by Karen Carr
Johnny landed the helicopter and I was handed off to some other men with direction from Mace to return me to my room. The men didn’t have to drag me back kicking and screaming, I led the way, pushing them forward through the confused and angry and scared people. I wanted to get back to where Zeke, Saudah and Stan were held.
The men spoke to the guards in front of the room, and they opened the door and shoved me in, locking the door behind me. It took a while to find my focus in the dimly lit room, but when I did I realized Zeke wasn’t there.
Saudah and Stan rushed to my side.
“Hella, are you hurt?” they asked at the same time and then exchanged glances with each other before they helped me up.
“I’m fine.” I stood up. “Where’s Zeke?”
“They took him to the chair,” Saudah said.
“Then we have to get him and get out of here,” I said. “You know the way.”
“There are no more zeds left, Hella,” Saudah said. “You killed them all.”
Suddenly we heard another explosion out in the courtyard. We raced to the barred windows to see panic stricken people running around in all directions.
“What’s going on out there, Hella?” Stan asked.
“I think it’s Hipslow,” I said. “Or at least I hope it’s him. Come on. We need weapons.”
The room was sparsely furnished and had nothing in the kitchen, so I flipped a chair into my hands. “Saudah, pretend you are hurt, and ask them to open the door. Stan grab the other chair. We’re going to pulverize them when they come in.”
Saudah did a good job of convincing the guards she was hurt and they opened the door. Saudah managed to trip one as he walked through the threshold and Stan and I walloped him with our chairs. Before my mind reacted, my hands were on the guard’s holster. My brain clicked in and I pulled out his gun, aiming it at the other guard.
“I’m going to shoot,” I said. “I killed Enroy, I can kill you too.”
The guard looked at me in a puzzled and shocked expression, much the same as Saudah’s at the moment. The guard ran.
“You killed Enroy?” Saudah asked.
“Technically, no,” I said, checking to see how many bullets I had. “I just pushed him out of the helicopter.
“You go girl,” Saudah said. “I would never have the guts to do that.”
“Sure you would,” Stan said.
I searched the guard and found a knife and another gun. “Pick.” I held out the weapons. Saudah and Stan looked at each other and then back at me.
“I’ll take the knife,” Saudah said. “I’ve never fired a gun.”
“It’s easy.” I smiled and showed her how.
“I’ll take the gun,” Stan said.
I handed him the gun and Saudah led us out of the room. We ran down the corridors with ease. Everyone else was too distracted by the bombs. Saudah took us down and empty hall and stopped in front of a door.
“This is it,” she said. “The contamination room.”
I tried the handle and it was locked, so I wasted a precious bullet on the keyhole. I tried to bust the door open, but it was held shut. “It didn’t work. How do you break a door open?” I looked desperately to Stan and then Saudah.
“On a count of three,” Stan said.
On the count of three, we all plunged into the door. It took several more tries, but we managed to bust it off the hinges and entered the room.
Zeke was strapped to a chair in the middle of the room. There were several zeroes scattered on the floor, all dead. Zeke wasn’t moving. I ran forward and shot the zero in the head.
“Shut the door,” I cried, my voice feeling tense in my throat. “Help me untie him.”
Stan shut the door and Saudah sliced off the ropes holding Zeke’s arms to the chair with her knife. I touched Zeke’s forehead and caressed his cheek, feeling a familiar warmth move through my body. His lids flickered open and our eyes connected.
“You are so beautiful,” Zeke said. He touched my hair and let his fingers linger in my short strands.
“That’s what you say after almost being beaten to death?” I asked.
“That’s what I say when I want you to know,” Zeke said.
I looked over Zeke’s shirt and was relieved to discover it was not bloodstained. His mouth was swollen and bloodied on one side and his scalp showed a laceration.
“There may never be another time,” Zeke said.
“For what, Zeke?” I pressed his hands and checked his legs and all seemed to be free of bite marks.
“How didn’t it happen sooner?” He asked. “So many people stood in our way. Eliza, Huck. Let’s not let anyone else do that now.”
