“I’m so cold,” I whispered.
“I know.” He kissed me on the top of my head. “We all are. Sleep.”
I leaned against my lover and took comfort in his embrace. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. I didn’t get the chance. Within moments, the buzz in my brain began faintly. It was almost out of reach. Still, it was the unmistakable intrusion of the minds of the dead. So many at once, it quickly became nauseating.
“They’re here,” I whispered.
I felt Boggs tense beside me. “Ok, Zo. Ok.” He held me close to him. It felt too much like a last embrace for my comfort. “I need to wake Gus,” he whispered.
“I’m awake,” we heard Gus say in reply. He sounded tired, and his throat sounded dry. “I heard. We should blow out all but one candle,” he added.
I heard him shuffle away from Susan and Emilie.
“Does anyone know what time it is?” asked Em.
“Six pm,” said Gus, who was the one with a watch. “It’ll be dark out.”
Blurry images entered my mind, mingling with the flickering shadows of the attic space. I smelled candle smoke as Susan and Emilie crawled around blowing them out.
“Leave the one by the hatch lit,” said Gus in a hushed tone.
“Guys?” I said to get their attention. “They smell the blood outside. There’s so many of them.” I began shaking.
“Thanks Zoe,” said Gus. “Let’s try to stay quiet now. Everyone needs to hold onto a weapon, just in case. Try to stay still, stay warm, and stay awake now.”
I took hold of the small revolver I had found weeks ago. The same one I had now used to kill two humans. I had become accustomed to its feel and to its kick when fired. I knew it was loaded since I had watched Boggs do so after we had closed the attic hatch. Still, I opened the chamber out of habit and took a second look. I was glad to see that it was full. I prayed that I wouldn’t need to fire it tonight. While it felt like we had all been forsaken by God Himself in this new ugly world, I still prayed to Him to get us through this. I held my hand on my stomach, closed my eyes, and said one more prayer, silently, for God to protect my baby. My concentration was broken by the sound of someone outside calling for help. My eyes flickered open, and I looked at Boggs. His jaw was clenched shut.
A woman called out again. “Hello? Can you please help me?” Her voice was distressed.
I shook my head back and forth slowly, indicating to the rest of our group that we could do nothing. My vision grew blurry and I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I let the tears build, since I was now busy looking at the images within my head instead of at the people gathered around me. I felt Boggs put one of his large, strong hands around my arm. I felt Emilie stroke my hair.
“Please? Please come help me?” begged the woman. Her voice was breaking as she called out. “Please! I need help!”
A full moon was illuminating the yard in front of the cabin. It reflected brightly off of the snow. I could see the old woman standing in front of our porch. I knew I was seeing through the eyes of a pack leader, a Runner. It stood there very still, inside the tree line, watching the woman’s profile. She wore a cream colored sweater, dirtied with blood and soil. Her face was bitten multiple times, jagged edges crusted over with scabs. Her arms hung limply at her sides. Blood dripped from her right hand. She was missing fingers. I wanted to help her so badly, but knew she was bait sent to draw us out. Opening the door or reacting in any way would be a death sentence for all of us.
“Zo?” whispered Boggs.
I wiped my tears away and blinked a few times, then focused on Boggs’ face. “She’s one of their bait tactics,” I whispered as quietly as I could. The pack leader was still watching her, and he was growing so very hungry. The fainter signatures in my head drew near and I was overcome by the mental buzzing. The feast began. I could ‘hear’ them eating the frozen limbs and flesh out back. I could see the old woman up closer now. She had turned to face the zombie that obviously commanded her. By the look on her wrinkled and pale face, I knew that she was aware that she had failed. She knew her use was over. She took a large shuddering breath in as the creature before her advanced. She was on the ground in an instant. Her belly was torn open and warm blood flooded the icy ground around her as she screamed in agony. I could feel the pleasure the zombie felt as it ate loops of her intestines. Her agonizing screaming excited the creature, taking it to a level of joy that disgusted me. For the next five minutes I listened to her screaming until she succumbed to darkness from the pain. Not death, but a state of separation from mind and body. I knew by now that zombies like this one, the fast ones that have some form of thought and are capable of planning, kept their meal alive for as long as possible. I knew the others in the attic with me had heard the attack and the screaming as well. I had the displeasure of hearing it from within the walls of the attic as well as inside my mind.
