SurvivorZ: Grave Harbor

18

DANIELLE

Danielle took one look at all the people standing in line for the camp mess hall and wondered if she wouldn't have been better off staying with the kids. Judith had showed up at the tent to spell her off, freeing up her time to head over to pick up their lunch. She never expected to have to wait all day for it, though.

She considered heading back to the car and grabbing some of their supplies instead, but quickly shot down that idea. She didn't know what kind of trouble she might run into smuggling in food from outside. The last thing she wanted was to end up on the wrong side of the authorities here. Better to play by the rules, no matter how tiresome they might be.

With a sigh, she trudged for the back of the line. Judging by the number of people stretching around the block, it appeared to end somewhere near Florida.

As she walked by the throng assembled in the queue, she caught many of them sneezing and coughing. Numerous others eyed the infected with concern and inched away from them. The influenza virus wasn't only surviving in this isolated pocket of humanity, it was thriving.

She covered her mouth and decided to come back later, after the dinner crowd died down. Fewer people meant less chance of contracting their sickness herself and passing it on to Emily and Lee. Seeing as how Hanscom was turning into a hotbed for the common cold, she had to wonder what other diseases were lying in wait here. Perhaps Judith was right. Maybe they shouldn't have come.

She contemplated using her free time to go off in search of Charlie or Robin, when another familiar face caught her eye. It was the orderly she caught stealing medicine during their arrival. With his eyes glued to the ground and his hands stuffed in his jacket pockets, he made a beeline past a group of soldiers and ducked down an alleyway.

Danielle frowned and decided to follow him. The guy was acting shifty again. If the pill thief was part of a bigger problem here, she figured her mom and the others would want to know.

She trotted down the alley, catching up to him on the other side. A group warming themselves around a burning trashcan waved at him and shouted something in greetings. He waved back and replied without slowing. Danielle waited until he disappeared behind a row of tents before emerging from hiding and chasing after him.

She kept pace from a distance, ducking out of sight the few times he glanced over his shoulder. He seemed to be in a hurry; cutting through the camp on a direct route for the forest bordering the northern end of the airstrip.

He surprised her by stopping halfway to the fence and turning around. Danielle barely jumped out of sight in time. Her heart racing, she waited for nearly fifteen seconds before daring to look again. By then, he was gone.

"Shit," she whispered.

She peered out from her hiding place behind the northernmost tents and scanned the area for movement. A mound of garbage bags, partially buried in topsoil, littered the ground along the barbed wire fence. The stench was almost enough to make her eyes water.

She spotted her quarry scampering past the dump to the northeast corner of the fence. She wanted to follow, but there wasn't any cover. Fortunately, he couldn't get out of her sight. Short of scaling the barbed wire, he had nowhere left to go.

She hugged the corner of the tent and observed him carefully. He stopped to check for witnesses again. Once he was satisfied that nobody could see him, he bent over a spot by one of the metal fence posts and fiddled with something. Danielle watched him unhook a section of the wire fence. He climbed through the gap and reattached it from the other side.

She waited until he disappeared into the forest outside the airfield before following him. The fence appeared intact from a distance, but up close she spotted where he had snipped the chain links by the post and fastened them in place with a few tied shoelaces. Following his lead, Danielle untied the wire mesh and crawled through to the other side.