Bert the Zombie

So much pain, thought Katie as consciousness began its offensive.  The warm sound of her giggling son was melting away. Don’t leave me, she begged, trying hard to stay wrapped in the sunlight that shown like a halo behind his head. The light was getting brighter, so bright that she couldn’t see his face anymore, just the outline of his body and then not even that.  With the light came more pain. She squeezed her eyes to shut it out.

Max’s sweet laughter was replaced by a new sound, something outside of her. Slowly, Katie remembered where she was. She was laying face down on a bed.  Her jeans were gone, or maybe they were still on one leg? She felt the heaviness of the leg that hung off the bed but she ached too much to try to move it.  The bright light in her head was so intense now that there was no point in trying to keep her eyes closed. There was no more darkness to hide behind, no corner of her mind in which to retreat.

Katie opened her eyes and froze. Bert was on the other bed, his face and chest dripping blood as he sat straddling Kyle, chewing slowly on the man’s entrails.  He looked away from her as he ate, out the window perhaps, but his back was not to her.  He could easily cast his eyes in her direction at any moment.

An agonized moan caught Bert’s attention and he turned his head quizzically toward the floor. He hissed, lips curling back over grey gums and teeth, then clambered off the far side of the bed toward the sound.  Katie could no longer see Bert but she didn’t have to wonder what happened to her rapist.  He shrieked with pain and helplessness as the monster tore into his wounds.  The rhythmic pounding of his boots kicking the wall threatened to shatter what was left of Katie’s sanity until suddenly everything stopped.

“Mommy,” she heard him whisper at the last.

Instead of pity, Katie felt her own lips peel back in a sneer. Better you than me, you bastard.

Silently she slid off the bed.  She was close to the door but she didn’t know how fast he could move.  Naked from the waist down, she crawled toward the door while Bert continued tearing into Bobby on the other side of the room.  His whimpers had been replaced by the wet smacking and sucking sounds of Bert enjoying his lunch.

Staying low, she slipped into her jeans and picked up the baseball bat lying on the floor next to the bed. The broken door made no sound as she used her bat to prop it open.  She looked out onto the hall way and down to the deserted pool.  Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself then ran back into the room to grab the gun and the backpack that still sat on the table next to the TV.

Bert’s head popped up at the sound of bottles crashing to the floor and his own moan was nothing like Bobby’s pained cry. Katie was out the door before he could get to his feet and she ran through the building screaming for Jolie, yelling at anyone she saw to run, the monsters had arrived.

- Bobby and Kyle -

Bert guided Katie back out into the sunlight.  “Let’s check all the rooms,” he said.

“They’re only fourteen years old.”  Katie said it under her breath but she knew they had to look.

Her heart beat madly and sweat stung her eyes as they knocked on door after door, calling out for Jolie and Chris as they went. From the second floor they could see the traffic on the street. The anger and frustration they had left behind at the gas station had made its way onto Main Street.  Boards were being pried off shop doors and they watched a man break a window to get inside a restaurant.

“Are they looting those places?” Katie asked.  Bert looked grim.

“It’s starting. We need to find the kids and get out of here.  Take this floor, I’ll take the third.”

“What’s starting?” she called after him, but she knew. Fear was driving people to act out of character.  She remembered the man with the shotgun at the gas station and started running from door to door, knocking and trying each to see if it would open.

A strange smell came from one of the doors and she knew someone was inside. The smell wasn’t pot, but something else.  She knocked and waited.  A guy with bad acne opened the door.

“Are you here for the party?” he asked with a smile, obviously high.

The smoke inside the room was thick and the curtains were closed, making the room dim.  Another voice came from the bathroom, “Come on in! We’re just getting started!”

Jolie hesitated at the door, her baseball bat hanging from her right hand. “I’m looking for my daughter and her friend.”

“There’s some chick in here, I don’t know if she’s your daughter, she’s not really talking,” the guy in front of her laughed.  Katie pushed past him to see inside.

Most of the smoke was near the bathroom and the door. Once inside she could see that the room was empty but for a mess of crushed cans of cheap beer and overflowing ashtrays.  The two beds were unmade and covered with with towels and tee shirts.  There were two backpacks on one of the beds with what Katie immediately recognized as climbing gear.  Another small daypack was on the desk surrounded by a small arsenal of pill bottles.  Katie whipped around just as the guy from the bathroom grabbed her bat.

“You here to play?” he asked her, raising her bat to his shoulder and posing like a hitter.  Both of the guys laughed.

“Is anyone else in the bathroom?” Katie asked in a loud voice, trying to edge her way around bat boy toward the door.  “I’m trying to find my daughter.”  She tried not to let them see how scared she was.

“Nah, I was just joking,” said zit face.  “We were just wishing for company and then you knocked.” He smiled but it wasn’t a reassuring smile. He offered her a clear glass pipe. “Want a smoke? Beer?”

“I have to go. Can I have my bat please?”  She stood by the door, ready to run out.

Zit face laughed cheerfully.  “Sure thing,” he said, holding out the bat for her. As she reached to grab it he shoved the bat in her stomach, smashing her into the door.  She slid down to the floor, unable to breathe.

“She’s hurting my feelings, Bobby. Is she hurting your feelings?” Zit faced stood over her, watching her try to pull herself up.

Bobby flopped down on to the bed, “Be nice to have some company,” he called out. “That would make me feel better.”

Katie screamed in pain as Zit face grabbed her hair and pulled her into the room.  He shoved her onto the closest bed.

“You should apologize,” he said. “I’ve got a good idea how you can make it up to us.”

Katie scrambled to get away from her attackers, backing herself into the wall between the bed and the bathroom.  Too afraid to speak, she looked for a weapon. Her bat was still by the door. Too far.  She watched Bobby roll off the other bed toward her.

“Aw, don’t be like that,” he said.  “You’re making my buddy mad and you do not want to piss off Kyle.” He started laughing.  “You really don’t want to piss off Kyle.”

Katie grabbed the lamp from the nightstand and swung it at Bobby’s head, barely missing him.

He snarled at her and grabbed the lamp, throwing it across the room and then he was on her, hitting her with his fists. She crumpled into a ball trying to protect herself as punch after punch connected with her head and body.

A gunshot broke Bobby’s concentration.  “What the fuck?” he yelled, looking back at Kyle.

Kyle was pointing a gun at him.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Bobby yelled at him again.

Kyle was silent for another moment and then pointed the gun down.  “You’re damaging my date,” he said.

Bobby looked down at Katie who was balled up tightly, bloody and gasping for breath.  “Oops,” he said, sitting down on the bed.  “I did it again.”  Both men started laughing.

Katie stayed down, trying not to lose consciousness.  Her head was screaming with pain and she thought she might have broken ribs.  She could barely breathe.  Her mouth was full of blood but she was afraid to spit, afraid to call attention to herself.

“Katie, you in there?” Bert yelled from outside the door.  “Katie!”

She couldn’t stop herself from looking up at the sound.  She watched Kyle point the gun at the door and yelled “No!” just as Bert kicked it open.

Bert went down hard with a bullet in his chest.  His face was turned toward Katie and she saw the light die from his eyes as she tried to crawl to him.

