Ceara walked out on the porch and looked at Charlie, “What’d Alden say?”
Charlie looked down at the little girl and to Ceara. “He’s going to help me.”
Ceara smiled, “Did you expect anything less? You go do what you have to, I’ll play house and get this place ready for us.”
She stepped down and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek then turned and went back in waving at Beth and Tabitha. Charlie turned and looked at Tabitha first then Beth and walked away to the shed shaking his head, wondering if Tabitha would ever stop make him and Ceara the butt of all her jokes.
Alden walked around the cabin and found Charlie working hard digging the grave. Charlie had picked a spot back against the tree line where they bowed in a little. There were wild Lilac bushes on one side that had just started to bloom in the spring air. Grabbing a shovel he walked up and without saying a word he joined in.
It took a good two hours and the two men had it done. Alden looked to Charlie, “Why don’t you go get her, I’ll finish up smoothing out the bottom.”
Charlie climbed out and looked down at the grave. His only thought was how many he had dug when he had worked for the Church cemetery. Walking around to the porch he walked up the steps and called to Ceara, “Honey we’re about ready if you want to come out back.”
Walking back down he saw Tonto laying right where he’d left him. As he reached down to pick her up, Tonto sat up at attention, as Charlie lifted the girl he stood and then moved to Charlie’s right side. Tabitha was watching the whole thing unfold from her porch. Walking down and past Beth and Colt’s cabin she called to them. “YOU GUYS HAVE GOT TO COME SEE THIS.”
Colt and Beth walked out to see Charlie walking slowly around his cabin carrying the limp body with Tonto walking slowly beside him. Colt looked to the girls, “You Know I think we should go and join them.”
The girls nodded and as they started off Beth and Tabitha stopped to pick some purple and blue small wildflowers that grew sparsely around the ground. As the three of them rounded the cabin they heard the back door open and Ceara came down the steps. Alden was still down in the grave and Charlie was standing over it. Tonto had moved around to the head of it. Sitting up straight, Maximus had come from out of nowhere and was sitting next to Tonto. Ceara joined the others and held out her hand to Beth who took it then held hers out to Colt who held his to Tabitha.
Charlie knelt down slowly and handed the child to Alden who gently placed it in the bottom where he had placed a tarp. He then took the edges and folded it over her. His voice was gentle as he spoke words that none of them could make out. Once the tarp was folded he began to seal it with the duct tape. When he finished he reached to pull himself out and Charlie bent down, holding out his hand. Alden grabbed his hand and as he was pulled out he turned and faced the grave. He looked to Charlie, “Son this is yours, you want to say something?”
Charlie looked at him then to the others with tears in his eyes, “Yes Sir I do.”
Alden stepped back as Charlie folded his hands in front of himself. “Lord this was a one of your children. We found her and we feel that she should be with you and the sisters. Sisters, this is Charlie, please take care of this little one, give her joy and happiness and peace.” He looked to his new family, “I want to ask you if you would all join me in the Lord’s Prayer?” Alden reached out and grabbed Tabitha’s hand then took Charlie’s, as Charlie’s closed the circle with Beth’s hand. He began, “Our Father…………..”
As soon as the prayer was done Ceara turned away from everyone wiping tears off her cheeks. She silently walked back to the cabin to continue cleaning. She had found a plastic bucket and dish-soap under the sink and filled the bucket with cold water, adding the soap once it was full. There was no rag so she looked around and found a ratty, old cup towel. The cute little image of a teddy bear holding a heart was faded and stained. Ceara shook out the dust and held it up, it was dirty but what caught her eye was the hole that was worn into the towel right at the heart. She started to cry again wondering if any of their hearts would ever be whole. Ceara lugged everything into the living room, she got on her hands and knees and scrubbed as hard as she could but it didn’t seem to get the blood out of the hard wood floor. Ceara rolled the area rug up and left it by the door for Charlie to drag out and went back to trying to clean the floor. As she got to the spot where the young girl had been Ceara sat back and just looked at the area with many thoughts going through her head. “Why were they here? Were they on vacation or trying to escape just like we are? Where the other people they burned your parents? What was your name?”
