Surviving Day By Day (Book 1): So it Begins (22 page)

Rising to her feet, she flicked the butt into the fire then reached over to grab another
branch
. After stirring the remaining embers
with is,
she then threw the wood onto the bed of coals.
S
he
had
started whistling a catchy little tune. “Strangers in the Night”, came out from between her lips.

Tabitha was being a little ornery and she knew it. When she had finished with the fire she tip toed over to where Ceara and Charlie were sleeping. Whistling louder she started picking up around them. Realizing that the whistling wasn’t working
,
she started singing softly, “Strangers in the night exchanging glances, lovers at first sight….”

She continued
on
just
a little louder
,
now Tabitha made her way up by their heads. She could see that they were beginning to wake and Tabitha feeling a bit frisky said, “Room service……. care for a breath mint?”

Tabitha began pulling back their covers just a tad and looked down at the two of them. “Good morning you two!!! Alden went out to go get breakfast and I am going to go down and find some for logs for getting our fire a little hotter.”

As the sun shown down Tabitha began feeling like a new wom
an.

Ceara sat up letting the
sleeping
bag drop around her waist, stretching and yawning big. Charlie staying laying down not willing to get up yet, Ceara smiled at him, “Morning.”

It was then that Ceara thought about how she must look, quickly running her fingers through her hair. Chuckling, “
You g
otta love bed head
,
huh?”

Fixing her shirt to make sure she was covered,
and then
climbed out of the sleeping bag. Alden had food in the truck but Tabitha had said something about him getting breakfast. Looking around camp but didn’t see him anywhere, she figured he was ei
ther checking traps or fishing.

Ceara went to the fire to warm up and noticed Charlie was up, “Want some coffee?”

He nodded sleepily running fingers through his hair. She poured him a cup, handing it to him. “I’m going to try to get cleaned up a bit, I’ll be back.”

He just waved her off as he sipped his coffee. Ceara laughed thinking Charlie w
asn’t much of a morning person.

Making her way to her jeep she found her backpack grabbing her little personal compact bag and headed for the bathrooms. Maximus trotted after he
r, she reached down to pet him good morning.

The mirrors in the bathrooms were
filthy;
she ran some water over hands then tried to wash the mirrors. All that accomplished was smearing the dirt turning it into a muddy mess. “Nice, you can’t see shit now.”

Ceara headed back out and grabbed a dirty shirt out of the jeep and went back into the bathroom to try again. Soaking the shirt then ringing it out, she wiped the mirror down again and this time she was able to make better progress.

After a few more swipes she could see herself pretty good and rinsed out the shirt then tossed it over one of the stall walls. She went about brushing her hair and teeth, then washed her face. The water was cold but felt wonderful, she looked around then stripped down to the waist and did a half sponge bath.

She knew there were showers but a cold shower didn’t really sound to inviting. After she got dressed she put a little make up on just to feel normal, she told herself it wasn’t to impress Charlie
,
it was
just
to make herself feel better. She smiled at her reflection thi
nking she looked almost normal.

Heading back to camp she stopped to throw her backpack back in the jeep, then sat back by Charlie, “So…. you awake yet? Have you seen Alden or Tabi
tha?”

Charlie smiled weakly raising his cup as toast to her.
“Not yet, Alden is probably hunting and Lord only knows what Tabitha is up to.”

His eyes were fixed upwards on the trees. Ceara looked up, then back. Charlie took another sip then sat down on a stump and just kept looking up at the sky. A rustling in the leaves brought his head down and he began to stare off into the woods watching a couple of squirrels running from tree to tree. He looked a little further and saw a rabbit that had stopped in a clearing and seemed to be watching him with as much interest.

He turned and walked over to the fire. The rabbit hopped a little farther back into the woods, the two squirrels just seemed oblivious to him. Pouring another cup he finally turned to Ceara, “You know in all the confusion and insanity I’ve been through this past few
days
and
weeks,
I hadn’t stopped to smell the roses as the sisters used to say.”

Ceara looked at him with a slight smile, “Huh?”

“Well… see…” he turned his head back to the squirrels, “I am… I don’t know
…
I feel safe today, you know relaxed. I was watching the birds flying around up there and then heard them squirrels,”
pointing towards the woods.

“
I hadn’t noticed it till now
,
but the only thing affected by this stuff is…..us. I mean
,
what animals I’m seeing seem normal
,
and I hadn’t noticed that shit before… The birds ain’t trying to eat each other
and
neither are the squirrels. Just ki
nd of makes me wonder ya know?”

Taking another sip he watched Ceara as she began to look up again. A voice came from his left. “Hey kiddies see what Uncle Al brought you for breakfast.”

Charlie turned and saw Alden carrying a pole and a stringer full of various fish as he walked towards the camp.

“Her
e’s the deal cupcakes, I caught’em you clean’em and cook’
em.” Laughing loudly as he threw the fish on the picnic table.

