Wake the Dead (9 page)

Or a Renaissance Faire
, he mused, scratching his beard. It made sense as he’d only recently read about that in the November newspaper.

He was more than intrigued by what he saw. Moreover, if the gates were intact and the place was home to the castle he’d read about in that newspaper, the idea of a true safe haven were a real possibility. He squinted to see, but was not certain if the castle was there or not. He certainly wanted to investigate the place and surrounding area. He spun about and in the distance below, he could see some zombies wandering about, but it seemed as though they had lost his trail.

He had to go back and tell Olivia so that they could investigate it further. He made his way along the trail back home with the fresh trout in the bag and all of his other gear except for what he had to leave behind, and which he desired to go back later to retrieve if at all possible. He encountered nothing and no one on the way back to the cabin. The sun began to dip in the skyline just as he made his way up the hill to arrive back at the cabin.

He was fatigued from biking that many miles that quickly. He brought his gear back inside and tossed it all down, leaning the bike against the side of the cabin.

“Liv! Shadow!” he called. No one answered or called back. He started a fire in the pit, tossed in the trout, and began cooking it in a pan. He heard something approaching in the distance through the brush and grabbed his shotgun, aiming it in that direction.

Shadow emerged through the brush with another squirrel in his mouth and dropped it by his tree where he often lay down, and he stopped and stared at Alex.

“Gonna eat well tonight, boy,” he called to the wolf. “Though I guess you already have your dinner. I prefer the fish.”

After a quick searing of the trout, he grabbed the newspaper from the cabin and went over the ad for the Ren Faire, stuffing pieces of trout into his mouth and savoring the taste. What he couldn’t finish he replaced and put the lid back on the pan. He left it near the fire for Olivia when she came back. The ad for the Renaissance Faire boasted a representation of a castle that was going up, ‘brick by brick’, it stated. It went on to say that construction had started the year previous, and was slated to be this year’s main attraction with a grand opening scheduled for this coming spring. It even boasted an operational drawbridge and a moat he went on to read.

If this had been built, it would be a proper defense against the undead, and anything else that might come along, Alex considered, excited at the prospect of investigating it.

He went about gathering his gear again and decided that a car would be beneficial to them. He decided that he did not want to leave any of his essentials behind in case something happened and he could not come back. There were a good amount of items he wanted to take when they did leave.

And if he wanted to take Shadow with him, along with all of the gear, it would be easier with a vehicle, he considered.

He spent the next few hours tinkering in the firelight with another outlet and the wiring inside the wall but could not find anything visibly wrong with it. That was when he heard something outside, Shadow was snarling.

He ran to the scene, shotgun in hand, to see that Shadow was growling at Olivia, unmoving, and she had the gun out leveled at Shadow.

“Easy…,” Alex said, waving his hands out before him.

“Sorry, he startled me,” she said, still not moving.

“Shadow, relax,” he said moving between them, Olivia finally lowering the weapon. The wolf trotted off again and lay down beside his tree once more, sniffing the air.

“No luck?” Alex asked, leaning low and staring at her, forcing her to meet his gaze. Olivia looked away and frowned, then shook her head. She was clearly holding back tears and so Alex quickly made his way to the pan with the fish and opened the lid, trying his best to distract her. “You like fish I hope.”

“Yes,” she admitted frankly. “And I haven’t eaten all day. It smells good.”

“It was pretty damn good,” he admitted. “And it should still be warm.” She sat down and started eating the fish right there out of the pan.

“So, you found the river? Or is this from somewhere else?”

“Like where? he asked, shrugging as if the notion were absurd.

“I don’t know—an abandoned grocery store or something?” she said, as if that were an obvious answer.

“It is certainly
not
from a grocery store,” he said with a chuckle. “That boy is fresh! I fished it out of that river…a river where I was attacked by a mob of zombies. I had to leave my tackle box and pole behind, and pedaled my ass off to get away.”

She stared at him and he shook his head in disbelief again. “They were so fast….”

“Are you okay?”

