Graham's Resolution Trilogy Bundle: Books 1-3 (32 page)

“It makes a
lot
of sense,” Tala assured him.

Though Graham and Tala had always encouraged him to talk about the situation, Sam seldom did. When he’d first arrived to live with them, he was too grief stricken to utter a single word out loud for fear he would release more than he could handle. Instead of gut-wrenching weeping, he kept to himself. He would leave early in the morning to hike through the woods. No one asked him what he was doing with his time. He’d overheard some of the kids ask questions, and when Graham told them to give him some time to deal with his torment, he knew the other man understood. The pain Sam endured was a living hell. Once—only once—Graham had commended him for not taking his anguish out on him and his little group of carriers. Sam knew he certainly felt guilt over the situation and wished there was something they could do to alleviate the circumstances.

The weight of Sam’s grief sometimes came close to overwhelming him, but out there among the stoic trees, desolate mountains, and endless snow, he’d finally come to accept what he couldn’t change.

              Now that he carried the China virus, he had had no choice but to join Graham’s camp. At least he still spoke with his daughter Addy over the radio, and every few days Dalton would bring her to the Skagit River rendezvous spot where, at a safe distance, Sam could lay his eyes on her. Somehow things had normalized, or at least worked in the only way possible given their situation.

It took time, but Sam adapted. Every day at dinnertime a place had been set for him at the table whether he was around the cabin or not. He always returned to settle in with them for the night, and then, slowly he began sticking around more and taking part in their daily lives. Now he felt like part of the family.

“I hear Addy has been spending a lot of time with Clarisse lately.” Tala said. “We talk on the radio at least once a week. She enjoys having Addy in the lab, where she’s taught her how to identify different elements through the microscope. She’s even found a lab coat to fit her.”

A prideful smile crept over Sam’s face. “Dalton told me Addy would rather spend her time with Clarisse in the lab than at the day school. Said you gave her some tips on teaching Addy advanced math?” Sam asked.

“I did. I think this is the best arrangement for her. She’s very shy, from what I hear. If she were to stay in the school with the other kids, she wouldn’t progress as much as if Clarisse taught her. Clarisse is kind of a loner anyway. This arrangement is suitable for both of them.”

“Dalton said Clarisse still blames herself somehow,” Graham said. “She rarely leaves the quarantine building and sends the guard back to camp so she can sleep in her lab.”

“What happened wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. What happened
happened
. I’m a carrier now. At least I didn’t die,” Sam said in practiced resignation, then tried to change the subject. “So we’re good with the three-day hunt? I can take the two lovebirds tomorrow?”

“Yeah, at least Macy can catch a break from their antics for a few days. She’s getting pretty fed up, and she’s armed. It worries me, man,” Graham said, joking.

“All right, I’ll get them geared up,” Sam said and rose from the table.

“And I’ll pack up the food supply,” Tala said.

Each morning in this desolate life after death they rose and began the day’s never-ending tasks together, each going their own way as cogs in a wheel; without one the others soon tired, and this jeopardized the whole bunch.

Graham went to put another log on the fire in an attempt to chase the persistent chill away. Afterward, he checked on Ennis once more, and found him sitting up and leaning against his pillow, whittling a potential arrow and dropping wood shavings on the blanket in front of him without a care. Noticing how Ennis shivered, Graham became concerned with him handling the sharp blade against the soft wood with his hands trembling so.

“Are you cold?” Graham asked him, but not only did he not acknowledge the question, he stared ahead and blindly slashed at the wooden arrow. Graham placed his hand on Ennis’s shoulder, getting his attention. At first, his eyes looked as if he saw only a stranger but, after a second beat, a spark of knowing flashed. “Are you cold?” Graham repeated, trying not to startle him with a blade in his hand.

Ennis stopped and lowered the arrow and knife to his lap, as if he needed a moment to ascertain whether or not the shaking meant the cold had overtaken him or if the constant, burning pain caused the trembling. “No,” came his words gravely and slow.

“Do you want to go sit in the living room by the fire? I’ll help you.”

“I can do it, but you can help.” Ennis’s old gnarled hands closed his knife with care, as they’d done countless times in his long life. Graham blew a silent breath of relief. He didn’t want to hurt the older man’s pride by taking the blade away from him. He peeled the littered blanket up and away and held out his arms to help Ennis up.

“I gotta go,” Ennis said. So Graham helped him slowly shuffle his way to the bathroom. Reluctant to leave him alone, he stood close by after Ennis motioned for him to close the door. Graham left him to have his own way.
Hell, I won’t want anyone to help me go when I'm an old man, either.
Still, Graham waited by the door. As a second thought, Graham peered around the corner to check if Ennis had drunk the glass of water offered to him earlier. The glass stood full to the rim on the nightstand.
Oh crap
. With the man shivering and not drinking, Graham began to worry he might be not only sick but also dehydrated.
He’s probably got a bladder infection.

