Hella Rises: Dawnland

by Karen Carr

  “Do tell,” I said. I moved over to the cot where Harper was sitting and snuggled in next to her.

  “I’m renting a store from Hipslow,” Zora said. “It’s right on West Street, two blocks from the Roadhouse. We’re going to have the best clothes and accessory shop in town.”

  “Probably the only one in town,” I laughed.

  Zora laughed too. “Actually some guy opened up a hardware and coverall store with a barbershop next door.”

  “There you are,” Saudah came back. “I was beginning to think you drowned in there.”

  “What’s next girls?” I stood up and pulled Harper under my arm. She smiled up at me and put her small arm around my waist.

  “Hipslow wants to see you outside,” Zora said. “Work out a good deal with him. He’s desperate to have you stay. He’ll agree to anything. Don’t forget about us. He already gave me free rent for three months, see if you can extend it to a year or indefinitely.”

  “Alright, whatever you guys want. Let’s go.” I lifted the tarp separating us from the rest of the gym and was surprised to see so many bright shiny faces watching me. Multiple people were still in the gym busying themselves with sweeping their small area, folding clothes, organizing their few personal items, making themselves busy until I made an appearance.

  I waved feebly.

  Saudah took the tarp out of my hands and let it drop in front of my face. “We’re going out the back way.”

  “You know the shortcuts already?” I asked Saudah as she took us through a door next to the showers.

  “You’ve been asleep a long time,” Saudah said.

  “Sleeping beauty,” Zora said. “Only with no prince to wake her up with a kiss.”

  “I think she has two princes,” Saudah said.

  “Shut up,” I said, feeling my face change colors.

  We entered a room where four people were sitting behind desks. They all stood up, a woman and three men, and greeted us with a smile.

  “Hi Zora,” a handsome African American man said. He wore a light blue polo shirt, dark blue slacks and wire rimmed glasses.

  “We on for tonight?” Zora asked.

  “You bet.” The man raised his pen and pointed it at her. “I’m going to make you my special turkey pot pie.”

  I raised an eyebrow as we exited the room and entered a long hallway. Zora had stayed behind while we went on our rescue mission in Durham. She had been here over a month on her own. Obviously she had made a friend or two while we were gone.

  “You’re dating?” I asked.

  “Something like that.” Zora smiled. “It’s always good to have an accountant on your side. Besides, he’s nice and super great with Boa.”

  “And super handsome,” Saudah added.

  “Accountant?” I rolled my eyes. Hipslow was taking it a little bit too far.

  “Yup,” Zora said. “Those four are in charge of all the books in Pittsboro. Think of them as city hall, the DMV, the Register of Deeds, recording marriages and divorces all rolled into one. Good to have on your side.” Zora winked at me.

  “It’s just a little surreal, don’t you think?” I asked. “They’re trying too hard, like we tried in Haverlyn Village. It didn’t work for us. It’s not going to work for them.”

  “It works for them now, Hella,” Zora said. “Take a chill pill and give them a chance.”

  “But for how much longer will it last?” I asked. “What happens when more people come here? Lily and I tried to make everything perfect for when you arrived in the village but it didn’t work. Hipslow has to forget about all of this bureaucracy and get back to the basics. Food. Shelter. Killing the zeroes. Protecting us from Mace. Together, as a team.”

  We stopped in the small corridor. “I wouldn’t talk to Hipslow about that,” Saudah said. “Keep him happy.”

  I was beginning to feel the walls of the corridor close in on me. My breath came in quick gasps. “Saudah, I don’t think I can do this. I can’t negotiate our future. The longer I stay here, the more people are going to come. It won’t be safe for anyone.”

  Zora furrowed her brow. “Relax, Hella. We’re not going to talk about this now in the hall with Hipslow on the other side of that door.”

  “I am going to have to leave, you all know that,” I said. I pushed my hair back from my forehead, surprised to find I was sweating. “I can’t stay here under his control. Mace is going to come for me.”

  “I know,” Zora said. “Hipslow knows too. Give him a chance.”

  “You are not going to stay?” Harper said. I had forgotten she was with us. “You promised you would stay.”

