A Safe Place

by Frost, Scott

  “Emma, it’s okay. You can come out.”

  I kept my eyes on Mary and Clyde. Emma slowly walked out of the office. She stood behind me, but kept her eyes on both of them. We stood in silence, staring at each other. I think we were all shocked.

  I spoke first.

  “Sorry, but you can never be too safe.” I lowered my rifle and stepped forward. Emma followed, but stayed behind me.

  “It’s okay. I’m just so glad that we found the both of you. Hi, Emma, I’m Mary and this old man is my husband. His name is Clyde.”

  “Hi. It’s nice to meet you,” Emma said, as she smiled.

  Clyde walked toward me with his hand out. I put my hand out and shook his hand. His grip was strong. After we shook hands, he reached down to Emma, she carefully shook his hand.

  “Well, I must say you look like an angel. Your Daddy must be taking good care of you.”

  “My daddy is the best. Thanks.”

  She leaned closer to me and whispered.

  “He said I look like an angel.” She smiled as she spoke.

  We asked each other about everything. They said they were amazed that we had survived. Mary and Emma sat at the table and ate. Emma was alive and happy. She talked about everything she had seen, but mostly talked about the Harry Potter book that I had given her. She also talked about her mom.

  Clyde and I talked about the infected. I also told him about Natasha.

  “I’m sorry.”

  We tried to keep the conversation simple. After all we were still strangers. I didn’t trust them completely and I’m sure they didn’t trust me completely. When you live in a world where both infected and uninfected people are dangerous, you learn to distance yourself from people, you learn to distrust everyone.

  “I don’t mean to be rude, but I haven’t had anything to eat since yesterday. Do you mind if I grab something to eat and join the ladies at the table.”

  Mary looked up and gave her husband a big smile. Emma kept talking about Harry. It had been too long since Emma spoke to someone besides me. And she loved every second of it. Clyde and I grabbed a couple of cans of food, and a few bottles of water and sat down at the table. I sat next to Emma and he sat next to his wife. We ate in silence, well, everyone except Emma. She kept talking. I pulled her to my side and kissed her on the head. She smiled.

  “Daddy.” She said, as she rolled her eyes.

  She was being a kid, embarrassed by me giving her a kiss. She looked at Mary and smiled. When we finished eating, Mary and Emma stayed at the table and talked about Harry Potter. I was amazed at the fact that Mary knew who he was. Clyde and I leaned against the counter. He told me that they had six grand children.

  “Mary use to read Harry Potter books to them when they stayed the night. Kids seem to love that Harry Potter character.”

  I watched Emma as she described a scene in the book.

  “So, Clyde what do you and Mary plan on doing. She said that you have a vehicle but you’re out of gas, right?”

  “Yes, we have a Jeep Cherokee, but it ran out of gas about three blocks away. To be honest, I have no idea what we are going to do. There doesn’t seem to be any safe place to go. Well, a safe place with supplies, that is. The plan was to find gas, supplies and survivors. Two out of three isn’t bad.” He said with a laugh.

  “What do you think about joining forces?” I asked. Clyde smiled, and reached for my hand.

  “That is the best idea I’ve heard in a long time. I think if we stay together we have a better chance. What do you think we should do? Do you have any ideas?”

  Clyde asked Mary what she thought about staying together, but before she could answer, Emma said it was a good idea. Mary smiled and agreed with Emma. So it was settled, we would stay together. The four of us sat at the table. Emma read her book as we discussed a plan. My only requirement was that we had to try and find Natasha. They both agreed that was a good idea. We sat for a longtime and finally a plan was born. It was a good plan. We decided that we wouldn’t leave until the next morning. The building was secure, we had plenty of supplies, and so we relaxed and took turns reading from the Harry Potter book. It didn’t take long for Emma to fall asleep. And then Mary fell asleep. Clyde and I discussed taking turns standing guard and then decided that we would be safe. We checked all the doors and both fell asleep, exhausted and excited. I didn’t have any nightmares that night, only dreams of Natasha.

  Chapter Seven

  I woke with Emma sleeping at my side. We had slept in the kitchen. It was early, but I didn’t know how early. Clyde was awake and sitting at the table looking over a map. I walked over to him and said good morning. He looked full of life and happy. Though, I had no idea why.

