It's a different world out here. As the gates closed behind them a sense of wilderness swallowed the group whole. Each step was careful, eyes cast from side to side and a protective formation was established almost out of habit. At the front, Eric walked with focus as they approached Bay Street. Just behind him Helena and Ashley, the doctor holding a map and whispering directions softly to Eric. Then the rest formed a sort of barricade formation; Shannon and Brendan to the left, Tish and Greg to the right, with Gabriel and Monte taking up the rear.
After a minute beyond the gate, Gabriel handed over his handgun to Monte.
At first, they were quiet as the fear of hidden wendigos always loomed, but after about five minutes of walking, they all stood a little straighter, relaxing their shoulders, gun barrels dropping. The rigid formation dissipated.
“She doesn't look so bad from this angle.” Monte was the first to break the silence and everyone hushed him in return. “What? It's not like there's any wendigos about,” he said in a near whisper.
“Shut up,” Tish hissed back. No one else scolded Monte. No one turned away from their surroundings.
Mornings always seemed to be the safest time to travel, she remembered thinking back on their tracking days. Laurence always insisted on sleeping at night. “Daybreak travel is best. No Wendigos, no need to be quiet.” But he had never explained why. And he never will I guess.
Remembering the dead wasn’t exactly a good time, so Tish used it to examine the new gun. She couldn’t tell what model it was, but she knew the basics. 9mm, probably police issued. It was clean, well maintained. She had never had much experience with guns before but it seemed like it’d been taken care of better than most people.
It’d be suicide to use it. She clicked the safety on and holstered the weapon and unsheathed her machete.
Left to her own thoughts she couldn't help the urge to speak slither in. She didn't want to be thinking, didn't want to dwell on where they were going and why. Who won’t make it back this time?
She looked back to the others as they reached a cross street, checking both ways for movement before moving on. Shannon did the same. He shot her a goofy but nervous smile.
He knew we were coming back out.
Tish smiled back out of habit but forced herself to look back to her slice of ruined city. But why didn't he tell me? Maybe not there because of Eric but he had plenty of chances last night.
“Real generous of Finn,” Greg whispered to Tish, admiring her gun. He looked unsure of himself out here than in the college. The faint lines of a mustache could be seen on his upper lip but otherwise, his skin was clean, the colour of cinnamon, she thought while he spoke. “The guns and all.” He caught her eyes and looked away quickly, glancing back to Monte. “I didn't think Finn was the type to share.”
“He has as much riding on this as any of us.” Answering back as quietly as she could Tish matched her pace to that of Eric's as they passed Avenue road along Bloor street.
Was it Finn who told Shannon? Her thoughts wandered again. They're close, that much I'm sure, but why wouldn't he tell me?
Helena told Eric to turn north along Avenue and so the group did. Helena leading them to side streets and alleys where it would be a bit safer. All of which steered far and clear from the subway entrances.
“Movement,” Eric whispered as they approached Bedford road, near what had once been a small shopping area. The group tightened up around Ashley and Helena, Tish's back brushing up against Shannon's as she pulled free the handgun.
I mean I thought we were close, not serious, but he knew I'd figure it out eventually right? So why not tell me himself? Better than finding out standing next to fucking Monte.
“Wait,” Ashley said, startling the whole group. She reached out to Eric's shoulder and squeezed it. Only after Eric nodded to Helena did she raised her hand. The group stopped.
With hands held defensively in the air and a rifle draped over his shoulder, Reid sauntered out into the road.
Tish relaxed and she felt Shannon do the same as he lowered his rifle. But Eric didn’t. He held his straight ahead at Reid.
“Not a smart idea to shoot me here,” Reid said just loud enough for them to hear as he approached. Slowly. “Subway this close, who knows what'd be on us by the time you reloaded.”
It took a moment, but as Helena urged him, Eric finally lowered his weapon, swearing and motioning for Reid to hurry up.
“The fuck are you doing out here?” Monte demanded. “This fucker isn't supposed to be here.” It looked for a moment like Reid would snap back but he just walked past Monte, their shoulder's colliding.
He looked directly at Helena. “Thought you could use the extra muscle.”
She seemed less than impressed with Reid's remark but his eyes darted from their appointed leader to Ashley fairly quickly. Oh, this is just great... Rolling her eyes, Tish looked to Shannon for echoed frustration but he was almost smiling.
“I won't turn down the help,” Shannon said.
Tish’s jaw dropped. He knew about this too!
“What the fuck did I miss?” Tish blurted. “This isn't like some walk in the park! Who volunteers for this shit when they don't have to?” It was then that she finally courted Shannon's attention, his hand gently touching her arm. Now you notice? Now you'll fill me in? It seemed like as good a time as any to rip Shannon a new one but the pressing eyes of their group kept her mouth shut.
“You know we volunteered the first time,” Shannon said with a laugh.
Tish brushed his arm from hers.
“Let’s just keep moving,” Helena insisted. And so they did.
Reid took up a spot next to Ashley, but his attention seemed focussed less on the deadly landscape than their “package.”This is the shit that gets us killed. She moved further from them and found herself walking next to Monte. Irresponsible romantic entanglements.* Tish swallowed her hypocrisy dawning on her with a frown.
“This is bullshit,” Monte grumbled for the next ten minutes, eyes glued to Ashley and Reid. “Motherfucker should not be here.”
“Nothing you can do about it,” Tish whispered back. “No matter how much you hate them, you don’t turn down the help. Not out here.”
“He's trouble.” The tone of Monte's voice was less flippant than Tish expected. The more serious he got the more unnerved she felt. More than once she spotted his hands flexing around the grip of the gun as if itching to use it. “If he tries anything-”
“I said shut the fuck up,” Tish snapped. “I’m not dying because of you.”
