The Remnants of Yesterday (17 page)

52

WE SPENT THE rest of the afternoon and a good measure of the evening with J.T., going over everything we knew, recounting even the smallest of details. After he failed to raise anyone on the radio, he tried the internet, which did not work either, and then flipped through thirty stations on the large TV, getting empty channel after empty channel, before giving up and finally admitting defeat.

At one point, I asked him about the aerobics class that was underway when we arrived. It seemed an odd thing to be doing, and despite our situation, I could not help but inquire about it.

“I find it helps us to focus,” he replied. “Clears the mind of distractions and puts everyone in a relaxed state.”

I nodded politely, deciding that dancing in the woods to Madonna was the last thing that would put me in a relaxed state.

The camp still had a fully working kitchen, thanks to the solar panels and the propane gas tanks installed to fuel the stoves, and J.T. asked if we would join the group for dinner. His only stipulation was that we did not discuss then events of the outside world, the virus and collapse of society, with any of the other people staying at the retreat. He said he would like to break it to them in his own way, and time, and since we were his guests I acquiesced to his wishes, albeit with reservations. Personally, I thought they deserved to know so that they could make up their minds what to do, but it was not my place to interfere, so I kept the feelings to myself.

After a hearty meal of lasagna, prepared by the personal chef that accompanied the group whenever they came up to the retreat, we sat back and relaxed, talking among ourselves. Everything felt so normal that it was hard to believe we were running for our lives just twenty-four hours earlier, but I made sure not to let the spa-like atmosphere and good food distract me from the fact that we were in very real danger.

After dinner, J.T. led us to our accommodations, a cabin with a wide porch, and symmetrical six pane windows on each side of the door. Bidding us a good night, he left us there, and disappeared into his own cabin.

“He seems to be taking things very well,” I said, watching him go.

“A bit too well,” Clara agreed. “Maybe he still doesn’t really believe us.”

“He ought to. He spent enough time trying to get an answer on that radio and getting nowhere,” Emily said. “Not to mention the fifteen minutes he spent flipping through empty TV channels looking for CNN.”

“His loss if he doesn’t.” I didn’t really care whether J.T. believed us or not. Tomorrow we would resume our trek southward toward New Haven. If J.T. or any of his group wanted to tag along, that was fine, but if not I did not want to linger. This place might feel safe, but I had a feeling that if we lingered too long we would regret it. “Come on, let’s go inside.” I climbed the porch steps, holding the cabin door open for the others to enter, then stepped into the cabin and closed the door behind me.

We explored our new digs. The cabin was surprisingly spacious. A central room was set up with a small kitchen and dining table on one side, and a lounge area on the other, complete with an overstuffed sofa and two chairs arranged around a fireplace. Just as in J.T.’s cabin, there was no TV, but there were a couple of board games and a deck of cards on a side table next to the sofa. Two doors, one set at each end of the cabin, led into a pair of bedrooms, each with two twin sized beds. I opened the fridge, happy to see it stocked with various types of soda, bottled water, and a selection of snack foods. The freezer compartment held pop tarts, individual sized servings of ice cream and mini peperoni pizzas among other things.

“This place isn’t half bad.” Darwin flopped down on an overstuffed sofa against the back wall and put his hands behind his head. “Sure beats the accommodation from last night.”

“I think this might be the best place we’ve stayed so far,” Clara said.

“Hey.” Darwin protested.

“Sorry,” Clara replied. “The motel was a bit run down though.”

“Yeah,” Emily said. “And this place doesn’t have a crazy waitress running around.”

“Or bedbugs.” Clara grinned.

“The motel did not have bedbugs.” Darwin feigned a hurt look. “I didn’t see anyone complaining about it at the time.”

“Speaking of beds, we should assign rooms,” Clara said. “I vote that we girls take the room on the left, since it’s closest to the bathroom.”

“No.” Emily sat down on the sofa next to Darwin. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“Huh?” I shot her a look. “Why not?”

“What if something happens in the night?” Emily said. “What if Crazies find us or the motel beasts attack again? We’d be much too vulnerable.”

“So what do you suggest?” Clara asked her.

“I think I should take a bedroom with Darwin, and you take the other room with Hayden. That way if we need to defend ourselves, there’s a man in each room.”

“Makes sense to me.” Spending the night with Clara sounded much better than spending it with Darwin. I turned to her. “What do you think?”

“Sure. Sounds great.” Clara’s eyes lit up. “I mean, if it’s what Emily wants.”

“Don’t I get a say?” Darwin raised his hand as if he were a student asking to go to the bathroom.

