"Are you really going to teach her to shoot?"
"I've been shooting since I was around her age. It's okay. She's mature for seven. She'll be okay." He touched Randi's shoulder. "I promise."
Randi nodded as Toni came back with her rolled sleeping bag and pillow.
They bid everyone good night and walked to the tower.
"Can I help you protect against the monsters?"
"Of course, but you do have to go to sleep before long."
"Yes, ma'am."
Randi opened the door of the center tower as Mark opened the door leading from the left-hand side of the walkway. "Hey. I was making rounds."
"Everything quiet?"
"Yeah. No problems." Mark knelt down to Toni's level. "So who's your helper for tonight?"
Toni giggled. "It's just me, Mr. Mark. I'm helping my Aunt Randi."
Aunt Randi? Lori and Tommy called her that sometimes, but usually they ignored her. Her heart clenched. The thought of this sweet girl adopting her as her aunt warmed her inside in a way she'd never thought possible.
Toni climbed into one of the chairs and watched out the window.
"Josh mentioned y'all want to build a crematorium."
"Yeah. We burn and bury the bodies, but I think it would be safer if we could burn them long enough for them to become ashes. Right now, we can't leave the burn site because of the risk of a wildfire breaking out."
Mark tapped his chin. "I doubt we can get the temps up to fourteen hundred degrees so we'll have to burn for a longer time. Then we'll still have to dispose of the bones. They don't burn to ash. Of course, they don't need to be buried. We can make a bone pile."
"Bone pile?" Randi's stomach lurched at the thought of a ton of bones piled up beside the pit.
"They put the bones in a blender type thing to break them down in a crematorium." Mark tugged his bottom lip through his teeth. "We could use a sledge hammer and break the bones down that way if you find the bone pile distasteful."
"What kind of brick do we need?"
"Anything that will withstand heat."
"We'll look for some on our next run."
"That'll work." Mark saluted Toni. "I'll leave it in your capable hands, madam." Toni giggled again, and Mark left.
Randi sat beside Toni and watched out the large window. The little girl didn't say anything, but every so often she would put on the goggles and stare outside checking for the 'monsters'. Poor baby.
"I need to make rounds. Do you want to stay here where it's warmer?"
Toni frowned. "If we both make rounds no one will be here to watch out the window."
"That's true."
"I'll stay here."
Randi stepped out on the walkway and the cold wind sliced through her. South Texas wasn't supposed to get this chilly. She walked to the side tower and watched for a bit. Nothing moving except animals. Voices floated on the air as she opened the door to walk to the back tower. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but it almost looked like an ordinary camping trip. Fires burned in the pits, and everyone sat around them talking. She could almost imagine the world was normal. Almost.
*****
Reginald found a motor home toward the end of the blockade. "Come on."
"Why bother?" Mary Anne stared at him. "None of us will live long enough to get to your precious land, so why keep trying?"
"Mom!" Belle grabbed her mother's arm and dragged her forward. "We can't give up. David wouldn't want that."
"You don't know what your brother would want." Mary Anne allowed Reginald and Belle to help her into the vehicle. "He might want us all to lie on the road until we die. That way he wouldn't be alone."
"No way." Belle sniffed back tears. "David died trying to save someone else. Don't act like what he did was unimportant. Besides, he's not alone. He's in heaven with Granny."
"Child, you are as deluded as your father's old bat of a mother."
Reginald started the RV and drove. A sickening numbness invaded his soul. He'd killed his own child. No different than if he'd held a gun to David's head and pulled the trigger.
Mary Anne stared straight ahead rarely blinking, but the skin around her eyes crinkled and pain shone in her eyes. Sweat glistened on her face, and she continually rubbed her arms. She needed something for her nerves. Maybe a Valium? But then she couldn't run if necessary. Reginald checked the gas gauge. Almost empty. He had to find fuel soon.
He pulled into Sheffield and found a station. Since the electricity had gone out, the pumps were worthless. He needed to find a hose to drop into the underground storage so he could siphon gas into their RV, or find a car with a full tank.
