“I don’t.”
“You do,” Tom said. “I found those when I was looking around.”
“You were looking through my kitchen.” James shuffled through the pamphlets. “Oh, okay, my housekeeper got these for my parents when they came over to visit.”
Ella opened one all the way. It took up a large portion of the counter. “Okay, this will work nice. Did you find a pen when in that drawer?”
“No need.” Tom pulled one from his chest pocket and handed it to her.
“Thanks.” Ella took it and clicked it. “Here is where we …”
THUMP.
The loud sound caught all of their attention.
“What was that?” James asked.
“Did Rhonda drop the baby?” Ella suggested.
“Too heavy to be a baby,” Tom said. “Rhonda?” he called out. “You alright?”
“Yes,” she replied from the other room. “I was going to ask the same of you. What was that noise?”
Then it happened again.
Tom realized at that moment it wasn’t something dropping, it was a door rattling on its hinges. As if someone was banging to get in … or out. On that thought he raced to the den.
For certain the noise came from there. A constant banging against the door. Tom listened, he heard footsteps then a loud bang.
“Bradly?” Ella asked when she arrived.
“Yeah,” Tom nodded.
“He’s a Codie,” James said. “That would explain your men at your base house.”
“We don’t know this,” Ella said. “Maybe he’s confused.”
Tom shrugged. “One way to find out.” He leaned closer to the door. “Hey, Bradly.”
One loud band and the door knob not only turned, the door began to open.
Tom was quick, he grabbed it and pulled it closed, holding with both hands. A struggle ensured. “Shit. Ella, tell Rhonda to take the baby upstairs. James, grab my revolver from the back of my pants. Then when I say, you guys back up. I’ll open the door.”
James reached for his gun and extended it to him.
“Wait,” Ella said. “What if we give him the vaccine? Like we did with Rhonda and Ella. What if we try? Do you think you can subdue him enough so we can administer it?”
“Yes,” Tom said.
“I see where you’re coming from,” James said. “But, Ella, even though there are unused vaccines out there, we don’t have them close enough right now for this moment. Where are we going to get it?”
◆◆◆
The small black cardboard box was open exposing two prepared syringes.
“This is what caused this,” Paula said. “Do you want to make it worse? It can make it worse.”
James lifted one of the syringes. “We have to try. Thank you for bringing these over.”
“If he dies, I am not to blame,” Paula said.
“Of course not. I am.” James hurriedly flashed a fake smile and raced toward the den where Tom still held on to the door.
“You got it?” Tom asked.
“Yep. All ready.” James nodded.
“Ma’am,” Tom looked at Paula who had followed James. “You may want to go back.”
“I want to see.”
“Very well.” Tom then looked at Ella. “Get in position.”
Ella placed her back to the wall directly across from the den door. “I’m ready.”
“When I let go,” Tom said. “He’s gonna come out and go directly for you. You sure you want to do this?”
Ella nodded. ‘Yes, you said you had me covered if I’m not invisible to him.”
“Honey,” Paula said. “You aren’t invisible to anyone. He’s telling you this to be bait. Step away from the door.”
“I’m okay,” Ella told her. “If Major Tom says he has me covered, I trust that. I’m ready.” She took a deep breath. “Do it.”
“Bradly,” Tom called out. The second he did, the fight over the door began. Still holding the handle, he reached for his weapon and then released the handle and stepped back.
As predicted, the den door flung open.
Bradly took a step, paused for a second, and breathing heavily, locked a stare on Ella and raged forth at her.
Just as he reached her, he came to a full stop. He slammed his hands to the wall behind her, keeping Ella close to him as his arms formed a barricade on both sides of her.
Mouth still open, eyes a maddening red, he tilted his head, while tilting his chin upward as if smelling her.
A soft clicking growl emerged from his throat as he brought his face closer to Ella’s.
Then he froze. His head lifted with agitation, he dropped his arms and spun around to James who was behind him.
James backed up.
“It’s not working,” Ella said. “Take him down. Take him down now, Tom.”
Tom didn’t need to. Another step closer to James and Bradly’s legs buckled and he dropped to the floor.
ELEVEN – RIPPLES
Grant chose his room in Sanctum, not because it was a corner office, but it was away from the loud, everyday life in Sanctum.
As far as corner offices went, it wasn’t that impressive. Second floor of the industrial warehouse, two windows and one of his walls was made out of glass. Probably for the supervisor to watch the happenings below in the paper and office supply facility.
He kept that covered with a curtain and made the area into his home, pushing the desk to the wall, and sleeping on the fake leather couch.
The windows were the size of his old bathroom windows, not an escape route for any adult, but big enough for him to look out.
He stood, shoulder against the wall, fingers separating the slates of the blinds, staring out, trying to catch a glimpse of the river. It was moving pretty good. He wondered if there was a storm north of them.
It was hard to tell. Every day was so gray and dismal.
Now it seemed worse.
They were trapped and the prospects of getting out of Sanctum were slim.
He was at the point where he was almost resolved to die there.
