Safe Zone

by Chesla, Gary

  “Good. I think you will enjoy your time with us at the fort.” Bill smiled. “Follow me.”

  They all stood and followed Bill out of the building. He led them out through the gate into the outer part of the fort. The turned right after exiting the gate and walked out towards the outer wall where a few little old gray wood frame cottages were located near the outer wall.

  “The one on the left is number 30. Shaun, why don’t you and your wife set up in there. Doug, you and your wife can set up in the other cottage. The food carts will be at the inner gate in about fifteen minutes. After you get settled in, head on over and get yourselves some dinner. I think they are serving ham and potatoes tonight. I think you will be surprised at the skill of our kitchen staff.” Bill smiled.

  “Thank you Bill.” Shaun replied. “I’m sure we will be very happy with tonight’s dinner.”

  “Have a good evening. If you need anything or have any questions, let Tom up at the inner gate know. I’ll try to get back with you as soon as I can.” Bill added, then turned and started back towards the inner fort.

  “Some set up they have here?” Doug said.

  “It sure is!” Megan said. “It feels good to be part of something again.”

  “It sure does, after being on our own the last six months, it feels great to know there are others around to help us.” Shaun added.

  Megan had turned and gone into the little cottage. “Hey Shaun, come look at this.”

  Shaun walked into the cottage followed by Doug and Lisa.

  The cottage was basically one large room. On the left side was a full sized bed. It had two pillows and was covered with a fluffy army green blanket. A small set of drawers sat between the bed and the wall. In the back of the room was a small table and chairs. On the right side of the cottage was a small couch and a wood burning stove that they could use to cook and for heat. A cupboard sat along the wall. To the right of the single door into the cottage was a small window, covered by a white cloth used for a curtain.

  “It’s cozy!” Shaun smiled.

  “It beats sleeping on the ground.” Megan smiled.

  “It looks good to me.” Doug chimed in. “It could be a lot worse. It could be the attic back at the Sleepy Hollow Inn.”

  “When you consider we have a twelve foot wall and a fort around us, I love it.” Lisa smiled.

  “Let’s go look at our place.” Doug said. He and Lisa disappeared to go look at their cabin.

  “What do you think?” Shaun looked at Megan.

  “It sure feels different being here. I liked being at our house better than this little cottage, but it sure feels better being in a fort.” Megan replied. “What do you think about all this?”

  “It might take some getting used to all of this, but I do feel safe being here.” Shaun said. “I’m sure after we give it a few weeks, feeling safe and secure will grow on us.” Shaun smiled. “Let’s go get Doug and Lisa and go get some ham for dinner. I haven’t had ham since we found those little canned hams under the shelves in that little store.”

  “Lisa will be happy she doesn’t have to eat stale crackers again.” Megan laughed.

  Shaun and Megan walked out and closed the door to their cottage. Out in front of the cottage was a log bench that sat in front of a fire ring.

  They stepped around the fire ring and went to Doug’s cottage and looked in the open door. Doug was lying on the bed as Lisa placed the items from their back packs in the small cupboard.

  Shaun knocked on the door frame. “You two ready to go get some ham and potatoes?”

  “I’m starved!” Lisa said as she ran over and pulled Doug up off the bed.

  Doug hopped off the bed and followed the others out of the cottage. They started to walk across the grass and towards the gate. Smoke from a half dozen camp fires in front of the cottages around the fort, drifted into the sky around them. The atmosphere at the fort was quiet and peaceful.

  They all walked to the gate holding hands. There were about ten people in line ahead of them at the gate.

  The line moved quickly.

  “Smells good.” Megan smiled.

  They stepped up to the cart.

  “How many servings would you need?” The man working the cart asked.

  “Four please.” Shaun answered.

  The man handed him four containers. “Are you new here? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

  “We just came in today.” Shaun answered.

  The man reached into the cart and held out a small bag. “Then you will need this. This is your utensils. Keep these at your cottage. These will be yours while you are at the fort. Try not to lose them.” The man laughed.

