End of the Line (32 page)

“Rachel is immune from the zombie virus,” he finally admitted.

Twice in a row I was floored.

“How?” Tanya asked.

Jim shook his head and said. “I don’t know. That’s why I’m giving them the blood sample. I’m hoping someone can use it. There are doctors here—scientists.”

“How do you know she’s immune?” Annemarie asked.

“She was bit by a zombie, a big deep bite. She didn’t change.”

“I never saw a bite,” I said.

“It’s hidden under her clothes,” he explained.

“When did this happen?” Annemarie asked, then she said. “Before.”

“She wanted it to be a secret.”

“Except to you,” I said, I was pissed.

“Everyone likes to confide in me,” he explained. “And judging by how pissed off you are Dave, she’s right.”

“I’m kinda pissed too,” Tanya said.

“See what I mean.”

“I’m pissed because she didn’t trust us.”

“Tanya— this is personal to her. She’s going to be upset you found out.”

Today I found out my world ended and that Rachel our leader can’t be killed by them.

“Can she pass the virus on?” Annemarie asked. I hadn’t thought of that. Could we get it from Rachel?

“Has anyone gotten it?” Felicia asked. She didn’t wait for an answer. “Use universal precautions.”

“Jesus,” Jake said. “Now I know why she didn’t want to sleep with me.”

Annemarie rolled her eyes.

“She’s probably not even a carrier,” Felicia said with no emotion in her voice, no fear or sadness, just deadpan. “She might be naturally immune.”

“You don’t seem so thrilled about it,” I said. The anger faded slightly as I thought of a new thing to be optimistic about. “I mean maybe her blood can cure.”

“Rachel isn’t the only person who’s immune,” she explained. “The blood sample will help, but we don’t have the equipment to deal with it. We wouldn’t even know where to start. No genetics or disease control labs with almost no scientists, no electricity or doctors to run them. I’m not even a doctor. I have a Masters in Public Health.”

“You’ve meet others who are immune?”

“Just one person. A teenaged boy. He had bite marks, but was fine. No sign of the virus. We took blood too. It could be immunity, he could be a carrier, or just lucky.”

“Is he here?” Jim asked.

“No,” she said. “He left a long time ago.”

“I think Rachel was scared,” this came from the girl.

That ended the conversation but I was still mad. I didn’t know why. I probably wouldn’t have told the others if I was bit and survived.

“We are done,” Felicia said. She reminded me of Rachel by how cold she came across. “We cross checked your names. No one is looking for you but Aisha, your mom and sister are here.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, Manny, please escort our guests to cabin six.”

Hernandez smiled. He went to the door and opened it. I took my coffee with me, didn’t ask if I could take it out of the house, but no one stopped me. I savored the flavor and tried to not to think about Rachel’s immunity. Honestly I think I was jealous.

We followed him outside and up a hill.

On the other side we could see the full camp.

It didn’t look great.

The place looked worse than CostKing. There was garbage everywhere. Kids ran around without shoes, there were several pigs and chickens walking around and two pens filled with goats and three cows. The smell of animal shit was horrific.

“Jesus,” I said.

“I know it doesn’t look good,” Hernandez said. “But we get by and you get used to the smell. It keeps them away.”

I don’t think I could ever get used to the smell and I didn’t want to leave the kid here. Hernandez began to lead us to the cabin. When Chinakitty started crying in her carrier, some of the kids stopped playing and came over to us.

“Is that a kitty?” one of the kids said, a white boy who looked about eight and stunk worse than the animals.

“Yes,” Aisha said. “Her name is Chinakitty.”

“Are you coming to live here?” he asked.

“Maybe,” she said.

“Can I play with the kitty if you do?”

“Sure,” Then she stopped. A black woman was standing at cabin 6 with a girl about eleven standing next to her. I knew from the pictures that was her mother. The girl dropped the carrier and ran to her mother.

“Momma!” she screamed.

The woman put her arms out and Aisha nearly jumped into them. She didn’t seem to want to let go of her mom.

They must have been hugging for five minutes before they released each other. Jim picked up the cat carrier, went over and the rest of us followed.

“Jim,” Aisha yelled out. “Mom, this is Jim. We all lived at the CostKing with Maddie, and Rachel and a bunch of people.”

“Thank you,” Aisha’s mother said. “Thank you for looking after my daughter. Are you all staying here now?”

Jim shook his head. “We came looking for you.”

“Dad never came home,” she explained. “I tried to get to you but ended up at CostKing.”

“At least come in,” she said, motioning to the bunkhouse.

The house was big and had four separate bunks beds. Two were made up, one was empty and the third was filled with stuff. Unlike the outside, it was squeaky clean with no sign of dirt or dust. However the animal smell still filled the air.

Aisha’s mom went to a corner bunk. Next to it was a table with four chairs. There weren’t enough seats, so I grabbed one before anyone could. Jim, Aisha’s mom, and Aisha ended at the table with Tanya, Jake and Annemarie behind us. Aisha’s sister sat on her bed. Her eyes wide but I couldn’t tell what emotion.

“I don’t think I introduced myself properly. I’m Lynne, this is my daughter Ariel.”

“I’m Jim, this is Dave, Tanya, Annemarie and Jake.”

“You took care of my little girl?” Lynne said.

“We all did,” Jim said and smiled at Aisha. “And she’s not really a little girl anymore.”

Lynne smiled. “You’re right. Thank you for looking after her—“ she paused. “I thought she was gone— I shouldn’t have let her stay with Victor.”

“Is dad dead?” Ariel finally said.

“I don’t know,” Aisha said. “Dad left me and went to work, he never came home.” She didn’t add that he was sick.

