Caleb burst with laughter from the other side of the fire. He was usually on the receiving end of such a lecture. Luciele turned towards her son, and his laughter ceased. She turned back to the young man she still held in her grip.
“Yes ma'am,” said Richard, flashing an “ok” sign with his hand.
Luciele squeezed a little tighter and Kelly leaned over to Richard, beaming a stare that he knew all too well. “You're not going to like what happens if Kelly and I have to get together and have a little talk about you,” said Luciele. She smiled wide and turned Richard's head so he looked straight into his girlfriend's eyes.
Richard looked back and forth between the two thunderstorms on either side of him, both whirlwinds of fury that could tear into him at any moment. He submitted the only response he thought might dissipate the surging electricity which surrounded him. “I understand.” And with that, the impending storms disappeared as if they had never existed. Both women remained where they were for a moment, their smiling faces as soft and radiant as ever. Luciele stood up and patted Richard on the back before walking over to her son. He looked over to Kelly who leaned back to her previous posture and tilted her head, shrugging her shoulders and displaying a cute smile and sparkling eyes that showed none of the intensity they had held only a moment earlier.
Kozz watched the entire event unfold. Richard turned towards him with a look on his face that asked ‘What the hell just happened?’
“You've still got a lot to learn,” answered Kozz. He gave Richard a smile that said he had been there before.
The rest of the night Kelly and Luciele were as sweet as they ever were. They shared stories with each other while Kozz taught Caleb the importance of properly cleaning his pistol, following up on the shooting lessons from before. Richard sat quietly until the night was through.
Everyone was up and off early in the morning. Tim rode up and down the line of campsites to get the old and slow ready to go at daybreak so that they would not impede an early start on the day's travel. Kozz still felt weak from his attack the other night, but he refused to ride alone any longer. He put forward the effort to walk alongside the others.
Richard and Kelly rose and left with Luciele, Caleb, and Kozz. The entire day was a slow walk, but that gave everyone plenty of time to talk. Kelly shared that her and Richard were both originally from the city of Quartz, but had moved out to the shoreline of The Great River less than a year ago to start a life of their own together. Richard was making a living on the sea as a charter fisherman's deckhand while Kelly collected research on the mostly undocumented marine life of the western sea shores, relaying the information to the dean at her former university.
Current events left their futures uncertain and they had not been able to contact their families since the calamity started. Right now, all they both wanted was to make it back to Quartz and find their loved ones. They were worried about their families back in the city and had not been able to learn a single thing about the infestation or how far it had spread.
As they told their story, Luciele saw the young couple's strong personalities crack and falter. They spoke of their own loved ones separately, as they had never gotten the chance to know each other's family over the years. Kelly came from an introverted household that did not socialize with many others, preferring to live life in comfortable solitude in the suburbs of the city. Richard loved his family, but he considered them to be a bit crazy and over the top with their emotions and actions. They were outspoken activists who found themselves in and out of jail on a regular basis, and the couple of times he did try to bring Kelly over to meet them they were screaming at each other or somebody else, altogether too busy with their own affairs to bother much with his. They first grew to take pleasure in each other for the escape they created from their former lives, but that affection blossomed over time into a love that bound them together and sparked their plans to move out on their own.
Though the group did their best to entertain each other, the days passed slowly under the warm sun. The small masses of people that formed the caravan remained huddled in their packs and rarely spoke to anyone else. The gentle splashes of rolling waves remained constant like a metronome.
CHAPTER TEN
A Plan
The caravan arrived at Blackwater and camp was set at the edge of town behind an old bank. Daryll motioned to Freddy who then dragged an empty crate to the center of the camp where Daryll used it as a soapbox and stood with his thumbs tucked under his belt, waiting for the nervous masses to quiet and gather around. His face remained stern until there was complete silence, then he looked down at the upturned faces and a smile slid across his lips. His eyes wandered across the crowd, and Kozz thought his sight rested on Caleb for a moment longer than the rest.
