Seeking Sanctuary (Walkers) (2 page)

    
The cabin was full when we returned.  We planned to have the meeting after dinner so it was a quiet bunch who dined on venison stew that night.  Tomorrow evening we planned a big barbeque but we had to get through this meeting first.

    
When we finally got around to sitting down, no one knew what to say.  We just looked at each other and it seemed they wanted me to be the one to start it so, I sighed the big put upon sigh and started to stand.  Mason grabbed my hand and thought,
I don't think you need to stand if it makes you nervous, just sit next to me.
I squeezed his hand and began.

    
"As you all know, we'll be heading back to Montana soon.   We have to make a couple more trips to town and the first one will be tomorrow but by the end of the month, we'll be leaving.  I know almost every  one of you plan to stay and that was our agreement back almost six months ago?"  I looked around me and got several nods so I continued,  "and it's still all right with us but we wanted you to know, if anyone wants to go with us we'll sure take you.  I'm not going to tell you about Montana unless you plan to go back with us.  That way no one is influenced.  So, if any of you want to go, talk to us later and we'll answer any questions you have."

    
They looked at each other and when no one jumped us and ran to us I was disappointed to the max but I knew they'd been thinking about it so I could wait them out.  Flynn stood up to get another cup of coffee and said, "I need to know who's going into town with us tomorrow so we can brief you.  Also, there will be another drill later to test the new security system Duke and Sid's developed.  If this meeting is over, I'll meet with tomorrows detail now, the rest of you can go."

    
We all nodded, then I squeezed Masons hand and moseyed out to the porch.  I had a knot in my stomach cause Mikey hadn't acted like he was going with us but I knew he had to do what was best for him.  They all did.  I'd managed just fine to survive the major disappointments of this savage new world, I just refused to like it.

   
Sitting in my favorite chair, I watched the sky darken into dusk and rocked, thinking back to Montana and the lodge.  I'd watch the stars come out there too and thrilled at the falling stars I made wishes on.  Mason would come out and sit with me and we'd just rock and enjoy.  I'd be glad to get back home but I had a feeling it would be more Kens home than mine cause he found it but I'd cross that bridge when I came to it.

    
When the door opened I thought of Mason but it was Lacy instead.  "How ya doing, kiddo?"  She'd had a miscarriage a few months back and it knocked her for a loop but she came out of it just fine.  Still, I always asked how she was.  I couldn't help it and she finally gave up being angry by it, knowing I did it out of love.

    
"A little sad.  I hate to leave the kids behind.  Mikey has become the child I never had and I'll just hate it if he decides to stay with the others.  But I can't make him go, he'd end up hating me and I couldn't stand that.  How do you do it?"

    
"Do what?"

    
"Stay so detached from them."

    
I looked at her as my mind tried to process what she'd just said.

    
"Detached?"

    
"Well, that's the way I see it."

    
"Well, I'm not 'detached' as you put it.  I'm just not going to influence any of them to go with us, Lacy.  It has to be their decision,  that's all."

    
Before she could reply, the door opened again, and Mikey stuck his head out.

    
"JD, can I talk to you a minute?  That is, if it's OK with Lacy."

    
Lacy smiled, winked at me and went back inside, ruffling his head as she walked by.  I heard her say something to someone before the door closed.  Mason slipped into my mind and back out just as fast and I smiled.  What a duffus.

    
"What's up, Mikey?"

    
He walked over to me and put his hand on my knee.  

    
"I want you to tell me about Montana.  I can't decide if I want to go till I know all about it.  You said we have to make a 'formed' decision and I'm not 'formed, so..."  I tried not to smile but failed, so I reached over to a chair, slid it over to me and motioned for him to sit.  Then I began to tell him about Montana.  It took longer than I thought it would but I enjoyed every minute.  I could almost smell the sweet air, and see the eagles by the time I was through. He nodded, then rose from the chair put his hand lightly on my knee and went back inside.

  
Soon Mason came out and leaned against the porch railing.    He'd stayed for the meeting.

    
"Well, there's a bunch of us going tomorrow, were you going to go?"  I smiled.  I'd been bitching about being left behind without being asked so many times, that he made sure he asked now.  It also seemed as though if he left me behind I somehow got hurt.  I don't know why, it just worked out that way.  Mason felt better about me going to keep me healthy.  So far it worked.

