Welcome to the Silent Zone, page 14
Right now, they had a job to do. They had a mission.
3.
Half an hour later, Soxy was stretching and whimpering contentedly on Abigail’s lap, and she hoped the puppy hadn’t been hurt by his half-day fast. She was worried, because she had no experience in raising a dog. I can disassemble a Glock blindfolded but this? Her only memory of pets was her mother’s old tomcat. She had held him in her lap and sang to him when he was put to sleep.
For a second, she remembered what happened in the quarry. She remembered the shot that killed the man in the flannel shirt. Trevor. She straightened her back and tried to find strength. I’m gonna make it up! I’m gonna make it right! she vowed.
She gently put Soxy back in his litter.
“You’re a strong little fella, aren’t you? You’d better behave yourself,” she said playfully to the puppy. “I’ll be back soon, okay? Until then, be a good boy!”
Abigail listened carefully before stepping out of the cold storage, gathering her thoughts as she walked through the dusty restaurant. She thought carefully about what she was going to say to Cassius – I forgot to check alarm number six – but to her great surprise she noticed movement outside. She hurried to the reception desk. From there she could see David and Cassius standing in front of the school bus.
Cassius was watching the boy crouch under the hood of the bus as the engine clattered and revved. When Abigail reached the doorway, David pulled out from under the hood and got behind the wheel, wiping his oily hands.
“It gets on my nerves to see it in this condition. Who would neglect their four-wheeler like this?” he asked, his gaze catching on the ornament hanging on the rear-view mirror, made of human bones. David swallowed hard.
“Get to the point!” Cassius said with an unblinking expression.
“I’m not saying it’s hopeless, but I’ve seen better.” David switched off the engine, which gave in with a rattling noise. “Yes, that’s what I was talking about.”
“Okay, geek squad, what’s the problem?
David scratched his nose, then spread his arms in a pompous gesture.
“The belt snapped.”
“Uh-huh. So?”
“So? Look, it’s quite a problem if we don’t deal with it.”
“I’m fine if it rolls down to the harbor.”
“You sure are, yes, but for us it’s suicide to let it go like this. The engine overheats after a while and then that’s it. It might go fifteen miles or thirteen, but then it stops in the middle of nowhere. Then it’s done, it’s over.”
“Over?”
“Finito, K.O., right? The pistons get stuck in the bore, and then there’s no fixing it; even prayers won’t help.”
Cassius glared at Abigail, who was listening to the conversation, blinking wide eyes.
“Okay, let’s assume that’s our problem. What can we do?”
“What can we do? We need to change the belt.” David looked thoughtfully around the maze of cars. “We should get lucky that at least one of those dingy wrecks isn’t completely rotten.”
“All right, you get one out. Is that it?”
“Is that it? Look, I need an exact size. Length, width, if it fits, we’re good. I’ll put that on, tighten it up, and it’ll hold. It’s an hour’s work if we don’t have to go through every wreck.”
“Just you, no plural,” Cassius said, ignoring David’s angry look. “And I suggest you finish before dark; we’re not using any lights.”
The young man blinked in confusion, but Cassius didn’t change his mind, just stood there, arms folded. David rolled his eyes.
“Okay, I’ll have a look around the wreckage and then do it in the morning.”
“Whatever you say, but remember, we’re leaving first light for the harbor, whether you’re ready or not.”
“To the harbor?” Abigail asked in surprise. She had hoped she could talk to him about this, but it seemed he had decided their fate on his own.
Cassius shrugged.
“They’ll drop us off there. Then we split up. They’ll go on to Headland and we’ll...
“We’ll what?” Abigail felt her ears burn with anger.
“And we’re going to do what we’ve planned. If we’ve missed something, we’ve missed it, I don’t wanna wait any longer,” he said, and started back to the motel with quick steps. Abigail hurried after him, but he raised his finger to stop her fuss. “I wanna have everything packed by tomorrow morning, so whatever your problem might be, just forget it, we have no time for that!”
“It’s nice of you to be so understanding.”
“If you’re gonna be cheeky, I’ll talk to you about your behavior today.”
“Wow, my legs are shaking.”
Cassius stopped. He looked around to see if they could be heard by anyone. And they could. Two heads appeared on the roof behind the barbed wire, but not side by side. Megan watched them from one corner, Grant from the other, like two sullen children separated in class by their teacher. The way David’s head was tilted as he examined the engine block gave away that he was also listening. Cassius leaned closer to Abigail, lowering his voice.
“You heard what they said. Two days ago, they were attacked by the same pack in Liberty.”
Abigail considered.
“The ferals must be pissed off about something.”
“Or they picked up the scent. And you know what that means.”
“It’s only a matter of time before they find this place.”
Cassius nodded.
“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen tonight.”
4.
The moon, moving towards the western horizon, painted the sky deep blue, and the glass shards scattered in front of the entrance glistened in its dim light. The bells attached to the wires running around the motel occasionally jingled, but Abigail knew exactly what a real alarm sounded like, and when it was just the wind playing. The slight breeze carried the scent of sea.
