Dead Living (26 page)

Richardson sat on the mattress next to her.
He half-expected her to get up and pace around, just to get away.
To his surprise, she didn't move, but sat up next to him.

He didn't know what to say. He'd never seen
Sam so upset since he'd known her. She didn't let anyone through
her emotional walls. Aaron got through, and now he was gone. He'd
consoled many people over the years, but Sam was different. He
didn't think there was anything he could say to make her feel
better, but he had to try.

“Samantha, Aaron wouldn't want to see you
like this.”

“Well, since he's dead, that doesn't really
matter, does it?”

“We're
all
hurting. Everyone here liked
Aaron. There was something about him. He was just so . . . happy. I
could never figure it out.”

“I really liked him.”

She was angry at herself.
She knew she liked Aaron, maybe even had that
crush
thing Mary talked about. But
she didn't have the courage to say it aloud until he was
gone.

I miss you so much.

Sam started crying. She tried to hold the
tears in, but she didn't have the strength. She felt foolish and
depressed. Richardson put an arm around her shoulder. She leaned
into him and just cried.

“I don't know what to do,” she said. “I'm
angry one minute, then I'm crying all over myself. When will this
go away?”

“It will
never
go away, not all
the way. And it shouldn't. Aaron left a big mark on
you.”

“What do I do?”

He shrugged. “Just live,” he said. He knew it
sounded bad, but he didn't know what else to tell her. “You've got
people to lean on here, and the kids are worried about you and look
up to you.”

Sam didn't think anyone gave her a thought at
all, including the children. “What?”

He stood up and pulled the curtain open
slightly. Sitting on the grass not too far away was Nikki with the
rest of the children, all sitting in a circle playing
duck-duck-goose. Every now and then one would look up to Sam's
window.

“You're all they talk about,” he said.

“That's weird.”

“They like you, just like Aaron. He was
one-of-a-kind. Everyone here was lucky to know him. And he wanted
to be close to you.”

Sam was quiet. Richardson was right. Aaron
made her feel things she didn't know she was capable of.

She didn't want to honor his memory by
becoming even more of a miserable person than she already was.

“I'm gonna take a shower.”

He smiled. “Yeah, you have some smell to
you.”

She pointed a finger at him before leaving
her room. “You didn't see me crying.”

“Of course I didn't.”

*****

The shower felt great. It had been weeks
since Sam had taken a lukewarm shower. She didn't normally indulge
in the water, but it rained a few days ago, and they had more than
their fair share of water.

She dried off outside the stall in her
swimsuit. A few people passing by gave her a polite wave, some even
a pat on the back. For the first time, she felt like she was part
of the community.

She got dressed and headed for the garden.
She was in the mood for a tomato. As she passed by the side of the
school the children saw her. They erupted in cheers and ran
straight for her. Sam was afraid for a moment, not knowing what was
going on.

The twins Kyle and Kari tackled her first and
grabbed her legs. She was able to stand up to them, but then the
rest came. They knocked her to the grass and covered her. Sam
laughed as she tried to climb out from under them. It had been a
while since she heard her own laugh.

Nikki was smiling as she approached her. She
held out her hands and helped Sam to her feet. The children still
gathered around them.

“We missed you,” Nikki said. “Are you
okay?”

Sam took a deep breath. “No. But I will be,
eventually.”

The group broke up, but they didn't go very
far. They started playing a game of tag while Sam and Nikki stood
in the middle.

“I knocked on your door a few times,” Nikki
said. “Just to check on you.”

“Sorry I didn't answer. I just needed some
time.”

“I miss him too.”

They were quiet. They watched the children
laughing and playing. Nikki noticed they were more lively now that
Sam was out. Aaron was always the emotional leader. Now that he was
gone, Nikki had a feeling Sam would have to fill that role, whether
she wanted to or not.

“I thought you usually played in the library
in the morning,” Sam said.

“We did. That was before Garrett and his
buddies took the place over.”

