Dark Grace

by M. Lauryl Lewis

  “C’mon, darlin’, let’s get you inside.”

  Gus picked me up and cradled me in his arms. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around him. I was so tired.

  “Ok, let’s get you up the steps,” I heard Gus say as he set me on my feet. “Doorway’s not big enough for us both,” he explained. “Think you can climb in?”

  I nodded and stepped up into the RV. The interior was as outdated looking as the exterior with avocado green counter tops and orange floral upholstery on the seats. The air inside smelled dank.

  “Zoe, head to the back bed. I set some towels out for you to sit on. Take your pants off and lay down so I can check out all this bleeding?”

  All I wanted to do was sleep, but I did as instructed. By the time I had undressed from the waist down and lay back, I was nearly asleep. I felt Gus sit beside me and gently spread my legs.

  “It looks like it’s easing up. I’m just gonna put the end of the towel between your legs and let you sleep for a bit.”

  “Ok,” I whispered.

  ***

  When I woke, I was in complete darkness.

  “Boggs?” I called out.

  “No Zoe, it’s just you and me, remember?” replied Gus.

  I was quiet while I oriented myself.

  “Where are we?”

  “We stopped for the night. You were bleeding and I didn’t want to drive after dark.”

  “That’s right: the motor home.”

  I heard him walking toward me. His hand searched out for me in the darkness, making sure he didn’t sit on me.

  “You’ve been asleep for a few hours. How are you feeling?”

  “A little better,” I admitted. “Thirsty.”

  “Whoever left this rig here left it stocked. It’s been pillaged, but I found a few things stored in an under-seat compartment that we can use.”

  “It’s dark in here.”

  “I know,” he sighed. “I haven’t wanted to attract attention with the lights. I just have a creepy feeling that I can’t shake.”

  “I don’t hear any of them in my head.”

  “Good. So, I found a box of Capri Suns and a Tupperware container of trail mix. Want some?”

  “Please.”

  He stood and I listened to his footfalls as he walked slowly in the dark to wherever the supplies were. He sounded tired in how he was moving, if that’s possible. I used my elbows to push myself into a sitting position and swung my legs over the edge of the bed I was lying upon. This time my head didn’t spin and I was able to sit upright without feeling as if I would pass out.

  “The place was pretty trashed, so I moved most of the junk the scavengers left to the front. We’re lucky they didn’t find this stuff.”

  I felt Gus take my hand in his. He placed the juice pouch in my palm and warned me to not squeeze it since the straw was already inserted. His kids used to spill them that way, he explained.

  I sipped through the small straw and enjoyed the cool fruit-flavored drink.

  “Thanks,” I whispered.

  “Try eating something. You need to get your strength back.”

  He set the container of trail mix down beside me. I could actually smell the raisins and peanuts and my stomach growled. I felt for it with my hand and quickly began eating. Gus joined me in the feast and we sat quietly eating for what felt like a long time.

  “When will we get back on the road?” I asked. I was desperate to get back to the others.

  “I imagine as soon as you feel up to it.”

  “I’m actually feeling better since I slept.”

  “First light then, sound good?”

  “Ya.”

  “Let’s both get some sleep then. I don’t think I can stay awake.”

  “You sound exhausted, Gus.”

  “Ayup.”

  I lay back down, and Gus collapsed onto the small bed beside me. Within moments, his breathing pattern signaled that he was sleeping. I fell asleep picturing Molly’s beautiful and perfect face in my mind.

