Authors: Justin Gowland
Putting my shirt on and jacket I went downstairs to the dining room, to find all the chairs taken and that twat John sat in my seat. I was a little preoccupied and went into the sitting room and sat on one of the couches. Leaning back and resting my head on the back I closed my eyes. Marc came in and put a cup of tea and a bowl of porridge on the coffee table.
“Bud, you okay? You didn’t give that John any mouth about sitting in your chair.” He said.
“I have something on my mind dude. Something that is probably going to change stuff round here.” I replied.
He looked puzzled and I lifted the side of my jacket and shirt to show him my injured side.
“Ah fuck mate, what’s happening there?”
I let my shirt and jacket drop.
“I don’t know bud, it’s not hurting anymore and it looks like it is getting better, but his gray shit has me worried.” I said.
“I don’t think you should worry too much bud. If you think about it you would have turned by now. Nearly all them things turned within a day.”
“Yeah, I know I am just worried about what the rest of the group will say. We had just sorted out some stuff and I hate the idea of having to leave, especially with that dick John here now.”
“Did you think I would kick you out bud, not a fucking chance, there might be a small risk of you changing, but it has to be tiny. I’ll tell you what how about we get Bet, Mary, Rees, Becky and Maddie in here and have a little chat?” He replied.
I just nodded and started to drink my tea and then ate my porridge, whilst waiting for them to all turn up. After about ten minutes people started to come into the sitting room. When the last person came in. Rees turned to stand with his back to the door, so Marc had already had a word with him then.
“Right, guys before we start this little meeting, whatever is decided by the majority then we are to honor that. The last thing I would like is for someone to think I or others are in charge simply because we have been here longer.” I let that sink in for a little while before going on.
“I found out something this morning that might change the way things are going to happen here from now on.”
I stood up and turned to the side so that everyone could see my injured side and lifted my shirt and jacket to show them the gash. There was a few gasps and quite a few shakes of the head. Maddie was across the room like a shot and had her arms around me crying. Holding her, I slowly started to sit on the couch with her in my arms.
Chapter Eight
“Right, before anyone jumps to any conclusions, Jay got that injury weeks ago and as you can see he hasn’t changed into one of those things.” Said Marc.
“I don’t have any problem with you being here Jay, and I agree with Marc if you were going to change you would have already.” Becky answered.
“Mate, I don’t give a fuck what’s said today, you’ve been my mate for a long time and if you have to leave then I am going with you.” Said Rees from his position in front of the door.
“Okay, but I think we should take more note of what the new people would like, we brought them here before we knew what had happened with me, so they have more to say in this than we do in my eyes.” I said.
Bet stood went to walk to one of the windows and looked outside. Mary crossed her arms and looked straight at me and said “Look you brought us to a safe place and you have promised to teach us to defend ourselves. Plus, if it is true and you got the injury a while ago then I am happy with what your friends have said.”
Bet turned and looked at the room “I have been reunited with my grandson and I had thought that I would never see any of my family again, so for that I can only say thank you. But and it is a but, if you’re infected, you could put us all in danger. Now if it is true and you got the injury a few weeks ago, then the infection might be so minor it might go away. But we have to also think that it may get worse. So what I propose is that Jay get checked every day for a month and if it doesn’t get worse then ok, but if it gets worse then we have to ask him to leave.”
Before people started to get upset, I raised my hand and said “We have heard from everyone but Maddie, so can we wait until she has her say before we have a free for all?”
Maddie lifted her head from my shoulder and simply said “I feel exactly like Rees, if you go I go.” Then buried her head back into my shoulder.
Then everyone started to talk at once and nearly all of it was directed at Bet. I did feel sorry for her, but saying that more than half of the people in the room were friends that had been with me from before the beginning or shortly after. I sat with Maddie buried into my side and watched everyone talk at once apart from Rees, who was just standing at the door watching. Slowly coming to the realization that I or someone else had to make the decision, I stood up slowly and everyone started to quieten down. Looking into the faces of everyone in the room, I saw some that felt sorry for me, one that looked like I couldn’t be trusted and the rest were on the fence.
“Look, I agree with some of you, but I also agree with Bet. Now I don’t know how long after I got this injury that the infection started to show, I haven’t been exactly looking for it. Becky did it look like the infection was there when you dad patched me up?” I said.
“Erm…we couldn’t see it at the time because there was a lot of bruising, blood and pus. That and dad had to cut some of the flesh away, that might explain why it hasn’t spread fast. We hit you with a lot of antibiotics at the time, but saying that we don’t know what it is or if the medicine did anything.” She replied.
“Ok, so we don’t know if it was there at the time of injury and hasn’t progressed because of the antibiotics or that is has only now started to show it’s self. So the only course of action at the minute is that I stay for the time being and if it becomes clear that the infection is starting to spread, I leave whether it be on my own or with ours. For the time being I will limit myself to helping train people with the weapons we have, are people ok with that?”
I received nods and a few ok’s.
“The other thing I would suggest is that I be taken out of the decision making process. Until we know which way this arse of a body is taking me. There are a couple of people would like to fill that position, but think one from each group would keep everyone happy. Becky, I would like you to be the old group’s person and I think Bet should be the new group’s person. Are you both ok with that and as long as the rest of you are ok with that as well.”
