“Well my father was more like those people. I wasn’t nearly that bad. Now I guess I wish I had been,” Alex said.
While they finished their dinner and she cleaned the dishes, she told Easton and Candace the stories of her childhood. Remembering that Mitch Duncan was adamant about having a year’s worth of food in his bunker. He always had tubs of powdered and dehydrated items that could last for 20 years if need be. And not just cases of water like Alex had saved, but barrels of it that he rotated every month. The work to maintain the bunker was hard, and all of the kids were given specific tasks to keep up the supplies.
During those years, Alex was taught everything she would need to know to prep her own household for any disaster. As she grew and moved away for college, much of those teachings were forgotten. She did not take her father’s crazy theories or predictions seriously. However, some habits and lessons that are pounded into your head so often are hard not to follow. So even before meeting Blake and having the kids, she always had her own bug out bag. She often had a tub that was full of common camping gear, in case power or other facilities were lost.
After her wedding and she became pregnant with Billie, Alex became slightly obsessed with the storage of long sustaining foods. Blake always humored her needs, and understood them, when she told him the stories of Mitch and his crazy idea of rearing children. That obsession and need to protect her family is what set them off so well during this plague. In addition, thanks to Gary and his RV, they were doing all right, despite their dire situation.
“So your Dad knew his stuff.” East commented.
Alex finished washing the dish she was holding, and handed it to him to be dried. “Yeah apparently. I kinda wish he was around now, so he would know he was right all along.”
“No. He’s better off where he is. Just like my Mom,” East said.
Alex stopped and looked up at him. “She loved you very much, that was very clear to me. She wouldn’t have left you if she had a choice.”
East didn’t comment, just nodded and continued to dry dishes and put them away where Alex directed. He had the need to help, in any way. Alex could see him being a child that worked hard for anything he had. His family probably hadn’t been well off, he was old enough to have a job, so he probably went to school and worked. Alex appreciated his help, but she didn’t feel he or his sister were obligated to her. And she said so to East, but he just shrugged and said that’s what his mother would have wanted him to do.
The dishes done, the sun was slowly setting behind the desert mountains. Henry ran up, grabbed East’s hand, and pulled him back to the couch.
“Let’s watch a movie!” Henry exclaimed.
“A movie? How do you do that?” East asked.
“We have a generator on the RV. But I also have a solar powered generator that I use so the kids can have their electronics. Keeps them busy while I’m handling business,” Alex explained.
Henry popped in an animated movie and sat on Easton’s lap. Easton looked confused for a second, and didn’t know how to handle the little boy’s attention. He looked up at Alex for some sort of sign or maybe it was reassurance. Alex just nodded, smiled, and went to check on Billie in the overhead bed.
With the movie playing in the back of the RV, Alex laid down next to Billie. The little girl stirred as she felt her mother’s hand on forehead. Alex was pleased to feel her fever was slightly lower. She would need another dose of antibiotics and Tylenol soon. But food in her belly would be better first.
“Pumpkin do you want to eat something? I have some spaghettios waiting for you,” Alex whispered to her. Billie burrowed her head into Alex’s neck and laid still for a while. Alex brushed her hair back, running her hands through the silky strands.
“Mommy, why is this happening?” Billie asked, her voice muffled. Alex took a deep breath and paused, thinking.
“I don’t really have an answer for that baby,” Alex said. Truth was easiest.
“Will we die like those sick people? Is that what’s wrong with me?”
Alex pulled Billie back from her, so she could look into her eyes. They were puffy from sleep, and her nose was red where she wiped it too often. Nevertheless, her eyes were still the piercing blue they had always been, no sign of the horrible plague from outside. Even though Alex knew it was very unlikely for Billie to be ill with the plague, the reassurance helped her heart settle.
“No. Billie you have strep throat, like you’ve gotten before. The medicine I got you is going to help ok? Now I want you to eat something, so you can take another dose ok?”
