by Young, D. M.
That was all the invitation he needed. He was a decent cook, but, as a single man living alone, it always seemed like such a waste of time to cook a full meal. He certainly wasn’t going to turn this one down. Adam saw Melissa raise her eyebrows when he put the rather large slab of meatloaf on his plate. “Sorry, I’m kind of hungry today,” he said sheepishly.
She laughed, “No, that’s fine. That’s why I made it. Eat as much as you like.”
They chatted as they ate, both avoiding the subject of zombies for a while. Adam was relieved to talk about something else for a change. There hadn’t been much normal conversation since this whole thing began. He told her about some of the crazy situations he’d faced as a doctor. She recounted the horrors she’d endured as a small town, high school English teacher. For a while, all of the madness faded away.
Eventually, Adam glanced at the clock and was surprised to see that an hour had passed. “My shift starts in an hour, and I probably need to get there kind of early. First day and all. Let me help you straighten the kitchen up before I go.”
Melissa frowned. “No way. You’re the guest. Anyway, it will give me something to do tonight.” For the first time since he’d arrived, her smile faded. “I’d kind of like to keep busy, you know? Keep my mind off of…things.”
Adam reached across the table and laid his hand on hers. She smiled at him. “I’m glad you came over,” she said.
He grinned, “I’m glad you invited me.”
Adam stood up from the table, “I do have to get going, though. Maybe we can do this again? You could come to my place for dinner. I can’t compete with that dinner, but I could probably throw some frozen pizzas in the oven or something.”
Melissa laughed, “I would love that. I mean, not necessarily the pizzas, but…”
She walked him to the door and took his hand. Adam turned to face her. His stomach felt like it was doing cartwheels as he leaned toward her lips. She stood on her tip-toes and put her arms around her neck as they kissed. When he pulled away, she was smiling.
“So, see you tomorrow?” he asked.
Melissa’s smile widened. “Absolutely!”
* * *
Edward opened a kitchen drawer looking for a fork. He was greeted instead by batteries, screws, and everything else that didn’t have its own home. Well, he’d found the junk drawer. He was grateful that Melissa had let them use Matt’s house for a while, but he still wished he could be in his own home. He didn’t feel like he could relax here. He didn’t dare move anything. Melissa was nice enough, but she might not take kindly to that. This was her brother’s house, and he was gone.
Annoyed, he muttered to himself as he pulled open the other drawers still searching for the elusive silverware. Gracie walked into the kitchen, and he glanced over. Looking at her standing there, he realized just how petty his complaints were. Here he was aggravated because he couldn’t figure out the kitchen organization, when she and a lot of other folks had much bigger troubles.
“Did you get in touch with your grandma,” he asked, finally locating the forks.
“Rose talked to her, but she doesn’t know if she can get out of Memphis right now.”
Edward could see why. There were only two direct routes between Memphis and Arkansas. Something like this was bound to make traveling either of them difficult. “Well, give them a while to get it under control, and we’ll see what we can work out. Has Rosie’s headache gotten any better?”
“I think so. She said she felt better after her nap.” Gracie said.
Rose walked into the kitchen and looked at the meal Edward had prepared. Then she picked up a fork that Edward had just set out and tasted the chicken and dumplings. “You did good!”
“There wasn’t a lot to work with in the freezer, but I think it turned out alright,” Edward said, trying not to show how proud he was to receive the compliment. Rose was an excellent cook; a compliment from her meant something.
“He was asking about Grandma. What all did she say to you?” Gracie asked Rose.
“She said she would talk to Gracie’s uncle and see what he thinks. The roads are pretty backed up, especially around the bridges. Of course, she’s worried about what’s going on in West Memphis.”
“Well, that’s alright. Miss Gracie, you are more than welcome to stay with us until she can get here.”
Gracie smiled. “Thanks.”
“Alright then,” Rose said. “Let’s eat.”
After dinner, they sat down in the living room to check the news. There was plenty of it. Everyone was reporting on the outbreak now. Several hours later, Gracie was ready to go to bed. She’d had a nap earlier in the day, but she was tired again. Rose followed her into the second bedroom to help get her settled. Sammy tagged along behind them.
Edward thought he might turn in, too. He reached for the remote and froze as a red banner appeared across the top of the screen. He called for Rose and Gracie. The screen in front of them showed the I-40 bridge into Memphis. It’s familiar M-shape was now missing the middle section.
