Defensive Instinct (Survival Instinct Book 4) (23 page)

“Hope, I have breast cancer.” She said it like ripping off a Band-Aid.

Hope’s face turned to her so fast, Riley feared she’d injured her neck.

“But I’m one of the lucky ones,” she added quickly, before her daughter could have a meltdown. “The other doctors can actually help me.”

“How?” This time tears did well up, Hope’s eyes becoming glassy.

“I’m going to have what is called a double mastectomy. They’re going to remove my breasts, and the cancer along with them.”

Hope looked directly at Riley’s chest. “You’re not going to have boobs anymore?”

“I think it’s a fair trade to get rid of the cancer, don’t you?” Riley tried to make a joke, and could feel that the smile wasn’t quite right on her face.

“Is it dangerous? The double-whatever?”

“It’s surgery, and all surgery comes with risks, but I have the best doctors to do it, even one who’s done this procedure before.”

Hope suddenly buried herself in Riley’s side, her arms wrapped tightly around her ribs, threatening to crush them. Riley took the skinny girl in her arms, lifting her up and placing her on her lap. She let her daughter cry it out, soaking her shirt.

“Your Aunt Cameron should be here sometime tomorrow. I’m going to be woozy after the surgery for a day or so, and so she’ll look after you in the meantime.”

“Will I be able to come see you?” Hope’s voice was muffled by Riley’s body.

“Of course, right after it’s done. You can even wait outside the surgical suite, if you’d like.”

Hope’s head nodded, and Riley began stroking her hair.

“It’d make me very happy to see your face first thing when I wake up.”

“Can I tell Peter?”

Riley bit her lower lip. Abby and Lauren would know once Riley went for the surgery, but if Hope told Peter, then Peter would tell them.

“Can you wait until tomorrow? They’ll all know by then.”

“Why can’t they know now?”

Riley didn’t know how to answer that. The first response that jumped to mind was that she was scared, but there was no way she would tell her ten-year-old kid that. She was supposed to be comforting her, not making her worry more.

“I’d just rather they know tomorrow,” Riley eventually said, rather lamely. “Do you think you could keep it a secret? Just until the morning?”

“I guess,” Hope sighed, her grip finally slackening. “Can Peter also wait outside the surgery place?”

“If he wants to. Abby and Lauren will probably plan to wait there with you once I tell them.”

Hope pulled away, wiping at her face with her hands. Riley managed to find some other topic for them to discuss—an easy one Hope enjoyed—while her emotions settled down.

“Peter and I were going to play a board game tonight, can you play with us?”

“Of course.”

When Riley finally left Claire’s room, Abby was staring at her, waiting to know what was going on. Riley signed that they could talk about it tomorrow. As she followed her daughter and friend all the way downstairs to where the games were kept, Riley wondered how well she’d be able to sleep tonight.

Beyond the fence, Riley kept her feet planted, her hands gripped tightly around the machete, as the zombie came toward her. The smoke from the burning tree debris had lured several to the area. Riley had instantly volunteered to help take them out once she heard. It was a better way to pass the time than just sitting on the dock and watching the river. She had taken up a position in the long grass where she could still see the moment Freya returned with Cameron, but now she could take out some aggression at the same time.

Once the zombie was close enough, Riley’s blade sank into its skull with a heavy
thunk
. Winchester stepped around her as she freed her blade, ready to take on the next one. As soon as Riley had her machete back in hand, two other volunteers grabbed the body and dragged it away from underfoot. Once the horse-drawn cart that was rattling around outside the fence came back around, they would throw it into the back, and the corpse would be brought to a designated area. Riley didn’t know what they did with the fully dead once there, whether they burned them, used lye, or brought them far enough away to leave them out in the open where the animals could get to them. She didn’t even know if they searched the corpses for useful items or blood-free clothes.

