Life Among The Dead (Book 2): A Castle Made of Sand (28 page)

##

‘Living with survival’ is the name of a
support group, a safe place where people can talk about their
experiences beyond the wall. Folks can expunge guilt they may
harbor over out-living their loved ones, or confess the drastic
means they had taken in the name of survival. Becka runs the group.
It was actually her idea, having her own demons in need of
exorcism. Though no oath was taken, she keeps the group anonymous.
Everything one may hear from another in the circle is to be kept
strictly confidential. Becka broke her own vow by telling Carla of
Oz’s attendance, but was able to retain everything the man has
shared.

Carla promises herself that she won’t pry as
she knocks on the man’s door. He had given her an overview of his
time out there, just not the whole picture. Oz answers the door in
a pair of grey sweats; she had taken the time to get cleaned up and
changed as well. She stands before him in jeans and a braless tank
top, her hair is still damp from her shower.

“Hey,” he greets his guest. “Come on in.”

“Gladly,” she enters, squeezing past him
where he holds the door open.

This is the first time she has been in Oz’s
house without the kids. It’s surprisingly immaculate. No toys
strewn about or spills, as she had encountered on the previous
visits. Above all, it’s quiet. With twenty-four children, Oz and
David had been given one of the largest homes in town, second only
to the Williamson ranch.

“With the kids gone for the night, and David
no longer here, I would have probably wound up drinking alone,” he
tells her.

“Me too,” she says. Her brother Sid is
helping Barbara with the little campers and is also gone for the
night. “We might as well drink alone together.”

They sit in silence, watching the fire in the
fireplace, intermittingly sipping their Jack and Cokes.

Carla speaks first, “Crazy day, huh?”

“Yeah.” The large man nods. “Really fucked up
situation. It makes me think…”

Carla coaxes him. “About?”

“After I was done with that monster…” He
stares into his beverage, having trouble opening up without the
safety of his group. “I realized that I’m no better than he is. I’m
a monster too.”

“No you’re not.”

“Who am I to be a moral compass? I saw what
he had done to those… I broke every bone he didn’t need to live
simply because I didn’t like what he was doing… Because I could and
no one could stop me.”

“Your options were limited; death,
imprisonment, or exile. Killing that man was the most humane thing
you could have done… Well, maybe not your method. Those of us that
remain seem to be divided into two categories; sinners and saints.
We’re the heroes.”

He’s used the same sentiment before, but
can’t quite justify his actions today. “The world was a pretty sick
place before it fell apart, but what I saw in that basement… I
needed every last painful breath he took to be a reminder of what
he did. Make him die watching those reanimated newborns he had
tossed down that laundry chute squirm.”

“It’s getting late,” Carla says,
standing.

“I’ll show you out,” Oz begins to rise.

“No need.” She waves off the custom, taking
Becka’s advice about being aggressive. “I didn’t say I was leaving.
I’m not planning on getting much sleep tonight, and I hope you
aren’t.”

Carla straddles the man in his recliner,
kissing him deeply. The two decide to take a break from being
saints.

Dustin and Eve share a meal together,
separated by a pane of glass. The girl has set a small table on her
side of the oval window that gives the illusion of a nice family
setting once it is aligned with the longer dining table. This is
how she always ate with her parents.

A similar window is found in the adjoining
room, the kitchen. The girl has her own smaller cooking space that
allowed her and her mother to prepare meals together. Dustin had to
pass through another UV vestibule to reach the kitchen. Among the
standard appliances and charm is a large flat screen television and
a pair of comfortable recliners that enabled the family to watch TV
and movies together.

The two watch a movie with the lights dimmed
to reduce the glare on the transparent barrier between them. Eve
falls asleep before long, and Dustin just watches the angel for
several minutes. Curiosity pulls him from his vigil, though. Since
he expects to be staying here for a while, he figures he should get
to know the place.

