All That I See - 02 (6 page)

I nodded.

Judy stood and hugged me.

“It’s getting to be that we’re losing all the good folks. Before long, all that’ll be left is the riffraff and monsters. Are you hungry, hon?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said. “I could eat.”

She went over to the work bench and opened a can of condensed chicken noodle soup.

“Just give me
a
bit.”

I pulled out the potted meat from my coat pocket.

“I’ll trade you that,” I said. “I don’t really like it.”

Judy snorted, “Yeah, well, Nick loves that stuff.”

“You look kind of banged up,” Somerville said. “What kind of trouble did y’all have?”

I told them about everything that had happened since I’d last seen them, but I focused on the night before--Corndog, the walkie-talkies, and Wheeler. By the time I was finished, my soup was ready. Judy gave me a spoon and I ate it right out of the pan.

“I thought it might have been that bunch that attacked us,” Somerville said. “But then you said they were passing through.”

“We wondered what happened at your place,” I said.

“The group that came in on us was locals,” he said. “It was that damn Willy Rupe. He’d been looking for an opportunity to get me for years, and he saw his chance.”

“Willy used to be a cop,” Judy said. “He and Nick didn’t get along.”

“Hell,” Somerville said, “I got that jackass fired a few years ago. Him and his bunch came into the house looking for food
and
didn’t expect to find anybody home.
When he saw it was me, well….”

“It was awful,” Judy said. “But I tased him. You should have seen him jerking around on the floor.”

Nicholas laughed, “Yeah, he pissed himself.”

“Well,” I said, “this group had a church van from Tennessee. It doesn’t mean they were from there, but they were from south of here anyway.”

“Unless that church happened to be taking a trip through Clayfield on D-Day,” Judy said.

“I know they didn’t get Sara, because they came back asking about where this place was. I guess she went out to the Lassiters’ stables.”

“Where’s that?” Nicholas asked.

“About two miles south east of here,” I said.

“Well, hell, let’s go,” Somerville said.

“No, Nick,” Judy said. “We’d scare the poor girl to death. We’ll wait until daylight. It’s about three now,
so we have a couple of hours.”

None of us slept. Judy went ahead and put a campfire percolator on the woodstove and made coffee.
Nicholas
talked more about taking the town back, and I told him that Sara and I had planned to work on that as well. He was very interested in the group at Grace County High School, particularly when I told him they had a doctor and nurse in their group.

“It looks like we’re going to have to deal with three different fronts,” he said. “We need to eliminate the sick, establish law and order among the locals, and then do our best to fortify against outsiders.”

“The second one sounds doable,” I said, “But the other two—“

“Then we’ll do the second one first,” he said. “I think a vict
ory would do us all some good.”

We left at dawn. I drove the Crown Victoria and the Somervilles followed me over in their pickup. The church van was parked near the front porch of the Lassiter house. I pulled in behind the van and got out. I saw some movement through the front window. Then the front door opened and Sara stepped out with
her rifle. She wasn’t fully awake
yet. She looked over at me then back to the pickup.

“It’s okay,” I said. “It’s the Somervilles.”

She propped her rifle against the door frame then ran across the porch. She didn’t slow. When she got to the end of the porch she jumped. It took me by surprise, but I caught her. She wrapped herself around me like a monkey and kissed my face. I stumbled back until I rested against the church van.

“You’re safe,” she whispered in my ear.

I heard Nicholas Somerville laughing, but I didn’t care. I just pulled her in closer and kissed her neck. I could have stayed right there forever. It sure beat the hell out of Corndog and
cold, muddy ditch water.

.

After we all went inside, Sara and I sat in the living room while the Somervilles gave themselves a tour of the house.

“It took me a while to lose them,”
Sara
said. “But I knew where I was and they didn’t. I led them out toward Wal-mart, and I managed to get away from them in all the cars out there, then I drove around the back roads to make sure. I’ve been so worried about you. I’m sorry you had to go through all that.”

“
Yeah
,” I said. “I’m just glad you’re safe.”

“When I drove out to Blaine’s place, I saw the truck and car there and smoke coming out of the chimney, and I didn’t want to risk it. Th
at’s why I came out here.”

“You did great,” I said. “In fact, when we start putting out our supply caches and placing escape vehicles, we need to designate a few places to go in case we get separated again–Blaine’s, this place, and a few others. That way we’ll find each other.”

“A meeting place,” she said.

“Exactly.”

She’d been sitting in the chair opposite me, but she got up and moved next to me on the couch.

“It was a rough night for me,” she said. “I know you had it rougher, but I was so scared I’d left you to die.”

“You did exactly what you should have done. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I knew they’d got you because you stopped to help me.”

She put her hand on my cheek, but didn’t say anything.

Nicholas and Judy came down the stairs.

“We should use this place as our base of operations for a while,” he said. “I don’t like that it’s away from town, but at least there’s plenty of room, and with a little work, it could be secured.”

“We can’t stay here,” Sara said. “This was
the place Jen liked
. It’s too difficult for him–”

“It’s okay, Sara,” I said. “I could probably–”

“Hell, son,” Somerville said, “there are houses everywhere. We don’t have to live in the one that hurts you. We’ll find a new place.”

