The old man has his shirt off and his arms extended outward. In each hand he holds a milk jug full of water. Dan remembers his dad used to do this all the time too. He never asked why. He always figured it was just an exercise old people do.
The jugs don’t waver a bit as Bruce makes his arms form a perfect forty-five degree angle. He looks from one cap to the other and nods to Dan.
“Just a second. I am almost done.” Bruce tells him.
For a 53-year-old guy, Bruce is in really good shape. He and his brother, Wallace, have always been built that way. Dan always felt out of place when around them since he is cursed to be skinny forever, and not through a lack of trying. He worked out a lot in the past and never saw results.
He enters the room, looking around like a child who has just ventured into some forbidden place. He passes a large oak desk where all of his guns are laid upon, the ammunition is organized. His M-16 leans against it as well. Among the firepower, a picture frame displays an old photo of Bruce and Wallace Williamson dressed in fishing gear when they were about Dan’s age. He peers at the picture and sees his own features in their young faces.
Dan takes a seat near the stove. He admires the furniture. He is resting in a chair that was once the trunk of a tree. It’s a round log that had been carved so someone could sit in it. It has a mate on the other side of a coffee table that was also once an entire section of tree. Dan can count the growth rings under the thick layer of smooth lacquer.
“This thing must weigh a ton.” He remarks about the table.
“Just about.” Bruce is now raising the jugs one at a time, and then both together. He has his arms pointed in a different location every time the water jugs come up. “It was a bitch to get in here. Make sure you use a coaster, I worked hard on that.”
“You made this?” Dan inspects the piece even closer.
“No, but I worked hard to make the money to have it made.” Bruce explains from the bar. “Same thing.”
Dan’s uncle brings over two short, fat glasses and a bottle of scotch. He sits in the chair opposite to Dan and opens a drawer in the tree trunk coffee table that Dan hadn’t even noticed. The old man pulls out an all-wood chess set; instead of the typical black and white the squares are dark brown and light tan. The pieces match, each looks as if it had been hand carved.
“I remember my dad doing that same thing with the milk jugs.” Dan tells his uncle.
“Did he ever tell you why?” Bruce asks before taking a sip from his glass.
“No.” Dan shakes his head and waits. This should be the part where the old man explains it to him, but he just changes the subject.
“I know what I want for Christmas,” Bruce says as he pours Dan a drink. The glass is placed on a coaster and slid across the table.
“What’s that?” Dan asks.
“New Castle.” The old man answers plainly. “I want to take it back. Put a wall around her, rebuild a society.”
“There’s plenty of guns and ammo.”
“Yeah, town like this even the bookstore sells bullets.”
“It’s cold enough to make them extremely slow. It shouldn’t be too much trouble.” Dan sips his drink. He already has a few ideas about how to go about the mission.
“I see your wheels turning, what are you thinking?”
“Just a few tricks that might help us. We should call a meeting to enlist volunteers.”
“Tomorrow, we’ll get the crops from Frank’s, then call everyone together.”
“What about the other farms around here? There’s more animals we could use, right?” Dan asks.
“Sure are, we just have no place to put them.”
“Why not leave them. If the people in the houses are dead, we could still take care of the animals where they are.”
“That’s good.” Bruce smiles, he hadn’t thought of that. “Plus, I’d wager that by this time next year there’ll be a boom in the wildlife population since there’ll be no hunters out there, except us.”
“Food isn’t a problem.” Dan says as the two clink glasses.
They play their game in silence for a few minutes. Neither one is thinking much about chess. They are contemplating tomorrow, and all there is to do. Dan never was any good at chess, but he loves to play. He just likes to move the pieces.
“We should send a scout.” Bruce breaks the silence.
“I’ll go.” Dan says.
“No,” Bruce vetoes. “We got our own thing going on, and you will be in on the attack. As far as scouting, I want someone less important going out.”
“I don’t feel right treating the others like pawns.” Dan waves his hand over the board to indicate the smallest pieces on it.
“A good king knows how to use his pawns.” Bruce states, he points out that he has captured half of Dan’s already. “This is war, besides it isn’t a sacrifice. If the dead are as slow as you say, our people won’t have a problem.”
“That’s true.” Dan admits the logic is sound. So far he has only taken one of Bruce’s pawns, and a knight.
“I think Tommy is a good candidate.” Bruce nominates a name.
“Who?” Dan has to ask.
“Your boy. That deaf, dumb, and blind kid.”
“Hector? He isn’t blind. And, he can talk he just chooses not to.” Dan defends his acquaintance.
“I know. I was referencing… Forget it. I think he would be up for a mission. Maybe get Becka out there and out of my hair. She's always volunteering with the rug rats, and nagging at me for chores. She takes on more patrols than anyone.”
“Busy girl.” Dan says.
“That reminds me, I want you to talk to her. She seems to be trying to make up for something. She makes herself extremely useful and it’s annoying.” Bruce shakes his head.
“That would be annoying.” Dan says with subtle sarcasm.
“Lindsey told me about what happened at your apartment with the razor blade. She thinks something happened to her in the ‘burbs. I thought maybe she would talk to you.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Dan says. “After the meeting I’ll pull her aside.”
