American Revenant (Book 2): Settlers and Sorrow (17 page)

            Rick
held it up, showing Mike how the zombie had bitten through the first layer of
rawhide.  “Bastards bite hard, man.  I’m gonna have a pretty bruise there this
evening.”

            “I’m
just glad I didn’t have to hack your arm off.”

            Rick
laughed, “You and me both, buddy.”

Chapter 24

            Alex
took several minutes backing the truck into the loading dock at the
supermarket.  Garret was laughing the entire time, asking if Alex wanted him to
get out and push it into the dock.

            The
buildings had all been cleared without incident, and the process of emptying
them out was beginning with the supermarket.

            Everyone
took a walk through the stock room and sales floor, working out the best way to
load up everything as quickly as possible. 

            There
were pallets of goods stocked in the back, and these went first, using the
pallet jack to load them on to the truck. 

            The
store reeked, both from the walking corpses that had occupied the place for so
long, as well as the rotted foods from the meat, frozen, and fresh produce
sections.  Though they would have liked to leave the doors open to let air flow
through and blow out the smell they knew it was unsafe to do so.

            Nothing
useful was left in the store when they finished.  After cleaning out the small
supermarket they moved on to the Subway Restaurant building.

            Once
inside they had no choice but to leave the door open.  No one could breathe
inside because of the horrid smells of rotted food.

            There
was little in the way of shelf stable foodstuffs to be had, though they cleared
out all the soft-drinks and bagged chips.

            As
a group was going through the sandwich shop, Gordy and Jimmy along with Garret
and Lynn were going through the Health Department building.

            “What
are we going to do with all this?” Jimmy asked.

            “What
do you mean, “do with” all of it?”

            “Seriously,
Gordy, this is a lot of stuff we’re taking back.  Where are we going to store
it all?  The meds left in here will help fill out Jan’s stock, but where are we
going to put all of the food, not to mention all the non-food stuff we’ve got?”

            “I
didn’t even think about it,” Gordy told him. 

            “Put
it in one or two of the houses in Saverton, maybe?”

            “What
about the sports building?” Lynn asked as she walked by carrying a box full of
various medical supplies.

            Gordy
and Jimmy looked at each other for a moment, thinking.  “Not a bad idea Gordo. 
It’s a huge building, it could probably hold everything if we pack it in there
right.”

            Gordy
thought about the sports building, with its open space and basketball hoops. 
The building was big; with large wire mesh covered glassless windows to let in
air and light.

            “We
could find some lumber to cover up those windows, really close the place up.  I
think it’s do-able.”

            “We’ll
have to do it quick though,” Jimmy told him, “I would hate for everything to
get ruined by a hard rain.”

            Jimmy
carried a box of supplies out to Louis and Rebecca who were waiting in the
trailer with Dean to organize everything as it was brought to them.

            After
passing his load up to Louis he walked toward the front of the truck, where
Mike was standing guard.

            “Hey
man, how’s it going?”

            “I’ll
be glad to get this done, and get home.  I hate standing in the open like
this,” Mike told him.

            Jimmy
handed a small package to Mike.  “Maybe this will make you feel better.”

            Mike
looked at the plastic bag with red and black writing on it, a big smile filling
his face.  “Holy crap, black licorice!  I thought I’d never see this stuff
again!  Where’d you find it?”

            “Candy
isle in the store.  I knew you’d be happy.  There’s about fifteen or twenty
more packages of it.  You’ll have to find them later when everything is
unloaded.”

            Mike
tore the bag open with his teeth, pulling out several of the black candy
twists.  He held one out to Jimmy, who shook his head.

            “That
bag is all yours, brother,” he said walking back to help finish emptying the
Health Department building, “enjoy it.”

            Though
Jimmy would not have realized it, that small act of kindness for his friend
helped to push back the darkness that had been slowly encroaching upon Jimmy’s
mind since the horrors of their new world began.  For a time he was able to
smile without forcing it.

            His
smile lasted through the day, affecting everyone.  Laughter and jokes were
shared among friends and newcomers alike.  For a little while they were able to
enjoy their shopping trip.  No one could have known that the darkness Jimmy had
been fighting would slam into them all with the force of a shotgun blast later
that day.

            The
groups’ worked hard and cleared the last few items from the Dollar Store late
in the afternoon.  The rig with the trailer sat to the side, packed as tightly
as they were able to get it.

            As
the last box was placed in the second horse trailer everyone gave a cheer. 
They quieted quickly, looking around to make sure they hadn’t called anything
hungry from an unseen hiding place.

            With
all of the trailers loaded down the drive home would be slow.  Although
everyone was anxious to get back to Oko Tipi no one complained about the long
ride.  Complaints were replaced with excited chatter and shared joy.

            That
joy was about to turn into something far darker, to be shared amongst them all.

Chapter 25

            Jan
and Anna met the honking vehicles at the gate, which Gordy, who rode with Dean,
Lynn and Rebecca in the De Soto, thought was strange.  He had expected nearly
everyone at the Camp to be standing there, waiting anxiously to see what they
had brought back.

            Anna
opened the gate, and Dean rolled through, slowing as Jan waved them to a stop.

