by Diane Butler
She pulled out a chair and sat down at the table and softly asked, “Lance….did something happen last night?”
He stopped, his hands resting on his pack and looked over at her. She tried to read what was in his eyes but could only see that he was spooked. He tried to read what was in her eyes and if it was real concern from a friend, or a ploy. Finally he asked, “Did you see that fog last night?”
She nodded her head, “Yes, it came in rather quickly. I became concerned that I should have asked you to stay but I hadn’t foreseen that change in weather. I worried until Cowboy came back and I could tell that you had reached the house safely.”
He stared at her then said, “This place is evil. It’s haunted, possessed and I can’t stay here another night. It’s not this house, it’s this town. It just hadn’t spread this far yet but now that it’s reached my house I know I must get out before I’m surrounded and can’t get out.”
“I have not felt that Lance and I’m very keen on picking up the spiritual.”
Lance accidentally dropped his camping gear on the floor and froze, his face going white. “Yes, I think that is the problem” she barely heard him say. “Wherever you come from you brought evil with you. It’s following you. It’s marked you and is still seeking you.”
Roxanne looked at him for a long time and finally sat back in her chair. “All right Lance. I have known many people of the bayou who are superstitious and you cannot shake their belief. I will not attempt to dissuade you from yours, but I think that I can help you reach your goal without putting yourself in danger.”
“I know of a plantation that the group often visits,” she continued. “I can take you there and you can wait for them. They may even be there now for they often stay a couple of days picking fruit, vegetables and storing supplies. It has a lot of zombie activity but as long as you stay in the mansion you will be safe. I should warn you though that the place has seen violent deaths and it is there that I am uncomfortable feeling the evil, as you say you feel here. We can be there in two hours by my pirogue. I may talk with Mutt about staying with you at the plantation until they come and they can return him to me the next time they visit here. The choice is yours, Lance.”
When Roxanne suggested that she could take Lance to another safe place to wait for the group, he was torn in making a decision. On the one hand it was an attractive thought that he would be in another place in two hours and not on the
road fighting Z’s or seeking shelter before nightfall. But it frightened him to think of being alone with Roxanne and her taking him further into the swamps perhaps to kill him or cut him up for one of her stews. He was convinced that she was either crazy or running from something or someone who posed a threat to both of them. He wanted to be in her presence for as little time as possible.
“How do you know this place, this plantation?” he asked.
“It’s where I first came upon the group, or they came upon me. I was on a canal and saw the pirogue half flooded in the water and decided to investigate. I discovered the abandoned plantation, Mutt discovered me and I decided to stay awhile but I never felt comfortable there. The group showed up one foggy morning,” she smiled. “So not everything that comes in a fog is bad, Lance.”
“But you don’t trust them,” he said and watched as Roxanne’s smile faded.
“They said that they know me but I do not remember them. I…” she paused, “I had an accident Lance. I don’t remember a lot of things. I’m on a journey of sorts and that’s the best that I can explain. Now, have you made up your mind that I won’t rip your throat out and toss you into the swamp because if we’re going it had best be soon.” Lance’s face colored with embarrassment as he looked around the table at the supplies. “I’ll help you load some of this on the pirogue,” Roxanne said. “Otherwise if you want to hit the road north then you’ll need to leave most of it behind.”
Lance sighed as he put his backpack on and picked up a pillowcase with canned goods. “Okay, let’s go to the plantation.”
It was another half hour before they reached and loaded the pirogue along with Mutt and Cowboy. Both of the animals seemed confused and nervous with the extra load as Roxanne pushed off. Roxanne let Lance become adjusted to the feeling of being on a flat-bottom boat and then asked if he could pick up the extra pole to help her. “Just stand up slowly. If you’re not comfortable with that you can kneel down and do it. There’s a smaller pirogue pulled ashore at the plantation that I was using before I found this one. It’s perfect for one person and you may need to use it so this will be a training course for you.”
There was silence after that as Lance concentrated on following Roxanne’s motions and technique. The canine’s settled down and decided to take a nap until Lance could not stand the silence any longer and did not want to part with bad feelings between them.
“I had to get out, Roxanne. I felt myself slipping into insanity, knew I was becoming irrational but couldn’t help myself. I need to be with people again, lots of people. I need,” he paused. “I need to know that the human race will be dominate again and not wiped out. That thought is more encouraging when I’m with people but when I’m alone the hope starts to die out.”
Roxanne did not answer which left him to watch the muscles of her back as she continued to pole the pirogue ahead. An hour passed and she had not said a word since shortly after they left the dock. “I need to rest Roxanne,” Lance said. “Can I sit down and rest awhile?”
Roxanne turned to look over her shoulder at him, “Of course you can Lance. I should probably have some water myself and see if the dogs want some.” She pulled up her pole and let the pirogue drift as she took bowls from the lunch that she had packed for the fishing date which was now canceled. They had sat only a short time when Lance asked, “What kind of accident did you have, Roxanne?”
