Keller absolutely loved him. I wondered if in some way the dog would actually be useful for him.
Finally, after the kids had slept, I positioned myself at the table and dove into Alex’s box. I had seen the pictures before. They were the same ones I took in the ‘Alex is dead’ timeframe.
Alex came home at one point, I don’t know when. I was engrossed in the pictures.
“Hey,” he said quietly. “What’s going on?”
I looked over my shoulder and he was peeking in the sleeping room.
“Oh my God, they’re all sleeping?” Alex asked. “It’s only nine.”
“I know.”
“What are you doing?”
“Going through the pictures. Hope you don’t mind.”
“No. Not at all.”
“I love these. Especially this one.” I set aside the picture from his Navy graduation. “Look how young you were. No tattoos. And of course, the one where you won county first responder of the year.”
“Did I show you these?”
“No, I saw them when you died. We buried you at the Haven.” I stood. “You hungry?”
“Yeah, I’m starved.”
“I have your dinner in the ice box,” I said. “I’ll heat it for you.”
“I’ll eat it cold.”
“No, this isn’t a meal to eat cold.”
“Oh, yeah? That sounds ominous.”
I opened the dorm sized fridge and pulled out the metal plate with Alex’s food. After turning on the burner of the hot plate to low, I placed the plate directly on the coil. “Give it a minute.”
“What is it?”
“That fish Danny and Randy caught last week. We took from the freezer, it was really good. I made that with stir fried pumpkin.”
Alex was looking through the pictures and paused. “Stir fried pumpkin?”
“It actually is good.”
“Everything around here is pumpkin. Cookies, pancakes, muffins, bread, stir fry.”
“It’s gonna get worse,” I said. “Since the guys are using the leftover pumpkins for sword training.”
“Swell.”
I moved back to the table, leaning a little against it while I faced Alex and kept one eye on the burner.
“You alright?” he asked. “How was your day? I haven’t seen you.”
“I’m good. Keller finally got his two year old molars.”
“Swell, more teeth to bite me with.”
I laughed.
“Baby good?” he asked.
“She is.”
Alex reached up, laid his hand on my stomach, then after a moment, he pulled it back, cleared his throat, and returned to the pictures.
I hated when he did that. One second acted as if he cared about the baby, the next forcefully stopping himself from any attachment.
“You doing alright since Beck left?”
“Did Sonny say something to you?” I asked.
“I haven’t talked to Sonny much. Why? Should he have?”
“No.” I shook my head. “And I’m fine.”
“You should be used to him going.” He looked up quickly. “I’m sorry. That was wrong.”
“It’s the truth. How do you feel about it?”
“Pisses me off. Don’t understand why he has to keep going off to be the Reckoning Hero. I guess that’s the dedicated soldier in him. I don’t know. And I also don’t know how you keep so damn dedicated to him.”
“Excuse me?”
“Never mind.”
“He radioed this morning.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” he asked.
“You were busy. He was calling to say he arrived safely in Kansas. It’s a free zone. The Sleepers have moved, they are tracking them and they think there are survivors somewhere out there.”
“That’s good. I’m convinced there are some around here because of Scout.”
I walked to the hot plate, shut it down, grabbed a cloth and a fork, and carried the plate to Alex. “Careful, it’s hot.”
“This doesn’t look bad.”
“What was it you said?” I joined him at the table. “Suzy homemaker is my job.”
He pushed the box aside and started on his food. “Not bad for pumpkin.”
“Tastes like sweet potatoes. Alex… the kids and I made Thanksgiving decorations. I’m… I’m, starting to get worried.”
“About?”
“The last time we had a community event like this… Jessie was killed.”
He looked at me sadly. “We can’t prevent every bad thing from happening. We can try, but we can’t prevent it. And just because we can’t prevent bad from happening doesn’t mean we have to stop ourselves from living.”
“Oh my goodness!” I said in shock. “That was pretty profound.”
“I have my moments.”
