by Brown, TW
Kevin had plenty of time to himself to think while Heather and Aleah left to forage for supplies. After a discussion with Colonel Shipley where Kevin had convinced the woman that he would tend to Valarie and her situation if she could just give him time to get on his feet…literally, the colonel made it clear that she was granting no more than what amounted to a stay of execution. She would give Kevin one month. If he had not made the arrangements by then, she would take the matter into her own hands. Kevin was also informed that they were not exactly welcome. It seemed that there had been some issues in the field involving Aleah and a certain Sergeant Seiber.
As he was able to get around more, he sought Erin. He had expected to find her with Heather, but after several days, he asked.
“She joined some program that the soldiers have for new recruits,” Heather said.
“So is she staying here or going with us?” Kevin had asked.
“She said that she is done running. She says that these people are not trying to travel across the country for something that they can find right here.”
Then there were the other stories from Heather. She had finally come to him and told him that, while they were good enough to help and do the grunt work, there was still an obvious division between the soldiers and everybody else. Kevin didn’t have that much problem with the notion that the soldiers set themselves apart. However, he also knew that divisions of any sort could fester over time and that would never end well.
As he began to walk around the camp, he saw for himself what the girls had been telling him. The women of this all-female outfit had erected a sort of mental wall between themselves and “the others” of the camp.
When the day finally came, he sat down with Aleah and Heather in the RV that they shared with four others. He purposefully waited for the RV to be empty because, while he did not believe that there would be any actual problems with their leaving, he still possessed a streak of paranoia. He saw no reason for anybody to be aware of where they were headed or what their eventual plans might be.
They looked at a map that Heather kept and laid the course that would take them to their eventual destination: Mitchell, South Dakota. More precisely, just outside of Mitchell, but that was their target.
“We can move parallel to the major interstates,” Kevin explained. “This will allow us to forage for supplies on the move. Now, I would have thought that we would need to completely steer clear of any large cities, but the zombies have migrated to the point where I believe we may actually be able to get closer and that should give us a better selection.
“We can follow Interstates 70, 74, 80, 29, and 90. And I will say that, while we are setting out with a destination in mind, I will keep an open mind if we come across something better.” Kevin followed the route with his finger as he spoke. “One thing I will want us to try and locate, and this might be trouble, but we are going to need protective clothing…Hazmat suits would be great. Some of these cities like Indianapolis are going to be seething with disease from the decaying bodies, rotten…well…everything.”
“Are you absolutely sure about this?” Aleah asked.
Kevin knew she was not talking about the trip. She was looking away which he noticed was the norm anytime that they discussed Valarie.
“We are doing what needs to be done,” Kevin insisted. “We are doing all we can, and then we can just hope for the best.”
“I’m not worried about her,” Aleah snapped, her head came up and the tears in her eyes brimmed over. “I am worried about what this will do to you.” Kevin stared at her with obvious confusion. “I know how badly you wanted to save this girl…and I know why. But that is not your sister, Kevin.”
“I know that. I’m very aware—”
“No,” Heather interrupted. “You aren’t. You damn near killed yourself trying to help her. You went against all of your own rules. You risked everything to try and save her. Nobody is saying that you shouldn’t have tried to help, but where do you draw the line? How much more would you let that one person cost you…us?”
“And what should I have done?” Kevin asked.
“She had her life,” Heather said after looking at Aleah. She knew that Aleah wanted to say all of this, but would not because she loved Kevin so much and it was harder for her to express. Heather loved Kevin, too; but in an entirely different way. And he needed to hear this now or he might change his mind when it came down to actually executing the plan that he had laid out for her just a few weeks ago.
“When you and Shari found that girl, she was doing okay. And she had been out of her medication then, right?” Heather asked, but did not wait for an answer. “You took her away from that. You took her from the one place she was comfortable and tried to treat her like nothing was wrong. The truth is, there is something wrong with her. Valarie is not like you or me.”
“Watch what you say,” Kevin bristled.
“Oh stop it,” Heather snapped. “You know damn well what I am saying. You cannot look me in the eye and say she is normal or fine. That doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with her as far as her being less of a person, but she has needs that you can’t meet. And if you kept trying, you would kill all of us…and probably her as well.”
“So when do we go?” Aleah asked.
“The weather is starting to turn,” Kevin said. “The snow has started to melt. I say we go as soon as we can see the roofs of the houses to our southeast.”
With that decision made, Kevin went to the colonel and told her that they would be going soon provided the weather held. The colonel seemed simultaneously relieved and reluctant.
“Are you sure that you won’t consider staying? I’ve talked at length with the young Bergman girl. She makes it sound as if you are a bit of a genius.”
Kevin did not miss the emphasis on the word “you” when she asked him about staying. That was reason enough for him to be leaving. He had heard enough from Heather, and he also had not missed the looks that passed between Aleah and one soldier in particular that he could only assume to be Sergeant Seiber.
