by Deb Rotuno
I adjusted the compound bow across my back and took a seat on the stoop, bracing my elbows on my knees. Sasha sat between my feet, lying down contentedly. She let out a deep sigh when I raked my fingers through her fur. Lexie sat beside me, almost too close, but I ignored it.
“You must’ve been a good dad,” she said softly, but the noise was shocking in the quiet night.
“Mmm,” I hummed with a nod. “I’d like to think so. At least I was based close to home and I wasn’t sent anywhere very often. I was able to be there for just about everything.” Snorting humorlessly, I added, “In fact, Florida was the first long trip in almost two years. I’d been sent to a few places but never for long. I was this close to being out of the Army.” I held up my thumb and forefinger close together. “Joel too, really. We were so close to being done. We were gonna go work with my cousin in construction.”
“Derek, right?”
“Mmhmm.”
Lexie was quiet for a moment but then sighed. “I was supposed to go to college. Two years in a row. I’d almost gotten off that damn farm, but every time I got an opportunity, my dad needed help or my mom asked me to stay with my sister, Haley. And she needed me as a buffer. My parents weren’t all that…lovable. They provided for us, but…” She shrugged a shoulder. “They didn’t see the need to do anything other than farm.”
I looked over at her, and tears welled up in her eyes as she tucked her hair behind her ear.
“I hated them. When the virus went crazy, I said we needed to go, but they didn’t listen. They were convinced we could stay, but…”
I wrapped an arm around her, and her tears fell hard.
“I’m so mad at them,” she hissed through gritted teeth, her fists balling up in her lap as her head fell to my upper arm. “And that makes me feel guilty…”
“It’s normal, Lexie. You lost your whole family.”
She shook her head, sitting up straight and swiping at her tears, and I pulled my arm back. “I just…I saw you in there with those babies, and…I don’t remember my parents ever being that way. And they’re not even your kids! I can’t imagine you with Freddie…”
Chuckling, I shrugged. “They’re the innocents in this. Just because they’re strangers, it doesn’t mean they don’t deserve comfort. They…they need it; babies thrive on it. They’re scared…and possibly alone come morning.
“The world is different now,” I huffed, shaking my head. “It’s raw and ugly, and we’ve been sent back to…what? The Wild fucking West. We’re gun-toting scavengers who simply need to survive, but we don’t have to go back to those ways of thinking. Civility shouldn’t be lost in all this shit. I don’t know. I guess that’s wishful thinking,” I sighed at the end of my rant.
Lexie leaned closer, her eyes on my face—my eyes, my mouth.
“Don’t,” I told her, placing a hand on her shoulder and pulling back a little. “I’m not what you’re looking for; I can’t be what you need, Lexie. I’m married, and all I want is to get home.”
“No one needs to know. I’m not asking for—”
“Stop! I would know. Me. It can’t happen. I’m not that kinda guy, Lexie. I’m sorry.”
“What if she’s—”
“Don’t finish that question. Believe me, I ask myself every fucking day. It’s a reality I’d have to face, but if she’s not—if Sara and Freddie are waiting for me—then how could I betray them?”
The hurt that crossed her face was painful. Rejection was an ugly fucking thing, but I couldn’t help it. I simply wasn’t a cheat or a user. I’d never been that way. Even back in high school, when I’d been cocky and confident, I’d been faithful to my girlfriend, Kim. Even when the new, pretty, blue-eyed daughter of the fire department captain moved into town, I noticed but didn’t act. I knew men who did, especially overseas where they thought they’d get away with it. They’d have girls or wives back home but fuck around on them on the sly. No, never going to happen.
“It’s just not me. I’m sorry, Lexie. Truly. We’ve become friends, but…” I stood up, and Sasha was instantly on her feet.
“No, no…It’s fine. I just thought…”
I could see that it wasn’t fine, but she had no choice but to accept it. I waited for her to finish that sentence, but a sound echoed up the quiet street—the scuffling drag, the heavy, hissing breath, and the low growl. My head spun, checking toward the center of town and then the other way. There were three, moving slowly up the street in the dark. I could only see their silhouettes, but I could tell by the way they moved.