She pulled out the dish rag and wrung it out, Ceara began scouring the spot. After a few minutes she rinsed out the rag and saw the spot was coming clean. She sat back on the floor leaning on the couch and began sobbing, everyone was gone, her family, friends, co-workers all her neighbors… everyone. Seeing the bodies had been hard but burying the little girl was more than she could take. Ceara didn’t know how everyone else felt but during that funeral she was saying good bye to everyone in her life, not just the girl.
Beth stood there with her head bowed and the tears fell from her face hitting the ground. Trying to hide the sounds of her mourning was quite difficult for this was actually the first time that she had cried since this whole mess began. She had deprived herself of crying when she had to kill her family because of the shock from all of it, not to mention the chaos that followed with hurrying to get out of there. Then there was that terrible text that she had received from her best friends Kelly and Brad. All of the pent up tears had been building from the very beginning and it took this moment of silence to cause the damn to break. Closing her eyes as tight as she could, the memories flashed behind her lids of her eyes. Her big sister and how they would spend the nights together sleeping side by side when they were younger. How she had to wonder if she was at peace now and now in a better place where she could walk, run and play. Then thoughts of everyone else whom had succumbed to the infected or the ones like each one of them standing there were trying to survive another day. Yes, it was this funeral for this small young little girl that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The sound of Ceara turning to leave caused Beth’s eyes to open and when she looked over her shoulder Beth quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. She took in a deep breath because she hadn’t realized that she had been holding her breath for all of that time.
Tabitha seeing Beth’s reaction caused her to gently place her hand up on her shoulder, “Beth, how about we leave the boys here and we can go get the cabins tidied up.”
Beth looked over at her and with her voice breaking she replied, “Ok, Tabitha.” Both of the ladies walked back to the cabin where Tabitha placed the dolly and Beth’s Chappy on the mantle. When she got to the door she noticed for the very first time that there was an old fashioned wooden oak, park bench sitting under the window. “Beth, let’s sit outside for a little while and just leave the door open to air the place out.”
Sitting down with Tabitha, Beth looked out, just keeping an eye on the woods in case more infected would be lurking. Tabitha placed her hand over on Beth’s and said, “It’s going to be alright and even if it’s not…well it is right for now. I mean we got ourselves a pretty good group here and even though you and I got off on the wrong foot I think we are going to be good friends.”
Tabitha then released her hand from Beth’s and patted her knee, “Screw the ‘I think’ shit…. I know we will become good friends. Hell, I never have had one, but I would venture to guess that if I had to make a friend I would make one with you! Shoot even the old man back there is beginning to grow on me. Then of course there is the two little love birds.” Tabitha giggled, winked at Beth and continued talking in an upbeat tone, “From what I can gather Charlie is a virgin and little red riding hood Ceara, well, let me just tell you; her and I went mushroom hunting and to make a long story short; I commented on how a mushroom resembles a man’s ….. um…ya know?
!!!”
Beth blinked as though she was brought out of a trance and looked over at Tabitha with her mouth damn near her lap. Tabitha giggled and continued, “When we got back to camp I made some reference to it to Charlie and that boy had absolutely no clue whatsoever what I was talking about.”
Beth with her voice now becoming normal but it still was cracking as she fought back the tears, interrupted, “So when I brought her a blanket to cover herself up and she took off…..”
Tabitha piped right up, “That cold water showed her headlights and I bet that Charlie was fucking glad that water was cold or his stick shift would have been in full throttle!!!!!”
Beth began to snicker and with both of the girls laughing she actually started to feel a tad bit better. After a few seconds both ladies looked straight ahead into the woods and there was once again silence between the both of them.
