Chapter Twenty-One: If it Weren't For the Rabid
Frankie was pacing the barn, waiting for something to do. She did not do sitting idle well and it had been hours since the confrontation with J.B. that morning. Hours since anyone here had said much of anything... Hours since the door had been locked and they had all taken refuge once again inside this damned barn.
Strange how a building so large could feel like a tiny, crowded prison. Colt was sitting on a hay bale beside the door with his back against the wall and his hat pulled low. Most folks would probably believe him to be asleep but Frankie could tell by his breathing that he was very much awake and alert. That blond twit in the revealing clothes was still up on the loft and hadn't yet come down. The colored man, Silas, and that whimpering woman who did nothing but cry so far as Frankie could tell were still in the back stall with that baby.
"I think you are very close to digging a ditch in that ground with your boots." Comanche warned her from where he stood propped against a stall door. He'd been in that same spot since Frankie had put him in his place that morning.
She didn't want him thinking that they were together. Frankie would not attach herself to anyone. Not now. Not in this world. It was too dangerous. Life could end in a heartbeat and Frankie would not have anyone else's death on her conscience. She already had Uncle Gibbs death there, she certainly would not be able to handle the load if Comanche's were added.
She already cared about the man more than she would ever admit. The bedding between them had only gotten more intense and all-consuming as time had gone on. He was able to make her forget everything with only a single touch. His quiet calm often infuriated her when she was trying to piss him off. He seemed to have endless patience and never lost his temper. The only time she had seen him less than cool, calm and collected was when he was taking out rabid.
In those moments he was all wild savage. All deadly, dangerous and more than Frankie could resist. She could still feel the trembling in her thighs and the dull ache between her legs from the fast and furious love they had made just the day before.... It had been after they'd battled a small group of rabid and Comanche had been covered in sweat, blood splatter and dirt. His bronze chest had been rising and falling rapidly and his hair had fallen over his brow.
Frankie had lost all control of herself, giving in to the feminine urges inside of her and jumping on him right there in the middle of the forest surrounded by dead rabid...... Probably not the most intelligent of places to be caught with your pants down but Frankie was becoming accustomed to losing all control of herself where Comanche was concerned.
"Don't you worry about my ditch diggin' skills none, Comanche." Frankie countered, though her smile took the edge out of her words. It wasn't his fault they were cooped up in here.... And he was going to be angry enough when she let him know she was leaving this group, and him, just as soon as the coast was clear, without her saying anything to anger him sooner.
Frankie couldn't stay any longer. She was getting attached to Comanche and now he was wanting to settle in with a group.... Their temporary pairing was beginning to feel permanent and Frankie had always said she would never give a man a permanent position in her life. Settling down hadn't been the life for her before the rabid apocalypse and seemed even less practical in the new world they lived in.
Uncle Gibbs had taught her that alone was the best way to be. They had depended on one another and no one else. She intended to follow his lessons.
"It sounds as if the flesh eaters have wandered off." Comanche said quietly as he walked to a crack in the wall and peered out. Colt pushed himself off the hay bale.
"I reckon you're right." He agreed. "We'll go ahead and make our way out of the barn at least. Check out the house. It looks like it's a good sized place. Might have a bed for each of us for the night and we can scavenge up all the supplies we can and leave out in the morning."
Frankie thought about mentioning now that she wasn't staying but then decided to wait. A night spent fairly safe in a real house with a real bed was just too tempting to pass up. Besides if she played this right and earned them, Colt might just fork over some supplies for her to take with her when she left.
"Alright everybody, it's time to get out of this barn and into the house." Colt called out more loudly and Frankie saw Katherine coming down off the loft and Silas led Charlotte from the back stall. Charlotte's face was splotchy and it was clear she'd spent much of her day crying as her eyes were red and swollen. She also had that sheet she seemed attached to, wrapped around her like a sling.
"You hurt?" Frankie asked and she shook her head.
"Silas showed me how to use the sheet to hold Grace so I can have my hands free." Charlotte replied and Frankie saw the sheet squirm a little. Though it was unclear to Frankie why the woman needed her hands free when she had no weapons in them.
"No gunshots unless we have no choice." Colt warned as he grabbed up a pitchfork and tested the weight of it in his hands. Frankie nodded as she pulled the hatchet from the holster she'd crafted for it from her hip. This little thing was quiet, light and handy.
