Parish (21 page)

              “After the ordeal we went through yesterday, more specifically what you and wade went through yesterday we thought it best to let you get some rest. Jose already found us another car, so we need to stock up quick and head out of here as fast as we can.” Artemis explained.

              “Alright.” Wade yawned.  “Come on Wren let’s find something to put supplies is.”

              They walked off in search of boxes or bags.  Once Wren thought they were out of ear shot of the men she turned to her brother.

              “I don’t like that we weren’t asked to take a shift last night.” She frowned.

              “You heard what Artemis said, they had a reason.” Wade replied as he looked for bags.

              “I heard an excuse not a reason.  Now that we have another man, we’ve reverted back to being kids.  I don’t like the idea that they fell we need to be protected.  If we have to be protected, we’re a liability not an asset.” Wren crossed her arms.

              “That’s stupid, Wren.  They just wanted to make sure you and I had as much strength as possible.  Kansas is a long way from here.” Wade replied as he pulled out a box with a triumphant smile.  “Found a whole box of reusable bags!  Thank God for the hippies!”  He hoisted the box up and pushed past his sister, who reluctantly followed behind him.

              “Okay, so from here we have to make it through Arkansas and part of Missouri before we make it into Kansas.” Jose had a map spread out of the floor.  He and Artemis were bent over it.

              “That’s a lot of road to travel without any gas stations.” Artemis frowned.

              “We’ll just keep trading cars until we make it there.” Jose shrugged.  “Everyone still wants to go to Kansas, right?” He turned to the twins in search of an answer.

              “Yeah, Kansas.” Wren nodded as she walked over to where Wade was shoving goods into the sacks.  She began to help, keeping an ear on what was going on behind them.

              “If they’re on board, I’m on board.” Artemis said, causing Wren to breathe a sigh of relief.

              “It’s a plan then.  Onward to Kansas!” Jose stood up, grabbing the map up from the floor ha folded it carefully and shoved it in to his pocket.

              “I have everything packed!” Wade turned and pointed down to nine sacks that were sitting on the floor, all full.  “There wasn’t much left, it had already been picked over.”

              “Hey man, nine bags ain’t nothing to turn your nose at that’s for sure.” Jose smiled widely.  “Everyone grab what you can so we can get the hell out of here and back onto the open road.  The sooner we leave the sooner we get to Kansas!”

              Each of them grabbed what they could from the floor, and headed to the door.  Once outside they spotted the car Jose had commandeered for them.  It appeared to be a tiny car, one of the ones that had the commercials bragging about the excellent highway gas mileage it got.  Artemis raised an eyebrow once he spotted it.

              “Really?” Artemis asked, questioning Jose’s choice in vehicles.

              “What?” Jose asked, innocently.

              “That ain’t a car. That’s some kid’s toy!” Artemis pointed at the car.  Wren and Wade both hid their laughter.  “I’m a big man, and that is a tiny car!”

              “It might be small but here’s the thing, we’ll all fit and it has a full tank of gas.  We’ll get really far in this!  You can laugh all you want, but at least we won’t have to stop again for a while!” Jose opened the hatch and began putting in the sacks the twins had filled.

              “Okay, fine.  But I’m driving!” Artemis cried holding out his hand.  Jose rolled his eyes and tossed him the keys.  They all got in before Artemis started the engine.  Pulling out Wren gave a last look to the small mom and pop grocery store.  Wade reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently.

              “Are you ok?” Wade whispered. Wren nodded, trying to put a happy look on her face.

              The road out of Louisiana was long.  Most of the roads were blocked, and they spent a lot of time driving through the neutral ground to avoid the traffic jams of empty cars.  They passed a few zombies, but the further they got out of the city, the less they saw the living dead.  Corpses littered both sides of the highway.  Heaps of bloated, rotted flesh.  They were so badly decomposed they were beyond recognition.  To look at them one could no longer tell if they had been male or female.  They barely appeared human anymore.

              Wren chose to look upward at the huge fluffy white clouds that were floating gently across the sky.  Anything was better than looking at the death that surrounded them.  Every time she looked upon a decomposing corpse she thought of her mom, dad and Jamie.  They hadn’t had time to bury them, so they were still where they died, rotting in their own right.

              She hoped that perhaps people had come behind them, burying the dead.  Perhaps the priest survived and was now taking on the responsibility of burying the dead.  She resolved to this, repeating the idea over and over again praying that if she said it enough she would believe it.

              Day turned to night, and night turned back into day.  Jose and Artemis switched the driving responsibilities back and forth.  One drove while the other slept.  Wren found that she couldn’t sleep.  She knew she was sleeping, but it wasn’t from her deciding to sleep.  She was sleeping once her body reached the point of extreme exhaustion.  It wasn’t so much sleeping as it was just passing out.  Wade had been silent the whole time, doing nothing but looking out of the window.

              He turned when it was time to eat.  Wren would dig through the bags of supplies they had packed, hand everyone something to eat.  They were never full, but the little they could eat took the sharpness from the hunger pains.

              “Guys, tell me you see this.” Artemis’ voice pulled them from the fog their minds had entered into since leaving the grocery store.  He had reached over and was shaking Jose awake.  They all looked forward, and in the distance they saw several American flags flying.

              “What is that?” Wade asked.

              “I don’t rightly know, but maybe the real government is set up, up ahead.” Artemis shrugged.

