Survival Instinct: A Zombie Novel (87 page)

“With what?” Tobias frowned.  “I don’t want to waste any drinking water.”

“I was going to use iodine, actually.”  Cender reached for his bag again.

Tobias blanched.  Just having the gauze removed hurt like hell.  Iodine straight to the wound sounded extra unpleasant.

“Eww.”  Abby sat behind Cender in the car and looked at Tobias’s shoulder.

“How did this happen again?”  Cender turned back to him with the disinfectant.  “I was kind of drugged up when you told me, and I don’t really remember.”

“I fell down an escalator,” Tobias told him through clenched teeth as Cender started cleaning the wound.  It burned
as if a hot pipe was being pressed to it.

“What were you doing on the escalator that caused you to fall?”  Cender was probably trying to keep him talking to keep his mind off the pain.

“Being chased by a horde of zombies.”  It wasn’t working.  “Cillian and I had this bright idea to try and lure them to one side of the mall while we ran across the top floor to the other side.”

“I take it, it didn’t work so well?” Cender grinned.

“Some of them are a lot faster than they look,” Tobias nodded.

Finally,
the cleaning was done, and Cender pressed a fresh gauze pad on the wound.  He then took out another bandage and wrapped it around Tobias’s arm.  Tobias noticed he used fewer bandages to wrap it than he had before.  He must be limiting himself to how much he used.  He didn’t want to risk running out before they reached their destination.  It then dawned on Tobias that, although their destination was likely to be stocked, supplies like bandages would still run out eventually.  He made a mental note about that.  In fact, if they had a constant water supply where they were going, they could probably just wash the bandage that he had on earlier.  He wondered if Cender had thought of that and just didn’t say anything.

“I got the cans open,” Abby told them as Cender stripped off his gloves.  He kept them as well, placing them in a ziplock bag with the used bandage.

“Thanks,” Tobias accepted the can she handed him.  She also handed him a small spork to eat it with.  “You know, if I’m infected, those gloves probably won’t protect you.  You know, considering you slept next to me and all.”

“The gloves weren’t about the zombie virus,” Cender laughed.  “Okay, well maybe partly.  I wear them to keep myself from infecting your wound.  Regular infections still exist, you know.”

“Right.”  Tobias felt some heat in his face.  Things like the flu, colds, and even gangrene weren’t very high on his list of things to worry about anymore.

They ate their cans of food in silence after that, each to his own thoughts.  Tobias was thinking about supplies.  He wondered how well stocked the place they were going to was and how long it would all last.  It was a useless thought because he wouldn’t know until he got there, but he thought about it anyway.  If it
were anything like Cender’s friend’s house, then it would be extremely well stocked and prepared.

He finished eating and wondered whether he should keep the can or not.  He couldn’t think of a use for an empty Zoodles can, so he tossed it.  Cender tossed his as well but it looked like Abby stashed hers away somewhere.  Well, if they needed one, they would have one.

They went through the car and repacked all the bags, making sure the correct things were in the correct bags according to the list.  Cender used a stubby pencil to correct the list with the items that were used since they had headed out.  They spent a good deal of time trying to remember how many shots had been fired at the pigs.

Tobias could barely remember the battle; it was all a blur.  It seemed like there had been hundreds
of the demonic pigs, but in all likelihood, it was the same four or five pigs rushing at them over and over again.  The side of the Escape still bore several marks where the swine had slammed into it.  Cender had trapped himself inside the vehicle, shooting out through a window he opened, while Tobias had climbed on top.  The pigs couldn’t get to either of them, but they made sure to take out their frustration on the doors and bumpers.

Abby seemed to remember the whole event in perfect detail.  She could count the number of shots she had heard, and that was how they decided on the final number of bullets fired.  They also had to mark off the lost guns.  Tobias’s gun had gone missing during his tussle with Jessi;
presumably, it had been kicked into the river.  Abby had lost hers during the fight with the pigs, and no one knew what happened to Cillian’s rifle.  They still had Cender’s though, and the pistols from the extra bags.  They were all still able to carry a firearm, for what it was worth.

Tobias looked down at the angry red wounds on his fingers.  Jessi had done more damage to the group with the knife than any one of them could’ve done with a gun.  Not only did they lose two members, but now there was unrest between them.  Tobias was sure that Abby didn’t trust him anymore and that could hurt them in the long run.  He was sad for her, having lost her friend, but it wasn’t like he hadn’t lost one too.  Then he remembered again that Abby was a lesbian.  Was it possible she had a thing for Jessi?  Was that why she was taking it so hard?

* * *

Once the bags were packed, they shifted them around so they could fold up one of the back seats again.  They didn’t bother to bring the whole thing back up, just the single seat on the passenger side.  Everything was piled next to it and in the back.

Tobias got into the driver’s seat, and Cender climbed back into the passenger seat.  Abby sat in the back.

“Everybody look for a gas station.”  Tobias said as he turned the key, fearing the engine wouldn’t start.  Either the car was built awesomely, or there was more gas left in the tank last night than he realized, because it came to life.  They drove slowly back to the road they had been following, never getting much higher than 30 km/h.  Tobias didn’t want to risk the car trying to kick into the gas mode more often than it needed to.  He was hoping to save what little was left in the tank.

“All right,” Cender finally spoke up after several minutes of silent driving.  “I’m bringing up the elephant in the car.”

“What?” Tobias frowned.

“Clearly you two are having some issues that need to be worked out,” Cender said.  “I’m hobbled and rely on both of you immensely.  If you’re at odds with each other, it’s not very good for me.”

Tobias just kept frowning, although he knew exactly what Cender was talking about.

“Toby, you go first.”  Cender had picked up the nickname, probably trying to bait him.

Tobias sighed but didn’t correct him.

