White Flag of the Dead

by Joseph Talluto

  “What do you mean?” Charlie stepped over the corpses and entered the room.

  “Why was that mother trying to get in here?” I asked. “The Z’s don’t stick around after something is dead. They prefer live…Holy shit!” I exclaimed, staring at the crib.

  “What?” Charlie hurried over.

  I waved him back and stared at the little girl. Sure enough, I could see her little chest rise and fall as she breathed. My exclamation had caused her to open her eyes, allowing me to see her clear baby blues before she closed them again.

  “Shit, she’s alive!” I yelled, grabbing a blanket in the crib and gently lifting the baby out and wrapping her up against the cold. “Grab whatever supplies you can find in here and meet me outside. Sarah!” I yelled as I hurried down the hall and headed for the stairs.

  “What?” came the reply form the kitchen area

  “Grab all the baby supplies you can and get to the car right now and fire it up! Get the heater going full blast!” I hollered as I fairly jumped down the stairs.

  Sarah, bless her, didn’t hesitate and I could hear cans and things being dumped into a garbage bag. I made it outside with Charlie and Sarah right on my heels.

  “Dear God, is that a live baby?” Sarah asked as she hurried past and jumped into the car, firing it up and cranking the heater.

  “I don’t know how alive she is, but we’re going to give her as much of a chance as we can. Her father died for her, so we owe him at least the attempt to save her.” I filled her in on what we had found upstairs and the zombie clawing at the door. Sarah shuddered and gunned the engine.

  Charlie was strangely quiet as he sat in the back seat with me and stared at the little bundle in my arms. I paid little attention to him as I grabbed the small radio we kept in the car.

  “Tommy or Duncan, you read me? Over.” No response

  “Tommy or Duncan, you read me? Over.” I was starting to get impatient.

  On the fourth try, Tommy’s voice crackled over the small radio. “John, that you? What’s up? Over.”

  “Tommy…get on the big radio to Nate and have him get the doc on the horn. I don’t give a damn what she might be doing, he needs to get her to the radio pronto. Over”

  “Will do. What’s going on?” Tommy wanted to know so he could tell Nate.

  “We found a baby in one of the houses.” I responded. “She looks to be dehydrated and probably hypothermic. I don’t feel any fever but it’s possible.”

  “Holy crap. I’m on it. Out.” Tommy signed off and I looked at Sarah and Charlie. Please, I thought. Let us win this one.

  Charlie remained silent but his eyes were locked on the little girl. I idly wondered if he was thinking about his own daughter and was reliving that loss.

  I didn’t have time to dwell on it as Sarah careened into our parking lot. The tires squealed as she pulled to a stop. I was out of the car before it had stopped moving and rushing up the stairs. Charlie was right on my heels. I ran to Charlie’s condo, which happened to be the closest one and brought the little bundle near the small fire that was going in the fireplace. The motion and warmth of the blanket and fire had stimulated the little girl and she started to open her eyes and began to give little rasping cries.

  I motioned to Charlie. “Stay with her. I’ll be right back.” I ran to my condo and waved to Jason and Lisa, who were watching Jacob play on the floor. I briefly wondered at this as I had left Jacob with Kristen, but I didn’t have time to question it. I grabbed a baby bottle and dumped some water and formula in it, then ran back to Charlie’s place. As an afterthought I grabbed the tube of baby bottom cream from Jacob’s bag.

  Sarah was coming up the stairs with the baby supplies, and joined me with Charlie. She dumped the contents of the bags out on the floor and found some diapers and wipes. She quickly changed the baby and put some diaper rash cream on a very sore looking bottom. Sarah kept the baby in her little nightgown and picked her up gently. I gave her the bottle and she gave the baby a little sip. The tiny mouth immediately sucked down an ounce, but Sarah was smart enough not to give her too much at once. We were giving her a binky when Tommy came in the door with the radio.

  “Doc’s on the line.” was all he said. His eyes got big when he saw the child, but he said nothing more.

