The Zombie Plagues Dead Road: The Collected books. (92 page)

“
Let me kill the Gennie
too,” he said as he moved off into the barn.

“
You are so big,” Annie
said. She ran her hand over the smooth hardness of Candace's
stomach and the baby kicked. Annie's eyes misted instantly. “I
can't wait,” she said.

“
Oh, honey, you can,”
Candace told her. “Just wait until it kicks you in the Kidneys once
or twice.”

“
Yeah,” Lilly sighed, “Or
the bladder and makes you pee yourself.”

Bob came from the gloom of the huge
barn at exactly the same time. His face instantly colored. All four
women broke out in laughter. Patty managed to get herself under
control first.

“
You need us for anything
else, Bob?” she asked.

Bob grinned, relieved. “Nope,” he said.
“I believe all the other ladies are heading in that direction as
well,” he said, guessing where they might be going. “Janet has the
kids, so go relax. And thanks for the help too,” he told
them.

On The Road

They stopped in the early afternoon as
they reached the end of the reforestation project and rolled out
into the first long valley. They unloaded the sheep to let them
graze, and everyone piled out to stretch their legs.

“
It's about thirty miles
from here,” Mike said in answer to Beth Jefferies question. “We'll
stop here for the night, rest up and we'll be at our valley mid
morning tomorrow,” he finished.

“
What's it like,” she
asked. She brushed her white-blond hair away from her eyes and
smiled as she did.

“
Probably like nothing you
have ever seen, Beth. We have a big cave, it goes deep into the
mountain. So deep we haven't found the ends of some passages yet,
unless they've done more exploring since we've been
gone.”

“
We closed it off at the
front with stone from the mountain. A wall to close the huge main
room off from the elements. There is also a huge overhang and we
built a wall to close that area off too. We built huge sheets of
acrylic into the front, so we still have the light. It's nice.
Really, there is enough room in the cave for all of us... Well,
that depends how many more people have come. The new people always
stay there the first little while... Or pitch tents somewhere in
the valley, but with winter coming, the cave will be the place for
anyone who hasn't built a place.”

“
We have places built in
the valley too. Stone houses, it's the easiest building material to
find; wood, even steel buildings for the barns that we trucked in,
in pieces, but we all lived in the cave for the first few months,
and some still do.”

“
Besides the houses and the
barns, we have crops planted... We have cows, horses, bison, deer,
chickens... I'm forgetting some I'm sure... Pigs... Beefalos, a
cross between the bison and the cows... We even have some moose
that followed us in and stayed,” he laughed. “They believe they are
cows... They really do. Bob was thinking of trying to make cheese
from deer milk... Probably has by now. We have meat, butter,
cheese... There really isn't anything that we have to leave the
valley for except the stuff we can't make ourselves... Vehicles...
Wiring... Generators, computers... The list could go on and
on.”

“
Do you ride the horses,”
she asked.

“
Some,” Mike said. “There
are different types of horses.... We collected them in...
Tennessee, Kentucky. Some are thoroughbreds, Bob says pretty much
worthless for what we want, but those horses should make good
riding horses. It's one of those things that someone will take over
and get done... Right now we have maybe a half dozen we use as
draft horses. Huge. Strong. Oxen too. I know about ten things about
horses then I'm just guessing.” He laughed. “There are some gentle
enough to ride.”

That seemed to satisfy the young girl.
She thanked Mike and wandered over by the sheep: A dreamy smile on
her face.

Steve Choi came over with a cup of
coffee and dropped to the ground next to Mike. He was a likable,
easy going young man with thick, black hair and steel rimmed
glasses that might or might not be real gold. He looked like a
doctor, Mike thought.

“
Steve... How's he doing,”
Mike asked.

