by Mark Gordon
Chapter 52
A Survivor
Matt was in town to pick up supplies before they perished or were liberated by other survivors. His concern was that if circumstances changed in the near future, canned or dried food would become a valuable commodity, and while he hadn’t encountered any looters yet, he had to assume that they were out there somewhere and may eventually arrive in more isolated towns as the cities became more and more inhospitable. He stood outside the supermarket and surveyed the street. It was a ghost town, inhabited by corpses. He studied the decaying human remains and meditated on his own survival. Why had he not succumbed to the virus, or whatever it was, that had caused this change in humanity? Whatever the reason, he was glad. Not because other people had perished, but that he had gone on living. Just days ago he was ready to give up the fight and would have been okay with joining the roll call of the dead, but things had changed. He had found Gabby and then Montana, and all of a sudden his life seemed to have a purpose. There would be no more days spent just filling in time or wasting valuable seconds. Even the most mundane jobs were now imbued with a crucial significance. He had not become a feeder and he had not died! His life was precious and he needed to make it count, for his parents and for Gabby and Montana, his new family. He went into the supermarket.
Matt had expected it to smell bad, and he wasn’t disappointed. He pushed his shopping trolley past the low open refrigerators, which once stocked fresh meat, but were now simply vessels of corruption and stench. As he passed them by he could see grey lumps of flesh, wrapped in plastic packaging that had once been living cows, sheep and pigs. He held his breath, brushed a swarm of flies away and moved quickly to the aisle containing canned goods, pasta and rice. Without much thought, and as quickly as he was able, he filled his trolley to the brim, then wheeled it to his ute, where he unloaded it into the tray before going back into the store to repeat the process. By the time he had finished, Matt had completed almost twenty trips and the back of his truck was filled with essential supplies that would last almost indefinitely without going stale. He had loaded the last trolley of goods into the truck, and was about to go home when he heard an unusual sound coming from around the corner. He grabbed his gun from the front seat of the truck and stood quietly with his head tilted, as he tried to identify the sound.
His curiosity was satisfied just a few seconds later, when the source of the whistling came strolling around the corner as large as life. Matt stared, open-mouthed as the man stopped, studied him, and then doffed his baseball.
“Good morning sir." he said. "Doing some shopping, I see.”
“Um. Yes, I am. Hi?”
“Oh, hello, hello!” he said, as if running into Matt was the most normal thing in the world. He walked over and offered his hand. “My name’s Bill. It’s very nice to meet you. I’m surprised, though. I thought the town was deserted.”
Matt quickly took in the man’s features. He was around fifty years old and wearing a pair of jeans and one of the ugliest sweaters Matt had ever seen - was that a reindeer on the front? Under his Yankees cap the man had an unruly mop of grey hair that seemed to have a mind of its own. Matt moved his gun to his left hand, and shook his hand.
“Hello. I’m Matt. Where the hell did you come from?” he asked.
“Just passing through. Yes, I’m on my way to the city and thought I’d stop here for the night. No demons about I noticed.”
“No, no, um, demons. They all seemed to have left town. Where have you come from? Have you seen any other people in your travels?”
“I’ve come from out west and yes, I’ve seen some survivors. Not as many as I’d like, though. There seems to be a bit of a gathering over in Diamond Creek. Do you know it?”
“Yes, about four hours west of here. You were there? What’s it like?” Matt asked, eager for information about survivors.
“Yes, I stayed there for a few days. Word seems to be getting around that it’s a good place to go. More people were turning up every day before I left. The survivors have buried all of the corpses, and new arrivals are staking claims to empty houses. Someone might as well use them I guess. It’s becoming like a real town, I suppose.”
“Why Diamond Creek? What’s so special about there? There are bigger and better places to build a town, surely?”
“Well that’s a really good question. The town has electricity, but nobody knew that before they turned up there. People just came out of the blue and couldn’t explain why. Pretty weird, I’d say!”
“Yeah, absolutely. Why didn’t you stay there?”
“I have relatives in the city. They’re probably dead or have turned into demons, but I feel like I have to make an effort.”
“I guess so. I don’t think the city will be very safe, though. There must still be a lot of feeders there, are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Bill gave Matt a look that was difficult to read. “Well, I don’t know. I guess it’s probably not a very good idea is it? But what else can I do? I should do something. I can’t just sit still and wait. I didn’t feel like Diamond Creek was for me so....” He shook his head. “I’m not sure what to do really. I’m just moving.”
Something about the man’s pleasant manner and ludicrous plan to travel into the city to search aimlessly for relatives touched Matt’s heart, and before he realised what he was doing he made him an offer.
“Why don’t you come out to my place and stay for a while? We could use some help around the farm.”
Bill studied Matt intently; as if he suspected a trick. “Oh no, I don’t think so. I should keep moving. You don’t want me hanging around, getting in the way. I don’t have any useful skills. I’m an accountant for goodness sake! I mean I was an accountant. The world has no use for that job any more does it?”
Matt laughed, “No I guess not, but who cares? I can give you some jobs to do around the farm. You look fit and healthy.”
He looked at Matt more intently, considering the offer. “Well, it’s very generous of you. Are you sure?”
“Yes, absolutely. People need to help each other now. I insist. Do you have anything to bring?”
“Just a few things with my bike. I’ll grab them and be back in a few minutes.”
-
The look on Montana’s face when they arrived back at the farm told Matt everything he needed to know about her attitude to the new member of their clan. She was pissed and didn’t care who knew it. As they unloaded the supplies from the back of Matt’s ute and carried them up the path to the house, Montana refused to speak to either Matt or Bill. As soon as the groceries were deposited in the large walk-in pantry, Matt made Bill a cup of tea and encouraged him to sit and talk to Gabby while he took Montana out onto the front veranda to try and calm her down. She stood there with her hands on her hips, glaring at him angrily, while Matt did his best to justify his decision to bring a stranger into their midst.
