41

Remy

The three of us took turns sleeping, so someone was always awake to keep watch and tend the fire. Just before dawn, Eden woke up to say we'd run out of firewood. It was still too dark to go out, so we huddled together with the wolves, and we managed to keep warm.

As soon as it was light enough, we gathered more wood. Over the night, at least two feet of snow had fallen, and with temps hovering around freezing, it was a heavy, sticky snow that clung to everything.

The branches and the bear hide kept it out of the shelter, but we had to scrape it off to keep from collapsing. The snow was too deep for the mule to hike through – and us, honestly – and we'd have to wait until some of it melted to make the trek back to town. I only hoped it wouldn't take too long, since it usually didn't snow this early in autumn.

Nova came back from getting firewood with the backstraps of meat she recovered from the bear she'd killed last night.

"Are you sure that's safe?" I asked.

"We need to eat something, the cold kept it nearly frozen, and I always cook bear meat thoroughly because they have roundworms," Nova said, and she sliced it thinly with her knife and cooked it over the fire.

"How was it walking around out there?" Eden asked. "Do you think we'll be able to leave soon?"

"We'll have to wait and see," Nova answered noncommittally.

I didn't like being trapped in a small shelter, so I went out and tended to the mule. He was happily munching on grass he'd rooted out underneath the snow. As the sun rose, warming the air, the snow began to melt. It dripped down from the branches like rain pouring from the sky.

"Should we pack up camp and head out?" Nova suggested as the snow turned to slush around us.

"We won't make it home by dark, so we'll have to camp out again," Eden said. "Or we could wait until morning and make the trek in one day."

"I want to get back to my daughter," Nova said. "I'll take another campout if it means getting home earlier tomorrow."

"Me, too," I agreed, because I didn't want to spend more time in that tiny shelter. Moving sounded better, and I wanted to get away from the zombies who could plan and plot against us.

So we packed up our campsite, taking the hide and bear meat on the mule, and we headed home. The snow was still thick in places, and all the melting made it slipperier. That meant it was slow going, trudging through the slushy mess, but I still preferred that to sitting in the shelter or even the house in Emberwood.

Late in the afternoon, I heard a soft humming sound. We all did, even the wolves stopped to cock their heads, and it was only growing louder.

"What is that?" I asked uneasily.

Nova suddenly brightened. "Rescue snow mobiles! They're charged by solar panels, but they are only used in emergencies or special circumstances. They must be looking for us!"

She ran ahead, toward the sounds, and the wolves howled as they chased her. I couldn't run because I was holding Vince's lead, and the mule still couldn't go fast in the slush. Eden stayed back with us, presumably because she didn't want to fall either.

"They have snow mobiles?" I asked her. "Why are we out here walking when we could be using them for our hunting trips? We could go farther, or not camp out so much and reduce our risk."

"Because the town has five electric snow mobiles, and we used to have a dozen," Eden replied. "Some crashed, one was lost in a lake when someone tried to travel over weak ice, another was stolen, and two have just broken down with frequent use and lack of materials for proper upkeep. They won't last forever, so we only use them when a situation truly calls for it."

"Fair enough," I said.

The wolves started barking excitedly, and then I heard the sound of men's voices. We rounded the trees, and I saw them in a small clearing. A snow machine pulling a trailer behind it, just large enough for a mule. Between the trailer and machine, it carried three men – Boden, Lazlo, and Eden's boyfriend Alek.

Nova and Lazlo were already reuniting, and Eden ran over to greet Alek. I quickened my pace as much as I thought the mule could handle, and Boden jogged over to me.

"I am so glad you're okay!" He threw his arms around me and embraced me tightly.

"Of course I am. You know I've survived much worse."

"Just because you're immune to the virus doesn't mean you can survive everything ." He sounded exasperated with his voice muffled in my hair because he still refused to let me go.

"Seriously, Boden. It wasn't even that cold last night," I said, bewildered by the intensity of his response.

"No, it wasn't just the cold or the snow, but those both could've killed you, too." He finally let go so he could look at me. "We… we saw something today unlike anything I've seen before." The fear in his eyes made my stomach drop.

"What?" I asked.