He heard the light tap on his door. He knew it was Mandy before he called, “Come in.”
It was always Mandy this time of day.
“Anything?” she asked as she stepped in.
“On the radio you mean?” Gran asked, not turning around. “No. Well, I hear her, she doesn’t hear me.”
“Did you try one of the other mics? Or the other radio?”
“No. I don’t think it will work. I’ll try.”
“At least we know she’s alive. Good for her,” Mandy said.
The sound of something dropping on his desk finally caused Grant to turn around. “That the inventory?”
“Yep. We have about three weeks before we seriously need to cut rations.”
“Why not cut them now?” Grant asked. “We should.”
“But you said earlier, Ella told you she’s coming.”
Grant chuckled softly. “Ella is one person. The area is so overrun, she’ll have to come by the river.”
“But it’s over,” Mandy said. “Right, I mean. No one is gonna shoot us for leaving, so she can approach the main dock.”
“Mandy.” Grant walked to her. “Even if Ella came straight to the main dock, that is still two hundred feet to get one hundred people out of here and to what? How is she going to get all of us, then take us where?”
Mandy exhaled and lowered her head. “Do you think she was just saying that?”
“Oh, no. No.” Grant shook his head. “I believe Ella will make every attempt.”
“Then maybe we should, too.”
“What do you mean?”
“She has to make an approach from the river. She’ll call out, she’ll let us know she’s coming. Instead of standing here, staring out the window wondering how Ella is gonna get us, why don’t we try to figure out how we will get to her?”
“Any ideas?” Grant asked.
“No,” Mandy answered quickly. “B
ut we have a hundred people down there and I am sure one of them does.”
Mandy was right. She was absolutely right, and instead of wallowing in his office, Grant was going to follow Mandy’s advice and as a community they would figure something out.
TWELVE – ROUND TWO
Apocalyptically neighborly or not, there was only so much of Paula and Don that James could take. They weren’t going home, and he wondered if they were going to.
They talked about things that had nothing to do with what was going on, with the exception of a thousand questions Paula asked Rhonda about her birthing and death experience.
James kept checking on Bradly, and like being social, he could only do that so much as well.
Tom pretty much laughed at him when James asked him if he wanted to take a break and James would take watch.
So, he went back in, meandered around his house, finding his way to his own bedroom.
He looked at the pictures of his wife, Jana and their son that graced the mantel in there. Then he needed a little bit of them, he opened her top drawer and pulled out one of her tee shirts.
It was either losing its smell or James was losing his ability to sense her. He just didn’t feel it and it saddened him. He knew why and was trying not to think about it. That voicemail lingered in his mind
The shirt, though, even after being in the drawer smelled fresh. Jana was always particular about the way her clothes smelled, never letting the housekeeper do her laundry at all.
It was funny, Jana had a lot of clothes, but seemed to wear the same ones often. She even had clothes with tags still on them. Just as he went to return it, he paused and unfolded the shirt, holding it up.
He looked over his shoulder as if someone was there, and then James, with a thought, went through his wife’s drawers.
After finishing there, he sought out Ella. He thought maybe she had gone to sleep, but the lantern in the kitchen was still glowing. James was glad she was still awake.
When he walked in, she was leaning over the island counter, with the map spread out, the radio beside her and her head bobbed slowly side to side.
He approached the counter and waved his hand in front of her face to get her attention.
“Everything okay?” she removed the headphones.
“Yeah, what are you listening to?”
“Major Tom greatest hits. Only, you know, it’s just one song. I was hoping it would inspire me somehow. The lyrics are that really applies to us. Maybe … I don’t know.” She shrugged.
“So, you’re thinking about a plan?”
“Yep. Trying.”
“Can I help?”
“Yes, any help would be great.”
“I uh … was upstairs in my room and I thought of something.” He placed a stack of folded clothes on the counter. “These are my wife’s. You two are about the same size. And this is gonna sound weird, but there is a package of undergarments unopened, as well.”
“Again, with the Ella stinks thing?” Ella asked.
“No, no, I’m sorry, I just figure you hadn’t changed your clothes in days and …”
“I’m joking. This is sweet of you. Packaged underwear, huh?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Well.” Ella tilted her head. “Looking at this house, knowing you had a maid, package underwear is just so middle class.”
“True. But she was frugal and hated the thought of throwing away underwear that cost a lot of money.”
“I don’t even want to know why she threw away underwear.”
“She never wore the same pair twice.”
“So, she is like an oxymoron.”
“Was.”
“Excuse me?”
James cleared his throat. “Was. I … listened to the voicemail.”
Ella sighed heavily. “Oh, James, I am so sorry. And your son?”
James shook his head. “My mother-in-law said she was joining them soon. She didn’t say how they passed, but that the village was attacked.”
Ella reached out and placed her hand over James’. “I’m really sorry.”
“Thank you. So, please, feel free to wear her stuff. That doesn’t sound callous does it?”
“No, but I won’t throw away underwear. I’ll even wash up.” She winked. “Cause I do think I stink.”
