by TW Brown
“You wouldn’t have seen it either,” Ian said. “Don’t start beating yourself up. This creeper was barely a head and shoulders. It had to have been crawling here for days. We all missed it in the snow.”
“Let’s go, Ian,” Billy said, reaching past me from one side as Jamie came around to the other.
Holy crap! Jamie.
He had no idea about Teresa. She was in bed. Maybe I should help and let him go to her.
“Steve,” Melissa called. I looked over my shoulder and saw her sitting on the floor holding Emily who was crying her eyes out. Thalia was standing beside the two. She was no longer crying and was stroking Emily’s hair. Buster was sprawled out in front of the three, head perked up and tilted as he took it all in and seemed to be trying his hardest to figure out what the crazy humans were up to now.
“I’ll be in to check on you in a few minutes,” I said to Ian, and patted his arm.
I went over to the girls and knelt down so that my face was even with Emily’s. Her face was wet from all the tears. This was a big one, whatever it was. And I didn’t think it was about Ian.
“What’s the matter, Em?”
“I want to change my birthday,” Emily sniffled.
“What?” There were a bunch of things that she could’ve said and I would have had some idea where to go with the conversation. I was still learning about how to be a dad, and I’d gotten better, but this one flew right past me.
“First the sick girl,” Emily sniffed, “then Teresa…and now Ian is gonna be a zombie.”
“Whoa, sweetie,” I said, wiping away some of the tears. “Nobody is gonna be a zombie.” That was true. I wouldn’t let Ian get back up. When his eyes closed, they would stay shut.
“But Teresa—”
“What?” I heard Jamie’s voice behind me. “What about Teresa.”
Crap. This wasn’t how he was supposed to get the news. Melissa gave me a funny look and got to her feet.
“She is in back resting, Jamie,” Melissa said in that voice I recognized from when she would try to get me to relax. “Dr. Zahn looked her over and decided that she needed to stay in bed for a while. It happens to pregnant women all the time.”
I glanced over my shoulder in time to see Jamie’s expression change from extremely worried to just a bit concerned. I watched as Melissa escorted Jamie back. Brad stepped in without a word and helped Billy escort Ian to what passed off as our emergency room, leaving me with Thalia and Emily.
“Now listen,” I climbed up and sat down on the chair Melissa had vacated, pulling both girls onto my lap, “I agree things got a little crazy, but that is the way things are now. Sometimes days like this will just happen. We need your birthday, Emily. Everybody needs to have a reason to be happy.”
“Like when you and Melissa got married?” Emily sniffed.
“Exactly,” I agreed. “Now…it’s getting late and you girls have school tomorrow, so how about I tuck you in and tell you a bedtime story.”
“Jack and the beanstalk?” Thalia asked.
“Em?” I deferred.
“I like that one.”
“Okay then,” I said as I scooped both girls under my arms like sacks of potatoes and headed to their sleeping area.
I tucked them in and told them the story from memory as best I could. Both girls made sure to prompt me if I missed anything. Hell, they knew the story better than I did. I have no idea why they would want me to tell them a story that they know better than the person telling it, but it seemed to make them both happy and that was good enough.
I walked back out to the main entry area just as Jake and Nickie came in. Both were frosted in thick, wet snow.
“Looks like it is coming down hard,” I observed.
“Sure is,” Jake agreed as he began peeling out of his wet gear. “Seems like a pretty crazy time to make a supply run.”
“What?” I had no idea what he was talking about.
“Brad and Billy,” Jake said as if that meant anything.
“What about them?” I asked tentatively.
“They were both suited up and trudging down the road as Nickie and I were coming in,” Jake said, glancing at the woman who was trying with some difficulty to get out of a harness that held an assortment of blades. He leaned over and hit the release on a buckle that sent the whole thing crashing to the floor.
“I didn’t send anybody anywhere in this weather.”
