Tammy and Ringo (9 page)

“No, I took them,” Ringo replied. “Why?”

“I was just thinking that truck would be a good way for you to get around and get away,” Hiram shrugged. “I’ll take you to get it. Using it, you can take that case a good ways from here, leave it, and then get back. I’d prefer it be dropped at least fifty miles away,” he added.

“I really don’t know how to drive,” Ringo reminded the older man.

“Just a preference,” Hiram shrugged. “If you can’t, we’ll deal with it.”

“Is this putting you at risk, Hiram?” Ringo asked, suddenly concerned.

“No, and I volunteered to help,” Hiram sighed. “Damn my patriotic heart. But there’s no reason for them to have any better idea where we are than necessary. I don’t want them thinking they can come here later on, if you catch my drift.”

Ringo did. He nodded his understanding and returned to packing his gear. Finally, the pack bulging, he lifted it. At least fifty pounds. He shook his head, chuckling.

“This is going to be an experience,” he sighed, heading for the stairs.

“That’s why it’s always the young that get these jobs,” Hiram chuckled. “Gotta be strong enough to carry all this crap.”

The two were still laughing when they emerged from the storeroom, the bunker once more sealed and concealed.

*****

That evening following supper, Ringo sat on the porch for a while watching the very last light of dusk fade into night. He looked up as the door opened and Tammy walked out onto the porch. She sat down in the chair next to him, saying nothing at first. The two sat in companionable silence, watching as the stars came into view. Finally she spoke, her voice soft.

“Are you still planning on going?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he replied equally softly. “Already got the stuff ready and everything. Shouldn’t take long. A few days at most, I figure.”

“I still wish you wouldn’t,” Tammy sighed softly. “It’s too dangerous.

“It won’t be that bad,” Ringo shook his head, wondering all the time if he was wrong about that. “I’m just going to sneak around some, that’s all. Take a few videos, get their samples, then I’m done. This is a one-time thing for me.”

She said nothing else for a time and the two returned to the silence. Ringo had rarely been comfortable around others but Tammy he was okay with. He wondered why that was. Sure, she was attractive, but. . .it wasn’t that. Her looks were nice but it wouldn’t make him comfortable around her like this. It was something about her. Her attitude maybe, or her strength. Maybe it was a combination of the two. Either way, he genuinely enjoyed her company.

His defensiveness raised its head at that point, warning him not to be too comfortable. It was weakness, being comfortable, to desire the company of others. He tried to ignore the innate feelings and was partially successful. Meaning he didn’t get up and leave her sitting alone.

For her part Tammy was thinking about many things. Her father was on her mind, of course. She had tried his phone three times since talking to him this morning, without success. She wanted to believe that he was still alive but the odds were certainly against it.

She thought about the friends and near family at Fort Bragg, wondering if the base was still safe and them along with it. She had tried calling Lucinda Steele but the landlines were completely jammed as were cell phone circuits. All Tammy could do was pray that the woman who had been like a mother to her was safe at home.

Despite the tragedy of the last two days Tammy had to admit that she was extraordinarily fortunate, first in finding Ringo and then finding Hiram and Helen Tompkins. She had gotten their last name from Helen while the two were cleaning up after breakfast that very morning. It hadn’t seemed important to know their last names really. The older couple had opened their home to two strangers and taken them in when there was no real reason to do so. Tammy was thankful to them and never ceased to tell Helen so.

Helen had made it clear that more thanks were unnecessary. She was happy to have them there, the older woman had told her. She and Hiram had never had children, Helen had confided in her that afternoon. Both were only children, so the family they had was distant at best. Instead they had a few very good friends as a substitute family.

It was unlikely they’d see them any time in the near future.

Tammy understood Helen was essentially making Tammy and Ringo part of her family. That realization brought with it a warmness that Tammy was unable to explain but that pleased her very much.

That warmness evaporated again as she thought about Ringo leaving, being out there with all those infected and being all alone this time, with conditions much worse and growing more so with each passing hour. She sighed suddenly, a long, sad sound that drew Ringo from his own thoughts to look at her, a hint of concern showing on his face and in his eyes.

“You okay?” he asked carefully. She shrugged, not really knowing the answer herself.

“Just thinking,” she told him, still looking out at the night. “Lot of things have happened since yesterday.”

“So they have,” he admitted with a nod. “We’ve come a long way in less than forty-eight hours, Tammy Gleason.”

“So we have, Just Ringo,” Tammy looked at him, smiling softly. Just then, Hiram and Helen came out onto the porch, each carrying two small plates.

