Bab 14: Moments of Calm

Chapter 14

After the confusion, everyone went into the house, with Maggie and Beth still hugging Annette as if it would cost her her life. Naturally, no one said anything on the way home.

Well, I stayed outside the house to bury the zombie. I was also waiting for a new zombie to appear. Which hadn't happened so far. Besides, I wanted to give the family privacy. They needed time to themselves, without an intruder around.

As I finished burying the body, I heard the door open. I looked over my shoulder and saw Hershel, looking tired, approaching.

"Hello." I replied.

"Hi. Look, thank you so much for helping my wife." Said the old man.

"I only paid my debt. Besides, I couldn't let her get hurt if I could help it, could I?" I replied calmly. "How is she?"

"She wasn't bitten, but she twisted her ankle." Hershel explains. It must have been while she was walking away. Is that why she didn't run?

"Not so bad." I said, relieved that I wasn't late. He nodded. He looked uneasy, as if he wanted to ask something. He really is Maggie's father.

"Open the peak."

"How are you?" he asked me, and I raised an eyebrow, wondering what he was talking about.

"You need to be more specific." I warn him.

"You ran a long distance, very fast, according to Jimmy." He explains. I put my hand where I was shot, but I don't feel anything.

"I'm fine. The stitch is still in one piece." He explains and I see him shake his head. "What about you? Are you okay?"

"You have to be more specific." He says with a laugh that I share.

"I mean, about him." Pointing to the grave. I see the realization in his eyes and he gets a little sad.

"I'm fine. I'm relieved that nothing happened to Annette, it's just that... I knew the infected, I mean, before I got sick." He says.

"Is that what you think it is? Just a disease?" I ask him. Let's see how far his belief takes him.

"Yes. We haven't talked about it, have we? What do you call them?" He asks me.

"Zombies. It's a word I saw someone write on the internet. I found it easy and took advantage of it." I explained and he shook his head. "You see them as people who can be cured, don't you?" I asked bluntly, even though I knew the answer, because I wanted to hear it straight from him. He was silent for a while.

"And you?" he asked me, confirming what I already knew. I nodded.

"No." I answered without explaining.

"Not at all?" Hershel insisted, and I shrugged.

"From the moment someone is transformed, no matter who they are, they are already dead. It could be a mother, a father, a brother, a son, a friend, they won't make a distinction when it comes to hurting someone. I've seen zombies with huge wounds. Fatal injuries. And yet they still manage to walk. They still kill. Unfortunately, transformed people have no salvation." I look at him and explain. Hershel clasps his hands and remains silent.

"Still, I want to believe. To believe that it's not the end and that there can be a cure. Nobody knows what the future holds, do they?" He says. I have to stop myself from grimacing or smiling at the irony. But I do know. I only know part of it. For sure, many things will change because of my influence. And I'll make a point of changing a lot of things.

"Right. I respect your opinion." I replied as I sighed: "Just... don't let your opinion hurt your family. If a zombie shows up, you won't hesitate to do anything to protect them." I say and he nods, after a moment's thought.

"I thought about that," he says, after a moment's thought.

"My family is my priority. Always." He says, but that could be interpreted differently. I look around one last time to make sure there aren't any zombies approaching.

"We'd better call it a day. No activities outside the house. Just in case. And if you're going out, do it accompanied. I won't always be around."

"Good idea." He replied, as he made way home. As I walked through the door, I saw only Jimmy, Patricia and Otis in the living room. Everyone still looked exhausted.

"I'd better take a shower. I smell." I inform the old man, who nods. I went upstairs and straight to the bathroom. After showering, I put on a red shirt and jeans and went straight back to my room to start sorting out my things.

I picked up the map and started analyzing it. The idiot from the day before, the one I questioned, said that his group was in some kind of quarry a few kilometers away.

First, I mark exactly where the Greene farm is, according to the distance I traveled from the small town to here.

From there, it was easy to locate the general area where the farm was. All that was needed was to find a space with no trees, towns or settlements. Just a large plain.

The quarry, on the other hand, was harder to find. There was nothing like it except 30 kilometers away. However, there was one place that resembled a quarry.

