Caldera | Book 12 | Kingdom Come Page 20

  The creature turned its attention back to Lana and Simon watched as a long, spindly arm stretched out and wrapped its fingers around her broken broom handle. She shrieked and kicked, her hands beating at the creature as it pressed the jagged end of the handle to her chest and slowly applied its weight.

  Simon watched in horror as her screams turned to shrieks and the broom handle slowly sank into her flesh. Her kicking and hitting became frantic for just a moment more, but once the jagged wood pierced her heart, her movements slowed and eventually the light left her eyes.

  He watched as her arms fell to the side and the creature stood over her lifeless form. It took a moment to tug at the shredded long coat draped over its shoulders then bent and picked up what looked like a Pilgrim’s hat that had been buried in a catbox before being run over by a dump truck.

  Simon suddenly sobered and his eyes searched for the fallen pistol. He locked eyes with Vee for just a moment, but she was too horrified to move. He glanced back at the zombie Mennonite then lunged for the gun.

  Jedidiah watched the thin female throw herself through the window and quickly closed the gap between them. She had fought one of the unwashed to the ground and now sat straddled over him, her shrill voice speaking in tongues as she relished the potential kill.

  Take her. NOW!

  He winced as the voice pierced his brain and fought to maintain his composure. He stood to his full height and took a deep breath. He watched her pull a broken piece of wood from the back of her pants and raise it over the fallen man.

  NOW!!

  Without thinking, Jedidiah leapt through the window and tackled the woman. The pair rolled into the living room and, although she was small in stature, the vixen had a lot of spirit.

  She screamed at him in tongues and flailed, striking him and kicking him as he finally flipped her around and was forced to sit on her to keep her from scrambling away.

  He saw her weapon rolling across the floor and reached for it. “The Lord my God has sent me to cleanse His creation of all evils. He tells me that you are a chief agent of those evils.” He stared down at her still struggling form and held the broken piece of broom handle above her heart. “Let His Word pierce the evil and remove it from your form so that you may have everlasting peace.”

  He pressed the jagged end of the wooden stake to her breast and slowly applied pressure, watching her face as the evil was purged from her body. He took a certain satisfaction in knowing that, although he would not see the new earth, he played a small part in cleansing it directly.

  Once the creature beneath him lay dead, he came to his feet and checked his lapels. He tugged at them, straightening them and flicking the small, insignificant flecks of dirt from their otherwise immaculate appearance. He glanced around the room and gently retrieved his hat, ensuring that the creases were still razor sharp before planting it squarely on his head.

  He turned to the man lying on the floor, watching him purge the evil from the woman and sighed. “It is your turn to be cleansed. Prepare yourself to meet our divine creator.”

  He watched as the man lunged to the side, just out of view from the doorway and feared that he may have a weapon of his own. Jedidiah took a leap of faith and launched himself at the man on the floor.

  He heard the gunshot, but it felt like the man had punched him hard in the stomach.

  The second shot was even more muffled, but Jedidiah knew that it wasn’t a punch this time.

  He struggled to push his hands down, between himself and the man, his grip warm and wet with his own blood. He found the pistol and tried to wrest it from the man’s grip.

  The two struggled, rolling across the floor as Jedidiah tugged with his waning strength at the weapon. When it discharged again, he felt no punch.

  He looked down. The man’s eyes were wide with shock, the fight gone from him.

  Jedidiah rolled to the side and attempted to gather his feet under him. He felt his knees give and he fell to the floor. His hands were slick with blood and could gain no purchase on the smooth ceramic tile.

  He rolled to his side and stared at the man; a woman now hovered over his body. She was crying, and somehow Jedidiah knew that she cared for him.

  He struggled to take the next breath and watched as the woman pressed her hands to the man’s wound, hoping to stop the blood. He knew that the blood was too dark. It had to be the liver. The man on the floor was dead, whether he realized it or not.

