by Radke, K. E.
☢
Lincoln’s arm brushed against the empty side of his bed and the horrific events from last night flooded his memory. Sighing heavily he got up and froze at the sight of the little girl sleeping on the floor in his room curled into a ball. He was fully dressed in seconds and placed a blanket over her before strapping on his holster and going into his weapons room.
Picking out several knives, he took their matching sheaths and strapped two on his belt and the other around his ankle. When he turned to exit, Camille’s daughter was standing silently in the doorway.
“You keep creeping up on me and I’m going to put a bell on you,” he warned softly. “Go pick out what you want to eat and then we’ll go visit Melanie.”
They warmed up two cans of Spaghettios on the gas stove since the electricity was out again. Peeking through the blinds, Lincoln made sure the front was clear before opening the door. He made the little girl close her eyes as they stepped outside so she wouldn’t see Sabrina’s dead body on the lawn. Someone had come by and eaten the rest of her, making everything in Lincoln’s stomach threaten to revolt.
Camille’s daughter was still holding his hand and stood slightly behind him out of view when Wyatt opened the door.
Wyatt quickly tried to turn his shocked expression into a warm smile and said, “Charlotte! Come on in!”
Finally, a name, Lincoln thought as he tried to pull his hand from hers, but she didn’t release her death grip and stayed put. Lincoln glanced at Wyatt for help when she refused to go inside with people she knew far better than him.
“Lincoln you came over to hang out for a while too?” Wyatt gestured for him to come in. Taking the first step, Lincoln managed to get inside with her right behind him. Wyatt raised his eyebrows in question, but kept his mouth shut.
“I-uh-she showed up last night. I was wondering if Melanie had some clothes that would fit her?” Lincoln asked uncomfortably.
Melanie ran forward with Phoebe on her heels, “Hi Mr. Lincoln! Charlotte you want to come play with my dolls?”
“Charlotte honey, let’s find you something better than Lincoln’s shirt to wear,” Phoebe smiled kneeling down to be eye level with her. Charlotte slowly took Phoebe’s hand glancing up at Lincoln. He nodded at her, “I’ll be right here.”
When they turned the corner Wyatt whispered, “What the fuck happened?
Lincoln gave him a grim expression, “She showed up late last night. While I was dealing with her, Sabrina thought it’d be a good idea to go outside and got herself bitten by your favorite friendly neighborhood cannibal.”
Wyatt’s jaw dropped, “You’re kidding.”
Lincoln made sure no one but Wyatt was listening, “Look, I don’t ask for help often.” He shifted his feet lowering his gaze, “But I don’t know squat about kids. She said Camille and her dad are gone. We both know what happened to her sisters. I can give you supplies for her, and Melanie will have someone to play with.” He didn’t ask outright if they would take care of her but the implication was there.
“I’ll have to talk it over with Phoebe, but I don’t think she has the heart to say no.”
“Even if she says no, do you think she can at least stay here for a few days?”
Charlotte and Melanie rounded the corner with Phoebe behind them. Melanie happily skipping that her friend was over was a complete contrast to Charlotte’s sullen face. Phoebe announced excitedly, “We’re going to give Charlotte a haircut, to try and even this out.”
Lincoln only noticed the shorter locks when Phoebe pointed them out. He nodded his head and turned to exit, happy to see her fitting in. Wyatt gauged his intentions but wasn’t letting Lincoln leave until he knew where the man was headed for the next few days. If he was bugging out Wyatt wanted to know why.
Charlotte shot forward grabbing Lincoln’s hand tightly before he could exit. Alarmed he glanced up at Wyatt and Phoebe trying to pull his hand free from hers. Going rigid he cleared his throat and kneeled down to be eye level with her, “You’re going to stay with Phoebe and Wyatt for a little bit.”
She shook her head.
His eyes darted to Wyatt for help but the man only gave a shrug.
“You’ll be safe here. It’s ok,” Lincoln promised.
“Charlotte we’ll have lots of fun,” Melanie chimed in.