Sam looked at her young friend. “What?”

Nikki shrugged. “You know Garrett. He's just
an asshole. He's using the place as a rec room now.”

Sam had heard enough. She walked away.

“Samantha? What are you-”

“You just watch the kids. I'll see you
soon.”

She went back into the school. She made a
quick stop at her room before heading to the library.

She pushed the double doors open, and
immediately felt her blood boil.

Ray was throwing a knife into the side of a
bookshelf, for target practice. Don and Stanley, two men Sam didn't
know very well, were boxing in the far corner with some gloves they
found during the last supply run. Watching them, and knowing they'd
kicked the children out, only irritated Sam.

It was Garrett that infuriated her.

He was stretched out on the couch, Aaron's
couch. Garrett had tossed Aaron's books from the coffee table to
the floor. He replaced them with a pile of pornographic magazines
he'd found a long time ago in one of the teacher's offices. He
grabbed the first one off the top and opened it up, letting the
foldout fall to its full length.

“Hey!” Stanley said from the corner. “Look
who's up and around. I was hoping Carrie would come over, but I
don't mind looking at you.”

Ray stopped throwing his knife. Garrett
looked over at Sam. He tossed his magazine on the couch and stood
up.

“What do you want?” he said. “No one invited
you here.”

Sam held her hands up in a show of peace. She
really didn't want to fight. Aaron had worked hard to put the
library back together, and he let the children play in it. As far
as she was concerned, it was more their library than Garrett's.

“Look guys,” she said. “Aaron would want this
place to go to the kids.”

“So? He's not here now, is he?”

“Garrett, the school is huge. Why don't you
take that old shop class? You ever see how big that place is? Just
gotta get the old equipment out of there-”

“We don't want the old shop class. We like it
here. So what are you gonna do?”

Sam shook her head. She should have known
better than to try reasoning with Garrett.

She pulled out her two Berettas she grabbed
from her room. She aimed one at Ray, the other at Garrett.

Stanley and Don backed up a step with their
hands in the air. Ray looked nervous, but Garrett didn't flinch. He
thought she was bluffing.

“Really, Samantha? You're gonna kill four men
over a fuckin' library?”

“No. But I will shoot you in the leg, and you
can crawl out of here. Look, I myself will start clearing out the
shop class for you. I'll get it all nice and neat. But this room is
off-limits, okay?”

Stanley traded a look with Don. “We can
respect that.”

They left through the emergency room door
without a word. Whether it was the guns in their faces, or Sam's
offer of cleaning the shop class, she didn't know. Garrett and Ray
didn't budge.

Sam couldn't believe what she was doing,
holding up four men over Aaron's room. She wasn't doing it for
herself. She was fighting for someone else for a change.

She hoped Aaron would have been proud of
her.

“You're getting in over your head,” Garrett
said. “You do not want to get on my bad side. You're a hot little
piece of ass, Samantha, but it's not smart to walk around alone and
point guns at people.”

“Good thing she's not alone then.”

Sam didn't risk turning to look at the new
voice, but she thought she recognized it. Garrett's face turned
into a scowl when Scott stood next to her. He put a hand on her
shoulder, showing her he was on her side.

“Did I miss something here?” Scott asked.
“What's up with the guns?”

“Nothing's going on. We were just leaving,”
Garrett said, then looked at Sam. “Just give me a shout when you
have that shop class all cleaned up.”

She didn't lower her weapons until they left.
She took a deep breath and looked at Scott. She hadn't seen him
since the trip to the hospital.

She still had trouble showing gratitude. The
only person she was ever comfortable with was Aaron. “Uh-”

Scott smiled. He knew what she was trying to
say. “Don't mention it. I can't stand Garrett. Probably not the
smartest idea, sticking a gun on him. What's going on?”

She gestured around her. “I just couldn't let
him have this place. This is Aaron's. He wouldn't want Garrett
messing it up.”

“Speaking of Aaron, I've got something to
tell you.”

