The First 400 Days (Book 1): We Are What Remain

by Taja Kartio

  I'd been excited to go on a supply run but this whole experience had left a sour taste in my mouth. Our first time seeing more humans in months and we ended up almost receiving bullets to the chest. The next ones we meet could actually comply, or they could be the most down-to-earth people that world had left. We just didn't know, and it was frightening that without and laws or rules to be followed with the lack of security, anyone could do anything for any reason their minds came up with. Those were definitely experiences I didn't want to encounter.

  Forty Two

  "Doesn't a campground seem a bit open and I don't know, vulnerable to Infected attacks?" I asked, a bit baffled by what Kale was telling Beckett and I.

  "The place had a fence around the perimeter before the apocalypse, they've just been reinforcing it," Kale answered sweetly.

  Not new to Everett, or Scott, or Riley, or even Dayna, but that new guy, Adam, had told Kale and the others about his own camp and how fortified it was and how fully stocked it was with food and supplies and how all the survivors hanging out there were chip and cheery despite the apocalyptic conditions. I found that last bit had to believe and even a little amusing as Marcus and the other men were on the verge of pulling their itchy trigger fingers on us not fifteen minutes ago. Apparently, Adam wanted us to move in, saying the more abled bodies, the better chance at survival. I didn't entirely disagree with that but…

  "We just started getting settled into the cul-de-sac! And we've nearly finished our own freaking wall that's taken like two months to build! Now we want to move again?"

  "Jesus Dani, would ya chill?" My brother peered at me through the rearview mirror, brows crusted together at my criticism, "It isn't decided if we go or not. Adam kind of just threw the idea out to us. We were welcome to join."

  I exhaled curtly, "What did Everett think?"

  "I couldn't really tell for sure, but he seemed open to it. He wants all the adults to get together after we get back to camp to discuss," He turned to Beckett who'd been silent the entire conversation, "What do you think, Beck?"

  He shrugged lightly, "I see two sides to this and I'm kind of leaning more toward Dani's argument. We did just get settled here and the area isn't bad. There are more than enough houses and stores nearby to scavenge through for food and supplies to keep us up and running for a long time, and it's quiet here. We haven't had a bad Infected incident that didn't involve the poor choices of others. We know nothing about that campground or the people that are there. Granted that Everett and the others do, but we don't. We benefit just fine from this place."

  "We didn't know Everett's group and look where we are now. Besides, wouldn't being a part of a large group of people be good? A lot of protection can come from that."

  "Maybe. Or just a lot of trouble. More people could just cause more of a commotion."

  Beckett had a point. I didn't even think of that.

  "Come on," Kale's jaw set on what could have been a pout, "You can't tell me there isn't anything positive about this?"

  Beckett tilted his head in thought for a moment, "Well, I guess I could always be wrong. You know, maybe a big group is a good idea? I don't know. I'm just kind of going off what happens on the big screen."

  "Really?" The corners of Kale's eyes crinkled, "You're going to base your decision off a bunch of movies?"

  "I'm not basing my entire decision on movies but you gotta admit they portray a bunch of different situations that usually end pretty disastrously when it comes to a big group of people trying to live together in an apocalypse," Kale opened his mouth but Beckett pressed on, "Some of the situations could be a long stretch but most are pretty realistic. I feel that the group we are a part of now is nearly perfect. It's not just the three of us but it's not a number of people that can't be contained."

  "Contained?"

  "Well for a lack of a better word, we can keep track of this many people."

  Kale turned back to the road, his lips quirking slightly at our brother's words, "I guess so."

  The truck pulled up to the cul-de-sac wall and sat stationary until the doored gates, pulled opened by Val and Dayna, were wide enough for us to pass through. Kale parked and turned the car in the middle of the cul-de-sac beside the large SUV that Everett had been driving. After climbing out, I took my backpack and the duffel bag Beckett handed me from the back, his ears perked at Kale calling over Everett. I missed what my brother asked but Everetts reply was clear on what the question was about.

  "Well let's just get the supplies all sorted out real quick. Scott, Riley and I are gonna bring the food to Val's and help her stock that out. You guys do the same with all that medicine at your place. We'll round everybody up afterward."

