Surviving Day By Day (Book 2): Fears, Flames, and Future

by Allensworth, Audra

Looking off into the sky Tabitha smiled, and then looked back to Colt, “You got a family here now, man,” she looked over to where Beth was standing then back to Colt, “That girl over there was the first person you found right?”

  Colt nodded. “Well, we all need to go find greener and bigger pastures and I sure in hell trust this man right here. Alden was the first one that found me and I sure in the hell don’t want anything to happen to this man.”

  Alden had a smirk as he placed the finished fish on a plate and started the last batch. Colt stood and moved to the table with Ceara, he started setting the plates. Ceara looked over at Tabitha and Alden, and then spoke to Colt “You know she’s right, don’t you? We can’t stay here if more and more are figuring out that this place is here. Worse, if any of them get attacked and turned, well we will have that many more Wanderers to deal with. I don’t really want to go either but I want to stay here even less. I don’t want to always wonder if they will find us.”

  Colt let her finish, giving her a worried look, “Ceara, I don’t know where you think we are going, but there ain’t no where we can go that we won’t have to worry. Those things are everywhere; we may have to fight them a lot more on the way to…..Where are we going again? Didn’t we decide that?”

  Everyone was starting to join them at the table, Charlie was the one to answer Colt’s question, “I think we all decided on Fort Sumner, New Mexico, didn’t we Alden?”

  Alden nodded but was filling his plate. Heath filled his plate but looked confused, “We’re moving….when and why? Did none of you hear what I said about what it’s like out there??”

  Colt still didn’t trust Heath and hadn’t come close to liking the stranger yet. Not looking at Heath, instead he pick the bones out of his piece of fish, “You know you can stay here if you want, no one said you had to go with us.”

  Alden took a bite and looked over at Colt then at Heath. Heath simply seemed to ignore Colt’s jab and looked at Alden, “I told you that those things are everywhere. Just how do you plan on getting all the way to New Mexico without running into them?”

  Alden took a drink of milk and smiled, “Very carefully.”

  He then took another bite of fish. Heath sat there staring at him as the rest just kept eating. Turning to Beth, Heath looked at her, “Please tell me he’s kidding.” Beth swallowed her bite and shook her head as she took another one. “Fraid not.”

  Charlie wiped his mouth with a napkin, “Look kid.” Even Alden raised an eyebrow as Charlie went on, “First off you haven’t seen what we’ve dealt with in the last few weeks.”

  Colt jumped in quickly, ‘You’ve been in your hidey hole.”

  Charlie glared at Colt and went on, “We’ve had to fight Wanderers along with a group of some real bad asses, which is where Colt and I got our wounds. We, as a group; decided that we needed to look at the country and figure out where we could move to that would be, A) warm, B) away from heavily populated areas, and C) that was a little more open where we could see who was coming. Ft Sumner, New Mexico fit the bill. It’s got water, the winters won’t be as harsh and there are not a lot of large cities around it. Alden figured the living people in the cities would mostly head to the shelters near them. That leaves only the local populations to deal with and since this place is between Plum and Nowhere, we figured it would be our best bet.”

  Charlie looked at Alden who was still eating and not talking but he nodded in approval and Charlie smiled.

  Heath spoke up, “Okay fine but that doesn’t answer my question, which is how the hell do you plan on getting there?”

  The whole table, save for Alden, answered, “VERY, VERY CAREFULLY.”

  Heath’s head dropped as he knew if he wanted to stay with people and stay alive, he would soon be headed back out west.

  Tabitha swallowed what was in her mouth and grinned that grin she had, while shaking her head, “Heath, let me put it to you like this…. You see, Alden over there was the first non-affected and somewhat normal man I had run into since this whole fucking zombie thing happened. He saved my ass from the very first time he crossed my path… in fact Alden, wasn’t it you that mounted me when I was sneaking up on your guys camp. Then the things attacked and we saved each other’s ass. That’s when I met Charlie and Ceara. We trust that man and his choices. The rest is history…!!”

  Alden sat back and grinned ear to ear while Charlie started choking on his food. Ceara shot Tabitha a look and gently tapped Charlie’s back, “Wrong pipe!!” Charlie said while coughing.

