Dead Soil | Book 3 | Dead World, page 9
part #3 of Dead Soil Series
Luke gave a startled gulp and looked at the three standing around him. His stomach churned. He turned and vomited in the empty space next to him, hands on his knees as he heaved up the cold canned hot dogs they’d had earlier. Imani, Lee, and Svend each took a step back, looking away in different directions in awkwardness.
“Feel better?” Imani asked with that same irritation.
Luke narrowed his eyes at her and looked at her as if she were deranged. “Do I feel better? No, I don’t feel better! I almost just got my face ripped off by night of the living dead, girl! Are you crazy? No, I don’t feel better!”
“Well, it’s over,” she barked back and then looked at the other two standing by her. “And we should probably get going before more show up.” Without waiting for them to agree she stormed off toward the exit.
Luke waved a hand in her direction, “You go ahead then. I’m just gonna catch my breath real quick here.” He dropped to his knees as the two burly men turned their backs on him to follow his teenage daughter. Allowing himself to collapse onto the floor completely, his chest rose and fell rapidly as he tried to cool down his sweaty face on the cold tile. And that’s when he saw it. He squinted his eyes to make sure it was what he thought it was.
“Wait! Guys! Wait!” he yelled as he scrambled to his feet. “Guys, wait up!”
“Come on, dad, we have a lot of ground to cover,” Imani sighed without looking back.
“Wait, guys, I think I found it!”
All three stopped and turned on their heels. Lee didn’t wait for any more of an explanation before heading back. Luke simply pointed to the base of the shelf next to the one Lee had kicked. “Right there, underneath, there’s a whole bunch of spilled pills left untouched.”
Lee knew it was a long shot that those pills were exactly what they were looking for. They could be anything, but then again they could be the antibiotics they needed. He got down on his belly and tilted his head to the side. Luke was right. There were dozens of pills, bottles, and packets sprawled across the shadowed tiled floor. He reached his long arm under and swept as far as he could, dragging as many out as would come in the crook of his arm.
Once the bounty was in front of him he crouched down and started to pick through them. Most of the pills were in pretty good shape, though they were covered in hair and dust. The important thing was that the lettered imprint was still visible. That was how he would be able to identify them if they were no longer in their bottles and packets. As he rifled his heart raced. He tried to remind himself that even if they didn’t find the right pills here now he could always backtrack to the pharmacies they’d already been to and check under their shelves as well.
They would find the antibiotics. They had to.
And then he stopped, his hand hovering over a crumpled packet, shaking.
“This is it,” he whispered as he stared.
The others gathered around, kneeling down next to Lee to get a closer look.
“What is it?” Imani asked eagerly, her eyes lit up with anticipation.
“A Z-pack,” Lee said, “A common round of antibiotics.” His voice sounded far off as if he were already back at the bunker saving Olivia with his findings.
“That’s great!” Imani almost shouted as she rose and clapped her hands.
Lee stood up and clutched the packet tightly, crumpling the foil backing. He couldn’t help himself. This was what they’d been looking for ravenously for days now and he had it. He had it in his hands. In a matter of a day or two it would be given to Olivia. Her fever would break, her infection would clear, and she would survive.
“That’s all you found?” Luke asked, his hands on his hips and his eyes squinted tight. “Enough to save one person? So, who gets it, Nurse Lee? Who do you save, Olivia or the guy you almost beat to a bloody pulp?”
“Dad!” Imani scolded, rounding on her father.
Luke shrugged his shoulders with his hands raised in the air. “What, Imani? Why does he get to play God and choose who to save? There’s only one round of antibiotics and two people who need it. The way I see it, he owes Rowan those drugs.”
“The little girl gets the drugs,” Svend said, leaning back against the counter as he picked at the bottom of his boot. A rock popped free from the tread and bounced along the floor.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” Luke challenged. “You don’t even know either of these people.”
