The Road Home by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 36

With her mind at ease that it was only a mouse, Maya left the house, confident that the four of them would be left alone. She tried not to think about what had become of the house’s former residents, but her mind refused to let it go. Her imagination quietly began to haunt her with the appearance of fictional faces drifting through her psyche and angry voices crying out “What are doing in our house?!” Eventually, Maya would lock this away using the distraction of daily routine, knowing all the things that to be done. Now, their survival depended on the need for everyone to pull their weight. No one would be allowed to sit idly by and watch as everyone else did the work.

Walking back down the driveway, Maya crossed the road and entering the RV announced that the house was empty and free of anything that could spread the virus—no bodies or decomposition. Feeling a huge relief, everyone got out and went into the house to witness its immaculate condition for themselves. They also took this opportunity to choose a room. Aurora hoped to find one that would allow her the privacy she needed, especially with Eli being on the prowl. The last thing she wanted was to be forced into sharing a room with him--Jackson, maybe, but definitely not Eli. Fortunately, there were four bedrooms--all upstairs. This would also give them a good vantage point from which to watch for anyone wandering the streets or investigating the house. The only question was what they would do if someone tried to get in. An animal could be managed, but a person would be far more difficult to deal with. Under those circumstances, violence might be necessary.

Everyone quickly decided on the room they would occupy. As far as sleeping was concerned, everything they needed was there—blankets, sheets, and pillowcases. Naturally, Eli offered to share his room with Aurora, who immediately fended him off.

“Eli,” she said. “Get the fuck away from me!” Eli gave her a teasing wink as he made a taunting remark.

“Hey, Aurora,” he said. “Do you think someone might have died in your room? You might want to look for stains on the bed.”

Being within earshot, Maya harshly scolded him for his cruelty.

“Stop screwing around, Eli. God dammit, you’re such a piece of shit!”

By this time, Aurora was weeping with the image of death lying in the bed she intended to sleep in. Maya, however, went to her side and, putting her arms around her, convinced Aurora that the former residents had likely not been in the house for some time. It was also probable that once they realized they were ill it would have made sense to go to the hospital where they would have died. There were no other options. Aurora was not so much comforted by Maya’s words, but confident that she was right. The rational part of her mind had taken over as she became aware of the things death left behind—the odor, stained furniture, and decomposure. This brief moment of illumination finally put her at ease.

After everyone claimed their space, Maya decided that a meeting, of sorts, was necessary and called the group down to the living room. Eli, however, wanted to sleep, but Maya becoming annoyed once again called him under threat. “Eli, get down here, or I’m going to come up there and kick your ass!”

He knew she was serious and, against his desire to take it easy for a while, he got up and begrudgingly trudged downstairs. As everyone sat in the living room, Maya started with the obvious issue of survival.

“So,” she said. “We’ve got a place to stay. Now, we’ve got to think about how we’re going to do this. We need more food and water, and we need to find a way to heat this place. Anyone got any ideas?”

A town of any size always had the necessities, including a store, and a town as small as Cle Elum certainly possessed the essentials. For now, this was all they needed.

A heavy silence blanketed the group as exhaustion began to take its toll, but through the haze of drowsiness, Aurora made a suggestion – one that should have been obvious to everyone. “Well, why don’t we just explore the town and see what we can find? There has to be a store nearby. And there are four of us; we can just split up into pairs.”

Too tired to speak, the rest of the group simply nodded their approval.

“And we should do it before dark,” she continued. This, of course, meant that everyone had to get up and shake themselves awake. The cover of night would slip over the village soon and if there were any resources to be had the group would have to act immediately. It wasn’t that they didn’t take Aurora’s suggestion seriously, they were just too tired to move. Seeing what she believed to be indifference, Aurora was more than irritated and spoke up harshly.

“What the fuck is wrong with all of you?!” she said. “Do you want to fucking starve?!” Although Maya drifted close to the edge of somnolence, she suddenly regained consciousness by the bells of inspiration.

