by Ann Riley
And it looks like a shit storm hit this area. If there are any people left here, they aren’t doing too well with trying to maintain things. Buildings are falling in, trees have fallen on roof tops, grass has grown so high in the yards you can’t see the house front. There are dead cows in the pastures.
“I think it’s safe to assume no one survived here.” I say.
“I think we need to get out of here. I have a bad feeling about this area. You remember the old man named John Daniels when we were growing up?” Marc asks me.
I nod.
“He was batty as hell. He always thought people were out to get him. He would shoot at people passing by his house. I don’t know how in the hell he wasn’t committed to Whitfield Psychiatric Hospital, but he managed to dodge all attempts to lock him away.” I say.
“Yeah, that’s him.” Marc says with a snort.
“Well, if he’s still around, I don’t want to run into him. He wasn’t that old when we were young, so he could still be alive and shooting at people.” Marc says.
“Then why in the hell are we on this road?” I ask.
“I forgot about him.” Marc says.
We all look at him.
“Am I the only person here who wants to continue living?” I ask.
“I’m going.” Marc says.
Since I have nothing good to say, I’ll not say anything. But how can you forget about an old crazy man who loves to shoot at people as they pass by his home?
Chapter 9 –Tammy
“I think that Rosa is getting worse.” Tammy says to Doc.
“Without chemo, she will. I’m surprised she has lasted this long. She told me she was in stage four lung cancer when the zombies came, and she hasn’t had any chemo treatments in months. The outlook for stage four is not that long, and without chemo, it’s even shorter.” Doc says.
“Yeah. I’m keeping her as comfortable as possible with what we have. I think we have enough oxycodone to get her through. I wish we could do more.” Tammy says.
Doc nods.
“Just keep an eye on her and make her comfortable. That’s all we can do.” Doc says.
Tammy nods.
She chose nursing as a career to be able to help people. And right now, she isn’t feeling very helpful.
As she goes back out, she sees Robert, Rosa’s husband sitting on the patio.
“Hello Robert.” Tammy says.
“Hi. How is Rosa? She isn’t getting better is she?” Robert asks.
“I’m sorry, but no. The cancer has taken its toll on her, and since she hasn’t had chemo, I’m sure it has spread. She’s a strong lady, and she’s hanging on though.” Tammy says.
“Yeah. She’s stubborn too. I think that’s what has kept her here this long. I know she’s tired, but I don’t know if I’m prepared for her to leave me yet.” Robert says.
“Talk to her and be with her during this time. She needs to know you will be alright when she does leave you. That would comfort her more than anything else.” Tammy says.
Robert nods and heads into the infirmary to sit with Rosa.
Mitchell comes out to sit on the patio with Tammy. He takes her hand and kisses it.
“I feel bad for Rosa.” Tammy says.
“Don’t feel bad for her. She will be going to a place where her pain will be gone and she will have comfort. She will be in a better place than we are.” Mitchell says.
“Yeah, I know, but that doesn’t help much.” Tammy says.
“Where are the kids?” Tammy asks.
“Hayley is cleaning the kitchen, Preston is with Trey checking the fence and Aidan is messing around with an old motor your dad has in the shop.” Mitchell says.
“Marc and the others haven’t come back yet?” Mitchell asks.
“Not yet. I hope they find at least a couple of people who have Toxo so we can see if the vaccine works.” Tammy says.
“Didn’t Marc and Tracie bring back medication from Jackson when that doctor injected them with the Toxo parasite?” Mitchell asks.
“Yes. That’s how Doc was able to experiment with a vaccine. Tracie loaded up on the vials of pyrimethamine, sulfadiazine, and folinic acid that she found in that lab.” Tammy says.
Mitchell nods.
“Since mom is with Tracie, Marc, and Bobby, I’m going to help Kelley start dinner.” Tammy says.
“Oh? Well, I’ll pray for us not to get food poisoning.” Mitchell says.
