Mad Swine (Book 2): Dead Winter (21 page)

After finishing the bottle of wine, Lara excused herself and returned with half a bottle of Seagram’s V.O. that she served with two cans of cola. By eleven, Sam was quite tipsy and Kat said she wanted to take Sam home now and take advantage of her. Lara, embarrassed by Kat’s candor, turned beet red.

At the door, I offered to walk the women home, but Kat smiled, pinched my cheek and said, “You’re such a gentleman,” and then kissed me full on the lips. Together, with their arms around each other’s waists, Sam and Kat made their way down the walkway and turned right in the direction of their home. We watched them until they reached Harvard Street and then Lara finally closed the door.

Lara put her hands on my hips and looked up at me, her green eyes red from the liquor. “I think I had a bit too much to drink,” she said. “You better take advantage of me while you can.”

And I did, with pleasure.

* * *

I woke sometime during the night, at first unaware of where I was. I had been dreaming of the undead men and women beneath the snow, their bodies rising all around. In the dream I was alone, and when I stumbled, the thick snow pulling me down like quicksand, they crazies fell upon me, tearing at me with their teeth and nails. Their fevered eyes came alive as they tore at my flesh, my blood staining them.

For a moment I lay still trying to catch my breath and get my bearings. In the dark room, I did not immediately recognize the shadowy outlines of the furniture but as my breathing slowed and the dream faded, my sense returned. Lara lay beside me under the thick blankets, her red hair just a light shade of gray in the dark room.

After a while I sat at the edge of the bed and blindly reached for my clothes. Dressed, I snuck across the room in my stockinged feet, closing the door softly behind me. In the kitchen, I lit the three candles and found the green box where Sam had left it. Taking the box with me, I settled down in front of the fireplace, enjoying the warmth and soothing sounds of the fire. In the orange glow of the fire, I opened the box and pulled out a handful of folded sheets of paper and started to read the names and decisions; some of them surprised me.

It was still early when I left Lara’s house. She was still in bed sleeping curled up on her side, swaddled in the thick quilt. I left the fire at a slow burn so that she wouldn’t have to get a new fire going.

The green box with the ballots was cradled under my left arm as I made the brisk walk back to the CP. The day was much milder than it had been and I was happy to see that the snow stopped falling at some point and very little had accumulated during the evening. In fact, the morning sun and the mild temperature were already melting much of it. The sidewalks and street were dark where the melted snow water now pooled.

I consulted my Rolex, the recent gift from my brother, and saw that it was just past seven. People were already up and moving about, carrying on with their everyday tasks. Today was trash day on the north-south streets. Trash bins were set out at the curb, awaiting Al’s crew to come and pick up the refuse. The row of green bins stood sentinel all down the block, like soldiers in green armor to protect the residents from the undead. I had to chuckle at the normality of the scene in such an abnormal world.

Some of Al’s men had already started on Encounter Drive. Three two men crews were assigned on each detail. Two of the crews each pushed the portable dumpster into which they would empty the trash bins. The third crew acted as a security detail, each man carrying an assigned weapon. One of the two men carried a hand weapon while the other was assigned a firearm.

Trash removal was one of those jobs that could get dangerous quickly. After collecting the trash in the portable dumpsters, the teams would take them to the north wall where they would set up ramps. The dumpsters would be pushed up the ramps and dumped over the sides. We all knew at some point when the weather grew warm we would need to do something with the accumulated trash. It would begin to stink and decay. Seems like our problem was now resolved; we would be leaving tomorrow morning.

From this distance I was unable to tell who was on duty. I raised a hand in greeting and a couple of the men who were looking my way returned the gesture. The wind picked up a bit as I headed west and I hunched my chin and pushed forward. Wesley was outside on the porch, but Cody was nowhere in sight. In fact, Wesley was alone.

“No snowball fights today, Wes?” I said when I drew near.

“No, sir,” Wesley said. He stood and brushed the seat of his pants. “I’m waiting to talk to you.”

“Sit down.” I set my bag and the green box down on the porch stoop and took a seat next to him. The concrete was cold against my butt and thighs, seeping through my jeans. “What’s up, Wes?”

The boy didn’t look at me and there was a long pause while he considered his words. Finally, he said, “What’s going to happen to me, Mr. Danzig?” When he looked at me I saw tears shimmering in his eyes.

My first instinct was to put an arm around him, comfort him and tell him everything would be okay, but I knew Wesley would be embarrassed by that display. Wesley was very different than my son, Mark, in that respect. Mark would welcome the affection; he was a sensitive boy. Wesley tried hard to be tough; he was easily embarrassed by sentimentality. He didn’t quite know how to deal with compliments, either.

“What do you mean, Wes?”

He swallowed hard and looked away again. He rubbed his eyes roughly, smearing the warm tears across his cheeks. With his back to me he said, “Ms. Sam and Ms. Kat take good care of me but I don’t want to stay here with them.”

I sat quietly, waiting for him to speak. I found with my own children that if you were patient enough and just gave them a chance, they’d talk. I had begun to think that Wesley would prove my theory wrong when he finally continued.

“I know they took me in when Mom and Dad died. I love them. But you’re responsible for me, Mr. Danzig. You brought me here. My parents trusted you.”

“Tell me what you want, Wesley.”

“I want to go with you,” he said. He turned to me again, his eyes finally meeting my own.

“Why?”

His eyes looked down for a moment and then he looked at me again. “I can help Mr. Ray and Cody. They need me. I know what everyone says about Mr. Ray but that’s because they don’t know him. He’s a good man in here,” Wesley said, pointing at his chest, indicating his heart.

