The Broken and the Dead

The next morning about 5, I couldn’t sleep so as carefully as I could I, what is the word? Extricated myself from Karen but to be honest if I didn’t have to use the toilet so bad I could have endured that particular fate for about a quite a bit longer. Mrs. Driscol had ended up sleeping between Gina and Lucy who seemed to be permanently attached to her. After I used the bathroom, I went upstairs to see who was on over watch.

It was Mrs. West, she smiled and waved me over to her. She hugged me, said good morning, and then asked how I slept. I said Fine, she said “I heard.”

She asked “Did you and your Mom or Dad ever have THE talk?”

I must have looked at her in a funny way because when I asked her if THE talk was something like THE important crayon project she broke into laughter. I know that it was the first time I had heard her more than chuckle and to tell the truth it was a very beautiful laugh for someone as old as her.

“No, no, not that one, THE talk about where babies come from.”

She said still trying to regain her composure. I felt my cheeks burn

“Well, sort of, Mom said that when married people love one another very much and they think the time is right they, um, well they ‘make love’ and 9 months later they have a baby.” I answered.

I looked at her and she put one arm across my shoulder and squeezed me reassuringly.

“That’s just about right.” she said but then went on to ask “Did she tell you what ‘making love’ was?”

I said quietly that I did ask her and she said to ask my Dad. Mrs. West asked “What did he say?”

“Well, just about the same thing as Mom so I didn’t understand, but it is okay because Billy told me.”

She looked confused “Billy?”

“Yeah he was my best friend” I paused “he is on THE picture.”

“Ah” she said then asked “What did he tell you?”

I guess I looked uncomfortable because she said it was okay so I said “Well he didn’t tell me so much as show me.”

It was her turn to look shocked “What?” she asked.

“Yeah, the Frank’s had this dog and one street over was this standard poodle named Cupcake, and…”

Her laughter cut me off.

“Well I guess that is good enough for now.” she said, “Just you and Karen shouldn’t do anything like that without talking to me, Amy or Tucker first okay?”

“Um, sure.” I said then told her that I needed to get some breakfast and started to go down stairs, at the time I remember thinking: why would we do that and who would spray us with the hose?

I checked back in, Karen, Lucy, and Gina were still asleep but Amy was gone. The bathroom we used was still open so I figured she was downstairs. Halfway down the main stairs I could hear Amy and Tucker talking quietly. I stepped into the great room and found Tucker actually sitting up but he had an old wooden cane and had both his hands on it for support. Amy was sitting in a chair opposite him, she was writing in one of those really long yellow pads of paper.

“Hey Johnny” Amy said, “Come on in we were just making a list of what we should do next.”

Tucker smiled and said “Morning John. Maybe you have some ideas?”

We talked business for 10 minutes or so before Deputy Weir joined us, his ever present mug of coffee held protectively in his hands. After participating for another 10 minutes he excused himself by saying he needed to relieve Diane on over watch. It took me a second to figure out who he was talking about but I got it. Pretty soon the whole house was up and about, we moved the conversation to the dining area and to my surprise Tucker made it without assistance other than the cane, he really did look better. Unfortunately we no longer had a working stove thanks to the gun battle but we were able to heat water by running it through the electric coffee pot and we were able to make instant oat meal. The list was long and divided into columns labeled Gina/Lucy, Johnny/Karen, and Amy/Carl/John. Each task was then numbered to show priority. It was a little before eight when we started in on the chores list.

We worked first on supplies, there was still quite a bit of things like rice and beans but our fresh stuff had started to go bad since the fridge was out. We had to throw all that rotten stuff out on the garbage pile. I could still smell the dead bikers even though they had been burnt two days before. We had to throw two bags of flour out because they had been on the floor and they were soaked in blood. There was the new supply of MREs that the ladies had taken from the bus and that helped. We had two big boxes of whiskey and such from them as well. We tried one that didn’t sound too bad, some kind of rum like in those movies about the pirates but all we did was end up coughing and gagging and laughing together. It was nice to work, just work, not think about anything bad. At ten I took the best of the bad stuff in a box up the hill to the Before. It was sitting in the corner with its back to me, the scar had almost completely healed. It heard me walking up and it spun around ready to pounce but when it saw it was me it seemed to relax, anyway it said

*click*SQUEAK*zzzz*click*

To me so I laughed a “well hello to you to” back.

It walked over to the metal tub and sat waiting for its snack.

“I think you are starting to take me for granted.” I said.

It blinked back at me *click*click* but it still waited patiently. I picked up a piece of meat and it raised its head a bit, apparently very interested.

“Oh, so you want this huh?”

I know what I did next was stupid and in retrospect I shouldn’t never of even thought of it but I slipped my hand into the cage with the meat on my palm, like I was offering a carrot to a horse.

