Parish (13 page)

              “Thanks.” Wade accepted the can of peaches with a grateful nod.

              “Wren, you okay?” Artemis sat down opposite the twins.  She stared blankly at the can in her hand.  She seemed disconnected, as if she wasn’t sure what she was holding or why she was holding it.  “Wren?  Wren?”

              “Huh?” She lifted her glazed eyes to look at Artemis.

              “I asked if you were okay.  You’ve been real quiet.”  He cracked his neck as he spoke.  Wade looked to his sister and anxiously awaited her reply.  Emily was present physically but she was elsewhere in her mind.

              “I don’t know.” Wren furrowed her brow.  “I saw a girl, she looked my age, she was walking around and her arm was gone, and one of her eyes.  It just that could be me.  If it happened to Jamie, it could happen to me, to any of us.  I don’t want to die, I don’t want to be one of those things.”

              “We’re not going to let that happen.” Wade reached out and put his hand on her shoulder.  “You and me, we’ve always had each other’s back, right?  We got Artemis, he won’t let anything happen to us.  We still have Mom.”

              “I promise I am gonna do whatever I have to and I will protect you.” Artemis affirmed Wade’s message.

              “Mom, tell her.” Wade looked to Emily.  Emily slowly moved, but not to respond instead she reached into the backpack closest to her and began to dig around.  Wade shook his head and turned his attention back to Wren.  “We’re gonna get to Baton Rouge and see what’s there.”

              “What if there’s nothing there?” Wren sat the can on the floor in front of her.

              “Then we keep looking.” Artemis tossed Wade the can opener.  “We just keep going until we can stop.”

              “Yeah, what he said.  We’re not going to give up.” Wade reached down and grabbed the can Wren had just sat down and opened it for her. 

              A soft moaning wafted in to the room from outside, causing everyone to become silent.  They waited until it passed before speaking again.

              “Okay, we need to lighten up the mood.  Why don’t we tell jokes or stories or something?  Anything.” Wade sighed as he took a mouthful of peaches, and chewed it slowly.

              “Y’all look like you could sleep for a week.  Let’s save the sharing and jokes for tomorrow. After we eat, y’all sleep, I’ll take first watch.” Artemis sat down the can he had been eating from and pulled himself up from the floor.

              “No.” Wren shook her head, and stood up.  “You’ve always taken the first shift.  You sleep and I’ll take watch.”

              “Wren, no offense but you’ve been a bit la la.” Wade made circling motions at his temple with his pointer finger to indicate she had been a bit crazy.

              “I know, but…I’m good.  You’re right, I can’t just lose my marbles and think I’ll survive this.  The only way I’m going to survive this, any of us are going to survive this, is if we’re strong.  I need to be strong, I can do this.  Let me take first watch.” She took a deep breath.

              “Alright.” Artemis nodded, suddenly feeling very proud of the petite teenager.

              “Artemis, are you sure?” Wade gave him a suspicious and trying look.

              “Yeah, she got this.” He nodded as he sat back down.  Emily stood up, wordlessly, he back turned them and walked towards the counter.  She pulled herself up on the counter, and laid down still keeping her back to them.

              “I guess Mom’s turning in for the night.” Wren nodded towards the woman.

              “Let her be, she’s had a real rough time of it.” Artemis shook his head minutely.

              “We’ve all had a rough time.” Wade grumbled.

              “She just needs a little time.  Trust me.” Artemis stretched his legs out in front of him before leaning back onto his crossed arms beneath his head.  “Get some rest, Wade.  If you run into trouble you wake me up, okay Wren?”

              “No problem.” Wren picked up the crowbar that was sitting on the floor beside Wade.  Walking towards the front of the store she gripped the cold metal in her palm.  Waiting quietly until she was sure everyone else was asleep, she turned her attention to her mother’s sleeping form and pondered over everything.

