The Infected (Book 2): Karen's First Day (16 page)

She didn’t K.O. the bastard, only knocked it off balance.
It fell to the dirt and she sprinted as fast as her old legs could carry her out
of the cage. Penny grabbed the door and slammed it shut. There was no real
locking mechanism for the coop. A tiny hook dangled from the two by four that
made up the frame of the gate. She dropped the hook into the eyebolt.

The infected got to its feet and threw itself at the
locked door. The tiny hook held. The infected bounced off the wire barrier.
Penny leaped back. Terrified by its ferocity. That hook wouldn’t hold for long.

An outdoor table with umbrella and matching chairs sat on
a concrete pad between the coop and the house. This was its third year sitting
out in her backyard. Green algae had formed on all of the edges of the fabric
and glass. It needed a serious power washing. Penny’s heel caught the lip of
the concrete and she fell straight back, crashing into a chair. Her elbow
slammed into the glass tabletop. As the table tipped over the glass surface
shattered under her weight. The cheap metal folded around her body. The
umbrella fell on top of her. Chunks of glass penetrated her skin.

Blood spilled.

The concrete gave no comfort as her knees and shoulder
grinded across the porous surface. Every joint in her body screamed in pain,
her tendons stretched and ligaments popped.

The infected bounced once more off the metal chicken
wire. Penny rolled out from under the umbrella and pushed the chair off of her.
A rusty hunk of metal from the bottom of the table protruded out of Penny’s
stomach.

“Karen!” she moaned. Blood pooled under her. The infected
clawed at the gate.

Karen woke to the sound of her children. They were
playing. Her eyes were still closed. The lids felt impossibly heavy. She had
never blacked out before. Now she knew why they called it that. It was like she
fell into a bottomless pit. Darkness. No dreams. No feelings of any kind. Her
mind felt shrouded in black. She woke up covered in sweat and thirsty as hell.
Her wrist had gone from the unbearable jackhammer of pain to a more reasonable
sledgehammer. She muscled through and opened her eyes. The first thing she
checked was the first thing she checked every morning when she woke up.

Her children.

Valerie and Robin were crammed into one chair together.
Valerie thumbed through a pamphlet on crime like it was a children’s book. She
didn’t have the skills to read it so she made up a story and told it to her
little sister. It was a story about a princess being taken to jail by a prince,
but the guard dog saved her.

They were adorable.

Karen raised her wrist to investigate the damage done.
Troy had found a splint and wrapped it tight with an Ace bandage. All five
fingers moved. It was a struggle to get her hand to close fully. Her grip was
shit now, but at least she could move her arm without her stomach turning. Botchy
was out of her bag and drinking water out of a little dish on the floor. Troy
sat across from her. His hands folded in his lap. A forced smile formed on his
face.

“How long?” Karen’s voice was raspy.

“Half hour.” Troy answered.

“We need to get going.”

“Yeah…How? We don’t have a car.” Troy’s knee nervously
bounced up and down.  

Karen sat up, grabbed her water and took a drink from the
coffee cup, “Did you ask the Sarge if we could commandeer one of their
cruisers?”

“No, Sergeant Poole hasn’t been much of a talker. Maybe
if you asked he would be more willing to help.” Troy stood up and took the
empty mug from his sister and headed back to the locker room.

“Hello girls,” Karen said as she waved at her children.

“Mama.” Valerie squealed and put down her makeshift book.

“Mama.” Robin copied. They crawled out of their chair and
raced over to their Mama.

Karen scooped them both up and
planted kisses on the top of their heads.

“Do you feel better now that Uncle Troy got you some
medicine?” Valerie reached out and put her skinny arms around her Mama’s neck
for a long hug.

“Yes baby, Uncle Troy got me all fixed up. It still hurts,
but I’ll be okay.” Karen was not sure that her wrist would ever be the same,
but she did not need to worry her kids with it. Troy entered with a fresh
glass. Karen took it and gulped down the fresh water.

“How does it feel?” Troy pointed at her hand.

“It’s f-,” she mouthed the rest of the curse word over
her two babies’ heads, “But it is much better. Thank you.”

“I felt it pop back into position and it seemed to have a
normal range of motion. Book said this kind of thing could take months to fully
heal. So try and take it easy…I’m worried about Mama. I didn’t want to be gone
this long.” Troy’s head dropped.

Karen struggled with what to say next. “The fence around
her place will help keep it safe. That’s why we have to get there.” Karen
fished her phone from her pocket and swiped it on. No calls.

Where the hell was Jim?

A strong feeling of urgency struck her. She had to get
them moving again, but how? They needed to find a ride. They also needed a
better way to carry the girls. She gave the girls one more squeeze and then
pushed them down out of her lap.

