Then Beck just dropped to his knees hard to the ground.
I knew why he’d done what he did.
A strong man, who usually kept his emotions in check, Beck folded and broke, and took it out on the body of the Sleeper, beating him to a pulp while using him as an emotional punching bag. Symbolically striking out at the enemy.
I had no words, only empathy for what he was going through. In the quiet of the night, I knelt next to Beck, placed my hand on his shoulder and my forehead to his, allowing him to break, to be emotional, to release a side of him he did not want anyone to see.
We stayed there in the woods for a little while until he calmed down. And once he did, I knew, when he was reasonable, Beck, Danny, myself and Miles needed to sit down and talk. The feeling of safety had to be lifted.
It didn’t matter that there was only one. The bottom line was … a Sleeper had arrived. Others would not be far behind.
6. MERA
It was six hours until Michael’s arrival. That was what Bonnie told me when she made coffee on the Coleman stove. It wasn’t bad. Strong, and a little bitter, but it was a good dose of caffeine I needed. What little sleep I did get was riddled with nightmares. I kept waking, checking on everyone, looking for Beck, who hadn’t come back. At least I didn’t see him.
My head pounded and my eyes felt too puffy for my face. The after effects of crying too much.
“I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to see Michael so badly,” Bonnie said.
“Me either. Is it warm in here?” I asked.
“Indian summer it appears. Then again, it’s Ohio. Sonny said the weather will be warm, then a foot of snow will come.”
“Swell. He better get the electricity running. Have you seen Beck?”
“Briefly.” Bonnie picked up an empty cup. “He slept in a chair next to you for a little while.”
I looked around, the kids weren’t doing much. “We need to get them moving. They spent that time on the bus, then just holed up in here. Maybe we can all work together on something.”
“I’m kind of afraid to move around. I mean, this place…” she dropped her voice, “it’s spooky.”
“I know.”
“That coffee?” Miles’ voice interjected and then his hand extended between us with a point to the pot.
“Why would you ask? Can’t you smell it?”
“Didn’t want to be rude. May I?”
“Hey, Miles.” I stepped out of his way. “I don’t feel like staying in here with the kids. Can we explore the grounds?”
“Just stay away from the main detention center.”
Bonnie asked, “Are there Sleepers there?”
“Alive, I doubt it, but there are lots of bodies. We’ve only been here a couple days. This place is huge.”
“Are you guys planning on cleaning it out, bit by bit and moving us in there?” I asked.
“This isn’t a television show. No one goes in there until we know the entire building is safe. Walk around the grass. I’ll be on watch, I’ll keep an eye out. Plus, this building can still be explored.” He poured his coffee. “And Michael and the others will be here soon. They’ll have lots of questions.” He walked away sipping his coffee.
“Questions,” I repeated. “Like we have answers. Walk around the grass. I feel like prisoner.”
“This was just rushed that’s all.” Bonnie reached out and laid her hand on my arm. “Are you okay? You look pale.”
“I’m worn out both physically and emotionally.” My eyes shifted to Jessie where she slept. “At least she’s resting.”
“I’m gonna try to get her to eat today.”
I heard Beck walk in the room, and before I could turn around, he kissed me on the cheek.
“Morning,” he said, then ran his hand down the back of my head. “How are you today?”
I shrugged. “Still sad.”
“It’s still soon,” Beck said comfortingly.
“You didn’t sleep much.”
He shook his head. “I was worried. New place, you know.” His eyes danced away from me. “What’s up with Phoenix?”
“He’s been looking out that window so much. He said … he said the Sleepers are coming.”
When I spoke those words, I saw Beck flinch.
“Beck?”
“I’m… I’m sorry. How does he know these things?”
“How about he spent his life in a military installation,” Bonnie cut in. “That’s why. Too smart for his age, you ask me. But no one did.”
Beck chuckled softly, then looked at me. “Listen, you and the kids stay close to this building today, not far from Miles on lookout. If you can’t see Miles, he can’t see you. Okay?”
“Is there a problem?” I asked. “Did something happen last night?”
“No. No. I just want you guys to be safe when I’m not here.”
“Where are you going?”
“Danny, Sonny and I are headed out for supplies. Try to find the power station, see what tools he needs, then we plan on a clean out of the Walmart. We start today. It’s actually just over the trees. You can’t see it unless …”
Beck’s voice faded and then finally disappeared when I heard him say Walmart.
Walmart.
My mind flashed back.
“Walmart?” Alex laughed, shook his head. “Mera, what the hell? Of all things.”
“No, Alex, it’s not what the hell. I want to go to Walmart.”
“I don’t know if you realize this, but the apocalypse happened.”
I huffed and folded my arms.
“Don’t give me that look. I remember the last time I took you to Walmart.”
“When? When have you taken me to Walmart?”
“Uh, ye of little and short memory. On the road. Before Beck died. Well, before he died and I brought him back. We stopped at Walmart. I don’t know what we stopped to get, I can’t recall now. I do remember staring at chocolate lady Sleeper …”
“Chocolate lady Sleeper?”
