Melody moved her hand to push the envelope back toward me on the table.
Jude’s hand stopped her and his fingers found hers, giving them a gentle squeeze.
Melody glance down at the envelope, at me, and then at Jude.
Finally her eyes found mine again, full of understanding and grief.
“I only ask you guys because you’re the only ones I trust to love her and to care for her as much as I do.” I cleared my throat again and wiped a hand across my warm forehead.
“To give your lives for her… like I have.”
“Tex,” Melody choked out.
I grinned crookedly at her.
“Don’t tell me you’re regrettin’ the way you blew me off now,” I teased her.
She smiled through her tears.
“You wish, cowboy,” she said.
I smiled at that.
“I realize you need some time to talk about it, that it is a lot of responsibility,” I said.
“I just don’t have a lot of time to wait. I have something I need to take care of before….”
I shrugged.
I didn’t want to make a big deal of it.
Dying was going to be the easiest thing I’d done since the end of the world.
Living… living was so much more difficult.
“We don’t have to talk about it. We’ll love Rose as if she were our own,” Jude said confidently.
“Jude?” Melody questioned softly.
She had a smile on her lips and determination in her eyes.
“Besides, I’ve seen her with the baby and I know there is no way anyone will ever be able to part them,” Jude remarked.
My heart lifted. It was as it should be.
“Good, then it’s settled,” I said, standing.
Melody and Jude both stood with me. I could tell Melody wanted to say more, but for once I was actually glad that I was on a deadline and I couldn’t waste even a few precious minutes. Jude took the letter from the table.
“You’ll see that Rose gets the letter when she’s older?”
“We’ll make sure,” Melody promised.
“There’s a camp not too far from here called Camp Victory,” I said as we walked down the hallway.
“It was run by a man who thought himself a prophet or some such bullshit.” Jude snorted.
“It’s where Maria and Rose were when I found them,” I said.
“The leader is dead now, but there are some things going on there that are wrong.”
We turned a corner and someone bumped into me.
I winced and put a hand over the spot where the zombie had bit me on my shoulder back in Midtown. Blood had begun to seep through the bandage and my gray tee shirt.
“Tex, you want us to take a look? We have pain pills and….”
I smiled over at Melody.
She knew as well as I did that I wasn’t going to let anyone make a big fuss or to use up any resources. I’m pretty sure I heard her mutter something about big, stupid, hardheaded hick beneath her breath, but I couldn’t be sure.
Nah, I wasn’t about to let people poke and prod me during the last twenty-four or forty-eight hours I had left to live. I had a lot more important things to do… like say goodbye to Rose.
And after that, to kill Warren.
I waved away her concern.
“This camp is pretty well fortified, out in the middle of nowhere and such, but I hope you guys will go there if and when you can. Just give people a choice to go with you or to stay behind. Maria didn’t have a choice and she didn’t want that for Rose.”
I knew if they could do anything at all, they would.
I handed Melody a map of the surrounding areas.
“I marked where you can find the camp there,” I offered. “There’s also another camp, a school filled with children.”
“Children?” Melody asked in surprise.
“They aren’t just kids anymore though, they’ve been turned into a small army. They all have done terrible things to survive. Some of them are broken,” I said, thinking of Nick.
“Who’s leading them?” Jude asked, his eyes hard, his jaw clenched.
No one liked the thought of children getting hurt, but worse was having to kill a kid to save your own life.
“A guy named Warren,” I said through gritted teeth.
“You won’t have to worry about him though. Not after tonight.”
Melody put a hand on my arm.
“Your unfinished business?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay, and once Warren is out of the way, what is it you want us to do for these kids? Bring them here?” Jude asked.
I shook my head.
“No. Most of them won’t want to come anyway, but a few might. There’s a kid, an older boy of maybe twelve, named Carter. If it weren’t for him….” I trailed off.
“Well, I wouldn’t be here and neither would Rose. Carter is the kid you’ll want to contact if you can. Just don’t treat them like children. Don’t go in thinking you’re Army and they’re just a bunch of snot-nosed brats, because believe me, those kids will not hesitate to put a bullet in your head and leave you for zombie bait.”
“Jesus,” Jude whispered beneath his breath.
“Here we are,” Melody said when we reached their room where Rose was sleeping.
“Can I have a few minutes alone?” I asked, staring at the door.
“Of course,” Melody said.
“We’ll meet you back at the front when you’re ready.”
*
“Hello, Sweetheart,” I whispered to Rose.
She was sleeping on her tummy, cuddled into a pillow on Melody and Jude’s bed. Melody had given her a bath and changed her into pale pink pajamas. Her stuffed elephant wasn’t far away.
I picked it up and tucked it under her arm, then rubbed a hand lightly over her head and down her back. She was so tiny, so fragile, and yet I had a feeling she was going to be a strong kid.
I had no doubt she was going to live a long and full life.
My only regret was not being around to see her grow and bring new life and new hope into a tired and scary world.