“Pie for dessert, dears,” Helen smiled as she and Hiram sat down with them. Hiram ate his with gusto while Helen picked at hers. Ringo decided the woman was still a little angry with her husband.

The four sat talking quietly about anything other than the present crisis or Ringo’s pending departure. Eventually Helen excused herself and headed to bed, Tammy following perhaps ten minutes later. Ringo and Hiram sat quietly in the darkness for a few minutes.

“I’ll be gone when they wake up,” Ringo broke the silence. Hiram nodded, having expected something of the sort.

“Want a lift out somewhere?” Hiram asked, but Ringo shook his head.

“No. I studied the map this afternoon. I can cut across country pretty well it looks like. I think it’s probably better to stay off the roads. Crossing them might be okay, or following along parallel, but I’ll be better off staying off of them, I think.”

“Good idea,” Hiram nodded. “You already know that not everyone who isn’t infected will necessarily be friendly. Keep that firmly in mind.”

“Count on it,” Ringo agreed. “I’ll try and stay in contact.”

“Don’t keep the phone on,” Hiram warned. “I don’t know that the girl won’t try to call you. You don’t want that phone ringing at an inopportune moment.”

“Hadn’t thought of that,” Ringo admitted. “I’ll do it.” Hiram stood suddenly.

“Be careful, Ringo,” he said sternly. “Don’t try too hard. If you can’t do this without endangering yourself then pull back and come home. Don’t try to be a hero.”

“I won’t,” Ringo promised. “You’re second-guessing this, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Maybe a little,” Hiram admitted, thrusting his hands into his pockets. “Not that you can do this,” he added. “That I’m sure of. I’m just wondering if it will really help; if we aren’t already too far gone for it to make a difference.”

“If we do all we can, then at least we have that,” Ringo offered. “There’s not much else to cling to.”

“I suppose,” Hiram sighed heavily. “Just make sure you come back. I don’t like to think of the impact on Tammy if you leave and don’t return.”

“She’ll be fine,” Ringo assured him. “She’s strong. And I know you and Helen will take care of her.”

“Me and Helen won’t be here forever,” Hiram said flatly. That startled Ringo a bit, but he merely nodded his agreement.

“I’ll be back.”

Hiram looked at him for a minute longer, then turned abruptly and went inside. Ringo sat in the darkness a little while longer before going inside himself. He needed to sleep, if he could.

Morning would come early, he knew.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Ringo studied his map, eyeing the road lying just below the hill he was on. If he was where he thought he was, the road below would take him in the general direction of the river bridge. He didn’t know how far he’d need to travel because he wasn’t sure exactly where he was.

He pulled the GPS receiver from the case on his belt and hit the refresh button. The small screen popped up with a digital map that roughly corresponded with the paper one in his hand. A few taps on the scroll button revealed the river, and the bridge, lying six miles, plus or minus, to his east. He returned the receiver to its case and started making his way through the woods, keeping the road in sight.

He’d made pretty good headway this morning, he decided. He had left in the dim light of dawn, making his way down the road from the house until the road turned away from the woods. The dawn had broken by then and there was enough light for him to proceed safely into the woods.

Ringo had to admit he was pretty pleased with how things had gone so far. He was far from a wilderness scout but careful planning and good equipment were paying off. He was close to his objective and had remained unseen. At least, that he knew of.

He didn’t like the uncertainty of ‘that he knew of’, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. The going was slower than he liked but there was simply no help for that. There could be infected anywhere, including here in these woods. Blundering into one, or a dozen for that matter, would be bad. His mission was to stay quiet, stay unseen, and observe. He would take the best of those opportunities to take his ‘samples’.

For now he concentrated on making his way quietly toward the bridge. The GPS would guide him home if necessary.

*****

Tammy Gleason was unhappy to say the least. She had awakened early, intending to help Helen prepare breakfast and see Ringo off only to discover that he was already long gone. Hiram was sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee when the young woman stormed out onto the porch.

“You knew!” she accused. Hiram looked up at her calmly.

“That Ringo was already gone? Yeah, I noticed it as soon as I got up.”

“You knew last night he was leaving early!” Tammy expanded her statement, hands on her hips. “Didn’t you?”

“He might have mentioned that he was leaving early,” Hiram sighed. He wasn’t going to lie.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Tammy looked betrayed.

“You were already asleep,” the older man shrugged helplessly. “And honestly, if he’d wanted you to know, he’d have told you,” he added.

