Sleepers 3 Page 9

  “Stop it,” Michael whispered to me. “Here, have a drink.”

  “Padre,” I sniffed the bottle, “I didn’t know you carried the moonshine.”

  “Only when I’m out with you and you get like this.” Michael showed the bottle again. “One sip.”

  “Am I that transparent?”

  “Yes.”

  I took a sip.

  We were a four-man team. We didn’t want to be so big that we’d be spotted; we were only scouting. Beck and another man named Stan were up ahead.

  Beck stopped and turned around. “Can you keep up?”

  “Can you get off my back?”

  “Alex...” Michael said in a warning voice.

  Beck shook his head. “Since when did you get so edgy?”

  “Since when did you become such a dick?”

  I saw it through the corner of my eye; Michael cringed as Beck moved my way. I wasn’t scared of the big guy. In the time I knew him, he was pretty tame, just physically intimidating.

  “A dick?” Beck asked.

  I tugged my ear. “I believe that’s what I said, yes.”

  Beck huffed out a hard breath. “Why… why would you say that about me?”

  “Oh, am I hurting your feelings?”

  “Yes.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “Wow.” I tilted my head. “I’m sorry. It’s just that you are so bossy now.”

  “Then I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be that way. I’m just worried. I thought this place was safe. I did. Nothing that you did or didn’t do, it’s just that they’re here, and I have a feeling it’s bad. I need to take care of it.”

  “Save the world for humanity?”

  Another heavy breath, Beck smiled, lowered his head, and shook it again. He dropped his voice. “Between you and me, I don’t care about saving the world for humanity. I just care about saving enough of it for the people that I love. Mera, the kids, you. That’s my concern. Get it?”

  “Got it.” I held up a finger. “I’ll try to be better.”

  “Thank you.” Beck turned and started walking.

  “It’s just that, fighting with… with my wife and all...”

  Everyone who had been moving stopped.

  Beck looked over his shoulder. “Your wife?”

  “Yeah, you probably don’t know. You were away.”

  Beck blinked a few times. “I would think you would have told me.”

  “Um… sorry?” I shrugged and followed.

  Michael reached out, halting me. “When did you get married?”

  “You would know. Did you marry us?”

  “Who did you marry?” Michael asked.

  “Oh, you know.”

  “Really, I don’t.”

  Stan laughed. “Dude, I know you’re trying to lighten the mood by joking, but you even have me convinced that you’re married.”

  “I’m not? I mean…” I faked a laugh. “I’m not. Kidding you, Beck.” After getting a glare from Beck, my mind screamed at Sonny. He told me I was married, and the only reason he would do that was if Mera told him about the time change.

  I made a mental note to get them both.

  Beck walked a little more, following the slight grade upwards. “The trail comes from this way. Look.” He pointed to an impression. “This is a pathway. Just gotta follow.”

  “Can’t Michael tap in?” I asked. “He is the Son of God.”

  “You’re an asshole,” Michael snapped.

  “Wow, is that any way for the Son of –”

  “Stop. Okay? It’s not funny to me. I take my faith very seriously. I am a man like you and Beck and everyone else. My father sold electronics and my mother was a waitress. I wanted to be a musician. Where in all that do you get—”

  “Gentlemen.” Beck called out gently. A soft call that sent a warning to me. He waved his hand. “Come here.”

  Stan reached him first gasping, “Holy shit.”

  I arrived and was immediately breathless. “Oh my God.” While we didn’t get a full view of the town, we saw enough.

  Michael asked. “Where did they all come from?”

  “Have you been to this town?” Beck asked me.

  “Yeah. Stan and I came through here last month for a Wal-Mart run. There were maybe three or four. We took them out.”

  “No more than that, Beck, I swear,” Stan said. “Not this.”

  Beck slid his hand harshly down his face. “I can’t even get a count. Our closest ground troop movement is a good four days away.”

  “Air support?” I suggested.

