Life Among The Dead (54 page)

He tells her about the family of four on West 8th, she already knew about Barbara’s mom and brother. He tells her the truth about the heavy nurse and the premies, which always felt like a suicide pact to him. Dan confesses to leaving Greg behind in the tunnel as a way of buying time. And, he tells her the details of what happened outside of Carla’s. She knew he had saved the girl from the rapists, she didn’t know all of the facts. Heather also learns how her husband truly knows Frank.

Dan looks at his wife who remains silent. She turns over the information in her head as she fidgets with her hands. It’s a lot to take in. They can hear Bruce’s loud voice as he delivers his announcement.

“
Attention New Castle! As your King, I am declaring this the… Hey, what’s today’s date?” Nobody has an answer for him. “This… Whatever day it is, National New Castle Day!”

Bruce pops the cork on a bottle of champagne and the crowd cheers. The self-appointed, and uncontested, King of the people receives a round of applause.

#

“
We’re missing it.” Carla pouts from behind the counter of the gun store. Hector is handing her the weapons from the police station, he doesn’t respond to her complaint. Sometimes she forgets that he is deaf and has to see her lips to read them. She kisses him quickly on his cheek and receives his full attention. He is shocked and blushes brightly.

“
Let’s hurry.” She smiles at his reaction, pointing his attention to the window. They can see Bruce on top of the roof of a car, drinking from a big bottle. People cheer all around him as the zombie bonfire burns in the distance.

A light squeak is barely audible, but enough for Carla to look to its origin.

“
Hector, lookout!” She grabs his shoulders and tries to pull him over the counter, she is too late. Hector feels the sting of what feels like hundreds of wasps in rapid succession. He doesn’t hear the gunshots.

Carla has lost her grip of the young man and falls back behind the counter. Hector is on the other side, his body riddled with holes.

The attacker has ceased fire. Carla takes her AK and returns a salvo in his direction. The person had popped up from a secret panel in the floor. The hatch is closed. She doesn’t know if she has gotten the assailant or not, she just stands ready. She keeps the assault rifle aimed at the concealed door, and waits for him to show himself again.

“
Hector, are you alright?” Tears choke her words.

#

The celebrating citizens fell silent when the shots rang out into the night sky. Dan and Bruce take off towards the sounds of violence.

“
Everyone stay down.” Bruce orders the others over his shoulder.

The window is all over the sidewalk in pieces. They can see Carla using the counter as cover as she aims her rifle at something. Bruce drops below the window while Dan takes position by the door.

“
Carla?” Bruce calls in.

“
The fucker shot him!” Carla cries in response. Dan peeks in and sees Hector writhing on the floor, his blood spreading outward in a pool. He doesn’t know who the ‘fucker’ is, but it looks like Carla has a bead on him. Dan has to trust her to cover him so he can creep to his friend.

Dan’s meets Hector’s eyes. The young man is scared and in pain. He has already lost a lot of blood, and knows he is dying. Hector extends a finger on one of his hands, bringing it to his forehead. He taps himself between his eyebrows.

“
No.” Dan shakes his head.

A squeak, the hatch is opening. A single shot is fired and the trap door slams shut. Dan can hear something thud below the floor.

“
Got him.” Carla announces. She jumps over the counter to come to Hector’s side. Though she had just met him, she has a little crush on the deaf man. It isn’t often she gets to spend time with a nice guy. Hector keeps tapping his forehead.

“
What does that mean?” She asks the dying man.

“
He wants me to… Finish it.” Dan pulls out his pistol. Carla starts to cry as she holds Hector’s hand to her cheek.

“
Leave us.” Dan gently tells her.

“
No.” She refuses. She keeps his hand to her face.

Hector’s eyes plead with Dan. The soldier puts the weapon to his friend’s head. Carla closes her eyes right before the shot is fired. She lets go of Hector’s limp hand and dashes out of the shop. Tears flow from her eyes as she pushes past Heather and Bruce who stand in the doorway.

Dan looks up and meets his wife’s eyes. He slowly stands and walks to her; afraid she might just turn and run away as if he is a monster. She throws her trembling arms around his neck. He grabs her tightly back, they mourn their friend together.

“
Alright everyone, I want you all to head to the ranch if you don’t have a home here in town. Tomorrow, we will be assigning you all homes.” Bruce tells the crowd. In his head he adds
‘thankfully’
to the end of it. He is looking forward to getting all these people out of his house.

Bruce has a few of the people stay back so he can issue a new watch bill. He wants sentries posted at each of the three points of entry into town. He also tells them he wants a vehicle commandeered for a roving watch.

“
Just cruise the streets and keep an eye out.” He explains. He knows, until the wall is erected, they will all sleep better at night if there are people on the lookout. He walks back to his family.

“
I’m sorry guys. I really liked Hector. He was quiet.” Uncle Bruce says.

“
Tell me you didn’t know about that hatch in the floor.” Dan asks with a twinge of anger. He is upset that he and Bruce were the ones who had secured this place, and they had failed.

“
No, I didn’t. Some people suspected Crazy Joe was selling illicit wares to out-of-towners. The guy must have thought they were zombies, or looters. He kept well hidden.”

“
I don’t want Hector thrown into the fire with the rest.” Dan tells his uncle. “He gets one of his own.”

“
And, crazy Joe?” Bruce has to ask.

“
Pull his ass out and toss him with the rest.” Dan says.

Dan and Heather head back to the ranch. They collect their boys from the babysitters and go to their room. They don’t speak about what has happened, or what Dan had told his wife. She seems to be mulling the whole thing over. They just quietly hold each other in the dark.

