Chapter Fifty-Six: Did God Hate Them That Badly?
Silas fought the urge to gag as he shouldered his way past one of the rabids hanging from the trees the group had camped beneath.
He walked only a few feet from camp, sought privacy behind a boulder and quickly went about relieving himself while keep both eyes scanning his surroundings.
While they hadn't had any more rabid stumble upon their camp since just after Susette had been bitten, everyone was still intense and on edge. Though Silas suspected that was more due to the fevered little girl currently moaning, swollen and bruised back in camp.
Silas buttoned his pants, readjusted his gun belt and straightened the strap for his shot gun across his chest. His bandolier was growing looser and he knew he'd have to tighten it soon. If the rabid didn't kill them all then the lack of steady meals and the constant traveling would.
"What are you doing?" Charlotte's voice came from behind him just before her arms circled his waist and her head pressed against his shoulder. "I was worried about you."
"I'm sorry, Miss Charlotte. I was just answering the call of nature."
"Katherine is asking for you. She wants you to come look at Susette again."
"I've checked on her three times this morning." Silas sighed.
"Yes but she wants you to check again." Charlotte replied gently. "She sees that girl as her daughter so –"
"I understand." Silas assured his wife as he turned in her arms and held her tight. "How are you?"
Charlotte let out a trembling sigh but her eyes were dry when she looked up at him. "It's hard to watch... I see her fevered and shivering and all I can think of is Grace. It just isn't fair that children are still dying from sicknesses and snake bites when there is already so much new death."
"Susette, may not die, Miss Charlotte. There' s a good chance she'll make it."
"But lose her arm."
"She might." Silas whispered sadly. "I pray that she doesn't."
"Me too.' Silas and Charlotte sat there in the quiet and held each other a moment longer. "Katherine will be wondering where you are," Charlotte urged.
Silas nodded and pulled away from her. He kept one arm wrapped around her waist as he led her back into camp.
Katherine was sitting beside the fire, which had burned down to nothing now that everyone had eaten breakfast and they had no need for its flames. She was holding Susette in her arms and rocking her as she hummed quietly.
Ox was pacing behind them, rubbing furiously at his neck and appearing tired, fatigued and heart broken. Rachel and Jedidiah were down by the river, talking quietly and Evangeline was putting away the dishes that she had just cleaned.
"Where is Colt?" Silas asked.
"I don't know." Evangeline replied with a shrug. "He said he was going to take a walk."
Silas nodded and then walked to Susette. "Can I have me a look at that arm?" He asked. Susette's eyes were glassy and unfocused. Her brow was hot to the touch of Silas's wrist and her skin ashen.
But it was the sight of the poor girl's hand and arm that formed that rock to settle into the pit of his stomach. She was so bruised and swollen that skin appeared close to bursting and was such a dark color of purple and black swirls that it didn't appear natural.
Suddenly Evangeline let out a sob and then took off out of camp and into the nearby field, dropping to her knees in the long grasses and covering her face with her hands.
"Shit, Evie..." Ox muttered. "Miss Kate, are you okay for a minute?" Ox questioned and Katherien nodded while waving her hand absently.
"I'll be back then."
Silas turned his attention back to Susette. "Is she going to be okay, Silas? Does she look worse? I think she looks worse? Is she getting worse?" Katherine rambled.
Silas offered her a comforting smile and shook his head. "She's no worse, Katherine."
"But she's no better." Katherine whimpered. Silas was surprised by the change in the woman from just a few short weeks ago but he understood the panic he now saw in her eyes. It was a terrible thing to watch your child suffer and be helpless to ease the pain.
"Give it time, Katherine." Silas assured her. "Now, Miss Charlotte here made some coffee. Why don't you give Susette to me and I'll see to her for a while so you can stretch them legs and get a drink?"
Katherine gripped the girl a little tighter but then sighed and nodded. Silas took Susette into his arms, trying hard to keep from bumping her arm. Charlotte helped Katherine to her feet, and the woman winced in pain as blood flow returned to her legs.
"I'll get you a cup of coffee and then we'll take a walk together. Does that sound good?" Charlotte offered. Katherine nodded again and left Silas to wonder if she even truly knew what was going on.
He watched his wife pour some coffee into a small tin cup and then the two women walked out onto the plains, sidestepping the dead rabid hanging from the trees.
"Alright now, Little Susette, you gotta pull through this." Silas whispered. He stared down at her fevered face and trembling body and couldn't help but think of Grace. His heart broke knowing that there wasn't much he could do for this child either.
