Eaters (Book 2): The Resistance (14 page)

Some of the guys had the image spray painted on the back of their jackets and vests too.

Vultures.

It seemed a little silly, but she figured the name suited them, given that they probably had to scavenge for whatever survival supplies they could find.

She walked over to Aidan, asking quietly, "How'd you end up with this group?"

"A few days after I left the fort, I saw motorcycle tracks on a dirt road and followed them. I found them camping in the open, mostly people that escaped from the bar. They were all half dead and nearly starved, but they were lucid enough to almost shoot my head off. Once they recognized me, they stopped firing. I led them to a creek bed nearby that had water, and they agreed to let me stay. We've come a long way since then. We've been hunting and foraging in empty cabins around here. We've got a camp set up now. A mighty fine one, actually. It's got good shelter and a water source. Hell, it's got everything but Hi-Def T.V. and Wi-Fi!"

Cheryl didn't ask why they didn't just squat in one of the cabins. She knew from experience that it was sometimes better to be out in the open where you had all directions to run, instead of potentially being trapped inside a building.

When the skin inspection was over, Aidan raised his voice so everyone could hear. "Our camp is about four miles from here. We'll go slowly and you can follow on foot. Keep up, though, 'cause if another truck comes through, we'll have to get out of sight quick. We saw a couple of O.N.E. trucks come through here earlier this morning."

"O.N.E…." Cheryl said. "Who are they?"

Aidan took a deep breath and blew it out. "All I know is they're organized and armed. They've been patrolling this area, rounding up anyone they find. There were two men and a woman in our group out hunting a few days ago. They never came back, and we're pretty sure they were killed or taken by them."

"Do you know where they are? You've got firepower. Why don't you just go in and—"

"All their trucks head northwest towards Phoenix. We've considered heading that way, but—"

Mark jumped in. "You'd be stupid to think you could you just go into the midst of them waving guns and making demands." He was speaking to her, but issuing his warning to Aidan. "This isn't just some new duct-taped paramilitary group."

Cheryl was dumbfounded. Mark knew so much more than he was telling her.
Why?
He'd told her his theories about how the epidemic started, but if he knew there was a group who had the motive to start it, why hadn't he shared that part with her?

Seeming to read her mind again, he said, "When I found a connection from the lab that bred those dogs, and this group,
O.N.E
., whose agenda is so bizarre…so
out there…
I didn't believe it myself. I couldn't even talk about it with you. Then, after talking to Jake, I found out he…"

He trailed off as Earl came running up. "One of our scouts says there's trucks headed this way. We gotta blow!"

Aidan signaled the rest of the Vultures with a hand in the air, circling it around to give them the signal to move. As they mounted their motorcycles, Cheryl and the rest of her group gathered together, throwing their packs over their shoulders and preparing for a jog instead of a leisurely walk.

After Aidan's bike rumbled to life, the blonde with three-inch black roots and a mess of tattoos down her arms swung her legs onto the back and wrapped her hands around his waist.

She was Aidan's girlfriend now?

He could do better.

Her take on the chic was that she looked like trailer trash, someone who was rarely sober and whose only talents involved horizontal positions. She was nothing like Aidan. Though Cheryl knew he was more than a little rough around the edges, he was a master carpenter, a smart, deep-hearted man who had once endured finding his girlfriend and her kid murdered by Eaters—a man who had taken Cheryl and a couple of strangers under his wings during the outset of the epidemic—an all-around good guy.

It was a shock to realize that she was jealous.

A minute later, they followed the group on foot, pacing themselves at a fast trot. Thankfully, they were going downhill instead of up. After a couple of miles, she focused on the scenery to take her focus off her heavy-working lungs and the stitch in her side. The temperature had warmed a couple of degrees, increasing the sweat trickling down underneath her arms as she ran. And, the flora had begun to change. Instead of the piney forest, the area was becoming more desert-like again. They passed waist-high Octopus Agave plants and colorful manzanita with reddish bark, waving them on from the roadsides as a hot breeze urged their limbs into motion.

