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CHAPTER FIVE

AVA

I couldn’t sleep. Pete was acting like a protective hat, purring contentedly on my pillow. Repeat was by my waist under the covers. We were in our cozy sleep pose, but I couldn’t turn off my thoughts.

Everything Gyrik had said kept running through my head. Had I really worked my way through the zombie apocalypse? Was the entire world gone? Just like that?

The worst part was that my brain was stuck on the fact I’d wasted five months on something I would never get paid for. How dumb was that? I had no idea where my family was. If they were safe. How many people had died? What the hell Gyrik even was because, by his own admission, he wasn’t human. Or the fact that he hadn’t directly answered my question about whether they were collecting women.

All my mind wanted to obsess over was that dumb bonus—maybe because it was the easiest thing to process in the face of everything else.

With a sigh, I closed my eyes and tried to let it all go.

It must have worked because I woke up to daylight streaming through my windows and a knock at my door.

Groggy and out of sorts, I fumbled my way out of bed and opened the door without even asking who was there.

The sight of a tall black man caught me off guard. “Uh, can I help you?”

He smiled and chuckled.

“My name’s Bram. Are you hungry? We have some beans and spam if you are.”

It was the weirdest offer I’d ever gotten from a stranger who’d knocked on my door.

But then my brain kick-started, and current events resurfaced. I looked beyond Bram to see who “we” was. Another man and a teen were with Bram, and Gyrik was standing quite a few yards behind them.

He looked a lot different in the light of day. Bigger. Maybe a little scarier–but also not because of the way he nervously shifted his weight from one leg to the other as he rubbed a hand over the top of his short hair.

“You’re Gyrik’s friends?” I asked. “The ones looking for survivors.”

“We are,” Bram said. Then he pointed to his companions. “That’s Will and Zach, and you’ve already met Gyrik.”

Four men. One woman. I wasn’t stupid. I was well aware of the inherent danger. Yet, heading to Duluth by myself to discover the truth of the story Gyrik had told me was more terrifying than the group at my door.

“Come in.”

I stepped back so they could enter the cabin. Gyrik was slower than the rest, hesitating to approach as if I were the one to be afraid of. I waited patiently until he was inside then closed the door on the cold temperature outside.

“The past twenty-four hours have been really weird for me. I’m struggling to believe everything Gyrik said.” I glanced at Gyrik. “Obviously, something happened.”

“It’s like he said,” Zach said. “Earthquakes opened up these caverns where he and his brothers were living, releasing these cursed hellhounds that started attacking people. The hellhounds essentially started a zombie apocalypse. But don’t worry. We’re past the worst of it. Promise.”

I laughed faintly because his cliff-noted version sounded as insane as Gyrik’s more detailed version. Yet, Gyrik’s appearance and what I’d seen in Silver Bay were proof enough to convince me it wasn’t some crazy story.

“How many people got sick?” I asked.

Will and Bram exchanged a long look before Will said, “There aren’t many of us left.”

Exactly what Gyrik had said the night before. Had I hoped the answer would change? Absolutely.

“Okay then, what now? You’re looking for people like me. You found one. What happens next?”

“Next, if you’d like, you can travel with us back to the community Gyrik told you about,” Will said.

“And if I don’t like?”

“You do what you want. We mark our map to indicate where we last saw you, and we check on you occasionally to make sure you’re doing all right and offer help when we can.”

That sounded reasonable and assuring.

In the back of my mind, I’d been worried it was some kind of enslavement thing. It still could be. They might be great liars. But why bother lying to me? There were four of them and one of me. If they wanted to do something, they could, and there wouldn't be much I could do to stop them.

“What are the chances I’m going to end up raped if I leave with the four of you?”

The three humans quickly held up their hands and retreated a step while voicing various denials.

Gyrik didn’t move. He remained frozen in place as he stared at me with an odd expression. He looked lost and a little afraid.

If these men were acting, they were good at it. But I didn’t think their reactions were an act any more than Silver Bay had been.

“I’m not accusing. Just checking,” I said. “I didn’t hear any vehicles, but I’m assuming you drove here, right?”

They nodded.

“Okay. Well, I have a truck I can have loaded within an hour to follow you. How long will it take to get to your place, and do you think I’ll ever be able to come back here?”

They all looked fairly surprised that I’d agreed so quickly. I didn’t know what other types of people they’d already come across, but I wasn’t some survivalist, and I didn’t want to face an unknown world alone.

Bram was the first to recover.

“It’ll take us a few days. We’ll be checking on people on the way back,” he said. “And although it’ll be possible to return here, I wouldn’t count on it being easy forever. The fuel will eventually run out.

“We’ve been siphoning and scavenging abandoned vehicles along the way, which is probably what will happen to this place once you leave it. People come through, see it’s empty, and check for supplies. So if you really want something, you should take it with you.”

I nodded and looked around. There wasn’t much in the way of sentimental items, just the cabin itself.

“We can help you load what you’ve packed,” Zach said, gesturing to the stuff by the door.

