by Karen Carr
“You can tell her,” I said. “Everyone else knows.”
Huck proceeded to explain my virus to Ana. She glanced at me with a nervous expression, and I did my best to reassure her that I wasn’t a monster.
“Does she believe you?” I asked.
“Yes,” said Huck. “She saw them torturing the others. She knows that some people are immune. She thinks you are much better.”
“How did she get her wound?” I asked, hoping they hadn’t tortured her.
Huck and Ana exchanged words again, with Ana telling an animated story, and then Huck laughed and turned to me. “Broder shot her,” he said.
Broder turned around and pressed his hands together in an apology. Ana said something in Spanish that sounded like she forgave him. We crossed a street and arrived at the golf course where there were more bodies lying around. The sky looked dark and ominous, but it still had not begun to rain.
“We should keep going to the lake,” I said, my thirst strangling my throat and making it hard to talk. “I know it’s not much farther.”
Broder pointed to the nearest golf cart and made a turning motion with his hand. It was an extra-long one and would be able to hold most of us.
“We can take a golf cart,” I said, catching onto his idea.
“The noise,” Lily cautioned.
“Not if they’re electric,” I said.
We rushed over to the golf cart. Sure enough, it was electric and it had the key in the ignition. I jumped in and tried to start it, nothing.
“Move over,” Stan said. I got out of the golf cart and Stan took my place. He flipped a switch and then tried to start it again. This time the engine worked. I heard an almost imperceptible sound.
“Wounded and women first,” Stan said as he sat behind the wheel.
We all looked at each other. Trevan jumped in and forced Lily to sit beside him. She grumbled about not being hurt.
“Get going, bro,” Zeke said to Huck. “You’ve been on that leg all day. You need to give it a rest.”
Huck rolled his eyes while Zeke helped Ana, Boa and Zora into the cart, and then Zeke forced Huck take the last seat.
“I’ll be back to pick you up shortly,” Stan said and then drove off leaving me with Zeke and Broder.
Zeke, Broder and I followed the golf cart’s tracks through the grass. We saw it in the distance, getting smaller and smaller. Finally it disappeared over a ridge. Broder kept mute while Zeke seemed un-ordinarily chatty. He talked about Eliza and how the sprouting wildflowers reminded him of her. She was a natural beauty. He expressed regret at not being able to save her, but then he turned to me and said she would have never survived for long. I was surprised by his admission. I thought Eliza was his life, but he knew her life was almost over. She was too delicate to survive and he didn’t want the same thing happening to me.
“You think I’m not strong enough to survive?” I asked.
“You’re getting better.” Zeke walked next to me in long strides, staring into the distance.
“At what?” I asked. The ground was still wet from the previous rain. My boots made a sucking sound every time I pulled my feet out of the mud.
Zeke grinned at looked me in the eye, making a fake-serious expression. He was a little ahead of me, so when he stopped I almost ran into him. “You are great at sticking up for yourself, almost too good—you need to let go of the control every once in a while.”
“Ok, I’ll own that, and I’m getting better at?”
“Fighting.” He felt my arm. “You’re even getting muscles.”
“Thanks,” I said. “You are teasing me. Aren’t you?”
Zeke laughed and grinned again and then became serious. “It’s hard for me to compliment people, especially to strangers.”
“Well, I hope I’m not a stranger anymore,” I said, and then showed him my shirt. “I mean, look at me. I’m covered in blood and my hair is a mess. I don’t usually let strangers see me like this.”
He smiled at me and put his arm around my shoulder. “Nah, we’re not strangers. You are more like a kid sister.”
“Kid sister? Like you are so much older.” It surprised me that I had no idea how old Zeke was. “How old are you anyway?”
“That’s a personal question,” Zeke said. I frowned. “Twenty seven.”
‘That gives you about five years on me,” I said.
Stan reappeared in the golf cart and ushered us into it. I sat up front with Stan while Zeke and Broder rode in the back. We came to the end of the road, which dead-ended into Jordan Lake. There wasn’t much of a beach, a small sand bank and grass at the end of the road, but it still looked heavenly, all that clear blue water waiting for me to dive into it.
