Tainted Grace (7 page)

The inside of the house was sparse. The walls were white, or some shade thereof. It was difficult to be certain because lighting was dim and dried blood stains marred many of the surfaces. Thunder sounded overhead, causing the windows to rattle. Hail began falling, making distinctive ping-ping-ping sounds on the metal roof. Curtains were drawn, but the windows weren’t boarded.

“Welcome, everyone,” said Bill with a grin. “It’s small, and cold, but
it’s home.”

“Thanks,” said Boggs.

“We should get below. I always feel vulnerable up here,” said Jack.

“Righty-O,” answered Bill. “Just follow us,” he said, addressing our group of five.

The others had already started walking toward the back of the house. We followed quietly. We were led past an old china cabinet. The sides and doors were warping from moisture and cold. Pictures still hung on the wall, probably of whoever had lived here. I briefly studied the faces of an older man and woman in one of the larger photos. They were both void of smiles and from the faded sepia coloring I guessed the photo was quite old. We walked on carpeting that was worn from foot traffic. We passed two open doors. Peeking inside, I noted that both rooms were empty. No furnishings. It seemed so cold and impersonal compared to the cabin we had just left behind.

At the back of the house, we were led to a doorway.
It looked like any other door you might find in a house, except that it was reinforced with sheet metal and looked beat-up.

“This will lead us below,” explained Nathan to Susan.
“Things look better down in the basement.”

The house had looked like a single story from outside.
Tricky.

Aldo reached forward and turned the knob, then swung the door wide.
Abbey went first, disappearing down a staircase into the abyss below. Kelsey followed.

“Abbey doesn’t like to be up here very much,” said Bill.
“None of us do, but she gets really antsy.” He motioned us forward. “The steps are steep, so do tread carefully.”

Emilie went next.
I followed her, careful to walk slowly. My eyes began to adjust to the dimness. I could hear Boggs behind me.

From above, Bill called down.
“When you get to the bottom of the stairs you’ll be turning left. Walk down the hall and you’ll see the main room.”

Once we had descended the stairs, Emilie reached back and found my hand.
The hallway was lit by a single candle sitting on a small end table off to one side. It seemed slightly warmer than the upper level of the home, but maybe it was just an illusion or wishful thinking.

Before long we came to the end of the hall, and could hear the two sisters talking quietly.
Their voices were filled with excitement. Emilie and I walked into what looked like a rec-room. It was furnished with a long sectional “L” shaped sofa, a couple of recliners, and a few bean bags scattered about. Candles were lit at various points around the room. The walls were covered in wainscot. It felt homey, in its own way. It reminded me just a bit of the basement in Boggs’ parent’s house, except all of the lower story windows here were covered with miscellaneous boards and broken down pieces of furniture. Cases of bottled water and canned goods lined one wall. A bar was located on the far right side in an alcove. Best of all was a wood stove off to our left. I recalled Bill and Nathan mentioning a fireplace that they kept lit at nighttime only. Boggs, Gus, Susan, Nathan, Aldo, and Bill joined us.

“Jack’s securing the door.
He’ll be here soon,” said Nathan to whoever was listening. “We’ll all sit down and talk then.”

Boggs quietly walked up beside me, and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
I took great joy in his closeness. “Zoe, you look tired. Go sit down. Put your feet up,” he whispered.

I nodded, and let him guide me to the big sofa.
I sat on the end that had a built in ottoman, and he lifted my feet onto the couch and slipped my shoes off for me. Jack joined us, and everyone settled in. These people that we had just met looked excited to hear our story, and we theirs. Boggs sat close beside me, holding my hand.

We took turns telling our various tales, talking about our old lives, and our new.
As time ticked by the room grew colder. Eventually young Abbey stood and walked to the wood stove.

“Is it ok now, Uncle Jack?” asked the timid preteen.

Jack looked down at his wristwatch. “Yup. Go ahead.” He smiled at her.

The girl opened the door of the woodstove, and set to work with pieces of dry kindling and wadded up newspaper.
Before long her fire took on a life of its own, and she shut the little metal door. When she was done, she walked to a corner and pulled out one of the bean bags. She drug it near the fire, and settled in with a paperback and a candle. I suppose the adult conversation wasn't as interesting as whatever world she was reading about.

I leaned against Boggs and snuggled close, appreciating his warmth. Before long I closed my eyes and just listened to the others.
My curse of hearing the minds of the zombies hadn’t been mentioned yet. Plans to leave the house to head for an island in the Sound were being tossed around. The general consensus seemed to be that we needed to leave sooner rather than later. I was exhausted and fighting it was useless. I let myself drift into a state that was just lighter than sleep.

Kelsey expressed her concerns over where to safely rest along the way.
We all knew by now that vehicles would be unsafe. Aldo insisted on taking a weapons inventory, and no one argued. Boggs brought up the topic of finding a boat. Everyone was in agreement that we’d need one big enough for all of us, and that the first trek across Puget Sound should include all eleven of us for safety sake. Once there, Jack, Bill, and Gus all agreed we’d need to sweep the island to rid it of any Runners or Roamers. All three of them had military experience, which would help with planning and executing those plans. It would undoubtedly be dangerous. The larger the island, the more hazardous it would be. I opened my eyes when I heard paper being unfolded. A map was being spread on the floor in front of the couch. I wriggled a bit to sit up straighter.

“I think we should stay north,” said Jack.
“We’re about here now,” he said after clearing his throat, and pointed to a spot on the map in the mountains.

Boggs scooted forward to the edge of the couch, so I followed suit.

