Four

An infected called out somewhere nearby.  Ghua put his hand up as if to stop me from walking although I hadn’t started again.

“Stay here, Eden.”  He took off at a run to the east.

Heart racing, I immediately hauled ass to the west.  Tree by tree, I put distance between me and the grey-skinned man.  It sucked that he still had the rifle, but I’d manage with the knife.  Just so long as I got away.

An infected moved out from a tree only steps in front of me.  I reversed, almost falling on my butt and losing the knife.

The infected let out a low groan and lunged for me.  I lifted my arms up, already visualizing how I would block and try to go for the broken branch to my right.  However, that never happened.

A roar filled the air a moment before something dark jumped over me. The blur crashed into the infected and sent the body spinning horizontally, spread eagle.  Its head connected with a tree and burst open like a ripe watermelon.

Stunned, I stared at the mess.  The force of impact from that throw further kindled the fear I felt for the man herding me.

My gaze shifted to Ghua, who crouched in front of me.  He watched the infected for a moment before he turned to me.

“Are you all right, Eden?”

He wiped his hand on his pants and reached for my face.  His touch was gentle as he gripped my chin and nudged my head left then right for his inspection.

“The stupid human didn’t bite you, did it?”

If I said yes, he might lose interest in me.  However, I was also aware of the very real possibility that he might rip my head off before I turned into an infected.

I quickly shook my head no.

“Good.  Mya said that children like to wander.  I didn’t know you could move so fast.  I won’t leave you alone like that again.  It’s too dangerous.  That stupid human could have bitten you.  You don’t want to be stupid, too, do you?”

“No.”

“I don’t want you to be stupid, either.  Stay close, and that won’t happen.”

I swallowed hard, knowing a threat when I heard one.  The next time he started forward, he didn’t need to motion for me to follow.  I wouldn’t be stupid enough to try to run like that again.  I wanted to keep my head.

It didn’t take long to reach the house.

On the porch, Ghua hesitated at the door and looked at me.

“You will need to follow me.  But, stay close.  There may be more stupid humans inside.”

“Infected, you mean.”

He tilted his head and studied me for a moment.

“You’re a very smart child.”

I shrugged slightly.  “My friends called them infected.”

He made a non-committal noise and opened the door.

For a brief moment, I considered taking off while he looked around.  However, that thought fled when he flicked on the switch right inside the door.  A hellhound wouldn’t hesitate to attack me in the dark.  This guy, however, hadn’t done anything but kill infected.  Hoping it stayed that way, I followed him over the threshold.

Other than electricity, I held little hope that the house had anything more to offer.  The furniture in the living room was bloody, and every cupboard in the kitchen hung open.  Not that Ghua let me stay in that area long enough to investigate further.

He herded me upstairs then used a twin mattress from the closest bedroom to block the hallway.  While he wedged it into place, I checked the rest of the rooms.  One had a possible escape route out the window and an adjoining bathroom.  However, the water didn’t run.  I wasn’t surprised.  It’d gotten cold since that first attack.  A few nights, it’d even dipped well below freezing.  While scavenging, we’d found a few poorly insulated homes that hadn’t yet had their heat on, which led to burst water lines.

I lifted the toilet tank’s lid and refilled my water bottles from there.

“I didn’t know that held water,” Ghua said.  “You are really smart.”

My stomach clenched with fear and hunger.  Was he catching on that I wasn’t twelve?  Was he just toying with me?

“I don’t have a choice,” I said.  “If I’m not smart, I die.”

He nodded and watched me guzzle down half a bottle of water.  When I finished refilling it, I capped it and moved to drop it into my bag.

“Can I have some?”

I wanted to kick myself for not waiting until he slept to fill the bottles.  I knew better than to openly display what supplies I had.  That was the fastest way to get them stolen.  Hopefully, he’d only take the one.

Sullenly, I held out the water bottle.  He unscrewed the cap, chugged the contents, and handed me back the bottle.

We stared at each other for a moment while I waited for him to demand the other one.

