by Roberts, EM
He started to reply when he heard Jackie’s warning yell.
“Deaaaaaannnnnn!!!! Run!!!” Jackie screamed, as he raised his gun.
Dean, his back to them, was concentrating on relieving himself and was unaware of the creature stumbling toward him. Upon hearing Jackie’s yell, he turned, but it was too late and just the right time for the creature as it sunk its teeth into Dean’s neck hitting the major vein there. Ripping out a chunk of flesh, the creature chewed, blood running down its chin and onto the tattered shirt it wore. Dean fell, grabbing at his neck, trying in vain to stop the flowing blood.
Ella and Parker ran the fifty feet to his side. As soon as he was within range and able, Parker shot the creature in the head before it could take a second bite.
“No, oh my god, no,” Ella screamed as she hit the ground and grabbed Dean’s head. She clapped her hands over his to try and staunch the blood flow, but it was a futile task as it only made the blood come out of his mouth. Parker didn’t know what to do. The man had already lost a lot of blood, and there was just no way to stop the bleeding.
Jackie came running up: “Ella, let’s get him to the truck. There might be more of them. Parker, help me carry him.”
Parker grabbed Dean’s feet while Jackie grabbed his shoulders. It was awkward moving the man as Ella was still clamping her hand around his bleeding throat. When they reached the truck, they placed his body on the truck bed, and Ella climbed in with him, still holding his neck. Parker jumped up into the truck along with a silent Izzy. Jackie made his way to the cab, and climbed in.
Izzy leaned close to Parker, and he placed an arm around her shoulders. She didn’t protest this action. It was a silent somber moment. One minute, they’d all been excited and happy, and the next someone was dying, his blood staining an empty parking lot. It was a shitty world, but it was an eye opener, too. Just another reminder to always be alert.
Jackie pulled the truck out of the parking lot and drove down the road a little ways. He stopped at a burned out gas station and fast food restaurant seemingly clear of the infected. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be surprised here. He honked the horn and waited a few minutes. Not seeing anything, he climbed out of the truck and walked back to Ella and the others.
“How is he?” he asked, placing his arms on the sides of the truck and looking down at Dean with a sad expression on his face.
“He’s dead,” she replied woodenly. “I felt for his pulse a minute ago, and it’s no longer there. He’s not breathing, either.”
“At least, he didn’t turn before he died, Ella,” Jackie replied, patting her on the shoulder.
“Let’s take him home,” she requested, staying where she was, “Parker, how about you and Izzy ride up front with Jackie? He can give you the scoop on where we live.” She smiled tearfully. Parker knew she wanted to be alone, and he was happy to oblige.
He wondered about the relationship between Ella and the dead man. Maybe they were lovers or related in some way? They didn’t look like they were related though. Either way, she seemed to have taken his death hard. It was obvious she was the leader of the group and would no doubt find it hard to lose one of her friends. He imagined that she felt responsible for Dean’s death.
Izzy climbed into the middle of the front seat of the truck, and Parker hopped in along beside her. She leaned over against him, and for a second time, he wrapped his arm around her. There was nothing sexual or lascivious about it. He felt fatherly and protective towards the young girl. As tough as Izzy was, she still needed comfort. Everyone needed comfort after a while. Izzy leaned in, closed her eyes, and within five minutes she was sleeping.
Parker looked over at the other man who was driving. Jackie's face was a model of concentration.
“So, where do you guys live?” Parker asked, feeling uncomfortable with the silence.
Jackie proceeded to tell him about the farm and Theo Johnson’s open door invitation to weary travelers. He described all of the residents of the house and some of the amenities to be had there. It sounded like a good setup to Parker. He’d always liked Tennessee. The people he’d met there were friendly and had offered that wonderful Southern hospitality that could only be found in the South. He could stay a couple of days and make sure these people took care of Izzy. That is, if she wanted to stay there. He would make sure Izzy knew she had options.
