by Diane Butler
“Meet me on the corner of Lance’s house at 6:30 tomorrow morning,” Roxanne said. “But do not make the turn. We will be going further north and backtracking into town to approach the mansion gate. The town is quiet on that side and we can get within two blocks of the mansion before seeing zombies. Mary will ride with you and show you the way. I’ll give her the remote because she has timed it enough to know how far from the gate she can be and it will still work.” She turned to Mary, “Just make sure you don’t open it too soon. We want to be in and have the gates blocked before the Z’s even know that we’re there.”
On the ride home Roxanne was quiet and Mary knew that something was bothering her. “Are you still working it out in your head or are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” she asked.
Roxanne smiled, “It occurred to me that I may have been unfair to you. After seeing that Morgan does not want Caleb to go tomorrow I should not assume that you want to be there or to take part in this. I should have given you an option instead of giving you orders. If you don’t want to go you can stay with Caleb on the boat and if we don’t come back you will have a new home to go to.”
Mary shook her head, “I want to go. I don’t want to be sheltered. I know at times I’ll be afraid…. well most of the time. But I need to learn how to survive, how to fight, how to get sneaky, how to learn about people from watching instead of approaching them right off the bat. That’s how I got stuck with Jim Bob, because I was alone, afraid and stupid. I can’t say that I won’t be nervous about tomorrow,” she looked out the window and took a moment to control her voice, “but I don’t want to be a victim anymore. And I’m learning that from you.”
Caleb waited until he and his father were retiring for the night and felt that he had his story straight and had a sound argument ready. “Dad, I don’t like the idea of Mary going tomorrow.”
His father turned around and smiled, “Developing a crush, are we?”
Caleb felt himself blush but pushed on, “No, it’s that Mary is so attached to Roxanne that the last time we talked Roxanne voiced a concern about it.”
Morgan sat down on his bunk. “Oh and how is that a concern?”
“Roxanne plans on going back to the bayou and taking supplies. If Mary doesn’t go with us to the paper mill, then Roxanne will have no choice but to take Mary with her. Roxanne said that….that they trade women back there.” He heard his father gasp and rushed with the rest of it. “Roxanne said that she had to prove that she was strong and could take care of herself or they would have found her a ‘protector’ or I guess a husband of sorts by their standards. But if she took Mary with her she would need to keep her hidden or perhaps fight to keep her away from the traders.”
“My God, I had no idea that Roxanne had been in that kind of trouble. And as sick as she was, as hurt as she was,” he shook his head. “She led us to believe that a group had protected her, a kind group. What else of that life did she tell you?”
“Nothing about her,” Caleb was afraid that his father was getting the wrong impression but he didn’t know how to fix it. “Her conversation and her concern was for Mary. That’s why Roxanne had Mary meet us with her duffle bag to board Jenny and go back with us, to protect her. The thing is Dad, I think I may be able to talk Mary into going with us to the Mill. Maybe not this time or the next time because she is so devoted to Roxanne but I won’t be able to establish more trust with Mary if I’m always left behind.”
Morgan began rubbing his knees and slightly rocking on the bunk. “So Roxanne has been lying to us about her group. They saw her as a possible commodity, an object for trading and that’s why they treated her wounds. But I don’t understand why she would want to go back.”
Caleb wondered if he had pushed it too far since Roxanne had been vague on her treatment by the people she was with. “It’s the only life she knows Dad, the only life that she remembers. As far as she knows she was born and raised there. Dad, please don’t tell Lucky or Brandon, otherwise Roxanne will never tell me anything else. And Lucky will go crazy with the thought and start pushing her to come with us to the Mill. Let’s take one thing at a time cuz’ we can see that she can take care of herself, perhaps better now than when we knew her before. Right now let me concentrate on changing Mary’s mind about accompanying Roxanne to the bayou.”
Caleb knew that his father had always told him not to let his pride get in the way of making a good decision. He felt he was making the right decision but knew it was because of his pride. His dad had embarrassed him in front of Roxanne and Mary. Roxanne treated Mary like an adult and Morgan had treated him like a child. He knew it was because his dad loved him but it didn’t make it any easier to swallow. It was important for him to go tomorrow, important for them to see him there as part of a group.
They expected to wait at the corner of Lance’s house and to see Roxanne drive up from the direction which Lucky felt sure was the road where the animals had blocked him. But Roxanne was already parked on the north road waiting for them when they arrived. Morgan passed her to park in front of her truck and Roxanne saw that they had Caleb with them. “Well this changes things,” she said as she got out of the truck and motioned for Mary to stay. She walked up to Morgan who was driving and asked, “I realize that there is still room for Mary in the car, but who is traveling with me? Who’s my partner for today?”
Lucky quickly got out of the front passenger seat. “I am. I’m coming with you and Mary can sit up front with the remote.” Mary, having heard the conversation sat in the truck with a big grin on her face, remembering what Caleb had said about Roxanne’s past relationship with Lucky. Making a move…., she thought.
