“He's got a point,” Hashim said with a small grin. “We shouldn’t run into many people—”
“No.” Everyone faced Bob as he popped off the bus and stepped toward them. “We can't hide from the world. The Pride of Life should've taught us that. The main roads will have plenty of stores, gas stations, probably some good crops, and survivors.”
Paula looked shocked at the notion. “How can we take on more people?”
“Didi and Cody always offered help to whoever needed it. We should follow that example.”
“We're in no shape to do that.”
Bob smiled. “For all we know, we might rescue a doctor, an electrician, or someone else who'll be useful when we rebuild.”
“We should avoid major cities,” Sean said. “Omaha will be risky enough, but Denver? Los Angeles? God knows what kind of messes we'd have to get through.”
Isaac shrugged. “We could find other bus stations or garages, in case we need to do any maintenance on this bus. Pick up some parts.”
Gilda nodded. “We may find a few more medical supplies in hospitals.”
“I can help clear them out,” Rachelle said.
“You shouldn't have to do that,” Paula said.
“Hey, Didi taught me—”
“Didi isn't here anymore,” Paula shouted. “You shouldn't be risking yourself.”
Rachelle stepped up to Paula and stared her down. “Didi believed in me enough to teach me how to fight for our people, so that’s what I’m going to do. I'm a defender, and I will gladly give my life like Didi did if it means protecting this camp.”
Paula's jaw hung open as she struggled to speak.
“Me, too,” Isaac said as he stood beside Rachelle, followed by Pepe, Craig, and Hashim. Sean didn't know what to say.
“Let's bed down for the night,” Bob said with a dark calm, his tone clearly indicating where he stood on the issue. “We'll head out in the morning.”
Sean tried to comfort Paula, but she shook loose and followed the others toward the nearby motel. All he could do was let his wife cool off.
CHAPTER 36
MOVING ON
Still keyed up from earlier—and not wanting to sit anywhere for a while—Bob took the first two-hour shift as a roving guard with Hashim. It didn't take Isaac, Craig, or Rachelle very long to clean out every room; there was nothing of any threat left in the town, thanks to …
He wasn't surprised to find so few people actually sleeping. By Panel decree—as Cody was too doped up to say much at the moment—all windows remained open to ensure quick confirmation of life and to monitor any indications of suicidal thoughts.
In the first room, Clarissa and Jerri lay on opposite beds around two playpens, the latter singing to Amber and the triplets. In the next room, Dandy helped Blake redress his shoulder wound on one bed while Ron quietly consoled Brad on the other. Chuck sat on one of two beds in the next room, watching Leticia comfort the weeping Belinda, who moaned the names of Megan and Lydia between sobs. Next door, Gilda redressed Roy’s eyes while Cody slept like a log. The elderly nurse waved at Bob as he went by.
Despite loud objection—mostly from Paula—Pepe and Dawn shared a bed in the next room, though fully clothed as a provision. Bob was sure it wouldn't stop the two from doing anything, but having Craig in the next bed and Oscar on the floor would. The blank looks in their eyes showed him the point was moot anyway. After this night’s ordeal, he understood perfectly.
In the smaller building, Jeremy and Lee bunked with Ray Ray and two younger boys. Next door, Ron and Max were fast asleep; good thing, since they were to relieve Bob in a couple of hours. He didn’t feel he needed it, but he had to drive tomorrow.
In the next room, Isaac and Rachelle passed the time chatting while their three roommates tried to sleep and their teenage prisoner screamed obscenities at them from the bathroom in which she was bound.
The two occupants of the last room, however, hurled obscenities at each other.
*****
“You wouldn’t even stand by me,” Paula shouted.
“You were being unreasonable,” was Sean’s flimsy defense.
“Unreasonable? That girl is fifteen. She shouldn't be—”
“There is no should or shouldn't anymore, Paula. The world died around us. At this point, strength doesn't seem to know any age.”
