“But we don’t have anything to trade,” Sarah cried. How quick she had gone from joy to crushing despair. She felt like she’d stepped off a cliff.
“No,” Neil said, taking her hand. “They don’t want stuff. They want…” Just then he noticed Shondra and Jillybean for the first time. He pointed at the two females. “They’ll trade for one of them.”
Chapter 29
Neil
Atlanta, Georgia
“Hell no!” Shondra exclaimed.
The six of them, Eve was snoring contentedly in the F-250 now that the shooting was over, stood in the middle of an intersection just down the street from the CDC. Shondra still held her .38 Police Special; before it had been an afterthought, now she gripped it with two hands, though she kept it clutched to her bosom.
“You can’t make me join into some cult,” she insisted.
Neil put out his hands hoping to calm her. It didn’t work. His hands shook and his eyes were big circles of crazy. Out of fear for his daughter, he was beyond desperation and into a territory of mental aberration he had never experienced before.
“No, it’s not a cult,” he pleaded. “I misspoke. They believe in God, sure, but that doesn’t make them a cult. It’s actually really cool. They have this underground city that is completely safe and the people are happy. And they have food! I didn’t mention the food before. They have so much food that some people are getting kind of chubby.”
All this spewed out of his mouth in seconds as the sentences accordioned in on themselves, running one over the other.
In the gloom of night, Shondra’s normally dark face was impossible to read, but her tone spoke volumes. “I’m sure it’s just lollipop heaven,” she said, sarcastically. “If it’s so great then why doesn’t Sadie want to stay?”
“Because,” Neil said, his mind floundering. “She is…uh. They want to…uh. I don’t know. She wants to be with her family?”
“Find somebody else to trade,” Shondra stated flatly.
Just then that somebody else spoke up. “Excuse me,” Jillybean said, raising her hand as if she were at school. “There are monsters coming from right over there.” She indicated at an open area; there were indeed a few zombies heading toward them. Everyone followed her pointing finger, but Neil.
He stared at Jillybean in amazement. She was a miracle in his eyes. This was how he was going to get his Sadie back—he just had to play his cards right. With Shondra he had let his emotions and the crazy sensation that was overwhelming his thinking show on his face. With this girl he would try another track. The little girl wasn’t just thin, she looked as if she had just been liberated from a concentration camp. Her eyes were wide and blue in her thin face, while her cheek bones rose up like little apples. Even the bones and cartilage in her neck stood out in rings beneath her tight skin.
“I wasn’t kidding about the food there,” he said quietly, wondering if this was how child molesters spoke. “I had the best meal in a year. We had sausage and eggs and toast with jelly. And milk! I bet they had strawberry milk too, but I didn’t ask. Do you like strawberry milk, uh…?”
“Jillybean,” she said.
Her odd name caused him to pause only a second. “Do you like strawberry milk, Jillybean?”
Before she could answer, Ram said, “Neil.” The one word carried a warning in it. Sarah stepped all over it. She pointed at the zombies and taking Ram’s arm she gave him a gentle nudge.
“Can you stop them, please?” she asked. “I’ve had enough of zombies for one night.” She looked it. Neil had never seen her more of a mess. Her entire front was covered in tar or oil, and her left hand dripped red blood, while her right was so black with zombie blood it looked as though she had fished about in the guts of one.
Ram glanced at her in surprise and answered. “Sure. Ok. I’ll be right back.”
The second he was gone Neil started back in immediately. “They have everything, Jillybean. Like I said they had chicken and hamburgers and milk and bread. Did I mention the bread? It smelled so good you wouldn’t believe. You like bread.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Yes, I do like bread,” Jillybean admitted, guardedly. “But that doesn’t mean…”
“And I forgot to mention the animals,” Neil said, interrupting. “They have flocks of sheep and cows and goats. Have you ever seen a baby goat? They are darling. I bet they’d let you pet them and feed them. Would you like that?”
She nodded but her face was in pain. “I do real bad, but Ipes says cults aren’t good for me. He says that if the black lady doesn’t like them and you don’t like them, then I shouldn’t like them.”
