She catches the bewildered look on my face and shrugs. “What? He was crazy.” Her lip trembles as she fights to hold back tears. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”
Forcing myself to forget how different we are, and ignoring the socioeconomic prejudice within my heart that threatens to rear its ugly head, I pull her into a tight hug. “Don’t worry Kelli. We’ll take care of you. We’re your family now.”
We spend the next few minutes gathering our belongings from the house. It doesn’t take long, since everything we own fits into the packs we carry on our backs. Then Daniel, Meredith, Kelli and I continue on, heading toward a destination we aren’t sure still exists.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Daniel
I wish I understood women. And what they think about. Maybe then I could figure out what Meredith is hiding. She and Chloe seem to have grown closer since we left the house. Kelli just walks along, saying little, still mourning the loss of Paul.
I follow them at a slower pace so I can keep an eye on them.
I still don’t trust Meredith.
Chloe thinks I’m being paranoid, and maybe she’s right...but something about Meredith’s story doesn’t add up. First, she claims she was headed to Asheville from Spartanburg, to see her boyfriend, but ended up just outside of Everly, in the small town of Wilco. Supposedly because she had business to attend to before going to see her boyfriend. But what business? And why in Wilco? The town of Everly isn’t even a blip on the map; it barely exists. Wilco is smaller than that.
Outsiders don’t stop there.
I’m not buying it.
Something else happened just outside Everly. Something she doesn’t want us to know about, and I’m getting the feeling it had something to do with Harlan Downs, and everything that happened after his corpse walked down Main Street, Everly.
Suddenly I stop, sure I heard something in the woods beside us. Chloe looks back at me. “What is it?” she asks.
“I thought I heard something.”
Meredith walks over and listens for one minute, then another. Finally she shakes her head. “If it was a Meth,” she says, using her own term for the Revs, “it’d still be moving, making noise. I doubt it’s a person, either.”
I keep staring at the treeline. “What makes you so sure?”
She shrugs. “I’m not sure, Daniel. I just don’t think they could stand still that long.”
Chloe looks back and forth between the two of us. She seems scared. “Do you think someone’s out there? Watching us?”
“I don’t,” Meredith says.
I look at Meredith. “But you’re not 100% sure, so to be on the safe side, I say we bed down for the night.”
Meredith rolls her eyes. “Fine. Lead the way, fearless leader.”
“What’s your problem?”
“What’s your problem?”
I look at her, incredulous. “Really? You want to do this here, when there might be someone stalking us from the woods?”
“Now’s as good a time as any, jerk.”
“Guys, stop! Please!” Chloe pleads.
Kelli starts crying again.
I tune them both out and look Meredith dead in the eye. “We don’t have time for this right now,” I say, gritting my teeth. “So start walking, or I’ll leave you standing on this road all by yourself.”
* * *
Chloe
The three of us follow Daniel in stony silence. Kelli finally stops crying, but the atmosphere is tense, and no one has spoken since the argument between Daniel and Meredith an hour ago.
I can’t stand the silence any longer. “We’ve got to be getting closer to a house, right? I feel like we’ve been walking for hours.”
Daniel doesn’t stop walking.
He doesn’t respond to me, either.
Meredith just says, “It’s only been one hour, Chloe. Not plural.”
Okay.
This is going to be a long night.
* * *
Daniel
"It's clear, you can go inside now."
We came up on the small farmhouse ten minutes ago. It’s not as nice as the brick house with the basement, but it’s clean and seems secure, so it’s good enough for us.
We have really low standards these days.
I keep an eye on the road through the blinds while the girls begin the process of getting comfortable for the night.
Behind me, Chloe takes her shoes off, and rubs her feet. “Oh man, what I wouldn’t give for a day at the spa.”
Kelli smiles. “I’d settle for a pedicure.”
Chloe smiles, too. “Definitely a pedicure.”
Kelli leans back in the living room recliner. “How often did you go to the spa? Well, you know…..when there was still a spa to go to.”
I smile because I know the answer even before Chloe responds.
“Never,” Chloe says, laughing. “I couldn’t afford it. But it always sounded like it would have been fantastic.”
Kelli’s smiles wider. “I’ve never had a pedicure, either.”
Chloe stops laughing and stares down at her dirty, calloused feet. “You know. I really should have splurged on a day at the spa when I had the chance.” She sighs. “Now, I’ll never know what it was like.”
“I know what you mean,” Kelli says. “But...when you don’t have the money, you don’t really have a choice, do you?” she adds with a shrug.
Chloe shakes her head. “Nope. You sure don’t.”
Later that evening, I'm sitting in the living room alone. Somewhere nearby, a single cricket chirps a mournful lullaby for those left to listen. The girls went to bed an hour earlier. I volunteered for the first watch so they could get some sleep. So far, so good. I haven’t noticed any activity from the living or the dead. Apart from the tiny insect, the night is quiet. You could almost describe the stillness as peaceful; that is, until you remember the night is so still because so many people are dead.