The station had a large selection of garden hoses. He grabbed the longest, dropped one end into the underground storage, and one end into the RV. It didn't work. He needed gravity or a pump. He went back into the station and searched through everything. In one section, they had a bait store that contained blow up toys for the water. And a pump. He rigged the pump to work with the hoses and used the foot pump to get gas in the RV.
When he finished, he opened the driver's side door. Mary Anne was missing from the passenger seat. He looked at Belle for clarification. She motioned toward the store, lifted her hands palm up, and shrugged. "I tried to get her stay in the camper."
Why had his wife done that? Didn't she know it wasn't safe? He ran toward the store. What if there were rabids inside? His heart thundered in his chest as he stepped through the doorway. Mary Anne stood at the back staring at her reflection in the glass door of the cooler.
She made eye contact with him and glared. "You. You did this to me." She whirled around and pummeled his chest with her fists. "You murdered my son. I will never forgive you. Why? Why would you do this?" The cast on her left arm caught his jaw as she flailed at him.
"I couldn't save him." He gripped her arms in his hands. "I tried, but it was too late."
"You developed a virus that turns people into these ungodly creatures. Why?" Mary Anne glared at him. "What kind of a monster are you?"
"The worst kind." He dropped her hands. Even though he didn't deserve to live, Mary Anne and Belle did. No matter what, he would try to get them to safety. After that, nothing else mattered.
"We need to go. Belle's outside alone." Reginald took Mary Anne's elbow in his hand and tried to guide her to the door.
She jerked her arm away. "You don't get to touch me. Ever again." She jabbed her finger into his chest over and over. "You should've died out there. Not my David."
"I know."
"Don't placate me." Her nostrils flared, and her eyes narrowed. "I hate you. Do you understand me? I. Hate. You. You killed David. And Belle."
"Belle's not dead."
"Not yet." Mary Anne scoffed. "Give it time. We'll all either die or turn into flesh-eating pond scum because of you."
"Honey—"
"I'm not your honey. Not anymore. When you first told me about the virus, I tried to support you. Tried to be on your side. After all, if you didn't invent it, someone else would have. But now, I can't even stand to look at you."
She spun around and started for the door. "By the way, I've known about Gabriele for several months now." Then she disappeared outside.
Gabriele? How did Mary Anne know? He'd been discreet. Reginald slumped to the ground with his back against the coolers. If Gabriele made it to the compound, what would happen when his young lover showed up? He'd hoped to keep her safe without Mary Anne ever knowing about their past.
Was it in the past? Right before the beginning of the outbreak, he'd taken a business trip, and Gabriele had accompanied him. The French beauty stole his breath away, but he always refused to leave his family for her. He thought he'd kept the affair a secret. Did Belle know? No. Mary Anne wouldn't have told their daughter about his infidelity.
Why hadn't she said something? Would he have let Gabriele go if Mary Anne had asked? No. Even now he ached to hold her in his arms. He loved his wife, but Gabriele made him feel alive.
Young. Needed. Wanted. Things he hadn't felt in a very long time. His wife had her own life. She hadn't wanted or needed him.
He couldn't help but compare her and his French lover. Mary Anne, tall and thin, had an air of self-assurance that only added to her beauty. Her brown eyes often sparkled with laughter, and her shoulder-length dark hair shone with golden highlights. Gabriele, on the other hand, had long, thick brown hair and blue eyes that drew him to her. Mary Anne had the height of a model, and Gabriele stood five foot in her socks.
The main difference in his women, Gabriele needed him. She made him feel like a man. His wife had never needed him. Not in the way his lover did. Mary Anne was independent, strong, and self-reliant. She never hesitated to make decisions or take action. Gabriele depended on him. He wasn't lonely with her like he was at home.
He would worry about his lover when, or if, she showed up at the compound. His heart ached at the thought of what she faced trying to get there from LA. Mary Anne would have to accept her into their lives. Reginald pulled himself up from the floor, grabbed a few candy bars, several bottles of lukewarm soft drinks, and headed outside. He handed Belle one of the candy bars and a drink, then handed another to Mary Anne.
