Into the Badlands (20 page)

He shined the flashlight up toward his shelf again, then scanned the group. “I could probably fit two of you up there, if you want. It’s up to you folks. You’ll probably want to bunk in one of these shelves, just to keep yourself off the ground. That's my advice, at least. As for me, I’m going up. I hate to be a party pooper, but I ain’t twenty years old anymore. You all got flashlights?”

They answered that they did.

“You folks are welcome to stay the night. You’re also welcome to stay for a while longer if you like. Again, that one’s up to you folks. I do enjoy the company though, for what it’s worth. 'Night.”

The group said goodnight to Mitchell as he climbed up the ladder in the darkness. Once he got to the top, he pulled the rope, which was attached to the top of the ladder he’d just climbed. It rose into the air about seven feet; just outside their reach.

“Ain’t it brilliant?” Mitchell called down to them, chuckling as he said it.

Ed couldn’t help but smile. “Ingenious,” he called back to him.

Mitchell then flipped off the flashlight. Ed liked Mitchell already, despite just meeting him. He really seemed like the real deal. Ed removed his flashlight from his back pocket, then shined the light around in search of a suitable place to sleep. He noticed Dave and the girls were also searching for the same thing.

Eventually he spotted an empty shelf; it wasn't as high as the one Mitchell slept on, but it was off the ground. “Trish, you and the boys could sleep here,” he suggested. “What do you think?”

Trish walked over to the shelves and looked up. Ed shined the light for her to see. “I think we can fit, but you’ll need to give us a boost.”

“I can manage that,” Ed replied, smiling. He handed Trish the flashlight, then boosted her up to the shelf. He waited for her to climb in before lifting up both boys. She helped them into the shelf, then waited as Ed tossed up their backpacks. She began removing the blankets from the packs for their bed.

“How is it up there, boys?” Ed asked.

“It’s like a tree house!” Jeremy exclaimed.

“Yeah, Dad, this is cool!” Zach added.

Ed smiled.

“Are you coming up?” Trish asked. “There’s room.”

Ed looked over briefly at Dave and the girls. They were less than twenty feet away, their dim flashlight bobbing in the darkness like a firefly. He needed to keep an eye on Dave; Ed wasn’t quite convinced that he wasn’t really batshit crazy. He and Trish could rotate guard duty, just like any other night, in case any of their new acquaintances decided to pay them a visit during the night.

“I am,” he replied, then climbed up to the shelf to join them.

During the night the rains came. Water dumped from the sky as if a dam had been opened. The falling rain made a surprisingly loud roar as it fell on the roof of the building. It continued throughout the night and into the following morning at an almost invariably steady rate. Ed found it hard to stay awake amidst the lull of the beating raindrops above. It reminded him of rainstorms from his youth, culling him to sleep in his upstairs bedroom.

The following day each group stayed mostly to themselves. Ed, Trish, and the boys walked to the front of the store to assess the weather situation. The rain was ceaseless and torrential, so Ed decided they should stay inside, at least until the storm passed. The others agreed. They’d been caught in rainstorms like this before and he didn’t want to repeat the experience if they could avoid it. It soaked everything and chilled to the bone.

Around midday Mitchell invited everyone to meet with him for lunch. They were served canned vegetables and fruits along with mashed potatoes from re-hydrated spud flakes. Thanks to Mitchell’s propane camp stove their meal was piping hot. It was the first hot meal any of them had had in longer than they could remember.

The boys were beside themselves. The truth was, so was Ed. Between saving Trish's life, then finding the RV, and now the wonderful hospitality Mitchell had shown them, life wasn’t quite as bad as it had been during the winter. The weather was improving as well; Spring had sprung, and the rains had come as if to prove it.

