Life Among The Dead (48 page)

The SUV turns onto what would be a dirt road, if the snow didn’t obscure the fact. They bounce over frost heaves and potholes. The vehicle vibrates as it runs over a long series of weathered ruts. A sign at the beginning of the abusive road reports this is the driveway to the Williamson ranch.

Dan’s stomach suddenly twists with fresh agony. His chest is starting to feel tighter and tighter, constricting with tension, and making it hard to breathe. He is near hyperventilation and his lip is starting to bleed from the gouge his teeth have worn into it.

The post fence is ahead. He can see the house and the red barn beyond.
Oh God,
Dan says to himself when he sees a lone figure out front. There is no sign of the vehicles. No blue shuttle. No white van.

The gate is closed. It has been chained and padlocked. Dan stops the car just outside the gate’s swing zone. He leaves it running as he exits.

“
I’m leaving the heat on for you, Vin… I mean, Jack… Sorry.” Dan pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to fight back the emotional flood that rages inside him. “You stay here and keep an eye on things for me, OK?”

The figure is slowly walking towards Dan, trudging through the deep snow, cutting a direct path. It’s Bruce. It always amazed Dan how much the man looks like his Dad. He palms the pistol he grabbed on his way out of the vehicle. He had chosen the nickel-plated 9mm. Dan can’t tell if his uncle is alive or dead as he shuffles through the deep drifts. The man was never the type to dash to meet a family member. He gets there in his own time.

The soldier holds the pistol to his side. He is on the verge of panic as he waits for the man to get close enough to talk to. The long stretch of acreage seems never ending. The waiting proves to be too much for Dan. He waves his arms over his head and hopes his uncle will do the same. He wants some sort of indication that there is an intelligent person in that weathered old frame.

Dan is able to pick out details now. Bruce isn’t how he remembered from his youth. The man has graying hair and his face has lost much of its elasticity.
I can’t tell if he’s a zombie, or just fucking old. Both have that slack look to them. Wave your fucking arms!
Dan orders in his head, feeling stupid doing it alone.

His uncle loves to give people a hard time, especially Dan’s father.
If he is alive, he’ll never let me hear the end of this whole arm-waving thing.

“
Aren’t you dead?” Bruce asks, very much alive.

“
I got better.” Dan replies, the déjà vu gives him pause.

“
Good to hear. I have a ton of work that needs doing, especially now that I have several dozen refugees to look after.”

“
I didn’t know where else they could go.” Dan shrugs.
Some of them did make it,
Dan thinks with relief. Bruce is unlocking the chains to the gate.

“
So, I don’t see you since your wedding,” Bruce starts in on him. “You never call. You hardly write. You haven’t been out here to see me in about fifteen years, even though you live only six hours away. I don’t find out I have a grandnephew until yesterday when half of Waterloo shows up at my door. They tell me you blew yourself up, and now here you are, waving your arms around like you’re landing a fucking plane.”

“
Sounds about right.” Dan nods.

“
I have more than enough room, and I’m glad you’re not dead.” Bruce states without a smile, he just passes by Dan on his way to the SUV.

“
Any trouble getting here? Besides the whole explosion thing.”

“
Tons.” Dan doesn’t explain. He is emotionally drained at the moment and just wants to see his wife.

“
What’s up with your hand?” Bruce points to Dan’s bite mark. “You didn’t do something stupid like get bit or something? Probably turn me into one of those things they all keep yakking about inside.”

“
I bit myself actually.”

“
Why the fuck would you bite yourself?”

“
I needed to fool a group of people who worshipped a zombie, they thought to be the second coming of Christ, into thinking I was a zombie.”

“
Oh,” Bruce examines the inside of the SUV. “Do you have much stuff in this insensible heap?”

“
Not really.”

“
Why did you bring this?” Bruce points at Jack. “We have our fill of these.”

Dan has no answer for him on that. It’s always hard to tell if Bruce is being serious or just getting your goat. The soldier just looks towards the house.

