(Book 2)What Remains (9 page)

“Daddy...” Calise’s little voice came as a
welcomed change to the whimpering she had been relegated to for the
last few hours. “Can we go to Grandma and Grandpa’s soon? I don’t
want to stay home anymore.”

My heart sunk even lower. I was already close to
the edge, but ire truly seethed from my pores after the
confirmation that our home was no longer a castle to my little
princess.

“Soon, baby girl. Don’t worry about it for now,
Mommy and I will figure it out. For now spend some time with your
big brother - the monsters don’t stand a chance when he’s
around.”

Maddox beamed with pride. He had already settled
with a book to read her, a silly story about a little girl who ate
so many pink things she turned pink herself.

“Are the monsters going to keep us from having
our Thanksgiving dinner?” Calise asked.

With all of the commotion in the morning I’d
completely forgot the significance of the day.

“Yes, love,” Sarah said, “we’ll still have a
special dinner. I’m not letting
all
of the food go to waste!
We just might have to scale it down a little bit since using the
grill is probably a bad idea with the monsters in the area.”

I forced a smile then followed it with a kiss on
Calise’s soft mess of hair. Satisfied, she bounced down to the side
of her big brother bodyguard to hear the story of the pink culinary
disaster. Sarah eased the pull-down ladder into its extended
position then guided me away from the kids.

“I’ll go first. Let’s give the dynamic duo some
time to unwind.”

In a small house privacy was difficult to obtain
under normal circumstances; add the ever-present fear of every
whisper alerting the unholy drones outside the walls and privacy
became a fairytale. Sarah and I sat facing each other in our
bedroom shower. The shower was built with two seats that typically
served as a resting place for a dozen partial bottles of body wash
and shampoo. Between the pipes, tiles and construction innards that
filled the inside of the walls, we figured any sounds would have a
harder time making it to undead ears.

“The car is still packed,” Sarah said directly.
“We can hold them off long enough for everyone to make it to the
driveway and then we need to be out of here.”

I agreed with her but the fear of putting my
family in danger was still too much, especially after the ordeal we
had just gone through.

“What about the roads?” I asked. “It took me
days to make it here from the police station. We will be lucky if
we can make the drive to my parents’ house in a week.”

“
Nathan
,” her volume elevated for a
minute before she regained her composure. “Nathan, we could all be
dead
in a week if we stay here. We don’t know what will be
waiting for us on the road but at least we can see it through as a
team.”

She was right. As much as I hated the reality of
what she was saying I couldn’t deny that she was absolutely right.
The group of us would be far from useless. Sarah was a good shot
and could get the kids out of harm’s way if something were to
happen to me. Maddox had the eagerness of an eight-year-old with an
analytical mind that would rival most adults’. Calise was another
set of eyes and was obedient enough to stick close to her guardian
of a brother. Together we were stronger.

I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly
through my nostrils. The pain in my ribs had faded to a dull
aching. “Okay, baby. You’re right. Do you think we’re ready enough
to leave tomorrow or should we wait another day?”

“The car is packed. We were ready to jump into
it if we had to come get you.” I glared at her. “Oh calm down. That
night you left for work we agreed that I’d get out of the area if
things got bad and you couldn’t make it home right away. I don’t
give a crap about what we
agreed
on then because you know
what happened after that? The
world fucking ended
, Nathan.
Did you really think I would abandon my husband in those
circumstances? We were ready to come get you
then
go to your
parents’ farm. Huff and puff all you want because I know you would
have done the same thing.”

“I would have ended the world if it meant
getting to you.” Time slowed to an eternal crawl. I looked right at
her when she spoke but my mind saw something else….

The air currents bit at my damaged skin as they
followed the direction of the James below. My pulse pounded so
fiercely that it felt like it was in fact the Kukri’s wooden handle
that had a heartbeat. Quickly tracing the path of the blade, I saw
it disappear within the gut of the man that had saved my life not
hours before. Viscous crimson echoes of his existence oozed past
the gleaming steel to blend with the coating of filth that hinted
towards the hardships which had led him here on the railroad bridge
with me. Through the gloom of night I could see the shine of Phil’s
pupils; pupils that had grown wide as his humanity fled and the
virus took hold. The face of a man, not the ghoul he was becoming,
was wrought with sorrow. I was his last friend on this Earth. I
betrayed him. I murdered him.

