Chapter 11: Resting Period

The next afternoon, Roger was fast asleep and Zeke was up keeping watch. Zeke woke up on his own and found Roger just about falling over with sleep. He insisted, and by insist he threatened to tear his eyeballs out through his nose, that Roger tag out. Roger was in dreamland in probably even before his body landed fully on the lounge chair.

Zeke also took the time to clean Cole's bite wound. Once he cleaned away the blood, all was left was the imprint of the bite mark. But this was so surreal to him. Based on what he's seen and experienced, those who were bitten normally did not last long. If they weren't shot by someone else, those who were bitten succumbed to the infection fairly quickly. Simply put, they either turned or just died.

Yet, here Cole was. Alive. Unconscious, but still breathing.

And to add to the confusion, the scanner still showed that Cole was clean. Zeke checked once more when he woke up. Initially, he got a yellow reading, which was a reading he never got before; red and green were usually the only ones that showed up. But once Cole's fever broke some more, it reverted back to a green reading. He made a note to ask Roger later what a yellow reading meant. As a former military man, he had to have seen this reading at least once before.

He went over to the window and looked outside. The snow had melted quite a bit, but some still lingered on the ground. The breeze was light and the sun was shining brightly, making it feel a lot warmer than it actually may be.

Zeke stood at the window a little while longer, soon deciding to leave the room. Cole's temperature had dropped to a more reasonable number and Roger was up for the majority of the night. Like Roger said himself, there's really no where to go today. He headed downstairs thinking he could salvage anything left of Roger's dinner for breakfast, making a mental note to make sure to leave some for Cole as well.

When he was halfway down the steps, he heard footsteps. He thought it was probably his echoing but when he soon heard voices, he stopped right where he was and slowly went back up. He crouched at the top and listened closely.

"I knew I smelled something good. Hey did you check their packs? Anything good?"

"Oh yeah, these guys are loaded! Man can you tell me how long it's been since you've seen a clean bottle of water?"

"Forget the bottle, how about just clean water? Been getting tired of drinking my own piss."

They laughed.

Zeke focused his hearing to better assess the situation.

Two men inside, four more on the outside. All of them well armed; raging from machetes to molotovs to shot guns.

Zeke pulled out his magnum to check how much ammunition he had.

Five bullets. These were not good odds. They were man down and the other was in deep in the bowels of dreamland.

"Ahhh shit." Zeke sighed out. He remained as he was, trying to put together some sort of a plan, without unnecessarily waking Cole and Roger up.

"Did you hear about the storm that was coming?"

"Yeah, Steve said it's going to be pretty bad. Worse than the one we had in '22."

"Seriously? How so?"

"According to him, instead of it snowing whatever inches each day, it's going to be all in one go. Snowing massive amounts around once a week."

"Damn."

"He even thinks the first one we're going to get is going to match the amount we had in '22."

"So we're going to get all of that in one day?"

"And then some."

"When did he say it would arrive?"

"About a week, two tops."

"Well it's a good thing we've stumbled onto this place; get a head start on gathering supplies."

Zeke made a note to ask Roger about this later. But he did not plan to ask out of pure skepticism though. It is fact that they get these types of storms every ten years or so. They are about two years overdue for one anyway.

"Come on Zeke, think." He looked around frantically to try to find a way to distract them, mentally cursing himself for leaving his bag downstairs. But he did bring something else with him. Maybe...

"Hey man, I'm going to check out the upstairs."

Fuck.

Zeke quickly closed the bedroom door, went down the hall and hid in the second bedroom, keeping watch from the doorway. He kept his gun in his hand, finger ready on the trigger. His heart jumped when the hunter opened the door, leading him right to Cole and Roger.

He had to move fast.

Laying low, Zeke quickly and silently (the floor boards were on his side today) made his way to the bedroom. Shooting the hunter will most likely grab the attention of the one downstairs and possibly the ones outsides. He would have to be silent, but nothing less than unmerciful.

