Dead Living (31 page)

“I'm carrying Samantha.”

“Well, pass her hot little ass over here and
I'll carry her.”

Aaron almost lost it when he saw Garrett rub
Sam's leg as he tossed her over his shoulder. Anger was starting to
replace the aches and pains.

Ray secured the fence back in place. They
kept to the shadows as they headed to the back of the school.

Aaron pushed the two walkers away from him
and stood up. The only thing he felt was rage. He was getting used
to beatings, but to see Sam hurt was too much.

He heard voices approaching.

“Amanda! Stay back!”

“Aaron! Are you alive in there?”

It was Nikki, Derek, and Amanda. They never
went to the cafeteria with everyone else. They hid under the
bleachers, hoping to see Aaron and Sam kiss. Derek and Nikki peered
into the Pit, Amanda a few steps behind.

“Yeah guys, I'm here.”

“We'll get you out of there.”

“No! The walkers will get you. Don't reach in
here.”

“But they're not hurting you.”

“I know. Just listen. Go find Richardson.” He
had to think of where Garrett and Ray stayed. They shared a room
together in the school's basement, away from everyone else. “Tell
him to go to Garrett's room, that Sam's in trouble.”

“Okay, Aaron, we'll get him.”

Derek grabbed Nikki's hand and ran away,
Amanda right behind them.

Aaron jumped as high as he could. He couldn't
reach the top of the Pit. He took a deep breath as he looked at the
walkers mindlessly moving around.

“Sorry, guys.”

He grabbed a walker and shoved it to the
ground against the dirt wall. Before it could stand up, he tossed
another on top. He stopped when the pile of walkers was five
corpses high.

He climbed onto their backs and grabbed a
spike holding a corner of the fence down. The walkers moaned and
moved beneath him. He managed to fight the pain enough to lift the
fence off the spike and climb out. He made sure to secure the fence
back in place. The pile of walkers collapsed as he ran across the
field. His nerves were raw from pain and anger.

The walker Aaron called Sweatpants watched
every move the human made.

*****

The first thing Sam felt was the pain in her
head. She struggled to open her eyes, the left one almost swollen
shut. She was laying on an unfamiliar floor. Her wrists and feet
were bound, a smelly shirt tied around her mouth. She looked around
for Aaron, but didn't see him.

I'll kill them if they hurt him.

Garrett and Ray walked back and forth,
packing old suitcases and bags. The room was well lit with
candles.

“Where we heading?” Ray asked.

“Anywhere but here. This place can rot in
Hell.”

Sam had a change of
heart.
I'm going to kill them
anyway.

“Why we taking Samantha?”

“The slave guys will give us good shit for
her. Young, pretty little thing like her. We can name our own
price.”

“I heard they killed all the slavers.”

“There's others out there. Toss me my
magazines.”

“I thought you wanted to fuck her?”

“That bald dickhead probably already had her.
I'm not going in after him.”

Ray laughed. “He's worm food now,
anyway.”

Sam struggled against her bonds. Garrett
heard her.

“Well, look who's awake.”

Garrett stood over her. He grabbed her by the
shoulders and forced her into a sitting position.

“Your boyfriend's dead,” he said. “In a few
days, you're gonna belong to someone else. None of this had to
happen. This is all your fault.”

Sam would have spit on him, if she could.
Looking back and forth, she could see they were in the school's
basement, in an old storage room they'd converted to a living space
long ago. No one ever visited Garrett and Ray. They could pull a
truck up to the back and no one would ever see them leave.

Garrett and Ray went back to packing. Sam
looked around for a weapon of any kind. There were plenty of things
to grab, tables, chairs, she just couldn't move her hands at
all.

“Hey Garrett,” Ray said. “Since you don't
want her, could I have sex with her?”

“Have you ever even had sex?”

“Yeah.”

“Whatever. Just don't mess her up too much.
If we're gonna trade her, she needs to be in good shape.”

Sam saw the sick look on Ray's face. She kept
calm. She had killed men who tried to rape her before. He would
have to cut the rope around her ankles if he wanted to entertain
his dark thoughts. Then she would kick with everything she had.

He dragged her by the feet to the middle of
the room. “I always thought you were really pretty.”

