by Diane Butler
Lucky shook his head as he saw that Gretchen and Larry were anxiously watching them, hoping for a chance to meet Roxanne again. “No, they are with us at the paper mill. They came with us from New Orleans and we all stayed here for three to four months before moving on.”
Roxanne did not take her eyes off the couple and could see that the woman was distressed but trying to put on a cheerful face. “If they were here at the plantation and, according to you this is the last place I traveled with you, then I should know them, right?” she asked. Lucky nodded. “Well I don’t know them and I don’t want to meet them.” She turned to Lucky, “I have lunch packed on the pirogue. I don’t need any of your supplies or water and I would like to get back to the village.” She looked toward the road. “The coast is clear for me to go back. You can come if you want, otherwise Lance can show you where the supplies are hidden,” she said as she started down the steps.
Lucky realized that he was looking at her back as she walked away without giving him a chance to answer. He turned to look at Brandon who held up his arms and shrugged his shoulders in question. Lucky was almost knocked down by the coyote as it rushed past him giving a snort before catching up with Roxanne. Mutt only momentarily watched from the top of the levee and then went down the grassy slope to meet them. When Roxanne reached the barrier on the levee steps she bent under the railing and used her staff to keep from sliding down the hillside. Lucky came out of his daze and went after her in case her weaker leg slipped on the grass. He quickly went under the railing and came up behind her to take Roxanne’s elbow for support but the coyote began to growl so he dropped his hand. Concentrating on her footing Roxanne did not turn around, “Do not touch me when Cowboy is around. I must make the first contact before she will accept you.”
They reached level ground and Lucky turned to see that everyone had gathered on the top of the levee to watch them. Before crossing the road he looked north to see another group of zombies in the distance. “I don’t think that they can see this far,” Roxanne said. “I believe that their eyesight fails before their body deteriorates and that they depend on smell and sound. You are safe on top of the levee where they can’t smell human odor as long as you keep your voices down.” She continued walking without looking back and Lucky was starting to feel like a lost child being led to safety.
They entered the cornfield with the two canines running ahead of them both anxious to get back to the pirogue, or to be on the trail with Roxanne again. They went through the field in silence, crossed the cleared dirt area where seven months ago Lucky had seen the signs that Roxanne had been abducted. When they entered the edge of the forest Roxanne used her staff to point out the supplies. “I can’t say that Lance packed wisely since he seemed to be in such a rush to get here. You may need to redistribute the sacks so they don’t rattle and make noise and I’m sure that you have too much of one item and not enough of another. He basically just threw things in there.”
It appeared that she was going to dismiss him and walk away. “Did you find a safe place in Mamou to take up residence,” he asked.
She nodded, “I found a place to my liking and made peace with the current resident.” She smiled before she turned and walked away leaving Lucky to remember her smiles of the past and suddenly he was saddened. He sighed and knelt down to go through the satchels of supplies.
Once Roxanne reached her pirogue she called Mutt to her as she sat on a log. “Mutt, I know these are your friends and that I am different to you now. If you have changed your mind about living with me you are free to go with them.” She scratched him behind the ears as he sat in front of her. “Do not feel that you have abandoned me for you can see that I know how to survive. I want you to be happy. The choice is yours.” She leaned down and nuzzled her face against Mutts forehead. “I understand if you do not like the lifestyle that I have chosen and would rather be with Caleb or Brandon.” She stopped and thought for a moment, remembering something. “You don’t like Lucky do you?” Mutt snorted and turned away from her to look back at the trail, then he walked over to the pirogue and jumped in.
Roxanne had pushed the pirogue off when Cowboy suddenly came out of the bushes with a satchel in her jaws and jumped in. She let the boat drift and reached over to take the sack from Cowboy. In it was the box of cartridges that she had given Lance. Lance must have put them in the satchels instead of his backpack and Lucky found them while sorting through the supplies. She looked up to see Lucky standing at the landing as they drifted away. He waved, but she did not feel as friendly so she only nodded in return, then got up into a standing position and turned her back on him to pole the pirogue toward Mamou.
CHAPTER 6
Lucky watched Roxanne from shore as she poled the pirogue toward Mamou. He remembered meeting her for the first time at The Park and how she had tried to convince them that she was not alone. He had been able to see through that falsehood within a few hours on the first day, but this Roxanne of today was not a faker. She said very little and gave as little information as possible when she did speak. She had shut herself off from people and stood alone like a rock. At the Park she eventually realized that she needed people and was stronger because of it. But he didn’t know if Roxanne needed to learn that all over again or if she was truly becoming a self-sufficient hermit.
He turned away after he lost sight of her and walked back to the supplies with the intention of questioning Lance for more information. As he approached the supplies he could hear voices and saw that both Brandon and Lance had come out to give him a hand.
