by TW Brown
“One crisis at a time,” he whispered.
A sound to his right as he was passing another collection of small homes that looked like they might not be standing if he came by this time next year drew his attention. A blue house with a fenced yard stood with all its windows and the front door open. Painted in big red letters on the front were the cryptic words “WAIT HERE JILL”. A black dog had its face pressed against the fence. At least that was what he first thought he saw.
Kevin actually stumbled when the scene revealed itself. The dog’s head was through the fence. The mouth was a wreck from chewing on the hard wire. Chunks of who-knows-what hung in clumps. The poor thing had torn most of one side of its scalp away and the right ear actually looked to be dangling from a thick clump that had gathered under the creature’s muzzle.
“Holy crap,” Peter breathed from beside him.
“Yeah.” Kevin really couldn’t think of anything else to say.
They reached the end and had no choice now. They would have to venture into the neighborhood. A tilted sign announced that he was venturing onto Webb Street. They passed an empty lot and reached the first intersection. The zombies were indeed heading south. He hoped to God that fence they had to climb would hold. He knew they were in for some problems on the return trip. If that fence gave way, then they would have to fight all the way to the snowmobile and then hope they could even get to it. That thought kept making Kevin’s stomach turn over.
They reached another intersection and Kevin stopped in the middle of it. He was so very lost. How was it that he’d deluded himself into believing that he could do this? The undead were everywhere. They were coming out from between buildings, out of half-burned down shops and stores.
“We have to scrub it,” Kevin said sadly.
“Whatever you say,” Peter muttered. “This is your mission, I’m just back up.”
He’d failed her. Valarie would probably waste away in her current state without some way to bring her out of it. Not one of his precious zombie movies or survivalist camps had prepared him for this. It was in that moment that a feeling of shame so deep hit him that it actually caused his knees to buckle. He had never included his sister in his plans. All the talk he’d spouted about loving her so much had been just that…talk.
“There are a few stores down this street,” Peter offered.
“We need a pharmacy,” Kevin said. “We won’t find what Valarie needs in just a regular store.”
“I realize that, Kevin. But if we go back the way we came, we aren’t going to see anything new. The least we can do is head down this road. We may find something…can’t hurt.”
Kevin looked around. Actually, it could. The longer they stayed out in the open, the more likely those things were going to box them in. They had plenty on their heels.
“Let’s turn right and head back into that strip,” Peter suggested. “We can hook another right in a few blocks and see what we see. When we hit…Mill I think was the name of the street where we came over that fence, then we can head in. If we can get back to the snowmobile, we will plan our next move.”
Kevin was thankful that at least Peter was trying to be helpful. Also, his optimism was a real boost. They began the trek east and were appreciative that there were so many large parking lots in the area. The zombies had begun to notice the pair and were starting to come in bigger numbers. The snow and their slowness was a blessing.
They were just approaching what looked like the burned out remains of a gas station. The explosion had been big enough to destroy the church across the street, but it wasn’t either of those things that caught Kevin’s eye. There was something on that sign ahead that had his pulse picking up just a bit.
A handful of zombies were in the intersection and there would be no getting past them, but the closer he came to that sign, the more he was sure.
“CVS!” Peter exclaimed just as the letters came into view. “Too bad the power is out, we’d have seen it a lot sooner.” Peter elbowed Kevin after his attempt at a joke.
As much as he wanted to join in on the relieved laughter, what was standing in that intersection had taken a bit of his joy and relief. Mixed in with the five zombies were two children. One was no older than five. The little guy was dressed in the ragged remains of an actual suit; complete with a tie that was frozen into an el-shape that poked out from his body like a perverse divining rod.
“Watch out for the kids,” Kevin warned. “The last few times out, I have noticed something when we dealt with the young ones. It is like they still have some sort of cognitive thought process going on.”
“Let’s not start that now,” Peter waved a dismissive hand. Drawing his blade he started towards the closest one—girl of eight or nine.
He was about ten feet from the zombie when his blood seemed to freeze in his veins. The girl had stopped advancing. That was no big deal…until she ducked behind the adult male zombie and appeared to give him a gentle shove.
“Holy—”
“I told you,” Kevin snapped as he moved wide to the left putting distance between him and Peter. This also had the added effect of causing the zombies to split up. Both of the children hung back.
“That is so creepy,” Peter breathed.
“Get to them quick,” Kevin urged. “I have no idea what the deal is, but let’s finish them and get to that store.”
Kevin made a feint to the left and then dashed past the adults and towards the little boy who happened to be the closer of the two. He almost lost his footing again when the boy turned and actually looked to be making an attempt to escape.
After cutting them down, they hurried the remaining distance to the CVS store. As they plowed through the parking lot, Kevin felt a renewed sense of purpose. He hadn’t failed her…provided that a prescription for clozapine was sitting in a bin unclaimed.
“You go in,” Peter called. “We got more coming, I’m gonna try and lead them away. You know where the snowmobile is from here…right?”
