by Poe, S. B.
“Mm Hmm.” Evelyn mumbled and nodded her head.
“I’m trying to be honest.” Bridger said.
“Ok. Here’s honest. You’re right. You are exactly right. That’s the stupidest shit I have ever heard.” Evelyn said.
“I’m sorry.”
“You once asked me about my husband.” Evelyn started.
“You don’t have too…” He interrupted.
“Yes, I do. The night he died, I remember the matter-of-fact cop at the door and the sad lights at the hospital. I remember some doctor telling me he was gone, but the rest is a blur. The next few days weren’t much better. Family and friends came but I can’t picture a single face. I remember the flowers on his casket but not much else. What I do remember is the night after the funeral. That’s the first thing I can completely remember. I stood there at the bedroom door thinking I don’t have to be anywhere tomorrow. No funeral, no funeral planning, no visitations. It was over. Everyone had gone home. That was the moment I truly realized he was gone too. I was alone. And he was never coming home again. I lay down on the bed. His pillow still had a little indentation in it. I looked at it and thought about the shape of his head and tried to catch the smell of his skin. I cried. I just lay there in the bed and cried. My soul stayed in that bed crying for the last four years. Part of it is still there.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s not the point. The point is I realized, maybe just recently, the part of me that’s still there, it’s supposed to be there. It’s only fair that if I kept a part of him with me, here,” she touched her heart. “He gets to keep a piece of me there too. But the rest of me is here, now.”
“I know.”
“Well, that’s all that matters. Here, now. Not what might happen tomorrow or what happened yesterday. And if something happens, at least we’ll have this piece of time together. And that’s enough for me.” She smiled.
He looked at her again. The light through the small windows cut across her face, exposing all the little wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. Her hair had more than a few telltale streaks of gray and her face was weathered from the life she had lived so far. She smiled, and he thought he had never seen anything more beautiful. He leaned over and kissed her.
“It’s enough for me too.” He said.
The truck approached the gate and Bridger watched as Kate pulled through. She stopped and got out. They all stood in the middle of the muddy track looking back inside the compound. The top of the Alamo rose slightly above the shacks on the right side and the porch of the saloon stuck out in the road just a little further than the shacks on the other.
“Well, I guess this is it?” He said. One of the deaduns shrill cries echoed across the ground.
“Are we gonna leave them here?” Scott asked.
“Might as well. They can keep an eye on the place for us.” Bridger smiled as he reached for the gate.
“It was a good home.” Evelyn said.
“It was a lifeboat.” Kate said. “It kept us going until we could find a safe place.”
“Is that where we’re headed?” Evelyn asked.
“I hope so.” Kate said as she turned and looked at Bridger. He swung the gate shut and climbed into the truck with them. As the little compound with the fence around it disappeared in the rear-view mirror, he turned his eyes forward.
3
Roads and Bridges
Jahda looked through the rear-view mirror as the bus pulled out of the woods and onto the asphalt. The winter spent in the trees had tarnished the yellow paint turning it a dingy brown. Dark spots where wayward sap and bird droppings had landed dotted the top and windows. The driver’s window was clean because they had used two bottles of water scraping off the gunk that had built up. They didn’t bother with the other windows.
Dottie and Cameron stretched out in some of the seats towards the back. Martin and Ham sat just behind Jennifer. She leaned up to touch her father’s shoulder as he drove.
“That was fun.” She said.
“Yeah.” Charlie replied. Twice through the woods they had struggled to get the bus through some wet patches. The last third of the bus had a fresh coat of muddy red clay spun up on top of the grime and bird shit.
Jahda drove slowly, keeping one eye on the bus in the rear-view mirror. The bus had sat months and she could just imagine a dry rotted tire exploding into shreds. She focused on the way ahead. The weeds on the shoulders spread along the sides of the road leaving a path of asphalt down the middle that was dotted with sprigs of grass and dandelions growing between the cracks. Occasionally a tree, fell during the winter winds, forced them out of the center path, but just briefly. They came to the spot where Jahda had seen the crowd turn to follow the horse and they made the gentle curve to the left. She smiled and glanced into the mirror. White smoke was billowing from under the hood of the bus and Charlie was flashing his lights. She slowed to a stop.
“Well shit.” Charlie said as he climbed down the stairwell.
“I’ll take a look.” Ed said as he trotted over from the truck.
He reached over and unhitched the latches holding the hood and lifted. The steam came rolling out, and they all stepped back. It took another minute before he could climb up on the wheel well and look.
“Radiator hose busted.” He said as he reached to touch it. “Ouch. Gonna need to cool down a bit before I can work on it.” He said as he hopped down.
“How long?” Tilly asked.
“Ten or twenty minutes. Once it cools it won’t take nothing to fix. We just need some duct tape and some water and we’re in business.”
“I got some duct tape in the glove box. Plenty of water in the back.” Jahda said as she tapped on the side of the truck.
“So we wait.” Tilly said. The trees lining one side of the road offered a little shade. The sun was already halfway across the sky and temperature was climbing. “Kinda hot I know, so if you wanna get out just stay close. Charlie will you help me keep watch?”
