Chapter 30: I guess this is your heaven.
The grey light of pre-dawn was just beginning to leach the solid black from the sky when Nate unfolded the worn, laminated map. He held it close, his eyes darting between the contour lines and the recognizable silhouette of the hills surrounding them. He twisted the paper, aligning a distinct, jagged ridge he could see to the east with its representation on the map. He triangulated their position with a quiet, focused intensity, his finger tracing a path from their ledge to a small cluster of squares marked as "Cedar Bend." A grim satisfaction settled on his face. They had covered more ground than he'd expected.
He nudged Skylar's boot with his. "Let's go, Skylar. We're close enough to the town."
She jolted awake, her hand immediately scrabbling for the grip of her bow, her eyes wide with panic until they focused on him. The brief, raw connection of the night before was gone, replaced by the familiar, rigid hierarchy of survivor and student.
"Come on, get up. We have to go," he said, his voice all business.
Within ten minutes, they had choked down a spare breakfast, relieved themselves behind separate trees, and were moving north again. Skylar walked in a cloud of quiet embarrassment, the memory of his revelation burning in her chest. Nate, however, seemed to have already purged the interaction from his mind, his entire being focused on the terrain ahead.
True to his calculation, after an hour and a half of grueling, silent travel, the town of Cedar Bend came into view through the trees, a scattering of low, mostly intact buildings nestled in the valley below.
Nate's demeanor shifted instantly, hardening into what Skylar had come to think of as 'commander mode.' He was more serious than a heart attack.
"Follow my every movement," he warned, his voice a low, steel cable of sound. "Once we're in the town, there's a higher likelihood of encountering those fucking bastards."
"I know," she said, a little defensively. "You found me as part of Kaelan's party, remember?"
He glanced at her, the memory of the robbery a flicker in his eyes, before turning his gaze back to the town. "So, do you remember our shopping list?"
"Food, communication electronics, and medicine," she recited.
"Good girl," he said, the praise as functional as everything else. "Now follow me, stay close, and get ready."
With his M4 held at a low ready, they approached the town's edge. The place had a hollow, picked-over feel. The first Ripper they saw was a lone shambler, growling softly to itself as it mindlessly paced the cracked asphalt of the main street.
'Should I take it down?' Skylar whispered, her voice barely audible.
Nate shook his head minutely. "Too open. Will attract prying eyes we don't want. Just let it pass."
They pressed themselves into the shadow of a collapsed awning as the creature lurched by, then darted across the street to the first intact building. The door was long gone. Inside was a bookstore, its contents exploded across the floor in a storm of paper and broken shelves.
"I guess this is your heaven," Skylar whispered, a weak attempt at a joke.
Nate didn't laugh. His eyes scanned the titles with a hunter's dispassion, finding nothing of immediate use. He noted the rotting body parts teeming with maggots in one corner and signaled to move on.
The next building was a restaurant, and they heard the nest before they saw it, a chorus of low, wet guttural moans and the sound of restless, shuffling feet.
Nate held up a fist. "Now this is the place to blow the shit up," he breathed. He signaled for her to stay back and crept forward, risking a peek through the grimy window. He leaned back, his face a mask of cold calculation.
"So, Skylar…" he whispered, pulling her deeper into the shadows of an alley. "There are fifteen Rippers in there. And no doubt more in the town." He looked at her, his gaze intent, putting the weight of the decision squarely on her. "So, do we blow these shitheads up and risk attracting more attention? Or do we just move on and sneak past them?" A faint, challenging glint was in his eye. "I know it's only been four days, but hopefully I've taught you enough. What's your decision?"
Skylar's mind raced, weighing the variables just as he'd taught her. The immediate threat of the nest against the larger, unknown threat of what else their noise might summon. The grenades were a definitive solution, but a loud one. A sledgehammer where a scalpel might suffice.
"We move on," she whispered, the decision feeling both terrifying and right. "We're here for supplies, not a fight. We blow that nest, and the whole town knows we're here. We lose the element of surprise."
Nate held her gaze for a long moment, and she saw it again, not a smile, but that flicker of approval. A single, sharp nod. "Good. We go around. Stay sharp."
They backtracked, slipping into a narrow alley that reeked of old garbage and decay. Nate moved with an infuriating, silent patience, pausing at every corner, listening, before signaling her forward. They bypassed a hardware store with its doors busted in and a small grocery that had been picked clean long ago, its shelves bare and toppled.
Finally, at the end of a street lined with quiet, boarded-up houses, they saw it: a single-story building with a faded red cross barely visible on its whitewashed wall. The Cedar Bend Free Clinic. The front door was boarded over, but one of the side windows was shattered, the frame splintered as if something had been thrown through it or had forced its way out.
Nate approached the window, glass crunching softly under his boot. He held up a fist, then pointed two fingers at his eyes and then towards the dark opening. I'll look. Cover me.
Skylar nocked an arrow, her heart thudding against her ribs, and turned to watch the street, her senses stretched taut. She heard the soft rustle of his clothing as he leaned into the window frame.
After a tense minute, his whisper came from behind her. "Clear. At least the main room is. Come on. In and out."
He boosted her through the window first, then passed their packs through before climbing in himself. The air inside was stale and thick with the smell of dust and antiseptic. The waiting room was a disaster, chairs overturned, pamphlets scattered everywhere, a dark, dried stain smeared across the linoleum floor.
"You know what we're looking for," Nate said, his voice low and urgent as he moved toward the door marked 'Pharmacy – Staff Only.' "Anything in foil packs, glass vials, anything that says 'antibiotic' or 'contraceptive'. I'll check the back for equipment."
The door to the pharmacy was locked. Without a word, Nate reversed his rifle, and with one brutal, efficient swing of the stock, he smashed the handle and lock mechanism, the sound explosively loud in the quiet building.
Skylar flinched, her eyes darting back to the window. "So much for quiet."
"Fast is quiet now," he grunted, shoving the door open.
Inside, the small pharmacy had been ransacked. Most of the shelves were bare, picked clean of painkillers and anything obviously useful. But it seemed the initial looters had been in a hurry. Skylar, moving with a frantic energy, began pulling out drawers behind the counter. Mostly empty. Then, in a deep bottom drawer, she struck gold. A box of antibiotic ampoules, a sleeve of suture kits, and tucked behind a stack of outdated forms, several flat, square boxes.
She snatched one up. The brand name was unfamiliar, but the word was clear: Progestin-Only Oral Contraceptives.
"Nate," she hissed, her voice trembling with triumph. She held up the box. "I found it."
He was across the room in three strides, taking the box from her. He examined it, his expression unreadable, then shoved it and the antibiotics deep into his pack. "Good. That's medicines and pharmaceuticals done. Now, food and electronics. We're not done yet." But as he turned back towards the door, his step seemed just a fraction lighter, the grim set of his jaw a little less severe. The most dangerous variable in their fragile equation had just been mitigated.
[A/N: If you liked the book then dn't forget to leave a like and commen. Drop a power stone, it helps . If you're interested in this story you can now read 25 chapters ahead available on patreon.com/jacobperalta ]