Hollowmen (7 page)

13.

And the rain did come, sweeping across the land in sheets. At least it didn’t start until after we’d finished eating and packed up our things. We were on the move again, looking for shelter.

First the wind came up, turning icy when it had been warm. We were all rushing by then. So he could run faster, Teddy carried Stella on his back, her arms latched around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist.

It started with a few scattered drops, but it turned into an all-out downpour within seconds. By the time we got out of the rain, we were all completely drenched.

We found sanctuary under a bridge on a country dirt road. A wide stream flowed underneath it, but the embankment was high enough that it didn’t appear we’d have to worry about flooding.

Even though it was only afternoon and we usually pressed on until nightfall, we decided to camp out here. The rain didn’t look like it would let up anytime soon, and it would be better to stay somewhere dry.

And with the storm, the zombies would be less likely to find us.  The rain would mask our scent, and the noise would drown us out.

Once we were safe out of the rain, we started setting up camp. Boden got a fire going, which was a nice treat since we usually avoided fires because they could attract zombies.

Bishop had packed a rope in her bag, and she strung it along the embankment from the bridge. From that, she hung up wet clothes to dry out. Stella changed out of her soaking clothes, and Bishop wrapped her in a rather dry sweater that had been shoved deep in one of the bags.

I took off my shirt and wrung it out before putting it back on. There wasn’t much more I could do until my other clothes dried. Boden simply took his shirt off, and he was actually probably warmer that way.

Something about the stream got Max talking about going fishing. Bishop and Teddy made him a makeshift rod using a stick, a bit of string, and a bent safety pin. I’m not sure if he’d be able to catch anything in here, but it didn’t hurt for him to try. It’d give him something to do, and we could use the fresh food if it worked.

Daniels apparently used to fish a lot, so he volunteered to help him. He sat down next to Max on the bank, right close by the stream. I didn’t like him doing anything with Max, but Max seemed to like him.

Even though Daniels had hurt him in the quarantine, doing the kinds of tests he’d done on me, Max had never held it against him. He thought he was a doctor trying to help, and that was good enough for Max.

I was off to the far side of the bridge, using the rain water to try to get dirt and blood out of my clothes, but my eyes were locked on Daniels and Max. I was too far away to hear them, and they had their backs to me, so I couldn’t even read their lips.

Ripley was on the other side of the river, sprawled out on the rocks and licking herself. Lions were social cats, so I think she liked being around us. It was in her DNA to search for a pride. But at the same time, she was still a wild animal, and she liked having some space between us.

Nolita sat by the fire with Stella wrapped up on her lap. I was surprised that Stella was letting Nolita hold her, but Nolita seemed to dote on her, and Stella liked that. Teddy was sitting next to them, also keeping warm.

Boden and Bishop were near me. Bishop was catching the fresh water in bottles, since it was clearer and cleaner than any other water we could find, and Boden was standing watch, the way he always seemed to.

“They’re just talking,” Bishop said.

I glanced back over my shoulder at her, but only for second, then my eyes returned to Daniels and Max. Instead of answering her, I scrubbed hard at the blood on my jeans.

“What do you think he’s going to do to him?” Bishop asked.

I shook my head and shrugged. Daniels must’ve said something funny, because Max laughed loudly, the sound echoing from the bridge. Daniels even laughed a little, too. He looked back, smiling, but when his eyes landed on mine, his smile fell away and he quickly turned around.

“I met him a few times back in the quarantine,” Bishop went on. “He didn’t seem that bad. Distracted and devoted to his work, but not bad.”

“Lay off her, Bishop,” Boden said, his words firm but kind. “If she wants to worry about her kid brother, let her.”

“I’m not trying to stop her from caring,” Bishop said carefully. “I just think there’s better things to worry about.” She’d filled up all the bottles we had, so she straightened up and brushed the dirt from her pants. “But if she wants to waste her energy, so be it.”

She walked away from us, going down to the stream. She crouched down behind Max, watching him as he tried to catch a fish.

