Mason was waiting for me on the steps. He enclosed me in his arms, holding me in the dusk, as the sky turned from pink, to purple, to dark blue. He kissed me on the nose then we walked back to the dining room to watch 'Avatar' with the kids. I cried then too.
Chapter 5
The flurry of activity surrounding the process of leaving had us running into each other left and right. I was dropping things every time I turned around and it was getting downright aggravating. The campers and fuel truck were lined up and ready to go. The guys had gone into town the day before and found the tanker. We'd fueled up all the outfits and was as ready as we ever would be. All we had to do now was get past all the danged crying.
The tears were flowing pretty good by the time I hugged and kissed everyone there was to hug and kiss. Todd was going to stay to get the flight school going, then if he wanted to, he could fly back to Montana. It was up to him. He seemed like a likeable enough guy and he'd fit right in. I'd finally finished with the farewells and went to the big truck we were pulling the tanker with, climbed inside and blew my nose while I awaited Mason. Mikey and the Monster were riding with Howard and Samantha in the tow truck. Bubba and the monkey had become friends and Mikey loved the tow truck. It was red, fire engine red and had a neat horn according to Mikey. It sounded like a fog horn to me, but Howard suggested they ride with them and everyone was happy. I think he knew how much me and the Monster didn't get along and wanted to spare us. I don't know and didn't really care as long as 'it' was somewhere else.`
When we finally drove away, I tried really hard not to look in the mirror. It had been our home for nine months and I would miss it. I'd miss the cliff dwellings and the meadow where we trapped all the turkeys and the way the valley changed colors in the evening. But I'd miss the people most.
Ken had taken off before we left. He made sure Jill and his son Anthony or 'Tony' was safely settled in the medical van with Joe and Sandy. We'd picked the van up at a military installation right before we arrived. It was all set up for Jill and Tony so they'd be comfortable. Ken had buzzed out of the valley after nuzzling that baby and talking nonsense to him for fifteen minutes. He'd radio back to us about how the roads looked ahead which would keep us from having to backtrack all the time. When we left Montana we spent most of the time backtracking. With Ken flying ahead of us, he would help us choose the best roads and eliminate most of the backtracking. Then when he got low on fuel he planned to find a small airport close by and refuel. The first day would be a run through to see how it would work. It may be a long day.
We pulled into a small town about mid afternoon. It looked deserted, except for the hippo wandering around in the middle of main street. We sat in the truck and just stared at it, trying to figure out if it was safe or not. There was a time when Lacy and I was on our own, we came upon a buffalo who had an attitude problem. I figured it was because it had been chased by walkers and hated all who walked on two feet. It sure hated us and we didn't stick around to see what it would do, watching it in the rear view mirror as it chased us out of town. So when I was sitting there looking at the hippo, I was a bit hesitant. Mason turned toward me, started to say something, changed his mind and went back to staring at the hippo, who was slowly chewing on a clump of grass.
“Well, hell.” he finally managed to mutter. Just then the radio went off scaring the crap out of both of us. Mason juggled the radio before he answered it. It was Duke asking what we planned to do. Mason looked at me. I just shrugged my shoulders so he answered he didn't know. Okay, that works for me.
“Anyone, have any ideas I'm open to them.” The radio was quiet for a long time before Lacy came back on and said, “Let's ignore him and do what we came here to do.”
I thought that idea had merit, so trying to ignore the elephant in the room, I mean hippo in the middle of the road we eased up to the 'General Merchandise' store. It seemed out of place here in the middle of nowhere, but the windows and door was intact so we were fairly comfortable with the idea it was okay. Ken had landed at the small airfield nearby to refuel. We could see him walking towards us in the distance as we pulled into the shade of the building next door.
The weather had turned off hot. Small dust devils popped up every time we turned around covering our sweaty bodies with dirt. One was so big it shook the truck as we drove through it but at least we got the windows up before the dust billowed in. As soon as we stepped out of the truck I started sweating. The temperature gauge in the Dukemobile said it was 88 outside so that explained a lot. We quickly stepped onto the shaded boardwalk in front of the store and waited for Ken.