“Ipes?”
Sarah stepped to his side and pointed at the stuffed animal Jillybean carried. “It’s the zebra, I think.”
“Oh, Ipes said that?” Neil asked. “I bet Ipes didn’t know that Christianity was once called a cult too, and now I bet you’re a Christian. You celebrate Christmas, right?” When Jillybean nodded, Neil did too. “That makes you a Christian. I’m a Christian also. So you see a cult isn’t always bad…”
Shondra made a noise of disgust and said, “I can’t believe you’re going to try trick a little girl into thinking cults are good things! If it’s so good, why don’t you want your daughter joining one?”
Neil’s eyes flared with heat. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Ask Mark. Did anyone look unhappy there, or scared, or abused?”
Mark stood edged in close, practically touching Neil. “The only person who was scared was Sadie. And it was probably because everything was so new,” he said.
“I’m not going to be a part of this bullshit,” Shondra seethed. “I’ll wait in the truck until you’re done brainwashing this poor girl.”
For all his life Neil was a nice guy. But not then. The life of his daughter hung in the balance and so far he hadn’t said anything that wasn’t precisely untrue. “Then go,” he demanded. “Get the hell out of here, but don’t forget the girl. She’s your responsibility now, since you care so much.”
Shondra hesitated as Neil knew she would. There were no secrets in a community as small as the CDC: Shondra could barely take care of herself. Even owning a cat was beyond her.
Neil sneered and said, “Go on. She’s yours. We all know Ram won’t keep her. That’s not the way he is. And I can’t take her; I have my own family to watch over. So it’s up to you to feed her and clothe her and protect her from the zombies. Go on, take her.” Neil even went so far as to give Jilly a push in Shondra’s direction.
The black lady stepped back.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Neil said, making his own noise of disgust. He went to one knee and turned Jillybean to look her in the face; her skin was now so pale there was a spectral sheen to it. “Here’s the truth: I want my daughter back and she wants to come home. Do you understand, Jillybean? About family? Do you understand what a father would do to get his girl back?”
In the second before she could answer Ram arrived in mood that matched the black blood he was covered in. With one arm he yanked Neil to his feet. “You’ve got some nerve!” he bellowed so loudly that every zombie within a mile must have heard. Without effort he threw Neil to the ground and went to stand over him with his fists balled.
“He is right, Mister Ram,” Jillybean said in a voice that was as quiet as his had been loud. Everyone turned to stare. She stepped back squeezing the zebra tight to her chest. “My daddy would have done anything to save me.”
“That doesn’t give him the right to act this way,” Ram said.
“What way?” Neil demanded. “This is Sadie I’m talking about! Will you cast her away after everything she’s done for you? She risked her life for your baby for goodness sakes. Do you remember what you told her?” Ram’s anger wilted before their eyes. Neil went on, nodding, knowing that he had won, "You said if there was anything you could do to repay her, you would do it. This is something you could do, Ram."
The night was quiet
save for the pattering of rain and the distant haunting moans that they had all come to live with.
“That baby is yours?” Jillybean asked Ram, her head wagging in confusion. “I thought she was his and hers.”
“It’s a long story,” Ram told her. “I had a woman and…”
Neil interrupted, “And he gave up his baby when she died. It’s not a long story. You told Sadie you could never repay her, but now you can. Ram, please, at least come look at this place before you make a decision.”
Sarah touched his arm, adding, “And it's not like the CDC is safe anymore. It’s empty. The germs got out and everyone has runaway. We may be too close even now.”
“Then why the hell have we been standing here?” Shondra asked, drawing a sleeve to her face.
“Because I need a girl,” Neil said. “This place Sadie is at may be a cult, but I don’t know if it’s a bad one. It’s weird. That’s the truth. The leader wants balance. He wants there to be a male for every female. It’s got something to do with harmony is all I know.”