“Mind if I join you?”
I jump at the sudden sound of her voice. I never heard her enter the room. Meredith takes a seat on the couch beside me. We sit there for a few minutes in awkward silence.
Finally, Meredith speaks. “Listen, I think we got off on the wrong foot.”
“Because you’ve been lying to us,” I say, without looking at her.
“Why do you keep saying that?” she asks, obviously frustrated.
“Your story doesn’t add up.”
After a moment of silence, she sighs. “Okay, but that doesn’t mean I’m a threat to you ...or Chloe.”
I finally look at her.
“It just means I want to keep some things to myself,” she adds.
“You don’t have the luxury of secrets.”
“Why not?”
“Because the things you don’t say could end up getting innocent people hurt. Or worse.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “No one’s innocent anymore, Daniel. Not in this world.”
“I disagree.”
“Let’s compromise, then.”
I roll my eyes. “Okay. What’s the compromise?”
“It’s easy. I’ll allow you one question a day.”
I raise an eyebrow.
She raises her right palm. “And I promise to answer with the truth.”
“The truth?”
She nods.
“And what do I have to do?”
“You have to stop treating me like I’m your enemy.”
I think about the terms for a minute. It wouldn’t be the worst thing. “Only one question a day?” I ask.
She nods again. “So choose carefully.”
“Okay, I’ll play your little game. But what happens when I figure out all your secrets?”
She smiles, but it’s one filled with sadness not humor. “You won’t.”
I look at her for a moment, trying to discern what that look means. But it’s no use….right now she’s still a mystery. It looks like I’ll have to play her stupid game to get any real
answers.
“Are you really from Spartanburg?” I ask.
“No.”
“I knew it. Then where?”
She shakes her head. “Rules are rules. Only one question per day.”
I huff and turn back to the window. “Fine, whatever.”
She holds out her hand. “Truce, then?”
I look at her hand for a minute, then reach out to shake it. “Truce. Until you give me a reason to call it off.”
“Fair enough.”
And with that, she gets up and walks back into the bedroom.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chloe
It’s morning.
I think.
I sit up slowly, disoriented. We’ve moved around so much the past two months it always takes me a minute to remember where I am when I wake up. I look around the room. There’s a small fireplace carved into the far wall, a weathered wooden vanity with a small mirror sits to my left, and a tall wooden wardrobe stands to my right. I’m laying in a wooden, four-poster bed. Kelli is curled up beside me, snoring softly.
I remember now.
Paul is dead, and we're sleeping in a little white farmhouse.
I slip out of the bed, careful not to wake Kelli, and walk into the tiny living room just beyond the bedroom. The entire house is maybe 1,100 square feet, so it doesn’t take long to learn where everything is. A second, smaller bedroom flanks the kitchen/dining room combo just off the living room, and beyond that, a tiny bathroom and back porch finish off the house. That’s all there is, but what do I care? We’ll probably start moving again just after breakfast.
Always moving.
I know we need to get to Asheville. After all, it was mostly my idea to head that way to begin with. I need to know the status of my parents worse than I need anything, but I’m tired. So freaking tired. And, my feet hurt. And, my legs are sore. And, I’m sunburned. And, I’m mad because something I had no control over killed the world two months ago, and my simple goals of being a wife and mother are gone, and there’s nothing I can do to bring any of it back.
I could pray about it, sure, but I’m slowly losing the will to keep pleading with a God I’m not sure cares about my worsening situation. I wish I had stronger faith. I wish I had a lifetime of sermons and revivals and Sunday school lessons to lean on, but the fact is, my parents didn’t consider church a high priority when I was younger. We were Christians, yes, but only in name. We never attended services regularly. All I have are a few Christmas Eves and Resurrection Sundays to keep me going...and the Bible in my pack. But it’s all too little, too late, and I’m struggling to reignite the trust in God that kept me going during the first few weeks of this nightmare.
I look around the tiny living room in disgust. It’s not dirty, but it’s not mine. It’s not that it’s small, but rather because it should be another family waking up here this morning. They should be the ones thinking about what to fix for breakfast. They should be able to stand here, in this tiny living room of theirs, worrying about normal human things like mortgages and car payments. But, they’re not here. They’re more than likely dead, or a Rev, and instead I’m sitting here looking at Daniel stretched out on the worn sofa, sleeping soundly after taking the night shift.
Where is Meredith?
“Morning.”
I jump, startled by her sudden presence. I swear she can hear my thoughts sometimes. It’s unnerving. I turn around and smile. “Where have you been? Fixing breakfast, I hope.”
“Not hardly. Bathroom,” she says, gesturing toward the back of the house.
I sigh. “Guess it didn’t hurt to ask.”
