LZR-1143 (Book 4): Desolation (45 page)

Drawn toward the city by some unknowable, untraceable urge to move to these areas together, they no longer felt the same urge to push forward into the cold, dangerous water. As it lapped at their very feet, they stared, milky eyes wandering, heads turning. Moans escaped lips in even intervals, their primitive communication evolving slowly as they searched for something.
 

For some destination.
 

Some target.

Some victim.

And as the earth exploded beneath them, and the volcanoes roared back to vivid life in the east and south, they turned almost as one. Their eyes, even amidst the tumult of the shrieking earth beneath them, turning to the glowing embers far in the distance.

As they picked themselves up off the ground after the shaking had stopped, they moved mindlessly forward, almost as one.
 

Toward the glowing flames in the distance. To the east. To the closest flaming mountain.

What they did not know—could not know—was that those bright lights and noises were not related to humans. They were simply the marks of nature trying to reclaim her kingdom.

And what they did not know—could not know—was that between them and those lights were several small bands of humans, trying desperately to survive.

***

“Wait, are you saying he can’t ever cut his hair or his fingernails?”

She shrugged, adjusting the cap over her long hair, and tightening the rubber band around her jaunty pony tail before squinting in the direction of the early sunrise.

“I’m just saying that it’s intellectually inconsistent to say that his hair and his nails grow, but that he can somehow groom them. I’m not against him grooming himself, clearly—although I must say that a lumberjack-esque man of steel is appealing—I’m just pointing out the inconsistencies. That’s all.”

The light from the rising sun was diffuse and dull, reflecting through layers of deep, recently dispersed ash from multiple roaring volcanoes.
 

“I don’t get it, then. Why do you care?”

Ky rose from where she was squatting, resting for a moment as Kate pulled her head back out of a small imported car and leaned against it, hand running through her hair as she looked around.
 

Clearly she wasn’t into the debate. Ky sighed, shrugging her shoulders under the moderate weight of her tactical harness and shaking her head.

She missed Mike. He was like the idiot school kid, the older brother, and the hapless dad, all mixed into one superhuman bag of meat. Plus, he was entertaining.
 

Kate. Well, she was just a mom.
 

Pretty, smart, and competent. But not at all goofy.
 

All she knew was important stuff. Mom stuff.

“Haven’t you ever just realized something from a movie or a book? Like, a major plot hole that ruins the plausibility of everything you had forced yourself to believe? Something that is so implausible and logically inconsistent, that it makes the entire fictional endeavor seem like an obvious ruse?”
 

Kate’s brow furrowed as she located another car further down the rural road, its top barely peeking out from behind the overgrown grass in the front yard of the trailer it was adorning.
 

“I thought the ending of a Midsummer Night’s Dream was a bit … stunted. It could have used a tighter conclusion. Kind of ruined it for me. Is that what you mean?” Her voice was distant, and she had closed her eyes for a moment before pushing back against the car and starting forward toward the next target vehicle.

Ky sighed loudly, kicking a stone into the road absently and putting the last piece of protein bar in her mouth before shaking her head and joining Kate on the road.
 

“Yeah, I guess,” she muttered, missing Mike even more.
 

They had spent nearly three hours in the thick woods that ran away from the campground, away from roads and tacking first northeast, then northwest, trying to stay away from a due north heading. They avoided the main roads, and had probably covered around fifteen fast miles before their energy and sense of urgency had started to wane.

Once, they heard the roar of an engine pass slowly on an adjoining road, and the raised voices of a group of people. But they had flattened themselves in the underbrush, quiet and slim against the darkness, and the searchers had passed by. They had passed no towns, only single homes, abandoned and dilapidated. No zombies. No people.
 

It was as if the earth had swallowed everything.

They came upon great, yawning ravines; pieces of road that no longer aligned; crumbled buildings; felled trees. The world had torn itself asunder in so many ways, of late.
 

As Ky passed many of these new sites, she found herself marveling at the randomness of it all. In some locations, an entire grove of trees had fallen to the ground, the earth was churned into a maelstrom of loose dirt and exposed roots, and crevasses split roadways perpendicular, leaving, in some cases, opposite sides that were more than five feet higher or lower than their counterparts.
 

And in some locations, nothing seemed to have happened. Houses stood in relative calm, having lost facia or decorative adornments; roads were cracked but navigable; trees stood tall and straight.
 

As far as she was concerned, it just proved the randomness of life. It proved that she was an anomaly.
 

Someone who had survived when others had died.
 

Someone who had been inoculated against this plague while others still succumbed.
 

To someone whose life had until very recently revolved around texting and video games, with a small piece devoted to her archery practice, none of it made any sense. She was still struggling with her parents’ deaths. It had seemed so random and senseless.
 

So arbitrary. So violent and quick.
 

She squinted now against the rapidly rising sun, despite its weak rays being diluted in the ash of the atmosphere. Shivering, she watched as Kate moved forward, cautiously parting the grass in the yard as she approached the next vehicle, a large SUV parked crookedly on the driveway, driver’s side door open to the elements. A crust of dried blood was matted on the driver’s seat, and across the pavement.
 

But the good news was that it looked recent.
 

Kate hurried forward, clearing the front of the car before checking the seat.
 

“Keys,” she said shortly, and Ky heard her try the starter. It clicked several times before going dead.
 

“It’s a start,” Ky said, knowing the drill. She grabbed the back gate and pulled up, even as Kate yelled sharply.

“No!”

But it was too late. The gate flew up, followed by the writhing corpse of a teenage boy, which flailed clumsily to the ground, its arms finding Ky’s shoulders and pulling her to the hard driveway.
 