“Typical,” Lynne said, under her breath. I heard her because she was sitting next to me.

“This place is pretty bad,” Jim said. “You can come back with us to CostKing. We got a ton of food and a few good shooters--” he paused. “And it’s a lot cleaner.”

“That’s awfully sweet. This place might look bad but I think it’s safer. We have soldiers to protect us, we’ve been here a year and because of the smell, there hasn’t been any major attacks. We have our own bunk. This camp was expecting a thousand kids, there’s tons of food. We got chickens and eggs, goats, cows, even a couple of pigs and we’re growing our own food. And all of us, we’re good to each other. We all pitch in. This feels almost like being in a community again.”

It sounded ideal but I didn’t think it would be as secure in the open and I hated the smell.   

“Can Chinakitty stay?” Aisha asked.

“Yes, but she has to live outside for the most part and catch rodents.”

“She always did,”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Jim asked.

“I’m sure, but bless you all for bringing my baby back.”

Chapter 21

The sun started going down when we came to Annemarie’s parent’s house. We had said our goodbyes to Aisha. I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of leaving her there, but I wasn’t her parent.

Tomorrow we
would head back to Westbury and let them know nothing is left. Marauding zombies, groups of people hiding and no government.

Her parents seemed pretty well–to-do with a large house on a tree-line street, except the one house at the corner on fire and several zombies in the street. This wasn’t going to be good.

When we drove past them they began to move in our direction. It was getting dark so we had to stay here or at least close by. Annemarie’s parents had a large attached garage with a door that went up instead of out.

“I’m going to back up into the driveway,” I told Tanya. “Can you handle getting the garage door open?”

“No problem.” She had no fear in her face.

“Then I’ll pull in as far as I can. You get our people in, then come for me.”

Tanya relayed the message through the radio. I made a k-turn in the street and backed up to the driveway. Tanya got out, one of Mike’s rifles in her hands. One zombie by the house she dispatched quickly. Didn’t get a head shot but knocked it down. The others were on the way. I watched then shamble to us almost like they were dancing. A newer zombie led the way. A young woman, her arm missing, but her face intact and pale. I couldn’t see Tanya because of the angle, but I heard the garage door open. I backed up the truck until I felt the tip hit the edge of the garage, then waited. My heart was beating when I saw the fresh zombie walk to the front of the truck. It almost looked like she was staring at me with her dead glazed over eyes.  She opened her mouth and some kind of dark liquid came out. The cab was silent except for my breathing as I stared at her.

I heard the back of the truck opening and Tanya yelling. I put Olive’s leash on. Olive seemed confused by the situation and barked.

The zombie in front began moving forward. I don’t know if it was the sounds of the truck, Tanya yelling or Olive’s bark. I prayed Tanya would return soon and I wouldn’t suffer a massive coronary.

The door opened and I nearly screamed but it was Tanya, she slid into the passenger seat and slammed the door hard.

The woman zombie moved to the sound of the noise. Tanya gave it the middle finger.

“Gonna whack it with the door,” she said. “You go out. Basement door is unlocked, you wait for me inside.”

I didn’t want to leave her and I didn’t want to go out there. I took a deep breath trying to stop the pounding on my heart.

Tanya opened the door and bashed it hard which knocked it over but didn’t kill it. I went out the other door, yanking Olive with me. She didn’t resist, she looked happy to be running. I ran for the garage without looking back.

I heard shots as I got into the garage. I didn’t pause or hesitate. I imagined cold dead fingers on my shoulder.

My goal was to get Olive and me through that basement door. I yanked it open. I released Olive who ran inside and closed it behind me. I was in a laundry room. The house seemed empty and quiet. Jim waited by the door.

I was gasping for breath.

“Tanya?” Jim asked.

I didn’t get a chance to say anything because I heard the garage door slam shut. Tanya came in a moment later.

“What?” she said. “You all worried about me?”

We walked out of the laundry into the full but dark basement where Annemarie and Jake waited illuminated only by a flashlight. Olive came back to me and I put her back on the leash.

“Their SUV is gone,” Annemarie said. She was at least cautious. She didn’t race up the steps screaming her parent’s names, but I could see she wanted to. Jim turned on his flashlight and revealed a large rec-room complete with TV, sofa and bar. I nearly laughed.

“Go,” Tanya said. “Be careful.”

Annemarie went up the steps and opened the basement door. She held one of the rifles but pointed it to the ground. Tanya and I remained a few steps behind. “Clear,” she said and moved into the hallway. She led us to a large empty living room. There was no smell of death, or sounds of zombies. It only smelled musty like no one had been here for a while. I guess that was good.

“Hello?” Annemarie called out. “Mom? Dad?”

I knew no one was in the house. Maybe they left a note. I let Olive loose and she ran around the house, thankfully not yipping.

Annemarie headed upstairs while Tanya and I followed. Next to the staircase were dozens of pictures of Annemarie and another girl who looked older. There were four doors upstairs all open. I didn’t think anyone was here.

“Mom! Dad!” Annemarie called out to empty rooms.

She went into the biggest bedroom which I assume belonged to her parents. The bed was made, and dusty. Flowers on a night-table next to the bed had dried away to almost dust.  Annemarie sat on the bed looking dejected.

“They aren’t here,” she said.

“At least there ain’t bodies,” Tanya said. “Maybe they left a note.”

“Maybe,” Annemarie said, but she didn’t seem convinced. I know she was disappointed, but did she expect? Her parents waiting with open arms? I figured her parents got sick and went to the hospital where they died. “I guess I’ll look around.”

I didn’t go with her, but Tanya did. Instead I left the room and went downstairs.  Jim and Jake were looking out the windows, their heads under the white shades.