“Why?” she asked quietly.
“Why what?” he replied, not meeting her eye.
“Why did you save us?” Her gaze took in the others. “What’s in it for you? What could you possibly want with us?”
“Nothing,” said Sam. “I want nothing.”
The expression on Olivia’s face displayed various emotions: disbelief, scorn, anger. Sam watched carefully from out of the corner of his eye and could see her struggling with this concept.
“Garbage,” she spluttered. “No one does things like that unless they want something. What do you want?”
Sam felt suddenly quite tired. Humanity never ceased to amaze him. He’d just risked his life for this woman and did he get thanks? No. Just suspicion. Though at least that was better than downright hatred which is what he’d probably get if his true nature were revealed.
“Believe what you will, but I want to help you. I’ll get you to safety and then leave you alone. Is that ok with you?” He could hear sarcasm creeping into his voice but he couldn’t help it. This woman was pushing his buttons.
Olivia ran one grubby hand through her cropped hair, displacing the ash that had taken up residence. Some of it fluttered down into her plate of steaming food, not that she seemed to notice or care. It looked like she’d or someone else had hacked at her hair with a knife. Her eyes darted left and right as she tried to assimilate this notion. Finally, she attempted to make eye contact with Sam again. He looked down, seemingly intent on stirring the food.
He could tell she wanted to say something else but clearly thought better of it. Muttering something under her breath, she went and slumped down in a corner, eating hurriedly but keeping a cautious eye on Sam. Sam decided to ignore her. He didn’t care. As soon as he’d delivered them to the Ohio Army National guard base, he’d wash his hands of them. Not for the first time, he was getting sick of being treated like this — and this was before they discovered he was half demon.
The other survivors were eating ravenously, heedless of manners or any other social convention, stuffing the food into their mouths as quickly as possible. The food was gone within minutes, washed down with precious swigs of water from bottles scavenged from the demon worshippers. While they finished up, Sam disconnected up the camping stove and stored it in his pack.
Making sure he had everything, he wiggled his way into his pack, strapping his Katana on over the top. The Wakizashi was settled in at his waist. Thus prepared, he addressed the others.
“Right. It’s just after midday. We’ve got to get going. We’ve got to cover about fifty miles all told. I’m hoping to cover about ten before nightfall.”
One of the men spoke up. “Where are we going? Surely we’re not going to spend the night in the open? We’ll be easy prey for demons.” Some of the others started to mutter too. Sam let them vent for a moment and then held a hand up for silence. Grudgingly, they quieted down.
“I’m taking you to the only functional army base in the state. It’s in Columbus but it’s too far to travel in one or even two or three days. Don’t worry — I took that into account when I rescued you. There’s a couple of what I suppose you’d call ‘safe houses’ along the route. The first of them is where we’re going to spend tonight.”
This seemed to satisfy most of them, though Olivia was still watching him warily. Sam took no notice, directing the others to load up their packs with food. Careful not to touch the iron shells, Sam helped those with weapons ensure they were loaded and functional. Although rarely using such weapons himself, Sam had become a bit of an expert over the last few years. It gave himself something to do during the lonely days and nights.
When everything was prepared, Sam led them out of the store, carefully checking the street first. Not that he was worried about demons. He still strongly suspected that some of the demon worshippers had escaped. If there were any more followers in the town, then Sam would be ready for them.
He took the lead, careful not to set too demanding a pace. Flurries of ash followed in his wake as the others fell in line. Soon, they’d reached the main highway. Heading south west, Sam knew that state highway 71 would take them directly to Columbus.
They trudged on. Sam had to let them rest frequently and monitor how much water they drank. He had underestimated the condition these survivors would be in. The ones with the plague were struggling the most. He had hoped that they would be much fitter to travel than they were. As it was, they would struggle to make ten miles before nightfall. If the demons found them out in the open after dark, they wouldn’t stand a chance. He increased the pace slightly, and was encouraged to see them keeping up. One of the weaker women fell back and Sam had to assist her. By mid-afternoon, Sam reckoned they’d covered maybe half the distance he wanted to. Approximately five miles to go. Olivia, hanging back at the rear of the group for the entire trip, moved up to walk next to Sam. She didn’t speak but Sam could sense her looking at him from time to time, building up the courage to say something.
Eventually, she cleared her throat. “I’m sorry,” she said.
Sam nodded but kept his eyes on the ash covered road in front of him. “Thanks.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her watching him. “It’s just that no one has helped me before. Ever since the Rapture, I’ve been by myself. Had to watch out for myself. Anytime anyone tried to do something for me, they always wanted something. It’s hard to break the habit of mistrust.”
Sam nodded once more. “I know and I understand. Forget about it. I’m used to it.”
They walked in companionable silence for a while. Sam was glad that they’d cleared the air a little bit. Glad that she’d actually thanked him. It put a little spring into his step.
“Something’s been bothering me,” she said finally. “It’s about that demon. You know, that giant burning dog. I know some of the others have been talking about it.”
“What about it?” Sam knew he was on shaky ground here. He’d have to play this carefully.
“Why didn’t it attack you? Why did it attack those who are meant to be on its side?”
Sam shrugged, hoping it looked convincing. “Beats me,” he said, trying hard not to look at her and gauge her reaction. His words didn’t really ring true in his ears, so he doubted whether he was fooling her for a second either. “I’ve always had a thing for dogs. I was never allowed one when I was growing up so maybe this demon dog sensed that.”
“Yeah… maybe,” she said slowly, letting the words hang. Suddenly, she changed tack. “So, why did you do it? Rescue us, I mean?”
Sam smiled crookedly. “Would you believe an angel asked me to do it?”
Olivia stopped dead in her tracks, looking at Sam in disbelief. He kept walking, struggling not to let his grin get wider.
A couple of hours later and Sam knew they weren’t going to make it. At least half of the survivors were in no condition to go much further. They were almost dead on their feet as it was. Sam called a halt several hundred feet from a large fenced structure.
“What’s wrong with spending the night there?” asked one of the men, a white male with rotten teeth who had introduced himself earlier as Mike.
Sam shook his head. “Too close to the church. There’s one not far from here off the state highway. The demons will be able to sense us.”
“We haven’t really got much of a choice, have we?” said another woman. Sam thought her name might be Sue but he couldn’t be sure. Her hair, clearly once a vibrant red, was now dull and gray as the ash that surrounded them.
Sam sighed but he knew that they were both right. There was no way they were going to make it to the safe house he’d picked out. Better to be in this structure — whatever it was — than face the demons in the open. Sam was confident he’d be able to look after himself and escape but these others would be doomed. He wasn’t about to leave them to their fate, especially after expending so much effort to rescue them in the first place.