“Okay,” said Caleb.
Kozz held the knife in his hand with a firm grip and slashed at a tree with clean swipes, then he stabbed it with determination and left the blade stuck point-first into the tree. “You see how that bark sliced off?” asked Kozz. “It was like butter. Go on, grab the knife and give it a go.”
“Alright,” said Caleb. He yanked the blade free from the tree and gripped the handle just as Kozz had shown him. Caleb had a hard time putting force into his swipes and could not get the blade to slice away sections of bark like Kozz had.
“Gotta get a tighter grip.” Kozz grabbed Caleb's hand and squeezed it.
“Ow! That hurts!”
“That's how strong your grip has to be when you need to use that knife. You can't just hold it, it's gotta be a solid part of your arm. If you're not digging your fingers into that thing like your life depends on it you're not gonna have any force behind your attacks and the knife will just get knocked away from your hand.”
“My arm's getting all tired already.”
“Well you'll be needing bigger muscles then.” Kozz punched at his biceps. “We're talking about fighting for your life, here. You'll be using all the energy you got.”
“Guess I'll be needing to do some push-ups then.” Caleb punched his own arms. He rubbed the pain out of them after Kozz turned to look at the campfire.
They ate a hearty dinner of beans and some forest critters Luciele had snagged along the way. Kozz wanted to start shooting practice with the boy and was surprised to find that Caleb had brought along his own small laser pistol. It was a thin metal device with a digital screen and a handle. They set up a range with a fallen log and a few empty food cans. Kozz cracked open an everlight and tossed it near the targets.
Caleb went first and took his time with each shot, knocking down all three cans without a miss. Kozz laughed at the sound it made when it fired.
“That thing sounds like my electric razor when it hits a rough patch of stubble!”
Caleb frowned. “Well it might not sound like an airship engine backfiring like yours, but at least I don’t have to worry about forgetting to reload it.” Kozz’s deep laughter was cut short and he looked to Caleb’s eyes. Luciele stood up with a sudden bout of worry, but then both Kozz and Caleb broke their stern faces and let their laughter escape simultaneously.
They walked through the forest for several more days until they came to an expanse of green grass being cropped by grazing cattle. The wind blew waves across the across the plains, causing them to shimmer in the sunlight. In the distance was a small, white house in the shade of a large red barn.
Caleb darted out of the forest’s edge and down into the field where he jumped into the grass and rolled around, feeling the warm prickles on his skin. Though not fully healed, his rib did not appear to be causing him much grief. Kozz and Luciele walked down to where Caleb laid in the grass and looked across the fields to the house that waited in their path.
“I think we should go see if someone is in there,” said Luciele.
“I agree,” said Kozz. “If there’s any trouble we should be able to handle it.”
“There’s a good chance that someone is still home and doing alright,” said Luciele. “Everything looks so nice and tended to, not like a place that’s been neglected.”
They walked through the field, the herd of cattle shying away from them, and Kozz spotted a dead cow in the field near the barn. It looked to have been attacked by something only days ago. “That poor thing has been baking in the sun like a tomato,” said Luciele, grabbing her nose. “Smells worse than walking behind these mules after they’ve eaten a belly full of skunkweed.”
The barn had been painted recently and was in solid shape. Inside, hay littered the floor and Kozz found another dead cow in one of the stalls. It did not smell as bad as the other that had been baking in the warm sun and it looked like it had been alive not long ago. Luciele walked over to inspect the damage to see what could have killed the animal, but outside Caleb screamed and the both of them ran out the door before they could search for anything.
Red was in Kozz’s hand as he rounded the corner of the barn and he found Caleb on the ground covering his eyes from the horrid sight in front of him. A woman stood in the shade between the barn and the house with a wood-chopping ax driven through her forehead, the ax pinning her dead body up against the barn wall. Streams of dried blood ran down both sides of her face and soaked into her white blouse. She was an older woman with gray hair, but not much more could be deciphered from the mess. Luciele picked up her son and moved him away from the scene. Kozz followed them to the front of the house. That image will haunt the boy for the rest of his life, thought Kozz.
“That woman looks like she’s been there no longer than a day or so,” said Luciele.
“She looks like grandma,” cried Caleb.
Luciele held her son and tried her best to comfort him. “Do you think she was killed because she was one of the infected, Kozz? Or do you think one of the infected got her?”
“That’s a brutal way for someone to kill another person,” said Kozz, “but they could have done anything in self-defense. I think it was probably one of the demons that did it to her, though.” Kozz lit up a stogie, his lighter held by the same hand as was Red. His heart condition had not gone away just because he had forgiven himself, but it had not been flaring up as bad as it once was. The smoke caressed his insides and made him feel better. “God help us all.”
Kozz crept up to one of the house windows and looked inside. The house was cluttered, its drawers and cabinets were emptied all over the floor, but it looked empty of life and so Kozz had the others follow him as he went inside. Luciele and Caleb waited in the parlor while Kozz checked the other rooms. He told the others that all was clear. They all took a few moments to rest on the soft sofa before Kozz went into the restroom to shave his rough beard and Luciele tested the kitchen sink for running water. Clear, cold liquid poured out. She grabbed a few glasses from one of the cabinets and filled drinks for everyone from the faucet. Kozz started shaving while she and Caleb rummaged through the kitchen pantry for food.
