Marionette

by S. B. Poe

  “Help, please. He’s sick. Our power went out and we can’t get the phones to work.” The boy running towards them yelled.

  “Who’s sick? What’s wrong with them?” Bridger asked as he stepped around Raj and met the boy in the dirt road.

  “My grandpa, he’s sick. He has heart problems and he isn’t feeling good. We tried to call the ambulance like before but we can’t get through.” The boy said, breathlessly

  “Who is we?” Raj asked

  Bridger looked back over his shoulder at Raj. Raj caught the look of approval.

  “My mom and me. We came to check on him and he...” The boy ran out of breath.

  “Ok, ok. Settle down. We will get in the car and drive up to the house. I don’t know what help we can give but we’ll see what we can do.” Bridger said.

  “Thanks” the boy said. They all got in the car.

  “You know, my husband is a doctor.” Tilly said.

  It just occurred to Bridger that he two people he had been riding with for the last hour were absolute complete strangers. He knew almost nothing about them. He hadn’t asked. And they hadn’t volunteered. They had spent the majority of their time together in shock. They had just listened to the radio and drove. What little talk they had managed had only been in response to what they had heard on the radio. Small talk had gone away.

  “No, I didn’t know that.” He said.

  “Dermatologist.” Raj added.

  They drove up the dirt road about fifty yards and the house appeared in the moonlight off to the left. They stopped in front of it. Sitting under the carport was an old pickup truck. Behind it was parked a small red SUV. As they stopped the boy opened the back door and ran towards the house. Bridger, Tilly and Raj got out and walked to the front door. On the porch was a swing with one side on the ground, the chain long broken. There was an old stuffed chair that looked rattier than the swing. Next to the chair was a small bucket filled with sand and cigarette butts. Bridger swung the storm door back and stuck his head in.

  “Hey, anybody here?” he yelled.

  A woman, who appeared to be in her mid-thirties, came out of the hallway in front of Bridger and motioned them in. She saw his gun on his hip, and flushed.

  “Are you a cop?” she asked.

  “No, mam but don’t worry, it’s only for protection.” He said in his most calming voice.

  “Do I know you?” she asked as she squinted her eyes, trying to see him a little better in the candlelight.

  “I don’t think so, but you may have seen me on TV.” He said.

  “That’s it, you’re Bridger Presley.” She said.

  “Preston. Yes.” He said.

  “Preston. Yes Preston. You are the guy who talks about the army stuff. My husband is in the Army reserves and I watch you when I can. He says you know what you’re talking about. He watches you too. My name is Sally. Sally Forester.” She extended her hand. He took it.

  “Nice to meet you Sally, this is Tilly and Raj Varma. Raj is a doctor.” Nodding towards the couple coming through the door behind him.

  Raj and Tilly made for an odd couple even before the apocalypse. He looked like the Rhodes scholar he was. Buttoned down and neatly pressed. Even now. She had fire red hair cut in what used to be called a pixie cut, Sally didn’t know what they called it now. She also had horn rimmed black glasses with the most striking green eyes and was dressed like a hippie from Sally’s childhood. Sally smiled.

  They all stood in the living room. Candles lit the house and it cast shadows over the furniture. It was the living room of an old man. One chair pushed against the wall with a table next to it. There were several half-filled glasses sitting on the table and one closed book with a pair of reading glasses sitting on them. One wall had pictures of children and several pictures of one older lady. One of which showed her kissing the bald head of a bearded man. On the other wall was a big flat screen TV. It was dead.

  “How is your father doing?” Raj asked.

  “Why don’t you come and tell me. He is resting now but if you would look at him, I would feel better.” Sally said.

  She turned back down the hallway. Raj looked at Tilly. She shrugged. He followed the woman down the hallway. Tilly and Bridger waited in the living room. Tilly sat down in the chair. Bridger found a spot on the floor and leaned his back against the wall. He pulled out his phone. Nothing. The power blinked back on.

  “Hooray” the boy yelled as he came out of the kitchen. The power blinked off again.

