by Brown, TW
Reaching the medical RV where Kevin was still being kept, Heather stood outside of it for several minutes. Every time she thought she had built up the courage to go inside, she would chicken out. Finally, after countless false starts, she turned the knob and went inside.
“If that is you, Doc, I meant what I said about pain meds. Save them for somebody who really needs them,” Kevin’s voice called from in back.
“It’s me, Kevin.”
“Heather?” Kevin’s voice changed in an instant from annoyed to excited. “Man, am I glad to see a friendly face. Get back here.”
If only you knew, she thought as she moved past two other patients sharing the RV with Kevin. Both of these were seemingly asleep despite Kevin’s hollering which meant they were either medicated, heavy sleepers, or faking it. Considering the mood she had seen from Kevin lately, that last one was pretty likely. And she was about to make it worse.
She opened the collapsible screen that acted as a door and entered Kevin’s little room. He was sitting up in bed. Heather took a moment to really look at him. Since they’d met, he had always seemed so sure of himself. He had always been on his feet doing. To see him now, in bed like this, his face still all red and peeling; not to mention how gaunt he looked from not eating.
“So what brings you here?” Kevin asked after seeing a look on Heather’s face that, if he didn’t know better, was something akin to absolute dread. “I heard all the ruckus earlier. Sounded like a helluva fight. How many were there?”
“A couple hundred at least,” Heather answered.
“Figured that you would be in the thick of it and so I guess I just thought you would be asleep by now.”
She had been involved. But not nearly as ‘in the thick of it’ as he might believe. The soldiers here did most of the fighting. Everybody else was sort of relegated to lugging reloads to the different stations for the compound and crossbows. If need be, they might be called up to the walls to support a particular crossbowman. That meant sitting with three or four of the weapons and doing the reloading. A task that currently had her arms feeling like noodles.
“Yeah…it was a fun way to start the day.” Heather shrugged and sat beside Kevin’s bed.
“Any word from Aleah’s group?” Kevin asked, the hope obvious in his voice.
Heather winced inwardly. The answer ‘no’ was not the problem. The real problem was that Kevin had no idea that they were basically second-class citizens with these people. That group had Aleah along only because she had made such a fuss. It would not surprise Heather in the least if they basically just used her to carry gear.
“No word yet, but they should be back today or tomorrow at the latest.”
“Good, I need to talk to her,” Kevin said with a sigh. “We didn’t exactly leave on good terms. I stuck my foot in—” Kevin paused and then smiled. “Hey, I guess I need to find a better expression. I mean, one foot is missing and the other is minus a couple of toes which would make fitting it in my mouth an easier task.”
“Well then,” Heather joined in on this moment of good-natured kidding, “maybe it is the right term for you. As often as you do it…you might want to stick with something that is a bit smaller so you don’t get stretch marks on your cheeks.”
They laughed a little too hard for a joke that wasn’t all that funny. Afterwards, there was an uncomfortable silence.
“So,” Kevin finally broke it, making Heather jump, “was that Valarie that I heard?”
“Yeah.” Heather felt a lump growing in her throat and a tightness build around her heart.
“Is that what brought them?”
Heather nodded. He was taking her right to the part where she was going to have to tell him the bad news. A few tears spilled from her eyes and she looked at him through the blurriness that they caused. She would at least look him in the eyes to break the news.
“They want to get rid of her, Kevin. Colonel Shipley called me in afterwards and said that they cannot keep endangering the group for one person.”
The silence came crashing back down. Kevin looked away for a few moments. When he turned back to her, tears were in his eyes as well. Heather leaned in and wrapped her arms around him and the two cried for a few minutes. Finally, Kevin brought his hands to her shoulders and eased her back.
There was a look on his face. She had expected a number of possibilities when it came to how he would react to this news. The very last thing that she expected to see on his face was a smile.
“What is it?” she finally asked.
“I have an idea. I need you to do a few things for me first,” Kevin was suddenly whispering.
Heather glanced over her shoulder as if she expected somebody to be standing there. When she saw nothing, she turned back to him with a look that clearly indicated that she had no idea what was going on.
Kevin leaned in close and whispered in her ear, “From here on out, trust nobody and say nothing other than to exchange friendly greetings or whatever.”
“They aren’t holding us prisoner,” Heather whispered back.
“Have you tried to leave on your own?”
“Well…no, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
“I’m just being cautious. We really don’t have any idea what these people are about.”
“But they have taken care of you…given you medical help.” Heather thought that just maybe Kevin was edging towards that cliff of paranoia. Maybe things were finally taking their toll on him.
“I know,” Kevin nodded, “but when Aleah gets back, we will see. And also, I want to wait and talk to her about what she saw out there. The fact remains that we need to find someplace that we can settle down. I think this location is a bad choice. These people have built a bit of a fortress from abandon cars and such. It is not going to be a good long term solution.”
“Okay, I’m gonna bite. Why is this place any worse than someplace else…the golf course for instance?”