The night was quiet, as everyone lay in their beads. Easton and Candace shared the pull out couch for now, until Alex could come up with a better solution. Easton had insisted they were fine, and it was plenty of room. He was way too tall for any of the beds in the RV though, so she figured he would be more comfortable on the ground, once she was able to obtain a pad or small mattress for him. Alex added that to the never-ending list of things to do.
Sleep came slowly tonight, and Alex had so many thoughts going through her mind. She was now responsible for two additional children. And no matter how old and big Easton was, he was still a child. In this world now, he was practically defenseless. He could learn, and he seemed strong. That was promising, Alex thought. She hadn’t thought twice about bringing them along, and so far, it was proving to be a good combination. Henry especially was happy to have found a new friend.
The next morning, Alex awoke before everyone else and quietly moved around to ready the RV to move. She decided an easy breakfast of bagels and the last of the cream cheese was best. Easton woke next and he came to the kitchen area to help Alex. He looked at her, as if he had something to stay, so Alex waited for him to build up whatever nerve he needed to spit it out.
“Alex, I have a favor. I mean I know you’ve already done more than enough….”
Alex cut him off. “I haven’t granted any favors to you Easton. That’s not what this is. You ask your question.”
“I want to go back to that Walgreens. I need to….I feel like…..I can’t leave my mother there like that,” Easton said in a rush. Alex looked at him, tears glimmering in his eyes, but never falling. The look he had brought her back to the moment she had to end Blake, and her heart could feel the deep tear in it again.
“It’s not an easy thing to do,” Alex whispered.
“No. I figure it’s not. But it’s the right thing to do,” Easton said, straightening his shoulders with resolution and pride.
She had to admire him. This 16-year-old boy, which was confronted with this situation. Losing his mother in a horrible manner, being taken in by strangers, trying to look out for his sister. And at every turn, he wanted to work for what he got, and wanted to do the right thing. In a world that was going to break people, this boy would be the ship that weathered the storm. Alex could already see it in him.
“Ok. We’ll go back,” Alex said.
An hour later, the RV was packed up and everyone was fed. Easton had broken the news to Candace, who had cried on his shoulder, but agreed it was the right thing to do for their mother. Alex pulled the RV around the Walgreens, as she had done the day before. The building looked undisturbed, except the broken window at the pharmacy. She parked the RV close to that window again, and strapped on her weapons. Easton had his bat in his hand.
“I can go alone,” Easton said.
“I know. I just wanted to make sure we didn’t leave anything useful behind,” Alex lied. She wanted to be there for Easton, protect him, as she had promised his mother.
Alex exited the RV first, looking both ways, and quickly dispatching an approaching infected. She motioned for Easton to go through the window and she followed close behind. The Walgreens was still dark, and quiet. Alex moved to the metal rolling door, and waited for Easton to confirm he was ready. He grabbed his bat tighter in his hands, he looked pale and scared, but he nodded to Alex to open the door.
The noise of the metal rolling up ec
hoed through the Walgreens, making Alex cringe. As soon as they were under it, the first thing she noticed was the body was gone, confirming that the teens’ mother had rose again. Now she was an undead shell, wandering looking for her meal. Easton looked up the aisle and started to one side. Alex followed closely behind, her bowie knife in her hand.
They rounded a corner, approaching the photo department, when a dark figure lurched into sight from behind the counter. It was Marcy, Easton’s mother. Easton immediately froze, bat at the ready, but not moving a muscle. Alex approached and stood next to him, watching his face, but also watching as Marcy approached, fingers looking like claws, waiting to sink into flesh. Easton’s breathing was rapid, and Alex would swear his skin was slightly green. His eyes filled with tears, and Alex wanted to reach out to him.
Instead, she whispered, “Easton, you need to do this now, if you’re going to.”
“Momma,” Easton’s broken voice, sounded like a 5-year-old little boy.