A thought came. I felt it in my gut, and over the past few months, I’d come to trust that feeling. I turned on my heel and went to the supply closet-turned-ER. I knew before I opened the door what I would see…or rather…what I wouldn’t.
Ian was gone.
I woke to find that Melissa was already out of bed. The fact that she hadn’t said anything to me was a clear indication that we still had a problem. Well, that would have to take its place on my list; which was growing almost exponentially every day it seemed.
As soon as I threw back the covers, my body felt as if it instantly contracted into one giant goose pimple. When I gasped, I got confirmation that it was extremely cold. My breath was a thick cloud of steam. I started putting on layers of clothing when Jake came in with two mugs of coffee.
“Figure you might need this.”
“Why is it so cold in here?” I asked through chattering teeth.
“That is what I came to tell you,” Jake said in his slow drawl. “Mind you, I’m just repeatin’ what the sarge said. The good news is that it stopped snowing. I guess it reaches a point where it is too cold to snow or something. Sounds kinda backwards to me, but that is what sarge said.”
“Did he say how cold?”
“He didn’t have to; everybody has been gathered ‘round that thermometer like it was the most interesting show in town…guess it might be. Anyways, it’s just above zero.”
“And three of our people are out in it?” I sighed.
“Good news is that Fiona says she can get some more tests done on the solar panels. She says it don’t matter how cold it is as long as there is sunlight. Ain’t that the darndest thing?”
I had to admit that it was something. I was more than happy to leave the solar panel refit to Fiona and Brad. I didn’t have the slightest clue about that stuff. I dated a gal who was really into things like Earth Day and saving the rain forests. I was fine with it until she started making a list of all the food I shouldn’t eat. Hell, I would’ve had to empty out my whole dang kitchen.
Finally dressed, I headed out to the community living room. Dr. Zahn was off to the side talking to Nickie. I didn’t see any tears so I assumed her friend was still among the living. One point for the good guys.
I was about to ask where Thalia and Emily were when the door flew open and the girls came in with a flurry of squeals and laughter. I guess they were over last night. Once more I had to marvel at the ability of children to hit some sort of internal reset button and go back to normal.
“There is lots of snow outside!” Emily announced as she bounded up to me. “Jake and Jesus made me and Thalia a sled!”
Both girls had pink cheeks and runny noses. I glanced around the room at everybody else, wondering if I might be the only person who cared that Ian, Brad and Billy were gone. I also noticed that Jamie was nowhere to be seen.
“Dr. Zahn?” I called as I crossed the room, patting each of the girls on the way. They were both holding up mugs for Sunshine to fill with what smelled like some sort of tea that she was pulling from the woodstove.
“Good news, Steve,” the doctor announced. “That young lady is going to be okay it would seem.”
“My blood helped, Papi!” Thalia chirped after a noisy sip from her steaming mug.
“Huh?” Then I remembered that she had been one of the donors yesterday. Had it just been a few short hours ago? I didn’t know about everybody else, but the last twenty-four felt like a month of Sundays to me. “Oh, that’s great, sweetie,” I said. “And what about Teresa?”
“Probably some fatig
ue,” Dr. Zahn replied.
At least that made sense to me. If I was this worn out, and not pregnant, then she had to be wasted. I knew for a fact that, despite her age, and despite her pregnancy, Teresa took the management of our little growing commune very seriously. Hell, she’d been more on the ball than I was on more than one occasion early on.
“She is going to be confined to bed rest for a few days,” Dr. Zahn continued. “I think she just needs to sit back and be pregnant for a while.”
“G.I. Jane isn’t gonna like that,” Sunshine quipped.
“Any word on Billy, Brad, and Ian?” I asked.
“Nothing yet,” Jake said. “Jesus and I followed their tracks, and it looks like they are headed east.”
“Speaking of that,” Jesus spoke up. There was something about the way he was talking. Then I noticed his eyebrow raising and head nodding. I looked around to see who he was gesturing to—
“Papi?” Thalia tugged at my sleeve. “Can me and Emily go with Jesus and Jake to reset the flares and check the traps?”
