Of course, there was a very good chance that he was in full health. He was letting Mayor Schilling get into his head. For all he knew, she was pumping them full of lies to incite panic. He felt fine. He would be fine.
Matthew heard a knock on his door and for a second, considered ignoring it. It was probably just Crystal checking up on him or Adele there to mock him. But he wanted to appear completely normal just in case the others got suspicious. Luckily, it was Carl at his door.
“I don’t know if it was mentioned to you, but everyone wanted to have supper together to celebrate. I think Pip planned on having it around six, but she’s not a great cook and hates doing anything more than ordering takeout, so expect it around seven.”
“Do you think she’ll mind if I take over?” Matthew asked sheepishly. He had just assumed he would be in charge of all food preparation.
“Not at all.” He smiled. “She’ll be relieved. I’ll be relieved, too. The last time she cooked for me, she served us partially raw chicken. I’ll let her know.”
“Awesome,” Matthew said. “I’ll get started on it in a little bit. You can tell the others to head down whenever they’re ready.”
“I will,” he replied. “By the way, are you feeling okay? I know today was a little rough on all of us. Sergio was pretty shaken up about it. I even gave him a pill from the supplies so he could loosen up a little. Pip’s been talking to him and it seems to help. Do you need anything?”
“Nope,” Matthew said brightly. “It was bad, but I’m already feeling much more optimistic,” he said, though he was overdoing it on the enthusiasm. “I just need some time in the kitchen and I’ll be as good as new.”
“Okay,” Carl said. “It does feel a lot better to be around everyone else. I talked to Jennifer and she said that Genevieve and Ellie are excited to see you. You seem to have all the women here in your corner.”
“Except for Pip,” he joked.
“Nah, she just likes to bust balls. I guess we have you to thank for bringing us all together. I can’t imagine how different things would be if we hadn’t encroached on your territory.”
“Same here.” Matthew smiled. “Well, I should probably start on supper. It’s not going to be anything you’d find on the regular menu around here, but I promise it’s not raw chicken.”
“I can’t wait,” Carl said, licking his lips. “I’ll start telling the others to get ready for dinner.”
After Carl left, Matthew returned to the bathroom to wash his hands a second time just in case he was shedding pathogens from his skin. He looked at his reflection again, trying to decide if his scar was as grotesque as he felt it was.
But if the girls didn’t hide when he entered the room, and the baby didn’t cry when he was near, then it couldn’t be that horrifying. Though he felt like a monster, the others seemed rather warm toward him.
He left that thought in his hotel room as he jogged down the stair and made his way to the kitchen. He could fight zombies and deal with his blood status later. Matthew had a new challenge now—he was going to cook his first meal in a real chef’s kitchen.
25
The roast, quickly marinated in red wine and a variety of savory spices sizzled in the hot pan as Matthew browned each side of the thin portions. In the meantime, he plated the appetizers—the loaf of crusty bread from the rich people, sliced into small chunks, toasted and topped in tapenade. He was in the middle of warming up a few cans of green beans in a pot when Lucas entered the kitchen.
“Hey, I don’t mean to mess with your plans, but the newbies aren’t coming down for dinner.”
“Why not?” he asked, looking at the big stack of plates he got out for everyone.
“They’re a bit shell-shocked, I guess. Carl and Jennifer checked in on them and they all seem pretty out of it. Jen said that there’s some serious malnutrition going on. She gave them multivitamins and some sports drink, but they’re still not feeling great.”
“That’s not good,” Matthew said, frowning.
“I know,” he said. “I’m not sure what they had gone through, but it must have been pretty traumatic. Carl was passing sedatives out like candy. Even if they did come down, they’d probably fall asleep in their soup. But they still need to eat. What do you want to do?”
Matthew looked around the kitchen until he found what he was looking for. He wheeled a silver cart from the pantry and pushed it in front of Lucas.
