She was all he had left of my wife and although I had been unable to save her, I had made a decision that I would give my life to protect her, no matter what. And since I had chosen to come to the containment area, which turned out to be a joke, instead of going after my son, she was probably the only child I had left. It was a hard pill to swallow. A pin prick that felt like a shotgun blast that didn’t kill. The world to me was a terrible place and I wanted to be numb of its presence altogether. To forget what my mind would not let me forget and the painkillers would help with that. They would make me numb to the world and my emotions.
I set Kember down a moment and retrieved one of the painkillers from my pocket, chasing it with a sip of her fruit punch, and then we walked hand in hand the last fifty feet to the brownish colored sedan. Once there I put Kember inside and joined her, looking through the obvious places for anything we could use to survive, eat, drink or even wear. A few small blankets were draped over the back seats and I quickly snatched them up and placed into a woman’s large purse. I had gone through it at the previous car and found nothing of value, dumped the contents into the floorboard and would use it as a carry bag.
At the trunk I pulled the lid open and found a few cans of spray paint, a roll of thin rope and a large jacket. “This will work nicely,” I stated and shut the trunk softly. Even though it was daytime and I could see for what I thought were miles, I still didn’t want to press my luck. When I talked it was in a whisper and when I searched for and through things, I was as quiet as a mouse. Sound traveled and with us being in close proximity to so many vehicles, that sound would be amplified.
With the trunk shut, I scanned the area in front of us and quickly spotted the moving figure several hundred feet away. I dropped to the pavement and whipped the pistol out, my heart rate increased, my breathing came quicker as if I was not getting enough oxygen and I could hear Kember playing and giggling in the car I was now hiding behind. I was concerned that the thing would hear her playing and come running.
“Stupid idea, completely stupid! I shouldn’t have brought her with me.”
From the pavement I tried to see the legs of the thing and determine which direction it was headed. If it wasn’t coming toward us then there would be no need to worry, however, if it was heading our way things were about to get hectic, quickly. I checked behind me to make sure there was no one else around, none of those things creeping up on me.
For several heart pounding moments I watched helplessly from the pavement as the thing strolled off the interstate and crossed to the woods on the far side. Once I was sure that it was clear, I moved back to the sedan, crawled in and began grabbing the things I had piled in the front seat, missing the second figure, which had been hidden behind the first one.
“Come on, baby. We have to go,” I told Kember.
The driver door abruptly opened and I looked to see one of those things coming in at me. I rolled to the passenger side, opened the door, pushing the carry bag and Kember out behind it as the thing came in at me and grabbed my right leg. I spun, brought the Beretta up toward the threat, saw the thing looming in at me with its blank eyes and fired several rounds into it. It stumbled backwards and I exited the car on the opposite side to see it coming for me again. I drew down on the thing once more and fired a single round, hitting it in the head. It dropped instantly and I spun my head right where I’d spotted the thing minutes ago, and then looked right to find nothing in either direction. It was time to leave, as the gunshots would no doubt draw more of them if they were close enough to hear, but were out of my line of sight.
“Time to go little one,” I grabbed Kember and the carry bag and headed back toward the SUV as quickly as my feet would carry us. The feeling of fear propelled me like never before and as we reached the Pathfinder, I tossed the carry bag into the back seat, put Kember in the front seat and gave her quick instructions. “Stay here, baby. Daddy will be right back.”
I moved to the closest vehicle and hunkered down beside it, wondering if this was the best plan of action or another stupid mistake? So far I had been full of those, stuck on stupid as someone once told me, and my luck was getting no better. I had to change that immediately. I was the first and last line of defense for stopping anymore of the things that showed up and I intended to put myself, and them, as far away from Kember’s current home as I could. I’d lead them away and circle back. Seemed simple enough, but would it work? Only time would tell.
The warm sun slowly moved across the cyan colored cloudless sky as the minutes passed away. The painkiller circulated through my body giving me a burst of courage that was untested, but eager. I watched the woods on both side of the interstate for the slightest amounts of movement, watched the long line of abandoned cars, and even made several glances over my shoulder past the Pathfinder.
After an hour there’d been nothing that came to investigate and I felt certain it was safe to return to the SUV. Once back, we ate some of the junk food and played with a few of toys, but I kept my head and eyes moving from the front to the rear of the vehicle regularly. I would not be surprised a second time. I’d be ready to fight at a moment’s notice… I had to be, there was no margin for error anymore. No room to make mistakes and ask for forgiveness. A mistake now meant we were dead.
A little after noon, Kember crashed in the back and I went out to take care of a few things. I started by using the spray paint to cover the windows, stopping any of those things or anyone else for that matter, from seeing in at us. During the daytime it would block the warm sun and at night would allow us to have a few of the flashlights on without being spotted. One of the blankets was hung to keep the back of the SUV separate from the front, an added level of security for both day and night.
After that I popped the hood and took an assessment of the damage to the engine. I had been under the hood several times to change the oil and other minor repairs, which meant that I had grown pretty accustomed to what it looked like in working order and partly knew how things worked. I might not be a mechanic, but my memory should at least point me in the right direction when it came time to put things back together. I stopped a moment and placed my head in my hand, feeling a bit lightheaded. I dismissed it as lack of sleep and real food.
The radiator had a small hole in it, the front bumper was toast, the windshield had a pole and hole through it and the right headlight was smashed. Other than that, the SUV was repairable and I could do it with a graveyard of cars and trucks in front of me. The only question remained, was how long would it take? We had a limited amount of food and drinks left and when that was gone we would starve unless I was able to either get us moving again or if I went out at night and scrounged up something.