Charlotte shook her head cutting all the blood circulation off to Lincoln’s fingers with her grip.
“Would you like Lincoln to stay while you get your haircut?” Phoebe asked with a motherly tone. Charlotte nodded keeping her eyes locked on Lincoln, and refused to be distracted by anyone else.
Wyatt added, “I’m sure Lincoln wants to stay for a few minutes.”
“Ok,” Lincoln nodded, relenting to their demands. Phoebe signaled Charlotte to follow her into the kitchen so they could begin her new hair style.
Once the women were out of sight, Wyatt signaled for Lincoln to follow him down the hall and into his bedroom. Stopping in the doorway, Lincoln stood there anxiously as the tension in his body grew. His eyes assessed the room only stepping inside when Wyatt pulled him forward and shut the door behind him.
Bright colors decorated the space, obviously with a woman’s touch. The bed was centered in the middle of the room against a wall with the dresser to left. The door beyond the dresser lead to the bathroom and the closet was on the other side of the bed. Behind Lincoln was a huge flat screen TV, the only masculine object in the room.
“Where are you going? And don’t tell me it’s none of my fucking business,” Wyatt’s tone determined to extract information.
Not able to focus because he was trapped in Wyatt’s bedroom, Lincoln answered simply, “My ham radio need parts. The city will have them.”
“What does a ham radio have to do with anything?”
Irritated by the stupid question, Lincoln could finally focus and answered in a know-it-all voice, “How do you plan on communicating with the world Wyatt? Your cell phone that no longer works? Walkie talkies that need to charge? The electricity is already spotty. Internet is down. Right now I’ve gone black and everyone I communicate with thinks I’m dead.”
“And you’re going into the city by yourself with a population in the thousands?”
“Even if I wanted Noah to come, I’d need a ham radio to ask.”
Wyatt stood there quietly waiting for the inevitable.
“I can tell you’re waiting for something. If it’s something sexual you’re asking the wrong person,” Lincoln put a phantom line between them and dared Wyatt to try and cross it with his hard stare.
Wyatt rolled his eyes and scoffed loudly, “I’m waiting for you to ask me to come!”
Lincoln made a disgusted face keeping his voice low, “Keep it in your fucking pants! I don’t need you to cum anywhere near me.”
Not understanding the animosity at first Wyatt gave him a what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you expression. Lincoln glared taking a step back and Wyatt figured out what he meant. Rubbing his hand down his face turning bright red Wyatt growled, “Come with you into the city! Why the fuck would you think I want you for sex when I have a wife!”
“You brought me into your bedroom. How the fuck am I supposed to know what you want?” Lincoln wanted to make that very clear.
“I brought you in here for privacy. So we could talk and little ears wouldn’t overhear us.”
“I don’t read minds Wyatt. I only bring women into my bedroom when I’m ready to fuck them not to talk privately.”
“Are you going to ask me or not? Because I’m seriously rethinking my answer.”
“Who will watch Charlotte if you come?” It wasn’t the real question Lincoln wanted to ask. He was just giving Wyatt an easy way out if he felt obligated to come with him.
“Phoebe,” Wyatt answered without hesitation, crossing his arms over his chest challenging Lincoln to come up with a better excuse to try and leave him behind.
Lincoln paused finally making eye contact with Wyatt in the enclosed roo
m, “And if you don’t make it back?”
“I think the real question is if you don’t make it back,” Wyatt countered. “We’re alive because of you not the other way around. As much as I hate to admit it, we depend on you. I depend on you. Melanie feels safer at your house,” Wyatt said the words coated with jealousy.
Lincoln took a step away from Wyatt again, backing into the closed door behind him, “You have that look like your waiting for something again.”
“Ok, I’m not waiting for you to ask anymore, I’m going with you. Never go alone, right? What do I need to pack? How long will we be gone?”
Wyatt pushed Lincoln out of the way and raced out the door muttering to himself. Not waiting for an answer to any of his questions.
