Hella Rises: Dawnland

by Karen Carr

  “That could take forever,” I said. Harper had finished dipping her toes in the pond and walked back over to us, gathering several wild flowers on her way. She smiled as she stuck one above her ear.

  Hipslow watched Harper for a moment and then turned back toward me. “Hopefully if you kill enough of them on this side, we won’t need you to kill anymore. We’re going to put up borders where possible, fallen trees, old cars, build fences, you know. No more than fifty thousand people lived in this entire area. I think you can make a big dent in the zed population by hitting a few key towns. I promised you that you wouldn’t have to stay with us forever.”

  “Great,” I said, my tone not very enthusiastic. I was happy that Hipslow didn’t want me to stick around forever, but hurt at the same time. Was my life now wandering around the country from red dot to red dot? Would I be like the incredible hulk having to move from town to town when people found out about my virus? I felt lonely knowing I would have to leave one day. I wanted to leave, but I would never be able to have a place to call home.

  “What’s wrong Hella?” Harper asked. She sat down next to me and placed one of the flowers behind my ear.

  “I’m feeling homesick,” I said.

  “Me, too,” Harper said. She leaned on my shoulder and I put my arm around her.

  Hipslow rolled up the map and put it away. “When you are ready to go, I will give you whatever you want, including an escort out of here if necessary. Maybe you can head back home to see if anything is left there.”

  I scoffed. “Chicago? Home to nine million people in the metro area? I can’t imagine what the pile of dead bodies would look like in my wake.”

  “We could go to my house,” Harper said.

  I turned to Harper. I didn’t know where she was from. She had found us and I had never asked her because of the whole killing-her-brother bit. “Where is home, Harper?”

  “Saxapahaw,” Harper said.

  I had heard of the town. “How far is it from here?” I asked.

  “About twenty miles,” Hipslow answered. “It’s a red dot, mill town on the other side of the Haw river. You’ll be going there soon.”

  “The other side?” I asked.

  “You’ll save them, won’t you?” Harper asked me. “They lived in the converted mill by the river.”

  “Sure I will, sweetie,” I said. “Do you know if they made it? Are they still alive?”

  Harper looked ashamed. “I don’t know. Maxwell said.” She stopped talking. Maxwell was her older brother. He was dead, too.

  Hipslow cleared his throat. “Saxapahaw is on the other side of the river, but it has a bridge across, one we haven’t blown up yet. We’re thinking of leaving that one, in case we need it. They’re isolated enough, it’s a very small town. If anyone is alive out there, Hella will find them.”

  “What are you doing out here?” Someone said behind us. Their voice shot a stake through my heart. I jumped to my feet and grabbed my gun, turning around to see Zeke.

  “You scared me to death.” I pointed the gun at him, relieved to see he was not hurt, but angered at his nonchalant way of revealing himself to us. I was even angrier at myself for letting him surprise us. I had let my guard down. Even in this tranquil setting, that was stupid of me to do.

  “You always should watch your back, Hella,” Zeke said. “You don’t know when someone will come up and stab it.” His eyes penetrated mine with a fierceness I hadn’t seen in a while. He made me feel like I had done something wrong, like I had hurt him in some way. But according to Huck, he was the one who was using me.

  Chapter 7

  Zeke stood over us with his back to the pond. His muscular frame blocked out the sun, which was gaining distance from the horizon. He held a rifle in his hand, ready to shoot anything that moved, and another one strapped to his back. His face was covered in shadows, but I could see the furrow in his brow.

  “Mace Duce is going to come looking for you,” Zeke said. “He’ll find you, just as I did.”

  “How did you find us?” I asked, shading my eyes. Harper came to my side and I put a protective arm around her.

  “I followed the trail of dead bodies.” Zeke pointed into the woods. “Out that way.”

  Hipslow stood up and dusted off his jeans. “That reminds me, we should get to the next stop. Come along, Hella.”

