The Dead Divide Us (Book 1) (13 page)
Watching Sheriff Baxter take the podium, Paul could tell by the look of his face that he loved this. “Like a pig in shit.” Paul’s mother used to say.
“Thank you Mayor Schacht. I’ll start off by saying I’ve got some of my best deputies on round the clock patrol of Green Falls. Right now I don’t think it is a great idea to be traveling out or even letting outsiders in our community.” The Sheriff started.
The crowd started to erupt again, only for a split second, and then a balding man sitting in the middle of the auditorium raised his hand. The Sheriff let him speak.
“Are you saying we can’t leave Green Falls?”
“Sir what I’m saying is that it’s in our community’s best interest to keep things simple. Let’s remain in control of our situation here, before we start trying to help fix other people’s problems.”
Control. Isn’t that was it comes down to? Was it at all possible to have control without power? Or power without control. Humans are such complex creations that rely on and function with simplistic practices. How is it, after all this time, we cannot operate our lives with greater sincerity? Control, Power, they remain dominant.
Paul’s mind was racing.
“If anyone should encounter something out of the ordinary, please inform the police. If anyone should start to become ill, rather suddenly, just call the police. We will sort it out; we will take the sick ones to the hospital.”
There’s the power again.
Paul glanced over to his left; Warren and Glen were giving each other untrusting looks. Glen silently mouthed “What the fuck?” They both felt wary about the Sheriff’s authoritative front. And Paul was beginning to think that the entire crowd felt the same way. Small pockets of chatter and low tone whispers began to rise up from the auditorium floor. Sheriff Baxter looked puzzled; his face showed that he no longer knew what to say. So before the Sheriff could turn it back over to Mayor Schacht, Paul walked halfway down the middle aisle and spoke aloud.
“I want to hear from Roy Benton!”
The massive room fell deadly silent. But for only one full second; the crowd then erupted in approval of Paul’s request. It was as if the crowd had forgotten how much they enjoyed Roy Benton, or relied on him and what he had always done for their community. The first five rows of people stood up and started to clap, many people in the auditorium started to chant, “Roy. Roy. Roy.” Paul slowly walked backwards to his place in the back, next to Warren and Glen. They fist pumped him in congratulations. Paul knew what he had accomplished, but he didn’t realize what he had started.
Sheriff Baxter went back to his seat and was replaced by Mayor Schacht at the podium.
“Alright. Alright. Settle down everyone. I was going to ask Doctor Nicholson to take the podium next, but he can wait I supposed. Roy would you come on up please.”
Roy stood up from his chair on the stage, his arms still full of rolled up blueprints and plans. The Mayor then took his seat; he was indeed playing musical chairs with these people.
“Ok, hi everyone. Busy morning for you guys?” Roy said into the podium microphone. He intended to lighten the mood and it worked. Everyone in the crowd chuckled.
“Roy! What have heard about all of this?” Gus Frankly yelled out from the crowd. Gus owned a small yet fully stocked hardware store at the end of Main Street. Roy directed a lot of business Gus’s way. He would tell all newcomers to Green Falls to buy local, support local business, and help keep their community afloat.
Thinking about Gus’s question, and how to answer it properly, Roy was silent for a moment.
“Well like everyone, I saw the late night news. Those early reports, as unbelievable as they are, I believe are true.” Roy said, in earnest.
“How so exactly?” A young woman now yelled out from the crowd. And from behind Roy, Mayor Schacht said loud enough for him to hear, “Yes, how exactly.”
“I’m close to someone who has contact with another person on the east coast. Things are, well they’re really bad there.” Roy began.
“Come on, we know you’re talking about Paul Landry. He’s from Pennsylvania, got family there, don’t he?” Gus Frankly yelled out. The crowd agreed with him.
“Paul, why don’t you come on up here?” Roy said as the microphone peaked with a little feedback.
Paul, who had only given one public address before in his life, started to walk all the way down the long aisle toward the stage. He could feel everyone’s eyes looking at him, waiting for what he had to say. But what the hell was Paul going to tell them?
