She’d always been the selfish one, her life was all about doing whatever made her happy. Even when she was pregnant, she’d continued to party, drinking no more than two drinks per night, hanging out with friends she’d known since elementary school, and just being Shelly. Yes, she thought about the baby, but even after he moved, she was still the important one.
That all changed on the day Jake was born. She couldn’t understand the changes in her mind, but when she looked down and saw the newly swaddled baby boy, her heart changed at the core. She was all about everything Jake. She’d heard about this change from some of her friends that had babies of their own, but didn’t fully understand it until she held Jake in her arms after all those months of discomfort.
What she didn’t notice was that the little guy was also running a fever. No runny nose, no coughing, no anything out of the normal. Just a hungry, wet baby needing a change of diapers and a bottle. She quickly swapped diapers and picked the little man up, taking him with her to the couch, where she set about solving the empty belly problem.
Jake anxiously anticipated the nipple and went at the bottle with a vengeance, making Shelly smile. At least the boy was hungry. Her head pounded from the fever, but she pressed through it and as soon as Jake had finished the bottle, she rocked him back to sleep. She moaned from the pain of standing, her joints ached something fierce, and replaced the sleeping baby in his crib. She wanted nothing more than to hold him while she slept, but the responsible parent in her knew that she would probably fall back into a deep sleep and probably hurt the baby.
She was freezing as she placed Jake in the crib and slowly made her way to the kitchen. Spying the Tylenol on the counter next to a half of glass of water, she popped three of the caplets with a sip of water and made her way back to the couch, shaking the entire way. She quickly made herself as comfortable as she could, fluffing the pillow and wrapping her body in the blanket her friend had made her and was fast asleep. She didn’t even hear Jake start to laugh at something he found funny. Her mind, overridden by the virus, slipped into its own version of hell, taking things from her memory and mixing it with a big dose of her imagination. She didn’t even hear Jake when he stood up and started shaking the crib. If she had, she would have smiled, because little Jake had never stood on his own before.
Brad
Ocoee, TN
Brad couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Dean was sitting at the foot of the guest bed, stabbing his legs over and over again with a pocket knife while giggling. Brad leveled his rifle at Dean. He hated the thought of ending the previously harmless guy, but who knew how long it would be before he turned violent. He sighed heavily and squeezed the trigger, taking Dean out of his misery instantly, though the corpse’s feet kicked and jerked a few times before going completely still. Brad closed the door and went in search of duct tape.
“Need to seal it off as best as we can and hope we weren’t exposed.” He told Diane, who nodded in agreement, before running into the bathroom and slamming the door. Brad could hear her retching horribly and knew how she felt. He went to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Gentleman Jack, pouring himself a healthy three finger before downing it. As the burn was setting in, he poured another and gulped it. As he was pouring a third, Diane emerged from the bathroom, looking a little worse for wear. Brad motioned the bottle to her and she shook her head. As she slumped on the couch.
“I can’t believe you did that.” She started, “I mean I know you had to, but I still can’t believe it.”
“Believe it.” He said as he started on the third.
“Are you okay?” Diane asked, watching him down the drink.
“Never better. Not every day you get to plug a friendly neighbor that never did a thing to you and helped out where he could.” Brad started to pour a fourth and thought better of it. Instead, he plopped down on the other side of the couch.
“He was a good man. I’ve known him since first grade.” Diane sobbed quietly and Brad nodded.
They sat there in an awkward silence for a while before Diane interrupted his train of thought.
“You were in the service, I know, so I guess this isn’t your first time.” She tried to smile and Brad chuckled.
“Hell, lady, like I’ve said, that, “he pointed to the bedroom, “Wasn’t even my first today. That was the hardest today, though. It’s always hardest when you know the man.” Brad explained and sighed.
“I’m sorry.” She said and he nodded.
“Appreciated. Now I’ve got to get back to it before more show up.” He said and climbed the stairs to go back in the cupola. He checked on the farm and found out about the trouble Zack had while on a supply run after they explained about Wolf. Brad hadn’t thought about it before and silently kicked himself. A dog, especially a trained one, is a much better early warning system than human ears. After getting off with them, he tried Jessie, but got no answer. He got the same results from Julie, but didn’t figure they’d be within range just yet. He glassed the area again using thermals, but didn’t see anything out of the normal. No crazies at least, that was a relief. There was a tap on the floor hatch and it opened revealing Diane.
“Is it okay if I come up here for a while? I just don’t want to be alone right now.” She asked and he motioned for her to come up. She glanced around at the gear and small arsenal he had up there.
“You really were preparing for anything.” She said, sitting in the only other chair in the attic.
“Better safe than sorry. I’ve got this place set up with enough to last three people for a month.” He admitted.
“And you’ve got more?” she asked.
“Of course. It’s spread out though. Never put all your eggs in one basket.” He answered and she nodded in agreement.
“That’s what my dad always said. I’ve got some stuff, but nothing like this.” She admitted.
“Well hell, Diane. If I’d known you were a prepper, we would’ve hung out more.” He smiled at her.
“A girl’s gotta have her secrets.” She returned the smile, “So what can you see from up here?”
