The Returners (13 page)

Everyone knew if Ray wasn't around that Chris was in charge. That said a lot about him seeing how Ray didn't trust anyone.

"Anything?" Asked a skinny older man named Clayton Burke. His long black hair tied into a ponytail, dark sunglasses covering his eyes.

"Nothing, something ain't right. Like we discussed yesterday, I think we need to go and see what we can find," Chris said before calmly taking a drink of his coffee.

The second man with Clayton spoke up, his name was Damien Clements. A tall man in his late twenties, built like a tank and just as slow as one. The early morning sunlight glistened off his freshly shaved head.

"Where you think we should head?" When he spoke his voice was slow, drawn-out and gruff, like someone who had spent much of their life chain smoking cigarettes.

Chris thought for a moment, there were a few places he had been with Ray that most other people hadn't. From experience he knew Ray wouldn't likely go back to any of those. It was then he remembered a few weeks back someone had been talking about a cabin they'd come across while out scouting. It was something he hadn't thought of until now.

He knew Ray had heard this as well because he'd asked him if he knew anything about it. The conversation hadn't gone any further, other than him asking if he could trust the kid who had been talking about it.

"Damien, go get Andrew Smyth. I need to talk to him. I think I know where they might uv' headed," Chris said.

Damien nodded and headed off to get the youngster. He was curious why Chris wanted him, but didn't bother to ask.

Clayton spoke as Damien headed off. "You've got that look on your face Chris." Chris's face had a somber, over thinking look to it. The one he got when things were about to get bad.

Chris looked off into the distance, his eyes focusing on the rising sun. "Well Clayton, if my intuition is right I think we've got ourselves a problem. Not sure how we aughta handle this, but it ain't gonna be good if I'm correct." 

The days travel hadn't been as arduous as Jacob had been expecting. They were making excellent time, and had traveled around five miles from his guess. It was always hard telling exact distance going through the woods, due to the way the terrain was laid out. Sometimes you felt like you'd gone miles and barely made any progress at all.

His assumptions about the storm moving in had been correct. The sky above them had already turned a dark shade of gray, casting an ominous sense of doubt whether they would make it much further today. It all really depended on if the sky decided to open up or not. Right now they were playing the waiting game to see if that was the card they would be dealt. The group had stopped to take a quick twenty minute break before continuing on. Knowing there was a good chance they would be fighting the elements, they didn't want to waste too much time sitting around.

Everyone had been fairly talkative today as they became more comfortable around one another. Emily and Briella had been chatting almost the whole time since they'd left the campsite this morning. Even Joe and Jessica had been talking a lot, cracking jokes and making small talk with each other and the rest of the group. Jacob was leading the group now and had been keeping to himself for the most part.

Conversation made the trip a lot more bearable at least. It was better than walking in silence and alone with your own thoughts. He knew this from his time traveling with his dog Flash. He'd spent a lot of time talking to the dog, having conversations with him like he was a person. Often wondered to himself if he was going mad or if he was just lonely. A drop of rain splashed on his face, bringing his thoughts back to the here and now.

"Oh great, looks like we're not going to beat the rain after all," He mumbled in frustration to himself.

Jessica heard Jacob mumble something she couldn't understand. "What was that Jacob? Something wrong?" 

"Yeah, just felt a drop of rain on my face. Doesn't look like we're going to beat the rain after all, we probably should get going." There was an air of disappointment in his voice.

Deep inside he knew this was probably going too be a setback, but there was nothing they could really do about it other than push on. Sitting around wasn't going to help them achieve their goal. Everyone got up quickly and didn't protest, even though they were cutting their break short. They all knew the importance of making their destination today. Jessica walked over to Jacob and threw her arms around him giving him a hug.

"Everything alright? You've seemed a bit lost in your own thoughts since we left camp this morning."

"I'm good, just a lot on my mind right now." He knew this wasn't the time or place to discuss his concerns about what might lay ahead of them. It was something that had been eating at him since they'd left the cabin. The corpse on the end of the fishing line earlier in the day had really triggered a sense of doubt and worry in him. "No need to worry about me, thank you though."

