Sometimes We Ran (Book 2): Community

by Stephen Drivick

  “What? What did you say?” Claire leaned in, so she could hear me.

  “It’s okay. You can let me go.”

  “No. Hell no, Tiger. You’re not leaving me yet.”

  Someone arrived with a blanket. It was Karen. Her beautiful green eyes looked into mine. “Oh, no. Is he okay?”

  “We’ll know more when we get him inside,” the doctor said.

  They carefully placed me on the blanket and rolled up the edges into a makeshift handle. Doctor Connelly, Karen, Ben, Denise, and a few other residents took hold of the cloth and lifted me up. I felt myself rising from the ground. My left arm had gone completely numb, and it was spreading to my extremities. I was also a little lightheaded. I had a feeling I didn’t have long.

  “Okay. Easy now. Oh…wow, he’s a big fella. Careful everyone.” I heard Ben speak, but it sounded like he was miles away. They began to take me to the admin building. Blackness…emptiness began to float around me. It wouldn’t be long. I could almost see Gia waving me in. The fading sunlight of the spring day went bright. I reached for Claire, who was holding my injured arm with all of her might.

  “Claire?”

  She looked at me. “What is it, John?”

  “It’s okay. I’ll be okay.” My strength faded. I grabbed a handful of her shirt. “It’s over. You’re home now. You can stay in Cannon Fields.” It was all I could manage. I released her shirt.

  Claire was really crying now. Big, fat tears fell down her cheeks. “You’re not going to die, Tiger. We’re going to get you inside and fixed up.”

  They carried me into the admin building and set me down on a bed in the infirmary that Cannon Fields had set up. The blackness that had been chasing me finally caught up. I passed out with my last sight on Earth being Claire’s worried and tear-stained little face.

  I had fought as long as I could. It was now up to someone else if I lived or died.

  Chapter 20

  Recovery and Second Chances

  It was a nice day.

  It was one of those days that was perfect. Warm enough so that you didn’t need a jacket, but not so warm that it’s uncomfortable. It was just right. A perfect spring day. The breeze picked up, and it smelled like wildflowers and fresh-cut grass.

  The colors were incredible. I couldn’t remember when the grass was so green, or the sky looked so blue. I was walking in what looked like an endless park. There were open fields and trees everywhere. It was all growing strong, and moving in the light wind. It was all so perfect.

  Too perfect. The colors were too vivid. The weather was too nice. This was not real.

  “I must be dead,” I said to myself. I stopped in the shade of a large oak tree. The shade felt cool and refreshing, a nice break. In my gut, it didn’t feel right. It seemed so real. I could feel the breeze, smell the grass, and touch the tree. It looked so real.

  “It can’t be real.” I looked around. If this was some sort of heaven, it was pretty nice. “I really must be dead.”

  “You’re not dead, Tiger.” I looked up and saw Claire. She was standing a few feet away, with her bat in her hands. Claire looked different. Older. Her clothes were changed. A simple dress and hiking boots replaced her usual blouse, faded jeans, jacket, and sneakers. Her hair, now free of the pink highlights, was longer. It hung down to the middle of her back. She came closer, and I saw that her youthful face had a few extra lines around the eyes, and her hair had slight gray streaks.

  Claire came over, and hugged me. She had also put on a little weight. I returned the hug. It was definitely her.

  We finished hugging. “You’re not dead. There’s still a lot of work you have to do,” she said. “Really good to see you.”

  I couldn’t help myself. “What happened to you? You look…” I struggled to find the right word. “ different. I only saw you a few minutes ago.”

  Claire laughed. It wasn’t the usual girlish giggle I was used to, but an older woman’s laugh. She took my hand. “Come on. I want to show you something.”

  We walked, hand in hand, to a small hill overlooking a valley. In the valley was Cannon Fields. I heard the sound of distant hammers and saws as residents built new houses and other buildings. Everyone looked busy rebuilding civilization.

  “So busy. It looks bigger,” I said. I looked around, but Older Claire had disappeared. She had been replaced by someone else.

  My dead wife was standing before me.

