Dead Living
Page 23
Aaron nodded. “We’ll be here. Just find Lexington High School.”
He gave everyone a final wave before driving away. Amanda and Derek cried as the truck disappeared down the road.
Aaron was a little choked up himself. “Okay, guys,” he said. “Anyone that can drive, pick a truck. Everyone else just climb in back. But don’t ride in the one I came in. There’s, uh, just a little bit of blood back there.”
Sam and Aaron climbed in the truck she took from Lexington. Aaron was surprised to see Derek take the wheel of a truck. He saved a spot for Amanda next to him. Aaron didn’t know Derek could drive.
Aaron leaned back and closed his eyes. It felt good to just rest. He looked forward to getting back to his library. He turned to look at the woman who had saved his life. She wasn’t the same person he first met, the woman who took pride in only looking out for herself.
He felt ashamed. She was willing to risk everything to save him. But Aaron still kept his secret to himself. It didn’t feel like a fair trade.
He knew the time was coming soon to change that.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yes. Thank you for coming for me.”
She put a hand on his shoulder. “We’re friends.”
He didn’t believe that. He cared about her more than any friend, and he had a feeling she felt the same way. He squeezed her hand.
“You ready to go home?” she asked.
“Yes. Home sounds good.”
Chapter 15
It was a whirlwind of activity when Sam returned to Lexington with not only Aaron, but fourteen other people. It took a few days for the new arrivals to acclimate. Amanda wanted a room close to Aaron, but she also wanted to share a room with Derek. They settled for an old classroom around the corner from the library.
Some of the ex-slaves were full of surprises. An older man named Tom turned out to be just as good a gardener as Susan. Everyone worked hard to help out.
Sam wasn’t ready for the attention she received.
Everyone was happy to have Aaron back. She’d known that would happen. What she hadn’t expected were the people of Lexington walking up to her throughout the day and giving her a hug, complimenting her for saving Aaron’s life. It was attention she was neither used to, nor comfortable with.
Sam hadn’t seen Aaron in nearly a week. Everyone was wrapped up in their own world, their own chores. The week kept her busy, but there was so much she needed to talk to him about. She also missed him. She was no longer afraid to admit it to herself.
The sun was slipping away on a warm day. She passed through the cafeteria, then the storeroom. Mary was on duty, relaxing in a chair with her feet propped up on another.
“Hey, Samantha,” Mary said. “I’m so bored in here. Would you please take something so I can at least write?”
“Don’t need anything right now. Listen, have you seen Aaron lately?”
She nodded. “I saw him heading out to the Pit. I have no idea why. Who the hell wants to spend time with a bunch of walkers?”
“Yeah. Just plain weird, isn’t it?” Sam almost left the storeroom when she had an idea. “Uh, Mary, do you still have any of those makeup kits I found for you a while ago?”
“Yes, a few. I keep them over with some of the bathroom stuff. Do you want one?” As soon as she asked the question, Mary knew what was going on. “Oh, Samantha? Really?”
Sam tried to hide her embarrassment. “I just want to try some.”
Mary smiled. “You want to impress Aaron.”
She knew there was no sense in hiding it. Whether she wanted to or not, she had feelings for Aaron. She wouldn’t be surprised if everyone at Lexington knew by now. “Yeah. What’s the word you used? Crush?”
Mary knew it went far beyond a simple crush. “You went through town and busted him out of a cage in a slaver’s camp. Sounds like more than a crush, and I’m sure you have no problem impressing him. But sit down, let me work some magic.”
“Uh, thank you.”
Sam felt silly and strangely vulnerable as Mary applied a small amount of eye shadow and lip gloss. She almost told Mary to stop a few times, but Mary seemed to be enjoying herself.
“Good choice, wearing some jeans with holes in them. Interesting way to show some leg.”
Sam’s clothing choice wasn’t on purpose. “Everything else is dirty right now.”
Mary tried not to laugh. “I’ll put some clothes aside. Just stop by later to pick them up.”
