Stray Eagle smiled as he turned his horse, “You got a lot to learn. Damn dog has been following us since about a half hour after we left the ranch. Alden never told him to stay, so he joined us and as Alden would say, just covered our rear.”
Charlie shook his head with a smile on his face, “I’ve been with him since the beginning and still ain’t used to him and that damn dog.”
Alden rode back towards the ranch moving at a casual pace, watching the desert around him for signs of Wanderers. The skies were blue and scattered with a few white clouds; it made him feel a peace he had not known for a long time. Alden pulled his horse to a stop to watch a bald eagle soaring above him, then noticed a small herd of mule deer grazing on the scrub brush. Kicking his horse gently to move on, he saw one of the deer raise its head and look towards him. Alden smiled and spoke only to himself, “Not today fella. You’re not on the menu.”
The deer herd suddenly sprang into action running west. It was Tonto’s growl that alerted Alden as to why. Alden shifted in his saddle to find Tonto facing to his left, following Tonto’s line of sight, he saw the brush moving.
His horse reared and began to buck as the small group of wanderers appeared out from the brush and down some rocks. “OH HOLY SHIT!” Alden yelled as he tried to get control.
Tonto sprang into action, circling to the back of the group. Tonto forced a wanderer down by his arm. Once down Tonto lunged, tearing out its throat. Two more turned and tried to grab him. Tonto spun to jump up on some rocks, and then leaped on one of them, knocking it to the ground. The horse bucked violently from the sight and smell of the dead people, causing Alden to fall to the ground. Once free of Alden, it took off at full gallop. The wanderers turned toward the horse first, giving Alden just enough time to get up and move to where Tonto was.
Alden drove his knife into the heads of two of the wanderers, kicking a third in the chest. The wanderer fell to the ground, but immediately tried to get up; Alden stood over the fallen wanderer and stomped on its heads. “LET’S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE, BOY.” Alden and Tonto slipped into the brush. Moving quickly and silently, they soon lost their attackers.
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Tabitha was cleaning up the kitchen when suddenly she realized that their supper wouldn’t have to be made for the next few hours. She spun around to look at both Niz and Beth, “How about we get out of here for a while and get some fresh air? All we have to do is grab those fishing poles out there. I think a fish fry sounds pretty damn good for a change.”
Niz looked over at Beth with a big smile, “That sure does sound nice.”
Beth replied, “I have to agree. I haven't been out in a few days and some sunshine would be nice.”
Quickly the ladies got up and made their way out to the shed to get the fishing gear. Off in one corner Beth saw a big green tackle box. “I’ll grab the tackle box, Tabitha grab me a pole, and we can all make our way down to the pond.”
The ladies got all of the stuff together and made their way down to the pond. No wanderers were out, but each one of them kept their eyes peeled, just in case one suddenly walked up out of nowhere.
Beth was the first one to hear the sound of frogs off in the distance and picked up her pace. Niz eagerly followed and Tabitha joined in. When they saw the pond, the water looked so inviting and peaceful; each one gave a sign of contentment.
“This will be perfect!” said Niz as she got one of the poles from Tabitha. Beth sat down the tackle box and opened it to find it was crammed full of lures of all kinds. “I was wondering what we would use as bait, but seeing all of this stuff; we won’t have to worry about that now.”
Tabitha held onto her pole and handed the other one to Beth, then started picking through all of the lures to see which one would suit her needs. “Well, it looks like Larry had everything that an average sporting goods store would have,” Tabitha said with a grin.
After a few moments, Beth grabbed the first one that looked familiar. It was a nice light green spinner model. “Back home on Kentucky Lake, George, Ben, and Brenda would use these to bring in the nice bass, that is, once the bluegills were brought in. Since we don’t know what kind of fish are in these waters, I will take my chances with this.”
Niz grabbed one that was similar, “Most lakes and ponds around here have bass, along with some really awesome catfish. I bet there are some really big ones in there, since you all have been the only ones that have been fishing in a long time... probably many of the catfish are fat too.”
