Devil’s Wake (14 page)

The bus slowed, pulled off along the road the way she had, its lights suddenly so bright that she could only see its hazy outline. Kendra hadn’t moved, was pinioned directly in its headlights.

Kendra felt no fear. No curiosity. In fact, nothing at all. Exhaustion and terror had congealed into a kind of quiet courage. She only held up one arm to shield her eyes from the bright light.

The bus stopped with a tremendous squeal of brakes and a smell of burned rubber. The door opened, and she was able to look in past the stairwell to the driver’s seat. The bus driver was just a boy, only a year or two older than she was.

He wasn’t dirty. He didn’t have a gun. He had an angel’s face with dark, curly hair and bright eyes. Behind him, she saw others on the bus: a pale girl with long black hair with a single streak of white. A narrow face, cradling a rifle in her sinewy arms. One guy standing next to her, tall, thick-chested, darker than Kendra, a toothpick in the corner of his mouth, and his lips curled in a lazy smile. A dog stood at the top of the stairwell, some kind of Lab mix, eyeing her suspiciously.

The driver’s eyes were wide, intelligent, and kind. So kind.

They were,
he
was, the most beautiful sight Kendra had ever seen.

He smiled at her. “Need a ride?”

T
erry
had to shake his head. The girl standing outside the Blue Beauty’s accordion door gazing up at them with wonder-filled eyes looked like a trapped rabbit. He hadn’t opened the door for a stranger since they’d left the campground—been tempted plenty, but always thought better of it. This time, he couldn’t resist. This girl was someone’s sister, or daughter. If he couldn’t reach Lisa, at least he might be able to help this girl.

The arrival of the Twins’ motorcycles behind them made her jump backward as if she’d changed her mind and decided to run. The Twins circled back around after doing their usual wide sweep. The girl only gaped as their shoulder-length hair flagged out like Apaches on mustangs instead of four-stroke engines.

“You bit?” Darius called to her. When the girl didn’t answer, Darius looked at Terry. “She looks bit.”

“Could be,” Dean said. He nodded at the girl. “Gotta ask you to strip.”

“Only way to be sure.” Darius grinned.

Sonia pushed up from behind Terry on the bus. “You guys suck. Leave her alone. Poor thing’s in shock.”

“Or she’s bit,” Darius muttered, his leer gone, a serious scowl in its place.

The girl looked at Sonia, mouth working without producing words.

“Does it speak?” Sonia asked. “
Parlez-vous
talk-talk?”

The girl nodded.

Darius wagged his head.
“Once I met a pretty little freak,”
he sang tunelessly.
“Stole my heart and bit me in my sleep…”
He revved his bike loudly, and the girl nearly jumped out of her socks.

“Shut up,” Sonia said, more forcefully. “Think of what she’s been through.”

“Join the club,” Dean said.

The girl with the cocoa skin folded her arms across her chest, hiding herself. “I can talk,” she said, in a tiny voice. “But some of
them
can too. Like a regular conversation, almost. It fools you and then… it’s too late. There’s one just up the road, walking north. But I’m not bitten.” She paused, as if trying to remember words. “My name is Kendra.”

Terry had heard the cop in Seattle speaking but hadn’t come across other talking freaks. Vern hadn’t said a word, and neither had the gaggle they’d run into near Centralia. Or run
over,
to be more accurate; the snowplow was coated with dried blood. Terry liked the girl already. She was smart, or she never would have survived so long on her own. He would lose sleep if he left her behind. It would be kinder to shoot her.

Terry glanced at Sonia and knew she was thinking the same thing. Piranha’s face was harder to read, but he might have a soft spot for her. It’s not like there were that many “colored kids” wandering around the Pacific Northwest, as Mom would say. With Piranha on his side, he’d have three votes even if the Twins were against it.

Terry gave Piranha a look that said
Well?

Piranha shrugged. “Another mouth. But I guess I’m cool if she passes the sniff test.”

The girl squirmed uncomfortably, her arms folded across her
chest.

“You want a ride?” Terry asked her.

The girl studied their faces one by one, lingering on the Twins. Darius winked at her. Slowly, the girl nodded.

“Time for the test,” Darius said.

Dean whistled and Hipshot bounded out of the bus. He ran straight for Kendra, circling her, sniffing with furious deliberation. At first, his tail curled firmly between his legs, and Terry’s heart caught. He hadn’t thought about what they would have to do if it turned out she was infected!