“The biggest is that this place is going to be toxic ground within a year. All those vehicles are rusting away as we speak. Their fluids are seeping into the ground. There is no way that they can grow any produce. They are relying on stores that will run out. Also, they will need to forage for more. Each time you do that, you risk your life. The ideal location is someplace remote, yet with a climate that is conducive to farming.”
“But weren’t you headed for someplace like South Dakota or something?” Heather asked.
“Yeah…so?”
“Isn’t that place like…all rock or something?”
“Not at all. The state has plenty of farmland. Even better, it has a population of less than a million. It is somewhere around eight or nine hundred thousand. We find a nice valley near a river and we will have everything that we need. Someplace along the Missouri River would be ideal as long as we are very far south of the dam. And there are plenty of other locations. Actually, my biggest concern is dealing with the locals. I have a feeling that we will find more survivors in a place like that simply because it is so spread out population-wise. The few big cities that exist probably fell just like any other, but you are talking about hundreds of thousands of acres of land with very few people inhabiting it. Most of them armed…most of them hunters or fishers.”
Heather was silent for a moment. She considered what Kevin said, however, there were a few problems. First, he had not really addressed what his plans were for Valarie. And second, like it or not, he was in no condition to make a long journey. Just as Valarie’s condition was a hindrance, so too was his. If Aleah returned and the run proved to be a failure, then Kevin would find himself hard pressed to travel. She did not know how far away it was, but travelling just a few miles was an entirely different monster these days. Heather patted herself on the back for her off-the-cuff pun.
“And what does any of this have to do with Valarie?” Heather was hoping that she could get Kevin back on the track he seemed inclined to stray from so deftly.
Kevin lay back in his bed a
nd closed his eyes for a few minutes. Heather began to believe that he had dismissed her entirely and just drifted off to sleep. She stood and was about to leave when he finally spoke.
“We are going to leave her the way we found her.”
15
Scared S**tless
“How far?” I guess I hadn’t really given it any thought when they told me we were hiking to the valley, La Grande in particular.
“About sixty or seventy miles,” Jake said.
The problem was, he was saying it like it was just around the corner. We had been on the move for two days. From what I could see, the only thing around the corner was more godforsaken snow.
“And how far have we gone?” I didn’t actually want the answer. I just knew it was going to be bad.
“Maybe thirty,” Jake said with a shrug.
Half way? He was saying that we were maybe only half the way to our destination? The only thing that I could see that was worth getting excited about was the fact that the snow was only patchy in spots. It still felt cold, but not nearly like it did up at the cabin.
We’d had very few encounters with the undead. The ones that we did encounter were more hampered by the snow than we were. I thought there were a few times that we could have just left them behind. When I asked Jon about it after three of us got sent up into the woods in order to take down a dozen of them, Jon said he didn’t want them on our tail. Never knew if we would need to retreat in a hurry. I guess that made sense.
“Up ahead!” Marty Gibbs spoke in that whisper that is almost louder than real conversational levels.
Our line was stretched about fifty yards, with each of us in twos or threes. Marty Gibbs and Stacy Nelson were currently on point. I saw Stacy hunched down and creeping forward to get a look at whatever it was they saw. From my position almost in the rear of the line, she was already vanishing around the corner and out of my line of sight.
I hated being in the rear. For one, you spend so much time looking backwards that your neck starts to hurt. For another, you are always the last to know just how bad a problem is. I brought my crossbow up and stepped farther away from Jake. One of the things that you wanted to be sure of was that you had plenty of room to maneuver when a fight came.
“Billy, you and Gino come with me,” Gabe called over his shoulder.
He bounded off into the woods on our left. I shot a look at Jon, but he was focused on whatever lay ahead, so I headed after the big man. I swear, even crouching, that guy is bigger than most people who are standing upright.
As we entered the trees, Gabe motioned for me to circle wide to the right. That put me farthest away from the road. Something in my head said to be careful. This would be a perfect time to take me out if these guys were intent on doing so.
The problem that I had with those feelings was that they had given no signs that they wanted to do anything of the sort. I think I was starting to absorb some of Dr. Zahn’s general distrust. Jon and Jake have always been great to me—Jesus too, when he was still alive. I always fit in better around the soldiers than I did the other people; especially after Jamie killed himself.
I moved up this small hill so that I would be at the top of the ridge. As soon as I made it to the crest, I could actually see part of the road. Coming up were about two or three hundred walkers. Already, Stacy and Marty were on opposite sides of the road drawing some of the ones in the front away and taking them down.
From my position, I saw a clear path that would allow me to move along the length of this column. I gave a quick look down where Gabe and Gino were moving through the trees. Their job, and mine supposedly, was to move along and look for any of the “elements” of the herd that might be straggling through the woods. It was always a bad deal to be in the middle of a fight and have yourself surrounded.
