The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series

by Jacqueline Druga

  Denny looked at Johnny. “What’s a zombie?”

  “Walking dead,” Johnny answered.

  “Whoa.” Denny scratched his head. “Dead plague people battle this hero guy?”

  Robbie heard this. “They aren’t dead. I’ve seen this movie. They just look dead. It’s what the plague did to them.”

  “So they aren’t dead?” Denny asked.

  “No,” Johnny answered.

  “So why did Trish say they were walking dead.”

  “I think she was using it as a reference,” Johnny tried to explain.

  “Do they feel dead?” Denny asked.

  “No.” Johnny was a bit irritated. “They just…they look that way. It’s what the plague did to them, right Uncle Robbie?”

  “Yes. The plague killed most people. The Neville guy is immune, like us, but some people didn’t die. They just got all disgusting looking.”

  Denny looked horrified. “What if I’m not immune and I get disgusting looking.”

  Johnny ran his hand across his goatee in such a Frank manner. “Denny, just watch the movie.”

  There was nothing for the people of Beginnings quite like watching an end of a world movie. They always found so much pleasure in it no matter how serious the movie was in its time. The moment The Omega Man video started and its 1970's grainy, picture came on, the cheers began. They only grew louder and stronger when, in the opening scene, Neville stopped his convertible and fired his machine gun aimlessly--in a Hollywood induced high speed--at the zombies.

  ^^^^

  Bowman, North Dakota

  The moon was bright that evening and the weather so perfect, it seemed all the men of Bowman took advantage of it. Hal walked near the small park just east of town, a place where a lot of the men went to for relaxation in the evening. A single generator, using gasoline they scavenged, powered the spot lights for evening games of basketball.

  Hal stopped and sat down on the bench by the courts, watching the two teams of four play. The bouncing of the ball and laughter was so old world. Hal loved it. He had been in a reminiscing stage and didn’t know why. It was evident to him because, with each bounce of the ball against the concrete, Hal’s heart beat and brought back strong feelings of many years before.

  Watching them play, he could see his big brother Frank shooting in the driveway of their house. He was so tall and so much bigger. There was something about having a big brother that Hal hated and loved. He guessed that was the feeling of every kid, but Frank was a tough big brother. He always tried to act cool when he couldn’t be, mean when he wasn’t, but he did do something Hal envied. Everything Frank did, he did well unless it had to do with actual school work. Every other Slagel had that advantage over him, no matter how young they were.

  Bounce-bounce. The bang of the hoops’ back board. The metal clank of the rim, and the swish of the net.

  “Come on Frank, let me and Robbie play.” Hal heard his twelve year old voice.

  “Nope. You’re too little.”

  “So, let us play with you.”

  Then he heard Robbie’s voice in his mind, sounding so young. “We don’t want to play with him. He sucks at it.”

  Hal remembered how they’d pester Frank, but Jimmy never would. Anything physical Jimmy did was strictly under protest.

  “We’ll tell Dad.” Hal wouldn’t let it lie.

  “Tell Dad.”

  “We’ll get you in trouble.”

  “For what?” Frank’s tone was sarcastic.

  CRASH!

  Hal laughed as he thought about it. Maybe throwing that rock wasn’t the best idea he and Robbie had. It broke the garage door window and they said Frank did it with the ball. They had to run from him for four blocks. Frank never did catch them. Their father was on his way home from work and picked them up. Frank didn’t get in the car, and that was his mistake. Hal and Robbie proceeded to tell Joe they were running from Frank because they threatened to tell on him for breaking the window. Frank got in trouble. Frank ended up being a better big brother than they gave him credit. He never argued the punishment. He just took it. He had to work off the price of the window with extra chores. Hal always thought Frank would pay him back for that but he didn’t.

  Somehow in that moment, the memory suddenly left him, pummeled away, and smacked out of his head. The loud ‘heads up, Captain’ somehow wasn’t quick enough to pull him from that flashback in enough time to react to the basketball sailing his way.

  Thump!

