He knew that he and Ed had a pretty good chance of catching whatever it was, and Linda too. Trap, Mac, and Tanaka might be okay. He only hoped one of them would be left alive to take word to Angie and the group.
He couldn’t bear to leave her. He couldn’t stand the thought that she may never know what had happened to him. He sat down to write a letter. It was the hardest and most important letter that he had ever written in his life.
After that, he prepared for his death.
Chapter Fifteen
Moving Day
Jim
The time came when they had to move.
It was now nearing the last week of September. The nights were cooler, and soon the days would be as well. Jim had taken Angie, Jean, and Lane on the cabin supply mission. It seemed like a good idea to get Lane used to operating and using her new skills, though she wasn’t anywhere near ready for a real mission.
However, this would give her exposure to the elements outside their little haven and that was something all the girls were sadly lacking.
The trip there had gone smoothly. They hadn’t spotted any enemies and had managed to transfer half of their supplies to the cabin. Lane and Jean got them sorted down in the basement while Angie and Jim worked outside.
They were watching the perimeter while setting up a temporary shelter for the animals. Next time, they would be bringing a load of feed and some heavy fencing material, plus more building supplies. They needed to put up a couple of guard posts, and a good solid fence.
It was getting later in the afternoon when Jim and Angie left to go to a local co-op on the edge of town.
The plan was to load up as much feed and other stuff as they could before dark, then drive back to the cabin in the dark and unload it tomorrow. Jim really didn’t like doing this at the end of the day, but he didn’t like wasting half a day doing nothing either.
He looked over at Angie who was staring out the window pensively.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, though he could guess.
“My future wedding,” she teased. He saw the sadness still lurking behind her lighthearted words.
“Oh…am I invited, or have I blown my chances?” he said.
“Nope, but if you’re extra nice to me I can wrangle you an invitation.”
“Or maybe I’ll be bad and steal the bride,” he returned.
“Stealing is a crime, or didn’t you know that Officer Morrison.”
“I know it well, baby, and if you know that, then you also know you belong in jail,” he said.
“What did I do?” she asked suspiciously.
“You stole my heart,” he said, looking at her seriously.
He saw her get emotional over that, even teary-eyed. He leaned over and gave her a kiss, careful to keep the moving truck on the road.
She kissed him back and he was surprised. He fully expected her to stop participating and tell him to get lost soon.
“I can’t believe you fell for that line. You’re so gullible, Tate!” he said, grinning widely.
“You ass!” she said smacking his arm, hard. “And it’s the future Mrs. Breckenridge to you, Officer.”
He grunted at that. “I think it should be Morrison.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I’m a cop. I know these things,” he answered, knowing it wasn’t the answer that she had been expecting. Just because she was on the verge of sending him back to best friend zone instead of the complicated thing they had now, didn’t mean he couldn’t keep her on her toes a little. It was only fair.
She scoffed at that, and they were silent for the rest of the trip into town.
As they reached the outer limits, Jim slowed so they could keep a better eye out for danger. The town should be fairly clear unless another herd had moved in recently, which was entirely possible.
They passed cars covered with pollen and still parked haphazardly in the road. Trash still blew and collected in culverts and among the patches of overgrown grass. Sidewalks were disappearing under the towering weeds. Windows of business were dusty and dark.
Nothing stirred among the remnants of this once bustling little town.
They pulled up to the loading dock of the co-op and they both jumped down, readying their rifles. They had brought axes along. Jim decided after that last street fight with over a dozen corpses that a knife, even a big one, just wasn’t the best weapon for a hand-to-hand battle with a Z. Too much potential for exposure to infected fluids.
They wanted to make sure the store was clear before slinging their weapons. It seemed to have been left untouched, but could they really be that lucky?
Jim approached the glass double doors. Angie was right behind, watching their asses. He reached out to open the door when Angie stopped him.
“Wait,” she said, nodding to the top of the door.
He followed her nod and saw the bell. He moved his hand to the other door handle and pushed. They entered the silent store, scanning the open layout and seeing nothing but animal and farm supplies. Good.
“Grab one of those flatbed carts and load it up with as much as you can push. Then take it out to the truck. We’re going to have to watch as we go, we don’t have the time for just one of us to load.”
She did as he asked and managed to get six fifty-pound bags of feed loaded up and moved into the moving truck. They both repeated their trips, gradually loading all the available grain. They even loaded up dog and cat food, just in case.
They also cleared out the stock of animal medical supplies and medications, feeding and watering troughs, and anything else they noticed.
It was hard work, and she was exhausted by the time he deemed the inside work finished.
“Let’s pull around back and load up the fencing gear now. I want to be back on the road before the sun sets,” he said.
She agreed. He knew she would much rather be gone by then. Towns were creepy enough now in the daylight, never mind the dark.
They pulled around and filled the remaining space in the back with as many t-posts, wooden posts, welded wire fencing, panels, and heavy gates as they could fit.