            Gordy
was concerned by the look on his wife’s face, and asked immediately, “What’s
wrong?”

            “Get
out and walk up with me.  Dean, park the car at the main lot and you three wait
with it until we get up there.”

            Dean
looked at his Mom, wanting to ask what was going on.  Instead he stayed silent,
and drove up to the main house parking lot and parked the car.

            “What
the hell is going on Jan?  Is someone hurt, what?”

            Jan
watched for a moment as the big truck came through, pulling a trailer packed
full of food and supplies.

            “Something
happened, Gordon, and I really don’t know how to say it.” 

            Jan
just looked at her husband for a moment, thinking about the best way to begin
what she had to say.

            “We
need to get up there in a hurry, so let’s walk fast, I’ll tell you the short
version on the way.”

            They
stepped up their pace and Jan said, “Evie caught Richard exposing himself to a
couple of the girls.”

            Gordy’s
mouth dropped open, and his footsteps faltered, his eyes going wide and quickly
filling with anger.

            “We
need to get Mike and Jimmy away from the group until we can talk to them about
this.  I don’t know about Rick, and I think Dean will stay calm, although I did
have to keep Anna from getting to Richard.  I think she would have beaten him
half to death.”

            “If
not completely,” Gordy said.  He knew that Anna, just like everyone in the
group, saw these kids as family.  “I may do it myself.”

            “Gordon,
this is really bad, very messed up, but we have to handle it the right way.”

            “I
know that, but what’s the right way?”

            Jan
and Gordy made it up to the parking area just as the two loaded horse trailers
pulled up. 

            As
everyone began to exit the vehicles Gordy called out, “Jimmy, Mike, over here.”

            Jan
looked at her husband, confusion evident on her face, “Don’t tell them yet
Gordon, just wait a few minutes.”

            Mike
and Jimmy walked up to the couple, asking “What’s up?”

            “You
think you two could walk up to the sports building and see what you think we
need to board up those big-ass windows?  While you’re at it, think about the
best floor plan to lay out and store everything we got today, while still
making it accessible.”

            “Damn,
Gordo, we just got back, can’t it wait a few minutes?”

            “We
have to start work on this today, Jimmy.  We can’t let that stuff sit for long
in those trucks,” Gordy told his friend, hating that he was misdirecting him
from the real situation.

            Mike
grunted, telling Gordy, “Yeah, fine, but someone should dig through all of this
and make a huge meal tonight.”

            “I
think we can make that happen,” Jan told him.

            “Good,
c’mon Jimmy, let’s get this done in a hurry.”

            Jimmy
followed Mike up the hill, while Jan and Gordy watched them go.  They stood
there until the men had reached the building, then Jan took Gordy’s hand and
led him into the main house.

            Anna
met and gathered the remaining crew from the shopping trip and took them for
walk toward the concrete pool.  She withheld the information she had to share
until they were standing beside it.

            Inside
the main house Tam looked at Gordy as he walked in.  It was obvious that she
had been crying.  She sat on a chair, shotgun across her knees, in front of
Richard, who sat on the floor in a back corner of the building.  Arianna sat
beside him, her arms around his shoulders.  She had been crying as well.

            Gordy
stared at Richard for a moment, though the boy would not meet his eyes.  His
face was red and swollen, especially along his right jaw.  His right eye was
nearly swollen closed and Gordy could see that bloody tears had left tracks down
the boy’s face.

            Gordy
just stood there inside the door, looking around at the faces of everyone in
the room.  He stayed that way for a full minute before he said, “Are the kids
ok?”

            “Yes,
Evie took them to her cabin while we sorted this out,” Jan told him.

            Gordy
nodded, and said, “Tam, I’m going up to Evie’s to talk to her.  I want to hear
from her, since she’s the one that caught him doing…,” Gordy paused for a
moment, “what he was doing.”  Jan, I want you to go up to the sports building
and delay Mike and Jimmy a little longer.  Either of those two get ahold of
that kid before we can sort this out, it’s going to be bad.”

            Tam
stayed behind to watch over Richard and Arianna while the others left with
Gordy.  He had left instructions that no one was to go or come in until he
returned.

****

            “…and
that’s when I walked around the corner and found him with his, uh, business
out.  He was holding it, kind of, well…”

            “I
understand Evie.”  Gordy could see how uncomfortable she was, talking about
what had happened.  He could also see the rage building up in her again. 

            “I
just kind of saw red at that moment, I ran up to him and…,” She paused,
swallowing several times before continuing, “I don’t know why I did it, but I
grabbed what he was holding and squeezed, hard, I mean really hard.  I’d be
surprised if he ever used that thing again.  When he started to squeal in pain
it…, well, I… I just started hitting him, slapping him first, and then punching
him with my fist.”

            Gordy
didn’t interrupt her, letting her tell it as she needed to.

            “I
didn’t stop until your wife pulled me off of him.  I really don’t think I would
have stopped, if she hadn’t.  She told me that she heard the girls yelling, and
that’s when she came running.”

            “It
was just Elizabeth Phillips and Ashley Mitchell, right?  None of the other kids
saw what happened?”

