flipped open a Zippo lighter with a flick of his wrist and lit up, taking in a deep haul.
“We made it, huh?” he said, eyeing our surroundings.
Dawson waved her hand in front of her face to blow away Sid’s second hand smoke. “We don’t need to worry about the creeps killing us. Disgusting habit, Sid.”
He shrugged his broad shoulders and blew a mouthful of smoke in Dawson’s face. “Meh – it’s the end of the world. I’m gonna smoke. Deal.”
In seconds all the hatches on both vehicles were wide open. Everyone kept a close eye on their prescribed arcs of fire as Cruze hopped over onto the hull of Ark One to discuss our next move. Dawson reached down and lifted Jo up onto the hull. She grabbed a rag from her back pocket and gently wiped away the dirt collecting around my little sister’s eyes. “Just sit tight on the hatch door, Jo,” she said. “I don’t want you falling, okay?”
Jo nodded and emitted a loud yawn. “I will, Katie. Um, anything I can do to help you out? You look pretty tired.”
Dawson threw Jo a warm smile. “Wait a minute … you’re taking care of me? I thought I was supposed to be taking care of you. See, this is what happens when you become a teenager, Jo. Your mind starts to go.”
Jo snorted as her eyes slid in my direction. “We all take care of each other! That’s one of
my
rules.”
“That’s a good rule, Jo!” I shouted. “Thanks for taking care of everyone. You get to be our social worker.”
A chill breeze blew in, carrying a hint of precipitation, as Cruze and I hunched over my map. She peeled the wrapper off a granola bar and took a huge bite off the end.
“How are your people, Cruze?”
“A little shaken up,” she said, between chews. “At least back at the armory we had a defensible position. Out here, not so much.”
“No freaking doubt – but everyone knew the risks when we decided to break out … at least I
thought
we knew the risks.”
She pointed to the map. “Everyone knows we couldn’t stay there and we’ve made it more than twenty-five kilometers today. That’s a hell of an accomplishment when you think about the fact that we had to fight our way out. If you’re bummed about those guys back at the overpass, don’t be.”
I nodded. “I know … the rules have changed. Yadda-yadda.”
Cruze pursed her lips tightly. “The rules are that we’re making up rules as we go along, but you want to know something?”
“What’s that?”
“Even before Day Zero, every single person living on the planet was facing their own deaths every day, only it wasn’t creeps they faced; it was drunk drivers or some mentally disturbed guy going postal at work or cancer or any of the bazillion other things that kill people. The only thing that makes this shit feel worse is the fact that we’re not the top dogs anymore.”
I nodded. “We’re the hunted now instead of the hunters.”
She slapped my shoulder and then cocked her carbine for effect. “Yep … but who says any one of us still breathing has forgotten how to
be
a hunter. There might be more of them than there are of us, but I can shoot a round up the backside of a gnat from a thousand meters away. The creeps? All they can do is stumble and swarm and that’s it. If we keep working as a team, we can beat the bastards back, no question about it.”
Now
that
took me by surprise. There I was thinking that I had to keep strong for everyone in our group and I hadn’t once considered that someone might be trying to keep it together for me. I felt the tiniest spark of hope deep inside my chest at Cruze’s very practical outlook. She was right. Zombies were just another form of dying that we could add to a growing list. Human beings had faced down any number of calamities in the past; Day Zero was just modern man’s cataclysmic event. Six hundred years ago the Black Death wiped out nearly sixty percent of humanity in Europe and human beings managed to bounce back. Time was actually on our
“We made it, huh?” he said, eyeing our surroundings.
Dawson waved her hand in front of her face to blow away Sid’s second hand smoke. “We don’t need to worry about the creeps killing us. Disgusting habit, Sid.”
He shrugged his broad shoulders and blew a mouthful of smoke in Dawson’s face. “Meh – it’s the end of the world. I’m gonna smoke. Deal.”
In seconds all the hatches on both vehicles were wide open. Everyone kept a close eye on their prescribed arcs of fire as Cruze hopped over onto the hull of Ark One to discuss our next move. Dawson reached down and lifted Jo up onto the hull. She grabbed a rag from her back pocket and gently wiped away the dirt collecting around my little sister’s eyes. “Just sit tight on the hatch door, Jo,” she said. “I don’t want you falling, okay?”
Jo nodded and emitted a loud yawn. “I will, Katie. Um, anything I can do to help you out? You look pretty tired.”
Dawson threw Jo a warm smile. “Wait a minute … you’re taking care of me? I thought I was supposed to be taking care of you. See, this is what happens when you become a teenager, Jo. Your mind starts to go.”
Jo snorted as her eyes slid in my direction. “We all take care of each other! That’s one of
my
rules.”
“That’s a good rule, Jo!” I shouted. “Thanks for taking care of everyone. You get to be our social worker.”
A chill breeze blew in, carrying a hint of precipitation, as Cruze and I hunched over my map. She peeled the wrapper off a granola bar and took a huge bite off the end.
“How are your people, Cruze?”
“A little shaken up,” she said, between chews. “At least back at the armory we had a defensible position. Out here, not so much.”
“No freaking doubt – but everyone knew the risks when we decided to break out … at least I
thought
we knew the risks.”
She pointed to the map. “Everyone knows we couldn’t stay there and we’ve made it more than twenty-five kilometers today. That’s a hell of an accomplishment when you think about the fact that we had to fight our way out. If you’re bummed about those guys back at the overpass, don’t be.”
I nodded. “I know … the rules have changed. Yadda-yadda.”
Cruze pursed her lips tightly. “The rules are that we’re making up rules as we go along, but you want to know something?”
“What’s that?”
“Even before Day Zero, every single person living on the planet was facing their own deaths every day, only it wasn’t creeps they faced; it was drunk drivers or some mentally disturbed guy going postal at work or cancer or any of the bazillion other things that kill people. The only thing that makes this shit feel worse is the fact that we’re not the top dogs anymore.”
I nodded. “We’re the hunted now instead of the hunters.”
She slapped my shoulder and then cocked her carbine for effect. “Yep … but who says any one of us still breathing has forgotten how to
be
a hunter. There might be more of them than there are of us, but I can shoot a round up the backside of a gnat from a thousand meters away. The creeps? All they can do is stumble and swarm and that’s it. If we keep working as a team, we can beat the bastards back, no question about it.”
Now
that
took me by surprise. There I was thinking that I had to keep strong for everyone in our group and I hadn’t once considered that someone might be trying to keep it together for me. I felt the tiniest spark of hope deep inside my chest at Cruze’s very practical outlook. She was right. Zombies were just another form of dying that we could add to a growing list. Human beings had faced down any number of calamities in the past; Day Zero was just modern man’s cataclysmic event. Six hundred years ago the Black Death wiped out nearly sixty percent of humanity in Europe and human beings managed to bounce back. Time was actually on our
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