  Beckett nudged me, "You can drop that duffel bag off in the kitchen. Go give Hayden some of that fever medicine and then find us. We'll go to that meeting."

  I nodded and turned away. Once inside the house, I dumped the duffel bag on the kitchen counter and hauled myself upstairs to Hayden's room. My knuckles tapped on the door softly to make my presence known before letting myself in, preparing myself quickly for the stench of the room. I could literally smell the sickness that pulsated from Hayden's small body. A putrefying stink of sweat and a sublime mix of thick scents that still managed to penetrate my nose. The source was a small little bundle wrapped in multiple blankets on the bed. His cough was hoarse and chunky. He sounded worse than before I left.

  "Hey bud," I smiled softly and sat beside him on the edge of the bed, "How're you feeling?"

  He shook his head lightly, "Not good." His voice was raspy, like a bulky wad of gunk was caught in the back of his throat.

  I nodded in agreement. He didn't look good, "Well hopefully this will help a little."

  Hayden eyed the backpack I sung onto the ground. It took me a minute to find the right bottle with all the other junk stuffed inside, but when I did, I held it out to him. He squinted his eyes at the label.

  "Tinl... an... all?"

  "Close," I smirked at his effort, "Tylenol."

  Hayden grinned slightly before falling into another round of heavy coughs that finished with him sniffing so hard that I was sure the snot inhaled was now plastered to his brain. I cringed. He'd been sick for two days and the sickness was showing no sign of shifting for the better yet. I wasn't too incredibly worried just yet. I've had fevers in the past as well and they usually took a few days to die down. Hayden just needed this medication and lot of rest. He'd be just fine.

  I followed the directions on the back of the bottle and poured the red liquid to the marked line on the inside of the bottle's cap, "Wanna sit up for me?"

  Hayden nodded and slowly, maybe sorely, he slipped out from under the comforter and laid his back against the wall. I held the small cup out to him and watched as reached out. His small hands were frail and feeble, shaking gently. In the dying sunlight, his skin was subdued and ashen colored. He stared at the fluid in the cap and glanced at me for approval. I nodded for him to drink.

  He did so, but the medicine barely touched his lips before he jerked away with a disgusted face, "It's gross!"

  "Well duh," I laughed, "It's medicine, what did you expect? Apple juice?"

  Hayden shrugged, making no second effort to swallow the medicine. I rolled my eyes amusingly and pulled a water bottle out of the side pocket of my backpack, "Drink that really fast, and you can swallow some water down to get rid of the gross taste. How does that sound?"

  He considered it carefully, "I get the water right away?"

  I nodded, "Right away."

  He mimicked my nod.

  I twisted the cap off the water and gestured to his medicine, "Just throw it down your throat. Try not to let it touch your tongue. Just swallow really fast and then take the water, okay?"

  "Okay."

  "Alright, bottoms up then."

  Hayden stared at the medicine with a queasy frown. I almost wondered if I should encourage him but before I knew it, he literally threw the medicine into his mouth.
His entire face twisted up and he quickly handed me the cap and took the water bottle, chugging like he hadn't had a drop of water in days.

  Well, that's one way to do it, I thought to myself, shaking my head with a small smile.

  "I hope I don't have to do that again." Hayden shook his head and held the water bottle back out to me.

  "Well, let's see how you do off one dose for now."

  A short series of coughs and then a small, "Okay."

  I helped him back under the covers. His body seem to shrivel and ease underneath the warm spread, "Get some sleep kiddo. I'll come back with some dinner in a little bit, okay?"

  His head nodded slowly, his eyes already shut, "Okay," He mumbled.

  I shouldered my backpack back over my shoulders and left the room quietly. Back downstairs, Beckett was organizing the medicine on the counter and strategically placing them in the cupboards while Kale just held the bottles and packets up to his eyes, lamely reading the labels. He set the bottle he currently held in his hands back on the countertop when I entered the kitchen.

  "How's the little tyke?"

  I sighed, "Not better, not worse. He took the medicine though without choking it up or anything, so he's alright for now."

