by Karen Carr
“We all have,” I said.
“I know,” Huck said.
He touched my chin, pinching it between his fingers and thumb. I felt a jolt of electricity go through my body before I grasped his hand and pulled it away. Huck gave me a quizzical look. I wanted to ask him if he cared about her more than me, but what right did I have? I couldn’t answer that question myself, who I cared about more, him or Zeke?
“Let’s just see where it goes,” he said.
“Where what goes?” I asked.
“Listen, we’re tired,” Huck said. “We should take Hipslow’s advice and go inside.”
My mind was racing with so many different thoughts, I wanted to stay up all night and talk about them. But, my body was telling me something else, so I had to admit defeat. I sucked up my breath and followed Huck into the gym.
We walked into the gym where Hipslow was waiting for us. Dozens of cots had been arranged in a row, making the place look like a shelter from a natural disaster, a flood or an earthquake. This disaster had been epic and we still didn’t know what caused it. It could have been natural or manmade, something we might never know. It had been over an hour since we left the group, so most people had settled into their cots.
“We borrowed these from the Red Cross,” Hipslow said when he saw me gazing at all the little white beds.
“Did you make these people sign contracts for their use?” I asked.
“No, Hella. We do have some compassion. We let people get back on their feet, let them begin to feel normal, before we ask them to work. We can’t support all of these people on our own, you know.”
“I know Hipslow, I’m sorry. Take me to my little white cot before I stick my other foot in my mouth.”
“Your suite awaits you in the back.” Hipslow gestured to the back of the gym where several blue tarps had been erected for privacy.
The tarps were the kind one would use to cover a hole in the roof, or a prized possession you didn’t want to get ruined in the rain. I was glad for the makeshift wall, but not happy that we would have to walk past all of the cots and people to get there.
Some of the folks had already noticed me standing with Hipslow and by the whispering and pointing, soon everyone would notice me. I felt like I should do something, or say something, so I raised my hand and waved and gave a small courtesy. Some people waved back, others smiled and gave me the thumbs up.
“See you down there,” Huck said. He touched me on the cheek and then marched down the aisle of cots. I wasn’t sure if he was doing it for a distraction, so people would look at him instead, or if he didn’t want to be seen with me.
Whatever the reason, people were watching him intently. His strides were big and slow, his broad shoulders muscling with every movement. He swaggered with confidence and precision, and only a few people weren’t watching him.
“Your turn, Hella,” Hipslow said.
Hipslow took me around the side of the gym so that we only had to walk past one row of cots and not the center. Some people had setup makeshift privacy screens with blankets and poles, others had brought in suitcases to store their stuff, still most had no personal items save the clothes on their backs and the weapons under their cots.
I admired Hipslow for being able to put a disaster relief center together so swiftly. We had only been gone a month, but so much had changed in Pittsboro.
As I walked down the aisle, I connected with these people. Their expressions were a combination of warmth and solidarity. All of us shared a common goal, to rebuild our world, and it was written in all of their faces. Most were weathered and gaunt from living the last eight months in hunger and fear. In the shadows their baggy eyes and ruddy complexions made them look older than they probably were.
Some had fresh battle wounds, but all showed signs of hope, especially when I walked past them. It was rejuvenating. I felt like I could walk in circles for a hundred miles around these people. It might be the most boring career in the world, but it was also the most worthwhile. Saving the world step-by-step became my new mantra.
My heart warmed when I saw the sleeping Reverend. In cots on either side of him were Harper and Mikey, the two children I had rescued from Haverlyn Village. Harper was still awake and gave me a blissfully warm smile. I stopped to kiss her goodnight and tuck her in. She was my sister’s age, and although we started out rough—I did kill her brother, I now saw affection coming from her eyes.
“You get some sleep,” I said.
“Are you staying?” Harper asked.
“Yea, sweetie, of course. I promise.” I caressed her hair, wondering how long I would be able to keep that promise.
