Tonto licked his hand. Then turned around three times and laid down next to his master. Alden sat and watched Tonto sleep, reaching down and petting him often. Maximus was next. He walked over, as he got near Tonto’s head poped up and a low growl came forth. “Now.. now boy, he’s a friend too.”
Petting Maximus he scratched his ears. “Now you go lay down next to cupcake two. She brung ya and you need to take care of her.”
Maximus did as he said and laid next to Ceara between her and Charlie. Alden shook his head, “smart dog”….
He kept the fire going and as the sun started to come up he added a couple of more logs to it. He wanted it nice and hot when the kids awoke. Getting up he walked over and took the coffee pot, pouring the last into his cup and then making a fresh pot. Looking at his watch he figured it was time to wake the hell cat up.
He moved to where Tabitha was sleeping, reached down and slowly began wiggling her toes, softly calling her. “Psst hey cupcake, cupcake three.”
He watched as she poked her head out of the bag but only just past her nose. Her eyes were full of the night sand. “You’re up sweetie, rise and shine. I’m going fishing.”
Tabitha looked at Alden like a stranger for a moment with her eyes now very wide and with her left eyebrow cocked upward she smirked when she remembered hearing him say the word, “Sweetie”. It sure had been a hell of a long time since she had heard that word and it wasn’t ever being used towards her. She always was the one using it and not as casually as the way that he had. More along the lines of “You better get your facts right there sweetie” and that was always with a hint of sarcasm.
This was entirely different…Alden sounded a tad endearing which caused Tabitha to sit straight up and brush the hair out of her eyes. But before she could make a witty comment to Alden she noticed that Alden was walking away from her. Looking around she noticed that the others appeared to be sound asleep and remembering that it was now her turn to take watch she did not want to holler out and wake everyone.
Quietly getting out of her bag Tabitha cautiously made her way towards the bathrooms. She needed to go pretty bad.
This was the one time of the day that always made her feel alive more than ever. Being alone was one thing she loved. Whenever she used to hide out in the woods when she was a kid she always thought of everything that was out in the wilderness was actually more alive than all those people that use to bother the shit out of her. Tabitha communed well with nature but she would have never allowed anyone around her to know this because it would ruin her bad ass reputation.
When she had tidied up Tabitha made sure that she had the camp always in her sights but she walked the outlying perimeter. Not many branches had been broken and the leaves on the ground appeared to be quite weathered which told her that there had not been too many hikers out and about before everything had gone to hell.
Quietly Tabitha tip toed making sure to not make hardly any noise that would stir the others. “The others...” Tabitha thought to herself. Somehow the people that she had been always running from were now the ones that were trying to survive just as she was. As far as Tabitha was concerned; she along with the other three were the only ones alive and for that matter they could be the only living, breathing humans left on the face of the earth. Tabitha thought of them not needing her, that was one thing, but then again she had to think that maybe she needed them more than she knew.
Before realizing it Tabitha had made it back over to the fire and took her seat down on top of her sleeping bag. She sat there watching the low burning embers dance as the breeze blew by. She saw the pot of coffee made, Tabitha reach into her back pants pocket to grab her pack of smokes. Noticing she only had about eight left Tabitha knew she would have to either quit or make a store run.
Chuckling to herself she quietly said, “I will just go ahead and use my five finger discount.”
Tabitha picked up a small twig off the ground and lit her cigarette from some of the embers. Tabitha took that first cool drag. While holding it in her eyes traveled over to the two little innocent love birds. Seriously, Tabitha did not mean them any harm. She honestly did like the virgin qualities of Charlie and the hard headiness of Ceara. Even old man snaggle-puss had grown on her when he mounted her while trying to rescue her ass.
Although Tabitha did not want to have a relationship with anyone, but just knowing that she could now be a real person without trying to always avoid people, caused her to begin looking at the three others like a family of some sorts. “Funny how things work”, she thought to herself.
Throughout her life she never wanting to fit in with all the others; well now she had to fit in to survive and if she had to do it, she was bound and determined to have a whole hell of a lot of fun doing it.
Tabitha sat there finishing her smoke and taking all of the noises in as the sun had begun to rise, making the base of the tree line glitter and glisten. Off in the distance she could hear the simple singing of the birds which was quite amazing with all of the death that they all had been subjected to.
Rising to her feet, she flicked the butt into the fire then reached over to grab another branch. After stirring the remaining embers with is, she then threw the wood onto the bed of coals. She had started whistling a catchy little tune. “Strangers in the Night”, came out from between her lips.
Tabitha was being a little ornery and she knew it. When she had finished with the fire she tip toed over to where Ceara and Charlie were sleeping. Whistling louder she started picking up around them. Realizing that the whistling wasn’t working, she started singing softly, “Strangers in the night exchanging glances, lovers at first sight….”
She continued on just a little louder, now Tabitha made her way up by their heads. She could see that they were beginning to wake and Tabitha feeling a bit frisky said, “Room service……. care for a breath mint?”
Tabitha began pulling back their covers just a tad and looked down at the two of them. “Good morning you two!!! Alden went out to go get breakfast and I am going to go down and find some for logs for getting our fire a little hotter.”