“I can see the subdivision to the top of the hill, right before it makes that turn and drops down again. I glass it normally during the daytime and using both night vision and thermal at night.” He explained and moved, handing her the thermals so that she could have a look.
“That’s incredible.” She admitted, handing them back to him.
“They help. I also use the spire on top as an antenna for comms.” He explained.
“Comms?” she asked.
“Communications. I have a base HAM up here and one at the alternate location, where Katie is right now, Julie and Jess each have hand helds, but I doubt either are in range yet. I just tried and got no answer.” He explained.
“Do you think Julie could’ve made it away from Memorial with all this going on?” Diane asked and he smiled.
“No doubt about it, as long as she didn’t get infected with whatever this shit it. We’ve planned and practiced for things. If the world had just gone to shit, she and her friend Donna would have had to make it here in a world gone wild with gang-bangers, druggies, and thieves. When you look at the crazies, they aren’t that different.” He said.
“How long did y’all figure it would take?”
“Three days. After three days, I wait one more, and then I go and find her.” He answered and she nodded.
“Well, when y’all leave, can I borrow one of these AR’s? she asked.
“Well yeah, you’re going to need it. But I hope you aren’t planning on staying here?” he asked.
“Well, I have no other place to go.” She sighed, “My folks are dead and my uncle probably is if his insulin went bad.” She shrugged, “I’ve got no choice.” Brad shook his head.
“No, what I meant was that you surely didn’t think we’d leave you here. Alone. You have to come with us. Please. We’ve got plenty of room, food, supplies, and it’s in a fairly remote area.” Brad
explained.
“Thank you, but I can’t take from your supplies. You’re going to need them.” She said, “Besides, other than a fairly good shot, I’d be no use to y’all.”
“I’ve been thinking about that, and you’re wrong. You’ll be perfect. You help every year with your uncle’s farm. I can garden, but I’m no pro at it. You’ve been a farm girl your whole life. You know how to can one helluva lot better than I do. My chief hope after canning was that I didn’t kill anyone from botulism.” He smiled, “You’d be saving lives. Besides, Julie brought it up that we should ask if you wanted in, we just never got around to it.”
Diane was quiet while she mulled it over. Brad just hoped she’d say yes. Everything he’d told her had been true. They had the gear and supplies to run a big garden, she had the knowledge, aside from books he’d collected and read over the years. After about fifteen minutes she finally gave up a smile.
“Okay. I’ll join y’all. But where are we going and what kind of stuff do you have? I’ve got a pressure canner and jars, if you need them. Plus, seeds. They’re heirlooms.” She explained.
“Anything that you can bring will be helpful and we’ll be very thankful for. We call the place the farm, because that’s basically what it is. It’s over in Hopewell, just nothing has been grown on it for quite a while. We took a house in the middle of the acreage and rebuilt it, but we did it with the apocalypse in mind. There’s a bunker, tons of reinforcements on the house, including ballistic glass. There’s a barn, about five acres for a garden, if we need it. I’ve stockpiled enough food and supplies to last two years.” He explained.
“Why two years?” she asked.
“Because that’s how long I figured it would take us to get it together once everything fell apart.” He answered.
“Okay. What about wheat, flour, sugar, salt, things like that?” she asked.
“Way ahead of you. Anything we don’t have that you can think of, we’ll scout around until we find them. We even have a mill to make flour. It’s small, but it’ll work for what we need.” He answered.
“Chickens?” she asked and he sighed.
“No. We’ve got about a hundred pounds of dehydrated eggs in number ten cans. I hadn’t counted on chickens.” He admitted.
“Milk? Comes in handy for making stuff.” She asked.
“About the same amount dehydrated.” He admitted and she nodded.
“We’re going to have to find some live chickens before they die off. Couple of cows wouldn’t hurt either.” She smiled and he sighed.
“I keep finding out about things I either forgot about or just overlooked. You’re right. But, I draw the line at hogs. I had to take care of them as a kid and can’t stand them. I’ve eaten pork out of spite since then.” He grinned and she chuckled.
“As many wild hogs as there are around here, pork shouldn’t be a problem.” She smiled.
He had to admit to himself, Julie had been right, Diane would make an excellent addition to the farm. Now all he had to do was find some chickens and a cow or two. He worried that they didn’t have enough land and mentioned it to Diane.
“What’s wrong with the land around it? If those folks are dead or crazy, they won’t be needing it anymore.” She said and he chuckled.
“Hadn’t thought of that either. See, you’re already proving your worth.” He told her.
“So, I’m guessing you spent some time on a farm?” she asked and he nodded.
“My step-dad was raised Amish. When Korea broke out, he was eighteen and wanted to serve his country, so he joined the Marines. When he did that they banished him. He found out what the real world was like and decided he liked it. Even though he missed his parents, wasn’t allowed to attend their funerals, he never looked back. When I was about twelve, he decided that he wanted to buy a small farm and teach us. I learned how to plow with a tractor, how to tend for livestock, everything. When I was thirteen or so, I kept getting into trouble, skipping school and such, and he found the perfect form of punishment. Hogs. In all the years he raised us, he never raised a hand to us.” Brad chuckled, “He didn’t have to, we had hogs. Have you ever waded through a hog pen at six-thirty in the morning to toss corn from a bin to hogs? Rats like corn, snakes like rats. I learned quickly that hogs liked them both, but that didn’t stop either from trying to climb your legs. I hate rats worse than hogs. I’m okay with snakes, though.” He told her.
