by T. Gault
“Look, man, that could have happened to any one of us. I mean, at least you tried to do somethin,” said Sid, trying to console Jim.
“I’m responsible for another living person’s death. I did it. She is dead and it’s my fault,” snapped Jim.
I stepped into the room, “Jim, I know you are beating yourself up right now, but you tried to save her and Hadley. If you had not taken the shot, what would have happened?”
“She’d still be alive!” said Jim.
“Are you sure? Were you close enough to keep the corpses off of her?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but I do know that I killed her...I liked her, man,” said Jim.
“I liked her too, and besides that, she cut off Sid’s arm. I’m sure you’ve wanted to mutilate Sid before,” I said, trying to lighten to mood.
Jim chuckled for a second, “Yeah I guess you’re right. I do still have this numbskull to keep me company. With his one arm.”
“Hey, you fellas keep joking about my arm. That ain’t funny. My left arm is gone and my hand itches,” said Sid.
“Well, scratch it then,” said Jim.
“I can’t! It’s the one that’s gone that itches,” said Sid as he threw an empty bean can of beans at Jim.
“Anyway, you guys seen Matt?” I asked.
“Don’t know where he went, but he might be trying to talk up Beth. He’s been mighty fond of her,” said Sid.
“Too bad she’s more into me,” said Jim with a big grin.
“She never even looked at you. I bet she forgets that you’re even part of the group sometimes,” said Sid. Jim picked up the can and threw it back at Sid.
“Well, I’ll leave you two to throw that can at each other,” I said as I walked out of the room.
I saw Curtis step out of one of the other rooms and try to quietly shut the door. He looked at me and started to walk toward me. He looked concerned.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“She just went to sleep,” Curtis responded.
“That’s good, though, right?” I asked.
“She’s really burning up. Tracey was supposed to get some antibiotics for her and some pain medicine, but...she doesn’t have the medicine. What’s going to happen to Frannie?” Curtis said.
“Do you remember what Tracey told you she needed?”
“She didn’t tell me what the name of the antibiotic was,” said Curtis.
“Well, maybe you and I can make a run to go get all the antibiotics they have in one of the pharmacies around here,” I said.
“Yeah, let’s do that, but I can’t go. I can’t leave her again. She needs me here. Do you think you and Matt might be able to go?” said Curtis.
“Well, I guess we could, but I’m not sure how much Matt wants to run back out there,” I said.
“You’ve got to help her,” Curtis pled.
“I’ll talk to Matt. If he won’t go...I need you to go with me,” I said.
“He has to go. She needs the medicine,” said Curtis.
“Okay, I know. We will do something. I’m sure she is going to be fine. Has she eaten anything?” I asked.
“I tried to get her to eat, but she just won’t eat anything,” said Curtis.
“Like I said, I will go talk to Matt and we’ll try to arrange to go out in the morning,” I said as I walked away from Curtis.
“No, you have to get it tonight. She has waited long enough! She is going to die!” yelled Curtis.
I was shocked at Curtis’ outburst. Sid and Jim came out into the hall and watched. Rev came out to see what was going on too. I just stood still for a moment and turned to look at Curtis again.
“Look, Matt and I just got back after you left us to be eaten at the Sports Authority! We walked and fought our way back here. Oh, and did you risk anything to try to come back for us? No, you didn’t. I think Matt and I have earned a little rest!” I said as I walked toward Curtis and he slowly stumbled backwards.
“I...I, she...” were the only words Curtis could get out to respond.
“I don’t want your sister to die either, but I can’t just keep going and going without rest or a little time away from the dead people out there,” I said as I stepped closer to Curtis.
“Well, I’ll go then...and if you want...you can come too,” stammered Curtis. “But I’m going tonight.”
“Have you ever been out there at night? You can’t see them. You can only hear how close they are.”
“I don’t care. I’m going to get that medicine for Frannie. I’m going with or without you,” said Curtis as he tried to stand a little taller.
I turned and looked back at Sid and Jim. They both tried to look casual and slowly stepped back into their room. Rev crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows.
“Look, son,” Rev said to Curtis, “he’s right. There is no sense taking a chance that both of you either get trapped or worse just because you have something to prove to yourself.”
“I have to save her. She can’t die. I wasn’t there to save mom, but I am here for Frannie,” said Curtis.
“And if you do get the medicine tonight, are you going to wake her up from the only real sleep she’s probably gotten in days? Just so you can feel like you did something?” said Rev.
Curtis stood still and glared. I could see that he was physically shaking from the overwhelming emotions he was going through.
“Calm down! If you are going to go out there, you are going to need some rest too. You aren’t going to do your sister any good if you’re too exhausted to make it out there. Now go get some rest and y’all can head out in the morning,” reasoned Rev.
Curtis looked over at me and I could see the tears building in his eyes. His fists were clenched and he seemed like he didn’t know what else to say.