“What!” The tiny girl jumped back from me like I’d slapped her. A look of uncertainty and…was that fear?...filled her eyes. “What in the world?”
“They’ll be with us, Steve,” Jesus said.
“We ain’t gonna let them get hurt,” Jake added. “It’s just that when we were out there watching them play on the sleds, we got close to the edge of the perimeter and we popped a zombie that was stuck in one of the pits. That reminded me that we needed to take care of the resets today. The girls asked if they could come help.”
It was bad enough that they’d taken them out the other day, now it was becoming a regular event. What was next, putting them in the tower?
“Maybe we should put them in rotation for scavenging runs,” I quipped.
“I think you’re getting carried away, Steve,” Jon said. “Nobody is talking about having the girls do anything crazy. It is just some of the simple stuff around here. They would be with one of my men at all times.”
“You can’t go around bitching at everybody about not taking this serious and then be upset because the girls are involved in some of the work.” Great, now Melissa wanted to join in on the fun.
“I understand that they can be helpful,” I said, “I just don’t see why they need to be out in a dangerous situation.”
“Dangerous situation!” Jesus exploded. “In case you forgot, every single fucking minute is a dangerous situation these days.”
“Keep your words in check, Sanchez,” Jon snapped, sounding instantly like the military leader. “We can debate this without the language in front of the girls.”
“So they can stomp around in the woods with zombies, but you don’t want them hearing profanity?” I asked with a sarcastic laugh.
“I think we need to put it to a vote.” Dr. Zahn stepped into the center of the room, taking both of the confused and now apparently frightened girls under each arm. “We have always been at least a limited democracy, so let’s have a group decision on this right now. All in favor of allowing Thalia and Emily to accompany Jake and Jesus when they are working on maintaining the perimeter raise your hands. I watched as hands went up around the room. Fiona was working on the panels, but it wouldn’t matter. Nickie’s was the only hand that stayed down besides mine.
“I guess you guys win,” I sighed.
“Just past the small trailer park.” Billy held out the bag. He and Brad had returned an hour ago and had both been cleared by Dr. Zahn. They’d been gone for eleven days.
“And Ian brought you to this place?” I took the bag and peeked inside. The dress was shimmering and the color of rubies. I glanced around to ensure Emily was nowhere to be found before pulling it out and taking a look.
“He said he remembered seeing it on his last run. He wanted to give it to Emily for her birthday.”
“And Brad put him down?” I was still digesting the news. I hadn’t held out any hope that he would be immune. Like he had said, we already had one of ours get that lucky, the chances of it happening again were slim.
“As soon as his eyes closed. He never came back as one of them for even a second.”
“You say he took almost four days to finally go?”
“Yeah,” Billy said with a nod, “but his eyes had the tracers by the first morning.”
I didn’t know how to feel. Ian had been part of the group almost since the beginning. I knew that loss was something much more common these days, and goodness knows we’d lost our share, but this one was a bit more personal. And I think the worst part for me was that I hadn’t been able to say goodbye. I was sick of the lack of closure. Just once, couldn’t somebody die of old age?
Was that even possible anymore? I wondered.
I shook off as much of the melancholy as I could and returned my attention to the dress. “A bit big?” I held it up to my body and tried to imagine how tall Emily was when she stood next to me.
“Sunshine has it covered.”
“Outstanding.”
Billy opened his small hip pack and produced two more objects. I stared at them for a second before meeting his gaze. “I found these in a pawn shop. Brad doesn’t even know. I figure you can decide for yourself on this.”
I took the pair of tiny handguns and was immediately struck by how small they were. Both had two barrels and came with a tiny leather holster.
“Derringer Snake Slayer pistols,” Billy said, and then grinned sheepishly. “That’s what the box said anyways.”