A shocked news anchor was speaking quickly and Edward turned the volume up to catch what she was saying, “At least forty people are missing or dead since the attack. Police have arrested a man in connection with the blast. A message was posted online by the suspect saying that the bombing was an attempt to prevent the infection from crossing the bridge into Memphis. According to the message, he intended to destroy both the Hernando De Soto and I-55 bridges. The authorities have closed the I-55 bridge until they can determine that no explosives are present at the scene.”
Edward turned to Rose, “Forty people!”
“At least forty people,” Rose said.
“Adam thinks maybe you don’t have to be bitten to turn. If all or even some of those folks turn in the middle of all of that chaos…” he said.
Gracie grabbed Rose’s hand, “We need to call Grandma and warn her!”
Edward handed Gracie the phone, and she dialed the number before handing it back to him. The phone rang four times before going to voicemail. Edward left a quick message and prayed that she would check it before it was too late.
CHAPTER 34
By Saturday morning, the whole town was buzzing with news of what was happening in Memphis. Some of those killed in the bridge explosion had come back. It hadn’t taken long for the infected to overrun the police and make their way into the city. The results were disastrous. Downtown Memphis on a Friday night is always buzzing with activity. Beale Street and the surrounding area is always packed with partiers on the warm summer weekends. When the infection broke out, those people were caught unaware.
This morning, the city was quite literally fighting for its life. Adam took one last look at the television in the lobby as he left the clinic. He wanted to get home and get in touch with Melissa. He had a bad feeling about this. It was bad enough when the infection was spreading through rural areas, but, now that it had made it to a major city, things could get bad pretty quickly. They needed to prepare, just in case.
Adam stepped out of the clinic door and looked down Main Street. A few people were already out and about this morning. He saw Booger standing on the sidewalk down the street talking to another man. Booger saw him and raised his hand to wave him over. Adam joined them in front of the little café.
Booger introduced the other man as Carl Jacobs, and Adam shook his hand.
“I guess you heard about Memphis,” Adam said to Booger.
“Sure did,” Booger said. “I’m thinking we need to start figuring out what we’re going to do if this thing spreads to the rest of the country. I never thought it would get that far, but it’s looking like it might.”
Carl was staring off into the distance toward the city limits. Adam followed his gaze and saw several military vehicles pulling up to the building where the National Guard had set up shop. “Wonder what’s going on down there,” he said.
A soldier jogged their direction on the opposite side of the street. Booger reco
gnized him as Caleb and called out to him. The soldier crossed to where they were standing. “What’s going on down there?” Booger asked.
“We’re moving out,” Caleb said. “Governor wants us in Little Rock.”
“This thing in Memphis has got him nervous, has it?” Carl said, and Caleb shrugged uncomfortably in response.
“How long before you leave?” Adam asked.
“We should all be out of here today,” Caleb answered. “The Mayor’s office is supposed to be getting the information out to the residents ASAP. I’ve got to get going, though. You guys be careful.”
“You, too,” Booger said.
They watched the soldier jog off. When he was gone, Adam turned to Booger. “I’m going to get Melissa and head over to the supermarket. We’re going to stock up on whatever food we can get our hands on.”
“Better get some ammo, too,” Carl said. “That food won’t do you no good if you can’t protect it.”
“He’s got a point. Look I’m going to head on over to Margaret’s and let her know. She don’t answer her phone half the time. Can you let Edward and them know?” Booger asked.
“Sure thing,” Adam said as he pulled a business card out of his wallet and wrote something on the back before handing it to Booger. “Here’s my cell. If you hear anything else, let me know.”
“Will do,” Booger said looking past Adam. “I see that preacher coming. We better get a move on, or he’ll be trying to convert us.” With that, he headed toward the parking lot where his Jeep waited.
“You should try listening to him before you judge,” Carl called out after him.
Booger threw a dismissive wave in Carl’s direction and kept walking. Adam turned and headed to his own car. He dialed Melissa’s number on the way to the car and told her what was going on. She called Rose and relayed the information. By 9 a.m., they had gotten their food together. Melissa had made a list of the firearms Matt had left behind, and they took it with them when they visited the little gun shop at the edge of town to load up on ammo. When they were done, they returned to Melissa’s house.
They stored the food and hid the ammo before collapsing on the sofa to rest. Adam put his arm around her shoulder. “I’ve been thinking about something,” Adam said.
“Yeah, what’s that,” Melissa asked, resting her head against his shoulder.
“We don’t know what will happen now that we’re on our own again, and I don’t like the idea of either of us living alone if something goes wrong. Maybe you could come stay at my place.”
“Well, that’s certainly a unique way of asking me to stay the night,” Melissa said.
Adam felt his face flush. “No, that’s not what I meant! You can sleep in my bed.”
