by Mark Clodi
"Oh." Alex gave Marge a hard look, "But you rescued her."
"I never claimed to be bright. She got out of the car, did you see the car?"
"Yeah, we did, only as it was going through, we saw the woman get out of it." Alex was holding his arm where Dora had hit him.
"Walk it off Alex, we can't afford to have you gimping around here one limb short."
"I think you broke it." Alex said seriously.
"Really?" Dora sounded impressed, "I didn't think I could, I mean it takes a lot of strength to break an arm right?"
"Alex, let me look at it." said Mary.
Dora's eyebrow raised up, the way the woman said it let her know that they had some history. The man turned and pulled up his sleeve to his shoulder, wincing as he did so. Mary came forward and touched it tenderly where it was beginning to bruise and felt around the back side of it as well. She asked him to squeeze her hand and then said, "We better get a sling on it and clean this woman up. You have any towels, Dora, right? You have any towels or bandages for your former best friend?"
"Well la-te-da, you a nurse or something?"
"No. I am a doctor." the woman said rather more coldly than Dora would have thought possible.
"A doctor, you look like you are twenty five years old? And you want me to believe this is your kid? Or did you find him somewhere?"
"He's mine." Seeing Dora's look, Mary went on, "Yeah, sometimes life throws things at you, just to see what you can handle. I had a kid at seventeen and still went on to medical school. And I am thirty, thanks for the compliment. Now if we are done sharing irrelevant stories can I get what I need to mend these two up? I need a sheet or a shirt to make a sling for Alex."
Dora had finished reloading the shotgun and put the box into her robe pocket, which caused it to sag down and reveal a bit more of her breasts than the man and boy were comfortable with, they averted their eyes, Mary did not. "Towels? Sure, right away, Doctor! I will have my people get on it."
Moving into the downstairs hallway Dora headed for the linen closet and pulled out the guest towels, she didn't grab the good set, but grabbed the older set she had gotten at her wedding so long ago. She grabbed a set of sheets for the day bed downstairs too and returned with all of this laundry to the living room. Alex was on the leather chair, Marge was still sobbing quietly on the floor.
"Did I miss anything?" asked Paige, coming down the stairs. "I check upstairs, but didn't find any zombie. I checked because I figured you didn't shut the door when you ran out there."
"Oh you missed me making friends in the usual manner. Paige this is Mary, Alex, the boy is Peter and, of course, you have heard all about Marge."
"She gonna be okay?" Paige asked looking at the bleeding woman.
"Sure Paige, she will be fine, Mary is not a nurse; she's a Doctor! In our own neighborhood, in the middle of the fucking night, imagine our luck! Anyway she will fix us right up, won't you Mary?" asked Dora.
"Don't worry about Dora." Paige said, "She is always a bitch, but it will grow on you."
This brought a started, wet laugh from Marge, they all turned towards her and she said, "My God, Dora! Not even now! You can't change even now!"
Rather stiffly Dora replied, "Why change perfection?"
This brought a sharp bark of laughter from Paige, who came up behind Dora and gave her a pat on the back, "Yeah we love you too, you stupid, stupid woman. You gonna hold that shit all day or give it to the doctor? What can I do to help?"
"God, Paige every time I think I start to like you, you surprise me. Go check the rest of the downstairs, we only cleared the living room. Here, take the shotgun, it is better close up than the rifle." Paige propped her rifle up against the back of the couch and Dora handed her the shotgun.
The young woman then started walking towards the hall, then paused and addressed Peter, "You stop slacking, come with me."
The boy looked to Alex and Mary, who both gave curt nods and he followed Paige down the hall.
"Ah, young love, so innocent! So sweet! It's amazing how it happens, isn't it?" said Dora. She handed the sheets to Mary and went over to Marge, where she dropped a towel on the floor. "You look even worse than your normal, ugly self." crouching she looked the other woman in the eyes, "I don't know why I saved you. I really don't. I am so mad at you right now… But I couldn't let them get you. And I couldn't shoot you. How is that for fucked up?"
