Waiting for the next trigger.
Chapter 18
Joe
The room was dark and silent. It was some time in the middle of the night. Yet Joe lay awake in his cot. He was afraid.
Beside him, Rachel was sleeping. But it wasn’t a peaceful sleep. Her breathing was irregular. Sometimes slow, sometimes fast and frenetic. Occasionally, she would whimper quietly and stir.
All the signs were there. There was no denying it.
Joe knew his wife better than anybody else and knew what was coming. The kids feared it, too. He could see it in their surreptitious glances and the way they avoided their mother.
The descent had begun for her.
Joe had kept her medicated, but he just didn’t have the right stuff there at the school. At most, he was able to slow down the descent.
If only I could get my hands on the proper medications.
Joe lay in the dark, thinking through scenarios that would allow him to get to a pharmacy. He had really hoped that the army guys had been legitimate. But they turned out to be power-hungry psychos themselves.
Joe felt a moment of remorse as he thought about Craig.
Could he have done things differently, and prevented the murder of their leader?
Probably. Joe had no time for guilt, though.
He had his own to take care of. Rachel had a mental illness that required medicine. Joe didn’t want anybody to know. He feared that they would be ejected from the group if the truth came out.
Can’t tell anybody, Joe mouthed to himself in the dark. Beside him, Rachel started whimpering. Joe wanted to comfort her. Put his arm around her and hold her. But he knew that touching her now would set off an episode. So, he lay beside his wife. Awake and fearful.
Chapter 19
November 7, 6:30 A.M., The Ren
A high-pitched alarm sounded throughout the school. For the second day in a row, it was ringing. Confusion reigned in the Ren. None of the newcomers knew about the alarm, much less what to do in case it rang. The result was that most people in the Ren ended up coming to the source of the sound a few minutes later.
John arrived, M4 in hand. He was annoyed to find half of the original residents of the Ren down there, among the newcomers. The hallway was abuzz with noise as everybody asked questions.
“Quiet, please!” John said. He had to repeat himself before things quieted down enough. He walked up to Jack, who had rung the bell. “What’s going on?”
The boy looked flustered. “I woke up and went to look out the window. There are a bunch of zombies at the fence. I counted at least thirty. I didn’t know if I should do the small alarm or the big one.”
John turned to the crowd. “Any non-combatants, that is, anybody who does not know how to use a rifle or handgun, please proceed up to the library.” His eyes met those of several of his own folk, who should have known better and been up there in the first place.
Several people started moving off but stopped when Q piped up.
“Yo, iron man,” he said in a reference to John’s prosthetic hand. “You the general or something?”
“Yes, he is.” Joe stepped right up to the belligerent kid. “And as long as you are under this roof, you will listen to him.”
Q was intimidated, but his conditioning was to not show it. “Get out of my face, fatso,” he said with a smirk.
Michelle, the farmer lady, pulled Q back by his collar.
John jumped in before Joe could respond. He shot a dangerous look towards Q. “We will chat about this later.” He wasn’t fooled by the new smirk he received. The kid was scared. “We don’t have time to waste. Go get a rifle from the armory if you know how to use a weapon. And get out of the way if you don’t.”
Thankfully, there was no more backtalk and people started to move. John noted that the number of shooters had increased dramatically with the newcomers. Some looks of confusion still lingered.
“Keith, please take these folks to the armory and get them outfitted.”
Keith nodded and led the way. John saw that Jack was still standing at their improvised alarm.
He needs engagement.
“Jack, can you go get Bill and Nat down from the roof — and ask Ern to join us too? We could use them down here.”
Jack nodded and ran off.
“And, Jack!”
The young man skidded to a stop.
“Can you take up a lookout position upstairs? We’ll need eyes on any other potential threat. Ask for a couple of volunteers to take the other lookout spots.”
With a nod, Jack ran up the stairs.
“And thanks! You did a good job!” John shouted at the young man’s retreating form.
John hoped that Jack would focus on his activities. It would give him a reprieve from dwelling on the loss of his father.
He replayed the events of the previous day once more in his mind’s eye. If only that psycho Shaw hadn’t started shooting right away... No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t see a way that he could have saved Craig’s life.
You might have, but it would have cost yours. So, add that to the guilt, soldier.
John shook his head. He knew that he needed to steer clear of those thoughts.
All the combatants had armed up and returned two minutes later. John tried to think of a strategy, but before he knew it, they were assembled in front of him.
“All right: We know that zombies are attracted to sound, but we’re going to have to shoot them. The best thing we can do is to be quick and efficient. Every one of you should have at least one extra mag.”
John did a quick head count. The result pleasantly surprised him.
“OK, we’ve got twelve shooters. We will be shooting from close range. Headshots only — but I’m sure you knew that already.” He held up his rifle to the group. “Safety is here. This is
