Yes, Michael had the ability to call the Sleepers, even unintentionally. It saved our lives, but I had created a device that blocked out the signal he sent.
With a band around his neck playing Neil Sedaka, we headed out.
All those Sleepers we sent away after the attack were still close, thousands of them wandering around aimlessly on the roads like in some sort of bad zombie movie.
We were cloaked from an attack, but our vehicles were fair game and the Sleepers clustered around us.
There was a difference in cloaking though. I got the serum made from Michael’s blood, which meant that while the Sleepers didn’t attack me, they certainly challenged me and approached me as if I were one of them. Michael too.
The others, like Danny and Alex, were virtually invisible.
We parked in front of the home store and had to slip through the Sleepers. They went after the truck. We weren’t hurt or attacked. So far so good on the serum.
We were inside over an hour getting what we needed. I knew we’d have to go back, one trip wasn’t going to do it, but it would be good enough to reinforce the weak and damaged portions of the fence. That and extra guards would hopefully keep us safe until we either made Haven safe again, or moved on.
My money was on us finding another home. It was something I’d bring up at our meeting later.
We were compromised in more ways than one. The fences weren’t foolproof and those who attacked us were still out there.
I was all for standing my ground, fighting to keep what was ours, but we had children and women to consider and keeping them safe, alive, and happy was my goal.
At first, I truly believed the facility would be our best bet. That changed. More than protection, I just wanted us to be able to live Sleeper free.
Ed said there were places out there that had never seen a Sleeper, and I wanted to find them.
After getting what we could from the home store, we headed to the Walmart down the road. Both places were close to Haven and both were surrounded by Sleepers, which meant when we left we had to pull a pied piper and take the long way home.
Like we did in the home store, we brought in gasoline to the Walmart and filled the store’s emergency generators enough to give power to some lights. We hadn’t done that before. Previously on trips, we rushed through trying to steer clear of the Sleepers. This time we didn’t have that worry. We had a good hour of powered emergency lights.
It was just so weird, walking and salvaging amongst wandering Sleepers. Not to mention the second we powered up the emergency backup, music started playing.
“So was this what was playing when the world died?” Danny asked.
“How ‘bout that?” Alex looked to the ceiling and nodded approvingly. “Country. I can handle this.”
The second the lights came on, the Sleepers paused and looked around, noticing the difference. Then they continued moving aimlessly around pushing carts, slipping subconsciously into their old world habits.
“Are we following Grace rules?” Michael asked.
“What do you mean?” I questioned.
“Grace rules,” Michael said. “When we went to stores back then we only took what we needed and didn’t stock up.”
“Will we be coming back much?” Alex asked. “Will this be a complete resupply?”
“I don’t know. Let’s get what we need and some extra. We were wiped out.” I reached into the back pocket of my jeans. “I’ve got a list Beck made of some items he wants.”
“We’re shopping for Beck now?” Alex asked.
“Dude,” Danny said. “Tell me it’s not toilet paper.”
I laughed, remembering Beck’s last trip to Walmart where he only fled the store with arms full of toilet paper.
“Yes, it’s on the list,” I said, “along with other things.”
“Here’s what I think,” Michael said. “There are more Walmarts out there. Plus, I’m willing to bet the back end is filled. Let’s stock up.”
Everyone was given two areas of the store. They were to cover the first round, take out supplies, and come back. Then we’d go back in for a third round and get what we missed.
We needed to return to Haven with a shitload of things to give people a sense of hope. Assure them all was not lost.
I assigned Michael to the Health and Beauty aisles. I knew we lost a lot of that. This Walmart was one of those supercenters, and I had Alex on canned food.
Danny I sent on clothing necessities, and me, I followed Beck’s list.
It was a strange experience.
Alex singing along to songs, calling out occasionally that he used to love a tune, all while moving along the aisles past Sleepers who pushed carts as if they were being bargain shoppers.
It stunk in there.