  “Shoot” the boy said dejectedly.

  Tilly was smiling at the boy when the woman came back down the hallway. Raj came behind her. Tilly saw the look Raj gave to the boy, and she walked him back into the kitchen away from Raj and his mother. He went willingly.

  “He’s not doing well. His breathing is shallow” Raj said. “I don’t know for sure that being in a hospital would do any good, and this isn’t a hospital. I don’t think he has long.”

  Sally was crying. She knew but she didn’t want to accept it. She went back into the back room. Raj and Bridger stood looking at each other. Raj walked into the kitchen and brought Tilly and the boy back down the hallway after Sally. Bridger was left alone. He looked outside. He couldn’t see shit. Tilly and the boy came back, the boy was crying.

  “He said his goodbyes.” Tilly said with a tear rolling down her cheek. The boy went into the kitchen.

  After a while, Sally and Raj came out of the back and closed the door behind them.

  “He’s gone.” Raj said.

  They walked into the living room. Sally sat in the chair and sobbed. Tilly knelt down and hugged her. They all gathered around her with their heads bowed trying to help comfort this stranger. They stood there for a long time. Sally finally spoke.

  “He was so stubborn. He wouldn’t quit smoking. He said something was going to kill him anyway, he might as well enjoy what time he has.” She chuckled through her tears.

  “Thank you for being here. I know this is very strange, but today has been a very strange day.” Sally said.

  “No fucking shit. Sorry. So sorry.” Tilly said.

  The boy walked from behind Raj and sat down on Sally’s lap. He was almost too big for laps but not quite. His mother hugged him.

  “Why are you crying momma?” he asked.

  “Pawpaw passed Jesse. He’s gone.” She said.

  “Not yet momma, I heard him back there, up and walking plain as day.” Jesse said.

  “Jesse, that’s just the wind. Pawpaw’s gone. We watched him go.” She said nodding towards Raj.

  “He’s walking around momma, come look.” Jesse said and jumped off his momma’s lap and ran towards the back of the house. Sally started after him. Raj was looking confused. He and Tilly made eye contact. Bridger watched as a thought washed over Raj’s face, then Tilly’s, then his.

  “Wait” They yelled in unison. But the boy had already reached the door to the bedroom at the end of the hall.

  Sally watched as her son, only nine, opened the bedroom door. The thing inside that had once been his grandfather grabbed him by the back of the head and snatched him up. Before the boy could even scream the thing had bitten his nose completely off and was already taking another bite from the boys face. Sally screamed and ran towards the thing she once called Daddy. As she grabbed for her son the thing let go of him and grabbed her arms. As she struggled to hold onto her son the thing spun her around and bit deeply into her shoulder. She screamed in pain. It took another bite further up her neck and the blood came out in violent splashes.

  Raj ran down the hallway and into the room. He stopped. The thing was down on the floor eating the woman. Jesse had managed to crawl towards the door. Raj fell backwards when Jesse reached up. Bridger stepped between them. He could see that Jesse was seriously injured but still alive. He grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the hall. The thing had its head down and was focused on what it was currently doing. Bridger didn’t know how long that was going to be so he didn’t take
any chances. He pulled out his weapon and fired one round. It slammed into the top of the things head. It fell backwards against the bed it had already died on once and died again. Raj had pulled Jesse back into the living room. Bridger checked on Sally. She was dead. He sat down with his back to the door looking over the carnage. He reached into his pocket and produced a cigarette. He lit it and let it hang off his lips. He inhaled through his mouth and out his nose. Once, twice. Sally’s eyes opened. Bridger didn’t see them open. He only saw her sit up. She was facing away from him.

