"keep the door open. got more coming" I say over my shoulder, while already moving back to the cars.
Eve watches as I walk past her on my way back to the Humvee. She quickly falls into step beside me and starts assisting in the unloading. Before long all the remaining guards of the hospital team have joined in. I guess no one wants to hear the the nightmare we all lived through and rather be busy. We make quick work with the unloading. While Owen fills in the town on the events that occurred and why only half of us came back. Not a single dry face in the crowd.
After the unloading is complete I find myself walking alone to the town hotel. An empty house used for those of us who live outside of the neighborhood and need a place when here overnight. Pretty much only myself, Amanda and Peter use it. I grab a bucket of cold water and begin scrubbing myself clean as if I could wash away the horrors of the day. I'm not sure how much time passes before a knock on the door snaps me back to the present time.
"James, You in there?" Sarah's voice comes through the door.
A quick look at the window shows the sun is setting.
"I'll be right out," I say quickly, grabbing the bucket and pouring the rest of the water over my head rinsing off my body. I use my hands to squeegee the water off myself before grabbing the towel and wrapping it around me. Opening the door to Sarah.
"What's up?" I ask.
"What's up? people have been looking for you. I've been looking for you for almost two hours now" she answers sternly. "You just disappeared"
"It's fine. Did Doc look through the meds yet? Did we get enough?" I ask? changing the topic.
"Huh? I don't know they don't tell me anything around here" she responds.
"Hurry up and put some clothes out, dinner is already being served." She gives me a playful up and down look while I stand there in just a towel. Grinning she leaves the room. I put on fresh clothes ending with a zipper sweater to keep the evening chill off. As I head to the town center to catch up and see what I've missed out on during the last couple of hours. The walk is short but gives me time to ponder how normal I feel. After so much death in such a short time I expect to be depressed or emotional in some way. But mostly I'm just tired, tired but otherwise normal. The idea of being desensitized to death in this new world terrifies me.
Stew and rolls are served for dinner tonight. The stew's made from meat scavenged together from MRE's. The bread rolls are made fresh daily thanks to a massive stockpile of flour scavenged. The flour was gathered during the early days with Owen and his men. I scarf my food down only now realizing I haven't eaten since breakfast. Food was forgotten in all the excitement of impending death looming over me most of the day. Wiping the crumbs off my face I scan my eyes through everyone looking for the doc. Finding neither Him, Owen or Sarah I head to the medical house to visit Adam. At his side is Amanda who has barely left his bed side and looking for an excuse to stay close became Doc's assistant.
"How is he?" I ask.
"No change but Doc got him and everyone else started on antibiotics. He says we should see improvement in a day or two." She responds with a cheery smile.
"That's great. Did he mention if we got enough antibiotics for everyone?"
"We have meds to spare he said"
Looking at my feet I respond. "Good. I just came by to check on Adam. I'll check back tomorrow. Thanks"
Leaving the house I head back over to the food grabbing extra rolls to stuff my face with washing it down with a cup of tea. Finding a corner on the perimeter. I bring a chair from the fold-out tables that are brought out for shared meals. I take a seat and watch the folks of this three street neighborhood that we call a town. It seems to be getting smaller at a rapid pace these days. And I just can't see any way we survive long term. Maybe those we've lost so far are the lucky ones. To be away from the daily struggle of surviving. I sit back examining the people. Not a single person tonight doesn't feel the weight of the world on their shoulders. Some time passes as I'm lost in thought. The crowd thinning out more and more. When only a few stragglers are left a hand falls onto my shoulder startling me.
"Getting late. Want to walk me home?" Sarah asks with a grin.
"Yeah I can do that, but I'm not tucking you in," I say with a bit of levity in my voice.
"Tuck my damn self in ya grumpy bastard" she hmphs at me.
We chuckle together as I link her arm through my own and together we move off towards the house.
