Nature_Lover
Wait! What?
Thank You Kathy.
Story Zombies Aren't Real ... Are They?
- Thread starter Kathy in FL
- Start date
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Everyone left last week, umm good one. And hey I am 4 foot 11 and I drive and have for decades. Jace needs a lesson,lol.
Part Thirty-Four
It is a good thing it was me and not Jace who she snuck up on or Sunny wouldn't have lived very long. Jace's temper isn't the only thing that is quick on the trigger.
Long story short - and I absolutely refuse to write out the whole long lecture Jace gave me about stranger awareness and how angry he was at me for just striking up a conversation with someone even if it was someone like Sunny - Sunny is a little slow in the mental department if you don't mind my saying so. And since this is my notebook I'll say it any way I dingity dang well please. I'm just saying it, not saying it to be hurtful or rude. I don't care if Jace did have a snit because I told him using the same words to explain Sunny seeming a little light in the IQ numbers.
I wasn't being catty. I don't mean she needs to be labeled like they would have at school. I just meant that she seemed ... I don't know ... slow about some stuff like math, amounts, and people's personal space.
Explaining in her kind of sing songy voice she said, "They put signs up all over the place. They said if you wanted to be evacuated then you had to get here by two weeks ago and that the military would move us to a safe facility."
Jace asked, "A safe facility? What does that mean?"
Sunny just shrugged. "I dunno. Just someplace where there aren't any infected people. That's what Gran told me."
"Gran?"
"Yeah, we're from Madison but there were people here from all over. My uncle and his family had been visiting us from Detroit when things went bad. First he drove us to the FEMA camp in Rochelle but when that place got destroyed by those people that tried to take over and be boss we all came here."
I looked at Jace to give him an I-told-you-so-face about reading the "clues" we had found but he wasn't paying attention. He asked Sunny, "Where is everyone else?"
Like it was almost no big deal she answered, "I'm the only one left. They wouldn't take anyone that looked like they'd been infected. I was babysitting my niece and she bit me and left a bruise and when someone saw it and started screaming they threw me off the bus. I don't mind though, they wouldn't take Gran either because she was dying without her blood pressure medicine. She had a heart attack two days after we got here and they put her in this place called an infirmity. When they packed everything up to go they were just going to leave her because they said it was limited resources and something called triage. I don't wanna be with people that are like that. I stayed here with Gran when those that weren't evacuated ran off to try and find someplace else to hole up for the winter."
Trying to get the rest of her story out of her Jace carefully asked, "Where's your grandmother?"
Again like it wasn't a huge deal Sunny answered, "She died. I buried her the best I could. I need to find some more rocks though. Something keeps trying to dig her up. You look big and strong. Can you help with some heavy rocks? I've got food I can trade." So, more proof that either she is blocked up mentally or blocked up emotionally. I just hope whatever it is doesn't come unblocked in the middle of a situation. Reason why I say this is because Guard Dog Jace caught me off guard.
Jace didn't even look at me but started lecturing Sunny on talking to strangers but he did it a lot nicer than the way he'd done the same thing to me. Apparently he is partial to playing hero to people he thinks are helpless. I think he is learning I'm not helpless, just need a little help to get me going the right direction and it has left a whole in his plans or in his ... I don't know ... in what he needs to keep his head on straight.
Without even asking me he agreed that we'd stay and help Sunny. I left him sitting by the fire with her, lecturing her about how she needs to do this, that, and the other. Got news for Jace. Sunny may be a little simple but that doesn't mean she is stupid. She can cook just as good as I can, maybe better. Her soup was so good not even Toddie would have complained about it but she fell on my cornbread like she hadn't had any in a long time.
"Your own cooking gets old after a while," she told me when she saw me noticing how she was wolfing the bread down. "And Gran never would let me do much baking. I always forget about when things need to come out of the oven and it set the smoke alarms off alot. Those things would make Gran's hearing aids scream and she hated that. She also got mad about wasting food. We only lived on her social security and my SSI 'cause she didn't like me leaving the house to work. But I used to work in the convenience store on the corner but then they closed and they stopped the bus line that ran close to the house."
I shrugged disregarding most of what she'd said and told her, "As far as cooking, it depends on how hungry you are I guess. This past year I've been so hungry that my own cooking was just fine for every meal."
She nodded like it was an accepted fact. Out of no where she asked me, "How old are you?"
"Uh ... fifteen," I responded cautiously.
"Hmm. That guy your boyfriend? Your brother?"
The idea was slightly nauseating. "Ew. No. To both questions."
She nodded with a satisfied look on her face. "Didn't think so but its always polite to ask first. Mind if I see if Jace wants to be my boyfriend?"
I shrugged realizing that Sunny was older than she looked, at least in the experience area, and if I'm being honest smarter about some things than me ... or at least than I chose to be. Still, just because I didn't want Jace that way is no reason to throw him to the wolves ... or wolf. I told her, "Just be careful. He's been hurt. A lot of people he cared about have died. Even a girl he was going to marry."
"Oh," she said biting her cheek looking concerned. "He's the marrying kind. That takes special handling. Gran said you didn't just fool around with guys like that. They take things real serious."
Sunny made me want to laugh the way she saw things. Put the way she said it I could see it but I still didn't know exactly what to make of her so I just shrugged and said, "Uh ... yeah, I guess so."
She nodded and said, "Gran was the one that told me all about men and she would know. She'd been married four times and was working on getting number five to come around before the monsters got him on the way here. She always said that a real woman needed a man by her side even if they were a lot of work to keep up with."
Well, there's not much to say to something like that. She made guys sound like a pet or an accessory or something. Suddenly I wasn't feeling much like laughing anymore.
After we all cleaned up Sunny went to ... well whatever she is doing with Jace. It's not like I begrudge her or anything. I'm not looking for a boyfriend. I've got other priorities that come first. But I'm not sure that I want things to get the kind of interesting they are bound to get if Jace and Sunny ... shudder ... gotta get the pictures out of my head. Waaay too much TMI.
It is a good thing it was me and not Jace who she snuck up on or Sunny wouldn't have lived very long. Jace's temper isn't the only thing that is quick on the trigger.
Long story short - and I absolutely refuse to write out the whole long lecture Jace gave me about stranger awareness and how angry he was at me for just striking up a conversation with someone even if it was someone like Sunny - Sunny is a little slow in the mental department if you don't mind my saying so. And since this is my notebook I'll say it any way I dingity dang well please. I'm just saying it, not saying it to be hurtful or rude. I don't care if Jace did have a snit because I told him using the same words to explain Sunny seeming a little light in the IQ numbers.
I wasn't being catty. I don't mean she needs to be labeled like they would have at school. I just meant that she seemed ... I don't know ... slow about some stuff like math, amounts, and people's personal space.
Explaining in her kind of sing songy voice she said, "They put signs up all over the place. They said if you wanted to be evacuated then you had to get here by two weeks ago and that the military would move us to a safe facility."
Jace asked, "A safe facility? What does that mean?"
Sunny just shrugged. "I dunno. Just someplace where there aren't any infected people. That's what Gran told me."
"Gran?"
"Yeah, we're from Madison but there were people here from all over. My uncle and his family had been visiting us from Detroit when things went bad. First he drove us to the FEMA camp in Rochelle but when that place got destroyed by those people that tried to take over and be boss we all came here."
I looked at Jace to give him an I-told-you-so-face about reading the "clues" we had found but he wasn't paying attention. He asked Sunny, "Where is everyone else?"
Like it was almost no big deal she answered, "I'm the only one left. They wouldn't take anyone that looked like they'd been infected. I was babysitting my niece and she bit me and left a bruise and when someone saw it and started screaming they threw me off the bus. I don't mind though, they wouldn't take Gran either because she was dying without her blood pressure medicine. She had a heart attack two days after we got here and they put her in this place called an infirmity. When they packed everything up to go they were just going to leave her because they said it was limited resources and something called triage. I don't wanna be with people that are like that. I stayed here with Gran when those that weren't evacuated ran off to try and find someplace else to hole up for the winter."
Trying to get the rest of her story out of her Jace carefully asked, "Where's your grandmother?"
Again like it wasn't a huge deal Sunny answered, "She died. I buried her the best I could. I need to find some more rocks though. Something keeps trying to dig her up. You look big and strong. Can you help with some heavy rocks? I've got food I can trade." So, more proof that either she is blocked up mentally or blocked up emotionally. I just hope whatever it is doesn't come unblocked in the middle of a situation. Reason why I say this is because Guard Dog Jace caught me off guard.
Jace didn't even look at me but started lecturing Sunny on talking to strangers but he did it a lot nicer than the way he'd done the same thing to me. Apparently he is partial to playing hero to people he thinks are helpless. I think he is learning I'm not helpless, just need a little help to get me going the right direction and it has left a whole in his plans or in his ... I don't know ... in what he needs to keep his head on straight.
Without even asking me he agreed that we'd stay and help Sunny. I left him sitting by the fire with her, lecturing her about how she needs to do this, that, and the other. Got news for Jace. Sunny may be a little simple but that doesn't mean she is stupid. She can cook just as good as I can, maybe better. Her soup was so good not even Toddie would have complained about it but she fell on my cornbread like she hadn't had any in a long time.
"Your own cooking gets old after a while," she told me when she saw me noticing how she was wolfing the bread down. "And Gran never would let me do much baking. I always forget about when things need to come out of the oven and it set the smoke alarms off alot. Those things would make Gran's hearing aids scream and she hated that. She also got mad about wasting food. We only lived on her social security and my SSI 'cause she didn't like me leaving the house to work. But I used to work in the convenience store on the corner but then they closed and they stopped the bus line that ran close to the house."
I shrugged disregarding most of what she'd said and told her, "As far as cooking, it depends on how hungry you are I guess. This past year I've been so hungry that my own cooking was just fine for every meal."
She nodded like it was an accepted fact. Out of no where she asked me, "How old are you?"
"Uh ... fifteen," I responded cautiously.
"Hmm. That guy your boyfriend? Your brother?"
The idea was slightly nauseating. "Ew. No. To both questions."
She nodded with a satisfied look on her face. "Didn't think so but its always polite to ask first. Mind if I see if Jace wants to be my boyfriend?"
I shrugged realizing that Sunny was older than she looked, at least in the experience area, and if I'm being honest smarter about some things than me ... or at least than I chose to be. Still, just because I didn't want Jace that way is no reason to throw him to the wolves ... or wolf. I told her, "Just be careful. He's been hurt. A lot of people he cared about have died. Even a girl he was going to marry."
"Oh," she said biting her cheek looking concerned. "He's the marrying kind. That takes special handling. Gran said you didn't just fool around with guys like that. They take things real serious."
Sunny made me want to laugh the way she saw things. Put the way she said it I could see it but I still didn't know exactly what to make of her so I just shrugged and said, "Uh ... yeah, I guess so."
She nodded and said, "Gran was the one that told me all about men and she would know. She'd been married four times and was working on getting number five to come around before the monsters got him on the way here. She always said that a real woman needed a man by her side even if they were a lot of work to keep up with."
Well, there's not much to say to something like that. She made guys sound like a pet or an accessory or something. Suddenly I wasn't feeling much like laughing anymore.
After we all cleaned up Sunny went to ... well whatever she is doing with Jace. It's not like I begrudge her or anything. I'm not looking for a boyfriend. I've got other priorities that come first. But I'm not sure that I want things to get the kind of interesting they are bound to get if Jace and Sunny ... shudder ... gotta get the pictures out of my head. Waaay too much TMI.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank Kathy so much.
Part Thirty-Five
I knew it has been a while since I'd written but I hadn't really paid attention to how long until I thought about writing tonight. I took a look at my homemade calendar out to put the date and the top of the page and just about freaked. Two weeks. We've been parked in this area for two whole weeks. I was just about ready to pick up and leave on my own when Jace and Sunny stopped ... well, I'm not sure what they've been up to and I'm pretty sure I don't want to know. Although I must admit the time hasn't been completely wasted.