Jessica could tell there was more to it than that, but wasn't about to push the issue. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

"Okay, just wanted to make sure. If you need to talk, you know...I'm here for you." She walked back over to where Emily was standing and helped her with her backpack as she appeared to be having a hard time getting it on.

It only took a few moments before the entire group was ready to continue on. As if on queue the rain beginning to fall harder. Creating a signal of urgency for them to continue moving forward.

********

Damien returned to Chris and Clayton with Andrew Smyth. The boy who was in his mid-teens was the one who had stumbled across the cabin while out hunting. Damien explained to him what was going on, so when they got back he'd be prepared. It didn't take long for him to repeat his story to Chris and Clayton, telling them where they could find the cabin.

"You're coming with us, and you're gonna show us where it is. You said you only saw two women working around it?" Chris spoke with an authority in his voice this morning that rarely came out. Usually he was more laid back and quiet. The type that did what was needed without mincing words.

"Yes sir, I just saw the two women." The boy snapped off the reply quickly and nervously. He didn't like this and didn't want to go, but he knew Chris was in charge of the camps when Ray wasn't around. He was better off to just shut up and not cause any problems, especially if Ray came back. The last thing he needed was for Ray to be pissed off at him for not following orders.

Chris pondered what the kid had just told him. It was unlikely Ray and the others had succumb to a couple of women hiding in a cabin. Though anything was possible he supposed, even the sun shined on a dog's ass once in awhile.

"Everyone grab a gun and some ammo and meet me back here in ten minutes. We're gonna go there and see if we can find anything out."  

The men dispersed, going their own ways to grab what they needed. Chris stood under the roof at the edge of the porch. The rain had started to fall and the sky was becoming darker by the moment. He knew the travel would be slick, and would be like traveling in the dark through the forest, but they weren't waiting around any longer. Action needed to be taken, they needed to figure out what happened.

******** 

Joe walked up front with Jacob this time, they'd been walking for a couple hours and hadn't said much to each other. The rain had dampened the mood of the whole group. Everyone had kept their chatter to a minimum compared to earlier in the day. Joe could tell something was bothering Jacob, he just had that aura about him right now. He wondered if it was due to what had happened earlier in the day, or something else.

"Can I ask you a question?" Joe asked, unsure if this was the right time, or even if Jacob would want to talk about it.

"Sure."

"What's bothering you man? Jessica and I were talking earlier and we both get the impression something's eating at you," Joe said. Unsure if his question would get an answer or not.

Jacob thought about how to respond to the question for a moment and didn't immediately say anything. Joe figured he wasn't going to answer the question and didn't bother asking anything else. They continued walking for another minute in silence before Jacob began to speak.

"When was the last time you were in a place where there was an actual population of people? I'm not talking about the camps, I'm talking about a town or a city?" Jacob asked, curious as to what Joe had to say.

Joe thought about it, it had been awhile. "I don't know maybe a year or so."

"That's what's bugging me, none of us have been in a town since things got really bad. Emily and Jessica have been out here the least amount of time, maybe four or five months. It’s been over a year for me." He paused for a moment as he pushed a small fir tree branch out of the way. "I don't know what we're really walking into, are we going to be able to handle it if it's really bad?" 

Joe hadn't thought about that, everything had happened so quickly in the last several days that the thought of the town they were heading to being overrun hadn't really crossed his mind. Even though it was a very real and plausible scenario.

"I never thought about it to be honest."

Jacob lowered his voice so only Joe could hear him. He didn't want everyone else to overhear what he was about to say. "I'm not worried just about hordes of Returners either. What if someone else has set up shop in the town? Someone like Ray who isn't going to take kindly to strangers poking their heads in and stirring up trouble? Someone who would just as soon gun you down as have a conversation with you? I haven't said anything about this yet, because I didn't want to worry the girls. I might just be paranoid, but what if?"