  “Thanks. I’ll do my best.” Shaun replied laughing.

  Shaun handed Doug two of the containers. “You want to come back to our place and eat with us?”

  “Sounds good.” Doug said.

  “Here, let me carry the utensils?” Megan said as she took the bag from Shaun. “It feels sort of neat, going out for dinner for the first time in six months.”

  “Too bad you don’t have your red dress to wear tonight.” Shaun smiled.

  “I don’t think I ever want to wear another red dress again.” Megan said wrinkling her nose at the thought of seeing the biker chic zombie walking down Route 30 in that red dress yesterday. “Are you trying to ruin my appetite so you can have my ham?”

  Shaun laughed. “Meg, how could you say that about me?”

  Shaun opened the door and they all went into the cottage. Megan pulled back the curtain to let in some more light. Doug and Shaun sat the food containers on the table and pulled out the chairs so the girls could sit down.

  As Shaun was about to sit down, a loud whistle sounded outside.

  Shaun ran over to the door to see people running for the wall. Twenty men came running out from the inner fort carrying bows.

  Shaun ran outside the cottage and stopped a man that was running by his cottage. “What’s going on?”

  As the sound of groaning began to drift in over the wall, the man answered. “There is a horde of the dead coming down Route 30.” Then the man ran off.

  Shaun turned to see Megan, Doug and Lisa standing outside the cottage.

  “The dead are coming down Route 30.” Shaun said.

  They watched as the men carrying the bows lined up on top of the wall, preparing to shoot at the dead.

  Shaun could see over the wall down to the intersection where he and the others had hidden in the grass to observe the fort. The sound reached them before the dead came into view. It looked like a few hundred of the dead were coming at the fort.

  They staggered off of Route 30 and began coming up the street towards them. The disgusting smell of the dead drifted into the fort before the dead got close to the walls.

  The men on the walls watched and waited. They looked down the wall as the dead began to bang against the wall.

  The first man holding a bow, who must have been the leader, gave the signal and they began to shoot arrows down on the dead.

  There were two runners that kept bring more arrows up on the wall for the shooters. Twenty minutes later, all was quiet.

  Bill walked past Shaun, leading four men wearing handkerchiefs over their faces, long sleeved shirts and gloves. He led them down to the gate. George opened the gate and let them go outside.

  Bill came back past Shaun. “There are a couple hundred dead that won’t bother anyone again.” Bill smiled. “The crew will drag them down over the hill and we’ll burn them tomorrow.”

  Shaun nodded as Bill walked by and went back up to the main center of the fort.

  “It was nice watching someone else deal with the dead for a change.” Megan said.

  “It was also nice not having to run to get away from them.” Shaun said.

  They all made their way back to the table and sat down.

  “It smells too bad to eat.” Megan said.

  No one seemed to be hungry.

  Shaun opened his cl
osed container. It looked like a takeout container that restaurants used to pack left overs in for their customers to take home.

  Shaun lifted the top and looked in. Two slices of ham sat inside next to a spoonful of vegetables.

  “It looks good. Maybe I’ll eat it later, after the smell goes away.” Shaun said as he pushed the box towards the center of the table.

  Megan looked out the window. The sun was near the top of the hills in the distance.

  “Want to build a fire. We could sit by the fire, maybe the smoke will make it smell better.”

  Doug and I are going to take our food over to our cabin. We’ll be back in a bit.” Lisa said.

  Doug and Lisa got up and left.

  Megan looked around. “We don’t have a bathroom. Where are we supposed to go?”

  “I think I saw an outhouse back by the wall. I’ll walk you over.” Shaun said.

  “I hate out houses.” Megan said. “They stink.”

  Shaun laughed. “Like our bathroom at home!”

  “I don’t see any faucets either.” Megan said looking around the cottage.

  “I think we have to carry water from the well out front.” Shaun said.