She glared as she took it from him. "You'll pay," she hissed. "Not just for your little mistress, but also for David."
His chest ached, and his shoulders grew heavy and slumped forward. He couldn't continue like this. Mary Anne hated him. Belle soon would. She tended to follow in her mother's pattern. Why was he even bothering going to the compound? He should send them on ahead. They could stay there, and if Gabriele showed up, they could fight it out or learn to get along without his interference.
Mary Anne was right. He deserved to die. Not David. Why couldn't he turn back time and take his son's place? Unbidden images of the rabids eating his son's flesh flooded Reginald's mind. A well-placed bullet to his brain would end this.
Chapter Nineteen
Josh slipped out of his tent the next morning while it was still dark. He clipped a walkie on his belt, grabbed one of the .30-30s, and hopped on a four-wheeler with a small trailer attached. They were running low on meat, so he needed to try to get a couple of deer. He and Randi could make sausage or something with part of the venison. His breath came in white puffs as he drove to the perimeter. He climbed up the steps to the deer blind as the sun peeked over the horizon sending a red glow into the clear sky.
He settled into the blind and looked out over the land. The scent of pine wafted on the air, and the Frio bubbled in the background giving the deer blind a sense of peace. The tension eased in his shoulders and for the first time in a long time, his muscles relaxed.
A big buck grazed into the area. He focused the scope's cross hairs on the animal and dropped him with one shot. He hung the animal by the hind legs, bled him, and gutted him. He would take the deer into the camp and process it. Mark and Xever were tanning the hides and saving them, and they would use the entire animal, then he would dispose of the carcass. He dragged it onto the trailer as a woman called for help.
"Please." She limped toward him. "Help me."
Josh keyed the walkie and called Randi. "I need you to join me near the western deer blind. Ma'am, are you okay?" He eyed the woman. How did she get inside the perimeter? "What are you doing here?"
She reached for him, but he stepped out of her clasp. "How did you get in here?"
She rubbed her nose. "Water? Please?"
Josh grabbed a bottle of water from the four-wheeler and handed it to her. "How did you get inside the fence?"
"I climbed it."
Unlikely story. "There's razor-wire surrounding it."
The woman nodded. "I know." She held up her arms and showed him deep slices. "These aren't too bad. It's the ones on my legs that are deep." She lifted her skirt and showed him a slice from the knee to the ankle.
The skin surrounding the cut had turned red and red streaks ran across her knee. Other slices, not as deep ran up and down her legs. The other leg was shredded and all of the injuries were swollen and red with red streaks. "Why did you do that?"
"Have you been outside?" Tears dripped down her cheeks. She rubbed her arm across her face wiping away the wetness. "I had to take my chances."
"How long have you been inside the fence?"
"A day. I climbed a tree and hid." She rubbed her forehead. "I thought I could stay there until I felt a little better, but I'm getting worse."
Randi drove up on one of the other ATVs. "What's up? Mark, Jill, and I just got back from a run to get the stones for the cremation pit. We were about to start building it."
Josh pointed at the woman. "Said she climbed the fence."
Randi lifted an eyebrow. "Really?"
The woman nodded.
"If you know what's good for you, you'll tell the truth." She kneeled beside the woman. "Did you cut the fence? Are we going to find infecteds wandering around on our land?"
"No. I promise. I climbed." She held up her arms and showed Randi the sliced flesh, then showed her the ones on her legs. "I flung my coat over the top of it, or I would've ripped myself to shreds."
"Looks like you did that anyway." Randi inspected the cuts. "What's your name?"
"Candy Blaine." The woman grabbed Randi's hand. "Please don't send me back out there. You don't have to take me with you, but let me stay here."
"You'll die if I leave you here." Randi scratched her head. "The cuts on the legs are infected. The ones on your arms don't look good either."
"I'd rather die here than go out there and get eaten."
"You're not going out there." Randi turned to Josh. "Can you take her and the deer back? I'll do a perimeter check and make sure the fence's not compromised."