“Easton, she wouldn’t want you hurt. You need to stop this,” Alex said, more urgently as Marcy was getting into bat swinging range. But Easton did not swing. Instead, he stood like a tree, rooted to the ground in the middle of the Walgreens aisle. His eyes stayed glued to the form that was once his mother. Skin, sagging and gray, except for the black bite that was visible on her shoulder. Her eyes were pits of black, no life left in them. Easton looked as if he were drowning in them.
“Easton!” Alex exclaimed. Marcy was now inside bat swinging range, and would reach Easton in her next few steps. Realizing he was not going to do this, Alex shoved him back a few steps, and took the situation into her own hands. She quickly and cleaning shoved her bowie into Marcy’s temple, and allowed her corpse to fall in the aisle. Easton collapsed on the ground behind Alex, and she could hear his broken sobs.
Turning, Alex looked at the form of Easton on the ground, and she did not hesitate to reach out. She sat next to him and put a comforting arm around his shoulders. He turned into her, crying on her shoulder, and she made quiet shushing sounds that a mother makes.
“I couldn’t,” he said.
“I know,” Alex replied.
“I thought I was stronger,” he whispered.
“We all think it’s a matter of strength, until we’re faced with it. Then we realize it’s a matter of the heart,” Alex said.
“Have you had to kill a lot of people?”
“They aren’t people once they’ve turned into this,” Alex said. “And yes. I’ve had to handle a few over the last few days.”
They sat in silence for a few moments, Easton’s breathing hitching and his large shoulders shaking. Alex just sat with him, patting and shushing. She didn’t want this for the boy. Nevertheless, it was a door to closure for him and Candace. They would know for sure now their mother was at peace, and not wandering the Earth trying to eat people.
His tears dried, Easton sat still, taking deep breaths, trying to compose himself, before pulling back from Alex.
“I’m so sorry,” he said.
“Don’t be sorry. That was your mother. But what I just killed wasn’t her anymore. Don’t let your last memory of her be that, ok?” Alex said. She patted his arm, before getting up and getting to work. The two of them went through the Walgreens again, row by row. Easton blushed a little when Alex saw him grabbing nail polish and all the tools to do nails.
“For Candace. Maybe it could brighten her up someday,” he explained. Alex nodded and smiled as she bagged as much candy as her bag would fit. Alex always had a sweet tooth, so she figured it couldn’t hurt to have candy on hand while it was still available. When Alex turned again, Easton was gone down another aisle, so she followed him. She found him standing in front of the feminine care products. He looked lost, as he glanced through all of the products. Alex smiled, and stood next to him.
“Do you know what she needs?” She asked. Easton just shook his head.
“Ok. Want me to help?” She asked. Easton nodded. Alex choose a few options that she thought would be appropriate for a teenage girl, and put them into a bag.
“Anything else you guys need?”
“We need clothes. We left our house without much, and we lost most of it on the run. But there aren’t any real clothes here. Maybe we could stop somewhere when we’re on the road?” Easton asked.
Alex nodded, and they continued through the store. Easton grabbed a few books he saw, hoping to give Candace some distractions. He also grabbed a few energy drinks left on the shelf. Once they were satisfied with their haul, they headed back into the pharmacy. Alex took a moment to go through what was left throughout the pharmacy. She found a few useful items, but came upon a locked door. If it was locked, it was useful, Alex thought.
Using Easton’s bat, Alex pounded at the doorknob, until it bent and broke off. Not the most effective way to open the door, definitely not the quietest. Once she saw inside, she was smiling from ear to ear. She hadn’t seen the signs, but this was a Walgreens that also had a clinic. The room was an examination room, and was supplied with multiple first aid supplies, single doses of pain medication, blood pressure cuffs and more. She went back to grab more bags and packed everything she found useful.
Easton gave the Walgreens one final look, before he boarded the RV. Once the door shut, he began to put away the supplies they had found. He took the manicure items to his sister, and Alex brought Billie and Henry to the front seat to give them some privacy. In the rearview mirror, Alex saw Candace crumple against Easton as he told her of the end of their mother. Looking forward, Alex pulled the RV out of the lot, and began to head out of town. She prayed that the desert was forgiving and the roads were clear as they worked their way to Montana, and she carried out plan Sundown.
