Timothy Long - Beyond the Barriers

“Where did they come from?”

“Lisa knows him.”

“She does not look good at all.”

An older man looked me up and down, nodding to himself as if I met some criteria. I nodded back at him just the same. The low hum of a smaller generator kicked in, and dim lights lit the houses behind the barricade. It seemed like my life was coming down to what barricade I was able to hide behind at any given time. Many had wished for a new world, but I didn’t think this was what anyone had in mind.

Lisa spoke with someone in low tones behind me before she ran to catch up with me. She looped one hand in the crook of my arm as another person came and took Katherine.

“I can’t believe you’re alive,” she said, and I heard a strong hint of relief. I could only imagine what she and Devon had gone through after the zombies showed up.

“Where is Devon?”

“Gone,” she said simply. “What’s wrong with your … friend?”

“Katherine. She was shot by one of those ghouls.”

“They don’t shoot. They only direct the undead things to do their bidding.”

“Well, someone with glowing green eyes did a good job of learning how to fire a gun,” I said in frustration. I didn’t want to talk about it; I wanted to get Katherine fixed up and out of here. This fiefdom was fine and dandy for them, but I wanted to go in pursuit of the caravan and hit Portland as soon as possible. I was sick to death of living in fear and living on the run.

“We have medical supplies and a nurse. She has done some amazing things, even though she isn’t a doctor. She can take care of her.”

Lisa guided me to a house; I think it used to belong to Mark Wilson, a neighbor with whom I was never very friendly. He seemed like a nice enough guy, if a bit aloof. The door was open, and they were helping Katherine down a hallway to what must have been their triage room.

“Have you been here since the shit went down?” I asked.

“We tried to leave once. Devon wasn’t sure what to do. He wanted to wait for some instructions from the government, or at least someone who seemed to be in authority. We waited and waited for at least a week after you left. One night, the power went out, and we sat up in the dark. The next day, we wandered around the neighborhood, but it was so empty. It seems most of the neighbors left shortly after you did.”

“Who was still around?”

“Well, Mark didn’t leave either. He had a hunting rifle, and he took the doors off all his upstairs rooms and nailed them over windows. He tried to build a fortress, but that was in the early days, and we weren’t organized like we are now.” Her tone was almost shy. Her hair was once a sheet of auburn curls that hung over her face when she laughed. Now it was a lighter color, and it was straight. I realized that hair that looked so natural was an act, just like the act kept up by the other survivors around us.

“I’m so glad to see you alive. I have seen some horrible things—some not too far from here. That was you at the house that was on fire, wasn’t it?” she said. “We almost shot you, you know.”

“That was your people?” I asked in surprise.

“We weren’t going to get involved.” She stopped me with a look, probably reading the shock in my eyes. “We try to stay out of the way. When it became apparent you were going to start a shooting match, we decided to spook the other guys.”

“Lee’s men,” I said.

“Who is Lee?”

“Long story. Let’s just say he’s a bad man. I wouldn’t be sad to see him dead.” I sighed.

“Is that his first name?”

“Come to think of it, I have no idea.”

Lisa studied me, but didn’t pursue the matter. I was sure we would have time to talk about it later. I was on edge, worried about Katherine. I’m sure Lisa was aware of my constant glances toward the room Katherine was in.

Lisa had a new bearing about her. She was no longer the shy housewife that used to giggle at my jokes when she and Devon stopped by, before Allison left. She had come into her own, and I was willing to bet she was the one who yelled at me earlier.

I found an unoccupied La-Z-Boy and took a seat in it. She came around and sat on a beat-up couch that was probably once a fine leather sofa imported from somewhere expensive, if I knew Mark.

I glanced down the hall and wanted to pursue Katherine, wanted to be by her side when they worked on her, wanted to be there in case they had some bad news. One of the men who had helped us out came back and nodded at me.

“Nurse said she is gonna be all right, man. She is lucky that bullet went in and out clean. She’s gonna stitch her up and give her some antibiotics. We don’t have a lot, but we can spare some for a neighbor.”

He was light skinned but had a slight Hispanic accent. He carried a shotgun over his shoulder and was dressed like the others—jumpsuit with a scarf tied around his neck. I liked him right away for reasons I couldn’t pinpoint. Being in Special Forces, I had learned pretty quickly who I could and couldn’t trust. I had a feeling about him as soon as I saw him. I was pretty sure he was also the man I had seen pass the car when they spooked Lee’s men.

“I’m Scott, by the way.” He offered his hand, and I shook it, noticing he also wore gloves.

“The outfits must be protection from the biters.”

“Smart guy. We should keep you around.” He grinned.

“Thanks, I think.” I smiled back.

“Now this is nothing personal, man, but I’m gonna have to ask you to take your clothes off.”

“Excuse me?”

“Gotta check you for bites, man. Like I said, nothing personal. It’s a brave new world, brother. We don’t stand on modesty much.”

“What, here?”

“You want a private room, amigo?”

Lisa had a churlish grin on her face, but tastefully turned her head to the side to give me the illusion of privacy. Stripping down to my skivvies, I shook my head. They were old and torn, and I felt ridiculous in them. Scott gestured, so I held my arms out and spun around.

“Not the tighty whiteys, I hope,” I said.

“If a zombie bit your ass, you got bigger problems. You’re cool.”

I nodded and put my clothes back on, while Lisa fought back a cough.

He wandered back outside, and I was left alone with Lisa, who sat back and studied me.

“Is that how you greet every survivor?”

“If I didn’t go out for you, you would have been stripped and spread eagle on the ground before you were even let into the perimeter.”

I liked how she used words like that, like she was in the military. This was not the sweet but simpering Lisa I had met a few years ago. This was a confident woman who was used to giving orders and having them followed.

I took a seat in the La-Z-Boy again and tried to look relaxed after doing the striptease. She studied me, and I studied her in return. She was still pretty, but she had the same hard look to her eyes that Katherine had. I hoped she was doing well in their care. I couldn’t imagine she would be too happy with their methods of inspecting for bites.

“I thought the bites were fast—like the movies. You get bit, you die and change. Come back as one of those dead things.”

“It used to be that way, but the virus has mutated. In some cases, it can take days to make its presence known. The ghouls have sent in more than one survivor who didn’t even know they were going to change. Those things are too smart by far. We need a plan to kill them all.”

“I think I know what you mean. We had trouble too. It was like they were driving a bunch of the zombies to kill us. They seemed to have a strange power over them. How can a virus do something like that?”

Sighing, she sat back. She put her hands in her lap and looked small all of a sudden. If I had been close to her, I probably would have patted her hand in a familiar gesture, like one friend does for another.