by Brown, TW
Sometime during the night she had managed to slip from her restraints and get out into the compound. Her screaming had awakened damn near most of the camp. That was the best result; unfortunately, it also attracted the attention of a herd (or caused the assembling of one) numbering a couple hundred.
When they had finished off the last of the walkers and started the bonfire, the colonel has sought Heather directly and asked to speak with her in private.
“I understand that Mr. Dreon has an attachment to the girl,” the colonel said as she took her seat behind the heavy wooden desk. “However, I cannot continue to jeopardize my people all because of this one individual. I have heard all that you each shared, and I have to say that the scales are heavily tipped in an unfavorable way. This girl is indirectly responsible for the deaths of one of my most trusted soldiers, your own doctor—a rarity that cannot be easily replaced these days—as well as your young friend, that little girl’s sister…the singer…Shari I think was her name? Not to mention it is quite possible that your encounter with Major Beers can be tied to her as well.”
“What are you saying?” Heather knew what was coming. The problem was that she harbored some of the same feelings. She needed to hear it from others so that she did not feel so incredibly awful.
“I am saying that this one person cannot continue to remain here and endanger the lives of everybody around her. The world is not a place where people with severe conditions such as hers are going to be able to receive the care that they require. It is harsh, but it is a reality,” the colonel said with a very calm and matter-of-fact tone.
“So why are you calling me here?” Heather asked. “You obviously have made a decision on the matter. Why not simply carry out what you plan to do? It is not like I am in any position to stop you.”
Heather felt the tendrils of guilt creeping through her soul. She knew very well what she wanted to hear, and she also knew that this was an opportunity for her to be able to absolve herself of any feelings, or at least some, when it came to dealing with Valarie.
“I am talking to you because I want you to speak with Mr. Dreon.”
Heather stared into the eyes of the colonel. She was not sure what she was looking for. Perhaps she wanted to see coldness, or lack of feeling. Instead, what she saw was real and true compassion. Colonel Shipley was taking no pleasure in this.
“What do I tell him?” Heather’s voice was barely above a whisper. “There is more to this story than just Valarie.”
“Such as?”
Heather considered for just a moment if she had any right sharing Kevin’s story about his sister with this relative stranger. In the end, she decided that perhaps this was the last chance at saving Valarie. Maybe if the colonel knew more about why she was so important to Kevin, then she would seek an alternative. Deep down, she knew that was a false hope. She told all she knew from what Kevin shared. When she was finished, there was a long silence.
“He is trying to redeem himself through this girl,” the colonel finally spoke. “And as much as I can sympathize, I simply cannot allow my people to be put at risk any longer.”
“So…you are going to…” Heather considered her next word carefully and decided that she owed it to Kevin to at least make an honest effort, “…murder this girl?”
“What I am going to do is ask you to speak with Mr. Dreon. I am willing to listen to any alternative he can offer that will remove my people from this continued danger that they are being put in by one individual.”
“But—” Heather started to protest.
“There is no way that I can continue to keep this girl tied up,” the colonel said with a firmness that still held considerable compassion. “That girl is not living…she is simply enduring. She is restrained day and night. She suffers from more than just the Down’s condition, she also has some severe mental illness issues that we just are not equipped to deal with. I am sorry, but it is the truth. And even if I were to condone a run for some more of her medications, those would eventually run out. We are postponing the inevitable here.”
Heather had left that little meeting with mixed emotions. Deep down, in a place that she did not dare let come too close to the surface, was a sense of relief. When they had been at the mercy of Major Beers, it was easy to paint the major and her followers as evil and wrong for wanting to do away with Valarie. But the real truth was that the poor girl was suffering in ways that nobody knew how to handle.
As Heather went to the RV that she called home, she had decided that there would be no way to break this news to Kevin in such a way that he would be “okay” with on any level. She took a sponge bath and changed into clean clothes—a morning of fighting zombies tended to be a messy affair. Truth be told, she was doing everything she could think of to postpone this conversation.
Reaching the medical RV where Kevin was still being kept, Heather stood outside of it for several minutes. Every time she thought she had built up the courage to go inside, she would chicken out. Finally, after countless false starts, she turned the knob and went inside.
“If that is you, Doc, I meant what I said about pain meds. Save them for somebody who really needs them,” Kevin’s voice called from in back.
“It’s me, Kevin.”
“Heather?” Kevin’s voice changed in an instant from annoyed to excited. “Man, am I glad to see a friendly face. Get back here.”
If only you knew, she thought as she moved past two other patients sharing the RV with Kevin. Both of these were seemingly asleep despite Kevin’s hollering which meant they were either medicated, heavy sleepers, or faking it. Considering the mood she had seen from Kevin lately, that last one was pretty likely. And she was about to make it worse.
She opened the collapsible screen that acted as a door and entered Kevin’s little room. He was sitting up in bed. Heather took a moment to really look at him. Since they’d met, he had always seemed so sure of himself. He had always been on his feet doing. To see him now, in bed like this, his face still all red and peeling; not to mention how gaunt he looked from not eating.
