“It looks like he was loading up to leave,” Cam said.
“What the hell happened?” Jim said anxiously.
Cam looked around. He saw no signs of life. Suddenly, Jim bounded up the steps to the back door.
“Ed! Open up, it’s Jim!” he cried out, banging on the door.
“Ed, come on!” he repeated.
The house was as silent as the grave. Well…as silent as graves used to be.
“I’ll go around front,” Cam said.
He went to the front porch and knocked perfunctorily on the door, not expecting an answer. He really didn’t want to go in.
He hoped Ed hadn’t hurt himself…
He opened the front door. It was unlocked. He saw right away the signs of Ed’s packing. Bare places on the wall where pictures had hung for years. He saw empty boxes piled up in the small living room. He smelled the air, not smelling any sign of decay or death.
It gave him some small hope that Ed wasn’t dead.
He went through to the kitchen and found a plate with some meat left on it. It was covered by a napkin. He had obviously saved it to eat later. So why didn’t he? He estimated it to be a few days old, it was just starting to go bad, judging from the smell.
Cam unlocked the door and let Jim enter.
“Let’s go check the other rooms,” Cam said.
Jim’s face was pale. Probably remembering Peg’s messy end. He had confessed to Cam that he sometimes couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Cam knew all about trauma. Hell, he was a pro at compartmentalizing by now. Jim wasn’t though, he was too soft-hearted.
They made their way through the house, anticipating finding a body at every turn of a corner. They found nothing.
The place was empty.
“Where the hell would he go? Why would he leave his stuff behind?” Jim asked aloud.
“I see two possibilities here,” Cam started.
“What?”
“The first: that he had to leave in a hurry and didn’t have time to get his stuff.”
“But how would he leave? Did he have another vehicle?” Jim questioned.
Cam shrugged.
“What’s the other?” Jim asked.
“He was taken,” Cam said solemnly.
Jessica
Jessica was sick.
She had felt fine yesterday, though a little tired. This morning she had woken up with a horrible hung-over feeling. Her stomach roiled unpleasantly, and she decided to stay in bed.
No way was she cooking breakfast or getting anything done feeling like this.
She turned onto her side and attempted to go back to sleep, knowing that she would have to get up eventually.
Maybe a couple of more hours would help her feel more normal.
People were counting on her to get things done and she couldn’t let them down.
She dozed off, the gentle light of dawn filtering through the heavily tinted window of their cabin. Sometime later, her eyes opened at a tap on the door.
“Jess, you in there?” Angie called out.
“Come in,” Jessica said, sitting up.
She did feel a little better now.
“Hey, I wanted to check on you. It’s almost eleven and nobody had seen you. I was worried!” Angie said, coming to sit next to her.
“I’m fine. I thought I had a stomach bug or something. I felt sick earlier, so I decided to go back to sleep for a while. I can’t believe I slept so long!” Jessica said, pushing herself up.
“You probably needed it,” Angie said. “Why don’t you go grab a book or something and go up to the top and read. I’ll get lunch fixed and bring you something up. You need a day off.”
“I really feel fine now. I just had a three-day vacation anyway!” Jess reminded her.
“Yeah, but you still did your chores and cooked meals, so it wasn’t a real vacation. Now go and let me handle everything for a couple of days,” Angie said.
Jessica grabbed a copy of Rebecca, which was one of her favorite novels of all time and went up to the top deck. She took a bottle of water from the bar fridge and sat on a couch in the shade.
She read comfortably for an hour, becoming engrossed yet again in the trials of the newest Mrs. de Winter. She almost forgot where she was. She loved how a good story could transport her to different times and different places.
She loved it even more now, when she needed an escape more than ever.
Angie brought her up a tray later. Jessica was a little surprised how hungry she was. She quickly finished the chicken salad sandwich, the chips, and the fruit. She kind of wished Angie had brought her two sandwiches. She drank some more water to help fill her up.
It was probably a good thing she didn’t eat more. Her stomach might not be happy with so much food in it, and she hated to throw up. She thought it was a horrible feeling.
She stayed there reading for a few more hours before finally leaving her comfy spot and seeking out the others.
“Hey, where have you been? Angie said you’re sick?” Jean asked, hands on her hips.
Jean was looking different these days. Her once blue-tinted hair had become more of a yellow-gray and had lost its perm completely. She now wore a pretty bandana tied over it most days. She was also looking a bit more robust than she had before.
Of course Jean was thriving during a zombie apocalypse.
Maybe Cam’s modified training plan was doing her some good. Jean had thrown a fit when Cam refused to let her train hard like the others, so he created a ‘special’ easy plan just for her. She kept up with it too. Jessica was impressed.
“Yeah, must have a little bug or maybe ate something bad. I’m fine now, but I’m going to take it easy for a little while,” she said.
“I hope it isn’t catching,” Jean said while covering her mouth and nose with a hankie she pulled from her pocket. She backed away. “Let me know if you need anything, dear!”
