Chapter 4 – Newport

Meg

"Let's get the people out of this village right now, Lev!" I exclaimed as I watched practically an entire horde attack the community we were in, which left me in complete despair.

I ran from one side to the other in a vain attempt to save the villagers from the small group led by Emily Gray, a person I held in high regard and had known for a long time, but I could do little or nothing. I brought my hands to my knees to catch my breath as I approached a tree. We had burned down some houses in the village in which we trapped most of the infected, but the strategy proved ineffective because some of them managed to escape by breaking the windows.

I was about to pass another command to Lev when I watched in terror as an enemy knocked him down so aggressively that a deep gash was opened in the boy's head. If I couldn't keep him alive, surely Abby would abandon the mission, because I tell that everything she was trying was for the sake of providing a better world for him.

But because of a poorly thought out strategy on my part, we were about to succumb to a large horde. Because although I kept trying to help people, all I heard was screams and more screams, which gave me bitter memories of the day of the outbreak, when I was only five years old.

"Hey Meg, wake up!"

I opened my eyes and sat up in the makeshift bed quickly as I heard someone call me and poked me repeatedly in the left arm. It was then that I promptly recognized Lev, as well as realized that he and I were watching the perimeter and since it was his turn, I had gone to rest for a few hours.

"Fuck… What happened?" I inquired with visible concern.

"Nothing. You were dreaming." He replied simply.

"Me?"

"Yes."

"Did I say anything?"

"Yep. You said my name over and over again." Lev answered with some seriousness. "Look, Meg, as much as we get along, you're already forty one years old, you're too old for me and…"

"Hey, boy!" I giggled. I loved it when he made such a lighthearted comment despite the difficult situation we were in. "Rest assured, you're family, but not on those terms." I replied, before rubbing my eyes with some impatience.

"So that means you like someone, huh." He affirmed after a few moments of silence.

I turned around and looked at some of the houses in the village behind us. I had promised Emily that I would take care of the one hundred and forty people there and protect them with my own life if necessary. But the nightmare had been too real to simply ignore. So I got up from the makeshift bed that had been made by Lev out of leaves from various trees and slowly walked over until I was sitting next to him, high up on one of the walls that surrounded the small village.

"Maybe so." I replied finally, albeit mysteriously.

"Is it Abby's?" He wanted to know in a quick inquiry and why not say hopeful.

"Why the question, boy?" It was my turn to question him.

"Because you two are always so focused on missions and are so lonely… You should date."

"Well, as pretty as she is, I'm sorry to disappoint you." I spoke softly, laughing lightly right after. "I really like her yeah, but it's not like that."

"Okay. Then don't tell me anything. I'll find out who this person is, rest assured." His tone was amused.

I smiled slightly. "Lev, I think the main thing is for us to hold off until Emily and the others return from Cannon Beach with the documents Abby mentioned regarding the research Doctor Anderson did before following the Fireflies, because according to what she told me, there were a lot more notes than in the journal."

"Yeah, I know, but that's part of the mission." He retorted in a whisper. "I'm trying to distract you a little, because it seems like you're carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. No matter how many responsibilities you have, you need to have some fun at some point." He argued, before looking around.

"It's so many years of fighting this Cordyceps shit… There comes a time when you feel like you're losing the battle. I think if Abby were here, she would tell me that we can't lose the war, but maybe a few battles we won't be able to win."

"That's why I think you two should have a biding match."

I raised an eyebrow and laughed. "Have a what?"

"A bid, come on… Isn't that how you say it?"

"Yeah, it might be… But where did you learn that way of speaking?"

"From your sister." He answered sincerely.

"I'll talk to Sophia as soon as the sun comes up, then."

"Don't cuss her, okay? I actually commented to her about how Abby and you are alike in some ways, so she told me she wishes you two had a affair. It was not at all premeditated that she teach me this new expression."

"Okay, I'll trust what you say. But as I said before, as much as I think Abby is beautiful, we're very similar in ways that wouldn't allow us to get along in others."

"Are you talking about the physical strength you two have, or about sex?"