“So what brings you here?” Kevin asked after seeing a look on Heather’s face that, if he didn’t know better, was something akin to absolute dread. “I heard all the ruckus earlier. Sounded like a helluva fight. How many were there?”
“A couple hundred at least,” Heather answered.
“Figured that you would be in the thick of it and so I guess I just thought you would be asleep by now.”
She had been involved. But not nearly as ‘in the thick of it’ as he might believe. The soldiers here did most of the fighting. Everybody else was sort of relegated to lugging reloads to the different stations for the compound and crossbows. If need be, they might be called up to the walls to support a particular crossbowman. That meant sitting with three or four of the weapons and doing the reloading. A task that currently had her arms feeling like noodles.
“Yeah…it was a fun way to start the day.” Heather shrugged and sat beside Kevin’s bed.
“Any word from Aleah’s group?” Kevin asked, the hope obvious in his voice.
Heather winced inwardly. The answer ‘no’ was not the problem. The real problem was that Kevin had no idea that they were basically second-class citizens with these people. That group had Aleah along only because she had made such a fuss. It would not surprise Heather in the least if they basically just used her to carry gear.
“No word yet, but they should be back today or tomorrow at the latest.”
“Good, I need to talk to her,” Kevin said with a sigh. “We didn’t exactly leave on good terms. I stuck my foot in—” Kevin paused and then smiled. “Hey, I guess I need to find a better expression. I mean, one foot is missing and the other is minus a couple of toes which would make fitting it in my mouth an easier task.”
“Well then,” Heather joined in on this moment of good-natured kidding, “maybe it is the right term for you. As often as you do it…you might want to stick with something that is a b
it smaller so you don’t get stretch marks on your cheeks.”
They laughed a little too hard for a joke that wasn’t all that funny. Afterwards, there was an uncomfortable silence.
“So,” Kevin finally broke it, making Heather jump, “was that Valarie that I heard?”
“Yeah.” Heather felt a lump growing in her throat and a tightness build around her heart.
“Is that what brought them?”
Heather nodded. He was taking her right to the part where she was going to have to tell him the bad news. A few tears spilled from her eyes and she looked at him through the blurriness that they caused. She would at least look him in the eyes to break the news.
“They want to get rid of her, Kevin. Colonel Shipley called me in afterwards and said that they cannot keep endangering the group for one person.”
The silence came crashing back down. Kevin looked away for a few moments. When he turned back to her, tears were in his eyes as well. Heather leaned in and wrapped her arms around him and the two cried for a few minutes. Finally, Kevin brought his hands to her shoulders and eased her back.
There was a look on his face. She had expected a number of possibilities when it came to how he would react to this news. The very last thing that she expected to see on his face was a smile.
“What is it?” she finally asked.
“I have an idea. I need you to do a few things for me first,” Kevin was suddenly whispering.
Heather glanced over her shoulder as if she expected somebody to be standing there. When she saw nothing, she turned back to him with a look that clearly indicated that she had no idea what was going on.
Kevin leaned in close and whispered in her ear, “From here on out, trust nobody and say nothing other than to exchange friendly greetings or whatever.”
“They aren’t holding us prisoner,” Heather whispered back.
“Have you tried to leave on your own?”
“Well…no, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
“I’m just being cautious. We really don’t have any idea what these people are about.”
“But they have taken care of you…given you medical help.” Heather thought that just maybe Kevin was edging towards that cliff of paranoia. Maybe things were finally taking their toll on him.
“I know,” Kevin nodded, “but when Aleah gets back, we will see. And also, I want to wait and talk to her about what she saw out there. The fact remains that we need to find someplace that we can settle down. I think this location is a bad choice. These people have built a bit of a fortress from abandon cars and such. It is not going to be a good long term solution.”
“Okay, I’m gonna bite. Why is this place any worse than someplace else…the golf course for instance?”
“The biggest is that this place is going to be toxic ground within a year. All those vehicles are rusting away as we speak. Their fluids are seeping into the ground. There is no way that they can grow any produce. They are relying on stores that will run out. Also, they will need to forage for more. Each time you do that, you risk your life. The ideal location is someplace remote, yet with a climate that is conducive to farming.”
“But weren’t you headed for someplace like South Dakota or something?” Heather asked.
“Yeah…so?”
“Isn’t that place like…all rock or something?”
“Not at all. The state has plenty of farmland. Even better, it has a population of less than a million. It is somewhere around eight or nine hundred thousand. We find a nice valley near a river and we will have everything that we need. Someplace along the Missouri River would be ideal as long as we are very far south of the dam. And there are plenty of other locations. Actually, my biggest concern is dealing with the locals. I have a feeling that we will find more survivors in a place like that simply because it is so spread out population-wise. The few big cities that exist probably fell just like any other, but you are talking about hundreds of thousands of acres of land with very few people inhabiting it. Most of them armed…most of them hunters or fishers.”