              A few hours later Wren felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Artemis smirking at her.  He told her to go lay down, he was taking the second watch.  Reluctantly Wren agreed and found herself fast asleep on the floor.

              “Jamie! Jamie!” Emily screamed as she bolted upright.  As quickly as she sat up she felt a hand clamp down over her mouth.

              “Shhh!” Her eyes flew up to see Wade hovering beside her.  He slowly released his hold and took a step back.  “You’re gonna bring them down on us, you can’t be screaming like that.”

              “It was a nightmare, I didn’t mean to scream.” Emily closed her eyes and rubbed her palms over them as she turned, swinging her legs down from the counter.

              “I figured.  It was about Jamie?” He reached out and took his mother’s hand. 

              “Yes.” She whispered her reply.  Artemis and Wren were both still fast asleep, Wade having taken the third watch. 

              “It’s okay to miss him Mom.  I miss him and Dad, a lot.” Wade pulled himself up to sit beside her on the counter, his sneaker clad feet swinging.  “It wasn’t your fault, there was nothing we could have done for either of them.”

              “Nothing.” Emily whispered.

              “What’s this?” Wade asked as he reached behind her and pulled out a teddy bear.  A knowing look spread across his face.  “Jamie’s teddy, Mr. Minga.” Wade ran his hand over the teddy bears beat up face.  It didn’t have a nose, one eye was missing and he had several ‘scars’ where Emily and Jack had been forced to stitch him up.

              “He must have packed it.  I found it in the very bottom of one of the backpacks.” Emily reached down and pulled the beat up bear from Wade’s grip.  “He couldn’t face the zombies without him.”  Suddenly a great sob erupted from Emily, tears poured from her eyes down onto the matted fur of the bear.

              “Mom.” Wade moved to put his arm around the sobbing woman.  Emily pulled away, and jumped down from the counter.  The loud thud from her landing caused Wren and Artemis to wake and look to her and Wade.

              “I can’t do this.” Emily shook her head as she clutched the stuffed bear to her chest.  “I can’t, I can’t!”  She spun around and took off, slamming her body into a door and disappearing through.  Wren and Artemis jumped up and followed Wade through the door.  They found a set of stairs leading upward.  Taking two stairs at a time they reached the roof moments after Emily.

              “Mom? What are you doing?” Wade cried out as they burst through the door.  Emily was standing near the edge.  Emily turned around and looked at the twins and her friend.  She stared at them as they all regarded her with eyes filled to the brim with confusion and concern.

              “It’s my fault, this is all my fault.” Emily waved her hand out to her side.

              “It’s not your fault.” Artemis shook his head and moved to take a step towards her.  Emily held her hand up to stop him from coming any closer.

              “No!  Stop!  I have to tell you, all of you.  I did this, my team did this.  Nazarene caused the zombies and I knew it would.  I’ve known all along this was going to happen.  I knew when it would start.  I didn’t tell anyone, we weren’t allowed to.  Your dad got Jamie the shot, he didn’t know.  Oh god my life’s work killed them!  I killed them!” Emily clutched the bear so hard her knuckles began to turn white. 

              “What?” Artemis whispered.

              “Nazarene did this?” Wade shook his head.

              “Yes, oh god yes, it did.” Emily nodded.

              “Wait, you knew this would happen?  You knew that you were creating something that would kill millions of innocent people?” Wren’s eyes narrowed, her voice dripping with venom.

              “It was a government contract, they wanted it.  I swear we didn’t know at first.  We didn’t know they were going to use it against their own people.  I swear, I swear…” Emily shook her head.

              “You killed Dad? Jamie?” Wade had both hands on his head as his voice grew.

              “Yes.” Emily turned her back to them and took a step closer to the edge of the building.  “I can’t let you live with this.  You can’t answer for what I’ve done.  I can’t do this without them.” Emily stepped up onto the small brick barrier.

              “Doc, don’t do it!” Artemis took another step toward Emily.

