by Bale, Sarah
I said, “You’re right. We can make this place better than it was before.”
“Damn straight,” Elijah said as he and Grey came up to us.
“Well?”
He replied, “Both barns are gone, but we suspected that when we fled. Fields still have potential for next spring. The cellar still had some dry goods and seed.”
I asked, “Did you see anyone?”
Grey answered, “There was a message painted on the side of the hospital. Said this place was cursed. Must have been enough to scare the folks who lived here away.”
Or they were dead.
Elijah must have sensed my train of thought. “None of that, Daisy. We can’t think like that. It’ll eat us alive if we do.”
He was right.
Norm asked, “So what do we do now?”
“First, we’ll go inside a scope things out. Hopefully some of the rooms are still livable.” Elijah paused. “While everyone is setting up here, Grey and I will check the housing addition.”
I said, “I don’t want you to go out there without backup.”
Grey put his hand to his chest. “You’ve wounded me, Daisy.”
“Wounded or not, it’s a bad idea. If you go, we all go.”
Kat nodded. “I’m with Daisy on this one.”
Grey protested, “But you’re pregnant.”
“And you’re the father of my child. Do you really think I’m going to let you go out there alone?”
Elijah said, “Fine. We’ll all go. Does everyone have a weapon?”
Cooper shook his head. “I’d be useless out there. I’ll stay here with Percy and watch our things.”
Elijah handed him a pistol. “I know you don’t like using them, but you need it on you.”
Jo stepped forward. “I’ll stay here with him.”
I didn’t blame her. She’d just lost her best friend. Because of me…
Elijah led the way back down the road to the housing additions. There used to be at least twenty homes that were livable. Now, there were maybe ten.
Grey said, “We can scout the burned homes tomorrow. Take what we can use and tear down the what we can’t.”
Elijah replied, “They can use the empty lots to garden in.”
He was holding out hope that there were still people around. By the looks of things, they were long gone. Grey went up to the first door, knocking. He waited a moment before rapping the door again. Nothing.
Elijah went to the next house. Again, nothing.
By the fifth house I could tell he was losing hope.
But then someone answered the door at the sixth house.
Elijah smiled. “Andrews! Damn good to see you.”
Andrews frowned, crossing his arms. “Can’t say the same about you.”
Ouch. That was harsh.
“Family still here?” Elijah asked, ignoring the dig.
Andrews replied, “What’s left of them. Lost the little one a few months ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
Andrews shook his head. “I don’t want your apology. I want to know what in the fuck happened.”
Elijah squared his shoulders. I knew that his shoulder was probably throbbing in pain now, as it did most evenings. Wyatt and his men had been monsters when they tried to saw him arm off the first time. The second time had been just to toy with him. He was lucky that he was still able to use it.
Elijah replied, “I was hurt after the coup and fled.”
Andrews said, “I understand that. We all heard what happened. But what I want to know is why you didn’t come back.”
I stepped forward, unable to listen anymore. “He didn’t come back because I talked him into going to Texas.”
“Daisy-”
I said, “No, it’s the truth, Elijah. I know you would have come back here if I hadn’t asked you to go to Texas.” To Andrews I said, “He was in no condition to come back here and fight for his home, so I took him to mine.”
Andrews huffed. “Guessing that didn’t work out for you.”
I replied, “Your guess would be correct. We realized that this was our home and that we needed to come back.”
“Why are you telling me this? I don’t care.”
I said, “Because we’re going to make things right. Things will be better than they were before.”
Elijah nodded. “Andrews, I made a lot of mistakes before, but I’ve learned from them. If you stick around I promise you won’t regret it.”
Andrews stared at us, not saying anything. There was a noise behind him as a woman pushed around him.
“Stop being so stubborn headed and listen to what the man’s saying. He didn’t have to return here.”
Andrews glanced at the woman, love in his eyes. “Wife, I know that, but I’m also not going to be fooled-”
She waved her hand. “Blah. Blah. We all know the old saying.”
I liked this woman already.
Elijah said to her, “Nancy, it’s nice to see you.”
She nodded. “You as well. Thought for sure they killed you.”
“Nope. Still alive and kicking.”
She slapped her husband’s chest. “Despite what he said, I want you to know that we’re glad you’re back. This place hasn’t been the same since you left.”
“I appreciate that. And, as I said to Andrews, I plan on doing things better this time around.”
“Good.”
Elijah said, “We’ve taken up enough of your time. We’re going to head back to the hospital, but we’ll be in touch.”
We stepped off the porch, but Andrews stopped Elijah.
Andrews said, “There’s something you should know before you decide if you’re going to stay here or not.”
Elijah asked, “What’s that?”
“This place isn’t what it used to be. People get sick at the drop of a hat. Nothing will grow. Even the animals die.”
Elijah rubbed his chin. “How long did this start after I left?”
