He lowered the window and just looked at her wondering what the hell could make anyone smile right now. She was chit chatting? What the hell, does she think this is a game?
Colt took a deep breath; maybe she hadn’t seen and done things like he had. She offered him water and as if to prove she was honest she went and got her a bottle and started drinking it.
Colt put the Rover in park and gently opened the door; he left it opened as he walked around to the hood where she stood, “I got water! I ain’t helpless!”
She smiled at him, “I’m sure you’re not, I was just letting you know I am willing to share.”
She held out a bottle of water to him, he thought about the water he had in the windshield wiper fluid bottles and took the one she held out, “Thanks.”
He twisted off the cap and took a drink, “I’m Colt, and my wife was bit and died.”
Colt had no clue why he told her that, that was none of her business. “Look Miss… What was your name, I’m sorry if you already told me, I ain’t really altogether here.”
She continued to smile, “I didn’t say my name, nor did I say you were helpless and I’m sorry about your wife. So let’s start over ok? My name is Beth.” She smiled taking another drink waiting for him to reply.
Colt stood there still holding his water, “Ok, well like I said, name’s Colt and I don’t really think it’s a good idea to stay out here. Is that your car? Why did you leave it?”
Beth placed the cap back on her bottle then sat it down on top of the hood. She didn’t feel comfortable yet to let him know too much about her and she definitely was not confident that he would give her a ride. For all she knew this may just be a stopping point and he could get spooked or something.
Last thing that Beth wanted or needed at this point was to be left without any way of getting out of the forest if for some chance she had made a mistake with her previous decision.
“Well, Colt…”, she pause and brushed her hair behind her ear and continued talking while presenting a small smile. “Yes, this is my car and I have driven a very long way to get here. I figured that once the cities were over run that hopefully the best chance, if there was any would be head to a forest or wild life recreation center.”
“You know; somewhere that was not as populated. The virus in the cities spread like a plague and not too many survivors were visible along my travels. In fact, Colt, you are the first person that I have seen in days.”
Beth could see that Colt was listening but she noticed that his body language was telling her that she may be talking about things he had already dealt with. With what he had been through with his wife the last thing he probably wanted to hear was her talking about the infected. For heaven’s sake she herself did not like remembering her family the way they were but how she herself had to put them down.
Just then she realized that she could talk about that and hopefully that would show him a sense of understanding. Still standing there Beth continued speaking softly, “I too, have lost people…. My Dad sadly was the first person who got sick and within a few hours after he passed; he then woke and attacked my Mom and my little sister. So, with what I had seen on the news I did the only thing that I knew what to do.”
Bowing her head while tears began to fill her eyes, “I put them to rest…..then I packed up my stuff and headed out.” Wiping the tears from her eyes Beth raised her head.
Colt stood looking at her like she sprouted two heads, “You killed them? My wife got bit and I protected her till she died the second time… How could you kill them, didn’t you love them?”
Beth started to feel like she may have done something wrong but she remembered what Chad said. Quickly she thought of her response and continued, “I was with my Dad up until he died the first time. My Mom and sister went into his bedside and while we were all in there with him for a while I had gotten up to go to the bath room. I heard some screaming and when I went back into the room I saw my Dad sitting up in bed and attacking my Mom while she was trying to get up off the bed.”
Beth shifted not really wanting to remember it in such detail, much less talk about it. “My little sister then tried to help and all I could do was just stand there. I was frozen right where I stood. Mom was screaming my name and my sister was crying and yelling. There was so much blood and before I could even think Dad was trying to get up and come after me. I was not going to let that kind of massacre continue.”
Leaning on the hood and looking Colt straight in the eye, “ So to answer your question Colt, I had to kill them or they would have killed me and yes, I did love them with all of my heart and I was not about to let them suffer. Dad was not alive anymore and he was attacking my Mom and sister!”
She then walked from the side of the hood to the front of the hood and leaned back up against the bumper so she could be a little closer to Colt while she continued, “Colt, people do and make horrible decisions when they are faced with unimaginable terror. Yes, I did what I did and I didn’t know what else I could do but I damn sure wasn’t going to stand there any longer watching my Mom and sister being eaten alive then wait for them to turn. What’s more, I didn’t want to succumb to their demise.”
Colt took a long drink, looking around the forest. “Look let’s get in the car and try to find somewhere not so open, I don’t trust this place just yet.”
Colt grabbed the case of water as Beth got her backpack, they both got in the Rover, and he tossed the water in the back seat. Colt threw it into gear heading down the dirt road. They drove in silence for a little till Colt digested what she said. “Well, I guess I did have a little different than you. My wife was bit and she wanted me to shoot her, I just couldn’t. I loved her so much that I just couldn’t do it. She begged me to; she even told me she would hate me if I didn’t kill her.”
He glanced over at Beth, “I think she did hate me in the end, and I still couldn’t do it. Do you know I even wondered if I was being even crueler by not putting her to rest? I sat there day after day watching as she starved to death.”
