The Grace Series (Book 3): Dark Grace (14 page)

After everyone was gone, I locked the back door and sat for a long while in the lobby, thinking.  I was numb inside.  My best friends were gone, and it was my fault.  I watched my belly as my baby began moving about.  I wondered what she looked like.  What chances she had of living.  I had begun thinking of her as a girl, ever since I had dreamt of Emilie holding the hand of the little girl with my face.  I was feeling extremely huge and awkward and I noticed my feet were beginning to swell. 

“Penny for your thoughts,” I heard Gus say sleepily.

I looked up, surprised to see him awake already.

“Just thinking about the baby,” I said quietly.

“Where is everyone?”

“They left.”

I saw Gus tense.  “What do you mean they
left
?”

“Nathan said they found a furniture store about two blocks away.  He wanted to gather us all there because it’s more comfortable, and he thinks more secure.  Gus, he wanted to leave you here and just come back to do your antibiotics.”

“You didn’t go with?”  He was in front of me now, kneeling so he could look me in the eyes.

I shook my head back and forth.  “I told him I wouldn’t leave you.”

He took my hands in his and sighed.  “If it’s safer, you should go.”

“No.  I won’t leave you.  I told Nate I’ll take care of your meds, and we’ll come and find them in the next day or two.”

“I don’t like the group being split up.”  He looked angry.

“Me either.”

“Did they at least leave us any supplies?”

“Two guns, some food and water.  Ammo.  The air mattresses.”

“We’ll be ok.”

We both stood and went back to the storage room.  I looked through the food Agnes had set aside for us and produced two granola bars, a sack of potato chips, and two bottles of water.  I set up a picnic on one of the thin camping rolls that Linus and Agnes had used the night before.  Gus said he felt up to sitting with me, but he still looked like he was in pain.  I asked him if he wanted more morphine, but he refused to take anything that would make him drowsy since it was now just the two of us.  He said he had to stay alert to help us survive.

“There’s a package of beef jerky.  Do you want a piece?”  I asked.  

“Let’s get some sleep and save it for when we wake up.”

“Can I sleep with you?” I asked.

“Of course you can.
  I insist, in fact.”

Gus got settled on his air mattress near the cabinet, and we went through the routine of the IV antibiotics one more time.  It took the antibiotics about twenty minutes to finish dripping into Gus’ veins.  Once the IV bag was empty, I disconnected the tubing and lay down beside him.  I pulled the cover over us and we watched each other for several minutes.

“What’s next?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure.  Anything.  Everything.”

“We stay alive.  We keep going.”

“Will you promise me something?”

“Name it.”

“Don’t leave me.”

He held his arms open and I scooted closer.  I was careful to not press on his belly, knowing it would hurt.  I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes while he held me.

“Never, Zoe.  I’d never leave you.”

His warmth felt right.  It felt like home.  I fell asleep listening to his breathing.

***

I woke hungry.  The type of hunger that only the dead feel.  The unending need to devour living flesh and gorge on entrails and the core of bones.  I clenched my fists and focused on breathing. 

“What’s wrong?” whispered Gus from beside me.

“The dead are near.  So many of them,” I moaned.

I looked over.  Gus was lying beside me, propped on one elbow.  He ran his free hand over my hair. 

“You locked the back door, right?” he asked.

I nodded.  “Ya.”

“Then let’s just stay quiet.”

I focused on his eyes, delving into them.   He kissed my forehead gently and held me close.  Before long the moaning from Roamers was audible, their garbled groans fouling our ears and their desires littering my mind.

“There’s so many,” I whispered
against his bare chest.

“
Shhh. They’ll pass.”

“Oh God, Gus, they’re eating.  Some of them are eating,” I whimpered. 

I flinched in his arms when we heard a gunshot.  It was followed by four more.  The taste of human flesh filled my mind and I groaned.

“
Shhh, baby, shhh.”

A last gunshot rang out and I began shivering.  I could feel the horde moving farther away, in pursuit of prey.

“They’re following someone.  Oh God what if it’s the others?”

“We’ll wait till they’re gone and find out, darlin’.  There’s nothing we can do while they’re out there.”

“What time do you think it is?”

“Looks like we slept awhile.  Mid-afternoon?”

The sounds of the dead were fading, from both my ears and my mind. 

“The baby’s kicking,” whispered Gus.  “Hard.”

“She’s been doing that when the dead are near.  Like she knows.”

“She?”

“Just a hunch.”

“We need to get moving.  One more IV dose of antibiotics, a dressing change, and then I want to be out and investigating.  We need to be back with the others.  I don’t know what the fuck Nate was thinking
separating the group.”

Gus and I worked together to get another dose of antibiotics ready.  He still refused pain medication, and swore he was feeling better.  His five-o-clock shadow had turned into a short beard.  He looked rough and pale.

“I was thinking,” I said quietly.  “Maybe I should go to the furniture store alone.”

“Absolutely not,” he replied sternly.  He looked at me like I was crazy.

“You still look so weak.  Maybe it’s best you not move right now.”

“I’ll be fine.  No offense, Zoe, but I’m not letting you out of my sight.  It’s just not happening.  Now, help me change this bandage?”

I gathered the same supplies as last time, hoping to be done as soon as possible so that we could make our way to the others in the furniture store.  I knelt beside him and peeled the tape from around the edges.  I felt his eyes on me as I worked.  Peeling the bandage back, I was in shock at the continued healing.  His wounds were almost fully mended.

“Gus,” I whispered.  “Look.”

He lifted himself up onto his elbows to inspect his lacerations.  “There’s no way they should be nearly healed in just three days.”