“I was becoming concerned about you,” Brandon said. “You disappeared into the cornfield for so long and another group of Z’s were coming. We made it in before they saw us and by now they should have passed further down the road. We were hoping that you could talk Roxanne into staying the night.”
Lucky shook his head. “No talking that woman into anything. Let’s get this stuff on board. We haven’t eaten all day and need to take a break plus decide on what we’re going to do and when we are going to do it.” They each took a satchel and met only one zombie who was straggling behind the others. The Z’s foot was broken and he could not keep up with the group hobbling on his ankle and dragging the foot behind him as it was still attached. It was easy work for Brandon to knock him down and smash its head with his boot.
Gretchen and Larry were disappointed that Roxanne did not want to meet them. “Do you think that it’s the scar,” Gretchen asked. “That’s she’s embarrassed by it?”
Lucky shook his head, “I don’t think its vanity and I don’t think that any of us can base her actions by who she was in the past. This is someone else and we will need to learn of her as if she were a stranger. We need to start all over with this one, so your guess is as good as mine.”
Caleb kept silent in that he did not agree with Lucky’s statement. He had seen some of the old Roxanne that he knew and felt that he could travel with her again in complete trust. He knew that she would have his back in a fight and would be compassionate with his mistakes. That part of Roxanne had not changed. He did not know what everyone was looking for in Roxanne and was puzzled by their expectations.
While eating lunch Morgan said that the repairs to the pier were finished and that the hammering had ceased to the relief of everyone. Brandon said that he hoped to get Jenny back on the river in the morning but was still concerned about the debris. “I hadn’t expected it to continue this long. I suspect that the storm must have taken out a village or demolished a hamlet off one of the canals. I saw some dead pigs floating in the debris and I’d like to go further down river to see if we can find their habitat and do some hunting. We’ve never gone past New Orleans on our supply runs and could be missing a good food source.”
“I’m more concerned about the dead zombies in the water,” Gretchen said. “I don’t want another situation like the one on Lake Pontchartrain where we were overcome by gassy fumes. If they contaminate the water and it comes upstream we will need
to leave the paper mill and move further north.”
The conversation turned to Lance as they asked him about his travels and what he had experienced. No one asked him about meeting Roxanne as they had decided amongst themselves to let Brandon and Lucky speak privately with Lance to learn of what he knew and possibly give them some insight on how much of Roxanne’s memory had remained. For the rest of the day they prepared Jenny for travel with the anticipation of leaving in the morning. Lucky and Lance were to take the first watch on the levee and Caleb asked if he could come along. When Lucky denied his request Caleb went to this father and told him of his conversation with Roxanne.
“So I don’t want you to worry if you wake up and I’m not here,” Caleb confided. “I want to sneak out and listen to the conversation between Lucky and Lance to see why he may think that she’s a witch.”
Morgan wrinkled his brow in confusion. “Because she has a coyote with her?” he asked. Caleb shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “She doesn’t know why, only that he became very nervous around her and insisted on leaving the town saying that he was going to find and join us. But she didn’t think that he was being totally honest with her and if she comes across as a witch then she would like to know what she did. If Lance should tell you anything dad, will you tell me because I wouldn’t want Roxanne to think that I betrayed a trust if you tell her.”
Morgan was lying in his bunk with his hands behind his head and smiled. “Don’t worry son. I’ve got your back and thanks for telling me because now you have me curious.”
“Voices carry on the river so I suggest we use low tones or signal if we are not within a safe distance,” Lucky warned Lance as they separated to walk different sections of the levee. After an hour of passing one another in silence they stopped to have coffee that Gretchen had put into a thermos. Lucky had never adapted to coffee without cream but as long as it had sugar, honey or molasses in it he could tolerate the taste.
“So you lied about Roxanne and knew her after all,” Lucky said. He now regretted not questioning Lance during the day since he could not see the expression on Lance’s face, but he saw the body language and knew that Lance had stiffened.
“I hadn’t known her for long and did not know where she lived so I could not direct you to her anyway. She always found me or made arrangements to meet me somewhere. I never knew when she would show up or if I would ever see her again. She appeared to come and go as she pleased.”
Lucky asked how long he had known her. “Ten days maybe,” Lance shrugged. I have lost track of time, don’t count the days anymore. I don’t know the day of the week or the month and it helps to keep my sanity not to know how long I have been out here. To be honest, it feels like a lifetime and sometimes I thought that I was the only one left,” he sighed and took a drink of his coffee.
“What did Roxanne tell you about us, the group?”
“Nothing. Only that you claimed to know her and that she didn’t remember you.”
“Did she tell you why she didn’t remember us?”