“How can you—”
“That fifteen-year-old girl was obviously well-trained if she took out that R.V. If she wants to be a defender or whatever, I say she fits the bill.”
Paula wanted to tear his head off, but she turned and crossed her arms.
He tried to hug her, but she shook loose. “I'm sorry, honey,” he said lamely. “You know I support you, but I'm not going to let you tarnish a perfectly good girl's aims. Adam wouldn't have wanted that.”
“That’s a low blow.”
“But true.” She turned to rip him a new one but saw how remorseful he was. “I hate to say it, but our boy was every bit as dedicated as this girl. If he wanted to fight alongside—”
“I wouldn't have let him,” she shouted. “I didn't want him to leave in the first place. He ran away. Remember?”
“That's right, because no matter how hard we try, we can't stop them from growing up.”
“Growing up? She's running to her death. That's all he's doing, just like before.”
“He?”
She shoved her finger in his face. “Don't do that. Don't you defend him!”
“Her, not him,” he said with his hands up like he was ready to grab her again. “This isn't about Adam.”
“It is, damn it,” she roared at the callous fool. “Why can't you see that? We can’t let him go out there like that. I can't lose him again.” She burst into tears again.
He seized her into his arms. She tried to wriggle free, but he kept her to him the way she wished she could've kept Adam to her. She cried too hard to fight anymore.
“I miss him, too,” he said as he stroked her hair. “I miss going to the movies with him, watching the games, throwing the ball around, but that's not in the cards anymore. I wish I could change it, but I can't.”
She cried harder at wishing she could've done those things, too; at wishing she hadn't found them so distasteful at the time.
“We don't get him back, honey, no matter how much we want him,” he told her through a broken, sobbing voice. Then he held her face and looked into her eyes. “We have no right to take that out on Rachelle.”
She wanted to fight him, but she couldn't find the words. She wanted so badly to be able to fight for that precious young girl and all the children in this camp—or whatever it became at this point, but she wasn’t strong enough. Not if she could so easily let her own son go. It made her feel more alone than she ever felt in her life. All she could do was turn away, plop down on the bed, and cry herself to sleep.
*****
Without Didi by his side, Cody knew he was in for a challenge. The eyes of everyone around the bus revealed the same fears and concerns he had been combating all morning. Though glad they didn’t mutiny like they had threatened to do over the last few days, he had no illusions about them being on his side. He maintained his mask of resolve for everyone’s sakes, though needing Pepe's assistance to stand didn't help his façade—or the evil eye Gilda gave him for standing at all. He had to lead these people to a new home, and they needed to face what that meant. “We’ve lost our home, but we've got what it takes to build another. We've got a long way to go, and we have to expect chaos out there; a fair share of run-ins with the dead.”
“And gangs,” Isaac muttered, which was followed by murmurs throughout the assembly.
“I won’t promise you it’ll be easy, but we can do it. We've got fuel, weapons, and good defenders,” Cody waved toward Isaac, Craig, and Rachelle. “Wherever we go, we'll have each other, just like always. Whatever we do, we'll thrive, just like always. And, no matter who comes at us, we’ll protect each other, just like always. Are we rea
dy?”
Most of them said they were, though a few cheers would've been nice. The Herrins seemed divided, but Chuck and Leticia looked ready to go. Gilda and Hashim put on the same brave faces they always did. Pepe and Dawn looked stalwart together, Bob nodded resolutely, and Jerri stood firm. All in all, it wasn’t discouraging, so Cody took what he could get.
He waved toward the bus. “Then let’s get going.”
Craig, Isaac, and Rachelle hopped into the Ford. Hashim headed for the tanker with Ron while the rest of the camp filed onto the bus. Cody held his brave grin until everyone was aboard, then let Pepe help him onto the bus and into his seat. Gilda guided their intern through the steps of replacing his saline bag, which he noticed was a little low.