“Look, he’s just passing through. He has no-one in the world, and we could use an extra pair of hands while we set ourselves up.”
For a moment Matt thought Montana was going to continue with the silent treatment, so he was relieved when she finally hissed, “You know nothing about him! He could be a serial killer, for all you know! Why on earth would you put us all at risk when we’ve just made the place safe? You spent two days building a fence, then invited a stranger right in.”
“The fence is to keep feeders out, not people that need help. And just to remind you, this is my farm. I invited you and Gabby in, remember? You’re being unfair. He’ll only be here for a few days, and then I’ll send him on his way. You don’t even have to speak to him if you don’t want to.”
“Oh don’t worry, I won’t!” she spat, as she stormed off into the kitchen.
Five minutes later Matt was sitting on the front veranda with Bill, trying to convince him that Montana was just a little stressed, and that she really didn’t mind having a fourth person in the house. “She’ll be okay once she gets used to you. Sh
e’s a really lovely person.”
“No, it’s okay,” said Bill, “She’s upset. I understand that. I probably would be too if I were her. She’s very happy and secure here with you and Gabby. She’s learned to trust you, but now you’re asking her to go through all that again with me. It might be better if I leave. What do you think?”
“No. It’s okay Bill. You’re welcome here. It’s my farm. If Montana doesn’t like it, she’ll just have put up with it. It’s not her call. She’s being a little unreasonable.”
“Well if you’re sure. It would be nice to get to know you all for a little while, and maybe I can be some help around the place. I really appreciate your kindness.”
“Okay then, that’s settled. Now let me show you around.”
-
While Bill was given the tour of the farm, Montana and Gabby sorted the cans and packets of food that Matt had brought back from town. Gabby was quieter than usual, but followed Montana’s instructions and helped to get things organised on the pantry shelves.
“Why don’t you like that man?” Gabby asked.
“Oh honey, it’s not that I don’t like him, I just don’t know him, that’s all. Everything was going so well for us, and now I have to get used to having somebody else around.”
She passed Gabby two tins of tomatoes. “I’m sure he’ll be fine, and Matt could use some help around the place so don’t you worry, okay? He’s only staying for a few days.”
But as Montana handed Gabby another two tins of tomatoes, she thought that the little girl did look worried. Montana assumed that she was missing her mother terribly and tried to ease her mind somewhat by saying, “Hey, why don’t we see if Matt will take us to visit Kate and Elvis tomorrow?”
The girl’s eyes immediately lit up, “Really?”
“Sure. I’ll ask him about it tonight, okay?”
“Yes please. Can we look for mummy too?”
Montana tried to look optimistic as she replied, “Of course we can sweetheart. Now come here and give me a hug.”
-
Once Matt had shown Bill around the farm, they got to work setting up sensors around the perimeter of the fence so that the arc lights would turn on automatically if triggered by movement. Bill turned out to be a useful helper, and after a considerable amount of trial and error, they eventually made the system work with reliability. They sat outside the fence on a fallen tree trunk, admiring their handiwork, and Bill became more inquisitive about the farm and the girls. Matt gave him a brief outline of his journey since the event and, when he had finished, asked Bill about his experiences. The man described a similar scenario to Matt’s in a small village much further west with a population of less than one hundred people, but didn’t go into much detail, implying that he had eradicated all of the feeders once he realised how violent they had become. Matt realised that everybody handled trauma differently, and even though Bill wasn’t very forthcoming with details, he didn’t push for more information.
For the rest of the afternoon, and into the evening, Montana continued to keep her distance from Bill. She didn’t refuse to speak to him completely, but it was clear from her demeanour that she was not happy about this new arrival, and would only be satisfied after he left. After a tense dinner, Matt was somewhat relieved when Montana took Gabby off to bed, leaving the two men alone.
Matt gave Bill a slightly embarrassed look. “I’ll get you some blankets. You can sleep on the couch. Maybe tomorrow I can set you up somewhere a bit more private. There’s a sleepout on the back veranda. It doesn’t have a bed at the moment, but I can put one in there tomorrow.”
“I don’t want you to go to any trouble. A sleeping bag is all I need. The couch sounds good for tonight, though. I think I need to sleep. I don’t feel that well.”
“Oh, okay,” said Matt, as he passed him a pillow and two blankets.
“Hey, Matt. Thank you. I know how hard this has been for you. I really appreciate it.”
“Yeah sure. No worries. I’ll see you in the morning. I hope you feel a bit better by then.”
As Matt headed to his bedroom, he wondered about his new acquaintance. Maybe Montana was right about him, he thought, before putting the idea out of his mind just as quickly. The man was just a lonely survivor like him. There was no need for paranoia. He lay down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.
-
It was around two in the morning, the world was silent and the moon had not long risen. The farm was awash in pale silvery light and the only discernible sounds were those of the house creaking occasionally, as its boards shrunk slightly as the temperature dropped. Matt had crawled into bed hours ago and now dreamt that his mother was alive and telling him to clean his room before his father got home. Montana and Gabby lay huddled together, sound asleep in each other’s arms, sisters now, through circumstances beyond their control, but possessing no less of a bond for that. The house creaked again and the moon continued its’ inexorable rise in the night sky, throwing a little more light on the girls’ cherubic faces. In the doorway, a figure stood, mesmerised by Gabby’s sleeping form. Outside, beyond the fence, the lights remained off.