☢
Charlotte refused to stay with Melanie, and held Lincoln’s hand all the way back to his house. She stuck by his side while he packed and Wyatt watched the two as Lincoln talked him through a bug out bag. He noticed how Lincoln had no idea Charlotte was absorbing every word and mimicking his movements. She had found her savior and would not let him out of her sight.
Lincoln gave Wyatt free reign of his supply room to fill the bug out bag. Wyatt put the essentials in first, ticking them off his list: water, purification tablets, matches, first aid kit, can opener, tent, sleeping bag, metal utensils, MREs, protein bars, several pairs of leather gloves, extra clothes, headlamp, batteries, bandanna, magazines, extra ammo, multitool, and zip ties. He caught Lincoln shoving extra stuff in his bag every once in a while.
Lincoln insisted they have two knives on their belt and one attached to their ankles. So everyone entered the weapon supply room and started looking over Lincoln’s knife collection. Picking two, Wyatt strapped them on his belt and Lincoln gifted him a knife ankle holster. Lincoln called it the shit-hit-the-fan-last-stand weapon.
Bumping into Charlotte he saw her lower lip protruding and said the first thing he thought would make her happy, “If you want to go back to Melanie’s house I can take you over there. Whatever they’re doing right now is better than watching us pack. You’ll be staying with them while I’m gone and it’ll be fun.” He convinced himself that she’d love living with Melanie by the time he got back and forget all about him.
Wyatt hid his sly grin at Lincoln’s naivety of the situation. It was very clear Charlotte was upset because Lincoln would not allow her to go with him, not because she was away from her friend. She only confirmed his theory when she gazed at Lincoln from the corner of her eyes with a deepening frown. The only answer she gave besides silence.
“Ok, last chance to go play,” he waited as long as he could and then added, “If you’re here, you’re helping.” Lincoln nudged Charlotte and caught Wyatt’s attention before he began. “We’re going to hide my supplies. Listen carefully. If something happens to me, you’ll know where my stash is. If I make it back and find everything missing…there’s only two people I told.” He eyed them both and made sure they understood the hidden message.
Signaling for them to follow him, he went in his room and lifted the mattress pushing it against the wall. In the bed frame he unlatched a secret compartment hidden inside. Pointing to it he said, “Guns in here.”
Walking to the living room he moved the couch and lifted a hidden handle in the floor, “Food here. I’m going to pour food coloring in the water barrels and put toxic labels on them. Hopefully no one will bother with them.”
“I was wondering if you had a plan for looters… ,” Wyatt’s voice trailed off, astonished by the efforts Lincoln made to ensure his own survival.
“I just hope most of it fits.” Walking back into the weapon room Lincoln called to Charlotte. “Knives are stored in their sheathes, and then put them in the bag. Look at me,” Charlotte gazed up at him. “These are weapons not toys. You can seriously hurt yourself, they are very sharp. They can kill you. Take your time and be careful.”
“Maybe we should let her help with the canned goods instead, so she doesn’t accidently hurt herself,” Wyatt suggested and gave Lincoln a moment to think twice about his decision.
“Charlotte, you can put away the canned food instead, but eventually you’ll have to learn to defend yourself. So being familiar with a knife should be something you want to learn if you want to survive. You can either have someone protect you or learn to protect yourself. Safely and efficiently,” Lincoln emphasized the last two words. “So which one do you want to put away? Knives or cans?”
Charlotte carefully opened a drawer holding knives and started placing the sheathed ones in the bag. Lincoln patted the top of her head and smirked in Wyatt’s direction challenging his advice.
Between the of three them, they hid all the important guns and left a few Lincoln didn’t care for in the lockers locked up.
“Why are you locking them up? Nothing’s going to stop them from smashing it open,” Wyatt said convinced Lincoln was wasting his time trying to protect his least favorite guns.
“Whoever steals my shit is going to have to work for it. I’m not just going to hand over my stuff. They’ll probably destroy my house out of spite anyway.”
More than half the food wouldn’t fit in the hideaway under the couch, so Lincoln started hiding it behind towels and sheets in his closet. He figured no one would bother looking if all the food and weapons seemed to be centralized in the first two rooms.
