“We call this the Pit,” he said.
“You keep undead here?”
“Yeah. No one comes back here. We used to study them, try to figure out what makes them tick, when they’d decompose. We quit a long time ago, but the Pit’s still here. One day we’ll take the young kids out here and teach them about walkers.”
Young kids, Aaron thought. Never thought I’d see a place where young kids could grow up.
Aaron spotted a walker in the Pit that caught his attention. It was a female with long white hair. She must have died exercising, as she wore torn sweatpants and a filthy tee shirt. The corpse was in good shape. It still had all its limbs and both eyes.
“You’d better cover this thing,” he said, pointing at Sweatpants. “Or at least put that one down. It’s a thinker.”
“A thinker?”
He explained to Richardson the same way he had Sam, about how some undead could think. Richardson didn’t believe it, but there was no harm in humoring Aaron.
“We’ve got some old fencing stored away. I’ll get someone to seal this up.”
As they walked back toward the school, Aaron decided he had to share his doubts. “So, what’s the catch?”
“Catch?”
Aaron waved around him. “This place is amazing. What’s the deal? Are you the dictator? You rule this place, have sacrifices at night?”
“Amazing? Well, we’ll take the compliment. But, Aaron, some people find their way here, and leave right away. The chicken coops are falling apart. We usually have two vegetable gardens, so we can let the soil in one get its nutrients back. The second garden, it’s no good, bad soil. The smokehouse? We built it with as much cinder-block as we could, but one of the guys watching it fell asleep, and a fire started, so we can’t use that right now either. This whole place needs work. A lot of the people here are miserable. We had a husband two nights ago kill his wife and stillborn child. You want to know what the catch is? The catch is we live in a world where the dead walk around and eat us, making life just a little difficult.”
Aaron could see the strength in Richardson. He seemed like a good man.
Richardson looked up at the setting sun. “You’d better pick out a room before it gets too dark. That is, if you’re planning to stay. You can take any empty room. A lot of the good ones are already taken, but there’s plenty left. Might not hurt to ask a neighbor if a room is empty or not. There’s candles in the storeroom, just let whoever is on duty know you need some, although you can probably bug anyone, a lot of people carry candles.”
“Thank you, Richardson. It was a pleasure meeting you.” Aaron turned to walk away.
“Uh, son, one second before you go. Might not be any of my business, but can I ask what happened with you and Samantha in Baltimore?”
He shrugged. “Nothing. She stayed with me a night, and we fought our way back here. Why?”
“Well, it’s just that she’s, uh, smiling. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen that.”
“Maybe she’s happy to be alive.”
“Maybe.”
Aaron nodded. “Again, thanks for everything.”
Richardson had a good feeling about Aaron. He hoped the young man decided to stay.
* * *
Sam cursed loudly as she slid the mattress she’d taken from the storeroom into the corner of her room. It took her the rest of the day, but her room was nearly back together. She almost put a fist through the wall when she walked in earlier. The only thing the looters left were the curtains on the windows. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise, as she managed to upgrade a few items, and get a few new ones.
She found four end-tables of the same size that she put together to make one long table. She had a nice selection of clothes, although her favorite sandals were gone. Her new mattress was bigger, and still wrapped in old plastic. It had never been used. She found a nice brush that didn’t look to be in terrible shape, and a medium sized mirror she leaned against the wall on her makeshift long table. She even found an old lounge-chair and tiny couch that had a few stains, but was very soft and comfortable.
It needed more work, but it wasn’t a bad start.
The sun was down. Her day of work was coming to an end.
She took a breath. It was time to rest. She closed her curtains and shut the door. She started stripping off the clothes off she’d worn since Baltimore. She felt disgusting.
She was down to just her panties when she heard a voice at the door. Actually, not at the door, but just inside her room.
“Hey Sam, you in here?”
She spun around, not expecting to see Aaron’s face. His eyes grew wide when he saw Sam’s body, pretty much all of it.
“Wow.”
“Aaron! Get out!”
He quickly pulled his head out and leaned against the door. He waited patiently while Sam put on some light clothes, and cussed at him from her room.
“Okay, you can come in.”
He did so and closed the door behind him. “I’m sorry, Sam, really. I’m not used to knocking, and I thought I heard you in here.”
Any anger she felt disappeared when she looked at him. She burst out laughing. Aaron looked down at himself, trying to figure out what was going on.
He had his shirt slung over his shoulder. He still wore his backpack and quiver of arrows, and carried his bow in his right hand.
“Please tell me you didn’t walk around all day like that.”
He dropped his gear to the floor. “I didn’t have anywhere to put my stuff.”
“So what do you think? Are you gonna stay?”
He frowned. “I still don’t know.”
She felt her heart sink. “What do you mean?”
“Sam, I’ve already made one enemy. And the women keep giving me weird looks.”
“That’s ‘cause you’re running around without a shirt on.”
“Not just me. It’s hot out there.”
“Well no one else looks as good as-” She stopped herself short. Luckily for her, Aaron had no clue what she was thinking.
