by Poe, S. B.
The front porch was overgrown with azalea branches, and some limbs from the oak tree had fallen on the roof. She climbed over the pile of junk at the bottom of the little cement staircase and grabbed the door handle. It came off in her hand and the door swung open. She glanced over her shoulder and went inside. There was another door to her right. She opened it into a bathroom. She closed it when she saw the skeleton in the tub. She looked back again and some of the dead were trying to wade through the wisteria that wrapped the front of the porch. The door at the end of the hallway in front of her stood open and she ran for it. She grabbed the handle and shut it behind her just as the first deadun stumbled into the hallway. The room she found herself in was decaying around an old brick fireplace. She looked around for something to put against the door, but the only thing in the room were loose bricks scattered across the floor. She grabbed a few of them and put them against the bottom of the door. That wouldn’t work. She knew it. Think Ham, think, Opa’s voice sounded in her head. She looked around. Against the wall in the corner, under a couple more bricks, she saw the fireplace poker. The banging on the other side of the wall grew louder as she held the newfound weapon in her hand. She turned towards the door. The latch was holding, but she knew they would break through soon. She closed her eyes.
“Opa, if you can hear me, I need some help.” She said.
But it wasn’t Martin’s face that popped in her head. It was Jahda’s. Her eyebrows screwed up as she listened to the sound of the latch beginning to break. Then it hit her. Jahda had been trapped. She had told Ham the story. They climbed out from the upstairs window. Her eyes popped open. She looked up.
A shard of light came through a hole where the chimney met the roof. The big tree limb stuck a few feet into the room. She jumped up and started trying to climb the brick chimney. There were pegs in the masonry along the front. She lifted her foot as high as she could to step up. It was too high. She dropped the poker and grabbed the stud protruding from the wall that had held the mantle. She pulled herself up until she could get her foot on the iron pegs. The latch gave way. The first two deaduns fell into the room. She screamed. She climbed.
She got her foot up on the stud and stood. The first deadun grabbed at her. She kicked at it once and almost fell. She reached up and grabbed the rotted wood around the opening and pulled. It gave way just a little and she grabbed the stud underneath. She pulled herself up. The deadun grabbed her foot, but she wriggled free. She squeezed herself through the hole so fast that as soon as she had more weight outside the wall, she tumbled several feet to the ground. Her world briefly went black as the wind violently left her lungs. She rolled onto her side and opened her mouth, but the air wouldn’t come back. She could feel her eyes bulging in their sockets and she rolled onto her back and closed them. Slowly she was able to pull air into her lungs and the ringing in her head subsided. She heard a low grunt just above her head and remembered where she was. She opened her eyes quickly, but they weren’t quite ready to focus. She rolled onto her stomach and backed away. Her vision returned and she could see four legs in front of her.
“Cheval?” Ham looked up.
Charlie watched as Bridger pulled through the gate. He just shook his head and kept driving. Jennifer climbed back up on the top of the bus.
“I guess we stay up here?” Jennifer asked.
“I guess. Scott and Ham usually relieve us. I guess they ain’t got back yet.” Charlie said as he followed the Humvee down the road with his eyes. “If you need to take a break…”
“No, I’m good.” Jennifer said. “Daddy?”
He turned and looked at her.
“Is it ever gonna end? Is it ever gonna get better?” Jennifer asked.
“I don’t know honey, I don’t know.”
Bridger pulled against the curb and got out.
“You want me to wait?” Ed said as he climbed out the other door.
“Nah, go ahead. Maybe it’ll be better if I don’t know where I’m going. Maybe getting a little lost will help.” Bridger said.
“Whatever man. Later.” Ed turned and walked down the sidewalk. Bridger looked up at the door to the house in front of him. He climbed the short porch and knocked on the door.
“Kate.” He called. “Kate.”
The door swung open.
“Did you find him? Them?” She asked. He could see the red rim around her tired eyes.
“Not yet.” He said.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going out there to look?” Kate asked.
“Because you would have wanted to go with me.”
“You’re damned right.”
“That’s why I’m here.” Bridger said. “I want you to come with me.”
“Why?”
“Because you need to. I know you, Kate. I know what your boys meant, mean, to you.”
“What do they mean to me?” Kate asked.
“I knew the second that Scott went missing that you would either find him or spend the rest of your life looking.” Bridger said.
She reached inside the door and grabbed the backpack off the couch. It was full and heavy with a hatchet strapped to the back. She slung it over her shoulder and grabbed the pistol off the table.
“Let’s go.” She said.
The Turn Home
Ham looked back over her shoulder and only saw one. She felt every step the horse took because she really did have to pee now. She looked back again.
“Whoa.” She pulled back on the reigns and stepped down from the saddle. She looked at the straps of leather in her hand. “I’m going to trust you. It’s your last chance. I have to pee. Don’t run off.” She dropped the reigns. The horse stood still. She stepped a few feet away and glanced both ways. She watched Cheval as she did her business.