“First,” I said, “I’d like to get a bath and take a nap. I’m exhausted.”

CHAPTER 7

When I woke up it was dark. I was cold again, and shivering. The bed felt so good. I pulled the blankets up over my head. I ached all over. I became aware of someone standing over me, but it felt more like a dream.

“He’s burning up,” they said.

I thought about the elderly couple in that house. The machete sliced through the air, and that old, shriveled head fell away from the neck. It was getting warm under the blankets. It was like I was in a cave. The head had been dry and flaky like a big hornets’ nest or one of those dry cow pies. I imagined that I could peel away those flaky layers like turning the pages of a book. My breath was hot. I thought I could see it coming out of my mouth, filling my little cave and making it even warmer. I was
my own heater. I was burning up.

“Do you think he’s got it?” a woman’s voice said.

Hell’s bells, he’s got the gol dern tetanus
.

”I didn’t step on any rusty metal,” I said.

“What did he say? What is he talking about?”

What was so difficult to understand? Jen would have known….

“
In the ditch,” I said. “In the ditch.”

“Nick, go out and soak this towel in some cold water.”

My breath was a warm, orange haze. It could heat the whole room. I hurt all over.

Someone pulled the covers away from my head, but I fough
t them to put it back in place.
My breath was escaping.

“
Feel that?” I said.

“Feel what, hon?” the woman asked.

“Feel warm yet?”

“What did he say?”

“
We’ve got to get your fever down,” Sara said. “Can you sit up?”

“
I’m cold,” I said.

“Hon, you need to listen to Sara. We need you to sit up and take some medicine.”

“Sara,” I said.

“
Sit up and take this medicine.”

I sat up and my head was swimming. They pushed a pill into my mouth then put a glass to my lips. I sipped it and swallowed the pill. I thought I would throw up, so I put
my head back into my pillow.

“I’m cold,” I said.

They pulled the covers up under my chin, and I tugged them up over my head. They were whispering out there. I was safe and warm in my cave where I could peel away the layers of my hornets’ nest. I became aware of a pleasant warmth on the inside of my nostrils. I lay there blowing breath out of my nostrils so I could feel it on my top lip. I was burning up, and my breath could heat the whole room.

They pulled the covers away again and placed a chilly, wet towel on my forehead. I pushed it off.

“I think he’s just sick,” a man said. “With all he’s been through, it was bound to catch up to him. I don’t think it’s the virus.”

“I’d feel better if we tied him down,” a woman said.

“Like Helen,” I said.

“Try to sleep,” Sara said, replacing the towel.

My fever broke the next day
. I still felt like hell, but at least I had my sanity back. Sara walked past the bedroom, not
iced me sitting up, and came in.

“You okay?” she said. I could tell she was trying to figure out if I’d turned. The mischievous side of me wanted to grunt at her as a joke, but I was afraid she would
shoot me.

“I’ve been better,” I said. “I’ve got a headache that is out of this world.”

“I’ll get you some ibuprofen,” she said. “Do you think you could eat something?”

I shook my head, “No.”

“You should drink some broth
.”

“
Where are the Somervilles
?” I said
.

“
They left this
morning to scout out a new place,” she
said. “
They said they’d be back before dark
.”

“Go ahead and get me the pain medicine and warm me some broth.”

She left, and I sat down on the side of the bed and stared at my feet. I wondered if all the rest had done my ankle and arm any good.

She came back and offered me
two
white caplet
s
and a glass of water.

“You’ll have to help me down the stairs,” I said. “I’m kind of wobbly.”

“Do you need to go to the bathroom
or something
?”

“No,” I said.

“Then get back in bed, and we’ll get some soup in you. You really need to eat.”

Gladly, I obeyed.

I stayed in bed all that day
--except for a couple of trips to the bathroom--
and Sara got as much food and drink in me as I could stand.
The Somervilles didn’t return when they said they would.
By the next morning, I was feeling bett
er. I called out for Sara, but she didn’t answer, so I got up and made my way downstairs to the living room.
I sat on the couch, surprised at how weak I still was.

Sara came in from outside with a single brown chicken egg in her hand. She
stopped
when she saw me.

“Hey,” she said. “How
are
you feeling?”

“Meh. What time is it?”

“Around ten, I think,” she replied.

“Still no Somervilles?”

She frowned and shook her head.

“Did they say where they were going?” I asked.

“
They
were going to check out a house south of town. Judy said she thought
a house
out that way had solar panels
. It was on
Tucker Road.
They were also talking about going out to the high school to meet that group out there. Mr. Somerville was saying he knew a lot of the city firefighters and he thought he might have met Nathan before.
”

“I don’t know where
Tucker Road
is,” I said.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for them to go out to the high school; it’s so close to the fairgrounds and that other bunch.”

She was standing in the entrance to the kitchen. She looked tired.

“Thanks for everything,” I said. “I’m sure I wasn’t a very good patient.”

“You were fine,” she said
flatly
.