  “Wait a sec, old man,” Zeke said. He pointed the gun at Hipslow. Whether or not intentional, it made Hipslow reach for his own. “Who is going to protect her on these walks of hers?”

  Hipslow motioned for Zeke to lower his gun. “Have you been listening to us long?”

  Zeke lowered his gun. “That doesn’t matter. Answer my question.”

  “Well, you are, I suppose,” said Hipslow.

  “Damn right, I am,” Zeke said. He glanced at me and for a second his steely expression turned soft before his eyes grazed the bushes behind us again. Zeke had saved me multiple times, and I had saved him. We were a good team, but I couldn’t help but feel like I had to resist my attraction to him.

  “My own personal body guard?” I asked.

  “There are two more bridges we want to blow,” Hipslow said. “Once we do that, Mace will only be able to get to us from the air, or he’ll take a long time getting here from the other bridges. The Saxapahaw Bridge is too small for many to get across, especially if he brings tanks. Of course, he could always take his troops across on boats.” Hipslow paused. “Boats. I hadn’t thought of that before. Yes, Hella. Zeke is right. It will be important for you to be guarded at all times.” Hipslow referenced Zeke with his outstretched hand. “You couldn’t get a healthier specimen than this one here to guard you.”

  “What am I, a piece of meat to you?” Zeke asked. Hipslow opened his mouth to answer, but Zeke cut him off with his hand. “It doesn’t matter. Nothing really matters except keeping her safe. No more feelings to get hurt, or to do the hurting. Agreed Hella?”

  Before I could answer, Galen approached us on another golf cart. He rolled to a stop in front of Hipslow. “What are we going to do with all the bodies, they’re piling up.”

  “We’re going to have to open a cemetery,” Hipslow said. He took out the smaller map and handed it to me. “Why don’t you go on with your new body guard and finish your stops. I’m going to go with Galen to scout out locations. We have to get rid of the dead before they bring other forms of disease. Besides, I wouldn’t want to be left on the road to rot. Be back on Campus in two hours, the Professor will be waiting for you with the ultra-glide.”

  “Yes sir,” I said, giving Hipslow a salute.

  With that, Hipslow and Galen drove off, leaving me with Harper and my new body guard.

  “Is that your new ride?” Zeke said, gesturing toward the golf cart with his rifle and a scoff.

  I dangled the keys in front of him. “Yea, you don’t like it? They’re going to paint it pink for me. Maybe I’ll ask them to add some black leopard spots.”

  Zeke rolled his eyes. “I’d rather take the horses. Midnight and Sneaky are going to need to be ridden or they’ll go feral.”

  I missed the horses. I loved the horses. Sivan had given them to us both and had instructed for us to take care of them. “We can ride them tomorrow. Come on Harper, you can sit in front with me.” I grabbed Harper’s hand and whisked her into the golf cart next to me so that Zeke wouldn’t have a chance to take her spot.

  Zeke strode forward, all the while searching the bushes, the fields, and everything else around us. He hopped in the back and faced the road behind us. “I wanted this spot anyway,” he grumbled.

  I handed Harper the map. “You navigate, partner.”

  She smiled, looked at the map, turned it around and then pointed to the left of the pond. “That way.”

  I followed her directions, which took us around the pond to a street with a row of small houses on each side. “Where do we stop?”

  Harper examined the map. “It looks like the dot is on a house,” she said. She looke
d up and counted the houses on the left, pointing to the fifth one down. “That one.”

  I smiled when I saw a quaint farm house surrounded by a stand of large oak trees, each tree having a yellow ribbon tied around its trunk. I drove up the gravel driveway and parked in front of the porch. The leaves of the giant trees shaded a large area and dappled the yard with sunlight.

  “There’s a note on the door,” Harper said. She jumped out of the golf cart and ran up the steps.

  “Wait,” Zeke said. He jumped out and ran after her. He grabbed her by the arm and stopped her before she made it to the note. “Both of you, wait here.” After he surveyed the yard, he opened the door and went inside.