“Shit,” Lexie grunted, getting up from the steps.
“We can either ignore it and go upstairs, or we can take care of it,” I told her, but Sasha was already crouched low, ears perked up and teeth gleaming in the moonlight. “Sasha, stay,” I commanded, looking back to Lexie.
“Let’s just…get it done. If I ever turn into one of these fuckers, feel free to put me outta my misery, ’kay?” she rambled, standing up from the stoop and pulling out her long knife.
“Duly noted.”
We stepped off the curb and into the street, and I raised the compound bow. But as the three zeaks stepped into the moonlight, I saw what was behind them.
“Oh, hell,” I whispered. “We’ve got more than three. I’d say the swarm is…a dozen? But they’ve seen us now; they’ll follow us up to the apartment.”
“Well, then, we’ll just have to wake the others,” she chortled, putting her knife away and pulling out her gun.
Letting the first arrow fly, I lodged it in the closest zeak, and Lexie’s gun completely destroyed not only the quiet but the zeak reaching for her. I heard the window upstairs slam up, but I was already working with Sasha.
“Sasha, separate!”
The big dog jumped into action, running full speed at the coming swarm, and they took the bait like always. She ran circles around them, causing them to bump into each other, falter in their steps, and forget about us for a moment, which gave me time to reload another arrow.
Quinn, Dad, and Ruby ran up beside us, raising their guns. They looked shaken but at the ready. Joel stayed in the window of the apartment, using the high advantage with his rifle.
“Sasha, heel!” I called out, taking out a straggler as Joel nailed the one behind it. The click of Sasha’s nails on the asphalt grew close, and she plopped her butt down in front of me. “Good girl.”
She panted, looking back at me with her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth in a big doggy grin. We all walked around them, finishing off the ones that were still moving, and I took back my arrows.
The sound of rolling wheels startled us, and every last one of us engaged our weapons at the same time. I lowered mine because I’d seen Bob already.
“Rina says his name is Bob,” I whispered to my dad. “Calls him the garbage man.”
Dad’s eyebrows lifted high, and he lowered his weapon to speak to the enormous man, but Bob was in his own world.
“Bob thanks…thanks you…Gotta clean up. Nothing in the street,” he rambled to himself. “Bob can do it.”
“Oh.” Ruby sighed sadly, looking at Bob with pity.
He was still wearing his makeshift duct-tape-and-sports-pad armor, and he picked up the closest body and tossed it on the bottom part of his cart, doing the same with two more, only to turn around and head back toward the park.
“Don’t know you,” he said, barely looking at us. “Gotta keep clean. Cleanliness is next to godliness.”
“He’s…” I grimaced, tapping my temple. “Right? I’m thinking that park archway is his doing.”
“Probably. And to interrupt him may be…bad,” Quinn said, grimacing a little. “My friend had a brother like that. To disrupt their…thing…whatever it is he’s doing…Well, Ralphie used to have these wicked panic attacks. I mean, I can try to help the guy, but…” When I nodded, he headed off for the trailer of the pickup, where he’d probably use the four-wheeler to move bodies.
“Least he’s a big bast
ard,” I said, shrugging. “I watched him handle a baseball bat better than Jeter, so…”
Ruby snorted, rolling her eyes at me.
“Rich! Jack!” we heard my mother call from the window. “She’s awake.”
“Go on,” Ruby said. “I’ll help Quinn, but send Joel down.”
Nodding, I jogged with Dad back into the apartment building and up the steps. We found my mother gently trying to calm Olivia down.
“My babies,” she rasped, squeezing her eyes closed. “Sabrina…Aiden…”
“Easy, sweetie,” Mom soothed her, which made her flinch.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Dr. Dottie Chambers,” she replied, checking Olivia’s forehead for fever. “Our group was moving through Wyoming, and my son, Jack, found your children outside. I assure you, they’re safe.”
Olivia’s bleary-eyed gaze flitted around the room. “What do you want?”
