Dead: Winter (24 page)

9

Geek History

Kevin pulled his coat up around his face. The wind conti
n
ued to blow and the tiny crystals of ice stung his cheeks. He squinted his eyes and stepped out from under the cover of the overhang that sat above the entrance to the country club’s main building.

A few moments later, Aleah joined him wrapped in so many layers, it was impossible to tell what a shapely body waited underneath. Kevin shook his head to clear those thoughts, now was not the time.

“Are we going to talk about this?” Aleah had to pull the scarf covering her mouth down in order to talk and be heard.

“It’s simple,” Kevin said with a shrug. “The baby needs that medication that Peter was talking about. Without it, she will most likely die.”

“And why is that you have to be the one to go out for it?” she demanded, her voice reaching a level that had no problem being heard over the storm.

“Peter can’t go because we can’t afford to risk our only doctor, Matt can barely walk, that leaves—” he started ticking off the reasons on his fingers, but Aleah grabbed is hand.

“That leaves me, Heather, and Shari!”

“This isn’t about you being a woman, or any of that no
n
sense. The simple answer is that I am the best person to make this run and have an above average shot at being successful,” Kevin explained.

“And you are also the one who made the decree that nobody leaves alone,” Aleah reminded. “You said that anything could happen, and it isn’t just about zombies. You could fall and hurt you
r
self.”

“This run is all on foot,” Kevin said. “I am going to be mo
v
ing as fast as I can because Peter says that the baby has forty-eight hours tops if her fever doesn’t break. I won’t be bringing a bunch of gear, just basic weapons, protective stuff and a few canteens.”

“I’m coming with you,” Aleah insisted.

“I hate to say it,” Kevin took her gloved hands in his and looked into her eyes, “but you are still sporting stitches from the last run. If something happens and those tear, we are screwed.”

“Then you have to take Heather.”

“Why are you so insistent on this?” Kevin eyed her susp
i
ciously.

“I just have a bad feeling is all,” she said. Now her voice was barely audible above the wind that howled and whistled.

Kevin understood the sentiment. The past day and a half had been strange. Valarie had suddenly stopped talking to anybody. She just stared with a blank expression and didn’t say a word. Shari had even tried to get her to sing, but nothing worked.

Then the baby came down with pneumonia. Erin had seemed apathetic at best. Shari had been far more upset and co
n
cerned; at least that was Kevin’s take. When Peter announced that the baby was in dire need of medication or she would die, Shari cried and Erin just sat there.

“I’ll ask Heather, but if she isn’t up for it, then I go solo,” Kevin agreed.

“No need,” a voice called out as a bundled up figure that could only be Heather stomped through the shin-deep snow. “Aleah and I already talked and I have my stuff, let’s go.”

Kevin glanced at the two and shook his head. He should probably be a little annoyed, but he couldn’t find it in himself. He kissed Aleah and started off down the winding road that led up to the country club. His feet were practically numb by the time he reached the main gate.

Hauling the ladder to the wall, he climbed up and took a look at the immediate vicinity. No movement was a good sign. He would count it a blessing every quarter mile he travelled and only had to focus on either the weather
or
the undead. The m
o
ment it was both, things became exponentially more difficult.

There would be no pharmacy this time. This run had a lot more ways to go wrong. He would be going door-to-door through the upscale housing community nearby. He would not be searching the house, but instead checking first for small chi
l
dren to have resided in the house. Then, he would check the bathroom as well as anyplace that might be used for children’s medication. He was searching for
ampicillin and either gentam
i
cin or cefotaxime.
The first he knew, the others he had to admit he had never heard of before.

“So you wanna tell me what the story is with Valarie?” Heather broke the silence they’d been travelling in for the past hour.

“What do you mean?” Kevin asked as he trudged along trying to find a balance between being careful where he stepped and making sure nothing snuck up on them.

“You have this thing about you when it comes to her that I can’t figure out,” Heather prodded. “You are protective over her in a way that is different from anybody else. You don’t baby her…heck, I don’t know what I’m trying to say; you’re just di
f
ferent.”

“My sister,” Kevin said.

“Your…” Suddenly it made sense. Kevin very seldom spoke of family, but when he did, he talked about his sister. It was obvious that he loved her very much and missed her more than he would act
u
ally say.

“Sara…” Kevin started, but felt his throat tighten. “She came as a bit of a surprise. So instead of menopause, my mom got pregnant. She was forty-nine and a crazy Catholic. She refused tests and said that if God blessed her with a child, then the least she could do is care for it.

“The day they brought her home, I was actually on break from college. I’d done some research on the likely problems that a woman could expect when having a child later in life. Did you know that one in ten children born to women at age forty-nine have Down Syndrome?”

Heather had learned when Kevin was being rhetorical. Actually, she was proud of herself for knowing what the word “rhetorical” meant. She moved off a few feet and plunged her walking stick-slash-spear into an odd-shaped mound of snow. Just garbage. She returned her attention to Kevin as he continued to speak.