Jace decided he could kill two birds with one stone - figuritively anyway - and started teaching both Sunny and I those survival skills he was going to teach just me. We've been doing a little bit of everything ... fishing, orienteering, and hunting. Fishing was a no brainer for me and we ate fish almost every day at one or two meals. I'd catch it and clean it and Sunny would cook it. I didn't complain, she really is a good cook. Since she seemed to be determined that she couldn't bake anything, in exchange for her teaching me how she did fish I taught her to make cornmeal patties ... they look like cornmeal pancakes ... so that she could have her bread without having to do any baking. She was so happy she jumped around and fell on top of Jace who had been sitting by the fire thinking. Instead of getting mad like I thought he would he actually laughed. Right there I started being more careful around Sunny. Jace didn't seem to notice what she was doing at the time, just looked on her being like I kid I guess. But I sure noticed. I'm still not sure what to think about it.
I never said anything, Jace is old enough that he shouldn't need my help to figure that sort of stuff out but it gave me the heebies. I know it sounds selfish; it did in my head and does even more written out here on this page. But I wonder now that Jace and Sunny have hooked up, where does that leave me? Three is a crowd in the front of a pick up truck.
Mostly I've been too busy though to worry that much. It will be what it will be; I learned that bit of philosophical junk in the city. Besides Jace hasn't exactly given me a lot of reason to worry; at least not so far as I can tell. Then again for the last three nights he's said things like "you're a little too young to understand blah, blah, blah" and I'm thinking that Sunny has finally managed to get what she was after. They'd stay up late sitting practically on top of each other no matter how long I took to go get in the back end of the truck.
Enough of that. No sense in worrying about what I can't change.
Besides fishing and cooking Jace has been going over our orienteering skills. I know what those are after having to listen to Toddie and his friends as they earned their Boy Scout patches. As many times as they used to take me to the park and "lose" me so they could "find" me ... when they remembered to do the finding partof course ... it didn't take me long to pick up that stuff either. Knots were easy as well. Toddie and his friends used to tie me up plenty when they "lost" me in the park. They said it was so I wouldn't move around and really get lost but I heard Dad give Toddie a long lecture about his meanness too often to know there wasn't more to it than that. I suppose I was too dumb of a little sister to tell Toddie no when he would get up to mischief so Dad did what he could and taught me how to escape. That pretty much ended Toddie's reign of terror in my life. Apparently it's no fun when your victim doesn't need rescuing anymore.
Then there were the hunting lessons Jace gave. Definitely more of a challenge for me, and kinda frustrating. I had down the moving around quietly and tying the right kind of knots for the traps. It was knowing where to set the traps that I had to learn. Sunny had Jace to help her every time so she always seemed to get something but the one time I complained about it Jace growled at me and said that if I wanted to be self-sufficient and take care of myself I shouldn't expect him to help me the same way he was helping Sunny; that she needed him more than I did. Maybe she does and maybe she doesn't, I haven't decided if that's true or not yet.
I'm not letting it get me down though; more like I'm using it as a learning opportunity just like with everything else. I know he isn't being fair but I didn't agree to let him get me to Singing Waters because he is fair. He's really good at this hunting stuff and I need to learn. I just wish he wouldn't be so different with me than he is with her but I really don't guess I care anyway. So long as I learn, even if it is harder to learn this way, I'm satisfied. At least he isn't like Toddie about it and always making fun when I fail.
I am pretty sure - not positive mind you but definitely pretty sure - that Sunny isn't as slow about learning this stuff as she acts. She can do it better, she just acts like she needs Jace, and I can see from Jace's face that in a really warped way he needs her to be that way. Nope, Sunny may not be what you call super smart, but she is clever in ways I'm not. More power to her I suppose. I just hope I don't ever get to someplace where I have to act that way to get through life.
And Sunny isn't bad or anything. I read what I just wrote and it makes her sound like a coniving and mean kind of person but she isn't. She can actually be kinda sweet. Trust me, after dealing with the three witches back in school I know mean and conniving. Sunny isn't that way, at least I don't think so. If she was a little older and mouthier she'd remind me a bit of Sherry; one of those tough on the outside but gooey on the inside kind of people. Unfortunately for Sunny I don't think she is tough enough in the right ways.
Sunny and Sherry have the same coloring which is part of it I suppose; and Sunny is the same kinda pretty even though I think she is a little silly for putting on all of that make up when it is only going to draw biting bugs but whatever, its her skin. There is also something similar in their attitude towards guys. I suppose there are just things I'm not ever going to understand and one of them is girls that need guys to feel like real girls. Should probably add to that list guys that seem to only see the girls that act all limp wristed and needy but oh well. That's life.
Today we spent the day breaking down the last bit of the camp we've put together and getting it packed away. Apropos of nothing - I like that phrase by the way, my 6th grade Language Arts teacher used to use it alot - a couple of mornings ago Jace suddenly announces that we were leaving and that Sunny would be coming with us. Well I'd kinda been wondering about what Sunny was going to do but it would still have been nice to have been asked my thoughts rather than dictated to. On the other hand it is Jace's truck, I can't exactly pitch a fit about it but I was also told that I'd be sleeping in the cab and that they'd be sleeping the camper from here on out.
"It only makes sense DeeDee. You're alot shorter and won't be as cramped as I was and this way I can be close by for Sunny. She has nightmares you know."
Uh huh. Maybe she does but then again ....
Anyway, we've spent our last couple of days bringing in all the game and fish we could smoke and dry so we'd have meat on the road. Jace even brought in a deer but it was small and scrawny and looked like it had been living a freaked out life running from puss brains and people alike. Jace said that is why it tasted kinda funny. But beggars can't be choosers. We have canned stuff but Jace said we need to save it for when there is little to no hunting that can be done.
Jace has started to say fewer "you" things and say more "us" things. Which is good I suppose and something I have Sunny to thank for. But I look at our supplies from a cook's eye and see that what was a lot of food for one or two, isn't going to be near as much for three (or more if Jace picks up any more strays). I know Jace has been looking at the supplies too. We used up most of the food that Sunny had in her camp despite piecing it out with fish and stuff. I can see that he has something on his mind. And now instead of sleeping I'm back to wondering if what is on his mind includes me going out on my own earlier and a lot lighter than was originally planned.
I knew it has been a while since I'd written but I hadn't really paid attention to how long until I thought about writing tonight. I took a look at my homemade calendar out to put the date and the top of the page and just about freaked. Two weeks. We've been parked in this area for two whole weeks. I was just about ready to pick up and leave on my own when Jace and Sunny stopped ... well, I'm not sure what they've been up to and I'm pretty sure I don't want to know. Although I must admit the time hasn't been completely wasted.
Jace decided he could kill two birds with one stone - figuritively anyway - and started teaching both Sunny and I those survival skills he was going to teach just me. We've been doing a little bit of everything ... fishing, orienteering, and hunting. Fishing was a no brainer for me and we ate fish almost every day at one or two meals. I'd catch it and clean it and Sunny would cook it. I didn't complain, she really is a good cook. Since she seemed to be determined that she couldn't bake anything, in exchange for her teaching me how she did fish I taught her to make cornmeal patties ... they look like cornmeal pancakes ... so that she could have her bread without having to do any baking. She was so happy she jumped around and fell on top of Jace who had been sitting by the fire thinking. Instead of getting mad like I thought he would he actually laughed. Right there I started being more careful around Sunny. Jace didn't seem to notice what she was doing at the time, just looked on her being like I kid I guess. But I sure noticed. I'm still not sure what to think about it.
I never said anything, Jace is old enough that he shouldn't need my help to figure that sort of stuff out but it gave me the heebies. I know it sounds selfish; it did in my head and does even more written out here on this page. But I wonder now that Jace and Sunny have hooked up, where does that leave me? Three is a crowd in the front of a pick up truck.
Mostly I've been too busy though to worry that much. It will be what it will be; I learned that bit of philosophical junk in the city. Besides Jace hasn't exactly given me a lot of reason to worry; at least not so far as I can tell. Then again for the last three nights he's said things like "you're a little too young to understand blah, blah, blah" and I'm thinking that Sunny has finally managed to get what she was after. They'd stay up late sitting practically on top of each other no matter how long I took to go get in the back end of the truck.
Enough of that. No sense in worrying about what I can't change.
Besides fishing and cooking Jace has been going over our orienteering skills. I know what those are after having to listen to Toddie and his friends as they earned their Boy Scout patches. As many times as they used to take me to the park and "lose" me so they could "find" me ... when they remembered to do the finding partof course ... it didn't take me long to pick up that stuff either. Knots were easy as well. Toddie and his friends used to tie me up plenty when they "lost" me in the park. They said it was so I wouldn't move around and really get lost but I heard Dad give Toddie a long lecture about his meanness too often to know there wasn't more to it than that. I suppose I was too dumb of a little sister to tell Toddie no when he would get up to mischief so Dad did what he could and taught me how to escape. That pretty much ended Toddie's reign of terror in my life. Apparently it's no fun when your victim doesn't need rescuing anymore.
Then there were the hunting lessons Jace gave. Definitely more of a challenge for me, and kinda frustrating. I had down the moving around quietly and tying the right kind of knots for the traps. It was knowing where to set the traps that I had to learn. Sunny had Jace to help her every time so she always seemed to get something but the one time I complained about it Jace growled at me and said that if I wanted to be self-sufficient and take care of myself I shouldn't expect him to help me the same way he was helping Sunny; that she needed him more than I did. Maybe she does and maybe she doesn't, I haven't decided if that's true or not yet.
I'm not letting it get me down though; more like I'm using it as a learning opportunity just like with everything else. I know he isn't being fair but I didn't agree to let him get me to Singing Waters because he is fair. He's really good at this hunting stuff and I need to learn. I just wish he wouldn't be so different with me than he is with her but I really don't guess I care anyway. So long as I learn, even if it is harder to learn this way, I'm satisfied. At least he isn't like Toddie about it and always making fun when I fail.
I am pretty sure - not positive mind you but definitely pretty sure - that Sunny isn't as slow about learning this stuff as she acts. She can do it better, she just acts like she needs Jace, and I can see from Jace's face that in a really warped way he needs her to be that way. Nope, Sunny may not be what you call super smart, but she is clever in ways I'm not. More power to her I suppose. I just hope I don't ever get to someplace where I have to act that way to get through life.
And Sunny isn't bad or anything. I read what I just wrote and it makes her sound like a coniving and mean kind of person but she isn't. She can actually be kinda sweet. Trust me, after dealing with the three witches back in school I know mean and conniving. Sunny isn't that way, at least I don't think so. If she was a little older and mouthier she'd remind me a bit of Sherry; one of those tough on the outside but gooey on the inside kind of people. Unfortunately for Sunny I don't think she is tough enough in the right ways.
Sunny and Sherry have the same coloring which is part of it I suppose; and Sunny is the same kinda pretty even though I think she is a little silly for putting on all of that make up when it is only going to draw biting bugs but whatever, its her skin. There is also something similar in their attitude towards guys. I suppose there are just things I'm not ever going to understand and one of them is girls that need guys to feel like real girls. Should probably add to that list guys that seem to only see the girls that act all limp wristed and needy but oh well. That's life.
Today we spent the day breaking down the last bit of the camp we've put together and getting it packed away. Apropos of nothing - I like that phrase by the way, my 6th grade Language Arts teacher used to use it alot - a couple of mornings ago Jace suddenly announces that we were leaving and that Sunny would be coming with us. Well I'd kinda been wondering about what Sunny was going to do but it would still have been nice to have been asked my thoughts rather than dictated to. On the other hand it is Jace's truck, I can't exactly pitch a fit about it but I was also told that I'd be sleeping in the cab and that they'd be sleeping the camper from here on out.
