by Mark Gordon
Chapter 46
The Fence
The next few days were almost pleasant for Matt, Montana and Gabby. They saw no feeders and the sun shone brightly while the girls developed an informal work schedule, which included tending the vegetable patch, doing the housework and attending school in the bookmobile for a couple of hours. While they went about their routine, Matt worked on the fence. He toiled from dawn each day until dusk, pausing only to take a drink and eat the snacks that Gabby brought him “to keep his energy up”. At around twelve all three would stop and enjoy lunch together in the shade of the front porch with a big jug of iced tea and sandwiches. It was on the second day when Montana finally asked the question they had all been pondering for days.
“Matt, why haven’t we seen any feeders?”
He put his glass of tea down on the table and picked up a sandwich. “That’s a good question, isn’t it? Maybe they have enough to eat in town. Maybe they’re feeding on each other.”
“Do you really think that’s the explanation?”
“No, not really,” he replied, with a mouth full of sandwich.
She looked at him and waited for more information. When none was forthcoming, she pushed. “Well? Why haven’t we seen any feeders? They’ve had plenty of time to get this far haven’t they? They should be all over us by now, don’t you think?”
Matt chewed on his sandwich. Montana watched him; waiting for an explanation for something that they all knew defied logic.
“I’ve been thinking about that a lot while I’ve been putting up that fence," he replied. "There is one possibility that I just can’t get out of my head, even though it seems ridiculous.” He paused and took a breath. “I’ll just say it okay? I think they’re staying away from Gabby.”
He had been mentally preparing himself for Montana to burst into laughter when she heard his radical theory, but was surprised when she simply stated, “Yes, I think you’re right.”
“What? You think so to? Why?”
“I can’t really explain. It’s just a really strong feeling I have. What about you? Why do you think they’re avoiding her?”
“Mainly because of the fact that she survived in that house on her own for two days; also the lack of other corpses around her street. They wanted nothing to do with her. Also I think we would have seen feeders here at the farm by now.”
“Okay. What does that mean for us then? Do we still need a fence or what?”
“Yes, because we don’t know if their fear of her is permanent. If circumstances change, we'll need some form of defense.”
Gabby had been preoccupied with a book while Matt and Montana discussed the strange absence of feeders, but now she put it down. “Why do you call them feeders Matt?”
He looked at Montana and then at Gabby. “Well honey, I call them that because I’ve seen them feeding. They don’t eat like us, though. They’re much angrier. Feeding and sleeping is the only thing they seem to do now. When they’re asleep I call them hiders.”
“Oh”, she said. “I though it might be something else.”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought it was because they feed on our unhappiness.”
She picked up her book and started to read again as Montana and Matt exchanged glances.
-
After lunch Matt went back to his fencing while Montana and Gabby cleared up the lunch mess. He could have used Montana’s help with the huge task, but he knew that her leg was still sore from the dog bite and he didn’t want Gabby left alone and bored while they worked on such a major project. Building and repairing fences, however, was hardwired into the DNA of all farmers so, even though it was occasionally awkward and strenuous doing the work by himself, Matt understood exactly what was required to create a barrier that would be strong and durable. Once he had the fence finished, he would probably spend some time electrifying it, but for the time being, the strong chain links, and the barbed wire at the top would be sufficient. As he worked he thought about what Gabby had said at lunch. Were the feeders something more than just animals in human form? Did they really feed on the misery of the survivors? Matt knew that it would take much more time before these questions could be answered with any authority or confidence.
-
In the middle of the afternoon on the third day of their return to 'Two Hills', while the girls were planting seeds in the vegetable garden, Matt ran out of premixed cement to fix the last couple of posts into the ground. He told Montana to stay near the house while he was gone, and took the big truck back into town to get the supplies he needed. When he arrived at the depot he unlocked the gate and parked the truck near the store. He loaded it up with bags of concrete, relocked the gate, and was ready to go home when he thought of a couple of things he wanted to check on while he was in town. He climbed into the cab of the truck and headed in the direction of the pub where he had found his first nest over a week ago.
-
Matt stood outside the Criterion Hotel, and marvelled at the change his hometown had undergone since the event. The place was already beginning to look disheveled and dusty, and a few vigorous weeds were beginning to poke their little green heads out in places where somebody would have normally plucked them from the earth in the name of order and tidiness. Pieces of litter were blowing here and there, and the corpses, which had been so bloody and soft just a week ago, had been picked clean to the bones and were rapidly drying out in the sunshine. Soon Matt would feel compelled to collect them and bury them in a mass grave – but not until his fence was built. He walked to the pub.
He reached the bottom of the cellar stairs and knew immediately from the smell that his hunch had been correct. The feeders weren’t using this nest any more. He cast his flashlight around the empty space, then turned and went back up into the daylight. Matt closed his eyes and concentrated. He sensed the town's emptiness, just as he had sensed that the feeders were avoiding Gabby for unknown reasons. The feeders had moved on, and the town once more belonged to the humans if they wanted it. He shook his head in bewilderment and climbed into the cab of the truck. He wanted to check one more place before heading back to the farm.
Matt pulled up outside the Police Station and received a shock even more severe than finding out that the feeders had left down. The glass doors, on which he had painted his name and address for other survivors to find, were smashed, and the broken glass was strewn all over the front steps of the building. For a moment he couldn’t understand what he was looking at, or what it meant. Was this a random act of the feeders as they left town or something else? He looked up and down the street but could see no other new damage. The doors had been targeted because of the sign he had painted on them. Then, as a chill raced down his spine, Matt realised what it meant. Somebody knew where he lived, but hadn’t wanted anyone else to know! He raced to the truck and thought of how vulnerable Montana and Gabby were back at the farm by themselves. First the dog attack and now this! He pushed the truck as hard as it would go, and prayed that they were safe, promising himself that he would not leave them alone again until the fence was finished.