It was a place that really did look like a quarry, as it was on the edge of a huge hole. The map didn't indicate what the place was or what it was for, but it seemed to be something important.

Circle this spot on the map. Maybe that's the location, if not, it might be useful in some way. I keep looking for a while longer, to see if I can find any more places that match the description of the idiot I questioned.

I find two more places that match, but neither is south of the city. Maybe he lied? Yes, that possibility exists. But the way he was scared, he wouldn't even think of lying.

Once I'd finished organizing the site, I began to do something else very important: reloading the guns, since I'd emptied four magazines of the 1911.

I sat down on the floor and got to work. It didn't take long. In about 15 minutes, I had reloaded all the spare ammunition and all the guns were ready to fire. Suddenly, I heard someone knocking on the door.

"Come in." I notice that the door opens and that Beth is standing there, looking at me with a little shyness and red eyes. I raise an eyebrow at her, silently asking her what she wants.

"Lunch is ready." She announces. Getting up from the floor, I stretch my body to loosen my muscles.

"Shall we go?" I ask her, and she nods. Halfway there, she grabs my shirt, as if to stop me.

"Thanks for helping my mom." She hugs me quickly and gives me a kiss on the cheek. I smile gently at her. It's like having a little sister.

"It was nothing." I reply and we walk back to the kitchen. As soon as I set foot in the kitchen, everyone started clapping and celebrating. I looked at them strangely. What are they doing?

"There's the hero of the hour!" Hershel says, as he gets up from his chair. He walks over and leads me to one of the chairs. Next to Maggie. She looks at me for a second, but then looks away.

"Where's Annette?" I ask, after everyone has calmed down.

"She's asleep. The situation has tired her out. Besides, she needs to rest so that her foot gets better." I nodded, showing that I understood the situation. Patricia, who is in charge of preparing the meals while Annette is ill, puts the last plate on the table.

I waited for someone in the house to start eating before I could serve myself. However, everyone had other plans. Each member of the family began to hold hands. Before I could ask anything, Maggie took my hand and Hershel took the other.

"Lord, bless the precious food you put on our table and may it never be lacking. But most of all, we'd like to thank you for all the health we've been given and for the opportunity to walk another day with those we love." Hershel began to pray and I stayed silent, watching everyone with their eyes closed, except Maggie, who looked at me to see what I was doing. But she wasn't bothered that I wasn't like the others.

"Amen." Everyone in the family said together after Hershel's prayer ended. When Maggie let go of my hand, I noticed that she had left a piece of paper in my palm. I kept it to read later. When everyone started serving themselves, I didn't wait any longer and filled my plate with food.

The food was good, not the best I'd ever tasted, but I'm not one to complain. Especially when it comes to food. After we'd all finished eating, I offered to do the dishes, but Patrícia and Beth chased me out of the kitchen.

Now that I was alone, I took the piece of paper Maggie had given me and read it.

"Meet me on top of the house after dinner." That's what was written on the paper. How could I do that? Perhaps it could be done through the window of the room I was using. While I was thinking about it, I saw Hershel coming out of the kitchen too.

"Hey, son. What are you doing?" He asked as soon as he saw me.

"Nothing. Thinking of something to do." I reply, hiding the fact that his daughter wanted me to find her.

"I have some books, if you want." He offers them and, without hesitating, I nod in agreement.

"It'll be very useful, actually." I replied, he nodded and I began to follow him. He led me into a room where there was a box of books. I started looking through them. Most of them were about medicine and some about farming.

This will come in handy when I find someone injured or when I start planting and raising animals in prison. Of course, I intend to get a lot more books when it's quieter. Maybe I'll even have a library in the prison.

"Thank you. I'll make good use of them." - I said.

"I know you will." He said it and I left the room leisurely and walked to the bedroom. As there was nothing I could do outside until the end of the day, I planned to spend the afternoon and evening in my room.

The books were very informative. Especially the medical ones. They might be for animals, but there were things that could be used on humans. Most treatments, in fact. Besides, when I get some animals for the prison, this knowledge could be useful.

