by Siara Brandt
“It wasn’t mine. And I was running on fumes anyway.”
Rafe did a quick scan of the interior of the vehicle. It was a utility truck from the looks of it. He drew a deep breath and forced himself to relax. Even if the man was a threat, he wasn’t in any kind of shape to do anything about it now. Later, maybe. But not now.
“Where are we headed?” he asked Ren.
They were getting closer to home, weren’t they?
“Same place,” Ren answered him. “Ashford.”
“I’ve been thinking that it would be a good idea to try and find you some antibiotics for you,” Rafe heard the man say. “But right now you should get some rest. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us. There are some drinks back there under the tarp, along with some granola bars and a few bags of chips. If you’re able to eat, that should keep you going until we can find something else.”
“He all right?” Rafe whispered to Ren.
“He seems like it.”
The man must have overheard them. “I’m all right,” he said grimly. “But I guess you’ll have to figure that out for yourself later. For now, the best thing you can do is rest. No telling what we might run into. I’ve seen some crazy shit in the past few days, enough to know the dead aren’t the only ones we have to worry about. But you’ve found that out by now, too.”
Rafe frowned as he laid back on the blankets. He felt exhausted and his thoughts were still a little fuzzy. He wasn’t sure about trusting his life to a total stranger, but it wasn’t like he had any choice.
Chapter 12
Eymann was exhausted physically but he kept climbing. He was on a mission. By the time he reached the top of the ridge, he was not only laboring for each breath, he was also dripping with sweat. But he figured he had saved himself a lot of time, and a lot of walking. He knew he shouldn’t have come out here by himself without telling anyone where he was going, but he had to get away from Helice. She’d pushed him about as far as he could go. After he took a few minutes to rest, he would start the long walk back. He was more than satisfied with the weight of the sack hanging from his belt.
When he walked into the camp, Selia got up from her chair right away. She took one look at his sweat-stained clothes and exclaimed, “Eymann, where have you been.by yourself this early in the morning? The sun has been up only a little while.”
Selia had heard Helice berating him in the darkness long before the sun had come up. He must be working off steam, she thought. But he looked pleased, almost happy as he untied the sack at his waist and held it out to her.
“What is it?” she asked as she opened the sack and looked inside.
“Morels?” she exclaimed excitedly. She reached into the bag and pulled one out.
“I almost forgot that these were out there,” Eymann exclaimed. “I only remembered after I went to bed last night that it’s the time of year for them. My sister’s ex-husband taught me how to find them.”
He watched her face expectantly. “Do you like them?”
“I haven’t had them in a long time, but, yes, I do like them. But what were you thinking? If something had happened to you out there, we wouldn’t have even known where to begin looking for you.”
“I thought finding some food was important.”
“But you’re important, too, Eymann. You shouldn’t take such risks. Sit down and I’ll get you something to drink. You must have sweated out a gallon.”
She brought him a bottle of water which he was grateful for. He drank it almost all the way down and then sat basking in the smile on her face. She had tied her honey-colored hair into a very becoming, loose chignon and fastened it on top of her head. Several soft strands drifted loosely around her face and down her back. How beautiful she was, he thought. And how kind and thoughtful.
“I’m sorry, Eymann.”
He gave her a questioning look.
“About Otis doing his business in your yard.”
He stared at her a moment longer before he dropped his gaze. “Oh, that.”
At that moment, Otis could have pooped a hundred times in his yard and Eymann wouldn’t have cared the least bit. “Don’t worry about that,” he said. “I’ve forgotten all about it. I can see how much that dog means to you.”
“It would have broken my heart if I’d had to leave Mr. Chubbs behind,” she told him feelingly.
The dog was actually kind of cute, Eymann thought, especially when he wagged his tail and looked up at him with those big soulful brown eyes.
Selia picked the dog up and held him out to Eymann. “He wants you to pet him.”
Eymann stared at the dog. He reached out his hand . . .
“Does your sister have any dogs?” Selia wanted to know.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her in a long time. But Lauryn always did have pets,” Eymann said as he ran his hand through the dog’s silky fur. It was a lot softer than it looked.
“Why?” Selia asked. “How come you haven’t seen her in a long time?”
Eymann thought carefully about his answer. “We just drifted apart over the years, I guess.”
“People sometimes do that,” Selia said sympathetically. “But I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you when we do get there. She must be worried about you. Were you close?”
“Once.”
She set Otis down and said, “You did a good job, Eymann. Wait until everyone sees what you brought for us.”
As Eymann watched Selia walk away, he felt strange inside. He couldn’t identify exactly why until he realized that for the first time in a very long time, he felt appreciated and proud of what he had done.
Nadia stopped in the doorway. For one awful, stomach-dropping moment she thought he was dead. He was as white as the sheet beneath him. The black circles under his eyes were a startling contrast to his pallor. He wasn’t moving. He didn’t even look like he was breathing. She almost forgot to breathe herself.
