The Rising of the Dead

by Lindsey Rivers

“Well, things like beef jerky, peanuts, trail mix, nutrition bars. Things you see in the drug store or up by the counters when you check out,” Janet Dove said. She seemed to have taken the task of the lists to heart, made it her grail.

  “No way are we going back to that store on State Street,” Kate said.

  “Not a chance,” Mike echoed.

  “Ditto,” Patty added.

  “No way. Uh uh,” Ronnie threw in.

  “Bad?” Bob asked.

  “Bad enough… That was when your thing popped off, so I guess you don’t know about it. But somebody did a whole bunch of people up down there… In the back of the store… The store room,” Ronnie said.

  “A whole lot,” Mike echoed. “It’s worth going elsewhere, that’s all.”

  Bob nodded. “Well, we could go back out Arsenal Street. There are several places we could check out there.”

  “I don’t like it,” Kate said. “Yes, they could be anywhere, but that’s where the whole thing happened. That’s where those two were. I talked to Annie. She said that’s where they hang around… forage, so to speak. Living in some old warehouse down there, or they were. But if that’s where they want to be, are likely to be, let’s leave them to it.”

  “Can’t run forever,” Sandy said.

  “Run?” Kate asked. “It’s not running, first of all; it’s prudence. We don’t know shit about those people except what Annie has told us. And I’ll tell you... what she said, if I had known and been there, then I would’ve killed them both. The rest of it, the stuff I suspect and Annie won’t talk about, Jesus… Are you kidding yourself that you don’t know, don’t understand it?” She stopped, took a deep breath and massaged her neck.

  “You know as well as I know. I don’t want any of us to go down there for any reason.” She broke off, looked down at the ground and then continued in the silence. “Second: We’re not here to fight. We’re leaving. There isn’t a single possession here worth fighting for… maybe dying for. It’s all free, so I ask myself what sort of a person would still feel the need to take, to kill? I don’t think they’ll be stupid this time. I think they’ll try to take us from cover. They’ll be afraid. They’ll believe Annie told us things she couldn’t bring herself to tell us. They’ll know we want to kill them. They’ll believe it. I told you I do. How do we fight that? You don’t. No way to fight it. So, it’s not running. It’s asking myself what’s really important. Being smart.” She looked up at the shadowed ceiling of the cave. “Excuse me,” she said after a second. She got up, pushed aside a hanging jumble of blankets and tarps that closed off the cave entrance from the falling snow and stepped out into the twilight.

  Sandy cleared her throat and looked down at the stone floor. “It's not about you,” Mike said.

  Nell wandered over as Mike tugged up the zipper on a heavy jacket and stepped outside.

  “That guy… that Death guy. I was watching him. He wasn’t thinking about giving up; he was weighing the odds, sizing us up, wondering who would or wouldn’t shoot. Maybe even who could or couldn’t shoot. He would’ve killed us all if he’d thought he could and still keep himself alive. Once he knew others were coming, that was it. That’s why he laid the rifle down and ran. I don’t want to go back down there. Let them have that whole place,” she finished.

  Sandy seemed more than a little put out, but she said nothing at all. Nell went out through the hanging blankets and tarps, and a few seconds later Mike came back through. He stomped his feet on the stone floor, knocking off the snow.

  “It is really coming down,” Mike said. He tried a smile on his face and walked back over to where Patty, Ronnie, Tim and the others were still standing. Sandy had walked away towards the back of the cave.

  ‘She okay?” Patty asked.

  Mike nodded.

  “She’s a problem,” Patty said.

  Mike shrugged. “For whatever reason, they don’t like each other. They just rub each other the wrong way. But it is a problem. I’ll have to do something about it… I just don’t

  know what. Nell’s talking to her now.”

  “Yeah, well,” Patty said as she stood and tugged her own jacket on. “It can’t work this way.”

  Mike nodded as Patty bent down, pecked Ronnie’s cheek and walked out through the hanging barricade herself.

  The silence held for more than a minute.

  “Washington Street,” Mike said at last. Everyone looked at him.

