Adrian's Undead Diary (Book 6): In the Arms of Family

by Philbrook, Chris

  The response to Roger’s outburst was mixed. Some immediately agreed with him, chomping at the bit to get the hell off the island. Others winced at the thought of wading into the town armed to the teeth, regardless of the potential benefit.

  “Roger and Jaden do raise an interesting point,” Michelle said quietly, silencing the group gathered around the fire. “What if the locals decide to stop us from leaving? Do we kill them to leave? Are we prepared to murder these people to go home?”

  More silence.

  “Absolutely," Kate said, looking Michelle in the face. Michelle looked at her for a long moment, gauging the seriousness of her statement. Michelle looked away, unable to hold the other woman’s stern gaze.

  “Michelle, none of us ever want to hurt anyone," Kevin said. "We may be warriors, soldiers, Marines, whatever, but the bottom line is we visit violence only when necessary to protect ourselves, protect our friends and family, and to achieve the mission that’s put in front of us. We need to get home, and we need to do it while we know the runways are clear of snow. We aren’t going to assemble The Trinity here, are we?” Kevin said softly, holding Becky’s hand.

  “We don’t know we won’t find the Soul here Kevin. It seems silly to kill people just to leave. Our life here isn’t that bad. We can do good here. We can start fresh here. Build things back again. This isn’t the worst place we can stay,” Michelle pleaded to the group, looking intently back and forth from Kate to Kevin.

  “Then stay here. If you want to make a run at life in the Azores, losing your weight would help our fuel consumption when we head to America,” Kate said flatly. She was open and hostile.

  Michelle looked back to Kate, her feelings stung. It was the first time anyone had ever seen her emotionally hurt in the least. Michelle was a stalwart.

  “Michelle, you know we need to meet this Soul person together right? To unite this Trinity or whatever, correct?” Kevin asked her.

  “Right. All three of us,” Michelle added.

  “I’m going to America when that plane behind us can get in the air. So unless you want to be the one that goes against the word of whatever the fuck is running this freak show of a world, then plan on doing whatever is necessary to be on that plane with me when it starts moving.” Kevin looked at Michelle, daring her to argue, knowing fully she couldn’t spar the point with him. Michelle’s dedication to the idea of uniting this mythical Trinity that she and Kevin were a part of was complete. Kevin watched as she nodded slowly, her heart heavy.

  Hal, the British Royal Marine who had joined their group in England, stood up to stretch. “Look mates. This is all raw, and total shite. We sit here every night , angry and scared that these bloody people are going to come at us. Simple fact is, they can’t. If they come at us, they know they’ll get shot, or we’ll get hurt, and that is something they can’t hack. Their best bet is to come after the plane and fuck it up so no one gets hurt, and no one can leave. I say we post guard on the bird 24/7, fix it, test it late at night, and take off as soon as possible. This won’t be the first time, or the last time we leave people behind. Remember my unit in London?”

  Everyone agreed quietly with the Brit. He made a lot of sense as usual, showing wisdom beyond his age. Kevin wasn’t even sure how old he was, but he couldn’t be more than 23 or 24. Kevin smiled as he remembered how fast war and death can mature a person.

  Jaden took over from there. “I like it. We get the part tomorrow after I shut the clinic down, assuming Luis comes through for us. Dale tests the part, installs the part tomorrow night or the day after, and the next time we have darkness, we try the plane out and fly immediately off this rock. Between now and then, if anything that looks even a little bit like a living person comes anywhere near this fucking hangar, we put a tiny hole in its forehead, and a big hole in the back of their head. Sound good?”

  No one could argue the logic. Not even Michelle.

  *****

  [TRANSLATED FROM PORTUGUESE]

  “They’re leaving.” Luis said to his wife Mila as she stirred the watercress soup. It was a local delicacy, her specialty, and luckily, it was still readily made.

  Mila shook her head slowly in disappointment. “They need to go home too. They aren’t from here. The fact that they have been here as long as they have is a blessing we should not forget. Had you given them what they asked for months ago like you should’ve, we would not be so afraid of them leaving now. We have become dependent on them,” Mila said as she spooned out a ladle of her homemade soup for her husband.

