Carolyn waited ten minutes before going upstairs to check on her.
“He's going to be okay,” she told her. “He just needs to rest and build up his strength for a few more days. Honestly, he's going to be just fine, honey.”
“I love him, Carolyn,” Vickie said, sniffling. “I love him, but I don't know if I can deal with this stupid attitude of his. He just can't show any weakness, no matter how much it affects me or you or any of the rest of us. This idiotic mindset, this need to put up a front... What if there'd been trouble at the mall? What if we'd run into more of those people from the roadblock, or a group of infected? He could have died, but all he could think about was keeping up appearances!”
“He's doing it for your benefit, mostly,” Carolyn sat down next to her and put her arm around her. “He sees you as depending on him for his strength, his steadiness, his protection. He thinks he can't show any weakness because he wants you to feel safe.”
“How safe would I have been today if we'd run into trouble?”
“That's just the way some guys are, this childish way of thinking that they always have to be the bread-winner, the provider, the protector. Obviously, that's the way he was raised and you can't expect it to be easy for him to change. We talked a bit. He realizes how stupid he was, that he actually endangered you instead of protecting you, like he meant to. He needs you. He needs to know that your feelings are still the same. Don't ignore him much longer. Go to him. Talk this out with him.”
Vickie put her arms around Carolyn and held onto her tightly until she was able to collect herself.
. . .
“Hey,” Vickie said as she sat down on the edge of the sofa bed.
“I guess messed up pretty bad, didn't I?” Jake responded.
“Yeah, you sure did. Do you even realize how much we need you? You're what holds this group together, what keeps us going. We've learned a lot since the outbreak, you can let us take some of the risks; we can handle it, you don't have to do it all yourself.”
“You're right. I've been too protective, especially of you. You aren't the frightened little girl I found near the bridge any more. You've shown that you're capable of standing up to whatever comes at you. I'll try to remember that in the future.”
“I'll remind you if you forget,” she said, leaning down to kiss him. “Get some rest now. I'll wake you when dinner's ready.”
Chapter 25: Dr. Warfield
Tom and Pete finished setting and reinforcing the last of the posts over the next few days. There was enough barbed wire to string five strands around the perimeter, which took another two days. By that time, Carolyn and Vickie let Jake get back on his feet again and he walked the fence line, nodding in approval and making a suggestion here and there on where extra reinforcement might be warranted and where obstacles could be planted to channel any infected into firing lanes. All in all, it was a fairly nice setup; they had a secure source of clean water, a gas well to fuel the stove and, along with the generator, to power the furnace for the coming winter, enough food for months, though he planned on making runs to nearby towns and malls to collect more, and a defensible position. Pete blended seamlessly into the group and, much to Jake's surprise and Vickie’s puzzlement, there seemed to be quite a bit of back and forth flirting between him and Carolyn.
Pete and Kathie had been high school sweethearts, much to the consternation of her Baptist parents, and had married the year he finished college, her sophomore year. They'd all been together for her parents' fortieth anniversary when National Guard helicopters swept low over their neighborhood advising everyone to evacuate to the Guard base at the other end of town. In the mad rush to the cars, Kathie and her mother had both been bitten, then two cars, carrying two of Frank's sons and their wives had been overwhelmed and all were lost. Frank's wife and daughter turned within an hour and Pete was the only one with the nerve to put them down after the mother attacked one of the grandchildren. Even though they all agreed it had been necessary, the others treated Pete differently from then on, more as an outsider than a family-member sharing the same grief and loss.
But his new family readily accepted him, welcomed him to their midst and he was as near to happy as he'd been since before the infection.
After supper, he sat with Jake on the porch, both smoking cigarettes from Jake's stash. Tom joined them after a few minutes with three cans of Miller Lite.
“Sorry they're not cold,” he told them, “but with all the deer meat gone, they're not enough reason to waste gas on the generator. I had them in a wash tub of cool well water in the shade by the barn, though.”
“Tom, you son of a gun!” Jake grinned, opening his can. “Oh, that is good,” he added after taking a long drink.
“I don't know what we're going to do with our time, now that the fence is finished,” Tom said, popping open his own can.
“You think that fence will hold them back?” asked Pete. “After what I heard happened on the island, I've got to wonder if anything can stop them if they really want in here.”
“On the island, there were nearly two hundred of them crowded in a very small area with nowhere else to go and I just didn’t have the opportunity to reinforce the fence like I wanted to, the way we have here. I don't think we'll see that kind of concentration here and, with a two-by-four well-anchored and bracing each post at an angle like they are, I think this fence would have held them back.”
“God, I hope so,” Vickie said as she and Eve came out the front door.
“We've got clear fields of fire all around and obstacles to break up their concentrations; we won't let them focus on any one point like that again,” Jake stated. “We have around thirty-five hundred rounds for the ARs, over fifteen hundred 9mm, nearly three thousand .22 long rifle, and several hundred rounds for the other pistols and the shotgun, and even a hundred or so .44 magnums for Tom’s cannon.”
“I've got seventy two arrows to add to that,” Vickie said.