  “Doc?” I asked holding up the radio so we all could hear.

  “I’m here, John. Nate told me you found a baby?”

  “That’s right. She looks to be about four months old, possible dehydrated, maybe a little hypothermic.” I described as best I could.

  “How’s her color?” Doc wanted to know.

  “Pretty good, actually. We’ve been warming her up, and Sarah is giving her sips of formula. Nothing dramatic until she gets used to it.”

  “Sounds like you have things in order. Make sure she takes warm water as well, and call me back when you have two wet diapers. If she doesn’t produce a wet diaper in the next 12 hours, increase the amount of fluid. Call me immediately if she develops a fever.” Doc didn’t sound too concerned, so I took that as a good sign.

  “Will do. Talk to you later, Doc. Out.” I clicked off the radio and looked at the group. Sarah was giving the baby a little more formula and Charlie and Tommy were just watching. Tommy caught my eye and motioned me aside.

  “I needed to talk to you when you got in, but obviously you were busy.” Tommy looked like he had something on his mind.

  “What’s going on?” I had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with the fact that Jason and Lisa were watching Jake, but I waited for Tommy to tell me what was up.

  “We have a situation.” Tommy was keeping something back and I was starting to get annoyed.

  “So? What is it already?” I put enough impatience in my voice to make Tommy wince.

  “Well, Duncan thought it would be a good idea to take Kristen and Chelsea out on a small supply run and get them used to working together and taking what’s important and such. He decided to check out that small strip mall north of the gas station on the main road. No big deal.”

  I nodded but said nothing. I had dismissed the strip mall as irrelevant, but maybe something could have been salvaged.

  “Anyway,” Tommy continued, “they went into a store and had nearly secured it when a Z came out of the bathroom and landed on Chelsea. She was bit before anyone could do anything about it.”

  24

  Something inside me fell. Every time I thought we had a hold on this situation and could move forward and start to show some progress, something like this happened. What made me angry was that it shouldn’t have happened. Duncan knew better. Now I had to put down another member of our group, another child, no less, and I was starting to wonder why I bothered.

  “Where is she now?” I wondered, checking my SIG.

  Tommy caught the motion and looked down. “She’s outside with Kristen.”

  I nodded and started to head for the stairs. Tommy called after me. “Duncan and I are going to that active community building you mentioned. Anything you think we should look for?”

  My voice was barely audible. “Check for the usual. See if they have a generator. God knows we could use some power for a change.” I didn’t even look back, I just kept walking.

  Sarah caught up to me and asked what was going on.

  I stopped by the landing to the stairs and looked out one of the windows. I could see two figures sitting outside and it was hard to get my feet to move. “Chelsea got bit.” was all I said.

  Sarah’s hand went to her mouth and she looked outside. We stood there for a minute, not saying a word, just looking at the small figure out in the brown grass. I barely noticed Sarah place her hand in mine, giving me a small squeeze. It was reassuring to a point, but I was still wondering whether this was worth all the effort.

  “Why do I bother?” I said aloud, not really expecting a response. “What’s the point? It seems like every time we make progress or get ahead, something kicks us back. It’s like something is tel
ling me just find a spot to lay down and die. Your time’s done. Its times like this I wonder why I don’t just pack up Jake and take off for parts unknown and take my chances in a zombie world.”

  Sarah didn’t speak for a minute then said “If you want to go, then go. But if you leave, then everything you fought for was for nothing. Everyone you saved won’t matter, and the world you want to take back will never recover. I can’t see you wasting that much time.”

  I smiled inwardly and returned the squeeze and gave Sarah a grateful look, then went downstairs. Sarah followed me down and we went out towards the two figures on the grass.

  Kristen was sitting down, hugging her knees and crying. She wasn’t holding her friend, and it was easy to see that it was killing her not to comfort Chelsea. Chelsea was sitting cross-legged a few feet away, holding a bloody rag to a bite on her shoulder. She was staring blankly into space and I could only imagine what was going through her head. Her weapons and gear had already been removed, and she looked so small sitting there.

