Eric S. Brown (9 page)

“
Thomas!” Jacob shouted into the house. The dogs made no move to attack as he got to his feet and moved slowly, closer to the screen door. The dogs’ attention remained centered on Elijah, like they didn’t even care that Jacob was there. “Thomas!” Jacob shouted again, banging on the door. “Get out here, man!”

Thomas appeared on the other side of the screen. He looked as if he was about to ask what was going on, then Jacob saw him notice the dogs.

“
Duke! Hunter! Down boys!” Thomas yelled at the dogs. If they paid him any attention, Jacob couldn’t tell it. Thomas came on out of the house and walked down the steps to them. They relaxed some as he squatted in front of them. “These folks are our guests. Be nice okay?” Thomas ruffled the hair atop their heads, scratched around their ears. “Jacob, I think you’d best take Elijah on in the house. I’ve never seen them act like this before.”

Jacob nodded. “Sure thing.” He’d take any excuse to get away from the dogs. Even if it wasn’t his blood they seemed to want, they were still creeping him out big time. Jacob propped open the screen door with a chair until he could haul Elijah awkwardly inside to the living room couch. Thomas stayed with the dogs for another few minutes before he followed Jacob inside and shut the heavy interior door behind him.

“
I’m sorry,” Thomas apologized, shaking his head. “I don’t know what’s gotten into them.”

“
No worries, mate,” Jacob said, “Hey, is that bacon I smell?”

Thomas smiled. “You bet it is. You ready for some dinner?”

***

The girls joined them at the table in the kitchen. It was almost surreal for Thomas to be serving guests. The scene was a strange, beautiful, and funny one to him. Lori was the last to take a seat. Thomas knew she had paused to check on Elijah one more time. He was still unconscious on the couch with no signs of waking up anytime soon. Thomas figured Elijah was okay though. He looked to be one tough bastard despite his crazy get up. Anyway, this evening was a celebration of new friendships and the future that lay ahead. There were happier things to dwell on. The sight of Lori in one of his Carolina Panther shirts, several times too large for her, and sagging jeans held in place by a tightly drawn belt around her waist nearly made him laugh. The only piece of her original clothing she still wore were her shoes. Helena stirred a totally different feeling in him. Her feet were still bare, except for the bandages binding them, a fact that he felt very bad about but he didn’t have any shoes or boots even close to her size in the house. He'd offered her socks but she'd refused them, choosing to let the wounds on her feet breathe. His mom had passed on a decade ago and after his father’s death, Thomas had finally let the last of her belongings go, giving them away to the local Christian Ministries. It was something he regretted now as he saw Helena’s poor and bruised feet beneath the table. But what really moved him was that, unlike Lori, the girl wore no pants, only an oversized shirt. The tanned and toned flesh of her thighs peaked at him from below the end of the shirt she wore and it was indeed a fine thing to look at. Both the girls were like different people than the ones who’d entered his bathroom to get cleaned up. Heck, everything was different. Hope had returned to all their lives.

The table was packed with food. There was a steak for each of them, as well as one set aside for Elijah, a plate of crisp bacon, a stack of buttered, store bought dinner rolls Thomas had thawed and warmed up, a heaping bowl of corn, salads made from fresh tomatoes, lettuce, and onions with a healthy splash of ranch dressing, steamed carrots, and two huge pitchers of iced tea so sweet it would rot your teeth just by looking at it.

“
I can’t believe all this is real,” Jacob said, reaching for a roll.

“
Wait a second there, speedy,” Thomas cautioned him. “Here in the South, we say Grace before we eat.”

Thomas bowed his head. “Lord, thank you for this food. Thank you for bringing us all together in this house. Please be with us in the days ahead and show us the way. Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Amen.”

As Thomas raised his head, he saw Jacob was staring at him, Lori was smiling, and Helena was weeping with tears of happiness. “I know I ain’t much when it comes to saying prayers out loud but. . .”

“
You did fine,” Lori assured him.

