“We don’t need armed guards in our community,” someone said. “People don’t need to be threatened just for trying to buy food.”
“Just open your doors to the public,” said another. “We still have money, most of us, but it’s no good if we have nowhere to spend it.”
As the discussion continued, it became clear to Beth that the community was far less prepared, and far less willing to prepare, than she’d realized. They’d just been told their situation might be permanent, but they seemed to resist any restrictions. How long would it take before these people were literally starving to death? Not long, by the sound of it.
She felt conflicted. Part of her wanted to help. She’d lived among these people for years, and she knew many of them by name. Another part of her felt more protective than ever of her family. The desperation that was already evident in the crowd could easily be turned to hostility, and how would these people react if they found out just how much food Beth had stored in her house? She was practically a grocery store unto herself.
My family has to be my priority, she thought. Shane is right about that.
Still, she hated the idea of watching her community suffer. How could she possibly sit by while neighbors starved?
In the end, the mayor agreed to create a few committees to begin discussing concrete ways to address the problems in the community. There was general agreement about a census that would gather information about individual household needs, but Frank had to reassure everyone that participation was strictly voluntary.
Finally, the people were sent on their way, though they seemed far less happy than when they’d arrived. On the way out, James leaned in close to Beth and said, “Well, I don’t know if we did any good here tonight.”
“The committees will at least give people a place to talk,” Beth replied. “A place to complain so they don’t bottle up their frustrations.”
Mike seemed exhausted and on the verge of falling asleep. Beth watched Owen help him down the sidewalk and into the back seat. They headed home, James driving the Crown Vic and Shane driving the LTD. Beth wondered if James wasn’t right. Maybe the meeting had been largely a waste of time. People had left the school frustrated. That wasn’t a good sign.
As they turned onto her street, she saw candles flickering in the windows of a few of her neighbors’ homes. However, Beth’s own house was dark. The slats between fence boards were wide enough that she could see the lights in the living room were turned off.
“Did they all go to bed?” James asked. “Maybe we were gone longer than I realized.”
“I don’t know,” Beth replied. “Something feels off about it. Would they really turn off all the lights, even if they went to sleep?”
James parked on the street and got out of the car. Shane pulled in behind him. As he approached, Beth realized he’d drawn the Glock.
“It’s too dark,” Shane said, speaking quietly. “Someone would have stayed awake, Corbin at least and probably Violet as well, waiting for us to come back.”
“Is something happening?” Libby Horton asked. “What’s wrong?”
Beth shushed her.
“I’ll check it out,” Shane said, heading for the small gate beside the mailbox. “You guys stay here until you hear from me. Don’t come running until I say it’s safe…no matter what you hear.”
22
Corbin’s insistence on small talk was like fingers on a chalkboard to Jodi. She could tell the boy was frustrated that he wasn’t at the meeting. Something had made him want to stay behind, but at the same time, he clearly wanted to be there. She preferred to wait on the couch rather than retire to the bedroom, but she had trouble finding a comfortable position. Both arms hurt whether she sat up or lay down, and her back was killing her. More than that, like Corbin, she hated that she wasn’t at the meeting. In fact, everyone that had been left behind seemed to share that sentiment, except perhaps Kaylee and the dogs. Violet wandered through the house with Ruby, moving aimlessly from room to room, clearly restless.
Shane was right, of course. Jodi was still recovering and needed rest, but what if she missed key conversations? What if decisions were made that she didn’t agree with? She had vital information. Would Shane or Mike or someone else remember to share it?
I need to be there, she thought. She lay down again, but that made her broken arm hurt worse. She sat up again and leaned against the armrest. I should participate in any important decision-making.
Instead, she was being babysat by a strange teenager with a too-serious look on his face. Jodi was only willing to trust the boy because Violet had vouched for him.
“People don’t generally make decisions that are best for them,” he was saying, fiddling with a broken flashlight as he spoke. “That’s the problem. This meeting won’t be any different. They’ll try to meet immediate needs instead of taking steps to prevent future problems. That’s why someone’s going to have to take control and guide the discussion to specific ends. You know what I mean? The smart people have to identify the goals beforehand and move the rest of the crowd in the right direction, preferably without them realizing it.”
The bright LED light coming from the card table was beginning to bother her, so she leaned back and shut her eyes. When that wasn’t enough, she picked up a small pillow and laid it over her face. No matter what she did, she felt discomfort at every moment. It was maddening. Corbin finally gave his chatter a rest, and she fought the urge to breathe a loud sigh of relief.
Kaylee had been sitting in the dining room, scribbling on some printer paper, but she pushed her chair back and hopped out of her seat. Even that sounded too loud. Jodi heard her little footsteps, with Bauer padding along behind her, as she moved through the living room and into the hall.
For a few glorious seconds, the house was utterly quiet, and Jodi felt a brief diminishment in her discomfort. Why couldn’t it be like this more often? She actually entertained the idea of climbing down into her mother’s subbasement and pulling the door shut behind her.
The dark and quiet down there would be amazing, she thought. To lie with the cans of freeze-dried fruit and soak in the silence would be like a healing balm.