Sarah’s lips tenderly met mine. A shock of
realization flashed into my battered mind bringing reality back to
the foreground. A gentle, caring hand lightly ran over the healing
gash in my forehead then down to wipe away a tear that had slipped
past my defenses.

“Shut up, you big sap. Let’s go make our
rinky-dink Thanksgiving dinner before the kids eat all of our
supplies.”

Everyone was given their own task to make sure
things happened quickly since so much of the day had been stolen
from us. The lack of time and ability to cook anything extravagant
would make Thanksgiving meager in comparison to the feast that was
normally associated with the day. Sarah was first downstairs. She
looked out the peephole in the family room and then the kitchen
first to ensure there wasn’t anything close enough to make our
presence downstairs short-lived. As soon as she called up that we
were good to go I passed orders to the eager little ones.

Both of the kids were under strict orders to
stay in the attic. I told them that we would bring the cooked food
to the ladder and they would be able to prepare our rinky little
table however they wished. Maddox showed some wisdom in his slight
age difference and didn’t protest. Calise looked very bothered by
it all.

“What’s the matter, baby girl?” She sniffled; a
tear streamed down her delicate little face. “Calise, what’s wrong?
You can tell me, sweetie.”

“I don’t...” her words trailed off into a
mumble. A distant shotgun blast somewhere outside didn’t help the
poor girl speak any louder.

“Sweetheart, I can’t understand you. Please tell
me what’s wrong so we can get going on dinner.”

“I’m scared, Daddy. I don’t want you to die
again.”

I scooped her up in a big hug. Her swirling hair
tickled my face as she buried herself in my shoulder. When the
trembling of her sobs settled I placed her down in front of me then
knelt down to her level. It was a struggle to keep the positional
aches and pains I felt from showing in my face. “I am just fine.
Mommy is just fine. Monkey is just fine. YOU are just fine. We’re
together and we’ll make it to Grandma and Grandpa’s where the
monsters won’t hurt us. I’m scared too, princess. It’s okay to be
scared because that means I’m still alive. The monsters outside
don’t get scared but if they did do you know what would scare them?
Me. I promise they would be so, so very scared of
me
. Oh…
and maybe Maddox.”

She giggled, as did Maddox.

“Now I have an idea of what might make you feel
a little better about us being downstairs. Tell me the names of two
of your favorite kitties in your room. But think carefully because
they
must
be the very bravest of your kitties.”

Her eyes lit up with the mention of her beloved
plush felines. “Hmm.... I think Van Gough and Colonel Meows-a-lot.”
Each member of her collection had a special name with some funny
story behind it. I saw them all as mementos; memories alluding to a
simpler time that ended abruptly weeks before. However, all the
mattered then was that she could see them as trusted friends.

“Great choice! Now sit right there at the top of
the stairs while I go find them.” I barreled down the ladder then
took the immediate right turn into her room. Since her room faced
the front of the house I maintained the proper paranoia with noise
while tiptoeing around the assortment of toys. I located her
choices and held them up before her in the hallway. She reached her
pink-clad arms out to receive them and looked confused when I
raised a finger urging her to wait. My actions were over
exaggerated to keep her from getting scared all while keeping her
attention.

Van Gough was stationed at the end of the hall
on the right side while Colonel Meows-a-lot proudly guarded the
parallel corner. The entrance to the hall was now under the
protection of two stuffed sentries. Calise’s sadness had dissipated
and she bounced with glee. I climbed a few of the steps to be close
enough to whisper. “We were safe before but now we have
absolutely nothing
to be afraid of. Your friends will guard
the hall. They can protect the stairs while keeping track of Mommy
and me.” She planted a big wet kiss on my cheek then hopped off to
help her brother with the table.

