by Brown, TW
Kevin thought it over. He was giving her specific instructions. He needed to be careful because she obviously took them literally.
“I want you to stay here except for going to the bathroom, and if Aleah asks you to help her. Will you do that for me?”
“Stay here except to do my private business or if that pretty lady asks me for help,” Valarie said, showing that she did indeed understand the instructions. “Can I sing with Shari?”
“I’ll make you a deal,” Kevin leaned down and cupped Valarie’s plump cheeks in his hands, “when I get back, we can all sing together.”
“Okay,” Valarie agreed. Kevin tucked her in and headed for the door.
“Kevin?” a quiet voice called. He turned to see Valarie with another fresh batch of tears. “Does it mean I don’t love my meema just ‘cause I want her to stop coming?”
“No, Valarie,” Kevin assured her. “It doesn’t mean that at all.”
He headed back up the hallway and downstairs. He reached what had been the huge lobby just as Heather and Matt came from the direction of the dining room.
“The newbies are out cold,” Matt announced. “They actually started dozing off while they were eating. That poor girl was exhausted.”
“I imagine being out alone like they have been wasn’t easy,” Kevin said.
“Anyways,” Heather shrugged, “I take it Aleah got you up to speed on the freak show going on here.”
“I think Valarie might be schizophrenic,” Kevin blurted. “The reason she has been hiding in her room is because she sees things.”
“Like Sixth Sense…I see dead people type stuff?” Matt snorted.
“This is serious,” Kevin snapped. “And she was taking clozapine for it. I have no idea how long she has been off of it. She doesn’t have a great concept of time. However, she needs it or she may become unstable.”
“Become?” Heather raised an eyebrow.
“Despite what you have seen, it could get worse,” Kevin explained.
“So where do we find clozapine?” Matt asked.
“That’s the problem,” Kevin admitted. “It won’t be common. I am gonna need to go to Newark and find a pharmacy. Then I just have to hope that there is an unclaimed prescription.”
“So you will be looking for a needle in a haystack?” Heather sighed. “And just how do you intend to get to Newark? The snow is not letting up and there won’t be any plows clearing the road. Isn’t there something else you can do?”
“No.”
Everybody spun to find Aleah standing in the doorway. She walked up to Kevin with purpose and gripped his shoulders.
“You are not going out in this,” she insisted.
“Valarie has to have her mediation,” Kevin said calmly.
“And why is that you have to be the one to go get it?”
“We’ve been over this before.”
“When it had to do with the group…with saving Erin’s baby—”
“Which I failed to do!”
“You didn’t fail,” Aleah insisted. “That child was born to another child who couldn’t or wouldn’t care for it.”
“I won’t just sit here and do nothing while that poor girl suffers,” Kevin said, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Maybe it would be better—” Matt began.
“Don’t you dare say it,” Kevin snarled, turning to face the man. “You were as good as dead when we found you. That girl saved your life.” He pointed to Heather with a hand that trembled. “The last person who should start deciding who is fit to save and who should be allowed to die is you!”
“I was going to say,” Matt stepped up to Kevin and placed a hand on his shoulder, “that maybe it would be better if we take a day two in order to find you a snowmobile. On foot, you would be gone for days or even weeks. If the zombies didn’t kill you, the weather would.”
“And just where—” Kevin started to ask. This time it was Aleah who interrupted.
“Maybe I wasn’t clear when I said you weren’t going out in this…not again.”
“You don’t get to make that decision,” Kevin said.
“What!” Aleah shouted.
“Umm, Aleah,” Heather spoke up, grabbing the angry woman by the elbow with a firm grip. “I think we need to talk.”
“If you are going to try and tell me why he has to go out again,” Aleah jerked away, “then save your breath. Kevin has spent more time outside of these walls than all of us combined and it is time that some other folks start carrying their share.”
“So…what…you want Shari to go out there? She would come back with hair products and a really cute outfit that fit her,” Heather shot back. “It sucks, but the truth is, you’re hurt, Matt’s hurt, Erin is a child, and like it or not, we can’t send Peter. That leaves me and Kevin. You want me to go…I will. But I’m not stupid; I know there is no way in the world that I will make it.”
“Then maybe Valarie will have to make do,” Aleah insisted. “I may be sounding like a bit of a bitch here, but we can’t afford to lose Kevin.”
“You won’t lose me,” Kevin insisted.
“You can’t promise that and you know it!” Aleah said through the tears that were pouring down her cheeks. “I can’t lose you.”
“Aleah…” Kevin stepped towards her and went to take her in his arms. She jerked away from his embrace. “I love you, you idiot!”
“Aleah, I…wait…what?” Kevin staggered back like he’d been struck.
“I said I love you, you idiot!” Aleah bawled. With that, she turned and took off up the stairs.
Kevin remained dumbstruck for a few seconds. Finally he took a few steps for the stairs.
Heather put her hands on his arms and stopped him. “Give me a few minutes first,” she said.
He shrugged his shoulders and nodded. As she vanished he made his way to one of the overstuffed chairs and collapsed more than sat down on one. Matt followed and sat across from Kevin; despite having lived with him for the past few weeks, realized that he knew very little about the man. From the reaction he was seeing, he thought he might now know one thing about Kevin Dreon: Aleah was the first girl to say those three magic words to him.