After a few moments of relative silence, the creatures out back finished their feast of body parts and joined the leader out front. They piled on top of the old woman and tore her apart, shoving bits of flesh and bone into their mouths. The last sounds she heard were the growling and gnawing of the creatures. I could tell her heart had stopped beating by the frustration the lead zombie felt. Her suffering ended, and he was done with his meal and instantly searching for another.
“She’s dead,” I whispered so quietly that I could barely hear myself. “There’s a Runner leading the rest. It’s already looking for more living flesh.”
In the flickering candle light, I saw Gus put his finger to his lips. I nodded in understanding. Emilie was gripping my right hand, with Boggs sitting close beside me. I looked to my side and saw Susan’s face, muted by the dim lighting. She looked like she might be holding her breath. Our eyes met.
Another gunshot rang out in the distance, this time sounding closer. I heard it the same time the dead outside the cabin heard it. I unlocked my eyes from Susan’s and looked to Boggs. I paid extra close attention to the angles of his nose, his jaw, his forehead, his stray curls. I had a feeling deep down in my soul that perhaps this might be one of the last times I’d look at him. Sadness enveloped me.
“They’re running now,” I whispered. “They’re following the sounds of the guns.”
“Are you sure, Zoe?” asked Gus quietly.
I nodded. “I can’t feel any of them anymore. The one in the lead though, it suspects we’re here. It might be back.”
“We’ll stay up here for at least the next day,” said Gus with a heavy sigh.
“Gus, it’s so cold up here,” whimpered Emilie. “Can’t we just stay inside the cabin until we know it’s safe? We could leave the ladder to the attic down for quick access.”
Gus sighed and I saw him look at Emilie. “Ya, Red, it’s probably fine,” he said, giving in. “One of us needs to stay awake at all times, though.”
“Agreed,” said Boggs. His voice sounded pained.
“Boggs, you feeling ok? How’s your neck?” I asked, genuinely worried.
“It’s hurting a bit,” Boggs admitted.
My heart broke hearing him say that, knowing full well that it was my fault.
“Let me take a look?” asked Gus.
“Ya sure,” mumbled Boggs. He tilted his head to the side and Gus held up a single candle.
Gus grumbled low in his throat, and paused while he looked the bite mark over.
“How’s it look, Boss?” asked Boggs, trying to keep the mood light.
“It’s hard to say in this lighting, but I think to be safe we should dip into the stash of Wanda’s antibiotics.”
Wanda had joined our group several weeks ago. She had arrived at the cabin close to a natural death from terminal cancer. She had chosen to take her own life in the middle of the night, and had risen again shortly after. It was Gus who had ended her reanimated life with a bullet from his gun. She had left behind a mini pharmacy of sorts, and several broken hearts. Even Susan, the Ice Queen, had taken her loss hard. Gus, being our residen
t nurse, was in charge of the pills we had stockpiled since the day the dead rose.
“We’ll set you up with a five day course,” continued Boggs. If it’s looking ok on the fifth day we’ll risk stopping.”
“Sounds fair enough to me,” said Boggs with a slight sigh.
“We’ll need to think about a scavenging trip once the roads start to clear,” added Gus. “Restock on supplies, food, meds. If there’s much left out there, that is.”
“Will we try for the Explorer?” asked Emilie. We had a Ford Explorer that had taken us on our last scavenging trip. We had abandoned it on the other side of Lake Arrow to avoid an ambush by the living dead.
“I imagine so,” answered Boggs. “Between that and the step van we should be set to gather quite a bit.”
“What about the people you saw watching us?” asked Susan, who until now had been rather quiet. “Do you think they’ll attack?”