“We each have our own story about how we first came across the infection,” said Daryll. “I’d like to share my own. I was asleep in the house I shared with my father until I was jolted awake by the screams that blew through my open bedroom window. I thought it was just teenagers being the way they are. My eyelids were heavy and so I just tried to ignore the sounds from outside, but they didn't stop. I covered my head with my pilla' and tried to muffle the noise, but it only got louder. I just couldn't get back to sleep.
“I hear my pops moving 'round the house, thinking he was also up because of the screaming. More voices added to the fray so I thought I would git up and turn on the telepod in the living room to drown out the cries. I put some clothes on and opened the door, and as soon as I entered the hallway I heard quick movin' footsteps. Before I knew it I was hit hard in the gut and I dropped to the floor.
“My pops started kicking me. He kicked hard, even harder then when he used to come home from the taverns after ordering a few too many drinks. I hollered for him to stop. I asked him why, what did I do. Then I looked up to his face and saw that his eyeballs were lit up like old, dusty light bulbs and I knew something was wrong. His face was twisted like I'd never seen it before and I knew right then that he wasn't going to stop. The old man may have been able to deal some tough blows, but I knew I was stronger than him. I reached for his kicking leg and tripped him up, twisting his ankle and bringing him to the ground. The screaming outside intensified and I heard people run by the window. A woman yelled for help as she ran by my home and I heard her keep screaming as she continued down the street.
“Something bad was happening, that was for damn sure. I knew that he wasn't the only one like this. I jumped on top of my father and tried to hold him down, but he was somehow stronger than he ever could possibly be and pushed me off like I was a little child. He jumped up and ran into the living room. I went to stand up, but he was back before I was able to recover. He hunkered low to the ground and pounced on me like a wild animal. My pops slashed at me with something in his hand, but it was too dark for me to make out what it was. All I could see were his eyes. Their glow was fierce, and in them all I could detect was pure determination. There was no bloodlust, no anger, no fear, no love. Whatever my father had become was simply attempting to end my life, as if it were its job to do so. This monster that used to be my father had no passion in what it was doing, but I held on to a strong passion to survive. That was when I no longer saw that man as my father. I felt the desire to beat him, to end him simply because he didn't have as strong of a desire to end me.
“Outside the night terrors grew nearer and more numerous. Many people were running around screaming their heads off while others were fighting the same fight I was.
"I fought back against the monster, dodging its attacks. The sharp thing in its hand slit my skin in several places. Pops stabbed at my gut and that's when I planted a knee in his sternum. He momentarily fell back and I used that opportunity to scuttle back into my room and shut the door. Someone else was now fighting for his life in the street right outside my window, but I had to ignore his battle to focus on my own. My pistol was in the drawer of my nightstand. The monster slammed through the bedroom door and I lea
ped onto the bed, reaching for the gun. The glowing eyes found me as I grabbed the pistol. I swung my arm around and fired as many shots as I could before the energy charge overheated.
“I dropped the pistol and looked over the edge of the bed. On his back and looking up at me was my father, my pops. The glow in his eyes disappeared. He let out a quiet moan and then he was gone, forever. His hand opened and the moonlight that shone through the window revealed his weapon of choice, a belt buckle with big letters that poked out over its smooth edges. 'GAUCHO' it said, my father's lifelong nickname.”
Daryll paused and stared at his feet for quite a while. The somber crowd held its silence in respect to Daryll's father and for their own stories. Everyone in the camp shared some recent suffering. Even Kozz felt sorry for the man, but it did not much change his opinion of Daryll’s character. Luciele welled up in tears over Daryll's story, finding many similarities with her own tale. She bent down to hug Caleb and the both of them shared a moment that only they could, remembering their beloved Harold.
