by Poe, S. B.
They stood about halfway up the stairs randomly firing at the stringers coming closest to them. The living room looked like a cocktail party of the dead. Each of them stumbling and falling over the bodies Josh, Devin and Jahda were stacking up on the floor with each round they fired. They nervously eyed the top of the stairs listening for Lori.
“They’re gone. They’re gone. Let’s go.” Lori finally called out.
Devin ran to the top of the stairs and into Lori’s bathroom. He helped her open the window and she climbed out onto the roof.
“IT’S OPEN. LET’S GO.” Devin yelled back to Josh and Jahda.
Jahda turned and headed up the stairs. Josh backed up still firing at the bottom of the stairs as more and more began trying to climb over the pile of dead. He fired one final round and turned and ran. The stringers began climbing the stairs. He ran into the bathroom as Jahda was going out of the window. He climbed out behind her. Devin had already jumped down on the ground and was helping Lori and Jahda off the roof. He walked down to the edge and looked down. He stepped off and hit the ground hard.
“You ok?” Devin said reaching down a hand.
“I guess. Let’s go.” Josh said. He stood and ran to the driver’s door. He looked back at the house.
They had managed to lure all of the stringers outside of the house inside. He could see through the windows. The house was full. He could see some in the upstairs windows too.
“Let’s go Josh.” Jahda said from the back of the truck.
“Yep.” He climbed into the truck and started it up.
Jahda looked at the house as they drove away. The stringers had started to find their way back out of the door, chasing the scent. She sat down against the back of the truck cab and smiled.
“Why you got that big old shit eatin grin on your face?” Devin said as he looked at her.
“It worked.” Was all she said, she kept smiling.
2
Where the cold wind blows
Bridger made his way behind the Alamo and started towards the south end of the compound. The sun would be up soon and he could already see the stars to the east fading away as the light of the local star engulfed them. He had studied military strategies and tactics from Sun Tzu to Tecumseh. Attacks come at sunrise in order to have pitched battle all day. Bridger knew that was from eras long gone because modern warfare didn’t care about the sun. He had spent most of his time training at night. Most of the operations he had been a part of had happened at night. The time for protracted daylight battles had long passed before Bridger had ever took up arms. Never the less, he still always liked being on shift at this time of day. Just in case.
He walked along the fence. He looked through the trees but couldn’t see anything moving. He came to the east side and looked at the swath of pushover they had traversed to the creek. He knew they had to make the other sides of the compound as easily observable. He wasn’t sure how enthusiastic the others would be to follow his suggestions after his harshness to them about Amanda. He had not slept easy as he replayed the words in his mind that night. He looked down at the ground and shrugged his shoulders. He sighed deeply. He pulled his knit cap off and ran his hand across his head. The smooth baldness had given way to uneven stubble.
“You have a rough night?” Tilly said as she came between two of the buildings.
“Not really. Just a long one.” Bridger said as he straightened himself up.
“Well, go grab some coffee. I think Evelyn has some water boiling.” Tilly said as she motioned her head towards the saloon.
“Sounds good. You got this?” Bridger said.
“Yeah, Raj is coming to join me in a minute and we’ll make the rounds for a while.” Tilly said.
Bridger looked at her. She was dressed in jeans and a surplus camo winter coat with a fur-lined hood. It wasn’t cold enough yet for her to have it drawn up over her head. She had on a baseball cap and her red hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She had a pistol on one hip and a machete on the other. He thought about the first time he met her, her head sticking out of the window of her crushed car. They had both came face to face with this together on the side of the road that day. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Several lifetimes.
“What do you think about this?” Bridger asked.
“About what?” Tilly asked as she looked around.
“All of it. The way things are now.” Bridger said.
She turned and looked at him. She was slightly confused and a little taken aback. They had been almost side by side since the day that truck crashed down on her. Even as she was dealing with what happened with the asshole, Bridger hadn’t asked her much at all.
“Are you serious?” Tilly asked.
“Yeah. I mean, I’m just trying to get some perspective.” Bridger said.
“Perspective? Ok. Here’s my perspective. We’re alive. A couple of months ago we all were living lives we thought mattered and they did. Then. Kate was right. Hell that asshole that tried to, you know….” She looked up at Bridger, he nodded. “Even that asshole was right. New world, new rules. The real bitch of it is that we don’t know the rules. We’re having to make ‘em up as we go. And right now the only rule I got is to stay alive. All of us.” She said.
“You think this is the best way to stay alive? This place?” Bridger asked.
“Sure. For now at least. We have food, we’re pretty isolated and we don’t see many deaduns.” Tilly said.
“Any what? Deaduns?” Bridger said.
“Yeah, I heard Ed say it.” Tilly laughed a little.
“Deaduns. Hmm” Bridger smiled. “I think I’ll go and get that coffee now.” He turned to walk away and stopped and turned back. “I want you to know something.”
“What’s that?” Tilly said.
“That day, the first day, when I found the wreck. I am glad it was you and Raj in that car.” Bridger said.
“Why’s that?” Tilly asked.