  “Oh Harper.” I knelt to her level. “I am going to stay with you. I promise. You might just have to come with me when I go.”

  “Where ever you go, Stan and I are coming too,” Saudah said.

  “Can we end this conversation?” Zora put a hand on the exit doorknob. “You ready to start your negotiations?”

  I nodded. “Sure.”

  She opened the door and we were all blasted by the warm sunlight. Blinking from being in the dark hallway, my eyes adjusted to the light. Hipslow was seated in a golf cart talking to Willie. When he saw us, he stood up and walked over as Willie walked away.

  Chapter 6

  Hipslow greeted us with a smile and a tip of his cowboy hat. He was fresh shaven, wore a tie-dyed scarf tied around his neck, a plaid shirt, faded jeans and new boots.

  “You’re admiring my new duds,” Hipslow said. “Zora put them together for me.”

  “Old hippy meets new country,” Zora said as she helped Hipslow straighten out his collar. “Smart, but strong and rugged.”

  “She thinks it will improve my image, make me appeal to more people in case I have to run for mayor or something.” Hipslow’s eyes sparkled as he extended his hand in my direction

  “Don’t tell me there is someone else who wants to take your place?” I shook Hipslow’s hand. “Nice grip, perfect for a politician.”

  We all laughed.

  “No one could take his place,” Saudah said.

  “How did you sleep?” Hipslow asked.

  “Great, and thank you so much for the warm shower.” I ran my fingers through my slick, wet hair. “And all the bath products.”

  “You’re welcome, you’ve earned it.” Hipslow patted me on the shoulder. “Would you ride with me while we negotiate your contract? We can wipe out some of the zeds that appeared overnight. There are more than usual, like they are attracted to something here.” Hipslow squinted and cocked his head.

  “They’re attracted to me,” I said. I proceeded to tell Hipslow how we lured all the zeroes in Durham toward me, how they would flock to me like bees and honey. They were probably coming in from miles around, following each other to some unknown destination and to their ultimate death.

  Hipslow eyed me when I was done with my explanation. “That will cause some issues, especially with fortifications.” He gestured to the golf cart. “Let’s get going.”

  I turned to my friends.

  “I got to run,” Zora said. “Boa’s going to need help in the store. Saudah, come with me. We could use your help too.”

  “You want me to stay?” Saudah asked me.

  “I’ll be fine,” I said. “Go with Zora.”

  “How about you, Harper?” Zora asked. She reached for Harper’s hand, but Harper hid behind me.

  “Can I go with you?” Harper asked.

  “Sure,” I said. “If it’s alright with Hipslow.”’

  “As long as you can keep a secret,” Hipslow said.

  “She’s good at that,” I said. “In fact, she talks so little, I sometimes forget she’s there.”

  “Alright, sweetie,” Zora said. “Happy negotiating.” She blew me an air kiss and took Saudah by the hand. I watched as they strolled across the grounds and away from the college. They were going downtown. Alone. Without my protection.

  “Wait!” I ran after them. “Zora, Saudah, you won’t be protecte
d. Downtown is too far away. Stay here.”

  Zora turned toward me and patted her side holster. “We keep downtown pretty clear. You’ll come visit us after the negotiations?”

  “Why don’t you wait in the gym until we get back?” I asked, pointing to the big, safe building behind me.

  Zora smirked. “Hella. We’ll be alright. West Street is safe. Remember the pile of cars blocking the street? The pile the zombies can’t get through? It’s gotten bigger.”

  “That’s just one side of the street,” I said.

  “We don’t get many downtown. Most of the zeds wind up here, coming through the woods. It’s harder to guard open acreage. Besides, there’s others downtown and we’ll be in the shop.”

  Hipslow pulled up next to me in the golf cart. Harper was already stationed on the back seat. “Zora’s right, Hella,” Hipslow said. “Downtown is as safe as you can get without your protection.” He patted the seat next to him. “Come on. It won’t take long and then you can join your friends.”