I tried to hold back a laugh, but I couldn't. "Fuck Lev…" I bent forward for air, because I had laughed too hard, and because of a sore rib from a fight with a runner the day before, I urgently needed to stop laughing. "It's actually not about sexual issues or physical strength issues, it's just that I get the impression that she likes someone."

"Abby?"

"Yeah. Why that expression of astonishment?"

"Simple: because she has never said anything to me, come on!"

"Maybe it's something she hasn't even realized." I cogitated.

"And is that possible? You liking someone without them noticing?"

"Of course it is, it happens more than you realize. You're only twenty-four, you have a long road ahead of you…"

"If I don't get killed by anyone infected before..."

"Don't even tell me that, boy!" I exclaimed visibly frightened.

"That's what your nightmare was about, wasn't it?"

"Yes." I confessed as I sighed heavily. "I guess… I feel very afraid of failing you all…" I gestured with my hand toward the location we were looking out for. "And before you went to Portland, Abby asked me to look after you."

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Don't take on that responsibility."

"That's not the point. I happen to know how important you are to her, so I thought it only fair to keep an eye on you."

"And I appreciate it. The thing is, as much as she loves me, Abby won't be able to get you to protect me forever. That's why you started training me, years before. Not least because, as you said, I'm twenty four."

"Yeah. And that's why she and I punched each other that day I started training you four years ago: because her protective instinct is raised to the highest level when it comes to you, and as much as I didn't want to fight with her, I had no other choice. But I understood, days after we talked, that this is due to the fact that you both spent a long time in the power of a faction that enslaved people."

"Exactly, it was almost four months, I think. But slowly she will understand that I have grown up and that I don't need such care anymore."

I looked up at the few visible stars after nodding in a slight movement. I remained in this position for countless minutes, just admiring the night landscape around us while reflecting on the missions we needed to do to rescue as many individuals as possible. A few meters ahead there was the presence of dense vegetation, which made the early morning air dark in the extreme. The only reason the atmosphere wasn't more gloomy was that the moon was trying to illuminate it.

'Will she be able to help the residents of the Campbell-led community?' I inquired, turned back to Abby.

"Probably yeah, I just think I should have gone along with her there."

"Why?"

"Because of the girl from Jackson who went after her twice…"

"Abby told me about it, we talked a lot after she realized she could trust me."

"Was that before or after you guys fought?"

I laughed lightly as I remembered the situation. "It was after. I think she realized that she could trust me."

"Actually seemed to be trustworthy from the beginning, when you saved our lives."

"I'm glad you think so." I spoke, before turning to him. "Do you think we should go after her?"

"Yes!"

"Yeah? You were quick with your answer, huh." I commented amusedly.

"The problem is that we have no way out of Newport at the moment. We would leave those people unguarded, because not all of them know how to fight those demons yet." He stated as he continued his reasoning. "But maybe we can wait for Emily to return with the squadron." The boy cogitated.

"Good thinking. Those ten people who accompanied her will be more than enough to continue training everyone here and protect them as well, should any hordes threaten them." It was then that I nodded to the bed made from tree leaves. "You can sleep if you want, I know you're exhausted. I'll continue the vigil until morning, which by the way isn't too far off." I suggested.

"You're not sleepy?"

"Nope." I answered evasively, because I was actually afraid of having another nightmare like that one.

"Do you know what I'm afraid of, Meg?" He inquired, as soon as he got down from the wall and started walking to the bed.

"Nope. Tell me, what is it?"

"That those infected people in the vicinity will end up killing all of us."

"Well, I believe this corroborates Abby's theory that Newport isn't as safe a city as we thought it would be, so we may have to look elsewhere for us to establish a base." I spoke, before he lay back down. "But stay calm, we'll find a solution to this problem."

"Only these enemies are too smart… They're eventually find a way in here. And I don't want to have to find out that I'm not enough to take care of these people… They're all innocent and don't deserve to be slaughtered by this bunch of savages." He commented, as genuinely as he could.

Moved by the boy's concern, I got down from the makeshift lookout post and walked silently over to him. Then I crouched down and gently stroked his thinning hair. For although he was a grown man, Lev had many more traumas than Abby to deal with — at least until now I hadn't realized that doctor Jerry Anderson's daughter had so many unresolved emotional issues. But he had lost people he cared about in tragic ways and had to rely on Abby to survive. Then the two of them were caught in California and were imprisoned by the Rattlers, so I was absolutely certain that if there was anyone who had been through a lot over the years, it was him.

