The Survivors Book III: Winter (33 page)

A second later, Anahera returned with a steaming cup in one hand, and a plate of scrambled eggs in the other.
 The eggs were cold, but I took them gratefully anyway.  I sat down in one of the recently-vacated seats, and sipped my coffee.  Anahera seated herself opposite me, watching me thoughtfully.

"
You know, I don't think we've ever had the chance to speak alone," she murmured, trailing her fingers across the hot surface of her own mug.

I paused with a forkful of eggs half way to my mouth, and gave her a curious look.
 "Well, there was that one time on the docks at your old place."

"
Ah, yes.  I'd forgotten about that."  She sighed and glanced down at her drink, as though seeking to divine something from the dark brew.  "It's still hard to believe that I'll never see my home again."

"
I know."  I put my fork down, and reached across the table to touch her hand sympathetically.  "I just wish that we'd thought to warn you earlier.  I don't think I've told you how much I regret that."

"
You don't have to."  She smiled faintly, and placed her free hand over top of mine.  "I understand you, Sandrine McDermott.  I see much pain in your eyes, yet so much determination.  It was a mistake that anyone could have made in a time of such stress.  I hold nothing against you."

"
Thank you."  I smiled back at her, and gently withdrew my hand so that I could resume eating.  Cold or not, the moment that I felt that food on my tongue, I was ravenous.  I had almost finished before I realised that Anahera was watching me closely.  I paused, and looked at her quizzically.  "What is it?"

"
Nothing, my dear.  You just seem to be feeling better this morning, and that pleases me."  She gave me one of those enigmatic smiles of hers that always made me feel like she knew something I didn't.  "Would you like another helping?  I wasn't sure how many we were going to be feeding, so I made more than necessary."

"
I won't say no," I replied, setting my fork down on the empty plate.  "Doc keeps hounding me to put some more weight on."

"
As well he should.  You are still much too thin."  Anahera took my plate and stood up, her expression one of maternal kindness.  "Don't worry about it too much.  Now that we're living together I'm sure I'll be able to fatten you up."

"
Don't fatten me up too much, or Michael will cancel the wedding," I said with a laugh, even though I knew it wasn't true.  Hell, Michael seemed to like me even better when I gained a few more curves.

"
Wedding?"  Anahera popped back around the partition and stared at me, wide-eyed.  "You two are engaged now?"

"
Oh."  I froze, suddenly realising that she was probably the one person that didn't know.  "Oh, yeah.  I guess I forgot to tell you.  After the talk you gave us, we decided to get tentatively engaged, and just let things progress as they will.  We've swapped rings, but it's nothing set in stone."

"
Oh, Sandy, that's wonderful news."  Before I quite knew what had happened, she'd pulled me out of my chair and swept me up into a hug.  "Congratulations!  I am thrilled for both of you."

"
I thought you might be."  Laughing, I hugged her back.  "Sorry.  I told you about everything else but I guess I forgot about that.  It's been a busy few weeks, you know?"

"
No, I completely understand."  Anahera pushed me back and smiled radiantly at me.  Just as suddenly as she'd grabbed me, she let me go.  A second later, I found myself back in my chair with another helping of eggs in front of me.  "Now, eat up and tell me all about it."

Anahera and I talked for almost an hour over our coffee.  At one stage, I got up to check on the men, but they were deeply engrossed in what they were doing and informed me that another set of hands would just get in the way.  We went back to the kitchen and talked some more, until I accidentally disclosed that Elly was feeling ill.

Unsurprisingly, Anahera wasn't about to let her suffer.
 She hurried off to find the fixings for hot, honeyed tea, leaving me on my own.  I washed my dish and mug out of habit, and returned them to the cupboard that they'd been borrowed from, then I went out to check on Elly.  She was still awake and alert but miserable, and waved me away when I tried to enquire about her welfare.

With nothing better to do to pass the time, I decided to check out the local shops and see if there was anything left that had survived the riots.
 I ducked across the road, only to discover that the buildings over there were a perfect cross-section of things that were utterly useless to us now: several banks, a few offices advertising law services or politicians, and a post office.  The only place that might be remotely useful was a small optometrist's office on the corner.  Thinking of Doc's scratched lenses, I made a mental note to bring him over and check it out before we left town.  In the meantime, I headed eastwards along the road, back towards the shopping centre.

My instinct told me that if there was anything useful left here, then that was where I'd find it.
 Part of me felt guilty for defying my own orders and going off on my own, but I was confident in my ability to defend myself should the need arise.  I slipped my shotgun off my shoulder, just in case, and eased the safety off.

I ducked across a silent intersection, picking my way between a half-dozen cars in various states of disrepair, to the footpath on the other side.
 There, through the twisting vines of an overgrown plant, I spotted the familiar logo of a chain brand pharmacy.  As soon as I got close to the door, my heart sank.  The pharmacy had been ransacked.

"
Since when did you get so spoiled that you care about that?" I muttered to myself, suddenly amused.  I lifted my shotgun to my shoulder, and carefully stepped into the carnage within.

As soon as I crossed the threshold, I realised that 'carnage' was not an overstatement.
 Pieces that had once belonged to other human beings lay scattered across the floor, now reduced to nothing but bones and scraps of flesh.  I took a deep breath and swallowed hard, struggling to keep my breakfast down.  It wasn't hard to piece together the scene from the way the bodies lay; they'd come in frantically looking for medicine, and never left.  I guessed they had been fighting one another for what little was available – not that any of it would help them.