A gust of wind rushed up and assaulted me. I spun around fully expecting to see one of those things about to attack, yet as I spun I saw that there was nothing there. In the distant though, I could see dark clouds moving in and pushing the cyan colored sky from sight. Another round of storms was moving in.
“Great, another storm’s moving in, not what we need right now.”
As I stood to get a better look at the approaching storm clouds and the fervent wind that kicked massive quantities of leaves and blew them across the dead interstate like a tidal wave, I felt another round of dizziness overwhelm me and standing quickly became a chore. There was no pain, obviously blocked by the painkiller I had taken earlier, yet I could feel that something wasn’t right. I immediately looked down at my bandaged arm. The large bandage I had wrapped all the way around it showed signs of blood seeping through.
“Not good, not good at all,” I said and crawled back into the Pathfinder to find Kember playing with some plastic keys in the rear. The leggings that she wore were sagging in the back and told me that she needed to be changed. I wasn’t sure if he could see straight enough to get into the SUV let alone change her diaper. Still, I couldn’t let her remain in the filth and get a diaper rash. The world at the moment was an off the wall place – I didn’t know who we could trust, if I could trust anyone at all. I wasn’t sure who had survived that first night and who hadn’t. Kember and I needed to be in perfect condition to make it a few more days until the Military could get things wrapped up and let life come back to normal. I was positive that all of this would soon be over with and the life we had been living would slowly return.
I got her diaper changed and felt even worse. I wanted to lie down for a few minutes and hope that whatever was wrong with me would subside, although I couldn’t do that with Kember up and awake. If a few of those things passed by and she was making too much noise, they would attack and I was in no condition to fight them off. They would kill us in just minutes.
There had to be something that I could do to quiet her while trying to rest, but forcing her to lie down would only anger her and she would cry hard. I had to get her to sleep another way, even if she didn’t want to crash. Easier said than done.
The hydrocodone will relax her, as well as knock her little butt out. Just break one in half and that will be plenty.
My mind suggested. I sat there leaned against the back glass, which blocked any prying eyes from seeing into the vehicle.
“Would they hurt her though?” I asked aloud, wishing that I knew more about medications and their side effects, as well as how young someone could be to take them without it being a fatal dose.
“Kids have surgery all the time… they have to give them something for the pain, right?” I spoke, thought several more seconds upon the idea and looked across at Kember. “They can’t honestly just let the child suffer in pain afterward, right?”
Kember looked at me, as though she could tell I was deep in thought about something and it was painful for me to decide upon. She moved over to me and put her little hands around my neck, patting my back with her right hand. My heart melted.
“Daddy’ doesn’t know what to do, baby. If I don’t give you something you could accidentally draw those damn things to us… but at the same time, I could never forgive myself if I hurt you in anyway. I don’t know what to do.” The tears ran down my face and as if Kember knew exactly what I was saying. She hugged me harder than before, and then looked up at me with a beautiful smile. I held her as if tomorrow was not going to come and cried as if they were my last tears and needed to be purged from my system.
I broke one of the small pills in half and took the other half, swallowing it with a sip of juice. Looking at the other half in my hand, I wondered how I would get her to take it, because if she put it in her mouth the vile taste would most likely cause her to spit it out. Hell, I couldn’t handle the nasty taste of it, so how would I expect her too?
I grabbed a lid from one of the empty juice containers that were already on the floor of the backseat. Put the pill in it and poured some juice over it, giving it a few moments to fully dissolve into the juice. I pushed the pill around a few times, tapping it until it was nothing but a liquid.
“Now I know this isn’t going to taste the best, baby. But you have to take it,” I said and reluctantly offered it to her. She took the lid and I helped to steady her hand as she poured it into her mouth and drank every drop. A unique face blossomed upon her face, lasted only a second, and then vanished with a smile. I couldn’t help but smile back at her ever-growing expressions she was so good at.
“Uck,” she stated and I nodded my head.
“Uck is right, baby,” I said to her.
The windshield had not been painted nor had the driver and passenger side windows. Only the second row of windows and the rear had been altered, as that’s where we slept and ate. One of the blankets he had found in the brown sedan had been tacked to the roof lining and when lowered would separate the third row from the rest of the interior. The added level of security allowed us to move about day or night and use the flash lights we had also found and not be spotted by anyone that stood in front of the SUV. Clothes had been taped to the windows, giving the rear a better chance at remaining a warmer temperature throughout the night, seeing how we only had one thick blanket to lay on and one thin blanket to cover up with.
We sat there leaned against the gate glass watching the sun set. I was petrified that the small amount of hydrocodone I had given Kember would hurt her… or worse, but in order for me to go out and scavenge what I would need to fix the Pathfinder, I needed her asleep in order to keep her safe. Sleep came to her and eluded me. I watched her sleep for about an hour, stroking her hair before turning to look at what was left of our food supply. There was more than enough to last us several more days, although I had planned to be in a hotel room somewhere by then. The only thing we were running low on was drinks and that’s what I would search for once the sun set and I was positive she was fully asleep. Plus, I didn’t want to wait until the last minute to look for food when I could go and get some more now and extend what we already had.
“Daddy has to go out tonight, baby. I don’t want to leave you here alone, but if I don’t get us anything to drink, things are going to get bad. I love you more than life itself.” I kissed her on the forehead, turned away from her and grabbed the .9mm, ensuring it was fully loaded and stuck and extra magazine into my pants pocket. I opened one of the boxes of shells and stuffed some into my pants pocket, just in case. I wanted to be ready this time around if someone stumbled upon me and wanted to take what I had. If they tried… well let’s just say it wouldn’t be within their best interest to try. The revolver from the gas station went down the back of my pants and I put on a pull-over to stay warm and allow my movement to be quick and quiet.