As soon as I was sure that the boy had fallen asleep I returned to the makeshift outpost; I jumped on the wall, stretched my legs and kept my eyes peeled for nothing, because usually nobody appeared in the vicinity of the village except infected people looking for food and, once in a while travelers who used to exchange items with us. Anyway it was always good that someone didn't sleep.

Minutes later, I took the hunting rifle from my backpack when I heard sounds on the road near the camp and looked through the bezel to try to identify what it could be. However, it was my ears that first picked up the unmistakable engine noise. It was Emily, who had returned with the team of soldiers. At last some good news, at least that's what I hopped.

As a precaution, I kept the rifle pointed in the direction of the noise, while the sky began to take on an orange tint that showed that morning was beginning to dawn. I smiled as I saw the commander of the group get down from the vehicle and lowered the gun, however I was apprehensive when she came alone to talk to me.

"Hi."

"What's up?" My tone was a mix of concern and apprehension.

"I'm glad you guys are still here."

"What happened, Emily?"

"I lost five soldiers … All bitten. Martinez and Liv were among them."

"Shit, those assholes…" I cursed. I then watched as the vehicle was driven to the garage by one of the soldiers who was the driver, and when I turned my greenish eyes to the leader of the small community, I brought my right hand to her shoulder. "They were excellent soldiers."

"Yes." Emily wiped away a stubborn tear that insisted on running down her cheek. I wished I had, but I didn't have the courage to approach her in such an intimate way amidst the tense situation we were in. "But at least I got doctor Anderson's files. And Abby was right: they're going to be valuable because he cites a possible evolution of the fungus; He even did some studies before he was killed, unfortunately he didn't finish them."

"Yeah... Miller saved the immune girl and killed everyone who was there."

"I could have at least spared the doctor." Emily commented, visibly exhausted. "It would have made a difference to us today."

"Yeah. But we don't know what the situation was and why Joel did what he did." I pondered. "In any case, what we need is to deal with things now. We have no way to change the past, as I always tell Abby, but we can try something to change the future." I sighed and looked in the direction of Lev, who was still sound asleep. "Listen, stay with all the vehicles, get your people and head toward Cannon Beach." I guided.

"What? But what about you two, where are you going?"

"We'll go to the location where Abby is, logically. We've to know the real condition of the community she is in, how she has received, how she is being treated, that sort of thing. Of course before we go Lev and I will make a few more trips to nearby houses to collect supplies for you, don't worry."

"I don't even know what we would do or if we would be alive if we didn't receive this assistance from you, Meg, thank you so much."

I smiled in response and watched her with growing attention, before climbing down from the wall and opening the village gates for her to enter. Emily wasn't as tall as I, who am 1.87, but she was an elegant yet energetic woman when necessary. With dark eyes and solder length hair of the same color, she had a fair complexion and an athletic body; she wasn't as strong as Abby and I, but she could certainly handle difficult situations if she faced them alone.

After she had passed, I allowed four of the soldiers accompanying her to enter as well, although I held arm of Eve —the fifth member of the small squad —, before she did the same. The twenty-year-old girl looked at me a somewhat terrified, as if I was going to swear at her or something, yet all I did was bring the fingers of my free hand to my lips, as if to indicate that she should not utter anything.

"What's it, ma'am?" She asked me respectfully in a whisper.

"You did what I asked during the trip, didn't you? You didn't let your leader expose herself to danger…"

"Yeah, ma'am. We lost five colleagues, unfortunately, but she was properly garrisoned because of the special training given to me by the lady."

"Very good, Eve, very good. Now go rest and get something to eat. Then we'll talk, okay?"

"Yes… Thank you."

"Don't thank me. Oh! And… I'm very sorry for the dead soldiers."

"Me too, ma'am, me too. They were all good people." She replied with great regret, before walking away.

I then closed the gates of the small town, and as soon as I turned toward the path that would lead us to the road if we wanted to leave Newport, I observed that Lev was standing. There was no trace of the infected around, but the boy seemed to be on the lookout for something in particular. It was then that I noticed that he was staring at me and stifled a laugh.