“Ah, that’s much better.” She said as she climbed back in the saddle. “I trust you again. I hope you know where you’re going.”
She looked back. The rise they had just climbed lay out a straight stretch of road behind her. She could see the dead that had gathered in her wake slowly following behind. Dozens. Maybe more. She had kept a distance between her and them, but she was afraid to let Cheval run. She didn’t want to wear him out because she didn’t know how far she had to go. She looked to her left and saw another deadun stumbling between the trees. The sound of the hoofs against the gravel that lined the side of the road got its attention. It ambled towards the road and followed behind. She clucked at the horse and it increased its speed just a notch. She watched the distance grow between her and the dead as she looked back over her shoulder.
Bridger stopped the hummer just outside the gate. He looked up and down the road.
“Why did you stop?” She asked.
“Where would she have waited?” He mused.
“What?” Kate asked again.
“She would have had to wait on him. He let her and the horse out the gate, but then he had to get out too. They were on the gate duty. It wasn’t left open. So he waited for someone to relieve him so he could sneak out. And she waited for him. Out here. But where?” Bridger asked.
“Why?” Kate asked.
“Because if we can figure out where she waited, maybe we can figure out which way they went.” Bridger said. “Think about it though.”
“What’s that?” Kate asked.
“She sat out here, by herself, waiting. How many times have you been outside a fence by yourself since we got to the compound? How many times have any of us? The few times I have, I about pissed my pants.”
“What are you getting at?” Kate asked.
“It feels different outside the walls. It just does. Like, I don’t know, the closest thing I got is a sniper watching you. Or at least thinking one is. All the time. The dead are everywhere, but they don’t look like it. There may be four or five deaduns between us and that house over there. One is standing in a corner in the first room next door. Another is lying on the ground beside that overgrown bush. We can’t see em yet, but they are there. An
d if we made a ruckus, they’d show up. You can feel that. And she could, too. And Scott could, too. And they still went out here.”
“Because they’re kids and they don’t know any better.” Kate said.
“That’s not true. Not the second part. They both know what’s out here. They came anyway. I’m just saying they’re pretty brave. And not just for kids. Down there.” He pointed. “The yellow house, that’s where she waited.”
“Why there?”
“It sticks out. And you can’t see it until you get to past the gate.” Bridger said. “That’s the one. Let’s start there.”
They drove down the street and came to a crossroad. The barricade blocked one way, but the other way disappeared over the rise. They turned. Soon they had cleared the last house and found themselves on a tree lined two lane road that looked vaguely similar to the road that ran out to the alfalfa fields. Bridger turned to Kate and smiled.
“They could have come this way. Neither of them has been outside since we got here. They were working entirely from months old memory.” He said.
“Have you seen Josh?” Kate asked.
“No. I assume that means he isn’t back there.” Bridger thumbed over his shoulder.
“No. He left to go look. I think Lori is with him.” She said.
“What about Jahda? Or Devin?” Bridger asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, I figure most everyone will be out looking by this afternoon if we haven’t rounded them up by then.”
“Not Tilly.” Kate said.
“Huh?” Bridger asked.
“Tilly won’t be out here looking.”
“Tilly will probably the first out here looking.” Bridger said.
“Not now. She’ll stay to keep the town safe. She’ll see that as her job now.” Kate said.
“Why? Because you gave it to her?”
“No, asshole. Because she’s pregnant. And the baby is going to need the town. The houses. The barricade. Even though that little baby is still growing inside her, she will already let others fall away to keep it safe. Hope she has better luck than me.” Kate turned and gazed out the window.
“Are you done?” Bridger asked.
“With what?”
“As long as I’ve known you Kate, you’ve always been consistent.” Bridger said. “You have always been willing to step in front of a bus for your boys, JW included, and you never hold back what you’re feeling. And right now you’re feeling sorry. For yourself.”
“Fuck you.” Kate said. “Seriously. Go fuck yourself. I don’t give a rat’s fucking ass what the hell you think. My boys are gone. JW INFUCKINGCLUDED.” Kate said. “Stop the goddam car.”
“I’m not stopping the car, Kate.” Bridger looked straight ahead.
“I have a gun and I will shoot you.” Kate twisted in the seat and reached her hand down to her hip. Bridger reached over and grabbed at her arm.
“You’re not going to shoot me, Kate.” Bridger said as he slammed on the brakes. Kate lurched forward, but he shot his arm the rest of the way across to the door, bracing her against the seat. He grabbed the handle and opened the door.
“Here.” He said.
She grabbed the backpack on the floorboard and jumped out of the car. She spun around to say something, but the tires drowned out her voice as they chirped down the asphalt. Black smoke billowed from the exhaust as the Humvee rapidly pulled away. She stood in the middle of the road as it disappeared around the next turn. The sound of the engine died away a minute later. She could hear the cicadas chirping in the woods behind her. A crow called out, then another. Soon the sky to her east was full of the sound of cawing crows. A twig snapped in the woods off the road. She jerked her head. Everything went quiet. She reached down and took the hatchet from the strap and set the backpack on the ground. Another twig snapped. Her head jerked towards the sound again. Something on the other side of that tree, she thought. She took a half step to her left and something charged towards the road. She tripped over her backpack as she scrambled back and hit the ground. The deer came straight at her for a few steps before turning and leaping the last ten or twelve feet to the wood line on the other side of the road.
