Survival Ties (The Outbreak Chronicles Book 1) (12 page)

Standing with Sam, Aaron recounted
everything we saw upstairs.

“So they only person you found
was someone who was bit?” Sam asked.

“Yeah we didn’t search every room.”
Aaron said.

“That’s understandable.” Sam
said.

“Storm is making visibility
impossible.” Aaron said.

“You mentioned hunting?” Sam
asked.

“Going back up first thing to
see what’s around here.” Aaron answered.

“I asked around and found four
people who have hunting skills.” Sam said.

“Who do we got?” Aaron asked.

“Hunter, Hannah, Daisy, and Tone.”
Sam answered.

“I think three groups of two.”
Aaron answered.

“I’ll ask around again and find
you a sixth.” Sam responded.

“I got one.” Aaron said, “Ash
stays with me.”

Sam nodded and went around to
gather everyone up.

Aaron nodded to me and raised a
water bottle. When I nodded he threw a bottle to me.

Hannah came over passing out an
open can to everyone.

“I know it’s not much, but it’s
what was in the kitchen.” She said when she handed me a can of corn.

With no utensils I tilted the
can up and drank the corn. It was better than nothing. I wasn’t the only one
drinking my dinner. Everyone had open random canned goods as they came to join
Aaron and me near the bus.

Sam was the last to come back.
He stood watching all of us.

“Aaron has a plan.” Sam
started.

“What would that be?” Sydney
asked.

“A group of people have been
picked to be hunters.” Sam answered.

“How are we hunting?” Sydney
asked, “It’s not like we can take the bus to the woods.”

“Yeah and who knows what’s
around here?” Sawyer said.

“Well—” Sam said.

“Naw I got this.” Aaron
interrupted.

Sam nodded his consent and
stepped back.

“First we’re not taking the
bus. We will find vehicles and use them.” Aaron said.

“And weapons?” Sydney asked.

“Going to see what we find.”
Aaron said.

“Who’s the team?” Sydney asked.

“Hunter, Hannah, Daisy, Tone,
Ashlyn, and Aaron.” Sam answered.

“So get some sleep. There will
be plans by morning.” Tone said.

Even with the hotel around us,
as soon as it was suggested to sleep everyone made their way back on to the
bus. The close quarters felt safe. Aaron squeezed my hand as I walked by him.

“Ash, wake up.” Aaron shook me awake.

Green eyes were still in my
mind as I sat up.

“Storms done and sun’s up.
Let’s go and have a look around” He said.

“Okay.” I responded and
followed him.

I groaned when we got to the
stairwell. So many stairs.

Aaron started up, he stopped five
steps up and looked down at me. He raised an eyebrow at me.

I groaned and started up the
steps.

When we got to the door labeled
fourteenth floor I froze.

“Ash, I wouldn’t take you up
here if I hadn’t cleaned up first.” Aaron told me as he pushed open the door.

“If you’ve already been up
here, why are we here now?” I asked.

“I came back up with Tone last
night.” Aaron answered.

“So what are we doing?” I
asked. All the doors in the hall were open now.

“We’re here to see.” Aaron
said.

Now that there was the grey
daylight from the predawn we could see the body that broke the window. It was
lying speared on the balcony below. There was no way to tell if it was a man or
a woman.

“Ash see the trucks over
there?” Aaron asked. He was pointing at a filled parking lot not far from the
hotel.

“Yeah.” I answered.

“It looks like it’s a
dealership.” He said.

“That solves the vehicle
issue.” I said, “Looks like there’s a sign to the left, can you read it?”

Aaron looked where I was
pointing and squinted his eyes.

“Reggie’s Outdoor Sporting.” He
said, “Or at least I think it says that.”

“If you read that right so you
think there might be weapons there?” I asked.

“We can check when we take the
others and walk over to that dealership.” He answered.

“Walk?” I asked, “Wouldn’t it
be safer to take the bus?”

“Think it would be safer to
walk.” He answered, “We would be less noticeable.”

“I guess six people blends
better than a giant green bus.” I said and kicked at the wall.

“We’ll be fine Ash.” Aaron
said.

“Should we go get the others
and let Sam know?” I asked.

“Let’s do it.” He said.

We headed back down the stairs
and to the bus. Tone was stretching by the door as we walked up. He nodded to
us.

“Able to see what’s around this
morning?” Tone asked.

“Yeah.” Aaron answered.

“Looks like a car dealership
close by and a maybe a sporting goods store.” I added when Aaron stayed quiet.

“That sounds promising.” Sam
said from the doorway of the bus.

“Just need the others and want
to head out.” Aaron said.

“On foot?” Sam asked.