“Shit, get him away from the door!” Bobby told Kyle.

Kyle dragged Bert’s body in, but the broken door would not stay shut.  They dumped him on the far side of the room, under the window and turned back to Katie.

“How you feelin’ babe?” Bobby asked gently. “You ready to play now?” He pulled her to her feet.

Katie’s brain had gone numb.  She could feel the pain in her body and she knew she was about to die but she couldn’t help herself. She spit a mouthful of blood in Bobby’s face.  His fist in her face was the last thing she knew.

- TV News -

“Contact with the quarantined areas is impossible,” the reporter said. “Without power, cell towers and internet relay stations are dead.  The army reports they are doing their best to fix this while containing the epidemic.  Our questions with regard to specifics, frankly any specifics, have been met with silence.  We do not know how far the boundaries of the quarantined area run.  We have had some contact with individuals from the eastern parts of California, Oregon and Washington but none of these individuals have seen anything like the videos we were showing you yesterday.”

Katie watched as several people lost interest and wandered out.

“I guess it’s just right along the coast,’ said a man wearing khaki shorts and a tee shirt that read ‘#1 Dad.’  His wife tisked and reminded him that they had friends ‘on the coast’ and they should pray for their safety.

The reporter continued, “We do have video of a large military build up that seems to be heading for each of the main cities in the three infected states. Army General John J. Jones said in a written statement yesterday that the vehicles were for medical needs and to help local law enforcement enforce martial law until the epidemic can be contained.”

She looked off camera for a moment and frowned. “I’m just getting news that the President’s speech has been postponed.  It appears that he has been moved to a bunker for his safety. The Vice President will speak to reporters at a time to be announced.”

Disgusted, the reporter leaned forward, resting her chin in her hands.  She looked into the camera for a moment then said, “Folks, I’m sorry for the poor quality of reporting.  We have nothing new to add at this point because we have no access to anyone who knows what’s going on.  If I were you, regardless of where you are, I’d stay safe inside your home.”  With that, she got up and walked off screen.  “I’m done, fucking shoot me!” they could hear her say and then the TV cut to a commercial.

- Town -

“He said there wasn’t any traffic,” Katie told Bert as they drove slowly on the congested road into town.  “He said the highway was empty, that the town was quiet.”

Bert didn’t take his eyes off the road. “Anyone with a brain will be trying to escape the cities and surrounding areas. But for all these cars to be on the road all of a sudden… Shit. This isn’t good.”

Katie had the impression he was talking to himself.

“It’s spreading too fast,” he continued. “Road blocks are failing. Guard is losing it. They don’t have control.”

“Who’s losing it What do you mean?” she asked.

“The National Guard.  They had the roads blocked. They were trying to contain the infected.  It’s some sort of rabies, I think. I don’t know. I’ve seen people go rabid within minutes of being attacked. Others didn’t get sick at all.”

“Is that what happened to your leg?” she asked him gently.  “Did someone bite you?”

Bert clenched his jaw shut then sighed.  “Yeah, but it’s not too bad.  She mostly got boot leather.”  His voice was hard and cold.

“She?” Katie asked,  “A woman bit you?”  She couldn’t picture a woman acting like the maniac on the trail.  All the violent crazies in her imagination were men.

“A girl,” he mumbled. “Janey’s age.  I had to put her down.”

“Oh my god, you… killed her?”

Bert veered over to the side of the road, slamming on the brakes. He kept his white knuckled fists on the steering wheel but looked hard at Katie.

“She was dead already,” he said. “Do you know anything about rabies? There’s no cure.  Anyone who gets sick has to be put down.  I put down a lot of rabid people on my way out.

“They don’t ask questions, lady, and they certainly don’t answer them. They don’t think, from what I could see, but they are vicious.  You better wrap your head around that or you’re going to you and your family killed.”  He faced forward again and pulled back onto the road.

“There’s a gas station up ahead,” Katie said after a few minutes. She didn’t know how to respond and didn’t want to relive her own horror just to prove that she wasn’t ignorant of the danger.  Not until she got Jolie back, then she could deal with the rest.  First Jolie, then get back to Max, then find a place to hide until help comes. Katie was not a religious person but it felt like a prayer.

The gas station in front of the large chain grocery store was closed but Bert pulled in anyway.  With a tire iron from Katie’s trunk, he pried the board off the front door of the station.  Katie sat in the driver’s seat with the engine running, ready for a fast escape. She realized nervously that the police were the least of her worries.  She scanned through the radio stations but it was all fuzzy noise.

A car pulled off the highway and up to a pump beside her, followed by another.  Within minutes there was a long line of cars behind them.  Katie gave the horn a little pressure to warn Bert, who came out with a bag in one hand and the tire iron in the other.  She realized for the first time that he had a gun stuffed in the waist of his pants.

He dropped the bag on the passenger side and then started pumping gas.

A man called out from another car, “Hey, can we get some gas too?”

Bert nodded.  “Generator is on, you’re good to go,” he said.

He pulled the gun out of his belt and held it casually, pointing down, while he leaned against the car, watching more cars line up.

It seemed to take forever to fill the tank. “Come on! Move it,” someone yelled from the back of the line.

“Wait your damn turn,” the man pumping gas next to them yelled back.

With the sound of slamming doors, frustrated drivers started walking toward the front of the line to see what was taking so long.  An angry man in a Seahawks tee shirt angrily approached Bert, only to get a gun pointed at his face.

“Turn around and go back to your car,” Bert said loudly.  “All of you, get back in your cars and wait your turn.”

Seahawks was shocked and immediately returned to his car.  Katie heard someone yell about “having guns, too” as Bert opened her door and told her to scoot over.  He raced out of the gas station and back onto the road that quickly became the main road into town.

“It’s like the wild west out there,” Katie giggled, then clapped a hand over her mouth.

He looked at her strangely for a moment.  “So where exactly are we going?”

They crossed a bridge, made a left and entered Main Street. Katie looked up and down the street, surprised to see all the buildings boarded up.

“There!” she said, pointing to a painted mural of a cornucopia filled fruit and vegetables.  The parking lot was accessible from the next left but she could already see between buildings that people were standing on the sidewalk chatting.

Katie saw the RV at once and directed Bert to park next to it and stay put.  “I don’t want you to scare people,” she told him, hopping out.

“Hey there,” said Tara, a pleasant woman emptying a cart full of groceries into the RV.  “You looking for the kids?”

Katie forced herself to smile.  “I am. Chris’ father made it out from Seattle and would love to see his son.”  She lifted a bag from the cart to help the woman unload.  “Where can I find them?”

“I think they decided to go for a swim,” she said.  “It’s awfully hot today and they were excited to find swimming suits in the grocery store.  Did you check by the pool?”

Katie tapped her foot nervously.  “No. Where’s the pool?”  she heard her own car door open and knew Bert would be making his way over from the other side of the RV.

“So what’s the story?” he asked, ignoring the greeting from the woman now standing next to Katie.

The woman pointed further into town.  “Main road, it’s called the Alpine, I think. You can’t miss it, it’s one of those… half timbers, they’re called.  And it’s got an iron fence around it.”  She looked at Bert thoughtfully.  “Your son is sure going to be pleased to see you. Anyone could tell he was worried.”

