by Diane Butler
Morgan put his hand on his son’s shoulders. “It’s not your fault Caleb. It’s no one’s fault. I never expected Roxanne to stay and join us. For Roxanne to join a group would be like breaking the spirit of a wild horse.” He sighed, “It’s sad though. I hate the thought of her dying alone while in battle against zombies but I don’t know what else to do.”
They looked throughout the house but did not find signs of the black cat that Roxanne mentioned in her letter.
When Mary and Roxanne woke up one morning Cowboy was gone. “We are only a half day from the cabin and I know my way. I think that Cowboy has gone to be with her own pack since she is in familiar territory. I have always felt guilty about taking her away from her family.” But Mary noticed that Roxanne was sad to be without the coyote.
“We are leaving the motorboat here so as not to disturb Shoes when we arrive. She hates the noise of modern society breaking into her domain. It will be hard work with both of us poling, but we can do it.” They pulled the motorboat onto land and covered it with brush and vines but some of the red paint still showed through.
Once they were on the marsh Mary noticed that Roxanne constantly looked from shore to shore. At first she thought that Roxanne had lost her way but when she heard a heavy sigh escape from Roxanne Mary knew that she was still looking for Cowboy. After the sigh Roxanne started to concentrate more on her destination and moving the pirogue through the algae.
They had to duck a few times to avoid Spanish moss and Mary prayed that a spider would not get caught in her hair. “Everything is so green and lush than when I left two months ago,” Roxanne said. “It is very beautiful with the lilies and wisteria in bloom.” She didn’t receive an answer from Mary and turned to see that Mary was struggling. They had been poling for two hours so Roxanne called for a stop to have some water. “We won’t eat lunch. I want to get there quickly. I’m sorry Mary. I can see that you are miserable.”
Mary’s hair was plastered to her face and neck from the heat and her face was dripping sweat. Her skin was sprinkled with dirt and residue from the hanging moss and she could feel sweat in her boots. She teetered for a moment, “I just need to sit down” and collapsed on some boxes. Roxanne poured water over Mary’s face and gave her a bottle to drink. Then she poured water in a bowl for Mutt before taking any for herself. Mary noticed that Roxanne only had a few beads of moisture on her forehead and upper lip. Her white shirt was sticking to the middle of her back but she wasn’t drenched like Mary was.
“How do you manage to stay so cool?”
“I’ve had more practice with a pirogue than you. You’re making it hard work on yourself. It will be easier coming back with an empty load. Perhaps I should have kept the motorboat but Shoes would have found it very disrespectful to the environment and local animals. Just stay put and rest. I can handle this.” Mary watched as Roxanne pushed the pirogue away from shore where it had drifted and before long the gentle lapping of the water soothed her to sleep.
Roxanne turned around to look at Mary several times over the next hour and decided to let the young girl sleep. Finally she could see Shoe’s cabin up ahead and smiled when Shoes came out on the porch to watch her approach. She was holding onto the porch pole and looked much thinner but steady on her feet.
Roxanne did not wait to tie up the pirogue but rowed directly to the porch and reached up to take Shoe’s hand. “Hello, Mother.”
“Hello, Girl.”
Subconsciously Mary felt the pirogue hit something solid with a ‘thump’ although it was very gentle. She thought she could hear low voices and struggled to come awake. She looked around to see that she was still on the pirogue and that Mutt was sitting quietly beside her but was concentrating on something on shore. She looked over to see Roxanne still in the pirogue talking to an old woman standing on a porch above her. The woman caught her eye and nodded at Mary, “She’s awake.”
Roxanne turned and told Mary and Mutt to stay put until she docked the pirogue. Mary could feel the woman’s eyes studying her and she pulled Mutt closer to her for comfort. After securing the pirogue Roxanne held out her hand to help Mary ashore. Mutt studied the shore and then found a place to jump over, following Roxanne and Mary to the porch.
“This is Mary. She has been a good partner and we make a good team.”
“Then you should have taught her how to pole a pirogue,” Shoes said and walked into the cabin.
“Mutt, do your business while we unload the pirogue but do not go far,” Roxanne instructed. “Come Mary, help me while Shoes makes our lunch.” They made several trips and Mary realized that she was hungry when she smelled fish frying. She wondered why Roxanne was so quiet and not conversing with Shoes but she took on the same attitude and kept silent. She glanced around the room and noticed how sparse it was. A wooden bed was against the wall, a table in the middle of the floor and the iron-cast stove with a counter on each side. Hooks on the walls held the few clothes that Shoes had. They piled the boxes and trash bags up against one wall and Roxanne began to set the table. Mary was surprised that Shoes had three plates although they were all different and each was chipped except for the tin plate.
Roxanne retrieved her backpack to pull out a bowl and can of dog food for Mutt and set it just inside the door. “Mutt and Cowboy both sleep with me,” she explained to Shoes. “I don’t want him to think that he is banned from the house,” Roxanne said as she sat down to lunch.
“Cowboy was never banned but thank you for the show of respect,” Shoes answered. “Where is Cowboy?”
