by catt dahman
“You have awesome bats,” Hannah said. “Did you find those down there? Smart thinking.”
“Yes, we found them…with tons of trash stored down there. “I’m not kidding, I would have gutted them slowly and smiled all through it while they screamed; it was horrible down there, and they did it for fun.”
“They were some pretty nasty people. Glad we didn’t let them live,” Beth said, rubbing Julia’s shoulder.
“They deserved to suffer,” Julia told them, eyes hurt, “I want justice.”
“All the gutting in the world wouldn’t be justice, Jules. You don’t want to live with those images when you sleep, you know?”
“We did after Len did what he did.” She shot back. Len had coldly tied the raiders who had raped and murdered and tortured a friend of theirs by allowing a zed to feed from him while he lived.
They had also been cannibals. After tying them, he had allowed the zombie to take chunks of the raiders before shooting them in the heads. It had been terrifying to see and hear, but they had stood by his justice.
“It’s not in you,” Beth told Julia.
“But it is in Len?”
“Yes, for whatever reason, it’s in him until he works out his inner demons,” George said. “He can heal. Don’t go down that path, Jules. They’re dead. That is good enough so they can’t ever do anything like this again.”
Juan and Alex, with Josh’s help, explained everything they had been through, seen, and done. Those listening were disgusted by the first zombies the team had fought, amazed by what all was stored in the rooms, and then proud of how their friends had fought back. Juan glossed over the part about Conner taking Tim into the room alone, knowing they understood what he left unsaid.
“I’m a kid, but even I wouldn’t have picked up anything left on the table,” Hannah said, shaking her head at what Mark had done.
“You did a good job, Juan. You saved his life, and I bet he recovers fine,” George said of Conner. “He can adjust.”
“And I didn’t lose a trigger finger,” Johnny grimaced.
“I’m amazed at how you all stuck together and survived; it doesn’t sound easy,” George said.
“Why would they put snakes in a pit?” Andie asked.
Earl shrugged, “Because they enjoyed torturing people.”
Alex rolled his eyes, “I said the same thing. Snakes…cliché.”
Kim spoke slowly, “I’m surprised you all survived all that; it’s really insane. But you did. Maybe you have wounds, but you made it.”
“We did because of Julia and Juan, and everyone else,” Johnny said. “All did twice their share.”
“Julia and Juan…after Conner was hurt…were unreal. Conner had us all doing fine, but then, I know we all have trained good teams, but this team is badass,” Josh said.
“You did your part, Josh; imagine if we’d had a bunch of whiners and complainers who did nothing?” Juan added. “It took us all. I wish the other three had made it.”
“Bad luck, one mistake, and that’s it. No do-over allowed,” Johnny said quietly.
Teeg smiled, “You’re all still badass.”
“I’m hungry and tired,” Crystal said softly. Her body language had changed, and she already was giving the others control; she was exhausted.
“That’s why we’re heading back to the hospital: to Doc and to get you some real first aid, food and rest,” George said.
“They had real first aid.” Juan patted George’s back. “I’m an expert as Conner can attest.”
Conner, drowsy with pain pills and tiredness, managed a partial grin, despite the pain, “Someone took Juan’s knife away from him.”
“Hey,” Juan protested, “I did a fine job.”
Before they got everyone up and to the vehicles to return to the hospital, knowing their jobs were done and needing to recover, Kim said the one thing that almost made it all worth the pain and work.
“Really,” he said, “Len will be proud as hell.”
14
Safety
“They did what?” Len was yelling as he saw his friends and heard the story, “I wish you had brought those sons of bitches back here for me to beat them to death.”
“You sound like Jules, except she wanted to gut them,” Beth told him as they helped Conner and Johnny into the hospital where the doctor prepared to treat them with better supplies.
Len’s eyes popped as he took in the extent of injuries his friends had suffered. Johnny’s poor hand bled and Conner was barely on his feet with the pain and loss of his hand.
Len was so angry that he looked as if he would pop a vein. Seeing Conner with a bloody bandage over a stump was almost a physical blow to Len and hurt him down deep to his soul. He wanted to kill someone. Slowly. He swallowed anger at Kim for killing them too easily. Kim was a good man. Way too good.
“Len, take a breath. They did a damned fine job, and at least they’re alive,” Beth said.
“I want to hurt them.”
“I know. Jules did, too. You can’t though. You can’t hurt all the people; they don’t deserve your effort and you lowering your dignity,” Beth argued.
“When it is fresh, you can have vengeance. Now, be glad they survived and let go,” George said, “they wouldn’t have learned anything from torture ‘cause they were gonna be executed. It’s over and done this way, so we don’t waste time on this.”
Len looked as if he had suffered the trauma himself, worrying over his friends and hating that he had such anger in him. Sometimes he wanted to beat the whole world. But all the justice he found was never enough, and he didn’t know how to fill the void that was in his heart.
“Now, that you all did the worst of the work and dealt with the raiders, our teams can go in and have an easy time completing the cleaning up of the compound,” Bryan said.
“Very funny. I’m hitting the bed as soon as I eat.” Julia slugged Bryan in the shoulder as she passed him. “Like you could have done as well…”
“I don’t imagine many could have,” he admitted.