Huck was sitting on the edge in the grass, Ana was swimming. Boa and Zora were at the water’s edge, drinking sips of water from their cupped hands and looking at each other and smiling. The clouds had begun to disperse, but the sun was deep in the horizon. It would be nightfall soon.
CHAPTER 17
After Huck, Lily and Ana agreed to be on guard duty, the rest of us, Zeke, Broder, Stan, Trevan, Zora and Boa, went swimming. No one bothered to take off their clothes, preferring instead to rinse them in the clear water. We all drank deep gulps of water reasoning that it had been so long since any humans had been polluting the lake that it was safe to drink. It sure tasted fresh. Zora produced some shampoo and made sure we all washed our hair.
The setting sun highlighted the late hour, turning all the growing storm clouds amazing shades of red and orange. We all trudged out of the lake and dropped on the bank. I joined Huck and Ana on the grass, giving Lily a chance to swim. She was joined by Trevan and they splashed and cooed in the water. Turning to Huck, I was startled to see pain registering in his face as he held his leg.
“Can I see your wound?” I asked Huck.
Reluctantly, he stretched out his leg. Ana helped me take off his shoes to release his sprained ankle, but that wasn’t my main concern. His left pant leg was thick with blood. My stomach curled as I tried to push up the material to see the wound. Huck flinched and handed me a knife.
“Cut it,” He said.
I took the knife and cut off his pant leg. It was a sharp knife and went through the material, but I had to yank the knife through the seam causing Huck to wince and yell out. I felt Huck’s scream like a knife through my own heart. Zeke and the others came over to take a look.
Finally his leg was free of the material and I was able to see the wound. The gash was red and pussy and the surrounding skin swollen. I choked back my gag reflex and looked to the faces of the others to see what to do. I had plenty of exposure to dead flesh during the last seven months, but flesh of the living, the flesh from someone I cared for made me sick to look at.
I touched Huck’s forehead, trying to breath in strength from the sweet smelling air. “You’re burning up. Why didn’t you say something?”
“We were busy,” Huck said.
Ana looked anxious and felt Huck’s forehead as well, and then let off a tirade in Spanish, all directed at Huck. By the sound of it, she was mad at him too. He was her only connection to us through his ability to speak Spanish and she needed him alive, but she spoke with such a passion that I felt like her connection to him was more than that.
Broder sat down next to us. His wet hair glistened in the setting sun, his large stomach protruded over his belt buckle. He reached for his jacket lying on the grass and pulled out a sandwich bag filled with packets and medical tape from its pocket. He tossed it to me.
The packets were alcohol rubs and sterile squares. “Thanks,” I said. “This is a start, but we’re going to need more.”
“We should find shelter,” Zora said, sitting next to me. Boa rested her head on her sister’s back. The setting sun caught Boa’s hollow cheek and made me realize how thin she had become. We ate well in the village, but what had she been eating?
“Yea,” I agreed. I touched my elbow, which was still giving me pain an
d examined my blisters, which were popped and bleeding. Ana had a cut on her face, Stan had been shot, and Zeke and Trevan were wounded. I’m sure Lily and Broder had injuries as well. We needed more than shelter. We needed to heal.
Lily and Trevan had emerged from the lake and came over to see what was going on. Lily inspected Huck’s wound. “We can take one of those golf course homes, hopefully one with a first aid kit and a slew of antibiotics.”
I dabbed the swab on Huck’s leg, causing him to grit his teeth. I cleaned up as much of the blood as I could and wrapped the wound with gauze and tape, with Ana helping me every step, and even correcting me once or twice. I motioned to Ana’s face, and her wound, and offered her the remaining supplies. She shook her head no and motioned to me to help Huck up.
“Golf cart’s almost out of juice,” Zora said. “We’ll have to hit the first house. Maybe later we can find a solar charging station. I bet they have one here.” A clap of thunder filled the air, startling the crap out of me. Everyone watched the angry sky.