"What the-!" The hunter was unable to finish his exclamation as Zeke grabbed him from the back in an attempt to choke him out. The hunter tried to get out of Zeke's grip. The two of them struggled until they tripped and fell to the ground. Zeke eventually got the upper hand with a strong right hand. He threw more punches to further disorient the hunter, then grabbing his head and bashing it onto the edge of the dresser for good measure.

Cole hummed in his sleep, causing Zeke to turn around. Cole remained asleep and Roger seemed far too busy in the next universe to care.

"Yo Ty! You alright up there?" Zeke heard footsteps coming up the steps and hid behind the door waiting. The hunter walked past the bedroom and Zeke made his move. He came up behind the hunter and grabbed him. Before the hunter could begin to struggle and cocked his gun right next to his head, ceasing all movement.

"You are going to shut your god damn mouth and listen." Zeke growled. The hunter unwillingly remained still and silent.

"I don't care how you do it, but you are going to get your ass and the four asses patrolling this house out of here. You are going to forget what you saw, and drop what you found and get the hell outta here. Do we have an understanding here?" Zeke punctuated his question by harshly pressing the barrel of the gun to the hunter's head, hard enough to definitely leave a mark.

"Or what asshole?" The hunter challenged.

Zeke remained silent for a moment. "You know, my boys and I found this place. Thinking of staying here, making it our own. But we're really thinking about redecorating. Not really sure where to start. Maybe a nice paint job? How does red sound to you?" He said with a disturbing calmness.

"You wouldn't." The hunter challenged once more.

"I wouldn't now?" Zeke dragged the hunter into the bedroom. "Already tried out the color in here. I'm liking it so far. Compliments the room well. "

Zeke felt the hunter's pulse double. As much as he doesn't admit it, the hunter was in full panic mode, his fear preventing the adrenaline from giving him an extra boost.

"Alright, alright just…"

"Before I let you go," Zeke tightened his grip on his neck. It restricted air flow, but not enough to completely choke him out. "I just want to make sure we're one hundred percent clear here. I have a sniper rifle stashed away up here. You are going to gather up your guys at this window and get them out of here I don't care how you do it, but you fucking do it. If I hear anything otherwise or any hints of a plot to come back here later, boy I will not hesitate to pop one in every single one of your skulls and turn you all into mystery meat. Clear?"

The hunter began hyperventilating. Boy did they choose the wrong place and person to mess with. "Cr-Crystal."

"Don't let my old age fool you now. I could tell you how many ants are stomping around in the grass outside from here. You wouldn't dare to pull a fast one on me."

The hunter nodded in understanding.

"Good!" Zeke said with a smile, letting the hunter go. "Now go. Get out of here."

The hunter nodded meekly and left the room.

One more thought crossed Zeke's mind. "Hold the phone there, buddy."

"What now?" The hunter replied. He couldn't help the attitude that slipped through but began to regret it when Zeke glared at him.

"When all is said and done, send Charlie my love." Then he waved him off.

The hunter nodded, left the room and went outside. Zeke pulled out the sniper rifle from under the bed and sat by the window.

The hunter soon appeared in front of the designated window. He looked up at the window and found Zeke kneeling there. To show he meant business, he revealed the rifle. The hunter took a deep breath and swallowed nervously.

"Hey guys! There were bodies up there! The stuff here is probably poisoned!"

Smart boy.

The other four hunters soon joined him. "Then what was that smell then?" A hunter asked.

"Turns out it was just a burning clicker. Someone must have been desperate."

"Desperately stupid."

The hunter laughed with a hint of nervousness. "Well no use sticking around here. We should get going."

"Suppose you're right."

"Hold up. Where's Tyler?"

The hunter glanced up at the window.

"He said he spotted some infected. Went ahead to try to clear them out in case we decided to stay."

"God damn it Tyler. I specifically ordered a whistle signal if any infected were spotted. Where'd he head off too?"

Zeke recognized that voice. That southern drawl.

Charlie.

Zeke took a good look at him. That bald mug was still as ugly as he remembered. Sniper in hand, it was a golden opportunity to get his revenge but doing so would likely plunge the three of them into an even less desirable situation. The odds still weren't in their favor.

