by TW Brown
“I just want to sit down and rest for a few minutes,” Heather sighed from where she had collapsed in a nearby snowdrift.
“No,” Kevin urged, even though he felt exactly the same. “It is just a little ways now and we can warm up.”
He led them across the freeway where the crustiness and jaggedness of the icy snow was at its worst. Kevin took up the lead, but kept looking over his shoulder to see that the others were following.
Finally, they reached the small housing development. Several of the homes had big spray-painted markings indicating that they had been scavenged, but Kevin didn’t care. He’d been the one doing most of the supply runs and knew very well that they had left behind most of the clothing and linen. It simply hadn’t been necessary to take it all.
Just the act of stepping inside and being off the actual snow was an immediate relief for them all. He’d been in this house a couple of times and knew that the bedrooms were upstairs.
“Follow me,” he said, fighting the invisible pins and needles that began to pierce every inch of his exposed skin. With each step, it seemed that the gauge of those needles was getting bigger. By the time he reached the top step, it felt like his body was being tattooed with a nail gun. He wasn’t alone in his misery as whimpers and soft crying followed him.
In the first bedroom, he motioned to the twin bed against the wall with posters of Justin Bieber over it. Obviously a young girl’s room, Kevin thought. At least he hoped so.
“I can’t feel anything below my shins,” Matt groaned. “But everything else is on fire.
“Frostbite,” Kevin said as he opened the top left drawer of the dresser. It was crammed full with tee shirts. A distressed murmur rose from everybody, but Kevin began throwing clothing over his shoulder. “Help each other wrap up your feet, but don’t rub,” he instructed.
“Won’t it get the circulation going faster?” Aleah asked through a whimper.
“You more than likely have ice crystals formed up in your feet. To rub them would be like taking tiny razors to all the veins and capillaries. Just wrap them tight and with several layers.” As everybody got to work—Erin helping Aleah, Matt and Heather paired up— he sat down to start on his own feet.
“We can’t stay long,” Kevin said through his clenched teeth as he bit down against the pain. “I figure we have an hour tops before we are found out. I don’t know if killing our guard will earn us a more serious search, but we have to get moving.”
“Will you answer a question? “Erin asked as she tied off the tee shirt she had been wrapping Aleah’s right foot in.
“I have no idea when we will be able to go back for your sister,” Kevin answered, knowing very well what the girl would ask. “But I swear to you that I will not just abandon her and Valarie.”
“That was a question,” Erin said. “But it wasn’t the question that I had in mind.”
Kevin tied off his first foot, grabbed another shirt and looked up. “Okay, go ahead.”
“Why does this lady want you so bad?” Erin asked.
Kevin cocked his head to the side for a moment. Finally, he looked up. “I have no idea,” he admitted.
“It has seemed like she was a bit obsessed,” Matt chimed in after struggling to stifle a yelp when Heather pulled his untreated foot into her lap.
“Sorry, thought you couldn’t feel anything below the shins,” Heather apologized.
“It’s okay, just had this sensation like all the skin on that foot was peeled off with a rusty razor.”
“That’s a good sign,” Kevin said. “I think that means you only have really bad second degree frostbite.”
“And that is a good thing?” Matt grumbled.
“As opposed to third or fourth when you probably lose your appendage?” Kevin looked up. “Yeah, I’d say that is good.”
“So,” Aleah looked up as Erin finished tying off her other foot, “how long before we need to go back out there?” This question was greeted by several groans and complaints, but she cut them all off. “We obviously can’t stay here. But I honestly don’t know how far I can walk…shoes or no shoes.”
Kevin looked around at the faces staring back at him in the shadows. The one thing about a snow-covered terrain was the fact that it really reflected the ambient light. He couldn’t see them clearly, but he could see well enough.
Fear.
Uncertainty.
Doubt.
Whether it was directed at him or not didn’t matter. These were his people, and thus, his responsibility. He needed to regain their confidence.
“I am not saying this is going to be easy. I also can’t promise that, if you come with me, things will be good or easy or whatever it is you think I can do. I don’t have any answers,” Kevin said with a firmness that he wasn’t too sure didn’t sound like the “old” Kevin. Still, it wouldn’t do to have these people following him around with some crazy idea that he knew what he was doing. If he was being honest with himself, he had lost the grip of what to do the moment he met Heather and found out she was immune. Nobody in the books or movies was immune. That was simply proof of his axiom that “this ain’t the movies.”
All he could do was try his best…think things through…and try to never make the same mistake twice. Beyond that, it was all up for grabs.
“How long can we take for a break?” Matt asked. He stretched his wrapped up feet out in front of himself.
“I think we can safely wait an hour,” Kevin said. “I don’t like the idea of waiting that long, but if we absolutely have to, I think we can hold up for one hour.”
“Do you really think they could find us that fast?” Heather asked, copying Matt by stretching out her legs as well.
“There aren’t many places we could make it to,” Kevin explained. “This is the closest development and has to be the first place they will look.”
“Does this belong to you?” a voice from the doorway made everybody jump.
