The Survivors (Book 2): Autumn (17 page)

“Priyanka,” she said at last
.  All of a sudden, she was off the swing and kneeling on the ground in front of me, almost close enough to touch.  Those enormous eyes studied me through her tangle of dark hair, somehow seeming entirely too large for her little face.  “Sometimes I see Mama and Baba in my dreams.  Are you a dream?”

“No, I am real and you are awake.”
I shook my head slowly and extended a hand towards her, palm up, to show her that I was real and she could touch me.  To my surprise, she did.  The girl grabbed my hand and turned it over, staring at it as though it was the first she’d ever seen besides her own.  Up close, I could see that she was a filthy little thing, but I ignored it.  Under the grime and the smell was a little girl, and she was all alone.

“Real…” She touched my hand with covetous fingers, then laid her hand over mine and compared them, looking fascinated by the contrast between her dark skin and my fair skin
.  Eventually she looked up at my face again, and I saw that her eyes were rimmed by tears.  “Thought all people gone.  Thought I was only one.”

“No, there are still some people out there,” I told her, turning my hand over slowly so that I could hold hers
.  It was so tiny and bird-like compared to mine that I was almost afraid to break it.  To my surprise, she not only let me hold her hand but seemed happy for it; she ducked her head down and sniffed at my hand.  I felt a spot of moisture on my skin and couldn’t tell whether a tear had fallen on me or if she’d licked me for some reason, but either way I managed to keep myself from flinching. 

It was a child-like fascination, inquisitive, young
.  With no adults to care for her, she’d never had the chance to learn anything more.  Her education had stopped as a toddler.  Even Skylar’s education had included the company of other human beings.

“I want,” she whispered, nuzzling against my hand like a little child
.  “I want.  I want.  No go, please.  No go.”

My heart just about broke when I realised her cheeks were wet with tears
.  I found myself stroking her tangled hair without even thinking about it, letting her work through her emotions at her leisure.  In my mind, all I could see was a cherub-faced child, toddling the countryside all alone, confused, frightened and hungry.  Without anyone to care for her, it was a miracle that she’d survived.

Over her head, I saw Michael approaching with a look of concern on his face, but he relaxed when I gave him a reassuring smile
.  I tilted my head towards a patch of grass beside me.  He understood that I meant it was safe for him to join us, so he did.  He settled cross-legged a little way away and hid the weapons behind his back.  The sound of his bulk settling on the grass attracted the girl’s attention, though she still clung to my hand as though afraid to let me go.

“This is Michael
.  He’s a friend,” I told her, and then looked at him.  “Her name is Priyanka.  I’m pretty sure she’s alone out here.”

“Michael.”
The girl repeated his name, stumbling over the pronunciation a little.  Wide-eyed, she looked back and forth between us, then down at her own dusky-skinned little hands.  “Different?”

“Our mamas and
babas come from different places,” I explained, using her own language to help her understand.  Her speech was obviously stunted due to limited exposure to other people, but there was no reason to assume she was unintelligent.  “People look different in other places.  Michael is also a boy, while I am a girl, like you.”

“Ah-hah.”
She made a universal sound of understanding and leaned back on her haunches to examine us both.  The movement let me get a good look at the object she’d been cradling; I was relieved to see the fur did belong to a ratty old teddy bear, as opposed to something less savoury.  It was so ancient its fur had worn bare in patches, and the stitches around its throat had come loose to reveal the dull grey stuffing within.

Seeking a way to bond with the girl, I pointed at the teddy bear
.  “Would you like me to fix him? His head is about to come off.”

The dirty little girl looked down at her teddy bear uncertainly, then back up to me
.  “Fix?”

“I can sew his head back on for you
.  Make him all better.  See, his insides are coming out?” I leaned in closer to point out the damage, but made no attempt to take the bear from her in case she misinterpreted the action as a threat.  She seemed to understand, though.

“Make better, please,” she said, holding her precious bear out to me
.  I smiled at her manners, and gently took the teddy from her outstretched hands.  Priyanka inched closer to watch while I opened my backpack and dug out the tiny sewing kit I always kept with me during long journeys.  It was one of those things that had proven itself well worth the minimal weight over the years.  Things always tended to break at the least convenient moments.

