The Broken and the Dead

The sun began to rise on the Eastern horizon and we could see just how bad off he was. He still had not regained consciousness and he was developing a tremendous fever. His chest hair looked red and silver in the morning sun, his beard slowly filling out for the last few days now looked grey almost white, just like Santa’s except not. Mrs. Driscol and Mom talked with Elaine and then they met with us.

“We can’t stay here, we have to go on. We will let Mrs. Driscol and Billy drive the lead SUV, the rest of us will follow in the second. Elaine and Lucy can take care of Mr. Tucker as best they can and Johnny you can ride shotgun.”

We all nodded and got to work, we laid down the third row seat in the grey SUV. We placed a box on the floor so that we could put Old Man Tucker’s head on a pillow and stretch him out as much as possible. Lucy and Elaine would sit on either side of him in the middle row. We took the empty bucket because we discovered that the wounds were festering and needed to be cleaned out every few hours. They smelled disgusting, yellow oozing pus, filled with blood and strange blister like things that were filled with black goo; like a black head gone wild. Elaine would burst them with a needle, express the contents, and then rinse everything with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. As we left the camp the bodies of the crazies were beginning to bloat in the sun, clouds of deer flies swarmed over them. I wanted to get far away from them as possible; we all did.

We drove on heading towards the junction with highway 9. Mom and Elaine kept talking, and Old Man Tucker just got sicker. His fever grew and beads of sweat appeared all over him, the hair on his body lay flat and his skin glistened. Wounds would swell and reopen, undoing all of their healing efforts. Old Man Tucker mumbled but didn’t make much sense.

“What is he saying?” Mom asked.

“I don’t know Elaine answered, “But I think he is talking to his wife.”

Lucy looked uncomfortable then said

“Mom, can we open the window, Mr. Tucker doesn’t smell very good.”

Mom didn’t answer but the two rear windows descended and stopped around half way down. The air helped the environment considerably and Elaine exhaled a huge breath, having held it because of the odor of rot, the smell of death. Elaine was wringing water out of a strip of white tee-shirt that they were using to wash him down when Lucy leaned forward and listened carefully to Old Man Tucker, her brows were knit together in concentration. She whispered

“I think he is asking her to sing something.”

After a few moments Lucy decided to meet his request and she leaned close and softly began to sing to Old Man Tucker. I don’t know if “wheels on the bus” was exactly what Old Man Tucker had been asking his wife to sing but it seemed to make him a little bit less frantic. We stopped sometime later and had lunch and took a bio-break. Mrs. Driscol checked in on Old Man Tucker and Billy and I got a few minutes to talk, I offered to switch vehicles with him but he declined. Mom and Mrs. Driscol were talking, then they got the map out and consulted it. Right where our highway intersected Highway 9 there were several truck stops and a number of hotels and motels. They decided they would check it out then try to find some remote room in one of the hotels and camp for the night. If they didn’t see something pretty much right away they were going to just go a few miles on and then pull off in to the woods to make camp.

“He isn’t looking very well Mom,” Elaine whispered as we approached the intersection with Highway 9, “and I am pretty sure he is delirious, he’s talking to his wife again; he is begging her not to leave.”

Lucy quietly sobbed I don’t think she liked seeing Mr. Tucker like this. Mom looked over her shoulder,

“Honey, please try not to listen to him, he is very sick and a fever like his will make people say all sorts of crazy...”

Mom’s voice trailed away at the word crazy, I know she was going to say “things” but just the thought that he might be turning into a crazy was almost too much to bear. I looked out the window not wanting to think about it either and Mom pulled the car to a stop, the other SUV pulled up next to us and the window went down, Billy’s goofy smile beamed at us,

“We made it.” he said, clearly relieved.

Mrs. Driscol asked about Mr. Tucker and Mom said there was no change. Then Mrs. Driscol asked what we thought about up ahead and Mom said that she didn’t know. The two Moms turned off their engines and got out to have what Mom called a ‘confab’. After a few minutes Mrs. Driscol got Billy and everyone gathered at our car,

“Mr. Tucker needs medicine and he needs rest.” Mom said.

Mrs. Driscol pointed off in the distance and said

“There is a Super-Mart just past the 77 Truck Stop and I think there will be a pharmacy in there.”

We stared at the distant building, it loomed large and foreboding. We looked at each other and Mom had just started to say something about splitting up when Elaine spoke up, quietly but firmly

“I’ll check it out.”

Mom responded “No! No way, you are just too young.”