  “Good Morning. How did you sleep? I wish we had some coffee.”

  I couldn’t have agreed more. I would’ve given anything for a cup of Alterra coffee and a Camel Light. Mary was still asleep.

  “Good morning. Coffee would be nice. I take it you already looked for coffee.”

  “In fact I did. I looked through all the boxes and cabinets, but didn’t find any. I’m sorry if I made too much noise. I was trying to be quiet.”

  “No, to be honest, I didn’t even hear you, which is surprising because I’m usually a light sleeper.”

  We sat there for a while talking about old times and about our plan. The fist part of the plan was to find gas. We wouldn’t bother checking the gas stations, as we knew they would be empty. We would check vehicles around town, and if we found one with gas, we would siphon the gas out of it or at least try.

  “Daddy, I’m hungry.” Emma’s voice startled me. She was all smiles. She badly needed a bath.

  “Help yourself to anything you want.” Before I finished talking she walked toward the boxes of food, and dug through the cans until she found a can of peaches and a can of carrots. She held them up for me to see.

  “Em, come here for a minute.” She looked at me and back down at the feast in front of her. She looked at me with her sad eyes as she stood up and started to walk back to me. When she was close enough, I pulled close to me and kissed her forehead. Her fever was getting worse.

  “How do you feel?” I asked.

  “Hungry.” She replied as she looked at her food.

  “Okay. Go eat.”

  “Hey Clyde, any chance you have any aspirin on you?”

  I asked, but didn’t expect him to say yes. He looked from to Emma and then back at me, and realized that she was sick.

  “How long has your daughter been sick?”

  “She keeps telling me she feels okay, but she has had a fever for a while. And it feels like it is getting worse.”

  “Well you’re in luck. I don’t have a first aid kit, though I wish I did, but I do have aspirin. In fact, I have two bottles of Tylenol in my bag. I found them at a gas station down in Bradley. My bag is over on the floor by Mary. Help yourself. If you don’t mind grab me two Tylenol, I have a bit of a headache.”

  I was in shock. I hadn’t expected him to have anything. I nodded and walked toward his bag. Mary stirred as I approached. She looked at me with frightened eyes. I slowed and stood a few feet back. She slowly sat up, rubbed her eyes, and gave me a smile.

  “Sorry, I was having a bad dream. I can’t believe I’m the last one to wake.” She said as she looked around the room.

  “That’s okay; I think we all needed a goodnight sleep. Clyde said that I can get some aspirin for Emma, is that okay?”

  “Of course. Is she sick?”

  I explained Emma’s symptoms, and she looked at Emma with caring eyes. I could tell she was genuinely concerned. She reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of aspirin.

  “How many do you think Emma should take?” I looked down at her, and she could tell that I didn’t know. Her mom was the one that gave Emma medicine when she was sick. I had no idea.

  “I think two should be fine for now. If her fever hasn’t broke by this evening we can give her another two.”

  I
was relived. I’m glad that Mary and Clyde found us. I gave Emma the aspirin. She was reluctant to take them. She insisted that she felt fine. Mary calmed her down and got her to take the pills. The deal was that is she took the pills Mary would read her a chapter of Harry Potter before we left. She quickly agreed.

  While Mary read to Emma, Clyde and I and walked out into the open banquet area. It was dark, but not pitch black. Clyde had two flashlights, so he turned his on and handed me the other. I switched it on and looked toward the doors. Clyde had blocked all the doors with tables and chairs. It was rather impressive considering his age. We walked toward the bathroom, but before we reached them. I told him what was in the women’s bathroom.

  “I know. I went in there yesterday morning before we found you and Emma. The men’s bathroom is locked from the inside. I knocked, and had hoped that someone would reply. But no one did. Someone has to be in there. I don’t think the infected know how to lock doors, I don’t think they are that smart. What do you think we should do?”

  “What do you mean? The door is locked; I say we just leave it alone. I don’t think I want to know. If someone is in there they would’ve answered. And since no one answered that must mean they are dead.”