I caught Michael watching with interest as I deftly threaded a needle and began sewing up the gaping wound in the bear’s neck with small, neat stitches
.  Being a survivor made you self-sufficient; I’d learned the patience required for tidy sewing through trial and error.  Fast, sloppy stitches would only come loose again, and force you to do the work all over again.

The girl’s eyes widened as the wound shrank, as if I were showing her an amazing magic trick
.  I suppose to someone with the life experience of a three-year-old, it was.  There were a lot of things she’d been denied beyond just the obvious.

The learning that took place in those early formative years was so much more in depth than just reading, writing and arithmetic, and she had missed out on all of it
.  I felt pity for her, and sympathy – it would be hard to learn those lessons later in life, but I hoped that she’d be willing to try.

She showed patience beyond her years as she watched me work
.  I suppose she felt the passage of time much like I had when I was out on my own; the rise and fall of the sun only provided a vague sense of when to eat and when to sleep, but time was more or less meaningless.

Eventually, I closed off the last stitch and bit the thread short, then offered the newly-repaired bear back to the girl
.  She took it reverently, as if she had just witnessed a miracle, and turned it slowly within her hands.  Then all of a sudden, she smiled and hugged the bear to her chest.  “All better.  Fix.”

“All better,” I agreed, feeling a flush of pride at the joy I’d brought to her with something so small
.  I guessed that bear must have been with her for a while, but I doubted she would be able to explain its origins.  I tried a simpler question instead.  “Where do you live, Priyanka?”

The young girl looked at me thoughtfully, and then stared around herself as though seeking an answer
.  Finally, she shrugged and hugged her teddy again.  I took her silence to mean she lived wherever she could.

“Where did you sleep last night?” I asked, trying another tactic
.  That one she could answer more easily; she pointed at the playground, towards a small, sheltered enclosure at the head of the rusty old slide.  I nodded my understanding and asked another question.  “What do you eat?”

She looked down at her feet and shrugged again, absently plucking at the long blades of grass around her
.  I felt a stab of sympathy, intuiting that expression meant that she ate whatever she could find.  Judging by her small size, it wasn’t a lot.

I exchanged a glance with Michael, and he gave me a nod
.  There was an understanding between us, a survivor’s code: we couldn’t leave this poor girl on her own any more than Michael could have thrown me out when he found me.

“Would you like something to eat?” I asked her, leaning forward to look her in the eye
.  Her expression changed so swiftly that I couldn’t decipher the emotions.  I saw fear, longing, hope, and so many others all twisting together.  Her response was another shrug.

I saw right through her mask of nonchalance
.  She was just a little girl, and she was half-starved.  I reached into my backpack again, pulled out the small lump of rewena bread left over from our lunch, and held it out to her.

She stared at it as though afraid that it might be a trick, and then looked up at me with confusion on her grubby little face
.  I smiled at her reassuringly and broke a tiny piece off the bread, which I put it in my mouth to show her that it was edible.  It didn’t take a psychoanalyst to know that she wanted it but was just afraid to take it.

When I offered it to her again, she snatched it from my hand
.  She seemed poised on the verge of flight, about to leap up and scurry away with her prize like a frightened animal – but something held her back.  She looked back and forth between us, uncertain.  We sat there patiently with smiles on our faces, watching her indecision.

Eventually, she figured out that we weren’t going to take her bread away from her
.  She sniffed it, licked at it, and then took an enormous bite.  The texture of the food enticed her in, and soon the small hunk was devoured.  Once it was all gone she licked the crumbs off her dirty fingers, and looked around anxiously for more.

That was the last of our bread so there was none to be had, but Michael followed my lead and gave her an apple from his pack instead
.  She only hesitated for a moment this time before snatching that from his hand, and devouring it with glee.  She wasted nothing, and even ate the core.  When she was done she flopped back on the grass with a satisfied sigh.

“Thanks you, thanks you,” she whispered, just about breaking my heart all over again with her sweet expression of
gratitude.  Whoever had been the ‘mama’ and ‘baba’ of this young lady, they had done a good job teaching their little one manners.

