Colt plunged his knife in the base of another skull and lowered the man to the ground. Soon Colt was faced with the choice he dreaded. They had got through the group enough and now had to decide if he could kill a child. He shook his head and chose a woman instead; the choice was a bad one. The twins saw Colt and turned to get him. He felt the pull on his shirt and thought Charlie was trying to get his attention but when he turned it was one of the twins going in for a bite.
Charlie didn’t want to get up and run but he knew if Colt was to have a chance he had no choice. Jumping up he bolted towards Colt and the twins. He leaped and hit the child with his body taking it and its twin off of Colts body. They all three rolled in the dirt. Charlie drove his knife into the top of the head of one and it fell limply to the side. The second was stunned but recovered quickly and was now crawling up Charlie’s legs. Its teeth were bared and it was snarling viciously.
Fear gripped Charlie as he fought and tried to crawl backwards away from the biting beast. His hands clawing the ground and searching for any weapon he could use. Pain shot through his left hand as he grabbed a large spine cactus. Tearing it out of the ground he shoved it in the wanderer’s mouth, she then bit and bit down hard on it.
The Wanderer’s eyes went wide then confused as it tried to chew the plant with the huge spines ripping into its mouth and getting stuck. The girl sat back trying to pull the plant out which was now wedged tightly. Charlie scampered back a few feet looking frantically about him for anything he could use. Grabbing a rock the size of a football, Charlie turned and drove it into the face of the girl who then fell backwards.
Jumping on top of her, Charlie began slamming the rock over and over into the girls face until it she quit moving. Charlie was raising the rock once more when Colt reached down and grabbed his arm Charlie swung around hitting Colt with the rock across his face sending him backwards.
“OH shit dude I’m sorry I thought it was another one of them.”
Charlie reached down and helped Colt up. “Damn that hurt Charlie. I think you broke my nose.”
Charlie looked at him, “Well maybe not, but it is going to leave a mark.”
Tabitha was firing slowly taking her time and hitting mostly headshots. The one’s she missed Alden or Ceara were there to taken care of. Heath handed her another arrow and watched her fire.
Suddenly two Wanderers dropped just a few feet apart. “How the hell did you do that?”
Tabitha looked at him then back to the herd, “Honey that wasn’t me.”
Another arrow hit a wanderer and Heath turned to look and see where it came from. He found it quickly.
“Tabitha look there we got some help.” Tabitha turned and saw a yellow Humvee with feathers flying off the whip antenna. Standing around it were 4 men with long black hair, blue jeans and plaid shirts. They all held modern compound bows and were taking careful aim. She watched as they fired, then turned and watched another wanderer drop.
She turned and smiled at Heath, “Isn’t it supposed to be the cavalry up there?”
Heath smiled, “Who the hell cares, they’re on our side.”
Tabitha then loaded another arrow and went back to work.
Ceara was covered in blood and dirt, Maximus looked like a rabid dog with the blood and his aggression. She had taken down more than she cared to think about. It wasn’t due to her wanting to, but more because Maximus kept drawing attention to them with his growls. Several times Ceara had to kill one that was ready to sink its teeth into Maximus and several times Ceara cussed her dog.
She took a quick look to Alden who motioned with his head to look to the North; Ceara scanned where Tabitha and Heath were and then looked confused to Alden. She didn’t see anything wrong there; he shook his head and pointed. She looked again and saw several men on the edge of a bluff; they were all carrying bow and arrows. Ceara had to stifle a giggle; her thought was of all the westerns that her and her father had watched. Big difference was that her little group of pilgrims were thanking God the Indians showed up.
Just as she looked back down Maximus had taken another one down drawing the attention of three others, “Damn Dog…”
She grabbed the one burying the knife to the handle causing more blood to gush down her arm. She pulled the knife back out as she shoved the girl to the ground. The second one had her and flashbacks to the wanderer in the car flashed through her mind, she froze…. Just for a few seconds but it was all that was needed, she watched as the teeth moved toward her shoulder. Ceara had no idea if the wanderer was male, female, old or young; all she saw was the teeth.
