Wilders

by Cass Kim

  Renna threw back the covers and rolled out of the bed. Her feet were wrapped in fluffy white bandages, and she had on clean loosely fitting gym shorts and a tee shirt that was about a size too large. She was embarrassed at the idea of somebody undressing her while she slept. Who slept through being undressed and re-dressed?

  Her tongue was again glued to the roof of her mouth, and her head felt just a little off, like she couldn’t fully wake up.

  “Oh holy hell, they drugged me again!” Renna flung the door open and stomped into the main room of the cabin, ignoring the pain in her feet.

  The man was sitting at the table writing in a notebook, and didn’t so much as look up at her when he replied, “It was for your own safety. You were a flight risk, and we can’t have you running around incubating the disease and then unexpectedly changing somewhere in the woods, attacking who knows who.”

  Looking around for Soo who had seemed so kind last night, Renna felt her rage growing, “You can’t just kidnap somebody and then keep them prisoner and drug them and undress them and redress them! This is still America! I still have rights.” She felt tears building in her eyes. She clenched her teeth in fury, holding them back.

  “Young lady, calm down! Getting upset will not change the situation. Next time, I’ll ask you if you want a sedative first. I judged it was best to make you rest. How are you feeling? Any symptoms?”

  “I wouldn’t be showing symptoms yet.” Renna gritted her teeth, feeling obstinate. Being told to calm down did not make her feel any calmer.

  “Hm. I expect you would. The virus has begun the next phase.”

  “The next phase? What are you talking about?”

  He continued as if he hadn’t heard her questions, “We did a blood draw last night, and the results should be in soon. Let’s go down the list, now shall we? Fever?”

  “Stop changing the subject. Wait, you stuck a needle in my arm and took my blood while I was asleep? Why would you think that’s okay?”

  “There are bigger things to be worried about. Things of which I don’t expect your still developing brain to have the wisdom to comprehend the impact. Now: Fever? Chills? Aches? Muscle spasms? How does the sun feel?”

  Renna opened her mouth to tell him that she was obviously not changing as she was having a perfectly rational conversation with him right then, but she thought of the deep aching she had woken up with. That was probably just from walking for hours on end and half sleeping curled up on a hard rock floor. Right? It had to be. Either way, his condescending attitude was absolutely infuriating.

  The outside door opened and the younger man walked in, his hair wet, a pair of worn jeans sitting low on his hips. Renna stared at his naked upper half. Not because of the lean muscles rippling with his movements, but because of the enormous bruises covering his rib cage. He looked like he’d been in a car accident.

  “Oh, hey. You’re up.” He turned away, snagging the long sleeved tee shirt he’d grabbed from the room earlier and pulled it over his head. But not before she saw the trail of welts, scratches, and bruises on his back as well.

  When he turned back she saw how closely he resembled his mother. He had the same smattering of freckles dancing from cheek to cheek, right across his low nose. His eyes met hers, the copper pupils hardly noticeable in the watery morning light.

  “You must be hungry. Dad, I’m going to take Renna to the mess hall for some chow, and show her around. Mom said she needs clothes and a job or something to pass the time.”

  His father sighed, putting his pencil down beside the notebook to look sternly at his son, “Emerson, you are responsible for her. Her actions now reflect on your choices. I hope you’ve made a wise one here.”

  Emerson lifted a hand to scratch the back of his neck, “Uh, yeah. Got it.” He turned to Renna and fake whispered, “Quick, jailbreak before the warden changes his mind.”

  She followed him outside, where he handed her a thick pair of boots big enough to fit over her bandages. It was a little cooler, and the trees a little shorter and scrubbier than home. They must be further into the mountain region. Renna stood up after shoving her feet into the boots and was hit by the sudden urge to pee.

  She felt her face flush at having to ask this strange boy where the bathroom was. “I’m sorry but I need to….” She trailed off, giving him a meaningful look.

  “You need to what?” His dark brows furrowed slightly as he tried to interpret her look.

  She tried again, “Where’s the…do you have a…?” She wiggled her hips a little.

  “A dance floor?”

  “No! Ahem. You know. Nature is calling or whatever.” Her face felt positively on fire.

  Emerson burst out laughing, “You mean you need to go to the bathroom? Jeesh, why didn’t you just say so? Follow me.” He led her down a cleared pathway a few feet, at the end of which she saw a small shack.

  “You use an outhouse?” Renna gulped. She hated to even use public restrooms that were nice and clean. She would hold it for hours rather than use a porta-potty.

  He was still smiling, “Yeah. But don’t worry, Ma makes me clean it like, twice a week. She hates spiders. I promise, I won’t even listen.” He drew a finger across his heart twice to make an X. He seemed so…normal.

  She gulped. Renna hadn’t even thought about the fact that he would probably be able to hear her natural functions through the open windows. With a weak smile she darted into the little shack and went as fast as she could. When she came out he was standing a little ways away, hands clasped behind his back, which was dutifully turned to the shack.

  “Uh, do you guys not wash your hands or…?”

  “What do you think we are, germ-filled monsters?” Then he paused, realizing that maybe she did indeed think of them as monsters still. “On second thought, don’t answer that. Here.” He tossed her a pocket sized bottle of hand sanitizer.