  “We don’t have it or the fuel for it.” Beck looked at me. “We need to figure out something. This is big. This is…”

  “Terrifying,” I finished his sentence. I hated to, but I looked out again. The small area of the town, from what we could see, was covered by wall-to-wall, shoulder-to-shoulder, sauntering Sleepers. They moved aimlessly, except for a few of them that I saw skirmishing over something. A low hum of vocal moaning carried to us. I knew one thing: if they even slightly developed an ability to think, to storm our wall, we were in trouble. We were seriously outnumbered, and that was only what I could see.

  24.

  Sonny

  It was pretty early in the evening when we stopped. We didn’t plan on it, but the skies were brewing a storm and, without power, without lights, the roads were going to get dark.

  The trip was full of surprises.

  We stopped in Bowie County on the outskirts of a town called Texarkana.

  I expected to run into Sleepers, maybe groups of them. We didn’t run into any or have any problems at all. We passed them as we drove; they walked west, as if they had a destination. Some walked alone, some in groups. The first leg of the journey I marked as safe. Dismal but safe.

  The highway had started to crack. Weeds lifted the concrete, and the cars abandoned on the road were weatherworn and had become planters for vegetation. I suppose in time they, along with the highway, would be buried beneath nature.

  The town held Sleepers, and a pack of four came for us when we pulled over. Silent in the slaying, Miles took them down without alerting any others. We took refuge in an old drugstore just off the first exit of the highway. The building was clear, save a few deer that had their way in the parking lot. We secured the place for the night. I found cans of spray paint, three of which were red.

  In the morning, if we were attacked or overrun, and the place was still secure, I’d mark the outside with a big red ‘S’ for safe. My sign for Mera.

  I had a plan, because somewhere deep inside me, I knew I had to lay out not only a safe route, but an escape route. There was no reason for this other than a gut instinct. I was never psychic before and believed the feelings to be borne from paranoia.

  I managed to make radio contact and reached Mera. The connection was bad and I wasn’t counting on the radio contact lasting all that long, so I quickly informed her of my plan. I told her the route Miles and I were taking, my destination area in Ohio, and that I would mark things along the way. Any place safe to stop for the night would be marked. If a change of course was taken, we’d find a way to let them know.

  I knew exactly where I wanted to go. I was familiar with the area of Ohio and the farms in the region. I grew up there. It wouldn’t be as easy as Grace, but it would feel more free and less like a prison camp. I hoped that the rest of the trip would be like the first portion, a dead country, a decaying modern civilization, a world abandoned, but one with fewer Sleepers.

  In Randy’s time, he told of a civilization, a free zone from Sleepers beyond the Great Divide.

  I prayed that held true in this time as well.

  25.

  Mera Stevens

  I’d be lying if I said I almost forgot that Beck was alive, because he only returned briefly, apologized for not staying, and then took off again. There was a situation and he’d fill me in when he had a chance. It wasn’t good. Beck didn’t say that, but the urgency with
which he moved and spoke told me that.

  Even more so when he said, “Lock the doors.”

  Lock the doors?

  Only in the beginning did I lock the doors and that was only when I saw Sleepers. He might have been saying it so the babies didn’t get out again. I know that was forefront on my mind.

  Danny was awake when the radio call came from Sonny. It was good to hear from him and even better to hear that they were traveling safely. Sonny seemed to not only be heading home, but also setting up for all of us to leave. I saw the look on my son’s face. He looked relieved to hear from Sonny.

  Danny’s head hurt, and rightfully so. He took a pretty good knock. He was sluggish and groggy, and I didn’t want him to sleep. He said he didn’t think he could.

  “Remember when I returned home that day?” Danny asked. “I told you about the sleeping sickness. You didn’t believe me.”

  “Yes, vividly. Why are you bringing this up?” I asked.

  “I have that same feeling now. Scared of something, I don’t know what, but I also feel I need to be strong and ready.”