Behind them Mary was saying to Alex, "Don't do that again. You don't tell him what to do, or give him permission to do anything. You. Do. Not. Do you understand? You do not tell him what to do. He is my son. Mine."
"Maria, not now!" the man hissed.
"Then you stop. I am not fighting you in front of him and you defer to me in everything when he asks, do you understand?"
The man looked at her for a moment, then sighed and said, "Fine, but it won't work for long, you see how he looks at me."
"Fucking great!" Dora injected, "A nice little domestic feud in my home. Hey, doc, could you leave off badgering your baby daddy and come give a look at Marge, she is all pale and shitty looking from blood loss. I may not be a trained professional, but I think bleeding to death takes precedence over a broken arm."
Mary shot Dora another cold look, which had no effect whatsoever on the other woman, then she stopped tending Alex and came over and took a look at Marge.
"Dora, get your gun. Sorry, Marge is it? But you are dead. Dora might as well do it now."
Chapter 19
"What?" asked Dora.
"You've not been watching the news? It's all over. This is how they reproduce. They think it is something in the saliva, like rabies. Your friend here has maybe a day to live. Then she joins them becomes one of them. She cheated on you, with your husband, she is probably married too right? So it was a double sin. You ever run around on your husband?"
"Only in my head." Dora replied with wry amusement.
"A venial sin, nothing to worry about, she actually did the deed. In the old days we would have stoned her. Maybe we still should."
"Couldn't we just get stoned with her?" Dora asked.
"Joke if you want. You need to wake up Dora. The dead are returning to life. It is the end of days. Your friend, who committed adultery, is going to die and come back and try and kill us as a servant of Satan. After we put her down again her soul will find its way to hell for eternity."
"Oh fuck, you're a whack job!"
The other woman nodded, "Call me what you want, it won't stop me from trying to help you." Her son and Paige returned from the hallway and checked the back yard by flipping on the light briefly, seeing nothing they headed downstairs.
"Okay, okay, but Marge doesn't have to die right now, does she? Maybe she can repent and still make it?"
"It is the end of days, everybody won't be treated the same, the time for amends is gone, now it is judgment. I am afraid it is too late for her. I will keep her from bleeding to death. Bring more towels. And a wash cloth. Do you have any disinfectant? Bleach or hydrogen peroxide?"
"I'll see what I can find. Don't kill her while I am gone, okay?"
Mary nodded, "I won't. I said you should kill her, not me."
"Yeah, that is right, I mean killing is also a sin, last I checked.", to Marge she said, "Try and repent anyway dear, I am sure it can't hurt. I will leave you in good hands and be back soon."
Dora went downstairs calling loudly before she got there, "I am not a zombie, don't shoot me. Put your clothes back on Paige. I am coming down the stairs."
When she got to the concrete floor she saw Paige and Peter waiting for her.
"Thanks Dora, I mean, it isn't like the kid needs self-esteem or anything. Me either for that matter. He's thirteen for Christ's sake, so lay off a bit will ya?"
Dora shook her head, "Nope. All clear down here?"
"Yeah, we knew it would be the door was shut. I figured the kid needed an excuse to get out of there so his parents could fight in peace, you know? How'd that battle go?"
Look
ing at Peter, Dora said, "Not good. I take it your mom doesn't like your dad anymore?"
"She just met him again." The boy said sullenly.
"The plot thickens!" Dora said with some glee, "Do tell Petey boy! How did this turn of events came about! C'mon you two we need to check the laundry room, Doctor Mary needs some bleach. I am sure hoping Roger bought some… Continue Peter."
Peter looked at Paige who shrugged her shoulders, "You might as well, she'll make your life hell if you don't and it is far better to have her on your side. Unless you want to go up into that again?" Paige asked, upstairs they could hear Mary and Alex having a heated discussion in the living room. Peter shook his head 'no' in response to Paige's question and went with them into the relative sanctuary of the laundry room.
"My dad showed up at our house yesterday afternoon. He had a gun, these bats." Peter hefted his bat, "And a plan to get us out of here. It was the first time I met him."
"No shit?" said Dora.
"Dora! Language!"