Her thought wasn’t fear; it was if she would be killed or would she have to kill herself before turning into one of them. One second the wanderer was there and the next it was on the ground, Maximus had the third on the ground ripping its throat out. She looked around dazed; Alden jerked her back circling his arm in the air signaling for everyone to regroup with Beth.
Beth had Ceara in a tight hug, “Honey are you ok, you just stood there, why didn’t you kill them? Are you bit??”
Ceara shook her head but stayed in the hug till Charlie pulled her away from Beth to check her over, “What the hell happened?! Why did you just stand there?! You were just going to let that thing bite you!! ANSWER ME!!”
Alden stepped up putting his hand on Charlie’s shoulder, “We can discuss this later, we need to get back to the house… without drawing unwanted attention to us.”
Ceara stayed in Charlie’s arms not saying a word.
Tabitha and Heath stood as Alden was waving them all in. They both turned to the ridge and saw the men looking down. Heath took off his hat and waved it in a gesture of thanks. His signal was returned by two of the men raising their bows over their heads and giving out a loud war cry.
Moving quickly Tabitha and Heath joined the others. Charlie was still holding Ceara as she was shaking in his arms. He looked at the wanderer who had almost bit Ceara as it lay in the dirt with an arrow in its head. “Thank you Tabitha, Thank you so much.”
Tabitha looked at him and smiled, “well you’re welcome, but that ain’t one of my arrows. Besides, it was a waste of a good arrow, Max had it handled already.”
Heath had placed his foot on the dead woman and pulled the arrow out as Alden spoke up. “Charlie, that came from our friends up above.” He pointed to the ridge where they all watched the yellow truck pull away.
Ceara looked over to where Alden pointed, but just laid her head back on Charlie’s shoulder. This was the second time in a month’s time she was almost bit. They all turned back to go to the house. Tabitha broke the silence about halfway there, “So are we going back for a second round? With the help I would say we got a lot more than half!” She was bouncing around with the adrenaline still pumping.
Alden looked at her than the group, “No I think we’ve done enough damage for the day.”
Heath turned and looked back over his shoulder. He could see the carnage they left behind. Yes he thought they had killed at least half of the herd of Wanderers, but to him there was half too many still up and about. He turned back and watched as Alden kept walking but his head was searching the horizon. Picking up the pace Heath was soon next to him. “So chief, who do you think they were?”
Alden shook his head, “Hard telling really. There are a lot of reservations here in New Mexico the closest one is south of here about a hundred miles or so. The majority is over on the western edge, but those would be near populated areas so those tribes would have headed to the unpopulated spots. So it’s any ones guess. I’m just glad they showed up.”
Heath dropped back next to Tabitha. “So what did Alden say?” She asked.
“He thinks our friends were from down south but he’s not sure.”
Charlie looked at Heath, “Does he think they’re okay… I mean they ain’t going to try and come after us once they find out where we are?”
Alden spoke up, “No Charlie. They ain’t like what you see in the movies. They’re actually m
ore religious and spiritual than most of the so called Christians. Contrary to what the history books taught us, it was the white man who was the aggressors, the savages and the heathens. The native Americans simply wanted to protect what was theirs.”
Alden went quiet once again and began searching the horizon.
Charlie was still holding Ceara who seemed to have stopped shaking, but was still clinging tight to him. She looked over to Alden, “What now?”
Alden shrugged in a noncommittal way, “Standard procedure, we wait and see. You two will be getting to bed, you had duty last night and it’s close to noon.”
Ceara simply nodded and let Charlie lead her the rest of the way. As soon as they got to the porch Beth announced she and Colt would make breakfast. Colt looked over confused, “Only thing I know how to cook is cereal.”
Several laughed but Charlie just kept walking until he and Ceara were in the den. He let her go and pulled out the couch bed. He turned to her and sat on the bed, “Come over here.”