  Luis nodded, knowing and accepting his guilt in the whole matter. “I know. I will give them the part tomorrow, and they will leave within a day or two of that. We will find a way to live without them I suppose.”

  Mila and Luis’ ten year old son sat down at the table in the dark kitchen and Mila spooned him a large bowl of the soup. The bowl was far larger than both her and her husband’s. The children would eat hearty here, even if it meant the parents would starve. “Luisinho eat it all. Please don’t waste a drop of it. It was very difficult to make.” Mila pinched the boy’s cheek playfully and the dark haired boy recoiled.

  “Mom! Don’t pinch me like that. I’m not a little boy anymore. I have killed the dead, I am a man now,” Luisinho said proudly as he scooped up a large spoon of the soup.

  Mila and Luis smiled painfully. That was not a statement either parent wanted their child to ever say.

  *****

  That night as Michelle dreamt she was visited by strangers in a place that was very familiar to her. The simple glory of The White Room had not faded in the least in the time she had been away from it. The ambient light and golden warmth surrounded her from all sides as she realized she was sitting once more at the comforting round table. In the dream she felt her heart race, excited that the presence of the dead or the divine was near. She blinked the dream out of her eyes and saw the two other people at the table with her. She didn’t recognize them.

  “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find people halfway around the world like this, young lady?” An old balding man asked her. He had thin white hair and a face that reminded her of long Sundays fishing at a lake, and difficult talks about growing up. Michelle instantly liked him.

  “No, I’m sorry. I have no idea how hard it is,” Michelle answered him softly with a slightly confused smile on her face.

  “It’s damn hard. Really damn hard,” the old man said as he rested his hands on the table and Michelle saw the age written on them. He had thin skin, and his veins weaved their way to and fro down the length of bony fingers. She wondered what his hands did in life.

  “I’m Gilbert. You’re the Savior aren’t you? Tell me you’re the Savior. What’s your name? I don’t have a lot of time to talk here,” the man named Gilbert asked her, pressing her for the info he seemed to desperately need.

  “Yeah. I was told I was called the Savior by some. My name is Michelle. Why are you here?” Michelle was surprised to hear that word, Savior, again.

  “Holy shit we found her Gavin," Gilbert said to the man Michelle suddenly saw sitting next to the old figure. She turned her attention to him and took the new man in. He was young, perhaps 20 or 24 at most, and was tall, and fairly handsome. He looked tired, but very relieved. A man who had just finished a marathon. Gavin nodded happily, relieved at their discovery of her.

  “Is there something I can help you with?” Michelle asked, very much lost.

  “Sort of. You’re on a boat? Or maybe on an island right? It’s hard for us to tell," Gilbert asked her.

  “I’m in the Azores. I’m with the Warden too. We’re planning on leaving to go to America soon, but our plane needs a part. We are supposed to get the part tomorrow,” Michelle told the two men.

  “Wow. I can’t believe all this shit is real Gilbert. I mean wow," the young man named Gavin said to the old man next to him. Michelle smiled at his epiphany. She’d had a moment similar to his herself.

  Gilbert nodded knowingly. “
You two need to get moving. The Soul has rough times ahead. We can’t quite make what it is out yet, but he’s going to be in great danger, and it might take the Warden to save him.”

  “It’s a he? The Soul is definitely a man? What is his name?” Michelle’s heart started throbbing in her breast. This was the person she might fall in love with, restore hope with, and maybe, just maybe, save humanity with.

  “Tsk-tsk Michelle. It’s far too early in the dance to cop a feel. Too many rules, too many chaperones watching. Leave room for Jesus. I’ll just say he is a man, and one hell of a man too. A little rough around the edges, but boy, you’re gonna like him after you figure him out,” Gilbert said with a sly grin.

  “What’s he like?” Michelle asked softly, secretly wishing the old man would share at least that one little secret.

  “He’s kind of an asshole,” Gavin interjected.