  Hal’s head jolted to the left from the mighty smack of the ball. He watched the basketball bounce and roll away and then saw the shoes of the person chasing it. Hal looked up in irritation as he rubbed his stinging head.

  Craig grabbed the ball, snickering. “Sorry. We yelled.”

  Hal grumbled in such a Slagel way, deciding at that moment, if Craig was playing basketball, he would certainly be a target. Hal got up and moved on, taking his memories along with him.

  ^^^^

  Beginnings, Montana.

  It took longer than Dean expected to clean the dust from new couch and that Bed-in-a-Bag that Danny grabbed him from K-mart was nearly impossible to figure out. It baffled him how something so simple as a comforter, sheet, and bed skirt could be so difficult for a man of science. Dean finished a lot that night, even in the dark modular home. He used candles because he wanted to get it ready. He had too. He wanted Ellen home. Even though it was later than he told Henry he would be, Dean made a special trip to the ‘walk-in’ to check on Ellen. He could hear the laughter along with the loud comments about bad shirts and wasted shots as he neared.

  Dean didn’t make it too far into the ‘walk-in’. He stopped when saw Ellen sitting comfortably with Robbie. It bothered him seeing her like that. With Ellen going through all that she was, Dean, knowing it would be hard for him to hide his feelings, decided she didn’t need his insecurities on her mind as well. Dean simply turned around, put his hands in his pockets, and feeling lost, walked back home.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  September 6

  Beginnings, Montana

  Henry’s head swayed slowly back to look out the window at the rain that blasted against the pane. “Damn.” He returned to the dining room table, leaning over it with Danny. A laptop computer sat on Dean’s dining room table. Wires protruded from it. The first floor was dimly lit in those early morning hours while thunder and lightning added a science fiction feel as they worked.

  The thunder roared.

  Danny had hooked up to the laptop what looked like a voltage detector. “This weather makes me feel like doctor Frankenstein.” He handed it to Henry. “Point away.”

  “It isn’t going to work.”

  “Trust me.” Danny clicked on the keyboard. “Point away.”

  “Danny, your power supply isn’t channeled right. You, of all people, know this. There is much juice headed to the laptop.”

  “Henry, I of all people, do know. Get ready.”

  “They aren’t meant to take that much power. Didn’t you learn?”

  “Yeah.” Danny nodded. “I adjusted it. I think I have it right this time.”

  “All right.” Henry shrugged and grabbed the ‘on’ switch. “But as soon as I do this…” He flicked it on and when he did a loud buzzing occurred, followed by a crack. Henry dropped what he held. “…that will happen.” He waved the smoke that came from the laptop.

  “Shit.”

  “Told you.”

  “I stand corrected.” Danny put on gloves and disconnected everything from the laptop. He grabbed the small fire extinguisher, lifted the laptop, tossed the computer in a huge box with five or six others, and blasted it with the extinguisher. “We have one more.” He pulled another laptop over. “After this we have to go to storage.”

  “How many did you swipe?” Henry asked.

  “Enough. They’re all over the place out there. O.K.” Danny flipped the lid to the laptop. “Let’s try this again.”

  Dean smelled smoke
when he reached the first floor of his house. He saw the reason for the hazy appearance in his house when he looked at Danny and Henry at his dining room table. “Are you two still working on the same thing or did Danny come back?”

  Henry looked up. “Hey Dean, I don’t know. What time is it?”

  “Look at your watch, Henry.” Dean told him.

  “I can’t.” Henry tapped the face of his watched. “It got zapped. I have one a.m.”

  Dean held up his own wrist. “I have five-forty-five a.m.”

  Danny’s eyes widened. “Shit. Wow. O.K., we might as well keep going.”

  “Might as well,” Henry agreed. “I’m here till ten anyhow. Is that how long you’ll be Dean? Ten? I have things I have to do.”

  “So do I, Henry. Until Ellen is on her feet, you’re the babysitter on Saturdays. After all, one of the five living here is yours.”

  “There’s always a price to pay,” Henry said. “Oh hey, Dean?” Henry called out to him, stopping Dean as he left. “Are you letting El come home with me tonight?”