Daryll lifted his face and gazed upon the crowd, his expression strong and committed. He spoke again with a calm determination in his voice, sharing that he was now determined to help save everyone he could from the infection, to defeat the complacent evil that was trying to destroy them. He said that ardor and passion would defeat the creatures that attacked without enthusiasm, that attacked as if it were just something they were required to do. He laid out his plan.
Daryll wanted to camp at their current location for two nights. Tonight they would rest from the travel and tomorrow a team would be selected to go to the surplus market warehouse. The team would retrieve supplies the camp needed to make the journey south across the iced-over sea and then northeastward to Port Town. That night the camp would prepare for travel and the following day they would set off. Many of the people nodded in agreement with the plan.
Daryll stepped down from the soapbox with his thumbs still tucked under his belt and his head hanging low. Tim and Freddy worked on separating the people into their assigned task groups. Kozz joined a small group of men designated to go out into the town and find debris to use as barriers for the campsite. His team included Richard and Freddy, and several other men who were not fit to carry the weapons they held. Kozz took the lead of the group that Freddy was supposed to run and had the other men remain far behind as “guards” for the trip. Freddy held no reservations in seceding the group to Kozz as he was unsure if he would be able to run it properly anyway.
Luciele and Caleb were to help pitch tents for the campground. Daryll's story had touched Luciele, and she felt that the tents could wait until after she spoke with the man. She grabbed Caleb's hand and pulled him forward as she made her way to Daryll. He was sitting by himself on a flat rock at the water's edge.
“I'm sorry about your father, Daryll.”
Daryll's gaze was transfixed in the dense fog that hung above the sea just off shore. For a moment he said nothing. Then, as if it took him all that time to actually hear the words, he blinked and turned towards Luciele. “Thank you,” he said. His eyes fell from her to Caleb. “How's that boy of yours doing?”
“He is well. Listen, Daryll—”
“What was your name again, sweetie?”
“Luciele. Don't call me sweetie. Anyway, I—”
“Luciele. And your boy is Caleb, right?”
“Yes, but listen to me for a second you oaf!” Luciele sighed, taking a moment to calm herself. She waited to see if Daryll was going to keep jabbering, but he did not. “I just wanted to let you know that your story really hit me like a brick to the face. I almost broke down in front of everyone. I understand what you went through, and what you are going through now. I lost my husband to this infection, Caleb's father.”
Daryll was about to say something, but Luciele gave him a look to let him know she was not finished and he kept quiet.
“And it was by my hands that he passed. I had to shoot him in self-defense, just like you did with your father.”
The man turned his sight back to the sea. “That is sad indeed, Luciele. I'm sorry for your loss as well.”
“I just wanted to let you know that we're not so different. My son and I have been through just as much as you have in these last few weeks. Caleb is a good boy and would never purposely harm another. Ever since it came out that he was once infected, you and Tim and everyone else have been treating us like criminals and have been staring at my son in menacing ways. He's just a boy, Daryll. He's not going to do you any harm.”
“I just want to make sure these people are protected. I don't want to hurt the boy.”
“His name is Caleb.”
“Caleb. I don't want to hurt Caleb. I just don't like thinking there's a threat right here in the middle of the camp. You all just walked up to us one day without any uh us knowin' who you were and that big fella started giving me a hard time and then we find out that your boy, Caleb, was infected. I didn't want to pick a fight with anyone, but you all started causing a bunch uh ruckus when we were finally getting organized around here and Tim and I decided we had to lay it out straight that we weren't goin' to put up with any trouble. All I want is the people's safety.”
“When you put it like that it does seem like we brought it all with us. Truth is though that Caleb isn't infected anymore, and that's because Kozz saved him. Kozz may be a big lug who likes to push his weight around, but it sounds like the two of you share the same values. He has only been trying to protect Caleb and myself. I never even met the man before all of this started, but I know that he'd put his life in danger just to keep us from harm without a second thought. All he's doing is trying to protect, just like you are.”