“Yeah, yeah you do.”
“So look...” he took a huge gulp of his food, “it’s not often you and I get time alone this early at night. Kids sleeping, no Sonny, no one under the table biting me. I got an idea.”
“It’s not anything kinky is it?” I joked.
“Ha, ha. No.” He smiled. “Although I do have them Charlton Heston movies tucked away in case you have a ‘what the hell’ or ‘Beck who?’ moment.”
I genuinely laughed.
“Anyhow, in all seriousness. I know you brought a bunch of pictures back from your house. I have these. Let’s pull them out, share some stories, and remember the good times of the old life.”
“Wow, that sounds… that sounds great.” I stood up and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Just having that way about you. The pictures are what I need.”
“Good. Go get them.”
I walked to the sleeping room and paused. “Just so you know, Alex. The old days are gone. But there are some really good times in this new life, too.” I went to retrieve the box of pictures.
I was looking forward to sharing those memories and hearing his. I wished twenty years from now, we’d be able to sit back, look at pictures of now and share memories.
Despite how rough things were, I meant it when I said there really were some good times. There wasn’t a day when I didn’t smile. And that was something that, after all the heartache, I didn’t think would be possible.
TWENTY-FOUR – SONNY WILSON
I firmly began to believe that we were a community filled with men who were jacks of all trades and masters of none.
I say men, because the women knew what they were doing. We went from guards, to farmers, hunters, you name it.
Alex and I, along with Randy, were on sword making duty. We had to make them, shape them, and Ed would sharpen them.
Michael made a request that his sword have a ‘religious’ theme to it.
I had to laugh when Alex said to Michael. “You want us to make your deadly weapon a crucifix?”
“You’re an asshole, Alex.”
He was the one and only person that could cause Michael to swear. Although I didn’t believe Alex was fazed by being called an asshole. Everyone called him that.
Randy surprised me. He’d never worked with metal before, and he was doing a great job.
Of course, Alex had his comments.
“Wait. You mean to tell me a juvenile detention center had a metal shop?” he said. “What were they thinking? I mean, come on. Give delinquents access to sharp objects? I would think Home Ec would have been more appropriate.”
“Alex, be nice,” Randy said. “There really is no such thing as a bad kid.”
“Ha! Why don’t we ask Sonny? Since he is an expert of kids behind bars. Sonny? Is there no such thing as a bad kid?”
“There are bad kids.”
Alex continued his taunts, and about an hour later, Javier walked in. His presence was odd, and figuring he wasn’t there to help, I shut down my saw and signaled Alex and Randy to do the same.
“Careful,” I told Javier. “Don’t want to get cut.”
“Thank you,” he said. “Alex, I’m glad to see you here. Now I can kill two birds with one stone.”
“Well,” Alex said, “you pick up one of those long flat metal things, take a good swing, and you can kill three men with one slice.”
Silence.
“Not funny?” Alex asked.
Javier titled his head. “Yeah, it was funny. Anyhow… Sonny, I know Alex is leader, but I have a favor to ask you.”
“Why me?”
“You are the go to guy. The resourceful one. Hell, everyone knows that. If you can’t find it you make it. Look, you’re making swords. Resourceful.”
“Wow.” My chest protruded in a peacock manner. “That’s pretty cool. I thought everyone thought of me as the town idiot.”
‘That, too.” Alex said.
Javier flashed scolding eyes at Alex. “The reason I am here is because I am on the cusp, I mean close, to coming up with the cloaking serum.”
That caught all of our attention and we all immediately took a step closer to Javier.
“I need stuff though. Equipment. Supplies. Nothing major, but a lot of different things.”
Randy asked, “Does this mean you’re close to a cure, too?”
Javier shook his head. “No. I could be though. One thing at a time. Plus, working on the cure is going to take equipment we don’t have. I’ll have to go to the ARC or we take over a former CDC. In Atlanta… or Vermont maybe.”
When Javier said ‘Vermont’ immediately I looked at Alex.
