“No problem, man,” says Jonathan. “I’m going to need that too!”
We head downstairs to look for Jake. As we enter the main house, I hear yelling. “What the hell? Is that Jake?” Part of the group are still in the living room.
We walk quietly through the family room and kitchen to the living room. Jake is yelling, fisting his hair. “I’m sick of this shit! They’re after me. I can see them in the driveway!” I look outside. It’s dark but I don’t see anything there.
“Jonathan’s got something that will keep them at bay,” I tell him quietly.
“I’m not taking any of that shit. It didn’t help before. They’re back and they’re after me. Keep away. Don’t come near me!” He screams, shifting his weight, back and forth, like a boxer in the ring.
“Maybe we should try a different med?” I lean over, asking Jonathan in an undertone. “Good idea. I’ll just slip out and get him a dose of Zyprexa. It should work just as fast.”
The remaining people have made a protective circle around Jake. Jake is standing in the middle, yelling and darting about. Jessie stands horrified at one end of the circle. Eli is watching him from behind, near the big windows with Simon nearby. The girls have left already. Nadir stands near the front door with Jose. Sam and Rob are near the table and I’m standing near the entrance to the kitchen. We’ve made a natural ring around him with everyone keeping their distance. Jonathan edges closer to him. “I brought something different than before since the other one didn’t help. Try this, man. I think it will help you keep them at bay.” He uses his therapeutic voice.
“No way, man. I ain’t fucking with that shit again!” He seems to be getting more agitated, stabbing the air, like he’s pushing away imaginary foes. Jonathan motions to some of the other people in the room to slowly close in on him. Then Sheba appears, growling low in her throat. She slinks toward him; her eyes never leave him. He doesn’t seem to notice her. He’s so focused at eye level, on something I can’t see. The men move in, carefully, in the hopes they can contain him. He is distracted by hallucinations of enemies. “Back off. Don’t come near me!” He continues to stab the air. Then Sheba grabs his pantleg, pulling him off balance.
Jake screams. “They’re on me! They’ve got me! Help!”
Jonathan, Eli, Simon, and Nadir rush him, pull him to the ground, pinning him down. Jonathan eyes me. “Can you crush this in jam? We need it to work fast!”
I grab the medicine, racing to the kitchen. I crush it with my mortar and pestle, mixing with a spoonful jam, and head back. I force the spoon between his teeth, holding his mouth shut with the flat of my hand under his chin. “Taste this yummy jam, Jake, it will help.” He tries to spit it out but I hold his mouth closed. Nadir suddenly reaches down, grabbing Jake’s nose, forcing him to swallow. He swallows it, yelling again. “Let me go! Leave me be!” His agitation continues, without enunciating actual words. I start to sing, quietly humming George Winston’s Autumn, hoping it will help calm him. He continues to struggle, sometimes making sense, often not, while the guys hold him down. Sheba remains at his feet, holding his pant leg.
Dozens of minutes pass while he grapples with the men, trying to get free. No one speaks while we wait for the medicine to take effect.
Jonathan is holding the arm nearest me. “He’s calming down.” He has stopped yelling and the room has gone quiet, the only sound is my voice, continuing to sing.
Eventually I get up. “Jake, how are you feeling.”
“I’m okay.”
“Do you think you’re ready to get up calmly?” I ask.
“Yeah. I’m okay,” Jake says again.
“Okay, it’s been a long day,” I say. “I think we’re all ready to go to bed. Jake, you need to get a good night’s sleep.”
They release him, allowing him to get up.
Jake gets up, slowly, adjusting to the new medication.
“Good night everyone.” I start heading for the bathroom to brush my teeth. I notice Jose at my elbow.
“I never realized how good you are with people who are struggling. I don’t think I ever appreciated you enough before,” he says, running the back of his hand down the side of my face.
“Thank you, Jose. I really appreciate you saying that.” On an impulse I hug him. He holds me close for a moment or two. “Good night.”
Twenty-Five
Eliana
The Crazies Gather
The next morning, I awaken, go through my self-care routine, then walk out of my bedroom, hearing Simon talking to someone.
