by Eric Baker
Mildred held her arm close to her body. The exertion from moving the cupboard had caused her wound to bleed, soaking the towel she had hastily wrapped around it. She looked at Jackson with a grimace of pain.
“I daresay I’ll live, young man. I am certain to need medical attention, though, as there is no telling where the savage’s mouth has been that bit me.”
Jackson tried to keep his face impassive. No sense in creating a panic, he would have to deal with this discreetly. After the two women were on their way to the lobby, he stepped over to the man that had been bitten helping the women.
“That was quick thinking, helping the women. Without that door closed, we may have been overrun.” He held out his hand to shake the man’s hand. When the man took it, Jackson pulled him close, holding his arm up to inspect it. There was a small amount of blood on his sleeve.
“Were you injured?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Just glad I could help out.” He pulled his sleeve back and teeth indentions were evident on his arm. One small spot had what looked like a small, black and blue puncture, a dot of blood welling up on it. The man wiped at it with his other sleeve.
“Huh. Looks like the crazy that bit me had dirty teeth. Just what I need, right?” He gave a little chuckle that died out as he looked up. Jackson was obviously troubled, looking at the man’s arm. When he realized the man was staring at him, he composed himself and laughed.
“Right! Dirty teeth, I’m sure that’s all. We’ll get Doc to look at it later, just to make sure.”
“Why would Doc need to look at a bite?” The man was starting to get worried.
“Oh, it’s nothing, but you know, dirty teeth, don’t want to get an infection over something so… silly, right?” Jackson turned. “Let’s get back to the lobby and see how everything is going.”
He stopped at the other man that had helped in the kitchen.
“And a big thank you to you as well, sir. Now, would you mind so much as to double check that the back door is secure? As a matter of fact, we could use some security here. I’ll have someone relieve you in a bit.” With that, he walked back into the lobby without waiting for an answer.
Jackson looked around the lobby and took stock of the few injured people, mostly women, that were laying on the sofas and rugs while being tended to by some other women and men. His face went hot as he realized he didn’t have a clue how many of them may have been bitten. He just knew he had to get them all away from the others.
It didn’t help matters that there was a near continuous volley of banging and occasional crashing of glass from the front of the lobby. With all the shooting and screaming, they had managed to attract every zombie in town. That was the last thing they needed. But maybe he could use the impending doom to his advantage. He walked over to the center of the lobby and got everyone’s attention.
“Excuse me, everyone, I need your attention. I know we’re in a dire situation here, pardon the pun, but we are going to do everything we can to keep us all safe. First, we need anyone that’s been injured to get into a safe room that can be secured. We don’t want to risk them attack… um, I mean, being injured or in the way in case of another attack. Not when they can’t defend themselves.”
Looking around the room, he located the manager. He got his attention, then pointed to a sitting room off to one side that had a door.
“Does that door lock?” The manager just nodded his affirmation. “Good. Grab the key and meet us there. Everyone else, let’s help these injured in there to, umm… keep them safe.”
Jackson was turning to assess the situation at the front door when one of the men stood and grabbed his arm. The man and a young boy were attending the woman from the kitchen that had been bitten.
“Now hold on there, Mayor! I ain't just gonna lock my Mildred up in there with no medical help.”
Jackson pulled the man’s hand away from his arm and distastefully wiped his sleeve.
“I assure you, sir, that as soon as we are safe here, we will send for Doc Peck. Until that time, they need to be confined for our… their protection, should some of those zombies get past us in here. You wouldn’t want them to get her, now, would you?” Jackson had his politician smile and talk going full force since he could tell others were listening. “No? Good. Now, let’s help all the injured into that room, if you would, thank you, sir.”
Continuing his way to the front, he could see that the men there had done a good job of barricading the windows and the front door. There was an occasional shift or wobble of the items piled up as they were hit from the outside, but it looked as though it would hold for now.
He felt a tap on his arm and looked over to see the same young boy that had been with Mildred. He looked to be about twelve years old with an earnest face.
“Mr. Mayor, are we going to get medicine for my maw?” The boy looked scared but determined.
“Well, son, that’s not as easy as it seems. We don’t exactly have the run of the town right now, especially with it getting dark and all. Besides, Doc’s probably still over at the saloon. We’ll just have to wait until morning and see how things work out. Excuse me, now, I’ve got work to do.”
Jackson turned back to the barricade but was stopped by the boy grabbing his arm this time.
“I can do it! If Doc’s at the saloon, I can go over the roofs and tell him what’s going on. Maybe get some medicine for my maw. Can I?”
Jackson was getting annoyed with the boy. He knew he meant well, but he had work to do. Jackson started to let the boy know just what he thought about his idea when he realized that some other people had overheard and were watching to see what the Mayor would say. Great. He couldn’t let some little snot-nosed kid run across the rooftops of the buildings in town at night, especially with what was waiting for him in the street if he fell.
Before he could decide what to say, a shot from down the street caused everyone to pause what they were doing. Jackson waited a few moments, listening for more shots. The silence stretched out when he realized that there was actual silence. No banging, no moaning, no cries from outside.
