Survivors Ch. 04

"Yeah, it's crazy." Gavin nodded. "Sometimes I think about how things used to be and think about how much they've changed. But then I look at a situation and realize nothings changed. It's the same ol' drama with dirty clothes and no cheeseburgers." Gavin laughed.

"Depends where you're at, we have a hand crank meat grinder here, you know." Ariel nudged him. "Cows to make cheese, too."

"Damn that sounds nice." He laughed.

"It is, you should stay. You're no nomad. You were forced out of your permanent home, but this could be your home now." She said.

"No, I couldn't leave Pike. I think I love him." Gavin smiled down at the 'town'. A few specks of people walked by and he knew somewhere down there was Pike, waiting for him.

"Theres no room for love in the world now, Gavin." Ariel said.

"I disagree, I think that's exactly what the world needs right now." Gavin said, as they strolled around the large wall that surrounded Parktown. It was made up of scraps of metal and barbed wire. Where they had gotten so many supplies Gavin would never know.

"Hm, if you says so." She shrugged. "What's with that cat he always has trailing behind him?" She asked, looking down at the small groups of people. Gavin followed her gaze and finally spotted Pike sitting on the roof of one of the small buildings, Mongo sitting by his side.

"I don't know. His names Mongo. He and Pike are just two of a kind I guess." Gavin shrugged.

"Weird... I never did really like ca-" Ariel was interrupted in mid sentence by a loud roar. They both looked up to see the sickening sight of one of the walls bending like it was made of rubber, before it collapsed. A cloud of dust rose up, and everything was oddly still for a moment. Everyone in the town was froze, looking at the brown cloud that swarmed around the fence line. Ariel and Gavin were silent, the only sound that could be heard were their pounding hearts and ragged breath. Before the dust could settle a very large bare foot stepped over the fallen fence and the figure attached to it moved into sight. It roared and it didn't take Gavin long to realize that it wasn't a regular Drained.

"You were wondering what an original user was like?" He asked. He heard Ariel swallow loudly. Suddenly hell broke loose, and the original user took a running start, heading towards the first group of people it saw. Before they could even react, it pulled back a large muscled arm and slammed it into the crowd, sending four people flying. Gavin and Ariel broke into a run, heading for the town below. As they reached the first rows of buildings, the danger increased as a hoard of thirty or more Drained stormed through the same destroyed fence. Gunfire lit up the dust that now covered the town and screams could be heard everywhere. Ariel called out orders, demanding everyone retreat to an emergency exit behind the town somewhere.

"Pike?! Pike where are you?" Gavin shouted of the crowd.

"Gavin?" Pikes voice came to his ears, though it was impossible to tell from what direction it came. Gavin turned, unable to see in the dust and finally he took off in a random direction and prayed it was the right one. He stepped on something and heard a yowl and a hiss, he looked down to see a long tail under his boot.

"Mongo! Where's Pike?" He asked the cat, scooping him up into his arms.

"Gavin!" This time Pikes call wasn't questioning, it was begging. He wasn't looking for Gavin, he was crying out for help. Gavin found one of the small buildings that littered the town and dropped Mongo onto the ground. The cat ran off into the dust and Gavin began scaling the uneven wall of the building. Soon he stood above the dust and was able to see most of what was happening. Drained covered the town. Groups of people hid behind men with assault rifles and shotguns. Some ran blindly away from the town only to be chased down by the much faster drained. Gavin saw all of this and more, but the one thing he didn't see was Pike. He scanned the crowd and finally his eyes landed on Pike, unconscious on the ground underneath a large oak tree. Even from the distance Gavin could see blood pooling around him. He cursed silently and jumped from the roof of the building. His ankles protested the rough landing but he ignored the pain as he forced his way through the crowd, shoving past men and women and punching Drained if they even looked his way. Finally he arrived at the small grassy clearing that Pike sat under. He shook him quickly and swore.

"Pike. Pike! Wake up damn you!" He shook the thin shoulders under his hands. Pike moaned and his eyes fluttered open.

"Where did that asshat with the crowbar go? He's going to taste lead." Pike grumbled and reached for his twin pistols on his hips.

"Forget about that, we need to go." Gavin pulled him up and as he turned to find a fast escape route, he was met with the cold eyes of an original user.