  Gilbert gave the young soldier a dirty look before answering her, “He’s tall, strong, smart, and funny. He carries the biggest burdens, and it weighs him down mightily. But it won’t sink him. He has too much love, and too much support from everyone around him. People are starting to see him for what he is now. It’s something special.” By the time Gilbert finished, he had a warm, glowing smile almost as magical as the room they were sitting in. Michelle clutched both of her hands to her chest, warmed by the idea of meeting this person.

  “I maintain he can still be an asshole. But Gilbert’s right, he is pretty special. I died for him after all. You’ll see when you meet him,” Gavin said. This time Gilbert just nodded begrudgingly in agreement.

  Michelle snickered. “Where is he?” She asked.

  “In America. Not far from the east coast, so if you’re coming in from the Azores, head north. Or south, depending on how far north you land. One of us will get a message to you when you arrive, or shortly thereafter. I think Gavin is going to be the most able. Love seems to help. Maybe we can find another couple. Gavin’s girl is still alive. We’ve been practicing, and it’s easier for the younger folks to be more… real.” Gilbert’s answer was cryptic, but also still exciting.

  “Real? What do you mean real?” Michelle asked. A strange sensation came over her as she asked the question. In the dim reaches of the back of her mind she felt the sun’s warmth on her body, and knew she was on the edge of waking up.

  “I’ll be there Michelle. But I won’t really be there. See you again soon,” Gavin said, and with that, Michelle opened her eyes under the bright morning sun of the Azores islands.

  She smiled widely, and knew today would be a very good day.

  *****

  [TRANSLATED FROM PORTUGUESE]

  “Carlinho catch!” Luisinho said to his friend in the fenced in school playground as he tossed the Frisbee to his friend. The two boys were steadfast friends, and enjoyed their break from school work on the warm summer day. The ocean’s breeze came across the green grass, washing away the stench of the two dead bodies that were a few hundred yards away. The sanitation people who still worked hadn’t arrived to take the dead away yet and the heat had made the bodies bloat, and rot. The stink was foul.

  Carlinho caught the Frisbee with a concerned look on his face. “So your dad said they are leaving as soon as they get that part huh? Wow that’s weird. I was really hoping they’d stay so when I got old enough I could join them as a soldier.”

  “Yeah, yeah. That would’ve been cool. Hey don’t say anything to anyone. It’s really important. My father will string me up by my heels if he finds out I told even you,” Luisinho said softly to his friend, aware of the rest of the kids on the playground.

  Carlinho nodded seriously, reassuring his buddy. All the while he was wondering what his dad would say when he got home and told him. Carlinho figured his father would very much not like the idea of the Americans leaving in their big plane, with all their guns and medicine. Carlinho threw the Frisbee back to his friend, and tried to forget about the smell of the dead bodies nearby.

  *****

  Later that day as Jaden closed the clinic down, Luis arrived with the part they needed. Jaden and the diminutive, balding man exchanged a smile and pleasantries while the Air Force medics treated the few injuries and illnesses that the island brought to them. Roger, Joel, and Ethan, the entire para jumper team, were at the clinic either providing security, or tending to those that needed help.

  It was a very quiet day that afternoon. Perhaps ten people needed the highly skilled attention of the four men, and even then the injuries and sicknesses presented were mild. When the last little boy with a cough went out the front door of the airport terminal, Luis sat down on a folding chair that served as part of the waiting room they’d set up. The building was surprisingly warm that day, and Luis wiped his brow with a small square of cloth he produced from his back pants pocket.

  Jaden wheeled himself around the table and up to the sweating man, a warm smile on his face. “Luis, it is good to see you again. I trust you had a good evening last night.”

  “I did thank you. My wife made watercress soup again. I brought a container of it for you to share with your men. It is better than the last time.” Luis beamed. His wife’s cooking was a source of tremendous pride for him.

  Jaden’s eyes lit up. “Oh, now that’s a treat. It was delicious last time. That was very good of you. Make sure you send her our love and thanks.”

  Luis nodded, pleased. “I have also brought your part. It is in the back of my car. I will go get it as well as the soup.”

  “Do you need help with the part? Is it heavy?” Jaden asked the man as Luis stood.