“I’ll do it,” Jillybean said. Her face was down, her chin resting on her chest. “I thought I was going to live here, with you, Mister Ram, but…but you were going to give me away, weren’t you? You said I’d be a big sister. That means you were going to give me to these people.”
“I wanted you to have a family,” Ram told her. “A real family, with a real mom and dad. Normally they’re not like this.”
She shook her head. “Ipes thinks you’re wrong and I do too. They’re always like this, but only for their own babies….not for me. I think I want to go to the cult. It’s better than being alone.”
“No. I’ll take care of you. You won’t be alone,” Ram said. “Ever. I mean it.”
He went to one knee and the little girl crushed into him, but then she drew back, her face wet. “My daddy said that too, and you’re like him. You’ll end up dying for me and I’ll end up alone.” She pulled away completely and went to Neil. Without looking beyond the tips of her toes she held up a hand. “You’ll take me?”
The hand was so tiny and delicate. Neil was suddenly afraid to take it as if his touch would doom her, as if his skin was poison, as if he was leading her to a sacrificial alter where she would be drained of what little blood her frail body possessed.
She saw the swift doubt and took his hand. “It’ll be ok as long as they let me keep Ipes. Do you think they will?”
Neil gave a shrug. “I don’t see why not.”
“Hold on!” Ram cried. “I haven’t okayed this. You just can’t take her.”
“I don’t know if you have any say so in this matter,” Neil shot back, standing as tall as he could, going stiff in the spine. “Ten minutes ago you were going to give her to Sarah and me. Are you now claiming some sort of parental right? We both know that alone you're not really father material." When Ram hesitated, Neil begged, “Come and look at their facilities before you make up your mind, please. That’s all I ask.”
Ram dropped his head, agreeing without a word.
Chapter 30
Jillybean
New Eden, Georgia
We can escape any time you wish, Ipes said, under his breath so that only Jillybean heard. Just say the word.
All during the ride among the zombie-clogged city streets and through hauntingly empty outer suburbs, the zebra had kept an eye out for a chance to make a break for freedom. He was dead set against the notion of a cult.
It’s a doomsday cult, just one with good timing. What would your father think? he asked.
Jillybean refused to answer. Whenever she did, the adults would stop their conversation and glance back with worry in their eyes. They did not understand about Ipes, nor could they hear him.
The adults talked about their days apart: for Neil it was about his adventure with the cultist; Sarah told about being abandoned by an entire fortified base; and Shondra spoke about how she had left to hide some of her food and had come back to a ghost town.
Ram talked about Jillybean. He talked about how she had saved him time and again—sometimes he went quiet in the middle of a word and it was minutes before he would pick up the story again. He spoke little of his own heroics as if they were nothing.
Eventually Jillybean fell asleep as Ram was telling how they found the second boat. For her that had been a dull time. It took them an hour to rig the spare sail and then six more frustrating hours were spent trying to eat up the distance between the two boats. They were separated by only a mile, but it took them the rest of the morning, zigzagging across the ocean. Ram wasn’t much of a sailor and frequently worked his rudder and boom at cross purposes. He got so cranky that Jillybean thought it prudent not to point this out.
The find, a fully fueled motorboat, had been worth it. From the moment they boarded it they fairly flew all the way to the CDC; first by the boat and then on the motorcycle. The closer they got the more Jillybean grew excited. Ram had been vague with the details but he held forth the promise of a family and a home.
You’ll see, he would say. What he should have said was: You’ll see that I don’t really want you. It was a blow to her heart.
With the sound of the truck's roar lulling her, she slept for a few hours in a vague dreamless way until she was woken by Ram. “We’re here. It’s time to get up.”
For a few seconds she had no idea where they were, or what they were doing, or even who the other people were around them, or why she was feeling an elusive sensation of disappointment with Ram. Then the baby gave a little pouty cry and Jillybean’s mind kicked back into gear.
She remembered that she was there to be traded: one human for another.
Ram shook her again. “I’m getting up,” she said in clipped tones. She kicked off the blanket she had been given and slipped out of the Range Rover into the night…or was it morning? There was an indistinct purple hue to the eastern sky, suggesting the latter.
