Nikki wept nearly the entire four days, wondering if Bobby was still alive and if he would magically come back and save them. She missed her husband and wished that he were there to help her during the hardest time of her life. It’s becoming too much for her to handle and her time of need is now. She wants Bobby home more than anything and she hates the fact that he had left even after Eddie had gotten sick. She felt anger against Bobby’s boss and wished that Mr. Masterson died a horrible death. Being eaten alive by his employees at the news station wouldn’t be too far fetched and seemed like a logical possibility. She reassured herself that the prick son of a bitch is dead because even if someone were not blood thirsty and crazy they would kill the asshole anyway. She would probably do it herself if she wasn’t stuck in the house with Eddie flying off the deep end constantly. She kept playing it out in her mind about the old bastard forcing Bobby to take the trip to Kentucky to do a stupid news story for them. The only people that watch the Cheyenne news actually live in Cheyenne and if they wanted to know what’s going on in some other place they would watch one of the big dogs. Not the Channel 4 News.
She looked down at her arm as she sat at the kitchen table and wondered if there would be any end to the madness. It’s ten o’clock in the morning according to the battery operated radio sitting on the kitchen counter. The power had been out for nearly two days and the food in the refrigerator is beginning to spoil. The milk had long since gone bad and she dared not drink it. She wouldn’t take a chance to consume anything that had come from a cow, much less any other animal for that matter. No sense in taking any unnecessary risks. She had been living off the packages of noodles in the pantry and the bottled water that she kept in case of emergencies. She laughed for a moment as she thought of Bobby hounding her for stocking up on extra canned goods and bottled water. He had said, “That’s silly honey. They’re not going to close any of the restaurants up here during the winter. This place was built in the snow.” But it wasn’t built during the fucking apocalypse now was it Bobby? She laughed again as she looked out of the kitchen window. She wondered what it would feel like to be outside once again; what it would be like to live peacefully as though nothing had happened and if everything was back to normal. It would be wonderful, she thought.
She leaned back in the chair and looked at the white speckled ceiling and it brought back the memory of Eddie’s birth. The bright lights in the delivery room of the hospital had shined in her eyes and she could feel the pain of the lights burning her eyes. She was surprised at the fact that she could feel anything else besides the terrible stretching of her womanhood being torn between her legs. My God, how ironic, she thought. Eddie was born at 10:05 a.m. With that thought, she shook herself back to reality and stood up from her chair. She walked to the hallway and looked at the closet. The chair was undisturbed and resting peacefully in front of the door. She wondered if Eddie was dead on the other side. She hated herself for the thought, but told herself that if it were true then the pain and suffering would be over for them both. Maybe Eddie is dead, she thought. Maybe he isn’t suffering anymore. Maybe I can open the door and reach in and grab him, just hold him in my arms and rock him. The thought hurt, but it kept consuming her mind. Eddie being dead seemed more logical of a solution to the problem than letting him continue to suffer. She looked back in the kitchen and her eyesight seemed to be drawn straight to the kitchen knives that rested in the wooden stand on the counter. There’s one empty slot that usually housed the butcher knife that she had used to carve her neighbors up a few days ago. She had put it in the dishwasher so she wouldn’t have to watch the blood rinse away under the water coming from the sink faucet. She stared at the handle of next largest knife in its wooden slot. She wondered to herself if she could do it. Eddie has had to suffer more than anyone the past four days. He hasn’t eaten or drank any water. He must be suffering. I have to do something. He’s my son for goodness sake.
She grabbed the handle of the knife and pulled it from the wooden holder. It made a slicing sound as its shiny blade protruded from the wood and the morning light from the kitchen window reflected on the long blade. She gripped the handle tight and held it as though she were ready to slice and dice a tomato. She felt her heart skip several beats. Her breathing sped up and she felt a strange wheezing in her chest with every breath she let in and out. Her hands trembled and she nearly dropped the knife at her feet. She had to sit down. She can’t do it just yet.
Time passed slower than a dying clock with a cheap battery. Nikki sat in the kitchen chair with the knife clenched between her palms as she stared at the floor. Memories of her and Bobby kept playing over and over in her mind. Memories of Eddie would come and go. She tried her best to not think of them both. She wondered if she would have to go on the rest of her life without Bobby and what it would be like to take care of a son that is infected with some unknown disease. She wondered how long Eddie would live in the condition that he is in. She told herself that the most caring mother would do it in her situation. Why put the boy through anymore suffering than he has already been through. Just do it already.
She stood up from her chair and looked down at her hands and stared at the knife. Her legs began to shake. She could feel a strange trembling sensation run up and down her spine. Along with it came a slight pain that struck her from head to toe and back to her head again. She turned to see the dimly lit hallway and listened for Eddie. She heard not a sound and hoped that it wouldn’t be necessary to use a kitchen knife to take away his pain and suffering. She walked to the doorway between the kitchen and the hallway and looked at the chair against the closet door. Still no sound. She walked into the hallway and stopped in front of the chair. Still no sound. I hope he’s dead already. God, please spare me from this horrible deed that I must follow through with. She looked at the closet door and a strange feeling overtook her body. She felt light headed and weak in the knees. She reached for the closet doorknob, but before she could grasp it, she collapsed in the chair. She had fainted.