“Find some room service platters,” he ordered as he flipped a slice of meat. “We’ll serve them first.”
“How many of them are there, again?” Lucas asked.
Matthew counted on his fingers. “There were two in our Jeep, then two in the back seat of the van. Then, there were the five in the trunk of the van—don’t ask me how they got back there. So, I guess we rescued nine in total.”
“Awesome,” Lucas said, carrying an armful of silver platters with their covers.
It took two carts to get all the meals ready, but once Matthew was finished plating them, Lucas carefully wheeled them out of the kitchen, toward the rooms.
Now, with the extra nine meals out of the way, Matthew’s load became a little more manageable. Lucas returned about ten minutes later, just in time for the appetizer.
“Let me be your waiter,” he said, tying an apron around his waist. What do you need me to do?”
Fill the glasses and give everyone one of these,” he said, sliding a platter of bread toward him.
“This is kind of fun, isn’t it?” Lucas grinned as he pushed the swinging door to the dining room.
Matthew couldn’t agree more. He hastily plated the rest of the food and loaded it on the second cart. This, he would deliver himself.
The moment he stepped into the dining room, the table burst into applause. Ellie stood up as she clapped, looking like a proud parent.
Matthew rolled his eyes, feeling embarrassed by the attention. He pushed the cart around, setting the entrée in front of each person. Once everyone was fed, he poured himself a glass of wine and sat down in the empty seat between Ellie and Sally. Sally took quick bites as he tried to balance a bottle in Marigold’s mouth. She had dribbles of formula all over her tiny face, but her eyes were heavy with content.
“This is really great,” Ellie said, eagerly slicing into her already small scrap of meat. “I hope you know how important it is that we do this. A good meal and group socialization is important for morale. It really makes a big difference.”
“Oh, it’s just something I like to do,” Matthew said, starting to feel uncomfortable from the praise. “Go ahead and eat.”
Matthew looked over to see Jennifer, Sergio, Carl, and Pip deep in conversation. Next to Pip, Lucas was feeding a bite of green beans to Genevieve. Matthew had to check to make sure she hadn’t injured her arm while they were gone, too. But she appeared to be in full use of her arms, but just chose not to. They spoke softly to each other, but since they spoke in French most of the time, they were in no danger of being overheard.
“How was the trip?” Ellie asked, taking a sip of white wine. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Yep,” Matthew answered between bites. “We found much more than what we set out for. We found Crystal and Adele at an upper-class neighborhood and learned that their leader has a hand in the virus.”
“What?” she gasped, nearly choking on her drink.
“I know, it’s awful. All along, I though it was just a natural disaster, like an act of God. Apparently, it’s an act of man. An act of rich man—to be exact. Apparently, the virus was created for population control. Rich people, perhaps in the government, got tired of the poor and uneducated ruining their pristine neighborhood and released the virus that’s turning everyone into zombies. But if you look at everyone who’s affected by this, it goes beyond those in poverty. They have no problem killing people like us, just because we’re not rich or famous.”
Ellie took a big gulp of wine before wiping her lips with the back of her hand. �
�You’re kidding!”
“I wish. I was livid when I heard. I still am. To make matters worse, this witch of a woman is having the zombies that try to gain access to their neighborhood moved to other places. She admitted that she sent a bunch downtown toward us.”
“Is that why we had to fight so many?” she asked, her eyes wide. “We could have died. Pip nearly did.”
“Yeah, I know it’s horrible. But at least we know what we’re up against now. We’re fighting zombies, and the ones who send the zombies our way.”
Ellie reached for a bottle of red and poured a healthy serving in her glass. When Matthew looked closer, he noticed that her hand was slightly trembling.
“But you saved a lot of people,” Sally chimed in. “You left as three and came home as fourteen. If we keep multiplying at this rate, we’ll be able to fill all the rooms. I love being able to fellowship with others. The more people we have praying together, the more God will hear us. We’ve made so much progress already. I know these people around me are God’s answers to my prayers. Imagine what we can do when we all work together.”