If he stayed, then perhaps things could improve for Heather and Aleah, but he just did not like the idea of staying someplace that already had some sort of ‘class’ system set up. In fact, it helped him to realize something that he would need to be vigilant about from this point forward. Had he made those who joined late feel like they were at the bottom of some sort of hierarchal totem pole?
“I think we will stick to my original plan,” Kevin said.
As he turned to leave, the colonel called after him. “Be careful out there, Mr. Dreon. And as much as you might try…you can’t save everybody.”
***
“I am certain of it,” Heather insisted.
Kevin looked back. They were on an unidentifiable stretch of road, but Kevin recognized a few of the landmarks. They had stayed clear of anything resembling a populated area; he still did not like the idea of just waltzing into a town of any size. Besides, while the prosthetic foot worked well enough, it would not do well to have to undergo prolonged running. His ability to maneuver was hampered.
The journey had been an arduous one. Valarie had shown less life than the zombies. When they made camp for the night, she would sit wherever somebody placed her and not move until morning. She fell asleep sitting up and didn’t even topple over during the night.
At last their destination was in sight. Part of a wooden sign remained that welcomed visitors to Sage Farms. For the past twenty minutes, Valarie seemed to be coming out of her trance. When the sign loomed ahead, it was as if somebody threw a switch.
“Kevin!” she said in a reverent whisper. “You brought me back to my kingdom.”
Heather and Aleah looked at him with eyebrows raised in question. He smiled and reached into the pouch at his side, producing a blue sash that read “Princess of Sage Farm” in gold letters.
“You found her here?” Aleah gasped. Of course they had all heard the story of Valarie’s discovery, but the
fact of where they were did not dawn on her or Heather until that moment.
The place was still much like they found it. Of course, some of what had been stored here had been relocated to the camp when Kevin and Shari had brought the full truck of goods and supplies, but there was still so much that had been left behind. As always, Kevin had been anticipating the possibility that they might need to have their eggs in more than one basket.
“We will need to walk through this place and make sure that it hasn’t attracted any of the wrong sorts of attention…zombie or otherwise,” Kevin said.
Valarie had already donned her sash and wandered off to inspect her kingdom. She was ducking in and out of the barns and sheds while Kevin, Aleah, and Heather took a tour of the one street that ran down what passed for downtown and inspected the few shops.
“No looters,” Heather observed as they stepped out of the broken front window to the town’s only grocery store where Kevin had already done his part those months ago as far as clearing out any zombies.
“I just hate that we took so much of her stuff,” Kevin sighed.
They headed back to the enormous farm and came to a halt. What they saw was equal parts horrific and fascinating. Valarie had apparently drawn out a zombie. The creature was in terrible shape and looked to have gotten caught up in the barbed wire during its attempt to reach the girl. However, she had already wrestled or thrown it to the ground and was busy removing its legs from the knee on down with an axe that looked big enough to give Paul Bunyan some trouble. Yet she swung it cleanly and efficiently.
When she was finished, Valarie walked away, but they could hear her talking and moved closer to listen.
“…some new clothes. You can’t be around company dressed that way, little missy.”
“Is she scolding the zombie?” Heather whispered.
“I say we stay out of sight and just watch her for a day or two,” Kevin said as he nodded to Heather. “She had things going just fine before I came and saved her.”
Heather and Aleah noticed the dripping sarcasm in his voice as he spoke, but neither acknowledged it. They had spoken on many occasions in the past few days about what they felt would be the best way to deal with Kevin and his issues of guilt in regards to his sister, and now Valarie. The conclusion they came to was to ignore it and hope that it died.
The rest of the day, they took up hiding in the loft of a barn and watching Valarie. She seemed to have already forgotten them. Occasionally she would stop and look around. During those moments, her face would go slack and she seemed to almost melt to the ground.
The first time it happened, Kevin wanted desperately to run to her, but she did not look to be in any danger or distress. In fact, it almost reminded him of a zombie after the killing blow was struck; she simply disconnected.
By nightfall she had cut the legs off of three more zombies and started clearing out an area that looked like the beginnings of a garden. However, twice, Kevin was almost certain that he caught a glimpse of something moving in the shadows. It was never in the same place, and each time he tried to focus in on where he believed that he’d seen something, there was nothing there.
That night, Valarie returned to her home. Kevin, Aleah, and Heather watched as light flickered inside and gave off a soft glow from an upstairs window. A few times, the light would fade and then reappear in another part of the house as, presumably, Valarie moved around. At no time did they hear any shrieks or screams.
Morning broke with a vengeance as a storm rolled in bringing a torrential downpour. Valarie stayed inside her home and out of sight, but late that day, as the clouds broke and the sun made an appearance, she came out and went right to work on her garden.