Roxanne’s face went into shock before she quickly put her poker face back on again, but Lucky hadn’t missed the look. She stood there motionless with her hand still on the car and, without receiving approval or disapproval Lucky walked back to the truck. Mary saw Lucky coming toward her and got out of the truck, giving him a wink as she passed him to exchange places in the car. Her demonstration confused Lucky and he turned to watch her walk away, swaying her hips from side to side as if taunting him. He shook his head and thought, teenagers…
It was Mary’s giggle that brought Roxanne out of her daze and she looked back to see Lucky getting into the truck. She glanced down at Caleb in the back seat and said, “Glad to see you here, Caleb.” She reached in to pat him on the shoulder and then walked back to the truck.
‘It never stops with these people,’ she thought. ‘Always changing things. Never getting it right.’ She got in the truck but did not slam the door to show her annoyance. Morgan pulled off almost immediately with her following. “Are there any more changes I should know about?” she asked Lucky after they got back on the road.
“No. It was never decided who would ride with you to help shut the gates. Morgan can’t move fast enough so it was best that he drove and it really didn’t matter whether it was me or Brandon who rode with you. Is it a big deal?” he asked.
“Since you are their leader when you are on land I just assumed that you would want to stay with your group. And we don’t exactly get along.”
“Don’t we?” Lucky raised his eyebrows. “I thought we got along fine,” he said as he got the gate ties out from his backpack. “Let’s just hope the batteries still work in that remote because we don’t have a back-up plan. Do you?”
She shook her head, “Nope. But whoever is in there is now watching for us and could come down to open the gates if they see that we are in trouble. I think that they are ready to come out, ready to give the place up. That could represent a big disappointment for us in supplies if they’ve been in there all this time, but at least you will have someone else to take back to the Mill.”
Lucky was making a mental note of the roads Roxanne was taking and which turns she made to circle back into town from the north. They started passing shopping centers then the road became heavy with cars parked on both shoulders and finally he saw a hand-painted sign that said
“EVAC” with an arrow pointing down a narrow street. Roxanne saw him straining to see further down the road as they passed. “I’ve never been down there,” she said. “The map shows it as a Fair Grounds. I don’t want to see. I’ve picked up smells and had very bad vibes when I attempted to check it out. I didn’t get very far. I think there are a lot of dead citizens back there.” She shrugged her shoulders, “but there may be stuff that you could use. Maybe a helicopter if you know how to fly or Medivac supplies or a Humvee if you want to take a chance on driving it through Baton Rouge. None of it is worth going down there to me and I pay close attention to what my sixth sense tells me.”
“You always have,” Lucky said gently without looking at her. The road narrowed and he could see that they were entering the historical part of town with Antique Shops and small Mom & Pop Stores, some boutiques and specialty stores. Then the zombies started to show up. One or two at first then small groups, but the street was still wide enough to go around them. Lucky noticed that Morgan had slowed down and Roxanne warned him to get ready. He could see the gate of the mansion two blocks away and when they were one block away Morgan began to coast, Lucky assumed to keep the motor as quiet as possible. Only a few zombies had turned their way and were approaching them or coming off the sidewalk. He saw Mary lean forward and point the remote but the gate did not open. Roxanne closed the gap between the two vehicles until she was tailgating. They could see that Mary was frantically clicking the remote until finally there was a buzz and the gate began to open.
Morgan accelerated too quickly and hit the gates as they were still opening. The double gates flew back from the impact, with the left side hitting the wall and bouncing back while the other became stuck in the tall grass. “Shit,” Roxanne said as she went through and hit the gate that was swinging back on her. “Get that other gate!” she yelled at Lucky as she stopped the truck and got out to grab the one on her side. They ran toward each other, Lucky’s gate being a little harder to move in the tall grass and Roxanne’s gate was bent from Morgan hitting it with the car. They managed to slam them together before the first zombie came through but it did not latch due to the damage.
Brandon saw that they were in trouble and jumped out of the car to get the tie cords out of Roxanne’s truck. Lucky and Roxanne were putting all their strength against the gate to keep them closed and not get bitten but this did not give them a chance to use their knives. Suddenly Mary and Caleb showed up on each side of them and began using their staff’s to kill the Z’s while Brandon squeezed in-between them to place the hooks across the gate. A few zombie heads suddenly exploded and Lucky knew that someone was using a high-powered rifle with a silencer.
Brandon suddenly backed away. “Okay, that should hold it. Back the truck up against the fence.” Roxanne looked up as she was getting into the cab of the truck and saw a heavy-set bald guy in a security uniform standing on a small balcony. He lowered the rifle and after Roxanne had the truck positioned against the gates he motioned for everyone to come to the back of the house.
“Be careful,” Lucky said. “It could still be a trap.” Morgan and the two kids rode in the car while Roxanne, Lucky and Brandon crouched down to walk on the passenger side of the car which would give them shelter from anyone coming out of the house. The two kids crouched down on the floor which was awkward for Caleb with his crossbow and Mary with her staff. Neither would be able to quickly get out of the car and Morgan would be a sitting duck except for his gun.