Cynthia sat in the front center seat next to Clarissa, her wrists taped together as thickly as her ankles—and her mouth. He wasn’t sure what to do with her, but keeping her alive seemed the right thing to do. Like Paula had said: the young need a chance.
The bus roared to life. Everyone was seated and awaiting the next phase of their lives.
Almost everyone, Cody thought sullenly as he gazed at the empty seat to his right. It took all his strength not to weep as the Moses began its long drive south. Without her.
He missed her terribly. He’d grown very fond of her dark wit and telltale giggle, wishing so much to hear them now. Even if they said nothing on their long journey, having her there would’ve been good enough.
The bus stopped. Bob frowned as he leaned forward with binoculars. “I’ll be damned,” he said, then honked the horn.
“What’s going on?” Cody asked.
Bob handed over the binoculars.
Cody looked down the gold-hued Main Street, and his heart leapt. “Help me outside.”
*****
Running without getting tired was great, but not being able to see half of the twenty-five miles Didi had to cross when Jerri’s flashlight died just sucked. Fighting hunger pains after the emotional highs wore off made it no easier. She thanked God she could still hear the difference between road and earth under her numb feet, but couldn’t chance it at a full sprint.
The first shades of morning revealed the bridge into Rock Rapids, but the sound of engines in the distance told her she was too late. She tried calling Cody or Bob, but couldn’t find her cell phone; probably lost in the explosion or the fight after. She sprinted as fast as she could onto the main strip, but that was at least two miles uphill. She prayed hard for a miracle but ran nonetheless.
Something honked. Tires screeched, then an engine groaned.
She stopped at an intersection and waited between a two-story mural and a bank, hoping to see that miracle and not another potential enemy. The engine grew louder as a small dot appeared amidst the blur up the street. The closer it got, the more she recognized its familiar grind of fluid and metal. She smiled.
The black Ford stopped in the crosswalk, and a young spitfire hopped out. Rachelle rushed her like a football player and hugged her like a wrestler, which she could only feel emotionally.
Physically, however, she really wanted to chow down on her pupil. The hunger burned worse than ever, like the hurting after the hit of cocaine that broke a two-year clean streak. She twitched and struggled not to claw into her young friend. She mustered all her willpower to pat Rachelle’s shoulders and pry herself away.
Isaac and Craig sighed heavily.
“How did you get out of there?” Rachelle said with tears in her eyes.
“You didn't think I was the one who would eat a grenade, did you?” Didi replied with a wink, figuring it would be better to relay the details of her desperate escape later.
A fuzzy-looking Rachelle laughed. Behind her, a fuzzier Craig pointed to his eye.
Didi reapplied her contact lens, making her friends look less fuzzy again. Then she unstrapped Kenny's sword from her back and presented it to her pupil.
Rachelle stared with the widest eyes ever. “Is that Kenny's sword?”
Didi grinned. “No, it's yours. A defender needs a good weapon, doesn't she?”
Rachelle gave the blade a look, strapped it behind her back, and hugged Didi again, which was thankfully brief this time.
Didi greeted Craig and Isaac, which also took tremendous willpower to accomplish. Isaac’s crude joke of a greeting made it easier to not want to touch him, so she kind of appreciated him for it. Craig was much nicer with a smile and a pat on her shoulder before insisting they should get going. She smiled at her fortune and hopped into the truck bed, sitting against the cabin. Rachelle joined her before they got going, which was bittersweet under the circumstances.
Didi faced the cabin to ask how everyone else was, but caught her reflection in the closed window. Some of her skin had been ripped away, revealing hints of jaw and cheekbone by her right ear. Her stitched-in hair wouldn’t cover it well, so she was S.O.L. until she could get herself a skin graft down the road. She wondered if the rest of camp would break out torches and pitchforks, even after seeing her without makeup.
Despite that, Rachelle kept smiling at her. If this girl could still look at her face with such admiration, maybe she didn’t need to worry about the rest of camp.
