Brianna sat in the Humvee, staring too, her eyes unmoving from Tess’s back. She wanted to go out and ask her if everything was okay, but deep down she knew why she couldn’t move.
Against Tess’s wishes, Devin had gotten out and was patrolling the street and the exterior, seeing if there were threats. Upon his return, he found Tess exactly where he had left her. He stepped towards her, but she put her hand up, signaling for him not to approach.
Devin complied and with a look of concern turned his attention to Brianna, who shrugged her shoulders. He contemplated ignoring her request but knew he would be met with anger if he approached her. Instead he barked, “All clear around the back. I didn’t see anyone, but the house has been broken into. Nice spot, by the way.”
“Tess, enough. Go inside and find out where your man is,” Tess mumbled under her breath.
A quick movement caught Brianna’s eye. In the house across the street, she saw a blind move and what looked like a shadow shift.
The Humvee was parked in the middle of the street, perpendicular to the houses.
She leaned across the center console and peered through the side window towards the house. Nothing, no movement, but that didn’t mean somebody wasn’t there. Now with concern, she shouted, “Devin, I think I saw something in the house across the street, number 17!”
Devin raced towards the Humvee, his eyes glued to the house, rifle at the ready.
Hearing this, Tess finally moved. She turned around and looked towards the house Brianna had mentioned. She thought for a moment, then remembered who lived there, Mr. Phil Banner, a snowbird from New York and his wife. It wasn’t unrealistic to think he had survived and was still persevering through all of this.
“That’s Mr. Banner’s house. He’s harmless,” Tess said.
Devin craned his head towards Tess and remarked, “Harmless? No one’s harmless anymore.”
“I’ll be right back,” Tess said as she took her first step towards her old house.
The salty smell of the Atlantic Ocean filled her nostrils and instantly brought back happy memories of her and Travis’s time there. Like it was yesterday, she thought of the first time she saw the house. He had surprised her by getting the property and had gone as far as blindfolding her so she wouldn’t know where it was. A slight grin crossed her face as she thought of that special moment and how she knew exactly where he was taking her.
When one sense is impaired, the others take over. Her ears captured the sound of the grated bridge that took them over to the island, and the seagulls confirmed they were close to the ocean. The sounds of seagulls were gone now, but the old bridge still stood. When he parked the car in the driveway and excitedly got out and opened her car door, her nose and ears confirmed it. The rich salty smell hit her and the lapping of waves sealed it. Before he could get her to the front door, she had blurted out, “Topsail Beach, you got us a place on Topsail Beach!”
She made it to the stairs and looked up the worn wooden steps that led to the front door. Like most homes on Topsail Island, they were constructed using pile foundations so that they would sit up one story off the ground. She had never been a fan of the look; she forgave it so she could have the location.
Taking the first step, she paused and allowed another emotional moment to pass. She blinked hard, looked back up, and said to herself, “Tess, enough, your friends are waiting. Go.” This was the last bit of encouragement she needed. She knew she was holding things up, and the longer they sat, the more vulnerable they could be. With her newfound confidence, she bolted up the steps and made it to the front door. The screen door was torn and the front main door was wide open. Painted on the door was a large X with a zero above it. She looked at it and wondered what it meant, but soon put that aside. Her mind now wondered how long the door had been open. She stepped in and right away could tell by the condition of the living room that it had been open and exposed to the elements for months.
She wasn’t angry at the sight of her house, destroyed by nature and strangers, she was just sad. Sad that the one place that had symbolized happiness and love was now gone and would never come back. She still held the memories, but this was a reminder that the life before was gone too. The shambles of her home was the physical representation and stark illustration of what the world had become.
She pulled the Glock 17 from her shoulder holster and opened the screen door. The large picture windows that overlooked the beach and ocean beyond brought in enough natural light for her to see. The crunching sound of broken glass underneath her first footfall hit her ears; the unpleasant noise was matched by the strong mold odor that hung in the air. She took a few more steps and paused; she could not be too careful. It didn’t appear that anyone had been there in months, but after over a month on the road, her experience told her to never take chances. She steadied her breathing and continued on. From room to room she went, only to find the place had been ransacked by people for whatever items they thought had value. Seeing the amount of rummaging made her distraught that she wouldn’t find the note left by Travis. All he told her was that he had put it in a safe spot, but where was that? One place she thought it might be was in the safe that had been bolted to the floor, but that was gone, a square hole remained. Her mind raced, and she scrambled from one possible location to the other, but each one proved wrong. With no other options, she fell to the floor in exhaustion and anger.
As she sat looking at the pieces of what had been her life strewn around the room, she strained to think of where he might have put it. She had pored through the photo albums, Bible, his favorite fiction novels; she had gone through every drawer in every room, but nothing. Where was it? Was there even a note? Was it destroyed?
She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there thinking when the tap at the door jarred her back.
“Tess, it’s Devin. You okay?” Devin asked from the open doorway, his shadowy figure looking large.
“I’m fine. Come in,” she answered.
He stepped in, looked around and joked, “You know, you really should think about cleaning the place.”