He
was Joe Stevens. It had been his sister Lisa that they had
found by the burned SUV, and he had taken it hard. They had still
had her body wrapped in blankets in the back of one of the pickups.
They had buried her in the campground. Joe had dug a deep hole in
the early hours of the morning after they had got back. She had
been buried with no words before the sun had even come up. Joe had
taken the whole thing very hard.

“
Still feels responsible,
if he'd only gone with her... Talked her out of it... You know, I'm
sure,” Steve said.

Mike nodded. “It's easy to blame
yourself after the fact. Do you think, well, do you think he'll be
alright?” Mike asked. He knew he had asked as a direct result of
what had happened with Molly and Nell. He found himself thinking
longer about decisions he made when it came to individual people.
Or maybe it was no longer assuming that he knew someone. Better to
take more time. Ask more questions.

“
I believe so, Mike...
Believe me,” he lowered his voice. “I heard about your situation...
I am watching him carefully. I don't want to lose him.” Steve
blushed a little. He wasn't used to being so open about himself.
Here it seemed perfectly normal. In the old world it could end a
young doctors career.

“
I checked on Jessie,” he
said after a brief pause. “Her leg is looking really good... So...
You think we'll be there tomorrow morning,” he asked.

Mike nodded. “Yeah. Early to
mid-morning... What's on your mind, Steve?” Mike asked.

“
I guess I'm trying to
figure out what it will be like... To be me... With Joe... I've
never done much with my hands,” he said.

“
Ah... Listen, Steve. The
way I am? We're all like that. You won't even get a second glance
from anyone. And, as for your skills?” Mike laughed. “We are lucky
enough to have a very skilled nurse and a veterinary assistant,
but,
what you know?
It's golden. If you stayed you would end up with more work
that you could handle, most likely. You'll be a doctor. You'll have
to work to get free time, I would imagine. Even if Jess stays,
we're coming back with fifteen new people. There are twenty-three
of us here and somewhere south of a hundred there,” he thought a
moment. “At least, maybe closer to a hundred and fifty. We sent
back some others a few weeks back... Bear's woman, Cammy... Some
others of his people.”

“
And the babies are going
to start coming... A doctor would be very helpful. My Candace,
Ronnie’s woman... There are at least a dozen I can think of right
off hand that will deliver this fall or winter. Believe me, Steve,
you won't be sitting around looking for things to do, or expected
to know how to milk a cow.” Mike laughed at the expression that
crossed Steve's face.

“
I have no idea how to do
that... I mean,” he laughed himself. “I guess I was a little
concerned... What's the nurse like?”

“
Sandy... She's a good
woman. Her woman is Susan. Sandy has been teaching her. They work
together. They've been studying herbs, and medicinal plants. The
two of them work with Shar,
Sharon...
She's a veterinarian
assistant, or was, but she spends most of her time helping them.
Runs herself ragged trying to do both things. She's also teaching a
young woman about animal husbandry. So she has her hands full.
Having you there would free her up I expect.”

“
Sandy and Susan?” Steve
raised his eyebrows.

Mike nodded. “Yep. Like I said, you
don't have to worry about that. No one will even raise an
eyebrow... Religion? ... Sex? ... All the stuff that everyone
always seemed so willing to stick their noses into? Gone. Done. No
one cares. Your life is your business and that's that.”

The Nation

Candace was drying her hair
when she saw Arlene come around the corner of the ledge carrying a
radio in her hand. Her heart leaped in her chest and seemed to skip
a beat. The babies protested with a couple of quick kicks.
'Don't be silly,'
she
told herself.
'It's too soon.'

Nevertheless, Arlene stopped in front
of her. A small smile on her face, but hint of sadness resting in
her eyes. In fact, Candace noticed, it looked as though she had
been crying. Her heart staggered again.

“
It's Mike,” Arlene told
her.

“
You okay, Arlene?” Candace
asked.

“
I'll let Mike tell you,
Honey.” She put one hand to her mouth as she handed the radio to
Candace.