Standing there adjacent to the clean and shiny kitchen, Graham noticed that Tala had already taken off to the greenhouse to work on the spring seedlings.
Is she avoiding me?
She loved spending time out in the greenhouse—they all did. The hopeful sprouts represented, somehow, a promised achievement, a milestone at long last. If only the damn snow would melt and go away for good, allowing them to line out the new garden and get things ready. The sooner, the better. They needed to enjoy a triumph in survival.

The greenhouse they’d found on one of their many scavenging hunts stood resurrected between the cabin and the lake entrance as a welcome addition and a harbinger of good things to come. Tala, so excited when they showed up with the deconstructed load, divided her day job between the care and keeping of the cabin, food preparation, and seed starting. She’d spent several days scrubbing down and sanitizing the inside of the building, piece by piece. Once the guys cleared the snow from a large enough area to erect the greenhouse, everyone pitched in to put the contraption back together like some giant jigsaw puzzle.

Now she used every possible spare container to start the seedlings, and, as his mother had taught him each spring back in Issaquah, Graham scavenged newspaper from the abandoned homes to craft spherical pots.

They set up tables with scavenged grow lights, and Tala emphatically threatened anyone who even considered touching the emerging tender sprouts. Mold and bacteria posed the greatest threats, and she kept as watchful an eye over the plants as she did her newly acquired family.

Graham chuckled to himself as he thought of Tala threatening Sheriff for sniffing at the seedlings the first and only time. She’d shaken her head at the beloved dog and pointed her finger at him. Sheriff had tilted his head to one side, perplexed by her peculiar actions. His big brown eyes conveyed his concern to Graham.
Has she lost her mind?
She’d made her point over the plants, though, and now Sheriff didn’t even get close to the tables.

These days no one acknowledged the scars Tala had suffered at the hands of her two horrible kidnappers. Graham had happily cut the cast off her leg after Clarisse pronounced the bone healed enough. They made a grand production of cast-break day, turning it into a celebration of sorts; they needed all the celebrations, both minute and grand. Tala limped about gingerly for a week or two, and Graham helped her stretch out her calf muscles, but soon she walked perfectly fine on her own. Her outside scars had healed well.

But Graham growled to himself when his mind drifted to the thought of Tala’s inside scars. In truth, she’d lucked out with the incident and refused to admit—to him or anyone else—the terror he knew she’d felt. If it hadn’t been for Dalton’s and Rick’s invasive tactics, Tala’s fate would have been much worse. Regretting Sam’s fate beat out the fact that he didn’t die of the virus and instead became a carrier. His suffering from being separated from his daughter because of this sacrifice was hard to bear.

Graham’s mind drifted now. He and Tala had become close, in some ways closer than he and his wife had ever been, because of their recently shared circumstances. Tala’s sudden distance told him something bothered her, something beyond Ennis’s deteriorating condition. Her silence worried him because he knew her well enough to come easily to the conclusion that, for some reason, she now kept something from him—something important.

Ennis turned the knob of the door, signaling Graham to open it for him. The old man had neglected to tuck in his shirttails, like he usually did, but he had no one to impress these days. They all looked more unkempt as the winter wore on. Ennis seemed exhausted from this little journey to the bathroom. He leaned on Graham’s arm.

“Do you want to sit by the fire?” Graham asked again. The old man’s frail hands continued to shake, and the draft seeping through the cracks had them all wearing double layers.

“Yeah, I’ll sit in there.” It was good to hear a bit of strength in his gravelly voice. “Where’s my girl?”

Happy for the first real sign of clarity, Graham asked, “You mean Macy?”

“Yeah, Macy. Where’s she at?”

“She’s coming. Don’t worry, she’ll be here soon.” Graham guided him to the rocker by the woodstove in the living room. He settled Ennis down into the chair and grabbed the blanket draped over the back, tucking it around him. He added another log to the fire, then poked at the embers a bit, sending sparks flying within the enameled cast iron hold. After he had closed the latch, he asked Ennis, “Are you in any pain?”

“Nah, I’m all right.”

Graham doubted this; he’d seen Ennis become punier over the passing weeks. He wished he had a cure to keep the old man with them longer, especially for Macy’s sake. She’d become especially close to Ennis in recent months and would often read to him in the evenings after dinner from the various books Graham managed to scavenge. Macy would finish one chapter each evening, and shortly after, Ennis would rise and Graham would help him to his bunk for the night.

In the early morning Sam rose first and would assist Ennis into his chair by the fire and set him up with his coffee before heading out for the day. They’d all come to love Ennis so much, and Graham feared his inevitable death would be a real blow to the group.

They both looked up as Tala came through the front door, closing it quickly to preserve the warmth inside the cabin. Her earlier frown lines disappeared suddenly at the sight of Ennis up and about, and she flashed a thankful smile toward Graham. It removed all his doubts about secrets being kept.

“Good morning, Ennis. You ready for coffee?” Tala removed her outerwear and quickly reached down to hug the old man.

“No. You two gotta stop fussin’ over me,” Ennis said.