Ceara moved as if just only able to move when Charlie said something. She stopped as she reached him. Charlie stood and started to undress her for bed but she was filthy from the fight, he tried to make her laugh a couple of times but soon gave up. “You are covered in blood, honey. Let’s get you in the shower.”
Ceara let him lead her to the bathroom, “Stay here, I’ll grab some clothes.” Charlie left but soon returned with several clothes, he laid them across the toilet. He faced Ceara again, “Do you want me to leave?”
Ceara gave the tiniest of head shakes, but didn’t move to get undressed to shower. Charlie stepped up again and pulled her shirt over her head, turned her around. Fumbling a bit, he finally unhooked her bra and slid it off. He moved her again and stopped worrying about her being mad, there was probably not many situations with less sexual interest. Soon he had her completely undress and he followed suit. The water was hot as he stepped in the tub, Charlie held out his hand and Ceara took it and stepped into the shower with him.
Charlie took his time washing Ceara then took care of himself; he just wanted to hold her but knew the others would want a shower. He reached down turning off the water, toweling both of them off he helped Ceara into clean panties and one of his t-shirts. Once he had his boxers on, he scooped up the filthy clothes
Charlie walked Ceara back to the room, “Be right back.” Ceara’s eyes widened, Charlie kissed her cheek, “I’m just letting the others know the shower is open.” He set her on the bed, “Just relax a minute.”
When he came back Ceara was sitting stiffly on the bed, she looked like a mannequin to Charlie. He made his way around the other side and pulled her into his arms, laying her on his chest. “Just sleep baby, we will get through this together.”
The desert surrounded Ceara, she looked everywhere for the others and found no one. All that was around her were lizards and cacti, there were rocks scattered on the desert floor but she was alone. Ceara kept calling out as loud as she could, “CHARLIE!!!”
Her voice carried over the ground with no response. She walked on for what felt like hours, the scenery never changed. She turned to her left to try another direction. Off in the distance she saw movement, but what if it was Wanderers? Biting her lip she looked to try to see who the people were and if she wanted to go that direction. Glancing over her shoulder to the way she had been headed, she was shocked to see her own group walking toward her. She didn’t bother trying to figure out where they had come from just started running to them screaming for Charlie.
She got within fifteen or twenty feet from them and stopped dead, her throat went dry, the scream died, her breath was stolen. They were all Wanderers, Maximus looked evil, growling and snapping at her. The only word she could say was, “How?”
Charlie stepped towards her, “This is all your fault…. You did this to us.” His tone was so low and menacing that Ceara took a step back.
“I don’t understand, we were all back at the house? I am having a nightmare… I just need to wake up!” Tears were streaming down her face as Charlie took a few more steps toward her.
“Maybe you were having a nightmare before and now you are awake.” He glanced around to the others, “You should say you are sorry for doing this to us Ceara.”
Ceara backed further away shaking her head, “No, this is the nightmare, Wanderers can’t talk! How is this my fault? How can you say that?”
Charlie laughed, “Can’t talk? Have you ever tried to talk to one or did you just always freeze up and expect everyone else to save you?”
Ceara wiped the tears from her eyes, “I don’t always freeze!”
Alden started laughing drawing her attention, his chest was ripped open, broken and protruding ribs kept his shirt on. Ceara looked to the others, they all were mangled. Tabitha’s arm was missing; Heath’s jaw had been ripped open so much Ceara could see his entire jawbone. Colt looked like half his head was shot off in a failed suicide attempt. Beth walked dragging intestines behind her.
They were all laughing at her, Ceara screamed for them to shut up. Charlie gave a head shake as if pitying her. “Have you noticed Alden kept you with him? Do you know why? He didn’t trust you, he knew you were weak! But you froze and let him get attacked! Without Alden we were lost, we didn’t know how to do everything like he did, so we all got bit. Now, do you see how all this is your fault? But we have decided to forgive you and make you one of us again.”
“NOOOO I don’t want to be a wanderer!!” Ceara was moving faster wanting to get away from them, “This isn’t real!! Charlie please…. I love you… please….”