Colt sat by the window watching the trees sway in the wind, leaning his head on the window pane wondering just how they were going to make it through this. It was just him and Beth against a world full of monsters. Was it just a matter of time before they were going to be just like the rest?

Movement by the edge of the porch caught his attention, sitting straight up he saw the bushes move more. Pulling out his gun he softly opened the door so he didn’t wake Beth, stepping out onto the porch shutting the door behind him. Stepping out the noise was worse,
and then
a family of raccoons ran for the woods. Colt chuckled and went back in the cabin as he
slid the gun back of his pants.

When Beth had first
lain
down her thoughts were on her past, could there had been something that she could have done differently? The answer, she knew down deep inside was no, but still she wanted to be the one that would willingly hold the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Visions of her co-workers and her family ran through her mind while she slept. Reliving them over and over trying to make heads or tails of the events that had unfolded was all that Beth had been thinking about before she had drifted off to sleep.

Going now into an ever deeper sleep Beth could be seen traveling on the long journey that had led her to where she was sleeping now. Watching Colt open the can of
chicken noodle soup
and placing two bowls on the table. She smiled as he was preparing their supper.

A Better Homes and Garden Moment or so to speak was the setting now and even Beth herself began to feel the warmth on her skin as the rays of sun cascaded through the window. For the first time while she continue dreaming Beth finally smiled softly as she pulled the blanket up and curled her legs on the couch.

The laughing and talking over the hot
sup
that they both shared went on for quite a while when suddenly from out of nowhere a pounding on the windows caused both of them to look up. There outside was all of the infected trying to break in. Quickly running to the door to check if it was locked Beth was even trying then to protect Colt
,
but just before she was to turn and see where he was at a familiar voice awoke her from her nightmare……

Rest of the watch was full of memories and fears, he let Beth sleep and hour past time for her watch but in truth it was more for him than her, dreams plagued him every night. He went to her waking her gently, “Beth… Beth wake up, your tur
n to watch for a little while.”

“What time is it?”
she asked Colt while rubbing her eyes.

“I let you sleep an hour longer than I was supposed to because I had lost track of time keeping watch and was doing a lot of thinking.”

Beth pushed back the blanket and sat up slowly. Running her fingers through her hair she continued with a sleepy voice, “Well, you didn’t have to but I do thank you for letting me sleep a while longer because I sure did need it.”

Getting to her feet
,
Beth walked into the kitchen where she turned on the water. Waiting for it to warm up a little Beth looked out the window just to see if there
was
any of the infected lurking about.

When the water was warm Beth cupped her hands and gathered the water to splash onto her face. After doing this a couple of times she looked over and saw a kitchen towel conveniently laying there
, she wondered if Colt had laid it out
. Once her face was dried and the faucet was turned off Beth turned around and noticed that Colt had already lain down and had drifted off to sleep.

As quietly as she could,
Beth made her way around and gently pulled the blanket back up over his shoulders. Noticing that he still had the gun in the back of his pants, Beth removed it and placed
it on the coffee table
, still within his reach but she thought that he would rest a little easier
, without it digging into his back
.

When he was tucked in Beth then made her way over to the chair that was by the window. Before sitting down she reached behind her and took her Beretta out from behind her back then sat down. Once she found a comfortable position she watched the outside movements of the wildness. At first glance everything looked so peaceful and content. It was very hard to believe that out there were
so many
of the infected. Were the
re
any other survivors? Or was it just her and Colt? Knowing firsthand how fast the infection spread and now it had been over a few weeks since it first happened
.
O
nly God knew if there were any members of any of the Center For Disease Control left alive
;
let alone
if
the organization still up and running. If in fact, it was all gone then
there was no chance for a cure.

As the hours passed Beth had random thoughts and questions but never once did she turn her head away from the window. Staring aimlessly out into the world Beth felt hopeless for the very first time since the madness hit. The sounds of the birds chirping outside brought Beth out of her trans and realizing that she hadn’t looked at her phone since she had found Colt she got up to go get her phone.

Her cell was laying over on the end table and after retrieving it she powered it up. Fortunately not having it on did preserve a little more of the battery life and she noticed that there were a couple of messages from a few of her co-workers.

Kelly Anne’s name popped up first which Beth clicked on immediately. Kelly was her closest friend at the CDC and the message read, “Brad and I are stuck in a major car jam
,
we made it out but several didn’t. Last reports that I got to see was that the high grounds are the best. So we are heading north
…
TTYL.
”

Then next one was from another one of her co-workers Steven Rathbone, kind of an anal and arrogant man but highly intelligent.

“Found out Chemical compound that got loose was TX-239. That idiot said he thought he had disposed of it properly and this came from headquarters at home office. Beth, this is no
t good. Get out save yourself.”

Shaking her head Beth remembered everything that was discussed with TX-239 and those college idiots
,
who only got their jobs because their daddy’s worked there
,
thought that chemical warfare was a pretty damn awesome idea.

