Hollowmen (14 page)

27.

It was another day before I was up moving around more like normal. It was weird when I finally got to explore the house and see how the boys had set it up like a home.

I had my own room, what I’m presumed used to be a little boy’s room. Boden shared the master room with Max and Stella. Daniels and Serg shared a small pink bedroom, but it only had one twin bed, so they took turns sleeping on it and the floor. Clark slept downstairs on the couch, and when I asked Daniels about him, he just shook his head and wouldn’t elaborate.

It had stopped snowing, and it appeared to be warming up. The several inches of snow were melting. When I stared out the window, the icicles were constantly dripping water, almost like it was raining.

“When are we going to leave?” I asked.

“Um … one more day,” Boden replied.

I turned away from the window to face him. They’d found a deck of cards, and Boden, Clark, Serg, and Max were sitting around a battered table playing poker. They were using pennies from a huge jar they’d found in the girl’s bedroom.

“One day should be fine,” Clark said, and there was an authoritative undercurrent to it.

Boden sat up straighter after Clark spoke, and it occurred to me that Clark was his boss. Boden believed in the army and the order of it, so that meant that in Boden’s eyes, Clark was in charge now.

“Are you sure we should wait that long?” I asked, and Boden glanced over at Clark instead of answering me.

“One more day should be fine.” Clark smiled at me, but there was something condescending about it. “There’s some scotch in the kitchen. Will you be a sweetheart and get me a glass?”

“Really?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Boden bit his lip and looked over at me, his eyes wide. He was actually pleading with me not to say anything, so I sighed and decided to just go with it.

“Fine,” I said. “Does anybody else want a glass?”

“I’ll take one,” Serg said cautiously, as if he was afraid I would snap at him.

I went to the kitchen and poured two glasses of scotch. We’d really lucked out with this house. It didn’t have anything in the way of food, other than a few bottles of alcohol, but it was otherwise untouched by marauders or zombies.

Almost all the furniture was still here and in good shape. It even had a fireplace and a wood-burning stove, so we could stay warm and actually cook our food. Plus, with the snow outside, we could collect the snow from outside, and boil it down to fresh, pure water.

It was a nice setup, and it would be a shame to leave. But we were still too far south. It was early spring, so there was snow now, but it was already warming up and melting. If the cold really did work to keep the zombies away, it wouldn’t be cold enough for much longer to do that.

“Two glasses of scotch,” I said when I walked back into the dining room. I set the scotch down in front of Serg and Clark. Serg politely said thanks, but Clark reacted differently.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” Clark put his hand on my waist and tried to rub or grope me or something, but I stepped quickly away from.

“Sir, it’s your turn,” Boden said sharply, trying to draw Clark’s attention back to him.

Since Clark was acting gross, I went to see what Daniels and Stella were up to. I found them in the pink room, playing dress-up with what the little girl had left behind. Stella’s teddy bear was in a pretty new frock, and Daniels was wearing a sparkly veil. Stella thought that was hilarious, and she kept giggling at him.

“Hey, guys,” I said, leaning on the doorframe and smiling despite myself.

“Hi.” Daniels grinned at me, without any hint of shame at wearing a little girl’s tiara. “We’re playing pretty princess. Care to join us?”

“No, I think I’ll just watch.” I came in the room and sat down on the bed behind them.

“Here!” Stella handed Daniels a necklace covered in giant plastic jewels. “Put this on.”

“Anything you say, Princess.” He dropped it over his neck, and that only made her laugh harder.

“See, Remy.” She pointed at him and turned to look at me. “He’s a pretty princess!”

“Yes, he’s very pretty indeed,” I said, and Daniels laughed at that. “But you look even prettier. What do you have on there?”

Stella stood up and twirled around so she could show me. It was a pink costume, the kind little girl’s got from the Disney Store to play dress-up in. She’d put it on over her sweater and pants since it was rather cold upstairs.

“Very pretty,” I said, sounding dutifully awed. “You know what would make you even prettier?” She shook her head. “If you let me do your hair.”

