“Here’s a hint. You should pay more attention to what you say.”
“What do you mean?”
“When you were so eagerly expressing your desire to run into danger did you notice Jessica’s reaction?”
“Uh…no.”
“You might want to pay attention dude. She wasn’t that happy.”
“What? Why?”
“And I thought I was dense. It’s because she cares about you, man.”
“Well, I know that but…”
“Just ease up on the Rambo stuff okay?”
He grumbled, “Yeah I’m the one that needs to cut out the Rambo shit.”
“What does that mean?”
“Don’t worry James, you are the dense one,” he said laughing and leaving.
Sarah walked in to see me running my hand through my hair. “What’s so funny?” she asked.
“Do you think I go looking for trouble?”
“Why are you asking me that?”
“Did you see Jessica when Justin was talking about wanting to go on raids?”
“Yeah, she wasn’t very happy about that.”
“Yeah, it was pretty obvious. I just told Justin that he should take it easy on the Rambo talk and he laughed. Pretty much told me I was the one who needed to calm down.”
“Well, you do have a tendency to play the hero.”
“You know who told me that same thing? Adam. He told me I was playing the hero,” I said darkly and sitting on the bed and putting my head in my hands.
“Hey,” she said sitting next to me, “that’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean.”
“I meant that you put others before yourself and more often than not that means your own safety. You’re not playing at anything, it’s just who you are.”
I knew she was trying to be nice, but I couldn’t shake what Adam had said now that Sarah had said the same thing. It sounded like I enjoyed danger that I reveled in the glory of being a hero. I didn’t even like that word being applied to me. I knew men who were real heroes, men who did more than I ever could to help a complete stranger. “I’m no hero,” I said softly.
She laughed a little, “You blew up a hospital for me,” she said kissing me on the cheek.
“Yeah but that’s different,” I said lamely.
“No, it’s not,” I sighed, and she laughed.
She brought my head up and smiled at me, “You can be my hero anytime,” she kissed me.
“Well if this is what I get for being a hero then you can call me Superman,” I said grinning.
“Let’s not get carried away,” she said laughing.
“With what? Me being a hero or this?” I kissed her deeply.
“Both,” she said standing and pulling me to my feet, “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
“I have an idea.”
“So why do you need me.”
“Fine, stay here if you want.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Just come.”
“Yes ma’am,” I said saluting.
“Much better.”
I rolled my eyes but followed her to the living room where some people were still sitting and talking. “So what is your idea?” I asked as I sat in my chair.
“Well I thought that, if the weather stays nice, we could go to the beach,” said Sarah as she sat in my lap.
“Oh, could we?” exclaimed Christina looking between Sarah and me.
“Yeah, I guess we could. It just might be a little dangerous, but I’m sure we could secure an area.”
“We should do it,” said Hannah.
“Beach, beach, beach,” yelled Michelle running through the house.
“You know, she hasn’t been out of the house since we got here. It would be nice to take her out,” whispered Sarah in my ear.
Well, I’m sold, I thought as she whispered something else that I’m afraid I can’t mention. “Ok, we can go to the beach. How about we leave early tomorrow and spend the day in the sand?”
Justin looked like he wanted to argue but after he glanced at an excited Jessica, he relaxed and said, “Sounds great.”
“We need to get a few things together. Food, water, make sure we have guns and ammo, tents…” I began.
Sarah put a hand over my mouth, “I’ll take care of that. You just need to make those sandwiches that you made earlier.”
“I can do that.”
“Good,” she said jumping off my lap. “Girls, let’s get things ready.”
I ran a hand through my hair and let out a sigh. The guys looked at me with disbelief, and all I could do was shrug. I went to my room, grabbed the small wooden figurine and another piece of wood and headed to the roof. It wasn’t my watch, and in truth, we had pretty much given up on daytime watches. The Walkers didn’t seem to come out during the day. I doubt it was any real preference or anything, probably just a predatory survival mechanism. I sat alone on the roof looking over the near complete carving in my hands. I studied each and every cut, scrape and groove that I made. I also looked over the small chip I had made in the wood that forced me to start anew. I wanted the finished product to be perfect, even if I had to make a dozen before I got it right. I began to work the wood, removing thin strips of wood, shaping it into something that I hoped would be beautiful. A small pile of shavings began to develop at my feet. I spent a long time carving and shaping, allowing time to pass unobserved. I found myself humming a song that I finally recognized as the song Sarah had been singing while gardening, I smiled and continued to work. A short while later I heard someone climbing the ladder, and I quickly hid the two pieces of carved wood and sheathed my knife.
Sarah poked her head over the top, “Hey, what are you doing up here?”
“Nothing,” I said as I brushed the pile of wood shavings off my lap.
“You’re never just doing nothing,” she said suspiciously. “What are you doing, really?”
“Just thinking.” It was true, I had been thinking, mostly about her, but I didn’t plan on showing her what I had been carving until it was done.
“About what?”
“You.”
She frowned, “Why are you thinking about me?”
“Why wouldn’t I be thinking about you?”
