Sometimes We Ran (Book 3): Rescue (30 page)

“H
old still. I don't want to cut anything off.”

My wife Karen took hold of my foamy chin to steady my face. Swirling the dull razor in a bowl of warm water, she gently placed it on my face and prepared to shave more of my beard. It was one of those old-fashioned razors where you turn the handle to eject the blade. A dangerous, single-edged blade.

“Now, hold still,” Karen said again. She brought the razor down my face. It made an audible scraping noise as it traversed my cheek. Karen was being slow and deliberate to avoid cutting me. The blade, razor, and shaving cream had all been tough to find, but Karen had persevered. She moved the blade to another location on my cheek to clean more hair off my face. “You are going to look so much better,” Karen said. I was in no position to argue. My wife was holding a sharp weapon to my face.

Besides, I made a deal with Claire. The beard had to go.

After swiping my face and neck a few more times, Karen dropped the razor in the bowl and put it aside. She took a clean towel to wipe off the extra shaving cream, then leaned back to take a look.  Her beautiful smile came out. “That's a look I can live with.”

“Let me see,” I said.

Karen handed me a small mirror. She had shaved off most of my beard, but left a small amount on my chin, upper lip, and a little bit on my cheeks. It was still kind of gray, but very neat and tidy. Karen even trimmed my hair back, as well. “Not bad.”

“You look younger,” Karen said. “Well, except for the gray hair.” She started to laugh, but it was cut short. Some tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at me.

“What's the matter?” I asked.

Karen put her arms around me, and put her head on my shoulder. “I was so worried about you. When you didn't come back right away, I thought something bad happened. Couldn't do anything but sit here and wonder if you'd ever come back.”

I hugged my wife tight. These last two weeks in the infirmary, she didn't leave my side. Sitting in the little chair near my bed, not sleeping, just looking on and waiting for me to get better. Doctor Connelly told her to go home a few times, but she stayed. Karen was a strong woman, but I often forgot how worried she got at times.

Karen pulled back from our embrace, and sat up. Her big, green eyes were still swimming a bit. I stroked her pale cheek, stained with tears. “I'm sorry I worried you. You know, I will always do my best to make it home to you.”

She smiled, and we kissed. A nice, deep kiss that lasted a while. When we were finished, Karen's cheeks were flushed a crimson color, and the tears were gone. She ran her fingers over the bandage around my chest that covered my injury. “When you get out of the infirmary, you and I are going to lock ourselves in our bedroom and not come out for a while. If you know what I mean,” Karen's voice had turned husky with the bawdy talk.

My pulse quickened. “How long will we be locked up?”

Karen came closer for another kiss. “At least three days.”

“Three days? It's been a long time. I hope I remember how,” I said.

“You'll pick it up as we go along.” Karen and I kissed again. It was longer and better than the previous one. I started to wonder why I ever leave Cannon Fields at all. I put my arms around my Karen to continue our passionate kiss. We kept kissing, and the world went away around us.

Then I noticed a little girl standing by our bedside.

It was Cora, the formerly sick girl. She was the one coughing her brains out in the infirmary when I left. Now, she stood and watched Karen and I kiss each other with a goofy, crooked grin on her face. The moment was over. Karen ended our kiss and sat up. Cora continued to stare.

“Why is she looking at us like that?” I said.

Karen laughed. “I think she wants to thank you for bringing the medicine home that made her all better, but she's too shy. Isn't that right, Cora?”

Cora didn't say anything, just continued to stand there and smile at me.

Feeling uncomfortable, I said, “She's kind of creeping me out. Why does she have to stare like that?”

“Cora...get your things together. Your family is coming to take you home today,” Karen said.

She ran to her former sick bed, grabbed her sunny yellow backpack, and hurried down the aisle. She was healthy and full of energy. Cora would live to continue the fight.

As the girl ran down the aisle, she bumped into Doctor Connelly, who was making her rounds. The good doctor bent down to check Cora's eyes and throat, then offered up a few lollipops. Cora chose a yellow one. Yellow must be her favorite color. Doctor Connelly always had a few lollipops for the smaller patients in her care. The bigger patients appreciated them, as well.