#
As I awaken I'm blinded from the sun streaming through the bedroom windows. The light prevents me from getting any further sleep this morning. The light manages to fall right across my face no matter the position. The only option to keep light off my face being to cover myself with the blankets but then it becomes stifling . Instead I grunt while throwing the covers off and getting out of bed. Relieving myself behind the house. I turn my sights to town proper and head off in a quick walk. I'm looking forward to a breakfast of leftovers from last night's dinner. After breakfast I move up the street back to the medical house. Inside I find Adam alone and awake sipping from a glass of broth. Noticing me walk in he quickly swallows his mouth full. He grimaces as he does so burning himself on the still steaming broth.
Sucking air through pursed lips before saying to me "Shit that's hot."
I laugh. "How are you feeling these days?"
I know he literally only got his first dose of the needed medicine yesterday evening. And there is no possibility he's feeling better yet. But it's what you say when visiting someone in the hospital or a makeshift one. He looks as bad as he did a week ago. He's covered in a sheen of sweat with a pallid face and a sickly underweight look about him.
"Same as yesterday and the day before. Spent half the night sitting on the loo and holding a bucket in front of me as my life squirts from every hole on my body."
I cringe "I did not need to know all that."
Adam laughs. "Yeah well, now you know." He closes his eyes for a moment taking a deep breath. "Anyways Doc says I should start feeling better in a day or two. Thanks to the medicine you guys managed to get from the hospital. Also told me about the trouble you ran into. A damn zombie swarm, it's unbelievable"
"Yeah, I know. This also rules out the theory of zombies starving to death. Turns out we've all been lucky or they froze all winter and thawed out with the rising temps."
"If that's the case this place may not be as safe as we thought." Owen's voice cuts into the conversation. He steps from around the corner coming to Adam's bedside. "And with less than twenty guards now. We don't have the manpower to guard the place as it is. And now we need to be more vigilant than ever."
"So what do we do about it?" Adam asks. "Do we find a new place to call home, one that has walls?"
"I don't know" Owen spits out quickly.
"We have three streets here. A lot of ground to cover but what about building walls? I know of an area where all the houses have those iron fences. Of course, we can hit up lumber yards or hardware stores." I say thinking of the neighborhood from our bandit friends. From seemingly a lifetime ago but really only a couple of months have passed since.
"Whatever we decide. We don't need to do it right now." He responds.
He starts to walk away but stops and turns back to Adam and me.
"At sundown, everyone will be gathering in the town center to honor those we've lost. We're going to have a bonfire and a bit of a feast to go with it." He says before leaving.
Adam breaks the ensuing silence. "Maybe the farm isn't so safe anymore? It doesn't have walls or fences either"
"You're not wrong but we can't really leave. We're only weeks away from planting. All our plans revolve around being able to farm and grow food." I shake my head as I speak.
"That's true but you don't need to necessarily live at the farm." He emphasizes the word live.
"You might be right. Let's wait and see what Owen and the rest decide on first though." We switch to less life ending topics. He informs me Amanda has decided to m
ove into the town and work full time with Doc as an apprentice to learn from him. Adam intends on staying at the farm with Sarah and me working on the farm and fishing.
Leaving Adam after spending the morning in conversation my next stop is lunch. Every man is left to his or her own designs for lunch. Which means I make my way over to the supply house and snatch up some bread and a can of ravioli. I don't bother with heating it. I just dig straight into it from the can.
The rest of the day I spend in bed reading one of the many books in the house. For the fourth time this apocalypse I'm rereading "The Hobbit". Having so little ways to pass the time and I haven't seen Sarah all day. Amanda is working in the clinic. Adam holed up in bed and with the cloud of despair hanging over everyone. I'm happy to spend my time alone with a good book. When finally the sun begins to fall and the daylight fades away through the bedroom window. I close my book and prepare to head to the memorial.
