"Ya know," Eric started, his words coming through a full mouth, "Patrick said Yolanda might rise in the night and become a zombie because she wasn't shot in the head."
Abe watched as Kyle's head came up, steak forgotten, and lowered his eyebrows in anger at Patrick's suggestion. Eric, also seeing this transformation, shrugged his shoulders and added, "At least, that's his idea.”
"They're not zombies, the dead don't rise, "Kyle said, and hoped to God it was true. He wasn't sure he could put a bullet into Yolanda, dead or not.
"Okay Professor, going to get me some salt and start figuring some things out," Eric started toward the dark and treacherous stairs.
"You know he wasn't an actual professor, don't you?" asked Abe to Eric, and then gave a smile to Kyle. "More like an adjunct teacher.”
"Well, I don't know what he was, but that's what I've heard him called mostly and I'm not going to start calling him Boss, now am I?" Eric replied, throwing this last question on the end, and started laughing heartily as he walked down the steps.
"Hurtful, "Kyle said to Abe.
Abe laughed, "You'll live."
They both turned out toward the park and the uncertainty that surrounded the walls of the fort, and a comfortable silence enveloped them as Kyle ate his steak.
"How melancholy are you going to get?" Abe asked looking at his brother, interested to see his reaction to the question.
Kyle angrily turned to look at his brother, who returned his look with no malice or mockery, and let his anger fade. He took a moment, "I'm fine Brother, I can deal with it."
Abe not satisfied with the elusive answer spoke up, "I never doubted that, I'm asking about what will remain on the inside, will you?" There were some things that people never talked about to others, even family. Secrets. Fears. This had never been the case with Abe and Kyle. They may not start out like an Oprah, show but eventually things would get settled with them.
The beams of moonlight that broke through the grey sky, allowed Abe to see the smile adorning Kyle's face. Abe felt a weight, previously unfelt, lift from him.
"I'll be fine Brother," Kyle said again with a lighter tone. This Abe believed. For now. To end the drama of the conversation, Abe slapped his brother on the kidneys, almost causing him to drop his plate.
Kyle gave an involuntary cry of pain at the slap and started laughing. It was the kind of laugh that a dad makes when a toddler punches him in face. Not taunting, but full of surprise and delight. Abe knew this and laughed also.
"To the more serious matter," Abe started again in a deeply concerned voice, "if we are going to share the same room again, there have to be some rules"
Kyle shook his head in agreement but his smile said otherwise.
"What now?" asked Abe curious, again looking out over the darkened night.
"Now," Kyle turned his head to look in a different direction than from where the bridge crossed. Abe, turning his head in the direction Kyle did, saw in the far distance lights. No. Fires. Like fireflies in the night sky, these seemed to glow brighter and then vanish, only to reappear. Fighting. It must have been from the town of Wilmington.
"Now Fort Macon must live again."
Historical note in a zombie novel, crazy right? Nevertheless here it is. Fort Macon was built after the War of 1812. The ease which the British moved around America's coast during the war motivated the government to develop an improved system of coastal defense through the building of forts. It was known as the Third System. Fort Macon was a part of this system. However, Fort Macon sits near Atlantic Beach, well north of Wilmington and Oak Island. Fort Caswell was also a part of the Third System, but today not much is left of the once proud fort that actually sits on Oak Island. So, I moved Fort Macon south a bit to help the story.
If you ever get a chance, stop by. It's a great place to visit and one of the best preserved forts in America.
Funny story; during World War II Fort Macon was again used to protect the coast. One cold night two fellas decided to use a cannonball to prop the wood up in the fireplace. The cannonball exploded injuring the two men. Both of the unlucky soldiers were from up north, causing the joke that two more Yankees had been gotten by the fort.
Hello all. Just wanted to thank you for taking the Road to Macon with me. I hope you enjoyed my debut novel, it's been an interesting experience for me. Please let me know what you think, good or bad. Fear not, I can take it. Hope to see you around Macon and as Patrick would say, "May the force be with you".