"I am sure Peter has heard the word 'shit' before Paige, go on Peter."
"Well, she always told me he disappeared, and apologized that he never wanted anything to do with me, like it was her fault or something. She got, um, pregnant, and he took off when he found out." in the dim laundry room light they could see the boy blush saying the 'P' word, "I was born on my mom's eighteenth birthday. I never saw my dad. Never got a letter or a phone call. Mom never got support from him."
"She seems to have done okay, being a doctor and all.", said Dora.
"Yeah, I grew up mostly with my grandma and aunt when mom went to college. Grandma says Mom is smart in everything except love. When mom went away to med school I only saw her ever few months, it was out of state. Then she did rotations a hospital in Nevada. I was seven and went with her, she got some money by then, but I still hardly ever saw her for another two years. When she graduated it was second in her class. She got a job here and we've been in Kansas ever since. Grandma lives down in Oklahoma."
"See Paige? This is why I like kids, they are direct. Peter how did your dad find you?"
"He said he moved here about a year ago and was trying to work up nerve to contact us, me. Then this whole thing started and he knew it was now or never."
"What are you doing here? In this suburb I mean?"
"We live here, about three blocks away. We came over to Mister Tobin's house yesterday after sunset. He has guns, or had some anyway, someone killed him and took them all. Except for this old fashioned one. They left that one there. My dad tried to get it to work, but he didn't know how. There weren't any instructions."
Dora and Paige gave each other a look and Paige said, "Your mom told you that someone killed mister Tobin and took his guns?"
"He was dead, his guns were gone."
Dora jumped in, "The house, like two doors down only across the street?"
"Yeah." the boy confirmed.
"How did your mom know that guy?"
"She was his doctor. He gave us some venison steaks last year and mom told him she would buy some if he got another deer this year. Did you know Mister Tobin?"
"Ah, not really, no. I mean, I knew his name, but I never really spoke to the guy. My husband did."
"That guy in the car? Who cheated on you?"
"Yeah Peter that guy in the car who cheated on me. He knew Mister Tobin too."
"Oh."
"Oh?"
"Nothing."
"Jesus, I don't speak 'kid', what does that mean Paige?"
"Sometime Dora, 'nothing' means 'nothing'. Probably not this time, but let it go, he filled us in. Isn't your friend dying?"
"Friend? Hm…I will have to think that over. Look!" Dora said, pointing at the shelf, "There is bleach! Grab it Petey and let's get back upstairs. Wait at the bottom first, maybe your mom and dad are having a juicy fight we can eavesdrop in on."
The boy shrugged and grabbed the bottle of bleach. The three of them proceeded to the stairway and stopped to listen, other than the steady thumping on the screen door out front, there were no sounds.
"Hey, Paige?"
"Yeah?"
"You see that little kid, the girl, well her and the other one?"
"Yeah. I know who you are talking about, why?"
"Well she acted, well, smart. I put the gun up to her and she ducked down and away from it, then took off, but grabbed her sister, did you see that?"
"No. I was a little busy saving your ass."
"Paige! Language!"
"You sure she ran away? That doesn't seem likely…"
Dora stopped walking up the stairs, turned to Paige and looked her in the eyes. "Yes, Paige, I am sure of what I saw. I'm not fucking with you. I was hoping you or Mike shot the little bitch." They continued to the top of the stair and into the living room.
"I didn't shoot her. We'll have to ask Mike. I, well, I kind of doubt it, if they were not near you we didn't shoot them, we had enough trouble keeping them away. It is a good thing you heard us yell about these three." said Paige indicating the three newcomers.
"What? Paige I couldn't hear anything, I never heard you yell about these guys. It was only luck that I didn't blast them." Dora turned towards Mary, "Say, you never did answer my question about what the heck you were doing out there?"
Mary looked up from where she held a bandage on Marge's jaw. "We were just a bit down the street; we heard the gunshots and got outside as soon as we could to see what was going on. We got here when the car drove off and Marge got out of it. We thought you were soldiers come to save us."
"Oh."