“I’m close,” Javier said. “I have a theory on how to do it. But not only will it take equipment, I also need to find antiviral medication and intravenous bags. I just want to prepare in case people get flulike symptoms, and I am thinking they will.” He looked at Alex. “Of course, the flulike symptoms are the reason some people won’t be able to get the cloaking serum. And because of what it is, the pregnant ones won’t get it either.”
“Whoa. Whoa.” Alex held up his hand. “Pregnant ‘ones’ as in plural? Who else is pregnant besides Mera?”
“Patty.”
“Patty?” Alex asked. “Patty the ‘I wait until marriage, virgin-like, subservient’ woman is pregnant? Who’s the father?”
“That is none of your business.”
Alex looked at me. “Wanna take credit for this one, too, Sonny?”
“Enough,” Javier snapped. “Sonny, can you take me?”
Just as I was about to say I would and I would find the gas and vehicle to do so, Alex interjected.
“No need for you to put yourself in danger, Doc,” Alex said. “I was a corpsman and paramedic. Just tell me what you need. We’ll go out for it.”
“Excellent, I’ll make a list. Can you go tomorrow?”
Alex nodded. “Weather is good. Yeah. What did you need to speak to me about?”
“I need you to find a group of Sleepers,” Javier said. “Preferably a large group, and walk into them.”
Alex laughed.
We all laughed.
Javier wasn’t joking.
“Let me get this straight,” Alex said. “You want me to kill myself?”
“I don’t think you’ll die.”
“Ah ha,” Alex exhaled. “I know you’re the doctor and all, but I have a weak immunity to Sleepers.”
“Not anymore. I tested your blood. Your flulike symptoms wasn’t the Sleeper virus. It was your body building a defense. When I took a sample of your blood, the virus wouldn’t even enter the bloodstream. I think you have the cloaked ability now. We won’t know until you test it.”
Alex scratched his head. “How can this be? I have been bitten before.”
“You have never been bitten by Phoenix.”
Randy who had been quiet, spoke up. “The Phoenix child. The Doctrines said he was the cure. Maybe this is what it meant.”
The news took me aback. “This is crazy. Phoenix has the ability to make us cloaked?”
“Michael may as well. We have to test that out,” Javier answered. “I’m eighty percent positive Alex is safe though.”
“So, what are we gonna do if it’s right?” Alex asked. “Have my kid run around biting people?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Javier snapped. “We’re going to use Ed, or grown up Phoenix as a source and use his blood to make the serum. That’s if it works. Will you test my theory, Alex?”
“Sure, why not.”
“Excellent. Excellent.” Javier shook his hand, then mine. “Perhaps you and Ed and Sonny can go.”
“One of us has to stay behind,” Alex told him. “I’ll take Randy here and Sonny can hold down the fort. Don’t want him getting hurt. He is expecting two babies.”
“Good, then, tomorrow,” Javier said. “Sonny, can you get the vehicles ready?”
I told him I would. Even though I hated having to stay behind, I understood Alex’s reasoning. Not for the baby business, just that one of us would have to be at Haven. Especially with Beck gone.
After Javier left us to our work, I turned to Alex. “So… you’re gonna walk into a large group of Sleepers. You scared?”
“Hell, yeah. A part of me thinks this is a set up to get rid of me.”
“Don’t be silly,” Randy said. “Most people like you.”
“Thanks,” Alex said wryly. “Well, tomorrow will tell. Either I walk up to the Sleepers and am super cool or a dead man.”
“You’re Alex,” I said.
“Aw, thanks, Sonny.” Alex swatted my arm. “So I’m gonna be super cool.”
“No, with the way your luck is, you’ll be dead.” I gave him a swat in return.
“Ha, ha, ha, mister funny guy. Mister resourceful and father of every unborn child in the community.”
