Adaptive Instinct (Survival Instinct) (67 page)

Knocked-over supplies were restacked, and the truck tanks were refuelled with a quick and practised ease.  Everybody was quickly shepherded back into the trucks, and they were rolling again in less than fifteen minutes.  Riley couldn’t even recall seeing a zombie closing in on them, but then she was busy enough not to get a good look around. 
However, she did get a chance to see just how much gore covered their truck.  The plough was a deep red, and bits and pieces were still sliding down it and dripping off the undercarriage.  Brunt went around, wiping off, and disinfecting the door handles so they wouldn’t have to touch any when they got back in.

As they entered the more built-up Toronto area, Riley chose not to look at the scenery. 
Instead, she sat sideways, facing her sister, and talked about the last time Cameron had her shoulder pop out.  This led to other discussions about times they had broken various bones or sustained certain injuries.  Brunt and the other man joined in, telling them their own stories, but their driver remained as silent and stoic as ever.

The next time they stopped, it was outside the gates to the airfield of Pearson International Airport.

“This is where I get off.  See you on the plane, or on the boat.”  Brunt hopped out of the front of the truck to open the gates.  He waved as they drove on without him, and the girls waved back.  He’d be catching a ride the rest of the way with the last truck once it got through, and the gates could be closed.

The airport was beautiful, and that wasn’t just because there was such hope placed upon it.  The sun had set some time ago; it was nearing midnight.  The moon was bright and full, bathing everything in a clear, silver light.  The vast expanse all around was comforting after such close quarters.

“Those the planes?” the man asked, leaning over Brunt’s unoccupied seat.

No one bothered to answer as they obviously were.  Although dimmed, due to the lateness, a glow of electric lighting shone out from every window.

The truck pulled up to one of the planes and stopped parallel to a set of stairs leading up to the cabin.  Riley, Cameron, their driver, and the other man, all climbed out and were greeted by a woman in a flight attendant’s uniform.

“Glad you could make it!” she said chipperly.  She glanced at the blood-caked hood and plough.  “I guess you ran into the same horde as the others.”

“So the Pummel Motel people made it?” the driver asked.

“Yes, they’re already seated in the plane.”

Riley kept looking around, but she couldn’t see Rufus’s plane anywhere.  She thought for sure they would have been here by now.

“Has a small plane shown up?” Riley asked the flight attendant.

“No, sorry.  Just the motel survivors and now you.  Expecting someone?”

“Yes.  I told them to meet here.”

“Well, we’re not leaving until morning.  Perhaps they’ll show up before then.”  The woman had clearly turned on her own work persona, being as happy and polite as possible.  “And I wouldn’t worry if they don’t.  You said a plane, right?  Some of us already went around to places people might show up after we’re gone, leaving notes about how to find us.  If they show up after we leave, they can just refuel and follow us out.”

“Yeah, they know where to go after this.”  Still, Riley had been so hoping to see them here already.

“Let’s unload.”  The driver went to the back to open the rear doors.

Off-loading the trucks was done in a far calmer and slower manner than when they had been loaded.  Only one truck at a time was done, the rest waiting in a patient line.  Some more people came down from both planes and began to help load the large crates into the cargo hold.  Riley felt odd, climbing up the steps and entering the passenger fuselage with her rifle in hand.

“Can we sit in first class?” Cameron said behind her as they made their way through the plane.

“We should reserve those seats for the sick and elderly,” Riley told her.

“Oh come on, I’ve never gotten to ride first class.”  Cameron was joking and Riley knew it.  Her sister knew she was bummed about her friends not already being here and was trying to make her feel better.

As they entered the economy section, they were greeted with the riotous noise of many excited children.  The lights had been turned up to full brightness again, and nobody appeared to be sleeping.  Riley couldn’t help but smile as she saw them all playing and laughing with each other.  She hadn’t realized just how long it had been since she saw such happy kids.  She and Cameron made their way past, aiming for seats behind the group.  Riley subconsciously placed her hand on her belly as she walked.

The two Bishops took their seats, stowing their gear under them and in the overheads.  It was so weird to be boarding a plane.  They relaxed for what seemed like the first time in forever as they watched the other passengers board.  Even though Cameron took the window seat, Riley could still see out of it and saw the second plane begin loading as well.  They had started off-loading two trucks at the same time, getting things done more quickly.

“Juliet!”  A woman screamed.

Riley shot up, fearing the worst.  She was grossly mistaken.

“Mom!” a little girl’s voice replied.

One of the women getting on the plane had been passing by the children when she spotted her own daughter among them.  Both woman and child rushed toward each other, nearly knocking each other over as they met in an embrace.  The mother burst into tears, as she collapsed to her knees from pure and utter joy at being reunited with her baby.  Riley and many other passengers were moved to tears as well from the happy reunion.

Riley returned to her seat, sniffling.

“Look at you, being all emotional,” Cameron teased, a big dopey smile on her own face, the remains of tears not quite wiped off her cheeks.

Riley laughed, and it felt so good and so happy.  She genuinely believed at that moment that everything could be okay.

“Mom, this is Lauren, the woman who took care of me,” Riley overheard the child saying.

Lauren, Lauren
, why did that name sound familiar to Riley?

She shifted into the still empty aisle seat next to her and looked forward.  A redheaded woman had just stood up, shaking hands, and receiving a thousand thank you’s from the still highly emotional mother.

Red hair.  Green eyes.  Loads of freckles.  Named Lauren.  Lauren Sanford?

“Excuse me?”  Riley got up and walked toward the woman, leaving a confused Cameron behind.

“Yes?”  The woman with the fiery hair turned to face her.

“Are you Lauren Sanford?”