  Tabitha then looked over to Ceara, “Ok, I am sorry about that mounting comment but it is true you know…”

  Ceara looked over to Alden and then back to Tabitha, “Ya, I suppose you’re right on that. But none of us would be here right now if it wasn’t for Alden.”

  Tabitha snapped her fingers and then smiled, “Damn straight girlie!” Taking a drink of her milk and after returning her glass to the table she continued speaking directly at Heath, “This man knows what he is talking about and he hasn’t led us up or down shit creek yet. Now I am going to tell you the reader’s digest version of my life…. I grew up not having a goddamn thing, much let alone a fucking family that ever wanted me around. I was a rebel, bad ass, fucking bitch that you never wanted to bring home to your mommy.”

  Tabitha’s voice got a little more serious and everyone around the table got intensely quiet because Tabitha was one that hardly ever talked about her past or her life in general. “So this group of people that is sitting around this table with me IS my fucking family and you Heath can be a member if you want to. It’s all up to you man. As for your boy, I am sorry about him. I came into this group with nothing, so I really didn’t have anything to lose at first. Now….” Tabitha got real serious and her voice was almost commanding, “These people right here…… they are EVERYTHING to me and if something would happen to any of them….”

  Alden shot Tabitha a fatherly look as to tell her to “Settle down” or “Pull your clutch in little girl.”

  Tabitha lowered her head in respect then changed her tone dramatically as she continued on speaking now nicely to Heath, “I’m sorry Heath for carrying on like that but these people here are all I got and now you are here….. So, I guess that means you’re the new kid on the block. Fact is, and I will tell you the same thing I told Colt…. We are outgrowing this area, and just as we all had to bug out from wherever we were when shit hit the fan, well there has got to be bigger areas of opportunity out there than this. We just have to be willing to find them.” Tabitha felt that she had spoken her peace and maybe had said a little too much. She just felt like she had to let her emotions run away with her, all this caring shit was still so new to her.

  Ceara sat eating and the silence at the table told her everyone was trying to do the same thing she was, figuring out what made Tabitha so defensive. The bit more insight into Tabitha’s life did explain why Tabitha was the way she was, defending and attacking all at the same time. Ceara had always been loved by her parents and even her aunts and uncles. What Tabitha had grown up with was very hard for her to understand. Ceara cleared her throat, “Ok so we are moving, we know that… Heath, you are going too. Like it or not, we are not leaving anyone behind.”

  She looked to Colt, “Even if we don’t know everything about him, we don’t leave him!” She looked back around the table, “We are a group, we are, like Tabitha said, family… period.”

  Colt sat eating and didn’t want to say anything, he felt like they all accepted Heath without question, but they had done the same thing for him. What right did he have to sign someone’s death warrant? He nodded to Ceara, “You’re right, I’m just a bit leary after the other night. Guess I just grouped him in with the camp.”

  Colt turned to Heath, “Sorry for being a dick to you, not my place to pass judgment on anyone.”

  Heath smiled weakly at Colt, “It’s okay man, I mean I figure you guys haven’t had it as easy as me I guess staying down in my… Hidey hole as you ca
lled it.”

  Colt chuckled a bit, “Sorry about that too.”

  Heath chuckled back “Hidey Hole… anyway I guess I’m in.” He turned and looked to Alden, “what is it about you that all these people see?”

  Alden smiled, “You got me cupcake, I’m a mean gruff old bastard who never had any use for anyone except that dog over there,” pointing at Tonto who was lying under a tree. “Maybe it’s because the rest of these cupcakes needed a leader, I think a couple needed a daddy figure but whatever they wanted, they got me.” He turned as he saw the others sitting there chuckling and giggling, “And just what the fuck are you cupcakes laughing about?”

  Beth turned to see how red Colt’s face was getting from laughing, and with how serious it had been Beth thought a little bit more of comic relief was needed. She slowly got up and looked over to see Tabitha with the confused dog look on her face. She knew Charlie and Ceara already knew what was going on, so with there being no time like the present, she stood behind Colt while he was sitting there and spoke, “Well, we CUPCAKES as you have always referred to us, just put the BAM, into every dinner conversation that we have had so far.” As she finished Beth bumped her hip up against Colt’s good shoulder.