  Megan came over and took Shaun’s hand as they started for the door. “That’s better than drinking out of the river. We’re lucky that water didn’t make us sick.”

  They walked out the door and turned to walk towards the outhouse that sat about two hundred feet from their cottage.

  “If I have to get up in the middle of the night, I’m not walking way over there. I think I’ll just go behind the cabin.” Megan said.

  “You want to get us kicked out of the fort.” Shaun laughed. “We’re not out in the woods anymore. Think how the fort would smell if everyone went to the bathroom all over the place. Besides, you heard Bill. I’m responsible for you. Do I have to start carrying a bag to clean up after you?”

  Megan started to laugh. “I guess you are going to have your hands full taking care of me.”

  “I thought I was going to have my hands full before this bathroom thing, now I know they are going to toss us out.” Shaun laughed.

  Megan laughed. “I’m just kidding.”

  “I don’t know about you sometimes?” Shaun smiled.

  “I just wanted you to think how much better it will be walking me to the outhouse in the middle of the night than getting kicked out of the fort.” Megan smiled up at him.

  “I’m glad you’re so thoughtful. Now hurry up so we can get back and start the fire before it gets dark.” Shaun laughed.

  They had the fire going when Doug and Lisa came over. They all sat quietly enjoying the fire as they sat back on the bench and leaned against the cottage.

  They enjoyed the quiet, but most of all they enjoyed the feeling of being safe. A feeling they had almost forgot.

  It had been a very eventful day. Maybe their life was changing for the better.

  Shaun was enjoying the evening and the crackling sound of the fire. He enjoyed seeing the camp fires that dotted the area inside the fort walls. The stars began appearing in the dark sky. He felt comfortable tonight, for the first time in a long while, to enjoy the sight of the stars.

  There were a lot of good points being here at the fort. He felt good that they had decided to make the trip here.

  Shaun started to laugh to himself. There were also some drawbacks to being here he thought as Lisa and Megan began discussing how far away the outhouse was from their cabin.

  Chapter 11

  Shaun woke up to the sound of someone knocking on his cottage door. He opened his eyes and looked around their one room cottage. The white cloth hanging over the room’s only window glowed brightly as the sun shined on it. The air in the room was warm as the sun’s rays heated the little building.

  Shaun slid out from under the covers and let his feet drop down onto the wooden floor. He felt surprisingly refreshed. A good night of stress free sleep, the first in a long time had done wonders.

  The sound of someone knocking on his door refocused his efforts to get up. He slid on his jeans and walked over to the door.

  He opened the door. A man about Shaun’s age, twenty-five, stood at the door and smiled at him. “Good morning. My name is Tim. Bill asked me to come down and ask you to come to the gathering hall when you are able.”

  “Sure. Do you know what Bill wants me for?” The semi groggy Shaun asked.

  “I believe he wants to talk to you about what job you will be doing today.” Tim smiled.

  “Does he want me to come up right now?” Shaun asked.

  “No. He knows last night was your first night at the fort. Most people sleep in the first morning. I know I hadn’t had a lot of rest before I came here, I slept until noon my first day. I hope I didn’t wake you out of a sound sleep?” Tim asked.

  “I was still sleeping, but no problem. I had more sleep last night than I have had in a long time.” Shaun smiled. “Let Bill know I’ll be up in about half an hour. It was nice meeting you Tim. Have you been here long?”

  “I’ve been here about two months.” Tim answered.

  “What job do you do?” Shaun asked.

  “I work with metal. I make arrow heads, tools, hinges for the gates and anything Bill needs for the fort.” Tim answered.

  “I would have thought you would have been moved into town to your own place by now?” Shaun said.

  “Bill says my job is very important to the fort. He said I will be relocated when they have a nice place close to the fort so I can still work here. He said he is waiting for a really nice place for me.” Tim smiled.

  “Where does Bill live?” Shaun asked.