“She was munching on a Mounds bar. No sexual innuendo intended.”
“You’re sick.”
“Yeah, and so was she. Staring at our van while you and Beck cleared out the cosmetic section. He wouldn’t say anything to you. I remember that day. Waiting all that time. I swore never again.”
“But, Alex, listen, we’re so trapped here.”
He laughed.
“That’s funny to you?”
“Well, yeah. You aren’t trapped. You can walk around, go outside the wall to the cemetery, pick a strawberry. You have lots of freedom. Imagine the country store is a Walmart.”
“Oh, that’s freedom. Sure.”
“It’s safe. And what is your obsession with discount stores? I would think that someone like you would be asking to go to Macy’s.”
“What do you mean someone like me?” I asked.
“Weren’t you rich?”
“What?” I snapped. “Why would you say that?”
“You lived in the suburbs, drove an SUV, and your kid went to military school.”
“I didn’t work, Daniel worked for electric company, and the only reason Danny went to military school is because we took out a huge loan and got tuition help. A loan, mind you, that left us with less than four hundred to live off of a month at times. So I love Walmart.”
Alex stared at me, then said. “Why didn’t you work?”
“Stop it.” I shook my head. “This is why I can’t stand you half the time. You know you can have this attitude,” I argued with him, “because you aren’t stuck in here. You go traipsing about.”
“Traipsing? Traipsing?”
“You leave.”
“I Sleeper hunt.”
“Whatever.”
“Whatever?” Alex growled. "Fine. I’ll go with Sonny, we’ll go clean and make the Walmart safe… we may get hurt, possibly killed, but anything so you can hit that bargain bin of underwear. Will that work?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “I’ll go tell Bon
nie and the others.”
“How many of you am I taking?”
“Three, four … I don’t know.”
Alex growled again. “Don’t ask again.”
“Alex, we need this. It’ll help our mood,” I said calmly. “We’ll be nice.”
Alex stepped to me. “How nice?”
“Not that nice.”
Partly closed eyes and, I could tell, he tried to hide that smile, Alex turned and left. As argumentative as he was, he took us out, and safely to Walmart.
Sigh.
My heart thumped and that instant memory caused me to cry.
“Mera?” Beck asked with a questioning tone. “What did I say?”
My mouth puckered and I swiped the tear from my cheek. “Walmart.”
“Baby, I’m… I’m lost.” Beck said.
Beck was. He absolutely looked lost.
“It just gave me a memory. I’m sorry.”
“Alex?”
I nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s gonna be awhile before things stop triggering tears.” He kissed my forehead. “I’ll be back.” After Beck had left, Bonnie stood next to me.
“I know exactly what memory shot to your mind. We fought to go, and didn’t he say never again, every single time?”
“Yes, he did. But he took us again … every single time.”
“Those were good times.”
I couldn’t agree more. It was hard to believe there were fine times in a world so gloomy, but we had them. And all I had left were the memories with no chance of repeat.
At least I had the memories.
Saddened and trying to get through the morning, I sought out my children. I needed them.
7. Sonny
The power station would need some work, but it wasn’t a lost cause. I was confident I could get the electricity up and running, and after that, even water… hopefully. Not that there wasn’t well water nearby the facility but I wanted plumbing, like we had at Grace.
Beck hated to do it, but we had to not kill all the Sleepers. We had to conserve ammo and until we found another way to take them out, if hand to hand wasn’t feasible, we had to mark where we saw them and get back.
I didn’t want to waste much time. We had four hours until Michael and the others arrived and I needed to see him. My being beckoned that spiritual guidance he exuded.
It’s kind of funny. There’s a highway that separates the facility from Walmart. It was that close, that was why we left it for last.
The plan was to get what we needed and move on.
“Seriously?” Danny, belly down, peered through the main window of Walmart. “Seriously?”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” I said.
“Like your parents,” Beck told me. “Some of them slip into what they know. Obviously, these are shopper Sleepers.”
“It’s kind of funny,” Danny said. “Them meandering around.”
“How many do you think are in there?” I asked.
“It’s like black Friday in there,” Beck commented. “They have stuff in their carts.”
Danny asked. “Are they shopping? Maybe they’re here like we are, getting supplies.”
“God, I hope not,” Beck replied. “There’s too many.”
I looked into the store again. The Sleepers were wandering. They moved aimlessly around the aisles, at least from what I could see, items in their carts. “We obviously don’t have enough ammo. What about gassing them?”
“With what?” Danny asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. We could make something.”
“Possibly,” Beck replied. “But right now, we need to get some supplies. Then we work on clearing them out. This is too close for comfort. Another day, they realize we’re at the facility, they’ll be at our fence.”
“I have a knife.” I held mine up.
“Me too.” Beck pulled his. “Danny, you’re on watch.”
“Aw, come on Beck, let me go in there?” Danny whined.
“No, I need you here to cover us in case we get in trouble.”
“Fine.”
