Jake stepped forward and without saying a word, grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it on the body. He hovered over the grave site for a second longer then turned and walked away from the group. Jenna and Kevin followed suit shortly after, with Kevin putting his hand on Annalise’s shoulder and squeezing slightly before trekking back to the house. Only Cort was left, still standing at the head of the grave, unmoving, unspeaking, and seemingly unfeeling. Annalise wanted to say something to remove some of the pain off his beautiful face but she didn’t know what could make a dent in the stone wall he had put up around his heart.
“I keep going over it in my head,” Cort said finally. “I keep going over everything from the minute I knew I was leaving to the minute we heard her fall through the ice. I keep wondering, was her life better because I was in it? Or did I drag her down?”
“I think her life was better,” Annalise responded automatically as the wind rustled gently through the trees. “I think she was happy for the most part.”
Cort picked up some dirt from the pile and let it run through his fingers slowly, “She didn’t want to come with us. The morning we left she told me I was crazy. Then she went home, and her apartment complex was on fire. She had nowhere to go. I was supposed to be her savior, not her damnation.”
Annalise started moving around the grave to Cort and when she reached him, she put her hand lightly on his limp arm. “So you did save her. You saved her for another month Cort.”
He pulled away from her touch as though it was fire, burning him to the core. Throwing the dirt that remained in his hand on the grave, he picked up the shovel and began tossing into the grave. Annalise watched him work in silence, still unsure of any words that could ease his pain. For the first time since Katy had slipped through the ice into the water, Annalise was unfocused on her own pain. All she desperately wanted was a way to shoulder the pain that Cort felt. She finally spoke, “This isn’t your fault Cort.”
Cort stopped mid-shovel and screamed out into the woods, throwing the shovel against the mound of frozen dirt and turned to face her. His face was contorted in a look she had never seen before on any human, some rage, some sorrow and a whole lot of self blame. “It is Annalise! It is my fault! It’s my fault she was here, it’s my fault she was out on the ice, and it’s my fault she’s dead.”
Annalise braced herself against his tirade and spoke in firm and unyielding terms. “If it’s your fault, then it’s my fault too. We can share the blame, and we can heal from this.” They stood staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. She could see their breath crystallizing as it came out of their lips and mingled in front of them . They could heal from this. They had to.
Somewhere close, a twig snapped. In a split second, Cort grabbed her and pulled him against her as three men jumped out of from their hiding spot in the trees. Annalise felt safe and protected in his arms and realized in that moment that his guilt over Katy hadn’t changed his feelings for her.
“Hands up in the air!” one the men yelled. “Don’t move!”
Annalise complied immediately, her body pressing tightly against Cort’s. She looked up into his eyes to try and gauge his reaction to the situation. Slowly, his hands went into the air. “We’re not armed,” he shouted.
Behind Cort, she saw one of the armed men motion with his arms for the other men to lower their guns. “They’re not infected, lower your weapons.”
The man walked over to Annalise and began patting her down, checking for weapons she assumed. He was dressed in white and grey camouflage, and appeared to have everything military personnel in the United States would have. Annalise wasn’t sure how to feel as his hands felt over the curves of her body. These men were the first people she had seen in almost a month and here they were treating her like a criminal or something to be afraid of.
Next he moved to Cort, continuing the pat down. Annalise looked at him, almost afraid to breathe. Were there more of them? Had the others who had left been detained too? Could they be trusted? Had they been watching the makeshift the funeral and were here to arrest them? There were so many questions that she wanted to ask but she decided it was probably best to leave the talking to Cort once they got the chance.
“Clear!” he said loudly, holding his hand out to Cort. “2nd Lt. Greg Adams.”
Cort lowered his hands and shook the lieutenant’s hand. “Cort McCoy. Did I hear you say infected?”
The lieutenant looked at him as if he was a relic of the past. “Yeah boy. Infected. Haven’t you heard what’s going on out there?”
Cort shook his head slowly and put an arm casually around Annalise’s shoulder. “No sir, we’ve been out here for a month without any word from anyone.”
“Well boy, you’re in for a shock.”