Silas did all he knew to do and sang gently. "Swing low, sweet chariot comin' for to carry me home—"
***
"Evie?" Evangeline heard her brother coming up behind her and she tried desperately to dry her tears.
"I'm okay, Ox. Just leave me alone." She whispered.
"Shit, Evie. You're not okay." Ox sounded miserable as he stood behind her and laid his hand on her shoulder. "Talk to me."
Evangeline couldn't do that. She couldn't lay her own troubles on Ox. It wouldn't be fair to him when it was his woman and their—Evangeline realized with a new wave of guilt that Susette was like her brother's child and she was close to dying or at least being maimed for life.
She pushed herself to her feet and turned to face him, throwing her arms around his waist and burying her head in his chest so he wouldn't see her face. "I'm sorry, Ox. I shouldn't have run off like that and given you something else to worry yourself over. I promise I'm just fine."
"Evie, you can't lie to Ox. I know you too well."
"Yes you do." Evangeline pulled away and smiled up at him. Her brother's green eyes that were the exact same shade as her own were red rimmed. His face was drawn and his lips pale. Evangeline laid her hand on his cheek. "Everything is going to be okay, Ox. You just have to be there for Katherine and for Susette."
"Evie, we don't get to talk much anymore but you know I love you right?" Ox questioned. Evangeline felt her heart twist.
"I know you do, Ox. I love you too." She placed her hands on his chest. "Now go take care of Katherine and if you need anything then you know I'll be there."
"But who's going to take care of you?" Ox questioned.
"That'll be me." Colt vowed, his voice coming from beside them. Evangeline and Ox both turned to face him. Evangeline felt her knees nearly buckle at the sight of him. She needed him so badly to help deal with the pain and guilt currently eating her alive.
Colt met her eyes and seemed to see her need. He laid a handful of bark into Ox's hand and then took one big step and pulled Evangeline into him. He laid her head against his chest and smoothed out her dark waves with one hand while pulling her tight against him with the other.
"You can't just be taking off and leaving Evie, Colt. She needs to have you around."
Evangeline was about to scold her brother but Colt held her head firmly in place. She suspected he did it on purpose.
"I was getting some willow bark," Colt replied calmly. "Have Charlotte or Rachel boil it into some tea and make Susette drink it. It'll help lower her fever."
"Oh.... Thank you, Colt." Ox mumbled, clearly embarrassed that he had just scolded Colt when the man had been trying to help.
"It's no problem, Ox. Trust me, I know how you feel right now. Get on back to camp and get that tea made." Colt urged.
Ox nodded and quickly jogged back toward the trees. Evangeline felt Colt's lips press against her hair.
"Now what's wrong with you, sweetheart?"
"I'm not cut out for this. I've told you that before and you don't seem to believe me."
"Not cut out for what?" Colt asked gently.
"This life. Every decision I make is the wrong one. Frankie died because I told you it would be okay to let her go hunting. Lily died because I didn't check on her soon enough. Now Susette could die because I insisted that we all needed some to relax."
There it was out. He would now realize how everything bad that was happening was her fault. It was obvious to her and she couldn't believe that everyone else hadn't figured it out already.
Evangeline waited for Colt's agreement that her statement was true. What she wasn't prepared for was to feel his chest shaking or to hear that deep rumble of laughter in his chest.
Evangeline pulled away from him, put her hands on her hips and glared at her husband as tears filled her eyes. "Why are you laughing at me?!"
"Evangeline—" Colt's laughter stopped, though his lips were still twitching. "—I know you'll get mad if I say so but your age is showing."
Evangeline wrapped her arms around herself. "Are you calling me young and immature again?"
Colt sighed. "The more you live, the more you go through, you'll realize that not all bad things happen because anybody did anything. Too often bad things just happen for no reason whatsoever and we have to cope and struggle our way through them the best we can."
"But Colt—" He cut her off by grabbing her arm and pulling her close to him again.
His hand caressed her cheek as he looked into her eyes. "Frankie died because she was too proud, too stubborn and too sure of herself and she went off into those woods alone with nobody but Lily. Yes she was a good fighter but that doesn't matter if you've got more pride than good sense. Lily died because she was too weak for this new world, Evangeline. Bad things happened to her and she just couldn't cope. I might sound harsh but I'm just telling you the truth as I see it."
"And Susette?"
"People have been getting snake bit since the world began, sweetheart. The only way you can make that your fault is if you threw the snake at the girl."