~

They talked for over an hour and
Candace wept freely. It sounded to her as though Mike came very
close to crying himself. Probably he had already dealt with what he
had to, but it was too fresh for her to handle.

Patty sat not ten feet away talking
quietly to Ronnie. Her face was a careful mask. Sadness written
there, but she did not cry.

Somewhere else, other conversations
were taking place. Bear and Cammy, Tim and Annie, others. Bob stood
nearby. He had talked to Mike first and then he had talked to
Janet. They would talk to the people once Candace and Patty were
done talking.

“
I love you, Baby...
Promise,” Candace said now. “Okay... Okay... I'll see you there,
Baby. Yes... Yes... I'll be fine. Pats will take care of me.” She
looked over at Patty whose eyes had raised to he own. “We'll take
care of each other,” she amended as she saw the first gleam of
tears in Patty's eyes. “She'll take care of me... She always does.
We'll both be fine... I love you... I do... Okay... See you then...
Bye... Bye... See you then.” She clicked off the radio and lowered
it to the floor still clutched in her hand. She took a deep breath
and looked over at Patty.

Patty talked for a few moments longer.
“I love you... I do... I miss you... See you then... Bye, Honey.”
She clicked off the radio; looked over at Candace and burst into
tears. Candace got up and went to her. She held her, stroked her
hair; told her she loved her and that it was all going to be
alright. The same things, she told herself, that Pats always says
to me.

“
Usually I'm the baby,” she
told Patty. “Usually I fall apart.”

Patty burrowed her face into Candace’s
breast and cried. She was shocked at how much the news of Molly and
Nellie's death had affected her, but she suspected it also had to
do with hearing Ronnie's voice. With knowing it could have been
Ronnie who had been shot. It could have been anyone, but it could
have been Ronnie. And that made her feel guilty that she didn't
care enough about Molly and Nellie. That she only cared about her
man. And that wasn't true, but it did her no good to tell herself
it wasn't true. But what if it had been Ronnie? And Molly had been
carrying Ronnie's baby. How did that make him feel? How did she
feel about that? It was too much. She couldn't stop the
tears.

Candace held her and stroked her hair
as she cried it out of her.

~

Janet bought them coffee a short while
later.

“
Sandy says that you can
both have a couple of Aspirin if you need it,” she told
them.

Patty sat up straighter, smoothed her
clothes and her hair and dabbed at her puffy eyes. “Thank you,
Jan,” Patty said as she took the coffee. “I'll skip the aspirin
though.”

Candace took the offered coffee as
well. “I'll skip the aspirin also,” she said quietly. She looked up
at Jan. “Who else knows?”

“
Just us. You two... Bob
and I. Lilly and Arlene... Annie. I imagine that Cammy and Beth
know too... They both talked to...” She looked up at the ceiling.
“
Bear...
Bear is
his name,” Janet told her. “I haven't told Sandy. Susan... Shar...
Cindy...” She looked at Candace.

“
What are we going to say
about Molly,” Arlene asked. She had walked up and joined
them.

“
I don't think we should
lie,” Patty said.

“
No. Let's not do that,”
Janet agreed.

“
Then we'll get everyone
together and tell them the truth,” Candace said softly.

Bob walked over along with
Lilly.

“
Who wants to be the one to
talk to everyone?” Bob asked.

“
Why not you?” Candace
asked.

“
I... I don't know. I’m not
good with that sort of thing. Mike usually does it so well... Or
you, Candace.” He looked down at her.

“
Candy... It would probably
be better coming from you,” Janet added.

“
After dinner?” Candace
asked.

“
Probably now would be
better. Dinner's not quite ready and everybody knows that something
has happened,” Lilly said.

“
Okay,” Candace said. She
lifted one hand. “Help me up.”

Bob helped her to her feet and she
walked slowly into the gathering area of the cave.

On The Road

“
How was it?” Tim asked.
Bear and Ronnie sat quietly nearby with Debbie and
Chloe.