Doyle had been a friend of her boyfriend’s best friend. They had hung out a little, but she hadn’t felt that instant spark as she had with Kyle, as she thought she had with Wes. But in the end, he had been the one. Nearly a year after they had first met, they were supposed to meet up with some friends at the local pool hall. Their mutual friends hadn’t shown, and they had agreed to play a few rounds together since they were both there. From that day, they were nearly inseparable.
She didn’t believe her heart could love another person the way she had loved him. He had been her complete opposite but a perfect match for her. Pulling herself out of this thought process, she turned her attention back to the people in her kitchen.
Loui’s eyes had brightened at the suggestion, as did Vera’s. Quickly averting his eyes to Wes before Vera could see the delight in them, he asked if the other man would agree to that. He did, but he opted to stay behind, in case their cargo was too much for four people to fit into the plane. They also decided that they would go somewhere close to insure that their travel time was minimal.
He was staying, was what her mind kept telling her and it completely tuned out the rest of the discussion.
-----
Vera must have been a lucky ticket for them because they came back from that short trip with a huge surprise.
They never let on that the trip had been different from any of the others. On the two occasions that they had radioed in when they were on their way home, they had made no mention of anything out of the ordinary, not even when they radioed in their ETA.
Nearly everyone was sitting on the front porch watching Caleb play with his outdoor toys when they pulled up. Well, nearly everyone, Lydia and the baby were inside out of the cool November air. It was really too cold for Caleb to be out, but Eve didn’t like keeping him inside so much.
William had gone hunting for some kind of meat to cook for the Thanksgiving Dinner. Though this side of deer, there wasn’t much else out there. For some reason, deer had been one of the few animals not affected much by the sickness. Their numbers had diminished by it but not as bad as the rest of the creatures that walked the earth. Only about a quarter of the births failed, which had let their population grow rapidly.
During the last month, the guys had found a second cow, some chickens, a couple of cats that refused to stay anywhere near the house except to get food, three pigs, but no turkeys. They really didn’t want to slaughter any of the pigs because they had two females and one male and William was convinced that one of the females was pregnant. They would wait until they knew the babies would survive and until they had plenty of pigs before they started eating them. Even though they had a good number of chickens, they didn’t have enough to risk cooking any of them, either.
Wes had offered to go with him, but Will wanted to do it alone. Lydia told Wes that it wasn’t anything personal. It was just that Will liked hunting alone because he didn’t go just for food. He also went to get some quiet alone time. Eve, Lydia, and Vera didn’t quite understand this, but Wes apparently did and didn’t push the subject.
Every few weeks he would go out on his own looking for animals, any kind of animals. Amidst his little adventures, he found a dog that, like the cats, hardly came around and two horses, a male and female, which would be great once they started breeding. They kept all of the animals locked up on a farm right outside of town.
Aside from Will’s alone time, the day was otherwise a normal one for the little group. Therefore, the surprise of seeing a new face was quite a shock.
Caleb pointed up at the plane as it flew over. Shortly after that, Vera radioed in when they landed. Caleb jumped off his swing when the truck pulled up in front of the house and no one was suspicious that anything was out of the ordinary.
The surprise was a young girl who Eve thought looked to be about fourteen or fifteen, but in all actuality was eighteen. The child was petite, blonde, with hazel eyes that looked up at Eve with extreme nervousness as she got out of the back seat of the car. Vera went to the young girl’s side to give her some reassurance.
“You guys came back rather quickly,” Eve noted, carrying Caleb over to see his Aunt. He had grown overly attached to Vera so when she went with Loui and Antonio, he had spent the two days being solemn and sad. Vera took him from Eve, showering him with kisses.
“Caleb, I want you to meet someone. Wendy this is Caleb, Eve, and Wes.” Wendy stared at Caleb with wide-eyed wonder, and jumped when Lydia came out with a fussing Delia.
“I was just about to ask Eve where you guys were,” Vera said, turning to watch Lydia walk to the truck.
“It is just me and the baby. William went hunting. Did you find someone?”
“Yeah, this is Wendy.”
Introductions were made and accommodations were set up. It was obvious, as tight as Wendy was holding on to Vera that she wasn’t going to let Loui or Eve have the woman back for a long time. Vera took it well, always smiling, never complaining about the death grip the child had placed around her arm. Vera would be her lifeline for as long as the little blonde girl needed her to be. She remembered wanting to be the same way with Eve, when she first met her. In many ways, she was, but she was sure she had never been this clingy. She wouldn’t allow herself to show that much fear. But the girl had been younger than her, and had been alone a lot longer. They were all surprised that she had lived as long as she had.
-----
That Thanksgiving was the largest any of them had seen in the past three years. Eve loved to cook, and she tried making them the biggest meal she possibly could. They had roasted potatoes, a stir-fry mix of vegetables, a number of different canned meats (which they were going to have to enjoy while they lasted because they were slowly expiring), and a couple of different cakes and pies that were already premixed.