“
Oh! I get it, enough small talk. You want to run and see the missus, right? Fine. Hop in.”

Dan reaches for the driver’s side door at the same time as Bruce. The older man hitches his thumb in the direction of the passenger side. “Other side.”

Once the two are seated Bruce guides the vehicle into the yard. He proceeds slowly so they don’t get stuck.

“
You know you really screwed up?” Bruce says.

“
How?” Dan was expecting a hero’s welcome in his better case scenarios. He has no idea what he did wrong now.

“
Every man hopes and prays for one thing and one thing only; to one day be called upon to help repopulate the earth. You loused that up when you saved all these damned kids. What’s the point of living through this ordeal now? Might as well go down the hill and french kiss a corpse.”

They travel around the house that had once been an inn until Bruce bought it for his home. Dan is far too excited to listen to his uncle go on about whatever he is saying. He just looks around as they crawl through the deep snow. Dan looks into the windows, trying to spot his wife. The glare proves too much for him to see through, he only sees the reflection of his large car as it passes each pane.

“
And, this. What’s this? Remote ignition, keyless entry? People are too damned lazy to turn a key now a days.” Bruce drones.

The SUV that Bruce is putting down for its extras turns the corner that leads to the back of the property.

Dan sees all the pens and coops are empty.
He probably brought them into the barn for the winter,
Dan thinks. By the tall red barn he sees the blue bus his love had traveled in. Next to it he sees the white van and Bruce’s vehicles. He has a light blue, beat-up work truck. The bed of it is framed by a wooden structure that extends up to meet the cab. Next to the pick-up is a motorcycle that’s covered with a tarp.

Dan knows it had only been a dream, but he has to peer into the horse corral to make sure no one he knows is walking around dead inside. Just two beautiful brown horses, no zombies. The SUV joins the ranks of parked cars. Dan hops out even before the vehicle stops.

“
Jesus!” Bruce exclaims. “Go on up. I’ll take care of all your shit and this little crumb snatcher.”

The surly old man watches his nephew tramp through the snow on his way to meet his wife and son. He smiles. He is really happy to see the young man.

“
Hey, Danny boy!” Bruce calls out. Dan turns to see what he wants. “Cover your hand. I don’t want you freaking everybody out in there.”

“
OK” Dan waves and continues his quest.

“
Hey!” Bruce can’t help stalling him one last time. Dan turns, obviously getting antsy. His body vibrates with the need to keep moving onward to his family. “What’s this kid’s name?”

“
Jack.” Dan says. He waits to see if his uncle has anything else.

“
What the fuck are you waiting for, boy? Move your ass!” Bruce laughs as the man doubles his speed through the snow. He takes the boy out of the backseat, making sure he is well bundled by the blankets.

“
I know it was mean, but I’m old and entitled to my fun.” Bruce shakes his head. “Man, will she be surprised. Huh, Jumping Jack Flash? It isn’t every day you see your loved ones come back from the dead… Usually.”

23

Dan enters the ranch home and rushes around. He is snow-blinded and not patient enough to wait for his eyes to adjust. Everything appears dark as the open lobby area slowly reveals itself to him like a photograph taken by an instamatic. He can hear whispers of people and gasps as they recognize who has just entered. He must look frightening and smell even worse. He doesn’t care about them.

His vision restored, he finds he is in the middle of what was once the inn’s reception area. It always had a ski lodge feel to it with its massive fireplace and its dark wood floor, walls and ceiling. Exposed beams are decorated with skis and poles, snowshoes and a toboggan. It smells very welcoming. The earthy aroma of the burning fire gives a sense of home. Dan doesn’t care about any of it.

He scans faces of people he had met through the whole ordeal. Some he vaguely recalls having met them only once in the hospital, and then again in his nightmare. Dan zeroes in on one face he can never forget.

“
Barbie doll!” He grins at the girl he had traveled across rooftops with. Her eyes are wide as he kneels before her. She hugs him tightly, laying her head against his chest. His haggard face doesn’t alarm her, nor does the dried blood that is plastered to it. She doesn’t mind how awful he smells, or the fact they told her he was dead.