Then Hippy’s tail wagged.

When the girl extended her hand, Hippy licked it.

“Well, all right,” Darius said. “Clean, fresh meat to feed the freaks.”

“You are
such
a jerk,” Sonia said.

The girl by the side of the road seemed to relax, realizing that the Twins weren’t as menacing as they seemed.

“They’ve got to catch me first,” she said, staring at Darius with steel in her eyes.

They all laughed.

“That’s right, girl,” Sonia said. “Tell him to kiss your ass. That’s what I do.”

“Where I come from, princess,” Darius said to Sonia, “that’s called an invitation.”

“Lay off,” Piranha said in his end-of-the-conversation voice. He didn’t like the Twins flirting with Sonia, even in fun, and they flirted more each day. Even Terry found himself staring at Sonia sometimes, seeing in her angular features a softness he hadn’t noticed before Freak
Day. It would be good to have more than one girl in the bus. Might lighten the tension.

Terry took a step toward the girl, gestured with his head. “Come on, Kendra,” he said with his best smile. “Hippy can smell a freak a mile away, so you’re officially sterile. Welcome to our dysfunctional family.”

The bus barely made it past the overturned truck Kendra had
warned them about and the Twins had confirmed after their recon. They saw no sign of the pirate Kendra had mentioned, but a dead freak in a business suit confirmed her story. Kendra said the pirate had been badly bitten, so he’d probably fled in panic… or fallen asleep nearby. If sleeping, he wouldn’t wake up before a couple of hours, but none of them wanted to linger.

They all climbed out of the bus except for Terry and Kendra, who didn’t want to leave the safety of her seat. Piranha drove her little Toyota out of the way, and Terry inched past the truck without overturning, although there was a nasty scraping sound against the undercarriage. Ugh. Terry tried not to think about it, but the bus hadn’t been in great shape before their road trip, and survival prospects weren’t improving.

The Toyota was a find, with more than half a tank’s worth of gas. Too bad it wasn’t an SUV, but all gas was good gas. It didn’t make sense to add another vehicle to their caravan, but Terry hoped they wouldn’t wish they’d kept the car.

“Let’s move!” Terry said once the bus was clear. Darius and Dean chained their bikes to a rack on the back of the bus, and they contin
ued their journey south.

Once they were back on the road, Dean hunched over the seat behind him. “We’re pretty clear for the next five miles,” he said. “But there’s a messed-up accident after that.”

“Messed up how?” Terry asked.

“Messed up in the usual way everything is messed up. More time. More hassle.”

The Blue Beauty’s wheel vibrated under his hands. The alignment was off, and if the whole world hadn’t gone to hell, he might have found a truck repair place and put her up on the rack. But that wasn’t possible anymore, and all he could hope for was that Blue Beauty would get them somewhere safe before laying down life’s weary burden.

Kendra stayed far in the back, near the supplies, giving them all mistrustful glances as she clung to the seat in front of her as if she were on a roller coaster.

Based on the Twins’ report, Terry drove three miles, creeping along at twenty miles an hour, weaving through the dead cars, and then found a turnout far enough off the road that they couldn’t be seen easily from the interstate.

Time to camp.

No one prodded her, but Kendra finally emerged from the back of the bus after they’d been parked for about a half hour. Terry’s first impression had been correct: she was quite pretty, with huge dark eyes, even though they were filled with all the terrible things she had seen.

Darius stood guard while the others ate.

“It’s hot dogs tonight, before they turn,” Terry said.

“Sounds delicious.” Sonia made a face. Then she winked at Kendra, trying to make her smile. Didn’t work, but Kendra looked less likely to bolt at the first sneeze. Kendra was staring at them as if she was sure one of them had been bitten. How many people had she lost, and how? How much had the talking freaks fooled her? Terry wanted
to ask her more, but decided to let her recover from her brush with the pirate. They would have time to talk on the road. He hoped so, anyway.

Kendra finally sat on a stone, knees up to her chest, arms around her knees, gazing into the fire. “So,” Terry said, “where are you headed?” A safe subject.

“Hot dog?” Sonia asked, putting a paper plate and a swollen, sizzling dog before her. They had enough paper and plastic for a landfill.