    
"Na, I think I'll stay here and take a ride.  You wouldn't want to go for a ride just for the hell of it?"  The young ones had gone out one day and came back with several horses.  A couple of them still had saddles on and their backs were a mass of sores, so our resident vet, Lucy, went to work on them and had them fit as fiddles in a couple of months.  I'd learned to ride and enjoyed it more than I thought I would, so when I got the chance, I was on a horse.

    
"You know, with the crew that's going tomorrow I don't think they'll miss me at all.   You're on, brat.  I'll go tell Flynn.  Oh, and Sarah wanted me to tell you brownies are for dessert if you're interested."

    
I smiled, yep, I'm interested.  He smiled back at me, offered me his hand and we went in to chocolate up.

                                                           Chapter 2

             
I awoke in the dark. I lay there listening to somebody or something walking on the roof of our camper.  I followed the movement with my eyes while I tried to elbow Mason awake.  The something in question chose that moment to jump up and down a couple of times which had a much better effect of waking Mason than my pointed elbow did.

     "What the hell,”  he said, as he sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes.  Right then the walking overhead turned into running.  It sounded like someone was simply running back and forth,willy-nilly.  “What IS that?” he asked, as his head followed  the movements hither and yon.

     "I don't know?  That's why I woke you up.”  Our heads moving back and forth with the movement now.  He looked at me then unbelievably said, “Can you read it's mind?” 

     “Geez, Mason.  I don't know.  Let me think...hmm.  Do I even want to read 'its' mind?  Hell no, I haven't read its mind nor do I intend to.”  I got out of bed and began searching for my clothes, mumbling.  “Like I even know what 'it' is for Gods sake.  If you want 'its' mind read, then do it yourself,” I said pointing my shoe at him with every word.  He was just looking at me with 'that' look.  “Oh for heavens sake, get a grip already...”  Then the  loudest, most horrendous scream I'd ever heard came from above us.  Mason was out of that bed in a shot and had his clothes on before I even got my other shoe on.  Of course  I'd ducked although I have no idea why.  He was armed and dangerous in a blink of any eye while I was mentally calling Lacy who is in the camper behind us.  I ran to the kitchen, kneeled in the booth, and looked out the top part of the window.

    The bottom of the window is blacked out to keep walkers from looking inside and seeing you and getting all excited and whatnot.  I couldn't see anything but stars when I looked out, so I sat at the table and stared at Mason while he tried to see in the dark.  Then I wondered what time it was.  The walking above had stopped, so we looked at each other like fools while we waited for Lacy to shine a light at us to see what the noise is all about. 

     I can't see anything,
Lacy thought,
  but I damned sure heard that scream.  George said it woke up some of the kids but otherwise no one else was bothered but us.  Did you hear walking on your roof?

     Yeah, then running, jumping up and down, the Texas two step and the Cowboy cheerleaders at half time before the screaming started.  You sure there's nothing out there?
                                                                                                               

     Mason was on his way out the door when I heard another scream.  It almost sounded human, but didn't, if ya know what I mean. He hesitated and squared his shoulders before taking an tentative step out the door.  Something shook the camper again and he slammed that door so hard I jumped.  “My God,”  he said as he crouched on the floor, ducking down like the roof would come down any minute.  I'd been doing the same thing a few minutes earlier so I didn't comment.  The hair was standing up on every part of my body, then the scream sounded again but it sounded like it was farther away.  We heard it one more time, barely, before it quieted again.  “Well, hell,”  he mumbled, before opening the door and walking out into the predawn light.  When he didn't scream, I followed him out and heard all the sounds of morning, bugs and birds and turkeys so I relaxed, a little.

     People started coming out of the woodwork. Tentatively at first then with more purpose and we all congregated in the yard in front of the cabin.

     “Well?” asked Duke, looking all around us.

     “Well what?  It sounded kinda like a panther to me. But I didn't see it so I can't be sure.”  Flynn said, as he scanned the area with a pair or binoculars.  “I think it's gone now, but I don't like the idea that it was so close.  It might be a good idea to go after it.”