“Good.” Bruce nods. They finish their game. Dan isn’t surprised at all when Bruce comes out as the victor. He chased Dan’s pieces around the board until all the soldier had left was his king, queen, and a knight.
“Good game.” Dan tells Bruce after the man claims ‘check mate’. His uncle just grunts acknowledgement back.
“I think I’m going to turn in.” Dan stands up from the large table. His uncle is silent as he heads for the door. Dan passes a large cube covered by a blanket. From the cooing sounds he knows it is Bruce’s birds. The younger man is about to leave when Bruce asks him a question.
“So, why is it you never visit me out here? Your dad says you hardly go home to see them either.”
“I don’t know.” Dan keeps his back to his uncle. “I guess… I feel I’ve never really fit in with you two. You guys are into all this macho stuff, and have made so much out of your lives… I just never quite measured up.”
The alcohol has loosened his tongue. Dan never would have imagined he’d spill his guts like that. He turns to Bruce for affirmation.
“Don’t be stupid.” The man instructs. It isn’t exactly what Dan was looking for. “All these people you sent here, out of the mouth of certain death… Have drained all the milk from my home. I think there are some empty jugs in the kitchen. Good night.”
Uncle Bruce just leaves it like that. Dan exits the den and is off to bed.
30
“What are those for?” Heather asks when Dan enters. He places two milk jugs of water at the foot of the bed.
“I have no idea.” He answers her, placing a small picture frame on the nightstand.
“Who’s this?” She asks, looking at the black and white photo.
“That’s Frank.” He doesn’t want to tell her all the details of how he knows Frank. “He was a neighbor, he’s gone now.”
Heathe
r makes a sound of sorrow. She can tell there is more to it than that, but won’t press the issue. He’ll tell her when he’s ready.
Dan is undressing for bed. Vincent is sleeping in the top drawer of the dresser. The bottom drawer is now occupied by Jack. He kisses them both before crawling into bed with his wife.
“Bruce and I are going out tomorrow to check on the other neighbors.” He tells her.
“That sounds good. I’m happy you guys are trying to take care of everybody.” She kisses her husband.
“We want to take back New Castle. We’ll have an entire town to live in.”
“That’s great. Won’t it be dangerous?” She is worried. She has just gotten the man back and he is already contemplating going out again into the thick of it.
“The cold weather makes them even slower.” He explains. “They’re practically frozen solid. I have a few ideas on how to get it done. Besides, we’ll have an army.”
“Didn’t you have an army before?” She jokes.
“Good point. This time it’s different, this time we know what we’re up against, and we have a plan.”
“Plus, they’ll be slower.” Heather adds.
“Yes, that will be to our advantage.” They kiss goodnight and Dan has a thought. “What do you know of that Becka girl?”
“You kiss me and think of other girls, huh?” She pokes him in his ribs.
“No, Bruce wants me to talk to her because he thinks she’s a little… off.” Dan doesn’t know how else to put it.
“I’ve talked to her about the kids, and all the busy work she is doing. She seems like a very nice girl. She is a bit lost though.”
“Lost? How so?”
“I can’t put my finger on it. Her mind just seems to be out in left field somewhere.”
“There will be a meeting tomorrow. I’ll be speaking to her after that.” Dan says.
They fall into silence after saying goodnight. Dan expected to close his eyes and see the faces of the dead. He expected to have restless nightmares about being chased by ghouls. He has none of this. He falls asleep, holding his wife, and listening to their sons breathe. It is the most glorious feeling in the world. They are safe and warm and surrounded by love.
31
Bruce and Dan’s house to house searching revealed the neighbors all OK, except for one house. A large family of seven had a run in with a zombie. It looked as if they had fought the thing off as best they could, but ultimately it must have bitten one of them. The entire clan was inevitably turned.
Dan wasn’t sure how a zombie found its way up the hill. It seems like it should be against their nature to climb such a steep incline. They are like water, or electricity, and follow paths of least resistance. That’s when he saw it.
In the back yard there was an indentation that marred the snow-covered land. A stone marker jutted out of the ground. It was a grave. Dan had to brush away the snow to read it. It told him that Missy Channing once rested there. She was apparently a loving daughter and terrific sister. She was only seventeen years old when she died last month.
The survivors then realized that the dead are rising from graves as well. Whatever caused the plague has been with us for some time.
“You see? Preservatives.” Bruce had said when Dan showed him the grave. Missy was found walking down the road towards another neighbor’s house. They laid her to rest, again.
Dan and Bruce dragged the family out to the driveway with work glove clad hands. The gloves weren’t enough to stop Dan from getting the willies and shaking a little. He looked at Bruce when it happened, expecting to be made fun of, but the old man was convulsing just as bad.
The surviving neighbors were told they could come to the ranch if they wanted, or they could just stay put. They were also told about the plan to liberate New Castle and that their help would be needed.
Old men and young sons grabbed rifles and pistols. Wives and daughters armed themselves as well. Everyone was looking forward to taking the town by storm and being able to lead a somewhat normal life again.
