Chapter 37 – Homecoming
The journey through the outskirts lasted nearly three long days without horses. Ben had no trouble keeping up afoot, but having to carry Jesse all the way along was a tough task on its own. Add to that an occasional emergence of the infected, a runner or a clicker here or there. But perhaps that was for the best, those strays probably meant the horde was somewhere near, and Ben would much rather face the few stray infected than a whole horde head on. At least they notified him of the horde's location somewhat. Another obstacle to beat was the land itself, being mostly up and down as it was. Wyoming was unforgiving on its own, but especially deadly during the winter. Ben's wounds itched fiercely, healing; Dina's ointment seemed to be working.
It was a quiet journey by and large, broken more often by the bark of a hunting fox or the echoing cry of a hawk than by anyone speaking. Ben didn't regret only once for failing to capture at least one of those Wolves' horses. The animal would be of a great use to them, and the journey would've been far easier for Jesse and also faster. His wound was getting worse by the day, and with each hour, Jesse looked more pale and sunken. More than once Ben thought Dina was about to ask him something about the Wolves and Seattle, but each time it seemed she restrained herself. He was glad about it; he wanted to avoid that as long as possible. Mark didn't seem as disturbed as her, but again, black haired man kept his distance carefully. Ben found it amusing in a way, how Mark suddenly started treating him differently, but then again, Ben did save his life three times. Mark used to be pretty chummy with Noah back in the day, and would pick on Ben whenever he could, alongside Noah and Viktor. It didn't matter anymore. All of them were young and stupid back then. Times have changed.
For himself, Ben traveled in a worry, and tried to keep his free hand near his gun whenever he could. Wolves could be hiding nearby for all he could know, waiting for the right opportunity. Guns wouldn't be much of an use against the horde, and when he came to think about it, nothing would've been of much use against the horde. Not without horses. You will all die when the horde comes, Annabel whispered in the dark corner of his head, giggling, Yes, die! You're already dead.
They could've headed straight for Jackson, but instead he angled more northward through the forest, crossing the river and avoiding the horde when he noticed the tracks and the directions they led to. He presumed the infected were not headed straight to Jackson, yet. But they'll get there and soon. And they better be ready when the time to fight comes. Crossing the rough track that connected the dam and the settlement called the Quarry Road, the sun slanted down toward the treetops. Why "quarry" no one in Jackson knew, and it scarcely looked a road at all anymore, only a weedy stretch when the snow melts that you did not even notice was bare of trees until you saw the overgrown ruts of cars and carriages, wagons and carts.
Then they made it to the first farm that lay not far from the road, beyond rows of apple and pear trees whose branches spread bare of any leaves. Only the stone-walled sheep pen still stood, railed gate open and hanging by one hinge. The soot-blackened chimney cast a slanting shadow across the tumbled burned beams of the farmhouse. The barn and a small shed next to it were only ashes. The fire was couple days old, the burned wood slicked and dulled by past snows.
Leaning Jesse on the tree for a rest with Dina to keep guard, Ben and Mark searched carefully, though, weapons ready and eyes wary, quartering the ground and poking through the ashes. When Mark clambered out of the ruins of the house, he looked at Ben and shook his head. At least no one had died in there. Farmer Joe and his family must've gone to Jackson on the first hearing of trouble brewing. That man never wanted to live in the settlement, and Ben remembered him saying once it was too crowded for him. "Give me my trusty shotgun and my axe, and I'll live through anything." He was one of the men of the old world, that were born long before the fall of the civilization.
They did this. They want their revenge. They're after me and won't stop until they kill me.
Mark stopped beside him, and Ben spoke, "Whoever did this is long gone. They killed some of the sheep and scattered the rest, I think."
"Is there any clue to who did this?"
Ben met Mark's worried gaze, "Wolves, I think. Must be. I don't know anyone who'd wish us harm as much as they did."
It could have been the Gypsies. Strange, to wish for a thing like that. And foolish. The Wolves knew his name and they knew him. He looked at the ashes of the farmhouse, wind blasting at his face. Leaving Jesse to rest on his own for a while, Dina appeared from the edge of the fruit trees, short and dark as she was, "Is this farmer Joe's house? Are they dead?"
"Yes, this was his house. And no, I don't think they are. There are no corpses."
