by Poe, S. B.
“I take some getting used too. Even to myself.” Ramey said.
“No, no. We’re good.” Bridger said.
“What’s that smell?” Raj asked as he covered his nose too.
“It’s the kitchen. Sorry about that. Didn’t know I would be entertaining.” Ramey said. “I don’t really smell it though, I only smell you.”
“You smell us?” Raj asked.
“I do.”
“But you can’t smell that?” Bridger nodded at the door behind Ramey.
“Fortunately no. Not once it’s dead.” Ramey said.
“What was it?”
“I’d rather not say.” Ramey said.
“I’d rather not think that you’re half deadun and there’s a half-eaten person back there in you kitchen.” Bridger said.
“It is a dog. Or was.” Ramey lowered his gaze.
“Is that what you’re living on? Dogs and cats?” Raj asked.
“And rats, birds, really anything I can catch.” Ramey said.
“That’s what keeps you alive?” Raj asked.
“It keeps me here.” Ramey said. “Not really sure if I’m alive or not.”
“Do you mind if I examine you again?” Raj asked. “Just briefly?”
“For what?”
“I would just like to see if there is any progression of your uh condition. Maybe I can learn something.” Raj said as he swung his backpack off his shoulder.
“I don’t know what you can learn but go ahead. You want me to take my clothes off again?” Ramey asked.
“If you don’t mind. I’d like to check one last time for any small bite marks we might have missed. You said yourself you weren’t sure if you had been bitten.”
“Yeah, well I haven’t found any bites yet.” Ramey said as he pulled the t-shirt over his head.
Raj and Bridger watched as he struggled to grasp the shirt as tried to pull it off. His fingers were curled like he had a bad case of arthritis and he couldn’t grip the cloth. He reached over his head with both hands and bundled the fabric enough to pull it over his head. Bridger leaned back as Raj leaned in. The skin beneath the shirt was darker than the skin of his face. Ramey’s face looked ashen and sullen but soft. The skin under the shirt shriveled tight against the bone but hung like loose leather around his midsection. Raj stepped a little closer.
“This looks different.” Raj said as he touched Ramey’s back. “The skin has darkened like it’s bruised. Does this hurt?”
“Nope.”
“Does the discoloration continue down?” Raj nodded lower.
“Don’t know. Haven’t taken my pants off in a week.” Ramey said.
“How do you take a shit?” Bridger asked.
“I haven’t. Haven’t needed to. Hadn’t thought about it but haven’t pissed either.” A curious look came across his face.
“But you eat?” Raj said.
“I do. But I don’t feel hungry.” Ramey said.
“Then why eat?” Bridger asked.
“It is for the pain.” Ramey said flatly. Raj and Bridger exchanged confused expressions through the dim light coming through the windows.
“Pain? What do you mean?” Raj asked as he stepped back from Ramey.
“I’m not sure I can explain it.” Ramey said.
“Try.” Bridger said.
“When this first happened I didn’t feel any different. Now I do. My muscles hurt. My bones hurt. My chest and gut feel empty. Not empty like there’s no food, empty like a barrel.” Ramey said.
“What does that have to do with…” Bridger started.
“I’m getting to that.” Ramey said. “When we first met, do you remember?”
“The night with the soldiers. I stopped here.” Bridger said. “We’re on our way now to clean up that mess.”
“Do you remember asking me about the horse?” Ramey asked.
“Yeah, you said it kept you alive.” Bridger said.
“That wasn’t completely true. But I didn’t know it then. Or at least didn’t admit it. I bit the horse because something inside me told me too.” Ramey.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Bridger said.
“I told you I wasn’t sure I could explain it, but it’s like an instinct, I guess. Just an overwhelming sense that biting that horse would help.” Ramey said.
“Help what?” Raj asked.
“I wasn’t sure before I did it. But when I bit down and just a bit of the blood slid down my throat, the pain eased.”
“What kind of pain?” Raj asked.
“My entire body felt like it was on eleven, ratcheted all the way up and everything so tense it hurt. All my muscles so tight my bones ached. The blood took that away. For a while.” Ramey said.
“And something inside you told you to do it?” Bridger asked. “Like a little voice?”
“No, not a little voice.” Ramey said. “It was just that same feeling when you see a piece a chocolate in some turned over vending machine. The instinct is to grab it and eat it. You know it will cure a craving even if you weren’t aware you were craving it. You understand?” Ramey asked.
“I guess.” Bridger said. He turned as a knock came at the door.
“Bridger, how are things going?” Charlie’s voice came through the door.
Bridger walked over and opened the door. Charlie stood on the short porch and look inside. He winced when the smell wafted through.