The creature leaned forward, obviously wanting the meat, it looked up at me then with surprising care it opened its mouth, showing its incredible array of razor sharp teeth, and it took the meat from my hand. I pulled my hand back and started to tremble, my Before could have with a flick of its head, took my arm off halfway up to the elbow. But it didn’t, it DIDN’T. My mind was racing and all I could do was wonder if somewhere in there the human being it once had been still existed. Tucker had said that the nerves that had grown at the base of the skull actually severed the existing spinal cord, that the old human brain had just been absorbed, re-purposed to kill us. But this was weird, I was upset and couldn’t actually say why. I took the rest of the things and started to push them through the chain link and into the pail, at the bottom I found another piece of meat and held it out to it. This time it scooted a bit closer, sitting on its haunches like some giant glossy black gorilla. It reached out and its long, boney fingers, tipped with two inch spikes instead of finger nails gently, carefully took the piece of meat from my hand and plopped it into its mouth.

*CLICK*hmmmnnn* it said.

“You are welcome” I said.

I checked and filled the water pail and then went down the hill back to the house.

Lunch was peanut butter and two different types of jelly on Ritz crackers with a side of Vienna sausages from about 8 tiny little pull top cans. We talked for a bit and everyone checked the lists. Amy asked Gina if they had gotten to the bathrooms but she just blushed and elbowed Lucy.

Lucy answered “That was Ronald Bear’s job, I guess I’m going to have to half a talk for him.”

Tucker laughed and Amy leaned her chin in both hands and said

“Is that right?”

She nodded big like she does and said “uh huh, bears can get really ...” she paused trying to think of the right word.

“Tired-Full?”

Tucker laughed again.

I had over watch after lunch so Mrs. West helped Karen in the armory. I scanned the horizon with the binoculars. I never let my guard down, if anything happened to us again, it wouldn’t be my fault. I wasn’t scared anymore, I knew we were going to die and there was nothing I could do about it except fight as hard as I could for as long as I could. No one was going to die because I didn’t do my job.

At three I saw storm clouds heading our way and thunder off in the distance. At four I heard a loud banging and noise coming from the stair well. I went over there and saw Tucker huffing and puffing his way up the stairs.

“You stand relieved Mr. Williams” he said with a smile on his face.

I chuckled, “What are you doing up here?”

“Taking my turn on watch kid, taking my turn on watch. Would you drag Mr. Livingston’s chair over to the edge for me?” he asked.

I did so then gave him the binoculars after he sat in it. I told him the perimeter was quiet and then pointed out the closing clouds. I brought him one of the umbrellas and one of those sand filled bases and set it up to keep him out of the rain.

“Thanks John” he said and I felt he really meant it.

I said “You are welcome John”.

“How in the hell?” he said looking startled.

I laughed “you and Amy are not always quiet when you argue.”

He laughed right back at me then said “Let’s keep it Tucker though, I mean too many Johns and all that.”

I smiled and said Okay and told him to keep his eyes open and went down stairs to help Karen and Mrs. West in the armory. I wondered if Mrs. West had “THE talk” with Karen the way she had with me.

In the bedroom we had set up for the armory Karen and Mrs. West had a desk covered in weapons, those taken from the bikers. Several looked new but some had real issues. One revolver, when you pulled the trigger and the hammer went forward, the trigger wouldn’t return to its original position for the next shot. You had to physically pull the trigger forward. One single shot shotgun actually wiggled when it was closed, heck I would have been scared to death to try and shoot that thing. Anyway, any that looked or acted questionable were set off to one side and Mrs. West tied two “do not use” tags on them, one on the muzzle and one on the action. It turned out that we had weapons, but ammunition was another thing. We had burned through quite a bit although we still had plenty of 7.62x54 and 5.56. We were short on the .308 and Tucker was down to 20 rounds of .41 long colt. We had a box and a half of .45 ACP and maybe 300 rounds of 9 mm. We had exactly one round of 7.62x39 for the AK47. We were desperately short on shotgun shells, it seems that Mr. Lowe and Mr. and Mrs. Livingston had kept the fire up pretty hot and heavy all the time Karen and I had been trying to flank them or run away.

Finally we finished the inventory and headed downstairs, none of us liked being in the kitchen, I was missing Mrs. Boudreaux, Mrs. King, and Mrs. Livingston in there something awful, they were always so happy, even when they pretended to argue about something. It was like having grandmas and I had never known my real ones. But we did get started on dinner. Again, no propane meant no stove. We considered trying to cook outside but it was now raining pretty heavily. We finally decided that we would try and get a fire going in the fireplace and maybe heat up some cans of soup, that we had quite a bit of. Most were Tomato, not my favorite but we did have some Chicken&Noodle and even Bean&Bacon, that one I loved a lot. We cut up the last of the fresh vegetables and I put all of the bits left over in a plastic bag, I decided to add some of the spoiled beef and take it up to the Before.

I thought about telling Karen and Mrs. West about what I had done but I really didn’t want to be yelled at for being stupid, not yet at least. I took the bag and started up the hill, I stopped by the garden and was pleased to see that weeds had not taken over yet, I thought that we would have to have a weeding day soon so our fall garden could continue to grow. Some things, like the radishes had already sprouted but the others hadn’t started to appear yet, all in good time, I repeated what Mrs. Livingston had said to me.