From her vantage, she kept an eye on Shannon, watching him squirm at the mumble of Monte's voice. Ignore me? Leave before I wake up? Her mind hovered around all the reasons for retaliation as she darted her eyes from his back to the rubble.
It was working, that much she could tell. Shannon glanced back every few minutes to make sure she was there, or so Tish hoped. This mind game shit is weak, really weak Tish. But there was always that spark of reality there, whispering in the back of her mind. Making him sweat out here? Not very chill of you. What happened to 'easy'? What happened to no strings? What happened to just a bit of fun? While her thoughts persuaded her one way, Monte's irritating voice snipped on the other side.
“Don't think it's a good choice to be going on foot,” Monte bemoaned. “Surprised she can even stand. If I had my way, she’d need to be fuckin’ dragged around. Goddamn dumbass plan.”
“I'm sure as hell pleased you're not here to think.” Tish’s snap was loud enough that a soft snicker left a few lips and more curved into smiles.
“Keep quiet,” Eric tossed over his shoulder, the only one not amused.
The walk through the city was slow and tedious. They couldn’t hurry, not to risk making too much noise. After about forty minutes, they spotted signs indicating the way to the historical site. The small stone wall lined the property with thick trees just inside the barrier. It looked untouched, a small contained forest. The wall was tall enough that climbing over wasn't really worth the effort or time it would take, an unspoken acknowledgment dawning on them all. Eric, still in the lead, moved towards the entrance to a path running north along the east side of the estate. The overgrowth was a problem at first, their pace slowed considerably as they pushed through fallen trees and brush. But as the path climbed, there was enough of a height difference along the path to scale the wall.
“We go over in two's” Eric ordered, his face still stuck in a firm frown. Shannon was first over with Brendan right behind him. The rest quickly scaled the wall until Tish was the last to get a boost from Eric. He hauled himself over after. Once situated in their groups Tish finally had a chance to survey the grounds from the inside. It looked like a wild garden with end-of-summer flowers taking over the grounds. It wasn't easy to walk around them, and from what Tish could tell they were the first in a while to do so. It felt wild here, her senses on alert. But that feeling of untainted wilderness she had missed since returning to the city was almost welcomed.
Eric led them towards the massive structure that seemed completely unchanged over the years. The fountain had long since been turned off, algae, moss and vines winding their way around the stonework. Small barricades had been made with wood and boards over the first-floor windows and the stairs that led up to the back of the manor. Were it not for them, Tish could have believed there was no infection out there.
The parking lot beside the manor had no cars, but the trees and brush around it had overgrown. From the side of the Casa Loma, they could see a great deal of cars spanning along the front of the building, a minimal barricade blocking the entrances. Not much of a defence.
Eric ushered them towards the conservatory side. Like all other windows on the first floor, the tall glass panes were boarded up to about 7 feet but the glass dome above remained clear. They circled around, looking for what Helena insisted was their way in.
“He said the past the conservatory would be accessible until noon,” she said as they approached where it would be. A car blocked the entrance leaving no more than a few feet of clearance for the door to open.
Reid slid over the dented car hood and yanked on the handle. It opened, but only a small amount.
“Lancaster said that the bolt would still be on but that we could open it by...” Helena followed Reid, squeezing between him and the door, sliding her hand inside. She fiddled with a bolt near the top of the frame for a moment before it unhooked and the heavy door pushed opened more fully
Inside was dark. The windowless hallway stretched on for a few feet and at the end was another door. Debris lined the walls, to which Helena quickly informed them all would have to be replaced until they left. It was quick work with so many of them there, but a little clumsy and tight while in the dark. Twice Monte elbowed Tish while Helena and Ashley were waiting by the other door.
“Once the barricade is back up he'll unlock the inner door,” Helena repeated from her directions.
“So he's a cautious one?” Tish said, sweat dripping down her temple. It didn’t go unnoticed that Helena didn’t do a damn thing the whole time.
Shannon laughed. “Cautious would be polite. He's supposed to be crazy, right?”
Any other day, Tish would have smiled or even laughed, but instead, she rolled her eyes.
“Enough of that,” Helena warned. “He's helping us, so we're going to pay him the respect he wants. Deserved or not.” There was little room for discussion in her tone, and once the outer door was well barricaded Helena knocked on the inner door.
A click sounded from the other side followed by scurrying footsteps. The door opened into yet another dark hallway. On either side doors were blocked, a short narrow stairwell on their right filled with debris blocking its passage. In the dim light, more boards barricaded the rooms. There was no one to be seen, so the group walked forward, in the dim light, heading towards what looked like another hall. At the junction, to their left, massive glass doors led to the conservatory, ones lined with metal filigree that seemed so strange against the boarded windows. Light pooled in through the doors lighting the hallway. The wide hall went on for dozens of feet, dark wood panelling reached up for seven, eight feet, before meeting wide plaster arches.
“Leave your weapons on the floor,” a voice called from the other direction, opposite the conservatory doors. He hid behind fathered furniture and boxes, none of which provided a decent barricade or cover. The man’s head was small, barely visible if it weren’t for the conservatory light behind them.
“You’re expecting us, Doctor Lancaster,” Helena said, her eyes darting to the rest of their crew cautioning silence.
“I said put your weapons on the floor.” He sounded more frantic than Tish would have liked, her eyes peering to Shannon and Eric for guidance.
“He can't be serious,” Tish muttered but everyone else — even Monte—slowly lowered their weapons.
Tish didn’t let go of her machete, even after the man stepped out from cover and fixed his barrel on her.
Thank you for reading! I'm really glad I can share my work with readers. If you have any comments, feedback, hype, etc, I'd love to hear from you too.