  ***

  Daylight was streaming in through the RV windows. I looked over at Gus, who was still asleep beside me. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and his covers were coming off. I went to pull the thin blanket up and noticed that his stab wounds were now fully healed; the thin scars a pale green. I carefully climbed out of the bed, hoping to not wake him. I knew he needed sleep desperately. Once standing, I walked to the other end of the motor home and looked over the pile of trash and debris that Gus had moved out of the way. I saw an empty jar of peanut butter and picked it up, knowing that we could scrape the sides of the jar. I was still nude from the waist down, and the dried blood on my legs made me sick to my stomach. At least there was no fresh blood. My belly wasn’t as sore as it had been the day before. My breasts, on the other hand, felt swollen and tender. I knew it was my milk coming in. I changed my train of thought, knowing that dwelling on my baby would send me into a downward spiral, and Gus and I could not manage if I turned into a blubbering mess. I knew that one day the losses of Emilie, Jane, and my sweet tiny Molly would catch up to me. They had all died in such a short period of time. It was so utterly unfair. I began looking through all of the cabinets and drawers, hoping to find something that someone else had missed. Coming up empty, I tried to open a door that I assumed led to either a storage closet or a restroom. The knob was locked, which actually gave me some hope that there may be supplies left undiscovered inside. I sat at the small table and opened the Tupperware container of trail mix. I had pulled my t-shirt down as far as I could to cover my bare bottom. I ate the trail mix one small bit at a time, just enough to stop my stomach’s complaining.

  “Morning,” said Gus quietly.

  I jumped, slightly startled.

  “Morning,” I said back to him. “There’s a locked door. I’m hoping maybe there’s something useful left.”

  “Ya, I noticed that last night but didn’t want to break the door open while it was dark.”

  I nodded my understanding.

  “Has your bleeding gotten any lighter?”

  “It’s stopped. Maybe the same reason your wounds healed so fast?”

  “Maybe. You look stronger today.”

  I nodded again. “I’m just trying to not think about everything; about everyone we’ve lost.”

  He sighed deeply. “Me too, darlin’. Me too.”

  He grabbed a small handful of the trail mix and tossed it into his mouth.

  “Ya, I was thinking about that last night. It’s a good idea.”

  “Uh, Gus?”

  “Huh?”

  “What’s a good idea?”

  “Scraping the peanut butter jar. I shouldn’t have tossed it aside so quick.”

  I looked at him, not sure what to say.

  “I hadn’t mentioned it, Gus. I was about to.”

  “Ya you did.”

  “No.”

  “I heard you, Zoe.”

  “No, Gus, seriously. I was just thinking about it.”

  “Think of something else.”

  “What?”

  “Just think about something else for a minute.”

  I kept looking at him like he was crazy, but decided to think about a family picnic I had enjoyed when I was thirteen, on the Fourth of July. It had been a happy day. My sister had told me about her first kiss.

  “Fireworks, and a kiss,” said Gus.

  “How?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure. Maybe the same reason you can sense the dead.” He looked at his green-tinged scars. “I obviously have it in me now, too.”

  “You can read my mind?”

  He shrugged. “I guess.”

  The idea freaked me out a little. “Try again.”

  “You’re worried that you might think about something you don’t want me to know.”

  “Ya.” Indeed, that was what I had been running through my mind just before trying to change my thoughts to something else to test him. “Crap,” I mumbled.

  “I heard running water
down the embankment. We should get cleaned up and then back on the road. We’ll deal with the rest later.”

  ***

  The embankment wasn’t very steep, but Gus kept hold of my hand to keep me steady. He knew me well enough by now to know how clumsy I was. There were a few tall trees, and a lot of shorter shrubs. We walked about twenty yards until we came to a small stream. The water was shallow and slow moving, and very cold. I made my way to the middle, where the water came halfway up my shins. Gus had broken into the small locked room in the motor home, which was indeed a small bathroom, and had luckily held a supply of several old washcloths, hand towels, and bath towels in various colors. I used one of the wash cloths to scrub the dried blood off of my legs. I had to rinse the cloth several times. I was so chilled that I decided I might as well wash the rest of myself, so like Gus I stripped down to nothing. My belly was still slightly distended and reminded me of Jell-O. I would have given anything to have Molly back inside of me, filling it out. Soon I had given my upper body a sponge bath and washed my hair with bar soap that we had found near the towels. Gus and I made our way out of the stream together. We each wrapped in a bath towel, and I did my best to fit a smaller hand towel around my wet head of hair. The day was chilly still, but it felt like spring was making an appearance. Gus stopped me on the bank, and wrapped his arms around me. He held me close for a long moment, and I welcomed the gentle affection. We slowly made our way back up the embankment. When we reached the top there was a small Toyota pickup truck parked beside our car.