Kate’s footsteps were heavy on the ground as she turned the corner, but Ky had pushed the zombie up and away, using her strength to create distance. Her left hand found her knife and, turning the creature to the side so as to avoid the rush of blood or brain, slid the blade into the boy’s temple as she held him at arm’s length with one hand.
 

Allowing the body to drop heavily on the ground, she took a deep breath and grabbed Kate’s extended hand, pulling herself up.

She knew better. Shit.
 

Rookie mistake.
 

Kate’s eyes were assessing, then she nodded.

No one needed to say anything.

The message was clear. Check your corners, dumb-ass. That was all.
 

Ky leaned into the rancid rear compartment and flipped up the floor panel, searching for the kit that could help them start the car. None of the previous cars had been prepared, and judging by the look of this house, this car wouldn’t be either.
 

Moving the jack around the spare tire, she saw a road emergency kit, which was actually a good sign. Digging with a little more energy, she found an air compressor that plugged into the cigarette lighter—also useful—a toolkit, and … there! A battery starter kit!
 

Bingo.

She leaned back, looking through the glass in the front of the car and the sides for Kate.

The older woman was peering through the front windows of the ratty trailer, preparing to open the door.

“Hold up, I got something,” Ky said, jumping out and holding up the starter kit.
 

Kate smiled widely, pulling her hand away from the door and jumping down the steps.

“Awesome, great work. Let’s get it set up and see if these guys have any food inside. I’m starving.”
 

Ky looked over her shoulder and grimaced, taking in the dingy panelling and the overly crowded front lawn, adorned with exactly three toilet-planters and seventeen garden gnomes.
 

“You sure you want to eat anything left in there? Other than a freezer full of possum and road-squirrel, you’re not likely to find anything appetizing.”
 

Kate pulled the hood up and quickly attached the wires from the starter kit, flipping the switch on the large battery and then returning to the driver’s seat and reaching in to the ignition.
 

“Don’t be so classist,” she said, turning the keys and hearing the satisfying roar of the engine as it came to life. She checked the fuel gauge and nodded.
 

“Half a tank,” she said happily. “Now for some breakfast.” She quickly packed away the starter kit and tossed it in the back of the vehicle before moving to the front door.

Ky groaned and followed her to the front door as they allowed the idling engine to help charge the battery.
 

***

“Where do you think Mike is right now?” Ky asked, sipping the last of the juice from her pineapple cocktail as Kate frowned into her chili. It was far past its expiration date, but smelled decent. Other than being canned, store-brand chili, that is.
 

They were sitting on the porch of the trailer, backs against the wall and watching the street as the car battery charged and the engine idled.
 

“Hopefully he’s behind us somewhere, but avoiding those insane bitches,” she said absently, sniffing the dubious meat stew.
 

“We left our packs, and he won’t find our bodies back there. He can see the tire tracks and I hope he understands that we would move heaven and earth to stay on a northern route. There are only a few roads moving north in this area, and if he stays away from following the convoy, and we stay away from their routes, we should meet up closer to the city.”

“How will we find each other?”

She took a tentative bite and grimaced, but then swallowed anyway. Protein was protein, after all.

“I figure we’re probably still ahead of him, based on the map. If he was washed downstream, he’s going to have to make his way back to where we were separated first, to try to find us. Plus, he doesn’t have a car. So he’s going to have to locate transport and then start north. If we move up to the Trans-Canadian highway first, and find the rest stop we had discussed as a layover point, I’m sure he’ll think the same way. We’ll meet up there before going into the city.”

“You think he’ll remember that? He’s not very bright.”
 

Kate smiled, slightly wistfully.
 

“I think he’s smarter than you give him credit for. Besides, he doesn’t like being alone. He’ll make sure he gets there.”
 

Ky pondered that for a moment, tossing her can into the high weeds in the front yard before nodding once.
 

“I suppose so. Now all we have to do is avoid those murdering creeps for a little while longer, and we’re home free.” She paused, giving Kate a sideways look. “So what happened last night with Starr?”

Kate’s face became wooden, and she shook her head, forcing down some more food before locking eyes with Ky.
 

“When you’re older, we can chat.”

“You’re as bad as my mom,” Ky said petulantly, standing up and stretching her sore legs.
 

“Good, then I’m doing something right.” Kate’s voice was amused.

“You’re so full of it.”
 

Kate grunted as she rose, stretching her arms as she groaned slightly. She was also sore from the intense mileage on foot last night, and not a little bit wary of Starr’s people finding them now, even though they were well off the grid that Starr would assume they would follow.
 

“Yep. That’s me.” She looked into the sun that was now fully above the horizon, still marveling at the fact that the ash kept them safe, deflecting the most intense UV light and making it possible for them to move in the daylight again.
 

“You ready?”
 

“I was born ready.” Ky said, voice sarcastic.

“That’s what she said,” said Kate, tone even and face unreadable as she got into the SUV and shut the door.
 

“God. Make it stop.”

“Also what she said.”

Kate chuckled softly as the younger woman groaned and they turned to the north, ready to find Mike and move on.
 

***

Starr walked slowly through the remains of her camp, eyes scanning the faces of the dead, assessing the damage and searching for a single face.

Sergeant Sherman found her as she was kicking the bitch’s tent, seeing no evidence of blood or death, noting the absence of their weapons.
 

“Captain, we’re down ten women. No children, thank god. But we’re going to have to leave a couple vehicles if we want to maintain force protection.” Sherman shifted in her battle rattle and looked apprehensively toward the forest.
 

The creatures had emerged like ghosts, spiriting through the thin sentry lines and into the camp before they could react quickly enough. She had had to put one of her friends down herself.