“Not worried enough to stay put,” he grumbled in response.  Then to Katie, “Let’s go.”

Katie thanked the woman and got back into the car.  “We didn’t pack swimsuits,” she said, nervously. “We left Thorn Ridge so quickly.”

“You came from Thorn Ridge?”

“Yes, we saw one of those… rabid people.  He was in our neighborhood,” she said, shuddering at the memory of their departure.  She put her hand on her baseball bat, still resting in the well of the passenger seat.

Bert punched the dashboard with his fist. “My parents are in Thorn Ridge.”

He saw the hotel ahead and pulled into the parking lot looking for a space.  “Shit, there are lot of people here.”

“You need to keep your gun hidden,” Katie told him.  “You’ll just panic everyone if you start waving it around.” She climbed out of her car with her baseball bat.

“And what about you?”

Katie looked at the bat and giggled. “Do I look threatening to you?”

Bert frowned and walked toward the gate.  Katie stopped him with gentle hand on his arm.

“Look, if anything happens to me, you get our kids out of there. Take my car. You take my son and my dog with you, too.    Cody hates the maniacs.  He’ll protect you.”

Bert tucked his gun into a holster on his uninjured leg.  As he crouched forward, he exposed the wound on his left calf. The bandage was thick with congealed black blood.

“Does it hurt?” she asked, as he stood up again.

“Nope,” he said, walking off.  Then he stopped.  “Nothing is going to happen in there, we’re going to get in and out fast.”

They could hear kids in the pool, yelling and laughing. The sound hardly inspired fear.

“But if anything happens to me, same rules.  You take my family with you,” he said. “Robyn is stronger than you think.”  He looked her in the eyes. “You are too.  There are maps in that bag I got from the gas station.  Bring food, water and firewood.  Water is very important, more important than food, do you understand?” He waited until Katie nodded, then went on.  “Do you know how to shoot a gun?”

Katie shook her head.  “I hate guns,” she laughed.  “Too bad for me, huh?”

“I’ll teach you when we have a minute.  Lets go.”  He walked off, expecting her to follow.

The seven foot iron fence that circled the hotel was open.  Bert closed the gate carefully behind them.

They followed the sounds of splashing and were greeted by the most unexpected view of families playing in and around the pool. Several women in bikinis chatted on lawn chairs while children yelled “marco” and “polo” in the shallow area.

Katie felt for a moment like she had fallen through the looking glass. No one looked up or seemed to notice them as they threaded their way through the small crowd.

“Jolie!” Katie called, trying to sound relaxed.  The scene was surreal to her, even the colors of the grass and the pool looked wrong.  She looked to see if Bert was experiencing the same emotion but he was carefully scanning  every corner as they made their rounds.  “Jolie!” she said louder.

“Hey Katie!” Lucy said from where she sat dangling her legs in the pool. “They might be in the lobby. There’s a TV.  I… couldn’t watch anymore.”

Bert made for the lobby so Katie followed, not knowing what to say to Lucy.  They entered the cool shade of the building, following the sound of the television. As their eyes adjusting to the dark they saw a small crowd of adults watching a reporter talking. Katie sucked in a breath and stopped to listen.

- Gone -

His olive green pants were covered in dried brown and red stains.  He had scratches on his arms and a bandage on his calf that peeked out from several tears in the fabric of his pants. He looked like he had been rolling around on barbed wire. He notices their glances and stood up.

“Where’s your brother?” he asked the girls then looked at his wife.

Robyn smiled and assured him that Chris would be there momentarily.  She led him back to their campsite, prattling on about their vacation and what they’d done while he’d been away.

Katie stayed with Ron as the family walked away together.

“Well, she knew he’d make it,” Katie said.  She felt relief for her friend, and envy, wishing her own husband would magically appear on the driveway.  Her discomfort had not abated.

Ron looked around the campground and smiled. “Seems it’s a good day,” he said.  “People working together.  Families back together.  Yep, it sure looks like a good day.”  He put a hand on Katie’s shoulder, pulling her attention back to him.

“Now why didn’t you take the kids into town?  A little bit of normalcy would be good for you.” He held her brown eyes with his own sparkly blue ones.  “You and the kids have been through so much, you could use a little break.”

“You’ve been wonderful to us, Ron.  I don’t know what we would have done without you and Maria…” Katie looked around the grounds as she spoke, a horrible thought dawning on her. “I need to find Jolie and Chris.”  As she said it, she knew where they were and she could tell that Ron had the same realization.

“Oh my god, No.  NO!” She ran back to the tent where Max sat talking to Cody who was tied to a tree.

“Where’s Jolie?” she asked him, certain that he knew.  She watched his cheeks turn red and he looked down at his feet.

“Max, tell me where your sister is!”

Seeing Robyn and Bert headed toward them, she said more quietly, “Max tell me now. I guarantee you don’t want Chris’ dad to ask you.”  Max looked up, panicked.

“They caught a ride to town with Tara and Bill,” he said quickly, starting to cry.  “They knew you’d say no.”

He ran to hug Cody as the dog began growling again at Bert. “Chris said you’re going to take them away!”

Bert turned angrily to his wife, “What’s he talking about?”

“I knew you were coming, honey,” she said. “I knew you’d get us to safety.  I invited Katie and the kids to come with us,” she trailed off as Bert looked about to explode.

“Get you out of here?” he yelled.  “This was the safest place you could be until that idiot let everyone go to town. Ladies, you have no idea how dangerous it is out there. The town is not safe. No town is safe!” He stopped when he saw the faces of his girls.

“Daddy, are the monsters going to get us?” his eldest daughter, Janie, asked.  She was holding hands with the twins while Robyn lifted the toddler into her arms.  They were all in tears.

“No, honey. I won’t let the monsters anywhere near you.” He turned back to his wife, keeping his voice even. “We’re safe here for the moment but we need to get moving before everyone gets back if possible. We need to find Chris and move on because we’ll have no way of knowing if anyone who’s been to town has caught the disease.”  He looked around the campground and then focused on Katie’s Durango.  “You have gas in that?” he asked.

“Maybe a quarter tank.  Enough to go into town and get the kids,” she said, opening the car door to get her purse.  “But how will we find them?” she asked.  She fished out the keys, holding them up.

“We’ll just have to see when we see,” he said.  “Let’s go.”

“Wait!” Robyn said, nervously.  “Don’t you want something to eat first?  You look so tired.” She was loath to let him leave again when he’d just shown up.

“Robyn, I need to get Chris and pick up a bigger car.  We need a vehicle and we need to get out of here before the place is crawling with the rabid.  We’re going to find ourselves an empty little cabin in the woods and hole up for a while.”  He saw that their campsite had already been taken down and organized. He smiled at his wife, slapping her butt.

“You’ve done great, babe.  Now get the girls fed, keep them right here until I get back.  If anyone comes from town before I get back, take the girls across the creek and stay there. Do NOT interact with anyone.”  He took Katie’s keys from her hand.  “I’ll drive.”