“Definitely,” Matthew said weakly. “We could have used God in the hospital that we found the lab equipment in. It was really bad in there. It reminded me of the we found the office space and we had to block the door.”
“Really?” Ellie gasped. “That bad?”
“It may have been worse,” he replied. “But we managed to get through a lot of stuff. We’ll take a look at it after dinner.”
Ellie’s eyes filled up with tears. “You went through all of that for Genevieve and me?”
“It’s for all of us,” Matthew said. “You guys can study the virus now. I learned a few things about it from Mayor Schilling. She said that it’s highly contagious through bodily fluids, even just a little bit. And the incubation period varies from person to person.”
“Can you get it from the zombies that we dragged out of here?” Sally asked, her face suddenly pale.
“No,” Ellie responded. “It’s only transmitted from living creature to human.”
Matthew frowned. “How did you know that?”
“I’m a scientist. I study diseases for a living. I’ve just observed a few things about this disease along the way. Now, with the equipment that the three of you found, hopefully I’ll be able to tell you more about it.”
“I hope so,” he responded. “Hey, Lucas,” he said, nodding at him. “Tell Genevieve that we have the equipment for the lab. They can get started whenever they’re ready.”
Lucas turned to Genevieve and said something into her ear. Her eyes lit up and she started speaking in rapid French.
“She’s excited,” Lucas chuckled. “She wants to get started right away.”
“After dinner,” Ellie laughed. “It’s going to be so much fun.”
Matthew rushed out to clear plates and pick up dessert. He didn’t do a lot of baking, but he drenched store-bought chocolate cakes with liquor and canned cherries. It looked a little bleak on the plate, but everyone seemed to like it well enough.
Genevieve and Ellie were the first to get up from the table, rushing toward the lobby to pick up the equipment that Carl unloaded for them while they slept. Matthew stuck around the table for a little while to wait for the others to finish eating. As the chef, he wanted to be the one to clear the table just in case anyone had feedback for him. He was already thinking of ways to improve the flavor profile of his dishes.
Next, Lucas got up from the table. He gave Matthew a thumbs up.
“Good meal, man. Can’t wait for next time.”
“I don’t know if we can do this often,” he said. “There’s not a lot left in that freezer.”
“That’s okay. I made some macaroni and cheese with powdered milk that was pretty great. I have to go up there and do some translating. I’ll catch you all later.”
Lucas retreated from the dining room to the symphony of goodbyes. Pip poured a measure of wine in the remaining glasses.
Once the volume of the conversation escalated, Sally and Marigold disappeared from the table with a small wave. It was clear she wasn’t comfortable with borderline-rowdy socialization.
Shortly after, Adele and Crystal excused themselves for bed, their eyelids too heavy to remain awake.
“This was really great, Matthew,” Jennifer said. “I think the new guys will really appreciate it. They were in a bad way when they came in. Even if the zombies didn’t get to them first, they might not have made it much longer.”
“That’s what I hear. It’s good that they have such a good medic to watch out for them.”
“I can give them meds to make them a little more comfortable, but that’s about it,” she said, her hands nervously fiddling with her napkin. “I just hope they don’t need anything beyond that.”
“They’ll be okay,” Carl said, nudging her elbow. “We’re a resilient group. We’ll give them some time to rest up and then we’ll send them to work. Just like Sally said—keep multiplying, or something like that.”
“Just as long as that doesn’t apply to having children.” Pip giggled. “I feel bad for that baby if she ever gets the chance to grow up. She’ll be more screwed up than us all.”
“That’s likely,” Carl said, taking a swig from his glass. “But she’ll learn from the best.”
“I kind of like being Auntie Pip.” She grinned, staring down Jennifer and her brother. “Maybe one day—“
“Maybe one day, you’ll leave me alone,” Carl finished.
“What about you, Matthew? You see yourself repopulating the country?”