32
At the meeting Bruce declared himself King and assignments were handed out. Some people had chores to do, some were asked to gather specific items for Dan’s plan. Everyone is excited. The survivors from Waterloo are looking forward to having more room to roam, perhaps homes that they can call their own.
The meeting lets out. Dan watches Becka. She and Hector accepted the assignment of scouting the town. She was to leave early tomorrow morning, but she is still taking a patrol tonight. They told her she could have the time to prepare and rest up. She said she would be OK, and that she actually likes patrolling.
Patrol consists of walking the perimeter of the large estate outside in the freezing cold weather. Nobody likes it. Some may have been taking advantage of her need to keep busy by letting her take their shifts. She readily picks them up as if she’s getting paid overtime for it. It isn’t a paying gig. Bruce instituted the watch bill soon after they had arrived.
“Hey, Becka. Wait up,” Dan chases the girl. “I’ll join you.”
“Uh? OK.” She seems confused by this, but accepts the company. They bundle up and trudge out into a light flurry.
The two follow a well-worn path in the snow. It traces the entire perimeter of the fence. Dan isn’t carrying a weapon like he should when going on watch. Becka has a 9mm she had checked out from Bruce’s office. Most people performed the task on ATVs or snowmobiles. Bruce told him that the girl prefers to walk it. Dan complains internally, it’s a long fucking walk.
“My uncle tells me you have been very helpful.” Dan begins. He has no idea what to say.
“Just trying to keep busy.” She says, peering around the tree line to detect movement. Her eyes are almost invisible to Dan under her black watch cap.
“It helps to keep your mind off of things, huh?” Dan clumsily pries.
“I guess.” She is trying to play it off, her gaze trails to the ground. He hit a nerve.
“You want to tell me what it is you want to keep off your mind?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “I don’t think you’d understand.”
“Try me.”
“I would really rather keep it to myself.” She tells him. He is almost at a loss as to how to get her to open up. He decides to spill his own beans first.
“You know back on West 8th,” He begins his confession. “I wanted to leave Bill, Lindsey, and little Barbara behind.”
Becka stops in her tracks as he speaks.
“I told them it was for their safety, and that I would send back help when I found it. I just didn’t want them slowing me down. I didn’t want to have to worry about them. I mean come on… Who the fuck could I send back?”
“But, you didn’t leave them.” She points out.
“Bill wouldn’t have it. I would have though, and back at my place… I was going to leave them, you, and Hector.”
She starts to walk again, looking at the tread marks left by the last patrol. She is lost in thought for a second.
“I figured your uncle would send you to talk to me. He has been watching me close. He thinks I’m nuts. It’s different for you. That new girl, Carla, told me what you did. How you saved her. You’re a soldier.”
“I’m a reservist. Technically, I’m a deserter. I worked in a factory…”
“I killed my friend.” She says. Saying the words out loud seems to have released a great deal of pressure she had pent up. “I pushed him down a hole to be eaten by zombies. Happy now? I told you.”
She didn’t tell him about the ultimate goodbye kiss she had given her friend. Dan remains silent, waiting for her to break first.
“He may have been bitten. I don’t know if he was or not. But, I know the dead weren’t going to leave us alone because they could smell his blood. I shouldn’t even be here. I should be stuck in that crawlspace with him.”
Silence falls between them. She is waiting for Dan to say something. He is letting her get it all out.
>
“This is the part where you say. ‘You did what you had to do to survive’. Right?”
“No,” He says. “I think you did what you thought you had to do to survive. Bitten or not, his blood was in the air. If you didn’t get out of there, you would have never told me about the whole blood thing. It saved me at the hospital. I used that knowledge to get all those babies out.”
She mulls that over. He continues.
“You were talking this nonsense about the dead looking at their reflections, remember? I used a mirror to hold them back, buying myself enough time to get away. I’m not saying it was a good thing you did, but it saved you, and in turn saved others. I think about that sort of thing now, how people say ‘everything happens for a reason’. If I didn’t fall into the river, get left behind, little Jack might be dead now. I wouldn’t have been there for Carla.”
“I have these twenty sided dice. My friends and I used them when we would game. You know? Role-playing… Every day I roll them and think of Stevie and Derek.” Becka explains.
“That’s nice.” Dan smiles at the sentiment.
“When I get double twenties I plan on joining my friends.” Her mood becomes grim. Her suicide plan brings them into silence again. Dan struggles to pull them out of it, and to put into words what he is thinking.
“I’ve seen the movies, I’ve played the games. I always liked zombie stories.” Dan begins. “This is odd. The whole ordeal, although difficult, there’s nothing at the end.”
“What do you mean? Like a boss battle, or a big bad?”
“Exactly. There’s no uberzombie to overcome.”
“No denouement.” Becka nods in understanding.
“Uh… Yeah.” Dan doesn’t know what that word means. “I know it isn’t quite over yet. I feel the real challenge will be trying to live with what I have done and seen; carrying the guilt. I wasn’t able to save everyone. I let a few people die. I killed living people. The worst villain for us is ourselves.”
Life Among The Dead Page 37