“We’re not fussing. We’re trying to care for you. You’d do the same for us,” Graham told him.

“No, I would not! You’re too much trouble to fuss over,” Ennis said to fluster them. He seemed proud of himself for the dig and laughed out loud.

Tala smiled at Graham and murmured, “At least he still cracks jokes.” Out of the old man’s sight, Graham shook his head.

“I’ll bring your coffee in a minute,” Tala said, raising her voice a bit so he could hear her. She bent down to kiss him. Graham motioned for her to leave them alone to talk, in an effort to preserve Ennis’s dignity.

“I could use some banana bread,” Ennis called after her. “I miss banana bread.” He held out both of his old gnarled hands, shaking as he formed a rectangle shape.

“I doubt we’ll have any bananas around here for a long time,” Graham said. He felt the old man’s head for any sign of fever again. “In all seriousness, Ennis, you have a fever. I think you’re in pain and keeping it to yourself. You’re also not drinking anything. Do you have an infection?”

The old man huffed and looked down into his lap. “I do not want you to waste your medicine on me. I’m on my way out, Graham. Them kids, Tala, they might need them more—later. They do not make them anymore, you know that?”

The admission shocked and angered Graham. “How long’s this been going on, Ennis? Hell, we can get more meds. Yeah, they don’t make them anymore but there are sure as hell more supplies nearby. You cannot sacrifice yourself like this for us.
Jesus
, Ennis.” He reached for the old man’s face again, but Ennis tried to bat his hand away. “No, Ennis, knock it off, man. Are you even going? You know what I mean.” He tried to whisper it.

“No, not much. Hurts to go,” he admitted.

“God dammit! Tala, get him some water and the antibiotics,” he yelled, ignoring Ennis’s protests as he rose to take what Tala brought in.

She handed him the water glass and meds. “Go easy on him, please, or he’ll shut down altogether. We do not have any painkillers for this and these antibiotics will take a few days to work.”

“The old doc’s house probably has those pain meds,” Graham said as he handed the two capsules to the stubborn old man along with the water. “Take these and drink this,” he ordered, then remembered Tala’s words of caution. “Please.”

Ennis accepted them both, looked up at Graham, and said stubbornly, “You’re not the boss of me.” He shook his head, but he took the medicine all the same. While he drank, Graham told him, “I am your boss right now, and that’s okay. We’ll trade, and you can be the boss of me later.”

Graham looked behind him as Macy came in with cold rosy cheeks, “Tala, I’m ready to call in. Any news to report?”

“Yeah, tell them Sam, Mark, and Marcy are leaving in the morning on our last hunt for mule deer this season,” Tala said. Graham was grateful she didn’t mention Ennis’s condition; best they keep it to themselves for the time being.

“All right, Macy said, rolling her eyes. “Not having them around for a while will be nice.” She went into the bunkroom and sat at the table set up with the radio to the prepper camp. Communicating daily became her routine chore now—to make a check and relay news each morning.

Macy depressed the microphone’s button. “Hi, Rick, Macy here,” she said.

“No, no, no, you’re doing the entry all wrong,” Rick said.

“Why do I have to use the Twin Two call sign?
You
don’t use a call sign,” Macy complained emphatically.

“Rick
is
my call sign. I don’t make up the rules, I just enforce them,” he said, kidding her with the old cliché.

“Fine. Twin Two here,” Macy said with as much mustered sarcasm as the occasion called for.

“Much better,” Rick said. “Whatcha got this morning?”

“All is well. Sam, Mark, and Marcy are leaving on a three-day hunt, going north for mule deer tomorrow morning,” she said.

“Okay, sounds good. We’ll be free of the north exit by 0800. All is quiet here, except we’re having a banjo tournament. We discovered there really is a Bigfoot, and we’re having a pizza party. Sorry, you guys aren’t invited,” he said teasing her.

Macy didn’t bite; she used her deadpan voice instead. “I’ll share the good news. Have a spectacular day, Rick; Twin Two out,” she said, barely acknowledging Rick’s exit call before she hung up.

Macy often found Rick exasperating. Why they still went by what she considered an expired procedure mystified her. She liked that term,
expired procedure
, and always used it in references to school, politics, and braces. Only 2 percent of the population still alive meant the chance of an unknown tapping into their radio frequency was highly unlikely. Still, she enjoyed having a camp job that gave her an important responsibility, and she’d volunteered for it willingly. After the call ended, she wrote in the log, noting the time and response, leaving out the banter part, and went back into the kitchen to check in with Tala.

“I’m headed out for watch now,” Macy said as she passed through, only to find Tala leaning over the sink, with her eyes closed, and breathing deeply. “Are you okay?” Macy asked, alarmed.

Tala quickly put her hand up behind her to ward Macy off. “I’m fine. I’m fine. I think I didn’t get enough sleep, is all.”

“Yeah, I heard you up early this morning. Did you eat something that was past its prime?”

“No, I don’t think so. I’ll be fine, go ahead to guard duty.”