As time went on, all three of the ladies found their designated spot and soon several fish were dangling on the stringer that Beth had placed near her. The stringer held a couple of nice three pound bass and a handful of bluegill. Beth knew that if she could try and get in at least one nice catfish that she could fry up some fish nuggets.
Beth reeled her line in, and made her way over to the tackle box. She started rummaging through it. Back home she remembered that her cousins would always have a small jar of stink bait hid in the bottom of their tackle box. She had hopes of finding some in Larry’s box too. Not finding anything, Beth gave to box a frustrated push, and she noticed the top seemed to move funny. She reached out and suddenly realized that the whole compartment lifted up and out. “Bingo;” Beth chuckled as she pulled out Larry’s own small jar of magic catfish dip bait.
Quickly Beth put everything back as it was, found a treble hook along with a good size weight then made her way back to rig up her pole. Beth opened the lid of the bait jar and dipped the treble hook in. Tabitha started to look around. Niz turned also looking and scanning the ground. Tabitha’s and Niz’s eyes met. Tabitha scrunched her nose, “Is it me or does it smell like someone or something just died?”
Niz nodded in agreement, ‘Yes it does, but then again it’s not death I smell, it’s Uh, I don’t know how to explain it other than, it’s just nasty.”
The two looked over towards Beth; she did not seem to notice the odor. They looked at each other once more, shrugged and went back to fishing, both still looking around to see where the odor had come from.
Beth had finished baiting her hook and casted out, waiting patiently for a bite. Tabitha was fly fishing and was reeling in another good size bass, while Niz was catching a few more bluegill.
After a few more fish were on the bank, Niz laid her rod to the side and leaned back on grass as the clouds drifted overhead. “So when is the last time you guys just watched the clouds?”
Tabitha looked over her shoulder smirking, “Been a tad bit busy watching my ass lately.”
Niz laughed, “I know, but what I mean is the simple things we use to do. I don’t know, like just taking a walk to walk, or took a shower without worrying about running out of hot water.”
Beth set her pole down on her makeshift holder, keeping her eye on her line, “I kind of miss being able to just run to the store. I miss going to work. I miss having a lazy day, just watching movies.”
Niz sat up as she pointed at Beth, “Yeah, stuff like that! Just grabbing a bag of chips and a coke, turning on a good movie, just letting the world go by.”
Beth smiled, “One day we will have it again, just not anytime soon.”
Tabitha glanced over at the girls, “Aren’t we supposed to be getting dinner, not talking about what we won’t have ever again?”
Niz sat up and grabbed her fishing rod, “Okay, okay, point made.” Niz reeled in her line and recast. She winked at Beth but spoke to Tabitha, “So Tabitha, what crawled up your ass and died? What’s so bad about talking about our old lives?”
Tabitha rolled her eyes, “Because it serves no purpose, we need to figure out better ways to make it to tomorrow and the next day. Why would I daydream about everything we can’t have?”
Beth stood up and dusted off her jeans, “It does serve a purpose because it reminds us of better times. Times that we all enjoyed, but you are right about figuring out how to survive the long run. I would love to pl
an a garden for this spring. Do you think Alden would agree to another run somewhere to find seeds and things?”
Niz pulled in her line again, inspecting the hook. “I swear the damn fish are just nibbling my line. I give up; You guys ready to head back yet?”
Tabitha held up their line of fish. “I think we have enough to feed everyone, so let’s get going.” She patted her leg, “Come on Mickey; let’s go home.”
The puppy jumped around trying to get the low hanging fish as Tabitha jerked them out of his reach, “Behave!”
Niz laughed, taking a couple steps away from the pond, “Beth, we have all kinds of things planted already, I am sure the Chief will be happy to share if you all would be willing to help with tending it.”
Beth fell into step with the others, “Well, to be honest, I kind of wanted to have my own little garden.”
Niz smiled, “I understand, but with the soil the way it is here, it would just be a lot better to just help us. It took many, many years for us to get the land able to yield any solid crops.”
Beth scrunched up her face, “Damn, I didn’t even think about the desert soil being different. Maybe I could just take some soil from your land and do a small window garden for spices?”
