POV- Dani
We all stared for a moment, wondering if Tags should pull the trigger or not. They all looked at me, waiting for my signal… the OK. It was to dark to see what was moving out there, but my eyes caught hints that told me this was an unusual situation. First off, there was a dark looming, solid figure against the night sky that looked like some kind of facility. Seeing that, the first thing that went through our heads was food, shelter, water and a place to rest. But the only reason we had come this way, was because we saw smoke… something was burning. As we arrived it had gotten darker, and I saw the burnt sagebrush and blacked ground from some kind of explosion. That's when Tags saw the movement in the sagebrush. He had pulled the gun up instantly. But I saw something that made me hold my hand up as the 'wait' signal. Tags didn't ask questions… none of the boys did. They just waited… and I kenw they saw it to. The movement… was a person. Infected or not we didn't know. But I realized, with a sudden surprise… it wasn't a zombie. One, was because the person seemed to be working on something small and complicated. Zombies didn't do anything of the sort unless it had to do with food, in which case they would be frantically tearing at the box or container. But watching the boy, the movements were slow, precise and calm. And second of all, the figure had a conscious. I knew this because the figure straightened and looked toward the forests edge more then once. We were safely hidden in the tree line, it being to dark for the figure to see us.
"It's a kid…" Tags said, still looking through the scope, "Dani…" I hushed him.
"Another survivor? Out here?" the driver, Flint said. We were all surprised to see the human out there… we hadn't seen another survivor for months. The further west we headed, the less survivors and the more zombies we saw.
"Dani what do we do?" Dub asked from the back of the jeep.
"Well…" I thought, "If he's out here... he's got food. Water. Heat."
"What if he's like the last guy…" Tags said. I licked my lips. The last guy made an even and memory they didn't want to repeat. He had seemed nice, and had so much supplies they didn't think a few pounds was much at all to share. But the guy had other plans… and they lost everything they had and left Flint with a missing finger. Just a crate of food… that's all they asked for. But the idiot had no intentions of sharing, and tricked us. He had us locked in a butcher's fridge for three days… almost starving them to death before I picked the lock and we grabbed the food and ran. Flint had jumpstarted the car and they were off. Off to find a place to settle down and rest for a few weeks, before heading out again. Their mission was a simple one: kill as many zombies as possible on their way to Morter Refuge. A place they heard was a safe heaven. But after months of traveling… they just wanted to stop and rest a while. And here seemed like a good place. The question was: was it really?
I pulled rifle from the back, and cocked it. The boys did the same.
"Let's check it out. No mistakes." I said. Flint floored it, the jeep peeling out into the tundra. The sagebrush was nothing more that a few sticks against the speed and mass of our rig as we sped over to the figure. Whoever it was, heard us coming instantly and moved faster that I expected anyone to move, almost beeting the jeep itself. But Flint had grown up behind the wheel and cut the boy off, framing him in the headlights. Tags and Dub jumped out, their guns on him instantly.
"Hands!" I yelled, seeing the boy reached behind him… probably for a gun. I expected the boy to pull the gun anyway… but he didn't. he slowly raised his hands, clear so we could see them.
'Who are you?" he asked, oddly calm for one on the wrong end of a gun. And he didn't seemed surprise to see survivors either. Had he seen more?
"We're asking you the same question." Tags said.
"My name is Alex." He said.
"Wonderful. Alex. Do you live out here?" I asked.
"Yes."
"And you're not infected?" Dub asked.
"I'm speaking to you aren't I?" he said.
"Look… we need a place to rest and eat." I said, "We don't want to hurt anyone."
"The guns say otherwise." Alex said.
"We ain't lowering em." Flint said firmly. Alex nodded.
"I understand…" he said, "safety first. I respect that. I can honestly say it's nice to see a face without skin falling off it."
"Same." I said respectfully back. He seemed ok.. but you can't be to careful.
"I can offer you food and place to stay. How long you planning on hanging about?" Alex asked.
"That's our business." I said.
