Colt went to the bathroom as soon as Beth was out the door, he knew he should have helped her but he had to see the wound for himself. Pulling his shirt off, he wiped the mirror of the dust that had built up. He turned on the cold water to hear the pipes rattle loudly and spit out dark brown water then it ran clean. He thought if nothing else they could take cold showers tonight.
He soaked his shirt and twisted it getting the dirt out of it the best he could then wiped the wound. He saw the cut and knew Beth was right; it was just a clean knife cut. He knew he was being a baby but he also knew he had more knowledge of how the monster was once infected. He would rather Beth just shoot him and be done with it. He slung his shirt over the shower rod to let it dry. Colt was surprised but his belly was growling now too, he made his way to the kitchen to see what might have been left.
He looked in a few cabinets before he found just the thing, “Bingo!” There sat two big dusty cans of chicken noodle soup. After a few drawers he found the can opener and a pan. He opened both cans and poured them in the pan. He reached to turn on the burner, “Shit!”
He went out on the front porch, “Hey, Beth I think we got dinner but you got a choice…. cold soup or we have to build a fire in the fireplace to heat it up.”
He was actually smiling. Beth put her hands on her hips as she walked up, “Mister you promised me dinner and I want it hot!”
Colt was glad she was smiling too. “Ok, ok warm it is, do me a favor… I got matches out in the car, will you get them and I’ll go grab some wood and kindling. I do at least know how to build a fire.” Within the hour they sat eating warm soup and watching the sun set.
Chapter 3 - Meeting in the Middle:
Ceara sat watching Charlie get the fire ready, Tabitha heading to the van and Alden pulling the steaks out of the bag he had. She just sat watching them wondering if any realized what just happen. They had killed about twenty people, one was even a kid. God only knew how many Alden had killed. Were they okay with it? Did any of them feel bad for taking human lives?
Ceara thought back to the battle and knew she had a trigger or switch in her mind that flipped when the deadheads attacked them. She took head shots without even thinking. Charlie had even offered to teach her to shoot better and that had gotten her excited, but why? The only reason to shoot better was to kill better. Were they really at the point of believing there was no hope, no cure, no way to fix the mess that they now lived in?
Ceara stood brushing off her backside, stepping over the log she had been sitting on. “Guys I’m going to try to find something to go with the steaks. Maybe some berries or something.” She shrugged and walked toward the tree line.
Charlie looked up from the fire, “Hey, you okay?” He could tell by the way she looked the expression on her face that something was bothering her. Ceara just waved over her shoulder, “I’m fine, I’ll be back in a few.”
“Be careful out there, there might be a few stragglers though I think we got them all.”
Charlie went back to focusing on getting the fire just right. He watched as Alden laid the steaks on a picnic table and began to trim the fat off a little more making them more presentable. He could tell by the way they were cut that Alden had butchered a cow or bull or something and he didn’t have the luxury of a butcher shop with all its nice knives and wrapping paper. Standing up admiring his make shift grill he smiled. “It ain’t the best but I imagine it will suit our needs for now.”
Standing back away from the others Tabitha was doing the isolation thing that she always did whenever she felt like she was getting too close to people. She often did this because every time she would get close to another person that one person would leave and never return for one reason or another.
Tabitha quietly snuck around the make shift perimeter of the camp when she suddenly noticed that Ceara was venturing away from the camp. There was something about that red head that caused her to feel curious as to what she was up to. She let Ceara get out of her sight when her curiosity got the best of her and Tabitha took off quickly on foot.
Within a few moments Tabitha saw Ceara bending over and picking what looked like to berries or something of that nature. “Maybe that girl ain’t too bad after all”, whispered Tabitha to herself.