Clink.
Luciele and Caleb both heard a noise from somewhere in the kitchen.
Clink.
Luciele moved towards the window. It sounded like something small had hit the glass.
Clink.
“A pebble,” said Luciele. She looked down to her son who looked back at her with a curious face. Then, at the same time, their eyes widened in sudden realization. Luciele leaned over the sink to look out the window when the front door ruptured inward and an old man burst across the threshold, his eyes glowing as white as his receding hair line. Plaid suspenders held up his tan pants, his shirt was half-tucked and all but one button was unclasped. He turned towards the kitchen and ran at the mother and son with a pitchfork held over his head in both hands.
Luciele had left her shotgun in the living room. She screamed for Kozz. The old man charged forward and threw his pitchfork at them like a harpoon. Luciele jumped aside to dodge the attack as Caleb ran low and behind the white-eyed man. The boy looked back to see that the man had stepped forward and grabbed his mother’s wrist before she could escape. The man went to pick up his pitchfork with his other hand and Luciele kicked him in the face as he bent down. She ran past him to get her gun. The man ran after her.
KABLAM!
The sound of the blast shook the house as the man collapsed to the floor and screamed like a sewer rat that had been set aflame. His eyes beamed like spotlights and a moment later it was all over. Kozz stood in the restroom doorway with a half-shaved face, frothy razor in one hand and Red in the other, her barrel smoking. Caleb stood frozen with his hand on his laser pistol, and Luciele fell forward onto the sofa, heaving a sigh of relief.
“That is no fucking infection,” she said matter-of-factly. Caleb transitioned from one state of shock to another after hearing his mother swear, surprised by her sudden choice o
f words. “You’re right Kozz. This is something else. I can’t believe my baby was like that.” Kozz went to the bedroom where he grabbed a thick blanket to cover the body with.
“Why couldn't we save the man?” Caleb asked his mother. “Like Kozz saved me.”
“We didn't have the chance, sweetie,” she replied. “It was too dangerous. Now come here. I need your hug.”
The group decided that they would not sleep in the house. The comfort of the beds and blankets was welcoming, but there were too many disturbing images around the home and they agreed that not one of them would have caught a wink of sleep that night with so much death surrounding them.
Kozz finished his shave and they all took baths to clean the woodland camping off their bodies. They washed their clothes and gathered extra food for the journey. In the barn they collected more feed for the mules and set out before dusk hit, hoping to get far enough away from the home to rid it from their sight.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Secrets
Warmer days welcomed laughter and shared kindness, and the colder nights brought the group closer together as they huddled in their tent for warmth. They had grown close over their short time together, but the mystery of Kozz’s past was like thick metal bars separating the mutual freedom of Luciele and Caleb from the imprisoned convict locked away in his lonely cell.
A cup of cocoa slid down Kozz’s throat like warm silk as he watched the sun settle beyond the horizon, giving his sight the comfort of shade and letting the cool evening air place its first chilled grip on his exposed skin. Everyone shifted just a little closer to the fire as a chill set in, the three travelers were highlighted by the firelight against the darkening sky.
Since the run in at the farm it had been smooth traveling and high spirits for the tired trio. Their path took them away from homes and villages, avoiding any and all contact with lurking dangers. They slowed their pace to rest their aching feet and sore thighs, making the last few days feel more like a vacation than an arduous trek for survival. Luciele poked at a rehydrating can of mixed vegetables she was heating for her son as he sat with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. Kozz put down his warm drink and stared into the flames as Luciele pulled out her son’s food. Caleb sat next to his mother and ate his meal, falling asleep with his head on her lap before the stars replaced the sunset.
“Kozz, I’ve seen the way you look at Caleb,” said Luciele as she ran her fingers through her son’s unwashed hair.
“What do you mean, doll?”
“You have only known him for a few weeks now, but with every new day I can feel the warmth and love growing in your eyes. You care for him, don’t you?”
“I wouldn’t go saying all of that, but I care for the kid, sure. What are you getting at, Luce?”
“Don’t call me ‘Loose’, and you are not being honest with yourself, or me for that matter.”
“Sorry doll," he paused for a minute and ran over in his head what Luciele had just said, “about the name and the truth. The truth is I can’t tell you the truth. There’s things about me you can’t know, no one can know. It’s a complicated matter, Luciele.”
“I know you’ve been hiding behind your secrets, but I have decided to trust you nevertheless. You have a past that you don’t want to share, that’s fine. You are here, now, helping us and leading us to wherever it is we are going, and since you are here with me and my boy I want to know why it is you find him so special. I want to know why you care for him so. What is it Kozz? Your care for my son does not go unappreciated, but I want to know why you are doing it Kozz, why you have such love for my son. I’ve heard only small mentions from you of your own son, and most of it was from that night you broke down and cried out to the world. Does Caleb remind you of Jake? Have you been using my boy as a stand in for your own son?”