"It only makes sense DeeDee. You're alot shorter and won't be as cramped as I was and this way I can be close by for Sunny. She has nightmares you know."
Uh huh. Maybe she does but then again ....
Anyway, we've spent our last couple of days bringing in all the game and fish we could smoke and dry so we'd have meat on the road. Jace even brought in a deer but it was small and scrawny and looked like it had been living a freaked out life running from puss brains and people alike. Jace said that is why it tasted kinda funny. But beggars can't be choosers. We have canned stuff but Jace said we need to save it for when there is little to no hunting that can be done.
Jace has started to say fewer "you" things and say more "us" things. Which is good I suppose and something I have Sunny to thank for. But I look at our supplies from a cook's eye and see that what was a lot of food for one or two, isn't going to be near as much for three (or more if Jace picks up any more strays). I know Jace has been looking at the supplies too. We used up most of the food that Sunny had in her camp despite piecing it out with fish and stuff. I can see that he has something on his mind. And now instead of sleeping I'm back to wondering if what is on his mind includes me going out on my own earlier and a lot lighter than was originally planned.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
OH nice another chapter thank you.
Part Thirty-Six
Been a couple of days since I've felt like writing. Got a rotten cold. Been in a rotten mood. I always get a cold this time of the year but its been really hard to deal with this time because apparently Sunny is a germophobe. Who would have thought it? She seems like an otherwise practical kind of person. It has made driving three in the cab interesting ... or not depending on which end of the "ew!" and "gross!" you are on.
It's not like I'm spewing snot all over the place; I am using a handkerchief for pity sake. And I wash it out every night and dry it so I can start clean the next day. I don't know what her damage is. During the day I'm scrunched up on one side of the seat and Sunny is practically riding in Jace's lap. I offered to ride in the camper but Sunny nearly fainted at the idea of then having to sleep where my germs had been. Well let me tell you, it didn't exactly thrill me to offer to have my germs where she and Jace have been ... er ... sleeping. Ick.
First night we stopped in this place called Plover. It was a little village type place. There were still people around but they were real standoffish and wouldn't let us get too far off the road. They set a guard on us. I could tell some of them were getting a little too interested in what was in the trailer so I made up some story that made it seem like the stuff might be contaminated.
After we got out of there early the next morning Jace tore me a new one shouting in the cab, "You know they could have just decided to kill us or burn us out! Why would you do something so lame brained as letting them think we were all contaminated!"
Trying to be reasonable even if wasn't I told him, "I didn't. A couple of them might have thought it was too big a risk but the rest of them weren't bad people and had some commonsense. They knew I was just BS-ing. The story saved them and us some grief having to deal with the few of their crew pushing too hard and creating a situation."
Jace ground his teeth and snarled, "That makes absolutely no sense."
I shrugged. I knew what I knew and there was no explaining it if he didn't want to listen. "Maybe it didn't make sense to you but it worked."
He snorted, "This time. But you better not pull another stunt like that. You aren't the only one here to worry about. Stop being so selfish. What would Sunny do if she got hung up in something that went sour like this could have?"
I didn't say it but I think Sunny would do just fine. She reminds me a bit of a cat, always landing on her feet.
Needless to say Jace wasn't happy with me for a while. Then he made me angry by saying it served me right to get the cold that started to come on around lunch time of that day. He acted like I'd done something just to put Sunny in danger and was getting my just desserts. Then Sunny started up with her germophobe act and I really got a headache.
I've got to admit some of this is my fault. I wanted Jace for a guard dog ... but I wanted him for my own guard dog. My problem was that I also expected him to think like a people and not just a dog. I'm getting more and more certain I'm going to have to break off and make my own way at some point. I'll hold out as long as I can. The weather looks to be turning bad and I don't want to have to walk or skate in it the rest of the way if I don't have to. Seriously bad timing for this cold anyway. It is almost the beginning of November and the days are getting cold, and the nights even colder.
Last night we didn't get far at all and stopped at this place on the map called Merrill which was just down the road from Wausau. We are stuck there again tonight. Why? Because we finally ran into real military types. I was in the middle of disposing of a puss brain I had put out of its misery when they just sort of walked out of an alley. That was a harry bit of explaining. Now I know how people must have felt when Dad took them in for questioning ... even if you haven't done anything wrong you still feel a little guilty at being caught. Bottom line though is that they aren't going to try and stop us from doing what we planned, they say it isn't their problem if we want to freeze to death this winter.
After following them back to what they called a holding area we were taken to a building to have things explained to us and for them to asked us some questions. The guy I got stuck with reminded me of the school guidance counselor. He was someone I wasn't real fond of since Dad had let slip that Mr. Whorter wasn't all that he should be after hours and I overheard him and Mom talking about Mr. Whorter getting caught in a "sting operation" at some lingerie shop that wasn't strictly a lingerie shop if you catch my drift.
The guy even had a squeaky voice like Mr. Whorter that to me was like fingernails on a chalkboard. "The only thing Miss Phillips is that we need a record of everyone for recovery purposes down the road. Think of it like a census; we trying to ascertain how many uninfected people remain in this country and beyond as well as how many of them are US citizens. We need your name, social security number, and any potential contacts and heirs."
Just cranky enough from my cold to need to act out I told him, "You've got my name. I can't remember my social security number. And all my contacts are dead. And I've never had any heirs. You can torture me I suppose but you'll wind up with the same answer."
The guy - Dr. Something or Other - gave a small smile like he found me funny for some reason and said, "It's not worth the effort to try and force the information out of you Miss Phillips; too much time and work involved when we have other things to do. Besides, I highly doubt you've got anything of that much interest for us to ponder anyway. So, if you'll give me your story we can let that suffice for the other information and be done in just a moment or two. That is what we are doing for most of the children."
I don't appreciate being lumped in with the "children" and was prepared to stick it to him. But I don't know how he did it; he pulled enough of my "story" out of me that he must have started to believe me and certainly take me more seriously. He was really scribbling then stopped and called in a transcriptionist and some guy in a uniform. Every time we got to a name they'd ask me some other questions. "Do you happen to know what Dr. Hanson's first name is? Or any of the other doctors?"
"Nope, not a clue. But Dr. Hanson has a daughter a little older than me named Michelle. Oh, and there was a medical doctor named Maria Riccardo that was part of Dr. Hanson's team but was actually not bad and stuck up for me in a doctor kind of way when the chips were down."
"Hmmm. And about Major Jeffries and the other ranking officers you encountered?"
"Look, I was only there a couple of days and we didn't make the greatest impression on each other. I liked Sgt. Watson but that's about it for the uniform types ... except for Sheriff Berio and his son Lee which I guess might be in the uniform types but not the military type uniforms. Doctor Riccardo was all right like I said, and then there was this young guy named Cochran though I don't know what rank he held or if he even had a rank, but all of the rest of that bunch are pretty much a blur."
They were also busy typing out all I knew of the names of the people that had been in the same group as me in the city and the names of people I'd run across. Or the names of people that I knew for a fact were dead and how I knew they were dead. I didn't know why on earth they wanted to know or how they were going to use the information. One of them mentioned something about it going into a big, national database for cross referencing to try and prevent insurance fraud of all things. It sounded like a lotta work for a little return but I let 'em ramble on.
I did learn by closing my mouth and opening my ears that St. Louis wasn't supposed to be cut off the way it had been; that it had been done by a splinter group of scientiests acting on their own based on some wild hair of a hypothesis they had developed. Sounds just about right with what little I know of the group that took over my town. I also found out that at some point they'd probably take my "deposition" and use it as part of the evidence to bring these scientists up on charges of insubordination or crimes against humanity or something along those lines.
Last thing I want to get in the middle of is a long, drawn out court battle. Dad said that they were the worst kind and you never really knew what the outcome would be. The best cases were cut and dry with some form of justice coming swiftly. Given all that has happened I'm beginning to wonder if there is just a thing as justice. You live the best you can. You die the best you can. What comes between the two seems to be mostly down to luck. What comes after is between you and God.
Sunny and Jace had to do their own bunch of talking but apparently not as much as me so they were at loose ends ... which they spent just hanging out with some people their age. When I got cut loose after being asked a bazillion questions, most of which I could just barely answer, I tried to join them but not being eighteen I got shut out. I was "too young." I've probably killed more puss brains than all of those kids put together but that was just not good enough. It was just like being around Toddie's bunch. Some things never change.
But that's why we are stuck here a second night. We are kept separate from the refugee camp. And those that aren't in the camp proper avoid us like we are contaminated. Some act like they are even scared of us ... the same way they are of the uniform types. That makes me uncomfortable. I heard the way some of the guards talk about the people in the camp; it wasn't very flattering. They compare them to sheep and cattle, like they don't have too many brains or are at least not smart enough to think for themselves. One guy said they were so dumb that if someone told them to look up during a rain storm they'd drown.
And the people have to work alot too ... and not on their schedule but as they are told to. Apparently they've been spending the spring and summer salvaging all of the food, clothing and other things all along the interstate and in other easily accessible places that don't have too many puss brains roaming around. You don't get to volunteer to go on these salvaging trips, you get drafted whether you want to or not. And if you aren't salvaging you are working in gardens, or cleaning, or doing whatever you are told to do, when you are told to do it. Days off are once or twice a month rather than once or twice a week. And you don't get paid. You do this so you can earn credits. These credits are what you use at the cafeteria to eat or to go to the supply house to get clothes or shoes or soap. There's a library you can use the credits at too but most people can barely keep up with feeding themselves and their family; entertainment isn't real high on the priority list.
Sounds like a hard life. But I suppose if all you care about is two meals a day and somebody to protect you from the puss brains that always seem to be popping up then it isn't a bad life. All I know is I wouldn't like it.
Been a couple of days since I've felt like writing. Got a rotten cold. Been in a rotten mood. I always get a cold this time of the year but its been really hard to deal with this time because apparently Sunny is a germophobe. Who would have thought it? She seems like an otherwise practical kind of person. It has made driving three in the cab interesting ... or not depending on which end of the "ew!" and "gross!" you are on.
It's not like I'm spewing snot all over the place; I am using a handkerchief for pity sake. And I wash it out every night and dry it so I can start clean the next day. I don't know what her damage is. During the day I'm scrunched up on one side of the seat and Sunny is practically riding in Jace's lap. I offered to ride in the camper but Sunny nearly fainted at the idea of then having to sleep where my germs had been. Well let me tell you, it didn't exactly thrill me to offer to have my germs where she and Jace have been ... er ... sleeping. Ick.
First night we stopped in this place called Plover. It was a little village type place. There were still people around but they were real standoffish and wouldn't let us get too far off the road. They set a guard on us. I could tell some of them were getting a little too interested in what was in the trailer so I made up some story that made it seem like the stuff might be contaminated.
After we got out of there early the next morning Jace tore me a new one shouting in the cab, "You know they could have just decided to kill us or burn us out! Why would you do something so lame brained as letting them think we were all contaminated!"
Trying to be reasonable even if wasn't I told him, "I didn't. A couple of them might have thought it was too big a risk but the rest of them weren't bad people and had some commonsense. They knew I was just BS-ing. The story saved them and us some grief having to deal with the few of their crew pushing too hard and creating a situation."
Jace ground his teeth and snarled, "That makes absolutely no sense."
I shrugged. I knew what I knew and there was no explaining it if he didn't want to listen. "Maybe it didn't make sense to you but it worked."
He snorted, "This time. But you better not pull another stunt like that. You aren't the only one here to worry about. Stop being so selfish. What would Sunny do if she got hung up in something that went sour like this could have?"
I didn't say it but I think Sunny would do just fine. She reminds me a bit of a cat, always landing on her feet.
Needless to say Jace wasn't happy with me for a while. Then he made me angry by saying it served me right to get the cold that started to come on around lunch time of that day. He acted like I'd done something just to put Sunny in danger and was getting my just desserts. Then Sunny started up with her germophobe act and I really got a headache.
