“Sam we can talk later when you’re not drunk,” I said keeping my voice calm. The last thing I needed was him hearing the anger I was feeling.
“Fuck you, James,” he said and with that he started towards me. On alcohol you feel invincible, that’s because alcohol makes you stupid and what Sam did next was supremely stupid. I didn’t want to hurt him and I was going to try and avoid doing so but I also wanted to end it quickly. The first thing he did was to throw a huge right hook, trying to take me down with one blow. I avoided the punch easily and as it put him off balance I gave him a tiny push. He went down in a pile of arms and legs. I hadn’t hurt him, maybe just his pride, and I didn’t want to. I was trying to give him one more chance to calm down and apologize. He made it very clear that he didn’t want to say sorry. He got to his feet and with a yell he tried the only thing that he could think of, another huge right hook. Leaning back to avoid his punch I caught his shoulder and bicep with the crook of my right arm while simultaneously slipping behind him and wrapping my left arm around his throat. I grasped forearms and applied pressure. This was a pretty standard self-defense move that any competent martial artist could break. He could have stomped on my foot hard enough to break it or gone for a low blow but he was drunk and angry. In one quick move, Sam’s movement was limited and he was on his way to unconsciousness.
After he was out I looked to the group, “Jason, get me a sleeping bag and a pillow. Thomas, I need some rope, at least four feet, Justin help me carry this stupid son of a bitch to the laundry room.”
Dumping Sam in his temporary prison I closed the door and, in the absence of an actual lock, I tied the rope around the handle of the laundry room door and then to the handle of the door leading to the garage. I made sure the knots were secure and that there wasn’t any slack in the rope. I radioed Matt and quickly filled him in and told him that at shift change he would have to use the front door. I told everyone that the party was over. I walked over to Liz. “Hey, how are you doing?” She didn’t say anything, she just hugged me. When I felt her start to shake I tried to calm her down. “Hey, hey, hey. Everything’s ok. You’re ok.”
“Only because of you,” she said into my chest.
“Oh, I’m not so sure about that. I saw the way you pushed him, he almost went down. I wouldn’t want to get on your bad side.” She looked up at me and smiled a little. “You going to be ok?” She nodded and let go. “Good, but if you need anything, don’t be afraid to come to me, okay?” She nodded again. I smiled back, “Good. Okay, everyone, I think it’s time for bed. Justin, can I talk to you really quick?”
“What’s up James?” he asked.
“I need you to do me a favor.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“I need you to guard Sam. You don’t need to stay awake. I just want someone right there in case he wakes up still angry. You just need to sleep right outside and come get me if he makes any trouble.”
“Yeah man, no problem.”
“Thanks and remember, come get me if he makes trouble.”
Later that night I woke to a light knocking on my door. Thinking it was Justin here to tell me that Sam was being a problem I rushed to the door and flung it open. Standing at my door wasn’t Justin, it was Liz. When I flung the door open I must have frightened he because she jumped back with a little yelp. “Hey, sorry, I thought you were someone else. Sorry for scaring you. What’s up?”
“Nothing, never mind. Sorry for waking you,” she said as she started to walk away.
“Liz, stop.” She stopped. “Come here.” She walked back. “What can I do for you?” I asked in a soft voice.
“C…can I stay here tonight?”
“Of course,” I said, standing to the side to left her in. We didn’t say another word to each other. She walked to my bed and climbed in. I lay down next to her and I swear I could hear her heart beating. I figured she was still caught up in what happened earlier. To try and calm her down and offer what little comfort I could I slipped my arm under her head and moved closer so she was resting on me. After a short time, I noticed that her breathing had slowed down and her heart was no longer audible, she was asleep. I tried to get my arm out but every time I tried she would stir. Great, I thought as I settled in for a less than comfortable night. When I woke the next morning Liz was gone. I reached over and felt where she had been lying, it was cold, meaning that she had been gone for a while. Getting up I decided what to do with Sam and I started getting a bag ready.
“Has he been any trouble?” I asked Justin who was still outside the laundry room eating breakfast.
“He started banging on the door about an hour ago but once I told him he wasn’t getting out until you got here he shut up.”
Pulling out my knife I cut the rope and opened the door. Sam was sitting on the floor facing me. As soon as he looked up and saw me he opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off. “Don’t talk.” I threw him a granola bar and told him to come with me. We reached the bottom of the driveway and took a right, heading away from town. We walked in silence, giving Sam all the time he needed to think about his fate. I could feel the anger of last night coming back to me as we walked. I couldn’t believe what he did, how he could treat Liz that way. I did my best to stay calm and keep the anger at bay.
