by C. M. Wright
Downstairs, people are moving around everywhere getting things organized and ready to go. At the bottom of the stairs, Will stops and looks around. I stop two stairs up and ask him what's wrong. He sits the carrier on the cement floor next to the steps, and turns to me.
"Have you seen Jake?"
I look around and shake my head, "No, I haven't."
Will walks around the large room and then comes back to me. Shaking his head no, he lifts the carrier and walks toward our new vehicle, placing the baby inside and buckling her in. I open all the doors to let the air in for the baby and watch as Will goes back upstairs in search of Jake.
I see our boys running around the building with their new friends, laughing and having a good time.
After about ten minutes, Will comes back down and with relief, I see Jake following him. As they walk past me, I give Will a questioning look. He gives me a brief shake of his head and continues to follow Jake. Jake leads him to his own vehicle and they stop. After words are exchanged, Will heads back to us.
"What's going on? Jake ok?" I ask him as steps next to me.
"Yeah. He was going over the blueprints of the hospital he somehow got hold of, maybe military just has that stuff? I don't know. Anyway, he was planning how we're going to rescue his brother from the hospital." Will pauses and looks at me. Lowering his voice he asks me, "Do you think his brother will still be alive?"
I desperately want to give a firm, yes! But, really, what are the odds? He was in a hospital where the sick, bit, dead, and dying were, as well. With the incredible speed it took over Stephan and then along the route we took to get here, I can't even imagine how devastatingly fast a large hospital would become infected.
"I don't see how he could. I'm praying he's still alive for Jake's sake, but, I just don't see how he could be."
We look over and watch as Jake walks toward a group of people standing beside one of the Hummers. I look to our right and notice what was supposed to be Kim's family's vehicle. Remembering all the supplies she had stocked, I ask Will if we should take it. He says it would probably be smart if we did so we go over and start transporting all of it to ours. Almost done, I look up and see Jake heading for me. He stops in front of me and grabs my arm, gently moving me out of sight from everyone else. I look up at him in confusion.
"I have a plan but I can't take everyone in the armory. I need as many as possible to stay with the others in case those damn things get through the fence. So...."
"What's going on?" Will sounds like he's really saying, 'what the hell are you doing alone with my wife'.
Jake turns with his side to me and addresses Will, "I was telling her we need to get into the armory, but I need all the men to stay here in case the things outside the fence see us go in the building and break down that fence. The women and kids need to be protected and they need men who have the strength to handle the swords in a fight. I'll be shutting the door on this building but it's not a guarantee it will hold. I need one person to go with me to watch my back and help bring the guns out. It has to be her." He points at me. Wait. He's pointing at ME?? What the HELL? Didn't he say there were zombies in there? Isn't that what he said? I'm pretty sure that's what he said. Yep. He said that. Shit.
Will's face and neck starts turning a startling shade of red and his breathing is fast and heavy. He blows up at Jake, "Are you out of your damn MIND? Hell no my wife isn't going in there with you! You dumb son-of-a-bitch!" My eyes flash from Will to Jake. Jake doesn’t seem surprised, upset, or even mad. He looks like he expected Will to act like that. Ya think?
Jake puts his arm around Will's shoulders and leads him where they can talk alone. I was certain my going wasn't going to happen. I should have remembered that this new world holds no such certainties.
Chapter 8
I watch as Will and Jake come back. Will doesn’t look happy. Jake looks, well, like normal. They stop in front of me and I look at them one at a time.
Will looks at Jake, then back at me. "I am not happy about this damn plan. But he's right. You are the only one who can do this. We have to protect these kids for the sake of our future. So the men will stay here and get everyone upstairs. If any of those things can actually climb, we will need to take them out. Jake promised me you will be safe." He gives Jake a hard look and Jake nods.
I just stare at my husband. Then I move my eyes to Jake and stare at him. They're joking, right?