However, I only had theoretical knowledge, because medicine is much more than that. It's the practice you get at university and when treating people. You have to get hands-on, to be more specific.

Farming books, on the other hand, were more straightforward. Some taught theories, but most worked as an instruction manual on plants. They included instructions on how to care for, identify, water, harvest, when to plant and other aspects.

As for the animals, it was simple. There was only basic information, which was natural. Even if I hadn't read about it, I would have done it without knowing. However, there were useful things. Did you know that the more comfortable the cows are, the better their meat and milk? There were other things, but they weren't important.

My reading was interrupted when someone knocked on the door. I looked around and noticed that it was already night. I was very entertained.

"Come in." I replied and Maggie opened the door.

"Dinner's ready." She said, as she looked into the room, where a few books were scattered on the floor or on the bed. "Reading?"

"Yes, your father lent it to me. I ended up losing track of time." I replied as I got out of bed. "So, what was that note?" I asked and saw her stiffen.

"We'll talk about it later." She replied and I shrugged. Dinner was like lunch. There were no big events or important conversations. I went back to my room and read for 30 minutes, until I heard someone knocking outside. I looked out of the window and saw Maggie calling me. How had she got there?

I climbed out of the window and, very carefully, began to walk to where Maggie was. I sat down next to her and waited for her to start talking. In the meantime, I stared at the sky. Thanks to the lack of light from the surrounding cities or anywhere else, the sky was quite starry. A sight not often repeated, but never like this.

"The sky is very beautiful today." I said to myself, encouraging her to say something.

"Yes, it's been like that since the lights went out in most places." Maggie replied, and I could finally see a hint of a smile on her face.

"I guessed. So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked.

"I wanted to thank you for saving my stepmother." She replied, and I raised an eyebrow. "If you hadn't been here, she would have turned into an infected." I know she's right, after all, neither she nor anyone else would have made it in time.

"What are you getting at?" I asked, stopping myself.

"What if, when you leave, something like this happens again? This time, you won't be here to save anyone." She finally says, wistfully. I put my hand on her shoulder, as a way of conveying comfort.

"Until yesterday, I wasn't here, was I? Everything was fine." I say softly.

"No, he didn't. My brother, Shaw, was bitten at the beginning of this madness." She tells me, trying not to cry. I gently rub her shoulder and tell her it's okay. I really suspected that this might have happened. He's only mentioned a few times in the series, but enough to remind you that he existed.

"So defend yourself. Defend your family. I know you can do it. You don't need anyone, especially a man like me." I joke, making her laugh. She nods in agreement.

"You're right." She says, wiping the tears from her face.

"I know I am." She laughs again and pushes me lightly with her shoulder.

"Cocky." She laughs, and I laugh along.

"Of course you are. Have you seen me? I'm beautiful." I said dramatically.

Maggie laughs again and looks me in the eye with a twinkle of amusement. I smile back, feeling the mood suddenly change.

"Yes, you are, but don't think too much of yourself." She says, in a soft, teasing voice.

My smile slowly fades, and I look at her more seriously. Maggie stops laughing too, and our gazes meet.

The night is silent around us, with only the distant sound of crickets and the light wind.

She leans forward, bringing her face close to mine. I don't move away, on the contrary, I come a little closer, my eyes fixed on hers.

"What are you doing?" I ask softly, looking into her eyes and lowering mine to my lips.

"I don't know." She replies in the same tone, but doesn't move away.

"That's a mistake." Even closer, I say it to her, and I see her nod. Unconsciously, I run my tongue over my lips.

"Maybe." She replies, and soon our lips are touching gently, cautiously. The kiss is gentle, but soon becomes more intense.

Is this a mistake? Yes, she and I probably don't even like each other that much. There was no time for any feelings to blossom. All we feel is mutual physical attraction.

Even so, I lose myself in the kiss. The world around us disappears, and all that matters is the moment we're living. The only thing I pay attention to is your touch, your presence.

When we part, Maggie smiles at me, her eyes shining with satisfaction. Seeing this, this time I hold her face and lean in, taking the initiative. Well, I can't waste this chance, can I?