The Survivors (Book 2): Autumn (28 page)

“Well, I suppose that’s a relief then,” he murmured uncertainly, absently scratching the stubble on his chin that he hadn’t gotten around to shaving away.

“Yeah, I guess so.  It kind of feels like we got all worked up over nothing now, doesn’t it?” I smiled and leaned over to give his scruff a little scritch of my own.  Michael gave me an amused glance in return, but didn’t complain.

“That’s a good thing though, isn’t it?” he asked, looking up at me curiously
.  “I’d rather get worked up and have it turn out to be nothing than break up someone’s marriage.  Wouldn’t you?”

“That’s true,” I agreed simply, and then slid down off the bed to sit beside him on the floor
.  “I’m relieved, too.  Now we can just go home, and worry about whatever the hell is wrong with Madeline instead.”

“She’s a kid
.  Kids have nightmares.  Don’t worry about it.” Michael put his arm around my shoulders and drew me close, planting a reassuring kiss on my cheek.  “Once we introduce her to Priyanka, they’ll be the best of friends and she’ll forget all about fires and scary things.  She’s just lonely and bored.”

“That reminds me, actually.”
I sighed heavily and reached over to grab my bag so that I could stack my things back into it.  “We need to look for some replacement parts for the Hilux on the way back.”

“Gotcha covered, sweetheart.”
Michael smiled and gave me a quick snuggle, catching me by surprise.  “I told Hemi and his boys about it the other day.  They’re going to take us into town to look for parts, and then they’ll give us a lift back to the truck.  I think he still kind of feels like he owes us for something.”

“Well, that’ll be handy,” I agreed, then glanced up at him curiously
.  “Will your dog be able to keep up for that long, though?”

“Hemi reckons he can get Alfred up on the front of one of the bikes,” he answered cheerfully.

“Alfred?” I laughed in surprise.  “You named the poor pooch Alfred?”

“Damn straight, I did.”
His smile widened into a full grin.  “It’ll take a little practice, but he should be fine.  You know how dogs are about the wind.”

I chuckled at the image his words conjured up
.  “That’s true.  We should get ourselves some quad bikes.” Suddenly, my smile faded.  The moment to reveal the first stage of my plan to Michael had arrived without any warning at all.  I wasn’t prepared, but I decided to plunge ahead anyway.  “Actually, I’ve been pondering something and I want to run it by you.  I think that we should talk to Anahera about combining our groups.”

Michael blinked like a possum caught in the headlights
.  “Why?”

“Well, I…”
How did I explain this to him? It was a thought that I could barely wrap my head around myself.  “Michael, we need to do something for our futures.  Not just us personally, but
all
of us.  The entire human species.  We’re not going to be able to survive picking over the bones of this old corpse of a world indefinitely.  We need to find somewhere, settle down, and start gathering people.  As many people as we can.  It needs to be somewhere defensible, so we can grow crops and raise animals.  We’ll need every hand we can get.

“It’s the only way we’ll ever be safe, and the only way our children will have the opportunity to live in the kind of world that our parents took for granted
.  We need to build a sanctuary, and fill it with as many good people as we can find.  There’s safety in numbers, and if we can build a permanent settlement then we’ll have a chance to eventually grow our numbers.”

“You want to build a city?”
Michael stared at me, stunned.  It took me a second to process what he’d said, before the words actually sank in.

“I hadn’t thought of it quite like that, but… yes, I think so.”
I nodded thoughtfully.  “Not build from scratch, though.  At least, not to start with.  We need to get the first wave of people together before we can think about that, so we’ll need to find somewhere safe and secure to house them, somewhere we can grow food and become self-sufficient.

“Once we have a large enough number of people, we won’t have to worry about gangs or anything like that anymore, and we can focus on repairing what Ebola-X did to
us and planning for the future.  Combining our group with Anahera’s would give us a solid base to start with.  That would give us sixteen people, which is a large enough group that most of the gangs would steer clear of us.”

“And once we’ve got a safe place,” Michael said thoughtfully, picking up where I left off, “and enough numbers to protect everyone, then we get word out
.  We’d attract people from all over, particularly the women and children who are vulnerable out there on their own – like you were.”

“Yes, exactly,” I nodded, relieved that he understood my idea.

