He finally let his emotions take him. His tears were silent, but they were real. He could feel them working their way out of his stomach, up through his chest, and finally into his eyes. He always assumed that it would be reversed; that Val would be the one sitting on the couch needing consoling. He wished it were that way in fact.
In teams, the others checked the rest of the house, finding nothing alarming. In a laundry room downstairs, they found some more food and some beer but no water. There was also a locked cabinet that very much resembled a gun safe in a back bedroom converted into an office.
In the master bedroom, they found a suitcase on the bed. It was still open and only half full. Most of the drawers were either pulled out or actually on the floor. On top of the folded clothes in the suitcase was a framed portrait of four happy, smiling people. One of the faces was that of their good friend Dr. Caldwell. There was no arguing with the physical and very visible proof that the last few weeks had considerably aged him. Neil opened the back of the frame to remove the picture. Meghan shot him a questioning look.
He said, “The picture is important. The frame is impractical.”
“That’s his family.”
“And this is our and his survival. The picture frame has glass that will only get broken and cut his hands or get into the plastic packaging of the food he’s carrying. Then he’ll be eating glass. I get that we need to be sensitive about this and I’m trying to be. But we have to approach everything pragmatically. We can’t have extra weight or our limited backpack space being taken by non-essentials.”
From the doorway, Dr. Caldwell’s voice startled them both, “Neil’s right.” He extended his hand and took the frame, finishing the job of removing the picture. He added, “I think I’d like to put some of my own clothes on. Can I have a few minutes to change? Meghan, I bet you and Emma and Claire could all fit into some of Val’s clothes if you’d like some fresh duds.”
“I wouldn’t want to...”
“Please. Val would have liked to know that she was helping in some way. That was always important to her.”
“If you insist.”
“We do.”
Chapter 64
The balance of the day they spent resting in front of the generous fire they built in the fireplace and enjoying some of their new provisions. They drained the hot water heater and the boiler into empty plastic bottles, pitchers, and any other containers that were available. Both appliances were still relatively new, so the water had neither odor nor color to it.
Danny and Jules drank Cokes they found in the garage while everyone else indulged themselves in the cool beers. The tantalizing flavors and textures scintillated their senses and helped them all settle in for some much needed rest.
Deciding that the day was spent, Neil and Jerry found a tarp in the garage and used it to cover the back door, using generous strips of duct tape to affix it to the frame. This effectively ended the draft, but a trickle of cold air still found its way through the less than perfect cover. The two men then moved the heavy, formal dining table, tilting it up against the open door to add some level of security. Luckily, the table was taller than the door, so they were able to drive a handful of carpentry nails through both the table and the doorframe. It wasn’t perfect, but it would do, especially if it wasn’t large crowds of ghouls pressing themselves against the barrier. They hadn’t seen one since leaving the Fred Meyer several miles behind them. There was some comfort in that.
Given that the living room was the only one with any degree of heat in it, a pair of mattresses was brought into the large room, turning the floor into a large bed. The fire was kept at a new raging level to maintain the little bit of warmth that kept the room comfortable. They all hungered for real rest and each in his own time was able to partake of that morsel.
The next morning, everyone save Dr. Caldwell arose feeling refreshed. Dr. Caldwell’s face looked as lifeless and ravaged as a zeke’s. He tried to smile and join in conversations, but the effort needed for such gestures was evident in his expression. Upon waking, he opened another beer for breakfast. Before rising from his chair, he’d had another.
He found himself only wanting to leave his chair to relieve himself and to get another beer. He brought them upstairs from the laundry room one at a time, figuring that if he got to the point that he couldn’t make it up or down the stairs then it was time to stop.
Dr. Caldwell joined Danny and Jules in a lively game of Aggravation, which most everyone else watched. The beer was helping, though he realized that all it was doing was pushing his grief to the side temporarily. Eventually he would be forced to deal with it. He was a doctor and had seen it all before. For the time, he was happy consorting with the likes of Amber...Alaskan Amber.
Curiously, Meghan and Emma noted to one another that the doctor was careful not to venture into the kitchen. He avoided that room like he was cursed and it was hallowed ground. He didn’t seem to be evading the truth, but perhaps the kitchen with its grisly reminders was too much truth for him to want to embrace.
They kept a watchful eye on him for the balance of the day. His drinking was worrisome, especially if they were prompted to be on the move again, but who were they to advise him on dealing with his pain? He seemed to be a happy drunk so far, so they elected to smile a lot and always be on hand.
Jerry, Claire, and Neil meanwhile decided that it would be prudent to check out the houses in their immediate vicinity. With only a handful of houses to check, it just made good sense to know what was around. It was Jerry who offered the first objection. He suggested that if there was something in the other houses or the immediate adjoining land, it might be just as well to leave it alone, and that maybe they could avoid detection by just staying out of sight. If they got out there and had to use their guns, they might attract attention to them that wouldn’t be there otherwise.
Neither Neil nor Claire disagreed that it was a possibility, but they both felt that it was worth doing a sweep. For simple peace of mind, they needed to know if there were any threats already around them. There was always the likelihood that something would come their way, but if it was already in their backyard, it might be worth knowing about it.