Beck looked at me. “Sonny, we go in, we grab an armful, stab them if they come close but try to be unnoticed. We don’t want them to chase us out of here. If that happens, Danny you head to the truck. Roger that?”
“Yes, sir, Roger that.”
“And when you see me and Sonny coming out, just get in the truck and get ready to pull away.”
Admittedly, I was pretty excited about heading into the store. It was a good thing that all the stores were basically the same. The produce section and deli were as soon as you walked in, and it would take some walking to get to the dry goods.
Beck and I made a plan. He wanted me to grab the fruit drinks and snacks that were conveniently located by the end caps, while he ran down the aisles.
It was plan. Run in, grab a cart, grab what you could and run back out.
There were a lot of Sleepers in that store.
The front doors were busted open and quietly we inched in. My hands gripped a cart.
“What are you doing?” Beck whispered.
“I can get a lot more and faster.” I said. “How much can you carry in your arms?”
Beck grumbled and placed his hands on a cart. “These are gonna make noise, so on my count... ready?”
I nodded.
“One, two… three.”
The moment he said three, I focused on what I had to do.
The cart squeaked as I pulled it and two Sleepers just inside the doorway stopped and looked at us. Before either of them could cry out in that Sleeper warning call that they did, Beck blasted through, hit the one and in one smooth move, inserted a knife into the throat of the other.
My path was clear.
I moved at top speed, but the second I rushed into the store, I wanted to vomit. It stunk. It reeked of shit and piss, or rather basically… Sleepers. They didn’t care where they went to the bathroom.
As I grabbed a box of orange fruit drink bags, I heard the eerie screech of a Sleeper, warning others that we were there.
That screech was cut short, probably by Beck, I didn’t know. I had to focus on what I could get.
The junk food was in the center displays. The kids were going to love me. I just started grabbing like a mad dash shopper on a winning spree. How much can you get in sixty seconds? Fruit drinks, nuts, other items that wouldn’t be too bad.
Grabbing another box of fruit drinks, I felt the nails against my shoulder and the close rancid smell of the Sleeper...
Oh, no, you are not biting me.
I swung out the box, nailing the Sleeper in the side of the head. When he fell to the side, another came for me and I shoved the cart into her.
“Beck! We’re exposed!”
“No, shit. Go to the truck!”
“Do you need help?”
“Go to the truck, be ready.”
More were coming. I called upon my best knowledge as a holiday shopper and plowed through as fast, hard and best as I could.
The freedom of the door was in sight and I saw Danny jumping in the truck. What the hell was he doing?”
The Sleepers were on my trail and Danny hurriedly pulled the truck ten feet forward, stuck his head out the window and yelled, “Watch out!”
I moved out of the way in the nick of time and he reversed the truck, missing me and slamming into four or five Sleepers. Then Danny moved the truck ahead to give room for whenever Beck ran out.
It was happening so fast, I rolled the cart to the back of the pickup, started piling things in the bed of the truck. Last item in, I saw Beck racing out.
What the hell did he get?
Toilet paper?
I saw huge mounds of the large white packs as he raced toward us.
That was all I saw. I hoped he had something else.
Then again, maybe that was important to Beck. I reached into his cart as he arrived. There was blood on some of the packs; evidently Beck was doing mor
e than just shopping. He had blood on him as well.
“You hurt?” I asked him.
“No, I’m good.”
“Guys, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” Danny shouted. “Incoming!”
We both looked. A barrage of Sleepers fled from the store and Beck and I hopped in the truck.
“Danny,” Beck instructed, “wait until they are close. Keep a steady speed, not too fast, I need them to follow us.”
We played Sleeper Piper for about two miles, leading them in the total opposite direction of the facility. Pull over, wait until they caught up, move again.
When we felt they were far enough away, Beck took over driving.
“We have to find a way to get rid of them,” Danny said. “So much for it being a free zone on this side of the Great Divide.”
Thinking, like Mera, I never put much into that. I said, “Maybe in the future it is. We win the war on this side.”
“That would be beautiful,” Beck added.
“So, like, Beck,” I said, leaning over Danny who sat in the middle, “what’s with the toilet paper?”
“We have a lot of people coming. Plus, just one week… one week of not having to conserve the squares, that’s all I want.”
Danny laughed. “It’s funny, because Alex picked up garbage bags, but never more than a couple boxes.”
“We weren’t allowed to hoard when we went to Walmart,” I said.
“Preserve the integrity,” said Danny.
Beck shook his head. “What do you mean?”
“Alex used to take Mera and the other ladies to Walmart,” I explained. “He didn’t want us to wipe out the store, only get what we need so the store always had items. You wouldn’t believe how much stuff is in the storage area of Walmart.”
“My mom fought with him to take the women and he would. Used to gripe about it all the time, but he still took them. The first time though, we couldn’t get him to shut up about it.”
“Yeah, you were there too, Danny,” I said. “Remember the look on his face? He bitched, but when he watched your mom shop, he just had this look, like he was… happy. I can still see it.”
The truck stopped and we jolted.
“Beck?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Am I missing something?”
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