“Not getting any better,” Melissa said dryly.
Adam was totally flustered now and he took a deep breath before speaking again. “What I mean is, I only have one bedroom, but you can take the bed. I can sleep on the sofa.”
Melissa turned her eyes toward his, “Or you could come stay here where there are two bedrooms, if we choose to use them.”
Adam raised his eyebrows. “I’m going to try not to read too much into that statement.”
Melissa giggled. “Take it however you like.”
Adam feigned shock. “Well, then. I guess I’m going home to pack.”
* * *
Booger was sitting at his usual table eating a hamburger when Rose and Gracie walked into Merle’s. He called them over, and they sat down. “What are y’all up to?” he asked.
“I took Gracie shopping for some new clothes,” Rose said.
“I guess Edward didn’t want to tag along,” Booger said.
Rose picked up the menu that was lying on the table and looked it over. “He’s at the gun shop. He’s supposed to meet us here in a minute.”
A few minutes later, Edward walked in and sat down at the table. Once they had all ordered, Gracie excused herself to use the restroom. When she was gone, Booger looked at Edward. “Isn’t Gracie’s grandma in Memphis?”
“She is – or she was. We haven’t been able to get in touch with her since the explosion. We called her twice last night and once this morning. We haven’t heard anything back from her.” Edward said.
“You think she was caught up in all that?” Booger asked.
“I can’t say for sure. I hope not, but she’s always answered when we called. Her just going silent like this doesn’t bode well.”
“No, I reckon not,” Booger said. “That poor kid just can’t catch a break. She just going to stay with y’all then?”
“I guess she will unless someone comes and tells us different,” Rose said. “The state people were supposed to work something out, but we haven’t heard hide nor hair of them since that night at the hospital.”
Booger took a sip of his iced tea. “Just as well. No telling who they’d put her with, and she’s probably better off with you two than anyone else right now. Y’all going to stay here in town?”
“Probably. We talked to Melissa, and she’s fine with it. I’d like to go home, but I don’t know that it’s safe to be out there alone with all this going on. The Robertses were our closest neighbors. Now, that they’re gone, there aren’t many people left out that way. If anything goes wrong, town is going to seem like an awful long ways away,” Edward said.
Gracie returned to the table and sat back down beside Booger as he continued. “Might not be a bad thing to be out there by yourself if the town gets hit again.”
“I don’t know. I think everyone is a little more prepared now. Last time they caught us off guard. We had no idea what we were up against. I don’t think it would happen like that again,” Edward said.
“Might be right,” Booger conceded.
Gracie looked across the table at Edward. “I want to learn to shoot. I need to learn.”
Rose frowned. “I don’t know about that. I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” Edward asked. “Gracie’s got more sense than most the adults I know.”
Rose looked annoyed. “I just never have understood this whole thing with letting children tote guns around. It makes me nervous. She’ll be with us. You’ll have your gun, if something happens.”
“And if something happens to him, then what?” Gracie asked. “Who will protect me then? My parents were supposed to protect me, and they couldn’t. Josh was supposed to protect me, and he couldn’t. Every time something happens, all I can do is sit and wait for someone to come save me. What happens when no one’s there to do it?”
Edward spoke to Rose. “She’s right. There’s no way of knowing what will happen, and I was a lot younger than her when my dad taught me to handle a gun.”
“It was a different world back then! People needed their children to help with hunting and farm work. Things are different now,” Rose said.
Gracie met Rose’s eyes, a grim look of determination on her face. “Yes, things are different now, but not the way you mean. It’s more dangerous. It’s not just bears or bobcats in the woods anymore.”
Edward looked apologetically at Rose and then met Gracie’s eyes. “I’ll start teaching you, but you have to promise to be safe and listen to everything I say, alright?”
“Yes, sir,” Gracie said.
* * *
Later that evening, Booger strolled back down Main Street. The sun was still bright, but the day’s heat had given way to a cooler breeze. He sat down on the bench outside of the pharmacy and watched the soldiers load boxes into a truck. Earlier today, the mayor had confirmed that they were leaving. He assured the citizens of Hollow Springs that everything was under control, but Booger wasn’t so sure.
The police force was still fairly well gone. They still knew nothing about how or why any of this was happening. He reckoned folks at least knew what to watch out for and how to fight it now. That was helpful, he guessed, but it wouldn’t fix anything in the long run. The preacher had finally abandoned his post for the evening, and Bo
oger sat back savoring the peace and quiet of the mountain evening. As Booger watched the last soldier climb into the truck and pull away, he wondered how long that peace would last.