“It wasn’t easy; God, but I’m tired,” Josh said.
“Not that tired.” Crystal winked at her friends, Kyleisha and Natalie as she grabbed Josh by the arm and pulled him along behind her, exaggerating the sway of her hips.
“Lookit that booty.” Natalie laughed. “And he’s gonna get that booty.”
Kyleisha hooted with laughter. “Way to go, Crystal!” she called.
With a laugh, Andie pretended to cover Hannah’s ears. Hannah tilted her head, “After near death experiences, people often have an unstoppable urge to mate. It goes back to survival of the species but is often used as comfort. You can see it in most disasters and wars. Hence baby boomers.”
“Hmmm,” George mused, “out of the mouths of babes?”
“Speaking of babes,” Len took Julia’s hand, and as she looked at him in some confusion, he led her down the hallway.
“What the hell?” Beth asked Kim.
“I dunno…why are you asking me?” He was as shocked as any.
“Told you,” Hannah smirked.
Misty fell against Beth, laughing so hard. “Can you believe it?”
Mark stepped in, taking Misty’s arm and shooing them away. “Can we all get busy again and stop gaping and standing slack-jawed?”
“But it’s Len,” Beth protested. “And Jules? Oh, my God.”
Alex motioned for them to go with him, “Come on, let’s gossip, away from those who don’t appreciate it.”
“But it’s Len,” Beth said all the way down the hall.
15
The Light
Leandra watched Ariel, Danny, Zane, and Fred walk toward her as she caressed them with her ocean-blue eyes. Fred wore jeans that had turned white from washings and a shirt made of an American flag; his skin was dark, almost black, as was his big Afro hairstyle, and his eyes radiated deep intelligence, something people often missed when they type-cast him.
Danny looked like a throwb
ack to an earlier era as well, in a too-tight red knit shirt and light jeans, but he had the face of an angel, beautifully sculpted.
Both women were braless, in tops and jeans, bare feet showing from the ragged bottoms of the denims. Like a generation long before, Leandra followed simple rituals as she made a chain of daisies while sitting on a homemade quilt in a field speckled with yellow, purples, white, and red flowers.
“Anders says it will be time to go soon.”
“So soon? Diana wasn’t sure when…”
“And that unknown worries Anders. It could be sooner than later, and we need to be ready.”
Leandra sighed. She had never known a life outside the family. Oh, some would call it a cult, but they would be very wrong since no one followed a megalomaniac leader or was a brain washed follower.They simply worked the land, stayed away from the outside world as much as they could, abstained from alcohol, drugs, and tobacco, and tried to live in peace. Marriages were monogamous, which was more moral than some so-called religious groups had.
Leandra had grown up hearing her grandmother, Diana’s, prophecies and seeing them come to pass, so there was no trickery involved, only well-educated minds, who saw the facts before them. Diana had not even called them that much but had called them trends and feelings she got about things, claiming that anyone could foresee the future if she just understood the past. It was a little more than studying the past, though.
Some things such as the assassination of Jack Kennedy, Hurricane Katrina, and the events of September 11, and various other tragedies were terrible to see come true, as predicted by Diana, but nothing had struck Leandra as hard as prophecies about herself and her life.
The family had started with nine brilliant young people, fleeing the real world: a French/mathematics professor who loved Diana, and seven others. The woman’s visions began after she gave birth to Leandra’s mother. The commune grew until it was a large family, able to sustain its self, always fueled with education, all of them home schooled. Almost all young people went off to college to learn and to see what was out there and then returned to the family where there was honest simplicity.
But now that would change, and it terrified Leandra. Diana predicted a disease would take seven of ten people while they spewed bodily filth, and then they would rise up from sleep to attack those with immunity and eat them as food. The world would be a living hell of the walking dead. She said that fire would rain from the skies, and buildings would crumble as humans and trash burned in the streets.
They had thought she meant the apocalypse, the end of the world, but Diana said no,this was not the end, no matter how terrible it sounded or would be.
Those were just the first two strikes at mankind, with the third and final strike being a dark child led by a dark, evil man who would wage his own battles, seeking to finish off all of the humans left. Diana said it was a Biblical event set in motion by nature and man.
However, there was a positive for any negative:there would also be a force of light and good left for those who wanted to set the world to rights, fighting hard there. She called this hope.
Leandra had thought of the tale of Pandora’s Box; all of the evils were released, but hope was still left for men to hold onto.
It was years ago: Leandra loved Danny the second she saw him even if she were very young. He loved her, too. He had joined them, seeking something more in his life and found all his dreams coming true. Nothing felt as good as sweating while working the land, learning, family, and trust.
But Leandra was a beautiful girl, and many men watched her with lust and desire. While she washed and played at the river, Lucas, with his coal black hair, dark eyes, and dragon tattoos all over his torso and arms came to watch her.She ignored him.
“Why do you shun me? Am I too old for you?” he challenged her.
She thought he might be as old as time when she looked into his cold eyes. “Yes, I do.”
Lucas was not part of the family yet, but had come to visit to see if he might be a good match there.