Since I’d met her, Stella’s hair had been a mess of knots and tangles. Even when Bishop and Nolita had attempted to clean her up, her hair had never gotten untangled. That was probably because nobody carried a brush.

“Can I do your hair?” I asked her. “I make the prettiest princess braids you’ve ever seen.”

She thought about it, and then nodded. “Okay.”

“Come here.”

I patted the bed in front of me, and Stella came over and hopped up. I leaned over and grabbed the brush from the bedside table and started the arduous process of carefully brushing through her hair.

“So what are the rest of the guys doing downstairs?” Daniels asked. He leaned back against the wall behind him and took off his tiara and veil.

“Playing poker still,” I said. “How come you’re not playing with them?”

“I don’t really like poker.” He shrugged, but I felt like he was leaving something out.

“Did you know Clark?” I asked, and he looked up at me. “It seemed like you knew him when he first got here. You said his name.”

“I didn’t know him
well
,” Daniels clarified. “But he was the general. Everybody knew of him around the quarantine.”

I’d hit a snarl in Stella’s hair, and she winced so I apologized. She was actually taking it pretty bravely, considering how knotted her hair was.

“What did you know about him?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” He picked at his jeans and shook his head. “I didn’t really know him, and I wasn’t privy to that many rumors or gossip.”

“But you did hear some things?” I asked.

“Nothing, really.” He sighed. “Just …”

“Just what?” I pressed.

Daniels chewed his lip and looked down at Stella. I got the sense that he didn’t want to say something in front of her, and I seriously considered sending her away, but then Daniels spoke.

“I asked Clark to sleep on the couch downstairs. I told him it was longer then the twin beds and it’d give him room to spread out.”

“But that’s not why you asked him to do that?”

“No.” He let out a deep breath. “Boden was sleeping with Stella, but you were by yourself in the room. And…” He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“You were afraid to leave him alone with me or Stella?” I asked.

“No. I don’t know.” He ran his hand through his hair and stared out the window.

My heart dropped. “Did I do something bad bringing him back here?”

“No, I’m sure he’s fine.” Daniels tried to shrug it off. “And he’s a soldier. He’ll be an asset if we have to fight more zombies. He’ll be… he’ll be good.”

“Daniels,” I said.

He forced a smile at me. “Really. It’s fine. I’m just paranoid.” He knew I wouldn’t let it go, so he changed the subject. “Stella, your hair is looking so good.”

“Thank you.” She smiled at him.

I’d brushed it out, and I’d moved on to a French braid. It had been a very long time since I’d done one, but I remembered it. When it was all neat and done, I grabbed a hair tie from the bedside table and finished it up.

“There you go, Stella. All done and beautiful.”

“Thank you.” She hopped off the bed, touching the braid tenderly.

“That does look really great,” Daniels said as he stood up. “I didn’t know you could do girly things like that.”

“Well, you may not believe it, but back in the day, I used to be a girl,” I told him with a wry smile. “I used to wear dresses and put on makeup and even do my hair.”

“No way,” Daniels gasped and pretended to be stunned.

“Let’s go show Max!” Stella grabbed my hand and started pulling me out in the hall.

I’d actually wanted a moment alone, to find out more from Daniels, but he followed us. She dragged me all the way down the stairs to the dining room, where she proceeded to show off her new do and clothes for the guys.

Serg and Boden responded in the appropriate ways, telling Stella that she looked very nice. Max was more focused on the poker game, so he offered a very quick, “Yeah, pretty,” before turning his attention back to the pile of pennies in front of him.

“When are you gonna play dress-up?” Clark asked me, totally ignoring Stella. He leaned back in his chair, the glass of scotch in his hand.

“I… I’m good,” I stammered. “Daniels was actually the one playing dress up.”

“Got the nice beads to prove it.” Daniels gestured to the necklace he hadn’t taken off.

“I’d love to see you dress up.” Clark smiled at me, ignoring Daniels.

“Wow, sir.” Boden scratched behind his ear and looked at Clark. “How much have you had to drink? I think that’s probably enough.”

“Oh, Boden, are you jealous?” Clark asked. “Your hair’s long enough. I’m sure Remy can put braids in your hair just like she did the little girl.”