“You’re fine. So …” He clapped his hands together once. “What do we have. What are you thinking?”
“Not much,” Ella said. “Here is where Sanctum is.” She pointed on the tour map.
James joined her on the other side of the island. “Okay, yeah, that’s by the German restaurant. We went there a lot.”
“Me, too, after the fall.” Ella smiled. “Still the best place to get booze quick. I mean we’re twenty paces from there.”
“I thought you said it was an Industrial park?”
“Well, that’s what the sign says. It’s more of a glorified storage place. One small office supply place, that is where most of us sleep. The kitchen remodeling place is where we cook. And we use the grocer chain building mainly for produce, we wiped that clean right away.” ------
“The rest of the time you got food from nearby places?” James asked.
“Yeah, Giant Bear store was literally a run down the railroad tracks. Codies lose their balance pretty easily on those.” She snickered.
“That could be a way to get those people out. That’s a heavy populated and congested area.”
“You’re telling me. The streets are swarming with Codies. They are congregating more around the Sanctum fence. It won’t be long before it falls.”
James ran his hand over his chin. “So, getting to Sanctum by the river is the best option?”
“It’s the only option.”
“You know how to handle boats, I mean you crossed that river all the time.”
“With a row boat.”
James pointed to the map and the area that said ‘Marina’ which was directly behind Sanctum. “Is this where you got on your boat.”
“No.” She ran her finger up the map to a bridge. “I hid the boat under there. Remember, I was crossing during a time where I thought I’d be shot if caught.”
“Are there boats still at the docks?” James asked.
“Yes.”
Tom’s voice interjected. “It’s not so easy. Those boats use keys to start and the owners probably have them.”
James looked at him. “What are you doing in here?”
“Taking a break. Seeing how Ella and her planning is going. Thought I could help.”
“Who’s on watch?” James asked.
“Paula,” Tom answered.
James choked out a shocked laugh. “Paula? Are you serious?”
“She’s a card carrying member of the NRA,” Tom told him.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” James scoffed. “I can say the same, doesn’t mean I can shoot.”
“She was reigning women’s sharp shooter champ, regional and national, three years in a row.”
“She told you that?” James asked.
“Yep and showed me the cards.”
“Who carries their marksmanship award cards?”
“Paula.” Tom leaned over and looked at the map. “So, we have the dock really accessible. We need something big.”
James suggested. “What about one of those land and sea tourist things. We can go down the river and roll right up to Sanctum.”
“That’s a good idea, but …” Ella showed him. “The only area to roll on shore is where I parked my boat under that bridge. Then the problem is getting to Sanctum. The streets are overrun. It’s not possible.”
“Plus,” Tom added. ‘They are located on the north side of town. We could get them, they were used to evacuate people from that area.”
“You evacuated the North Side?” Ella asked. “Why did the South Side get left behind?”
Tom shrugged. “I don’t know.”
James snapped his finger. “Here. Not far from Sanctum. Still on the south s
ide. The Clipper River Boats. That area is not populated, just businesses, bet we can get there. We talked about this before. All those people can fit on one of those boats.”
“How are we going to man it?” Ella asked.
Tom answered. “I’m sure it’s not that hard.”
“It’s not,” another voice entered the room. It was Don. “It isn’t at all. The controls are pretty self-explanatory.”
“Okay,” James said. “Your wife is a sharp shooter and you man riverboats?”
Don laughed. “No, don’t be silly. I know the controls. I worked for the fleet for decades as super hero on the kids’ cruises.”
No one laughed. It was silent.
“Anyhow …” Don made his way to the map. “We can move the boat straight down to those docks. Put down the ramp.”
“We?” James asked. “You and Paula are coming? You know we probably aren’t coming back. Probably stuck on that boat awhile, I mean it’s a hundred people and—”
“I know. We know. What else are we going to do?” Don asked. “Survivors have to stick together.”
Tom asked him. “So, you can maneuver this boat?”
“Yes.” Don nodded. “You could, too. And honestly, you stock this thing up it can sustain everyone until we figure out a place to dock for good.”
‘That still leaves a big problem,” Ella said. “How do we get the people of Sanctum to the boat? With no way to communicate that we’re coming, they can’t even lend a hand.”
Tom gazed down. “Using the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, how far is that, Ella?”
“Roughly a hundred feet,” she answered. “But it’s not a straight smooth shot. No matter how we slice and dice it, it comes down to the same problem. We can get there, we just can’t get to them. I mean, I have been wracking my brain, but I’m like a hamster in a wheel.”
“That’s it,” James said. “A wheel, well, not a wheel, a tunnel.”
“You want to dig a tunnel?” Ella asked.
James shook his head. “Build one. But it won’t be a real tunnel. If the Codies can’t see you, they won’t attack. We quietly move groups through, straight from the fence through the tunnel.”
“Good thinking, Doc,” Tom swatted his back. “But realistically, where are we getting the tunnels.”
The Rectify Series (Book 3): Rectify 3 Page 5