Colt stood by the grave watching as Charlie and Alden talked, he felt almost as if he was intruding on a personal moment. Charlie reached for the shovel but Colt took it from him, “I got this Charlie.”
Charlie was about to protest and Colt shook his head, “Look, let me help where I can, you’ve been through a lot today kid.”
Colt didn’t think he was a lot older than Charlie but right now the guy looked lost and alone. Colt glanced over to Alden, “I can handle this if you want to go too. You may want to let the girls know that there is wood already chopped and in that second cabin there is a wood burning stove. I know how you hate anyone being able to see the fire, and in the stove they wouldn’t, but I don’t think the smoke would be too much of a problem either.”
Alden looked at Charlie and placed his hand on his shoulder giving it a fatherly squeeze. “You go take care of your quarters troop, Colt and I will put the finishing touch on this. Go on now Git!!”
Charlie turned and started to walk away then turned back, “Thanks guys, I really mean that. Thank you.”
He turned and both Colt and Alden watched him as he walked away, up the back steps into his cabin. Alden started to shovel the dirt and fill in the grave. He spoke as he worked, “I’m not sure the smoke would be much more of a calling any more than that generator. Sound travels farther then scent, and in these woods, in these hills the echoes would make it hard to pin point even with a well-trained ear.”
Colt looked up at him, “I just didn’t want to cause a problem especially after…. this.” pointing to the grave.
Alden shook his head, “This wasn’t your doing.”
Colt shoveled a couple of shovelfuls of the dirt, then shoved the end of the shovel head in the dirt, “Well that’s where you are wrong, I’m the one that had to kill her. She was coming at me and sir I’m not normally scared of kids but this kid was really no kid anymore.” Colt began shoveling again, wanting to change the subject, “Anyway, while me and Beth were here I found that axe you saw me with. We didn’t know how long we would be here so I started chopping up the pile that was by that house.”
Stopping for a minute and wiping his brow with his sleeve. “I guess what I am saying is we got enough wood for a few days.”
Alden tossed a shovel full of dirt into the grave and smiled at Colt, “No problem Colt, I still know how to get wood.”
Colt almost laughed then thought it may be a bit inappropriate, “Yeah you may remember but it’s been a while for me, so getting wood for me is just that.”
Charlie walked up the steps and into the back door, heading to the kitchen sink he turned on both faucets. Feeling the warm water hit his hands was a blessing. He picked up an old bar of soap and began to wash. He finished and rinsed his hands off then splashed water onto his face. He mumbled under his breath, “Thank God, for that old man out there.”
Looking around he didn’t see a towel so he wiped his hands on his jean as he walked into the front room and saw Ceara sitting on floor by the couch. He could see she had been working to get the stains up. He walked over and sat down beside her and put his arm around her. Ceara looked up at him, her eyes red from crying. Charlie brushed her tears away then kissed her forehead, “It’s alright now were alone and we can let it out.”
Ceara’s head fell into his shoulder and Charlie held her tight. He watched as the sun had moved around and was now in the tops of the trees to west beginning its afternoon decent. He wanted to tell Ceara that they didn’t have much day light left but then simply decided that the time had come to not worry about time anymore.
A couple of hours had passed when Colt and Alden came around to the front of the cabins, Beth was inside her cabin and Tabitha was standing watch on the porch. Alden nodded to her, “Everything ok?”
Tabitha smiled, “Right as rain.”
Colt went to his cabin, calling over to Tabitha and Alden, “I’m going to get the fire going in the kitchen then grab a shower before the sun goes down. Not sure how you guys are set with supplies but I’ll get the stove ready.”
Tabitha laughed, “Alden here butchered a cow or deer, so we still have a few steaks left.”
Colt shook his head, that didn’t surprise him in the least. He walked into the cabin just as Beth was coming out of the bathroom freshly showered. Colt stopped dead in his tracks as she towel dried her hair, she looked over at him, “What did I do now?!”