The truth no doubt, but how much of it? All of it? Some of it?
Paul walked up on stage and stood slightly behind his friend Roy Benton.
“Yes, Paul does have family all the way in Colton Pennsylvania. For those who don’t know, in the grand scheme of things Colton isn’t that far from Manhattan. What two hours maybe?”
“Yes.” Paul said. Mayor Schacht and Sheriff Baxter looked uneasy, sitting behind them.
“So what’s the story there Paul?” Stan Hadley now yelled up, from the first row. Stan worked the stacks in Green Falls Public Library. Paul still had a few books he had to return there, after all this excitement was over.
Roy took a few steps back and let Paul approach the microphone.
“I’ve been talking with my brother. We’ve had a few conversations, and yes things don’t seem to be going so well.” Paul started.
“Explain, in more detail please.” Stan Hadley said, with great anxiousness.
“My brother Robert seems to be fleeing from this disease. He has encountered numerous people infected by this stuff, and it isn’t pretty. This is definitely a real threat.” Paul said, asserting himself greatly. Everyone knew instantly how serious he was. And now the crowd was back to yelling back and forth.
Mayor Schacht jumped up from his seat and nudged Paul away from the podium.
“Ok now. Let’s not jump to any conclusions here. We still don’t know what we are dealing with.” Mayor Schacht said; desperation apparent in his voice. He was a man losing control. He knew that to avoid chaos, he would need to calm the people down.
From below, Gus Frankly yelled up “You heard the man, this is real!” Many others in the vast crowd were yelling up at Mayor Schacht now. Anger was starting to fill the room and Paul felt solely responsible.
But Mayor Schacht again raised up his gavel and swung it down hard. This time he hit the podium three times. On the second strike, a breaking sound was heard. And on the third strike the gavel broke into two pieces. The room was silent again.
“I already stated that this will be an orderly affair. We don’t need to be shouting at each other!” The Mayor started. “Gentlemen thank you, please be seated.” He said to Paul and Roy. But Roy approached the Mayor instead.
“Mr. Mayor, I have blueprints and plans here.”
“What kind of plans?”
“Strategies and contingencies in case we need to…”
“JESUS CHRIST!” The Mayor screamed out loud, cutting off Roy. Roy looked like a little child who was just hollered at by a parent. He backed away.
“Ok, now listen. And listen good! We are NOT going to be running away from this like some scared little children. What is going on near the east coast WILL be contained! Nothing, I repeat, nothing has been reported about a disease or any infectious disease near us. For all we know, it is already contained! We will stay right here, no one is leaving this town! All we have to do is sit tight and wait this out!” The Mayor screamed this all, he was out of breath.
“I heard that there was army out past the woods, circling our town!” Warren now shouted from the back.
“Army? You serious boy?” Mayor Schacht replied, and then looked at Sheriff Baxter. The Sheriff looked just as puzzled as the Mayor.
“Well I’m dead serious Mr. Mayor. Billy Hawkins said that he saw army trucks driving up around his gas stations.” Warren added.
“Billy Hawkins? He’s a drunk, filled with diluted conspiracy theories. No offense but I don’t trust his word as far as I can…” The Mayor was cut off by a sudden loud scream coming from behind him.
“Oh my god, oh my god. No!” Principal Audrey Wyatt yelled. She had a cell phone up to her ear. Tears were flowing down her face; her mascara was already running down in fast dark squiggly lines.
“What is it Audrey.” Roy quickly asked. She slowly looked up toward Roy; the fear in her face was unbelievable. Every single soul in the auditorium was silent; their attentions were fixed on hearing Audrey’s response.
Paul approached her too. He quickly looked over his shoulder and saw that the yellow brick road was actually part of the scenery backdrop.
It was The Wizard of Oz!
“Who is on the line Audrey?” Paul then asked.
Through choking sobs Audrey replied, “My mother. She just said goodbye to me. She said they are all dead. My family, the city; ALL DEAD! She just said goodbye!”
