by Bale, Sarah
“Jo was in this costume contest that I was judging. When I saw her, I was smitten.” I shook my head. “Looking back, there was a guy next to her dressed a zombie who was acting weird. In retrospect, I think he may have been infected.”
“God. What a fucking nightmare, not being able to tell the difference between a costume and someone who was infected!”
“You have no idea.”
Elijah smiled. “How did you officially meet Jo?”
“She won the contest and the first place prize was a lunch with me.”
After the contest was over, I was ushered to a room where the lunch would take place. Jo arrived a few moments later, looking dazed. But, when she sat down and we started talking, we discovered that we had a lot in common. So much, in fact, that I asked if we could meet after the convention was over for dinner. When she said yes, I wanted to get up and do a jig, but that might have alarmed her.
I was saved from making a fool of myself when a staff member came back, telling me that the convention was ending early due to the bug going around.
I said, “The convention was worried about the number of attendees who had gotten sick, so they were ending the day early. I agreed to do one last autograph session, because I knew that some people had traveled a long way to see me.”
“I’m guessing that’s when all hell broke loose?”
I nodded. “Jo and her friend, Harmony, were at my table getting photos signed when this big dude pushed past them, demanding I sign something for him. At the time, I thought he was on something. People’s cell phones began to go off and the news was too crazy to believe. Until the man passed out.”
He fell to the ground with the loudest thud I’d ever heard before. Not even stuntmen fell that hard. Two security guards began chest compressions on him, while I tried to call 911. The signals were jammed, though, probably because so many people were on their phones. After several minutes, the guards proclaimed the man dead and went to get a gurney to carry him off.
“The guards left, Harmony went to cover the man’s head with her jacket, since there were kids around. When she got close to him, she said it looked like he was moving.”
Elijah replied, “Was he?”
I nodded. “He sat up, sinking his teeth into Harmony’s wrist. People started screaming from the other side of the convention center, saying there were zombies. I wouldn’t have believed it, except the man in front of us made it possible.”
I scooped Harmony into my arms as we fled the convention center. Outside, we stepped into pure madness. People running, not caring who they shoved aside to get away. Car alarms going off. Horns honking. The scent of smoke in the air.
“We were trying to get to Jo’s car when a biter lunged at Jo. Harmony helped her fight it off, but was hurt even more in the process. We left her behind, but a man with a gun took Harmony down.”
I never told Jo the peace I saw on Harmony’s face right before the man shot her. Instead, I’d gotten into Jo’s car, telling her I needed to go back to my hotel to save my cat, Percy, which was another ordeal.
“After I got my cat from the hotel, we got into Jo’s car to head out of town. Faith was running down the road and needed help, so we stopped to give her a ride.”
Elijah’s eyebrows rose. “That was pretty brave of you, especially not knowing her.”
“Jo had just finished telling me that we need to have faith that everything was going to work out, so it felt like a sign meeting someone named Faith.”
“How long did it take you to get out of Houston?”
I made a face. “A month. The highways were blocked, as you can imagine, so we had to take back roads. By the time we left the city, we knew things would never be the same.”
People had changed, and it wasn’t for the better. We ran into people who would do whatever it took to get what they wanted.
Elijah replied, “I’m not sure if I ever said it, but I’m glad we ran into you, Jo, and Faith that day in the woods.”
“Same here, Elijah. You were able to give us something I didn’t think we’d ever be able to find ever again. And now, we’ll be able to raise our family here.”
It was still surreal to think that I was going to be a father soon, but I couldn’t be happier. Jo was my soulmate and I was so glad I’d found her.
Elijah’s face fell. “I hope I can keep everyone safe.”
“It’s not all on you. It’s up to all of us to protect our home and each other.”
Elijah
I knew Norman was just trying to make me feel better, but I was the leader here. The safety of everyone depended on me. Standing, I went back to the board, looking at the names on the lists.
“Marshall seemed to think the mole could have been one of his men.”
Norman’s eyebrows lifted. “I didn’t think about that.”
“We’ll talk it over tomorrow. Maybe come up with some leads.”
“Good idea. I am getting pretty tired.”
We left the conference room, going our separate ways. When I got to my room, I was surprised to see Jo sleeping next to Daisy in the bed. The bruises on Daisy’s face were dark purple and black, with hints of green. Even in her sleep, she looked worried.
I kissed the top of her head and grabbed a blanket. I’d find somewhere to sleep so I didn’t disturb her. And tomorrow we’d come up with a plan to get rid of Air and his men once and for all.
Daisy
I opened my eyes when Elijah left. I should have let him know I was awake, but that would lead to things I wasn’t ready to face yet. Closing my eyes, I let myself drift off into a world of restless sleep, where Air haunted my dreams.