  “When we went to get the trucks, the first one we got to start was in a parking lot across from the old High school. It used to be houses, most of it anyway, now it’s strip malls. There has to be a lot of the stuff we need there. It’s close by.” He turned the last into a question of sorts and Ronnie, Tim, Bob and Tom all nodded their heads.

  “That will work all the way around,” Bob said.

  “Tomorrow, if the snow lets up?” Tom asked.

  “That’s what I was thinking,” Mike said. “So, what else?“ he asked.

  Patty poked her head in through the hanging tarps. “Hey,” she said loudly. “There’s a truck out here.”

  Everyone grabbed up their weapons and rushed out into the snow.

  ~ Dark ~

  The truck was idling low, stopped about two hundred yards down the road back towards the area where the restaurant was and the road swung back out to the square. The headlights were on, high beams lighting up the roadway.

  Mike looked at Kate.

  “Just drove in there a few minutes ago and stopped. Hasn’t done anything since. It’s only been a few minutes though.” She looked at her watch. “Maybe three. That little.”

  A few of the others went back inside to get jackets for the cold. Ronnie came back out and handed Mike his own.

  “Thanks, Ronnie.” Mike watched the idling truck where it sat.

  Although no longer horizontal from the wind, the snow was still coming down hard. The wind still gusted occasionally, but the storm was nowhere near as fierce as it had been throughout the day. There was maybe two feet of fresh snow on the level, drifts well over two feet on the roadway between the cave and the idling truck.

  The headlights suddenly snapped off. It took a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the dimmer night light. The engine remained running. The driver's door opened, and someone stepped out into the night.

  “Don’t want no trouble,” a male voice called out.

  “You armed?” Mike called back.

  “Isn’t everyone?” The voice called back.

  “How many are you?” Mike called back.

  “Just one. Just me for now,” The voice called back.

  “Come on then,” Kate called. She unsnapped the leather straps that held the Forty Fives in their holsters, pulled them free one by one, thumbed off the safeties and returned them to their holsters. She seemed so calm. Patty followed suit and then moved sideways and a little away from Kate, making it clear she’d follow whatever Kate wanted to do. Kate looked over and nodded at her. Some sort of unspoken instructions passed between them as Mike watched. Patty slipped a couple feet further to the west and stopped, feet planted wide apart, her eyes on the darkened roadway. Mike turned his own attention back to the road.

  “I'm not looking to get shot,” The voice said.

  “Neither are we,” Kate called back smoothly. “And, we aren’t looking to shoot you.”

  Mike stepped closer to Ronnie. “If it comes to shooting it looks like Kate and Patty got a plan. Leave it to them. I guess we’ll cover them,” He whispered.

  Ronnie nodded as he stepped up closer to Mike.

  “He must have pulled the fuse in the truck. The light never came on when he opened the door,” Mike said.

  “Saw that,” Ronnie agreed. “Says he planned on this.”

  Mike nodded.

  The mans shadow made its way along the roadway through the blowing snow. As he came closer they could see the outline of a rifle of some sort held loosely in the mans left hand.

  The dog walked stiff legged
past Mike and Ronnie and began to growl deep in his throat.

  “Jesus,” the man said suddenly. He stopped in the road. “You got a dog?”

  “Easy Dog,” Sandy said. The dog turned and looked back at Sandy where she stood in the shadows of the cave entrance, looked back toward the road and the man, then turned and trotted over to Sandy.

  “Dog won’t hurt you,” Sandy said.

  Mike watched the rifle outline, which stayed pointed at the ground. The man stepped forward; close enough to be seen through the heavy snow, maybe seventy feet away in the shadows, Mike thought. He was sure Kate would have no trouble hitting him if she had to.

  “Maybe we could step inside?” The man asked.

  “Maybe,” Mike allowed. “Why’d you leave your truck running if you planned on coming inside?”

  “What’s that got to do with anything?” The man asked.

  “With the truck running, quiet as it is, we’d never hear anyone

  coming on foot,” Mike answered.

  “Why’d I do that?” The man asked.

