Our Dead Bodies [Anthology]

by Wright, Jerry

  He’d been raised on a small farm, and he’d hunted year round, his father not particularly concerned with the seasons and their farm remote enough that it didn’t matter. Somewhere along the way they’d procure more ammunition and some livestock, maybe some seed to get started. It would be a hard life but it would be a good life. It would be a hell of a lot better than life as it was now. He didn’t want the confrontation now. Already, Frank seemed too needy. They’d develop two routes to the supposed hospital in Canada and then Hal just wouldn’t show up. It was the best course of action.

  Best course of action.

  He felt oppressive guilt pushing down on him. Jesus. Best course of action? He looked at Frank and then stood up. “We should stick together,” he said. Frank looked surprised. “It’s riskier in a lot of ways but neither of us have as much of a chance alone.” He paused and then added. “I don’t think there’s a hospital but we can find somewhere, pick up supplies along the way and start a life somewhere. We’ll head that direction but let’s not tell them we’re heading toward a cure.”

  “They don’t deserve hope?”

  The words hurt. Hal sighed and said, “They deserve hope, hope for what’s possible.” He started to walk away but instead sat back down. “But they don’t deserve to be disappointed again when it doesn’t happen.”

  Frank looked like he was going to reply but then his wife stepped onto the backyard carrying a bottle. It took a moment to see what it was. Whiskey, Irish whiskey. Hal raised an eyebrow. Clearly, at the end of the world, the most important issues were food, shelter, and water. Nevertheless, he hadn’t found it all that surprising that the first thing that disappeared with all the looting was the booze. The beer and wine followed shortly thereafter. You could run across a bottle of beer or wine now and again but it was all but unheard of to find the good stuff. Sure, people made homemade brews and there was always shine available but it wasn’t grain based and was risky and likely laced.

  Lori followed Frank’s wife, and she held two cups in her hands. She handed them to Frank. Frank’s wife had to adjust her plans so it took her a moment to change course and hand the bottle to Hal. He thanked her and realized he didn’t know her name. “Frank,” he said. “My wife’s name is Lori. My daughter is Kaylee.”

  Frank said, “She’s not my wife. I mean, she is but we never made it official. I call her my wife and she calls me her husband but I had a modest inheritance, a trust fund back in college. We would have lost the income if I were married. So… well, we never got around to making it official even though it’s been… God. Why the hell didn’t I just take her to the courthouse and…”

  His voice trailed off and Hal took a breath. “Things aren’t over, Frank. You can still marry her.”

  Hal watched Clara bend over toward Frank. Clara, damn it. Her name was Clara. “Clara.” The woman slowly pulled away from Frank and Hal said, “I remember your name now.”

  It took a while for her to smile but she did. Then, she tried to speak. Hal was patient but Frank seemed embarrassed. He started to say something but Hal held up a hand. “I read somewhere that when someone stutters or has a stroke you can’t finish for them. I know this isn’t the same thing but maybe it feels the same way for Clara.” Frank nodded and Hal quickly added, “Or for Lori or Kaylee.”

  Clara tried again and after an eternity got out the word more. Frank and Hal waited but she was done and she was smiling. Frank asked softly, “More what?”

  Lori answered. “Bar,” she said. “Whole bar.” Hal thought she spoke more quickly than she had in a while and he smiled broadly. She smiled back. Clara smiled as well. They seemed proud about their discovery, and Hal wondered at a world thrown back a hundred years or more where nonetheless, the discovery of spirits was a fabulous thing.

  He smiled at the two of them. “Do you two want to get glasses?” Lori looked surprised and he said, “I think it will be fine. No interactions with the drugs and alcohol isn’t going to spread any infection.” He smiled again. “Just one glass, though.” Lori took Clara’s hand. He watched them slowly walk away and found it strange they could move with excitement but still move so slowly.

  “You think it’s an infection, then?”

  Hal shrugged. “I think I want my wife to feel normal.” He finished skinning the second goat and said, “Can you see if there’s a shovel or something? We should bury the skins and the entrails. Just in case there are any of them around.”