She reaches out and gives me a quick pat on the back. “Let’s go see if there’s anything left in the cupboard, okay?”
I nod and follow her into the kitchen, hoping there’s something left after all this time.
* * *
Daniel
I slept through breakfast.
Pity. From what I hear, it was amazing; a combination of stale raisins and oats cereal, and flat diet coke.
Gotta love life’s little luxuries.
It’s just after lunch now. The plan is to leave soon, once the midday sun dips a little lower in the sky so we won’t be walking during the hottest part of the day. Chloe and Kelli went back to the bedroom to take a quick nap. It’s easier to forget you’re hungry when you’re not awake. Meredith and I are sitting on the couch, looking out the window for any obvious signs of trouble.
“So, where are you really from?” I ask.
She doesn’t answer immediately.
“You said you’d answer with the truth, remember?”
She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah…..the truth, I know.” She takes a deep breath, then lets it out slowly. “Okay. I’m from Maine, originally. But I don’t think that’s what you really want to know.”
“Does it have anything to do with how you ended up in Wilco?”
She looks at me for a long moment, then says, “Maybe. Indirectly, at least.”
“Then I guess that’s what I wanted to know.”
She smiles. “So, you’re happy with that being your one question for the day?”
“No, but I suppose it’ll have to do.”
I spend the next few minutes trying to decide how I feel about this new piece of information. She lied about Spartanburg, but I figured that much anyway. Now I learn she’s from Maine. It would explain her lack of complete southern dialect, but she’s at least been in the south long enough to pick up things like “y’all”, although she uses it sparingly.
I slowly realize this game we’re playing has me intrigued. It’s a mystery; something to be solved. It provides a distraction as we make our way to Asheville.
It keeps my mind off my parents.
Out of the corner of my eye I notice Meredith watching me. “What?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “Nothing. You just seem quiet. Well...quieter than usual, I guess.”
I peek out the blind again, and say, “I’m thinking about Maine, and wondering why you left.”
She smiles again. “Slick, but forget it ...only one question per day.”
“Technically I didn’t ask a 2nd question,” I say, returning her smile.
She stands. “Well, I guess we’d better start getting our things ready so we can leave.” She stands there a moment, then adds, “That is, unless we’re staying here another night.”
“As nice as sitting still sounds, we need to keep moving. Asheville won’t come to us.”
She glances in the direction of the bedroom, where Chloe and Kelli are napping, then back at me. “Daniel, it might be good to find a place to stay awhile. We’re all tired…..”
“I know, but….”
“...and we’re not even sure what's left in Asheville,” she continues, despite my attempt to interrupt.
I don’t answer, because I don’t know what to say to that. She’s right. I know she has a valid point, but I’m not ready to give up on my parents yet. They could still be alive.
She seems to sense the conflict raging inside of my heart, so she doesn’t press the issue. “Just think about it,” she says before walking into the bedroom where Chloe and Kelli are sleeping.
* * *
Chloe
I’m trying to sleep - Kelli, too - but it’s hard to sleep when you’re always anxious about what comes next. Will we leave the house, or stay a few days? If we leave, will we find another place to sleep tonight; place to hide when the Revs come back from doing whatever it is they do all day? And if we do find another place, will it be empty, or will we have to fight to claim it as our own? Would we be successful, if we had to? Are we ready to give that piece of our decency up?
So many questions. So much uncertainty.
I feel Kelli stir beside me. A minute later, she asks, “Do you think things will ever go back to the way they used to be?”
I don’t open my eyes. “What do you mean, the way they used to be?”
I can almost he
ar the shrug in Kelli’s answer. “I don’t know ...everything?”
“You want my honest answer, or the I’m trying to make you feel better with lies answer?”
“I guess the truth,” she says without conviction.
I open my eyes and look at Kelli. She’s propped up on her elbow, looking at me with those big hazel eyes of hers; she’s so young, and scared, and I wish I could tell her everything is going to be okay. I want to tell her this is all a bad dream, and that Revs don’t really exist. But I can’t, so I say the only thing I can. “I think it will be a long time before things go back to how they used to be, Kelli. Maybe not even in our lifetime.”
She lowers her eyes. “What if we could stop it?”
I raise an eyebrow. “And how would we do that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe a scientist, or the government, or military could…..”
I cut her off. “Kelli, they’re all dead. No one is working on a cure.”
“You don’t know that, Chloe. They could be out there, working on a cure right this very minute.”
“If they are, it would be to save themselves. Not people like us.”
“But they could save us accidentally...you know, while they’re saving themselves.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t get your hopes up.”
I hear her sigh. “I’ve got something better than hope,” she says after a moment.
“Oh yeah, what’s that?” I ask, humoring her.
“Prayer.”
I roll my eyes again. “Do you really think that’s going to save us?”
She looks like I’ve just slapped her. “Don’t you?”
“I’m not sure anymore.”
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