“What the hell, man?”I shouted.“I did what you asked!”
Ripley turned and raced into the nearby tree line, disappearing into the woods before anyone could get off another shot.
“I’m not ending up a stupid cat’s meal,” the taller man insisted, and he was already fumbling with his rifle, reloading it by dropping pellets into the barrel and ramming them down with a narrow rod.
“Is that amusket?”I asked in surprise.
It had been a while since I’d seen a gun, since ammo had been in short supply with the factories closed and so many guns emptied on zombie hordes.But I was fairly certain that was not a typical rifle.
“All you need to know is it will kill you just fine,” the taller man insisted.
“Are you from Fort Lately?”I asked.
The taller man lowered his rifle slightly, getting a better look at me.“Why are you asking?”
“Because I’m headed that way,” I said.
“And what do you want with Fort Lately?”the shorter man piped up.
“If you haven’t noticed, it’s rather chilly out here.”I brushed crystals off my eye lashes with my gloved hand.“I was looking for somewhere that my mule and I could warm up for the night.”
“Sure, we can put you up somewhere warm,” the taller man said in a breezy way that made me worry.“Go on up that hill to the main gate.We’ll be right behind you.”
I took Vince’s reigns, and as I started past the men, they both kept their guns pointed on me.
“Are you gonna leave your big cat out here?”the shorter man asked.
“I figured she’s safer out there than with your guns,” I said, which was true, and I had to believe she’d find a way to take care of herself.A nice cave or abandoned cabin to curl up in and lay low until the cold snap broke or I came out to find her.
I led Vince up the hill and the men walked behind me, with occasional chattering between the two of them.Mostly they debated which one of them should alert “Nell” about the big cat, but I was able to gather that the taller one was called Benedict and the shorter one was Clifton.
The entrance to the fortress was through a locked door followed by a dark passageway through the thick concrete walls.Vince made an annoyed grunting sound, like he was telling me he had a bad feeling about this place, and I didn’t disagree with him.
Beyond the passageway was a crowded town square, in that there were buildings cramped up against each other, but it was empty in terms of actual people.I suspected that the icy temperatures were keeping many of them inside, especially since I could see the smoke coming out of chimney tops.
The whole place had such a weird vibe, like an old, abandoned Santa’s village.Everything was covered in ice and snow, but bright colors bled through the frost.It was so quiet as we walked in, and other than a distinctly unpleasant waft of manure mixed with fresh baked bread, it would be easy to think it was abandoned.
“Take the mule to the stables,” Benedict ordered Clifton, who nodded as he hurried to take the reins from me.
Vince again made a displeased grunt, but this time, I stroked his neck.
“It’ll be okay.Just warm up, and I’ll see you soon,” I promised him.
Clifton led the mule, along with all my gear, away, and I was stuck with Benedict and his rifle.
“Where are you taking me?”I asked as he nudged me toward a pathway to the left.“Is this what you do with all your visitors?”
“Not all, but some,” he said.“You seem sickly with that limp, and you’ve been out in the cold.So I’m taking you to the Wellness Center for an inspection.”
“The Wellness Center?”I glanced over at him with a cocked eyebrow to see if he was kidding.“Are you running some kind of health spa here?”
“We all care about health here,” Benedict replied.“Is that so crazy after the way civilization fell to disease and rot?”
“It’s not the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” I admitted wryly.
The Wellness Center turned out to be a squat building painted a nausea inducing shade of seafoam blue.There was no sign denoting it, at least not with words or a name.Above the door, a large white solar cross was painted.
I was hit by the strangest smell upon entering.The sickly clinical scent with a smoky earthiness.Like disinfecting cleaners and lingering illness and patchouli all mixed together.
