I swallowed and nodded slightly. I really didn’t care if she planned on hurting me or chopping me up into little pieces. I was in so much pain that it hurt to be awake. My eyes hurt just looking around. So I closed them.
When the car stopped, Bertie got out and I could hear her moving around outside the car. I felt the door open and the air across my skin. It caused so much pain I got sick right in the back of this ladies nice car. She wiped my face when I was done and said, “Don’t you worry about it. It’s not even my car. It was my late husband’s Lexus. I honestly hated it when he bought it so you’re doing me a favor. Now, my son is gonna pick you up and carry you inside because I’m an old lady and I about broke my back getting you out of the woods.”
I felt warm hands lift me up and I kept my eyes closed the whole time. Once he laid me down, I peeked. From what I could see, he was very attractive. His red hair was tousled and he was very muscular. He waved at me and smiled.
If I could blush, I would’ve.
“Hi. I’d sure love to know your name. Think you can tell me?” he asked, as he pulled a cap off a syringe. I jolted but he put up a hand. “Don’t worry, it’s just an epi-pen. I don’t think you’re allergic but it will help relax your muscles and your heart rate will return to normal.”
I nodded a bit and said, “My name is… Kami. Did you see a dog?”
He shook his head no and I was overcome with grief. I let my fear of that Wasp Head hurt not only me, but Snack as well. She had to have survived, she certainly was a smart little dog and she would have run away. But the fact that she was out there alone hurt worse than any of these stings.
“Sorry about your dog,” he said, as he looked over my stings. “I knew a girl in high school named Cambria. Is that your name?” He was full of questions and I was full of sadness. I didn’t feel like being interviewed at the moment.
“No. Kamile.”
“Ah, well my names Brock,” he said, as he pulled a stethoscope out and listened to my heart then checked my pulse. “Well, Kamile, you suffered multiple stings and the best and only thing we can do for you is to just wait. My mom’s gonna help wash the mud off of you, then give you some lotion. Honestly there isn’t much we can do for the pain besides ibuprofen.”
Of course I knew this, but I wanted something stronger for the pain. I wanted to go to sleep and wake up when the pain was gone from my body. Shit, I wanted to wake up and have this whole thing be over with. Have the dead back in the ground where they belonged and humans alive and well.
“You a doctor?” I asked.
He nodded. “I am. Or… rather, I was. Not sure I qualify as a doctor if all the patients are dead now.” A sadness overcame his face. “You’re my first patient in two weeks. I was in the hospital when this whole thing went down.”
I couldn’t even imagine what that would be like. The dead patients rising from the morgue probably overtook the whole hospital, killing the weak patients first.
“I had to leave a lot of colleagues and patients behind. I knew they needed me but—”
“But I begged him to come home and help me,” Bertie interrupted. “My place was swarming with them things. I wouldn’t have survived if he didn’t come.”
“Why so many?” I asked.
They both sort of laughed. “Ancient Indian burial ground it turns out. Wish I would have known before I bought the place. If I’d known there would be a dead uprising, I would have lived somewhere else. But pretty much anywhere in Washington you’ll find burial grounds.”
They seemed like good people, but I was exhausted. I closed my eyes and thought of Lou and Emma. I wondered where they were now and who they were meeting along their way. Did they think of me? Or did I totally ruin our friendship for good? They had the cabin and they had all the stuff they planned over the years when they talked about this happening for real. The stuff they planned without me.
I drifted off to sleep ignoring the jealousy that hurt almost worse than the stings.
23
“Good morning, Kami,” Bertie said, as she pulled open a window in the room. The light flooded the pink room and I squinted at its brightness. I looked around at all the little girl décor in the bedroom. A dollhouse with furnishings better than my apartment sat to one side and a million teddy bears lined the shelves. It wasn’t like any room I ever had as a kid. I would’ve died for a room like this.
“This was my daughter’s room. She loved to play dolls. Her absolute favorite color was pink,” she told me as she washed my skin with a warm cloth. I could see better today; probably less swelling. “When she died, Brock started buying teddy bears for her on her birthday. Since she wasn’t around to receive them, we lined them up on shelves. He still does it every year. He was just a teenager, how was I to tell him that buying them was wasteful? He thought he was doing something nice in honor of her. Now I wish I could find some little girl who’d play with them all, but I don’t think that will happen. Not with all that’s happened. A lot of dead people out there.”
I nodded. “I know. I’ve seen a lot of it.”
“Ah, your voice works well, I hear. How do you feel?”
“It hurts still.”
She laughed, “Yeah, I guess so. You have thousands of stings. I don’t know how you survived, Kamile. God must know what he’s doing.” She smiled at me and I could see she was a sweet and kind person. She wasn’t like any of the other people we met along the way.
“How did your daughter die?” I asked.
“Cancer. I always thought that I would die before my kids. It’s a horrible thing for a parent to go through. I sure hope you never have to. And now that this is going on I am so happy we had her cremated; it would be horrendous to know that she had risen up.” She shook her head and I could see a small tear slip free.
I felt horrible for Bertie and her son. Brock was fatherless and lost a sister.