Heather was silent for a moment. She considered what Kevin said, however, there were a few problems. First, he had not really addressed what his plans were for Valarie. And second, like it or not, he was in no condition to make a long journey. Just as Valarie’s condition was a hindrance, so too was his. If Aleah returned and the run proved to be a failure, then Kevin would find himself hard pressed to travel. She did not know how far away it was, but travelling just a few miles was an entirely different monster these days. Heather patted herself on the back for her off-the-cuff pun.
“And what does any of this have to do with Valarie?” Heather was hoping that she could get Kevin back on the track he seemed inclined to stray from so deftly.
Kevin lay back in his bed and closed his eyes for a few minutes. Heather began to believe that he had dismissed her entirely and just drifted off to sleep. She stood and was about to leave when he finally spoke.
“We are going to leave her the way we found her.”
15
Scared S**tless
“How far?” I guess I hadn’t really given it any thought when they told me we were hiking to the valley, La Grande in particular.
“About sixty or seventy miles,” Jake said.
The problem was, he was saying it like it was just around the corner. We had been on the move for two days. From what I could see, the only thing around the corner was more godforsaken snow.
“And how far have we gone?” I didn’t actually want the answer. I just knew it was going to be bad.
“Maybe thirty,” Jake said with a shrug.
Half way? He was saying that we were maybe only half the way to our destination? The only thing that I could see that was worth getting excited about was the fact that the snow was only patchy in spots. It still felt cold, but not nearly like it did up at the cabin.
We’d had very few encounters with the undead. The ones that we did encounter were more hampered by the snow than we were. I thought there were a few times that we could have just left them behind. When I asked Jon about it after three of us got sent up into the woods in order to take down a dozen of them, Jon said he didn’t want them on our tail. Never knew if we would need to retreat in a hurry. I guess that made sense.
“Up ahead!” Marty Gibbs spoke in that whisper that is almost louder than real conversational levels.
Our line was stretched about fifty yards, with each of us in twos or threes. Marty Gibbs and Stacy Nelson were currently on point. I saw Stacy hunched down and creeping forward to get a look at whatever it was they saw. From my position almost in the rear of the line, she was already vanishing around the corner and out of my line of sight.
I hated being in the rear. For one, you spend so much time looking backwards that your neck starts to hurt. For another, you are always the last to know just how bad a problem is. I brought my crossbow up and stepped farther away from Jake. One of the things that you wanted to be sure of was that you had plenty of room to maneuver when a fight came.
“Billy, you and Gino come with me,” Gabe called over his shoulder.
He bounded off into the woods on our left. I shot a look at Jon, but he was focused on whatever lay ahead, so I headed after the big man. I swear, even crouching, that guy is bigger than most people who are standing upright.
As we entered the trees, Gabe motioned for me to circle wide to the right. That put me farthest away from the road. Something in my head said to be careful. This would be a perfect time to take me out if these guys were intent on doing so.
The problem that I had with those feelings was that they had given no signs that they wanted to do anything of the sort. I think I was starting to absorb some of Dr. Zahn’s general distrust. Jon and Jake have always been great to me—Jesus too, when he was still alive. I always fit in better around the soldiers than I did the other people; especially after Jamie killed himself.
I moved up this small hill so that I would be at the top of
the ridge. As soon as I made it to the crest, I could actually see part of the road. Coming up were about two or three hundred walkers. Already, Stacy and Marty were on opposite sides of the road drawing some of the ones in the front away and taking them down.
From my position, I saw a clear path that would allow me to move along the length of this column. I gave a quick look down where Gabe and Gino were moving through the trees. Their job, and mine supposedly, was to move along and look for any of the “elements” of the herd that might be straggling through the woods. It was always a bad deal to be in the middle of a fight and have yourself surrounded.
I decided that it looked pretty clear as far as I could see. Those two didn’t really need my help. Plus, I would just be scouting ahead of them a ways. No big deal. I picked up my pace. If I could get in behind the herd, I could pick them off with ease. Zombies are pretty stupid. Once they get it in their head to move one way, they will just keep going. Picking the ones off in the rear wouldn’t even register to them.
As I moved, I kept checking on Gabe and Gino. There were only a couple that had actually strayed off the road, so they were really not having any problems. I came to the part of my little ridge that started down. I took one last look and made sure that everything was okay.
Moving between a pair of really big boulders, I felt a little bit of adrenaline start to surge. I was making my own move here. It was not exactly the way that we had planned, but I really was starting to feel like maybe they were keeping me out of the main fighting.
As I reached the edge of the trees, I saw that I had gone all the way around the big sweeping bend in the road. I was out of sight of everybody. The tail end of the herd was trudging on towards the others. I could hear the occasional call for somebody to cover a certain area. Yep, everything sounded just fine.