“Nothing.”
“You can’t find it?” he asked.
“No, nothing, I’ve looked and looked, but nothing from him that looks like a note that would tell me anything,” she said in a tone of deep frustration.
“Well, it doesn’t help that the lights don’t work,” he said, flipping a switch up and down.
She watched him as he flipped the switch, stopped, and stepped farther into the condo. He kicked around the garbage that was once prized possessions. He peered into the kitchen that sat adjacent and laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Tess asked.
“Did you have a refrigerator and dishwasher, or did…?”
She interrupted him and said, “Of course, some dumbass thought those would be valuable.”
“Ha, what an idiot.”
“Well, there’s no shortage of them around,” she said as she stood and stretched. “How’s Bri?”
“Good. No other sign from your neighbor. Not sure if she saw something, but she and Brando have it covered out there. Thought I’d come in and see if I could help.”
“What time is it?” she asked.
“Past noon, you’ve been in here a while. We got worried,” he answered. He walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. He could see the strain on her face, and the hopelessness she was feeling oozed out of her.
“A new set of eyes will be helpful. How about you take the office? First door on the left,” she said.
“Sure thing.” He walked off and into the room. Instinctually he went to turn on the light, but nothing happened. He looked down after feeling the large faceplate and saw it was a heart. “I have to say, it must have been you who decorated this room.”
Tess was busy in the bedroom again. She was now on her hands and knees crawling around, picking up every little piece of paper. “Why do you say that?”
“I can’t imagine a big tough Ma
rine putting a heart-shaped light switch on the wall.”
Upon hearing that, she shot out of the room and into the office, stopping just at the doorway. She looked down at the heart-shaped face plate and blurted out, “That’s it! He hid it behind there, I know it!”
“Behind the light switch?”
“Yes.” She looked around the desk for something to unscrew the screws. “Help me find something to get the plate off.”
“Really, he hid it there?”
“Maybe, Travis has hidden things behind switch panels before. No one looks there for anything, and this one I gave to him on our first anniversary.”
Devin didn’t need to look. He pulled out his Leatherman tool and opened it up to the flat head screwdriver. As he handed it to her, he asked, “You gave your man, a Marine, a heart-shaped light switch? Even my metrosexual self would think that was gay.”
“Shut up. It’s personal; there’s a story behind it,” she barked as she snatched the Leatherman out of his hand.
“I’m sure there is. Does that story include role-playing and zipper masks?”
She snarled at him and didn’t answer his snarky comments. She quickly unscrewed the panel and removed it. She looked behind the toggle switch and saw a folded-up piece of paper. She squealed, “There’s something there!”
“I thought I’d seen everything, but this is incredible,” Devin joked.
Her hands were shaking as she unscrewed the switch and pulled it out; with a hard pull, she yanked it out and tossed it. With her other hand she pulled the thick folded paper out. She looked at it for a nanosecond and unfolded it. Each fold revealed the mysterious note wasn’t a note but a map.
Devin was looking over her shoulder; the anticipation was riding high. For him it felt like Christmas in some way.
When the paper was fully unfolded, it showed a map of Colorado, and the only mark on it was a circle around an icon of a plane with three handwritten letters, DIA.
“What does it mean?” Devin asked. “Is he at an airport?”
“Yeah, if my memory serves me, DIA stands for Denver—”
Devin interrupted and finished her thought, “—International Airport.”
They both looked at each other oddly.
Devin stepped away and ran his hand through his hair. He turned to her and asked, “Are you sure this is the note?”
She gave him a look that told him it was, but answered, “Travis was being very careful. He must have been worried. For whatever reason he didn’t want to tell me over the phone, and by hiding it in here, he’s telling me that he knew something bad was coming.”
“Do I have to be the one to say the obvious?”
“What’s so obvious?”
“If I knew the end of the world was about to happen, I’d just tell you where I was going. I mean, this whole thing, this entire trip is total bullshit, if you ask me.”
“Travis must have had a good reason. He must have known that he couldn’t talk with confidence over the phone. Maybe he feared for his life, maybe—”
“Still, he has put your life in danger; he could’ve given you a better clue than this. If you had left North Dakota knowing where he was, you’d be there right now. This is, pardon me for saying, silly.”
Tess cut her eyes at him and said, “He had good reason, he had to!” Tess hated having to defend Travis but did so out of obligation. There wasn’t a day that had gone by since the outbreak that she hadn’t asked herself the same question, but hearing Devin ask it made it different. He didn’t know Travis; it was easy for him to judge, she thought.
Devin and Tess’s disagreements had been growing in frequency and intensity since leaving Daryl’s house, making the journey personally tense.
Devin opened his mouth but stopped short. He knew whatever he’d say would not do any good and only add fuel to the fire. Regardless of how silly or needless leaving the message there was, now they had something to go on, and they had a very long trip ahead of them.
Tess looked at the map and ran her fingers over it. She then placed it against her chest and closed her eyes.
Devin reached out. He felt badly and wanted to apologize, but Brianna’s yell halted his mea culpa.
