Considerable Destruction Series (Book 1): Evasion (

by Hernandez, Erica

  We stop by Jessie’s briefly to check her garden, grabbing a few more vegetables, caring for her two Red Angus cows, then continue on.

  Soon we’re zigzagging through the hill. As we near the end, I hear the racket. “Sounds like more crazies.”

  We get closer, finding the crowd is alarmingly large. “Oh, my God!” Rob says, stopping suddenly and reversing. The crowd begins stampeding toward us. There must be fifty or more, racing in our direction, some trampling others. Those still upright begin heaving things at us. The crash made by the projectiles against the truck is alarming. Rob burns rubber, swiftly turning the truck around to head the other way. We skirt the group, trying to get back to the same road at a different point. We’re quiet with tension; you could cut it with a knife. We reach our goal, hearing the racket, but at a distance. I begin breathing deeper as we turn towards home.

  “Jesus, that was freakin’ close,” Simon sighs loudly.

  “A little too close for comfort!” Rob agrees, driving up to the hill past Faith and Morgan’s house. Thankfully it’s quiet.

  “You guys up for a drive by Judd’s community?”

  “Sure, let’s.” I’m excited to see their group.

  We continue over and head up to Hawkin’s Heights. “I wonder if there are any people my age there?” Simon muses.

  “You mean, hot girls, right?” I tussle his hair.

  “Hot girls are right up my alley!”

  “Your mind is always in the gutter!” Rob ribs him. “He said right up here?” We’re near the top of Hawkins.

  “Yeah,” I say. What did they have that we might want to trade for?”

  “It didn’t sound like they had much. I was really thinking we’d meet everyone and if we like them, we could consider inviting them to come live with us. We can easily clean out a few more houses on the block, don’t you think?” Rob checks in, looking for land marks and the address of the main house.

  “I think that makes sense,” I say. “We’d have more hands and could create more gardens down there where there’s sun. We can use the space left by our lost neighbors.” Dead, is what I really mean. “We also need to warn them about that creep.”

  “True.” Rob parks in front of the main house, where there are a couple people sitting on a balcony, watching us. They stand up, aiming guns at us.

  “We met Judd, Jason, Nate, Justine, and Sasha at Home Depot earlier today,” I call out. “Did they make it back okay?”

  “Hold on a second,” The guy says. We watch them confer, then one heads inside.

  A couple minutes pass. “You think this was a waste of time?” Simon asks.

  “I doubt it,” Rob responds. “They’re just playing it safe. Makes sense if you ask me.”

  The front door opens. “Hey! You came!” It’s Judd and Sasha.

  We head up the steps, pulled into hugs. “This is Simon, my son.” Rob introduces them. “He was outside on watch. Did you guys have any trouble leaving the store?”

  “No. It was quiet but we were concerned about you guys.” He leads us inside. “There was blood out there.”

  “One of ours was shot,” Rob explains.

  “She was acting stupid,” Simon adds. “She literally jumped up, waving at the guy! I couldn’t believe it, then his group starts shooting at us. It was crazy. That girl is nuts!”

  “Oh, Jeez, that’s bad news!” Sasha moans. “That would make me crazy! But she’s okay?”

  Simon nods. We enter an open living area, connected to a kitchen. There are people at the dining table chopping, others mixing something, more in the kitchen, preparing food. Sasha introduces us to them. They’re nice people, all in the twenty to Forty age range, with one older woman.

  “There are a few more of us in neighboring houses, some are out working on a fence. Let me give you something to drink, okay?” Janet heads into the kitchen.

  “Sit down!” The older woman says. She has an accent, probably from Mexico originally. “I’m Luz, nice to meet you!”

  “We won’t bite!” The other, adds, laughing, “I’m Lisa.”

  The others sit on the arms and back of the sofa, near the table.

  “How do you feel about your ability to survive up here through the winter without farm animals or a garden?” I ask.

  “It’s where we are,” Judd says.

  “I’d rather have a garden and animals, but we don’t,” Sasha adds. “We didn’t feel comfortable just taking over other houses that might have crazies in them when we have these houses.”