He motioned for Sam to follow. They walked
over to Aaron's old living area. He was excited and nervous at the
same time.

“Eric and I took the peddle bikes out today,
to look for some supplies around town. We ran into a group of
slavers.”

Sam frowned. She'd encountered them before,
back when she didn't have a home. They never stayed in one place
very long. They were always moving, always looking to take weak
people against their will and trade them for whatever they could
get. She spent many days running and hiding from them when she was
younger.

“Are you okay? Did you tell Richardson?”

“Yeah, we're fine. There wasn't any fighting.
They had guns, and we had guns. They don't like messing with a dog
that has teeth too. I told James, he's going to Richardson to
spread the word.”

Sam nodded. Whenever the slavers came back
through town, the people of Lexington took extra care when going on
supply runs. Richardson would also double the people on fence
duty.

“Thanks for the heads up, Scott.”

She stood up to leave. He motioned for her to
sit back down.

“That's not all. They actually tried to trade
with us. We talked for a while. They told me about some of the new
slaves they have. They said the newest one they picked up is a
young bald man they found at a hospital.”

Sam said nothing. She opened her mouth, but
no words came out.

“I think Aaron's alive,” Scott finally
said.

She forced the shock aside. There would be
time to feel things later.

Now was the time for action.

“Do you know where they are?”

“Yeah. They said they're
at the state highway facility on the other side of town, in case we
ever wanted to see their
merchandise
. The sick
bastards.”

She stood up. She knew what she had to do.
“Thank you, Scott. Thank you so much. I'll take it from here.”

She left the library and headed for the
storeroom. Mary was moving things around in preparation for the
winter. She shoved sleeveless shirts into boxes, put sweaters out
on tables. She gave a wave when she saw Sam.

“I'm glad to see you out of your room.
Everything okay?”

“I need some weapons from the armory.”

Mary was confused. “Well, okay. Didn't they
already do a supply run yesterday? Just let me know what you
take.”

Sam stepped into the armory, which used to be
the boys' locker room. They didn't have much, but it would be
enough. Guns, rifles, knives, and ammunition were neatly spread out
on the benches and shorter lockers. She still had her two Berettas.
She grabbed a backpack and filled it with a set of binoculars and a
Desert Eagle. The handgun was still in fine shape. She knew she had
to leave room for water. She also grabbed the AR-15 leaning in the
corner. She wasn't fond of the weapon for killing walkers, but for
humans, it would do nicely.

“I thought I'd find you in here.”

She turned to see Richardson. He stood in the
doorway with his arms crossed.

“So you heard then? About Aaron?” she
asked.

“Yeah. Scott found me.” They were quiet a
moment while Sam checked her weapons. “Listen, Samantha. You can do
whatever you want. But I'm not sending anyone to go with you.”

She nodded. “That's fine. I don't want help
anyway. They'll just get in the way.”

“What are you planning?” Richardson didn't
think she was packing guns for trade.

“The plan. The plan is to kill anything that
gets in between me and Aaron.”

Richardson felt a chill go up his spine. Her
tone was cold, emotionless. She reminded him of the teenager that
first found her way to the school. Alone, hungry, angry at the
world. Now her anger was pointed at slavers who kept Aaron away
from her.

He would not be the one to stand in her
way.

“Take the truck,” he said. “And be
careful.”

“Aren't you afraid I might die and you'll
lose a truck?”

“I'm more afraid of what might happen if I
say you can't take it.”

She had the hint of a smile. She surprised
Richardson by taking his hand.

“Thank you. I'm gonna get my friend and bring
him where he belongs.”

With me.

Aaron drifted in and out of sleep as he
leaned his head against the bars. The night air had a chill to it.
Amanda and Derek huddled together near the front of the truck,
sound asleep. Charlie sat across from him with his eyes closed.

He looked up at the sky as two of Allister's
guards walked by. He watched the beautiful stars on many nights. He
wanted to see the sky again, but back at Lexington.