Tess shoved the map in her pocket, pulled out her Glock, and bolted out the door. Devin was right behind her, his AR-15 at the ready.
When they exited the condo, they had a clear view of what was happening. Half a dozen young boys were around Brianna.
At first they looked harmless, they were children, but upon stepping off the deck and hurrying towards Brianna, who was standing outside the Humvee with a pistol in her hand, they could see these children looked anything but harmless.
Their soiled and torn clothing clung to their scrawny bodies, dirt and grime covered their gaunt faces, and in their boney hands they had bats, pipes and several had guns. They were taunting and jeering Brianna, who had a look of fear on her face.
“Help, Devin, Tess, help!” Brianna cried out again, not knowing they were coming.
“Bri, we’re right here!” Tess responded.
The boys, surprised to hear another voice, looked at Tess and Devin coming.
Half of the group turned and faced them. Two held guns, one a revolver the other a 1911.
“Boys, hold up. Put the guns down. There’s no need for this,” Devin yelled, his rifle raised.
“Listen, boys, whatever you think was going to happen, isn’t. If you’re looking for some food, we can help out,” Tess offered. She held her pistol up in an attempt to show she meant no harm.
Devin quickly glanced at her and said, “Tess, what are you doing? We don’t know who they are and what they’re capable of.”
Not looking at him, she answered, “They’re just kids.”
“Did you hit your head in there?” he asked, mocking her.
“You look hungry. We have some food we can share, okay?” Tess asked.
Brando was standing next to Brianna, his leg still bandaged from the gunshot wound weeks ago at Daryl’s house in Reed, Illinois, but his fighting spirit was very much there. His hair was standing up on end and he growled deeply at each boy.
The boys began to laugh at Tess, and the boy holding the revolver started to laugh so hard his laugh turned to a cackle.
Devin felt very uneasy about the situation before him. He had seen so much since all hell had broken loose seven months ago, but never had they encountered feral children. He tightened his grip on the rifle and took aim on the boy with the revolver. He seemed to be the oldest at ten, and the others seemed to look towards him.
“What’s your name?” Tess asked.
The boy with the revolver lowered it and answered, “Alex.”
Tess smiled and said, “Alex, hi, my name is Tess. Are you hungry?”
He nodded.
“We can help,” she said.
“Tell them to back off Brianna,” Devin ordered.
“We’ll give you some food, okay, but can your friends back away from our friend?” Tess asked.
Alex whipped his greasy hair out of his face, smiled and said, “Sure.”
Just with that simple answer, the other five boys lowered their weapons and took a few steps back.
Devin still didn’t trust the situation and kept his rifle firmly planted in his shoulder.
“Hey, lady, what about him?” Alex asked Tess, his finger pointed at Devin.
She looked over and raised her eyebrows.
Devin stepped laterally towards her and stopped just next to her, his rifle not moving an inch, “Tess, I don’t trust this,” he whispered to her.
She whispered in return, “They’re just hungry boys.”
“Exactly.”
Tess rebuffed his concerns, holstered her Glock, and walked past Alex towards the back of the Humvee. She opened up the rear hatch, pulled out a case of MREs, and tossed it on the ground.
Alex whistled and two of the boys, who looked around seven, ran over and grabbed it.
“Are we
good?” she asked.
Alex, while only appearing ten years old, had the bearing and presence of an adult. His dark brown eyes had a deadly and menacing stare.
Devin saw this, but for whatever reason, Tess did not. The Tess he knew before stopped being her the moment they had arrived in Topsail Beach and parked in front of 18 Island Drive.
“You get the Hummer from Lejeune?” Alex asked.
“No,” she answered.
“Where you from?” he asked.
“Right there.” She pointed to her old condo.
He looked back, cracked a half smile and said, “You’re a local?”
“Sort of. So where are your parents?”
“Dead, everyone’s dead,” one of the seven-year-olds blurted out.
“Where do you live?” Tess asked.
Alex pointed to the house where Brianna had seen the movement hours before.
“I told you I saw something move!” Brianna exclaimed, feeling vindicated.
Tess exhaled deeply. She felt for the boys, but she now could see a hardness and desperateness about them. Tapping her intuition that timing was everything and theirs could be running out, she said, “Well, boys, we have to go. Enjoy the food, and please drink extra water when you eat those, they’ll jam you up otherwise.”
Brianna opened the driver’s door, Brando jumped in, and she followed.
Alex’s face went emotionless.
Seeing this, Devin slowly raised his rifle, ready for anything to happen.
Tess circled the Humvee and jumped into the front passenger side.
The other boys were looking to Alex for instructions while keeping an eye on Devin.
Alex turned and grinned at Devin.
The Humvee came to life with a rumble.
The anticipation was killing Devin. He just knew this was about to go sideways and didn’t want to risk losing by not having the advantage, so he fully raised his rifle and shouted, “Alex, nothing personal, but don’t think about it!” He sighted in on Alex’s chest and placed his finger on the trigger.
The Death: The Complete Trilogy Page 26