Walking With The Dead | Book 3 | Living With The Dead Page 3

  Her walkie squawked. “Sarah, I need you at the south gate.”

  She stepped away from Bobby and Chris and unclipped the walkie from her belt. She brought it to her mouth. “Everything OK?” She asked.

  “I don’t know. Can you just get here?”

  She wasn’t sure who was on the south gate. She didn’t recognize the voice over the static of the walkie, but she did recognize the trepidation in it. “On my way.” She clipped the walkie back to her belt and turned to Bobby and Chris. “Duty calls. I’ll see you two later.”

  As she turned to go, Bobby stepped up to her. “Is there a problem?” he asked softly.

  She shook her head. “No, it’s nothing. I’ll see you at dinner.” She walked slowly away from Bobby, trying to project an air of calm. Once she was outside, she began to jog to the south gate. Luckily, she had been heading in that direction and reached it in just a few minutes. She didn’t approach immediately; she wanted to scout the area, see what had the sentry so freaked.

  She saw the sentry – she still wasn’t sure who it was – on top of the fast food restaurant they used for surveillance. Whoever it was had their back to Sarah, staring down at the other side of the gate. With a hand on her gun, she walked to the restaurant. She climbed the ladder at the back of the building, accessing the roof. She unsnapped the strap on her holster and quietly moved to where the sentry was standing.

  “What’s the problem?” She asked softly, dismayed to see the sentry jump.

  The sentry was Sid, one of their more recent immigrants. He had come, with his wife Helen, just a few months prior. They were a middle-aged couple, probably in their late 50s. She would have never put him on gate duty; he tended to be nervous around people.

  “Them,” he said, pointing over the gate.

  Sarah rested her hand on the butt of her gun as she peered over the wall. She broke into a smile and dropped her hand to her side. “Nice horses.”

  Two mounted men looked up at her. “How are you, Sarah?” Staff Sgt. Tony McGuire asked. With him was Sgt. John Sullivan, known as Sully.

  “Good, you guys?”

  “We need to talk.” Sarah caught the seriousness of his voice.

  “I’ll let you in. You know the drill. You can leave the horses tied to those trees there.” She turned to Sid. “Keep an eye on those horses. Anything gets near them, shoot.”

  His eyes widened. “Even people?”

  Sid would not be on wall duty again. “Give them one warning, then shoot. If something happens to those horses, it’s your ass.” She moved quickly across the roof, scrambling down the ladder. She walked around the building to the gate, a school bus and a truck nose to nose across the street, the back ends of each butting against a building. Metal had been welded where the vehicles met and along the bottoms of both. There was a door in the middle of the bus, leading from one side of the road to the other. The door was nearly invisible, but Tony and Sully had visited before.

  The first time they visited, as representatives from the United States Government, they expected a docile group. They were shocked when Sarah and Mick held them at gunpoint. However, after the rocky start, they became friendlier with each visit. Sarah was actually happy to see them now. They brought news from the outside, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Sarah had the feeling that this was going to a bad news visit.

  Tony and Sully were waiting at the door when Sarah opened it. “Come on.” The two men stepped past her, watching as she locked the entry door with a padlock, then slid a steel bar over the entrance. The three of them walked through the bus. Sarah repeated her actions on the town side of the bus. Once the bar was in place, she turned to her visitors. “Nice to see you guys,” she said with a smile.

  “You, too, ma’am.” Sully smirked.

  “Don’t call me ma’am, Sully.”

  Sully laughed. “Here, got something for Josey.” He rummaged in his pack and came out with a red-headed doll, nearly as big as Josey was.

  “You think my daughter plays with dolls?” Sarah asked with a smile.

  “No, but Mick’s does.” Sully laughed.

  “Give it to her when you see her,” Sarah said and Sully returned the doll to his pack.

  “Is there somewhere we can talk?” Tony interrupted.

  Sarah didn’t like the look on his face. There was something serious going on. “Sure. There’s an empty storefront right up here.” She started walking, the guys falling in behind her. She took them to what was once a florist shop. The faint smell of roses greeted them when they pushed through the door. Sarah leaned against the cashier stand and folded her arms. “What’s going on?” She asked.