  “Sally?” he said, cigarette falling out of his mouth. He was trying to get up when she twisted on her butt and threw herself back at him. He managed to stick a foot out and it caught her in the stomach. His foot sank deep into the opening. She spun and even though her intestines were hanging from his foot down to the floor she reached out for him. He got his hands up and grabbed her arms just below the shoulder. Her mouth slammed shut inches from his face. She was trying to extend her jaw towards him when he flipped her off him and onto her back. He slammed her down several times banging her head against the hardwood and threw himself back away from her. He produced the firearm again and placed one just below her nose. She fell. The candle fell off the table onto her. It began to burn her hair. Bridger stood and stumbled towards the light in the living room. He found Raj and Tilly standing over Jesse. He was dead. Bridger walked up, still holding the pistol and shot the boy in the head. He walked out the front door. The fire began to catch in the back bedroom.

  “What the hell was that?” Tilly asked chasing him out the door. Raj followed her looking back over his shoulder as the storm door shut behind him.

  “She came back.” Bridger said.

  “Who? What the hell do you mean ‘came’ back?” she said.

  “The woman, Sally, she was dead. She came back. Just like the old man. Just like the truck driver. Just like the boy would have. She came back and attacked me.” He was still walking towards the car.

  “Stop, just stop. What are you saying? That can’t…” she trailed off, the truth of what she had seen twice with her own eyes hitting hard.

  “And where we are going there is someone who knows how to deal with this?” Raj asked.

  “Folks, I don’t know if there is anybody anywhere who knows how to deal with this.” Pointing back at the house. “But if there is one guy in the world who I would want to help me get through this, well let me just say. We are on the right road.” Bridger started up the car. Raj and Tilly took one more look, flames starting to lick the roof from the back of the house. They got in the car.

  JW sat in the living room with the emergency broadcast signal repeating over the TV. He ignored it. The message had been playing for over an hour. It said the same thing. All JW heard was noise. Scott was in his room watching cellphone video being broadcast from all over the country. They all looked the same. It was horrific. The front door slammed open and Josh came into his room. Kate ran into the living room and turned the TV off. JW looked up at her.

  “Whatever it is you think you have to deal with, deal with it. We need you here. Now.”

  She relayed the story of what had just happened to her and Josh. By the time she had finished Josh and Scott had come into the living room.

  “Dad, I’m sorry. I didn’t get it, I do now.” Josh said.

  The lights went out. They didn’t come back on. Kate found her way into the kitchen and grabbed a flashlight. She came back into the living room and lit candles. JW took the flashlight and walked out into the garage. He came back in with several more flashlights from his hunting bag. He gave one to Josh and one to Scott. He went into the bedroom and brought back the rifles he had given them earlier.

  “From this moment forward, nobody leaves this house without being armed.” He said flatly.

  “Your mother and I are going to go and get Evelyn and bring her over here if she will come.”

  “What do we do?” Scott asked.

  “Absolutely nothing.”

  JW and Kate walked out the front door. The stars were shining, ignoring the happenings down here. There was a glow off to the East. It wasn’t the glow of city lights. It was the glow of fire. The night sky was pierced with the sounds of sirens in the distance. There were helicopters flying off to the North and JW recognized the distinctive percussive signature of detonations. He didn’t know if it was munitions or storage tanks but he knew something had just exploded. It sounded like it had come from the river, which was a little over five miles away from JW’S house. What they had heard was the sound of the Amtrak derailing as it rounded the bend before it crossed the river, but they didn’t know it. They crossed the cul-de-sac. Evelyn was standing on her porch watching.

  “Kate, I came outside and saw you and Josh a minute ago. I thought I heard gunshots.” Evelyn said.

  “You did.” JW flatly. “Kate and Josh encountered some infected and they had to defend themselves. We are here to recommend you come over to our house tonight, we can help keep you safe.” JW finished.

  “Safe? From a virus? How do you propose to keep me safe from a virus? Do you have a cure?”

  “Not from the virus Evelyn,” Kate said. “From the infected. They attack. That is how it spreads.”

  “And how do you know that?” Evelyn questioned.

  “I saw it.” She said.

  “Listen, I don’t care if you come or not. But I am offering. If you want to stay in your home, stay. We will check on you in the morning.” JW turned to walk away. Kate looked at him and started after. She looked back at Evelyn.

  “Evelyn, please, if you change your mind. Come.” Kate said.

