Grace Lost (The Grace Series) (22 page)

“Well, let’s see,” he said before
pausing.  “I’m alive. 
Disturbed that the world is
fucked.
 
You?”

“Oh, the same I suppose,” she said
nonchalantly.  “I’ve really missed you.”

My appetite lost, I stood to take
my plate back to the kitchen.  Emilie stood to join me, and stayed close
by my side. 

As we left the room, she whispered
to me.  “Zoe, we really need to finish our food.  Let’s head upstairs
and eat, ok?

I nodded and we climbed the
stairs, half full plates in hand, and went into Gus and Emilie’s room.  To
my delight, Boggs joined us about two minutes later.

“Hey ladies, mind if I join you?”

I smiled.  “Tremendously,” I
joked.

“Let’s eat then get these beds
moved.  Gus is having a pretty detailed medically-type talk down
there.  He might be awhile.”

It took us only a couple of
minutes to finish our food.   Afterward we were all full and
exhausted.  Emilie gathered up our dirty plates and forks and set them in
the corner.  Boggs lay down on the bed width-wise, arms over his head. 

“What’s wrong, Boggs?” asked
Emilie.  “Don’t wanna go back to the living room?”

“Not in particular,” he admitted.

I was already sitting on the bed,
so flopped onto my side to lie alongside Boggs.  Emilie followed suit on
the other side of him.  

“It’s getting cold again,” said
Emilie.

We lay there quietly together for
some time.  The light filtering in through the window was almost gone,
signaling sunset. 

“I should light a candle,” moaned
Emilie.

“We need to get these beds moved,”
mumbled Boggs.  He sounded like he was nearly asleep.

The door opened, and Gus walked
in.  “Cozy?” he asked.

“Hiding,” said Emilie. 

“I’d join you all but I’m afraid
the bed would break,” joked Gus. 

Boggs sat up and stretched before
speaking.  “Ok, let’s get this shit done.  I’m beat.”  He stood,
ready to work.

Gus sat on the bed next to
Emilie.  He tousled her hair, something I noticed he liked to do. 
“We should bring the other mattress in and lean it against a wall first to make
room for the frame in the other room. 
Shouldn’t take
long.
  Thanks for helping, Boggs.”

“No problem,” he answered. 
“But are you sure you don’t just want to switch rooms?”

“I’d like to stay closest to the
stairs, to be honest,” Gus said.  “We can talk about it more tomorrow, but
Wanda’s in a bad way.  I’ve given her a couple of the pain pills Em found
in the bathroom, but she barely ate anything for dinner and she told me her
urine production is way down.  It sounds like her cancer’s spread to her
bones and she’s in a lot of pain.  I want to find a pharmacy, get her some
morphine.  I just hope we have time.”  Gus looked concerned for the
older woman.  “Louisa says she’s twenty weeks pregnant.  We’ll need
to get supplies in anticipation of the baby’s birth.  It’s not my area of
expertise, so we’ll need books so I can learn.”  He sighed.  “Ok,
let’s do this bad boy.”

It took Gus and Boggs about twenty
minutes to switch the beds around.  Emilie and I wanted to stay busy so
found clean linens and dressed both beds, especially wanting to thank Louisa
for making dinner by doing something nice in return.  I desperately wanted
to shower but was too tired.  Finally ready to sleep, Boggs and I left Gus
and Em’s room to walk to our own.  Julio was busy helping Susan get the
camp cot into the attic.  We walked past them into our own room and shut
the door quietly.

“Zoe, are you ok?” asked Boggs.

I nodded.  “I’m ok,
Boggs.  It’s just been a horribly long day.  I stink like the burning
bodies, my feet hurt, my head hurts, and I’m so tired.”

He wrapped his arms around me
tightly.  Kissing the top of my head, he used his hands to rub my
back.  The room was
pitch
black, but I felt safe
in his arms.  “Do you want me to light a candle or should we just fumble
into bed?” he asked.

“Fumble,” I mumbled.

His hand found mine, and guided me
to the bed.  I reached my other hand out to find the covers and pulled
them down.  I climbed in and scooted over, and Boggs followed.  We
held each other and slept deeply. 