Elaine looked at her a fierce determination on her face.

“Mom, you aren’t thinking clearly.”

Mom started to say something about how she was not to speak to her in that manner but Elaine continued.

“You and Mrs. Driscol have to drive; Mr. Tucker is out of it. Lucy can’t go.”

Lucy made a grunt of annoyance so Elaine added

“She is too important and has to take care of Mr. Tucker and Robert Bear.”

This seemed to placate her a bit.

“Billy and Johnny, they are the shooters; they are the only ones with halfway modern weapons.”

She paused for effect then added the conclusion to her argument:

“That leaves me.”

It looked like Mom was going to cry when Mrs. Driscol said softly

“Sharon, she’s right. What we can do is this. You, Johnny and Lucy stay here with Mr. Tucker. ’ll drive Billy and Elaine down to the right of the building, it looks like the grocery section and the pharmacy should be close to that.”

Mom looked in the indicated direction. Elaine continued

“Then I can hop out and make my way inside, Billy can pop out the sun roof to cover me.”

Then of all things Lucy said

“And Billy’s Mom can honk her horn if she needs me and Ronald Bear and you can drive us down there zoooooom and we can rescue everyone.”

We all stared at her and then she added

“And then we can have pie.”

I thought Mom was going to cry and she looked at us

“It’s not fair to gang up on me like that.”

She waited a second then said

“Well, it’s like my Dad used to say: it’s a plan, not a good one, but it’s a plan.”

Elaine grinned and we started to make preparations. Mom and Mrs. Driscol were making a list of all the antibiotics they could think of; Billy and I stayed near Elaine while she checked her weapons. She had the 7-shooter and one of the Lebel carbines. I offered her my rifle or Mr. Tuckers but she shook her head no, she was used to the Lebel and didn’t figure it was time to start learning a new one. But I did force her to shove my .22 revolver into her belt,

“It works just like yours” I said. “It can be your backup.”

Elaine looked at me and gave me a hug; she said “you’re a jerk you know that?”

I smiled at her and answered “takes one to know one.”

I hugged her back and Billy said

“You guys are weird you know that?”

Elaine chuckled “it’s a brother-sister thing Billy” and she ruffled my hair.

“It’s time to go kids” Mrs. Driscol said and Elaine and Billy headed towards their vehicle.

Mom and I sat in the front seats of our SUV. Lucy was talking to Old Man Tucker; I didn’t know which one was making less sense so I left them to it. We watched Mrs. Driscol slowly drive down the road, her lights were off and car seemed to almost vanish in the gathering dark. Mom reached over and squeezed my hand when the brake lights on Driscol’s car came on, then the dome light and we could see Elaine emerge and then everything went dark again when she shut the door.

Elaine grasped her rifle; she was trembling regardless of her outward bravado. She found her mouth felt like it was full of cotton and she felt like her eyes were rattling in her sockets. She tried to swallow but there wasn’t enough spit in her mouth so she just moved quickly as she could to lean against the wall. She looked back at the Driscols’; little Billy stuck to the plan and she could see that he was standing on the back seat, holding his rifle in his hands. She had to smile; that was one brave little guy and so was Johnny if she admitted to herself the truth. She could feel Billy’s eyes on her so she nodded to him then peeked around the corner, the building was dark and the racks of clothes and displays of various things on sale seemed to have a life of their own.

She turned on her flashlight and scanned it quickly around the entrance but there was nothing out of the ordinary. She clicked off her light and moved across the glass wall to the doors. She carefully grasped the handle and gave it a pull. Locked; “Damn it” she thought. She looked around and the rows of carts lined up to one side caught her attention. There was a rolling door, like on a garage that was probably intended to keep homeless people from walking off with the carts. She turned and ran back the way she came and turned the corner. She looked at the huge door; there were Plexiglas panels to let in light. She flicked on her light for just a moment and looked at the sides just inside the door; there, she saw it, a long length of chain that hung from somewhere high in the ceiling. She knew they used the chain to raise and lower the door. She went over to that side and using the butt of the venerable old rifle she bashed in the panel nearest to the chain. She flicked her light on briefly again and looked inside but still there was no movement or sign of anyone inside. She reached inside and grasped the chain; it was hard to manage so she slipped her rifle over her shoulder and then used both hands to pull the chain through the ruined window as far as she could. She prayed there wasn’t a locking pin or if there was the last person hadn’t set it.

