Serene Dreams in a Chaotic World Pt 11

Chapter 11

I walked up the stairs once more and looked out onto the lighthouse grounds. They were coming. And fast. The shamblers even seemed to be moving at a quickened pace. There was really nothing to alert them that we were here, other than we were gawking out the holes in the windows. Yet they were coming. I looked over at Caden, and asked “So are you going to tell me what’s going on before the gates of hell open up, or not tell me at all? Because there’s so many of them Caden. We may not get through this alive.” I said. Though we could make it, our chances of doing so were pretty slim, and I was trying to be as realistic about that as possible. He looked down. Closed his eyes for a few moments, thinking of the right words to say (I could only assume anyways). He opened his eyes, and his voice was quiet. “When I was little, I was diagnosed with a rare bone disease. I was always told I would probably not make it too far into my life. Here I am now, 34 years old… and battling zombies for the right to actually live my life. Who knows, maybe another 34 years will pass, if we make it tonight.” He paused. Looked at me, and I could see he was upset. “I have not had a reason to live since Alex died. I don’t deserve to live, some of the stuff from my past has caught up to me. Being as sick as I have been, I have done some stupid things in my life. I realize that now.” I put my good hand on his shoulder. Let out a weak smile, although I was in serious pain. My wrist was throbbing, and I could feel it swelling with great pressure. Glancing down at it in the dim light, I could see the bruising starting to form, and the knot on my wrist itself was proof of the damage done. If I didn’t die tonight, I would surely lose some of the ability to use this hand. No more piano concertos for me. I looked back up at Caden, who’s eyes met mine for a brief second. “What you have done in your past is just that. It is in your past. We’re now in the present, and have to look toward the future. Without that, we have nothing. We may as well be meat for the undead.” He looked at me, then surprised me by giving me a soft quick hug. “Thank you. Your husband was surely a lucky man.” He said. I looked down, troubled at the words for some reason. Was a lucky man. No more, past tense. He’d had a bad day, and now he was worm dirt. I would have to remember to plant flowers on the shallow grave we’d made for him… If I ever got through this alive.

I walked back down the stairwell, thoughts swimming in my head about the information that had just been given to me, and the advice I had just given. Tim came up to me. Looked at my wrist. Let out a big sigh, then said: “I have to set it. If I don’t you’ll never use it again.” For some reason, I laughed. Not a little chuckle, a full blown loud, hearty laugh. The look on that man’s face was a look of surprise and bewilderment. I spoke up. “Yeah, well hopefully there are more days to use it. Have you seen the horde of those bastards out there?” Then I realized the tone of my voice. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for that to come out so harshly. I am concerned, and I will fight to the very end for these children. And being the way I am with this,” -throwing my wrist up in the air, then wincing at the pain- “I don’t know how good I will be at fighting for them. I can’t be hurt. I have to fight for them Tim, they’re my everything.” A sob escaped me. From laughing to crying in a matter of a few seconds, I was not thinking coherently. Pain had inhibited my whole being, the pain of my wrist was starting to mess with my emotions and make me aware of how exhausted I was. Tim stood up tall, and said “I’m here. Caden’s here. WE will fight for you, and for your children, and for Lily. We will make sure all is okay. That I can promise you.” he paused briefly. “We will survive this.” After that statement, he promptly grabbed my wrist and jerked. It made a sort of popping sound, and an immense pressure was lifted off it. A small cry of surprise escaped my lips, but I quickly quieted myself. The pain was still there, but not as bad as it had been. Apparently it had been dislocated as well, I’m not sure. Tim looked at me and said “Now quickly. I have material so we can cast it.”. I followed him to the room we had put the medical supplies in, and he pulled out a package of plaster bandages. “We can use these for now, I just need to grab some gauze to put under it.”

While applying the cast, Tim talked to me a little about what the plan was for the ensuing ocean of zombies. “I think we should just stay in here and remain calm. They can’t get in here, and if we shoot some of them but don’t have enough ammo, it’s just going to stir the rest of them up. Caden and I were talking a little while you and Kels were carrying supplies here, and he is making some explosives. If we can get the majority of them in some blasts, I think we will be okay. We don’t want to alert them too much of our whereabouts.” He said, while wrapping my wrist with the last remaining plaster casting. Then he looked at me and said “You should lay down for a while. We have it covered for now. Go in and lay with the kids. I promise you, we’re going to make it through this. We didn’t come this far just to die.” with that, he stood up and walked out of the room. I sat there for a minute, thinking. About everything that had happened in the past few days, about things to come. Exhaustion set in. I wearily walked to the room the kids were in and fell into a deep sleep.

I am outside, checking the mail. There is a package in the mailbox for me, a package I’ve been waiting for for some time now. I let out a small “squeal” of delight. I run inside and jump up and down. “It’s here! It’s here!!!” I exclaim excitedly. Bryan and the kids get up and hug me. “Well open it mamma!! Open it!!” Kayla says, and I rip the cardboard envelope open. Inside is my diploma, signifying my graduation from cosmetology school. All that was left was to take my state licensing. Right after the weekend, after our hiking trip…little did I know that the hiking trip we were taking would be the end of the civilized world as we knew it…

I woke up. I don’t think I had slept for long, the dream hadn’t been that long. I just remember that I had been really excited to see that diploma, and now it was nothing but a piece of paper on a wall in a house that by now had probably been pillaged through. No sense in dwelling though, that was the past.