Walking to the front door, Jackson put his ear to the wood and listened. Everyone in the lobby watched and waited. After a minute, Jackson pulled back and looked around. He pulled his pistol out, and so did every other man and a few women in the room.
Jackson opened the door and waited. When nothing happened, he opened it a little further and peeked outside. He could see no figures in the dark. Looking down the street toward the direction the shot came from, he could see dark shadows moving in the roadway. Probably toward the saloon. And if the Sheriff had any brains, he had most likely taken Daisy back there. He needed to warn them.
Shutting the door and locking it again, Jackson turned back to the room, then looked at the boy that had volunteered to go to Doc.
“What’s your name, son?”
“Tommy, sir. Tommy Metzer. That’s my maw and paw.” He pointed to the woman from the kitchen and the man helping her.
“Well, son, looks like you’re in luck. That shot got the attention of all the zombies. But I have to ask: are you sure you can do this?”
“Yes, sir, I know I can.” The boy nodded his head, ready to get going.
“Well, then, if you’re quiet and careful, you shouldn’t have any problems. Get to the saloon, tell Doc we need him and medicine, and if you see the Sheriff or a Deputy, tell them we could sure use the help. Oh, and be sure to tell them that all the zombies look like they’re headed that way.”
The boy turned without a word and ran up the steps to the top floor. All eyes were on him, hopes and prayers following him the whole way.
“Alright, folks, soon as Tommy there gets to Doc, there’ll be help on the way. Until then, let’s keep things going. And keep it quiet in here, slow and easy. More help on the barricade and let’s get everyone that’s injured into that room. Gotta keep them all safe!”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Eli and Daisy sat and waited in si
lence. The shots from down the street were fast and loud. Eli tried to guess the direction, but had to assume they came from the hotel. Where most of the townsfolk were hiding out. He hoped that the sudden cessation of firing was because they had eliminated the threat. And not the other way around.
Daisy looked at Eli’s face. She could feel his tenseness seeping into her body through his hand that still held hers. He was looking toward the shots, as if he could see through the wall, all sense of the tender moment between them shattered. She regretted that the moment hadn’t lasted any longer. Even one more second may have been enough. Still, she had seen in Eli’s eyes that he had felt something between them. Now they had to get through the night and see where it took them.
Continuing to wait and listen, they could hear movement outside the back door of the clothing shop along with the occasional grunt or moan. A minute or more elapsed since the shots before Eli looked down and saw his hand still clutching Daisy’s wrist from when she had been playfully swatting at him. He looked her in the eye, then his face turned red as he let go.
“Uh, I, uh, sorry about that, it’s just that with the shooting…”
Eli reached up to his head and ran his hand through his hair, a common habit he had that Daisy found endearing. And as was her habit, especially when she was out of sorts, she couldn’t help making a sarcastic comment.
“Well now, I didn’t really mind all that much, but in the future, it might be easier if we actually put hand in hand. It works better that way.”
She gave him a bright smile and was rewarded by the sight of the red on his face getting even redder. Then she thought about what she had said and was suddenly embarrassed herself. Looking away, she put her left hand on her wrist and could still feel the heat of his hand. After a few moments, she looked back at him, but he was once again looking through the walls and listening to more rustling noises from behind the building.
Eli couldn’t take it anymore. He put a hand down on the floor and lifted himself into a crouch, then stood up. He waited again, still listening, before turning back to Daisy.
“I can’t wait any longer. I need to know what’s going on out there.” Eli’s voice was raspy as he tried to whisper as soft as he could. “The back door is out of the question. There’s no way of seeing out, of making sure I won’t be ambushed. I’ll have to go through the front so I can see out of the windows. You wait here and when…”
Daisy had been listening to Eli make plans, and it did not escape her attention he was using ‘I’ a lot instead of ‘we.’ When he told her to wait, though, she couldn’t hold back any longer. She surged to her feet, although not as quiet as she intended.
Her launch from the floor caught Eli by surprise, and he found himself face-to-face with a very angry and determined woman. A woman, he thought, that only minutes earlier had been facing him with far different emotions between them.
“What do you mean, wait here?” Daisy hissed, the anger boiling over, her voice getting louder. “Now, you listen here, Sheriff Eli Roberts, if you think for one minute that I’m going to sit here like some helpless damsel in distress while you go out there…”
Eli felt the emotions in his chest make his heart want to explode. He was scared. The more Daisy talked, the louder she got, he worried that zombies would hear them outside. But more than that, he found that his feelings for her were at a breaking point. He knew deep down inside it was most likely the horrible situation they were in. But he also knew they had been doing a dance around each other for a while, one he’d been avoiding. With all that was going on, if this was his last night on this earth, he wanted no regrets over what might have been.
He reached forward, taking her by the arms, cutting off her sentence. She tried to push his hands away.
“… as capable as any man. You’ll have to tie me to a chair if you think…”
Eli pulled Daisy toward him and kissed her.
