The Swamp (16 page)

             
She had found a broken down car that was empty and slept in the back seat, and when she woke up she heard voices. That was when she had met the people on the road that had died at the hands of the crazies.

             
Sam was impressed with how she had held up, and told his and mikes tales as well.

             
“This swamp sounds pretty nice, if we ever get out of here, id like to see it.” She told Sam.

             
“You are welcome to stay with us if we get out of here.” Sam replied. He was beginning to think that would never happen, but he tried to keep his voice upbeat.

             
“You two would make a cute couple,” Mike said, “already making plans of moving in together. He laughed after saying this, but Sam noticed Rebecca blushing.

             
“Leave the lady alone, Mike” Sam defended her. “Besides, I don’t think my wife would approve.” Sadness filled Sam as he thought back to her.

             
Rebecca’s voice interrupted his melancholy, “Do you think she is still alive?”

             
“I don’t know,” Sam answered, “Part of me does, but I know how rough it is out there. You figure three hundred twenty million people in America, then this all started. Maybe one in a thousand are still alive, maybe one in ten thousand or less. Take into account all the people that have snapped like this crew and the soldiers at the farm. The odds can’t be very good.

             
“I feel the same way about my parents. They were older people and not in the best health to begin with. I have nightmares about them being out there as those things…” She started to cry quietly.

             
Sam wished he could comfort her, hold her and tell her it would be all right. He knew that it wouldn’t be, she was probably right, her parents and his wife were probably out there right now, stumbling around looking for people to eat. He thought of his children and joined her in crying.

             
They sat in silence until well after dark. Mike had laid down to sleep just at dark, and the other prisoners had done the same. Just Rebecca and he were left awake. The spoke in hushed tones about things they missed. Rebecca wanted sherbet, Sam wanted a cold beer. Eventually she stopped talking and Sam looked to find she had dozed off. Sam decided it was time for that himself, and fell asleep almost immediately.

             
That night, the faces of the survivors thankfully did not come to him. Instead he dreamt of Rebecca. They were walking together on a beach, hand in hand. The setting sun gave her face a golden hue that brought quickness to his heart. The watched as the sun fell behind the horizon, and turned to head back wherever they had come from. After they had walked for a few minutes in the growing dark, She had stopped and softly said “Sam, look at me.”

             
He turned and looked and found her naked, they reached for each other, coming together for a kiss, but a scream from the ocean drew them up short. Sam turned to see Joseph and all of his followers emerging from the surf.

             
They turned and tried to run, but the crazies were already on them. Joseph approached Rebecca as she was held by two naked, blood covered men. “She is mine.” He said and drew a hunting knife from his belt, “if I can’t have her…”

             
He turned to her and pulled the knife across her throat, opening her. Her blood sprayed from the slash in her throat, spraying Sam as he watched. Helplessly, he struggled against the men holding him. Her eyes met his and he could see the terror, even as the slowly closed.

             
Rick set up, again covered in cold sweat, looking wildly around for the danger from the dream.

             
“Dude, chill out, it was just a dream.” Mike said to him from the next cage. “Bad dream?”

             
“Yes,” Sam said as he calmed down, “every night for a while now.”

             
“We all get them,” Mike said, “consequence of the new world. Go back to sleep, and try to hold it down.”

             
“I don’t think I could go back to sleep if I tried.” Sam said, but was wrong. He fell asleep quickly, and thankfully, had no dreams.

Chapter 13

             
The following morning, Sam was awaked by the sounds of chains in the distance. He sat up and saw a filthy woman working the lock on the cell of one of the other prisoners. It was one of the ones down towards the end that never talked. As soon as the door was unlocked, he lunged at it, knocking the woman down and running for the tree line.

             
He had almost made it when the report of a rifle cracked from the house, dropping the man to the ground. The sound had made Sam jump, and woke Mike, who leaped to his feet and grabbed the chains, watching in horror.

             
The man tried to rise back to his feet, but another shot brought him down, this time for good. Sam looked to the house to see Joe standing there with a rifle to his shoulder. There was no smile on his face for the first time, just a look of annoyance, as if the man had interrupted him from a nap.

             
Sam looked back to the prone man, and saw that several of Joe’s followers had reached him. A young girl reached down and grabbed his hair and pulled his head up, another used a large kitchen knife to saw into his throat. She didn’t stop until his head was cleanly severed, working the knife through muscle and tendon, and eventually the bones themselves were hacked through. Sam had seen men die, but this was different, he turned and vomited into his slop bucket. Luckily his stomach was already empty, so he just got off a few dry heaves. He lay down on his side, the taste of bile in his mouth, and kept his back to the woman as the strung the man to the tree and did their work. Sam could see Mike from this position, and Mike never looked away, he just sat there and watched.

             
The woman finished their work quickly, and all too soon the smell of cooking meat reached the cages. Sam and Mike exchanged glances, and in that look agreed that they had to get out of here.

