Maggie marvelled at Alice’s resolve. She had been pulled from her bed in the early hours by Ian, and forced away to do God-knows-what. After the explosion, she had run for the fence to help Maggie with the kids. Now she sat here, driving through Variant-infested forests with traitors gearing up to chase them. She took her hand off the wheel and squeezed Alice’s hand, enjoying the comfort of her friend. As much as she portrayed the badass Army woman, Maggie was terrified that she was leading herself, Alice, and the kids to the slaughter.
The trees were beginning to thin out, and Maggie could see a sunlit clearing up ahead. She slowed the van down, bringing it to a stop before a dual carriageway. She looked left and right. It was devoid of life, not even an abandoned car. She wound down the window, enjoying the fresh pine scents.
Becs wriggled her way between the front seats and threw her arms around Maggie. Maggie reached up and wiped the tears from Becs’s cheeks.
“Hey kiddo.”
Becs nuzzled in closer. “Have the bad things gone?”
“Not yet, baby. But you go and sit back down and we’ll keep going until they have, all right?”
“I wanna sit up here with you.”
Maggie stroked Becs head and pushed her hair behind her ear. “It’s too dangerous, sweetie. Can you do me a favour, though?”
Becs nodded.
“Can you be a brave girl and look after the other kids?”
Becs looked at her, her lip quivering. She wiped her nose with her sleeve. “Okay.”
Maggie turned around to get a better look at the other children. Most of them were staring out the windows at the trees. A couple stared straight ahead with vacant, shocked looks on their faces. She shook her head at the cruelty of the traitors, sending these kids off to such a horrible fate. Instinct told her they were being sent away to be eaten. Ian had called them tributes. Give the beasts what they desire and they’ll let you live. A new world order. Ian had weaseled his way into survival to save his own skinny ass. Images of him being torn apart flashed through her mind.
You got what you deserved, traitor.
Maggie looked up from her thoughts towards Alice.
“Which way?”
Alice pointed to the right, and Maggie took her foot off the brake, turning the wheel.
The van made its way through the town of Tirau. Everywhere Maggie looked were signs of violence and carnage. Cars overturned, broken glass. Fires had ravaged out of control through shop fronts, gutting several buildings. The scent of burnt wood and plastics still hung heavy in the air. Even amongst all this ruin, the weeds and plants were growing. With no one to maintain the gardens, the plants were reclaiming the earth. She shook her head at the destruction. It had only been a few weeks, and already the extinction of the world of men was evident. How are we going to recover from this? Can we?
Alice nudged her shoulder and pointed to a road leading east, towards the bush-clad mountains. Maggie had looked at them in the prison, dreaming of escape. Several vehicles had been pushed aside in that direction, confirming they were on the right track.
Maggie gunned the engine and gathered speed. On they drove, following the road as it dipped and curved with the contours of the rolling countryside.
After a few miles, it started to look familiar to Maggie. She turned to Alice. “Isn’t the Hobbiton movie set around here?”
Alice frowned. “Yeah it is, why?”
“It’s a pity those hobbit houses aren’t real. Would be a good place to hole up for the night if we had to.”
Alice smiled at her and turned, watching the countryside flash by. “You really like those movies, don’t you?”
“Just a bit. Don’t you? I thought all Kiwis did.”
Alice chortled and shook her head. “No, not everyone. I knew this guy once, he thought that anyone who didn’t like them should have their passports revoked. Said they weren’t Kiwi enough.”
“He was joking though, right?”
“I think so, yeah. He was a bit of a joker.”
Maggie glanced back at Alice. It was nice seeing her smile.
Alice tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and tilted her head to the sun. She looked over to Maggie. “This road should take us directly up over the Kaimais. Tauranga is just down the other side.”
Maggie nodded. “Okay, thanks. We might need to feed these kids soon. Check that rucksack that I took off the guards.”
“Rucksack?”
Maggie pointed to the foot well. “That, the bag.”
Alice grabbed the rucksack and started to rummage through it. She glanced up from her search. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, how did you get captured? Watching how easily you handled those guards made me curious.”
Maggie let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. The events of the Variant purge and her capture flickered through her mind. Not for the first time, she berated her choices and her lack of caution. She glanced over at Alice. Perhaps it would be good to talk it out. She looked back out the windshield. The road stretched out, heading for the ridge of mountains; about ten miles away, she estimated. A few vehicles lay to the sides, some in ditches, but most had been pushed aside, leaving the road clear. Maggie let out a breath.
“I was in Wellington when news of the virus hit. I was a bit slow to learn of it, as I’d been enjoying the anonymity of staying off-line. I was on a tour when everyone’s phones started beeping with the news. They cut the tour short and I went back to the hotel. I phoned home to Texas and talked to my family. They were being instructed to stay inside. I decided to head to the embassy and try and get a flight home. It was chaos, as hundreds of tourists were trying the same thing. A call went out asking for any military, active, veterans, or retired, to report for duty, so I did…”
Maggie paused and looked in the rearview mirror. She thought she’d seen a flash of light, but could see nothing more.
Alice patted her leg. “Everything okay?”
“I thought I saw something in the mirror.”
Alice turned around, looking back behind them. “I can’t see anything.”
Maggie pointed down at the rifles. “Have a look through that scope.”
Her eyes flicked between the wing mirrors and the rearview, watching for the flash of light. She didn’t want to admit anything to Alice, but she was surprised the traitors hadn’t caught up to them yet, especially after what she’d done. Hopefully the explosion had caused enough chaos to give them the time they needed.
They came up to a town and bumped over the railway tracks that dissected the main road. Movement to her right caught her attention. A couple of Variants jumped up onto the roof of a shop, watching them. One of the beasts raised its head and shrieked. Several shrieks from farther away answered. A couple of the kids cried out.
She glanced behind her. “It’s all right, guys. They don’t want us.”
Must be the scouts. Without looking at Alice, she asked. “Can you see anything through that scope.”
“Not a thing. Just some of those Variant bastards.”
“Good. Must have been sunlight reflecting off a car.”
Maggie slowed the van down and made a right.
The road immediately started to incline steeply up the mountain. She gunned the engine, urging the van on. The road wound up the pass, revealing the countryside behind them. Maggie stopped the vehicle and stared out at the view. It stretched for miles, a patchwork of farms, all in green, with roads periodically cutting through. Smoke billowed out from the towns lying scattered across the plains. In another time, she would have spent hours here admiring the view, taking photos.
She shook her head in frustration at the destruction of this once-beautiful world full of life and people. Wonderful, creative, and brilliant people. All gone. Turned back into some primal beasts with thoughts only of food. All that brilliance lost, and lost for what? Lost, are the days. Lost, are the nights.