The Survivors Book III: Winter (14 page)

Then, I heard something I never thought I'd have to hear: a young girl's voice raised in anger.
 "Dumb pig!  Look at me!"

Just at that moment, I rounded the last truck in the convoy, and came face to face with a scene right out of my worst nightmares.
 A few meters in front of me, Ommie's bloody little body lay crumpled in the dirt.  Maddy was crouched beside him, tense and alert, her attention fully focused on the battle.  A dozen meters further away, Priya and Matt were locked in battle with a large, angry sow.

"
No, I said look at me!" Priya demanded, rushing in to strike the beast as hard as she could with a branch.  She raced away when it turned towards her, nimbly dodging its bloody teeth.  Then Matt leapt forward, struck it from behind, and shouted something to draw its attention back to him.  They weren't doing much damage, but they'd managed to lure the beast away from Ommie.

Elly cried out inarticulately and rushed past me, dropping to her knees beside Maddy.
 I froze for a second, my brain unable to process all the information at once.  Then, Priya spotted me.  She called out to me, and that made the decision for me.  I couldn't do much good for Ommie, but I could still help Priya and Matt.

I left Elly to care for her fallen child and raced past her.
 The teenagers were doing exactly what they should be doing, but they were just kids.  They wouldn't be able to keep it up forever.  I crashed through a patch of ferns and leapt over a tangle of fallen branches, all while clutching the shovel in my hands.  My shotgun was strapped across my back, but I didn't want to waste the precious seconds required to arm it.

Four more steps, and then I was there.
 The pig's back was to me.  It didn't see me coming.  I might not have been as strong as Michael or one of the other men, but I was well-practiced at making my blows felt; my shovel came crashing down on the back of the pig's neck, hard enough to make it stumble and drop to its knees.

Before it could recover, I lifted the shovel high above my head, and brought it down again with every ounce of strength in my body.
 It struck edge-on, channelling the force into a narrow area, and it had the desired effect.  I felt bone crunch and break.  I didn't stop, though.  I kept hitting it, again and again, until it finally stopped moving.

"
Someone go get the accelerant.  We have to be certain."  I heard a voice behind me, and turned to see Michael coming up to my side, his gun trained on the fallen pig.  He gestured to the men standing beside him, and jerked his head towards the nearest vehicle.  "I put some lighter fluid in the glove compartment of each car."

I jerked my shovel out of the pig's flesh and stepped back, letting Michael take command of the situation.
 Priya and Matt came to stand beside me.  We watched in silence until the pig was ablaze; only then did I finally remember the important thing I'd forgotten in the adrenaline rush.

"
Oh God – Ommie," I whispered, then I turned and raced back to the convoy.  There, I found a group of people standing clustered together, whispering amongst themselves.  I shoved my way through the wall of bodies, anxiety twisting a knot in my gut.  "Please, please tell me that he's still alive."

"
He is," Doc answered.  "It looks bad, but it's mostly flesh wounds.  I'll put in a few stitches and give him a shot to protect him from infections.  He should be right as rain in a couple of days."

He glanced up at me, then looked back down at the little boy, who was nestled in his mother's arms.
 Suddenly, Zain shoved his way through the crowd and dropped to his knees beside her; he wrapped his arms around his wife and child, and hugged them both fiercely.  His eyes shone with tears of relief, and I felt a knot of emotion gathering in my own throat in response.  When I looked around, I saw that I wasn't the only one affected by the sight.  

"
Thank Allah."  Elly sighed heavily, hugging her child's battered body.  "Someone truly is watching over us this day."

The little boy stirred in her arms.
 His eyes fluttered open and looked up at her.  "Mama?  Papa?"

"
We're here, Omid," Elly said, with the kind of tenderness that only a parent could have.  "It's all right, my baby.  You're safe."

"
Is he okies?" Priya whispered to me.  I just nodded and put my arm around her.

"
Yeah, he's okay," I answered.  "Thanks to you, Priya.  You and Matt."

"
No," Priya said quietly.  I glanced at her, and saw a strange expression on her face, one that I didn't recognise.  "Thanks to Maddy."

"
What do you mean?" I asked, equal parts curious and surprised.

"
Maddy knew," Priya said, turning to look up at me with huge eyes.  "Maddy
knew
.  She said to me last night that a pig was going to come, and we had to save Ommie or he would die.  She told me what we had to do.  She made me practice with her, and told me which stick to pick up and keep with me.  I thought she was just… strange, but she knew, Mama.  How?  How she knew?"

"
I don't know, honey, but I'm glad she knew."   I tightened my grip around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug.  "You did the right thing by listening to her."

"
The little girl is a prophet?"  Suddenly, Zain's voice interjected.  I glanced at him, and found him and Elly watching us with wide eyes.  "Madeline?"

"
I don't know," I admitted, searching for her in the crowd, but now she was nowhere to be seen.  I gave up and looked back at Zain.  "Maddy has a gift.  We don't know exactly what kind of gift, but whatever it is, it's saving lives."

"
It's given us much more than that," Elly said, her tone carrying equal quantities of determination and awe.  "That child has given us a miracle.  You were the one that said to us that we must find our own hope, to save the children.  If Madeline is a prophet, then she is the one that can lead us to a new future."

Suddenly, I heard a child laugh.
 Maddy squeezed through the wall of people and plopped down on the ground beside them, with her hand resting on Elly's arm.

"
That's not my job, Missus Yousefi," Madeline told her.  She smiled broadly, an expression that made her little face seem almost angelic.  "That's Miss Sandy's job.  She's going to save the children –
all
of the children, even me."  Suddenly, she turned and looked at me, her eyes twinkling.  "Isn't that right, Miss Sandy?"