“I know God always has a plan and his plan so far has kept you and your sister alive. Come on, Curtis, let’s go pray over your sister. With God’s hands on her she can endure no suffering,” said Rev, walking toward Curtis.
I stepped to the side and Rev wrapped his arm around Curtis as they walked back toward the room where Frannie slept.
I had just about enough of Curtis for one evening and was really beginning to wonder where Matt had gotten off to. I walked around the halls of the church and listened for Beth or Matt talking and didn’t hear them at all anywhere. I found Deandre sitting at one of the windows facing the fenced-in playground at the back of the church. He looked like he was miles away from the building, probably imagining playing on the swings or slide. I didn’t want to bother Deandre, considering that the last time I tried to talk to him I made him cry. But he was the only other person in the church who might know where Matt went.
“Hey, Deandre. Sorry about what I said earlier. Sometimes I forget that you are still just a kid. I don’t know how I would have dealt with all of this at your age either,” I said. Deandre continued to stare out the window. “Well, anyway, have you seen Matt?” I asked, trying to free myself from the awkward, one-sided conversation.
Deandre again didn’t look at me but he raised his right hand and pointed up to the ceiling. I looked up at what he pointed at and when I saw nothing where he pointed, I thought maybe that was Deandre’s way of telling me to get lost. I turned and started to walk away when I noticed a roof-access ladder and the hatch was open. I looked back at Deandre to ask him if he meant Matt was on the roof, but Deandre seemed to be trying to imagine himself somewhere else. If he was able to escape through that window, I didn’t want to drag him back to reality.
I walked over to the ladder and looked up toward the hatch. I could see the sky, blue and cool. I stood watching for a moment as the clouds inched their way across the opening. I snapped myself out of the daydream and started to climb the ladder. When I made it onto the roof I looked around and spotted Matt sitting with Beth over near the front edge of the building. They were sitting close together, side by side. I could hear Matt talking and occasionally I would hear Beth giggle. Somehow, Matt was managin
g to put the moves on her in the middle of all this insanity. Again it seemed like everywhere I looked, the others were all busy. I did tell Curtis that I would ask Matt though.
“Hey, Matt. Can I talk to you for a second?” I said, feeling like the biggest jerk in the world.
Matt lowered his head and Beth looked slightly embarrassed. “Sure, what’s up...what’s going on? Is the world coming to an end?” said Matt.
“No, it already ended. You guys were up here and missed it,” I said.
“Alright, ha, ha. What do you need?” said Matt as Beth stood up and walked toward the ladder.
“I just wanted to know if you could help me with a run tomorrow,” I asked.
Matt quickly turned his head toward me, looking confused. “What? Why? Did you watch the tape and find out where your parents are?”
“No, the battery is dead. I actually was going to help Curtis get some antibiotics for Frannie tomorrow morning.”
“What? We just got back here though,” said Matt.
“I know, but she’s not doing too good. I told Curtis I would try to get you to go with me,” I said.
“Is he going?” said Matt, raising his eyebrows.
I let out a breath because Matt had asked me the question I knew he would ask, but I didn’t want to hear. “No, he said he needs to stay with Frannie.”
“I’ve kept my mouth shut for the most part, but that’s it. If he wants to waste his time getting medicine for her, then let him. I’m not going to risk myself or anyone else for his little sister. She isn’t going to make it. She might not have been bitten, but she is going to die. Then she will come back just like everyone else that’s been hurt by those things,” said Matt.
“I thought that’s what you’d say. I’m going to help him in the morning if you don’t want to come, that’s fine. I just told Curtis that I would ask you,” I said.
“Well, you should have gone with your gut. If you ask me I think we should take her outside right now,” said Matt.
“And do what? Just leave her out there?” I asked.
“No...I think we should put a bullet in her head. That would be the best way to save his sister. She is spending the last days of her life suffering,” said Matt.
“These might not be the last days of her life. What about that? What if we get these pills and she pulls through it?”
“Oh, now we’re into the what-ifs. What if you get bitten and give her the meds and she doesn’t pull through? Is being Frannie’s hero worth dying for nothing?” asked Matt.
“You know what...you really have given up already. You probably would have done nothing to help your sister if you had the chance,” I said, staring Matt in the eyes.
Matt jumped up and quickly walked over to me. “She is gone and there is no use bringing her up. I couldn’t do anything to save her. She was gone before I even realized it.”
“Or you didn’t care enough to keep her close—” Matt punched me in the face before I could even get the words out.
“You shut your mouth about her. Go die for nothing with Curtis. Be a hero. That’s all heroes do is die,” said Matt as he walked back over to the front of the church.
I wiped off my bloodied lip and walked back over to the ladder and looked back at Matt, trying to think of something to say. I had nothing else to say to him. I climbed down the ladder.
“Curtis,” I said, walking toward the room where Frannie was sleeping.
Curtis came out of the room trying to tell me to be quiet, “She’s still sleeping. What happened to your lip?”
“Matt’s not going to do it. He’s got...other plans,” I said.