Throughout the day Ed watched Dave carefully. He kept his distance so as to not provoke. He didn’t want another standoff, nor did he want any other sort of confrontation, not yet. Dave seemed to be behaving normally, interacting with the girls like a reasonably well-adjusted person, or as well-adjusted as a person could expect to be in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The conversation over lunch had been benign enough. Mitchell spoke of his time in West Virginia, living in a trailer in what he referred to as a “holler”. Mitchell’s opinion was that the world had dismissed his state and its people as insignificant. Ed wondered though if Mitchell didn’t also admire this fact just a little bit. It did make them an exclusive group.

Dave, on the other hand, spoke of his time in the border town. Ed noticed that he avoided discussion of his wife. No doubt this was an open and festering wound, but he seemed in control of himself during the telling of it. He watched his new acquaintance closely, focusing on his body language and eye contact. Dave didn’t seem to want to look Ed directly in the eye; perhaps it was due to embarrassment over the way he’d behaved the prior day.

Ed did notice, however, that Dave made plenty of eye contact with Brenda. There seemed to be something there, if not a romantic interest then a friendship. This was also a good sign; he felt it spoke for Dave’s character and suggested that he could actually form relationships with other people. Ed began to think that maybe this guy wasn't so unstable after all.

During this observation he also noticed that Tammy seemed to be distant. When Dave would make eye contact with Brenda, Tammy looked uncomfortable. She’d often look down, or even look away altogether. He wasn't entirely sure what was driving the dynamics of this group's relationships, but there was something under the surface causing some strife. Question was, how was that helpful in determining their intentions? Ed didn't have an immediate answer for that one.

After lunch they split up again, each group searching through the store for supplies. “Take anything you folks need,” Mitchell told them. “There’s more than enough for a geezer like me to live on. God provides, even in the worst of times.”

Ed stocked up on batteries for their flashlight; it was a necessity in the near-complete darkness of the warehouse after sundown. The four of them found more clothing to replace the tattered and filthy clothing they were already wearing. They kept their coats, however. Those were specialty items; very warm and very hard to come by. Ed even picked up a bottle of propane and one of the small stove tops attachments Mitchell used to heat their food. He thought it would be nice to cook a meal or two for Trish and the boys after they got back on the road again.

They passed Dave, Brenda, and Tammy twice while gathering supplies. Both times they nodded and waved. There was no hint of gun play, no standoffs, and no aggressive behavior. Ed was feeling better and better about these people.

As the second day came to a close the rain persisted. It wasn’t the downpour it had been the prior night, but it was still significant enough to drench everyone completely should they venture out. The moderate temperatures wouldn't be warm enough to offset the cold the soaking would bring, so they decided to wait until the storms passed.

As darkness fell and stole all the available light, Trish and the boys returned to their designated shelf. Ed gave both the boys hugs, then boosted them up to the shelf where they had set up their sleeping bags again. This night, however, they were in new sleeping bags, discovered in the camping section.

Before giving Trish a boost up to the shelf, she turned to him and asked him if he was coming up as well. He looked over at Dave and the two girls he traveled with. He watched their flashlights flicker and bounce in the darkness, just as he had the other night.

“I will in a bit,” he replied. I think I might have a chat with our new friends first.”

“Okay. We’re going to turn in then,” she replied. She touched his shoulder. “You be careful, okay?” He returned a touch to her shoulder in response.

Jeremy and Zach both waved and said goodnight from the shelf above. Ed then boosted Trish into the shelf. She handed Ed the flashlight, then covered the boys with their sleeping bags before covering herself. They all lay down as Ed walked over toward Dave and the girls.

“Need any help?” Ed asked as he approached Dave, Brenda, and Tammy. Brenda shined the flashlight his eyes; he instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes from the light.

“Sorry about that,” Brenda apologized as she moved the light down from his face. “I think we’re good here, but thanks anyway.”

“Sure thing,” Ed replied. He paused for a moment, then spoke.

“Hey, Dave,” he began, “we usually have to rotate guard duty amongst ourselves while we’re on the road. I thought maybe you wouldn’t mind alternating with me while everyone gets some sleep.”

