The Unchanged (Book 2): Survivors, page 19
part #2 of The Unchanged Series
We looked at Cheyenne.
She smirked, “Sorry, I’m not a sailor. Only canoes or river pontoons. Can’t help you with that.” She tipped back her straw hat “Country girl, not island girl.”
“What about somewhere further north?” Janessa asked.
We waited for a suggestion.
“Like…” she looked directly at me, “Hatteras Island?”
“Why Hatteras?” Demetri asked.
“Taylor’s from there,” Cheyenne answered.
Randy frowned, “That’s a hell of a long way to go.”
I seriously considered it. It was far, that’s true, several hundred miles, at least nine hours travel on a good day from where we were, but it was hard to access by road, only two main road accesses on the northern part of the island around Pamlico sound. Ferryboats were available but if they needed a pilot, I never drove one of those. Give me a speed boat sure, but those are small. The population was small and spaced out. I certainly knew the area. It was secluded. Not like smaller islands along the coast near where we are now and were easily accessible by road and used as summer vacation spots. Easy for the Changed to come and go on them. And Hatteras has a personal interest for me, my family…my family…might still be there.
“It’s a good idea, I guess. Last week, from what my father told me, there was an island-wide power outage. Some construction was going on up on the north portion and they severed the power lines to the island. They evacuated all the tourists for safety and health reasons. My father said the summer tourist season would suffer if they didn’t get the power back.” I shrugged, “Last I heard, the power hadn’t been restored.”
“Hey, I like lighthouses, I’m game.” Julie grinned beneath her bonnet and popped a bubble, which stuck to her nose ring...again.
Randy smiled, “We’ll suggest it when we get back. Less people on the island, that’s a blessing.” He slumped his shoulders. “Somehow, I don’t think David’s followers will be on board, but we’ll ask anyway.”
Cheyenne flared, “Oh, screw David! We don’t need his permission! We’ll go where we want to go, take who wants to go, and leave that son of a bitch behind.”
Janessa nodded, “Yeah, I don’t really want David going with us either. I don’t like any of the people following him.”
Julie pulled gum off her upper lip, “There’s a lot of people who want safety,” she popped the wad back in her mouth. “You give them somewhere to go,” she made a face, “’cause really, the Hotel ain’t it.” She grinned, “Anyway, who wouldn’t want to live on an island?”
“Got any more gum?” I grinned.
She grabbed her hip, protecting a small bulge, “Um…maybe.” She smiled.
“I have Tootsie Rolls in the Jeep. But they’re probably gooey now.”
She smiled, “One for one.”
“Come on, let’s be serious,” Cheyenne softened. “No David. None of his jerks. They’re dangerous.”
Randy agreed, “They’ll hear what we offer anyway, whether we want them to or not. Whoever wants to come can come.”
“No David,” Cheyenne stood firm, “He won’t be in charge.”
Julie pulled on a string of gum and sucked it back in, “Too bad we don’t have someone to lead us…” she glanced away.
Randy smiled at her, then the sucker smirked at me.
Then Janessa grinned, Demetri smiled, Cheyenne nodded, and Julie, the instigator, popped a bubble and smiled.
“I--”
“Randy! Randy, can you hear me?” Sheila called over Randy’s second radio.
Oh, thank you, Sheila, for your excellent sense of timing.
“Go ahead,” Randy answered.
“We’re in trouble,” Sheila spoke softly. “The group you tore through to get out there? Half of them are heading for the hotel. Zombies, the fast ones, a few Porcupines. They look like they’re sniffing the air searching for something. We’re in big, big trouble.”
Chapter 28
“We’re on our way,” Randy said, “Get everyone quiet, and keep people away from the-”
“We know what to do,” David’s voice cut in. “You just get back here with some firepower. Move your ass.”
Randy didn’t respond.
Janessa exhaled, “I guess we won’t have time to hide weapons then.”
Cheyenne’s face turned red, “I don’t like it, but yeah, we’ve got to get back to the hotel.”
“Saddle up, move out,” I grinned.
