Green Fields (Book 2): Outbreak (40 page)

“What do we do?” he asked as he leaned through Nate’s window, sounded as subdued as I felt.

“They’ve seen us,” Andrej reported where he was looking through his binoculars. “And they look about as thrilled as we are. I see two women, and at least one child. But could be a trap.”

We waited another thirty seconds, Nate studying the group through the glasses.

“Majority vote?” he suggested.

“You’re the leader,” Andrej objected. “So, lead.”

The look he got back from Nate could only be described as nasty, but after another minute of deliberation, Nate handed the binoculars back.

“Any volunteers?”

“I don’t mind,” Burns offered. “Just keep Martinez here so no one shoots his pretty ass out from under us.”

Martinez gave him a humorless grin, but didn’t protest.

Cho and Burns got back in the car and drove off, our entire group following their progress up the rise from where we remained behind. There, they stopped, one of the guys from the other group approaching them warily. Some debate followed, until Burns got out and hailed us. I was sure that there was some code involved in that because Nate visibly relaxed when he saw the signal. So we followed, hopefully not driving into our doom.

As we drew up to the cars, I started feeling a little stupid about our precautions. The cars obviously belonged to two families, with only a third of them making up grownups. The kids were all in the cars, looking at us with more fear than curiosity, but all of them were decidedly alive. The guy who had been talking to Burns approached us, still looking unhappy, a woman about his age—late forties—behind him.

“Thanks for coming over,” he said, nodding at both of us, polite but with suspicion still in his voice. “One of our cars broke down, and I’m afraid neither me nor my son really know a thing about engines. I’m Tim, and this is my wife, Elaine.”

Within minutes, it was sorted out that they hadn’t boobie-trapped the cars and Martinez and Andrej weren’t blown to bits as they inspected the engine. They debated between them for a moment, then Andrej dove under the hood while Martinez got some spare parts they must have scavenged in Benning. I continued to watch the group, more at ease now. They were definitely afraid of us, but two of the women were discussing something in hushed tones between them while they kept glancing in my direction.

I debated whether I should get out from behind the wheel, if only to stretch my legs, when a momentary commotion made me look up sharply. In the car that Tim had nodded to as his, a dog had apparently torn itself free and was now trying to mount the heap of luggage they had in the trunk, much to the protestations of the kids who were sitting there, using the vantage point to stare at us. I couldn’t help but smile, and the sheer fact that they’d taken their pet with them, likely giving up rations of their food to keep him alive and healthy, restored some of my faith in humanity. Reaching behind me, I got out one of the zip-lock bags I kept in the outside right compartment of my pack, and walked over to the women.

Extending my arm, I pressed the bag into Elaine’s hand, smiling. She looked down at it, then back up to me, a little stupefied.

“That’s what you were wondering whether you should ask me about, right?”

“How did you—“ she started, then allowed herself a small smile herself. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Inside the bag was a pack of tampons, some panty liners, condoms, and two morning-after pill packages. Elaine might be on the verge of maybe no longer needing all of that, but the woman behind her was about my age. The younger woman hesitated, then went back to the broken-down car and grabbed something from the front passenger seat. When she returned and offered me a bag of fresh cherries, I was tempted, but pushed it back at her with a look at the kids. “Thanks, but keep it for them. You know about the sugar, I guess?”

Elaine nodded. “We heard about that. Some people were discussing it on the radio, and they’ve been bringing it in the morning bulletins ever since.”

Hope flickered alive in my chest, even if I knew that it would likely get trampled any moment now.

“We met a guy, way back east. He had a radio station. Gerry? And his wife Maude?”

The sad look in Elaine’s eyes was answer enough, but she gave a full reply nevertheless.

“They held out for ten days, I think. We don’t know for sure, but the last thing we heard of him, he said there was howling outside their house. Didn’t look good.”

I nodded, ticking off another two names from my mental list of the few people I knew that were still alive.
 

“But Kevin and Dave are still on air,” the younger woman offered. “And Simone, from up in Montreal. They’re probably not on right now, but, if you want to, you can use the radio in our car to try and hail them. At least once the battery’s running again.