  “He lives up in the main part of the fort. He feels it is important that he be at the fort until the town is free of the dead.” Tim answered.

  “Have you seen a lot of people get moved to their own place?” Shaun asked again.

  “Yes. Most people are only here for a few weeks. It’s hard to make too many friends, they are here and gone so fast. Bill said he is happy I’m willing to be patient and I will be rewarded for all my work. I really don’t mind. Compared to where I had to live before I came here, this place is amazing. I’m happy to do whatever Bill asks me to do.” Tim smiled.

  “Where you supposed to tell Doug to come up with me?” Shaun asked.

  “Yea, I was going to knock on his door next.” Tim replied.

  “If it OK with you, I’ll wake him up for you and bring him with me?” Shaun smiled.

  “That would be fine. Thank You.” Tim said. Tim turned and started back towards the main fort.

  Shaun was about to close the door when he saw Lilly working in the garden near the fort road across from his cottage. She started waving at him when she saw him looking in her direction.

  Shaun waived before going back inside.

  “Who was that?” Megan asked as she stretched out her arms under the blankets.

  “Morning Meg. How’d you sleep last night?” Shaun smiled.

  “Wonderful!” She said as she smiled.

  “That was a guy named Tim. Bill sent him to have me come up to be assigned my first job.” Shaun said as he pulled his shirt over his head, then sat to tie his shoes.

  “You want me to come with you?” Megan asked.

  “No. You hang around the cottage today until I see how this works and what he wants me to do. After I find out what my job is, you can help me tomorrow. I saw Lilly, the girl I spoke to yesterday. She’s working in the garden out front. Why don’t you go talk to her? She seems friendly. Maybe you can find out some more about what’s been going on at the fort.” Shaun said as he stood up after he finished tying his shoes.

  Shaun went over to the cupboard and took out a pack of crackers and began to tear open the wrapper. “I have to go wake up Doug and take him with me.”

  Megan hopped out of bed and started to get dressed. “If you wait a minute you can walk me to the outhouse.”

  “I thought you weren’t going to use that
outhouse anymore?” Shaun laughed.

  Megan smiled. “You can call it my contribution to our new community here at the fort.”

  “I see a good night’s sleep has done wonders for your attitude.” Shaun laughed.

  Megan smiled and walked over next to Shaun. She grabbed his hand. “Come on while I’m feeling cooperative.”

  They walked over to Doug and Lisa’s cottage. “I can find my way from here. Don’t work too hard.” Megan smiled and gave Shaun a kiss and continued on her way to the outhouse.

  Shaun turned and knocked on Doug’s door.

  “Good Morning Shaun.” Doug said cheerfully as he opened the door. Doug was dressed. Lisa was sitting at the table snacking on some crackers. “Come on in. How did you and Meg sleep last night? Lisa and I slept like logs. It was great waking up without worrying about what we would see when we opened our eyes.”

  “We slept great too!” Shaun added. “Bill sent a guy down to ask us to come up to the gathering hall. We are going to get our first job.”

  Doug laughed. “A job! I haven’t heard me and a job mentioned in the same sentence for six months.”

  Shaun laughed. “Let’s go earn our keep.”

  Shaun looked back at Lisa before they went out the door. “Hey Lisa, Meg is going to go over and talk with Lilly, the girl working in the flower garden out front. Why don’t you go with her and make a new friend?”

  Lisa perked up. “Is she going over now?”

  “As soon as she gets back from the outhouse.” Shaun laughed. “You can go over and wait for her on the bench.”

  Lisa stood and followed them to the door.

  “Maybe I’ll see her at the outhouse?” Lisa said as she started out across the grass.

  Shaun laughed as he watched Lisa going towards the outhouse. “The world has gone to hell, but some things never change. Women and bathrooms?”

  Shaun and Doug walked across the grass and up the fort road to the main section of the fort.

  “I wonder what job we are going to get today?” Doug asked.

  “I think Bill said something yesterday about us making arrows.” Shaun replied.