  CHAPTER 20

  “Have a nice swim?” called out an ominous male voice.

  Gus instinctively stepped in front of me, holding me back with his left arm. Gus was the only one of the two of us holding a gun, and I watched in horror as he held his shotgun out to his side in some sort of expression of defeat. I peeked at the man who had spoken and recognized him immediately. It was one the guards from the compound from which we had escaped what seemed like an eternity ago. He was sitting on the guard rail now, obviously waiting for us. Like me and Gus, he bore telltale green streaks down one of his arms. He knew, somehow, that we were like him. Infected. I could sense that somehow.

  “Ahhh, Gus, isn’t it?” asked the man. “I see you’re just like us now.” A grin spread across the man’s face, causing his eyes to crinkle. Between the look in his eyes and the rifle in his hands, he looked evil. “Life’s a bitch, eh?”

  “Ayup,” was all Gus said.

  “Lay the shotgun on the ground,” said the man firmly. “And send the girl out where I can see her. Bobby!” he shouted.

  A woman stepped down from the motor home. I hadn’t seen her before that I could recall. She was tall and lean with straight dark brown hair that came to her chin. She was closer to Gus’ age than my own.

  “What?” she barked.

  “I found these two fuckers; they were down taking a dip in the creek. They’re the ones that blew the garage at the compound and killed our comrades.”

  Bobby’s eyebrows went up a notch. “Oh really?”

  I was standing beside Gus now, his left arm around my shoulders protectively. My hair was still wet and I was starting to shiver. I felt far too vulnerable wrapped in only a bath towel with no weapon to speak of. At that thought, I felt Gus squeeze me reassuringly.

  “Where’s the rest of your group?” asked Bobby. Her voice was oddly deep, not at all matching her looks.

  “Dead,” said Gus without hesitating.

  The man stood, spit on the shoulder of the road, and shook his head side to side a couple times. “I’m not so sure that’s true,” he said in a chiding tone. He tapped an index finger against his temple and whispered, “I can hear you too. The red headed woman and girl, sure, they’re dead as doornails. He looked at me. Ahhh, and your baby too. Boo-fucking-hoo.”

  His mentioning Molly caused intense anger to build within me. He had no right to mention her. I clenched my fists in rage.

  “So, what should we do with them?” asked the woman.

  “They don’t know where the others are. They think they know. So, let’s pack them into the back of the truck and take them there.”

  “They’re naked,” snipped Bobby.

  “Not our problem, babe. Let’s get going so we can haul them all back. We have some hungry dead fuckers to feed soon.”

  The man waved his rifle in the direction of the small pickup. Gus urged me forward, and I walked with him. I assumed he had a plan, and so once again put my life in his hands. I kept a hand at my chest, making sure my towel didn’t come unwrapped and fall down. The morning sun was rising higher in the sky and warmed my face, but did little to calm my fears. We finished the brief walk to the Toyota at gunpoint. Gus, being taller than I, had less opportunity to see into the canopy window on the back of the truck. The glass was dusty and smeared in a clear-white residue that had dried in streaks. My body tensed as I peered deeper into the truck bed. Inside was a creature that frightened me to the core. I couldn’t pick up any kind of signal from it, but was certain it was a Runner of some sort.

  “Bobby, open the back.”

  “You got it.”

  “I’m not getting in there with that,” I said sternly, attempting to back up. I was met by the end of the rifle against my spine.

  “Yes, you are,” snipped the man. “Now. Get in.”

  “It’s ok, darlin’,” whispered Gus. “It’s restrained.”