“You barely know us either,” Imani spat back at him. As she took a few steps forward, her brow furrowed. She still clutched her bat tightly in her hands, dripping with blood. Luke took an involuntary step back. “We came out here for Olivia and that’s who's getting the Z-pack. If we happen to find more we will give it to Rowan, but we need to help Olivia now. We don’t know if antibiotics will save Rowan or not but we know it will save Olivia.”
“The little girl gets the drugs,” Svend repeated in his broken English. He rose from the counter and took a step toward Luke too.
“All right, All right,” Luke caved, raising his hands now in surrender. “Forget it. Let’s just get out of here and get back so this whole nightmare can be over.”
Together, the group gathered their things and headed for the exit. Lee looked down at the medicine still clutched in his hand. He took a deep breath in through his nose and held it a moment. He grabbed Imani by the shoulder and turned her around. “Here,” he said, shoving the packet into her hand and closing her fingers around it. “Get this back to Olivia.”
Imani looked up at him in confusion. “What? Why can’t you do it?”
“Make sure she gets that back to the bunker,” he said to Svend. The lumbering man nodded his braided head once but that was enough for Lee. He knew Svend would do whatever it took.
“Where are you going?” Imani all but screamed with tears gathering in her dark eyes.
Lee turned, resting his hands on her shoulders and looking her in the eyes. “I’m goin’ ta find more. I’m goin’ to save Rowan too.”
Without warning she charged Lee and threw her arms around his waist, squeezing him tightly. They held each other for several moments as Luke watched from the doorway. He couldn’t remember the last time his daughter hugged him like that. It had to be before the divorce. He knew she always blamed him for it and for everything since then. If only he could go back to when she was just seven years old. She used to smile up at him and ask him to pick her up even though she was getting too big then. His heart ached to see her in this moment with Lee, the man who almost murdered Rowan in cold blood. That was forgivable to her but divorce wasn’t? It didn’t make any sense but he knew he was too much of a coward to talk to her about it, to talk about any of the things that weighed on his mind or the things he regretted doing. He couldn’t handle any more rejection from this little being who was all he had left in the world.
“Why don’t I stay with you?” Imani offered, releasing Lee and wiping away the wetness from her face. “You could use the help. I’ll keep you safe.”
Lee huffed a chuckle. “I have no doubt yeh would, but Olivia needs a friendly face right now.”
She nodded her head, knowing Lee was right.
“Why doesn’t Svend—”
But Lee cut her off. “Svend doesn’t know how ta identify the pills and he needs ta go with yeh ta protect yeh. I know yeh’re capable of dat yehrself most days but if yeh get overwhelmed yeh’ll need da help. Dat da of yehrs is no help atall.”
Imani laughed in agreement. “True. OK. We’ll go. But you be careful, OK? Olivia might need a friendly face but I’m a poor replacement for you. She needs you in the end.”
Lee smiled and took a step back. “Take care, Imani. Tell Olivia I love her.”
“I will,” she said as she turned. Together, the three walked out through the doors into the open world. Lee had never felt so alone before. Not since that first day of the outbreak when he lost everything.
VI
Carolyn and Mac jogged back to the bunker from the thick forest front. They hadn’t found the two boys they’d been looking for, but they’d found enough evidence to be worried for their lives; drag marks, blood trails. Something happened to them. Someone had found them and taken them, for whatever reason, and there was a good chance these deranged people would come back for more. The bunker wasn’t safe. They had to get back and tell the others to prepare themselves.
Halfway across the field Carolyn’s heart raced faster than she’d ever felt it go. Sweat dripped down from her forehead even though there was a cool breeze to the night air. Something wasn’t right. She felt like there were eyes on her back; watching her, stalking her. She tried to look over her shoulder but it was too dark to tell. And then she spotted something sailing across the night sky toward them. It was thin but long.
Her heart sank.
“Mac, look out!” she yelled but it was too late.