“Let’s get going,” I said.
I helped Huck into the golf cart and everyone else got in except Zeke and Broder. I was left to walk with them again, but I didn’t mind, even though every muscle in my calf screamed out to rest and my blisters were throbbing. I didn’t bother to put my shoes back on and walked the rest of the way barefoot in the grass. By the time we were back into the subdivision, a light rain had begun to fall. Stan pulled up to the largest house on the cul-de-sac with a well-manicured landscape and parked the golf cart.
“Come on, let’s run,” Zeke said, encouraging me forward.
“I can’t, my muscles hurt and I’m tired,” I said.
“Sure you can,” Zeke said. “You’re tough.”
Zeke and Broder started running. I had no choice but to join them or to appear like a wuss. Stan had pulled up to a three story brick and stone house resembling a medieval castle. It was almost as big as one too, with a turret and old fashioned shingles. It had a three car garage, with doors resembling an old fashioned coach house. The porch still contained white rocking chairs with red pillows on each of them. The front door was closed, but it didn’t take Zeke long to pick the lock.
We all stumbled inside and were greeted by an open foyer two stories high with a large crystal chandelier dangling down from the arched ceiling. Walking forward, we encountered a living room with crisp white sofas, glass and brass coffee and end tables, a fireplace and a dark-beamed ceiling. A large oil painting depicting splashes of color hung above the fireplace and another three-paned painting of trees in different seasons hung on a wall above an ornate dresser. The floors were wide panel dark wood, matching the beams on the ceiling.
“You think anyone is home?” I asked.
“I don’t smell anything,” Zora answered.
“No one is going to sit on that furniture until we’re clean,” Lily said. “Head to the kitchen.”
We followed Lily through the dining room with its long planked table, red leather bench on one side, upholstered red chairs at both end, and another dangling chandelier coming down in the middle. This room also had a fireplace with a large mirror placed on the mantel, and several crystal candle holders holding thick red candles on either side.
Lightening flashed through the sky and thunder roared through the house as we entered the kitchen with its antique white cabinets, some with glass doors, and an island that was probably fifteen foot long. This kitchen was larger than my whole entire apartment. It had a commercial oven with eight burners, two microwaves, a drink fridge and a double wide regular fridge. The same wooden floors ran throughout the kitchen, and a chandelier hung above the island.
In the rear of the kitchen, in front of two French doors leading out to a deck, a long wooden table waited for us. Eight places were set with black and white checked dishware, complete with matching checkered-handled silverware. The most spectacular feature was the screened in porch that had a view of the golf course and the swimming pool that was filled with water below.
“I’m done,” Huck said. He sat in a chair and lifted his leg up, resting it in the next chair closest to him.
Ana said something in Spanish and pointed to his leg. We all looked at Huck to translate.
“She needs a cloth,” Huck said. “And soap, a bucket with water.”
Lily rummaged around the kitchen and found a cloth and Zora came up with some soap. They gave the items to Ana, and Trevan retrieved several bottles of water from the pantry. I cringed when Ana began to clean Huck’s wound—it was hard for me to see someone I cared about in pain.
“Hella, come with us and see if we can find some fresh clothes for everyone to wear,” Zora said, with her hands on her sister’s shoulders. I felt she was trying to make it right with her sister. Boa liked fashion and art and all things not available in this new world and Zora was always trying to find that old reality for her.
Zora, Boa and I walked up the winding stair case, with its intricate iron rails, to the top. A square shaped hallway ran around a two story atrium with a medieval light fixture dangling in the open space. Each side of the square held a door with the same arched doorways, tan paint, and dark wood moldings. Two antique chairs stood with a small table between them.
“That’s the master.” Zora pointed to the only room with double doors.
Zora opened the doors revealing a king sized bed with layers of blue and white sheets, and three pillows on each side with varying styles of pillow cases—all untouched. Mirrored glass night stands, three ancient looking sketches of maps, one of Paris, one of London, one of New York and a chandelier hanging from the ceiling completed the room.