“Thank you, Eden.”

He turned and started looking in dresser drawers.  We were in a girl’s room.  He took out a pair of jeans and held them up, studying them.

Not sure what to think of that, I refilled the bottle and put it in my bag before shutting the door to use the toilet.  I made sure not to flush in case I needed what was left in the tank.  When I reemerged, I found Ghua comfortably sitting against the door to the hallway.  We were closed in the room together for the night.

Fear was a real motivator in my life.  Fear of the hellhounds had me running for shelter long before sunset.  Fear of becoming infected had kept me alert and ready to defend myself.  Fear of becoming Van’s next plaything had taught me when to use attitude to keep him at bay and when to keep my mouth shut.

Ghua was something to fear too.  He’d ripped off heads like it was nothing, showing an aggression that would make armed men wet themselves.  He’d threatened me and wanted me to come with him.  But why?  Without the why, I didn’t know how to respond.  I didn’t know how to stay safe.

Again, we watched each other for a minute before I moved to the bed and sat down.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Home.”

“Why?”

“To keep you safe.”

“Why?”

He bared all his teeth at me.  If they weren’t so scarily sharp, I might have thought he was trying for a wide smile.

“Now you sound like Timmy.”

“Who’s Timmy?”

“A child.”

Ghua wasn’t really giving me much.  But, I knew I needed to find out more about him if I wanted to understand how to get away from him.  So, I risked annoying him and kept trying.

“Where did you come from?”

“Ernisi.  It’s our home under the ground.  Mom says our home is on the surface now, in Tolerance, near Whiteman.”

Finally, a more substantial answer.  Too bad I had no idea where Tolerance or Whiteman were, and my brain didn’t want to wrap around the idea of him coming from underground because that rang too close to my imaginings of hell.  So, I went with the safest bit of information.

“Your mom is with you?”

“She’s not mine.  She belongs to Mya.  But Mom says we can call her Mom because we don’t remember our own.  Dad lets us call him Dad because Mom says so.”

Belongs to Mya?  The human he already captured?

“Are Mya’s mom and dad human, too?”

“Yes.  Some humans live with us, but most chose to stay at Whiteman.”  He looked away for a moment and rubbed his very pointed ear.  My mouth dropped open a little at the sight of it.  How had I missed a very elven-looking ear poking through his hair?

I closed my mouth before he looked at me again and tried to focus on our conversation.  Humans.  They had several already.  That didn’t bode well for me.

“The people you take get to choose where to live?” I asked.

“Take?  I do not take people.  I rescue them.”

He met my gaze steadily, no trace of sly manipulation or deceit in his reptilian eyes.  Probably because I had no idea what his tells were.

“So, if I wanted to leave right now, you’d let me?” I asked, not bothering to mask my doubt.

“No.”  He nodded toward the window.  “It’s getting dark.  It’s not safe to leave.”

“And, in the morning?  What about then?”

“It’s not safe for a child to be alone.”

Just as I’d thought.  He wanted me to believe he was rescuing me, but he wouldn’t let me go.

The first howl rang through the air outside, and I shivered at the sound.

“You are safe, Eden.  Sleep.”

“I’m not tired yet.”

He stood and came toward me.  It was then that I identified what was missing from the picture.

“Where’s my rifle?”

“I used it to kill the first infected when you wandered away.  It was too bloody to keep.”

He reached around me and pulled back the covers.

“Lay down.”

Even without the gun, he scared the hell out of me.  Not wanting to appear openly defiant, I made a show of stacking the pillows and curling up on my side.  I stared at him.  He covered me with the blankets and went back to his spot at the door.

No way in hell was I closing my eyes.

*    *    *    *

Even in my sleep, I understood the wrongness of feeling safe and warm.  Warmth was a commodity that came at a high price, and safety was an illusion people felt just before they died.  I struggled against the feelings and screamed at myself to wake up.

