The Gates of Byzantium (Purge of Babylon, Book 2) (50 page)

“I fished on the lake on and off. When everything went bad, I figured there were probably worse ways to go than on an island, so I packed Kyle up and came here. I heard they were fixing up the place for a resort and was hoping someone would already be here.”

“You found Marcus?”

“Yeah, Kyle and I were actually at the marina about to come over when he showed up in this big SUV. I don’t even know how he got out here, but he knew about the resort, too, and was probably thinking the same thing I was. We didn’t know it would be the godsend it turned out to be, though.”

“So the whole thing with the creatures not liking water, that was an accident?”

“Pretty much.”

“When did you guys know for sure they wouldn’t—or couldn’t—swim over?”

She seemed to think about it. “I’m not sure, really. You’d have to ask Karen. She was here before all of us. She’s sort of the leader. We follow her lead.”

They walked up the path through the woods, their soft shoes tapping against the stones. They could hear birds fluttering in the air and the wind rustling through the trees around them. Josh hadn’t realized how much he had missed nature until now.

“Your parents?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No.”

“Sorry.”

“Thanks.”

“I guess I’m lucky, I still have Kyle.” She paused, then added, “At least when he’s not vegging out in front of the TV. It’s the end of the world, and I still can’t get my kid to turn off the TV. Go figure.”

“Kids will be kids,” Josh smiled back.

*

Al, the man
with the bad comb-over, did most of the cooking, with Sarah, the other single mom, helping out. After delivering the fish, Josh stuck around the kitchen long enough to watch Al take a big meat cleaver and chop off the fishes’ heads—some of them were still alive, which made him a bit queasy—before grabbing a long, thin knife and slicing their skin free with the practiced ease of someone who had been doing it forever. Sarah grabbed the fillet strips and washed them, then tossed them into a waiting bowl.

After seeing the fourth fish lose its head, then watching its headless corpse quivering on the cutting board, Josh hurried off. He thought he might have heard Al chuckling behind him as he fled the hotel’s kitchen.

He rejoined the others back in the lobby and spent a few minutes watching the girls being girls. Sarah’s daughter, Jenny, had gotten over her shyness. Along with Vera and Elise, she ran in and out of the hotel lobby, disappearing down one hallway only to appear out of another one moments later. The adults watched them come and go with smiles on their faces.

Debra’s son Kyle was still “vegging” out in front of the same TV, oblivious to everything behind him. The kid had swapped out
Halo
for a
Call of Duty
title, one of the
Modern Warfare
iterations. Josh wondered if he would have stuck himself into a cocoon like Kyle if he were younger. He couldn’t blame the kid too much. He was probably like that at Kyle’s age, and he hadn’t had the end of the world to deal with.

He searched through the smiling faces and finally found Gaby on a couch by herself, looking content to watch the others, living vicariously through their laughter and conversation. Gaby looked cheerful in new clothes, and he had forgotten how bright and shiny her hair could be. Seeing her smile made him smile, too.

Even Will and Danny seemed to have embraced the island. The two ex-Army Rangers still wore their gun belts, while Carly and Lara, like Josh, had put theirs away. Josh had swapped clothes and splashed his face with water before starting his tour of the island. Given his bruises and swelling, he couldn’t really get to work scrubbing the dirt and mileage out of his face and hair. In the back of his mind, he was still trying to conserve water, the survivalist in him not quite able to completely let go. He couldn’t imagine how much harder it was for Will and Danny.

He walked over to Gaby and sat down next to her. She glanced over and smiled at him. “Where have you been?”

“Exploring the island.”

“You’ve been gone a while. I went to your room and you weren’t there.”

“It’s a big island, and I’m a slow explorer.”

Someone had put food on a table in front of the couches. Bags of chips and cold
(cold!)
spring water bottles, the condensation glistening over the plastic labels.

Gaby put her hand over his and squeezed. “Don’t wander off too far.”

“Okay,” he said.

The touch of her hand, despite the fact that he had felt it a dozen times in the last few days, still made him breathless.

*

It wasn’t so
much a meal as it was a feast. Al and Sarah served up fish of every kind. Most of them were types Josh had never seen before, but nudged on by Gaby and the others, he dived in and found them all to be universally good. Or maybe it was just the way Al fried and baked and boiled them. He hadn’t known there could be so many different kinds of fish in the world or that he could ever eat so much he could barely move. Then another plate with another fish he had never seen before landed, and he ate until he was full, again.

He had forgotten what real food tasted like after living off canned goods and chips and warm bottled water for so long. Or maybe Al was just that great a cook and Josh had never really tasted good cooking before. His mom did her best, but he would never mistake her for a restaurant chef.

They had moved into the dining room next to the lobby. The room was huge, and unlike the lobby, which was mostly finished, the only completed part of the dining room was the floor. The walls and ceiling were still all Sheetrock and wooden frames, dangling wires, and a big hole in the ceiling where chandeliers were supposed to go. Not that the aesthetics mattered. The table was marble and long, and there were plenty of chairs for everyone to sit, so they gathered around and dived into Al’s cooking with relish.