Tabitha suddenly thought about scouting out and seeing what she could possibly find to go with the steak that the boys were cooking up back at camp. As she tip toed through the brush she looked for walnuts because she had passed a few walnut trees a ways back. They did take some effort getting the meat out of the shell, but once you got into it the inside was well worth the wait. Just as she had moved around a few more trees she found something that was even better than walnuts and her attention quickly went to the noise of snapping branches. When Tabitha looked in the direction of the noise she saw that it had been Ceara. Something right then and there made Tabitha reach out to another fellow human being. Maybe it was the fact that they both were looking for food but the reason was actually more complex than that.
Tabitha realized that she had to put the fear of losing people out of her mind, when she came to the conclusion that for right now, the only people that were probably alive on the face of the earth were her, Ceara and the two men back at camp. That was enough reason right there to just let go and relax a little. “Hey Ceara!” she shouted in a whispering voice, “Over here, you have to see this!”
Tabitha then turned and headed over to a small mound of dirt that was right under a huge oak tree. The tops of the mushrooms could be seen lined up and down the path; some of them were in groupings of five to ten just poking up through the leaves. Others were standing tall like flagpoles.
Ceara looked up surprised that Tabitha had actually followed her much less called her over. She worked her way over to see what the girl had found. As she got closer she saw the mushrooms all around, “Oh my gosh! We need to leave those alone! I think those are some kind of drug! The Old man will be really pissed. I did find these though.” She proudly held out a hand full of berries she had found.
The look that suddenly appeared on Tabitha’s face was that of, Oh my fucking God!!!! How stupid are you?!?!!! Closing her eyes tightly and shaking her head as if wonders never did cease, Tabitha chuckled casually and jokingly continued, “Listen hear red, I can guarantee you that the mushrooms are the eatable kind and maybe later on I will show you what those kind of ‘shrooms are, but hell, those would probably kill someone like you.”
Tabitha walked closer to see the berries. “Ya, those are pretty tasty looking… but let me tell you about these mushrooms right here….. First of all, the way that you can tell that these mushrooms are the eatable kind is that well…”
Tabitha snickered because she knew that Ceara would probably get as red in her face as her hair when she was about to continue with what her description was going to be. “Ya see, Ceara, these mushrooms look like a penis and just like a penis that you can put in your mouth… well…… you can put these little delectable morsels in your mouth too. The other kind of ‘shrooms don’t look anything like that.”
Tabitha walked over, bent down, and then began swishing the leaves away with her right hand. Just then about seven of the mushrooms presented themselves and as Tabitha plucked them up the beam of the flashlight shown on more of them down the path. Slowly she stood up and nodded in the direction of the mushrooms then looked back towards Ceara.
“Now if civilization was up in the world, then I could tell you that these little ‘shrooms of gold would bring you about fifteen dollars a pound and we all would be rich beyond our wildest dreams.”
Ceara didn’t hear a word after Tabitha said putting the morsels in her mouth, “God what the hell, these people think I am so stupid.”
This and other thoughts went through her mind, foremost was she didn’t want to look as naive as she was feeling.
“Well I know one goes into your mouth but just like the ones on men, I don’t know how to tell the safe ones.”
She kind of l
aughed, “But I think men would get mad if you bit the head off theirs.”
She started picking some mushrooms tossing Tabitha’s shirt, “So do you like that before or after sex, I like after because its smaller and I can fit in in my mouth.”
She saw Tabitha’s look and wondered if her statement was wrong. Tabitha smiled at her, “Damn, girl, you are too much.”
She thought she might have said it wrong but hey she had only been with one guy and it was dark and he just did the deed and never called her again.
Glancing over at Tabitha she wondered just how many men she had been with, Ceara didn’t think it was many because she didn’t trust anyone.
She tossed another handful in with the rest, “Think we should get back? I can take those down to the creek and wash’em off. Hey I wonder if the old man… I mean Alden has any butter, I bet we could sauté them.”
Both girls headed back to camp with mushrooms and berries to add to the dinner.
Walking back with Ceara, Tabitha thought about “the old man” she chuckled out loud and Ceara stopped. “What’s so funny?”