“Your mama loved you so very much, Rose,” I whispered to the sleeping infant.
“She knew what I know and that was as long as there are blessings like you in this world, there will always be some hope left.”
The baby shifted a little, turning her head over to get more comfortable. I smiled.
“You and your mama came into my life when I needed something to believe in, when I needed to find that one thing that would give me hope once again, hope to keep moving forward,” I explained to her.
“You were that one thing, Rose,” I said softly.
“You were the hope I needed. Now I can walk out of here knowing my fate and yet not resenting it, not regretting anything.”
I sat back away from the bed and watched the baby sleep for a few more minutes.
Rose would be safe with Jude and Melody, of that I was sure. They would teach her to be strong and to fight. They would teach her to love and to hope. That’s all I could ask for. The rest was up to her. I leaned forward and kissed Rose on the head.
“Don’t be afraid to kick ass and take names, little girl,” I whispered.
“And don’t forget to look to the good inside yourself. Hold on to that goodness and life will always be worth living.”
I set my black cowboy hat, her mom’s sketchbook, and an army green backpack filled with my iPods next to her on the bed before I walked out.
I left the Army base a dying man.
A man with absolutely no hope of survival and no hope for living.
And yet I left with a smile on my face, a heart that felt lighter than it had in years, and true hope.
Hope for a real future for humanity, a future worth fighting for… even if I wouldn’t be there to enjoy it.
Hope is a powerful thing.
Chapter Thirty
The Hard Par
t
So this is what it must feel like to die, I thought.
My bones ached, my body shook from chills and I felt so drained of energy that I could have just stayed in the truck and gladly let myself slip into death’s embrace.
Death would be the easy part.
Killing Warren without killing any of his little followers was going to be the challenge.
I glanced at myself in the rearview mirror and chuckled even though it hurt to do so.
I’d gone full Rambo. Dark camo pants, long-sleeved black shirt, smudged charcoal on my face, and even a piece of black fabric tied around my forehead.
If I was going to die anyway, I might as well enjoy myself a little bit before I met my untimely demise.
Besides, I’d always wanted to be Rambo when I grew up.
This was my chance.
My new weapon, fitted with a silencer thanks to Jude, lay on the seat next to me.
I picked it up and turned it over in my hands.
I grabbed the backpack I’d gotten ready for this little field trip.
Time to take care of business before I became too sick. I opened the door to the truck and slipped out into the darkness a whole lot less worried than I normally would have been. It’s amazing how freeing it is when you no longer have to worry about your own survival. My only concern was to make sure I fulfilled my promise to myself and to Warren.
He was going to pay for what he’d done to us… what he’d done to Maria.
And for Rose having to grow up without her mama.
Warren wasn’t allowed to live after that.
I crept stealthily along the dark streets, ignoring the pain shooting through my body. I took down a few zombies here and there with my gun. Mostly, I avoided them.
It looked like this area also had had its fair share of exploding corpses as well. If any of us had known the zombies were going to do that, if Warren had known, would he have still led us out to the slaughter?
In the end it didn’t matter, I guess.
All that mattered was that he had, and Maria had paid the ultimate sacrifice because of it.
Warren would die.
I stopped close enough to the elementary school that I could see the fences and the kids that were posted as lookouts on the roof of the buildings. Only two kids from what I could see. Maybe Warren figured fewer were acceptable because of the way the zombies were dying off so suddenly. Or maybe there were other kids and I couldn’t see them.
The only way to be positive was to scout around the whole school perimeter. A shiver shook my body and a wave of dizziness reminded me that I didn’t have a ton of time. Soon I would be in no shape to run around acting like Rambo. I’d be incapable of doing much of anything.
I decided to take it on faith that there were indeed fewer lookouts posted. I kept to the shadows and waited until I knew I was out of the sights of both the kids and ran to the fence line of the school.
I pulled a pair of wire cutters out of my backpack and cut through several pieces of the chain link fence. Once I was done, I squeezed through, and then secured the fence with several zip ties. They’d be easy to cut through when I was ready to make my escape.
Even though I was there to take out Warren, I didn’t want the dead to get inside. I didn’t want any children getting killed by zombies, even if they would shoot me between the eyes without blinking.
Getting inside the school was a lot easier than I imagined it would be. I guess not having a shotgun poking you in the back or someone threatening to shoot a woman and infant made a huge difference. At the sound of a group of people approaching, I ducked into a dark classroom. I peeked out through the crack in the doorway, holding my breath.
“I don’t know, man. Sometimes I’d rather be out there on my own, ya know?”
“Shhh! Don’t be saying that shit out loud or to other kids. Half of them would rat you out to Warren before you even finished talking.”
“I know. I won’t. Let’s get outside and take over for John and Dalton so they don’t get pissed.”
“Yeah, they’re going to want to join everyone for the party in the gym before it’s all over.”