It wasn’t until a few weeks later that Vera managed to get Wendy’s story out of her. Vera was almost the only person Wendy would speak to. Not that she was scared of everyone, not anymore at least, she was just a private person who had decided that Vera was the one person she liked and trusted and that was who she spent most of her time with. Vera had taken her on a tour through the town, showing her all of the things they had been doing.
They had started building a couple of green houses in order to grow foods that would normally never grow in the area. Foods like grapes, oranges, bananas. They had turned the power back on in one of the smaller grocery stores and were trying to stock pile food that they found in homes and other stores in one place.
“It is actually easier than it sounds. All it is, is a constant shifting of things around to make room for the things we bring in. Then we have to make sure to keep them in order by their expiration dates. You would be surprised at the food we have found. The Hydro plant supplies power to most of the North West section of the state and we have found things in people’s freezers that you wouldn’t believe, some of it edible, some not,” Vera explained.
“Whose idea was all of this?”
“Most of it is Eve’s. This is her town. She has spent the most time trying to survive here. Most of the ideas she has come up with on her own. Some she got from the military officers stationed here. That is where the idea for the cleaning crew came from. Did they have that in your town?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Well it is what she, Will, the guys, and I do when we go out during the day. We look for bodies, food, animals, and supplies. When we are through with a home we lock it up and turn off the power.”
Vera continued her ramble, telling her about the town, how she got there, and what happened to her before and during the sickness. After she finished, Wendy willingly told Vera her own story.
-----
“I was fifteen when the world crumbled. I was never one to watch or pay attention to the news, so I was somewhat blind at first to what was happening. My parents always talked over me; therefore, I learned to ignore them when they began to talk about things I didn’t understand.
“My brother, Trey, became ill in the beginning of February; he was the first in my family. He was five, and he had gotten the chicken pox from a kid at school. My parents had threatened to sue the doctor when he died from them. They didn’t get the chance. The doctor passed away two weeks after Trey did.
“My mother was the next to pass. She was out in her garden pulling weeds, getting it ready for the upcoming spring. She cut her hand on a pair of clippers. Dad couldn’t stop the bleeding. He rushed her to the hospital, but they were so full she died right there in the waiting room. Dad told me later that a military officer came up to him shortly after she died, asked him her name and social, and told him where he could take her body for incineration.
“He called me on his way home, told me to put my little sister to bed, and to meet him in the garage with mom’s favorite church dress, the biggest bed sheet I could find, and some needle and thread. I did as he said. When he pulled up, mom was lying across the backseat. She looked so peaceful. She looked as if she was asleep. I thought she was asleep. Dad got out of the car and stood on the other side looking at me, not in the car at mom. I asked if she was sleeping, he said no, but that I should trick my mind into believing she was.
“I changed her clothes and sewed her up in a light purple flowery sheet, while my dad dug a grave in the corner of the backyard. Mr. James, one of neighbors, came out for a smoke as we were carrying her from the garage to the hole. He didn’t say anything; he just came over and took my place in carrying her. He stayed and helped dad cover her up.
“Dad and I found him the following week. We put him next to mom on his side of the fence. He and Mrs. James had never had children, and Mrs. James died a few years before of cancer.
“Shortly after that my sister and father started getting sick. About three or four days after we buried Mr. James, dad called me downstairs to the kitchen while my kid sister was taking a nap. He told me I had to be strong because he needed me to help him with a little project. We went into the backyard and dug two more holes. He didn’t have to explain to me why we only dug two. I understood that whoever was the last one of us alive wouldn’t have anyone to bury them.
“My sister was the next one of us to die, then my dad. That was in April. By the beginning of June, I was alone in the world.
“I have been alone for nearly three years. Not a soul made a noise. Until the day I heard your airplane.
“I didn’t think through a plan, I just acted when I heard it approach. I got in my dad’s car and drove straight there. At first, I thought I was dreaming because no one was there when I pulled up. Then you and Loui came walking out of the terminal. I didn’t know how to react. I just stood frozen.
“You told me about where you all lived and that there were other people there. When you said I could come and live with you, I was almost sure I was dreaming.
“Naturally, I didn’t want to abandon my home, but I also didn’t want to be left alone anymore. I was so grateful when you let me go back to the house to pack more of my stuff. I could have come without any of it. My having all those things has helped me adjust better to living here.”
“We are so very glad you came,” Vera replied. “And anytime you want to go back and visit you know Loui and I will be glad to take you.”
III – First Dates
Eve and Wes didn’t start dating until about four months after he arrived. Rumor around town had them dating since that first Thanksgiving but nothing became official between the two of them until after the New Year. Wes had wanted to be sure that he was going to be good and settled in her small town before broaching the subject of them dating. Eve had also been very cautious about showing her emotions. She had already lost two people who were very dear to her, and she wasn’t ready to lose another one, if the sickness wasn’t over.