“Less noticeable.” Aaron
answered.

“Smart thinking.” Sam
responded, “I’ll go wake the troops.”

Tone had gone back on to the
bus with Sam and returned with a box. He handed me a can of pineapples and one
I couldn’t read to Aaron.

“Breakfast.” He said and sat
down on a chair that had been dragged over.

Tone handed everyone who came
out their own can. Once we were all gathered he sent a can opener around.

“Aaron and Ashlyn went up and
have found a couple places for the hunting group to check out.” Sam explained
as we all drank our cans of fruit.

“Are we all going?” Sawyer
asked.

“No they’re going on foot.” Sam
answered, “They’ll see what they find and return here.”

“What if they don’t come back?”
Axel asked.

“We’ll give them till afternoon
and if they’re not back we’re continuing on to Paradis.” Sam responded.

“Wait.” Sawyer said, “You sound
like if they’re not back we’ll leave them.”

“That is what I’m saying.” Sam
answered.

“We can’t just leave them.”
Sawyer said.

“I’m not going to just abandon
them, but we have other people to think of too.” Sam said.

“Plus we know where we’re
heading.” Tone said.

“So if we don’t make it back
before Sam wants to move out, we’ll find you on the road.” Hunter added in.

“I guess.” Sawyer said.

“Let’s get a move on.” Aaron
cut in.

He had a backpack slung over
his shoulder and two more sitting at his feet. Hunter grabbed one while Tone
took the last one.

“What’s in the bags?” Daisy
asked.

“Couple bandages, pain
relievers, ointments, can of soup, water bottles, and Ramon noodles.” Aaron
answered.

“Sounds like we’re ready.” Tone
said.

“See you all soon.” Sam said.

“See you on the other side,
boss.” Tone said.

Aaron led us out the front
entrance of the hotel. There was a sign that looked like stained glass.

Petalite Springs Resort.

We had crashed into the highest
ranked luxury resort in the state.

“Aaron.” I said, “Do you see
where we are?”

“Huh.” He responded, “People
said I’d never see this place.”

“Weapons or vehicles first?”
Tone asked.

“Vehicles.” Aaron answered.

I was lagging behind the group. My
calves were burning from the uphill slope. Aaron had the backpack with the
water bottles. I forced myself to keep moving forward.

The ground leveled out and my
legs felt like liquid as I caught up to the group. I sat down as soon as I was
next to Aaron.

“It seems quiet.” Tone said.

“Isn’t that good?” Hannah
asked.

“I don’t know.” Tone answered,
“I was thinking we’d see people or at least Red Eyes.”

“If there’s people they may be
hiding.” Hunter said.

“And the Red Eyes?” Daisy
asked.

“Keep an eye out and keep
moving.” Aaron said.

“The dealership is coming up
how do you want to do this?” Tone asked.

“I worked at one and I know
where they keep the keys.” Hunter said.

“We pick off road vehicles and
send Hunter for the keys.” Aaron responded.

As we walked up you could see
the spots where someone had come and took a vehicle. The glass to the office
and showroom was shattered. Aaron led us straight to the trucks and SUVs.

“Pick your poison.” He said.

“I’ll take the green Wrangler.”
Tone responded.

“I want the black Dodge 3500.”
Aaron said.

“I’ll take the Ranger.” Hunter
said.

“That orange thing?” Tone
asked.

“Yeah.” Hunter said, “I’m going
for the keys.”

“Want help?” Aaron asked.

“No I’ll mover quicker by
myself.” He answered.

Hunter walked between two big
trucks and disappeared from where I could see him. Aaron jumped up into the bed
of the nearest truck and watched the direction Hunter had gone in. I was
starting to notice the quiet Tone had pointed out. We hadn’t seen anything
moving.

I wandered between a couple of
SUVs to an empty spot. The breeze blew an old flyer to my feet.

‘One weekend only sale.’ It
read across the top.

There was a yellow sneaker lying
by a tire of a blue truck. I walked over to it.

As I got closer I could see the
leg that was still attached.

I covered my mouth and forced
myself not to scream. I stepped back and came up against someone.

I turned around ready to swing.

Aaron grabbed my wrist before I
could hit him.

“Whoa.” He said.

“Sorry.” I told him.

“What freaked you out?” He
asked.

“Just look.” I answered and
pointed to the yellow sneaker.

Aaron went and checked it out.
He walked all the way around to the other side of the truck.

“Ash you need to see this.” He
called to me.

I forced myself to walk over to
him.

There were rust splatters
everywhere. Old blood. The leg was still attached to a whole body. Her throat
was missing.

“Why did you want me to see?” I
asked. I was gagging at the sickly-sweet decaying smell.