He pulled out a knife.

The door to the storage room flew open.
Everyone looked up to see Aaron, his hands and face covered with
dirt.

Aaron stood motionless for only a second. He
saw Sam tied up and gagged on the floor. She was bruised and hurt,
with Ray standing over her with a knife. That was all he needed to
see.

He charged forward, screaming in rage. Ray
held the knife up to defend himself, but he was too clumsy and
slow. Aaron tackled him around the waist, and they tumbled to the
floor. The knife flew across the room. Aaron pounded on Ray's face
again and again with the bottom of his fist.

Garrett pulled out a knife of his own and ran
toward Aaron. Sam scooted across the floor as fast as she could and
stuck her legs out just in time. Garrett tripped over her and
landed hard on the floor. The wind rushed out of him, but only for
a second. He spun around and swiped at Sam with the knife, cutting
her shoulder. She cried out in pain against the shirt in her
mouth.

Aaron heard her. He stopped beating Ray and
turned to see Garrett stalking Sam on the floor as she scooted
away. Blood flowed from her shoulder and soaked her shirt. Aaron
jumped to his feet. Garrett spun around to face him.

“I'm gonna kill you,” he said. “I was gonna
sell your woman, but I'm just gonna kill her now, too.”

Garrett held the knife out defensively. Aaron
didn't hesitate. He grabbed a small end-table next to him and swung
it as hard as he could. The knife flew out of Garrett's hand and
stuck in the wall. Aaron swung again, this time aiming for
Garrett's head. He connected, and the end-table broke into
pieces.

Aaron didn't utter a word, not a single taunt
or threat. He just beat Garrett with the broken table leg. They had
hurt Sam. Anyone that hurt Sam was going to die. It was that
simple.

After seven or eight hard swings Aaron tossed
the table leg aside. He went to Sam and checked her shoulder. It
was only a slice, but it would need stitches. He grabbed Garrett's
knife from the wall and cut the rope around her wrists and ankles.
She pulled the shirt out of her mouth and tried to hug Aaron. It
was an awkward hug, as Aaron was busy putting pressure on her
shoulder.

“They said they killed you,” she said.

“They were wrong.”

“My shoulder hurts like hell.”

There was a new voice behind them.

“Ray, you drop that gun. Right now.”

Aaron turned to see Ray standing upright. His
face was almost unrecognizable. His nose was twisted, both eyes
nearly swollen shut, his face covered with blood. He aimed a gun at
Aaron.

In the doorway stood Richardson and Larry.
Richardson aimed a gun at the back of Ray's head, while Larry had a
rifle.

Aaron shifted in position to cover Sam
completely, in case he decided to shoot. He would die for her, but
it turned out that wasn't necessary. Ray dropped the gun to the
floor.

“Well, well,” Garrett said, climbing to his
feet. He was a broken and bloody mess, just like Ray. “Look who
came to see us off.”

Richardson looked over the room. He saw the
ropes, the blood. He could picture the scene in his head.

“Larry, take Samantha to James. Get him to
stitch her up.”

Larry handed Richardson the rifle. He and
Aaron both helped her to her feet.

Aaron went to leave with Sam, but Richardson
motioned for him to stay. Aaron put a hand on her good shoulder.
“You'll be okay without me?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Just come find me
later.”

Larry and Sam left. Aaron picked up the gun
Ray dropped on the floor. He planned on firing a gun for only the
second time.

“Aaron, we don't kill people in cold blood,”
Richardson said.

“Look around. Does this look like cold blood
to you?”

Garrett smiled, showing off some missing
teeth. “You ain't gonna kill us, Richardson. You're too much of a
softie. Always have been.”

Richardson looked hard at both of them. He
settled on Garrett and gave him an angry glare.

“You've lost your privilege to live here.
You've both just been evicted.”

Garrett threw his hands in the air. “Hey, we
were leaving anyway. Already got our shit packed.”

“No. You don't get anything. You're leaving
now with what you're wearing. That's all.”

“Are you shittin' me, Richardson? You should
just kill us now, then.”

Richardson passed the rifle to Aaron. “We can
do it that way, if you want. Aaron's already beaten the piss out of
you. I can get Samantha here, lock you both in a room with them.
How long do you think you'd last?”