Everyone in the town seemed to be doing fine. Her fears over the sickness weakened every time someone got sick, then got better. A few bouts of diarrhea, vomiting, and other flu-like symptoms circled through them on two different occasions. This had caused much fear amongst the group the first time, but once it was clear they had all had a simple twenty-four hour bug, they were sure that they were all going to be fine. Even when the second round came and lasted a little longer, they didn’t worry.
After much deliberation, Wes finally got up the nerve to ask her on a real date. They had been tip toeing around each other, flirting, making excuses to spend time with each other, long enough, he decided. Eve thought he was being funny when he asked, so she had accepted the date. In this post-apocalyptic world, the idea of dinner and a movie seemed implausible, yet he seemed adamant that that was exactly what he was going to give her.
In her bedroom that night, she fretted over what he was going to do and what she was going to wear to such an event.
“I think you are over-thinking this, sweetie,” Vera said, shaking her head at Eve’s flustered expression. “I mean, the man lives next door to us. He has seen you in a housecoat with a towel wrapped around your head. He has seen you in sweat pants and t-shirts. He has seen you covered in mud, snow, rain, and smelling of cow shit, baby shit, and a long list of other not so pleasant smells. And he has already seen you at your best. Remember New Year’s when you wore that strapless black dress. He had to excuse himself from the room when you walked in looking the way you did.”
“Seriously? I didn’t notice that,” she said, though she had seen him leave, she hadn’t realized she was why he had stepped out of the room.
“Of course not. You aren’t the type of person who would. Loui followed after him to see what the matter was.”
“What did he say?” Eve asked, pausing her pacing, anxious to hear what he said.
“Loui didn’t tell me everything. But it was something about not being able to control himself for much longer. There was something about being in pain. I have an idea what was hurting him, and if you use your imagination just right, you’ll figure it out,” Vera said, laughing.
Eve rolled her eyes, then imagined that part of his anatomy. She wondered what it looked like, what he looked like. Feeling her face go red, she shook herself. “What else did he say?”
“Nothing much. Wendy came into the room while he was telling me about it and distracted us. I must have forgotten to tell you. You were so beautiful that night. I have never seen you look more radiant. But there again I’m sure it wouldn’t have mattered what you wore. You could show up in a paper sack, and he would think you were gorgeous.”
“I know. I know, but I want this to be different. Special, somehow. It would really help if I knew where we were going. Could you go ask Loui for me?”
“Eve,” she exclaimed in shock. “How dare you ask me to abuse Loui’s confidence like that?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I asked already, and he wouldn’t tell me. He would be betraying the guy code or something if he did. Can I ask you a question?” Vera’s tone suddenly got serious.
“You can ask me anything. You know that.” Eve disappeared into her closet.
“Well, I was just wondering why you agreed to the date?” Vera was timidly fingering a button on the shirt that Eve had decided wasn’t what she wanted to wear.
“What do you mean?” She came back into the room, pulled off her drawstring flannel pants, and pulled on a pair of jeans.
Vera watched her for a moment. Eve looked at her, pointed down to the jeans, turned around, and shrugged her arms as is to ask if the jeans made her look fat or great. Vera smiled approvingly.
“Well, you haven’t really said much about him since he arrived. I mean, I know I have seen you admiring his body from time to time, and you two never lack for conversation, but you have never truly expressed, to me, any real feeling of like or dislike of him. I have tried to get you to say something. Made little jokes or remarks, but none of them have ever gotten you to really say anything.”
Eve was still now, listening to Vera. The two shirts she had picked out to go with the
jeans were hanging from her hands, nearly sweeping the floor. When the other woman was quiet, Eve walked over and sat beside her on the bed.
“I don’t know. Since the day he arrived, I have found him attractive, but other than that, I haven’t let myself think about him any further. I loved Doyle with all of my heart, Kyle as well. I have never believed that there was just one person in the entire world that is my soul mate. I loved both men equally, but differently. Now they are gone.
“I mourned so long after Kyle died, but then you came and the mourning stopped. I was satisfied. I had you and Caleb, and I didn’t want anyone else. Even when Will and Lydia came, even when the boys flew in, even when Wendy arrived, even when you started spending all of your time with Loui, I didn’t feel the need for anyone else.” She wasn’t completely lying. She didn’t want to want or need anything else.
“So what has changed?”
“I’m not sure. I guess a part of me does have feelings toward him.”
“Eve?”
“I know Loui has asked. I can see in his eyes how much he loves you.”
“I know how he feels about me as well, but you shouldn’t be doing this for my sake.”
“I’m not. I want to explore these feelings I’m having for Wes.” She eyed Vera to see how she was reacting. The other woman looked at her stoically, intently listening to everything. “I don’t know if anything will come out of it, but one little date wouldn’t hurt anything. I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you about him, everything has just been so crazy.”
“Good, I was just worried about you. And you know I will never leave you, don’t you? No matter what happens in my life, no matter who comes into my life, I’m staying here. Forever. Right in this house. As long as that is all right with you.” She back stepped with that last remark, fearing that Eve might not want her to stay, especially if something really did come of her relationship with Loui, or Eve’s with Wes.
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