Stay Dead 2: The Dead and The Dying (17 page)

27 JUST THE
WIND

(back to
top)

Full dark was quickly falling on New
Haven and Walter, Jeff and Barbara were heading back home with a
bed full of looted supplies. Walter was surprised by how much they
were able to pull together. He also knew, and his children agreed,
that there was a lot more that they could gather up if they picked
up tomorrow where they left off today.

Jeff wanted to see how the day went,
though. He didn’t want to be away for a full day again, but after
they inventoried what they had found and calculated how long it
would last he might think differently. He just hoped things had
gone smoothly at home. They hadn’t seen many deaders in the
neighborhood, but there were a few. They avoided confronting them
when possible, but that had rarely worked. They always seemed to
home in on them.

“
Shit, I just remembered.
We were going to burn the bodies tomorrow.”

“
That we were. Shouldn’t
take us all day though. Hopefully a few hours—gonna stink to high
heavens.”

“
I didn’t even think about
the stink. I’m going to want to shower.”

“
We might as well. Get
everyone to shower up tomorrow. Then we can refill all the water
supplies. Then rest up a bit I guess. My back will be useless come
midday.”

“
You still want to do the
fence?” Barbara asked.

“
Yeah, that I do, maybe we
can do a small run day after tomorrow. Hit a few houses on the way
to Gupp’s see if there’s anything left we can get from there. I
doubt too many people were picking up fencing posts and all that,
if they even carried it.”

“
We can always rip off
someone else’s fence too.”

“
Yeah, but that would be a
lot more work. Let’s just hope they stocked something we can
use.”

They pulled up to the house, making
sure not to run over the bodies strewn about the grounds, and from
the outside all was dark. From a distance you could barely see it,
only as you got closer and the moonlight highlighted the shape of
the home did you know it was a home and not some abandoned house on
an unkempt bit of property. It was disturbing how uninviting a home
was without a porchlight on outside and some semblance of activity
on the inside.

Laura and Maria came to the door to
peer out. A warm light behind them backlighting their thin figures.
Tommy, Sandra and Wally stood behind them, but Maria shooed them
back into the house as Laura descended the steps to greet
them.

“
Took you long
enough.”

“
It was worth it,” Walter
said. “I take it all went well here?”

“
It was pretty quiet.
Pretty lonely too.”

Walter kissed her on the forehead,
“Good to know a little distance still makes the heart grow
fonder.”

“
Some things never change.
Can I help lug this stuff in?”

“
Knock yourself out.
Anything to eat?”

“
I’ll make whatever you and
the kids want.”

“
Kids?” Barbara feigned
indignation.

“
Just like you’ll always
be,” Laura smiled.

They all grabbed something from the
bed of the truck and brought it inside. Taking several more trips
before it was all unloaded. Everyone washed their hands while Laura
put on a pot of boiling water. Jeff tossed his mother a box of
spaghetti as the kids tugged on his shirt for him to come and play
with them. They were building forts and playing puzzles.

Barbara dug out a jar of Ragu and put
it on the counter, “I know you hate this stuff ma, but just use
it—we don’t have all day to make sauce.”

“
Ragu? It really is the end
of the world.”

“
Mom’s got
jokes.”

“
I wasn’t trying to be
funny.”

Walter dried his hands on a rag, “Did
we snag any meatballs?”

“
Mama Lucia. Over
there.”

Laura rolled her eyes and gave a big
sigh.

“
Oh, come on. Old Mama
Lucia isn’t that bad.”

“
With your tastes you’d
think I never cooked for you people.”

After what had turned out to be a
rather satisfying dinner, Maria volunteered to help inventory the
newly acquired supplies so that Jeff could play with the kids for a
while. She, and Barbara started bringing it all downstairs while
Walter drank down another glass of water. He was parched, sore, and
more tired than he’d likely admit. Laura started to clean up the
table and wash the dishes. Jeff handed his mother a plate and
headed to the living room.

Jeff sat down amongst his children.
The room was lit by a single lamp that made everything look warm
and inviting while casting deep dark shadows in the recesses of the
room. He sat down and crawled into a blanket that was tucked under
a couch cushion and draped over an end table, effectively making a
fort. It was far from the forts he and his sister used to make when
they were younger, but Tommy was only just starting into the fort
loving years. He was sure that he would guide his younger siblings
into fort crafting for years to come and surpass what he did in his
youth. Jeff chuckled at his train of thought, but found it
comforting to know his mind could still find happy avenues to
explore.

In the midst of playing the fort was
torn down several times, and it was rebuilt several times as well.
Sandra was getting tired, as could be exhibited when things didn’t
go her way and she would break down, having mini tantrums until
Jeff could redirect her attention to something else. It would soon
be time to put the kids to bed, and Jeff couldn’t help but think of
hitting the sheets early too, but he wanted to play with his kids a
little longer. It had been a long day and the next few days would
be equally as long.

Scrrrrtch. Scrrriiiittch.

Jeff’s eyes widened and he looked
about the room alertly.

“
What’s that daddy?” Sandra
asked, her eyes wide.

“
Probably just a tree
hitting the house, kiddo, it’s windy tonight.”

“
Is it zombies, dad?” Tommy
asked, “Cause I’m not afraid of them. We can fight them
together.”

“
Just the wind, okay. Keep
playing. I’m going to see what mommy is doing because it’s time for
bed soon okay.”