Chapter 27: Cort
Deep Creek Lake, Western Maryland
December 26, 2012
The information provided by the military was almost too far fetched to believe. The three of them had come from Pittsburgh, where the infection had reached shortly after the power went out across the Eastern Seaboard. The best anyone could tell it seemed to be a chemical compound the government had released on the rioters in DC meant to calm them down that had bonded with something that already existed in the majority of protesters and created a virus that turned the living into the walking dead. The virus then could possibly pass through bites and scratches but it was equally likely that someone infected would just die. That was the part that made Cort the most uneasy, a virus that didn’t affect everyone. Unlike the zombie tales of lore, there seemed to be a select amount of people who had an immunity to whatever the hell this was. It would make picking out the survivors versus the infected that much more difficult. The population was dwindling at a rapid pace and there seemed to be no relief from the government.
The soldiers had explained that the valley he had picked to stay in for protection had in essence created a natural wall surrounding them that the infected could not walk up. It had provided them shelter from what was going on in the world. It had ensured they would survive the initial infection period. Well, most of them at least. He wondered how many Katy’s there were in the world. How many people survived the actual outbreak just to die at the hands of reckless actions by other survivors soon after. On the walk to where the military had been camped out, they had barely questioned the grave Cort and Annalise had been discovered at, a small blessing of the fact that so many had died, Cort realized they would never have to explain what happened to her.
They had reached the military camp site in about fifteen minutes, and Annalise was currently kneeling in front of some of the pictures they had brought from Pittsburgh. She seemed to be in a sort of shock and awe over the devastation that had befallen the city. “And you three were the only survivors?” she asked, looking up at Lt. Adams.
“Yes ma’am,” he replied. “As I told you, as best we can figure out we are immune to the virus.”
She stood up slowly, looking at Cort. “We don’t know if we are or we aren’t. We haven’t come in contact with it yet.”
“As long as you’re human right now, you can come with us ma’am.”
Cort eyed their ammunition and stockpile of weapons. Those weapons would come in useful if they needed to fight in the future and having people trained in the art of war would probably be beneficial to their little survival group. “Where are you headed to?”
“The last radio contact we had was with Harrisonburg, Virginia. The survivors there have fortified the city and put out a beacon on military channels for anyone who was alive and able to meet them there.”
Annalise looked at Cort with questioning eyes. Harrisonburg was about six hours south east of where they currently were by car assuming no traffic or undead roadblocks. It was probably safer for them to stay in the valley. So far, the dead hadn’t figured out a way to get to them. There had to be a pretty compelling reason to leave where they were. “When was the last time you were in contact with Harrisonburg?”
One of the men who was standing towards the back observing them took a step forward. “Last radio communication was two days ago. The woman operating the radio is named Meredith. She said the city is secure and still welcoming those who are uninfected.”
Annalise’s eyes lit up. Cort could already tell what she was thinking. Meredith would have been taking interstate 81 towards her parents. She would have gone right through Harrisonburg. “Does Meredith have a last name?” he heard Annalise ask. He held his breath as he waited for the response.
The man shook his head. “No ma’am, I am not aware of her last name.”
Another one of the guys from the back snorted. “Apparently she makes great cupcakes though,” he chortled. “Cupcakes. We’re fighting for survival and she’s talking about goddamn cupcakes.”
Annalise whirled around to face Cort. “We have to go,” she stated. “I have to get to Meredith.”
Cort didn’t even try to argue, Annalise had already given up so much to be out here with him he knew it would be a waste of breath to try to convince her to stay. “We’ll go with you. We have three more survivors back at the house we’ve been staying at and more supplies, including four cars.”
The trek to the house took an hour with all the military gear, and explaining the situation to a stunned Kevin, Jake and Jenna took another two. Eventually, they had convinced everyone that the right move was to go where they knew other survivors were and suggested that everyone begin packing. Annalise had been the ringleader of the movement and packed the kitchen and living room with surprising efficiency. He understood her motivation. Meredith was her best friend, at times her only family, and if she was out there somewhere safe, Annalise was going to find a way to get there. He really hadn’t had a choice in the matter.
Staring at all the bags in the hallway Cort was reminded of the morning he left DC. Only this time he had Annalise by his side. They had made memories here, both good and bad, and he would miss this place as they made their way to Harrisonburg. He grabbed a bag and heaved it over his shoulder to take out to the cars.