“Where is this place?” Ram asked, taking a peek at Jillybean before glancing around.
They were out in the country with the only man-made structure anywhere around them being a grain silo. Neil gestured to it. “They’re watching right now,” he said, waving in a friendly fashion. “Also, they’re armed to the teeth so no heroics.”
Ram glanced again to Jillybean, but she refused to meet his eye, so he dropped down beside her. “I’m sorry if I mislead you about being your father. You saw me on the boat; I have a short fuse. And I don’t know anything about raising girls—lipstick and shoes and bras, I’m not good at that sort of thing. But Neil is and Sarah is even better.”
“But they’re not going to be my parents, are they?” He shook his head at the question. She followed it up with: “Ipes says you sold us a bill of goods.!”
“He did, huh?” Ram asked. “Do you even know what that means?”
It means he over-represented the state of things, Ipes told her. When she hesitated, the zebra added, Or you can just say he lied.
This she understood. “It means you lied…about the state of things. Now, I’m not even going to be their daughter.”
“I haven’t agreed to any of this yet,” Ram cautioned.
“It doesn’t matter what you agreed to,” Jillybean said. “I’ll never be their daughter. If I don’t go through with this and you give me to them, they’ll always look at me as the chicken-girl who wouldn’t help save their real daughter. No thank you.”
“You remind me of Sadie,” Ram said. “She’s very tough and...”
Just then the door to the silo swung open showing five men armed with black weapons. One of them stepped forward and ordered: “Leave y’alls guns in the cars and come forward one at a time. We is gonna frisk y’all.”
Run! Ipes cried. While everyone is turned away! Now’s our chance.
“No,” whispered Jillybean. She didn’t discount the idea of running, just not yet. First she would check out the cult and if it was too crazy she would pick a good opportunity and run.
Since she w
asn’t armed and she was mad at Ram and didn’t want to be near him just then, Jillybean walked up first. “Do you allow zebras in?”
The leader of the squad was big and quite a bit scarier than she had anticipated. He dropped to a knee and asked, “Is he carrying a gun?”
“No. Me neither,” Jilly replied.
He gave her a speedy pat down and said, “He can come in if he can pull a plow. Go stand over there.”
He pointed next to one of the men and as she went, Ipes begged her to run. Do I look like a common plough horse? I am a zebra! Zebras don’t plough. We’re known for our beauty and quick wit. Jilly, you have to get us out of here.
“Shh,” Jillybean hissed.
In short order they were all frisked and headed down into a well lit tunnel. Ram insisted on walking next to her, but she kept her arms folded around Ipes and tried to pretend he wasn’t there.
“This isn’t bad,” he said on more than one occasion. Despite her anger at him and her anxiety, Jillybean had to agree. Everything was clean, bright and warm—a big change from the last eight months of her life.
Eventually, after a few turns that Ipes committed to her memory, they came to a wide double-door which led into what was undoubtedly a church of some sort. It was a room like an inverted pyramid. Down the many stairs was an altar of white marble and next to it was a pool of water. It was clear and pretty with a shining silver base. It would’ve been inviting to Jillybean except she had the sinking feeling that they would dunk her in it. She had seen something like that on TV once—it didn’t look fun, mainly because everyone went in “backwards” with their noses to the ceiling, something she feared as much as monsters.
Down the rows was a carpeted aisle with a brass banister on one side. Ram let her take the metal in hand as they descended in an uncomfortable silence. Hundreds of people, all dressed in white, sat looking up at them.
“Come and join the family of Believers,” a tall man with gobs of silver hair beckoned from next to the altar.
What a perv, Ipes remarked. Can you say child-bride? The sarcasm was lost on Jillybean. The year before, one of her friends, Mary Greenfeld had been married to a boy name Taylor in a ceremony held under the slide at recess. Though their marriage hadn’t lasted a week it had been a fun time.
The Undead World (Book 2): The Apocalypse Survivors Page 27