  “Danny…”

  “Mom, they climbed the wall. They used each other to climb the wall,” Danny said emphatically. “There were about two hundred of them, Beck said. Imagine if there’s more. Worse yet, imagine if they can think again.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “Yeah, well, neither do I. We keep forgetting things that Randy said. You know? We keep forgetting that he came to us to try to find the cure because kids in his time were dying. He called them the Palers and never said a word about how they were. But they had to be some way, Mom, because it went from mainly us to half us to them owning this world. That’s scary. It’s bad enough when they’re mindless and dangerous, but make them logical and dangerous and we’re in trouble.”

  I shook my head. “No. We aren’t. Apparently, the uninfected still thrive for a while, in our lifetimes.”

  My son had a point though. I reached out, allowing my fingers to run down his face. It was pale and his eyes were tired. He had already been through so much in his young life. I hate the thought of him having to be so grown up. He was only eighteen.

  I told Danny to rest, that I wanted to check on the babies. Last I looked in on them they were sleeping. I heard footsteps and I wanted to check. Plus, I had a baby gate that I wanted to put on their door.

  It was hard getting used to Keller being in another room. I arrived at the bedroom, gate in hand, and heard a voice. I knew exactly who it was. Jessie. I had adjusted to the fact that my daughter, despite being a full grown woman physically, was a mere child mentally. She reminded me so much of how she was when she was four.

  Phoenix and Keller were her toys. She loved Keller to death. We all did. The child may not have made a noise, but he exuded personality and when he smiled, it melted you.

  I leaned in the doorway, watching Jessie on the floor with Phoenix, and Keller was sound asleep on the bed.

  “Mommy,” Jessie smiled. “We’re playing.”

  “I see. It’s bedtime.” I then noticed what Jessie was wearing. Miss May had made Jessie several summer dresses. Cool cotton and perfect for the weather. Childlike in a way, to match Jessie. Miss May was left over from the religious group that had survived on the land. She loved Jessie. Everyone did. Jessie loved that dress.

  “Why aren’t you dressed for bed?”

  Jessie smiled widely. “I pretty.”

  “I see.”

  “I ready for tomorrow.”

  I flashed back to when she was really a child. She did the same thing. When she was excited about her day, the night before she used to get dressed so all she had to do was get out of bed.

  “Phoenix talks, Mommy.”

  “I know.” I walked to the bed to check on Keller.

  “He’s big in a small body … like me.”

  “He just talks very well for his age, sweetie.” I told her. “Now go to—”

  “So does Keller,” she said.

  This made me stop. “You hear Keller speak?”

  She pointed to her head. “In here.”

  I just stared at her.

  “He told me.”

  “Keller told you what?”

  “They want the baby. They want the baby back.”

  “What baby, Jess?”

  “The one they hide at the clinic.”

  My heart thumped hard in my chest and a knot formed immediately in my stomach. “Who wants the baby?”

  “The bad people that came. They will go away,” she made a crinkled face, “when they get the baby.”

  “Honey, I don’t think you should worry about it.” I extended my hand. “Now say good night.”

  Happily, Jessie darted a kiss to Phoenix and stood up. Her eyes shifted to the gate.

  I explained, “It’s so the boys don’t leave while we sleep.”

  Jessie shook her head. “They were bad.”

  “They didn’t know.” I kissed her and laid my hand on her face. “They didn’t know.”

  “Still bad. He called them. Night, Mommy.” She kissed me and left the room.

  “Who called them, Jess?” I asked, but she was gone.

  Was she making up stories? In her youth she did. I stared at the door for a second then held out my hands downward to Phoenix. “Come on. Bed.”

  He looked at me with an angelic smile and slowly stood, not accepting my offer to carry him. He walked to the bed and I helped him onto it. “Under,” I told him and brought the covers over him. “Goodnight, sweetie. I love you.”

  “Wov you too.” He grinned.

