Chapter 16 – Xavier
When Xavier had first washed up on the shore he was alone, with only the sounds of the ocean to comfort him. He did see further away a red flare and watched helplessly as The Boy was attacked and killed by infected. Afraid it would happen to him, Xavier stayed motionless on the beach, watching for any signs of help. After hours there wasn't anyone else, and he figured he had been separated from the rest. The only shape he was able to make out was the Air Traffic Control tower in the distance. Slowly he made his way there, crawling past some of the infected, and spent the remainder of the night and early dawn hiding out inside.
As light appeared, Xavier used the binoculars he'd found to search the surrounds. The airfield had the remnants of a large battle - dead soldiers and burnt-out cars littered the runway. There were the remains of barricades that had been set up and in the distance Xavier could see a forward-operating base with four sniper posts. It was here that he first caught sight of Duke, and while watching him, Xavier become increasingly impressed with his behavior. He watched Duke from afar as he’d used the smoke grenade to distract the infected; he watched as Duke, who was armed with the M16, still turned away from Chernogorsk at the sounds of shooting.
Duke seemed to want to avoid any other human contact which right now suited Xavier, who had no weapon. Instead he stalked him, following him from the airfield as Duke went off into the forest. Duke stayed in the cover of trees, avoided open fields and often stopped to listen to the sounds around him.
Xavier had no idea what was going on but he knew the infected were trouble and Duke seemed to know how to handle them. It wasn’t much of a plan but for now he figured that stalking Duke would be better than sitting in an ATC tower for a rescue that was never likely to come. All he'd found in the ATC tower were some binoculars and a map. He wasn't quite sure how to read it, but it looked like Duke was heading north out of Balota following the dirt road at his right, but being careful to stay off it. The large mountain at the left could be Windy Mountain which meant if Duke continued along this road he would come to two towns.
Xavier watched Duke as he approached a cluster of what looked like farm buildings. When he was close Duke sat under a pine tree for a while and surveyed the infected as they roamed around the buildings. Watching him through the binoculars Xavier assumed Duke was debating whether to go down or avoid it. Duke opened his pack, took a swig of water and then went back to watching the buildings. Finally, Duke seemed to have come to a decision and packed up his gear before circumnavigating the barns. From Xavier’s vantage point, it seemed like that was the smart call as there were ten infected at his count. Maybe if he had a partner Duke might have risked going in, but being alone he played it smart and avoided it.
Xavier felt that Duke was well suited to this situation, as though he’d been born for it. He handled his gun well, seemed to have a basic understanding of survival and orienteering, and played it safe. Xavier on the other hand was the opposite, having hailed from Marseilles and lived all his life in the city, he was now well out of his element traipsing through the forest. Xavier had decided he’d watch and learn, following Duke from a distance until an opportune moment struck. He didn’t exactly have a plan for what to do in that moment but the key was to get a weapon and right now that was proving to be extremely difficult.
Duke approached the next large town, which if Xavier was reading the map right was Zelenogorsk, since Duke had stayed along the trees and avoided Drozhino. Once again, Duke stopped at the top of the hill and watched the infected roaming around the town. It was spread out but at the southern entrance there was a general store. From high up Duke could see through the glass that it hadn't been picked clean, there was still stuff inside. The store's car park was littered with burnt out and abandoned cars, bordered by a concrete wall on two sides. From his vantage point up in the hill, Xavier could see that the store still had items littered on the ground and assumed that’s what Duke was hesitating about. Go in and raid the store or go around and avoid it?
Duke watched the roaming infected before cutting back along the road and around the field to his left. There were houses with infected between Duke and the store and it seemed that he was going to take the long way around to avoid them. Xavier saw a barn nearby and decided to take a position inside. From inside the barn he could see out the doors across the field to the store. He watched as Duke circumnavigated the field and avoided the houses as he moved towards the concrete wall.
Duke walked along the field he kept looking around, not at the infected but far off into the tree lines. The day and craziness of this situation had made him very paranoid and he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched. At the wall Duke kept low and walked slowly along it, trying, where possible, to stay in its shadow. Of course there were infected everywhere but they didn’t seem to watch, they were more like animals than people. His instincts told him that someone else was watching him and he knew to trust those instincts.