Jess chuckled and shook her head. She had never known anyone like Jean. She was an enigma, constantly changing. She never knew quite what she was going to do or say.
◆◆◆
Jim
“Is that everything?” Jim asked Monica, who was loading up the last of Ed’s things.
“Yep, unless you want to bring the kitchen sink too.”
“Well…” Jim pretended to consider.
Monica sighed in disgust and threw her hands up in the air.
“We’re staying here for tonight,” Cam said, walking out into the yard.
Jack and Jim looked at each other, while Monica shrugged. Jim didn’t want to stay here tonight. He wanted to get this shit done and get home. They had planning to do.
They needed to find Ed.
“Why?” Jack asked.
“It’ll be dark before we can get out to the cabin and unload everything. We don’t know if it’s even livable. Do you really want to take a chance on sleeping out in the woods tonight?”
“Yes, duh,” Jim said with a serious face.
Cam looked at him incredulously. “Well, too bad, we’re staying here anyway. If you really want to, you can sleep in that old shed out back.”
“So, when are we going to look for Ed?” Jack said, breaking into their friendly argument.
“First, we’re going to complete this mission. Then, we’re going back to the island. There’s a chance that he is heading there even now. If not, then we’ll plan our next move.”
Cam lifted his ruck and went into the house. The others followed.
They went into Ed’s kitchen and found some cans of food, heating them up on Ed’s grill for a quick supper. Jack started a pot of coffee. They would be taking watches tonight, of course, and coffee was always appreciated.
As darkness fell, Jim’s thoughts turned to Angie.
He wondered what she was doing and if she was okay. She had been pretty upset about not being able to go with them.
His thoughts then drifted to Ed.
Where the hell had he gone?
After an uneventful night, the group left Ed’s house the next morning in a more positive frame of mind.
Jim would make sure Ed’s things got delivered to the cabin, and then he would make sure Ed himself got delivered to the cabin.
He would find him.
They drove out to the old backroad where the logging trail began. This area was heavily wooded, and had been one of the first settlements from those seeking a place on the edge of the frontier in the early 1800’s. Now, it was only home to animals and old structures rotting in the woods.
“I hope those are the only things rotting in the woods,” Jim mumbled to himself.
“What did you say?” Cam asked from the driver’s seat.
“Nothing.”
Cam pulled up and parked near the turn off. He went up to Jack’s moving truck and stepped up onto the step. Jim got out to keep an eye on things. He heard Cam speak.
“We’ll go first and see how far in we can get the truck. Stay here.”
They got back in and pulled down the old gravel.
They drove down the old road, encountering several rough spots. They drove for what seemed to be five miles, at least. While the road wasn’t wide enough for the truck to turn around, it may be possible for it to make it down the old road. It would be great if it could, less work for them.
“I think it should be okay,” Jim told Cam.
“Yeah, but let’s see what the cabin looks like first.”
Jim was worried that the cabin would resemble the rest of the buildings they had seen so far…old rotting wood, long since past any resemblance to a habitable building.
He held his breath as they came into the clearing.
“That doesn’t look too bad,” Cam said.
It was true.
The cabin was a large, two-story structure set high up on its foundation. It had a basement or fruit cellar underneath as well. It looked to be structurally sound, but they would need to check out the inside to be sure.
They got out. He glanced around the area to make sure all was quiet and safe. After a minute, they went up to the porch. The covered porch wound around the outside of the entire cabin. In the back they found a gas meter. It was completely unexpected.
“You think the gas is still on?” Jim asked Cam.
“Could be.”
He left Cam to turn it on while he watched the woods. It was a peaceful place. Remote.
The men went to the back door and peered in. It was a little nicer than they anticipated. It had a modern sink and stove. The stove must be gas. Jim looked around the back yard, finally spotting a small structure near a shed.
“That must be the well. We should probably find a test kit before we use it.”
“Let’s go in,” Cam suggested.
They went through the cabin, finding it sparse but suitable. There were four bedrooms and one bathroom. There was a gas water heater, which Cam switched on. May as well get it going. He went to check the stove. He searched a shelf nearby and found a box of long matches. He depressed the knob and ignited the gas.
A whoosh and a blue ring of flames appeared. He smiled. Jess was going to be happy.
“Let’s go back and get the truck now. I want to get back to the island by tonight and start planning our next move,” Cam said.
They drove back down the road and assured Jack that the truck should be able to make it all the way down the trail, as long as he avoided one particular rut.
They spent a few hours unloading the supplies. They were leaving them stacked in the large great room for now. It was more important to start heading back than to start unpacking.
He figured he would do it all wrong anyway, and then Jess and Angie would sigh in disgust at having to redo everything, and they would be all ‘Men! You guys just can’t ever do anything right!’ Then he would be forced to do some macho shit to prove that he could do things right, stuff that they couldn’t do, then they would…
“We’re done. Let’s go,” Cam said, interrupting his inner monologue.
Jim thought they would be warm and comfortable there this winter.
Hopefully.
