“Trust me when I tell you, I am so grateful for that and that you are here.” I leaned down and placed my lips to his hand, then to his forehead. “I missed a lot of years with you. Know this, Lev; there is nothing I wouldn’t do for you now! Nothing.”
Lev smiled gently. “Same.”
I meant my words to my friend. I stayed with him sounding like a stuck record, repeating my worries about Canada, anger over the cabin, and Lev listened, until he was too tired to keep his eyes open. I had to keep reminding myself that not long before he was fighting for his life and though he acted the same, he was still healing.
After I thought to finally relieve Corbin, Ben had taken baby honors so I decided to try to sleep.
I squeezed into the bed with the kids, staying close and curling up with Katie.
Despite being tired, it was hard to sleep. It wasn’t my bed. I had to keep reminding myself, it wasn’t where I wanted to be, but at least I was with my daughter and she was safe and tight within my arms. That alone was the most important thing.
TWENTY – MAKE A LEFT
August 16
“I think I have one,” Corbin said.
“Nah, that’s not it. Not big enough,” replied Fleck.
I moved slowly and cautiously toward where I could hear their voices.
The two of them seemed so completely focused on finding an air cast for Lev that they were completely immune to their surroundings. That told me it wasn’t new to them. I however was still in a state of shock because the emergency room, for me, was a totally different view of the damage done by the virus.
We had been cooped up in the Windhaven for five days. While we did go outside, we didn’t wander farther than the parking lot. It felt good to get out and get moving. We monitored the radio and there was no chatter coming from Helena’s camp, nor did they show up. That alone gave Fleck and Corbin confidence that they thought they’d got all they could from us and weren’t coming back for more.
It was time to look for the air cast. Lev was getting antsy and though he felt better, his mobility was hindered by the plaster cast. Little did he know, he wasn’t going to be free of that chain quite so fast. Ben wanted us to find a cast shoe and an air cast. The cast shoe would help Lev in moving some, but in what I was certain would be to Lev’s dismay, that plaster cast wasn’t coming off for several weeks. They just hadn’t told him yet.
There were three types of places where the shoe and air cast could be found. A physiotherapy clinic, orthopedic surgeon’s office or emergency room.
We figured it was a case of whatever we saw first. We took all the back roads until we got to a place where the roadblocks weren’t that bad and we could maneuver our way on the highway.
Though we could get on to the highway, traveling on it was a bust.
Interstate 79 was a mess, it was four lanes of traffic all going the same way. A parking lot of cars. Some empty, some with bodies. Everyone had been fleeing the city.
There was carnage on the road, but it had been there so long it was decomposed to the point it was barely recognized as body parts.
One thing was for sure … it was quiet.
Not a bird, animal, person … nothing.
There were tons of cars, but not enough bodies. Where did they go? That many people, and or, that many infected had to be somewhere. Then again, it had been months. Cities fell first, then rural areas.
Retreating off the highway and back to the side streets, led us to a hospital. I was certain we’d probably passed an orthopedic surgeon’s office, but we didn’t recognize it.
A hospital, there was no mistaking what that was.
Outside traffic lined the streets, cars jammed packed up the driveway nearly to the door. There were decomposed bodies everywhere; the summer heat and animals had taken their toll on them. Thankfully, the virus died when the body did or else the animals would have been the next deadly wave of infection, we knew they weren’t immune.
The glass doors were busted, furniture and papers strewed out to the sidewalk. Stepping inside the emergency room entrance, I had to step over remains.
There were so many decomposed body parts. The infected came in and then they turned.
Although one infected could do damage, what I witnessed was the work of many.
It didn’t seem to bother Fleck or Corbin. Both of them stated they had travelled around enough to see many places like the hospital.
“Hell, we pulled into a place,” Fleck said. “Totally overrun by infected. They were having lunch.”
“Guys,” I winced.
“What?” Corbin asked. “You act like you never seen any of this.”
“I haven’t. I left before it got like this. Closest thing I saw was Evans City and that town cleared out. So … no, all these bodies? This is new.”
Fleck patted me on the back like I was a champ. “Good job. You’re handling it well.”
I nodded, but inside I was thinking that I wasn’t. I wasn’t handling it well at all. I just wanted to get what we needed and leave.
We did eventually find what we needed along with bags of saline—a request from Ben. There was some serious discussion whether or not the air cast would fit Lev. Fleck boasting it fit him so it had to fit Lev.
But Lev was a bigger guy. I didn’t have the heart to deflate Fleck after hearing how he was a champion in the Florida independent Wrestling circuit. I was just getting to know him. He too had recently been through a rough time and the three of us were actually building camaraderie on this trip.
We left the Windhaven in the morning and by early afternoon we arrived on Savannah Avenue, my street, the street where I not only lived with my husband and children, but where Lev and I grew up.
A cobble stone, tree lined street with brick Colonial houses so close together you could see what your neighbor was eating for dinner.
