by DeLeon, Jon
“Are you all okay?” Martinell asked as they approached.
“Thank you so much,” the man said. “We weren’t sure what to do.”
“How did you get out here?” Martinell asked.
“We own this island. My wife, my daughter and I were camping. We heard over the radio what was happening, so we decided to stay here as long as we could, fishing to stay alive. Then disaster struck. During that last storm, our boat hit the dock and damaged the hull, sinking it. There aren’t any good fish around here, so we didn’t know where we were going to get food next. A signal fire was all I could think of.” The man, woman and girl all had tears running down their faces.
“That was a rough storm. Several boats were sunk in Key West,” Joe said. He thought to himself, thank God Kira and the girls got through unscathed. “Anyone else here?”
“No. Just us three.”
“Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. We have three harnesses. Martinell will help you get them on. That helicopter will come and lower a rope with a hook attached to a wench. One at a time, we’ll raise you up. It’s important that you stay calm. It’s okay to grab the cable, just try not to flail around. The pilot is going to take you over the water first and then bring you up. Simple as that. Got it?”
They all nodded.
After a few minutes, they all had their harnesses on. A few minutes later, the last member of the trapped family was ascending into the air. “Amazing to see a family together in all this. Do you have family alive, sir?” Martinell asked Joe.
“Yes, and I don’t know. I have a girl I traveled down here with and some kids I rescued in Key West, so they are pretty much family to me now. And I have a brother somewhere in Russia, plus our parents are on a cruise ship called the Aleutian Dream in Alaska. I’m not sure about them. I hope they’re all alive and somewhere this whole shit show is far away from. What about you, Martinell?”
“No parents or anyone in Key West. I have a brother who was in New York, but I haven’t heard from him. The comm. guys are making more and more contact with people around the country and the world, so maybe we’ll be able to find both our brothers soon.”
The cable was on its way back down. “You’re up, Martinell.”
Martinell grabbed the hook and clipped it into his harness. He waved to the helicopter, and he swung over the water. Joe watched as Martinell was pulled into the belly of the chopper.
Soon Joe was being pulled up himself. He spun as the cable pulled him into the air. The spin paused as he was looking at the island, still on fire. Joe stared at the flames, thinking about what Martinell had said. Maybe I’ll find you soon, brother. I hope you’re still out there, Kurt.
The Settlement: Outbreak Day +57
The orange flames of the bonfire licked into the starlit sky. The occasional pop of a pinecone sent sparks into the blackness.
It was another Friday night and another end-of-the-week celebration. Although, most of the camp hadn’t come out for tonight’s much smaller fire. Winter would soon be coming to a close, but the cold was holding on with all its might. Only a few intrepid fire revelers had made it out tonight.
Kurt and Liz sat, sharing a log and a blanket, and squeezed closely together to share body heat and fight back the freeze. One older grandma-and-grandpa type sat in lawn chairs close to the fire, holding each other’s thick-mitten-wrapped hands. A few kids roasted marshmallows with their mom while their dad stood farther away from the fire, chain-smoking a cigarette, each puff looking like a desperate attempt to suck the life out of the cigarette as fast as possible and return to the warmth of the RV.
There was no dancing tonight. All the musicians and party animals had stayed home. It was just too cold. Everyone just sat quietly, watching the fire, enjoying the sight and trying to absorb some of its heat.
Kurt’s watch beeped and shined a green Indiglo hue.
“Is it your shift already?” Liz asked.
“No, not yet. I’ve still got an hour until I go relieve Tyler. But I’m going to head back to the RV and get as warm as possible before guard duty,” Kurt said.
“I’ll come with you,” Liz said as they both stood up and she wrapped the blanket around herself.
They each gave a few goodbye waves to everyone. Everyone nodded except the man smoking. He simply glared. Kurt could sense some judgment, or maybe he was judging himself. Liz had become very important to him. He definitely had feelings for her, feelings he felt were inappropriate. He didn’t voice them or act on them. They were just good friends. As long as it stayed that way, it was okay, even if he didn’t want it to stay that way.