After everything was stuffed into every corner of his house, Lincoln found Charlotte lingering in his bedroom near the bag of knives. When she thought no one was looking she started digging through it. Lincoln cleared his throat catching her in the act and firmly said, “Those aren’t toys.”
Her hands slid out of the bag and she lowered her gaze to the floor feeling embarrassed at being caught. He stepped beside her and asked curiously, “What are you looking for?”
When she didn’t move Lincoln kneeled down and tried to soften his voice, “I want to see what you were looking for. Show me.”
Slowly she foraged through the bag with her small hands and brought out a black Kershaw folding blade.
“That’s a nice one,” Lincoln took it from her and flipped the knife out and folded it back into the handle. “You don’t even need a belt to wear it. It has a clip so it can slide right onto your pants. I can teach you how to use it, if you want.”
They were both staring at the floor but Lincoln caught her nod in his peripheral vision, “I’ll let you have it under one condition. You go with Wyatt back to his house for a little while, so I can take care of some things here. And be good for Phoebe while I’m gone so I can get my radio fixed.”
She nodded in agreement. Lincoln let Wyatt think he convinced Charlotte it’d be safer with him for the next few hours while Lincoln took care of Sabrina’s body. There wasn’t much left of her to burn, and afterward he took a shower.
He leaned against his hands on the shower wall allowing the water to flow over him. This was the first time he’d been alone for days—and he wasn’t going to get another chance after he left the confines of the shower walls. So he relished in the silence and working pipes.
As soon as he was dressed he went back to packing. Water dripped off his short brown hair from jerking backward when he caught sight of Phoebe sitting quietly in his food storage room waiting for him. She held up the house keys he’d given Wyatt earlier so he could lock up the house when he left with Charlotte.
She stood up with tenacity and while her eyes were darting in every direction except him, he could tell she was on a mission. The words she’d come to say finally left her mouth, “I have to go with you.” She tried to keep the desperation out of her voice.
“Yes because dragging you and two children along will make the errand a whole lot faster,” Lincoln said sarcastically passing her to start packing things neatly in the bug out bag so it’d all fit.
“You don’t understand,” she held out her gloved hand toward him and started to pull it off while Lincoln continued to argue his point.
“No,
I think you have it backward. You don’t—,” Lincoln stepped backward stumbling on the scattered supplies around him and scooted away from her the second her glove came off.
Fear.
Fear he’d never felt before overpowered him as he stared at her hand, the fingertips already gray. His gun. Lincoln pulled the gun from his holster, the movement easy, familiar. He didn’t need to think about it because it’s been done thousands of times before. Aiming at her was routine. Just another target at the shooting range.
“STOP!” she shouted. “Stop! Please don’t shoot me. Listen to me. Please.”
“Get out of my house or I will shoot you,” Lincoln threatened icily. “It would be a shame if you didn’t say goodbye to your daughter.”
“Please Lincoln,” she fell to her knees not daring to get any closer than she already was. He looked like a caged animal ready to demolish everything and anything in his path. “You need Wyatt’s help. If I stay here, I will turn and kill the girls. Even if they get away and escape somehow, how will they survive? How will they find you and Wyatt?”
“Get. Out.” He could feel the perspiration on his forehead and tried to keep his hands from shaking with enraged shock because she brought the virus into his home.
“He doesn’t know yet,” Phoebe admitted ignoring Lincoln’s command. “I haven’t told him.”
“Now.”
“No,” she wiped the stray tears from her face and stood up with a crazed glint in her eyes. “If you’re going to shoot me then do it. Wyatt will stay home with Melanie and she will be safe. And that’s all that matters. I’m dying, whether you shoot me or not,” she shrugged her shoulders coming to the realization.
“I will tell Wyatt we had an affair and I killed you because you wouldn’t leave him,” he threatened her reputation to get rid of her.
Her stare hardened at the same time she clenched her jaw revealing how bothered she was by his warning. “So shoot me already so I can die in your house. This looks like a good spot to bleed to death.” Challenging him, she lay down on the carpet going limp.