  Jedidiah felt his head press to the cold tile floor. He watched as the woman rocked back and forth, cradling the other man. He smiled to himself, remembering that he, too, was once loved like this.

  If only he could remember her name…

  25

  “How’s she holding up?” Roger asked.

  Vicky slowly shook her head. “Not well. Who would have thought that Simon could have such an effect on somebody.”

  Candy sighed and gripped Roger’s hand. “Maybe he really had changed?”

  Roger snorted. “Leopards can’t change their spots.”

  Vicky watched Veronica go through the motions of life, her eyes vacant of that little spark. “She needs to be reminded that she’s not just surviving. She’s got to learn to live again. For her child, if nothing else.”

  Candy looked across the street and nudged Roger. “He’s packing.”

  “Crap.” He turned to the two women. “If you’ll excuse me, I want to talk to him before he leaves.”

  “Remind him,” Vicky called out, “that they want to throw him a going away party before he goes.”

  Roger shrugged animatedly. “Like he cares about that.” He crossed the street and pushed past the bent remains of the old driveway gate. “Hey. You can’t leave yet, ya know.”

  Hatcher paused and set the cooler down. “Vicky told me.” He shook his head and glanced at the people still trying to repair the damage to the community. “If I don’t leave now, there will always be something else to do first.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Roger leaned against the side of the truck and peered at the stuff in the back. “You sure you have enough provisions for an extended trip like this?”

  Hatcher shrugged. “Who cares. Scavenging is half the fun of this wonderful new world.” He nodded towards the street. “How are they doing?”

  Roger shrugged again. “The group that showed up in the middle of the fight decided they just might try to put down roots.”

  “The docs from the CDC?” He grinned broadly. “Imagine that…the very people who created the cure found us.”

  “And they said they ran into a few others out there.”

  Hatcher nodded as he picked up the cooler and put it in the back of the truck. “And I hope to find more.”

  “Pfft! Right.” He raised a brow at him. “We both know you’re looking for her.”

  Hatcher paused and gave him a solemn look. “Wouldn’t you?”

  Roger broke into a toothy grin. “Heck yeah. Neither Heaven nor Hell would stop me from finding Candy.”

  “Exactly.” He turned back to the stack of boxes and sifted through one. “Oh, and thanks for the extra ammo. It could come in handy out there.”

  “Just be careful. Oh yeah…” He reached into his coat and pulled out a radio. “I got this from Rich. The range is limited, but if you’re going about this slow and methodical like…” He tossed it to Hatcher.

  He gave the radio the once over then slipped it into his pocket. “I think I’m going to start in Texas.”

  “Of course you are.” Roger stifled a smile. “Top or bottom?”

  Hatcher shrugged. “Top, I’m sure.” He glanced out of the garage again and saw Veronica step out of the clinic for just a moment. “She gonna be okay?”

  Roger nodded. “It’ll take her a while.”

  Hatcher sighed. “I just can’t wrap my mind around somebody actually caring about Simon.”

  “Don’t get me started.” Roger pushed off the truck and glanced at Candy and Vicky, still talking in the street. “I re
ally think you should come to this going away party.” He turned and faced him. “There’s a lot of people who want to see you.”

  “I’m right here.”

  “I know but…they want the chance to thank you. Wish you well. That sort of crap.”

  Hatcher sighed and leaned against the truck. “I really don’t want to. It’s too much like goodbye.” Roger smirked and shook his head. “Look, Rog. I won’t be gone forever. I came back from Yellowstone, didn’t I?”

  “Twice.” Roger raised a brow at him. “But just in case. Besides, Hank and Wally…they’ll cry if you don’t show up.”

  “Ugh.” Hatcher rolled his eyes. “Fine. But I’m leaving as soon as it’s over.”

  “We’ll see you tonight. I hear that Will put together a smoker. They fit a whole piggy into it.”

  Rich held Roberta’s hand as she dropped a small collection of wild flowers onto Willie’s grave. “He shouldn’t have been out here.” She sniffed back tears as Rich pulled her back slightly.