I gulp. My mind is racing as I look at the others for better options. But all I see are a couple of women who look as if they would be too terrified of breaking a nail (although, that really does hurt!), a few elderly women, a few who seem to be on the edge of hysteria even now, a couple teen girls, and a handful of female kids. But why does it have to be a female going, anyway? I look up at Jake to ask that very question. Both men are silently staring at me. Just after I open my mouth, Jake speaks before I can get a word out.
"I need all the men here. There aren't that many men but there are lots of kids. I need someone with me who has their head on right," (And I’d like to keep it there, thank you! Plus, I'm pretty sure I don't! Ask my shrink. She'll tell ya!) "Someone who can fight, who can stay calm and who can shoot. (Me? I can't fight! I'm not at all calm! And shoot? When the hell have I ever shot a gun? Maybe I should volunteer Mom. But no. I'm not throwing my mom to the wolves......I mean zombies. Damn it all to hell! I guess I'm going.)
"Fine. I'll freaking go. But if anything happens to me, I'm going to kill you both when I turn into an undead bitch."
Jake grins at me. Apparently, the dumbass thinks I'm kidding! Will steps closer to me and holds me tight. He kisses me and runs his hand through my hair, snagging on tangles. I wince in pain and give him a dirty look. Why didn't we bring a brush! Seriously? THAT'S what I'm going to worry about right now? I shake my head in disgust at myself. Looking back at both men, I tell them if we are going on this stupid suicide mission, then let's hurry the hell up and get it done. Jake nods his head and walks off toward the other people. Will holds me and I watch over his shoulder as the kids and women head upstairs. Jake gathers the men around him and calls out for Will to join them. After a kiss to the top of my head, Will walks over.
I just stand there, watching them. Resigning myself to the fact I'm doing this. Finally, they all come to our Hummer and each one is handed a sword or knife. A few look over at me and I swear they think they are seeing me alive for the last time. Jackasses!
They position themselves where Jake tells them to. Jake and Will walk back to me and Will gives me another tight hug and deep kiss. I absorb as much of him as I can, then shove him away.
"Don't act like you're never seeing me again. I will be back and I'll be back alive." That was good, wasn't it? Canada, the badass chick. That woman on Resident Evil ain't got nothin' on me! Yeah right.
Jake hands me some kind of handgun. As he gives last minute instructions to Will, I look it over trying to find the safety. Jake walks back to me and Will takes the baby up to my mom and then goes back halfway down the stairs, getting into his position, I guess.
"No safety on that one." Jake tells me.
"Oh." I pray I don't shoot myself, or Jake, and follow him to his Hummer. I look up at my boys, my parents, and Will. Hard as it is, I give them a big smile and a wave. Jake starts the vehicle and drives us to the large door. He looks at me and tells me to get in the driver's seat while he opens the door. Why didn't I just get in the driver's seat to begin with? MEN!
He gets out and I scoot over behind the wheel. He walks over and listens at the door. Apparently hearing nothing, he slowly opens the door far enough to stick his head out. He pulls his head back in and opens the door wide enough for me to get the Hummer out. Jake shuts the door and hops into the passenger seat. He shows me which door we need to get to and has me back the Hummer in. And yes, I'm a pretty good driver, for a woman. He tells me the same thing and I give him the finger. I don't see any zombies, but I can hear them on the other side of the building. I hope like he
ll they are still behind the fence. Surely so, or wouldn't they be back here, too?
I follow Jake to the door, waiting to the side as he presses his ear against it, listening once again. I guess he's satisfied because he unlocks the door, slowly opening it while watching for any movement from inside. He eases his way through the door and I follow.
The hallway goes both ways and he tells me it's actually one long hallway that goes around the entire first floor. That's why he needed someone to watch his back. Doors line the hallway in both directions and most appear to be shut. I've not seen a zombie open a door, but then, I've been in a vehicle throughout the majority of this crap.
It's dark, it's gloomy, it sucks.
I walk behind Jake for a few feet until he stops and turns to me.
"I'm going to show you how I train my men in situations like this," He tells me. Situations like this? I hardly think so!
He tells me to walk backwards and to lean into him. So, I do what he says. We walk a few feet down the hall like this and come to a right turn. He leans against the wall and takes a quick peek around the corner. Pulling his head back he flattens against the wall and looks at me with a pissed off expression.
