Beautiful Death (Bella Morté Trilogy Book 1) (44 page)

“You’re so welcome, Sweetie.”

After she finished, Montana grabbed him, pulling him into a hug, tears streaming down his face. “You’re like a son to me, boy. I’m so glad you were able to survive this thing.” He kissed his cheek, whispering in his ear. “Ya make me worry like this again an’ I’ll tan your hide.”

He smiled. “I love you too, Montana.” He sat down, picking up one of the pieces of watermelon, shoving it in his mouth. “Okay, so what’s the news? She told me about the diggin’, an’ who is with who. What else has been goin’ on?”

Mark entered, walking over, pulling him into a hug. “Damn glad to see ya!” He turned and took a seat opposite him and pointed at Candice. “Well, we found out that you an’ I won’t be fightin’ to the death for Candice.”

He arched a brow, looking from her to him. “Come again?”

“When I first got here, she had this sweet smell about ‘er.”

“Yeah, I remember that. You two kept makin’ googly eyes at each other. It kinda pissed me off, to be honest.”

Candice reached over and took a hold of his hand. “Aw baby. I’m sorry. It wasn’t something that we could help.”

Mark nodded. “Yeah, it was somethin’ I wanted. When I say I wanted it, I mean I
wanted
it. I was ready to do whatever it took to get ‘er.”

She nodded. “Yeah, and he had the same scent to me. It was like… had you and I not made the promise to see this together, I would’ve jumped all over him.”

Chewing slowly, Brandon nodded. “That doesn’t help me not get angry. I’m not really sure what to say about that. I take it; it’s not like that anymore?”

“Well, the thing is the moment you were attacked, he stopped smelling sweet.”

“I guess ‘at’s good for me then.”

“You had nothing to worry about, baby.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m all yours, no matter what sweet-smelling man comes through that door.”

He smirked. “Good to know, because I don’t share.”

Mark nodded, grabbing a plate. “Yeah, she stopped bein’ such a cravin’ to me as well.” He looked over at Sophia. “You seem to know a lot about this. What does ‘at mean?”

Sitting back in her chair with coffee, she looked at the three of them while sipping. “I dunno. I’m still tryin’ to understand it because it does things ‘at most viruses don’t.”

“What do ya mean?”

“Normally, when ya get cut, your body’s the best healer an’ goes to work right away to stop the bleedin’. The blood vessels narrow, the blood comin’ outta the wound clots an’ your body releases a flood o’ chemicals. Cells clear the wound of debris over the next several days. New skin cells are created to form a barrier against bacteria an’ retain water. It then takes two to three weeks for the remodelin’ phase to begin where it replaces the layer stronger. Six months later, your skin will be seventy percent as strong as the original.”

“I didn’t know all that. So what does this virus do differently?”

“Well, when infection sets in, usually it destroys the body, it doesn’t heal. The pus isn’t meant to stop someone from dyin’. It’s our body’s natural immune system respondin’ to an infection. Normally, when there’s pus, we have to open it, an’ let it evacuate, or drain an’ then treat it with medicine. However, this one acts like stitches to stop the bleedin’, an’ ‘at confuses me. Now, when ya suffer with a burn, ya get a blister. This is a coverin’ over the injured area to protect it. It’s the body’s best defense against infection. This virus almost acts just like ‘at. Protectin’ the body.” She shook her head. “It confuses me.”

Looking around disgusted, Rachel cringed. “Can’t we have a normal breakfast conversation for once?”

“Sorry Rachel. I keep forgettin’ some people can’t talk about this an’ eat.”

“Yeah, it kind of turns my stomach to talk about disgusting bodily things while I’m eating.”

“I can only assume the sweet smell has somethin’ to do with the virus, but I’m not sure what. Maybe it’s an alert to others of more survivors?”

Candice nodded. “I thought that at first.” She looked at Mark. “Mark, does Brandon smell sweet to you?”

Brandon smirked. “Ya might wanna wait till I take a shower to determine that.”

“No, it has to be now because you smell like the sweetest thing on the bakery shelf to me.”

