The men glanced from me to Michael. At first I didn’t think he was going to answer. He stared at me for the longest time before speaking.
“I was an assistant pastor at a church in the town over. Reston, North Carolina. I had a wife. We’d been married three years,” Michael said without looking at anyone.
The men were riveted. It must have been unusual for him to open up to strangers like that.
“Some of the men here at Camp Victory knew me from before,” he added.
“Most didn’t.” He met my gaze, his eyes defiant and angry.
“I found out a week before the dead swallowed the Earth that my wife had been having an adulterous affair with someone from the church.” He smiled.
It wasn’t a sad smile or even a happy smile. It was a twisted smile.
“She even told me the baby she was carrying wasn’t mine,” he said.
“When the undead started walking and ripping into the living, I went looking for my wife, hoping to find her alive. To tell her I forgave her for her sins and that God would forgive her.”
My mouth was suddenly dry. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea after all.
“You know where I found her?” he asked, not really expecting anyone to answer.
“She was supposed to be dropping off canned goods to the church and instead she was meeting her lover there in the church parking lot.”
He reached out and turned to rotate the meat on the fire.
“The church was in town and the entire place had become overrun. The undead ripped my pregnant wife and the man she was seeing to shreds, and I saw it happen.” Michael sat back down and shrugged nonchalantly.
“I knew immediately that God was punishing the sinners, the unbelievers. Why else would he have spared me and taken both of them even though we were all at the same place at the same time? After that, I got as many believers and supplies together as I could and headed to Camp Victory. I’d been out here with a church group, ironically enough, to learn some survival skills. Candle making, curing meat, canning food, even sewing. Stuff like that.”
Michael smiled at the memory.
“Sure came in handy.”
“Sure did,” I said after a pause of silence.
After his story, I understood where Michael Hatten was coming from. I got why he was the way he was. Kind of. He was clinging on to his beliefs, seeing God’s hand in things that there was no way it could be. I kind of understood. I still didn’t like him though.
“Looks like the food is done,” the older guy, whom I’d found out was named Bobby, announced. Good. Something to keep us all occupied.
I’d had enough of the heart-to-hearts. After Michael prayed over the food, we all dug in with gusto. The food was good and the silence was a blessing.
When we were all full and rested, we tore the camp down and prepared to head back to Camp Victory. Michael clapped me on the back in companionship as we started off.
“I’m glad you came with us, Tex,” he said.
“I think you fit in nicely here with our group.”
I smiled and nodded. On the inside, I was cringing and giving him the bird.
Chapter Ten
No Other Way
“Meet me in the chapel in an hour,” Michael said to me when we entered the safety of the gates and had dropped off our load. I nodded even though I couldn’t summon a smile in reply.
An hour later I entered the chapel, still distracted by my thoughts of what had happened earlier in the day. A man was dead because Michael thought he could play God, thought he knew the mind of God.
I still hadn’t calmed from the rage that had been building inside of me.
“I’m glad you came,” a voice called from the front of the chapel. I closed off my thoughts and turned a high watt smile on my host. Michael stood at the front of the church with a huge grin on his face.
My back stiffened and I went over to him to shake his extended hand. It was then that I noticed a figure in the shadows, standing quietly by. I glanced over and Michael followed my gaze. His smile widened and I felt the urge to knock out a few of his perfectly aligned teeth.
No one had ever been able to enrage me quite as fast as the man standing in front of me.
“What was it you wanted to show me?” I asked politely, dredging up the years of southern hospitality my mama had instilled in me. Michael crooked his finger to the person standing just outside of my peripheral vision.
A young girl, maybe fourteen or fifteen, stepped forward. I thought I’d seen her in the chapel the day before. The day before her hair had been pulled back in a bun, and was now loose and hanging down to the middle of her back in a thick, golden cloud.
Her eyes were crystal blue and they looked up at me shyly and even a bit afraid.
I met Michael’s twinkling gaze.
“Am I supposed to know her?” I asked, dumbfounded.
“Not yet you’re not,” he said with a wink. I stood there uncomprehending.
Michael took the girl’s hand and brought it to his lips, placing a kiss there. She blushed and looked down. He took her hand and placed it in mine and then turned his gaze back to me.
“I wanted you to see that God is not just smiting down his enemies from the Earth. He’s also rewarding his followers and given them an edict to replenish the Earth with children of true believers.”
He picked up a strand of hair from the girl’s shoulder and rubbed it between his fingers.
“This is Amanda. Amanda will be sixteen in a week and then she’ll be eligible to marry one of our men here at Camp Victory during the purity ceremony we’ve begun preparing for. I think she’d be good for you… that is, if you decide to stay.”
His smile turned my stomach and the girl’s hand in mine felt like lead.
The girl standing in front of me should be in high school worrying about fashion and which boy might have a crush on her, but she stood here in front of me, her head bowed as a man paraded her in front of me like a brooding mare for sale.
She was still just a girl.
A child.