Niz got a big smile, “I think that can be arranged.”
Within fifteen minutes, the girls were walking back into the yard. Crixus was sitting in the yard growling at the house. Mickey joined him, running around him trying to get Crixus to play. But Crixus just sat and growled.
Beth walked past him laughing, “We really should have named him Mini-T. He thinks he is such a big bad dog.” Tabitha looked from the pup to Beth, “Beth; hold up. He may be more of a mini Tonto than you think. Let’s check the house before we just go in, ok?”
Just as the girls began making a plan, Colt and Ceara rode up. Colt was the first to notice the caution in their faces, “What’s up?”
Beth pointed to Crixus, “He doesn't want us going in, for some reason.”
Ceara jumped off her horse, “But Tiger is in there!”
Colt grabbed her arm, “Hold up, you running in won’t do anything to help Tiger.”
Ceara gave Tabitha a worried look, “So what were you guys about to do?
“We were about to go in and figure out just what has his panties in a bunch. I was going in through the patio door and Niz was headed around front. Beth planned on staying out here in case whatever it is gets out.”
Colt looked to each, “Weapons?”
Tabitha rolled her eyes, “Oh no Colt, we thought we would go hand to hand… of course we have weapons, we each have our knives. We just haven’t pulled them yet.”
Colt stepped up smiling, “Ok, well I am going in with you. If there isn’t anything, I get the shower first.”
Tabitha looked him over, “What the hell happen to you guys?”
Colt opened the back door, “Later, let’s make sure the house is secure first. How were you guys letting Niz know when you were ready to go in?”
“SHIT! She is probably already in! We didn’t think about you guys riding up so there was no signal! GO!”
Colt swung around heading in the house, “NIZ!”
A loud crash came from the living room and Tabitha took off around Colt as he cussed under his breath. Colt met up with Tabitha, they both had their knives pulled as they inched toward the living room. Tabitha looked back to Colt, “You head down the hall, I’ll check the living room.” Colt nodded and moved to inch down the hall.
Colt edged down the hall, stopping at the den first, but it was clear. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to call out for Niz or not. If it was wanderers than that would just draw them to him, which would be ok… he would bury a knife in their heads and be done with them. But if it were looters or worse, then that would warn them that there was help coming.
Tabitha made the decision for him when she called out, “COLT!”
Colt ran for the living room, Niz was motionless on the floor, and Tabitha was wrestling a wanderer. Her knife was on the floor out of reach. Colt ran around the couch just as Ceara ran in. “Shit! Colt!! Behind you!”
A wanderer came from the back of the house. Ceara ran to Tabitha and plunged a knife in the head of the wanderer. Tabitha slung the woman off her, “Fuck me! This bitch just came out of nowhere!” Tabitha waved toward the door, “I got that one, but this one was already on Niz…. She’s ok I think, just knocked out.”
Ceara went to check Niz, “Ummm Niz isn’t ok, Tabitha,” Ceara brushed the hair out of her eyes, “I think we better go find Alden.”
Colt walked back from that back of the house, “It’s clear, you guys ok?” He saw Tabitha and Ceara both kneeling by Niz, “She hurt? Hang on, I’ll get Beth!”
He was gone before they could stop him. Colt stepped back to the patio where Beth was sitting with a dead wanderer at her feet. Colt ran to her, “Oh shit! I am going to kick Ceara’s ass for leaving you out here alone!”
Crixus sat growling, Colt looked down to the pup, “its ok kid, we got them.”
Beth laid a hand on Colt’s hip, “Colt, sit down.”
Colt got a concerned look, he pulled back one of the chairs and joined her. “Did you hurt yourself?”
Beth held out her hand, “It bit me baby, it was my fault… I was so focused on the house, and what was going on in there. I didn’t even think about looking around me. Crixus tried to get my attention, but I really didn’t think it was anything more than what he saw in the house.”
Beth put her hands to her face, “I was just stupid Colt, I am so sorry!”