Colt quickly said, “Nothing… I’m getting the fire going then I think Alden wants us to all eat at that big picnic table out back.”
He went out the back door to grab some wood, chuckling remembering Alden’s comment. Soon he had the fire going and saw Beth checking her phone, “Any news?”
Beth had only about half of a charge now on her phone and she saw that there were some texts but honestly did not want to get into reading them too much right now until she had a full charge. She knew that she could check them while it was plugged in but with just getting settled she kinda wanted to wait. Beth was extremely nervous about finding out any news from anyone with what Colt had said to her earlier.
Calmly she put the phone down on the end table, “It is only at half charge right now and I often like to have a full charge on my cell so if I have to use the internet or any other devices that it won’t die quick leaving me where I will have to charge it all over again.”
Making her way over to the cabinets Beth began to look for plates, glasses and anything that could be used for dinner. The first cabinet had a few glasses and she took them all down then placed them into the sink where she began washing them. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Kelly, Brad and their kids. All the people whom she had known to her where gone, even her family that she had to put down herself. She had become so lost in thought that a glass slipped out of her hand when she rinsed it out and went to lay it on the counter to dry. When the glass hit the floor it shattered into what seemed to be a million pieces. “DAMN IT!!!” she yelled then went over to where she saw a broom and a dust pan.
Carefully she swept up the glass and disposed of it in the trash. Beth noticed that she was shaking and was not thinking clearly. She had to check that damn phone or she would end up being a worse basket case than she already was. Putting the broom back where she got it Beth went right back over to the end table picked up the phone, walked over to the couch and sat down. The first text that popped up was from another friend of hers that worked with her but in a different department. Jennifer Welton had only been there about ten years and she worked in the Public Health Surveillance Program Office (PHSPO) and her job was to develop new ideas, methods, tools, information sources, analysis, and dissemination. However the main part of her job was to contribute to emergency preparedness and response programs. The text that Beth saw was very short, sweet and right to the point, “Beth, from near as we can figure out that this whole mess was sent in motion from Philly and the orders were carried out by Jarrad Walker. We got a shipment from Philly, it was already speading there, we were supposed to figure out containment, but it was released here too. It doesn’t look good Beth. TTYL…. I hope”
Rolling her eyes
and shaking her head all at the same time she knew exactly what Jennifer meant and filled that away for future reference. The next text however caused Beth to tear up. It was from Kelly, “We have locked ourselves in our car and are driving as far as we can. We have been bit and we are already feeling the spread.”
The very last text was the hardest one of all. It was from her cousin Amanda. “Beth, I tried to call Uncle and Auntie and got no answer. Mom called me at work and said that Dad got attacked. He’s laying down now and we are trying to get the hospital to send an ambulance but all we get is busy signal. Dad said he got bit by somebody who was crazy! Whatever that means? Where are you? I need your help! Call me as soon as you can cuz.”
Beth checked when that was dated and it was dated three days ago. Beth held back the tears as best as she could, she put the phone down on the couch beside her. She knew how fast as the infection spread because she had witnessed it with her own eyes with her Dad. Also being that there were no more text messages from Amanda, Beth sadly knew what had soon followed.
Colt stood in the kitchen watching Beth, she seem to forget he was even there. When she started checking the phone he went out back, Alden stood out there at the picnic table, “Hey Sir, the stove will be ready in about fifteen or twenty minutes if you want to bring in the steaks.”
Alden nodded, “Ok, but knock the shit off with the sir already.”
Colt laughed, “Sorry about that.”
He turned going back in the cabin going right into the front room. As he rounded the couch he saw her phone lying on the couch still on the text she had open, but Beth just looked out the window, still not seeing him. He had seen this before but just once and it had been his own mother when she got told his Dad had been killed in the line of duty. The look was that of total denial or defeat, He sat down on the couch beside her, “Beth?? What happen? Beth, damn it, talk to me!”
Surviving Day By Day (Book 1): So it Begins Page 27