I woke in the middle of the night,
my bladder full.  The cabin was still and quiet.  Boggs and I had
decided to keep a candle and lighter on the nightstand beside the bed, so I
felt around the table surface until I was able to find them and produce a
flame.  I swung my legs over my side of the bed and carried the candle to
the other side of the room.  I opened the door and, out of habit, listened
before crossing the hall to the bathroom.  Once in the small room, I set
the candle on the counter next to the toilet and pulled my pink tights
down.  I sat on the toilet and relieved myself, feeling better almost
instantly.  The ambient temperature had dropped considerably and I was
getting chilled.  I used toilet paper sparingly, flushed, and pulled my
tights up.  As I reached for the candle, I noticed the bottle of pain
pills sitting at the edge of the candlelight.  The lid was off, so I went
to put it back on.  The bottle was empty, and I knew it had been nearly
full when we first found it.  Of course I hoped that Susan had pocketed
them so we’d have a reason to banish her from the house.  I set the bottle
back down, left the lid off, and crept back out to the hallway.  Candle in
hand, I walked the couple of steps to Gus and Emilie’s room.  I put my
hand on the door knob and turned it quietly.  I really didn’t want to wake
anyone I didn’t have to, so closed the door softly behind me and tip toed to
the side of the bed where Gus was asleep.  I set the candle down on the
bedside table and knelt down so I was closer to the mattress on the
floor.  “Gus,” I whispered.  He stirred but didn’t wake, so I set my
hand on his shoulder and shook lightly.  “Gus.”

His eyes shot open and he sat up,
alarmed.  “Zoe. What’s wrong?”

Emilie stirred beside him but
didn’t wake.

“I’m not sure.   I just
used the restroom.  That bottle of pain pills is empty.”

“The Percocet?” he asked for
clarification, a hint of concern already starting to show on his face.

“Yes.  It’s on the counter
next to the toilet.  The lid was off.”

He sighed.  “Ok, we’ll bring
it up at breakfast; see if anyone admits to it.  I don’t want to start
accusing our new housemates.”

“Ok.  Sorry I woke you.”

“It’s ok, Zoe.  You did
good
.  Think you can get back to sleep?”

I nodded then gestured toward
Emilie.  “She’s really into you, you know that right?”  I whispered.

Gus looked down at the sleeping
Emilie.  “She’s really amazing.  I’m pretty into her too.”

“Good night,” I whispered as I
stood and picked up the candle.

“Night,” he mumbled as he settled
back into the bed.

I walked to the door and opened it
quietly.  As I started to cross the threshold, I stopped, frozen in
place.  Inside my brain I felt a tiny spark that didn’t belong
there.  It was faint, but obvious. 

“Zoe?” whispered Gus, sitting back
up.

I didn’t answer at first. 
The tiny spark quickly grew into the beginnings of hunger, the unmistakable and
overwhelming desire to eat human flesh.  I took a step backward, away from
the door.  I could hear Gus climbing out of bed.

“Zoe?  What is it?” he
demanded quietly.

Without looking away from the
hallway, I whispered back.  “There’s one inside the cabin.” 

I turned to look at Gus, my eyes
wide.  He was naked except for boxer shorts and already reaching for his
shotgun.

“Do you know where?” he asked, not
beating around the bush. 

I stopped and focused.  The
desire inside my head was getting stronger.  I wasn’t sure how, but I felt
it
below
us.  “Downstairs,” I whispered.

“Zoe, go wake up
Boggs.
  Leave me with the
candle.  Just set it on the floor in the hall.”  He left the room and
I stepped into the hall behind him.

I did as instructed, setting the
candle in the hall off to one side.  Gus stood at the top of the stairs,
his shotgun raised and aimed down the stairs.

I hurried into my own bedroom and
shook Boggs awake.

“Shhhh,” I muttered.  “Gus
needs you.  One of the creatures is downstairs. 
Inside.”