- Bert -

The campground was festive and busy.  Families were making lists  and campers who’d become friends were organizing their tents to be closer together, forming small circles.  Every cooler that could be emptied was brought  to the driveway next to the main house where several large pick up trucks were parked, preparing to zip out as soon as the dumpster was moved from where it blocked the road at the entrance to the highway.

The weather was unseasonably warm and the some of the kids played in the creek under the watchful eyes of their mothers who gossiped and laughed together.  Even Katie was caught up in the mood.

“Lord, we have a lot of these freeze dried meals,” she told Jolie, counting more than forty before the tossed them into a cardboard box in the Durango.  “We could eat for a year!” she laughed. It felt good.

“Actually, divide by three, three times a day, and that wouldn’t last long at all if it was all we had,” Jolie said, pen in hand.  She added milk to her list.  “How are we for dog food?” She could see Cody running circles around Max and Robyn’s girls. They were playing some sort of game of tag, but it looked like Cody was perpetually ‘it’.

“Girls!” Robyn yelled from where she was sweeping the space in front of their tent. “Let’s get those sleeping bags rolled up and your bedrolls deflated.”  Clearly Robyn was still planning for their departure.  A subdued Chris was packing kitchen utensils, waiting for the girls to finish their chores so he could take down their three-room tent.  Robyn waved to Katie, signaling her to come by.  Katie nodded and started over.

“Mama, do you think he’s really coming?” Jolie whispered before her mother was out of earshot. Jolie was worried about losing her new friend so soon. Katie shrugged and kept walking.

“I’ve got stuff for you. You’ll need this more than we will,” Robin said, handing her a paper grocery bag filled with bottles. “There’s some wine in there, some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. They don’t travel well once they’ve been opened,” she said, trying to reassure Katie that the gifts were okay to accept, that they were nothing she needed.  “I’ve also got a couple of bags of burger and hotdog buns, some mustard and ketchup…” She looked around.  “Where’s the blue cooler, Chris?”

“I donated it for the big shopping trip to town. They need all they can get and it was empty.”

Robyn smiled at her son proudly.  “Good thinking.”

“Well, here hang on to this one then,” she said to Katie.  “There’s meat for burgers and some dogs and potato salad.  Sliced cheese, I think, too.  You’ll have to open up all those foil packages to see what’s in them.” She laughed.  “I’m really not a light packer.”

Katie thanked her profusely and they exchanged phone numbers to get in touch “when everything got back to normal.”  She let Chris help her wheel the cooler back to the tent.

Katie could not shake the feeling that Robyn was making a huge mistake, but she didn’t want to spoil the mood.  She decided she would just hand everything back if Robyn’s husband didn’t show today.

“Mama, Chris and I are going to go for a walk. We want to check out the pool and see if the soda machine is working,” Jolie said a few minutes later.

Lost in thought, Katie didn’t notice the glance that Jolie gave Chris or how he quickly shook his head in response.  She missed Jolie grabbing Chris’ hand and pulling him away.

Katie was surprised to see Lucy and her husband taking down their own tiny tent.  Lucy told her with a wink that they were going to get a room in town, that they were in dire need of a little privacy.  Then they rolled their small suitcases up toward the trucks where other campers were sitting on bags or standing with their backpacks on, ready to hitch a ride.

She decided her shopping list was as complete as it could get, not knowing how long they’d be there.  Campfire cooking had never been her thing and there were a lot of boxed cereals and sandwich supplies on that list.

She decided a walk might be nice and headed toward the driveway where everyone was congregating  by the trucks.  From the corner of her eye she saw Cody glance at her and she had the impression that he was herding the kids forward, as if it were as important to him to keep an eye on her as it was for her to see him.  The thought comforted her and she picked up her pace.

“So you four can fit in the back seat of the truck, just throw your gear in back on top of the coolers,” the man with the green jacket told a family who’d had enough of roughing it.  Another couple asked if they could sit in the bed of the truck and green jacket shrugged. “Sure, just be sure you wedge yourself in their good.” He wasn’t worried. “It’ll be a short trip in.”

The crowd moved as an RV pulled up behind the last car.  Ron was talking to the driver, nodding his head.  “Anybody else want a ride in to town, Tara and Bill here are going to do a quick trip in and out.”

Several teens begged their parents for permission to go.  “I just want to check it out!” was the general cry. “We’ve been here for so long!”

Katie saw a few parents agree, and several more decided they’d join in the fun.  She shook her head, unable to shake her sense of foreboding.  Why cant’ they just stay put? They’re acting like nothing has happened.  She decided that nothing about this was going to feel good as she watched the parade of trucks, cars and the RV drive off.  Ron caught a ride with the first vehicle, a large black Escalade, to the mouth of the drive where his vintage dump truck blocked the entrance to the grounds.  The driveway was too long for her to hear the high pitched beeps the truck made as it backed up before pulling forward to block the entrance again.

The crowd around the house dispersed but the jovial mood of the campers around her continued.  Katie sat down on a random chair in front of the cold ashes of last night’s bonfire.  From where she sat, she could see down the gravel road that led to more rows of tents and RVs. She’d forgotten how large the place was.  To her right, kids played in the pool and bought warm sodas in bottles from the old fashioned coke machine standing against the wall between the bathrooms.

Cody’s barking woke her from her revery.  She jumped up and searched for him, catching site of Max running forward as well.  Dogs were supposed to be leashed at all times but she noticed other dogs running around freely as well. A golden retriever and some smaller mutts joined Cody, barking furiously as they ran toward the stranger who walked down the road with Ron.

Ron and his friend stopped when all five dogs stood in front of them growling and baring their teeth. Ron’s brow furrowed and he yelled over the din, “Get those dogs on leashes!” just as Max and several others reached them.  Each owner grabbed a collar, yanking his own dog away.

“What’s a matter boy?” Max asked Cody as he dragged the big dog down the path toward their tent.

Katie apologized to Ron and was introduced him to Bert, Robyn’s husband.  Bert looked exactly like Katie expected. Short buzz cut hair over a hard, rectangular head.  He was tall and built like he worked out with heavy weights.  Katie wondered how he found the time with five kids at home but then remembered that he had left them at the campsite for two whole weeks and wondered if he often deserted his family.

He didn’t look happy.  He spoke in a low voice but with authority.  “I’m getting my family and we’re moving on,” he said, hardly sparing a glance at Katie. “I just gotta find a new vehicle.”

As she followed them to Robyn’s campsite, Katie understood from their conversation that Bert had ‘commandeered’ a car at some point but he’d had a flat tire about a mile short of the campground. He’d walked the rest of the way and arrived just in time to see the leaving procession.

Just then, Robyn returned from the creek where she’d been looking for her son.

“Bert!” she cried, pleasure and relief evident on her face, and ran into his arms.

He accepted her embrace gruffly but it was clear he was happy to see her.  “Where are my girls?” he asked her as she wiped her eyes.  “Where’s my boy?”

“Daddy!” all four girls called out in unison.  They ran to him, throwing themselves into his open arms. He grinned for them, changing Katie’s earlier assessment. He loved his family.  He just wasn’t big on public displays and clearly, he was tired.

The circles under his eyes reminded Katie of her own and as the energetically chattering girls released him, she started to notice other things.  She could see that Robyn had noticed as well.