I turned my back to Alex and laughed. When he called me Tom Selleck’s love kitten, I put on the saw to block out hearing whatever else he was labeling me. I may have told him he was going to be Sleeper shreds, but truth was, I had no doubt that Alex would not only get everything that Javier needed, but he would also return unscathed and show us he was the first cloaked resident.
TWENTY-FIVE – ALEX SANS
“Dude, seriously, this is not a good sign,” Danny said to me as we prepared to leave to go on the medical supply run, and of course, test the Sleeper thing.
“What is not a good sign?”
“The sky is gray. It’s like… ominous.”
“Good word.” I laid my hand on his arm, leaned in, and kissed Danny on the forehead. “I’ll be back.”
I was worried even if I didn’t project it. Danny was right. It was really an overcast day, it looked apocalyptic, even though it was already. Sort of like a sign that it was a dreary but perfect day to die. Nothing every looked pleasant on an overcast day.
I argued with Mera all morning about it. She understood me going for supplies, but didn’t understand why I would deliberately put myself in danger.
“Walk up to one. Maybe two. Any more than that you are asking for problems, Alex,” she said. “You know your luck.”
“I’ll be praying for you,” Michael said.
Great. Michael praying for me; Sonny and Mera telling me I had horrible luck; along with doom and gloom weather. I did have a hint of fear I wasn’t returning.
Seriously, it was a perfect set up for my death.
Ed was confident. “I got you,” he said.
Ed was fast, yet he wasn’t fast enough to help Sonny. When I thought of that, I thought of Scout and took the mutt with us. If anything, he had a good alert bark.
Taking Scout along put Mera a little at ease. Sonny whined and told me not to lose his dog.
Man, the confidence people didn’t have in me.
I had Ed with his swords, Randy as a wing man, and Scout on a leash. I was good to go.
The route was mapped. I knew the area not far from Indian River, so that was the direction we took.
We also knew Sleepers were minimal to the northeast.
Javier’s list was pretty simple. He nee
ded fluids, antivirals, intravenous prep kits, catheters, hypodermics, tubes, you name it.
Although it had been two years since the places were stocked, I was pretty certain if it was clear, the bag not damaged, even past expiration dates, they were good to use.
Hell, in the field, we used expired saline, hospitals also used to ship the stuff to third world countries. Two years post Event, we were still in the safe zone.
I knew what he was doing so it was easy for me to get what he needed.
After mapping out a list of nine places, me, Ed and Randy took off. It was gonna put a real dent in our gas supply but it was worth it.
The first stop was a veterinary clinic, the biggest in the county. We got a ton there, I think we emptied that place out. Scout whimpered when we arrived there, like he knew what kind of place it was.
We hit doctors’ offices, a med quick clinic, that lab place where Missy used to work as a phlebotomist, not a single Sleeper was seen.
I wanted to blame it on the weather, but it wasn’t cold enough yet.
Finally, the last place was one I knew would breed Sleepers. Hell, we weren’t even near it when Scout started to bark.
It was eerie in more ways than one. The cloudy sky gave it a gray feel, scattered cars were everywhere, it was just… dead.
The fact that Scout barked without seeing any Sleepers let me know me there was an abundance of them.
Randy knew I was familiar with the place. In fact I was certain of how much they had. The last time I was there, we took only what we needed for Danny and came back with supplies and Phoenix.
It was odd how we started going full circle. Mera’s house, my house… the hospital.
We weaved the truck up the driveway as best as we could, but had to park it about a hundred feet from the entrance.
I made sure I turned it around in case we had to make a hasty exit.
“Maybe this isn’t a good idea,” Randy said. “Really, Alex, we have enough. I’m sure we can get Michael to call some Sleepers to test your ability.”
“No, it is important to come here. It means something coming here to this particular place. You both need to see this because you weren’t in this time. Heck, even I missed this. All these cars… the people were trying to get their kids help. There was no help to be given.” I put the car in gear. “I’ve been here before. So have you,” I looked at Ed. “Welcome to the place of your birth.”
Sleepers (Book 6) Page 12