by J. Thorn
“We came on the run when Doc told us you were engaging several zoms, including one of our own who appeared to have been recently turned. Then the screams started back at the house. Jamie, Billy, and Aaron had a handle on the picnic grounds and waved me off to help at the house.” Jon paused for a moment, something passing over his face. He was feeling guilt over Aaron if I read him right. Eventually, he continued, “When I got there, they were pouring out of the trees, coming up the road, and across the field. There were well over a hundred. I divided my men amongst your people and we engaged.”
“Who else,” I whispered. I could tell from his tone and expression that it hadn’t gone well.
“Paul, George, Molly…” Melissa paused, “…and Curtis.”
“The guy immune to the bite?” I gasped.
“Apparently he and Molly had grown close, when she went down, he dove off the berm into a crowd of them…they tore him apart.”
“We now know that even if you display immunity, but die later, you will return as one of them,” Dr. Zahn cut in.
“Have you told him?” a voice from just outside the door called. The door opened and in walked Sunshine. She looked at least ten years older. Chloe’s death obviously hit her hard. “Did they tell you?” Her eyes were red, puffy, and raw looking.
“Did they tell me what?” I glanced around the room. Jesus, there was more?
“You haven’t told him who did this?” Sunshine glared at everybody in the room, her look one of absolute poison. “Or why? You haven’t told him what Chloe saw? You didn’t tell him what that animal did to her?”
Now I was beyond confused. I saw Jon scowl, his dark look becoming blacker. Melissa wouldn’t meet my gaze, and even Dr. Zahn was fidgeting. “So…who did this?”
“Jason,” Jon spat.
“What?” That didn’t make any sense. He’d been instrumental in saving me. Why would he risk his ass for that, then turn around and start killing folks and top it off by leading a herd into our camp?
“Chloe saw him sneak out,” Jon said. “She thought something was strange because he had a bunch of gear strapped on. She went to follow him and see what he was up to, but woke Sunshine first just so she wouldn’t worry. Best we can tell, he caught her and tied her to a tree. We discovered evidence of that at one of the sites, and Dr. Zahn confirmed it with her autopsy before we disposed of the body.
“He cut the word ‘nigger’ in Jillian’s back!” Sunshine blurted.
Then it all came crashing down on me. All those confrontations between Jason and Lee had nothing to do with what a pain in the ass Lee could actually be. Jason provoked the man mercilessly. Being out on a scavenger run would be the best place to do away with somebody.
“But he was gone when Randi was killed,” I said, having a hard time digesting this newest bombshell.
“Jamie said that Jason suggested they split up. He said it would be the best way that they could watch over you in case something happened. Plus, he wouldn’t need any help. They were apart for four days; plenty of time to get in and out of here; then make it back down to where you were holed up. Nobody thought of anything…especially after he saved your ass with that hydroplane stunt. Hell, he was a hero,” Jon finished.
“But…?” I was so confused.
“I went through his stuff; the stuff he left behind when he took off.” Melissa squeezed my hand. “There were a few things in a Ziploc bag in the bottom of his sleeping bag, Aryan Brotherhood stuff. Even an ID card with his picture. Ian’s pretty upset. He said he should’ve recognized the tattoo.” Melissa suddenly shook her head and made a face. “Hey! Did you know that Ian did time in prison?”
“So where is Jason?” I asked the obvious question.
“Gone,” Jon snarled. “But my boys Sanchez and Beebe are looking for him.”
“Next question.” I glanced at Dr. Zahn. “What in the hell is this?” I tapped the cast on my left leg that went all the way from my upper thigh to my foot.
“You suffered a compound fracture of the tibia and a single break of the fibula,” Dr. Zahn explained. “Mister Saunders and Jamie made a run back to what was left of Serenity Base.”
“For what?”
“Medical supplies,” she said with a shrug. “I had little hope that any of the narcotics would survive the looting. However, I felt that there were a few things that might still remain if people didn’t know where to look. My hunch proved correct.”
“I don’t follow.”