Even though her heart was slamming hard against her ribs, her blood suddenly felt like ice water running through her veins. She didn’t have the courage to go to him, didn’t have the courage to face . . .
But his eyes suddenly opened. Somehow he must have become aware of her standing there. He looked different than he had the past few days. He still looked like he had been to hell and back. But his eyes seemed focused. She had heard that rabies victims sometimes had lucid moments at the end. Was this what she was seeing?
If he had turned - she could scarcely say the word, even in her head - then what would she do?
No matter what happened, he was still her son. She wouldn’t be able to bring herself to- Again she could barely think the words, let alone say them. But if he turned, she couldn’t leave him like that, either.
“You- you’re all right?” she got out, surprised at just how shaky her voice sounded.
“I’m hungry,” he said.
Hungry.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this hungry,” she heard.
The fear returned in full force, a stabbing jolt of it that cut straight through her middle. Just what was he hungry for?
“You know that spaghetti you make?” he asked her. “I’m craving that. With some garlic bread, heavy on the garlic. And some of your home made chocolate chip cookies, heavy on the- ”
“I know,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “Heavy on the chocolate chips.”
Spaghetti. Garlic bread. Chocolate chip cookies.
Nadia breathed a deep sigh of relief, and wondered at the same time where she was going to be able to get her hands on the ingredients for a spaghetti dinner. And garlic bread. And chocolate chip cookies.
Chapter 13
“Are you going to tell me what that was all about at breakfast yesterday?” Eymann said to Helice’s back. They hadn’t talked since yesterday. Not for lack of trying on his part. But Helice was in one of her moods, which usually included giving him the silent treatment, at least for a while. If she knew how much he actually liked those periods of silence, she
would never even consider giving him one again. “Why did you talk to him like that?”
She turned around slowly. “The man can’t be trusted. And it seems like I am the only one here who can see that.”
“What has he done to make you think that?”
“He doesn’t have to do anything. Do you really think you can go around trusting everyone, Eymann, especially in this world?”
“Doesn’t everyone at least deserve a chance- ”
“Is that what Caleb Lydon is teaching you?” she cut him off, hissing so vehemently that Eymann instinctively took a step backward. “To give everyone a chance, even if it is a stupid and dangerous thing to do?”
It was just as Helice had suspected. These people had far too much influence over him, which meant that her influence over him was diminishing.
Eymann could see that under the surface she was positively seething with rage. While her hands clenched into fists at her sides, she started on him.
“He says jump and you say, how high?”
“You’re not trying to say that I can’t even think for myself, are you?” he asked her.
Her lip curled as she said huskily, “Oh, I think you’re doing plenty of thinking.”
Her tone instantly alerted him. He automatically went into defensive mode.
“Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on,” she said in her deepest voice.
“What are you talking about?”
Having gotten herself somewhat under control, at least for the moment, she stared coldly back at him and said, “We should have stayed on our own.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because we would have been better off.”
“You must have some reason for saying such a thing.”
“Do you ask Caleb to give you a reason for everything he says?”
Braving the full force of her temper, he dared to ask, “Are you about to have your lady time?”
That particular question was always guaranteed to put her over the edge, even in the old world, and some things were no different in this one.
“Don’t try to blame me for this,” she said heatedly.
“What do you think I’m blaming you for?” Eymann asked, completely at a loss.
“Everything that comes along with being with them.” Her eyes flared dangerously behind her glasses. She didn’t let him know that she had witnessed that cozy little scene earlier, the one in which Eymann had given Selia the sack of mushrooms. She was his wife. He should have brought them to her.
Even more damning, she had also seen the look on Eymann’s face. He was obviously smitten with the woman, the fool. Didn’t he realize he was old enough to be her father? But while Eymann might be a fool, Selia was obviously using her feminine wiles on him. Helice had already figured out that Selia was one of those women who had to have every man around her under her control, even if she had to use the lure of sex to do it. One thing Helice did know for certain. Eymann never looked at her like that. The final nail in the coffin was that she had even seen Eymann petting that mangy dog.
“As if you didn’t know,” she muttered through teeth clenched. “I saw the mushrooms.”
She knew about the mushrooms?
“And?” he asked. Certainly, picking mushrooms wasn’t a crime.
She was apparently putting up the silent wall again. She didn’t answer him. Eymann couldn’t help becoming a little angry now. Why wouldn’t she just come out and say what was really bothering her? What was the point of all these games?
“And?” he persisted.
“And why don’t you just say it?” she hissed with renewed venom.
“What do you think it is I’m not saying?”
“That something else is keeping you here.”
“Something else?” He still didn’t understand. “Like what?”
“Her.”
Eymann felt a sudden, queasy drop in the pit of his stomach, along with a helpless, growing sense of dread.
And then her rant began.
The crying.
The yelling.
The accusations.
“You think I can’t see what is going on right in front of my eyes?”
