Survivors Series (Book 2): Heroes Never Die
Page 13
“She’s doing ok. I think she feels a little guilty at running away, that she’s didn’t do more to help.”
“I know how she feels,” I said quietly.
“Hey,” she said hugging me, “you don’t have anything to be guilty over.”
“You don’t know that,” I said.
“Oh, but I do. You like to think you’re good at hiding your thoughts and emotions. You like to dwell on your mistakes and second guess your decisions. What you don’t understand is that you made the decisions that most of us couldn’t and you kept us alive. So stop beating yourself up.”
“How did you get to know me so well?”
“You’re not that complicated,” she said smiling.
I kissed her and said, “What would I ever do without you?”
“I don’t know but your life would a lot less awesome,” she grinned.
“Very true,” I nodded.
“I know,” she said giving me a quick kiss on the cheek and walking inside.
I walked towards Jackie who paused in her walk to watch Sarah and me. She was smiling and rocking a happy looking Mary. “So I guess Sarah gave you the dime tour?”
“Yep. Pretty impressive what you’ve done here.”
“Not really. Just some chain link, plywood, and duct tape,” I said looking at the fence.
“I wasn’t talking about the fence you know. I was talking about your friends. I’ve only been talking to them for a little while, and it’s pretty clear that they trust you with their lives. It makes me feel a little better about staying here.”
“All I did was get them here, they’ve saved each other and me more than once. They’re alive because they worked together beyond my expectations, not because I’m some great leader. They’ve done something that not a lot of people can do, they’ve recognized their fears, and they’ve overcome them. Don’t get me wrong, they’re still scared every time we go into a fight or on a raid, I’ve seen it in each one of their eyes, but they take that fear and turn it into strength. I admire them for that.”
“You speak pretty highly of your friends.”
“Of course, I do.”
“Good, because you should hear what they say about you.”
“Ugh,” I groaned, “I swear, whatever they said it’s not true,” I said sarcastically.
She laughed wholeheartedly, “Good things for the most part.”
“For the most part?”
“Sarah had a few things to say about you,” she laughed.
“Of course, she did,” I said running a hand through my hair.
“Quite the girl you’ve got,” she said smiling.
“You have no idea.”
“Just don’t let her go, ok? The way she talks about you… it sounds like you have something special.”
“Don’t worry, it’ll take more than the end of the world to keep me from her,” I chuckled to myself, “Actually, it took the end of the world to bring us together.”
She smiled, “It took an apocalypse to get you to notice her?”
“No,” I laughed, “It took an apocalypse to get me out of my own way.”
“Well here’s a tip, she’s always right.”
“Yeah, I learned that a long time ago.”
“Then you’re a smart man.”
“Only sometimes,” I smiled. “So is there anything that you might need? I’m sure you could use some new close and supplies for Mary. We can plan a quick trip to the Fred…”
“James,”
“Meyer in Warrenton if we need to. It wouldn’t be all that…”
“James,” she said louder.
“What?”
She pointed down the driveway, “I think you’ve got company.”
I turned to look and saw a small group of people at the end. I pulled my radio from my waist and said “I need a group of four, armed and carrying medkits. We’ve got a group at the end of the driveway. I don’t know if it’s Walkers or wounded. Now!” I said putting the radio back on my belt. “Jackie, you might want to take Mary inside.”
“But…”
“Please just in case it’s dangerous.”
“You’re right.”
“Thank you,” I waited for the others to join me and I pulled my pistol. “Alright, you four,” I said to Sarah, Justin, Matt, and Carrie, “let’s go make some new friends.”
Chapter 11
We headed down to the road, and I was both surprised and glad to see that it wasn’t a threat but an elderly man with two small children, one in his arms, the other clinging to his legs. I quickly put my gun away and gestured for the others to do the same. I knelt down and smiled at the small boy using the older man as a shield, “Hey there. What’s your name?” I asked cheerfully. The boy was obviously scared, and he refused to answer me or even look at me. I stood and held out my hand, “I’m James.”
The man shifted the small child in his arms and shook my hand, “Phil.”
“Hi, Phil. I assume you’re from Luke’s camp?”
“Yep, me and Eddie and little David here,” he said raising the boy in his arms and then turning to cough.
“Well, you’ve come to the right place. We already have two from the compound, and you’re more than welcome to stay. I’m sure you’re hungry.”
“Starving,” he coughed.
“Great. What about you Eddie, are you hungry?” He still refused to say anything, “I think we might have some cookies up at the house,” I said to myself, smiling as his head shot up and looked at me with wide eyes. “You wouldn’t want some of those would you?” He nodded vigorously “Good. Carrie, you think you could show these three up to the house. Get them some food?”
“Sure James,” she held out her hand to Eddie who took it shyly.
“Thank you, James,” Phil said gratefully.
