Roads Less Traveled (36 page)

“Yeah, sounds like a plan, Boss,” Jake said. “Let’s get somethin’ to eat. Then I’ll let Grandma check me over, and you two can bury Ben.”

“Alright,” I agreed and walked with him to the cellar.

* * *

The room was dead quiet that evening. We went about our business, doing what needed to be done, but we were basically just going through the motions. Nancy was tending to Zack and me; digging in the rocky soil had covered our palms in blisters. But the good news was we had Ben in the ground before dark. We ate a cold supper in silence after the burial, Zack occasionally giving Jake and me details about what had occurred here. So the cons had taken Shannon and Kyra; just another reason to hunt them down and exact some backwoods justice, regardless of my feelings for the latter.

“Ok, that should do it. Jake, help me spread some blankets out so we don’t have to sleep on the floor,” Nancy said once she finished bandaging our hands. It was too early for bedtime, but frankly we didn’t have much to say to one another. Besides, I was pretty tired from digging, and I’m sure Zack was too.

Nancy had started Mia on an antibiotic cocktail, for lack of a better term. She was sleeping now, and from what Nancy said, it was the first peaceful sleep Mia had gotten since being shot. It would be close to a month before she’d be healthy again and able to travel, but I figured that would give the rest of us time to regroup and to restock our ammunition supply. We could raid all the houses in Matias and probably find plenty. Around here, everyone owned at least one gun.

“Does anyone need anything? A snack, something to drink?” Nancy asked us as we situated ourselves on the blankets. Gus was curled up on the bed with Mia, with me stretched out on the floor next to her. Zack nonchalantly sat down next to me, as if he was waiting for me to tell him to move. Jake was running off a list of things he would like to eat, much to the amusement of his grandmother.

“I’d like a Big Mac. Oh, and extra sauce too. Mmm, a large fry, a sweet tea, and an apple whatchacallit for dessert. Got anythin’ like that, Gran?” he said, grinning. Nancy just chuckled and tossed him a bottle of water.

“Meh, that’ll work too,” he said and plopped down on the floor, leaving a space between him and Zack.

“I’ll leave the lantern on tonight, but turned down so it won’t keep us up,” Nancy said as she dimmed the light. She filled the spot between the boys and pulled her blanket up to her chin. Jake curled up beside her, his feet and upper body sticking out from under the covers. Zack finally lay down on his side facing me, reached out and took my hand, but didn’t say a word as I lay there on my back and stared at the ceiling. I had a feeling if anything kept us up that night, it wouldn’t be the light.

Epilogue

November 1
^st

“Bullshit, you’re cheating!” Mia said, howling with laughter. Nancy stared at her from across the table. The younger woman was healing surprisingly quickly, thanks to Nancy’s constant care and the invaluable antibiotics she had been taking for the past week and a half.

“Oh, I don’t think so, dear. I believe the more plausible explanation is, you suck,” Nancy said with a grin. Mia’s jaw dropped, then she slapped the table as another round of laughter filled the room. I stood in the doorway of the Crousley’s family room and watched the two as they played poker. Jake and Zack were pulling watch duty, and Gus was eating his lunch in the kitchen.

Time was passing quietly here, the past ten days filled mostly with board games, card games, good conversation, and sleeping. We had almost everything we needed with the exception of a few things that were really just a luxury at my house, like a radio. But there was food, water, a woodstove for heat, and plenty of room for the five of us. Being short a couple beds, we had been forced to take a couple from a house in town, since everything had burnt up at my house. The idea of us staying for the winter was even being thrown around. Which, I admit, would be the smart thing to do. Winters here were harsh, not something you would want to be out traveling in unless you absolutely had to.

I made two trips up the mountain every day to check and feed the horses. They were doing just fine, nice and snug in the barn. We had replenished our weapons supply and ammunition; Matias was loaded with abandoned guns and assorted shells. So yeah, it would make sense for us to stay here, at least until spring. Everyone was waiting for me to make the decision, and I was dragging my feet on it. Mia was supportive; she understood both my need to move on and the need for justice. Besides the fact that there were still two of our own out there, being taken farther and farther away with each passing minute. As much as it sickened me to call Kyra one of us, I couldn’t leave her to be raped, tortured, and possibly killed.