"Oh fuck." They both whispered. The user roared and turned its large body to face the two men. As it began to charge, Pike pulled out his pistols, standing shakily on his own two feet. Gavin reached for the shotgun he had slung across his back and cocked the large gun. He took aim and waited for the creature to get closer. Pike began firing, his own weapons capable of longer range than the shotgun. The bullets sunk into gray flesh but did little to slow the behemoth. Pikes pistols made a hollow clicking sound and he swore, fumbling to reload the guns. Gavin fired, only getting two shots off before his own gun was empty. The behemoth was now only ten feet away and closing. Pike looked up into the cold eyes, seeing his death nearing rapidly. Suddenly a flash of orange and white streaked across the dusty air and the original user spiraled to the side, roaring. Gavin took the chance and dropped his shotgun, pulling Pike by the hand towards the exit that Ariel had been yelling about. As he tripped over his own feet Pike looked back to see Mongo hissing and clawing at the users face. The monster swung blindly, falling into buildings and trees as the cat clawed at its eyes and scurred over its shoulder, jumping onto a tree to try to escape now that Pike had gotten a chance to escape.

"Mongo..." Pike pulled against Gavins hand.

"Pike, I know you love him but he's just a cat we have to go!" Gavin shouted and pulled harder. They approached the fence where one piece of sheet metal was being held open by Ariel who ushered them through. Gavin stepped through first and began pulling Pike through the hole.

"No!" Pike finally snapped out of his trance and yanked his wrist from Gavins. "I won't leave him!" He shouted and ran back towards the user.

"Pike you fucker get back here!" Gavin shouted and dashed through the fence, but was shocked when David, Ariel, and several others held him back.

"Gavin we can't wait, they'll see us soon, we need to go, there's no way he's going to make it back." Ariel said.

"You don't know Pike." Gavin said. They watched as Pike ran back towards the original user, throwing his pistols to gavin as he ran. The lumbering mass of gray flesh stood, wiping the blood out of its eyes, searching for the cat that hid in the tall branches of the tree. Finally it spotted him and reached for the cat, who hissed and swiped at the gray hand that was easily three times the size of its own furred body. Without a second of hesitation, Pike grabbed a knife out of the hand of one of the fallen citizens of Parktown and ran towards a parked car only five feet or so behind the behemoth. Several Drained had spotted him and were hot on his heels. He jumped onto the hood of the car, scrambling up the windshield onto the roof and kicked off the edge of it, landing on the back of the original user. He dug the knife into the gray flesh, forcing a roar from the beast below him. Mongo yowled as the branch he was standing on was released by the user and it shook and swayed from the backlash. The monster tried to reach onto its own back to pull Pike off but was unable to grab him, missing by only centimeters. Pike lifted himself onto the large shoulders and held out his arms.

"Come here, Mongo." The cat ran daintily across the branch and leaped into Pikes arms. Pike took a step back, his foot planted between the monsters shoulder blades. He got a two step start, using the gray bald head as a springboard, he launched himself onto the roof of a nearby building. Just as he kicked off the original users head, the rest of the Drained had finally caught up to him, and launched themselves off the same car, landing on top of the user. Five or more drained hit him on the back, bouncing off like blunt darts. They landed on their asses on the ground and crawled back up to their feet in time to see the original user turn and growl loudly at them. They roared in return and the user lashed out at them. The car was sent flying into the wall of a building and several more Drained came to back up their own kind. Soon it was a group of fifteen or so Drained growling and hissing at the single user, who would take out two or three with a single fling of his arm. As badly as Pike wanted to stay and watch the outcome of the fight, he knew the winner wouldn't be satisfied with the one win. He took off, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. His ankles and knees screamed and his arms burned from holding Mongo so tight. He dropped the cat onto the roof beneath his feet. Mongo meowed happily and ran along side him, soon taking the lead. He led Pike through the dust and debris towards the fence, sliding through the gap Gavin held open and Pike followed less than a second behind. Both Pike and Mongo panted, Mongos small pink tongue hanging out from his mouth, and Pike resting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"He's not just a cat." Pike swiped back his pistols from Gavin, and walked slowly as he returned the holsters to his hips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mongo frolicked alongside Pike as the group walked down the highway. Empty cars littered the road, and they walked around them, searching for supplies as they went. Since the attack on Parktown, Ariel and her crew had taken up with Gavin's group. Now twenty people strong, it took a lot more supplies to fuel their little group. A lot of supplies, and a lot of lies.