"Oh," The relief and sympathy in her voice were enough to finish the sentence. "I hope they're in Jackson."
"Yeah," he said curtly, feeling her eyes on him all along. She still watched him, waiting. To him, it seemed as if she was waiting for a moment he'd snap and kill everyone around him. It frustrated him, Dina acted like she didn't know him.
The shadows were growing longer, the sun sitting on the treetops. "Mark, we will have to camp close by tonight. I want to start early in the morning." He sneaked a glance over his shoulder, Dina avoided looking him in the eye.
"Early, then." Mark hesitated, keeping his distance as well. The sun had climbed well up by the time they came out of the forest on the third day, amid tracks and paths in the snow, and the hedges or low rough stone walls that marked where the road was. Walls rose high around the settlement of Jackson, making it impossible to see inside from the outside. Sentry towers were lined up along the wall, each keeping about two hundred steps distance from each other. Smoke made feathery gray plumes above the settlement.
"Open the gate!" The sentries yelled upon seeing them, recognizing Dina who waved her arms as they arrived. With a thud, following the order, the double-winged gates separated outwards, leaving semi-circle marks on the snow, revealing the entrance to the settlement. Scenery struck Ben as soon as they passed under the gates. People dotted around the settlement carrying materials, wood and metal among many, but also weapons. Some people took note of their passing, others stopping by to look at the newcomers and the wounded man they carried. Two stable boys came up running from the wooden stables to take Jesse. "Easy with him," Dina said to the two stable boys in a stern voice, looking back over her shoulder to look at Ben, "I'm going with them."
Ben nodded approvingly to her and continued on his way together with Mark. He kept himself at a fast walk and hoped none of the people were close enough to recognize him or wonder at the strangeness of his hair for a millionth time. He needed to see Maria to tell her what he knew about the horde and the Wolves. The settlement must be ready for what is to come. People would be out and about around the main streets, so he circled to the east, wide of the main street, wide of the hard-packed streets until he made it to Maria's house. At this hour of the morning, he'd expect Maria to still be asleep, or at least making herself breakfast to start the day, but those were not normal times. He motioned to Mark to follow and walked inside, carrying all of his weapons with him. Hesitantly, Mark walked in his tracks. Ben never had the habit of visiting Maria's house, hence everything in this house was almost new to him, but he didn't pay attention to the décor of the object, though, he could not miss the polished clock sitting on the mantel in the hallway. Tommy used to talk about it a lot. The door into the living room was closed, a muffled sound of voices coming from the inside.
He pushed open the door and went in. Inside, Maria sprang to her feet, nearly knocking her chair over. She clapped her hands to her mouth; she and the woman sitting on the sofa gaped at him. It was enough to make Ben shift his machete awkwardly from hand to hand. But then he saw the woman who was with Maria. Seeing the colorful clothes she had on herself, his hand instinctively reached towards the pistol tucked in the belt behind his back. A raised hand from Maria was enough to stop him from shooting the woman that just stared wide-eyed at him as she sat on the sofa, not moving a muscle. Though, he noticed her gripping her dress tightly. Mark was frozen behind him, but Ben presumed he'd do the same.
"Put your gun down, Ben." Maria ordered, her voice stern and strong. "She's alright."
"You sure?" he asked, "She might be one of-"
"One of the Wolves." Maria cut him off, and Ben was the one who was wide-eyed now.
"You know?"
"We know. She told us everything."
It took him a moment to recover from surprise and regain his expressionless face. He looked at the Gypsy woman that stared at him with interest.
"Ben?" She murmured disbelievingly, "Ben Walker?"
Ben scratched his head self-consciously, wondering how she knew his name. He nodded to her and leaned at the wall, wondering if his appearance was frightening to her. And of course, she'd look up at his hair more than once. White hair, big deal, he thought angrily.
"So, you know about the Wolves… what about the horde?" He turned his eyes away from the woman, trying to ignore her existence. As to why she knew his name, he'd learn later. There were more pressing matters at the moment.
"I know," Maria said quietly, touching the pocket of her jacket. It was quite cold in the house. "Ellie told me when she came back."
"She's back?" He said hopefully, suppressing a smile, "What about others? They made it back too?"
"Julia came back with her, Miles and Cat the night before. Noah came later. What about the rest of you? Dina, Mark and Jesse?"
