Adaptive Instinct (Survival Instinct) (31 page)

As she aimed herself in the right direction, Riley finally put the helmet on and slung the harness over each shoulder.  She would need both hands to do up the buckles, but there was no way she was going to let go of the stick completely, not even for a millisecond.  Setting her sights on Leighton Correction North and her sister, Riley moved forward once more.

***

As Riley cruised along through the air, she would often look down at the streets and forests below.  Sometimes she would spot zombies, but so
far, she hadn’t seen any survivors.  Of course, they would be keeping themselves hidden.  The sound of the helicopter would only stir the zombies into a frenzy, drawing them out of their hidey-holes.  There were fewer than Riley had expected, after what she had seen at Connor’s.  Maybe the herd that had left Leighton on the same day as Riley had gotten farther than she expected.  The fleeing survivors would have drawn a substantial number of the undead with them, like the pied piper leading the rats.  And maybe, if Keystone had gone to look at where their chopper was, the sound of their engines hovering overhead would have drawn more of them to that spot.  Riley hoped that things wouldn’t be too bad at the prison.

She wasn’t exactly sure what she was going to do when she got there; she would have to play it by ear.  The current plan was to land back on the roof from which she had stolen the helicopter.  Perhaps she could trade the chopper for her sister.  Then, they would get James to let them out of the prison, probably in one of those transports of theirs, and drop them off somewhere safe.  Riley and Cameron could then make their way to a little airfield that was
southeast of Leighton in farm country.  From there, they could steal another floatplane, or maybe another helicopter and head back north.

As Riley got closer to her destination, the sky overhead closed up its clouds into a single grey mass.  She would be hitting rain soon, but hopefully no thunderstorms.  If she was reading the sky correctly, as her dad had taught her, then these clouds had already dumped most of their payload, possibly as early as last night or even the day before.  But that was the thing about the weather: no matter what you knew about it, it wasn’t predictable.  Mother Nature liked to have fun sometimes.

A light rain was bouncing off the windshield and had been for about seven minutes before the prison came into sight.  During that time, Riley’s Geiger counter was on, but producing normal readings.  The large, concrete T surrounded by heavy brick defences, with its armed tower looming in the corner, was completely walled in by zombies.  This was not a happy place by any means.  And Riley was sure her sister, Cameron, was somewhere inside.

***

Riley circled the prison a few times watching the flurry of people below.  She was an unannounced visitor arriving in an unusual manner.  She had a feeling they were trying to hail her, but she had no idea how to work the radio and didn’t want to risk touching what she didn’t know.  Someone in a bright red rain slicker appeared on the roof and started waving his or her arms overhead.  Riley brought the chopper in closer and began to hover.  The person in the rain slicker was a man judging by his stature.  He waved for Riley to come in and land on the roof.  She looked to the door that led into the prison and saw a man with a machine gun standing in it.  Across the way, in the tower, several more men with sniper rifles were waiting.  Thank God, the helicopter was made of bulletproof metal and glass.  She brought the chopper in for a landing, hoping they hadn’t upgraded to armour-piercing rounds since she had last been there.

When the skids touched down, the man in the rain slicker ran over to her, not even bothering to wait for her to turn off the engines.  This was good, as Riley wasn’t sure she wanted them off yet.  Having them running meant she could escape quickly if need be. 

The man wasn’t one she recognized from her last visit, but then, she hadn’t seen a whole lot of the mercenaries.  When he got close and looked into the cockpit, his expression became one of surprise.  He was clearly expecting another member of Marble Keystone to be flying, and Riley wasn’t dressed anything like them.  The man made a kill motion with his hand and neck, indicating to Riley to shut down the engines.  Hopefully it wasn’t misinterpreted by the snipers.  As the rotors wore down to a speed that didn’t create a deafening sound, Riley took off her helmet and opened a tiny section of window in the glass next to her.  She made sure to angle herself in such a way that, if the mercenary stuck a pistol through the slot, he’d have a hard time hitting her.