“I didn't forget about those. I also managed to hang on to the two hand grenades and five tear gas canisters we got from the Harriot police station, though I don't know how effective gas will be against the infected. It should at least be enough to disorient them, though. I've been thinking, it might be a good idea to make a run over to Camp Bravo, the refugee camp the National Guard set up outside Winston. They had a lot of equipment there, like they were expecting a lot more troops to show up. It might be worth our while to see if there's anything left there.”
“You aren't going anywhere just yet,” Carolyn announced from the doorway. She and Liz came out onto the porch and she stood directly in front of Jake and stared down at him, frowning at the can of beer in his hand.
“I feel fine! I haven't had any more dizziness or even felt at all light headed since I got back!”
“I said, 'You aren't going anywhere just yet!'” Carolyn repeated. “We are not going to have a repeat of what happened on that last run. You, my friend, are going no farther than this porch for another week at least!”
“A week?! It's already been a couple months that the camp's been abandoned. We need to check it out before anyone else does, if it hasn't been looted already!”
“Look, Jake,” Tom put in, “Pete and I can make the run. I know where the camp is, I was there, remember?”
“I'm coming, too,” Carolyn said flatly. “You might be happy to have someone along who can stitch you up if you get hurt. Some of Jake’s bad luck might have rubbed off on you.”
“So, that's settled,” Vickie announced. “They'll make the run and we'll make sure you stay put and don't do anything stupid while they're gone.”
“Remember,” Carolyn noted as Jake began to protest, “you agreed we were capable of handling things ourselves. We don't need you to babysit us every step of the way. Sit this one out, Jake.”
With an audible sigh, Jake sank back into his chair.
“You're right. I can't go on every run. Take the Hummer and the 350. They'll get you out of a tight spot
better than the Town and Country or the Mustang. You know the drill; one on watch while the others load up. Don't take any chances! I’d rather have all three of you back here alive and safe than anything you might find there.”
“We'll get back okay, Jake,” Pete said. “We'll pack up what we need tonight and leave at first light tomorrow. Is that okay with you, Tom?”
“Suits me. It’s going to be a long drive, so the sooner we get started the better. As it is, we’ll be gone at least a couple of days, if everything goes right.”
“Alright, that's settled then,” Carolyn said, turning toward the door. “As for me, if we're getting an early start, I'm turning in early. It might do us all good to get some extra sleep tonight, as a matter of fact,” and she went back into the house, Eve, Liz and Vickie following.
“Well, we've got six beers left,” Tom looked at the other two men once they were alone again. “We might as well finish them off first.”
Pete and Jake nodded and Tom went after the beer. Jake drew another cigarette and passed the pack to Pete. Tom came back a minute or so later and they all popped open a fresh can.
“Say, Jake,” Tom asked after a few quiet moments, “That CDC doctor you talked to, his name was Warfield, wasn't it?”
“Yeah, uh, Fred Warfield, as I recall.”
“Yeah, same guy I talked to then. He, uh, tell you anything else? Anything you haven't shared with us?”
“Could be,” Jake answered after taking a long draw on his smoke. “Tell me what's on your mind, Tom. He told you something more too, didn't he?”
Pete looked from one to the other, waiting expectantly.
Tom leaned forward in his chair and talked in a low voice.
“He told me, and I don't want this to go beyond the three of us...”
Jake nodded and Pete said “Okay.”
“Well, he said they figured this to be an extinction event.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Pete blurted out, then lowered his voice again. “I mean, I know, but I want someone to tell me I'm wrong!”
“An extinction event,” Jake explained, “is just what you imagine it to be. No hope. No second chance. Everyone dies, the human race ends.”
“No! I don't believe that!” Pete rasped. “There's always hope! Look at us! We survived, didn't we? There have to be others! Hell, there's my wife's family, too! There's got to be more!”
Tom looked away, refusing to meet Pete's eye and Jake finished his can of beer and opened another, passing the last two across.
“The way he explained it, from the reports that came out of Europe and Asia and South America before communications collapsed, they expected that, as of a month or so ago by now, between 75 and 85 percent of the world population would be dead or infected with the virus.”
“But... but that still leaves, what, like a billion people still alive?”
“Yeah, something like that,” Jake's voice tapered off.
Pete stared at him, but Jake avoided his eyes. He looked at Tom, who cleared his throat and leaned in even closer.
“Warfield said that the early reports,” his voice just audible, “seemed to suggest that many of the survivors may have been rendered incapable of reproducing.”
The color drained from Pete's face and his stomach turned to ice.
“Is it true?”
Jake shrugged. “I'm not a doctor or a scientist, I don't know. I suspect we'll find out in time.”
“But it couldn't have reached everywhere, right? Australia and New Zealand, islands in the middle of the Pacific, really remote areas?”
“I just don't know. Even Warfield didn’t know for certain, but it was a best guess. Hell, I don’t know if anyone’s even trying to have kids now after all that’s gone down. Who’d want to bring a child into this kind of world?”
“What kind of world would it be without kids?” Pete retorted. “Kathie and I would have given anything to have some of our own, but she wasn’t able.”