He was quiet for a minute, “Do you know I thought about feeding the neighbors to her? Now how sick is that? I loved her so much that I wanted her there even if it meant I fed my friends and neighbors to her. So I guess I shouldn’t be so quick to pass judgment on you huh?”
He gripped the wheel tight, “I just really thought that CDC place that the news kept talking about would find a cure and I would get her back and our lives would be normal again.”
Just then they both saw the sign that pointed to cabins and Colt turned right and found three cabins sitting in an open area. He smiled, “I think we are home…. such as it is.”
Beth got out of the rover and was now very quiet. She felt the pain and anguish from him about what he had to go through. However, when he made his remark about the CDC Beth knew right there and there that if she told him anything about her being connected with the CDC that he would probably go postal and she didn’t want or need that right now.
She did know that the truth would come out and Beth thought that the sooner the better but right now she just wanted to make sure that the environment that they found themselves in now was contained and not infected.
Turning back to see Colt, she smiled once more and continued, “ Well, any place right now that is secure and a place to rest would be like a resort to me. Let’s go check out the cabins and make sure that for now we are safe.”
Colt went to the back, lifting the back hatch, “Hey I got this stuff from a sheriff’s office.”
He dropped the bag on the ground and unzipped it showing her all the weapons. He grabbed one of the hand guns and handed it to Beth then took one himself, “ummm I haven’t cleared anywhere before, do we stay together or each take a cabin?”
Beth chuckled as she grabbed the Colt 45. It was quite apparent that Colt had little experience with things that were outside of the norm to him, and she found his innocence cute to say the least.
With everything that he ha
d been through and his love for his wife up until the very end he showed Beth that he was very much a virgin to the outside world.
Beth didn’t want to leave him alone, tucking the 45 down the front of her jeans then pulling her shirt over it, “I would feel more comfortable if we stayed together. If it’s alright with you let’s clear all the cabins and hopefully one of them have two rooms.”
Beth wanted to make Colt feel some sort of security in numbers and didn’t really want to be left alone either. She didn’t know one hundred present what was going on. However, what she did know was that together they could help one another. Hopefully there would be more survivors but right now all Beth knew was that there were only two people left in the world and with her being one; Colt was the other.
Colt look at his gun to make sure it was loaded and the safety was off. After they took a couple of steps he turned back to the bag and grabbed another gun and shoved it in the back of his jeans. He started back toward one of the cabins. “I think we should each take a cabin, that way if there are any of those monsters in one or all three we will attack them at once. If either of us finds the cabin we’re in is empty, we will have two choices, one is to move to the third but if the other has gun fire we go to the cabin they are in and help, deal?”
He looked to the cabins, “If both the ones we check got monsters then we do our best to get it clear. But….”
Colt looked back to Beth with the saddest look, “If I get bit you shoot me the minute you know, send me to Jessica as fast as you can.”
Beth nodded but didn’t reply. Colt began walking toward the cabins, pointing to the far left one, “I got this one, you take that one.” as he pointed toward the far right one.
“I’ll meet you in the middle.” Licking his lips he said a silent prayer that the cabins were deserted.
Stepping onto the first step, hearing the creak of the wood and smelling the pine made him wish that this was a just a simple vacation with Jessica, it was beautiful here. Then he looked to the door and knew this was far from a vacation, there could be monsters on the other side just waiting to turn him into one.
The cabin was well maintained, the porch was the length of the cabin with each board placed just right. As an added touch there was a wooden rocker that reminded him of the ones he sat in at Cracker Barrel restaurants. The windows were dirty but in tacked, the two in the front had curtains hanging in them but with the dust on the panes he couldn’t see past the curtains.
Standing on the porch with his hand on the door knob he looked over to the other cabin, the front door was out of sight and so was Beth. He wondered if she were stronger than him and had just gone right in. Taking a deep breathe he turned the door knob and cracked the door just enough for him to slide in.
Now standing in the front room he let his eyes adjust, everything looked normal so far. The couch was an overstuffed, easily six feet, and made of logs. The print was a bit over kill with pine trees. There was a huge rock fire place with wood stacked on the side, Colt looked in the fireplace and noticed there were burnt embers.
That made him uneasy; someone had been here and very well could still be here. The question now was if they were monsters or someone waiting in the shadows waiting to shoot him.
Ok, people can talk, not the monsters so he had to call out, but that would take his element of surprise away. Colt glanced around, did he risk it? If they living people were here he had to find out, so he didn’t accidentally shoot them, but what if they shot him?
All the ifs and buts were running through his mind over and over, he had to choose and get moving. He took a couple of steps toward the kitchen and heard a noise behind him. “FUCK ME!!!”
The monsters were coming in the front door and the first one grabbed his shoulder before he had time to react. Colt jerked to get away and watched as his gun went flying across the living room and slide by the fireplace.
That made the panic rise more than a few notches. Knocking the feet out from under the monster that had hold of him but the thing didn’t let go of him so they were both on the floor and the man’s teeth were going for Colt’s arm.