  They started off down the main trail as she scrubbed the alcohol scented gel across her hands and between fingers, wincing as it stung the scrapes and cuts.

  After a few minutes of walking in silence, Renna asked, “Are you the one who came out of the woods and saved me?”

  He ducked his head a little, “Yeah. I mean, I guess you can look at it like that.”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why’d you save me and then let your Dad drug me and imprison me?”

  He sputtered out a cough that sounded suspiciously like it was covering another laugh. “First of all, you’re not imprisoned. Technically, you could go wherever you want, I would just have to follow you to keep you and the world safe. You’d probably never find your way to society again anyhow. And second of all,” he turned to her and looked her in the eye for a moment, “I didn’t ‘let’ my Dad drug you. It’s not like I have any control here either.”

  She fell silent for a moment, struggling to keep up with his pace. As if noticing, he slowed down abruptly, shrugging to himself.

  “You ah… you seem to know my name, but you never introduced yourself to me.” Renna felt the need to fill the silence, feeling awkward and a little shy.

  “Oh yeah, my bad.” He stopped and held out a hand to her, “I’m Emerson Kim. Nice to meet you.”

  She hesitated, feeling like he was mocking her. Renna decided to play along anyhow, and placed her hand in his. “Renna Miller.” She shook firmly and let go. Even though he kept his gaze ahead, she was pretty sure he noticed as she surreptitiously rubbed more hand sanitizer across her palms, which suddenly felt tingly.

  Chapter 8

  “This,” Emerson gestured grandly at the large open tent set just outside an encampment made up of tiny cabins and many tents grouped and clustered together, “is the mess hall. Just in time for a little breakfast.” He led her to the back of a line where plastic bowls were being filled with oatmeal and fresh blueberries. Once they’d both gotten their bowls and plastic utensils he led her over to a small wooden table in the corner. A few people were eating and wr
iting in notebooks, or talking in small groups. Some looked up and watched them for a moment before returning to their conversations. Much like the cabin earlier, there was no obvious metal anywhere. Light was created by a mixture of chemical glow sticks and the natural light filtering from the open sides of the tent.

  He leaned across the small table and spoke between bites. “Okay, so, it’s a small community, and there aren’t many kids our age. It’s pretty much just adults. But my friend Syd will probably roll up in a few minutes to get breakfast, and she’ll be able to take you to the places I can’t.”

  “Why can’t you take me?” Renna felt suddenly attached to him as she stirred her oatmeal around to let the heat dissipate. How did he not burn his tongue eating his right away?

  He shrugged and said, “I don’t really like to go into the central camp.”

  “’Kay.” She said through a mouthful.

  “My dad wants me to keep an eye on you, though. Please don’t try to make a run for it or some crap like that. I wasn’t kidding when I said you wouldn’t be able to find your way back to society.”

  “We can’t be that far from my home. I got here on foot.”

  “You got here by being carried here. And on foot for us means something way different than on foot for you. Besides, I’ll just have to track you and bring you back, and I’d rather not have to be all he-man again so soon.”

  Yet he’d said she wasn’t a prisoner. Renna frowned at him, watching as he scraped the last of his oatmeal onto the spoon. She thought of the injuries she’d seen before he’d put his shirt on. “Did you kill my brother?”

  He jerked as if she’d slapped him. “What? No. I just knocked him out so I could get him somewhere safe. I’m not a murderer.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah.”

  He dropped his spoon into his bowl with a light clatter and leaned back in his chair, face stormy. The oatmeal was suddenly a cement block in Renna’s stomach. She probably should have thanked him for saving her, not accused him of being a murderer. She was about to apologize when he suddenly grinned and waved to someone behind her.

  “Hey Syd! ‘Bout time you woke up.”

  “Psssh. Says the guy who went MIA for almost a week. You come back and expect me to just be at your beck and call like I have no other friends?” Setting her bowl down and sitting, the curvy girl leaned over to Renna and said, “just between us two, I pretty much don’t unless you count my momma.”

  “Syd, this is Renna. Renna, this is Sydney, the only other person our age, and therefore your new best friend.”

  Renna gave the girl a half wave, “I’m not planning on staying. I don’t need a new best friend. Thanks, though.”

  “Yeah, I wasn’t offering anyhow. This guy,” she flung a thumb toward Emerson, “gets me into enough shit with it just being him. And no offense, but your arrival here speaks heavily of some serious shit.” She turned to Emerson and gave him a pointed look. “Are you going to fill me in, or do we have to barter for new information like when ya’ll first arrived?”

  “Syd thinks she’s the queen of the camp because she and her mom were in the first wave of scientist to come up.”

  “Oh no,” Syd replied, patting her short natural hair, “I think I’m the queen because I am a queen. Wilderness or no. But also, yeah. I was here first.”

  “So this really is like some secret government science facility?” Renna looked between the two.

  “Noooot exactly,” Syd answered. “It’s more like a secret non-government sanctioned camp for scientists that think maybe the government is handling this whole outbreak thing wrong.”

