by Poe, S. B.
“Perhaps. But she’ll have to be satisfied with walking.” Cameron said. “Let us leave her to rest now.”
“You go on, I’m gonna stay here for a little while.” Ham said.
“As you wish.” Cameron said as he took the saddle and blanket off and sat it in the corner of the shed.
“Don’t worry girl, we’ll get out there.” Ham said as she ran her fingers through the horse’s mane. “Soon.”
Too Numb to Feel
Jahda leaned against the side of the shed. She had spent every morning for the last week and a half in this same spot watching Ham learn to ride. She had gotten proficient enough that Jahda had almost skipped coming today. But Ham had urged her to come see what she had been working on in the afternoons while Jahda was sleeping.
“Okay, okay. You ready?” Ham said.
“What is going on?” She asked.
“I had to get Cheval ready. I wanted to surprise you.” She was almost giggling.
“Surprise me with what?” Jahda asked.
“This.” Ham put two fingers in her mouth and let out a sharp shrill whistle.
“You learned to whistle.”
“No silly. I knew how to whistle. Opa taught me.” She whistled again. “Look”
Jahda watched as the horse came from around the corner of one house on the other side of the open space. It trotted across the green space and came to a stop as it got next to Ham. She patted the horse on the side of the head.
“She came. You see that? She came to me.” Ham beamed.
“She sure did. How long have you been working on that?” Jahda said.
“Just a few days. She figured it out real quick. She’s smart.”
“She sure is.” Jahda patted the horse’s nose.
“Watch this.” Ham said as she grabbed the blanket from the corner of the shed and threw it over the horse’s back. She hefted the saddle, threw it over and cinched it down.
“I can do it all now. I’ve been working at it.”
“Impressive.” Jahda said. “That’s cool.” Jahda said. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks. Cameron showed me how to do it. Look. He made this too.” Ham picked up the spear and put it into pvc scabbard. She put her foot into the stirrup and Jahda watched as she climbed up into the saddle.
“Impressive.” She said. “You’re getting really good at this.”
“I’m going to ride her over and pick up Scott. We’ve got guard duty in an hour.” She said.
“Have fun. You need me to come down to the gate?” Jahda asked.
“Nah, we got it.” She said.
“Be careful. See you later.” Jahda smiled as the horse turned the corner and disappeared out of sight.
The lead dangled from the bumper as Cheval grazed the tall grass beside the gatepost. Ham sat in the chair on top of the bus with the binoculars to her eyes.
“So, today?” She asked.
“Tomorrow.” Scott said. “I think we can do it tomorrow.”
“Why not today?”
“Tomorrow would be better. Did Jahda ask you why you were riding the horse down here?” Scott asked.
“Not really.”
“Good.” He smiled. “So you know what to do right?”
“Go out the gate, turn left and go down to the yellow house with the blue car against the barricade and wait.” Ham said.
“Yeah. I’ll let you out about a half hour before Josh and Lori come on. They’ll never know. Then I just slip through the barricade and off we go.” Scott said.
“It’s perfect.” Ham said.
“Almost.” Scott said.
“What’s not perfect about it?” Ham asked.
“Nothing, you’re right.” Scott demurred.
“I know.” Ham said. “More stringers out there today.”
“Where?” He reached over and took the binoculars.
“Down there. Just past that big yellow house. They’re just standing in that yard.”
“Yeah, I see em. Scared?” Scott asked.
“I’m not scared of them. Just worried about Cheval. She’s been bitten before. I doubt she liked it very much.” Ham said.
“We’ll see if they’re there tomorrow.” Scott said. “Josh and Lori will come soon. Leave now. That way they won’t be suspicious when you’re gone tomorrow too.” Scott said.
“Okay. Good idea.” Ham said. She climbed down the ladder and took the reigns. “What are you going to tell them?”
“Same thing I’ll tell them tomorrow, you took your horse for a ride. No lie.” Scott said.
“That’s good.” She said.
“You want me to pick you up again like I did this morning. We can ride over together again.” Ham asked.
“Sure, see you in the morning.” Scott said. He listened to the steady clomp of the horse’s hooves until it faded down the street. He put the binoculars back to his eyes and watched the deaduns stumble around the yards on the other side of the wall.
Kate walked into the bedroom and found Scott rummaging through his backpack.
“Looking for something?” She asked.
He paused and turned to face her.
“Nah, just trying to find some clean socks.” He said.