I stood there for a moment, pretending to consider the girl, her beauty, how much she would please me, instead, I was trying to get the red that blurred the edge of my vision to abate.
I was trying to strengthen the last, fraying thread of self-control I had before I pulled my hunting knife out and lodged it deeply in the skull of the man who still stood smiling at me from only a foot away.
After a moment, I squeezed the girl’s hand and then let it go gently.
“Amanda is beautiful,” I said.
“She would, I’m sure, make any man happy,” I added, even though the words stuck in my throat and I wanted nothing more than to be there if any man dared touch her. I turned to Michael and grinned crookedly.
“You’ve given me even more to think about,” I said.
“But for now, can I grab a shower and some sleep? I’m ornery when I’m tired.”
Michael threw his head back and laughed, the picture of an unburdened conscience.
I turned to Amanda and said, “You go on and head out to grab some lunch with the womenfolk, okay?”
Amanda smiled up at me and let out a relieved breath, nodded, and left the chapel.
I excused myself from Michael and told him I’d meet him over at the mess hall for dinner once I got a quick shower and some sleep.
I left the chapel with one thought in my mind: I needed to get the hell out of Camp Victory that night and I was going to take Maria with me.
There was no other way.
Chapter Eleven
Escape Plan
I showered and made sure I stopped and made small talk with the men while Uncle Gus eyed me like I’d grown two heads. He was right about that, and because I had no idea what type of loyalty he had to Michael, I avoided his gaze and kept to myself.
I couldn’t risk Uncle Gus telling Michael that I planned to break out of the camp and take Maria with me. Too much was riding on the fact t
hat I needed to move quickly and without being noticed to give us a good head start before Michael would realize that we were gone.
A while later, I made my way to my cabin, aware the Uncle Gus was following not far behind. Maybe his cabin was close to mine; maybe he was keeping an eye on me. Either way, he knew I was up to no good.
The old man had far better senses than Michael and that made me realize I had very few hours left in which to act. I waited until I was certain he wasn’t watching the cabin.
Luckily none of the men I shared the cabin with were back yet or my plan might not have worked.
I slipped out of the cabin, weaving my way in between the cabins and buildings, making sure I wasn’t seen heading to the women’s side of the camp. When it was all clear, I ducked in between the two cabins where Maria had been hanging clothes.
A large tree sat near the back of the two cabins and I was able to slip behind it unnoticed. I squatted down and waited.
It wasn’t long before a young woman left the cabin. I wasn’t sure if I should have tried to peer inside and then risk going in to speak to Maria, or wait it out even longer and risk being seen out in the open. Both options were risky.
Then the back door to the cabin opened again and I saw Maria’s dark hair appear.
I acted quickly, grabbing her from behind, my hand over her mouth, and jerking her behind the tree with me. Maria fought, and she fought hard. I was grunting when I finally wrestled her into a safe place.
“Shh shh shh! It’s me, Maria!” I whispered near her ear.
Her hair had come undone from its bun and her wild black curls tickled my face. She immediately stilled, her breathing heavy and her heart racing next to my chest.
“I’m going to remove my hand now so we can talk. Understand?” She nodded once, stiffly.
I slowly removed my hand and loosened my grip on her. She turned so fast that if I hadn’t been leaning against the massive trunk of the tree I probably would have lost my balance.
Now that would have been embarrassing, especially since she couldn’t have weighed more than a buck twenty soaking wet and she stood easily six inches shorter than me.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously and her chest rose in anger.
She stabbed her finger to my chest.
“What is wrong with you? You nearly gave me a heart attack!” she growled.
I shrugged and tried not to smile.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know how else to talk to you without someone seeing or hearing me.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and stared up at me. She raised a brow when I smiled like an idiot.
“What?” she snapped.
“Nothin’,” I replied. “Nothin’ at all.”
“Well what did you want to talk about?” she asked, her anger fading a bit.
“If you still want to go with me, I’m leaving tonight. I’m going to see if I can get a hold of some ammo and supplies. I can’t stay any longer.”
Maria searched my gaze and sucked in a breath.
“What did you see?” she asked.
“A young man was killed today. Michael wouldn’t let me take a zombie out when we were hunting and the zombie ended up killing one of our group later.”
I clenched my jaw and turned my face to hers.
“He said it was God’s will.”
Her eyes hardened and her mouth thinned into a straight, angry line.
“What else?” she asked after a moment.
“How do you know there’s more?” I asked, surprised.
She raised a brow, but didn’t answer. I blew out a breath.
“He said he wanted to show me how he knew God had chosen me to join everyone at Camp Victory… one of the benefits,” I spat.
“He brought me a girl, Maria. A girl who isn’t even sixteen yet.”
Maria’s eyes widened.
“Said I could have her as my own during some purity ceremony they’re planning soon. She’s a child and he’s going to give her to someone to use,” I said, my voice shaking with the rage I’d been bottling up since I’d entered the camp.
Maria put a hand on my cheek and the contact took the edge off of my anger.