Juan

The camp was active at daybreak.  Small groups had become larger groups sharing food and resources.  A sense of camaraderie seemed to happen overnight. Sure, people were scared but mostly they preferred to believe that the stories of mayhem had been wildly exaggerated and at worst were limited to a few areas far away from their peaceful campground in the mountains.

Ben and Aiden kept to themselves and no one asked them for further details of their escape.  The community spirit was further bouyed when a visitor appeared on horseback via the  path along the creek.

Max woke to the snorting sound of a horse outside the tent. He slipped out quietly, followed by Cody who relieved himself on a nearby tree and then barked once at the horse and rider picking their way between tents toward the main house.

“Shhhh!” Max told him, listening for movement in the tent. Silence.

Max and the other early birds watched as Maria came running out of the house.

“Juan!” she said, and the joy in her voice was clear.  “Thank god you’re okay!”

Juan jumped down from his perch and gave Maria a big hug. Younger by at least twenty years, Juan was a handsome blond man with a big blond mustache. He didn’t look the least bit latin as his name implied. He walked the horse to a tree and wrapped the reigns loosely around a branch then slung his arm across Maria’s shoulder and walked with her back to main house. Ron met them on the porch and hugged him as well before they all went inside.

Max and the others wandered to the cold fire pit and sat with their chairs facing the house.  Clearly the man had news and they wanted to hear it.  After about twenty minutes Juan and Ron came out the door and walked up to the group.

“I’d like you all to meet my son,” Ron said, smiling.  “Juan lives in town and wanted to let us know that it has been very quiet there.”  There was a communal sigh of relief.

“I’ve got a grocery store in town, backs right up to Main Street,” Juan told them. “We’ve lost electricity in town and I don’t know how long this emergency is going to last so I’m going to open the doors today and let everyone get what they need.”  More campers had joined the group and were starting to clap.  Juan waved away the praise and went on, “The road is pretty quiet. I rode my horse Lulu here because I didn’t know what to expect but I’ve crisscrossed several times between the highway and the creek and didn’t see more than ten cars the whole way.”

“Are there any hotels or motels open?” one woman asked, then laughed, “No offense, Ron. Just craving a soft bed for these old bones.” Others joined in the laughter.

Ron smiled and looked to Juan.

“Well, sure, there are a few. I think most of the guests that were there already consolidated at the AlpineVista, though.  They’ve got a big fence that goes around the whole place, due to that big swimming pool they put in.  Too many drunken kids were wandering in late at night, making noise. They’ve got generators, too. And I know the Icicle River Lodge is open for business. The owners live onsite so they’ll take people until they’re full up,” Juan continued.

“I’m going to open up around 10 am or so for locals.  Perhaps you can put together a list and send a few representatives with pick up trucks. I’ve got loads of firewood in back.  Might as well stock up.  When this whole thing blows over in a few days, as I expect it will,  feel free to send me a check for what you think you might owe.”  He scratched his chin as he looked around.  “Looks like you’ve got a comfortable thing going here. Good luck to you all.”

Maria came back out with a lunch bag for her son and hugged him again.  “You come back here  if it gets funny out there,” she told him.  “Tell him to come back, Ron.”

Ron hugged him again, handeding him the bag once he got back in the saddle.  “You be careful out there,” he called, as Lulu pick her way carefully through the parting crowd.

“We should go, Mama,” Jolie said.  “Let’s go into town.” She  opened her arms to include Chris in the conversation. “We can all go together,” she told him.  “Your dad will be glad we picked up supplies.”

Chris shook his head. “I can’t leave my mom and sisters. He wouldn’t be glad about that at all and there’s no way my mom leaves before he gets here.” He could see his sisters chasing the turkeys under the trees with some other kids and a couple of little dogs.

“I have to take care of them until he gets back,”  he said, sitting up straighter.

“Chris is right, honey. Let’s stay put. Ron will handle this.” She could see already that he was organizing different individuals into groups.  “Let’s go see what we need so we can add it to the list.”

Jolie and Chris followed her back to the tent.

- Jolie and Chris -

A subdued Chris came back to retrieve his sisters and get them to bed. “My dad was an Army Ranger,” he told Katie quietly. “He’ll be okay and he’ll get us out. You guys should be ready, too.  You can come with us.”

Katie smiled. “They’re a tough bunch, those Rangers.  I look forward to meeting him.” She watched him shuttle the sleepy girls away and suggested Max try to get some sleep as well.

“Cody, stay with Mama,” he told his dog then unzipped the door of the tent. “Do you think Dad is coming to get us too?” he asked her.

Katie faked another smile. “Dad is going to do everything he can to find us.  He’s probably in Spokane right now, just figuring out which roads to take to get here.”

“But how will he find us?” he asked as Katie climbed in to tuck him in.

“Well, your daddy might not be an Forest Ranger or whatever but he’s smart and he knows this area well.  And he loves us more than anything in the world,” she added, smoothing his hair across his forehead. “He will find a way to get to us. Now sleep.”

“Army Ranger, Mama,” Max giggled.

She climbed out of the tent after inviting Cody inside.  “You stay with Max,” she whispered, zipping them both in.

Katie could see in the bright moonlight that a crowd had formed at the bonfire near the main house.  Jolie and Chris were there, sitting next to each other and holding hands. They didn’t let go when Katie joined them.

“Is Max out?” Jolie asked.

Katie nodded, looking around the fire.  The new boys were there, talking quietly to a group of men.  She realized that most of the women were at their tents with their children and wondered if she was supposed to be doing the same thing.  “Any news?” she asked, looking back through the dark to the tent she could not see.

“Mama, you don’t want to know.  But Ron says we’re safe here.  His family is going to stay until their dad comes and then I think we should go with them.  Okay?  I want us to go with them.”

“Lets see what happens, honey,” Katie replied. “Maybe Chris’ dad will decide to stay here.  We’re off the highway, we have water and shelter and firewood.”

“What I don’t understand,” came a loud voice from a man in a red cap, “Is why we can’t get any coverage on this! I’ve got satellite TV in the RV but I’m getting nothing but emergency broadcast channels repeating the same nonsense over and over. We’re supposed to get WIFI here but I’m getting nothing. Landlines and cell phones are useless. What is the government up to that they’d shut us down like this?”

“Maybe the government has lost control,” said a man in a green jacket standing next to him. “The military will have to handle it.  I bet they’re mobilizing now.  It’s not an easy thing to mobilize against American citizens,” he said, scratching the short hairs on the back of his neck.

“What we need is a ham radio,” green jacket continued.  “One of these old timers in the RVs has one, I bet.”  The men looked around.

“Should we knock on some doors?” a third man asked.  The three of them walked away from the fire, unaware they’d had the attention of everyone at the bonfire.

“You know, Leavenworth is two miles up the road,” Lucy said, turning to Katie.  “Maybe we should make a quick run up there before things get worse.  Do a little grocery shopping if we’re going to be here for a while.”

“I don’t know,” Katie said. “I’ve got the kids here.  I don’t want to leave them behind but I definitely don’t want to take them into the unknown.”

“I’ll go,” Jolie said. “We’ve got crap food, Mama, and it would be great to see the town and see if they have more information.”

