Autumn's Calling (Book 1): The Outbreak

by Michelle Weese

  Hmmm, I must be hungry to keep thinking of food colors when looking at everyone. We never got to eat our dinner, of course. I know poor Daisy must be starving if I was thinking of my own hunger. “If you all will excuse me, I’m going to go find something for Daisy to eat. I know she’s probably starving by now. I’ll be in the kitchen if anyone needs me,” I announced, leaving everyone in the lobby and Daisy at my heels.

  It was a relief to get away from all of the commotion for just a minute. I walked into the immaculate large kitchen decorated in all stainless steel appliances. I pulled open the refrigerator and browsed for something meaty, luckily finding a Rubbermaid container full of cooked chicken pieces. I put some in a bowl, filled another bowl with water and set them on the floor to watch Daisy gobble it up without even chewing or tasting it. The smell of the chicken made my stomach growl miserably, so I went back to the fridge to find myself something to eat. Turkey and cheese sandwich won me over. I leaned against the long steel counter and started nibbling. Right on time, Leland walked in and stopped in the doorway, staring at me. I stopped mid bite and looked at him with the deer in the headlights look, feeling like I was busted doing something naughty.

  His face relaxed and he giggled at me like I did something amusing. “You look like I caught you with your hand in the cookie jar. Too funny. But I see you’ve got the right idea, I’m absolutely starving, believe it or not after all of this excitement,” he said as he opened the fridge to rummage around. Watching him caused me to flash back on seeing Luke do the same thing just last night, him coming away with a bloody steak and a crazy look in his eyes. ‘Please don’t grab a steak, please don’t grab a steak,’ I thought fiercely towards Leland. When he stood up with a slice of ham and a big bowl of mashed potatoes, I had to laugh at him with the relief I felt. He gave me a goofy grin and grabbed a spoon to shovel cold potatoes into his mouth. The three of us stood there in silence, savoring what could be our last meal for a while, for as long as we could.

  “I feel bad for eating in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Is that weird?” I admitted after washing down a bite with some iced tea.

  “No matter what is happening in the world, we still have to eat, Autumn. If we’re planning on staying strong and fighting this thing then food has to be part of that equation. No need to feel bad, everything has to eat to survive,” he replied. He looked at me with those amazing eyes. I had to look away before he could distract me and cause me to look stupid in my mesmerization.

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But I feel so horrible that poor Henry is dead. I mean we just met the man and BAM! He gets bitten and turns into a zombie, resulting in his timely demise. Poor Bea is struggling to deal with losing her husband and the zombie apocalypse. I feel like I’m having the worst nightmare of my life and can’t wake up. I’m so worried for my mom. I have to get to her soon. It’s a long drive back home and I’m not really ready for a drive like that again on such a small amount of sleep but I have to do it. There’s no other choice. I’m sorry, I’m rambling.”

  “No need to apologize, and I’ve been thinking since you talked to your mom, if you are okay with it, I’d like to come with you. I know we just met but a lot has happened and the thought of you, and Daisy, out there on your own trying to get home just makes me worry like crazy. So if you’ll have me, I’d like to join the team and help get you to your mom. What happens from there, well, we’ll just have to see,” he said with a genuine care in his eyes.

  ‘Where did this guy come from? He’s so perfect it’s scary…or maybe I’m just comparing him to the Luke that hurt me yesterday,’ I thought to myself. My heart ached for Luke so much, even though he did what he did, I still missed him terribly. But Leland seemed like such a sweet guy, and I would feel a lot safer with him around on a long trip home. I looked down at Daisy, licking her lips and watching us talk. She barked once and let her tongue roll to one side so she could give us that goofy lopsided smile that I lived to see each day. I guess that was her putting her two cents in and agreeing to Leland coming with us… or maybe she was just happy about finally eating. Who knows?

  Chapter 13

  “We need to get Wanda to the hospital and get an x-ray on her ankle,” Amanda said as we walked back into the lobby. “Does anyone want to ride with her?”

