by J. Thorn
“So…. what? Even if I’m in a relationship during a Zombie infestation, I still have to die a virgin?” I looked down at him upset over the whole idea. “That does not seem fair, Nelson. This better not be your attempt to save my life. This isn’t a horror movie, this is our reality, the same rules don’t apply.”
He looked up at me and squeezed my hips in his hands, “This is my attempt to save us- not just you. I’m probably going to make sure you’re in love with me before I take that from you.”
I snorted at his audacity and lowered myself on his lap just a little bit more- just enough to drive him crazy. “You think you’ll be able to manage that? I’m too smart to fall in love with just anybody.”
“I know that,” he agreed, looking up at me with so much tenderness and affection suddenly I was convinced I was already in love with him. “So no, I’m not sure if I can manage that, but I am going to try.”
“You must have some strong will-power if you can wait that long,” I teased.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with will-power,” he promised with so much conviction I tensed, waiting for what was to come. “It has everything to do with wanting something more than sex.”
“My love?” I whispered hardly able to voice the question.
“Your love,” he confirmed.
And then Page flopped over and puked next to us on the floor.
Nelson and I scrambled away so we weren’t hit with the splatter- not that there was much in her stomach after a full day of not eating. I crawled back over to her and rubbed her back while Nelson darted after a bowl or trash can.
Her poor, little body continued to heave and convulse as her angry stomach tried to empty itself of every last drop of food or liquid.
“Her fever’s too high,” I announced when Hendrix and Reagan rushed into the room. “We have to lower her temperature.”
Finally, she settled down and rolled onto her back. One of her arms draped over her eyes as if even the darkness of night was too bright for her. Tears streamed from both eyes and her breathing was fast and ragged.
I cleaned her up with a cool, bottled-water-made wet wash cloth and then pulled her hair into a bun on top of her head, so we wouldn’t have to worry about it if there was another episode like that. Then I pulled the blanket off her and her socks, jeans and long sleeved shirt. She shivered in a t-shirt and underwear but I didn’t know what else to do.
The expired Tylenol was not working and keeping her bundled up was only intensifying the fever. She had too cool down or she would continue to puke and whatever little good the medicine was doing, was worth it.
“Go wrap some ice in a washcloth and bring it back to me,” I ordered Hendrix who loomed over me like a predator getting ready to pounce on his prey. He turned around without another word and stalked off to the kitchen.
“I wish we could give her a cool bath,” Reagan sighed. She sunk down to her knees and picked up Page’s hand in her own. “We need to do something.”
When Page whipped over again, we had the bucket ready this time- although not much came out. Her stomach convulsed painfully, and tears streamed from her eyes, but still her body did not give up the effort to empty itself.
There were many terrible things about her puking, but the noise level was definitely on the top of the list. But it wasn’t like you could exactly tell someone to vomit quietly. And she wasn’t really in a state of mind where she would be able to listen anyway.
The rest of the brothers stumbled to the living room, clicking magazines into place and shoving their feet into pants and shoes. They were prepared to go to war, prepared to do whatever it took to save their little sister.
By the third round of vomiting, every Parker brother was armed with as many weapons as we had and standing guard at a window or door. Reagan and I played nurse over Page’s exhausted, fever-stricken body and prayed for the best.
Currently, her head was resting in my lap and her feet were sprawled across Reagan. She was sleeping- for now- and I was counting down the minutes until morning.
Zombies were still perfectly capable of attacking us with the light of day, but somehow the daylight made things feel possible. I held onto the hope that if Page could make it through the night, things would get easier.
A scuffling of feet and a door opening and then closing had me sitting at full alert. I was careful with Page’s lolling head, but I was desperate to know what was going on.
I heard Hendrix whisper shout, “Nelson!” and my entire body felt doused in ice water.
Fear like I had never known before prickled painfully against my skin and my heartbeat kicked into overdrive.
Reagan reached out and took my hand, squeezing it in hers tightly.
The door opened again and I heard Vaughan and Hendrix take off after their idiot brother. I couldn’t believe I was falling for someone that ran out into the middle of the night probably on a suicide mission! I was stupid to give my heart away when it could so easily be destroyed, right along with Nelson.
I waited, stressed and unmoving, for Nelson to return or something to give away what was happening outside- a shout, a gunshot, the unholy keening of Zombie’s on the attack. But there was nothing but silence and stillness.
My stomach was riotous with nerves and my brain ticked completely out of control. I couldn’t see anything sitting in the damn dark, so my brain just started going through a list of all the horrible things that could happen to Nelson or his brothers at a million miles a minute.
I went through about every, single scenario possible- all ending with Nelson dying a gruesome, painful death, until I finally settled on the fact that he was going to get bitten by a Zombie, but eventually fight his way free. He’d walk into the house expecting a hero’s welcome at which point I was going to have to shoot him. He was infected, I didn’t have a choice.
And then I would never recover from that. How could I?
Not when he was right, not when I was more than halfway to falling in love with him. And he had somehow managed to get me to admit that on the same night he was going to die!
The bastard.