I've got to admit some of this is my fault. I wanted Jace for a guard dog ... but I wanted him for my own guard dog. My problem was that I also expected him to think like a people and not just a dog. I'm getting more and more certain I'm going to have to break off and make my own way at some point. I'll hold out as long as I can. The weather looks to be turning bad and I don't want to have to walk or skate in it the rest of the way if I don't have to. Seriously bad timing for this cold anyway. It is almost the beginning of November and the days are getting cold, and the nights even colder.
Last night we didn't get far at all and stopped at this place on the map called Merrill which was just down the road from Wausau. We are stuck there again tonight. Why? Because we finally ran into real military types. I was in the middle of disposing of a puss brain I had put out of its misery when they just sort of walked out of an alley. That was a harry bit of explaining. Now I know how people must have felt when Dad took them in for questioning ... even if you haven't done anything wrong you still feel a little guilty at being caught. Bottom line though is that they aren't going to try and stop us from doing what we planned, they say it isn't their problem if we want to freeze to death this winter.
After following them back to what they called a holding area we were taken to a building to have things explained to us and for them to asked us some questions. The guy I got stuck with reminded me of the school guidance counselor. He was someone I wasn't real fond of since Dad had let slip that Mr. Whorter wasn't all that he should be after hours and I overheard him and Mom talking about Mr. Whorter getting caught in a "sting operation" at some lingerie shop that wasn't strictly a lingerie shop if you catch my drift.
The guy even had a squeaky voice like Mr. Whorter that to me was like fingernails on a chalkboard. "The only thing Miss Phillips is that we need a record of everyone for recovery purposes down the road. Think of it like a census; we trying to ascertain how many uninfected people remain in this country and beyond as well as how many of them are US citizens. We need your name, social security number, and any potential contacts and heirs."
Just cranky enough from my cold to need to act out I told him, "You've got my name. I can't remember my social security number. And all my contacts are dead. And I've never had any heirs. You can torture me I suppose but you'll wind up with the same answer."
The guy - Dr. Something or Other - gave a small smile like he found me funny for some reason and said, "It's not worth the effort to try and force the information out of you Miss Phillips; too much time and work involved when we have other things to do. Besides, I highly doubt you've got anything of that much interest for us to ponder anyway. So, if you'll give me your story we can let that suffice for the other information and be done in just a moment or two. That is what we are doing for most of the children."
I don't appreciate being lumped in with the "children" and was prepared to stick it to him. But I don't know how he did it; he pulled enough of my "story" out of me that he must have started to believe me and certainly take me more seriously. He was really scribbling then stopped and called in a transcriptionist and some guy in a uniform. Every time we got to a name they'd ask me some other questions. "Do you happen to know what Dr. Hanson's first name is? Or any of the other doctors?"
"Nope, not a clue. But Dr. Hanson has a daughter a little older than me named Michelle. Oh, and there was a medical doctor named Maria Riccardo that was part of Dr. Hanson's team but was actually not bad and stuck up for me in a doctor kind of way when the chips were down."
"Hmmm. And about Major Jeffries and the other ranking officers you encountered?"
"Look, I was only there a couple of days and we didn't make the greatest impression on each other. I liked Sgt. Watson but that's about it for the uniform types ... except for Sheriff Berio and his son Lee which I guess might be in the uniform types but not the military type uniforms. Doctor Riccardo was all right like I said, and then there was this young guy named Cochran though I don't know what rank he held or if he even had a rank, but all of the rest of that bunch are pretty much a blur."
They were also busy typing out all I knew of the names of the people that had been in the same group as me in the city and the names of people I'd run across. Or the names of people that I knew for a fact were dead and how I knew they were dead. I didn't know why on earth they wanted to know or how they were going to use the information. One of them mentioned something about it going into a big, national database for cross referencing to try and prevent insurance fraud of all things. It sounded like a lotta work for a little return but I let 'em ramble on.
I did learn by closing my mouth and opening my ears that St. Louis wasn't supposed to be cut off the way it had been; that it had been done by a splinter group of scientiests acting on their own based on some wild hair of a hypothesis they had developed. Sounds just about right with what little I know of the group that took over my town. I also found out that at some point they'd probably take my "deposition" and use it as part of the evidence to bring these scientists up on charges of insubordination or crimes against humanity or something along those lines.
Last thing I want to get in the middle of is a long, drawn out court battle. Dad said that they were the worst kind and you never really knew what the outcome would be. The best cases were cut and dry with some form of justice coming swiftly. Given all that has happened I'm beginning to wonder if there is just a thing as justice. You live the best you can. You die the best you can. What comes between the two seems to be mostly down to luck. What comes after is between you and God.
Sunny and Jace had to do their own bunch of talking but apparently not as much as me so they were at loose ends ... which they spent just hanging out with some people their age. When I got cut loose after being asked a bazillion questions, most of which I could just barely answer, I tried to join them but not being eighteen I got shut out. I was "too young." I've probably killed more puss brains than all of those kids put together but that was just not good enough. It was just like being around Toddie's bunch. Some things never change.
But that's why we are stuck here a second night. We are kept separate from the refugee camp. And those that aren't in the camp proper avoid us like we are contaminated. Some act like they are even scared of us ... the same way they are of the uniform types. That makes me uncomfortable. I heard the way some of the guards talk about the people in the camp; it wasn't very flattering. They compare them to sheep and cattle, like they don't have too many brains or are at least not smart enough to think for themselves. One guy said they were so dumb that if someone told them to look up during a rain storm they'd drown.
And the people have to work alot too ... and not on their schedule but as they are told to. Apparently they've been spending the spring and summer salvaging all of the food, clothing and other things all along the interstate and in other easily accessible places that don't have too many puss brains roaming around. You don't get to volunteer to go on these salvaging trips, you get drafted whether you want to or not. And if you aren't salvaging you are working in gardens, or cleaning, or doing whatever you are told to do, when you are told to do it. Days off are once or twice a month rather than once or twice a week. And you don't get paid. You do this so you can earn credits. These credits are what you use at the cafeteria to eat or to go to the supply house to get clothes or shoes or soap. There's a library you can use the credits at too but most people can barely keep up with feeding themselves and their family; entertainment isn't real high on the priority list.
Sounds like a hard life. But I suppose if all you care about is two meals a day and somebody to protect you from the puss brains that always seem to be popping up then it isn't a bad life. All I know is I wouldn't like it.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you Kathy, were you STILL up or had gotten up. Hope you got some sleep.
stjwelding
Veteran Member
Kathy just started reading your new story and am at the end of the first page. This is one great story and I am really glad to see you writing again, thanks and please keep writing.
Wayne
Wayne
Part Thirty-Seven
"We could have stayed. They said we could." Sunny's whining was getting on my nerves.
Jace sighed. "Sunny we've been over this. I promised DeeDee I'd get her where she was going. I owe her."
She turned to me and while pouting she asked, "Why do you want to go to some old camp away from other people anyway? Who will you talk to? Who will you live with?"
I sneezed into my hanky and then looked at Jace but didn't say anything.
She wouldn't let me leave it alone. "Well?"
Sighing I told her, "I'm going where I want to go. If I had stayed in the refugee camp someone else would have always been telling me where to go and when to go and what to do when I got there."
She tossed her head impatiently. "Well that's just stupid. First of all, you're just a kid and kids always have to have people telling them what to do. Gran always said so. Second, there was food there ... no tying knots or digging pits or anything like that; just open a can or box and there you go or better yet stand in a cafeteria line and get waited on. And there were police and real soldiers to keep away the infecteds and the bad people. So what if you had to work or listen to someone tell you what to do? It wouldn't kill you."
I sighed again and just looked out the window. "Sunny, you could have stayed. I told Jace he could stay if he wanted to. Whatever is between you two is none of my business. And whatever Jace thinks he owes me is done and over with."
She tried to turn to Jace but he popped some kind of techno music CD into the truck's stereo and turned it up just loud enough to make talking difficult. Jace is getting a little annoyed with Sunny I think because every time she turned back to start on him again he'd get a little crankier. Or maybe it is the driving that is making him that way. Military types wouldn't let us go any further north, said the road was completely out and that we had to turn west. Well it was west we wanted to go to begin with but the intel on the road we were using could have been a little better. They didn't say they hadn't really gotten around to cleaning it up yet.
It took us all day ... literally all of the daylight hours we had ... to go one hundred miles. The reason why it took so long is obvious when I consider how many times we had to get out and push cars out of our way. We off roaded when we could but it wasn't always possible. The other problem though was that Hwy 58 should have been called Puss Brain Alley. I'm really glad my nose it stuffed up. I've kinda gotten used to not smelly their dirty rotting waste smell. Everyone of them could likely have used several days in a rain storm to get some of the mess off of them and clean their clothes and coverings up.
It took a couple of times to get the kinks worked out of how we did things. "Jace, you are the one that has been going on about having a plan before we need one. Well, this is as good a time as any to see if I can make a plan that works so here it is ... when we hit a road block I'll hop out, pop the lock on the car, put it in gear while you cover me. Then I'll stand back and cover you while you push the car out of the way. Sunny stays in the truck, keeps it running and then moves it forward as we make a space."
Jace shook his head. "I don't like you being so exposed. That's isn't the way that I had meant for this to work."
I shrugged a little impatiently. "Jace, you want to babysit me or make sure that I have the experience necessary to stand on my own two feet?" He gave me his patented Jace-is-getting-PO'd look but his growl didn't scare me. "This is the way I lived for a whole year. At least we aren't boxed in like I've been when we were salvaging inside a building. I can do this. I've got your back."
He sadly shook his head. "This is supposed to be the other way around. I'm supposed to have your back."
"You do. I don't see the problem. We're a team. When you are a team you work together and cover for each other ... not only one person carrying all the burden alone."
He wasn't happy about it but he turned practical, I'll give him that. But it seemed that it became doubly important to him that Sunny be taken care of. Fine. Whatever. So long as we kept moving forward.
We are in some place called Bloomer of all things. Puss brains all over the place but kinda different puss brains from the ones I'm used to and even though I'm dying for some sleep I had to get this day off my chest. The puss brains around here still seem to think. Oh not real deep thoughts or anything like that as far as I can tell but they aren't all crazy and violent like the ones I'm used to. Their hunger is driving them just like the others but these infecteds around here ... they're scared of us. Most of them are anyway.
I think they've learned to stay away from trucks and guns. Taught them to stay away from bats today too. And no, I'm not trying to be funny or boastful. I had to put several down and unfortunately I made the mistake of looking one or two of them in the eyes. Somebody was home ... probably not the same somebody they were before they got infected but there was an animal intelligence in a couple of them.
For instance the cold slows them down. Doc thought it was because their metabolism slowed down, sorta the same way that reptiles slow down in the cold. But the puss brains around here, they are putting clothes on. And when they can't find more clothes to wear they'll throw something else on them. I saw one that was wearing a table cloth like a poncho. I'm telling you I'm not sure what to make of it and it bothers me.
Maybe they are stuck betwixt and between ... kinda infected, kinda not. Enough of them did try to chomp on us that I'm not going to change the way I handle puss brains but it does make my feelings hurt over having to destroy them. Makes me wonder if all puss brains are alike or if there is hope for some. Probably wouldn't be many and I don't know how to tell them apart from your run of the mill puss brain.
Maybe it is just too late and I need to stop worrying about it. But it is hard not to. Could there be a cure? Have I been murdering people that could be helped? Am I gonna have to answer to someone at some point? What about Judgment Day?
I just don't want to dream tonight. Please God, just one night without dreams.
"We could have stayed. They said we could." Sunny's whining was getting on my nerves.
Jace sighed. "Sunny we've been over this. I promised DeeDee I'd get her where she was going. I owe her."
She turned to me and while pouting she asked, "Why do you want to go to some old camp away from other people anyway? Who will you talk to? Who will you live with?"
