The Death Trilogy (Book 1): The Death: Quarantine (18 page)

A loud knock at the door brought her thoughts to the present. She put on her shirt and floated to the door, happily humming.

Another loud knock.

“Hold on, hold on!” she said as she grasped the handle and opened the metal door.

“I see it still takes you a while to answer the door,” David joked.

“David? David! Oh my God, it’s you! Where’s Eric? Is he with you?” Lori exclaimed and jumped into his arms.

“Right here, Mom,” Eric said, popping his head around the door jamb.

“Come here, now!” she said joyfully, grabbing him by the neck and pulling him into her embrace with David.

“You’re about to squeeze my head off,” Eric said, his voice muffled because his face was buried in her shoulder.

“Sorry, but I don’t care. I’ve missed you two.”

“Mom, it’s only been a week, I think,” Eric said in a snarky teenager tone.

“I don’t care. It’s been too long for me,” she said in between the dozens of kisses she was planting on their faces and heads.

“We missed you too, Lori. Don’t listen to grumpy pants here,” David quipped.

“Get in here, you two,” she said as she dragged them across the threshold.

They spent the next half hour discussing the circumstances of their sudden and surprise relocation to the DIA.

“It was just that quick. We’re doing the morning assembly, our names get called, and voilà, here we are, and let me say I’m glad, I was getting a bit concerned.”

“Oh really, why?”

“Nothing too crazy, just that they reduced the staff at the camp shortly after you left, which in turn has made for longer lines for medicine and food.”

“Hmm, well, I know there’s a lot going on, and their focus is on Arcadia now,” Lori interjected.

“I heard about Arcadia,” David said to Lori’s surprise.

“Who told you about it?”

“I spoke with Chancellor Horton before coming here. He met us upon our arrival.”

“He did?”

“Yes, is that a problem?” David asked when he saw some concern on her face.

Her worries quickly melted away when she realized that David and Eric wouldn’t even be there if it weren’t for Horton.

“Anyway, enough about trips, I have something to tell you,” Lori said, excitement in her voice. She reached out and grabbed David’s hands.

“I have something to tell you too. Can we sit down first?”

“Yes, of course. You must be tired from the trip. Right here,” she said, motioning to a small cushioned chair next to her bed.

David sat in the chair, and she sat on a cushioned ottoman, both were holding hands.

Eric wasn’t paying much attention to them as he surveyed the room and had found some interest in her drawings and sketches of the new capital building.

“Who goes first?” she asked.

“You go,” he offered.

“No, you go. Mine is so amazing that we’ll forget to talk about yours once you hear mine,” she said, her excitement rising.

“Hey, Mom, have you been to Camp Sierra yet?” Eric asked, interrupting his parents.

“No, but I’ve seen it from the air.”

“What’s it look like?” Eric asked.

“Kind of like 13, but much bigger. Eric, sweetie, let me and your dad talk, okay?”

She turned her attention back to David, who now looked nervous.

“That look, I know that look. What exactly are you about to tell me?” she asked, his apprehensive appearance taking away some of her glow.

“Eric and I aren’t staying here for long. This is a pit stop on our way to Camp Sierra.”

“What? I don’t understand. I specifically asked for you to stay here with me,” Lori snapped, confusion etched across her face.

“We weren’t called to come here. I was called to go provide assistance to the main school in Camp Sierra, and Eric is coming to be my classroom aide,” David said.

Hearing his name, Eric waved and said, “That’s me, teacher’s pet.”

“No, no, this is not what I agreed to. You and Eric were supposed to come and be with me; that was my deal with Chancellor Horton!” Lori exclaimed.

“Lori, calm down. This is a good opportunity for me and Eric. We’ve been given responsibility, having that gives us value.”

“I’m upset, David, because I’m pregnant. I need my family here with me as I go through this pregnancy!”

David’s eyes widened at hearing the news.

Eric snapped his head in Lori’s direction, his mouth wide open in shock.

“You’re pregnant?” David asked.

“Yes, we’re going to have a baby.”

“Honey, that’s great news, that’s amazing, but…”

“But what?” she asked.