“Why would he not tell me?” she snapped.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Hiram pretended to muse. “Maybe to avoid the same kind of scene we’re having right now?” The calm words brought Tammy up short. She closed her mouth, open to make a snappy comeback, and stood there looking at him.

“Sit down,” Hiram offered. “Coffee?” he asked, picking up the small pot and another cup. Tammy nodded glumly, plopping into the chair. She took the proffered cup of coffee, adding sugar to it before trying it.

“Not bad,” she complimented, almost grudgingly.

“What they call Navy coffee,” Hiram told her. “Add a little salt to it, believe it or not. I always have liked it ever since I tried it.”

“They should sell it at Starbucks,” Tammy snorted, then remembered there might not be any more Starbucks soon.

“I know you’re mad right now,” Hiram told her gently. “But try to give the kid a break, okay? He’s not used to having anyone depending on him and he’s not entirely comfortable with it, yet. I'd bet he’s also not used to anyone making a fuss over him or caring whether he lives or not.”

“What do you mean?” Tammy asked, frowning.

“He’s an orphan and was raised by an uncle, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that same uncle, assuming he was the man who taught Ringo his marital arts and sword skills, was probably not the most nurturing man ever to live. I haven’t heard Ringo mention an aunt. Have you?”

“No,” Tammy admitted. “I haven’t.”

“So there probably wasn’t one,” Hiram nodded. “Which means that he grew up with a man who was probably just as emotionally closed off as Ringo is himself. Not the best environment for a kid to grow up in, for starters. Throw in the traumatic loss of his parents, factor in the absence of any kind of nurturing environment or maternal influence and you end up with a young man who is completely uncomfortable with any kind of emotional reaction to his well-being. Not because he doesn’t appreciate it,” Hiram added firmly. “But because he isn’t accustomed to it. He simply doesn’t understand how to react to it.” He leaned back into his chair again.

“So try to cut him some slack, okay? He needs time to adjust to the fact that people care about him.”

Tammy considered that. Did she care about Ringo? Of course she did. She’d only known him two days, that was true, but they had been through a lot together in those two days, and she felt. . .well, she owed him, she told herself. That was all.

“I just feel like I owe him,” she said aloud to Hiram. “He not only helped me get this far, he saved me from something pretty bad. Something I might not have reacted to in time to protect myself. Something I didn’t see coming,” she admitted finally.

“I know,” Hiram said kindly. “But I think he’d be the first one to tell you that you don’t owe him anything. If I haven’t badly misjudged him, anyway.”

“I don’t think you have,” Tammy replied. “I really don’t.” And she didn’t. She couldn’t understand why she was so certain of that, but she was. Just as certain as she knew her own name.

“I don’t either,” Hiram didn’t bother to hide his smirk. “And anyway we’ve got plenty to do right here, waiting for him to get back.”

“We do?” Tammy asked, straightening.

“We do indeed,” Hiram nodded. “It’s about time to start putting in the garden. If we want fresh vegetables this year I’d say we’ll have to grow them ourselves. What do you think?”

“Now that you mention it, yeah,” Tammy snorted. “I guess that answers the question of what I do with all this spare time.”

Helen wondered what had Hiram in such a good mood this morning. She could hear him laughing clear upstairs.

*****

Ringo smothered a curse as he looked at the scene below him. According to the map, the road he’d been following was Highway 641. He was still a good way from the bridge, he realized, looking at the map along with the GPS. He hadn’t paid attention to the fact that the highway below him was actually leading him slightly away from the bridge even as it led him back to the interstate. But that wasn’t the problem.

The problem was that he had run out of woods to hide in along his chosen path. To stay hidden, he’d have to strike out across country. He was fairly confident that he could do that using the map, compass, and GPS.

But as he sat on a small rise surrounded by sage brush and scrub oaks he wondered if that would be necessary. There were five infected below him right now, stumbling around as if confused by their surroundings. True, there was no water around, but. . .he figured if he could get everything else then Doctor Baxter could get her information about how the infected reacted to water from somewhere else.

Using the small, but powerful, binoculars he’d received from Hiram, Ringo watched the scene below him for a few minutes then turned to his pack. He removed the video camera and set it up on the small tripod, careful to move the brush aside so that the camera would get a clear view of what happened below. No sense wasting this opportunity to get her the video she wanted.

Now all he had to do was figure out some way to provoke a reaction from them. Preferably one that didn’t see him ripped to shreds by angry, infected, homicidal maniacs. After a few minutes he realized there was only one way to go about things.