"Ok. When I tell you to lean against me, I meant your ass to mine. Both of us bend forward slightly and watch in the direction we are facing. Just barely put weight against me so that if I stop, you're not ramming into me. You got that?" Whoa. Hold up there, Hoss!
"Listen here, Captain!"
"I'm a Sergeant Major," He interrupts.
I continue, "If you haven’t noticed, I'm not in the damn military. I'm not one of your men. And I can't put my ass against yours cause I can't reach your ass.....Captain!"
I raise my gun and aim it toward his head. His eyes widen in surprise and fear. I pull the trigger.
Chapter 9
Jake slams into the wall behind him. He pats his head, I guess to make sure it's still there and in one piece. He looks at me like I'm crazy then looks behind him. Lying in the hall half-in, half-out the next corridor, is a zombie. With a bullet smack-dab in the center of his forehead. Hell yeah! Give Mama a gun and Mama kicks ass!
Jake looks back and forth with shock in his eyes. God, that just made my day. Scaring the shit out of Mr. Sergeant Major. HA!
I hide my big shit-eating grin before he looks back at me. He clears his throat and says, "Good job. Who taught you to shoot, anyway?"
"Video games." I say and turn my back to him and get into position, my butt sticking out, waiting for him to do the same. I silently laugh when I imagine the look on his face. And it's true. That's the only training I've had with a gun, but, you better believe I'm damn good on those games!
I feel his butt against my back and we start off. I expect the rest to come for us now that they heard some noise. We turn the corner and step over the zombie. So far, none of the few open doors hold any surprises. In this hall though, they are all open so it takes us a lot longer, going slower, checking every room and closing the doors as we clear them. Two doors away we hear grunting and things being knocked over. Slowly and cautiously, we approach the door. Jake turns slightly and puts his hand up telling me to stay. He spins to the other side of the door and I roll my eyes. Drama, anyone?
I move closer to my side of the door and raise my gun. He counts off to three, then spins into the room. What we see leaves us both speechless.
The zombie-man was naked! Bare ass naked! What the hell? Jake looks at me as I look at him. He mouths one word, "Showers." So he was in the showers when he was bit. Alrighty then! Wait. They have showers here?
I turn back to the door and keep watch while Jake takes care of him. I look left, zombie. I look right, zombie. He's closest. I raise my gun and shoot. Perfect shot. Turning back to the left, I aim and fire, taking down another man in army fatigues. So that's four. Jake said there were five.
Jake comes up behind me, puts his huge hands on my hips, and pulls me back. He whispers in my ear to be quiet. I do, and I listen, trying to hear what it is Jake hears. I hear nothing. And then I do. Sounds like footsteps above our heads. We both look up. Jake pushes me behind him and leads us out of the room and down the hall to a door that, once he opens it, reveals stairs. The stairs go up about fifteen steps to a landing. (I'm not counting. Just a guess.) When we are on the landing, Jake stops and turns to me.
"Did you notice anything funny about those footsteps we heard?" He asks me in a quiet voice.
I nod my head and say, "Yeah. They sounded like they belonged to someone still alive." And they did. No shuffle or stagger to them.
Jake continues up the stairs with his gun at the ready. I follow, copying him. At the top of the stairs is another door and Jake slowly opens it. Moving into the hall, he motions me forward. I follow him out of the stairwell and quietly shut the door. He leads us to the room where we heard the footsteps. Slowly he turns the doorknob.
Before he opens it, he calls out, "Hello? If you're alive, so are we so don't shoot."
We hear, "Ohmygod! Ohmygod! I don't have a gun. Please help me!"
Jake opens the door all the way and walks in. I follow and shut the door behind me. I see a very young man, boy really, in army fatigues hiding against the wall between a fridge and a cabinet. He squeezes out and shakily comes to a standing position. His eyes are wild, darting everywhere. His body is shaking uncontrollably. As I move closer, the smell of shit and piss fills the air, making me gag. That boy is scared!