“Aren’t you concerned that the baby won’t be immune? You know the infant mortality rate.”

“Obviously that crossed my mind, but Chancellor Horton and his team have a vaccine. It’s only in trials, but it seems to be working. He’s promised to administer it to the baby in the third trimester. You see, we’re getting a second chance at not just rebuilding our lives, but our family.”

Tears filled David’s eyes. He leaned over and embraced Lori and hugged her tightly.

She returned his embrace, and they both began to cry together, not tears of pain or sorrow, but tears of happiness.

“I love you, baby. How are you feeling? When did you find out? Tell me everything,” David rattled off.

She explained everything in excruciating detail, minus certain specifics like the private dinner with Chancellor Horton, replacing it with her team being there. The last thing she wanted to do was give him a reason to be concerned about her faithfulness, especially since there was the one incident years ago that he had forgiven but not forgotten. She went on to explain that she had made a bargain with Horton for them coming to be with her or she would leave her post.

“You see, this is all a misunderstanding. I’ll sort it out with the Chancellor later and get him to find us larger accommodations,” Lori said.

David hesitated responding to her. His eyes had drifted away from hers as he looked around the sparsely furnished and decorated room.

“You okay?” she asked him.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

“Oh, it’s just that I was looking forward to going back to work, you know, having purpose.”

“I’m sure there’s someone you can teach here, plus your purpose is to be with me.”

“Being your maid and following you around while you make a name for yourself,” he snarled.

“What does that mean?”

“It’s the same as before, you work the big contracts, work for prominent people, and get invited to events where I’m introduced as your husband, nothing more.”

“Is that how you feel?”

His head drooped and his shoulders hung low.

She reached out and put her arms around him. “Oh, sweetheart, that’s not how I feel. I wouldn’t be me, I couldn’t exist without you.”

“They told me at 13 that I had an excellent chance at becoming a principal out there. Sierra is expanding, and with my background and credentials, I could find a solid administrative job. It would be my chance to shine. I was hoping I could convince you to come with us instead of vice versa.”

She cocked her head, shocked by what he said. “Me, go to Camp Sierra, and do what?”

“Oh, so it’s fine for me to do it, but not you?”

Lori opened her mouth to say something, but the words didn’t come out. She stopped herself just short of saying something mean and destroying the reunion they had not forty minutes ago.

Both avoided looking at the other till Eric stumbled in to break up the awkward moment.

“How’s the food here? I’m starving.”

She looked at her boy, who was quickly turning into a young man. She wanted nothing greater than to have them with her during a monumental time for her, but she also couldn’t ask David not to go pursue his desires either. She was frustrated and sad that this happy moment had turned so quickly into one of regret. The best thing for her and David to do was to let this new information marinate.

She stood up, put her arm around Eric, and said, “It’s not great, but it beats the slop we were being fed at 13.”

“Well, let’s go. I’m so hungry I could eat my arm.”

“David, you coming?”

He looked up, his mind was digesting all the news and attempting to process a solution, but he too was conflicted.

“Yes, of course I’m coming,” he said and stood up.

She grabbed him and brought him in close and whispered, “This will work out, I know it will. Everything will work out.”

April 9, 2021

Jenks Residence, Reed, Illinois

Devin pushed his plate of food away from him and grunted.

“Eat, there’s no wasting around here,” Tess snapped.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Eat!”

“It won’t go to waste, I promise you,” he said as he placed the plate on the floor.

Brando hobbled over on three legs and stuck his muzzle in the heap of pasta, swallowing it in big gulps.

“I guess that counts, right?” Brianna joked.

“Don’t get any ideas, now eat,” Tess ordered.

Brianna responded, “I have every intention of finishing my food. I was making a point that Brando is a part of this family, and if he gets food, it’s not technically wasting.”

Devin leaned back and smiled, his little group did feel like a bit of a family. Regardless that they hadn’t known each other all that long, they could trust one another and would take care of each other, like any family would.

“So, whose turn is it to deliver the food to the barn?” Tess asked.

Devin raised his hand and answered, “Mine.”

“I can go if you don’t want to,” Brianna offered.