“She left us this morning. I believe she went back to her pack. I doubt that she will visit during the short time that I am here. Perhaps she will meet us back at the motorboat that I hid in the foliage. I used it to tow the pirogue most of the way. I brought an air-mattress that Mary and I can use to sleep on. I would like to leave it behind for my visits.”
“Can’t promise you that it will still be here. You know how I make use of everything as need be.”
Roxanne smiled, “I think you will like some of the supplies I brought. If you can’t use them they will make good trade.” She put down her fork and went to the boxes where she rummaged around, then came to the table with a bottle. “How about that? Lou will pay good money for that!”
Shoes stared at the bottle of beer for a moment and then reached out for it. “The hell with Lou,” she said and opened it to take a good swig. She let out a sigh, “Damn! Forgot how good beer was. What else you got?”
Mary and Roxanne began to unpack the boxes and bags, putting the smaller items on the table while Mutt sat at the door looking out. Sometimes he would go out on the porch and walk to both ends looking over the sides and Roxanne felt that he was trying to become familiar with the surrounding water. Shoes’ was delighted with Roxanne’s finds and Mary was a little less intimidated once she saw Shoes smile.
“There was one thing that I found,” Roxanne said, “that I don’t know why I took it. I know of no use for it, yet it beckoned to me.” She fished in her backpack and sat down at the table to present Shoes with the diamond ring that she had found at the bait shop. When Roxanne opened the case and held it out Shoes gasped and backed away from the table.
“Take it out of its setting,” Shoes asked nervously. Roxanne was confused and closed the box with the ring still in it.
“I don’t understand. Have I done something wrong?”
“No, in fact you did wonderfully. That is my stone of power yet I have never come by a diamond that was not in a setting. I cannot touch the setting for the previous owners life will consume me and reduce the very power that I seek. Take it out of the setting and then you can put it into my hands. I must have something that you can use as a tool. When you leave here take the setting and box with you to a land that I never travel.”
As Roxanne worked on the setting with a knife Shoes looked over at Mary. “Do you not talk kidlet? Or do you find me strange?”
Mary took the best defense she could think of, “I
try to learn from each person I meet. You can learn more by staying quiet sometimes.”
Shoes smiled, “Yes, I can see that you chose the right partner, Girl.”
“Why do you call her girl?” Mary asked.
“Because she did not know my name when she met me and I could not give her one,” Roxanne said looking up from her task. “It is Roxanne, Shoes. I found that out and that Mutt was mine at one time in my past. Those are the only two things that I am sure of so far. The rest is speculation and some stories by others who I have met, but I can’t say that I believe everything that I am told.”
“It is up to you to sort it out, child. Only you can know who your enemies are. Stay in touch with your inner feelings. Never doubt them regardless of any logic that contradicts those feelings. Are you becoming citified? Have you lost your ability to communicate with animals? Is that why Cowboy left?”
Mary sat up with a jolt and looked at Roxanne who smiled back at her. “No, it is not true,” Roxanne said. “I don’t communicate with animals. I just have a very keen insight on reading Mutt and Cowboy.”
Shoes sighed, “You just need more practice. You would notice more if you paid attention. It is there within you if you would stop fighting it.” The diamond suddenly plopped out of the setting that Roxanne was working on and rolled across the table toward Shoes. She stared at it for a moment and then put one wrinkled hand over it and closed her eyes. She remained that way until Roxanne and Mary looked at one another wondering if they should remain quiet and not move to break any spell that Shoes could be under.
Shoes opened her eyes and smiled. “You did good Girl. The stone is clean and no matter what food or supplies you have brought me, this is the most precious and I will always treasure it. Well, that and the beer,” she laughed.
That night Roxanne woke to see Shoes standing out on her porch with Mutt beside her. Shoes and Roxanne were both wearing granny dresses to sleep in and when Roxanne joined her they resembled ghosts standing together. “You haven’t been eating right,” Roxanne said. “You are very thin and I feel that it is my fault for taking so much from you to keep me alive while I lived here.”
“I know how to survive, girl. Don’t put that guilt on yourself.” She turned and saw the sleeping figure of Mary. “That’s a big responsibility you have taken on. Best to find her a good home and be rid of her. You will be tested on your journey and although she makes a good partner I’m not so sure that you are ready for one. She could be used against you.”
By the third day Mary knew that she could not live in the bayou with its isolation. She needed to be on the road, needed to be moving instead of constantly gathering herbs, berries, fishing or catching crawfish. It provided steady meals but it was also boring and there were just too many snakes, spiders and other insects to deal with. She would be glad when Roxanne said it was time to go and she often wondered what Caleb was doing.
***
Roxanne had been gone over a week and Caleb still occasionally watched the canal where Jenny was docked to see if Roxanne’s pirogue was coming into sight. The group had decided that it would be easier to block off the city streets to keep the zombies from spreading into the residential area than to build a wall around so much open land. If they managed to kill off the Z’s within the city they could move away from the roads coming in from the north. That part was still open although Earl was convinced that the blown bridge in Baton Rouge would not allow a herd to get through and travel the road south into Mamou.