“You don’t like that idea?” I asked him.

“Oh no, I love it,” Darwin said. “I just wanted to say that for the record.”

“so, that’s it then,” I said. “I’ll bunk with Clara, and you two can take the other room.”

53

THE BEDS WERE surprisingly comfortable. I crawled between the sheets and put my head on the pillow, closing my eyes and truly relaxing for the first time in days. I looked forward to a full night’s sleep. For once we didn’t need to keep guard, and it was a wonderful feeling. We did make sure the door was locked and all the windows were secure, but somehow the cabin felt safer than the motel room.

After making our sleeping arrangements, we’d taken it in turns to shower. The girls went first, followed by Darwin, and then finally it had been my turn. By then the water was only lukewarm, but it didn’t matter. I was happy just to wash off the grime of the trek through the woods. It wasn’t long after we showered that we retired for the night. Everyone was exhausted, and I’m sure we all looked forward to a clean, soft bed.

I heard Clara moving around as she prepared for bed. There was a rustle of fabric and I imagined her slipping her jeans off, but I didn’t open my eyes. Outside in the lounge area, there was movement, and then the toilet flushed. I wondered if Emily had changed in the bedroom or if she’d made use of the bathroom to undress. I found it hard to believe that she harbored any feelings for Darwin, but then again, she was the one who came up with the idea of cohabiting.

“How’s the bed?” Clara asked.

“Heavenly,” I replied. I stretched out, relishing the cool feel of the bedclothes on my skin. I’d undressed quickly, discarding my clothes in a pile next to the bedroom door, and now wore only my boxers. I would have loved to take those off too, given how long I’d been wearing them, but modesty prevented me from removing the last barrier to complete relaxation. I made a mental note to pick up some new undies if we ever came upon a store. Three changes of underwear might be good for the short weekend trip to New York that I’d planned, but after days of trudging through woodlands in all sorts of weather conditions and along deserted highways full of burned out cars, they had become less than adequate.

The light clicked off.

I opened my eyes.

Clara was moving across the room. For a brief moment I caught sight of her smooth, pale skin highlighted against the black fabric of her bra and panties, and then she pulled the covers back and climbed into the other bed, putting her head on the pillow and turning to face the wall.

I lay there for a while, unable to sleep, the events of the past few days churning in my mind, and then I heard Clara softly weeping.

“Are you okay?” I asked, concerned.

“I’m fine,” Clara said, still facing the wall. She sniffed. “I thought you were sleeping.”

“No.” I slipped from my bed and padded across the room, then perched myself on the edge of her bed. I reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Everything will be okay.”

“I wish I believed that.” Clara turned now, facing me. Tears streaked her face, and her eyes looked puffy in the dim light. “I’m sorry. I know I should be stronger than this.”

“You’ve been incredibly strong,” I said.

“Not really.” She shook her head. “All I can think about are my parents, my brother, my friends. The chance they are still alive is so small. I wish everything was back to normal, that none of this ever happened.”

“We all do.” I didn’t know what else to say.

“I don’t want to be alone right now.” She looked at me, her eyes wide and wet.

“You aren’t. I’ll be right there.” I nodded toward the other bed.

“No, I don’t want to be alone.” She lifted the covers, inviting me in. “Please?”

“Of course.” I lifted my legs and slid in next to her, wrapping my arms around her, pulling her tight.

“Thank you.” She nestled into me, putting her head on my shoulder. I felt her breasts pressing against me, her bare skin, warm and soft. “Promise me we’ll make it out of this?”

“We will.” I ran my fingers through her hair, let my hand stroke her back. “We have to.”

“I hope so.” She lifted her head, her lips finding mine. She kissed me, the touch lingering and sweet, and then she looked into my eyes for the longest time before putting her head back down and closing her eyes.

I held her close, listening to her breathing grow rhythmic and shallow as she fell asleep, and then, finally, I drifted off too.

54

I AWOKE TO THE sound of someone pounding on the cabin door.

I sat bolt upright in bed, blinking the sleep from my eyes.

Clara stirred next to me.  “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” I jumped from the bed and searched for my pants, finding them in a pile near the bedroom door.

“What time is it anyway?”

I glanced at the alarm clock next to the bed. “Just gone seven o’clock.” I pulled my pants on, and made for the door as a second frantic knock came. “Alright, I’m on my way,” I shouted, pulling the bedroom door open a crack, then closing it again behind me to afford Clara some privacy while she dressed.

I crossed the kitchen toward the front door as Emily and Darwin emerged from the other bedroom.