Kevin’s head swung around, his hand going instinctively for the small crossbow. The figure standing in the doorway holding Erin by the scruff of the neck took a step forward. The shadows did not reveal the face, but he knew the voice.
“Willa!” Kevin had to work to climb to his feet and overcome the pain.
“Let me go,” Erin snarled, struggling against the hand that had a tight grip on her.
“She’s with us,” Kevin confirmed.
Willa gave Erin a none-too-gentle shove forward and followed her into the room. Everybody else was struggling to their feet as well, but unlike Kevin who was relaxed, the other three were visibly on edge.
“I caught her sniffing around outside,” Willa said with a tiny laugh. “She was trying to climb through a window.”
“But—” Kevin started, only to have Willa cut him off.
“She was completely oblivious to the walker that was coming up to take a chomp out of her leg.” Willa patted the large blade on her hip. “I thought she might at least notice when I cleaved it in the forehead…but no. She was still wiggling and squirming in a window frame, not a clue in the world.”
“I heard a noise and was trying to get through and away from whatever was coming…but my coat got caught on a stupid piece of metal that was sticking up.” Erin tugged at her jacket and stomped away from the woman.
“Umm…” Aleah moved next to Kevin and took his arm. “Maybe you could introduce us to your friend, Kevin.”
“Everybody, this is Willa, that soldier that I told you about,” Kevin had to swallow a few times before he could speak. For some reason, his mouth was extremely dry. “Willa, this is Aleah, Heather, and Matt. You already met Erin.” He indicated to each one in turn.
“What in the world are you doing out here…and do I even dare to ask where your shoes went?” Willa stepped into the room and dropped a big burlap bag on the floor.
“We made a run for it,” Kevin said with a shrug. “As for the shoes, Major Beers took them to discourage our departure.”
“If s
he wanted to keep you from running, she would have cuffed you or locked you up,” Willa said.
“She has my sister and Valarie locked up,” Erin blurted.
“Ahh.” Willa nodded her head. She glanced at Kevin. “So the girl you got the medicine for is locked up, but you, she just takes your shoes? That doesn’t seem right.”
“She had a guard on us,” Erin offered.
“A guard…she had A guard on you?” Willa said with disbelief.
“We killed her,” Heather said sadly.
“Crap,” Willa hissed. She turned and bolted from the room.
“What’s her problem?” Matt asked.
“You need to get your group out here,” Willa hissed.
Kevin took a step and felt like he was on one of those stupid retreats where they had you walk across hot coals. Steeling himself, he continued out of the room and to the doorway where Willa stood. What he saw made his heart sink.
“What’s that?” Erin asked. Of everybody, she was the only one in the group who had no trouble walking.
“We have to go!” Willa insisted.
“We won’t make it ten minutes,” Kevin sighed.
“Excuse me,” Erin pressed. “I asked a question.”
“You got played, Kevin,” Willa said with a shake of her head.
“You think she would do all of this for you?” Kevin asked. He couldn’t keep the doubt from creeping in to his voice.
“If she knew we were together, then she knew that I would still be in the area,” Willa said.
“Can somebody please tell me what is going on?” Erin insisted.
It had taken that long for everybody else to reach the trio standing in the doorway staring out into the night. The low rumble was something you could hear as well as feel now.
“I didn’t see anything like that when I reached the camp,” Kevin said with a shake of his head.
“They didn’t use those when they took us,” Aleah gasped.
“They must think my entire group is with me.” Willa turned to face Kevin and his group.
“Hello!” Erin stomped her foot. She was tired of being ignored. She was sick of being treated like she wasn’t a part of things. “What are those?”
“Bradley Fighting Vehicles,” Willa whispered.
“So what in the hell would make it so important for her to come after you like this?” Kevin asked.
“You guys stay here.” Willa began stripping off her weapons’ belt.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Kevin asked.
“I’m going out there and surrendering. I’m telling her that I haven’t seen you and I am giving myself up.”
“What?” Kevin, Aleah, Heather, and Matt blurted almost in unison.
“She doesn’t care about you guys,” Willa explained. “She wants me. If I give up, she will probably roll out of here tonight.”
“Wait,” Kevin insisted. “Something about this is just not adding up. For one, she wouldn’t have even known that you and I were working together when she took my camp. So what am I missing?”
“Major Beers has been looking for me and my group almost since this whole thing went off,” Willa started. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. “I haven’t been entirely honest with you, Kevin.”
14
Vignettes XXIX
Ahi struggled to his feet. The bloom of heat radiated from his left cheek and the taste of blood was coppery in the back of his throat. He wiped at his face with his hand and was not surprised when it came away bloody. His feet betrayed him and he stumbled to the left a few steps before regaining his balance.
Aaheru still stood in his doorway. The towel that had adorned his waist when he answered had fallen to the floor, but the man paid it no mind. He rubbed absently at his left hand, the back of which had just caught Ahi squarely in the face.
“You thought it best to wait?” Aaheru snarled. “Then perhaps you know more about this little attempt than you are saying.”