  “I’ll go with her,” Rita called, coming down the hall from the library. “I need to get back to my family in town n’ make sure they’re all okay, anyway. Autumn, can you n’ Leland look after Mrs. Bea if we leave? I got her to lay down on one of them couches in the library, she’s so overwhelmed with everything n’ needs some rest. Just keep an eye on her, please,” she said giving us sad, jaded eyes.

  “Of course we can, Rita. You go look after your family and make sure Wanda gets to the hospital safely. We will take care of things here,” I assured her.

  “Okay, well let's get you two loaded up and we will be on our way. Thanks for having our backs out there guys. I’m sorry for both of your losses today, hopefully this plague will end soon,” Amanda commented, looking at all of us.

  They got Wanda into the ambulance on a stretcher, and Rita buckled up on the bench beside her. We waved to them while Stafford and Whitmore kept an eye out in all directions with flash lights until the medics pulled out onto the winding road that led back to town.

  Afterwards, they offered to help us carry out Henry and bury him between the orchard and pond. I let the guys take care of digging the grave while Mrs. Bea and I stood a few feet away, holding lanterns in the dark chilly night. I grabbed a small fleece blanket on the way out and wrapped it around Bea’s shoulders. Holding her tight while she cried on my own shoulder, I patted her arm and whispered that everything would be okay. Henry was in a better place now. It’s such a cliché thing to say to a grieving widow but I could not, for the life of me, think of anything else comforting to say.

  The guys finished covering Henry up in the deep grave, and then looked to Bea. “Would you like to say something, Mrs. Bea?” Leland asked her, a look of pity in his beautiful eyes.

  “Yes... I’ve been with this wonderful man for as long as I can remember. He was the sweetest, most gentle person I knew, and will be my best friend for all eternity.” Huge tears rolled from her eyes as I held her tight, squeezing her shoulder. “I’ll miss your dry sense of humor, the way you always wore mismatched socks just to get a rise out of me, that song you always whistled while you were in the shower… I’ll miss everything about you, my sweet Henry. You treated me like a queen, even when I didn’t deserve it, and you will always be my king. I love you, dear. Now rest in peace and I’ll see you soon enough,” she finished in a shaky, tear filled voice.

  After that, I was a blubbering mess. Even the guys were tearing up. I barely knew Henry a few short hours, but listening to her talk about him like that made me feel like I knew him much longer, and made me wish that I had known him longer. The sorrow I felt hit me hard, I couldn’t imagine how much harder it hit Bea. As we turned to walk away, Leland grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. He knew the toll it took on me to do what I did to Henry. I looked up into his eyes, they were sparkling with unshed tears, and gave him an appreciative smile for understanding how I felt.

  “I hate to leave you folks out here alone but we have to get back to town. You’re all more than welcome to come with us and we can find a secure shelter for you to stay in,” Stafford said, giving us weary eyes. This virus is a killer and he didn’t know what to do. It’s hard to be a cop in the first place, but trying to save people from the inevitable seemed impossible. He walked to where his fellow officer had been devoured and picked up a shiny gold badge from the gore it was engulfed in. He wiped it off on his pants and stared at it with a solemn look on his face.

  “Once again, we are sorry for your loss. I think we will be just fine here. Thank you for everything. We couldn’t have killed those things without you guys. Please be careful out there, watch your backs,” Leland told them, shaking each of their hands. I waved goodb
ye and watched them pull away in the two squad cars they’d arrived in.

  I turned to Leland, “We have to convince Mrs. Bea to come with us to Cottage Grove. There’s no way she can stay here by herself,” I said while we stood on the porch in the cool night air. The dead bodies mounded around the house in a gruesome display.

  “It’s going to be hard to get her to leave this place, but you’re right, we can’t leave without her,” he remarked, putting an arm around my shoulders and turning me towards the door. We found Bea sitting on a small bench in the lobby, stroking Daisy and staring off into space somewhere.

