Authors: James Cook
Ethan went silent and stared into space. Andrea took up the story.
“Ethan and his father saw Emily and Justin trapped on top of a bus surrounded by the infected. They sent the rest of us ahead and went over to help.”
I smiled at Andrea. “Yeah, Earl told me about that.”
She flushed and looked down for a moment. Ethan chuckled and ran a hand over her shoulder.
“I may have been a little upset at the time.” She said.
“Upset? Is that what you were? Considering the scratches and bruises on Earl when I found you guys that night, you were a little more than upset.” Ethan said, smiling.
Andrea rolled her eyes. “Yes, and I have apologized to Earl many times for that. He has made it clear to me that he has no hard feelings, so unless you would like to have a little taste of what he got, I would suggest that you stop bringing it up.”
Ethan laughed and held up his hands. “Fine, fine, sorry I mentioned it.”
“Okay, I have a couple of questions,” I said, “First, what happened with Emily and Justin?”
“They were on their own trying to get across I-85 the same as us. The Army was sending out broadcasts that they had established a safe zone at Iron Station. The two of them were trying make their way up there with a few others, when they were surrounded by infected while trying to cross the highway. Justin managed to climb on top of a big pickup truck and scrambled on top of a bus. He pulled Emily up after him, and they were stuck there for two days. Hundreds of people made it across the highway within sight of them, but no one would stop to help. At least that was what they told me afterward.
My father and I saw the two of them waving to us and crying out for help. Even from a distance, I could tell they were in bad shape. We were most of the way to the road by then. Now, what you need to understand is, crossing the highway itself wasn’t the problem. If you could make it to the tops of the cars, you stood a pretty good chance of getting across. The problem was making it that far. There were thousands of cars, on and off the road, crashed, smashed, and stuck in rows for as far as the eye could see. Half the cars on the highway were on fire, and the military, who we thought were gone, showed up in attack helicopters and started strafing the highway. I don’t know what they thought they were going to accomplish. There were thousands of infected out there.”
Ethan stopped speaking for a moment and shook his head, his face grim as he relived the memory.
“Anyway, when my father and I saw the two kids trapped up there, we knew we had to do something. I was out of ammo for my pistol, so I used a fire axe I took from a dead firefighter. As it turns out, the thing works pretty well for putting down creeps, especially the spiked part on the back.
My dad had an M4 and about a gazillion rounds for it. He cleared the way to the bus, and I covered his back with the fire axe. Dad laid down fire as I helped the two kids get down from the roof. A fuck load of creeps had surrounded us, so we climbed on top of the cars and started running from roof to roof. Dad was a crack shot with that little rifle and he kept the infected from getting too close. We were doing okay for a little while, until Emily slipped on the roof of an Escalade and sprained her ankle pretty bad.
I had to help Justin carry her, so I couldn’t swing the axe. The way ahead of us was swarming with undead. Dad got on top of a city utility truck and told us to make a bee-line for the other side of the highway. He pulled sniper duty on the creeps while the three of us got clear of the highway. Once we were about thirty yards from the nearest undead I turned around to see if Dad was following us. He was up to his knees in creeps, firing into them as fast as he could, but there were too many of them. He saw me start to run in his direction and put a bullet in the ground right at my feet. He hollered at me to get the hell out of there, and then turned and ran across the cars in the other direction. That was the last I saw of him.”
Ethan’s expression grew tighter and more pained as he spoke. By the time he finished, he was talking through clenched teeth. He wrung his big hands in front of him. The muscles in his forearms twisted and bunched like thick cables under his skin. Andrea leaned over and put an arm around his shoulders, as he sat forward and put his elbows on his knees.
“I should have followed him. I should have
done
something.”
“Sweetie, it’s not your fault. Your father did an incredibly brave thing, and so did you. We don’t even know for sure that something happened to him.” Andrea said.
“Then why hasn’t he showed up yet? I mean, he was the one that came up with the idea to come here in the first place. He knew where we were going.”
The two of them were silent for a long moment. Andrea looked lost for anything to say. I leaned forward and put a hand on Ethan’s shoulder.
“We’ve all lost people we love. If your father gave his life to save yours, then I’m willing to bet he wouldn’t have had it any other way. Beating yourself up isn’t going to do you, or anyone else, a damn bit of good. You have a family, and a community that needs you. Don’t lose sight of that.” I said.
Ethan looked up at me and nodded.
“Your right, your right. It’s just hard, you know? Not knowing.”
“I lost my parents too, about five years ago. I know how you feel, and I wish I could tell you it gets easier, but it doesn’t. You just learn to accept it, and you move on with your life.” I said.
Ethan heaved a sigh, and ran a hand through his hair.
“I think I’m going to go lay down. I’ll see you in the morning, Eric.”
Ethan stood up and walked into his bedroom without looking at either Andrea or I. Andrea was a bit misty eyed, and looked for all the world like a sad, delicate little woman. She sat with her back ramrod straight, her fingers working at the hem of a pillow in her lap, fidgeting and uncomfortable. I wanted to stand up and give her a hug, but I didn’t for fear that the gesture would be unwanted. After a few awkward moments, I stood up and turned to leave.
“Thanks for all you’re hospitality, Andrea, I really do appreciate it. It’s been a long time since I had a chance to make any new friends. I count you and Ethan among the best people I’ve ever been lucky enough to meet.”
Andrea looked up and me and smiled. She seemed to relax somewhat.