"Towards the river."

Zeke couldn't help but chuckle. This was working out a little too well. If only they knew what lingered by the river.

"This better not be some sort of stint. I'm not toleratin' this shit a second time." Charlie growled.

If only he knew who lingered right above them.

"Tyler's reckless, but he ain't that reckless." The hunter said.

"Come on, let's move out. Keep those weapons ready."

They ran off towards the river, their demise waiting for them.

"See you later Charlie." Zeke snickered. "Maybe."

Zeke put down the gun and turned around to find Cole awake with an amused smile on his face. Roger was still fast asleep.

"What's with that shit eating grin you got there?" Zeke said with a smile of his own.

"Mystery meat?"

"Only in times of true desperation. But I sure as hell don't recommend it and it sure as hell ain't a regular thing."

"Good to know I won't have to sleep with one eye then." Cole laughed.

"Roger might be a different story though." Zeke laughed.

Cole laughed a little nervously. Zeke wouldn't take things that far, right?

"I trust you're feeling better?" Zeke asked.

"I still feel like I'm stuck between ridiculously warm and freezing. But I'm getting better."

"Good. There should still be some leftovers from last night. Stay put, I'll get it for you."

"Breakfast in bed? You trying to woo me?"

"Is it working?" Zeke asked with a smirk.

"Oh I don't know, where's the chocolates and flowers?"

"Didn't know you were a chocolate and flowers kind of guy." Zeke laughed and walked out of the room.

Cole breathed through his nose and lied back down on the pillows. He looked over at Roger and still found him fast asleep, completely oblivious to what was going on.

Though what Zeke said earlier was said in a joking context, he made a note to warn Roger in the future.

One can never be too careful.

The rest of the day went without incident. Cole's fever completely broke and there was still no sign of the infection in his body whatsoever. They spent all day lounging about in the bedroom; Cole in bed, Roger staying on the lounge chair (arguably still half asleep), and Zeke opting to sit on the floor. In case they would have a situation like this again, Zeke retrieved all their bags downstairs and kept them near. He double checked his bag and noticed nothing was missing. He told Roger and Cole to do same and they found everything untouched and as they were.

The hunters never returned, Zeke assumed they were torn apart by the infected roaming the area. Zeke said that he did not care how that hunter got the rest of them away nor did he hint at where he wanted them to go. He just wanted them out of his hair. And they just might be now. Well, except for probably Charlie.

In the days Zeke rolled with Charlie he picked up that he had either most amazing luck or some special ability. Charlie always seemed to find a way out of any situation. His stories were legendary. Stories ranging from how he was able to blatantly walk, not sneak, but walk through a military checkpoint without a single scratch. How a clicker bit into his jugular and he lived. Sans infection as well. All he had to show for it was a nasty scar, but many dismissed it as an everyday battle scar; either from combating the military to everyday terrain.

But that's a thought for another day.

"So we're headed to San Antonio then Lubbock?" Cole asked.

Roger yawned. "You got it. We have to be careful getting around Lubbock. It's still an active military zone."

"One of the few left in the country I reckon." Zeke added.

"We'll cross that bridge when it comes. We need to focus on getting to San Antonio yeah?" Cole said.

"As soon as possible."

"Hey Roger. I overheard those idiots saying that there may be a pretty big snow storm coming in about two weeks. Can you confirm on that?"

"Hey Roger. I overheard those idiots talking about that big snow storm coming up soon? You've been talking about it."

"Yeah...I'll be right back." Roger stood up, stretched and left the room.

"What was that about?" Cole asked.

"Roger has a deep bond with weather. He can tell you anything you want to know; ranging from the temperature to when the next storm is coming. Roger has been tracking this big snow storm for the last couple of weeks."

"So, he has some sort of radar or something?"

"Now that's the freaky part. He has no fancy gadgets or anything. He just observes."

Cole cocked an eyebrow in curiosity. "Really? How good is he?"

