He sat on the couch beside me and handed a graham cracker to me along with a piece of paper.
I’ll be back in a couple of hours. With socks.
-Agnes
“She went alone?” I asked.
“I think she’s pretty tough,” said Matt. “Tiny but tough.”
His eyes were red and swollen, as if he’d been crying. I bit off a bite of the cracker and chewed without enthusiasm.
“I think we need to get back on the road,” I said after swallowing.
“Yeah me too,” agreed Ellis. “The safehouse is going to be our best bet at safety. I mean this woman seems to have it pretty good here, but there’s clearly not nearly enough supplies to last. Plus, she’s leaving when she finds her brother.”
“Do you guys really think her brother is coming? I mean, chances aren’t good,” I said.
“For her sake I hope so,” said Matt.
“Think she’ll mind if we wash up?” I asked.
Ellis shrugged. “Maybe just go easy on the water.”
I nodded and stood. I needed to pee horribly. “Fuck,” I grumbled.
“What’s wrong?” both men asked in tandem.
“Where do I pee?”
“See the drain in the floor by the sink?” Ellis pointed.
“Seriously?” I asked.
“Yup.”
“Look away please? Both of you.”
“Of course.”
As soon as they both averted their eyes, I did my business over the floor drain before proceeding to plug the sink, filling it with only a small bit of water. To my relief, I found a pile of clean wash cloths on a shelf to the left, along with a bottle of liquid hand soap. It was easy enough to wash my face, armpits, and chest without taking my clothes off. I wrung the cloth out and hung it over the sink edge to dry.
“My shirt’s filthy,” I said absently as I turned away from the sink.
“At least you have one,” countered Ellis.
I walked toward him, stopping suddenly when something above us crashed to the floor. Matt stood abruptly.
“What the fuck was that?” he asked.
“Christ,” echoed Ellis.
“Agnes said there’s one of them up there,” I offered. “Maybe we should go get rid of it?”
“Think it’s just the one?” I asked.
“She said it killed her granddad, so I guess he might be up there too?”
Matt cleared his throat. “Makes sense. Poppy, do you still have the tire iron?”
“Yeah, it’s against the wall where we crawled in.”
Another crash sounded overhead, followed by an unexpected bout of extremely loud but muffled cursing.
“What the fuck! The dead don’t talk,” said Ellis.
A single gunshot rang out, and the left side of my head grew uncomfortably hot. I looked at Ellis, whose face displayed alarm. He said a single word to me. I saw his mouth moving but ringing within my head drowned out his words.
“What?” I tried to ask but heard my own question as a muffled mess. The effect was dizzying. Matt approached me, but my peripheral vision was dark, and his sudden presence was startling. Ellis dropped to the ground at the same moment Matt and I did.
My head began to throb with the beat of my heart. Deep down I knew what had happened but wasn’t able to fully process it. Someone was upstairs. A gun fired. I was kneeling on the floor and Matt was pressing against the side of my head with his hand.
“Stay down,” he said. I could barely make out the words.
“What’s happening?” I asked. My arms trembled.
“Stay quiet. There’s someone upstairs and they’re shooting,” he said.
I focused on Matt’s face and lifted my hand to feel the side of my head.
“No, don’t touch it,” he warned.
I ignored him, my hand finding his. His skin felt wrong: wet and warm. I pulled my hand away and looked at it. The fresh blood that covered my palm and was dripping between my fingers seemed surreal, and I wasn’t sure it was even my own hand I was looking at.
Ellis crawled the short distance to us and reached out, taking my bloodied hand in his, and wrapped himself around me protectively. Another shot rang out, and both men and I huddled together. Growing dizzy and feeling confined, I was relieved when they let go and the noise above us ceased.
“Stay quiet,” urged Ellis.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Someone’s shooting,” said Matt just above a whisper.
I took a couple of deep breaths, still looking at my bloodied hand.
“You were hit,” said Ellis, who held my face in his hands and looked me in the eyes.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
“Stay still while we look you over. Then we need to get the fuck out of here, okay?”