  Kale nodded once approvingly, "Good."

  "How's it going in here?" I asked, beginning to unpack the medicine I'd taken from the pharmacy.

  "It's going," Beckett replied without taking a glance at what I was setting on the counter. His concentration was fixed on the cupboards and the medicine that was already on the counter, "We have quite a variety for anyone with small bodily problems or for anyone who happens to come down with a more mild illness but low on any supplies that would involve something more urgent."

  "Like?"

  "Major injuries. You know, anything that could some anesthetics, or even a surgical process. We have some equipment, but we'd have to wing it if someone was bleeding internally or something.

  Kale sniffed, "Well let's hope nobody gets shot anytime soon."

  I was sure Kale said that without even thinking, maybe waiting for Alex to pipe up saying something like, "It wasn't my fault". I remembered when my brothers had come home after being missing for a few days and Alex had a bullet lodged in his leg. It was the first, and the only "surgical process" I could think of.

  "I'm sure we'll find some somewhere,” I leaned against the counter.

  "Val was telling me there was a clinic maybe twenty minutes away that I'd like to check out for anything. Maybe the closest we'll get to anything surgically sterile without traveling an hour to Minneapolis for one of the hospitals down there."

  "Which we're not attempting," Kale said briskly.

  "Which we're not attempting," Beckett repeated in accord.

  "Well, hopefully the clinic isn't self-claimed by somebody else," I said in bitter annoyance.

  Beckett pursed his lips, "Ya, another run in like that wouldn't be too fun."

  "I guess that was kind of a dick move by Marcus and them," Kale said lowly.

  "Dick move?" Beckett cocked his head at the eldest with a surprising rise of his brows, "They had us at gunpoint over a fully stocked pharmacy. There was more than enough to go around and they were more than ready to kill us on the spot without even considering that we may need some of that stuff too."

  "I just got one question," I sharped in, "There was a lot of Infected in that Target, how did they get in there if Adam's group had been to that pharmacy before and so-called 'claimed it'?"

  Both brothers silently debated. Kale shrugged, "That's actually a really good question."

  Beckett nodded, "Right, and there was a sign on the front doors that said to not go inside."

  "You think they could have done that?" I asked.

  "Most likely. It's a pretty good method to keep others out if they really wanted everything in that store to themselves,” Beckett picked up another bottle.

  "Didn't stop us," Kale pointed out.

  "No, but we had Scott. And if I remember correctly, it was him who forced the doors open. If we hadn't had him with, we probably would have left and moved on to another building."

  "True. Though, any other building would have had Infected in it too so did it really matter?"

  Beckett opened his mouth to reply as a knock at the front door cut him off.

  "Probably Everett coming to gather us," Kale mumbled, standing from the stool he'd been sitting on, "Let's go to our first group debate, kids."

  Forty Three

  "I want to sit there," Kale pointed at the recliner I sat in, a small pout on his lips.

  I couldn't help but stare incredibly, "You're going to complain that I'm sitting in this chair... I was here first!"

  "I'm oldest."

  I glanced at Beckett who was trying his absolute hardest not to get involved, though I saw the shake in his head and the slight upward tip of his neck as if asking an unknown and unseen force to help him live on with his ridiculous siblings. Hopefully, that prayer was directed more towards Kale than me, that's where he needed it most.

  "Seriously?" There was no waiver in my older brothers expression and I rolled my eyes, "You're such a sissy."

  Kale didn't seem to mind my very minor insult as he gracefully lowered himself onto the cushioned seat with a victorious simper. I plummeted onto the arm of the chair with a scowl. I wanted the seat and I knew Kale would force me up if I hadn't moved, and he always used that "I'm oldest" excuse for absolutely everything. It was irritating as hell.

  "Hey, Dani!" Dayna called the moment she saw me, "I think we're going to have you be on lookout duty if you're okay with that? We don't have anybody on the wall right now."

  Not that Dayna was straight up telling me that I wasn't needed for a voiced opinion in this discussion but I should have known I was going to be kicked out one way or another.

  "Sure I guess," I shrugged, "Would love to."