“It’s hard to say, Sue,” said Boggs. “We’ll need to stay prepared. Impossible to say how many there were, or what they wanted. I imagine they’re human since we haven’t seen the dead using tools. I have a hard time thinking the zombies were watching with binoculars, eh Gus?”
“I agree,” was all he said in reply.
“You all ok with me dropping the ladder?” I asked.
Everyone looked at me. I felt my face flush.
“Ya, sure. Let’s go down and start the fireplace, have some supper,” said Gus.
“Thank God,” mumbled Susan. “It’s so cold up here.” Her teeth were actually chattering.
“Leave the supplies up here,” ordered Gus. “We’ll use the blankets from the front closet and sleep in the living room tonight. Best we stay in one room together.”
I dropped the hatch. The ladder unfolded with the faintest of squeaks. It used to be much louder, but the guys had oiled it well. We all scuttled out of the attic and into the dark cabin below. Emilie was the last down and gathered around us with a single lit candle. Gus took it from her hands and led the way downstairs. The cabin felt eerily quiet, and was uncannily still. I thought about the horrible end the old woman out front had met, and my stomach threatened to rise into my throat.
Once on the main floor of the cabin Boggs worked quickly to ignite the propane fireplace. Emilie and Susan unpacked five thick blankets that we kept in the front closet as spares. Gus disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a small amber colored pill bottle that he handed to Boggs. He also held a glass of water in his hand.
“Boggsie-boy. Listen up, brother. Take one of these pills three times a day. Five days, then let me look at the bite again.”
“Gotcha. Thanks, man.” Boggs opened the little bottle, took out one of the pills, and tossed it into his mouth. He washed it down with a large guzzle of the water. I could tell it was painful for him to swallow.
The knock on the door in the next moments took us all by surprise. Susan stopped cold, her arms still full of blankets. My eyes locked with Emilie’s. Gus and Boggs looked at each other, and nodded in a silent exchange. They instantly had their guns drawn and at the ready.
Another knock followed, this time louder and almost urgent sounding.
“Hello!” yelled a male voice followed by another knock.
“Hello in there! Please, we’re only looking for temporary shelter!”
Fear enveloped me. Were these the people Gus saw watching us? Were these the people who baited our property with human flesh?
I heard the familiar ‘click’ of a gun being cocked. I knew by the sound it was Gus’ weapon.
“How many of you are there?” called Gus.
“Just two,” answered the same male voice.
“Gus,” whispered Boggs. “They might draw more of the dead our way.”
Gus nodded at Boggs and then called out to the man on the porch. “Set any weapons you have down and step back ten feet from the bottom of the steps.”
“Happy to oblige,” said the man. He sounded older than any of us and had a very deep voice. Several seconds later we heard him call back. “We’ve left our firearms on the porch by the door. We’re moving back now.”
Boggs signaled to Gus that he was going to look. When the men had boarded up the house weeks ago, they had fashioned a small corner to serve as a peep hole. Boggs stepped to the other side of the door, stood off to one side, and swiveled the small piece of wood aside so that he could look out.
“Holy shit,” he mumbled. “They’re carrying something dead!”
“What do you mean?” asked Gus with concern in his voice.
“Dinner, I hope,” said Boggs. “I think it’s a skinned deer carcass. Or maybe a small elk.”
“Do you just see the two of them, like they said?”
Boggs held up two fingers in reply.
“Ok buddy, go ahead and open the door. Grab their weapons. I’ll keep my gun on them.”
Boggs unlatched the two locks we had set in place and removed a crossbar. The door opened inward.
“Step forward,” called out Gus. “Just to the bottom of the steps.”
Boggs bent down and picked up the firearms.
“I trust we’ll get those back, friend?” asked the owner of the deep voice.
“I imagine so,” answered Gus. “Step inside. Uh, leave the carcass on the porch?”
“Sure thing,” answered the younger man who had yet to speak.