“Holy shit.” Kate tried to catch her breath.
The sound of the deer disappeared and the woods grew quiet again. She watched as a solitary deadun crossed about a hundred yards back up the road. It never registered her presence as it slowly went from one side of the road to the other, it’s head never even turned. A chill came over her. Bridger was right. No matter how much of a knucklehead both these kids were, no one could doubt their courage. She thought about how long she would have to have been out here at their age before turning around and heading back to the gate. Trouble be damned. She knew the answer. She would have never been brave enough in the first place. She really didn’t want to be proud of her son, but she kinda was. But that didn’t fix her current predicament. She heard the sound of the hummer coming back down the road. She put the hatchet back on the strap.
“You think I won’t shoot you?” Kate asked as Bridger pulled up.
“I figured you woulda been shooting when I rounded that last corner if you really meant it.” Bridger said.
“You’re an asshole.” Kate said.
“Maybe. Probably. Okay, yeah, I’m an asshole. But the good kind.” He smiled.
“There is no good kind.” Kate said as she opened the door and tossed her backpack inside.
“Where to now?” Bridger said.
Well, I guess…” Kate started.
Both of them turned their heads and listened as the sound of gunfire erupted from the direction they were already heading.
“That has my attention.” Bridger said.
“That has everything’s attention.” Kate said as she climbed in the seat. “Let’s go, good kind of asshole.”
They rolled to a stop just before the bridge. Jahda stepped down from the bed and joined Josh at the side of the truck. They walked towards the bridge.
“Someone built a fire.” Jahda said. “In the middle.”
Josh reached his toe down and knocked over the can sitting among the ashes.
“Not too long ago either. Ashes haven’t blown away. Maybe last night?” Josh said.
“You think it was them?” Jahda said.
“SCOTT, HAM.” Josh cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled.
“Shhh.” Jahda said.
“Why?”
“The dead are still out here.” She said.
“I’m sick of being quiet for the dead. We cower behind those walls like mice trying not to make a noise. Fuck that. I’m done.” Josh said. “SCOTTTT, HAMMMMM!!!!!”
Lori stepped out of the truck. She held her hands out to the side and looked at Jahda. She started walking towards the bridge.
“What the hell?” She asked.
“Talk to him.” Jahda said as they passed each other. “I think he’s… well, just talk to him.”
“SCOTTT, HAMMM!!!” Josh yelled again.
“Josh, stop it.” Lori said as she walked up. “That’s not going to help.”
“Why not?”
“Because they’re smart enough to not call back.” Lori said. “Now let’s figure out what to do next.”
“What to do next? This is what we’re doing next. SCOTT HAM WHERE ARE YOU!!!” He called.
“Stop it. It’s not helping.” She scolded.
“It’s going to bring the dead.” Josh said. “SCOTT HAMMM!!!”
“Like I said, that’s not helping. Stop it now.”
“But it is helping.” Josh smiled.
She tilted her head and looked at him. His eyes were brimming with tears, but there was a tinge of mania just behind them.
“How is it helping?” She asked.
“If my brother is with them. If they got him, he’d still be close. And if he’s close, I’ll know. I need to know. SCOTTTT……” He finally broke and coughed out the last as the tears tipped over his cheeks
.
“He’s not with the dead. You can’t give up. We’re going to find him. Alive.” Lori reached her arm around his shoulder and pulled him close.
They slowly walked back to the truck. Jahda and Devin stood at the tailgate with Vernon. Josh hastily wiped his cheeks with his sleeve.
“You good man?” Devin asked.
“Yeah, just needed to…” Josh started.
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll get him back.” Devin said.
“We’ll get both of them back.” Jahda said.
“Yeah.” Josh half smiled and nodded.
A covey of quail broke cover just off the road beside them. They all turned. The first deadun stumbled over a fallen tree and impaled itself on one of the broken branches. Its mouth opened and closed as it tried to push itself forward against the limb sticking through its stomach. The next deadun ambled passed the one on the ground and found its way beside the asphalt. A twig cracked behind Jahda and she spun around to see two more coming from the woods behind them.
“We’ll get these two. You take them.” She said to Josh.
Devin grabbed the machete from the tailgate and turned with Jahda. Lori stepped towards the one that had cleared the road. Josh passed by her and the deadun. The one stuck on the branch twisted as Josh approached. The limb cracked and broke off just as Josh brought the curve of the crowbar down on the thing’s forehead. Pop. Behind him he heard three more muffled pops and turned to see Lori, Jahda, and Devin all standing over lumps of twice dead. They all turned and smiled. Josh walked over to Lori and took her hand as they all made their way back to the truck.