“I’m making conversation and I’m always nice to you.”
She snickered. “I can talk about Curt.”
“No.”
“I could talk about how we walked a hundred miles and you still ain’t got pants on Leah.”
“We only walked ten. Start looking for a place.”
“That’s why I asked that question about people still living in their houses. Maybe people are home and we can’t just go in their houses.”
“Then we’ll walk.”
“There’s a house up there.” She pointed.
I looked. In the distance, back from the road was a yellow two-story house. I thought I spotted a fence but I wasn’t sure.
“They have a stable. Maybe they have a horse,” Hannah said.
“Are you going to tell me you ride, too?”
“Don’t everyone.”
“No, but that’s one thing I do know, I know horses.”
“You ride?” she asked.
“No, did I say I ride? I said I know them. From the track. I used to bet on them.”
“For a guy who likes math, you’re really funny.”
“I did used to tell good jokes.”
“Oh, tell me one.”
“Okay, let me think.” I walked, trying my hardest to recollect a good joke she would understand. “Alright, I have one. Why did the…” I paused when I saw them. My voice dropped. “Expired Vee?”
“I think something is missing there, Calvin. Why did the expired Vee, what?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Expired Vee in the middle of the road.”
“Why are there expired Vee in the middle of the road?”
“Yeah.”
“Um, because they couldn’t get to the other side?”
“Huh?”
“Your joke, is that the punchline? ’Cause Cal, it ain’t very funny. Might be too soon to tell Vee jokes.”
“No. No. It’s not a joke. Up there.” I showed her. “Four of them.”
“You think they’re them?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“How can you tell from this far?”
“Their position.”
It was hard to explain to her what I meant. When I was Hannah’s age, the house four doors down caught on fire. Four people lived in the house and I watched it, like everyone else, as it burned to the ground despite the best efforts of the fire department. When it was done and the flames put out, they sorted through the rubble and uncovered the bodies.
Their arms and legs were bent up and inward as if the muscles retracted, hands slightly reaching, fingers bent. Their mouths wide open, probably from gasping for their last bit of air. Like the ash people in the photos from Pompeii. Burned, yet frozen in that pose.
The man in the beer distributor had that pose. Even at a distance, I could see the four on the road did as well.
Only they weren’t burnt.
When I neared them, I examined each one visually, their skin had pruned and even outside, there were very few flies.
“What happened to them?” Hannah asked.
“They just dropped. Expired as I call it.”
“None of them shot?”
“Nope. Doesn’t look like it, and they weren’t bitten.”
“So these are the ones that just caught it by the air.”
I shook my head. “Can’t be sure. You know a bite or scratch isn’t the only way. You can get their spit in your eyes or mouth or, well, other ways.”
“Sex.”
“Hannah!”
“I heard the news,” she said. “They told us not to have sex with an infected person. I don’t get why someone would want to do that. Wouldn’t they be afraid the Vee would take a bite out of them?”
“I don’t think that’s what they meant. I think they meant having relations before the person turned but was infected.”
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe expire is the best word for it. Maybe the ones that got it from the air are the most violent, but the ones that expire and end. Like this apple that fell from the tree. Pretty soon it would expire and shrivel up too.”
“Wow, that’s pretty prolific and smart.”
“Thanks.”
“And that might be it. Hopefully.”
“If they expire it could end.”
“Yeah, it could.” I took another look at the three women and a man on the ground in the ash people position, then we moved around them and headed for the yellow house.
The winding road created an optical illusion and the house didn’t sit that far back. About ten feet from the pavement was a short fence, more for decoration.
“I don’t think this is keeping any of those things out,” Hannah said. “You suppose they thought it would?”
“I don’t think that was its purpose.” I stared at the house.
“Ain’t much protection from the Vee. They would just bump into it and fall right over. Can’t be more than three feet. Think someone is in there? I do, I hear chickens.”
“Well, if they’re not, we’re having chicken for dinner.”
Hannah laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“Like you’re gonna catch a chicken and kill it?”
“I guess you have?”
“Not me, those things are fast. Ever see the movie Rocky?”
“Yes,” I smiled and grabbed the gate. “Let’s go find out.”
“What about her?” Leah pointed back to Leah.
“She’s still at a distance. Let’s go knock on the door.” I pulled the gate.
The front door flung open. “Stop!” a woman hollered. “Don’t move. Don’t move an inch.”
I raised my arms. “We don’t mean trouble. Please don’t shoot.”
“I’m not going to shoot,” she said. “Just don’t step forward. I don’t want you to blow up. I booby trapped the whole front.”
I looked to Hannah and carefully stepped back. “Booby trapped? What is it with you southern women?”
“We take care of ourselves,” Hannah replied.
“Yeah you do.” I peered up when I heard the slam of the screen door. The woman stood there wearing a blue flowered housecoat. A rounder woman, with brass blonde hair that was kind of poofy. She was mature, maybe in her late fifties, early sixties.
“Look, Calvin.” Hannah whispered. “She’s wearing one of those dresses. Ask her for one.”
“Shh.”
“She looks just like my grandma.”
The woman moved her arm about. “Move to the edge of the fence by the tree. There will be another gate. I’ll walk you through the yard so you don’t hit a trip wire,” she said, stepping off the porch.
I lifted my hand in a wave and we headed towards the tree.
“Ma’am,” I said. “I hate to bother you. We didn’t know if the house was empty or not. We have our own supplies…”
“I see that.” She nodded her head at the wagon. “That a baby?” she asked.
“It is. My son.” I cringed when Edward made a little whimper. “We need to stop for the night and rest. We’ll be gone first light. We can even stay in your barn over there. He won’t make much noise.”
“Oh, that won’t be necessary.” She opened the gate. “Come in.”
“Thank you, we…” I stopped talking when Hannah, just walked up to the woman and wrapped her arms around her waist. She closed her eyes and smiled as she pressed her head against her. “Hannah.”
“Oh, she is just like my grandma,” Hannah gushed. “So soft. I miss my grandma.”
“Hannah, let the lady go.”
“Just a few more seconds, Calvin.”
“Hannah.”
“Oh, pumpkin.” She returned the embrace to Hannah. “Any time you need a hug, I will give you one. Okay?”
Hannah nodded and stepped back. “I like your dress.”
“Thank you. I don’t usually run around in one. I just hung the wash out back to…” She pointed to the street. “She with you?”
I looked and sure enough, Leah drew close. I was surprised the woman wasn’t shocked or scared.