Madeline had a way about her that never failed to take me by surprise.
 It took me a second to recover, but once I did, I simply nodded my agreement.  Maddy beamed for a moment, then her expression turned serious.

"
We need to go now," she told us all.  "There are more pigs.  If we wait too long, then they'll come here as well."

"
I don't know about you lot, but that's enough warning for me."  I straightened up, and gestured broadly to the people gathered around me.  "Sorry, guys.  Lunch is going to have to wait.  Let's clear the forest, and see where we stand after that."

A chorus of wordless grunts met my instructions, and the crowd dispersed back to their assigned tasks.
 I waited until Ommie had been transferred to one of the trucks, then returned to the vanguard where I belonged.

We made it to the edge of the forest safely.  A shout from the scouts greeted me as I stepped out of the foliage and back onto solid tarmac.  I waved to Skylar, then plucked my radio off my belt and relayed the news back to the rest of the convoy.

Within a few minutes, all the vehicles were lined back up and waiting to go.
 I did a quick headcount to make sure that no one got left behind, including the animals.  Once I was sure that everyone was where they were supposed to be, I climbed back into the passenger seat of the Hilux and we were off.  Michael was back behind the wheel again, but this time the only company we had was Alfred in the back.  I shot a glance at Michael, and studied the contours of his face in the midday sun.

"
You're staring at me," he pointed out without looking at me.  "What's up?"

"
Nothing," I answered.  "I'm just thinking about Ryan and Skylar.  Or more specifically, Ryan and Hemi.  When Ryan figures out how Hemi feels about Skylar, it's going to be trouble.  I can feel it in my bones."

"
Ah."  Michael nodded thoughtfully, then shot me a quick glance and gave me a smile.  "There isn't much we can do about it, so try not to worry.  Their relationships aren't our problem."

"
It's not them I'm concerned about, it's the structural integrity of the group," I replied, sitting back in my seat and folding my arms across my chest.  "Still, like you said, there isn't much we can do about it now.  I'm going to try and take a nap.  Wake me if you need me."

"
Of course."  Michael turned his attention back towards the road and fell silent.  I shifted around in my seat until I was as comfortable as I could be, then closed my eyes and relaxed.  At first, my mind was too busy for me to sleep, but eventually the sound of the rain, the hum of the engine, and the boredom of the road lulled me off to sleep.

***

I snapped awake suddenly, instantly alert but uncertain what had woken me.

"
What is it?" I demanded.  "What's going on, what's wrong?"

"
Nothing at all," Michael answered.  I glanced at him, and found him peering at me curiously.  "Everything is absolutely fine.  We just passed Pukeatua, and we should reach Arapuni in another hour."

"
Oh."  I paused for thought, suddenly feeling a little bit stupid.  "That's good.  Sorry, it seems like whenever I sleep in the car, I wake up to bad things happening."

"
You do have some particularly bad luck in that regard," he agreed, an amused smile dancing across his lips.  "But, not this time.  Everything's fine.  Let me guess: you were having the shoe dream again, weren't you?  You always wake up stressed out after the shoe dream."

"
Argh, I never should have told you about that," I groaned, covering my face with my hand.  "Yes, I was having the shoe dream again."

"
It's okay, honey," he said, his tone deep and soothing.  "Tell me about it.  What was it this time?"

"
Well, I guess there's no point trying to hide it."  I sighed heavily, and shot him a long, sideways glance.  "Sparkly purple pumps.  They were awful and magnificent at the same time, but I didn't have enough money to buy them."

"
So, what did you do?" Michael asked.  His expression was one of eternal patience, even in the face of my stupid recurring dreams.

"
Same thing I always do," I admitted.  "I stole them.  I ran out of the shop wearing these stupid purple stilettos, but then they turned into roller skates.  I was skating down the street, wearing sparkly purple pumps.  And then the police were chasing me, and—" I stopped mid-sentence and stared at him, suddenly embarrassed.

"
—and I was the police officer, wasn't I?" Michael finished for me.

"
Yes, but after you arrested me, you started taking your clothes off."  I looked away, feigning interest in the foliage on the side of the road.  "And you can guess where it went from there."

"
Your recurring shoe nightmare turned into a sex dream?" Michael asked incredulously.  "You really are a worry, Sandy."

"
I know!"  I groaned and covered my eyes again.  "I don't even know what it is.  I'm not obsessed with shoes or anything.  I mean, they're all over the place!  They're right there for the taking.  If I wanted sparkly purple pumps, I could grab some out of any store, and no one would care.  So, why does my subconscious turn me into some kind of kleptomaniac shoe fiend all the time?"

"
I suspect it has something to do with issues of possession," Michael answered, his voice turning serious.  "You mentioned your philosophy, about everything you possess having to be carried on your back from place to place.  I think some part of you hates that, and desperately wants to own something pretty and completely frivolous.  That's not such a bad thing, Sandy.  In fact, once we find a place to settle, I'm going to bring you lots of pretty, frivolous things.  I bet that will put an end to your nightmares."

"
You think?"  I looked at him, far more curious than I had any right to be.  "I mean, I don't need any of that stuff.  It's not practical.  In fact, it's the opposite of practical.  We probably shouldn't waste any time on it."

"
Just because we live in a post-apocalyptic world doesn't mean that you can't have nice things, honey," he told me firmly, reaching over to take my hand.  He gave it a squeeze and smiled at me.  "You want to take a turn driving, to distract yourself?"

"
Sure," I agreed.  "Let's change over all the drivers for the rest of the way.  I'm sure the morning drivers could use a rest."

"
No kidding," he commented dryly.  "Watching you nap was putting me to sleep."