  I joined Harper on the porch and took the note from the door.

  “Zeke doesn’t want us to…”

  I cut Harper off. “Oh come on, it’s just a piece of paper.” I read the note to Harper.

  Dear Hella,

  Enjoy the refreshments and the treats waiting for you inside.

  Forever grateful to you

  Love,

  Fareva and Georgia

  “There’s nothing scary inside.” I reached for the handle to open the door, and felt it twist in my hand. Zeke appeared on the other side of the door eating a muffin with one hand and holding his gun in the other.

  “Coast is clear,” he said with a full mouth.

  “I bet it is,” I said. I placed my hands on Harper’s shoulder and pushed her into the house.

  We entered the house, which smelled of freshly baked cookies, and made our way to the kitchen. We passed through the living room and dining area, where I noticed several photos hanging on the wall. The photos were of Fareva and Georgia sharing intimate moments.

  “This is their house,” I whispered, touching one of the more intricate frames. “They live together.”

  “I thought Fareva lived in the roadhouse and Georgia lived in her bed and breakfast,” Harper said. She craned her neck back to look at all the framed photos on the wall, the highest ones touching the moldings on the ceiling.

  “Apparently they have lives outside of town,” I said. It struck me that I didn’t really know anyone here. I didn’t know who they were before the apocalypse. I didn’t know who shared their laughter, who they loved, who they hated. I didn’t know anything about Fareva and Georgia, but learned so much more by looking at their pictures.

  “Come on, girls,” Zeke said. He stepped through a swinging door and into the kitchen and we followed him.

  I looked around the kitchen and the opened patio doors, which lead to a screened in porch. It was small, but fit perfectly with the size of the house. A small rectangular kitchen table was pushed up against the wall. It had a stack of plates and an assortments of treats on it. The counters were clean dark wood, and the cabinets were antique white. Two vases with flowers sat on the counter and another one stood in the middle of the small table. The flowers mixed in with the freshly made sweets made the whole room smell wonderful.

  Harper walked over to one of the vases on the counter and swapped out her wildflower with a brilliant red carnation. “You want one?” Harper asked me, gesturing to the other red and yellow carnations.

  I touched the wildflower above my ear. “No thanks, this suits me better.”

  “Why don’t you eat something?” Zeke asked.

  I walked over to the table and picked up one of the yellow plates, which was decorated with a farm scene, a small farmhouse, chickens and a chicken coup, around the perimeter. Zeke strolled out to the porch while Harper and I picked out a few treats. I selected a blueberry muffin, and a croissant, which I covered with homemade strawberry jam. Harper took a piece of toast.

  “That’s all you’re having?” I asked.

  “I ate too many strawberries,” Harper said.

  We joined Zeke on the screened in porch. Several comfortable old couches were setup in a corner. I flopped down on one and Harper on the other. Placed on the coffee table in front of the couches was a pitcher of water and several glasses and several books and magazines. Harper picked up a large photography book called Our North Carolina and started leafing through the pages.

  “This is not a bad life,” I said to no one in particular as I filled my water glass. “I wonder if each stop on the red line will have a treat.” I relaxed deep in the couch while I contemplated my new life. It wasn’t what I had planned, and I would surely be very lonely, but at least I would be able to help people.

  “Don’t get too comfortable,” Zeke said. He glanced briefly at me and then turned toward the yard again.

  “Where were you last night?” I asked.

  “Making sure you were safe,” Zeke said.

  “Why don’t you come sit with us?” I patted the seat next to me. “Nothing’s going to happen in ten minutes.”

  Zeke took one last look around the yard, and then came and sat next to me. He put his gun on the coffee table and poured himself a glass of water. He leaned back in the soft couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. The weight of his body on the old couch caused mine to lean toward his, so our sides almost touched. He seemed disturbed by this and scooted farther away from me.

  “Huck told me what you were fighting about,” I said.

  “Of course he did,” Zeke said without looking at me.

