Life Among The Dead (43 page)

There is a highchair in the corner. On its tray sits a spoon and a jar of baby food. A bib is folded neatly with a note on it:
Feed until satisfied, and then probably back to the tub.
The bags on the table are filled with baby supplies.

Dan wants to inspect the items left on the dining room table. He drags the highchair behind them as they leave the kitchen. The legs of the chair bounce due to the friction of its rubber feet. Jack curiously looks at the bouncing chair with amusement. He cranes his neck around Dan’s shoulder to watch the show.

The highchair is positioned facing one of the dining room seats. Dan sits down and starts to put Jack behind the tray. It takes him a few attempts before he figures out he had to remove the tray first and manipulate the kid’s legs correctly through the straps.

The lock box contains documents; Jack’s birth certificate, social security card, and his immunization record. The deed to the house is on the bottom as is the titles to both of the cars out front. Dan picks up the blood-tinged envelope. It isn’t sealed. He removes the single sheet of paper that is enclosed and starts to read as he spoons mashed carrots into Jack’s mouth.

#

November 28

To whom it may concern,

You might be thinking that I am the worse mom ever. You are not alone. I hate myself for what I had to do. I hate myself for what I couldn’t do. I will explain.

My husband built this house. Ryan was a brilliant architect. He built many of the properties around the area that we rented out. As soon as he heard the news about what was going on, he went out to try and help our neighbors. We have always had so much and liked to give back and help those in need. He was planning on bringing as many people as he could home with him where they would be safe. All he managed to bring back was a bite on his hand.

We tried to treat the wound the best we could, but it wouldn’t stop bleeding. The news talked about the dead coming back. It said anyone bitten would turn into one of them. The man I loved would soon become a monster, and try to eat our son and I. He forced me to shoot him. Afterwards, I dragged him into the basement.

I could have sworn he was gone, but soon I heard moaning. I didn’t know if he was still alive and in pain, or if that was what they sounded like. I had to go down and finish the job. Needless to say he bit me before I could follow through with it. Don’t worry he is gone now. A half an hour later the news reporter said ‘you must shoot them in the head.’

I had one thought at that point. What about Jack? I was all he had left, and I would soon be a zombie. I would try to eat my beautiful son. I was torn between euthanizing him and doing what I did. Jack is behind the door blocked by the cabinet if you haven’t found him already.

I couldn’t bring myself to kill him. So I ran around and prepared everything for the savior who may never come. I didn’t know how long it would take for a rescuer to come calling so I prepared several bottles. I used the time I had left to freeze them. Jack and I played as the bottles froze. I played with my son for the very last time.

He is always so happy. We laughed and made faces at each other while my insides burned. It felt like my nerves were on fire. The pain was unbearable as I tickled him and played peek-a-boo. He finally fell asleep, all tuckered out from our romp. I was feeling very sleepy myself.

I put his bottles in with him and locked him away after one last kiss goodnight. I double checked everything for you one last time to ensure my boy would have a chance.

Please God let somebody come for Jack.

Cecelia

P.S. I put the gun in my mouth but couldn’t pull the trigger. I saw what it did to Ryan’s head. I can’t do it. I know it seems stupid considering

Oh God Jack is awake and crying. I can’t

Forgive me if I hurt anyone.

14

“
Wow!” Dan says putting the tear stained letter back into its envelope. A picture of Jack was in with Cecelia’s suicide note. The photo is crumpled around the edges. Dan can picture the woman who now lays in the foyer clutching it as she cried as she wrote out her confession. He imagines her running around and setting up everything for her hypothetical hero.

“
Your mom was an amazing woman. She was much too hard on herself. Jack? Is it?” Dan extends his hand to the boy who seizes it with both of his, covering the soldier with smears of carrot. The boy’s face is covered with the orange mash that oddly smells like tomato soup. Dan doesn’t mind the mess after all he has been through.

“
My name is Dan. Uncle Dan. You and I are going on a little trip.” The boy just rubs his eyes spreading the vegetable paste further up his cheeks and staining his fine eyebrows. Dan laughs seeing what Jack’s mom meant by ‘back in the tub’.

“
Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” He lifts the messy tot out of the chair and brings him back into the kitchen.

Dan has to empty the plastic tub with one hand while holding Jack in the other. The water is filthy and he needs to refill it with clean.

“
I have a boy.” Dan talks as he washes the child. “He isn’t that much younger than you. I haven’t seen too much of him since he was born, but I think you’ll like him.”

Dan dries Jack and gets a fresh diaper ready.

“
We aren’t that far away from my uncle’s ranch. You’re going to love it there. I always did as a kid.” The baby’s eyes are getting droopy and his head bobs. The sudden falling forward of his head causes him to wake up for a few seconds before falling again. Jack drifts off to sleep in his savior’s arms. Dan puts the kid down to rest in his playpen, after laying a dry towel over the soiled mattress.

“
Leaving me with all the work?” Dan asks the sleeping infant sarcastically. He wants to gather and load up the supplies. The soldier scoops the canvas bags off of the breakfast table taking three handles in each hand. The bags are heavy and full to the top with blankets and diapers. One contains small jars of food that clink together as they are shifted. Another has cans of formula and empty baby bottles.

He heads out to the driveway where he debates which vehicle to pilfer. He chooses the SUV over the sedan for its storage space and because he has always wanted one. Each vehicle is already equipped with a car seat and it looks like Cecelia had inserted the keys into the ignitions and left them unlocked.
She thought of everything,
Dan applauds the dead woman’s forethought.