I suppose when it came right down to it, I was tired of hiding, tired of being afraid. I wanted to go on the offensive, and the skills of my new family made me confident that we would be successful and survive. We would need a few more horses, but I didn’t think that would be a problem. All the farms around here were long deserted, but the horses would still be in their fenced in fields and pastures, pawing through the snow to get to the grass underneath, and basically carrying on with business as usual.

The stomping of feet on the front porch signaled Jake and Zack’s return. It had snowed the night before, the first of the season. Jake had said before heading out that morning to scout that he would try to bag a deer or two. The meat would be nice to have after all, especially if we were staying here for the winter. I pushed myself off the doorframe and met them in the mudroom, which was nothing more than an entryway with a bench and a coat rack.

“How’s it looking out there?” I asked. They were both taking their boots off and hanging their heavy coats up, their gloves and scarves stuffed in the pockets. Zack handed his rifle to Jake and rubbed his hands together to warm them.

“All’s clear. Jake got a deer though, it’s around back. We thought we could warm up a bit, then hang and skin it,” Zack said as we walked back to the family room where a lovely stream of cursing, followed by more hoots of laughter, let me know Mia was still losing. Jake propped the guns in the corner and followed us as far as the kitchen, where he went straight for the coffee.

“Hey now, what’s going on in here ladies?” Zack said as he pulled out a chair next to Mia. I once again leaned in the doorway, watching the temporary joy had in simple things. Jake eased around me carrying two steaming cups of coffee, and handed one to Zack as he sat down next to his grandmother.

“I’m getting my ass kicked, that’s what’s happening,” Mia said. She scooped up the cards and started shuffling, clearly enjoying the ass-whipping she was receiving. The others laughed, then fell into silence. It seemed like they had been doing that a lot around me the last few days, most likely waiting for me to mention the subject of staying.
Well, I guess I’ve kept them waiting long enough
, I thought.

“Jake, Zack… after you finish with the deer, I’ll need your help boarding up some of these lower level windows. Then we’ll take Crousley’s Explorer into Matias and scavenge as much food and other supplies as we can from the houses. Nancy, after we’ve brought that all back, you and I will inventory everything, see how long it will last us, and decide whether another trip into Gibson is warranted. With this snow and the temperatures, I don’t think the deadheads will be as much trouble as they were last time.” I had walked over to the head of the table and gripped the back of the chair while I spoke, which was now greeted with stunned silence. Apparently they had all been waiting for me to say, “Lock and load, we’re leaving at daybreak.” Lines like that only work in the movies anyway.

“Is that the way you want it, Kase?” Mia asked. She was concerned, that much was plain to see. But I knew they all wanted to stay, and I knew we would be safer here than out there, at least for the winter.

“Yeah, if that’s what you all want,” I said. They looked around at each other, silently considering it before finally agreeing that yes, it’s what they wanted.

“At least for now. We know how heavily this has weighed on you, and how hard it was for you to decide to stay. We understand how you feel, and I’m sure most, if not all, of us feel the same way,” Zack said, speaking for the group. I took a deep breath and nodded, then turned and went upstairs to the room I had been sharing with him.

I looked out the window at the woods surrounding us, a fresh blanket of snow covering everything. Gus jumped onto the bed and did his little dance, digging at the quilt and turning in circles, then fell down and curled into a ball. I smiled sadly at the dog; he was constantly reminding me of how life used to be. But for him, things had remained the same. Only now, he had new people around to slip him cookies and treats.

I turned my eyes back to the world outside. We would stay here for winter. But in the spring, we would move on. We’d track and hunt down those prisoners first, administer some justice and hopefully save some women while we were at it. Then we would begin our journey, perhaps seek out other survivors, and maybe even discover a whole colony of them. Either way, we’d keep moving, and kill every deadhead sonofabitch we came across. The road would be long and dangerous, but it beat hiding and waiting for death to find us

To be continued…