  Colt smirked and Alden glared at him, “THAT did not answer my question.”

  Colt swallowed hard, stumbling to find words hoping Alden would see at least some humor in the story. “Well you see, umm me and Beth, I mean Beth and I…”

  Alden held up his hand, “Hang on, the way you are going I may be here all night, I need coffee.” Soon he returned with a fresh cup of coffee, “Go ahead, I’m listening.”

  Colt looked to Charlie for help but Charlie suddenly found more on his plate to eat. Colt finally got through the story of how they had nicknamed Alden, Emeril after the chef.

  Alden frowned and then glared at the group, “You know if you Cupcakes were really my troops, I’d have you all running up hills in full packs until the sun came up, singing we are the lollipop kids, but seeing as that is not an option, trust me when I say that this… Chef… as you so eloquently put it, will find a way to get his due respect.”

  Alden got up from the table and sat down in his lounge chair and stared at the fire with his back to the group. Tonto got up and came over lying down beside him. Heath quickly cleared his plate and got a cup of coffee, joining Alden by the fire and being grateful he was not involved in the Emeril clan.

  Leaning over he spoke quietly to Alden, “You know they are only kidding?”

  Alden glared back at him and in a louder voice, “I’m NOT!” He then winked at Heath and looked back to the fire.

  Ceara looked at everyone looking at the table, “Well he calls us cupcakes!”

  Colt frowned, “Guess he didn’t see the humor in it.”

  Charlie quickly finished the last of his fish and took his plate inside. He’d seen Alden mad and wasn’t sure this time if he was serious or not. He just knew that right now he didn’t want Alden to see him for fear he’d have him hauling wood back and forth between the shed and the pile and back again.

  Tabitha sat quietly and watched as Alden did what he did then she looked and listened to what Colt had said. After she finished her milk Tabitha looked over at Colt then to the others, “I wouldn’t worry too much about Alden being ‘MAD’, but I have gathered from being around him, and with all that he has been through all of his life and now this… I’m guessing it that he just wants the respect that he deserves.”

  Tabitha stood then gathered up her dishes. She thought that the meal was quite excellent. In fact, it was the best one she ever had eaten in a hell of a long time. Snickering, Tabitha looked to Colt, “I will give ya this though….. Alden could damn well get on the cover on ‘Field & Stream’ and the headline would be, “How To Rough It During A Zombie Apocalypse & Still Eat Like A King. With subtitles of, Tips on how to make the best coffee along with how to dress out a deer and make it last for days without refrigeration!”

  Beth chimed in, “Don’t forget about the seasonings too…. It’s all in the spices.”

  Ceara looked over and speaking up quickly, “Ya, that poor man’s stew or something he called it…. Where we added a lot of veggies and the leftover meat. THAT was some great stuff!”

  Tabitha turned back to see Alden sitting out there beside Heath then back to her family, “Quite honestly, I believe he is just as worried about this move as we are, cause if you think about it and whether he likes it or not we are his family just as much as he is ours.”

  Everyone got really quiet as they looked at each other then out into the woods as if they were looking into the unknown.

  Ceara handed Charlie a stack of plates as he walked back to the table, as she snagged up the glasses, “I think we are on KP tonight, for once I am happy to have something to do.”

  Charlie smiled, “Me too!”

  Both headed into the kitchen to avoid Alden, just in case he was upset. Colt sat with Beth and Tabitha; he just sat spinning his glass in his hands. He didn’t know if Tabitha was right or not, but he didn’t want to be on the man’s bad side. “You guys think I should go apologize to him? I mean, I really didn’t mean any disrespect, I was just having a bit of fun.”

  He looked to both women, “You guys know that I respect him, right? I mean, with the way he has led us through this and kept us all alive is nothing short of a miracle.” He got a small smirk, “Well, teaching a guy like me to survive this, is damn sure a miracle.”