“I want to go home,” I sniffled. “Please just take me home?”
“I think she’s going into shock,” said Matt, who had positioned himself behind me.
“Take your hand away so I can look,” Ellis said to Matt.
“I’m fine. Really. Just take me home.”
Panic was setting in and I needed to move, but Ellis wouldn’t let go of my face.
“Look at me, Flower” he said. “I have you. You’re okay.”
“Take me home, please,” I repeated.
“In just a minute. I promise. But right now, you need to trust me. Can you do that?”
I looked at him blankly.
“Poppy. Did you hear me?”
“I just wanna go home,” I said pathetically.
“Matt, hold her shoulders for me?”
“I have her.”
“Okay. I’m just going to peek, Poppy,” said Ellis.
I reached up and found Ellis’ forearms and clung to them.
“That’s good,” he said.
I did as he asked, ignoring the hot tears that fell down my cheeks as my eyelids clenched shut. He kissed my forehead, allowing his lips to linger as if he were trying to memorize me. I knew Matt’s hand came away from the side of my head when I felt a sharp pain in my ear. I winced.
“Easy,” he soothed. “Easy…”
“Need my shirt?” asked Matt.
“No, the bleeding’s slowed. Oh, thank the Lord above,” he said with a relieving sigh. “It just grazed the top of her ear. Poppy, you’re going to be just fine.”
I clenched my eyes closed as a third gunshot rang out.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” said Matt from behind me.
“Right,” said Ellis.
“Keep down, but get to the doorway we first came through,” instructed Matt.
“I’ll help Poppy. Can you grab the tire iron?” asked Ellis.
“No problem.”
I opened my eyes when someone on the other side of the solid door began pounding to gain entry.
“Anyone in there?” shouted a gruff male voice. “Agnes? Open the damned door! Agnes!”
I looked at Ellis, who like me had frozen in place.
“We need to answer him,” I whispered.
“I’ll do it,” said Matt.
“I can fucking hear you in there! Open the door!” the gruff voice repeated. “Agnes!”
Matt stood. “Hold on,” Matt shouted back.
“Who the hell are you?” asked the person on the other side of the door. He didn’t sound particularly friendly.
“Friends of Agnes.”
“There’s more of these things about to break in up here. Open the damned door or I’ll shoot it open.”
Matt and Ellis exchanged subtle nods. Ellis left my side and hustled to grab the tire iron while Matt stood and walked to the tall door.
“I’m approaching the door man…don’t shoot.”
“Hurry the fuck up!” yelled the stranger.
As Matt slid the bar lock out of its holder, Ellis took position to one side, tire iron in-hand and ready to use if need be. The man pounded one more time, just before Matt swung the door open.
&nbs
p; “Easy,” said Ellis from the sidelines.
The older man who rushed in looked seven kinds of wild with greasy unkempt hair, dirt smudged on his face, wide eyes, and tattered clothes. Leaning against him was a woman in even worse shape. Her blue-streaked-blonde hair hung limply to one side with a clump clinging to her forehead in a gnarled mess.
“Help me get her in,” urged the man.
“What happened?” asked Matt, who quickly made his way to the half-conscious woman.
“She got attacked by one of those damned monsters,” huffed the man.
Ellis dropped the tire iron on the floor and secured the door as Matt assisted the injured woman and the man inside.
“Let’s get her on the couch,” said Matt.
“I’ve got you, honey,” said the man. “Daddy’s got you.”
“She’s your daughter?” asked Ellis.
“Yes, Sarah. She finally talked me into coming over here to find Agnes. They’re best friends. I never should have agreed.
They set Sarah on the sofa. Her father helped her lay down while Matt lifted her legs. I stayed put on the floor, trying to absorb what was happening.
“Is she injured?” asked Ellis, now at their side.
“Her left shin, I think,” said the man.
“Ellis, go ahead and find some rags or something and take care of Poppy. I’ll help out here.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. You need to get her ear cleaned. We can’t risk infection.”
