. “It's more important than ever to pick your friends carefully, and to recognize your enemies. I'm not gonna lie to you, Melissa, there are plenty of people in this camp who'd gladly put a knife in your back for just one extra mouthful of food. Seriously, that's how bad things are right now.”
“You don't need to tell me how much people suck,” she replies. “I've seen it first-hand.”
“Which is why I'm just suggesting that you come and sit with me and my friends for a while,” he continues. “No harm done if you don't like us, but we're a bunch of like-minded people and we think we can work together. A girl like you strikes me as being pretty smart, so maybe you've got something to offer. And I'm certain we've got something to offer you in return. Besides, do you really wanna be wandering around all by yourself?”
She hesitates for a moment.
“Okay,” she tells him finally, heading over to follow him. “Show me the way.”
“Aren't you forgetting something?”
“What?”
He nods toward me.
She sighs. “Oh, he's just -”
“Bring him anyway,” he continues, grinning at me. “You never know when he might come in handy.”
She opens her mouth to argue with him, before coming over and pulling the wooden stake from the ground. I instinctively turn to hurry away, but she quickly pulls me with her as she follows Thomas through the camp. They're still talking, but I can't help looking over my shoulder and hoping that Julie will come and get me. I try again to pull away, but this time Melissa yanks the rope hard enough to hurt my neck, and I have no choice but to follow.
***
“You want some?” the grinning guy asks, holding another strip of cooked beef in front of me. “Hungry? You want some of this?”
I reach out to take a bite, but he laughs as he pulls it out of the way. I try again, but this time he puts it into his mouth and starts chewing, while smiling at me and then finally bursting out laughing.
“Look at him!” he says, turning to the girl next to him. “He's literally drooling!”
“Poor thing,” she mutters. “You shouldn't tease him.”
“Watch!” He holds up another piece of meat. “Do you want this, dog?” he asks, letting the meat dangle in front of my nose. “Do you feel -”
He pulls it back as soon as I try to eat, and he quickly drops the slice into his mouth while laughing wildly.
“Oh, that tastes so good!” he continues, grinning wildly. “Oh, so meaty!”
Letting out a faint whimper, I look down at his plate and see that he has several more strips. I'm so hungry, I can barely think about anything other than food, and my belly is starting to hurt. I stare at the guy, hoping against hope that he might decide to give me some of his meat, but he simply moves the plate away and starts talking to his friends.
“Sounds like a deal, then,” Thomas says suddenly, coming closer.
Turning, I see that he's brought Melissa back with him. They tied me up next to one of their cars earlier, and then they promptly disappeared for a while. Now Melissa looks different somehow, almost as if she's slightly embarrassed, and I can't help noticing that she's holding Thomas's hand as he leads her between two of the other cars. She smells different, too.
She has Thomas's sweat on her body.
“Everyone,” he says with a smile, “I'd like to officially welcome Melissa into our little group. From what I've seen so far, she's a very smart and capable girl, and I think she'll do us proud. She also says she knows the new doctor who arrived today, so she might be able to get us some fresh supplies.” He turns to me. “In addition, we now have a dog!” he continues. “Apparently his name used to be Harry, but since that's a bit of a rubbish name, I was thinking we'd come up with something better. I've decided to officially rename him Hannibal!”
Suddenly someone grabs me from behind, pulling me closer and embracing me in a tight hug. I try to wriggle free, but he just squeezes me even tighter, and a moment later two other guys start rubbing their hands across my face, spreading their scent all over my fur.
“Hannibal!” one of them says with a laugh. “He'd better not be a cannibal!”
“Then he'd only eat other dogs, idiot,” someone else replies.
“No, cannibals eat humans!”
“You're such a dick, Alex.”
“I don't think he'll need much food,” Thomas continues, reaching down and patting the back of my head, even though I try to duck away. “Shame he's so small, but we'll keep him lean and mean, so he doesn't get too comfortable. And if he doesn't turn out to be useful after a day or two, there's still some nice meat on his bones, so I'm sure he won't go to waste.” He stares at me for a moment, before laughing again. “Don't fret it, Hannibal. I reckon you'll learn the ropes and fit in just fine. Just remember to bite any assholes who try to bother us.”
I try again to pull away from all the people who are holding me tight. I don't like feeling their hands all over my body, but they refuse to let go, even when I let out a warning growl.
“Sounds like he's pissed off about something,” Thomas mutters. “That's good. We want a dog who shows a bit of personality.”
Grabbing my face, he holds my mouth shut while pulling my lips apart.
“Nice teeth, Hannibal!” he continues, before letting go and stepping back. “I've got a good feeling about you, little dude.”