  I sat down next to Hipslow and hung on to the cart’s shell as he pulled away. He drove slowly, making sure to keep my virus in check, and headed toward the fields. People were actively working in the fields, tending to the tomatoes, pulling weeds, guarding the borders with shot guns, normal activity on a work-a-day apocalypse farm.

  We drove around the edge and to the far side of the field, approaching the bushes and trees, but not driving into them. Hipslow paused at the edge of the field and turned off the golf cart’s engine. We sat and watched people work in silence.

  “Are those strawberries?” Harper asked, her eyes growing big.

  “Yup,” Hipslow said. He pulled a white basket out of the back of the golf cart. “Why don’t you go and pick us some?”

  “I’d love to,” Harper said. She grabbed the basket and ran to the strawberry patch.

  Hipslow and I watched her pick strawberries, biting and gulping down a few of them while she foraged. She was wearing a beautiful yellow dress with purple-eyed daisies in a geometric pattern. Her hair was tied up in a long yellow bow and she wore red shoes.

  Harper reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t remember who until she turned around with a strawberry hanging out of her mouth.

  She reminded me of a dead girl I had found in the village, one wearing a daisy dress and carrying a little red purse. I had taken the dead girl’s charm bracelet many months ago. I touched my wrist as I tried to recall what happened to the bracelet.

  “Are you alright, Hella?” Hipslow asked. “You just turned a shade of lime green.”

  “I’m alright,” I said. “I was just remembering something awful.”

  “Oh, we can’t have that.” Hipslow reached in his pocket, pulled out a chocolate bar and handed it to me. “Let’s talk rewards.”

  I opened the chocolate bar and took a bite. It had caramel in the middle. “I like these kind of rewards.” I licked the caramel from my lips.

  “Come on over here,” Hipslow said. He got out of the golf cart, grabbed a briefcase and a cardboard tube and made his way over to a large oak tree with a picnic table underneath it. I joined him just as Harper brought the basket of strawberries over.

  Harper handed me one. “These are super yummy,” she said.

  “Thanks, sweetie,” I said. I put one in my mouth as Hipslow brought out a map from the cardboard tube. The strawberry burst its sweet flavor into my mouth, making me long for one of Fareva’s desserts.

  Harper kneeled on the bench on the opposite side of the picnic table and leaned forward as Hipslow and I examined the map.

  The map was hand-drawn on a large sheet of paper. The artist who drew the map used explicit details and colors and symbols, all the landmarks were labelled with numbers and there was a key at the bottom. It encompassed the downtown area on one end and the campus areas on the other, with no more than a mile and a half between them.

  “This is a beautiful map,” I said.

  “Broder did it,” Hipslow said.

  “Wow,” I said. “I knew he was a good tracker, but I had no idea he was such an artist.”

  “What’s this?” Harper asked. She picked up a clear piece of plastic about four inches square. Four curves had been cut out of it to make a large circle, with a small circle punched in the middle.

  “That’s Hella’s circle,” Hipslow said. “Let me show you.” He took the piece of plastic from Harper. “This circle is matched to the map and represents a thousand feet.” He traced his finger around the bigger circle.

  “That’s my limit,” I said.

  “Correct,” Hipslow said. “And this circle,” he placed his index finger on the smaller hole in the middle. “Is where you are going to start.” He placed the piece of plastic on the map, centering the small circle on the community college. He took out a red marker and marked the center spot with a dot.

  “Don’t do that to his map,” Harper said. She tried to snatch the red marker from Hipslow.

  “It’s ok, child,” Hipslow said, laughing. “Broder’s made a dozen of these for us.” He put down the red marker, away from Harper’s reach, and brought out a red pencil, marking the cutout of the larger circle on the map. He took the plastic off and showed me.

  “You want me to sit here?” I asked, touching the center mark. “So I’ll protect this whole area?” I traced the penciled circle, which encompassed most of the buildings in the community college and some of the fields. I was beginning to feel that my life was going to be pretty dull.

  “Yes,” Hipslow said. He moved the center of the circle five hundred feet from the first dot and made another dot on the bank of a big pond. “And here.” He penciled in the larger circle around the pond and moved the circle once again, this time more toward downtown. “And here.” He moved the circle several more times, using the marker for the center dot and the pencil for the outer circle each time. By the time he was done, the outer circles covered all of downtown and the community college area and eight marked spots.