“Very funny, sir,” Boden muttered.

“Stop being such a girl!” Clark playfully punched Boden in the shoulder, and I could see Boden clench his jaw. “Have a little fun, Boden! It’s the end of the goddamn civilized world! We can do whatever we want!”

“Max, I think it’s time for you to go to bed,” I said, because I didn’t know what else to say, and I didn’t want him around this anymore. Clark was getting drunk and rowdy, and Max didn’t need to be exposed to that.

“But Remy – ” he started to protest.

“Max!” I snapped.

“I was winning,” Max grumbled, but he set down his cards and pushed out his chair.

“Take Stella up to bed with you,” I told him.

“Come on, Stella.” He took her hand, and the two of them trudged up the stairs.

“You sent the kids to bed, so the real party can start,” Clark said, taking a drink of his scotch.

Serg laid down his cards and stood up. “I think I’m out, too.”

“You’re no fun.” Clark glowered at him, then turned his attention back to Boden. He leaned forward, almost rubbing Boden’s shoulder. “You like to have fun, don’t you, kid?”

“I’m tired, sir.” He pulled away from Clark and stood up.

“Oh, come on!” Clark groaned. “Doesn’t anybody know how to have a good time?”

Boden paused as he brushed past me on his way upstairs and spoke into my ear. “We’re leaving first thing tomorrow morning, whether he comes with or not. Preferably not.”

28.

Ripley had been hiding out in the garage, and she definitely didn’t like the cold. It had warmed up significantly from the other day, and the snow was turning the ground to mud and puddles.

The warmer temperatures explained why I’d woken up in the morning to the sound of death groans. It was still dark, but I could hear them in the distance. I got up quietly, creeping around the house as I woke everybody up and told them to pack.

We tried to sneak off without Clark, but he’d heard us and got ready. The sun was just starting to rise over the horizon when we started out.

Ripley followed us, but I wondered how much longer she would. I knew she liked me, feeling some kind of pack loyalty to me, but eventually, her urge to be warm and survive would outweigh her fondness for me.

Stella was still sleeping when we left, and Daniels carried her draped over his arm. Max was tired, but he walked just fine. I was glad I’d sent them to bed early last night. It worked out for the best, since we left so early.

Clark seemed hungover and lagged behind us, so we all sped up, purposely trying to leave him behind.

None of us said much as we walked. We travelled all day, and when the kids were too tired, we carried them. Boden even offered to carry me after Daniels suggested I rest, but honestly, I was feeling better than I had in a while, so I pushed on.

Even though we were heading farther north, it was getting warmer the longer we walked. The snowstorm must’ve been a random cold snap, and we were moving into the nicer temperatures of spring.

The zombies were still following us. Or they just happened to be all around us. We could hear them, but we never saw them. They stayed far enough back. They were like vultures, circling and waiting for us to die.

We camped out in a tree in somebody’s back yard. Boden surmised that zombies wouldn’t be smart enough to figure out the ladder, which was a few boards spread apart and nailed to the trunk.

They didn’t, but in the morning we had three of them waiting for us at the bottom of the tree. It would’ve been more, but Ripley had already taken care of a couple of them. She was munching on a leg when we woke up.

Our plan to kill them was simple: We dropped our bags on them, starting with the heaviest ones filled with food, like Boden’s duffel bag. That knocked the zombies down, and then Serg and Boden jumped down to finish them off.

Using his hunting knife, Serg cut the head off an older zombie. The bag had knocked the zombie face down, so Serg jumped on its back, then sawed through its neck. It went surprisingly fast, but that was because older zombies had such weak bones.

Boden fought them the old-fashioned way. He stomped one’s head in, then crushed it into the semi-frozen ground. By then, the other one had gotten up and started lumbering toward him. He punched it, then grabbed its head and snapped its neck.

The zombie was still alive, even after that, stumbling confused in a circle. Ripley had just been lying in the lawn, watching them fight, but she got up and pounced on the zombie, finishing off the job Boden had started.

After that, the rest of us climbed down, and we started the day’s walk. Boden was carrying Stella, but she was sound asleep, her cheek pressed against his shoulder.