Paul walked closer to her slowly, as the cell phone dropped out of her hands and hit to stage floor. Paul asked her a simple question.
“What city, Audrey?”
“Denver.”
“Shit.” said Mayor Schacht under his breath.
1
Robert and Felicia Landry were born on the morning of June 14
th
, 1983. It was an arduous labor for Rita Landry; from first contraction to last push, it lasted almost 18 hours. Robert was the first of the two to come into this world. There was a solid half hour of panic that followed. The doctor was concerned that Felicia might be spun around in Rita’s womb and a caesarean section might be the safest way to birth the baby. Trying to deliver the baby feet first was too dangerous. But before the doctor called to start the caesarean, a new nurse had entered the delivery room.
She was an old woman, had to be over 80 years in age. Her skin was rough and wrinkled; a black leathery texture. And her nurse uniform didn’t match that of the younger nurses in the room. Her uniform was older, not modern for the times. Everyone in the room, doctors and nurses alike, fell silent as the old black nurse approached Rita. Even newborn infant Robert, who was still being cleaned up, stopped his crying. The only sound was that of the cardiac monitor. Beep. Beep. Beep.
“You ain’t puttin' no knife to this woman’s belly.” the old nurse said in a rough hoarse voice, and then she softly laid her hands on Rita’s stomach.
“What? Who are you?” the doctor said to her. She completely ignored the doctor and leaned in close to the now worried Rita.
“Take ease of your worries, child. Momma’s here.” And with that, the black nurse kissed Rita on the forehead. And in that instance Rita was overcome with an overwhelming sense of happiness and relief. Thomas could feel it too.
“Now come round ‘ere, help an old woman do her duty.” the old woman said, two of the nurses came running to her side.
“What should we do?” The young nurse asked.
The old nurse began to move her hands along Rita’s stomach, becoming more and more intense with every move.
“Now, you just put your hands on top o’ mine, I’ll do the rest, see.”
The two young nurses followed her directions and laid their own hands on top of the old woman’s coarse hands. If you were to ask those young nurses if they felt a sudden jolt of joy upon touching the old woman, their answer would simple be “Yes!”
The doctor watching this was so awestruck that he just stood there, lost in the moment. The old nurse guided her hands around Rita’s stomach, now poking and pushing more dramatically. Rita was not discomforted at all by it; the old nurse’s hands were actually quite soothing to her.
“Yesum, I do believe we are makin' this right! Thomas, put your hand on my shoulder.” The old nurse exclaimed. Thomas Landry did just that, and he felt even more joy now.
“What exactly are we doing though?” one of the young nurses asked as the doctor came closer to the foot of Rita’s hospital bed.
“You’re turning the baby!” the doctor said with great relief.
The old nurse smiled at Rita then turned her smile to the ceiling; still pressing her hands around the pregnant belly. And she began to sing:
“Lord, I know thy name, and I know it true.
Lord, I give you myself, through and through.
Lord, I see your light, love shinin' bright.
Lord, I know thy name, Jesus is you!” she sang.
All at once Rita had a massive contraction. The women took their hands off her stomach as she cried out. The younger nurses ran around the room, positioning themselves for another delivery.
"Okay, she’s going back into labor. Come on, begin your breathing again.” the doctor said, taking charge again.
The old black nurse quickly turned and grabbed Rita and Thomas both by their hands. She spoke to them with tears in her eyes.
“God loves your child, as he does all‘a his children. Take joy in her, as you do in your other little ones. But sometimes God’s plan don’t make no sense to us.”
“Thank you.” Thomas said, as Rita screamed out in pain from another sharp contraction. The old nurse let go of their hands and she turned to walk away.
“Just remember, God’s will is a strange one sometimes. But it’ll all make sense in the end. You‘ll see her again.” and with that, the old nurse left the room.
