In front of her was Luke and Imani. They stood just close enough to each other for any onlooker to know they were of the same family, but far enough apart to seem a little off. Imani leaned on her bat, the nails digging deeper into the earth the wetter it became. Luke stood, his weight shifted more to the left and his hip jutted out, his hands shoved deep into the pocket of his damp cowl-neck sweater. It was hard to read either of them from the back of their heads, but she knew both were only there out of duty, not out of love for Dan or sadness over what happened to him. They barely knew the kid, really.
Then, Christine paused. She barely knew Dan as well. In her grief over Liam she had shut herself away in the bedroom, avoiding everyone for as long as she could. In the months they spent together waiting out winter in the apartment, she only talked to Dan maybe a handful of times. Nothing deep, nothing meaningful to hint at the kind of person he was, the troubles he was dealing with. Surface talk. As far as she knew, that was how everyone talked to him. What a lonely life.
“It’s a sad thing to lose a loved one,” Mac started his speech as he set his shovel aside. “But to lose one under these circumstances is almost too much for us to bear, too much to comprehend. From what I’ve heard Dan was a quiet, smart, kind young man who just could not accept the world for what it is now. We all feel that way from time to time, don’t we?”
Several of the bunker people nodded and bowed their heads, while the group of travelers looked on. Christine was hearing the words coming out of Mac’s mouth, but processing them was a challenge. Thoughts of the journal, riding off into the night alone, getting to Chicago and to the research center kept creeping in and silencing the service from her mind.
“I know Dan had great friends among him,” Mac said as he made a conscious effort to meet the eyes of everyone in the group, save for Zack who was standing behind him and off to the side. “And I know he will be missed. Rest easy in peace, friend.” Mac bent down, picked up some wet dirt, and tossed it onto the white bundle in the ground. He signed the cross over his body and said a silent prayer before walking away with his head hung low so the others could do the same.
Slowly, one-by-one, each person tossed a handful of dirt on the cold, wet body and walked off. When it was Christine’s turn she stopped, holding the dirt tightly in her hand till it warmed into clay-like mud. She took a deep breath from her stomach and held it in, thinking about what she would like to say to Dan while her sister clutched her other hand. She couldn’t think of anything except ‘rest easy, friend’, a variation on the same words Mac had just used to end the service. Christine closed her eyes and tossed the dirt onto Dan. She felt nothing, really. What a terrible human-being I’ve become.
PART FOUR
“Not even the brightest future can make up for the fact that no roads lead back to what came before.”
—Jo Nesbo
I
Zack sat on the couch with his head leaning over the back of it. Gretchen settled in next to him, her hands folded in her lap and wringing together. Zack sighed. Gretchen cleared her throat and took a ragged breath. Zack looked at her discretely and raised a hand as if to put it around her in comfort, but then lowered it back to his side.
Gretchen shifted in her seat and gave a huffy, impatient sigh. “Can you tell me what this is about before I go crazy here?” Gretchen finally blurted out, slapping her hands against her thighs when she broke them apart.
Zack sat all the way up and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. He rubbed his face with his hands, sniffed, and sat up. “I’m going to Chicago alone,” was all he said.
Gretchen narrowed her eyes and waited. There had to be more. That couldn’t be all he wanted to talk to her about. He hadn’t wanted anything to do with her since she and the others joined the group, only calling on her to correct something she did wrong with her knife or Christine’s bow or Dan’s pistol. But he had seemed to warm up to her in the last few days after leaving the apartment. Especially after her reconciliation with Christine. Often, she wondered if Zack had feelings for Christine because of the way he watched over her, but his eyes never lingered lustfully, only with worry like those of a big brother. A lump formed in her throat making it hard to swallow. Her eyes threatened to tear up, but she forced it down. They had only put Dan in the cold, wet ground yesterday but already she felt she had cried too much over it. She had to be stronger, though the tears fought against her now to flow.
“And?” she said with a shrug of her shoulders.
“And no one is coming with me.”
Gretchen rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know what alone means.”
The muscles in Zack’s jaw tightened and released, though it went unnoticed under his thick, dark beard. “You really think Christine is just going to let me walk out of here with the journal while she stays behind and what? Cans fruit? Looks after the animals?”
Gretchen rubbed her top and bottom lip together while she considered. “Doubtful.”
“Yeah, doubtful is one way of putting it. More like the minute she notices I’m gone she would chase me down with the furies of seven hells.”
That put a small smile on Gretchen’s face. She didn’t know her sister that well as an adult, but she was getting to. Of course, this was only how the new world developed her. If she had come home while Christine was working as a lawyer in the city, she would have been a completely different woman. She wanted to ask Zack what her sister was like before all this happened, but it wasn’t the time.
“So, what does any of this have to do with me?” she asked as she stood up and paced the floor in front of the couch.
Zack grabbed her arm. His large hand fit all the way around. Warmth spread up and radiated through her chest as her heart raced. He held tightly before he gently pulled her back down onto the couch. “I need you to make sure she doesn’t come after me. Distract her long enough that she couldn’t ever catch up to me. Make sure she stays safe in the bunker with you.”