For a split second, Daisy tried to keep talking, then she realized what had happened. Her eyes went wide in disbelief, looking into Eli’s eyes. She realized he was watching her reaction and was about to break the all too brief kiss. Not willing to allow that to happen, Daisy melted against him, eyes closing in relief and surrender. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close.
Eli was in heaven. He hadn’t felt this way in years, not since… he felt a pang of sorrow for a second. But he had long since concluded that his wife, his Lorelei, would never want him to be alone. Taking Daisy’s arms around him as permission, he also wrapped his arms around her.
The kiss felt like it lasted forever, but Eli forced himself to break away from her. Holding Daisy by the arms, looking her in the eye, he smiled.
“That was… incredible.” Daisy blushed a little at his words, then Eli continued. “I hope you know I have never - and will never - take you for granted. You are probably the most capable woman I’ve ever known. And now, with all of… this… you should know how I feel about you.”
Daisy smiled at Eli as he stumbled over words she had wanted to hear, words she wanted to say. She bit her lip, holding back one of her patented sarcastic comments, wanting to say something but also wanting to hear him out.
“And because of my feelings for you, and that fact alone, I wanted you to stay here. I could tell you I would move faster without you and it would be true. But even then, I would still be thinking of you. Most of all, I just wanted you to be safe. I never intended to upset you.” Eli grinned a little slyly. “Although, I’m actually more than a little glad right now that I did.”
Daisy pretended for a second to be shocked by his comment. Then she moved her right hand around his hand and up to his cheek, surprising him before he could stop her movement. She lightly tapped his cheek in a mock slap, then held her hand there.
“I’m glad, too, Eli.” She looked at him for a few seconds, then once again wrapped her arms around his waist. They held each other for a little while longer. Then with a sigh, Eli pulled away.
“As much as I wish we could stay here, I have to know what’s going on in town. But I promise we’ll talk more about this as soon as possible, OK?”
“Why, Sheriff, I didn’t realize what we were doing was talking.” Daisy couldn’t help the comment, knowing it would most likely make Eli blush again.
He surprised her, though, by smiling and rolling his eyes at her.
“From now on, this is serious. We’ll go through the shop, keeping a low profile, until we get to the front door. If there are any problems or we run into a zombie, you immediately return to this room, lock the door, and wait. You either agree, or I will tie you to a chair as you mentioned earlier.”
Daisy was still struggling to get her heart under control from the sudden change in their relationship. But as Eli ran over what they were about to do, she remembered all too clearly what waited for them outside, and her heart beat faster with anxiety.
“One last thing. I haven’t heard any sounds from outside in a while. That means that the shots have attracted all the zombies, most likely to the hotel if I heard correct. If so, we should be able to run straight to the saloon. Once I give the go to run, you stay right behind me. No sounds, no talking, no shooting, unless absolutely necessary. Understood?”
Daisy nodded her understanding. The more Eli talked, the more frightened she became. But she knew it was just her body getting ready to deal with what was ahead of them. Of course, knowing what caused it didn’t necessarily change the way she felt.
Eli reached over to the lantern on a crate near the door and turned it down as far as he could without it going out. He didn’t want it to be dark on the off chance that Daisy had to come back. With that thought, he closed his eyes for only a second, whispering a quick prayer for her safety. Then he turned and knelt by the door to the shop. Daisy took a deep breath and knelt behind him.
Eli opened the door to the store a few inches, enough to see into the room. His hand gripped the handle tight, his eyes squinting to see in the gloom. Focusing on t
he front door, he waited, letting his peripheral vision do the work, trying to pick up on any movement. He knew that even though they hadn’t heard anything out front, it was still possible that someone had gotten inside.
Just when Daisy was about to ask if he’d seen anything, Eli pushed the door open just far enough for them to move through the opening. Rising into a crouch, Eli moved forward, hands outstretched, trying to remember where the store displays were located. He could feel Daisy moving behind him.
It took longer than expected, but they reached the front door. Eli knelt once more, stretching his back and shoulders against the tenseness from their crouched maneuvers. Moonlight shone through the windows in the door, and Eli used it to look back at Daisy.
He gave her a thumb up along with a questioning look and a slight smile. She returned the thumb up with what she hoped was a confident smile but felt more like the shakiness in her legs. Taking a deep breath, Daisy tried to calm her nerves. She always did better with sudden action, like earlier in the saloon. But make her wait and think about it, and she seemed to get more and more nervous.
Eli opened the front door, praying for the hinges to be quiet. A faint squeak was the only sound. Opening the door enough to poke his head out, he looked up and down the boardwalk and street. He saw a few suspicious shadows at first, then his eyes caught the lit-up front of the Dire Hotel.
The two lanterns on either side of the front doors lit the boardwalk and some of the street. If Eli hadn’t known better, he would have thought he was looking at a lynch mob. People were scattered around the whole front of the hotel. Some were occasionally banging on a door or window, and others just wandered around, as if waiting.
Since there appeared to be so many outside, Eli could only assume that the people inside the hotel were safe for the time being. With that many zombies, and down to his last few bullets, he knew he wouldn’t be able to help them, and would most likely get himself killed. His best option was to get to the saloon as he planned. Then to the Sheriff’s office.