The Dead Don't Bleed: Part 2, The Aftermath (11 page)

Emily bristled at the unexpected tongue lashing from what she had thought to a be nothing more than a small and demure young lady who lacked the guts to actually get up in her face and suddenly explode at her like that. "How dare you." She started.

Miranda was not impressed and smiled slyly as she continued, "Don't even try and give me that uppity bullshit. I can spot white trash a mile away lady and you stink of it. Do you really think any of us care at this moment exactly who lives here and who is just visiting? Now, you can shut your damn mouth, sit your fat ass down and just stay the hell out of the way while the rest of us figure out a way to keep everyone alive a little while longer."

A comeback of some type was just about to reach t
he woman's lips when she took closer note of the steely determination in Miranda's eyes and realized that the smaller woman was not about to back down. She had also not missed the butt of a pistol sticking out from the front of her pants. Even though Miranda had not made a direct threat with the weapon or otherwise, Emily knew that if she opened her mouth again there was a good chance the woman standing in front of her would have little trouble in closing it for her. She took two steps backward and then turned to her husband, changing tactics she went for the wounded wife role in an attempt to win Doug over to her side.

"Douglas, did you hear how this woman just spoke to me." Actual tears were running down her cheeks as she spoke. Miranda
was sure that Emily was well versed in turning on the water works when she felt they were needed.

Miranda thought about interjecting further on Doug's behalf, the man had already been through enough, the last thing he needed was to have all of them witness him cower in the face of his wife. She stopped herself at the last second though when she remembered his sudden burst
of courage back in the bedroom next door with his zombie neighbor. If he had turned coward at that point and not acted decisively it was likely that at least one of them would have suffered bites from the woman zombie. The apocalypse may have caused a great deal of harm throughout the world, but for people like Doug it also gave them a chance to find an inner courage that they were never aware they had. Miranda had seen that with him once already and she was now seeing another slight glimmer in his eyes that told her he was digging down deep into himself and pulling it back to the surface again. His cheeks grew dark red and a vein began throbbing at the edge of his hairline, Miranda recognized the signs of a growing explosion and was more than happy to step back out of the way and let Doug deal with his wife.

Keeping his voice low but doing little to disguise the anger and disgust he was feeling, Doug started in on her, "Emily, she told you to shut up and sit your fat ass down. I sugg
est you do exactly that." gesturing towards Miranda he continued, "She’s right, all of us just risked our lives outside. You have no idea what the hell is really going on do you? It might as well be the end of the damn world and you still want to carry on with your bitching and whining and..." he turned towards Miranda, "what did you call it?"

Miranda stepped right up, "that would be uppity bullshit."

"Yes, exactly, thank you.” turning back to his wife he continued, "and all your uppity bullshit. All of us could be dead in the next few minutes, hours or days. Your only contribution to date has been to finish the last bit of food we had and then back up the goddamn toilet with your horseshit." He pointed towards the door, "Do you hear that banging? Do you know what is on the other side of that door? I can tell you that I have seen things more terrifying out there in the last hour than anything you can possibly say or do to me ever again. Now, one last time SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP."

The tears that had been running down
her cheeks stopped right on cue. Her contempt and anger at being disrespected in her own home was suddenly forgotten as she glanced from her husband to the others in the room with her, all eyes were on her. She suddenly realized that she was the stranger in the room, she didn't even recognize her own husband all of a sudden. He had never stood his ground like that with her, her direct and even sometimes veiled threats about leaving him penniless if he ever crossed the line suddenly had absolutely no meaning or power. It was not just his words and tone of voice that got her thinking. It was his entire demeanor, his poise and the expression on his face that made it clear he was on the verge of changing from a weak and timid man into someone who had stared death in the face and would no longer be intimidated by anything less ever again. She looked from face to face and saw the same look in each of the eyes staring back at her. Everyone in that room with her would just as soon put a bullet in her head and leave her for dead if that is what it took to keep her quiet and out of their way. Without another word she timidly turned around towards the couch, walked silently across the room and sat down facing away from everyone so her next round of very real tears would not be so obvious.

Calvin inched a little closer to Garret, leaned over and whispered, "
The little guy might actually have a pair of balls after all."

Garrett didn't reply, instead he looked over towards the door again and watched for a few moments as it continued to shudder against the ongoing assault from the other side. He didn't think the zombies outside that door were going to be giving up on them anytime soon and it was important to learn a little bit more about the construction of this room.

"Keep on post here, while they are still banging on the door one of us should be ready at all times." Garrett said.

Calvin glanced back over his shoulder at the others in the room, he noted that Miranda and Doug seemed to be having a whispered conversation in the far corner of the room while Doug's wife sat on the couch with her back turned towards everyone. From the subtle
up and down motion of her shoulders he was sure that Emily was crying but also trying to be discreet about it. He felt no pity for the woman. Having witnessed the exchange between her and Doug and considering what they had all gone through just to get inside this room alive, she had a lot to learn about just how things were going to be from here on out. He was glad that Doug had taken that first step towards actually being a survivor and not a victim. From what he saw of how Doug handled himself outside, he didn't think the man would ever be a great asset in a fight. But he just might be the type of ally that could help them in other ways yet to be seen, Calvin was starting to like the guy.

"Yeah, go ahead.
I’ve got this. Besides, if they break down that door, I doubt it would matter if all of us were ready with machine guns on this side."

Garrett had already considered just that thought, but unlike Calvin's more blunt and tactless nature he had elected to keep that little gem to himself. He walked over to the far corner of the room and joined Miranda and Doug.