“No, it’s fine; I’m hoping he’ll answer this time. We need to discuss our plan about Turner’s Raiders.”

“Devin, we can’t sit around and just wait for him. If he doesn’t answer tonight, we need to do what I think we should do.”

“Leave? That’s not a solution, that’s panicked response.”

“Call it what you will, we were lucky this time. Next time they show they’ll have ten times the men. We can’t beat them.”

Devin knew she was right, but the idea of leaving Daryl didn’t sit right with him.

“We can’t leave him here and take his son, that’s cruel,” Devin challenged.

“What’s cruel is him vanishing. We need to get moving, and he needs to come with us. We’re delaying because he’s shacked himself inside the barn.”

Devin leaned in, placing his elbows on the table, and said, “Just give me tonight. If he doesn’t respond, we’ll leave first thing.”

Tess paused and then answered, “Deal.”

Brianna stood from the table and began working on a plate for Hudson.

Hudson was still in a state of shock. He wasn’t handling the gun battle and his mother’s death well.

“I’ll run this up to Huddy,” Brianna said and marched out of the kitchen.

“Having the Humvee will help our travel time,” Tess mentioned.

Brianna reemerged in the kitchen and excitedly said, “Hudson’s gone!”

“Gone where?” Devin asked.

“I don’t know, but I can’t find him in his room, and I’ve looked in the small playroom. It’s like he vanished.”

Devin stood and exited the kitchen to go search familiar hiding spots.

Brianna didn’t waste time and began feverishly looking for Hudson.

They looked in closets, behind furniture, under beds and even in cabinets. No one could locate him in the house. The next place to look was outside.

“Hudson! Where are you? Hudson!” Devin hollered out the front.

Brianna and Tess were in the back, going through the small sheds, and even looked in the chicken coop.

Devin made his way around the house and met up with the other two.

“The last building to look in is the barn. Let’s go,” Devin said as he quickly marched off.

“We’ll keep looking up here,” Tess shouted.

Devin reached the barn and banged loudly on the large metal door. “Daryl, is Hudson in there? He’s missing; we can’t find him! Daryl, open up!”

No response.

Devin began to wonder if Daryl was dead; maybe he killed himself. Concerned this might have happened, he began to walk around the large structure, looking for another way in. Along the north side, a long row of windows stretched a quarter length of the barn. He peeked in but couldn’t make out too much. At the end of the row of windows was a side door; he made for it. Clutter, old boxes and assorted items blocked the door. He began removing them when he heard a familiar voice.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Daryl yelled.

Devin looked up and saw Daryl standing where he had just come from.

“Is Hudson with you?”

“No, but I think I know where he is.”

When Daryl stepped off the last step of the stairs, Devin couldn’t believe his eyes. He was dressed like he was ready for war, and for Devin, that seemed not too shocking.

“Where exactly are we going?” Devin asked, his tone a mixture of curiosity and skepticism.

“Hudson ran off to his cousin’s house, not a mile away,” Daryl answered as he walked to a closet, opened it and pulled out a rifle, an AR-15 with collapsible stock and reflexive sights.

“Is the cousin’s house a dangerous place?” Tess chimed in with sarcasm.

“As a matter of fact, it is,” Daryl snapped back, his attention was on loading the rifle, but he was still listening and answering the others.

“I’m coming with you,” Devin said.

“Not necessary.”

“I insist,” Devin said bravely.

Daryl looked over at him and said, “Your choice, but I’d bring some iron with you.”

“What exactly is going on?” Tess asked.

“Hudson and his cousin Seth are about the same age and have gotten along famously, but I never had much love for my sister’s husband.”

“I realize people have family feuds, but it’s this bad?” Tess asked. She too was shocked by Daryl’s combat gear.

“Yeah, it’s this bad. I’m not sure if Devin mentioned it, but most of the town hates me for a variety of reasons. My sister and brother-in-law’s family hold a special kinda hate for me, though.”

“It’s not like you killed someone,” Tess blurted out.

Devin was watching them go back and forth, and after Tess’s last comment, he remembered Daryl’s story of
killing
someone.