When they reached Moses, several of its passengers had disembarked to see her, but it was the one in front she wanted to see the most. Cody just stared at her with his mouth hanging open. Before she could say anything, he pushed off of Pepe and hugged her, which made a few people gasp. She hugged him back with only a hint of temptation. As much as the hunger hurt, she could never harm him. She only wished she could’ve felt his warmth.
“I'm glad to see you, too,” she said as she pried herself from him, just in case.
Hashim approached and hi-fived her. Jerri approached with caution but hugged her anyway. Gilda touched her shoulder, Bob shook her hand, and Sean gave her a grin alongside Pepe and Dawn. Paula looked nervous.
Didi smiled. “Alright, enough of the mushy stuff. We’ve got to conquer the west coast.”
Paula threw out her hands. “Wait a minute. You said you wouldn't feed.”
“Come on, Paula,” Craig chided the stuffy woman. “Kenny was a bigger monster than you think she is.”
“Regardless,” Paula insisted while her husband stood lamely behind her, “how do we know she can control her hunger?”
Cody stepped between Didi and Paula. “You mean besides her not eating me just now? Whatever she’s done, I still trust her with my life.”
Didi would've cried if it was possible. His words touched the deepest part of her brain, as did all the nods she got from the others with him. Still, she had to answer the charge. “Yeah, I fed, Paula. Kenny was better than me, so I got desperate. Someday, I’ll have to answer to God for it. Until then, I have people to take care of. I can only do my best, just like any of you.”
Paula stared Didi down, apparently unconvinced.
“Alright, let's get moving,” Bob insisted, though kept his place to hold up Cody.
Hashim headed for the tanker. Rachelle followed Craig and Isaac into the Ford. The others filed onto the bus, including Paula. Even after watching her feed, her people looked brighter than usual; maybe even hopeful.
Cody touched the exposed bone on her face, something she was quite glad she couldn’t feel. “We’ll take care of this at our next pit stop.”
“You sweet-talker, you,” Didi she said as she held his hand before slowly removing it, but she lingered in his gaze as long as she could.
He laughed. “Ready?”
She smiled and said, “Let’s do it.”
Cody let Bob help him back onto the bus. Didi watched him as she backed away. A sudden stop told her she had run into the Ford. Rachelle giggled at her, so she shoved that little grin back into the truck and hopped into the bed. She stood behind the cabin and knocked to let whoever was driving know it was time to go.
Three engines roared, and the camp was on its way south.
Dead or not, Didi got to savor another da
y on this planet; for herself and her friends. She relished the memory of all those relieved looks that had crammed themselves onto the bus; faces that had every right to fear both the journey ahead and the one leading them on it. Maybe that reassurance was fleeting, but she would treasure the moment as long as it lasted. Hope was far too scarce anymore, but it was there as long as someone fought for it. Without it, everyone might as well be dead already. She couldn’t change what happened to her, but she would make sure the hope she saw in the faces of those otherwise whiny, ungrateful people didn’t die like she did. That hope made her feel too good not to.
Follow Didi and her camp on their journey west in …
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brian P. White is a native of Southern California who discovered a passion for storytelling while attending high school in northwest Iowa. He has gained a wealth of experiences while serving in the United States Army for over sixteen years. He is an avid fan of many book and movie genres, including apocalyptic and military adventures. The Death Doll is his first published novel.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude to a few people for their help in shaping this novel.
I foremost thank God for all that is possible, and I hope I represented God’s word well in this book.
I thank every writer who ever had an influence in my life and the writing that resulted. You all made my dreams fascinating.
I have to thank everyone at Google that created those online maps, which updated my knowledge of places I haven’t visited in years and introduced me to many new ones.
I thank my friends and family for taking the time to test-read my novel and add their input. Mandy, Nikki, Carrie, Renée, Daniel, Sonny, Mercy, and David (aka Dad), you are all Godsends.
Thanks to Angelique Shelley for her incredible work on my novel cover, and for putting up with my nitpicking.
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