As the sun shown down Tabitha began feeling like a new woman.
Ceara sat up letting the sleeping bag drop around her waist, stretching and yawning big. Charlie staying laying down not willing to get up yet, Ceara smiled at him, “Morning.”
It was then that Ceara thought about how she must look, quickly running her fingers through her hair. Chuckling, “You gotta love bed head, huh?”
Fixing her shirt to make sure she was covered, and then climbed out of the sleeping bag. Alden had food in the truck but Tabitha had said something about him getting breakfast. Looking around camp but didn’t see him anywhere, she figured he was either checking traps or fishing.
Ceara went to the fire to warm up and noticed Charlie was up, “Want some coffee?”
He nodded sleepily running fingers through his hair. She poured him a cup, handing it to him. “I’m going to try to get cleaned up a bit, I’ll be back.”
He just waved her off as he sipped his coffee. Ceara laughed thinking Charlie wasn’t much of a morning person.
Making her way to her jeep she found her backpack grabbing her little personal compact bag and headed for the bathrooms. Maximus trotted after her, she reached down to pet him good morning.
The mirrors in the bathrooms were filthy; she ran some water over hands then tried to wash the mirrors. All that accomplished was smearing the dirt turning it into a muddy mess. “Nice, you can’t see shit now.”
Ceara headed back out and grabbed a dirty shirt out of the jeep and went back into the bathroom to try again. Soaking the shirt then ringing it out, she wiped the mirror down again and this time she was able to make better progress.
After a few more swipes she could see herself pretty good and rinsed out the shirt then tossed it over one of the stall walls. She went about brushing her hair and teeth, then washed her face. The water was cold but felt wonderful, she looked around
then stripped down to the waist and did a half sponge bath.
She knew there were showers but a cold shower didn’t really sound to inviting. After she got dressed she put a little make up on just to feel normal, she told herself it wasn’t to impress Charlie, it was just to make herself feel better. She smiled at her reflection thinking she looked almost normal.
Heading back to camp she stopped to throw her backpack back in the jeep, then sat back by Charlie, “So…. you awake yet? Have you seen Alden or Tabitha?”
Charlie smiled weakly raising his cup as toast to her. “Not yet, Alden is probably hunting and Lord only knows what Tabitha is up to.”
His eyes were fixed upwards on the trees. Ceara looked up, then back. Charlie took another sip then sat down on a stump and just kept looking up at the sky. A rustling in the leaves brought his head down and he began to stare off into the woods watching a couple of squirrels running from tree to tree. He looked a little further and saw a rabbit that had stopped in a clearing and seemed to be watching him with as much interest.
He turned and walked over to the fire. The rabbit hopped a little farther back into the woods, the two squirrels just seemed oblivious to him. Pouring another cup he finally turned to Ceara, “You know in all the confusion and insanity I’ve been through this past few days and weeks, I hadn’t stopped to smell the roses as the sisters used to say.”
Ceara looked at him with a slight smile, “Huh?”
“Well… see…” he turned his head back to the squirrels, “I am… I don’t know… I feel safe today, you know relaxed. I was watching the birds flying around up there and then heard them squirrels,” pointing towards the woods.
“I hadn’t noticed it till now, but the only thing affected by this stuff is…..us. I mean, what animals I’m seeing seem normal, and I hadn’t noticed that shit before… The birds ain’t trying to eat each other and neither are the squirrels. Just kind of makes me wonder ya know?”
Taking another sip he watched Ceara as she began to look up again. A voice came from his left. “Hey kiddies see what Uncle Al brought you for breakfast.”
Charlie turned and saw Alden carrying a pole and a stringer full of various fish as he walked towards the camp.
“Here’s the deal cupcakes, I caught’em you clean’em and cook’em.” Laughing loudly as he threw the fish on the picnic table.
Chapter 6 – Past is the past:
Colt sat by the window watching the trees sway in the wind, leaning his head on the window pane wondering just how they were going to make it through this. It was just him and Beth against a world full of monsters. Was it just a matter of time before they were going to be just like the rest?
Movement by the edge of the porch caught his attention, sitting straight up he saw the bushes move more. Pulling out his gun he softly opened the door so he didn’t wake Beth, stepping out onto the porch shutting the door behind him. Stepping out the noise was worse, and then a family of raccoons ran for the woods. Colt chuckled and went back in the cabin as he slid the gun back of his pants.
When Beth had first lain down her thoughts were on her past, could there had been something that she could have done differently? The answer, she knew down deep inside was no, but still she wanted to be the one that would willingly hold the weight of the world on her shoulders.
Visions of her co-workers and her family ran through her mind while she slept. Reliving them over and over trying to make heads or tails of the events that had unfolded was all that Beth had been thinking about before she had drifted off to sleep.
Going now into an ever deeper sleep Beth could be seen traveling on the long journey that had led her to where she was sleeping now. Watching Colt open the can of chicken noodle soup and placing two bowls on the table. She smiled as he was preparing their supper.