“We may be sharin' the same values, but we definitely don't see eye-to-eye. At least now I get why he's been so pushy.” Daryll put his hat back on and turned fully towards Luciele and Caleb. “Now, you say Caleb is perfectly fine? You truly believe your boy doesn't have an ounce of infection in him anymore?”
“Kozz got it out of him a couple of months ago and he hasn't shown even the slightest sign of it since. He's perfectly healthy as far as I'm concerned and I'm not afraid that he'll turn ever again.”
“Then maybe I'll have to ease up on him some.” Daryll looked back down at her son. “I'm sorry Caleb. Maybe I shouldn't have been so tough on you.”
“It's ok,” muttered Caleb. He remained a step behind his mother.
“Well I hope to get to know you some more, Daryll,” said Luciele. “I suppose I better get back to the camp though and help the others set up their tents. There are an awful lot of elderly and ill people in this camp that need the help. Do you think they'll all be able to make the trip?”
“I hope so,” said Daryll. “That's why we've got to get to that surplus warehouse so we can stock up on everything we can to make the journey as comfortable as possible for them. The walk here was almost too much for most, and we took it pretty damn slow too. Our group of survivors are the ones who were left behind when everyone else ran off.”
Luciele turned around and took her son back to their tent. She saw Kozz watching her from the other end of the camp. He turned away as he saw her leave Daryll's company and joined his group of men who were to head into town.
Kozz, Freddy, and Richard went forward as Kozz ordered the rest of the men to remain fifty paces behind them. He did not want to worry about having to save a dimwitted man or a jittery trigger finger shooting him in the back. They slid past the side of the large bank building that served as an edge of the camp and Kozz pulled Red from her holster. He took the lead while Freddy and Richard covered his flanks. Kozz moved with tactical precision, sweeping all areas expeditiously and completely before moving forward.
A block away from the bank was a small quad. Various shops lined the streets all around, apartments occupying the stories above ground level. Kozz hunched at one of the corners of the grassy quad and looked around the area and into every broken window. He ducked low and ran forwa
rd to one of the trees, Richard and Freddy followed, then Kozz turned around to look into the windows behind him. He took his time, studying every darkened room and possible hiding space before pulling his shoulders back and standing tall. Freddy and Richard stayed on edge until Kozz put Red back in her holster, but even then they still held their guns up and ready.
“S'all clear boys,” said Kozz. “Ain't nothing to worry about around here.”
“How do you know?” asked Freddy.
“Experience,” said Kozz as if it were as simple as that.
“Hope you don't mind if I insist on keeping my guard up,” said Freddy. “I'm scared shitless.”
“Not at all,” said Kozz. “No reason to be scared though. There ain't anything around, not in this quad at least. Not a sign of anyone being here in days. All the windows are dark and quiet.”
“Alright,” said Freddy. He tried to stand tall and confident like Kozz, but his eyes darted every which way and gave away his ruse. “Let's see if we can find a hardware store or something then.”
“Sounds like a plan,” said Kozz, “but I don't think we need to go that far. All we have to do is pop some of these doors off their hinges and find some bookshelves or other furniture to bring back. Heck, we're only a block away. We can find everything we need right here.”
Kozz led them over to a restaurant with a red and white checkered pattern painted across its windows. Outside the door hung a wooden sign that read “The Checkered Omelet”. Kozz opened the unlocked door and was greeted by a rancid smell that burned like acid inside of his nose. He put one hand on Red and used his other arm to cover his face from the stench. The dining area appeared untouched as if it were waiting for the evening customers to arrive. Square tables with checkered tablecloths were adorned with salt and pepper shakers and wilted centerpieces. A lattice-style wall at the back of the dining room held hundreds of varieties of wine and was decorated with fake vines that crawled along the wooden lattice. Richard entered next and cursed the offensive smell. Freddy followed last and was overcome by the odor. He started belching and had to run back outside, signaling to the others that he would wait for them out there.
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