  “Well, it’s worth thinking about,” Rob explains. “We are expanding down the hill and there’s a lot of sun. We also wanted you to know that there is a dangerous man out there who’d not infected.”

  “Worse than the crazies?” Judd asks.

  “He works with intention.” I emphasize, then change the subject. “We have a connection with a farm out in Crow,” I explain. “They have a huge garden and lots of animals and they need worker bees. We’re planning on driving out soon. We just left. A couple of our people stayed to help. The farmer is alone now and needs help.”

  “That’s amazing!” Luz says. “I’m sure some of us would be happy to go help out, wouldn’t we?” She asks Sasha.

  “Definitely,” Sasha agrees.

  “Can we come visit you tomorrow to plan it?” Judd asks.

  “Absolutely,” Rob agrees. “We should get going. We have food we need to put away and the rest are undoubtedly worried!”

  “Is there anything you need that we could trade you? We’d love anything fresh!” Sasha proclaims.

  “I don’t know,” I muse. “We should have a meeting back home and get back to you. Ammunition maybe? Medicine? What do you feel like you can afford to share?” I ask, cautiously.

  “We have a lot of ammo. What kind of medicine?” Judd asks.

  “Antipsychotics, antibiotics. We’re using antipsychotics regularly so we’re going through what we’ve found,” I explain.

  “I’m pretty sure we don’t have any of that, but we could keep our eyes out for it to trade with you. I guess we could check all the nearby medicine cabinets. Do regular people use antipsychotics?” Judd wonders.

  “People with Alzheimer’s disease, Bipolar Disorder, or Schizophrenia would use it,” I explain.

  “Well, we should really get back.” Rob reaches to shake hands. Judd pulls him into a hug, while at the same time, Sasha pulls me into a hug.

  “I am so glad to know you guys are right down the hill!” Sasha’s voice cracks. The others get up, shaking hands or hugging us.

  “Please come back any time,” Judd encourages. “And we’ll come down soon.”

  We head outside and down the stairs. “I’d like to offer them some vegetables and a couple jars of milk. Is that okay with you guys?” I ask. “It’s good will. It would be great to have others gathering medicine for us.”

  “I’m all over that,” Rob agrees.

  “Me too.” Simon’s the last vote.

  Rob grabs out a couple gallons of milk, while I gather a variety of vegetables and we head back up the stairs.

  The door opens just as we reach it. “I wondered… oh my! Are those for us?” Sasha has shock written all over her face.

  “Yeah. We thought we could share our bounty and we’d love any help you can give us with the medicine.” I hand her the bucket of vegetables.

  “We found some you can look at. I really don’t remember what you were looking for but we don’t know what these are.” Sasha says, holding out an apron full of medicine.

  Judd comes up behind her. “You guys can spare all this? Milk too?”

  “I think so,” Rob says.

  I go through the bottles in her apron. Some are unfamiliar to me but several are antipsychotics. “Most of these are familiar to me. The others I could show to my son. He’s a doctor.”

  “Oh my God! You have a doctor down there? My son is in bed with a terrible infection. He got cut with a knife by a crazy,” Sasha gushes.

&n
bsp; “Can I look at him?” I ask. “I’m not a doctor, but I know some herbology and have a salve with me that will probably be helpful. I’m sure my son would be happy to look at him when you come down. Can he travel?”

  “It would be hard. Come in, please,” She waves us in. “Justine, can you find me a bag to put these bottles in?”

  “Sure,” Justine answers.

  “Follow me.” Sasha gestures me to follow her.

  I’m glad I have extra salve in my fanny pack. She leads me down a hall, opening a bedroom door. “Rudy, I’m bringing a woman that may be able to help you.”

  Rudy is in the bed. “Could you?” He asks weakly. “It hurts so much.” Sasha pulls back the blankets. He has shorts on and I see a streak of red coming up his leg out of the bandages near his left ankle.

  “Can you get some clean bandages, some boiled water, and a sterile cloth?” I ask her. She nods, rushing off. I poke my head out the door, “Rob, see if we have some antibiotics with us, okay?”

  Rob heads for the truck.