He glanced behind him, and I heard the distant sound of another snow mobile.

"Are there others coming?" I asked.

Boden nodded. "We had to bring two machines to haul back all three of you and the animals, and we brought extra hands in case you needed help. But I should probably explain before they get here."

"Explain what?" I asked. "What did you see?"

"A zombie child commanding a small horde."

I grimaced, remembering what I had seen last night. "Yeah, him . He is creepy as hell, but he left us alone when he realized we could take him and all his followers out."

"Well, we dispatched the two dozen or so zombies following him," Boden went on. "It took all of us – me, Lazlo, Alek, Mayor Vaughn, and that alderman Wilder, and it wasn't easy. I worried about what they might have done if they found you in the snowstorm."

"I'm fine," I assured him, and I took his hand in mine. "But why did you need to tell me about that before the other snowmobile got here?"

"Because we didn't dispatch the zombie child," Boden said. "He started howling loudly, so Vaughn had Alek and Wilder grab him. They bound his hands and feet so he can't run or hurt us, and they put a rag in his mouth, so he can't bite or howl."

"Wait. They captured a zombie?!" I was incredulous and angry. "Why not just kill him?"

"Because he's different. Mayor Vaughn thinks we can use him to find out more about the zombies or how to control them," Boden explained.

The second snowmobile came into the clearing, pulling an additional trailer behind it. The mayor was driving, with Wilder on the trailer holding tightly onto the bound zombie.

"This is glorious!" Vaughn beamed as he turned off the machine. "You've all survived!"

"Yeah, it's great, but can you tell me why in the hell you have a zombie tied up?" I demanded to know as I marched over to him. "First you feed them, now you're keeping them as pets? What is wrong with you?"

"Now this zombie isn't like the others –" Vaughn tried to explain and held his hands up in a non-threatening way.

"No, he is so much worse!" I cut him off. "He can reason and command others, and I bet he's just as contagious."

"If he's a child who can think and reason, we shouldn't be killing him or capturing him," Nova argued.

"We can't leave him running loose to command hordes, so what do you suggest we do?" Vaughn asked sardonically.

"My vote is still for killing him," I said.

"And then we would lose all that we can learn from him!" The mayor was appalled at the very notion. "How can we ever hope to find a cure without studying the virus or the infected?"

"Fuck a cure," I growled, and my scars throbbed, the way they did whenever I was reminded of my time as a lab rat.

Mayor Vaughn narrowed his eyes at me. "And who are you to decide that? I am the mayor of the current largest and longest standing settlement in North America. Thousands of people have voted for me to represent them and protect them from a brutal, wild world.

"Because of my largesse and our mutual desire for a greater community, for a chance for humanity to thrive once again, you have been welcomed with open arms," he went on, stepping closer to me as he spoke. "When danger befell you, I led a rescue mission to find you.

"Now, I – the official representative and leader of the people of Emberwood – in my wisdom and compassion toward all sentient beings, decide to bring this afflicted child into our care. Mind you, we are using the utmost of caution, and we do so in hopes of finding an end to the cruelest illness known to mankind. One that has taken so much from every single person still alive today. And your response to that is ‘fuck the cure,'" he continued with his tirade.

"My question to you is, what makes you think that any of us give a flying fuck about any of your opinions?" Mayor Vaughn finished.

But I refused to back down. I kept my shoulders back and my chin up, because I knew it was a very bad idea to bring a super smart zombie inside the city walls.

"She's had some medical trauma," Boden said, trying to explain away my anger, and he moved so his shoulder was slightly in front of me, putting himself between me and Vaughn.

"I understand that this isn't about me," I said, meeting Vaughn's intense gaze. His eyes seemed to bulge a little, and his cheeks were sallow. "But it should be obvious to anyone with half a brain that bringing zombies into a human safe haven is going to end badly."

"Your complaints are duly noted, and you are free to move on if you no longer feel safe under my protection," Vaughn replied, and he turned back to the snowmobile. "Oh, and you are so very welcome for the rescue."

"We didn't need to be rescued," I muttered, but I knew there was no point in arguing. The mayor had made up his mind, and I wouldn't be able to change it.