“Come on in Charlie.” Bridger said.
“No, I’ll just stay out here. Just wanted to make sure everything was okay.” He said.
“We’ll be out in a few minutes.” Bridger said as he closed the door. He turned back to Ramey and Raj.
“I met that man at your gate.” Ramey said.
“Charlie?”
“Is that his name? I told him about the soldiers. I told him to tell you or Kate.” Ramey said.
“He told us. Thank you for that, by the way.” Bridger said.
“We’re almost done here.” Raj said. “Just a few more questions.”
“Fine.” Ramey said.
Charlie walked down the steps and crossed the yard into the street. Evelyn leaned against the side of the truck as he approached.
“They okay?” She asked.
“They seem to be. God at the smell though.” Charlie said.
“Smell?”
“Yeah, inside that house.” Charlie said.
“What does it smell like?” Evelyn asked.
“Death.”
Cheval stood in the corner of the little shed that sat behind the VFW hall. The hall was barely bigger than the shed. Just a little square house with enough room for a table, coffee pot and corner bathroom was all that was left. In the twenties, it had been attached to the much larger home for displaced veterans. That building was torn down in 1951, leaving the open stretch of ground where they were planning on planting their garden. The shed and little building were the last remnants of what was left of Collier’s veterans square. That and the bell.
Ham took the brush and stroked the side of the horse. She heard voices coming from the other side of the building and stepped out into the sunlight. Cameron was standing between the two small buildings with Ed, Vernon and Cody. Jahda had gone to relieve Cameron at the gate once they got Cheval back in the shed. Ham listened around the corner.
“So you aren’t quite sure?” Cameron asked.
“Like I said, it’s a crap shoot. Best case, we’ll get fifty percent of what we expect. And that is over the moon best case.” Cody said.
“Why?” Cameron asked.
“This is a park. Been filling up with dogshit since the fifties. We’ll till it up and work it all in good, but I just don’t see this producing much. It’s gonna take a lot of work to get anything this first season.” Cody said. “And we’re going to need fertilizer. Lots of it.”
“We got a horse. Can we use that?” Cameron asked.
“Use my horse for what?” Ham burst around the corner.
“Fertilizer
.” Cody said.
“No.”
“No?”
“NO. You will not use my horse for fertilizer.” Ham said as she set her eyebrows.
“Not your horse, your horse’s shit.” Vernon laughed. “Damn Cody, she thought you was about to shoot her horse. Did you see that look on her face?”
“I think she was about ready to tear into me.” Cody smiled and looked back at Ham. “Just gonna mix its leavings into the dirt. If you wanna help, start gathering it in a pile. The bigger the pile, the better the garden.” Cody said. “Damn shame we can’t get it out to the road pasture.”
“The road pasture?” Ham asked.
“Yeah, it’s just a little five-acre plot we lease out there past the Walmart. We plant it with alfalfa to let the yearlings graze in the fall. I bet it’s waste high by now.” Cody said.
“Would she eat it too?” Ham asked.
“Yeah, it’s like prime rib for horses. They love it. Good for em, too.” Cody said.
“Cameron?” Ham turned. “When will she be healed enough to ride?”
“A day or so.” He said.
“Will you go out there with me?” She asked.
“Out where?”
“Out to get some lafalfa.” Ham said.
“Alfalfa?” Cameron asked.
“Whatever. Yes or no. If you won’t, I’ll get Jahda or I’ll go myself.” Ham said.
“Do you know the way?” Cody asked.
“No, but I can figure it out. My grandfather taught me how to read a map. Not that hard.” Ham said.
“I’m sure you could, but one horse ain’t enough to do much good. Now if we could find them damn cows.” Cody said as he turned away from Ham.
She stood there for another few seconds as the conversation went back to planting, then she walked back around the building. She patted Cheval one more time and started walking towards the gate. She didn’t stop until she climbed the ladder and plopped down in the chair atop the bus.
“Everything okay?” Jahda asked as she handed her the binoculars.
“Great.” Ham said.
“Good, I’m going to go find a couch and take me a nap on it. Josh and Lori should be coming on soon. I think y’all can handle this.” Jahda said. “You good, Scott?”
“Yep. We got this.” He said as he leaned back in the chair. The rifle his father had given him that night in the garage rested next to him on the roof of the bus.
“Go ahead.” Ham said.
“Okay. See y’all later.” Jahda said as she climbed down the ladder. Scott twisted in the chair to watch her walk away and then turned back to Ham.
“So what’s really bothering you?” Scott asked.
“Nothing.” Ham said.
“Okay, fine. I really don’t care.” Scott said.