             
They sat as close as possible and discussed options. They had no idea how to get out of the cages yet, but they knew they would have to get everyone out when they did. Mike renewed his vow of vengeance against the man who held sway over their lives, and vowed to take as many people with him as he could. This time, Sam didn’t argue with him.

             
Eventually the table was set, and the prayer offered, and the crazies began eating. The feast was much smaller this time, as only about twenty people remained. Two chucks of meat that looked like hams were all that were brought out. They were again brought plates of food but refused to eat, but this time mike held his temper.

             
Joe made his daily visit shortly after.” Mr. Richard, How are you doing on this fine afternoon?” Sam returned the question with a glare, but didn’t say anything.

Joe turned to Mike. “I wish you would eat something, you have to keep your strength up.”

              “You eat it!” mike spat, “I will never eat another human being, you sick fuck.”

             
“No thank you, believe it or not, I am a vegetarian.” Joe smiled as he said this and moved on to Rebecca’s cage.

             
“Ms. Rebecca, I see you have decided to not eat yet again that makes over a week, doesn’t it? You can’t all starve yourselves, I want you to be healthy when you see the light and join us.”

             
“I will never join you, you might as well kill me now you piece of shit” snapped Rebecca.

             
Joe was surprised by this, but recovered his smile quickly. “These men are rubbing off on you in a way that does not suit a lady. How about as a show of good Christian charity I provide the three of you with something else to eat, just this one time.” He waved a hand to call over a nearby woman. “Take these plates away and bring these three some corn and some of that bread Sister Sue baked last night, The other three seemed to have already finished off their food so they should be fine. They look thirsty as well my dear.”

             
She scuttled off to do as instructed and soon returned with plates loaded down with ears of roast corn and slices of bread, another woman followed with bowls of water. They slid these into the cages, and the sight of them made Sam’s stomach growl. He looked to Mike and Rebecca, but neither made a move towards the food, so he didn’t either.

             
After an uncomfortable minute, Joe shrugged. “I guess you three want to be alone to eat, Have a good day and may god bless you.” He then walked off back to the house. They watched as he went inside and closed the door.

             
Mikes voice broke the silence, “You think it’s safe?”

             
“I don’t see why not.” Rebecca said and moved to the plate and crammed a chunk of bread into her mouth. With that they all ate. five minutes later, no food was to be found and only a few heavily chewed cobs remained. Sam felt as if he had eaten an entire thanksgiving meal instead of just some bread and a few ears of corn.

             
They discussed possibilities for the rest of the day. What they needed was something to pop the tie wires that held the chain link to the frame, or something that they could use to remove the screws that held the frame to the posts. They had neither.

             
“Rebecca,” Sam called softly, “how long do the hunting parties stay out.”

             
“I’ve only seen them go out and come back once and I’ve been here 9 days, so I’d guess at least a week. Why?”

             
“We have to make our move before they get back, it will be a lot easier to sneak out of here with just these few.” Sam answered, “And we have a better chance if there are less people to send out after us.”

             
Mike nodded his head as Sam spoke, “Yes, which means we have to get out of here in the next three days. We will be too late if we have to wait for them to come back and then leave again. I bet we will hardly be able to stand. I don’t think the reverend Joe will be feeling that Christian charity again. Especially when he realizes it won’t help him get into Rebecca’s pants.”

             
“It’s always the religious ones.” Rebecca said.

             
“Maybe I should turn the tower into a cult if I get back.” Sam joked.

             
“The Temple of Gozer and his prophet, Vigo” Joked Mike right back, reference the old movie.

             
“Those were two separate movies, dork” replied Rebecca, laughing along, “How about the Church of the Holy Romero, seems more fitting.”

             
Sam chuckled and did a decent impression of Joe’s deep southern accent, “And behold, the lord did rise in the great holy city of Pittsburg, and said unto his prophet, ‘Savini, go forth unto the land and create the living dead, so my people may learn to prosper when I bring my wrath’. And Savini doth respond, ‘yep boss’.”

             
They all laughed, the thought of escape and the full bellies lightening the mood despite their situation. They continued to joke around until well after the other prisoners and captors had gone to bed before deciding to get to sleep themselves.

             
After they had calmed down, Sam laid there unable to get to sleep. The feeling of dread that had been pushed away by the evening’s mirth had returned with a vengeance. He starred up at the sky and the stars for what felt like hours, thinking about his family, where they all were and what they were doing. He wondered if they were safe, and at least as happy as can be expected. He glanced over at Mike and saw his chest slowly rise and fall, deep in sleep.

             
When he turned to Rebecca, her eyes were awake and looking back at him. She smiled a thin smile at him, and he returned his own back at her. She slid as close to the bars as she could, and snaked her arm out through the small opening, he did they same and their hands met.

             
Her hand felt surprisingly warm, and the human contact made his heart leap. They lay there, hands clasped and were finally able to go to sleep.

             
He didn’t know if it was the afternoon’s joviality or the full bellies, or Rebecca’s hand in his but his sleep was not interrupted by the nightmares that night.