“I’m married but we never had kids,” I told her. “I left him behind in New York when I first heard about the attacks. I didn’t know what was going on then. If I did, I wouldn’t have left him. Or maybe I would have, I don’t know. He wasn’t a good husband, but he wasn’t a bad man.”
She nodded. “I understand you’re meaning. Do you feel guilty?” She lifted me up and carefully took off my shirt and redressed me. I thought nothing of it, feeling totally comfortable with her.
“I do. But I mostly feel awful because I have two friends out there. I left them because of my own selfishness. Now I’m miles from them and I have no idea how we’re going to find each other.”
She lay me back down and wrapped my hands in a bandages after coating them with a pink lotion. Pulling over a small breakfast tray, she helped me take a bite of eggs.
The flavor was amazing and fresh. I hadn’t had eggs in weeks.
“Where are they headed?”
“Lake Crescent,” I said, as I swallowed another spoonful of eggs.
She laughed. “Well that doesn’t narrow much down. Lake Crescent is pretty big and there are a lot of places out there. Do you know the street?”
I shook my head. It was ten years ago and the specifics were not clear. I honestly leaned on the other girls to get me there and I hadn’t ever thought about what I would do if we were separated. All I could think of now was that I hoped they’re still headed to the cabin and not out looking for me.
“May I ask why Lake Crescent? What about this place is so special?” She put the spoon down and I began telling her about our pact. I told her how I met Lou, and then Emma through Lou, and that we went to the cabin for fun one year. Then I got into the specifics about our pact and why we made it.
“We were just messing around. I certainly didn’t think it was actually going to happen,” I admit for the first time ever. “But, I guess Lou and Emma knew more than I did, because they kept talking about it and planning it all these years later.”
“Preppers,” Bertie said.
I nodded. That was exactly what they were.
“I wasn’t prepared for anything,” I laughed. “I wasn’t even prepared for my own life. I married a man I didn’t really love and I never left him, even when he was terrible to me. Now it’s all over and I’m sitting here without my friends, helpless.”
The tears begin to flow and I realized it was the first time I cried since leaving the girls. I haven’t felt this abandoned in my entire life. Even after my parents split up and my mom moved away. I had survived being alone my whole life; moving to New York and being by myself while Sam did his own thing. But being in this world, without Lou and Emma, wasn’t a world I’d like to live in.
Bertie fixed my hair and said nice things, but I knew that it was just to make me feel better. Or perhaps to get me to stop crying.
“Well, Kami, you’re welcome to stay here if you want to. We have enough food with the chickens and the cow; luckily I started this little farm years ago.”
I started to say something in reply but she put her hand up to stop me.
“You don’t have to answer me now. Think on it. I’m going to let you be for a while. If you need me just holler.”
As she left the room I sat back and tried real hard to be a better sport about the end of the world like she was. I mean how the hell did she do it? Was she on Xanax all day? Because she had eggs and cows and seemed to be doing swell, regardless of the evil that lurked outside. It was like being in a bizarre dream where the world was normal again.
The knock on the door came a few hours later, after I had taken a nice little nap following my pity party. I sat up slightly as Brock came inside the room, looking extremely amazing.
“Hi,” he said quietly. “I didn’t wake you did I?”
“No, I’ve been awake for a bit. Can’t really do much,” I said, showing him my hands.
He laughed. “Ah, well I’m here to remedy that for you.” He removed the bandages and looked the stings over with a careful eye.
“It is definitely healing well, but I think you need a bath to remove a lot of this lotion. It can become worse sometimes to have it caked all over you.”
I flicked off the pink lotion and nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay with that. It’s probably been a while since I’ve had a proper shower. You have running water, too?”
He nodded absentmindedly as if the notion of not having it was ridiculous. He wasn’t living on the road for two weeks. He was holed up in a perfect little house. A house I couldn’t stay in forever; even if he was hot and they had food.
I had to get out there and find the girls. I had to take my chances and try to make amends with Lou. I’d lost too many people in my life and I couldn’t lose anymore.
“I heard you talking to my mom earlier,” he said, looking at me with his intense eyes. “If you need me to, I will take you up to Lake Crescent.”
I was shocked. How sweet of him to offer such a thing. He was willing to put his life at risk. But why?
“I don’t want to put you out. It’s not safe out there, Brock. Trust me,” I said, pointing to my swollen body. “If you had an extra vehicle and a map, I can make the drive myself.”
“We only have the one,” he said disappointedly. “But I can get you to the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort. We used to vacation there when I was a kid. The directions are imbedded in my mind. And it’s not far from Lake Crescent.”
I trusted that he knew where he was going and that he knew the route well. Maybe being with a guy who could protect me wouldn’t be so bad.
“And maybe you can find a car up there and drive the rest of the way.”
I nodded. It was an idea. Something told me it wouldn’t be that easy. Perhaps it was the fact that nothing had been easy since the dead climbed up out of the ground.