“Good one, Mom!” Hope called from the safe side of the fence. She hadn’t left Riley’s side since getting up that morning. Now, she stood watching her mom take out zombies, her fingers linked through the mesh. It was practically a sport, but Riley knew her daughter understood the dangers. She didn’t mind Hope watching the procedure, as it was a good lesson. Later, she’d sit down with her and explain exactly what they were doing, how she and Winchester were working as a team, watching each other’s backs, and keeping one another safe.

After Winchester had beaten down the next zombie with a long crowbar, it was Riley’s turn again. A grey, naked, sexless being was stumbling toward her. It had been so chewed up, rotted, and withered that there was next to nothing left to distinguish it as a former human being. Whoever it once was, was long gone. Riley’s blade sliced the top of its skull clean off, the bone having turned weak and brittle over the years. That zombie must have been wandering for a very long time.

Hope made a sound that was half-cheer, half-disgust as the top of the thing’s head flew free.

As Riley stepped back from the body, she spotted a solitary canoe coming up the river. Her focus zeroed in on her sister, paddling in the front.

“Winchester, I’m out,” she said, having explained earlier that this would happen.

He nodded as he prepared for the next dead. One of the body movers took Riley’s place as she headed for the fence. It didn’t take too long for her to scramble up and over the chain link. Hope’s expression had become dour; she hadn’t been looking forward to her aunt’s arrival. Together, they made their way to the top of the rocks closest to the dock. The smaller dock still wasn’t completely ready for service, but it should be soon. It didn’t take long for Abby and Lauren to join them, as they had specifically been helping with the dock so that they would know when Cameron arrived.

“I’ll go tell the doctors to get ready,” Abby volunteered. She continued to stand beside Riley a moment longer anyway, her eyes begging her to say something, but Riley had no idea what. It had been a difficult conversation that morning.

“Peter’s sorry he couldn’t be with you this morning,” Lauren spoke to Hope for something to say.

“If he were so sorry, he wouldn’t hide in the computer lab,” Hope responded with a huff and a crossing of her arms.

For some reason, Peter couldn’t handle the news or the thought of standing by his friend while her mom waited for surgery. He had squirreled himself away in the computer lab to work on advanced math problems and ignore what was happening.

As the boat drew nearer, Riley noticed something odd: Freya wasn’t aboard. In the middle of the boat, Dakota’s cowboy hat distinguished her, while in the back sat Brunt paddling. As they neared the dock, Lauren called out and waved them to the rocks, carefully picking her way down them to help out.

Cameron scrambled up with ease, leaving Brunt and Dakota behind to struggle along with Lauren. She reached the top and immediately swept her twin into a bear hug, no words needing to pass between them. As Riley tried not to cry on her shoulder, she realized that soon it would be much easier for everyone to tell them apart, even if she cut her hair to look like Cameron’s.

By the time the embrace ended, Dakota, Brunt, and Lauren had all joined them. Hope and Dakota passed a few whispered words, Hope’s face trying to maintain a tough appearance. Riley caught only a few words as Dakota placed her hat on Hope’s head, saying it was for luck. Looking at Brunt, he merely nodded in greeting, under strict orders no doubt from Cameron not to ask questions.

“So where’s Freya?” Lauren asked.

“She was asked if she could help out with something back at the container yard,” Brunt told her. When he saw Riley looking at him, he quickly added, “Nothing important, Boyle just wants some fresh eyes,” in an attempt to keep her from worrying.

They walked back to the Black Box, Riley holding hands with Cameron and Hope, no one saying a word.

Down in the medical centre, the doctors were ready and the surgical suite was prepped.

“Give me a hug,” Riley held out her arms to Hope.

Hope hesitated, and Riley knew what she was thinking, that if she hugged her mom now, it might be for the last time.

“I’m going to be sore afterward; it’ll be a few days before I’ll be able to hug anyone again,” Riley told her, convincing herself that she didn’t have the same thoughts.

Her ribs were nearly crushed by her daughter, but Riley relished the feeling. She stroked Hope’s hair and back, then leaned beneath Dakota’s hat to kiss her cheek.

“I love you, sweet pea.”

“I love you, Mom.”