I sneezed into my hanky and then looked at Jace but didn't say anything.
She wouldn't let me leave it alone. "Well?"
Sighing I told her, "I'm going where I want to go. If I had stayed in the refugee camp someone else would have always been telling me where to go and when to go and what to do when I got there."
She tossed her head impatiently. "Well that's just stupid. First of all, you're just a kid and kids always have to have people telling them what to do. Gran always said so. Second, there was food there ... no tying knots or digging pits or anything like that; just open a can or box and there you go or better yet stand in a cafeteria line and get waited on. And there were police and real soldiers to keep away the infecteds and the bad people. So what if you had to work or listen to someone tell you what to do? It wouldn't kill you."
I sighed again and just looked out the window. "Sunny, you could have stayed. I told Jace he could stay if he wanted to. Whatever is between you two is none of my business. And whatever Jace thinks he owes me is done and over with."
She tried to turn to Jace but he popped some kind of techno music CD into the truck's stereo and turned it up just loud enough to make talking difficult. Jace is getting a little annoyed with Sunny I think because every time she turned back to start on him again he'd get a little crankier. Or maybe it is the driving that is making him that way. Military types wouldn't let us go any further north, said the road was completely out and that we had to turn west. Well it was west we wanted to go to begin with but the intel on the road we were using could have been a little better. They didn't say they hadn't really gotten around to cleaning it up yet.
It took us all day ... literally all of the daylight hours we had ... to go one hundred miles. The reason why it took so long is obvious when I consider how many times we had to get out and push cars out of our way. We off roaded when we could but it wasn't always possible. The other problem though was that Hwy 58 should have been called Puss Brain Alley. I'm really glad my nose it stuffed up. I've kinda gotten used to not smelly their dirty rotting waste smell. Everyone of them could likely have used several days in a rain storm to get some of the mess off of them and clean their clothes and coverings up.
It took a couple of times to get the kinks worked out of how we did things. "Jace, you are the one that has been going on about having a plan before we need one. Well, this is as good a time as any to see if I can make a plan that works so here it is ... when we hit a road block I'll hop out, pop the lock on the car, put it in gear while you cover me. Then I'll stand back and cover you while you push the car out of the way. Sunny stays in the truck, keeps it running and then moves it forward as we make a space."
Jace shook his head. "I don't like you being so exposed. That's isn't the way that I had meant for this to work."
I shrugged a little impatiently. "Jace, you want to babysit me or make sure that I have the experience necessary to stand on my own two feet?" He gave me his patented Jace-is-getting-PO'd look but his growl didn't scare me. "This is the way I lived for a whole year. At least we aren't boxed in like I've been when we were salvaging inside a building. I can do this. I've got your back."
He sadly shook his head. "This is supposed to be the other way around. I'm supposed to have your back."
"You do. I don't see the problem. We're a team. When you are a team you work together and cover for each other ... not only one person carrying all the burden alone."
He wasn't happy about it but he turned practical, I'll give him that. But it seemed that it became doubly important to him that Sunny be taken care of. Fine. Whatever. So long as we kept moving forward.
We are in some place called Bloomer of all things. Puss brains all over the place but kinda different puss brains from the ones I'm used to and even though I'm dying for some sleep I had to get this day off my chest. The puss brains around here still seem to think. Oh not real deep thoughts or anything like that as far as I can tell but they aren't all crazy and violent like the ones I'm used to. Their hunger is driving them just like the others but these infecteds around here ... they're scared of us. Most of them are anyway.
I think they've learned to stay away from trucks and guns. Taught them to stay away from bats today too. And no, I'm not trying to be funny or boastful. I had to put several down and unfortunately I made the mistake of looking one or two of them in the eyes. Somebody was home ... probably not the same somebody they were before they got infected but there was an animal intelligence in a couple of them.
For instance the cold slows them down. Doc thought it was because their metabolism slowed down, sorta the same way that reptiles slow down in the cold. But the puss brains around here, they are putting clothes on. And when they can't find more clothes to wear they'll throw something else on them. I saw one that was wearing a table cloth like a poncho. I'm telling you I'm not sure what to make of it and it bothers me.
Maybe they are stuck betwixt and between ... kinda infected, kinda not. Enough of them did try to chomp on us that I'm not going to change the way I handle puss brains but it does make my feelings hurt over having to destroy them. Makes me wonder if all puss brains are alike or if there is hope for some. Probably wouldn't be many and I don't know how to tell them apart from your run of the mill puss brain.
Maybe it is just too late and I need to stop worrying about it. But it is hard not to. Could there be a cure? Have I been murdering people that could be helped? Am I gonna have to answer to someone at some point? What about Judgment Day?
I just don't want to dream tonight. Please God, just one night without dreams.
Part Thirty-Eight
We turned north this morning and the road is better but not by much. We stopped outside the town of Spooner. I remember the place because Dad always stopped here as it was the last stop before we entered the backcountry. We'd pick up any last minute groceries we needed at this little cash-only grocery store. We'd gas up one last time. Take one last look at "civilization" and then start on the last leg of our trip to the national forest.
Dad said that Main Street in Spooner hadn't really changed since he was a boy. Bet he wouldn't say that now. Every window was either blown out or boarded over. The marquis over what used to be a tiny theater read "The end of the world is here" ... or it would have except for all of the missing letters. The brick buildings were chipped and cracked by what looked like bullets. There was even a truck buried cab-first into the florist shop.
We got into town earlier than expected. We really didn't go far on the road today but we needed a little time to go over the entire truck and trailer and to make sure that we were ready to get about as away from civilization as I've ever been. There are a few more stops we can make the towns aren't much but dots on the map the few that had business districts of any kind were dying even before the world fell apart.
All in all it could be worse to be spending the night here but Sunny just cannot give up her quest to make herself and us just as miserable as she can. "I hate it here. Let's go back."
"Sunny ..."
"Jace, I'm scared."
"Shhhhh. It's all right. I'm here."
Ugh. But to be honest I think Sunny really is scared. She's always lived in the city. She doesn't understand and doesn't like the areas we have been travelling through; these areas aren't like an organized and manicured park. She sure doesn't like the proximity of the puss brains we've seen. In general she is freaking out.
I thought she had just gotten so tired from being freaked out that she went to bed early ... until I saw Jace slide something that looked like a pill bottle into his pocket. He jumped when he saw that I had seen. "She's ... she's ..."
"About to wig out. Yeah, I was pretty much sensing that," I told him and then blew my nose for the eleventy-dozenth time.
Jace looked like he was all prepared to defend himself but then shook his head. "I made a mistake. I thought she ... I thought she was like Clarey."
"Clarey a lightweight in the academic area?"
Rather than a fight about how I phrased it he shrugged. "Depended on the subject. She wasn't like Sunny. Clarey was just ... sweet ... defenseless ... very innocent."
"Which isn't what Sunny is. I mean I'm not saying she isn't nice but ..."
He looked at me from the corner of his eye and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah that pretty much covers it." He sighed. "I couldn't have left her but ... damn ... I've got myself in a real mess now. And dragged you and Sunny along for the ride."
"Whoa Jace. No one dragged me any place. I'm heading the direction I want to go. Whatever you decide to do about Sunny ... well that's your business and between you and her. Don't take this the wrong way but I'm not being pulled into something like that."
"No, that's not what I mean."
"Well, then just ... just get me close to where I mean to go, leave me a few supplies to get me started, and then head on out and ... I don't know ... take her back to that refugee camp she seems to want to stay at so bad."
"That's what she wants me to do. But I promised you ..."
"You've already delivered. To be honest I've been wondering if we'd get this far together. I kinda got the feeling you weren't exactly expecting to hang out over the winter."
He turned troubled eyes to me. "I'm not sure what I was thinking. I'm starting to think now, maybe clearer than I have in a while, and I'm thinking I must be nuts or something. Geez, you're just a kid really. I keep forgetting how young you are because of the stuff that comes out of your mouth." He shook his head. "You can't stay up in the wilderness by yourself no matter how many lessons I give you. You're not just a kid, you're a girl."
I sighed. "Let's not start that again. I don't need a babysitter Jace. It was nice to get a ride. It was great how you've been teaching me stuff and I appreciate it. But I never figured this was going to be a permanent arrangement."
Surprised he asked, "You didn't? Aren't you scared?"
"Kinda. I guess. I'm not sure. I might get that way. Depends on what I find when I finally get to Singing Waters. It's not like I haven't been scared before. As long as you don't let it take over, fear isn't necessarily a bad thing. Dad used to say that fear was a powerful motivator."
Jace nodded. "Let me ... let me think about this. I can't just leave you here alone ... but I can't take being shut up all winter with Sunny either. She'll drive us both crazy."
"Maybe. Or maybe she just needs time to get used to things. Some people don't do well with sudden or fast change. Give her some time and she might come around."
He shook his head. "There isn't much time to give her. Can't you smell it? Feel it? There's snow coming down someplace close by. We'll see it on the ground pretty soon. Wish I had tire chains."
"If wishes were horses ... I forget the rest of that."
Jace shook his head. "Let's check over the truck one more time. If we finish with that maybe we can see what is left in these buildings."
"Probably not much but it's worth a shot." And it was. Two to be exact. Jace put down one puss brain and Sunny another one. I didn't tell them so but I put down three in back of the old theater with my bat. Sunny was already hyperventilating, there was no need for me to make it worse. Jace noticed the fresh blood on the bat but didn't say anything then or later.
Now we are all tucked up and relatively safe. I'm eager for tomorrow. Soon. Sooner than soon. I'll finally know if my dream is still there or not.
We turned north this morning and the road is better but not by much. We stopped outside the town of Spooner. I remember the place because Dad always stopped here as it was the last stop before we entered the backcountry. We'd pick up any last minute groceries we needed at this little cash-only grocery store. We'd gas up one last time. Take one last look at "civilization" and then start on the last leg of our trip to the national forest.
Dad said that Main Street in Spooner hadn't really changed since he was a boy. Bet he wouldn't say that now. Every window was either blown out or boarded over. The marquis over what used to be a tiny theater read "The end of the world is here" ... or it would have except for all of the missing letters. The brick buildings were chipped and cracked by what looked like bullets. There was even a truck buried cab-first into the florist shop.
We got into town earlier than expected. We really didn't go far on the road today but we needed a little time to go over the entire truck and trailer and to make sure that we were ready to get about as away from civilization as I've ever been. There are a few more stops we can make the towns aren't much but dots on the map the few that had business districts of any kind were dying even before the world fell apart.
All in all it could be worse to be spending the night here but Sunny just cannot give up her quest to make herself and us just as miserable as she can. "I hate it here. Let's go back."
"Sunny ..."
"Jace, I'm scared."
"Shhhhh. It's all right. I'm here."
Ugh. But to be honest I think Sunny really is scared. She's always lived in the city. She doesn't understand and doesn't like the areas we have been travelling through; these areas aren't like an organized and manicured park. She sure doesn't like the proximity of the puss brains we've seen. In general she is freaking out.
I thought she had just gotten so tired from being freaked out that she went to bed early ... until I saw Jace slide something that looked like a pill bottle into his pocket. He jumped when he saw that I had seen. "She's ... she's ..."
"About to wig out. Yeah, I was pretty much sensing that," I told him and then blew my nose for the eleventy-dozenth time.
Jace looked like he was all prepared to defend himself but then shook his head. "I made a mistake. I thought she ... I thought she was like Clarey."
"Clarey a lightweight in the academic area?"
Rather than a fight about how I phrased it he shrugged. "Depended on the subject. She wasn't like Sunny. Clarey was just ... sweet ... defenseless ... very innocent."
"Which isn't what Sunny is. I mean I'm not saying she isn't nice but ..."
He looked at me from the corner of his eye and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah that pretty much covers it." He sighed. "I couldn't have left her but ... damn ... I've got myself in a real mess now. And dragged you and Sunny along for the ride."