              “And we trust this?  After what happened back in Baton Rouge?” Wren furrowed her brow.  “We’re not even close to being in Kansas, we’re still in Arkansas.”

              “I know that, but that doesn’t mean the government ain’t here.” Artemis replied.  They continued to drive onward, inching closer and closer to whoever was flying the American flags.

They spotted several barbed wire fences, hastily built with tattered signs attached.  No matter how much they looked or squinted the signs could not be read with any amount of accuracy.  The car came to a sudden stop.

              “Why are we stopping?” Wren asked.

              “Up head are spike strips.  I can’t keep going or I’ll blow the tires.” Artemis gripped the steering wheel tightly as he stared at the spike strips ahead.

              “What do we do now, turn around?” Jose asked.

              “No.  I’m going to get out and see if I can’t find some sort of explanation.” Artemis shook his head.

              “And you’re sure that’s the smartest things to do?” Wren asked.

              “I’m still in my fatigues. If they’re soldiers they ain’t gonna kill another soldier.  They can’t turn their weapons on American citizens either.  None of us are infected.  I don’t think we really have anything to worry about.” Artemis replied as he opened his door and stepped out onto the road. Wade reached out and took hold of his door handle, opening the door a crack before Wren reached out and grabbed him.

              “What do you think you’re doing?” Wren asked.

              “I’m going out.  He’s right.  They going to have to see us to see we’re all fine.” Wade replied as he yanked himself free of his sister’s hold.  Reluctantly she and Jose also left the vehicle, joining the other two in standing out in front of their car.  They saw several watch towers ahead of them, built alongside the road.

              “Get back in your vehicle and go back the way you came!” A voice yelled from nowhere.

              “I’m a solider, my name is Artemis Bandeaux.  I was stationed in New Orleans.  I am unaffected as are my companions.  Look, two soldiers and two kids.” Artemis held his hands up in the air to ensure that whoever was yelling could see he wasn’t reaching for a weapon.

              “Get back in your vehicle, solider! No one gets in, no matter what!” The voice yelled again.

              “Why?” Jose asked.

              “This is a free zone.  We are authorized to use deadly force to protect this place.  We will tell you one last time, get back in your vehicle.  If you come any closer we will be forced to shoot you.” The voice called out, causing all of them to freeze where they were.  Wren and Wade looked to one another.

              “Can I please speak to your superior?” Artemis asked, his hands still raised.

              “They’re not going to shoot us.” Wade scrunched his face.  “They can’t shoot citizens.”  Wade walked forward, Wren reached out to grab hold of his shirt when a shot rang out.  Wade was dead before he hit the road, blood pouring from the back of his head.  Wren screamed, her hands shot to her mouth as she looked at her twin.

              Another shot rang out and Jose fell.  He landed next to Wade, their eyes open staring at up and the sky.  Artemis turned to throw himself over Wren to protect her in any way he could when another shot rang out.  Wren felt a searing pain shoot through her shoulder as she fell, hitting her head on the road.  She felt the pain radiate through her skull, a great weight pushing in on her she struggled to breathe.

              Her hands clawed at the weight, trying to ease her breathing in any way that she could. She felt a shoulder and then a face, and lifting her head ever so slightly she saw that Artemis had jumped in front of her, trying to save her life by taking the bullet that was meant for her.

              She fought the blackness that pulsated in her vision.  Wren fought to keep her eyes locked on the clouds, but the darkness felt comforting.  She had thought she would fear death when her time came, she never thought she would welcome it.  A strange face appeared over hers, it was blurred like a smeared chalk painting. 

              It sounded like someone was talking to her, asking her name.

              “Wren De…..DeLasalle….I’m Wren.” She whispered as the darkness overcame her, pulling her from the pain and the pressure, taking her to be with her family.

epilogue

Wren opened her eyes, and quickly squinted from the brightness that suddenly caused her great pain. 

              “Wren?” A soft female voice called to her.

              “Am I dead?” Wren asked, her through painfully dry.

              “Of course not.” The woman replied.

              “Where am I?” Wren asked, grimacing.  She hurt so badly, every muscle was burning her head was pounding.

              “I turned the lights down for you, you should be able to open your eyes without it causing you any pain.” The woman was touching her softly.  Wren obeyed, opening her eyes slowly.

              “My brother, Wade….is he okay?” Wren asked as her vision focused on the blonde woman.  The woman frowned.

              “No.  He’s dead.” The woman shook her head.  Wren squeezed her eyes shut again, sorrow once again poured forth as tears burst out and ran down her cheeks.  “They’re all dead.”             

              “No, please, no!” Wren begged.  She was all that was left now.  She had lost everyone she had ever cared about. Her entire family was gone. Her twin…
gone
.  Her chest began to hurt in such a manner she suddenly found herself unable to breathe and she gasped for air, her chest heaving.  The woman stepped forward and put the oxygen mask on her face.

              “Slow deep breaths.” The woman commanded.  “That’s a girl.  The doctor is here, he’ll explain everything to you.”

              An old man shuffled into the room and over to Wren’s bedside.

              “Hello, young lady.” The doctor spoke softly.  Wren opened her eyes, still trying to catch her breath as her heart broke inside of her, its fragile pieces piercing her lungs like shrapnel.  “I’m Dr. Miller.”