“
It was beautiful, Thomas,” Helena wiped away her tears. “It was the perfect prayer to begin this perfect meal you’ve cooked for us with.”

Thomas felt his cheeks turning red. “I’m glad to have you all here. I mean that.”

“
I don’t get how you can still believe in God,” Jacob said, disgusted.

“
Hey,” Thomas said, “Not matter how screwed up the world gets, he’s still up there watching over us.”

Jacob grunted. “Sure, whatever man.”

***

The food disappeared quickly as Thomas’s guests gorged themselves, savoring every bite.

“
Where did you learn to cook?” Lori asked around a cheekful of salad.

“
My parents taught me. Since they died, I have spent most of my life alone so I reckon it’s a good skill to have.” Thomas poured his second glass of tea and sipped it as they talked.

He noticed Jacob kept stealing glances through the kitchen door at Elijah where he lay sprawled on the couch. “Your friend in there is sure one strange fellow,” Thomas commented.

Lori spat a mouthful of tomato into the air. “I’ll say!” she laughed. “Wait until you try to have a conversation with him.”

Helena frowned at Lori. “Have some respect,” the girl said.

Thomas knew to keep his mouth closed. It wasn’t his place to say anything. He didn’t know any of them that well yet, though he hoped to.

“
I’m only speaking the truth,” Lori argued.

“
Uh, guys,” Jacob interrupted. “About Elijah, I think there’s something you should know. I think he might be infected.”

Thomas clenched his fists, his nails digging into the flesh of his palms as he fought to control his anger. Had these folks brought a rotter into his home? He wanted to jump to his feet, throw over the table, and pummel them all but he kept his cool, if only barely. He hated the question he had to ask. “Was he bitten or scratched?”

A bite spread the virus into a person’s blood stream a lot faster than a scratch did. People who were bitten usually turned in a matter of seconds, minutes tops. People who were scratched, that was something he’d never heard much about or experienced, but he knew from the final shreds of news he had heard before the stations went off the air that those folks would turn too. It was only a matter of time.

“
Jacob! Why would you even say something like that?” Lori smacked his shoulder so hard Jacob nearly toppled over out of his chair.

“
Elijah fell, that’s all,” Helena added, as if trying to comfort herself.

“
I may be crazy,” Jacob admitted, “But I think there’s something wrong with him, okay? His blood. . .” Jacob cringed as he said the words, “It’s yellow.”

Thomas let it all sink in as Helena voiced what he was thinking for him, “Rotters don’t have yellow blood! Mark did as many terrible things to dozens of them as he did to me. Trust me on this. I never saw yellow blood.”

“
Who’s Mark?” Jacob asked.

Thomas watched Helena turn towards Jacob with an expression so violent he pitied the nerdy writer.

“
Oh. . .” Jacob said, his voice going quieter, “I’m sorry.”

“
Regardless, I think we had better have a closer look at your friend,” Thomas said.

Jacob led the group into the living room. Darkness was falling outside so Thomas flicked on the lights as they entered. He stayed in the doorway. There was a pistol in the drawer of a cabinet just inside the kitchen. If things went south, he wanted to be prepared. He hadn’t asked anyone to give up what weapons they carried but Lori, Helena, and Jacob had done so before dinner on their own. For the time being, Thomas had tossed them all onto his bed upstairs and they were well out of reach in a crisis. It was a stupid thing to do in hindsight. The only other weapons remotely close by were the rifle and shotgun he kept near the front and back doors.

Lori bent over Elijah as Jacob directed her to the skin of the man’s cheek just below the freaky goggles he wore. She jumped at what she saw there, bumping into the coffee table, as she retreated. “Jacob’s right. I can’t believe it but he’s telling the truth.” Lori’s voice was thick with fear.

Thomas thought she might even have turned a touch pale. “So what does it mean?”

“
Don’t ask me, mate!” Jacob whirled on him.

