Tamsyn was surprised. “Every creature has its place in nature out here. We’re in his territory. Yes, if I found one at the house I’d kill it and make its pretty skin into a belt like my Dad did once. But out here he’s got a necessary role to play. Just not by biting my friends.”
“Thanks for the save,” Cody said as he removed the hobble from Mercury’s legs. “Again.”
“I figured you’d been bitten by enough residents of Randal Four,” she joked as she swung into her silver trimmed saddle.
* * *
The afternoon passed as they rode the ever-rising trail. After a few hours the path began curving around bends in the foothills as they got closer to the plateau at the summit, where the herd waited. Cody had verified with a drone the animals were where they were supposed to be. He was enjoying the unique experience, being out here in the wilderness with only a beautiful woman for company. No soldiers, no mission other than taking out a few lengths of force fence so the cattle could graze new areas. It was peaceful and he realized he’d needed that after the ordeal with the Western Flu virus. His motive had been to get time alone with Tamsyn and explore the mutual attraction they appeared to share.
No other woman had ever appealed to him on all the levels Tamsyn did and he was intrigued and hopeful. What a hell of a time it would be to meet his potential other half though, in the middle of an apocalypse, when he had military duties to carry out. At least she’d be going with them, where he could protect her, assuming he didn’t blow this opportunity of three days to get to know her better.
His rear was getting sore and his back was complaining a bit, although the tireless nanobots were doing their best to compensate for both. It was a long day in the saddle, despite the breaks they’d taken for lunch and to rest the horses. He was eager to reach the summit and get off the horse for a few hours. He could certainly see why the ranchers used horses to make this trek and not any type of motorized transport. The trail was dodgy enough for surefooted horses. He was about to voice his opinion to Tamsyn when a flash of static-like red glare cut through his vision and a sound like a muted buzzsaw sounded in his brain.
Startled, he yanked on the reins, which caused Mercury to stumble.
The sound persisted and the red glare blinked in his peripheral vision. He spurred Mercury forward and grabbed Tamsyn’s reins. “Wait,” he said.
“What the seven hells are you doing?” she protested, trying to regain control of her own horse.
He put a finger to his lips and she quieted instantly. They both heard the sound of an infected person growling and moaning and then the creature came around the curve and was shambling toward them. The horses reared and lashed out with their hooves, creating a dangerous situation on the narrow trail. Cody pulled his blaster and shot the predator in the head, splattering its black brains onto the rocks. The infected fell where it had stood, toppling over sideways and into the ravine below.
“Are you okay?” he asked Tamsyn, his heart pounding. “It didn’t touch you?”
“No, but I would have ridden right into him if you hadn’t grabbed my horse,” she said shakily. “How did you know he was there?”
“I heard him,” Cody said reluctantly. “In my head, before he came around the curve and growled.”
Appalled, wide eyed, Tamsyn exclaimed, “You heard him?”
“Not—not words, just a harsh sound in my head.” He kept his eyes on her. “It was like when the virus was trying to take me, those kinds of sounds and thoughts. Not quite the same but similar enough.”
“Lords of Space, how awful.” She swallowed hard. “I brought the freyquitanal. It’s in my bag—do you need to take a few?”
He considered the issue. He did the internal function check on his nanobots which was the extent of the control he had over them. Conditions seemed normal. The microscopic robots were unexcited and all indicators were nominal. “I think I’m fine.” He held out the arm which had been bitten and which now didn’t even show a scar, thanks to the tiny caretakers. “See? No blue light.”
“But maybe just to be sure?” she asked. ”I think I’d feel better.”
“I’m not going to start using those pills as a psychic crutch,” he said carefully, not wanting to offend or upset her. He appreciated her intent to take care of him. “Either I believe my nanobots are on the job or I don’t. I’m not reinfected—that one didn’t even get close to me. I guess I acquired the ability to sense them though, which could be useful. Keep the pills in case I ever do get bitten again, okay?”
Tamsyn stared at him until her horse got restless and advanced a few steps. Reining Blaze in, she nodded. “All right, fair enough. I can’t help but worry a bit. You—you matter to me.”
“I’m honored and appreciative,” he said and meant it. “We’d better get going. I don’t sense any more infected in the area. I wonder where he came from.”
She gave Blaze the sign to move and proceeded on the trail. “I knew him,” she said over her shoulder. “Old Merv. He has a mining claim up here, north of my property line. Never did find much of anything on his site except a few traces of gold. Irritated the hell out of my Dad when he arrived but there was nothing Dad could do, since the claim was a legal one. We think he rustled a steer every now and then but we couldn’t prove it.”
“That would explain why he was out here all by himself,” Cody said. “But who infected him?”
“I went up to his site once, with Dad, who tried to buy him out. Merv had cats to keep him company, which was another thing Dad hated because he wouldn’t neuter them and there were a lot of litters. Made quite a dent in the bird population in the area.” She shuddered hard enough for Cody to see. “That’s how the outbreak started in Rosewater, you know. A feral cat bit and scratched some people at the festival. The first of my ranch hands to get infected was bitten trying to help a child. Guess one of old Merv’s cats must have been a carrier.” She glanced back over her shoulder. “Wish we could have buried him.”
Cody couldn’t think of an answer for her comment so he remained silent. He could understand how one individual infected who she’d known when he was human could make Tamsyn feel the way she did but personally he was just as glad to let nature take its course in the ravine where the body had fallen. Digging a grave in this hard soil—because of course he would have if she’d asked him to—wouldn’t have been a simple task, not even for one with his cyborg strength.
Eventually the trail reached the plateau, which stretched for miles ahead. Tamsyn gave Blaze his head unexpectedly and Cody belatedly signaled Mercury to break into a gallop as well. The two horses raced across the open ground toward a grove of scrubby trees, planted beside a small structure of some kind. She beat him of course, with her head start and superior horse and was waiting with her reins in her hands, laughing with glee as he rode up in a cloud of dust and drew Mercury to a halt.
“Sorry,” she said when she was done with her hilarity. “We always raced from the trailhead to the cabin. I guess I forgot to tell you.” She slid from the saddle in a practiced move.
“Yeah, you forgot all right.” He eyed the cabin behind her. “I wasn’t expecting this. I expected us to be sleeping outside under the stars or in a lean-to.”
“You’re free to sleep outside if you want but I warn you it gets mighty cold up here at night.” Chuckling again she tied her reins to a hitching post and climbed the three steps. “Let me show you the inside and then we can tend to the horses. There’s a small barn out back.”