  Kristen saw me and Sarah walk up and starting crying harder, knowing what was going to happen. Sarah knelt down to comfort Kristen as I bent down to one knee in front of Chelsea.

  “You’re here to kill me, aren’t you?” Chelsea said without emotion. She never looked at me, she just stared down at the ground.

  “Yes.” I was never one to sugar-coat things. That trait used to drive the parents in my district nuts once upon a time.

  She looked up at me with red-rimmed eyes. There were dark circles around her eyes and I could see her starting to sweat. The virus was moving fast. It was going to become dangerous to be around her in an hour or so. “I can feel it killing me.” Chelsea said. “It feels like fire is creeping towards my head.” She looked down at her arm. “I can’t feel my hand anymore.”

  “Whenever you’re ready. I can wait.” I said, motioning Sarah to take Kristen away. They both said goodbye to Chelsea and Sarah had tears in her eyes as well.

  “Why me?” Chelsea asked. “What did I do to deserve to die?” She held back a cough.

  “You lived.” I said. “That was enough. Eventually we all die, and sometimes we get to choose how we go out. Sometimes we don’t.” I pointed to her shoulder. “I hope you finished the bastard that got you.”

  Chelsea actually smiled a little. “I smashed his head so much it actually came off his shoulders.”

  I smiled myself. “Good girl.”

  “John?”

  “Yes?”

  “Don’t blame Duncan. It wasn’t his fault. I didn’t check the bathroom the way you taught us. I thought I was ready, I thought…” Chelsea ran out of steam and hung her head.

  “Don’t blame yourself. It was just bad luck. Next time it could be me.” I tried to be reassuring, although inside I was seething.

  “No. You can’t die. They need you...” Chelsea’s voice was fading and she was starting to slump over. I had never heard of a case happening this fast, she had been bitten barely an hour ago. I moved back and watched as Chelsea slumped over, closing her eyes forever as the little girl we knew and cared for.

  I waited, and while I waited I raged inwardly at what had happened. She was supposed to live, the children were supposed to live. I again wondered at what kind of God would allow this to happen to the children.

  I stood by Chelsea for another hour, just letting the cold blow past my face. I watched the brown grass stir around her still face, knowing the virus was hard at work inside her. Her skin became pale as the blood drained away from the surface. Her bite wound looked blackish, and I could only imagine what kind of pain she was going through. Dark, spidery lines webbed out from the bite, indicating the spread of the infection. The thickest lines went to her neck and head, where they disappeared under the skin.

  One hour and twenty five minutes after she died, Chelsea opened her eyes again. Her head lifted off the ground and she painfully got to her feet. She turned her head slowly, and caught sight of me. Her lips peeled back from her mouth, revealing her teeth, and she raised her arms towards me.

  I raised my SIG, and with a final “Good bye, Chelsea.” I shot her between the eyes. She crumpled to the ground again, and I holstered my pistol with a sigh.

  I reached down and grabbed her ankle, and unceremoniously dragged her over to a field where we had burned other zombies. I placed her in the center of the burn ring, poured some gasoline from a can we had stashed there, and lit her funeral pyre.

  I watched the flames for a while, then turned my back on the scene, heading back to the building. Sarah was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Want to talk about it?” she asked carefully, reading the look in my eyes.

  “Nothing much to talk about. She got bit, she got infected, and she died. That’s all there is. That’s all there ever is these days.” I was suddenly tired and I wanted to see my son.

  Sarah and I went back to our condo and I thanked Jason and Lisa for watching Jake for so long. They said they didn’t mind, it was good practice for when they had children. I didn’t say it, but I wanted to ask why in hell they would want to bring a child into this messed-up world.

  I took off my gear and weapons, and sat on the floor with Jakey. It was nearly time for his dinner, and I was just enjoying some quiet time, something I hadn’t done in a while. The sky was darkening quickly, as it was prone to do in the winter, and the waning orange light lit up the condo in a light amber glow. I lit a couple of candles and placed them in their holders

  Jake pulled on my pants leg, and I picked him up. I carried him to the window and together we watched the sun set and I tried to ignore the dying fires of the tragedy of the day.

