The Survivors Book III: Winter (36 page)

After that, we sent everyone off about their duties.
 We were gradually falling into a routine, where every person knew what their task was in the group.  Michael, Hemi, and a few of the other Waikato Iwi men organised the watch rotation amongst themselves, while Zain, Ryan, and I went down to check the cars as best we could by torchlight.  By the time we got back, everyone was turning in for the night.

As soon as Michael spotted me, he finished his conversation and hurried over to greet me.
 "Hey there, pretty lady."

"
Hey, yourself."  I returned the greeting, and gave him a long look.  "What are you grinning about?"

"
We finally have enough people on the watch roster that we can swap people in and out," he answered, grinning even wider.  "That means people can have a full night's sleep when it's their turn to have a night off."

"
Oh, yeah?"  I raised a brow, amused by his enthusiasm.  "That's good, I guess."

"
No, it's great!"  Suddenly, he laughed and grabbed me by the waist to draw me into a hug.  "The other guys insisted that we take the first night off."

This time, both my brows shot up.
 "Oh?  So we get a full night's sleep?  Tonight?"

"
Damn straight."  He planted a kiss on my lips, then pushed me back and grinned at me.  "I don't know about you, but it feels like I haven't had a solid night's sleep in forever.  Go get ready for bed.  Long drop's over there, about five meters past that big rock."

"
I feel like I should be concerned that you're so excited about getting me into bed, yet your only interest is sleep," I commented dryly.

Michael laughed and spun me around, pointing me towards the makeshift facilities.
 "I know!  Who would have guessed?  Oh well.  Go pee, then come and have a cuddle."

"
Yes sir, Officer Chan, sir!"  I gave a mock salute, and headed off to do just that.

By the time I'd finished doing my business and returned to camp, Michael had already stripped down to his underwear, hung his clothing up to dry overnight, and snuggled down in our communal nest of blankets.
 I'd gotten used to the lack of privacy, and didn't even think twice about stripping down to my underwear to join him.  I hung up my coat and clothes, dried myself off on a towel, and snuggled down beside him.

Michael put his arms around me and drew me in against his warmth.
 That, combined with Alfred sleeping at our feet like a big, fur-covered space heater, left me quite warm and comfortable despite the weather and the stone beneath the tarp.  I closed my eyes, buried my face in the curve of Michael's neck, and was asleep before I had time for any other thoughts.

***

The dawn chorus woke me the next morning, though it was so dark that I could barely even tell that it was daybreak.  Michael was sound asleep, and didn't even stir when I carefully extracted myself from his embrace.  Alfred lifted his head and whined in greeting, his tail thumping happily against the ground.  I held my finger to my lip playfully, as if that would keep the dog quiet.  Regardless, he seemed to understand well enough.  He put his head back down on Michael's foot, and went right back to sleep.

I indulged myself in a stretch, and looked around the camp.
 Sleeping bodies surrounded me in the early morning gloom; the only sounds were birdsong, rain, and snores.  I smiled to myself as I reached up and plucked my clothing from the lines strung overhead.  My pants were still damp around the ankles, but Michael had definitely been right about that coat.  It did an admirable job of keeping me mostly dry from the knees up.

I
'd just finished pulling on my shirt and trousers when a soft cry split the peace.  I jumped and spun around, but there was only silence again.  Then, the doctor's tent flicked open, and Stuart looked out.  He spotted me, and beckoned me over.

"
Lily's awake," he explained quietly once I was close enough to hear him without him having to wake the entire camp.  I glanced past him, and saw the twins clinging together inside the tent.

I took a deep breath and nodded.
 "I'll talk to her."

Doctor Cross absently adjusted his new spectacles, looking relieved.
 "I'll go find Gavin.  I think he'll want to know."

"
Good plan," I agreed.  I waved him off, and then I slipped into the tent to take his place.  There weren't many places to sit, so I just eased myself down to sit cross-legged on the pile of blankets that had probably been Stuart's bed.  Both of the girls looked up at me, and I found myself wondering how on earth I was supposed to tell them apart.  They were identical in every way, except for their strength of spirit.

Suddenly, I realised that was exactly how I could tell them apart.
 I could see fear in Lily's eyes, but none in Jasmine's.

"
Good morning, Lily," I said softly, keeping my voice as low and unthreatening as possible.  "I know you're scared, so you just take as much time as you need, okay?  Gavin's coming, and I'm pretty sure Melody will be here soon, too.  All your friends are here, and you're safe."

The girl said nothing.
 Jasmine leaned down and whispered something in her ear in a language I didn't understand, then hugged her tightly.  Lily nodded silently, and buried her face in her sister's shoulder.  It wasn't hard to guess that she was feeling just the way I had when I'd woken up with Michael's group for the first time, so I didn't push her.  I just sat back and waited.

Sure enough, less than a minute later the tent flap opened and Gavin hurried inside, with Melody hot on his heels.
 I just sat nearby and watched while the four of them reunited.  Tears were shed, more words were whispered, and I was ignored for quite some time.  It was fine, though.  I completely understood.  Eventually, my patience was rewarded.

"
Lil, this is Sandy.  She saved your life."

My attention snapped back to the present when I realised that someone was trying to introduce me.
 I lifted my head, smiled, and waved.  It was Gavin, of course.  No surprise there.  He hugged the three girls one more time, and then he shoved himself back and plopped down on the bedding beside me with a long sigh of relief.

"
I told you she'd be okay," I said, trying to reassure him.

"
I know, I know."  He gave me a lopsided smile, and shrugged sheepishly.  "You'll understand once you're a parent.  You always worry, even when they're all grown up, no matter how smart and capable they are.  I know all of my kids can take care of themselves, but how I feel isn't always rational."