“You’re welcome, Priyanka,” I said
gently.

“Would you like a drink?
Water?” Michael spoke up for the first time, holding up one of our smaller water bottles for her to see.  His deep voice seemed to startle her, and it took her a moment to translate his words in her head.  When she made sense of them, her expression brightened and she nodded vigorously.  He took the lid off the bottle and handed it to her.  She drank gratefully.

Michael and I exchanged glances as the girl drank
.  On his face, I saw the same concern I felt mirrored back at me.  We both knew we had to take the girl with us, if she was willing to go.  The doctor would scold us for collecting more strays, but we had no choice.  No decent human being could leave another in a situation like that and not feel guilty.

“Priyanka.”
I leaned forward to catch her eye.  She stopped drinking, and stared up at me.  “Michael and I have to go soon.  We have a very long trip to go on, to meet with some friends.  If you would like to, you can come as well.  Would you like to come with us?”

That may have been the stupidest question of all time
.  She had no intention of letting either of us out of her sight any time soon.

Despite her fragile build, Priyanka didn’t slow us down at all.  Since she had no belongings besides her teddy bear, we were back on the road within minutes of her decision to join us.  She skipped along beside us as we walked, singing happily to herself in Hindi.  Or at least, I presumed it was Hindi.  For once, Michael had no insight to offer despite his usual adeptness as a translator.

A couple of times, Priya’s dancing took her so far ahead of us that we almost lost sight of her
.  Each time, she suddenly panicked when she realised that we weren’t close by, spun around, and came tearing back to us as though afraid we would leave her behind.

We wouldn’t, of course, but I understood that desperate, irrational fear; I had felt it myself on more than one occasion since I joined Michael’s group
.  Sometimes she latched onto my arm and clung to me like a limpet, but even then I couldn’t bring myself to be annoyed with her.  Human beings are innately social creatures, and the fear of rejection is almost as strong as the fear of death.  Sometimes, it’s even stronger.

Each time she attached herself to me, I stroked her hair and spoke softly to her until she calmed down again, like you would with a frightened puppy
.  Her fits of clinginess never lasted for long.  Once the latest one had passed and she’d scampered off about her play, I glanced at Michael and found him watching me with amusement.

“What?” I asked, shooting him a smile in return
.  His expression turned into a grin.

“I think that girl likes you,” he replied, slipping an arm casually around my waist
.  “I have the sneaking suspicion we won’t be able to have any more romantic interludes on this trip.”

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll think of something,” I replied, reaching up to pat his cheek affectionately
.  He leaned down to plant a tender kiss on my lips.  I closed my eyes for a moment to enjoy the closeness.  When I opened them again, I found that Priya had returned, and was watching us closely with her head canted at a curious angle.

Well, this was going to be an uncomfortable conversation
.  How to you explain the birds and the bees to someone with the social experience of a three-year-old?

“You kissies,” she commented in her childlike manner, looking fascinated by the discovery.

“Sandy is my girlfriend,” Michael explained, heroically leaping to the rescue.  “Like your mama and baba.”

“Oh.”
The young girl bobbed her head in understanding and smiled broadly.  “You have baby?”

“No, not yet
.  It’s not safe for babies,” Michael answered, shaking his head.  “Maybe one day, when it’s safer.”

Priyanka seemed satisfied with that and contentedly skipped off to resume her play
.  I, on the other hand, found myself all a’fluster.  Ever observant, Michael was quick to notice my expression.

“What’s wrong, honey?” he asked, gently drawing me closer against his side as we walked
.  “You’re blushing.”

“You called me your girlfriend,” I answered, stunned and incredulous.

“Aren’t you my girlfriend?” He frowned at me, an uncertain look in his eye.

I felt a stab of panic and rushed to reassure him
.  “No! I mean, yes– I mean, I didn’t mean it like that.  I mean, you’ve never called me that before.  It just took me by surprise.” I was even more flustered now; my emotions darted all over the place, but as always Michael seemed to understand.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked, but this time a smile danced across his lips instead of a frown.

