'Til Death Do Us Part (26 page)

“
What
’
s the matter? I may be an old man
,
but I
’
m not daft. I
’
v
e been watching everyone tippie-toe around for the last day.
Something
is going on and they think the patriarch can
’
t handle it,
”
Tony said angrily.

Tracy swallowed heavily.
“
Tony
,
I thought Mike might be dead yesterday, but now I
’
m not so sure.
”

Tony paled rapi
dly, color slow
ly
drained back in
to the void as he processed Tracy
’
s whole sentence.
“
What changed?
”
h
e asked slowly and cautiously.

“
I know this sounds crazy…
”
She started as she quickly looked over to Nancy.
“
Henry. Henry changed. I know how strange that sounds, but Henry sensed something yesterday and now he seems to b
e back to the way he was before.
Expectant.
He’s
waiting for his Mike to come home.
”

Tony was
scratching the top of his head;
a gesture Tracy had notice
d
Mike do when he was having trouble wrapping his mind around something.
“
So Henry told you Mike died and has now been what? Reborn?
”

“
I...I can
’
t explain it completely
, Tony.
That
damn dog and Mike share something. Henry knew, absolutely knew something
bad
had happened to Mike and now something incredible has.
”

“
So you believe in your heart of hearts that Mike is alright?
”
Tony asked, now tears threatening the man
’
s visage.

“
I do,
”
s
he said
through the tears
.
Because I want to
, s
he thought.
Because the alternative would be unbearable
.

“
I think I need to make more tea,
”
Nancy said
,
running out of the room.

It was a half hour later when the entire group found themselves sitting on the deck at the Talbot compou
nd:
Tony with Carol, Tracy’s mom
they
had become something sort of an item although they denied it to everyone that asked.
Ron, Nancy, their children—
Meredith, Melissa, and Mark. Tracy, with Nico
le, Justin and Travis. Mad Jack,
who seemed perturbed that he had been disturbed from his work. There was Angel, Sty
,
and
Angel
’
s brother Ryan and Dizz
from the gas station in Massachusetts. Perla, who had been
Jack O
’
Donnell
’
s
fiancée,
she had yet to pull completely out of her stupor upon his loss. And Cindy Martell, Brian Wamsley
’
s significant other.

“
Something
’
s changed,
”
Ron said to the group
.
Except
for Justin
,
he was the only one standing.
“
We can all almost feel it in the air.
”

“
It
’
s heavy,
”
Perla said with her head hung low. Cindy wrapped her arms around her friend.

“
All the more r
eason I should still be working,
”
Mad
Jack said more to himself than the group.

“
In due time, MJ,
”
Ron said.
“
We had good reason to believe that Michael died yesterday.
”
Even MJ who was usually off in his own world responded with a gasp. Cries
o
f
‘
are you sure?
’
and
‘
I can
’
t believe it!
’
w
ere all dominated by one small girl,

“
The funny man is dead?
”
s
he asked, then she started to cry uncontrollably.

“
Oh
, honey,
”
Nancy said, pulling the small girl to her.

“
Okay…hold on,
”
Ron said
,
putting his hands up.
“
We
’
re now not so sure,
”
h
e said quickly glancing over to Tracy.

“
What about Brian?
”
Cindy asked
with concern
. If Mike had been in danger
,
then
it only followed that they all had been.

“
We...we don
’
t know,
”
Tracy answered.

“
Have they radioed in and you
’
re not telling us?
”
Cindy asked
as she stood
.

“
No
,
we haven
’
t heard anything in days,
”
Ron said
,
giving back-up to Tracy.

“
Then how or why would you think something happened to Mike?
”
Cindy asked.

Henry picked that opportune moment to saunter onto the deck and lay down in the middle of the throng.

“
Him.
”
Tracy
pointed
to the dog.

“
Him?
”
Cindy sneered.
“
You scare the shit out of all of us on something the dog did? Did he come
out and tell you Mike was dead…
oh and then miraculously he
was
reborn like Jesus Christ!
”
s
he shrieked.

“
Listen
,
we
’
re all a little stressed out right now, I just wante
d to get everyone together to—
”
Ron was cut off.

“
Don
’
t you give me
that stressed out bullshit,
”
Cindy was screaming.
“
My
fiancé
is out there and I don
’
t know if he
’
s dead or alive or worse. The sitting here not knowing, what do you know about stress?
”

Ron was straining to hold back his own anger.
“
I
still
have a
daughter out there
,
or did you forget that. I know all too well the pain of loss. If you someday have a child
,
I hope to God that you NEVER experience the pain I suffer every fucking minute of every fucking day.
”

Nancy was full on crying.
“
Anybody want some tea?
”
s
he asked, not waiting for an answer as she exited the room hastily.

“
I
’
m so sorry.
”
Cindy said as the heated wind fell from her sails.
“
You
’
re right we
’
re all stressed.
”

Ron waited a moment to make sure that Cindy wouldn
’
t flare up again.
“
Listen
,
I
’
m not one for sp
irituality, superstition, super
natural or paranormal, that
’
s just not the way I was raised and it
’
s not part of my belief system. And now that I
’
ve got that quantifier out of the way,
I truly believe s
omething happened to Mike…
and for whatever reason
,
he
’
s back.
Mike
’
s resurrection means something and it means something big. I
’
ve got to believe he
’
s heading here.
”

“
And so is the shit storm,
”
Travis said.

“
No swearing,
”
Tracy told him absently.

“
This is still all conjecture though right?
”
Perla asked. She was afraid.

“
Yes,
”
Ron said,
“
n
o matter what the truth
,
or what we are feeling, I think that we need to be prepared sooner rather than later and that we need to redouble our efforts no matter what they may be. From gathering or storing food, to setting up our defenses
,
to the hundred other things we need to have do
ne
to survive an all out attack.
And I want to double up on guard duty.
”
That brought a fresh round of moans.
“
Except for Mad Jack, Nicole
,
and Angel
…
we
’
ll all be taking extra shifts.
”

“
I can guard!
”
Angel said defiantly.

“
I know
,
ho
ney, but you already have a job,
”
Tracy told her.

“
I take care of the aminals, pretty lady!
”
s
he said proudly.

“
And Henry loves you for it,
”
Tracy told her. She looked over to Justin and
noticed
he was
rubbing at his wound where the zombie had scratched him. He was trying to be sly
,
but it looked like it was itching him something fierce. Her heart froze when it looked like storm clouds swept across his vision.
Mike
,
whereve
r you are, hurry up
, s
he thought.

“
I can take an extra shift
, Uncle Ronny,
”
Nicole said sleepily.
She
wasn’t quite
show
ing
yet but
her energy level had dropped
considerably
.

“
No
,
you need your rest and Mad Jack needs to finish his devices
,
”
Ron told her.

“
What
’
s the matter with her?
”
Mad Jack asked
,
finally realizing he was supposed to be interacting with others.

“
I
’
m pregnant,
”
Nicole laughed.

“
How
’
d that happen?
”
Mad Jack asked.

“
Did he really just ask that?
”
Travis asked his mother.

Mad Jack
’
s face flushed.
“
Sorry,
you might want to stay away from my stuff while I
’
m doing experiments.
”

“
Is it dangerous?
”
Nicole asked
,
clutching her mid
section.

“
It shouldn
’
t be, but no sense in risking it.
”