When my eyes finally opened, my heart was pounding hard.  Weak daylight already lit the room.  I recalled the hours spent listening to the distant hellhounds howl, but I couldn’t remember falling asleep.  I couldn’t have slept for long.  A few hours, maybe.  But, even a minute had been stupid.  What had Ghua done once my eyes were closed?  What else might have found me?

I knew better than to fly out of bed to find out.  Instead, my gaze scanned the room for infected first, then the grey man.  Neither waited, but the door stood wide open.

Quietly, I sat up and swung my legs over the bed.  My booted foot hit something with a thunk.  I looked down at the can of dog food on the floor, and the rapid thump of my heart stopped for a beat.  I recalled the very first time I’d turned around and saw a can of food on the street behind me.  My parents had still been alive then.  We’d been with the first group of raiders who’d “took us in.”  I hadn’t realized it then, but I’d been lucky and escaped death that day.

My gaze drifted to the door, but there was no trail of cans leading out.  Had there been, I would have known I was screwed.

A trail of food was one of the oldest infected tricks to lure a human into a trap.  I hadn’t known that, though, the first time I saw one. The infected hadn’t shown signs of intelligence then; not like they did now. I’d collected all of the cans, following the trail from street to lawn to house without incident.  I’d even raided a pyramid of perfectly stacked cans from the living room.

As I stared at the can on the floor, I recalled the one detail that had scared the crap out of me.  That detail had taught me to avoid can trails in the future.  When we’d left, I’d looked back and had caught a blur of something dark running away from the house.  At the time, I’d thought it was a fast moving infected.  Now, I realized what that blur had been.  It was the same blur I’d seen in the trees just before Ghua had arrived to kill all the infected.  I’d seen a grey man back then.  Why had he left a can trail, though?  It didn’t make sense.

I picked up the can and tucked it into my bag.  With my knife in hand, I cautiously crept to the door.  The hall remained clear of infected, and the mattress still blocked off the stairs.  Frowning, I checked the rest of the rooms.  No Ghua and no infected.

I looked at the mattress.  Smudges of dirt and old blood marred the surface where Ghua had grabbed it last night to shove it into place.  What waited on the other side, now?

Shaking my head, I went back into the bedroom and looked out the window at the porch roof.  It appeared to be the safer exit route.  Like the day before, I popped the screen and climbed out to get a better feel for the state of things.  No infected wandered the yard.  I waited and listened for a scuff of noise beneath me.  Heavy, grey clouds drifted in the sky; and a brisk wind made my time on the roof uncomfortable.  However, no sounds came from below.

I dropped to the ground and looked around just as the first freezing rain drops fell.  In this world, in order to survive, a few basic things were needed.  A weapon.  Something to carry water.  Clothing enough not to freeze.  And something to open a can of food.  With only two of the four required necessities, I cautiously headed back inside.

The house didn’t quite look the same as the night before.  Headless bodies littered the floor.  That was twice that the infected came into a quiet house at night.  Either they could smell me, or they were now drawn by the lights and not just sound.  Either way, the change didn’t bode well for me.

I rummaged through the coat closet for something that would keep the rain off me and found a windbreaker large enough to go over my jacket.  I put it in my bag as I headed toward the kitchen in search of a can opener.  I moved quickly, the need to get away riding me hard.

The patter of the rain increased until it became a hushed roar of background noise.  I hated rain.  Not only could I freeze in it, but I wouldn’t be able to hear a damn thing.  While I searched, I kept vigilant, watching the doors and openings for infected, my knife always ready.

Just as my left hand closed around the can opener, a car door slammed outside.  I panicked and looked around for somewhere to hide.  Nothing stood out.  I ran for the back door just as the front one opened.

“Eden,” a familiar voice yelled.

I’d almost reached the back door when it, too, opened.

Ty, one of the gunmen from the bunker, lifted his rifle and leveled the barrel with my head.  I came to a skidding stop.

“Eden,” Steve, another gunman, said from behind me.  “Don’t try anything stupid.  Drop the knife.”

“Why are you here?”