It was a horrible stench I knew would not only stay in my nostrils, but on my clothing. The produce and meat had gone from rotted to petrified, so the smell clearly came from the Sleepers.
It was an odd feeling to browse with a sense of safety, walking among the dangerous beings. Unlike me, they didn’t move smoothly while pushing carts, they moved slowly and awkwardly, unable to move without hitting things. Yet they kept going, grabbing an item here and there, placing them into the carts.
We had the radios to communicate with and when I saw one Sleeper woman it sparked an idea. She was a thin woman, her hair a mangled mess, face dirty, sores all across her lips and cheeks, yet she wore a new pair of underwear and a bra over her filthy clothes.
“Danny,” I radioed. “Make sure you wipe out the racks of women’s underwear.
“Dude,” Danny replied. “I’m not shopping for women’s underwear.”
“Why does Beck have women’s underwear on his list?” Alex radioed. “Something we don’t know?”
“Funny,” Danny said. “And more so, the people that hit us didn’t have many women. Why did they steal our female underwear?”
“Gentlemen,” Michael intervened. “Just get the underwear. Sonny is thinking ahead.”
“Sonny wants to wear women’s underwear?” Alex joked.
Oh my God, I thought, why do I bother? “You know what?” I depressed the button and spoke. “We don’t have many women either, but let just one of them be miserable and it ripples across the entire camp. Trust me, as the one and only married man in this group, get them new underwear, watch how happy they get.”
Just as I said that, I heard Alex behind me. “I was wondering where you got the idea,” Alex said.
I had no idea what he meant, until I realized my eyes were locked on the Sleeper woman wearing the pink underwear over her soiled clothes.
“So, like, is this a new thing for you?” Alex asked. “You dressing them now, Sonny, like dolls.” He brought the radio to his mouth. “Sonny got himself a Sleeper Playboy bunny.”
“Alex, seriously,” I snapped. “Why is this an issue?”
“I’m joking,” he said. “Why are you so sensitive?”
“Because I’m trying to take this trip responsibly. We were attacked yesterday and people lost a lot of things. It is important that we bring back things that lighten a mood.”
“You think getting women undergarments is gonna be a mood lifter?”
“You saw Mera with that damn maternity shirt,” I said. “Yes.”
Alex brought the radio to his mouth. “After witnessing the disturbing Sleeper model, I’m siding with Sonny. Get underwear. Think of it, as Sonny put it, as mood lifters.”
Danny said, “I highly doubt underwear will do that.”
Alex looked at me with that sarcastic smile, and lifted the radio again. “Guys, what do you know about women? You’re probably still a virgin.”
Danny shrieked over the radio. He actually made sure he had that button depressed so we could hear it. “Uh! Dudes, for real. I’m gonna have a kid in, like, five months.�
�
Alex’s expression matched mine, a wide eyed, open mouth look of shock, and both of us flew to find Danny.
Obviously, Michael had the same reaction because we all arrived in the women’s underwear section at the same time, surrounding Danny, who was in his own world, radio in hand, snatching underwear off the shelves.
He lowered this radio and looked at us. “What?”
I couldn’t speak. Danny had to be joking, yet he looked so innocently at us.
Then he muttered, “Shit,” and laughed nervously.
Alex took a step to him to look at his eyes. “Did you just say you’re gonna be a daddy?”
Danny shuffled his eyes to all of us.
Michael moved over to Danny and embraced him. “That is amazing. Wonderful. I am so happy.”
“Um, yeah,” Danny said nervously.
“Wait.” Alex held up his hand. “For real? This is for real?”
Danny nodded.
“I’m not only a new father, but I’m gonna be a pap as well?” Alex asked.
Again, Danny nodded.
“Does your mom know?” Alex asked.
“No. She had a lot on her plate. Only four people besides me and my girl know. I honestly didn’t want to hear backlash ‘cause I’m happy.”
Alex scoffed. “Backlash? Oh, please. This is good news, son. Great news. I’m assuming three of the four who knew are our medical team. Who’s the fourth?”