Dave looked at Ed. “You sure about that? I mean, after what happened earlier...”

“I’m sure.”

Dave turned to Brenda. “What do you think?” he asked.

“Fine by me,” she replied. She turned to Ed. “Thanks,” she told him.

“No biggie,” he replied.

Tammy silently continued about the work of preparing their bedding and organizing their supplies. She was disengaged from the conversation, and Ed suspected it was not because she was engrossed in the work.

Ed turned to Dave. “Wanna shoot the shit? I gotta stay up anyway.”

The hard lines in Dave's expression lighted; his muscles relaxing a bit. It was significant enough for Ed to notice, even in the dim light provided by the flashlight beam.

“Sure,” Dave replied. “Why not?”

Ed and Dave found themselves sitting alone at the end of the aisle upon some large buckets of economy-sized laundry detergent. Ed turned his flashlight on from time to time, scanning the aisles for activity as far as the beam would penetrate. He saw no movement, nor did he hear any sounds to indicate the movement of any uninvited guests. Neither man said anything for a while. Dave stared after the beam into the darkness of the warehouse.

“How'd you meet those girls?” Ed asked, non-nonchalantly.

“They found me, actually,” Dave replied.

“That so?”

“Yeah. I was in a bad way. Out of my fucking gourd really, if I'm being honest.”

“They take you in?”

“They did. Brenda did, at least.”

And there it is
, Ed thought to himself. The looks he shared with Brenda, Tammy's despondent demeanor, it all added up. He nodded to Dave in acknowledgment.

“They’re rough, I know, but they’re good people.”

“Who's not rough, nowadays? This is a rough world,” Ed replied.

“True,” Dave agreed. “True.”

Ed shifted the subject. “Tammy seems quiet,” he remarked.

Dave inhaled deeply, then exhaled. He paused for a moment as if to gather his thoughts. “Her patience with me varies from day to day.”

“Three's a crowd, huh?

“Never thought about it that way, but yeah, I guess you're right.”

Ed turned the flashlight on then scanned the aisles again. They were clean, so he flipped off the beam to conserve batteries.

“It's getting better, I think,” Dave continued. “She seems to be more agreeable now.”

Or just keeping quiet
, Ed thought. Tammy was jilted and moody. He needed to keep an eye on her specifically.

There was a pause, and then it was Dave who asked the next question. “That girl you found; where'd you meet her?”

“The boys and I found her inside a Target store. She was half dead, beat to hell, dehydrated with a high fever. We took her in, got her some antibiotics, then just hoped for the best.”

“Looks like your hoping paid off,” Dave replied. “See seems to be doing okay. How long have you and the boys been traveling with her now?”

“A few weeks, maybe. It's hard to keep track anymore.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Dave agreed. “How about those boys? I'll bet you're damn proud. I never had any. It didn't make a lot of sense, what with the world ending and all.”

“I couldn't be more proud,” Ed replied.

The two men sat in silence for another minute or two. Ed flipped the flashlight on, surveyed the aisles, the flipped it back off again. Dave collected his thought, then spoke.

“Look,” he began, “I'm not crazy, and I'm not an asshole. I'm definitely not a killer. I know it might have looked that way, but that shit that happened back there...” he trailed off. He was fumbling for words, so Ed gave him time to collect them and present them in a coherent fashion.

“I'm just saying it was a one-off,” Dave continued. “Things are still so raw right now; I'm not even sure I've even accepted Sandy's death yet. When we got caught up in that mess with you guys, it was just like the when Sandy...”

“I get it,” Ed interjected. “Too close to home.”

“It all came back...hard. Harder than ever.”

Ed watched Dave as he sat in the dark, barely illuminated by the light of the flashlight beam. There were no red flags going off in Ed's mind; the guy seemed legit. His gut was telling him that and tended to put a lot of stock in that.