"Fair enough." He said. Alex was amazed at how calmly he acted in a situation like this, "But I can only guess how hungry you guys are… we're only human. Whoever's left in the world.. people… the REAL people, should stick together. The day we turn on each other is the day the world really ends." I gave a small knowing laugh, and smiled. I liked this kid.
"My names Dani." I said, "And we won't refuse the offer of food… if it's still open."
"Of course. My sister…"
"There more of you?" Tags boomed his grip tightening on his gun.
"Yes…" Alex answered easily, "Actually she should be…" suddenly his face went pale, and he swore under his breath. Instantly everyone went tense.
"What?" Flint demanded.
"Lower your guns… quick." Alex said.
"Hell no." Dub snapped back. Alex's eyes began to panic.
"If you want to live… lower your guns. Please I'm not playing… you guys don't understand. My sister…"
"Shut up…" Tags snapped.
"Vee!" Alex suddenly called out, "Easy! Vee are you out there? Can you hear me?" Was he insane? That would explain the calm stature in front of a gun…
"Dub get his gun…" I ordered. But no one moved, "Dub!" I turned to look at Dub… or where he was suppose to be. But he was gone.
"What the…" Flint started. Suddenly Alex moved.
"Vee!" he rushed towards me, faster then Flint or Tags could react. He ran fast right at me, hands pumping at his side. I gripped the trigger ready to pull it "Vera no!" he yelled, suddenly spinning around me. Ummpphhf! Alex slammed into a body only inches behind me, a knife in hand. Something that scared me out of my wits. How did ANYONE get so close without making a sound? I quickly realized Alex saved my life.
Instantly Alex and the figures were up. They were out of the cars headlights, and it was to dark to see anything but silhouettes and the glint of a knife. My mind flashed to our missing Dub.
"Vera! Easy! Clam down! They're ok! Vera!" Alex wrestled as the figure with the knife still tried to advance towards me, "VERA!" Finally, they stopped struggling.
"They almost killed you!" the figure snapped. My grip wavered on my gun… a girl's voice?
"They were just being careful!" Alex said back.
"But you didn't do anything!" she hissed back.
"Vera calm down… please." Alex said. He turned back to me, "I'm sorry about that. You just scared us."
"Where's Dub? Where's our friend?" I demanded. Alex looked back at the girl.
"What'd you do with him Vera?" he asked. The girl sighed.
"I tossed him under the jeep." She muttered. I waved my hand and Tags ran back for the jeep.
"He's here!" Tags said. In the dark I could barely make out him pulling a body out.
"He alright?" Alex asked, "Vera?"
"He'll be fine. I just knocked him out." She said. I blinked. Just knocked him out? You can't just knock someone out!
"Vera put the knife away…" Alex said. But she made no move to do so.
"He tried to shoot you." She said, her voice dark.
"Vera easy. It was an accident. They just want something to eat and a place to rest." Alex said, sounding a bit panicked.
"Ya? Really? How long? They could be here all year eating our food and not paying any contribution. Alex you can't trust them." The girl hissed back.
"Vera… they're not fakes. They're people. We can't turn down their request."Alex argued back.
"yes we can. We've done it before we can do it again." Alex turned back to me, and eyed the gun in my hand.
"It might help if you pretend to be friendly." He said. But we didn't move… didn't shift our aim to the ground. We held them at gunpoint. The girl jerked towards Flint… the closest gunmen to her, but Alex caught her. Was she so insane that she would charge someone with a gun pointed right at her? Alex grabbed her shoulders and made her look straight at him.
"Look at me' he said, "Vera look at me. Calm down… I know you're in hyper mode. You need to calm down and breathe."
"They could've killed you." She said again.
"I know… and they still can." I saw the girl tense "But we will forever hold what Grandfather told us… understood?" the girl did respond. Was she calming down? Relaxed? I couldn't tell
"Alex they…"
"I know. But killing them doesn't make you any better then them. If you don't trust them… trust ME. Calm down, get off this mode." Again we heard silence in the dark. But suddenly I saw the glint of her knife as she put it away. Then I saw the figure turn to me directly.