Comanche had his bow and arrows and his long knife that Frankie knew he was damn dangerous with, Katherine held a short shovel firmly in her hands and Silas had his shot gun held like a club while Charlotte had..... Well she had the baby, Frankie supposed she could always throw it if need be... though she doubted that was the woman's plan.
From what Frankie had seen of her she would probably just scream and cry and cling to Silas begging him to keep her safe.
Colt looked around at everyone and then nodded before sliding the wooden board from between the slats and pushing open the large doors of the barn. The door creaked open and Frankie felt her body pulsing with anticipation. She loved killing rabid. She hated these monsters that had taken so much from her and killing them brought her more satisfaction than anything else in the world.
Frankie was pulled from her thoughts when Colt let out a low growl and charged forward, sending the sharp tines of the pitchfork in his hands through the head of a snarling rabid before spinning, with the rabid still attached to the sharp end of his pitchfork and slamming the other end into the temple of a second rabid, crushing the monster's skull.
"Wow...." Frankie said with a nod as Colt kicked the first rabid off the long tines with a wet squelch. "I'm impressed." Colt just grunted in response and Frankie smiled. "You've come a long way from your shovel swinging days that I remember."
Frankie swung her hatchet, taking off the head of a rabid before stomping her boot against its face and smashing its skull.
"Shit." Colt grumbled.
"It's about to get interesting." Comanche added and Frankie followed his gaze to see the small group of rabid coming from the woods, drawn by the commotion. Frankie didn't have time to do a headcount but she figured it was around twenty rabid, and she hoped the herd wasn't coming back and that these were only stragglers from this morning's feeding frenzy on J.B. It was only luck that had kept the herd from tearing down the barn the night before and Frankie wasn't all that sure they'd get that lucky again.
Soon the rabid were upon them and life became surviving instead of thinking as they all fought against the advancing monsters.
Frankie heard a scream and wasn't surprised to realize it was Charlotte. Frankie swung her hatchet, splitting open the forehead of a female rabid before turning her eyes to Silas and realizing what had Charlotte screaming.
Silas was surrounded by four rabid and he was swinging his shot gun desperately and Charlotte watched on with horror. Frankie grumbled under her breath. Maybe the damn woman should have brought out a weapon instead of coming empty handed. Then she'd be able to help her man instead of just becoming a screaming spectator to his death.
Then Frankie was shocked nearly speechless when Charlotte picked up a large stone from the ground and ran at the rabid. She brought that rock down like a club and crushed the skull of one before swinging her arm out and catching a second across the temple.
"Damn." Frankie stated with surprise as Silas took out the other two rabid and then delivered a quick kiss to Charlotte's brow. "She can do something other than whimper and cry.
As Comanche dealt with the last of the rabid, Colt clutched his bloody pitchfork and clicked his tongue as he headed up the porch steps. Everybody followed after him and he knocked on the door several times.
"Anybody in there?" he called out. Frankie saw that Charlotte and Silas were keeping a watch for more rabid so she walked down the porch a ways and peered in a window. The sight she was met with had her covering her mouth quickly with the back of her hand and turning away.
"They aren't gonna open that door." Frankie assured Colt as the man raised his hand to knock again.
"Why not?" Charlotte asked and Frankie looked back in the window, feeling bile rise in her throat.
"Looks like the pressures of the new world were just too much for 'em to handle." She replied. Colt tried the door and it swung open, the creaking of the hinges echoing loudly throughout the empty foyer.
Frankie heard Charlotte gag as the scent of the inside floated out onto the porch. Frankie would have liked to have scoffed at the other woman's discomfort but she was too busy fighting back her own vomit and covering her nose with her shirt sleeve.
"Oh dear Lord, have mercy on them." Silas whispered as everyone stepped into the sitting room and the bodies came in to view. Frankie could hardly bring herself to look at the sight.. What had once been a happy family; mother, father and three young children; was now a pile of rotting corpses with bullet holes in their heads.
It was clear that the father had shot them all and while he'd had some distance between himself and his family members when he'd pulled the trigger, he'd obviously had that rifle in his own mouth when it came time for his turn because the back of his head and whatever small brain he must have had were splattered against the wall behind him.
