The basement was a real nightmare.
Marcus had always had a thing about basements. Especially dark, decrepit, unfinished ones, cast in dusty concrete and spiderwebs. This one had a lot of both. Well, maybe not the cracked concrete, but definitely darkness and spiderwebs. And, of course, it was summer, so the little eight-legged bastards would be in full swing. Marcus didn't have full-blown arachnophobia, but that didn't mean that he liked the things.
The basement was packed full of crap and about half the size of the church above it. Along the left and right walls were pairs of slit windows, stuck high up into the ceiling. They were covered in dust on the inside, vegetative matter on the outside, so little light came in. Maya marched into the main area of the basement, a pool of space left open amidst the maze of boxes, furniture and whatever the hell else had been crammed down here.
"Damn," Maya said.
Marcus hung back at the entryway, where the light was. "Yeah," he muttered.
"We'll need more light. And help, eventually."
"What's the plan?"
"Haul all of this crap up and out, then sort through it, see what we can use, what's gotta go. We can just throw the other stuff over the side, or pile the burnable stuff in the corner of the yard for fires in the winter, if it comes to that."
"Winter? How long do you think we'll be here?" Marcus asked.
"I don't know, Marcus. That's the point. We need to think ahead. Honestly, I want to do a tallied inventory of everything inside of these walls. How about you go grab another pair of lanterns? I saw two more in the supply case in the main room. And tell Lily that when Sam wakes up, we'd like her help," Maya replied.
"Okay...what about Alan?"
Maya shook her head. "No, he's got guard duty right now and besides, I don't want to be around that guy."
Marcus snorted. "Me neither. Be right back."
He hurried up out of the basement, glad for any excuse to be out of there. Unfortunately, he only managed to kill a few minutes by completing the tasks Maya had set for him before he was back down in the basement with a few more lanterns. He set one up high on a dresser and another on a desk, turned them both up high and then set to work.
Four hours came and went.
Marcus stopped about every half hour to check on Ed, but he slept through all of it. He and Maya, and after about an hour, Sam, hauled up at least half the crap that was stored down in the basement, spreading it out across the backyard. They found all sorts of stuff down there. An ancient washer and dryer pair, dressers, desks, filing cabinets, bits and pieces of several old bed frames, couches, chairs, and boxes, boxes, boxes.
There were boxes piled high and they were full of so much random junk. Some of it was kitchenware, others were packed with moldering old paperbacks, others were filled with what appeared to be totally unconnected stuff. Marcus wondered where the hell it had all come from. By the time it was two in the afternoon, he was starving and Maya finally gave in to his and Sam's requests for a break. They all trudged into the kitchen and grabbed whatever they could find. Marcus found a grab-bag of BBQ chips, a packet of tuna and crackers and a bottle of water.
They went into the main room, where Lily was still at the radio. She seemed preoccupied, hunched over the radio, talking into it.
"Come on, Jacob, answer me..." she whispered.
"You okay, Lily?" Marcus asked as he tore into his meal.
"Ugh, no, not really. My dad and brother still aren't answering me. I haven't heard from either of them in over a day now. They went to look for survivors, or, at least my dad did. Up on Mount Tanner. I don't know where Jacob went...hey, you didn't happen to see him, did you?" Lily asked.
Marcus shared an uncomfortable look with Maya. "Uh, no, we didn't see anyone up there," he murmured.
Lily began to say something, but then the radio crackled. "Uh...Lily? I really hope you're on the radio, sis, cause I could use some help."
Lily spun around and grabbed the radio. "Oh my god, Jacob, where the hell have you been? I've been trying to get ahold of you for ages!"
"I'm sorry, I was...busy. Uh, I'm in some trouble. I'm out at the Peterson Farm and I took a bad fall off a roof. I think my ankle might be twisted or something. Could you have someone come out and drive me? Maybe Sam? Not Alan, god, I don't need to hear his shit."
"I'll do it," Marcus said, stepping forward.
Lily twisted around in her chair. "Are you sure?" she asked.
"Yeah, it should be easy. I've just got to go pick him up, right?"
"Uh...yeah. Okay, thank you, Marcus." Lily turned back to the radio. "Okay, Jacob, I've got someone coming out right now. Stay out of sight until he gets there."