Colt did the only thing he could think of; he crammed his thumb into the man’s eyes as deep as he could. The eye popped like a bubble making Colt gag but he kept driving his thumb deeper and finally the man stopped moving and released him.
Colt scrambled to his feet to get away but now two more were coming after him. Running to the fireplace he tripped over the coffee table and crawled for the gun and turned to fire but the kid monster had his leg, Colt aimed for him and fired. His suddenly had a hole right between his is eyes and was limp on the floor. The woman was on him in seconds, she bit down as Colt pulled the trigger. She flew back landing on the coffee table that had just tripped him up.
Colt ripped his shirt off looking for bite makes; he paid extra close attention to his arm. The woman hadn’t broken the skin. He picked his gun back up and stood looking around at the chaos; he could just leave them here after all they weren’t staying in this cabin. Eventually the smell would become bad so he knew would have to remove them or burn them at some point; but not today.
Colt took a deep breath and once more headed to the kitchen to make sure there were no more monsters. He was sure it was empty or they would have come out with all the noise. The rest of the cabin was empty he even checked the closets and the shower in the bathroom, he felt silly; like a kid worried about the boogeyman, but isn’t that just what was going on? They were now in a world full of boogeymen.
Colt made his way back to the living room and kicked the woman off the coffee table onto the floor, “Fucking bitch!”
He fell onto the couch looking at the mess; tears filled his eyes as he looked to the ceiling, “Just how many kids do I have to kill before you cut me some slack? What did I do to make you hate me so much?”
Leaning forward on the couch, elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, “Maybe you don’t exist; maybe you are just another fairytale. If you left us then you couldn’t have loved us much anyway.”
Colt walked back out on the porch to make sure the area was clear too, that is where the monsters had come from so he knew there could be others.
Around the side of the cabin sat more wood and an axe wedged in a stump, going to the stump he went to slide his gun in the back on his pants, until he hit the metal of the other gun, “Oh great, forget you have an extra weapon Colt, real smart!”
He slid the gun in the front of his jeans and pulled the axe free and kept walking. Around back the tree line was very close so he was glad they had picked the middle cabin to stay in, animals were sure to come around if they smelled food.
Colt had to smile; he was already planning on cooked meals when they didn’t have a pot to piss in but they now had the window to throw it out of.
He made his way back to the front and headed over to the cabin he knew Beth went to clear hoping she had better luck than he did.
Chapter 20 - Beth:
Watching Colt enter the cabin gave Beth the saddest feeling. She herself knew what it was like to kill loved ones. When she did what she had to do to her family it ripped at her soul and for one, at that time she didn’t think that anyone would have to do the exact same thing that she did.
It didn’t matter if it were parents, siblings or in Colt’s case his beloved. The death of someone who was their world just left a gaping hole. It became clear that Colt’s love was his world. He watched her suffer for so long and what was worse he kept taking care of her even after she was dead. Beth knew that had to be horrific.
Beth knew that ramifications of the situation but Colt more than likely did not have a clue as to what was taking place on the outside world before, during, or sadly after he had finally ended her torment. For the first time, Beth thought about the global possibilities of this mass infection.
The government, HER employers had made grave mistakes and she somehow felt responsible for this. Guilt was now draping her like a long blac
k shroud and she would carry this forever. Beth knew right then and there that no matter what happened she would be looked at as the enemy if they found out whom she worked for.
How would she deal with that when and if it happened? There were so many questions plaguing her now and she knew that this was not the time; nor the place to be psychoanalyzing herself.
It had been a few minutes and Beth proceeded to go inside the cabin with extreme caution. Once she had made it across the threshold she reached behind her and grabbed her Beretta. The smell in the cabin was stale and stagnant. It became apparent that this one had not been aired out in a while. Off to her left she saw a room which was wide open. Walking inside she glanced over to the bed and noticed that it was made. Something told her that this cabin had not been occupied but she had to make sure that all of the rooms were empty as well before jumping to any conclusions.
Slowly she made her way out of the room and around an adjacent wall where there seemed to be a little eating area. On the table Beth saw a couple of candle holders with the candles in them. She thought that would come in handy when night fell. Now she began thinking of survival here and that made her smile.
Making her way over to the sink she noticed a few plates lying in the sink and this caused her to become a little more cautious then she was before. Dirty plates meant that there may be a chance of someone inhabiting the place, she suddenly heard a gun go off. “Damn’t!” she exclaimed.
Quickly she made sure the safety on her Beretta was off. When she had finally cleared the three major rooms the only one left that she had to clear was the bathroom which had to be towards the back of the cabin. Slowly she made her way down the hallway when suddenly she heard a sound directly behind her.
Without thinking she quickly spun around, coming up behind her was one of the infected. The subject appeared to be a middle aged man whom, by the looks of him, had been dead quite a while. His skin was all grey and the dried blood was covering his entire body with a huge hole in his side where apparently he had suffered several bites.
Surviving Day By Day (Book 1): So it Begins Page 14