“Thanks.”

Elaine watched the going-ons at the other car, with the odd look over to where Nate was chatting to her husband.

“Where are you headed?” I asked, more to make idle conversation than I really wanted to know.

“South, into Missouri. There’s a new settlement down there. They’ve been running bulletins since the start. They’re trying to rebuild a farming community. At least that’s what they say.”

I couldn’t help the shudder that ran through me.

“Listen, don’t take that road we were coming from. About two hours back there—“

“We ran into them, too,” Elaine interrupted me before I could go any further. “They wanted the dog. We resisted, and they shot—“

She cut off there, the other woman quick to hug her close. Looking away, I stared out over the rolling corn field on the other side of the road.

“Did you lose someone, too?” the woman asked while Elaine was trying to get a grip on herself.

“There? Only someone who thought she was better off than with us. Apparently we didn’t appreciate her enough. And others before that, too.”

She nodded, a sad look on her face. “We were lucky so far. Probably because we tried to hold out until we couldn’t any longer, and followed the routes that Dave told us someone else had mapped out before. But they were going to Kansas, so we veered off, and—“

“Yeah.” I stopped her there before she had to go on.

Glancing at Nate, I saw a smile creeping back on her face.

“Your husband?” she asked.

I shook my head, grinning briefly. “Not sure what we are, but we’re not married.”

“Doesn’t matter anymore, I guess,” she replied. “When you meet under circumstances like this…”

“We met before,” I said, unable to hide a slight smile. “And then we just happened to stick together.”

There wasn’t even a hint of surprise in her eyes—but then, I had almost as many weapons strapped to my body as the others. The days where I could just pass as a random girl were likely over. Considering the circumstances, that was probably a good thing.

That’s when I noticed Skip and Steve standing a few feet away, looking guilty as shit. I’d seen them talk to one of the guys who were busy with getting the car running before, and he was chatting with Tim now, his eyes dancing to the two college kids over and over again.

“Something wrong?” I asked, not overly fond of being kept in the dark over this to and fro that was obviously happening.

“No, no, not at all,” Steve was quick to assure me. “We were just, ah, talking to Aaron over here…” He trailed off, and Skip jumped in when it became awkward.

“We asked if we can join them. Going to Missouri.”

I didn’t know what to make of that, but it certainly explained their anxiety—but at the same time not. And because he had a knack for picking up on shit like that, Nate took that exact moment to materialize next to Steve, making the guy jump as he noticed him.

“No offense, but you’re kind of too hardcore for us,” Steve stuttered, blanching visibly.

Nate stared at him for a full ten seconds—I knew because I counted—and it was so obvious that he was delighting in making the guys squirm—one last time.

“Remember that speech I gave that morning at the creek? After our first day together?” I doubted that they would forget. It had ended with them having to abandon their sick friend. Both nodded. “Remember the part where I said that everyone’s free to leave, for whatever reason?” Another round of nods, after a brief pause. “Then stop fretting and get your packs. If they take you with them, that is.”

“We don’t mind,” Aaron assured, although his gaze lingered on the woman I’d been talking to before, who turned away and stalked back to the car with the kids and dog.

“You’ll have to split up between cars, but if you don’t mind, you’re welcome,” Elaine told them, offering a smile that looked more brave than warm, but it was a smile nevertheless.

I had a certain feeling that they wouldn’t have jumped at this opportunity so quickly if Madeline and Erica had still been with us, but I couldn’t find it in me to care too much. Sure, they’d seemed like nice guys—but ever since my heart-to-heart with Nate, it was hard for me to see them as anything but what they were—dead weight and zombie bait.

While Skip and Steve were busy getting their stuff transferred to the other cars, Elaine and I chatted a little more until Andrej got the car running again, at which point Tim mentioned their radio, too. I joined them as Tim ducked into the car and fiddled with the receiver.

“Dave? Kevin? One of you guys at the mic? This is Tim.”

Static answered, yet after a few seconds it was replaced by a surprisingly chipper—and familiar—voice.
 

“No rest for the wicked, Tim, my man! How you guys doing out there? Did you get the car going again?”