  “You know him, though. He wouldn’t risk our people unless…” He choked on the words and had to look away. “He sacrificed himself to save them.”

  She nodded numbly and stepped away. “I know.” She glanced to the sky and smiled. “And I’m sure he’s watching us now.”

  “I’ve no doubt.” Rich escorted her back to the gates and to the house they had claimed as their own. “I forgot to tell you, Roger is taking Daniel’s place. But he wants to have a rep from each group to make a round table of leaders. I talked to the others; they’d like you to take Willie’s place.”

  Roberta looked at him, dumbfounded. “What about Larry? Or Glenda?”

  Rich shook his head. “We think you’d be a better choice. We all know that Willie rarely made a decision without getting your input first.” He smiled at her softly. “You were the real brains behind his brawn.”

  She chuckled as he led her up the steps of the house. “I’ll think about it.”

  “You’d better think quick. Roger wants to get together to discuss the future tomorrow.”

  Roberta raised a brow at him. “Tomorrow?” She sighed and wrung her hands together. “Then I better get busy. I have cookies to bake.”

  “My vote is for Carol,” Irene said firmly.

  Carol shook her head. “And I still think that Lieutenant Davis should be our representative.”

  Davis stood and held a hand up to stop her. “Look, I’m just the escort. The largest bulk of our little group are you doctors. It really should be one of you.”

  “Then it’s settled,” Andre said, coming to his feet. “Carol is our representative.”

  “But…I have no idea what to do.”

  Andre bent over and kissed the top of her head. “You’ll figure it out.”

  “But are we sure we want to stop here?” O’Dell asked. “I thought we were running to Mexico to avoid the federal government?”

  Carol looked to Davis then to O’Dell. “There’s enough people here that…we could blend in. And they wouldn’t want the witnesses.”

  O’Dell laughed roughly. “If they won’t respect borders, do you really think they’d care about witnesses?”

  Carol shrugged. “But there are enough people here that we can hide in plain sight. They don’t know where we went, remember?”

  “I agree,” Davis responded. “We could make a break and run for the border, but at least here we might just blend in. It’s a lot harder to blend, south of the border.”

  “Fine,” O’Dell moaned. He glanced at the others. “I just really hope they have taco night around here.”

  The others groaned and Irene slapped him in the back of the head. “Grow up, will ya?”

  “I’ll have you know that—”

  “Later!” Carol interrupted. “I hear that the leader of the group is leaving. They’re having a big party for him tonight. I strongly suggest that we attend and get to know our neighbors better.” She sighed. “We’ve been here for nearly a week now, and we’ve hardly met anybody.”

  “They’re all in the middle of rebuilding after the attack,” Irene added. “It’s hard to rub elbows when they’re so busy.”

  “So we include ourselves. I know that our expertise isn’t in construction, but we can learn. And we need to find a way to make ourselves more useful here. We need to pull our weight.”

  “Agreed,” Andre stated. “So let us begin.”

  Veronica glanced at the faces around her and smiled. “Thank you for coming.”

  Darla cleared her throat and leaned closer, lowering her voice. “We were worried about you, Vee. You didn’t want a ‘formal’ funeral, so we were surprised you called this.”

  Hammer nodded slowly. “You know we’re all here for ya, Doc. If you or the kid need anything, just holler.”

  Veronica fought back her grief and nodded slowly. “Thank you.” She looked around the room at those she had grown so fond of over the months in the mountains, and she had to smile. “You know, his last words to me were, ‘I’m sorry. I had to protect you and the baby.’” She felt her chest tighten and a tear escaped that she quickly swiped away. “It kills me that he died protecting us, but in a way…”

  “He said he used to be a really bad person,” Herman said softly. “No greater sacrifice can a man make than to lay down his life for another.” He glanced around the room and felt his eyes well up. “I hope that whoever decides our fate up there remembers that when it comes his time to face them.”

  Darla patted his hand. “I’m sure he’s up there right now, watching over us.”