Tabitha was holding on to her shirt that was plum full of the mushrooms, snickered, “I wonder how Alden would be if he was on a ‘shroom trip?! Hell that would be some funny shit!!”
Tabitha shook her head and started walking again, “Ok, never mind, it might seem pretty funny but that could be some freaky ass shit, because he could have a bad trip and go all commando on us; which would not be a good thing either.”
With as quick as the smile came, it faded away the world was a different place now and for all she knew they might be the only ones left alive in the world.
Ceara giggled, “You know watching that old man mellow out would almost be worth the risk. But you’re right, we don’t need him having a bad experience and shooting us as we sleep.”
They walked back into camp watching Charlie still working on the grill and Alden had the steaks ready. Ceara walked over to him, “Hey look what I found, and Tabitha found mushrooms!”
She proudly held out the berries for Alden to see.
Alden took the berries, holding them under a Coleman lantern he smiled at Ceara, “My dear, I thank you for the effort of this contribution to our little repast, but I want to enjoy this steak and keep it down. These here berries would cause us to probably throw it up within the hour. If it didn’t come up that way we’d all be fighting for the first chair in the latrine.”
Ceara’s smiled left her, “I-I’m sorry I didn’t know.”
Alden did something that none of them expected. Placing his hand on her shoulder he smiled. “Honey it was an honest effort, don’t feel bad or apologize for something you do not know. Tomorrow when the suns up I’ll take you out and show you which are safe and which are not.”
Looking up he went on, “In fact tomorrow will be lesson one of surviving in the woods for all of you.”
Turning to Tabitha he reached out and took the mushrooms from her. Placing them in a colander he took a bottle of water and rinsed them off slowly. Then placed them on the table, took a knife and began slicing them. Tabitha spoke up, “Please tell me that is not a knife you have used on a zombie?”
Alden raised an eyebrow, “This one, I think maybe I’ve used it on midget. Small deadhead, small kill.”
Tabitha knew he was joking, but it still upset her that he spoke of the deaths so nonchalantly. He reached into his truck in a box and pulled out a cast iron skillet. Then he opened a small cooler that had been hidden under a pile of thick pads. Alden took out a small tub of margarine and looked to the girls.
“This shit may be the only thing man ever made that I have any use for now. Flies won’t eat this shit, but it will work to cook the mushrooms and it does stay fresher than real butter.”
Charlie had walked over and was watching with interest how Alden was preparing the food. He wanted to learn as much as possible. “Al if it’s okay, I’d like to cook the steaks, and the mushrooms. Back at the orphanage I did a lot of work in the kitchen.”
Knock yourself out kid, I like my steak medium rare, but take care with those mushrooms. If you over cook them I will not be a happy old man.”
Turning he grabbed a beer and his flask, “In fact I will be an ugly old man and we all know how I get when I get ugly.”
Charlie took the steaks and placed them on the grill using salt pepper and some seasoned meat spice. He placed the skillet next to the steaks and soon the smell of both had everybody’s eyes fixed on the meal.
It took only few minutes yet it seemed like an hour to the hungry group. Finally Charlie began to pull the steaks off and placed them on the plastic plates. “Grubs done.”
Alden picked up his plate then scooped a few mushrooms out of the skillet taking a bite, Charlie watched with fear at first, then relief as Alden sighed happily and winked at Charlie. “You did good son. You’re our new mess sergeant.”
Charlie grabbed his plate and sat down at the table. “See, I told ya I could cook.”
Ceara went to the table and grabbed a plate she choose the smallest steak then added a few mushrooms.
“Not to be a kill joy but I am a fast food girl; single and alone, I never made many meals for myself but damned if I don’t want a Quarter Pounder with cheese, not to mention the biggest fries they got!”
Sitting at the table and pushing stuff out of her way, she took the first bite and it melted in her mouth. With her mouth full she did a half smile, “Damn not bad Charlie!”
