Colt threw up his hands laughing, “THAT’S WHAT I DID!” Colt shook his head, “Beth, look I’m sorry. I really have this issue of no
t
thinking about how I say things. I know you didn’t cause this. I never thought you were the cause, what I meant was
if
you have knowledge that the rest of us don’t. I really don’t know why I said it like that. I guess I was just dealing with being with other survivors when I couldn’t save my own wife and I took that out on you. I promise you I will TRY to think b
efore I speak from now on, ok?”
Beth smiled and kissed his cheek, “That’s all I can ask. Now
,
I have to get out there
and get ready to go.”
Colt walked behind her as
she
walked out the back door to meet Alden and Ceara. Colt looked at Charlie and knew Ch
arlie felt the same way he did.
Alden was already at his truck taking things out of the back and stacking them up neatly next to his cabin. The crates of weapons and ammunition along with other supplies made an impressive display. As he finished he threw a large green tarp over it and tied it down. He turned to the
girls, “Okay ladies mount up.”
He looked to Charlie
,
Colt
,
and Tabitha, “You’re all in charge here. Stay safe and stay put don’t go wandering out there. Tabitha, I showed you what I found last night. Look around the shed see if you can find the antenna, it should be in sections of about five foot lengths and five eights in diameter. Also
,
you need to find the cable for it. It will be long and black and connectors on both ends.” Shutting the tail gate he went to th
e driver’s side and climbed in.
Ceara and Beth looked at each other as Alden told them to “Mount Up.” Both girls started to giggle as the climbed in the truck. Starting the engine he looked to them; then put the truck in gear and drove away waving to the rest. Alden looked at Beth and Ceara who were still giggling, “What the hell’s so funny?” The two looked at him and said in unison, “Nothing….” Then started to giggle again…
Ceara sat in the middle between Alden and Beth, the road out of the park was a small paved road that was in little bit in need of repair. Every so often Alden would hit a pothole and bounce all three of them. Just as they got to the entrance Alden stopped and did a scan of the road, not more than a hundred yards up the highway there was a group of five deadheads.
Alden smiled, “Feel like a little practice shooting?”
Ceara just looked at him but Beth shook her head, “Alden
,
they are no threat to us and I really don’t like the thought of just taking a
human life, even one of those.”
Alden turned the truck toward the group and edged closer till the deadheads started for them, Beth quickly rolled up her window, “ALDEN!”
He threw the truck in park, “I would say any we find in a five mile radius are a threat, so we take them out. As far as humans go, I think they gave that option up when they died. Get locked and loaded.”
Ceara watched the deadheads move closer,
“I can’t shoot any from here!”
Beth quickly shifted, “You take my spot, and I’m not shooting innocent people.”
Ceara wasn’t sure what to do; she thought Alden and Beth were both right. She knew they had to protect their own site but these were innocent people, well maybe not innocent
,
after all they were walking killing machines. “Ok Beth, switch with me.”
They quickly changed places, Ceara rolled the window back down and Alden pulled closer, “Ceara, aim right between the eyes.”
“I know that, now tell me how to s
top shaking to be able to aim!”
Alden pulled his 45 out, “Take a breath let it out slowly then squeeze the trigger.”
Ceara did exactly as he said but when she pulled the t
rigger nothing happened, “Shit”
Alden stayed calm, “Flip the safety switch and try it again.
”
The second time it worked. Ceara hit the deadhead square between the eyes. She wasn’t sure if it was Alden’s words of wisdom or the fact the first one was only ten feet from the truck. Ceara took aim again and hit the next one under its nose. The back of its head exploded as a piece of metal flew out from the side.
Alden laughed,
“Damn Ceara
,
that one had a brain plate. Good shot.”
Beth looked at him with disgust. “You’re disgusting.”
Two more had moved around the front of the truck and Alden had opened his door. “I got these.”
Both the dead heads had been soldiers before they were bitten. Their uniforms were tattered and torn. They had put up a fight as both were missing parts of their body. The lead one had an arm tore off at the elbow and half his ear had been bitten off. The second suffered a worse fate in Alden’s opinion,
its
left leg had been torn open at the thigh and
its
genitals were hanging by a thread of tissue. Alden shot the second one first
,
he just felt sorry for the guy. The second shot dropped the
s
oldier only a foot from the door. Ceara got the last one at a distance of about twenty feet and hit it above the left eye.
As Alden closed his door and began to drive he looked at Ceara, “Good shooting, now reload your weapon and put the safety back on.”
H
e turned on the main road
while
he watched as Ceara fumbled with the clip but
she
finally got it. Looking at Beth he began, “Bodies that our breathing are alive, bodies that our not breathing are dead. I understand you being a D
octor
or whatever medical specialty you had,
that you
cared about all life but this is different. These things are not alive and to me they’re no
t really human anymore either.”
Beth sat listening very carefully to what Alden was saying and he was speaking the truth whether she liked it or not. With her Beretta still in her hand she made sure that she was ready for the next shot when the situation presented itself. Looking at Ceara, then back to Alden, “Look Alden, your 100% right a
nd you called me on it. But let’s just get
where
we are going so
we can get what we need done and get back to the group o
kay?”