"They're alive, I brought them back. Jesse's…"
Once again, he was cut off midway through the sentence when the doors behind him opened so swift they hit the wall. Maria frowned at Ellie that rushed inside like a storm out of a clear sky.
"They're back?" She was gasping for air when she asked the leader of the Jackson community, walking straight past him without noticing him. "Cat told me she saw them at the gates. Where are they?"
Mark, standing next to Ben, smirked so loud he got her to turn her head over her shoulder. For several long, quiet, awkward moments, she just stared at them. Actually, she stared at Ben, her mouth slightly open. Mark looked uncomfortably at her, then at him, then back at her and so on, back and forth, as if he didn't exist to her.
Ben thought long and hard what to say to her, "Yep."
Ellie's face got dark pretty quick. "Yep? You have any idea what kind of a stupid idiot you are?" In two fast steps, she was in front of him, getting into his face, "You and your stupid heroics! You could've died that night. Giving us your horse… Idiot! And your poncho, it's a miracle you didn't freeze to death!"
He tried his best not to laugh in her face, though, she was kind of scary like that, "I didn't, so…" Also, she reminded him of how cold he actually was. А warm fire and a hot cup of tea would do him good right now. The anger faded away in a flick of a second, and her expression turned into that of worry, "What about Jesse and Dina? Cat said someone's injured."
Ben frowned, looking away, "Jesse's shot. It's bad, but I think he'll live. He lived long enough to get here, at least."
"Fuck. And Dina? She okay?"
"She is."
Mark waved his hand between their faces, and Ellie abruptly stepped away when she suddenly noticed how close her head was to Ben's. "I'm okay, too. Thanks for asking."
Ellie rolled her eyes at him but still smiled, "Oh, shut up. You'll survive anything."
Mark shrugged in disappointment, and walked off murmuring something under his breath. Ellie looked back at him, and he noticed something in her eyes, something he couldn't explain. She was sad, more so than usual. The fire was barely crackling in the fireplace, and the house was cold.
"Take a seat, please." Maria sounded herself from the other side of the room, reminding everyone of her presence, and Ben noticed that they were being watched all the time. Ellie played with her fingers, blushing for some reason unknown to him. He was never good with girls, not like Jesse. Sometimes he wished he was like him in that regard. Then he'd be able to understand them a bit more. And there, he found himself sitting on a sofa on the opposite side of that Gypsy woman, waiting for the tea. He noticed she was impatient to speak to him, but she kept her mouth shut. He preferred it that way, at least for now. There was planning to be done, defenses to be set up. After the tea was ready, Ben felt the warmth in his belly for the first time in several days as she sipped the tea slowly and carefully, watching not to burn his lips. Maria and Ellie were chatting something between each other, Mark was sitting next to him, sipping his own tea and staying quiet. Everything on him screamed "I don't want to be here, I want to go home."
Another surprise came when Maria placed a silver cup of apple brandy at Ben's elbow, not the small tot that people usually drank barely enough to cover the last joint of the thumb, but half-full. Alcohol would do him some good for now, to warm him up further. At least that's the reason Ben thought Maria brought out the brandy for.
"Ben," Maria said as she took a chair beside Ellie, "Lea wants to speak to you. That's why she's here, it's urgent. You need to listen to what she has to say." Ellie nodded in fierce agreement, but Ben ignored her.
"Later. What's more urgent than preparing for the onslaught of the horde? They're close, they might be here even at nightfall if they're headed in this direction. But even if they're not, I wouldn't give them more than a day or two."
"We know," Maria said softly.
"Where is Emily?" He asked, holding the cup of brandy at the ready, still not having taken a single sip, "I wanna see her, she must be dead worried. She'll kill me anyway for staying outside for so long." He attempted a smile, to lighten up the atmosphere at least a bit.
Ellie stared at his hands on the table. "Ben, she didn't come back."
"Didn't come back? What do you mean?" Ben's fist tightened around the silver cup, "She's still out there, patrolling? What's she doing? She's supposed to be here in the settlement."
Ellie grimaced, and Maria stroked her shoulder comfortingly. But strangely, her eyes stayed on Ben, all sadness and comfort.
"They got her," Ellie said in a rush. "Wolves. They got her."