The campfires remained dark, and they only whispered so that the slightest sniffle could be heard. In case of an emergency, they would have had a few minutes to hole up somewhere. Abigail had suggested the cold storage and volunteered to prepare the ground and Cassius hadn’t objected. She would have liked to stay with Soxy all the time, but she still didn’t have the courage to tell Cassius what she had done.
Grant crouched on the edge of the roof, his gun at his fingertips, watching the landscape. Megan was squirming about on a mattress and David sat next to her on the concrete, close to a flickering oil lamp. They nibbled sadly at poor sandwiches wrapped in tinfoil. The siblings seemed to be falling asleep sitting up.
Cassius was stuffing pieces of rotten wood into an empty tin can, eying the travelers in silence. When he was done, he used a Zippo to light one of the pieces of wood, which caught fire and began to smoke. Cassius gave the tin to Abigail.
“Get some sleep,” he said. Her eyes burned with fatigue, but she hated it when he tried to patronize her.
“I know when I’m tired!” she said defiantly, then turned and sat down beside Megan.
The woman looked up with a smile, and Abigail set the smoking, smoldering tin down in front of them as proudly as if it had been her idea. “Against mosquitoes. Better than any of the old stuff.”
“Thank you!” Megan grinned, her mouth full, and glanced at her sandwich. “Are you sure you didn’t want any? We’re happy to share what we have...”
“That’s nice of you, but we only eat our own food.” At the puzzled looks, she added: “Because of the infection. We’ve heard of people getting sick from eating meat from infected animals.”
The siblings looked at their food at once, their faces turning pale. Abigail raised her hand.
“No, don’t worry, it doesn’t transform you, but Cassius says it’s better safe than sorry.”
“The hell with the constant yammering!” Grant grunted. “There was nothing wrong with that specimen! I shot it.”
Cassius didn’t even look up in the background, he growled. “Wow, we have a Bob Lee Swagger in our company.”
Abigail sucked her teeth and Grant straightened up with resentment, but Cassius ignored him. He began unpacking the things in the chest alongside some torn travel bags.
“You’ve found yourselves a lovely place,” Megan took over, sending Grant a warning glance. “Beautiful panorama, and this scent… jasmine. My favorite.”
“Not bad,” shrugged Abigail, “but it could be a bit more exciting.”
“A little more exciting isn’t always good. We could have done without it, for example.” Megan felt sad as she remembered her companions, and Abigail lowered her eyes.
“That’s not what I meant. If there were more of us, we could do lots of cool things, and-and-and we could protect the place. It’s not a lost cause.”
She glanced furtively at Cassius, who stopped packing and raised his eyes to the moonlit landscape. Did he notice anything? A bat flew overhead and a coyote howled in the distance. The sounds of the night rumbled around them incessantly. Definitely a good sign...
“What do you know about the colony?” Abigail turned back to Megan.
“We started talking to them on the radio six months ago. At first, we just shared the news. We knew about the resistance in Boston, they heard things from the Cubans.”
“From the Cubans? So, there’s still some news from Out there?”
“There was half a year ago, but then they went silence as well.”
Abigail’s face fell. Megan continued.
“We started helping each other. David told them how he had modified the vehicles, and they tried to give us tips on how to farm, but...”
“As you can see, it didn’t really work,” the young man finished. “So, we voted… and after a lot of nagging the majority wanted to go.”
“Because we couldn’t stay!” Megan snapped. “That was the only way to ensure the baby’s survival! Our survival…”
David tossed aside the crumpled tinfoil, then began to grumble as he examined the parts he’d found in the car-maze.
“And do they really live on boats?” Abigail asked.
“Yes, they have a whole fleet. Their leader, Mr. Solomon, used to work on ships. Then at the beginning of the pandemic they stole one of the giants and anchored it. For the first couple of years they lived on that, but as the colony grew, they put together some houseboats. They took in everyone they could and said they’d find a job for everyone. Of course, there was a bit of chaos at first but they straightened it out and now it’s back to normal.”
“According to them,” David interjected.
Abigail furrowed her brows.
“What do you mean, according to them?”
“He meant, sometimes you better hold your horses before you ride into a trap,” Grant replied.
“Right you are,” said Cassius as he sorted.
Megan angrily spread her arms.
“I still don’t get it, why would they lie to us. For a long time, we didn’t even mention joining them.”
“Sounds logical,” Abigail nodded, and the longer she kept doing it, the more she convinced herself, as well. “How many are they?”
“Mr. Solomon says at least seven hundred people live on the boats.”
Abigail shuddered at what she heard. The last colony they’d been to was a shabby place in West Odessa, on the edge of nowhere, with a fence woven together from sheet metal, but that had been over a year ago. There were less than a hundred people living in such places and they were always suspicious of strangers. In some places they had to flee; in others they didn’t even make it through the gates in the first place.