Gretchen let out a little laugh. “And how am I supposed to do that? She’ll know something is up.”
“Chances are, she already does.” Zack nodded his head across the room to where Christine was partially hidden in the shadow of the tunnel that led to the world above.
Christine’s eyes locked on her sister and friend for a moment before she continued to the room she was staying in. She shut the door quietly behind her. Even though she was gone from sight, Gretchen and Zack still sat frozen, as if any movement they made would draw her out to question them.
“That was close,” Gretchen said under her breath, letting her tense shoulders relax again.
“It’s not going to be an easy task. I still have to get the journal from her before I go.”
“But she keeps it on her at all times, in her backpack. How are you supposed to swipe it without her noticing?”
Zack rubbed his hands together and then placed one softly on Gretchen’s shoulder. “I guess that’s where you come in.”
II
Zack waited quietly on the edge of his temporary bed. His room was drawn in complete darkness except for the sliver of light that penetrated through the crack in the door. He didn’t move a muscle as he waited for Gretchen’s signal that Christine was out of her room and occupied. It was the only way he would be able to get his hands on the journal, the only time she would be away from her backpack and it would be unguarded.
He heard three knocks on the steel door as Gretchen attempted to lure her sister out of her quarters. Zack’s heart raced. He hated doing this to his friend, his last friend left in the world. Going behind her back and stealing from her made him sick to his stomach, but it had to be done. It was for her own good, to keep her safe. No matter how many times he told himself these things, the terrible twisting in his stomach refused to cease.
Then came three more knocks. Zack’s back stiffened as he sat upright and turned his left ear toward the door.
“Christine? It’s me. Gretchen.”
Her voice was soft and wary. “Can I come in?”
The muscles in Zack’s neck tensed as he waited to hear the loud pull and shriek of the steel door opening, but it was silent.
Three more knocks.
“Christine?”
Three more knocks.
As he sat, staring off into nothingness, Zack’s jaw loosened and fell slightly open. The knots in his stomach started to kick and flip and twist within him. He tried to swallow but his mouth was dry.
Christine was already gone.
Once he processed what was going on, he stood up from the bed and made his way to the door. He went to grab the handle just as it was yanked away from him.
“Geeze!” Gretchen exclaimed, gripping at her chest as if she were having a heart attack. It only took a moment for her to recover her composure. “She’s not in there.”
“I know. She’s gone,” was all Zack said as he walked past her.
Gretchen spun around. “Could she be checking things out above? Making sure there’s no zombies nearby? Or maybe checking on the animals again? She’s been doing that a lot lately. Or—”
Zack turned on his heel so quickly that Gretchen couldn’t help taking a step back to avoid colliding with him. “No, I don’t think she’s checking things out or tending to the animals. I think she’s gone.”
Gretchen’s eyes narrowed and she shook her head, her shoulder-length blonde hair bouncing back and forth. “No, she wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t just leave us all here and not say anything.” She spoke assuredly, but at the same time she turned to open Christine’s door.
It wasn’t locked. The creak of the steel sent a chill down her spine. The room was empty. There was no Christine, no backpack, no bow and arrows, only a mewling black kitten to greet her at her feet. Gretchen looked over her shoulder at Zack with wide, fearful eyes.
“She’s gone!”
“I told you,” he said. “But at least we know where she’s going. There’s still time for me to catch up to her.”
He went into his room nextdoor and grabbed his sword, securing it in its scabbard around his waist. Snatching the black weather-resistant jacket from the chair in the corner, he shoved both his arms in it aggressively and zipped it up. He grabbed his own backpack from the floor and charged past Gretchen to the shelves stocked with canned goods.
“What are you doing?” Gretchen asked, following closely on his heels. “You won’t be able to find her. We don’t even know when she left. She could have hours on you. You might know the direction, but you don’t know her exact route. How do you expect to—”
Zack turned and cut her off, his jaw tense but his eyes soft and understanding. “Don’t worry about it, Gretchen Moore. Leave it to me. I’ll get your sister back.”
Gretchen’s eyes turned down as she released her breath. If she had a nickel for every time a man told her to not worry about it, but this time was different. She trusted Zack. She placed her hands on his arms and looked up into his dark determined eyes.
“If you’re going after her, then I’m going with you.”
“No way,” Zack said matter-of-factly before he turned back to the shelf and started shoving cans into his bag.
“What do you mean no? I can watch your back, cook food, build fires. I can help you.”
He had no response on hand for her plea, so he grabbed a can of cut up hot dogs and shoved it into his bag.
That was it for her. Gretchen grabbed Zack’s arm and pulled him around till he was staring right into her blazing blue eyes. “You listen to me. I’ve known Christine my whole life. She’s my blood. I am not going to sit by idly while you chase after her. I’m going with you. End of story. You got it?” Her lips were pursed, her jawline hardened with intensity. The only thing that gave away how nervous she was in that moment was the little swallow that made her brow turn up ever so slightly and her lips loosen their grip on each other.