“Nothing,” I told her, rubbing the back of my neck and then cracking my knuckles. “I just…couldn’t leave those kids if you were…It wouldn’t have been right. I have a kid of my own, so I hope…”
Olivia’s face cracked a hint of a smile. “Thank you. I don’t know what happened. I went down to the pharmacy to get some cold medicine, but…” Her eyes widened. “There was…Doug, the pharmacist, was in there, but he’d changed already. I tripped when he popped out the back. I…”
“Shh,” my mother hushed her gently. “It’s quite understandable. I gave you some fluids, antibiotics, and redressed that leg, and I found the buckshot just shy of shattering your shin bone, but…”
“Oh God, what was I thinking?” Olivia sobbed. “I could’ve left them…They’d have been—”
“But you didn’t,” I urged, stepping forward. “That’s quite the smart girl you have.”
Olivia huffed a sniffly laugh. “She’s five going on forty.”
Grinning, I nodded. “Yeah, my son…He’s seven and the same way.”
My mother helped Olivia sit up, placing pillows behind her.
“Is he here? Is he…”
I shook my head. “No, I’m…We’re trying to make it home.”
“Oh.” She let out a deep breath. “I’m sorry to have kept you.”
My dad stepped forward. “Is there…Are you all alone here?” he asked her.
“Well, there’s Bob, but…you can’t really speak to him. He’s supposed to be on meds but not anymore. And I think there was a couple a few streets over,” she replied weakly, licking her lips. “Oh, but Mr. Cutter! He was in the building next door, second floor. We were taking care of each other, but I…”
I looked to my father, who nodded and started for the door. “I’ll go check on him.” When he looked to me, he added, “I’ll take Joel with me.”
A racking cough barked out of Olivia, and I grimaced.
“You need your rest, Olivia,” Mom told her. “Your kids are fed and safe, and we won’t leave until you’re okay.”
“I can’t do that to you guys.”
Smirking at her, I shrugged a shoulder. “Then you can come with us. You’re almost out of food here, and you’d be safer with more people.”
She coughed again, trying to nod, and then when she’d calmed down, she asked more about our group and our travels.
I told her more about where we’d found Ruby and Ava, Lexie, and then Quinn and had just started telling her about Sara and Freddie, but she looked past me when there was a light knock at the open door.
An elderly gentleman stood there, weary and worried. He was wringing an old blue baseball cap in his hands.
“Olivia? We should go with them. The doc here was telling me how they’re traveling, together, safer,” he stated, walking to the side of her bed. He gently took her hand, patting the top. “I’m not…I can’t…” He sighed forlornly. “Sweetheart, we won’t make it alone. Me, being too old, and you, with those beautiful babies. Please…”
Olivia’s face pained, but she finally nodded in acceptance.
“Get your rest,” I told her. “We’ll do everything else. Okay?” She smiled, thanking me, and I nodded once, turning to Mr. Cutter. “Jack, sir. Just let us know if you need any help with your things. And we’ve got some food if you’re hungry.”
“Much obliged, son. Call me Abe.”
I nodded again and shook his hand, sighing that we were set back for a day or so, but I wanted to talk to the rest of the group so that we could use it to our advantage. The town was practically empty, so I wanted to stock up on supplies as much as we could, including restocking some of the first-aid supplies we’d used on Olivia.
My dad smiled when I walked to him. “Give her a day or two.”
“No, no…it’s fine. We can load up here—rest up too.”
He slapped my shoulder and then gave it a squeeze. “It’ll most likely be just the four of them. Bob just about killed Quinn with that baseball bat of his, yelling about having to stay and clean up.”
“Well, Olivia mentioned a couple on another street. We’ll keep an eye out for them.”
“Okay, son. Now, why don’t you get some rest?” he asked, just as Aiden started to fuss in the other room. “Don’t even think about it, Jackson Alan Chambers. I raised you, babysat my grandson, and I’m a certified doctor, so I’m fairly certain I’m fully qualified to rock a cranky toddler.”
Grinning, I nodded, giving him a salute. “Yes, sir.”