The sky was a soft blue with no clouds. Every once in a while a gentle breeze would brush against you cooling your skin so we looked forward to them. The birds were silent today so that made things a bit creepier and the sound of the wind you couldn't feel moaning through the buildings made you skin crawl. The hippo didn't appear to notice us but I knew those crafty devils could turn on you in a New York minute, so I covertly watched him. Flynn had found a fenced yard that he let the kids and dog loose in.
Lacy, Mercy, Melody and Sarah was standing guard while they played, while Sandy and George was getting things ready for the night. I don't know where the Monster was and didn't care. I figured Mikey would keep an eye on him. Ken jumped up on the end of the boardwalk, smiling big. “You're not going to believe this but I could swear I saw a hippo...”
“Been there done that, Ken. Big old hippo at the end of the street quietly eating a clump of dead grass. Don't worry about it.”
He nodded, frowned, glanced down the street then got back on track. “If y'all want to spend the night here, I can fly out farther and scope the area. The airfield has a lot of fuel on hand so I could make several trips.” He looked around at the store windows and said, “What we getting here?”
“We don't know yet.” Mason said, “but it was too good an opportunity to pass up. We need some more baby wipes so I can get some of this sweat off.” He was wiping his forehead and the back of his neck with a dirty napkin. I peeked into the building but it was too dark to see much.
“We'll need night goggles. It's dark as pitch in there.” I had my forehead to the glass, shading my eyes with both hands. All I could see was the end-caps, and one was filled with Twinkies. My stomach choose that moment to growl.
“Duke is gonna love this.” I said, locating Sarah across the street, gun in hand and leaning on the fence, watching the kids play. It always surprised me to see her armed, since she was our mild mannered housekeeper/cook. I smiled when Duke swaggered over to her, gun and holster slapping against his hip. He wore cut off jeans, Hawaiian print shirt and baseball cap with red and green cowboy boots. Oh and the ever present unlit cigar hanging out of his mouth.
I looked at Mason and tilted my head in Dukes direction. He looked, did a double take, then nudged Clint. Randy came back with several goggles while this was going on and as he handed one to Howard, he glanced at Duke and froze. His hand was still out with the goggles as he stared at Duke. He started to laugh but I cut him off by covering his mouth.
“Don't laugh at him out loud. It would break his heart.” He nodded his head behind my hand but his eyes had teared up and his breathing became labored.
Mason got hold of himself faster than the rest, grabbed his goggles, tossed me mine and turned towards the door. I hung my goggles around my neck, cocked my bow, patted my handgun, which hung under my arm in a shoulder harness and got in line behind Mason. The others managed to get hold of themselves, prepared to enter the building as the door was opened slowly.
It was a double set of very old doors, with glass in the upper parts. They didn't make a sound though as they were eased open so they'd been well taken care of. The windows had small shades pulled down so when the doors were opened, more light fell into the room but it was still dark enough to need goggles. As a matter of habit, Mason and I took the right side of the room while Randy and Clint took the center and Flynn and Riley took the left sid
e.
We crept silently down the isles to the end, then took up positions at the doorway leading to the back of the building. It looked like a cluttered room with a greenish glow. The goggles made everything appear green which always gave me the creeps. We started forward when we were stopped by a noise. Scuffling came from the back of the room. Mason motioned for Clint to follow him but I stopped him with a shake of my head. I can do this, I thought at him, its just another room. I looked at Clint who just shrugged his shoulders and stepped back. Mason was still thinking about it when I stepped into the room and began to search it. When its quiet and dark, and you're scared anyway a sigh sounds loud. His sounded very loud. I smiled and continued searching the room.
Moving a box away with my toe, I jumped when a rat ran out. I didn't turn to see what Mason was doing cause I pretty much thought he was watching me. I heard him move behind me and knew he was shadowing me which irritated me to no end. I can take care of myself. I found a steel staircase in one corner of the room and started up.. Mason was right behind me again and a quick glance told me the rest of our team had spread out in the room. I heard a growl then a thump and knew a walker had been dealt with. Ken wandered through my mind and told me he was watching every ones back. Then he sent me a picture of Clint killing the walker.