The road was more chaotic than when I had left. In fact the street was nearly impassible with the bodies of the dead. We parked at the corner not far from my father’s home.
I froze when I stepped out of the truck. Minutes before we left, insanity hit my street when a car crashed and the driver emerged infected. He began biting people, attacking. That car was still there, smashed. The driver’s door still open.
There were only a few cars remaining on the street. Our neighbors must have attempted to flee. Some homes were ransacked, doors open, windows busted, furniture and supplies trailing out. While other homes were boarded up in an attempt to hold ground. I wondered what happened to them. Were they still there? Watching us?
There wasn’t a sound, or movement. Fleck and I were armed and ready just in case.
I showed them the Boswick home. Corbin commented that he thought Lev lived at Big Bear. I explained that it was a campsite, and while he and his father spent an enormous amount of time there, like with my family, Savannah Avenue was home.
Lev’s family home was one of the homes ransacked. A huge red spray painted circle with an X with writing in the middle was on the brick wall next to the door.
“The military came through,” Fleck pointed. “They searched this area. Looks like all the houses. I was in the guard, I remember doing this for the San Francisco quake.”
“What does all that mean?” I pointed.
“Top of the X is the date,” Fleck said. “They came through here on June seven. The left is the unit that came though, right …it says clear, meaning nothing is in there and the bottom zero dash zero, no survivors no bodies.”
“So the INF on the Reynolds’ home,” I pointed next door.
“My guess,” Fleck said. “Three INF, and Zero mean three infected no bodies.”
“Wow,” I cocked back some. “Talk about a reality check.” I pivoted to look at my father’s house, and that’s when I noticed it was different. The front door was open but the windows weren’t busted or boarded.
“What is it?” Corbin asked.
“My father’s house. Look at the markings,” I said.
; Just like the Boswick home, my father’s house had the red circle and X, but unlike the Boswick home, above the red date of June seventh, was a date in blue, July fifteen. Additionally, in blue, ‘Bio’ was added to the right of the X and at the bottom was a One INF.
“Someone else passed though,” Fleck said. “On a later date. B.”
“Bobby,” I whispered out and raced to the house. That date was the day Bobby arrived at the camp. Clearly Bobby stopped at our father’s house, knew he was sick and marked it down. So why did he go to the camp.
I banged my rifle against the door to make noise in case there were any infected inside. After a minute, I took a step in.
A growl and snarl preceded an infected that lunged at me.
I was ready and I fired off a shot. It sent the infected flying back into the wall. Like a cat, he bounced back, rolled and stood.
I shot him again, only this time, he stayed down.
My father’s house had been spared the ransacking, although it hadn’t been immune to looters. Every cabinet was open. I looked around. Lisa’s chair was reclined and blood stained the arm.
I took a moment to walk around, look, take it in. That’s when I realized a house doesn’t make it a home, the people inside do. My father, Lisa and Bobby were gone. It was now just a dwelling.
Corbin and Fleck stayed silent while inside until I walked out the door.
“Whoa, wait,” Corbin called. “I think that might be for you.”
How did I miss it? Maybe I didn’t want to see it because of the bloody fingerprints, but a folded piece of paper was duct taped to the mantel behind the television.
“Can you grab it?” I asked. “Please. Just see who wrote it.”
Corbin walked to it, gently took it down and unfolded it. “Bobby.”
My heart sunk. I wanted to cry. I believed I didn’t have closure with my brother, no goodbye, no last words. I was wrong. I was getting it.
I gratefully took that letter and held it for a moment. I would read it when we got back in the truck, after we went to my house.
I needed to absorb what it said and not while we were standing in a war zone.
I took nothing from my father’s home other than that note. We left the house, closed the door and headed down the street to my house.
It was one of the most painful experiences of my life and I would never have expected it to be. Walking into my house killed me. I was on a collision course with every memory, good and bad. Every Christmas, family dinner, were all right there. Everything we were as a family was preserved in that house. I expected to feel the way I did when I stepped into my father’s house. That was not the case. Paul’s blood stained the carpet by the door, there were toys on the carpet, school pictures and awards I didn’t take in my rush to leave.
As strong as I wanted to be, I broke down and cried when I stepped into Addy’s room. It was all her and I swore I could still smell her. I missed my daughter terribly and though I started moving on some, going home sent me back.
It put things in perspective. I was far from healing, not even a little bit.
I only hid it under the guise of being brave. I wasn’t.
I stayed in my home for a while, doing nothing, saying nothing, just looking until I gathered the strength to get the items I wanted, and then we left.
There were no more places to see on the street.
We began our journey back to the Windhaven.
My brother’s letter was brief and not as long as I hoped it to be.
I hope you all are good. I know you went to the cabin, but when I lost contact, I thought I would stop at the house. Maybe you came back.
I almost made it. I was attacked off of East Street just two blocks from home. Maybe I should have gone to the cabin.
I am going to try to get there. I don’t know if I will make it. I shouldn’t try, but I just need to see you one more time.