After a short shuffling hike with frozen joints, Kurt held the RV open for Liz to go inside, and he followed. The warmth welcomed him. “Oh yeah. That’s awesome.”
“It’s so much warmer in here,” Liz said, shedding the blanket and throwing it down on the couch. “The fire barely held back the cold tonight. I still loved it though. But I wish the whole camp still came out. I miss the fun of it all. When we first got here, there was so much enjoyment, and music, and dancing.”
“Yeah, you used to have so much fun dancing!” Kurt said with a smile on his face.
“Dancing is something so special to me. It’s just when I can completely let go. Or at least I used to. The last time I danced was at a bonfire a few weeks ago. Tyler and I went. But when I was dancing, he just sat there. I could feel his judging stare. It ruined it. He used to dance with me. Now he’s just cold, and it’s stealing my happiness.”
Kurt sat quietly, unsure of what to say or do. Then inspiration hit. Kurt started drumming the table and beatboxing, poorly. He then started to dance even worse while singing/beatboxing/humming his favorite song from Miami Beach, “Danza Kuduro.” Kurt had heard it a thousand times blasting out from beach clubs.
Liz laughed, a giant smile spreading across her face.
“Come on!” Kurt said.
Liz jumped over and started dancing with Kurt. They danced for a few minutes, until Kurt lost track of the song and his breath. They both sat down on the couch, laughing, as the music “stopped.”
“Thanks, Kurt, I needed that,” Liz said. She turned and gave Kurt a big hug. “Thanks for being such an amazing guy and friend.”
“You’re welcome.” Kurt held her close, cherishing this moment. No matter what happened in the future, Kurt knew he would remember this moment.
“How about another dance?” Liz whispered into his ear.
“Absolutely,” Kurt said.
Liz hopped up and started singing “Get Low.” Kurt started laughing so hard he could barely breathe. Yet he found the energy to hop up and join Liz on the dance floor.
Kurt walked to guard duty that night with a smile on his face, warmth in his body, and a beat in his ears.
The Settlement: Outbreak Day +65
The days were starting to warm up. The icy hold of the Russian winter was starting to subside. Along with the sun came the return of the old-style shifts at the gate. Kurt and Tyler had long shifts together again. After the winter solitude, it was a strange and welcome thing to have someone to talk to.
Kurt and Tyler had started playing cards for a fun, competitive way to pass shifts. A deck of playing cards was one of the better finds from Kurt’s never-not-there backpacking kit over the winter. So now one of them would play a game of solitaire using Vegas rules while the other watched the horizon. Loser of that night’s shift had to do the dishes and clean the RV after dinner. The melting snow had started to turn the ground to mud, meaning there was a lot of cleaning to do.
“Damn! Negative five points,” Kurt said as he ran out of plays.
Tyler laughed as they traded places. “You’re going to be maid tonight for sure.”
“Yeah,” Kurt said as he shifted on the hunting stool to see out better. “It’s bonfire night tonight too.”
“Guess you’re going to be late.” Tyler jabbed playfully as he shuffled the deck of cards.
“Yeah.”
/> “Well on the bright side, maybe by that time, the girls will be dancing,” Tyler said, starting to lay the cards out for his turn.
“True that. God bless the climate getting warmer. A few minutes of dancing to the guitar music from that Russian guy and layers will be coming off.”
Tyler asked Kurt, “Any particular girls you want to see the layers come off of?”
Kurt laughed out the window. “Well I know that girl Brigiette wants to see my layers come off.”
“Yeah?”
“Ha ha ha, yeah. Liz told me a while ago, and lately that girl has been pretty upfront about looking at me.”
“She’s not here with someone, right?” Tyler asked, suddenly more interested in the conversation than the card game he had started.
“No, she’s definitely single.”
“Then why don’t you?”
“Let her take my layers off?”
“And return the favor.”
“Nah, man.”
“Oh come on, man! Why not? Someone else stole your heart? Do you have a secret girl waiting for you back home?”
