by Russ Watts
“Yeah, everything you need under one roof, right? Sorry, I wasn’t thinking, it’s just habit to make myself a cup. I should put the pot on. I dare say the others might want a drink too. And it’s Gabe, not Gabriel. Only my mother called me that, and she’s with the boss upstairs now.”
“Absolutely,” said Jonas, as Gabe took a percolator from a cupboard. He took a sip from his mug as he began to spoon more coffee out and fill the percolator. “Damn, that’s good coffee. I think even Freya might be tempted.”
Jonas chuckled. “I’m sure we can find some milk or juice for her.”
“Right, right,” said Javier as he pressed the plunger down. He looked at Jonas. “If you don’t mind me saying, Hamsikker, you look like shit. You manage to get any sleep at all?”
Jonas shrugged. “Some.” The smell of the coffee had brought back memories of real life when he would spend weekends with Dakota, pouring over newspapers during Sunday brunch at their local deli. He would demolish a plate of pancakes in seconds, whilst Dakota would take her time over a bowl of muesli and homemade plum jam. He felt his stomach rumble. Jonas seemed to remember seeing some maple syrup in one of the kitchen cupboards, but it was unlikely they had any eggs. Perhaps the pancakes would have to wait a bit longer, and he pushed away his hunger pangs. It was something he was used to doing now.
Javier handed Jonas a mug of hot coffee and smiled. “What did I tell you? Sweetness and light, right? You don’t have to worry anymore, Hamsikker. You’re safe. Your family and friends are safe. You can start to relax, okay?”
Jonas raised his mug and chinked it together with Gabe’s. Perhaps Gabe was right. Perhaps this was a fresh start. He reassessed his plans in his head as he sipped on the coffee. A day or two to rest up, and he could leave the others here, happy to know they were safe when he went to find Janey.
Javier reclined against a stainless steel counter-top as Quinn and Mrs. Danick entered the kitchen. Jonas pointed out the fresh coffee, and they poured themselves a mug each.
“Couldn’t sleep?” asked Jonas.
Quinn yawned. “Not over Mrs. Danick’s snoring.”
“Keep it up, Quinn, keep it up,” said Mrs. Danick. “Actually, we slept pretty good considering. Still, it’s hard to let your guard down completely. It’s hard to think we finally made it. Of course, some of us didn’t. I remember…”
“You got any theories?” asked Javier. He wasn’t interested in their sob stories. He knew once they got started they would never end, and he had to get things moving along. “You know, about where it all came from, or why it all started? You know anything?”
Mrs. Danick gave Gabe a stern look but ignored his question and began rummaging through drawers.
Quinn sipped on her coffee. “All I know is that all those debates about carbon emissions, asteroids on a collision course with Earth, and flu viruses without a cure all turned out to be a truckload of bull. In the end, it was good old-fashioned zombies that did for us,” said Quinn. “Who, why, and when is all irrelevant now. What’s done is done. We’ll never know, and quite frankly it doesn’t matter. Questions like that don’t mean jack now. They’re here. We’re here. They can be killed. End of.”
Javier admired Quinn’s response. He noticed her pick up a large kitchen knife, and then she put it back in the drawer where she’d found it. If she was looking for anything specific, she didn’t give a clue as to what.
“This doesn’t have to be the end,” said Mrs. Danick. “There’s plenty of life in us yet. Even in an old fart like me. Like Quinn says, they can be killed. So what’s your story, Gabe?”
Javier chose to ignore the last question. “Maybe so. But we are vastly outnumbered. You all know what it’s like out there beyond that fence. How many of your friends are still out there?”
“We have God on our side, and our faith,” said Dakota as she slipped into the room. She headed straight for the coffee.
Jonas hadn’t noticed her standing there, and he wondered how long she had been listening. He thought she might sleep in, but evidently everyone was waking up. She didn’t look at him, so he stayed where he was, waiting for her to approach him. She never was a morning person, and when she was pissed at him, she knew how to push his buttons. He hated being ignored, and he knew she was deliberately avoiding him.