Doctor Connelly handed Karen and I each a lollipop from her pocket. Red for Karen, and a green one for me. “Make it last kids. I'm getting a little low,” the doctor said, sitting down on the bed. Karen and I tucked the sweets away for later.

The doctor began poking and prodding away at my bandaged areas, nodding and asking me about pain. In my two weeks in the infirmary, things had gotten a lot better. The pain was just a dull throb, not the blinding ache it used to be. The doctor checked my eyes, and listened to my breathing with a cold stethoscope that gave me goose bumps. Satisfied and nodding, she asked, “Feeling better?”

“Much better. Ready to get out of here,” I said. “How's Claire, and the people we brought inside? The deaf girls.” I felt bad that I didn't know all their names.

Doctor Connelly checked my eyes again with her penlight. “Everybody's fine. Claire's ankle is better. Ryan and her boy, Alex, are waiting on her hand and foot.” The doctor stopped examining me and sat up. “The survivors you brought in are good, and out of quarantine. A little malnourished, but a few good meals will take care of that. Besides being deaf, they're all in good health. Some of them are already helping out. I guess we're all going to have to learn some sign language.”

All good news. “How about our epidemic? Is it over?” I said.

Doctor Connelly stood up, and let me see the rows of empty beds. “Thanks to the medicine you found. Cora was the last one, and she goes home today.” The doctor checked Karen's eyes and throat. Satisfied with her condition, she pocketed her penlight. “Karen here made a great recovery. Besides Big Tommy down there with a little axe wound, you're my last patient.”

Looking down the aisle, I saw Big Tommy lying in the last bed near the door. Jaci, who was practicing her stitching skills on Tommy's hand, looked up and smiled. Big Tommy waved with his good hand. I gave him an upward nod of hello. “Is he going to be all right?”

“If Jaci doesn't sew his hand to the bed, he'll be fine. John, you put me out of business. The infirmary is clear, for now,” Doctor Connelly said. She began walking back to her desk, but turned around with one more thing. “Oh...Lyle came by before, but you were sleeping. I think he wanted to say goodbye. He's leaving today.”

“Today? I wonder if I can still catch him.” I grabbed my clothes from the small basket under the bed.

Karen looked worried as I tried to pull my shirt over my head. “John...you sure? Doctor Connelly?”

The doctor shook her head. “Even if I said no, you wouldn't listen to me anyway. It'll be okay. Just don't overdo it. You're still healing, you know?”

”Right,” I said, pulling on the last of my clothes. I put my holster on, but my gun was nowhere to be found. After a few minutes of wracking my brain, I realized Elizabeth still had my weapon. I would have to go outside with no gun.

Unsteady at first, the doctor and Karen walked me to the door. I took it slow, getting used to walking again after a long time on my back. After a few steps I stabilized, and Karen and I headed for the outside. She opened the front door on a fresh world.

The weather had moderated a bit in my two weeks out of action. The sun was out, and the deep cold was gone. It was replaced by cool, early spring weather. You still needed a jacket, but not the layers of insulating cloth. I stood on the porch of the admin building and took a deep breath. The first one since hurting my ribs. It was the first time in a while I could do it without a coughing fit. The air was fresh and clean, tinged with the scents of wood fires, turned earth, and honeysuckle. The smell of death was far away.

“Are you okay?” Karen asked. Her face was a mask of worry.

“I'm fine,” I said. “Beautiful day.”

Lyle was in the roundabout in front of the building, loading supplies into one of our spare sedans we lifted from one of the dealerships in the area. They were small four-cylinder diesel cars in a variety of colors. We had taken four: two red, one white, and a silver. They were economical, and ran great on our homemade fuel. Lyle had selected the silver one. He finished with the supplies and slammed the trunk. Our great leader, Denise, shook his hand. She was standing with a few of the girls from the deaf school and Miss Rose. There were a few tears being shed.

With Karen's help, I approached to say goodbye to Lyle. Denise lit up when she saw me. “John! Nice to see you up and around.”

Lyle shook my hand with great enthusiasm. “Damn good to see you.”

I returned the handshake. “I just wanted to say goodbye.”

“Thanks, John. I want to thank you for helping me out with my people. And the car and supplies.” Lyle got a faraway look in his eye. ”I don't know how I'm ever going to return them.”