The girl, Sarah, whimpered as Matt began rolling her pant leg up.
“Sarah, I’m Matt. We’re just going to take a look-see.”
“Dad, it hurts,” she moaned.
“I know. We’ll take care of that in just a minute,” her dad answered. He stroked her forehead lovingly.
I startled when Ellis knelt next to me.
“Woah, it’s okay,” he soothed. “It’s just me. Think you can make it over to the sink, so I can tend to your ear?”
“I think so,” I answered.
He wrapped an arm around me and helped me stand. I felt light headed, so let him support me. Once sink-side, he wet a washcloth and held it gently against my injured ear, causing me to wince.
“How bad is it?” I asked.
“Considering how bad it could have been, it’s just small potatoes,” he said with a wink. “You’ll have a bit of a scar, but chicks dig scars.”
I looked at him, waiting for the punchline.
“It’s not chicks I want to dig me,” I said simply, breaking the awkward silence.
His eyes lingered on me as if he were deep in thought, his face almost pained. He took a deep breath before taking the cloth from my ear to inspect the injury.
“You’ve lost a bit of blood. There’s a piece I think we can kinda put back in place and hope it reattaches, but there’s a part that’s just going to have to heal like it is. I think if we use gauze and tape we can patch you up, but we’ll need to watch for infection.”
“Okay.”
“We’ve used up most of Matt’s first aid kit already. Can you hold the rag against your head and sit here while I look for some supplies?” he asked.
I nodded and reached up to hold the cloth against my ear.
As he left my side to search for supplies, I watched the scene across the room. Someone had taken Sarah’s pants off, leaving her in just her shirt and panties. Her dad gingerly laid a blanket over her as Matt slid a pillow beneath her injured leg.
“Where did Aggie go?” asked the man.
“We’re not sure exactly,” replied Matt. “She left a note that she’d be back in a bit.”
“Is Linus with her?” he asked.
“Linus?”
“Her brother.”
“Oh. No. She mentioned her brother but never told us his name. She said he’s trying to make his way back here.”
“Damn,” said the man. “I hope the kid is okay.”
“Me too,” said Matt.
“He’s a good man. Scrawny and awkward, but a good man.”
“Sarah’s leg doesn’t look so good,” said Matt.
“She’ll be okay,” said her father. “She has to be.”
“Hey, guys, I found a first aid kit,” said Ellis. “I’m just gonna grab a couple things for Poppy’s ear and leave the rest here. There’s some Tylenol and peroxide.”
Sarah’s dad stood and held a hand out to Ellis.
“Thanks, son. My name’s Al. Is your girl over there okay?” he asked, quickly glancing at me.
“I think so. Your bullet grazed her ear.”
The man’s face went slack. “Oh, hell. Oh damn, I’m sorry.”
“Just focus on your daughter right now. It’s just a surface wound.”
Al hung his head and rubbed his chin with his hand.
Matt used the first aid kit to clean Sarah’s shin. She moaned any time he touched her leg.
***
“Take these,” said Ellis as he handed me two pills.
“What is it?”
“Just Tylenol. It’s not much but it should help with the pain.”
I took them gratefully and tossed them into my mouth. He held out an open bottle of water, which I accepted and gulped from, washing down the pills.
“Okay, let’s get that ear patched up.”
“Thanks, Ellis,” I said.
“No problem.”
I sat still as he fashioned a bandage to my ear. It was painful, but tolerable. He finished it off with a long piece of stretchy gauze that wrapped around my head not unlike a headband. Once he finished, he helped me back to the middle of the room. Sarah remained on the sofa since she was as badly injured as she was. The rest of us sat in a circle in the middle of the floor, taking advantage of the area rug. Ellis encouraged me to lay on my side to avoid further hurting my ear and loaned me his thigh as a pillow. Being that close to him was comforting. Sarah slept fitfully as the rest of us talked quietly. We exchanged stories about what we’d each encountered so far, skipping over the part where Matt had lost his love by his own hand. Al’s encounters mirrored our own. Since moving my jaw caused my ear to hurt, I did little talking, allowing Ellis to tell my story. I listened intently until I grew too tired. I was near sleep when I felt Ellis stiffen and heard the crawlspace door creak open.