“We have to think of this as not a curse, but a chance. It’s a chance to prove ourselves to Him, a chance to be rescued and taken into His hands. I can’t believe we’ve been abandoned. I won’t believe it,” said Dakota.
“You still have faith after all this?” Javier looked at Dakota with large eyes. “You still think someone is looking down on us and looking out for us? Do you honestly believe that someone up there is saving a space for us in Heaven? Darling, we have been screwed. God’s not just on vacation. He’s packed his bags and moved on.”
Dakota appeared to be downcast, and she was only going through the motions. Jonas could see her heart wasn’t in it. She spoke of faith and strength, but if she had any left in her it was buried deep. She said nothing to him as she took a mug of coffee and walked back to the door.
“I’m going to see Pippa,” Dakota announced. “I’ll see if she needs any help with Freya.”
“Hold up, dear,” said Mrs. Danick. “I’ll come with you. I think I’d rather be with you than stuck in here. There’s a nasty smell in this kitchen.”
As Mrs. Danick and Dakota left, Javier stifled a laugh. He’d apparently touched a nerve and was amused how easily he could wind them up. Dakota could keep her faith. It was useless in this world. It was nothing now but a stick to beat over the heads of others, a tool to make people feel guilty. It didn’t provide hope, just a sense of futility. And when you let fate take over, you were just another person lining up to join the dead.
“You find what you’re looking for?” asked Javier as Quinn pulled a whisk from a drawer beneath a large stove.
“No, I … ah-ha.” Quinn plucked out a small plastic chicken and held it aloft like a trophy. “Perfect.”
Javier studied her face for clues, but when she looked at him all he saw was mistrust. Despite letting them in, despite his offer of help, they still had reservations. Clearly he was going to have to do more to get them on side. Some of them were more important than others, more useful, and he was weighing up how much time to spend on Quinn. He had earmarked Mrs. Danick as a troublemaker from the outset. Something about her irked him. It was as if she could see through his lies.
“Is that a timer?” he asked as Quinn turned the head of the chicken around in a circle. “I didn’t have you pegged as a cook.”
“No?” Quinn smiled as the chicken started ticking.
“No,” said Javier. “Something a little more…dangerous? I’m sure you’ve broken a few rules in your time.”
“Actually, I haven’t had an alarm clock in a while now. When it’s my turn to take watch, I like to know how long I’ve got left. Once I’m properly dressed I’ll go walk around the perimeter, make sure everything’s in shape. I used to have an App, but, well, that went south about the same time as the colonel’s secret recipe.”
“Gabe, you think Mara can help rustle up some breakfast?” asked Jonas. “I’m sure we can help. Quinn, you feel like helping us out before you head out?” Jonas could feel the tension in the kitchen rising, and he couldn’t quite explain what it was, but something was off. Gabe was asking some pretty direct questions.
“There’s plenty of food to go around. We can sort something out for everyone to eat. Mara’s sleeping, but she’ll be up soon.” Javier whistled and proceeded to walk over to Quinn. “There are certain things you miss, and there are certain things you don’t even want to talk about. It’s like an itch you can’t scratch. I know it was junk, but fried chicken is one of those things. You liked it, too, huh? Don’t tell me you worked in one of those greasy places?”
Quinn tossed the ticking chicken from hand to hand as Javier approached her. “Work there? No. I was never much of a fan mysel
f, but my husband couldn’t get enough of it. Roger would eat it every day if I let him.”
Jonas was curious. Quinn had never told them about her past. He couldn’t see her flipping burgers for a living, and this was the first time she’d ever mentioned having a husband. She was a blank canvas, and it seemed that Gabe was pressing her buttons, getting her to open up.
“Roger?” Javier studied Quinn’s face, but she gave nothing more away. It was like his name was a keyword, and she shut down.
“He’s gone now. Anyway, I should get back to the others.”
As Quinn went to the door, Javier held her arm. She twisted it away, but he refused to let her go. “What about the pantry?” he asked. “You want to see all the food we have? I’ve only shown you half of what we have here. This is…”
“Let go,” said Quinn forcefully. She yanked her arm back, and Javier let her free. “Show me later, when the others are here.”