Sam tried not to fidget.
“Okay, just relax,” Mary said. “You’re nervous, and it really shows.”
“I don’t even know how he feels.”
It was strange to share her feelings with Mary. The two seldom talked, except when they worked together in the storeroom.
“You don’t see how he looks at you, do you?” Mary asked.
Sam shook her head. She had a good guess that Aaron had feelings for her, but she was too afraid to believe it.
“He cares about you, Samantha. It’s easy to see, trust me.” She held up a mirror. “What do you think?”
Sam was amazed. She knew men found her attractive. Looking at Mary’s work, she could see it for herself. Just a light shade of purple lip gloss, with some purple eye shadow. She liked it.
“Wow, Mary.”
“Thank you. Now, go and get him, before the light goes away.”
Sam stopped and turned around before leaving the storeroom. “Mary? I, uh, I know I haven’t always been the friendliest person…”
Mary laughed. “What? You? No way.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Thank you for helping me.”
“Hey, we ladies have to look out for each other.”
Sam gave her newest friend a smile.
* * *
Sam pushed the dread aside as she left the storeroom and crossed the field. She was thankful that most everyone was already inside. She didn’t want anyone except Aaron seeing her with makeup on.
She stopped as she drew closer to the Pit.
Aaron was there, but so was every child in Lexington. She recognized the two newest arrivals, Amanda and Derek, keeping a safe distance from the fence covering. Nikki stood next to Aaron, and Sam thought for sure she saw her youngest friend staring at Derek.
She was one second from turning around and walking away when she heard her name.
“Sam? Is that you? Get on over here.”
She gave a sheepish wave, then half the children ran to her and swarmed her. They grabbed her by the hands and slowly dragged her to the Pit. She already felt embarrassed and mortified. They spoke all over each other.
“Samantha, come with us.”
“Aaron’s teaching us all about corpses.”
“What’s that stuff on your face?”
Aaron wrapped an arm around Sam’s shoulders. Goosebumps danced across her skin. She had been a survivor all her life, but standing next to Aaron with so many eyes on her, she thought she would fall over dead.
“Everyone knows Sam here. When you all get older, we’ll see if we can talk her into having a little gun class.”
Everyone cheered. Sam laughed at their enthusiasm.
“Okay, guys, we’re losing light, but there’s one last thing I want to show you. I want everyone to look at that one corpse there near the back, with the dirty torn sweatpants. That one’s very dangerous, and you need to watch how she acts.”
Amanda gripped Derek’s hand tighter. “Those noises they make are scary.”
“I know. Just don’t let it get to you. Now keep your distance, but watch old Sweatpants there.”
The children talked amongst themselves and studied the walkers while Aaron grabbed Sam and pulled her aside. They gave each other a quick hug. Sam pulled away when he winced in pain, still a little sore from being beaten at the slave camp. He had the clean look she had grown used to, having shaved his head and face a few days ago, and his bruises were almost healed.
“Hey, where have you been?” he said
. “I’ve been looking for you.”
“We keep missing each other. So, you’re teaching the kids now?”
He nodded. “They’re a little scared, but they need to know.” He noticed her face in the setting sun. “Is that makeup?”
“Just something I’m trying. Mary helped me.”
“It looks nice. Very pretty. But you’re always very pretty.”
More like beautiful, he thought. He had never seen her looking so good. He remembered telling her before that she was beautiful without even trying. She even made jeans with holes in them look good. He wondered why the sudden desire for makeup.
“Thank you.” She looked at the ground for a moment. “Listen, when you’re done with the kids here, do you want to get something to eat?”
“Sure. I want to talk to you about some things.”
“Me too.”
Aaron tried to control his nerves. He didn’t know where to begin. Did he tell Sam about his secret? Did he tell her he missed her when she wasn’t with him? Did he tell her that in a world full of the walking dead, that he was falling in love for the first time?
Nikki kept a close eye on Aaron and Sam. She smiled as she watched them look into each other’s eyes.
