Disclaimer: If I did own this I think that would be kinda cool...are you kidding me? It would be f*cking sweet! But I don't, so don't sue me.
Chapter 6: Spring Forward
Morning found them refueled and back on the road. The day was next to uneventful; the night even more so. Alice took turns driving with Claire, and K-mart kept her gaze mostly out the armored window next to her. Silence was prominent, but it wasn't uncomfortable like the blonde had assumed it would be.
The next day, they were still traveling through Montana. Around noon they crossed the Canadian border, and a stop for fuel and supplies was in the books.
The sportsman's store they pulled into was about as commonplace on the border as boulders had been in Colorado. Once upon a time, Alice imagined the many tourists and locals that would've come in to buy fishing licenses and the like. Canadian hospitality had probably made this building full of good cheer and warmth, but when Alice opened the wooden door only the sound of a lonely bell greeted her.
The space was much larger than it looked from the outside. Alice un-holstered a single pistol and felt slightly overwhelmed by the variety of products that lined the shelves. There were vast amounts of lures, fishing poles, and camping gear. Racks of camouflage and hunter-orange clothing were located near the right wall next to the guns.
This place had been exactly what Alice was hoping before. She would be able to find the winter gear she required, all without realizing the fact that she was planning for the winter months ahead.
Alice entered a few paces, her heart calm until the liquid in her veins vibrated lightly. Finally, a little action, she thought. Claire appeared in the doorway next to her. K-mart had remained in the Hummer just like every time they'd stopped. Alice considered sending her back but the redhead would probably refuse.
"We're not alone," Alice whispered.
The movement of her blood was coupled with a rise in adrenaline as she took steady steps forward. A rancid odor, courtesy of putrefaction, came in her nose as wafting tendrils and she took it in. Then a delicate moan from the expulsion of air through a rotted windpipe helped her to pinpoint the undead. She lived for this.
According to her altered DNA there were no more than three infected creatures within a twenty foot radius of her, and one, according to the moan and the smell, was behind the tall shelf on her left.
Alice didn't focus on being quiet anymore; the fiend already knew there was clean flesh nearby. She turned and went right into the open aisle. Though the undead was excited, it was still sluggish. Alice raised her arm and sent a bullet into the leathery, dehydrated skin of its forehead. The corpse crumbled to the floor and the miniature explosion from her gun attracted the other undead from the back of the store.
The blonde took the one on the left and Claire the one on the right. The shots were fired in near unison, and with them Alice's blood stilled.
The next hour was spent in the store gathering supplies. Alice found a coat, snow pants, gloves, and boots that were all insulated and waterproof as Claire collected the same items for K-mart and herself. Next, the blonde took the time to retrieve more ammo from the gun section of the shop and even picked up bullets for Claire's rifle. She got what she required and for free too; perhaps Canadian hospitality wasn't dead after all.
On their last trip to the Hummer, Alice almost dropped her armful of camping tools when her blood nearly jumped out of her skin. Something was coming, and it was coming fast. She threw the equipment unceremoniously into the back of the Hummer and then shut the hatch, keeping hold of only the short, metal hatchet.
Alice didn't know where the threat would come from; her blood was only good as an alert system. K-mart was still in the vehicle, Claire was still in the store and Alice was between them both waiting for the danger to make itself known.
From across the road, in a small grove of pines a howl rang out. The pitch of the cry rose and fell before it was joined by a harmony of others. Alice twirled the silver axe in her hand once. Dogs –I hate dogs, she vented.
Alice threw back her hood and shook out her blonde hair as the first beast stalked its way out from behind the green branches of a thick pine tree. It's bloody, matted hackles were raised in pure aggression as it let out a snarl showing the white of its fangs. The beast was massive with an elongated muzzle and a thick fur coat the color of frozen mountain peaks. Put simply – it was no dog.
Alice stared into its amber eyes and found a kind of intelligence there. That was another thing she hated. Animals, unlike infected humans, seemed to be smarter. She'd watched an undead marsh hawk search systematically for its next meal; it flew over an area and moved onto the next one, never flying over ground it had already covered. She theorized that it was because they weren't so far gone from their natural state. Besides personal safety and procreation, food had been the only thing on their minds. Most carnivores already had cannibalistic tendencies; the desire for flesh, even that of their own kind, was never unnatural to them.
The infected beast was swiftly flanked by two others of its kind, and they moved as one to approach Alice at a silent trot. The three broke off, one standing still in front of her five yards away as the others went to the positions of ten and two, and waited. It unnerved Alice to see them showing restraint.