Mark shrugged. “I’ll sniff an’ see.” He leaned over and sniffed Brandon, falling backwards with a shake of his head. “Oh, God no.”

“Brandon, do I smell sweet to you?”

He leaned over and smelled her, not once but twice. “Mm, ya smell sweet enough to eat.”

She looked at Mark. “Do I smell sweet to you?”

Leaning over, he took a whiff, pulling back, shaking his head. “Nope, ya smell like you could rinse off in the shower the same as him.”

Turning back to Sophia, she shrugged. “See, it’s like this revolving sweet smell.”

She looked around at the three of them. “What happens when ya smell it?”

Mark shrugged. “When I first got here, it was all I could do not to grab ‘er an’ kiss ‘er an’ have my way with ‘er. It was ‘at strong.”

Candice nodded. “Yeah, it’s like this aphrodisiac that I had with Mark when he first got here, now I’m having it with Brandon and can’t wait to tear off his clothes.”

Brandon smirked. “He did say ya need to shower an’ we do need to conserve water.”

Sipping her coffee, Sophia continued to look from one to the other, though smirked at Brandon’s comment. “Well, there are some flowers that attract certain birds an’ insects to help with pollination by sense o’ smell. They make it so allurin’ to some an’ to others not so much.”

“Yeah, but now it’s Brandon who smells like a delicious pastry to me. I don’t get it.”

“I think it might be the virus usin’ process of elimination, but I don’t understand why.”

Trevor brought in a plate of food. “Okay everyone eat up. We made more for when ya finish your watermelon, Brandon.”

Candice slid his water closer. “Don’t forget to drink the water too.”

Sophia nodded. “Only drink it slowly. If ya chug ‘at down, you’ll puke your guts up.”

Mark nodded. “Trust me. That’s exactly what I did an’ ended up pukin’ in the river over the side o’ the raft. It was gross. The undigested peanuts I’d just wolfed down came right back up in almost solid form.”

Rachel groaned. “Guys, can we stop talking disgusting?”

“Not to change the subject,” Montana looked around.

“Please do.”

“Now that everyone is back to normal, we have to finish those trenches
today
.”

Trevor sat down with his plate of food. “Why do they have to be finished today? We’ve been workin’ on ‘em all week an’ we’re so close to bein’ done now, but I’m not sure we can get ‘em finished today.”

“I mean we
have
to finish everythin’ today.”

“Okay, why?”

“Justice an’ Amber are most likely gonna be turned tonight, if they aren’t already. They were here for the plannin’ so they know what we’re doin’. They’ll most likely come at us tonight so we have to be ready. When the sun goes down either we have our moat finished, or it’s gonna get nasty around here.”

Sophia nodded. “Not to mention they might try an’ destroy any vehicles not protected behind the water.”

Mark scoffed. “Yeah, that happened to mine. I don’t know if it was the animals or what, but all four o’ my tires were slashed.”

“How are ya gonna make the trenches not absorb the water? What’s to stop it from soakin’ in the ground?”

Rachel waved her fork around in the air. “Good question, especially since it’s been really dry lately.”

Picking up his fork, Mark looked at Montana. “We could always put plastic down under the water, which should weigh it down so it won’t move.”

Alex leaned back, shaking her head. “Do you know how much plastic that would take? You’re talking about the whole moat. That’s a lot of plastic.”

Trish nodded. “Yeah, is that really the best plan? I mean what happens if the plastic got a hole in it? A stick, or a rock, and you no longer have a plastic lining more like a drain for the water. What about concrete? Couldn’t we use that?”

Trevor shook his head. “Plastic would be easier an’ dry faster.”

Frank reached over the table and grabbed the salt. “Plus they have huge rolls so it’s easy to carry an’ unroll.”

Montana buttered his biscuit, shoving a sausage patty between them. “We could do that, or we could get some Gunite.”

Ian looked over. “What the hell is Gunite?”

Zach nodded, shaking his finger at Montana. “Ooh, that would be perfect! The question is do you think we could find enough?” Grabbing one of the napkins, he stood racing to the table with a pen and sat down, doodling.