“Okay, guys,” Nikki announced. “The sun is almost gone. Let’s get to the cafeteria and play some games.”
The children cheered as she led them away. Sam smiled at Nikki. Aaron and Sam were alone at the Pit. He led her away a few steps so the walkers would quiet down.
“Okay, listen,” he said, “I have to get this out of the way before I lose my nerve.”
“No, me first. Aaron, when I thought you were dead, I, uh…” Sam didn’t have words. She’d been waiting to see Aaron, wanting to talk to him, and now she didn’t know what to say. “Aaron, do you know what a crush is?”
Aaron shook his head. He’d read plenty of books, but didn’t know what she was talking about. “You mean like to squeeze something?”
She laughed. Aaron felt his heart melting. He had missed her laugh so much.
“No. It’s something Mary told me-”
She didn’t get to finish. Neither Aaron nor Sam saw them coming.
Garrett swung the broken table leg as hard as he could. He connected with the back of Aaron’s head, dropping him to the ground. Sam was surprised for a second, then charged toward Garrett. She meant to tackle him, but Ray got to her first from the side. He forced her hard to the ground, just a few feet away from the Pit.
Ray knocked Sam unconscious with a few punches to the face. He tied her hands behind her back while Garrett continued to beat Aaron.
“You just couldn’t stay dead, could you?” Garrett said. He gave Aaron a kick in the ribs. “You take Samantha all for yourself, then bring more people back here? More people we have to feed? Are you fuckin’ crazy?”
“Careful, Garrett. Don’t kill him. We don’t need to deal with a walker.”
Garrett smiled at the idea Ray gave him. He pointed at the fence covering the Pit. “Open that up.”
Ray did so, peeling one corner of the fence back. The corpses reached upward.
Garrett kicked Aaron one more time, then slapped his head as a final insult. He shoved him into the Pit.
Aaron smacked the ground hard. He was still hurt and disoriented, but he had enough sense to know Garrett expected a scream. He let out the best fake scream he could. He grabbed two walkers and pulled them on top of him to help with the illusion. Their struggle to stand up and get away only helped make it look like an attack. It was dark now, but he could see Garrett leaning over to stare into the Pit.
“I should have killed you when you first got here.”
Aaron kept still and was as quiet as his aching body would allow. The stench and filth of the two walkers on top of him almost made him vomit, but he somehow held it in. Ray stood next to Garrett with Sam slung over his shoulder. He thought for a moment Ray would dump her in the Pit, but he saw her bound hands, and knew they wanted her alive.
“Is he dead?” Ray asked.
“Yeah, they’re having a nice little meal down there. Let’s go pack our shit and get out of here. Cover this thing up, they’ll never even find the bastard.”
“I’m carrying Samantha.”
“Well, pass her hot little ass over here and I’ll carry her.”
Aaron almost lost it when he saw Garrett rub Sam’s leg as he tossed her over his shoulder. Anger was starting to replace the aches and pains.
Ray secured the fence back in place. They kept to the shadows as they headed to the back of the school.
Aaron pushed the two walkers away from him and stood up. The only thing he felt was rage. He was getting used to beatings, but to see Sam hurt was too much.
He heard voices approaching.
“Amanda! Stay back!”
“Aaron! Are you alive in there?”
It was Nikki, Derek, and Amanda, who had not gone to the cafeteria with everyone else. They’d instead hidden under the bleachers, hoping to see Aaron and Sam kiss. Derek and Nikki peered into the Pit, Amanda a few steps behind.
“Yeah guys, I’m here.”
“We’ll get you out of there.”
“No! The walkers will get you. Don’t reach in here.”
“But they’re not hurting you.”
“I know. Just listen. Go find Richardson.” He had to think of where Garrett and Ray stayed. They shared a room together in the school’s basement, away from everyone else. “Tell him to go to Garrett’s room, that Sam’s in trouble.”
“Okay, Aaron, we’ll get him.”