Suddenly, Alice picked up the sound of nails hitting cement behind her. It was a trap; the three were merely a distraction. She spun only in time to catch the bloody jaws of a black wolf with the handle of the axe before they could close around her neck. The beast gnashed the metal in its teeth prior to breaking away and joining the rest of the pack as it circled her.
Now there were eight wolves and Alice readied to take them, but then the onyx beast that attacked her lifted its nose and took a whiff of the air. Its ears swiveled backwards to listen to the Hummer and then it rotated its head to look. Alice lifted her eyes briefly and saw K-mart looking out. Then another wolf broke from the procession to growl at the entrance of the store. Shit!
Alice couldn't wait any longer; she turned and hurled the axe at the undead animal in front of the building. The hatchet buried itself into the wolf's skull. As the creature dropped, the black wolf snapped its teeth and the pack struck.
Two wolves on the left bounded for her and a third from her right. Alice kicked the first to reach her in the head, snapping its neck as she pulled out a pistol and shot the next one. The third beast jumped on her shoulder but she reached back with her free hand, grabbed it by a paw and threw it to the ground, breaking its foreleg in several places and then its spine.
Five wolves remained, but Alice wasn't fighting alone anymore. Claire emerged from the store, pistol drawn and aimed at the creature about to spring for Alice's leg. The redhead shot the wolf and continued to fire. Alice or Claire dispersed every infected beast until only the onyx one was still standing. The blonde almost shot it but then it moved so that Claire was between them. She put away her pistol, confident that the other woman could take care of the final threat.
Claire slowly re-holstered her handgun and in the same steady motion withdrew her knife. The wolf snarled at her.
What the fuck is she doing? Alice thought, and then realized that Claire must be out of ammo. She was only a few paces behind the redhead; the wolf at a likewise distance. They lunged at the same time; the beast to kill her; Alice to save her.
Alice knocked Claire to the side, reaching her mere milliseconds before the wolf did. She grabbed the beast, each hand keeping its jowls from snapping shut on her fingers. With pure and quick exertion, she ripped the mandibles apart. The jaw came off its hinges in a gory mess and Alice let it fall to the ground as she released the wolf.
There was no way the maimed hunter could kill now and she was sure it felt no pain, but it still needed to die. It stared up at her, congealed blood falling from its upper jaw and collecting in a pool on the cement. For an instant she felt a kind of recognition behind its tarnished gold eyes as they both took heavy breaths and their adrenaline faded. In a lot of ways she was like the wolf. They lived for the hunt and they lived for the kill, even before the creature became infected. The difference being that the beast acknowledged his need for pack, while Alice denied hers.
Your hunt is over…brother. With a bullet, she ended the predator's undead existence.
Claire was still trying to collect herself from the ground when the blonde walked over to her and held out her hand, making sure that it was free of infected blood first.
The redhead looked at it but hesitated.
"I'm not going to bite," Alice said and Claire smirked.
"Poor choice of words, don't you think?"
Alice laughed and Claire finally took the outstretched hand. The blonde pulled her up with a little too much force and the redhead ended up practically colliding with the taller woman. She caught Claire in her arms and for a moment their bodies were close.
The redhead cleared her throat, and Alice let her go so she could take a step back.
"You ok?" Alice asked, and for the first time in years voiced her concern for another. "I didn't mean to push you so hard."
"I'm ok…but I could've handled that dog just fine."
"Are you kidding me?" Alice asked astonished. "That was no sled team, Claire. Those were wolves!"
The redhead met her blue eyes with amusement. "Why so worried, Alice?"
The blonde shut her trap as K-mart exited the Hummer and Claire continued to call her out.
"I didn't think you were the type."
"I'm not," she growled.
"Right," Claire said with sarcasm.
The teen walked to Claire, and the redhead turned to face the girl as Alice tried to burn a hole in the back of her head with her eyes. Damn women, Alice cursed. It's fucking both of them. Both of them have it out for me.
The blonde folded her arms across her chest, unconsciously flexing the muscles in her forearms.
"You alright, K?" Claire asked.
K-mart nodded and Claire brought her hand up to muss the teen's sand-colored hair. She turned back to Alice with one arm around K-mart's shoulder in a familiar gesture. The pair briefly glanced at each other and as paranoid as Alice was – she would've sworn that she saw a silent agreement pass between them.
It's a damn conspiracy, Alice thought as they looked at her again, each with a cheerful smile on their seemingly innocent faces.
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