“Let me know if you have any luck. I’m heading over to help Emma Grace.” She said.
“Alright. I got guard duty in an hour or so. Probably gonna help Ham work with that horse afterwards.”
“Have fun. See you at supper.” She said as she turned and walked down the hall and through the front door.
Scott pulled the hunting knife from between the mattress and box springs and slid it into the backpack. The two cans of chicken were wrapped up in the socks in his hand. He slid those in too.
Ham took the spear and nestled it into the pvc scabbard. She cinched the saddle as tight as she could and climbed aboard. The sun was already climbing in the sky, but she could still see faint wisps of breath coming from Cheval’s nose.
“Let’s go, girl. Big day today.” She clucked and steered the horse towards Scott’s house.
“Morning.” Scott said.
“Ready?” Ham asked as she reached for his backpack.
“Are you?”
“Yes, we are.” Ham smiled.
He set his foot in the stirrup as she shifted forward. He swung himself up before surrendering the stirrup back to Ham as she handed his backpack to him. It took a second to find the right spot, but once he got settled, it wasn’t that bad. It beat walking. She clucked again and they headed towards the gate.
Kate waited by the side of the road as the hummer pulled up. She leaned her head down and looked into the passenger window.
“Morning Kate.” Bridger called from the driver’s seat.
“Another trip?” She asked.
“Just call it a patrol. Gonna ride out to at least the crossroads. Maybe the interstate.” Bridger said.
“Why?” Kate asked.
“Just to make sure. We need to know what’s out there as best we can.” Bridger said.
“Just you two?” She nodded towards Evelyn.
“Everyone needs a little time. Even you.”
“But you’re going on patrol.”
“That’s just me. I think we’re in pretty good shape. I think we can stand down just a little. At least for today. Besides, we’ll be out and the gate is covered. It kinda feels like a Sunday afternoon, even if it ain’t.” Bridger said.
“Maybe it is.” Kate smiled.
“Maybe it is.” Evelyn said. “We’ll see you this evening.”
She stepped back as the vehicle pulled away. The morning chill had slowly given way to the constant glow of the sun. She tilted her head back and let the light fully land on her face. The weight of fatigue washed over her and she stood there realizing that every part of her body was tired. It wasn’t the normal can’t keep her eyes open tired she felt, this was in her bones. She opened her eyes and looked around. The streets were quiet. She wasn’t exactly sure where Josh was, but
she knew he was safe inside the barricade. She knew Scott would be on guard duty for another few hours, and then he was going to be helping Ham ride her horse or something. Safe inside the barricade. She thought about the conversation she had with Cameron a week or so ago. Maybe she would take his advice. Like Bridger said, at least for today, it felt like Sunday afternoon. And Sunday afternoons had always meant a good nap in another life. At least for today.
Scott closed the gate as Bridger pulled through. He came around the side of the bus and patted the horse on the head before climbing the ladder. Ham looked through the binoculars as she followed the hummer down the street out of view.
“How long?” Ham asked.
“You act like it’s Christmas morning.” Scott smiled.
“Not gonna lie kinda excited.” She said.
“Just remember, you’re going to have to wait for me out there. By yourself.” He warned.
“I know. Is it time?”
“Josh will come in a half hour or so. Do you want to wait out there that long?”
“That’s fine. Let’s go, in case he shows up early.” Ham said. She climbed down the ladder and took the reins in her hand before climbing up in the saddle. Scott walked around the bus and flipped the latch on the gate.
“You know where to wait, right?” He asked as he glanced up and down the street.
“Sure. I’ll be there. Come fast as you can.” She said.
“Fast as I can.” He said.
“Okay.” She said. She gave the horse a gentle heel in the side and it slowly walked through the gate. She looked over her shoulder. “Fast as you can.”
“Fast as I can.” He said.
She watched the gate close. The sound of the horse’s hooves filled her ears as she headed for the rendezvous spot.
Scott listened to the sound of the horse until it faded from earshot. He looked back up the road to see Josh and Lori heading his way. He fought the urge to jump down and meet them, but that would have been odd for him. He waited. Josh climbed the ladder.
“Where’s your girlfriend?” Josh asked.
“She’s my friend and she happens to be a girl but that doesn’t make her my girlfriend. She left early, riding her horse.” Scott said.
“She’s so cute up on that thing.” Lori said as she climbed up. “With her little spear and all.”
“It’s a real spear.” Scott said.
“I know, I know. It’s just so cute.” Lori said.