Though, no one spoke as they jogged behind the motorcycles, she could sense the growing uneasiness in her companions. It was hard not to feel like they were prisoners on a forced hike to some unknown destination. That feeling of apprehension increased as the trek grew more treacherous. There were sections of the road that had been washed out by torrential spring rains, forcing the bikers to dismount and navigate around boulders and deep trenches, and there were areas that were minefields of bones and bits of offal strewn about like road kill, a sign that plenty of Eaters had been roaming in the area.

Cheryl began to doubt Aidan for the first time. They were headed towards refuge
? It seemed more like they were headed down towards hell.

Chapter 11

Fifteen minutes later, the riders came to a stop and killed the engines on their bikes. They began to wheel them off the road into the dense scrub. Cheryl and most of the rest doubled over, catching their breath. Then, hearing the sound of truck engines in the distance, they hurried after Aidan's group.

It was a rocky hike for another quarter mile until they reached the Vulture's camp. Cleverly camouflaged, she didn't see it until they were just a few yards away. It was obvious that Aidan had exaggerated its luxuries, but it was still impressive. If rats were human-sized, and their leader was the resourceful MacGyver, this would be their hideout.

The center of the camp was composed of a ring of nylon tents and teepees made of a combination of animal skins, scraps of clothing, and blankets. They were covered with woven branches, making them nearly invisible from a distance. These dwellings appeared to serve just as daytime hangouts, providing shaded living space, because in the trees at intervals every few feet, there were more solid structures roughly six feet long with side bumpers that looked like bunks. A network of slats connected them, creating a walkway all the way around the perimeter of the camp. It was easy to see that the purpose of the structures was to provide refuge where they'd be safe from an ambush. Right now, there were a few men perched up there with rifles working as guards.

She continued to marvel at the design of the camp. Even the very perimeter was a study in ingenuity. There was a network of cording tied between the branches of trees and shrubs that circled the main area in looped tangles like a giant Indian dream catcher. She supposed its function was also to catch nightmares…
of a sort
. Pairs of tin cans hung in various places on it, an early warning system that was primitive but probably effective.

Once the motorcycles were parked underneath an immense lean-to nearby and covered with branches, they followed Aidan and his group through a disguised opening in the cording.

"Bill…" Aidan said to one of the men sitting around a large fire pit. "We've got guests."

The man acknowledged them with a nod while continuing to turn a long spit which held roasting lizards, snakes, and rabbits. He smiled a toothless grin when one of the returning men dropped a pile of dead squirrels and rabbits nearby and took out a knife to start skinning them.

Seeing the meager catch of small game, Cheryl was concerned that their arrival would be taking food away from the camp. "We've got a few more MRE's in our packs."

"Don't worry," Aidan said. "We've got a good store of beans and rice. If we want more meat, some of your guys can join ours in a hunting party later."

Combined hunting party? Cheryl knew sending Zach and Edmond out together with guns was definitely a bad idea. And, after Patrick's story, she wasn't sure she liked that Diego fellow. He looked, sounded, and smelled like trouble. Putting any combination of the three of them together for a hunt might end in a smaller number returning.

While Aidan stopped to chat with one of his guards, Jade guided Cheryl's group to a hole, several feet deep that had been dug in the earth and lined with a heavy, plastic tarp. It was used to store water hauled from a nearby creek. After taking a refreshing swig from an old margarine tub that sufficed as a cup, she studied Jade. He had lost a bit of weight since she'd his days serving firewater at Black Todd's. He was still bald and sporting a lightning bolt tattoo over one ear, but his mud-stained jeans sagged low, hovering perilously below his waist like they were only held up by a prayer.

"I barely recognized you too," he said, after catching her staring at him. "Your hair's longer and you're stronger looking like you've been lifting weights or something."

"Six months on patrol duty at Fort San Manuel. They put us through basic training and Combatives every few weeks to make sure we stayed in shape."

"Must have been nice there…while it lasted."

