“Ok,” I said, unable to keep a smile off my face.
By the time I started rubbing her biceps she was asleep. I gently laid her back and covered her with the rest of the sleeping bag. I took off my sweatshirt and balled it up so she could use it as a pillow. I finished my shift with Sarah sleeping next to me. Once it was over I shook her awake. “Come on, it’s bedtime.”
“But I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Tomorrow,” I said.
“Ugh. Fine, if I have to.”
“Yes you have to, now let’s go. Come on, up, get up,” I said as a stood to help her to her feet.
“I’m comin’, I’m comin’”
I helped her down the ladder and walked her to the master bedroom where all the girls slept. “Night, Sarah,” I said as she walked inside.
“Night, James.”
I was walking away when I heard her say “Hey, James.”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you,” she said sleepily.
“Anytime beautiful.”
She smiled and closed the door. I could hear her engage the bolt lock and I headed to wake Jason. I went to bed with Sarah on my mind. I didn’t know what she wanted to talk about but I’m glad she didn’t say anything. That little time I got to spend with her away from arguments, away from fighting, away from death, was something I needed. I felt like I didn’t have to be the man with the plan. I could tease her, make mistakes and just be myself around her. She didn’t know it but I think she might have been keeping me sane. Who am I kidding? I’m sure I didn’t know it at the time, but I do now.
The next morning things were busy as usual as I walked into the kitchen and called out, “Can everyone listen for a sec?” I smiled as everyone and everything came to a halt. “Who’s on watch?”
“Sam,” said Thomas.
I unclipped my radio, “Sam.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve got something to say so listen up, ok?”
“Listening.”
“Ok everyone, tomorrow I’m going to make a run into town to pick up a few items that seem to be missing from the house. I’ll be going alone and I don’t want to hear any complaining.”
The silence was broken when I heard Sam radio in “Alright but I’m going with you.”
“What, no you’re not. Were you not listening?”
“Yeah man. Think about it. When you went to get Jason you had to ditch the quad right? Well if you take me then you can drop me off and I can drive it back.”
I hadn’t thought of that and I couldn’t craft a good argument against it “Alright then, Sam you’ll come with me to get the quad, but the rest of you are staying here.” I grabbed a couple granola bars and headed towards the armory. No one followed me, not even Sarah who usually had a problem with me leaving by myself. Walking inside I grabbed a box of ammo for my Beretta and headed towards the firing range. On my way there I scarfed down a granola bar and radioed that I was going to do a little shooting. I got to the range and set up a bunch of new targets, mostly cans, and walked to the standard firing line for a handgun. As I shot at the first I felt the recoil travel up my arm and deliver a nice, deep, pain to my wounded shoulder. I wasn’t expecting it to be pleasant or anything but this was a little more painful that I had expected it to be. I shook it off and emptied the magazine. I let it drop as I brought a fresh one to bear and slid it home. I emptied the second magazine and as I slid the third one in I could feel my shoulder muscles begin to spasm. I emptied the last magazine with a small grunt of pain as I squeezed off the last shot. Ok, I thought let’s hope you don’t have to fire more than three magazines. I picked up the empty magazines on the ground and began reloading them.
I went about the rest of the day as usual, taking some Tylenol for my shoulder, and I thought I would get through it without arguing with Sarah. When Sarah finally came to talk to me all she asked was “When do you leave?” I told her that Sam and I would take off around seven in the morning and that I’d be back before dark. She nodded and walked away. Well that was weird, I thought, fully expecting to receive an earful of some choice words.
After my watch, I tried to sleep for a couple hours but I found it hard to stay still. I got up, geared up and went up to the roof. “Hey man,” I said as I walked towards Jason.
“Hey,” he said tiredly.
“Why are you so tired?”
“Oh, I’ve spent the last couple of nights talking to Carrie.”
He looked at me quickly, as if in his tired state he let out some great secret. I smiled, “Oh yeah? You two getting close?”
“Well it’s hard not to, you know. We’re so close every day, it’s… it’s just hard.”
“Yeah,” I said thinking of Sarah “hard not to. Listen, you two do whatever you want, you’re both adults but I have two conditions.”
“Oh, you do?” he said raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah. One, you don’t do anything too extreme in front of Michelle, or me for that matter. I don’t need to see that shit.”
“Ok. What’s two?”
“Two is that I want you to remember that all the girls here are like sisters and that if you hurt one of them you’re asking for trouble from all of them. And Jason, if you hurt Carrie and they seek vengeance I won’t stop them. They can cut off your dangly bits if they want because you’ve been warned.” I couldn’t really tell in the dim light of the new day but I was sure that Jason paled at that bit of imagery. “You just remember that alright?”
“Yeah, yeah I’ll remember.”
“Good,” I said as I stood and headed for the ladder.
