baby a little more formula and Charlie and Tommy were just watching. Tommy caught my eye and motioned me aside.
“I needed to talk to you when you got in, but obviously you were busy.” Tommy looked like he had something on his mind.
“What’s going on?” I had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with the fact that Jason and Lisa were watching Jake, but I waited for Tommy to tell me what was up.
“We have a situation.” Tommy was keeping something back and I was starting to get annoyed.
“So? What is it already?” I put enough impatience in my voice to make Tommy wince.
“Well, Duncan thought it would be a good idea to take Kristen and Chelsea out on a small supply run and get them used to working together and taking what’s important and such. He decided to check out that small strip mall north of the gas station on the main road. No big deal.”
I nodded but said nothing. I had dismissed the strip mall as irrelevant, but maybe something could have been salvaged.
“Anyway,” Tommy continued, “they went into a store and had nearly secured it when a Z came out of the bathroom and landed on Chelsea. She was bit before anyone could do anything about it.”
24
Something inside me fell. Every time I thought we had a hold on this situation and could move forward and start to show some progress, something like this happened. What made me angry was that it shouldn’t have happened. Duncan knew better. Now I had to put down another member of our group, another child, no less, and I was starting to wonder why I bothered.
“Where is she now?” I wondered, checking my SIG.
Tommy caught the motion and looked down. “She’s outside with Kristen.”
I nodded and started to head for the stairs. Tommy called after me. “Duncan and I are going to that active community building you mentioned. Anything you think we should look for?”
My voice was barely audible. “Check for the usual. See if they have a generator. God knows we could use some power for a change.” I didn’t even look back, I just kept walking.
Sarah caught up to me and asked what was going on.
I stopped by the landing to the stairs and looked out one of the windows. I could see two figures sitting outside and it was hard to get my feet to move. “Chelsea got bit.” was all I said.
Sarah’s hand went to her mouth and she looked outside. We stood there for a minute, not saying a word, just looking at the small figure out in the brown grass. I barely noticed Sarah place her hand in mine, giving me a small squeeze. It was reassuring to a point, but I was still wondering whether this was worth all the effort.
“Why do I bother?” I said aloud, not really expecting a response. “What’s the point? It seems like every time we make progress or get ahead, something kicks us back. It’s like something is telling me just find a spot to lay down and die. Your time’s done. Its times like this I wonder why I don’t just pack up Jake and take off for parts unknown and take my chances in a zombie world.”
Sarah didn’t speak for a minute then said “If you want to go, then go. But if you leave, then everything you fought for was for nothing. Everyone you saved won’t matter, and the world you want to take back will never recover. I can’t see you wasting that much time.”
I smiled inwardly and returned the squeeze and gave Sarah a grateful look, then went downstairs. Sarah followed me down and we went out towards the two figures on the grass.
Kristen was sitting down, hugging her knees and crying. She wasn’t holding her friend, and it was easy to see that it was killing her not to comfort Chelsea. Chelsea was sitting cross-legged a few feet away, holding a bloody rag to a bite on her shoulder. She was staring blankly into space and I could only imagine what was going through her head. Her weapons and gear had already been removed, and she looked so small sitting there.
Kristen saw me and Sarah walk up and starting crying harder, knowing what was going to happen. Sarah knelt down to comfort Kristen as I bent down to one knee in front of Chelsea.
“You’re here to kill me, aren’t you?” Chelsea said without emotion. She never looked at me, she just stared down at the ground.
“Yes.” I was never one to sugar-coat things. That trait used to drive the parents in my district nuts once upon a time.
She looked up at me with red-rimmed eyes. There were dark circles around her eyes and I could see her starting to sweat. The virus was moving fast. It was going to become dangerous to be around her in an hour or so. “I can feel it killing me.” Chelsea said. “It feels like fire is creeping towards my head.” She looked down at her arm. “I can’t feel my hand anymore.”
“Whenever you’re ready. I can wait.” I said, motioning Sarah to take Kristen away. They both said goodbye to Chelsea and Sarah had tears in her eyes as well.
“Why me?” Chelsea asked. “What did I do to deserve to die?” She held back a cough.
“You lived.” I said. “That was enough. Eventually we all die, and sometimes we get to choose how we go out. Sometimes we don’t.” I pointed to her shoulder. “I hope you finished the bastard that got you.”
Chelsea actually smiled a little. “I smashed his head so much it actually came off his shoulders.”
I smiled myself. “Good girl.”
“John?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t blame Duncan. It wasn’t his fault. I didn’t check the bathroom the way you taught us. I thought I was ready, I thought…” Chelsea ran out of steam and hung her head.
“Don’t blame yourself. It was just bad luck. Next time it could be me.” I tried to be reassuring, although inside I was seething.
“No. You can’t die. They need you…” Chelsea’s voice was fading and she was starting to slump over. I had never heard of a case happening this fast, she had been bitten barely an hour ago. I moved back and watched as Chelsea slumped over, closing her eyes forever as the little girl we knew and cared for.
I waited, and while I waited I raged inwardly at what had happened. She was supposed to live, the children were supposed to live. I again wondered at what kind of God would allow this to happen to the children.
I stood by Chelsea for another hour, just letting the cold blow past my face. I watched the brown grass stir around her still face, knowing the virus was hard at work inside her. Her skin became pale as the blood drained away from the surface. Her bite wound looked blackish, and I could only imagine what kind of pain she was going through. Dark, spidery lines webbed out from the bite, indicating the spread of the infection. The thickest lines went to her neck and head, where they disappeared under the skin.
One hour and twenty five minutes after she died, Chelsea opened her eyes again. Her head lifted off the ground and she painfully got to her feet. She turned her head slowly, and caught sight of me. Her lips peeled back from her mouth, revealing her teeth, and she raised her arms towards me.
I raised my SIG, and with a final “Good bye, Chelsea.” I shot her between the eyes. She crumpled to the ground again, and I holstered my pistol with a sigh.
I reached down and grabbed her ankle, and unceremoniously dragged her over to a field where we had burned other zombies. I placed her in the center of the burn ring, poured some gasoline from a can we had stashed there, and lit her funeral pyre.
I watched the flames for a while, then turned my back on the scene, heading back to the building. Sarah was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.
“Want to talk about it?” she asked carefully, reading the look in my eyes.
“Nothing much to talk about. She got bit, she got infected, and she died. That’s all there is. That’s all there ever is these days.” I was suddenly tired and I wanted to see my son.
Sarah and I went back to our condo and I thanked Jason and Lisa for watching Jake for so long. They said they didn’t mind, it was good practice for when they had children. I didn’t say it, but I wanted to ask why in hell they would want to bring a child into this messed-up world.
I took off my gear and weapons, and sat on the floor with Jakey. It was nearly time for his dinner, and I was