Labor for Felicia Landry’s birth then was not very long. She was born; head first, a very healthy 6 pound 7 ounces. A few hours after the delivery, when things were calm again, Thomas and Rita asked to see the old nurse once more. They wanted to properly thank her for her help. None of the nurses or the doctor in their room had ever seen the old nurse before. Nor had any of the nurses in the emergency room. Nor had any of the doctors in the recovery wing. Nor had any of the women working in the cafeteria. Nor had the night janitor. Nor had the day janitor. Nor had the small team of round the clock security guards.
Rita and Thomas felt that Felicia’s birth, through the old nurse’s help, was a miracle. And that troubled them some 18 years later, when Felicia was stricken with inoperable brain cancer and died within six months of the diagnosis. But perhaps the strangest thing of all was that Felicia Landry used to claim that her first memory was that of the old black nurse.
2
“Come on out now Robert! This is your last warning!” Major Frost yelled.
Robert and Jan stood inside the front door, still contemplating their next move.
“They shut off your truck!” Jan said.
That could very well be the last time his truck ran, banging the starter column with a rock might not do the trick again.
“I know. Listen, I don’t trust these guys.” Robert said.
“Same here, but maybe we should just go back with them.”
“My dad got bit by one of those freaks! If they find out, they will kill him for sure.”
Jan gave Robert a troubled look and Robert knew exactly what that meant.
“No. We aren’t killing him.” Robert said gravely.
“Who’s killing who? Who’s outside?” Rita now said, coming out of the kitchen.
“Nothing Mom, stay here. Keep Dad inside, no matter what! We gotta talk to these guys.”
Robert slowly turned the door knob and opened it slightly; almost expecting a storm of bullets to descend upon him. But no bullets were fired. Robert could feel the crisp winter air rushing in. He put his mouth close to the opening.
“Ok we are coming out. We are unarmed.” Robert yelled out and waited a few seconds for a reply.
“Well, come out already. We don’t have all day.” Frost finally hollered back.
Robert opened the door and stepped out onto the front porch, his hands raised up above his head. Jan followed Robert and closed the door behind him.
“Hey, numbskulls. You aren’t under arrest. Put your hands down.” Frost said, and the other two soldiers chuckled. Robert noticed that neither of the soldiers had their rifles aimed at them.
“Ok, so what is this then? I gotta admit I’m a little confused.” Robert said in earnest, as he walked down the porch steps and approached Major Frost. The army truck Frost and his men arrived in was still parked behind them.
“You’re confused? Why don’t you try a little
late
?” Frost responded.
“Why I wasn’t aware we had a date, Major.” Robert’s sarcasm was undeniable.
“I gave you boys half an hours’ time to get your ass up here, collect your parents, and then return to the fire company. It’s been well over an hour boys. So I’m here to get ya.”
“Did you see the downed tree? We had to take a detour.” Jan added.
“Oh we saw the tree, we took the detour too. Right through them woods.” Frost said in a grave tone. That detour was a pretty gruesome affair for Robert and Jan. Having lost Jared Wheaton, then destroying three infected freaks; had Frost come to know what they did?
“We saw three pretty badly mangled bodies, all dead. You boys care to enlighten me?”
Robert froze. He didn’t know what to say. And by taking a look at Jan, he didn’t know what to say either. Had Frost thought them to be murderers?
How hasn’t he, being a person of military prowess, confronted any infected people?
“Listen, I’ll level with you here.” Frost said bluntly. Robert and Jan were keen on just listening.
“A huge part of my job is control. Nine times out of ten, control don’t come easy.”
Frost started to circle around Robert as he talked.
“Sometimes simple knowledge can breakdown a system. Robert, I know you killed your landlord.”
“What? How?” Robert asked immediately, fear making his stomach turn in tight knots.
“My men, stationed outside your apartment? After you left they searched the entire building. And by their accounts you really did a number on that fella, Carl Riggins.”
“Ok, you don’t understand.” Robert said quickly.
“Then we saw the three bodies, mashed up pretty good, on the back-road to get here. You boys killed those people too?”