I decided that it looked pretty clear as far as I could see. Those two didn’t really need my help. Plus, I would just be scouting ahead of them a ways. No big deal. I picked up my pace. If I could get in behind the herd, I could pick them off with ease. Zombies are pretty stupid. Once they get it in their head to move one way, they will just keep going. Picking the ones off in the rear wouldn’t even register to them.
As I moved, I kept checking on Gabe and Gino. There were only a couple that had actually strayed off the road, so they were really not having any problems. I came to the part of my little ridge that started down. I took one last look and made sure that everything was okay.
Moving between a pair of really big boulders, I felt a little bit of adrenaline start to surge. I was making my own move here. It was not exactly the way that we had planned, but I really was starting to feel like maybe they were keeping me out of the main fighting.
As I reached the edge of the trees, I saw that I had gone all the way around the big sweeping bend in the road. I was out of sight of everybody. The tail end of the herd was trudging on towards the others. I could hear the occasional call for somebody to cover a certain area. Yep, everything sounded just fine.
I stepped out of the trees and took a look to my right. It was really just reflex; after all, the zombies were to my left. The rear of this herd was pretty well spread across the entire highway. Some were in the eastbound, some were in the westbound lane, and some were in the median.
I froze in my tracks. Then, I jumped back into the trees and hoped that I had not been spotted. When I saw the dark figure move from behind a semi that was on its side covering a lane and a half with the angle it was sitting, and then three more followed, I was confident that they had not spotted me.
Bringing up my binoculars, I was able to get a good look at one of them. He was carrying an impressive assortment of weaponry. I saw a particularly nasty spiked club in his hand, an array of blades, but nothing with any range. As the others made themselves visible, it was more of the same. I was curious as to why anybody would go around without a bow or something.
It was obvious that they could hear my group. They were doing a lot of pointing and gesturing. I kept scanning from one to the other, taking in as much information as I could. This would all be stuff that Jon would want to know. Gabe too, I’m sure, but I would report to Jon and let him pass the news on.
I could not see any faces. Everybody was wearing masks, visors, or something along those lines. That wasn’t really that peculiar considering that you needed to stay protected from the cold. Also, with the thick clothing, it was impossible to tell gender. I mean, if one of them happened to be wearing a bright pink snowsuit, I might conclude that was a female, but no such luck.
I turned to head back and found myself face-to-face with Gino. He did not look happy.
I motioned for him to be quiet, and then I pointed. He looked past me and scowled. It took him longer than I would have thought to actually see what I was pointing at. Once he did, he crouched down lower beside me.
“Go tell the others, kid.”
Just like that I was back to being shuttled away from anything that might resemble danger. I guess I didn’t hide the expression too well.
“You wanna stay here? You up to the possibility of having to kill a living, breathing human being?” The tone in Gino’s voice let me know that he was pretty sure I wasn’t “up to the possibility” of shooting anybody.
I started back the way I’d come. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Gino laying out a variety of weapons beside him as well as propping his crossbow up beside the tree.
I scrambled back up the hill and was not surprised to see that there were only a few stragglers left from that herd. For just a moment, I flashed back to something Steve had said about us becoming too comfortable with the zombies. From where I stood, I could see members of the team just walking from one to the next and jamming something in its head. He would really hate this.
I was making my way through the trees back to the road when Gabe stepped out from behind one. He scared me so bad that I did a few things at the exact same time: I swung wildly with the machete I was carrying—nothing but air�
�which probably helped with me falling over and banging my head on an exposed root which made me see stars. The last part could be the result of any combination of everything else that happened in that split second. I messed my pants. Not just the liquid kind either.
“What the hell are you doing running off like that?” Gabe snapped, not even bothering to offer me a hand up.
I wanted to explain myself, but I couldn’t make my mouth work just yet. I was still seeing double and my head felt like it had been used as a gong.
“I don’t know what sort of crap you were able to pull before, but when you are out on a mission with me or my people, you do what you are assigned!”
“We have company just around the corner,” I snapped.
I don’t know if it was a combination of having the crap literally scared out of me, or just the fact that I was sick of being treated like a damn child. I climbed to my feet and glared up at this giant.
“You know…we did just fine before you and your people showed up. And for your information, I made sure that you guys were okay before I scouted ahead. And as I just said, there are people around the corner. No distance weapons that I could see, but they were definitely armed with plenty of close-in weapons. They were sneaking and trying to stay hidden, and they definitely heard us.”
Gabe glared down at me for a second, and then his expression changed just a bit. A huge grin split his face and I was ready to accept his apology.
“Messed your drawers, huh?” the man said with a laugh. “That’s gonna be mighty uncomfortable in a bit. Hope you can get cleaned up before long.”
Was this guy intentionally ignoring the fact that there were people just down the road? Or…I felt my stomach turn just a little.
“Those wouldn’t happen to be friends of yours would they?” I asked.
Hell, if I was going out, at least it wasn’t being eaten alive. Maybe I would get shot in the head or something. My mouth was suddenly dry and I felt a little bit foolish. We had let our guard down. Unless…but surely Jon couldn’t be in with these people.