by Kody Boye
A hand fell on his shoulder. He jumped in response.
Dakota laughed to hide his nerves. “I’m fine,” he said, anticipating the question before it would be asked.
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Eagle stepped forward. Dakota wouldn’t have even known he was there were it not for the pale beam of light piercing the darkness at waist-level. “Just makin’ sure nothing followed you here.”
“Have you had problems before?” Jamie asked.
“No. We’re too far out from the city to have anything just stumble upon us. I do worry about them following people though.”
“They wouldn’t have followed us here. I mean, I don’t see how they could have—we were making too many turns for anyone paying attention to keep track.”
“It’s easy to lose yourself out in these woods,” the Native agreed. “I’m surprised you made it here.”
“It was an accident,” Desmond said. “We saw your light.”
“As did I, but I thought my eyes were deceiving me.” Eagle reached up to finger a spread of grey stubble on his chin. “It’s bad luck to conjure such things upon yourself.”
“Sorry?” Jamie asked.
Eagle shook his head. He gestured them to follow him up the slight path that led to the front porch. “Don’t worry yourself over it. Come, let’s get out of this weather. It’s too cold and miserable for us to remain here any longer.”
Taking place alongside Jamie, Dakota mounted the steps and followed Eagle to the front door. He turned the knob, pushed it open, then leaned into the cabin to speak with someone in a hushed tone before stepping inside and beckoning them in.
“Gentlemen,” Eagle said. “This is Mr. Kevin Partridge. He’s the one who owns this farm.”
“Welcome,” Kevin Partridge said, offering his hand.
“Jamie,” Jamie smiled, accepting the bony man’s grip. “This is Dakota and Desmond.”
“Where did you come from?”
“South Dakota. We’re trying to make our way to Idaho. The interstate’s blocked off.”
“As we noticed,” Kevin said. He looked over his shoulder at three boys sitting in the living room, who each watched the newcomers with wary eyes. “These are my boys. The oldest there is Jessiah. You’ve probably already seen him though. He went out to check on Eagle when he didn’t return.” Jessiah nodded in response. “This one,” Kevin said, pointing to a red-haired boy, “is Arnold. Mark’s my youngest.”
“Hi,” the boy said. He couldn’t have been any older than thirteen, if not eleven or twelve.
“Hi,” Dakota replied. The boy turned his eyes down almost immediately. The oldest of the children—Jessiah, who looked to be around his own age—sought his eyes out and considered him for a moment, but turned his eyes toward the fire when Dakota’s gaze lingered for too long. “Sir,” he said, looking up at Kevin. “We don’t mean to intrude on your family.”
“You’re not intruding at all,” Kevin replied. “Eagle said you were lost.”
“Our map was wrong,” Jamie said. “We couldn’t find any of the roads that were marked on it.”
“You wouldn’t know the map was wrong unless you lived here,” Kevin said. He brushed up along Jamie to lock, bolt and chain the door, then to draw the curtains over the windows. “I’d hate to send you on your way in the dark.”
“We don’t have to bother you. We’re trying to catch up with friends.”
“It’s nice to know that people still care about each other in this day and age,” Kevin smiled. “Did you get separated?”
“Yes, back in South Dakota. We told each other that if anything ever happened, we’d meet up back home.”
“There’s no place like home,” Kevin smiled.
A tremble of unease snaked up Dakota’s spine.
We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.
The oldest boy coughed. He reached for what appeared to be a pack of cigarettes sitting on an end table, but Eagle slapped his hand away and set a cup of tea before him. “Here.”
“I don’t want it.”
“Drink it anyway. You’re not going to get any better until you do.”
“I’m craving ‘em.”
“You can have a cigarette after you drink your tea,” Kevin said, accepting the carton as Eagle passed it over. “I don’t want you getting any sicker than you already are.”
Jessiah grumbled under his breath. Kevin stepped forward, then seemed to reconsider himself for a moment before turning to face the group again. “Would you like something to eat?”
“We have food,” Jamie said.
“We have extra. Right, Eagle?”
“We do,” Eagle agreed.
“We don’t want to take any of yours,” Dakota said.
“We can trade then. Not now though.” Kevin trained his eyes on his children. “Boys, could you make some room for our guests?”
The two younger children moved to the loveseat the oldest was seated upon. Jessiah raised his hand to cough into it as the group settled down on the expansive cough before the fireplace.
“Dinner will be ready in about a half-hour,” Kevin said. “Make yourselves comfortable. If you need something, don’t hesitate to ask.”
Kevin disappeared into the kitchen.
Dakota couldn’t help but feel nervous about the man’s generosity.
Are people supposed to be this kind, especially in situations like these?
He didn’t know. He couldn’t bother to question it though—not now, not in such a vulnerable state.
Taking his cue to relax, he leaned back into the sofa and closed his eyes.
He caught himself before he reached out to lace his and Jamie’s fingers together.
“Where are you guys from?” Jamie asked.
“Here, in a manner of speaking,” Kevin replied, slapping cans of freshly-warmed beans and peaches in front of them. “We left Minneapolis right as the shit was starting to hit the fan.”