A sudden loud clank from somewhere very close made her jump, and she flung the pillow aside as pain stabbed into her skull. She saw Corbin looming over her and, squinting, she raised a hand. Then she realized he was bent over the small table at the end of the couch. He’d just set a glass of water down there, and he pointed to it.
“Thought maybe you could use a drink,” he said, before stepping back.
“Thanks,” she said to Corbin, touched by his gesture.
She leaned over the armrest to grab the glass, but even that movement caused her broken arm to throb in pain. She picked up the glass with her right hand, struggling to tighten her grip, and raised it to her lips.
How sad that the arm with two bullet holes in it is the good arm, she thought, taking a long drink of lukewarm water. And, oh how I miss ice-cold drinks.
Corbin went into the bathroom and came back a moment later clutching a pill bottle. He opened it and shook two pills into his hand. When he tried to hand them to her, she waved him off. Jodi had refused to take any painkillers, afraid that if she opened that door, she would go through all of their painkillers in short order. Once the pills were gone, they were gone for good. They might never have access to real medical supplies ever again, and what if someone really needed them some day?
“Save the medicine,” she said. “It needs to last.”
“They’re just ibuprofen,” he replied. “We have plenty. I saw at least four bottles in the medicine cabinet, and one of them was enormous. Ibuprofen won’t be strong enough to remove all the pain, but it might help with some of the swelling.”
Still reluctant, Jodi took the pills from him and swallowed them with a gulp of water. His task apparently complete, Corbin resumed his small talk.
“The fence turned out pretty good,” he said. “Personally, I would h
ave made a sliding gate, but that’s just me. There’s a lot of weight on those hinges. They could have improvised a track for a sliding door, I think. Anyway, I still believe they should top it with spikes or something because people could climb over.”
She’d never heard the boy talk so much. Why had he become so chatty on this particular evening? It wasn’t much of a conversation. He didn’t ask questions, and he barely paused to let her respond or participate. It was largely just a rambling monologue, almost as if Corbin were talking to himself. He’d kept up it for at least an hour now.
He’s trying to distract me from the pain, she realized.
Strangely, it was sort of working. Her irritation at his constant talking did indeed keep her from concentrating solely on her pain. Realizing this, she leaned back, placed the pillow over face again, and stopped worrying about responding. She had just begun to truly relax for the first time all day when she heard Violet clear her throat to cut into the monologue. Corbin obliged.
“Mom, I’m putting Kaylee to bed,” Violet said. “She’s really tired. Bauer already went out to pee earlier, and Kaylee brushed her teeth.”
Not wanting to speak, Jodi waved a hand at her. It took her a second to realize what she was doing.
“That’s fine, Violet,” she said. “I’ll be here if she needs anything.”
“Your grandma has some toys in the guest room closet,” Corbin added. “Maybe I could find a board game we could all play after Kaylee goes to bed.”
“Okay,” Violet said, with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. Understandably, Violet wasn’t the biggest fan of board games. Very few of them were designed with the visually impaired in mind. Jodi heard her daughter moving back down the hall.
Corbin got quiet after that, but Jodi didn’t bother to see if he’d gone looking for a board game. She enjoyed the dark beneath the pillow, though it did indeed make her more aware of the constant throbbing pain in her arms, in her head, in her back, and the vague discomfort in every other part of her body.
A jacuzzi, she thought. That’s what I need. I want to float in hot water.
She was daydreaming about a jacuzzi when she realized a few minutes had passed, and Corbin was still silent. How long did it take to find a board game? She batted the pillow aside and sat up, looking around the room. She found Corbin crouched between the living room window and the table that held the solar power batteries. As she watched, he reached back and turned off the LED lamp, casting the room into darkness. The only light that remained came from a couple of candles on the mantle. She saw Corbin ease the curtain aside and gaze out the window.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice cracking.
After a second, he replied, “I’m not sure.”
“Did you hear something? Did you see something?”
He let the curtain fall back in place and stood up. “Possibly,” he said. “I’m going outside to patrol the grounds. It might be nothing, but it’s better to be sure.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
She heard him go to the coat closet and open it, heard the distinctive clank of the AR-15 as he pulled it out. “Yeah, I won’t be out there more than a couple of minutes. If I don’t come back inside, grab the radio and hide in the bedroom with Kaylee and Violet. Bar the door and call for help.”
The gravity of the situation cut through the pain then, and a rush of adrenaline enabled Jodi to stand up. Corbin eased the front door open and slipped outside, the butt of the AR-15 hitting the edge of the doorframe and making a particularly loud bang. Jodi moved across the room as fast as she could on her shaky legs and pulled back a corner of the curtain. She pressed her face to the warm window glass, but the front yard was utterly dark.
She pressed her ear to the window and strained to hear. Corbin was standing on the porch. She heard him there, heard the soft sounds of the rifle as he brought it up and around. After a moment, she thought she heard another sound, possibly a series of soft footsteps on the driveway. It sounded like someone was moving toward the side of the house, as if heading into the backyard.