"Yeah." He helped the woman climb on the back of his ATV. "Hold on." He'd ask Miguel to help her.
The woman wrapped her injured arms around him and leaned her forehead against his back. Her skin felt like it was on fire. Would she survive even if they gave her antibiotics? Josh prayed she wasn't infected. The way she leaned against him, if she was infected, he was in trouble. He drove back as quickly as he could and found Miguel. "I have a patient for you. She climbed the fence and sliced herself up. Several of the wounds look infected, and she's running a fever."
Miguel nodded and helped him get the woman into a tent. He assessed her wounds. "Yeah. We need to start IV antibiotics right away. Stay with her, and I'll get what we need."
Josh nodded and Miguel disappeared.
The woman groaned. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
"No. I shouldn't have invaded your home." Her damp hair clung to her red face. "I had to get away. They were going to kill me. You understand, don't you?"
"I do. We're going to help you." He rubbed her shoulder. "Hang in there. Miguel's going to give you some medicine. You'll feel better soon."
"It doesn't matter. As long as I don't turn into a zombie, I don't care what happens." She grabbed his arm. "If I die, will you put a bullet in my brain?"
"Candy, you won't turn into a zombie if you die—"
"Promise me!"
"I promise." Was she delirious or had she watched too much TV? "Why are you alone?"
"My boyfriend. They ate him." She clutched at Josh's hand. "Don't send me back out there," she begged over and over.
Miguel came back into the tent and started an IV. "I'm going to give you antibiotics. Are you allergic to anything?"
"Penicillin."
Miguel grabbed a bottle. "I'll start you on Levaquin. Do you have any bites or scratches?"
Candy shook her head. "Chris, my boyfriend, kept them off me. That's when I climbed the fence."
"I'm going to give you something to help with the pain, also."
Josh wiped the sweat off her face with a cool cloth while Miguel cleaned the wounds. She cried out as he scrubbed the deepest wound. "I'm sorry. I know it hurts, but I've got to clean them."
"It's fine."
Miguel gave her a li
ttle more pain medicine after he'd tended to her wounds and she dozed.
Josh motioned for Miguel to join him outside. "I know she says none of those wounds are bites, but we can't take a chance. Someone needs to keep watch on her around the clock."
"I agree."
"Could she really have that bad of an infection in a day or less?"
"It's possible. Especially since the wounds weren't clean." Miguel rubbed his cheek. "Back on the topic of her boyfriend, we may also want to check the other side of the perimeter fence. What if she's part of a group determined to take over this place? They could've sent her in as a decoy."
Josh hadn't thought of that. "Randi's doing perimeter checks right now. When she gets back, we'll take one of the trucks and do a search."
"Okay. I'll set up watches for Candy," Miguel said. "She still may not make it. Without the ability to culture the wound, I'm using broad-spectrum antibiotics, but that doesn't mean her infection will respond to them."
*****
Randi slipped on her jacket and headed to the four-wheel drive pick-up. Josh leaned against it waiting for her. "You ready to check out the area surrounding us?"
He nodded. "I hope Candy's telling the truth, but we can't trust anyone."
"Not now." She pulled out onto the dirt road leading to the outer gate. "If she's part of a group trying to infiltrate our compound, then she'll have to go, too."
"Yeah. If she lives."
"Really?" Randi frowned. "Does Miguel think the infection's that severe?”
"Yep. He said he's not sure the antibiotic's the right one, and he can't find out without testing the wounds."
"Makes sense." She shrugged. "I guess. Of course my medical knowledge is field first aid from my stint in the Marines."
"Hoo Rah."
Randi grinned. "You?"
"SEAL."
"Impressive. Did you join before the last war?"
"Yeah. I planned on making military my career, but when my parents were killed, I didn't re-up. I figured Mark needed me."
"Can I ask you something?" Randi glanced at him. "Without ticking you off?"
"I guess."
"What's Mark's deal?" She turned onto the field just outside of the fence. "He comes across as super-duper smart, but some of the stuff he says, it's a little odd."
Dark Days (Book 1): Contagion Page 16