Leaving the camera set up, Ringo took his pack and retreated into the heavier cover afforded by the trees behind him. There he hid his pack, taking only his sword, the suppressed pistol Hiram had given him and the sawed-off Remington that he’d taken from Tammy’s trunk. The same one he’d removed from the would-be attackers the day they had met Hiram and Helen.

If he wanted a reaction from the infected, he’d have to do something to get it. The only thing he could figure out to do was go down there and get their attention, hoping all the time that doing so wouldn’t prove to be fatal.

*****

“This is your garden?” Tammy’s eyes widened, looking at the huge plot.

“Yep,” Hiram grinned. “We used to do a brisk business, believe it or not. Plus we’d truck patch the excess. This year though I imagine we’ll be eating or storing most of it. If things don’t get better we’ll be glad to have it all.”

“True,” Tammy nodded. “Well, let’s get started,” she smiled. Hiram nodded and started the small lawn and garden tractor. Soon he was breaking the almost one acre plot with the plow while Tammy was sorting through the seed containers. Helen joined her before she’d finished and the two of them began to set containers at the end of the rows for later planting.

Once Hiram was finished he replaced the tractor and then took his shotgun to make a round about the property. The tractor was noisy. He wanted to make sure they hadn’t attracted any undue attention.

With Helen showing the way, Tammy was soon planting the garden alongside the older woman. While not physically demanding, especially for an athlete, it was time consuming and monotonous. It also served to take her mind from her father, the events of the last few days, where Ringo was at the moment and how he was doing.

Hiram returned soon and began to assist the two of them. Before Tammy realized it the sun was high in the sky and Helen was preparing lunch.

“That’s enough for today,” Hiram told her as Helen called them in for lunch. “We’ll get the rest in a day or two.”

“Why wait?” Tammy asked, curious.

“Couple of reasons,” Hiram shrugged. “We don’t want everything coming in at once, for one thing. We’ll wind up with stuff rotting on the vine if we can’t get it all at once.”

“What’s the other reason?” Tammy asked, cleaning up before going inside.

“I’m tired,” Hiram told her flatly. “I’m an old man and I’ve done more’n enough work already today,” he winked. “Course, the real reason is to give Helen a break. She can’t keep up like she used to,” he added, much louder.

“I heard that!” Helen called from inside and Tammy couldn’t help but giggle. The older couple clearly loved one another dearly. She hoped someday she’d have someone that she could. . . .

The thought trailed away as she remembered why she was here and why they needed the garden. No, she admitted to herself. She’d probably never have what Helen and Hiram had shared. That made her sad.

It was something she would have looked forward to.

*****

Ringo checked the camera once more making sure he would know which area was covered by the little recorder. No sense in making the infected react if it wasn’t on film. Satisfied, he eased down the hill on his belly, coming to a stop about eight feet from the highway and perhaps twenty feet from the nearest infected.

Taking one of several rocks he’d collected, Ringo chucked it out onto the asphalt hitting a car hubcap with it. The sound rang along the highway like a church bell. The reaction was instantaneous.

All five of the infected whirled toward the sound, their lethargy gone in an flash. All of them hurried that way, searching for the source of the noise. Ringo watched, impressed by their speed. This really was nothing like the old horror movies. The infected weren’t dead and they weren’t slow, either. No shuffling and moaning for this bunch.

Instead, they screeched in what could only be described as an animal-like rage, doing a running stumble toward the sound. Ringo noted that some motor control seemed to be deteriorating along with balance. He also reminded himself that five infected didn’t make a study. He couldn’t depend on all infected to react as these had.

With the five of them distracted he tossed another rock, this one farther down the road away from his own position. Again all five infected turned at once and shuffle/ran toward the sound of the rock skittering along the asphalt. Ringo watched them carefully, trying to determine if there was any deductive reasoning to their movements or if they we simply following the sound.

It was almost as if they were blind, Ringo thought. Using sound to hunt. He caught all five looking away from him and tossed another rock toward the same place as the second, almost right on them. This time one of the infected seemed to notice the rock bouncing and held his ground. The other four went chasing after the sound.

So they could see. Ringo sat back for a minute, wondering what else he could try. Before he could think of anything, he saw movement across the road in the field beyond. As he watched a dog burst from the grass, barking and growling at the infected. As one the three men and two women turned to the noise.

Emitting a screech that made the hair on Ringo’s neck rise, all of them started for the dog. A medium-sized shepherd mix, Ringo thought. The dog stood his ground for a second longer then turned and loped away, the infected pursuing.

Ringo stayed put for another five minutes watching the infected trail the dog out of sight, then he crawled back to the camera. Speaking softly he described what had just happened and the shut the camera off.