“Aggie!” cried out Al.
“Al!” she squealed back. Her face fell when she saw her best friend asleep on the couch, her leg propped up and swollen where teeth marks marred her shin. “Sarah, oh my God. What happened?” She rushed to her friend’s side.
I sat up.
“Aggie don’t wake her,” said Al.
“What happened?” she repeated.
“She begged me to come find you. I knew you had to be down here. One of those damned things attacked us in the backyard. It came out of nowhere. We didn’t even hear it until it was too late.”
“Her leg looks bad,” said Agnes.
“I cleaned it with peroxide and we’re keeping it elevated,” said Matt. “She needs sleep. And antibiotics.”
“We have some upstairs,” she said. “But my granddad and one of those things are up there.”
“I’m sorry, Aggie. Sarah and I came in through the kitchen. I took care of them both with the rifle.”
Agnes nodded. “Thanks. I’ll run up and get the medicine.”
“Let me go,” Al offered.
“No, it’ll be quicker if I do it since I know right where it is.”
“Stay away from the front door. Last I saw there were a few gathered on the porch. The noise drew them.”
“I’ll steer clear.”
As she turned to leave the room, Al grabbed her by the arm gently “Where’s your brother?”
“Trying to get home,” was all she said before moving on to the exit.
“We should all eat something and get some rest,” said Ellis.
“I’m not hungry,” said Al.
“Even so, you need to eat,” Ellis tried to drive the point home.
“I suppose you’re right.”
Matt quietly made his way to the food corner and picked out a few items for us to share. Like Al, I didn’t feel like eating, but gladly accepted a bottle of water and took a graham cracker at Ellis’ insistence. Before long, Agnes joined us once again. She and Al woke Sarah long enough to get her to swallow a large capsule. She refused to eat anything, to Al’s dismay. Agnes talked her into drinking a few sips of a protein shake, but she sputtered on the liquid.
“It’s getting dark out,” said Agnes. “We should bring down some more supplies from the main house. Maybe a couple mattresses too.”
“I should stay with Sarah,” said Al.
“Fair enough. Can you guys help carry a few things down?” she asked Matt and Ellis.
“Absolutely. Poppy, go ahead and stay here. You look pretty pale,” said Ellis.
“I won’t argue,” I said with a yawn. “If it’ll help, I can stay with your daughter,” I said to Al.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Positive.”
Agnes looked sideways at me. “What happened to your head?” she asked, obviously just noticing my bandage.
“Just a bit of an accident,” I said. “I’ll be okay.”
“You sure?” she asked skeptically.
I nodded.
***
While they were gone, I left the door to the room ajar for easy re-entry. I stayed nearby in case any of the dead were to gain entry to the house. Sarah made a few noises as she slept and managed to throw the blanket off herself. I left the doorway to cover her back up but did so hesitantly.
“Sarah, you need to keep the blanket on,” I said, trying to use a calming voice.
She groaned incoherently in reply. Her brow was covered in a layer of sweat, her cheeks bright red, and her lips unusually pale. As soon as I covered her, she flung the blanket off again. I sighed and left it on the floor.
“Oh God,” I said as I took notice of her elevated leg. It had become grossly swollen, the skin so tight it shined even in the dim light of the room. The wound itself was so warped from the swelling that it no longer resembled a human bite mark. Green exudate oozed from it and pooled on the pillow beneath her knee. Not knowing what else to do, I made my way to the sink where I wet a clean washcloth. I wrung it out and folded it in thirds. By the time I got back to Sarah’s side, the others were busy pulling a bed mattress through the doorway. I placed the cloth on the girl’s forehead and quickly joined the others so that I could help.
The Rotten Series (Book 1): Infection Page 19