"Whoa Jace. No one dragged me any place. I'm heading the direction I want to go. Whatever you decide to do about Sunny ... well that's your business and between you and her. Don't take this the wrong way but I'm not being pulled into something like that."
"No, that's not what I mean."
"Well, then just ... just get me close to where I mean to go, leave me a few supplies to get me started, and then head on out and ... I don't know ... take her back to that refugee camp she seems to want to stay at so bad."
"That's what she wants me to do. But I promised you ..."
"You've already delivered. To be honest I've been wondering if we'd get this far together. I kinda got the feeling you weren't exactly expecting to hang out over the winter."
He turned troubled eyes to me. "I'm not sure what I was thinking. I'm starting to think now, maybe clearer than I have in a while, and I'm thinking I must be nuts or something. Geez, you're just a kid really. I keep forgetting how young you are because of the stuff that comes out of your mouth." He shook his head. "You can't stay up in the wilderness by yourself no matter how many lessons I give you. You're not just a kid, you're a girl."
I sighed. "Let's not start that again. I don't need a babysitter Jace. It was nice to get a ride. It was great how you've been teaching me stuff and I appreciate it. But I never figured this was going to be a permanent arrangement."
Surprised he asked, "You didn't? Aren't you scared?"
"Kinda. I guess. I'm not sure. I might get that way. Depends on what I find when I finally get to Singing Waters. It's not like I haven't been scared before. As long as you don't let it take over, fear isn't necessarily a bad thing. Dad used to say that fear was a powerful motivator."
Jace nodded. "Let me ... let me think about this. I can't just leave you here alone ... but I can't take being shut up all winter with Sunny either. She'll drive us both crazy."
"Maybe. Or maybe she just needs time to get used to things. Some people don't do well with sudden or fast change. Give her some time and she might come around."
He shook his head. "There isn't much time to give her. Can't you smell it? Feel it? There's snow coming down someplace close by. We'll see it on the ground pretty soon. Wish I had tire chains."
"If wishes were horses ... I forget the rest of that."
Jace shook his head. "Let's check over the truck one more time. If we finish with that maybe we can see what is left in these buildings."
"Probably not much but it's worth a shot." And it was. Two to be exact. Jace put down one puss brain and Sunny another one. I didn't tell them so but I put down three in back of the old theater with my bat. Sunny was already hyperventilating, there was no need for me to make it worse. Jace noticed the fresh blood on the bat but didn't say anything then or later.
Now we are all tucked up and relatively safe. I'm eager for tomorrow. Soon. Sooner than soon. I'll finally know if my dream is still there or not.
Nature_Lover
Wait! What?
Thank You Kathy, very good story!
Part Thirty-Nine
OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Genevieve
working on it
lmao
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you 
maineforlife
Contributing Member
Please let the pus brains have got sunny!!
Part Forty
I still don't know how to write all this down. It has been weeks, longer than that maybe, since I've written anything down. Actually I know it has been longer than weeks, I just don't know how much longer. Days go by and they all seem the same. This is better than being in the city but kinda of harder too. OK, not kinda ... it has been harder.
I don't know what made me get the itch to pick up this notebook. Boredom more than likely. But once I picked it up I couldn't seem to put it down. It's like if I write down what has happened I can accept it. I know I have to but it has just been one thing right after another. I guess the only way to really get through this is to just do it. Even if it does make me cry, who is going to care?
I don't know why I'm even bothering. But maybe "journaling" it all out is best after all. For a long time now I've tried not to feel anything at all. Then suddenly I woke up and realized I wasn't just not feeling, I was forgetting how to feel. I know that is not good. If I forget how to feel it won't just be the bad stuff; I'm forgetting how the good stuff feels too. I'm forgetting that there has been good stuff in my life. I'm getting as frozen as the land around me has been. I'm not even sure what the day or date is.
Like Mr. Svenson would say, "The stars aren't out to guide me. Need to make a wind and blow the clouds out of the way."
It all started in Spooner I guess ... or maybe it was Ploomer where Sunny started thinking about what she was missing or disatisfied with what she'd got into or something. Or maybe it started when Jace started to realized he'd bit off a lot, or that jumping into bed for comfort or to be comforted by Sunny was a mistake, or maybe for Jace it started long before that. Yeah, for Jace it started way before that. All I do know is that Spooner, such as it was, was the last bit of peace I've had for a while.
This beginning stuff is hard and I've got a trap line to walk. I'm going to have to write some more on this some other time.
I still don't know how to write all this down. It has been weeks, longer than that maybe, since I've written anything down. Actually I know it has been longer than weeks, I just don't know how much longer. Days go by and they all seem the same. This is better than being in the city but kinda of harder too. OK, not kinda ... it has been harder.
I don't know what made me get the itch to pick up this notebook. Boredom more than likely. But once I picked it up I couldn't seem to put it down. It's like if I write down what has happened I can accept it. I know I have to but it has just been one thing right after another. I guess the only way to really get through this is to just do it. Even if it does make me cry, who is going to care?
I don't know why I'm even bothering. But maybe "journaling" it all out is best after all. For a long time now I've tried not to feel anything at all. Then suddenly I woke up and realized I wasn't just not feeling, I was forgetting how to feel. I know that is not good. If I forget how to feel it won't just be the bad stuff; I'm forgetting how the good stuff feels too. I'm forgetting that there has been good stuff in my life. I'm getting as frozen as the land around me has been. I'm not even sure what the day or date is.
Like Mr. Svenson would say, "The stars aren't out to guide me. Need to make a wind and blow the clouds out of the way."
It all started in Spooner I guess ... or maybe it was Ploomer where Sunny started thinking about what she was missing or disatisfied with what she'd got into or something. Or maybe it started when Jace started to realized he'd bit off a lot, or that jumping into bed for comfort or to be comforted by Sunny was a mistake, or maybe for Jace it started long before that. Yeah, for Jace it started way before that. All I do know is that Spooner, such as it was, was the last bit of peace I've had for a while.
This beginning stuff is hard and I've got a trap line to walk. I'm going to have to write some more on this some other time.
Part Forty-One
Spooner, WI. Main Street USA. The end of the beginning or the beginning of the end or some other stupid way of saying it marked a bad spot in the road. I'm not thinking too clearly. Late season blizzard is roaring outside and I can hardly hear myself think. I think this is a blizzard. Maybe it is just a storm. Maybe it isn't late season and the snow keeps going and going and going ...
Enough. The whole point of writing this out is to get control of the bugs crawling around in my head, not give them free rein.
Spooner. That's where we spent the night. We salvaged a few odds and ends from the town but not much. There wasn't that much left to salvage, certainly no food items. But we did find make up and Sunny had a fit and a bunch of fun picking out what she wanted to take. I started to remind her that Jace had said we had to be choosy because we were running heavy as it was.
"That's alright," Jace said over the top of me. "Just remember Sunny, take off all the packaging."
"Why?"
Patiently he explained to her, "So that it fits in the smallest space possible."
Thinking about it I saw the lightbulb go on when she figured it out. "Oh! Sure thing Jace." And then Sunny was finally sunny once again.
I went back to looking for anything useful in the back of the drugstore but looked up when Jace took my elbow and pulled me out back into the alley.
I asked, "What?"
He inhaled like he was going to say something then stopped, shook his head and then started again. "Thanks."
"For what?"
"For not making a scene. I ... I know. I just couldn't handle Sunny pouting and throwing a fit again today."
I shrugged. "She isn't a kid. You can't count on this working every time like it would with a kid." Carefully I looked at him and reminded him, "She isn't your Clarey and she isn't Sammy either. She's shook up but she strikes me as someone that could be alright if she has ... you know ... structure."
"Mebbe." Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small plastic store bag. "Here."
I took it gingerly and then looked inside. "Why?" I asked him.
He shrugged. "I know you don't wear war paint but ... I don't know ... I figured this ... look, you need some anyway."
Sunny picked that moment to come find us. She saw the two of us and asked suspiciously, "What's going on?"
I reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of an expensive brand of lip gloss and chapstick. I held them up for Sunny to see and said, "Lecture time." When she looked only half way relieved I asked her, "Did that lipstick you pick up have UV protection in it? Jace said unless I want to look like I've been sucking on a lemon for three years I better start using this stuff."
Then Sunny got all puffed up and said, "He's right. And we should make sure you have something for your hair. You are starting to look like you are wearing a rat's nest on your head. And and your skin ... you aren't broke out but you are dried out and are starting to get chapped and scaly looking." As Sunny dragged me back into the store Jace gave me a grateful look for my bit of misdirection. Yeah, it was a lie. I know it. Part of me is sorry for it but I also admit that a good part of me is not. Especially in hindsight.
After about an hour Jace said we needed to get going. The frost had melted and we were very close to being overloaded. The only good thing about running heavy is that the wind was less likely to blow us off the road. Sunny looked back at the rest of the stores along Main Street regretfully, like she would have really liked to have stayed and continued to explore, but she did get into the truck. She did ask to sit by the window insteadof next to Jace.
Jace - looking worried - asked her, "You ok Sunny?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Just want a little fresh air and that bump thing in the middle keeps hitting my knee."
"You should have said something earlier. We would have made sure ..."
Sunny shook her head. "No. I'm fine. I just have cramps."
Jace colored up at that and let it go really fast. I gave her a knowing girl look. Make up wasn't the only thing that Sunny had been salvaging for in the drug store and we agreed to split what we did find between us. It looked like it was going to be a better day. Little did any of us know.
Spooner, WI. Main Street USA. The end of the beginning or the beginning of the end or some other stupid way of saying it marked a bad spot in the road. I'm not thinking too clearly. Late season blizzard is roaring outside and I can hardly hear myself think. I think this is a blizzard. Maybe it is just a storm. Maybe it isn't late season and the snow keeps going and going and going ...
Enough. The whole point of writing this out is to get control of the bugs crawling around in my head, not give them free rein.
Spooner. That's where we spent the night. We salvaged a few odds and ends from the town but not much. There wasn't that much left to salvage, certainly no food items. But we did find make up and Sunny had a fit and a bunch of fun picking out what she wanted to take. I started to remind her that Jace had said we had to be choosy because we were running heavy as it was.
"That's alright," Jace said over the top of me. "Just remember Sunny, take off all the packaging."
"Why?"
Patiently he explained to her, "So that it fits in the smallest space possible."
Thinking about it I saw the lightbulb go on when she figured it out. "Oh! Sure thing Jace." And then Sunny was finally sunny once again.
I went back to looking for anything useful in the back of the drugstore but looked up when Jace took my elbow and pulled me out back into the alley.
I asked, "What?"
He inhaled like he was going to say something then stopped, shook his head and then started again. "Thanks."
"For what?"
"For not making a scene. I ... I know. I just couldn't handle Sunny pouting and throwing a fit again today."
I shrugged. "She isn't a kid. You can't count on this working every time like it would with a kid." Carefully I looked at him and reminded him, "She isn't your Clarey and she isn't Sammy either. She's shook up but she strikes me as someone that could be alright if she has ... you know ... structure."
"Mebbe." Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small plastic store bag. "Here."
I took it gingerly and then looked inside. "Why?" I asked him.
He shrugged. "I know you don't wear war paint but ... I don't know ... I figured this ... look, you need some anyway."
Sunny picked that moment to come find us. She saw the two of us and asked suspiciously, "What's going on?"
I reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of an expensive brand of lip gloss and chapstick. I held them up for Sunny to see and said, "Lecture time." When she looked only half way relieved I asked her, "Did that lipstick you pick up have UV protection in it? Jace said unless I want to look like I've been sucking on a lemon for three years I better start using this stuff."
Then Sunny got all puffed up and said, "He's right. And we should make sure you have something for your hair. You are starting to look like you are wearing a rat's nest on your head. And and your skin ... you aren't broke out but you are dried out and are starting to get chapped and scaly looking." As Sunny dragged me back into the store Jace gave me a grateful look for my bit of misdirection. Yeah, it was a lie. I know it. Part of me is sorry for it but I also admit that a good part of me is not. Especially in hindsight.
