The Rule of Three

— 21 —

Thinking of her past gave Dee strength. She reached down inside herself and began to struggle as if her life depended on it. She scratched. She kicked. She ripped her fingernails over Missing Teeth’s face and bit into his hand.

“Hmmm… I like it when they fight.” He grinned down at her. “Hold the bitch’s legs down.”

Simon grabbed both her flailing legs in a vice-like grip. Together, the men managed to wrestle her onto the pallet.

She looked up into Missing Teeth’s eyes, silently pleading with him. Searching for some decency. Hoping to change his mind while looking into his eyes. Hoping to ease the evil in his soul. Anything to stop what was about to happen.

Dee didn’t hear the first gunshot. Missing Teeth’s head exploded, brains and skull splattering all over her. The sight of his lust-filled eyes seared into her memory. His body slumped, pinning her legs.

She heard the next couple of shots and saw Simon look down at the gaping holes in his chest. His lifeless body toppled over. Dee shuddered and pushed Missing Teeth’s body off her. She stood and stared down at his nearly headless body and she spat on him.

Asshole.

“You all right?”

Dee spun towards the source of the voice. A stocky, muscular man with a long wizard beard and white hair approached her. He was dressed in green cargo pants, a green shirt and a black combat vest filled with magazines and even a grenade or two.

“You all right?” he asked again.

“Y… Yeah, I think so.” Dee shook her head. Too many things were happening at once today. “Boss?”

“Sorry, what?”

“Boss. Sorry, I mean the kid?”

“He’ll be fine. He took a nasty blow to the head, though.”

“Thank you,” Dee said, kicking Missing Teeth again. “I’m Dee. I call the kid Boss.”

“You’re welcome. Ben. Ben Johns.” He glanced around, eyes alert. “We need to move, I don’t know how many of those creatures have been alerted by the gunshots.”

“At this time of day?”

“Yes,” Ben said. “Let’s grab the kid and go.”

“We’ve got a boat tied up down at the river. The Variants won’t come in the water.”

“Variants? You call them Variants too, huh?” A bemused look crossed Ben’s face.

Dee’s head snapped up at the distant sound of shrieks.

“Umm, yeah, ah. Boss had an old ham radio going and he talked to some Americans. They called them Variants.”

“Right. Well, the Variants, they are smart bastards, and fast. Why don’t you come back to my bunker? I’ve got food, water and medical supplies. It’s held them out for now.”

She searched Ben’s eyes and found honesty and kindness. She nodded, more to herself than to him. “All right, thank you.”

Ben and Dee grabbed an arm each and hauled Boss to his feet. He was coming to, but was still groggy. Ben led them to a 4x4 parked next to a red ute, his eyes constantly flicking around.

Dee could hear more shrieks but the Variants remained distant for now. If Ben felt any panic, he didn’t show it. Dee observed the way he moved. Fluid. Alert. Completely aware of his surroundings. Like he knew where everything was located. Exit points. Everything.

They pushed Boss onto the back seat and laid him down. Dee grabbed one of the fleece jackets they’d found and placed it under his head.

Ben eased them out of the farm driveway and onto the sealed road. He pointed the 4x4 east and picked up speed.

“Here, use these to clean some of that muck off you.” Ben handed Dee some tissues.

“Thanks.”

“I’m not far. About fifteen minutes.”

She nodded. She couldn’t figure it out. Why had Ben been there? She was more than grateful, of course. She looked down at the rifle sitting between them. It was black, but had a long, fat, extended barrel. It looked military. Not like the ones her dad used to use. Ben looked and acted like military. With shooting like that and the calm way he acted, she guessed he was ex-army.

“So. Look, thanks for saving us back there.”

“You’re welcome. I couldn’t stand by and let them do that. It’s not right. Even in these terrifying times, there are rules. Moral rules.” Ben glanced over, smiled, and stroked his long bushy beard.

Dee could see by the expression on the old man’s face that he was telling the truth. She decided she liked him already. Plus, he seemed really handy with a rifle. If she wanted any chance of finding Jack, she needed Ben. His expertise.

Till now she’d been extremely lucky, but luck will only get you so far. She knew she reacted well under pressure. A calmness would come over her as if time slowed down and she saw the way out. More than anything, she wanted to survive this. She wanted Jack back. To take them all to the valley, to start afresh.

“Ben?” Dee said, picking and brushing the last of the skull fragments off her chest and arms and trying not to gag.

“Yeah?”

“I’m curious. How did you know we were there?”

“I didn’t. But I knew they were. I’d been tracking their movements for a few days.”

Dee looked at Ben, startled. Tracking them? For a few days? Why? She opened her mouth to ask, but Ben slowed the 4x4 down and turned onto a tree-lined driveway, magnolia trees creating an avenue.

“We’re here,” he announced.

Dee looked down the drive and could see it curving up behind a small hill. As the 4x4 got closer to the hill, a house nestled into the leeward side came into view. It looked as though the walls were made of earth and she could barely make out the roof line. Wildflowers covered it.

Ben pulled up around the back, next to a large utility shed. This too blended into the surrounding countryside.

