She went back to the boat and watched as Jim lifted Peggy and took her in. She felt so bad for these people. She could feel the weight of their sorrow and their guilt. It was in their eyes, in their actions, in the air.
It was an oppressive atmosphere.
She went to Nick and put her hand on his arm. “Can I help you inside?”
Nick looked up at her, eyes shielded from the sun by his glasses. She knew he had eyes like the dead. He didn’t scare her yet. He was still a person.
“Thanks,” he said, smiling a little in gratitude.
She braced herself and pulled as he raised himself up. He put an arm over her shoulder and leaned some of his weight on her. She hoped she was helping and not hindering him, and she said so. If she was as clumsy with her feet as she was with her words, they might have ended up in a heap on the ground.
He laughed a little.
“No, I’m just glad to have someone steady me. I’m glad you aren’t scared. You may be the only one,” he said with a sad frown.
Her heart twisted for him. He must be having such a hard time with his situation. The uncertainty must be nearly unbearable.
“I’m not scared of you. Maybe we’ll even be friends,” she said.
“I’d like that. Maybe when I get better, we can go fishing out here or something. I miss it,” he said wistfully.
“It’s a date,” she said brightly.
She would do whatever she could to make it happen.
◆◆◆
She got Nick settled into a room, Bradley following close behind.
He took the twin bed closest to the window, while Nick took the one near the bathroom. That was really thoughtful of him. She felt Nick’s head and was dismayed to find him burning up with fever.
She thought that had passed.
“I’ll get you something to help, and a cool cloth for your head,” she said, frowning over his appearance.
Truthfully, he looked minutes from death, and that wasn’t even counting the change in his eyes.
“Bradley, please stay near him,” she said and left the room.
She was on a mission.
She passed Jim returning to the lobby and stopped him for a moment.
“Is there any medicine we can give Nick? Anything at all?” she pleaded.
Jim looked at her and shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe a different antibiotic? The medication manual is up in my room. Go grab it and read up on the broad spectrums. He already had doxycycline, so find another option. Find something that won’t interact with it. Try not to wake Angie if you can help it.”
“Thanks, I’ll be quiet.”
She turned to leave, but he spoke again.
“Can you check on her in a little while, and maybe leave the door open? I don’t know when I’ll be back and I’m worried. Ed will stay with Peggy,” he said.
“Absolutely! Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her, and Nick. I’ll try to make us all up a good meal too. Is the gas turned on?”
She hoped it was, she had no idea how to do it herself.
“It should be. Cam turned it on and tested it last time we were here.”
He walked out the door and left with the boat.
They were officially stranded until someone came back. It was both a safe feeling, and a scary one.
She glanced at the shore from the front porch, watching the activity for a few moments, before retreating to find Nick some medication.
Cam
Cam lifted crate of pressure-canned meat and carried it to the boat.
They had roughly a quarter of the truck left to unload, and he was tired.
He was ready for a hot shower and to lay next to Angie in their bed. If it was large enough, maybe he could even sleep in it without jostling her.
He thought back to his conversation with Jim earlier… the one concerning Monica.
He was keeping an eye on her and her side of the lot. He didn’t trust her to pull security. She seemed engaged, and actively patrolled her area, so he didn’t say anything.
He still watched. He would never relax his guard.
Jack hefted another crate of goods and loaded it onto the second boat that Jim had brought back.
Cam had decided that they would each drive a boat over to the island. That way there would be none left here for marauders, thugs, or outsiders to find and use.
He was also going to create a barrier with the moving truck when they were finished and had vague plans to build some sort of gate at both ends of the road. Anything he could do to secure this place would be done.
He slid another box onto the deck and glanced at the kid while he walked back to the truck.
Poor kid. Losing a mother is never easy, but it’s a lot harder now than it used to be.
He watched as the kid put down his cat. The cat pawed at the ground, then rubbed up against the kid’s legs, wanting to be picked up again. He shooed it away and the cat took off, exploring the shoreline.
“Hey, kid! Stay away from the dead!” he pointed towards the piles of corpses lining both sides of the entrance.
The kid stood and stared in shock at Cam, like a deer in headlights.
Jeez. What did he ever do to him?
Cam brushed it off and attributed it to his actions two nights past. It must have been hard on him, seeing Cam kill so many of the walkers, especially since he used an axe. It wasn’t clean. It was brutal, and it left stains, both physical and mental.
Last night Cam had dreamt of a sea of the dead. Millions of reaching arms and faces.
For each one he hacked to pieces, two more would take its place.
The strange thing was that it wasn’t a scary dream. It was just a sad one, because it was now reality.
He couldn’t dwell on those things. They would bring him down. He would lose focus, and he couldn’t afford that. Not ever.
He had people counting on him.
◆◆◆
They finished the unloading, and he pulled the truck across the entrance. He double checked the locks and secured the keys in his cargo pocket. They would need the truck again soon.
They planned to clear out as much of that store as they could manage. Of course, they would have to wait until the dead left. He hoped the herd that had ravaged the town didn’t linger long.