I could hear Tim and Caden talking in the hallway, by the stairs. I got up and cracked the door open gently, so as to hear the conversation. “I think we are fine sitting and waiting. I think she is exhausted, and needs to rest before we can even try to go anywhere. Besides, now she really isn’t going to do us much good, with her wrist being broken like that. I mean, I set it. It was a pretty bad break.” Tim was saying, weariness in his voice. Caden made a sort of long sigh sound. They were both quiet for a moment, then Caden spoke. “I hope all will be well. She is definitely a survivor, and she wants to protect those kids at any cost. That is the best thing I’ve seen in a while. Love for her family, for her kids.” They continued on, talking about semi-normal things, such as pre-outbreak times. In a few moments, the conversation was light, and they were even chuckling at their fond memories. I just laid back down and slept. And slept. And slept.

It’s a calm night. I’m laying in a hammock, the breeze is gently blowing the hair across my face. Fingers gently brush the hair away from my face, and I smile. “I thought you were going to be late.” I said, the smile still on my face. “I was, but they let me leave early since it’s such a special day.” Bry said. He was tired, I could tell by the sleepiness in his voice. It was early afternoon, on our anniversary. Eight years. We didn’t have anything planned, we were just going to hang out and watch a few movies, and enjoy a spending a little time with each other. He had been working two jobs by then to help us get by with our bills, and working extra hours managing the restaurant… Or so I had thought at the time. He grabbed my hand and said “Get up.” I looked at him inquisitively. “Huh?” I asked, sort of confused. “Get up. We’re going somewhere.” he said, and I could tell by the look on his face that he had something planned that had taken him a while to plan. “My mom still have the kids? I thought we were going to cook dinner here and all spend the day together.” I said, not wanting to leave my kids at my mom’s more than we had to. “Don’t worry about it. She’s bringing them home early and putting them to bed. When we get home they’ll be asleep.” He said, and pulled me up out of the hammock. He made me get in the truck, even though I was protesting because I didn’t have shoes on. “We are going somewhere where it really doesn’t matter if you have on shoes or not.” he said, as he shut the door. I was confused, and a little nervous. Bry had never been one for big surprises. He wasn’t one to give flowers or jewelry, or chocolates either. I preferred it that way. When he would ask what I wanted for a gift, I would always tell him “Just a card”. Most of the time, even just the sentiment would suffice. We drove to the marina where Bry worked. At the end dock, we parked. Got out, and walked to a boat. “Umm, what are we doing?” I asked, a little confused by the fact that we were getting on a boat, one that we didn’t own at that. “Just come here, I have to show you something. It’s John’s boat, he knows we’re here.” was all he would say. John was one of the only customers at the marina that would let Bry on his boat when he wasn’t around. We boarded the boat and went inside. There at the tiny table, there were candles and dinner. I had assumed a cooked meal, but when I got closer I realized he had spent the money to get one of my favorite Chinese dinners. “Wow, this is too much. It really is.” I said, as I was sitting down. We began to eat, and I remember it was a really nice meal. We talked about our day, about the future, and about little things. It was a Wednesday… Before chaos had interrupted every day life. Before the dead rose from their tired slumber to feast upon the living. Before, well, before any of this destruction. We had talked about it at dinner, and decided that for our anniversary we would go hiking at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. There were so many cool things to see there, the waterfalls, the shoreline… So beautiful, calm, peaceful, almost surreal.
After dinner, we drove back home. When we got there, we had a surprise. There on our porch was Bry’s friend Rance. We pulled up in the driveway, and Rance waved. I waved back. Got out of the truck and went inside. Sat down at my computer, checked my email, and waited for Bry and Rance to come inside. And waited, and waited. Finally I got up and walked outside. They weren’t out there. Rance’s truck was gone. Bry had left me there alone on our anniversary.

I woke up abruptly, dreams of the past swimming in my head. Email… I had checked my email. What I wouldn’t give now to be sitting at home, the front door open to let in the cool autumn breeze, typing an email to my friend Jimmy in Louisiana. The things we take for granted every day. I got out of the bed, being careful not to hurt my hand. Walked out of the room, and went to the tower. I listened for a moment, didn’t hear anything, so I quietly entered the tower. I got to the top of the stairs. Caden and Tim were putting together some sort of mechanical thing, I could only guess what it was. I spoke up. “Let me guess, it’s going to bring the bombs away from us?” I must have startled them, for they both jumped a little. They looked up at me, and both instantaneously smiled. “Tim is good at building mechanical things, I’m good at building homemade bombs. I guess when you put the two of us together, we make a pretty damn good team.” Caden said, and they began to move it down the stairs. I smiled, then made the remark “Don’t you think it would have been easier to build it down there?!?!” They both chuckled. “Yeah,” Tim said “but then we would have woke everyone else up with our racket. This way y’all got to sleep.” They had basically just made a remote controlled car, with a spot to hold a bomb. We quietly cracked the door open enough to squeeze the vehicle outside. When it was far enough out, we shut the door and put the bars back over it. We then went up the tower to see what kind of damage we could do.