“Come on,” Cender pushed.  “Air your grievances.

“I don’t have any grievances,” Tobias told him.  “Why don’t you ask Abby to air hers?”

“What?” Abby frowned at him from the back seat.  “I don’t have any grievances.”

“Seriously?” Cender frowned at them both.  “So neither of you have a problem with each other?”

“No,” They both spoke at the same time.

“What?” Tobias was confused.  “So you’re saying you have no problem with the fact that I killed Jessi?”

“What?  No,” Abby shook her head.  “She was trying to kill me.  You were just defending me.  I know that.”

“Then why are you acting all weird?”  Tobias looked at her in the rear-view.

“Because you’re acting weird,” she told him.  “I thought you had a problem with me because it’s my fault Cillian is dead.”

“What?”  There were a lot of ‘what’s
’, going on in the car.  “That had nothing to do with you.  Jessi’s the one who stabbed him.”

“Yeah, because he defended me.  And because she thought I was flirting with him.”  Abby looked down at her hands, tears threatening her eyes again.  She really believed what she was saying.

“That’s not your fault,” Tobias shook his head.  “You had nothing to do with it.  Jessi just snapped is all.  We’ve all been under a lot of pressure, and apparently she couldn’t handle it.”

There was silence again for a moment.

“See?” Cender finally broke it again.  “Isn’t that better?  You’ve both been acting weird because you thought the other had a problem with you, and it turns out you were both wrong.  You’re both idiots.”

Tobias couldn’t help but chuckle somewhat at that last random line.  They
were
both being idiots.

“So, Abby.”  Cender turned in his seat to look at her
,  “you’re a lesbian, huh?”

Tobias whacked Cender in the ribs with his arm.

“Ow, what?” Cender frowned at him.

Abby had turned bright red.  “Well, yeah.”

“Cool.  You got a girlfriend somewhere?”  Cender turned back to Abby, missing the dark look Tobias gave him.

“Last time I saw her was yesterday morning, in the city.  We had coffee in a café we like but I had a doctor’s appointment later, so she went to attend a make-up conference.”  Abby looked out the window, clearly worried.

“Sorry.”  Cender realized he should have known where that question might head.  “Is she hot?”

“Cender, really?” Tobias interjected again.  “You’re one of those guys who only care about what a girl looks like, aren’t you?”

“I’ll admit that, yes, the way a girl looks plays a massive part,” Cender laughed at himself.  “Personality does count though, especially in lasting relationships.”

“I can’t see you having a lasting relationship,” Tobias told him honestly.

“Ouch,” Cender frowned.  “For all you know, I’m in one right now.”

“True, but with your line of questioning, it seems unlikely to me,” Tobias pointed out.

“You’re right, I’m not.  But I could be, and that’s the point.  We don’t actually know all that much about each other.  We’ve been too busy running for our lives for that.”  Cender sighed.  “Like, did you know I’m worried about my parents and little sister in Toronto?”

“I’m worried about my family in Vancouver.”  Tobias hadn’t spent a great deal of time thinking about them, but they had crossed his mind from time to time.  There was no way for him to know if these things could reach that far.  They also seemed like they were a million miles away on another planet, in another life.

“My family is in Alberta.  They’re on a farm in the middle of nowhere.”  Abby didn’t actually sound all that concerned.  “I’m mostly worried about my girlfriend.  She’s likely still back in the city somewhere.  She never liked the radio.”

“Well I don’t have a girlfriend but I know what you mean,” Cender agreed.  “I have a lot of friends back there.  I also know quite a few who got bitten before we knew what this thing was.”

“Right, you must have seen several infected before anyone knew what the infected were,” Tobias realized.  “What did you guys think it was?”

“Some new street drug,” Cender shrugged.  “Some chemical driving them mad.”

“Cender, can I ask you a personal question?” Abby asked.

“Sure,” Cender nodded.  “In fact, I encourage it.  The better we know each other, the more likely we are to survive, I think.  Besides, I just asked you a lot of personal questions, so it’s only fair.”

“This woman we’re going to meet, you really like her, don’t you?” Abby asked seemingly out of the blue.

Cender chuckled slightly, but it had an almost nervous tone to it.  Tobias couldn’t believe it, but Abby was actually right.

“Yeah,” Cender finally admitted, his face becoming a slightly redder tint.  “I respect her a lot actually.  She’s my boss though, or teacher, kind of both really.”

“Did you ever tell her?” Abby wondered.

“No.  That kind of relationship is greatly frowned upon and she’s never shown any interest,” Cender sighed.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about the teacher-student thing now,” Tobias pointed out.

“And she did save
your
life out of everybody’s,” Abby also pointed out.

“Only because I happened to find her when she was about to steal an ambulance,” Cender laughed, but it sounded different than usual.  It was clearly meant to hide how he really felt about that.

“Are you going to tell her when we meet up with her?”  Tobias found this ‘no holds barred’ kind of questioning kind of interesting.

“
If
we meet up with her,” Cender reminded them all that nothing was certain.  “And maybe.  I don’t know.  I’ll have to judge her mood which can be difficult.”

Cender picked up Tobias’s
camera, which had been sitting on some cup-holders.  He turned it on and pointed it at Tobias.

“So Toby, do you have a special girl?” Cender grinned behind the lens.

Tobias hated being on the filmed side of the camera.  “There was this one girl… something between us might have been going somewhere.  I guess I won’t know now.”

“What was her name?” Abby wondered.

“Katie.  Cender, will you put down my camera please?  This doesn’t need to be recorded.”  Tobias swiped a hand out to try to get him to lower it, but Cender dodged his half-assed attempt.

“Why not?  You recorded the pigs, right?”  Cender must have seen him with his camera through the moon roof.  “You record all the gross and actiony stuff.  Why not the quiet times in the car?”