Hipslow and I walked further until we reached the back of the gym.
“We have arrived,” Hipslow said.
In a grand gesture, he opened the tarp and showed me the cots behind it. He motioned for me to go inside with a wave of his hand and a tip of his head. After I entered the makeshift room, he said goodnight and dropped the tarp behind me.
The room was lit in a soft glow by a battery operated camping light. Eight cots were arranged in rows of four. I tried to avoid eye-contact with Huck who was sitting on a cot near Ana. Instead, I focused on my other friends, all of whom were situated on their own cot.
Zora and Boa were sleeping on two cots pushed close enough together that they were touching. Zora’s outstretched arm rested on her sister’s stomach, her hand moving up and down with each breath from Boa. I smiled when I saw Zora’s brightly colored scarf tied around the metal bar of her cot and frowned when I saw glinting metal of her knife stashed under her pillow.
Stan and Saudah’s cots were pushed close together too, only they were both awake. Stan put his feet on the floor to stand, but I put my hands up, palms forward for him to stop. I joined them both on their cots and we hugged each other for a long time.
“Get some sleep,” I whispered, “I think we’re going to need it.”
“You got your pinky?” Saudah asked.
“Right here.” I touched pink gun, safe in its holster.
I stood up, leaving them to rejoin their bodies in spoon position. Ana sat on a cot that was pushed up against the wall and was reading a book with a flashlight. Seeing her made my blood boil after what Huck had told me, but her eyes portrayed yearning and made me want to understand her. I sat down next to her noticed she was reading a Spanish-English dictionary.
“May I?” I asked, gesturing toward the book. She handed it over and I looked up a few words. “Mantente Fuerte,” I said. “Stay strong.”
Ana nodded and smiled a bittersweet grin. “And also you,” she said in English.
I touched her shoulder and felt her muscles stiffen in reaction. My head tilted as I examined her features, waiting for her sincere expression crack. Huck came forward and pulled me up by my elbow, sending a relived expression over Ana’s face as she sagged against the wall.
“Hella, get some sleep,” Huck said as he took the cot next to Ana.
I gave him an evil stare, and he tightened his grip on my arm. Peeling his fingers from my arm, I chose the cot farthest away from him. There was one more cot, most likely for Zeke who was still missing. I heaved a sigh and began unlacing my boots, trying to avoid hearing the words of Huck and Ana who were whispering next to me. Instead, I thought of Zeke and tried to remember our time together in Mace’s prison, his large muscled body next to mine.
Was Zeke really attracted to me because of my virus? My eyes surveyed the cots and the sleeping bodies of my friends and finally connected to Huck’s. Ana had turned the other way and was facing the wall with the sheet mostly covering her head. Huck was still sitting up in his cot watching me.
I ran a hand through my dirty hair, making spikes out of the short locks.
“Why are you staring?” I whispered.
“I’m not staring at you,” Huck whispered. “I’m watching the tarp. There are too many strangers here.” Huck held his revolver between his legs. “I don’t want you to get hurt.�
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“Nobody is going to come stab me in the middle of the night,” I said.
“Are you so sure?” Huck asked. His tone gave me the chills.
“Yes,” I said.
I then turned my back on him and went under the white sheet, instantly smelling spring fresh laundry detergent. I held the sheet up to my nose and took another whiff, the smell transporting me back to happier times. Folding sheets with my mother, jumping on my parent’s bed, making tents out of the furniture and all of the blankets in the house. It is with these thoughts that my eyes grew heavy and I found myself falling asleep
Chapter 5
Waking up with the sun shining in the windows, I blinked while I adjusted to the light and the sounds around me. My eyes felt heavy as I focused on my surroundings. It took me a moment to understand that I wasn’t in my childhood bed and that my mother wasn’t cooking me breakfast. My aching back and the squeaking cot brought be back to reality in a sickening wave of dread.