Through the doorway, I could see the two men standing in the snow at the base of the porch steps. The bloody mess in the yard was almost gone, covered by fresh snowfall. The men wore ragged coats, which were splattered by snowflakes. Snow was falling heavily. They were large billowy flakes filled with moisture, falling heavily to the earth. The closer of the two men walked up the steps slowly, his arms beside him and held out showing he intended no harm. He was tall, dark-skinned, and looked like he had been living outdoors for some time. As he stepped through the threshold of our cabin, he extended a hand toward Gus, who took it hesitantly. As they pumped hands, the man cleared his throat.
“Name’s Bill.”
“Bill, nice to meet you. I’m Gus. We can do more introductions once you’re both inside.”
Bill nodded in agreement. I heard a ‘thud’ from the front porch. The second man had climbed the steps and dropped his burden on the porch. He crossed the threshold as his friend had done, and extended a hand to Boggs.
“Thanks for letting us in. I’m Nathan.”
“Hey, nice meeting you. Boggs.”
“Interesting name,” said Nathan with a tight-lipped smile. He looked to be quite a bit younger than the other man and was fair with rosy cheeks. Both of them wore similar clothing, dingy and ragged. They both had beards of several weeks.
“Let’s get the door shut up tight,” said Gus. “We’ve had some problems today.”
“We saw,” said Nathan. “Some guys in a military truck scattered that crap around your place.”
“We were setting out to warn you,” added Bill. “But you went inside and we figured you must have figured out something was going down.”
“So, was that you I spotted in the tree line north of here?” asked Gus. I could tell by his body language that he wasn’t fully trusting of the two men. “Watching with binoculars?”
“Ya, sounds like us,” said Nathan. “We saw the dead come through here too. What they did to that poor old woman.” Nathan hung his head in what appeared to be genuine sadness.
“That’s Zoe,” said Gus. “Susan beside her. And Emilie here.” He wrapped an arm possessively around Em.
“Pleasure to meet you ladies,” said Nathan with a nod.
“We brought the deer on the porch, hoping to share it. It’s been field dressed, but ideally we’d hang it to cure for two or three days.”
“Very kind of you,” said Gus. “We’d be happy to trade shelter for some.”
“We haven’t seen any large game in weeks,” added Boggs.
“They’re scarce now,” said Bill. “This is the first we�
��ve seen in weeks. They seem to only be at higher elevations now. Like they’ve run as high as they can from the walking dead. I imagine they’ll be gone altogether soon enough,” he sighed.
“Sounds like we have a lot to talk about,” said Gus. “We can offer hot tea and some basics for now. We have smoked fish, some pasta and canned foods. Hot water for showers if you want to clean up.”
Bill and Nathan both nodded. “That’d be great,” said Nathan. “I’ll step out and string the deer up to cure if that’s ok.”
“I’d suggest the shed,” said Gus as he put his hands on his hips. “Seems the Runners prefer live meals, but I’d rather not have it hanging out in the open just to be safe.”
“Sounds fair enough,” said Nathan. “They seem attracted to blood too, so we bled the deer quite a ways back.”
“One of us can help you lift it up,” added Boggs. “There’s rope in the shed. If you want to wait I’ll get warm clothes on and go out with you.”
“Can I help?” asked Susan.
I looked at her, not understanding. Her cheeks were pink. No one spoke.
“With the deer…” she clarified.
Nathan shrugged. “Fine by me,” he said.
“Sue?” asked Boggs, sounding as dumbfounded as I felt. “You sure you can stomach it?”
She nodded. I realized she had her eye on Nathan already. I couldn’t blame her. It’s not like options for companionship are varied in an apocalypse.
“Make sure you dress warm,” said Nathan. “The temperature’s dropping. It’s really cold out there. Just meet me on the porch when you’re ready?”
“Ok,” she said with a hint of a smile. “Thanks.”
“Nathan,” said Bill with obvious authority. Nathan looked up at him. “Be careful out there.”
“You know I always am.” Nathan smiled. I noticed one of his side front teeth was missing. It made me think briefly about how dental care is a thing of the past in this new world. Even with the gap in his teeth, his smile was genuine and kind.
“He should be ok,” I said quietly.
The Grace Series (Book 2): Tainted Grace Page 3