The Wilderness Within: A Fanfiction (Draft)

Chapter 15

I couldn't tell which direction we went, but I could tell we were on the move. No matter I yelled and kicked they didn't slow down or try to shift me, but they didn't hit me, so I eventually stopped squirming.

"Who are you? Where are you taking me? Where are the rest of my people?" I asked into the darkness.

They ignored me.

"Can you take off the bag? It's really hot in here," I tried again.

Again, silence.

"You know this restraint does not feel very good on my arms, could you at least--mrgh!" The person holding me on their shoulder hopped slightly to adjust their grip on me, effectively shutting me up.

It seemed like forever. Not being able to see my surroundings did nothing to quell my growing anxiety. Which direction were we going? Would the others find me or would I be lost like the others? What did these people want to do with me? How many of them were there anyway?

I felt trapped in my shaded thoughts when I heard the rattle of keys. I perked up my ears and listened intently to the muffled sounds. A few pairs of prominent footsteps on a wooden porch, and the opening of a door. I felt the person holding me go up the porch, and inside. I lost the sounds of the others to what I suspected was carpeted flooring, but I quickly became disoriented myself as I lost track of several twists and turns in the building.

My captor went through a doorway. I felt the frame scrape against my arm and winced. I yelped as I was harshly dropped into a hard chair. The door groaned as it was closed and bolted.

The bag over my head was ripped away and I rapidly blinked to adjust to the sudden bright light. I could barely make out two figures, both wearing goggles and dust masks, just like the strangers I saw at the hardware store.

"Who are you? What did you do to the others?" I demanded.

The smaller one, a woman, squatted close to me. "In due time. First, I have questions for you."

I growled, and started to stand. The other figure easily pushed me back down.

The woman continued as if nothing happened. "Where did you come from? Why did you come here?"

"Let me go!" I growled.

The tall person walked around me and held me back in my chair. "Now now, be nice," he said. His voice was deep and gravelly. "We've waited all evening to talk to you."

"Who are you and why are you here?" the woman insisted.

"I could ask you the same thing," I spat.

The man behind me grabbed at my scalp and pulled back my head. "Just answer the questions, deary."

"Who are you and why are you here?" the woman said again.

I grimaced. "We're nobody. We're just passing through. If you let me and the others go, we'll leave you and your stuff alone. Just let us go!"

"Next question," the woman said, "are any of your company infected with the disease?"

"No!" I squirmed but the man held fast.

"Were you or any of your company inoculated last autumn?"

"What?"

"Did any of you get any vaccine?"

"Maybe? How is this relevant?"

The woman stood up, looking down on me. "Just a theory of mine."

I scowled. "What theory?"

She shrugged carelessly. "Every person so far who had the disease was vaccinated last fall. Myself and my party did no such thing. We did not contract the disease."

"You think a vaccine had something to do with this? How stupid is that?" I shouted.

The woman leaned close to my face. I could make out her cold eyes through the reflective plastic. "How else could this have been so widespread?" she reasoned. "As far as we know, the entire world has been brought to its knees by this pandemic. Are you afraid that I'm right? That you could have the same possibility of turning and hurting your loved ones as every other monster out there? This same disease could be running through your blood too."

I stared at her.

She stood up, looking down her nose at me. "We'll talk more later. Take her to the others," she waved her hand at the man behind me.

"Yes ma'am," he said. The bag was shoved over my head again, and the man shoved me up and out of my seat. He didn't fling me over his shoulder again though, but instead let me walk on my own with his hand on my shoulder.

Cautiously I stepped through the doorway, walking the direction the man shoved me in. I kept the directions tucked away in my mind. Left, right, long hallway, left, three steps, door.

The man opened the door and a rush of cold air flooded towards me. He edged me forward and I went down a few more steps. He led me to the middle of the room and pressed on my shoulders, forcing me to cross my legs and sit down on the floor. He pulled the bag off my head again and left up the stairs, locking the door soundly behind him.

This room was dark and cold. I blinked and my eyes made out other people sitting on the floor.

"George?" a familiar voice asked timidly.

My heart leapt. "Kami?" I saw her, as well as everyone else missing from camp sitting on the cold concrete around me. "Are you all okay?"

Kami scooted over to me. "Yeah, we're all okay. A bit roughed up, but nothing serious. Some of us put up a big fight."

I wilted. "I did try."

"It's okay," Kami assured me.

I turned my gaze to the others. After the initial excitement of me joining their ranks, they all looked as if trying to press themselves into the dark shadows. I didn't blame them.

"They're coming for us," I told them. "They will find us. You just have to wait a little longer."

Kami looked at me sadly. I suddenly remembered what the woman had said to me about having the same potential to become a monster. I shivered.

"They pushed me into a room and asked me questions before I came down here. What did they do to you?" I asked.

I noticed Paul was sitting not far from where I was. "They did the same to all of us," he said. "They wanted to check our stories, know why we were on our land, what supplies we had, and if we got a flu shot. It was all really odd."

In the dark I saw a vivid red flicker in his eyes. A second later it was gone. I shook my head slightly, scolding my paranoid imagination. "Yes, very odd," I agreed.