  Beth gently placed her hand on top of Colt’s. She could see the worry and concern in his eyes; she knew he thought that he had upset the one man that if he had to, could lead them through hell and back. “Colt, I have to admit to you sweetheart, that I have had sheltered life; like you have, but if what Tabitha said is right, I’d say let’s just give him the night to relax like he is doing right now.”

  Beth looked out to see Alden sitting beside Heath and could hear both men talking. “You see Colt,” she said while nodding in their direction then looked back to Colt, “That man right there has really had no time with just another guy who is more like him. A survivalist, and if what happened to Heath and him not knowing if his son is alive or not…well that would be fucking heartbreaking if you ask me.”

  Calmly she looked back at them, then over to Tabitha, who had a tear in her eye, then she looked back to Colt, “So just for now let’s let them be, go clean up and just relax for the night, because things always look better in the morning.”

  Tabitha brushed the tear from her eye, “You’re right Beth, I couldn’t imagine a child being ….”

  Beth placed her hand on Tabitha’s shoulder, “Enough honey. I simply used Heath’s situation to show just how different we all are, but how united that we will become in the future.”

  Tabitha shook her head, “You’re right, and maybe you’re not as stuffy as you use to be.”

  Beth laughed and thought about her previous employment, “Yeah, well we all change, now don’t we? Sometimes not for the better but then in my case, I’d like to think that it has been for the better.”

  Colt stood and made his way to the fire and got some coffee, he put a splash of milk in it, looking to Heath and Alden, “Night Gentleman.”

  Both nodded, Colt went to his and Beth’s cabin, waving good night to Tabitha as she went. Once he got in the bedroom he sat down and leaned back on the pillow, easing his arm out of his sling just as Beth joined him, “Beth, you think I can start going without this thing? If we are moving, I need to be able to help more than I have been.”

  Beth looked over his shoulder, “It’s been a couple of weeks now, so I think you will be ok… but DO NOT put a lot a weight on it , or we will be doing this all over again.”

  Colt smiled, “Yes doctor Beth.”

  He tossed the sling to the corner; Beth picked it up, “Oh no sir, you have to wear it at night.”

  She tossed it back to him. Colt pouted but did as he was told. “Ok fine, let’s get some sleep, so we can get ton
ight over with.”

  Ceara and Charlie stood in their kitchen finishing the dishes, she walked to the small table drying the silverware, and she suddenly felt her right butt cheek sting. “OWWW SHIT” She jumped turning to see Charlie grinning like a Cheshire car, “Tag you’re it!!”

  Ceara punched him, “That was mean and it hurt!” She grabbed another cup towel, “It’s on!” Charlie took off to the living room, laughing.

  Alden poured another cup for both him and Heath and sat back down in his lounge chair staring up at the stars. “You know son, in a lot ways you’re like me.”

  Heath raised an eyebrow and smirked, “I don’t see how but umm okay.”

  Alden grinned, “You know a lot of how to survive out here without all the comforts of city life.”

  Heath nodded, “That I do.”

  Alden continued, “I’m guessing that with you being a ranger and all, that you have certain degrees and knowledge from college that may be very useful to us all.

  Heath smiled, “Well I have a Bachelor’s degree in Botany, which I’m sure will help out people like that Colt fellow know which berries are good and which ones aren’t.”

  Alden chuckled, “Err you don’t plan on letting him find out the hard way are you?”

  Heath chuckled, “Thought had crossed my mind.” Taking a sip he looked at Alden who was chuckling and smiled at him. “I won’t, I’m not that vindictive. Besides, the poor guy already got a bad arm and leg no sense in adding to it, no matter how much of a pain he is. The fact that him and some of the others lived long enough to get hooked up with you is amazing. The fact, you have kept them all alive without getting yourself killed is nothing short of a miracle.”

  Alden turned to him, “They’re all smart kids, some smarter than others, but they all have their good points. Fact is, each one of them realizes that alone their dead, but as a team they have some sort of chance coming out of this alive, and now that we have you, the odds have increased once more.”

  Heath sat up at the compliment, “Really? Why thank you Sir.”