She ran through the gardens, heading for another small service road, thanking her lucky stars she’d spent so much time here as a kid and then when dating Jonny. There was no one else around and no infected either so she dropped to a jog as the stitch in her side got painful. She tried to think and make a plan but her stress and anxiety were off the charts after the events of the day so far. Once she was off the estate, she jogged and walked through the small subdivisions, going generally east and hoping to find a working vehicle. Jonny and his team of scavengers had been too thorough, however, and nothing left on the street was operable. She couldn’t even find a bicycle.
Resolved to get home to the ranch in whatever manner she had to travel, even if on foot, she set a steady pace. Behind her there was a giant explosion as something blew up at the Fafield estate .Jonny had been hoarding all kinds of things and storing his loot haphazardly from what she’d seen. Not surprisingly something got touched off in the battle between humans and the infected. The concussion knocked her to the ground, causing her to skin her knees and hands. Rising, she froze as two infected came around the corner of a house across the street. Carefully she ducked behind a burned out hulk and drew her blaster but the creatures made off at their best lurching speed, going in the direction of the explosion.
Guessing she now had a small window of time when the area would be clear of the infected, Tamsyn hurried in her chosen direction, not stopping to clean her small injuries. Eventually she entered the area where Sally had lived and her pace slowed as she thought of her friend and wished yet again she could have persuaded Sally to move out to the ranch sooner. She could have left Greg a note…but no one was thinking too clearly these days and Sally would have always wondered if she’d missed Greg by not staying home as long as she did.
She’d have been alive though.
Tamsyn remembered a casual block party she’d attended with Sally and she altered her path toward a green and white house a few doors past Sally’s. The owners, whose names escaped her—Lamar? Cynthia?—had been unable to stop talking about their latest camping trip. Apparently the couple was avid hikers and campers and had all kinds of equipment. The door was unlocked and she entered cautiously, blaster at the ready. There was thumping from a bedroom door at the rear of the house but Tamsyn forced herself to ignore the sound as she rushed to the kitchen, where she spent a few precious minutes cleaning her knees and palms and extracting the gravel which had gotten embedded. There was a first aid kit in the pantry so she was able to put antibiotic ointment and bandages on the worst spots. The cupboards were bare but she’d expected that, knowing how Jonny and his men had swept the whole town for anything useful. Her goal was the garage and when she walked in, the lights came on to reveal a whole wall of sports and camping gear neatly arrayed.
“Jackpot,” she said under her breath.
Working fast, she grabbed a sturdy backpack and filled it with a one person tent, a couple of water bottles and a mini filtration kit, an emergency blanket, a powerful flashlight, a knife and other useful items. Jonny’s men must not have seen any value in the gear since they were living at the Fafield mansion. In a big container at the end of the storage area she hit the mother load of survival rations and nutrition drink packs. Cramming as many of those into the pack as she could, Tamsyn stuffed a couple in her jeans pockets to consume as she walked.
She left the house cautiously, going out the kitchen door and circling through the already overgrown backyard, checking the street before she resumed her hike. She was healthy, strong and fit and she reckoned she could walk twenty miles a day so she’d get to the ranch in 4 or 5 days. The distance was daunting but Tamsyn couldn’t see any other choice except to remain in town, dodging the infected and any remaining members of Jonny’s ragtag ‘army’, which she wasn’t about to do. Her animals were depending on her to get home to them.
As she left the city limits sign behind, a grim smile on her lips as she reflected how out of date the population figure was now, Tamsyn straightened her spine and squared her shoulders to settle the pack and bedroll on her back more comfortably.
The road stretched out in front of her as desolate and empty as the land she’d be traveling through. If the swarm of infected came this way there’d be nowhere for her to hide and no escape.
“I don’t care,” she said out loud. “I’m going home and that’s all there is to it. I’ll get there or die trying.”
And Tamsyn took the first step outside the Rosewater city limits.
Epilogue
She’d been on the road for two and a half days now, going slower and taking more breaks, but doggedly heading in the direction of the turnoff to the Double Comets ranch. Behind her there came the loud rumbling of heavy engines and Tamsyn pivoted on her heel to watch two large, lumbering military vehicles coming toward her in a cloud of dust.
“Nice of them to show back up now it’s too late,” she said. There was no use to run and nowhere to hide in the scrub brush so she set her pack on the cracked road, took out a survival ration and snacked while she waited to see what kind of intentions the newcomers had. She had her blaster in her hand but plainly she wasn’t going to be a match for the two megablaster cannons atop the vehicles or whatever other armament the occupants might be carrying. Tamsyn wasn’t going to be easily taken though. Her fondest but no doubt foolish hope was these people would leave her alone and go on their way.
The lead vehicle halted and the other did the same.
“Lady, you look like you need a ride,” said an amplified voice from inside the personnel carrier.
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me,” she said with a wave.
“Toss the blaster into the brush,” the voice commanded. “We need to talk.”
Tamsyn debated briefly but the advantage was all on the side of whoever was in the vehicles so she shrugged and threw her weapon into the scrub. She still had her knife.
The hatch opened and a dog came bounding out, which certainly wasn’t what she’d expected. He was a large, fluffy creature, who ran right up to her and sniffed her hand. She hunkered down and gave him scritches the way she used to do with her late father’s dog before it had died of old age. She’d never gotten another but now she realized she’d missed the companionship of a good dog. “And clearly you’re a good dog,” she said to the new arrival.
He gave her a woof and licked her chin.
Laughing, a soldier emerged from the vehicle, weapon in hand but not aimed at her. “If Buddy clears you, then you must be okay,” he said. “He’s got quite a nose for the infected, better even than Doc’s sensor.”
Another soldier followed him and then a woman and a young boy came outside. The dog barked excitedly and ran to the boy, who held a ball, which he tossed down the road for the eager animal to chase.
“Don’t go far,” the woman cautioned. She was obviously too young to be the boy’s mother but there was a definite family resemblance. Older sister perhaps.
She and the second soldier walked over to Tamsyn. “I’m Dr. Jericho,” she said. “I’ll shake hands but not until I’ve run a check if you don’t mind. I only trust Buddy’s nose so far.”
“Do it, doc,” the man ordered.
Tamsyn rose to her feet and stood quietly while the doctor ran the sensor over her at a few inches distance, finishing the exam with a long stare into her eyes while holding a light on them. “I’m not infected.”
“Pays to be sure these days,” the soldier said in an even tone.
“All clear.” The doctor snapped off the annoying light and extended her hand. “Pleased to meet you.”