Evangeline buried her head in his chest again, rubbing her cheek against the stained leather of his vest. "Let's head back to camp." She finally whispered.
"You sure, sweetheart? I'll stay out here with you for as long as you need."
"I'm sure. We have to struggle through, right? I want to be strong for my brother."
Colt nodded and pulled away from her. He reached down and entwined his hand with hers. "I'm sure he probably needs that." He agreed.
Evangeline borrowed her strength from Colt and they walked back toward camp. Evangeline just prayed that God would not take Susette away. The group needed her. They needed the hope that a child could survive this new world.
***
"She's waking up!" Katherine exclaimed as Susette stirred in her arms. The girl's eyes opened and Katherine nearly cried with joy when she saw how alert and clear they were. Two long days had passed since the snake had bitten her. They had been the most tense and on edge of Katherine's life. Everyone had tried to carry on with life as usual but it simply hadn't been the same. If Susette hadn't made it......
"Katherine?" Susette whispered. "I'm thirsty."
"Here you go." Ox suddenly appeared, thrusting a tin cup of water beneath Susette's nose. Katherine smiled at his eagerness and took the cup from his shaking hand. She pressed it gently to Susette's lips and the girl took two eager drinks.
"Not too much." Colt warned from across the fire. "She's been two days without much to drink and it'll cramp her stomach up."
"Two days?" Susette rubbed at her eyes with her good hand and turned her neck to look up at Katherine. "Am I okay?"
Katherine smiled happily as she kissed the girls brow. "You will be now." She promised her. Ox's hand closed on Katherine's shoulder, squeezing comfortingly.
"My arm is sore." Susette lifted her right arm and her eyes widened at the bruised and swollen flesh surrounding the white fabric tied around her hand.
"It's not as bad as it was." Ox promised. "Well the bruise is still pretty bad but you were swelled all the way to your shoulder for a while."
"Are you hungry?" Charlotte stepped forward with a small plate of beans. Susette nodded eagerly and Katherine took the plate and began to help the girl eat.
"Why can't I move my hand?" Susette asked around a large mouthful.
"Because of the venom from the rattlesnake." Colt spoke up without looking up from the knife he was sharpening. "But you seem to be getting better so I wouldn't worry about that. You just need a bit more time."
"Afraid we've just run plumb out of that commodity." Jedidiah came running up from the river where he'd been keeping watch.
"What did you see?" Colt demanded, launching himself to his feet.
"Rabid. A decent sized herd of them. Probably three hundred yards out and moving this way. I reckon they've finally caught our smell."
Colt let out a stream of curses under his breath that would cause the most hardened of sinners to blush.
Katherine nearly cried. Could they not catch a break!?
"Alright!" Colt's voice boomed with authority. "Get the horses hooked to the carts and throw what you can in the backs. Quickly! We gotta go!"
Katherine was trying to get to her feet with Susette in her arms but struggling. She hadn't moved much from this spot more than a few times in over forty-eight hours and her muscles were too stiff to allow much movement. She let out a cry of shock when she felt her body hoisted into the air and realized that Ox had scooped up her and Susette both at once and was running toward the cart with them.
The carts were already hooked up. It was amazing how fast the group was working.
Then she heard them. Moaning, screeching, groaning monsters topped over the small rise to the east and came pouring across the plains toward them.
"Oh my god!" Charlotte exclaimed. "There's at least a hundred of them!"
"All the more reason to get gone quick." Colt replied.
Katherine clung to Susette who was crying and shaking with a mixture of fear and pain as they sat curled together in the back of the cart surrounded by what meager food supplies the group had left. Damn this world straight to hell! Katherine was angrier in that moment than she had ever been before. No sooner had Susette awoken from two days of raging fever then she'd had monsters thrown right back in her face. Did God hate them all so badly?
***
Gunshots filled the air as the group fled as quickly as they could. Colt remained at the rear of the pack, firing shots just as quickly as he could load. Though it was clear the he was going to run out of bullets before he ran out of rabid.
He had been worried this would happen. He'd wanted to leave the day before but Susette had still been so sick and he hadn't wanted to push everyone when they were already so worried but now..... now it was one more mistake to toss into the ever growing pile he had under his belt.
They couldn't outrun these rabid. Even if they managed to get ahead, the rabid never tired and the horses would. Eventually they'd be caught and they would all die.