“How’d that feel?” Matt asked.
“Huh?” Kevin looked up at him with glassy eyes and a dazed look on his face that all but confirmed his suspicions.
“Hearing her say that?”
“She said…” Kevin’s voice trailed off.
“So I’m guessing that is the first time she’s said that…and maybe…the first time you have been this deep into a relationship.”
“Does it show?”
“Actually, I wouldn’t have known except for Heather; she talks about you a lot. I guess you two got pretty close going through all that crap back in Heath,” Matt explained.
The two men sat quietly for a few minutes when the door to the patio opened and Shari entered with Peter on her heels; both were stomping their feet to get rid of the snow, and both were red faced. Initially it was difficult to tell if it was related to the weather or emotions.
“How am I supposed to know?” Peter asked in exasperation. “I can’t really do a proper autopsy on it.”
“Her!” Shari snapped, spinning to face the young doctor. “Autumn was not…is not an it!”
“You know what I mean,” Peter retorted. “You’re just trying to pick a fight now.”
“The fight was picked a long time ago.”
“So you are going to blame me for this child’s death. It couldn’t possibly be neglect on the part of your sister,” Peter said as he walked past Kevin and Matt.
“Why don’t you go fu—”
“Is there a problem?” Kevin asked, getting up from his chair, moving to intercept Shari before she vanished up the stairs. His purpose was actually twofold: the first being that he didn’t want a bunch of yelling and arguing taking place upstairs near Valarie’s room; his second reason was that he wanted to settle things down before he left. His fee
lings about group unity were fairly strong. He’d seen what disharmony could do to endanger the lives of everybody.
“Peter won’t lift a finger to try and see what might have happened to the baby…to Autumn,” Shari said, turning to face Kevin.
“There isn’t anything that I can do,” Peter insisted. “I don’t have the equipment to do a proper autopsy. I checked for any marks, she is clean. Whatever it was could range from simple crib death to suffocation to poisoning.”
“What!” Shari spun around, both hands balled into fists.
“I am simply stating the range of possibilities.”
“You’ve been hinting at something since we found her,” Shari insisted.
“I haven’t done anything of the sort,” Peter argued. “My only problem, and the same problem Aleah, Matt, and I dare say Kevin if he has heard about the circumstances, is the fact that your sister was in that room with a dead child. She made no move to call for help or anything else.”
“She was in shock!” Shari shouted.
Kevin stepped forward and eased her back from Peter. He didn’t think that the man was the sort to strike a woman, but he couldn’t vouch for what might happen if he was struck first.
“Shari,” Kevin said in a voice barely above a whisper, “you need to go up with your sister and cool down. Peter, I need to talk to you about Valarie.”
Shari looked up at Kevin with a tight-lipped grimace for a moment. Then a different look crossed her face. “Wait…what’s wrong with Valarie? Is she okay?”
“Nothing that can’t be handled,” Kevin assured, curious about the piqued interest.
“She isn’t dying or anything is she?”
“No, just has a few things I need to deal with and I need to talk to Peter. So…if you don’t mind?”
“But—” Shari started to argue.
“It isn’t personal,” Kevin cut her off. “I just need to talk to Peter, and I need him to be focused. Right now, you are a distraction.”
“Fine.” Shari made it a point to linger long enough so that everybody could tell she was pouting and then she went upstairs.
Kevin turned to Peter. “I think Valarie might be schizophrenic. She is seeing people who aren’t there. I guess she was taking clozapine before all this.”
“How in God’s green earth did you find that out…she just tell you?” Peter said with a laugh that was too close to sarcastic not to piss Kevin off.
“Basically yes!” he said with a cold glare that made Peter choke a bit on his laughter. “She called it clothes pins, but it wasn’t hard to figure out if you listened.”
“Hey,” Peter threw his hands up, “I’m not trying to cause any trouble or say anything bad. Christ, she survived on her own for who knows how long. I know a lot of normal people who couldn’t have done that.”
“Normal?”
“I’m not going to pretend that a person with Down’s is normal…the reality is that she has a disability,” Peter said calmly. “It’s not like I called her retarded or some other word we have used to the point of making it offensive in the past. However, the fact remains that she is mentally disabled and not operating on the same wavelength as we are. She has special needs and that is a fact. I would put her at the equivalent of a twelve-year-old in her ability to comprehend and process.”
Kevin backed down a bit. He knew that he had a past that added heat to his feelings about Valarie. He would probably tend to overreact.
“So…her hallucinations?” Peter prompted, trying to get Kevin back on track.
“She is seeing and hearing her grandmother…also an uncle who did something bad to her,” Kevin explained. “I am guessing that she was given the clozapine to control it.”
“Well I am no mental health specialist,” Peter admitted. “I can’t tell you anything about side-effects. So if we get this stuff for her, I won’t be much help. Also, I can’t tell you anything about dosage. You will be flying blind on this and I have to tell you that you may do her more harm than good. Plus, you better plan for what you are going to do when whatever you find runs out. There aren’t any labs operating any longer.”