Ben and Dee half-dragged a semi-conscious Boss out of the 4x4. Ben indicated with a tilt of his head towards a side door. Entering the house, it struck Dee how warm and dry it was. And with the door closed behind them, the silence was complete.

Jack would love this house. It looked like a safe place, retreating a good ten metres or so into the hill.

Ben guided her and Boss past some shelves towards a couple of bunks in the back left-hand corner of the room. Dee struggled with the deadweight that was Boss. Pain shot up her arms and the muscles in her lower back started to cramp. She concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, watching the smooth concrete floor as sweat dripped off her forehead from the exertion. Once there, they gently laid Boss down.

“First aid and medical supplies are in here.” Ben pointed to a large medical cabinet on the wall. “I’m heading outside to lock up and set the sensors.”

“Thanks Ben,” Dee said. “Oh hey, do you have any fertiliser? We used to use it to mask our scent.”

Ben picked up a large twenty-litre container, grinning. His sharp eyes appraised her. “Not just a pretty face, are you? I use this. Industrial grade disinfectant. I’ll be back.”

Dee watched him go. Normally she would be offended by such a remark, but Ben was an up-front guy. A spade was a spade. She busied herself cleaning out the wound on Boss’s head.

Boss tried to get up, tried to speak. Dee helped him swallow a couple of painkillers and pushed him back down. “Sleep, Boss.”

She heard Ben come back into the room and the huge steel door shut with a clunk. Dee got up and walked over to him. He slid thick bolts across the door, locking them in. Happy that they were secure, Dee turned and took in her new surroundings. She was impressed to see block walls all around. The concrete floor she had already noted. To the left and right were shelves filled with food, water and plastic containers. Three shelves on each side, making six in total, with a gap in the middle forming a corridor reminiscent of a supermarket. She couldn’t quite see the back of the room through the shelves. Turning to her left, she saw a rack behind a cage door filled with guns. She recognised a couple of shotguns and a few more of those same rifles Ben carried with him. A row of handguns and boxes of ammunition were stacked on more shelves.

Dee let out a whistle. “That’s a lot of guns. I feel like I’m in the Matrix.”

Ben grunted and walked with her towards Boss. “How’s he doing?”

“Just concussed, I think. I gave him some painkillers, so he’ll sleep it off.”

“Good. I’m glad. Poor kid. He took a real knock to the head. If you want, I’ll show you around my humble abode.”

Dee nodded, only too glad for a distraction.

“It’s no bomb shelter, but it’s kept those Variants out so far. They’re getting bolder each day.”

Dee followed him to the back right-hand corner where two rooms were separated from the rest of the structure.

As Ben opened one door, he pointed to the other. “Bathroom with chemical toilet in there.” He nodded towards the opened room. “In here is where the fun happens. This is the war room.” He gestured for Dee to enter.

Dee gasped. A desk with four monitors and a keyboard lined the back wall. Two of the monitors were on and she could see camera feeds from outside. A stack of radio equipment lay on the table on the right-hand side, static hissing from the attached speakers. A large table covered in maps was set against the other wall. Dee could see Ben had been marking red Xs through the surrounding small towns, and the town of Cambridge was scribbled out.

“Wow, you’re organised. But how are you getting power to run all this?”

“Solar. I’ve got a bank of them down the hill a bit. It’s enough to keep this going, just. Also gives me a little hot water.”

Dee went over to the map. “I suppose this means no survivors?” She pointed at the red Xs.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Dee traced the river north from Cambridge up to Hamilton. A big red X was drawn through it.

How had her basement group gone undetected? Not only from the Variants but from the collaborators too.

She looked at all the surrounding towns. Te Awamutu, Morrinsville, Huntly. All had red Xs through them. Dee rubbed her eyebrows and reached down to her neckline, desperate to feel the reassurance of the necklace Jack had given to her as an anniversary present.

So many red Xs. It started to really sink in just how fortunate she and Boss had been.

Was it luck? Common sense? A bit of both? The Hemorrhage Virus had hit so fast, so furiously, that it had caught everyone but a few by surprise. She and Jack loved post-apocalyptic fiction. The more they read, the more they’d thought: What if? What if something did happen?

They’d thought they were prepared for it. But fate was a funny thing. They’d never taken into account where they would be when it hit.

Now Jack was God knows where and Dee was here. In a bunker. Safe. For now.

Ben took Dee back to the main living area, to all the shelving units stacked with supplies. Pointing to each row in turn, he said, “Food. Clothes. Survival gear, like tents, etc. Batteries, that sort of thing. I don’t have any women’s clothes, I’m afraid, but you’re welcome to try and find something to fit. Feel free to have a shower too, but please, five minutes only. Very limited water supply.”

“Ben, you’re an angel.” Dee’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you for your kindness, and for…” she gulped, unable to voice her thanks further, and waved her hands.

She could see Ben understood, his eyes growing soft. “You’re welcome.”

Dee nodded and started to select the smallest clothes she could find. Though little might fit her, she just wanted fresh clothes. She could still smell the stench of Missing Teeth on her. Shuddering in disgust, Dee headed to the shower.