We were about half a mile down the highway when I decided to break the silence, “My whole family is dead Sam.” I stopped and let that hang in the air for a minute. Sam had met my family, spent time with them and he knew how protective I was of them. “Every single one of them is dead. The only people I have left are those people back in that house,” I said pointing off in the distance, my finger stabbing the air “I’ve kept them safe from Walkers. I’ve kept them alive while everything around me died. While the world collapsed around me I was able to keep this small part of it together. After all of that, you think I’m going to let you threaten my friends, the only family I have left? You think that I’m going to let them feel scared of you in the only safe place they have left? I know you’ve been bossing them around, intimidating them, thinking you’ve got the run of the place. Well, that’s not how things work Sam. Not while I’m alive.” My anger had gotten the better of me and I had unintentionally raised my voice. I took a minute to calm down before I continued, “So I’m not going to give you a chance to explain yourself because I don’t give a fuck. I don’t care that you were drunk or if you’re stressed or whatever. What I am going to do is give you two options. One, you can fall in line, do what you’re told and stay with us. Or two, you can leave.” I took off the backpack I had packed and threw it on the ground in front of him. “Enough food and water for a couple of days, a pistol and some ammo. It should keep you alive for a while if you’re smart. Unfortunately, you haven’t demonstrated that ability yet.” He didn’t pick up the bag, he just stared at me. I could see the muscles in his jaw tighten as he clenched his teeth. I stared back and refused to break eye contact. It was a long moment before his face turned from anger to shame. Finally, he broke and looked away, the muscles of his jaw outlined as he clenched his teeth before finally relaxing.
“If it’s alright with you and the group, I’d like to stay,” he said in a monotone voice.
I picked up the backpack, “It is but let me make something very clear. If you ever do something like that again, if you ever put my family in any kind of danger again, I’ll kick you out and if you refuse to go I’ll shoot you. You’re my friend Sam, maybe my best friend, but I won’t let you contribute to their pain and suffering. You get me?”
“I get you,” he said.
“Good let’s get back, you have an apology to make.”
We walked back in silence, nothing else needed to be said between the two of us. I walked inside and called everyone to the living room. “Everyone, we’re back and Sam has something to say.”
Standing in front of a dozen angry faces Sam looked ashamed. “Fuck,” he grumbled and wiped a hand down his face “I want to apologize to everyone. Not just fo
r last night but for every shitty thing I’ve done since getting here. I’m sorry for bossing people around and making you uncomfortable. Liz, I’m sorry for last night. I was drunk but that’s no excuse. James, I’m sorry for betraying your trust and friendship. You took me in and gave me back a little bit of my old life and I fucked up. So, everyone, I’m not asking for your forgiveness but I want you to know that I’m sorry. I’m going to do my best to make it up to all of you.” Some people were nodding, others frowning. I knew it would take some time for everyone to trust Sam again. It was easier for me because I knew him. I forgave him quickly but I knew what I would do if he messed up again.
After most people walked away I looked at Sam and said, “You know they’re going to be watching you from now on.”
“Yeah.”
“They’re going to be waiting for you to fuck up again.”
“Yep.”
“Sam.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t,” I said and walked away.
For the next few days, I watched Sam, as did everyone else. He was polite, helpful and made sure not to touch even a single beer. In that time I had continued to work on Thomas and Christina’s anniversary present and I was putting the finishing touches on their room in the Pole Barn when Sarah popped in. “Hey Sarah,” I said as I finished hanging a sheet.
“Hey.”
“What’s up?” I asked jumping off the ladder. She stood there smiling. “What?” I asked looking around in confusion.
“I know what you did.”
“What? What did I do?” I asked suspiciously.
She hugged me and said, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For helping Liz.”
“I didn’t really do anything.”
“But you did. You did more than most guys would have done.”
“I saw a problem and I had to stop it, that’s all. I didn’t do anything spec…”
“Not then, after. Liz told me what you did for her.”
“Oh… well you guys know that you can always come to me for anything.”
“We know but it was still a nice thing you did. And so is this,” she said as she looked about the room.
“This, this is nothing,” I said as I too looked around. We had cleared the downstairs of all the junk, redid the walls and just generally cleaned up. In addition to that, we had moved the bed from my sister’s old room, hung sheets and blankets to keep an area warm and to give them a sense of privacy. The flowers I had grabbed a while back were a little bit wilted but still brought color to the small room. I left a bottle of red wine and some glasses on a small table and the room was filled with candles. I had done everything I could think of to give them their own little hideaway.
“Yeah but who else but you would have thought to do this? Who else would take the time to let two people feel happy, if just for one night?”