They started gathering what vehicles would still run and used them to block the streets that the zombies habited the most, starting with the streets closest to the mansion. Whenever they found a boat they hauled it to the tackle shop and put it into the canal with enough gas to get away from shore and to the river. Other than Richard’s cabin cruiser they wanted to have at least two more so thirty people could be evacuated quickly while Jenny loaded with the rest.
They were taking the remaining cars from the fairground road when Lucky told Brandon that he still wanted to check out the military evacuation site. He did not tell Brandon that Roxanne had said there was a herd of zombies within the grounds. She admitted that she had never been down that road and if she heard zombies then they were restrained somehow.
“There could be military vehicles, perhaps buses which would be the best use in blocking the streets. Remember how we had that one set up at The Park? We would enter the doors on one side and go out the back to the other side of the wall. We could use that method to go in and out of the city to kill a few more zombies and to scavenge. Roxanne hadn’t checked any of those stores. Besides, maybe I’ll find a vehicle for us to use so I can return Roxanne’s.”
Against Morgan’s objections Lucky had confiscated Roxanne’s truck, saying that he would replace it once they found another, but since they were using all the vehicles to block streets Lucky was still using Roxanne’s to haul people around to other sites. Morgan did not feel that Lucky’s claim of finding another vehicle for the group was his real motive in wanting to go to the fairground but he hoped that Lucky would keep his promise.
Lucky gathered a team of eight including Brandon while Morgan drove the last vehicle back with Smokey. Smokey’s ankle was healing nicely but he was still on light duty and driving cars was a task he could do.
Lucky drove slowly, looking on both sides for signs of zombies for it was out of these woods that Z’s had showed up at the parked cars when they were confiscating along the roads. One of the team leaders in the back spotted random Z’s and silently pointed them out to the rest of the crew. “When we get there, watch our backs that they don’t turn and come up behind us.” They started to pass an occasional jeep or truck and once they saw a tank on the side of the road. Ivan looked at the rest of the crew in confusion. “Why would the vehicles be parked out here and not within the fairgrounds?” he asked. Then they heard the moans above the sound of the truck engine and some of them stood up to look over the cab.
Lucky brought the truck to a stop before approaching the gates. “Shit,” he whispered. “What the hell happened here?” There were hundreds of zombies but most were on the ground torn into pieces. They were so thin that it was obvious that they hadn’t eaten and were almost skeletons. A few were still walking around but were too weak to do more than grab the fence and look at them. They didn’t have the strength to rattle the fence but their moans were fierce with desire.
“It looks like a fire fight of some kind,” Brandon said. “Or something blew up killing them and after they turned they couldn’t get out because of the fence.” He pointed, “That building looks like it was shelled and something caught on fire.”
There were a few limousines parked with open doors and skeletons partially hanging out. There was a helicopter with a smashed window and a zombie in the pilot seat still wearing his seatbelt and unable to get out. The skeletons of dead bodies were surrounding the chopper and it appeared that the helicopter had been swarmed by people trying to board it. How they died was unknown. A jeep was overturned, pinning the driver who had turned. A few zombies still wandering about were charred beyond recognition.
Everyone stared silently, trying to take it all in. Finally Lucky spoke up, “I don’t think that we are in great danger here but we would need to walk carefully because there are so many on the ground that are still moving.” He opened his door to get out and Ivan’s crew jumped out of the back with three of them watching the surrounding woods. Lucky walked up to the gates and saw that they were chained. “Well, someone escaped and had the foresight to lock the gates.”
“Or maybe they were locked in and then killed,” Brandon said.
“Regardless, we can use those limo’s and that jeep if we can get it back on its wheels and I know how to pilot a helicopter,” Lucky looked longingly at the chopper. “If it has gas it would be great for surveillance to spot a herd or to locate another safe site. Let’s kill off these zombies at the gate and get the lock cutters.”
As th
ey were using their staffs to kill the zombies through the chain-links they began to notice other minor things. “There’s a shit-load of suitcases on the ground but no backpacks or duffle bags. These people thought that they were going somewhere safe,” Ivan said.
“Look beyond the chopper out in the field,” Brandon said. “I see several small buses with more zombies out there and one of them is wearing what’s left of a fur coat. Looks like Andy’s fears were right. This was a pickup for the wealthy and no one was coming back to the mansion for him or for the citizens in town.”
They finished with the zombies at the gate and managed to cut the lock. A few Z’s in the woods had heard the truck and circled back but Ivan’s men took them out with silencers. Brandon drove the truck into the compound running over as many ground zombies as he could and turned the truck around to face the entrance out. “Be careful of your feet,” he warned as he got out of the truck. “Just because they can’t move around it doesn’t mean one can’t grab your foot. If you don’t have boots on I suggest that you stay in the truck.” He pointed at the scattered suitcases, especially the large number of them near the helicopter where the bodies were the thickest. “I don’t think we will find anything usable in those, but start throwing the suitcases in the back of the truck. We’ll go through them when we get back.”