  “About six months ago, the virus mutated,” Tony said. “It’s killing nearly everyone now, not just those who were bit.”

  “How did it mutate? How did you figure this out?” Sarah didn’t give in to her panic.

  “The scientists aren’t sure how it happened,” Sully answered. “But it seems that anyone who has had any contact with the bodily fluids of the zeds in the past six months are infected now. They had a blood test to check before the mutation and it’s showing the same thing now on people who weren’t bitten. To make things even more fun, those who were infected by the bodily fluids can pass the infection themselves via their bodily fluids.”

  “So we’re all infected.” Sarah blew out a sigh.

  “If you’ve killed them and got splattered, you’re infected.” Tony swiped a hand across his eyes. “If you’re exchanging bodily fluids with someone who was killing them, you’re infected. It’s possible that if you were around them, or somewhere where they were in the last six months, you’re infected. We’re just not sure.”

  Josey. Sarah’s knees nearly buckled. Her daughter was infected. She swallowed hard. “What—what do we do now?” Sarah could feel the headache forming. She thought once they all died out, things could go back to a somewhat normal world.

  “Keep doing what you’re doing. Isolate anyone who looks sick or dying.” Sully shrugged. “Same old, same old.”

  “And if someone has a heart attack in the middle of the night and dies?”

  “Then you have a problem.” Tony shook his head. “That’s how the scientists discovered it. Since they were working with them, there were always fluids around and despite their precautions, they were in contact with them. One of them died in the middle of the night. The next day, when their relief came, the whole crew were zeds.”

  “Shit.” Sarah kicked at the ground. “I have to tell the council. Are you guys just spreading the joyful news?”

  “Yes, we’re headed to Kittington after this,” Sully said. “Then Boyer.”

  “I need to get to Kittington. Can you wait about an hour or so while I tell the council? It would be nice to have a military escort. I’ve never had one.”

  Sully looked at Tony. “Yeah, we can wait about an hour.”

  “Let’s go to the kitchen. Donna can get you fed while you wait.”

  They left the florist shop and started walking back towards Shaun. “Are you going to tell your people?” Tony asked.

  “I don’t think I have a choice.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Sarah left Tony and Sully with Donna, who promised to feed them a good meal. It was no hardship to Donna. She had a little crush on Sully. Sarah headed to what they termed the daycare, which was really just Missy keeping an eye on the three kids who were under school age. She figured Mick was there with Josey. She needed to talk to him.

  On her way, she saw Grant heading to his shift in one of the greenhouses. “Hey, Grant!” she called.

  Grant turned and saw her, grinning when he realized it was Sarah. “Sarah!” He trotted over to her, a sixteen-year old kid in need of a haircut. His thick eyeglasses were two separate halves joined together in the middle. Not a fashionable choice, but a necessary one so he could see. He was nearly legally blind without them.

  “Can you do me a favor? Find Troy, Bobby, Annie, April and Paul and send them to my place right away?”

  “Sure! Annie might be with Missy, I’ll start there.”

  Sarah shook her head. “I’m heading there now. Just find the rest and if Annie’s not there, I’ll find her myself.”

  “I’ll get them now.” He raced off. Sarah was tempted to tell him to slow down, but time was of the essence.

  She made her way to Missy’s apartment and knocked on the door. A few minutes later, Missy opened. “Sarah, you don’t have to knock. Come in!”

  Sarah never walked into someone’s apartment without knocking. There was precious little privacy in their small settlement. Everyone needed that last little bit. She stepped in and saw Mick on the floor, Josey crawling around him. “Figured I’d find you here.” Josey saw her and rapid crawled her way to her mother. She held up her arms. Sarah looked over at Mick.

  But Missy was there first. “Not now, Josey-girl. Mama’s all geared up for the day.” She carried her into the kitchen. “Want a cracker?”

  Mick got up from the floor. He didn’t like the look on Sarah’s face. “What’s wrong?”

  “Council needs to meet. We have some news.”

  Mick nodded. “I guess it’s bad?”