I stepped carefully over the remains of someone's torso, and picked my way towards the back counter.
 The moment I got there, I realised that the hunt was going to be useless.  I could see shattered vials and half-crumbled pills scattered across the floor like a carpet of melting candy.  Someone had already been there, and thrown whatever they didn't want into a heap on the floor.  Sorting it out would be impossible, even with the doctor's expertise.  I withdrew, and focused my attention on searching the shelves instead.

A quick search of the usual places turned up a few packs of cloth bandages that had slipped under a shelf, but little else of value.
 I tucked the bandages into the inside pocket of my coat, and ducked back out into the rain.

Next door, I found a Salvation Army store that had been covered in graffiti but otherwise left alone.
 The door was still firmly shut and locked; the butt of my shotgun made quick work of the glass window pane.  The noise made me flinch, but nothing stirred either inside or out.  I waited for a second, just to be sure that I wasn't going to be ambushed, then I stepped over the broken glass into the store itself.

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but once they did I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the store was mostly intact.
 There were no stinking corpses, and I saw very little in the way of mould.  Our world was full of discarded clothing, but I was painfully aware of the fact that the resources available to us were finite.  Cloth didn't expire like food, but it did rot, tear, and fall apart with wear and exposure to the elements.  Our generation might be able to pick and choose for a while, but the next would not survive so easily.

I paused in front of a rack full of children's clothing.
 The tiny garments attracted me, in some way that I couldn't quite name.  I reached out and trailed my fingers over a baby-sized romper, marvelling at the softness of it.  The texture brought back memories of holding Skylar when she was an infant.  So soft and fragile, a tiny doll that smelt like baby powder and milk.  She'd been so completely helpless, and reliant on us for everything…

Suddenly, I felt nauseated.
 I barely made it back outside before the heaving began, with such force that it knocked me to my knees on the cold pavement.  My entire body convulsed, but to my relief nothing actually came up.  Just dry heaves, enough to make me feel miserable without actually wasting any food.

When the heaves finally passed, I lifted my head and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
 It was only then that I realised I was being watched from the bushes across the street.  The shotgun trembled in my hands as I lifted it, but I did my best to hide the weakness as much as I could.

"
Who's there?" I demanded.  My voice was hoarse, but it was still strong and confident.  That was what I needed.

There was a long moment of silence, then a familiar voice called a greeting.
 "Is me, Mama.  Priyanka."

"
Priya!"  I gasped in a mixture of relief and anxiety.  "Oh, honey, you worried me so much when you vanished last night.  Are you okay?"

"
I fine, Mama.  No worries about me," she called back.  I saw her head pop up, easily visible under its bright pink raincoat, but she didn't immediately come to me.  Instead, she looked down into the bushes and seemed to be holding a soft-spoken conversation with someone that I couldn't see.

I swiftly put two and two together.
 "Is that Melody with you?  Or is it Jasmine?"

"
Both, Mama, and Solo too," Priya called back.  Someone hidden near her protested, but she just gave them a glare and made a curt gesture.  This time, she spoke loud enough for me to make out what she was saying.  "You shoosh!  That is my mama you talking about, you not say like that.  I love Mama."

My eyes blurred with tears all of a sudden, and I felt a rush of warmth at her words.
 Though it took strength that I wasn't entirely sure I had, I levered myself up to my feet and put my shotgun back over my shoulder.

"
I love you too, honey," I called back.  "Tell your friends that they can take as much time as they need.  I understand how they feel.  It's hard to trust."

Priya glanced at me, but before she could say anything, a second youngster popped up beside her.
 It took a few seconds before I realised that it was Jasmine, all wrapped up in a dark green oilskin raincoat.  Jasmine said something that I couldn't quite make out, then shoved her way out of the bushes and crossed the road towards me.  I just waited, watching her approach without making any sudden moves that might frighten her.

My caution was unwarranted.
 Jasmine came at me with stalwart determination, and didn't stop until she was standing right in front of me.  She crossed her arms over her chest, and regarded me curiously.  "Are you okay?"

"
Huh?"  I blinked in surprise; that wasn't quite what I expected.

"
Are you okay?" she repeated, as if she were speaking to a slow child.  "We saw you being sick."

"
Oh!"  Realisation hit like a sledgehammer, and left me feeling stupid.  Of course, they were worried about illness.  They'd seen all of their families die of the plague.  "Yeah, I'm fine.  I had a concussion a few days ago – a hard bump on the head – and sometimes that makes your body do dumb things like want to throw up for no reason."

"
Oh.  Okay."  Jasmine nodded her understanding, then turned and looked at the bushes across the street.  "You can come out.  It's safe."

"
She better not be infectious," a third voice called.  There was a momentary argument between the third voice and Priya, but it ended when Priya made a rude noise and stomped out of the bushes.  She came over and gave me a hug.  I hugged her back, and planted a kiss on the top of her head, to which she responded with a much happier noise.

"
I'm not sick," I called back, trying to clarify the situation for them.  "I had an injury to my head, and it hasn't healed fully yet.  That happens sometimes when you have a bump on the noggin.  You're Melody, right?  Gavin was telling me about you."

Finally, Melody stood up, along with a slender youth that I presumed must have been Solomon.
 I couldn't make out many of the details of their features from afar; just like the rest of us, they were wrapped up in raincoats to keep the storm at bay.  Melody glanced around warily, then finally she crossed the road towards me.  I caught a glimpse of fair skin tanned golden-brown and ash-blonde hair, but that was about it.  She stopped a few feet away from me, studying me with an expression that was an odd balance of hostile neutrality.

"
So, you're the one that saved Lily?" she demanded, her voice carrying an edge of violence that made me equally wary of her motives.