“At first I was really pissed at my mom for bringing this child into the world. She would never have a normal life. Of course, that’s what I thought. I had no idea what a “normal” life was, but I was already certain that she would not have one. I wanted nothing more than to get back to school and away from her…” Kevin’s voice faded.

“And then what happened?” Heather knew her friend well enough to hear that there was more to the story.

“I was leaning over her in the seat they brought her home in, my hand resting on the edge of it,” Kevin’s voice grew strained. “I was alone with her as my mom and dad brought in the rest of the stuff from the car. I was telling her how wrong it was that she was born. I knew she couldn’t understand, but I needed to say it all and get it off my chest. Then…she grabbed my finger. I know she didn’t do it intentionally, but it was like something happened…passed between us. I know it’s stupid—”

“It’s not,” Heather assured him. “In fact, it’s beautiful.”

“After that, I couldn’t get home soon enough during my breaks from school. I set up a computer for my mom and showed her how to use it to send me videos.

“When she turned two, she still wasn’t walking and my mom was getting really upset. I came home that summer, and while my folks were gone for a weekend getaway, I stayed home with Sara. It took all weekend, but when my parents came home…she took a few steps. It wasn’t much, but my mom burst into tears.”

Heather caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She shielded her eyes a bit and took a look, simultaneously raising a hand to silence Kevin.

A pair of dark figures moved away from a cluster of trees. It only took a few seconds for both Kevin and Heather to realize that these weren’t zombies. Very casually, Kevin unslung his shotgun and unfastened the flap on the holster of his Smith & Wesson M&P .357 sig. Likewise, Heather u
n
holstered her twin Colt .45s.

“Whoa!” the one on the left—and the much larger of the two—called, raising his hands. “We’ve been watching you for almost ten minutes. If we’d wanted to do anything, we had the drop on you that whole time.”

“And you could’ve been waiting to see if we were just a scout party for a larger group,” Kevin r
e
torted.

Heather never ceased to be amazed at how his mind worked. She’d been ready to relax after the man gave his spiel. Now she was back on guard and her thumb eased off the safety so that, if the time came, she was ready to take care of business.

“That’s a good point,” the man nodded. “Wish I’d thought of that. So I take it you all have run i
n
to some bad folks.”

“Once or twice,” Kevin said, working to keep his voice calm. “So you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t relax.”

“And I imagine travelling with that young lady has you a
l
ways on guard,” the man added.

Both of them had stopped walking. The smaller of the two still hadn’t spoken, and with all the winter gear, Kevin couldn’t get a good look. What he really wanted was to be able to see the person’s eyes. That was a good way to get a line on an individ
u
al and their intentions.

“We can’t be too careful, can we,” Kevin agreed.

“So since you obviously have somebody you need to watch over, you have to make extra certain about everything, am I right?”

“Mister,” Kevin tried to keep the irritation out of his voice, “if you have something to say, just do it. I have no desire to stand out in this storm any longer than need be.”

“Okay,” the man agreed. “Mary, pull that hood off so these folks can get a look at you.”

The second person stepped closer to the man, peeled back the hood of the heavy parka and then removed a ski mask. Long sandy colored hair fell down past the shoulders. Kevin guessed her to be twelve…maybe.

“This is my little girl,” the man placed an arm around the girl’s shoulders and pulled her close. “And I will tell you truth…I’ve killed to keep her safe. Not just the zombies; I’ve killed a few men who thought to take my little girl from me.”

“I imagine you have,” Kevin said with a solemn nod.

“I gotta say, I’ve seen a few small groups pass by, but not one that I felt comfortable approac
h
ing,” the man admitted. “I saw you two, and I could tell that she was with you by choice.”

“So are you brother and sister or something,” the girl blur
t
ed.

“Mary,” the man said in a slightly scolding tone.

“No, we aren’t related,” Heather answered. “Kevin rescued me from a total perv.”

“Wouldn’t know anything about all those women on crosses by that big building shaped like a basket would you?” the man asked.

“Actually, I know quite a bit about that place,” Kevin admitted. “I also know those folks ain’t gonna be hurting anybody any more.”

“Hard to believe some of the things I’ve seen since this all started,” the man sighed.

“My name is Kevin Dreon.” He had heard enough to at least give his name. “This is Heather Godwin.”

“My name is Paul James, and this is my daughter Mary.”

“Mary James?” Kevin asked, trying to conceal a smirk.

“Yeah,” Paul chuckled, “when her mother insisted on naming our daughter Mary after her grandmother, we weren’t married. I guess we really never thought about it until we deci
d
ed to tie the knot. By then she was already four months old; we tried calling her by her middle name, but Louise just didn’t fit.”

“And I would absolutely hate you if I grew up as a
Louise
,” Mary groaned.

This earned chuckles from both Kevin and Heather. Kevin considered his next move very carefu
l
ly, weighing out all the possibilities, and finally decided that these two were the most likely candidates that he could ever hope to encounter. If not now, then when?