“We had to! We didn’t murder them, they were all…” Jan started to say, but Major Frost cut him off.
“…infected.”
Robert and Jan both looked more confused than before.
“So you know about the disease?” Robert asked Major Frost.
“Son, I was part of high-intelligence. I’ve known the disease has been here the whole time.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you? Why have you been riding us so hard then?” Robert asked.
“It goes back to control, son. We were hoping to contain this area; we didn’t want people getting scared. Scared people are hard to control. So we had to hide the truth.”
“I think that you’re full of shit, how about that? Why are you telling us all of this now?” Robert fired back in anger. He glanced over to Jan for reassurance, but Robert didn’t like what he saw. Jan was horribly white, as pale as a ghost. And he was crying.
“Jan, what the hell is wrong?” Robert asked, confused. Major Frost returned to his position between his two soldiers. He too now looked disturbed. Choking back his words, Jan finally spoke.
“You didn’t come here to take us back did you?” Jan said to Major Frost. Frost didn’t reply; he just held his rifle tighter and inhaled deeply as his eyes became more intense.
“There is no more fire company is there?” Jan questioned Frost. Robert gasped out loud at the thought.
“We lost our stronghold at the fire company. Shortly after you boys left, we were overrun with those infected people. The town is lost.” Frost said, confirming Jan’s fears.
“You fucking bastard! My family! I left them there with you, you son of a bitch!” Jan cried out and charged Major Frost. The soldier on Frost’s right hit Jan in the gut with the end of his rifle. The wind was entirely knocked out of Jan and he hit the ground; sobbing and trying to catch his breath at the same time.
“I’m sorry son, when we left the fire company it was in pretty bad shape.”
“So you just left? I hope you don’t expect us to let you stay here?” Robert asked.
“We have no intention of staying here. We…” Frost was cut off by a loud noise from the stables
Shit
, Robert thought.
The infected asshole that bit my father was probably still messing around in the stables!
Immediately the three soldiers reacted by taking a knee and aiming their weapons in the direction of the noise. Jan quickly got to his feet and was able to silence his grief.
Robert noticed a dead quiet in the heavy falling snow again, but this time there was something more, a low tone of unquestionable morbidity floating through the air. A collection of low tones that became louder. And louder. And louder.
Robert and Major Frost walked around the army truck and looked down the hill. A tight group of two dozen infected people were shambling up the driveway; some of them had already locked their dead and vacant eyes onto them.
“Fuck! There’s more! They must have followed us!” Frost exclaimed.
“Where the hell did they come from?” Robert yelled back. Robert ran over beside Jan and looked desperately at his old truck, hoping it would somehow start. That was when he noticed the door to the stables was open. He looked around wildly until he spotted a sickly old man dressed in navy blue gas station overalls. He was walking up the front porch to the farmhouse. He was infected for sure, his mouth and face was covered with dark blood. Blood that most likely belonged to Robert’s father.
“Men, spread out! Make every shot count!” Frost was putting his two soldiers in position to take out the group of infected, now getting ever so close. Their moans were so loud now; there was a heartbreaking aspect to their collective sounds.
A harmonious choir of tortured souls.
“Robert! Robert! Help, please.” Rita screamed, now running out of the house and onto the porch. She was dangerously close to the infected man in overalls.
“Your father, he just tried to bite me!” Rita screamed, as Frost gave his men the order to fire upon the group coming up the driveway. The air and space around them was filled with eardrum shattering gunfire.
3
Robert whirled around as Frost and his men began to pump round after round of ammunition into the crowd of infected at the base of the hill. So many people started to drop to the ground in lifeless dead sacks. Frost and his men must have known the rules. Almost all of their bullets were headshots. Some of the direct hits to the head, just made a nice hole, then the infected fucker would drop. A few of the headshots caused the head to explode like large feces-filled balloons.
One head, pop! Two heads, pop! Three heads, pop!
In all of the commotion, noise, gore and fear; Robert began to lose consciousness.