Heart racing, Jodi backed away from the living room window and let the curtain fall back in place. She stood there a moment, wracked with indecision. Who would be creeping around outside the house? She thought of the annoying neighbor from across the street. Jodi had heard about Nora peeking over the fence. What if Nora had learned about the meeting and decided to take the opportunity to help herself to some of Beth’s food? It seemed likely.
Whoever it is, I refuse to be an invalid, she thought. If they come in here, I’ll make them regret it.
Fear and anger proved a potent mix, burning away the sharpest edge of her pain, as she turned and scanned the dark living room behind her. She saw the metal fire poker in its stand on the fireplace and went for it. Picking it up in her right hand, she found it hard to maintain a tight grip.
Don’t swing it, she thought. You might lose your grip that way. Jab with it instead.
Did she actually intend to stab Nora with a fire poker? That seemed extreme, especially if the neighbor was just looking for some food.
I’ll just scare her off then, enough to make sure she never tries again.
Holding the poker out in front of her like a spear, Jodi crept into the dining room and approached the sliding glass door. Slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible, she peered through the glass into the backyard. It was too dark to see anything, a problem compounded by dust and debris on the window. When she tried to rub a clean spot on the glass, she realized most of the dust was on the other side.
You know what you have to do, she thought, but she couldn’t decide if it was the brave thing or the stupid thing. Probably both. Either way, you have to see who it is.
She went to the small table in the corner where her mother kept her phone and important contact information. Jodi knew there was a spare house key in a drawer there. She went for it and opened the back door. Thrusting the poker out in front of her, she stepped through the open door and slid it shut behind her. Then she turned and locked it.
No nosy neighbor is sneaking in behind me, she thought.
Jodi sidestepped into near absolute darkness behind her mother’s propane grill. Holding her breath, she scanned the backyard. In the darkness, her mother’s yard seemed vast, the garden like some sprawling tangle of wild growth.
You’re not getting past me, Nora, she thought.
Something moved in the back corner of the yard, some shape shuffling toward the small storage shed beside the fence. At first, Jodi assumed it was Nora, but then she realized this person was much too large. This was definitely a man, and, furthermore, he seemed be dragging a smaller person along behind him. She waited a second to let her eyes adjust to the darkness, but that made her more certain of what she was seeing.
Tightening her grip on the fire poker as best she could, Jodi crept out from behind the grill and approached the garden, trying make out who it was. She was tempted to call out to the man, thinking maybe it was Corbin, but she held her tongue. As she moved along the edge of the garden, she saw the man disappear around the side of the shed. As soon as he was out of sight, she took the opportunity to step out into the open and rush toward the other side of the shed, raising the fire poker over her head, ready to strike.
As she drew near, she heard the shed door open, heard footsteps on the wooden floor. She ducked behind the shed and held her breath again, straining to hear anything that would give away the identity of this individual. The door swung shut, but she distinctly heard it bounce off the doorframe and swing back open. This was followed immediately by the sound of someone running through the grass.
Jodi walked around the shed and approached the door from the other side. When she dared to peek around the corner, she saw the door sitting wide open. A single shoe was visible just inside the shed. She approached the open door and leaned in, seeing a body sprawled on the floor between the lawn mower and some gardening tools. Though she could just barely
make him out in the shadows, she recognized him.
It was the shape of Corbin. He was lying on his stomach, not moving. She didn’t see the rifle anywhere, but that didn’t mean much, as there was almost no light inside the shed. Jodi bent down, wincing at the pain in her protesting back, and grabbed his right foot, intending to pull him out of the shed.
In that moment, she sensed someone behind her. A faint wind passed over her. Fighting pain, she rose and tried to bring the fire poker around, swinging as hard as she could. But two hands caught her against the ribs, shoving her through the open door. Her feet hit the raised floor of the shed, and she fell. The poker jabbed the floor somewhere beside Corbin, which caused her to spin to one side. She landed on the lawnmower, felt the motor slam against her side, and then she rolled onto the rough, wooden floor.
As she did, the shed door swung shut, and she heard someone sliding the bolt into place to latch it from the outside. Locked in the darkness, she lay there for a moment, stunned, the agony of her arms awakened by the fall, joined to fresh pain from her side. With a groan, she managed to sit up, leaning forward to push against the door. The latch rattled on the other side. Indeed, she was now trapped inside the shed.
I should have brought a gun and shot the stranger as soon as I saw him moving through the yard, she thought. But then again, she had expected it to be Nora, and even after she saw it was a man, it might have been Corbin. She wouldn’t have shot without knowing for sure, and by the time she knew for sure, it had been too late. The stranger got the drop on her. At least I locked the house.
But had Corbin locked the front door? Even if he had, even if every door was locked, how long would it take a burglar to break in? Feeling sudden, sickening panic, Jodi reached out to Corbin, finding his body in the darkness. She felt along his back and down his arm, pressing her fingertips against his wrist until she felt a pulse.
He’s still alive, she thought, but it was the only good thing about her situation. How do I get out of here? How do I warn Violet?
Surviving The End (Book 2): Fallen World Page 20