Half way up the staircase I notice it wiggling a bit. I hoped it held together long enough to check out the office upstairs. It was glassed in and overlooked the whole store. It hung in the air and I guess it'd been there long enough that the thing was rusting away. I'd take a quick peak and leave as quickly as possible. I don't know how I ended up upside down.
That's the way things happen with me. One minute everything is just a bit nerve wracking and the next minute the whole world is upside down. In this case, however, I was the one upside down, watching Mason fight with a walker above me. I watched in fascination as he fought it off. Then he cleaved its head right down the middle with his handy dandy machete. Upside down it looked a whole lot worse than it does right side up for some crazy reason. The thing fell off the steel landing and hit the floor with a thud. When it got quiet again I heard a noise and twisted around to find another walker coming at me from the ground. He reached up for me but I was about six inches out of reach. It was still too damned close for me.
“A little help here would be nice.” I said to Mason as he jerked another walker towards him then bent double in a crouch to let it fall over him to the floor. Looking down at me, he saw the problem and started down the stairs when they started to buckle. The screeching of the rusty metal was piercing in the green room. The noise, however, didn't bother the walker below me who wasn't interested in anything but me as it strained upwards. If it jumped I was a goner and although I'd never seen one jump, my luck would have it jumping like a freaking kangaroo. As hard as it was straining though, I'd just die of a damned heart attack and get it over with.
From what I could tell, my shoe was caught in a metal crossbeam. I couldn't get the traction to move it to get loose and at the moment staying where I was appealed to me more than what awaited me below. Mason finally got off the staircase making it more stable so I breathed a small sigh of relief. Now if he'd just kill the damned thing below me we could work on the problem of getting me loose. Someone shot the thing in the head splattering me with gunk and goo. Stinking gunk and goo and in the position I was in, it didn't take much for me to upchuck.
I saw a ladder coming at me before it disappeared behind me. I heard water running somewhere and then I was getting my face washed while a hand struggled to free my foot. I was just too miserable to pay a lot of attention until Clint, Riley and Mason got a firm hold on me while my foot was released from above. They gently lowered me to the ground but being upside down for so long made me dizzy and my knees weak. Mason helped me outside while the rest cleared the room.
Lacy was waiting for me on the boardwalk. Since we're very telepathic, she'd been getting messages from Mason and Ken while I hung around. Settling me on the top step, and leaning me against the railing, Lacy gave me a bottle of water and a small bottle of mouthwash. I smiled weakly at her and used the bottle of water to my advantage.
Feeling almost human again, I went to the Dukemobile and used the shower. It was the best of all the campers showers and the biggest. When I emerged I found clean clothes on the bed and my nasty ones gone. I didn't care if I ever saw them again. When I rejoined the others the bodies had been removed and the gunk cleaned up. Ken had returned to the air and wouldn't be back for a while. The ladies were checking out the contents of the general store while the men watched the kids, and animals. The hippo still munched on the clumps of weeds here and there in the street. He stopped a moment to look at me then went back to munching again.
“Don't even think about it, big boy. I am so not in the mood.” I mumbled towards him as I stepped on the boardwalk. Ken stopped me in my tracks when he wandered into my mind, We'll have to avoid the road out of town, the bridge is out and there's no way around it.
Fine with me, I'll check the map. I continued into the store, limping a bit from my injured foot. As a concession to it, I stopped in front of the end cap that once held Twinkies. It was bare. Damn, I thought and looked around for the person responsible. I found Lacy smiling at me from the end of the isle. Then she held up a Twinkie and waggled her eyebrows. Squinting at her I limped her direction. The world could end tomorrow but there would always be Twinkies, well, at least until they ran out. I needed to find the recipe so Sarah could make them. I loved Twinkies.