After about an hour Jace said we needed to get going. The frost had melted and we were very close to being overloaded. The only good thing about running heavy is that the wind was less likely to blow us off the road. Sunny looked back at the rest of the stores along Main Street regretfully, like she would have really liked to have stayed and continued to explore, but she did get into the truck. She did ask to sit by the window insteadof next to Jace.
Jace - looking worried - asked her, "You ok Sunny?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Just want a little fresh air and that bump thing in the middle keeps hitting my knee."
"You should have said something earlier. We would have made sure ..."
Sunny shook her head. "No. I'm fine. I just have cramps."
Jace colored up at that and let it go really fast. I gave her a knowing girl look. Make up wasn't the only thing that Sunny had been salvaging for in the drug store and we agreed to split what we did find between us. It looked like it was going to be a better day. Little did any of us know.
Part Forty-Two
"Road is clear, not even a wreck on the side of the road," I observed as we drove slowly along.
"Yeah. That's ...." Jace's voice trailed off.
"That's what?"
"Strange. It just looks like everyone stayed home. Like a Sunday morning."
I snorted. "Not where I come from. The only reason you didn't go to church on Sunday morning was if you were making funeral plans ... preferrably your own." I decided to exercise some of the mental muscles he'd been wanting me to build. "How's this as a hypothesis? We are up here in an area where people would have tried to evacuate to if there had been something bad happen. What if the people that were already here just decided to stay put ... not go out on the road?"
Jace thought about it and then looked at Sunny briefly before saying, "Sounds plausible. Most of the little places up this way are rentals or second homes. Maybe the people that would normally been up this way couldn't make it. Or they were evacuated before they could get here. Everyone keep your eyes out. If there are still people home up here they might not want strangers to come visiting uninvited."
We hadn't gone far when Sunny said, "We need to stop."
"Why? What did you see?"
"Huh?"
I looked at Jace but he still had the blank look of a clueless guy. Finally I had to jab him in the ribs and give him "the look."
"Oh. Oh! Uh ... uh ... yeah." He paused and asked, "Right now?"
Sunny shrugged and said, "A girl has needs."
Jace's face flamed again for some reason reminding me of Lee more than he ever had. All the girls in school knew that Lee was very easy to embarrass; all they had to do was raise female personal hygiene issues and he would practically run or puddle if he couldn't get away fast enough.
We had only gone about twenty miles and were at this little place called Stone Lake. Sign said there were approximately 700 year 'round residents, so when I say little I mean it was little. But as we got out of the truck I would have said it felt more like a population of zero. It wasn't but it felt that way.
We gave Sunny some privacy to take care of herself at a pit toilet near the lake. She came out and we debated looking through some of the homes that we could see on the hillsides surrounding the lake. They looked like nice places. Many of them looked like wood chalets.
Jace sighed. "I'd like to but it looks like snow. We need to get as far as we can. I don't want to get snowed in while we are still on the road."
I looked at Jace. "Snowed in? You mean we could get stuck someplace before we get to Singing Waters?!"
He nodded. "That's exactly what I mean. Let's get in the truck." He turned to Sunny and asked with a squeak in his voice, "You OK to go?"
She nodded. "Geez. It's just girl stuff. Don't flip a switch. Let's go. Now that I'm outta that smelly out house I can even smell the snow on the wind. Can't you?"
I couldn't but Jace nodded like he knew exactly what she was talking about. As a matter of fact I still couldn't smell anything. If I had ... if I only had.
"Road is clear, not even a wreck on the side of the road," I observed as we drove slowly along.
"Yeah. That's ...." Jace's voice trailed off.
"That's what?"
"Strange. It just looks like everyone stayed home. Like a Sunday morning."
I snorted. "Not where I come from. The only reason you didn't go to church on Sunday morning was if you were making funeral plans ... preferrably your own." I decided to exercise some of the mental muscles he'd been wanting me to build. "How's this as a hypothesis? We are up here in an area where people would have tried to evacuate to if there had been something bad happen. What if the people that were already here just decided to stay put ... not go out on the road?"
Jace thought about it and then looked at Sunny briefly before saying, "Sounds plausible. Most of the little places up this way are rentals or second homes. Maybe the people that would normally been up this way couldn't make it. Or they were evacuated before they could get here. Everyone keep your eyes out. If there are still people home up here they might not want strangers to come visiting uninvited."
We hadn't gone far when Sunny said, "We need to stop."
"Why? What did you see?"
"Huh?"
I looked at Jace but he still had the blank look of a clueless guy. Finally I had to jab him in the ribs and give him "the look."
"Oh. Oh! Uh ... uh ... yeah." He paused and asked, "Right now?"
Sunny shrugged and said, "A girl has needs."
Jace's face flamed again for some reason reminding me of Lee more than he ever had. All the girls in school knew that Lee was very easy to embarrass; all they had to do was raise female personal hygiene issues and he would practically run or puddle if he couldn't get away fast enough.
We had only gone about twenty miles and were at this little place called Stone Lake. Sign said there were approximately 700 year 'round residents, so when I say little I mean it was little. But as we got out of the truck I would have said it felt more like a population of zero. It wasn't but it felt that way.
We gave Sunny some privacy to take care of herself at a pit toilet near the lake. She came out and we debated looking through some of the homes that we could see on the hillsides surrounding the lake. They looked like nice places. Many of them looked like wood chalets.
Jace sighed. "I'd like to but it looks like snow. We need to get as far as we can. I don't want to get snowed in while we are still on the road."
I looked at Jace. "Snowed in? You mean we could get stuck someplace before we get to Singing Waters?!"
He nodded. "That's exactly what I mean. Let's get in the truck." He turned to Sunny and asked with a squeak in his voice, "You OK to go?"
She nodded. "Geez. It's just girl stuff. Don't flip a switch. Let's go. Now that I'm outta that smelly out house I can even smell the snow on the wind. Can't you?"
I couldn't but Jace nodded like he knew exactly what she was talking about. As a matter of fact I still couldn't smell anything. If I had ... if I only had.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Oh OH lCliff time lol.
Part Forty-Three
We got into the truck and Jace said, "Buckle up."
He had no sooner put the truck in gear than there was a crash on the passenger glass window and a hand tried to reach in and grab Sunny. We all yelled ... or I thought we'd all yelled. Jace floored the gas and we were slipping and sliding around only to discover we were surrounded.
I screamed, "Just run over them Jace!! Just run over them and get out of here before they pile on the trailer!!"
"What do you think I'm trying to do?!!"
We started bouncing around up the road away from the lake and I could feel the trailer pulling us this way and that though I didn't know what it was at the time. I could see that Jace was really struggling with the steering wheel. Struggling to keep the puss brains from holding onto the hood and other parts of the truck and trailer.
"Find me a hole DeeDee!" he yelled.
I looked and then pointed as a small gap in the horde opened up. We were finally free of them. It was still two or three miles before the last puss brain let go and fell off. Jace actually had to shoot the last one off as it tried to come in his side window. Cold air filled the cab. The truck was shuddering. Jace was shuddering. I was shuddering. And so was Sunny.
"Are you ok?"
Sunny was turned away from me. I though she was just scared or something. I repeated the question and then pulled slightly on her shoulder. She fell backwards toward me. Her eye was wide and staring. What I had thought was shuddering was actually some kind of seizure. A sliver of sharp wood had been thrust into her right eye by the first puss brain that attacked us. I was having a hard time believing what I was seeing for a lot of reasons but primarily because the puss brains had become smart enough in a group, or the one that had attacked the window wasn't so far gone, that a tool was used. I'd never seen anything like it and I'd seen a lot of puss brains. If that was the norm all of a sudden we were in some serious trouble.
Jace glanced to his right, looked back through the windshield, then jerked his head back to the right and stared horrified.
"JACE!!! Look out!!! Watch the road!!!"
We hit a bad place in the road and that pulled Jace's attention back to the road. He hunched around the steering wheel and drove like a flock of demons was after him while I did what little I could. I knew all I could do was stop the bleeding and hold her hand until Jace found a safe place to pull into.
We got into the truck and Jace said, "Buckle up."
He had no sooner put the truck in gear than there was a crash on the passenger glass window and a hand tried to reach in and grab Sunny. We all yelled ... or I thought we'd all yelled. Jace floored the gas and we were slipping and sliding around only to discover we were surrounded.
I screamed, "Just run over them Jace!! Just run over them and get out of here before they pile on the trailer!!"
"What do you think I'm trying to do?!!"
We started bouncing around up the road away from the lake and I could feel the trailer pulling us this way and that though I didn't know what it was at the time. I could see that Jace was really struggling with the steering wheel. Struggling to keep the puss brains from holding onto the hood and other parts of the truck and trailer.
"Find me a hole DeeDee!" he yelled.
I looked and then pointed as a small gap in the horde opened up. We were finally free of them. It was still two or three miles before the last puss brain let go and fell off. Jace actually had to shoot the last one off as it tried to come in his side window. Cold air filled the cab. The truck was shuddering. Jace was shuddering. I was shuddering. And so was Sunny.
"Are you ok?"
Sunny was turned away from me. I though she was just scared or something. I repeated the question and then pulled slightly on her shoulder. She fell backwards toward me. Her eye was wide and staring. What I had thought was shuddering was actually some kind of seizure. A sliver of sharp wood had been thrust into her right eye by the first puss brain that attacked us. I was having a hard time believing what I was seeing for a lot of reasons but primarily because the puss brains had become smart enough in a group, or the one that had attacked the window wasn't so far gone, that a tool was used. I'd never seen anything like it and I'd seen a lot of puss brains. If that was the norm all of a sudden we were in some serious trouble.
Jace glanced to his right, looked back through the windshield, then jerked his head back to the right and stared horrified.
"JACE!!! Look out!!! Watch the road!!!"
We hit a bad place in the road and that pulled Jace's attention back to the road. He hunched around the steering wheel and drove like a flock of demons was after him while I did what little I could. I knew all I could do was stop the bleeding and hold her hand until Jace found a safe place to pull into.
Nature_Lover
Wait! What?
Thank you Kathy!
Jeepcats 3
Contributing Member
Wow!
What a cliff episode!
You've got us all hanging on by our fingernails!
Moar Please!
Jeepcats3
What a cliff episode!
You've got us all hanging on by our fingernails!
Moar Please!
Jeepcats3
Part Forty-Four
There were no good places to pull off. Trust me, we both looked. All we could do was keep driving. We did stop long enough for me to jump out and get plastic and duct tape to try and do something about the freezing cold air coming in the windows.
I jumped back in the cab and Jace was holding Sunny and muttering to her. I couldn't understand what he was saying. I should have tried to do something more for him, for both of them, but I was too busy trying to get the repairs done quickly so we could keep going.
"She's not dead Jace," I told him when he finally put the truck in gear again.
"Not yet," he answered in a papery voice.
"Maybe not at all. I don't know yet. There wasn't that much blood. The ... the wood thing even just fell out on its own. The wound will need to be cleaned out but I can't do that yet. Her pulse is jumping all over the place but it is still there. I ... I think this is shock or something. I've got her bundled up the best I can. We just need to find some place we can stop. Until then ... just drive."
Like I wrote though, there weren't any good places to stop. Two hours later, two agonizing hours, we finally pulled into Ojibwa State Park. It was a little place that straddle a small piece of Hwy 70 right at the Chippewa River. Jace pulled right up to the Welcome Center and after we checked the place out - and I broke us in by crawling through a small window in the staff restroom - we carefully got Sunny out of the truck and laid her in front of a wood stove.
Jace jumped and nearly hysterical yelled, "Dammit! There's no wood!!"
As calmly as I could I told him, "Yes there is. There is a lean to out back. I saw it just a minute ago."