Tammy elbows him in the shoulder.
“I see you have jokes today.” She tells him.
Tammy heads inside to see what Kelley is up to. Or rather, to see what Kelley is cooking.
“Hey sister.” Tammy says.
“Hey. What are you doing?” Kelley asks.
“I was with Rosa.” Tammy tells her.
“Any change?” Kelley asks.
Tammy shakes her head no.
“Becky and I are cooking some deer stew, and we have some tenderloin to put on the grill.” Kelley says.
“Sounds good. You need me to help?” Tammy asks.
“Nah. Come sit.” Kelley says.
As Tammy sits down at the table, she sees Becky and Kelley are doing more than cooking. Stephen, Kelley’s husband, is busy making drinks for them and hands Tammy one.
“Are y’all just sitting here getting loaded?” Tammy asks.
“Wine is good for the soul.” Stephen says with a smile.
“I don’t believe I’ve heard that before, so I’ll take your word for it.” Tammy says.
“Has anyone had any word from Marc and Tracie yet?” Tammy asks.
“Not yet. Maybe they got lucky and found someone to give the vaccine to.” Kelley says.
“I hope they come back soon because the sun is going down and they don’t need to be out at night. Who knows what they may run into.” Tammy says.
Trey comes in to join them in the kitchen and sits by Becky, who tries to give him a kiss on the cheek.
“Stop momma. I’m not a baby anymore.” Trey says, wiping his cheek off with the back of his hand.
“You will always be my baby boy. Get used to it.” Becky tells him as she places a quick kiss on his forehead.
“Daddy hasn’t come back yet?” Trey asks.
“No. They should be here soon.” Tammy tells him.
“Did you finish checking the fence?” Becky asks him.
“I did. There aren’t any weak places that I could see. We need to take a walk in the woods to see if any more traps have been set out there. I’m planning on that tomorrow.” Trey says.
“I’ll help you. We need to reinforce the stall doors in the barn too. Tracie’s horse keeps pushing his door open. The last time he got out, she got shot trying to get him back to the barn. Crazy horse.” Mitchell says.
Trey smiles and says, “The owner is crazy too.”
“Trey! That’s your aunt you’re talking about.” Becky says, with a slap on his arm.
“Well, she is momma. She risked her life while we were being shot at to get that damn horse.” Trey says.
“I’m telling her what you said.” Kelley tells him with a smile.
“I’ll never hear the end of it now.” Trey says.
“I’m going to the barn to feed all the animals before it gets dark.” Trey says.
“Be careful!” Becky yells at him.
Trey waves her off with his hand.
As he gets to the gate to go into the pasture and head to the barn, he notices a truck pulling slowly into the driveway. He doesn’t recognize the truck, but there are three men in the cab.
“We have company.” Trey shouts back inside.
Mitchell comes out to the patio and looks over to Trey.
“Over there.” Trey says with a nod of his head.
“You know them?” Mitchell asks.
“No.” Trey says.
Mitchell turns to step back into the house and says, “You guys get a gun. We have company.”
Chapter 10
We managed to
get out of the area without John Daniels shooting at us, much to my surprise. The man has always been mean. I’m sure he isn’t any better now that he’s old.
“I don’t know if we’ll find anyone else.” Diane says.
“I’m going to head over to Rockyford Road. There may be a few people left in that area.” Marc says.
When we were growing up, this was a much travelled road for us. We had friends in that area, and we made frequent trips there. There was a swimming hole not far from there. It was in a channel that ran through a cotton field. In order to get to the hole, we had to drive alongside the field. From the banks of the channel down to the water hole was about twenty-five feet. So we were able to stand on the edge of the channel bank and jump into the hole. That hole had to be at least thirty feet deep as we could barely touch the bottom when we jumped from the channel bank. Thinking back to that, there would be no way I would try that now. I think when we’re young, we have this feeling of being indestructible. And as you age, you wonder how you even survived childhood.