Stan stepped forward. “You think he’s been drugged? Let’s see if he can walk.”
“Were you drugged?” I asked Zeke.
Zeke nodded. “I can’t lie.” He stared into my eyes. “I’m trying really hard to lie right now, but it’s not working.”
“Can you get up, Zeke?” I asked. I put his arm around me and pulled him to his feet. His weight rested on my shoulder.
“Love sneaks up on you.” Zeke laughed and touched my lip. I hadn’t realized it was swollen too, until he touched it. “Do you think you could kiss me with that?”
“Definitely drugged,” Saudah said. “He’s so big, how are we going to get him out of here?”
“You don’t need me.” Zeke pressed into me with all his weight. “You are strong enough on your own, even without your crazy virus. You can fight, you can kill, and you can take care of yourself. That’s part of the reason I fell in love with you.”
“Can we not talk about this right now?” I asked. I wanted desperately to hear more, but I wanted even more urgently to get out of here.
“Besides being incredibly beautiful, sexy and strong?” He whispered in my ear. “It’s your never ending faith and your never ending resolve. You will go to the ends of the earth to protect your friends. You protected us in the village, and we were strangers to you. You protected all the dead people from the village, their things, and their homes.”
“Don’t remind me,” I said.
“Can you turn him off?” Saudah asked.
“Can you help me get him out of here?” I asked.
Zeke tried to walk forward, but slumped back down against me again.
“This might be our last time together,” Zeke whispered.
“Only if we’re never apart again,” I whispered to Zeke.
I rested my head on his chest as he rubbed my back. So many sore muscles, we had all endured so much pain. I didn’t know how much more I could take. Stan and Saudah each grabbed one of Zeke’s arms and pulled him from me.
“Push from behind,” Saudah said.
I pushed Zeke’s backside and we made it slowly out of the room. Once we were in the hall, all things sped up. Stan, Saudah and I gathered momentum in pushing Zeke forward, which in turn made him walk faster. The faster we moved, and the farther we got, the more alive Zeke became. The walk seemed to zap him out of his fog.
“Where the hell are we going?” he asked.
“Out,” I said and I pointed to an exit.
“We don’t know where that goes,” Saudah said.
“Only one way to find out,” I said as I pushed us through the door.
We were greeted by bright sunlight and a smoking yard and chaos. Men and women were running around everywhere. We tried to look as inconspicuous as possible as we made our way through the yard. That was when I saw them. Huck and Ana were standing not so far from us and next to them was Broder.
I whispered to the others and pointed. Huck, Broder and Ana noticed us and made their way over. Our reunion was fast and silent, the only words spoken were our escape plans. The iron gates lay before us, so close yet so far away. We agreed to keep to the side of the building. It wasn’t the quickest path to freedom, but it was the safest. The five of us hugged the walls as a helicopter circled overhead.
“Hella,” someone suddenly yell
ed out. “Over here.”
It was Trevan and he was with Lily.
“Run for it.” I pointed to Trevan and Lily. “Away from them.”
We all made a mad dash for the gate, Huck and Stan helping Zeke move. But it was too late. Trevan and some of the other men ran over to us and blocked our exit.
“Where are you going, Hella?” Trevan asked. “We need you here.”
“No you don’t,” I said.
Trevan grabbed me and pulled out a knife, sticking it under his chin. Lily raced up to us. She looked white as a ghost.
“Trevan what are you doing?” she asked.
“You should have let me finish this job months ago,” Trevan said to Lily.
“I won’t let you kill her,” Lily shrieked.
“Let her go,” Zeke snarled. He was becoming more aware by the minute.
“Back off,” Trevan said. The point of his knife stuck in my throat and I felt the cold blood trickle down my neck.
The men with Trevan circled in close to us, making it hard for me to see the others. I looked at Lily, at the fear in her eyes for me and for Trevan, the sorrow pushing me into a fog.