Beth was not being condescending or a smart ass, instead she spoke with a monotone voice with a hint of compassion mixed in. “A few
weeks
ago I was off work for the day and when I got word of what had taken place
,
I really didn’t have much to go on. If I had known a little more I think I would have had a
better chance of protecting my family
. I saw up close
and personal what and how it happened.”
Surprisingly Beth didn’t cry like she had been doing
all night
, instead she was stronger and prouder to even be alive and trying to stay alive along with the idea of keeping Colt and the others alive was all that mattered. “I’m sorry for the
m
oment
of weakness….. I saw the look in your face Alden
when you shot the soldiers
. That was the same look you had when you helped lay that little girl to rest back at camp. I get that you’ve seen a lot. I do! Just give me a couple more chances and I will just be alright with doing it.”
Beth thought about the animals on the farm growing up in the town of Barlow, Kentucky before her family bought a bigger one close to Paducah. There were a couple of times Daddy had to put down some horses that broke their legs and this was hard for Beth to understand being a child. Daddy would say every time before he had to put them down, “Now little one, I want you to take a good look at that horse. It’s suffering honey, the bones are broken and sticking through the skin. The human thing to do is to end its suffering so that it can be in the fields of Heaven restored even better than she was before and one day when it is your time you will come to a bridge that will be the colors of the rainbow. There you will
see all of your animals again.”
Beth looked at Alden with a smile on her face and a tear in her eye, “Daddy always said if you gotta put something down to end its suffering, don’t be selfish.”
Pausing for a
Moment
to take a deep breath Beth concluded, “I put my family down so that they wouldn’t suffer and be together….I just have to think about the families that they left behind and end their suffering so that they too can go be with their families……
.. That I get.”
Ceara leaned her head on the open window letting the wind blow through her hair as she listened to Beth, once Beth finished Ceara looked out at the passing trees not really speaking to either
of them,
but just spoke, “We all lost our families, we all have done things we would never believe we could. I killed my own
D
ad, he had been feeding on my
Mom
and I guess he ate so much of her that she couldn’t come back. That’s what I walked into when I tried to find safety in the madness. We are all raised that
Mom
and dad’s house means safety, right? Well guess you and me found out that just isn’t true anymore.”
She sat up straight, “Alden, I think t
hat is the farm just up there!”
Alden slowed the truck and pulled over to the side. Getting out he reached behind his seat and took out a pair of binoculars. Scanning the farm Ceara had pointed to
,
he saw no signs of life or movement. To the left of the barn was the carcass of a horse that had been taken down and eaten. A little farther out he saw several head of cattle that had suffered the same fate. “Okay cupcakes, let’s check this out. Stay
alert, all eyes open, got it.”
He drove the truck up the dirt road that lead to the house. The trees were full of crows and buzzards all who had been feeding on the dead. As he got to the house he turned the truck around so they could make a fast getaway if needed. Getting out he took a few steps and stopped. The winds were blowing gently and the smell of the death was all around. The eerie quiet was something out of a movie he thought. Laundry was flapping on a clothes line though it had been clean when put out it was now covered with blood splatters and dust from the fields.
Alden looked to the girls, “You all stay put and I mean
it
. I’ll check this out but if we need to go I don’t want to wait around for someone coming back from picking flowers.”
He pulled his pistol and started to walk around the house. Reaching the side he saw the curtains in the window were closed. Moving farther on around, he walked up to the back steps and slowly reached up to the back screen door. Jiggling it gently he found it was locked. “Fuck” he said in almost a whisper. As he rounded the third side he spotted what he had been looking for. There in the dirt about 20 yards away from the house laid two doors latched together. “Well there’s the storm cellar.”
He stopped and looked around next to the house. He found and old rake
lying
up against it and picked it up. Moving carefully towards the doors he kept his pistol aimed at them. As he got to them he put his boot on the doors and slid the rake through the metal handles, locking them in place. The doors jerked violently just has he stepped off and he could hear the growls coming from inside. Backing away he made his way back to the truck.
“Okay ladies, here’s the deal. We got deadheads in a root cellar over there,” pointing back to where he came from. “Also the house is locked up so there is more than likely at least one if not more in the house. But there may be survivors so that’s going to be real iffy, they may be armed. I want to move the truck over there behind that truck
” He p
ointing at one they past when they pulled up,
“
Then I’ll go up to the front door…. Unless you girls want to just want to call it a wash and head to town or another farm it’s your choice.”
Ceara opened the door and stepped out looking around, she left the door open for Beth to get out too, “I think we have to try to find stuff where we can, and who knows the next house could be worse. How many do you think could be in there?”
Alden looked from the house to Ceara, “No clue, but there are enough in the cellar. Let’s hope whoever was in the house locked the door down there.”
As they made their way to the front porch Ceara whispered, “Should we try a couple of windows? Maybe one will be unlocked.”
Alden nodded, “Just don’t get in front of it, try it from the side, that way if there is alive or dead in there they w
on’t have a clean shot at you.”
Ceara shook her head, “Ok” She walked around the wrap around porch and a gust of wind blew the porch swing causing it to sway and creek. The first window was locked so Ceara dropped below the window and crawled to the next and had the same result. She looked back to Beth and saw she had found and open window, Ceara crawled back to Beth and Alden,
“So what now?”