As we drive, we see nothing but homes that look as though they have been invaded and ransacked. Doors are left open, some are even broken down, windows are broken out, and on one house, on the right side of the door on the siding, there are blood smears. There are zombies ambling around in yards.
“This is not looking good.” I tell Marc.
“Maybe we’ll find someone.” He says.
“Over there.” Bobby shouts.
We all look over to where he is pointing and there is a woman and a child standing on the porch of a rundown house.
“Should we go over?” Marc asks.
“Maybe we should stop here and ask her if she needs help.” Diane says.
Marc stops the truck. The house looks to be about thirty yards from us. He gets out of the truck and stands behind the door.
“Hello. Do you need help?” Marc asks her.
She doesn’t respond. She just stands there staring at us.
“Be careful.” I tell Marc.
“Ma’am, do you need help?” Marc asks her again.
“Who are you?” The woman asks.
“My name is Marc. I have my mom, aunt and uncle with me. We are looking for survivors.” Marc tells her.
She takes a second to look into the truck at us and Diane and I raise our hands to her.
“How do I know you aren’t telling me a lie?” She asks.
Diane gets out at this point and stands by Marc.
“We’re not here to hurt anyone. We are looking for people who may need help. People who are sick or who need food, shelter or water.” Diane says.
The woman’s face softens a little and she seems to relax.
“My baby is sick. I think I am too.” She says.
“Can I come to you?” Diane asks her.
The woman gives a slight nod.
I get out of the truck to walk up to the house with Diane.
As we walk, I see a body, and it doesn’t look like a zombie body, over to the right of the driveway in the grass. It’s been there a while as it is in the late stages of decomposition.
“Do you see that?” I ask Diane, nodding my head toward the body.
“I do now, thank you.” She says.
“Anytime.” I say with a sarcastic tone.
We reach the house and can see that the little girl is sick. She is red-cheeked with fever, and her eyes are barely open.
“My name is Diane, and this is Tracie, my sister.” Diane says.
“I’m Maddie. And this is Morgan.” The woman says.
“How long have you two been sick?” Diane asks.
I let Diane do the talking because I’m not much of a people person. I’ve never been the outgoing type and never cared about carrying on conversations with people. No, I’m not rude; I’ve just always found it best to stay to myself.
“About two weeks.” Maddie says.
“Morgan got sick first. I’ve tried to give her medicine to help clear it up, but nothing seems to work.” Maddie says.
“Has she been bitten by a zombie?” Diane asks.
Maddie shakes her head slowly. As I look at her a little closer, I can see tears welling up in her eyes.
“Have you been bitten?” Diane asks Maddie.
She slowly nods.
“This morning. I was trying to get bottled water out of the storage shed. I looked around before I went in and didn’t see any zombies. When I came out, I ran into one. Before I could drop the water and run, it had its mouth on my arm biting me. I came back inside and got a knife and killed it. I was so stupid to go out there without my knife. So stupid.” Maddie said.
“Who is that on the side of the driveway?” I ask her.
“My husband. The zombies attacked him. They tore him to shreds. He never had a chance. I guess they didn’t even leave enough for him to come back as one of them.” Maddie said, with tears rolling down her cheek.
“Has Morgan had any flu vaccines? Since or right before the zombies came?” Diane asks her.
“No. I meant to take her to get one but never did. Now, I’m happy that I didn’t.” She says.
We nod at her.
“I’m sorry Maddie that there is nothing we can do for you. The bite is irreversible, as you know.” Diane tells her.
“Can you take Morgan with you? She is only four years old. I can’t keep her here. When I turn, I will kill her and I don’t want that to happen.” Maddie says.
“We’ll take her.” I hear Bobby say from the truck.
“Maddie, we have a vaccine that will treat toxoplasmosis. When we take her back with us, we will have our doctor to examine her and if she does have toxo, he can give her a vaccine that will clear it up.” Diane says.