Cheyenne frowned, “Yee haw. Here comes the cavalry,” she replied with significant sarcasm.
Janessa ran back to the Jeep and retrieved sunglasses and the baseball caps she kept for Randy and Demetri, who were thankful for the shades.
“We’ll have to make a wide loop,” Randy ordered, “I don’t want the remains of the group we came through to trail right behind us.” He thought for a moment, “Follow me, I’ll be blasting my music until we make the switch back.”
Julie threw up her hand, making devil horns, “Rock on!”
“I’m beginning to worry about you,” I smiled.
She popped a bubble, and ran back to her truck, “Let’s go, let’s go, we march against the forces of Mordor!”
We climbed back into our individual vehicles, Julie’s truck in the middle to protect the supplies. We turned around to go further away from the hotel to start our loop.
KISS’s “I was made for lovin’ you” began playing.
“I can’t wait for the rest of his playlist,” Cheyenne shook her head.
Janessa loaded our weapons, “I actually kind of like it.”
I smiled at her, glancing in the rear-view mirror, “An apocalyptic soundtrack.”
She nodded and asked Cheyenne to tell her which guns to load with which shells.
We were only able to achieve forty miles an hour before Randy called back to us.
“We’ve got trouble. I think we have another pack ahead of us, it’s thick, we’ll have to pick up speed. Be ready for a fight.”
Cheyenne took the radio, “Julie, you just drive. We’ll watch out for you if you get passengers.”
“Aww, I have guardian angels,” she responded.
“I like her, she’s nuts,” Janessa said and closed her eyes to pray.
“I’d love to know what her girlfriend is like,” I said.
Cheyenne cocked the Winchester, “Hopefully, she has a lot of energy. I can’t see her with somebody calm.”
The plow’s horn blew and we collided with the pack.
“Runners!” Demetri yelled over the radio, “We’ve got Runners!”
Runners leapt onto Randy’s truck as it bucked and ran over the Changed. Two Runners jumped on the back of Julie’s pickup, but we were too surrounded for Cheyenne to open a window and fire. Julie realized her dilemma and began swerving as she bumped over the crushed ones making the Runners lose their footing and fall. Some of the Runners on top of the gravel in the plow were falling off; some were stably grounded in the truck bed, looking for new targets. Others leapt at the pickup, bounced off, or missed the pickup entirely. We were bucking too, the fallen Runners adding to the mess beneath us.
“If…if they grab the tarp to hold on, they’ll tear it off,” Cheyenne suddenly said and rolled down the window, tossing her hat into the back.
“What…Cheyenne we have…”
BANG klik-klak
“Janessa, watch her side! Use a pistol! Keep them off her!”
Janessa slid over as a Runner collided with my side of the Jeep and rebounded off. Janessa lowered her window and began shooting any Changed that tried to grab Cheyenne.
Cheyenne came back in, wrapped the seat belt around her left leg and went back out ignoring, my screams for her to get back in and wait.
Janessa fired, Cheyenne fired, Julie swerved, I swerved, I was deaf, Janessa screamed at the Changed, Cheyenne cursed a blue streak. I wasn’t too deaf to hear that.
The Changed communication crescendo rose, hissing, clicking, tweeting. The plow slowed down and the pack converged. Glancing down at the speedometer, we were doing thirty and dropping.
Cheyenne crawled back in halfway, “Reload, need a reload!” then she grunted and was yanked back out! If not for wrapping her leg with the seat belt she would be behind us now.
“Cheyenne!”
Janessa screamed and dove over the passenger seat, trying to pull her back in.
“One’s got her!” Janessa screamed, “One’s got her!”
Cheyenne screamed and her free leg kicked wildly, her left hand held onto the upper windowsill as she fought against the creatures.
“Cheyenne, hang on! Janessa, don’t let her go!” I swerved to the right into the dense group of Roamers ahead of us, hoping to rake the attacker off, “I’m going to try to brush it off!”
Cheyenne rolled on her left side so her belly was against the window and she faced the back of the Jeep, Janessa kept her arms around her waist. We collided and Cheyenne screamed as the packed-together mutations collided against her.