Ty smirked but didn’t lower his weapon.  Something slammed into my hand.  I cried out and involuntarily dropped my knife.  Arms wrapped around me.  Lifted off my feet, I kicked out with my legs and threw my head back in an effort to connect with something.

“You know why,” Steve panted in my ear.  “Settle down.”

I kicked harder.  There was no way I could go back with them.  True, when I’d thought I might die, the bunker and its twisted occupants had seemed like a better option.  But, things had changed.  I was so close to setting out on my own again.  With supplies.

The back of my head connected with Steve’s face.  He grunted and called for Ty.  Ty turned his weapon, strode forward, and hit me in the head, just above my temple.

Dazed, my struggles went from make-you-bleed to entertain-you.

“Tie her hands and feet.  It’ll be easier to carry her out.”

“No.  Stop.”  I tried to move my hands out of reach but had a hard time thinking past the nausea and the pain in my forehead.

In no time, they had me bound and over Steve’s shoulder.  They walked toward the front door.

“What the hell happened in here?” Ty asked.  “It looks like something ripped those infected heads right off.”

“Probably the hellhounds,” Steve said.  “Hurry up.”

They walked out into the rain.  The chill helped clear my head a little.

“Why bother taking me back?” I slurred.  “You said we wouldn’t be going back to the fields.  You don’t need me.”

“You need to start thinking long term, Eden.  The infected and hellhounds aren’t going away.  We need to dig in and plan for the survival of humanity.  There’s a lot of work we’ll need to do.  We’ll need all the workers we can get.”

He carefully shoved me into the back seat.  Laying on my side, I struggled to catch my breath and think.  Ty closed the door, and they both got in front.

“You don’t understand,” I said, trying again.  “Van’s not going to forgive what I did to him.  There’s no point taking me back just for him to kill me.”

“Oh, sugar, he won’t kill you.  He’s mad, but you’re too important to him,” Ty said.

The engine roared to life, and the car started forward.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Like Steve said, we need to plan for the survival of humanity.  You’ll see that eventually and come around.”  Ty turned in his seat and looked back at me.  “If you have your heart set on someone else, all you’ll need to do is let Oscar know.  Van doesn’t have to be your only option.”

“You’re taking me back for breeding?”  My stomach twisted, and I gagged.  There was nothing to come up though.  It had been days since my last meal.

Ty shook his head like I was being difficult and faced forward once more.

I studied the rope on my hands, then lifted them to my mouth to see if I could pick the knot out.  They’d tied it off on the underside of my hands, though, making it difficult to catch an end of the rope with my teeth.

The car started to slow.

“What the hell is that?”

I leveraged myself into a sitting position to see what Steve was squinting at.

“Looks like a tree,” Ty answered.  “Go around it.”

I looked out the rain-blurred window at the ditch beside the road.  While there was no danger of the car tipping over, the ditch was deep enough that we wouldn’t have an easy time getting out of it.  Steve echoed my thoughts.

“We’ll get stuck.”  He swore under his breath and hit the steering wheel.  “I told Oscar we needed the truck.”

“Calm down.  It’s a small tree.  You cover me, and I’ll move it.”

The car rolled to a stop.  Neither of them got out.  We all watched out the windows.  With the downpour, visibility wasn’t great.

“Looks clear,” Ty said.

We all knew it wasn’t, though.  Debris in the road was a standard infected tactic to stop a vehicle and get the passengers out where the infected could eat them.

“Let’s go.”

Steve opened his door first and got out.  Rain blew in around him as he stood in the open door and looked around, his rifle ready.

“Hurry up.  I can’t see shit,” he said.

Ty got out and closed his door against the wind and the rain.

With dread pooling in my stomach, I watched through the rain-distorted windshield as Ty jogged to the tree and tried to pull it from the road.

I shivered and, dismissing the rope that bound my hands, hurriedly lifted my feet to pick at the knot there.  I needed to free my feet quickly because, without a doubt, this wasn’t going to end well.