She put her bottle of water back and got up to retrieve her pole. She turned her back on him and began to guide the pirogue away from shore where it had drifted. “I was abducted.”
“Ummm, I don’t think that’s considered an accident, Roxanne.”
“I don’t remember any of it. To me I had an accident. I only remember the people of the bayou who tended me, healed me, kept me safe and fed. I owe them a debt and one day I will repay it. I learned as much as I could about survival from them but, like you, the call to the north began and I decided to strike out on my own.”
It was late morning before they spotted the smaller pirogue hidden in the foliage and tied their own boat up. “Mutt, run ahead and see if the coast is clear. Be careful, my friend,” Roxanne said as she and Lance took a bag of supplies in each hand. “Watch your step going through here Lance as one misstep off the planks can sink you pretty far down into the mud.” She let Cowboy lead the way and after leaving the planks and entering the marsh she made sure she stepped where the coyote traveled.
As they got closer to the plantation Roxanne could hear hammering and turned to look at Lance. “Do you hear that? It’s unusual to hear such noise now-a-days. Like normal repairs going on. There’s a clearing soon with an old dried up corn field. We can leave our supplies there and then hide in the field to get a closer look. Wonder where Mutt is?”
The land became harder with less marsh and soon they were at the edge of the cornfield where they dropped their sacks. As they made their way through the rows they heard the angry growl of hungry Z’s in the distance. They squatted down at the edge of the field and peeked through the foliage toward the levee where the sounds appeared to be coming. She recognized Caleb and Lucky at the top of the levee with a small group of zombies below. The ground was scattered with dead zombies and she knew that they had been at this for a long time. They had blocked the steps to the top of the levee with lumber between the wooden hand-railing and were picking off the Z’s one-by-one. Caleb was using his crossbow and Lucky was using a staff to reach down and stab them. When they had disposed of the batch of Z’s Caleb would come down to retrieve his bolts and then clim
b the levee again to wait for the next wave of zombies.
Roxanne turned to Lance, “They must be making repairs to the riverboat that they call Jenny. You won’t need to wait for their return after all. Are you game? Are you up for this? We can help them by coming up behind the zombies while they keep them distracted.” Roxanne hadn’t meant to meet the group again so soon but she couldn’t send Lance out there alone while she went back to the pirogue to avoid meeting them. And she didn’t know where Mutt was, assuming that he was on Jenny. If Mutt preferred to travel with them then she needed to know and not have him just disappear.
They watched another group of six zombies come off the road and turn toward the levee when the hammering began again. Roxanne and Lance followed safely behind the Z’s and saw that Caleb had spotted them by pointing them out to Lucky. The zombies were so focused on Caleb and Lucky at the top of the levee that they were never aware of the danger behind them. Roxanne tossed her staff aside and used both hands on her knife to stab them at the base of the neck. Lance, being shorter used his pick axe to stab them at the base of the neck and would pull the axe out as they fell to the ground. Caleb shot one with his crossbow but Lucky stood and watched Roxanne as she killed three zombies.
“Roxanne,” Caleb yelled out in greeting after the zombies were disposed of. “I hadn’t expected to see you this soon, but welcome.”
Roxanne walked around retrieving the bolts for Caleb. Without looking up she answered, “I brought Lance. He would like to join you.” She looked back at the plantation and saw Cowboy standing in the road staring north with her tail down to indicate danger. She whistled and Cowboy came at a run. “I think we have more Z’s coming.” She retrieved her staff and used it to help her climb the grassy knoll of the levee when Lucky reached down and offered her his hand. She took it and was surprised at his strength as he pulled her up. She caught her breath from the climb and thanked him but she did not offer him a smile. She did not like people seeing the weakness in her limp.
Cowboy easily made the climb in a few bounds and then Lucky helped Lance who was almost at the top. Roxanne turned to look at the river and spotted Morgan and Brandon on the pier with hammers in their hands. It appeared that they had found lumber and were making repairs to the pier. They both waved at her and then she saw Mutt on the deck of Jenny. Confused, Roxanne walked over to the descending stairs and went down to the pier ignoring Morgan and Brandon. She walked past them and went to Jenny where she looked up at the dog on the upper deck. “Mutt? Is there something that you want to tell me?” Mutt’s head disappeared from view.
Brandon walked over to her, “He always checked out the boat when we came in Roxanne. We thought that he was looking for you after you disappeared. We were worried when he showed up without you and went directly to the boat. You used to keep a supply of dog food for him on Jenny, so perhaps we were wrong all this time and it was the stash that he was looking for.”
Roxanne sighed, “I have been remiss in that. I intended to raid a pet shop in town but kept getting distracted.” She turned and looked at Cowboy still on the levee. “They are getting fed but I want to treat them to let them know how valuable they are to me, how good they are at protecting me.” She looked at Brandon, “They are my family.” She changed the subject quickly, “I have brought Lance who would like to join you at the paper mill. Will you take him?”
