“Yeah, normal,” Simon said. “Like I was the old me instead of this new me.”
“I like this you,” Tessa said. She squeezed his hand and quickly let go. Simon’s body jerked to attention, feeling like she had just electrocuted him. He lay silently, enjoying the feeling as it ran from his hands, to his toes, and to his head. It almost made him dizzy, even though he was lying down. If she didn’t like him, she was going to have to stop touching him like that because it was obviously driving him crazy.
“I like this you too, Simon,” Zeke teased in a girly voice.
“Shut it.” Simon laughed, tossing his pillow at Zeke. Zeke caught it and tossed it right back at him.
“Good night, lovers.” Zeke rolled over, still laughing to himself.
“Night,” Tessa said softly. She turned on her side, back to Simon.
Simon lay still, wondering if he would ever be able to sleep sharing a bed with Tessa. He was painfully aware of her body next to his. He could smell her, some sort of flowery shampoo smell with just a touch of cherries. He shut his eyes, inhaling deeply, savoring her smell, and honestly trying to sleep, though it wasn’t coming easy with the rest of his body so awake.
He heard the front door open and close a while later and knew Dodge had come back. The stairs creaked and the other bedroom’s door closed. Simon turned, regretfully putting his back to Tessa. Maybe out of sight she could be out of mind. He lay on his side, eyes shut, thinking back over the day as he too slowly drifted off to sleep.
12
Haven Medical Base
Tessa rolled toward Simon and threw an arm across his stomach. He jerked up, mind swimming as he tried to figure out where he was. The room was still dark. Outside the sky was just beginning to hint at morning. Around the edges, fine blue light pushed away the black. When Simon saw it was Tessa beside him, the night before came back to him. He lay down, and after a moment’s hesitation, he put his hand on Tessa’s arm. He shut his eyes and tried to doze back off.
It was useless; he knew it as soon as he shut his eyes. He was surprised he had slept as long and solidly as he had. The events of the day before had obviously worn on him more than he thought. He was wide awake and as much as he was enjoying Tessa sleeping beside him, he had a growing need to find a bathroom. He lay there a few more minutes before giving up the fight. He carefully slid out from under Tessa’s arm and quietly left the room.
The sun had just begun to peek over the horizon, and its first timid rays tumbled through the arched window at the end of the hall. Simon padded quietly into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. He stepped out of the bathroom to find the hall had begun to glow golden with the morning sun, warming quickly.
“You’re up early.” Dodge stepped out of the master bedroom, shirtless and barefoot in a pair of jeans. “You remember to do your business outside?” he asked with a yawn, scratching his head as he began down the stairs.
“No,” Simon admitted sheepishly.
“Eh, it’s fine, won’t do any harm.” Dodge pulled a t-shirt over his head and stepped out the front door and hopped down the few steps to the grass, hurriedly relieving himself against the house. “Damn it’s getting cold out there.” Dodge jogged back into the house. He sat on the couch and squeezed each of his feet in turn. “I shoulda worn shoes.”
“Is it October yet?” Simon sank onto one of the other couches and lay down facing Dodge.
“Maybe. It’s gotta be damn near if it isn’t. You ready for this thing today?”
“It’s gotta be better than yesterday,” Simon replied with a sad smile. His stomach growled loudly, surprising him.
“I left some food in there.” Dodge nodded toward the kitchen. “Maybe you oughta get at that. I’m gonna get dressed and wake the others; no reason to wait around.”
“Yeah, sounds good,” Simon said.
He listened as Dodge climbed the stairs before he pushed himself up and walked across the chilly floor to find the kitchen. It was a simple room. A stove, fridge, and sink lined the room with an island in the middle of the room surrounded by stools. A box of food sat on the island. Simon climbed onto one of the stools and began pulling out the contents. It held the standard fare Simon had come to expect. There were some prepackaged sweet cakes that would probably last longer than he would, beef sticks, juice boxes, cereal, granola bars, soda, and canned food.
Simon decided on two beef sticks and a cola. He leaned back, munching on the beef and sipping his drink as he waited for the others. Tech and Tommy were the first to arrive, both eagerly grabbing packages of snack cakes and juice. They hopped onto the kitchen counter to eat.
“I always feel good when I eat one of these things,” Tech said with a grin. His hair stuck up around his head in tangled curls, and his shirt was wrinkled from sleeping in it. “I remember my parents didn’t let me have them.”
“That’s soda for me,” Simon said. He took a huge gulp of the sweet beverage. “Drinking it with breakfast would have driven my sister insane.” He almost said that it would have killed her, but caught himself in time. Still, his mood fell.
“I don’t remember anything like that.” Tommy looked down at his snack cake as if it didn’t taste as good anymore.
“That just means you could eat what you wanted, man,” Zeke assured him as he stepped into the room. The happy smile on his face told Simon he had smoked, not that Simon was surprised. “It’s the same way for me.” Zeke took the last snack cake. “Every time I don’t brush my teeth.”
“Yeah, well maybe you should try brushing them a couple times a week.” Simon waved a hand in front of his nose. “Just to be nice to the rest of us.”
Zeke grinned and leaned forward to burp in Simon’s face. “Nah, I’m good,” he said as Simon pretended to gag.
“You scrabs leave any food for me and the lady?” Dodge asked as he entered with Tessa beside him. He grinned to show he was joking, and Tommy looked relieved.
Tessa shook her head. “I’m too nervous to eat.” She sat on the stool next to Simon and opened an orange soda. “Sugar and carbonation is good for me.”