“Consider it a long-term loan,” said Denise.

Lyle shook his head like he couldn't believe what was happening. “You people are something else. Generous.” He stepped to the driver's door and prepared to leave. “Everywhere I go, I'm going to tell everyone about this place. Maybe even send a few your way.”

I silently wished he wouldn't tell anybody about Cannon Fields. A certain amount of anonymity helped keep us safe from undesirables, but it was a nice thought. “Where you headed?” I asked.

Lyle leaned on the roof of his new car. “South, then along the Florida Georgia border. I'll see if I can get into Jacksonville. Then, maybe go north to Savannah. Start looking for my daughter and grandson.”

“You're welcome to stay. I think your friends would like that,” Denise said.

“That's very kind of you. But I have to find out what happened to my family.” Lyle paused, and looked at me. “I've just got to try and find them. It's not knowing what happened to them that hurts.”

Lyle's chances were slim. Georgia was a dead zone, and Florida probably wasn't much better. He faced a lot of Red-Eyes, and other bad guys out there. I tried to offer some last advice for what it was worth. “Stay off the interstates. Try to go around large towns and cities.” I took his hand for one last handshake. “Be careful in Jacksonville, and trust no one.”

Lyle unexpectedly pulled me into an embrace. “Thank you for everything. Take care of those girls, and Miss Rose. If I find what I'm looking for, I'll head back in this direction. I would like you to meet my family.”

“I look forward to it,” I said. “Good luck.”

Lyle opened the door and got in the car. “Thanks. Good luck...to all of you.” He started the engine. After a few seconds of rough running, it settled down into a nice steady idle. Lyle put the car in gear, and pulled away. We watched as a guard opened the gate, and Lyle left Cannon Fields.

Karen walked up, and put her arm around me. “He turned out to be a pretty nice guy.”

“Yeah...brave too. And a pretty damn good bus driver,” I said.

“We're never going to see him again, are we?” Karen said.

“Probably not.”

We started walking along the road, taking in the beautiful weather. “You know,” Denise said. “Claire told me about the problems you had out there: The Junkmen, the old man, and other things.”

“Things are still not that great,” I said.

“The debate will continue on if we should rescue people or not. We may never know if it's worth risking our people and resources. I was wondering if you had any thoughts about it, John,” Denise said.

“It's always going to be risky. The Doctor is right, though. There's probably a lot of people out there who need some help. I say we take it slow, but I think we can start the rescues again,” I said.

Denise smiled. It was the answer she was looking for. “I'll get with Sidney, and tell him to start listening for help calls again. We'll take it one case at a time.”

Denise had some business to take care of, and the deaf girls along with Miss Rose went back to whatever they were doing. Karen and I began to take a walk down the road toward the gate. It was a nice day, and a shame to waste it indoors.

We came across a security meeting. Lisa and Ben were giving instructions to a small group of zombie fighters. Some Red-Eyes were climbing the fence again, and it was all hands on deck. I stood silently out of the way as Ben, now healthy and ready for action, gave orders. Lisa was turning out to be a star of our security forces. I watched with great pride as she pointed to each person and gave out clear and concise assignments. The safety of Cannon Fields was in good hands.

Ben caught a glimpse of me as Karen and I tried to walk by. “Well...if it isn't our fearless leader. Doctor Connelly finally kick you out of bed?” The group of young zombie-killers laughed as Ben teased me.

“No. Thought I'd check up on you guys. Lisa been kicking everyone's ass?” I said. The group laughed harder, and Lisa blushed.

“Oh, yeah? If you're up to it, I need another person to pair up with Liz. I don't want to send her out there alone. That'll break one of your precious rules. What do you say, John?” said Lisa.

I turned to my Karen. “What do you think?”

She kissed me, and said, “I'll be waiting for you at home. Don't overdo it, okay?”

“No promises,” I said. I hugged her tight. Then she turned, and started back to our house where she would wait up until I got home safe.

The security meeting broke up, and the pairs of guards went to their assignments. It would be a long night of watching the fences and keeping the monsters outside while our residents slept. Elizabeth was the last one left, and she walked up to me. She pulled my gun out her waistband, and handed it to me. “Here. I kept it safe. Just like I promised.”