  “Bea… Bea are you okay?” I asked her, gently laying a hand on her shoulder. She snapped out of it and looked at me with those light green eyes, red around the edges from crying so much. She blinked slowly for a moment before answering me.

  “Yes, dear. I’ll be fine. Just trying to process everything that’s happened here. It feels like a nightmare, and I’m so tired I can barely stand up. I think it’s best if we all get some much needed rest. I’m going to go change the linens on my bed and lay down for a bit. Would you like to help me, Autumn?” she replied, standing up with the help of my hand under one arm.

  “Of course, I’ll help you. Just tell me where the linen closet is and I’ll grab them.” She told me where to look and I quickly tucked the blanket and fresh crisp sheets under my arm and followed her to the bedroom. We stripped down the bed completely and there wasn’t any blood except for a small spot on one of the pillows, which got tossed in the trash. Once, I got her settled in and lying down, I told her to give us a shout if she needed anything. Then poured her a glass of water and left it on the nightstand beside her. She started to nod off almost instantly, mumbling something about how she was thankful that she met Leland and me, and just before she fell asleep she whispered, “I love you Henry, see you soon.”

  Chapter 14

  I laid down on one of the antique couches in the library, across the hall from Bea’s room, so I could stay close by in case she called for me. Apparently, I dozed off for quite a while, because I awoke to daylight outside. The sun shined through the large windows in bright yellow beams, lighting up everything in the room. I squinted against the light, my head instantly throbbing. Looking around for Leland and Daisy, I stood and shuffled over to the windows. I spotted them by the pond with the old bridge. Leland played with Daisy, running back and forth while she chased after him, jumping on him excitedly. He was laughing and she looked like she was having the time of her life. The sight of them out there having fun together brought a smile to my face.

  I went to the kitchen to grab a drink and to hunt for some aspirin. Spotting the coffee pot, I breathed a sigh of relief. That was just what I needed, so I put on a fresh pot and started looking in drawers for something to cure my headache. Tylenol would have to do, I thought to myself, spilling two tablets in my hand and chasing them with a glass of water. I already felt better. Mrs. Bea needed to eat something, so I fixed her toast, since I hadn’t seen her take a bite all yesterday evening. Then I poured her a cup of coffee along with my own cup. I put everything on the little serving tray, she used last night, and headed for her room.

  I opened the door quietly and stopped dead in my tracks, unable to believe what I was seeing. My brain tried to protect me by not comprehending it at first, giving me the chance to turn around and walk away. Once my eyes realized what was right in front of me, I dropped the tray and gasped in horror. Mrs. Bea somehow tied her bed sheets around one of the diagonal posts on the canopy top of her bed, and hung herself.

  I snapped out of it quickly and ran over to her, praying she just did this and I still had time to resuscitate. But I only kidded myself because she already lost all color and turned the same sickening gray I’ve seen many times before in my career field. I climbed up on the bed and untangled the sheet. Laying her down gently, to check for a pulse, only to find her skin cold as ice. No pulse, nothing. “Oh no, Bea! Why? Why did you have to do this?” I cried and screamed at her, my eyes already overflowing with scalding hot tears burning their way down my face. Rocking back and forth on the bed beside her small lifeless body, I cried until I thought I would die from a broken heart.

  That’s how Leland found me a few moments later. He walked into the room with Daisy trailing behind, and once he saw what happened he gasped. The shock in his eyes was very visible. He slowly walked to where I curled up on the bed and wrapped his arms around me. Picking me up like you would a small child, he carried me out of the bedroom while I sobbed loudly against his shoulder. He sat down on the sofa I slept on, holding me on his lap, and let me fall apart in his arms.