Leaning against the wall he looked around wondering where they could be? There were trees everywhere and any one of them could be hiding someone. He took a sip of water, shook his head, hoping that would somehow also shake off the feeling of being watched. It didn’t. Instead, he continued along the wall towards the general store. He needed gear to survive and right now the store was the only option for miles.
The wall ended and from there he could see the back of the store. He could also see there were three infected roaming around the back entrance. To Duke it looked like they continued to roam around where had once lived or been infected. Here in the town, the infected were wearing worker clothes and Russian civilian gear, whereas the first ones he encountered at the camp were all wearing military uniforms. They must also be able to see, as they avoided the piles of debris on the ground. They also ignored each other and walked around vacantly, staring off into the distance. That probably meant he should avoid high population centers as higher populations meant more infected – but right now he needed those supplies.
Crawling along the concrete towards the back entrance of the store, he kept an ever-watchful eye on the infected as they roamed nearby. He felt a shudder run down his spine as the reality of the situation overwhelmed him for a moment and he stopped. Fuck. This shit is real, this is actually happening. He allowed the moment to pass as he looked into the scratched whites of the nearby infected's eyes. He couldn’t put his finger on what it was that was getting to him about the eyes, until he realized that they never blinked. The infected was close enough for Duke to notice its eyeballs were dried up and scratched by millions of particles of dust. Looking out from them must be like looking out from behind the worst cataracts in history.
The infected was looking right in his direction. Duke slowly moved his hand back and forth. It groaned but ignored him as though it didn’t quite see the movement. He then waved his hand quickly, and the infected's demeanor instantly changed. It roared aggressively and started making its way towards Duke. He grabbed a nearby tin can and tossed it away from him. The infected followed the movement of the can in the air and ran towards the place where it landed. Duke nodded, storing this new found information as he continued to crawl into the store.
Xavier watched from the barn, also taking note of what Duke had just learned. Fast movement and sounds attract them. Being close isn’t a problem so long as you’re slow and quiet. Duke crawled his way to the back of the store which was concealed from Xavier’s angle, so he dropped the binoculars – to come face to face with a crawling infected not three meters away from him. Xavier had been standing still for so long watching Duke that the infected hadn’t noticed him. It looked like it used to be a teenage boy but its lower half had been torn off and it was now dragging a train of entrails as it crawled toward Xavier.
Unable to stem his rising panic, Xavier backed away slowly before turning to run. Another infected was walking around the back entrance so that exit was out of the question. Instead Xavier went up to the hay loft,
hoping that the infected wouldn’t be able to crawl up the stairs. He scurried around but found nothing to defend himself with, so if the infected could come up the stairs then Xavier was a goner.
At the same time the infected was crawling into the barn, Duke slowly walked into the back of the store. With one hand he pushed open the door, wincing at the quiet squeak it made as it opened. It was comparatively dark in the back of the store but still light enough for Duke to ascertain there was no one in this storage room. A fine layer of dust was kicked up as he walked down the back of the store towards the front entrance. The dust danced around in the high beams of sunlight that pierced through the high ventilation shutters. Duke walked through to the front of the store where the light streamed through the large display windows.
Outside the windows, Duke could see the infected roaming but they appeared to be ignoring him. He began to gather up any pertinent supplies, placing them in a larger Alice pack that he found at the back of the store. Although he still hadn’t found a map, he now had a compass and matches, so survival in the woods was looking more feasible. He could hunt game but without anything to gut and skin it with, that would be redundant, so he gathered as much food and soda cans as he could carry. Satisfied with his haul, he looked out the glass windows as he slung the Alice pack on his back.
Across the field there was a commotion and movement. It seemed a person was running from the infected and heading straight towards town. Every infected he passed was drawn to the sound and motion and his followers increased. Shit! If that fool does that in town he’ll have the whole lot on him in no time, Duke cursed as he trained his M16A2 at the door. He watched the figure running straight towards the store. Duke realized he was heading straight towards him and recognized the man as being Xavier, the Frenchy from the ship. That’s already a dead man running, so if he comes in here I’m putting him down myself. He flicked off the safety and trained the gun right at the door.