“I had to perform surgery on your leg, Steve.”
“What?”
“I had to affix two plates to ensure that you had the chance to walk again at some point in your life.” Dr. Zahn said all of this in much the same way I might tell somebody it was going to rain tomorrow.
“That’s why you’re out here,” Melissa explained. “It was the only place with enough light and enough room for Dr. Zahn to operate short of taking you outside.”
“We were fortunate,” Dr. Zahn continued as if Melissa weren’t even there, “Mister Saunders took it upon himself to venture into La Grande. He hit a veterinary clinic and returned with a hefty supply of ether. That is the good news.”
“Which means that there is bad news,” I prompted.
“Yes…well,” Dr. Zahn was suddenly uncharacteristically uncomfortable. This had to be bad. “You have practically exhausted our entire supply of pain medication.”
“Meaning?”
“You have endured a hideous injury and a tough surgical procedure.” Dr. Zahn stood, brushed herself off, and came to the side of my bed. “You have a lengthy healing process ahead of you that might take months. And then there is the physical rehab. The pain will be epic.”
“Don’t sugar coat it, Doc.” I tried to laugh.
“That’s why we kept you unconscious as long as I deemed safe.” Dr. Zahn glanced around the room, her look chastising everybody for allowing this conversation to take place.
“Wait.” I looked at all the faces, none of which would return my questioning glance. “How long have I been out?”
“Three weeks,” Melissa said.
15
More Good News
“Three weeks!” I yelled, immediately regretting it on several levels. My head instantly felt like it’d been cleaved in two and I think I tasted blood in the back of my throat.
“We’ve been feeding you with a tube,” Dr. Zahn said with a smirk. She actually smirked! “I don’t suggest yelling, Steve.”
I glared. As loud as I could. Melissa tried to hide a smile. Jon tried to look like he was inspecting something incredibly and suddenly fascinating under his fingernails.
“The news is not all bad,” Melissa piped up once she felt she could speak without laughing. “You will have the use of crutches, and you are past the dangers of infection.”
“Yippee,” I mumbled, crossing my arms in my best display of childish sulking.
“Yes, Steve,” Dr. Zahn’s icy tone sounded just a bit hostile. “Yippee is the least you should be saying. Had infection set in, you wouldn’t be worrying about a cast. At the least, you’d have lost that leg at the knee. And at the worst…” She left the statement open, but I knew.
“And here I am bitching about sore throats, bed locations, and petty bullshit,” I said after a long and uncomfortable silence. “What I should be saying is thank you, Dr. Zahn.”
A gentle hand on my arm made me look up. Dr. Zahn allowed a hint of a smile through, but it was what I saw in her eyes that really tugged at something deep down. I saw honest-to-goodness caring, compassion, and…love?
It was like the last time I saw my grandmother; it happened shortly after graduating college. It had only been a month after my grandfather had died, and it was no secret that I’d been his favorite. I took her to dinner to the spaghetti place she loved so much. I’d opened doors, pulled out chairs…all the things that my grandfather did any time they went out. It was old-fashioned, and I’d always considered it cute, if not a touch quaint. That eveni
ng when I’d walked with my grandmother to her door, she had given me a look that left no doubt as to how she felt about me. She died in her sleep that night.
“You are very welcome, Steve,” Dr. Zahn whispered. “We need you now more than ever. Get some rest.”
With that, the doctor and Jon left. It was just me and Melissa. She was fussing around and asking if I needed anything; once again I was reminded that something was up. I knew that she liked Chloe an awful lot and took a perverse pleasure in the fact that she’d had a bit of a crush on me.
“Hey.” I took her hand after she smoothed my blankets for the fourth time.
“I’m pregnant.”
We both sat there in silence. Me, because I was dumbfounded. Her, because I imagined she was waiting for me to react. I looked into her eyes which had brimmed with, and then spilled over, great big tears. Her lower lip quivered, and at that moment I never loved anybody more in my life. It was like something inside of me physically shifted.
“Are you sure?” I finally managed to ask.