“This is the only thing we’ve
seen.” He said.

“Yeah.” I responded.

“Where is everyone now?” He asked.

“I don’t know if I want to find
out.” I said, “I just want Hunter to get back with the keys so we can leave.”

“Ash really look at her.” He
said.

“Why?” I asked.

“Her only injury is her
throat.” He answered.

“I saw that.” I said.

“If Red Eyes did this there
would be more injuries.” He pointed out.

“I didn’t think about that.” I
said.

“Let’s look around a bit more
over here.” He said.

I followed him between the
vehicles. Now there was more blood. We were getting closer to an open garage.
The parking lot was less packed over here. There were also people scattered
throughout the cleared space. Dead people.

All of them were only missing
pieces and appeared uninjured beyond what was gone. The man closest to us was
missing both legs. Another man was missing his arms.

Something clattered to the
ground in the garage. Aaron pulled me behind a white sedan. He had his finger
to his mouth.

“What did you break now?” A
man’s voice asked.

“Nothing, I just bumped the
table.” Another man answered.

“Make sure you didn’t wreck any
of Roger’s supplies.” The first man said.

“Believe me I wouldn’t risk
that.” The other responded, “I like to eat not be eaten.”

“Have you seen Kendal since she
went to patrol?” The first asked.

“Haven’t seen her yet. She’s
probably with Taylor.” The other answered, “You know how those girls are Mitch.”

“Yeah Don, I know.” Mitch
responded, “They’re lucky they have something Roger wants, otherwise they
wouldn’t be here now.”

“We’d better get the meal
started before Roger gets back.” Don replied.

“How long did Roger say he’d be
gone?” Mitch asked.

“He said he’d be back for
dinner. He wants the blonde tonight.” Don said.

I looked at Aaron. He shook his
head and put his finger to his mouth.

“You going to help me get her?”
Mitch asked.

“Fine.” Don responded.

We heard a door close.

“Back to the others.” Aaron
whispered.

I nodded.

He kept hold of my hand as we
made our way back to our group. Hunter was just coming back with the keys when
we walked up.

“You two okay?” Hannah asked.

“No we got to move out now.”
Aaron said.

“What happened?” Tone asked.

“Cannibals.” Aaron answered.

“Serious?” Hunter asked.

“Yes, let’s move now.” Aaron
said holding his hand out for the keys to the black pick-up.

Hunter handed out the keys and
the teams loaded into their chosen vehicles. Aaron pulled out first leading
everyone away from the dealership and towards the sporting goods store. I kept
checking behind us, waiting for someone to chase us.

I didn’t even notice when we
pulled up to the store.

Aaron turned off the truck and
my heart pounded in my chest.

Hunter parked on our driver
side while Tone pulled up to the passenger.

Even after everyone unloaded,
no one said anything until we were sure no one was around and we were inside
the walls of the store.

This place looked like I
expected everything to look. Racks were knocked over, shelves were picked
clean. The only items left appeared to be broken.

Aaron, Hunter, and Hannah
spread out picking up things from the floor. Aaron was smiling with every
discovery he made. I didn’t understand why he was happy, he was holding pieces.

“I can’t believe these got
left.” Aaron said.

“What do you got there?” Hunter
asked.

“Bows.” Aaron answered.

“What’s wrong with them?” I
asked.

“Nothing. They’re just not
strung.” Aaron answered.

“Why would they be left if
nothing’s wrong?” I asked.

“Bunch of reasons.” Hunter
answered.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Someone didn’t know how to
string them or couldn’t find the string.” Hannah answered, “Or someone who
thought a crossbow would be better.”

“Doesn’t really matter what
they thought.” Aaron said.

“Their leavings are our gain.”
Tone said.

“Do we have everything we need
for them?” I asked.

“Sure do.” Hunter answered.

Daisy was staying quiet over by
a window.

“What’s up?” Hannah asked her.

“Do you guys hear that?” She
asked.

Everyone stood still and
listened.

In the distance there was the
rumble of an engine.

It was getting closer.

“I vote we load up and head
back to the bus.” Tone suggested.

“I second that.” Hunter said.

We were on our way back to
Petalite Springs Resort. Aaron made sure to lead away from the approaching
engine. I still kept a look out for someone following us.

Aaron stopped the truck in
front of the broken window we had driven through with the bus.

The bus was gone.

“What do we do?” I asked.

“It’s still early they should
have still been here.” Aaron said.

“Something must have happened.”
Tone called from his open window.

“So we head to Paradis and hope
we find them on the road.” Aaron responded.

Tone took the lead as we headed
back to the road with the hopes that we would see the bus on the way.