“Sure. I got away. I followed the river north and, funny thing, I found that Renaissance Faire.”

“And?”

“And, it appears to be fenced in, for one thing. It did not look like it was overrun from the outside, but I was pretty far away. And, if the thing was finished, there’s supposed to be a bona fide castle inside.” He ran into the cabin and brought out the paper, showing her the advertisement.

“Well, I can’t go,” she said curtly.

“Why the hell not?! We can check it out and if it’s safe—“

“What about my sister? I promised I’d go back every day to find her!”

Alex sighed deeply, ignorantly forgetting about her promise she made to her sister. He sat behind her and rubbed her shoulders, trying to relax her. “We’ll find her, don’t worry. And I’m going with you tomorrow.” She nodded her consent as Shadow approached.

“Give him some fish and he’ll love you forever.” She tossed him some remnants of the fish and Shadow gobbled it up.

 They stood, dumped the remainder of the fish out for Shadow to consume, and the two of them went inside and fell asleep on the couch together, each lost in their own thoughts.

The next morning, Alex pumped fresh water into a pair of pales, undressed, and washed himself thoroughly. As he did so, he had the uncomfortable feeling that he was being watched. He grabbed the knife on his belt and stopped upon hearing a familiar voice.

“That’s quite a weapon you got there,” Liv said jokingly, wearing only an oversized robe. “You should know,” he quipped. Alex turned away from her bashfully and toweled himself dry, then pulled on his pants

She strode over to him and slapped his ass, pulling his pants back down. Alex stared at her and sighed. “We probably shouldn’t….”

She stared at him and reached down to grab at him, all the while pulling him to her with her opposite hand and kissing him on the lips. Then she shoved him back and opened her robe to expose her naked body to him. “Just shut up and fuck me.”

“Here?” he asked her, looking around and seeing nothing but the surrounding trees and the wolf, lying beside a tree in the shade.

“Who are we going to offend?!” she asked with a laugh as she dropped her robe. “I’m not sure if it’s appropriate, but I do like to fuck…especially you. I hope that isn’t a problem.”

She shoved him down onto the grass, not waiting for an answer, and sat on top of him. She quickly and deftly worked him over with her hands until he was firm.

“Now, sit cross legged,” she instructed and Alex was quick to comply, as she worked her way on top of him. She wrapped her thighs around Alex, forcing him to lean back and she smiled at him, taking him wholly inside of her.

Alex was so turned on by her aggression that it was not long until he was hard as a rock. One thing was for certain in that moment: she was in charge, and she made him understand that. She altered speeds and depths on him many times to their mutual delight, as this went on for a long time until she fell to the side in exhaustion. He fell over too, the pair lying on her robe facing one another and holding their stares for a long time in silence. Alex again felt a very real bond growing between him and this very unique woman.

“I’m starting to like you quite a bit, Alex,” she admitted, mirroring his own thoughts in the moment.

It wasn’t long after their lovemaking session that the two of them were discussing Jill, Olivia theorizing as to where her sister and the others could have even gotten to by now.

Alex closely listened to her, walked slowly over to, and inspected the cucumber vines, listening to a past tale of Olivia’s childhood, fond memories spent with Jill.

“Hmmm,” Alex said as Olivia’s story ended and silence ensued. He was more than disappointed to find that as he inspected the patch, all of the cucumbers seemed to have fallen victim to the ravaging of some sort of insect or worm.  He couldn’t even salvage one more.

“Dammit…they’re all gone,” he said, holding up a wilted cucumber leaf for her to see.

“I’m sorry,” Olivia said, holding his cheeks in her hand and shaking her head.

“Let’s go find your sister so we can get outta here and try something new,” he said as he tossed the leaf aside. He stood, not looking at Olivia’s expression, and made his way into the cabin crawl space and retrieved the bow and quiver. He snatched up other supplies, including the Beretta, and strode directly to her with the weapon in hand and stared into her eyes. “And I’m not taking no for an answer.”