Diana would have known if he would be, but she had left for a while, claiming she couldn’t become a religious figurehead for them, leaving only a diary full of prophecies. She had been gone for years.
“I have things to do.” Leandra was only fifteen and scared of the man.
“I’ve searched for you for a very long time.”
“That’s too bad, Lucas. I am not available; I have decided whom I love, and it’s not you.”
He laughed at her. “All of my life, I heard slithering whispers from the closet, gargoyles who shared secrets with me, and snakes who gave me hints; it was always you, my dear.”
He was far too bold, and the weird words made her feel queasy. “Go away.”
“I’ll stay.”
“What do you want?”
“I need a special woman to be my wife… to have a child with. I desire a mate. I have waited for thirty years since I was thirteen to find you.” He stepped closer and seemed to be sniffing her, inhaling deeply with his head cocked to the side. He was overly dramatic. “What is this?” He grabbed her arms roughly.
Leandra wanted to scream but was frozen in place with fear. Lucas would be thrown out of the family, and Danny and Fred might kill him for this, but right now, she was scared to death.
“You lost your virginity,” he roared at her. She thought of Danny and the night before as Lucas shook her like a rag doll. “I may be too late, but not too late,” he riddled.
Leandra lunged to the left to break away, opening her mouth to scream, but he was suddenly holding a shining switchblade close to her face, “I will carve you a new mug, my dear. Close that little mouth. Shut that pie hole.” He chuckled.
He yanked her to the ground beneath him, the wicked blade winking with sunlight, “You carry a repulsive seed, but mine will thrive. The child you have, only hours old, still a little mass of cells, will not survive. My child will, in your womb, devour that child and expel it…where you will wipe it away with tissue paper and toss it into the trash to be burned with the rest of the common trash.”
His eyes glowed red, she thought, or maybe that was the blood thudding in her brain as she panicked. All at once, Leandra’s head felt empty and limbs cold, and she almost fainted from pure fright.
She closed her eyes tightly as he grabbed at her clothing, and she found that hitting him was no more effective than beating at a wall.
There was pain in her private parts. She heard water rushing over rocks. Hot, stinking breath filled her face. Sticks and rocks poked at her back. As if a dream, she crept back to her room, bathing, willing the images to go away as she wept.
Leandra awoke in her own bed, a soft tee shirt and panties covering her body, sunlight streaming through the window glass. Turning over, she wondered if she had awakened from a terrible nightmare about Lucas. It had seemed so very real. As griping, glassy cramps shot through her lower stomach, she curled up; it felt like the worst menstrual cramps on earth.
She got dressed and went to see Anders, who ran the family with loose control, but he was the one everyone trusted and loved. He cursed that she had been raped and said Lucas would die. He held her tightly in his arms and said, “Diana said there would be a dark child and a light child in one womb.”
“Is that even possible? Could I carry children by two men?” Curiosity was stronger than her shame and revulsion.
“It is possible because it is true.” Anders called for the men. Danny almost foamed at the mouth because he was so angry.
The men in the family went to find Lucas, intending to hang him, but he had gone; they burned his belongings.
In the nine months that followed, she was happily married to Danny.Yet, she was scared of her pregnancy since many days; she would double over with the pain of what felt like a battle going on in her uterus. She dreaded when the time for giving birth would come, but there was no stopping it. Many nights, Danny held her close, whispering that it would all be okay. He, alone, took a
way her nightmares of being raped.
Then it was time. Labor began.
The first child that came out was a strong baby with fuzzy black hair who squinted at them but never cried, who only watched them.
The second was a beautiful golden hair child who looked just like Danny. Anders ordered the first child to be taken to a room that only he and Leandra would have a key for, in case she changed her mind about wanting the little boy. Only she could decide now.
Through the night, Leandra and Danny stared at the lovely child whom they named Zane, and the thought of the dark-haired child seemed to fade from their thoughts, and Leandra banished him from her mind.
Yet, Zane still had the little nail marks on his body from where his brother had fought him.
In the morning, when Anders checked on the child, it was gone, the crib empty, and he told the others, “The child has been taken by his true parent.”
It was almost a relief.
Now, Leandra held out her daisy chain for Zane to see. He was seven, a handsome, no, a beautiful child that everyone loved; he was kind, smart, and gentle with a wonderful sense of humor and quick smiles. He told his mother the summary of his education that Fred had taught him, about the workings of the government. Having been raised in the community, Leandra wasn’t able to distinguish just how bright Zane was, but she knew he was very smart.
Fred pulled Zane up for a horse ride while Danny helped his wife to her feet.
Anders had called a meeting, saying that it was time for them to prepare.
“It’s too soon,” Leandra protested.
“It’s her prophecy; we can’t change it, Lee. And while, yes, it’s sad for the world to deal with so much misery…dead people walking…a Biblical prophecy as well; it’s also a time for hope and wonderful things. Zane is special, Lee.”
“I’d rather he were just a little boy.” Leandra had a strong will and was stubborn.
“I don’t think we get to pick and choose. But it’s special to be the hope of all men; God sent him, Lee.”
“He isn’t Christ,” she said bitterly.