“What’s that again?”
“Nothing.”
Aaron smiled when he remembered why he came. Seeing Sam’s gorgeous body, even in near darkness, threw him off a little. “Oh, hey, look what I found in the storeroom.”
He pulled a game of checkers out of his backpack.
She laid halfway on the mattress on her side, crossing her ankles. He wondered if she knew how beautiful she was.
She patted the mattress. “Grab a candle and set it up.”
They played for an hour or so. As the night wore on, Aaron heard the people outside pack up whatever chores they were working on and head inside. There were footsteps and voices outside in the hall. He would see the flicker of candles pass by every so often.
“So you haven’t found a room yet?” she asked as she jumped two of his pieces.
“No.”
“Look, don’t get the wrong idea. We’re not bunk-mates. But if you want to sleep here tonight, you can. Just this night.”
“Thanks, Sam, but I know that makes you uncomfortable. I did find a nice place to sleep. It’s not a room, but it’ll do fine.”
They played one more game before Aaron decided he’d worn out his welcome. She walked him to the door.
“Listen,” she said before he left. “If you leave tomorrow, come find me first. Okay?”
“Sure.”
She closed the door after him and rested her head against it. She didn’t want Aaron to leave, and the thought bothered her.
* * *
Aaron set all his gear on the ground near the Pit. It wasn’t exactly Baltimore, but he had a half moon, the familiar song of the undead, and a few magazines he found in a pile in the school.
He lit a candle, shoved it in the dirt, and rested his head on his backpack. He gave the undead in the Pit a quick glance. They didn’t react, but he saw Sweatpants staring at him.
“Hi guys,” he said. He spoke to them like he did w
hen touring the streets of Baltimore at night.
If he stayed, he wouldn’t be able to do that again.
“I don’t know, I’m not sure if this place is me,” he said to the undead. “The people seem nice enough, and of course there’s Sam, but I just don’t know.”
He thought back to some of the people he had met throughout the day. Richardson, of course, was decent enough. Larry had many jobs, did a little of everything, seemed to be everywhere. Susan took care of the vegetable garden. Paul Sorenson raised the chickens. He met a woman named Carrie, who kept watching him as she walked away. A very pretty woman.
Not as pretty as Sam.
He forced the thought away, and wouldn’t let it return.
“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”
He read until the sounds of the undead lulled him to sleep.
Chapter 9
It was early in the morning when Sam stepped into one of the outdoor showers. She could finally put her full weight on her ankle. The shower was a tub suspended on a six foot high wooden frame. A hose ran from the drain which acted as a shower head. A curtain wrapped around the frame to give some privacy, but Sam never showered nude. She wore an old two-piece bathing suit. They had several of the showers lined up in a row. Everyone stood in pans so they could boil and reuse the water.
Carrie, a woman that Sam didn’t like, who was a few years older than her , stepped into the shower next to her.
“Morning, Samantha.”
“Hi.”
Sam watched as Carrie flashed the guys smiles when they walked by. That’s how she survived in the new world, and Sam didn’t like it. Carrie survived using her looks and charm, which she had plenty of, flirting with men to get what she wanted.
“So where did you find the new guy? Aaron, he said his name was? I talked to him yesterday.”
“In Baltimore.”
“Really? The city? I didn’t even know you were gone.”
Sam said nothing.
“Anyway,” Carrie went on. “Are you two sleeping together?”
“Only twice. At his home in the city. I slept in a lawn chair. Then in the woods.”
“No, dear. I mean are you two having sex? You do know what sex is, right?”
Sam let loose another blast of water to rinse away the last of the soap. She felt embarrassed and wasn’t sure why. “That’s not really your business, is it?”
Carrie read her body language. “That means you’re not. Shame on you, he’s so cute. He’s real nice too, which is a little weird. You don’t meet nice people out in the wild anymore. What’s the matter? Don’t know what you’re doing? Well, I bet he does. You think I have a shot with him?”
No, you don’t.
The protective thought came out of nowhere.
She was quiet. She toweled off and left the shower.
“If you see him,” Carrie called. “Tell him I asked about him.”
Fuck you.
Sam dressed in some light clothes and searched for Richardson. As always, the people of Lexington flashed a few smiles, but the overall mood was somber. She didn’t know it, but the mood was still heavy from losing Lisa, Robert, and their baby. She found Richardson with Larry and an older man named Travis examining the smokehouse in the middle of the old soccer field. She caught the tail end of their conversation as she approached.
“I’m telling you,” Travis said, “the thing is ruined.”
“Travis, come on. I know you and Larry can fix this.”
“Are you kidding? I need wood, more nails, a saw that’s not rusted to the teeth. This whole place is falling apart.”
The men quieted down as Sam approached.
“Morning,” Richardson said in greeting. “What’s going on, Samantha?”
She got right to the point. “Give me something to do. What do you need help with?”
“Uh, sorry, but I don’t have any paying jobs right now.”
“I’m not asking for payment. Just what do you have that needs to be done? What can I do to help?”