"He killed them..." Charlotte gasped and she buried her face in Silas's chest as he wrapped his arm firmly around her. Frankie stared at the dead children on the floor, her heart breaking as she thought of those two boys she had tried desperately to save in that town.......
She felt a hand on her shoulder and realized it was Comanche. He moved to kiss her head and Frankie quickly moved away from him and busied herself opening drawers on a small chest in the corner. She wasn't about to let the man think she needed his comfort.... No matter how good it would have felt. She was not a woman like Charlotte and she would not let herself need anyone.
"Alright." Colt stepped forward. "This is gonna be home for the night so let's get these bodies out of here, we'll bury 'em and burn the rabid outside. Katherine why don't you, Charlotte and Frankie check the upstairs out. We'll handle everything down here."
Frankie could argue that she wasn't a damn babysitter to the other women in the group but figured that probably wouldn't help her case come morning when she was asking for supplies so instead she shut the drawer she'd been rifling through and wrapped her hand tight around the handle of her hatchet.
"Well let's get on up there then ladies. Might be some rabid that need killin'."
"I hope not." Charlotte replied with a shiver as she patted the bulge in that green sheet comfortingly.
"You're not scared of rabid are you?" Frankie teased and Charlotte shook her head as they started up the staircase leaving the men behind them.
"Not any more than you are. "
Frankie snorted and looked at the other woman's soft and innocent face. "I have a feeling you're wrong about that."
***
"Suicide." Comanche said with a shake of his head.
"Such a waste of life." Silas added as he pulled off his hat and wrung it between his hands.
"Well all we can do for them now is give them a proper burial." Colt stated. "Whether we feel their decisions were right or wrong."
"What decisions?" Silas asked harshly. "That man slaughtered his family and then killed himself. Hell fires are burning for him."
Colt felt an ache in his chest. A dull ache that he had gotten good at ignoring though it burned constantly, eating a hole straight through his heart that Colt was damn sure would be visible from the outside soon.
"Better his family to die like this than to become one of those." He whispered quietly as he glanced out the window at a rabid that was wandering slowly through the yard. An aimless, soulless monster with only one desire... flesh. That is what his Loralie was now, though she was crawling aimlessly since she had not yet learned to take her first steps.
Colt, in a giant act of ultimate cowardice had left his daughter that way instead of putting her out of her misery. At least this man had saved his children and his wife from a similar fate.
"You can't really mean that." Silas argued with quiet disbelief. Colt waited for Comanche to voice his own argument but the indian simply studied him a moment, shrugged and then walked over to the bodies, tossing a child over his shoulder and heading out the door without a word.
"I could never kill my child." Silas said as he and Colt worked together to lift the dead man from the chair, the smell causing both of them to gag and the maggots crawling around in the dead man's mouth nearly enough to have Colt vomiting right there on the blood soaked wooden floorboards.
"Me either." Colt croaked, his eyes burning, not from the scent but from the tears that were suddenly building behind them. Tears from the breakdown that he had not allowed himself to have since his life had been ripped to shreds. He'd been too busy to breakdown. Too busy seeking vengeance and then too busy keeping Katherine alive and now keeping this group alive....... Colt Masters was far too tough a man to suffer from a breakdown.
"Let's get these bodies out of here." Colt grunted, blinking away the tears. "The women sure as hell don't need to see them again."
***
Silas knocked on the closed bedroom door with his knuckles and smiled when he heard Charlotte's voice from within.
"Who is it?"
"It's Silas, Miss Charlotte."
"Come on in, Silas. You don't have to knock."
Silas entered the room and felt his heart swell with so much love and pride at the sight of Charlotte sitting on that bed with Little Grace cradled against her chest that he was afraid it might just burst.
"I've never been looked at quite that way before, Silas." Charlotte whispered, a deep blush covering her cheeks and making its way down her throat before disappearing beneath the neckline of the clean white nightdress she had found for herself.
Today had been a definite victory in terms of supplies. This house was full of them. These people had chosen death, or at least the man had chosen it for them, before they'd been trapped here for too long. The cellars and the kitchen were full of food and the home was full of clothing, ammunition, oil... All the things they had so desperately been in need of.
It had taken the better part of the afternoon to bury the family and burn the rabid. Then it had taken another couple of hours to get the windows and doors of the lower half of the house all secure.
Silas and the men had been starving, hot and getting on the grumpy side by the time the work was done and they had come in to find something none of them had had in a long long while.... A home.