“Uh, because I’m not that interesting.”
“That may be true,” I said grinning sarcastically and winking, “but you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
“Yeah right,” she said sitting down next to me.
“It’s true.”
“Yeah, ok,” she said picking up a long curved piece of wood. “But flattering me isn’t going to help you hide the fact that you’re up to something.”
“I thought you said flattery would get me everywhere.”
“Well, I lied. It’ll only get you so far.”
I laughed, “How are preparations going?”
“Great. Pretty much everyone is excited about the trip, so they’re all willing to help.”
“Good. When should I make the sandwiches?”
“Tomorrow morning before we leave.”
“Ugh, that means I have to get up early,” I mock complained.
“Oh you poor baby,” she teased. I smiled and stood, making sure to brush the rest of the wood shavings onto her head. “Hey!” she complained and shook her head.
“Come on, let’s go inside and see what you’ve accomplished.”
“I told you, I took care of everything,” she said following me down the ladder.
“Yeah well, we’ll see about that.”
“I guess we will,” she said smugly.
I smiled, and we walked inside. There was a small pile of supplies near the door, and it was constantly being added too. There were brand new tents, sleeping bags, blankets, and packs filled with dry goods. “Wow, I guess you do have it taken care of.”
“Told you so.”
“When am I going to start listening to you?” I asked her
smiling.
“I don’t know. You’d think you would have figured that out by now.”
“Well, I am a slow learner,” I said kissing her.
She smiled, “Yeah, but you are getting better.”
I laughed and headed towards the armory. I wanted to check the weapons that would need to be packed for our trip. I wasn’t really worried about Walkers being on the beach but you can never be too prepared, and you can never ever have too many guns. I checked the guns that we would take, a few shotgun and rifles, but mostly handguns that everyone carried. Finding the weapons clean and ready to go I looked around the room that had once been my sister’s. It had changed quite a bit, its appearance changed from a messy room piled high with clothes, magazines, and dirty dishes, to a well-stocked and organized weapons supply room. Guns were set on racks that had been quickly built and attached to the walls. Ammo had been sorted and stacked neatly on the desk that had been left in the room. The former walk-in closet had been converted to an extra supply and safe room, its walls stacked high with canned food and bottled drinks. The safe room was also stocked with weapons and ammo just in case the outer room was inaccessible as well as sleeping bags, pillows and a medkit. The entire house had been converted into a formidable compound. I had mixed feelings regarding the transformation, I was proud that we had been able to react to the dangerous situation and stay safe, but I felt regret at the loss of my family’s lingering presence around the house. Nearly everything that would have reminded me of my family had been removed, pictures had been taken off the walls, my brothers room had been nearly gutted to make room for others to sleep in, my dad’s room had been made into a sorority house and now my sisters room had made the complete transformation into a well-stocked armory. My house was now more like a cult’s compound than a family home. I shook my head to clear any thoughts of loss and checked the weapons again, it would do me no good to dwell on what was already lost.
The rest of the day was spent gathering supplies, packing the trucks, checking weapons a third and fourth time, and burning time until it was time for bed. The atmosphere around the home was similar to that of Christmas. You know that feeling you had when you were a kid, and it was the day before Christmas, and you felt like the day was taking forever to end? Well, the day seemed to drag on, and everyone was excited to sleep, only to wake as fast as they could.
Sarah and I were lying in bed when she spoke up, “James?”
“Uh huh?”
“We… we never, you never showed me what was in that second black book.”
“I wondered when you would ask me about that. You lasted longer than I thought you would,” I said smiling in the dark.
“Well…”
“Don’t worry, I’m still going to share it with you just not tonight. Ok?”
She rolled over and kissed me on the cheek, “Ok.”
“Night, Sarah.”
“Night. Oh, and James.”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” I said quietly.
“What?”
“Nothing. Goodnight beautiful.”
“Night,” she said with a satisfied sigh.
I shook my head and put my arm around her and fell asleep. I had to get up early tomorrow, and I didn’t want to forget the sandwiches.
I woke and felt the bed being bounced on. “Wake up. James, Sarah wake up. It’s time to go to the beach.” I cracked my eyes open and saw Michelle bouncing on our bed. I looked at my watch and saw that it was only a quarter past five.
“Ugh,” I groaned, “Michelle it’s really early.”
“Up, up. Get up. You have to make sandwiches, Sarah said so.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
“You have to do what Sarah says.”
“Oh I do, do I?” I looked at Sarah who was doing a poor job pretending to be asleep and not smiling.
“Yep, otherwise she’ll beat you up.”
“Is that what she told you?”
“Yep.”
Sarah gave up trying to hide her smile and was looking at me with a wide grin. “Ok, I’m getting up. I wouldn’t want Sarah to have to beat me up.” I climbed out of bed and popped my back and neck. I watched with satisfaction as Sarah cringed and covered her ears.
“Gross,” she whined.
