His wrist is bleeding.
It’s fine, she thinks. Scraped when he fell. No big deal.
He lifts his hand slowly and her stomach drops when she sees the bite. She sways, grabs the railing to keep from falling off the SUV while he stares at the wound that will end his life.
And then he begins to cry.
23
Then
That morning, I was up early. Sleeping in a room full of people during the zombie apocalypse was comforting, true, but it was also noisy. After the fifth person sneaked by to get a glass of water from the kitchen sink, and the second group of four went out for a pee break, I was awake.
Norma was already up fixing coffee and oatmeal for everyone for breakfast when Dan came over to me, followed by an older man he introduced as Evan.
“He and his family, plus another group wanted to know if we’d be all right caravanning with them. I told them you guys took me in, so I thought it fair we discussed it together.”
I nodded. Lana was still asleep, but Ivy was up, so I waved her over.
“We have to get to Billings and Dan here said you’re headed toward Alliance way and after that, Seattle. Don’t suppose we could tag along with you? Safety in numbers, and all that.”
I shrugged. “You have your own vehicles I take it. Because we don’t have room in our SUV for you.”
“Oh yeah. We have a minivan and Isaac has a car. We’d need gas but I see you all managed to find some to carry with you. The van has a lot of storage space, too. We just need to get home. I have family …” Evan dropped his eyes. I knew exactly how he felt. The not knowing. The worry. The guilt.
“I don’t see why not. Dan? Ivy?”
Dan shrugged. “More eyes for lookouts and fingers to pull triggers would be all right with me.”
“Sounds fine,” Ivy bit out, her glare for Dan, who ignored her. I got the feeling Dan didn’t give a shit who he annoyed as long as Owen survived.
I understood that, just as I understood Ivy’s annoyance. It was probably a good thing we were dropping her off soon.
“All right then. I figure we should hit the road soon if it stays clear of them.”
Evan nodded and said he’d get everyone ready who was planning to go.
I went to Norma. “Is there anything I can help with before we go? I’m so grateful to you and your husband both for taking us in.”
“Of course, my dear. Jesus would have us do nothing less.” She took my hand in her soft, wrinkled ones and smiled at me. “I’m just glad you’re okay and I pray you make it to see your boys safely.”
“Thank you.” She pulled me into a hug which I accepted gladly and when I pulled away, I was smiling. “Now, are you sure you don’t need help?”
“Naw honey, I’m all right. Been cooking for a large family forever now and this is just the same. Sure are grateful for the food you shared, though. Looks to be a hard winter if things don’t get better.”
I didn’t think things were going to get better, unless these zombies or crazies or whatever they were froze and died this winter. God, I hoped they did, but I had my doubts that I didn’t share with her. We would all know soon enough, and I wasn’t going to risk being the one to wipe the hope from her eyes with my suspicions.
Evan was joined by his wife Jean, their two kids Lizbeth and Olivia, a couple of brothers named Isaac and Jude, and Jude’s girlfriend Paisley. They stowed their things in their vehicles while a couple from Norma’s group kept watch and then we discussed our plans. We let them know we had to stop in Alliance for Ivy, and we talked about how to safely drop her off and get gas.
“If we had guns, it would make things a little easier,” Isaac said. “Me and Jude know how to handle them, but we didn’t bring any on this trip. Paisley can shoot like hell too, ain’t that right?”
She nodded, preening a little under his praise.
Dan glanced at us, then said, “We have rifles, a shotgun, and a handgun. Ammo too. I want to make sure everyone knows how to shoot but for now if you guys want to be in charge of some weapons, we’d be glad for it. You too, Evan. Jean.”
“Jean can shoot,” Evan said. “I’ve never been keen on guns, but she used to do it for competition in high school.”
“So each car will have at least one weapon and some ammo. I figure when we stop, we can circle the wagons, so to speak. Get out on the inside so the cars offer some protection. Gas getters get out on the outside. Make sense?”
Paisley and Jude both looked a little confused, so Dan drew out his idea in the dirt, making sure everyone understood the plan.
“Sounds easy enough. We’ll do it and see if it works. If not, we’ll try something new.” Like the rest of us, Evan’s head was on a swivel, watching out for any of them who might have been nearby. “Think we should hit the road though before we draw them back here. No use in putting Norma and her family in danger.”
“Right. Let me get the guns and then we’ll go.”
Dan passed out a rifle and shotgun along with the ammo, keeping one shotgun and the handgun for our car. Once that was done, we were on the road again. We weren’t able to go fast, which frustrated Ivy all to hell. She was already picturing hugging her daughter and grandchildren, I knew, and her eyes were constantly going to the clock on the dash.
“How long now?” I asked her when we passed Hyannis.
“Less than an hour. Well, probably an hour since we’re riding on the damn donut.”
Anything over forty