Silas had smiled and fallen even more in love with Charlotte when he realized that it was she who had made the house into a home. The blood had been scrubbed as well as it could be from the sitting room and a fire had been burning in the fireplace with a pot of fresh stew cooking over it.
Freshly baked biscuits smothered in butter and cooked beans had also been served for their supper and a fresh baked peach cobbler with cream had been served for desert.
Not only that but Charlotte had also heated buckets of water to ensure the men would have hot water to clean themselves with after all the work they'd done.
Silas was sure that even Colt, who seemed a good but hard man, had sighed at the feeling of hot water against his aching muscles.
"You're looking real pretty tonight, Miss Charlotte." Silas said as he stepped into the room and closed the door quietly behind him to keep from disturbing the peaceful sleeping baby in Charlotte's arms.
"The bath felt nice. I am certainly happy you insisted upon me taking one."
"Of course I did. You worked hard here today to make this place as much like home as you could. Cooking and cleaning and making sure we were took care of. The least I could do was heat you a bath of your own."
"I suppose cleaning was a waste of time but I needed a bit of normalcy." Charlotte admitted and Silas nodded as he crouched down beside the bed and ran his dark knuckle against the pale pink skin of Little Grace's cheek.
Silas wasn't sure, since he had no children of his own to compare Grace to but he was fairly certain that he couldn't love this babe any more if she was his flesh and blood. He would die for this tiny girl and for her mother.
"It was a bad morning." Silas agreed, remembering the raw terror and helpless fear he had felt when J.B. had been dangling Little Grace out that window. "I thanked Comanche so many times today that the indian threatened to cut out my tongue if I offered another word of appreciation."
"That must be why he simply grumbled and bit rather angrily at his biscuit when I thanked him over supper." Charlotte said with a light laugh.
"You are quite a woman, Miss Charlotte."
"A coward and weakling if you ask that Frankie woman and Katherine doesn't seem to like me either. She scowls at me a lot."
"You are no coward or weakling. Why would Frankie think that about you?" Silas asked with a frown and Charlotte sighed.
"Because I don't cuss and spit and my idea of fun is not going out and bashing in rabid skulls all day."
"We need people like Frankie to survive this world." Silas replied after several moments of quiet thought. "But we need women like you as well. Women who can hold things together. God made women stronger than us men because He knew you'd have to bear the bigger lodes."
"What lodes are those?" Charlotte asked as she adjusted Grace in her arms.
"Men for one." Silas replied with a chuckle, enjoying the way the Charlotte's pale green eyes lit up when she smiled. "Cooking. Cleaning. Babies. Being able to still take care of all that and give the world a bit of serenity even in the middle of a rabid apocalypse. A man could never handle all of that."
"I don't really help." Charlotte argued stubbornly. "I can't even shoot."
"Something I'm gonna fix." Silas assured her quickly and then he slid his hand across her soft cheek. "And you do help, Charlotte. Men need the softness or at least I do... I need you. The world has gone crazy but you and Little Grace; the two of you are my safe place."
"I love you, Silas." Charlotte whispered, the proof of that emotion shining in her eyes.
Silas kissed her tenderly. "I love you too."
"I am sorry I cried so much this morning. I suppose I need to work on being a bit stronger."
"That's what I'm here for, Miss Charlotte. You can be as weak as you need to be and I'll take up the slack."
"You are a better man than I thought existed, Silas. You say things that I have never heard a single man on earth say before."
Silas licked his lip and offered a nervous smile. He saw concern fill her eyes as she reached out and caressed his freshly shaven cheek. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"I want to marry you, Miss Charlotte."
Charlotte's eyes widened and her bottom jaw dropped as her hand fell away from him. "Marry me?"
"Yes." Silas replied, his gut twisting. Charlotte looked down at Grace and adjusted the blanket around the slumbering baby.
"Silas... that's not allowed." She whispered.
Silas rocked back on his heels and cleared his throat as he felt his hands shake. "Is that all? That's it?"
"Silas, you're colored, I'm not, that means we couldn't get married even before the world was taken over by monsters. Now... I'm sure the preachers are too busy dealing with the rabid to concern themselves with performing marriages."