An hour or so later, Jackie drove through a small town pointing out certain areas of interest as well as areas of mass casualties. He pointed to the nursing home he and Ella had blown up. It’d been full of the elderly who had turned, and Theo suggested they do it as an act of mercy. So, with dynamite in hand and Theo there to supervise, they’d felt no guilt in completing the act. Parker wasn’t sure if he could’ve done the same, but he didn’t disagree with their decision.
Just past that, he pointed to a small garage-like building still bearing the sign, Black Eyed Pete’s. Parker smiled at the rendition of a pirate on the handmade sign. Jackie told Parker how Pete, the owner of the bar, had bitten Roe, a survivor and friend of Ella’s, and how Roe seemed immune to the bite. Jackie explained with sadness in his voice the bar had been one of his and his brother’s favorite places to unwind after a hard week of work.
Parker nodded and shook his head as Jackie continued his tour of the small town. Eventually, he turned down a long winding lane, got out of the truck and spoke into a small walkie-talkie hanging on the gate. A few minutes later an old man in his seventies wearing bib overalls drove an ATV down the lane, climbed off the machine and unlocked the gate. He nodded his head to Parker as Jackie drove by.
He looked in awe at the compound. It was enclosed in an intricate fence system designed to keep intruders out. There were several RVs parked on the large lawn as well as a few different vehicles and a couple more of the ATVs. The house, itself, was a huge two story bright blue monstrosity. Even though the house was ugly, everything looked to be organized and in tip top shape.
An outdoor fire was going, an animal roasting on its flames. A little girl ran over and turned the handle on the spit rotating the animal, giggling as she did so. Two women were close by watching her while they washed clothes in a metal tub. There were several lines of clothes swaying in the breeze indicating it was wash day.
A large barn with its own fenced enclosures was situated at the back of the property. One housed some hogs and the other a chicken coop. That didn’t stop some of the chickens from roaming freely around the yard. In the front and back of the yard were small shacks on stilts which Parker assumed were lookouts. There were several more outbuildings whose contents were unknown to him. These people had worked hard to make this place secure and welcoming. He’d reserve judgment, though, until he met the old man.
Parker reached over and nudged Izzy until she opened her eyes. She sat up and yawned, coming wide awake when she noticed her surroundings.
“Oh my gosh, I know where we are. This is crazy!! This house belongs to an old man I met last summer. His name is Theo Johnson. I was here once to help him get some supplies to take back to a worksite. Parker, this is where I was going! What an absolutely unbelievable coincidence,” Izzy said excitedly as she impatiently waited for Parker to exit the truck.
“But you didn’t know Ella when we met? Theo is her father,” Parker questioned and explained at the same time.
“No, I only met him and some other members of the local church,” she said as she exited the truck and stood beside him,
Theo pulled up beside them and gingerly climbed off the ATV. Izzy stepped forward and after a moment, a huge smile lit the old man’s face.
“Well, look at you. I’d a known you anywhere, even if you changed yer hair,” he exclaimed enveloping the young woman in a warm hug.
“Come on in, folks. We got a pot of bean soup and some cornbread cooking. Later…..” his voice trailed off as he finally noticed his daughter sitting in the back of the truck.
He walked over in silence and looked down.
“Aww s
hucks,” he said, removing his hat and placing it on his chest. “Poor kid, he wasn’t a bad sort. Well, boys let’s get him out of here. Jackie, ya guys take him back there to that smokehouse we ain’t using, and we’ll give him a burial tomorrow. Come on Ella, let’s go in the house, baby.”
Parker helped Jackie carry the man’s body back to the building in question. The two placed Dean on the wooden floor, and Jackie covered him with a blue tarp laying in the corner. Parker wondered if this building had seen other bodies. He followed Jackie to an old fashioned well, where Jackie hand cranked a bucket of water out of its depths. Dumping it in an empty basin on a table placed near the well, Jackie indicated Parker should wash up.