“I’d suggest Sucia Island, right here,” continued Jack as he pointed to a small island on the map, quite a ways offshore. “It looks big enough to sustain us, and there’s about ten or eleven smaller islands very close by. It’s far enough offshore to deter other people, and with the other smaller islands nearby we could eventually use non-motorized boats to go from island to island. That’s important for hunting and gathering,” he explained. “We’d run the risk of getting stuck there in time, though, since in time motors will break down.”

“We need to choose carefully then, assuming where we set up our new life will be our new ‘world’ from here on out,” added Gus.
“We’ll need to get enough supplies from the mainland to sustain us for a long time. Seeds, tools for building. If there’s any left to be found, we might consider livestock, chickens. Things like that.”

“We’ll need to make a list,” chimed in Susan.

Nathan set his hand on her knee and winked at her. “You like lists.”

“There’s a huge marine store and dry dock down south - Dagmar’s,” said Boggs.
“It’d take us really close to Marysville and Everett, though. I’m afraid it all might be overrun too badly.”

“We should keep it in mind as a second or third option, then,” said Bill.
“We can look for a boat at private homes on the way. Taking one that’s already in the water might be helpful, too.”

“
Yes but keys would be an issue then,” added Jack. “Unless one of us is good at hot wiring?”

“I can do it,” said Aldo.

I looked at the young man and yawned. He winked at me. I found him a bit creepy. My stomach was starting to grumble. I was hoping someone would mention food soon.

“How will we get all the supplies to the island?” I asked.
“We won’t have room for everything we need on this first trip, between the vehicles already being pretty full and eleven of us on a boat.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” added Kelsey.
“Should we make a list of what we’ll need at first and focus on those things?”

“Sounds like a great plan, maybe you and Susan can work on that together,” said Jack.
I could tell that Jack and Bill were very much the natural leaders of this group. I sensed just a bit of tension with Aldo.

As time ticked by slowly, we all put in our two cents about what we felt was important for first settling the island.
Topping the list was sporting goods like tents, sleeping bags, tarps, camping stoves and fuel, more weapons, food, and heavy clothing. Basic tools for building were also at the top of the list. Hammers, nails, saws. A wish list was made for a generator or two with fuel and power tools. Gus insisted on finding a library to secure books on building, homesteading, as well as medical texts. It was agreed that trips back to the mainland would need to be made to obtain more supplies. A second “to do later” list was made with priorities for medical supplies, more food, livestock, seeds, and tools for hunting and fishing. We all agreed that smaller scavenging parties of three or four men and women would be made until we had enough to sustain us for several years. By that time, goods on the mainland would likely have gone bad. In the Pacific Northwest with cold and damp much of the year, without electricity and heat, things would quickly begin to mildew and decay. We had already seen it start.

The next topic was of scheduling our departure.
Snow was melting now, unseasonably early. Our hope was that the pass would be clear enough by now, but we would need to plan a scouting trip to see. It had obviously been weeks since snowplows had run, and we all feared the worst. The best plan seemed to be taking the Suburban, manned by two or three of us, to check the status of the roads.

“I think Bill, Jack, Boggs, and Miss Zoe here should go on the initial trip,” said Gus.

Oh boy. I knew what this meant. Time to tell about Zoe’s freakish ability. I sighed.

“Why Zoe?
Why not me or Nathan?” asked Aldo.

“Zoe has a special gift, Aldo”, said Bill quietly.

Aldo looked at me, as did the others who had just met us.

“What does that mean?” asked Kelsey, looking back at Bill.

“She seems to have a link to the living dead. She can sense when they are near,” he explained.

Aldo laughed, too loudly.
“What the hell does that mean?”

I shrunk myself into a ball the best I could, and nestled against Boggs.

“She injured her hip the first day of this mess,” answered Gus. “My best guess is that the wound became infected by whatever caused this. She nearly died from the infection, and several days later she was able to hear the dead, see through their eyes.”

Aldo stood, obviously defensively.
“That’s fucked up,” he barked as he ran a hand through his straight shoulder length greasy black hair. “If she’s infected she needs to go.” He had obvious anger in his black eyes, possibly even hate. He took a step toward me.

Boggs stood automatically, placing himself protectively in front of me.
“Stay the fuck back, man,” he said sternly. “Zoe is not one of those things, not even close.”

Gus was now beside Boggs, effectively blocking me from danger.
At least for the moment.

“You need to check yourself, Aldo,” said Gus.
My duo of protectors, I admit, was intimidating.

Bill stood.
“Aldo, sit your ass down. Now.”

“No fucking way,” said Aldo adamantly.
“I won’t share a roof with her. Not if she’s fucking infected.”

I wanted to disappear.

From the end of the room near the woodstove, young Abbey spoke softly. “If she was dangerous wouldn’t she have already tried to eat us?”

I could tell she was shy and knew speaking up must have taken a lot of courage on her part.
It made me smile just a bit, to myself. I heard Kelsey chuckle. Obviously she didn’t know that I had recently bitten Boggs. I wondered, not for the first time, if the group would be better off leaving me behind. I tucked that thought into my pocket, so to speak, to save for another time. I knew that it was not only my own life, but also that of my unborn child, that depended on these other people for survival.

“Shut up, Twerp,” Aldo snarled at the preteen.

“You shut up, Jerk,” said Kelsey, defending her little sister.

By now Jack, Susan, and Nathan had also stood.
Aldo was holding a handgun, aiming it in my general direction but at the floor. He was clearly agitated.

“Let’s just all calm down,” said Jack.
“Bill, Nathan, you really should have told us about this…situation…before coming below.”

Bill nodded.
“Perhaps, but it seemed to make the most sense to discuss it calmly as a group. The girl’s no danger, really. We’ve been with them for a couple of days now. She’s just like us, for the most part.”