  We walked past the bathrooms and walked toward the far end of the hall. The windows were boarded up, but in between the boards rays of sun light shined in. We both leaned against the boards and looked outside. The lake was in front of us, and neither of us saw any sign of movement, no signs of infected. It was lightly raining and from the west we saw black clouds coming our way.

  “Looks like we got a bad storm brewing, I hope the lights don’t go out.” Clyde said, with a short laugh.

  I laughed back at him, and before long we both laughed together. We stopped laughing when Mary and Emma walked toward us.

  “What’s so funny,” Mary asked with her southern charm. Emma was next to her. They were hand in hand.

  “It looks like we have a bad storm coming our way. I think we should stay here another night. I don’t think we should leave until the storm passes us. What do you think?”

  “I agree.” Mary said with a sigh of relief. Clyde turned toward me, and asked me the same question.

  “I’m okay staying until the storm passes. Let’s just double check all the doors. Emma what do you think?”

  Emma looked at me, and then at Clyde and Mary.

  “I think we should stay.” And it was agreed. We would stay until the storm passed. It turned out to be a true Midwest storm. It lasted three days, with strong winds and lots of rain. We spent most of the time sitting around and talking about the meaning of life. Clyde and Mary, both church goers, had a lot to say. I listened, but didn’t say much. We talked about favorite movies and books and found that we had opposite taste in everything. Clyde preferred books and movies about history. Mary preferred romance and I preferred horror.

  We talked about everything we could to keep our minds off of the real world that was outside of our safe place. At night after Emma was asleep we talked about the infected, and how to destroy them. We all agreed that destroying the brain was the fastest way. We talked about the virus. We all agreed that the virus could only be spread by the blood of the infected. We talked late into the night, and Clyde was the first to fall asleep. Mary and I sat at the table, sharing a bottle of water and talking about easier times. I told her about Natasha. She attentively listened, closing her eyes at times to imagine what Natasha looked like. I told her about the night I proposed.

  I asked Natasha to marry me after only six months. We were in love and I wanted to begin our life together. I don’t know if my proposal surprised her, but it did surprise everyone else. On our six month anniversary, yes, we celebrated each month, I proposed. I think that was the romantic inside of each of us.

  I took her to dinner at Leona’s, the restaurant where we had our first date. The night was perfect. We held hands and spoke about the future. We both wanted a family, two kids, and a nice house. The only disagreement was that she wanted a cat and I wanted a dog. But the disagreement didn’t last long. We both agreed that we would have both. The night was perfect. And so was Natasha. We ate dinner, I had Lasagna and she had a chicken Caesar salad, not because she was afraid to eat in front of me, but because it was her favorite. After dinner, we drove to Chicago and parked at Navy Pier. As we walked along the lake front, from Navy Pier to the Shed Aquarium, we stopped half way, and sat down, feet dangling over the edge. We sat there for a long time, just enjoying the night, and each other. I watched her watch the night sky, and the gentle waves that rocked the boats; the waves gently crashed onto the wall. It was a clear night, you could see for miles. Navy Pier was alive, lights, and people. The surrounding skyscrapers were radiant with light and left us in shadows.

  “Natasha, what are you thinking about?”

  She took several minutes to answer. She held me hand, and gently squeezed to let me know she was thinking.

  “Alex, you know I love you, right?”

  “Of course and I love you.” I said, pulling her into my arms. I moved back from the edge, as she took a seat in front of me. I wrapped my arms around her and put my head on her shoulder, smelling her hair. She smelled like sweet summer lilacs. I kissed her neck and wrapped my arms around her stomach, brushing her breasts with my fingers. She sighed, and told me to behave myself. We both laughed. We sat like that for a long time. I don’t know what she was thinking about, but I knew I was frantic. I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out a small box.

  “What are you doing?” She asked.

  I was speechless. I had prepared a speech, but in that moment, I had forgotten it.

  “Nothing, just wanted to get something out of my pocket. It’s something I want to give you.”

  “You didn’t have to get me something. I thought we agreed we weren’t going to buy gifts every month for each other. I feel bad, I didn’t get you anything.”

  “That’s ok. And it’s not a gift to celebrate our six months anniversary. It is a gift to celebrate us, to celebrate our love.”