I put my teeth around Trevan’s arm and was about to bite when I saw Lily shaking her head. The sorrow in her eye made me stop. Instead I pushed backwards with all of my weight, and sent us both to the ground.
Trevan let out a huff and I was able to get away from him. Zeke, Broder, and Huck came full throttle into the mix of people and began kicking some serious butt.
“Lily, come with us.” I stretched out my hand toward hers. “Last chance.”
“I can’t.” Lily went to Trevan and bent down to help him up. “One day you’ll understand true love.”
“Not like that, Lily. Never like that. You’re sick.”
Suddenly dozens more men raced through the gates that lead to our freedom, blocking our way. Mace Duce strolled out of the middle of his men and came directly toward me. At the same time a helicopter circled above. This time I looked up and gulped when I saw the Hind and the Professor was flying it.
Hipslow dangled his legs out of the cargo hold in the back as the Professor landed in the yard. Once on the ground, Hipslow jumped out and came toward us leaving the Professor behind the controls of the Hind. I wanted so much to race forward and hug him, but Mace’s guards held ups back.
“Give her up, Mace,” Hipslow said. “We want her and all her friends or we’ll bomb the crap out of your place.”
“This is none of your business,” Mace said. Mace’s face had become very pale. “We had a truce. You would stay on your side of the river, and I would stay on mine. You violated that truce. You might have more fire power than us, but we have more men.”
“This isn’t about our truce,” Hipslow said. “She owes me.” Hipslow pointed to me with an angry expression. “She has a contract with me. They all do.” Hipslow pointed to Zeke, Huck, Ana, Lily, Saudah and Stan. “And I’m taking them back with me to fulfil it. And that one.” Hipslow pointed to Broder. “Is mine.”
Mace looked shocked and conferred with some of his men. “Alright, Hipslow. You can have her until her contract up, and then you send her back to me. Otherwise no deal. I know you are good on your word, so I’m going to make you shake on it in front of all these people. You don’t bring her back after she fulfils her duty to you, I will gather all of my men from Wilmington to Oxford and come down on you hard.”
Hipslow contemplated the deal briefly. “Agreed.” He extended his hand toward Mace’s and they shook.
Just like that, we got in the helicopter and flew away.
CHAPTER 26
The Professor flew the Hind back to Pittsboro. Hipslow had taken a spot behind the cockpit, which had been fitted with new glass. I wondered how they dug it out of the ditch and repaired it so swiftly.
My hunch was that Hipslow had more in his tool chest than he let outsiders see. They had even outfitted the cargo hold with a long metal bench running down the middle, where I sat resting in between Zeke and Saudah. Stan sat on the other side of Saudah and Huck was next to Zeke. Ana chose to sit on the ground, resting her back against Broder.
I was successful in my mission, having rescued Saudah, but I wondered about the cost. Surveying the faces around me, and their glum expressions, I didn’t know if we’d ever recuperate. No one said anything, it wasn’t worth it to try and shout above the Hind’s loud engine. After a few minutes of flying, Huck slid down to join Ana on the floor and Stan stretched out on the bench resting his head in Saudah’s lap.
Zeke’s torso felt like a rock of muscle next to my body. I couldn’t resist leaning into his chest for support. He was breathing in and out in such a smooth rhythm that it almost put me to sleep. Soon Hipslow turned to us and shouted that we were there, which revived everyone’s spirits. Zeke and I stood at once to watch out the Hind’s windows. The others joined us as the town came into view.
What surprised me most was that the streets were full of people. When we had flown over Pittsboro before, only a few short weeks ago, it looked like a ghost town. Now, the town was brimming with life, and they were all looking up at us and waving.
I gasped when I saw someone holding a sign that read Welcome Home Hella.
Other people were holding flags and waving and the lower we flew, the more I heard cheering above the roar of the engine. Cheering.
The Professor flew the Hind down West Street and back to the community college. We passed over Willie’s car lot in the community college and hovered over an adjacent lot where hundreds of people were waiting for us. When they saw the helicopter approach, they became animated and waved flags, and streamers, and let balloons fly into the sky.
