Marionette Zombie Series | Book 10 | From The Darkness

by Poe, S. B.

  Bridger came through the door carrying a box. He sat it down in the corner with the rest of the supplies.

  “The truck has almost as much food in it as we have here already. Mostly MRE’s but a lot of canned stuff too.”

  “Hey, I liked those MRE meals you cooked back when we first got to compound. Maybe you can throw another one together for us.” Charlie said.

  “Yeah, maybe.” Bridger said.

  Charlie walked out and climbed in the back of the truck with Raj. They pushed the boxes towards the tailgate. Bridger grabbed one and headed back in the fellowship hall.

  “You okay?” Evelyn asked as he came through the door.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “You didn’t seem to enthused about having some MRE’s around.” Evelyn smiled.

  “Yeah, well, I told you back when we first got to the compound they weren’t my favorite.” Bridger said.

  She stopped moving the box and turned towards him. She stood in front of him and put her hands on the side of his face.

  “A lot has changed since then.” She pecked him on the lips. “A lot. I know when something is bothering you.”

  “Nah, it’s just what Charlie said.”

  “What did he say?”

  “I heard him tell you I was being paranoid. Maybe I am. Maybe he’s right.” Bridger said.

  “He’s right and wrong. You are being paranoid. But you should be. We should all be a little more paranoid about what’s out there.” Evelyn said.

  “You feel it too?” Bridger said.

  “Feel it? Feel what?” Evelyn stepped back.

  “Never mind.”

  “You don’t get to do that. Not to me. We talk to each other. That’s how this works. If we’re going to keep doing this, that’s the only way it will work. Now, feel what?” Evelyn said.

  “It’s just… I don’t know… a feeling. Like there is more happening out there than we know.” Bridger said.

  “Of course there is. We know nothing about what’s going on out there. And to be honest, I don’t want to know. All I care about is what happens in here.” Evelyn said.

  “Yeah, but I have this skin crawling feeling that what’s out there will not let us ignore it. Not forever.” Bridger said.

  “We’ll deal with it just like we deal with everything else. Together.” Evelyn said.

  “I guess so. You’re right, thanks.”

  “See talking helps.” Evelyn smiled.

  “Talking to you helps.”

  “Well, let’s get this truck unloaded. I don’t think either of us has anything to do the rest of the day. Once we get this done, maybe we can go find something else to do together.” She winked at him.

  “I like this together stuff.” Bridger smiled as they kept stacking boxes.

  The next morning greeted the town of Collier again with rain. The steady roll of thunder echoed across the morning sky. Ham sat in the driver’s seat of the bus. Scott sat in the first seat opposite, looking out the window. He couldn’t see over the gate, but he wasn’t going to sit in the rain to watch some deaduns out for a stroll on the other side of the barricade. He climbed up once just to check and quickly retreated.

  “So, you figure it out yet?” Ham asked.

  “I think so. How hard is it going to be for you to get the horse to the gate? You’ll have to do it with no one noticing.”

  “I can bring him down here. I don’t know how to put his saddle on. Maybe I can get Cameron to help me.” Ham said.

  “Let me ask you something.” Scott said.

  “Yeah.”

  “Have you ever ridden a horse?” Scott asked.

  “Well, no but it can’t be that hard.” Ham said.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t do this.” Scott said. “Maybe we’re…”

  “No. We’re going to do this. I’ll get Cameron to show me how to saddle him.”

  “But you don’t even know how to ride.” Scott said. “And I’ve been on a horse a grand total of one time. It sucked.”

  “Why?” Ham asked.

  “I was three or four and there was a fair in South Springs. They had a couple of horses that kids could ride. My dad sat me up on this giant horse, or at least it seemed giant to me at the time. We rode in a circle for about ten minutes. I thought I was going to fall off the whole time. I remember being so scared of the gigantic animal under me.” Scott said.

  “South Springs. That’s so weird.” Ham said.

  “What’s weird?” Scott asked.

  “We met your brother in South Springs. We met your brother in your house. I just realized I have been to your house. I slept in your bedroom. I remember all the computers. You had a nice house.” Ham said.

  “Yeah, I miss it.” Scott said. “I don’t guess I’ll ever see it again.”

  “Why not?” Ham asked.

  “We’re so far away now. And I don’t even know if it’s still there.” Scott said.

  “The world didn’t end silly. The people did. It’s not like a comet or something hit like the dinosaurs.”

  “Meteor.” Scott said.

  “Whatever. Your house is still there. You’ll see it again, I bet.” Ham said.

  “Maybe. I guess. I don’t know if I even really want too.” Scott said. “Wouldn’t be the same without my dad there.”