“How powerful?”
“Uses the .410 shot shell so it has some leeway, but considering that both girls are becoming pretty fair shots…”
“Incoming!” Jake’s voice bellowed from the watch tower. I shoved the pistols in my coat pocket and followed Billy out of the picnic area.
As I reached the stairs that climbed the hill on the backside of our communal home, I saw Nickie helping her friend to her feet. Christina was recovering nicely it seemed.
“We got a dozen inbound,” Jon said in lieu of a greeting when he saw me.
“And?” I shouldered the M4/A3 that he handed me.
“Looks like they are heavily armed.”
I saw Jesus and Jamie slip out the back door I’d just come through. They would duck into the woods and set up crossfire positions with sniper rifles that had scopes on them larger than the telephoto lens I’d had for one of my old thirty-five millimeter cameras.
I checked my safety out of habit and waved up to the tower to let Jake know I would be heading down to the entrance of the park where the group stood clustered and obviously waiting to see what our response would be to their arrival.
“Stay by my side on this,” I said to Jon.
“You sure?” he asked. “When we arrived you had your little welcoming party hang back.”
“I’ve learned since then. If I would’ve been smart I would have surrounded your group with an obvious display of firepower. After all, you were carrying a freaking flame-thrower!”
“It was empty.”
“We didn’t know that.”
The two of us walked down the gravel entry road, crossing the drawbridge that allowed access over the ten-foot deep trench that circled our hill. I couldn’t see anything on either side and decided that next time I would walk on top of the berm instead of between them.
“Whatever is bugging you, stuff it down,” Jon whispered.
“Huh?” I breathed, just a bit startled at his comment. How in the world had he picked up on my discomfort so quickly?
“Something spooked you and you flexed your hands on the rifle. You do that close to these folks and they are in any way frightened, we have a shoot out.”
I concentrated on trying to relax as we got close enough to make out the faces of the new arrivals. I felt my pulse quicken right away. Three that I could see had the tell-tale black tracers in their eyes. Everybody was carrying firepower. The assortment included shotguns, handguns and some fancy lookin
g machinegun that I’m certain Jon was appraising as we neared.
“We don’t want any trouble,” a short, heavy-set woman with olive skin and dark eyes spoke. “And we won’t stay if we are not welcome, but we need your help.”
I glanced at Jon who stopped walking and nodded for me to continue. I drew nearer and realized there were three children sort of hidden amongst the group which brought their numbers to fifteen.
“We had some bad luck.” The woman stepped away from her group and continued talking. “We had an accident and suffered a nasty fire. We fought it, hoping we could salvage things and remain where we were, but one of our walls fell and those damn things got in. I imagine you can figure out the rest. Anyways, we have been on the move ever since.”
“Where you from?”
“Pullman.”
“Washington?” I asked.
“Yes, most of us were teachers or students at the university.”
I eyed the woman and it must have shown on my face.
“I’m originally from Antalya, Turkey,” the woman said. “I taught Middle Eastern studies.” I nodded, having no idea where it was that she was talking about. “Last night we got hit again. A few of our people were bit.”
“I can see that.” I couldn’t help but look at the individuals in her group with the black squiggles showing in their eyes.
“We also used up all our ammunition.”
I chanced a glimpse back at Jon. If that were true, they had just revealed an incredible weakness to us that could result in their deaths.
“One of my people scouted you this morning,” the woman continued. “He saw the children…the girls…and so we are just hoping that that is a good sign. Otherwise,” she glanced at the M4 in my hands, “we are all as good as dead.”
“What can we do?” I asked, not sure exactly what they might want from us.
“We need you to help us put our people down.”
Great. Haven’t I been through this before?
“As I said, we are out of ammunition for our weapons. None of us are relishing the idea of beating our friends to death. We are confident they are going to turn…the eyes…” She paused and I could tell she was fighting back some serious emotion. “The eyes have changed on all those who were bitten.”