“Don’t you think you’d rather sleep in a bedroom?” Simon asks in a low voice. “There’s an extra room next door where we’re sleeping.”
“Kind of,” Morgan answers, hesitantly. “I like being here with the group, but it would be nice to have a bedroom.” There is a teasing sound to her voice that I haven’t heard before.
“I’d sure be happy to see you first thing in the morning!” Simon says, coming on to her. I stay in the hall, giving them privacy. I decide to use the bathroom, rather than pass them now. After I brush my teeth, I head out to the living room.
“Good morning, guys.” Most of our group are at the table, drinking coffee. Gracie is in the kitchen with Dixie, cooking breakfast.
“Do you ladies want some help?”
“Sure. Could you set the table? We’ve got food covered.” Gracie likes to take over the kitchen sometimes. I take utensils, leaving plates in the kitchen for serving, as Jedaiah climbs onto his dad’s lap, ready for breakfast.
“Are you guys talking about the mission?” I ask. “We already decided who’s going, right?”
“I think so. It makes sense for you to go because you’ve been to Hummingbird before,” Rob acknowledges. “Jake, you and I are gun savvy, so we should go for safety’s sake.”
“Absolutely,” Jake agrees. “Eliana, where do we keep the medicine? I should take some.”
“Here,” I say, pointing to the cabinet. “Maybe you could get it out for everyone. We gave you Zyprexa last night, but the other guys are still taking Seroquel.”
“Yeah. That Zyprexa seems to work better.” He gets up, grabbing the medicine from the cupboard.
“Gracie, have you guys made tea?”
“Yeah, Mom, it’s on the butcher block.” I pour myself a cup of tea.
“Have you guys got the first aid kit, weapons and so forth ready for the trip?”
“Yeah, Sam and I packed up first aid kits for each truck, weapons, and lunch as well,” Rob explains. “We’re ready except for breakfast.”
“And breakfast is ready,” Dixie exclaims. She and Gracie carry plates to the table.
“Thanks sweeties, we can come for our own plates.” I stroke her arm while everyone gets breakfast, gathering around the table.
Katie appears then. “Guess what?”
There is a chorus of “what?”
“Faith woke up. She’s hungry! Could one of you guys help me get her to the table?”
“She’s up! Oh, thank God!” Morgan sighs with relief.
Rob follows Katie to get Faith from Gracie’s room. “I’m starving!” Faith says. She’s limping but Rob supports her to the table.
“Okay, then, let me get you a plate of food!” Dixie hops up.
“You’re a ray of light on a dark day!” Morgan says, hopping up to hug her friend.
“What needs to get done while you guys are gone?” Gracie asks me.
“Watering in the green house and you guys could make granola, maybe even granola bars, “ I suggest. “Don’t we have a lot of oatmeal?”
“Yeah, okay.” Gracie and Dixie enjoy making goodies.
I head into the kitchen to rinse my dishes, then get my belt, gun, and knife. I strap my belt around my waist and check the holster in my boot.
“Okay, I’m ready.” I tuck good leather gloves in my belt. These crazies aren’t zombies, but they bite and human bites are full of contagions.
“Are you guys ready?”
“Yeah, let’s go.” Sam encourages us.
“Vamonos!” Jose adds.
“Love you.” I hug Eli, kiss Gracie, then Jedaiah.
“Everyone take care of each other while we’re gone, send us good energy and prayers for a safe return!” I remind them. We load up and start down the main road.
“So far, so good,” Rob says as we turn left with no incident. “But, I already see a group of crazies at the intersection. I think we can skirt around them, but it looks bigger than before. I wonder what the deal is with that?”
“Let’s crack the windows,” I suggest as nerves constrict my chest. The group does look bigger than the others. It seems odd, watching them mill around. Before we reach the corner, we see some of them go into an apartment while the rest head around the back. I breathe a sigh of relief.
“That was fucking close,” Jake adds.
We meander around the crash site through the next big intersection, discovering, to our horror, a large group of crazies near the corner.