Looks like everyone beat me here and with good reason. Stowed away in bed word never reached me that they were pulling out all the alcohol. A table set up along the edge of the intersection is filled to the brim with bottles. Bottles of every type of liquor you can think of. Under and around the table on the ground stood case after case of beer. Wasting no time I help myself to a wheat beer and mingle with the crowd. I don't have to wait very long for the feast to start either. The feast looks to be made up of the last of the fresh supplies. Canned ham, vegetables, corned beef hash, and Baked beans. The highlight would be the canned tuna mixed with flour and fried into tasty little tuna patties. Before the outbreak, I would have laughed at the odd assortment of foods. Now it's the most delicious thing my eyes have ever fallen upon. For dessert, there is a mixture of Pudding and jello flavors. A dozen pumpkin pie looking dishes that don't quite have the texture or flavor of pumpkin pie but are dang close.
Adam, Amanda, and Sarah join me during the feast. Amanda and Sarah joining in on all the food. Adam content with the broth that doesn't immediately come back up. While we're all eating Owen addresses us all.
"Tonight we honor and remember our fallen sisters. But we've had enough heartbreak. So we remember through a celebration of their lives. A celebration we're still here and able to live the life they sacrificed to secure." He pauses looking around at everyone "Tonight we party!" He reaches his hands up where everyone can see. Popping the tab on the beer in his hands he proceeds to chug it in full. The gathered townsfolk cheer in unison. Chugging their own drinks and continuing with their meals.
It's a long night and not a single person remains sober save for the sick such as Adam. Many of the people give toasts and tell stories of friends and loved ones they've lost. Giving their thanks through drinks and laughs. Some sip their drinks, Some pour out a drink. And others chug like they are trying to test the limits of what the human body can tolerate. Before succumbing to alcohol poisoning. Amanda shares stories of Olivia. Adam shares stories of his parents. And I speak of the guard and the survivors that gave me a home and a community. When I thought there was nothing left in this world but death. The sun is coming up before Sarah and I stumble our way back to the house we use while in town. It takes several minutes and a lot of leaning on each other for support. We are able to make it up the single flight of stairs to the second floor and the bedrooms. I manage to fall into bed next to Sarah while trying to turn around and head to my own room. She takes the opportunity to lay her head on my chest. Saying nothing, I kick off my shoes, get comfortable and fight the urge to throw up. The room spins for what feels like hours until finally, I pass out and get some rest.
#
Chapter 21
The days after the hospital visit rush by in a hurry. Sarah is working with Judy who was a farmer before the outbreak happened. The two of them along with a handful of others are planning what crops to plant and where to plant them. They ultimately decide to plant everything in a centralized farm. And create sections for the different crops. Owen begins sending out scavenging teams again but they are small now and only one team per day gets sent out. The new priority is now finding a new place to live. A place with walls or fences for defense. Enough room for everyone and for population growth. And enough land to use for growing food or raising animals, especially chickens. Being near to the river would also be a huge benefit but easily defended is the largest need. Run ins with zombies are definitely increasing as the days grow warmer. During the middle of winter, we could go weeks without seeing any. Now we see them almost every excursion that's made. No swarms thankfully, but the town and guard need to be more vigilant than ever. A few have even managed to wander their way to town. The guard's made quick quiet work of them but word got around and tensions are at an all-time high.
Today is a warm sunny spring morning. Eve, Alan and I are loading up some food and extra gas into the Humvee. As we prepare to spend the day scavenging supplies and searching for a new home.
" Your goal today is finding a new home for us. Don't pass up any obvious supplies but don't go out of the way either." Owen says to us as we load the vehicle.
"You Got it boss," Alan responds sharply.
The three of us climb into the Humvee. Alan starts the engine and rolls the window down.
"Careful out there," Owen says as Alan begins driving out of the intersection away from the little town.
"Alright, folks any ideas? Following the river hasn't been helpful so far." Alan asks Eve and me.