****
Turns out I needed a bath pretty badly. I not only had hair grown wildly on my legs, but under my pits, too. I shaved it off as fast as I could. My body was swollen and sore and the hot water soothed me. Then came my hair. Totally different subject. My curls were a mess and inside them, hidden in the ringlets, were dead wasps. I gagged as they began falling into the tub beside me. I had a hard time getting them all out and there was no way I was leaving them in there. So when I got out of the tub, I grabbed a pair of scissors. I’d never had short hair before but it would be easier than having to constantly put my hair up all the time. So I cut it all off, leaving it short and curly. I ran my hands over the short locks and actually liked the way it felt.
When I came out of the room, I looked around Bertie’s house. It was the first time I had seen it properly after the attack. It was a cute little farmhouse with rustic looking décor that was dispersed properly throughout. Outside was indeed a farm surrounded by a mess of fences and spikes, preventing the lifeless from attacking their livestock. It was well thought out and they had a great chance at making it work here. The perimeter of the house had the same triple fence and stakes along with huge holes where the dead probably fell inside.
I didn’t even want to think about how many hours it took to build such a fence. I was certainly happy I missed that work. It was incredible to see that it was all done in the last two weeks.
I walked out into the living room where Bertie sat sipping coffee. She looked at me, surprised and then smiled.
“I like it,” she said, pointing to my hair.
I smiled bashfully. “Thanks. I had dead wasps in there. Thanks for letting me take a bath, it’s been a while.”
“Did you think about my offer?”
I nodded. “I did. I think I’m going to take Brock up on his offer instead.”
She frowned. “Brock’s offer?”
Brock came into the room, saving me from having to explain. He told her how he would drive me to the Sol Duc Hot Springs and then he’d come right back. She wasn’t happy about it at all.
“I’m sorry that you don’t want to stay, Kamile, I really am. But I can’t wait here while my son leaves me. I already lost a child, I cannot lose another,” she explained, as tears well up in her eyes.
“Mom, I will come back. You know that in your heart. I’ve got to look for more medical supplies for us anyway,” Brock said as he gave her a hug. He whispered something to her that I wasn’t able to hear. Whatever it was it worked. She smiled and hugged him tighter.
“Okay, then. When will you two go?”
Brock looked at me and then back at his mom.
“Tomorrow. Kamile and I can map out our trek and I can get the car loaded up.”
“Sound good to me,” I said, as I excused myself from the room. Something told me that Brock and his mom needed to talk a few things through.
24
We left at dawn after an emotional goodbye with Bertie. I promised her that once I got settled with the girls and things calmed down, if they ever did, I would come back to visit her. She sent me with fresh milk in my canteen and scrambled eggs to eat on the way. She hugged us both goodbye but took her time with Brock. She made him promise to come back and told me that I should watch over him. I told her I’d do my best.
She loaded my gun for me as well as showing me how to do it myself, and gave Brock and I extra bullets. Brock carried a shotgun and an axe that looked massively dangerous, but she assured me he knew what he was doing.
“So,” he said, breaking the silence after the first thirty minutes of the drive. “Tell me about your dog.”
I smiled and then felt the pain of the loss.
“Her name was Snack. I found her while we were driving here. Poor thing’s owner was dead, so I took her.”
“Funny name,” he laughed. “She must’ve been a little dog then.”
I nodded. “She was. Emma said something about her being a dog snack and it kinda stuck.”
“I will go out and look for her when I get back. If I fin
d her, I promise I’ll take care of her until you come visit.”
He was too sweet and too suave. He knew if he found Snack that I’d have reason to visit. Not that I wasn’t already planning on it. I owed Bertie my life. I would do whatever I could to get back to see her.
“Deal,” I chuckled.
We passed a few Lifeless roaming along the rainy streets but no other humans. The Lifeless seemed slower in the rain; almost water-logged. They were swollen and falling apart at the seams, not that they had any. Most of them were pretty wretched looking, rotted and covered in decay. They were the oldest Lifeless I had seen yet.
“I can tell these Lifeless have been dead for a while,” I told him, pointing to one that looked our way.
“Yeah, they’re pretty dead, huh?” He slowed down and rolled down the window, letting the rain come in a bit, but he didn’t mind. The lifeless came closer and he drove toward it. Once he was close enough, he swung his axe straight at its head. Then we sped off, never looking back.
The Olympic National forest was the most beautiful terrain I had ever seen and I wished I could get out of the car and walk it like a tourist. But alas, it was swarming with the dead. Turns out Washington State had a lot of Native American burial ground, and dead people buried in its national forest, because they poured out of the woods at an alarming rate.
Brock cut through three more dead and then said, “I saw on TV once that a lot of hikers go missing out here. Looks like we’ve found a few.”
I opened my window a little and waited for one to come close enough to me. Once it did I used my knife to stab it and it slid down the car.
“Once we get through this ridge there should be a shortcut to Sol Duc. I’m afraid we may be delayed if this many dead are along that route, too.”
I shrugged my shoulders. This wasn’t awful. It wasn’t like there were so many that we couldn’t take them down. Brock ran a few over and I looked back to see them get right back up, just missing a few appendages. The rest of the drive was much the same, but we kept busy by talking about our lives prior to the lifeless. I talked about life as a writer and a little about Sam, but I didn’t want to talk about another guy while flirting with another; it wasn’t cute.
The Survival Pact Page 17