He motioned for the group to come together and waited as Jonah chased his cat and ran back to the group. Jack placed his arm around Jonah’s shoulder and waited for Cam to speak.
Jim edged closer to Cam, attempting place some distance between him and Monica. He looked at each of them before speaking. He needed to impress on them the importance of what he was going to say.
“I expect each one of you to take your responsibilities seriously. If you even think about failing to uphold your jobs on the island, or you aren’t going to contribute to its safety or security, then say so now.”
He stopped for a moment, offering them a chance to speak.
“Jack, I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt. You’ve guarded our prisoners, you’re Jim’s friend, and you’ve worked hard today. You also have a kid. I don’t expect that you will have any trouble blending in with our group.”
Jack nodded at him, and Cam continued.
“I do, however, ask that you take responsibility for the people you brought with you. Jessica, Monica, Jonah, and the damned cat.” He said the last with a frown.
He didn’t really like cats. They were so unconcerned with authority, and the proper order of things. They also weren’t very good at securing a perimeter like dogs tended to be.
“Make sure they follow the rules. We’ll go over them all together after this evening’s meal. There aren’t many, and they’re mostly common sense. I’m no tyrant. I just want to keep my people safe, and I will, no matter what.”
He looked at Monica as he said the last, and she clenched her jaw and stared back impassively.
He could see she was rattled, or pissed off, or both. Good, he wanted her to know that he wa
s on to her. He also wanted to know how she would handle pressure. Would she lash out, or would she use it to better herself?
Time would tell.
“Let’s clear out the vehicles and lock them up. I’ve got the keys for the last four boats from the boathouse. We’ll each take one back to the island. Go now.”
Cam passed out the keys and cleared out his cache in the SUV, piling it all onto the deck of one of the pontoon boats.
He made sure the others boarded their boats and start their engines. He had checked them, but he hadn’t been able to run them properly.
They steered toward the island.
He turned back to the shore, searching among the dark, shadowed trees for movement.
He saw none, but he felt watched, nonetheless.
Chapter Three
Cramps
Jim
Jim maneuvered his boat to the shoreline and started unloading. As he was bringing the goods to the porch, Bradley stepped outside.
“Hey…uh, Jim? Nick’s not doing well. Jessica thought you might want to come,” Bradley told him nervously.
The guy always seemed more comfortable around Ed and Nick. He and Cam must intimidate the shit out of him, even though they have only ever been fair toward him.
Not nice exactly, but…fair.
“Yeah. Let me get Monica to start unloading some of this and I’ll be right there.”
Honestly, he was scared to go see Nick.
He didn’t think he could bear to see another person die. Virgil was enough. Nick would be even worse.
He had so much life ahead of him. He was a good man and did his best for Angie and Peggy. Now he was suffering and there was nothing he could do about it.
It made him feel helpless, and that was a feeling he hated.
He found Monica talking to Jack near the shore.
He was unloading, and she was talking.
He gritted his teeth and attempted to remain calm. How she had ever kept her job at the station, he didn’t know.
“Monica, I need you to help Jack and Jonah unload these boats. I’ve got to go check on Nick and Angie.”
He saw her frown at the mention of Angie. She let out a loud sigh and stomped over to the boat, grabbing a box and pushing past him on the way to the cabin.
He looked over to Cam and found him watching the exchange.
Of course he was. He missed nothing these days.
“I’m going to in. Jessica said Nick is bad again,” Jim said, motioning to the lodge.
Cam stood bare-chested in the evening sun, hands on his hips. “Alright, tell Nick and Angie that I’ll be in as soon as I can. I need to get this sorted out.”
As Jim turned back toward the lodge, he caught a tiny glimpse of movement from the corner of his eye. He spun back to the opposite shore.
“Look! There!” he said, pointing toward their vehicles.
Cam pivoted, reaching over to the boat to grab his binoculars. He carried them up to his face and looked.
“Fuck!” he lowered them and strode toward Jim, holding them out. “Look,” he said grimly.
Jim raised the lenses to his face and his heart sank.
Walkers were flooding into the parking area from the treeline. The noises must have drawn them in.
They were starting to pack tight against the shore, staring knowingly at the island. He lowered them and looked at Cam, who motioned for the glasses.
“It’s like they know we’re here,” Jim said.
Jim watched Cam’s face harden at the sight. He knew he wasn’t going to like what Cam had to say.
“If they’re still there tomorrow, I’m going to go over and thin them out. We need to get more supplies. We can’t wait. This place could be compromised just as easily as the store, and we won’t last during any kind of siege.”
Cam continued unloading his boat, starting with his cache of assault rifles. He hefted some of them onto his shoulder and turned toward the lodge.
Jim jogged and caught up. “Where will you keep those?” he asked Cam.
“In my room.”
◆◆◆
Jim forced himself to stop stalling and go to Nick’s room.
He opened the door and fear made his gut clench. He owed it to Nick to be there, and he wouldn’t abandon him.
Nick was white. Absolutely white.