  “I never met your dad. But I met you and your brother and mother. I bet he was good people too.”

  “The best.” Scott said. “Anyway, I don’t know if we can do this unless you know how to ride. Maybe you could practice a little and then we go.”

  “When?” Ham asked.

  “When you’re able to ride and control that horse.”

  “I can control her.”

  “Yeah, I heard about her escape from the shed. Cameron told me.” Scott said.

  “She was just needing to get out. Stretch her legs. That’s why she needs to go out there.”

  “You know how dangerous it is out there, right?” Scott asked.

  “I spent every night out there until I met your brother. Months. I made it.”

  “You had help.”

  “That’s why you’re here.” Ham said. “You said you’d help me. Will you?”

  “Only if you do it my way.” Scott said. “And learn how to stay on that horse.”

  “Fine. I’ll get Cameron to teach me. But when I’m ready, you have to help me.”

  “I will. I promise.” Scott said. “Come on, let’s get up on top. The rain’s stopped.”

  Cameron sat on the porch of the big house. He held the cup of coffee in his hands while he watched the water drip from the roof. The sun peaked through the clouds as the thunderstorms moved off to the east. He watched as a robin dropped from the big oak tree onto the ground and began burying its beak in the wet ground. It snagged its prize, a nice juicy nightcrawler, and flapped its wings a few times before rising to the branch it launched its original attack from. Cameron smiled.

  Emma Grace stepped out onto the porch holding the coffeepot.

  “Need a refill?” She asked.

  “No, my dear, I am quite satiated at the moment.”

  “So you gotta pee or something?” Emma Grace asked.

  “Ha, no. I am satisfied. I have all I need. I am satiated.” Cameron said.

  “I know what satiated means, it was a joke. Anyway, there’s a little rice left if you want some breakfast.” Emma Grace said. She passed by Kate as the screen door swung open again.

  “Ah, Katherine.” Cameron said.

  “Kate.” She said curtly. “Not Katherine.”

  “My apologies. I seem to be full of offense this morning.” Cameron said.

  “You didn’t offend. It’s just been a hectic few days.” Kate said as she sat down in the chair next to him.

  “Yes. But we have secured our surroundings, and Bridger’s actions seem to have removed the immediate threat.” Cameron said.

  “He’s good at that. I know I give him a hard time about being a bit too reckless for me, but he delivers.
Just look at what they brought back yesterday. He’s giving us a chance.” Kate said.

  “And you’re not?”

  “I don’t know anymore. I feel like I’m just along for the ride now.” Kate said.

  “I would not presume to offer you advice, however…” Cameron started.

  “Go ahead. I could use some. I’ve been making this up as I go.” Kate said.

  “Rest.” Cameron said.

  “That’s it? Rest. Sorry Cameron, but that’s a luxury I don’t have.” Kate said.

  “But you’re wrong.” Cameron said. “You have done so much. You and Bridger. Both of you should take advantage of the things you have been able to give us.”

  “We did it together. Not just me and Bridger, all of us.”

  “Of course. But you and Bridger seem to be the only ones who aren’t aware of how far we have come. I am but a recent addition to your band but in the short time I have been with you it has been you who have driven this group beyond what they knew they were capable of. And I have heard the stories from both your group and even from your late husband of the same efforts made prior to my arrival. We are here now. There are walls, so to speak, and there is peace here. Take some time to enjoy the hard-won fruits of your efforts.” Cameron said.

  “It’s funny, you know. Sitting behind that fence in the woods or sitting here or even sitting in my swing back home before this all started, sometimes those days run together now. It’s like I am always just waiting on something. Watching the sunset and thinking I wished it would go faster. Anxiously waiting for another day to end because the next day has so much, so much, I don’t even know. Promise, I guess. Or just difference. But when the sun rises it never brings the day we expected and the sun still sets at its own pace and I guess we just have to accept it.” Kate said.

  “Yes, we do. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy what you have already accomplished.” Cameron said. “My intent is only to help.”

  “I know. Thanks. Maybe you’re right. But I can’t just stop.” Kate said.

  “I understand. But maybe try.” Cameron said.

  They sat on the porch for and watched the sky brighten. No more words were spoken as they sat listening to the drops of water drip from their gathering spots along the edge of the overhanging roof. The sun dipped in and out from behind the clouds as they slowly disappeared to the west. The sound of splashing footsteps broke the spell.

  “Cameron, Cameron. I been looking all over for you.” Ham came running around the side of the house.

  “Well, your quest has ended. And in the last place you looked.” Cameron smiled. “What can I do for you fair lady?”

  “Cheval. I want to take her for a ride. I need you to teach me how to saddle her.” Ham said.

  Cameron smiled and stood. He turned to Kate.

