Winter's Salvation

by Deyo, Jason

  With the temperature beginning to drop in the village, Eric and his crew had to start looking for other items in the houses and grocery stores they raided. They began to look for warmer clothing which was a challenge because when the world as they knew it ended, the overall temperature was warmer, so the summer clothing was beginning to be put out on shelves. They began to look in people’s closets and began to search through plastic bins in garages for thick coats, boots and blankets. One thing they began to collect and store was children’s toys. They believed they were in October and Christmas was something every child looked forward to, so they were asked by many of the parents of the village if they could look for specific items their children wanted before the end of civilization as they once knew it ended.

  The colder temperatures got a lot of the crew looking for covered vehicles. Jay’s crew put a cover on the bed of the red pickup, but one trip in the back and being in the cramped bent over position for any length of time, led to some hurt backs and some not too happy scavengers. The answer to that was to find something bigger. Eric found and brought back a cream colored Ford Explorer SUV. The Explorer was large enough for the crew to pile in and get out of if they needed to. The vehicle was big and strong enough to run over a few undead without risking too much damage, but the best thing about the Explorer was that it had heat. After the cream colored vehicle was welcomed into the village more people wanted to work with the motor pool just for a little time in any of the vehicles, just to sit in a little bit of warmth.

  **********

  Naomi taught her class from a series of school text books and a few added small black boards the scavengers happened to find on one of their expeditions. She had a system in place for teaching each age group of children. The younger children eleven to thirteen were now working on basic math that most of them were somewhat familiar with, fractions and decimals and the fourteen through sixteen were working on beginner’s algebra.

  She carefully thought about the math problem she wrote on the black board and paused slightly after questioning herself. Naomi was not a teacher, but taking this position made her feel as if she was needed again and she began to find it rewarding. That was until she started entering the higher leveled math. As the math became tougher and more complex the older children started to fight what they were learning.

  The tallest and always the best dressed teenager asked. “Why do we have to learn this?” Michael is sixteen and the oldest kid in the class. He has blond hair, fair skin and always managed to get the newest clothes whenever the village went on a scavenge. He was adopted by a family whose father ran his own scavenger group, so whenever he went out, Michael always managed to get the newest and best items. He doesn’t attend class everyday and when he does he generally doesn’t stay the entire time. Naomi dreaded when she saw Michael sitting in the back because he never has anything constructive to add to the group and always creates a distraction. Today he wore a dark blue button up shirt that was very wrinkled, but clean and a brand new pair of blue jeans.

  Before the zombies began walking and destroying everything she ever knew, Naomi was working on becoming a loan officer with Trusted Funds bank and just started working with interest rates. Most of the time she dealt with adding and subtracting and the vast majority of that was done by computer. She punched in what was to be added or subtracted from an individual’s bank account, the computer told her what to put in or pull out and then she printed a receipt. To this day she still had a hard time performing long subtraction problems by hand.

  “Because someone is going to have to start this world over again and you may, just find a reason to know this.” She was annoyed by the question because she thought about that very same question and couldn’t truly think of an answer that didn’t begin with, “If you were creating a rocket ship or were working on a nuclear reactor.”

  The older group fought the point of learning a math that they believed they would never have a purpose for and Naomi had a hard time persuading them otherwise, but because she had already started she was not going to let them persuade her not to continue. She spent many hours scrolling the text Victoria had given her, under a flash light late at night studying the math she would teach the next day, but found her best resource was Sam and Drew. It was at this point, after that question, she decided this would be the last time she teaches algebra.

  “Why aren’t we learning how to build fires or find shelter?” Asked Michael, “That’s the stuff we should be learning.” He began to get a rise of agreement from the rest of the class. “Who cares what X equals? We should be learning a trade like welding or working on trucks. This is stupid.”

  “How do you think we got engines and alternators and the ability to use hydraulics? People used math. They used the theories that we have today to create running working machinery.” She began to raise her voice a little more than appropriate. “These are the basics for creating and doing anything remotely intelligent. What if you run out of welding wire? Are you going to weld with just that thing?” She waved her hand in the air referring to the welding stinger. “You could create the new form of welding or find a new system for welding. Or you could just help WoJo in his RV. I’m sure he has some dead cats that need to be served. ”

  Michael was not one for being talked down to and insulted, especially in front of the kids that he believed were looking up to him. He was the oldest and toughest and by far the Alpha. “I don’t see the mechanics writing math problems to change the oil and I sure as hell don’t see the scavengers running out there thinking of the proper angle on how to get back to the village.” He stood up from the log. “This is bull shit!”

  “He’s right Ms. Naomi.” A deep, but comforting voice boomed over the class. Standing at the top of the hill behind them stood Elijah in his lumber jack flannel shirt.

  A smile appeared over Michael’s face and he felt his chest stick out a little farther filling with pride. His confidence exploded now that Elijah came in support over the time this woman was wasting.

