Survival Instinct: A Zombie Novel (103 page)

Riley did her best to ignore them.  As she got the plane up to speed, she looked only at the instruments.  She did her best to ignore the thumps and unusual vibrations coming from the floats.  It seemed some of the hoard had made it this far after all.  She tried not to think about her brother’s defenceless and unburied body.

The plane lifted up into the air, rising faster than it normally should but still within a safe range.  Once up, Riley finally looked out the window.  Nothing but clear blue sky.  There wasn’t even any blood on the windshield like she had feared, although the height of the plane pretty much assured this.  She looked over at Mathias who gave her a warm smile and a thumbs up.  She actually gave him a smile back.

* * *

The further north they flew, the happier Riley became.  She didn’t know why, either.  Her brother had killed himself, her sister was in danger, and her parents and other brother were MIA.  She was heading into harsh lands with a plane full of nearly complete strangers.  Yet she was totally happy with that.

Maybe it was because the thing she had been training for had finally come.  There was no longer this pressure to survive hanging over her head.  She had done it, she had escaped the zombies. 
Zombies
of all things!  She had thought an inland tsunami was more likely, but here they were.

Although she had a compass and map, Riley barely used them.  She knew all the aerial markers by heart.  Every year they came up here, Riley and her sister took turns being the co-pilot.  Usually their brother would get lazy partway and let them be in full command of the plane.

During the trip, everybody ate and drank as much as they wanted.  Although rationing was still something that would need to be adhered to, Riley let it slip for now.  Whenever she looked back, they all looked as happy as she felt.  She kept catching Mathias watching her and he made sure she got food and drink as well.  He even offered to take the wheel if she needed her hands, but Riley wasn’t going to let that happen.  He would probably send them straight into the ground.

It took a long time.  The sun would set in just a few more hours, but finally Riley saw the lake.  The bright sunshine glittered off the water; it was a welcome sight.  The lake was to be their landing strip with the cabin nestled in the woods next to it.  She started to circle the area, going through her head exactly how her brother did it.

“To those who have seat belts I suggest putting them on,” Riley gave fair warning.

Mathias looked at her, frowning, confused.

“Usually my brother makes the water landing,” she admitted,  “it’s not an easy one.”

Mathias didn’t say
anything; he just looked forward again and double-checked his restraints.

Riley finally decided on her angle of approach and began the descent.  The tree line and the water began to rush up to meet them.

“Trees.”  Mathias tensed up, looking at the tree line.  “Trees.  You’re going to hit the trees!”

One of the floats lightly brushed the top of a tall pine, but they, in no way, hit them.  The water came up and the floats lightly touched down on it, spraying up plumes on either side.

Mathias relaxed, but Riley did not.  She knew that the first tree line was not the only issue.  The other issue was the second tree line and the shore of the lake.  They were skidding over the water toward it, Riley doing all that she could to slow the plane safely.  The lake had always been just a little too short for water landings, but that was one of the reasons her family liked it.  It meant no one else was stupid enough to try landing there.

Riley noticed, out of the corner of her eye, as Mathias tensed again.  He stayed silent this time, but he involuntarily pressed himself further into his seat.  Riley assumed she had lost another fan to her flying skills.

The plane finally slowed to a stop and gently rocked forward a bit.  Riley turned and smiled at Mathias.  He just looked at her with wide eyes.

Riley turned the plane around and headed toward a sandy shore.  Her family hadn’t built a dock because it might draw attention, but they did alter the shore so that the plane could be safely pulled up onto it.  The floats crunched into the soft sand and Riley turned off the engine.

“We’re here!” Riley turned and told the cabin enthusiastically.

Tobias was pale again, nearly green, but the others seemed cheery.  Even Rifle seemed to pick up on the mood of the people and thumped his tail on the floor.  Of course, he might have just been happy that they stopped.

The door was opened and everyone but Cender, Alec, and the dogs got out.  They had to walk down one of the floats to get to shore.  Once there, they worked together to pull the plane all the way up out of the water and to tie it off to a pair of large trees.

As the others went to help unload everything, Riley turned and looked at the cabin.  She could just make out part of the deck and a bit of a wall through the trees.  Riley Bishop, Mathias Cole, Danny Cole, Tobias Mackenzie, Alec McGregor, Misha Jovovich, Abby Walker, and Joshua Cender, plus Shoes the Basset Hound, and Rifle the German
shepherd.  What an interesting group of survivors.

Riley was going over in her head what she would have to teach everyone.  There would be a period of mourning, for sure, which was likely to start that night.  In fact, Riley had to do some of that herself.  There was a lot she needed to figure out, like how the rationing was going to work, but then there was a tap on her shoulder.  She turned to find Mathias standing with her.  Before she could ask what he wanted, he placed one hand on her neck and the other on the side of her face.  He leaned in and kissed her hard on the mouth.

His lips were warm, dry, and chapped.  They were also wonderful.

When he finally pulled away, Riley felt all the blood rush to her face.  She was at a total loss for words.  She didn’t even notice Cender in the distance giving Mathias a foul look.

It was going to be one hell of a winter.

The End

Copyright © 2013 by Kristal Stittle

For my mom, Barbara Stittle.