He tossed them, along with his shotgun, over his shoulder, placed the knife in his belt sheath, hooked the canteen to his key chain, handed her the pistol, and folded his arms over his chest. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

She smiled at him, tucking the gun in her belt, and shook her head disbelievingly. “All right, Alex. I can see I’m not going to win any arguments today. Let’s go.” She started down the trail and Shadow followed her. “Well ain’t that some shit?” Alex whispered, moving to follow them and a bit surprised that Shadow had plainly accepted Olivia in their pack.

Alex followed her, passing through their abandoned campsite, and she paused for a moment, probably reminiscing about people she once knew, while Shadow marked his territory.

“Real nice,” Olivia said sarcastically as she looked after the wolf.

“He’s doing his thing. Where is the meeting point?” Alex asked. He really didn’t pry into her business, and she hadn’t divulged much information either to this point. But, curiosity got the better of him in this case.

“it’s an hour or so northwest, along the highway. Or just south of it, rather.” She looked back at him and then to Shadow, who was still sniffing around the campsite.

They continued along, following behind Olivia as she picked her way through the woods and along a trail, perhaps worn by her and her group when searching for Jill. That was a real possibility.

Suddenly, they heard a sound in the distance, getting closer very quickly and they both froze. Alex looked all about and saw nothing but a tree nearby that they might be able to get to if a pack of undead were coming. Shadow growled and bared his fangs in the direction of the sound as Alex nocked an arrow. They waited for whatever it was to present itself from around the corner.

A man came into view and Olivia’s face went pale.

“Justin?!” the man froze at hearing his name and at seeing the wolf who stood before him, snarling.

“Jesus!” he said, holding a bat defensively. He looked very haggard and sweaty, and his clothes were stained with blood.

“Down,” Alex said to Shadow as he relaxed the grip on his arrow and lowered the bow, listening to their interaction closely.

“Where is Jill!!?” Olivia asked impatiently, rushing to stand before the man. He looked exhausted at best, Alex thought. The man stood in silence and shook his head, trying to catch his breath.

“I’m sorry, Liv. She didn’t make it,” he explained, falling to a knee. Olivia began to cry and then pounded his chest and cried out, “No!”

He waited a minute for her to come under control of her emotions and continued, staring nervously at Alex and Shadow.

“We were holed up for weeks. We got overrun by zombies and we escaped into a deli next to the hardware store, locked the doors, boarded up the windows and we waited,” he said, looking up at Olivia with a pained expression of his own. “Eventually we had to make a run for it, but…. I’m the only one who made it, I think….”

It was then that Alex heard another rustling behind the man and realized that someone…or
something
…was chasing him. “Were you followed!?”

“Shit! Here they come!” Justin said, standing and making to run, but Shadow growled at him again.

“How many?” Alex asked him.

“I dunno! There was a bunch! They been following us for hours, man.”

“Us?” Olivia asked him suspiciously.

“Yeah, me, Gwen and Robert. We made it out of the shopping center together. But when we made it into the woods, we ran right smack dab into another mob of them zombie fuckers! They overran Gwen and I turned back to see ‘em tearing the flesh from her bones,” he paused, doubling over in obvious emotional pain. “I couldn’t do nothin’!  One chased after me, but I beat the brains out of it and the rest of ‘em went in the opposite direction after Rob. I’m sorry, but I ran! I had no choice!”

“We make a stand here,” Alex said grimly as he climbed a tree to get a better vantage. He could see a half dozen zombies coming. And they were moving swiftly.

They’d recently fed and wanted more, no doubt. He climbed down, set his feet, and nocked an arrow.

“Get ready to fight, Justin. If you run, I’ll put an arrow in you myself.”

With that, a zombie came around the corner and Alex let fly, catching it straight in the eye and sending it backward. The arrow pierced the skull of the first one and the arrow continued along and into the one behind it, putting that one down, too. Another tripped over that one and Justin moved toward it, clubbing it wildly, smashing in its skull with the bat repeatedly.