The arrow lodged itself deep into the back of Mac’s neck and came out through the other side. It was a perfect shot, straight through the spine. Carolyn didn’t have to be a doctor to see that. Mac collapsed to the ground in a dead heap. He choked on the blood gathered in his throat and then there was silence.
Carolyn stared down with wide eyes, huffing heavily in disbelief. It happened so fast. She had no time to save him, to warn him. She wanted to turn and see if there was one heading her way but she couldn’t bring herself to. She wanted to try to drag Mac’s body back to the bunker but there was no way she’d be able to do that and survive. She had to leave him there. It hurt her heart and made her sick to her stomach, but she didn’t have a choice. She had to go back and warn everyone. She had to tell them that there was a war coming and they were going to need to fight.
“I’m sorry, Mac” she whispered as she knelt at his side. She couldn’t even remember kneeling down next to him, but her hand rested on his cheek as he lay still in the low moonlight.
Just then a pair of hands grabbed her roughly under the arms and dragged her to her feet. She didn’t have time to react before her mouth was taped over, silencing any cries for help she had inside her. Without a word or warning she was dragged backwards away from the bunker, away from Mac’s body, back toward the deep and shadowed woods…just like the boys who’d disappeared.
VII
Christine led Blue along the blacktop road away from the lab. Strapped to the little horse’s back was a duffle bag full of food and supplies, gallon jugs of water, and bounds of rope. Zack walked on the opposite side of the dark grey speckled horse, his eyes shifting from their path to Christine, which he could see over the tops of Blue’s ears.
“You know, you could have rode him,” Zack said again for the third time. “I could have power-walked or jogged alongside.”
Christine huffed although a smile graced her lips. “I know, Zack, you’ve already said that and I already told you you’d get too tired too quick if we did that. It would slow us down way more in the long run than if we all just walked ourselves at a comfortable pace.”
He couldn’t argue with her logic. “Think Blue here is going to carry our bounty back for us without a fight?” he asked as he patted the horse on the neck. Blue’s big dark kind eye looked sidelong at him as he gave a slow exhaling snort.
“He did with Gretchen. I don’t see why not.”
“It’s just probably gotta be scary for him, you know? Like inviting a Bobcat to ride on your back knowing all it wants to do is eat you.”
This time Christine stopped and dug her heels into the ground. Her brows pulled together to knit tightly as she clucked her tongue before speaking. “And what exactly do you think is a better option, huh? How are we supposed to carry multiple writhing corpses back to the lab by ourselves?”
“Whoa!” Zack said with his hands raised. Blue threw his head up and stopped until Christine gave a yank on his lead. “Where is that coming from?”
Christine sighed and looked down at her boots. “Sorry. I’m just…stressed. Worried. Not sure what to do.”
“What do you mean?” Zack asked as he looked on at his friend with worry. “We’re going to get the zombies and go back and save your sister.”
“Hopefully.”
“What do you mean hopefully? We will.”
“You don’t know that.”
Zack reached under Blue’s chin and grabbed hold of the halter, pulling them to a stop.
“What’d you do that for?” Christine blurted out with angered eyes.
“What do you mean I don’t know? Of course we’re going to save Gretchen. This isn’t you talking is it? It’s Liam? It’s that damned voice in your head always holding you back.” He wanted to raise his voice in anger but knew if he did they could get overrun with the undead. Instead he growled gruffly. “That Liam is only going to lead you into trouble or worse get you killed. You need to stop it.”
“Oh yeah? Thanks, great advice. And how do you suggest I do that? Because I’ve tried everything I can think of to get rid of him and no matter what I do he just keeps coming back to haunt me!” Christine wasn’t as careful about her volume. Her voice echoed down the alleyway to their right.
Zack’s muscles tensed in his shoulders as he strained to hear if there was anything headed their way. When he was sure no one had heard them he walked around the front of Blue to stand in front of Christine. “I know you want him gone. I know you’re not keeping him around on purpose. I’m sorry.” He wrapped his big arms around his friend and held her close to his chest.
