Age of Z: A Tale of Survival (11 page)

“Dog test?” Casey questioned, giving Alexa a quick look.

“Just gotta walk past the dogs,” Alexa supplied for him quickly. “Remember how animals out in the wilderness could tell when zoms were around and they'd run or go quiet? Well, people figured out you can train dogs to do the same thing. If we were infected they'd know and start barking and stuff. But they won't, because we're not.”

She gestured for them to move forward when the guards signaled they were ready, with one dog set up on either side like a primitive biological metal detector. The dogs sat there placidly, unconcerned, although the one on Casey's side gave him a quizzical sniff at the unfamiliar scent before tentatively licking his hand.

Casey blinked, but gave the dog a careful pat on the head in return, smiling faintly. Alexa thought it was kind of funny, and a little sad, that Casey did better with the burly, scary-looking zom-dogs than with other people, but kept her observations to herself.

“You're good,” the guard leader said to Alexa, as Casey left the dog and came to stand behind her. “You need instructions or references for inside?”

“No, I know where I'm going and who I'm speaking to,” Alexa assured quickly. “Been here a few times.” The guard nodded, and signaled to several of the others up on the walls. A moment later the gate creaked open just enough to let a person slip through, and Alexa led the way into New Avalon proper.

Chapter 6

“I didn't like that,” Casey growled, glancing distastefully over his shoulder as the gate snapped shut behind them again. He still looked a little anxious, and that caused him to be a bit snappish, and surly as a result. “They could have shot you. Or made a mistake. Or taken all the things we scavenged.”

Alexa sighed. “I don't like it either, LS, but it is necessary. They're strict about it here–this is the only way in, those gates lead to steep bluffs about a hundred yards in either direction, and everybody gets checked, every time. Better to just deal with it, especially since New Avalon is pretty good about having decent guards.”

Casey did not look appeased. After a moment, though, he asked, “What would have happened if one of us got infected?”

“They wouldn't get to come in,” Alexa said, rather evasively. It wasn't a topic she wanted to pursue further.

She'd seen the results, here and elsewhere, and it was always haunting and unpleasant: infected victims, or their terrified family members or friends, pleading, for the victims to be let inside. It couldn't happen–a single infected victim could spread the Z-plague quickly and suddenly through an unsuspecting community, and they couldn't take the risk.

It was still sickening and terrifying to watch those people be torn away from their families or denied their last shred of a chance at hope and comfort. And sometimes it was worse.

At New Avalon, they simply turned infected victims away. Alexa had heard of a few shoot-on-sight policies at other colonies. In some places it was considered a mercy, but to Alexa it was just plain wrong.

Casey caught the darker tone in her voice quickly, and didn't push further, for which Alexa was grateful. She really didn't want to discuss this with Casey right now. Instead, she gestured to the landscape in front of her and said, “Well, here we are. What do you think?”

If New Avalon was impressive on the outside, it was even more so on the inside. The northernmost point, where they were situated, had once been a tree-lined road, followed by open grounds with information booths where tourists could get situated and make arrangements if they were planning to stay the night.

The trees, like the ones outside the gate, had long since been cut down and converted to lumber, but the booths remained; some were used as watch points and security stations, while others had clearly been converted to storage sheds or workshops.

The ground was almost invisible by now – the wide-open courtyards and lawns had long since become an intricate system of semi-permanent weaving streets, stalls, and lean-to shelters. Visitors could rest, trade for goods and news, gossip, or look for work here.

On the far side of the island, spreading from west to east, were the major buildings that had made up the original town, and still served as vital parts of New Avalon today.

There were people everywhere
.
While many of them had the haggard, dull-eyed look of people barely pulling through in the apocalypse, there were just as many that were bright-eyed and energetic, going about their day without that air of inevitability hanging over their shoulders. Life was hard here, but not impossible, and these people had some degree of hope.

Alexa had been to New Avalon several times, now–she liked to check in with her friends and trade for supplies here in between trips–but it never ceased to amaze her. She was pretty sure it had one of the highest populations out of the major colonies, but even so they managed to keep a stunning amount of order here at the same time, and the people actually felt, if not happy, at least somewhat content here and safe.

They weren't living in terror of zoms or distrust of their fellow humans; they were surviving, there was community, and there was control, which was better than what most of the world had at the moment.

A quick glance at Casey told her the clone was equally amazed by what he was seeing, although perhaps not for the same reasons. Alexa appreciated New Avalon for the potential good future it offered, and for being granted the ability to see some semblance of society again.

While she spent most of her time wandering the world alone, it was always nice to see people, just to be reminded you weren't the only one left in the world. Casey, on the other hand, had never seen this many people gathered together before in one place, and appeared a little overwhelmed by the crowds and the rush of sights, smells, sounds, and general feeling of
life
everywhere.

“There's so many,” Casey said, almost weakly. “And they're all... none of them are...”

“All alive,” Alexa confirmed. “No zoms. Yeah, I know, it's a little weird seeing this many living after dealing with big packs of dead heads.” She gave Casey a gentle nudge on the arm, as if to say
it's okay,
and noted the tenseness in the clone's muscles when she did. Okay, maybe this wouldn't be as easy as she thought. “C'mon, let's go.”

She lead the way through the improvised streets, shifting through the crowds of people with Casey in tow. New Avalon was divided into three parts, North, East, and West, and everything Alexa was presently looking for was on the East side. She moved with the ease of somebody who knew precisely where she was going and what she was doing, reveling in the displays of people as she passed.