  “Hi, Rudy. I’m going to take off the bandages. We’ll clean it, then put on some herbal medicine that I think will make the infection go away. My friend is looking for antibiotics as well.”

  He just moans.

  I begin removing the bandages. The wound is swollen, angry looking, very red with yellowy crust is some places. The streak I saw before leaves directly from the wound and travels up the leg. He’s obviously in a lot of pain and is feverish.

  “Here are some gloves.” Sasha hands them to me. I put them on while she continues. “Here’s a sterile cloth, careful it’s hot, and the water. I brought some hydrogen peroxide too.”

  “Thanks.” I begin cleaning his wound, first with warm water, then hydrogen peroxide. Then I put salve on his wound.

  “What’s that made out of?” Sasha asks.

  I describe the ingredients. “It’s the comfrey that relieves pain, reduces inflammation, kills infection, and the allantoin promotes cell regrowth so it speeds up healing.”

  “That’s amazing. I’ve been so worried, watching that red streak move up his leg. I didn’t know what to do.”

  I rebandage the wound, thinking about how she’s going to need to do this several more times.

  “Do you have enough to share some? I’m guessing we’ll need to put it on more than once.” She sounds worried.

  “Yes, you should put it on every time you change the bandages, several times a day, ideally,” I explain. I stand up, having finished the bandaging. “Do you have a small jar I could put some in it for you to use?”

  She leads me to the kitchen. “Of course. Thank you so much!”

  Rob hands me the antibiotics, turning back to an intense discussion with Judd, while Simon flirts with Justine. I listen to Simon with one ear, intermittently listening to Judd telling Rob about an arborist, just home from work when this mess hit. He tells Rob how this guy has all his equipment and can cut down large trees for firewood.

  Sasha hands me a small canning jar. “Here. Go ahead and give him some antibiotics while I get you some salve.”

  She rushes off with the pills. I scoop out a spoonful of salve. Sasha returns quickly.

  “This should be enough for repeated applications. A little goes a long way.” I pass it to her, putting mine back. After hugs, Sasha passes me the bag of medicine.

  She begins to cry a little on my shoulder. “I was so afraid I would lose him. I’ve heard it can cause a heart attack.”

  Rob gets up, frowning. “We really should go. The family is probably frantic,” he says. “Hey, Simon.” Simon comes, smiling broadly at Justine.

  “Thanks again!” Judd says as we head out the door.

  “Thanks for everything,” Sasha says, sounding teary.

  “God, I can’t believe it’s after six. I’m starving,” Rob says as we pile in the truck, then head down the hill.

  “Me too. Did you have fun, Simon?” I nudge him a little.

  “She’s awesome!” he says. “It’s nice to know there are other women out there!”

  “Never enough women, huh?” Rob teases.

  The trip down the hill is smooth.

  Twenty-Nine

  Sam

  Preparations

  Sam lays with Gini on the couch. She seems a little more insecure with Eliana gone. Sheba rushes the window, growling in her friendly way. Mike, the boxer, tails her as usual.

  “Could they be back already?” Sam asks, feeling confused. Gini burrows in closer, tense. “Listen to Sheba. Do you hear her tone?”

  Gini nods, not saying a word.

  “That sound is only for people she’s close to. You can be certain there are no strangers outside. I promise.” Sam feels her begin to relax while Sheba’s growls help Sam breathe easier.

  The door opens, Katie walks in, fends off Sheba’s excitement, while holding the door for Nick who carries Faith over his shoulder. Jedaiah races into the room, clutching Nick’s leg.

  Sam untangles Gini, heading to meet them.

  “What happened? Is anyone else hurt? Where are the others?”

  “Don’t worry. The others went to Polyrock. We came back to bring Faith and our truck. It’s full of gasoline and other supplies,” Katie says. She heads to the bathroom, while Nick lays Faith on the couch Gini vacated. Sam finds Gini glued to her side.

  Katie returns to the couch with her supplies. “Can you bring the salve?”

  “Sure. Gini, can you stay here and help Katie?” Sam gets the salve, returning to Katie. Gini eyes the wound.