"Believe me I had the same skeptical 'I call bullshit' attitude too. But I got to admit, he made me eat my words after that blizzard in 2022. Unironically called him a freak of nature for the better part of next year."

"Hmm." "I gotta remember to take a closer look when I get a chance."

"Keep disagreeing and he may shut you up too." Zeke smirked.

Cole smiled and rolled his eyes. "Looking forward to it." He placed his hands behind his head, closed his eyes and allowed him to explore his thoughts a bit, see what could be hiding. In almost no time at all, Cole was completely lost in his thoughts, the rest of the world fading away.

There was a comfortable silence in the room. Zeke watched Roger walk around outside, doing what he had to do to give them an accurate weather forecast.

These moments of calm and serenity were rare. And when they came, they were, for lack of a detailed description, simply amazing. There was no concern of staying quiet and laying low to avoid infected or wondering if any hunters were lurking about. It was one of those days where Zeke would love to sit down with Cole, and watch the world pass by over a cold beer.

If only they could return to those days.

Jackson County looked to be the only hope. Perhaps it won't be exactly like the good old golden days, but it will be close enough. Enough to alleviate their worries of wondering they'll wake up and see tomorrow.

In times like these, that was more than enough.

"Military post...guns pointed at me." Cole thought to himself. "And to think things couldn't get any better..."

"Look guys, I don't want any trouble. I just want to pass through and go anywhere…that isn't here." Cole dropped to his knees and raised his hands in the air, a clear indication that he meant peace. Nothing less.

"You cannot continue on with that bite mark."

"But what the hell does this mean? I got bitten by whatever the fuck these things are! So what?!" Cole exclaimed.

"This is Richards, requesting pick up for a straggler. Possibly infected." The guard spoke into his walkie talkie.

"Scanner's malfunctioning; claims that he is not infected but there is a clear bite mark on his left hand." He was silent for a moment, listening to the response. "Remember, we promised to adhere to that 'benefit of doubt' bull shit?"

"Stay as you are." Another guard commanded, keeping his pistol pointed directly at Cole's head.

"Not like I have a choice." Cole muttered.

The guard finished talking into his walkie talkie and judging by the expression on his face, it did not signify good news, or least news Cole wanted to hear.

"Bring him in."

Another guard pressed a button and the gates opened.

The guard, known as Richards, went behind Cole and nudged at him to get up. Cole stood up on his feet, and without being told, began to walk inside.

"Something tells me that I'm not off the hook yet." Cole sneered.

"We're going to get to the bottom of that bite mark there. With a mark like that, there's no way in hell you don't have the infection. But since we decided to give anyone the benefit of the doubt, that's the only reason why you're still walking."

"Oh nice. Lucky me." Cole responded, his voice oozing with sarcasm.

Richards hit Cole in the back with the butt of his rifle. "You better watch it or I'll show you where the benefit stops."

Cole swallowed multiple sarcastic, rhetorical, pretty much any comment that would guarantee a bullet in his head.

Eventually, they led him to a recently restored hospital. They walked inside and Cole was led into a room. He was instructed to take a seat, and told the doctor will be there with him shortly. Cole knew damn well how long "shortly" was most likely going to be. He wondered if the thirty minute rule still applied here.

After roughly a twenty five minute wait, the doctor stepped into the room. He wore a dark blue military jacket with a white undershirt, black jeans, and boots. He had slightly tanned clear skin, save for a few noticeable scars, particularly a nasty looking one on his right cheek and one on the top of his lip. He appeared to be fairly young, possibly around the same age as Cole give or take one or two years. He appeared to be about an inch or two shorter than Cole, had a fair build, and his round face was well complimented by his short spiked brown hair and soft hazel eyes.

"State your name for the record." The doctor said with a slight southern drawl to his words.

"Does it matter?" Cole asked.

"It's for the record." The doctor repeated.

"What fucking record, man? The obituaries?"

"Watch your tone with me. Now your name?"

Cole rolled his eyes, rattling his brain for a random name. Eventually he settled on one, one he heard a long time ago. "Chris Mason."

"Try again."