“Well, you would.”
“Yeah, but I’m perfect,” she said grinning.
“Naturally,” I nodded, smiling back at her.
We headed inside together and I went to find Thomas. He was in the bathroom frantically trying to fix his hair. “Hey, Thomas.”
“Hey, James.”
“You all set for tonight?”
“Yeah I think so, if I could only get my hair to stop sticking up everywhere.”
“Don’t worry about it. You look fine. Look, man, the last thing we need is another mouth to feed so…here.” I said offering him a small box. He glanced at my hand, reddened and took the box with a mumbled thanks. We were all adults but I still found it funny how some things still made us uncomfortable. I handed Thomas something that he’s probably bought a dozen times but because I gave them to him he felt embarrassed, but we couldn’t chance someone getting pregnant.
I had first watch that night and I was hoping to have a little visit from Sarah. Twenty minutes into my watch my wish was granted as I heard Sarah make her way up the ladder.
“Hey Sarah,” I said without looking at her.
“Stop doing that,” she said.
“Doing what?”
“Knowing it’s me without actually knowing. It’s creepy.”
“Sarah, as far as we know we’re the only survivors on a planet now ruled by the undead and you think me saying hi without looking is creepy?”
“Yeah,” she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Alright,” I said with a snort. “Sorry,” I added laughing.
“How do you know it’s me?”
“I just do.”
“No, you know it’s me every time. Even when I don’t make any noise, you know.”
“It’s a little hard for me to not notice you.”
She looked away from me when I said that and gazed off towards the pole barn. You could see candlelight flicker in the windows and if you closed your eyes and listened you could hear soft music coming from the romantic getaway. She stared for a long time before saying, “It really was a nice thing you did for them.”
“Thomas is a good guy and he needed some help making things special. How could I have said no?”
“Sometimes I wish I had that.”
“What?”
“Someone like that, someone to make things special for me.”
“You’ll find someone,” I said as I slowly reached behind my back to grab something.
“Yeah right,” she said with a laugh, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but pickings are pretty slim right about now.”
“Yeah. Right,” I said as I stopped my movements.
We sat there in silence for a long time. I thought about breaking the silence, asking her what she wanted to tell me the other day but she spoke first. “Well, I should probably go to sleep. Night, James.”
“Night, Sarah,” I replied quietly.
After she had gone I picked up what I had been reaching for and stood. It was a small bouquet of white tulips which I had kept from wilting. I had fastened a small blue bow around the stems to keep them held together. I walked over to the edge of the house and threw the flowers as far as I could. “Pointless,” I mumbled as I walked back to my spot to finish my watch alone.
Until now I had never actively tried to be with Sarah. She never seemed interested and always seemed to be talking about one guy or another. Even now I was just her friend. You know that saying, ‘Not if you were the last guy on Earth.’ Well, I wasn’t the last guy but I guess the saying still holds true.
I sighed as I turned my thoughts and attention away from Sarah and back to the watch.
CHAPTER 9
I woke the next morning to Michelle shaking my shoulder “James, wake up. Wake up, James.”
“Yeah,” I grunted, “What’s wrong Michelle?”
“There are big brown deer in the yard.”
My foggy mind tried to grasp at her words, “Big brown deer? I jumped up, kicking the sheets off of me. Elk, I thought. Running out to the living room I saw a crowd gathered around the back sliding door. I stood there staring at an empty backyard while I watched elk crash through the trees. Michelle pushed her way through the crowd saying, “Well there were.”
“How many?” I asked.
“What?” asked Carrie.
“How many elk were in the herd?” I said quickly heading to the armory.
“Dozens,” Jessica called after me.
“There was probably around twenty-two hundred pounds of fresh meat in the backyard and none of you thought to grab a rifle?” I called back as I grabbed my own rifle. “Liz,” I called out.
“Yes?”
“Can you please get three packs together quickly? Dry goods and water,” I asked.
“Yeah. Three?”
“Yes, three. Sarah, Sam, grab a rifle, a knife, and some rope.”
“Why them?” asked Matt.
“They’ve been hunting before.”
“You’re going to kill them?” asked Michelle sadly.
“Not all of them,” I said kneeling in fron
t of her, getting down to her level, “But we need to eat something other than cereal and soup.”
“But I like cereal,” she said with a pout.
“I know sweetie but we need the meat. Ok?”
“Ok,” she nodded sadly.
I went into my room to change, putting on a pair of Carhartt pants, boots, and a sweatshirt. I knew that with every second we waited the further away the elk would get. “Sarah, Sam, you ready?” I yelled.
Survivors Series (Book 1): Heroes Aren't Born Page 12
