Divided We Rot (One Nation Under Zombies Book 3)

by Raymond Lee

  Sky smiled, already saying grace in her head.

  They took their time sweeping, mopping, and wiping everything down before Torres brought the queen mattress into the living room and set it before the fire, close enough they could fully benefit from the fire’s warmth. They’d melted snow in a clean bucket and used it to wash pots and dishes before he’d cooked the soup over the fireplace. It was delicious as chicken noodle soup was always delicious at the onset of any cold or flu. Sky’s throat felt a little better, but she feared it wouldn’t last. Once finished, they placed their dirty dishes in the bucket of soapy water and washed then dried them for their next meal.

  “You’re pretty good at this survivor stuff,” Sky told him as they sat together on the mattress, holding their hands out before the fire.

  “I think we’re all pretty much equipped to do whatever it takes to survive when it comes down to it.”

  “The buckets of snow was smart. I don’t know if I would have thought of that.”

  He looked at the buckets of snow he’d set by the fireplace to melt. “I’m sure you would. I put a couple in the bathroom so when you need to use it you can pour water in after to make the toilet flush like we did when we stayed in the apartment over the bar.” He looked at her pointedly. “No holding it in.”

  “I won’t,” she promised, knowing it wouldn’t be an issue soon, but at least he had a nice warm place to stay with a bathroom and food, enough to get him by for a while before he ventured out. She studied him a moment, wondering if he’d go out looking for her. She prayed he didn’t.

  “You should get some sleep now. You look tired.”

  “I’m good. You can sleep first. I’ll keep watch.”

  “You know I always take the nightshift. I’m not sleeping until morning, especially on a night like this when the snow provides light for anyone who might be creeping around looking for a place to invade.”

  Sky looked at the closed blinds, noting how bright they were due to the moon’s reflection off the blanket of pure white outside. “I have my gun and like you said, there’s plenty of light from the snow. No one will sneak up on us.”

  “Sky, this isn’t up for debate. You go to sleep and I’ll wake you when I’m tired.”

  She sighed. The mattress was soft and the fire was warm. She’d even be more comfortable under the comforter with her head on the plump pillow. Her eyes burned and she knew sleep would give her relief, but she feared she wouldn’t wake back up, or worse, she’d wake up a monster and eat the man who’d become like a big brother to her.

  “Why don’t you put on some sweats?” Torres asked, eying her jeans. “Or some pajamas. You’d be more comfortable.”

  “We might have to run,” she said, looking at his sweatpants. “You should put on jeans.”

  “Good point,” he said. “The man who lived here was a lot taller than me and scrawny like a weed. These sweats are what I could fit. I’ll put my jeans back on after I wash and dry them, which I will be doing as you sleep so go to sleep.”

  She stared him down and he stared her back down harder. He wouldn’t budge on taking the night watch and she couldn’t slip out while he was awake. The dancing flames and constant crackling of the fire was slowly lulling her to sleep anyway, at least she hoped it was the fire lulling her to sleep. For all she knew she was dying. She was afraid to sleep, but her eyelids were heavy and it was several hours before morning so she gave in, resting her head on the pillow and curling up under the comforter. “Torres?”

  “Yeah, honey?”

  “Are you wearing the mom’s sweatpants?”

  “They’re unisex, smartass.”

  She smiled and tried to think of how she’d escape until sleep pulled her under.

  “Sky.”

  She was surrounded by flames and through the flames she saw snarling monsters bathed in red. The entire world around her was red, the only thing not drenched in the color was a set of cloudy white eyes looking directly at her. She blinked and the snarling face came into focus and she realized the monster was her as she saw her own reflection in the flames.

  “Sky.”

  Sky came awake slowly, seeming to drag her body out of the flaming pit she’d dreamed of. She’d rolled onto her belly during her sleep and had to push herself up into a sitting position with her arms. They ached. Her shoulders ached, her hips, her back. Every part of her ached and her eyes, oh how they burned.