  She was wearing the clothes she wore on that fateful morning so long ago. It was a simple skirt and blouse, with those killer shoes that she had just bought. Her department-store employee nametag still hung around her neck.

  Gia raised her head and smiled. Her eyes were bright yellow. A clue, perhaps, of what had happened to her. “Hello, John,” she said.

  I couldn’t speak. I just couldn’t find any words.

  Gia glided over to me with that great walk, her long legs swaying as they carried her closer. She really had great legs. She took my hand, and looked me up and down. “You’re so thin. Are you eating enough?”

  I swallowed. “Not as much as I would like.” She laughed that beautiful throaty laugh she had.

  “You always could make me laugh.” She pulled me by the hand down toward the valley and Cannon Fields. “Come on. Let’s talk.”

  My legs felt like they were in concrete. I wanted to follow, but her yellow eyes frightened me. She looked like a demon, and this dream might turn into a long nightmare. She pulled harder.

  “Come on, silly. I won’t bite.”

  My desire to be with my wife overcame my fear. Despite her horrible yellow eyes, I began to walk beside her.

  We walked in silence down a wooded path toward the valley floor. If this was a dream, it was surely the strangest one ever. As we walked, I took a few glances at my dead wife. With the exception of her eyes, she seemed so real. I could feel her hand in mine. I even caught her scent once in a while. She smelled like flowers, not death. I could hear her feet churning through the dead leaves on the ground.

  “I have to be dead. This is just too real to be a dream,” I said.

  Gia didn’t answer. She only smiled.

  We exited the wooded path into the valley. Cannon Fields lay before me, even busier than usual. I saw Ben, Ryan, and Denise helping build houses and other large structures for the community. Older Claire had returned, taking care of some children playing in a field. No zombies. No death or destruction. It was just a bustling, functional human community.

  It was life.

  “You’re not dead,” Gia said. “You have some work to do. These people need you now.”

  I looked at my former wife. Her yellow eyes had faded to the deep brown that had captivated me on our first date. I kissed her, and all the memories of my old life came flooding back. Our first date in that terrible Mexican restaurant, our first time in bed together, and our wedding day all flashed through my mind. This dream had suddenly become so real.

  “I love you, Gia,” I managed to say.

  “Love you more.” That was always her answer to my I-love-you’s. Gia started backing up. “I was part of your old life, before the end. Don’t ever forget me, but you’re going to have to let me go a little. I want you to live. Live for me.” She turned around and started walking up the path to the hills above.

  “You know, I’ll never forget you,” I said.

  Gia turned around. It was the last look back. “Yes, I know. Remember what I said.” She turned, and vanished into the woods.

  “Message received, Gia,” I said.

  “Did you say something, John?”

  It took considerable effort, but I turned my head. Through half-open eyes, I saw Doctor Connelly taking my blood pressure. She quickly finished her work and sat down at my bedside. “Please tell me you said something.”

  I could form the words in my head, but couldn’t seem to make them come out of my mouth. I had to force them out of my throat a little at a time. “Hey Doc. I thought you said you were a pediatrician
. I’m a little old to be under your care.”

  Doctor Connelly smiled, but still looked a little grim. “Usually my patients are a little smaller, but you still get a lollipop if you’re good.” The doctor was still a pip. She took a small penlight out of the pocket of her white coat and shined it into my eyes. The light was so bright, that it felt like it was shining directly onto my brain.

  “How do you feel?” the doctor said, as she moved the light back and forth to shine the light in each eye.

  I struggled to answer. “I feel…awful.”

  Now Doctor Connelly laughed. “Believe it or not, John, that’s actually a good sign.” She finished with the light and started feeling my forehead and cheeks. “Still a little warm, but your fever finally broke a few days ago.”

  Fever? “What happened?”

  The Doctor sat down, and took my hand. “Wallace’s bullet went right through your left arm…near the shoulder. It did some damage, but managed to miss the bone. I think your jacket might have slowed it down, but it was a pretty big bullet.”

  “Yeah…felt pretty big when it hit me.”

  The Doctor continued. “We got you inside before you bled to death, and I repaired as much damage as I could.” She checked the wound. “I think it’s healing okay, but…” A dark look crossed her face.

