Turners | Book 2 | 90 Degrees

by Thomas, Ellis

  So, making a pretense of trimming a hangnail to avoid looking at Dale, Leo began.

  “Charles said eight townspeople were injured during the encounter last week, three very seriously and two turned and had to be destroyed.” He thought bringing up the catastrophic event of the previous week would be a good segue for him to break the news to Dale.

  They sat in silence for a moment then Leo decided to speak of what was on his mind.

  “Dale” he began not quite sure how to broach his subject. He decided to be blunt and get it over with. Dale would understand.

  “Suri and I’ve decided to leave Walters. I hope you understand that we need to see if there is a better place for our family. The girls are our priority.”

  The news hit Dale like a truck. The Patels had been a part of Walters for over 30 years. Leo and Suri’s families had vacationed there as they grew up. The two had met in Walters and when they married, Walters is where they opened their business and settled down to raise a family.

  As mayor, Leo had been practical and easy to work with. As friends, there relationship was deep. All of a sudden Dale felt sick but he didn’t want to make things harder for his friend than he knew they already were. Dale only wished he could leave the nightmare behind also.

  “I understand Leo. I’m going to sorely miss you though.” What else could he say?

  They talked a few more minutes, then Leo took his leave.

  When he had gone, Dale opened his drawer and took out the bottle of morphine tablets that Charles had given him.

  Waiting for the medicine to kick in and the pain to stop, he mentally started going over the previous week’s events. It seemed the obvious choice to get his mind off the hurt of losing one of his closest friends.

  Even though Leandra and Krista were the only ones that were left to coax people into stopping, he couldn’t blame her at all for deciding to leave, which is apparently what happened. It didn’t look as though she was forced into going and he knew she was miserable and lonely in Walters. Now, Carson would have the sole responsibility of catching donors.

  He was certain the people in the car that had taken Leandra, had thought they were being attacked and he couldn’t blame them either for the way they reacted. He did not expect to be set on fire though!

  With most of the young people gone and the others coping as best they could, Walters had fallen into ruin. As he waited for the drug to take effect, Dale allowed his mind to wander back to a time when it was a wonderful place to live and raise a family.

  The lazy summer days by the lake, fishing and camping, and children playing in the parks. Snuggling with Shar on wintery nights was what he missed most though. What he would give to just hold her in his arms again.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The few that stayed in Walters did so because someone they loved still recognized them with the spark of humanity that remained in them. You can’t terminate someone whose eyes are cognizant no matter how dead they might look.

  Then there was the horrible progressive decay. Dale had rot all over him now and the burning sensation throughout his body never completely went away. He blessed the doctor for providing the morphine and knew that Charles’ generosity with the drug did not extend to everyone else. The doctor and Marcia rationed the precious drugs with iron hands.

  Lately his beloved Shar had been avoiding him as much as was possible. With all of the misery in his life, it was nothing compared to the hurt he felt with her.

  Even so, he couldn’t bear the thought of permanently separating from her. He loved her so much and she was the only reason he kept going on. He needed to protect the place she called home.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Having finally spoken with Dale about their plans, Leo felt elated. They were finally leaving this forsaken place.

  Leo rode his bike up onto their driveway. Most of the healthy townspeople that were left had abandoned their cars for bikes. Gas was getting low and needed to be saved for absolute emergencies. ‘Suri will be happy to know we’re finally moving on.’

  His excitement at the thought of giving his family a new life mounted as he ran up the steps.

  Leo called out to Suri when he walked through the front door. “Suri, honey, I’m home and we’re free to go!”

  But instead of being greeted by his lovely wife, he heard muffled crying coming from the back rooms.

  Grabbing a poker from the fireplace, he rushed to where the sounds emanated.

  “No” he gasped when he saw Suri pushing against the door of his daughters’ room. He noticed the big gash on the side of her head but worse than that was the vacant stare of the dead in her eyes when she turned towards him.

  Confusion and questions filled his mind. Who had hit her and why?

  But Suri was coming for him now and he had to do something. The cries of his daughters quickly made up his mind.

  With tears blurring his vision, he lifted his poker and brought it down at the center of Suri’s head, cleanly splitting her skull. When Suri dropped so did Leo, absolutely broken hearted.

  Finally, the sobbing of his daughters brought him to his feet. Stepping over the body of his wife, he opened the bedroom door. His daughters, who were huddled in the farthest corner of their room, jumped up and ran to their father.

  Gathering them in his arms, he could only cry with them.

  Leo wasn’t sure how much time had passed had passed before he was able to compose himself enough to ask Krista what had happened.

  “Mama was in the kitchen cooking” she managed to get out between the sobs. “Sissy and me were playing our game when we heard mama yell out, so we ran to the kitchen. Mama was lying on the floor and there was blood. We tried to wake her up but she kept her eyes closed so we waited.” Then the uncontrollable sobbing returned.