"Got her? No. That can't be-" Ben frowned as wetness suddenly slopped over his hand, and stared at the crumpled cup as though wondering where it had come from. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" He pulled at the flattened silver, trying to force it back out with his fingers. That would not work. Of course not. Very carefully, he put the ruined cup in the middle of the table. "I will replace it. I can-" He wiped his hand on his hoodie, and suddenly found he was caressing the machete hanging at his belt. Why was everyone looking at him so oddly? "Are you sure?" His voice sounded far away. "They got Emily? My sister?"
"Yeah. Lea told us. They're holding Gypsies captive as well. They forced them to raid the dam."
Ben stuck his thumb in his mouth. Foolish thing to do, cutting himself on his own machete.
"Emily likes apple blossoms. The Wolves. Why would they-?" Then he realized. They got Emily. She's dead. They got her and they killed her, to get back at him for what he's done. His voice was very flat. He thought he should have had some emotion in those words. Some emotion.
"They captured her on her patrol." The woman named Lea spoke for the first time since she asked her question what seemed an hour ago. "They found out about you from her. They… used certain methods." She didn't have to clarify what those methods were. His intestines had turned upside down, it felt like.
"I wished – I hoped –" He could not quite remember what it was he had wished. Something about the Wolves. He did not want to remember. Emily tortured? It was almost enough to make him laugh. "Farmer Joe's farm? And the others I saw? Was that Wolves, too?"
Lea opened her mouth, "That was them too."
"There is more, Maria," Ben said, "Your face says so."
"There is," Maria agreed. "No, Ellie," she added firmly when she gave a small shake of her head. "He deserves the truth. The whole truth." She folded her hands with a sigh, Ellie very nearly always got her way.
"What truth?" Ben asked. Emily like apple blossoms.
"First off, yesterday, three of them came at the gates." Maria said. "They've asked for Lea, and for you. Lea asked us to tell them she didn't come here at all. She's afraid to go back. She said they are literally enslaved back at their camp."
Emily liked to climb in the apple trees in the spring, she would throw apples at him from the branches if he didn't watch her. She liked to mock him. But it was never out of ill will. It was her way to show him he meant to her.
"Noah wanted to shoot them on sight," Ellie said grimly. "We talked him out of it. We didn't know if they were Gypsies or Wolves. Lea didn't risk it by coming up to the tower to see."
"Yeah," Ben said. "Of course, that's a good thing you did."
"They want you, Ben Walker." Lea said out of the blue, but he knew what she meant. "The reason they sent me here was to find you and send you to them. Your sister is the leverage, but I'm not going to lie, I overheard nasty things. I'm afraid she's not… I'm sorry, I just don't think they'll keep their word. Especially the big one, their leader."
Ben looked at her, feeling empty. "Is his name Connor by any chance?"
She nodded, "I see you know him too."
"Yeah, I know him. He's a dead man."
Lea gave him a look of sorrow and sympathy, but also one that was judgamental. The Gypsies didn't condone violence, and as far as Ben remembered, they always preached peace between peoples. "Once again, I'm very sorry."
Ellie leaned toward him, frowning. "I had enough of this. Everyone, back to work. There's a lot to be done here."
"Good riddance." Maria said and walked past Ben, stopping for a single moment to pat his shoulder, followed by Lea in her vibrant clothing. Mark nodded at him, giving him a reassuring smile before he walked out too. Ellie still remained. Ben frowned as she stood up and came around the table to him.
"She's dead, Ellie."
Her face got close to his. "You don't know that," she said quietly. "She might be dead. If she's dead, you cannot change it. Certainly not by dying yourself. I know what you're thinking. You're going to ride into their camp and kill everyone, am I right?"
He just looked at her face, so close to his. Every single detail, freckle and scar on her skin was now more visible than ever. Her green eyes pierced his blue. But he couldn't think of her that way. Not now. Emily…
"Let it out. Don't hold it inside where it can fester."
He took her by the arms, meaning to move her, but for some reason his hands tightened till that grip was the only thing holding him up. It was only then he realized he was trying his best not to cry, but he was sobbing into her hoodie. What must she think of him? He opened his mouth to tell her he was all right, to apologize for breaking down, but what came instead was,
"I will kill - every - last - one - of - them."