“Nah.” I resorted to humour to cover my embarrassment.  “I think it’s okay.  Hell, you can do it more often, if you want.  That might be awesome.  I’m not so sure about the babies thing, though.”

“I am,” he answered, his expression softening as he looked down at me
.  “I mean, not right now – but one day, I definitely want to have a child of my own.  I think I could be a good father.  Don’t you?”

“God yes, you’d be the best father in the world,” I blurted with all the elegance of a rhinoceros in a tutu
.  “It’s me that I’m worried about.  I’ve just, you know, never even thought about it.  Two months ago, I couldn’t imagine letting anyone touch me, let alone starting a family with someone.”

“I know, sweetheart – and there’s the worry about the immunity
.  But one day, when it’s safe, then we can think about it.” He grinned suddenly and gave me a playful nudge.  “You have to admit, we’d make some pretty cute babies together.”

I had to laugh at that, and nodded my agreement
.  “Yeah, so long as they look like you.  Chinese babies are the cutest things since kittens in tuxedos.”

“Well, if I remember my high school biology right, the eyelid thing is a dominant trait, so there’s a good chance they would.”
His grin turned impish, and he reached over to grab my plaited hair, giving it a playful tug.  “It’s a shame blonde is recessive.  Could you imagine a little girl with your hair and my eyes?”

“Now that’s a frightening thought.”
I laughed even harder at the mental image he conjured up; throw in a big frilly dress, and Maddy would have some competition for the cutest kid on the block.  “It could happen, though.  Your dad might have passed on a recessive gene to you.”

“That’s true
.  Granddad was a Kiwi mutt, like you,” he teased.  I knew it was all in fun, so I took no offense and teased him right back.

“Hey, I’ll have you know that I’m only
half
Kiwi mutt.  My daddy was pure Scottish stock, but he moved here when he was two.” I flicked back a strand of hair loosened by his playfulness, and gave him a smile.  “I’m an actual McDermott.  We have a plaid and everything.”

“I can think of a hundred other things I’d rather see you in than a kilt,” he gave me a flirtatious wink, but with curious young eyes intensely interested in everything we did, our flirting stayed firmly in the realm of decency for once.

***

The landscape we passed through gradually changed over the course of the afternoon
.  Wide, flat expanses of pastoral land that had once grazed farm animals gave way to fields that had been used to grow crops.  As we moved further eastwards, we began to pass by enormous cornfields, gone wild over the years.  They stretched as far to the south as the eye could see, their tall stalks swaying gracefully in the breeze.

Michael and I watched the cornfields warily, our weapons at the ready; the perpetual movement and incessant rustling made us nervous, because it could hide the approach of any
number of enemies.  Priyanka showed no such concern, though.  She darted away from us and vanished into the long stalks with a squeal of delight.

I glanced at Michael and shrugged
.  “I guess now we know how she’s survived all these years on her own.”

“I guess we do,” he agreed.

“We should bring some corn back with us; we could make our own bread out of it.  Maybe we could even grow it.” I glanced over at him to see what he thought.  He nodded slowly, turning the idea over in his head.

Whatever his answer may have been, it was interrupted by Priyanka’s return
.  She scampered back to us at full tilt, her bare feet flashing across the grass.  With a prodigious leap to clear the long grass on the verge, she darted back across the tarmac and proudly presented each of us with an ear of corn.

We thanked her, then resumed walking eastwards
.  Priya and I stripped the husks off our corn, so that we could nibble on it as we travelled.  Just as I was about to tuck in to mine, I cast a glance sideways and caught Michael staring at his cob, looking totally perplexed.

“What’s the matter?” I queried, amused by the look on his face.

He shot me a helpless look, and shrugged.  “I’m a city boy.  I’ve never… opened one of these before.”

“Give it here.”
I chuckled, shoved my cob into my pocket, then reached over to take his.  With practiced expertise, I showed him how to snap off the stem and peel back the leaves, revealing the golden sweetness within.  “I’ve eaten a lot of this stuff over the years.  It just takes a bit of practice.  And...  there you go, just like that.”