They found a ton of chicken wire and stacked it on top of it all.
“Hey, look at that!” Angie said pointing.
Jim turned and saw her eyes light up. Under a nearby shelter was a truck and trailer, fully loaded with hay. It looked to still be good too.
“Let’s take that!” she said. “I can drive the moving truck back and you can follow in that.”
He debated it for a moment. They really could use the hay for the cows, but he didn’t know if the truck would even start. It had been sitting here for months.
“Let me go see if the keys are in it. I don’t even know if it will start,” he told her.
She waited, scanning the area, while he went to try to start the truck.
He opened the door and was surprised to find the keys hanging in the ignition. He turned the key and saw the light to come on. The battery was still operational. He waited for the lights to go off and cranked the engine.
Yessss
“Now we’re cooking with peanut oil!” he shouted out to Angie.
She looked confused. “You mean Crisco?”
“No.”
Oh well, his mama would have understood.
He killed the engine and got back out. He needed to transfer his gear over to the truck and he wanted to make sure she could manage the moving truck.
“Are you sure you can handle the truck?” he asked her.
“Absolutely. Let’s get this finished up so we can go. Does that thing have enough diesel for the trip?”
“I’ll check when we leave. Just follow me.” He kissed her and patted her on the behind, knowing it was a thin line he was walking and he was sure to get his heart obliterated at the end of it.
“Let’s get going. Time’s a ‘wasting!” he said cheerfully.
“Now you sound like Ed,” she teased.
He winked and got back i
n the truck. He started it up and saw that the tank was full. They were ready to rock and roll.
◆◆◆
They got back to the cabin after night had fallen.
The trees were thick with an almost impenetrable darkness and the moon was partially obscured by a sporadic smattering of clouds. It was certainly a change from their little island of safety.
They would need to be way more careful out here than they had since leaving the store. Survival would become their main mission again, whereas before, it had just been to thrive.
Thriving here would be a bonus.
“Come on, babe. Let’s get some rest. We need to unload this stuff tomorrow and get back to the others,” Jim said as they circled around the clearing.
He made a mental list of everything they still needed to get done before the cold set in. They needed to stockpile some firewood for sure. They couldn’t count on the gas heat to last much longer. Same with the stove. They would be cooking over a fire or on the old woodstove soon. They needed a permanent shelter for the animals and a place to store the hay.
They really needed a large wash tub for the laundry, a grill for easy cooking, and he knew that Cam still wanted to go get those propane tanks from the store parking lot. They would be useful, one way or another.
His mind turned to Cam then. What was he doing? Was he still alive?
He had to be. He couldn’t imagine a world like this without Cam in it. It was almost like he was made for it. If he couldn’t survive, what chance did the rest of them have?
Cuddling up next to Angie later that evening, he really thought of all the important things in life.
This group was his family. He needed to see them through this, for as long as he could. One day, he may have to pass that torch to Jack or Nick or Brad. For now, though? For now, he would keep going.
Keep surviving.
Angie
It was the last day on the island.
Tomorrow morning, they would leave it, maybe forever or maybe just for the winter. She felt grief. They had lost Peggy there. They had almost lost Nick there. They had safety there. They had a time of peace.
Now that was ending, and she couldn’t quite get over it.
Perhaps part of her reluctance was because this was where she had been the happiest with Cam, and she felt that was all she had left of him. She hadn’t heard or talked to him in seven long weeks.
It seemed like ages ago. A lifetime.
She remembered his words the night before he left. He wanted Jim to take care of her while he was gone.
And in case he didn’t come back.
She hadn’t given up on him. She never would. She knew he was strong, a fighter. He would do everything in his power to get Ed back and bring him home. Even if it cost him his life.
She thought he could probably die quite contentedly as long as he fulfilled his mission.
God, she missed him like crazy. She missed his touch, his smell, his warmth, and his austerity. He was one of a kind.
“Hey,” she heard someone say from behind her.
She turned to acknowledge the woman. It was Cara.
“Hey,” she replied.
They were still fairly formal. They seemed to not know how to respond to her not only being Jim’s…friend who they had happened to see him kissing occasionally, and to whom they looked up to with great respect and devotion for rescuing them, but for also being the ‘Colonel’s’ fiancé.
They had turned Cam into almost an idol of sorts. He was the mythical hero Colonel who took down vast hordes of the dead with only an axe. Who brought down an entire prison because his friend was held there. Who avenged crimes against women with devastating vengeance. It was perhaps this last part they held in the highest regard.
She could understand that.
“Are you okay?” Cara asked her.
She seemed to be pretty perceptive, and knew Angie was having a hard time with all this. She had never commented on it before though.
“I’m fine, just thinking.”
“I know it must be hard right now, but from everything I hear, I am sure you have nothing to worry about. The colonel is probably on his way back right now. When he finds us gone, he’ll head straight for the cabin. Those were his orders.”