When they pulled away, Christine looked up at him but Zack could swear there was skepticism in her glare. He moved his feet first and as a result Christine and Blue followed. “Tell me, why do you think this Liam showed up in the first place? Why is he here at all?”
Christine stared at the ground, letting the repetitious clomping of Blue’s bare feet soothe her anxious mind. “I don’t know. I guess because I miss him so much. I went from having my whole life planned to having it ripped away from me in a single night.”
Zack nodded, listening to her theory though knowing there was more to it than that. “You know what I think? I think he’s a manifestation of your grief, your fear, your regret, your guilt.”
“Maybe,” she said absently as she thought about it.
“And I think that nothing good can come from him. Nothing.”
“He comforts me,” Christine admitted. “I know he’s not really Liam. He says things Liam would never say. But Zack, I can feel him. I can touch him. It’s like Liam is right there with me. He smells the same, feels the same. How can that be wrong?”
“Because it’s not him and you know it. As far as I’m concerned he’s no better than a demon from hell sent here to take you off course from all you’re destined to do.”
Without warning Christine stopped dead in her tracks, tears flowing down her cheeks. “I know,” she whispered as if it physically hurt her to say it. “I know. I just miss him so much…”
Zack wanted to reach over and give her a hug, to tell her everything was going to be OK, that one day the world would return to itself and she could take comfort in knowing it was her and Liam who did it together. But the words wouldn’t escape his lips. Instead he walked away, around to the other side of Blue again.
Christine wanted to look at him with questioning, narrowed eyes but she could barely see him over the little horse’s head held high. He was supposed to be her best friend, be there for her, but she never felt so alone before. “It’s just you and me,” Liam whispered in her ear. She felt his warm breath rustle against the skin of her neck.
Zack walked back around and stopped in front of Christine. He held a nicked and tarnished wooden recurve bow in his hands. Christine’s eyes widened and dried immediately.
“What’s this?” she asked, wiping at her face. “Where did you get that? I thought we left it behind when we left the apartments.”
Zack shrugged and gave a meek smile. “Yeah, I know you said that but I knew one day you’d regret not having it. I put it in one of our bags, saving it for the right time to return it to you when you needed it most.”
Christine took the bow in her hand and ran her fingers over the imperfections put there by years of practice with Liam’s hands. The tears started to gather again. “Thank you,” she said as she threw her arms around his neck. They both laughed, flicking away the tears from under their eyes. “Seems like forever ago that Liam took me to the archery range for my birthday. You know, it’s funny; I wasn’t that excited to go and didn’t think I was having that great of a time while I was there but looking back that was one of the best days of my life.” Zack held onto her around the waist and smiled big down at her.
“I know what you mean. This bow,” he said as he released his friend from his grip and touched a finger to the bow, “this is how you keep Liam with you. Not by talking to his voice in your head.” He knew it sounded harsh but it was the truth, and the truth always needed to be said. They lived in a world where if he didn’t speak the truth today it might never get spoken. Tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed.
Christine put her arm through the bow and swung it back over her shoulder. “It feels right, this bow and me. Better than the crossbow ever felt. I thought being attached to this bow would only hold me back, that I needed to move on and let go, but now I’m not so sure that was the best thing. Thank you for saving it for me.”
“Anytime. You know I’d do anything for you.”
Blue shifted back and forth nervously and snorted sharp and quick. His ears pinned back as he gave a little whinny.
“What’s wrong with the horse here?” Zack asked, petting him on the neck smoothly. “What is it, boy?”
“Do you hear that?” Christine asked, turning her head to look around at the alley they’d just passed. “Sounds like something’s down there.”
The two looked at each other and spoke with their eyes. They both knew the only thing that could be lurking down that alley was one of the dead, and that’s exactly what they’d been sent out to search for. With any luck it would be a fresh one and they could check one off the list. When they walked to the entrance to the alley they didn’t see anything; no bodies, no zombies, no movement. And then they heard it again. The rustling and shifting of garbage.
