Joseph Love - Kill Town, USA

“Matthew Scudder.”

“Jack Heart. This is Audrey.”

They shook hands. Matthew lowered his head and scratched the nape of his neck. He sat up and pointed to the woman in the shadows. “That’s Claire. My wife.”

Claire waved softly to us, her face warm and yellow in the lamplight.

“Were the kids hiding in the feed barrel?”

I nodded. Audrey stared at her shoes.

“Either there or the barn, that’s where they been sitting out the last two days. Georgie could have shot you dead, you know. He’s a good shot.”

“I could have shot him, too.”

“Well, that’s not the matter. Everyone knows to watch the woods on account of that’s where those things come through. Use it like a highway. The straightest path, I guess. Now, why you’re wandering through the middle of it, a lady with you,” he eyed Audrey’s fleece-lined boots, muddy and tattered. “It’s beyond me. You know someone’s out there just waiting to shoot without asking who’s there.”

“Well, we don’t know that. Didn’t know that.”

“You’re the only people in the world who don’t know what’s going on is what you’re telling me?”

“We know. But that the woods are off limits, that’s news to us.”

“That’s the first thing you should have known.”

“Sewell only told us about the quarantine,” Audrey said to herself.

“You talked to Sewell?”

“Well, yeah. Tried to kill us. Then took us to his house.”

“Wonder you’re not still there. He tends to hoard people. Kinda lonely.”

“We noticed.”

“He give you this rifle?” He tapped the Remington’s stock.

“No.”

“Yours?”

“No.”

“I know it’s not because I sold that rifle to a boy just a couple weeks ago.”

“That boy is dead now,” I said. “And I have his rifle.”

He looked me up and down like he had Audrey. “Why are you two going through the woods?”

“We’re trying to get out.”

“Everyone’s trying to get out.”

“We don’t live here, though.”

“No?”

“No. I was hiking. I got trapped.”

“You hiking, too?”

“No,” Audrey said.

“You together?”

“We are now.”

“What’s in the pack?”

I told him exactly what I’d kept in the pack and what I’d left in the woods.

“We would really like to get out. Not a place to stay, not something to eat, just out,” Audrey told him.

“I don’t blame you. This isn’t exactly a quarantine zone, it’s a military zone. A rural Death Valley.“

“It’s a kill town. Like the sign says.”

“Exactly. And let me tell you the truth,” he stared at Audrey. “Everyone with half an ounce of common sense wants to leave. But that’s just not an option. We got two main roads, a couple of farm roads, and the river. All’s blocked but the river.”

“Then we’re going to the river.”

“What’s this about?” He slapped the desk. “I understand you’re a long way from home, but you have to appreciate the situation. You can’t go anywhere.”

“Are you the law?” Audrey snapped.

“There’s no law anymore. Not at the moment.”

“I think we’re just going to leave.”

He held up his hands. “Let me set you straight. They’re not dangerous because they’re nervous and shooting at everything that moves. They’re dangerous because they’re not taking chances. Do you get that? Even if you’re fine, no signs of infection, they’ll take you in for any reason they can. Make up something if they have to.”

“And you’re different? You’re not locking us in your spare bedroom and taking away our guns?”

“The fact that you’re even alive is luck. That’s it. The moment you walked in my house, you became the safest you’ve ever been. And now your safety isn’t luck. It’s me.”

Audrey pulled up her sleeve to reveal the blackened bite wound. “The safest I ever was, I was at home when I didn’t have to worry about any of this shit. And if I’m going to turn into one of those goddamn monsters, then I’d like to do so freely. I don’t want to die a prisoner in your kill town.”

His eyes fixed on the bite mark. He chewed his lower lip and looked at me. “You?”

I shook my head. “I’m clean.”

He looked back to Claire. She stood still and quiet with the lamp in both hands. They seemed to get lost in each other. A secret.

Someone knocked on the front door. Pounded. Frantic.

“Wait here a minute.” Matthew left the room, Claire followed.

We heard the front door swing open. The man at the door rambled loudly, half-drunk, breathless. “We think it was an ambush. They took out two of our dirt bikes. Must be ten, twenty of them. They killed all our men in the convoy on highway Thirty-One. Four trucks full of men.”

“Did you search the woods?”

“We used the spotlights, yes.”

“I heard a bunch of automatic fire. Was that you searching?”

“We were retaliating.”

“You were scared and wasting bullets.”

“They’re still out there.”

“Get a bigger group. Get some dogs. Go into the woods.”

“A bigger group?”

“If they’re ambushing, we need a big defense.”

“Oh.”

“Get on that search group.”

“Yes, sir.”

Matthew appeared in the doorway. “I guess you heard the boy.”

“Yes,” I said.

“They aren’t looking for twenty men, are they?”

“If they are, they’ll be disappointed.”

“Well. That’s enlightening.”

“You could have told him we were here.”

“You’re ghosts, you know? You slipped through a giant crack. No one knows who you are. No one knows about that,” he pointed to Audrey’s arm. “No one needs to know. They’ll want you dead.”

“And you don’t? They’re coming to you for orders.”

“They think I’m in charge. I’m not. I told them we needed to quarantine ourselves. We were the ones to take charge. They asked me what to do, and I said what I thought. Get rid of the ones who ain’t right in the head. They come and ask me what to do, but they make up their own minds out there. My word ain’t scripture.”

He turned to his wife and waved her over. “Claire, come here a minute.” She stepped forward and set the lamp on the desk. “Raise up them pants. Go on.”

Slowly, the thin woman with the graying brown hair rolled up the hem of her pajamas. Her calf was mostly black. There was a wide hole above the ankle. The wound was coated in lint from her pajamas.

“The fat boy out in the barn did that. The one Georgie shot. Crawled up behind her while she was getting cat food out of the freezer. I figure my main concern is staying with her. Not getting out. Not killing her.”

“Your kids?”

Matthew shook his head. “They don’t know. They’ve turned real mean. They’d kill her if they knew. It’s been a week.”

“Claire?” Audrey whispered. “What’s it like?”

“Like my leg’s asleep. Like I’m waiting for another day.”

Claire unrolled her pajamas and took the lamp from the table.

“I am cold. Though I think everyone is nowadays. The lamp keeps me warm.”

I nodded. “We would like to be on our way. We’re keeping you from being with your wife. Your family.”

He nodded. “I don’t mind it. It’s funny in a way.”

I didn’t think any of it was funny.

“You two stay here tonight. We’ll make you some food and you can leave in the morning. Or you can leave tonight. But you have to eat.”

Matthew grunted as he pushed himself away from the desk. He and Claire went to the kitchen. Stopping by a door, he pointed to it. “This is the bathroom for you. We still got water. If you want a hot bath, you’ll have to heat some water on the stove first.”