Xavier had fucked up, plain and simple. He learnt the hard way that possessing the knowledge that you should stay quiet and low means jackshit when you panic. Back at the barn the crawling infected was unable to climb up the stairs but its rustling and moans had attracted the other walkers. Xavier panicked when the walker came into the barn. He didn’t want to be trapped in the hay loft with the walker, even though it hadn’t seen him. In that moment it seemed logical to run - so he did - right out of the barn. The flash of movement caused both infected to become aggressive and give chase. As they were between him and the trees, Xavier ran instead down the field – that was mistake number two.
His running visage across the field drew the attention of all the infected roaming around nearby houses, so they also gave chase. Xavier looked behind him to see three more angry bloodstained monsters behind him and his mind became a white ball of panic. Reason checked out on a two week holiday and fear moved in and made itself at home. He ran faster, harder, his lungs burning and a pain forming at his side. He wiped away at the tears blurring his vision and focused on the general store. It was sanctuary, he would be safe there.
As he got closer he could make out Duke inside the store, his gun primed and focused on the entrance. Xavier felt a moment of relief until he heard Duke’s voice. “You bring those things in here you French fuck and you’re dead! Get the fuck away from me!”
“Help!” was his meek response.
“Your problem. You deal with it!”
Xavier’s world fell apart and he contemplated just stopping and letting the infected finish him off there and then. He would become a macabre sacrifice that would hopefully riddle Duke with guilt. But the will to live prevailed so he ran past the store, past boarded up houses, down the road looking for somewhere to hide. Nothing else was open, there was nowhere to hide. Then he saw the dome of the church.
The church wouldn’t be locked that was some kind of rule or something, Xavier thought as he ran towards it. Of course when he got there it was locked, and he reminded himself that the rules don’t apply anymore. Xavier couldn’t see anywhere else to go so he turned around and doubled back to the store, trying to use the houses between the store and church to break the chasing infected’s line of sight.
Duke watched from the window as Xavier ran past with the infected following. Silently he was relieved that Xavier had listened because he wasn’t sure whether he would have shot him if he had come in. Relief was quickly replaced by the guilt - crushing and immediate. He’d essentially condemned the man to death. Sure he hadn’t pulled the trigger but he hadn’t helped him either. He had a rifle, they could have fortified the store. Together they he could have taken out the infected. Instead he threatened Xavier with death and then ensured it would be very soon. What did that make him? A survivor, his mind responded, but his mind wasn’t very convincing. Duke thought it was too late to do anything - but he was about to get a reprieve.
Xavier burst into the back of the store slamming against the far wall. He shut the door behind him and pulled down an empty wire shelf, creating a small barricade at the door. At his feet he found a revolver and two speed loaders. Xavier had never fired a gun before but he’d watched plenty of movies so he scooped up the gun and bullets and loaded it. From the main part of the store he heard Duke call out, “Frenchy is that you?”
“Who the fuck is back there!” Duke called out more insistent this time. Then the pounding on the door started as the Zeds tried to get in.
“You fuck – you left me to die,” Xavier yelled back.
“I’m sorry,” was all Duke could say.
Xavier tried to process that, but the pounding interrupted any thoughts. The shelf was getting pushed back as the Zeds were about to break through the barricade. Xavier turned his shaking hand to the door and backed away from it. An infected knocked through the door, shoving aside the barricade as Xavier fired. He didn’t see where the bullet went but it didn’t hit him.
“Was that you firing?” Duke called out.
“Yeah! They’re coming through the back,” Xavier responded.
“Then get in here! We can cover both entrances from here.” Xavier turned and ran into the main part of the store, holding his revolver in front of him. As he walked through the entrance into the main store, he saw Duke with the M16A2 pointed right at him. Xavier froze, this was the first time he’d ever had a gun pointed at him. “Move!” Duke called out, breaking Xavier’s reverie as he moved out of the entrance and next to Duke.
Xavier copied Duke and pointed the revolver at the entrance. Duke noted the shaking hand, “don’t shoot that unless you need to. I have 30 rounds in this mag which should be enough to deal with them.” He pressed the butt of the gun against his shoulder and exhaled as he waited for the first infected to pop out from the back of the store.
Xavier lowered the revolver. He wouldn’t do it right now but he resolved to save at least one bullet for the back of Duke’s head. Not now though, as Duke was his best chance for survival. Later, when things were safe - when Duke trusted Xavier - that’s when he would get his revenge for being left for dead.e already had two cahsing him and as he passed others there were more
The DayZ Novel Page 16