There had been no communication from the television or radio towers for four days and not one sound from a helicopter or a military vehicle driving by. Nikki had been scared to look out of the windows, but whenever she mustered up the courage, she could see nothing but rotting carcasses and abandoned vehicles. The smell of the bodies laying in the streets had crept through the inefficient window seals and filled the house with a foul smell that would surely take years to cover up. Not a living soul had been in sight for days and Nikki had begun to think she and Eddie were the only two human beings left alive. It was as though they were on some deserted island, left to fend for themselves with little food and water they couldn’t consume. It is literally a ghost town in the middle of Cheyenne. Something that she never thought would ever be possible given this day in age. Cheyenne had been just like any other town. Even in the snow, people would still be wondering about. There is no snow on this autumn morning, but the town is deader than any place Nikki had been to across the country.
Nikki awoke at the sound of the alarm clock on the kitchen counter. She had forgotten to change the setting from a.m. to p.m. when she set the time. It’s now three o’clock in the afternoon. She felt her stomach tighten up as she tried to sit up in the chair. She knew she needed something to drink, but the thought of Eddie suffering in the closet behind her took over her thoughts again. The knife had fallen to the floor in front of her and rested at her feet. She leaned over to pick it up, but the pain in her stomach jerked her back in the chair. She tried to muffle her painful screams in fear of waking Eddie, if he’s not already dead.
She slowly bent down and grabbed the knife. She looked at the long blade and how sharp it is. She pictured herself sliding it into Eddie’s little chest. It wouldn’t’ hurt him for very long. The pain and suffering would be over for him and he would surely be in a better place. She gazed at the knife and twirled it in her hands. She turned and looked at the closet door. Tears began to run down the sides of her cheeks. Wh
at is she thinking? She can’t kill her only son. It’s never too late. There has to be a way to survive this madness. She threw the knife from her hands and it landed at the end of the hallway and clanked off the baseboard of the wall. It rattled back and forth for a moment and then it lay still and lifeless. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths and tried to rid her mind of the thought that she was only minutes away from killing Eddie. She wondered if she had gone through with it, would anything actually turn out better? She had seen a horror movie one time where the actor killed the others off so they wouldn’t have to suffer any longer. Nearly a minute after he pulled the trigger, he was saved. Bad timing for sure.
She pulled the curtain back in the living room and peaked out into the darkness. She kept her flashlight off just incase anymore of the hostiles would see her. She looked out in agony and sadness, wondering how such a thing could have happened, given all the medical technology and the advances in medicine in the country. She wondered to herself if this epidemic had spread worldwide. She sat down and leaned her head against the window ledge and began to cry. All she could think of was missing Bobby and him not being there to help care for their son. She wondered if Bobby had encountered the same ordeal and if he had made it through alive. She reassured herself that Bobby is a Marine with combat training. Her smile fell away and she became a little discouraged when she remembered that his job was taking pictures, not necessarily fighting off the enemy. She made herself laugh for a moment at the thought of Bobby’s using his camera to “shoot” someone to death.
Maybe he’ll come back with some nice pictures of this combat zone.
She laughed again, but abruptly stopped. Her laugh turned to a slight whimper, thinking about the town being a combat zone and the enemy being their neighbors. No one can be trusted, but of course, she hasn’t seen a living soul in four days and if Bobby did return, would she be able to trust that he didn’t turn into one of them? She tried even harder to hold on to her faith and promised to God that she would do anything He wanted so long as Bobby comes home alive and well.
Eddie was sleeping quietly in the closet in the hallway where he had been since she barricaded him in there when this all first went down. Nikki would slip food in between the door and quickly shut it back again. She could hear him eat as she cried out of sorrow for keeping her son locked in a closet for nearly four days.
Nikki sat on the floor in the kitchen, watching the clock on the counter as it slowly moved past two o’clock in the morning. The house was completely quiet as she sat there with her head in her palms. It was a perfectly quiet night, all except for a distant engine roaring down the road that seemed to get a little louder with each passing moment. She ignored it at first, thinking it was an old generator someone left running and the deadness of the night made it echo louder and louder as time went slowly by. As the sound became louder and more distinct, Nikki jumped up, surprised and scared at the same time, not knowing whether it could be help, or if the crazy meat eaters have figured out how to use vehicles to maneuver around the streets. The noise became louder and louder. It’s definitely a car engine, she thought. Nikki ran to the window and carefully peaked out. She held the curtain slightly back and looked out with one eye. She kept her flashlight off and tucked away in her shirt in case she would accidently push the ON button and shine the light, giving away her location. She could see the headlights in the distance. She became more scared and anxious as the sound and lights got closer. Suddenly, the noise became familiar to Nikki. It was a noise that she was all too familiar with from her childhood. She heard it every morning at 6:45 to pick her up and at 3:15 in the afternoon pulling away after dropping her off. And if you weren’t on time you were shit out of luck.