Josh ate and mostly listened to the others talking. Amusingly, the seating broke down to Josh and Gaby, along with Will and Danny, Carly and Lara, and the girls sitting on one side, while Marcus and the islanders sat on the other. People were just naturally drawn to those familiar to them, similar to how he ended up sitting next to Gaby without thinking, and Will ended next to Lara, and Danny with Carly.

He stole glances in Gaby’s direction every now and then, and couldn’t help but smile at how happy she looked.

Around seven in the evening, Sarah and Sienna, Jake’s girlfriend, brought out trays of glasses filled with red wine. While they went around the table setting a glass in front of everyone except the girls, Karen stood up and made a toast.

“It’s been a while since we had company like this,” Karen said. “Drink up, and don’t worry about what’s out there. We’ve been here for months, and they’ve never crossed the water. They’re not going to start now, I can promise you that.”

“Is there a backup plan in case they do?” Will asked.

“It’s not going to happen,” Karen smiled.

“Still, better safe than sorry, right?”

“The Tower. It’s the strongest building on the island. Of course, you’ll have to fight Tom for it. He spends most of his nights there.”

Tom grinned. “Everyone’s welcome to join me in the Tower. We can have a sleepover and sing songs. Ladies? Any takers?”

“Only if I can take my gun,” Carly said.

Everyone laughed…except Josh. He watched Tom closely.

It’s a front. The man’s got two faces. This is his public face. The one I saw back in the Tower this afternoon was the real Tom.

Next to Josh, Sarah had brought out plastic cups filled with Coca-Cola and ice cubes for the girls. They grabbed at their cups and drank up, spilling the soft drink all over themselves and the table, crunching and savoring the ice cubes like they were the most amazing things in the universe.

Josh didn’t have a clue what to do with the red wine in front of him. He looked around the table and saw everyone sipping theirs, so he did the same, sticking his tongue down to taste the liquid. It tasted bitter and unwelcoming, and Josh recoiled and didn’t touch it again. Everyone else seemed to like it just fine, even Gaby, who kept drinking until her glass was almost empty thirty minutes later.

They drank and ate and talked well into the night, and Josh caught glimpses of Will and Danny glancing toward the windows every few minutes as it started to get dark outside. The solar-powered lampposts coiled around the island began lighting up one by one, glowing brighter and brighter with every passing second. Someone turned on a light switch, and lights around the dining room walls lit up.

Throughout the night, Will and Danny exchanged silent looks, whole conversations passing between them with a glance or two. Josh wondered what they were thinking and felt a little naked without his gun belt. Whatever had possessed him to give up his weapons so easily? The islanders hadn’t even asked him to do it; he had simply left them in his room of his own accord.

It was the electricity. The comfort. The
air conditioner.
The sight of Kyle playing games in the lobby. Tom reading a book, without a care in the world. Everyone was so calm, so oblivious to what was happening out there, that he couldn’t help but fall in line.

“Are the lights enough for the entire island?” Will asked Karen.

Karen nodded between spoonfuls of fish. “More than enough. That’s how we’re able to conserve so much energy generated from the solar panels for things like Kyle’s videogames and the AC.”

“It’s a hell of a setup you guys got here,” Danny said.

“It is,” Karen nodded. “We were very lucky to find it.”

“How can you be sure the ghouls can’t cross the water?” Will asked.

“Because we can see them on land, watching us every night, and it’s been eight months. Don’t you think they would have crossed by now if they could?”

“She’s got a point, Will,” Lara said.

“I don’t blame you for being cautious,” Karen said. “I don’t have a clue what you’ve gone through out there just to get here. But tomorrow, when you wake up, you’ll feel like it’s the first day of your new life.”

Maybe the wine was finally doing its job, because Will and Danny stopped sneaking looks toward the windows. They were smiling more, talking more, and had all but stopped noticing the falling night outside.

And when that happened, Josh stopped noticing, too.

It wasn’t until around nine that dinner finally wrapped up and the conversation tapered off. Josh could feel the energy sapping from everyone around him, including the islanders. Everyone agreed to call it a night, and Josh was more than happy to finally get up from his chair. It felt like he had been sitting for the last three days instead of hours.

Everyone helped out by taking plates and silverware into the kitchen, then cleaning up the marble table until it was spotless. After that, people began drifting off one by one. Tom had slipped out of the room unnoticed earlier. The man had a real gift for lurking.

Jake and Sienna followed, Sienna leaning tiredly against Jake’s shoulder.

Karen excused herself, declaring that she needed a big, hot bath that got a “Hallelujah!” from Carly, who quickly left with Danny.

That left Debra and Marcus talking with Will and Lara about something that, from their expressions, looked important. Josh caught fragments of conversation, bits and pieces about defending the island if something were to happen. Despite the serious topic, Will didn’t sound nearly as alert as he had earlier in the day. It reminded Josh of his parents after one of their Date Nights, returning home filled with good food and too much wine.

Will’s human after all. Go figure.

Josh and Gaby took their share of the dinner plates into the kitchen. Gaby looked a little wobbly, and at one point he grabbed her arm to keep her from toppling over. “Hey, there, Humpty Dumpty,” he said.

She smiled back at him, and he saw mischief glinting in her eyes. “I’ve never drunk wine before, but I think I really like it.”

“Great, you’re becoming an alky at the end of the world.”

“What better time?”

“Just remember, we don’t have AA anymore.”

“You’re no fun,” she said playfully.