“Thanks. There’s stuff in the cellar, too, that I should take.”

After months of just me, Pete, and Repeat, it felt weird to have so many people moving around the cabin. My cats didn’t mind. They liked people and strolled up to whoever they fancied for pets and scratches, including Gyrik. Every time they would team up and wind between that giant man's legs to demand attention, he would freeze and then slowly crouch down to pet them.

Zach caught me watching him on one of his trips out.

“There aren’t many pets where we’re at.”

“Will it be a problem if I bring them with me?”

“No,” Gyrik said before Zach could answer. “They’re not problems.” Repeat jumped up into his arms. Gyrik immediately started scratching the top of Repeat’s head just the way he liked.

Zach chuckled, picked up the next box of canned goods, and walked out the door.

“They’ll want you to hold them the whole way if you keep that up,” I said.

Gyrik glanced up at me. “Can I hold them?”

“It’s fine with me,” I said with a shrug. “They’ll let you know when they don’t want to be held anymore.”

Talking to him was getting easier. Looking at him, too. Every now and again, though, I would catch him watching me with his very cat-like gaze—the one that cats had right before they pounced—and I’d feel a little nervous. Will, Bram, and Zach didn’t seem bothered by Gyrik’s occasional intensity, though. So I tried not to be either.

“I think that’s everything,” Bram said, coming inside.

Since I’d changed and gotten ready when they’d started moving things out to the truck, there wasn’t anything else for me to do but turn off the power and drain the lines for winterization. They watched me while I worked, and Will followed me into the shed where the generator and the battery bank were.

“Those batteries are a hot commodity,” he said from behind me. “You should take them with you.”

I nodded since I knew I probably wouldn’t be coming back.

He made quick work of disconnecting the batteries and the generator. I didn’t know what he planned to do with the big, heavy thing until he looked at Gyrik, who’d swapped Repeat for Pete.

“You’re up, Gyrik,” Will said.

Gyrik handed Pete to Bram, picked up the generator like it weighed nothing, and set it in the back of the utility truck they were driving. The bed barely moved.

“I don’t think your truck would have handled the load,” Bram said. “If you want to drive that one?—”

“Nope, this is fine. I’m not worried about having something taken away from me. I’m more worried about what I’m going to see once we leave.”

Bram nodded sympathetically.

“It’s not pretty, and the first infected you see will probably scare the…daylights out of you, but you’ve made it this far. You’ll be fine. Just stick with Gyrik. He’ll keep us safe.”

Looking from the three men to Gyrik, who was reclaiming Pete, I decided that sticking to the giant who had an affinity for cats wouldn’t be too difficult.

“Gyrik will ride with you if that’s okay. He can keep an eye on things behind us, and I’ll watch ahead.” Bram handed Gyrik a handheld radio. “I’ll let you know if I see anything that needs clearing.”

Anxiety soured my stomach as Gyrik walked around to the driver's side door and opened it for me. What I felt only had a little bit to do with my driving companion. Most of my nerves were for what I’d see once we headed south.

Repeat was already on my seat, waiting. Gravitating toward the comfort his presence offered, I picked him up and got in. Gyrik walked around the hood of the truck as I gave Repeat some head kisses to soothe myself. It was enough that I could calmly place Repeat on the seat between us once Gyrik got in.

“I usually don’t drive with them out like this. If one of them tries to go under my feet or on my lap, we’ll need to kennel them.”

I’d already had Zach place the small kennel in the back, but I hoped we wouldn’t need to use it. Pete and Repeat tended to cry the whole time. Plus, I felt a lot better having them close by me—comforting while I drove, not only with someone who didn’t consider himself human but into a rumored to be devastated world.

The truck in front of me rolled forward, and I followed. From the corner of my eye, I saw Gyrik reach to pull Repeat into his lap while holding Pete in his arms.

He seemed to like them, and they had no problem with him, based on the volume of their purring. All the things I should have been dwelling on last night resurfaced.

“Is it okay if I ask you some questions while we drive?” I asked.

“Yes.”

Now that I had permission, I wasn’t sure where to start.

“You mentioned brothers. How many of you are there?”

He was quiet for several seconds, and I glanced at him.

“You don’t know?”

“I know, but I promised Bram I wouldn’t tell anyone that information. He said keeping our numbers secret will help ensure our safety.”

I did a double-take at him. “ Your safety? You lifted that generator into the truck like it weighed nothing.”

He turned to look at me, his gaze almost sad.

“Bullets can still kill us. Humans like guns and shooting when they’re afraid of something.”

So he wasn’t trying to be mysterious or shifty, just trying to protect himself. It made me feel a little bad for him and also a little safer knowing he wasn’t invincible.

“Have you been shot at a lot?”

His expression morphed as he chuckled. “Yes. Many, many times. It’s a good thing I can move fast.”

He kind of looked cute when he was smiling.

“Really? You can dodge bullets?”

“Sometimes.”

“What else can you do that a human can’t?”