“No problem,” I said as he passed. I pulled out my radio and sent the all clear over the radio and informed everyone of our newest guests. “I need you two to do something for me,” I said to Matt and Justin.
“Sure what’s up?” asked Matt.
“I need the Pole Barn redecorated. Let’s turn it into a type of infirmary or dorm for anyone who shows up.”
“You really think there’ll be more?” asked Sarah.
“I don’t know, but I’d rather have somewhere to put them if they do show up.”
“All right. No worries, we got this,” said Justin confidently.
“Great. Set up cots and hang sheets to make dividers. Cart some medical supplies out there. Nothing major, just some mild painkillers, gloves, bandages. You get the idea.”
“Got it.”
“Good. Get it done as soon as you can.” They took off, and I turned to Sarah, “I have a job for you too, and I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
She raised an eyebrow, “And what’s that?”
“I need you to watch over the kids so I can check Phil for any injuries. Then I’ll check the kids.”
“Well, that’s not bad.”
“You’re ok with that?”
“Of course.”
“Good.”
“Why did you think I wouldn’t be ok with it?”
“I don’t know. I thought you might think I was giving you the safe job or something.”
She smiled, “Stop over thinking things.”
“Yeah, I’ll try that sometime.”
She laughed, “Come on, we should probably get up to the house.” I grabbed her hand, and we walked up the sloping driveway. “Do you really think we’ll get more survivors?”
“It’s a good chance. I mean, everyone from Luke’s can’t be dead.”
“I guess.”
They came in pairs and triplets, some coming in singles. Some were injured, others were perfectly fine. By the time the day grew late, we had another seven people shacked up in the now converted Pole Barn, three men, and four women, no more children, though. All of their stories were relatively the same, all having barely escaped death at the hands of George’
s gang, finding shelter only to return to the only place they had left and, finding the sign we left, deciding to make their way here. Each was checked over for injuries and bites. The injuries ranged from cuts, bruises and a nasty cough to a broken finger, minor bullet wound, and a dislocated shoulder. I was mostly worried about Phil, he had the bad couch, and when I listened to his breathing, I could hear a fine dry crackling noise in his lungs, and his heart was beating irregularly. “Did you have any lung or heart problems before all this went down?” I asked after I finished listening to his chest with a stethoscope.
“Well actually, I had heart problems. Something wrong with the way it was beating.”
“Hmmm. Do you remember what it was called?”
“Atrial something,” he shrugged.
“Atrial Fibrillation?”
“That’s it,” he nodded.
“What about your lungs? Any problems there?”
“The doctor said that the medicine I was taking for my heart caused some problems with my lungs.”
“Did he say what it was?”
“Pullman something.”
“Pulmonary Fibrosis?”
“Sounds right.”
“How long ago were you diagnosed?”
“About three years.”
“Three years huh? Alright, well, take it easy ok. You don’t want that cough to get worse.”
“No complaints here,” he said smiling.
I left Phil to go back outside where most everyone was milling about. It was a fairly warm evening, and without air conditioning, the house was still pretty hot. I almost ran over Michelle and Eddie as they raced past. “How’s everyone settling in?” I asked Sarah.
“Pretty good considering what’s happened to them.”
“Do they have everything they need?”
“Looks like it.”
“Has anyone said anything about how long they want to stay?”
“A couple of the guys want to keep heading north, follow Luke’s original plan, but I don’t know how serious they are.”
“Ok, make sure they know they’re welcome as long as they want.”
“I already told them.”
I smiled at her, “Always a step ahead of me aren’t you?”
“Always,” she grinned back.
“We might have a problem.”
“What?”
“Phil’s sick.”
“Bite?” she asked worriedly.
“No, nothing like that. He had some heart and lung problem from before, and I’m afraid he’s getting worse.”
“Getting worse how?”
“Well the medication he was taking for his heart can cause another problem in his lungs called Pulmonary Fibrosis. He’s got a bad cough and I he’s only going to get worse. We don’t have the equipment to take care of him. Eventually, he’s going to have trouble breathing and will need to be put on oxygen, which we don’t have, and even if we did it would only help a little. His body is going to have trouble getting oxygen.”
“What can we do?”
“Only thing we can do, watch him.”
“Oh,” she gasped, “Eddie and David. Who’ll take care of them?”
“We’ll figure something out.”
“Did you tell him?”
“Not yet.”
“What, why not?”
“I want to wait. See if he really does get worse. I don’t want to panic him.”
“You have to tell him.”
“I know and I will, just not right now.”
“Don’t put it off for too long.”
“I won’t, I swear.”
I was about to call out for everyone to come on inside because it was getting dark when I heard Jason yell, “Hey James, we got more at the end of the road.”
“How many?”
“Looks like three, the third one is being carried between the two, doesn’t look awake.”