The tarps were still up, and I was alone except for Saudah who was watching some activity on the other side of the blue screen. Everyone had made their beds, with the sheets neatly tucked under the mattress. Saudah turned around when she heard my rustling. Her skin was glowing and her hair was still wet from a shower. Wearing a short-sleeved polo and loose fitting jeans made her look like she was back in college and ready to go to her next class.
“Good morning sleepy head,” Saudah said.
“Good morning fresh face,” I said back. “Where can I get a shower and some new clothes?”
Saudah picked up a pile of clothes from a chair. “Zora left these for you. She said you’d like them.”
I looked at the clothes. Yoga pants, a light blue tee shirt with an American flag embroidered on the left pocket, and a brand new bra with the tag still on it, ample enough for my chest. Saudah also handed me a light jacket, a new holster and a pair of Birkenstock sandals.
“Thanks,” I said. “My feet will love you for these.” I picked up the Birkenstocks for emphasis.
“Zora took your other holster,” Saudah said. “She said she’d have the other holster fixed so you can carry all of your weapons. She knows how attached you’ve become to your guns.”
Instinctively, I reached under my pillow to make sure my pink gun was still there. Saudah guided me to a door on the other side of Ana’s cot, one I hadn’t noticed before. It led to a small corridor that smelled of chlorine.
“Through here.” Saudah motioned to a door that read Girls. We walked into a locker room, and past rows of lockers, some with the lock still attached. Saudah opened another door, revealing the entrance to the showers, the floor glistening wet from previous use.
“They all work,” Saudah said.
“How did they manage that?” I asked.
“I believe the solar installers are here,” Saudah said.
“From Haverlyn Village?” I asked. I had to laugh, remembering the installers at the restaurant. They were always there on a Friday night after work slinging back beers until closing time. Before the apocalypse, they worked hard making many apartments in Haverlyn Village fully operable on solar power. Their skills were almost as valuable as mine after the apocalypse. How I wished I was back at my cozy apartment in Haverlyn Village, fireplace and all.
Saudah handed me a set of fluffy green towels. “It’s all yours. Come find me when you are done.”
I stood in the large room feeling strange among the dozens of showers, all bending their heads down waiting for their next customer. I walked to the farthest shower and took off my crusty old clothes, placing them next to the clean ones on a bench. I put my gun on top of the pile. In case anyone surprised me, I would have time to grab my gun and shoot them.
The sunlight from the high windows lit the area and reflected off of the wet surfaces. The solar installers hadn’t done anything with the lights, but hot water was more important than having the ability to see every nook and cranny. I turned on the shower and waited for the water to become extra warm while I examined the basket of supplies placed against the wall.
Inside the basket was strawberry shampoo, peppermint body wash, a razor for my legs, a wash cloth and a bar of soap. I stepped into the shower and let the water roll over my body, watching the mud and crusty blood spiral to the drain. My short haircut that Zora had given me was already growing out. Some of the snarled blond locks came out in my hands and I gagged when I realized it had bits of flesh stuck in it.
I examined the bite on my hip, the one that my undead neighbor gave me so many months ago, and the one that seemed to trigger my virus. If it weren’t for him, would I have contracted the virus that gave me so much protection?
I might have been immune all along like the others, but where had the virus come from? I let the warm water cascade over my sore muscles before I took the bar of soap and washed and shaved my legs. I avoided the peppermint body wash, not wanting to cover up my natural mint-honey scent. It would be good to start testing people to see if they were immune to the zeroes or not. It wouldn’t take long to line up eighty nine people and have them smell my arms.
I turned off the water, dried off with the towel, and changed into the clothes that Saudah had given me. Coming out of the shower stalls, I was met by Harper, the twelve year old girl from Haverlyn Village.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hi,” Harper said. A crimson colored blush covered her cheeks. “I forgive you for killing my brother,” she blurted out.
“Oh Harper,” I said. “You are an amazing girl.”