     “I'll go do some research and see what I can find  out.”Duke said.  But, If you ask me and you didn't, if the damned thing doesn't want to be found, it won't be and we could be wasting time and energy looking for it.”  Clint nodded his head as he continued to look around.  We were a bunch of  nuts standing in the yard twirling around in circles hoping to find the 'it' that had screamed.  Now that they figured out what to do or in this case what not to do, they were hungry.

     “OK, now wait a danged minute.”  They all turned to me and waited.  “I don't think a big cat made that noise on the roof of the camper.  It was too small for that.”

     “No, I think it was a panther or bobcat or something like that.  A bobcat is smaller than a panther so it could have been what was walking around on the roof.”

     “Really?  Then why did it leave?  Better yet, why was it walking on the roof.  And running back and forth and jumping up and down? No, it was something else and I think we should find out what.”

     “How JD?”  Lacy asked.  “Unless we  actually see it, we can't begin to figure out what it is.”  Then  everyone trooped inside the cabin in search of coffee.  I just stood there with my hands on my hips, frustrated with the response and the fact they were right.  No one had seen the 'jumper' in question so we didn't know what it was.  Evidently we didn't care what it was, until we had some coffee.  I finally threw up my hands and followed them inside but not before I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise.  I turned to look at the hills of the valley searching the trees and cliffs but saw nothing. Yet I had the feeling the nothing in question was watching me.  It would be back.  I thought
bring it on
and flipped it the bird before going inside and slamming the door.

     
Around the breakfast table they discussed whether they should go to town as planned or go hunting for the screamer.  I kept quiet because I had other plans.  I was going to go find out what that thing was that was playing on my roof this morning.  Mason kept looking over at me, expecting me to jump into the conversation at any moment and when I didn't he squinted his eyes at me.  I gave him the innocent 'what?' look while I blew into my coffee mug.  Then I smiled big and scooted the chair back.

     “Where do you think you're going?”

     “Out to the rocking chair.  Want to join me?”  I smiled at him again and went outside to sit in the dawn and scan the cliffs around me.  The squeaking of the chair and the tapping of my shoes as I pushed lightly on the wooden floor soothed me while the feeling of being watched stayed.  I couldn't find its source, although I looked everywhere.   Mickey came outside and handed me a small pie.  It was half moon shaped and contained peach pie filling.  Sarah made them so they could be eaten on the go and we all loved them.  We chatted for a few minutes then he ran back inside when Bobby yelled for him.   They were best friends now and when Bobby yelled, Mickey went running.  I took a bite of the pasty and sighed, then followed it with a sip of coffee. 

              Something made a noise and I looked for the sound.  I finally saw movement in the corner of the roof rafters and when I squinted, a pair of small, black, beady eyes looked back at me. 
Mason, dammit, get your ass out here.
The eyes didn't even blink but neither did mine.  They were about the size of marbles, black and shiny. 
Mason!
  The door slammed open with a bang as Mason propelled himself out, armed to the teeth and spinning in circles looking for the enemy.  Just then the eyes jumped at me, landing on my shoulder in a blur or white and black, then it grabbed the pastry from my hand and began eating it. I made a very unladylike squeak which surprised me enough to make me duck again.  Seemed like I was doing that a lot lately.

             
I froze.  I couldn't even look at Mason, whose feet turned slowly in my direction.  I watched them and when they didn't move, I raised my eyes just enough to see his waist.  My head wouldn't move any farther cause the 'it' in question was sitting on my hair.  I usually keep it short but I've been overdue for a haircut from some time.  I was hoping to get Sarah or Lacy to cut it before we left.  Soon, a lot of someones clomped their heavy boots out to the porch and stood looking at me.  I knew this because all the toes of the boots were pointed my direction.

     Then I heard a snicker.  It was followed by a couple more snickers then they all started laughing.  Great big guffaws and belly laughs.  The ones that make you grab your stomach and snort coffee up your nose. I still couldn't raise my head cause of the something sitting on my hair, so I had no idea what was going on.  I was not only curious as you might imagine, but I was quickly becoming pissed off.  Sloppy, wet eating sounds were great big booming noises so close to my ear and just when I was ready to do something, a great long, skinny, fuzzy tail wrapped itself around my face right under my nose.  That of course, cause the laughing, snorting troop of idiots surrounding me to start rolling on the floor.  I, however, was Not amused.