“Alright, let’s go give them some help.”
We ran down the driveway and greeted the small group consisting of two men carrying a woman between them. “Please help us,” said one of the men nervously. His eyes were darting around, sweat dripping down his long nose.
“We’ll get you help. You’re safe now. Come on and bring her up to the house,” I nodded to the unconscious women between them. We walked up the driveway, and I called for a med kit as the group of people gathered around where they had set the woman. I knelt down and laid two fingers across her neck, checking for a pulse. I couldn’t find one, and so I repositioned my fingers, still nothing, the woman was dead. “I’m sorry guys, but she’s dead,” I said standing to face the two men, but only saw the nervous one. I was just about to turn and look for the second guy when I heard a high pitched scream that could’ve broken glass. I turned to see the second man holding Michelle up in front of him with a knife to her neck. The nervous one bolted to stand behind his partner.
I pulled my pistol and aimed it at the pair of men, “James no!” said Sarah, “You could hit Michelle.”
I looked at the struggling girl they were using as a shield, her squirming had already caused the knife to make a small cut on her neck. “I’d listen to your bitch James,” the one not holding Michelle said, saying my name mockingly. I was a decent shot, but Sarah was right, I couldn’t take the chance that I would hit Michelle, so I put my pistol in its holster. “Good idea,” he sneered.
“What do you want?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“Which one of you killed George?” asked the man holding Michelle.
“That would be me,” I said coolly.
“Then we want you.”
“Fine, I’ll do whatever you want, just put down the girl.”
“You come here first,” said the guy standing in the back. I walked over calmly and made it within five feet of them when he said, “Stop. Put this on.” He threw me a small white plastic zip tie. I slipped the restraints over my wrists and pulled them semi-tight, “Tighter.” I synched it a little tighter. “Now come here.” I walked the rest of the way to the men and gritted my teeth as the zip tie was pulled even tighter, cutting into my wrists.
“Ok, you’ve got me. Now let her go.”
“I don’t think so,” said the guy holding Michelle.
“You said you’d let her go,” I said angrily.
“Not really,” said the nervous one, who was now sneering and holding my Bowie knife up. He had taken both my knife and gun, stuffing the pistol in his pants “She’s coming with us, think of her as an insurance policy. If anyone tries to follow us or rescue you, we’ll kill her. If your friends are good, they might get her back. Let’s move,” he said gesturing to the driveway.
I was escorted down the driveway at knifepoint, and I yelled back to the group as I walked “Listen. Don’t come after us. Do you hear me? Do not follow! Everything will be alright.”
“Not for you,” snickered the one holding my knife.
I looked to Michelle who was crying, but no longer squirming. Her tears rolled down her cheeks and mixed with the small trickle of blood on her neck “I swear to God,” I said through clenched teeth, “If you hurt her I’ll break your fucking neck.”
“Not likely,” he said putting the point of my knife into the small of my back. When I didn’t cry out in pain, he stabbed it in further and laughed as I let out a pained grunt, “We’re going to have lots of fun,” he said darkly.
I ignored him and focused on Michelle, “Michelle. Michelle honey, look at me.” Her tear filled eyes glanced over at me, “Everything’s going to be alright, you’ll be ok. I promise.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” said my guard, stabbing me with the knife again. I wanted nothing more than to whip around and get my knife back, but I couldn’t take the chance that Michelle could get hurt. We walked for about a mile, half of which Michelle had been forced to walk in her bare feet, having lost her flip-flops along the way and not allowed to retrieve them, and climbed into a truck parked on the side of the road.
“Shut up,” said the one with my knife.
“Alright,” I paused, “So Dumber, do you actually know how to use that knife?”
He turned and looked at me grinning, “I’ll show you exactly how I can use this knife and you can call me Tony, that’s Ken. Now shut up.”
I stayed quiet for a minute, “So where are we going?”
“Shut up.”
Another minute, “Are we there yet?”
He turned around and pointed my gun at me, “I said shut the fuck up.” He turned back and turned on music. It was some metal crap, and he turned it all the way up. This is exactly what I was hoping for. One was driving, and the other was angry and trying to ignore me, so I was free to slowly lean down and start pulling my right pant leg up, I still had my second knife strapped to my ankle. I got my pant leg up and over the knife and, still moving slowly, and with one eye on the front seat, I leaned down to ease it out of its sheath. I spared a glance at Michelle and saw that her eyes were locked onto my movements. Tony must have seen either my actions or Michelle’s gaze because something tipped him off and he turned with the gun and pointed it right at Michelle. “You know, that would be a bad idea,” he said giving me a nasty grin. “Now, slowly, hand me whatever you were trying to grab.” I closed my eyes and let out a breath in defeat. I handed the small knife to Tony and sat back in my seat. “What were you going to do with this?”