“Before they started closing the city off,” Jessiah added. He raised his hand to cough, nodding thanks to his father as he passed the bowl over.
“They were still trying to quarantine cities?” Jamie frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Why?”
“Because they declared New York a dead zone. That’s the whole reason they nuked it.”
A black cloud of doubt shadowed the room the moment Jamie stopped speaking. Dakota watched his boyfriend’s facial expression change from alert to concerned, then frowned when Jamie bowed his head to push his food around his bowl.
What? They what?
“Bombed it?” Kevin asked.
“No one told you?” Jamie asked.
“No.”
“They claimed it was an accident,” Dakota said, glancing around the table just in time to see each and every person’s expression change. “They said it was a nuclear reactor that destroyed the city.”
“You’re from the military,” Kevin said. “Aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Jamie said. “I was.”
“Was?”
“I no longer consider myself a member of the United States Military. That title died after we left South Dakota.”
“So you know about this,” Kevin said, hand tightening around the chair he was clutching. “You know what’s been going on.”
“I only know some things, sir.”
“Tell us. I think we deserve to know.”
The boys mumbled amongst themselves. Eagle remained silent, while Desmond concentrated on the food before him in order to avoid wandering eyes. Dakota simply watched as the firestorm exploded across the room and began to make its course. Some of its victims were immediately affected, burned to a crisp in the face of reality, while others maintained third-degree burns that kept them from doing anything, their limbs melted together and their eyes sewn open. The few choice individuals that managed to suffer only the residual side effects watched from afar, safe in the iron reality of their current situation
.
Flames couldn’t burn those submerged in water. Only those ignorant and slicked with oil could catch fire.
“They bombed the city on September thirty-first,” Jamie said, “in an attempt to quarantine the virus and to destroy what the FDA was calling ‘the infected.’ Beforehand, we—the military, National Guard and local police force—were instructed to maintain the border around the greater Manhattan area and terminate any infected host that tried to breach the perimeter. This involved pouring concrete over the tunnels leading out of the city, creating road blocks from debris caused by accidents in the roads, and keeping an active duty of twenty-plus soldiers wherever strategists deemed necessary.”
“So the military locked down the city,” Kevin said.
“Not the military—the health administration. We were initially instructed to evacuate citizens and to hold our fire unless absolute necessary. This was before we realized that it was spread by bites and direct contact with the infected.”
“You didn’t know what was going on?”
“How could we?” Jamie asked. “We were told that these people were suffering a violent form of psychosis and to treat them as mental patients. That’s why hospitals became a death trap—we were shuttling all those people for medical treatment. I can’t tell you how many we lost in my unit doing that kind of shit.”
“What happened after you were told to open fire?”
“We did. Then we fell back, sealed the tunnels, barricaded the roads and established the perimeter. We tried to organize search and rescue missions, and we did, for the most part, with helicopters, but we were eventually told that New York had become a no-man’s zone and that it was too dangerous to go in and try to rescue people.”
“So they bombed it,” Dakota said.
“Yeah,” Jamie said, draping an arm across his back. “In an attempt to contain the infection. I thought you guys knew that.”
“I wasn’t allowed to watch TV,” Dakota said. “I only heard New York and nuclear explosion before I was caught by my foster mother and told to turn the TV off.”
“I saw the same broadcast,” Kevin said. “It never said anything about a bomb being dropped.”
“What was it like?” the second-oldest boy, Arnold, asked.
“What was what like?” Jamie replied.
“Watching the bomb go off.”
“I can’t describe it. It was like…like I was seeing a star falling. Then the sky turned white and a mushroom cloud bloomed in the air.”
Once again, silence overwhelmed the room.
The firestorm began to die down.
Kevin turned his eyes on his children. “That’s enough of this for tonight. Our food’s getting cold.”
Most everyone agreed.
Dakota looked over at Jamie. His sad eyes instantly struck him.
What’s it like, to see the end of the world?
He couldn’t think about it.
If he did, he knew he wouldn’t sleep that night.
“We’ll just keep it to ourselves,” Jamie said, settling a blanket over the two of them on the bottom bunk in the youngest boys’ bedroom.
It hadn’t taken much to come to the agreement that they keep their relationship under cover for the time being. While Kevin didn’t seem like a prejudiced man, he didn’t seem like one who could be easily trusted. He asked too many questions, Jamie said. He’s nervous by nature.
Nervous people were never able to maintain their composure, especially not during the end of the world.
“Jamie?” Dakota said. “Why did you tell them that?”
“Because they deserve to know. And because they deserve to be told the truth.”
“Aren’t you worried that they’ll think of you differently because they know you’re a soldier?”
“Was,” Jamie corrected. “I’m not anymore.”
Shrugging, Dakota settled his head against Jamie’s shoulder and sighed when he felt the man’s arm curl around his back and his hand settle against his ribcage.
“You ok up there?” Jamie asked, tapping on the support beam that held the top bunk in place.
“Yep,” Desmond said.
“Just making sure, bud. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Jamie, Dakota.”