Andrews replied, “Maybe a month or so?”
“Noted. We’ll get to the bottom of it.”
Andrews said, “I hope you can.” He paused. “You should also know that we’re the only ones who stayed behind. Everyone else left when people got sick.”
Elijah’s eyebrows rose. “Thank you for staying.”
“Don’t thank me. We were planning on leaving in a few days. Just needed to get over the loss of our little one.” He clamped his mouth shut as his eyes filled with tears.
I said, “We’re sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” With a nod, he closed his door, locking it.
We made our way to the hospital in silence.
Grey finally asked, “What do you think happened to make people ill?”
Elijah replied, “Could be a lot of things.”
I said, “It’s the water.”
They both looked at me in surprise.
“Think about it. If something is in the water, it would make people sick and kill plants and animals.”
Elijah said, “I hadn’t thought of that. I was thinking poison.”
I replied, “We both might be right. They could have poisoned the water.”
Grey asked, “How many wells are there around here?”
“Two. One near the fields and one by the back of the hospital.”
Grey said, “Let’s try the one by the hospital first.”
We reached Jo and Cooper, who were busy cooking dinner over a campfire.
Elijah said, “There’s a nice kitchen inside, if no one stole the equipment.”
Cooper replied, “Here’s to hoping this is the last night we have to eat outside then.”
Elijah told everyone our thoughts on the water being tainted. Cooper volunteered to stay behind again while the rest of us went to the well. It took eight men to move the metal lid aside. As soon as it came off, we saw what the problem was.
Grey whistled. “Well shit. Guess that’s why nothing would grow here.”
> We all looked down into the well in horror.
Jo asked, “Who would do something so horrible? That’s clearly a child!”
I shuddered. A very long time ago I had forced myself to stop looking at the biters as ‘him’ and ‘her’ and I definitely didn’t think about their age. But she was right. This was a child that someone had murdered. There were bags floating in the water that were tied to the biter’s legs.
Grey said, “I’m guessing they had sand in the bags to weigh the little fella down. No one would know he was down here, but it would be enough to taint the supply.”
The biter thrashed at the sound of our voices and a bit of skin peeled off, floating on the water. And the smell – I’d never smelt anything so pungent, and that was saying a lot.
Grey went on, “Funny story. I knew a guy who used to work at the medical examiner’s office. Said water deaths were the worst because the skin of the deceased would crumble off like parmesan cheese. Guess he was wrong, because that looks more like gouda.”
Bile rose in my throat and I took a step back. “That’s not a funny story, Grey.”
“Better laughing than vomiting. Am I right?”
Norm covered his nose and asked, “What are we going to do now? Pull him out?”
Elijah grimaced. “That biter has been down there too long. If we try to get it out, the body is going to disintegrate. Our best bet is going to be to close this well off and dig a new one.”
I asked, “Do you think that will be safe?”
“I think it’s our only shot. The nearest river is ten miles out.”
Grey said, “We can work on that in the morning.”
He was right. There wasn’t anything we could do except go back to Coop and enjoy our dinner – if anyone could get their appetite back. We went back and I tried not to think of the little biter. Who could be so heartless to hurt a child? Wyatt? Marianne? Did I even want to know?
Elijah touched my arm. “Let’s eat and then call it a night. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”
He was right, though I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were about to face an unknown foe. And I didn’t like it one bit.
7
Elijah
The next morning, I woke up before anyone else. We’d slept in our cars one last time, but today everything would change. Gun in hand, I went through the front doors of the hospital. There was glass everywhere and it crunched under my boots. I made my way through the lobby, tapping the walls. If there were any biters inside then the sound would draw them out.
I finally reached the door to my old room. Gun holes covered the door and I ran my fingers over them. This is what Daisy had faced on her own. Shoving the door open, I stared in shock.
The room was untouched. The bedding was still unmade, as if Daisy had just woken up and climbed out of bed. The drawers to the dresser were open, but our clothes were still there. Grasping the wooden trim, I closed my eyes. Time had stood still in this room. I could still feel the panic I’d felt when telling Daisy of my plan to get her out of harm’s way.
There was a sound behind me. I knew who it was without turning.
She said, “I can’t believe it’s still here.”
She went into the bathroom and then came out with a bottle of shampoo in hand. “Why didn’t they take any of this?”
I replied, “I don’t know.”
Because it didn’t make any sense.
She sat on the edge of the bed and dust rose from the blanket in a little cloud.
“You should have woken me.”
“I needed to do this alone.”
She asked, “Have you been anywhere else? The kitchen? The generator room?”
“No. This was the first place I came to.” I opened the bottom drawer of the dresser and pulled out a rolled paper. “This I what I came for.”
“What is it?”
“It’s the blueprints to the hospital.” I unrolled it and pointed. “But this is what I really wanted. It’s a geological survey of the area. It’s how we knew where to dig the wells last time.”