“I’m sure that you’re right. It’s just hard. I’ve never been away from him for so long.”
“Nick said you guys are getting married? You and the colonel…and…lieutenant colonel Morrison is your good friend?” she asked hesitantly, as if she might have been told a lie.
“That’s right. I’m engaged to Cam, and Jim is…I love him. He’s my best friend. We all ended up in the same place on Z-day and the rest is history.”
She smiled a bit remembering some of their bickering. They would probably still be antagonizing each other twenty years from now. If they lived that long.
“I think it’s great. I mean, take what happiness you can find in this world and run with it. Nick…” Cara stopped suddenly, as if she hadn’t mean to say what she had.
Angie waited to see if she would continue. She didn’t.
“Well, I just wanted to make sure you were alright. I guess we’re all going to stay up for a while and listen to some music. Colonel Morrison said we could.”
“You can call him Jim, you know,” Angie said smiling.
“I know, but…it just doesn’t feel right. I’ll call him what Nick does. We all will. Nick says he’s a pretty great guy, and funny.”
Angie chuckled. “Yeah, he’s a clown sometimes, but I love him for it. Lord knows what we would all be like without him to lighten the mood.”
They suddenly heard a familiar bass intro echoing through the cool evening air. The recognizable melancholic tones of an old rock song followed, reverberating from the houseboat’s sound system.
“Is that…Rooster?” Cara asked.
It was.
Angie closed her eyes and shook her head. “Oh Geez, they let Jean play D.J. again…”
Chapter Sixteen
Waiting Out the Inevitable
Cam
At the end of the first week, Cam started to hope.
At the end of the second week, he began to plan for their departure.
At the beginning of the third week, Linda got sick.
Twelve hours later he got sick.
Fourteen hours after that, Linda passed away in a violent, blood-spewing spasm. Cam was unaware. He was battling a fever of his own.
Demons and the dead tormented him incessantly in his fevered dreams.
Yet, he still fought.
Ed
Three weeks had passed since they had moved in the new place and Ed was looking down at the letter Cam had asked him to take home in the event that he didn’t make it through.
Angie would be devastated to get this letter. Ed was going to make sure he never had cause to deliver it.
He put it back in his bag and went back to Cam’s bedside.
He was still running a high fever, but so far, he hadn’t developed any signs of hemorrhaging. He had no convulsions. His illness seemed to be taking a different path than the others. Linda’s had mirrored Sue’s. They had gotten sick, convulsed, bled profusely, then died shortly after.
Cam had made it longer than either of them without ever reaching the bleeding or convulsing stage.
Ed wondered if he didn’t have a different illness, a normal one.
He was in bad shape, but if it wasn’t the plague then he had a real chance to make it home. He helped him take a sip of water and then went over to the window. Mac and Trap were burning Linda’s body. They had balked at the idea at first, but Ed explained how necessary it was. They finally agreed.
Tanaka had been a lifesaver.
He volunteered to disinfect everything and had done a meticulous job. Ed suspected that everything he did was meticulous. He wondered about Tanaka. He didn’t speak much, but he seemed to take everything in. He was a real enigma.
He wondered how he would
mesh with the rest of the group back at the island.
He glanced over at the calendar Cam had tacked to his wall. He had been crossing off days before he had gotten sick. It was the end of September now, and he supposed that the group had already left the island.
Ed was sorry he wouldn’t get to see it again. He had a feeling he never would.
“Ed,” a weak voice called, breaking into his melancholic thoughts.
“How are you doing there, Cam?” he said, hurrying to his side.
Cam was looking pretty haggard. This whole prison ordeal, then the plague thing happening…it was enough to bring even the strongest man down.
“Not great,” he said. “What day is it?” he asked, trying to look up and around at the calendar on the wall.
“It’s Monday, the thirtieth.”
“Is everyone okay? No more sickness or herds?” Cam asked, closing his eyes again.
“Everything is fine. Get some rest so we can go home,” Ed whispered.
Cam grunted in reply, then fell into a deep sleep.
◆◆◆
Ed sat with him that night and the next.
He was always expecting the convulsions and the seeping blood to start. He was relieved when it didn’t. It seemed Cam just had an ordinary kind of illness after all.
Mac and Tanaka seemed to be well. Trap was taking the deaths of Linda and Sue pretty hard. He had known them quite well. Ed knew how he felt.
He still thought about Peg and Brenda every single day.
Cam
One morning, exactly one week after Linda’s death, Cam surprised them all by showing up downstairs.
“Are you all trying to starve me to death up there,” he grumbled, making his way to the kitchen where they had stored their supplies.
“Cam! You shouldn’t be up!” Ed said hastily.
“I can’t spend another day in that damned bed. Is everyone well?” he asked, looking at the remaining members of the group.
Refuge From The Dead | Book 3 | Dead Fall Page 16