“I just am.” Bridger smiled. He turned and slung his rifle over his back. He waved back over his shoulder. “See ya.”
Tilly watched him walked away.
“That was weird.” She said to herself. Raj walked out from between Kate and Evelyn’s sheds.
“Hey, ready?” Raj said.
“Sure.” Tilly said.
She turned to meet him and took one of the shotguns from him. They turned and walked down the fence together. Bridger walked to the saloon. The grill was going and Bridger saw an old percolator coffee pot sitting on the grates. He could smell the coffee. Evelyn walked out the back door of the saloon.
“Where’d you find that?” Bridger asked, pointing at the coffee pot.
“Oh, it was under one of the cabinets in the kitchen. I pulled everything out this morning just to see what we had as far as cookware goes.” Evelyn said, as she held up a cast iron skillet.
“Nice.” Bridger said. “Whatcha cooking?”
“I don’t cook. I organize. Sorry. But I thought you could whip up one of your good tasting MRE breakfasts for everyone. You said you knew how.” Evelyn said.
“I did indeed.” Bridger said. “We’ll have to find the right MRE’s. But I’ll make it simple. Since we mostly have old surplus we’ll just need to grab the sliced ham, potatoes-au-gratin, and some of the little hot sauce bottles. Come on.”
Bridger walked by her and went in the back door to the kitchen. She sat the skillet down on the picnic table and followed him back inside. He paused inside the door to set his rifle down and Evelyn didn’t see him until she ran into him. Bridger was off balance and fell back against the stove. He caught her as she fell against him. He looked at her face. In the early morning light he could all the lines of life around her eyes. Her hair was starting to gray in places. Her eyes were a pale blue. She looked up at him. He stood up straight and stepped back. They both laughed a little.
“Well, next time I’ll not stop in the doorway.” Bridger said.
“Yeah that’s probably a good idea.” Evelyn said
as she wiped her hand back over her hair. “Ok. Let’s get to it.”
They walked into the kitchen and went over to the stack of MRE’s in the corner. He reached up and pulled one of the cases off. They went through several boxes and found the right bags. He tore them open and dumped all the contents onto a table.
“So we just need the one thing out of these bags? What about all the other stuff? There’s a lot of food in these things.” Evelyn said.
“Yeah. They’re designed with a lot of calories. We can survive on these for while.” Bridger said.
“We have the rice and beans too.” Evelyn said.
“Is that what you want to do?” He asked.
“What?” Evelyn asked.
“Survive? Here?” Bridger said.
“I guess. I mean what choice to we have?” Evelyn asked. Bridger raised his eyebrow.
“Hold up. Yes I want to survive. I don’t know what choice we have about leaving here. That’s all I meant. Don’t hand me your pistol.” Evelyn said. She smiled.
Bridger realized what she meant and looked down.
“That was kind of rough, wasn’t it?” Bridger said. “I mean, what I said. That was a little too much.”
“No. It wasn’t. It needed to be said. I think everyone needed to hear it. Like you told me yourself, things are different now. New rules.” Evelyn said.
“Tilly said the same thing just a few minutes ago. New rules.” Bridger said.
“She’s right.”
“Yeah, she also said that we are making them up as we go. She said the first rule is stay alive.” Bridger said.
“Good first rule.” Evelyn said.
“Agreed.” Bridger said. “Alright. Let’s get this going.”
She turned and looked at all the contents left on the table.
“What about this?” Evelyn said.
“Well you said you organize, so organize.” He said as he walked out the back door. She smiled.
Kate stood in her room and looked down. She had her sleeping bag spread out on the floor along with a couple of blankets. She didn’t have to get dressed because she had slept in her clothes. She decided she would go one more day in these jeans and then they would have to be washed. The colder it had gotten the less they had cared to do laundry. Besides, they all stunk. She fantasized about her shower. She pictured it in her mind, letting the water wash over her and warm her up. Suddenly an image of JW stepping into the shower with her sprang into her mind. She opened her eyes and looked down. A single tear rolled down her cheek.
“Good morning Mom.” Scott said as he walked into the shack.
She turned to face him and wiped her eyes.
“Everything ok?” He asked.
“Yep. Just, you know, momma stuff.” She said.
“Ok.” Scott said, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m going to find some breakfast, you wanna come?”
“Sure, I’ll be out in a second.” She said.
Scott walked back outside. She turned her head back to the floor and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes again and briefly saw a flash of JW’s face before the memory faded again. She took another deep breath and opened her eyes again.
“Let’s go.” She said, mainly to herself, and she walked out the door to meet Scott.
They walked over towards the saloon. Charlie and Jennifer were sitting on one of the benches on the front porch. Dottie walked out of her shack directly across from the saloon as Kate and Scott approached. They all stopped.
“Good morning.” Kate said to everyone.
“Morning Kate. You too Scott.” Charlie said.
“Everything ok, Charlie?” Kate asked.
“My daughter is still with me, so yeah. But yesterday was rough.” Charlie said.
“How are you doing Jen honey?” Dottie asked.
She smiled but the tremble of her lips betrayed her stoicism. Dottie walked over and sat down beside her. She put her arm around her and hugged her.