"Gavin, I think Pike is getting sick," she whispered in his ear, they both glanced over at the pale man who had his hands bunched into fists inside the long sleeved black shirt he wore. He was sweating as if he had a fever and his steps were uneven. His glazed over eyes stared at the ground. They had left Portland four days ago and were just now approaching Seattle. Gavin could practically taste freedom. The groups had been together over a week but it wasn't making things any easier. It had been several days since Pike's last fix, but that didn't distract him from the attention Ariel was giving Gavin. They constantly got into fights, usually over nothing.

"Don't think I'm through with you just yet," Pike grumbled and leaned against a wall. Since the second group had joined theres, Gavin's group had agreed to keep Pike's... condition... a secret. Gavin didn't know how much longer he could keep it under wraps. His half of the group had been searching for a vial of the drug for days but were unable to find anything. As they got closer to the border between the states and Canada, they saw signs of more military presence. More tanks littered the streets, dead soldiers, drained in soldiers uniforms, guns, even some in Canadian military apparel. It was obvious the government had tried to contain the riots and outbreaks closer to the border, it looked like they had been pushed back.

"Gavin," David called him over. The group stopped and took a rest, while Gavin and David talked to the side. Gavin kept his eye on Pike, who took the chance to go behind a destroyed car and vomit.

"What's up?" he asked.

"There's a police station around the corner, I saw the sign awhile back. We might be able to find something for him there, they confiscated a lot of that shit when everything went down." David looked towards Pike who was sitting on the sidewalk, against a car tire. A puddle of puke was a few feet away from him, gray swirls staining the liquid.

"How do we explain it to the others though?" Gavin asked.

"Tell them we're looking for weapons, it wouldn't hurt either. We're damn near out of ammo." David checked the clip in his pistol before pushing it back in.

"Good plan. Okay, everyone," he said, turning back to the group. "There's a police station down the block. Keep your eyes open for weapons and any other supplies," Gavin said, loud enough to have their attention but quiet enough so that he wouldn't attract any unwanted attention. The group nodded and gave a mumble and groan as they stood up and began walking in the direction David led them in. Gavin, Pike, and Ariel took up the rear. Mostly because Pike couldn't keep up. Gavin was watching Pike, and Ariel was watching Gavin.

"You okay?" Gavin asked, letting Pike lean on him as they walked.

"Fine," Pike said, his breath labored. Gavin could feel him shaking under his arm. He pushed up his sleeve, careful not to let Ariel see. His veins were varying shades of black and gray, and they pulsed heavily.

"Liar." Gavin gave a sad smile.

"I will be," Pike mumbled, tripping over his own feet.

"Easy." Gavin stopped, and lifted Pike into his arms, cradling him like a baby. Pike wrapped his arms around his neck and held on tight, but not soon after his head rolled back and he passed out into a feverish sleep.

"Gavin, we need to leave him, he's slowing us down," Ariel whispered, once Pike was out.

"It's not happening, we take care of our own here," Gavin muttered, breaking into a sweat from carrying Pike.

"Fine, but don't let him drag you down, Gavin." Ariel shook her head.

"I heard that," Pike grumbled, eyes still closed.

"Quiet you, go back to sleep," Gavin instructed, now covered in a fair sheen of sweat. Pike moaned quietly and fell asleep again.

"Gavin, I'm going ahead with a small group," David said.

"We'll wait here," Gavin said, after assigning a small group to go with David. The rest of the group sat down, all holding guns and keeping their eyes open for any Drained. They sat in a small circle with dusty cars in an uneven circle around them. Blood spattered the windshields of three of them and one of the doors was left open on another, the battery long dead.

"Do you think..." the voice went silent suddenly, when the man realized the whole group turned to stare at him, even the half conscious Pike. "Do you think... I mean it's obvious they couldn't hold down the fort here. Do you think Canada is still even... I dunno..." He didn't finish the thought, and he didn't need to, the same thought had been running through all of their heads here. They had all had some small glimmer of hope that there was some sort of control this close to the border, but it was obvious there wasn't.