“Of course,” Brandon smiled. “And you? Are you ready to join us too?”
She shook her head. “No” she said softly and walked away to find that Mutt had joined her side. She walked back to the top of the levee and approached Lucky who was talking to Lance. “We have supplies at the edge of the forest,” she said. “Once I enter the forest I will not be coming back so you need to make plans on how to retrieve them during a lull in the zombie traffic.”
Lucky raised his eyebrows when Roxanne said that she would not be coming back to the boat. He started to object and then remembered his promise that he would not badger Roxanne into joining them. “As you wish,” was all he said as she turned and approached Caleb.
When she reached Caleb she lowered her voice and asked if he would walk further down the levee with her. When she felt that they were out of earshot they sat down in the grass behind some bushes that were beginning to grow on top of the levee and would keep the zombies from spotting them. “Caleb, I asked you to join me because I want to ask you something and I feel that you are the only person who I can trust.” In actuality it was because she felt that children hadn’t developed a poker-face yet and she would be able to tell if Caleb was lying before she could catch an adult in a lie.
Roxanne saw her scars every day when she looked in the mirror or bathed and would remember that Shoes had said that perhaps she had been pretty at one time but now no man would want her, especially with her disabilities. She felt ugly and was not comfortable around people looking at her. She knew that she had built some pretty big walls around her emotions and was slowly turning into just a machine that fought zombies. She wanted to hide from people, but couldn’t take the loneliness either and Caleb was the only bond who she felt a kinship with.
Caleb swelled with pride and was hopeful that Roxanne was finally starting to trust someone, but for it to be him was almost beyond words. “Sure Roxanne. We were always friends and you helped me learn how to fight. You gave me the confidence to fight. Sometimes I think I have survived because of everything you taught me.”
That statement in itself told Roxanne more about her and the type of person she had been in the past. It was comforting to know that she was always a fighter and once had compassion. She smiled and looked away. “That’s good to know. You realize Caleb that I do not remember that?” He nodded. “Caleb,” she looked back so she could see his face. “Am I a witch?”
Caleb’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open, then he began to laugh. Morgan looked up at the sound, remembering a time back at the Park when Roxanne and Caleb were returning from a training course in how to use a staff and he had heard Caleb laugh for the first time since the ZA had started. He smiled at the memory and hoped that the two of them were bonding again.
“I’m sorry, Roxanne,” Caleb said and reached out to briefly touch her hand. “I’m not laughing at you and I understand that you don’t remember anything, which is sad because I missed you so much. Dad said that you may be confused about things but I hadn’t expected that one. No, Roxanne you are not a witch. You have talents especially being able to hear things before anyone else does. Because of that you were great as a scout or look-out and we trusted that ability in you, that sixth sense. But we never thought of it as a form of witchcraft just that you had exceptional hearing.” He waited for it was the longest statement that he had made in a long time. Even in their meetings at the paper mill it was basically chore assignments and he stayed off to the side as the adults took care of it.
Roxanne smiled, “Thank you. I needed to know.”
“But why would you ask that question, Roxanne? Has something happened?”
“I think that I make Lance uncomfortable, but don’t say anything about this to him or anyone else, Caleb. Just watch and listen and learn. I need to know what I’m doing or have done to give that impression, especially if I meet more people. And I don’t want Lance to be guarded against giving out information. I want him to be able to talk freely. Understand?”
Caleb nodded and watched as Cowboy and Mutt came up on each side of Roxanne, Mutt to lie down but Cowboy sat off to the side keeping a distance from Caleb. “I’ve never seen a coyote before. Can I pet him?”
“Her,” Roxanne corrected, “and no I don’t think that would be a good idea. She’s still a wild animal.”
“But if you told her to I don’t think she would bite me.”
Roxanne shook her head, “Cowboy will eventually return to her den and I don’t want her to become too familiar with humans. She’s my guardian, not my pet and has a mind of her own. One day she will tell me that it’s time to leave and
I may or may not go back with her to the Bayou.” She got up, “Now let me say my goodbyes,” and walked away.
Mutt got up and immediately followed but Cowboy was slow, only taking a few paces and then turned to look back at Caleb. Caleb looked the coyote in the eyes and saw what Roxanne meant by her being a wild animal. The coyote had dark, dangerous eyes that put a chill down Caleb’s spine and he was glad that he hadn’t offered his hand to the animal.
As Roxanne walked back along the levee she saw that that two more people had joined Brandon and Morgan on the pier. Lance had also joined them but Lucky was still on the levee and approached her. “The zombie traffic has lessened since they stopped hammering. We can take a chance on retrieving those supplies if you show me where you have them hidden.”
Roxanne stopped and looked back to the wooded area. “You could probably carry all four satchels so I do not need to come back and I can go directly to the pirogue.” She looked up at the sky, “It’s past noon and I shouldn’t stay any longer. “ She saw what she assumed to be a husband and wife couple on the pier. “I didn’t know that you carried passengers. Are settlements starting to rebuild again?”