Susan's Plague

Chapter 17 - Fuel to the Fire

The occupants, locked in the cramped, dark utility module, long passed-out from exhaustion had not noticed when the old railrunner slowed to a stop, it's power cell depleted. It was only when the locks disengaged and the door cracked open enough to allow some dim light to penetrate the interior did they begin to rouse. Unaware of exactly how long they had travelled, how far they had gone and where exactly they had ended up, there was a collective sense of confusion.

Abi, who had largely escaped injury, was the first up, and the most disoriented. She had no clear memory of what had transpired, just a vague impression that they had escaped. She remembered, something about a chair and a hand reaching down. And Daniel!

She moved to slide the door open further to get some more light to better assess the others. Daniel was not among them, she was certain she had seem him. Her mind was a nebulous tangle of shifting memories and transient thoughts that escaped like sand through fingers when she tried to latch on to them. She decided to concentrate on her current situation.

She slid the door open fully, and got a better look at outside and what she saw was as foreign as the surface of the moon to anyone born and raised in a Core. Nothing remotely urban existed outside the confines of the runner. They were in the Interim.

The rails cut through a densely forested area, other than the rails and the bed of gravel they sat upon, there was no indication of anything man made. Large hardwoods towered above them, their naked limbs stretched out in every direction. The darkening sky heralded nightfall and drifting down from above came the caws of crows on the wing, heading for some safe haven to roost for the night.

Abi turned back toward the group who were sprawled largely on top of each other. "Everyone OK? Who can walk?"  They all stirred about now, some moaned, coughed or swore.

"Where the hell are we?" Trey wondered out loud looking outside.  "Looks like a frickin' jungle."

"I think you mean forest."  Sean corrected.

"Jungle, forest -whatever man - it's not Core." He groaned.

"Thankfully!"  Miller said. "With any luck we're half a world away by now."

"How did we get away?" Abi asked. They all turned toward her, no one spoke, no one had the words. Sean broke the silence.

"Your brother got us out, but it wasn't easy and we ended up in this damn thing. He told me to get us far away but I doubt we've gone far enough, at least we're out of there, away from that guy." Sean replied lifting his pant leg to check his grossly swollen ankle. "I'm not going to be walking too far."

Abi took a closer look at his ankle and frowned, "It could be broke."

"I don't doubt it." He answered, wincing as he tried to wiggle his foot.

"Trey doesn't look so good either, he's lost a lot of blood." Miller added.

"Yeah, but I can still hear you talking about me," Trey added weakly. "I could use a drink."

Abi looked about the interior of the runner, the small packs Daniel and Nine had been carrying contained some medical supplies and a few high calorie rations, but no water.

"We need to melt some snow." Sean instructed, being the only one who had spent any time in the wilderness at all - his forays with his uncle were now proving to be of some use. "We need a fire, look for something we can use to start a fire. Miller, can you walk?"

"Yeah," Miller answered, other than Abi, he was the least injured of the bunch. "I'm just stiff from being crammed in this little box for so long."

"Look around outside for some firewood, but don't wander too far." Sean instructed, then he remembered something his uncle had taught him, "Look for dead branches still hanging from a tree, or from a dead tree that is still standing. Oh, also, if you can find some evergreens, you know, like pine trees, break off some branches, we should line the floor of the runner with them for insulation. I think we are in for a chilly night."