  When Leo was finally able to quiet her down, she continued.

  “Papa, mama woke up and grabbed sissy and was trying to bite her! I put my foot on mama’s chest and pulled Sissy off and we ran to our room and closed the door. Mama has been trying to get us!” the young girl said with tears flowing.

  “You’re safe now sweetheart” was all Leo could say as he tried to soothe her and deal with his own grief and shock.

  Leo didn’t want his daughters to see their mother in the hall so he reassured them till they had calmed down.

  Not sure how much time had passed since Suri attacked them, he knew they would have turned by now. Still, they needed to be cleaned off just to make sure Suri hadn’t managed to bite or scratch them. Everyone is different so just because they hadn’t turned yet didn’t mean they wouldn’t.

  “Papa is going to get things to clean you up with right now so you two stay in here until I come and get you. Don’t be afraid, everything is ok now.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Leo closed the door behind him and looked down at his lost wife for a few moments then went to the kitchen to get some water and a clean cloth.

  It only took a few minutes to figure out the chain of events.

  Suri had been prepping vegetables for dinner and had apparently spilled water on the floor. Taking a step to get the towel off the counter, she had slipped. The blood on the corner of the granite island told the rest of the story. The impact must have instantly killed her.

  Leo went back to the girl’s room and closing the door to block the view of their mother, he began to gently wipe each of them down, scrutinizing their skin. He heaved a sigh of relief when he finished and had found no marks at all on them. Thinking about how boldly his Krista had reacted, fearlessly defending her younger sister, filled him with pride and reassured him that they would be all right.

  He put out clean clothes for them to change into and left them to dress.

  He covered Suri then cleaned up the mess and started putting together the things he and his daughters would need to survive. He just wanted to get away as fast as he could and was so glad that the conversation with Dale was behind him. Were it not, he might not have had the determi
nation Suri had infused in him.

  When everything was ready to go, Leo put his daughters in the front seat of the car and their few belongings in the back seat. Then he opened the trunk and went back into the house. Bending over Suri, he gently picked her up and carried her outside and placed her in the trunk. He then headed to the morgue. Leo only stopped once on the side of the road and got out to cry so the girls wouldn’t see him break down.

  Howi had become infected and had to be terminated months before, so after Leo had placed his Suri on one of the tables in the morgue’s prep rooms, he drove by the sheriff’s office to let Dale know what had happened and where she was so her body would be taken care of. He knew Dale would treat his Suri with respect.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Looking up when he heard the door open, Dale was surprised to see Leo back but the look on his friends’ face spoke volumes. His heart broke when Leo, with great difficulty, told his friend what had happened. Dale’s empathy had no bounds. At least he still had Shar to help bear the terrible situation they were in.

  Leo stood up. “The girls and I are leaving now.”

  “Don’t worry Leo. I’ll take care of Suri.”

  Thanking his friend, Leo walked away and Dale saw what was left of his world and his life, fragment a little more.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Making his way to the morgue, Dale could only obsess on the constant torment he was in. Taking his own life would be a cardinal sin in his mind but it didn’t stop him from praying that God would end it for him. As bad as his biological situation was, his greatest torment was emotional. Keeping Shar tied to him or sending her away was a constant tug of war in his mind and heart. He loathed himself for subjecting her to the horrible smell and visual assault of his condition and for not taking the same precautions as Carson had.

  At the same time though, he hadn’t thought much would come from the chemical dusting. At best, it would give immunity, and at its worst, nothing at all. He never imagined this nightmare would be the end result. Then there was the continual loss of flesh. What would he eventually wind up being? An animated skeleton?

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Taking care of Suri was almost more then he could bear. Next to Carson and Charles, she and Leo were the last close friends that he and Shar had.

  Still, he was grateful that he could perform this last kindness for his friend.

  His mind flooded with memories and he allowed tears to flow freely in the isolated place. His sight was blurred from the flood of tears. So many losses were unbearable. It was only his memory of the building’s layout that kept him from bumping into the walls on his way to the prep room with Suri.

  Once there, he assembled the cremation box and laid Suri’s body in it, covering her face as a final show of respect.

  Then he sealed the lid.

  He pushed Suri’s body onto the conveyor belt that would draw her into the retort where her body would be reduced to ashes.

  About half way through he checked the viewer and was satisfied that Suris’ body was properly taken care of and then left since everything was automated.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Dale had spent a lot of nights at the jail to give Shar a break and a little space. This day had been a rough one though and he desperately wanted his wife’s company. He needed to hear her voice and look at her lovely face.

  As he rounded the corner, he was surprised to see Leo’s car in the driveway. Hope filled him at the thought that Leo had changed his mind. He got out of the car almost before it had stopped, anticipating the good news that was waiting for him behind the door.