“Well, it’s almost time fer dinner, I reckon. We always sit down ‘round six o’clock and eat together. And afterwards, I reckon the old man will want you to introduce yerself in a little git together. Anytime anybody new comes, he likes to do that. Lets everybody know where they stand, ya know?” Jackie stated, as he wiped his large, calloused hands on a faded red towel.
“I can appreciate that,” Parker replied, wondering what he should and shouldn’t say.
After a meal of bean soup, roasted pork, mashed potatoes, and some home canned green beans, Parker and Izzy made their way into the living room where they joined everyone minus Ella in a round circle of chairs.
“Well, girl, ya sure are a sight for these old eyes. You’ve changed yer hair and got even skinnier young lady, but ya sure ain’t lost that pretty smile of yours,” Theo exclaimed, as he reached over and patted Izzy’s shoulder.
Izzy smiled and replied, “Mr. Johnson, you look as handsome as ever.”
“Ya young women and yer flattery,” he replied, his eyes twinkling, appreciating Izzy’s compliment.
Upon Theo’s prompt for Izzy to introduce herself, she revealed some things to the group Parker was unaware of. Her father had been a federal judge and her mother the CEO of a famous electronics company. She’d been in her second year of pre-law at Georgetown University and had apparently hated it. With Washington, D.C. in ruins and her family gone, Izzy had made her way to the only other place she’d ever felt comfortable.
“And that’s enough about me. My traveling companion can tell you about himself now,” Izzy deliberately omitted his name which he was thankful for.
“Oh, that’s okay," the woman who he’d learned was Roe, interjected, “We know who he is.”
Parker guessed he’d been naive when he thought he could disguise his identity. The longer hair and the beard didn’t disguise one of the most famous men in the world. Oh well, he’d just have to deal with the comments and hateful looks.
Theo smiled at Parker and stated, “Here, you’re just a visitor. A man who’s survived this horrible event jest like the rest of us. Everything that has happened before now is in the past and is gone. This is a do over, and yer worth is determined by what ya do now. And, everybody that stays here follows that same belief. We’ve got to let go of the past so we can survive the present.”
Parker looked around. There was no animosity on the faces of the people. A young woman wearing black glasses smiled at him encouragingly. The man beside her nodded his head in agreement to Theo’s words.
“In him, we have redemption through his blood…” one of the group murmured. A chill went up Parker’s spine upon hearing the scripture.
“Ok, now don’t go preaching to the man on his first night here,” Roe exclaimed, as she sent a friendly smile Parker’s way.
After meeting each of the occupants and exchanging pleasantries, Parker was assigned to share one of the RVs with the young teacher, Griff who was also a newcomer to the group. Izzy was invited to share one of the women’s rooms in the main house. Apparently, the women slept there while the men stayed outside. That was also one of Theo’s rules. Parker figured he’d stay a few more days and then be on his way. He still had important obligations to take care of.
Chapter 9: Let the Wicked Forsake his Way
Ella watched as her father took the plump chicken and wrung its neck in methodical precision. Next, he chopped off the chicken’s head and hung it upside down for it to bleed out. He moved onto the next chicken and performed the same task. A few minutes later, he disemboweled the chickens, scraping the insides into a bucket. Those, he would give to the hogs.
“You gonna help me pluck ‘em?” he asked, not looking up. He knew she disliked the disembowelment part. Even though she was an avid hunter, it still made her slightly nauseous when she had to field dress an animal. That made her somewhat angry because she felt it was a weakness. She didn’t want to show weakness of any sort. Plus, it was ridiculous. She could kill the infected and hunt animals, but the sight of blood and guts made her squeamish.
“Sure, why not? There’s nothing I like doing better at the crack of dawn,” she grumbled grabbing one of the chickens by its clawed feet.
She made her way over to the scalding pot of hot water. She dipped the chicken in as far as she could, waited a minute, and pulled it out. She wrinkled her nose. The smell of wet chicken wasn’t very appealing, but the chicken and dumplings her father planned on making for dinner won out over the smell. She and her father pulled the feathers from the birds in silence for a few minutes.