Her words dug deep into Kozz’s heart. She helped him understand that even though there were things he could not tell her or anyone else, there were parts of his life that he could share and had only chosen not to. His heart ached, but not in the same way as when it was over exerted. It ached in a way that it had been aching for years, dull and tucked away. He had chosen to keep all of his secrets to himself for years. It was time to let some go.
“Luciele, darling, I have something to share with you, something I’ve been keeping to myself for a long time.”
“Go ahead, please.” She put a pillow under Caleb’s head and walked around the fire to sit next to Kozz. She placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on top of his hand. Her skin was cold, yet caring.
“If I look at Caleb the way you say I do, it's because he reminds me of my son.” Tears filled Kozz’s eyes. For ten years his emotions had hidden in his darkness, but Luciele and Caleb had unlocked the flood gates. Luciele rubbed a hand across his back. She made no move to speak and patiently waited for Kozz to continue. “His name was Jake. My beautiful wife Priscilla and I had a son twenty-three years ago, he died twelve years after that. He was our only child, and we loved him very much. There was somebody that was mad at me, somebody that wanted revenge. That somebody entered my home while I was away and killed Jake, murdered my son. Jake wasn’t given the life he dreamed of, the life he was going to live. He wanted to be a pilot and a scientist for the Cooperation. He was smart and loving like his mother. He was strong and brave.
“Jake was also a quiet boy, like Caleb. He was a boy of few words, but the words he did speak were strong and important and interesting. Caleb reminds me of Jake in some ways, not all, but some. Caleb’s interests and words and inner strength, his love reminds me of Jake. Caleb may not be as aggressive and physically strong as my son, but his courage, his heart is powerful and so was Jake’s.
“Caleb is a great boy, and that's why I care for him. My eyes are warm for him because he makes my heart warm. He, no, both of you have given me something I have been without for more than ten years, love and personal strength. You have given me love. Caleb has given me love. A man cannot live without love and I felt close to dying not too long ago, not more than a month ago when I lived in my icy hell hole alone, staying away from love and warmth so that I could protect it and protect myself from losing it again.”
There were a few seconds of silence as both of them wiped away their tears. “What are you trying to protect, Kozz? Who? Is it your wife, Priscilla? What happened to her? Does she need protection from the person who killed your son?” Kozz turned towards Luciele. She leaned back and her lips twitched, embarrassed about how forward she was with her questions. “I’m sorry Kozz, I—”
“I abandoned her.” Kozz admitted as if pleading guilty to a jury. “I ran away to protect her, but now I have to find her and make sure she is safe from all this madness. It's still difficult to speak of it all. I don't wanna say anymore.” Kozz returned his gaze to the flames.
“I’m so sorry about what happened to your son. He sounds like a wonderful boy.” Luciele looked over to her sleeping child. “Caleb likes you, he told me so. I know you will keep him safe.”
“Thanks. I’ve kept this all inside for too long.”
“Thank you for telling me your story, and for putting your trust in me. I am sorry for trying to delve any further than you were willing to go.”
“Think nothing of it, doll.”
Caleb stirred awake from his sleep. Luciele stood up and walked over to her son and led him into the tent. Kozz stared into the flames until they dwindled into non-existence. When only the glowing coals remained Kozz followed the others into the tent to sleep.
In the morning they all awoke to a distant buzzing sound, one they were all familiar with. Caleb sat up, immediately followed by his mother and Kozz. “Do you hear that?” Caleb shouted in excitement. “It’s an airship!” They emerged from the tent to see a small airship flying above, popping in and out of sight as the thin foliage of the treetops swayed in the dawn wind. The airship was a one-man personal carrier and flew past them without pause. Their fire had long been out and
their campsite was well-hidden under a clump of young trees, but even if the person flying the ship had seen them, chances were they would not have stopped. Caleb chased after the ship for a bit, but he soon gave up and sulked back to the campsite.
Luciele assured her son that it was good to at least see someone flying a ship, that it meant there were others alive and unaffected by the disease, others who were doing what they could to survive, others who were on their way to Port Town, to the quarantine zone. “Unless those glow-in-the-dark freaks can fly our machines,” said Kozz, “I’d say this is a good sign.”
“They can't do that,” said Caleb. “Can they, Kozz?”
“There's no reason to scare my child,” said Luciele.
“I'm not scared, mom. Not really.” Caleb was indeed scared, but he would never admit it in front of Kozz. “But do you think they can fly an airship?”
“Probably not,” said Kozz. “I was just sayin' what popped off the top of my head. Those demons can be tricky, but there's no way they can be that smart.”
The small ship flew eastward, towards the city. They followed the path of the now out of sight airship, hopes lifted slightly by the first sign of normal life they had seen in weeks. Someone is up there, they all thought in one fashion or another, someone’s survived outside of the quarantine zones just as long as we have. We aren’t the last ones.
By the end of the day they reached the top of a hill that served as the end to the forest. Ahead were open plains, farmland that was dotted with small towns, and not much in the way of cover from wandering eyes. They were going to have to brave the open.
Frostarc Page 7