“You must be Riley,” the man placed himself near the opening, but also stood in such a way that if Riley had a pistol, she would have a hard time shooting him through it.

Riley nodded in response.  There were cameras around the prison when she had last been there, and it was likely her image had been passed around after the chopper had been stolen, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise when the man knew her name.

“I’ll call James.”  He turned from the helicopter and spoke rapidly into a walkie-talkie.  The helicopter was still running just loudly enough to blur his words into something indistinct.  He turned back toward Riley.  “He’s on his way.  Crichton is likely to get here first though.”

“Who’s Crichton?” Riley asked.

The mercenary seemed surprised that she didn’t know.  “He’s in charge here.”

“I didn’t meet him the last time,” Riley explained for the man.

He nodded.  “There’s also a doctor on his way up.  He’s going to test you for infection.”

“By all means.”

“Is there anyone else in the chopper?”

“No, just me.”

The merc glanced toward the back as if he didn’t believe her.

They waited for a few minutes, sitting tensely on the roof with only bulletproof glass between them.  Riley suspected they didn’t have a proper protocol in place for fly-ins.  She turned her head and looked at the tower, wondering if there were scorch marks at the base of it where they had firebombed it as a distraction.

A stern-looking man, with prematurely white hair, cold grey eyes, and a scar running from his nose to his right ear, stepped out onto the roof.  He paused for a moment, taking in the helicopter and its occupant,
and then strode toward them.  Riley assumed this must be Crichton.  Behind him, came two men.  One was equally stern looking, but taller, with brown hair, and a murderous look in his eyes.  It seemed he had already decided what he would think of Riley.  The other man was a good-looking doctor in a white coat.  He was nervous, and acted as if he wanted to be somewhere else.  He was also the only one who seemed to notice the rain; the only non-military amongst the bunch.  The three of them approached Riley, and the mercenary who had been talking to her stepped out of the way.

“Riley Bishop,” the white-haired man didn’t avoid the window.  He was confident that Riley wasn’t there to shoot him.

“You must be Crichton.”

“I am.  And what, may I ask, has caused you to bring our helicopter back?  Last I heard,
it was surrounded by zombies.”

“It was.  I got it out.”  Riley wasn’t going to say how; let them guess.  “You might have someone here I’m looking for.”

“Would that be Cameron Bishop?”  A sly smile crossed the brown-haired man’s stern face.

“It is.”  Riley tried not to show it, but her heart leapt into her throat when he said her name.  She must be here.

Suddenly, James came running out of the stairwell, clearly out of breath.  He straightened himself out quickly, and strode over to the group, ignoring the drizzle like most of the others.  The doctor nodded to James, but the brown-haired man openly sneered at him.  Crichton didn’t seem to think anything of his presence.

“Bishop,” James nodded.  “Are the others with you?”

“No, I’m alone.”  Riley couldn’t help but be glad to see a familiar face, even if it was one she didn’t particularly like.

“She’s here for Cameron,
” Crichton said to him, then turned back to Riley.  “I assume you’re offering us our own helicopter as a trade?”

“I am.”  Straight to business.  Riley liked that.  She had been afraid he would hold some sort of grudge.

“I’d like to accept that offer, but you see, your sister’s been living just fine with us.  She’s part of the community.  And as a part, she just agreed to do something for us.”  Crichton looked to James to explain.

“Two civilians and one of our own were kidnapped last night,” James told her.  “We had some prisoners that were let into the general
population, which in hindsight, should never have been released from behind bars.  They managed to take one of our trucks out through the gates last night, and we haven’t seen them since.”

“What’s that got to do with my sister?”  Riley was surprised when she heard the word ‘kidnapping
.’  It seemed so very unlikely during a zombie apocalypse.

“We’ve been asking for volunteers to go out and get both them and our truck back.  Your sister was one of those volunteers,” James finished.