"It was all right. Not exactly
home sweet home
."

"Shit. Ain't no such thing as that anymore. We've been scraping by out here for months…just hoping to make it through another day."

And now she was too.
What spoiled luxury she'd had back at the fort in comparison to this group, roughing it outdoors, totally exposed to every element and danger. She made a mental note not to complain, no matter what the weather or how Spartan the camp conditions were.

Over the next hour, her group settled in, trying to assimilate but finding numerous things to pick squabbles over. Edmond, who'd never camped a day in his life (excepting last night after the helicopter crash), balked at the idea of having to use a trench latrine, a frayed twig as a toothbrush, and a teepee for sleeping quarters. He expressed his displeasure in colorful terms, even kicking back at Kai and Jasmine when they tried to remind him that he was lucky to be alive. Patrick wasn't comfortable hanging out with what he called,
a bunch of damn cutthroats and heartless beasts
. He warned everyone within earshot that they were probably all going to be murdered in their sleep. Ben and Chip fought over a tent. Flipping a quarter started out as a pragmatic solution until Chip got cocky, saying that the winner got Jasmine to keep him warm too. Then, of course, Zach and Diego found numerous things to kick up dust about. Zach couldn't refrain from giving his opinion about how things could be run better around the camp, and Diego, who'd done much of the planning and construction himself, defended his handiwork with a volley of insults. Only Jake, Mark, and Jordan kept cool heads, ingratiating themselves with the camp's inhabitants, working together to get as much information as they could about their surroundings and the troubles they'd encountered.

Two hours later, much of the bickering had settled down and everyone had gathered around the fire pit. Every eye and ear was on Aidan, Mark, and Jake as they talked.

Aidan took a stick and drew a triangle in the dirt with the number one inside. Next to it, he drew the symbol again. But this time, he drew a second triangle upside down on top of the first and drew an elliptical circle around the number one inside. Cheryl thought it looked eerily like a pentagram with a slitted eye in the center.

"O.N.E.," he said. "O…N…E." After an ominous pause, he continued. "I've heard it stands for 'One New Earth', but if you ask me, it stands for 'Organized New Evil'.

Edmond leaned forward, his eyes bugging out like they were going to pop out of his head. "Who are they?"

"I'm not sure I can really answer the
who
or the
why
, but I've got some clue of the
what
. They've got trucks all over the area. They're heavily armed, and they've been raiding building and houses for supplies, stripping them clean of food, furnishings, electronic equipment,
everything
."

"I knew some guys back from the fort who went on safaris," Mark said. "They told me they saw O.N.E. trucks in Tucson and always avoided them, because they weren't known to be friendly. They supposedly blew up a power plant, set fire to a police station, and destroyed some fire trucks in town."

He turned towards Cheryl and glared at her. Now, she knew why he wasn't happy about her plan to go out on another safari.
Why didn't he just tell her some of this stuff? She could have handled it.

Kai shook his head. "I don't get it. Who are they? Some paramilitary group? Taking over and working towards their own survival, everyone else be damned?"

"After Mark told me some of what he'd learned, I got to thinking," Jake said. "What if they're just protecting their own? Maybe we could find a safe way to approach them and—"

"No," Aidan said, cutting him off. "If they had any goodness in them, why would they destroy the infrastructure of a city? Why wouldn't they just clean the town out and rebuild? And why would they want to take down Fort San Manuel?" A chuckle erupted inside him and evolved into an uncontrollable guffaw.

"What's so funny?" Cheryl asked as his laughter wound down.

"
Fort San Manuel
. When I was there, I thought that place was impenetrable. I thought they had it locked down so damn tight they could kick back and file their toenails while the rest of the world went to hell."

"And yet…you left." Mark snarled at him.

Leaning back, Aidan put a pensive finger on his chin, not seeming at all offended by his insinuation of stupidity. "I've never walked a line straight enough to make it in a place like that where someone tells you where you sleep, what you eat, and where to piss. I chose to go on my own, rather than die a slow death in a prison."