“Who is it at the door?” Emily asked. “It’s very early.”

“I know. I was hoping to sleep a little longer.” I gripped the door handle and opened it.

J.T. was standing on the other side, his face ashen.

“They’re all gone.” He spoke the words slowly.

“Who?” Emily asked him from over my shoulder.

“Everyone.” J.T. looked shaken. “There’s nobody left except us.”

“How is that possible?” Darwin exclaimed. “They were all fine just last night. We ate dinner with them for heaven’s sake.”

“I know that.” J.T. said.

“Maybe they got spooked when you told them about the virus, the Crazies,” Emily said.

“That’s just it. I didn’t tell them yet. I was trying to figure out the best way to do it.” He motioned towards the vehicles parked at the other side of the clearing. “Besides, the bus is still here. How would they go anywhere without the bus?”

I heard the bedroom door open, and Clara emerged. She had brushed her hair and put on a fresh shirt. “It’s happening again, just like it did back at the gas station.”

“We don’t know that,” I countered. I hoped there would be a rational explanation for the missing people. If they really had disappeared, it meant that whatever had happened was still happening, and I didn’t want to wake up alone one day, with Clara missing too.

“Did you search all the cabins?” Clara hovered by my side. She reached down and took my hand.

“Yes. All of them. Yours was the last one,” J.T. replied. “For a moment I thought you might be gone too.”

“We should search again, just to be sure,” I said.

“What’s the point?” J.T. leaned against the porch railing. “This place is so small. There’s nowhere else they could be. Everything was just fine until you showed up.”

“You’re not suggesting that we had anything to do with your people vanishing are you?” Clara was indignant.

“Well, it does seem mighty strange that you arrive, four strangers wandering in the woods, with a nutty story about monsters and insane people and the end of the world, and then this happens the very next morning.” There was a hint of anger in J.T.’s voice. “You do the math.”

“Now look here–” I took a step toward him.

“Don’t.” Clara held my hand tight. “He’s just upset.”

“Damned right I’m upset.” J.T. paced on the porch. “I think it’s warranted under the circumstances, don’t you?”

“I still think we should check the camp again,” Darwin said. “Maybe someone else survived.”

“No one survived. Aren’t you listening to me? The place is a ghost town.”

“Even so…” I agreed with Darwin. It was worth making sure.

“Go ahead. You won’t find anyone.” J.T. spat the words, his face contorted with fear and shock.

“We’ll see.” I pushed past him and walked down the steps, making my way toward the next cabin over, with the others at my heels.

I opened the door and peered inside, but it was empty, just like J.T. said. As was the next one, and the next. By the time we’d searched every cabin I was disheartened. Just when we’d found a group of people unaffected by the events of the last few days, this happened. It didn’t seem fair. Finally, admitting defeat, I turned to the others. “What now?”

“We move on, I suppose,” Clara said. “There doesn’t seem to be much point in staying here.”

“How could all those people vanish into thin air?” Darwin shook his head in disbelief.

“I don’t know.” I could feel the frustration rising within me like a black tide. “They just did.”

“Is it happening again? Are we going to black out?” Emily looked scared.

“I don’t think so,” I replied. “I feel just fine.”

“So do I,” Clara agreed. “But I don’t want to hang around here any longer than necessary, just in case.”

“I hear that.” I was thinking the same thing. Whatever was happening obviously didn’t happen everywhere at the same time. If this place had survived for days after the event, then maybe other locations did too. Was that what New Haven was, a place that hadn’t been affected? I could only hope. Right now though, we needed to pack up and get the hell out of here. I turned to walk back to the cabin where J.T. was still pacing on the porch, but I only managed one step.

“Look.” Emily pointed toward the tree line.

As one, we turned and looked.

I spotted a figure emerging from the darkness between the trees. It walked slowly, weaving a little as it went. It wasn’t until the figure entered a patch of sunlight that I realized it was a woman of about forty, her long hair, which at one time might have been beautiful, was now matted to her head. She wore a nightdress, the fabric dirty and ripped in places. Doughy pallid skin showed through the tears.

“What’s she doing?” Emily said.

“I don’t like this.” Internal alarm bells were going off. “I don’t like this one little bit.”

The woman was in the clearing now. She stopped and looked at us, a dull expression on her face.

I saw J.T. dismount from the porch, a look of relief on his face, and knew instantly what he was about to do.

“J.T. Stop.” I shouted a warning. “Don’t.”

“It’s alright, she works for me. It’s Elise Jenkins.” Even so, he faltered, hesitating.