The survey showed several underwater streams that could be tapped into. With any luck the water sources were still there and not contaminated.
I pointed. “We dug here for the well out back. But there’s also this.”
I touched a spot that was on the side of the hospital. It was a little further away, but definitely doable.
Daisy grinned. “That’s great news.”
I laughed. “Now, let’s go see if our luck will hold.”
I took her hand and led her to the generator room. The tanks were empty, but that was an easy fix. The laundry room was still intact, though two of the machines were gone. The washing boards that Bertha had found were still there, too. I touched one, remembering the kind woman who had helped me run the hospital when the outbreak first began.
Daisy said, “I miss her, too.”
The kitchen was the hardest room to inspect. Being there reminded me of Bertha’s death and how Juan had given up his life to save me. Bullet holes covered the walls as did blood. It was probably my blood. All of the dry goods had been taken, but the stove, oven, and stainless-steel tables remained.
I sighed. “This is a good start.”
Daisy touched my arm. “It is.”
We went to the cafeteria. Thankfully, there were no biters or bodies. For some reason I had this fear that I would walk into this room and come face to face with Bertha, or what was left of her. Daisy told me that Bertha had been shot in the head, but I’d always had doubts that it was a clean shot through the brain. Thankfully some kind soul had cleared the room. I wondered if it had been Andrews or his wife.
After checking a few of the other rooms we made our way outside. Everyone was awake, waiting for us.
“Well?” Grey asked.
“Looks good. Looks real good.”
Grey hooted. “What’s the plan, Boss?”
I replied, “We’ll let Andrews know what we found here and then start working on the new well.”
Daisy said, “I’m going to start cleaning the inside of the hospital. Anyone want to help me?”
Cooper was the first to volunteer, which didn’t surprise me. Jo and Kat also said they would help.
Kat blew a kiss at Grey. “Got to find a nice spot to deliver this baby when the time comes.”
Grey nodded. “After we dig the well I’ll start looking for medical supplies.”
Everyone’s morale seemed high as they went to do their tasks. It was small, but it was a start.
At the end of the day I met Daisy at the front door of the hospital. My body ached from the manual labor I’d done, but it also felt damn good.
“Did you get the well dug?”
I shook my head. “We’re close, but ran out of light.”
Plus, it had taken a while to find enough shovels so that everyone could dig. I hated that the days were getting shorter and shorter. It was only a matter of time before the first snow would fall, which put a deadline on what we could accomplish before winter set in.
Daisy said, “Cooper found some diesel. We got the generators going. The appliances still work, though we had to haul water from the river since we couldn’t use the plumbing.”
“You walked all the way to the river?”
It was a good three miles away.
“Hell no. We took one of the trucks and filled three tubs with water.”
I kissed her cheek. “Sounds like we’re headed in a good direction. Once we get the well dug we can run a pipe from the hospital to the well and have water inside.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Guess that means we have to sleep in our dirty clothes tonight.”
“Or we can get naked.”
Someone cleared their throat and I turned, finding Andrews standing there with a grin on his face.
“Just wanted to let you know that I talked things over with Nancy.”
“And?”
He said, “
We know where some of the families went after the attack. We want to let them know that you’re back and the things you’ve already done.”
I couldn’t help but to smile. “That sounds great. Thank you.”
Andrews shook his head. “No, thank you, Boss. This is all because of you. You’ve found a way for us to stay in our home.”
He left and I turned to Daisy.
She threw her arms around my neck, kissing me. “Elijah, that’s freaking great news.”
“I know.”
I didn’t want to get my hopes up. People might not want to come back after everything that had happened, but I hoped they would. Daisy tugged on me and I let her lead me to our room. When she opened the door, I was surprised at the amount of changes she’d been able to make. The bedding had been replaced with clean sheets and blankets. She had dusted and mopped the floor making the room smell like lemons. And she had even unpacked our clothes, which wasn’t much, but felt significant.
I closed the door behind us.
“Daisy, it looks great in here.”
She grinned. “I know. It’ll look better when I have hot water to mop with, but we made do today. I even found some old lemon water to use to make things smell better.” She took a step back and said, “Elijah, I disobeyed you the other day, at the river.”
“You don’t have to apologi-”
She went to the side of the bed and lifted my old belt that I’d left behind. My mouth literally went dry as she held it out to me.
“I think I should be punished.”
My cock twitched in my pants, agreeing with her. I took it from her, closing my fist around the strap. The first time I had used it on her had been partly out of anger and partly out of lust. This time would be purely for pleasure. I sat on the edge of the bed.
“Take off your pants.”
Her cheeks flushed. “Excuse me?”
“Take. Off. Your. Pants.”
She grinned, doing as I said. She slid her jeans down her legs, kicking them aside. Then she turned, facing me with bright eyes. God damn. This woman took my breath away.
“Come here.”
She closed the distance between us.