When I got to the clearing I called out to the Before, I looked at the cage expecting it to be waiting for me but I didn’t see it. I tapped on the cage but still no monster. I moved around and tried to look into the back of the trash truck, I could just make out its shiny black exoskeleton.

“Hey!” I cried. “Aren’t you hungry?”

There was no response. I picked up a stick and tried to wake it, it didn’t even flinch.

“HEY, wake up!” I said angrily, but still it didn’t move.

“Don’t make me come in there.” I threatened.

Still nothing. So then I tried

“*click*buzz*buzz*clickety*clack* something*like*that*”

Still nothing.

I sat the food bucket down and went over to the cable that was still attached to its neck. I pulled on it. Nothing. I pulled harder, then I pulled as hard as I could and it slowly slid out of the back of the truck. Its eyes were grey, its tongue was hanging out of its mouth and a trickle of blood flowed from its mouth onto the ground. I ran over to the gate and opened it, yeah I know, not smart, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to hurt me. I walked into the cage suddenly feeling nervous but when I knelt next to it, I knew it was dead.

I stepped away from its corpse, already starting to smell, and all sorts of things went through my mind, why did it die? Was it the rotten food? Not likely I had seen them eat month old road steak and cow patties and never shown ill effects before. Did Tucker come here and do something to it? I checked it over, no new wounds, nothing. I looked down at it, I don’t know why but I said quietly

“I’m sorry this happened to you.”

I closed the gate and latched it behind me and walked back down to the lodge. I went into the kitchen, Mrs. West and Karen both saw the expression on my face.

“What’s wrong Johnny?” Karen asked.

“Oh nothing, just the Before up on the hill? It’s dead.”

Mrs. West crossed her arms and looked at me bewildered but said nothing.

I said “I think I should go tell Tucker.”

Once on the roof I walked over to him in the rain, I was already soaked and my shirt was clinging to my skin.

“Hey Tucker” I said “did you kill the Before in the cage?”

“What? No, not yet John, I still wanted to try a few things. Why? Is it dead?”

“Yeah” I said.

“Maybe it starved to death?” he suggested. “No, no that isn’t it, I’ve been feeding it twice a day most days and always at least once.” I stated.

“That’s strange.” He said.

I added “It was starting to heal you know? The shell on its back was almost grown completely back.”

“No way” he said with genuine incredulity in his voice.

“Way” I answered.

We sat there a minute, I was actually relieved that Tucker hadn’t killed it. All at once Tucker asked me

“John, what time is it?”

“Hmm, I don’t know, maybe six?” I said.

He got up and using his cane we walked over to his directional antenna located under its own awning. He turned it on and listened at the headset. For twenty minutes he listened, then he sat it down and looked at me.

“Nothing John, not a single signal that we can hear. There should be at least 6, or more likely 8 that we should have picked up tonight”.

He looked at a map that was covered with intersecting arcs.

“Yea, eight. There should be 8 humming groups in range.”

He sat the headset down and said

“We need to talk to the others.”

“What about over watch?” I asked.

“I don’t think we have to worry about that right now. Come on, help me down these damn stairs” he said.

I helped him down the stairs to the second floor, I have to admit that while he was big, he sure was heavy and to top that off he didn’t take healthy criticisms very well. Plus he needed a shower.

We called everyone together in the great room. I told them about the death of our “prisoner” and Tucker told how we had failed to pick up any signals at all. None. He said he would stay up and check every half hour until 2 AM if someone could figure out how to make coffee. Weir volunteered to stay up with him he said that he had over watch later anyway. I figured he just wanted an opportunity to drink more coffee. Karen had been silent but finally she spoke,

“Do you think that this had something to do with what we did? The ambush I mean.”

I looked at Tucker and I could tell he was keeping something in, something that worried or frightened him pretty badly.

“I don’t see how honey. After the group the strike team took out that group, the signals sounded panicked, but they settled down after 24 hours. “

Then what does it mean John?” Amy asked.

“I don’t know” he said “but if nothing changes I’d like to take the truck and scout it out.”

His voice deep and serious. Amy said that she would drive if he went, Tucker looked at me, sadness in his expression as if he had hoped I would have offered and to tell the truth I was going to but Amy beat me to it, so I just shrugged.

So it was that Tucker and Weir went upstairs to over watch and after dinner we all just went to bed. Amy was reading to Lucy and Gina a story about some moles that ate rocks, Karen and I just snuggled. When it got dark and I was sure that Amy and the girls were asleep I asked Karen if Mrs. West had spoken to her about THE talk.

“Of course she did” she laughed.

I whispered to her that I really wasn’t quite sure of the details, and I told her about what Billy and I had seen. Karen tickled me and she told me to relax, she was a girl and almost 14. That she knew all about it and if the time came and if she thought I needed to know she would explain it to me in great detail. Then she kissed me, told me to go to sleep, rolled over and pressed her back to me. Great, I thought, the rest of my life I am going to have to wait for her, then she sighed and pressed her butt up against me and I thought, well, I guess it didn’t hurt to try waiting for her, huh?