“It’s ok sweetie. It’s all over now.” Dottie said as she patted her shoulder.
“Yesterday is over, but what about tomorrow? Something else could happen tomorrow.” Jennifer said.
“I know honey. I know you had a terrible thing happen. You had to do something hard to stay alive. But you did it. You stayed alive. You fought for it. You earned today. And now that you earned it, you wanna spend your time frettin over it? Come on honey, you’re alive. I’m alive. Hell we are all alive today. Tomorrow and yesterday don’t matter a flitter if you’re not alive today. You earned today. You should try to remember that.” Dottie said as she patted Jennifer on the knee.
Jennifer wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked up at Dottie. Her hair was almost white. The lines on her face traced around her mouth and down towards her chin. When she spoke the whole surface of her face moved. The wrinkles gathered and retreated together as though conducted by the motions of the lines around her mouth. Her eyes were green and bright. Jennifer looked at them.
“I’ll try.” Jennifer said.
She did actually feel a little better. They all stood and made their way to the picnic table behind the saloon. They found Bridger standing over the grill stirring something in a cast iron skillet. And they smelled coffee.
“That smells like breakfast.” Charlie said as they sat down at the table.
“Just an old standby.” Bridger said as he spooned the concoction onto each plate.
Dottie bowed her head.
“Dear Lord” She started. Everyone else heard her and lowered their eyes. “Thank you for this day. Thank you for this food. Thank you for this new family you have given us to help us through these crazy days. Amen”
“Amen” Bridger said.
They sat together and ate breakfast. Evelyn sat next to Kate and Scott. Charlie and Jennifer sat across from them with Dottie by their side. Bridger stood by the grill spooning the food into his mouth. He sat the plate down when he saw Raj and Tilly cross between two of the buildings.
“Hey, y’all come get something to eat. You too Ed.” Bridger said as he looked up to the roof. Ed looked down and stood.
The whole group was gathered together eating. It had been over two months now since the first reports echoed the outbreak of the Marionette virus.
“Listen folks. Since we’re all here, I guess we should talk about things.” Bridger started. “I don’t know how y’all feel but I think we should stay right here and make this place better.”
“Is anyone talking about leaving?” Evelyn asked.
“Well no, but I just wanted say my peace.” Bridger said.
“What other choice do we really have?” Dottie said.
“Well, we really don’t know what things are like outside. None of us have been out there.” Jennifer said.
“That boy and girl went out.” Ed said.
“That boy and girl had names, Josh and Lori.” Jennifer said.
“Well, Josh and Lori ain’t come back.” Ed said.
Bridger shot a glance at Kate. She winced at Ed’s words.
“That don’t mean nothing.” Bridger said.
“Well it means the world outside is fucked.” Ed said.
“How so?” Charlie asked.
“Well if everything was all cool, I would hope the boy would have come back for his momma by now.” Ed said, nodding towards Kate.
“That doesn’t mean anything happened to them.” Scott said.
“Never said it did. I just mean that they didn’t find anything other than what we already seen. Just more deaduns.” Ed said.
“So we stay here.” Kate said. “What do we need to do to make this place better Bridger?”
“Oh and by the way, he’ll come back.” Kate turned and said to Ed.
“I’m sure he will. No disrespect meant.” Ed said.
Bridger told everyone his idea. They would work in two teams of four. Three cutters and one lookout. Each team would work one day on, one day off. Tilly and Raj would cover night watch. The teams would be Scott,
Charlie and Kate with Jennifer on lookout. Ed, Evelyn and Bridger with Dottie on lookout. Everyone would be armed.
“So when do we get started?” Charlie asked.
“I thought we would all walk out there together this afternoon so everyone could get an idea of what we’re trying to do. We can start tomorrow. As long as everyone agrees.” Bridger said.
“Won’t it take a long time to do what you want to do?” Dottie asked.
“Best to get started right away then.” Bridger smiled at her.
3
Road of Bones
Fire had ravaged some of the neighborhoods. Burnt framing jutted upward, black against the overcast sky. The truck made it’s way through the abandoned streets. The wind carried the coldest air of the season. The clouds were sagging heavy and low, full of moisture that was still deciding between rain and snow. Some streets brought cars piled on top of each other, a testament to the panic that unfolded. As they navigated the town it had an eerie ancient feel, as if frozen in time. Except this menagerie had moving parts. Everywhere they looked, scattered among the wreckage, walking down the streets and wandering through the yards, stringers. Probably letting a couple of thousand out of the stadium wasn’t the best idea. Jahda and Devin sat in the bed of the truck with their backs against the cab. Josh and Lori were in the front. Josh turned left and stopped. He knocked on the back glass. Devin turned around so he could hear.
“Look.” Josh said.
He was pointing down the street. Devin and Jahda both stood and looked over the cab of the truck.
“What?” Jahda said.
“The car. The one on the left. That’s our car.” Josh said.
Sitting halfway up on the curb in front of an electronics store was Janice’s car. The trunk and both passenger side doors were open. They all hopped out of the truck.
“So are you wanting to get it back or something?” Devin asked.