“Forget it. Absolutely not going to happen.”

“She’s right, Jolie,” said Chris. “We have to be here when my dad gets here.” He held her hand to his heart. “I promise we are going to get out of here.” Jolie beamed at him.

“I’m going to bed, guys.  Come with me, Jolie.” Katie stood, holding her hand out for Jolie’s.  Chris reluctantly released it.  “I guess I should go to bed, too. We have to get up early and pack,” he said.

- Close the Gate -

Jolie and Katie made quick work of the tent.  Ron brought them firewood and kindling on his regular evening tour of the grounds.  A teenage boy with clear skin and a sweet smile helped them to build the fire when their box of matches turned out to be empty.  Chris told them that he was from Seattle and that his campsite was just two tents down.  He and his mom and four little sisters had been at the campsite for two weeks. His dad was supposed to come get them tomorrow but they hadn’t heard from him since before the phones went down.

“I’m sure he’s doing everything he can to get to you guys,” Katie told him firmly.  “He must be worried sick about you, just like you are about him.” She sat down next to the fire in the chair she’d brought from home.  “We really do appreciate your help, Chris.”

Jolie returned from the main house with Max, who was rubbing his eyes and still half asleep. Cody wagged his tail at Chris and then nuzzled Katie’s hand.

“Cody needs a walk, Mom,” Max told her as he plunked down in the chair next to her.

“I’ll take him,” Chris offered.  “You want to come with?” he asked Jolie.  They looked about the same age.

Katie told her to go ahead but not to go far. “I’m going to get dinner started in a few minutes,” she said, grimacing at the pile of kitchen supplies on the picnic table next to the tent.  “I don’t know even know what we have so don’t expect too much.”

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to my mom and sisters,” Katie heard Chris tell Jolie as they walked away.  She sat in her chair for another moment, enjoying the normalcy. Dusk had fallen and small fires were burning near every tent.  She could smell burgers and hot dogs and saw families standing next to covered picnic tables dishing out salads and chips onto plates.  The couple with the tent to her right, between themselves and Chris’ tent, had  joined Chris’ family for dinner.  They were all laughing and she could see a tall man pouring wine into glasses from a leather bag.

Katie raised her chin and tried not to give in to her loneliness.  Rick should to be here with us, she told herself for the millionth time. It’s not fair! She giggled then frowned at her inner ten year old. Imagine being here with five kids, three of them just babies.  It could be much worse. She giggled again, then covered her mouth with her hands.  She’d seen at least three people murdered in the past 24 hours. What could possibly be funny?  

Well, it really could be worse, the voice defended itself. Your family could all be dead.  Or living in the city, unable to escape. It could be much, much worse so get your act together. “And stop talking to yourself,” she said, standing up. “And get to work.”

Night followed dusk quickly and with the dark came visitors and more of the same questions.  Chris and Jolie returned with a pyrex dish of cooked shish kebabs his mother had sent over.  She and four little blonde girls wandered over a while later with a glass of wine for Katie and sodas for the kids.

“We’re getting ready to leave tomorrow,” Robyn said when Katie thanked her.  “We shopped a few days ago but I always get too much and only my son knows how to eat.” She nudged the daughter closest to her.

“I eat!” the little girl said. “But we’re vegie-tary-annes.” Her twin nodded solemnly beside her.

“I used to be a vegetarian, too,” Katie told her.  “I never ate anything with eyelashes.” She smiled at the little girl who looked back at her with wide blue eyes.

“Eyelashes?” She turned to her mom, “Do chickens have eyelashes?”

Robyn ignored her, sitting down in front of the fire.  “Girls, there seems to be sad lack of s’mores at this campsite.  Think you can do anything about that?” The girls all giggled and ran off with Max and Cody right behind.

“Well, that will make for some very happy campers,” Katie told her gratefully.  “I really can’t thank you enough for your help. I’m afraid we didn’t do any shopping before we came.  We’ve got freeze dried meals and some canned food but this has just been wonderful.”

Robyn waved off her thanks and leaned forward to clink plastic cups with Katie.  “Mamas gotta stick together, right?” she laughed.  “Anyway, we’ll leave you whatever we have leftover tomorrow when Bert picks us up.”

Treading carefully, Katie asked, “Robyn, when did you last hear from Bert?”

“Well, the phones have been down, like you said.  But if Bert says he’ll be somewhere, you can count on him. That man has never broken a promise in his life.”

She looked up the road toward the main house.  There was a car, or maybe two cars parked in the driveway next it with their running lights on.  “Looks like more campers arriving.”

“Maybe they’ll have news from the city,” Katie told her, looking back toward the river where she could see the silhouettes of Jolie and Chris in the full moonlight.  The kids were laughing, enjoying themselves.

She hated to break up the moment but she called out to them, “Jolie, come here please.”  She could see Max and the four girls returning with tupperware boxes and sticks for marshmallows. The youngest daughter toddled along with her hand on Cody’s side.  He looked like a small pony next to her.

“I want to see if there’s any news at the main house and I’d like you all to stay close to Cody and the fire.”  She looked at Robyn.  “You want to join me?”

“Sure,” Robyn told her. She’d had plenty of wine to drink and was feeling no pain.  “Girls, stay with Chris. Chris, you guard all the girls.” Jolie giggled.

A red faced Chris said, “Um, yeah, okay Mom.”

Five more campers including the couple next door joined them as they walked toward the main house.  By the time they got to the lawn, they were joined by at least ten more people and more were on the way.

“You have to close the gate,” an overweight man getting out of the first vehicle told Ron.  “You need to block it.  You do NOT want anyone else getting in here!” He kept looking up the road, where a third car was making its way toward them.

“Dick, please!  Let’s just go! I don’t want to stop here,” his wife pleaded from the passenger seat.

He told her to hush and turned back to Ron.  “You don’t understand how dangerous it is,” he told him.  He looked up, realizing he had an audience.

“Do any of you even know what’s going on out there?  People are dying out there. Lots of people. Insane, murdering  gangs are tearing innocent people apart! Biting them! Eating them! And that’s not even the worst of it,” he panted, looking at the faces staring at him in the moonlight. “They are CONTAGIOUS. The ones they don’t kill are going crazy and biting people themselves!”  He leaned forward, resting his hands on his thighs.  His wife started to get out of the car but he waved her back.  She sat there with the door open, the roof light illuminating a baby in a carseat in the back.

Maria came out of the house to offer the man something to drink but he waved her off as well.

“Are you going to block the gate?” he asked. “Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

The sound of several more car doors opening caught his attention.  “You can’t let anyone else in!” he yelled.  “Make them leave!”

Ron was already walking toward the new visitors. “Now, now, let’s not be hasty,” he said over his shoulder. “Everyone has a right to get to someplace safe.”

A man and woman carrying a little girl from one car and two teenage boys from the last car joined Ron further back on the drive.

“Dick, let’s go honey. I want to drive farther while the baby is asleep,” she whispered loudly.  “Please!”

Dick looked at the group of campers whispering to themselves and told them bitterly, “Well don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He got in his car and drove back toward the highway.

Ron and the newest visitors walked to the lawn and the waiting group, some of whom were already arguing that the gate should be blocked.  “How do we know whose contagious?” they whispered.