"Doug, tell me a little more about the door and those windows." He asked as he pointed out the two small windows recessed in the walls several feet above them.

"We should be safe here. The door is reinforced with steel sheeting and all three locks are actually embedded three inches into the concrete of the wall once they are engaged. It would take a tank to knock it down. They have followed me back down before and beat on the door like that, although not in these numbers. The windows are tempered, bullet proof and sunk in four inches into the house. They are also set down into storm sheaths on the outside of the house. Not easy to find even if you knew they were there. Even if they did
find them only one could fit inside either of the sheaths at a time and it is not easy to contort your body to reach the actual glass. It would be very difficult to beat on it from the outside and impossible for them to even see inside."

Garrett could tell that Doug was proud of the room and its construction. It sounded like the small space, while still filled with uncomfortable odors, would keep them safe for the time being. But they were trapped until the zombies outside the door finally gave up and moved on and none of them knew how much longer Kimberly could last. They didn't even know if the few medications they were able to find
would even help her, but they had to try something. Doug had mentioned that he was a doctor, a plastic surgeon to be more accurate, but whatever medical knowledge the man had might end up being Kimberly's only hope.

"Ok, it looks like we are stuck here for
now. Might as well get comfortable. Calvin and I will take turns on guard duty, secure door or not. I just don't feel comfortable not having one of us ready for anything in case they manage to start knocking it loose. Everyone else should probably try and get some rest." He turned and looked towards Emily who was still sitting on the couch with her back turned towards the rest of them and sobbing. Garrett also noticed the young teenage boy who was sitting on the floor in the farthest reaches of the room, his knees drawn up to just under his chin as he silently watched all them. He thought it likely the kid was suffering from shock, Doug had mentioned that it had been his own parents who had chased him into the house and that was surely something that had a traumatic effect on his overall mental health. Add to that the fact that he had been cooped up in the storm shelter with Emily, no food and a backed up toilet, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if he turned into a basket case before too long.

"I am afraid that all of the food we did manage to recover had to be left behind. But, once it is clear we can make another try to retrieve it." Looking at the boy again he had a sudden thought. He moved over across the room and knelt down near the kid until he was able to make eye contact without Cameron having to look up.

"You're Cameron, right?" he asked. Cameron merely nodded in reply and Garrett went about making introductions of himself and the rest of the newcomers to the room. Despite his much younger age Garrett decided to play straight with him and talk to him like an adult instead of trying to talk down like he would with a child. All of them were going to need to have their wits about them and be able to trust one another if they were going to get out of there in one piece. He thought that Cameron could possibly be a contributor to the group, his youth and apparent good physical condition meant that he would at least be able to keep up much better than Doug and obviously Emily.

"Cameron, you understand the situation we are in, there is no use in me trying to sugar coat it. I am pretty sure we can get out of here and meet up with the rest of our group, but it is going to take all of us working together when the time comes. If we have to stop for stragglers or someone panics and makes
a wrong move, well, I don't think I need to tell you where that could lead. Can we count on you?" Cameron seemed to perk up a little while Garrett spoke to him. Despite the constant pounding of dead flesh on the outside of the storm shelter door, which would drive many people into a deep pit of hopeless despair, he seemed to be warming up to Garrett. It was also likely that this was the first time since his arrival that anyone had spoken to him as an equal. He nodded his head and then flashed an enthusiastic thumbs up.

"Good deal. Now you also understand that it was your hous
e we went to in order to locate supplies, correct?" Garrett asked.

"Of course, I was the one that told Dr. Webb that there would be plenty of food there. My mom had just
gone shopping and we always have a bunch of stuff in the house for guests and what not." He brimmed a little as he said it, clearly wanting to show Garrett that he had been helpful in providing that information.

"Good, and you were right. From what we were able to find there is plenty to hold us for several days or longer. Now, the problem is that we got a lot of it bagged and stacked in the garage ready to move, but we ran into some of our friends out there before we could move it." As he said that he pointed towards the doorway where the pounding had once again increased in intensity. He wasn't sure how many people could actually fit in the small corridor
outside the door, but from the sounds of it they were pushing the limits to the maximum and must have been squeezing themselves in very tight by now. Cameron's next question suddenly made him regret making a connection between the zombies and his home.

"Did you see my mom and dad out there?" His eyes were watering up and he started blinking rapidly to hold back the tears. Garrett had to remember that he was dealing with a kid. He considered just lying to him straight out, telling him that both his mother and father had been killed and not only killed but killed by people in this room, was not a chore he had wanted to walk into. Cameron knew that his parents had fallen victim to
the virus and was probably also smart enough to realize that once they turned into zombies, that was it, they were dead and there was no coming back. He rejected lying to the kid, it was best to continue earning his trust, but he would do what he could to avoid the actual details.

"Yes, we did see your parents and I am very sorry. All of us have lost someone in the last
few days due to this thing. But we can honor all of those who have fallen by surviving. I have no doubt that the one thing your parents would want more than anything was for you to continue to survive and make it through this. Agreed?"

The tears were now falling down his face and he sniffled a few times, but managed to shake his head in agreement. Garrett breathed a silent sigh of relief to himself that Cameron didn't press him for details about his parents. He surely didn't want to volunteer the information that he had personally drove a knife through his
father’s skull and that Miranda had pretty much blown his mother’s head off in her own bedroom. That was something for another time and would serve no purpose in moving them forward by getting into it at that moment. He needed to change gears and get Cameron focused back on helping them find a way out of there.