"
I think I understand," I replied thoughtfully.  "It's like my mum used to say: we were always going to be her babies.  It's human nature.  The bond between parent and child is nearly unbreakable, even if they're not technically your children."

"
Yeah, that's exactly it."  He nodded his agreement, watching the three girls talking softly amongst themselves.  Melody shot him a dark look, but said nothing.  I found myself grinning in spite of everything.

"
And that's exactly the same look I used to give my mum when she said that kind of thing," I commented.  This time, her glare was directed at me.  I held my hands up in self-defence, struggling not to laugh.  "Sorry, but it's true.  Anyway – Lily, you're with my group.  We're all heading south, to find safer territory down near Wellington.  I need to go get everyone out of bed.  Is there anything I can get you?"

Lily just stared at me with enormous eyes, as if I'd asked her to jump out of an aeroplane.
 Jasmine sighed and shook her head.  "No, thank you.  Me and Mel will take care of her."

"
All right," I agreed.  "I'll leave you guys to it, but if you need anything you can call any one of us, okay?"

The girls just nodded, and turned their attention back to Lily.
 I took that as my cue to leave.  Gavin followed me out of the tent, and trailed after me as I went off to get breakfast cooking.  I found Skylar already there, in the process of making rice porridge.  I knelt down beside her, and began unpacking our eclectic collection of bowls and cutlery from the plastic packing crate that we carried it in.

"
Morning," she said cheerfully.  "You two are up early.  Did I miss something exciting?"

"
Lily's awake," I explained, setting the bowls down on the tarp beside me.  I flipped the plastic crate upside down, and then put the bowls back on top of it to use it as a table.  "She's a bit freaked out, but she's going to be fine."

"
Yeah, just give her time," Skye agreed pleasantly.  She grabbed a jar of sugar out of the food stores, and chipped a generous chunk off the solidified granules inside.  It went into the pot of porridge, then she looked over at me again.  "So, what's the plan now?  You do have a plan, right?"

"
I always have a plan," I replied, matching her playful tone.  "I'm leaving the wounded and ill here with a couple of guards while the rest of us get our hands dirty and try to clear the path.  I estimate that we're only about ten kilometres from the next town, so there can't be that much of this.  In the meantime, I want you and Anahera to take the kids down to that stream we saw, and see if you can catch any fish.  We're probably going to be stuck here for a couple of days, so we may as well make the most of it."

I expected her to protest about being left behind, but for once Skylar just accepted my instructions without question.

"Just promise me that you won't over-exert yourself again," she demanded, fixing me with a dark look.  "If I hear about you fainting because you're pushing yourself too hard, I'm going to go up there and drag you back by the ear."

"
Yes, ma'am!" I agreed, sketching a salute.  Both she and Gavin laughed.  I eased myself back to my feet then, and set about the arduous businesses of waking people that really didn't want to have to get out of bed.  I couldn't blame them, but that didn't mean I was going to show any mercy.  There was a lot of work to be done, and every day we were on the road was a day closer to winter without permanent shelter and a steady supply of food.

My estimate, as it turned out, was a bit too generous.  It took us eight whole days to clear the road southwards, even with every able-bodied person on the job from dawn 'til dusk.  Luckily for us, the surrounding area turned out to be rich with wild game, and we found plenty of fish, eels, and ducks to pad out the supplies we'd brought with us.

Rather than waste fuel driving the trucks forward a couple of kilometres a day and going through all the effort of having to tear our camp down and set it up again, we left our camp set up on the ridge beside the stream.
 Each morning, the eight people chosen to work on clearing the road climbed on the bikes in pairs, drove out to the end of the road, and spent the day hacking back brush in the incessant rain.  The respite gave Elly and Rebecca time to finish recovering from their colds, and also gave everyone a much-needed break from the tedium of travel.

Clearing the road was long, filthy, and unpleasant work, so we drew up a roster to try and give everyone some time off every couple of days.
 Compared to labouring in the mud, watching the camp or helping to collect food was practically a holiday.

Michael and I were in the road-clearing gang on the ninth day, when we finally broke through to the other side.
 A shout went up from the pair sent to scout ahead and plan our path, and then a second later Hemi came rushing back with the biggest grin on his face.

"
We're through!" he exclaimed, waving his arms.  "Just another ten meters or so, and then it's clear sailing from here on out!"  He paused to gulp down an excited breath, and then clarified his meaning.  "Well, not totally clear sailing.  I mean, it's just a mud track, but there's no plant life growing on it.  That's an improvement."

"
Amen to that," I agreed, standing up straight to stretch my back.  "Grab one of the bikes and head back to the campsite.  Tell them it's time to go.  By the time they finish packing up, we'll be just about finished here, I reckon."

Hemi nodded and raced off, leaving the rest of us to finish clearing the path.
 It was almost midday by the time the convoy was ready to move, and it took another hour before the trucks caught up to us.  Exhausted, sopping wet, and splattered with mud from head to toe, we stripped off our soiled outerwear and tumbled into the seats reserved for us.  The people who had been on guard duty back at camp piled out and grabbed the bikes, then we were back on the road again.

Progress was slow, but steady.
 The mud was so deep that at times we had to get out and push one of the trucks clear.  Each time that happened, I worried that we were about to lose one of our precious vehicles, but by some miracle we managed to keep going.  By mid-afternoon, we were all cold, filthy, and miserable, and more than one of us was starting to show symptoms of catching the 'flu.

"
We're going to need to think about stopping somewhere for a couple of days, to let everyone rest up," I commented to Michael as we huddled in the back seat of the Hilux together, with Priya contentedly napping in the front.