Omega Days (Volume 1)

TWENTY-FIVE



Alameda



Both vans, the one from the senior center and Angie’s Armory, were packed with supplies; food, water, sleeping bags, first aid kits and spare cans of fuel. It was just a precaution, and in the event of an emergency whoever made it out in the vehicles would have something of a chance, at least for a little while. The gas tanks were topped-off, and a map of California sat on each dashboard.

Margaret Chu, in a friendly but firm voice, had pulled Angie and Bud aside and suggested the preparation. She said it wasn’t just about emergencies. She was concerned that the group had become overly dependent upon the two of them, and she feared what would happen if neither was around to give direction. She also insisted that a handgun and a box of bullets be hidden under both driver’s seats.

They did as she asked. Angie was ashamed that she had underestimated Margaret, considered her less important because she wasn’t a shooter. A quiet strength was hidden behind those plain features, and it reminded Angie that leadership wasn’t just about carrying a gun and giving orders.

Angie shut the back door of her van and hooked the Galil over a shoulder, then retrieved her pocketbook off the front seat and locked the vehicle with an electronic chirp. On her way up to the roof she met Big Jerry coming down the stairs.

“Headed up to take a watch?” he asked.

“Elson’s been up there long enough. He needs some dinner.”

“I’m pretty sure Maxie has plenty of chili left.” He patted his belly. “It’s good. I would have gone for seconds, but no one wants a fat man in the house after a second bowl of beans.”

She chuckled.

“You look tired, Ang. Why don’t you get some rest, I’ll take your watch.”

She shook her head. “You’ve been working all day.” The big man was a quick student and a hard worker, paying close attention to everything Angie taught him about cleaning and caring for firearms. He had sat at a table with brushes, rags and rods until his face was beaded with sweat and he reeked of gun oil.

“I don’t mind. Besides, you work harder than all of us.”

“You haven’t learned to shoot yet,” she reminded him.

He leaned his bulk against a railing. “And whose fault is that?”

“Tomorrow,” she promised. “We’ll start on the basics tomorrow.”

He stayed put. “I won’t need a gun up there anyway, because as you’ve pointed out gunfire attracts them. Come on, take me up on the offer. If anything happens I’ll come get you right away.”

She smiled, and on impulse kissed him on a round cheek. He blushed. “You’re sweet. It’s okay, I could use the quiet time.”

He nodded and squeezed past her, then stopped. “Thank you.” When she looked confused, he took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “None of us would be alive if it wasn’t for you, and we all know that. So thank you.”

Angie didn’t know what to say, and Jerry let her off the hook by going downstairs before she tried.

Elson was walking a slow circuit of the roof, his shotgun resting in his arms. She sent him down to get some food and sleep, and then sat on the low wall at the edge of the roof, looking out at the street and the surrounding neighborhood. It was twilight, purple and pink smears peeking out between thickening clouds, the temperature dropping into the fifties. A lone seagull coasted by, and the air smelled like rain. There were no lights in any direction, the streets below silent except for the shuffling feet of the dead.

Angie opened her pocketbook. It was a heavy thing, made of fine leather, and had set her back twelve hundred dollars at Bloomingdales in San Francisco. Only a couple of years ago she would have choked on the idea of spending that kind of money on a bag, but the money she and Dean made from the TV show made it a casual purchase. She ran her fingertips over the leather. What did any of that mean now? She took out her wallet and opened it to the plastic flaps holding pictures.

Leah smiling and hugging a Winnie the Pooh.

Dean, handsome and grinning.

The three of them together, Leah caught in the middle of a belly laugh.

She stared at the photographs as her eyes welled up. From the purse she removed a blue plastic teething ring, the kind which held water and could be frozen in order to soothe aching little gums. It was rough with tiny teeth marks. Angie closed her hand over it and held it to her breast. Was she eating right? Was Dean able to bathe her? Did she have toys to play with and her footie pajamas?

She’s safe at the ranch, she told herself. They both are. Dean got them out, and he would destroy anything that got in their way – man or creature - in order to protect his child. Leah was safe at the ranch, with her daddy and grandparents to look after her.

Angie wrapped her arms around herself and started to cry, something she hadn’t allowed herself to do until now. It was a deep, wrenching thing, and she bent over with her hands clamped to her face, her back heaving as it overtook her. She was still like that when Bud found her on the roof, and he went to her and folded her into his arms, holding her close as her body shook with sobs. He didn’t talk, didn’t offer meaningless noises, only held her. They stayed that way a long time, until the emotional storm passed and her body stilled. Finally she pulled away, sniffling and wiping at her tears. “What am I doing?”

He waited.

“All this. This place, these people. What am I doing?”

“You’re taking care of others.”

She laughed. “Strangers. I’m running a damned orphanage.”

“You can’t think that’s a bad thing.”

She turned away, staring out at a dead world. “I should be taking care of my family, Bud, taking care of them, not collecting strays.” She had, in fact, found two more today while she was out gathering food. One was a malnourished high school girl named Meagan, who had armed herself with the type of curving blade landscapers used on high weeds. The blood on the blade and her shirt said she had used it. The other was a nine-year-old girl who didn’t speak much English but said her name was Theresa. Angie had come out of a store and caught her trying to steal a jug of water out of the back of the Excursion. It took some coaxing to get her to climb in instead of running away.

“You’re saving lives,” Bud said.

“For how long? We can’t stay here forever. I can’t stay here.”

Her uncle nodded. “Every time you go out alone I wonder if you’re coming back.”

She knew he didn’t mean he was worried she’d been killed. “I’ll give it another week. I’ll get this place as stocked and fortified as I can, but then I’m leaving.” Fresh tears sprang into her eyes. “I have to go to them, Bud. I have to know.”

He nodded slowly.

“And I want you to come with me. Our family needs to be together.”

The man sighed. “I don’t think I could, Ang.”

“Oh, bullshit!”

“I’m not sure you could, either. But if you do, it’s going to destroy them. Are you telling me you don’t realize that you’re the only thing holding them together?”

Angie shook her head. “They’ll be fine. Margaret will step up, and Jerry and Elson, Sophia…” She stared at her uncle. “They’re not my responsibility!”

Bud rested a hand on her shoulder. “Have you even thought about what it would take to get to the ranch? It’s over two-hundred miles. How far do you think you’d get before you were on foot and exposed. You saw it; we couldn’t even get off this damned island.”

“I’ll make it.”

“Even if you scavenged food and water on the move, you couldn’t carry enough ammo to deal with what’s waiting out there.”

“Two of us could.”

“No, we couldn’t.”

She pulled away. “What do you expect me to do, just write them off? My husband and my baby are out there, and they need me. And the family needs you. What do I tell my father, that I left you behind?”

“My brother knows me a lot better than you do, little girl.”

She blinked at the sharp tone.

“I know what you want, Ang. If you have to go, then you’ll go, and my heart will break along with everyone else’s. But we brought these people here and told them they’d be safe, that we’d protect them. It probably won’t matter, I know how this will all end, but I’ll make my stand with them. They’re not strangers anymore.”

Angie’s cheeks burned with shame, and she hung her head as more tears fell. Bud took her in his arms again, hugging her tight.

“I miss them so much,” she cried. “I need my baby.”

“I know, honey, I know. We’ll figure it out.”

Neither of them noticed that Maxie had been standing in the shadows just inside the door to the roof, eavesdropping. They didn’t notice him slip silently back downstairs, either.