Encounters (11 page)

She stared at him for a long minute before agreeing. He hung a blanket and started cooking while splashing and contented sighs came from behind the makeshift curtain. Twenty minutes later he called out that the food was ready. He heard the tub begin to drain and as he was setting the table Cassie came out drying her hair with a towel.

“This is the first time I’ve felt human in weeks. Thank you for the bath and rescuing me. I’m sorry I’ve seemed a little ungrateful. Things haven’t been good for awhile and trusting a stranger isn’t exactly easy.”

“No worries” he replied. “Now are you ready to eat?” In reply she grabbed her spoon and started digging in.

“How long have you been hiding in this tree house?”

He stopped for a second thinking. “I’m not actually sure. More than two years, but less than three. I’ve
kinda lost track.”

“Damn.
Alone this whole time?”

“Yeah.
It hasn’t been so bad though. I keep busy.”

“Doing what” she asked while lifting her spoon to her mouth for another bite of chili.

“Cleaning house mostly. When I got here the town close by was crawling with zombies. Literally. It took a little time and a lot of bullets, but I’ve got the place zombie free except for the occasional stray. That’s what I was doing when I found you, trying to keep the woods free.”

“Why go to all that trouble and risk if it’s just you here?”

He shrugged his shoulders before replying. “I keep hoping that eventually others will find this place. I’m trying to make a kind of sanctuary for if and when they do.”

She shook her head. “Having a bunch of people in one place is a bad idea. It just draws attention to you.”

“What do you mean?”

She put her spoon down clattering in her bowl. “You haven’t asked where I’m from. How I got here.”

“I figured you’d tell me when you were ready. I didn’t want to pry.”

“I lived in Texas. On a ranch” she began without any preamble. Her eyes got a vacant look as she started to recount her story.

“When everything started my father, his workers, and their families hunkered down and tried to survive. We beat back wave after wave of those things. We put up miles of fencing. All kinds. Whatever we could find. Tornado wire. Barbed wire. We even built a stretch of wall from old power poles. We thought that we were safe. Most of them if they run into a wall will just keep pressing against it. It was nothing to run a patrol around the perimeter daily and pick off any that we found. Some of them aren’t like the others though. We found out too late that some of them are smarter than that. Some of them are pretty damn cunning!”

She broke off with a sob and put a hand to her face. He instinctively moved closer to her and put an arm on her shoulder. She twitched at the touch but didn’t pull away.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to” he said, but she shook her head before continuing.

“It was late one evening. We had run patrols along the fence all day and there was nothing out of the ordinary. We set guards like usual and were settling in for the evening. My dad pulled out his guitar and was singing some old Waylon Jennings songs. Sam, my sister, and I were sitting on the floor listening when the screaming started. They had snuck in somehow and ambushed our guards. They stormed the house like an army. My dad threw down his guitar and pulled out his pistol. He told us to get upstairs and block the door. We ran upstairs to hide. It wasn’t long before we heard people screaming inside. We heard our dad yelling for us to get out.
Before…. Before…. We grabbed our bags, we were told to always keep a bag packed, and went out the window onto the roof. It was like we were in high school again sneaking out to meet boys. We slid down the tree beside the house and ran for our lives. We reached the fence to find that someone, something, had clipped the wire near the bottom to make a hole. One of those things still had the intelligence to use wire cutters! They also climbed up the guard towers and took out our guards. That made the whole thing even more terrifying.”

After a long pause he asked “what happened to your sister?”

She looked down and wiped away a tear. “I’m sorry; I haven’t had anyone to tell this to since it happened. My sister didn’t make it. They caught her just outside the fence. I tried to save her but there were just so many. I could hear the screams for a long time. I couldn’t get away from it no matter how fast I ran.”

“It’s ok. There was nothing you could do. But at least you’re safe now.”

“I could have gone back! I should have at least tried to save her! If nothing else I could have put a bullet in her head to save her hours of agony. They started with her feet and ate their way up!”

He hugged her close to his chest as she broke down in tears. He let her cry until his shirt was soaked. When she finally grew quiet he looked down and realized that she had cried herself to sleep. He scooped her up as gently as he could and put her in his bed. He dimmed the lanterns and put the food away before laying down on the couch. He thought about her story. The idea of one of those things still able to scheme and rationalize was disconcerting to say the least. Much less one that could lead an
organized attack on a well armed ranch. He worried about it for close to an hour before he fell asleep.

****

When he woke up the next morning Cassie was still dead to the world. He tried to put together breakfast as quietly, but he probably could have set off fireworks she was sleeping so hard. He took a glance at her small pack beside the bed. She was definitely traveling light. He noticed that it was packed neatly, clothes were laid out to put on easily, and the handle of her pistol was sticking out from under her pillow.

“This girl is ready for trouble.”

He couldn’t really blame her after everything that she had been through. He decided to give her the choice of staying or not when she woke up. If she did stay she would need more than one little bag though. A trip to town would be in order.

It was close to noon before she finally woke up. He had spent the morning doing maintenance around the cabin and on the truck. He was busy loading bullets when she got out of bed.

“Good morning. How did you sleep?”

“Good” she replied. She stood still quietly for a moment before continuing. “Thank you for last night; taking me in and putting up with me blubbering like a little girl.”

He waved off that last comment. “It was nothing anyone else wouldn’t have done.”

“Somehow I highly doubt that. There are plenty of people out there who would have taken advantage of a girl traveling alone.”

