2. Arrival
El opened the car door and got out. Then a creepy, disturbing noise broke the night's silence.
"What the fuck is that?" When Cain got out of the car there was the same sound again.
"Language, young man!" Charlie said, but it was obviously just from habit. It was not as if her son's swearing was the most important thing right now.
"Bones," Jeep whispered, having shone his flashlight downwards.
"What? Shit!" Cain almost jumped on discovering that he was standing on someone's remains.
"Relax," said El calmly. "They won't bite." And then she added after a moment's thought, "Well, not anymore."
"Why are we here?" There was pure terror in Charlie's voice. "What the point of being in this damned place?"
Jeep frowned. He really didn't like how scared his wife sounded. They had been together almost twenty years, but he still loved her as much as back then, or maybe even more. She and Cain, that was all he had now, all that remained for him. They made him strong enough to have survived the Apocalypse. Not just to have gone through the motions but to have lived every moment and embraced all the joy that was left in the world. And it didn't matter that there were gray streaks in her hair, or she had put on weight. It didn't matter at all. The whole world might have gone to Hell but it would not change his feelings towards his wife. So he really didn't like the fact that El had brought them here.
"Was this really necessary?" he said out loud in a sharp voice, looking at the dark figure standing in front of the vehicle in the glare of the headlamps.
She shrugged and then took a cigarette pack from her pants pocket. "Dunno. I guess he has a bit of a strange sense of humor." She lit up and inhaled deeply. "Even by my standards."
"Will someone explain to me what the hell is going on here?" Cain aimed a half-hearted kick at one of the skulls on the ground. "Who the hell is 'he'?"
"Hey, did you hear that?" Charlie interrupted him, and they all froze in silence. Now they could clearly hear a noise, one that sounded like a car approaching. Someone was coming for them.
Cain, moving really quickly, got into the car and turned the headlamps off. Then he got out and took up position behind an old crashed truck on the right side of the SUV. That way, if there was going to be a gunfight, the newcomer or newcomers would be forced to shoot left, which most people found more difficult. It could take seconds to adjust, and sometimes just one second could make the difference between life and death.
Charlie and Jeep took up places behind the SUV's opened doors.
"Not all that smart," said El, not even bothering to change her position. Instead she leaned back on the SUV's hood. "I love this car. If anyone hits it while aiming at you, I'll kill you myself."
"Not funny!" Jeep was obviously nervous.
"Oh, I think it is," she smirked, and then dropped her cigarette butt and crushed it with a heavy boot heel, so that they disappeared in the resulting darkness. If you didn't know where to look, it would be almost impossible to find them. "And there'll be much more fun. Cain, get your questions ready. The very man who has the answers is almost here."
***
In another minute they saw an old silver Chevy pull over right in front of them. The driver opened the door and got out. At that very moment, Jeep turned the SUV's headlamps on, and a man – it definitely was a man – shielded his eyes with his left arm, giving them enough time to take a good look at him.
He was tall, more than 6 foot, slim but powerfully built, with short dark-blond hair. He was wearing black pants and a t-shirt under a vest, no jacket, despite the chilly, even cold, night air. His arms were completely covered with some strange tattoo. No visible guns.
Cain looked at El and she nodded.
"Clear," he said, and Jeep switched the headlamps to low beam.
The man dropped his hand, and his blue-gray eyes looked at them in quiet amusement. "It's so nice to see you all alive," he said in a deep, pleasant voice, a flicker of a smile on his face.
El straightened up and took a step forward. "Well, hey yourself, too, Michael."