“I serve only you, Pharaoh.” Ahi decided to end the war with balance. It would hopefully soothe the anger of the man towering naked over him at the moment. And while Ahi was not adverse to the idea of Aaheru doing anything to him while naked, Ahi would certainly wish for much better circumstances.
“Why would you think it to be okay for you to stand outside my door for several minutes?” Aaheru roared. “You have information regarding somebody who wants to try to kill us all and you decide to eavesdrop on my intimate affairs with one of my wives?”
Ahi glanced up—not at Aaheru, no, his eyes chanced a peek at Ahmes who sat naked on Aaheru’s bed with a sheet pulled up to her chin. Just as he suspected, the young girl was not pleased with the idea that there would be other women sharing Aaheru’s bed. Pharaoh or no…a woman did not usually like sharing the affections of a man that she considered to be hers.
“I only just arrived, my Pharaoh.” Ahi tried his best to sound contrite. What he would not say is that he did in fact show up just as the little tryst began. “I hadn’t been there for more than an instant. It was clear that you were nearing completion. I did not want to incur your wrath by interrupting such a moment.”
Aaheru felt a bit of his anger subside. Ahi made a good point. And a few moments would not make a difference. After all, it was a case of attempted sabotage. The engineer had discovered and thwarted the actual attempt. The culprit was still at large, but that was a problem that he could devise an answer for once he had a moment to think clearly.
Naturally he would not admit anything concerning his thoughts to Ahi. As pharaoh, it was his duty to instill a respectful fear in his subjects. This was actually a good thing to have happened. It reminded Ahi of his place; it also demonstrated his power in front of Ahmes. This would certainly be spoken of to the other women, which, in turn, would ensure that every one of his subjects would know the details before the sun set the next day. Even better, the way women tended to exaggerate, his power and strength would be amplified. Yes, Aaheru thought, this would serve his needs.
“Meet me on the bridge in ten minutes,” Aaheru said to Ahi with a dismissive wave before returning to his stateroom and closing the door.
He dressed and ensured to equip himself with an assortment of blades. As he dressed, he kept noticing that Ahmes simply sat in the bed with her arms folded across her chest like a petulant child. Her expression was a perplexing scowl. Perhaps she was hoping for another powerful mounting by her beloved. Well, that would have to wait. There were people trying to kill not only the people that would serve as the stock for the start of a new Egypt, but they were trying to kill HIM!
When he walked onto the bridge, he was struck by a peculiar and unpleasant smell. He sniffed a few times, but could not place it right away.
“We are getting a strong breeze from the north, my Pharaoh,” one of the men announced.
Aaheru tried not to let his annoyance at himself show. He had no idea what the man was trying to say.
“Likely we are getting a smell of one of the coastal cities from Turkey,” another of the men added. “Perhaps Antalya…it would certainly have enough of a population to account for what we are smelling.”
Aaheru was struck by how foul the stench was. He’d been surrounded by thousands of the walking dead and had the entire city of Cairo sending up its stink. Why would this be so much worse?
“Funny how you can learn to get used to something and just block it out,” Ahi offered.
Aaheru glanced at his advisor and gave a nod. Once again, the man proved to almost be able to read his very thoughts. Yes, he had indeed chosen his advisor well. Surely he would understand that there would be the occasion that he would fall subject to his pharaoh’s discipline. Even the best of children have their wayward moments.
“So am I to understand that we have had an attempt at sabotage?” Aaheru asked, bringing things to order.
“Yes,” Ahi spoke.
“And who was it that discovered this attempt?” Aaheru posed the question.
“And what is your name?” Aaheru faced the man.
“Otmar Ali, my Pharaoh,” the man replied in a voice that was surprisingly soft for a man so large.
“You are to be commended, Otmar Ali,” Aaheru spoke, trying to sound gracious but still maintain the authoritativeness he decided that a pharaoh must always display. “I wish for you to dine with me this evening as a reward for your diligence.”
“So what shall we do to try and find this person?” Ahi asked.
Aaheru cast an angry glance at his advisor. Did Ahi not see that he was trying to be a magnanimous ruler? Perhaps that cuff to the face was warranted after all.
“I want all hands brought to the dining hall. I will leave it to you, Ahi, to choose who will assist you in this task, but I want everybody assigned to another individual. Everybody will be confined to their quarters until we arrive at our destination with the exception of meals. I want you to also determine who will eat when. Everybody will be escorted to and from their quarters by your security team.”
Aaheru answered a few questions, but quickly grew tired of the details. He had given his edict. To refuse or disobey would result in being tossed over the side. Beyond that, he didn’t care. All of this had stirred his desires. He would go pay a visit to the women’s quarters. After all, he thought, it was time to start selecting his wives. Once he had done so, he could begin to award the remaining women to those who excelled at doing his bidding.
***
April Cable and another woman emerged from the bedroom. Juan wished for the thousandth time that he was even remotely good at remembering names. That thought was quickly banished when he saw the red-rimmed eyes on both women.
“Is she…” He couldn’t bring himself to say the words.
“She will be fine,” April stepped up to Juan and took his hands. “But she lost the baby.”
“The what?” Juan felt his knees give just a little.