The three men looked at each other.
“Larry’s getting ready to cover up the Pit, at your friend Aaron’s request. Give him a hand?”
Larry and Sam got a piece of fence and some spikes from the junk room, which used to be the old library, and headed to the Pit. All Larry wanted to do was talk about Aaron. He was the new topic of Lexington. The women all thought he was cute; the men were all amazed at how he’d handled Garrett so easily.
As they walked across the field they saw someone lying on the grass, just near the mouth of the Pit. Whoever it was didn’t move.
“Oh shit, someone kill somebody?” Larry asked.
Sam recognized him as they drew closer. Her heart caught in her chest. “That’s Aaron.”
She broke into a jog, still slowed by her ankle. Larry was right behind her. She saw terrible scenarios in her head, like Garrett beating him and leaving him near the Pit to die.
Aaron looked up, disoriented. He was just inches away from the Pit. So close that if he rolled in the wrong direction, he’d fall in.
Sam hooked him under the arms and dragged him away. Larry dropped to a knee and looked around for anyone they might have to fight. The walkers were stirred up. They always made Larry nervous. They made everyone nervous.
Sam fell on her butt but didn’t let go of Aaron. She pulled him close and wrapped an arm around his bare chest. He put a hand over hers, trying to catch his breath.
“What happened? Are you okay?” she asked.
Aaron tried to clear the cobwebs in his head. He’d been sound asleep until they came along.
“Who brought you out here?” Larry asked.
“Uh, I did?”
“Aaron, what’s going on?”
“I was asleep,” he said. He climbed to his feet and helped Sam up. “Is this how you wake everyone up?”
Larry finally noticed Aaron’s things. “You slept out here with the walkers?”
“Yeah. I didn’t find a room yet. The noise helps put me to sleep.”
“Aaron, I told you we could sleep together.”
Larry turned a chuckle into a cough. “Samantha, I don’t think sleeping together means what you think it-”
An icy look from her kept him from continuing. He started securing the fence over the Pit.
“You could have fallen in,” she chastised Aaron.
He playfully grabbed her shoulder, knowing she didn’t like it. “Aww, would you miss me?”
She was quiet. She just looked into Aaron’s eyes. “I have to go,” she said, and started walking away.
He looked at Larry, who was just as confused as he was.
“Hey, Sam!” Aaron called. “If I can’t find a place before the day’s over, I’ll sleep with you.”
She turned around. “So you’re staying?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She kept walking. Aaron couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Definitely the most unique woman I’ve ever met.
He walked to the other side of the Pit and knelt next to Larry.
“Welcome to Lexington,” Larry said.
“Thanks. What’s her problem?”
Larry patted him on the back. “Man, the fellas and I meet every night in the cafeteria to unwind, just shoot the shit, and watch Carrie dance, if we’re lucky. There’s two mysteries we always talk about. How all this bullshit started, and women.”
Aaron nodded. He remembered his father and Uncle Frank having similar conversations.
“I will say this,” Larry continued. “Sam keeps to herself, has so for years. But she seems pretty attached to you.”
“I like her.” Aaron gestured to the fence he was nailing down. “I didn’t see any of that in the storeroom.”
“We keep a lot of crap in the junk room, too. That’s what we call it. It used to be the library. People don’t have much use for reading anymore. Hell, half the people here don’t even know how.”
Aaron raised
his eyebrows. “You have a library here?”
* * *
It didn’t take Aaron long to find the old library. He saw immediately why they called it the junk room. There was so much garbage blocking the doors he had to push his way inside.
The place was ruined.
Bookshelves were broken and knocked over on the ground. Books were scattered everywhere. There were old desks and furniture with bloodstains deemed unfit to be in the storeroom. Everything had a thick layer of dust. There was broken glass, dead rats, parts of old cars. Aaron could barely take a step without nearly tripping over something.
He had already made the decision to stay at Lexington for one reason.
Sam.
He wanted to be with his friend. It was that simple.
But now, he had found his room.
“Let’s get started.”
* * *
Sam hadn’t seen Aaron for the past three days. She knew he was still at Lexington, as everyone still talked about him. Aaron’s presence made Sam more popular than she wanted to be. Everyone came to her to ask about the new guy.
She kept her distance from Aaron on purpose. She felt guilty about it, but she didn’t like the way he made her feel. When she thought he was hurt near the Pit, she knew she liked him more than she wanted to. Having a friend to care for was something she wasn’t really ready for.
After a morning shower and two scrambled eggs, she went to Richardson. He was talking to Susan by the vegetable garden, and she could see from their faces it was serious. Susan was having trouble with their second garden being ready by summer’s end. Richardson flashed a bright smile when she walked up. Susan gave a friendly nod.
“What needs to be done?” Sam asked. “What do you got for me?”
“Take your pick. Helen needs help in the storeroom. I’m sure Paul needs help with the chickens. Larry’s trying to fix the shower stall on the very end of the row. We could use some more bottled water in the spring-house. Hell, Kathy might need a break from watching the kids. Always something to do.”
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