"Okay...'he' who? Is dad back? Or Wendel?"
"No. It's someone new. Marcus. We found three new ones, and dad or the others haven't been back yet. Have you heard from them?"
"No."
"Okay. Be ready."
"I will. Thanks."
Marcus finished up his meal. "Sorry to bail on you."
"It's fine. We'll keep going. You can help when you get back," Maya replied.
"Looking forward to it," Marcus said.
Marcus made sure he had his pistol, crowbar and magazine of ammo. He was tempted to grab a second one, but there were so few that he decided against it. First, he'd taken a look at Lily's map. The way to the farm was very easy to remember. It was about a half mile outside of town. For safety, Marcus made sure to grab a spare map. Apparently, they kept a lot of them at the church. He took the car he'd taken from the vet parking lot and drove into town, making his way through the body-strewn, blood spattered streets, feeling nervous.
An incredible guilt was welling up in him. He didn't feel responsible for Lily's father's death, Thomas Ritter had been eaten by zombies, and the thing he'd murdered hadn't been a human being anymore, it had been a zombie. But he was still sitting on that information. Lily still thought her father and his friends were alive and well out there, somewhere, and it was only a matter of time before he came home.
That was why he'd leaped at the chance to rescue her brother. He knew he should tell her the truth, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. What was more interesting was that Maya hadn't said anything. She struck him as the kind of woman who cut through the bullshit and told people the truth. But she'd hesitated, too. Maybe she wasn't quite as brave as she was acting like. Although she did seem pretty tough.
As he headed out of town, the radio in his pocket that he'd practically forgotten squealed to life. "Hey, Marcus, can you hear me?" It was Lily.
He reached into his pocket and fished out the radio. "Yeah."
"Just checking. I couldn't remember if I'd given you a radio or not. I was hoping you might do me a favor when you find my brother and are driving him home safely."
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Slap him in the head for being a jackass."
Marcus laughed. "Can do."
He pocketed the radio and kept driving.
It wasn't hard to find the farm where Jacob said he was.
It was one of a trio of farms tucked away beyond town down a very long dirt road. He only had to hit a few zombies on the way out, smashing them out of the way with the bumper, trying to bounce them off rather than make them fly up and over, or into the windshield. As he drove up on the farm, in between the main house and a barn, he spied a few zombies rushing into the open doors of the barn. Marcus hit the brakes, threw it into park and leaped up out of the car. Pulling his pistol out, he raced towards the barn.
He could hear someone fighting inside the barn. Not good. A small part of him thought he shouldn't be using the pistol if he didn't absolutely have to, but he was kind of freaking out. He stepped into the barn, pistol raised with both hands. There were around a dozen moving figures. Most of them were heading across the large, open room towards a pair of people at the back. Marcus took aim and fired. There was a loud pop and suddenly one of the zombies tripped and stumbled, crashing to the floor, never to rise again.
He aimed and fired a second time. This one went wide. Sweating, cursing, terror coursing through his veins, Marcus fired a third time. This time, there was a spray of blood and brains, a second zombie went down. He ended up using every single round in the magazine taking down not only the zombies in the barn, but a handful of others that were drawn in by the noise. He was shaking, trembling violently as he fished out the only other magazine he had and slipped it into the pistol. He was still facing the open door, waiting for more.
"Hey, man," someone said behind him. Marcus spun around, letting out a small noise of terror. "It's okay, relax. You got them."
This must be Jacob, he recognized the voice. He definitely resembled the man who had been up on Mount Tanner. He looked to be Marcus' age, wore a thin, brown coat and had longish, unkempt black hair. Another man stood beside him, a skinny, tattooed man who sported a country tan. He looked lanky in his white tanktop and baggy cargo pants. The unknown man carried a large, red pipe wrench, while Jacob, who was favoring his right leg, held onto a sturdy length of pipe. They came to stand before Marcus.
"So, you're the new guy?" Jacob asked.
"Yeah, that's me. Can we go now? I can get the both of you out of here and somewhere safe," Marcus replied, still coming down off the adrenaline high.
"Oh...I'm not going with you," the other man said, his voice thick with a southern accent.
Jacob frowned, turning towards the other man. He reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "Eli...I told you, I'm not ashamed to be seen with you. Come on, come with me," he said, pleading. But the other man just shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Jacob. I wish I could, I just...it's not about shame, it's about Job. Do you know what he'd do if he caught us together?" he shook his head again.