He looked down at the tablecloth, taking a deep breath to stave off the burn of embarrassment written across his face. “I’m going to focus on my own life right now. I couldn’t even begin to think of such a thing.”
He didn’t think about it because it was so close to becoming a reality. In fact, if the virus never happened, he might be trying to conceive with his wife at that moment.
“That’s what I’m saying,” Sergio said. “We’ll make soldiers out of survivors. We don’t need to worry about taking care of others or making little soldiers. We have a war to win.”
“To our soldiers,” Pip said, holding up her glass. Her cheeks were rosy with drink as she playfully mocked her boyfriend. “May they come home safe from war while we wait at home and sew quilts and knit sweaters, and—“
Sergio pecked her on the lips to shut her up, causing her to squeal with delight. Jennifer and Carl shared a quick glance of feigned exasperation.
“You look tired,” Sergio said, looking across the table at Matthew. “If you want, we can clear the dishes when we’re done. There’s about five sips of wine left in those bottles and I’m confident Pip will disappear to her room once they’re empty. Get some sleep. You’ve earned it.”
“Are you sure?” Matthew asked, stifling a yawn.
“Of course,” Jennifer said. “Go.”
Matthew gave the remaining four a sleepy smile. “Night,” he said, his voice husky with exhaustion. He walked through the lobby, the heels of his boots echoing through the rounded ceiling. He trudged toward his room, relieved that there was no one waiting for him in front of his door. Once inside, he kicked off his shoes and climbed in bed without undressing.
Tipsy from several glasses of expensive wine, Matthew crawled deep into the covers and pushed the hoard of fluffy pillows away from his head. Turning on his side, he grabbed onto the largest pillow, cradling it tightly in his arms. He rested his head on the top, as he used to snuggle up with his wife after nights of drinking beer while watching football.
Matthew was so drowsy that the thought of a nightly watch popped into his head and he dismissed it without a second thought. He was so tired that not even the thought of waking up to intruders roused him from his sleepiness. Someone else would take care of it, he knew. For now, he wanted to get some real, uninterrupted rest.
When he was away on his many deployments, Matthew often had to come up wit
h nighttime fantasies to help him fall asleep. These were rarely sexual in nature. Instead, they were designed to make him comfortable enough to relax. Often times, he simply imagined himself sitting on the couch at home while Rebecca stroked his hair. Other times, it was as routine as going to the grocery store on a Sunday afternoon, picking out groceries for the week ahead.
This time, he imagined that he had just taken Rebecca to the city for a romantic getaway. She had been stressed at work and Matthew surprised her with a night in a fancy hotel. In the morning, she would spend a few hours at the spa, followed by a shopping spree. But for the first evening, they would spend every moment together.
This date would begin with a meal at the hotel’s restaurant. They’d eat an expensive meal, all dishes hand selected by the chef. Afterward, they’d soak in the room’s Jacuzzi tub while drinking glass after glass of champagne. When the water went cold, they would dry off and cuddle under the sheets together while watching whatever was on the TV. They never watched anything but liked how the sound muffled the noises from the rest of the world. Even if they were too tired to take their affection for each other any further, they would cuddle up close to each other. Matthew would wake up in the morning in a big tangle of sheets, but until then, he slept with his belly pressed up against her back and his arms around her.
Matthew’s breathing slowed as he squeezed his pillow tighter, pressing his nose to the corner. At that moment, he swore he could smell Rebecca’s shampoo.
That night at the Marigold Hotel, Matthew Swift fell asleep with tear tracks on his cheek and a faint smile on his lips.
26
After a night of restful sleep, Matthew washed his scarred face and headed to the kitchen to look for some breakfast. He thought he had woken up early, but the empty bowls with dregs of soggy cereal told a different story. Matthew dug around the pantry and pulled out a container of instant oatmeal and a handful of spices.
Last Man Standing (Book 2): Zombie Annihilation Page 20