  Inside, Leo and his two daughters were sitting on the couch. Shar met him at the door.

  “Hello dear” she greeted him. Even with the mottling in his face, she could see his puzzlement at seeing Leo there.

  “Hi hon. What’s going on?” Then turning to Leo, he said “I thought you were leaving. Did you change your mind?”

  Leo stood up. “Dale, I stopped by with the girls to say goodbye to Shar.”

  Shar broke in then. She needed to be the one to tell Dale.

  “Dale, I’ve decided to leave with Leo and the girls. With Suri gone he will need the help and as much as I love you Dale,” she caught her breath as the tears started flowing. “I can’t live like this anymore.”

  Dale wanted more than anything to grab her and just hold her but his condition made it impossible without making the situation worse. Instead he just stood in front of her, unable to move or speak.

  While he was amazed she had stayed as long as she did, he was stunned that she was really leaving.

  “Dale”, Shar began but couldn’t find the words that would ease the situation or change her mind. She finally just said “I’m so sorry Dale” and went to her bedroom.

  Leo sat on the couch uncomfortably while they waited for Shar to return.

  “I want you to know, I didn’t prompt Shar nor suggest this in any way. I had no idea she had been thinking about leaving. All I can tell you now is that I will do my best to look after her.”

  When Shar came out, she had one suitcase carrying her essentials. She went to Dale and gently touched the sleeve of his shirt.

  With tears in her eyes, she simply said “Goodbye, Dale” and walked out of his life. Leo’s daughters said their goodbyes as they passed him and went out the front door behind Shar.

  Then it was Leo’s turn to walk out the door.

  Dale stood in his living room, suddenly, utterly and completely alone.

  35 Peace

  Months had passed since Leo and Shar had left. Carson had stayed only for Dale’s sake.

  Then Carson woke up one morning and knew he was finished. He had to leave Walters and this was going to be the day.

  He showered and packed, then headed to the sheriff’s office.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Dale looked up when Carson walked through the door. Something was different about him but Dale couldn’t decide what it was.

  “Dale,” Carson began, “I can’t do this anymore. I hate to abandon you but I have to go.”

  He was much more abrupt than he had intended but he was at a loss as to how to put it gently. It was what it was.

  ‘Not you too’ thought Dale but he was grateful that Carson had stayed as long as he had and didn’t want to make it any harder for him than it obviously was.

  Instead, resigned to the inevitable, he said, “I can’t blame you, Carson. I was wondering how much longer you would be able to hold out. This town is dead. You should try to find a place that still has life in it. It has to be out there somewhere.”

  Dale was glad he had responded the way he did when he saw the look of relief that spread uncontrollably over Carson’s face.

  “Thank you for understanding Dale” Carson said as his face flushed with relief. “I’ll never forget the friend that you’ve been.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The living hell that was Dale’s world was now void of all tenderness or hope. Day by day, the only distraction was waiting for a car to come up the lonely road and making sure it did not just pass through Walters without a donation. Dale had set up road blocks to stop or delay people and with the help of the handful of residents that were left, stopped them. The shock of a Turner holding a gun always gave him the edge.

  He made sure no one left without donating as much as they could to Walter’s cause, either once or permanently. But as travelers became scarce, the relief for the afflicted disappeared.

  The jail had been full but as the town lost its citizens, so did the source for cultivating gardens. Dale had let the detainees that had been incarcerated the longest, leave and held onto those they could not do without.

  In time, as Dales mind deteriorated, even those had managed to escape.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The day came when the blood and the drugs ran out and the handful of remaining healthy residents left with their infected family members or friends in the hopes of finding out if there was somewhere t
hat might have the cure they desperately needed.

  Those who dwelled in the twilight world were a two edged sword. While they were miserable to be around because of their smell and appearance, they could also go into infested areas and scavenge for food and other necessities where the healthy would not dare go.

  The healthy companions had field transfusion kits so they could donate on the road. It was a truly symbiotic relationship.

  One year after Shar left with Leo, Dale found himself completely alone in the town that was his paradise at one time. Everyone had left or died.

  The days passed slowly and Dale continued to decompose.

  Then one day his life changed.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  He was in the hospital looking for missed drugs to kill the pain when it was suddenly over.

  He heard a noise behind him and turning around, he didn’t hear the blast, only the darkness as his head exploded.

  “That was strange” Max said, “I never saw one quite like that. If I didn’t know better, I would say it was actually looking for something.”

  “I wonder if they’re changing. That’s the second one I’ve seen that seemed, well, kinda like it could think” mused Jennings.

  “Must be our imagination man” Max decided. “We’ve seen thousands and they definitely don’t think. They just walk until they bump into something.”

  “Ahh, there’s nothing here. Waste of time. Let’s check the grocery store” Jennings suggested and they left the hospital.