Most people spoke English, but she heard smatterings of other languages or strong accents here and there. There were splashes of color and hints of old fashion in some of the clothing, since it was a safer community and not everybody had to be outfitted in survival gear or whatever they could find in their size.

Most people were willing to smile and nod at a passing stranger too, which Alexa often returned, and only rarely did she get distrustful, watchful looks from vendors when she glanced at displays of merchandise spread out on blankets or in makeshift carts.

Casey, for the most part, didn't seem to like the looks–or anything else here, for that matter. The press of bodies and constant movement seemed to make him tense, and Alexa suspected the constant barrage of noises from people building things, shouting for trade, or just generally chatting, was probably a bit much for his sensitive hearing.

Casey stuck as close as he possibly could to Alexa, keeping a wary eye around them at all times as if he was expecting to be attacked at any moment, and his default frowning stare was so deep it was actually scaring a few of the locals.

Alexa occasionally gave him a pat on the arm or a reassuring smile just to keep reminding him the place was safe. It did seem to put Casey slightly more at ease whenever she did, for a short while, but it never lasted long. Alexa just wished she could tell if her companion's discomfort came from the first stages of paranoia, or if it was because he was just naturally anti-social.

Casey was paying attention, though, and after pushing their way up the narrow makeshift streets for half an hour he finally slid close enough to mutter in Alexa's ear, “There's so many people our age... way more than adults. Why is that?”

Alexa winced slightly. It was a bit of a bitter topic.

“The child-to-adult ratio here is pretty messed up,” she explained slowly, pitching her voice low so the others around her wouldn't hear; nobody really needed reminding of this.

“When Z-day first hit things went ugly fast. Lots of adults volunteered, either for fighting the zoms or for helping with treatment and behind-the-scenes stuff. We didn't really know how to fight them when they first showed up, so a lot of the original military reserves were overrun pretty fast. So while able-bodied volunteers headed towards the zoms, they started organizing other volunteers to ship kids off to these so-called safer camps to be protected.”

“Like Operation Pied Piper, in World War Two,” Casey observed. “When thousands of children were moved to outlying areas of England to protect them against potential massive bomb strikes from Germany.”

“Yeah, might've even been the inspiration for this mess,” Alexa said, voice still low. “Didn't work nearly so well though. All we really got were more dead adults and lots of abandoned kids. I actually got shipped to one of the child camps myself. When the zoms attacked there weren't enough adults to hold them off, and too many kids. Most of us didn't know what to do or how to fight or survive. I was one of the lucky ones, I figured it out–most didn't.” She shrugged tiredly.

“Anyway, there are plenty others like me that did figure it out, and that's what you're seeing here. Lots of kids from those camps grew up fast and started looking out for others. There are adults here, too, I'm not saying they were all wiped out, but you'll probably see soon enough nobody really cares about age anymore. A sixteen year old that gets a whole group of younger kids to safety is just as much of a veteran as an adult soldier who fought in the early outbreaks, and get just as much respect.”

Casey looked thoughtful at that last part, but then added, “I'm guessing that's why I'm not really seeing any intact family units, either...”

“Lot of people got split up,” Alexa said dully. “I'm not the only one. Lots of people started forming surrogate families too. People that lost kids started looking after kids that can't find their parents, stuff like that. There's no real official adoption system right now, I expect it'll be a real nightmare to work out on paper if things ever get better. Can you imagine the networks of new not-really cousins and siblings and aunts and uncles? Confusing!”

Casey fell silent at that, looking contemplative underneath his frown, as he watched the bustle of people around him with a wariness that was now slightly edged with curiosity. Alexa figured she'd given the clone something to think about, although she couldn't imagine what–the complex community system was just a much larger extension of the sibling-like relationship they had, so it couldn't be that hard to get, right?

She shrugged to herself and continued navigating the improvised streets, and when they started getting closer to and passing the large buildings on the island, she gave Casey quick visual tours as they passed.

“Right, so, that there's the old airport. Now it's used mostly as an industrial center for manufacturing supplies and weaponry and stuff, but I think there are some dorms in there for the workers and security staff.”

She turned to point behind her. “The library over there acts like civilian dorms, mostly for the vendors who have shops nearby. And way back there in Island West there's the clinic, which is probably one of the best places for medical treatment in the country right now. They gave it a major overhaul as one of the first improvements to the island, it's pretty well-stocked with medications and stuff, and they've even got access to some tools you can't find anymore without risking hordes of dead heads.”

They crossed through a small man-made tunnel with metal doors that were currently open, with a pair of guards standing at ease on either side, acting more like quiet police presence than immediate defense. Alexa waved to them as they went through and then continued the tour when they reached the other side.

“That huge building taking up that whole side, that's the old hotel. Now it's mostly the mess hall for community meals, but I think some of the leaders also live there and have their offices there too, so it kinda acts like a town hall as well. That building there, that's the main greenhouse. And that space next to it, that's for some smaller livestock and things, y'know, pigs, chickens, sheep, couple of cows. Fresh food, Casey, it's
amazing.
”

She paused to let her mouth water at old memories of tacos and grilled chicken and takeout. Did she ever miss real food. A person gets used to dried rations and wild rabbit but nothing could compare to a breakfast burrito or a bacon cheeseburger.

She could almost smell the delightful aromas... and then she realized she really could smell them, or at least, she could smell something that was almost as heavenly. Grinning, Alexa realized they'd entered the bazaar section of the grounds, where there was a higher concentration of food more than anything else. Perfect timing!