Black circles ringed his eyes, darker and more prominent than before. Sweat poured from his head. His eyes were the same, still creepy as fuck. Somehow, inexplicably, they retained their humanity.
Nick’s face was twisted in a grimace of agony, and he clutched his midsection and legs.
“He’s having cramps, terrible cramps,” Jessica said.
She sat on the edge of Nick’s bed, with liquid vitamins and various bottles of pills. Water bottles cluttered the dresser top.
She gave him a medication and forced him to drink more water.
“Nick, we’re here. We’re all counting on you to get better. You’ve got to help us around here.”
Jim put his hand on Nick’s shoulder, scorched by the fever that burned through him.
“Maybe we should get him in the tub,” he told Jessica and Bradley. “It may not help the cramping, but the fever should go down a little.”
She nodded slowly. “Yeah, let’s try it.”
Jim lifted Nick, while Bradley stripped him down to the boxer briefs. He was probably way past caring about modesty, but he noticed Jessica turning away to fill the tub.
“Make it just warm! Not hot, not cold!” Jim shouted over the running water.
Eventually the water stopped, and Jim carried Nick to the tub. He gently lowered him to the water, while Bradley supported his head.
Nick groaned at the water on his feverish skin. “Cold…too cold,” he said, barely audible. His teeth clicked together as he shivered. Jim ran more hot water in the tub, but not much.
They had the ice packs in the cooler still, but he didn’t know if they could spare any. Angie probably needed them more.
Jim left Brad and Jessica to watch over him while he checked on Angie.
He shoved his fear and sadness over Nick away, not wanting to upset her. She was fragile and didn’t need the stress. She was fond of Nick.
He pushed the door open to their suite, stepping through the small sitting area into the bedroom beyond.
Cam was curled up on the bed, holding Angie in his arms. He was snoring lightly. He hadn’t realized that he was finished outside.
Jim felt an indescribable feeling as he stared at the two. It was a feeling like…family. Like safety. Even love.
He loved Angie, and he loved Cam as a brother.
Seeing them sleeping there together cemented one fact in his mind. They belonged together, and it made him a little anxious that once she was healed, she would push away his friendship and then he wouldn’t have any part of her.
He left without disturbing them, they needed rest.
He grabbed a couple of bottles of Gatorade from a nearby pack and went back to Nick’s room. He chugged half of his and gave the other to Jessica.
“See if you can get him to drink this. He’s losing electrolytes, and he needs to replace them.”
He paced the room thinking of options, things they weren’t capable of doing.
“I wish we could give him an I.V. Cam knows how, but we don’t have any.”
He rubbed his head and thought of the route to the nearest medical facility. It was a clinic, and at least fifteen minutes away. Those places were dangerous now, even more dangerous than everywhere else.
They may have to consider it anyway.
“Jim, he seems a little cooler. We should probably get him out now,” Jessica said.
She went to the bedroom while they lifted Nick and stripped off his wet underwear. He shivered in the warm bathroom. His lips were tinted blue.
He didn’t speak.
They laid him down under the blanket, not bothering to redress him. They would probably have to put him back
in the tub anyway.
Jim took a moment to inspect the scratch on Nick’s arm.
It was now a solid, cold black line. Almost like scar tissue. There didn’t seem to be any swelling or infection, and it hadn’t traveled outside the boundary marked on his arm.
He assumed Peggy or Angie had drawn it there after seeing the black mark. It was a smart thing to do. He gently covered Nick’s arm and felt his head.
It was cooler.
“Keep rotating the fever-reducers. Go ahead and give him that antibiotic you chose. I’m familiar with it. We’ll have to see if there is a reaction or not. Let’s hope not.”
Jessica only nodded and held Nick’s hand. Bradley looked over from his chair by the window, and Jim saw tears in his eyes.
For once, he and Brad had something in common.
They both wanted to cry.
Ed
Ed sat on Peg’s bed, holding her hand.
If he closed his eyes, it was almost like being back with his wife in her final days.
He didn’t know why he was thinking so much about that time, especially right now. He purposely avoided thinking about it for years.
He preferred to remember the better times they had.
“Peg, did I ever tell you why I never had children?” he said softly, squeezing her limp hand.
He waited several seconds, and getting no reply, he continued his story.
“My wife, Brenda was her name, she wanted babies…lots of them. Me? I didn’t really care if we had one or two, or ten. She did though, she wanted a large family. One day, maybe about a year after we were married, we went to the doctor. They said we were going to have a baby. She was so happy. She wasn’t even showing yet and went right out on the way home and bought baby clothes.”
He stopped, emotion clogging his throat. He hadn’t thought about that in years. It was a hard time for them both.
He rubbed a hand over his face and started again.
“Well, we celebrated that baby for twelve short weeks. Then one night, she had pains. Bad pains. We went to the hospital, and she lost that baby. Her doctor said she would likely have trouble carrying any baby. You know they didn’t have all the new treatments and things in those days. Besides, we never had another chance.”
Refuge From The Dead | Book 2 | Dead Summer Page 3