"Of course, I mean we have to take a ferry to get across to Victoria, there's no way the drained made it past that, right? And on the land to land borders, there's like an actual border, I mean a wall and stuff right? They could just lock it down and nothing could get in or out, right?" someone else chimed in. Gavin didn't know the two men, they had come with Ariel's group.

"Yeah, of course," Someone else answered. They all nodded silently, not really believing what they had said.

David and the others returned quickly, a few bags in tow.

"There wasn't much, I mean, they cleared out the police stations and hospitals first when the shit hit the fan, so it was pretty cleaned out," David said.

"Did you find any?" Pikes rough voice rose to the groups ears. He had been lying on the ground on his back, but now he had flipped over onto his stomach and one of his pale gray arms was stretched out towards David, fingers grasping at the air. Gavin could see him shaking uncontrollably and his eyes were clouded and his veins were now completely black.

"Find any what?" Ariel asked, looking at Pike. "What's wrong with him? He's not contagious is he?" Her eyes went wide and about half the group stepped away from Pike.

"Please..." Pike clawed his way to Davids boots, grasping at the legs of his jeans. The sight made Gavin sick. It was easy to forget Pike was a junkie when he was 'high' so to speak. He looked and acted fine. But a few days without drain and he began to look and act like something out of 'Night of the Living Dead'. David looked from Gavin to Ariel, and finally his eyes landed back on Pike. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small ziploc bag with two half filled gray vials inside. Pikes eyes went wide and with an animalistic grunt he pulled his upper body up higher, reaching for the vials. He still fell a couple inches short and he swiped at air desperately, drooling down the front of his black shirt. David, with a disgusted look, dropped the bag onto the group. It landed in front of Pike, who tore it open with his teeth, ignoring the ziploc seal and quickly opened the top to one of the vials. He tossed it backed, letting the dusty mercury-looking liquid slip down his throat.

"The fuck!?" Several of the new people swore. Pike coughed and dropped the glass vial. It shattered on the concrete and he put his head down onto the warm asphalt. He sighed and clenched and unclenched his fists. His skin faded back to a dark tan color, and his hair got its sheen back. His veins disappeared beneath the bright skin, and he just generally looked brighter. It was as if someone had flipped a technicolor switch on an old black and white movie. He pocketed the other vial and stood up, with the help of Gavin.

"He's a fucking user?" Ariel pulled a gun on Pike, and then suddenly there were guns everywhere. What was left of Ariel's group aimed at Pike, and Gavins group aimed at Ariel. Everything went silent as the standoff continued for several minutes.

"Ariel, drop the guns. He's fine, look at him. He's not turning into some muscle head junkie anytime soon. It's a long story," Gavin explained. Mongo hissed at Ariel and stood in front of Pike as if he was guarding him.

"You all are seriously okay with this?" she addressed the rest of the group, ignoring Gavin.

"No, but we don't have a whole lot of a choice. Even if it's not perfect, this is our family now and we stick by our family. Gavin and Pike have saved our lives more than once and we owe them some courtesy," David said, the unofficial leader of a group within a group.

"You're fucking crazy," Ariel swore. "Gavin, cut the shit. You like me and I like you, come with me and we'll be fine. The rest of your group can come, but not him," she said, staring at Pike, who scoffed at her.

"Bitch please..." he sighed.

"Pike, quiet," Gavin shushed him, receiving an angry glare.

"I love Pike, Ariel. We're just friends, I thought you knew that?" Gavin shook his head.

"Gavin, he's a user. He's a danger to everyone here-"

"Okay listen up, sugar queen. I'm sick of this shit. Ever since you dragged us into your little kingdom at gun point you've been all over him. Are you deaf? He just said you have no chance with him. How does it feel that he picks a drug addict over you, that's gotta hurt, huh?" Pike said, stepping away from Gavin so that Ariels gun was pressed up against his collarbone.

"He's just confused, he doesn't know what he really wants," Ariel scowled.

"Really? Are we pulling the 'it's just a phase' card now? He's like 30!" Pike snapped.

"Hey... wait... what, how old do you think I am?" Gavin frowned at Pike.

"Shut up, I'm busy beating sluts off you with a stick," it was Pike's turn to shush him. Gavin scowled at him.

"I'm 25..." he grumbled.

"You're a danger to everyone here, one day you're going to drink that shit and you're going to turn, just like everyone else," she whispered.