The little girl's wide, hazel eyes begged for help. "Please don't leave me out here."
"Run!"
She dove inside the motor home.
"Those things were about to get me." She shivered. "I'm freezing. Please, please, please don't send me back out there."
Mary Anne smoothed the girl's hair away from her face. "Did you get bitten or scratched?"
She shook her head.
"Where are your parents?"
"Zombies, I think." She dashed at the tears falling. "Either that or dead." She wrapped her arms around her waist. "I almost didn't get away. I hid in a car until I heard your motor home."
Mary Anne hugged the little girl. "I'm so sorry, honey."
"Are you going to send me back out there?"
"No, you can stay with us. I'm Reginald. This is Mary Anne, and Belle."
"I'm Katie." Her body trembled, and she stared straight ahead. "Thank you. When I heard y'all, I prayed you weren't bad people. That you'd help me."
Mary Anne turned up the heater and wrapped a blanket around the girl.
"Katie, how did you keep from getting bitten?" Reginald wanted to see if her story stayed the same. It seemed odd to him that the child could survive while rabids attacked her parents.
"I hid in a car, and when I heard your motor, I ran out. If you hadn't stopped, they would've gotten me."
"Were your parents really zombies?" Belle asked.
"We were trying to get away from this area when our car stalled. Dad got out to see if he could fix it when one of them got him. Then Mom tried to help him, but they got her, too." She hugged the blanket around her tighter. "I stayed in our car until I saw a clear spot, then I ran for another one. That's when I heard y'all coming. Otherwise, I would still be dashing from car to car praying the zombies didn't catch me."
"That's intense." Belle took the girl's hand. "My brother got eaten, too."
"I'm sorry."
"That's enough talk about those horrible things." Mary Anne put a cup of water in front of the girl. "Are you hungry? We have a little food."
"I'm starving."
Mary Anne gave her a package of crackers and a candy bar. "Not the healthiest meal, but at least it will help."
"I'm not picky. Thank you."
Reginald continued, but his eyes grew heavy. He yawned several times. Would they be safe if he parked on the side of the road for a while? A small county road leading to the right branched off the highway. He turned, drove a few miles down, and parked.
"What's going on?" Mary Anne asked.
"We're all exhausted, so I'm stopping for a while."
"As long as you don't get us all killed."
"Mom, that's not fair." Belle glared at Mary Anne. "Dad's doing the best he can to keep us safe."
"He did a wonderful job with David, didn't he?"
*****
Randi moved through the marketplace. A young, olive-skinned girl wearing a hijab stepped into a crowded area and opened her wrap to reveal a body bomb. Her hand moved toward the trigger in slow motion. Randi aimed and fired. Pain seared her throat as the girl dropped into the dirt. Red bloomed around her head like a macabre blossom.
Her scream split the air. She'd killed a child. A little girl with a life ahead of her, and Randi cut her down before she had a chance to grow into a woman.
"Randi!" A hand shook her shoulder, and she forced one eye open.
"Wake up!" Josh shook her again. "It's just a nightmare. You're okay."
Problem is, it wasn't a nightmare. Would she ever stop reliving the moment when she decided to end the girl's life? "I'm awake." She sat up and rubbed her face.
"You okay?" Josh stared at her with a frown etched on his handsome face.
"Yeah. It's like you said. Only a nightmare." She forced a blank look onto her face as she hid the emotions deep inside. "We all have them."
"If you're sure."
"Yeah. I need to get up and get going, if you'll excuse me."
"It's still dark outside. Won't be light for another hour or so."
Randi looked out the tent flap. He was right. "That's okay, I'm not going back to sleep after that weird dream."
Josh nodded as he slipped out of her tent leaving her alone.
Randi took a few deep breaths to calm her shaking hands. Why did she even try to sleep? Every night it was the same story. Either Aaron or the little girl haunted her.
She went to the outdoor water pump, retrieved a bucket of water, and set the bucket on the fire to warm. The fires popped, and a coyote howled in the distance providing the only sounds to the still morning.