"What about we head further out into the suburbs? There is a car plant on the east side of town. Certainly wouldn't be comfortable but it has walls at least." I say
"Worth a look," Alan says turning toward the west. "Know the way there?"
I answer "Afraid not"
"That's not very helpful, " He comments back.
We drive in silence for a few hours heading west then driving aimlessly through the suburb neighborhoods. Unable to find the factory we give up and begin heading south of town after we finish with lunch. As we're heading to the highway on-ramp.
"What about that place?" I say suddenly, pointing to what looks to be a school with a large fenced in the field behind it. "looks like a school."
"A school?" Eve asks, amused .
"Why not? walls, room, and a fenced football field that can be used for farmland?"
"Might not be a bad idea?" Alan muses aloud.
Slowing the car down and turning into the lot of the school. He drives to the back of the building and through the entrance of the field. Getting out of the car I walk onto the track circling the football field. I reminisce of my old track and field days. Feeling the spring of the rubber material of the track brings a nostalgic smile to my face. Remembering the better days of my youth. The hours spent suffering, running four hundred meter repeats. Should have been classified as torture. But damn did they have results and more so than the vomiting that would join those sessions.
Eve smacks me across the back of the head. "What could you be daydreaming about?" she asks.
"Hmm oh, I don't know. I'm Just thinking of the old days. Thinking it'd be nice to be able to run again and with the help of a track. I could plan out my distances too since GPS watches aren't a thing anymore"
"Running for your life isn't enough?" Alan cuts in with a gleeful grin on his face.
"Anyways you do have a point. A safe place for fitness could be good for morale and the field for crops could work. Let's go check out inside and see what we have to work with." Alan says
We test every door on the exterior of the building. We find them all to be locked and we're left with breaking in as our only option. Taking the butt of her rifle Eve tries to break a window on the back of the building that overlooks the track. The gun bounces off harmlessly with a thud. She tries again with the same end result.
"Move!" Alan says giving just enough time for Eve to get out of the way before he hurls a cinder block at the window." The block goes right through the window with a loud shattering. Glass splattering over the ground.
"Well if ther
e are zombies they'll find us now," I say offhandedly.
Eve clears out glass along the base with the butt of her rifle. Before heading over to the car. She grabs a thick blanket to lay over the base of the window as protection from the glass so we can climb over safely. We climb in and find ourselves in the typical elementary classroom. Teachers desk in the corner, Chalkboard on the wall, a door in the other corner and rows of school desks. We don't bother searching the room other than to confirm no zombies or bodies are around. We move into the hall where we find a short hallway with doors on either side leading into the various classrooms. Searching the building we find exactly what we expected. Mostly classrooms. A few offices for staff. A Nurse's office, a small gym without the weight room as I was hoping for, and finally the lunchroom. The lunchroom reeks of rotten milk and food. After an extensive search, we head back out to the vehicle propping open the backdoor as we exit.
"This could work," I say
Alan nods in agreement "Mark it on the map so we can find our way back. We still have several hours of light lets keep looking."
"What else are we going to find that's better than this?" I ask
"Won't know till we find it" He answers with a shrug.
"Hey, guys" Eve's voice cuts in. "This is a pretty standard school right?"
"Yeah?" Alan asks with a confused look.
"So most schools would be similar right?"
I share a look with Alan who shrugs and mouths 'I don't know' to me.
"What's your point Eve?" I ask.
"Well first off you guys are idiots. Secondly, if all schools are the same. Then why don't we find other schools? bigger ones even or closer to the river?"
My eyes widen as the grin spreads across my face.
"Or a college?" I say with inspiration.
"Yes!" Eve responds excitedly.
"The library, multiple buildings including dorm rooms. Dedicated gyms and plenty of land to do with as we please. It could be perfect!" I say looking at Alan .
"There is a university north of town. It has everything but water. I'd guess it's a fifteen or twenty-minute walk to the river" Eve says.
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