Colt's only hope, the groups only hope, was that they would come to a house or a barn—somewhere that they could hole up inside and control the flow of rabid as they took out the herd. You couldn't' take on an entire herd in the open... The second they began to flank you it became a suicide mission.
Colt fired a shot into the forehead of a rabid nearly forty yards out and the bullet exited the back of the woman's skull, sending blood, brain matter, bone and hair into the head of the next rabid as the bullet passed through its head as well.
"Nice shot." Evangeline gasped as she fired one of her own and downed a young boy rabid. "What are we going to do, Colt?"
Colt glanced at the group. Katherine was firing shots the best she could from inside the wagon but most were missing. It was damn near impossible to hit with any accuracy when you were shooting from the back of a galloping horse or bouncing wagon. The only reason Colt could manage was because he'd had lots of practice.
Charlotte was driving one cart while Rachel drove the other. Everyone else was riding horses and firing shots, though wasting ammunition was more like what they were doing since most of the shots were going either wide or high.
"Keep your eyes peeled for a big enough building for all of us to get into." Colt replied, yelling to be heard over the thundering hooves, pounding wheels gunshots and screaming rabid.
"The carts?"
"Unless it's a big damn building we'll have to leave them outside."
"But the horses attached to them...."
"They'll be sacrificed. It'll keep the rabid busy at least. Make them easier to pick off."
Colt saw Evangeline's face pale but then she nodded and fired another shot. He wasn't looking forward to losing horses either but he'd rather lose them then people. Of course if they didn't find that building soon people were exactly what he would be losing.
Colt swallowed hard. He wouldn't lose Evangeline. Even if that mean sacrificing everyone else he would save her. Selfish and monstrous? Yes. Honest? Yes.
"There!" Evangeline's exclamation brought Colt out of his dark thoughts and his gaze followed the finger she was pointing. His eyes landed on the farm house. He scanned for a barn but saw only a pile of burned ash.
The carts and the horses pulling them were going to be sacrificed. And the rest of the horses would surely run away and be lost to the group as well.
Colt urged his tiring horse still faster and came up beside the lead cart. He motioned for Rachel to go the house and she nodded, veering in that direction with Charlotte behind her.
The rabid were closing in. Colt only had six shots left. Evangeline seemed to be out completely as did most everyone else. There was more ammunition but it was in the saddlebags and carts. It was no help to anyone just now.
Silas's shot gun blasted loudly and a rabid that had been mere feet from the legs of Colt's horse fell headless to the ground. Colt nodded his thanks at the other man and kept his eyes fixed on that house.
They came closer and closer. Rachel reached it first. She leapt from the cart and ran for the door, jerking it open and leaping inside. Charlotte was behind her with Silas on her heels. Ox came next carrying Katherine and Susette and then it was Jedidiah's turn.
Colt was so busy watching everyone enter that he failed to notice how close the rabid had gotten to his horse. Without warning the beast spooked and reared back. Colt's eyes went to the herd only to realize they were feet away from him.
Colt tried desperately to hold on to the panicked beast but the rabid came upon the animal and Colt was forced to leap down. He rolled across the ground and was about to rise when a rabid grabbed his boot.
Swinging his other foot, Colt caught it in the temple and sent it reeling backward. He fired three of his six shots, taking out three of the monsters coming toward him.
Seven more replaced them.
"Colt!" Evangeline screamed.
"Stay back!" he screamed right back at her.
Colt pulled his knife and scooted backward, swinging at anything that was close enough. Rabid hands, feet, legs, arms, necks, heads...... Still more came. They were devouring his horse and the horses attached to the carts. The other horses had run off over the plains. The pain filled shrieks of the beasts would forever be burned into Colt's memory.... Not that that meant he'd be hearing them for long.
He was going to die. He was faintly aware of Evangeline screaming threatening obscenities and he thought he glanced her running toward him wielding a hammer.
A rabid came at Colt, he fired one more shot, killing it. Its body fell on top of him on the ground and before Colt could shove it off, two more rabid came down upon the first, their mouths opening and closing hungrily as they tried to get to the fresh meat beneath their fallen comrade. Colt could no longer aim his gun. The rabid were too heavy and pinning him down. He continued to kick his feet but he knew his struggles were in vain.
It was his time to die.
Colt pressed his gun to his temple, determined to keep himself from becoming one of these monsters, but before he could pull the trigger a hatchet was suddenly flying through the air and embedding itself into the head of one of the rabid on top of him.
Colt had no time to wonder who had thrown it before a cry filled the air. "Ai! Ai! Ai! Ai!"