“Fucking morons!” Beth sarcastically replied.

However
,
when she saw her last message this caused her to drop her phone on the floor which caused Colt to stir.

It was from Kelly, “OMG BRAD & I GOT AWAY &
W R LO
KED IN CAR. WE BOTH HAE BEEN BIT.”
Colt sat up rubbing the sleep from his
eyes;
he saw a phone on the floor in three parts. “Beth, what happened? Does your phone still work? Were you able to call out?”

He knew he was asking a lot of questions but her look scared him. Beth looked over to Colt wide eyed and her mouth was open as though she was in shock but when he had finished with the last question this brought Beth back.

“Ummm. I am sorry I woke you.”

Reaching down to pick up her phone she continued, “I was just checking my power and I received a couple of messages from a couple of people.”

She noticed that she only had one bar of power and reluctantly continued, “I didn’t try to call anyone because there isn’t much power left.”

Colt watched her reaction, he didn’t know if she was lying or just not willing to share yet. “Yeah ok, so
messages from people are
good, right? Did they get out?”

Her look was all it took to answer the question, “Oh shit Beth I’m sorry!”

Colt had no clue if he should go hug her or not, he scooted to the end of the couch. “You know if you need me I’m here, o
k? Just tell me what I can do.”

Standing up he grabbed the blankets to fold them up, when he had them all folded he piled the pillow on top and put it all in the first bedroom. Walking back to the front room, “Hey I saw a couple of cans of fruit in the kitchen… you up for it?”

Colt headed to the kitchen thinking she would follow him. Once he rinsed the cans off he opened them and dumped them into the same bowls they had eaten the soup in last night. He held one out to Beth, “At your service my lady”

He did a bit of
a bow hoping to make her smile.

Beth put the phone down on the table and now she
felt like she
had hit the wall. Something
deep
down inside told her that she better get honest with Colt
,
because keeping all of this information to herself
and
now finding out that her closest friend was gone she just could not think straight anymore.

All of her training that she had be
en through was about to come out
. With a simple smile she walked over to the table and took a seat. “Colt…. thank you, but I am just not hungry right now. You eat your share first and I will have some a little later.”

Beth tried her hardest to be sweet and kind
but honesty was harder;
in her contract she had signed
with the government, she
could not let out any information from the CDC. Bound by legalit
ies but that was the question!
What CDC!!?!! Was it still standi
ng???!!! Was everyone gone??!!!
Those w
ere the questions that were
continually going through her mind,
like marbles
in a hat box.

Colt sat when she did and began eating his
fruit;
he spooned up a couple of bites. She was thinking, he had no clue just what was on her mind but he thought it was about the messages. Setting the spoon down, then laying both hands on each side of the bowl and leaned forward, “Ok Beth, I ain’t wanting to be a dick or even pry into your business but we are kind of in this shit together and secrets could get us killed.”

She sat there still thinking,
Colt took a couple more bites,
“
Ok when you decide to talk I’ll be cutting wood out back.”

A little frustrated he got up and went out back grabbing the axe on the way out.
Colt started setting logs on the stump and splitting them with the axe. Meanwhile
,
Beth just sat there listening to Colt making vicious chops on the wood which brought her attention to the window. Immediately she realized that Colt was right…they were the only two people that she knew of right now that had survived and that he h
ad a point about being in this
shit together
.

“
Screw my oath!” Standing up Beth quickly made her way out back to where Colt was. Without hesitation she calmly said, “Colt…. ummm….. I will tell you some information that you do need to know and you’re right. Quite right…..
If
we are the only ones who have survived then ….
y
es… we ARE in this shit together.”

Still standing
in front of him,
but more calmly and being even a little flirtatious she continued, “I think it would be better
if you put down the axe first.”

Colt set the axe up against the log, wiping his brow with his sleeve, trying to lighten the mood a bit, “This shit is harder than it looks
”

He leaned on the stump, “Ok I’m all ears,
so talk. What is going on, what do I need to know?”

He
crossed
his arms ready to hear something that he would see as trivial but she obviously thought it wasn’t
,
so he wanted to hear it, if only to let her tal
k it out.

“Look Colt…. I don’t know where to begin. So I guess the only way to start is just lay it out, but before I do I want to tell you that I am sorry. I am sorry for what has happened and I just couldn’t come out and tell anyone because of where I work….”

S
he saw a chair over by the corner of the house and walked over to retrieve it. Picking it up she moved it closer to where he was standing and took her seat. Taking in a deep breath, then releasing it slowly she continued speaking with extreme car
e
but in a very businesslike tone.

“I work…. worked for the Center for Disease Control and I had been employed there for a very long time. There is no way to say this but the reason that I could not tell you any of this is well, because it would be classified
.

N
ow after receiving
the
messages I just got
,
I honestly don’t think that this is going to turn out good.”

Continuing to look at Colt sh
e had no idea where to go from t
here
,
she had stopped talking and she searched within her mind for the words that she could say.