“Maybe I should talk to him...” Curtis started to say.
“No, you’re going to come with me tomorrow morning. You’re going to have to do it,” I said.
“But, I...” Curtis again tried to speak.
“I’ve got something you’ll probably need, but you’re going to have to find some ammo,” I said.
I walked to the kitchen where my backpack sat and picked up the double-barreled shotgun I had found. I had only shot a double-barreled shotgun one time before, with my dad. I was pretty young and I wasn’t fond of the experience. I did still remember how to reload it and fire it though, but I wanted to stick with my Glock.
As I thought about the experience with my dad, I remembered his cellphone in my book bag. I rummaged around inside the bag until I found it. The phone was dead just like the camera. I threw it back into the bag and let out a sigh.
I gave the shotgun to Curtis and showed him how to open the chamber and removed the shells. One of the two rounds in the shotgun was already spent, but I knew someone else in the group that had shotgun shells. I looked around for Matt’s stuff and found his bag tucked into the corner of a room no one else was using. I gave Curtis about twelve shells and he loaded up his pockets. I told Curtis we would still have to wait for the next morning. We needed all the sleep we could get to prepare for the run.
CHAPTER 16 - Successful failure...
I woke up the next morning feeling very strange. For the first time since the outbreak, I didn’t dream. I never really remembered the entire dream the next morning, but this time I was sure that I had not dreamt at all. I tried to remember the night before, but I couldn’t even remember how I fell asleep at the table in the kitchen. I had pulled the video camera out again and it was lying on the table in front of me. I must have been so exhausted that I just wasn’t aware of what was going on around me.
I found a few things in the kitchen to eat and gathered all of my things together. I went to Curtis’ room and knocked on the door. Curtis opened the door and stepped out. He was holding the shotgun and looked like he hadn’t slept at all that night. Curtis looked like he was mentally ready to take on every single one of the carriers, but I wasn’t sure if he could take even one of them on physically.
“Are you ready to do this?” I asked him.
“What, yeah. Of course I’m ready,” said Curtis.
“Is she still just as...” I tried to ask.
“No, I mean, yeah. She’s fine. She’s still sick, but...let’s go get the medicine,” said Curtis.
After speaking with Curtis I was anxious to get the whole thing over with. I decided not to tell Sid or Jim about the run. They had both gone through a lot the last couple of days and I expected to be in and out. They’d never even know we were gone. I really did not want to take the junky sedan again. I told Curtis we would take his mother’s van. Curtis didn’t have a problem with using the van. We started to head out the door when Rev spotted us.
“Whatever you boys are doing, I can see you are in a hurry. So I won’t weight down your departure with a speech or a long-winded prayer, but I will say, I don’t think the rest of this group can take any more loss of life. I heard you talking. You go, and save that little girl’s life. We all need a little hope and a miracle,” said Rev as he nodded and turned to walk away.
Curtis looked at me, but quickly averted his eyes and walked toward the door. I stepped up behind him and gave him a tap on the shoulder to let him know I was ready. He shoved the door open and I could see that it was raining again outside. As we stepped outside, the usual stench from the rotting corpses seemed to be subdued by the rain. But there seemed to be more of them outside the church than usual. I was surprised to see so many of them. We had been quiet since the previous night. Curtis paused for a moment and leveled his shotgun at one of them. I stopped next to him and pushed away the barrel.
“Don’t, we just need to get to the van. We don’t want to get them all running at us,” I said.
Curtis looked at me, surprised. I could see that same anger in his eyes from the day before, but he still lowered the shotgun and we both walked quickly toward the van. Curtis went to the driver’s seat and I grabbed the passenger’s-side door handle. He had locked it from the day before. I guess he was still worried about someone stealing it. When Curtis stepped around the side of the van I saw him just step back an
d raise the shotgun again. A half-rotten woman lunged at him. There was nothing I could do or say fast enough to stop him. BOOM, he shot her through the chest. I could see that the blast must have severed her spine and caused her to nearly fold in half. Curtis stood staring at the corpse on the ground. The houses and yards surrounding the church started to sway with movement. I turned and looked behind me in time to see a small group coming at me. I readied my sword.
“Unlock the doors!” I yelled to Curtis.
He was still standing focused on the remains of the woman he and just shot. I could hear her head on the ground snapping at him. Curtis pointed his shotgun at the ground again, BOOM. If there were any carriers in the area that had not heard the first shot, they definitely heard the second shot. The corpses moving toward me became even more excited and were stumbling at me as fast as they could. When they came into range I shoved the first one back into two other ones. They all fell to the ground, but the three behind them seemed not to notice what had happened at all. They stepped on the fallen corpses and continued coming at me. I instinctively tried to open the door to the van again, but it was still locked. I slashed my sword into the neck of a man missing most of the meat on his left leg. He almost instantly fell to the ground. I ran to the other side of the car to see Curtis trying to reload his shotgun.