Danny pointed at Michael.
“What?” Alex did a double take. “What was all this congratulations bull? You knew and said nothing?”
“Alex,” I said as if he were being ridiculous, “he couldn’t. Sanctity of confession and all.”
“What?” Alex laughed. “That doesn’t apply to him. He’s not Catholic.”
“Actually,” Michael said, “it kind of does. The confidentiality part.”
“Ha!” I pointed at Alex. “Making me out to be dumb.”
“Well, Sonny, yeah,” Alex said. “Is that all you have to say to Danny about this? Or did you know?”
“No. I didn’t.” I looked at Danny. “Who?”
“Who what?” Danny asked.
“Who’s the mother?”
Alex backhanded me. “Now I know you’re dumb. We don’t have that many pregnant people. Geez. It’s Ashley. She’s, like, what, nineteen?”
“Yeah,” Danny said, shaking his head. “But it’s not her. Grayson is her baby daddy.”
“Her baby daddy?” Alex nearly shrieked. “He can be her daddy. Grayson’s pushing forty. Good lord. You said your girl, so she is still a girl. Wait, my bad. Dixie. She’s in her twenties. She…” Alex stopped talking. “Not her? Who else is pregnant?”
“Gentlemen,” Michael said. “Why is this important? You’re sounding like Sonny now.”
“Hey,” I protested.
“Patty,” Danny replied.
“Patty?” Alex asked. “Patty the religious cult chick that came with Grace? The subservient, man is right, walk ten paces behind and never show my skin, Patty?”
“Aw, come on, Dude, she’s cool,” Danny said.
“She’s old, Danny,” Alex barked.
“Dude, she’s younger than you. You’re old. Sonny’s old.”
“Still,” Alex said, “you’re twenty. She’s, like, thirty-three.”
“Thirty-five,” Danny corrected.
“She’s that old?” I asked. “She doesn’t look it. She looks in her early twenties. What does it matter? Seriously, Alex. As long as Danny is happy and Patty is happy. You have to tell your mom though, Danny. I’m happy for you.” I reached out and embraced Danny. “I’m gonna be a pap as well. Can I be Pap-Pap?”
“Sure.” Danny said.
“Wait, I’m Pap-Pap,” Alex said.
“You can be Pap-Pap Alex,” I said.
“I don’t want to be Pap-Pap Alex. When you say the name after Pap, it signifies you’re the lesser grandfather.”
Danny grinned. “This is so great. Thank you.” His eyes shifted and he stepped back.
Alex chuckled. “Look at that, Sonny. You got yourself a girlfriend. You should just call her Hanes.”
I turned and jumped back. The underwear Sleeper was standing there staring at me.
“See?” Alex held out his hand. “Proving his point. Give a girl underwear and they love you. This is what you get when you feed the strays, Sonny. You dressed her, she loves you.”
“What the hell?”
Hanes tilted her head and stepped closer. She stared as if trying to figure me out.
I started to move back, but Michael whispered. “Don’t. See what she wants. This is new. She’s not attacking. Test the serum.”
Hanes reached out to my face. Her hands smelled horrible and I fought not to gag as her index and middle finger softly touched my cheek.
“Maybe someone ought to let her know you’re into Tom Selleck,” Alex said.
Upon his words, Hanes shot a glare at Alex.
“Oh, shit.” Alex stepped back.
What to do? The first thought that came to mind was reason. “Look, you seem like a nice girl and all—”
“But he likes Tom Selleck,” Alex cut in.
Hanes literally hissed at Alex.
Alex laughed. “Man, she’s tough.”
Hanes was about an inch from me. “Michael, um, can we end this test? I’m getting a little—aaargh!”
I gasped when her hand firmly slapped and cupped my crotch.
“Hand action?” Alex asked. “Lucky? What? Finish your thoughts.”
“Asshole,” I barked.