Morgan turned the corner of the house to the back entrance and saw that it had a circular driveway, most of it overgrown. But his attention was drawn to the man who came out of the house with his rifle held high above his head.
“Don’t shoot! I’m alone. Been alone for a long time and I never thought I’d see another human.”
“Put the gun down,” Lucky called out, “slowly, at your feet and step away.”
“Slowly,” the man repeated. “I’m doing it slowly and I’m stepping away. Stepping away…stepping away.” He kept backing up. “We should get inside. The truck against the gate was a good idea but there are some weak places in the fence and if they should gather I wouldn’t want to be standing out here.”
Lucky told him to keep his hands up and went over to search him for more weapons. “Name’s Andy. We should get inside,” he repeated. Both Brandon and Roxanne had checked the doorway that Andy had emerged from, quickly peeking into the first room which appeared to be a mud room and laundry room combination. From there Roxanne entered the kitchen where she could smell recently cooked food and saw that there was a place set for one person on the wood table. Feeling more assured that Andy was alone she went to the door and motioned for everyone to follow.
“Caleb, Mary would you two stay out here at the door and stand guard?” Roxanne asked. “I see a garage where they probably housed a limo. Keep it in sight in case someone is watching us from there.”
“There’s no one in there,” Andy said as they hustled him inside. “There is a limo that I keep changing the batteries out of. I try to keep it running in case of an emergency. There’s no one here but me. Started out more than that, but it’s down to just me now.”
Roxanne and Brandon advanced from the kitchen to the dining room while Lucky and Morgan stayed back to question Andy. It was their intention to search the mansion room by room but once Roxanne and Brandon saw how huge the place was and the number of rooms on the first floor they decided to split up and stand guard at each entrance to the kitchen while listening for noises upstairs. Roxanne took the entrance into the dining room and Brandon took what appeared to be a servant’s entrance from the kitchen to the front corridor.
They arrived back at the kitchen to hear Andy say, “I would suggest that we take the limo when we leave here. It would hold more people, it is stronger than your car and is fully gassed up.” But he seemed nervous and was wiping his face which was beaded in sweat although it was a cool morning. “I gotta' sit down,” he said pulling out a chair.
“Why so nervous, Andy?” Lucky asked stepping closer and leaning down to look into Andy’s face. “More people here? People you don’t want us to know about? More guns you don’t want us to know about? What are you hiding?”
Andy’s head jerked up, “What?” he asked confused. “I told you that no one is here. It all went down wrong. That stupid jerk Mayor abandoned us and his helicopter killed a lot of citizens before it set down on the front lawn. He said he would come back for us, but he didn’t. There were four of us security guards, four! And I’m the only one who is left.” Andy was starting to ramble. Morgan did not like Andy’s coloring and wondered if the man was in danger of a heart attack from high blood pressure.
“Citizens?” Lucky asked. “We saw a sign outside of town of an evacuation and saw all the traffic lined up on both sides of the road. Wasn’t that where all the citizens were?”
Andy’s shook his head, “No, that was for the businessmen and the location wasn’t marked at first. It was kept quiet by the Mayor until the local newspaper exposed what he was doing. The local citizens started to swarm the mansion and the Mayor panicked. He called in a helicopter to pick him up and the gunners on board just machine-gunned everyone down who was against the fence.” Andy wiped his brow again. “Do you know what that is like? Watching those people turn and then stand against the fence day after day like they were still human and knew we were here? They were like vultures, waiting us out, waiting for us to die or to run out of food. Back and forth, back and forth they would walk day after day. Shaun eventually hung himself off the bannister. Orville gassed himself in the garage. I buried both of them on the property. But Dusty, he just lost it one day and opened the gate to go out blasting. I saw him get past the Z’s and turn the corner, then couple of days later he started circling as a zombie.” He looked up with tears in his eyes. “It’s just me, has been just me for a long time. Please tell me that you have a way out of here.”
“You had a car,” Lucky said. “Why didn�
�t the four of you just load up the car and drive out?”
“There are fewer Z’s now than when it all first went down and we kept thinking that the Mayor would send back the helicopter,” Andy said. “Figured that things got bogged down that’s all, and were delayed. Zombies were attracted by the noise of the helicopter and machine-guns and those wandered in to join the citizens who had turned. The number of Z’s out there now has diminished considerably over the years. We argued about it all the time. Some felt we had food, water, safety in staying here but we didn’t know what was out there beyond the fence line. Didn’t know if the roads were blocked and if we’d be surrounded by Z’s.” Andy paused. “Believe me, it was discussed all the time but none of us were brave enough to go alone and the four of us could never agree on anything.”
“What about the supplies?” Lucky asked. “What is left over, if anything?”
Andy looked around at the group. “Plenty of ammo and guns to go around. We didn’t bother wasting that since it would just bring in more zombies. I kept the gate in working order in case we decided to leave or if rescue should show up and needed to get in. Couple of weeks ago I saw the gate open and close. At first I was hopeful, but then as time went by I figured the remote that Dusty ran out with must be dragging behind him to make the gate open. Was that you? Then I saw ya’ll on the roof and knew I had to make contact. You were my last hope.”