“I have a question,” Jordan said. He’d finished rinsing himself off and water dripped from the ends of his long hair. At least it was no longer sticking straight up. Good thing it was a warm afternoon or he’d be freezing. Just wait until she got him back to camp and he discovered the showers they’d rigged up.
“What?”
“What about the woman in the basement?”
“Huh?” She’d forgotten all about Olive. “What about her?”
“Shouldn’t we save her?”
“No. She’s a Bagger. Long story. But she’s better off in there if we’re out here.”
“Is she related to you?”
“What? No? Why would you think that?”
Jordan shrugged. “I thought maybe you were keeping her safe while waiting for a cure.”
“There’s no cure.”
“You don’t know that for sure. The government could be creating one right now. That’s why I’m keeping tabs on my brother. So when the cure comes, I’ll be there to help him.”
“That’s nice of you to still care,” she said carefully. “But the woman inside isn’t related to me. It’s complicated. But I’m not hurting her or anything. We were just talking.”
“You can talk to them?” Jordan looked impressed. “Without them trying to kill you?”
“Sometimes.”
Jordan’s eyes grew rounder. “Can you do that with all of them? Or just certain ones?”
“All of them, I guess,” Aries said. “Why?”
“My brother is a Bagger. It would be cool to talk to him. You know, if it was really him. Sometimes I watch Seth from far away and I can’t tell if he’s there anymore. But it would be nice. Just to hear his voice again. To have him want to hug me and not kill me.”
Aries concealed a shudder. She knew from experience that any conversation Jordan might want with his brother wouldn’t be what he’d get. So that’s why the kid was searching for a cure that didn’t exist. Aries didn’t know for certain if her parents had survived the original attacks, but she’d given up hope a long time ago. But she’d rather think of them as dead than Baggers.
Jordan went over to the bushes and pulled out a rifle. He checked the safety before swinging it around over his shoulder. “So what do we do now?”
It was Aries’ turn to shrug. “I guess we go back to camp.” She paused. Wait. The vans. She’d seen them crossing the bridge and forgotten all about them. They were heading towards Lighthouse Park. And she’d just given them one hell of a head start. “Oh god. Shit! How long have we been here?”
“Right now? Fifteen minutes? My hair’s almost dry.”
“We’ve got to go.” Aries started running down the hill, not bothering to see if Jordan followed. He did, a few seconds later he fell into place beside her. They raced to the road in silence.
“They can’t be coming yet,” Jordan said. “We left them behind ages ago. They’re on foot. At least thirty miles away. Daniel and I saw them heading towards the mall. They’ll be there all night. You’re worrying about nothing.”
Aries would have stopped to stare at him if she wasn’t panicking heavily on the inside. “What are you talking about?”
“The ferals. That’s what Daniel called them. Feral Baggers. He said they wouldn’t be going into the city for at least a few days. So we have plenty of time.”
Now she did stop. Against her better judgment, she turned and looked at Jordan. The boy looked sheepishly back at her.
“Ferals? Where?”
“In the suburbs. Um.” Jordan squinted up at the sky. “I can’t remember the name. I’m not from here. I don’t know the names. Daniel said…Lohorn? Loghead?”
“Lougheed?”
“Yeah, I think that’s it.”
Aries glanced down at her watch. Michael and Clementine would still be in Surrey, miles away from Coquitlam. As long as they took the highway back, they should be fine. Raj was downtown with Mason, and now apparently Daniel too. Everyone else was back at camp.
But ferals coming into the city? It wasn’t really that strange when she thought about it. After the earthquakes, the ferals were necessary. They killed everything that crossed their path, a mindless never-ending carnage. Aries had seen her fair share. She fought them downtown the night she first met Clementine and Michael.
Once the initial killing had ended and the world’s population reduced to practically nothing, the ferals became a problem. They couldn’t be controlled or reasoned with, even by the more intelligent Baggers. Monsters like Leon who knew that in order for a new world order to begin, he’d have to monopolize on the skills of the surviving humans. He’d need slaves to build his new empire. And that wouldn’t happen if the ferals were still running loose and destroying everything in sight. So Leon had either killed or drove the remaining ferals out. Not that it made a big difference for the human survivors. The Baggers that remained behind were more dangerous. They were harder to outsmart.
“How many are there?” she asked.
“About four hundred. Maybe more.”
“Jesus.”
That’s why Daniel was going to get Mason. Four hundred ferals in the downtown core? They’d overrun the Plaza of Nations in minutes. Leon and his goons might have their intellectual abilities, but they didn’t have the numbers to fight back. Not if that many of them attacked at once. Aries tried to think about how many Baggers lived in the city. A couple hundred?
Aries didn’t care if Leon and the Baggers were torn into tiny pieces. In fact, it would solve all their problems if the Baggers went to war with each other. But what about the people held against their will? The ones Mason refused to leave behind? What about the children? They’d be killed too.
She’d have to worry about all that later. One threat at a time.
A few minutes later they reached the edge of Lighthouse Park. Aries ran straight through the parking lot with Jordan right on her heels. She saw the guard at the outpost look up, surprised to see her. He raised his gun when he noticed Jordan.