Montana took a bite of his sausage sandwich. “It’s somethin’ that looks a lot like clay. It is spread on the ground an’ up the sides to stop the ground from absorbin’ the water. We have to smooth it out much like cement. We need to keep a path for our feet so we aren’t trapped and we don’t step in it. Once it’s hard, it’s damn near unbreakable, but until then…”

Trish looked over at Zach. “What are you doing?”

He wiggled his brows as he drew. “I’m trying to figure out just how much we’ll need for this to work. Granted, this is a gross estimation and we need to take into consideration that I might be a little off.”

Candice smirked. “Trish, that’s what he did for a living.” She looked at Montana. “That might work. Where can we get it?”

Mark sat back in his chair, picking his teeth with his fork. “There’s a nursery up the road ‘at might have it.”

Howard sipped his coffee. “That’s all fine and well, but how will we get over the moat to come and go? I mean, I realize we could go through it, but if we don’t want to get wet…”

Trish looked at Howard. “You were a woman in another life weren’t you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Rachel laughed. “I was thinking the same thing!” She turned to the others and back to the Gunite conversation. “Couldn’t we make a space or some kind of bridge for that? Hell, I’d rather get eaten than have to go through some nasty water.”

Montana smirked. “Don’t worry. I thought of that too.”

Sophia winked, touching his hand lightly. “Damn, my man is just too smart.”

“I have to keep up with my woman.” He winked back at her. “The best way to make sure they can’t get in, but we can come an’ go as we please, is easy. We line the entrance with, ya figure, fifteen feet in the air, fifteen feet across with PVC pipin’. We put holes in the pipin’ enough so it makes a sprinkler system an’ ‘ere’s a steady flow. It’s just a little flow to us, but to them it’ll be like a waterfall.”

Grabbing his cigarettes, Frank lit one and sat back. “Well, the thing ‘at worries me is Justice knows ‘is place inside an’ out. He knows everythin’ about it; all the entrances, exits, every inch o’ this place, he knows.”

Heather sighed. “Amber is a criminal mastermind and can figure out how to break into a place with little to no harm.”

Montana nodded. “Between the two of ‘em, we have to finish ‘is today.”

Zach handed Montana the napkin with his diagram. “The way I figure from the amount of acres you want covered, we’ll need about that much.”

He looked at it, nodding. “Ooh this looks about right to me. You guys are gonna wanna take the box truck an’ just fill it up with whatever ya can find. We have daylight on our side for now, but that won’t last. We’re almost finished with the diggin’. That way when you guys get back with the stuff, we can just go ahead an’ get it filled.”

After he had gained his strength back and showers were out of the way, they headed out to pick up the supplies. Mark stayed behind to keep watch on the others while they continued to dig.

It didn’t take long for them to get back and they were ready for the Gunite to be mixed and poured. Candice and Trevor drove around the outside with the jeep. Trevor drove, while Candice hopped out, dropping off a bag for every ten feet of land per Montana’s instructions. He, Brandon, Frank, and Mark mixed it and filled the trench. Once they were through dropping off the bags, they returned to help the others and keep watch.

The people in the trees with loaded weapons watched over the bags to make sure that nothing got a hold of them. Once they filled the trench with the Gunite, they moved to another location to assist with keeping watch.

It took all day, but by the time the night rolled around, they had the PVC piping in place at the parking lot entrance. The Gunite didn’t take long to dry, just a half hour from the last layer. They used the natural spring, which they used for all their watering needs - filling the well when they got low, to fill the moat as well. It took a few hours, but before long, they had the beginnings of a moat and it worked like a charm. All of them stood on the other side, cheered, and danced around each other, very excited and happy that they got it done. It wasn’t full yet, but it was enough to stop anyone from crossing over.

Thirty-Six

The sun sank over the mountain as the trailer door opened. Justice and Amber emerged both covered in blood, looking around with a crazed expression. Neither of them said a word or an action to the other, just turned and walked in the direction of the main building. As they walked, people joined, falling in behind them as if they were telepathically communicating with each other.