The woman looked greatly surprised.  “I am.  How did you-”

“You know Abby Walker, right?”

“Yes!  Yes I do!”  Lauren turned her full attention to Riley, leaving the mother and child to go find seats.

“I know her.  She’s safe and she should be on her way here.”

Lauren grabbed her into the biggest, tightest hug that Riley had ever experienced.  She then released Riley, holding her at arms length.

“She’s safe?” she asked for confirmation, not quite sure if she could believe Riley.

“Last I heard, yes.  She’s worried about you.”

“And she’s coming here?”

“Yes.  In fact, I thought she’d be here already but they must have had a minor delay.”  Riley refused to think it was anything more than that.

Riley was swept up into another huge hug.

“You said Abby’s coming?” a little girl’s voice piped up.

Lauren released Riley and turned to the girl, nodding.

“Yay!” the little girl began bouncing up and down in her seat ecstatically.

“You have to tell me everything,” Lauren requested of Riley.

“Yeah, sure, we have time.”

Riley sat down with Lauren and told her everything she knew about what had happened to Abby before they met, and what had happened afterward.  She told her about the cabin, the satellite phone calls, and finally her decision to get
Cameron, which resulted in them learning about the boat.

They talked until the lights were dimmed again, when Lauren had to tuck in a bunch of the kids.  All the plane seats were tilted back, and blankets and pillows had been handed out.

Riley curled up on her seat next to Cameron, thoughts of happy reunions dancing around her normally cold brain.  She wondered what her reunion with Mathias would be like.  She had told him they needed to end their relationship, but that had been a mistake; one she planned to correct the first moment she could.

As she closed her eyes to sleep, she tried to hold onto the thoughts and feelings of joy. 
Unfortunately, they didn’t follow her down into sleep.  Riley dreamt that everyone she knew was dead or undead.

***

The next morning, Riley was woken up by a voice over an intercom.

“Good morning everyone.  This is
Captain John Forrest speaking.  We’re going to be taking off in about an hour.  If you could all find your seats, breakfast will be served, and then shortly after, we’ll be taking off.”

Riley shifted in her seat so that she was upright.  She looked around the cabin but couldn’t find any of her friends.  It looked like every seat was taken.

Some women came walking down the aisles, handing out sealed food packages.

“Excuse me,” Riley stopped one of the women from walking away after getting her meal.  “Did any more survivors show up last night?”

“No, I’m sorry.”

“And there’s no way to delay our departure?”

“We actually pushed it up from our original plan,” the woman informed her.  “Some zombies seem to have located us and are trying to get past the fences.  Once those fences fall, we’ll be surrounded.”

“I see.  Thank you.”  Riley sat back in her seat and let the woman resume helping the others.

“They’ll make it.”  Cameron grabbed her hand.

Riley didn’t answer.  Her dream had disturbed her, and she was afraid it somehow spoke of the future.  Despite her logical mind telling her otherwise, she had a very bad feeling something terrible was going to happen to her friends, if it hadn’t happened already.

She ate quickly, and then spent the rest of her time waiting anxiously.  She looked out the window so many times, that Cameron eventually switched places with her.  Riley barely noticed that Brunt took the seat next to Cameron, and that Brewster, Thomas, and Shaidi were also sitting nearby.  Even James wasn’t far from them, but Riley didn’t care.  She kept checking the sky for Rufus’s plane.

“If you could all sit tight and buckle up, we’ll be getting out of here,” the voice of Forrest came back on over the intercom.

Riley buckled up and then stared out the window again.

“Come on, come on,” she kept muttering under her breath.  They had to get here
; they just had to.

The plane backed up, pulling away from the other one.  It started to align itself with their chosen runway.

“Where the hell are you, Cole?”

Cameron took her hand, trying to comfort her sister.  Riley found no comfort in it, however, as they began to race down the runway and lift up into the air.

28:

River Webster – Days 15-17

When River woke up, he was completely alone; nothing but silence greeted him.  He tried to move, to get up, but a pain ripped through his head causing him to lie back down on the carpet.  Quin had gotten in a really good shot.  River lay there for a few more minutes before trying to sit up again.  His head still throbbed as he raised himself up, but he had hangovers that were worse.

Once upright, River sat against the dresser drawers and looked around the room.  There was nothing left of Quin and the girls.  The door to the room was smashed and splintered around the handle.

“Doyle.”  That’s
right; River could remember hearing the fireman’s name.  After his fight with Quin, the man had shown up and started chopping the door down.  What an idiot.

River rose unsteadily to his feet.  He swayed precariously, and grabbed the top of the dresser for support.  He needed something for his head.  In the corner of the room was a minibar.  That should do.

Inside the tiny, no-longer-cold fridge, River found some equally tiny bottles of booze.  He wasn’t choosy about his alcohol and downed every bottle.  That was better.  Although still unsteady, it was the kind of unsteady he knew how to deal with.

The next order of business was to go look for Quin.  He was probably still with April, which meant he was still in danger.  Sure, he may have abandoned River, but he could be forgiven.  They were best friends after all.  River knew that Quin wasn’t in his right mind.  He was in withdrawal, delusional.  He had probably been seeing the girls as angels, with wings and halos and the whole lot.  River could forgive him for that.  He’d slug him in the face, but he’d forgive him.

Teetering along, River made his way to the door of the hotel room.  He had no idea how he was actually going to find Quin; he just knew that he was.

Down the hall and to the stairwell.  Down the stairwell and into the front hall.  At the glass front doors, River looked past the trapped zombie and out into the street.  Now he had to make a choice: to go left, or to go right.  He looked up and down the street in both directions but there was no indication which way Quin had gone.