“I missed you, too, Seven,” he said, peeling her off his body before her strength suffocated the life out of him. “Sorry I’m late. Any trouble?”
Seven grunted once.
He knew that to mean no, even though that went against conventional thinking. “What about those tracks?”
She held up her hand and swirled it, then shrugged with a fast shake of her head immediately thereafter.
He understood. “Happened before you got here.”
Seven confirmed with a double groan.
“Better to be lucky,” he said, pulling out a hunk of meat he’d smoked back at camp. “Even you couldn’t escape that many.”
The Nomad tore the piece in half and gave it to her, needing her to take the nourishment in slowly. There was no way to know when she’d eaten last, or what she might have eaten. Plus, smoked meat was her new favorite, something he was sure would count as the first step in evolution among her kind.
She stuck it in her mouth and bit down, her jagged teeth making quick work of the food. A school of piranha had nothing on Seven. After she swallowed, she pointed at the remaining section his hand, then gestured to his mouth, looking concerned for him.
“No, this is for you,” he said, offering her the remaining portion. “But I need you to eat it slower, so you enjoy it.” He wanted to add the words “like a normal person” but knew that would be pushing the bounds of their relationship a bit. She’d taken great strides recently, but finding your humanity doesn’t happen all at once.
“Come on,” he said, dangling the food in front of her, watching her eyes track the sway of the treat. “I know you want it. Go ahead. I brought this for you.”
She refused with a push of her hand, snarling and waving at him to eat it.
He shook the food harder, regaining her focus. “This is not open for discussion, Seven. You need to eat. Now take it. Please.”
She paused for a beat, then grabbed the piece and brought it to her face in slow motion. However, just before it found her lips, she changed course and jammed it into his mouth, pressing his lips together with her fingers.
Seven then leaned up on her toes and flared her eyes, looking imposing as she chomped her teeth together several times, exaggerating the motion.
“Fine,” he said with his mouth full, starting to chew. “But remember what I told you. Eat more. Every chance you get. You know how I worry.”
She leaned back and puffed her lips, while bobbing her head from left to right as she pranced on her toes in an odd collection of steps. She twirled around several times, showing him a cartoon-like snarl of shark teeth at the end of each rotation.
He couldn’t help but laugh as he watched this feral creature act out of character. He would never truly know what she was thinking, but it was clear she wanted to entertain him.
Humor is something all humans share. So is joy, even between differing species of humans. It meant there was a sliver of humanity hiding inside the skinny girl, buried deep under all that scavenging for blood.
Her odd nature and willingness to evolve always seemed to bring a strange sense of satisfaction to his day. In many ways, she was more human than all of his friends who had abandoned him after his skin and face were transformed in a flash of fire and fury.
The Nomad finished the food, then pulled open the homemade leather coat he wore as armor. Inside was a canteen attached to the belt of his thermal pants. He pulled it free, took a swig, then offered Seven the water.
She took a sip, then spit it out in a spray of angst.
“What’s wrong?”
She grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the exit doors. He allowed her to lead him outside to the rear of the bus, where the snow drift had buried the vehicle up to the middle of its windows.
Seven let go, then bent down and scooped up a handful of snow. She looked him in the eyes, then put the frozen precipitation into her mouth and began to chew, nodding as if he was supposed to understand what she was thinking.
A beat later, he did. “Ah, that’s right. You like it frozen. I won’t forget again.”
She motioned for him to look down at her feet.
When he did, he saw them wrapped in burlap with brown shoelaces holding the cloth in place. He studied the tracks she’d made from the bus. They looked just like the size eleven footprints he’d seen on the way in, though deeper and flatter. Plus, her right foot made the same big toe impression.
Nomad smiled, appreciating her resourcefulness. “Clever girl. I thought maybe you had a big, fat brother with mutant feet that I didn’t know about.”
She took another mouthful of snow and worked it down her throat, looking content. Well, as content as a cannibal can be. At least he’d broken her of the taste for human flesh. Rats and rabbits were now her favorite.
“What do you have for me?”
She pointed at one of his swords and held her hand out.
He gave it to her.
She turned and used the tip to draw in the snow. It took several minutes for her to complete the sketch, then she gave him back the blade.
Nomad studied the drawing, recognizing two of the larger markers she’d drawn: the old church four miles east and the bridge over the canal just beyond it. “Show me exactly.”
She bent down and dabbed her finger next to a circle shape she’d drawn. It held a triangle in the middle of it. To one side were dozens of trees she’d sketched, plus a row of what he assumed were houses.
“That’s where they took you?”
She slipped the tip of her finger under the circle, then started drilling lower, emphasizing the depth.
“Underground?”
She grunted twice.
He searched his memories for something in the area that fit her description and was near a huge orchard. The answer roared to life in his mind. “One of the old Titan II Missile sites.”
She confirmed again, then drew a large house symbol next to it.
“Another house?”
One grunt.
He took a moment before speaking again. “A barn?”
Two grunts, then she covered her eyes with her hands.
“The entrance is hidden.”
Two grunts.
“In a barn. A big barn.”
She responded with two grunts, then washed out the drawing of the big barn with a light touch of her hand, patting the snow as she went. When she was done, she expanded her motion, sweeping a much wider area flat.
“A clearing?”
Two grunts.
“Okay, it’s in a clearing. I think I know where that’s at. Took a tour of that place once, thanks to an old friend of mine in the Air Force.”
She bounced on her heels and started panting, pulling at him to head in the opposite direction of the silo.
“No, you can’t go with me this time.”
She stopped her excitement, looking lost, then grabbed his right hand, wrapping her fingers in with his and squeezing.
He pried her loose before taking a step back and pointing at her feet. “I need you stay here, Seven, and carefully walk through all my tracks with those fake feet of yours to cover them up. Nobody can know I was here. When you’re done, make sure you end up next to the steps, then go inside and take the burlap off. That’s where you need to wait.”
She grunted once, but it was a short, loud burst. Not her usual tone or volume.
“Do as I say, Seven. It’s important. They have to find you and can’t know we talked.”
Seven grunted again, then took a break before doing it again and again, each time making a single, sharp noise with her eyes flared.
“I’m sorry, but it has to be this way. Everything will be okay. I promise. It’s the safest place for you. Trust me.”
CHAPTER 14