Chapter 10
JACK
Boise, Idaho
4 Months & 3 Weeks after
Hurricane Beatrice
“WE ARE NOT STEPPING FOOT IN BOISE,” I stated, gazing out from the hillside view. “That’s over two hundred thousand fuckers possibly turned, and if they’re not turned, they’ll be desperate as shit.” I cracked my knuckles, only to shove both hands into my hair, gripping roughly as I eyed a few burning sections of the large city spread out before me.
“We need fuel, son,” Dad stated the obvious, looking up from the map that was laid out over the tailgate of the pickup truck.
“I know. And we need to work our way over to the 20. I know!” I sighed, tearing my gaze away from the city.
I didn’t want to go anywhere near it. We were so fucking close to home I could taste it. And with every mile we conquered, the more anxious I became. Boise sat just on the Idaho-Oregon state line, but it was a huge hurdle we needed to jump. We needed fuel, food, and safe passage into Oregon.
Joel tapped the map. “I’m with Jack. That shit is asking for trouble.” He pointed toward the skyline. “My vote is that we get over to 20, follow that all the way to 97 North, and then we’ll hit 26 all the way home. We’ll go right through Deschutes State Forest. We could hunt out there, not to mention there’ll be plenty of cars to snag gas from. It just seems safer. There are too many of us to sneak around anymore.”
Nodding in agreement, I looked to Dad, who seemed to be mulling it over. My gaze landed on our group, and I shook my head. We’d grown so much since Florida. Hell, we’d almost doubled our size when we’d left Wyoming. Not only had Mr. Cutter—who kept telling everyone to call him Abe—Olivia, Sabrina, and Aiden come with us, but we’d run into the couple Olivia had told us about. Tim and Nikki Watts were in their mid-thirties and had been struggling to find food and ammo up until we’d come across them in Jackson Hole. They pulled their weight just fine, and Tim was pretty good with cars, so he’d been a big help when Ruby’s RV gave us trouble in Idaho Falls, just after we’d left Wyoming.
“That doesn’t solve the gas problem now,” Ruby piped up. “We’re all low.”
Dad checked his watch, then the sky. “Why don’t a group of us scout for fuel and food while everyone else sets up camp for the night? This ridge is safe.”
I sniffed, eyeing the group and the vehicles. Aside from my Hummer, we still had Ruby’s RV, which housed Olivia and her two kids, as well as Joel, who did most of the driving. Dad still had his pickup truck with the trailer that carried the four-wheelers. Lexie and Qu
inn rode with him and my mother. And now we had a minivan for Tim and Nikki and extra storage. Abe and Ava rode with Sasha and me most of the time. Every last vehicle was getting low on gas.
“Quinn!” I called.
When he finished attaching the small trailer to one of the four-wheelers, he jogged over.
Tapping the map, I said, “I’m gonna take Joel, Tim, and Nikki with me on a run. We’ll go no farther than here. I don’t feel comfortable going any closer to that city. I want you up on that RV as a lookout while they set up camp. Take the rifle out of the Hummer. If we’re not back in three hours, you and my dad take the other four-wheeler up this road. Got me?”
“Yeah, man. Got it. You sure you don’t want me to come?”
I smiled a little. The kid was quick on his feet, for sure, but I needed the strongest of us to lift and carry supplies and gas cans. Joel was perfect, and so was Tim. Nikki didn’t like to be separated from him, so I had no choice but to include her.
“Jack,” Ruby said, stepping closer. “Let me go. Leave Joel here.”
Sniffing, I nodded. “Fine, then we’ll take Sasha with us.”
At the sound of her name, the dog sat up from where she’d been snoozing hard beneath the shade of a tree. Her bleary, sleepy gaze shot around, and then she was on her feet and trotting to me.
“Naptime’s over, big girl.” I chuckled, ruffling her fur on the top of her head. “Work time.”
“Boof,” she huffed, shaking all over and plopping down on her butt.
Everyone who was leaving gathered their weapons as the rest started to set up camp. Tim and Nikki climbed into the trailer with Sasha, while Ruby straddled the seat, leaving enough space for me to sit in front of her. Dad clapped my shoulder, telling me to be careful, and my mother handed me a list.