“Watch out!” Nick hollers.
The group surges into the street, crowding into the center as my chest tightens, aching in fear. Jake swerves around them, narrowly missing the stragglers. Jose made it through the intersection ahead of us. Beyond the intersection the road is empty, remaining that way to Home Depot. There are numerous cars oddly parked. We weave in and out as before, soon turning towards the river. We pass the large crash site with the path still visible that we created before on the way home from the office. I breathe a sigh of relief. Soon we’re pulling into the parking lot for Hummingbird Wholesale. The parking lot is nearly empty.
“Should we bother trying the front door?” Jake asks me.
“They’re probably all locked, so we just need to start somewhere. Let’s try the back door. It has a small window which isn’t visible from the road.” We drive around the store, backing up to the door.
“It’s locked,” Jake says. “I doubt anyone is inside, but we’ve got to get in somehow.”
No one argues as he breaks the little window with the butt of his gun, reaches in, and unlocks the door. We hear yelling, realizing someone is in there.
“We need medicine from the first aid kit,” I hiss at Jonathan. He opens it, pulling out a couple pills. We open the door and look around. Jake and I enter first with Sam and Simon guarding the door, the rest following.
“Stop right there!” We hear a man yell from inside. “No one is allowed here.”
“We’re not government,” Jake yells back. “Are you okay in there?”
“We’re fine. There’s a large group of us camping here.” We continue to edge closer. “He doesn’t sound crazy,” I whisper to Jake. “I don’t see a large group.”
“Stay back!” The voice yells again.
“Hey, man. We’re not trying to threaten you. I’m Jake. This is Eliana. We have a small community and we’d like some of the food here. How are you surviving here with only dried goods and no way to cook?”
“We’re doing okay. There’s water. We mix the flour with the water and use honey. It’s edible. Are you guys able to cook?” He sounds intelligent, not crazy.
“I’m Rob. We have a house with solar panels so we still have a little energy. We’re fixing up the gas stove to run on tanks. How many of you are there?” Rob is in front now.
We’ve gotten fairly close and I only see two people, the tall, slender man looks about twenty, the willowy woman a little older. “It looks like there are only two of you. Have you been here since the beginning?” I use my therapeutic voice.
“We have a house nearby but we don’t have much there,” the woman shares. “We didn’t stock up.”
“Were you really planning to stay here?” I’m really curious. I think they’re just scared.
“I’m Justin and this is my sister Maddie. We’re just trying to survive like you guys.” He seems to be relaxing a little.
“Have you guys got a truck?” I ask. Then whisper, “Should we invite them to join us?”
“Let me feel them out a little more,” Jonathan whispers back. “Do you guys really have a big group somewhere in hiding? Or maybe you’d like to? What kinds of skills do you have to share?”
“Maddie was in master gardener training. We have a loom, back at the house. I can hunt and I’m good with my hands. I just started college,” he says proudly. “But we have a big group here. They just went back to the house to get some things. They’ll be right back.”
“Maybe we can help you guys and you can help us,” Jonathan suggests. “Are you finding milk, eggs, meat, that kind of thing? Or are you trying to make do with what is here?”
“There’re plenty of beans here,” Justin insists. “We don’t mind eating beans.”
“What about in a few months? How long do you think this stuff will last? You’re here in this industrial area. There are no gardens, no farms, how long do you think you’ll last here?”
As we talk, we close the distance between us. “Um,…” He pauses with this. “We’ll just have to gather canned goods from the stores.”
“It’s hard to get into big stores with only two of you. You need back up,” Jonathan moves closer until we’re right in front of him, not believing the big-group story. “Listen, man, we’re not here to hurt you. You guys seem like decent people. We have a nice group in the south hills with access to farm land and growing vegetables. I bet there are seeds here we could use. We have meat, eggs, and milk. Granted, it’s not a lot of eggs, but so far, we have enough milk and meat, and access to more. If you’ll share these dried goods, we could load them up and take them back to where we’re living, take you with us, and you could eat cooked food. We have solar panels, a wood stove… How are you going to keep warm as it gets colder?” Jonathan sticks out his hand to shake theirs. I’m right behind him.