Fixing the boy with a withering stare, I said, “Do you understand how dangerous it is out there? Do you know the risks?”

He nodded his head. “I’m not scared.”

“You should be. You can die out there.”

“I’m not afraid of dying, Mr. Danzig. Not if I’m helping people that I love. Like my Mom and Dad did.”

We sat silently for a few moments, both of us looking off into the distance. Some folks were down at Harper’s Knoll visiting friends and loved ones lost. I saw smoke rising from the chimney of my house down on Churchill.

Picking up the green box, I opened the lid and looked inside. Among the folded ballots I found several unused squares of paper and pulled one out. I fished out the half pencil that rattled around under the ballots and handed both the paper and pencil to Wesley.

“You have to make your own decision, Wesley.” I stood up and grabbed my bag and tucked the green box under my arm. “Think about it carefully, write it down, and then put it in the box. I’ll be inside.”

“Thank you, Mr. Danzig.”

I paused at the door and looked over my shoulder. “You’re still a boy, Wesley, and that’s okay. No one expects you to be more. You shouldn’t either.”

He looked at me, perhaps trying to puzzle over my words. As an afterthought, I said, “When you’re done with that, get my brother and tell him to come down here.”

* * *

Brian sat across from me, the green box that contained the ballots before us. We’d both been pretty quiet as we sorted the pieces of paper into two piles. It had been a long time since my brother and I shared an awkward silence; I wasn’t even sure what we were even upset about anymore.

Whatever this was between us needed to come to an end. We would be leaving our home in less than twenty-four hours and the two men who would be responsible for as many as thirty men, women and children needed to act together, to make decisions together. As it had been in the past when my brother and I had come to a major disagreement, I would have to be the one to set things right. Brian could make the most stubborn mule seem easygoing and agreeable.

“About the other night—“ I started.

“Yeah, forget about that, dude. I don’t know what I was thinking. No one needs to know about Comedian now. I was just going through something and I didn’t know how to cope with it.”

I paused in my review of the ballots long enough to look at my brother. Immediately I knew he wasn’t just saying what I wanted to hear. “So you’re good now?”

“Yep.”

“So
we’re
good now?”

“We’re copacetic, man,” he said. He tossed the ballot he held in his hands in front of me. “I wish this asshole would stay.”

Picking up the piece of paper, I read the name and laughed. “If we left Stanley here with Kat she’d kill him.”

Brian shrugged. “And that would be a bad thing?”

I tossed the paper back at him. “I wouldn’t want Kat to have that on her conscience.”

He raised an eyebrow and gave me that look that said I was being completely ridiculous. “She’d probably thank you.”

We fell silent again as we wrote the names into notebooks and took an account of all living residents. As I checked off Justin’s name indicating he would be making the journey, Brian said, “Kat did a really brave thing stepping up.”

Setting down my pen, I sighed out loud. “This isn’t what I wanted for her or Sam. I really wish there was another way.”

Brian nodded his head in agreement, but offered no solution. He said, “We could really use her out there. From what I hear she filled my shoes no problem.”

“Kat is a great number one,” I said. “Not that you weren’t, don’t get me wrong. But she did step up when you left and I trust her completely. And you’re right; we really could use her out there. We’re light on folks with patrol and scouting experience. We’re going to have to use Justin and Chandra…and Lara. They’re the best we have.”

“We’ll get by. We always do, right, brother?”

“I hope so.”

Dropping his notebook on the table—the noise startled me a bit—Brian said, “So I have twelve not going. What did you come up with?”

“I have twelve.”

“That’s more than I expected.”

He was right, that number was larger than expected, but when Reverend Reggie decided to stay, that ensured the three women from his congregation would remain with him, bringing the number to just under half of the community.

“So we have eighteen, including the kid and the cripple,” Brian said. “We need to rethink that decision.”

This time I shook my head. “Everyone decides for themselves, including Wesley and Ray.”

“But that decision affects the entire group. They’re going to slow us down, put other people in jeopardy.”

“I’m aware of that,” I said and looked at Brian. We locked eyes for a moment. “I’ll be responsible. If they fall behind, you keep the group moving and I’ll deal with Wes and Ray.”

“I can see this is a closed topic, so I’m not going to bother objecting. What’s the plan moving forward? We don’t have much time to get people prepped if we’re moving tomorrow.”

“Maybe we need to reassess our timeline. This is moving really quickly.”

“The longer we wait the more problems we create. The longer we stay the more food we consume, leaving less for those who stay. We also run the risk of the weather changing drastically. Right now the weather seems conducive to travel.”

“I guess I can’t argue with any of your points.”

“And the longer people stay, the more time they have to change their minds. They’ll start thinking they actually have a chance of surviving here. When people cling to false hope it’s hard to break their grip.”

“We leave as planned,” I said. “You made your point. What’s next?”

“Tonight I need to talk to the patrol leaders; I think you mentioned Justin and Chandra. We need to go over our maps so that everyone knows where the shelters are in case we get separated. And we’ll need to talk about movement formations.”

“Who else do we need?”

“I also want Sam. We need her to get supplies ready for those who are leaving; four days worth of food for each person. One liter of water per person or weight will be too much. We can melt snow if we need more. And I’ll need you at these briefings, brother. Can you make the time?”

“Of course,” I said. I knew that he was getting a jab in about the time I’d been spending with Lara, but I was willing to let that go. We’d done enough fighting.

“We should probably have Kat here tonight, too. It would be a big help if she could get everyone mustered first thing in the morning, with full load out. That would be one less thing for me to worry about.”