  Frank nodded and stood. By the time he returned, the wives were back with glasses. Hal stood and said, “Frank and I need to clean up. How about you pour the drinks.” He purposely didn’t open the bottle and took Frank a short distance away, dragging the skins and the entrails atop them with him. Frank dug and Hal said, “Lori likes to do things even if it takes a long time. I think she’s getting faster, too.”

  “She’s getting better?”

  Hal nodded. “Yeah, I think so. Use it or lose it, maybe.”

  ***

  By the time they finished with the two new skins and the one from earlier, the women had glasses full and waiting. Everyone also had a plate of stewed goat and Kaylee ate inside. Hal sat next to Lori and kissed her cheek. Frank seemed surprised but he leaned over and kissed Clara as well. Hal saw movement and panic welled up for a moment but it was Kaylee, stepping closer and then making her slow way to Hal and Lori. He kissed her cheek as well and said, “It’s time for bed, little one.” She groaned but then simply lay at his feet and closed her eyes. He smiled and shrugged and then took a sip of his whiskey.

  Heaven.

  Jesus. How long had it been? He drank bourbon, sometimes Tennessee, but he didn’t like Irish whiskey. It just didn’t go down as smoothly as bourbon. Hate was probably too strong a term but he’d skipped the hard stuff altogether if his preference wasn’t available.

  But it tasted like Heaven nonetheless. It burned nicely going down and he savored it but then noticed the carcasses of the goats on the porch. “We’ll have to limit it to one drink until we can get those processed. I think we might have to smoke them.”

  Lori touched his hand and he turned his head. She took a long time to form words but she finally managed to say, “RV.”

  Hal nodded and said, “We don’t have it anymore, Honey. We…” He trailed off because he was almost… it sure as hell seemed like she rolled her eyes. She smiled a half smile, a smile closer to one of her sardonic smiles from before. He suddenly wanted her again and he breathed in sharply. He fought back the emotions, though, and said. “Here. You mean there’s an RV here.” She nodded slowly. “Where?”

  She shrugged. It took a long time to figure out exactly what expression she tried to make but she shrugged. “Did you see an RV?” Hal asked.

  Her response came slowly but she said, “Clara.”

  Frank turned to Clara. “Did you see an RV?”

  Clara shook her head slowly and then said, “Come, follow…Nathan.”

  Nathan. Frank was Nathan. Hal smiled but didn’t say anything. Frank looked ashamed and then said, “Nathan is my middle name. What did she mean?”

  Hal said, “Ask her. She’s still Clara, Nathan.”

  He turned to his wife. “What do you mean?”

  Clara stood and motioned for him to follow. Frank stood and so did Hal. Lori smiled and said, “Kaylee.” She didn’t stand. Hal nodded and kissed her cheek. Clara turned around and began her slow walk back into the house. She led them through the kitchen and into a small adjoining room. The adjoining room had the bar, a beautiful oak bar someone sank a great deal of money into. He paused and looked behind it. Mostly glassware but five more bottles of Irish whiskey were in an open box. He saw a few mixers, a bottle of gin, and a half-open bottle of vodka.

  He put the gin in the empty slot in the case of whiskey and lifted it to the top of the bar. Lori stared disapprovingly at him, and he was almost too shocked by her ability to create the expression to protest. “Alcohol is antiseptic,” he said. “We may drink a little bit for s
pecial occasions but this is for medicine.” He was almost certain she rolled her eyes again but she did it with a smile. He sighed. “Clara, please show me the RV.”

  He followed slowly behind the women as Clara walked to a door, opened it, and then stepped out of the way. She took a great deal of time to gesture for him to look inside but he waited patiently. Lori was very far advanced compared to Clara. Perhaps Clara was simply advanced in the disease. He didn’t know. He nodded to her and stepped inside the room.

  It was a pantry, and it was remarkable because the pantry was full. There were canned goods as well as pasta and beans in canisters embossed with roses and grapes. There was even hot chocolate in a tin, and he wondered why nobody had looted the house. In fact, the house seemed pretty damned intact altogether, and that made no sense at all. He turned back to Clara and said, “This is good, really good. Why did you say RV, though?”