“When Teresa got checked, I had a hunch and asked Dr. Zahn if I could take one of the pregnancy tests, too.” A shy smile crept across her face creating something more breathtaking than the most amazing sunrise I’d ever seen. “I took two more just to be absolutely certain.”
“Melissa, that’s…” Suddenly my voice left me.
“Are you mad?”
“Not at all,” I said, brushing a wisp of hair out of her eyes. “I’m gonna be a dad.”
“And I know you’ll be a good one.” She leaned in and kissed me.
***
“Papi?” a tiny voice whispered in my ear. “Papi, are you asleeping?”
“I told you, Thalia,” another voice joined in, barely above the sound of a breath. “Dr. Zahn put stuff in that hose in his arm so that he stays sleeping.”
As consciousness bloomed, so did the pain in my left leg. It was like a freight train, a low and distant thing that grew quickly. I opened my eyes, instantly regretting it as it felt like somebody poured molten silver in the sockets. That’s when I let out a combination of a moan and cry. Two little shadows scurried away quickly, frightened by my involuntary outburst.
“Daddy Steve?” Emily’s face appeared over mine, her eyebrows bunched and her expression stern. “Are you okay?”
“Hey, Emmy,” I managed through clenched teeth. “And where’s my little Thalia?”
“Papi!” Thalia squealed. Tiny arms wrapped around my neck, jerking my head off the pillow. The distinct sensation of nausea rolled through me and I struggled not to empty whatever there may be in my stomach all over the head of my little girl.
“Hi, Princess,” I managed to say around the bile that was rising in the back of my throat. “How are my little girls?”
“Dr. Zahn told us not to wake you,” Emily said with that hint of annoyance in her voice most women are very adept at being able to summon.
“We didn’t wake you,” Thalia said, but it sounded like she was instructing me.
“Where is everybody?” I managed through lips that felt like they were splitting with every syllable.
“Mr. Saunders, Ian and Billy went out yesterday,” Thalia said. She climbed up on my bed and snuggled up under my left arm like she belonged there. Emily had come to my right side and was holding my hand in her lap, each of her hands gripping two of my fingers.
Damn, I thought, how long have I been out this time?
“Melissa is in the gun tower,” Emily offered. “Sunshine, Teresa and Fiona are making something outside in a big pot that smells like throw up.”
“And Brad is on the per-mim-a-ter,” Thalia struggled with the long word.
“That’s pa-rim-a-tur,” Emily corrected, enunciating slowly. Thalia mimicked the older girl, repeating it a few times until she got it right.
“How long have I been sleeping?” I asked. I’d closed my eyes to get the room to settle down. I tried to divert my focus away from the pain.
“This time for only two days.” Emily pulled my arm around her waist and eased underneath it.
“Well I’m glad I got to see you two this time,” I mumbled. Something tasted really bad in my throat now that I thought about it. And the sickness that I originally credited to Thalia pulling me over so suddenly wasn’t letting up. Also, there was this odd sensation like my brain had been replaced by a ball of wet cotton.
I could tell that I was drifting off again. I tried to resist. I wanted desperately to stay awake this time. I hadn’t seen Teresa since she’d told me—
Pregnant? Hadn’t Melissa told me that she was pregnant? Or was I mixing up what Teresa had told me with Melissa? Why couldn’t I think straight?
“Thalia,” a voice echoed in my head. It was familiar. “You and Emily get down from there right now!”
I smelt something. It was curiously familiar. I tried to place it, but couldn’t. I sensed both girls move away. Then, something mushy was being spooned into my mouth. It tasted vile; rotten cabbage and mud thrown into a blender and then heated until just past lukewarm.
***
I opened my eyes and blinked a few times to ensure that they were actually opened. It took a minute for me to realize that it was night time. A bottle of water was on the stand beside me. I grabbed it and drained half. I noticed that the pain was still there but seemed dull. That was a welcome relief to the last time that I remember being awake.
The last time?