            “Yes,
just those two girls.”

            “Did
they say anything afterwards?”

            “Before
I caught him, I guess that one of the girls told him he was ‘gross and we’re
going to tell our Dads’.”

            Gordy
nodded, absorbing her story as she told it.  “Did the girls tell you if he said
anything to them during all of this?”

            “He
was telling them they could touch ‘it’ among other things.  When they said they
were going to tell on them, I guess he said that he would,” Evie swallowed again,
“put a knife in you, really slow, if you tell”.

            They
talked for a few more minutes before Gordy asked to speak to the girls.  Evie
went back inside with the other children, sending out Ashley and Elizabeth.

            Gordy
spent several minutes speaking with them, asking questions, corroborating
everything Evie had told him.  He was impressed by the strength of these two
children.  If nothing else, that alone gave him hope for the future.

            “Girls,
this kind of thing is awful, and your parents will talk you about it.  Someone
that tries to take advantage of children, such as you two, is not a good
person.  You were right when you said he was gross and that you would tell. 

            “You
don’t ever have to be afraid to tell your parents or anyone else in this big
family of ours, if someone does something horrible like that.”

            “Mr.
Fletcher, what’s going to happen to him, the creepy guy?”

            “I
don’t know yet, Ashley, but you can bet he won’t be able to do something like
that to any child in this camp ever again.”

            Gordy
let the girls rejoin the other children and went back down the hill to the main
house.  Everyone was gathered around the front porch of the main house and
angry questions were thrown in his direction as he walked up to the group.  He
was relieved to see that Mike and Jimmy were not in the crowd.

            Stepping
up on the porch, Gordy turned to address the angry crowd gathered there.  It
didn’t escape him that in their anger they were very much like a pack of
zombies, intent on getting what they desired; in this case they wanted
justice.  “Listen everyone; we have to handle this the right way.  We can’t
have anyone going off half-cocked.”

            “We
can’t have sick-ass perverts messing with our kids either!” 

            People
responded to Lisa’s explosive remark with nodded heads and muttered
agreements. 

            Gordy
drew in a breath, taking a moment to think before he spoke.  “And how would you
all have me handle this?  You want me to execute him?  March him out here to
the wall and put a bullet in his head?”

            Gordy
heard someone say “I would.”  He turned to look his son in the eyes, silently
pleading with him not to make the situation more difficult.

            Gordy
felt the same rage and disgust these people were feeling, but as the leader of
this group he had to think rationally, even when his heart called for blood.

            “I
know what you’re all feeling, and I understand it, but I want all of you to
think about this.  We used to live by laws, and everything we’re doing is to
rebuild some semblance of that society we lived in.  If we sidestep what we all
believe in for the sake of something that is not justice, but vengeance, then
can we truly say that we are working to rebuild?”

            “It
wasn’t your kids he tried molesting, either!”

            Gordy
turned to Tam, who was standing in the open door of the main house.  He could
see Richard and Arianna still sitting on the floor in the back corner.  His
cheeks flared red and for the first time in a long time he was unable to hold
his tongue and speak calmly.

            “Bullshit,
Tamara!  Those kids are family to me, just like you and Jimmy and everyone else
we’ve known for years.  You think I don’t want to drag that twisted little shit
out here and end him right here in the parking lot?  You think I wouldn’t like
to see his dead ass laying there, half his head gone from my bullet?  I would
like nothing more!  But if I surrender to that wish then what do I become, what
do we all become?”

            Gordy
stood there, looking Tamara in the eyes, his heart hammering hard in his
chest.  He wanted to reach out to her as tears began to flow from her eyes, but
he could only stand there, as if anger had nailed his feet to the boards of the
porch and weighted down his arms.

            “You
can’t do that!”  Arianna cried from inside the building.  “It’s not his fault! 
He’s sick, he needs help!  You people are evil just thinking that!”

            Gordy
turned back to the crowd, ignoring the woman.  “He can face us, his accusers,
and account for himself, then we will agree on what we have to do right now, as
we stand here.”  He paused, considering his next words, and then said,
“Whatever we decide as a group, here and now, I will stand behind that
decision.” 

            Looking
to Dean, then Rick, he said, “Bring him out here.”

            The
two men silently went into the building, and lifted the boy to his feet.  He
shuffled between the two men, fully aware that they would kill him at the first
provocation.

            “You
can’t do this!”  Arianna screamed.  “You can’t blame him for any of this! 
Maybe something happened to him when he was a kid, to make him do something
like that!  It’s not his fault!”

            Rick
and Dean brought Richard down the steps, to stand in the gravel lot, in front
of everyone there. 

            Gordy
stepped in front of the boy, looking at the top of his bowed head.  “How old
are you?”  Silence from Richard.  Gordy had no patience for the boy’s silence. 
“You
will
look at me, and you
will
answer my questions, boy, do you
understand that?”

            Richard
slowly lifted his head, looking not at Gordy’s eyes, but at his chin.  “Yes.”

            “How
old are you?”

            “Eighteen.”

            “Do
you know why we are standing here at this moment?”

            “Yes. 
I…I did something…”

            “Have
you ever done something like that before?”