The same rustic motif is found on the upper
level, without the accents of science fiction. Modest bedrooms and
a full bath all contrast the downstairs in their advanced state of
disarray. The sink and vanity of the bathroom are splattered with
old blood; the fancy decorative bar of soap in the dish nearby is
encrusted by it as well. A ring of grime stretches around the tub
walls.

The king sized bed in the master suite is
unmade and smells musty. Dustin kicks his way through piles of old
laundry to get to an antique dresser. He wants to find some clean
clothes, anything but the rough fatigues in his car. But he has no
luck finding a thing to wear, except clothes that belonged to Eve’s
late mother. All her dad’s garments are buried in the dirty laundry
piles.

I
could
do
some
wash
,
I
think
. Dustin has never done a load of
wash before--not once in his nineteen years of life. Since moving
out of his parents’ home, he had just brought bags of laundry to
his mother every week. The arrangement was perfect, because not
only did he get his clothes cleaned and folded he also got a free
meal. But now he figures he has many chores in store for him. If it
means having a safe place to stay, and getting to spend his time
with the beautiful captive angel, he’ll do anything. He will
protect her and make this place a home.

She’s
singing
. Dan furrows his
brow.
Why
is
she
singing
? He watches
his sheriff hum to herself in the office, noticing an extra bounce
in her step this morning. She moves swiftly to the coffee pot upon
seeing him enter and asks if he’d like a cup.
She
never
does
this
. Typically, Dan is the one
offering to grab her a cup as he pours his own.

“I added some cinnamon to the grounds,” she
says with a wide smile.

Dan has to admit it does smell really good,
but he must ask, “What’s gotten into you?”

“Oz!” she blurts, unable to contain the
news.

The spontaneous confession causes Dan to
inhale his coffee and have a coughing fit, but he manages to choke
out, “What?”

“Oz got into me!” She beams. “Last
night!”

Now wearing his beverage, Dan recovers as
Carla goes on about the events of her evening after they left
Raleigh. He is thankful that the words are escaping her at such a
high rate of speed he can’t fully track the details. Fearing he may
actually become privy to things he will never be able to unheard,
he has to stop her. “Whoa! Take a break. Why are you telling me all
this?”

“I have to tell someone! Becka’s at the radio
station and your wife is up the hill. Come on, you’re my platonic,
married guy-friend. You’re practically a woman. I need girl
talk!”

Dan isn’t entirely sure how to take this. He
clears the last of the coffee from his windpipe while waving her
away. “Go! Go up the hill and find Heather.”

“Really? I can have the day off?”

“Get the fuck outta here.” Dan dismisses her
with a laugh. He does charge her with one task as she rushes out
the door. “Check on the Raleigh woman while you’re up there.”

“You’re the best boss ever!” She thanks him
from the door, grinning from ear to ear.

In the schoolyard, the children are playing
zombie tag with Nerf guns. In the coming weeks, those who have
their guardian’s consent will be brought to the range to use real
firearms and learn gun safety. The ‘infected’ children hobble after
the ‘survivors,’ who run while trying to score a headshot. Some lay
on the grass ‘dead’ from wounds sustained by the foam ammunition.
In order to keep the game going, the kids laying prone need only to
count to fifty in order to cure themselves and rejoin the living.
If
only
it
was
that
easy
,
Dan thinks as he strolls closer.

Games such as this have replaced freeze tag
and stuck in the mud. The cautionary advice ‘don’t talk to
strangers’ has been replaced by ‘if they don’t say good day, just
run away.’ The townsfolk have gotten into the habit of
acknowledging each other while passing on the street, lest they be
mistaken for the walking dead. It’s became a common fear after an
overzealous sentry gunned down an inebriated man one morning. Since
then the consumption of alcohol is only available in moderate
quantities.

The second his sheriff had left for the hill,
Dan decided to take this walk. He had seen Oz near the playground
on his way into the office. The large man is still there on the
bench, watching his kids play.