She pulled and pulled and she heard the door creak and complain as it slowly was lifted from the ground. Eventually the open panel was lifted about a foot from the ground but she couldn’t move the door anymore. She looked down; she thought that the door was high enough that she could slip under. She took her rifle off her shoulder and lay on the concrete floor; she slithered her way under the door and she was in. She exhaled and caught her breath then started to the internal doors. She could see that these were still slide wide open; ’no survivors’ she thought. If there had been they would have certainly pulled these doors shut for the extra layer of protection. The building seemed immense; she walked slowly along the front of the store, past the restrooms, past the customer service counter, past the tiny Woolstone Credit Union that was built into the store. She reached the pharmacy and stomped her foot in frustration, there was a chain link screen that was pulled all around it.

She looked around and tried to figure out what to do; she could try and shoot the lock but didn’t have confidence that would work. “Hardware” she whispered to herself, she hoped that she could find some of those huge cutter things. She was tempted to run but she held herself in check and slowly walked along the checkout aisles. Past groceries, past household, past clothing and she turned down the walkway just before the exit to lawn and garden. She took a few steps, stopped and listened, took a few more, but instead of the silence reassuring her it only seemed to raise her anxiety. She could see rows of tires and car polish and then finally tool-world. She moved up and down the aisles her flash light scanning the shelves and finally success. There were bolt cutters in three different sizes and they were on sale. She laughed quietly at herself at the thought.

Elaine picked the largest set of bolt cutters and started back towards the pharmacy. She cut across the store having realized that would cut her path back almost in half. She was grateful that all of these superstores seemed to have almost the same layout. She scurried past the dressing rooms in the center of ladies clothing but she had the strange, unnerving sensation that she was being watched but she could not hear anything much less see anything. Finally she got back to pharmacy and used the huge bolt cutters to snip the pad lock. It must have been a very good one because she had to use both hands and all of her strength to finally cut it free. She gasped as it finally made it through the steel and it slowly tumbled from the latch and it clanged on the floor. She quickly set the cutters down and held her rifle ready and waited.

After a few moments she reached with her left hand and pulled the chain curtain on its rails just enough so she could slip inside. She moved over to the pharmacist’s desk and laying out her list she turned on her flashlight and started to read. She grabbed a large plastic bin from under the table and went shopping. She took everything she could find that had a name even remotely similar to something on the list. Her bin was nearly full and slipping out past the chain curtain she took a moment to grab some other items of use. She took more peroxide and bandages, tooth paste and brushes, she took mouthwash and throat lozenges, midol, and tampons, all the important stuff. She was walking back toward the entrance and stopped to grab a handful of packets of gum. She opened one and was relieved to get the mint flavored gum in her mouth and the way it moistened her lips. She dropped the wrappers on the ground when she heard the voices. More than one and they were whispering and they were looking for her.

Elaine felt her bladder suddenly feel very, very full and she wished she had just got the drugs and got out. Too late for that right now; the voices were hushed but they sounded male. There was at least one between her and the exit. “Damn, damn, damn” she mouthed silently. The old French battle rifle did not have a safety and she had a round chambered already, two more in the drop clip, now she needed to find cover. She hoped they would pass her by so she could get out the door. She was near the credit union and looking in she saw that there was a long, narrow table, it was almost like a bar from some old western movie. It was very tall, tall enough so that customers could write out checks and such while standing there, waiting their turn at the teller. She slipped all the way to the end of the bar and crouched low. Her right shoulder was against the bar, if the person between her and the door came she would be hidden. If they came from the other direction they would see her right off. Well, it was a fifty-fifty shot, better than Las Vegas.

Elaine waited and prayed; she could hear footsteps coming from the pharmacy, she would be exposed soon. Suddenly from the other direction one of the voices whispered excitedly

“Harv, I think there is a car out front.”

“Damn it” the one who must be Harv answered. “Is there anyone in it?”

“I think so, looks like they are standing in the moon roof. What should I do?”

There was a pause then Harv said

“Shoot em.”

Elaine’s breath came fast but she was able to move to the other side of counter, she could see the man, he was standing in the open, but in the shadows. He was looking through the scope of a lever action hunting rifle. She only had a second before Billy died and she took it, she lifted the Lebel to her cheek and fired. The heavy, slow round caught the man just under his right arm; it tore through both lungs, his heart, and it exploded out just below his scapula on his left side. He spun to the ground, his rifle clattered to the ground but the sound was buried in the loud echo of the rifle report.

It quieted down, Harv called out,

“didja gettem?”