“Why are you still here?” Josh asked.
“Just leaving.” He started down the ladder and paused. “Oh, yeah. Bridger and Evelyn are out there.”
“They say when they’d be back?” Josh asked.
“Nope.”
“They say where they were going?” Lori asked.
“Nope.”
“Well, you don’t know shit do you?” Josh smirked.
“Nope.” Scott climbed down the ladder.
Wanderings
Ham watched the deadun as it crossed the street. The barricade stood a few feet behind her and she listened for the sound of Scott coming through. So far all she could hear was the sound of the horse’s breath and the shuffling of the deadun down the street. Finally she heard the car door squeak open. She took her eyes off the deadun and looked back. Scott was hustling across the street with his shoulders low to the ground. She thought he looked sneaky. She smiled as he handed the backpack up to her.
“What?” He said as he reached for the back of the saddle.
“It's fun, sneaking like this.” Ham said. “When the dead first came my Opa made it like a game. Trying to sneak around them, outsmarting them. This time we’re outsmarting the others too. It’s fun.”
“I guess. Let’s go.”
“Which way?”
“Just head that way.” He pointed down the street away from the barricade. “We’ll have to find our way out of town then we’ll find the road to the Walmart.”
“I thought you knew where we were going.”
“I do. We just gotta avoid the road in front of the gate. It’s that way, so we go this way. Don’t worry. We’ll get there.” He said.
“What about the deadun?”
“Well, let’s see if we can avoid them.” He said.
“Game on?” She asked with a smile.
“Game on.”
Bridger eased the hummer through the opening in the woods. He slipped back onto the asphalt and headed towards the exit ramp onto the interstate.
“Going up there today?” Evelyn asked.
“I think so.” He said.
“Looking for something?”
“Not really.”
“Then why go?”
“You know how far we are, right now, from that little compound in the woods we used to call home?”
“Twenty miles?”
“Maybe. You know how far we are from that lake our resident not quite deadun came from?”
“Nope.”
“Fifteen miles.”
“Your point.”
“My point is this. We started out in a wide spot in the road in the middle of nowhere. But we weren’t alone. We bumped into people. We found that little compound because of it. We still weren’t alone. We went out, one time, and bumped into people.”
“And now?”
“Now we live with those people. And then more people show up. The point is, there are people all around us. Or could be. We just have no way of knowing.”
“Maybe it’s better if we don’t go looking.” Evelyn said.
“I can’t do that.”
“I know. And I’m not saying that not knowing is better. We just don’t know what kind of people are out there.”
Bridger stopped as they reached the top of the ramp. He looked ahead. Scattered wrecks of rusting cars sat with weeds growing up around their bumpers. Nature had crept, unchecked, across the roadway.
“Let’s head north. We’ve been south. The lake is south. We found Violet and the boy…”
“Peter.”
“Yeah, we found them south. Let’s go north.”
He turned the vehicle around and headed the other direction. The concrete divider gave way to a grassy median and he found a spot to cross over to the northbound lane. As they pulled onto the roadway, the first thing that caught Evelyn’s eye was the display board. It was dark but attached to it was the standard evacuation sign she had often seen towards the beach. She looked over at Bridger.
“We’re pretty close to Birmingham, right?”
“From here I’d guess maybe fifty miles or so. Not real sure. You’d know better than me. Why?”
“Wasn’t that where the refugee camp was?” She asked.
“From when this all started?”
“Yeah, look.” She pointed at the sign. “Evacuation. It’s pointing folks towards Birmingham. That seems so long ago. Do you think anything is left?”
“We could ride up there and find out.” Bridger said.
“Another sight seeing adventure.”
“If you want.”
“I’m not that interested.”
“I’m interested in what’s between here and there though. At least for a little way up the road. Keep an eye out.” He slipped the vehicle into gear and pulled onto the road.
“For what?” She asked.
“Anything.”
The weeds grew from the asphalt and the roots split it in spots. The rain washed some of the roadbed away as it wedged itself in the cracks the weeds made. Voids formed under the surface as the water displaced some of the substrate and slowly absorbed into the soil. The asphalt on top sank into the voids forming potholes all along the road. Most were small but a few had managed to wash away enough to be avoided. Bridger steered around the holes and between the few abandoned cars that blocked one lane or the other.
They topped the hill and could see the next exit sign. It was covered in graffiti. Mostly fervent pleas for help but messages for lost loved ones too.
“Caleb come to Woody’
s”