  “Oh no. It is small, only the size of a loaf of bread,” Luis said as he turned and walked to the door.

  “Excellent Luis. I can’t say thank you enough for this. “

  “If you wish to pay me back, when you arrive at your homes, take care of your children, or find a beautiful woman and make some. This world needs little boys and girls my friend, and you are a man who should be bringing little ones up.” Luis looked at Jaden with admiration in his eyes.

  Jaden felt his eyes start to fill with water as well, and he swallowed the emotion down so he could speak, “Thank you Luis. Your praise means a lot right now.”

  Luis nodded, and went to fetch the part from his car.

  *****

  [TRANSLATED FROM PORTUGUESE]

  “There he is. Watch him,” the thin Azorean man said to his friend hiding underneath the abandoned derelict vehicle in the airport parking lot. The two men sweat profusely in the oven-like conditions under the car.

  Far off in the distance at the departures area of the small airport they watched Luis walk out of the glass doors and towards his tiny yellow compact car. The little man fished the keys out of his pocket and opened the hatch on the back. After putting the keys back into his pants pocket, he took a small plastic container out of the back, and lifted a part that looked like it belonged in an engine. It was the size of a forearm. Luis shut the hatch door with his elbow as one of the tall white men holding a military style rifle held the front door of the airport open for him. They watched as Luis nodded to the man, and then walked inside.

  “Bitch. He’s giving them the piece just like Carlinho said. What a traitor. Thank God for good sons. We must stop them tonight. They cannot just abandon us like garbage here. If they strand us, they deserve to die like cowards for leaving us behind to rot.”

  The other man nodded vehemently and gritted his teeth. “Yes. They will learn to bear their responsibility to us tonight.”

  The two men slid slowly out from the hot pavement under the car, and slinked away, full of anger, back home to gather support for their task.

  *****

  Back in Morocco one of Jaden’s men had his face nearly torn off in the car wreck that took his left leg. The two men had grown very close since then, closer than the already tightly knit warriors already were. Joel’s ragged scar ran from the middle of the right side of his jaw all the way up his right cheek, and across his
cheek bone. He had been a handsome man before, and now he was damaged goods. The two men found a little bit of solace sharing time with each other. Both felt a little bit like they belonged on the island of misfit toys. Brothers in a way only the maimed or leprous can be.

  Joel pushed Jaden’s wheelchair into the workshop where Dale the engineer was working on the damaged engine. Dale was intently studying a thick manual on the repair of the engine that needed the part Jaden was carrying. When Dale heard the two men enter the building one hand dropped to the Beretta on his hip as he turned to face them. You could never be too paranoid when the silent, shuffling dead were about.

  “Holy shit. Is that what I think it is?” Dale asked as his hand came off the gun and a smile split his face.

  Jaden nodded and lifted the part up for Dale to take. The plane’s crewman took the part like it was a floral bouquet, and he’d just won the Miss Universe pageant. Dale grinned ear to ear and mocked wiping tears of joy from his face. He immediately faked a powerful orgasm, grabbing his crotch like he was reining in a wild boar. The three men laughed, realizing that their freedom might actually be real this time.

  “Is that it?” Joel asked. Joel’s speech sounded thick through the scar tissue on his cheek. It frequently reminded the other men of how it sounded when you tried to talk with a finger inside your cheek.

  Dale nodded, looking the part over. “Yeah this is it. I don’t even need the whole thing. There’s just a few tidbits off of it that I have to pull, and get on the bird. It might take me three or four hours, but then I can test it. We could be gone in ten, maybe twelve. I’d start packing boys.”

  “Good deal. Before you test the plane, let’s make sure we’re ready to go. If the locals decide to stop us from leaving, I want us to be ready to go wheels up immediately.” Jaden’s voice was filled with hesitant thought, and more than a little worry.

  Dale nodded in agreement, clearly going over how the part would fit in the plane. “Yeah I’ll talk to Kate. We should have everything loaded on the plane before we spin her up. I can run some different preflight tests so we know it won’t almost blow up like last time. This should work. We should be good to go.”