  “I don’t care,” I said. I saw the muscles in Zeke’s neck become tense. “I mean, why does it matter even if it’s true? It’s not like we were going to build a life together. There’s no happily ever after for me. There’s just going from red dot to red dot. How would I make it with anyone that way?”

  “I’d follow you around,” Harper said.

  “I wouldn’t let you,” I said to Harper.

  “Why not?” Harper asked.

  “What about your education?” I asked. “You couldn’t learn much following me around. What kind of life would that be? Maybe I could teach you to hunt and to kill? I seem to be getting really good with that.”

  Harper slammed her book shut and stormed inside.

  “Nice going,” Zeke said.

  “Sorry, I’m just frustrated,” I said.

  “Not as frustrated as I am,” Zeke said. He looked at me with eyes in flames and I blushed with the heat.

  “So, go find yourself a girlfriend,” I said, not wanting to touch the subject of Zeke’s hotness. “There are plenty in this town that would love to help you out with that.”

  “What is up with you? Are you trying to piss everyone off?” Zeke put his glass down and leaned closer to me.

  “No, I just...” I thought about it for a while. “Maybe I’m just trying to push everyone away. It seems easier that way.”

  “Well, you can’t push me away because I’m here to protect you.” Zeke raised his hand like he was going to touch my skin, but pulled it away. “From red dot, to red dot, to red dot. Maybe I’m doing it for the fame, or because you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, or because I just want a trophy, but I won’t let my feelings get in the way of my job. I will protect you.”

  Zeke and I stared at each other, I trying to read his true thoughts, perhaps he was doing the same. I wanted to tell him that I could protect myself, but the truth was that if Mace’s guys came for me I would need extra help. I was a phenomenal zombie killer, and had even killed a real person here-and-there, but Mace’s army was something else.

  I reached over and touched his arm, wanting so much to have them protectively wrapped around me again, fearing that it would be harder to leave if he did. He put his hand on top of mine and held it there for a moment before he stood up and pulled me with him.

  “We have to get to the next stop,” Zeke said.

  My body was now pressed against him in the tight space between the coffee table and couch. I wrapped my arms around his waist, and he wrapped his around my shoulders, pressing my head against his chest. There we stood, I listening to his heart beat and his breath in my ear and feeling the strength of his chest and arms around me.

 
“I need you,” I whispered in Zeke’s ear. “I can’t do this alone.”

  His lips touched my ear, sending a shock through my body. “I need you, too,” he whispered. His lips moved to my mouth as I parted mine, letting his tongue mingle with mine. I pressed harder against his body, astonished by my passionate reaction and unwilling to let him go. He reciprocated by clasping my face in both hands and kissing me harder. We were only torn apart when Harper cleared her voice behind us.

  “Can we go? I’m bored,” Harper said. She picked up the wildflower that had fallen out of my hair from the coffee table.

  “Sure,” I said. I took the wildflower from her and placed it back behind my ear.

  The next stop along the red line was a spot at the far end of downtown near a gas station, a diner, and a hardware store. After Zeke and Harper entered the golf cart, I started it and sped away from Georgia and Fareva’s house. The fresh breeze on my face blew away the remnants of the heat from Zeke’s kiss.

  “You know I saw Huck and Ana kissing,” Harper blurted out above the wind.

  The words hit me like a cold splash of water and made me swerve toward a parked car. I straightened out the wheel and tried to regain my composure before I spoke. Even though I expected there was something going on between Ana and Huck, I didn’t like hearing about it.

  “Oh really?” I asked, trying to mask the hurt in my voice.

  “Yea,” Harper said. “I’ve seen them a couple of times. They’re together all the time, you know. I’m just saying, I know how adults get. It seems to be going around this place.”

  I tried laughing, but my voice sounded more like a hyena’s cackle. “Fighting for survival seems to bring out our animal instincts.”

  “What’s wrong with you, Hella?” Zeke asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said.