  “But what?”

  Doctor Connelly sighed, and patted my hand. “There may be some nerve damage that couldn’t be repaired, based on our current conditions. If hospitals were operating, I probably could have done a surgery or two.”

  “How bad is it?” As I asked the question, I realized that my left arm was indeed a little numb. I tried to make a fist with my left hand, but failed.

  “Well, it may never be one hundred percent, but you’re strong. It’ll come back…with a little time and therapy.”

  Time and therapy. Sounded like a long slog. Unless you count a little back trouble before the zombie apocalypse, this was the first time I had ever been really hurt.

  At least it wasn’t my gun hand.

  Doctor Connelly continued. “The real problem was the infection. You had a bad one. Fever…the whole works. Your fever got pretty high. I thought we were going to have to fit you for a halo.”

  Karen walked up to the other side of the bed. She looked down at me with her big beautiful eyes, and smiled. “Is he awake? I thought I heard his voice.” She took my hand, and squeezed. “We were worried you would never wake up.”

  “How long was I out?” I asked. Doctor Connelly and Karen looked at each other.

  “Three weeks. It was kind of a coma. Your body shut down to repair itself. You lost a lot of blood. We rigged something up to get some blood back into you, but then the infection set in with the fever,” the Doctor said.

  “We just waited for you to come back to us.” Karen squeezed my hand a little harder.

  Three weeks. I was out for three weeks. I was lucky to be alive. Without Doctor Connelly and Karen, I would be on the wrong side of the grass.

  My head began to hurt. “Thanks for taking care of me. Is everyone else okay? Is Claire okay?” The effort expended in talking was causing me to become a little lightheaded.

  “Everybody is okay.” She turned to Karen. “Could you go find Claire? I think she would want to see her friend,” the Doctor said. Karen smiled as walked away.

  “Karen’s pretty cool,” I said. In my drowsy state, the words kind of slipped out.

  Doctor Connelly smiled. “She’s been a godsend. Not a nurse, but she learned pretty damn quick.” The doctor leaned in closer. “You didn’t hear it from me, and I’m not a gossip, but I think Karen is a little sweet on you. She spent a lot of time at your bedside.”

  I actually felt myself blush a little. I changed the subject. “How’s Claire been doing?”

  “She’s been very good, as well. Claire took on a few chores, including taking care of Ryan. I removed the bullet near his spine, but he needs help walking. Like you, with time and a little help, he’ll get back on his feet. Claire will see to that.”

  It warmed my heart that Claire was fitting in and helping out. She was real survivor. “Claire’s a good girl.” Doctor Connelly took my wrist, and started checking my pulse. “After her chores, every night, she came here and sat down at your bedside. Sometimes she would talk to you, but most of the time she would just watch. I was curious why she came every night to watch over you. She simply said it was something she had to do.”

  It was a slice of our past. “When we were on the road together, sometimes we had to bed down in unsafe areas crawling with undead. One of us would stay awake and keep an eye out while the other one slept. In that way, we kept each other alive,” I said.

  Doctor Connelly shook her head. “She would stay awake for hours watching over you. Often, I had to tell her to go to bed. She’s some friend.”

  “Yeah. I wonder where I’d be if I hadn’t found her.”

  I heard someone running up the aisle towards my bed. Claire appeared at my feet, out of breath. She stood there for a few minutes, looking like she was about to cry.

  “Hey, kiddo. How’s it going?” I managed to say.

  That did it. Claire broke into tears and threw herself on my chest. She cried hard. I put my good arm on her neck, and held her.

  “Why don’t we leave these two alone, Doctor Connelly?” Karen said. She put her hand on my shoulder. “Just yell if you need anything.”

  “Okay.” I held onto Claire as she cried.

  After a few minutes of heaving sobs, Claire composed herself. She picked up her head and grabbed me by the collar of the white undershirt I was wearing. “You scared the hell out of me!” Claire said, as she gently shook me. “Don’t you ever do this crap again, okay?”

  The shaking sent bolts of slight pain through my left shoulder. “Okay, okay. Stop with the shaking.”

  Claire sat down on a nearby chair. “You remember what you said to me as you passed out?”