The stab wounds were mostly scar tissue, the edges rimmed in a light shade of green.  They looked so much better than the raw wounds they once had been.

“At least they’re healing, huh?” I asked idly.

“I think we can skip the bandage.  We should pack light.  Food, water, and some meds and supplies.  Assume we’re not coming back here.”

“Ok.  I’ll pack the food and water.”

“How many backpacks do we have?”

“Just two.”

“That’ll work fine.  Can you bring one of them to me?”

“Ya.  Sure.”

I stood up and walked to the lobby.  It felt cold and was eerily quiet.  I closed my eyes in a moment of concentration, listening for signs of the dead outside.   Sensing nothing, I walked to the front windows and dared to move the blinds aside.  The sky was overcast with dark gray clouds that threatened to drop rain.  The sky lit up with lightning and several seconds later the building shook from thunder.   My baby jumped inside of me as if reacting to the noise.  The
street in front of the store was littered with bits of plant debris and various weeds were growing in cracks in the asphalt.  I watched as an old plastic grocery sack blew by, eventually getting stuck under the tire of an abandoned car.

“You ready?” Gus startled me.

“Ya.  Looks stormy out.” 

“Let’s go then.”

We walked together toward the hallway that led to the alley.

“Hang on,” I said.  I stopped at the reception desk, found a pad of paper and a pen, and wrote a quick note.

We heard gunshots.  We’ve come looking for you. –Zoe

“Ok, let’s go,” I said as I set the note on the granite counter top, next to the sign in sheet.

I followed him down the hallway, and we both paused at the door.  

“Do you feel any of them?” he asked quietly.

“No.”

“Ok, once I open the door stay behind me.”

“I should go first, Gus.  I know which way they went.”

He was quiet in thought for a moment.  “Ok.  Stay close, though.”

I disengaged the deadbolt and opened the door.  Wind blew in, carrying with it the nauseating stench of death.  The dead dog was still lying against the building in its red biohazard bag.  The plastic sack had been ripped open and rotten entrails were strewn about.  I wondered just briefly what had torn into the bag; an animal or the living dead. 

“Fuck,” whispered Gus.

“
That’s the dog I told you about.”

I turned away from the scene and began walking down the alley.  We passed the sporting goods store.  The door that Nathan had tied shut was now wide open and knocking against a rock sitting nearby every time a gust of wind passed by.  I had my pistol in hand, and my backpack strapped over both shoulders.  I was glad my tennis shoes weren’t making much noise as we walked.  We had both dressed in layers since we needed room in our backpacks for critical supplies.   Once we reached the end of the alley, I felt Gus take my hand is his.  He stepped beside me and pulled me to the wall on our left. 

“Let me look around the corner before we move, ok?” he whispered into my ear.

I looked him in the eyes but didn’t answer.   I just wanted to study his face, and the depth of his eyes, before we proceeded.  Just in case it was my last chance to do so.  While my mind was free of the dead, I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.  Gus carefully stuck his head around the corner of the building to check for danger.

“It looks clear,” he said just above a whisper.   “Which way did Nate say the furniture store was?”

“Left.  Two blocks.”

Gus nodded in acknowledgement and waved me forward.  As we rounded the corner, he grabbed my hand again.  We began running at a moderate pace in hopes of not being in the open for longer than necessary.  The wind was becoming fierce and the darkness from the clouds seemed ominous.  Lightning streaked across the sky as we neared the end of the first block.  Thunder sounded again, nearly immediately.  I tightened my grip on Gus’ hand.  Rain began pouring down, splattering the street and sidewalks.  The rain turned to hail as we crossed the next street.  We slowed our pace to look at the signs on storefronts and the bb-sized balls of hail stung my face and neck.

“I don’t see it, Gus!”  I tried to keep my voice quiet but the wind made it impossible.

“Next block up, I see the sign!” he yelled back. 

Gus pulled me onward with renewed urgency.  We quickly crossed one more street and my brain filled with a buzzing that I was not familiar with.  I stopped cold, keeping Gus from moving on.

“There’s something wrong,” I said as loudly as I dared.  Gus looked at me with a confused expression on his face.  “I hear it in my mind, but it’s not like anything I’ve sensed before.”

“Where, Zoe?” Gus asked above the howl of the wind.

“I can’t tell,” I answered. 

“Let’s keep going!”

He pulled me forward.  The wind whipped my hair against my face and stung my eyes.  Finally we came to a small storefront labeled ‘New to You Furnishings.’

“Do you think this is it?” I asked.

“Has to be.”

I put my hands up to the glass panel in the door and peered in.  There was a ‘closed’ sign hanging in the way that made the task of looking inside difficult.

“It’s dark inside.  I don’t see any movement.”

We heard a spine-tingling scream in the far distance.  It was hard to tell if it was human or not, but my gut said it was. 

“Stand behind me, Zoe.”

I did as instructed.  Gus tried the door knob, and it unexpectedly gave way.  He looked at me in surprise.  He pulled it open and we both entered the shelter of the used furniture store.  It reeked of
blood inside. 

“Stay alert, Zoe.  I don’t like this.”

I quietly shut the door behind us and locked the knob.  The inside of the store was dark, especially since there were no front windows aside from the one in the top half of the door.  It took my eyes a moment to adjust.  I treaded lightly into the building, careful to not bump into a dining room table and matching chairs that were in my path.  Gus was walking off to the right, looking between rows of recliners and couches.

“Zoe,” he called out quietly.  “This is definitely it.  I see Jane’s teddy bear.”