“I know they have been talking about such things for a while, but I thought they’d all see reason. I never thought they’d actually agree to something so horrible,” she mumbled.
I covered her hand with mine. She glanced up at me, her eyes tired and frightened.
“I’ll get you out of here, Maria, but it has to be tonight and we have to move quickly. I’ll do my best to get you to the Army base. I can’t make any promises.”
Maria stared up at me for a moment and then closed her eyes. When she opened them, I saw new resolve and determination there. She stood on her toes and placed a kiss on my lips.
“You’re a good man, Tex,” she whispered. I shook my head, but she just smiled.
“You can deny it all you like. I know the truth. I can see you for what you are,” she said gently.
I didn’t know how to respond.
Though I didn’t want her to think I was some kind of hero, deep down I realized Maria wasn’t the type of woman who needed a hero, she was more than capable of saving herself… she just needed a little push was all.
“I’ll gather all the supplies and ammo I can find,” I said.
“And I’ll make sure we have water and food,” she offered.
I smiled. Sounded like a plan.
“After dinner, then,” I said.
“We don’t want to leave before, our absence will definitely be noticed if we’re not in the mess hall for a meal.” She took a deep breath, worry creasing her brow for a split second.
Then she shook her head and squared her shoulders. She’d made up her mind.
“Good. Let’s meet after most of the camp has gone to sleep, around eleven, near the mess hall. We should be able to sneak out of Camp Victory from there.”
“Alright. Tonight at eleven then.”
“Tonight at eleven,” I confirmed.
Maria stepped back and made sure the coast was clear.
“Be careful, Tex,” she threw over her shoulder.
She sprinted across to her cabin.
“You too, Maria,” I whispered after her.
Chapter Twelve
Final Supper
I stuffed a large rucksack that I’d found and filled with supplies behind a thick line of shrubs near the mess hall. It was on a side that no one used and I was confident no one would see. Gathering supplies had been too easy.
I’d found extra wool blankets, a compact tent, a first aid kit, waterproof matches, two boxes of bullets for my handgun and plenty of other hiking gear that would help us stay alive and survive in the woods for a few days if we had to. If we could get out of the woods, we’d be able to find a vehicle and get to the base quickly.
I just needed to keep us alive until then.
The first hours would be the most important for us to put as much time and miles between us and the camp as possible. I only hoped tonight went without a hitch.
“Tex, there you are,” Michael called from across the mess hall when I entered.
I raised a hand in greeting and then moved to the window to take my tray from the kind lady there. For a brief second I found Maria’s gaze and held it. She nodded once curtly, an almost imperceptive movement, but it settled my heart and I breathed a little easier.
Maria was ready.
We’d be skipping camp in less than five hours. I wondered if her brother was ready, if she’d even told him, or if she’d spring it on him later in the evening. I hoped the kid was smart and would understand the danger that his sister was trying to get him away from.
I sat close to Michael, taking care not to sit directly in front of him or too close to Uncle Gus.
I didn’t need either of them sniffing out my secrets. Our plates were heaped with meat and white rice. A brown gravy had been generously spooned over the whole thing. Even for the camp, the portions
were a bit extravagant.
I glanced around the tables, aware that the men and boys there were in high spirits, the hearty meal and infectious enthusiasm making the atmosphere seem even more homey than normal. I caught Michael’s stare out of the corner of my eye as I’d been laughing at something one of the guys had been saying.
Another point for Michael; he knew how to play on weaknesses.
One of mine was missing my home, missing my mama’s home cookin’, and missing the feeling that everything was going to be alright.
Damn him. And damn me for being so utterly transparent.
Right about then, my luck ran out. Uncle Gus came over and sat down next to me. I hardened my jaw, trying to play off my unease. The man was highly perceptive and even though I owed him my life, I still didn’t know him well enough to trust him.
“So, Michael seems to think you’ll be staying on permanently,” he said, his voice low so as not to be heard over all the loud chatter. I sat my fork down on my empty plate and took a drink of water before answering.
“Does he now?” I asked.
“He does. He seems to think you made up your mind after your little chat in the chapel this afternoon.” I whipped my head around and met Uncle Gus’s scrutiny, my blood pressure rising at the thought that I could be swayed to stay for such a despicable reason.
He searched my face and then grunted. He turned to watch the guys at the table near us messing around. All the women had already left.
“That’s what I thought. You’re not that kind of man.”
Uncle Gus clucked his tongue and sighed deeply.
“And you are?” I asked.
“No. I’m not, son, but I hope I can be of some use here. I’ve brought people in here who would be dead out there on their own. I don’t agree with anything Michael does here, but what is the alternative? Leave the survivors I find out in the world to die? Or bring them here to live, even if it means things like that disgraceful purity ceremony take place?”
His eyes met mine and I realized how much he really had thought it all through, how much guilt he was carrying around on his shoulders. He was saving lives only to bring them into the mess at the camp.
State of | Book 2 | State of Ruin Page 7