Fifteen
Daisy
The next morning I woke up feeling like shit. My body ached as I limped to the bathroom. The injuries on my face was the least of my concern. When I undressed to take a shower I finally saw the aftermath of Air’s beating. My ribs, side, and stomach were covered in bruises. My skin was tender as I pressed around. And, for the first time in several weeks, I wasn’t nauseous.
Blinking away tears, I stepped into the shower, letting the water wash away my sorrow. I knew I was going to have to talk to Elijah, but I just didn’t have the energy to do so. Not now, at least. After I showered, I dressed in the bathroom. I didn’t want anyone to see my injuries.
Jo was awake when I went back into the room. Her eyes searched mine and she nodded.
“Let’s get some breakfast.”
Cooper was looking out the back windows when we arrived at the kitchen. His eyes widened when he saw me.
“Daisy. Thank god you’re back.”
He hugged me and I tried not to flinch at the surge of pain I felt when he squeezed me.
“I’m so sorry about Amos.”
He nodded. “Me, too. I keep telling myself that he’ll be okay, since they haven’t killed him.”
There was an unspoken yet.
I replied, “We’ll get him back.”
“I just keep thinking that I must be the problem.”
I asked, “What do you mean?”
“First Theo and now Amos.”
I touched his arm. “Honey, it’s not you.”
Before I could reassure him further, Elijah came into the kitchen. His eyes were somber and I knew right away something had happened.
“What is it?”
“Air’s group left us a message.” He looked Cooper in the eyes. “There’s biter heads on spikes out there.”
“No!” Cooper cried out. “Please don’t say Amos is one!”
Elijah replied, “I’m so sorry, Cooper.”
Cooper’s sob filled the room. I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close as he cried.
“I want to see him.”
Elijah shook his head. “I don’t think-”
“Fuck what you think! I need to see him, Elijah!”
Elijah replied, “Get a coat. It’s cold out there.”
Cooper turned to me and Jo. “Will you come with me?�
�
“Of course we will.”
We went to get our coats. Elijah followed me to our room.
“Daisy, I don’t think he should go out there.”
The anger and rage I’d been feeling for the last few days rose to the surface and I spun to face him.
“He has every right to go out there, Elijah!”
“It’s bad, Daisy. I don’t want his last memory of Amos to be like that.”
“You don’t get to decide that. Not for him. Not for anyone.” My chest rose and fell as I got even more worked up. “A good leader does whatever it takes to help their people.”
His eyes widened. “I thought I had been doing just that.”
“Maybe you should have done more.”
What I really meant was maybe I should have done more. If we had been smarter at the airport or if we had just made a run for it, maybe Air wouldn’t have hurt Nikki, Kat, and I.
Elijah shook his head. “I’m not going to do this with you. Not right now.”
“See? There you go again, deciding what’s best for everyone.”
I knew my words were hurting him, but I needed him to feel an ounce of the pain I was experiencing.
“Maybe you should stay in here and calm down.” He shook his head before leaving me in the room.
A scream worked its way up my throat. I grabbed a book from the table, throwing it as hard as I could against the door. But, I didn’t feel better. If anything, I felt worse.
Elijah
My heart pounded as I left Daisy seething mad in our room. There was a thud as something hit the door. I knew whatever this was had to do with what happened to her at the airport. I wanted to talk to her about it, too, but letting Cooper see the heads on the spikes was top priority.
This act by Air and his group reminded me of how Lilly ran things back in Texas and made me wonder where Air came from. What were the chances that he knew Lilly?
Cooper and Jo waited for me when I got to the lobby.
I said, “Daisy will be out later.”
I had no doubt that she would come outside when she cooled down.
We stepped outside. The sun was so bright that it reflected off the frost on the ground, making it hard to see. For some reason it felt like it should be cloudy for what we were about to face.
Andrews waited by the second gate. He said, “Air and his men left, but I’m sure they’ll be back. This is what they’ve been doing for the past few days.”
I nodded once and turned to Cooper. “The heads are outside the main gate, across the street.”
He squared his shoulders, as if bracing for the impact of what he was about to see. We walked through the gates. There were six heads total. Five male and one female.
I said, “This message was for Dave.”
Cooper was silent as he crossed the street. Jo went with him and took his hand. He looked at each head, finally coming to the last one. The skin was different shades of grey, blue, and green from where they had beaten him.
“It’s not him.”
I crossed the street, too. “Cooper, sometimes the heads look different after they’ve turned.”
He shook his head. “I’m telling you, it’s not him.”
Jo met my gaze, eyes wide.
I said, “I know it’s a lot to take in-”
“It’s. Not. Him.”
Jo replied, “Coop, what makes you think it’s not him?”
“Amos has a mole on his left cheek. That thing up there doesn’t have one.”
I didn’t want to point out that the mole might be there, under the bruising, but the look on Cooper’s face stopped me.
I said, “Okay. It’s not him. Let’s get back to the hospital.”
As we made our way back, we ran into Daisy.
Cooper threw his arms around her. “It’s not him!”