Carrying those words with her, Riley entered the surgical suite, taking one last look at Hope, who was holding Dakota’s hand. Cameron stood protectively behind them both, managing a smile that didn’t look too worried. Abby was clearly the most concerned, her fingers fidgeting with the cross around her neck.

“You ready?” Robin asked as Riley entered. It was weird to think she’d be the one on the table this time.

Riley nodded, and began taking off her shirt and bra, overly conscious of Josh and Dr. Lewis’s presence. They had no patient surgical gowns; after the surgery, Riley would only be covered by a blanket. Maybe they could have covered her with a sheet while she was still conscious, but Riley thought to hell with that, they were going to see her breasts anyway. They’d be the last ones to see them as they were.

“So the anaesthetic is going to hurt a bit going in,” Haily explained as Riley lay on the table. She was quick to start the IV, her ability to find a vein swiftly and painlessly still top notch.

“How are you feeling?” Dr. Lewis asked, the only one of the day much to Riley’s relief.

“Hungry,” she replied, refusing to admit to her fear.

Dr. Lewis chuckled. “We’ll make sure to have something good for you when you wake up.”

Riley nodded.

“Count backward from one hundred,” Haily instructed.

There was a burning in her arm as she counted, the anaesthetic flooding her system, mixing with her blood. Riley counted, knowing she wouldn’t get far, having seen others pass out before reaching ninety.

As a darkness swept over her, she tried not to think about it being the last thing Mathias saw and thought of it anyway.

Although Evans walked at the head of the column, he no longer considered himself the leader of his party as they moved through the storm-soaked streets. He continued to play the figurehead, making sure his authority remained intact after whatever happened, but he wasn’t making decisions like he once was. His party had become a kind of mob, an angry rabble. Evans still wasn’t sure what had happened to Wycheck, but the discovery of his boots amongst the strangers’ gear was more than enough to persuade the others. Now, they were following a map to a container yard that, based on the way the map was marked up, was their home base. Evans wasn’t entirely sure what would happen when they got there and would rather not think about it. He thought the strangers were innocent, maybe not of killing Wycheck, but of the other murders pinned on them. A bullet was very different from a knife, and none of the other killed party members’ gear was with their supply wagons. Of course, to everyone who was looking for someone to blame, this just meant that there was more than one group of people from the container yard who had attacked them.

Evans glanced over his shoulder at the party behind him. Even with the addition of the strangers’ wagons, the line was shorter, more clumped together. The searchers who had been off scouring the surrounding area were now back with the party, tightly flanking its sides. At the very back, their prisoners were restrained. Evans wondered what would happen to them when they reached the container yard. He was glad that the others hadn’t decided they were worthless, and that killing them was the best course of action. Unfortunately, that might not always remain true.

The party continued forward for several more minutes until a commotion brought them to a halt.

“What’s going on?” Evans asked, as Ki-nam came riding up alongside him.

“It’s one of the horses we managed to keep ahold of from the furniture store. It’s acting up, being stubborn and nippy.”

“Let’s go see.”

Evans followed Ki-nam and his horse to the middle of the party where the strangers’ carts were being pulled. One of the horses pulling the second cart had stopped walking, refusing to move. When anyone came near it, it threw its head with its teeth snapping like a zombie’s and attempted to rear. Their own horse, the one they had paired with the newcomer, had also stopped obeying orders, its head twisted away from its pulling mate in an attempt to avoid getting nipped.

Evans looked to Leo, who had been driving the cart. The man just shook his head. Nathan was also nearby, having climbed down from the seat of the other strange cart, the one whose horses were behaving, but even he wasn’t approaching the horse. Everyone kept their distance, wondering how to handle the situation. Evans was concerned about the strange horse hurting their own and knew that soon someone would suggest shooting it. It wouldn’t be the first night they ate horsemeat.

“Give me a moment,” Evans told those within hearing. He headed for the back of the party where their captors were restrained. As he came into view, all three watched him warily; the one he thought was the youngest, Bryce, was stiffening. Although Evans hadn’t personally beaten him, he hadn’t done much to stop it either. He studied the three of them, while they studied him.