  Evelyn drew her jacket up a little tighter as she watched Kate follow JW back across the cul-de-sac. She wasn’t sure what to do. If that crazy ass ex-army guy, who never ever speaks to her, came all the way over here to ask her to come stay with them for protection and his wife agreed with him, either they were a psycho-killer husband/wife duo or this might be an offer she needed to seriously consider.

  JW and Kate had made it about halfway across the road when JW stopped. He turned and looked up the road to the buses. It was dark but he could make out the darker shapes lying on the ground where Kate and Josh had left them.

  “I am sorry, you shouldn’t have been out there.” JW said.

  “Bullshit. Whether I should have or shouldn’t have doesn’t matter anymore. Not tonight. What I have seen on the TV, on Scott’s damn computers and with my own eyes is what matters. What I did was what needed to be done. I have been doing that our whole marriage. And now you need to realize something. That man, that man you keep inside, that man that scares you, that man that allowed you to do what ever you needed to do to come back home to me all those years ago, we need that man. I need you to make peace with it and be what we need you to be. For us.”

  “Ok.” He started back to the house.

  “Ok? Just like that?” she said.

  “No, not just like that. But ok.” He walked up the porch. “We have work to do.”

  When JW walked back inside Scott and Josh were sitting in the kitchen with a candle. He sat down with them.

  “We have to secure this home. All interior doors have to come off so we can use them to cover the windows. We can push the Fridge in front of the kitchen door. We can push the couch against the front door and we can keep the garage door down. We only enter and exit through the front door if we have to go outside.” JW rattled off his plan. “Let’s get to work.”

  The next two hours were filled with hammers and nails. They managed to cover all the windows except the half-window over the sink. They used a couple of cookie sheets, screws, and JW’s cordless drill to cover it. They were moving the refrigerator in front of the kitchen door when someone knocked on the front door. JW looked out the peephole.

  “Come on in Evelyn.” He opened the door and let her in. Kate met her and they walked into the living room.

  JW and Josh pushed the couch up against the door. JW walked into
the garage. The garage door had portholes, too small for anyone to get through but plenty big enough to watch the street. They faced Evelyn’s house across the cul-de-sac and JW could see the cul-de-sac. What he couldn’t see, because of the trees, was all the way back to the buses. He decided he would make patrols. He broke out the walkie-talkies from his hunting bag. He grabbed some fresh batteries and put them in. He walked into his room in the garage and opened his safe. He grabbed a box of pistol ammo and another magazine for the M4. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and left the safe open. He walked back into the kitchen.

  “I can watch the street from the garage.” He announced. “But I can’t see the buses. I will go out every hour or so and just walk to where I can see up the road. I won’t be out long. When I go I will take one of these.” He showed them the walkie-talkies. “I want y’all all to rest as best you can. I will need someone to be awake each time I go out. Just in case.”

  He didn’t need to say in case of what.

  It was just past 11 when JW made his first walk outside. He woke Kate, who had managed to doze off sitting on the couch with Scott’s head in her lap. Josh was asleep in his room and Evelyn was snoring loudly in JW and Kate’s bed.

  “Be careful.” She said as he walked out the door.

  She closed the door behind him and dead bolted the door. He walked out into the street and turned his flashlight off. The moon was bright and he could see a good ways up the road but not all the wall to the buses. He walked up the road until he could see them. He just stood there, listening. He could still hear sirens to the north and could still see the glow to his east. The sky was glowing in the direction of the sirens too. The helicopters were gone. He turned and walked back to the house. He made patrols all night long. He would just lie on the couch against the door between patrols. He looked at his watch. 4:30. He headed out again.

  As he started up the road something caught his eye. Lights. Headlights. Pulling up to the bus. He crouched down and started moving towards them. The car stopped. He could see one person walk around from the driver’s side and step in front of the car. He couldn’t tell if there was anyone else. He crept closer. He could see there were two, maybe more. The first one had already climbed up on top of the hood of the bus and was reaching back. He pulled the one up and was reaching for the other one. When the first one jumped down onto the ground JW turned on his flashlight.