I knelt down to her level and looked at her. Flakes of hazel sparkled in her light brown eyes. “I am so sorry that it happened. I didn’t mean to kill him, of course. I didn’t know my bite could turn people into those horrible creatures.”
“I know,” Harper said. She hugged me. “Please don’t bite anyone ever again.”
“I won’t ever again, trust me.” I hugged her back. She was so small and fragile in my arms. “How do I smell?” I asked, extending my arm.
Harper sniffed it. “Like soap.” She laughed. “You used the strawberry shampoo. What do I smell like?” She extended her arm.
“Like peppermint,” I said. “It’s nice to be clean, isn’t it?”
Someone opened the curtain and I recognized the woman who had asked me to help her family in Sanford. Her creased face was sunburnt red. She was overdressed for the weather, having several layers on, including a collared shirt, a sweater over that, a light jacket and another heavier jacket. She had several layers of skirts on as well, and a pair of blue jeans under the skirts. She carried a medium sized suitcase and put it down on the floor, looking around as she did.
Harper bristled and clung to me when the woman approached.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” the woman said. Her eyes shifted around the cots like she was looking for a place to sit.
“It’s alright,” I said. I offered her a seat next to me, making Harper jump up and move to the cot next to mine.
When she sat down, I regretted my decision, her breath stank and a putrid smell came from her clothes. Her dark brown hair was unwashed and streaked with gray.
“Thank you so much,” the woman said. She reached for my hand and I instinctively pulled away. She seemed to sense that I was uncomfortable with her, so she straightened up and put her hands in her lap. “I’m sorry about my appearance.” She fumbled with the layers of skirts she wore. “I’ve been afraid to take anything off, for fear that someone would steal it.”
“Oh, I don’t think Hipslow would allow anything like that here,” I said. The woman gave me a disgusted look, which made me straighten up and pull back my shoulders. “Do you have something against Hipslow?” I asked.
The woman stared at her hands, like she was trying to formulate her words, and then looked back at me. “No, of course not. He’s been most hospitable. It’s just that he keeps asking me to do things, to help out, but it’s all I can do to survive. I can’t eat. I can’t wash. I can’t c
ook. I can’t stop thinking of my husband back in Sanford and no one is willing to help me get to him. Please, you must help me. He’s sick. He needs medicine. He is a doctor. He can help all of us.” The woman was visibly shaking.
“Where did you leave him?” I asked. I doubted he was a doctor, something about her voice made me feel that she was lying.
She covered her face and heaved a breath and then dropped her hands. “I had to leave him. I had to get help.”
“I understand.” I reached forward and touched her leg. “I just meant, where is he? If I was to try and find him, where would I look?”
The woman’s face brightened and she moved toward me like she was going to bring me into her bosom, making me sway away from her. “If you help me, I will be eternally grateful. I will sign as many contracts as Hipslow wants me to sign. I will be forever in your debt.”
“I’ll do what I can, but I can’t make any promises.” I smiled.
“I left him in the Temple Theater. It’s downtown, a historic building with a copper sign. It’s across from a parking lot. He has enough supplies to last a couple of weeks, but I’ve already been here a week. Time is running out. Please help him.”
“I’ll try my best.” I froze as a hand pull back the blue tarp and was relieved to see Zora.
The woman jumped up and grabbed her suitcase. “I’ll be leaving now.” She brushed past Zora and ducked under the tarp into the main gym.
“Hey girl,” Zora said. “What was that about?”
“Nothing,” I said. “A fan.”
Zora was wearing a radiant scarf around her head, this one was multiple shades of green. “Where’d you find that one?” I asked, motioning to the scarf. I didn’t want any more questions about the woman, I knew Zora would try and talk me out of helping her and I was already trying to figure out how to get to Sanford.
“I have my sources,” Zora said, twirling one end around her fingers, looking like she wanted me to ask her more.
