Chapter 59
Remy
It had taken me over six months since I first left the Barbarabelle, but I had finally arrived in Glacier Valley.
The days of getting here with Jordy had been quiet and relatively uneventful, after I’d found out about the truth behind the origins of grinleaf.
I still didn’t like it, but neither of us mentioned it again.
He wasn’t taking any while we travelled anyway, since inebriation made us vulnerable to attack in the wilderness.
The weather had been nice, the zombies had been scarce, and the hunting had been good. Ripley and the mules seemed to enjoy the long days, and even I went to bed at night feeling less restless than I had in Xwechtáal or back on the Barbarabelle.
All of that was to say that I arrived in better shape and better spirits than I had been in a long while.
I wouldn’t say I was optimistic or anything, and I still had this nagging panic deep in the pit of my stomach when I thought about going to Cold Shore, and what that would mean, medically speaking.
But mostly, I tried not to think of what came next. I had set a goal to get here, and I arrived with a full belly and all my travelling companions in good health. What more could I ask for?
Nestled between the shimmering expanse of a natural fjord and the blue-white mass of a glacier, we finally reached Glacier Valley. There was no gate or fence needed because of the natural barriers, and we just strode right into town.
The main street was astonishingly busy, feeling almost on par with what I remember from civilization, except there were no motor vehicles. A wooden sidewalk ran in front of the shops, protecting pedestrians from the dirt and animal dung that muddied up the roadway.
Jordy and I stuck to the streets, since we had the two mules trailing behind us, and I had Ripley on her lead.
Obviously, she was powerful enough that she could do about whatever she wanted, collar and leash or not, but I think in unusual circumstances like this, she preferred to stick close to me anyway.
“I usually rent a room at this nice inn down the way.” Jordy pointed to a rectangular two-story building on the main road, where a big wooden sign had been painted with the name The Frozen Grave.
“They have stables out back for the mules, and there’s even an area where you can tie Ripley out with the sled dogs. ”
I had already caught a glimpse of some of the dogs, and with their summer coats, they all looked remarkably small next to Ripley.
Maybe I’d gotten accustomed to a bulky mule and a big lion, because I didn’t think huskies bred for sled mushing were tiny animals.
Either way, though, I didn’t fully trust Ripley not to treat them like a disposable new toy if I left her alone with a bunch of excitable dogs.
“It’s probably better if Ripley stays with us,” I said.
“Okay. If that’s what you say, we’ll have to talk to Anoona.”
“Who is Anoona?” I asked.
“Anoona Dube,” he said. “She’s the innkeeper at The Frozen Grave. You’ll like her.”
“You say that, but you know I don’t like anybody,” I reminded him.
Jordy laughed. “You like me, and you’ll like Anoona.”
Inside The Frozen Grave, timber beams stretched across the ceiling, and the floor was patched with mismatched planks.
To the left was a common room and waiting area, with sofas covered in soft amber leather and taxidermized animals were displayed, including a porcupine near the unlit fireplace.
To the right was the check-in area, and between the two areas was a corridor and staircase, presumably leading to the rooms.
The check-in area’s prominent feature was a counter made of a solid slab of driftwood. The wall behind it sported keys on a rack as well as shelves stocked with jars of preserves, homebrewed liquors, and other supplies likely bartered from traders passing through the Valley.
Working the counter was a tall, slender woman with dark brown skin. Her eyes were narrow and almost feline, and her lips were full and round. Thick coils of black hair framed her oblong face like a halo.
“Back so soon, Jordano?” Her voice was resonant with a faded accent that I couldn’t quite place. She smiled at both of us as we approached, but her eyes widened when she spotted Ripley walking at my side. “And you’ve got yourself some exciting new friends.”
“This is Remy, and her lion, Ripley.” Jordy made quick introductions. “Remy, this is Anoona.”
“She’s an African lioness?” Anoona asked, her attention still on Ripley, who glanced around and flicked her tail. “I haven’t seen one of those since I was a little girl in Zimbabwe.”
“She’s a bit friendlier than a wild lion,” I said, and I gave Ripley a scratch on the top of her head to prove it.
“I will have to take your word for it,” Anoona replied.
Jordy leaned against the counter and gave his most charming smile. “I know you usually have guests keep the animals outside, but I was hoping you’d make an exception for me.”
She gave him a hard look for a moment, then relented with, “It’ll cost you.”
“I’d never expect anything less from you.”