The water warmed enough to clean up, so she took it to her tent, brushed her teeth and washed. What she wouldn't give for a hot shower. She might as well give up on that, Dad would never agree to invade Barker's house, so they all smelled a little like a mule farm. Spit baths didn't cut the body odor like a full-on shower did.
Since the camp hadn't woken yet, she gathered eggs from the hens and milked a couple of goats.
"What are you doing?" Adriana asked as Randi stowed the eggs and milk in the anteroom cooler.
"I couldn't sleep so I gathered the eggs and milked a couple of goats."
Her sister shook her head, but for once didn't berate her. "Go away. I need to fix breakfast for everyone."
Randi left the anteroom, went back to the fire, and found Miguel.
"What are you up to?"
"I'm about to make rounds." He slipped on his jacket. "Care to go with me?"
They climbed in one of the four-seaters, and he drove to the edge of the fence-line. She stared ahead without really seeing anything. Did she come off as such a tomboy that she wasn't the least bit feminine?
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Right." Miguel hummed a tune for a few seconds. "I know that look. It's not 'nothing'."
"Fine." Randi crossed her arms over her chest. "Yesterday morning Josh asked me if I had a girlfriend."
Miguel burst out laughing.
"It's not funny."
"Yes, it is." Miguel kept laughing. "Man, I needed that. It's been a long time since I had a good chuckle."
"Chuckle my rear. You sound more like a hyena."
"I'm sorry, but knowing you, that comment was ludicrous." Miguel smiled. "Did he get that idea because of your hair? Or because you work construction?"
"I think it's the entire package. Military. Hair. Tats. Construction."
"Have you thought maybe he's attracted to you, and wanted to see if you're available?"
Randi rolled her eyes. "Then why would he ask about a girlfriend?"
"Who knows? Maybe he's socially awkward."
"That takes socially awkward to another level."
Miguel pulled to the edge of the fence. "We've got problems."
Randi focused her attention at the gate. Ten or so zombies leaned against the fence trying to push through.
"They're going to take it down."
"Have we been drawing more every time we shoot the ones at the fence?" She grabbed the binoculars and searched the surrounding area. "I don't see any others, but we keep collecting more."
"Let's not take a chance. Use the blades." Miguel looked at her. "They're coming from somewhere."
Nausea rolled over Randi as she grabbed her dagger. Just one deep slice to the carotid. That's all she had to do. At the fence, she jammed her blade into the first person's carotid artery and sliced downward. Then she vomited. Why did she even bother eating? The things they had to do to survive always made her ill. She spit several times trying to clear the bitter taste out of her mouth.
They dispatched the rest of the rabids at the fence, and continued the rest of the perimeter check. She used the binoculars and checked the surrounding area. "As many infecteds as we're finding, we need to build additional cremation pits."
"Yeah, and up our checks to three times a day. Don'tcha think?"
"If we're finding them at each check, we'll know our problem is even wo
rse than we think."
They finished the checks and drove into the outer area. Randi handed Miguel gloves, and they dragged the bodies into the pit. He poured gasoline over them, and she dropped a couple of matches to start the burning.
Miguel drove them back to the camp. Randi headed to her tent in search of some much-needed time alone. Sleep wouldn't come even though she had duty tonight, but she needed to rest. Away from people. She climbed into her sleeping bag and listened to the sounds of the camp. The children's laughter reached her ears and made her smile, but also speared her heart. Would her sister ever allow her to spend time with her niece and nephew? Toni at least wanted to spend time with her.
Why couldn't things go back to the way they were before? Before she became a mass murderer. Not only was she a killer, she'd dragged her brother, Leon, her father, Mark, and Josh into the killing fields. So far she'd protected her sister and mother from the gruesome task, but the time would come when they would have to kill or be killed. Could her mother take a life? Or would she die rather than compromise her principles? Did killing people who were trying to eat them go against her values? And what about Toni? The child insisted on learning to shoot. How long could Randi protect her sweet innocence before the girl had to become a killer, too?