You’re always there for me when I need it, even when I don’t realize it.

I love you.

Read on for a free sample of “The Longest Road” the latest zombie novel from
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The Feast

November 25, 2008

1013 hours

Steve Brason crept slowly through the forest, careful not to make any unnecessary noise. His older cousin, Collin Jacobs, moved behind him, scanning the perimeter. The slightest snapped twig or broken piece of bark beneath their boots, and it could be all over. The last thing they wanted to do was to give away their position.

The morning sunlight struggled to breach the thick, leaf-filled branches of the blue spruce pines and northern catalpa trees. With every passing minute, the light layer of fog surrounding them slowly burned away.

Suddenly, Steve and Collin halted, hearing the not-too-distant sound of a cracked branch.

“Where did that come from?” Collin whispered.

Steve closed his eyes and diverted all his attention to his ears. He listened carefully as another snapping sound came seconds after the first. He narrowed down the direction and pointed northeast. “Over there,” he said, finally exhaling a long overdue breath.

Collin unscrewed the top of his metal thermos. “What do you want to do, Steve? Go for it, or wait for it to come to us?”

“Let’s go check it out. Last thing we want to do is lose it. Then we would for sure be screwed”

Slowly, the two men navigated around fallen trees and the densely-packed, decomposing forest. They stuck as closely as possible to the trees, since the protruding roots offered the most stable ground.

“Watch your step here,” Steve whispered as he pulled himself up and over a fallen tree. One side of the log had been taken over by a large section of slick, green moss.

Collin nodded and followed Steve’s exact footsteps. As the two cousins pressed on, they kept a watchful eye on their footing, careful not to slip on the dew-covered earth. With each step closer, the faint noises grew stronger and greater in number.

Steve pointed to a hill twenty feet away; the location offered the best vantage point. As quietly as they could, Steve and Collin reached the top and lay stomach down. Their camouflage gear mimicked the forest, making them almost invisible. Through their rifles’ scopes, the two cousins scouted the area. Directly across and beneath them sat a partially dried riverbed. A combination of small boulders and medium sized stones filled in the banks. Rain from the previous evening filled the river with ankle-high water moving no faster than five miles per hour.

Steve spotted it as it lingered near the water on the opposite side. “Eleven o’clock,” he said, keeping his eye pressed against the scope.

“Damn, that’s massive. You think there’s more?” Collin asked, staring down at the beast.

Steve rotated a knob on the right side of his lens. “I don’t know. It’s hard to say. Normally they stick together, but we’ve never gone out this far, so who knows.”

“You better make sure you hit it, ’cause if you don’t—”

“Yeah, I know. It’s game over,” Steve said, cutting him off. “Don’t want to warn the others, wherever they are.”

“Whenever you’re ready, Steve-O.”

Steve lined up his shot. He couldn’t help but feel sorry. It wasn’t the beast’s fault; it was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Deep inside, something tugged at Steve; he felt it at a cellular level, at a moral level. He never got used to taking lives. He tolerated it, but never got used to it.

“It’s now or never,” Collin declared as the beast began to move.

Steve blinked and relined the shot, then licked his lips and breathed in deeply. As he exhaled, the warm breath met the cold forest air and turned into steam, which surrounded his face and scope. Unlike Collin, Steve did not prefer to wear a face cover. The black material Collin wore covered up his mouth and neck. It helped keep the cold air off the skin and to muffle sounds, but Steve felt it was too constricting and unnecessary.

Just as Collin began to further press the matter, Steve made his decision. His right index finger slowly squeezed the trigger. The gunshot rang through the forest, and every living thing went silent. The scratching sounds of squirrels stopped. Birds took off flapping their wings as fast as they could. Every other animal still in the area fled into hiding.

The .30-06 bullet tore through a tree trunk a half inch above the beast’s head.

A miss.

The massive six-point elk froze for a split second, staring up the hill directly at Steve and Collin. It seemed to know it should have died. Emerging from behind a bush a few yards away, a female and two bucks joined the massive beast, and the family scurried away, following the river downstream.

The look that his cousin gave him told Steve that Collin knew he had missed on purpose. Before either could say a word, a strong voice called through on their radio earpieces. “What’s the SitRep?”

Steve clicked the transmit button on his mic. “Nothing, Dad. Had one in sight, but it just got away.”

“Got away, huh?” the strong voice said after a long pause. “Rendezvous at camp in ten. I’m calling it a day.”

From behind, Billy Wilde and Alex Forest, two of their other cousins, trekked toward them.

“We’re over here,” Collin said, standing up and signaling their position. He looked back down at Steve. “Well, you heard your dad. Time to head back.”

Steve lay still on his stomach, wrapping his mind around his decision. He knew he had the shot, too, but couldn’t do it, wouldn’t do it. Picking up the expelled casing, he rose to his feet. Be with your family, he thought as he brushed the dirt from his nylon clothing.

“How’d you miss it, Steve?” Alex asked, inconspicuously taking a sip from a flask as if someone was going to report him for drinking in public.

“Yeah, man, you never miss. And you always win. What gives?” Billy said, taking back his flask.