From around the house came a clatter, then the slide of metal and wood. Rion’s shoulders, which she hadn’t noticed had been tense in anticipation, relaxed. They all stood at the front door, waiting for Nolan to signal to them that he had found a way in. But there was nothing but silence. Then with no notice at all, the front door swung wide open.
“Guess its good to have a delinquent around. And they said I’d never amount to anything.” Nolan said, causing the group to share in a short, but much-needed laugh. They were all grateful for Nolan, even if they hadn’t been sure they wanted him to come along in the beginning. The thing about it, Rion thought, was that she might not have picked these people to come with her in her time of need, but she was so grateful that somehow they had ended up in this together. Sitting in detention seemed like a hundred years ago, and when she had walked into that room, all of these people had been strangers to her. The thought baffled her and she was nothing but thankful.
The living room, well what Rion thought was a living room, was actually the only room in the cabin beside the bathroom. It held two sofas, a twin bed, and a lamp. Off to the side was a tiny kitchen area. There was a fridge that looked like it belonged in a dorm room sitting on the counter and a microwave. Drew reached over to the light switch and flicked it upward. Nothing happened.
“I guess we're going to have to get some wood and start a fire.”
The single saving grace of this rickety shack was the big fireplace on the far side, directly opposite of the door. Wood was stacked beside it. Drew began to pile the wood into the fireplace. The way she placed it was very precise. Rion wondered if Drew’s dad had taught her how to do that. It was a skill Rion had never even known one would need. But when the entire world is falling down around you, she thought Drew’s survival skills would come in handy. Rion didn’t have any skills, except she could paint her nails a very vibrant red and do it without getting any polish on the skin around her nails. She didn’t really think that was a skill that would come in handy much until the world had sorted itself back to normal.
The fire was soon going, casting the same kind of orange flicker across the room that the fire of Dyersville had cast upon each them. The memory of that terrible sight was etched into Rion’s memory. She couldn’t shake it and soon had to turn away so she couldn’t see the fire.
“We have blankets somewhere,” Drew said, clearly distracted with remembering where her dad kept everything. “And the sofas pull out to be beds. We’ll have to share, but hey its better than sleeping in the Tahoe.” Everyone agreed with her solemnly.
“Is there somewhere I can call Sada?” Nolan asked, still standing while everyone else was getting settled. Rion thought he looked kind of pale. He was probably just as tired as they all were.
“You can go to the bathroom,” Drew said, pointing to a small door. Nolan moved toward the door and closed it behind him.
“Is it weird that he wants to talk to Sada without us listening?”
Kimber looked at Drew and then to Eli, who had asked and then shook her head.
“He probably doesn’t want us to hear the lovey stuff, or maybe he doesn’t want us to see his reaction when he can’t get ahold of her.”
Eli nodded, thinking that he would be the same way if he had someone special to talk to. Eli didn’t have a girlfriend or anyone who was anything close to that. He really never had the time or effort to put in when it came to girls. When your sister was a little bit of a hell raiser and your mom worked sixty hours a week, it was hard enough to keep up with his own stuff and keep watch over Kimber. But now, Kimber was here, and he didn’t know where his mom was. Things were different. His eyes roamed their way over to Rion, who was sitting on the couch. Emmy’s head was laying across Rion’s lap, the rest of her curled up in a ball under a blanket. Rion played with her sister’s hair, speaking to her so softly Eli couldn’t hear what she was saying. He looked at her lips, moving slowly, whispering sweet things to Emmy. She was beautiful, but not in an obvious way. Her loving nature, her timid ways, those made her beautiful to him. Eli thought about how it felt when she took his hand. His anger disappeared instantly. It had never done that before. She was such a calming presence to him. It was wonderful. He shook his head. What was he thinking? Now wasn’t the time for this. Plus she was pregnant, that tended to complicate things for adults, let alone two teenagers.