If I don’t, please know I tried, and that I love you all very much.
Bobby.
Did he know at that second he would eventually turn? When he penned the note did he have regrets? For as intelligent as Bobby was, did he think he was immune from becoming one of those things and hurting people? Maybe he just didn’t know that somewhere in his infected brain, a memory would lead him home.
I know everyone thinks I’m nuts for believing that, but I knew it was true.
My feelings were all over the place, I was a mess. Sad. Angry. I felt bad for not being there for my brother, guilty that our last exchange was a bloody note he wrote while facing death alone.
After reading that letter six times, I folded in and placed it inside the high school yearbook I brought from my house. As I closed the cover, I saw where we were.
Close to the cabin turn off. In fact, the exit sign for Big Bear was actually a double entendre to me.
“Stop,” I spoke softly to Corbin.
He did. “What’s wrong?”
“Can you turn?” I asked.
“Here? Right here?”
I nodded.
“Nila, that’s … that road …”
“I know what it is and where it goes. We’ll be careful, but there’s something ... there’s something I need to see.”
Corbin stared at me for a second, looking into my eyes as if he sensed what I needed. Then without questioning any further, he made that turn.
FROM LEV’S SIDE
Even if I was worried, I couldn’t show it. Not to Katie. Once Nila left with Corbin and Fleck she started with odd stories. At one point I hoped she wasn’t getting psychic premonitions. Then again, I had to remember that Katie was a strange child.
Not as strange as Corbin, I didn’t understand why he asked such odd questions. Off the wall, off topic questions in the middle of a conversation.
The Boy Scout question made sense, he was alluding to the smoke signals. But some of the other ones were completely off the wall.
As they prepared to leave, he asked Nila, “You aren’t planning on picking flowers are you?”
Ben scratched his head on that one, but was still confident in it having a meaning.
“I can assure you, every question he asks means something,” Ben said. “Since his infection he doesn’t process thoughts normally. Yeah, some of his questions are facetious, but most, he gets these images in his mind, thoughts, but can’t organize them, so he asks an off the wall question to try to trigger the memory, or thought.”
It didn’t quite make sense to me. Ben explained further using the ‘did we like cats’ question when we first met him. Ben was certain that it had to do with the infected cats we saw, but Corbin just couldn’t process that it was what he wanted to say.
However, Corbin had a special ability. One that couldn’t be denied.
“Do you really think Canada is the place to go?” I asked Ben. “You are so confident about it.”
“Radio talk, people talk, even before everything just fell apart, it was said that Canada had shut down borders, set up quarantines.”
“But no one has heard anything from the north.”
“What’s it going to hurt?” Ben asked.
“I just would rather be somewhere warm when winter comes. North is not warm.”
“We have the generators, we can get gas, it’s worth a shot. I really believe that.”
Everyone believed that.
In thinking about it, we were now nomads. We lost our home, if we had the means to survive and make the journey, then trying was really the right thing to do.
I promised myself right then and there not to second guess the journey north. If it was a dead end, it wasn’t like we were trapped. We could turn around.
They were gone a while, and with each passing hour, I worried and Katie didn’t help. I found it much more comfortable to sit with half my rear on a bar stool than laying down all the time.
Katie followed me everywhere making sure I didn’t fall when I balanced holding on to things and didn’t walk too much.
“Do yo
u think she’s okay?” she asked.
“I do. Corbin is a good source of protection.”
“Because he got bit like me?”
“Yes, somewhat?”
“Do you think I have special abilities like Corbin?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. But let’s not test that.” I winked. “Corbin actually had the infection.”
“What if he still does?” she asked.
“He doesn’t.”
“What if he does and at any second he could turn?”
I was ready to dismiss that, and started to laugh, then I thought about what she said.
Just as a precaution, I asked Ben.
He actually did laugh.
I had estimated how long it would take them to go around and get to Edgewood, added some time for stops. I figured six hours was plenty, seven was pushing it, when it neared the ten hour mark, I panicked.
Then they returned. Sawyer spotted them from upstairs.
“They’re coming down the road. They have stuff,” Sawyer said excitedly from upstairs.
I listened to his footsteps as he ran, probably to look out the window again. I carefully inched my way to the door, ready to open it and even yell at them for taking so long.
“Cool,” Sawyer shouted. “Fleck’s riding a motorcycle.”
I opened the door as they pulled close.
“Hey, big guy.” Corbin stepped from the truck. “We got your booties.”
“Now you can be mobile,” Nila said.
“You guys were gone a while. Everything okay?”
Nila did something I did not expect, she looked at Corbin before answering. “Yeah.”
That’s when I saw the gas cans. “Where did they come from?” I asked.
“Oh, you know,” Nila waved her hand in a ‘no worries’ manner. “It’s the apocalypse, we found them.”
“And the motorcycle?” I asked, my eyes focused on the bike.
“Yeah, hey …” Nila nudged me. “Look what I … Lev, what’s wrong?”
“You got all this stuff out there?”
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