As they continue to talk, I finally manage to get free. I turn and try to hurry away, only for the rope to once again pull me back. I try to twist loose, and then I paw at the rope for a moment, before realizing that there's no way I'm going to be able to get free. Still, I make my way around to the other side of the stake and try again, and when this doesn't work I go back to the side where I started.
“Look at the dumb idiot!” one of Thomas's friends says with a laugh, before reaching over to me and poking my flank with a metal fork.
Feeling a brief burst of pain, I let out a whimper and scurry to safety, settling on the ground as far away from him as possible.
“That's your first lesson,” the guy continues, holding the fork up as if he's threatening to hurt me again. “Don't trust people. People are bastards. And if you don't believe me, Hannibal, just look around at everyone else in this camp. Human nature's a bitch, and it's a dog-eat-dog world.”
With that, he flashes the fork toward me again. I pull away, and he starts laughing as he turns to the others.
“Alex,” one
of his friends says with a laugh, “you're such an asshole!”
Melissa is sitting with Thomas, still holding his hand, as everyone laughs and talks. After a moment she glances at me, and her eyes narrow slightly before she turns and whispers something into his ear. He chuckles and looks toward me, and then he kisses her on the lips.
Resting my head on the ground, I figure all I can do is wait for Julie to come and get me.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“First order of business!” the man's voice announces, squealing slightly as it comes through the megaphone at the front of the crowd. “We now have four hundred and ninety seven people here at the camp, following five new arrivals today. One of those new arrivals is Doctor Julie Carpenter, who will be providing some much-needed assistance at the medical tent.”
Hearing Julie's name, I sit up and look through the crowd that has gathered at the far end of the camp. There's no sign of her, but it's been several hours since I last saw her and I'm convinced she'll come and find me again soon. She wouldn't just leave me with Melissa.
“What about the five hundred rule?” a woman shouts suddenly. “You're not going to ignore that, are you?”
“We have to prepare for more arrivals,” the man tells her. “I'm confident we can deal with a population of six hundred if necessary, and we can't turn people away.”
“Of course we fucking can,” Thomas mutters, sitting nearby. “People who don't have anything to offer, anyway. It's survival of the fittest now.”
He takes a drag on his cigarette, before passing it to Melissa.
“Careful with that,” he tells her. “Those things are like fucking gold-dust these days.”
People are still talking at the front of the crowd, but I have no idea what they're saying. The sky is starting to dim now, as late afternoon rolls into evening, and I'm still tied to the same wooden stake as before. No-one has really paid me very much attention over the past few hours, which is a relief, but I tried chewing through the rope without any luck at all. Despite my best efforts, I'm going to have to wait for Julie to show up. Either that, or maybe eventually I'll go to sleep and wake up back at the cabin with Jon.
“What about people who are getting sick?” a voice shouts suddenly. “I've noticed people coughing a lot today!”
“There's nothing to indicate that there's anything other than a mild cold going around,” the man at the front replies. “I'm sure you all remember how the sickness developed very rapidly. The one good thing about that is the fact that if it hits the camp at any point, we should know very quickly, and Doctor Evans has an emergency containment procedure in place, ready to roll out if the worst happens. In the meantime, I want to remind you all to be very conscious of hygiene rules. Remember to wash and -”
“That'd be easier if we had more water to go around!” a woman tells him. “Seems to me, that's another good reason why we shouldn't let the population go above five hundred.”
There's a murmur of agreement from elsewhere in the crowd.
“Every new arrival is a risk!” a man adds. “I know this might sound bad, but we also need to think about the elderly. If they can't contribute to the camp -”
“We've already discussed this,” the man at the front tells him. “We decided that -”
“You decided, Simmons!” another voice yells. “Maybe it's time we started putting things to a vote, instead of letting you and your doctor friend run the place like a pair of dictators!”
Again, several people nearby seem to agree with that point.
“Doctor Evans and I are best-placed to deal with the current situation,” the man continues, “but obviously there'll come a time when we need to establish a new system. For now, we have to focus on hygiene, because otherwise we might have a real problem with disease. I know some people aren't sticking to the sanitation rules, and that kind of sloppiness is far more dangerous than any perceived risk from outside the camp.”
“Sounds like bullshit to me,” Thomas mutters.
Glancing over at him, I'm surprised to see that he has a handgun in his lap. He's turning it around and around, as if he's studying it, but after a moment he notices that I'm watching him. He stares at me for a moment before raising the gun, aiming it at me, and then slowly lowering it again. After that, he places a finger against his smiling lips, as if to tell me I should be quiet.
“We'll hold another meeting tomorrow morning,” the man at the front of the crowd continues, “and then we'll see how much progress we've made regarding the sanitation issue. I should warn you, though, that if we spot any members of the camp recklessly endangering everyone else's health, we will consider enforcing some form of punishment. I'm sorry, but we have to be strict here.”
