The Survivors Book III: Winter (15 page)

"
Well, that doesn't sound very safe at all."  I laughed; somehow, Michael always knew just the right things to say to cheer me up when I was feeling down, no matter what the reason was.  He just gave me that dopey grin I loved so much, and eased the Hilux over to the side of the road.  By the time I'd conveyed the order to switch drivers, he had already climbed out, and come around to open the passenger door for me.

I felt strong arms around me before I even realised that he was there.
 He undid my seatbelt, guided me out, and wrapped me up in a hug.  It was just a brief hug, but it was enough to make my heart race.

"
How is it that you always make me feel like a teenager again?" I asked.  "In the good way, I mean.  Not the grumpy, hormonal, puberty-is-kicking-my-ass way."

He just laughed, of course.
 "Are you blaming me because you feel good?  Again?"

"
No!" I exclaimed, shoving myself out of his grip.  I planted a quick kiss on his cheek, and raced around to the driver's side.  "It is your fault, though."

"
I am more than happy to accept the blame for that," he said cheerfully.  While I was buckling up and getting myself ready, he reached over and picked up my radio.  "Everyone ready to go again?"

"
We've been ready for a while, but you were too busy groping our illustrious leader to notice."  Skylar's voice crackled through the radio, laced with a heavy dose of sarcasm.  My automatic response was to turn red as a beetroot, but thankfully no one was there to see it.

Well, no one except Michael.
 And he loved it, because it really was entirely his fault.

***

As it turned out, Michael hadn't been kidding about his desire to indulge in a nap.  Within a couple of minutes, he nodded off to sleep with his head resting against the glass.  I shot a quick glance at him and smiled to myself, then returned my attention back to the not-so-arduous task of driving.

The roads east of Pukeatua were in decent enough condition, compared to some of the other ground we'd covered.
 We were still in pig country, though, so I kept myself alert for trouble in all its forms.  Of course, thinking about pigs turned my mood sour.  To lighten it, I distracted myself by trying to think up ways to improve my group's overall chances of success.  Eventually, an idea began to form in the back of my head.  I picked up the radio and spoke into it.

"
Doc, you there?"

A few seconds later, Doctor Cross' voice came on the line.
 "I'm here.  What can I do for you, Ms McDermott?"

"
I want to discuss something," I replied.  "First, though – how's Ommie?"

"
Young Master Omid is doing very well, thank you," the doctor replied.  His voice was even and calm, and immediately relaxed my nerves.

"
Oh, good."  I sighed heavily, and made no attempt to conceal my relief.  "Is he awake?"

"
Very much so," Doc answered.  "In fact, he seems to be more loquacious than he was before the accident.  The children were trying to play I Spy earlier, but it somewhat failed due to the fact that Omid isn't terribly good at spelling yet.  So, Madeline has taken it upon herself to improve his reading, and she's teaching Priyanka as well.  At this rate, I won't even need to hold lessons myself anymore."

I couldn't help but laugh at that.
 "That's great news.  I don't suppose you've had a chance to assess the other Yousefi kids yet? "

"
I have, actually," he said.  "Mrs Yousefi tells me that she's been teaching them as much as she can along the road, and she's done an excellent job of it.  All four of them are fluent in both English and Farsi, and they have a grasp of mathematics and science well beyond their years.  She's quite the teacher, if I do say so myself."

"
And I have told you to call me 'Elly', Doctor," a third voice intervened, crackling through the radio in my hand.  "But, I thank you for the compliment nevertheless."

"
Hey, Elly," I greeted her.  "I thought you were with the kids?"

"
There wasn't enough room," she answered.  "I opted to let the good doctor ride with the children, since he can take better care of Ommie at the moment.  Besides, it has given me an opportunity to get to know your friend Anahera."

"
Ahhh."  I nodded my understanding, even though none of them could see it.  "I bet you two are getting along like a house on fire.  You're cut from the same cloth."

"
I like to think that we are, yes," Elly answered.

"
Good."  I paused for a moment, then took a deep breath and continued.  "Speaking of Anahera, is she there?"

There was a moment of silence, then the voice changed to Anahera's.
 "Yes, Sandrine; I'm here.  How can I help?"

"
I've got a project for you and Doc," I replied.  "We need to start thinking about ways to improve the survivability of our group, and I think the best way we can do that is through education.  I don't just mean the kids, either – I want you to go through the entire group, and work out who has skills they're willing to teach.  Pair them up with people that want to learn."

"
You mean the way you've been picking Zain's brain when you think no one's watching?" Doc asked dryly, his voice carrying a note of deadpan humour.

"
We had been trying to avoid making a big deal out of it, but yes, exactly like that," I agreed just as dryly, more amused than annoyed that he'd let the cat out of the bag.  Why shouldn't I be the first to do what I was asking the others to?  "Talk to people, see what they're interested in.  I want everyone to have important basic skills like self-defence, cooking, first aid, driving, and how to start a fire, but we also need to start planning for the long-term survivability of more complex skills.  I mean, what would we do if we lost you tomorrow, Doc?"

"
To use your own terminology, you'd be pretty much screwed," he replied dryly.  "I'm happy to help, of course."

"
As am I," Anahera added.  "We'll take care of it, don't worry.  But, while we're speaking, there is something urgent we need to discuss.  I feel it's critically important that we find some way to warn the other people in the Waikato as soon as possible."

"
Isn't that why we're going to Avalon Studios?" I asked, uncertain what her point was.

"
Well, yes," she answered dryly, "but it'll take us weeks to get there, perhaps even months, and by that stage the entire population of the Waikato may very well have been wiped out.  We can't allow that."