I walked barefoot onto the lush, plush carpet and over to a desk at one corner of the room and then to a velvet settee at the base of the bed. I sat on the settee and looked out the windows. Heavy slate-blue curtains illuminated French doors leading to a large porch.
“I want to sleep here,” I said. I caressed the settee’s velvet fabric.
“Closet,” Zora said. “Before we get distracted. Resist the urge to catalogue when we go in there.” Zora smiled and helped me up.
“As long as you resist the urge to sell me something,” I said, smirking in reference to the boutique she wanted to open up for Boa in Haverlyn Village with the dead’s material objects gathered from their apartments. I wondered what happened to the inhabitants of this place—there was no sign of them.
The closet was as big as my apartment, Boa, Zora and I fit in together comfortably. It was filled with rows of women’s and men’s clothes and drawers and shelves containing everything we would need if we were going to the office or a tennis match.
Boa opened a drawer and pulled out a pile of green scrubs. “Will these fit anyone?” she asked.
“Those are perfect,” Zora took the pile from Boa. Several magazines slid out from the middle of the pile and dropped to the floor.
I picked up the magazines. “He’s hiding Guns and Ammo in his scrub drawer?” I leafed through some of them. “I think I’m going to take these to bed with me,” I said, putting them aside.
“That might be all you take to bed with you tonight,” Zora said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Your buddy Huck is being well taken care of down there,” Zora said.
“Oh, you mean Ana?” I asked. Zora gave me a look that said, yea, but I didn’t feel the pang of jealousy she was expecting. I was glad Ana was taking care of Huck. I was tired of taking care of everyone, even if it was indirectly through my virus. “Let them be. He’s the only one that can understand her, that’s all.” To change the subject, I pulled out a long evening gown glittering in gold and silver. “You would look great in this,” I said.
“Look at you, Helena,” Zora said, using my full name. “Seeing things my way for a change.”
“I’m trying to let go of the past,” I said.
Zora took the dress and hung it back up. “This dress is the past, unless we are going to h
ave a fancy ball tonight. We need practical. Tennis outfits may work and they’ll fit us—they’ll even fit Boa with some safety pins. Let’s see what size bra the woman wears.” Zora opened a couple of drawers until she found what she was looking for.
She threw a pair of underwear at me. “Tag’s still on it,” she said. She held up a fancy lace bra. “D cup, you’re in luck. Boa and I are not.” She tossed me the bra. “I’ll have to keep my own,” she said, touching her flat chest. “Not that I really need one,” she added. “Neither do you, Boa.” She took another lacy bra out of Boa’s hands.
“There are some jeans over here,” I said. “These should fit Huck and Trevan”
“Who hangs their jeans?” Zora asked. She took the jeans to size them up. “They’ll fit, and they’ll probably fit your boy, Stan, too, with a belt. I don’t know what we’re going to do about Broder and Zeke. Ana is about our size, so the girls should look great. Boa and Lily are smaller, so we’ll have to tuck theirs in with some pins.”
I stripped out of my clothes, which were still wet and damp. I was sorry to let my American flag tee-shirt go.
Zora took it from my hands. “You really like this one huh?”
“It is my good luck shirt,” I said.
“Blood stains are tough, but I think I can get them out—especially since it has already been rinsed in cold water. All we need is peroxide.” Zora put my shirt in a nearby hamper. “All dirty, wet clothes go in here.”
She then noticed the small bite mark on my hip, the perfect circle of teeth. “Is that where your neighbor bit you?”
“Yea,” I said. When Boa gave me a puzzled expression, I explained how my neighbor, Matt, had turned into a zero and had bitten me. It was then that I discovered my immunity.
Zora and Boa changed into yoga pants, and I did the same. The woman had a half a dozen different colored linen tee-shirts and Zora handed them out, giving me a blue one to match my eyes. Boa received a pink one and Zora picked out a bright red one for herself. She grabbed some more outfits for Lily and Ana and took the scrubs as well.