  The rotting monster was wrapped mid face to ankles in Saran Wrap. It was almost comical. It lay there barely moving. I was shoved forward against the open tailgate and Gus reacted by spinning around; I could feel his anger surround me.

  “Back off,” he spat in my defense. His chest was met with the rifle, causing Gus to raise his arms slowly. “C’mon, buddy, just let me get her in, ok?”

  The man spat on the ground again and nodded. “Fucking fine. Hurry up.”

  “Zoe, climb in and just stay toward the tailgate,” whispered Gus. Our eyes met briefly.

  Against my better judgment, I climbed onto the tailgate and scooted over, staying off to the side and rear of the driver’s wheel-well. I did my best to keep myself covered and cringed when the man holding us at gunpoint looked me up and down. If I had ever known his name, it was lost to my memory. I didn’t care to know it now. Gus climbed in behind me, situating himself opposite me.

  “Ok, Bobby, you’re gonna drive. I’ll keep these two in line. Get in and open the cab window.”

  “Awe, c’mon, the stink will hit us.”

  “Stop whining before I put you back there with them,” barked the man.

  “Nice,” she said, rolling her eyes.

  He swatted her butt, probably harder than necessary, as she began her trek to the driver’s seat. For the first time I found myself wondering just how willingly she was with him. The man slammed the tailgate shut, followed by the window. The air inside the cramped space instantly started to warm, accompanied by the stench of something long dead. I looked toward the cab when I heard Bobby slide the little windows open. The cellophane wrapped corpse was writhing, now overly aware of our presence.

  “Gus,” I whispered. “It has no eyes.”

  The Runner was missing both eyeballs, leaving darkened sockets that were leaking murky ooze. While I knew it was a Runner, it didn’t act like one. It was weak and seemed to be dying. The inside of the cellophane was smeared with death fluids that were seeping onto the rusting bed of the truck.

  “Try not to look at it, Zoe.”

  I watched the man with the gun walk around the passenger side. While he was mid-way, Bobby turned around and spoke quickly through the opening between cab and truck bed.

  “I don’t want to be with this guy. At some point I’ll pull over. I can’t get away without help.” She turned forward and started the engine as the man opened his door and sat down.

  I looked over at Gus, who looked back without much expression. His eyes warned me to stay quiet. The sound of the passenger door slamming made me
look forward. The man was looking back through the cab opening, grinning at me in particular. I avoided his eyes and looked down at my hands. As the truck lurched forward, I began looking around for anything that might serve as a weapon. The Runner had settled down with the swaying of the truck as it traveled down the highway, but was moaning beneath the plastic that was wrapped tightly over its mouth. Something about the decayed creature, at least from the nose up, seemed vaguely familiar. The smell was becoming unbearable, as was the heat. Someone up front must have rolled a window down, giving us some fresh air but also causing a lot of noise. I could hear the man and Bobby talking, but couldn’t understand anything. Gus was busy unscrewing a makeshift clamp that was holding the canopy onto the truck bed. There appeared to be two on each side, so I followed suit and scooted forward toward the cab as well. It was easier for the man in the cab to turn around and see me with how we were positioned, so I kept my left arm on my chest to secure my towel while I used my right hand to work at the first clamp on my side. Luckily, mine was a simple vice grip and unfastening was quick and easy. Gus met my eyes and nodded almost imperceptibly in approval.

  The wrapped-up Runner was lying closer to the cab of the truck and venturing near it was not on my list of fun things to do. The last two anchors holding the canopy on, though, were looming above the animated corpse. Gus scooted toward its head while I remained where I was. I thought it best that only one of us move at a time as to not gain the attention of our captor. Gus was busy loosening a piece of tie wire that anchored the front passenger corner of the canopy when the truck slowed and came to a stop mid-highway. He shuffled back toward the rear of the truck and made himself look calm.

  I heard the man up front asking Bobby why she had stopped. Her answer I found funny, although I didn’t dare laugh. She needed to go to the bathroom, or “take a dump” as she had snarled at the man.