Surviving Day By Day (Book 1): So it Begins

by Allensworth, Audra

  She had been crying and her eyes were swollen, Colt didn’t even think she knew he was there. “Beth, you ok?” She didn’t reply, didn’t even look at him, “Beth….” He walked around to the front of the couch and sat on the opposite end, reaching for her, he put a hand on her knee.

  He finally got a reaction, but not one he would have expected, she jerked away from his touch. He looked at her confused, but didn’t try to touch her again, “Ok maybe the girls were right, did I do something to make you hate me?”

  Colt leaned back looking at the picture on the wall of a mountain lake, “You know what Jessica told me one time? She said her stages of made came in three levels, if she glared at me but spoke or yelled I wasn’t in too much trouble. If she glared with no words, I was in trouble but I better figure it out fast. Then there was the last level, no speaking, no touching and no looks. She said if I ever hit that level that whatever I did I better damn well know what it was and make it right. She even said that at the third level there wouldn’t even be hints at what I did.”

  Colt chuckled, “Well I never hit that last stage with her but it looks like those rules go across the board for women. I don’t know what I did, but I’ll figure it out and then, if I realize it was wrong… I will make it right.”

  Throwing the blanket off of her and directly on top of Colt she said with a very snobby tone, “Smart woman! I’m surprised you survived, not her…”

  Slowly she walked back to the bed room where she sat quietly on the bed. Beth wasn’t mad at Colt and down deep inside she knew that was probably not the best sarcastic thing to say to him. But every nerve in her body was exposed, especially after thinking about the text that she had received from Amanda. Then the question that pushed that memory to the back was, “Is there ANYONE left alive other than the six of them!!!” Beth figured that most if not all of the branches of the CDC in America were probably wiped out. Hopefully there may be some still operating, maybe in other parts of the world. Then Beth thought of losing Kelly and Chad along with all of the other co-workers. Tears began to fall from her eyes once more, as the memories of what she had to do to her family came fleeting in. For the first time since all of it had happen; a numbness entered her body. Wiping the tears from her eyes Beth stood up and began cleaning the room trying to make it somewhat home for her.

  Ceara followed Charlie into the living room to the fireplace; there were ashes everywhere from the paper she had burned trying to get the fire started. Charlie burst out laughing, “I’m surprised you didn’t burn the damn cabin down.”

  Ceara blushed, “I was just trying to help.”

  Charlie went to the fireplace and started making a better arrangement to get a good fire going. He looked over his shoulder, “I know you did, and you did good, but I’ll teach you how to make a good fire.”

  Ceara gave him a weak smile, “Yeah, well that means you have to stick around and not get bit or anything.”

  Charlie was taken aback by that statement, “Ceara, I don’t plan on anything happening to me, but I want you to be able to go on if anything does happen.”

  Ceara shrugged, “No” She turned going into the kitchen and began washing the dishes as he got the fire going. She didn’t want to think of anything happening to any of their group. She along with everyone else had already lost so much, what right did God have to make any of them suffer any more loss. She along with Colt and Beth had to kill their own families, maybe Charlie too. Ceara didn’t know because he hadn’t told his story yet.

  A little bit later he came in and leaned on the counter as she dried the last dish, she looked over at him, “What?” Charlie smiled, “Fires going, you want to go relax.”

  Alden walked through the kitchen and found Tabitha in the large master bedroom unpacking her things. “So you simply decided that; for whatever reason you get the big bed?”

  Tabitha turned and grinned, “I just figured that since you were in the army and all, that you’d be used to sleeping on the ground.”

  Alden walked out shaking his head, “There you go making assumptions.”

  He walked out the door and to his truck. Grabbing an old duffle bag along with a medium sized black leather backpack he turned and took a glance at the dogs. Tonto’s head had raised up, Max simply was looking at him with his heads on his paws. Going back into the cabin he turned and went to the smaller of the two rooms. Placing his bags on the bed he opened a large wooden wardrobe unit. Inside were extra sheets and blankets on the shelves on the left. He moved a small curtain on the right, and let out a quiet whispered “yes”. There on the bottom was an old ten meter radio complete with microphone and what looked to be a thousand watt linear amplifier. He pulled it out and placed it all on a small desk then began to put his own things back in.