The girl took one bite, looked as if she was about to cry, and then took another. “Portland,” she said. Then took another bite and reconsidered. “Maybe Southern California, if I can get that far.”

Terry felt a pang. He’d suggested driving to L.A. in his secret wish to find his sister, but the group had responded by vetoing him. None of the radio rumors about L.A. were good, and since he didn’t have a clue where Lisa was, he had to admit it would be a foolish plan. But maybe Kendra knew something.

“What’s down in SoCal?” Terry said.

“Devil’s Wake.”

“Devil’s what?” Dean asked.

“Devil’s Wake,” Piranha said. “One of the California Channel Islands. Might as well be Mars. Why so far, girl?”

“Supposed to be a colony,” Kendra said. “Safe. I have an aunt there. My grandfather said if I could make it there, she’d be sure they took me in.” She said “grandfather” as if the word hurt. A story for later, perhaps.

But a colony on an island and a ticket in? Terry’s heart jumped, and Sonia hitched her eyebrow with an
I’ve heard worse ideas
expression. They’d all agreed that Vancouver Barracks was their destination, that the promise of guns and ammo outweighed any other plans, since any other plans would require more guns and ammo. During all of the hours he’d spent driving the Blue Beauty, lines blurring together on the interstate, he hadn’t asked himself:
And
then what?
None of them had.

“Well, Southern California is a long way,” Terry said, keeping his voice neutral. “Tomorrow we’ll make it to the Barracks, if we get lucky. And I feel lucky.”

Whether or not he wanted to admit it, their original plan had seemed like a fantasy. Now that they were so close, Terry didn’t think he would be able to sleep. He was sick of being afraid, and with more guns they could leave fear behind.

“Where’s the Barracks?” Kendra said.

“Vancouver. Near Portland.”

Kendra’s eyes dropped to her food. “Portland wasn’t lucky for me,” she said. “I was there… when it started.”

Piranha slapped off crumbs of his stale hot dog bun. “I make my own luck.”

“Where do you guys sleep?” Kendra said. She shivered again, perhaps wary of his answer.

“On the bus,” Terry said. “The seats are pretty wide, if you hang your feet off the side. The back is jammed up with food, but it’s not too bad. And we close the door.”

“I…” Kendra’s eyes flew back and forth between them, helpless. She was willing to ride with strangers, but apparently not ready to close her eyes among them.

Sonia gripped her shoulder. “They look rough, but they’re gentlemen. If they aren’t, I’ll kick their nuts up into their throats. You’re safe.”

Sonia’s reassurance softened Kendra’s face again. “I’d like that,” Kendra said. “I’d like a little of that luck too.”

Kendra seemed so young, so lost, that for a moment Terry was horrified at the new responsibility he’d just accepted. If he had driven past her, none of them might have objected, not even Sonia. They had driven past so many people already. They’d looked like people, anyway.

He
had stopped.
He
had decided to pick her up.

Terry surprised himself by leaning forward to kiss Kendra’s forehead, the way he would have kissed Lisa’s if he could. Her skin was cool and smooth beneath his lips. “I’m your luck, lady,” Terry said, and the others groaned and rolled their eyes. Darius threw his paper plate at Terry Frisbee-style and bopped him on the forehead.

For the first time, Kendra smiled.

December 17

K
endra
awakened slowly, hearing snoring. Her dreams had been… almost peaceful, but her waking body stiffened. Where was she?

No bed. Rows of narrow windows above her.
The bus,
she reassured herself, nearly breathless. She was on a bus.

The dawn was creeping west toward Idaho; darkness and night ruled. Once her surprise at her new surroundings passed—and the inevitable wave of sadness when she remembered why she wasn’t at Grandpa Joe’s cabin, or back in Longview—the peaceful feeling came back, stronger than before. What right did she have to feel peace?

She didn’t know these people. Grandpa Joe had loved her like only family could, willing to kill or die to make sure she was safe. Strangers wouldn’t do that.

Yet…

She hadn’t seen other kids since the outbreak shut down her school, and now she and a bunch of kids were all on their way somewhere. They were taking action, not just hiding in the woods with the Dog-Lady, waiting for the world to shift back to normal while she ate Doggy Chow chili.
Won’t you come over and wait with me, dear? And
have a nice bowl of Rover while we listen to the shortwave?