  She turned around and placed her legs on each side of me, so that we were sitting in front of each other. She leaned in and kissed me. As we kissed, I put one of my hands on her cheek, and the other hand, with the ring, I slowly placed in her hand.

  She felt the box in her hand, and pulled away. She looked down, and realized what it was or at least what it might be. She looked at me and her eyes started to water. As she started to speak, I put a finger on her lips.

  “No, let me talk first, before I lose my nerve. I can’t believe how difficult this is. I have loved you ever since the night we met when you spilled my coffee. And I fall in love with you more every day. I can’t think of a life without you, nor do I know how I lived without you. I don’t know if it was fate that night, but I believe you’re my true love. No one understands me more than you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to start a life with you as husband and wife. You mean everything to me. And I know we’ve only been together for six months, and this might be too soon, but I can’t help what my heart feels. My heart wants you forever. Natasha. Will you marry me?”

  As I spoke she kept her eyes on me. Tears began to fall onto her cheeks. She griped the box in her hand and smiled.

  “Yes, oh my God, yes.” She said in between tears. I took the box from her hand, and opened it. I turned the box toward her and she slowly looked from my eyes down to the box. She was speechless. About two months ago we went window shopping in Chicago. She looked at the jewelry through the windows, and I secretly took mental notes on what she preferred. She wasn’t hinting that wasn’t her style. She pointed to a ring in the window and said that it was the perfect wedding ring. It wasn’t gaudy. It was classically beautiful. I went back to the jewelry a month after that night and bought the ring. And she was right it was a perfect wedding ring.

  “Do you like?”

  “That’s the ring I pointed out when we were in Chicago. How
did you remember?”

  “Well, to be honest, I went back and looked at several different rings and had a sales lady help me find it. As soon as I saw it, I knew this was the ring you said was perfect.

  “I love you so much, but didn’t it cost too much? I mean, I think I remember the price.”

  “The price doesn’t matter. I wanted to give you the perfect wedding ring.” Truth was that I had maxed out two different credit cards to purchase the ring but I didn’t care. I wanted her to be happy. I wanted to give her perfection.

  I slipped the ring onto her finger, and she held it up in the moon light and smiled as tears fell onto her cheeks. She was simply beautiful. Her hair was blowing in the wind, and her eyes were sparkling.

  As I finished telling Mary about the night I proposed, tears fell on my cheeks. I missed Natasha so much. Mary, sensing my pain, came around the table, sat next to me, and wrapped her arms around me.

  “We will find her. I know we will. Keep her in your heart and keep hope alive. She sounds like a beautiful girl. And I can’t wait to meet her.”

  Her words didn't make me feel better. I continued to cry. I was glad Emma was asleep. I didn’t want her to see me in this state. I needed to be strong for her. Mary kissed my forehead and said goodnight. She took her spot next to Clyde, and put her arms around him. He stirred, and looked up at her. They fell asleep on their sides, Mary holding him. They were happy. They were in love. I missed the feeling. I sat at the table until my eyes started to close. I sat down next to Emma. She was peacefully sleeping. I felt her forehead, and the fever was close to gone. She hadn’t complained the whole day about not feeling good. Thank God for Clyde and Mary. I watched Emma sleep, seeing Natasha in her face. I bent down and kissed her cheek, and whispered.

  “I love you sweetie. Goodnight.”

  Chapter Eight

  The morning the storm broke we woke up early and packed everything we could into our bags. We put the lighter things in Emma’s bag. She was persistent that she could carry more stuff in her backpack. We made a final round of the kitchen. We had everything we could carry. We un-barricaded the north door, the closest door to the road. Clyde and I took the lead. We slowly walked out the door, both armed with rifles. Emma and Mary stayed behind until we gave them the okay. Once we were out, Mary closed the door. Clyde and I walked around the building. There were no movements or sounds. The lake was still. The wind that had blasted the lake for the last several days was gone. The ground was littered with branches and leafs. I saw a squirrel gathering food; he paused and looked at us as though we were intruding. He gave us a cautious look and then went about his business. We walked full circle and stood in front of the door we had just came out.