“So, did you guys have a smokehouse?” she asked.
“Yep. I know how to smoke meat, how to salt cure hams. The man was full of information and he didn’t mind sharing, usually by showing.” He said.
“What about your real dad?” she asked.
“Career Navy. Stayed at sea months at a time and never came around after the divorce.” Brad explained.
“Wow, that sucks.” She said.
“Not really. I had a father, who visited on occasion, made him more like an uncle, and a step-dad that was there for me for everything, made him more of a dad.”
“That says a lot for your step-dad.” She observed.
“Helluva guy. I miss him every day.” Brad said and scanned with the thermal again, “All’s quiet. He motioned at the two beds to the left, “You get tired, sleep up here. It’s a lot safer than down there, but there wasn’t enough room for the three of us.’ He explained.
“I’m wide awake.’ She answered and he nodded.
“Tell you what, you mind staying up here in the cupola and scanning the area while I go check on the horses?” he asked.
“The horses?” she questioned.
“Yeah, the ones from the field next to you. Farmer Brown, we called him that because he wasn’t real friendly and we never caught his name, and his wife didn’t make it. I went over earlier to check on them because they were pretty old, and found them A crazy had gotten inside the pasture and was chasing the horses around. I took care of the crazy, plus another that was checking out the house, while y’all were sleeping. I tossed out some hay and some feed for them, but I want to make sure they’re okay.” Brad explained.
“Okay, but what if one of them shows up?” she asked. He handed her a small hand-held and showed her how to use it.
“I’ll have an ear piece and boom mic, so just talk, for God’s sake don’t yell, and we’ll be able to communicate.” He explained.
“Got it.” She replied. He smiled, donned his gear and quietly left the attic. He descended the stairs and hit the push-to-talk switch on the mic.
“Diane, how do you read me?” he asked.
“Loud and clear. I just checked and didn’t see anyone.” She said and he nodded to himself.
“Copy. I’m gone. The perimeter alarms may sound for a sec when I leave, but they’ll shut off pretty fast once I’m outta range. Once I’m gone, if they go off, you really need to check it out. Use the Remington there if you see anything, or if something tries to get on the property. It’s got a suppressor on it to make it a little quieter.” Brad said as he slipped out the back door, using his key to deadbolt it behind him.
“Listen, if for some reason I can’t make it back in immediately, just hunker down and hang tight. Watch for me coming back and for fuck’s sake don’t shoot me.” He said and smiled, knowing that she wouldn’t.
He made his way around the backside of Diane’s house and ducked under the barbed wire fence, quickly taking a knee and making sure he was still in the clear. Instead of taking the direct route, he chose to skirt the field to the far side, which offered better coverage by way of a large wooded area. Taking a knee again, he looked and listened. The crickets and cicadas were playing their music, so if something was out, they didn’t seem to mind. Then he chuckled to himself. Why rely on them, he was out there and they didn’t bother quieting, they probably couldn’t tell an infected from a non-infected, and probably cared even less.
He slowly made his way back uphill to the barn and farmhouse. The horses were quiet and he hoped that was a good sign. At about the halfway mark, he took a
knee again.
“Diane, how’s it looking?” he spoke quietly.
“You’re the only thing these thermal’s pick up, so you’re clear.” She responded.
“Roger that. The horses are hopefully in the barn, I’ll head there first. If you see anything, sing out.” He told her.
“If you see anything, do the same.” She answered. Yeah, he thought, this was definitely going to be much easier with one other person to help.
Walt and Tanith
Illinois
Walt trailed behind Norm’s old ’65 Ford truck. It was decided that since Norm was more familiar with the area, he should lead. Walt was impressed when the old 302 cranked up, it sounded new.
“I’ve rebuilt it three times.” Norm explained. From the looks of it, he’d done a bit more than that, because it looked to Walt like it had just rolled off the showroom floor. Walt could appreciate that.
The route that Norm had laid out was a no-nonsense one; they’d stay on the backroads that he knew were the least populated. It would take some time to reach Paducah, but it was also less risky. At least that was the theory. Tim rode in the bed of Norm’s truck to provide forward firepower, while Paul covered their rear from Walt’s truck. Lexi, whom the boys had dubbed ‘Warrior princess’ guarded the sides. She was irritated at the reference, but to them, she had shown her fearlessness.
Norm kept the speed at forty, not as fast as he’d liked, but it was dark and his eyes were old and not as good as they once were. Still, forty would be a good clip. Norm had filled up the truck and every gas can he had, from the tank that was filled from the co-op twice a month. He’d also been able to top off Walt’s truck and cans from the diesel tank that kept the tractors fed. He figured it was better to use it than it go bad because farming wasn’t in his foreseeable future.
Three Days From Home Page 16