Everyone was resting, waiting to start out toward the town again. Shadick sat near Shelia, not wanting to make any of the humans feel uncomfortable. In reality, he only wanted to sit by the cute blonde with blue eyes. For some reason, he was strangely drawn to her. It wasn't a normal attraction, but he couldn't figure out what it was. It reminded him of something; he just couldn't remember what that something was.
When he first found her camp, he had watched her as she paced, keeping a watchful eye on her friend's camp. While he was watching her, the two toxics showed up, and she shot with precision. She only missed the second one because its movements were so fast. He was impressed.
The humans were calling the toxics zombies. He didn't know if that fit; he didn't know what a zombie was.
Scanning the small camp of humans, he hadn't noticed that one of his kind was among them. When Shelia revealed herself, he nearly couldn't contain the shock.
His first thought was that she must be a prisoner, but even before the brother of his cute blond declared Shelia a friend, he knew she wasn't a prisoner. You don't give a blaster to a prisoner. Shelia had a blaster pointed at him, showing that she was no prisoner. She was protecting the group, even from her own kind instead.
Now sitting there watching the group, he realized several things. The first thing he noticed was that they were mainly couples. The second, his blonde and her brother, lost their mate because of his people's invasion. Third, the little male was a stray picked up while they were still hidden away; he wouldn't live long, however, because he could smell the toxins coming from him. They had been attacked only hours before he found their camp, and the little male was injured.
Looking over at Shelia, he noticed how she watched Carrie's brother. Shelia was drawn to the young human. He couldn't say anything, however, because of the way he, himself, was drawn to Carrie.
Shadick chose to stay silent and watch. He knew that the group didn't trust him. Shelia probably didn't either, but she was giving him the benefit of the doubt and letting him earn his place amongst them.
As he listened to the conversation around him, he overheard one of the two dark-haired brothers talking about going to a sanctuary city. They had found a map in the pocket of one of the zombies and decided to follow it.
Shadick knew about the city traps. He turned and looked over at Shelia. "Did you scan the map for marks?" he asked her. "Their planting maps to round up stragglers," he continued.
"I didn't want to see it. I would tell my interrogators, without wanting to, where they went if I got caught and injected with truth serum. I don't want to put them in any more danger than they already are," she explained.
Shadick looked around him, noticing his question had sparked interest with the rest of the group. They were all looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to explain.
Sighing heavily, he started spewing word diarrhea. "They're planting maps to bring humans to various towns to round them up. It's a trap to get them in one place. They're going to let them live peacefully for a couple of months in the cities or towns to make sure as many humans show up as possible, then they're going to flatten the city, killing everyone in one strike," he explained.
Looking around at the humans and Shelia, he had everyone's attention. "Sighing, he added, "You really need to have Shelia at least look at the map. The chance that you're walking into a trap is pretty high."
Zack looked up, studying Shadick. "We're going regardless of whether it's a trap or not," he said. "If it's a trap, we need to warn them, so they aren't 'sitting ducks' in that city."
Zack handed the list of marks that Shelia made to Shadick. "Which mark are they using for the city near us?" Zack asked.
Shadick scanned the list, his eyes stopping at one in particular. "This one,' he said, pointing to one of the marks.
Joe approached Zack, looking at the mark Shadick was pointing to. It was the mark in question. The one they couldn't figure out whether it was just a blotch or a mark. They were now one hundred percent sure that they were walking into a trap.
Zack looked at Joe, then scanned his group; they were all watching. "This is a trap. It's the mark we were discussing," he told them all. "We have to go anyway and warn all those people. If anyone doesn't agree, you are more than welcome to head off on your own. With or without you, I'm going to continue to the city to warn all those people. We have to try to save as many as we can," he finished.
Carrie was the first one to come forward. There was no hesitation. "I'm coming with you, brother. I agree. We need to warn those people."
Jamie whispered between Alice, Tracy, and Joe, then spoke for all four of them. "We're coming too. You're right. We need to warn them. If I were them, I would want to be warned. Besides, there aren't many humans left. We need them."
Neil looked up with wide eyes. His face was pale. "I don't think I'm going to make it that long. I feel like something is happening to me." Looking directly at Zack, the leader of the group, "Kill me if I try to hurt anyone," he pleaded. "I don't want to hurt anyone." Fear laced his words. His sincerity was evident.
Shelia looked over at Neil. Her voice was soft, soothing. "Not all of them turn into zombies. It may go through you like a virus and be gone. If that happens, you'll be immune to other attacks," she explained, trying to comfort him.
Neil nodded slightly. He was still fearful of turning into a Zombie. "I'm coming. Please don't let me hurt anyone if I turn into one of those things," he pleaded. "I don't want to hurt anyone," he repeated.
Zack looked between Shelia and Shadick. His eyes lingered on Shelia a bit longer than the other. "You have a choice too. You may be walking to your death if you choose to come with us."
Something in Zack's eyes when he looked at Shelia showed Shadick that Zack was also drawn to Shelia. He couldn't help but smile. He covered it with a cough, nodding. "I'll come with you," he said, smiling, then winked at Carrie, who turned bright red.
Zack walked up to Shadick, staring at him for a few moments before he spoke. "You don't have any supplies. How are you eating?"
"Toxics, I mean zombies, only eat human flesh. The wildlife comes out because they don't have to worry about them. I get my food from the wildlife that I come across," he explained. "I hunt small creatures with fur. They look like small, fat creatures with long ears."
"Rabbits?" he asked. "You hunt rabbits?" Zack had not thought of hunting small game. He was too worried about other things. Getting from one location to another without the zombies attacking was taking up most of his attention. Stopping to hunt didn't even occur to him. He felt stupid considering his family was hardcore preppers. It was even something that his extended family was.
Shadick shrugged. "I don't know what they're called, but the meat is good."
When they were ready to leave, the group packed up their meager belonging and started toward the first town. They decided they needed to hurry, wanting to warn the people already in the city about their impending doom. It felt wrong to take their time getting there. At any moment, the city could be attacked. The longer it took them to get to the city, the more it was possible that they would be too late. They didn't want to be too late.
Zack looked over at Neil as they began their journey once again. He knew they also had to keep an eye on Neil, who smelled of the toxins, according to Shelia and Shadick. Neil even felt wrong and knew he was changing. Fear was written all over his face. His body was trembling. They would have to wait and see what would happen to Neil in the end.
None of the group wanted to kill the young man until they had no other choice.
Now the small group of humans and aliens was all walking silently down the highway, watching their surroundings for zombies and aliens who wanted to kill them. The town ahead was unseen. They couldn't see the rubble from their location. The town had been incinerated during the start of the invasion, just like all the others. There was nothing left to see.