Cole's face scrunched up in confusion. "What? I gave you a name."

"And it's obviously not yours." The doctor replied. "Now give me your real name."

Cole rolled his eyes. "Jason, you don't need the rest." Cole responded.

The doctor sighed. "I don't know why you're being so difficult with me."

"You get enough guns pointed at you without reason and start to get tired of it. "

"Fair enough, err, Jason. For the sake of conversation, what do you come from?" The doctor stepped away from Cole and went to a drawer, pulling out rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, a needle, and a small vial.

"I started from Louisiana, went to Mississippi, spent most of my time in Florida, then Georgia, Tennessee…pretty much stuck to the south east." Cole responded.

"What brings you to Kansas? Seems a bit far from your path." The doctor wrapped a tourniquet around Cole's left arm and began feeling out for a vein.

"I was rolling with my group in Missouri, but we got ambushed. Everyone was killed but I managed to escape and just kept running, pretty much state hopping. I guess you could fill in the blanks there."

"Do you plan to stay here?" The doctor found a vein and disinfected the area before reaching for the needle.

"I'm going to assume that's up to your guys' discretion, not mine." Cole slightly winced as the doctor stuck the needle in. He chose to glance around the room then returning his attention back to the doctor. A light from the window that reflected off the doctor's silver necklace caught Cole's eye. Upon closer inspection he noticed there was an interesting pattern carved into the center of the pendant.

"Nice necklace. What's that carved into the pendant?"

The doctor roughly yanked the needle out of Cole's arm causing him to cry out. The doctor immediately reached for a band aid and tore it open. He placed a small piece of cotton ball over the wound before then securely placing the band aid on top of it.

"Alright, this will take no time at all. I'll be right back." The doctor grabbed the vial and walked towards the door. "Oh if I come back in here with a gun, I don't think I need I need to tell you what the results are." He closed the door behind him, locking it for good measure. Cole rolled his eyes and rubbed at the band aid, the wound throbbing. He could feel whatever bits of electricity he had left in its body jumping to heal the wound.

After half an hour, the doctor returned with a clipboard in tucked in his arm and pistol in his hand.

Oh bother.

He walked up in front of Cole and looked into his eyes, his expression rigid and serious. There was an odd silence in the room. He then began waving the pistol around.

"In the case of Jason, Jason, you are NOT infected." The doctor said with a smile.

It took all of Cole's strength, and then some, to stop himself from groaning and face palming. But, he settled for an amused chuckle.

"So what's with the pistol then doc?"

"Doesn't hurt to have a bit of insurance here, partner." The doctor winked and placed the pistol in Cole's lap. "There isn't much ammo in it, but you can always find more."

Cole picked up the pistol and examined it. It was nothing special but enough to get the job done when needed.

"Just make sure no one finds that on you. And if they do, don't mention my name."

"It would be kind of hard to mention it if I don't know it." Cole stood up and tucked the gun in his bag.

"How about a deal then; I'll tell you mine and you tell me yours."

Cole sighed. Seems there was no avoiding this. "Fine by me."

"Alright; Chris Mason, nice to meet you."

Cole scoffed, then laughed. "You're shitting me."

"Not at all." The doctor grabbed his pendant and flashed it at Cole.

Chris Mason

000021

"Proof enough for you?" Chris said with a smirk.

"I guess there's no denying that. But you could have swiped that from anyone."

"Touché. But I assure you, there's no deception here." Chris tucked the pendant back underneath his clothing.

"Fine, I'll play along."

Chris grinned. "Now yours."

Cole sighed and braced himself. "Cole MacGrath."

"Oh I already knew that." Chris said. "People may always forget the bartender, but a bartender seldom forgets a customer. Especially one as memorable as yourself, Kessler." Chris laughed.

"Holy shit, Chris!" Cole exclaimed and reached forward to pull the man into a hug. "How the hell have you been?"

"Hanging in there, the usual." Chris replied.

"So if you already knew who I was, why toy with me?"