But then the door opened again and the sound of struggling and scuffling filled the house. Page moaned in my lap and I forced myself to stay still, to keep her steady and as comfortable as she could be.
Finally figures stumbled into the living room, three tall ones and one that was….. not tall. It was hard to make out what the three Parker brothers were carrying, but whatever it was did not seem happy.
Finally, the clicking of a bullet being loaded into the chamber could be heard over everything else and the lumpy, wriggling thing went still- so not a Zombie. A flashlight turned on and then Harrison came in with a camping lantern on low filter. Hendrix and Vaughan lowered what now could be described as a body to the ground while Nelson kept his gun trained expertly on the head region.
Hendrix flicked up his flashlight to the boy’s face and Reagan and I let out mutual gasps of surprise.
“Let me go,” the young boy growled. His hands were shaking fists at his side, his face filthy and covered in dirt and grime. It was impossible to tell what color hair he had or even exactly what ethnicity he was. He had a thick southern drawl; I could tell that even from the few words he spoke. So obviously he was from around here; but there were a million more questions to be answered.
“Not a chance,” Hendrix replied. His voice was smooth steel, cutting but solid. “What were you doing sneaking around out there?”
“That’s none of your concern. But it had nothing to do with you. Now if you’ll kindly let me go, I’ll just be on my way and we can pretend we ain’t never met.”
I pressed my lips together at his spunk, but when he lunged forward and kicked Vaughan in the shin, my amusement quickly faded. Vaughan let out a string of curse words and then raised his own gun, locking and loading it with one swift move of his finger.
“You might not understand this little boy,” Hendrix walked forward until he loomed ov
er the kid- clearly not afraid of a kick in the shins. “But you are in serious danger. Obviously, if you’re running around at night, you might be a bit delusional. But hear me. I am infinitely more dangerous than any Feeder you will find out there. It is better to answer my questions than ignite my anger. Are you capable of understanding that?”
“Listen here you sumabitch, I got things to do and you are keepin’ me from my task. I wasn’t after you or your people. I just need to grab somethin’ out of the barn and I’ll be on my merry way.”
Before anyone could respond, Page went through her fourth round of dry-heaving. Everything stopped so Reagan and I could tend to her needs. There wasn’t any point in trying to talk over her anyway, but I hated that this boy was witness to our weakness. I understood the necessity to pull him inside, out of the open and vulnerable spaces outside, but now it felt like he knew one of our most private secrets.
“What’s wrong with that one?” he asked with a lift of his defiant chin. “She sick?”
“You’re pretty smart, aren’t you,” Vaughan bit out sarcastically.
“She need medicine?” the boy pressed, his voice dropping low to a dangerous octave.
He couldn’t be more than eleven or twelve, but this little boy was wise way beyond his years. I recognized the hardness and experience lighting his expression. This boy was a survivor. And we were about to witness his survival techniques.
“Most sick people do,” Nelson answered slowly.
“I know where there’s medicine,” he declared confidently. “I know where there’s lots and lots of medicine. I just seen it the other day.”
“Really?” Harrison scoffed unbelieving. “You’re just like this little kid that creeps around in the dark, stealing things from barns and taking them back to his secret hide out where there’s medicine and food and pillows?”
Pillows? Harrison must be really tired tonight.
“Yeah, I’m that kid,” he argued. He stood up straight, not seeming to be afraid of the guns pointed at him at all. “But I wasn’t stealin’ nothin’. I came back for what’s mine. This ain’t your house. You can’t judge me for doing something wrong when you don’t live here. When you’ve stolen more than I ever have.”
He had a point. But that got me to thinking, “Is this your house?”
“Was my house,” he clarified adamantly. “But y’all can have it. Good luck with it. There’s a storage room full of food and stuff downstairs beyond the washer and dryer. Help yourselves to whatever you like- just as long as you let me go.”
“No,” Hendrix growled. “We are not letting you go. Even if we thought we could trust you, we can’t in good conscience let you go running around out there in the pitch dark. You’re going to get yourself killed, or worse.”
“Aw thanks superman,” the kid snarled back. “But I know y’all ain’t goin’ to shoot me. You got that do-gooder look on your faces. The kind that thinks you can save the whole freakin’ world. So here’s the deal, if you really want to do good then you’ll let me go. I got things I need to get back to and you’re holding me up!”
“What’s your name?” I asked calmly from the couch. Page had turned into me and I couldn’t force her off my lap, even though I knew how bad my body heat was for her fever.
He lifted his stubborn chin even higher and spit out, “Miller.”
“Is that your first name or your last name?” Vaughan asked gruffly.
“Don’t matter,” Miller countered. “It’s the only name I got and it’s the only name you’re gonna get. Now let me go.”
“No,” Nelson growled.
“Fine, then let’s make a trade,” he offered quickly. “You let me go and I’ll come back with medicine for your sick child. I wasn’t lying about that. I know exactly where some is.”
“You don’t even know what kind of medicine she needs,” Hendrix argued.
“Penicillin. Everybody needs penicillin. They give it out all the time,” Miller huffed.
“Who’s they?” I asked, carefully.