“Stay where you are. Don’t move any closer.” I turned to the others, making sure to keep an eye on Elise. “We should pick up our gear and get out of here. I have a feeling this place is about to become very unwelcoming.”

“What about her?” Darwin asked, nodding toward Elise.

“Just don’t lose sight of her. If she starts toward us, run.” I ushered everyone towards the cabin.

We took it slow and steady across the clearing, not wishing to make any sudden moves that would draw more attention than we already had. Elise watched us, slack jawed and vacant, her arms dangling at her sides. She made no attempt to move toward us, and for that I was grateful.

When we reached the cabin, Emily and Clara ducked inside to collect our packs, which we could not afford to lose. The rest of us stayed at the base of the steps, watching Elise.

J.T. looked at me, his eyes wide. “What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s crazy, that’s what,” Darwin told him. “And not life of the party crazy. More like munch on your raw flesh crazy.”

I glanced toward the cabin, willing the girls to emerge, then back to Elise. She hadn’t moved. Perhaps she was summing us up, or maybe it just took a while for things to process now. Either way, she wouldn’t stay still for long, and I didn’t want to get into a scuffle with her. My encounter with Alice the crazy waitress hadn’t exactly been pleasant, and I had no desire to repeat the experience.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the cabin door opened and the girls appeared, backpacks in hand.

“About time,” I muttered. “Let’s go. We’ll make for the road.” I pointed toward the track leading from the clearing, where the bus was parked.

“She’s moving.” Clara looked toward Elise, who now stumbled forward, her movements uncoordinated and erratic.

“She doesn’t look very dangerous,” J.T. said.

“Trust me, you don’t want to find out,” I replied. “If she’s anything like the other Crazies we’ve encountered, she can move at a pretty good lick if she wants to.”

“Are you sure she doesn’t just need help?” J.T. was still struggling with the concept of Crazies.

“I’m sure.” Who knew how many more of J.T.’s staff were wandering around the woods in a stupor. “Trust me.”

“Can we go now?” Darwin as eyeing Elise with a look of loathing on his face. “I don’t think I like it here anymore.”

“Come on.” I took my pack and made for the road on the other side of the clearing, with the others a step behind me. J.T. lingered for a moment, then hurried to catch up.

We reached the midway point. Now we were well and truly exposed, out in the open. If any more Crazies came out of the woods from another direction, we might be trapped. I tried not to think about it and pushed on.

It turned out that it wasn’t the Crazies we needed to worry about.

“What’s that thing?” J.T. stopped in his tracks, looking back toward Elise.

I spun around, a writhing fear clutching at my stomach. Even though I hoped I was wrong, I knew exactly what I would see when I looked.

The beast was a few feet behind Elise, stalking her. It moved crouched down on all fours, creeping up without making a sound. Elise was blissfully unaware of its presence.

“We have to do something.” J.T.’s eyes were wide with horror. “It’s going to kill her.”

“Probably.” It was pretty much a given. I remembered the frenzied attack back at the motel, and our encounter with the beasts before we fled into the woods. “Rather her than us.”

“She’s still human,” J.T.’s face was red. I saw a vein throb on his temple. “We can’t just leave her.”

“Yes we can.” The force of Clara’s words surprised me. She grabbed J.T. by the arm, steering him forward. “If we help her, we all die.”

As if to prove a point, it was at that moment that the beast decided to make its move. It shot forward, a blur of muscle and teeth landing on the defenseless woman’s back. Elise toppled forward, but she didn’t try to break her fall, instead her face hit the ground with a dull thud. Blood sprayed like a fine rain from her nose and mouth.

The beast rolled her over and slashed with its paw, and then again. Elise was making mewling sounds, not really a cry for help, but more like whimpering.

Another blow glanced off her neck, sharp claws gouging and tearing the flesh, and this time the blood arced up in a graceful curve before hitting the ground and soaking in.

The beast opened its jaws and bit down, securing its victim, shaking the prone woman like a rag doll until she went limp, and then it raised its head and looked toward us.

“Oh shit,” Darwin said, a tremble in his voice. “This is not good.”

“Move.” I pushed Clara forward, then Emily. Darwin stepped around me, but J.T. just stood looking at the bloody corpse of his employee, and the beast that was now slinking toward us. “You too.” I reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Get off me.” He swiveled, his face full of fear and anger.

“If you don’t move, you’re next.” I gripped his arm. “Pull yourself together or you will die here today.”

As if to prove my point, two more beasts emerged from the woods. Their eyes fixed upon us, and then, as if making a silent decision, all three shot forward, moving faster than I would have thought possible, closing the gap between us much too fast.