“Sure.” He stepped back into the bus. He picked up the halberd at Cameron’s feet.
“You mind if I borrow this?” Charlie asked.
“Go right ahead.” Cameron said.
Tilly and Charlie walked to the other side of the bus and looked across the open field. There was nothing moving except the breeze across the dandelions.
“It’s pretty.” Tilly said as the yellow dappled field swayed back and forth. “You stay here and just watch that field. I’m gonna check the woods on the other side. She walked back around to the other side just as Martin was helping Dottie out of the bus. She thought about her grandparents, they had died when she was half Ham’s age. She could remember bits and pieces. As she stood lost in thought, she saw Dottie double over coughing.
“No, acchhh, no. Just let me be.” Dottie said.
“I’m going to get him.” Martin said as he helped her sit down in the stairwell of the bus.
She walked over to Dottie.
“You ok?” Tilly asked.
“Why sure. I just had a little coughing spell. Old man Martin is gonna send your husband back here to check on me.” She said smiling. “I’ll be fine.”
“Let me get you some water.”
“Way ahead of you.” Jennifer said from inside the bus. She sat down in the drivers seat and handed an opened bottle to Dottie. She took a small sip.
“I’ll be right out here. Just sing out if you need me.” Tilly said. She slung the shotgun over her shoulder and walked back towards the truck. Raj and Martin were standing next to the bed when she came walking by.
“She told me.” Martin said.
“She told you she has cancer? Lung cancer?” Raj asked.
“That’s what she said.”
“Cancer?” Tilly paused.
“That’s what she said.” Martin repeated himself.
Tilly looked back over her shoulder and she saw Dottie looking at her. She smiled and Dottie smiled back as she lifted her hands and shrugged before doubl
ing over coughing again.
“Raj.” Tilly said.
“On my way.” He said as he and Martin walked towards Dottie. Tilly watched for another minute or so as he tended her and then she turned her attention back to the woods.
Ham opened the rear bus door and sat with her feet dangling below her. Martin walk over and patted her on the knee.
“How you doing?”
“Ok I guess.” She said. “Opa?”
“Yes.”
“Are we going to stay in this new place?”
“Probably. Aren’t you excited?” He asked.
“Maybe. But I kinda liked living in the woods. Not a lot of stringers.”
“What about last night?”
“Well besides that.” She said smiling.
“Don’t you want to sleep in a bed?”
“There are beds?”
“I bet there are.” He smiled at her.
“Ok, I’m in.” Ham said.
“Heads up folks.” Charlie said as he came between the bus and the truck. “A few deaduns coming across the field. I don’t think they have seen us but unless we plan on getting this bus fixed in the next thirty seconds they will.”
“It’s probably cool enough.” Ed said as he jumped up and climbed up on the wheel well.
Martin turned and looked at Ham. He reached into the bus beside her and grabbed the duffle bag he had shoved inside. He pulled his bat and her rifle out. He handed her the rifle.
“You keep this ready. Until we get where we’re going I don’t want to see you without it. Ok?” Martin said.
“Ok, Opa.”
“Okay?” He said a bit firmer.
“Ok.” He smiled at her. “Stay here.” He said and turned to follow Charlie.
Charlie headed back around to the other side of the bus. Jennifer stood and walked to the other end and climbed out the open door beside Ham.
Martin stepped around the side of the bus and could see what prompted the warning. There were about a half dozen deaduns shuffling across the field beside them. He looked down the road as Tilly stepped from in front of the truck. Jennifer joined him and they started after Charlie.
Charlie walked across the shallow ditch beside the road and stepped out into the field of dandelions. He hefted the halberd in his hands and adjusted his grip until it felt comfortable. He slowly walked toward the closest deadun and drove the tip of the spear into the things eye. Pop. It fell before he could withdraw it and the weight forced the shaft downward. The other deadun never even hesitated. It walked right by him as though he wasn’t even there. Charlie watched it with wide eyes as it walked by. He used his foot to hold the thing on the grounds head as he pulled on the halberd. He slid the tip out and swung the axehead in one motion, connecting just below the ear of the one that had just passed him by. The blade penetrated deep enough to find home. Pop. He jerked the shaft back before the thing fell.
During the short days and long nights of winter, Martin, Tilly, Jennifer and Charlie had been the ones who had tasked themselves with keeping the fences clear. At first everyone had worked to keep the dead away but as fewer and fewer dead showed up the four of them had taken turns so the others could focus on getting other things done including cutting the trees around the compound. Now, out here in the open, they had become the de facto security team without even realizing it. They each had their preferred weapons, Tilly her machete and Martin his bat. Jennifer once found a discarded pitchfork in the barn and cut the two outside tines off with a hacksaw so it would fit easier through the chain-link fence. Martin and Jennifer crossed the shallow ditch just up the road from Tilly and all three of them headed across the field to meet the deaduns. Tilly drew her machete back and drove it into the eye of the nearest one. Martin swung his bat and landed solidly against the temple of another. Jennifer stabbed the pitchfork up through the chin of a third. Pop, pop, pop. They closed the distance between themselves and moved closer to Charlie. He swung the axe again. Pop. Two more passed him by without a glance and were met with a machete and a pitchfork. Pop. Pop. Martin swung at the final deadun and connected. It stumbled backwards from the force of the blow but it wasn’t until Charlie drove the tip of the halberd through the soft spot where the back of the skull rests on the top of the neck that the thing fell. Pop.