Everyone started laughing now; Tabitha mimicked Ceara, “I love you!!! Did you hear that Charlie, she loves you so much she is repulsed and trying to get away from you? Damn Red, just do what you always do, just stand there and wait to be saved!”
Colt looked over at Tabitha, “Who can save her now? Damn sure won’t be one of us!”
The group converged on Ceara; she began screaming and kicking to try to save herself.
Charlie shook Ceara awake but as soon as her eyes opened and saw him she shoved him away backing up to the back of the sofa bed, “Get away from me! Don’t bite me!”
The door burst open and the others filled the room but Charlie just looked at Ceara, “Baby it was a nightmare, you’re ok…you’re with me.”
Ceara drew her knees to her chest hugging them but didn’t say anything; Beth walked to the bed and softly sat down. She didn’t try to reach for Ceara but just looked at her, “The nightmares will slow in time, but I won’t lie to you, they will be bad for a few days. What you have to do is realize that is all they are. Nightmares can only hurt you if you let them. I had them for a while after I had to kill my family.” Beth looked to the others, “I think all of us have had our share but Ceara yours seem to have done more to you, sweetie you look terrified.”
Ceara looked around to all of them, they were all whole and all still with her. Alden stepped further into the room, “Ceara, you are here, the dream is gone and you need to forget it. Whatever happened, was just your fears coming out through your subconscious. I would venture a guess that you were dreaming Charlie was one of those things, am I close?”
Ceara looked to Charlie and back to Alden, “You all were and you wanted to turn me.” She left out that Charlie had blamed her.
Tabitha smiled, “Well that ain’t happening, they would have to kill me dead because I will never become one of those things!”
Colt held out his hand to Beth, “Let’s let them get back to sleep, I’m starving and Charlie looks a tad bit uncomfortable in just his boxers.”
Charlie glared at Colt, “Well I wasn’t expecting all of you to come running in, damn!”
Everyone laughed but started filing out of the room; Ceara crawled back under the cover with Charlie, “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to get them all in here.”
Charlie smiled down at her and kissed her forehead, “It’s ok, just think about happier times so you wil
l have better dreams. We will only have a couple more hours so let’s make them count.”
Once both Beth and Colt had their shower Beth headed to the kitchen, “Come on Colt, women aren’t the only ones that can cook.”
Colt looked over his shoulder at Heath, “Yeah, well she has never seen me in a kitchen.” He shrugged and followed her. “So, what exactly am I doing?”
Beth smiled, “You act like you are walking the last mile, cooking isn’t that hard! Didn’t your mother ever teach you the basics?”
Colt picked up a bowl then set it back down, “She tried, I can make toast and boil water but that is pretty much it. You are looking at the king of take out!” He took a mock bow and Beth laughed.
“Your majesty, take out is off the books now, so you will be learning to cook.”
Colt waved to the kitchen, “Lead the way… what are we making?”
Beth grabbed a box of Bisquick and powdered milk, “Read the back for biscuits, make the milk first so you will have it ready.”
Colt worked on his biscuits for the next thirty minutes while Beth worked on a meat and rice dish.
An hour later, Tabitha and Heath were setting the table, as Alden flipped through a pile of old newspapers. Once everyone was seated, Alden glanced down the hall, “Guess I should wake the kids.”
He stood up just as Ceara and Charlie walked out of the den, “Just in time, food’s getting cold!”
They all sat down and began filling their plates, Heath looked over to Alden, “So why you going through all those papers?”
Alden kept eating for a few more bites, “We will need supplies before long, I am going through them hoping to see what towns were overrun the fastest. Those towns should be emptied out by now.” He saw the confused looks and continued, “If they were able to hold off the attacks then that means the infection hit there last and that means the Wanderers could still be milling around that area. If it hit sooner then they more than likely have moved on looking for breathers or animals to feed on.”
Ceara set her fork down, “So what did you find?”
Surviving Day By Day (Book 2): Fears, Flames, and Future Page 46