“Yes, but splitting up—”
“Is the only choice right now. If we go in that store, these things will be stacked up outside and we will never get away. If I keep moving, then maybe they will follow the noisy dinner bell. Just get in there and find what we need. Don’t make this trip be all for nothing.”
With that, Peter took off singing at the top of his lungs: “I wanna be an Airborne Ranger…I wanna kill a total stranger…”
Kevin reached the entrance of the store and was surprised to find only two on his tail. It seemed that the others were indeed more interested in a noisy meal. Taking off his jacket, he wrapped it around his arm and hit the glass door with his elbow. The pain shot up his arm, and it took him five tries, but eventually he broke the glass.
Turning to face the approaching zombies, Kevin readied his machete. They took what seemed like forever to reach him. It only took a couple of swings and he was able to duck inside. He breathed deep and was relieved to inhale nothing but he musty smell of the pharmacy.
16
The Last Straw
I stopped at the edge of the tree line. Jamie and Jon stopped as well, each with a questioning look on his face.
“Sorry,” I said. “It’s just that, sometimes, I look at this place and can’t believe it might be our home for…well, basically forever.”
“We really put in a lot of time and effort here,” Jamie added. “I guess I don’t think about it much as how it was before, but standing here right now, I can see it all.”
“You have done well…all of you,” Jon agreed. “I don’t think a military unit could have set this place up any better. And a lot of this stuff was in place before me and my boys got here, so none of this is on me.”
Just as we started across the drawbridge, we heard the distinct sounds of children laughing. A few seconds later, a pair of sleds came ripping down the hill. My first reaction was that of any parent: Oh my God! My kids are gonna kill themselves! I watched helplessly as they neared the bottom of the
hill. There was nothing I would be able to do, and it was unlikely that they would hear me if I yelled. They were going to crash into the trench. As deep as it was, coupled with their speed, they were facing serious injury if not death.
Despite not being able to do anything to prevent what would happen, I took off at as much of a run as I could manage in the snow. As I crossed the drawbridge and was able to see better, my heart rate slowed a little closer to normal. Still, I was overwhelmed with worry.
Then they reached it. In the lead sled were Thalia and Levent. Even from here I could see the wide-eyed faces that were a mixture of fear and excitement. The sled shot up the little ramp and flew over the trench. It landed perfect with the nose up just enough. It still sunk in the snow and they disappeared for a moment.
Right on their heels came the second sled with Emily and Rabia. Unfortunately they were more heavily weighted in the front with Emily in the driver’s seat. They came in nose first and hit the snow like a lawn dart. I felt my heart stop.
There was an eruption of snow and all four children came out laughing like crazed fiends. The inevitable snowball fight ensued almost immediately. I continued walking and that is when I saw Jesus and DeAngelo standing nearby on either side of the trench with their own personal arsenals on display. I glanced up in the crow’s nest and saw the telltale wisps of Fiona’s red hair fluttering from under a stocking cap.
As I began up the hill and the porch came into view, I could see a cluster of folks standing around Billy and the couple from the woods. I could tell by Billy’s animated gestures that he was narrating the encounter with the zombie wolves. From the amused looks on everybody’s faces—including Doug’s and Cheryl’s—it was obvious that his knack for over-exaggeration was being put on display.
I reached the top of the hill and froze when I arrived at the parking lot area. Two zombies were laying sprawled in the snow. Both had been beat down with a spiked bat from the looks of things.
“What happened here?” I called out as I passed the corpses.
“They came in from the back side of the camp,” Melinda Cribbs, DeAngelo’s wife, explained. “I was in the tower, and by the time I could get anybody out to deal with them, they were already coming up the hill. Fiona said she wanted to see if they could actually navigate that steep incline on the back side with all the snow.”
“Well it seems obvious that they can.” I didn’t particularly like taking chances like that, but I was sure Fiona had her reasons. I would have to ask her what they were later.
It had taken me a few minutes, but it suddenly struck me as to what was missing. I didn’t see Dr. Zahn anywhere. Also, Sunshine was standing away from the group and had perhaps one of the saddest expressions I’d ever seen on her. And I meant all of her, because the look on her face was being broadcast by her entire body. She looked like somebody had deflated about half of the air from her frame.
I could tell that the newcomers were happily engaged in speaking with our group. Plus, the kids had dragged the sleds back up the hill and were about to embark on another run. I decided that I needed to go see what was up. Jon and Jamie joined the group as I made my way down the porch to Sunshine.
“So what’s up?” I asked.
“You need to talk to the doctor,” Sunshine answered.
I heard all sorts of things in her voice. There was the fatigue I could see on her body, but there was something more. Something I was not going to like.
“What is it?”
“You said that you wanted to be told when the doc thought she had the whole “cause of death” thing with Teresa narrowed down.” Sunshine wasn’t the sort to avoid eye contact, but she was specifically not looking at me now.
“What is it?” I asked hesitantly.
