The Last Blade Of Grass (21 page)

Megan Palmer, standing the closest to him, puts her gun to the side of his head, and says, “Let her go, you son-of-a-bitch!”

The man freezes in place but doesn’t release his victim. “I can’t let her go, she’ll fall,” he says.

“What did you do to her?”

“I didn’t... I’m not with the men here. I came to rescue her,” he says, pleadingly.

I don’t want to trust his words, but his actions seem to be telling the truth. He is carefully holding the unconscious woman up rather than dragging her someplace. “Secure that man and help the woman,” I say, and we separate the two and all move away from the door.

“Talk quick!” I say to the stranger as half a dozen guns are pointed at him.

“Are you with the men here?” he asks.

“No we aren’t, now talk! Who are you, and what were you doing with that woman?”

“My name is Greg Munoz. I came here to rescue her, her name is Jessica. I killed two men inside, and there are two more that were passed out, so I tied them up.”

I bring Jordan over, and he says he’s never seen this guy before, so we send most of our group into the building with Greg in the lead to show us where the men he claims he killed and tied up are. True to his word, two men are bound, and two are dead; one from his throat being cut, and the other with a knife sticking out of his chest.

We all head into the building and begin securing it for nightfall. The two men that Greg tied up are retied more securely, and Jordan is tied up with them. The woman that Greg claims is named Jessica is unconscious and looks like she was severely beaten. Melissa and Megan are using some of the water we brought to clean up Jessica’s face, and they have placed her in one of their sleeping bags to keep her warm. There isn’t anything more we can do for her other than try to keep her comfortable and hope that she wakes up.

Greg asks us what we are doing here, and we tell him the story of the attack on the ranch, and our plan to kill the remaining men here and to hopefully rescue the woman they held captive. Greg tells us his story once we finish with ours.

“I ran into two girls about a month ago, Jessica, and Lilly. I was searching for food and saw them running from some of the sick people. They were being followed by only three of them so I thought the girls could escape, but they got trapped in a backyard. It is dangerous to help people, especially when you are by yourself like I am, but I couldn’t let them get attacked, so I ran up behind the sick ones and knocked them down with my stick.” Greg has a large yellow crowbar that he calls his stick. “I didn’t say anything to them then, I just nodded at them, and walked away. I was still afraid they might hurt me. It was two of them and only one of me, and they are young. The young people seem to be the most dangerous.

“I continued looking for food and noticed that they were following me. They were keeping their distance and just watched what I did. After a few hours, I collected enough food from the houses in the area. I collected more this time because I thought these girls would need something to eat as well, and it isn’t safe to go out collecting every day, so my cart was pretty full. They followed me back to the street where I was staying, so I decided to talk to them. I told them there was no one on this street, and if they weren’t going to hurt me they could take any house they wanted, except the one I was staying in. They didn’t say anything, so I just put some of the food I had on the sidewalk for them and went to my house. I couldn’t sleep that night. I kept thinking those girls were going to break in and kill me, or bring back some friends to do it.

“For two weeks they stayed in the house across from mine, and I would collect food and water and leave some for them outside their door. Jessica finally decided to speak to me. They were just as afraid of me as I was of them, maybe more so because I’m a man, and they had lots of troubles with men since the sickness spread. I didn’t ask what happened, and she didn’t say, but you could tell that they had been hurt and were barely surviving when I found them. We did all right for a while, with me gathering supplies, and them keeping watch for strangers and the sick ones.

“We started hearing cars and trucks driving around two weeks ago and thought hopefully someone might be putting the world back together. We finally saw the men that were driving around when they came through our street. Once we saw them we knew something was wrong. They were driving slowly with music playing loudly and getting lots of the sick people to follow them. Getting rid of the sick ones is great, but the looks on the men’s faces let us know they weren’t good men. They just seemed evil.

“One of them must have seen us looking through the window at them, because they came back looking for us later. Six days ago I went out to collect more supplies. When I came back, Lilly told me the men had come, and they had taken Jessica. Jessica made Lilly hide in the attic and gave herself up to the men so they wouldn’t find Lilly as well. Lilly is only sixteen.

“The next day, I hid on the roof of a taller house, with binoculars, and watched for the driving men. I would see them drive and then run closer to where they were. I was being careless not watching for the sick ones and would have been killed if those men didn’t clear the area of them. I just wanted to get Jessica back. She was a good neighbor, and Lilly needs her.

“I saw they were staying here in the sheriff’s building, but they had too many men. There was nothing I could do for Jessica with so many men keeping her, and I didn’t know if she was still alive. I was hopeful, though, and stayed the night in that building across the field.

“This morning I watched a large group of the men walking out the back and carrying lots of guns and bags with them. A few of them were staying by the building, but I could hear they were yelling at each other and sounded drunk. I knew this was my best chance to get Jessica, but I had to wait until the drinking men went back inside, or they would see me leave the building I was hiding in. I’m ashamed to say it took me another two hours after the last man went inside for me to build up my courage to go to the back door and go in.

“They were all passed out when I entered the building. I still didn’t know where Jessica was, but I knew these men had taken her, so I slashed the first man’s throat. The second man started to shift when I approached him, and I jammed my knife into his chest. I was terrified, but he didn’t even open his eyes. I couldn’t pull my knife back out of his chest because I was shaking so bad at that point. And then I saw Jessica. She was lying on the floor, by the wall over there,” he says, pointing, “She was curled up and bloody, but she was still awake.”

“She looked up and saw me walking toward her, but then she passed out. I quickly tied up the last two men so they couldn’t chase us if they woke up, and then started carrying her out the back door. That is when I thought you were his group returning and ready to kill me. When that girl with you told me to put Jessica down, the first thing I thought was, how could she help men like these capture and torture other women? I’m glad that you weren’t the returning group of men.”