  “Yeah, it’s bad. Get Josey and we’ll head over to the house.” Sarah started to pack up Josey’s bag. “Grant is gathering up everyone else.”

  “Aunt Sarah!!!!” Two and a half feet of boy launched at her. Sarah stood quickly, angling her body so that her gun and knife were not within reach.

  “Hey, Louis!!” She exclaimed as he clutched her legs in a tight hug. She tousled his light brown hair.

  “Come see!!” He pulled away and tugged on her hand, intending to take her to his room to show her his latest treasure.

  “Not now, sweetie. I have to go back to work. I’ll see you later, OK?” She smiled down at him, gently pulling her hand from his sticky one.

  “OK.” He turned away and headed back into his room.

  Sarah shook her head. If it wasn’t for the fact that he barely slept more than 3 hours at time, he’d be the perfect kid. She’d rather have her daily firebrand so she could have a good night’s sleep.

  Missy came back from the kitchen with said firebrand, who was gnawing on a stale cracker. “You can leave her here with me, if you want,” she said.

  Sarah looked at Mick, who shrugged. “If you wouldn’t mind,” she said. “It won’t be for long.”

  “Take as long as you need. Josey and I will have some fun, won’t we, Josey-girl?” Josey babbled happily.

  “Do you know where Annie is?” Sarah asked.

  “She left about ten minutes ago. She said she was headed to the greenhouse by the north gate.”

  Sarah sighed. The opposite end of town. “OK, thanks. We’ll be back for Josey in a bit.”

  Mick and Sarah walked quickly up the road. Sarah knew her time was limited. Tony and Sully wouldn’t wait for long. “What’s going on?” Mick asked.

  She took a breath. “The virus mutated. Anyone who’s been exposed to their fluids in the last six months is now infected. We’ll turn when we die.” She kept her voice low, just in case someone was around to hear.

  “Fuck.” Mick and Sarah had both been exposed multiple times in the last six months. “Is it going to kill us?”

  “It won’t kill us, but when we die, we’ll turn.” She nodded to Steven as he walked by.

  “What do we do?”

  “What can we do?” She asked. “Lock everyone up at night in separate apartments?” She smiled. “You think I’m sleeping without your warmth in the winter, you’re crazy.”

  “Sarah, this isn’t funny.”

  “No shit, Mick. I don’t know what we do. We talk it over with the council and we figure it out from there.” They had reached the north greenhouse.

  Annie was wrist deep in soil when they walked in. “Hi Sarah, Mick. What brings you down here?” There was a smear of dirt on her cheek.

  “We need to have a quick council meeting,” Sarah said.

  “Now?” Annie pulled her hands from the potting soil and brushed the excess back into the bucket. She saw the tension in Sarah’s face. “Give me a minute to get cleaned up.”

  “We’ll meet you back at our place, OK?” Sarah didn’t give her a chance to answer. She turned and walked out, Mick following.

  When they got back to their place, Troy and April were already there, waiting outside the door. “Why are we meeting?” Troy asked as they came down the hall. April knew better than to ask. Sarah didn’t like to repeat herself. She would tell them when everyone was gathered.

  Sarah said nothing. She opened their apartment door and ushered Troy and April inside. “Want something to drink? Coffee? Water?” she asked as she headed into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. Both declined as they sat in the living room. April looked at Mick, who gave nothing away. Sarah was their leader; it was her place to lead the meetings. He was just her second.

  The rest of the council members arrived quickly. Once everyone was in, and had been offered refreshment, Sarah sat on the arm of an oversized chair and surveyed the room. April was their senior medical officer, as she was a former paramedic. Bobby was their chief engineer since he had the talent to make things work again. Annie was their human resources director, having the skill to work with Troy to fit workers to jobs. Troy was their accountant, keeping track of their supplies, which were much more precious than money. Paul was a former police officer. Sarah thought having someone with law enforcement experience on the council was a good idea. And Mick was her moral support, sometimes even her conscious. They were her council.