“Wait,” she began. “Maybe we don’t have to go out yet. There’s got to be plenty of food here. And if we’re lucky, we might find some bottled water.”

Putting aside their need for sleep, all four began searching the house – starting with the kitchen. Although the refrigerator was off limits due to the lack of electricity and thus spoiled food, the rest turned out to be a gold mine of sustenance. Its cupboards and cabinets were heavily stocked and every piece of cookware had already been cleaned. The sight of so much food was a glory to behold and standing in front of their newly discovered bounty, they stared at it as if in witness of some holy relic.

Through the silence, Aurora spoke up – half seriously, half in jest.

“Guys,” she began. “Remember when I said we should go out looking for food? Never mind.” Looking around the kitchen with mouths agape, Eli brought up the question of the refrigerator. He knew that whatever was in it was likely spoiled, but there might be a chance it might contain at least a few bottles of water. Anyone would know that water was essential to life.

“We should check the fridge,” he said.

Jackson offered a word of caution, assuming that whatever perishables inside were likely far beyond consumption.

“I don’t know if I would do that,” he began. “There’s got to be some pretty nasty shit in there.” Eli agreed, but also saw the need to acquire water and was willing to take the risk of being bowled over by the noxious odor of rotting food. “Jackson,” he began. “I got this. I mean, how bad could it be?”

Everyone stepped back as Eli approached the refrigerator and gripping its handle pulled the door open while bending down into its dark, cavernous warmth. Barely noticing its contents, Eli was quickly struck in the face by a blast of debilitating fumes. The stink of moldy, festering food proved too intense, and feeling the weight of nausea overtaking him, he rushed to the sink and spewed a modest amount of bile. It was at this point that he also discovered the pain of vomiting on an empty stomach. The reaction of those watching this foul act playing itself out was immediate and loud.

“Oh, fuck,” Maya said. “That is so fucking gross.” Aurora broke in with her own observations. “Jesus Christ, is that green? Shit, that’s disgusting.”

Moments later, the three broke out in taunting giggles, bringing an angry response from a now-embarrassed Eli.

“Shut the fuck up!” he yelled.

Still gurgling on the last bit of bile, he continued lashing out at his friends.

“You guys are assholes! Now, knock it off!”

With the power out, Eli was unable to wash down the hideous after-taste of bile and stomach acid, but Aurora, not wanting to hear him whine about his sudden illness, reached into the refrigerator. While covering her mouth and nose, she retrieved a bottle of water and although it was warm, she handed it to Eli, who drank it without hesitation. She also noticed several other bottles and removed them as well. Everything else lay in a festering mass of furry black and green mold. In spite of this, the group celebrated their discovery of the one thing that could keep them alive—the clear lifeblood of continued existence.

The bottles were passed around as all four drank voraciously. Maya was the first to express her gratitude.

“God damn,” she began. “That was so fucking good.”

A wave of exuberance washed over the group, rekindling their ability to reason and calming their nerves.

“Alright,” Maya continued. “Everyone feel better?”

Many things can be spoken without words, and the smile on everyone’s faces provided the answer Maya was hoping for.

“Okay,” she said. “We need a plan. Anybody got any ideas?”

The mind of a graduate student tends to work quickly, and everyone presented their thoughts on how to proceed. Aurora was the first to speak up. “Well,” she began. “Let’s look at what we’ve already got. We have shelter, food, and transportation. So far, I think we’re doing okay, but we definitely need more, and being in the mountains this time of year, we’re going to need winter clothes. It’s going to get cold as shit in here and the wind is going to be a killer.” Everyone agreed that more is certainly better. The suggestions continued, and soon a plan was developed. They would pair off and search the town for what they needed, but part of the plan entailed going into other houses looking for clothing and blankets. This was a task no one wanted as it presented the risk of confronting death or perhaps an armed survivor. Everyone knew it was necessary and, realizing they had to act sooner rather than later, bundled themselves with whatever blankets and clothes they could find and walked out and began their search.