Randi flopped onto her stomach. So much blood and so many lives on her hands. How could she ever let it go? She hadn't had a decent night's sleep in years. The psychologist called it post-traumatic stress disorder. What would he say now? The trauma was never-ending for all of them.
"Randi?"
"Yeah?" Randi flipped open her tent flap.
"Did you get any more sleep?" Josh stood there with a frown on his face.
"No. Just resting."
"Can we take a walk and talk for a minute?"
"Sure."
They walked to the bridge over the river in awkward silence. She tried to think of a way to break it as they walked onto the bridge, but words escaped her.
Josh turned to her. "Miguel told me about the zombies at the fence."
"Time to up the checks to three times a day."
"I agree." He stared at his feet for a few seconds. "By the way, I didn't mean to insult you yesterday."
"Don't let it bother you." Randi leaned against the railing and crossed her arms. "I have, rather had, before this started, some good friends who're gay, so it's not like I'm offended." What happened to Daneen and Kelly? Were they still alive? They were Randi's best friends. Other than Leon. Now, she had no one.
Josh's face grew redder by the minute. "It's not that you aren't attractive. You're gorgeous." He raised an eyebrow. "Sorry. I know better than to make brash assumptions. I've always hated it when people made assumptions about me because I'm a Christian."
"Don't sweat it." Randi shrugged. "Miguel thought it was hilarious."
His head jerked up. "You told him? Of course you did. Why wouldn't you." Josh looked into her eyes. "If Mark hears about this, I'll never live it down."
"There are worse things you could think of me." Randi took a deep breath. "Things that are true," she mumbled.
"Like what?"
He heard that? Why couldn't she learn to keep her mouth shut? "The guard patrols, having to kill the infected, it's too much. Brings back too many memories." She dodged the whole truth. No way could she admit all of it to Josh. Or anyone else.
He scuffed his shoe against the bridge. "Not sleeping much, either? The nightmare this morning wasn't the first, was it?"
She shook her head. "You?"
"Yep."
"PTSD?"
"How'd you guess?" Josh grimaced. "We came back messed up, didn't we?"
Randi stared into the distance. Messed up didn't begin to touch her. "We're going to be even worse by the time the world is normal again."
"It'll never be normal." Josh stared at the perimeter fence line. "Nothing will ever be sane again."
Chapter Twenty-Two
The sun peeked over the horizon sending orange and red bursts into the blue skies. He used to think of it as a promise of a new day where anything was possible.
Why had he thought he could keep both Mary Anne and Gabriele without complications? How would Mary Anne react if his lover showed up at the compound? He shook his head to clear his thoughts. No way could Gabriele make it from LA. Not since the world had collapsed. His heart ached for her. He'd tried calling several times before the phones went out, but never reached her. Was she dead? He needed his young lover to hold him. Comfort him. She didn't even know about David.
An article he'd read a few years ago came to mind. An illustration compared infidelity to a donkey standing between two bales of hay, but starving to death because he couldn't decide which he wanted. It was based on something the philosopher Buridan said. Was Reginald that donkey? Why had he strayed from his family to begin with?
"I'll drive for a while." Mary Anne touched his elbow. "You're tired."
Reginald shook his head. "Not yet." Last night's dreams of the infecteds ripping his son to shreds nauseated him. If he didn't sleep, the nightmares wouldn't come.
"Suit yourself, but please don't get us in a wreck because you're a stubborn goat."
"Mary Anne, sit down." Reginald pointed to the passenger chair. "Please."
She flopped into the seat. "What?"
"I'm sorry."
"For what? Your tart, starting this insanity, or killing my son?"
"All of it." Reginald glanced in her direction. "Starting with Gabriele. I should never have strayed."
"Why did you? Was I not woman enough?"