Sarah stood just beyond the cats waiting for me
to turn towards her. “You are so freakin’ sweet that I can see why
the zombies are eager to eat you. Where did the kitty guards come
in to this?”

She didn’t need to know what Calise had said to
me; there were enough things to worry about tonight. “The little
diva just needed a little extra protection. Let’s get dinner made.
I’m starving!”

Our original plan was to use the charcoal grill
on the deck to cook some of the frozen chicken that was in the
bottom of the freezer. Since doing much of anything outside was now
too much of a risk we were settling for a propane camping stove
with chicken nuggets and some mixed frozen vegetables. I would have
rather done everything in the attic but the kitchen-stove area was
ventilated a little better. In the event something went wrong, I
didn’t care for the idea of filling our only safe area with smoke.
Sarah did most of the cooking while I ran things back and forth.
Most of my time was spent looking out any peephole I could create
to know exactly what was going on outside.

The sun went down over an hour before dinner was
ready. It was difficult to appreciate the light pollution from
passing cars or porch lights until they all had gone dark. Unlike
the nights before there seemed to be occasional breaks in the
gloomy ceiling allowing the moon to send bursts of illumination to
the tortured land below. Silhouettes of the patrolling dead
appeared in the moonlight. Knowledge of their proximity stirred
appropriate fear within me. Considering how numb the experiences of
the last month have made me I was grateful that the reapers could
still provoke fear in my mind. In the days to come I would have to
rely on that fear to keep me in check.

“Babe,” Sarah called to me in a loud whisper
from the kitchen, “will you run this up to Maddox?” My mind was
wandering at an unhealthy level so the chore was welcomed. She met
me at entrance to the kitchen wearing her favorite apron, a black
and yellow Batman apron that my mom had made her many Christmases
before. I retrieved the plate of charred chicken nuggets offering a
goofy smile in return. “Is there a problem?”

“Of course not. I’m just lucky to have Batman
cooking me chicken nuggets during the zombie apocalypse.” She
glared back. “Come on, beautiful... it wouldn’t be a real
Thanksgiving dinner without me saying things that make you want to
poison my food.”

She rolled her eyes. “Just a few more then we
can eat. Make sure the kids have everything set upstairs.”

Maddox waited halfway down the ladder, making
little attempt to conceal his eavesdropping. “I got it, Daddy. The
table is done. Calise is mixing some of the water flavoring drops
in our cups now.” He snatched the plate of nuggets then scurried
back up to the attic.

Feeling a little underutilized, I walked back to
my peephole. The stuffed cats remained at their post. I gave them
both a nod as I passed like a general saluting his soldiers. There
wasn’t much difference in the level of light between my vantage
point and that of the wicked outdoors but it still took my eyes a
few seconds to adjust. A flash of light from the street startled
me. It almost looked like headlights turning down the road several
houses away. My face pushed so hard against the boards that it
began to hurt. Although my eyes saw it, my brain certainly didn’t
believe it. I craved some confirmation of what I thought saw.

“Something out there?” Sarah asked from the
kitchen doorway.

I couldn’t even pry my gaze away from the window
long enough to look back at her. Then I heard the faint sound that
I’d heard earlier in the day from the backyard. It was the dirt
bike! That lunatic was making a round again cutting down the
shambling neighborhood occupants.

The gasp that came from behind me indicated that
Sarah heard the bike too. “It’s him again, isn’t it?”

Stepping back towards the kitchen I sighed.
“Sounds like it. I saw some headlights right before the revving
became loud enough to hear. For a second I thought I was going
crazy.”

“Should we be worried about him?” Her hands
fiddled behind her back then returned with the yellow ties of the
Bat-Apron.

Probably
, I thought to myself. “I doubt
it,” I said aloud. “Judging by how often we’ve seen him I would say
he lives just up the street. Our house is obviously boarded up and
there is a fully loaded car out front; anyone with a working brain
could look in this direction and tell people are still here. Where
there are people there are supplies. If he had any malcontent
towards us, we would likely know it by now. Frankly, I’m surprised
we haven’t had anyone come knocking yet. It’s only a matter of
time. I think it further emphasizes the need for us to go…”