  Alden was finishing up placing a pair of desert boots on the bottom shelf when he heard Tabitha walk across the main room to his. He turned rolling a black tee shirt up as she walked in. Tabitha looked at him, “Al…. Alden…”

  He smiled, “Al’s fine in here.”

  She smiled back, “I just wanted to tell you that if you want the bigger bed that’s fine. I used to sleeping on cots and shit.”

  Alden placed the tee shirt in the top drawer of a small chest, “Tabby, if I had wanted to argue about the sleeping arrangements I would have done it before I stowed my belongings. It’s fine, you need a bigger room you got all those curling irons, blow dryers and war paints to deal with I got clothes and deodorant.”

  Tabitha glared at him, taking all he said as an insult then stopped. She had just had a taste of Honest Al, the kiddies pal. “Ok, I get it… that was your idea of a joke.” she said as she slapped her knee as if just getting the joke.

  “Oh and FYI, I left my curling iron back home.” She turned to and noticed the Radio on the desk. “What the hell is that, did you have that packed too?”

  Alden walked over to the desk. “This, my dear Tabby, is a Galaxy 2527 ten meter radio.”

  Tabby grinned leaning on the door frame, “And that would be what?”

  Alden grinned back, “Well depending on what I can find in the shed tomorrow or around it. It is either a Godsend communication device or a very large paper weight.”

  Tabitha with her hands on her hips smiled widely, “Oh kinda like a CB!!! Shoot!! I know all about them.”

  Alden turned around and got this smirky grin on his face. She knew exactly what he was thinking and immediately remarked, “And the answer to what you’re thinking is NO, I ain’t no damn lot lizard.”

  Tabitha found it funny the way his eyebrows moved when she made her statement and that caused her to giggle. “You know Al, there is a wealth of information on the inside of a book once you get past the cover.”

  Thinking about her past and everything that she had learned on the streets she remembered there was an old ham radio shop just on the outskirts of Camdenton. Often she would find herself taking long walks and had to make mental notes of landmarks, so that she would remember where she was and where she had been.

  Tabitha stood straight and began walking slowly over to him to get a closer look. Tabitha looked down at the radio. Then continued talking, “Often when I would take hikes I would be gone for days. There was this one time I got off of the trails and was looking for a place to maybe stop to find a quick bite to eat. I don’t remember the town, but I do remember the little Mom & Pop diner where I would offer to help out doing dishes and cleaning tables for the afternoon just so that I could get a burger. When I was finished with my work for the afternoon the lady made me the best bacon double cheeseburger and homemade lattice fries with the best damn cherry coke that I had ever had!”

  Alden cocked and eyebrow “Is this story going somewhere?”

  Tabitha glared at him then she looked over at the radio again and continued, “While I sat down and ate my food I watched these people walk in and out of this building that was adjacent to the diner. Some of the guys had semi-trucks while other had big 4 wheel drive vehicles
. Many of the people had huge antennas and others had smaller units that fit right into the cabs of their trucks.”

  Alden gave a smile, “those mobile C.B.’s are only good for maybe ten, twenty miles at best. This one here with a decent antenna can reach a couple hundred miles and possibly worldwide if I use Morse Code. Again, that will depend on if we can find an antenna.” He walked over, sat on the bed and began to unlace his boots. He looked up, ”Now unless you want to join me stripping down to our skivvies, I would suggest you trot on back to your bedroom cupcake, cause this old man needs some rest.”

  Not wanting to be anywhere around him now because she looked more to Alden as a Dad she put her hand up, “Nope, I think I will just go strip in my room cause I am pretty damn tired myself. Just something to think about, sometime and somewhere we are going to have to get supplies. I think, while you do your thing, I will go do mine.”