“I know you didn’t really like Dean that much, but he was a good man. It’s always hard to lose good men. Showing you care isn’t a sign of weakness,” he said as if reading her mind.
“I know,” she replied giving a group of feathers a particularly vicious yank.
Her father was silent for a few minutes. He laid the chicken he’d been plucking on the utility table by the side of the house and walked over. He placed his hand on her shoulder and cleared his throat.
“We haven’t talked about yer mother either. And, it’s been almost six months. I jest want to say….” he began.
“No, you don’t have to say anything. I did what needed to be done. I wouldn’t have expected you to do it, and I don’t blame you for not doing it. I just don’t want you to hate me for doing it,” her lip trembled as she looked into his eyes.
“No,” he said pulling her into his arms, “I don’t blame ya. Yer mother was the love of my life, and I jest couldn’t do it. I feel like a sorry father fer puttin’ ya in that situation.”
Ella thought back to that moment in time almost six months ago when she’d seen her mother turn into one of the creatures that now roamed the world in uncontrollable numbers. Her heart had utterly and completely been broken that day. The pain she’d felt had not only been emotional, it’d been physical as well. But, there was no hope for her mother and she knew it.
They’d restrained her after she’d attempted to bite them, tying her arms to the head of the bed. For two weeks, they’d avidly listened to news reports, hoping and waiting for a cure. Then came the silence and the loss of the whole town, and she and her father had known there was no cure. No one was going to miraculously invent a vaccine that would cure the infected. The woman they both loved needed to be put out of her misery. The question was who would do it? To Ella, there was no question. She couldn’t allow her father’s last memory of his wife to be so cruel. She also couldn’t allow a stranger to do it, either. That left her.
She’d had her father go outside while she walked to the bedroom and sat beside her mother on the bed.
“Mom, I don’t know if there is any part of you that understands,” she said looking into the red of her mother’s eyes, “I love you and Dad loves you, and we know you wouldn’t want this. Please forgive me.”
She placed a pillow over her mother’s head, put the gun in the proper position, and pulled the trigger. She, her father, and Roe had buried her mother out back beside a large oak tree. She’d never really talked about it with her father. Ella just couldn’t talk about it. She was glad to know he didn’t regret or blame her for the decision.
She wiped her eyes and said, “Well, light up that paper bag. We better scorch these pin feathers because we wouldn’t want
the President of the United States choking to death on a chicken feather, now would we?
Her father laughed.
“What do you think about him? He seems nice enough and pretty down to earth. He doesn’t act like someone who used to be the most powerful man in the world,” her father observed as he placed the chickens on a large metal tray.
Ella thought of the tall, lanky and lean leader who was sleeping in an RV on her front lawn. He was still an attractive man even though he was sporting a beard and ratty looking hair. He should just cut it off since he wasn’t fooling anyone. She smiled when she thought about his choice of clothing. He’d been wearing a pair of jeans, a Rolling Stones t-shirt, and a pair of work boots. Anytime, she’d ever seen him on television, it’d been in a suit or a casual, expensive outfit. It was hard to place that image with the man she’d met yesterday.
“You think we should make his first chore slopping the hogs?” she asked, mischievously.
“I don’t mind slopping the hogs,” the man in question said coming up behind them. Startled, Ella turned around. She wondered what he’d heard of the conversation.
“Well, hey there,” she said, smiling at him, “How’d you sleep?”
“Pretty good. Pretty good. That young man, boy can he snore. Louder than a freight train,” he replied, rubbing a hand over his beard.
The three made their way into the farmhouse where lanterns cast a soft glow about the kitchen. Her father placed the chickens in the refrigerator. That was the one appliance he allowed the generator to be used for on a consistent basis. She was pretty sure that sooner rather than later, they’d have to scrap that luxury, too.
Her father poured them each a cup of coffee. Parker would be in for a surprise when he tasted her father’s brew. It would make his hair stand up on end, she thought as she looked at the clock on the wall. Almost 7:00. People would be getting up soon and another day of survival would begin.