She had another bite before she had barely swallowed the first. “So what do we do now? We know there are deadheads out there, so do we have to stay up all night? I ain’t trying to be a wimp, but I don’t know that I can keep my eyes open.”
Tabitha walked over to Alden and looked down to see the steaks. Her mouth was watering and she wasted no time in making her selection. “This one looks pink enough for me!”
Then she scooped a few of the mushrooms onto her plate. Tabitha giggled when she saw the tops of the mushrooms and she remembered how Ceara looked when she told her about what they looked like.
After her plate was fixed she walked over behind Charlie and jokingly bent down and whispered in his ear, “Later tonight you ought to have Ceara over there tell you all about the little talk we had about mushrooms.”
Standing up Tabitha walked over and sat down then winked at Ceara. “Don’t them shrooms taste mighty salty in your mouth with that margarine melted on them?????”
Ceara turned bright red and looked at Charlie without realizing it. “TAB SHHHH”
She was thanking the Goddess that it was dark out!
Charlie took a bite and looked to Tabitha then to Ceara, “So what’s she mean, did you girls have a little chick time out there or what?”
Alden was listening and watching the whole thing, he first thought was Tabitha and the magic mushrooms, but he quickly discounted that; Ceara was to naive to have been involved in that kind of stuff. As he took a bit he saw Ceara blushing and his mind changed gears. These people have got him pegged to be just an old man, “Boy did they miss the mark” he thought.
Almost choking on his steak as Charlie asked his question he grabbed his beer and washed it down quick. Then eyed Tabitha, “Charlie, I’m guessing from my assessments of my partners here, that our street-wise Ms. Tabitha took time to explain to our smurfette, the physical similarities between a mushroom and the male anatomy.”
Charlie looked to Alden, “I’m sorry but err…. what the hell are you talking about?”
Ceara herself was now as red as a prize winning rose. Alden finished the last of his steak and stood walking to the trash can to dump his plate. He looked at Tabitha and raised an eyebrow and grinned at the way they were all coming together, like when he was letting them know that things were not what they appeared to be. “Tabitha you are a mischievous one aren’t you?”
He walked over grabbed a metal canteen cup and poured him some coffee from the pot by the fire. He walked to the edge of the
woods his back to the group, shaking his head and chuckling as he went. He mumbled something but no one could quite make it out.
Tabitha looked at Alden and then without missing a beat looked right back at Charlie with a big smile on her face, “Ohhhh ya, you probably wouldn’t have any idea about that. Well, let me show you…”
Reaching over to grab some slices of the mushrooms Tabitha stacked them on top of one another and formed it just right. “This part right here is called the shaft”
As she slide her fingers up and down the sides of the mushroom. Tabitha began snorting a little because she noticed Ceara trying to make herself disappear where she was sitting. Quickly she placed the mushrooms down again and continued, “Well, I am stuffed and I got to clean up here, I will just let you finish explaining to Charlie boy the rest…”
Standing up with her plate she began to turn then stopped, snickered and said, “I’m sure Charlie might show you if you asked him for a visual!”
Charlie looked to Tabitha then to where Alden was standing and finally to Ceara, “ I repeat my question. WHAT IN THE HELL ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT? Would one of you please clue me in. “
Tabitha stood right there and immediately thought that Charlie was more back woods then Red was!
“Well hell!!!” Tabitha busted out laughing, “Well it appears that Red here knows what I am talking about and Alden over there knows exactly what I am talking about, so let me ask you something Chucky boy. You want me to draw a picture or do you just want Alden to explain it to you??”
Ceara quickly stood, “NO, no pictures no nothing!”
She threw her plate away tossing the bone to Maximus; she walked over to Tabitha, “I can’t believe you did that! Oh my god, he is going to think I am just wanting to sleep with him!”
Tabitha raised an eyebrow, Ceara sighed, “I think we have more to deal with than worrying about getting laid.”
Surviving Day By Day (Book 1): So it Begins Page 18