Annalise noticed his hesitation in getting the bags and stopped directing everyone else to walk up to him. “You almost ready?”
“I’m going to miss this place,” he responded, leaning over and giving her a kiss on the forehead.
She chuckled softly, and twisted her head to return the kiss on his cheek. “I know, but now we get to go out in the great wide world and fight zombies. Isn’t this what you always wanted?”
He had imagined this for years but standing outside, he didn’t know anymore. Would they be able to survive? Would he be able to protect everyone? The fantasy in his head was nothing like the situation he faced now. With sudden clarity, he realized he had romanticized everything. “Yeah, I guess it is…”
Authors Note
I started writing this novel in a dark period in my life and I needed an outlet for all the depression I feeling in my heart. 25,000 words and one weekend later I had the outline to this story. In a month, it became what you just read.
I am going to self-publish this as an ebook shortly and I don’t know what will happen after that. It could languish in the annals of books that go unread and unappreciated or it could skyrocket to a best seller that takes the world by storm. (Hey, if 50 Shades of Gray and Twilight can…)
What I do know, is that I have a couple people that I need to thank for giving me the encouragement to actually complete this. So, in no particular order, thank you to:
My mother, who read my first real short story when I was in 6th grade and cried. She always encouraged me to write, and share my words with the world.
My father, who when I told him I was going to publish this as an ebook, didn’t laugh, but instead encouraged me to follow my dreams. (He’ll probably never read this though.)
Mary, whose response upon reading the first 25,000 words was, “Your novel is thebomb.com.” I know your favorite book is 50 Shades of Gray so it’s setting the bar kind of low, but thank you for believing in me.
Marybeth Mulhall and Terry Koch, my editors. Without you guys, I never would have published this because I would have had to shove needles into my eyes. (I am still pretty sure that is less painful than self editing.)
Amr, who was my inspiration for this story. I will always hold out some sort of hope that we will find our way back to each other, without all the death and destruction that followed Annalise and Cort in this story. I also look forward to the day that you finally realize your dreams and publish your own novel.
And finally, to you, the reader. If you’ve made it this far you’ve gone on a journey with characters that I have grown to know and love. Thank you for giving them a chance, and me. There may be one of you, and there may be many, but I appreciate everyone of you.
Stay tuned for the next book in the installment where I get into the really fun parts of zombie killing and a couple sexy nights under the stars.
Stephanie Dorman
About the Author
Stephanie Dorman lives in the D.C. area and, when not writing, performs polka variations of billboard top 10 songs at subway terminals using her (patent pending) one woman band music suit (this consists of an accordion harmonica, cymbals, jazz flute and full drum set among other instruments. All told the suit weighs 150 pounds and Stephanie has several trained helper monkeys and a shopping cart to move it around). She is a self-described “Polka Visionary” and pursues writing as a means of turning polka into a popular genre of music.
Stephanie Dorman can be contacted by looking at a mirror in a darkened room and repeating the words “Candy man” three times slowly. Unfortunately this methodology seems to result in a large number of unsolved murders and anyone contacting Stephanie this way does so at their own risk.
To learn more about Stephanie check out her personal blog at http://www.howmanyfrogs.com.
If you liked “Abandon” you’ll love “Savior”
Coming in Spring 2013
For more information about the series, visit the website:
http://www.abandonseries.com/
Table of Contents
Copyright and Disclaimer
Prologue
Part I
Chapter 1: Annalise
Chapter 2: Cort
Chapter 3: Annalise
Chapter 4: Cort
Chapter 5: Annalise
Chapter 6: Cort
Chapter 7: Annalise
Chapter 8: Cort
Chapter 9: Annalise
Chapter 10: Cort
Part II
Chapter 11: Annalise
Chapter 12: Cort
Chapter 13: Annalise
Chapter 14: Cort
Chapter 15: Annalise
Chapter 16: Cort
Chapter 17: Annalise
Chapter 18: Cort
Chapter 19: Annalise
Chapter 20: Cort
Part III
Chapter 21: Annalise
Chapter 22: Cort
Chapter 23: Annalise
Chapter 24: Cort
Chapter 25: Jake
Chapter 26: Annalise
Chapter 27: Cort
Authors Note
About the Author
Abandon Page 14