Chapter Twenty-One
Meeting Jax
Ed
Ed was sitting in darkness, light filtering in slightly around the edges of the blindfold. He could tell by the smell that Johnny was sitting next to him, watching him.
He felt the van make a right turn, then a left. He felt the rumble of something similar to railroad tracks under the tires. He had kept track of the turns when they had left his house.
He had a fairly good idea of where he was, if they hadn’t made extra turns to throw him off.
The railroad tracks ran east and west, further to the north of his town. He knew they had traveled straight for a long way, indicating they took the four-lane highway. They had made a loop, and he knew it was the one that turned into the old state road.
From there if he remembered correctly, it was all open country, randomly scattered with old farms.
The only other thing of any significance was the prison. The railroad tracks confirmed it. They used it to ship out goods made by the prisoners to other parts of the state.
Knowing he was going to a prison didn’t make him feel any better. At least he knew.
They finally pulled up and parked. After sitting so long, he knew his feet would be swollen and numb. He heard Johnny reach down and move the chain that was pinning his foot to the floor of the van.
“Keep that blindfold on a while longer,” Lonnie said congenially.
He felt strong hands grip his biceps and guide him out of the van, then up several steps. A door opened and he caught a blast of warm air, smelling strongly of mildew, sweat, and that peculiar institutional smell that large buildings sometimes get. It was almost a hospital smell.
Ed shuffled forward, led by Lonnie and Johnny. They went through several sets of doors, and he heard the slight murmuring of voices in a large space.
They kept going, eventually climbing more stairs. His feet were killing him, and he wished for a pill. He should have stuck them in his pocket.
“Here we are,” Lonnie said, removing the blindfold with a flourish.
Ed looked around, seeing a small room with a secretary desk. A door leading to an office stood against the back wall. The furniture was clean but scuffed up and bolted to the floor.
A plaque on the door indicated that the office belonged to ‘Jackson Moran, Warden’, and Ed knew he was right.
Damn it!
“Sit here,” Stinky said.
Ed sat.
He was thankful to be off his feet, though he wished it was back at the island instead of here. He heard a door handle turn and his heart sped up. He felt sweat gathering on his upper lip as he watched the door creak on its hinges.
It opened swiftly, and a woman in a black corrections uniform stepped out. She ignored his presence and walked out of the office. She didn’t acknowledge Lonnie or Stinky either.
“Lon!” a voice called.
“Yes, sir!” Lonnie replied, and hurriedly pulled Ed up.
He prodded him toward the office. Ed walked in and saw a man sitting at a massive desk. In front of the desk was a small chair, bolted to the floor.
“Well Lon, who is this?” the man asked coldly.
“Uh, this is Ed,” he stuttered in reply.
“Ed what?” the warden asked, turning to Ed.
“Cartwright,” Ed said quietly.
“Ed Cartwright,” the man said, narrowing his eyes and looking him over.
“And just what is your profession, Ed Cartwright?”
“I’m retired,” Ed said.
A look of anger flashed in the warden’s eyes, but he laughed, and it disappeared. “Oh retired…He’s retired Lon!” he continued, chuckling.
Lon laughed nervously and Ed could see sweat dripping from his forehead.
He was terrified!
“What did you do before you retired, Ed?”
“Well, I tried my hand at farming as a young man. I became a surveyor for the county when I was in my thirties.” Ed wiped his palms on his pants.
“A surveyor.”
Ed nodded.
“We don’t have any use for a surveyor,” the warden said regretfully, shaking his head.
Ed was hopeful. If they didn’t need his skill, then maybe they would take him back home. He needed to warn the others about this guy and his prison.
“But we can always use more laborers in the garden,” the warden said finally, smiling. “We’ll take you back home after the growing season is finished, of course.”
Ed’s heart dropped. They weren’t letting him go. He didn’t believe a word the fella said.
“I’ve got really bad arthritis in my feet. I can’t walk some days…” he said tentatively.
“We’ll figure something out,” the warden said smoothly.
He looked over Ed’s head to Lonnie. “Get him settled over in A-block and get him to the infirmary. Let Doc take a look at him,” he ordered.
Lonnie walked Ed out, but before they left, he heard the warden speak and Ed turned back.
“By the way, I’m Jax Moran. Welcome to Blackwood State Penitentiary,” Moran said with a cold smile.
Chapter Twenty-Two
A New Mission
Jessica
Jessica woke the next morning feeling fine.
She was glad her illness yesterday was short-lived. She went about her day, preparing meals, cleaning, and organizing. The piles of supplies they had left to organize seemed to grow instead of shrinking, and she immersed herself in it.
Close to dark, they heard a boat coming closer to the island. Everyone ran toward the shore and waited impatiently. Jessica was particularly excited to see Ed again. She really hoped they had managed to get him to come back.
She was going to make sure he never left them again.
As the boat moved closer, she saw that Ed wasn’t among them. Her heart dropped when she saw the grim expressions on their faces.
Refuge From The Dead | Book 2 | Dead Summer Page 25
