Lena turned her head slightly.
“It’s gonna sound stupid and cliché to say, but right now, you aren’t thinking clearly. You aren’t.”
“Will I ever think clearly?”
“Yes, you will,” Cass said. “If you don’t hide behind a bad pain pill addiction.” She sighed out heavily.
“It’s not the same, Cass. I know you lost your family. I know you did. But it isn’t the same. I didn’t get to say goodbye, I didn’t get to see them one last time, I won’t even get to see them buried.”
“I didn’t get any of that either. So I know. Okay. I put my kids in the car with my parents and told them to be good. That I’d see them at the rest stop. I was in intensive care, and a nurse went to the funeral for me. I laid in bed watching it through a live video stream.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t. I’m sorry. It’s not about my grief or me, it’s about you. Okay. And why can’t you say goodbye?”
“Cass, I’m here. They’re in California,” Lena said sadly, her hands still holding the phone.
“Seven-hour drive away,” Cass told her. “If you want to go. When you feel ready, well enough and up for it, then you go. Someone in this town will go with you. Eb, Ada, any number of people. They’ll go and help you find your family and bury them. I’d suggest me, but it will take some healing before you can look at me and not get mad.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’m here whenever. Get some rest.” Cass slipped back out the door and closed it.
Even though a lot of what Cass said was comforting, Lena felt an anger toward her. She wanted to lash out, scream at Cass, but it wasn’t Lena to do that. One thing Lena wasn’t angry about was Cass’ suggestion to go home to have one final goodbye with her family. As she held onto the phone, staring down at the pictures, she held onto the hope that one day soon, she could do just that.
When Cass said it, told her the idea and suggestion, Ada could have squashed that tomato she was washing.
“What are you, nuts?” Ada asked in a low scolding voice, standing in her kitchen by the sink.
“What?” Cass asked as she sat at the table. “It’s a good idea.”
“No, it’s a horrible one. You couldn’t suggest, maybe having a service here and having a grave here. No, instead you suggest the girl drive seven hours to her home, where even if she went tomorrow, the decomposition of them would be horrible. You want her to see that?”
“I think she’ll be smart enough to know the condition.”
“Cass, look…”
“No, Ada, if she wants to do it, then she should do it.”
Ada shook her head and returned to washing the tomato. She glanced out the window. “Son of a bitch. Goddamn Floyd.”
“What?” Cass asked.
Ada left the sink running, opened the pantry right by the back door, grabbed a rifle and walked out to the back porch.
She didn’t hesitate or miss the opportunity.
If there was a deer in her garden it could be contaminated with that fungus. She lined the animal in her sights and fired a single shot that dropped it.
Cass flew out onto the porch. “Who did you shoot?”
“Not who. What. A deer.” Ada marched out toward it. “You know it came from Miller Run area. Floyd is supposed to be up there catching them.”
“You think it was sick?” Cass asked as she followed.
“I don’t know. The color looked good, but I still need to check. Run back to the house for me and grab the green gloves on the counter.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Cass backed up.
Ada arrived at the deer. She crouched down to the animal, its fur was orange-brown and it was healthy looking. Not wanting to take a chance, she waited for the gloves before examining it further.
“And we don’t know where?” Mark asked.
Kit shook his head, leaning against his desk. “Just that it’s on a highway.”
Niles lifted his hand. “I’ll be happy to go with you and Cass.”
“Cass is going?” Mark asked. “Why?”
“She wants to go,” said Kit. “She’s probably curious.”
Exhaling loudly, Art paced. “It’s been there since the fifth of May. It’s now the eighth. We don’t know what happened with these people. This could be a wasted trip.”
“Is it dangerous?” Mark asked. “I mean… can there be a danger?”
“Yes,” Art replied. “We stopped it here. But it needs a host—if it has one out there it can still be active.”
“It kills its host in twenty-four hours,” Niles said. “And everything else.”
“You can’t rule it out,” Art argued.
“So what do you propose?” Mark questioned.
Kit lifted his hand when the phone rang. “Hold that thought.” He lifted the receiver. “Griffin Police, Officer Modine… Yes, I am. I’m meeting with the mayor and our two new scientists. What’s up?” Kit nodded. “Okay, thank you.” He hung up.
Mark looked at him with question. “Who was that?”
“Crazy Ada. She said Floyd’s an asshole and hung up. Now,” Kit said. “Where were we? What is your solution, Art?”
“Me and Niles both go. You said it’s only two hours. We can see for ourselves if there’s a threat, and we know this fungus like the back of our hands. We go. Plus, if these people need medical attention, we can help.”
Kit turned to Mark. “You know, to be honest, it’s not a matter of needing permission. I just want you on board since you started the search and rescue committees. We need to establish that in the world right now, people just can’t up and leave any time they want.”
“I’m on board,” Mark agreed. “We need to do it right. Find a way to establish communication, medical, scientific. It may seem like overkill, but you never know,” he said. “We just don’t know what’s out there.”
As if the screeching of Ada’s brakes weren’t enough when she pulled up behind the parked police car, she made sure she slammed her truck door hard when she got out.
Floyd, shotgun in hand, turned around. “Hey, Ada.”
“You stupid fat ass, no good for nothing idiot,” she blasted.
“Hey, what’s with the name-calling?”
Ada walked to the back end of her truck, lifted her rifle, and slung it around her shoulder. “Thought you were supposed to be picking off deer up here, stopping them from coming into town.”
“I am.”
“Then how did one end up on my property?”
“I missed.”
She back handed him in the gut as she walked by him. “Remind me never to trust you to get my supper.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m looking to see if any are up here.” Ada marched forward.
“Okay! Let me know.”
With a slight roll of her eyes, she shook her head as she walked forward down Miller Run Road. She didn’t go too far; she knew exactly where to veer off into the woods. She knew the area well, that was why, twenty feet into her off-road walk, she stopped when it looked strange.
Something was different about the wooded area.
It was May and while everything had usually started to bloom, it was especially green. Almost as if she’d taken a hit of some hallucinogenic drug, the wooded area was too green.
The dead trees that had fallen during the winter months lay on the ground, green with a thriving moss.
But they weren’t what caught her eye, it was the two large green mounds. From a distance, it looked as if someone had buried a body and it had grown over. When she walked closer, she knew what it was and it was bizarre.
Immediately, Ada hurried back out to the road and she whistled once, short and fast to get Floyd’s attention.