Michael moved forward and grabbed her wrist. “No. Leave,” he said firmly, pulling her grip from me. When I was released I backed up behind Danny.
She whimpered and tried to get to me.
Michael blocked her. “No. No.”
She hissed at Michael and he hissed back.
As odd as it sounded, I felt bad for her. She whimpered and cried, her hand reaching out. I actually even wondered if I knew her from my teen years in Ohio, but she was far too young. She’d acted on impulse and instincts and it was disturbing.
“Let’s get back to our supply hunting,” Michael suggested, pulling me along. “Just don’t acknowledge her.”
“What was that about?” Danny asked. “That was strange.”
Michael shrugged then asked me, “Are you okay?”
I was and I acknowledged that. It may have been funny to the others, but to me it was beyond disturbing. The way she acted, looked at me, and in a sense laid claim, no other Sleeper had been like that with me. It had to mean something other than a strange attraction. It had to. I attributed it to the cloaking serum. I had received the Michael version. That had to be it, especially with what we knew about him possibly being the leader of them in the future. Yet, she didn’t go after him.
We continued our supply run at the store, only I picked up the pace. Hanes was never far from my mind. Not because she groped me, but because the entire time we were in that store she followed me.
At one point I paused to look in a mirror and there she was, right behind me. She gave new meaning to the word stalker. More than that, in our cloaked state, we were able to see the Sleepers had more of a thought process than we gave them credit for.
That alone was a frightening prospect.
We knew what the future held, and with them thinking and outnumbering us hundreds to one, that future was very much a viable possibility.
8. Alex
The amount of supplies we got from Walmart was unreal. The entire back end of the truck was filled. We decided that after unloading the fence materials, we’d save the rest for a special distribution day. Restock a lot of the items, then put the rest out on the tables for the women to choose from. Not that the men didn’t d
eserve anything, but men didn’t care.
I was proud of what we got, and considering that Sonny gave up after the first round, the amount was impressive.
In his defense, I didn’t blame him, although I ragged on him about hiding in the truck from underwear chick.
What was up with that? Not the hiding but her weird infatuation with Sonny? It didn’t help that he went to the truck. She followed him and stood by the window staring.
Was it because he locked into a stare with her or did she sense something about him?
When we returned to Haven, we took the long way around making sure the mob of Sleepers didn’t follow.
Beck was waiting on us and asked how long it would be until we could all gather for the meeting Sonny requested. I thought it was a Beck meeting, but I learned it was Sonny who requested it. Unloading the truck could wait. We didn’t want anyone to see all the cool things we got so we hid the second truck. Sonny looked tired. Even though he was exhausted and traumatized, fixing the fence couldn’t wait. Then I remembered, Danny is gonna be a daddy. That threw me.
I couldn’t wait until Mera knew about it so I could see her face when she found out it was Patty. How the heck did that happen? No wonder Patty didn’t go for it whenever I tried to fix her up with Sonny.
Beck had the library all ready for a meeting and that southern chick, Renee, who was crazy about Randy set up snacks.
I was first to arrive from our run crew. Michael said he was opting out of the meeting and unless we really needed him we could fill him in later. Others were there, all seated at the library tables Beck had set up in a ‘U’ shape.
“How was the run, Alex?” Beck asked.
I took a seat. “Good. Interesting, informative and pornographic.”
Beck laughed. “What?”
“I kid you not. The home store was uneventful. Danny told us a secret in Walmart—wait until you hear—and Sonny, I guess he was bored. I’ll go with bored. He played live dress up doll with a Sleeper and she attached herself to him. Did some sort of weird mating shit.”
“Wait? What? Are you joking?”
“Which part?”
“Both.”
“Nope.” I lifted my hand. “I swear. I came around the bend, saw the Sleeper chick with underwear over her clothes, and next thing you know she hits on him like he’s some sort of Tom Selleck in the Sleeper world. Ask him.”
Sleepers (Book 7): Sleepers 7 Page 4