“They’re coming,” Aries shouted at him. “Tell the others. Get them ready to fight.”
“What?” The guard started to lower his gun.
“Baggers. They’re here. Sound the damn alarm.”
Through the trees, they heard the first shots. They’d run out of time.
Aries continued on. She turned down the path off the ride side of the parking lot, knowing it was the most direct route to where she’d find Larissa. Hopefully she’d run into Jack along the way. He should be back by now. If they didn’t react quickly enough, they’d be digging a lot more graves before the day ended.
They broke through the trees and into the camp. Already people were running around, alerted by the gunshots. But instead of preparing themselves for battle, the majority was fleeing into the woods. Aries watched a man race by, his arms full of boxes of crackers. Another shoved a woman and stole her backpack when she hit the ground. Although she cried out for help, no one bothered to help. Aries stopped and held out a hand and brought the woman to her feet. Instead of thanks, the lady turned and fled into the bushes.
Aries couldn’t believe what she was seeing. None of this should be happening. Where were the joint efforts? People coming together to defend themselves? Instead of working together, the survivors had descended into solitary chaos. Each man and woman for themselves. This wasn’t what they’d planned. There had been multiple meetings about what they’d do in case of an attack. Countless hours of preparation, discussions about the best ways to keep everyone alive, and even classes offered each morning on fighting and defense techniques. A team effort. Everyone at camp knew where the weapons were. They’d all been given jobs and directions. They knew what they were supposed to do. Evacuate the camp and head for the safe houses. Help those that needed it and work together to keep causalities down.
There were a dozen safe houses scattered throughout the lower mainland. Each person knew the address of only one. That way if anyone was captured and tortured,
they couldn’t sell out all the others.
But after a few gunshots, all the people were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. They were beating each other down just to try and stay ahead of the attack.
How on earth have they survived this long?
Sadly, Aries knew they weren’t to blame. A lot of the people were former residents of the Plaza of Nations. People held in captivity from day one. They weren’t used to fighting back. They’d allowed themselves to be rounded up by the Baggers and had stayed there until Aries and her friends had rescued them. Living at the park hadn’t helped either. They’d managed to remain hidden for several months without any repercussions. Instead of listening to Aries, they’d let down their guards. Many of them believed that the Baggers had no intentions of coming after them. They thought they’d come to some sort of imaginary truce in which both sides could live together without war.
Aries spent a lot of time getting to know them all. She wanted to build their trust and keep her own group of friends safe. But no matter how many conversations she had, how many names she learned, she kept thinking of them as the adults.
Adults who considered her a child. No matter how loudly she spoke up, they always pushed her back down. They listened to her ideas, but apparently they didn’t think highly enough of them to implement anything.
And now they were going to pay for it.
She knew the majority of the adults didn’t want to take chances. They refused to try and get Mason out because it was too difficult. They wouldn’t consider attacking the Baggers when hiding was easier.
They didn’t know how to fight back because they never had to.
Time to get a crash course in growing some balls because if they thought Aries was going to protect them, they were going to be very sorry.
“Aries.”
Jack ran towards her, nearly tripping over a tent that had toppled in the panic. With his limited eyesight, this would be a tough battle, but at the same time, Aries couldn’t think of anyone else she’d rather have on her side. Half-blind Jack would fight for her, no matter what the cost.
“They’ve found us,” she said.
“You think?” Jack had a baseball bat in his hand and he gave it over to her. “We have to get you out of here. Come on.”
“I’m not leaving.”
Jack grabbed her arm but she shook free. “We talked about this. They’re looking for you.”
“Have you seen what’s going on? None of these people are prepared to fight, Jack. I can’t leave them. None of us can. They’ll all die.”
“If they catch you, it’ll be worse.”
Aries shook her head. It didn’t matter. Jack might be right that the Baggers were looking specifically for her, but she wasn’t going to sacrifice the lives of everyone there so she could hide away until the fight ended. She didn’t care if she was the one person with the ability to temporarily change Baggers back to human. If everyone died, what would be the point?
“I’m not leaving,” she said. “So stop asking.”
“Fine,” Jack said. “But if you’re staying, we need better weapons. Come on, let’s go find Larissa.”
A Bagger burst through the trees and ran straight for her. Aries raised the baseball bat in time to strike the man across the side of his head. A sickening crunch vibrated throughout the wood and straight into her shoulder.
More gunshots sounded and Jack and Aries dropped to the ground. From ten feet away, a woman dropped to the ground and covered her head with her arms. Aries watched Jordan aim his rifle and let off a single shot into the woods.
“Got him,” Jordan said. He kept his gun ready and scanned the woods.
Jack raised his eyebrow at Aries. The woman on the ground began crawling towards a tent to try and find protection. She screamed as Marvin rushed over towards her and tried helping her up.
“You’re safe,” he kept repeating. “Go to the lighthouse.”
Marvin spotted Aries and waved her over. His face was covered in bright red splotches from overexertion.