“I’ll worry about this stuff one day at a time,” Kevin said.
“And can I ask where you intend to find this stuff?” Peter queried. “We are kinda out in the boonies. Ten miles may as well be a thousand in this weather.”
“That’s funny,” Matt chuckled.
“What?” Kevin and Peter both asked.
“Zombies just took second place on the threat list behind the weather.”
The other two men looked at each other for a few seconds. Smiles turned to chuckles, which then turned to laughter.
“Who is making this run with you?” Peter asked.
“Nobody,” Kevin said with a shrug. “It will be a dangerous trip. I don’t think Shari is a good choice considering the situation with Erin being what it is right now. Aleah isn’t healed up yet, Matt has a bad leg.”
“And I’m…what? Useless? A cripple?” Peter challenged. “I’ve been meaning to bring it up, and now seems like as good a time as any.”
“You are a doctor,” Kevin said like that was all that needed saying.
“And?” Obviously Peter wasn’t satisfied with that response.
“You aren’t replaceable.”
“My ego may never forgive me,” Peter sighed, “but it has been your brains…your planning that has kept us not only alive, but preparing for a life. We are doing more than just surviving here and it is because you seem to have some sort of master plan. You tell us to do things that, once you say them, seem obvious. Only, had it not been for you, the thought would have never occurred to us.”
“Yeah—” Kevin fumbled over his words.
“Yeah, nothing,” Peter snapped. “I am tired of being treated like I am a china doll. I’m going with you and it isn’t up for debate. I’ve been stuck inside these walls since we got here and I need to start doing my share when it comes to putting my ass on the line for this group. If anybo—”
“What in the blazes is going on out here?” Paul stood in the doorway that led to the restaurant where he and his daughter had fallen asleep.
“Who is that?” Peter asked, turning back to Kevin with an eyebrow raised in question.
13
Bad Weather and Bad News
Staring out the window at the snow, I began to wonder if it would ever stop. It had been almost two weeks since that massive horde had come. I was initially thankful for the snow because it covered the swathe of filth and ruin left in their wake. Many of the fallen undead were still right where they toppled. We’d been more focused on seeing everybody return.
By the time we were all back inside, Jamie had come to long enough to wander out to the main room, look around like he was searching for something, then return to his bed. Since then, I’d only seen him a handful of times. Considering the fact that none of us had left the building except to empty the toilet buckets, that was saying something.
“Daddy,” a voice whispered in my ear, “can Emily and me ride the sleds?” I still wasn’t entirely used to hearing her call me that.
“When this lets up, sweetie,” I replied, wrapping an arm around Thalia and pulling her into a hug. “I know you are getting tired of being cooped up inside, but that snow is crazy deep.”
The first time I’d taken the toilet buckets—everybody gets a turn—I’d stepped off the porch and sank to my waist. I’d hurt myself bad enough that I was unable to keep it concealed from Melissa, who promptly told Dr. Zahn. I’d been removed from toilet bucket duty after that. It wasn’t that I wanted to carry the buckets, it was simply that I didn’t want to seem like I was above anybody else.
We’d had our little sham of an election. I’d been named mayor, or president, or whatever they wanted to call me. It wasn’t like I intended to make any changes; I just felt that we needed somebody to make decisions. I still believed that anything that affected the group would be put to a vote, but some things n
eeded to be decided upon in an instant without the time for a vote or meeting; that is where I would really come in.
It wasn’t anything I hadn’t been doing up to this point. The only problems that arose were when newcomers arrived or somebody was bitten…or not bitten in the case of Teresa.
“Then can we practice our wooden swords?” Thalia moved around so that she was standing in front of me, looking up at me with her big, dark eyes.
“Go into the kitchen, okay?” I tousled her hair. “I don’t mind the smacking of your swords, but some people might get frustrated or annoyed by the racket.”
“Okay.” She kissed my cheek and ran over to Emily who was sitting in front of the enormous fireplace. I was not all that surprised when she produced the pair of wooden swords from behind her after Thalia gave her the good news.
I wondered for about the one millionth time if we were situated okay as far as food was concerned. We’d loaded as much as we could, and even managed to bag a few deer. However, now that it looked as if we would be stuck here for the long haul, it was simply another thing for me to fret over.
Looking over my shoulder at everybody, I took in a few observations. I hadn’t had a lot of time to just sit and think in I couldn’t recall how long. Sunshine and Jon were sitting on the wooden bench by the window where the outside thermometer could be seen. All I cared about was that it was obviously cold enough to snow. I didn’t need a thermometer…I could just look and know.
My gaze lingered on the pair. Sunshine was leaning in close as the two were immersed in conversation. I could see her left hand keep drifting over to Jon, brushing his. As for Jon, his gaze never left Sunshine’s face. His chin rested in his hand and he simply stared.
The world was freezing and love still blooms. I was happy for them, I really was. Having Melissa meant always having a reason to survive. Once more, I was amazed at how much I’d gained as the world came to an end.
I looked back outside just as something dark shot past. My mind did a quick check; Fiona was up in the tower on watch. She was one that I never had to worry about when it came to falling asleep on duty. So if it wasn’t her, then who?