As the meeting breaks up, everyone starts talking loudly, as if lots of little arguments have begun at various spots in the crowd. A moment later, I feel someone tugging the rope attached to my collar. I try to dig my feet into the ground, but I'm quickly pulled away by Thomas and his friends, and I have no choice but to follow them. Still, I glance over my shoulder and look for some sign of Julie. She has to be close, but I'm starting to think that maybe she's abandoned me and now I won't ever get away from Melissa and her friends.
***
“Fucking idiots!” Thomas shouts into the wind, as he stands on a rocky outcrop. “Fucking morons! All of you!”
We're several miles from the car-filled camp now. Melissa and the others still have me attached to a piece of rope, and they forced me to follow them as they left the camp and scrambled up a rocky incline that led up to this higher patch of land. Now the camp seems so small in the distance, but I can make out hundreds of little figures milling about and I assume one of them must be Julie.
Sitting, I watch the camp for a moment before lowering my chest and resting my chin on my paws.
“I've got ideas,” Thomas continues. “Fuck, I've got so many ideas, and I think I know how we're gonna survive this fucking mess. You guys need to stick with me, and I'll keep you all safe. I'm just figuring out the last details, but soon I'm gonna lead us somewhere better. We're gonna start our own town, one where everything's run right. Better that this fucking camp, and better than anything that went before. We've been gifted a new age, and we're gonna seize it, 'cause it's a fucking opportunity!”
He holds his hands up high in the air, while still looking at the distant camp. He's still holding the gun, waving it at the sky.
“Did you hear that, you bunch of fucking assholes?” he yells, shouting into the wind. “We're the fucking future!”
“Up!”
Suddenly the rope is yanked and I'm pulled back. I turn and see one of the other guys grinning at me. I think his name is Alex, and for some reason the others seem to have let him hold my rope.
“No-one told you to sit down, Hannibal,” he sneers.
“Did you hear all that crap Simmons was coming out with?” Thomas hisses, turning to the others. “And they just sat there, like obedient little idiots, taking his orders. I mean, who the fuck put him in charge? He's literally spending his fucking days telling other people where they're supposed to piss and shit! And that's what counts for a leader around here?”
Turning, I try to walk away, heading back to the camp, but I quickly reach the end of the rope and find myself held back.
“Hey!” Thomas yells at me. “I'm still talking here!”
Suddenly a stone hits my flank, just above one of my rear legs. I spin around and let out a pained yelp, but Thomas already has another rock in his hand and I freeze in case he throws it at me.
“We'll find a way to make you useful,” he mutters, before turning and looking toward another set of large rocks. “Where did those other idiots go, anyway? I want everyone to hear my ideas.”
As he and Alex continue to talk, I look over at Melissa. She's sitting on the ground with her legs crossed, but she doesn't seem to be paying attention to anything that's going on around her. Instead, she's staring at the ground and something about her
eyes seems to have changed, as if they've somehow become a little darker and smaller. After a moment she glances at me, and I realize that whereas earlier she looked angry, now she just seems blank and impassive, as if she doesn't really care about anything that's happening around her.
“Over here!” an excited voice shouts suddenly. “Guys, quick! Get your asses over here!”
I turn, just as Alex yanks my rope and forces me to follow. He, Melissa and Thomas scramble up a small hill until they find their two friends.
“Look!” one of the others yells. “Is that what I think it is?”
He points, and when I look down the other side of the incline I see a figure stumbling toward us. He's still a little way off, and he's moving slowly, but a moment later I realize that I can smell rotten flesh drifting this way. It's the same scent I picked up back at the gas station with Jon, and the same scent I noticed at the cabin after Jon got sick, and I instinctively take a step back while baring my teeth and letting out a low warning growl.
“It's one of the fuck-ups,” Alex says, with a hint of awe in his voice. “It is, isn't it?”
“They're called zombies, idiot,” Thomas mutters, taking a step forward, “and yeah, it's one of them. So much for the idea that they'd all have dropped dead after a few days. I guess there are still a few lingerers.”
“It looks like it's in a bad way,” Alex points out. “Is that as fast as it can move? It's fucking pathetic.”
“Huh,” Thomas continues. “You're right, it doesn't look so dangerous. Why the fuck were people ever scared of these things?”
“Shoot it,” Alex tells him.
“Why? Are you scared?”
“I don't want it coming any closer.”
Thomas smiles. “Bullets are precious, my friend,” he says after a moment. “Besides, we might be able to have a little fun with this thing.”
I let out another snarl, hoping to warn the creature away.