“Well I hope he doesn’t take forever because I need to use the facilities”
Eli moved to the door. He could hear Nolan’s voice. He must have gotten through to Sada, which was good. Not only for Nolan’s state of mind, but also Sada might have made it to a safe place that they could go to. Or at the very least Sada probably had more of an idea of what was going on. They had been secluded from the outside world for most of the time except at the hospital. To be honest, outside of Dyersville, none of them had any clue what was going on or if this disease had spread.
Eli’s eyes widened. He hadn’t meant to be eavesdropping, but he couldn’t help it and what Nolan was saying to Sada wasn’t what he had expected. There were tears, but not because she was hurt or because they were talking about their eternal love for each other. Eli turned around and pounded on the door. Everyone else was shocked. Emmy squirmed closer to Rion, woken up by the noise.
“Eli! Stop!” Kimber yelled. “You can wait, he’s not going to be that long.”
Eli didn’t stop. He pounded the door hard with his right first over and over.
“I have to go,” Nolan said, but Eli didn’t hear it because he was beating so hard on the other side of the door.
The door swung open and Nolan looked pissed. “What’s your problem man?”
“You’ve been bitten? I thought all that blood was from the bullet wound.” Eli asked.
Eli knew the answer to the question but he wanted to hear it from Nolan. He had heard Nolan tell Sada that he was sorry he couldn’t be with her. He was injured and not sure how much time he had.
Kimber’s hand went to her mouth and she gasped. No one said anything, unable to even imagine what to do or what they could say.
“Yeah,” Nolan said with a shrug, “when I was trying to protect Emmy, one got me. On the ankle.”
Tears welled up in Rion’s eyes. Nolan got infected saving her little sister. She couldn’t make herself say anything, but she wanted to thank him. He saved Emmy, put her life before his own, and now was going to possibly die because of it.
“What are we going to do?” Kimber asked. Everyone looked around at each other. Nobody knew where to go from there. They had all seen the effects being infected had, but no one truly knew how long it would take for the effect to take hold of Nolan.
“Eli?” Kimber prodded.
“Kimber, I don’t know. I don’t have any idea what we should do.”
“You don’t have to be a jerk, Eli. But we have to do something. We can’t just…” Her voice trailed off. Let him stay, was what she was thinking but she didn’t want to say it.
“I’m not being a jerk, Kimber, I don’t know what to do. I’m not the leader, we should decide together.”
“That’s stupid.” Kimber shot back.
The two siblings began to bicker back and forth. It was like watching a tennis match, the ball going from one side of the court to the other. Instead of a ball they were hurling insults and none of the others could keep up. As the conversation began to get more heated, Spanish words started to slip in, more and more, until the entire argument was happening in Spanish and no one had any clue what was going on. Kimber was making rapid hand gestures and firing off what didn’t sound like very nice words at her brother. Eli shook his head and laughed, which only made Kimber even angrier.
“SHUT UP!” Nolan yelled.
Everyone went silent.
“I’m going to leave. I was in the middle of telling Sada that when this jerk interrupted me.” He said, moving his head towards Eli.
“No,” Rion said, softly. She pushed herself up so she was sitting straigh
ter as if this would make the others take her seriously. “You can’t leave. We don’t even know if you’re infected or when you’re going to turn. You are not going out into the cold alone to die. I won’t stand for it.”
The silence continued. Nolan looked grateful for Rion’s words, even if he wasn’t going to follow them.
“I appreciate that-” Nolan began, but a knock at the door stopped him short.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The wind outside howled and the old windows of the cabin rattled with its strength. At first, Eli thought that was the noise they heard. There wasn’t a single soul who knew anyone was even at this cabin. But then whoever was on the other side of the door, knocked again. Drew moved toward the door to answer it, but Eli stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
“That could be my dad!” She said in an intense whisper.
“We have no idea who is on the other side of that door or if they’re even alive.”
Eli walked over to the door and listened. When the person outside began to speak, the tension that had filled Eli’s body when he heard the knock, disappeared.