He walked from behind Elaine and went past her but he stopped when he saw his friend dead on the ground. He spun around, dropping into a crouch but two things happened almost simultaneously that froze him in his place; first Mrs. Driscol hit her high beams and they illuminated the front of the store and a few rows back as well, second Elaine chambered her second round. She spoke quietly

“Don’t move, if you do, I’ll kill you.”

Harv didn’t move but he glared at Elaine with hatred.

“Tell your people to stay where they are.” Elaine said.

Harv hesitated so Elaine said with grit in her voice “tell them.”

Harv called out “Everyone, stay where you are.”

Elaine moved slowly along the wall staying out of the light,

“Alright put your rifle down on the ground and slide it over towards me.”

Harv did as he was told but his pride had been hurt and his friend was dead

“We are going to hunt you down and kill you young lady” he said with venom in his words.

“That maybe so”

Elaine responded as she picked up the AK-47. “But you should keep your plans to yourself. Now walk towards the door.” Harv did as he was told and Elaine backed into the breezeway.

“There can’t be too many of you in that one vehicle. There are twenty of us, we will find you, take what we want and then you will be dead.”

Elaine was halfway under the garage door to the outside.

“Mister, I said you should keep your plans to yourself.”

Elaine fired her rifle a second time and Harv doubled over, gut shot, and he stumbled just one step towards Elaine and fell onto his face. She could hear footsteps as a number of people entered the light, Elaine was then sprinting towards the SUV, her rifle in one hand, the AK hung on her shoulder by a sling and the bin of medicines under her other arm. She saw Mrs. William’s SUV zooming down the hillside, her high beams on as well, the inside of the store was so illuminated all the people inside could do was step forward enough to take a shot then dive back into the shadows. Billy’s rifle was spitting fire, small caliber as it was, it still was shattering the huge glass panels into giant spider webs making it even harder to see. Elaine ran up to her mother’s car and climbed in the back seat, my rifle adding to the craziness. “GO, GO, GO!” Elaine yelled and mother put the car into gear and we zoomed past Mrs. Driscol’s car and it quickly followed us into the night.

The cars drove rapidly zig-zagging around several abandoned vehicles and Mom asked

“Elaine, what happened in there?”

She was looking harried as she peeked at Elaine and Lucy in the back with Old Man Tucker. Elaine described it in great detail and her voice was as cold as ice. She was cleaning the wounds, sprinkling some antibiotic powder on some, triple antibiotic cream on others, she was trying to experimentally determine which, if any, would work. She started going through the bottles and interrupted her story to ask Mom which of them she should give Mr. Tucker. Mom was hardly able to speak

“Elaine, you killed a man? Are you sure?”

Elaine looked at Mom, “two, Mom, I killed two bastards...”

Mother interrupted her “ELAINE!”

She was upset with her language but Elaine continued

“...who were going to hunt us down and kill us, they said so, and they were just going to shoot Billy without warning.”

Mom was clearly upset and confused; she just didn’t know what to say. Elaine made a decision and decided to give Old Man Tucker two capsules of Erythromycin.

“I think Krista Jennings said this is what they use for syphilis.”

Mom was going to say something but Lucy interrupted with

“Who is sissyphil?”

“Syphilis not sissyphil” Elaine answered “and it’s not a person it’s a STD.”

“Mommy what’s a STP?”

Mom rolled her eyes and muttered through gritted teeth

“Thanks Elaine, thanks a lot.”

Elaine just chuckled.

After about an hour Mom slowly pulled off the wrong side of the highway into one of those police turn-abounds. She stopped and backed as far as could into the woods between the highways. Mrs. Driscol pulled in right behind us and then backed in so that her car faced ours from the opposite side of the turn-around. Mom and Mrs. Driscol got out of their cars at nearly the same instant and they met in the middle, I couldn’t hear what they were saying but they were clearly agitated. Mom was waving at our car and I just had the feeling that she was upset that Elaine had shot those two men. I looked over my shoulder and looked at Elaine; she was not paying any attention to Mom’s discussion with Mrs. Driscol. Instead she looked calm and clear eyed as she finished re-wrapping the last of Old Man Tuckers wounds. She was speaking very softly to the old man, describing every moment of her battle in the super store. As she finished she said

“I just asked myself what you would do, Mr. Tucker, I did what I had to do.”

Mr. Tucker was still unconscious and her behavior made me nervous. I looked over at Lucy and saw she had curled up with Ronald Bear and went to sleep. I looked at my older sister and she stared back at me, smiling at me with a strange, emotionless expression that left me feeling very empty inside.