Back in the dining room Dan inspects his new gun. It’s a silver .44 caliber revolver. He opens it and finds that 5 of the 6 bullets are spent
. Ryan must have fired 3 shots when he was out trying to help people,
Dan figures since Cecelia had shot him twice.

Dan feels such a high caliber is too much gun for zombies.
It’s over kill. You’re better off with a good rate of fire. A bullet in the head is a bullet in the head.

“
This would be better for werewolves.” He shivers. “I hope there aren’t such things as werewolves now.”

Cecelia’s letter is placed into the lock box and he carries it to the foyer, passing the woman’s body that lays crumpled on the stone floor. Dan has a thought.
This is Jack’s house, his birthright. He can reclaim it one day when he’s older. I can’t leave it like this.

Dan drops the items off at the car and ventures into the backyard taking the scenic route around the side. He walks through the garden patio and is awed by the expanse of real estate. The backyard is huge. The grass is perfectly manicured like a golf course. The soldier takes in the lavish foliage and flowers that line the decks and porches and the gazebo. Stone fountains and birdbaths are tastefully placed and yet there is still enough room for a game of touch football. All the way in the back Dan spots a little white shed.

“
Even their shed is gorgeous.” Dan says when he reaches the small building. The giant estate is completely enclosed by the high foreboding wall. A shovel in hand he returns to the front of the house.

He had thought of burying them in the back by the flowers, but opts for convenience since he has to move the bodies after all. Dan doesn’t need to go too deep; he just has to make sure it is wide enough for two.

He is grateful that the air is so cold once he gets going. The physical work is making him sweat. It takes him about a half an hour of toiling before he can triumphantly stab the shovel into the mound of dirt he had removed from the earth.

Thirsty and wanting to check on Jack he walks into the kitchen. His boots drop clumps of dirt onto the floor along the way. The kid is peacefully asleep.

Dan opens the fridge and takes out a six-pack of beer. It’s a brand far out of his price range. He opens one and sips it as he walks back through the dining room. The rest of the beers are placed on the table.

His first swig invokes an involuntary sigh
. This stuff is well worth the larger price tag,
he thinks as he climbs the stairs heading up to the second floor.

Five bedrooms, each with their own bathroom, and that doesn’t include the nursery. He enters Jack’s room. All the furniture is tiny. The soldier can see the dresser drawers are partially open and empty
. She must have grabbed all his clothes for me already,
he deduces. A photo album rests on top of the dresser. Dan takes it.
Jack will like this when he’s older.

The book has pictures of his loving parents and pictures of Jack at different stages of development. It celebrates different milestones like when the boy first sat up on his own, and when his first tooth erupted.

Dan pulls two blankets off of a bed in one of the other rooms on his way back down to the front door. He wraps Cecelia like a cocoon and carries her out to the hole. She isn’t heavy at all, Dan figures maybe 120 pounds. He lays her gently into the hole. After he releases her, an involuntary shiver runs through him. He still finds it unnerving to touch a dead body.

Dan lets the second quilt trail behind him like a child heading to bed as he walks through the living room. He saw from the pictures that Ryan is a larger man. He isn’t looking forward to this at all.

The cellar is dark. The bare bulbs overhead are spread out leaving areas in shadow. He finds the man of the house lying on his back; his face is a bloody ruin. The bullet had entered through his right cheekbone, decimating the tissue and all of the bone structure before it exited through the back of his skull, taking most of it with it. He has a nasty looking wound in his chest.
That must have been the first one she had fired,
Dan thinks.

He proceeds to wrap up the large man in the white shroud. His rotund belly makes the package bulge in the middle like an oversized Cheech and Chong prop. The soldier bends at the knees, preparing to hoist the man into the air.

Dan can feel his face getting red as the blood rushes to the surface from the strain. He has to lift in spurts, taking the man up a little bit and then shifting for a better grip. This action jostles the body. Dan hears a wet slopping sound as something falls from the corpse.

He judges the man’s weight to be at least 200 pounds. He slowly makes for the stairs. Each step is a work out. He has to stop halfway up the flight to rest. It takes him awhile, but ultimately the man is laid next to his wife.

He isn’t quite laid to rest, at the last moment Dan’s body gave out, and he dropped Ryan into the hole. A creepy crawling feeling causes the soldier to convulse in a full body conniption. He shakes his head back and forth while brushing his body as if trying to erase the sense memory of touching the dead man for so long. He skips in place a bit and groans with disgust. When the willies have run their course he starts to return the dirt to the hole, feeling embarrassed.

The grave is covered and Dan pats down the disturbed soil. He stomps the shovel into the dirt to serve as a grave marker. He rests his arm on the handle and leans on it, exhausted. The cold air feels really good on his overheated skin. The soldier allows himself a breather before saying a few words over the bodies. Snowflakes are starting to fall around him. They drift about and flutter in the invisible currents of air.

“
I know I didn’t know you guys… But, from what I’ve learned you were good people… Ryan, you went out to help others when things got bad… Cecelia, you did the right thing. If you hadn’t done what you did, Jack wouldn’t be here now… I promise to take care of your boy like he was my own, and I will tell him what great parents you were…”

Dan’s thoughts go to his own son. He starts to tear up. All he wants is to get to his family. He wants to see his wife and son again. It feels as if some great, unseen power is keeping them apart. He thinks of the bridge when he and his loved ones parted ways.

“
It was worth it. If not for that, I wouldn’t be here to save Jack. I would do it again if given the choice… All of it… Take it easy.”

He walks back to the house, wishing he had chosen different words to end his eulogy. He downs the rest of the beer and wipes his eyes. His hands feel gritty on his face. He needs to take a shower. One last shutter rattles his body, shaking out the last of his heebie jeebies.