Boden had been standing a few feet behind me, but he came down and sat on the ground next to me. He laid his gun across his knees, the barrel pointed out toward the rain.

“Is he the one?” Boden asked, his voice low in case anyone might hear. But with the rain pounding down, I could barely hear him next to me.

“What?” I asked, pulling my eyes away from Max to look back at Boden.

“Is Daniels the doctor that did all that to you?” Boden motioned vaguely over to me, to where he’d seen the marks covering my body. “I mean, was he the one personally?”

“Sometimes,” I admitted and lowered my eyes to focus on my dirty pants. “He dealt with me the most, but for more complicated …
procedures
, he’d usually pass me off.”

“What did a more complicated procedure entail?” Boden asked.

I flashed back to it for a second. The only difference between the doctors and butchers was that the cows were dead when they started cutting them up. The cows at least got some reprieve.

I shook my head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“They did the same thing to Max as they did to you?” Boden asked.

“I don’t know for sure,” I said. “I haven’t asked him.”

The truth was that I didn’t want to know for sure. I didn’t want to talk about what happened, not with my brother, not with anybody.

“Why?” Boden lowered his voice again. “Why you?”

I chewed the inside of my cheek, debating whether to tell him. But for some reason, I thought I could trust Boden. I didn’t see any reason to keep it from him any longer.

“We’re immune,” I said, and looked at him directly. “Max and I can’t get the virus.”

Boden’s expression never changed. He just met my gaze evenly and said, “Huh.”

“So that’s why he cut us up,” I said. “He tried to find a cure but couldn’t.”

“This world’s a fucked up place,” Boden said finally.

“It sure is,” I agreed.

Daniels was still helping Max fish, but Bishop sat down next to him and appeared to be taking over Daniels’ job. He stayed with them for a few minutes longer, but then he stood up, stretching his legs and back.

He glanced back over at me, where I had returned to glaring at him. He somehow thought that was an invitation and walked up the embankment over to me.

“Hey,” Daniels said and sat down next to me. He picked up a stone, rolling it around in his hands, probably just to busy himself. “I couldn’t help but notice the evil eye you were giving me when I was fishing with your brother.”

“Then why’d you keep doing it?” I asked.

“Look, I know what you must think of me,” Daniels said.

“No, you don’t,” I snapped. “You can’t possibly know, because I don’t even know.”

“I’m going to…” Boden floundered for a second then stood up. “I’m just gonna go.” He walked farther down, standing closer to the stream and giving Daniels and me some privacy.

Daniels’ dark eyes followed Boden down the bank, then he turned to face me, leaning his knee in toward me.

“What I did to you…” He took a deep breath. “I am sorry for it.”

“Vivisection isn’t exactly the kind of thing you can just apologize for.”

“You make me sound like I’m Dr. Mengele or something,” Daniels said.

“And you’re not?” I shot him an icy look.

“He mutilated people for the sport of it,” Daniels said emphatically. “You know why I did what I did. You volunteered for it, Remy. And I know it didn’t end up amounting to anything, but isn’t the entire human race worth the risk?”

“Yes, it is,” I admitted, but the anger hadn’t left my voice. “That’s why I agreed to it. And I don’t blame you for doing what you thought was best, and what probably was best, given the situation. But you can’t blame me for not wanting to hang out with the guy that sliced me open a dozen times.”

He softened after that, his shoulders slacked, and he lowered his eyes. “No. I don’t suppose I can.”

I didn’t have anything more to say to him. In fact, I hadn’t even really wanted to say that, so I got up and walked away, heading down to see how Max was doing.

The rain let up as the day went on, but it didn’t completely subside. Nolita took over keeping watch, and Boden lay out on a blanket, sleeping now so he could stand guard later in the night.

Teddy had taken to telling Max and Stella a story, some mutated version of Rumpelstiltskin that involved a talking unicorn and a mermaid. He was acting out parts and doing voices, getting rather grandiose with the whole thing, but the kids were delighted.