I sent her a smooch as I took the pastry and found a small stool where I could savor the moment. It tasted a bit stale (probably been on the shelf a year or so) but was wonderful anyway. All I needed to make my day was a glass of cold milk. Well, that thought was a waste of time.
“You're pathetic,” Mason said, hands on hips. “If a third world country captured you and demanded information all they'd have to do to get it is hold a cupcake in front of your nose.”
“Listen buster, a Twinkie is not, I repeat, NOT a cupcake. Big world of difference.” I stood up and brushed the crumbs from my shirt. “Besides, any self respecting Twinkie eater wouldn't be caught dead in a third world country. Not a Twinkie in sight. So there.” I patted his cheek and wandered into the back room, relieved to see the mess gone from the floor. Repressing a shudder I saw everyone was oohing and arching over something in the corner where the rat had scared the crap out of me so I wandered over to see what the fuss was about.
It was a litter of kittens. The mother was nowhere to be seen but the kittens looked to be around a few weeks old. Their eyes were barely open. I don't know what the deal is with kittens but everyone was acting stupid. They're so cute. The kittens were healthy so mama had been feeding them well. We decided to leave them alone while we finished messing around in the store.
I heard a loud crash and looked up to see Randy smashing out the windows high, near the roof line. It was so hot in there we needed some air circulating. We couldn't open the door cause you never knew what would wander in. No one felt like guarding a doorway that may or may not need guarding. I know this for sure.
They had a small clothing department so we cleaned them out of nearly everything. I was sweating so bad that I could see another bath fairly soon but I wasn't the only one. When I passed by the door to catch a breath of cool air, the smell of roasting meat caught my attention so I changed course and wandered over to the fenced in area the kids had been playing in. It seemed to be a small park and it had picnic tables set up along with grills. Sarah, Duke and Clint had some meat grilling along with what looked like potatoes. Sarah pointed to the lot next door and I saw a volunteer garden. She'd been busy. I gave her a thumbs up, grabbed a bottle of water and watched the Monster and Bubba playing in the shade of a tree.
Okay, Ken thought at me, I have a route that might work, I'm heading back now. Is there anything to eat around there?
Yeah, we're heating up some protein.
Great
. Protein. I can't wait.
I laughed at him and hurried to help Jill sit at the table. Taking Tony from her, I talked nonsense to him while he made funny baby noises. He had his father features except for Jills small nose. I'd never wanted a child for myself. I didn't think I'd make good mama material and never felt maternal except towards Lacy. I was happy and content with my lot in life most days. The rest of the time I yearned for stupid sitcoms and telephones. Some people are never happy, so I considered myself lucky. Well, except for the hanging upside down part.
I'd had my close call with walkers for the day. Seemed like every day I had some encounter of some kind. I knew I was accident prone, always had been, even my birth was an accident according to my mother so I wasn't surprised about a lot of the strange things that happens to me. So condensing them down to once a day was okay by me if the fates decided to do it that way.
Still, a person has to know their limitations. I know, I really do. Its the walkers that haven't figured it out. Yet.
Chapter 6
It was hot. I mean hot as hell kind of hot. The temperature was probably around a million degrees or at the very least 99. I was sweating in places I know had no sweat glands. You're probably wondering why I wasn't in a nice air conditioned room somewhere sipping an ice cold mint Julep, listening to soft music and getting my feet rubbed. Well, so was I. Instead I was sitting in the crotch of a tree in the roaring hot noon sun, sweating buckets and waiting for the brood of walkers below me to go to hell. Oh wait, we're already there.
Actually, I was waiting for Mason to return with ammunition. Have you any idea how hard it is to hit a mans head from above him? Well, I have a very good idea and it's damned near impossible. When Mason found a nice clear spot he jumped down and ran away followed briefly by a few ambitious walkers but they soon returned when they were outdistanced. I would've followed suit but I hurt my foot yesterday while hanging upside down in the back of that store a million miles down the road. So I'm hanging (upright)around today in a tree although what kind I have no idea. I was wondering if it had any edible parts but only briefly. If it took Mason that long to get back it'll be too late.
Seeking Sanctuary (Walkers) Page 5