Derek grabbed Nikki’s hand and ran away, Amanda right behind them.
Aaron jumped as high as he could, but he couldn’t reach the top of the Pit. He took a deep breath as he looked at the walkers mindlessly moving around.
“Sorry, guys.”
He grabbed a walker and shoved it to the ground against the dirt wall. Before it could stand up, he tossed another on top. He stopped when the pile of walkers was five corpses high.
He climbed onto their backs and grabbed a spike holding a corner of the fence down. The walkers moaned and moved beneath him. He managed to fight the pain enough to lift the fence off the spike and climb out, making sure to secure the fence back in place. The pile of walkers collapsed as he ran across the field. His nerves were raw from pain and anger.
The walker Aaron called Sweatpants watched every move the human made.
* * *
The first thing Sam felt was the pain in her head. She struggled to open her eyes, and found the left one almost swollen shut. She was lying on an unfamiliar floor, her wrists and feet bound, a smelly shirt tied around her mouth. She looked around for Aaron, but didn’t see him.
I’ll kill them if they hurt him.
Garrett and Ray walked back and forth, packing old suitcases and bags. The room was well lit with candles.
“Where we heading?” Ray asked.
“Anywhere but here. This place can rot in Hell.”
Sam had a change of heart. I’m going to kill them anyway.
“Why we taking Samantha?”
“The slave guys will give us good shit for her. Young, pretty little thing like her. We can name our own price.”
“I heard they killed all the slavers.”
“There’s others out there. Toss me my magazines.”
“I thought you wanted to fuck her?”
“That bald dickhead probably already had her. I’m not going in after him.”
Ray laughed. “He’s worm food now, anyway.”
Sam struggled against her bonds. Garrett heard her.
“Well, look who’s awake.”
Garrett stood over her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her into a sitting position.
“Your boyfriend’s dead,” he said. “In a few days, you’re gonna belong to someone else. None of this had to happen. This is all your fault.”
Sam would have spit on him if she could. Looking back and forth, she cou
ld see they were in the school’s basement, in an old storage room they’d converted to a living space long ago. No one ever visited Garrett and Ray. They could pull a truck up to the back and no one would ever see them leave.
Garrett and Ray went back to packing. Sam looked around for a weapon of any kind. There were plenty of things to grab, tables, chairs, she just couldn’t move her hands at all.
“Hey, Garrett,” Ray said. “Since you don’t want her, could I have her?”
“Have you ever even had sex?”
“Yeah.”
“Whatever. Just don’t mess her up too much. If we’re gonna trade her, she needs to be in good shape.”
Sam saw the sick look on Ray’s face. She kept calm. She had killed men who tried to rape her before. He would have to cut the rope around her ankles if he wanted to entertain his dark thoughts. Then she would kick with everything she had.
He dragged her by the feet to the middle of the room. “I always thought you were really pretty.”
He pulled out a knife.
The door to the storage room flew open. Everyone looked up to see Aaron, his hands and face covered with dirt.
Aaron stood motionless for only a second. He saw Sam tied up and gagged on the floor. She was bruised and hurt, with Ray standing over her with a knife. That was all he needed to see.
He charged forward, screaming in rage. Ray held the knife up to defend himself, but he was too clumsy and slow. Aaron tackled him around the waist, and they tumbled to the floor. The knife flew across the room. Aaron pounded on Ray’s face again and again with the bottom of his fist.
Garrett pulled out a knife of his own and ran toward Aaron. Sam scooted across the floor as fast as she could and stuck her legs out just in time. Garrett tripped over her and landed hard on the floor. The wind rushed out of him, but only for a second. He spun around and swiped at Sam with the knife, cutting her shoulder. She cried out in pain against the shirt in her mouth.
Aaron heard her. He stopped beating Ray and turned to see Garrett stalking Sam on the floor as she scooted away. Blood flowed from her shoulder and soaked her shirt. Aaron jumped to his feet. Garrett spun around to face him.