“Oh, thank God. I don’t want her to suffer. I don’t want to leave her, but at least I will leave her knowing she will be getting cared for.” Maddie says, still crying.
“I promise you; we will take care of her. I have a house full of grandchildren, and she will fit in perfectly.” Diane tells Maddie.
“Morgan, would you like to go and play with some other children? You haven’t been able to in a long while and it will be good for you.” Maddie tells her.
“Mommy, I want to stay with you. I don’t want to leave you.” Morgan tearfully says.
“I know, but mommy is sick. I’m not sure if I will get well, so I want you to go with Ms. Diane. She will take care of you.” Maddie tells Morgan.
So for all of my hardness and being an ass on occasion, I have to walk away. I can’t stand hearing this baby cry for her mother. It's ripping my heart out and I have to walk away.
I get back to the truck and climb in to sit down.
“Are you alright?” Bobby asks me.
I nod, afraid that if I say one word, I will explode into tears.
Maddie goes into the house and Morgan remains on the porch talking with Diane. I can see Morgan nodding her head and smiling a little.
Maddie comes back out with a duffle bag in each hand.
“This one has her clothes.” Maddie says, holding out a red bag to Diane.
“And this one has some of her favorite things in it. Books, toys, and stuffed animals.” Maddie says, holding out a green bag for Diane to take.
“I’m sorry. I wish we could help you.” Diane tells Maddie.
“Do you think it would be a sin if I went to sleep tonight and didn’t wake up?” Maddie asks Diane.
Knowing the meaning in that question, Diane pauses for a minute, and then tells her, “No. I don’t think so. You are doing what is best for you. I don’t think God would hold that against you, not in this situation. Not when the other option is much worse.”
Maddie nods her head, bends down and picks up Morgan in a big hug.
“Mommy loves you very much. You be a good girl and do what you are told to. Don’t ever forget that daddy and I loved you very much and you are the best thing that ever happened to us.” Maddie tells Morgan.
Ok mommy. I l
ove you too. Please don’t be sick too long. I will miss you.” Morgan says, with tears in her eyes.
I can see Diane is crying now as she reaches her hand out to Maddie.
“Thank you so much for taking her.” Maddie says.
“It’s our pleasure. She will be taken care of; I promise you. For as long as she needs us.” Diane says.
Maddie nods and give us all a wave.
Diane takes Morgan’s hand, and they walk back to the truck.
I look over at Marc and Bobby, who are both crying now. They try to wipe the tears off before I can see them.
“Men cry.” I tell them.
Diane gets back to the truck and climbs into the back cab with me.
“Hi. My name is Morgan.” She says to me.
“Hi Morgan. My name is Tracie. I’m glad you’re coming with us. Riley will be happy to have someone new to play with.” I tell her.
“Who is Riley?” Morgan asks.
“He’s my little dog. He’s my little baby. He likes to play and run outside.” I tell her.
“I love doggies. My daddy wouldn’t let me have one. He said I was too little to take care of it. Now, I have one I can play with.” Morgan says.
“You sure do.” I tell her.
We all get back into the truck and turn around in Maddie’s driveway.
“This has been a really crazy day.” Bobby says.
“I agree.” I tell him.
“Let’s go home.” Marc tells us.
Home. That sounds like a good idea.
Chapter 11
On our way home, we ran into a few biters. Most of them were just standing in place, and a few were crawlers, but when they saw us, they started ambling and crawling toward the truck. It looked to be about twenty or so in the group.
“Be careful driving around them. We don’t need anything to stop us in the middle of this.” I tell Marc.
“Yeah. No shit.” Marc says.
Sometimes it seems as though we rarely see a zombie, then other times it feels like we see them everywhere. I’m wondering how long it will take them to die out. Will they die out? If there is no more human food for them to eat, will they die? Would they be able to hibernate, or maybe even go into some sort of stasis if, and when, their food supply runs low?