Lance was silent wondering if Roxanne was hovering in the night listening to them. He looked around at the shadows caused by moonlight and heard an owl hoot in the distance, followed by the scream of a rabbit He shivered and was glad that he was not alone. “Not until today, on the pirogue to come here. She said she had an accident that she could not remember and that she was on a journey, a quest of sorts. She didn’t elaborate and I didn’t ask. There are many people out here who do not want to talk of their past and I respect that. I’ve learned not to push people now-a-days because they can go off at the slightest provocation.”
“How do I know that Roxanne didn’t send you here as a spy?” Lucky asked.
Lance was both shocked and confused by the question and leaned over so he could see Lucky’s face in the moonlight. “Spy? I don’t understand. In what capacity did she know you?”
“You weren’t interested in the paper mill when we invited you. You claimed not to know Roxanne, then you show up here and she just leaves you. Doesn’t feel right to me. Even if she introduced herself to you by another name how many people come looking for a lone woman? Cami or Roxanne, you must have known it was the same woman and you definitely knew the dog.”
Lance was starting to get a bad feeling about this as if Roxanne had played him. He wondered if she had spooked him on purpose so he would decide to join the group and gather information from them. But what information? “Cami? I don’t know anything about a Cami. She introduced herself as Roxanne.”
Lucky secretly smiled upon hearing that. She had told them that her name was Cami and she would have continued to use that name if she hadn’t believe them. Perhaps some small memory was still there.
Lance continued when Lucky did not answer him. “What type of group are you? Spying? What are you hiding? Supplies? Like one man could penetrate a large group and steal all of your supplies. I don’t think so. I’m not a threat to you.” He hoped that he hadn’t joined a group of paranoids and crazies going to the extreme. He handed the coffee back to Lucky saying that they better finish their rounds and got up. They did not speak to one another again and in another hour Brandon and Larry came out to relieve them.
The next morning they decided to go toward New Orleans to see if the city had deteriorated faster than expected and if more zombies were spilling out into the river. If they did not meet any danger and if Jenny was not put into harm’s way then they would continue further south looking for wild pigs. “This map shows a couple of parks and camping grounds,” Morgan said. “Also I saw a brochure about a golf course down there off the Mississippi and a proposed gated community but I don’t know if that ever got off the ground. I’ve collected every brochure and newspaper I can find on the State to learn as much as I can in case we are forced to relocate.”
Brandon concentrated on handling Jenny but was glad to see less debris in the river. After an hour on the river Lance leaned over the railing and vomited. “I don’t think that I will be going on supply runs on this boat,” he turned and said to Gretchen. She smiled and said that he would get used to it. “I don’t know why we didn’t get part of this big storm at the paper mill,” Gretchen said. “By the looks of how much was in the river you would think that we would have had rain for a couple of days.”
“The major part of it must have hit Texas,” Lance said. “It’s at times like this that I miss communication. No radio, no TV, no weather report. All those satellites still up there in space and we are helpless down here. Do you think that someone somewhere is in a bunker and has communication with someone else in another bunker? I’m convinced that a small piece of the government is still out there but hunkered down until they can figure this out. They have food, water, safe living conditions but don’t know how to put the world back together again. If I ever find such a place I think that I would kill every damn one of them off.”
Gretchen looked at Lance, surprised by his anger. “But you would be killing off the people that you need. Scientists, engineers, maybe they have their own staff of doctors, electricians and so forth. A small community complete with every trade that you’d need to start living again.”
“Yeah, I know” Lance said. “But I would still like to pummel the first person who smiled at me and said ‘Welcome’.”
They became silent when they began to approach New Orleans for everyone could hear the moans of zombies. They looked at one another since this section of the city had been quiet the last time they left. Brandon stayed away from the piers of the French District as they could see zombies so deep that several were pushed into the river. “That must be where some of them came from who floated upstream,” Brandon said.
Morgan shook his head, “I’m so glad that we are across the river at the paper mill. The city is completely gone and I can’t imagine it being taken back by humans again, at least not in our lifetime.” He sighed and turned away from the shoreline.
They continued past the city, bypassed the inlet to La
ke Borgne and the Mississippi Sound and continued south. They left the housing developments behind and the terrain started to flatten out into grasslands devoid of trees. They could see homes built on stilts, some still standing and others that had collapsed, and the occasional mansion scattered on the landscape.
“I bet there is good fishing in there,” Caleb said as they went by marshland and he saw some cranes diving for food. Still further they approached a camping ground and from the pilothouse Brandon could see a few pigs rooting around. Up ahead he could see a restaurant with the mooring still in good shape.
“Why don’t we pull up and search the restaurant,” Brandon said, “then see if we can kill one of those pigs.”
“Instead of killing them why don’t we catch a few and bring them back to the paper mill to breed?” Morgan said. “A continuation of food instead of just one meal.”
“I don’t know the difference between a sow and a male. Do you?” Brandon asked. Morgan smiled, “No, but we’ll learn.”
“I can help with that,” Lance said. “Do you have any rope on board?”