"Ugh, your brother's an asshole," Jacob muttered.
"I know, but he's my brother. He's family. And I can't just up and leave them. They rely on me, I rely on them. Look, I really gotta get home." Eli looked at Marcus. "Thanks for the assist, mister, you really saved us."
"No problem," Marcus replied.
"Eli...just...be careful, please," Jacob replied, letting his hand fall away from Eli's shoulder.
Eli chuckled and grinned a goofy, lopsided grin. "Careful? What have I got to worry about? I'm young, badass and carry a big-ass wrench."
Jacob laughed and shook his head. He gave the other man a hug. "We'll draw the zeds off, okay?" he asked.
"Thanks."
Jacob looked at Marcus. "Come on, let's get back before my sister has a heart attack or something." He began walking out of the barn.
Marcus followed him. They made sure the area was clear, then climbed into the car.
"How should we draw them off?" Marcus asked.
"Drive about a hundred feet down the road," Jacob replied, reaching into his pocket for something. Marcus did as asked. When he was in position, Jacob finally pulled out what he was looking for: a lighter and a pack of blackcat firecrackers.
"This is great for distracting the idiots," he said, rolling down the window and leaning out it. He lit the pack and hurled it a good distance away, into a field. As it started going off, Eli ran out of the barn, in the other direction.
"Okay, we're good," Jacob said.
Marcus hit the gas. He navigated the dirt roads and began to head back into town. "So, you're Lily's brother?" he asked.
"Yeah. Jacob Ritter at your service."
"What were you doing out there?"
"Just...spending some time with a friend," Jacob replied.
"Wait, are you actually telling me that you twisted your ankle while sneaking out to be with your boyfriend during the zombie apocalypse?" Marcus asked.
"Hey, now wait a damned minute-" Jacob began.
"Jacob, relax. I'm a black guy who grew up in the south. I know all about getting hated on for something you can't control. I won't give you shit for being gay. I am, however, going to give you shit for being an idiot. Which reminds me..." he reached out and slapped Jacob on the back of the head.
"What...what was that for?!" Jacob cried.
"From your sister. She's blind pissed at you, man."
Jacob chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Okay, I guess I earned it. I just...it's so hard to see Eli. His asshole brothers don't want us together, even with everything that's been going on. I've been under a lot of stress lately and I need a break. So sue me."
"Uh-huh," Marcus murmured.
"So where did you come from?"
"Me and my friend have been camping this whole time up on Mount Tanner. We kind of just stumbled into this mess last night. Lily offered us, and this other woman we found, shelter. My friend, Ed, is hurt kind of bad, and we're looking for a doctor."
"That'll be Doc Hanson," Jacob said. "Hopefully we can track him down."
"Yeah, hopefully."
They drove on.
When they got back, Lily was less than thrilled.
"What were you thinking, you idiot!? I told you that no one was supposed to go out by themselves!" she demanded as soon as they had walked into the main room.
"Lily...just stop," Jacob said, leaning against the nearest wall, still favoring his right leg. "You aren't mom, don't try to be...and besides..." he hesitated. "I wasn't alone."
Lily groaned, closing her eyes, reaching up and rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Tell me you weren't with Eli Wilkerson again."
"Lily-"
"No, Jacob! You know what his family is like! I don't trust them, not one bit."
"Lily, Eli is not his family," Jacob said firmly, fully standing up.
Marcus stood well back, waiting for all of this to play out. Lily looked ready to continue the argument, but maybe it was something she saw in Jacob's eyes or maybe it was just that she finally had noticed his injury, but she crossed the room and wrapped him in a hug.
"Just...please don't do stupid things like that. I just got you back and now I can't find dad...I don't want to lose you again," she said.
"Okay, okay, fine. Now let me go wrap my damned ankle. It's not broken, I've decided that much. I just need a day's rest or so. Maybe I can go keep the new guy company," Jacob replied, then limped off out of the room.
Lily turned and stared at Marcus. "Thank you. Really. I appreciate it," she said.
"You're welcome. I'm glad I could help. Now, I'm going to go check on Ed, get him something to eat and then help the others with the basement," Marcus replied.