“Folks, please, can I have your attention?” Ron asked.  The crowd on the lawn now extended back to the first set of RVs.  “This here is Mark and Sherry and their little girl Sophie.  These two boys are Ben and Aiden.” The boys stood with their hands in their pockets, clearly uncomfortable to be in the spotlight.

“Mark and Sherry are from Canada. They’ve been camping all along the Pacific Northwest. They’ve got reservations and they’re going to stay,” he said with finality. “These two boys are from Seattle.  It seems they’ve got quite a story to tell and I expect you’re all going to want to hear it.  I’m offering them the last slot available and I’m going to take that earlier gentleman’s advice and close the gate.  I could use some help.”  Several campers stepped forward to volunteer. “I appreciate it. I’m going to bring the garbage truck up to block the entire drive. We’re going to want to take down the sign on the side of the highway, too.”

“If some of you could help our Canadian friends get settled into slot 22 and perhaps a few more of you could help Maria bring down an extra tent from the shed for the boys, we could all meet back here in about 45 minutes and get the news.

“Ron, my husband is coming from Seattle tomorrow to pick us up,” Robyn told him.  “How’s he going to get in?” she asked, worry finally setting in.

“If he’s in Seattle today he ain’t getting out tomorrow,” said Ben, the taller of the two teenagers.  “The roads are blocked and no one is allowed in or out of the city but the military.”

“What?” several voices chimed in. “What’s going on?” a man said, loudly. “Was that guy telling the truth?”

A woman grabbed Katie’s forearm. “Cannibals?” she demanded.  “Is that what you saw?”  Several more people turned to Katie.

“I don’t know, the man I saw used his teeth, yes” she stammered.  She wanted to back away from the crowd and get back to her kids, but Robyn was crying now, and she couldn’t leave her.

“How did you get out?” Robyn asked Ben. “If you got out, he can get out.”

The boys looked at each other and then down, away from the stares of the crowd. Finally, Aiden, looking ashamed, said, “We ran, Ma’am. We stole a car once we were outside the city limits.” He looked up at Robyn.  “We had baseball bats and we had to use them on those things. A lot of them.  They were everywhere.” He looked at his friend for confirmation.  “We almost didn’t get away.” Ben nodded gravely.

Robyn was openly crying now and Katie gently led her back to her own tent so the girls wouldn’t see.

Katie saw the headlights of the garbage truck driving up the road and the smaller vehicles moving to their assigned spaces as she hurried back to her kids.  Jolie and Chris wanted to know what was happening and asked if they could head up to the main house now that she was back.

“No. You stay here for now,” she said, becoming more accustomed to the sound of ‘No’ in her own mouth. “Chris, you go talk to your mother, she’s in her tent. Leave the girls with me.”  Her tone was final and they did as she asked.

“What happened, Mama?” Jolie whispered, sitting close.  “What’s going on up there?”  Katie didn’t know how to tell her and didn’t want to scare Max or the girls, who were playing some sort of alphabet song came in front of the fire.

She trusted Jolie to handle the information.  Jolie had always been a critical thinker.  Katie saw there was a still a small crowd at the main house and that Lucy and David, the couple from the tent next to them, were still gone. They must be in the crowd.

“Go find Lucy,” she whispered to her daughter.  “Tell her I can’t talk right now but that she can tell you what happened.”

- Chapter Two –

The drive to Leavenworth took them northeast on Highway 18 to Snoqualmie, then southeast on the 90 to Cle Elum, north again over Blewett Pass on route 97 and finally up Route 2 which ran right through town.  The Forbes family had made the trip to Leavenworth every winter since they’d moved back to Seattle just before Max was born.

Leavenworth had become a Christmas tradition in the 1960s when, on the brink of extinction, the small mining town was rebuilt to look like a Bavarian village. Every building shared the same chalet facade and workers were often dressed like Heidi or Hansel for the benefit of tourists. It was a happy place to visit when the season came but Leavenworth, situated in the beautiful Cascade mountains, had more going for it than just Christmas.

The population of Leavenworth—people actually living there full time—was just under 2,000 souls but with the tourist trade running all year round, the city quadrupled with visitors staying in the many hotels on the main street and in the summer at the many campsites which catered to a variety of travelers, from the old fogies in their massive RVS to boys and girls scouts troops in apartment-size tents. Then there were the hard-core dirt-baggers, the rock climbers and the mountaineers who would use local campsites as starting points for their adventures.  Theirs were the cheapest campsites, offering a bit flat ground to pitch a tent and, for a toilet, a shack covered hole in the earth. There might be an open air shower raining lukewarm water to clean yourself and your gear when you come off the rock.

The site Uncle Mike had chosen as his jumping off point was the farthest up the mountain, meaning they would have to drive through Leavenworth to get there.  Katie was both thrilled and scared by the prospect.  She wanted see people out shopping for glass unicorns and marveling at the kitchy architecture, to know that out here everything was routine and safe. She even harbored a fantasy that they would find a hotel room to hole up in until the mess in the cities blew over.

But the scene at Mike’s had left her little hope that anyone would be acting normally.  She dreaded the thought that all the stores would be closed up and the streets might be empty.  What if all the tourists are gone? What if the town is already deserted and everyone is at home behind locked doors?  The fear of loneliness was heavy on her.  She needed structure. She wanted someone to be in charge. More than anything, she wanted to see the police telling people where to go and what to do.  Her family needed protection… but from whom?  Whom could they trust?

“You okay, Mama?” Jolie asked her, taking her hand.

“I’m good. I’m just so tired and I don’t know what we’re going to find there,” said Katie.   “What if the town is empty and boarded up?”

Jolie looked at the map on the GPS. “I guess we’ll find out soon, we’ll be in Leavenworth in two miles.”

“Hey, remember that place?” Katie asked, pointing to a turnoff on the opposite side of the road.

“Welcome to Camp Peshastin,” said a carved wooden sign in flaked gold lettering. It was a place they knew and loved. There was a pool and RV hookups but also lots of slots for tents. Every slot had an electrical outlet and a tap and there were several nice bathrooms with hot showers that cost only a quarter every few minutes.

“Mama, turn around,” Jolie said quickly.  “Let’s go back and check it out, see what they know.”

There were several cars in the opposite lane so Katie pulled over. She yawned and forced herself to focus on making a U-turn.

“Max, wake up,” Jolie said, reaching back to shake her brother’s leg. “We’re here.”

Katie drove down the long gravel road to the house where campers checked in.  The ranch style home belonged to a nice older man and his wife who owned the campground. John? Don? There was a grassy lawn in front of the porch and beautiful bay windows that looked over the grounds and all the way back to the river in the winter when the trees and bushes were less densely green.

As they got closer they saw laughing children chasing a flock of semi-wild turkeys. A couple of blonde girls in pigtails held kittens on the grass in front of the house.  Everyone looked… happy.

Katie felt herself relax for the first time in what seemed like ages. Could it really only be 24 hours? Her mind could not comprehend it. Suddenly she felt so tired she could not move from her seat.  The car was parked and the kids were waiting, chattering to each other, but her own body would not budge. She couldn’t even raise her hand to undo her seatbelt.