  She lifted her hand and Hal realized she was pointing. He’d grown accustomed to waiting for Lori or Kaylee to finish their words and gestures so the impatience that hit him suddenly was unexpected. He held on even though he had to clench his teeth to do so and when she stopped moving her hand he looked where she pointed. On the top shelf were RV supplies. There were cans of toilet treatment, rolls of tissue designed for portable toilets, and a few other odds and ends. There were also batteries, large batteries he assumed handled the RV auxiliary power. Clara hadn’t seen an RV. She’d seen evidence of one. That was inductive reasoning. That was remarkable.

  He turned. “This is a great discovery. The RV might be here and we’ll have to search the property. On the other hand, the people who lived here might have been traveling when… well, when everything happened.” Both women nodded and he made it official. Lori only took about two-thirds of the time to complete the affirmation as Clara took. He smiled and said, “Why don’t we finish our drinks and in the morning we can try to find the RV?”

  She nodded, and Hal thought perhaps she nodded more quickly than she had before.

  ***

  He made love to Lori again, this time in a king sized bed under dusty blankets but blankets still. He felt normal, and though he thought perhaps it was better because they’d broken the ice by the truck he suspected it was more than that. She was better. She’d been awkward before, physically awkward. She didn’t move like some kind of porn star now but she moved a hell of a lot faster than she had before. By the truck, she was like a virgin experiencing things for the first awkward time. Now, she was like a 1970s European soft core actress, moving slowly and gently but still actively participating. He held tightly to her afterward and then rolled over and she put one leg over him and her head on his shoulder.

  Like before.

  Like before everything.

  He stroked her back and realized she was crying softly. He lifted her head and kissed her. “We’re going to get through this,” he said. “We will.” She kissed him, on his mouth, and though it still took a while, she told him she loved him.

  She rolled off and though she was slow, she was still faster than before. He was certain of it. He watched her walk to the walk-in closet and open it. Kaylee lay there sleeping. Was it activity that did it? Was it like physical therapy? Maybe they could never get rid of the pink eyes but was it really something as simple as using it or losing it? He chuckled softly and Lori turned to look at him. He didn’t tell her he was considering marathon sex sessions as treatment. Instead, he told her he loved her and he was happy and that someday they would find a house like this where they could try to be normal. She smiled and came back to bed.

  In the morning, he was surprised to find Clara up and excited. Frank/Nathan was still asleep. Lori walked to Clara and hugged her, and Hal wondered if there was some kind of secret language the two shared. Did all of the infected share a language? He wondered why they didn’t attack each other, the ones who were far gone with the condition. He’d always assumed there was something in the disease, some pheromone or something. With the way the two interacted, though, he thought perhaps there was more. Finally, Lori let go and walked to Hank. Her expressions were definitely clearer. Were they? Was he too hopeful?

  She kissed him and said, “She found it.” He waited but that was it. She’d said the words and there was almost no delay. She seemed like she was on the brink of laughing at his shocked expression and she kissed him again. Her second sentence took much longer to get out. “Hurry before her boss wakes up.”

  He nodded and started toward Clara but then stopped. “Boss?”

  Clara looked a little embarrassed but from behind him, Lori giggled and it actually almost sounded like a giggle. He turned to look at her and the smile that greeted him was almost mischievous.

  ***

  The RV was a class C. They’d rented one every summer before Kaylee and then one week a year. This was a newer model. It was in something that looked like a barn, and it was hooked up, still plugged in and still connected to the sewer drain. Hal tried the driver’s door. It worked. The keys hung from the visor. He recognized the ignition keys but he also recognized the keys to all of the compartments along the side as well as the side door. He grabbed them and walked around. The side door was unlocked so he didn’t have to use the key. When he opened the door, a step slid out with an electric whirring sound. There was still power. He stepped inside. The thing was clean. Perfectly clean.

  Except for the dust.

  There weren’t any cobwebs but he could smell cedar and mothballs. He imagined the owners were in their fifties before everything fell apart. He imagined the husband was an engineer or something, someone who worked off checklists. Even the dust wasn’t that bad. He surveyed things. The stove was propane rather than electric. That was good. There was a bunk above the cab. A couch. It became a bed. The dining area sat four or five and it collapsed into a bed as well. He walked past the refrigerator and saw the shower and the bathroom. Good working order, it appeared. He opened the door beyond them and stared in at the master room. Again, it was very well kept. Only dust.