Chapter 12
“So why Montana?”
Easton was sitting in the front seat of the RV as Alex drove. Heading North from Pahrump, they had not encountered much in the way of people or military presence. The flat desert on either side of the small highway was a help when they needed to avoid stopped cars. Alex and Easton checked some of the cars for supplies or clothing, but found little in the way of useful items. After about an hour in the front, Billie and Henry got bored and Easton joined Alex instead.
“Montana? My father had a compound there. My brother lives on it now. When we were young, my father created a plan, called Sundown. It was a code for all three of us to know if he used it, or any of us used it, we were to go to the compound and seek shelter,” Alex explained.
“So is it self contained or something like that?”
“Mostly. He had an underground bunker big enough for a few families. He dumped almost every penny into securing the place for any disaster. This would qualify as one of those,” Alex said.
“And what about your sister and brother?” Easton asked.
“I called my sister, Max, right after this started, and I guess I activated Sundown. I couldn’t reach my brother,” she said.
“How long do you think it will take to get there?”
“Well, it shouldn’t be more than a 19 hour drive, maybe a little longer in this big beast,” Alex said tapping the steering wheel with the heel of her hand. “But I don’t mind. This is the thing that will keep us safe until we get there.”
“We can come with you, to the compound?” Easton asked hesitantly. “I mean is there room?”
Alex looked over at the boy that she had known barely 24 hours. She glanced in the mirror to see Candace sitting on the floor with Billie watching a movie while they drove. Henry laid on the couch behind them, and they were all engrossed in whatever was on the screen. They were quiet and content for the moment, and Alex appreciated the presence of the young girl. Both of the teenagers distracted Billie and Henry from some of the worries they had. They already fit like puzzles pieces with them.
“Of course. You are staying with us. I won’t leave either of you.”
Easton looked relieved, but he did not say anything. Alex could imagine his fe
ar. She must seem very prepared for everything in the RV, with the disaster plan. No, the teenagers weren’t part of that plan. However, caring for human beings was. Though she still cursed Mitch in her mind for giving her that trait, she had almost died once because of it, she wouldn’t change taking in the teenagers.
“I want to learn. To shoot. To survive,” Easton said.
“We can work on that. I have empty cans we can practice on when we have time. We could talk about survival while I drive,” Alex said. “First lesson to survival is food and water…”
Alex went into the lesson Mitch had taught her, about how to ration, how to find water when there wasn’t any running available. She went on to explain about stagnant water, and purifying when you find water, to ensure you didn’t get ill. Easton watched her, and seemed to be absorbing her words one by one. He would nod at the right places, and asked specific questions, that Alex praised him for.
Looking ahead down the road, Alex saw that the road narrowed, and there were some cars crashed on a small stretch of highway. Unfortunately, where she had swerved into the desert to miss the blockages before, these blocked the entrance to a small bridge, which crossed over a deep ravine in the desert floor. She slowed the RV to a stop, drawing Easton’s attention forward. They both looked up and down the sides of the ravine, not finding a spot the RV could safely make down and up the other side.
“We’ll have to push one of them out of the way. Let’s check for supplies and then roll it out of the RV’s path,” Alex said, as she threw the motor into park, and turned off the loud engine. The desert was still and silent except for the whisper of the wind across the barren landscape. Alex heard the movie pause, and turned to see Henry and Billie watching her expectantly.
“Billie you have to stay inside, you’re too sick. But Henry if you want to stretch your legs for a few minutes, I think this would be your chance,” Alex said. Henry jumped and cheered, gaining a small smile from Candace. Billie pouted, and laid down on the couch. Alex decided to give her some candy later, to make it up to her.
Sundown Series (Book 1): Prepared Page 11