  “Jesus Syd, just tell her everything so we have to force her to stay here forever, why don’t you?”

  “She already saw you and your mutant powers, Professor X. You think they’re gonna let her go home now?”

  “First of all,” Emerson sat up straighter, his face endearingly earnest, “Professor X was all about mind control. Call me Beast or Wolverine or somebody tough. And second of all, I’m just saying, we don’t need to scare her.”

  “Whatever, nerd. She’s sitting right there, and she has a right to know. Now, you gunna tell me how she came to be here in the first place?”

  He pushed away from the table, sliding a pair of dark shades on, “Not right now. Can you just show her the basics? I have some stuff to deal with. Don’t show her anything crazy. Nothing secret, just like something she can do, or some way she can help so people don’t get pissed about her being here.”

  “Nothing secret? This whole damn place is a secret, bro!” Syd called at his back as he walked away. “Man, sometimes he can be a moody little shit. Alright new girl, I’ll give you the grand tour and we’ll find him back here around lunch time, I’m sure. Growing boy and all that.”

  Syd helped Renna get a couple pairs of clean clothes, teasing her about needing something that would actually fit her and was, you know, made for the feminine figure. When Renna protested that she had no way to pay for anything, she explained that as long as she pitched in somehow it was fine. The community had been working on a “do what you can” system for the approximately five years it had been established. Renna could not believe that people had secretly been living in the woods for five years with no one the wiser. Then again, there were so many different small towns and tiny roadways and open areas. And with the parks all closed down, it did make sense for a large secret camp to be hidden here.

  “Are Emerson and his family the only ones who have survived the change?” Renna could already tell that Sydney was the kind of person who would tell you the truth, even if it would hurt.

  “Nope. They’re the only full family that changed, but there are other survivors. If Emers brought you here it must be because he thought you were infected. This place, this is the best chance you have.” The other girl’s deep brown eyes were clear and earnest.

  “I think, um, that maybe his Dad brought me. Do you know where they might keep somebody that was infected?”

  “Look, you don’t gotta worry about that unless you start the change. Don’t sweat it.” Syd elbowed her, “Get it? You know, since sweating is one of the symptoms?”

  “Very punny.” Renna rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you guys are so,” she searched for the right word, “so casual about infection.”

  “We aren’t casual about infection or standard precautions. But you know how they say some things are laugh or cry? I’m not a crier. And Neither is Emers. So, I guess we have a dark sense of humor sometimes, but can you blame us? You can’t tell me you and your friends never make jokes about zombies or vampires or something.”

  “Yeah. I guess that’s true. It just feels different when we do it.”

  Syd gave her a long look, “Because you’re safe in little metal gated houses, or because your best friend didn’t survive the Wilder virus and live to tell about it?”

  “Maybe. Probably.” Renna pushed on, “Look, I want to know because they have my brother here somewhere, and he’s been changed.”

  The other girl perked up, “How recently?”

  “Um,” Renna thought hard. Had it really only been a few days ago that she’d been at a high school party, drinking and dressing up? “Two days, I think.”

  Syd nodded. “Okay. There are a couple of places he could be, depending on who’s in charge of him. And how his body is handling the virus. The virus has been mutating a lot faster the past few months, so it could make a difference for him.” She seemed to be considering her answer.

  Renna held her breath, hoping the other girl would be willing to help her.

  “But I can’t tell you where. I’m sorry, but I don’t know you from Adam and if you let him free in the middle of this camp…” Syd trailed off, spreading her hands like the answer was right in front of them.

  “I just want to see him. Please. I just want to know if he’s okay.”

  “Believe me, you don’t want to see him right now. Just keep your head down and help out around
here. If you’re lucky, and you aren’t infected and he survives, you’ll only have a few weeks to wait to see him when he’s not either drugged to unconsciousness or a raving madman.” She softened a little, “I’ll see if I can at least get some info for you on how he’s doing. I might even have something for you by tomorrow.”

  Renna spent the next few hours cleaning tables and washing and drying dishes in the mess hall under the watchful eye of Syd, who was helping to wash and chop wild roots and mushrooms for a stew. There was a small store of frozen meats and vegetables in a freezer chest run off a generator somewhere deeper in the camp, but they only had meat for one meal a day. The head cook looked to be about fifty years old and had the saggy skin along her arms and jawline that spoke of significant weight loss.

  Just as Syd had predicted, Emerson ducked back into the tent when they were almost done serving the midday meal. They were given permission to take their turn eating, with the promise to start on clean up as soon as they’d finished. This time the tent flaps were mostly closed, and Renna had noticed several of the people she’d served hadn’t taken off their sunglasses, just like Emerson now wore his.

  “Yeah, they’re like me.” Emerson had noticed her staring across at one of the sunglass wearers sitting a few tables away.

  “So the sunlight doesn’t actually burn you, but it obviously affects you somehow?”

  “I told you people think ya’ll half vampire!” Syd pointed her spoon at Emerson.

  He sighed, “No. It’s not that it burns us. It’s more like when you stare into a light, and then look away and you have all these dots floating in your vision and you feel half blind for the next few seconds? It’s like that, except all day. It’s just too bright”