Cheryl tried to return the conversation back to the topic. "So, why would O.N.E. cause so much destruction?"

"The principle of survival," Jake said. "Resource control. He who gets all the cheese wins."

Gears spun in her head. "Okay…maybe they're some kind of organized religious group that wants to go back to simpler times, so they're trying to recreate things the way they used to be a few hundred years ago."

That idea generated murmurs all around with several in the group adding fuel to the theory, talking about the Amish, Quakers, and such.

Instead of supporting the idea, Mark and Jake were quiet, pensive, as if they had a buzz of thoughts in their heads, but were weary of stirring things up further.

"There's something that stinks about that," Aidan growled. "I believe if you want to survive, you join together. I know for a fact they'd kill us on sight if they knew we were here. If they did, they'd be on us like stink on a skunk. They'd either take us away in their trucks or send Eaters in to finish us off."

"Send Eaters in?" Several of them said it at once with dropped jaws.

"Send them in?" Cheryl asked. "What do you mean?"

"They've found a way to control them." He let that statement sink in, watching the mix of expressions all around the circle. "They use them like bloodhounds. We've seen them herding them over the mountains like they were on a cattle drive."

Even Mark was incredulous. "That just doesn't make sense. How do you control N.E.U.s? There's no viable brain matter left. And how would they not turn on their handlers? 

"I have no idea…" Aidan said, throwing up his hands. "…but somehow they're controlled…and they must have some serious use for them or they wouldn't have bothered to figure out how to do it."

Eaters…controlled? The idea sent a shiver down Cheryl's spine. She couldn’t imagine how some mad scientist could manage how to do such a thing, and the concept was downright frightening.
Whole armies of the walking, hungry dead?
It was inconceivable.

"That sounds pretty crazy," Jake said.

"Insane," Mark agreed as others nodded their heads.

"You'd have to see it to believe it, but I don't think you'd want to. If you were close enough to view such a site like we did looking down on the valley a few days ago, you'd probably shit your pants. And if that many Eaters got wind of you, you'd be nothing but shards of bone now."

Jasmine began to whimper, and Ben cocooned her with his arms.

Edmond's voice went up an octave. "What…what if they send them up this way?"

"Hopefully, we'd have some advance notice. We post scouts by the road every day. If it happens, then I guess we make like bats out of hell and fly out of here."

"Not all of us have motorcycles," Cheryl reminded him. "We'd never outrun them."

Aidan looked at her with his one eye. There was compassion in it, or maybe it was pity. "I don't think you should stay here. We've considered moving on ourselves, but we just aren't sure which direction to go. This area seemed pretty safe until the O.N.E. patrols started coming out this far. Food is going to become an issue pretty soon too. We've scavenged all the cabins in the area, and it's not safe to go anywhere near the fort or down to Tucson. Game is getting scarce. Even the tarantulas seem to run when they see one of our hunting parties coming."

The idea that they all had to move on soon prompted multiple discussions.

Then, Aidan looked to Mark and Jake. "What's your plan, man?" You're welcome to hang with us for a little while, but you know our food situation.

"We got nowhere to go," Mark replied. "We can't go back to the fort."

Jake was more decisive. "I think we should head north, whether we plan on going all the way to Nebraska is debatable. But, we sure don't want to stay around the Tucson or Phoenix areas if O.N.E. is stirring up trouble, and we don't want to head down to Mexico where we've heard things are even worse."

"I agree," Cheryl said. Then she looked at Aidan. "But, what about you and your group?"

After some discussion, Neither Aidan or Diego seemed ready to uproot their camp and start over. Though, they admitted it was inevitable at some point.

"We really wanted to build a more permanent shelter here, but since there are so many O.N.E. patrols around, and due to the hordes you said infiltrated the fort, it's not looking like that's such a good idea anymore."

Cheryl waited for Mark or Jake to extend an olive branch to Aidan. Surely, it would be prudent for both groups to officially join forces and map out a plan for the near future.