  Hall walked back out and tested the engine. Worked. He went back outside and opened each compartment in turn. The RV was stocked will all of the RV essentials. Flares, tool kit, first aid kit, spare bulbs, spare fuses. He was particularly happy to find a solar switch right next to the propane tanks. He climbed underneath. The propane tank was detachable. That was good. It was still fairly common to come across standard propane tanks with gas. It was near to impossible to find anywhere to fill them. He climbed into the driver’s seat and turned the key. He didn’t know why he found it so surprising that the RV worked but it worked. He saw there were two tanks and saw the thing ran on diesel. That would actually make things easier. There were far more abandoned trucks than cars. The gauge showed a full tank. He flipped a switch above it and the gauge fell to two-thirds of a tank. Two tanks. Good to know.

  He turned off the engine and said, “Your boss?”

  Clara looked embarrassed again and Hal realized she was probably twenty years younger than Frank. “Are you safe with him?” She nodded her head vigorously or at least as vigorously as she could and Hal nodded. “Okay. We have some work to do. Why don’t you two and Kaylee see about cleaning this up and then packing up the food and the supplies. He thought a moment and then said, “Hold on.” He drove forward and out of the barn. He turned off the engine again and then climbed out. He walked several yards away and caught the glint of panels on the roof. He made his way back, opened the compartment, and toggled the switch that initiated the solar power. Then, he climbed back into the RV and held his breath as he reached for a light switch.

  It worked.

  He sat down on the couch and tried to figure out how to handle things. He sure as hell wasn’t going to let Frank or Nathan or whatever the hell his name was drive the RV but that meant leaving his car behind and he wasn’t inclined to give up his car. It was a stupid vanity, sure, but it was still there. He sighed and considered just taking Lori and Kaylee and leaving. He wanted to
take Clara, too, imagined what it had to be like. The girl was probably in her very early twenties. She was probably eighteen or nineteen before she became infected, and that meant the asshole had been fucking a girl who was all but a child.

  Jesus. Was he just keeping her around for the guaranteed lay?

  He felt bile rising in his throat and leapt from the couch and out of the RV, retching horribly as he shot partially digested goat onto the grass. He stumbled farther away from the RV and that was when he saw the glint of metal against the side of the barn. He made his way over and then stopped a few yards away. There were two of them, obviously the owners of the RV. They screamed when they saw him and stretched their hands toward him but they were pinned down. Their throats had deteriorated enough that their screams were no more than raspy whispers.

  He stepped closer. It was hard to see exactly what had fallen on them but it looked like machined steel. A closer look told him it was almost like part of the frame of a pre-fabricated steel building. They were four or five yards from the side of the barn. He looked up. There were more of the steel frames on the roof of the barn. He still couldn’t see how it had worked to pin them but thought perhaps they’d climbed on the roof or something like that and fallen…no. It didn’t make sense. They were too old to climb. More likely an animal climbed on the roof at the wrong moment and a poorly balanced stack shifted.

  They were pinned opposite each other, and that made the situation even more tragic. Each had torn the flesh from the others legs. A goat skeleton lay next to the man as well. Hal sighed and reached for his gun.

  Damn.

  He made his way back toward the house and into the bedroom where he’d slept. He reached for the duffel bag but stopped when he saw movement. “I’m sorry,” Frank/Nathan said. “But I’m taking the RV. I’m taking it with Clara.” Hal turned his head slowly. The man had Hal’s gun.

  “Does Clara know about this?”

  “Wake up. Clara doesn’t know anything. None of them do.” The man gestured with the gun. Hal wasn’t sure if he knew how to use it but the man seemed comfortable with it in his hand. “We’re with walking vegetables. That’s it. They’re good for pussy and nothing else.” He paused and his smile almost made Hal sick again. “Good pussy, though. The best. They spread their legs when you tell them to and they don’t argue with you afterward. You know, Clara was a huge problem before all this happened. Now she knows her place.”