I went inside to snag some breakfast and I found that Sam was already up. We sat together, eating breakfast and talking about old times. I thought it funny how easy it was to fall back into the rhythm of our friendship. After our food was gone and our laughter had gotten a little too loud we walked to the armory. Sam decided to take one of the Colt .45s that we had picked up from the gun store and strap a Bowie Knife to his waist. I took my Beretta, with three extra magazines, and a knife strapped to my hip and ankle. Putting on my jacket we walked outside to prep the bike. Before I got a chance to get on the bike I saw the door open and Sarah emerged. She walked over to me and just stood there. I held up my hand and extended my pinky. She gave me a small, sad smile and looped her finger with mine. She turned, without a word, and went back inside.
“What the hell was that all about?” asked Sam.
“Nothing, just making a promise,” I said smiling. We climbed on the bike and took off towards town in search of the quad and a few select items.
CHAPTER 8
When we arrived at the site of the abandoned ATV I was surprised, there weren’t any undead near the bike or the house that I took refuge in. In fact, there weren’t any undead on the streets. I had to wonder where they all went. I let Sam off the bike and said, “Be careful, I don’t like the fact that it’s so quiet.”
“Yeah, it’s creepier than having the zombies around.”
“Alright, do me a favor and don’t make any pit stops, just get home.”
“Yes mom,” he said sarcastically. He took off and I headed to the first place on my tour of Astoria. Before my dad decided to build the home that we lived in now we lived in a small house in an area called Lewis and Clark, named after the famous explorers who first took on Oregon. There were only a few houses in the area so I wasn’t worried about a large group of Walkers being around. As I stood at the end of my old driveway I was surprised at how many memories came back to me.
I remembered the winters we’d spent sledding down the hill in the front yard. I remembered playing basketball with the old beat up basketball hoop in the driveway. I saw that the people who lived in the house, or used to live there, painted it a different color and cut down the big tree in the front yard. It might look different but it still triggered dozens of memories. My real purpose for coming to this area was to visit a couple apple and pear trees that grew in a field right near the
house, but now that I was here I had to visit the old home.
I walked up to the front door and checked the handle, it was unlocked. I drew my pistol, just in case, and walked inside. It was amazing, I hadn’t been in this house for over ten years but it seemed to be the same, just different. I don’t really know how to explain it, the pictures on the walls, the decorations on the hearth, the furniture, they were all different, but the feel of the house, it was the same.
I systematically checked the house, ignoring the memories that came pouring back. The house was empty, not a soul in sight. As the adrenaline from expecting a fight wore off I began to notice the missing pictures, the open cabinets, and scattered clothes. It looked like the occupants decided to run, I just hoped they made it somewhere safe. I went and sat on the bed that was in my old room. The walls had been painted a dark blue, much better that the disgusting yellow they had been when I shared the room with my little sister.
As I sat on the bed as memories of her threatened to overwhelm me. I knew that she was dead, that I’d never see her smile again, never hear her try to boss me around and never talk to her again. She was gone. This wasn’t some epiphany, I’d known since getting to Astoria that she was dead, but sitting there, in the room we used to share, it was almost too much. I remember the times we would sneak out of our room after bedtime. How we’d argue over stupid stuff, her taking a toy or not keeping the room clean. I sat hunched on the edge of the bed, holding my pistol and letting the memories crash into me like huge waves of emotion. To my anger, I allowed one hot tear to break past my mental barrier. It rolled down my face to the end of my nose and as I reached up to wipe it away if fell and landed on the pistol still in my hand. I let out a long breath and wiped at the small trail of sorrow on my face. A primal cry escaped my lips and threatened to take all my breath and life with it.
I stood up, I didn’t have time for memories or tears, I had work to do. Leaving the house I walked further down the main road towards a field located at the end of the drive. I filled one of the two backpacks I had brought with green apples and pears. The apples would be a little sour and the pears hard but beggars can’t be choosers. Walking back I noticed the home next to mine had a garden out front. There weren’t any vegetables but there were several kinds of flowers and I grabbed several bundles of colorful ones for Thomas, or rather Thomas and Christina.
Getting on my bike I drove to the small service station at the bottom of the hill where I used to rent movies when I was little. The lights were off and the store was empty. Walking over to the snack aisle I loaded the fruit bag up with some specific snacks ordered by Sarah. Next stop was the liquor store at the center of town. Upon my arrival I noticed several Walkers wandering around. There were only five or six of the undead so I wasn’t in any real danger but I knew taking them out would probably bring others. Taking out the first Walker with a shot through the temple drew the attention of the rest. I decided to clear enough to get into the store, get the alcohol, get out and clear a path to the bike. When I finally got into the store it was obvious that the shop had been looted. I guess people's first reaction when the shit hits the fan is to drink. A feeling I can understand completely, why face the horror of what was happening when you could crawl inside a bottle and ignore it all.