Jacob and Joe both stopped and looked behind them, the rest of the group was about thirty yards away. The reality of what Jacob had just said really began to sink in for both men.

"We're going to have to talk about this soon cause I don't know the town. Jessica and Emily do, it's where they're from. Just keep it between you and I for now," Jacob said.

"You've got my word Jacob." The sincerity and worry on Jacob's face was enough for Joe to know he was genuinely worried about the effect it might have on the others.

"Good, now lets keep going. I think we can still make it before dark."

The rest of the group soon caught up with them. The haggard look of their faces told the story, they were getting tired.               

"How's everyone doing?" Joe asked.

"Wet, and I'm starving, but other than that I'm wonderful," Jessica said with a sarcastic laugh.

"I'm good,” Briella said, taking the opportunity to lean against a tree and rest for a moment.

Emily was bent down tying her boots. "I'm good, but hungry."

Jacob could sympathize. The small meal they'd eaten earlier wasn't really doing the trick, his stomach had been growling for awhile. 

"I know we’re all hungry, wet and tired, but we've got to be getting close to the road. If we can just suck it up for a little bit longer and push on we should be able to make it before dark. We can find a good spot to camp, get something to eat and rest up then."

Even though they were all tired, everyone understood it was important to continue pushing on. It was one of those grin and bear it, fight through the exhaustion situations.

********

Andrew led the group through the forest, it had been a slow one due to the rain, but they'd finally made it to the cabin. Crouching on the edge of the hill that led down to the cabin and just off the path they observed. From this vantage point they could see the cabin, and stay well hidden. It didn't appear anyone was there, no movement around the cabin, no smoke coming from the chimney, no light of any kind coming out the windows. Right now it looked like it had been deserted.

"Andrew you sneak down there and see if you can get a look inside," Chris said in a low whispered voice as he pointed toward the cabin.

The young boy looked at him with a look of horror on his face. He didn't want to do that, what if they were there? "Why me?" 

The look on Chris's face was enough to tell him it was in his best interest to shut up and do what he was told. Andrew began moving slowly through the forest so he would come out along the side of the cabin, not directly in the front.

Chris, Clayton and Damien watched as the boy clumsily moved through the woods. How this kid had ever made it here before and not alerted the women to his presence was beyond them. They'd been watching for a few minutes when they saw him suddenly fall to the ground.

"Holy Shit!" The boy screamed as he quickly popped back up. He was now looking down at his feet.  

If there had been anyone in the cabin they surely would have heard all the racket Andrew had made. All three men stood up, feeling confident the coast was clear.

Clayton hollered down to the boy, "What is it you clumsy oaf?" 

The boy didn't say anything, he just continued to stand there staring down. The three men began moving down the hill toward him and soon saw what he was looking at.

"That's Dave," Damien said as he pointed to the corpse at the boy's feet. "At least what's left of him."

Chris bent down and looked at the body, Dave had been shot a couple of times. Half his face had been torn off by the bullet that had struck him in the head. Leaving a gaping hole filled with chunks of meat and fragmented bone. It was ghastly, even compared to some of the things he'd witnessed over the last few years.

Standing back up Chris looked at the others. "Lets go check out the cabin, there ain't nothing we can do for him."

The group moved towards the cabin, Clayton pointed out the fresh mound of dirt a short distance away as they approached the front door. "That looks like a grave, and it's fresh, probably just dug in the last couple of days" 

Chris looked to where Clayton was pointing. "Andrew dig that up, I wanna see who it is." 

The boy didn't say anything and moved towards the mound of dirt, grabbing a shovel that was leaning against a tree and began to dig.

Chris opened the door to the cabin, the smell of food and burnt wood still lingered in the air. It hadn't been that long since someone had been here. Which meant whoever it was couldn't be far away.

"Alright, look around and see if we can find anything that might indicate who these people are or where they might be going. Anything we can use, let's take it with us."

The group of men spent the next half an hour searching the small cabin finding nothing of importance. As they were finishing up Clayton walked over to Chris and handed him a photo of a woman and young girl.