It was the warmest and most surprising welcome I had ever received.
The spectators parted in a circle, giving the Hind room to land. The Professor put us down expertly and gently into the middle of the crowd. He turned off the engine and swiveled around in his chair.
“Welcome home, Hella.” The Professor smiled and maneuvered out of the cockpit.
I met him half way and gave him a giant hug. “Professor, I missed you so much.”
“We missed you too, Hella.” The Professor hugged me back.
“You’re quite the rock star here, Hella,” Hipslow said. “You ready to meet your fans?”
“Rock star?” I asked. “Me?”
“Yes mam. Everyone’s heard about your virus by now. Things like this travel fast in Pittsboro. Well, any word travels fast in Pittsboro, but this one moved like the wind.” Hipslow grabbed the latch to open the cargo door.
“Wait.” I pushed his arm down. “I’m not ready. What about Candy and Miles? They are dead because of me.”
“It was their choice,” Hipslow said. “They agreed to go. Everyone accepts their own risks. What would life be without risks?”
“Before we go out there, can you answer a few questions?” I asked Hipslow.
He let go of the cargo latch and turned toward me. “Fire away.”
“You told Mace we had a contract,” I said. “We don’t have a contract.”
“We do now,” Hipslow said. “Unless you want to go back to Mace.”
“No, I don’t. You wouldn’t send me back there would you?”
“I’m afraid I have to,” Hipslow said. “I am a man of my word, and I must return you to Mace after you fulfil your contract here.”
“Like a piece of property?” I choked on the words.
“Don’t see it that way, Hella. It’s more like a negotiation for a prisoner of war.” Hipslow smiled at me warmly.
“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but how long is our contract and what exactly do you want me to do?” I blinked away visions of labor in the fields, or cooking with Fareva.
Hipslow looked at me with a thoughtful expression. “Well, I suppose since we don’t have anything written, we should get something on paper right away. What I have in mind for you could take years.”
“I don’t want to be
stuck here for years,” I said.
“I didn’t say stuck here. I don’t care where you go, Hella. I just care about what you do, about what you represent, understand?”
“Not yet, but I think I will,” I said.
“I’d like you to stay around for a few weeks to help me clear up the rest of the zed problem, if that’s good with you?”
“Sure,” I said.
“We’ll make great partners, Hella. You can kill the zombies and I can protect you from the people like Mace.”
Hipslow jumped out of the Hind followed by the rest of us. I stood in awe of all the smiling faces. They were looking at me with a hesitant curiosity, an awe, like I was a strange beast they had never seen before, a princess from a fairy tale come to save them from the monsters.
“You know my virus isn’t active yet,” I said to Hipslow.
“I know.” Hipslow winked at me. “Galen explained the rules.” Hipslow waved to someone in the crowd, and I saw that it was Galen. Next to him was Minnesota in the wheel chair. Galen stepped forward, but couldn’t say anything because the crowd began to cheer and surge in toward me.
I gasped and stepped back as Hipslow climbed on top of a pickup truck to address the crowd. “Give the lady some space folks.” He emphasized his words by pushing his hands out and the crowd obeyed immediately. “Hella has agreed to be our guest for a couple of weeks.”
The crowd cheered so loudly that Hipslow stopped talking. When they didn’t quiet down, he turned to me and gestured for me to join him on the roof of the pickup. I shook my head. The crowd started chanting my name.
“Come on, Hella.” Zeke prodded the small of my back.
“Only if you go with me. I feel kind-of stupid.”
“There’s nothing stupid about you, Hella.” Zeke jumped on top of the bed of the pickup and pulled me up with him.
Hipslow grabbed my hand and raised it in the air with his, igniting the crowd. I felt foolish grinning from ear to ear, but I couldn’t stop my mouth from smiling. It felt good to see all the people in the crowd, all the people that I would be able to help with my virus. I had no idea there were so many in Pittsboro and marveled at how Hipslow hid them all. Pittsboro was way better than Haverlyn Village and I would be happy to spend a few weeks here.