Tilly returned her machete to the loop on her belt and wiped her hands on her pants. She turned her attention back to the bus. Ed was closing the hood and climbing down.
“I think we’re good.” She said and started walking back. Charlie took another look around and followed.
Martin leaned the bat against the ground and drew in a deep breath.
“You okay?” Jennifer asked.
“Yeah,” he chuckled. “Just a little winded. We just been poking through a fence so long,” he drew another breath, “it’s just been a while. That’s all.” He rotated his shoulder and squeezed his arm. “Must’ve pulled something.”
After another minute or so he and Jennifer walked back towards the bus. Dottie and Raj were sitting in the seat behind Charlie when they got back so Jennifer snagged the one behind that. Martin sat down by Ham.
“You okay, Opa?” Ham asked. “Your face is all red.”
“I’m fine. Just gotta catch my breath.” He said. “Look at you, all grown up and taking care of your old Opa.”
“I been doing that all along.” Ham smiled.
“Well keep it up.” He laughed.
“Alright folks, and away we go.” Charlie sang out as he fired the bus back up. Tilly looked out the window of the truck as they pulled away. Among the dandelions she could see the flitter of the deadun’s clothes. She watched it sway back and forth until they drove out of sight.
Bridger glanced over at Evelyn. She had her head turned to watch the world go by. The sun had started its long descent towards tomorrow and it flickered between the tops of the trees. He felt an urgent tap on his shoulder and glanced in the rearview mirror at Kate.
“Look.” She said.
He shifted his eyes back to the road. He just caught a glimpse of the rear end of the bus as it went over a rise in the distance.
“Are we catching them?” Scott asked.
“They must have stopped for something.” Evelyn said.
“Well they’re moving now. And so are we.” Bridger said as he pressed a little harder on the gas pedal.
Evelyn watched as the trees gave way to an open field. She leaned her head against the glass, watching the dandelions sway back and forth in the breeze.
4
Don’t Look Away
The body washed up from the bottom of the creek and came to rest against the rip-rap. It had been down there since the first winter winds began to blow. It had been the last act of a desperate woman trying to assert one final bit of control over the life that was no longer hers, because even while the wind blew through her hair as she plunged toward the dark water below, the bite had already done its damage. As her lungs filled with fluid, she sank peacefully to her final, restless place. While the Marionette outbreak echoed around the world, the body at the bottom of the creek became wedged against a sunken log eight feet down. The moment that her heart stopped beating, and her brain stopped firing electrical impulses through her nerves the invader awoke. The first moments of reawakening were spasmodic and confused as the invader ricocheted through the resurrected husk. It rapidly replaced the signals from the congealing brain as the invader spread its tendrils along the central nervous system. The safe passage through the meninges allowed it to grow over time until its yellowish webs infiltrated every muscle in the rotting body. Under the water, even as the grave wax formed, the invader grew. The current of the water finally worked the thing loose. As it floated under the bridge, it rolled onto its back. The water made it sway from side to side as tiny bits of rotted flesh fell away, leaving an oily, clumpy scum in its wake. As it turned its head towards the two figures at the top of the steep slope; its mouth started chomping as it slowly drifted away.
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nbsp; They walked down the street towards the bridge without saying a word. Emma Grace seemed deep in thought as they walked so Devin hadn’t broken the silence. As they came to the barbwire strands that protected the hill coming up from the creek he spoke.
“What did you want to show me?” He asked.
“This.” She stopped and turned.
She reached her hands up and wrapped them around the back of his head, drawing him to her. He didn’t resist. She kissed him deeply, stroking the back of his head as she did. He reached his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. He could smell the remnants of some perfume he remembered from high school. He briefly wondered if she could smell him too. It had been a while since he properly bathed. The whore’s baths, while somewhat refreshing, didn’t mask the stench of living in a moldy shack in the middle of the woods for months. She didn’t seem to mind. She pulled back from him slightly and looked at him. She pushed the strands of hair covering his eyes to the side.
“That was nice.” She said.
“Yeah. But why?” Devin asked. He almost wished he hadn’t. He was afraid he had broken the spell.
“I’ve wanted to do that almost since I first saw you. I’ve never done that before.”
“Kiss someone?”
“No, I’ve kissed boys before. I’ve just never been the one to start it. But things are different now. I don’t want to be afraid anymore and when I’m with you I’m not. I just wanted you to know.” Emma Grace said.
“How old are you?” Devin asked.
“How old are you?” she replied.
“Twenty-three.” Devin said.
“Eighteen.” Emma Grace replied.
“I cut your brother’s arm off.” Devin said.
“I know.”
“He might die because of what I did.” He said.
“He won’t.” Emma Grace said. “I’m still glad I kissed you.”