“Is that a school bus?” she reluctantly asked herself. “Why is there a school bus out at two o’clock in the morning.” She stood up to get a better view out of the window. The bus got closer and closer to her house and then suddenly stopped in the driveway. Nikki freaked out and ran into the kitchen to get the biggest knife she could find. She forgot about the knife she had thrown on the floor so the next largest one had only a six-inch blade. She has no idea who is outside of her home. She wished more than ever that Bobby was there with her and that he could stand between her and whoever had come to torture her in the middle of the night. Her first thought was that it could be scavengers raiding homes for food and water. Her blood pressure went through the roof as she ran to the door, holding the knife out in front of her. She could hear the wiggle of the door lock from the other side. She breathed heavier and heavier to the point she felt like her heart was going to explode, and then. The door burst open.
Nikki swung the knife, but missed. A big hand reached up and grabbed her hand and the other went around her waist. She screamed in terror and tried to break her knife hand free.
“Nikki,” said Bobby. “Nikki, it’s Bobby. Let go of the knife. It’s okay sweetheart. I’m home.”
Nikki fell to the floor and burst into tears and dropped the knife at her feet. All she could do was scream as she leaned back on her knees and stared up at Bobby. If she screamed any harder she would surely faint. They met face to face for the first time in nearly five days. The look on their face was as though it was the first time they had met or the day little Eddie had been born. Bobby knelt down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. They held each other while Troy walked past and cleared the house with his pistol, checking for any crazy people hiding out.
“Oh my God,” said Nikki as she wept. “I’ve missed you so much. I love you so much. We stayed strong for you. I knew you would come back for us. I knew you would.” She hugged him harder. “I love you. I love you.” She kissed him all over his face.
“Where’s Eddie,” asked Bobby. “Is he okay?” Bobby let go of Nikki and looked around the house. “Where is he? Is he fine Nikki?” She kept crying and held onto him tighter. Bobby grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away. He gave her a quick shake and said, “Nikki, damn it, where’s Eddie?”
Nikki began to cry more as she pointed to the closet.
Bobby looked to the closet blocked with the chair. “Is he dead?” asked Bobby.
Nikki shook her head. Bobby pushed Nikki to the side and ran to the chair. He pushed it away from the closet and motioned for Troy to get a vaccination from the bus. Bobby took a deep breath as he slowly opened the door. He saw Eddie lying on the floor, barely alive from being starved of the blood that he had been longing for the past several days.
“Oh my God,” said Bobby as he reached down and picked up Eddie. “He’s barely breathing.” He looked at Nikki who continued to weep in the middle of the floor.
Troy returned with the vaccine and administered it in Eddie’s arm. Bobby held Eddie in front of Nikki and they hugged him. He was unresponsive at first, but after a few moments of waiting for the vaccine to work, Eddie began to come to. Nikki and Bobby were so excited they broke down in tears now that their family is back together and safe.
“Daddy,” said Eddie. “I’ve missed you and mommy.”
“I love you son,” said Bobby. He looked at Nikki and she could tell what thoughts where going through his mind. He was happy that his wife had remained strong enough for Eddie and herself. She kept the family together until the very end. She is such a wonderful mother that would do anything for her child even if it meant taking away his pain for good.
A NEW BEGINNING
A few days after Troy and Bobby arrived back to Cheyenne, others across the country became aware of the vaccine. They had succeeded in spreading the word on their two-day trip back to Cheyenne and Sampson was apparently having the same luck with his expedition. With the help of determined citizens, communications systems and power plants were quickly restored. Teams were put together to salvage what food was left in the grocery stores and the markets to ensure that everyone in town had a fair share. Anyone with medical experience was assigned to work at the hospitals and clinics in order to treat those that had been w
ounded by the cannibals or were hurt from some other freak accident as a result of the madness. The word spread rather quickly about how to treat those that were wounded and how to take the necessary precautions to avoid becoming infected by the recently deceased. Thanks to Agent Mike Sampson, the cause of the disease was narrowed down to a rare strand of mad cow disease that infected its human counterparts with a horrific result that would alter mankind forever. According to the government, the strand did not exist and the phenomenon was eventually ruled as an act of God that no one could have known would happen. The story that Bobby had prepared on the recent events and the information provided by Sampson were confiscated due to a supposed threat to national security.
Unfortunately, the country was not prepared to fight an epidemic of this scale that nearly wiped out the entire population. Those who have received the vaccine have returned to normal conditions and are receiving regular tests to insure there are no lasting side effects. All forms of beef have been ruled as unfit for consumption until further notice along with any and all dairy products that are retrieved from cattle. There were no ceremonies for the brave men and women that helped to return the nation to as normal of a place it could be after such a travesty. With the help of brave men such as Sergeant Carl Anderson, Trooper Jeffrey Anderson, Bobby Evans, Troy, and Mr. Sampson, the country was able to survive the worse medical epidemic in the history of mankind. They put their selfless actions ahead of themselves in order to save those that were in dire need, even when they were faced with certain death themselves.
The whereabouts of Betty are still unknown to this day.
Table of Contents
THE MILLER FARM
The Gorging Page 23