He had always been uncomfortable with being praised. He shifted uneasily in his seat and tried to change the subject. “What are your plans from here?”

“I’m not sure. I suppose that depends on what my options are.”

“You are welcome to stay here if you’d like. If you aren’t comfortable staying here with me there are other cabins close by. If you’d like there are plenty of houses in town that we can make more secure.”

She took a small step back and shook her head. He saw that her eyes were wide and her breathing had picked up.

“It’s ok. I won’t make you stay in town. If you feel safer here you can stay as long as you’d like.”

The set of her shoulders relaxed slightly and she took a deep slow breath.

“Ok. I’d like that if you don’t mind. Just for a little while.”

“Then that’s settled. If you’re going to stay then you need more than whatever you brought in your pack. I can take you into town for more clothes and what not?”

She stiffened again at his mention of town.

“Don’t worry” he said quickly. “It’s perfectly safe. I’ve spent a lot of time and energy keeping it clear of those things.”

“Ok. If you say so then let’s go.”

He watched her out of the corner of his eye. She might have agreed to go with him, but the set of her shoulders never changed.

“I actually need to do my weekly perimeter sweep around town. Could we put off a run into town until later?”

The set of her shoulders relaxed immediately. A strand of hair had fallen over face and she blew it off with a sigh.

“I think that would be ok. Can I ride along though? Get an idea of the layout?”

He gave her a little smile and a nod. It wasn’t long before they were winding down dirt roads in his beat up pickup truck. As they bounced along he talked about the town. She could hear the affection in his voice almost as if he had built it himself. She was looking at him when she saw his lips press together and his brow furrow. He
slammed on his brakes and she had to put a hand on the dash to steady herself. Looking out the front glass there were two zombies staggering down the road towards them.

“Stay here” Tim instructed.

He hopped out rifle in hand and fired off a shot that dropped the first one like a stone. He moved forward to execute the second one and promptly slipped in mud. Cassie began frantically grabbing for her handle but he was up in seconds. By the time her door opened the air was cracked again with gunfire. She walked around the truck to see Tim slinging his arms in an effort to shed muddy water.

“My hero” she called out.

“Yeah yeah yeah. Save a girls life and this is the thanks you get.”

“I don’t have any idea what you are talking about” she replied with a smile.

“Come on, help me load up these bodies. I’ll take em to be burned later today.”

The two of them lifted the corpses into the bed of the truck. When that was done they wheeled around to head back home. They climbed the ladder to their loft and Tim began shrugging wet clothes immediately.

“Whoa there big boy! Wanna maybe go behind the curtain before you give me the full monty?”

Tim paused with his shirt around his head. “Sorry, I’m not used to company” he said in a muffled voice. He turned to walk towards the makeshift privacy and heard Cassie gasp.

“What is that mark on your shoulder? Is that a bite? Oh God, why didn’t you tell me you were bitten?”

She began backpedaling towards the door while reaching for her pistol. Absentmindedly he realized that it was a 9mm. He threw his hands up.

“Wait! I can explain. I was bit but it was years ago and I never turned. See, it’s completely healed. Just a scar.”

Cassie stopped moving but she didn’t relax her hold on her firearm.

“Explain” she instructed. So he did. He told her his whole story. It took several hours for him to finish and by the time he did they had moved to the couch. When he finished with rescuing her she let out a sigh and blew a lock of hair off of her face again.

“I guess if some of these zombies can be smart then I shouldn’t be surprised if someone can be immune.”

“I never said I was immune” he replied.

“Well, it makes sense. A certain number of people are immune to any virus. Why should this one be any different?”

They sat in silence for a few minutes. “I’m sorry I panicked on you” Cassie finally said.

“I probably would have done the same thing.” Saying this he glanced out the window at the lowering sun. “I need to take those bodies up to the stadium to burn before it gets dark.
Wanna ride?”

She shook her head. “How about I make supper instead?”

“Deal. Tomorrow if you feel up to it we’ll make a run into town and get you an actual wardrobe.”

She looked around nervously but nodded yes finally.

****

They pulled into the town square and parked in front of the town’s only department store. Hopping out he swung the door closed with a creak and a slam. Across the truck he could see Cassie nervously checking her surroundings with her hand on the butt of her 9mm. She had insisted on bringing it and even though he knew the town was safe he hadn’t seen anything wrong with being prepared. He shouldered his rifle and started towards the front of the store. Pulling out the key ring to all of the shop and public buildings he opened the door and they went inside.

He locked the door behind them and stood still a moment letting his eyes adjust to the gloom. Taking a long look around the store they wormed their way over to women’s fashion. She began pulling clothes down to look at, wrinkling her nose up at some of the selections. She quickly made a pile of sensible clothes like jeans, shirts, and a jacket before moving on to look at nicer apparel. She pulled down a short dress and held it up to her body turning to him.

“
Whatcha think?”

He looked at where the dress fell, high up on the thighs and low cut in the front, and nodded his head while gulping air. She smiled at him and turned quickly with a little flounce to head to a dressing room. He walked behind her and waited by the door. He couldn’t help but think this was a little absurd to be trying on dresses as if the world hadn’t changed almost overnight. His next thought was memories of waiting in similar stores for his wife while she tried on clothing for work or nights out. He felt a pang of regret and wondered, not for the first time, where she might be.
If she might be. The door opened with a creak and out stepped Cassie lightly on the balls of her feet. She spun around and struck a little pose.