“This is ambitious, Sandy.” he looked at me uncertainly.  “It’ll take a long time, a lot of hard work, and it’s dangerous.  Are you sure you’re up to it?”

“I’ve got you to help me, right?
With you and all the others, I think we can make this dream a reality.” I paused for a second, and then shook my head.  “No, I
know
that we can make it a reality.  We have to.  The only other option is to watch our friends and family gradually slide towards barbarism.  Think about it, honey.  Humanity is the only species that has ever actively attempted to save another species from extinction.  It’s time that we did it for ourselves.”

“That’s… really profound.”
Michael drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, closing his eyes.  “I think you’re right, though.  I think we can do it.  Like you said, we have to do it.  For Priyanka and Madeline.”

“For all the children,” I agreed softly, reaching over to take his hand, “including ours, when the time is right.”

He looked at me, and it was like a light had come on behind his eyes.  Watching that understanding dawn in his expression made all the effort worthwhile.  I knew then that I had him, and that he would stand by my side to the end.  A slow smile crept across his face, then he drew me into an embrace and held me close.  “New New Zealand?”

“What?” I blinked owlishly, before I realised he was offering a name for the city we planned to build
.  “Oh, no.  That’s terrible, honey.”

“I know,” he answered, lifting his head up so that I could see his grin.

“Mocking me already? Sheesh.” I made an indignant noise and tilted my chin up defiantly.  “You just wait, we’ll both be hailed as heroes one day.  There will be statues of us in the town square, and school children will have to memorise every detail about our lives.”

“Not
every
detail, I hope.  Some of those details are pretty X-rated,” Michael laughed merrily and dragged me into a kiss.  My cheeky answer to that was muffled by his lips, just to prove his point.

“Oi, Sandy!”

At that moment, I was bottoms-up under the dusty bonnet of an ancient ute, so my answer came out muffled
.  “What?”

“Sandy?
Where the hell are you?” The voice drew closer, close enough that I could identify that it belonged to Hemi.

“In here,” I called back
.  Unfortunately, drawing the breath to yell meant I inhaled a good deal of dust, and ended up sneezing.  By the time the fit passed, he’d found me.

“Hey, careful there.”
The youth grinned impishly at me.  “You’ll sprain something.”

“
You’ll
sprain something when I get you.” I shook my fist at him teasingly.  “Anyway, what are you shouting about? I’m a little busy here.”

“I was just coming to tell you we found a truck you might be able to scavenge.”
Hemi leaned around me to get a look at the old ute.  I was half way through disconnecting the starter motor to replace the one that I suspected had died in the Hilux.  “You already find what you need?”

“It’s all good
.  I have no way to test this one, so we’re better off taking a couple of spares.” I beckoned him closer, and ducked back under the bonnet.  “Come help me with this one, I could use an extra set of hands.”

Hemi came over to help me out
.  Together, we managed to get the component free and wrapped it up in an old towel to keep the grease from getting everywhere.  I put it in my backpack and shouldered it, then we headed out to go see the car he’d found.

When we arrived, I discovered a gaggle of bewildered-looking blokes standing around another old utility, with its hood raised
.  They were alternately scratching their heads and shooting sneaky glances at one another as they tried to figure out what they were looking at, without giving away that they were completely clueless on all things car-related.

Amused, I shouldered my way through the crowd and leaned over to inspect the engine myself
.  The starter motor looked fine, so I enlisted the help of a couple of strong hands to extract it.  Once the component was out, I wrapped it up and added it to my pack as well, then shooed the guys back towards their bikes.

Ten minutes later, we were on the road at last
.  The wind streamed through my hair as I clung on to Ropata’s waist, enjoying that feeling of freedom.  With the bikes at our disposal, I estimated we could be back to the Hilux by midday.  Assuming things went well with the repairs, we could be home by just after sunset.

I was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again, so much so that I could almost feel the soft pillows beneath my cheek already
.  Although home was wherever Michael was, there was a pleasant familiarity about our old loft that I adored.

The outskirts of Arapuni passed by in a blaze with our quad bike bouncing merrily over the dips and cracks in the road
.  I heard a yelp from the dog and glanced back to check on him, but he seemed perfectly happy to perch in front of Hemi, panting in the wind.