“Is anyone in there? This is Officer Tripp, with the Dyersville police force.” Eli reached for the knob and turned it to let Tripp in. As a group, they all let out a collective sigh. Tripp’s face was familiar and they all knew him. He was the good guy around town, Dyersville born and raised. It was emotional seeing someone they thought was possibly lost to them. Rion was perhaps the most unfamiliar with Tripp, having only lived in Dyersville for a short period time, but she knew his face and name, along with his reputation as one of the good ones.
“Well aren’t you all a sight for sore eyes,” Tripp said, his boyish smile shining. “I wasn’t sure if anyone would think of this place, but I thought I had to check. I’m checking all the cabins and houses I know of outside of town… Looking for survivors.” His voice got cold towards the end of the sentence.
“Survivors of the plague or the fire?” Eli asked.
“Fire?” Scoffed Kimber, “Don’t you mean bomb? That’s what happened isn’t it, Tripp? The army decided that Dyersville was disposable and they wipe it off the map.”
Tripp shook his head. He looked as if he had aged five years since Nolan had seen him the morning before. Dark circles surrounded his eyes and the twinkle that usually shown within them was gone. His expression was a mixture of sadness and loss. The town he had loved his whole life was suddenly gone, he wasn’t even sure it had sunk in just yet. Tripp had spent his entire life in Dyersville, played on the football team, and never thought of leaving when he graduated. Instead, he stuck around to protect and serve his community, the one he had spent loving his whole life.
“I wasn’t in town when it happened Kimber. I don’t think it was a bomb, there would be more destruction outside of the town, but it is clear that they took no regard for the lives of those who lived there. When they started barricading the roads they said it was to keep us safe, but now it seems like they just wanted to lock everyone in the town so they could…” He didn’t have to finish, they all knew what he meant. They had fenced in their family members, neighbors, and friends like cattle for the slaughter.
“You guys should head for Dubuque, there are some safe places you can go. They have centers at each school and the hospital.”
“We did,” Drew said, shaking her head as she talked to him. “You’re a little behind on the information there, Tripp. There were breakouts of infected at East High School and at the hospital. We were there, caged up like animals with people who were infected. We barely made it out alive.”
“Nothing they are doing is actually helping,” Kimber said, rage seething in her voice. “They are making a mess of everything when they should try eliminating all these freaking zombies.”
“Zombies?” Tripp said with a laugh. “They aren’t zombies Kimber.”
“The hell they aren’t,” she snapped back. “They get bitten, they die, then they come back and bite any other human in sight.”
“You’ve seen this?”
“We have,” said Eli. “At the school, the hospital, it's as close to a zombie straight out of the movies that you’ll ever get.”
“A nurse at the hospital said it started at the college. Some professor brought it back from South American and she just when crazy and started chomping on everyone around her like they were dinner,” Drew added, trying to remember everything the nurse had told them.
“It doesn’t seem like there is a cure of any sort either. They were just shooting them at the hospital. Straight through the head and then they fall and don’t get back up,” Eli remembered putting a bullet in between the young solider’s eyes. It wasn’t something he was proud of, but at the time it was the only thing that could be done. The greater good and all that, he thought, but it still didn’t sit well.
“So once you’ve been bitten, there isn’t any coming back from it,” he added softly.
Then they all looked at Nolan.
Tripp followed their gaze but didn’t pick up on what wasn’t being said.
“I got bit, at the hospital.” Nolan’s voice betrayed him. He was trying to sound as if it wasn’t a big deal, but everyone in the room knew differently, except, perhaps Emmy who had fallen back asleep on Rion’s lap.
“Well, we have to get you to a doctor or something. I can drive-“
Nolan shook his head. His mind was made up. There was no way he was going to risk infecting anyone else. He would die hating himself if he took Rion or Emmy or any of them with him. After a hard goodbye to Sada, sitting in a tiny bathroom, with tears falling down his face, he knew he was ready. Nolan couldn’t remember the last time he cried, but the idea of leaving Sada in a messed up situation without him was enough to evoke tears. He would have done anything for that girl and now he would die loving her.