Making my way across the floor strewn with broken bottles and spilled liquor I started grabbing bottles off of the shelves. There wasn’t a lot of selection left but I was able to grab a selection of decent alcohol, including some Jack Daniels and even a bottle of Goldschlager. After filling up my backpack I killed two Walkers who had wandered my way and took off. I noticed that there were now more Walkers on the street. I didn’t know where they were hiding or gathering but I knew that it was the noise that was drawing them out. The Walkers seem to be of a pack mentality, following each other, staying together like one kind of horrible beast. The fact that they grouped together worried me. They may not be able to work together but with increased numbers came increased danger. By themselves a Walker was nothing. Face to face a child could handle one with a gun or even a bat. The danger lies in their numbers and their silence. They made little to no noise under the right circumstances and could take a human by surprise.
Getting to the edge of town I took the time to quickly check out what the situation was like at the Safeway. The parking lot was about two-thirds full. There weren’t any Walkers moving around but, as I had just been shown, that didn’t mean they weren’t around. Having so many people in the house would mean that we would require a large amount of preserved food. We were going to have to empty out the Safeway and every other store in the area. In addition to the Safeway, there was a Fred Meyer and a Costco. The Costco would be a lifesaver but we would probably need something bigger than our cars to make it worthwhile. Safeway would have to do for now. This would be the next hit and I wanted to do it soon.
I sped away on the bike to deliver the goodies I had gathered. I decided to circle Astoria instead of going straight back, I didn’t want to chance leading the now emerging Walkers to the house. There were just too many and I didn’t have enough bullets. Getting back was a little difficult, having two heavy bags while trying to steer a bike was no easy task and my shoulder was beginning to ache. I finally made it home and after getting inside I called out, “Hey. Everyone to the living room please.” My call echoes throughout the house bring everyone to attention. I shrugged off the backpacks and opened the one containing the fruit and snacks and dumped the contents on the sofa. Hannah and Jessica were excited by the site of fresh fruit and Sarah only smiled when she saw her favorite snacks.
I took the second bag and, instead of dumping it out, took out the bottles and started passing them around. A cheer went up as everyone realized what I had brought back. “Now, we’re not going to drink all of this tonight, but we are going to have a drink or two,” I called out. While everyone was talking about what I had brought back and distracted I took the bag that now only contained flowers to my room. They would be useful in a couple of days, for both Thomas and I. Heading back out to the living room I began telling everyone about what I observed at the Safeway and the strange Walker behavior. I told them that I figured we could push up our plans to liberate it. I didn’t know our current food situation but I knew it couldn’t hurt to have a full supply just in case. The others agreed with me so a couple days after Thomas and Christina’s anniversary we’d go shopping.
We had a good time that night, well, for the most part. Everyone was drinking and having fun. We found an old CD player that ran on ridiculous amount of D batteries along with a bunch of old mix CD’s I made when I was younger, laughing at what we listened to what used to be popular. Everything was going great until later that night. Sam had a too much to drink. The guy had a high metabolism and very little body fat which, I guess led him to get drunk faster. I don’t know what came over him, it could have been the stress, the loss of his loved ones, the daily struggle to survive or any number of things that could have driven him to do what he did. I heard it before I saw it, Liz’s voice finally grew louder than the music and her objections were only growing fiercer. I was later told that he had made a habit of bothering Liz but that night he got a little more forceful. I saw him corner her away from the group. Now Liz was pretty tiny, somewhere around 5’3 or 5’4 and Sam was big if only 5’10, but when she pushed him away with a yell he fell back like the weight had been reversed. Sam recovered from the stumble and began his way back to Liz, who had tried to make her way back to the group. I saw Sam grab her around her bicep and pull her back. I hurried my way over to them and placed my hand on top of Sam’s.
“Let her go Sam.”
“What? Why?” slurred Sam.
I looked at Liz’s arm where Sam was holding her and then to her face. I could tell she was scared and in pain from Sam’s tight grip. “Because you’re hurting her.”
“Mind your own business, James.”
“This is my business,” I growled, “Now I’m only going to s
ay this one more time. Let. Her. Go.”
The music had cut out and everyone had gone quiet. They were all watching what was happening. Waiting to see what Sam would do.
“Fu…” Sam started but my actions cut him off. I used the placement of my hand to grab Sam’s thumb and bent it backward, forcing him to release Liz’s arm and yell in pain. As soon as Liz was free she rushed to join the protection of the group. I let go of his thumb and lightly pushed him back so he was outside of my guard and at a safer distance. I could see that he was angry and in his drunken state he felt his pride wounded and the need to do something about it. Both Sam and I had learned to fight, we were both trained, but when you’re drunk a lot of the finer points of that training can go out the window.
“Don’t do anything you’re going to regret,” I said.
“Oh I don’t think I’m going to regret kicking your ass,” retorted Sam. I saw out of the corner of my eye Jason and Justin starting towards us, Matt was on watch and Thomas was guarding a tipsy Christina. I raised a hand towards them without looking away from Sam, signaling them to stay back. “What? You don’t want your little crew to help you? Come on boss man, let’s see what you got.”
Survivors Series (Book 1): Heroes Aren't Born Page 11