The Dead Divide Us (Book 1) (14 page)

There was a sharp ringing in Robert’s ears. He slipped and fell, crashing onto the ground. His jeans were now wet and packed with snow. His vision was blurry; like he had just put on an elderly person’s pair of prescription glasses. The loud ringing in his ears was beginning to fade away. He could begin to hear other sounds now. Like screaming. His mother screaming.

“Holy shit! Mom!” Robert said, snapping back to reality. As Robert righted himself, staggering in the deep snow, he saw Jan Goodman was already racing to Rita’s rescue. The infected man in overalls was already way to close to Rita.

“Ma, get away from that freak!” Robert yelled.

Jan, moving extremely fast for a large man, glided across the front porch and pulled on the back of the man’s overalls. Rita screamed again. The man went flying across the porch, hit the banister, and went soaring head over heels into the snow covered bushes below. Robert went to his truck and grabbed his bat; he was ready to take care of business yet again. He approached the man in overalls with the bat raised above his head. Robert didn’t want to give this one anytime to recover.

“Don’t bother.” Frost said. He raised his gun and put a bullet into the infected man’s skull. Again, Robert was surprised by the gunshots.

“Stop that, would ya?” Robert yelled.

“Stop what? Saving your ass?” Frost asked back.

“We had this under control ok?”

“Sure you did Robert, just like you had a plan for that group of infected assholes we just slaughtered? Right?”

Frost was right. What the hell was Robert going to do against a group of that many infected? He walked over so he could look down the hill, at the driveway. Bodies of the infected were laid on top of each other, a total massacre. The snow was painted blood red in the pile around them.

“We do have you to thank for that.” Robert said to Frost. But Frost’s agenda was focused on that of Rita Landry.

“Ma’am. What did you say before we started firing?” Frost asked.

“She didn’t say anything, leave her alone god damn it.” Robert said, but was then pushed out of the way by Frost’s men.

“Ma’am? The truth please. We don’t have time to fuck around anymore.”

Rita began to look worried again, like she might start crying. Jan walked over to her and put his arm around her. Jan was still coming to terms with the loss of his own family and could empathize with her pain.

“My husband, he tried to bite…”

“AHHHH!!!”

Thomas Landry, looking painfully sick, burst out of the front door. He smashed right through to Rita and Jan; both backed away quickly and carefully.

“Thomas!” Rita screamed. She was frantic and crying.

Frost and his men took aim at Thomas.

“Back away from him, he’s sick!” Frost exclaimed.

“Don’t shoot him. You can’t!” Robert pleaded.

Robert’s infected father than slowly raised his head, locking his eyes with Robert‘s. He saw those dead eyes, sick and vacant. An awful pain came over Robert, a new pain that made him wonder just how many secrets the human body keeps from us all. Now, one of his family members had succumbed to the infection. At that point Robert truly realized how fucked they were. How fucked they all were.

“He’s just like them, god dammit! We gotta dispose of him!” Frost yelled back.

Knowing Frost was correct, and hating him for it, Robert called out to his mother and Jan.

“Guys get down here, now!”

Jan grabbed Rita by the arm and pulled her away, heading toward the porch steps. Thomas reached forward and almost got Rita by her sweater. She screamed.

“I’ll open fire.” Frost said to his men.

“No, not yet.” Robert said, giving a long look to Frost. He then went to his mother and guided her into the stables. Jan followed them. Before closing the stable door, Robert took one last look at the gruesome image of his sickly father, about to be laid to waste by Frost’s bullets.
Goodbye Dad
. The pain Robert felt made him numb all over. Then he slammed the stable door shut.

Robert, Rita and Jan stood silent for a few seconds. Inside, the stable was dark. And somehow it felt as if they had escaped the nightmares of the real world. Shadow and Sundance stood still as well, watching the three of them try to collect their emotions. Robert walked up to his mother, hugged her and put his hands over her ears. Jan joined their hug and also tried to cover Rita’s ears with his hands. They were trying to make it so Rita could not hear the gunshot that would kill her husband. Robert decided to start signing to help cover the sound. He was a terrible singer; Felicia was the musically talented one. But there was an old bible song that Rita taught him many years ago. A song she said she had learned shortly after his birth. Robert began to sign it out loud.

“Lord, I know thy name, and I know it true.

Lord, I give you myself, through and through.

Lord, I see your light, love shinin' bright.

Lord, I know thy name…”

A loud shot rang out. And Robert knew his father was dead.

4

Frost and his two soldiers entered the dark stable and closed the door behind them. Jan Goodman was now standing next to the old horse Sundance, combing back her white mane. Jan looked infinitely sad, holding his head down lower than one might think possible. Jan Goodman, man with a dead family. Robert sat next to his mother on a bale of hay. He was afraid Rita might be in shock, she was crying hysterically for a few minutes, but now she was catatonic. Robert had laid a few heavy blankets over her back and held her close. Major Frost seemed very different now; he was not as much a military tyrant anymore. Maybe it was because he knew his job was done for the time being, slaughtering many people infected by the disease that was taking the world by storm. A storm that seemed to have no end, no conscience, and no compassion for the carnage it brings.
The end of days; laconic and grim. The curtain drops, then all fall in.

Major Frost tells his men to stand guard at the door and then approaches Robert. At first Frost really did not know what to say to Robert. Very few times in Frost’s life has he ever felt speechless; even though he had so much to say. So much to express. So much that was too awful to speak about. Then Frost heard himself speak.

“I am sorry Robert. I truly am.”