Javier started to tell her that there was so much more to the complex she should see and that he would gladly show her around, when the ticking chicken emitted a buzzing sound.
“Time’s up,” said Quinn, and she left the kitchen.
“You know, she’s smart. You shouldn’t rile her up like that,” said Jonas. “Quinn won’t appreciate you messing with her. She’s strong.”
“Quinn’s a big girl, I can see that. I don’t doubt she can handle herself. I just like to know who’s on my side. We’re all under the same roof now, and I don’t want any nasty surprises. I’m sure you can understand that.”
Jonas nodded.
“Hamsikker, you got a second? I’d like to show you something.”
“Sure.”
Javier led Jonas back through to the library, and he pulled back the thick velvet drapes. Sunlight came streaming in through the tall windows, and they both put down their coffee mugs. Jonas noticed the library walls were lined from top to bottom with books. Around the window frame were photographs, mostly in black and white, of golfers stood outside the clubhouse. The room was cozy and elegant, with furnishings that wouldn’t look out of place in a palace.
Javier sat down on a plush leather chair and unfurled a large map of the US across a desk. He placed a finger over it and looked at Jonas.
“Here’s where we are.” Javier looked up at Jonas to make sure he had his attention. “And here’s where I need to be.”
Jonas watched as Javier drew his finger north, up through Illinois, and Wisconsin, before resting over Winnipeg.
“This is the last place my brother was living. He was moving there from Thunder Bay last I heard. I can’t stay here forever with Mara, wondering how he is. I need to know. I need to get up there and find out.”
Jonas waited for Gabe to continue, but the room was filled with silence. He wasn’t entirely sure how to respond; whether Gabe was looking for reassurance or information. He had no intention of telling Gabe that Janey lived in Thunder Bay. He wasn’t sure yet if it was a good idea to part with that information. “I thought you had settled in here for the long-run,” Jonas said. “You said yourself there’s enough food to last for months.”
“Water too,” said Javier. “The irrigation system is working perfectly. We have clean water, power, heating, and fresh vegetables. It’s quite safe too. It would take a hundred zombies to get through that fence out there.”
“So…” Jonas looked at the map. He was going to be taking a very similar route north, and now the caffeine had worked its way into his system, Jonas was feeling more alert. His brain was already thinking about what lay ahead, about Dakota and the baby, about where he was heading, and how he was going to find Janey.
“So, what do you say you and me take a road trip?” asked Javier as he reclined in his chair. The black leather squeaked as he settled into it. “Mara can take care of this place with the help of the others for a few days. There are plenty of vehicles out front we can take our pick from. They’re fully tanked up, and ready to go. I was thinking that maybe you and Erik might accompany me?”
“Why do you need us?” Jonas couldn’t help but wonder. Why now? If he didn’t want Mara out there with him, then Gabe could just as easily go on his own.
Javier looked at Jonas. The moment that Rose had killed Gabe, things had changed. Javier wanted her more than anything, but she was a liability. He couldn’t rely on her anymore. The events of the crash had come back to him, and he’d realized Rose would’ve left him out there on the roadside to die like Cindy. He needed to change the direction his life was going, and get back on track. Rose had been holding him back. It was time to cut her free. If she wanted to set up home, she could do so without him. Over the last couple of days they had recovered from the crash, eaten and slept well, and yet Rose refused to entertain the idea of leaving and continuing on to Canada. The fences around the golf course seemed secure, and they hadn’t seen a single zombie inside, but he really had no idea how secure the place was long-term. Fate had thrown him a bone. Going it alone was an option, but it was more useful to have someone watch his back. When he had seen Erik and the others surface through the storm drain, he had decided to let them in. Rose wanted a little fun, and when she had spotted Freya she had practically forced Javier to go along with her plan, not that there had been much time for discussion. By assuming the identities of Gabe and Mara, Javier thought they could find out what the new group of people might offer. Javier knew Rose only really wanted the girl. But there was something about Erik and Jonas that appealed to him. They had been through a lot out there, probably more than he could imagine. They were fighters. If he could get them on side, they could be useful - to a point.