“
Where’s my wife?” He knows this place intimately, but there is over thirty rooms and suites. He needs someone to follow. The girl releases him and sprints down the halls. Dan is on her heels as people pause what they are doing to watch.

The halls are a blur as Barbara guides the soldier turn by turn until she ultimately stops at one. She knocks softly on the door. The time it takes the door to be answered is torture, the few seconds feels like hours. Dan listens to the sounds on the other side. Feet shuffle over carpet.

The door opens and he is face to face with his wife. Her hair is in disarray and she had no make-up on. She wears an oversized flannel robe. She never looked lovelier to him.

“
Oh, my God!” Is all she could manage, she had seen her husband blown up on the bridge, yet here he is before her eyes.

They embrace fiercely; holding each other so tight neither can breathe. They don’t seem to mind. Heather kisses her husband’s scruffy face in a million different places. At some point Barbara had left them to their reunion and they hadn’t noticed. They part, still holding hands, looking at one another. Each thinking the same thing
, I must look awful.

“
I thought you were dead.” Heather breaks the silence.

“
I got better.” He smiles. “Not even death could keep me from you.”

They enter the room and find it hard to walk while holding each other so tightly. Candles light the room and Dan can see one of the dresser drawers is open. It has been padded with blankets, nestled in the middle he sees Vincent. The boy slumbers peacefully, looking like an angel.

“
Your uncle is building him a crib.” Heather explains the old world bedding to Dan.

“
It’s on my to-do-list.” Bruce says from the open doorway. He walks in holding Jack on his hip. “Dan-o, did you place an ad in the penny saver, or put up a fucking billboard, or something? More of your homeless friends just arrived.”

“
Red truck?” Dan asks.

“
Yeah, a girl and her brother. She’s talking some nonsense about a friendly, neighborhood psychopath that fits your description. They cool?”

“
Should be.” Dan replies, not taking his eyes off of his son.

“
I’ll put Becka on the welcome wagon. I got shit to do and she’s always on my nuts looking for little jobs to keep busy.” He turns to leave. “I’ll give you two some time to get reacquainted and cleaned up. Then, I got a job for you.”

Bruce departs and Heather brings Dan to the bathroom. They can hear the old man’s voice in the hall, calling back to them.

“
And, no hanky-panky. I don’t want another one of these little demons popping out in 9 months.”

“
You smell like one of them.” Heather tells him. “Shower first. Then, I want to hear everything.”

24

The shower feels like heaven. He washes away the residue of the past couple of days; the filth and the blood, the sweat and the tears. He tries to cleanse himself of the sights and the sounds, and of any harbored guilt and remorse, but he finds that he can’t erode the memories.

Dan thinks about all the lives that were lost. The people he couldn’t save, those he had let die, and he thinks of the lives he had taken. Tears blend with the water that pours down his head.

He turns off the shower, but can’t shunt his tears. He wraps a towel around his battered and sore body. The oddest thought stops his eyes from watering. He looks down at his grimy uniform and says. “I have nothing to wear.”

For some reason it makes him laugh not to have clothing. He will cry no more. He walks out to the room in only his towel. His wife is lying on the bed, waiting for him. The drawer where his child slept is now closed. Dan walks to the dresser and opens it, actually expecting to see his boy. The mound of blankets is empty.

“
Nurse Cindy is watching him so we can be alone.” Heather explains. “Did you really think I closed him in there?”

“
No.” Dan responds defensively, feeling stupid. He joins his wife on the bed. They hold one another as he tells her everything he had been through. He starts with his burned toaster strudel, and works his way to the giant cow. He tells her of the horrors he had seen, and of the laughs he had shared. Every event is orated in full detail. Parts of the story make her hold her breath. She is shocked to hear about all he had been through, and the things he had to do just to survive. He didn’t tell her all of it, omitting anything that may make her think less of him.