  Alden shook his head as she left his room, “Girl ain’t got near the brains or nerve she think she does.” As he lay down he flipped the bedside lamp off to finally get some sleep.

  Colt watched as Beth headed to her room Colt tossed the blanket off him and walked into the kitchen and opened the back door to the look out into the night. Both dogs looked his way and then lay back down. Colt glanced around and didn’t see any movement; he shut the door and walked out of the kitchen heading to the second room. He wondered if all the girls took the master bedrooms. He thought they would and smiled. He knew women and their ingrained need for mirrors and their own bathrooms. Frustrated with Beth and very hurt by her last statement, he just looked at her door. Did she mean what she said? Did Beth really wonder how he survived? He knew that was fair, hell, he wondered it himself. Beth saying it, somehow made it seem more real.

  Colt debated trying one more time, but dismissed the idea. Why should he always have to ask her, hell he wasn’t married to her, so if she was mad then, to hell with her, she could be mad. Colt walked in his room slamming the door without realizing he was going to do it. The sound made him jump; he flipped the light switch and got nothing, “Damn Alden must have the generator on some kind of timer.”

  He pulled his shirt off tossing it on the end of the bed, sitting on the edge of the bed he slipped out of his shoes, his socks were filthy. Peeling them off he grabbed a flashlight then made his way to the bathroom and filled the sink with cold water. He submerged his socks and went back to his room. He stripped of the rest of his clothes and knew he needed to wash everything.

  He hadn’t changed in days, wanting a shower but his supplies were still in the jeep so that would have to wait till tomorrow. Naked except for his boxers, he slipped into the bed wondering if he would sleep or be awakened by the dogs barking out a warning.

  Ceara and Charlie walked to the front room, she smiled at him “Ok you are in charge of fires, I’ll take cleaning.”

  Charlie grinned, “Deal, I hate cleaning just ask the sisters!”

  They both sat on the couch in silence for a little bit just watching the flames, Ceara fumbled with the arm of the couch trying to decide if she would ask the question on her mind. Charlie had intentionally avoided talking out at dinner but was that because he didn’t want everyone knowing or just her?

  Glancing over at him, he knew she had something on her mind, “Ceara if you want to say something say it, and there may not be a tomorrow for any of us.”

  She played with her hands, “Why don’t you want us knowing about you, is your past that bad or are you?”

  Charlie fidgeted, there it was, he thought, right out in the open. The question he did not want to answer. He looked at the flames of the fire, the only sound in the room was its crackling flames. He was trapped and he knew it, there was only two ways to go with this; tell the truth or make up a story.

  He sighed and looked at her. “I was an orphan. I never had a Mom or dad.” The tears started well up as he thought about all the rest of their stories and how they all had grown up with parents and grandparents. He was fairly sure even Alden had been a somewhat normal kid and hell Colt had been married.

  “I grew up in a Catholic orphanage. I was fostered out a couple of times but I always ended back up there. The other kids at the school made fun of me, so yeah my childhood sucked ass bad. The only guy who ever gave a shit about me was an old man named Carl Davidson. He was the janitor there; in fact I think he was the one that found me when I was a baby. My last name was given to me by him and I never found that out till he was about to die. He’d been bitten and told me before he passed.”

  Charlie continued staring at the flames, “Not sure Carl had the best timing on that, but I figured he thought he had plenty of time to tell me when he was ready… He didn’t. Once he was bitten he turned and I killed him; then I had to burn his body. I always had this dream that one day I would find my real mother and ask her why, but now with all this I doubt she is even alive. So, you see, I’ve been alone my whole life.”

  He wiped his eyes on his shirt then turned and looked at her. “Alden saved my ass, and then you came along, then Tabitha and the other two. You all are the first family I’ve ever really had. Funny huh? It took the end of the world for me to know what it was like to have one. Now I sit back and wait for God to start picking you all off one by one.” He stopped and chuckled.

  Ceara touched his hand, “What’s so funny?”