“Are we ever gonna get far enough north?” I asked him quietly as we walked.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Do you think the cold will really stop them?” I asked. “I mean, it’s spring now, but it’s been winter. It’s been cold and snowy around here until recently. But there’s still zombies.”

“I’ve thought of that, too,” Boden said. “But maybe it’s just not cold enough. There has to be a point where it’s too cold, where they freeze just trying to walk.”

“That’s called Antarctica, Boden. And we couldn’t survive there.”

“They weren’t around during the snowstorm,” Boden said. “That at least slowed them down. Maybe the cold won’t kill them or stop them completely, but they thrive where it’s warm. We’ll be safer the farther we go.”

“I hope so,” I sighed. “But I don’t know if we’ll ever be safe again.”

“Maybe we won’t,” he admitted. “But we’ll survive anyway.”

We walked another full day, stopping only when we had to. We decided to end the day at a roadside motel that was eerily reminiscent of the Bates Motel. Some of the rooms were in horrible shape, trashed and torn up. There was even a rotting body in a first-floor room.

But the second floor rooms weren’t quite as bed. Boden and Serg moved box springs out from two of the rooms to block the stairways to the upstairs, just in case zombies stumbled upon us. It had been a little while since we’d heard the death groans, and we were on a pretty deserted stretch of road.

As a rather exciting added bonus, Daniels found three working flashlights in the office. He’d gone exploring, looking for provisions, and it was like he’d struck gold.

 We picked the three cleanest, nicest rooms for ourselves to share. Stella, Max, and I would share the one room with the king-sized bed. The rest had two double beds.

Boden and Daniels were sharing the room next door, leaving Clark and Serg with the room on the other side. Even though we were sleeping separately, we planned on all eating supper together in Boden’s room.

He was getting supper ready while I cleaned up the kids. I took a bucketful of snow into a bathroom and filled the bathroom sink with it. Then I held a match over it until it melted into clean, fresh water.

 I had a flashlight in our bathroom, and Max made shadow puppets with it while I washed up Stella. I didn’t give her a full bath, but I used a wet washcloth to wipe off her face and body. I’d taken the brush from the last house, and I wetted down her hair and ran the brush through it.

Once I’d finished with her, I cleaned up Max. Well, he took the washcloth and did it himself, but I watched to make sure he did a good job.

Boden pounded on the wall separating our room and yelled, “Supper!”

For being a crappy motel, the walls were surprisingly thick. Even when Boden yelled, his words were muffled.

“All done,” Max said, throwing the wash cloth in the sink as soon as Boden had called for supper.

“Go ahead,” I said, waving him and Stella along. “I’ll be over in a minute.”

As soon as Max and Stella disappeared, I lifted up my shirt to check out my incision. Daniels said I had to be sure to clean it a lot. It seemed to look much better than it had last time. I splashed cold water over it, cleaning it as best I could.

I still had my shirt lifted up when I noticed Clark in the mirror, standing in the bathroom doorway behind me, so I immediately pulled it down.

“Um, I heard supper was ready,” I said. “I’ll be right over. I was just finishing cleaning up.”

“Don’t rush on my account.” Clark smiled and leaned on the doorframe.

“I’m not.” I smiled thinly at him and leaned over the sink, washing my hands and arms in the cold water. “I’m just about done.”

“It’s a shame we had to leave that last house,” Clark said, still smiling at me in a way that looked disturbingly hungry. “I so enjoyed playing house.”

“It was a nice place,” I agreed hurriedly.

I’d actually wanted to clean my cut better, per Daniels’ instructions, but it didn’t look like Clark planned on going away anytime soon. And there was no way I was pulling my shirt up in front of him.

“It’s so nice to play with pretty girls like you,” Clark commented, and that was it. I couldn’t stand to be in the same room with him another second.

I turned around, preparing to leave, but the flashlight’s beam glinted off something in his hand. He was holding it at his side by his hip, and I hadn’t been able to see it in the reflection of the mirror. But now I saw it clearly. Clark had Serg’s hunting knife, and he was twisting it in his hand.