Charged (9 page)

She’s dazed momentarily, and that’s all I need to pull Brie’s arm free. We run towards the next house, stopping momentarily and pressing ourselves against the side of it.

The next street is an identical scene to the one we just crossed. At least I know that beyond it lies the woods, and I’m hopeful that not too many others chose the same route. The looks on all of our faces are the same. Wary, tired, but also determined. I straighten my back and step out into the madness.

This time a quite large, hysterical man starts running toward me. Petrified, I react without thinking, punching him square in the nose. He falls and we quicken our pace. Now that we have a routine for the cars, we cross them much faster. Through the next yard I’m surprised by Becky, who throws a pretty darn effective punch of her own at a scruffy teenager running at Mason and Nate. It must be ‘mom’ strength because she’s such a small, slight woman.

I hear a hissing behind us, and turn to find one of the fires has spread to a new car. I push everyone forward. “Run!” I yell.

We just make it around the side of the house, when the ground shakes and a massive boom erupts. Mason cradles Nate, the rest of us just stare at each other, wide eyed.

A good part of me knows that I probably don’t want to see, but the survivor in me needs to know what might be lurking around the corner. Brie grabs for me and I shrug her off, motioning for all of them to stay there. I crouch down and poke my head around the corner. The new car on fire had exploded. Pieces of car are everywhere, and we made it just in time. I shudder when I notice someone’s hand in the bush next to me. My stomach turns and I fall backwards, crab-walking back a few feet. Everyone else jumps up, scared of my reaction.

“Well,” I say shakily. “There’s certainly no one following us anymore.” I sit down and try to shake the image of the hand from my mind. “We should keep moving.” I say, standing.

My anxiety lessens a little as we begin our hike through the woods. We don’t hear or see anyone else. When we reach the Blackberry River, really more of a stream, Brie and I lead everyone to the fallen tree to cross. I wonder how we’ll make out once we don’t know the lay of the land so well.

We take a short break when we get to the other side. I hand Becky one of my bottles of water for her and Nate to share. Mason unzips Nate from his jacket and gives him back to his mother. After a few minutes we move on.

We hike west for hours without incident, resting intermittently. When we hit the Housatonic River we have to hike north a bit, until we reach a shallower section.

“Do we try to cross here, or keep going until we reach a bridge?” I ask.

“Bridges mean people. I’d rather try my luck with the river.” Brie answers first, and we all agree.

Mason looks at me. “I’ll be right back.” Moments later he returns with a small rowboat and paddle. “This might help.”

“Where’d that come from?” Brie asks. I could care less where it came from, I’m just happy we have it.

“It was leaning up against the back of the last house we passed just over there.” Mason answers, lowering the small boat into the water. “Careful getting in, it’s light-weight, but should get us across in one piece.”

It’s a tight fit, but with Nate in Becky’s lap we all find a spot. Mason paddles us across the deep river. We reach the other side and decide to take a break.

“Let’s have something to eat while we can.” I’m hungry, and I’m sure everyone else is, too.

Mason digs through his bag, until he produces some beef jerky and peanut butter sandwich crackers. He passes them around, while I fish out some oatmeal cookies and Brie pulls out some chips. We all eat quickly, and quietly.

I’m just ready to start packing up, when I hear a branch snap behind me. I pull my pocket knife out of my pocket, and stand quickly, facing the threat. Mason is beside me almost instantaneously, Becky grasps Nate closely and Brie stands in front of her. A kid around our age steps out of the woods towards us, hands up, palms out.

“Hey, sorry I scared you.” He says, stopping a few feet from our makeshift picnic area. We all regard him suspiciously.

“Where did you come from?” I ask a little more harshly than I mean to.

“I came down from Ashley Falls. Everybody there went crazy.” His face falls.

“Everybody from Canaan, too,” Mason says quietly.

“Where are you headed?” Brie asks him.

He shrugs. “West, for now, those things are to the east, so I’m not going that way.”

I begin to relax a bit. It might be useful to have another guy with us. “I’m Kat. This is Mason, Brie, Becky, and the little guy is Nate.” His gaze follows my finger around our little group.

“I’m Jared. Where are you guys headed?”

I glance at Mason, then at Brie. They both shrug. “We’re heading west too.”

“Can I walk with you guys?” Jared asks.

I look at Mason. If this goes south he’s the only even match among us. Mason, realizing the decision is his, answers, “Yeah, we could use another pair of hands.”

Jared relaxes, “Cool.” He comes closer and sits down by our bags, taking his off and stretching out.

We sit for a while longer, getting to know Jared-and Becky for that matter, a little better. After one last drink, we pack up and resume hiking.

We walk until the sun hangs low in the sky. “We should stop for the night soon.” I sound as tired as I feel.

Mason looks around before dropping his bag. “This seems like as good a place as any.” Nobody hides their relief at stopping. We’ve all hiked further today than we probably ever had before.

Mason hands me two tents, which Brie and I begin to set up. Mason and Jared begin gathering enough wood to build a fire that will last the night. Becky gets Nate settled with a clean diaper, a juice box and some crackers. Within a short time we have a pretty decent impromptu camp set up.

It’s decided rather quickly, and surprisingly smoothly, that Becky and Nate will Share the smaller tent, Brie and I the larger, and Mason and Jared will stay out by the fire, alternating keeping watch.

We didn’t have room for sleeping bags or bedrolls, and I watch as Becky sets a small blanket on the floor of the tent for Nate. Without thinking, I go to my backpack and pull out some of my extra clothes. Stuffing everything I have inside my hoodie, I zip it together and bring it to Becky’s tent, shoving it under the blanket for Nate so he’s not lying on the ground.