              “I’m sorry, I’m so very sorry.  Please, if you could ever find it in your heart to forgive me, please, try.  I love you.” Emily closed her eyes and stepped out into the air.

              “Mom!” Wade screamed as they all ran to the edge and looked over.  Emily was laying upon the sidewalk, a pool of blood growing outwardly from her body, soaking the teddy bear that had landed beside her.  Wade stumbled backwards, falling onto his bottom.  Artemis sat down, his back pressed to the barrier.  He ran his hands over his face, slowly.  Wren sat down beside him.

              “I can’t believe she just did that.” Artemis shook his head. 

              “She did this, all of this.” Wren replied.  Wade and Artemis looked up at her in disbelief. “At least she proved she still had a soul.”

              “Wren that was our mother.” Wade knit his brows as he stared at his sister.

              “I don’t care.  She is responsible for this, for the deaths of millions not to mention Dad and Jamie.” Wren stood up.  “We need to keep moving.”

              “How can you be so heartless?” Wade stood up and poked her in the shoulder with his finger.

              “She was the heartless one.  That’s what her and Dad were fighting about, Wade.  She told him about Nazarene, what was happening and what was happening to Jamie.  He was disgusted with her too.” She spun on her heel and marched back to the door, and slipped back into the stairwell, leaving Artemis and Wade alone.

              “I’m sorry, Wade.” Artemis stood up.  “You’ve lost so many, I am sorry.”

              “Are you going to leave us now?” Wade asked.

              “What?” His jaw went slack.

              “Are you going to leave us now?  Now that you know it was our mother that started this.” Wade explained himself.

              “No.  Why would you think I would just leave you?” He walked over to Wade and looked him in the eye.  “We’re a team, the three of us, we’ll keep going.”

              “But Wren…”Wade looked over his shoulder in the direction she had gone.

              “She’s understandably pissed at the moment.  Let her have the anger for a while.  This won’t be an easy thing to forgive, if she can ever do it.  Let Wren be Wren, okay?” Artemis sidestepped Wade and made his way to the door.  “Come on, let’s get packed up and head out.”

              “What about Mom’s body?” Wade asked as he followed him down the stairs.

              “I wish we could give her a proper burial, guy, it just ain’t possible.  Not with those things, it’s just too dangerous.  I’m sorry.” They walked back into the office space.

              “I understand” Wade nodded numbly.  This time last week he never though he and Wren would be the last remaining members of their family.  They were orphans and their little brother was gone, and it was their own mothers doing.  He looked over at Wren who was packing up her backpack, her attention laser focused.

              “How far will the truck get us?” Wade asked as he closed his bag and stood up allowing it to dangle from his grip on one of the straps.

              “We got about half a tank.  I don’t really know.  I mean, it’s hard to say because you have to take into consideration the possibility of anything in our way.  If we have to detour, we won’t get as far.” Artemis replied.

              “Well there ain’t no point in standing around here talking about it, let’s move out.” Wren walked up to them, ready to leave. Her backpack was already on her back as she stood with the crowbar laying gently at her side.

              “Alright.” Artemis grunted a bit as he stood up.  “Y’all ready?”

              “Yeah.” Wade nodded. Wren merely crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

              “Okay, I’ll go out first you two bring up the rear.  Eyes open and ears ready, remember to stay quiet until we get in the truck.” Artemis lifted his gun up, preparing to open to the door.

              “No shit.” Wren mumbled, raising the crowbar as if it were a baseball bat.  Artemis and Wade exchanged a look before he opened the door softly.  A few of the dead were shuffling past on the sidewalk opposite of them.  The smell of the rotting corpses began to hang think in the air.  Death and decay mixed with rot permeated their senses.  The longer they were exposed to it the less they were able to smell it. 

              As they approached the truck a male zombie, with half of his jaw missing shambled out from behind the cargo space and walked up towards them.  Artemis and Wade spun around, prepared to rush forward and take him out before he could sink his black festering mouth into Wren’s flesh.