I even found myself engaged in the story after a while, laughing in a few places. In retrospect, Teddy was maybe too good of a storyteller, since he’d distracted us all. None of us was keeping watch like we should’ve been.

That’s how someone came rushing to our campsite, and we didn’t even noticed until he was inside.

14.

He froze when he saw us, his brown eyes wide and startled, reminding me of a spooked deer.

Nolita had already drawn her gun, pointing it directly at him, and he held up his hands, palms out in a gesture of peace. Bishop moved, putting herself between him and the kids, in case he wanted to try something.

“I’m not a zombie!” he said breathlessly, and probably just in the nick of time.

I stood up and kicked Boden with my foot, waking him up. Just because this guy wasn’t a zombie didn’t mean he was safe to be around. Boden was instantly alert and on his feet. As soon as he saw the intruder, he narrowed his eyes at him.

The man’s black hair was short, but his bangs were stuck to his damp forehead, dripping water down his face. Dark stubble covered his face, making it hard for me to be sure of his age, but I guessed he was several years older than me.

All his clothes were soaking wet, and his jeans weren’t much more than rags. The gray army jacket he wore was stained heavily with zombie blood. The shoulder straps to his pack were held together with worn duct tape.

“I’m not a zombie,” he repeated when we didn’t say anything, but his voice had gotten quieter. “I’ve been wandering out in that rain, and I just wanted to get somewhere to dry off and warm up for a little bit. I don’t want to hurt anybody.”

“Are you alone?” Nolita asked, her gun still pointed at his head.

“Yes, I’m alone.” He nodded.

“Are you army?” Boden motioned to his jacket.

“What?” His face scrunched in confusion, and then he looked down at his clothes. “No. I found this.”

“You took it from a soldier then?” Boden crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing him up.

“I took it from a zombie,” the guy clarified. “I was cold, and I needed a jacket.”

Bishop stepped forward to get a better look at him. She’d been standing in front of Max, but when she moved, he came over to me. He was half hiding behind me, and he put his hand on my back.

I almost jumped when he touched me. I wasn’t used to having someone just come up and put an arm around me. Physical contact was something I’d learned to live without.

Since Max seemed nervous, I wanted to calm him. I reached back and touched his head, leaving it there to reassure him.

“What’s your name?” Bishop asked the stranger.

“Serg.” He extended his hand and stepped forward, like he meant to shake hands with her, but nobody moved toward him, so he dropped his hand and stopped. “I just want someplace dry to stay for the night. I won’t bother any of you.” He paused. “Please.”

Bishop seemed to consider him for a moment, then nodded. “You can stay the night.”

“Thank you,” Serg smiled, relieved.

“Whoa. What?” Boden held up his hands and walked over to Serg. “You don’t get to decide that without talking to anyone.”

“Sure I do.” Bishop smiled thinly at Boden, and turned to walk back to the fire.

“
No
, you don’t.” Boden stalked after Bishop, his feet slipping a bit in the gravel of the embankment.

Nolita had lowered her gun, and she chewed her lip, watching Serg uncertainly. For his part, he stayed by the entrance of the underpass. His hands were on the straps of his bag, like he wanted to take it off but wasn’t sure if he should.

Bishop led Boden past the fire, to the opposite side of the underpass from where Serg was waiting. When she finally stopped, she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

“You’re not in charge here,” Boden said, purposely keeping his voice low and trying to keep the edge out of it.

“Who says?” Bishop asked, staring up at him with her intense hawk-eyes. “You?”

“Yeah, me. I appreciate your age and experience – ”  Boden said, and she scoffed and laughed.

“I ran the civilians at the quarantine,” Bishop reminded him, her tone icy. “I know how to take care of people.”

“Yeah, maybe in there you do.” Boden pointed in the direction the quarantine was. “But this is out here. We’re at war with the undead, and I’m the soldier. I pull rank over you.”