  Sarah joined me a few minutes later, dressed simply in a sweat shirt and jeans. Jake saw her and leaned towards her, his way of letting me know he wanted to be held by someone else. Sarah smiled at Jake and took him from my arms, shaking her head at him and giving him Eskimo kisses on his nose, making him giggle.

  We stood there for a while and it was Sarah who broke the silence.

  “I was nineteen when I had my daughter Julia. She was Chelsea’s age when my husband killed her.” She said.

  “I’m sorry.” was all I could say.

  “Don’t get me wrong.” Sarah corrected. “I don’t blame him. The part of him that made him my husband was dead and gone, replaced by a mindless killing drone. I can blame the virus, but how far will that get me? The point is, we go on. We take what joy we can,” Sarah emphasized this by tickling Jake and making him laugh, “and we take our sorrows as they come. But we can’t dwell on what was, since that doesn’t help us with what is.”

  I thought about that for a second, than put my arm around her and Jake. I didn’t say anything, and judging by the way Sarah leaned into me, I didn’t have to.

  Our reverie was broken with the arrival of a caravan of cars and trucks.

  “What the hell?” I said, belting on my SIG and knife and putting my coat on to head downstairs. “Tommy and Duncan must have found some people and brought them back.”

  Sarah looked out and nodded. “I see their vehicle. I’ll stay with Jake and feed him.”

  “Thanks.” I said and I gave her a quick hug to let her know I was disappointed our moment had been interrupted. Her smile let me know she was disappointed as well.

  I headed down to the parking lot area where seven vehicles came pulling in. Tommy and Duncan came piling out of their car and headed directly for me. I stared hard at Duncan and he kept his eyes averted, knowing I was ticked off at him, despite what Chelsea had said.

  Tommy spoke. “Hey Chief. You’ll never guess what we found.” I could see other survivors coming out of the vehicles, and it took a minute before it registered that all of them were women, fifteen in all. “They were living in that big active living center up the road, but they were starting to run low on supplies and stuff. I told them about us and our refuges, and they agreed to join up with us.” He seemed a little out of breath and I had the
sneaking suspicion he was holding something back on me. When Tommy did that it was never a good thing. Sometimes funny, but never good.

  I took stock of the group and I noticed one stood out from the others. She was a tall blonde, with Nordic features that might have been considered attractive had she not had such a look of hatred in her eyes. I don’t recall ever pissing off anyone that looked like her so I imagine it had to be for other reasons.

  I stepped into the light cast by two of the cars’ headlights, and addressed the newcomers. “My name is John Talon. I’m the leader of this community and all of you are welcome. The town homes behind you are empty and you are welcome to take any of them as you choose. We will provide you with firewood to see you through the next couple of days, and during that time we will assess what your needs are regarding food and supplies. We have a few rules in our community but the important ones are everyone works and everyone contributes. We will train you to fight and kill zombies, and we expect everyone to take a hand in defending our homes should it come to that. Right now, we have a need for a medical person. Does anyone have medical training?”

  A small, mousy looking woman of about thirty raised her hand. “I’m a registered nurse. Is someone hurt?” she asked.

  “We rescued a baby today who needs some looking after. If you go with Tommy here, he’ll take you to her.” I gestured to the stairs, expecting the two of them to head up.

  Tommy started to move and so did the nurse, only to be stopped when a harsh voice said “Hold it!” It was the blond woman who spoke. “My name is Pamela Richards, and I am the leader of this group of women. I do not recognize your authority and will not allow a man to give orders to one of my women.” She had an accent that was hard to place, although I would bet Eastern Block if I had to choose.

  Today was not a day for this foolishness. “If you don’t want to be here, go back. You have vehicles. Leave. If you choose to stay, I am the only leader and you follow my lead.” My voice had become hard towards the end and I could see Duncan trying to signal to the woman to shut up.