But the boat-town seemed different, orderly, and where so many people lived, they must really have things sewn up tight. She tried to picture what it would be like to live there, to wake up in a place where you weren’t just on your own, and where it wasn’t all about running away. Where you could even have friends.
“How far away are they?” Abigail asked. She couldn’t suppress the excitement in her voice.
“A few days’ drive, right?” Megan turned to David, who was just humming.
“Ahamm... If I can tinker with that piece of junk; otherwise we can walk.”
“I know you’ll do figure it out, and we’ll get there safe and sound. I can feel it in my guts.” She turned to Abigail and put her hand on her arm. “And I’m sure you’ll also be welcome, if you do decide to join us.”
“That would be great, but... Cassius has other plans.”
Megan pulled a wry smile. Abigail was sure she had read between the bitter lines. Good, at least she knows how stubborn he is.
“Ah, the mysterious island.”
“It’s not mysterious, it’s just that there’s nothing exciting about it,” she continued. “Cassius spent many summers there as a child. He thinks it’s safe, and it’s within the Zone, so it’s not guarded. There were hardly any people there, so if anyone got infected, they’ve probably starved to death by now. And if not, then...”
She didn’t finish, just shrugged. Megan frowned, folding the tinfoil used for packing her sandwich.
“It’s hard to imagine how you’ll manage there on your own.”
“We’ve tried to gather everything we need.” Abigail angled her head towards the chest. The siblings turned to the box at the same time. Megan and Cassius even exchanged looks; she gave him a friendly smile.
“Not much,” David pursed his lips. He could hardly help but chuckle. “After all these years of collecting, I expected more. I don’t know, so much stuff you need a moving truck. I’m worried your boat is just another rowboat.”
“David.”
“Jeez, I was just joking…”
“It’s all right,” Abigail said. “This wasn’t our plan the whole time, to be honest. We were also just fleeing in the first few years. It started from Headland, then from the refugee camp in Brookings…”
“Jesus!” Megan hissed at the name. Everyone had heard of the siege back then. A couple of TV crews were waiting at the camp, and the whole country was able to watch the attack live. And of course, it was witnessed by all the leaders of the world. A few days later China and Russia announced restrictions; Europe a week after that. The Breakdown for the Outside started right there and then.
“We tried to find Cassius’s family,” Abigail continued. “Headland was no bed of roses even then. After surviving Brookings and the Pincers, we went all along the West Coast where some of his relatives lived. We looked at several colonies, but we couldn’t find them anywhere, so we headed back. And slowly we realized that we had only ourselves to rely on...”
Before she could continue, Cassius appeared beside them with three mugs of tea, which he had been heating for a long time on a flickering stove.
“I think that’s enough of the small talk for today,” he said with an emotionless face, and handed out the mugs. “Hot tea, it will do you good. Get some rest, it’s gonna be a long day tomorrow.”
The distant howls of the coyotes ceased, and the sounds of the night fell silent.
5.
Grant listened to the undisturbed calm. His face was drenched in sweat and his fingers moved restlessly, as if he were in a constant state of numbness. In front of him on the ledge lay a spread-out map with notes: the boat-town circled, the long way signed, question marks at possible resting places. It was the same itinerary that Trevor had had.
Cassius approached with a mug of tea. Even in the dim light, he could see that Grant was in much worse shape, but there was something he wanted to know, and he wondered how he could get the man to share the information. He felt no pity for him, and he could see that the guy was also eyeing him suspiciously.
“You’re welcome!” Cassius handed him the mug. Grant took it reluctantly.
“I’m touched. Who knows, we might end up being pals. We start showing each other our scars and stuff…”
“Yeah, right. How are you doing?”
“That son of a bitch hit me harder than a three-hundred-pound linebacker.”
“They’re hardly ever gentle.”
Grant took a sip of his tea and huffed and puffed, but he finally finished it all off like it was whiskey on a cold Sunday afternoon. He dropped the empty mug on the edge of the roof and looked at Cassius.
“Well, out with it! I know you’re not interested in my medical condition.”
Cassius spread his arms with a self-righteous smile.
“Come on, I’m just worried that you’re not aware of the situation... That you don’t know what you’re getting into.”
“We’ll manage, no need to worry about us. I’m not bragging, but I’ve been around, not hiding behind walls,” Grant replied, gesturing towards the siblings. His face twisted in pain as he involuntarily touched his stomach.
“I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but that wound...”
“I know, I’m not a newbie. But I promised to get them to the boat-town, and they need my help. They’re suburban kids with no clue about life before the Breakdown, and they never hit the road even after. They can’t do it alone, and I’m keeping my word.”
Cassius nodded, considering.
“So be it, but let’s get something straight. If you don’t, none of them can count on us. I don’t want two more around my neck.”
“It’s gonna be all right. Let’s just get through tonight and get on the road, because if the pack have got as far as the quarry, they can follow us up here,” Grant growled, then cleared his throat. “That monster... Have you ever seen anything like it?”