Janessa dragged her back in. Cheyenne’s shirt was missing, her tattered bra was around her neck. She bled from claw marks stretching up her back toward her tangled hair. I pressed the window controls on my side and rolled all the windows up.
“Is she okay?” I yelled, bumping the pack from side to side, increasing our speed.
Cheyenne seemed in shock, her bare chest covered in cuts, her stitches ripped open, bleeding in rivulets. She methodically tried to untangle her leg from the seat belt. Her tangled hair dripped blood.
“I’m…okay,” she mumbled, “Just need a…reload.”
Her eyes were glassy, “Janessa pull her in the back, stop the bleeding.” I grabbed the radio, “Julie, we can’t help you, do your best, Cheyenne’s hurt.”
Janessa freed Cheyenne from the seatbelt and pulled her into the rear; Cheyenne kept repeating that she was okay.
“I’m fine…gimme…a gun stick. Grandpa’s gunshot,” she wiped her hair back leaving streaks of blood across her forehead.
Thankfully Cheyenne is lightweight and Janessa’s strong. Our resident doctor literally hauled her over the middle of the front seats and pulled her up into the seat behind the passenger’s seat.
“I’ve got you, Cheyenne, I’ve got you,” Janessa said, breaking open her first aid kit.
Cheyenne ripped off the remains of her bra and tried to push past Janessa to crawl back in the front, “I’ve got to…Taylor needs my help. Julie’s got trouble…we…um…”
I reached back and pressed against her trying to stop her, she remained strong, “No. No! Cheyenne, we’ve got this. Let Janessa take care of you.”
Janessa pulled and pushed her back into her seat. Which made Cheyenne push forward and try to come back up front again. My hand, I realized, was covered in her blood.
“Cheyenne Stegall!” I screamed, momentarily shocked at the amount of blood on my palm, “Sit down! Be still! Let Janessa help you!”
Janessa and Cheyenne both jumped. Cheyenne froze, sat back, and started crying.
Janessa patted my shoulder and then began treating Cheyenne as I wiped my hand on the remains of my jeans.
My attention returned to Julie in front of us; a Runner was determined to break the cabin window and reach her. Julie kept swerving as music blared from Randy’s stereo.
Unexpectedly, we came out of the Changed pack and increased speed. I checked my mirrors for danger and drew my Colt with my right hand and switched it to my lap. I rolled down the window, took the pistol and aimed at the female Runner on the back of Julie’s pickup.
BANG
Julie swerved too randomly and I was shooting with my left hand.
BANG
Missed again.
Julie stopped swerving.
BANG
Missed.
BANG
The Runner toppled forward, black blood trailing down her spine, did a half turn and tumbled off the pickup bed.
Julie gave me a thumb up.
“Janessa?” I asked, pulling my arm back in and rolled up the window.
Cheyenne cried softly, her back to me, and Janessa worked at the scrapes down her back and shoulders.
“She’ll be okay,” Janessa assured me.
“You sure?”
Janessa gave me a wide-eyed impatient look, and tipped her head at Cheyenne, “I said she’ll be okay.”
“How’s Cheyenne?” Randy and Julie asked over the radio. Randy killed his music.
“I’m fine,” Cheyenne whispered.
“She’s fine, scratched up, but she’ll be fine,” I responded.
“We’re about to make our switch back.” Randy said, “Sheila says two Porcupines crawled over the wall and were drinking from the hoses. They were sniffing the air and found the water. More are following those. The place is on lockdown. No one did anything to the Porcupines because after they drank their fill, they crawled back over the wall and ran off. She says twenty or so are following the same path the Porcupines took. I think the smell of water is attracting them.”
“The temperature has to be over ninety,” I responded. “Unless they know how to turn on a spigot or water sprinkler, they could die from the heat. They’re thirsty.”
“That’s not good,” Julie interrupted, “This heat had us in drought conditions for a month. As far as I know, no sprinklers, no pool refills, nothing. Water is scarce.”