“Ain’t nothing to worry about,” Dodge assured her, and Tessa smiled at him. He put his hand on her shoulder as he leaned over to grab a box of cereal. Simon felt the soda go stale in his stomach as he watched Dodge squeeze Tessa’s shoulder before letting go.
“Sure, zombies are no big deal.” Zeke popped a piece of cake into his mouth. “Just watch the teeth.”
“Exactly,” Dodge agreed, ignoring the sarcasm. He pulled the bag of cereal out of the box and tore it open. He scooped out a handful. “We’ll just go down and see what’s up in there. Of course we’ll be armed when we do it. You two got much experience with guns?” Dodge looked at Simon and Tessa, raising an eyebrow. They both shook their heads.
“I figured as much,” Dodge said. “The rest of us are pretty swift with a gun.”
“I can deal with a hand gun,” Simon admitted quietly. “It’s what the nurse had when I woke up. I, I had to use it.”
“I got one of those for you then,” Dodge said. “Tessa, you okay with a baseball bat?”
“I’m sure I can do alright with one if there’s trouble,” she said. “Though I think I’ll let the guns do most of the talking while I keep to the back.”
“Decent plan,” Tech agreed. “I might stand back there with you.”
“Sure you will, Princess,” Zeke said.
“Seriously, will you stop with that?” Tech asked. “What did I do to make you start calling me that?”
“Uh, you just said you wanted to stand in back with the panty brigade,” Zeke answered. “No offense,” he added, turning to Tessa.
“How could I take offense to that?” she asked dryly. Simon grinned at her.
“You called me Princess last night for no reason,” Tech argued. “That isn’t going to be a thing.”
“Alright guys,” Dodge interrupted, grinning. “Grab your food, and we’ll head over to the wall before we hit up the hospital. I wanna check on Matt and them. They’re on watch, and I don’t trust them further than I could throw Simon.” Everyone but Simon smiled at Dodge’s joke. Dodge stood, shoving one last handful of cereal in his mouth. He rolled up the bag and tucked it back inside the box, setting it on the counter.
The group gathered up their breakfast and followed Dodge out the front door. Chill still clung to the air, but the sun had risen high enough to diffuse most of it. Simon wished he had worn a short sleeved shirt. They walked towards the front wall where the majority of the zombies gathered. Dodge had ordered two people on watch at a time for that wall; there was only one on each of the other walls.
As they approached the wall, it became obvious no one was on the top keeping watch. Simon glanced at Dodge. His face was drawn in a scowl, jaw clenched as he doubled his pace.
Simon and the others followed a few feet behind as they reached the wall. There, sitting against the wall, Matt and an Asian boy Simon’s age shared a blunt. Both were so far in their own worlds that they didn’t notice Dodge until he was right behind Matt and backhanded the blunt out of his grip. It tumbled to the ground.
The other kid scrambled to his feet, having the decency to look ashamed for being caught. Matt rolled his head lazily to face Dodge. He gave him a wide, stoned smile. “Hey, boss.”
“What the hell are you scrabs doing?” Dodge asked, with slow measured patience. Simon knew it was an act. Dodge had his fists clenched and pressed at his sides. Matt stood slowly, using the wall to push himself up. It didn’t take a genius to figure out Matt was drunk, past drunk and pulling into trashed actually.
“Havin’ a fuckin’ party.” Matt swung his arms wide. “Oops,” he covered his mouth, eyes dancing happily. “I mean guarding the wall, sir.” He pulled himself up tall and mock saluted Dodge.
Dodge hauled back and punched Matt with all he had. Matt stumbled to the side, his shoulder connecting with the wall. “Ow,” Matt slurred before slumping down the wall and passing out.
The other kid stared silently at Dodge, not saying anything. The sweat on his brow and the nervous darting of his eyes gave away his fear. Simon would have felt sorry for the kid if it weren’t their safety he was jeopardizing. For a moment, Dodge didn’t say anything, just let the kid start to fidget as he stared at him. Zeke leaned over and whispered something into Dodge’s ear.
“Harper.” Dodge said.
“Yeah?” Harper answered eagerly. He was obviously glad that Dodge was talking again, though he had the look of a beaten dog, ready to run at the first sign of violence.
“Do you think you should be smoking burn while on guard duty?” Dodge’s voice was even. This time the calm was real, the kid wasn’t going to give Dodge any problems.
“No, not at all.” Harper shook his head, his mess of black hair flopped back and forth. “Won’t happen again.”
“I doubt it will,” Dodge said. “You’re off this duty. Find Red and Tyson; tell them they’re switching with you and Matt. Grab one of the bigger guys to help you haul Matt back to the rec center. You’re gonna sit by him and make sure to clean up any vomit. Got it?”
“Yeah, got it.” Harper nodded, already backing toward the rec center, eager to be anywhere not near Dodge.
“And you tell people no drinking or smoking on the job, alright?”
“Yes.” Harper nodded again. “Will do.”
“We’ll wait for Red and Tyson,” Dodge told him. Harper nodded one last time and turned to run as fast as he could back toward the rec center.
“Wasn’t that a bit harsh?” Tessa looked down at Matt with disgust as he began to drool.
“This ain’t Neverland, Wendy,” Dodge told her.
Dodge knelt and lifted the gun Matt had discarded; it was as long as his arm and half as thick. Dodge slung it over his shoulder and climbed the ladder, carefully moving away on the wall when he reached the top. The others scrambled up after him, leaving Simon standing alone on the ground for a moment. Simon took a deep breath and began to climb up after them. Every step up the ladder brought back memories of Noah.