“That one,” he pointed to Danny.

Arman, who had chosen to watch the prisoners personally, released Danny’s restraints.

“Come with me,” Evans told him. “Just remember that we still have your friends.”

“I understand,” Danny nodded as he climbed down off the back of the cart. A worried look passed between him and Bryce, while Lenny never took his eyes off Evans. Lenny had proven to be a talker, attempting to negotiate even during the assault, but now he remained quiet. Talking hadn’t worked for him, so now he was studying.

Evans led Danny forward, toward the troublesome horse. Every time he glanced over his shoulder at the captive, Danny’s eyes were darting here and there, glancing at all the glaring faces around him. His hands were tight at this sides, and shoulders hunched, ready to fight or flee should the situation arise.

“Your horse is causing some trouble. Do something about it,” Evans instructed as they reached the front of the cart.

“That’s Thumper,” Danny commented, a small note of surprise in his voice. “He doesn’t like to pull carts, not unless he’s paired with Potato.”

“We have only one other of your horses. That grey one with the next cart up.” Evans pointed to where he could make out its head and ears.

Danny shifted around a bit until he could see for himself, but then shook his head. “That’s Soot.”

“So your horse is worthless to us.”

“No, no! I can get him to walk. Just give me a chance.”

Evans noticed that the slight panic in Danny’s voice pleased those around them.

“I’ll need someone to get Soot and bring him here.”

“Nathan? Would you mind?”

Nathan shook his head and went to get the horse. Danny began approaching the annoyed beast, Thumper. He kept his eyes averted, moving toward the horse sideways, as Evans had seen Leo and Nathan do before with skittish horses. Thumper kept snorting loudly. He tossed his head less, seeming to focus on Danny’s approach.

“It’s okay, boy,” Danny whispered as he inched closer. “It’s okay, Thumper, I’m right here. You’re okay.”

Evans watched as Thumper’s ears perked up at the sound of Danny’s voice. When their captive got close enough, Thumper lowered his head, allowing his muzzle to be gently stroked while he snuffed up Danny’s scent.

Between whispered soothings, Danny asked if someone could unharness the other horse, the one standing next to Thumper. Leo seemed eager to do it, but also moved in a slow, deliberate way. Thumper snorted at the newcomer, but Danny continued to pet him and whisper to him, attempting to guide his head to face the other way. It helped when Nathan returned with the grey horse, Soot. The wild horse seemed to recognize his companion and whickered at it; the grey horse replied with a soft whinny. Once the other horse was free of the harness, Nathan knew to walk the grey one over to take its place without being asked.

“I thought you said it would only pull carts next to some other horse?” Evans inquired.

“Yeah, Potato,” Danny continued to speak as if still talking to the horse, “but he won’t bite Soot. If you let me walk beside Thumper, he’ll follow.”

His words were greeted by a lot of uncomfortable murmuring. Several people didn’t like the idea of Danny walking along, free of their makeshift ‘prison’ at the back. Some found the idea so unappealing, that they were back to demanding the horse be shot.

Evans mulled it over, weighing the pros and cons. It wasn’t easy to find a well-trained horse, but there was more to it than that. By giving the prisoner a little bit of slack, he could better observe how he behaved. Evans didn’t believe that Danny was the murderer he was being called, and perhaps letting him show that to the others might sway the other party members a little. Or it might turn them against Evans. He had to find a happy middle.

“Ki-nam, you got any rope with you?”

The former North Korean had been hovering around the periphery of the goings-on, his horse so perfectly obedient to him, that there was no risk of it walking into the gathered cluster of people and hurting one of them. Ki-nam took a climber’s rope off the back of his saddle and tossed it over to Evans. People were still muttering their disapproval as he carried it over to Danny, the troublesome horse now relatively calm.

“Hold out your wrists together,” Evans ordered.