Javier hadn’t told Rose about going solo, about leaving her behind, but he would sell it as only a temporary thing. He would tell her that he’d be gone just long enough to find his brother, and then he would be back. Of course, he had no intention of coming back. With Gabe’s identity hanging around his neck, he didn’t want to return to it once he was able to shake it off. No way was he going to pretend to be some worthless security guard any longer than he had to. Once he reached the Canadian border, with Erik and Jonas’s help, he could shed it, rid himself of this new identity and rid himself of anyone who thought he was Gabe. He wanted to become Javier again. Gabe would die, and so would Gabe’s associates.
“I could do with some help out there on the road,” said Javier. “You know how difficult it is out there with the dead roaming around. If I give you a couple of days to rest up, perhaps you could talk to Erik, and we could get this done quickly. I just need to get my brother, and then we’ll be straight back.” Javier didn’t know exactly where his brother was. Diego had shacked up with some girl in Lorette, just outside of Winnipeg, and Javier had no reason to believe Diego had moved on. He had been working in Thunder Bay, and been spending a lot of time between the two places. All Javier knew was that he had to find him.
“I’m not so sure,” said Jonas. He was thinking about Janey. He was thinking that maybe he could use Javier to get to Canada too. Still, he would be hard pressed to convince Erik that leaving again so soon was a good idea. “I think you’d be better off on your own. My wife is pregnant, and I’m not sure going out again so soon is a good move.”
Javier sighed. “Hamsikker, I thought you would understand. I’m offering you a chance here. This isn’t for you, or me, but for your family. This is a chance for everyone. If you do this for me, then I see no reason why we can’t all stay here. You know how good this place is.”
The inference was clear to Jonas. If he didn’t help Gabe, the offer to stay was gone. Jonas needed this place for Dakota, for his child; turning down the offer to head north to Canada would undoubtedly lead to trouble. Perhaps he could go with Javier alone and leave Erik behind to look out for everyone.
“Just me,” said Jonas. “I’ll go with you, and once we find your brother, we’re coming straight back. I’ve a sister, Janey, up in Canada. Maybe I could try to contact her when we’re there. I won’t take up any of
your time though. We get what we want, and then we head on back here, agreed?” Jonas decided that once they reached the border he would split up and go to get Janey on his own. He didn’t want to waste time searching for Gabe’s brother. They would have to meet back at Saint Paul’s independently. Jonas didn’t know how much he could trust Gabe, so he wanted to keep the fact that Janey lived in Thunder Bay to himself.
Javier stood up and held out his hand. Hamsikker’s sister held no interest for him. The woman was just another zombie. Still, at least Hamsikker was on board now. “I’d appreciate it if you could keep this just between us. Mara’s got a lot on her plate, and I’d rather not have her worry about me going out there again. You know, I think we’re going to get on like a house on fire, Hamsikker,” said Javier, grinning as they shook. “To the future.”
CHAPTER TWO
“I miss music. I played the cello. Not professionally, but I was good. The sound of it used to give me shivers. Have you heard much classical music? When you hear the cello you can’t help but fall in love. The sound it makes is so rich and sorrowful. Honestly, it’s like a piece of me is missing. I doubt I’ll ever get another chance to play again.”
Jonas never would’ve guessed Mara to be musical. Not that there was a type, but he was surprised at her honesty, for opening up to him. She had taken him and Erik outside after breakfast so she could show them around whilst Gabe busied himself in the kitchen. She cooked and he washed, that was the deal. Everyone else was washing up, trying to get themselves clean again. The bloodstains were difficult to scrub from their clothes, but at least their bodies were clean at last.
“You might. This can’t go on forever. I bet one day you’ll get to play again. I’d like to hear you. Are there any pieces of music you really like? Any favorite composers?”
Mara shook her head and looked away. “No, I didn’t have any one favorite. It was just a hobby.”