“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Tom added his voice. “The infection didn’t hit everyone, certainly none of us here. There’s no reason to believe that this- this side effect will affect everyone either.”
“There’s always hope,” Jake agreed. “I just wanted all the cards on the table.”
“Well, it’s not like there’s anything we can do about it,” Pete said. “Like you said, we’ll find out in time. Tom, since the better halves headed off to bed already, I guess it’s up to you and me to get our stuff together.”
. . .
Jake lingered after Pete and Tom headed off to collect their gear for the next morning. They stopped to touch bases with him on a few minor details before heading in for the night. Once they went up the stairs, Jake walked to the pantry and retrieved the bottle of Jack he'd hidden there and took it and a cup back out to sit on the porch swing. He'd just lit another cigarette when he heard the door open behind him.
“Mind if I join you?” Vickie asked, sitting next to him on the porch swing. “We can watch the sun set together.”
“I never mind your company,” Jake smiled, but she could see the smile was forced.
“What’s going on that you need to sit here all alone with a bottle of whiskey?”
“I’m just having a nightcap, that’s all,” Jake lied. “Something to help me sleep.”
“You’re a poor liar, Jake Harper. Is it really that bad?”
“No, I'm just a little disappointed that I can’t go on the run with Pete and Tom tomorrow.”
“Bullshit! What were the three of you talking about? It must have been something pretty bad to put you in this mood.”
“Just... everything we've lost everyone we lost. It just catches up to you sometimes.”
“Okay, that means that whatever it was, it was so bad you can't bring yourself to talk to me about it.”
“Nothing's changed. There's no big, new catastrophe looming on the horizon, I promise you. I still think we'll ride it out fine right here.”
“Uh-huh. Let me try some of that,” she pointed to his cup. Jake handed it to her and she took a tentative sip, made a face and began to cough and gag. “This is horrible! Why on earth do people drink this stuff?”
“It's an acquired taste,” Jake shrugged, smiling.
“Yeah, that means nobody really likes it and they just drink it to look cool!” and she handed the cup back to him.
Jake took a sip and gave an exaggerated smile of satisfaction and she punched his arm.
“There you go again. Haven't I been through enough without you willfully trying to do me bodily harm?”
Vickie turned on the swing and put her arms around him, pressing her lips to his. Jake set the cup on the floor and returned her embrace, holding her tightly. He flinched as she began to straddle his lap and she drew back.
“Your side is still pretty tender, isn't it?”
“Just a little.”
“Oh, shit!” Vickie said as she stood up. “We have company!” Down the road a group of three infected were shambling toward the house. “My bow is just inside the door, no sense waking everyone up.”
Jake pulled his Glock and kept an eye on the uninvited company while Vickie stepped off the porch and took aim at the one in the lead. Her arrow pierced its chest and it stopped, staring down, uncomprehending, at the shaft, then sank to its knees and collapsed. Her second arrow hit the next one, a woman, in the shoulder as she stumbled over the corpse of the man she'd just dropped and she sent another one into her temple. The third infected bent over her and began to feed until Vickie launched another missile, which penetrated the top of its skull.
“Well, that sure killed the mood,” Jake commented.
“I don't think we're done yet,” Vickie said, motioning down the road. More than twenty infected were in sight moving toward the house, seemingly led by another group of three who moved in a much more coordinated, sure-footed manner.
“Better wake the others,” Jake told her, reaching for the shotgun proppe
d against the porch railing.
Vickie ran into the house and all were armed and assembled on the upper and lower porches in less than a minute.
“Let them get closer, then see if you can take out the three in the lead quietly with your bow,” Jake instructed. “Then we'll deal with the rest of them.”
Vickie nodded and took aim at the closest. Her arrow flew straight and true and took him just to the left of his breastbone, sliding neatly between two ribs to bury itself deep in the creature's heart. The other two hesitated for just a second, then began howling and running back into the crowd. Jake put a load of buckshot into the chest of one of the drones and nearly took the head off a second with his next shot. By this time, the rest of the pack was advancing quickly in a stumbling run and the shocked group of survivors began firing rapidly. A second group of nearly twenty infected broke from the near-darkness of the field across the road, charging to the flash and noise of gunfire. Several of them made it as far as the barrier in front of the porch steps before being cut down, but, eventually, all of them fell to the hail of bullets. Once the crisis had passed, Jake saw the two surviving alphas retreating into the field, having hung back during the main attack.
“There!” he shouted to the others. “The alphas are making a break for it!”
A dozen shots rang out, but the infected were deep in the tall grass by then and no one was sure they'd hit any of them.
“I'll finish off those bastards!” Pete yelled as he charged across the road.
“Pete, wait! Something's not right!” Jake called after him, but Pete continued his pursuit, heedless of the warning. “Tom! Follow me! The rest of you, keep your guard up!”
Jake took off after Pete, ignoring Carolyn’s warning shouts for him to stop, Tom close behind. They'd gone a hundred yards or so when a loud howling began and another score of infected rose up out of the grass and weeds, surrounding Pete on all sides.
The Complete Lethal Infection Trilogy Page 19