“That’s very kind of you, Eric. I’m grateful to you for helping Ethan, and for offering to help all the other folks around here. You’re a stronger man than you know.”
I flushed at the sincere intensity of her blue-eyed gaze. Her words had an effect on me that is difficult to describe. I felt inspired, sad, hopeful, and some powerful, determined, fearsome thing that I can’t put a name to, all at the same time. Most of all, I felt appreciated. It’s nice to know that there is at least one good person out there in the world that thinks you’re worth a damn. Very nice indeed. I wiped at my face as I walked out the door to the common area. Damned dust getting in my eyes again.
I wandered back over to the picnic table where I had seen Stacy earlier. She was still sitting there along with the fit young woman who had spoken in my defense earlier at the meeting. They sat across the table from one another, leaning forward and conversing in low tones. Stacy noticed me and smiled. The woman in front of her stood and offered me a strong, long fingered hand.
“Hi, Jessica Robinson. Nice to meet you.” She said.
I could not help but notice her soft, slightly almond shaped eyes and her surprisingly strong grip. She stood nearly eye to eye with me, and lithe muscles rippled beneath her flawless mocha colored skin. She was obviously strong, but it was an alluring, feminine kind of strength.
“Nice to meet you ma’am. Thank you for speaking up for me today, that was very kind of you, I appreciate it.” I said.
“You can thank me by delivering on your promises.” She replied.
“I intend to do so. Barring incident, of course.”
Jessica released my hand and stepped away from the table.
“I’ll be seeing you tomorrow, kids. We got a lot of work to do, so don’t stay up too late.”
She smiled teasingly at Stacy, who blushed up to the tips of her ears even as she gracefully gestured for me to sit down across from her.
“So what brings you over my way, handsome?” She asked, giving me a sideways smile.
“Just looking for some friendly company, I guess.” I said as I sat down across from her. We were silent for a moment looking at one another, neither of us quite knowing what to say.
“Big day tomorrow, huh?” Stacy asked, breaking the awkward silence.
I nodded. “We’re not heading out until the day after tomorrow, but we have a lot of preparations to make in the mean time. Are you coming with us?”
“No, a few of us will stay behind to look after the children. Andrea will be on guard duty for the supply run, and she asked me to look after Aiden while she’s gone.”
I raised an eyebrow at that.
“I have to admit, that surprises me. I would have figured she’d want to stay close to her son.”
“She does, but she’s a damn good shooter, and the folks doing the supply run will need every marksman that they can get. Markswoman. Whatever. Andrea can do everyone a lot more good by protecting the people gathering supplies than she can by sitting around here babysitting.”
“Where did Andrea learn to shoot? I thought she was a nurse.” I said.
“Ethan’s father taught her. They used to compete in some kind of firearms competition. I think she called it ‘Three-Gun’ or something like that. She dropped a lot of creeps on the way out here, until she ran out of bullets.”
“Wow. I never would have guessed. What about Ethan? Can he shoot too?”
Stacy laughed. “I’ve seen him shoot pretty well with a pistol. I’m not sure how good he is with a rifle, but I can tell you for certain that he is hell on wheels with a fire axe.”
“Well, let’s hope he doesn’t have to demonstrate that particular skill. If all goes well, we should be able to take what the compound needs without a shot fired, or an axe swung, for that matter.
“So what do you get out of all this?” Stacy asked. “I mean, are you planning to stay here? Is that why you’re helping?”
Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought I heard a note of hopefulness in her tone. I thought about it for a second, and I really did not know what I planned to do at that point. The people at the compound seemed to have a good thing going, and staying there didn’t seem like such a bad idea. On the other hand, I was worried about Gabriel, and I still felt the need to find him.
“I don’t know.” I said, shrugging. “It just seems like the right thing to do.”
Stacy opened her mouth to say something else when gunfire erupted from the roof of the warehouse. A few seconds later a bell began ringing loudly. The compound’s residents, most of whom were in their respective shelters winding down for the evening, came pouring out their doors and gathered in the common area, weapons in hand. Ethan stepped out of his shack with his SCAR rifle in one hand, and a big fire axe with an orange and black fiberglass handle in the other.
“Everyone take up defensive positions.” He shouted over the commotion.
“Hold up, Ethan, I’ll be right back.” I shouted as I sprinted toward my truck.
I grabbed my load bearing harness and one of my rifles, strapped it on as quickly as I could, and ran back to the other side of the warehouse. I was still wearing shorts and flip-flops, and cursed myself for not changing into something more practical earlier in the day. The flimsy sandals impeded my running, so I kicked them off and went barefoot. I must have looked ridiculous in tactical gear while dressed like a guy getting ready to spend a day at the beach.
Bill, Earl, and Justin came out, and in a few short moments they had organized the startled crowd into two fire teams. One of them ran to the side of the warehouse with the rolling door and set up a field of fire to cover it. The other group fanned out in a semi-circle around the steel entrance closest to the common area. Cody, Stan, Steve, and Ethan stacked up on one side of the entrance, while a man I hadn’t met yet covered the entrance with a shotgun. Ethan had set the handle of his axe into a makeshift sling, and held his SCAR at the ready. Steve was in front with his M1A as the point man. I caught up to them and took up position beside Ethan.
“What are we doing?” I asked.
“We’re getting ready to clear the entrance and help the guys up on the roof. You see anything dead coming at you when we open the door, put it down, and then make your way to the scaffold. Try not to shoot any of us while you’re at it.”