I chuckled and started to walk out, “Come on beautiful, didn’t you hear, it’s time to get up.” She threw a pillow at me, and I caught it. “Wow, someone’s grumpy in the morning,” I tossed her the pillow back. “Maybe some sun will cheer you up.” She rolled over and covered her head with the pillow turned weapon. I headed to the kitchen to make the food and was greeted by a still bouncing Michelle. She had far too much energy for how early it was. “So Michelle, are you excited for the beach?”
“Uh-huh,” she nodded.
“Good.” She started skipping running in circles around the kitchen. “Michelle, where’s Liz?”
“She’s still sleeping.”
“Did you try to wake her up?”
“She told me to go see you and then she went back to sleep.”
“Great,” I mumbled quietly to myself, “Well, do you want to help me?”
“Make sandwiches?”
“Yeah.”
“Ok.”
“Great. Now, if you’re going to be my chef, you’re going to look like my chef.” I knelt down and reached into one of the low cabinets. I pulled out a child-sized apron and helped her tie it on.
She grinned up at me, “Now what?”
“Now I need you to go get me a bunch of cans of chicken from the pantry.” She ran off. I opened a cupboard and pulled out several small jars of seasoning. Michelle got back, arms full of the small cans, and put them on the counter. “Can you get me a big mixing bowl from that cabinet over there?” I asked pointing.
“Sure.”
I started opening the individual cans of chicken and drained the water into the garbage can. Michelle set the large metal mixing bowl on the counter with a clang. “Let’s try to keep it down ok. Others are still asleep.”
“Sorry,” she said hunching her shoulders.
“It’s ok. Can you dump these cans into the bowl for me?”
As Michelle emptied the cans of white meat into the bowl, I began spooning mayonnaise into the bowl. “Ok,” I said handing her a big mixing spoon, “Mix it all up.” I sat on the counter and closed my eyes for a few moments and yawned.
“How’s this James,” Michelle asked.
I opened my eyes and looked at the bowl. “Looks good. Now for the secret ingredients.”
“What so secret about them?”
“They make everything taste really good. Here try some of this.” I gave her a spoonful of the chicken. She chewed and swallowed. “How is it?”
She shrugged her shoulders, “It’s ok.”
“That’s right, it’s just ok, but we’re going to make it a lot better.” I turned and grabbed a small jar. “Stick out your hand.” She did, and I poured a small amount of powder in it. “Ok, dump it in.” We went about adding a varying amount of different spices to the chicken, and I had her mix it all up. “Ok, try it now,” I said after trying it myself. “Better?” I asked as she chewed.
She nodded vigorously, “Yeah, lots.”
“See I told you. There’s some of Liz’s bread in the pantry, can you go grab it for me?” She jumped off her stool and ran to get the bread.
After cutting slices of bread, I spread the chicken mixture and put the sandwiches in plastic bags. “Michelle, you should go wake Sarah and then Liz. Make sure to tell Liz thank you for making sure I got up on time.”
“Ok,” she said happily and zoomed off to accomplish her mission. I slowly followed the blur that was Michelle and smiled as I saw her jump onto Sarah’s sleeping form. “Sarah, James said I should get you up.” Tattletale, I thought and backed away slowly from the door.
“James,” Sarah called out.
Too late. I thought as I wa
lked into the room. “Yes, dear?” I said innocently as Michelle left to begin part two of her mission.
“That wasn’t very nice.”
“Sorry, I promise to make it up to you,” I said smiling.
“You better,” she said pouting.
I kissed her, “Come on, we’ve got to go.”
“Just a minute,” she said and kissed me again. It was several minutes later before she said, “I thought we had to go.”
“Suddenly I don’t really feel like going to the beach.”
She laughed, “But we would disappoint the others.”
“To hell with the others,” I said leaning in to kiss her but was stopped by her putting a hand over my mouth. “Fine,” I sighed, “let’s go.”
“Ok, let me change.”
“Alright, hurry up,” I said grabbing a pair of board shorts from my dresser and closing the door behind me. I put the shorts on and slipped my jeans on over them. I went back to the room and grabbed my guns. I didn’t plan on using them but in my experience things never went as planned.
People slowly started to emerge and eat a quick breakfast. It was still really early and was only just starting to lighten outside. I was sure that the streets would be clear of the Walkers and so I hurried to get everyone to the trucks so we could make the most of the day. I was finally getting excited about going to the beach. What with school and work during the summer I hadn’t been to the beach for a long time, and it would be good to feel the sand between my feet. I just hoped that the wind wouldn’t be too bad and that the sun would decide to make an appearance.
Once everyone was up, we quickly loaded into three trucks and headed to the beach. Once we broke free of the trees that lined the highway we were provided with a full view of the morning sky “Ooh pretty,” echoed Michelle and Liz from the backseat. They were staring at the sky. It was a deep red as if it was lit on fire.
“You know what they say about red sky’s don’t you?”
“No,” said Sarah from beside me.
“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky’s in the morning, sailors warning.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Liz.
“It supposed to be an indication of good or bad weather for sailors when they’re at sea.”
“So it’s going to be a bad day for the beach then?” asked Sarah.
Survivors Series (Book 2): Heroes Never Die Page 6