Crap, how long had I been out now? And what was that taste? And why did it look like light was trickling through the large window beside my bed like giant, silver raindrops? The longer I lay there, the brighter the room seemed to become. Only it wasn’t. What the hell was going on?
***
“Wake up, baby,” a voice broke through the haze. I opened my eyes to Melissa’s smile. That love came rushing to the surface, and I was certain that she had in fact told me she was pregnant.
“Well, well,” a man’s voice rumbled. I glanced over to see Jon standing on the other side of the bed. “Welcome back, Woodstock.”
I blinked a few times puzzling over the comments by the burly former Marine sergeant. Then, Dr. Zahn stepped up with Sunshine beside her. Everybody had peculiar looks on their faces, and kept glancing at Sunshine.
“How do you feel, Steve?” Dr. Zahn asked.
“Dull…fuzzy…I don’t know,” I managed. I hoped that my breath wasn’t as bad as the taste in my mouth. “So how many days this time?”
“You’ve been in and out for a few,” Dr. Zahn said cryptically.
“He seems fine.” Melissa glanced up at Sunshine. Again there were these looks flashing between the others; looks that I couldn’t decipher.
“It seems our little journey into Hell to get drugs for your pain, wasn’t absolutely necessary,” Jon said.
“Huh?” I asked growing annoyed by the little secret I’d been left out of the loop on.
“Sunshine made a discovery,” Dr. Zahn began. “It seems that the proprietor that had been working here at the park was quite the…free spirit.”
“Whoever it was had a little marijuana growing operation, and also set up a nice little harvest of wavy caps around the edge of the field right by the woods,” Sunshine explained when my confused expression didn’t diminish.
“I still don’t follow.”
“A little olive oil, some buds, and mushrooms in a kettle kept you out of it,” Sunshine said with a serious tone.
“Out of it?”
“Stoned out of your brain!” Jon snickered.
“But today,” Dr. Zahn said with her usual seriousness, “you’ll be starting your therapy.”
The entry door to the lobby—also known most recently as my bedroom—opened, and two cherubic faces peeked in with big smiles. Dr. Zahn waved her hand ushering Thalia and Emily inside.
“Say hello to your therapists.” Melissa stood up producing a set of aluminum crutches. “Today you’ll be moving around this house. We want you to go outside
and just make three laps, and then take a break. Then do it again. See how many times you can manage that today.”
I glanced at Dr. Zahn who was nodding in affirmation. Jon and Melissa helped me to sit up the rest of the way. That’s when I noticed that I had a new cast. Wow, how out of it did they keep me? I felt a little woozy, but the prospect of being out of this bed was extremely motivating.
I tucked a crutch under each arm and settled the weight on my right foot. Very cautiously, I lowered my left leg, entombed in a walking cast, to the floor. There was only a slight increase in the pain. I started by navigating the room. Thalia and Emily skipped ahead of me, each of them looking back over their shoulder ensuring that I was in fact following them.
The first ten or twenty minutes went just fine. We moved outside and the sun on my skin felt just heavenly. I found that I actually missed fresh air. But as we continued to do laps around the house, the pain began to climb.
If I’m the hero, or the leader, or whatever, shouldn’t this be happening to somebody else? It should be me waving as I trooped off on another supply run. Instead, I’m stuck waving as Jon, Ian, and Billy head across the large open field into the woods and who knows where. That’s another thing…why don’t I know what the heck anybody’s doing or where they’re going?
***
“I’ve called everybody together because I don’t know what is going on,” I said.
Everybody sat around at a few of the picnic tables. After a week of physical therapy, I’d felt comfortable enough to hobble my way down the hill and take a bath in the stream. Wrapping my leg in plastic was the hardest part of the whole thing. And once I got to the stream, I was forced to sit on a rock while Melissa washed the parts I couldn’t. After that milestone, I felt comfortable enough to call the meeting. Minus Sanchez and Beebe, who were still out hunting for Jason, and including me, there were eleven adults present and two children who were both off occupying themselves by dropping leaves into the stream and watching them drift away.