  “You want me to sit around all day on these spots?” I asked.

  “I can bring you tea,” Harper said.

  “Thanks, sweetie,” I touched Harper’s hand. “But I was hoping to do a little more for the town.”

  “Oh Hella,” Hipslow laughed. “I don’t expect this to take more than a couple of hours in the morning, and a couple more in the evening. I’ve added enough of a buffer here,” Hipslow pointed to the extent of protection. “These areas are not going to be inhabited. Not yet at any rate. We’ll give you a golf cart to travel between the dots and if you spend no more than fifteen minutes in each spot, you’ll be done in two hour. That’ll leave you with enough time for your flying lessons and my bigger projects.”

  “I hate to ask…” Flying lessons? Bigger projects? Hipslow was a man with a vision.

  “Let’s hop in the golf cart and move to the next location first,” Hipslow stood up.

  “Hey, we’re right here,” Harper said. She touched a red dot on the map.

  “That’s right, Harper. We’re going here next.” Hipslow pointed to another red dot.

  “Oh, you are sneaky,” I said. “Making me work without negotiating my pay.”

  Hipslow rolled up the map and put it back in the tube. “How’s this to start, I’m giving you your very own golf cart.” He handed me the keys.

  “Awesome,” Harper said. She ran up to the golf cart and sat in the back.

  “That’s barely a start,” I said as we followed Harper. “It’s not even my favorite color.”

  “I see how you are,” Hipslow smiled and put his arm around me. “What is your favorite color?”

  I brought out my gun to show him. “Pink.”

  “I’ll see what I can do. Chevy’s got a paint shop. Drive.” Hipslow pointed north down a well-worn path. I drove in that direction. “The next dot is down that farm path to the far field next to the pond.”

  I got in behind the wheel and started the cart, making sure to go slow. “I want to make
sure my friends are taken care of too. They should be able to do what they want and I want them paid well.”

  “Me too?” Harper said, leaning in between us in the front.

  “Harper gets an education,” I said.

  “Oh come on, school?” Harper asked.

  “You bet, kiddo.” I pressed my hand against her hair.

  Hipslow glanced at me. By his expression I didn’t feel like I was pushing him too much. In fact, he seemed to be happy. “You drive a hard bargain, but have an invaluable service. It should take a couple of weeks on this routine to get the town fairly safe. As soon as we can, I’ll make sure your friends all have a nice place to live. No one wants to stay in the gym much longer. I’ll also give them all the food they can eat, whether it’s at Fareva’s, Georgia’s, or if they want to open their own restaurant or make their own food. Is that a good start?”

  “It’ll do,” I said. We had reached the pond.

  “I have some more ideas I’d like to go over before we finalize things.” Hipslow pointed to a blanket resting on the grassy bank. “Our next rest stop is there.”

  “Alright,” I said. I pulled up on the bank and stopped. Hipslow and I sat down at the bank, Harper choosing to dip her toes in the water.

  “We have four ultralights. One three seater and three one seaters. The Professor has volunteered to teach you how to fly the ultralight. You’ll take the three seater out with him every day. Once you learn how to ride the triple copter, we’ll give you the single to take out. You can hover very low to the ground in one of those. It should allow you to cover great distances.”

  “Where do you want me to go?” I asked.

  Hipslow took out another rolled up piece of paper from the tube. “During your lesson you can fly where you want. Once you get used to the controls, I want you to follow this path.” He rolled out the paper on the blanket.

  This map covered more area than the first, with the towns of Sanford to the south, Siler City to the west and Snow Camp to the north highlighted.

  “Another reason for blowing the bridge was to give us an oasis here,” Hipslow said. “The Haw river is long and wide. It separates us from Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Durham. Those zeds won’t be able to cross it. On the other side of us, separating us from Charlotte, is the Yadkin River. This area in here.” Hipslow pointed to the area in between the three towns. “I want you to do as much damage to the zeds as possible.”