“They’re running,” he said breathlessly.
“What do you mean?”
“The Baggers.” Marvin took several deep breaths before continuing. “They’re on the run. Not a single causality. This isn’t an attack, it’s something else.”
Aries frowned. What else could it be? She scanned the area and spotted two Baggers racing away from the camp. No one chased after them. Just like Marvin said, they were retreating on their own.
“It’s just as good,” Marvin said. “Because if they’d stayed to fight, we’d all be dead right now. Everything went to shit in less than thirty seconds. Nothing but pure panic. We’re not ready for this. All these people here. Not one of them are fighters. None except you kids and that’s a problem.”
“They’ve got to learn,” Aries said.
“Look around.” Marvin waved his hand. “All that damage you see? The destroyed tents? It wasn’t the Baggers that did it. They were running around with their heads cut off. I told you, Aries, they’re not ready. I told you that months ago. We need an emergency meeting tonight. We can’t stay in the city anymore. Time to head north. Get as far away from the Baggers as we can.”
“It’s not any safer in the mountains,” Aries argued. “The ferals are everywhere.”
“Rumors,” Marvin said. “Just a bunch of baloney to keep us in our place. Leonard Mack says he used to work on the ferries. Says he can still operate. If we can get one of those boats, we can sail right out of here. Head for an island.”
That wasn’t actually a bad idea. Vancouver Island would be out of the question. It was too big and probably Bagger infested. But what about Bowen? Or one of the smaller ones? What about Powell River and further along the coast? And why the hell hadn’t she thought about it before. Aries sighed. Either way, it wasn’t a conversation they should be focusing on at that moment. It would have to wait for another day. First they had to figure out what had just happened.
She looked down the path towards the Lighthouse Keepers’ house. A small group of woman had come together to comfort each other. She checked the faces of everyone, wondering why they hadn’t even tried to fight; relieved to know they were still alive. But the worst part was Aries was furious at all of them. They were all empty handed. Not a single one of them had picked up a weapon.
Aries would have fought without hesitation. She would have died for all of them. She would have done it because Clementine and Michael would be back in a few hours. She knew Daniel would find Mason and Raj and make it out. She would have fought so that Jack and Joy could have their baby, Larissa could continue her studies and that Colin would eventually find the absolution he needed.
Her friends. The good and the bad.
And more than anything else, Aries would have fought to stay alive so they’d all have someone to come back to.
Clementine
Andrew opened his mouth and a huge wail came out.
Oh god, he was going to get them all killed.
Clementine instantly dropped to her knees and tried putting her arms around the small boy. But the kid wasn’t having any of it; he simply shoved her back and continued to howl.
The footsteps were getting louder. The Baggers were officially in the building. And they didn’t care who heard them. From the front of the store, they appeared to be smashing every single window. Earlier she’d seen a large display of kitchen glassware and she was pretty sure the whole thing had just been torn down. Hopefully their noise would cover the sounds Andrew now made.
They had to take cover and quickly. It wouldn’t be long before the Baggers made their way into the aisles. Even if their intentions were to destroy the store, they would notice a group of children cowering beside the sugar cereals. And if they didn’t stop Andrew, no hiding spot in the world would save them.
“Come on, Andrew. It’s okay, honey. You’re safe. No one is going to hurt you.” She racked her brain, trying to think of other things to say. How
do you get a terrified child to stop sobbing? Should she hug him? Pick him up? Meanwhile, Andrew showed no signs of slowing down. Big tears fell down his cheeks and his eyes stared off into space. She wasn’t even sure if the child could see her anymore. How could she be this bad at this?
Michael joined her, speaking to Andrew, but he didn’t have any more luck. Desperate, he stuck out his tongue and tried making funny noises.
Clementine was on the verge of telling Michael to knock the kid unconscious when Janey finally stepped forward and gave Andrew a smack across the face.
“Stop it,” Janey said. “I told you last night. You need to not cry.”
Unbelievably, Andrew closed his mouth in mid yowl.
“You can’t just…” Clementine paused. She’d been about to reprimand Janey about hitting kids, but there wasn’t time for a lecture and the damn thing worked. She glanced at the others to make sure no one else planned on erupting, but they all appeared subdued.
They went through this last night, Heath. This is an old game to them. Like skipping rope or playing tag. The rules have already been explained. They know better than to scream. It only brings the boogeyman that much quicker. That’s what’s wrong with the world. It’s not that monsters are real. There have always been monsters. But these children shouldn’t know that. They’re supposed to be still tucked in at night. Playing with friends. Catching fireflies in a jar. Not hiding away in a mall while the Baggers close in.
“Turn off your light,” Michael whispered.
She looked down dumbly at her hands; surprised to see she was still holding a flashlight. Clicking the button, she plunged them into semi-darkness. Andrew made a hiccupping noise and Casey grabbed hold of her shirt.
“We have to be quiet,” she whispered. “Don’t worry. We’ll get out of here soon. We just have to wait for them go away.”
But from the noise coming from the front of the store, Clementine didn’t think the Baggers planned on moving on anytime soon.