“Then I’ll talk her out of it.”  Why she would even volunteer was beyond Riley.  Had they forced her?

“I’d rather you didn’t.”  The way James side-glanced at Crichton and the other man suggested there was more that he wasn’t saying.

“Can I at least talk to her?”  There was no way she was going to get the whole story on this rooftop.

“You can.  You must first submit to infection testing,” Crichton spoke again.

“Pass the blood draw kit through the window.”  Riley held her hand up just under the slot.

The doctor looked at Crichton and after receiving a nod, he stepped toward the helicopter.  Very carefully, he pushed the kit through the window, which was slightly bigger than the box.  When Riley was able to, she pulled the box the rest of the way through.

“I’m Dr. Owen.  All you have to-” the man started.

“Thank you, but I know how to do this,” Riley cut him off as she ripped open the package.  “I’m a doctor myself.”  She began to tie off her arm
expertly.

“Oh?  Did you have your own practice or did you work in a hospital?” Dr.
Owen asked.

“Hospital, Leighton General, chief resident in the emergency ward.  You?”

“I had my own practice.  I was actually in one of the buildings not far from Leighton General.”

Riley nodded and handed the now full blood vial out through the slot.  She liked Dr. Owen.  He seemed trustworthy what with his sheepish, non-military behaviour.

He took out a small, portable microscope from his pocket.  Riley had never seen one like it before and assumed it must have been made by Keystone.  Owen looked at her blood with it and gave her the all clear.  She wasn’t infected, as she knew she wouldn’t be.

“You’re all clear.  Now if you’ll come out of the chopper, I’ll take you to your sister,” Crichton said.

“What guarantee do I have that you won’t just shoot me the moment I step out?”  Riley glanced at the man near the door with the machine gun.

“They wouldn’t do that.”  Owen said.  He turned to James.  “You wouldn’t do that, right?”

“Of course not.”  James frowned at Owen, irritated that he had even asked.

“Dr. Bishop, you and I both know there is no guarantee that I can give you that you would believe,” Crichton stated.  “All I can give you is my word.  Now, I think we can both agree that too many people have died recently.  My people are already wound up pretty tight, what with the kidnapping, and shooting someone on the roof is not going to calm them down.  Besides, I happen to like your sister.  She’s been a big help around here, and if word got to her that I had you killed, well, I don’t really want to know what she would do.”

Riley mulled it over.  Crichton was right.  He had nothing to offer outside of his word.  Whether she liked it or not, and she didn’t, Riley was going to have to trust this man.  She looked at James and Owen.  James nodded, trying to tell her that it was okay, that she could come out.  She didn’t see any other option.

“Just give me a moment.”  Riley turned to the seat next to her.

While the mercenaries watched, she opened her pack, took out Mathias’s bulletproof vest, and put it on.  It had saved his life the last time they were here and he had insisted she take it.  She didn’t argue, although she hadn’t put it on until now due to the bulkiness.  It was made for a larger, taller build, and it hindered Riley’s flexibility, something she thought she’d need at Connor’s.  Once it was on, she slipped her arms into the pack’s straps and hoisted it up onto her shoulders.  For good measure, she put the helicopter’s helmet back on her head.

After taking a deep breath, she opened the chopper’s door and slid out.  No gunshots pierced the rain, and Riley felt no sudden injuries.  So far, so good.

“What are those for?” Dr. Owen asked about the Geiger counter and suit being left behind.

“I wasn’t sure if any of the nuclear facilities had exploded yet,” Riley told him as she adjusted the straps and vest.

“The one near Leighton is still intact,” Crichton confirmed.  “We recently made contact with the man who’s been keeping the generators full.  He topped them off and ran out of there just after the storm last night.  We should be safe here provided the winds don’t change.”

“Provided the winds don’t change.”  Riley wanted to laugh.  That was quite the gamble, leaving the fate of hundreds to Mother Nature.  Radiation poisoning was no way to go.  The way
that Owen suddenly blanched, he probably had the same thought.