“Let’s take a look around and see if there is anything
that could help us get home.” Karen stood up and put the girls back into their
chair. “Read to your sister.”

“Okay.” Valerie opened up another pamphlet and went to
work weaving an epic tale.

Karen began to search all of the cabinets and drawers in
this room.

Troy joined her, “What are we looking for exactly?”

“Anything that you think could help.” After searching the
office Karen moved to the locker room. Inside that room she found a supply
closet. It had stacks of towels and fresh linens for the beds in the cells. A
plan started to take shape. After ten minutes of heavy reconnaissance Karen had
compiled a stack of supplies she thought could help.

A set of sheets. Magazines. Roll of Duct tape.

“So your plan is something called “A Wrap”?” Troy did not
quite get what she was talking about.

“We use the sheets and wrap them around the girls and wear
them like a backpack.” Karen took a sheet and dragged it across her back to
show Troy what she meant.

“Got it. And the magazines?”

“Armor.”

“Armor?”

“Try and bite through this issue of
People
. You
can’t get through it. We put it on the girl’s backs and maybe their arms and
legs. We should do our own forearms and calves too. What do you think?” Karen
could hear herself talking quickly. Every second that passed made her more
anxious about what was happening with her Mama and Jim.

“Sounds good to me. What do we need to do first?”

Karen found a paper cutter and she went to working
cutting the magazines down the middle. That way she could put the top half of
Guns
and Ammo
around Valerie’s bicep and the bottom half around her forearms.
Then she secured it with a good strip of Duct tape.

“It’s a Halloween costume,” Karen told the confused
five-year-old.

Valerie dropped her eyebrows at her Mama.

“You’re Magazine Girl.” Karen used her teeth to tear a
stretch of tape off the roll. It brought a smile to the child’s face. Troy
worked the same set up on Robin.

After twenty minutes of cutting, taping and manufacturing
they had a good working set of armor built for the girls. The suits wouldn’t be
able to stop a horde from tearing them apart, but it would stop or slow a solo
biter’s attack. It would give Karen and Troy an extra second to react. Maybe it
was a feeling of false protection, but it was still a good feeling. Karen took
the girls to use the restroom and then she made sure that her own bladder was empty.
If the wraps worked like she thought they would, taking a piss with Robin on
her back in the middle of someone’s yard would be almost impossible.   

They propped both girls up on a desk and put their backs
to them. Troy helped wrap the thick cotton sheet around Robin’s torso and butt.
Then they crisscrossed it over Karen’s chest and around her waist. Troy used
two twin-sized sheets to cinch the baby down to her Mama’s back. The fabric
ended in a big knot at Karen’s belly, but Robin felt as tight and secure as any
hiking backpack.

Troy took off his bandoleers and held Valerie to his back
as Karen duplicated the wrap on him. It was easier the second time since they
had worked out the kinks on Karen. It took no time at all for Karen to get the
wrap secure enough for him to pull the knot tight. Valerie was locked in on her
Uncle’s back and thought it was a ton of fun.

The children had totally forgotten all about the drive to
the police station and the monsters they saw on the way. Once she was attached,
he put back on his bandoleers.

In no time at all they had both girls up, safe as they
could, on their backs with some magazine armor for all of them. Karen
lengthened the straps on her purse and the bag for Botchy so she could sling
them over her neck. They double and triple checked that all of her gun
magazines were loaded and reattached her holster so it sat on her left side.

Karen eyed the red medical bag, “It would be nice to take
that too.”

Both of them felt incredibly weighed down. Neither could
imagine carrying anymore without it feeling dangerous.

“We need another body.”

A minute later they were standing outside of Poole’s new
apartment. He had finished his third game of solitaire and had begun to lay out
another round.

“What did he do?” Karen asked Poole.

“Who?” The old man toyed with them.

“What did Leon do?” Troy shifted his weight to compensate
for the child on his back.

“Are you guys talking about me?” Leon sat up from his
midday nap. He popped up and was at the bars in no time. “It was a simple
misunderstanding. That’s all. I didn’t hurt anyone.”

Karen and Troy didn’t turn to face him.

“He stole a motor vehicle.” Poole turned over a King of
Hearts.

Leon talked rapid fire at them, “Total misunderstanding.
A friend of mine told me I could borrow his roommate’s car. I trusted my buddy
and didn’t ask the roommate. Next thing I know cops are pulling me over and
telling me I committed grand theft auto. My friend forgot to tell his roommate
that’s all. Total misunderstanding. I’m innocent.” Leon looked at them with
puppy dog eyes, “I’m innocent I-“

“Is he violent?” Karen cut off Leon.