She and Jordy exchanged a knowing smile, and then she reached behind her and grabbed a key off the corkboard.
“Room 113 at the end of the hall,” she said as she slid the key across the counter, and she turned her dark eyes to me.
“You may be the one with the wild animal, but you’d better be careful with him. ”
“I always am,” I assured her.
“We’ve got a pair of mules out front that need a good rubdown and a bucket of oats,” Jordy said as he took the key.
“I’ll have my stable hands tend to them right away,” Anoona said, and she watched us as we walked down the hall. “See you later, kitty cat.”
“So how much does it cost to stay here?” I asked Jordy quietly as we walked.
He shrugged. “It depends. I always settle up at the end.”
“Settle up? What does that mean?” I asked.
“I’m here trading my medicine and concoctions, and they pay me in goods and services,” he elaborated.
“Mostly goods like food, herbs, equipment, jewelry, clothing. Whatever they have, whatever I need. And then at the end, I talk to Anoona, and we square up with what I’ve received during my time here. ”
“So you don’t pay Anoona in grinleaf?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nah. She’s never really liked that.”
“Good, because I meant what I said before. I don’t want that shit in my life at all. I don’t want you using it or selling it to people, either.”
“Only when medically necessary, I know,” he said before giving me a quick kiss on the temple.
Jordy unlocked the door to our modest but comfortable rustic room. The centerpiece was a queen size bed tucked neatly against one wall on top of a bearskin rug.
As I glanced over at the window, the view stopped me in my tracks. The breathtaking canal shimmered half-a-kilometer out from us, with water the most amazing shade of clear teal deepening into near black. A few ships were docked at the harbor farther down, their masts swaying gently in the breeze.
“How much does this view cost us?” I asked.
Jordy came up behind me and looped his arms around my waist. “Whatever it will be, I promise it’s worth it.” He kissed my neck, and I leaned back into him.
“I know we need to rest up before we do anything,” I said.
“Yes, rest up.” He kissed my cheek, and one of his hands cupped my breast over my shirt.
“But where is the Cold Shore outpost?” I asked.
“Right off the harbor.”
“So can I go there tomorrow?”
“I don’t see why not.” He stopped kissing me and rested his chin on the top of my head. “What is your goal with them, anyway?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you never really told me what you hoped to gain.”
“Cold Shore is helping to find a cure, and I want to help them,” I replied as vaguely as I could.
Jordy didn’t know about my immunity, and that’s how I planned to keep it. In my experience, it was best if only people who absolutely needed to know found out about it. And right now, Jordy did not need to know.
“Yeah, but how?” he asked. “Lots of people want to help them. What are you planning to do?”
“I don’t know.” I put my hands over his arms and sunk back into him, swaying, and hoping to distract him. “I mean, they need people if they want to rebuild civilization. I … I just assumed I’d take the ARK, and they’d find a place for me.”
“But that doesn’t really sound like something you’d enjoy. What is Ripley going to do while you’re scrubbing toilets and getting blood samples from zombies?” he asked.
He was raising questions that I didn’t have the answers to, and that made me want to tense up or push him off. But that would only make things worse. I didn’t want to fight, and I didn’t want him to worry.
“I don’t know,” I tried to deflect. “I haven’t got it all figured out. I just knew that I wasn’t helping anyone where I was, and I’d be able to figure it out if I got around people who knew what they were doing.”
“What makes you think that the people at Cold Shore know what they’re doing better than anyone else?”
“Because someone has to know.” I turned around to face him, his arms still twined around my waist, and I put my hands on his chest as I looked into his eyes, imploring him to understand.
“Someone has to… I refuse to believe that after all the trials and tribulations that humanity has been through in recent years, that the best of us are somehow gone. That those of us still here haven’t been forged in fire and proven that we are capable of handling any challenge that comes our way. ”
“So that’s it then?” His eyes studied mine as he brushed a lock of dark hair off my face. “Your endgame is based almost entirely on optimism and survival-of-the-fittest?
“No. My endgame is based simply on the fact that I am still here.” I took his hand and pressed it to my chest, above where my heart pounded despite so many efforts to the contrary – by me, by nature, by zombies, by mad scientists.
“And as long as I am here, I want to try to make the world better. And if I can’t do that, then at the very least, I don’t want to make it worse. ”
“We’re both in the same boat, then.” Jordy kissed my forehead. “Why don’t we rest up, and we can figure out how to save the world tomorrow?”