“Night,” Dakota said, closing his eyes.
He hoped tomorrow would be better, if only in scope.
A knock at the door woke him from sleep.
“Dakota,” a voice whispered. “You awake?”
Dakota blinked. He almost didn’t realize where he was at first.
Are one of the kids talking to me?
“Shh!” another voice whispered. “Don’t wake ‘em all up!”
“I’m not!”
“Yes you are!”
Careful not to wake Jamie, Dakota slid out of his boyfriend’s grasp and walked to the door. He made sure to press his finger to the lock before he turned the doorknob so it wouldn’t click out of place.
Arnold and Mark stood in the doorway, staring at him with wide eyes.
“Hey,” Dakota smiled. “Is something the matter, guys?”
“Jessiah was wondering if you wanted to come walk around the property,” the youngest boy said, eyes wide with wonder.
“I guess,” Dakota said. He cast a glance over his shoulder to find Jamie and Desmond still asleep.
“Does Desmond want to come too?” Mark asked.
“He’s still asleep,” Dakota said. Arnold smacked the back of his brother’s head when he opened his mouth to say something else. “I’ll meet you guys downstairs in a minute.”
“We’ll be waiting,” Mark said. He scampered down the hallway and stampeded down the stairs, much to his brother’s distress. Arnold rolled his eyes, shrugged, then offered Dakota one last smile before disappearing down the hall.
What reason would the older one have to talk to me? he thought, pushing back into the room to find his socks and shoes.
He couldn’t think of any particular reason. He’d hardly paid the boy any attention last night, let alone spoke two words to him.
Doesn’t matter. Might as well give them my time while we’re here.
Dakota bowed, picked up his shoes and socks, then made his way into the hall, careful to lock and slide the door into place before making his way down the stairs. “Hey,” he said, nodding when he caught the boys’ eyes. “Sorry it took me so long.”
“That’s ok,” Arnold said.
Dakota seated himself in the recliner and pulled his socks and shoes onto his feet, all the while aware of the children’s rampant stares.
Are they keeping something from their father? Is that what they want to show me?
“How come your brother wanted me to come with you guys?” Dakota asked, standing.
“He wanted both of you to come,” Mark said.
“Probably just to get to know you better,” Arnold said. “We could hardly talk with Dad and Jamie going back and forth.”
“Who’s Eagle?” Dakota asked. “And what’s his story?
“An Indian,” Mark said. The response promptly received a smack on the head from his older brother. “Hey!”
“He came from the reservation down the road,” Arnold said, giving his brother an eye as they led Dakota toward the front door. “He’s been here for the past month.”
“And you guys have been here since they started evacuating, right?”
Mark nodded. He opened the door and ushered them outside before closing the door behind him.
“Where’s your brother?”
“He said he’d meet us out by the wood pile,” Arnold said.
“How come you guys are still burning wood?”
“To keep the house warm,” Mark said.
“Isn’t your dad worried about the zombies finding you?”
“Eagle said the house is too hard to find.” A smirk crested the boy’s lips. “He was obviously right if you guys had to get lost to find it.”
Mark chuckled and ran out in front of them, his
laugh increasing in pitch as he ran around the curve of the house. Dakota caught sight of a barn in the distance, but thought nothing of it as they came around the back of the cabin. Jessiah came into view, poised atop a log with a cigarette between his lips. “Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” Dakota replied.
“Your friend not awake?”
“Nope. He and Jamie were doing most of the driving. They wouldn’t let me because I hit my head.”
“You all right?”
“I’m fine now, yes.”
Jessiah hopped off the log and gestured Dakota and his brothers to follow him. “Sorry I didn’t say much last night. My bronchitis has been getting worse.”
“Which is why you should listen to Dad when he says not to smoke,” Arnold said.
“I’ve cut back. You know I have.” Jessiah raised his hand to cough. Arnold frowned. Mark ran out in front of them and did a little spin as he jumped off a slight bump in the hill. “Careful. You know the hill’s steep in spots.”
“I know!” Mark called back.
Jessiah smiled. He set the cigarette back to his lips and took another drag. “You guys are trying to get to Idaho?”
“Jamie said that he and his friend Erik told each other they would meet back up there if something happened.”
“I’m guessing something did then?”
Dakota sighed. “We were staying in a converted building when the zombies broke into it. We got split into three different groups. My best friend is with Erik and Ian.”
“What about the other group?”
“I don’t know where they are. I’ll probably never see them again.”
The younger man frowned. He dropped his cigarette, stamped it out under his shoe, then shoved his hands into his pockets. Dakota took place beside him as Arnold ran out ahead of them to join his younger brother.
“You feeling ok?” Dakota asked.
“I’ll be fine,” Jessiah said. “It just sucks, being so sick.”
A drop of rain fell from the sky.
“Rain’s coming,” Jessiah said. He looked up to where his brothers were running along the fence. “Come on, guys! Let’s go in before we get soaked!”
“Coming!” they both called.
Dakota smiled.
Lightning flashed in the sky and they ran back toward the cabin.
