She pulled away, and eyed me warily.
“I’m just saying.” I told her.
Bessie wasn’t appeased much. She didn’t go back to chewing her cud until I was well past her stall.
It was close on lunch by the time I had finished my chores. It wasn’t steak but there was absolutely nothing wrong with the pork tenderloin chops Carol was dishing up.
“I would have made sandwiches, but I ran out of flour to make it with a few weeks ago.” She said apologetically.
“No.” Tracy told me, without a word coming out of my mouth.
“But.” I started.
“No Talbot, you’re not going anywhere.”
“Fine.” I pouted as I sat down to my mounded plate of meat. “Some barbecue sauce, maybe shredded a little. Man it would make a…”
“Talbot!” Tracy said.
“Fine.” I dug in. I didn’t think that after smelling animal ass for the last four hours I’d be hungry. I was wrong.
I parked my butt in the living room after lunch. The couch was inviting. The fire was warming. About the only thing that could have made this perfect was if ESPN were on. Carol had never had a television as far as I had known. Was that even possible? Wasn’t there a law against that or something? I shuddered at the thought. I think the only reason she ever got a phone was to stay in touch with her daughter.
BT was sitting up. “Why you looking all content and shit?” He asked me.
“I almost feel like I’ve come home.” I told him honestly.
“Almost?” He asked. He grimaced as he shifted his position so he could look at me easier. “It’s not over then?”
“What! Do I have a playbook on my face?”
“Let’s just say Talbot, you have an uncanny ability to say everything without opening your mouth.” Tracy said from the entryway. She came over and kissed my face. “And that’s what I love about you.”
“When we leaving then?” BT asked.
“I was hoping to give you more time to recover.” I was surprised when he nodded in agreement. He must be hurting if he couldn’t even manage a small semblance of male macho bravado.
“You tell me when Talbot. I’ll make myself ready.”
Justin came in at that point and sat down heavily in the large chair by the fire. “We have a week.”
Nobody doubted his source. I just doubted the message.
“We leave in three days BT.” I said never taking my eyes off of Justin.
Justin smiled maliciously, realizing I had just caught him in his lie and absolutely not caring.
“Two days.” I hastily amended. Justin’s and BT’s faces almost mirrored each other exactly in their disappointment.
Tracy’s shoulders sagged as the weight of my words weighed on her. “My mom won’t leave you know.”
“I know that. You’re going to have to convince her it’s for the best.”
“What’s for the best?” Carol asked.
“Is it me?” I asked Tracy. “Or is the timing of people showing up at the right time uncanny.”
“Canny.” Tommy filled in.
“So what’s for the best?” Carol asked again.
“That you come with us when we leave.” I said hastily, hoping that maybe the shock value of the words would be lost in their fast delivery, it wasn’t.
“I’ll do no such thing.” Carol answered adamantly.
“Mom.”
“Hush, Tracy. This is my home. I’m 79 years old and I have no desire to start somewhere else. I was born in this house. God willing I’ll die in it.”
“Mom?!” Tracy cried with more volume.
“And what’s more I don’t see the point in any of you leaving. There’s plenty of chickens and pigs to get us through the winter. Plus there’s Bessie.”
“Yeah for hamburger.” I added much too quickly.
“For milk.” Carol answered while she glared at me.
“Right, that’s what I meant.” Even though I hadn’t.
“Mom, the zombies are coming. We have to leave.” Tracy nearly begged.
“Then let them come.” Carol answered defiantly.
“Carol this isn’t going to be in ones and twos. There’s going to be hundreds.” I added.
Her countenance shifted subtly but she recovered quickly. “Then they come.” She answered again but with noticeably less vigor.
“At least think about it Carol. We’re leaving in two days.” That did shake her. I watched as all those years of hard farm work suddenly caught up with her. She gripped the couch arm much like I had earlier this morning. Tracy helped her to sit.
There was not much said the rest of that afternoon. Mostly idol talk about ‘remember whens’. The past had a much glossier shine now that the future was so tarnished. BT plunged himself into sleep. Most likely in a desperate bid to accelerate his bodies healing capabilities. Tommy stayed on the far end of the room from Justin but I would occasionally catch him staring raptly at him. If Justin knew or cared that he was sometimes Tommy’s center of attention he never let on. Tracy and Carol had left after a while to most likely discuss what they were going to do. I felt it was best not to intervene. Henry was laying by the fire, which coincidentally flared up every few minutes or so. Better that whatever noxious gases were spewing from him were consumed in the fire than disseminated out into the rest of the room.
Jen prowled around the house like a panther, constantly looking out the windows for party crashers. Travis had the air of many a military men I had been exposed to, he was able to pull off the duality of having heightened awareness will looking casually indifferent. I had envied those men and their façade of calm demeanor. Nicole had at some point come down from her room, eyes puffy from crying and into my arms. She had almost instantly fallen asleep, mourning can be an essence draining process. And me? Besides keeping a mental note of where and what everybody else was up to, I stared at the fire. The shifting shapes, patterns and colors helped to ease my troubled mind.
Jen was right. This was not an easily defendable location. Sure we could see the enemy coming for a quarter of a mile in nearly every direction. Then what? They would have a 360 degree angle of attack. We were vulnerable from all sides. The two largest egresses were the front door off the hallway and the back door in the kitchen. There were at least 12 windows on the lower level that were big enough for an intruder to gain entry. This was a nightmare. I knew without asking that there was no way Carol was going to let me shore up our meager defenses. I’d never be able to pull off cutting her staircase up. Tracy would kill me. The more I thought about it the more I concluded that our best defense was to not have one. We had to get gone.
I now regretted my decision to tell Justin about my amended plans. Whatever Eliza had originally planned she was surely making her own adjustments. I could only hope that she wasn’t in a position to move too quickly. I would have left that same evening if BT had been in a better place. I could leave him with Carol. That stray thought came out of left field and was quickly denounced otherwise I’d have Eliza and BT hunting us down.
I alternated constantly that day about the silence in the house. On one side it felt like the calm before the storm. On the other was the peace and harmony with the world that living on a farm can bring to ones soul, although I knew the falsity of that fantasy. I guess I was in a sort if self-induced trance as I watched that fire. So much so that my eyes began to itch from lack of blinking.
“Miss me?” I heard a male voice say, almost as if we were using cans and string and he was about a mile away. It was that indistinct.
I didn’t ‘speak’ these words but for ease of following the conversation I will make it appear that way.
“Who are you?” I asked. I tried my best to hide the tide of unease that was rising within me.
“Oh me and you go way back.” And the disembodied voice began to laugh.