"What?" I questioned, the tone slightly amused.

"I think I already know who you like, huh."

"So you mean you know who I'd like to have a fling with, huh?" I replied, before smiling broadly.

He laughed even more. "That's… That's it!"

"Okay. Do you want to share, or are you going to keep this information just for yourself?"

"No, I'll wait a little longer, keeping some mystery sometimes does good." He replied, a discreet smile on his lips.

"Boy, boy…" I pretended to be angry with him, yet laughed immediately afterwards and sighed. "We'll be on our way to Portland in two days at the most." I spoke, in an attempt to change the subject. "We'll see how Abby is doing there and help her with whatever she needs."

"That's great!" He commented excitedly. "But why don't we go before that?"

"Because we need to get supplies to the local people here… We cannot leave them unattended. They're all leaving Newport and going to Cannon Beach."

"That town is… Where Abby said she was born? The one with the rocky beaches…"

"Exactly. So that's the plan, soldier." I smiled with pride at calling him that way. Lev was one of the people I trusted most to accompany me on missions. "Let's get everything stocked up around here and then we'll leave on foot or motorcycle. I'll try my best to put some vehicle at our disposal so we won't leave Abby alone for too long."

"That's great, because I don't even want to imagine that that immune girl could be massacring her… Talking a bunch of stuff."

"Rest assured, Abby isn't the type to be easily shaken."

"I know she isn't, but they hate each other a lot and seem to know each other's weak spot."

"They haven't even seen each other in their lives, boy." I replied as soon as he sat down next to me again. "Except for the two occasions when they fought, of course."

"Yeah, but that was enough for them to get to know each other well." He insisted.

"If you say so… Let's try to hasten our departure from Newport as much as possible, then."

"Thanks, Meg."

"You're welcome, boy."

The rest of the day proceeded smoothly. Lev and I got a huge amount of supplies - medical items, first aid kits, canned food, ammunition, weapons, and other supplies. We had satisfactorily equipped two buses so that the residents of the community led by Emily could reach Cannon Beach as quickly as possible.

As soon as I returned to the village, went to my house, and took a shower, I decided to eat. I ate my meal inside my residence, because I was so tired. I had just finished eating some expired protein bars when I heard two knocks at the door. I thought it was Lev, so I answered it. But I wasn't prepared to receive Emily, who looked worried.

"Hi."

"Hi!" I answered, though I remained standing in front of her.

"Can I come in, or is this a bad time?"

"No, no, of course you can." I laughed somewhat awkwardly, making room for her to enter my house.

"I brought Doctor Anderson's documents, it might be important for Abby to review them."

"Good idea." I spoke again, picking up the folder with the items. "Lev and I will load the vehicles... IF you guys want to leave today or tomorrow... It's up to you."

"I can't thank you enough for all you've done so far, Meg."

I sat down in an armchair in the room, while she stood next to me. "Thank me later. First you need to get to Cannon beach and so do we, so we can check whether the territory will be safe or not."

"You think there might be those hordes there, don't you?"

"Honestly... I don't know what to think. If I say there's no chance I'll be lying to you, so I'd rather say we have to check the city. If it is ok we will stay there, but if not... We'll have to talk to travelers, to see if there's any viable territory."

"Hey, hey, surely there's somewhere we can stay, if we can just find it." I commented hopefully.

"I like listening to you, because you have a lot of self-confidence." Emily replied and sketched a smile. "But I'll let you rest now. I know that Lev and you are leaving early tomorrow morning for Portland, so if we don't see each other by then... Have a great trip, as far as possible, of course."

"Thanks, you too. We'll see you in Cannon Beach."

Emily nodded in a slight movement of her head before leaving my residence. I remained sitting in the armchair pondering the double mission we would have, not knowing if in fact things would go as planned. Since there was no point in thinking about it, I opted to go to sleep, because despite being physically strong and tall - one meter eighty-seven - the exhaustion accumulated from several days of combat against the infected, combined with the successive training sessions I had given to the community's inhabitants, was beginning to weigh on me. I took off my boots and lay down, closing my eyes to fall asleep as quickly as possible, hoping that everything was okay with Abby.