Doc - and I hadn't thought of him in a while though I suppose his inadvertent lessons will always be with me to some extent - had always said that being calm was sometimes the best medicine you could give someone. After getting Sunny out of the truck and really looking at the wound I had become convinced there was nothing I could do for her. What I had originally thought were tears of pain weren't. It was some kind of fluid leaking from behind the eye socket. I won't go into the gross parts. Suffice it to say that I had to clean the ruined and dead tissue out to prevent infection.
I don't know if I was being calm or cold. What I do remember is being less concerned that Sunny was going to die and more concerned about whether or not she was infected and wouldn't. I had no idea what kind of goo, if any, had been on the wood that had been used by the puss brain.
After bringing in a pile of wood and getting the fire going Jace all but collapsed. It reminded me of how he was after Sammy and John-John died. As minutes turned into hours and the day faded away I became more worried about him than about Sunny.
"It's my fault," he mumbled.
Those were the first words he'd spoken since he'd gone looking for the firewood.
"No it's not," I told him offering what little comfort I could come up with.
"Yeah. Yeah it is. Everyone that I promise to look after dies."
"I'm not dead," I reminded him.
"For how long?"
Nothing I could say after that could induce him to speak again. He refused to eat the soup I fixed. I had to keep draping a blanket around his shoulders to ward off the cold that was seeping in. If you took more than a few steps away from the stove you could see your breath. I couldn't sleep, I was too wired. I'd also found a stash of colas and had warmed one up to drink - caffiene and memories of my mom doing this flooded my brain and kept me occupied on something beside the silent lump that Jace had turned into.
About midnight Jace finally sat up and said, "You know, you're right. You aren't dead."
I blinked at him more and more worried at how he was acting. "No kidding," I told him wondering what was going on.
But then he started acting more normalish. "I ... I've taught you almost everything I know. Now it is just a matter of practice."
"Not everything. You still said I've got more work at navigating by the stars. And my trap placement needs some serious work. You also said you were going to teach me how to fish with a basket."
"That's nothing," he said with a more optimistic shrug than I'd seen in a while. "Practice and a half way decent book will make sure you get that down."
"You can learn this stuff from books?"
"Sure," he said. He wasn't grinning but he wasn't grimacing either. He was tucking a blanket more firmly around Sunny and brushing the hair off her face. What else could either one of us do? Death was a fact of life even before puss brains became the top predator in the world. I was just glad to see he was trying to accept reality and not off in la-la land. When he spoke again he said, "I thought you said your brother was a Boy Scout. They have all of these manuals for that sort of stuff."
"Yeah, I know. But my brother's troop always had real people come in and demonstrate or teach them so that they could sign off on the paperwork for the badge. Or they would go to camp and learn from an older scout. That sort of thing."
"Look, it isn't that hard," he said getting up and walking over to a display case of books. Using a small pen light he looked at their spines and then grabbed a few and brought them back. He also snagged something from behind the register.
He tossed the books in my lap and then took the something - which turned out to be a package of cocoa - and poured it and some hot water I had in our kettle out of habit into a mug.
"Open that one up that is on top. See? All sorts of instructions for constellations and how to identify and use them. And two of those books are on backcountry hiking and camping skills. What I haven't covered should be in those books. You don't need to overthink stuff, you just need to make sure that you pre-think stuff."
"Pre-think?" I asked as I sipped his peace offering of cocoa.
"Yeah. Like having a plan before you need one." He sat down beside Sunny again but reached back and pulled a pillow off the bench there and threw it to me. I put it between my back and the wooden column I was leaning against and got a little more comfortable.
Then Jace continued. "Some people survive because of dumb luck but not as many as the movies make it out to be. And then you have a few people that are uber-survivalists that can survive just about anywhere you drop them into. But mostly survival isn't about the equipment you have so much as the equipment you already have," he said tapping his forehead. "Pre-think something before you put your foot in it."
Rephrasing what he said I told him, "Think before you act."
"Exactly. But don't think something to death either. Think, then use what you know, and get it done. Trying to gather too many supplies or make a different plan for every situation imaginable is just as much a recipe for disaster as not thinking at all. Keep a basic pack with you at all times, even just walking around camp. Then when something happens you'll have the basic skills and basic equipment to formulate a plan through quick thinking. Got it?"
I yawned. "Yeah. I think so."
I leaned forward to put another log on the fire but he stopped me and said, "I'll do it. Why don't you take a break, or at least zone for a while. I'll ... I'll take care of Sunny. It's the least I can do."
"Don't Jace. Don't make this about you ... or me. It just is. Bad things happen. And sometimes ... sometimes people leave our lives. It isn't a matter of fault or blame or anything. It just is the way it is."
He looked at me for a long time before nodding. "I can see why you would think like that. Part of me is glad you do." We were quiet for a few more moments and I started to slide deeper into my coat.
"Get some rest DeeDee. You're going to need it. Tomorrow you learn to drive."
That woke me up. I sat up and asked, "Seriously?"
"Yeah, seriously. I should have taught you before now. I just didn't want to admit that ..."
"That what?"
"Nothing. Just get some rest. I'll take care of Sunny."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Yeah I'm sure."
I hadn't meant to sleep. It wasn't 'til later that I realized why I had suddenly gotten so tired when I had been so wired just moments earlier.
There were no good places to pull off. Trust me, we both looked. All we could do was keep driving. We did stop long enough for me to jump out and get plastic and duct tape to try and do something about the freezing cold air coming in the windows.
I jumped back in the cab and Jace was holding Sunny and muttering to her. I couldn't understand what he was saying. I should have tried to do something more for him, for both of them, but I was too busy trying to get the repairs done quickly so we could keep going.
"She's not dead Jace," I told him when he finally put the truck in gear again.
"Not yet," he answered in a papery voice.
"Maybe not at all. I don't know yet. There wasn't that much blood. The ... the wood thing even just fell out on its own. The wound will need to be cleaned out but I can't do that yet. Her pulse is jumping all over the place but it is still there. I ... I think this is shock or something. I've got her bundled up the best I can. We just need to find some place we can stop. Until then ... just drive."
Like I wrote though, there weren't any good places to stop. Two hours later, two agonizing hours, we finally pulled into Ojibwa State Park. It was a little place that straddle a small piece of Hwy 70 right at the Chippewa River. Jace pulled right up to the Welcome Center and after we checked the place out - and I broke us in by crawling through a small window in the staff restroom - we carefully got Sunny out of the truck and laid her in front of a wood stove.
Jace jumped and nearly hysterical yelled, "Dammit! There's no wood!!"
As calmly as I could I told him, "Yes there is. There is a lean to out back. I saw it just a minute ago."
Doc - and I hadn't thought of him in a while though I suppose his inadvertent lessons will always be with me to some extent - had always said that being calm was sometimes the best medicine you could give someone. After getting Sunny out of the truck and really looking at the wound I had become convinced there was nothing I could do for her. What I had originally thought were tears of pain weren't. It was some kind of fluid leaking from behind the eye socket. I won't go into the gross parts. Suffice it to say that I had to clean the ruined and dead tissue out to prevent infection.
I don't know if I was being calm or cold. What I do remember is being less concerned that Sunny was going to die and more concerned about whether or not she was infected and wouldn't. I had no idea what kind of goo, if any, had been on the wood that had been used by the puss brain.
After bringing in a pile of wood and getting the fire going Jace all but collapsed. It reminded me of how he was after Sammy and John-John died. As minutes turned into hours and the day faded away I became more worried about him than about Sunny.
"It's my fault," he mumbled.
Those were the first words he'd spoken since he'd gone looking for the firewood.
"No it's not," I told him offering what little comfort I could come up with.
"Yeah. Yeah it is. Everyone that I promise to look after dies."
"I'm not dead," I reminded him.
"For how long?"
Nothing I could say after that could induce him to speak again. He refused to eat the soup I fixed. I had to keep draping a blanket around his shoulders to ward off the cold that was seeping in. If you took more than a few steps away from the stove you could see your breath. I couldn't sleep, I was too wired. I'd also found a stash of colas and had warmed one up to drink - caffiene and memories of my mom doing this flooded my brain and kept me occupied on something beside the silent lump that Jace had turned into.
About midnight Jace finally sat up and said, "You know, you're right. You aren't dead."
I blinked at him more and more worried at how he was acting. "No kidding," I told him wondering what was going on.
But then he started acting more normalish. "I ... I've taught you almost everything I know. Now it is just a matter of practice."
"Not everything. You still said I've got more work at navigating by the stars. And my trap placement needs some serious work. You also said you were going to teach me how to fish with a basket."
"That's nothing," he said with a more optimistic shrug than I'd seen in a while. "Practice and a half way decent book will make sure you get that down."
"You can learn this stuff from books?"
"Sure," he said. He wasn't grinning but he wasn't grimacing either. He was tucking a blanket more firmly around Sunny and brushing the hair off her face. What else could either one of us do? Death was a fact of life even before puss brains became the top predator in the world. I was just glad to see he was trying to accept reality and not off in la-la land. When he spoke again he said, "I thought you said your brother was a Boy Scout. They have all of these manuals for that sort of stuff."
"Yeah, I know. But my brother's troop always had real people come in and demonstrate or teach them so that they could sign off on the paperwork for the badge. Or they would go to camp and learn from an older scout. That sort of thing."
"Look, it isn't that hard," he said getting up and walking over to a display case of books. Using a small pen light he looked at their spines and then grabbed a few and brought them back. He also snagged something from behind the register.
He tossed the books in my lap and then took the something - which turned out to be a package of cocoa - and poured it and some hot water I had in our kettle out of habit into a mug.
"Open that one up that is on top. See? All sorts of instructions for constellations and how to identify and use them. And two of those books are on backcountry hiking and camping skills. What I haven't covered should be in those books. You don't need to overthink stuff, you just need to make sure that you pre-think stuff."
"Pre-think?" I asked as I sipped his peace offering of cocoa.
"Yeah. Like having a plan before you need one." He sat down beside Sunny again but reached back and pulled a pillow off the bench there and threw it to me. I put it between my back and the wooden column I was leaning against and got a little more comfortable.
Then Jace continued. "Some people survive because of dumb luck but not as many as the movies make it out to be. And then you have a few people that are uber-survivalists that can survive just about anywhere you drop them into. But mostly survival isn't about the equipment you have so much as the equipment you already have," he said tapping his forehead. "Pre-think something before you put your foot in it."
Rephrasing what he said I told him, "Think before you act."
"Exactly. But don't think something to death either. Think, then use what you know, and get it done. Trying to gather too many supplies or make a different plan for every situation imaginable is just as much a recipe for disaster as not thinking at all. Keep a basic pack with you at all times, even just walking around camp. Then when something happens you'll have the basic skills and basic equipment to formulate a plan through quick thinking. Got it?"
I yawned. "Yeah. I think so."
I leaned forward to put another log on the fire but he stopped me and said, "I'll do it. Why don't you take a break, or at least zone for a while. I'll ... I'll take care of Sunny. It's the least I can do."
"Don't Jace. Don't make this about you ... or me. It just is. Bad things happen. And sometimes ... sometimes people leave our lives. It isn't a matter of fault or blame or anything. It just is the way it is."
He looked at me for a long time before nodding. "I can see why you would think like that. Part of me is glad you do." We were quiet for a few more moments and I started to slide deeper into my coat.
"Get some rest DeeDee. You're going to need it. Tomorrow you learn to drive."
That woke me up. I sat up and asked, "Seriously?"
"Yeah, seriously. I should have taught you before now. I just didn't want to admit that ..."
"That what?"
"Nothing. Just get some rest. I'll take care of Sunny."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Yeah I'm sure."
I hadn't meant to sleep. It wasn't 'til later that I realized why I had suddenly gotten so tired when I had been so wired just moments earlier.
Cascade Failure
Senior Member
Thanks for the new story Kathy. Great read so far.