  “We are obviously not utilizing this young man’s ambition. I’m going to take him from your class and put him to work in a respectful trade.” Elijah nodded to Naomi after seeing the frustration on the teachers face.

  The rest of the children in the class broke out into an uproar pleading for Elijah to take them as well.

  “No you all will sit and chew up everything Ms. Naomi is trying to feed into your brains.”

  As they left the other children stirred in their seats and quite confused, she had a hard time finding her rhythm after the interruption from Michael. She began to return to the existing problem that was on the chalk board, but could not find her place to figure out the next step. After spending a few minutes studying the equation she continued to draw a blank as Michael was flooding her thoughts. She erased the problem and wrote a new one on the dirty black board, but her motivation was not to be found. “It is getting close to quitting time anyway, so why don’t we just pick up here tomorrow.” Without hesitation every one of the children with the exception of Drew and Samantha stood and left the class.

  “What’s Elijah going to have Mike do?” Drew asked Naomi after the rest of the children left.

  “He’s probably going to have to clean the porta potties or something like that.” Sam replied quickly.

  Naomi watched the students walking back to their tents laughing and carrying on, everyone of them wishing they were doing whatever it was Michael was doing right now.

  “Ya’ll should go get cleaned up and get ready to eat. I don’t want to be the last ones to get there this evening.” She said to Drew and Sam as she gathered her books and notes.

  **********

  When Naomi showed up to the covered food truck, a line of villagers was already starting. Her hunger was growing and she believed she showed up early, but the villagers began arriving earlier to ensure they would get their share of food. Standing at the back of the line, she scanned the villagers in front of her and at the table
s looking for Drew or Samantha.

  With six people left in front of her she finally saw them standing close to the end of the growing line. She hesitantly stepped from her place in line and walked to them smiling at the villagers who gave her any acknowledgement. Many of the people she passed paid her no attention, but it was not happenstance. Some of them appeared to purposely look away from her. She couldn’t help, but think this all stemmed from her kicking Michael out of class today.

  “I thought you would be here earlier?” Naomi said to her children and stepped in front of them joining the line again. She turned and said to the man standing behind them, “I was up at the front of the line, but jumped back here to be with my kids.” She smiled at him and was taken in by his relatively clean shaven face. He was a tall man in his mid thirties with a very pronounced chin and new stubble covering it. His hair was well groomed and she was surprised she has never met this man. More and more people were coming to the village, so she understood he was new, but his demeanor was one of comfort in his surroundings.

  “No it’s fine just jump on in. It’s all good.” The man said under a smile.

  “Thanks.” She began to talk to Sam when she was interrupted.

  “We all have to stop what we’re doing early to get a good spot, but apparently not enough people are busy here anymore because this line continues to get longer and longer every day.” He showed his seniority, by his comment and also began to grab the interest of the people behind him.

  Naomi felt she had created enough bad publicity today and she was exhausted from replaying Michael’s and her argument. To stop any hostility she spoke very politely and slowly. “I am sorry it appears I had butted in front of you, but I was already in front of you up there.” She pointed to the head of the line, “I stepped out to be with my children. Sorry for the confusion.”

  “There’s no confusion. I’m quickly realizing if you have any type of responsibility you will get screwed.” He threw his hands up and began talking in third person. “I guess you just won’t eat today Jason. Who cares if you work all damn day for this shit ass village. If a pretty face decides it wants to step in line because her kids saved her a spot.”

  Drew was quick to stop him and pushed him into the people behind him. “Fuck you!”

  Naomi completely drained pulled back on his arms. “Don’t worry about it. He’s just as angry as the rest of us. I got some food at our place.”

  “You can get in front of me.” The woman in front of them offered. Naomi had thanked her and put the children in front of her.

  “I’m not hungry after all, but thank you, so very much.” Naomi responded and walked over toward Elijah who sat in the middle of the filling tables. The grass in this area was dead from all the feet traveling on it and sat across from the sheriff, as he put a large amount of white meat into his mouth.

  “Did you get your food yet?” He said after the food in his throat fell into his stomach.

  “No not yet, I am beginning to see that I may not have been your best choice as a teacher.”

  He pulled his eyebrows together making creases in his large forehead. “Explain. I think I am a decent judge of character and I believe you are the best person to teach our youth, but what seems to be bothering you?”

  “If I am unable to explain to an adult, if there are fifteen people in line in front of you and one person decides to step out of line to join some people behind that person, but still in front of you, there is still fifteen people in front of you.” She threw her arms up in the air in defeat.

  “No I believe you explained it perfectly well, because I’m not the brightest star in the sky by any means and I understood perfectly. The problem you are faced with is some people are just stupid.” He stood up from the table, “Hold on.” Elijah walked to the roach coach and went to the back. After a minute Naomi saw him walk back around the mobile cafeteria with a plate of food in his hand.