  “I didn’t say you would. I said if that situation occurred, we’d never hear a thing.”

  “Not much with trust, are you people?”

  “Nope,” Tom answered quietly. “We’re not.”

  The man paused, then turned around and walked back to the truck and shut it off. Again the light stayed off as the man opened and closed the door. He trotted back to them, the rifle still loosely clutched in his left hand. “Good?” He asked.

  “Better,” Tom agreed. “But that doesn’t tell us what you want.”

  “Just a talk, catch us both up so to speak.” The man answered.

  Kate stepped forward from the shadows. Patty watched her closely. “I’d like that weapon,” she said.

  “Why’s that?” The man asked. He stepped forward a little more. He wore a heavy jacket, a hooded sweatshirt under that with the hood pulled over his head, tall, thin, face cast in shadow. Not much else to see.

  “We’ve been through some stuff. I don’t want that weapon in your hands. You want to come in, give up the rifle. If not…” She didn’t finish.

  “Kind of pushy aren’t you?” He asked.

  “Want to go that way, you can get right back in your truck,” Mike said. “This is our place. You came here. You came here with a weapon. You seem on edge. Some way or another, you disconnected the interior light in your truck so it wouldn’t come on when you open the door, like you didn’t want us to see you, or maybe the inside of the truck. Maybe both for all I know.”

  Mike walked closer to the man as he spoke. His own rifle, he had grabbed one of the assault rifles, held in both hands. The index finger of one hand rested lightly against the trigger guard, caressing the cold steel of the trigger, feeling its curved shape as it slipped past the ridges of skin on the edge of his finger. It made the rifle feel alive to him. The other hand was wrapped tightly around the stock. “You don’t look stupid, but it must be that you are. Or you think we are. If you’ve been close by, you know there’s been trouble. One of ours was killed a few days back, and you want to talk like a smart ass to my woman.”

  The man stayed silent for a moment. When Mike had finished talking, he had continued to walk until he was no more than five feet from the man, facing him, his eyes hard.

  “I took the fuse out. Otherwise every time I open that door at night, I’m a sitting duck. Maybe it looks another way to you. Also... I didn’t know she was your woman. Not trying to make excuses. I’m not used to being talked down to by a woman, I guess.”

  Mike saw Kate lean back into the shadows once more, her hands fall to her sides, the guns within easy reach. It was clear how the man's words had made her feel. His reaction was not much different. Ronnie stepped forward and rested one hand on Patty’s arm. She had taken a step forward.

  The man cleared his throat, oblivious to the drama playing out around him. “I came to ask your plans. What’s next? There’s six of us, none in the truck, all close by. I’d be stupid to come here with out them close by.”

  No matter how Mike looked at the situation, he didn't like it. He was uncomfortable with it, the man, his motivations… whatever they might be. He didn’t want to let the man inside to see how the cave was set up. If he wanted to join us, he told himself, he would’ve already asked us. And we wouldn’t have him anyway. No, this is something else, he told himself.

  “We can talk here. There are children inside,” Mike said.

  “You’re not inviting me inside?”

  “No,” Kate said from the shadows.

  “That so?” The man asked.

  No one answered.

  “We knew you had trouble,” The man said at last. “We’ve had trouble ourselves. You came out alright.”

  “And?” Mike asked.

  “And, I’m just making conversation,” the man answered. He sighed. “Okay, we’re trying to get ourselves in shape for next winter. You got this big cave. It’s easy for you. We’re in an old abandoned factory up on… Well, forget where. It don’t matter. What matters is we’re trying to look ahead. We don’t want trouble. We got gas to trade. Fuel oil, good for heaters. We can find other things too.”

  “There’s gas free for the taking everywhere,” Bob said. “Same as the other stuff you mentioned.”

  “Not really,” the man replied. “At least not out State Street there isn’t.”

  “Plenty of gas stations out there,” Bob disagreed.

  “Didn’t say they weren’t there. They’re ours though.” The man said.

  “Really?” Bob said.

  “Really,” The man replied.

  “And?” Mike asked.

  “Well, you got vehicles, you’ll need gas.”