“Huh
.  Just like that.  That was easier than I thought.” Michael took the cob, sniffed at it, and then took a bite.  He nodded thoughtfully as he chewed, considering the texture.

“Tastes a lot better than the canned stuff, doesn’t it?” I asked jovially, pulling my cob back out of my pocket.

“Definitely,” he agreed.  “Better than cooked, as well.  I believe we may be obligated to bring back as much as we can carry.”

“Shame it’s so far away, or we could just come back here and pick as much as we need at our leisure,” I commented thoughtfully.

“If only the roads were functional.” He sighed and nodded.

“Where’s a bureaucrat when you need one?” I joked, drawing a chuckle from my companion.

Priyanka laughed too, but not because she understood the joke.  She laughed because she was happy to hear the sound of people around her after so long alone.

***

Eventually, the fields gave way to long, rolling hills; the further east we travelled, the steeper they became.  The forest grew denser as we walked, and the road began a long, slow climb towards the heavens.

My hamstrings protested as we ascended the hill, but none of us said anything out loud
.  Priyanka seemed less bothered than Michael and me, but her energetic bouncing did slow to a plodding walk.  I worried about her bare feet on the uneven roadway, but she didn’t seem concerned at all.  I could only guess that after ten years without shoes, her feet were probably a lot tougher than mine.

“Have you walked this way before?” I asked her, breathless but curious
.  The girl looked around herself a bit, then she looked up at me and shook her head.

“Is new place to me
.  Has you walked?” she asked me in return, equally curious.

I shook my head as well and pointed behind us, to the west
.  “No.  We come from very far in that direction.”

“Why we go this way?” she enquired with child-like inquisitiveness
.  I could tell at a glance that she wasn’t complaining, she was just interested in knowing our reasoning.  Curiosity was a trait I encouraged in everyone, so I answered her as best I could.

“There are some people that live over there, far on the other side of these hills,” I explained
.  “They called to us for help.  We’re going to help them.”

She made a noise of understanding, but further conversation was interrupted as we crested the hill
.  Directly ahead of us, the roadway vanished over the edge of a ragged cliff.  Once, years ago, a rest area beside the road had commanded a magnificent view of the valleys all around, but sometime in the past the cliff face had collapsed.  Now, only jagged edges remained.

The three of us inched closer to the end of the road to peer over the edge; beneath us, a small truck lay smashed upon the rocks
.  My guess was that its weight had caused the collapse, but that knowledge didn’t help us at all.

“We’ll need to go around.”
I pointed to the right of the road, where the verge climbed sharply into a shoulder-height cliff.  Beyond the verge, the hill top was dense with forest, but the only other choice was to climb down and up the other side of the break in the road.  Although the cliff was only a few metres high, it was starting to get dark, and climbing at dusk seemed like a very bad idea.

Michael nodded without a word and went to the verge, where he cupped his hands to boost me up
.  I placed my foot in his hands and a hand on his shoulder, and then I was up and over the ledge easily.  The two of us helped Priyanka up, and then Michael vaulted up after us.

The bush on the hilltop was dense, dark and threatening; I felt a sense of foreboding just looking at it
.  Instinctively, I brought my shotgun around in front of me and slipped off the safety.

“Priya, you stay between me and Michael, okay?” I glanced at her as I gave the order
.  She tilted her head curiously, not quite seeming to understand, but she did as she was told as we moved off.

I led the way, scanning the woodlands around us as we walked
.  I could hear the faint rustle of small wild things all around us, but in the shadows beneath the canopy I could see very little.  Keeping the verge within sight to our left, I picked my way carefully amongst the trees.  Leaves brushed at my cheeks and tugged at my hair, forcing me to shove them away impatiently.  Although we were far more exposed out on the road, at least I could see any threats coming; in the dense undergrowth, things could sneak up on us much more easily.

The impending twilight was another concern
.  We were in the middle of nowhere, and the last building we’d seen was several kilometres behind us.  Finding a place to stop for the night was becoming more urgent.  Although we both carried torches, it was unsafe to keep travelling after dark.  The batteries wouldn’t last forever, and this far from anywhere, the only other light we had was starlight.