  “If you would excuse me, I have been summoned. But remember what I said. Perhaps a bit of relaxation could drive those clouds in your head away, much as the morning clouds now drift into the afternoon sun.”

  “I’ll try.” Kate said. She watched as Cameron and Ham disappeared around the corner of the house. The screen door squeaked open and Emma Grace stepped back out onto the porch.

  “He’s right.” She said.

  “Cameron? What makes you say that?” Kate asked.

  “I know he’s right and I just met you. You never quit. You’re up here every morning helping me get some food going for everyone and then you’re out walking the barricade. You go check on the gate all day long and I see you stopping by everyone’s house and checking on them too. Ed tells me you been like a mother hen the whole time, keeping everyone together. You have to be tired.” Emma Grace said.

  “Tired doesn’t even begin to describe it.” Kate said.

  “So rest.”

  “Maybe, someday.” Kate said.

  Cameron watched as Ham threw the blanket over Cheval’s back. She lifted the saddle up and tried to swing it over.

  “Here. Take the strap and fix it in place. Like this.” He took the buckle and hooked it onto the horn. “Then just swing it around.”

  “I can’t lift it that high.” Ham said.

  She was still barely tall enough to see over the horse’s back. He looked around the little shed and grabbed the washtub leaning against the back wall. He turned it upside down.

  “Stand on this.” He sat the tub next to the horse. She grabbed the saddle and climbed up. She swung it over the horse’s back.

  “That’s easier.”

  “Now just take the strap and cinch it tight.” He said. “Good. As tight as you can get it.”

  “Won’t it hurt?”

  “It won’t hurt her but if that saddle slips off you’d come off with it. And that would be painful. For you.” He smiled at her.

  She tightened the saddle as tight as she could. He walked up and grabbed the horn and shook it. She had done well.

  “What’s that?” She pointed to the little piece of PVC tied to the side of the saddle.

  “That’s for the spear. It’s a rest. Here climb up, I’ll show you.”

  “How?”

  “Put your foot in the stirrup, grab the horn, then just step over.” He watched her. It took her a few tries to get her foot firmly planted and then she swung over. She looked around when she landed atop the horse.

  “I’ll say this, she really like you.” Cameron said as he patted the horse.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “She stood still the whole time. She never did that for me. Here, take this.”

  He grabbed the spear he had fashioned from a shovel handle and finial from atop the wrought-iron fence by the church.

  “Set the end of it in there.” He pointed to the PVC. The spear slid into the pipe and stopped.

  “Cool.”

  “I think so.” Cameron said.

  “This is so cool. I’ve never been on a horse before. I feel like I can see the whole world from up here.” Ham looked around.

  “It provides a fresh perspective. Let’s get started.” He led the horse away from the shed.

  “You’re not going to walk around holding those for me. I need to steer, or whatever you call driving a horse, myself.” Ham said.

  “Are you sure?” Cameron asked. She nodded. “Okay. Here take them in both hands. If you pull the one on the right, she’ll go right. If you pull the one on the left, she’ll go left. If you want her to stop, pull on both of them.”

  “How did you learn to ride?”

  “Just like this.” Cameron said as he handed her the reins.

  “Left for left, right for right. Got it. How do I make her go?”

  “Well, just a nudge from your heels into her side and hardy giddy-up will probably work but…”

  “GIDDYUP.” She exclaimed. The horse was off at a trot.

  “Yeah, just like that.” He watched as they trotted off down the road. “Stand up a little in the stirrups if it’s too bumpy.” He yelled after them, but they were already headed around the next corner.

  Within a few minutes, the sound of hooves came from behind him. He turned to see Ham steering the horse between the houses and into the open park across the street. He headed that way just as they stepped into the grass. The horse took off at a gallop. Ham sat tall in the saddle until the horse began running, then she leaned into the wind. She smiled as the bumpy ride smoothed out into a steady rhythm. She pulled back on the reins as they approached the end of the grassy part and the horse slowed. She pulled hard on the right side and the horse turned. She spurred her heals into her side gently and simply said. “Go.” Cheval responded, running headlong back towards Cameron. She pulled back again as they got near him and Cheval came to a trot, then a walk and then to a stop right beside him. He patted her side.

  “You’re a natural.” Cameron said. “Really.”

  “That was fun. It scared me when she first took off, but not for long. I want to let her run all the time.” Ham said.

  “She would most undoubte
dly enjoy that, but this is quite a confined space for her to run in.” Cameron said.

  “Maybe we could take her outside the walls.” Ham said.

  “No, my dear. Would be best not to.” Cameron said as he helped her from the saddle.

  “But she wants to run.” Ham said as her feet hit the ground.