“I’m not going anywhere. But you guys should. You can’t stay here when I start to turn.” Nolan looked down at his boots, shifting from one foot to the other, trying to figure out how to ask someone he barely knew a very important question.
“Eli, if I turn and you guys are still here-“ he stopped, unable to finish the sentence.
Eli clapped a hand onto Nolan’s shoulder and nodded, a silent agreement to do what was necessary if it came to that.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The fire crackled as the five of them sat solemnly around the fireplace. The girls were wrapped up in blankets, while the guys toughed it out since there weren’t enough for everyone. Emmy was asleep on one of the couches, Nolan leaned up against the couch sleeping as well. They had given him a blanket because he had started to shiver. The bite on his ankle and the wound on his calf were taking a toll on his body. He had lost a lot of blood. While Nolan slumbered away, the other discussed their options.
“We can’t stay here forever, it might not be long before soldiers show up to search for stragglers,” Eli began.
“Our options are limited at best. Does anyone have family somewhere we can get to?” Drew asked, knowing that her own family tree was really more of a branch. Her and her father, who was currently out of town for work. She hoped that the outbreak hadn’t spread past Iowa and up into Wisconsin where he was. Everyone shook their heads. Some, like Rion, didn’t have much family to speak of and what she did have wasn’t anywhere close. Then there were those like Tripp, who’s family was now more than likely gone with the destruction of their hometown.
“What about friends?”
“I called Jasper when I couldn’t find you. He was on his way to work. Maybe we could crash with him for a little bit? Figure out what is going on and get ahold of mom?” Kimber offered. It wasn’t the worst idea he had heard. Jasper, who was a few years older than Eli, had an apartment in Dubuque and worked at Wal-Mart. The two of them had been buddies when Eli was a freshman and Jasper was a senior. Eli had helped Jasper break into the school for his senior prank. They broke into the trophy case where all the athletic awards were kept at Dye High and placed them a
ll in the principal’s office. To this day they had never told a soul who was responsible for the prank. It was kind of a school legend, with many people taking credit for the heist, but the two of them shared a bond knowing who the real masterminds were.
Kimber tiptoed over to Nolan. He was asleep, his cell phone laying on his lap. The battery life was at a low twenty percent but faced with no other options, Kimber assumed he wouldn’t mind. She picked up the phone and brought it back to her brother. Eli tapped in Jasper’s number and hit the green circular call button. For the first time since they had made an outgoing call, he heard a ring. It rang once, then twice, three times, and then a familiar voice was on the other end.
“Jasper, it's Eli.”
A friendly greeting was exchanged in which Jasper said he almost didn’t pick up because he didn’t recognize the number. “But man, its like the freaking end of days, so you know, I figured you could be my mom or something.” Jasper’s mom lived in Dyersville. Eli didn’t have the heart to break the news of the town’s fate over the phone. He would have to tell Jasper eventually, but it was something better done in person.
“So what’s shaking man?”
“There are seven of us in a cabin outside of Dyersville. We’ve kinda got nowhere to go. Nobody can reach their families. We were wondering if we could crash with you at your apartment for a few days until this all blows over.”
“No can do, sorry man.”
“Oh,” was all Eli managed. He hadn’t even considered that Jasper would say no. He had always helped Eli out, even when it meant that he himself would go without. It was asking a lot, though, to help out five people Jasper didn’t know.
“But you can come and stay with us at the store. I was on shift when all this stuff went down. Everyone left the store except for me, Carin, and Eric. We’re just chilling here. Figure if we eat some food and stuff they can’t really do much to us… Well I mean, I guess they could fire us, but dude there are fricking zombies outside, jobs might not even be a thing anymore…” Jasper could really talk a guys ear off, but Eli didn’t care. He found a place that had shelter, food, and power. It was the perfect place to set up camp, he just hoped there weren’t any negative consequences for turning a Wal-Mart store into their own private bunker.
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