Zack set his bag down on the ground and placed both hands on her upper arms carefully. “This isn’t going to be like traveling with the group. It’s going to be hard. If we get more than a few zombies around us at a time, we’re probably going to die. And all to chase down someone who very well could already be dead. If we find her body, or worse her corpse walking around, we’ll have to end her, bring her back, bury her. Do you think you can handle all that? Do you really want to take that risk if that’s what’s out there waiting for you?” His voice was soft, but stern.
Gretchen wanted to shrug his hands from her, but at the same time they were comforting. She looked into his warm eyes, searching for his fears deep within.
“You bet I do.”
III
Though Zack had wanted to leave without anyone knowing before, he now wasn’t sure he wanted three members of the group to disappear on the rest of them without any word. He gathered Carolyn, Olivia, Lee, and Rowan together on the couch. He and Gretchen stood next to each other like parents about to lecture their children. Luke had seen the gathering from afar and meandered over to listen in. Zack met his eyes with contempt. He had more important things to worry about than Luke. He was the bunker’s problem now, not his.
He had to remind himself of how cold he was to Dan and what had happened to him to keep from rolling his eyes when Luke sat down, cross-armed, on the arm of the sofa, his eyes alert and ready to take in what the two had to announce as if he were a part of their group still. Imani stood far off in the distance by the food racks, but Zack could tell she was trying to listen as her left ear was pointed toward them intently.
Zack wanted to start off, but Gretchen jumped in without warning. “Christine has taken off by herself,” she said with an air of drama.
Zack eyed her with a furrowed brow and had to concentrate hard again to keep his rolling eyes in check. Coming out of the tunnels after feeding the animals above, Mac wiped the sweat from his brow and spotted the group collected in the center of the bunker.
“What’s going on here, good folks?” he said with a grin on his face that reached all the way to his eyes.
He genuinely loved to see people gathered in the place his ancestors had built, that he had invited them into for safety. Nothing gave him greater joy than people from all over getting along and sharing their time together. He stood next to Luke, placing a hand on the man’s shoulder as a greeting, keeping his eyes trained on Zack and Gretchen who were obviously running some kind of show.
Zack opened his mouth to speak, but again Gretchen got the better of him.
“Christine is gone and we’re going after her,” she said with certainty.
Now they had the group’s attention. It wasn’t exactly how Zack would have went about breaking the news to them, but it was effective and quick. Time was not on their side. Neither knew how far of a head-start Christine had on them. They had to tell the group and get out of there before all chances of finding her were lost.
Everyone seemed to talk at once, but since the group was so small, Zack had no trouble making out all they had to say.
“Knew there was a screw loose there,” Olivia said as she leaned over to Rowan.
Rowan nodded his head in agreement. He would have agreed with anything Olivia said at that point. She had him wrapped around her finger so tightly he was never getting loose. Zack had seen the two of them sneaking off to all the nooks and crannies they could find together. It was all they did, it seemed. He couldn’t blame them, really. It was the end of the world. His head jerked back ever so slightly at the thought. No, it wasn’t the end of the world. Not if he had anything to say about it.
“Why did she leave without saying anything? Where do you think she’s going?” Carolyn leaned over on Rowan’s other side to beg his ear, her freshly cut chin-length hair brushing against her cheek. All Rowan gave her in return was a shrug before turning back to Olivia. Carolyn’s eyes grew wide as her brow furrowed heavily over them. Her cheeks turned as red as fresh apples. She huffed out a breath of air from her nostrils
and crossed her arms over her chest.
“I knew she’d take that journal. All’s lost now,” Luke said while shaking his head. “She won’t make it and then the journal will be gone forever. There goes our chance of fixing this world.”
Though it was what Zack had been thinking and worrying about, he hadn’t said it aloud to anyone and was taken aback when Luke did. He wanted to strangle the short, cowardice man who was too scared to go out and do anything for himself yet felt he could judge others for doing so.
Lee was the only one who didn’t seem to have anything to say. He sat on the other side of Olivia, arms resting at his side, his face not showing how he felt one way or another about what Christine did. Zack noted that the bulge in both his cargo pockets was smaller by half than when they left the apartment days ago. Their medicine supply was dwindling. Either way, he would have to ask Lee to give them a few things, just in case. They would have a greater chance of needing it out there than the group would have safe down in the bunker.
“All right, all right, everyone just listen,” Zack said with his hands raised to silence them all. “Christine had the same plan I did, so I can’t really fault her for that. She took the journal and headed for Chicago’s disease research center to see if they can make sense of it and create some kind of cure. It was the whole reason we all set out on this journey in the first place. But the world is dangerous, and it grows more dangerous each day as more zombies are made. She didn’t want to put any of you at risk for what she feels she alone is responsible for. I feel the same. That’s why I planned on taking the journal and heading out, just like she did. She happened to beat me to it, so now I’m going after her because she’s going to need all the help she can get if she plans to make it all the way into the city, where I’m sure there are more dead than we ever encountered out here in the wilderness and suburbs.”
Dead Soil (Book 2): Dead Road Page 17