"No. You're incredible." Reginald swallowed. "I was unimportant. I worked way too many hours, and when I came home, you and the children had a life without me."
Mary Anne nodded, but didn't speak.
"I should never have taken this job. Even though I thought I was doing what I needed to make things better for our family, I had an affair, developed a toxin that's destroyed the world, and worst of all killed my son."
She took his hand. "I should've insisted you come home more and be involved in our lives."
"Will we get through this?"
"I doubt it." Mary Anne looked back at Belle and Katie. "Chances of us having a normal lifespan nowadays are slim."
"Can you forgive me?"
"I'll try." She closed her eyes rubbed her temples. "I know you tried to save David, but I'm angry and hurting, and I want to lash out at someone. You've hurt me, so you're an easy target."
"I get that." Reginald squeezed her hand. "I know I deserve your hatred."
"No. No, you don't." Mary Anne stood. "But I can't promise it won't show its grotesque face again."
Reginald continued toward Sonora. Was there even a town there or was it a bump in the road? He needed to focus on getting his family to safety. He'd deal with his feelings over losing David, possibly losing Gabriele, and his wife's rage toward him, later.
"Did you sleep at all last night?"
"A little. I rested, though."
Mary Anne glanced at him. "I'll drive a while. You're exhausted."
"If I close my eyes."
"I understand, but if you don't, you're no good to us." She motioned toward the back. "I slept for several hours last night. Now it's your turn. Dig through those drugs you found and take a Valium or something that will help you sleep."
After Reginald popped a couple of anti-anxiety tablets in his mouth, he stretched out on the bed. As he closed his eyes, the image of David lying on the ground staring at him, begging him for help, flooded his mind.
*****
Josh found Randi and Toni in the anteroom making cheese. "If you can't sleep, you might as well come with me to do perimeter checks."
"Sure. Toni, run along and play with the other kids. I've got work to do."
Toni hugged Randi. "Thank you. I had fun."
"Good." Randi gave her a squeeze. "Now, go play. I need to help Josh."
Josh and Randi walked to the ATV barn as Toni scampered off towar
d the fire pit. "She's a cutie."
"Yeah. For some reason she seems to like me."
They climbed on one of the ATVs and Randi slipped her arms around his waist to hold on. He could get used to riding around with her arms wrapped around him. She was beautiful, strong, and independent. The perfect combination. His heart raced at the thought of reaching her on a deeper level. Was he a fool for thinking about trying? She had walls higher than the Great Wall in China, and this decimated world only strengthened those emotional walls.
They finished riding the fence line, and Josh stopped near the gate at the front of the property. "Do you think Uncle Reg and Aunt Mary Anne will ever make it?"
Randi climbed off the four-wheeler, and stretched leaving his back and chest cold without her warm arms wrapped around him.
"I don't know." She stared at the perimeter of the land. "Silver Penny's a long way off, but I hope they do."
"We need to talk to your dad about moving into the house." Josh leaned against the fence. "The temps are still hovering near freezing, and I hate that the children are out in this."
"You can talk to him, but I don't know how much luck you'll have." She rubbed her lower back. "Besides, we don't live in Alaska. The fire pits, sleeping bags, and warm clothing are good enough."
"To me, it's such a waste." Josh sighed. "That space, comfort, and indoor plumbing."
"You and Mark can move inside." Randi rubbed her right leg and grimaced. "After all, you're invited guests of the owners, not poachers."
"Y'all aren't poachers. Not now." He took her hands in his. "You're our friends—no, family. The only family we have left. If my aunt and uncle make it, they'll need all of us to survive."
"You still won't convince Dad. Only your uncle can change his mind."
"Then I hope they arrive soon." Josh leaned near Randi. "Very soon. I'm not so good at roughing it."
She stared at him and slipped her hands from his.
He was close enough he could feel her breath on his cheek. Causing his heart to slam into his chest. Stop. He couldn't complicate things, so he stepped away from her.
Dark Days (Book 1): Contagion Page 18