"I...I...I thought I was going to die here. My friends wanted to eat me! Why did they want to eat me?" He finished in a high-pitched squeal. Jake slaps his face. Seriously. Jake actually slapped him. Like right out of the movies. SMACK! And, amazingly, the kid seems to finally focus on Jake. Wow. So it really works. Awesome!
Jake, taking back his status of Sergeant Major, speaks to him with authority, "Alright, Private, turning into a hysterical woman," He stops and looks at me, wincing. He mouths 'sorry' to me before continuing. "is not going to help you stay alive. Now, where is your gun?"
The kid says, "I dropped it when I ran."
Jake waits a few seconds but the kid says nothing more. Jake sighs. "You're in an armory, Son. It's full of weapons, yet you run into the one room that doesn’t have any. Why?"
The kid drops his head, explaining in a voice so quiet I can barely hear, "I was scared. I wasn't thinking straight."
Boy if that's not the understatement of the year! Jake steps back from him and gives the kid orders to shower, change and come with us. The kid eagerly agrees then stops on his way toward the door. He looks back at us and we stare at him.
"Uh, can you come with me? I mean, just in case?" He asks us with a hint of embarrassment and shame.
Jake has apparently had enough of the kid and tells him hell no, he's got to get weapons together. I feel bad for him. He's just a terrified kid so I tell them that I will go with him. Jake lets out a frustrated grunt and, shaking his head, stomps out of the room.
I follow the kid to a locker where he pulls out a fresh pair of fatigues. Looking at the other fatigues stacked in there, I have another one of my brilliant ideas. Grabbing a pair of black ones like Jake's that I think will fit, I follow the kid to the showers, relieved to see there were a couple showers that were enclosed, in addition to the large open room wall of showers.
The kid, ok I'm tired of calling him 'the kid' so I ask him his name. He tells me it's Private Sawyer." I give a short laugh and roll my eyes.
"Look, Kid, I hardly think you need to address yourself as anything other than your first name now, but if it makes you happy, great. Do so. But I want your first name. K?"
He gives me a little smile and says, "Yeah, guess you're right. My first name is Tom. Go ahead and laugh. Everyone else does. My parents thought it would be cute. Never had anyone else say so, but it sure attracted all the bullies when I was in school."
"Mine's Canada." I think I’m the last person to make fun of someone's name. Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Canada,
the country. In fact, I loved it when my parents took us there on vacation one year. But for a girl in the United States? Not so much.
I ask him if he will be ok now, since we have the door closed and he tells me he thinks so. He starts unbuckling his belt but before he can drop his pants, I turn and make a fast exit to the enclosed showers. Wow! Alrighty, then.
I step into the first shower room and practically tear off my clothes. Feeling the water on my skin, I can't help but almost cry with the knowledge that this may very well be my last warm shower when the electricity goes out, and you know it will. We will probably have to boil and pour water into a tub. Oh joy!
A mesh bag hanging from the shower wall to my right catches my eye and I'm as excited as a kid on Christmas morning when I see what's inside. Soap! Shampoo! And even conditioner! Oh, Heaven!
I lather until I'm covered with soap and shampoo. I rinse off, then coat my hair with conditioner. As I give it time to soak in, I just stand under the water, absorbing as much of it as I can into my skin. I do my best not to moan from the intense pleasure, but I guess a few slip out anyway. I wash the conditioner out then I finish my shower by washing my face. I dry off and brush my hair out with my fingers. Putting on the fatigues, I'm surprised at how comfortable they are. And wow! Talk about pockets. This thing has tons of little pockets, big pockets, and even some in-between. I even find a slot for my gun. So cool! Sticking my gun in the built-in holster, I walk out of the shower. I wonder to myself if they have socks and boots here, too, and decide to ask Tom. As I get near the open shower room, I hear the water still running. Damn, Boy! I know you were dirty but, come on already! I stand in the short hallway and call out to him. He doesn’t respond. After calling out again, I step inside the room, bewildered when I don't see him standing under the shower. In fact, I don't see him at all!
A small noise behind me and I immediately whip out the gun as I spin around. I found Tom.