“
He told me he was on a military base when the rotter plague started. I assumed he was, like you know, a colonel or something. What if he was an experiment? Maybe even patient zero for the virus and it got loose when he did?” Lori trembled as she went on. “Or maybe he’s some kind of super soldier they were developing. You’ve seen him fight.”

“
You watched too much TV, didn’t you?” Thomas shook his head. “There’s got to be a more rational explanation.

“
Maybe he really is just sick,” Helena offered.

“
And maybe I am bloody Superman!” Jacob spat at her.

Thomas wanted to move between the two of them. To be honest, he wanted to punch the jerk writer into next week but he stayed where he was, close to the pistol. “Settle down, boy. This is my house and I can toss you out of it as easy as I let you in. I hope you understand that.”

Lori must have regained her nerve because she leaned over Elijah and gently removed his goggles. Underneath, his face was as normal looking as anybody else’s.

“
He always wore these things. Why? Have any of you ever seen his eyes?” she asked.

Neither Jacob nor Helena answered her.

“
Maybe he was hiding them.”

“
They seem pretty normal to me,” Jacob scoffed.

“
They’re not open, you idiot!” Lori yelled at him.

Thomas felt feel the tension in the room like a tangible force

“
Open them,” he ordered her. “If you think it’s such a big deal, do it and find out?”

Thomas got the pistol out of the drawer, shoving it into the back of his pants, under his shirt, and moved to watch over Lori’s shoulder as she reached with her fingertips and parted the lids over Elijah’s left eye.

Beneath it was a pool of black. There was no iris or pupil, not even any white on the edges, only darkness that moved and swirled about like the waters of an ocean stirred by the wind.

Lori cried out as Elijah’s hand shot up, his fingers closing around her wrist. Thomas met Elijah’s gaze as those midnight orbs looked up at him. His insides went cold, his heart skipping a beat.

“
Why?” Elijah asked. “Why did you do this?”

“
What are you?” Thomas asked.

Next to him, Helena squealed.

“
We’re sorry, Elijah. We were worried about you. We owe you so much,” she wailed.

Elijah released Lori, sitting up on the couch. “You want to know what I am, Thomas?”

Thomas took a step away from as Elijah spoke.

“
Do you really want to know?” Elijah pressed him.

Thomas changed his question. “Are you the reason the rotters exist?”

“
No,” Elijah answered. “I am no more responsible for the rotters than you are. In fact, I am trying to escape them. That’s why I came here. Did your father ever tell you about the night the lights fell from the sky?”

Thomas shook his head.

“
Your grandfather was a good man, Thomas. He died well on his feet and fighting. I’m sorry it had to be that way but I had to hide you see? Your government knew I was here and they were coming for me.”

Thomas was totally confused and still not sure he was buying the crap Elijah was pouring out onto him. They made some pretty fancy contact lenses and Elijah was moving with the jerking tics of a crazy person as he explained himself.

“
You’re saying you knew my grandfather, that you killed him? Did I hear that part right?”

“
None of that matters, Thomas. It’s all so long ago. I was forced to leave something on your farm, though, and I am afraid I’ll be needing it back now.”

“
Take it and go,” Thomas told him. “I don’t want there to be any more trouble than there has to be.”

“
He can’t just go, can you, Elijah?” Lori said.

It was Elijah’s turn to shake his head. “I am sorry but she’s right. If by some slim chance you survive, your race survives, I can’t leave the knowledge of my existence as a known fact.”

“
So you mean no witnesses?” Jacob asked, already appearing to know the answer.

Elijah’s hand moved so fast it became a blur before Thomas’s eyes. A throwing knife flashed as it flew through the air to bury itself in the flesh of Jacob’s throat. Jacob made horrible, sickening, gurgling noises as blood bubbled up and out of his open mouth. He was still trying to pull the knife from his throat as he died and sank to the floor with a dull thud.

“
Yes, that about sums it up,” Elijah said as Thomas made his move. The farmer brought the pistol around, putting three rounds into Elijah’s chest. Elijah was flung into the couch behind him from their impact as yellow blood splashed over the front of his trench coat from the wounds.