  “Uh huh, and what’s it you’re looking for in trade?” Mike asked.

  “Listen,” The man said. “I see your setup here. It looks good. I see this is your show. I’m not trying to step in either. I run my own show too… really.”

  “What do you want?” Mike asked, losing patience with the man.

  “Women… I need a few women. We talked to Sin about that woman that was with him and he was saying...”

  Mike cut him off with a wave of his hands, but Tom spoke over him. “What?” Mike asked.

  “You knew that Sin guy?” Tom asked.

  Kate stepped out of the shadows. Patty moved away from Ronnie. Both of them walked to within a few feet of the man and stared him down.

  The man nodded at Tom’s question. Tom also moved closer to the man.

  Tom swore lightly, and his rifle started to come up. Mike reached out and lightly rested one hand on the barrel. Annie spoke from the darkness. No one had known she had come out.

  “Sin planned to trade me to him. I remember him,” She sounded on the verge of tears. Nell rushed from where she had been standing over to where Annie now stepped from the shadows.

  Mike watched Kate’s hand come up and then drop onto the butt of the Forty Five closest to him.

  “So, you think we’d trade that little girl for some... what, gasoline?” Mike asked. He seemed to be the only one who could still speak. Everyone else had fallen into a hard silence.

  Kate released a deep breath, turned and went to Annie and Nell. She squatted in front of Annie and looked into her eyes, freezing everything and everyone else out.

  “Honey,” She said softly, much more softly than she felt. “That

  man is not going to touch you. Not going to, you see?” She waited until Annie nodded through the tears that had begun to spill over the bottoms of her lids and course down her cheeks. “Oh, Baby, don’t cry,” Kate said. She reached out and pulled Annie into her arms. She held her as she sobbed against her breast. “I promise, Annie. I promise,” she pulled away and looked in her eyes. “Okay?”

  Annie nodded. Kate raised her eyes to Nell. “Nelly, take her inside, would you?” She reached forward, kissed Annie, hugged her once more and then waited until Nell took her inside, past the hanging mass
of tarps and blankets.

  Tim stood glaring at the stranger from the side of the cliff face where he had been standing next to Annie.

  “You good, Tim?” Ronnie asked now.

  “I can’t believe that guy came here to hurt Annie. I hate him,” Tim said.

  “Now wait a minute,” The man said. “I didn’t come here to hurt anyone at all.”

  “No. Just come to buy a woman, a little girl, like you would a dog,” Kate said. She was walking slowly back toward the man as she spoke.

  “It’s a different world, Miss,” The man said. He looked at Mike. “I thought that some of you folks saw the way it is.”

  “You’re in this with Death?” Mike asked.

  “I never said that. I see him… I’ve seen him. I…” He began

  to stutter.

  “Lately?” Tom asked.

  “Well,” The man said.

  “Since the murder?” Patty asked. Fury in her voice.

  “Well… Yeah, maybe,” The man finally answered.

  “Get out,” Kate said. She had walked to within a few inches of the man. Her eyes were unblinking. Her left hand was closed around the butt of one Forty five. Her voice sounded low, controlled, but Mike could feel the emotion on the air like electricity before a thunderstorm.

  Before the man could speak again the gun was out of her holster and in her hand. “Get out.”

  “Listen, I…” The man started.

  “It’s loaded, the safety’s off, get the fuck out,” Kate said softly.

  The man hesitated for a second. Kate began to raise the gun. He turned and began to walk quickly back towards his truck. “Wouldn’t shoot me in the back, would you?” He asked in a high, crazy voice.

  “I don’t know,” Kate said. “And leave the truck where it is. Walk out.”

  “That’s my truck, Bitch!” The man stopped and began to turn.

  “Not anymore,” Kate said. She sighted with the pistol. The man turned and walked past the truck, disappearing in to the storm.

  Kate shook with anger. Mike pulled her into his arms. There were tears in her eyes. He held her as she shook. He caught Ronnie’s eye and nodded towards the truck. Ronnie nodded and he and Patty walked off towards the truck. Bob and Tom walked along beside them.