  Dayna seemed to ignore my exaggerated lack of excitement at the idea, "Great. I'm sure Val would be fine if you gave Toby and Ben something to do too, and let them join you."

  I stood as she turned away and headed for Val. I thought Dayna was a genuine lady but she had never really taken any time out of her oh-so-busy schedule to spare a short conversation that didn't involve her wanting something out of me. I had nothing real productive to do with my day so I did as she asked, usually some kind of chore or to go pass a word on to someone else in the cul-de-sac, but it was still annoying. I kept thinking it's because she sees me as more of a child, but I truly didn't have a clue. At least her brother saw some kind of potential in me.

  Beckett held a half-frown, "Well I guess we'll tell you how it goes."

  "Thanks," I muttered, then turned to Kale, "Enjoy the chair."

  My brother grinned, "Oh I will."

  I kicked him in the shin and quickly hightailed it across the room before he could retaliate, "Ass."

  "Ben and Toby are probably still on the porch," Val said just as I was halfway through the front door, "Doing... who knows what."

  I nodded, "I'll find them. Keep an eye on them."

  Val spurted a small chuckle, "You'll need both eyes for those two."

  My head bobbed agreeingly with that statement and I promptly left the house. Outside, the sun was just starting to set behind a wall of thick clouds, making the cul-de-sac a lot darker than usual. With nearly everyone in Everett's house, the cul-de-sac was also a lot more quiet. Unless it was like 3 AM, it wasn't usually like this around here. I had to admit it was kind of peaceful.

  Val's place was two houses down and I could see both boys both sitting on the porch steps. They waved.

  "Wanna help me on watch?" I called, receiving no answer but the both of them immediately got to their feet and met me on my short walk to the wall.

  "I thought you were going to that meeting?" Ben shot me a questionable look.

  My shoulders rose, "Ya well, I guess I'm out here now."

  "Do you know what the meeting is even about?"
<
br />   I returned curious eyes, "Val didn't tell you?"

  They both shook their head, "She said she wasn't really sure."

  I craned my neck, rubbing a kink out with fingers. I wasn't sure if Val didn't actually know what the meeting is about or if she just didn't want to tell her sons. Surely it was alright for Ben and Toby to know, it wasn't going to harm anyone. Val would have or should have told me if she didn't want me to tell them anything about the meeting.

  I decided to give a quick summary of the events that had happened earlier that day, starting with what Scott had done when we first initially got to the store and ending with douchebag Marcus and friends nearly taking mine and my brothers heads off and Adam identifying Everett, Scott, and Riley as old friends from before the apocalypse, "... Apparently, they stay at an actual campground with a big group of people. He invited us to join and that's what the meeting is about."

  "To leave the cul-de-sac?" Toby asked, earning a curt nod from me.

  "That would be cool," Ben said with a little enthusiasm, "I've never been to a campground before."

  "They're not much," I gave honestly.

  Toby eyed me, brow raised, "What do you think?"

  I tried rubbing the kink out of my neck again, "I don't know. I see ups and downs to it but in all honesty, I would rather stay here. We just got settled in. Do we really just want to pack up and move? We've done a lot of improvements to make this place safe for us. It seems like it would have been a huge waste of our time if we just abandoned it. You know?"

  They both took time to consider what I had just said and it was Ben who spoke up first, "Ya, I get what you're saying. That makes sense."

  Toby only nodded his agreement.

  The wall wasn't incredibly tall. Maybe eight feet at most and made of almost entirely of plywood and sheet metal from the local Home Depot. It wasn't exactly the dream barrier but it did it's job and kept the undead from leisurely wandering into the cul-de-sac. Scott, with some minor help from the rest of the men in the camp, made a sort of catwalk along the inside wall, allowing us to see what we were keeping out. A few wooden steps were made to reach the catwalk and next to the steps, was a plastic tub of different weapons. No guns, but with the usual; baseball bats, golf clubs, hockey sticks, some garden tools. Riley had even found a few machetes in one of the houses. Ben and Toby didn't bother to grab anything, but I took the hand held pole-saw that I usually used when out on a watch duty.