  Charlie looked at her with a grin, “Well I just figured God might take all of us, but he may leave Alden for Satan and I think Satan will lose that battle.”

  Tabitha made her way to her room, looking around she realized this was actually the first nice place that she had laid her head in a very long time. The bed looked comfortable and it had nice clean sheets on the thing was an added bonus!!! There was a small dresser over by the little closet and she eagerly made her way over to see what its contents were. The top drawer had a couple of tee shirts, and when she took them out Tabitha noticed that the sizes were extra-large. Those she would use for night shirts. Off to the sides there were a couple pair of white socks and some men’s jockey shorts.

  Tomorrow she thought that she would be nice and take them over to Alden that is if he even wore the damn things, which when she thought of that, she sure as hell hoped he wore underwear. After closing the drawer she was hoping that there would be some things that she could use in the other drawers. Sadly that did not happen. All that she found were a few pair of oversized coveralls and thick chunky jeans. Nevertheless, she was just happy to have a nice place to rest for the night. After taking off her jeans Tabitha laid them on the end of the bed so that if she needed to get dressed quickly that she would be able to get to them fast. When she pulled back the covers she then sat down and noticed that there was a small little night stand sitting by the bed. It was made of a dark wood and it had a small wooden knob that had tiny engravings on it. “Wonder if there’s anything in here?” she asked as she pulled the drawer open. To her surprise there was an open pack of cigarettes just lying there! “HOT FUCKING DAMN!!”

  Eagerly she picked up the pack then looked inside and noticed that there were at least maybe ten still inside. Tabitha looked around for an ash tray and when she didn’t see one she bounced up. “Well I got a lighter!” Then reached over and grabbed the lighter from her back jean pocket. Tabitha thought that a late night smoke would relax her so that she could at least get a good night’s sleep. She quietly crept out of her room and went to the back door of the cabin.

  Once outside she lit up and took a long drag. The night air was a bit nippy and to keep warm Tabitha began to walk around. She did not want to get too far away from the cabins so she walked around to the front and paid close attentions to her surroundings. Not knowing the woods as well as she did Tabitha heard small little varmints out there scurrying though the leaves. “Mice probably”, she said while she made her way past Alden’s truck when all of the sudden something caused Tabitha to fall flat on her ass.

  It was as if something had tripped her because when she landed
what really hurt was her ankle. Her head made a quick snap when she heard something rattling and then from out of nowhere Tonto and Maximus were coming right toward her like halls balls to the wall. Staggering to her feet she didn’t really want to make a lot of noise because the fucking mutts were doing enough of that. In a low by very angry voice Tabitha said, “Would you mangy mutts shut the fuck up!!!” Then right after she turned to make it back to the cabin Tonto knocked her to the goddamn ground.

  The dogs barking and the cans crashing together pulled everyone out of bed and running fully armed ready for the dead heads. Alden and Colt were in their boxers carrying guns made Ceara start laughing, then when they saw Tabitha on the ground in t-shirt and panties with Tonto now standing guard made her laugh harder. Charlie was trying not to laugh and looked at Ceara, “Shhh”

  Ceara covered her mouth trying to stop. Charlie looked at Colt, “Damn Colt! It isn’t that cold out here.”

  Colt turned red and turned back to go in the cabin, Colt walked past Beth, “He’s an asshole… night.”

  Beth had done well hiding the smile till Colt was back in the cabin then winked at Ceara. Ceara walked over to Beth, “What’s up with you? Are you ok, you seem like you are really trying to convince us all that this shit ain’t your fault. Girl, we all know this isn’t your fault.”

  Beth folded her arms in front of her. Ceara was trying very hard to help her know that this whole thing wasn’t her fault. However, with the shock of everything and reliving the texts over and over in her head just really did not convince Beth at all. “Ceara, I am fine, just exceedingly tired and hopefully things will look a whole lot better after I get some sleep.” Not waiting for Ceara’s response Beth turned and made her way back into the cabin. All she wanted was to sleep and hopefully what she had told Ceara would hold some truth to it.