  “Let’s see how she’s doing today after her little outing.” Dean opened his front door. “Henry don’t forget to feed the kids this morning.”

  “O.K.” Henry answered as he held a wire for Danny. He looked up when he heard the door close. “What did he just say?”

  “Haven’t a clue,” Danny answered as he reached for a tool. “Let’s just finish this.”

  “Damn it.” Dean cringed as the rain fell harder on him. He ran as fast as he could from the edge of the living section through town and to the clinic. His tennis shoes squeaked as he walked into the quiet halls. Dean shook his head, flinging his growing hair like a dog to shuck the massive amount of water that adhered to his head. He walked down the hall, flinging the wetness from his arms and shaking a forming chill.

  Running his fingers through his hair to straighten it, he turned into Ellen’s room and stopped cold with a loud squeal of his shoes. The bed was made and there was no IV pole along with no Ellen. He stepped backwards to make sure in his mindless walk he didn’t wander into the wrong room. He didn’t. Shocked, he turned around and saw Patrick crossing the corridor at the other end. Dean raced up to him.

  “Patrick.”

  “Oh hi Dean.” Patrick carried a chart and walked to the nurses’ station. “We had a break in temperature in four of the pneumonia cases.”

  “Good. Patrick, where is Ellen.”

  Patrick looked up from his chart. “I thought you knew.”

  “Knew what?” Dean asked.

  “She didn’t return last night.”

  “Where the hell is she?” Dean asked almost panicked.

  “She um . . .” Patrick grabbed another chart. “She stayed with Robbie.”

  Dean’s heart sunk and a twinge of anger hit him. Rain or not, Dean left the clinic. He knew where he had to go.

  ^^^^

  Joe had the maps folded as much as he could so as not to take up most of the space on Robbie’s dining room table. He smoked a cigarette and occasionally picked up his coffee. He held a pen in his hand and jotted down figures on a piece of paper. “How long again, Ellen?”

  Ellen sat catty-corner to Joe, a cup of coffee before her. “A couple hours maybe, no it was longer than that. We rode at a slow steady pace.”

  Joe wrote down some more numbers. “It’s not making any sense.” He looked up when he heard a plate set down and smelled eggs. He watched Robbie place breakfast in front of Ellen. “Being awfully nice aren’t you?” He asked Robbie.

  “Yep.” Robbie took another hit of the cigarette he smoked then put it out. “You want some, Dad?”

  “Nah, coffee’s fine.” Joe stared at the maps.

  Robbie returned with a plate of eggs and sat down. “I’m starved this morning. I hate doing rounds hungry.”

  Joe took a sip of his coffee. “I need you to think for a second, Ellen. Do you remember when you traveled, about what time of day, and where the sun was?”

  “When we headed to the farm it was morning, maybe late morning. I do remember about the sun.”

  “You do?” Joe seemed surprised.

  “Yes, because it seemed to follow us.” Ellen said. “It was hot.”

  “So you came from the east.”

  “That’s what the cavalry said.” Ellen took a bite of her eggs and actually moaned as she chewed. “Oh my God, are these good. Look at the tiny chopped up vegetables.” She took another bite. “Oh Joe, you should have some.”

  Joe looked at her plate. “They do look good.” He reached over and grabbed the fork from her hand, took a fork-full of eggs and ate them. “They are good, really good.” He gave Ellen back her fork and returned to his maps. “Robbie, I’m impressed.”

  “Thanks, but I didn’t make them,” Robbie said, “Jess did. He knew Ellen stayed here last night and he made them when he came home from his shift this morning. He said just heat them up.”

  Ellen ran her fork through the food. “Look at the work. He did this after walking a beat before he went to bed.”

  “No.” Robbie shook his head. “He has all kinds of things chopped up in the fridge. El…he cooks all the time. I never have to cook. He cooks good, too. He also cleans.”

  Joe peered up from his map over his glasses. After briefly looking at Robbie he went back to his maps.