Danny did so, obeying the command immediately. Maybe he realized that Evans was helping him in some small way.

After using one end of the rope to bind his wrists, Evans wrapped a few coils around Danny’s waist, with enough slack between them so that the captive could move his arms around. The rest of the rope was then tied to Thumper’s harness, effectively binding the two captives together. That was another reason Evans wanted to save the horse: it had become a prisoner just as the humans had, a potential bargaining chip depending on what happened when they reached the shipping container yard.

“Can you tell my friends I’m tied here?” Danny asked in a low whisper so that only Evans could hear him. Evans gave him no response, just tested his knots and stepped away.

“Show’s over, everyone,” he barked to those assembled. “Let’s keep moving.”

Instead of moving to the front of the line, Evans walked on the other side of the grey horse, keeping an eye on Danny. The young man was doing as instructed, keeping the irritated horse calm and moving forward. Although he could reach the knots that bound him to the horse, he didn’t touch them or try to pull them loose in any way. Evans couldn’t quite make out what Danny was looking at, not past the horseflesh and harnesses, but the young man seemed to focus mostly on Thumper. Evans guessed his eyes darted around to those near him from time to time, tracking their movements and the extent of their glares. Evans would’ve done the same.

Once he determined that Danny wasn’t going to do something stupid, and that no one else was going to assault him, Evans dropped back to the rear of the line. The eyes of the remaining two captives, Bryce and Lenny, locked onto him the moment he was within sight.

“Your friend is fine, at least for now,” Evans told them. “As long as he keeps doing his job, nothing will happen to him.”

He got no response from the two still bound to their chairs. Deciding he wasn’t going to get one, Evans began heading back to the front of the line.

“Wait,” Lenny spoke up before he got very far.

Evans dropped back again, looking up at the black man.

“None of us have eaten in a long time, especially Danny. May we have some food, or at least water?”

“Shut up, prisoner!” Arman shouted, causing Bryce to flinch.

“It’s alright, Arman, it’s a reasonable request. How long has it been since Danny ate?”

“He missed dinner the night you took us, so whenever he ate lunch I suppose.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Evans left the prisoners and slowly made his way forward along the line. He barely got past the cart holding them when Arman’s horse trotted up alongside.

“Are you actually going to feed them?” he sneered.

“I’m not going to deny them water. Can you see to it that they get some? Preferably without spit in it.”

Arman sneered. “I don’t understand why you’re being so accommodating.”

“Do you know what we’ll find at that container yard? Because I sure don’t. Three of these people got away, so the odds are they’ll know we’re coming. I’d rather have as many bargaining chips as possible, and they’re worth more if they’re unhurt. Can you get them a bit of water? Maybe just give them a bottle each, and leave it up to them to decide how much they drink during the journey.”

The wheels in Arman’s mind were spinning behind his eyes. He was probably doing the math about how far they still had to go, and how a bottle wasn’t much for that length of time. In the end, he seemed satisfied and consented to give the prisoners water.

Evans crossed in front of the rear cart so that he could come up behind Danny. Before reaching him, he swung his pack to his front and dug out a small container. Inside, was a literal trail mix of edibles Evans had picked up along the way: various nuts and seeds, along with dried berries and fruit that he had traded for at the last friendly settlement. Once his pack was settled again, Evans stepped up beside Danny, who startled slightly at his reappearance.

“Your friends tell me you haven’t eaten in some time. Here.” He held out the container to Danny.

Danny hesitated, eyeing the contents suspiciously. Evans pretended he wasn’t watching the young man out of the corner of his eye as he reached into the container, plucked out some of the contents, and ate them himself. Danny still hesitated a moment longer, but his stomach won out, and he pinched some food between his fingers, then stuffed it in his mouth. Evans knew Danny couldn’t hold the container and eat from it at the same time, not with his bound wrists, so he kept pace, monitoring just how much he ate. He also knew that if he left Danny alone with the food, someone would inevitably smack it out of his hands and that was just wasteful. No one would dare smack food out of Evans’ hands.