  “No. Not really.”

  She took my hand…my good, right hand. “You said I should stay in Cannon Fields. Did you mean it? Can we stay? These people are pretty nice.”

  I thought about what she said. It would be nice to get off the road and rest my tired body. I would welcome a somewhat normal life. A second chance.

  “Do you want to stay because of Ryan?” I asked. Claire’s cheeks went instantly crimson.

  “No…uh, well, yeah, kind of,” she stammered. “Ryan’s cool and all, but I was thinking about us. I think we need a rest.”

  “Okay. If you want to stay, we’ll stay.” Claire hugged me again. “I’m a little tired. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Claire stood up. “All right, Tiger. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She kissed me lightly on the cheek. “You will never know how glad I am you are alive. I don’t know what I would have done without you. See you tomorrow, and the day after that.” She turned around and walked away. I was so tired, I fell into a deep sleep. This time, no dreams of my Gia. There was only darkness and rest.

  I wound up staying in the hospital about another three weeks. I went from weak and helpless, to stronger. In time, I could get to my feet and dressed without passing out. The doctor said it was going to take a while to get better, but that I was coming along nicely. My left arm and hand were even working a little better. I was grateful to the doctor for her help. Being hurt and helpless in good times is bad enough, but it’s a death sentence in a world overrun by undead monsters.

  If you get hurt, you usually get left behind.

  Claire visited almost every day. Sometimes she would be by herself; sometimes she would bring Ryan for his therapy. Ryan was doing well, and although Claire denied it, I believe they were now an item. One visit, I actually caught them stealing a deep kiss at my bedside. Karen picked up some gossip that they were thinking of living together. Things were certainly moving fast.

  I had a quick-moving situation of my own: Karen. In my three tough weeks of recovery, she helped me walk, and dress, and ev
en eat. Sometimes we would talk for a long time, even after the therapy. I began to look forward to her beautiful smile, and her deep green eyes. I looked forward to her visits, and felt shy and awkward, like we were on a date. We talked and gossiped about current events, and she shared the news about the outside world. While she talked, I would stare at her like a lovesick teenager. A friendship had developed, with a small spark of romance.

  But I held back. I liked Karen, maybe even started to love her a little. Gia’s death leaned heavily on my heart. I wanted to like Karen, and I wanted to be with her. I needed more time to work it out and grieve. Karen understood. She told me she would wait. The night, before I left the hospital to begin my new life in Cannon Fields, we shared our first kiss.

  The day had finally come to leave the hospital. Doctor Connelly and Karen helped me pack my meager possessions, and I got ready to leave. “Any last instructions, Doc?” I asked.

  “Yes. You’re still going to have to take it easy. You are on light duty at least until the first of next year. You got it, hotshot? No going outside the gates, no rescue missions, and absolutely no zombie killing.” She wagged her finger in my face. “You’ll make sure he complies, right, Karen?” The doctor, along with half of Cannon Fields, knew about our budding romance.

  Karen blushed deep red. “Right, Doctor Connelly.”

  I walked away from my bed and stepped outside. Claire, Ben, and Denise were waiting for me. Denise threw her arms around me in a bear hug. Every time she visited me in the infirmary, she gave me the same big hug. Ben slapped me on the back. “Damn. It’s good to see you on your feet,” he said.

  “I’m glad, too.” I had been in the hospital so long that warmer weather had come. It was hot, but the sun felt good on my face. “All of a sudden, I’m hungry.”

  Denise laughed. “That’s great. He’s hungry.” She took my arm. “We’re going to have a little town meeting first, then we can eat. You up for it, John?”

  “Yeah…sounds good,” I said. “I have something to do at the memorial garden first.”

  I walked across the street to the garden. I had a little solitary mission to complete. The big oak was still there, watching over all the little stones with names on them. I noticed a new row standing proudly nearby. It was stones for Mitch, Jenny, Sue Johnson, and a tandem rock for Lee and Sally Downs, all recently lost. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a little peach-colored rock. Karen had brought it to me when I was in the hospital, along with a marker with sparkly gold-colored ink. Sparkly colors were Gia’s favorite.