We slowed as we approached the narrow roadway that passed atop the dam, but I had no time to worry
.  Before I quite realised where we were, we were across the far side and making our way up the slope on the far side of the river.  The corpses of the men Michael had killed in self-defence still lay where they’d fallen the week before.  Now, their blood had crusted over and dried, washed and baked by alternating periods of rain and hot sun.

We passed them without stopping, and angled our way up onto the long, flat expanse of road between Arapuni and the ruins of Pukeatua
.  The sun crept slowly higher in the sky as the kilometres fell behind us.

The sky was clear, a beautiful, breathtakingly-infinite arc of blue dusted with fluffy clouds, but the wind was cool and carried with it the bluster of early autumn
.  As we passed by, I suddenly realised that the forests on either side of the road had begun to take on their golden-orange coats.  Another summer had passed us by, leaving me to wonder what we would do come winter.

Should we wait for spring before we began our venture?
Or should we set out immediately to seek a site for our new city? As much as it saddened me, I knew that Ohaupo would not serve for my grand scheme.  What we needed was somewhere larger, a bigger town or a small city.  More importantly, we needed to get further away from Hamilton.

I had a gut feeling that we would see those abominations again, the living, hunting dead
.  I felt like we were living on a time limit.  If they were determined enough, they would find us in Ohaupo, and then we would have to fight again.  The future of our children – born or unborn – rested in our hands, and we couldn’t risk that anywhere less than perfect.

South seemed like a logical direction to go
.  I already knew the areas to avoid, so we could focus on the regions that were unknown.  Though, if we could convince Anahera to join us, our combined force would be enough to give any of the gangs pause.  The largest I had seen was five or six people; a potentially deadly threat to a lone female armed only with a taser and a small pistol, but not much of a problem to a dozen trained, determined, and well-equipped fighters.

And if I had my way, that’s exactly what we’d have in a few days’ time.

***

The rain came around mid-morning.

Plump, black clouds rolled in from the west to pelt us with fat droplets that left us shivering and cold.  We didn’t stop, though it did force us to slow down a bit for everyone’s safety.  I ended up hiding my face against Ropata’s broad back to keep the water from stinging my eyes.  The asphalt hissed beneath us and kicked up a spray that made it hazardous for the bikes following us.

Suddenly, there was a clunk and the rain became lighter
.  I opened my eyes and looked up to discover that we were driving beneath trees, picking our way through the undergrowth at a more sedate pace.  The canopy above us filtered the heavy rain into a light mist.  It took me a moment to realise that we’d gone off-road, to avoid the same break in the asphalt that had hindered us on the trip eastwards.

The bike bounced nimbly over tree roots and through clumps of ferns, leaving a trail behind us that felt like it was a mile wide
.  None of the riders seemed to care, and it made some sense.  We’d passed Pukeatua about an hour before and seen no sign of the neo-Nazi threat, so they had no reason to assume there were other dangers lurking about.

I was warier, of course – but I always am, suspicion is in my nature
.  While we rode, I watched the deep shadows of the underbrush for any sign of trouble, but I saw nothing.  Ropata and I were in the lead with the others strung out behind us.  Eventually, we left the bush and thundered back onto the tarmac again, where we paused to wait for the other riders to catch up.

I sat up straight and looked back, counting heads as the other bikes emerged from the brush until I was satisfied everyone was safe and sound
.  I waved to Michael and Priyanka reassuringly, and then we were off again, following the curve of the road towards Te Awamutu.

***

The rain passed after a while, though we had to keep our pace relatively sedate on the wet roads.  It was a little after midday by the time we reached the outskirts of Te Awamutu.  I leaned past Ropata and pointed the way towards where our truck waited for us; a few minutes later, the quad bike crunched to a halt on the gravel at the top of the hill, beside the high steel fence that had served as our little fortress on that first night.  By the time the other bikes joined us, I had already hopped off and squeezed through the half-open gate to check on my Hilux.

Everything was as I had left it, even the keys sitting on the driver’s seat
.  No-one had passed by in our absence; our footprints were the only ones visible in the long grass.  While I popped the hood and leaned over the engine to start work, I heard the others parking their bikes and fanning out to relieve themselves and organise lunch.