Again with the nods and ok’s.
I sat back down and Maddie leaned in to give me a large hug. Watching them talk amongst themselves, I felt small and left out, but it was the right decision to make considering things. Maddie looked up from my shoulder to look at me and I lifted my hand to stroke the side of her face. I sort of lost myself in her eyes when I realized that the talking in the room had stopped. I looked round and everyone was looking at me as though waiting for an answer.
“Sorry, pardon?” I said.
“I said you do understand that I will be coming to you for help and the minute that we decide that you’re not getting worse, I will be handing the reins back to you!” Becky answered.
“I think that I can say the exact same thing from my end. As far as I can see you have not only brought us all together, but you have also put the safety of others ahead of your own.” Said Bet.
Looking at Rees and then Marc they both smiled and I knew I was doing the right thing by everyone.
“Right then I will be outside helping Rees sort out the firing range.” I gave Maddie a kiss and stood up, picking up my rifle I went through the dining room, with John throwing evil looks at me as I walked outside. I was halfway across the garden when Rees jogged up beside me.
“You do know that if you had the infection you would have turned by now.” He said.
“Yeah, I know, but I have to let them feel safe.”
He grunted and we went through the fence to the firing range. We carried on setting up the posts and then the rest of the boarding at the target end of the range. By the time Marc and Dave arrived, we had got most of the boarding done, so we had them finish it. Rees and I started to dig and pile the soil that we wanted to use as the backstop. By dinnertime we had all built up a sweat and to tell you the truth didn’t want to go back in the house after what happened this morning. So I just sat down with my back against the backstop and closed my eyes. I felt something nudging my foot and I opened my eyes to see Maddie stood above me with something on a covered plate and a couple of cans of coke. Smiling up at her, she smiled back down at me.
“You mind if I sit with you?” she said.
“Babe you can do anything with me and after last night I think you did.” I said smiling. (well, maybe not everything I don’t like anything to do with backdoor antics.)
She went a lovely shade of red and sat down next to me on the grass. Offering me the plate, I took it off her and lifted the lid to see a cheese and pickle sandwich and a boiled egg. Eating the sandwich and drinking a coke, Maddie sat looking at the clouds and every now and then casting a sidelong glance at me.
“Maddie if you don’t say what you’re wanting to, you are going to burst.” I said.
“If you want to leave I will understand.” She said.
“What the hell makes you think I want to leave?”
“Well, you and Rees have been talking, he’s Army and your Ex Army. You could both leave here and be ok if you wanted to.”
“Listen, I have my brother, his girlfriend, you and my dog here. I am not about to leave any of you here, unless you don’t want to stay here.”
“I just thought with everything going on with your side and the new people, well would just understand that’s all.”
I leaned over a placed a soft kiss on her cheek and looked her in the eyes, “Babe if I was going to be doing anything it would be a repeat of last night lol.”
A small smile came on her face and I knew she was feeling a little better.
“How do you feel? Your side, I mean!” She asked.
“I am fine, it still hurts and I have this bloody itch because of the stitches, but apart from that I feel fine. No sudden urges to eat anyone, so that’s a bonus. I think that if I was to transform into a Reaper I would done so already.” I replied, picking up the boiled egg and slowly taking the shell off.
Rees poked his head over the backstop and looked at us sitting watching the clouds.
“Walker, you might want to get up to the cottage that John is kicking up a fuss and guess what it’s about you.” He said.
“What the hell is that dick going on about now?” I said, and stood up, I bent and helped Maddie to stand up.
“Well to be honest, I don’t know how he found out, but he is saying that we need to kick you out and that he should be put in charge so that we can have a well run group. When Becky said why should he be in charge he said it only made sense because he was an elected official.” He replied as we walked back to the cottage.
I was slowly getting a little more pissed every time that dick opened his mouth. We crossed into the garden and headed for the door to the pantry when Dave came outside carrying one of the rifles and he didn’t look like was happy to see me.
“Rees you and the girl can go inside, but that thing can’t.” He said pointing the rifle at me.
Rees started forward and I could see by the look on his face that Dave was going to have some broken bones in his future. I put my hand on his arm and shook my head, he looked at me and relaxed. What I didn’t account for was Maddie, she was flying across the space between me and Dave, like a missile.
“That Thing, That Thing, brought you and your fucking shitty group here to safety. You fucking prick.” She screamed, what happened next was probably the worst thing Dave could have done in front of Rees. He raised the butt of the rifle and landed a blow on Maddie’s head and she went down like her legs had been cut from under her.
I saw a blur of green and Rees had moved faster than Dave could bring the rifle round and placed a well deserved kick in Dave’s nuts. Even from where I was stood I heard the squelch of one or both of Dave’s balls. The high pitched squeal was a lovely after note of seeing the look on his face. (shouldn’t hit girls when Rees is around, he doesn’t like it. Here endeth the lesson.)
Chapter Nine
I was bent over Maddie to make sure she was ok, as far as I could see she looked shocked and upset. She also had a small split to her scalp just above her ear and a red mark where the butt of the rifle hit.