“What do you think is- ?” he began.
“I can see the way you look at her,” she interrupted vehemently. “And it makes me sick to watch you making ridiculous sheep eyes at her and practically drooling all over yourself. Don’t bother to deny it. I know what I saw and guilt is written all over your face right now. I just hope no one else has noticed.”
Eymann hoped that, too. He looked around to see if anyone else could overhear her. He would be mortified.
“You’re a married man, Eymann,” she reminded him. It wasn’t necessary. It was a fact that he wished he could forget.
“You call what we have a marriage?” he blurted out, upset now that his private little world had been exposed, upset that he wasn’t a good enough liar to deny it, upset that this was going to ruin his relationship with Caleb. Hell, he was upset about everything.
For Helice, his bitter question as well as his lack of denial were the drops of water that burst the dam.
“Everyone is against me,” she wailed. “Everyone.” It was the same statement she eventually made during each and every one of her meltdowns, which always led to, “And you are, too. Why- Why did we even get married in the first place?”
With that, she turned and ran off. Eymann simply stared after her. He had chased after her too many times in the past. He didn’t have it in him to do it again. Besides, where could she go during a zombie apocalypse?
Eymann would be worrying himself sick about her right now. All because of how badly he had wronged her. When he had enough time to think about it, he would have no choice but to come to that conclusion. Although he would also spend a lot of time looking for her, he wouldn’t be able to find her, of course. She was too well hidden for that. But it served him right. The more he worried, the better, as far as Helice was concerned.
She opened another candy bar wrapper and smiled as she settled back to enjoy the warmth of the sun on her face as she took a bite. The weather was perfect for once. Not too hot, not too cold, but just right. She chuckled again when she thought of a remorseful, guilt-stricken Eymann searching frantically for her everywhere. She wanted him to regret every rotten thing he had said and done to her. She wanted him to writhe in his own guilt for even giving that woman a passing glance. She reveled in the thought of a repentant Eymann waiting on her hand and foot, begging her for forgiveness. Forgiveness she had no intention of giving. She had already decided that he wouldn’t being able to do enough for her to make up for his pathetic sins.
She looked around. With so much death around them, it was ironic that she had found a cemetery to hide in. But it was peaceful here. There wasn’t a soul around to disturb her, living or dead. And the dead weren’t a threat here. They were in the ground. There were only the birds going about their usual business and the occasional flutter of a butterfly like the one lighting on a headstone right in front of her.
As she savored another bite of chocolate, she stared up at the clouds drifting peacefully above her. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that Eymann would be very sorry for his inappropriate behavior. And she was certain he would make every effort to stay away from that conniving little witch. But he needed to be punished first and it was important that she make him worry as long as possible. She would stay here a while longer, which would give him plenty of time to think things over. When she got bored enough, she would go back. And then she could take her time reveling in his groveling.
A pleasant, almost cooling breeze touched her face. Birds chirped in the trees above her. The grass around her had not been cut, of course, in a very long time. It was long and bent over, half covering most of the tombstones. She was in the oldest section of the cemetery. There were no flowers here. The row where she sat had more elaborate stones, ones decorated with angels and quaint poems.
There was even one tombstone in the shape of a chair with an open book carved on the seat. She leaned back and closed her eyes, so relaxed she could almost take a nap . . .
When she opened her eyes again, she saw someone standing several rows away from her, facing in the opposite direction. After an initial stab of terror paralyzed her for a moment, she scrambled quickly to her feet. The candy wrapper fluttered to the ground, unnoticed. There was only one thing she could do. She began to run. She didn’t turn around to see if she had been seen. She only thought of getting away.
She kept going until she stumbled in a hole in the ground. Chipmunks or ground squirrels must have dug a network of burrows here. She saw one disappear into another hole as she went crashing face-first to the ground.
She heard something behind her - footfalls and wheezing breaths - but she was too afraid to look. She was struggling to get back to her feet when a hand closed around her ankle and jerked her back down. She rolled onto her side and reached for a nearby headstone with both hands to keep from being dragged backward. She dared to look over her shoulder for a second, saw the wide open mouth and the rows of blackened teeth, the colorless eyes. The savage snarls made her whimper in terror.
She tried to shake the hand off but she couldn’t. She felt the fingers moving further up her leg. She began to fight in earnest and was finally able to jerk her foot free. She crawled, saw in the weeds that there was an open grave not far from her. She was lucky she had seen it. If she had fallen in and that thing had fallen on top of her-
She realized she was going to have to make another run for it. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins now like a drug. She felt the hand again. This time it was closing around her other leg. She bellowed in sheer terror, like a cow with a snake wrapped around its leg.
She did the only thing she could do. She stabbed blindly with her other foot. The narrow heel of her shoe went straight through one of those ghoulish eyes. The hand let go of her leg. She looked back and stabbed again, this time aiming for the other eye. That gave her all the time she needed.