The three of them were armed with baseball bats, clawed crowbars, shotguns, rifles, and handguns. To Gerald, who closed the front door behind them, they looked like battle hardened warriors venturing back into the field and, on a certain level, they were.
The Caldwells’ house was the second to last house, so they chose to go to the last house and then work their way back. The mailbox at the end of their driveway announced that the Higgins family resided there. The front door on this house was open, as were three of the four car doors. As they walked by the car, they saw that the window on the closed door was so caked with blood that they couldn’t see through the glass.
Going around to the other side of the car, Jerry looked in but recoiled almost immediately. He’d once seen the picked clean carcass of a moose on the side of the road near Hatcher’s Pass. He saw more or less the same thing sitting on a child booster seat where bits of red vinyl cloth, white faux down stuffing, and small shards of bone all commingled into a single, horrible vision.
Neil looked at him and asked, “Does it need to be dealt with?”
“Man, there isn’t enough in there to have turned. They ate him down to the seat.”
“How do you know it was a him?”
“Spiderman boots.”
“Anything else?”
“Naw. Looks like maybe the kid was strapped in and waiting on the rest of the fam. Doesn’t look like anyone else made it out...at least this direction.”
Claire swallowed audibly and said with no humor whatsoever, “I really don’t know how you guys do it.”
Just as quickly, Jerry answered, “Not much of a choice really. Doesn’t mean that it doesn’t make me wanna retch when I see something like that.”
The path leading to the small concrete porch sitting in front of the front do
or was strewn with clothes. They appeared to be a young girl’s sized and styled clothes. They saw purple butterflies, rhinestone hearts, and Hello Kitty. On the porch sat on its side a purple suitcase, its hearts less than cheery.
Some have posited that events so utterly imbued with emotion or trauma can leave an inanimate object with the memory of that happening imbedded in the fabric of that object. Many paranormal psychologists had explained ghosts and poltergeists in such a manner. Looking at the suitcase and then remembering all the seemingly everyday items that were carried by their owners until that terrible day when all this started, Claire wondered what kind of memory each would impart.
Standing at the threshold, Claire asked, her eyes never stopping their desperate scan of the immediate interior of the house, “Why don’t we just shut this house up and seal in whatever is inside?”
Jerry asked, “What about supplies? There might be something in there that we could use.”
“If we’ve been able to get by this long without whatever that is, then I guess we don’t really need it. Besides, we can always come back if we have to. In the meantime, if we can just close the houses and make getting out tough, then maybe we don’t have to, you know, get Medieval on their asses.”
Jerry chuckled. “Great Ving Rhames reference by the way, but it seems like we’re all dressed up. Might as well go for a dance.”
Claire leaned back and gave Jerry the “what did you just say?” look.
Neil compromised. “Why don’t we check this place and decide after? No tellin’ what we’re gonna find in there. It’s another big house, lotsa rooms. Claire, do you wanna stay here at the door?”
“You ain’t leavin’ me alone anywhere.”
“I was just—”
“Yeah, well, whatever ideas you get better not have me alone.”
“Okay, okay. Well then, I think we should shut the door behind us and then do the same with every door we pass.”
Claire smiled and, gesturing with her hand, said, “After you.”
They chose to check downstairs first, hoping that the scarce daylight from outside might help to illuminate the rooms. Luckily, the window shades on the large window in the recreation room were open, letting in a generous portion of the flat light of the sun. The bittersweet pungence of decay wafted up to them before they had made it down the stairs. They immediately knew that they weren’t alone.
In the corner of the large room there stood a longhaired, languishing wraith. It had its back to them, but turned slowly as they entered the room. Its ragged clothing, looking more like a funeral shroud than garments, hung from its bone thin emaciated grey limbs and frame. Its skin, festering with rotting sores, was pulled tightly across protruding bones.
At first its eyes only seemed bewildered, like it was trying to remember something. Smelling the salty temptation of flesh that walked in with these pink skinned creatures, a deep, lurking hunger suddenly awoke, firing aggression into its congealed veins. The confusion washed from its eyes, replaced as it dissipated by a ravenous craving for raw flesh.
Claire was already heading back up the stairs when Jerry yelled, “Stop! Don’t get separated!” She wasn’t waiting though, her legs acting of their own accord.
Neil was already stepping forward with his bat. Putting the likes of Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantel to shame, Neil swung the bat with force and purpose. The metallic knell was still echoing as the beast hit the floor, a deep gash opened on its temple. The wound slowly filled with a dark fluid resembling black jelly. With a gurgling growl spilling from its mouth, it tried to rise back to its feet, but Neil was already bringing his second swing down onto the back of its head.
The only sound in the room afterward was Neil’s breathing. From the top of the stairs, Claire called down, “I think I’m ready to go back now.”
“We gotta finish first. Please come back down here. If we separate, we’re easier to pick off,” Jerry answered.