Her eyes widened as she looked at me over his shoulder. I shook my head and Jo did the same. Understanding flashed across her face.
She said, “That’s great, Cooper.”
“I just hope we can get him back before something does happen to him.”
Jo said, “Coop, let’s go back to the kitchen. I was thinking we could make stew for lunch.”
When they were gone, Daisy turned to me and said, “I want to see.”
I nodded and led the way.
She gasped when she saw the heads.
“He’s sending a message to Nikki.” She touched the brown hair on the female biter’s head. “But why didn’t he just kill her when he had the chance?”
“Because he likes fucking with us.”
She nodded and moved down the line of heads. When she got to the last one, she let out a sob.
“Poor Amos. And poor Cooper.”
I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close. “I know.”
“And he didn’t believe it was Amos?”
“No. Said Amos had a mole on his cheek and that this wasn’t him.” I exhaled loudly. “I wish I could make him accept that this is Amos and that Amos isn’t coming back.”
She replied, “That’s something that he’s going to have to come to terms with on his own.”
I turned her so that she was facing me. “Is everything okay between us? You seemed kind of angry this morning.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I’m afraid we made a mistake, Elijah. We shouldn’t have tried to take on this new group.”
My chest ached something fierce as she said those words.
“What choice did we have?”
“There’s always other choices. We just made the wrong ones.”
I didn’t know what to say to that.
She said, “Let’s go back. I think everyone needs to talk.”
Daisy was scarce over the next few hours as we tried to gather everyone. I was surprised when Marianne found me.
“Marshall said if you don’t find a wheelchair, he’s going to come to this meeting in his bed.”
I grinned. “How’s he feeling today?”
“Good. Hasn’t even asked for ibuprofen.”
I said, “I’ll get a wheelchair.”
When I went to the room he was in, he smiled at me. Even his skin tone looked better.
“Boss! Thank god you found a chair. Thought I was going to have to crawl to this meeting.”
Marianne took a step back. “If you find me when the meeting is over I’ll take Marshall back to his room.”
I replied, “No, come with us.” At her look I said, “You’re a part of this group, too.”
When we got to the cafeteria everyone else was already there. Grey and Kat sat together as did Jo and Norman. Dave, Nikki, Rocco, Noah, Harper, and Jeff sat at their own table, as if afraid to get too close to anyone. Andrews and Nancy were with Cooper. And Daisy stood in the front of the room. When Marshall and Marianne were situated, I went to the front of the room, too.
“Thank you all for meeting with me. As you can guess, there’s a lot that we need to talk about.”
Grey let out a snort. “That’s fucking putting it mildly.”
“When we got to Lawton, the base had been raided. Everything was gone.”
Nancy asked, “Do you think it was the other group?”
“We can’t be certain, but there was a message left for us at the army training site.” I paused. “We need a new plan. One that’s going to end this.”
The room was silent.
Dave said, “We got enough weapons from that gun range. Maybe we’ll luck out and get more.”
I nodded at the same time Andrews let out a loud huff.
“You can’t seriously be relying on luck for this?”
Dave’s eyes flashed. “Not entirely, but it helps.”
Andrews replied, “No, it doesn’t. Luck and hope are what allowed those men to take down Amos in the watchtower and come through our gates like it was nothing.” He turned to me. “I’m sorry, Boss, but we need something more solid or else I won’t be a part of this. I know others who feel the same way, too.”
Dave stood. “The weapons we found at the gun range are solid. And, there was ammo to last for days. If we can come up with more weapons we’d be able to out-power them.”
Andrews rose to his feet, too. “Like I said, we need something foolproof. Our last endeavor was full of holes.”
The tension in the room rose and I held up my hands.
“Andrews, do you have any ideas?”
He shook his head. “No. I just need to make sure my family is taken care of, Boss. Otherwise we’re better off out there, beyond our gates.”
Nancy touched his arm. “Don’t say something you’re going to regret.” To me, she said, “This is our home and we want to protect it.”
“I agree with Andrews. We need a solid plan. Those fuckers were toying with us at the airport. They knew what we were up to and didn’t try to hurt us until we were on our way back.” Kat shook her head. “They get off on toying with us, like they were cats and we were mice. But this mouse isn’t going to sit around and get eaten.”
I asked, “What all happened at the airport?”
Kat darted her gaze at Daisy before replying, “They let us think we were in control. When we realized Marshall wasn’t coming, we came up with a new plan. They made it so our only options were to run on foot or take one of their cars.”
She stopped speaking and shook her head.
Daisy spoke next to me. “When we got in their car, they locked the doors from the outside. Said they were only going to hurt us enough to show you they were serious.”
Daisy didn’t meet my gaze. Instead, she crossed the room and sat in an empty chair.
I’d never felt more helpless in my life.
“So, what are we going to do now?” Kat asked.
That was a damn good question. One I couldn’t answer.
Sixteen