"
All right," I acknowledged, nodding thoughtfully.  "You have a fair point.  What's your suggestion?"

"
At this stage, I don't know."  There was a long sigh on the other end.  "But we need to do something.  It is our duty to try and save as many as we can, even if all we do is warn them to be away as soon as possible."

"
Okay, so we keep our eye out," I said.  "If anyone has any ideas or sees anything useful, sing out.  Otherwise, we're going to have to keep going and hope for the best.  We're almost at Arapuni.  Once we get there, I want to find us somewhere secure to bed down for the night.  If I remember right, there's a big, empty warehouse somewhere in the north of the town.  We should be able to get all the trucks in there and lock the door."

"
But we still have a few hours of daylight left," Michael spoke up suddenly in the seat beside me.

I shot a startled glance at him.
 Everyone else had heard the comment while I was speaking, so I answered them all.  "Yes, but we're going to try and convince Rebecca and Jim to join us.  If they agree, then they'll need time to get ready.  I want you guys to spend the time foraging.  Look for clothing and footwear, specifically. We need to get some stuff for Anahera and her blokes, otherwise they're going to be stuck wearing the same thing until their body odour leads the mutants right to us."

A chorus of guffaws and chuckles punctuated my joke.
 I grinned to myself and put the radio down, then I shot a glance at Michael.  "I thought you were sleeping?"

"
And I thought you were driving," he countered, grinning right back at me.  "I slept for a bit, but you woke me up.  My little social butterfly."

"
Oh God, that again?"  I groaned and rolled my eyes heavenwards.  "If I have to be the boss, then I have to act like the boss, and that includes pretending that I know what I'm doing."

"
Well, you certainly do a good job of it."  Michael leaned over, and pressed a kiss against the curve of my neck, which sent a shiver all the way down my spine.  "Have I told you how sexy it is when you get all commanding?"

"
No, and I'm not sure that you should right now," I answered, shooting him an alarmed look.  "Do you really want to distract me while I'm driving?"

"
Maybe not," he answered with a chuckle, easing himself back into his own personal space.  "Sorry.  We haven't been getting much private time lately, and ever since you freed the genie…"

"
That's what we're calling it now?" I teased, giving him a wicked grin.  "That does seem kind of appropriate, considering what happens if I rub it just right."

Michael froze, staring at me, then he burst out laughing so hard that he couldn't speak for several minutes.
 By the time he got himself back under control, we'd crossed the top of Arapuni dam, and turned north towards the power station, and the township.

"
Phew," he gasped when he finally started to sober up.  "Thanks, I needed that."

"
You're more than welcome," I answered brightly.  "Now, if you're done, I need you to do something."

"
Anything," he agreed immediately.

"
Good."  I gave him an appreciative smile, then focused back on the road.  "I want you to take Hemi, and go bring Rebecca and Jim to talk to us."

"
Oh, so you give us the dangerous mission, while you guys slack off scavenging?"  He made an indignant sound, but when I glanced at him, I could see on his face that he was only kidding.

"
Hah!  You're not getting out of scavenging duty that easily, mister," I told him dryly.  "I just think it's best if you two go since you're familiar, and I don't want to cross that damn bridge again."

"
Fair enough."  He laughed and nodded his agreement.  "Of course, honey.  Wish me luck."

"
Good luck," I replied with a knowing grin.  "You're gonna need it."

Michael just sighed dramatically, and rolled his eyes heavenwards.

It took us less than an hour to find what we were looking for.
 My mental encyclopaedia was not infallible, but it was generally pretty good.  Once our vehicles were safely stowed inside the warehouse, Michael and Hemi departed and I gathered the remaining people around me to hand out duty assignments.

"
Okay, guys," I called, vaulting up to stand on the Hilux's bonnet again, so that everyone could see me.  "Doc, Anahera, I'd like you on babysitting detail, please.  The rest of you, I want you to break up into pairs and head out into the town.  We need clothing, footwear, petrol, and any toiletries you can find.  Also keep an eye out for fishing gear.  If you can find any, that'll help us supplement our food supply as we travel.  Skye, can you think of anything else we need?"

"
We could use a couple more sharp knives, and another can opener or two," she called back.  "And more propane to power the stoves."  She paused and glanced at Doc.  "Oh, what was it you asked me about the other day?"

"
Citrus," Doc supplied, adjusting his spectacles.  "Any kind of citrus.  I'm slightly concerned about everyone's vitamin C levels with winter coming on, and want to make sure we're getting enough in our diets.  Lemons, oranges, grapefruit, anything you can find."

"
Speaking of winter," I added once he was done.  "Keep an eye out for clean blankets, sleeping bags, and tents.  It's not going to be fun being out in the weather without a few conveniences.  If you find something and aren't sure if we need it, bring it back anyway.  Better safe than sorry.  Everyone good?"  A chorus of agreement met the question.  I smiled and nodded.  "Right, let's get to it, then!"

A spontaneous cheer went up from the crowd, for reasons that I couldn't define.
 It pleased me, though, knowing that people were more or less content with my leadership.  One by one, my companions paired off, picked up their weapons, and headed out into the streets of Arapuni.  Soon, the only people left were me, Skylar, and the folks that were staying with the youngest kids.

I shot a glance at Anahera and Doc, and gave them a reassuring grin.
 "I hope you two don't mind being left behind."

"
Oh, not at all," Doc answered dryly.  "My back is too old to go out there lugging goodness-knows-what around, anyway.  I'm more than happy to leave that for you young folk."