  She decided to just get it over with. “Tony and Sully are here. The government has just discovered that the virus has mutated.” She noticed that everyone had a reaction. Except Mick. “Anyone who’s been in contact with the zombies in the last six months is now infected.”

  “What does that mean?” April asked.

  “It means that when we die, we turn.” Annie’s gasp almost drowned out Sarah’s next words. “It also means that anyone who’s been in contact with the zombies can infect others through bodily fluids.”

  “That explains those zombies we saw on the last run. What are we going to do about this?” Paul asked. “What if someone dies in the middle of the night?”

  “Then we’re fucked,” Sarah said simply. “The best we can do is make sure individual apartments are locked at night. That way, if something happens, we won’t lose the whole town.”

  “Yeah, but we’ll lose whoever is in the apartment,” April said.

  “Then we’ll give people the option to lock themselves in separate rooms within the apartments. I don’t see our couples taking that option, though.” She looked at April. “Do you want to sleep separate from Mandy?”

  April shook her head. “Is there nothing else we can do?”

  Sarah rubbed her forehead. “If anyone has a better idea, I’m all ears.” No one responded. She looked up at Bobby. “Bobby, I need you to make sure every apartment has a working lock. I know some of them, like ours, don’t. Leave the keys hanging in the lock. We may need to get in if there’s an issue.”

  “I’m on it. We’ll probably need more locksets.”

  “I’ll make sure the next salvage team looks for a hardware store.” Sarah stood up. “Tony and Sully are heading to Kittington to give them the news. I’m going to tag along, since I want to arrange a trade and I’d like to hear Evan’s thoughts. Since we’re leaving so late in the morning, we may have to stay overnight, so you guys may have to sit on this news.” They all looked uncomfortable, but she knew they’d keep her confidence. They wouldn’t be on her council if they couldn’t.

  “I’ll find someone to fill your spot on the gate,” Annie said. “I think Ben has some free time today.”

  “Thanks,” Sarah said. She was itching to go.

  Bobby sensed her impatience. “I better go see what we have in the way of locks,” he said, standing. Everyone else took that as their cue to leave.

  “Wait, Troy, Annie. We need to talk about a personnel matter,” Sarah said. The rest of the council filed out; their hearts heavy with the news.

  “What is it?” Troy asked.

  “I don’t want Sid on gate duty anymore.”

  “Did he do something wrong?” Annie stood, clasping her hands in front of her.

  “No, but he’s not very observant up there. I snuck up on him. And when I told him to shoot anything that went near the horses, he practically wet himself. We need better people on the gate.”

  Troy nodded. “We’ll find something else for him. You have any ideas?” He looked at Annie.

  “Teaching? Gardening? Does he have any building experience?”

  “I don’t know. We’ll pull him off the gate and talk to him. Who can we put up there now?” Troy slid his arms into his jacket.

  Annie and Troy left, discussing the revised schedule. As Sarah cleaned up the remains of their meeting, Mick spoke. “I thought you were sending Alan to Kittington.”

  Sarah carried glasses into the kitchen. “I was going to, but I thought maybe I could talk to Evan, see if he has any ideas about how to handle this.” Evan was the leader of Kittington.

  “I wish you would have told me you were going.” Mick grabbed the rest of the glasses.

  “Why? You’re coming with me.” She took the glasses from him and headed to the kitchen.

  “Is Missy going to watch Josey?”

  “I thought she could go, too. It’s not a supply run and besides, we’ll have Tony and Sully with us to watch our backs.” She put the rest of the glasses in the sink and used a bit of water to rinse them.

  Mick knew his daughter needed to be exposed to the world outside their walls. He just didn’t know if he was ready. “You really think it’s a good idea?”

  She smiled. “Yeah, Mick, it’s a good idea. She’ll be fine. You worry too much.” He shrugged. “Come on, let’s go get her. I need to stop at the market before we meet up with Tony and Sully.”

  ♦

  Tony and Sully didn’t laugh, but it was close. It looked like Mick had sprouted a miniature conjoined twin, with arms and legs barely under control. “How you doin’, Mick?” Sully asked as he shook Mick’s hand. Josey laughed, reaching out to Sully from the carrier Mick wore.