  After an hour or so passed, I finally slowed my crying to just a silent weeping. Leland sat there, gently stroking his hand through my hair and down my back, trying his best to soothe me. He hadn’t spoken a word, and neither had I. There were no words to be said, nothing that would make the circumstances any different or comforting. I only sat there, my head lying on his chest, listening to his strong and steady heartbeat. My tears soaked the front of his shirt, but I couldn’t even muster up the strength to be embarrassed.

  Once he thought I would be okay sitting on my own for a moment, he slid me off his lap onto the sofa beside him. He put his hand on my cheek and turned me to face him. “I need you to stay here while I go and get her ready to be buried. You don’t need to see her like that again. So please, Autumn, let me handle it this time,” he whispered to me with a compassionate look in his eyes. I let him go, knowing that I needed to save what remained of my sanity.

  Only gone a few minutes before returning with a piece of paper clutched in his hand, he handed it to me without speaking a word. It read:

  Dearest Autumn and Leland,

  I am so sorry that it had to be this way. I feel extremely lucky to have met such nice young people like yourselves. I know that I have burdened you with the responsibility of laying me in my final resting place, beside my Henry, and for that I apologize deeply. After losing Henry yesterday I felt that my life lost all meaning and I can’t imagine going through the rest of it without him, so I decided to join him where we can be together for all eternity. Living in a world filled with monsters and fighting to survive every day is not the life I wish to live. I’m old and weak. I would not last very long in this world before they got me like they did my Henry. I refuse to become one of them and go around murdering innocent people. So I must say goodbye, for now, and I wish the both of you only the best out there. You are strong and will hopefully see this thing through. Thank you for your kindness and I hope to see you on the other side, someday.

  All my love,

  Bea

  I didn’t know what to say. But in a strange way, the letter eased the pain in my chest a little. Knowing that she did this out of her love for Henry and not wanting to spend her last days fighting for her life, made everything seem not as bad. In a way, I understand her reasoning. She chose to take her own life, instead of giving the control over to the monsters that would surely make her death much more unbearable. I would miss her dearly, even though I’ve only known her a whole day. That didn’t matter though, we had went through more in a day than most people do in years. I felt a close connection to her and know that if this apocalypse hadn’t started, that we would have been good friends for life.

  Leland wrapped her in the blanket we put on the bed the night before, and carried her petite remains to the edge of the orchard, where Henry was buried. He dug the grave while I sat on the grass, staring off into the distance, lost in my thoughts. Daisy sat beside me whimpering, she knew what was going on. I reached over and plunged my shaking hand in her silky smooth fur, feeling the warmth of her skin underneath. She is my comfort blanket, always there when I need her. She lay down beside me with her head in my lap as I petted her and mourned our loss.

  With the grave finally finished, Leland crawled out and gently lay Bea inside and started to cover her up. I grabbed some flowers from the stone pots on the front porc
h and lay a bunch on each grave. “You and Henry didn’t deserve this. I’m so sorry it ended this way. But now you are together again and I pray that I will see you both again someday. Rest in peace,” I softly whispered to their graves. Leland put his arm around me and the three of us stood there, gazing at the final resting place of two wonderful people that didn’t deserve to die. The pit of my stomach hurt with grief and my heart broke into pieces that I’m sure will never heal.

  Chapter 15

  We strolled back inside, after standing there at the graves for what seemed like hours. Nothing left to delay my journey back home to my mother, we gathered our belongings quickly. I needed to feel her arms around me after everything that happened. Leland and Daisy are great at comforting, but there’s something about being in your mother’s arms that soothes like no other. I missed her so much and was driving myself crazy worrying about her. So I sent a prayer up to ask for her safety.

  Daisy and I went to our room to pack up our things. I looked around at the clean, homely feel of the place and felt a longing to hear Bea’s sweet voice. It brought a tear to my eyes, which were still bloodshot from my previous sobbing. I would miss her dearly, but I know she is much happier on the other side with Henry. This place was turning into Hell on earth and they didn’t deserve to live in fear because of that. I quickly grabbed my things and took one last look around the room, then turned the light off and gently closed the door.