Bishop was probably twice his age, but she was much smaller. He was nearly a foot taller, and his shoulders were broad and strong.

While they continued arguing about who was in charge, Daniels decided to do something. He walked awkwardly over to Serg and extended a hand to him.

“I’m Craig Daniels.” He smiled at him, glancing back over at Bishop and Boden when Bishop raised her voice, and Boden hissed at her to quiet down.

Serg shook his hand and smiled wanly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause problems for you all.”

“That?” Daniels waved off Bishop and Boden. “That’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“So… it’s okay if I stay?” Serg asked hesitantly.

“Uh…” Daniels glanced back at Nolita, who shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”

“Thank you.” Serg smiled again and took off his bag, setting it carefully down on the bank.

“So, where are you from?” Daniels asked, attempting strained small talk.

“I was from Michigan originally, but that was a very long time ago.” Serg’s expression went a dark.

It was a familiar look. The one people got when they thought about the past, when they remembered what life had been like before zombies roamed the Earth. Everybody who’d lived this long had lost so much to survive. We outlasted our homes, our pets, our friends, even our society.

Nolita went over with Daniels to continue the banal introductions, so I turned my attention back to where Boden and Bishop were still fighting.

“Max, go sit with Teddy,” I said. Teddy was sitting by the fire with Stella on his lap, and I knew that if Serg suddenly went ballistic, Teddy would protect the kids.

“Why?” Max asked.

“Just go do it,” I commanded, and I went over to Boden and Bishop.

“You can’t compare that.” Boden was shaking his head when I reached them. “What you did at the quarantine is not the same as running an army.”

“Well, this isn’t an army, is it?” Bishop shot back.

“Enough,” I said, loud enough to get the attention of both of them. “It doesn’t matter who’s in charge. And besides that, neither one of you have the right to make decisions carte blanche for all of us.”

Boden fell silent for a few seconds before quietly saying, “Someone is the leader, though.”

I shot him a glare, and he lowered his eyes and stopped talking.

“I don’t know if he should stay the night with us,” I said, lowering my voice so it was barely audible over the rain. “I don’t like the idea of just picking up strangers. You never know who you can trust anymore.”

“This isn’t our bridge, Remy.” Bishop looked at me incredulously. “We can’t just kick him out. Not when it’s raining. We should help our fellow man in times like this.”

“I know that, and ordinarily I’d agree with you.” My gaze went back over to where Stella and Max were sitting with Teddy. “But it’s not just us. We have kids here that can’t defend themselves very well.”

“Your brother seems pretty resourceful to me,” Bishop pointed out. “He took care of himself against a town overrun with zombies.”

 “Zombies aren’t the same as people,” Boden said, echoing my thoughts exactly. “They’re getting smarter, but they’re not rational. They can’t trick you or steal from you when you’re sleeping.”

“Well, I’m not sending him away,” Bishop said, her eyes shifting angrily between Boden and me. “If you think that’s what you need to do, you can go to tell him that he can go out there and freeze to death and get eaten by monsters.”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” I tried to tell her, but she’d already started stomping back to the fire to sit down next to Teddy. I looked up at Boden, who sighed loudly. “We’re not wrong.”

“I know,” he agreed. “But I don’t really want to kick him out, either. I’ll keep watch all night, and he can stay. But just one night.”

I nodded, because that was the best compromise we could make. Boden walked away and roughly pulled his shirt down from the line where it’d been drying. He pulled it on, then went over to talk to Serg.

Serg kept to himself, but I’m not sure if that eased my fears or made them stronger. I stayed close to Max and Stella and made sure to keep one eye on Serg.

That got harder to do once it got dark, because Boden put out the fire. The light would attract zombies. I stayed awake for a long time, lying on the gravel next to Max, but eventually my body gave out and fell asleep.

It didn’t feel like I’d been out that long when I felt someone roughly shaking me awake, and in a panicked voice, Max was saying, “Remy! Wake up.”