              I found my legs and stood.  At this height I could see the faces of my 'rescuers' which were various colors due to their hilarity.  My new 'friend' was starting to get heavy on my shoulder, so I walker over to Mason and glared at him.  I guess my glare is losing some of its effectiveness because Mason just looked at me.  I noticed his lips thinning and his chin moving and realized he was trying not to laugh.  I bent forward a bit and said,               “You WILL get this thing off my back,”  snickers rose behind me, “right this minute or you WILL sleep elsewhere the rest of your natural life. Do. You. Understand?”  Evidently, he didn't cause he chose that moment to resume laughing. I turned just in time for Mickey to come back out on the porch and yell, “A monkey, look everyone.  JD, found a monkey.”  For some reason this prompted my 'heroes' into action because they jumped at the door en mass to stop the kids from coming out.  The cabin shook as they barricaded the door with their bodies .

             
“A monkey, Mason?  That's what's sitting on my shoulder eating my pie?  A damned  monkey?”

     The guys didn't know whether to look at me or Mason.  They finally decided that the best defense in this case was to back off.  So they all, man to man, stood behind Mason and tried unsuccessfully not to laugh while a monkey sat on my shoulder eating my breakfast.  So I walked towards Mason who started to back away.  OK,  so I turned towards the cabin and came face to face with a window full of kids.  As a group they tilted they heads to one side and said, “Aww”.  Well, that wasn't a good idea so I turned back to the guys, who parted as I approached them.  Then I slowly walked down the steps, so the monkey on my back wouldn't get excited and shit down my back on my way to my camper.  Every step of the way was punctuated with laughter and smacking noises in my ear.  When I  finally got inside, I barricaded the door because Mason just done pissed me off royally and he wasn't getting in my bed for a long time.

     I took a moment and locked down my mind.  I imagined a brick wall that narrowed at the top to gradually meet and close off.  Then I reinforced it with steel and re-bar and mortar.   No one had access to my mind until I took down the wall.  My feelings had been hurt and that's how I planned to deal with it. 

    
I made my way to the bathroom where I stood and looked at the monkey in the mirror.  It was all black except for its face, chest and from the upper arms to its finger? tips.  Its tail seemed as long as the body.  It reminded me of the organ grinder monkeys of long ago.  At present, its tail was tightly wrapped around my face, and under my nose.  Our eyes met and although I blinked several times it continued to lick the remains of my breakfast from its fingers. I turned the water on to get it a drink and it jumped down on the edge of the sink where it drank from the facet.  I sat on the toilet and watched it as it jumped from the sink to the bed, landing right in the middle where it curled up in a ball and proceeded to go to sleep. 

             
I thought of closing the door and locking it in, but why?  It hadn't hurt anything and keeping it locked up wasn't the best thing for anyone.  I opened the window over the bed and pulled out the screen so it could get out when it was ready, and headed back to the cabin.  All the guys were sitting on the steps but were smart enough to move out of the way before I got there.  Mason began to follow me around.  He got my coffee, then another pie, then sat beside me while I ate.  I ignored him.  He tried to get inside my head a few times but the wall was still up and all I heard was knocking.

             
“JD, I'm sorry, honey,  but it was so shocking I didn't know what to do.”

     I looked at Sarah and said, “ Can you make these little pies with apple pie filling?”

     She smiled and said, “Yep, you name it, I can do it.  They freeze good too.”

Bless her little heart.  “I'll look into it and see what I can do.”

              “Great Sarah, sounds like a plan.  Let me know if you need any help.”

     “JD, darling, please don't be mad.”

     “Mason, if you haven't figured out yet that she's pissed at you then you need to talk to Duke.  He can give you some pointers.”

     “How is Duke this morning, Sarah?  He's the only one I haven't seen today.” Mason gave up talking to me but sat beside me while I ate.  I hoped he gave up soon and left me alone cause I just couldn't deal with him or the guys yet. They'd let me down and I just couldn't deal with it.