Another two of the living dead came through the clearing and Olivia fired the Beretta, hitting it clean in the head, taking it down, and then repeated her action on the next one. Alex nocked another arrow and let fly, killing yet another.

One more zombie appeared on Olivia’s left flank, bursting through the thickets, but Shadow was there, biting at its legs and tripping the thing. Justin brained that one too.

Alex turned to take down two more with his bow as Olivia made her way to stand beside him, shooting another in the head with the pistol.

However, when they looked back, Justin was overrun, a pair of undead clawing, biting and puking blood all over him. Shadow snapped his jaws, clamping his teeth down on its arm, but that did not slow it down. Alex drew back and accurately put that shaft through its ear and skull, stopping it completely. But, the second one had torn the flesh from his neck and the man grabbed at the side of his throat, trying to stem the blood flow.

“This one’s for Jill.” Olivia shot the zombie attacker in the head, point blank.

The damage was done; Justin was dying. It was only a matter of time before he became one of them, too.

“Fuck!” Justin screamed in frustration, hands still wrapped around a gaping wound on the left side of his throat as blood trickled out through his fingers. He was sobbing angrily. “I made it all this way and now…. Goddammit!”

Alex allowed Olivia the chance to speak with him as he retrieved his valuable arrows, careful not to break them as he yanked them out of their fleshy lodgings.

“I’m so sorry, Justin,” Olivia said, truly sympathetic at her friend’s plight.

“It won’t be long now,” he said, looking Olivia in the eyes, his face streaked with a combination of blood and tears. “Kill me, please, before I become one of them.”

Olivia held the gun to his head as he stared pleadingly at her, clutching his throat. Alex could see the life draining from his eyes and he looked to Olivia and nodded ever so slightly.

She closed her eyes, turned her head and pulled the trigger. Justin’s corpse fell limply to the grass before her.

“We need to get moving,” Alex said after a moment of silence. “I’m sorry, but there will be more of them. Keep going to the road, so I can see what we’re up against on the highway.”

“Why?” she asked suspiciously.

“We need a car,” Alex stated bluntly. He turned to face Shadow and knelt, staring him in the eyes, “c’mon, boy.”

Alex stood and waited for Olivia to take the lead, and she did so eventually, staring back toward the dead man. Alex felt like an ass after she killed a friend and he did not even offer to bury him or perform any kind of ceremony.

“You were close to him?” Alex asked. She nodded. “Maybe we can go back and—“

“No, we can’t. You know it and I know it,” Olivia refuted. “It’s too dangerous.”

 They encountered one or two more of the zombies along the way, Alex taking them down quickly with a well-placed arrow, as they eventually made it to the edge of the forest, overlooking the highway.

“My neighborhood is twenty or thirty miles to the east. But it was overrun last time I was there.”

Olivia nodded and turned a sympathetic look his way, nodding her understanding. There were dozens of cars in various states of disrepair, abandoned along the side of the road. Some were in better shape than others were, and the highway seemed passable in both directions.

“At least the highway looks clear,” Alex said, pointing east and west. “That’s the direction of the Ren Faire,” he said, pointing west. “We should go back, pack up some things and make our way there. If it’s overrun with the undead, at least we can make our way back to the cabin.”

“I don’t really care, Alex,” Olivia admitted resignedly. “Whatever you want to do is fine.”

“Hey,” Alex said, forcing her eyes up to meet his and staring back into troubled pools of blue. “I know that what happened here was pretty bad. And I’m really sorry about your sister. I truly am. But, we need to keep on going…keep surviving. Would she want you to give up? I’m sure she wouldn’t, right? Look, even though I didn’t know Jill, I’m sure you have great memories to…ah, I’m no good at this.”

“It’s okay, Alex. At least you are trying. That means a lot.”

 “I know this isn’t easy, but at least you know…well, you
know
what happened to her,” was all he could manage to get out.

She nodded and he hugged her tight. Alex took note of Shadow as he remained near the tree line, not venturing out into the clearing still. Perhaps he was waiting on orders from him?