Poole smirked as he turned over an unexpected Ace of
Spades. It reminded him of one of his favorite songs, “We have no records of
him committing violent crimes.”

Karen looked to her brother. He shrugged his shoulders
back at her.

“Can we please take him with us?”

“You want me to release him?” Poole finally looked up
from his game.

“You want us to leave? Well, we need him.”

“Don’t I get a say in what happens to me?” Leon cleared
his throat.

Karen and Poole entered into a staring contest. First to
speak would lose. Poole carefully weighed the upside versus the down. Leon
would become their problem. Upside. With all of the chaos he could easily lose
the paperwork on the car thief. Upside. He wouldn’t have to listen to all of
his bullshit whining. Upside. Poole struggled to come up with a downside to
this deal. Why was he even worried about it? There wasn’t anyone left at the
station that gave two shits. Poole stood up and pushed his card table to the
side. He walked to the bars. He made eye contact with them and unclipped the
keys from his belt.

“He’s your mess now,” Poole said as he handed the key
over to Karen.

“Thank you.” Karen’s hand made contact with Poole’s as
she took the keys.

“Is that a nine mil.?” Poole nodded at her gun.

“Yes.”

Poole reached over to the stack of ammo on his bed and
picked up another case, “Here.”

Karen took the box of shells, “You should come with us.”

“No. I’m good.” Poole stepped back to his card game and
that was it.

Karen found a little extra space in her purse for the
case of ammo. They turned to face Leon.

“Hi,” he said as he gave them a big smiled and a soft
wave.

“We’re backpacks.” Valerie’s head popped above Troy’s
shoulder.

“Yes, you are.” Leon gave the girl a big thumbs up.

“Can we trust you?” Karen hit him with her most serious
Mama voice possible.

“Lady, if you let me out of this cell I’ll be all yours,”
Leon said with a smile that came off a little slimmer than he intended. Karen
unlocked the cell and Troy pulled it open.

As Leon stepped free from his jail cell he gave his arms
a stretch, “Darn it. That was a long weekend on a horrible mattress.”

Karen appreciated his G rated language in front of the
girls, but it sounded all wrong when he spoke. Troy passed the red medical bag
to Leon.

He took it by the nylon strap and slung it over his
shoulder, “My care-package. Finally, I’m contributing to society again. Where
are we heading then?”

“Our mother’s house. It’s across town.”

“How many miles?” Leon’s brow dropped with concern.

 “About three or so,” Troy said as he readjusted the
weight on his back.

“We will need a ride.” Leon mimed steering a driver’s
wheel. “Officer Poole, may I be allowed to retrieve my personal belongings?”

“You won’t need them.” Poole laid down a five of
diamonds.

“It sounds pretty hairy out there. Could I possibly
borrow one of those firearms from you?”

“Pushing your luck.” Poole dealt himself another three
cards.

“Thank you for your wonderful hospitality during my
incarceration and may the solitaire gods shine down upon you,” Leon said as he did
a curtsy towards Officer Poole.

“Keys.” Poole didn’t look up from his game.

Karen tossed the keys through the bars and Poole caught
them midflight.

“After you.” Leon motioned towards the offices in the
other room.

“Close the holding cell door when you leave.” Poole
turned the Ace of Clubs. The gods did favor him today. The group left the old
man to his game. Troy let the heavy door close behind them as they reentered
the office.

Leon noticed the messy state of the office, “I thought I
heard some ransacking. Did either of you find scissors or a knife?”

“I’m sure there were scissors in the desks. Why?” Karen
made her way to the exit.

“I need something that will cut wires and I could use a
weapon. I would like to be able to protect myself.” Leon found a long set of
shiny scissors at the first desk he tried. He placed his index finger through
one of the loops and held the makeshift blade like he was a psycho killer and
he pretended to stab an invisible victim. “That should work if they get close,
but let me take a look and see if I can find anything else.”

They waited for Leon as he looked over the room. He
noticed them by the front door.

“We won’t want to go that way,” he said with a smile.

“That’s the way out.” Troy had his hand on the knob.

“Yes, it is one way out. My guess is there are already
some of those things out there and no cars in the parking lot.” Leon headed for
the door that led to the locker room.

“That’s right.” Karen could already see why Poole didn’t
put up much of a fight about letting Leon go.

“There’s a rear entrance that leads to the back lot. I’ve
been at station a handful of times,” Leon said with a wink as he pushed his way
through the door. After a moment the door to the locker opened a crack and
Leon’s hand poked back through the opening. He gave them a come hither with his
finger.