Kurt laughed. “No, nothing like that.”
“What then? Just a pussy?”
“Thanks.”
“Just saying. Why wouldn’t you at least see what happens?”
“Well it’s getting warmer now.”
“Yeah, I noticed, so what? You think she’ll only like you when it’s colder than the devil’s ballsack?”
Kurt laughed. “Well we’re going to be leaving soon. I don’t want to be entangled or get attached here right now.”
“Leaving?” Tyler said, confused.
“Yeah.” Kurt turned so he was facing Tyler. “That was the deal.”
“The deal was to stay here and see how it went. Then talk about it. Well it’s going pretty well. I don’t want to leave,” Tyler said, defensively.
“What? Are you serious?” Kurt nearly shouted at him.
Tyler looked at him, standing his ground. “Yeah, I really am. We’re safe here. We should stay. We can have a life here. I was talking to Philip the other day, and he is talking about farming in a few months, cutting down some trees and building actual houses. It’s actual rebuilding.”
“Tyler, don’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“I can’t stay here, you know that. I have to get back to my brother,” Kurt said.
Tyler jumped in. “And eventually you might, but for now, we need to rebuild.”
Kurt’s stomach churned. His intuition shouted, screamed and revolted: RUN. “Tyler, you and Liz have become something that mean a lot to me. I don’t want to leave without you, but I will if I have to.”
“You’re seriously going to leave?”
“I have to. Look, the truth is, this mission of finding my brother, it’s more than just a dream, or a desire. It’s my reason for life at this point. I have to follow it.”
“Look, I’ve been making good progress with this satellite phone.” Tyler pulled the previously left-for-dead phone out of his coat pocket. “I started looking at it again. I found a way to make it dial properly. All I have to do is find a powerful enough antenna and we can get a call out. Give me a chance to get a call out and you can call your bro. If he answers, we’ll all go. If not, we’ll stay. How does that sound?”
“I don’t know. I just have to—” Kurt was interrupted by another voice.
“Hey, you two up there?” Brandon called out.
Kurt peeked out the window of the blind. “Yeah.”
“We can come back later if you want to finish jacking each other off,” Jonathan said.
“On our way down,” Kurt said back.
“Look, Kurt, let’s go back to the RV, and we can talk about this more, okay?”
“I can’t stay.”
“Can we talk about this more at the RV?”
“Sure. I really do want Liz and you to come with me.”
“Okay, let’s talk about it more.”
Tyler and Kurt packed up and slid down the ladder. As they passed Brandon and Jonathan, Jonathan said, “Enjoy the bonfire, guys. Next week we’re trading shifts so we can have some fun! I’m tired of missing every bonfire.”
“That might not be a problem,” Kurt murmured.
“What?” Brandon asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” Tyler said.
Jonathan ran to the ladder. “Dibs on the warm side.”
Brandon turned to give chase. “Oh hell no!”
Walking back to the settlement was not a fun experience, thanks to the wet, sopping landscape. The tundra would refreeze, but for now, everything was dripping in melted snow.
“This mud sucks,” Tyler said, nearly falling as his foot slid.
“No joke,” Kurt said as he sloshed through the mud. “Sure you want to stay here?”
“Shut up,” Tyler said back.
“Thank God I have massive, size-twelve feet,” Kurt said.
“Oh yeah, and my size nines are baby feet,” Tyler said sourly. His next step proved his point. As he planted his boot, it sank deeply into the ground. “Mother!”
Kurt laughed. “Here, grab my hand.” He helped Tyler pull himself out of the hole. As his boot pulled free, a strange milky-white steam came up. “What’s that from?” Kurt asked.
Tyler was busy trying to clean the muck off his boot that now felt like it weighed one hundred pounds. “I don’t know.”
“Weird. Maybe you have nasty feet.” Kurt laughed.
“Very funny. If that were the case, the rest of the ground wouldn’t be steaming too.”
“What?” Kurt asked, still staring at the hole.
“Well look.”
