They are dead

Chapter 3

"Keep up." Noah said towards the back of him, his face turned slightly and the winter sun beating down. Sometimes he had appreciated the Summer sun more. It had a more distinct warning to heat stroke than the winter sun, and was not as draining. The cold was evident during the day as well, temperatures reaching a low 15 Celsius degrees on average. It was brutal to walk through the veld on a day like that, having to keep your warm clothes with you knowing that the days were much shorter.

"I'm coming," Dieter said, walking away from an anthill that he had been studying, his head still tilted in its direction as his body moved along. When he had regained focus on the footpath before him he squinted again. Heaven only knows how bad his squinting might be during summer.

"Where are we actually headed?" Dieter asked now, swinging his arms as he tried to keep up with Noah's pace. Noah didn't look at him when answering, instead, he kept looking for stray predators and animals that might've been around.

"That dead one couldn't have survived that long on the outside. It had to be hiding in an enclosed place or space or it had to have turned quite recently."

"Dooies can hide?" Dieter asked, amused. Noah knew that he was trying to make a silly joke and laughed slightly at his attempt.

"I mean they were obviously held somewhere. Somewhere out of the sun or view of the crows and vultures."

"Any idea of a place that could be like that?" Dieter had asked with true intent to find out. It had not been too difficult to figure out, even though it was just a guess, but he had some sort of inkling that might have made it the perfect spot for this phenomenon to appear.

Even though a lot of survivors made it their mission to rid the last of the undead as some sort of vendetta, those that weren't finished off by wildlife, Noah couldn't help but imagine the amount of undead that might've still been hiding somewhere after all this time. Although he hadn't seen any since the end of the outbreak, he wasn't putting it past these unholy monsters to survive that long after all.

He had settled near Buffelspoort dam, or had found himself there, after he had to flee from Tshwane a few months ago. Hartebeespoort Dam wasn't an option; with the water that was there and luxurious housing, a lot of people had taken over and made themselves at home. Usually, groups of survivors formed in settlements around water and were hostile towards outsiders. It was not easy too find any place with water, where there weren't violent people who were protecting it. Fishing was easy around dams, as the outbreak had never had an effect on them, and scavenging fishing equipment around the area was like finding hay in a haystack. Some people settled next to the side of the dams, living off the land and bartering with the brutal fishermen who had taken over the big bodies of water. He had not tried that, instead, he lived off the land on his own terms. Not looking into gaining wealth or trying to help the economy back on its feet at all. He merely wanted to survive.

He pondered on Dieter's question again. Yes, he knew where the undead could have been sustained for such a time.

"Sterkfontein Caves." Noah replied feebly, now making eye contact with Dieter. Dieter's eyes widened and his face lit up with the idea.

"Oh my god! Oh my god!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, breathing in heavily to recuperate and start over again.

"Quiet!"

"Sorry," he muffled his sounds with his hands cupping over his mouth, "Oh my gosh! I had never thought of that! Never would I have thought of that! Never!" he said, still excited, like a child who had thought his parents had forgotten his birthday only to find out that they bought him that special toy. Dieter jumped up and down with joy at the realization it seemed odd to watch a 38 year old man act like a child. Noah knew that it was just how Dieter was.

"Yeah, well. I think it's the only possible explanation. I hardly think there would be a chance of someone being bitten by one. That is of course another theory."

"What?"

"That someone was bitten... it was bitten. Walked through the night all the way to us,"

"Mmm, I don't know."

"Exactly, very unlikely. Especially since most of them had been killed off in the first year."

"How would you know that?" Dieter asked, trying to really figure out if Noah had some inside information. He did, not too long after the outbreak, he had gone to Johannesburg to see if he could settle there. Back then it had been a war zone, but the Dooies were no where to be found. No, it was gang against gang, faction against faction. All wanting a shot at ruling the big city, trying to make something out of it again. It was no place for any man. However, it was even less of a playground for a dead one. In fact, since he fled from Gauteng, all the way towards the North-west, he had not encountered a dead one at all, and it had been months. Obviously, the chance of a Dooie out in the bush was hardly a conceivable idea. But, here they were, back tracking the steps of an undead entity, being sure that it had to have come from a cave; it was the best explanation. It made more sense than dead ones just roaming around again.

"When last did you see one?"

"Before yesterday? Probably been a year." Dieter thought.

"Exactly. I'm putting my money on the cave." Noah now spoke, taking a bent cigarette out of his pocket, dusting it off slightly and placing it in between his lips. He lit it with a blue Bic lighter that he had also taken from the abandoned store. It was weird that all the cigarettes had been nabbed, but that a few lighters had remained. Priorities, he chuckled as he thought and took a puff from the white stick.

"That makes sense! That really makes sense! The vultures don't go in there, nor do the hyenas. No, they don't. Also, its nice and cool. Like you said! Sun doesn't get them there! Oh my god!"

"Let's just see how it turns out. I might be wrong."

"You might be right, Noah! It makes a lot of sense."

"Nothing makes sense anymore, Dieter. You know that as well as I do."

They had walked a few kilometers. It was probably a day's walk as the crow flies, 9 hours straight with a two 60 minute breaks in between. It had been quite a trek but that Dooie had made it that far, so there was no reason why they couldn't do it either. The Dooie that had reared its ugly head at him had to have made it's way across the 50/60 kilometer stretch over night, and benefitted from the fact that it was still winter (the sun rising later and setting earlier). The math didn't add up as Noah knew that they didn't move fast. They definitely moved faster than that in the hollywood movies they were portrayed in. Even so, Noah knew that there was more to it than that. Still, it was an unthinkable thing to witness and the fact that it had come so far was concerning. He needed to find out where it had come from, to actually know what could have caused it to survive for so long.