“Yup, thanks to the help of some awesome guys here,” he said, then actually looked guilty. “And ladies. They’re all a great bunch.”

Elaine joined us, her cheeks dry once more but her eyes still red. “Tell him that they met Gerry and Maude.”

Tim nodded, dutifully relaying the message. There was a pause, then Dave—or Kevin, I didn’t remember which one of them I’d talked to—replied.

“You heard that they didn’t make it?”

Nodding for Tim to hand over the mic, I answered.

“Elaine told us. But glad to hear you’re still around.” This time, the pause was longer, and I couldn’t help but grin at Nate. He actually rolled his eyes at me for stalling. “This is Bree. And Nate’s here, too. Can’t seem to shake him, whatever I try.”

“You guys are still alive?” came the answer, then a little more sure, “Of course you are. But just so you know, you lost me a can of chili to Dave.” Another pause. “Where are you guys headed to? Maybe we can give you a heads-up about a few tight spots. We got a message earlier this week that there’s a bunch of weirdos up in Illinois, north of Champaign. But then you’re way west of that already if you ran into Tim and Elaine.”

I stared at Nate for a second, not sure I was happy to be able to contribute something to that.

“Yeah, we think they’re cannibals.”

“Shit, did you run into them?” Kevin sounded more excited than anything else.

“Thankfully not,” I ground out. “But it was a close call. We weren’t sure what to make of what we overheard and decided to beat it instead. Glad we did.”

“I bet. So where you going next? Did Elaine tell you about the settlement?”

Instead of letting me answer, Nate held out the hand for the mic.

“We’re heading for Wyoming.”

Another pause followed. “Where in Wyoming?”

Nate did some deliberating himself before he answered. “South of Cody, near the mountains.”

This time the pause was longer still. I eyed Nate askance, but he waited, suddenly tense.

“Do you guys perchance know Morning Dew Farm?” Kevin asked. I wondered if that was code for something, but judging from how Nate was suddenly grinning, it made sense to him either way.

“You in contact with them?”

“Yessir. They haven’t gotten the solar panels running yet so I can’t patch you through, but since last week we’ve been chatting every couple of days.”

“Who?” Nate asked, obviously annoyed that Kevin was babbling.

“Guy named Bert. His wife and daughter, too. And a couple of other guys, I think, but I’ve only been talking to Bert.”

“Thanks, man,” Nate replied, then handed the mic back to me as he turned to the assembled members of our group. “Gunny and his family made it. They’re already getting everything set up, it sounds like. Guess by the time we get there Emma will be ready to chase us around, making repairs.”

Cheers went up all around me, and I was surprised when Elaine suddenly hugged me—and I realized that I was hugging her back. I didn’t even know these people, but just hearing that someone else was out there—someone who wasn’t going to eat us, or shoot us, or cook us—was the best news in the world.

“You guys still here?” Kevin asked, unaware of what was going on on our side.

“Yup, just spreading the good news,” I replied.

“So they’re your people? We’re practically neighbors,” he replied, quickly clearing his throat. “Theoretically. Same state, you know?”

If the generator wasn’t running yet and he’d been talking to this Bert, the obvious conclusion was that they’d met face to face, but I didn’t bust Kevin’s bubble.

A strange kind of energy seemed to have taken root all around me, and I handed the mic back to Tim as Nate nodded for me to get back in the car. It took me a moment to recognize it—anticipation. Suddenly, we had a clear goal, not just some location hidden away several states over, but something that we could drive toward.

We made our goodbyes, wishing Skip, Steve, Aaron, Tim, Elaine, and their people a safe journey. And then we were back on the road, heading… home.

Chapter 28

It took us another week to make it to Wyoming, but things went almost too smoothly. Probably because Nebraska was so much prairie and not much else, with the odd herd of cattle still grazing out there. There were even days that went by where we didn’t see a single biped being—alive or undead. With six less mouths to feed, our food reserves were enough to last us through the state, and then we were on the home stretch, and going the last two days on water more than anything else was better than sticking around one more day that we maybe didn’t have to.