Robert made sure the blankets around his mother were secured and then stood up. He directs Frost to follow him to the other end of the stable, past Jan and the two horses. As they pass, Shadow gives out a neigh and shakes her head.
Do Shadow and Sundance know the dark and desperate feeling of loss?

“Don’t tell me you are sorry. What do you know about this fucking virus? If you think we are going to let you stay here, you better speak up.” Robert said sternly.

Major Frost removed his cap and then rested his rifle against the nearest wall of the stable. He scratched the top of his head, what was left of his white hair got ruffled.

“I guess that’s fair enough.” Frost said.

“You’re damn right it’s fair. How did this get so far out of hand?” Robert asked.

Frost returned his stern edge, but only to regain the command of Robert’s attention through fear.

“You’ll do well to calm down and listen to me son.” Frost said, but when he spoke the word ‘son’, his voice cracked. Robert was shocked to see that Frost’s eyes were beginning to water up. Now Robert was the speechless one. He waited for Frost to continue.

“I had a son your age. Dustin. I mean I still do have a son your age, I just haven’t seen him in nearly a decade.” Frost rushed to say, wiping his eyes clear.

“What happened?” Robert said softly.

“Well, I tried to push him into this lifestyle. I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m kind of an asshole.”

Robert caught himself actually laughing at what Frost just said. The man of steel had just made a joke. The world must be ending.

“Dustin was an artist. He didn’t believe in guns or fighting. The thought of war went against his beliefs. He was so much like his mother. But I still insisted, no I flat out forced him to enlist into basic training.”

“So he did eventually join the army?” Robert asked, sincerely concerned.

“Nope. Dustin went AWOL before he actually ever had a chance to. Instead of reporting for his first day of basic, he ran away. Shortly thereafter, his mother did the same thing.”

“I’m truly sorry about that.”

“I’m sorry I had to take care of your father. I’m sure he was a great man.”

“He was.”

“But Robert, it had to be done. That’s what I do. I get things done that normal folk would never wish to dream of. And I’m good at it.”

Sundance shuffled in the stall as Rita coughed out loud.

“Robert…you can be a leader. You can be good at getting things done too. The hard things. The hard choices, you will have to make them. If you don’t, you won’t survive. The time to be passive is over.”

For the first time, Robert felt like Major Frost was telling the truth. He had to reveal some sincerity, but Frost had gained Robert’s trust.

“As for the virus? I can only tell you what I was allowed to know.”

Frost took a deep breath to help him collect his thoughts.

“As of three days ago, I was a retired Major General. Now I’m back in full-duty. I first knew something was terribly wrong when my superiors were acting frightened. Son, I don’t have many superiors, so believe me when I say this is big.”

“So wait, they‘ve known about this for three days?” Robert asked.

“Yes. Ground zero for the outbreak was actually in Nova Scotia. It didn’t take long for most of Maine to be infected, that’s when I think the ‘big boys’ knew we were fucked.”

“Why the lies? Cover ups? I have a brother in Washington state that doesn‘t seem to know the truth either.” Robert asked.

“Son, secrets are what keep this country running. Individual people can understand the truth, but a group of people will panic. It makes me sick too. Our government has many secrets; one of them is that they have contained almost every virus and disease ever known to man—even diseases that have never met the light of day.”

“So our government accidentally did this to our own people?” Robert asked.

“No, I’m not saying that for sure. I’m just saying that’s a high possibility. None of the assholes in Washington D.C. had any real answers; they were just running around with their tails between their legs like lost pups in a hail storm. In the long run? It’s not going to matter where it came from.”

“This is unbelievable.” Robert added.

“After noticing that things weren’t going to get resolved, I demanded that they station me out in the field. I wanted to get out here and make a real difference, make a stronghold, someplace that would survive this catastrophe. They put me here in Colton.”

Robert didn’t speak; he saw that Frost was again trying to hold back tears.
He really might be human after all
.

“I failed Colton, like I failed my son. Infected freaks are tearing that town to shreds.” Frost said. Robert looked back over to Jan. His wife Fran and two daughters, Susie and Carol, were at the Colton Fire Company. God rest their souls.

“Look, I know it’s been a fucked up day so far for everyone here. But my men and I can really use a place to hold up. With your help here, we can fortify this farmhouse and the surrounding land.” Frost said, almost pleading now.

“We need to stick together here!” Frost whispered, with urgency.

And Robert knew he was right. If Colton was lost, and this was indeed the beginning of the end, what choice did they have left? They had to work together now.

“Fine, but listen. This won’t be a military state, martial law doesn’t hold here. The property still belongs to my parents.” Robert winced; the pain of his father’s death came rushing back. That wound was horribly fresh.

“Robert, I want you to lead us. You are right, this place is yours now.”

“Fine. We do this for my father. Keep this place safe and we ride this disease out. No more screw ups.” Robert added.

Frost was now rather content, he even cracked a smile.

“I think we have a good thing here, this farm is on top of a hill. We have the high ground. If we keep quiet enough, maybe we
can
ride this to the end. Or until what’s left of the government can patch things up.” Frost added, with great optimism.

Jan then came walking up next to Major Frost and Robert.

“Joining forces?” Jan said. Finally, his eyes had dried out. He had been crying and rubbing his eyes dry, no doubt.

“Yeah, we think this is the best place to make a stand.” Robert added.

“Ok. I’m going back to town.” Jan said, his voice suggested he was awfully serious.

“Son, I know you want to do good by your family, but the town is overrun.” Frost said to Jan.

“Major Frost, did you actually see my family being killed or infected by those freaks?” Jan asked, expecting a simple yes-or-no answer.

“I can’t say that I did son, but listen to me. The town is lost.” The defeat in his voice was deeply personal.