"And miss the look on your face?" Chris gently grabbed Cole' left arm and removed the band aid. After clearing out the majority of the blood with the cotton ball, he was slightly taken aback that the wound was already healing, but it was Cole MacGrath he was looking at.

"Here, let me clean this off for you real quick. Sorry about that." Chris went grabbed the rubbing alcohol and another cotton ball He poured the alcohol on the cotton ball and gently began cleaning the wound. Once he was done, he grabbed another band aid and placed it over the wound. He then moved to Cole's hand hand to examine the wound.

"This bite isn't that fresh, partially healed actually. How long ago were you bit?"

Cole shrugged. "A week ago, maybe two?

"Huh. You should have turned by now, well into stage 2."

"Maybe I'm a special case?"

"No, even if you lucked out and the bite was a fluke, the infection should be in you in some way. There isn't the slightest sign of the infection in you at all." Chris shook his head. "For now, let's get it cleaned and wrapped up. Better if less people ask questions." Chris moved to the drawer and pulled out medical tape. He took a cotton ball, dipped it in the alcohol and cleaned the wound, then took a second one to finish up. Afterwards, he wrapped the medical tape around Cole's hand.

"There we are. Let me know if you experience any pain. I'll see if I can get my hands on pain killers."

"You didn't need to do that, but thanks anyway."

"Anytime. Now if you'd like to stay here, you need to register your name into the system so you can have legal residence in this area. We unfortunately run a tighter ship than any other quarantine zones. I think you're smart enough to know that the name Cole MacGrath is not going to go unnoticed."

"So, we're sticking with Jason here?" Cole asked.

"To be honest, you don't look too much like a Jason. Your name other name, Kessler, is just painfully outdated, so...how about we flip your other alias around a bit. Nicholas "Nick" Kessler? "

Cole pondered it for a moment. "Yeah, I think I can work with that." Cole smiled.

"Then it's set. Spacing is pretty limited here but I'm sure they'll be fine with you staying at my place. It's pretty big so you won't take up much space."

"Better than state hopping man."

"Alright, come on then. Let me just get some paperwork done and I'll take you to the building." Chris said with a smile.

Cole's eyes re opened and was still in bed. Not where he was before in...Kansas…?

"That was way too elaborate to be a dream..."

"You alright man? Lost you there for a few hours." Zeke was sitting by the fireplace, in the middle of crafting a shiv.

"Yeah." Cole grabbed his head and rubbed it, trying to ward off the faint hint of a headache. "Yeah, I'm fine. Must have been more tired than I thought."

"Not a problem brother. Like Roger said, there was no rush today. No harm in kicking it for a while."

"Speaking of which, where is he? He was at the border of sleepy and awake if I remember correctly"

"He finally fully woke up and went into the woods to try to fetch us some dinner. He got some pretty good game there yesterday so he's trying two for two."

Cole sat up and leaned against the headboard, his heart suddenly feeling heavy. He clutched his chest and it soon became a bit difficult to breathe.

"You alright?" Zeke asked. He stood up and walked over to the bed sitting at the edge. He placed his palm on Cole's forehead. He didn't feel warm.

"Yeah, yeah." Cole gently removed Zeke's hand from his forehead. "You got any water left in there?"

Zeke went to the bucket to check. The bucket was just under halfway full. He grabbed the glass from the nightstand and dipped it in, filling the cup to the top. He handed it to Cole and Cole took it, nodding his head in thanks. He quickly drank the water and placed the glass back on the stand.

"By the way, what did Roger say about the storm?"

"He says there's no doubt about it, we got a big one coming next week. But he feels like it'll be less intense than the other two, especially the last one. It'll be a lot tamer than the one in '22, and it'll last one week instead of three months, but's still going to be pretty vicious out there. He just needs to work out the exact date it'll start."

"Think we'll be fine in here?"

"He'd rather us be in San Antonio than here. As glamorous is this place is, it won't last. San Antonio used to be a very polished military zone. We'll have better chances there."

"One week, he said? Then we'll really have to haul ass to get over there, huh?"

"Hauling ass is the only speed we know after all."