“I’m glad we didn’t just shoot you before hearing what was going on,” I say.

“So Lilly is out there still, and you’ve been gone for several days?” Ashley asks. “I mean, I’m nineteen and can’t imagine being on my own in this world. How could you leave her there when she’s only sixteen?”

“I couldn’t bring her with me,” Greg says. “I didn’t expect to come back to her. I thought the best I could do was free Jessica and hold these men off long enough for she and Lilly to get away. I didn’t really have time to plan anything. I just told her to wait for Jessica to come back and be ready to fight or run if the men return.

“Is there any way some of you could help me bring Jessica back to our houses? I would like to get back home and let Lilly know that we are okay.”

“We can’t move her,” says Melissa. “She can’t be moved until she wakes up, and we can ask her about her injuries.”

“But I can’t stay here, what if some of the men come back?” he asks, clearly afraid that he is trapped.

“Greg, you are free to go if you want. I don’t want you to think we are holding you here. My wife is a nurse, however, and I would like to take Jessica back to our place to make sure she recovers from her injuries.”

“No, you can’t take her away! Lilly needs her,” he shouts and stands up.

“Greg, it will be Jessica’s choice, not mine,” I say trying to reassure him. “We will wait here, at least some of us, until Jessica wakes up and we can find out what she wants to do. If she wants to return to her house by yours, she will be free to do so, and we'll make sure she makes it there. We will give you and the two ladies supplies to help you try and survive. I would hope that you, Lilly, and Jessica would all choose to return to the ranch with us, though.”

Greg steps back. Uncertainty etched on his face. I can see a glimpse of how difficult things must have been out here for the last three months. Any act of kindness is looked upon with suspicion, as though it is a trap of some sort. So I call him on it to try and bring the issue to the surface.

“It isn’t a trap, Greg. It isn’t a trick question, and I’m not trying to tempt you with something that isn’t real. The ranch isn’t as secure as it was a few days ago, but we survived a massive attack. Once we clear the land, rebuild and reinforce the fences, we will be fairly secure, both from the infected and from outside attackers. We have food, water, guns, and ammunition. Women have nothing to fear from the men that are there, as you can see by the five women that came with us. They are fed, armed, and trained just as every man is. Just as you, Jessica, and Lilly will be if you come to live with us. And even if you only come for a short time to rest and heal, you will be free to go anytime you want.”

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I can leave right now?”

“Yes, but you should take supplies with you if you go.”

“And I can return to you with Lilly?”

“Yes, and you can come to the ranch with us if you want.”

“I want to let Lilly know that I’m all right and that I found Jessica, but I don’t think she will come back here with me. I’m listening to you say there is a safe place to go and that we can trust you, but even I am having a hard time accepting it. Lilly will never believe me. She only spoke to me the first time to tell me Jessica was taken.”

“I could go with you,” Ashley says, surprising everyone, not just Greg. “I know you all probably think I’m being naïve, wanting to go off with a stranger, but we all believe him or he’d be tied up right now. I think I can help convince Lilly that it is safe to come back.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t ask you to come with me. I mean, it would help convince Lilly, but it still isn’t safe out there.”

Dianne, Melissa, and Megan all agree with Ashley and say they want to go as well. Dianne adds, “We haven’t had to face survival on our own the way you have out here, but we can shoot and have fought the infected, the sick ones. I think we’ll be able to protect ourselves, especially as a group.”

Greg looks at the four women, smiles, and then sits back down. “If you are coming with me then we can wait until tomorrow. We won’t be able to make it back here from the houses before nightfall on foot.”

“Is it that far?” Michael asks, clearly concerned for his wife’s wellbeing.

“No, it isn’t far. Twenty, maybe thirty minutes if we walked straight there, but you have to walk slow these days, and keep watching for the sick ones.”

“We have over an hour of daylight left. Why don’t we go now?” Ashley says.

“It will probably take longer than a few minutes to convince Lilly to come here, and they may have supplies they need to pack,” I say. “I don’t think we should split the group up for the night in a strange place, and send you off with someone that we just met and only think he is telling the truth, but don’t know.”

Jessica solves the dilemma for us when she wakes up during our conversation. She first sees Samantha looking down at her, and then Melissa, and Megan. She slowly sits up with an uncertain expression on her face mixed with pain when she touches her swollen left eye. Greg walks up and kneels in front of her, and she lunges at him, grabbing him in a fierce hug. “Where’s Lilly?” she asks and looks around.

“She’s at the house, still. I left looking for you the day after those men took you.”

“We have to go get her. Please! I don’t know who you people are, but we have to go get her. I can’t let anything else happen to her.” She tries to get up, but the movement causes her to vomit.

Samantha helps her lay back down, and talks to her, “You have a concussion, Jessica. You won’t be able to walk there in this condition.”

“Don’t worry, Jessica,” Greg says, grabbing her hand. “I’m going right now to get her. I’ll bring her back here in the morning. You get some rest.”

*

Throughout the night we split off in different shifts. Some do guard duty, others gather all the remaining supplies to be transported back to the ranch, and all of us worry about the four women that went with Greg.

I’m not completely sure why it was important for the women to go without any of our men or their husbands, but everyone could sense that’s how it had to be. They needed to know that they could do it, and we needed to know that we could let them and still survive. Sending some men with the group wouldn’t have stopped Lilly from trusting Greg, but it would have caused the women to doubt that we trust them to handle themselves. We rely on each other to survive, so we can’t afford to have that type of doubt seep into anyone’s minds.