  “Anyway,” Veronica interrupted, “he once told me that if anything ever happened to him, he didn’t want people to sit around being sad.” She sniffed back a tear and forced a smile. “Instead, he wanted people to celebrate his life. Like they did in New Orleans.”

  “A party?” Hammer asked.

  She shrugged. “It sure sounded like it to me.” She glanced at the people around then towards the window. “The main groups here are having a party tonight to send off their old leader. I think we should use that to Simon’s advantage and…” She took a deep, cleansing breath. “I think we should use this party to celebrate his life.”

  Herman raised a hand. “But, I’ve talked to some of the people here and they really didn’t like Simon. Some of the shit they’ve told me…” He shrugged, unable to repeat what he’d heard.

  Veronica nodded. “Oh, I’m well aware.” She remembered a heart-to-heart she’d had with a tiny woman named Stella. “But that wasn’t our Simon. The man that we knew was nothing like the fellow they knew.” She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. “The man they knew was selfish. He was arrogant. He was narcissistic and he hurt people.” She searched their faces. “The man we knew was nothing like that. He protected the weak. He cared about others.” She choked as emotions flowed to the surface. “He loved others.”

  Darla nodded slowly. “So, we celebrate him. Tonight.” She glanced at the others. “Haters gonna hate, right?” she chuckled.

  “Yeah,” Hammer agreed. “Let ‘em hate. We know who the real Simon was.”

  Veronica nodded. “It’s settled then. We’ll attend their gathering and we will celebrate the man who sacrificed himself to protect me and our unborn child.”

  As the group slowly filed out, Herman leaned close to Veronica and whispered, “If it’s a boy, ya know, Herman is a good, strong name.” He grinned at her mischievously. “Just tossing it out there for ya.”

  Hank backed the dumptruck to the edge of the landfill and hit the brakes when Wally gave him the signal. He set the parking brake then reached for the lever to raise the dump bed.

  The only thing worse than the stench of the dead bodies was the stench of the bodies once the bed started dumping them. He gagged and tried to breathe through his mouth as the load of rotting meat slid into the landfill.

  The passenger door opened and Wally climbed into the cab. “That’s the last of it.” His voice sounded nasally as he refus
ed to breathe through his nose. “I think we should dump the truck somewhere far away from the compound.”

  “Agreed.” Hank put the truck into gear and pulled away while lowering the dump bed. “I lost count about three loads ago. Any idea how many they had?”

  Wally shook his head. “Hundreds. Maybe thousands.”

  “You ever wonder where they came from?” Hank asked as he maneuvered the big truck away from the dump site. “I mean, the couple that we had crop up tried to kill each other, but these guys formed into a real army.”

  Wally shrugged. “Who knows?” He sighed as he settled into the seat and pulled his gloves off. “Maybe it was a fluke of nature.” He glanced up at the solitary cloud in the sky. “Or maybe it was act of God.”

  Hank stiffened and gave him a concerned look. “Act of God? You really think God wants to kill us off?”

  Wally shook his head. “Nope. He probably knew we’d take care of them. He just wanted us to clean up the mess that Mother Nature threw at us.” He shrugged again and shot him a goofy grin. “You know, like a reset button.”

  Hank grunted. “I’ll stick with a fluke of nature.” He slowed the truck and pulled alongside the road. “I can’t imagine a god that would want us to risk the few lives that made it through Mother Nature’s wrath just to ‘hit the reset button.’ That’s too messed up.”

  The two hopped down from the truck and began walking back to the compound. “We need to hurry,” Wally said. “We both need showers before Hatcher’s big send off.”

  “I told you one of us should have followed in a car.”

  Epilogue

  Hatcher drove slowly through the north Texas Panhandle. Boston played through the speakers, and he squinted behind the polarized sunglasses, his eyes searching for any signs of life. He had been crisscrossing the great state of Texas for weeks now, and other than a few small colonies of survivors, he’d had zero luck looking for Shelly.