Kurt looked around. The same milky-white steam was coming from the ground all over. The settlement itself was covered by a small fog from the steam.
“What the hell is that?”
Tyler was just as surprised. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s just something that happens out here.”
Kurt didn’t think so. “Really?”
“Let’s go find Philip and figure out what’s happening.” Tyler’s voice gave away his nerves.
Kurt and Tyler took off toward Philip’s RV. Liz saw their faces as they passed her on their way to Philip’s.
“What’s going on?” Liz asked.
“What are you doing out here?” Tyler asked.
“It’s my turn on the water pump. Where are y’all headed in such a hurry?”
“We’re looking for Philip,” Kurt said as he kept moving toward Philip’s RV.
“He’s by the fire pit with his truck,” Liz said.
“Come with us,” Kurt said.
The three of them found Philip standing by the back of his truck.
Philip turned, saw their looks. “What’s wrong?”
Kurt said, fairly frantic, “The ground is steaming!”
Philip looked at them with a quizzical look on his face. “It’s just fog, Kurt.”
Kurt shot back, a little frazzled still, “This isn’t fog. Look, it’s coming from the ground.”
“That’s what fog does. I’m sure you’re not used to the woods, so I can understand the confusion.”
“It’s the afternoon. Since when does fog start in the afternoon?”
“It can happen, Kurt. Just relax,” Philip said.
“Look around you. Something is wrong,” Kurt pleaded. “My gut is telling me zombies are coming.”
Tyler joined the conversation, trying to calm Kurt down. “Maybe it is just fog, man.”
Philip jumped in. “Yes, it is. We are perfectly safe here. Kurt, how many zombies have you seen since you’ve been here?”
Kurt answered, “None, but still—”
“Still what, Kurt?” Philip didn’t let him finish.
“I feel like something is wrong. We’ve been here too long. We need to keep moving.”
“What are you talking about?” Philip asked.
“My intuition is telling me that we need to get out
of here. It’s telling me that we are in danger.”
“Your intuition? Are you serious?” Philip was not amused.
“Yes!” Kurt yelled.
“Kurt, you need to calm down. I don’t know what is wrong with you, but this place is safe.” Philip’s face began turning red. “There is nothing wrong! Look around you! Look at all the people we have saved, who currently call this place home. Look at how safe they are!”
“Something is wrong!” Kurt screamed.
“Keep your voice down,” Tyler said. “You’re going to cause a scene.”
“A scene? I’m trying to tell you—” Kurt was cut off by Philip, now angry.
“I know what you’re trying to say, and you need to stop. This place is safe. This is my new home. This is where my boys are protected. This is where you are protected. Only an act of God can change that!”
Instead came an act of hell.
A bony hand shot up out of the ground and grabbed Philip’s left leg around the calf. With a tearing sound, the hand pulled his foot and leg into the ground. Philip let out a huge scream as a crunch echoed from under the dirt. His face was full of fear and pain.
Tyler and Kurt grabbed his arms and pulled with all their strength. Liz joined them. Their three grunts joined Philip’s painful screams in a terrible symphony. Their efforts paid off. With a final pull, Philip came free, sending all four of them falling to the ground.
Where Philip’s lower leg used to be was now a bloody mess. The leg had stringy, torn skin dangling loose while blood poured out. Tendons, muscle fiber and blood vessels were easily visible through gaping wounds.
Philip’s face turned white as the blood quickly drained from his body. Philip tried to grab at his leg, screaming into the sky.
“Hold him!” Kurt yelled at Tyler and Liz as he tried to put pressure on the wound with his hands, trying to stop the gushing blood. Tyler and Liz held Philip down while holding his hands. He was writhing in pain. “Tyler, give me your belt!” Kurt yelled.
Tyler reached to grab his buckle and remove the belt. As he did, another hand reached for him. A diseased hand shot up from the ground below, wildly grabbing at the air. Tyler fell back and scooted away. “What the fuck!” He grabbed the pistol he kept in his waistband and fired several shots into the ground.