36

Dan rises early in the morning. He tries to be silent when he throws his clothes back on from the previous night. He doesn’t wish to disturb his wife’s sleep as he prepares for his day.

Heather isn’t asleep. She pretends to be as she watches her husband slip out the door after he gives each boy and her pecks on their cheeks. She knows he has to go to the jail and deal with those guys from last night. She can’t believe the man she married has to do such things.

This is the man who writes poetry for me, draws me pictures, and makes my birthday card every year. This is the man who can’t pass a patch of clovers without looking for one with four leaves, and who cries whenever he watches an American Tale. This is the man I saw put a bullet in our friend’s head.

Heather figures she isn’t too different. She shot the child zombies when she thought Dan and Bruce were in danger. This is the world now.
If you want to live in a harsh world, you have to become harsh yourself. It’s the price of survival.

#

The morning is surprisingly warm. Dan finds he doesn’t need the jacket he had put on as he left the ranch. He leaves the garment on top of his SUV. There is no fear of thievery in New Castle.

Dan walks into the police station. He doesn’t feel any apprehension. He knows they will be simple zombies, behind bars, and very manageable. If anything it was too easy.

The morning sun shines into the office through the windows. Large squares of golden light are spread across the floor and up the walls. Dan is greeted with moaning.

“
Good morning to you too.” Only one of the men stands at the bars. The one who admitted to being bitten had taken his own life. The other must have waited to see if he really was immune, or was just too scared to pull the trigger.

Dan finds this man more familiar now. He would know those vacant eyes anywhere, and the slack emotionless way he reaches for him from the cell. Dan fires a round into the dead man’s head. He hopes this will be the last gunshot heard in this town for a long time. He hopes this is over.

“
It’s never going to be over.” He mutters to himself.

“
That’s the spirit!” Bruce’s voice responds behind him. Dan was so involved with the first thing on his to do list, he hadn’t noticed his uncle seated behind one of the desks with his feet up.

“
What are you doing here?” Dan asks.

“
Waiting for you. I knew you had to swing by here. I’ll get someone to take care of this. Let’s take a walk.” Bruce says as the men step out into the day again.

People are gathering the ashes and bones from last night’s bonfire into wheel barrels. Bruce tells Dan they are going to be scattered into the Charles. The river is the town’s lifeblood. The waters had receded into its current incarnation after the dam was put up. What remained was the fertile soil this place was built upon. The river cuts the earth like a snake as it wraps around New Castle.

“
That seems like a fitting memorial.” Dan tells him. “How is the wall coming along?" Dan points to the people creating a pile of materials for the project; doors, fences, tables, porches, and pallets. Trees are coming down all across town, after careful selection.

“
Slow.” Bruce admits despite the obvious progress. “As it turns out, I was a little over zealous. The ground’s already frozen. We can’t dig deep enough to cement the posts properly. It’ll be up in the spring though.”

“
Sounds good. Nothing will be coming our way during winter anyway.”

“
That’s what I figured.” The old man hesitates. Dan can tell he is about to say something else, but he is apprehensive. “In the spring… As soon as everything is settled and the wall is up… I’m leaving.”

“
What the… Where?” Dan is shocked.

“
Vermelho, New Hampshire.” Bruce reports.

“
To see my dad?”

“
Yeah, I want to bring my little brother here. Don’t you want that?”

“
Of course I do. You just can’t go… You’re the king. Our leader.”

“
True, but that also means I can do whatever the fuck I want. In my absence you will be King… Temporarily.”

“
Why are you waiting until spring? You should go now.”

“
Oh,” Bruce says. “Look who has his eyes on the chocolate factory. Ready to usurp my throne, are we?”

“
Usurp?” Dan fires back. “Did someone eat a dictionary for breakfast?”

“
Hey, I read.” Bruce protests.

“
I’ve seen your magazine collection,” Dan states. “Those aren’t for reading.”

“
You keep this up I’ll give the crown to Heather. She’ll wear the pants in the… Oh wait, she already does.”

“
I’m going to miss you.” Dan changes the mood. “I just mean, it’s safer to go when it’s cold, and those things are slow.”

“
I know what you meant. But, I want this town on its feet again with a wall protecting it.” Bruce looks around his kingdom. “Besides, I still have a lot to teach you about being king. You don’t just become king overnight.”

“
You did.”

37

Green grass pokes its way through the thinning snow under the warm spring sun. The sound of hammering fills the air as the final touches are put on the wall surrounding the town. The last stretch reaches around the hill that the ranch rests on. Though it looks shabbily constructed, it’s solid. As Bruce said they are after function and not form. The riverside of New Castle is being left open for wildlife and fishing.

Though people toil, their work feel more fulfilling to them than it would have prior to the plague. There are no bills to pay, and no overbearing bosses, as long as they don’t take Bruce too seriously. Everyone works for the good of the town. They till the fields and gardens. They raise livestock on the farms, and even in their own backyards.

You can still walk into Slim’s Diner and order anything off the menu for the low cost of a smile and some polite conversation. You don’t even need to tip, though Slim will tease you about not leaving one. The service is a lot slower and laid back since there is no rush to get the food out to free up tables. Somehow the food tastes better.

It is a world without taxes. There are no cell phones or pagers. You don’t need to wear a watch. Nobody chases the latest technology. There is no latest technology and there probably won’t be for a long, long time. There is no keeping up with the Jones’. There are no Jones’ to keep up with. All are equal; everyone works, everyone eats.

People put their talents to use in order to keep busy and help make life a little easier for their neighbors. Barbara and Becka appointed themselves as the official New Castle babysitters, educators, and social workers. They go around every so often to check up on the citizens. If anyone is sick they tell Nurse Cindy who has been upgraded to the town’s doctor.