  “Come on honey, open your eyes. It’s time for you to take watch.” The mattress dipped next to her and she felt Torres’s hand rest along her brow. “Geez, you’re hot. I must have the mattress too close to the fire.”

  Yeah, that’s it, she thought, hoping he wouldn’t question her temperature any further. It was the fever she’d heard about. If the heat was from the fire she wouldn’t feel like she’d just been run over by a truck.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Tired,” she said, pushing past the pain in her throat. “I had a bad dream.”

  “Yeah, you tossed and turned all night,” he said. “Can you get up now? I can wait a while longer if you’re too tired to take watch.”

  “No, you’ve been up for too long already.” And I need to leave before I try to kill you, she thought. Sky opened her eyes and almost gasped as she saw flames before her, but realized they were from the fireplace. The room wasn’t lacquered in a red haze or a smoky white haze either so she figured her eyes hadn’t turned white yet. That would come after she died and came back to life and she was pretty sure if she’d died already she’d be trying to eat Torres.

  “I made some more soup for you. I know it’s not typical breakfast food, but you seemed to really like it last night.”

  “Thanks.” She forced herself to get up from the mattress and stepped back as Torres moved it farther away from the fireplace. He showed her how to stoke the fire and add more wood if needed, then stood next to the mattress and studied her.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  She nodded. “Bad dream.”

  “It must have been a doozy.”

  She nodded again.

  “Your soup is in the kitchen on the table. I have a bucket in there for washing your bowl out and you know how to get the toilet to flush. You have your gun and we’re pretty close in here so if you see anything strange just wake me up. I found some crossword puzzle books on the desk in the master bedroom and I guess there’s girl stuff in the other one that you can find to occupy yourself. Just make sure to keep watch outside, all right?”

  “All right.” She started across the room, water forming behind her eyes, but not from the heat also behind them. She turned at the doorway to the kitchen and looked at Torres, trying to take a mental picture of him, knowing she’d never see him again. He’d found a razor sometime during the night and shaved and he was back in his jeans with a black long-sleeved T-shirt stretched tight across his muscular torso. His hair was longer than when she’d met him although he’d been doing his best to keep it cut. The bangs swept across one eye, one gentle, loving brown eye that looked back at her with genuine affection. Before she could think of it she ran across the room and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek against his middle. “I love you, Torres.”

  “Ah, pequenuela, I love you too.” He hugged her back, planting a kiss on the top of her head before laughing softly. “Let me go, baby girl, and go eat. I’m not leaving, I’m just going to sleep for a little while.”

  She nodded her head, turned and left the room before the tears building behind her eyes could fall. In between the nightmares of burning in flame and turning into a monster she’d also thought, or perhaps dreamed, of a way to leave that would keep Torres from following, searching for her. It seemed farfetched, but it was the only idea she could come up with and she prayed it worked because she couldn’t stand the thought of Torres waking up to think he’d lost her and punishing himself for it.

  She ate the soup he’d prepared for her, taking the time to savor every spoonful
of what would most likely be her last meal, allowing time for Torres to fall deeper into sleep. When she was done she cleaned her bowl and spoon, and put them away, not wanting to leave any additional chores for Torres. If he stayed. If he didn’t set out to find her the moment he woke to find her missing. She prayed he didn’t. He had a nice, warm place to stay through the winter. He had food and water. He even had a brand new truck to continue on in when the snow melted away. Maybe he’d find someone else who needed his help. Maybe they would help him too. Sky smiled, liking that scenario. Torres was a good person. He deserved to find good people who could help him while he helped them.