“
I can be Mutant Man,”
Tommy said, “and you can be Cyborg-face!”

“
That sounds like fun, but
I’m pretty sure it’s bed time.”

“
Oh, man. Do we have to go
to sleep now?”

“
Yes, you know you have
to.”

Scrrrtchhh. Skkkkkrrrrrr.

Jeff walked back into the kitchen. It
was empty and everything was neat and clean. The basement door was
open and Jeff went to the stairs.

“
Dad. I think something’s
outside. Maria, can you bring the kids up and put them to
bed?”

“
Something, or a lot of
something?”

“
Just something, I think if
there were a lot, we would’ve seen them coming when we were driving
back.”

“
Probably,” Walter
agreed.

“
I’ll bring them up now,”
Maria said, walking passed and touching Jeff’s arm, “be careful,
okay?”

“
Of course.”

Walter turned to his wife and
daughter, “Can you two finish this up okay by
yourselves?”

“
Don’t be silly, Walter.
But please be careful.”

“
I know, I
know.”

***

When Jeff left, Tommy stood up and
pushed his chest out. “I’m not afraid of zombies.”

“
What’s a sommy?” Sandra
asked.

“
Space
monsters.”

“
Ohhhhh,” Sandra
nodded.

Tommy walked over to the boarded up
window where the scratching sound came from. He put his ear on the
board and listened intently. His tiny heartbeat raced as he waited
for a sound.

Sandra stood behind him, hands on her
hips and her head cocked to the side, “Well?”

“
Shh. I can’t hear with you
talking.”

“
Hmmph.”

Little Wally walked over wanting to be
a part of the fun as well.

Tommy continued listening but was now
more relaxed, as he didn’t hear anything. Maybe his father was
right and it was just the wind. He was about to pull away when he
could hear something scratch at the board on the other side of the
house—Walter and Jeff had boarded up the inside and outside of the
first level—his heart seemed to jump into his throat and he bounced
back.

“
Sommy?” Sandra
asked.

“
I—I think so,” Tommy
stammered.

“
What are you kids doing?”
Maria asked.

“
Nothing.”

Maria looked at the window and then
looked at the three of them. Tommy looked terrified, Sandra
excited, and Wally was in his own world as he headed back to the
fort.

“
Well, come on, it’s time
for bed. Let’s go.”

“
Five more
minutes?”

28 LOW ON
OPTIONS

(back to
top)

Scott led the convoy toward the
Hudson. They were only a few miles away, but Scott doubted that
they would be able to get close to the bridge. He could only
imagine what hell occurred on it in the first days. He’d seen news
footage of roadway congestion on tunnels and bridges as early as
what the media had deemed ‘Day One’ and knew that what they would
find would be no better. Only by now most of the people and deaders
would be gone, or at least they had hoped so. Maybe a few
stragglers, but what reason would they have to haunt the
bridge?

Congestion on the road began to build
again. More remnants of accidents, more cars, more clutter, more
things to get in the way, and more things to avoid.

“
Not looking too good,”
Scott said.

“
Think we should try
getting onto 287 or 87?” Judy asked.

“
Not sure. It’s the most
direct way, but I think the more travelled of roads.”

“
Doesn’t look like we can
make it much further.”

“
Let’s pull over and see
what the gang thinks.”

“
Scott, between us in here,
what do you think we should?”

“
What do you mean? About
the Tappan Zee, or…?”

“
Yeah, man, about the
bridge about it all. I think you are probably the smartest out of
us all--”

“
I wouldn’t
say--”

“
Of course you wouldn’t,
but I think you are. So I want to know, do you think we’re going
about this the right way?”

“
Yes. I think we are. I
think moving out of a heavily populated area makes sense. Moving as
quickly as we can and putting distance between those places and us
also makes sense. I think we would be just as safe heading into
upstate New York as opposed to following the coast all the way up
to Maine and beyond. I think we are putting ourselves in danger the
closer we get to any major city, but that’s all relative. The truth
is we don’t know enough to make a smart move. Smarts is only good
when there’s information. Till we have enough information the best
thing to do is go with our guts and keep doing what we’re
doing.”

“
So you think we should try
for the bridge, or head toward the Palisades?”

“
Bridge. We’re closer to
the bridge. It makes sense to check it out. We don’t have a lot of
options so we should keep them open.”

“
See, I told you you were
smart.”

“
I think you hit your head
too hard.”

Scott slowed down and came to a stop.
The rest of the convoy followed suit. Scott, Judy, and Jon stepped
out of the car. The others met them in the middle of the
road.

“
What’s up?” Eddie
asked.

“
We’re running out of road
here. What do you think about giving 287 a go?”

“
Do we have much of a
choice?”

“
Not if we want to get into
Connecticut. Our best bet is to shoot for the Tappan Zee
Bridge.”

Frankie came out of his stupor after
hearing that, “Wait a fucking minute, since when are we hopping
onto a fucking bridge?”

“
Since we decided to go
north,” Jon-Jon said.

“
If I wanted to kill
myself, I would just do it.”

“
Guys, it’s really the best
way to do this. Obviously if we get there and it’s fucked we move
on and try something else.”

“
What else?” Eddie
asked.

“
We either have to cross
the Hudson or go around it. Going around it means going into
upstate and moving northwest—the opposite direction of where we
said we wanted to go. You said you wanted to stick to the coast and
move up it quickly, well, this is it.”