Boggs was slower to rouse than
Gus, but his head soon cleared and he got out of bed.  He hadn’t said
anything.  He removed his Kahr from the drawer of the night stand and
walked to the doorway to join Gus in the hall.  He and Gus didn’t speak to
each other, but instead used hand signals. 

Gus proceeded down the stairs
first, closely followed by Boggs.  The fireplace had been left on to keep
Wanda warm and cast a dim glow upon them once they reached the bottom.  I
hustled back into Gus and Emilie’s room and climbed onto the mattress.

“Emilie, wake up.  Now,” I
said in a harsh but quiet voice.

She sat up quickly.  “What is
it?”  Her voice was filled with dread. 

My head was starting to hurt, and my
hip felt like it was on fire. 

“Where’s Gus?” she pressed.

“Downstairs,” I replied. 

“Zoe, what’s going on?”  She
was watching me intently.  The only light was coming from the candle in
the hallway.

“There’s one inside.”

We looked at each other without
speaking for a long moment that was finally interrupted by Gus’ gun
firing.  We flinched in tandem.  The next sound was Julio running out
of the third bedroom, his footfalls full of alarm.  Emilie and I rushed
toward the door after him, wanting to warn him. 

By the time we got to the top of
the steps Julio was bounding down the stairs, shotgun in hand.  “What is
it?” he yelled.

Gus called back.  “Julio, we
need you. Girls, stay upstairs!”

“They killed it,” I said as the
desire in my head had died.

Emilie clung to my arm. 
Louisa was behind us now and the attic hatch opened, Susan popping her head
down.

“What the fuck is going on down
there?” asked Susan.

“Should we go up into the attic?”
asked Emilie.

“No, it’s ok now.  It’s
dead.”

“What’s going on?” asked Louisa,
near hysteria.  “Julio!” she began yelling for her lover.  “Julio!”

“Louisa, stay upstairs!” Julio
yelled back.

Louisa stood there in panties and
a t-shirt that fell short on her growing belly.  Her arms were crossed
protectively over the baby growing within her.

“Emilie, will you stay here with
Louisa?” I asked.  Emilie nodded.

I walked down the steps slowly,
not wanting to see what waited below.  Halfway down, I remembered
Wanda.  Terrified that she’d been attacked, I quickened my pace.

“Boggs?”
I called with urgency.  “Oh God, is Wanda ok?”

I rounded the corner to the living
room.

“No darlin,’ she’s not.”  Gus
answered for him.  The cowboy was standing near the fireplace, looking a
bit pale.

I looked for Boggs, who was
standing over Wanda’s body.

Julio had knelt on the floor, and
cried softly over the frail woman’s remains.

“What happened?” I asked. 
“Oh my God, what happened?  Did it get her?”  My voice was rising.

Blood and brain matter splattered
the boarded-up window in the room.  It looked even more disconcerting in
the flickering light of the fire.  I looked down and saw that Wanda’s head
was grossly damaged as a result of being shot.

“You shot her?  Gus!
Why
? 
Where’s the zombie?”

Boggs had stepped close to me and
tried to calm me by holding onto my arms and looking me in the eyes. 
“Zo, stop.
  It
was
Wanda.  She turned.”

I stared back at him, not quite
understanding.  “What do you mean she
turned
?”

“Zoe, she took the Percocet. 
She overdosed,” said Gus quietly.  I looked back at the body and then her
bed.  There were a few large round white pills scattered on the
floor.  “My guess is the pain was just too much for her.”

“Oh God,” I moaned.  “Are you
all ok?” I asked.  “No one got hurt?”

Boggs shook his head back and
forth.  “We’re ok, I promise.”

Julio finally spoke, still looking
down at what was left of Wanda and was wiping away tears that I assumed he
didn’t want anyone to see.  “Louisa’s going to have a hell of a time with
this,” he muttered then stood.  “Zoe, do you mind making sure she stays
upstairs?”

“Sure Julio,” I answered. 
“I’m really sorry about Wanda.  She seemed like such a great lady.”

He hung his head. 
“Gracias.”
  He made the Catholic symbol of the Cross on
his chest.  “Gus, Boggs?  Mind helping me take her outside?  We
can have a funeral tomorrow?”