"One move… one wrong look, and they're dead." She said. She folded her arm, and Alex looked back at me, flashing his eyes at the guns.
"Our weapons are down.' He said. I looked him in the eye in what light I could see.
"Are they insane or something?" Tags whispered at me. I didn't know. But I could smell food… and my stomach told me I had to take a chance or we'd all die. I lowered my weapon, and the others followed my lead. Alex relaxed, and the girl shifted.
"Sorry about that shot I got off." I said. Alex shrugged,
"it's only smart to be careful… I'm not blaming anyone." He said. I smiled, beginning to like this Alex kid, he seemed smart. He knew what he was doing. A leader, and yet no threat to me. "Come on, dinner should be ready."
"I only made enough for two." The girl answered hotly.
"We'll make more." Alex said back. The girl huffed.
"I'm NOT cooking for these imposters." She said firmly, "And nor will I give them any attention. They want a place to stay… YOU set them up. I refuse to be any part of helping them survive." And with that she stomped off. We all watched her go.
"That's a bit rash." Flint muttered.
"You'll have to excuse her. She doesn't like strangers. Come on, you're friend better be somewhere warm when he wakes up or he'll be mad." Good point, I thought.
"Take him up." I said. Flint and Tags piled back into the car, while I followed Alex towards the facility up ahead. As I got closer, I saw it was not a facility… but a castle. "Holy…" I started.
"Family heirloom. Been in my family for generations and it just happened to be in great condition when the epidemic hit." Alex said with a smile.
"No wonder you guys are surviving out here."
"What do you mean?"
"I've traveled over six thousand miles… and the further west I go, the thicker the infected get, and less people we see. We figured no one would be crazy enough to live out here… and survive at least."
"considering we live in a peninsula… not much of the infected come down here. But when they do…" Alex let it hang, With the torches on the wall, I could clearly see our host. He was a big build, and looked to me he could handle himself. He wore rough and worn jeans, much like the rest of us, and blue shirt with a heavy jacket. He had a head of shaggy blonde hair, and a pair of bright green eyes.
"What were you doing out there anyway?" I asked remembering the explosive marks on the ground.
"We had an attack earlier today. I was… cleaning up." He said.
"An attack? What like more then one?" I asked. Alex laughed.
"More then one? Always. Out here they've learned to band together. Ten or twele maximum. Mostly in bunches of four, unless theirs food involved… then theirs hundreds. We burn what we kill so we don't attract attention." He said.
"But they can smell it…" I said.
"Bleach takes care of that." Alex said. I blinked. Bleach… genius! Why hadn't anyone thought of that?
"I'm impressed." I said, "I honestly am."
"Well we do what we must." Alex said.
"Where can we park the car?" I asked, as my buddies pulled in through the gate.
"Right over there… along the wall. The stables aren't open at the moment… temporarily out of use. If it wasn't you'd be able to park there." I waved Flint over and motioned where to park. He nodded and pulled up.
"This is freaking wicked!" Tags said jumping out of the jeep, "Dude you realize this is a CASTLE right? A FORTRESS. I seriously think I'll get a good night sleep tonight."
"This is some crazy medieval thing you got going Alex." Tags said.
"Well it'll be nice to actually sleep tonight without worrying about waking to my flesh being gnawed on." I said.
"No worries. We lock up pretty well at night." Alex said. I looked at him. He seemed to be one of the few honest people left, and what he said out in the field made sense.
"Look, I don't want to intrude. And I don't want to be a burden. If this fortress is as safe as I think it is…" I unlocked my gun, and put it away. "Then I guess it should stay that way both outside and IN."
"Dani…" Tags gave me a look.
"What he said made sense. If we can't trust our own kind… we won't survive. We won't get anywhere." Alex smiled.
"I wish my sister saw that." He said, 'Don't push her buttons though. She will kill you." I didn't know if he was serious or not.