  “I feel bad,” Robbie spoke. “Andrea isn’t feeding me as much.”

  “I don’t.” Joe grumbled through his mapping.

  Ellen smiled. “Joe’s happy someone else is taking care of you.”

  Joe looked up again, snickered, and returned to his maps.

  “Was Jess married Robbie?” Ellen asked. “I bet he was. Someone trained him well.” She ate some more. “These are so good and the house is so neat.”

  “It is,” Robbie replied “He wasn’t married but he told me he lived with someone for eight years. He’s a neat freak.”

  “Wow,” Ellen commented. “You guys are like Felix and Oscar of the Odd Couple.”

  Robbie chuckled. “Yeah we are only we actually get along great.”

  Joe laughed and stood up. “I think I’ll have some of those eggs.”

  “What’s so funny Joe?” Ellen asked.

  “Oh nothing, ignore me.” Joe walked to the kitchen. “The Odd Couple comment made me think back to the show, that’s all. Good show.”

  Ellen watched Joe in the kitchen dishing up eggs. “Your Dad can be so…” She stopped speaking. When she turned to look back at Robbie, Ellen saw Dean, soaking wet, walking into the house. “Oh boy.”

  Robbie didn’t see what the problem was. “El, it’s Dean. Please.” He stood up. “Hey Dean. Want some . . .”

  “El.” Dean walked closer. “What . . . what are you doing?”

  “Eating.” Ellen plunged her fork into her eggs.

  “No, you know exactly what I am talking about. You’re here. Why…?”

  “Morning Dean.” Joe came from the kitchen. “Eggs? Jess made them.”

  Dean shook his head. He controlled himself because he felt his thoughts slipping out, thoughts of being out numbered. Thoughts of Frank or no Frank, the Slagels had Ellen and always would but he didn’t want that part of his anger to come out. “El, you promised me thirty-six hours of observation. You can’t be running around. You just came out of the shock twenty-four hours ago.”

  Joe really didn’t think anything of it. “Dean, it’s all right. I wouldn’t have let her stay here if my wife didn’t give the O.K. Andrea came over three times last night to make sure she was fine.”

  “Andrea O.K.’d it?” Dean asked.

  “Yes,” Joe began to eat. “Ellen refused to go back. I tried to get her to go. Robbie tried also so Andrea handled it.”

  “I see.” Dean nodded. “O.K.” Dean held up his hand. “As long as you’re fine El.” He turned around and moved back to the door. “I have to get to the clinic.”

  Ellen stood up slowly. “Dean, wait. Please.” she moved with caution from
the table, limping slightly as she walked to him. She looked back at Robbie and Joe and pulled Dean further to the door whispering. ”Don’t be mad at me.”

  “I’m not mad. I was concerned. Obviously you don’t care about your health.

  “I care about my health and my mental health. Being at that clinic bothers me.”

  Dean scoffed facially to her. “Right.”

  “You’re mad.”

  “I’m not mad.”

  “I know you are. I can feel it.”

  Dean checked out Joe and Robbie who tried to act like they weren’t watching. He kept his voice low. “All right, I am mad but I’m not worrying about it. You’re fine. You obviously know what you need both medically and emotionally and you have it. That’s what counts. You are getting though this. I have to go. I only have four hours at the clinic.” He grabbed the door. “Bye Joe. Robbie.”

  Ellen stood by the door as Dean left. She went back to her eggs acting as if nothing bothered her and as if everything were fine. The truth was, it did bother her and her gut told her all was not fine.

  ^^^^

  Nashville, Tennessee

  Eight Society soldiers stepped from the train into the station ahead of George. George hated the train ride because it was slow. They had to stop several times because the conductor got confused about everything except blowing the whistle. George looked irritated when he was approached by one of his leaders in Tennessee, Captain Anvers.

  “Captain.”

  “President Hadley.” Captain Anvers saluted and brought forward a man in his fifties wearing a blue workman’s outfit. “Sir, I would like you to meet Owen Wells. He is the man responsible for getting the underground phone lines up and running in this region.”