Colt sat shocked, “We can just cut that finger off, no problem… You will be fine.”
He started to stand but Beth stopped him, “Colt, that won’t work, it’s in my blood stream; it didn’t just stay in my hand.”
Colt’s whole body seemed to give out and he fell back in the chair, “What do we do now?”
Beth bit her lip. We try to hide it till Alden gets back, then we deal with this. You know what has to happen, but I have a plan that I can only tell him.”
Colt got a hurt look, “Why him! You love me, not him!”
Beth shook her head, “Honey, please don’t,” Beth said quietly.
Colt gave her a confounded look, “Don’t what? Don’t see my girlfriend dying before my eyes! Don’t ask to know what is going on! Don’t wonder what the hell is going through her mind!”
Beth stood up, “Don’t make this more than it needs to be. We all knew the risks, we all knew that it could happen. It was just always hoped that we could avoid it, but we can’t!” Beth hissed.
It was too late, both Ceara and Tabitha were standing at the back door, they had heard everything.
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The sun was setting low as Alden walked up to the ranch. Tabitha met him in the yard. His clothes were covered in dried blood and dust. His lips were parched from no water, and his eyes looked tired and weary. It was one of the few times she had noticed that Alden was showing his age. Grabbing his arm she led him to the porch then quickly got him a large glass of water. “Here you go. Drink it slow.”
Alden took several sips as he watched Tabitha dip a bucket in the trough and put it in front of Tonto. She turned to him, “Alden, are you okay?”
He nodded as he took another sip, “Larry always said you can drink the juice from cactus to keep hydrated. He just never told me it tasted like horse piss.
Tabitha tried chuckled, then sat down beside him. “I really hate to do this, but you got to know. We were attacked. Beth has been bit and Niz, well...” Her voice trailed off as tears came to her eyes.
Chapter 16 – Debt of Life
Stray Eagle and Charlie rode into the village as the sun set. Running Buffalo met them with a smile. “Long days and long nights since I have seen you; I hope all is well.” He said as he grasped Stray Eagles arm.
“Yes it has, but things are not well. We have seen groups of the dead m
assing together.” Stray Eagle replied.
Running Buffalo looked down, “We have had our scouts report back to us over the last two days about such things. We’ve also have had sightings of military vehicles patrolling once again.”
Charlie spoke up, “Yes Sir, we saw them too. Tanks; about a dozen of them. They rolled over a herd this morning, crushing everything in their path. Alden went back to the ranch to tell our people, and he sent us here to speak with you.”
Running Buffalo looked at Charlie then to Stray Eagle, “We have a lot to talk about, but first you two need to eat and rest.”
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Once Beth’s wound was cleaned and wrapped, she sat there at the table trembling. The thought that she had less than seventy two hours to live was not her only thought; there were many. She would be seeing her family, and no more would she have to go on living in a world where people weren’t enjoying being alive anymore. Instead the world and everyone in it just existed.
Colt was pacing like a caged animal, going back and forth from the back door to the door in the living room. Tabitha looked out the window, as if searching for answers. Looking over at Tabitha, Beth began to speak, “There is so much that we can all learn from this, and maybe you all can use that to help others.”
Tabitha looked over at Colt, he quickly turned away. Colt looked to Beth, searching her eyes, and then he bolted outside as if to say, “Fuck this shit!”
“Beth,” Tabitha spoke softly, “What kind of information are you talking about? You’re going to die, and hell, for that matter, we all will sooner or later. So I don’t understand what the hell you’re talking about?”
Beth stood up, making her way into the living room to sit on the couch, “Well to start off Tabitha, the bite only hurts because of the bite. I don’t feel any different, which means for right now, I am very level headed. I know this is going to be hard, especially for Colt, but something good has got to come out of this. For the time being, all I can do is treat myself as a patient.”
Alden joined them in the living room, his eyes solemn, willing to let Beth have her say, and handle this her own way. Beth looked to Alden “I have some ideas, but I would prefer to discuss them with you before things go much further…. Alone.”
Surviving Day by Day (Book 3): Still They Come Page 25