Before we’d left, Rebecca and Jim had thanked us profusely for our help, and given us enough supplies to see us back home safely
.  To my surprise, neither of them had suggested that they wanted us to stay, or would like to come with us.

At first, I had found that a little strange, but after taking some time to think about, I’d come to realise that Arapuni
Power Station was their home.  They felt safe and secure there, even if they were alone together.  They always had one another, not as lovers but as friends.  When it came down to it, companionship and friendship was so much more important than sex anyway.  They were comfortable together, and once we left they would continue being comfortable with one another, even if they had enjoyed our visit while it lasted.

Priyanka scampered over to join me while the guys were busy getting lunch ready
.  She hopped up on the front bumper to get a better vantage point and stood staring intently into the depths of the engine for some time, mimicking me.  Eventually, she glanced over at me for guidance.  “What we looking at?”

“What
are
we looking at,” I corrected gently.  “We’re looking at an engine.  This engine will make the car drive for us, but right now it’s broken.  We’re going to fix it.” I looked at her and gave her a smile.  “Do you want to help?”

“I will help.”
Priyanka nodded solemnly, always ready to assist even if she had no idea what she was doing.  I couldn’t help but be amused by her serious, intense expression, but it was an opportunity to teach her a useful life skill so I snatched it up.

In simple terms, I explained to her what the engine did and named each of the major components for her
.  She was a quick study, and repeated the names that I gave her with confidence.  After each one, I gave her a brief explanation of what it did.  When we reached the starter motor, I went into more detail and told her how I knew that it was broken.

“Is broken because engine no go broom-broom?” she repeated once I was done, simplifying what I’d told her into her stunted English.

“Exactly.  So, we’re going to take the broken one out, and put a new one in.” I opened my pack and removed one of the components, to show her what it looked like.

“Ooh
.  New one not broken?” She reached out to touch the component, and then sniffed at the grease that came off on her finger.

“I hope this one is not broken – but we’ll find out when we put it in
.  Come over here, I’ll show you.” I beckoned for her to follow me, and together we bent over the engine and worked to replace the component.  Although her inquisitive little fingers sometimes got in the way, it felt important to teach her everything that I could, so I stayed calm and patient, explaining each step as we were doing it.

Eventually, we got the new starter motor in and stood back to admire our handiwork
.  At some stage, Michael had wandered over to observe what was going on, but I hadn’t realised he was there until I felt a gentle hand touch the small of my back.  I jumped in surprise and glanced at him.  He smiled in return.

“How is it?” he asked softly, in that deep, sultry rumble he reserved just for me.

“We’re about to find out,” I answered, absently reaching up to tuck a strand of hair back behind my ear.  I froze half way through the gesture when I realised that I was unconsciously flirting with him yet again.  Suddenly embarrassed, I glanced away.  “Um… would you mind turning the key for me, please?”

“Of course,” he answered, barely able to hide the amusement in his voice at my momentary shyness
.  But, more importantly, he understood me well enough not to mention it.  He just gave my back a gentle rub, then moved around to the driver’s door and slid in behind the wheel.  The engine spluttered for a moment when he turned the keys, but then it roared to life with a deep, throaty growl.

Priyanka squealed in surprise at the loud noise and clapped her hands over her ears
.  For a second, she looked so utterly terrified that I thought she was going to make a run for it, but she held her ground.  She stared at me wide-eyed until I smiled and reached over to ruffle her short hair, the way I often did.  She seemed to like it when I did that, and equated it with being praised.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” I told her, then waited until she took her hands off her ears before I explained further
.  “That noise just means it’s not broken anymore.  We fixed it.”

“We fixed it?
No more broken?” Priya stared suspiciously at the rumbling truck for a long moment while she processed that information.  Suddenly, her expression brightened.  “Fixed, no more broken.  Yay! We fixed it.  I helped?” She looked at me with those big, soulful eyes of hers.  I couldn’t even hope to resist them.

“Absolutely
.  You’re a good helper.” I ruffled her hair again and gave her a little hug.  “Get your bag, we’re going to go for a drive in the car now.  Going to go home.”

“Go home to where Sandy comes from?” she asked quizzically.

“Yep,” I told her gently.  “We’re going to go back to my home.  We have some new friends for you to meet.  There’s even a nice little girl there that you can play with.  She’s a bit younger than you, but I think you’ll like her.”