Dan sits next to him. “So, I hear you’ve
decided to court my little girl.”

The big man laughs at the over-protective dad
act. “She told you?”

“I had to send her away before she gave me
too many details. Congrats, I’m happy for you guys.”

“I’m very happy.” Oz smiles. “It’s weird. I’m
not used to the feeling. Now I got all these kids and a great girl.
I think I like it.”

##

“Oh my god!” Carla hugs Heather who has just
shared her own news. “A baby! I’m so excited!”

“We don’t know when yet.” Heather tries to
calm her friend. “It’s just talk right now.”

“At least tell me you two are
practicing.”

“We don’t need practice, Carla.” Heather
chuckles. “And, what about you and Oz?”

“I was a little rusty at first, but after we
got…”

“Not that!” Heather swats Carla with a towel
she just folded. “I was talking about motherhood. Are you ready to
take on twenty-four kids?”

“As long as it’s these kids. They’re full
grown, well-mannered, and house broken. Best of all they’re a great
bunch and they’re his.”

“Could we be hearing wedding bells?”

“Whoa! Slow the fuck down!” Carla waves her
hands to end the topic. “So far we only know that we’re compatible
in one area. I’d like to explore that particular area for a while
before doing anything drastic, like marrying the guy.”

The ladies talk over coffee. They continue to
catch up on each other’s lives, since they haven’t had much time
together in the past few weeks. They even delve into the town
gossip, anything but what lurks on the floor above. They had
checked on the refugees; the women say they are fine and relieved
to be free, but they’ve been through a lot, suffered horrors most
wouldn’t wish on their worst enemies. The scars of the ordeal show
in their eyes, and it is evident in their voices. The memories will
haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Though they never let it interfere with their
work, Oz and Carla’s budding romance becomes the talk of the town,
and they have become the IT couple of New Castle.

Not too far away, another love blossoms
between Dustin and Eve, albeit one-sided. Nevertheless, yet it
pains him to be so close and feel so strongly for someone so
radiant that he can never touch, he stays. He takes care of her.
Never before has he ever wanted to be burdened by another soul, but
now he welcomes it. The urges that torment him to enter her
enclosure without the protective wear are fleeting and easily
overcome.

Eve has been reading to him from the bible.
It puzzles him that coming from anyone else’s lips these scriptures
would be nonsense, worthy of snarky comments and furious eye
rolling, but with her he is patient. Her recitations actually, sort
of, make sense to him and are very beautiful. He has never been a
religious person, and often referred to such practices as
‘bullshit.’ He once thought that the vast majority of spiritual
people were just following it because they were told to when they
were younger, that they don’t truly believe and it’s more of a
learned behavior from their parents. He used to call them sheep,
but now he’s becoming one of the flock.

Dustin is on the road, on his way back from
gathering food for his lady fair. The former man of the house had
slaughtered the farm’s livestock already, so Eve has plenty of food
still but mentioned wanting something sweet. He didn’t hesitate to
hop into his Camaro to fetch her heart’s desire.

Dustin scrolls through his eclectic playlist,
but none of it sounds good to him at the moment. The driver
disconnects the slim music device from the car’s sound system,
allowing it to pick up broadcasts. Past experience should have him
hearing static, but instead he hears a pleasant female voice.

“… That was Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train.
Coming up is more classic rock, followed swiftly by my daily
apology to Mrs. McCleary. Before we get to the music, I have an
announcement: New Castle’s first and only band, the Revenants--that
means ravenous flesh eaters… don’t feel bad I had to look it up
myself… are looking for a guitarist. Those interested should drop
by their garage on the farthest side of town to try out.

“In honor of this, here’s a solid block of
AC/DC. And for those about to rock, I salute you.”

Dustin floors the accelerator to get home to
Eve. Though the band that thunders from his speakers had earned him
many speeding tickets in the past, he barely registers them. His
mind is set on telling his girl the great news.