“Maddie, you’ll get lonely here just the two of you. Wouldn’t you like to have more women around?” I reach my hand out, a peace offering. Maddie comes forward first.
“I don’t want to stay here. I’d like to join you guys.” She reaches out her hand as I pull her into a hug.
“You must be scared. Is it just the two of you? No parents left?” I whisper into her ear.
“They’re gone. They died.” She starts crying on my shoulder. Justin reaches out then, shakes Jonathan’s hand.
“Sounds like your camp wins out. It sure would be nice to eat meat. I haven’t had any in several days and honestly, we’re hungry. There’s only dried stuff here and condiments. The only fat we’ve had has been nuts.”
“So, have you got a truck we can load up?” Rob asks.
“Yeah, I’ve got a truck. I know my way around here, where all the back stock is.”
“Why don’t we divide into two teams with you on one and Maddie on the other?” Rob suggests. “I assume she knows her way around here too, right?”
“Yeah, we can show you around. Follow me. We’ll go get a few hand trucks. Some of this stuff is heavy.” We spend several hours loading up trucks. I’m amazed by the wide variety of stock. The real question is whether we can get it all in three trucks.
“I think we should take a break and contact the home fort,” I suggest. “We’ll let them know we’re bringing back two new members to our community.”
“Yeah, I’m with you,” Sam agrees.
Maddie and Justin are looking very weak. They kind of slump to the floor. “I’m beat and starving,” Maddie says.
“Me too,” Justin agrees.
“I’ll give you half my sandwich,” I offer. “Maybe we could all share sandwiches and eat some of the nuts and dried fruit, which aren’t packed yet.” I hand half of my sandwich to Maddie who devours it.
“I’ll share,” Sam offers half of her sandwich to Justin, who gobbles it down without a word. They’re clearly hungry. Others in our group offer half of their sandwiches so Justin and Maddie have whole sandwiches. They’ve had plenty to eat, but no meat. They’ve also had no fresh fruit or vegetables.
“I’ll have some of that candy!” Simon chuckles. We sit around in a circle on the floor eating. I get up first and head over to the seeds.
“These are going to be great, nice organic seeds. After this we’re going to have to collect seeds ourselves. We’ll have to make a point to let at least one of each plant go to seed.” I grab a box and start loading stuff up.
Sam joins me, while Rob contacts home getting only static.
We spend a couple more hours loading up everything we can fit in the three trucks. I make a point to stuff some bags of trail mix in my coat pocket. “I don’t think it’s all going to fit. Do you have keys, Justin?”
“Yeah, we could lock this place up. We’ll have to cover that window. I’ll get a hammer and nails from the work room.” He heads in the back.
“We could use some of the shelving to cover that window.” Rob grabs one of the shelves and carries it over to the window.
Sam and I start carrying individual bottles, jars, filling the corners of the truck beds and much of the foot space. It is clear that we’re going to be leaving quite a bit behind. The food that was on the sales floor is in the trucks, but Justin showed us the back room and a cellar beneath the floor where there is more food. It’ll keep cold down there and we can come back later if no one else finds it. At least the stuff we’re leaving behind is less obvious. If someone comes that has never worked here, they might not find the cellar. We have two one-ton pickups and a half-ton full. Thankfully, we brought tarps to cover the truck without a canopy and Justin has a tarp for his truck.
“Hold this, okay?” Jose grabs a hammer, while Rob holds the board in place, hammering two of them over the window.
“Okay, let’s load up,” Sam calls. We head out into the cold November weather. It’s raining now, a cold, pelting rain. I’m grateful it didn’t start until now, so we could load up the food and stay dry. I watch the western sky as the clouds get progressively darker.
“So, should we just follow you guys?” Justin asks, sounding concerned.
“Why don’t I drive with you guys so we can help you make it okay?” Jake offers.
Considerable Destruction Series (Book 1): Evasion ( Page 23