“Thank you.” Becky says, her gratitude plain on her face.

“No problem. Don’t want the little guy catching cold.” I smile as I watch Nate curl up on the now cushioned blanket. He falls right to sleep. Poor kid had a long day, just like us.

Jared and Mason have the fire going, so I begin to dig through my bag for a pot, a can of something decent to eat, and the can opener I grabbed. Brie and Mason follow suit, and even Jared chips in, adding a few sticks of smoked sausage to our spoils. “Better eat it before it goes bad.” Jared says.

“Thanks,” I say. “We can all use the protein.” I don’t miss the way Brie is eyeing him up out of the corner of my eye. Jared’s pretty cute, so I’m not completely surprised by it.

We end up with a pretty decent spread, and the best part is that it’s warm. Becky wakes up a sleepy Nate, making him eat before she does. He quickly falls back asleep. After Becky’s done, she offers to clean up, but we tell her to go get some rest. She doesn’t argue, rather joins Nate in the tent and zips it shut.

This leaves the four of us around the fire. The guys let it burn down to a smaller fire. We want to keep warm, and keep any wild animals away, but we also don’t want to draw anyone to us. We got lucky with Becky and Jared, yet something tells me everyone we encounter may not have such good intentions.

Mason offers to take the first watch shift. I’m unsure if it’s because he’s being nice, or if he’s still a little uncertain of Jared’s loyalty to our group. Brie gives me a questioning look, but I shake my head slightly. I’m not so sure that I want to leave Mason alone with Jared either, just yet.

I snuggle closer to Mason, he wraps his arm around me. It’s getting chillier, the fall night growing crisp. The only sounds are the skittering of animals and the crackling and popping of the fire.

The fire itself becomes somewhat mesmerizing. We’re all too tired to talk after the long day we’ve had. Something warns me that tomorrow won’t be any easier. After a short time, Brie’s head begins to nod, and she gives in and zips herself into the tent for the night.

My body hurts, aches in places that I never even realized I had, but I’m not tired. I’m still chock full of nervous energy. I wonder if it’s from getting charged by the outlet this morning, or if I create it all by myself now. Do I have to let it out? And more importantly, what happens if I don’t?

Even if I did want to go be some freaky science project, it’s not something that will happen during all of this madness. I shudder, whether it’s at the thought of being locked in a lab, or fighting my way to one, I’m not sure.

Mason’s arm tightens around me. “You’re cold. You should go, try to sleep.”

I look up at him, glancing quickly to Jared and back again. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah,” Mason says.

I give him a quick kiss and stand. “Just call if you guys need anything. Goodnight, guys.”

They both murmur goodnight as I unzip the tent and climb inside. I lay down next to Brie, and despite the nervous energy, I fall fast asleep.

I awake with a start to a rustling sound. It’s still dark, and I’m disoriented, but I hop up and unzip the tent quietly to investigate. It’s just before dawn, I can see the sky lightening to the east. I creep slowly out of the tent and zip it back up. Both Mason and Jared are fast asleep, the fire now a small pile of smoldering embers.

Peering around in the darkness, I look for the cause of the rustling. I hear it again, my eyes adjusting and focusing in on our intruder. A small, black bear pokes through the remnants of last night’s dinner. A baby bear means that there’s a mama bear somewhere close.

We lock eyes, less than three feet away from each other. It cocks its head and looks at me quizzically. I try to remember what to do in a bear attack. Do you stay still or make noise? I can’t remember. I decide to stay still until I know where mama bear is.

I want to wake up Mason and Jared behind me, but I don’t dare move. The little bear doesn’t seem to even notice them and I’m worried if they wake up it might turn on us. It is awfully small though.

I frown. Surely the mama bear can’t be that far away. Baby bear goes back to munching and I take a quiet step backwards, pivoting one foot for a better view of our little campsite. Looking all around, I can’t see anything.

From the darkness of the woods behind the baby bear comes a ferocious sound. Here’s the mama bear. Mason and Jared shoot upright, and to my horror the baby bear charges me. I cringe and brace myself to be mauled, yelling at Mason and Jared to run, praying that Brie, Becky and Nate don’t come out to investigate.

I feel a massive force slam into my legs, almost knocking me over. I wait momentarily for the searing pain of claws and teeth, but it doesn’t come. When I finally look down, I find the baby bear wrapped around one of my legs, trembling.

Before I can think about the odd nature of this I see mama bear come through the trees. Mason, Jared and I freeze in terror. I stare at the large black bear as its baby clutches me in fear, and I notice the metallic sheen reflecting off of it in the growing light of dawn. As it gets closer, I see its eyes are an unnatural metallic color too.

Infected. The situation suddenly becomes much more serious. No wonder the baby bear is scared. I see the look in Mason’s eyes and I know he’s made the connection too. The outbreak is gaining on us. Besides the eminent danger, it’s not safe here anymore.

The large, infected bear looms closer still. Before I can even think, my hands go in front of me, palms facing, and I create an energy sphere. I try to make it powerful, but hopefully not enough to kill it. Mama bear takes one more step and I throw it at her.

To my dismay, I miss. The sphere falls just short, but distracts her long enough for me to start again. It appears the spatters of energy are eroding the metallic sheen. I don’t have time to watch more, this time connecting with the large bear. My heart breaks a little, as the poor thing drops on its side, eyes closed. Its metallic shimmer is gone, now just a regular black bear.