Just like that, my mood had swung right back into the darkness. It was like some sick, sadistic cosmic force could not stand to see me enjoy even a moment’s happiness. Every time I felt like I could take a breath, a new drama unfolded and punched me right in the throat.
I really began to wonder what my limits were. If I reached them, would I just snap? Is this why people used to just walk into their old place of employment and start shooting? I could not ever tolerate such a thing, but it reminded me of a line from one of my favorite comedians, Sam Kinnison: “I don’t condone domestic violence, but I understand what turns Mister Hand into Mister Fist.” I’d always thought that to be just a little bit extreme. And certainly Saint Sammy would not have enjoyed the over abundance of political correctness that had swept our society into a frightened corner where it didn’t seem like anybody could say or do anything without offending someone. Yet, here I was…standing on the porch awaiting the delivery of more bad news.
My mind ran through just the last few days. I categorized everything into the “good” file or the “bad” file and was not surprised to see that my “good” file was dusty from lack of use. Whereas my “bad” file was splitting the seams and didn’t look to be able to handle even one more thing.
Almost in a sympathetic gesture, the pain in my leg began to throb and my wrist felt like it was on fire. I’d been able to ignore it when I was worried about Jamie. I wasn’t thinking about it when the wolves were trying to eat us; and it was the absolute last thing on my mind when I thought the kids were sledding to their death…or at least serious maiming.
Limping back to the entry of the cabin, the new guy, Doug, grabbed my arm. “Hey, Steve, I just wanna say I’m sorry for the way things went when we met.”
“Like I told ya, it isn’t necessary.” I shook the man’s hand and gave Cheryl a friendly pat on the arm.
I slipped past the crowd and went inside the cabin. As I was about to shut the door, Melissa caught it and followed me in.
“More bad news?” she asked.
That was one thing about Melissa; she was able to read me like a book. She knew when things were going poorly and when they were just falling apart at the seams.
“I don’t know yet,” I admitted. “Sunshine said Dr. Zahn needed to see me.”
“Yeah…” Melissa let that word hang for a few seconds. I waited patiently for her to say what was on her mind. Whatever I had missed, it was becoming obvious that it was not going to make my day. “She has been really weird for about the last couple of hours.”
I was certain that I didn’t want to hear this. If there was one person who did not get rattled or act out of sorts for any reason, it was Dr. Zahn. She was the strongest, most resolute person I’d ever met in my life. She had endured everything tossed at her; including my killing a man she had started developing romantic feelings towards.
When I felt like I was at the end of what I could stand—and that was becoming increasingly frequent—she would give me the old Cher-from-Moonstruck “slap out of it” remark.
Standing outside the door of the doctor’s little closet-turned-office, I readied myself for the bad news. Knocking twice, I only had to wait a second before I heard the unrecognizably tired sounding voice of Dr. Zahn bid me to enter.
When I walked in, I glanced back at Melissa, almost hoping that she would be on my heels. Instead, she was still right where I’d left her. With a shooing motion of her hands, she urged me to get in and find out what new and fresh problem would add to the deepening gloom of winter.
“Sunshine said you wanted to see me as soon as I came back.”
“Did you boys manage to catch up to Jamie?”
“Yes.”
“And did he come back of his own free will?”
“Maybe not at first, but I think he turned a bit of a corner when we arrived,” I said. “As we reached the edge of the clearing, I commented on the changes we’ve made here. He seemed to sink into the reminiscing. I think he will be upset for a while, he will dip into a depression no doubt, but I think that he can get through this with all of us at his side.”
“Yes…” Dr. Zahn looked up at me and I saw that her eyes were red and puffy from crying! That was enough to make me take a step back.
“What’s wrong?”
“I should have seen it…” The woman I’d seen look me in the eye and accept me taking the life of a man she was involved with was gone. This woman was a frail, elderly lady. The strength I was used to…relied upon…all gone. I barely recognized the face I looked into.
“I’m not this stupid!” Dr. Zahn slapped the table with an open hand.
“Who said you were stupid?”
“The disease…the infection is blood borne.”
I had no idea what she was talking about. Sure, I knew how the infection spread. So did everybody else.
“Jamie was infected,” Dr. Zahn stated, wiping away the tears that were now flowing freely down her cheeks.
“But he didn’t turn; so what?”
“That does not mean he is free of the disease. We also know that a person who demonstrates immunity will turn if they die. The infection remains, it is simply not a catalyst for death.”
If I’d thought I was lost before, I’d been grossly incorrect. I now had absolutely no idea what any of this had to do with anything. I was at a loss as to why Dr. Zahn was so upset with herself. And even more confusing, I had no idea what this had to do with Teresa.
“If he is infected, then we have to assume that he is, at the least, a carrier.”
“Okay.”
“What are some of the ways a person can catch an infection that is transmitted by blood or fluids?”
“Besides biting?” I tried to laugh, but the look on her face closed my throat up before the offensive sound could escape my lips.
“Yes.”
“Well, I know that everybody was wearing gloves all the time in case they might have a tiny nick or cut where the blood might get in and infect the person.”
“And…?”