  He placed the plate down in front of her. She looked at the plate and then to the man that made her get out of line initially. He had watched Elijah carry the food to her and now she gave the man a look of triumph. “Thank you. I appreciate it. I am absolutely starving.”

  “You’re welcome Ms. Naomi.”

  “So what are your plans for Mike?”

  Elijah put a piece of cut meat into his mouth and chewed it while he thought about her question. He chewed it for a long while not saying a word and Naomi got the impression he didn’t have any plans for the boy. “You know, Michael is a good kid,” he swallowed and then began to cut into the meat again, “and some children are just destined for other paths than the norm. He will conform to our society, but it is going to take some remedial discipline.” He put another piece of meat in his mouth and began to think again. When he swallowed he picked up his conversation. “I had a dog once named Jasmen that basically destroyed everything. It didn’t matter what it was.” He started to chuckle to himself. “My mother’s brand new shoes, my dirty old ones, my mother’s hand bags, even her new set of pots and pan handles. Now that I think about it she might have just not liked my mother.” Laughing even harder now and it got the attention of everyone at the other tables. “Jasmen was a great dog, after a while. A year or two it took until we finally figured out what to do with her. She had, so much built up energy, that she would have to displace that energy onto whatever she could and she generally did it by breaking and destroying anything in her path. The way we got her to stop her path of destruction and a trip back to the pound was to make her use up all that energy. And also beat the shit out of her.”

  Naomi did not really like the comment all too well and it was evident on her face.

  “Things were different back then and we weren’t so touchy feely with everything like we are today. Or at least, were, past, recently; or recently past. You know what I mean. Anyway I would strap a book bag onto her back and I filled it with rocks. Small ones and light ones until I found what she was comfortable with and what she could handle without hurting my girl, and then we would go out back and my brother and I would throw the foot ball back and forth. The whole time Jasmen would run back and forth between us trying to get the ball. In just an hour she was completely wore out and she would pass out until we came back from school and then we would do it all over again. The moral of the story is my shoes and my mother’s items were never bothered again. Mike is like Jasmen. I just need to find out what I can do to displace that energy and whip him into the model member of the village.

  “Thanks for dropping Mike off to us. We really could use that extra hand.” Eric said as he sat next to Naomi straddling the bench surprising her and jumping into their conversation. “Jay told us to give him the shit jobs that no one else will do.”

  “I guess you know where I placed him then.” Elijah said facing Naomi smiling as if she just found out a big secret.

  “Yeah he said he needed a little motivation to get his act together. So he could join the rest of the village.”

  Elijah leaned over to Naomi and talked quietly to avoid any ease dropping. “I placed him in the care of the motor pool and Doc. When the motor pool is finished with him or at sun set when we shut down, he would be dropped off to Doc.”

  Eric moved in closer to the two, “You could not have dropped him off at a better time and we are actually really glad you did. We were about to draw straws about who was going to be the unlucky S.O.B. to pull the corpse out of the wheel well of the truck.”

  “He might learn his lesson sooner than we thought then.” Elijah let out a chuckle.

  Naomi was distracted and disgusted by his job assignment, but was very curious as to what exactly happened and how he was going to get it out. “So you actually have to do that? Pull stuff out of the trucks like that. And what happened that one of them got hung up in the truck?”

  “Well nothing special, really. We were on our way back and one of them walked out between two parked cars and we hit it. Nothing special about it, other than getting hung up in the t
ire. It is done, I mean no longer moving, but it has to be removed. We were literally getting ready to figure out who was going to do it when you walked in and called for Jay.”

  “I wonder how many times he is going to get stuck doing jobs like that before he comes back to class?” Naomi asked both of them.

  “What? He did something in your class today to get him kicked out or something?” Eric asked Naomi.

  “He was being a pain and a distraction and Elijah just happened to be walking by and pulled him from the class.”

  “I imagine he is going to play it up for a week or so and then find a way or a reason for him to be back in class. Michael is not the type to apologize and he will tough it out for a while until he thinks he can keep his dignity.” Elijah put the last bit of meat into his mouth and swallowed, “You will never get an apology from that kid, but he will be a different kid when he comes back. I can assure you that.”

  Eric responded, “Yeah Jay said to make his visit as miserable as possible. We already have a few jobs designated for him. Once he’s done with the stuck ghoul he’s going to clean the chimney vents in the shops and of course he will be in charge of custodial services.”

  Naomi was pleased with the repercussions of his actions in class today and as Drew and Sam sat with them, she changed the subject to other village issues and began to eat the meal Elijah had gotten for her.

  **********

  Darkness came quickly that night and the wind started to blow stronger with the dark clouds. The black clouds brought a little bit of rain, that everyone knew was only going to get stronger. When the sun set here at the village most activities stopped if nothing was going to be cooked on the fire pits and when it rained, the village turned into a ghost town.