“Everyone treats me like a kid.” Ham said.
“Because we are kids.” Scott said.
“How old are you?” Ham asked.
“Well, I think I’m sixteen. I turned fifteen right before this all happened and pretty sure it’s been a year now. Or close.” Scott said.
“I turned thirteen just after the dead came. So I’m almost fourteen.” Ham said.
“Like I said. Kids.” Scott said.
“Kids have grown-ups who tell them what to do. I don’t have any grown-ups left.” Ham said. “I can’t be a kid anymore.”
“I got my mom left. She tells me what to do.” Scott said. “Who’s treating you like a kid, anyway. Jahda’s like a big sister isn’t she.”
“She’s not my sister. She’s just a friend. But she’s not really who I’m talking about. It was those jerks. Ed, Vernon and that man that lost his arm.” Ham said.
“Cody?”
“Yeah.” Ham said.
“What did they do?” Scott turned in his seat a little.
“Cody said I should feed Cheval lafa… alfalfa and that there was a pasture full of it just down the road. Said it was good for her.” Ham said.
“So?”
“So I told them I would take Cheval out there myself and they said I couldn’t find my way.” Ham said. “Like I don’t know how to read a map.”
“Do you have a map?” Scott asked.
“No. But I think there’s still one in my Opa’s backpack.”
“Did they say where the pasture was?” Scott asked.
“They said it was out behind the Walmart.” Ham said.
“You don’t need a map for that. I know right where that is.” Scott said.
“How? You haven’t been out since we got here either.” Ham said.
“Yeah, but we passed it coming in, remember?” Scott asked.
“Not really. Wasn’t paying attention.” Ham said.
“I always pay attention when I’m riding. I like to know where I am. My dad used to take us on hikes and he would tell us to stop now and then and look behind us.” Scott said.
“Bears?” Ham asked.
“Huh? No. Not bears. He would tell us to look back the way we came from. Pay attention to things. Where a tall tree was. A cellphone tower in the distance. He said look back the way you came from because it looks different from the way your going and you may need to find your way back. So I pay attention when I ride.” Scott said. “Helped a lot when I played too.”
“Played?” Ham asked.
“Video games.” Scott said. “I paid attention to the maps and knew where all the bosses were. I had a sweet setup.”
“I had an iPad at school I played on sometimes.” Ham said. “It was kind of boring.”
“Yeah well those were just kids apps, I played cool games.” Scott said.
“We never could afford that kind of stuff.” Ham said.
Scott looked at her. They had been living inside the same fences for months now, but he didn’t really know a lot about her. And she didn’t know a lot about him either, he realized. She had kept to her grandfather mostly, and he just looked at them like some kid and an old man that Josh had brought back with him. He didn’t know why she was with her grandfather, but he knew that somehow she had lost her parents. Either before or after this started, but they were gone. Scott had wanted to shut down when his dad died. And he still had his mom. She had lost everyone now. He looked at her again, trying to put himself in her place.
“I’ll help you.” He said.
“You will?”
“Yeah. I’ll help you get Cheval to the pasture.” Scott said. “Give me tonight and I’ll come up with a plan. We’ll work it out tomorrow while we’re on shift. We’ll make this work.”
“Won’t you get in trouble?” Ham asked. “With your mom?”
“Probably. It’ll be worth it though.” Scott said.
“What’ll be worth it?” Josh’s voice boomed as he climbed the ladder behind them.
Scott turned to Ham and put his finger to his lips. She mirrored him. Josh climbed onto the roof.
“BattleLeague. The game. It was…” Scott asked.
“Never mind. I don’t care. Go away.” Josh said as he sat down in the chair.
Scott climbed down the ladder, followed by Ham. They turned and started walking away as Lori climbed up the ladder behind them.
“That’s the best part about them treating us like kids.” Scott whispered to Ham.
“What’s that?” Ham asked.
“Most of the time they ignore us. We’ll use that to our advantage. Game on.” Scott said.
“Game on.” Ham smiled as they walked down the street.
Drops of Rain
Charlie kicked his toe into the pile of ashes. He flipped over the larger chunks and spread them out with his foot.
“Hundred-dollar bills. They were burning hundred-dollar bills.” Charlie said.
“Not much else use for it I guess.” Evelyn said as she looked over the boxes stacked beside the five-ton truck. “Got some good booze over here.”
Bridger stuck his head inside the Humvee. He walked around to the back and threw open the flap. He grabbed the sleepi
ng bag and tossed in to the ground. He grabbed one boot and held it up to the bottom of his shoe. Maybe. He grabbed the pair and tossed them into the cab. Raj sat in the driver’s seat of the truck.