  Katie removes the bandages after putting gloves on. “Can you bring boiling water and a sterile cloth? You can put it, very wet, in the microwave for two minutes.”

  “Yep.” Sam heads back to the kitchen, microwaving a wet cloth.

  “Sam, do you have a minute?” Nick asks, coming into the kitchen without Jedaiah.

  “Sure.” Sam moves away from the group making lunch, hearing the note of concern in his voice. “What’s on your mind?”

  “I wanted to tell you about what happened at Home Depot. We were on watch in front, spotting a group lurking around the Chinese restaurant. As they darted from car to car, getting closer to us, Faith started bitching loudly about being on watch. Then she ran out of hiding and the shooting began. I managed to pull her inside,” Nick explains quietly.

  “Wow! That’s crazy! I don’t know what to do about that girl. She doesn’t seem to have any sense,” Sam retorts quietly but emphatically.

  “She put all our lives at risk today. Those guys might not have even seen us if she’d been quiet,” Nick adds. “I wonder if we should talk to Morgan about it, or have a meeting or something?”

  “Let me talk with Eliana, but I’m inclined to agree with you about having a meeting.” Sam pats his arm. “What are you guys making for lunch?”

  “Soup. We’re making a curried winter squash soup with meat,” Gracie informs her. “It ought to have chicken but we couldn’t find any.”

  “That sounds delicious.” Sam rubs her back a little, carrying the sterile cloth back to Katie.

  “Thanks,” Katie says. “This is nasty. She may lose partial use of her arm. I can sew it up but I can’t be sure it isn’t damaged beyond repair.”

  “I don’t know why she put herself in this position to begin with. Were you there?” Sam wonders.

  “No,” says Katie. “I was in the store.”

  “Lunch is ready!” Dixie calls.

  “I’ll come when I’m done,” Katie says.

  Sam heads to the table. The girls put the soup on the table. There are some biscuits they’ve made and tea. Sam realizes it was unwise to allow Faith to go. “This looks and smells wonderful.”

  Everyone that’s here is around the table or the butcher block. “Let’s exchange updates,” Jonathan requests. Nick recounts Faith’s complaining and getting injured at Home Depot, glossing over the danger with Jedaiah listening.

  Alex gives a lively rendition of the boundary violatio
n by the crazies. “They fuckin’ climbed the fence!” He begins, ending with, “left Jake with a foot wound. They were a pain in my fuckin’ ass!”

  Sam turns to Jake. “How’s your foot?”

  He shakes his head. “It’ll heal. The key is to prevent those assholes from penetrating our fort again!”

  “We were talking about getting some exercise, scouting other houses, and so forth,” Sam says. “Eliana thinks it’s important for us to be in good shape, to be able to outrun crazies if there are too many to fight. I tend to agree with her.”

  “I have to agree,” Alex says. “They seem to be getting more fuckin’ aggressive. It’s the shits.”

  “True. We need to keep them out. Some of us will need to stay here, guard the fort, and care for Faith. We need to work on installing the barbed wire on top of the fences. I’ve been out, so why don’t I stay?” Katie offers. “I’ll find a project for Jedaiah.”

  They organize tasks. Alex and I, Morgan and Eli, Dixie, Gracie, and Jose go. “I can show you how far we’ve gotten with the fence relocation effort,” Jose explains.

  Justin looks at Katie, “I’ll help with the barbed wire.”

  “We got lots of it from Home Depot. We can figure out how to install it on the fences in front,” Katie informs us.

  “Perfecto!” Jose calls out as we head out the back way. “When we get back, let me know if you need help with the fences, okay?”

  “I think we can handle it, man!” Jake punches Jose on the shoulder as he heads out, clearly a guy thing.

  They walk right through the yard next door. The goats bleat as we walk by. “They have a garden here!” Sam says, startled.

  “I don’t think there is anything growing in it,” Dixie dismisses it.

  “Let’s check.” Sam walks over to the garden. “There are some vegetables here. There might be carrots. Look, Jose, what are these?” Sam’s impressed with how easy it is to find food. This is obviously a fertile area.

  “There are a bunch of brassicas here!” He exclaims.