  I walked to the other side of the bed and looked at Keller. He was curled up in a ball and sound asleep. I grabbed his little hand, brought it to my lips and to my chest, then to his. I knew he was sleeping but I had to convey that I loved him. “I love you little man, so much.” I bent down and kissed him.

  Once more I walked around and kissed Phoenix. He delivered another smile.

  “Goodnight. I’m putting a gate up. Call for me if you need me. I am right next door.” I adjusted the covers.

  “Keller call them,” Phoenix said.

  “I’m… I’m sorry?”

  “You ask Yessie. Me answer. Keller call them.”

  “Who?”

  “The bad.” On that, the little boy, still not even a full-fledged toddler, flashed eyes that seemed years beyond his age. Then he brought the covers to his shoulders, rolled his back to me, and closed his eyes with a smile.

  26.

  Alex Sans

  “Now you’ve really lost it, Mera.”

  Heck, I had just taken a leak, still in my boxers, when she opened the bathroom door. At first, I thought she had to go. But then she started rambling.

  “Can I have coffee? Can I brush my teeth?” I asked her, trying to gather my bearings. Beck and I had been meeting and discussing strategies all night. I was going on only a few hours sleep.

  She gave me my peace, and I sensed she was impatiently waiting on me.

  I stepped into the kitchen and, in a rare occasion, Mera had a cup of coffee for me.

  She was anxious to talk to me, but that would wait until the seven or eight or nine little people filed into the kitchen for breakfast, all calling out their morning cheer.

  Hi, Alex. Hey, Alex. Morning, Alex. Hello, Alex.

  Admittedly, it was hard keeping their names straight, even after a year. Nick, Mary, Haley, Steve …

  Jessie …

  “Hi, Alex, Bye Alex.” Jessie hurried to the door.

  “Whoa. Hey, wait.” I walked to her, grabbing that coffee from Mera on the way. “You look pretty today.”

  “I do.” Jessie said brightly. “Bye.”

  I shifted my eyes to Mera.

  “Where are you going?” Mera asked. “Aren’t you waiting for Bonnie?”

  “No. I’m a big girl.” Jessie stepped back into the kitchen, kissed Mera, then me, and hurried out. I started to follow, but instead I watched. She wa
lked in the direction of Bonnie’s.

  “Now…” I turned to Mera, sipped my coffee. “What’s up?”

  Mera dropped her voice. “Jessie hears Keller.”

  I slowly tossed my head back and then nodded. “And what did Jessie say he told her?” I immediately followed that question with an ‘ow’, because Mera reached out and hit me. “What the hell?”

  “I’m serious,” she snapped. “Keller told her the Sleepers wanted that baby. That’s why they came. And … and she said Keller calls them.”

  I grimaced, looked at the kids at the table and inched to Mera. “Keep that little bit of information silent. I don’t believe it for a second, but after the attack yesterday, people will be up to believe anything. Okay?”

  Mera nodded.

  “I promise we’ll talk about this when I get back. But I need to get to the clinic. Today is the day they... they put the baby to sleep.”

  She tightly closed her eyes. “And you want to watch it?”

  “No, Mera. I want to stop it.”

  Her eyes opened and widened.

  “A lot happened yesterday. Beck and I were talking about how clearing the hive was going to happen, and I thought about seeing that infant in Michael’s arms. Mera… it’s just a baby.”

  Her lips quivered and she threw her arms around me.

  “I can’t make any promises. But no one really has a good reason other than it’s a Sleeper. There’s no justification in doing it. It is still human and maybe... maybe we can turn it. Look what we’ve done for Keller.”

  “Thank you, Alex. Does Beck know?”

  I hesitated in answering. “No. But… knowing Beck, I really don’t think he’s gonna fight me. His plight is not what we all thought.”

  Mera had a lost, clueless look on her face as she tilted her head in question.

  “But I have to…” My attention was drawn to the sound of squealing brakes. Very near. Standing right by the kitchen door, I turned my head to the sound only to see that beat-up yellow school bus. The one that had carried us to Grace.