“Listen,” he answered instead. “This house ain’t safe. And y’all ain't safe stayin’ here. They,” he gestured to the three of us girls sitting on the couch, “are especially not safe. So if you know what’s best for you, you’ll pack up now and be on your way. And I’ll be on mine. Or they’re gonna find you and take you. And then you’ll be as bad off as my sister.”
“Your sister?” I jumped on the word, realizing his insistence was tied to something extremely important.
He groaned and put his head in his hands. “Yes, my sister! Now let me go, damnit. It took me six months to get out of there and I only got one shot to go back for her. Time is ticking!”
Silence ensued for several charged minutes.
Finally, Vaughan asked, “Who’s they? A settlement?”
“No,” he shook his head. “A militia camp. They’re building an army. They think they got this political machine that’s gonna restore balance to the great United States of America.”
“Those are pretty big words for you,” Hendrix scoffed.
“Yeah, well I’ve been forced to listen to their preaching now for a while. As stupid as it is, the phrases kinda get stuck in your head. I don’t believe it, but I can’t forget it either.”
“They have medicine there?” Hendrix pressed.
“Lots of it,” Miller confirmed.
“And they have your sister?”
“And my mom,” he whispered in a pained croak.
“Does your mom want to leave?”
Miller didn’t respond verbally, just shook his head with the first sign of vulnerability I had seen from him.
“You and me are going to make a deal,” Hendrix announced firmly. “You take me to that medicine and I will help you get your sister.”
“No,” Miller shook his head adamantly. “No way. You’re too big and too Yankee. You’ll just slow me down and I ain’t got time for this.”
“Fine, then you’ll stay here until morning at which time we will return you to your mother. She’s staying with the militia right? I bet they’re wondering where you are right now.”
“They don’t know I’ve gone missing. You think I’m stupid?” Miller was angry now, panic flashed in his eyes under the low light of the lantern.
“Maybe not yet, but I bet they will by morning,” Hendrix argued.
Panic turned to frustration and Miller snarled, “Fine. But I swear to god, if you give away my cover or leave my sister behind I will kill you myself.”
“Fair enough,” Hendrix agreed.
Reagan couldn’t stay quiet anymore. “You’re not seriously considering following him back to a militia camp? We don’t even know this kid! He could be leading you into a trap!”
Hendrix spun around, took three steps toward the couch and sunk down to his knees. He cupped Reagan’s face in his calloused hands and held her attention. “You know I have to do this. And you know I’ll come back.” He held her gaze while words seemed to fail her. “I’m not letting you out of this, Reagan, so give up that idea right now.” Finally she nodded into his palm and he placed an intimate kiss on her forehead.
I looked away from their private moment and my eyes immediately fell on Nelson. He met my stare and understanding flashed between us. Vaughan would stay- Harrison and King needed Vaughan to stay. I shook my head slowly, demanding that he stay too.
“I’ll be right back, Haley,” he promised from a few feet way. “I made promises to you that I intend to keep.”
“Can’t keep them if you’re dead,” I insisted.
Nelson walked over to me, a gun in each hand. “Don’t.” His gaze locked onto mine and he held me there with severe passion. “Don’t doubt me, don’t doubt what’s between us and don’t ever doubt what I will do to return to you.”
“Uh, if y’all are finished with your weird goodbyes, we got to go before the sun comes up. So that means now, Casanovas. Vamanos!” Miller was bouncing up and down, anxious to be on his way.
> Hendrix turned to Vaughan, “If we’re not here by morning….”
“Contingency plan,” Vaughan replied without missing a beat. The very words sent shivers of dread trickling from my fingertips to toes.
With one more intentional look, Nelson followed Hendrix and Miller out the back door.
Reagan reached for my hand and held it tightly in hers.
I felt out of my mind- not like in the crazy way, but in the out of body experience way. This was confusing and heart-stopping and my mind couldn’t catch up to Nelson walking out that door- no matter how intelligent it was supposed to be.
“They’ll be right back,” Reagan whisper-promised.
“They’ll be right back,” I echoed in dazed voice.
Page moved on my lap, drawing my attention from the door to her adorable face. She was sleeping again, exhausted from her sickness. She was such a beautiful child- even in sickness. Milky skin, gorgeous blonde hair, big, beautiful blue eyes with impossibly long, dark lashes. She was all that was still good in this world, all that was still pure and innocent.
Nelson did the right thing. Whether I liked it or not, if there was a chance to get Page some medicine, he should have taken it. He did the right thing.
And he would do the right thing by coming back to us.
That much I knew.
He loved his little sister more than his own life- which was why he left in the first place. And he cared about me, in staggering degrees. He would come back to save Page.
And he would come back to finish what he started with me.
I had to believe that.
Because while every other part of my life was filled and surrounded and suffocating in death, disease and decay, Nelson had given me something more to feel, something more to experience. He’d replaced my despair with hope, my misery with something to anticipate.
And he’d exchanged my emptiness with love.
He would come back to me. I just had to make it till morning.
Episode Five
Chapter One
682 Days after initial infection
Contingency plan my ass.