"Miss Charlotte, I love you. Black and white doesn't seem to matter much anymore. You and that little girl are all I want in the world." Silas moved onto the bed and once again placed his hand upon Charlotte's cheek. "I have nothing to offer you. Even before the world seemed to end I would have nothing to offer you. No fine home. No money. No connections. Nothing. Only these arms that want to hold you and this chest that loves to feel your head against it. Only these lips that want to kiss you every single day. And this heart that wants you to own it.
"As far as I'm concerned you and Little Grace are my miracle, Miss Charlotte. Now I intend to see to you and Little Grace for the rest of my life. Be that sixty years or just 'til tomorrow. I can't legally be your husband, I understand that, but I can be your husband in every way that matters."
"Silas..." Charlotte's tear-filled voice whispered as her bottom lip quivered and she stared at him with disbelief. Silas wished he could read her mind because he hadn't been this scared ever in his life. What would he do if she didn't like what he'd said? If her heart wasn't on the same page of this book as his was?
"We got a big house full of folks to serve as witness, Miss Charlotte, and we can have God's blessing. That's all we need... Will you marry me? Will you let me your husband? Will you let me be Little Grace's daddy?"
Charlotte's mouth worked up and down but no words came out as a tear fell down her cheek. Silas tried to read her eyes but could not..... Disappointment and sadness filled him and he stood quickly.
"Sorry." he whispered, looking away from her and rubbing roughly at his cheek. "I'll leave you alone.."
Silas walked to the door and had his hand on the knob when he heard a rustling of fabric and caught a rush of movement out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly Charlotte was throwing herself between him and the door and had her hands on his chest pushing him back so his hand slid from the door knob.
"Stop." She ordered and Silas nodded, his eyes going momentarily to the bed where Little Grace lay before going back to Charlotte. "I didn't mean to clam up on you." Charlotte assured him before swallowing hard. "You surprised me is all it was. You have to understand, Silas, that I have never had a single person that spoke to me the way you just did. No one has ever cared. I don't understand why you love me or why you want to marry me. I don't think I deserve you..." Silas opened his mouth to argue but Charlotte put her hand on his lips to silence his argument. "Yes, Silas. Yes, I will marry you. I will take you as my husband before God and I will do my best to make you happy for the rest of my life. Be it sixty years or just 'til tomorrow."
Tears slipped from Charlotte's eyes as she smiled happily up at him and Silas whooped loudly, wincing when he remembered that Little Grace was sleeping, and then wrapped his arms tight around Charlotte, lifting her feet from the ground as he spun her around and around.
"You won't regret this, Miss Charlotte. I'll be a good man to you."
"I know you will." Charlotte assured him. Silas sat her down, kissed her brow and reached out once again to open the door.
"Where are we going?" Charlotte asked.
"To get married.... Did you change your mind already?" Silas asked, only half joking. Charlotte gave him a dry look that had him laughing lightly and she shook her head.
"Not tonight, Silas. It's late. Most of the house has already gone to bed. Let's let everyone get a good night's sleep and in the morning I'll become your wife."
Silas let out a long breath and nodded. Never before had he had a problem with patience but he was more than ready to become Charlotte's husband. Had wanted to have that title for nearly a month now.
"Okay." He conceded. "First thing in the morning." He added with a pointed look and Charlotte kissed his cheek.
"First thing in the morning."
Silas led Charlotte back to the bed and slid his gun off his back and then removed his gun belt and knives. He slipped off his boots, put out the lamp and began to climb into the bed.
"Aren't you going to take off your clothes?" Charlotte asked and then she blushed furiously when Silas raised his brow. "I mean... wouldn't you be more comfortable that way? We are engaged now..."
"Exactly. Engaged, not married. I'll keep my clothes on."
"Suit yourself." Charlotte whispered and Silas couldn't help but chuckle at her discomfort.
"What kind of woman are you? Trying to seduce a man before the wedding night...."
"Hush now!" Charlotte scolded with a playful slap to his arm. Silas pulled her down onto the bed and she willingly obliged, curling herself against his side and laying her head on his chest. Silas kissed her hair as he brought the blanket over them and glanced over at Little Grace still sleeping soundly beside them.
"I want to hate the rabid but it's hard." Charlotte admitted.
"Why is that?"
Charlotte raised up her head just enough to look into his eyes and he smiled down at her as she whispered, "Because if it weren't for the rabid, I wouldn't have you."