  The soup soothed her throat a little, but her body continued to ache as she used the bathroom. She checked the bite mark under the makeshift dressing, nearly crying out as she saw the black and purple colors mottled together there. She left the pad in place, figuring it would at least keep her wound from hitting anything, causing her more pain, and entered the hall to the bedrooms, careful not to look toward the living room where Torres slept. One more look at him and she might not be able to leave. She quietly opened the door to the master bedroom, slipped inside and carefully closed it behind her. Torres had removed the top mattress for them to sleep on, but there was a thinner one beneath it he’d left. Their coats were lying on it. She picked hers up and pulled it on. It was much easier to get into than her shoes had been that morning. She took her gun and holster from the bed and sheathed it to her hip, a ball of nausea rolling in her stomach as she thought about why she needed it.

  It was time. She searched the desk until she found a legal pad and a pen, then sat down to write. She had no idea how believable the letter would be, but it had been all she could come up with in her fever-ravished brain. She prayed it worked as she wrote out the words that had come to her in her dream:

  Dear Torres,

  I found Raven. She doesn’t trust anyone. I’m sorry. I have to leave with her. She’s my sister. You will be OK. Find others and help them like you helped me. I will never forget you. Remember your promise to take care of you. I love you very much.

  She signed her name and sat back before her tears could dampen the paper. She grabbed a tissue out of the square floral box on the desk and dried her face before taking a deep breath. She said one more silent prayer that Torres would believe the letter and let her go, and not feel that he’d failed her, and turned toward the window. Her limbs quivered with nerves but she knew she had to move. Torres would wake as soon as the fire went out and she had to be long gone before then. The doors were locked and he had his gun and bat within grabbing distance. He’d be fine. Knowing she was leaving him in a safe place, Sky zipped up her coat, raised the hood and tied it so it was snug on her head, and opened the bedroom window. It took a bit of straining, but she managed to get it open, climb out, and close it back without making much noise.

  The snow was no longer only the super soft fluff that had been covering the earth when they’d arrived the night before, but had hardened so she didn’t sink into it any farther than her shoes. As she walked away from the house she noticed she left slight footprints in the newly fallen snow layered over the hardened old snow, but with the snowflakes still falling steadily around her, she figured the footprints would be covered by the time Torres discovered her missing.

  She trudged along, welcoming the bitter cold nipping at her face as it helped soothe the fire raging inside her body. She took deep breaths, pulling the frigid air into her lungs, using it like an air conditioner to cool her insides. If only that cold air could reach behind her eyes where it felt like the fires of hell were fully ablaze. Her eyes coated with water as the burning continued and although the cold air made her temperature more bearable, it did nothing to help the aches and pains in her joints as she forced herself to keep putting one foot in front of the other, desperate to get as far away from Torres as possible before the fire burned out and he woke up.

  As she continued to walk, no destination in mind, just moving forward, she noticed she was completely alone. Looking back, she couldn’t even see the little yellow house, only the smoke from its chimney rising in the air over the other houses. Smoke didn’t rise from any other chimneys. No one walked the streets with her, living or dead. No one peeked out from the windows of the small snow-topped houses she passed. She smiled, hoping this meant Torres would live out the winter unharmed. She thought of the gun at her hip and the smile faded. She had to get farther away. If Torres heard the shot and found her missing he would search for her, and if he found her he would never forgive himself. If she allowed herself to turn she could find him, and that was even worse. She pushed herself to walk faster despite the aching in her body causing her to already shuffle along like a zombie.

  After what felt like an eternity, the street slanted downward and she realized they’d been on a hill. Looking over the edge of it, she realized she could get farther away from Torres in only a matter of minutes if she could slide down the hill. She looked around for something to use and her eyes locked on a trashcan that had been half buried in snow. She trudged over and removed the lid, turned it upside down, dislodging the snow on top, and walked to the edge of the hill. She stood there afraid for a moment, then laughed at the absurdity. “I’m just going to shoot myself in the head after I get down there anyway.”