She came back down the stairs slowly, her eyes as wide as saucers as she tread. When she was back on the basement floor she snapped to Jerry, “Zealot!”
The next door in the basement was in the same room but over toward the back of the house. It was likely a bathroom and its door was locked from the inside. Listening to the door, Neil confirmed what he and Jerry both thought. There was something moving around on the other side and, judging by the sounds it was making, it didn’t sound human...well, not anymore.
“Another one,” Jerry said. “That’s two for two.”
Neil nodded. “Yeah, not a good start at all. What if all these houses have the same?”
Claire added, “Or worse?”
“What should we do?” Jerry asked.
Neil said, “Let’s finish up here and then head back. I think we may have bitten off more than we can chew.”
The rest of the house was largely empty. There were some bloodstains on the carpet upstairs and a broken window in a back bedroom through which it looked like someone had either jumped or been pushed. Aside from that, there wasn’t much else of interest. There were some cans of food and some unopened bottles of juice, but most everything else had spoiled or rotted. They journeyed back to their own refuge to take stock of the situation with the rest of the group.
When all was said and done, they didn’t really feel any safer. They were warm, however, and that was enough to have them take a day or two to reconsider their options. That they were going to be on the go again in just a handful of days was very clear to all of them, though. Was there anywhere left where they could go to be safe? Was there any haven left?
Chapter 65
“I don’t want to go back to Anchorage!” demanded Emma.
“Not to Anchorage, through Anchorage,” corrected Jerry.
“You sound like Bill Clinton. To and through are the same damned thing. Either way, I’m not interested. Are you crazy? We just got outta there and now you wanna go back. Huh-uh. Count me out.”
Neil intervened. “We need to discuss our options. Going through Anchorage is one. It may not be the best, but at the moment, it’s the only option on the table. Emma, what do you suggest? Or anyone else for that matter?”
Emma asked, “Why can’t we just stay here?”
Dr. Caldwell answered, “And live on what? There’s not enough food in this house to feed us all for more than another day. And if we dare forage for anything from the Pendergrass’ or the...from all the neighboring houses, how much could we possibly get? Not enough to keep us going for long. The more time that passes, the harder it’s going to be for us to get away. It’s going to get really cold, really fast and moving in that is not going to be fun for any of us. We’ve got to use the time while we have it.”
Emma looked at Dr. Caldwell, who was still disheveled and appeared possibly hung over, and smiled as she said, “Glad to have you back. You doin’ okay?”
“As compared to what?”
“Okay. Do you really think it’s a good idea to leave? This is your house. This is home for you. Don’t you think we can make it here?”
Dr. Caldwell didn’t hesitate before saying, “We’d probably starve or freeze to death here.”
Emma asked, “But south? Why south?”
Claire surprised everyone when she decided to weigh in. “Because we’ve already seen what the north has to offer and goin’ south can’t be any worse. Besides, Denali Park might already be snowed in. It’s cold here. There’s no tellin’ what’s up north.”
Emma retorted, “You sound like Jerry and Neil. They’ve brainwashed you, sister. You need to hang with me and Meghan more. We’ll help you resist their voodoo charms.”
They all smiled at Emma’s comments as well as her flamboyant body language as she said it. Dr. Caldwell even went so far as to wrap an arm around her shoulder and hug her to his side.
Emma remarked, “South, huh?”
Neil asked, “What do you think? Do you want to try heading north and risk running headlong into winter?”
“No, but...
damn. Every time we get somewhere that starts to feel comfortable, we just gotta pack up and move out again. I’d just like to find a little place to put my feet up for an extended time. This house just seems like it could be that place.”
She knew that she was continuing to fight a battle that had already been conceded and decided, but she couldn’t help herself. She had an uncle who used to call people who blindly consented to any new perceived government intrusion into personal liberties “sheeple”. He used the word very liberally despite his being a very conservative person. She was pretty certain he burned a candle every year on the anniversary of William F. Buckley’s death. She hoped that their group wasn’t becoming a herd of “sheeple” being led by the whims of Neil. She didn’t think that was the case, but whenever there was no dissenting opinion it kind of felt like that. Maybe her final gasp of protest was in deference to her uncle and his ideals.
Neil said hopefully, “Maybe we could skirt the far eastern side of the city. We wouldn’t even necessarily have to follow the highway and Muldoon Road. We could move along the undeveloped spaces between the mountains and the city.”
“That place is full of moose and moose-hunting bears. Seems like we’re just trading one problem for another with that option,” answered Meghan. “Isn’t there a better alternative?”
Dr. Caldwell hadn’t really been paying close attention to the discussion, but something just hit him with Meghan’s remark. His smile at everyone brought the debate to a halt. He said, still wearing the same smile, “There is an alternative. The Crow Pass Trail. It heads all the way down to Girdwood. Actually, it’s supposed to be walked from Girdwood to Eagle River, but I think we will be permitted to take it the opposite direction this time. We could totally avoid Anchorage and it shouldn’t take us more than a couple of days; three tops.”
Alaskan Undead Apocalypse | Books 1 & 2 | Infection & Containment Page 55