“So, they’re searching for the only source of water they can smell. The hotel’s,” I added.
Randy cursed, “Sheila just said one of those jumpers just came over the wall and got too curious. It came around the front and saw some kids peeking out between boards they put up. It tried to break in and they shot it. That’s attracted others.”
The plow increased its speed.
“She’s saying twenty from one group are coming, and…damn…forty from another direction are coming.”
Cheyenne turned back around and let Janessa continue working on her stitches, I flipped the rearview mirror up to give her some privacy. I made a point of not looking at her, no matter how concerned I may be.
“We’re taking the straightest route back to home base. They may be completely defenseless if we don’t get there soon.”
“Roger that, lead the way,” I said.
We hurried past groups of two or three. Skittlers and adults. Volcanos tried to splash us and failed. Roamers reached out their hands. I understood why the hotel group called them zombies, they moved like their movie comparison. Leapers bounced after us but gave up. Thankfully we neither saw nor heard any Tanks. Several Runners did a slow jog after us but were too far from us to do an active pursuit.
“Got another shirt?” Cheyenne mumbled, which made me glance back. Her arms were crisscrossed over her chest. She looked exhausted. Beat up, mangled, and dog-tired. Still so incredibly beautiful. Her hair was pulled off her face and tied in a knot on the back of her head.
Janessa crawled to the back of the Jeep and pulled out a white, spaghetti-strap, blouse as I flipped the mirror back down so I could see her as we talked.
I paid attention to the road as Cheyenne dressed. The blouse melted onto her figure. Multiple bandages and band-aids showed through the fabric. She sighed as she pulled it forward and looked down.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Ten seconds. Ten seconds before my shirt is covered in blood and dirt.” She sighed again at the tiny spots and tied a knot above her belly, “I might as well get used to it.”
“You look fine,” I offered.
She grinned, “Sure, I do. Tape, disinfectant, and bandages are the style this year.”
“Pfft, you would look good in anything.”
Janessa and Cheyenne both smiled. Cheyenne leaned up and kissed me on the cheek.
I didn’t ask what for anymore.
“If Janessa…and you…will give me permission, since you used my full name…to crawl back into the front seat. I would like to.”
Oops. She has a tone I haven’t heard yet. But it’s not a pleasant one.
“Permission granted,” I nodded, trying to be funny.
She smirked and crawled into the front, her left leg had a serious seatbelt burn. “That’s gonna leave a mark, huh?” she sounded defeated.
We can’t have that type of defeatist attitude.
“I can kiss it and make it better?” I wiggled my eyebrows.
She shook her head, “Yeah, right, I have something you can kiss.”
“I can do that too,” I grinned wider.
Janessa coughed, “Hey, an under age person back here?”
“You have to grow up sometime,” I smiled.
Cheyenne took my hand and held it to her cheek below her black eye and her small cut. I didn’t say anything.
Janessa watched her do it, looked at me, then leaned over to watch the right side of the Jeep.
“This is the only place I don’t hurt,” Cheyenne said.
I gently rubbed her cheek, avoiding the dark bruise and ran my thumb lightly over her lips.
She stopped my finger with both hands and kissed my thumb, then closed her eyes and held my hand against her cheek again, she kept it there as I drove.
“Guys, stop your cars and pull up so you can see this,” Randy came over the radio.
We did as he asked, checking the area before we stepped out, armed. We could see the hotel through the desiccated tree foliage ahead of us.
We joined Randy and Demetri beside the front of the plow, everyone concerned with the new cuts and scratches covering Cheyenne. She grew irritated at the attention and shrugged us off. Except me. She leaned against me for support, I held her up by her small waist.
“Look at that,” Randy said.
Three groups of Changed were gathering around the hotel from three different directions. They were mostly Roamers and Skittlers, three Leapers, at least two Runners, several Volcanos, and a few recently changed still with hair and scraps of clothing.
Most of them were sniffing the air and moving toward the side with the water hoses.
They blocked the entrance gate to the parking lot around the hotel. Our only way in.