  She set the lid in the snow-covered street right at the edge of the hill, sat inside it, wincing in pain as her body ached with the movement needed to do so, and pushed off. The hill was steep and she picked up far more speed than she thought she would, the houses on either side of her merely a blur of colors as she whizzed right past them. She gripped the edges of the lid, afraid she’d come loose and go flying through the air, and held on for dear life until she slid well beyond the farthest point she’d been able to see from on top of the hill. She couldn’t actually tell the street from the sidewalk due to all the snow, but she could tell the street had curved when a house appeared before her.

  “Oh shit!’ she cried, not caring about her language as she sped toward it. She reached out and grabbed at the ground in an attempt to stop or at least slow down, but all she got for the effort were two fistfuls of snow.

  She hit the front of the house hard enough for the wind to be knocked out of her body and fell onto her back just in time to see three large icicles hanging from the eave above her dislodge from the impact. She threw her hands over her face reflexively and breathed out a sigh of relief when the icicles plunged into the snow around her. She knew she would be dying soon, but she didn’t want to suffer any unnecessary torture beforehand.

  “Well, I’m definitely a good distance from Torres now,” she said as she sat up and rolled over onto her knees, deciding to move it before more icicles dislodged. She’d just gotten to her feet when she noticed the shuffling figures moving toward her, drawn out of wherever they’d been when her makeshift sled had crashed into the house. Maybe they’d been on the street the whole time she’d been sledding. Everything had whizzed by so fast she hadn’t been able to make out much. She’d just finished that thought when everything around her spun and she found herself on the snow-covered ground again, the heat of her fever roasting her from the insides. She tried to move but the cold snow felt so good against her flaming hot face and her head swam every time she moved it. She reminded herself the zombies were coming but still couldn’t force herself to move. Between the virus in her body and the brunt of the crash taking its toll on the rest of her body, she just didn’t have it in her. She closed her eyes and prayed they ate her brain in the process so she wouldn’t come back.

  When she opened her eyes again she was moving. Actually, she was being moved. On her back in the snow, she looked up to the sun, blinking. Water spilled out of her burning eyes as dark spots danced in front of them. She saw tree limbs appear and disappear above her and felt the tug against her coat as someone pulled her along through the snow by her hood. Her shoulder hit a fence as whoever had her changed directions and pulled her down the narrow s
pace between two houses. They changed direction again and she felt several bumps underneath her body and growling as she appeared to be hoisted over porch steps. She was pulled over a porch and went over another bump as she found herself pulled through a dog door.

  “Who?” That was the only word she managed to utter before the fever took her under again.

  Sky cried out in pain, sitting up among a pile of blankets and clothes. She looked around, realizing she had been crammed inside an open closet, still in her coat. It appeared to be a small coat closet inside someone’s living room. Her vision blurred too badly to make out many details but she appeared to be alone inside someone’s house. Had Torres found her? No, she thought. He wouldn’t have dragged her across the snow like that.

  Her body burned with fever. In desperation to feel relief from the high temperature, she unzipped the coat and tossed it aside as fast as her aching muscles would allow. Her body was drenched in sweat, her hair stuck to her face and neck and her throat was bone dry. She tried to get up, but couldn’t. “Water,” she croaked, hoping whoever had dragged her inside the house had some on hand.

  A large white wolf appeared before her, stunning her. She shrank back until her back hit the wall. She’d thought earlier that she would be eaten by zombies, never imagining that she would end up on a wolf’s menu instead. The beautiful but deadly animal sniffed at her, whining, before it started licking the sweat from her skin.

  “Kill me,” she whispered, her fear not forgotten but pushed aside as she remembered what had led her to being found by the wolf, why she had fled Torres in the first place. “Do it. I’ll turn and eat you.”

  The wolf whined and ran away, returning with something in its mouth. It dropped the item before her and Sky looked down to see it was a bottle of water. “Seriously? How did you know?” She looked around but didn’t see anyone else, didn’t hear anything other than the wolf’s breathing as it nudged the bottle with its nose, urging her to take it.