Sanctuary

Chapter 10

"What's that about?" Eben asked.

"Nina is saying we are wasting time. And that you spend too much time with Emilia, or "that woman", as she refers to her. And then there's Olaf and Nina always cursing at each other." Tim answered calmly.

"And we are out of food, too" Laura added. "If we are to stay here, we need food. So someone should get some."

Silence. Yeah, food seemed a stringent problem. More stringent than any dissensions between some of them. At least for now. Jan broke the silence:

"I noticed a small farmhouse at the outskirts of the village we raided for medicine. It is pretty secluded. If we are careful, we could approach it undetected. And with any luck, there are still people there. And food."

"Too risky" Nina said

"Actually it is not that bad. The village itself is no option. Hunting and gathering is not an option anymore: we got a prisoner and a patient to keep an eye on and the last two weeks took their toll on the surroundings – not much edible stuff to find here anymore. This also means two, with Maja three more mouth to feed. And we are all tired and too scared to roam the woods." Tim concluded.

"I agree with Tim. We need to take our chance with the farmhouse Jan is talking about. We should not waste any more time. I would have us back before we lose the light. Maja, can you keep an eye on Olaf? You get the crossbow, just to make sure. And Laura, please see to the needs of Emilia. We also need fresh water and whatever berries can be found in the vicinity, that we did not eat already. I'd ask you Nina to take care of that. Tim, Jan and myself are taking our chances with the farm. Suggestions?" No one said anything, they all just nodded in agreement, so Eben continued " Jan, take the tire iron lever from the bus, there is also one in my car. Tim, in the trailer to your left there should be an old baseball bat from my childhood. Father and I used to fool around. There should also be some binoculars, dad used to take us out not only for herb gathering, but also bird and wildlife watching; it may come in handy so we can evaluate the farm from a safe distance."

Three minutes later the three of them were in Eben's car and on their way. The three women remained at the campfire for now. During the drive, none of them spoke a word. They were all quiet, wondering what they would find at their destination. Before long, the farmhouse was in sight, so Eben pulled over and stopped the engine. All three stepped outside. Tim watched trough the binoculars and reported:

"Nothing moving. At least I cannot detect anything on this side of the farm. We should maybe circle and not go straight on the road. Would give us some intel from other angles as well and also conceal our approach."

Jan and Eben agreed. So they left the road, only approaching the farm in a loose angle, circling to the right. From time to time Tim held the binoculars in front of his eyes, trying to assess if a more direct approach would be safe. Nothing so far. So they decided to go straight for the farm. As they approached, Tim continued to use the binoculars. 150 meters from what seemed to be a barn, Tim halted, holding his breath.

"Two contacts, 4 o'clock, behind the barn. They want to break in the door to the basement, or so it seems at least. Damn, they seem more agile then the ones we encountered last time at the airfield and hospital. What do we do?"

"We need food. Weapons. Maybe we also get lucky with other finds." suggested Jan.

"I am also wondering why they want that desperately to enter the basement. Could there be some survivors barricaded inside? If so, they could use our help. It is bad enough that we do not know how to aid those once infected. But I am not willing to let anyone else get there, if we can help it."

"Indeed. If there are people in there, we need to get them out and to safety. Tim, Jan? Ready? Remember: Emilia said they are dead, but none of us is convinced of that. So try just to disable them long enough until we can see what is in that basement. Avoid lethal blows and blows to the head." Both nodded.

"Do we charge in? So far they did not notice us, they are to focused on that door and what is beyond."

"No Jan, we could keep a silent approach for at least 50-70 meters more and charge then if required" was Tim's suggestion. All agreed. They approached carefully, watching every step, avoiding any noise that would give them away. After only about 30-35 m they halted. From behind the doors, someone cried out in despair. It was a feminine voice. No, it was a child. The three man looked at each other and silently agreed there was no time to linger. The door had almost given in. So they charged. Tim went for the "female" to the left. Jan sprinted for the somewhat bulky "male" on the right. Eben headed between them, aiming for the door. The plan was easy: disable both infested people before they knew what hit them and save the girl that was screaming.

Tim decided to not hit, but violently toss his opponent to the ground. It still resembled a woman so he did not feel comfortable hitting her. Jan took no chances and hit his opponent behind his knees, blow that made him crumble and fall. Eben reached the door and pried it open with his lever. The girl screamed as loud as her small lungs could. Eben addressed her, trying to calm her down. Everything had worked according to the plan so far. So far. The girl was in the back of the room, behind a big shelf filled with lots of boxes. Eben could not reach her. He would need to talk her out into the open. This would complicate things a bit, Eben thought. And it would do so, more than he believed it would. Tim and Jan's opponents where already back on their feet, preparing an assault on them.

"What the hell?" Jan cursed loudly. " The blow to the knees should have kept him on the ground, rolling in pain!". Tim did not get the chance to answer. Both infested people growled angrily and launched the attack. Tim took a step to the side, letting "her" miss her target, fetched an arm of hers, pulled her towards him and using the other hand he propelled her head first against the wall in an attempt to knock her unconscious. Jan went again for a more direct approach, his opponent was bigger and bulkier. So he just hit him hard in the chest with the baseball bat propelling him backwards, getting him to tumble and fall to the ground. But this actions gave them only a few seconds before the enemy was back on their feet and preparing the next assault.

"Whatever you do, you need to do it now Eben. They do not seem to feel pain and they are getting more aggressive. We cannot hold them the entire day off your back!" Tim shouted angry. In Eben's assessment who did not see what happened outside, for Tim to lose his calm was a bad sign. He needed to act. Now. He grabbed the shelf with both hands and started pulling it away from the wall and the girl. It was damn heavy and only moved a few centimeters with every pull.

Meanwhile, the assault outside went on. Jan's opponent was first to attack. Jan swung for another blow against the chest. In the last second, his opponent tried to duck, exposing his head. Jan could not halt his swing. The bat hit with full power against the blood smeared and bitten and scratched head. It deformed it completely. The body fell down with a loud noise. Tim on the other hand was still not willing to hurt a "woman", so he took another step to the side, but let one leg out, making the attacker tumble over it. The attacker fell, but was soon on her feet again, preparing the next attack. A hard hit to the head from behind, put her down. And there she remained.

"What are you doing man? You killed her!!!" Tim yelled at Jan.

"No mate. Something else did it a while ago. Look! No fresh blood, although the head is crushed. They also felt no pain whatsoever. I hate to admit it, but Emilia was right. At least about them being dead. I am sorry for them too. But we need to stay alive."

"Status?" Eben yelled from the inside.

"All clear" Tim replied, with sorrow in his voice.

"What do you mean?" Eben asked afraid that he already knew the answer.

"Enemy neutralized...."

"Shit...". A curse came from down below. " At least clear the field, I'll have a child out there shortly. And I have a feeling I know who you just neutralized. Damn it!"