Kevin was embarrassed at his degree of amazement as he watched her return a few times to the Sage Farm in order to gather boxes and crates. He and the two girls followed her as she went about the remainder of her day.
He almost felt a degree of sadness at how she appeared to have completely dismissed him from her life as if he never existed. It wasn’t until just as the sky was growing dark and they had moved a bit closer to observe that he heard something that made him feel better.
“Is she singing?” Aleah whispered.
“One of Shari’s songs,” Kevin answered with a nod.
He could not actually remember the words, but he knew that it was one of those sappy tween girl hits about undying love or some such thing. When she finished, she did that thing where she shut down—or at least appeared to do so.
When she snapped out of her trance or whatever it was, she ducked inside the house for a moment. When she came out, she was holding a jar that looked like it contained pickles. She sat on the porch steps and opened the jar. Setting the jar beside her, Valarie folded her hands under her chin and said grace. But it was what she said at the end that convinced Kevin that they could leave in the morning.
“And, Jesus, please bless Kevin and make him safe at night when he sleeps so that he is not eaten by the ugly people. And make the pretty girl love him with all her heart so that he will make babies someday because he will be the bestest daddy that anybody could have in their whole life. Amen.”
The next morning, the trio headed west on the route that Kevin had laid out for them. As the day passed, Kevin became more and more certain that they were being followed. That sensation was partially a relief. If he had been correct and there was something skulking about back at Sage Farms, then it had apparently decided to follow them instead of linger around the farm.
Late in the afternoon, Kevin led them to a dilapidated house that sat on a hill looking down at the road from its perch. The yard had begun making its claim on the home itself as vines snaked up the sides. Kevin imagined the house would be impossible to see within the next year or so judging by how much the brown vines already covered.
“You two set up camp and get the fire started,” Kevin whispered when they got inside.
“And what do you think you’re doing?” Aleah challenged.
“Somebody has been following us.”
“For how long?” Heather’s hand went to her side and the handle of the large blade that dangled from her belt.
“Maybe since we left the soldiers,” Kevin admitted. “At first I thought I might be imagining.”
“And you didn’t think it was something worth telling us?” Aleah waded into the discussion.
“I wasn’t sure,” Kevin said with a shrug. “And besides, if whoever it is had something in mind, I imagine that they would have done something by now.”
“So what exactly are you going to do?” Aleah asked.
She didn’t want to make an issue of it, but Kevin wasn’t exactly able to be too stealthy any more. She also had noticed that he would begin to limp as the day dragged on. Even with his walking stick, the all-day hikes were taking a toll.
“I’m going to slip out back while you two keep talking. I will find someplace where I can keep an eye on things for a bit.”
Heather shot Aleah a look as Kevin turned his back. The two nodded in agreement and Heather braced herself as she tried to find the best words.
“Maybe I should be the one to go.”
Kevin turned to Heather with almost no expression on his face. She could tell that he was struggling not to be angry, but she also saw the look of hurt flicker in his eyes.
“I am still capable of handling things,” he insisted. “After all, whoever or whatever it is has been on our case for over a week and neither of you have noticed.”
“Which does prove that you are still very capable,” Aleah spoke up. “However, there are going to be things that you can’t do…or at least can’t do as well.”
Kevin fought back the sense of betrayal that was trying to gain a foothold. He knew down deep that they were correct. He was going to have to rely on them for certain things and start accepting that he did actually have limitations.
“Fine, but the moment you see anything, you get inside,” Kevin conceded. “No funny
stuff…no being a hero.”
“Yes, Father,” Heather said with a smirk.
Kevin and Aleah went about setting up camp for the night. They made sure to talk in conversational tones They didn’t have to wait long for the mystery to be revealed.
Heather walked in the front door…hands in the air. Kevin already had his crossbow in his hand as the figure dressed in camo fatigues came in behind her. It took Kevin a few seconds longer than Aleah to see everything clearly.
Aleah started laughing and he joined in. While he did not know particularly well the person standing behind Heather, he was confident that there was no imminent danger.
Heather stared with first confusion, and then annoyance. “Are you through?” she asked after the laughing subsided to the occasional chuckle.
“I think so,” Kevin managed. A snort escaped and he put his hands over his mouth and did his best to look serious.
“I am glad you find this so amusing.” Heather was growing angrier and more confused as each second passed and her friends continued to find her being taken prisoner so funny.
“Keep moving into the room,” the person behind her commanded. Whoever it was, they certainly had a deep voice. “Don’t do anything foolish to make me use this.” She felt something prod her in the small of the back.
“Look, whoever you are—” Heather started, but felt something prod her in the back again.
“Keep movin’ before something bad happens,” the voice growled, and then the owner stepped out to the side.
“Yeah, I imagine that finger of yours is pretty dangerous,” Kevin chuckled.
Heather looked back to see the person behind her hold up one gloved hand. The fingers of the glove were metal. Or, more accurately, had metal strips sewn on.