A Better Homes and Garden Moment or so to speak was the setting now and even Beth herself began to feel the warmth on her skin as the rays of sun cascaded through the window. For the first time while she continue dreaming Beth finally smiled softly as she pulled the blanket up and curled her legs on the couch.
The laughing and talking over the hot sup that they both shared went on for quite a while when suddenly from out of nowhere a pounding on the windows caused both of them to look up. There outside was all of the infected trying to break in. Quickly running to the door to check if it was locked Beth was even trying then to protect Colt, but just before she was to turn and see where he was at a familiar voice awoke her from her nightmare……
Rest of the watch was full of memories and fears, he let Beth sleep and hour past time for her watch but in truth it was more for him than her, dreams plagued him every night. He went to her waking her gently, “Beth… Beth wake up, your turn to watch for a little while.”
“What time is it?” she asked Colt while rubbing her eyes.
“I let you sleep an hour longer than I was supposed to because I had lost track of time keeping watch and was doing a lot of thinking.”
Beth pushed back the blanket and sat up slowly. Running her fingers through her hair she continued with a sleepy voice, “Well, you didn’t have to but I do thank you for letting me sleep a while longer because I sure did need it.”
Getting to her feet, Beth walked into the kitchen where she turned on the water. Waiting for it to warm up a little Beth looked out the window just to see if there was any of the infected lurking about.
When the water was warm Beth cupped her hands and gathered the water to splash onto her face. After doing this a couple of times she looked over and saw a kitchen towel conveniently laying there, she wondered if Colt had laid it out. Once her face was dried and the faucet was turned off Beth turned around and noticed that Colt had already lain down and had drifted off to sleep.
As quietly as she could, Beth made her way around and gently pulled the blanket back up over his shoulders. Noticing that he still had the gun in the back of his pants, Beth removed it and placed it on the coffee table, still within his reach but she thought that he would rest a little easier, without it digging into his back.
When he was tucked in Beth then made her way over to the chair that was by the window. Before sitting down she reached behind her and took her Beretta out from behind her back then sat down. Once she found a comfortable position she watched the outside movements of the wildness. At first glance everything looked so peaceful and content. It was very hard to believe that out there were so many of the infected. Were there any other survivors? Or was it just her and Colt? Knowing firsthand how fast the infection spread and now it had been over a few weeks since it first happened. Only God knew if there were any members of any of the Center For Disease Control left alive; let alone if the organization still up and running. If in fact, it was all gone then there was no chance for a cure.
As the hours passed Beth had random thoughts and questions but never once did she turn her head away from the window. Staring aimlessly out into the world Beth felt hopeless for the very first time since the madness hit. The sounds of the birds chirping outside brought Beth out of her trans and realizing that she hadn’t looked at her phone since she had found Colt she got up to go get her phone.
Her cell was laying over on the end table and after retrieving it she powered it up. Fortunately not having it on did preserve a little more of the battery life and she noticed that there were a couple of messages from a few of her co-workers.
Kelly Anne’s name popped up first which Beth clicked on immediately. Kelly was her closest friend at the CDC and the message read, “Brad and I are stuck in a major car jam, we made it out but several didn’t. Last reports that I got to see was that the high grounds are the best. So we are heading north… TTYL.”
Then next one was from another one of her co-workers Steven Rathbone, kind of an anal and arrogant man but highly intelligent.
“Found out Chemical compound that got loose was TX-239. That idiot said he thought he had disposed of it properly and this came from headquarters at home office. Bet
h, this is not good. Get out save yourself.”
Shaking her head Beth remembered everything that was discussed with TX-239 and those college idiots, who only got their jobs because their daddy’s worked there, thought that chemical warfare was a pretty damn awesome idea.
“Fucking morons!” Beth sarcastically replied.
However, when she saw her last message this caused her to drop her phone on the floor which caused Colt to stir.
It was from Kelly, “OMG BRAD & I GOT AWAY & W R LOKED IN CAR. WE BOTH HAE BEEN BIT.”
Colt sat up rubbing the sleep from his eyes; he saw a phone on the floor in three parts. “Beth, what happened? Does your phone still work? Were you able to call out?”
He knew he was asking a lot of questions but her look scared him. Beth looked over to Colt wide eyed and her mouth was open as though she was in shock but when he had finished with the last question this brought Beth back.
“Ummm. I am sorry I woke you.”
Reaching down to pick up her phone she continued, “I was just checking my power and I received a couple of messages from a couple of people.”
She noticed that she only had one bar of power and reluctantly continued, “I didn’t try to call anyone because there isn’t much power left.”
Colt watched her reaction, he didn’t know if she was lying or just not willing to share yet. “Yeah ok, so messages from people are good, right? Did they get out?”
Her look was all it took to answer the question, “Oh shit Beth I’m sorry!”
Colt had no clue if he should go hug her or not, he scooted to the end of the couch. “You know if you need me I’m here, ok? Just tell me what I can do.”
Standing up he grabbed the blankets to fold them up, when he had them all folded he piled the pillow on top and put it all in the first bedroom. Walking back to the front room, “Hey I saw a couple of cans of fruit in the kitchen… you up for it?”
Surviving Day By Day (Book 1): So it Begins Page 20