Mary just looked at Dora who said, "Sometimes 'oh' means nothing. Or nothing means nothing or 'oh'. Understand?"
Mary shook her head, "I am surprised you are still alive. Peter come here please." The boy moved next to her and she took the bottle of bleach from him. She then dumped it onto the floor around Marge and into one of the towels, which she wrung out. The powerful smell of the disinfectant filled the room. The zombies outside still banged softly on the door. Gesturing towards Dora Mary handed her the bleach bottle and said, "Go fill this with cold water please and bring it back here. Do you have a mop?"
A mop?"
"A stick with some long white, rope-y cords at one end, used for cleaning the floor?"
"Jesus lady! I know what a mop is! I just haven't seen one, I will have to look."
"You don't clean your own house?"
"I don't mop it."
"Fill the bottle, find a mop or at least a bucket and come back here to clean up the floor around the doorway. I am moving Marge to the kitchen as soon as I can get her wounds cleaned and bound up." Turning to Marge said. "Okay this is going to burn a little, but if we are lucky, maybe it will sterilize the wounds." Mary then pressed the bleach soaked towel to the wounds on Marge, cleaning them out one at a time and making shushing sounds as the chemicals started to irritate the wounds. Dora got out of there fast, flashing Paige a dirty look when she caught a smirk on the younger woman's face. Paige noticed and immediately put an expression of complete angelic innocence on her face instead, causing Dora to scowl.
"Why don't you check the garage for a mop? And then go fill Mike in on what is going on." Dora said.
"Sure Dora, sure." said Paige heading towards the garage door.
Chapter 20
"Fill the bleach bottle. Find a mop! Get me towels. Blah, blah, blah." Dora muttered to herself as she topped off the bottle of bleach with water at her sink. Her back was to the rest of the group in the living room and she heard Marge's ongoing complaining about the treatment Mary was giving her. When Dora came back Paige returned from the garage with a mop and bucket. The mop was old, stiff and full of cobwebs. Paige handed it to Dora and set off up the stairs, with a bit of amusement in her eyes.
"Do you repent your sins?"
Dora heard Mary asking Marge as she arrived at her front door. Marge was standing up and Mary was working her legs over, each sported several oozing, bloody wounds that made
Dora want to vomit. Looking at the bucket she was glad she had it handy, just in case.
"You about done, doc? Or should I say 'preacher'?"
"Don't. This is serious. Maybe she still has a chance to redeem herself, maybe the Lord means for her to find her way, even at the end of days. Do not make light of this situation."
"Give it a rest. She is chomped up and bleeding and you are the only person with any way of helping her. Do you think she wouldn't say anything you asked her to? What is the Lord's feeling on coerced confession?"
Mary's face flushed slightly, but she nodded, "Really what you say is true, Dora, I had not thought of it like that." Turning back to Marge she said, "Whether you repent or not, I will do what I can for you, and be as gentle as possible. I will still help you. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Marge said.
"Do you repent your sins?"
Marge looked at Dora, "Yes. Yes, I do."
Dora let out a short, "Hah!"
Marge continued to look at her, "I do. I am serious too. I messed up Dora. I messed up bad. I am so sorry for what I did to you. And to him and to Jerry. If I could take it all back, I would." The sincerity in her voice bothered Dora, this was not like Marge at all.
"Why Roger? I mean, you could have done so much better!"
"He showed interest, I am not like you Dora, men falling all over you, flirting. Roger…he, well, he showed interest."
"How long?"
"Two months, it started when you went with your sister on that trip to Chicago. Roger said he was sure you were cheating on him, so you wouldn't care. He made it sound like you had practically agreed to it."
"Roger was a player? God! Who knew? Marge, you don't think I would have told you first? I mean, if it was okay?"
"He said you liked to keep things discreet. Which is why you never talked about your other men to me."
"You stupid, stupid woman! The fuck of it all is, if I had been getting some on the side, I totally would have told you. We'd have laughed about it."
"I can't believe how naive I was." Marge said, casting her eyes down.
"It takes two to have an affair." said Mary, "You knew it was wrong when you did it and you have suffered the Lord's vengeance because of it."