Aaron stared at Garrett and clenched his
fists. For all his talk, all his attitude, Aaron could see Garrett
was afraid of him.

“This place is bullshit, anyway,” Garrett
said. “We don't need any of you. Fuck you.”

“Believe me, the feeling is mutual.”

*****

The exile went without incident. Aaron stayed
close to Richardson, in case they tried anything. Richardson led
them by gunpoint through the school's back door. They marched
across the fields to the locked front gates. Paul Sorenson was on
watch duty. He didn't say a word, just opened the gates when they
drew near.

“Listen, Garrett,” Richardson said as Paul
fumbled with the chain. “Don't ever come back here. I'm telling
everyone if they see you, they have permission to kill you. You
didn't make any friends here. You're not welcome.”

“Go to Hell, old man.”

Garrett and Ray left and started the long
walk down Honeyton Road. They both dripped blood to the ground.
Paul shook his head.

“What the hell happened to those two? Looks
like somebody gave them a what-for.”

Richardson let out a small smile and gestured
to Aaron. “There's your what-for, right there.”

Aaron didn't smile. “They hurt Sam. So I hurt
them back.”

Richardson patted Aaron on the shoulder. “You
want a drink?”

“I want to see Sam.”

“James is taking care of her, I'm sure. Just
give me a few minutes of your time.”

He thought it over. “Okay.”

Richardson nodded. “Goodnight, Paul.”

“Night, fellas. And hey, get someone to come
relieve me. I gotta hit the outhouse.”

Aaron followed Richardson back into the
school. Richardson grabbed a candle near the front door and took
the lead through the darkened hallways. A few people touring the
halls gave them polite greetings. Nearly everyone was gathered in
the cafeteria. As they passed by the open doors Aaron heard a
voice.

“Aaron!”

He stopped to see Nikki, Derek, and Amanda
jogging toward him. Amanda reached him first and gave him a tight
hug around the waist.

“Are you okay?” Nikki asked.

“We found Mister Richardson!” Amanda
yelled.

Aaron laughed. “Yes you did. You saved both
me and Sam's life.”

Derek almost smiled. “I guess we're even now,
huh.”

“Yes we are. Thank you.”

He gave Nikki a hug, and pretended to reach
out for Derek, just to watch him cringe away. The three disappeared
back into the cafeteria.

Richardson led Aaron to his room.
Appropriately enough, Richardson used the old principal's office.
Aaron had to stop and admire the place as Richardson lit a few
candles spread throughout the room. He noticed the simple things,
bed in the corner, couch against the wall. It was the walls that
caught Aaron by surprise.

The walls were littered with information.
There were handmade calendars, lists of people's names and jobs,
maps, sketches of improvements.

Aaron had to smile when he saw different
sketches of windmills, built on top of the school.

“You definitely like to plan, don't you?”

Richardson laughed as he poured himself a
shot of whiskey in an old glass. He offered a glass to Aaron. Aaron
only took a small sip. It felt like pouring fire down his throat.
He tried not to cough and gag.

Richardson looked over his own sketches and
ideas. “You always have to plan, always have to think ahead. Thanks
to you and Samantha, we have eighty people here now.”

“Uh, sorry about that.”

“No, don't be. That's what we need. We need
good people. If we don't want to become extinct, we need to
grow.”

“It almost sounds like you have hope for the
future. I haven't seen much of that lately.”

Richardson gave him a look. “You want to know
what gives me hope? You and Samantha.”

“Really? Why?”

“When the dead first started jumping around,
I thought our days were numbered. But seeing that two people can
still find each other, and fall in love, well, that makes me think
maybe we're not done yet.”

“Love? What? Sam and me?”

“Yeah. Everyone already knows it, Aaron. It's
our little entertainment. She blew up a slave camp to get to you. I
couldn't even get her to cut the grass without giving her something
before.”

Aaron didn't know what to say. He was
surprised, a little embarrassed. But he didn't argue with
Richardson.

“Have you two talked about it yet?”

He shook his head. “Not yet. I, uh, have some
stuff I've kept to myself.”

Richardson laughed. “Of course you do. No man
survives the way you do without a few secrets.”