“Mama, can we get out? Please?” Max asked, eager to join the kids.  “Cody needs to go.”  Katie could barely nod her head.

“I’ll go with him,” Jolie told her as they got out of the car.  Katie’s eyes felt heavy and she could feel sleep covering her like a heavy down comforter. In a moment she was gone. She would sleep like that for hours.

Max played and Jolie gathered information, although there was little to be had from the other kids. The parents were less carefree, standing in groups talking in low voices but no one was willing to discuss the news with a young teenager.

She hung around one group for a while, trying to overhear their words while she kept an eye on her little brother.  Occasionally the voices would rise with excitement and she’d catch a few words, “the whole west coast,” “cannibals,” “news blackout,” and then someone would get shushed and they’d return to whispering.

Finally, in frustration, she demanded their attention.  “So, any idea if they’re going to let planes fly soon?” she asked.  “My dad’s in Boston.”

A tall, thin-lipped woman looked down at her. “I’m sure your dad is fine,” she said. “A few nut jobs go on a spree and the press goes bananas. They’re causing mass hysteria but you’re smarter than that, aren’t you?” The woman smiled nervously at the group then looked away.

Jolie couldn’t hide her indignation. “Excuse me?  Smarter than what, exactly? My family saw a man EAT our neighbor yesterday and we saw two men get shot to death right in front of our eyes! Does that make me stupid am I just hysterical?”

Fatigue and fear had finally caught up with her and she stomped off in tears.  Max ran after her and now the two of them sat on the ground, hugging each other. Cody whined uneasily beside them.

Maria Kettlesworth and her husband Ron had owned and managed Camp Peshastin for twenty years. Maria prided herself on knowing and welcoming their many repeat customers. She recognized the kids and immediately ran out of the house when she saw the commotion. She helped the two children to their feet and invited them to come inside.

It was still light out when Katie was awoken by a gentle tap on the window her head rested against.  For a moment she didn’t know where she was and then it all came back to her.  Panicked, she looked in back for the kids and then at the face in her window.  It was the man whose name she’d been trying to remember, smiling kindly at her.  Ron! she thought.

She unclipped her seatbelt and and got out of the car.  “Hi, Ron. I’m sorry we didn’t make reservations. Have you seen my kids?” She took off to look for them and Ron walked along side her.

“You don’t need to worry about them. They’re sleeping in the main house right now.  Maria’s with them.” He put a hand on her shoulder softly, stopping her.

“You’ve been through a lot and I hate to ask but we haven’t had much real news out here and since the kids are sleeping I thought you might be willing to tell us what happened.  Your daughter described some pretty awful stuff.”

His kind eyes and soft voice were exactly what Katie needed in that moment and she didn’t want to disappoint him.  Gnawing on her lip, she nodded.  “Can I just see the kids for a moment, do you mind?”

He led her to the house where Jolie and Max were sacked out in what she supposed was a guest room, since all but the front room of the main house was private.  Cody’s tail thumped from where he was curled on the floor, watching her peek in.

“Stay, Cody!” she whispered. “Good boy.” She accepted a cup of steaming coffee from Maria then followed Ron to face the curious campers who’d pulled their canvas chairs in a circle around the empty fire pit.

About twenty faces stared at her, waiting for her to begin.  The sleep she’d had in the car, while not nearly long enough, had  done her a world of good and she felt relaxed knowing that her children were safe.

“Um, Hello. I’m Katie Forbes. I’m not sure what my children have already told you…  I’ll just start from the beginning, is that okay?”  The group murmured supportively and she began.

“I guess it was just yesterday afternoon around 5 pm. My kids, Jolie is 14 and Max is 8, we were walking with our dog on the trail near our house in Thorn Ridge. Cody, our lab, got really upset by a homeless man just off the trail. We don’t get too many of those around there.” She tried to smile then bit her lip, unable to meet anyone’s eyes.

“Cody went crazy and attacked him. It was horrible. Then one of our neighbors came running to help but the man bit him in the face and there was blood everywhere and we were all screaming except for the man who bit him  – he was making a horrible moaning sound…”

She forced herself to look at their faces, finding fear and disgust on most, disbelief on some.

“Well, I know that it sounds crazy but it happened and I had left my cell phone at home and we were all terrified so we ran.” She looked at Maria’s kind face.  “I had my children with me, I couldn’t stay to help.”

Maria shook her head, “No dear, of course not.  You had to take care of your children.  You called 911 when you got home?”

“Yes, well no, my neighbor did but they never came.  We heard sirens and maybe they went to the trail. I thought they’d come ask me what happened but they never came.” She made the effort to look each of them in the eyes now, one at a time.   “My husband told me to take the kids camping, to meet up with his brother’s family who are climbing here somewhere.

“We were going to leave in the morning but I couldn’t sleep.  We heard moaning,” she said, her voice rising with remembered terror.  “Someone was screaming. And the dogs were all barking, every dog in the neighborhood. They don’t like them, those… whatever they are.”  She looked around at the dogs several of her audience held on leashes.  “Keep your dogs close. Cody has warned us and kept us safe.”

“What happened to you today, Katie?” Ron prompted her from beside Maria.  “There was another attack?”

“No. Not like that. We were at my brother-in-law’s house on Minor lake. We thought we’d be safe because it’s so isolated but I guess other people had the same idea. A man came by. Not a nice man.” Katie forced herself to lower the hand that come up to cover her mouth.  She took a breath and continued.

“He left us alone but we knew we had to get out of there. We were packing the SUV when we heard screams and gun shots from across the lake and we saw the same man shoot another man who was running away from him. There was a woman screaming, too. I don’t know what happened to her.

“Then our friend who lives across the lake shot the man, the bad one, the man that shot the other man.” She looked at the group helplessly. “I don’t know their names or what really happened. I just know what I saw.  The bad guy shot a man, there were screams, then Old Mike shot the bad guy, a woman ran out and was trying to save the first man.  But he was dead.”

“How do you know he was dead?” someone asked.

“He never moved again,” said Jolie, who had just come to stand next to her mom.  “They tried to help him but he didn’t move and then we left.” Jolie looked the asker straight in the eye.

“The phones were down,” Katie told them, defensively. “They were down from about 8 pm the night before.  Nothing is getting through.”

The group was quiet, digesting the information, whispering with their partners until Ron spoke up again. “Katie, everything you’ve told us squares with what George here heard from his cousin in Iowa last night before the phones went dead. We appreciate you reliving such a terrible experience.”

The thin-lipped woman interrupted their host. “Isn’t it possible that someone was just playing a trick on you?  That no one was really shot, maybe they were just messing around, trying to scare you. Men will be boys, you know.” Several women sitting with her nodded their heads hopefully.

Jolie faced the woman before Katie could reply.  “Yeah and maybe we dreamt the whole thing and we’re actually sleeping in our own beds right this minute! Just in case, though, I think we should get our tents set up before it gets dark. Right Mama?”

Uncertain, Katie looked away from the shocked faces of the ladies in front of her.  Her eyes caught Ron’s.

“Good thinking, let’s get you settled in,” he told her kindly. “There are several slots right on the river.”