Page 15 of Demon Shock

They nodded.

“Okay. Well, I have a truck I can have loaded within an hour to follow you. How long will it take to get to your place, and do you think I’ll ever be able to come back here?”

They all looked fairly surprised that I’d agreed so quickly. I didn’t know what other types of people they’d already come across, but I wasn’t some survivalist, and I didn’t want to face an unknown world alone.

Bram was the first to recover.

“It’ll take us a few days. We’ll be checking on people on the way back,” he said. “And although it’ll be possible to return here, I wouldn’t count on it being easy forever. The fuel will eventually run out.

“We’ve been siphoning and scavenging abandoned vehicles along the way, which is probably what will happen to this place once you leave it. People come through, see it’s empty, and check for supplies. So if you really want something, you should take it with you.”

I nodded and looked around. There wasn’t much in the way of sentimental items, just the cabin itself.

“We can help you load what you’ve packed,” Zach said, gesturing to the stuff by the door.

“Thanks. There’s stuff in the cellar, too, that I should take.”

After months of just me, Pete, and Repeat, it felt weird to have so many people moving around the cabin. My cats didn’t mind. They liked people and strolled up to whoever they fanciedfor pets and scratches, including Gyrik. Every time they would team up and wind between that giant man's legs to demand attention, he would freeze and then slowly crouch down to pet them.

Zach caught me watching him on one of his trips out.

“There aren’t many pets where we’re at.”

“Will it be a problem if I bring them with me?”

“No,” Gyrik said before Zach could answer. “They’re not problems.” Repeat jumped up into his arms. Gyrik immediately started scratching the top of Repeat’s head just the way he liked.

Zach chuckled, picked up the next box of canned goods, and walked out the door.

“They’ll want you to hold them the whole way if you keep that up,” I said.

Gyrik glanced up at me. “Can I hold them?”

“It’s fine with me,” I said with a shrug. “They’ll let you know when they don’t want to be held anymore.”

Talking to him was getting easier. Looking at him, too. Every now and again, though, I would catch him watching me with his very cat-like gaze—the one that cats had right before they pounced—and I’d feel a little nervous. Will, Bram, and Zach didn’t seem bothered by Gyrik’s occasional intensity, though. So I tried not to be either.

“I think that’s everything,” Bram said, coming inside.

Since I’d changed and gotten ready when they’d started moving things out to the truck, there wasn’t anything else for me to do but turn off the power and drain the lines for winterization. They watched me while I worked, and Will followed me into the shed where the generator and the battery bank were.

“Those batteries are a hot commodity,” he said from behind me. “You should take them with you.”

I nodded since I knew I probably wouldn’t be coming back.

He made quick work of disconnecting the batteries and the generator. I didn’t know what he planned to do with the big, heavy thing until he looked at Gyrik, who’d swapped Repeat for Pete.

“You’re up, Gyrik,” Will said.

Gyrik handed Pete to Bram, picked up the generator like it weighed nothing, and set it in the back of the utility truck they were driving. The bed barely moved.

“I don’t think your truck would have handled the load,” Bram said. “If you want to drive that one?—”

“Nope, this is fine. I’m not worried about having something taken away from me. I’m more worried about what I’m going to see once we leave.”

Bram nodded sympathetically.

“It’s not pretty, and the first infected you see will probably scare the…daylights out of you, but you’ve made it this far. You’ll be fine. Just stick with Gyrik. He’ll keep us safe.”

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