Their voices faded as they walked away, going out the door I’d just come in through. Party in the gym, huh? So, Warren was celebrating and that’s why there were fewer lookouts posted outside. Guess I was going to be crashing a party.
I got as close to the gymnasium as I could without being seen. There was a lot of noise coming from that general direction and I knew that they wouldn’t be unarmed, even at a celebration. There were no side entrances to the gym, only the front doors that led into the hallway and the back door that led out onto a school playground. No way I’d be able to get inside without being seen. Even if I could get inside the room, I probably wouldn’t be able to get a shot off without one of the kids putting me down first.
I actually didn’t care if they shot me at this point, hell, they’d be doing me a favor.
I just didn’t want to meet my maker before I sent Warren to the afterlife.
My best bet was to wait it out and see if I could get to Warren after everyone headed to bed for the night. The problem was, I didn’t know where Warren slept. If he slept in the same area that the children did, I’d be able to narrow it down, but I was pretty sure he didn’t sleep near them.
The way I figured it, he probably had a space to himself.
He struck me as the type of guy who would need to feel a little removed from the grungy community sleeping quarters of his child-soldiers.
I was contemplating my next move from my hiding spot inside an administrator’s office when—lo and behold—a voice I recognized froze me in place.
Carter.
I peeked through the crack in the door and saw him standing right outside of it, speaking to a kid who was a lot younger than him, giving him tips on hand-to-hand combat. Carter’s back was to the door I was hiding behind, but I could see the face of the kid he was speaking to.
“You’re small now, and that isn’t always a bad thing,” Carter said to the kid.
“It means you’re weaker, but it also means you’re faster and you can fit into spaces larger kids can’t. Into places the dead can’t reach. Just keep practicing and you’re going to do great.”
The kid beamed up at Carter.
“Thanks, Carter! I’ll work harder, I promise!”
He lit off down the hall, not pausing to glance back. Carter was still looking down the hallway in the direction that the kid had run when I reached out, putting my hand over his mouth, and yanked him back into the room with me.
Caught off guard, he was in the room before he processed the danger, which was good for me. Unfortunately, his surprise didn’t last long and he began fighting back after his survival instincts kicked into overdrive.
His head cracking into the bridge of my nose was the least of my worries. He had a knife pulled and at my throat before I could recover.
He stood face-to-face with me in a rage, his eyes glints of steel.
“Damn, kid. I’ll be sure to send a message first next time,” I sputtered through the blood pouring down my face. His eyes widened and he took a step back, blinking until his eyes focused more fully on my face.
“Tex?” he asked. He glanced around the room, completely closing the door I’d jerked him through.
“Your head is hard as a rock,” I grumbled, mopping my bloody nose with the back of my sleeve.
“Yeah, so I’ve been told,” he said with a smirk.
“So, you made it.” He glanced around us, realizing suddenly that I was alone.
“The baby?”
“The baby is safe.”
“Maria?” he asked after a pause. I gritted my teeth and turned my face away.
“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely.
“I know.” It was all I could manage.
“So why are you here?” he asked after giving me a moment.
“I made a promise to Warren,” I said.
; Carter studied me closely, not surprised, but not enthusiastic either.
“Is it worth it?” he asked.
“Worth what?” I asked. “My life? Because I don’t have a life left to worry about,” I added gruffly. I pulled back my shirt, exposing my bandaged wound to Carter.
“I’m not here for me.”
“I know,” he said understandingly.
I believed he did understand. I didn’t care that I was going to die in the next twenty-four hours. I knew I was going to die for over two years now, it was just a matter of when and for what cause.
Maria and Rose had been my cause.
Warren had fucked with my cause.
“So, what is your plan?” he asked.
“Well, getting in here was about it,” I admitted. “Other than killing him, that is.”
“It’s going to be hard to get to him without being seen,” Carter said.
I knew that, but that wasn’t going to deter me.
“His room is a building over from this one. If you can get there, your best chance is to snag him while he’s on his way to bed. He’s been relaxed all night, feeling kind of invincible, I guess.”
I clenched my teeth. Yeah, he would be.
Carter told me the layout of the building where Warren slept. After I thought I had it down, I glanced over at the boy, who was really more of a man than a kid.
“I told some friends about your group here.” Carter stiffened beside me. “They’re good people from an underground Army base. They won’t force you to come with them. It will be up to each one of you to make that choice.
Once Warren is gone, these kids will need someone to look up to,” I said.
Carter shook his head.
“I’m not the oldest. Not even close. There are some older boys who will want to be in charge.”
I put a hand out and placed it on his shoulder.
“You’re a good kid, Carter, and a natural leader. People will follow you if you want them to. It’s a lot of responsibility to have people look to you for their survival though, so I understand if you’re not ready for that. Just keep your head up, make smart decisions, and if things go bad, get out of here.”
Carter nodded.
“I will. Thank you, Tex, and… good luck.”
State of | Book 2 | State of Ruin Page 17