Chapter Eighteen
We spend the next four days preparing supplies for when Ryder hopefully gets better. It rains almost nonstop after we fix Ryder’s bandages, and Naomi and I fill two five gallon buckets of water, strain them, and boil the water. Then we take a funnel from what’s left of the kitchen, and fill almost fifteen bottles with fresh, hopefully clean water.
There isn’t much else to do, except sit around and think about my nightmares. I’ve been having them since Ryder and Reese rescued us from Frank and his Warriors. Each time it’s the same dream: a feeling of helplessness, pain, and confusion. Then Frank’s face, cruel laughter, and the feeling of being thrown down onto a mattress. Thankfully I always wake up after that.
Ryder hasn’t moved much in the last four days, and he’s going to be in no shape to leave the island for a while, so Naomi and I take the time to get to know each other better. She’s sixteen years old, and was a star on her high school’s cross country team. She was a straight A student, with two younger brothers. One died in the initial wave, and the other died years ago in a car accident.
Naomi and I carry the cases of water back up to the house, and Tobe looks up. She’s eating a bowl of macaroni and cheese, and she gives me a small smile. She’s starting to recover from our abduction. I’m just thankful that nothing happened to her like it did last time, or we probably would have lost Tobe forever.
“Have you checked on Ryder yet?”
I shake my head. “I was gonna do that now,” I say, setting down the case of water. Tobe grabs one and takes a sip. “It doesn’t taste very good, but I guess it’ll have to do.”
I put my hand on her shoulder and, even though she flinches, she doesn’t pull away. I take that as a good sign. “I know, but it’s better than nothing, right?”
She nods, and I head out into the living room, where Ryder is still lying under the tarp. He’s covered by a large, thick blanket, and his face is still pale and covered in sweat, but he seems to be recovering to the point where I don’t have to worry about him dying in the middle of the night.
When I sit down beside him, I grab a wet washcloth and gently dab his forehead, cleaning dirt and sweat away. His eyes flutter open, and when he sees me sitting beside him, he sighs. “You don’t have to take care of me.”
“Yes, I do. Ryder, you saved my life earlier.”
He frowns, and tries to sit up. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get there sooner.”
I put my hand on his chest to keep him lying still. “Ryder, you almost killed yourself saving me. You shouldn’t have been up at all, and instead of resting, you mounted a successful rescue attempt, helped Reese take out several armed Warriors, and saved me from being raped by Frank Schultz. What were you thinking when you got in that boat with Reese? You could have died.”
Ryder wraps his good arm around my waist and pulls me close, burying his face in my shoulder. I can feel his entire body trembling and, when he pulls away, I notice what look like tears in his eyes. “I thought for sure I wouldn’t get there in time. The whole time I kept thinking, ‘What if I don’t ever see her again?’ Or, ‘What if the last thing I really said to her was that she was just some girl?’”
His left hand cups my face gently. “I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t tell you right now how much you mean to me.”
He pulls me closer and he presses his mouth to mine. His lips are warm and surprisingly gentle, but I can feel the passion and emotion behind them. I wrap my arms around his neck and press myself up against his chest, trying to close as much of the distance between us as possible. My lips move in sync with Ryder’s, and his good hand weaves its way through my hair, and he tilts my head back to kiss me harder.
When he pulls away, we’re both breathless, and more than slightly embarrassed. He catches his breath for a second, before kissing me lightly on the lips once, twice, and three more times.
“Ryder–”
“Sam, I’m sorry for the things I said to you that day in the tree. I didn’t wanna say them, but you have to understand, things are so uncertain now. Any day could be the day I lose you, and I don’t know what that would do to me. It’s safer for everyone involved if we don’t fall in love.”
“I know that, but there are so few good things in this life now. Love is one of those things, Ryder. No matter where we go, we’ll see death, fire, and rotting corpses. If we have a chance to have something good, we should take it.”
He nods, even though it has to kill him to do it. “I understand that now.” He pulls me close and kisses me again, softer and slower this time, and pulls away with a smile. “And all it took was me getting shot.”
Reese clears his throat, and I look over my shoulder. “How’re ya feeling?”
“Like shit.”
“How long until you think you’re ok to move out? We can’t stay in this ruined, burned shell of a house forever.”
“You can’t seriously think he’s alright to move, do you?” I ask, appalled. “He’s almost bled to death, twice, in the last week. He shouldn’t move for another week at least!”
“Sam, I know you’re worried about him, but we can’t stay here indefinitely. This place isn’t suitable for four people anymore, let alone six. We have to find someplace more stable, someplace safer. Someplace with more food and clean water.”
“I know, but he’s in no shape to move.”
Ryder takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. “I’ll be alright.” He looks at his brother, who’s leaning in the kitchen doorway. “I think we should leave tomorrow. If you can help me get in and out of the boat, I should be alright. What I’m really worried about is protection. I’m not going to be firing a gun for a while, and I don’t know if you can keep the six of us safe by yourself.”
“Sam can help, and Naomi’s pretty good with a gun. The three of us should be able to keep us all safe. Don’t worry about it too much,” Reese says. “Everything will work out, especially now that the Warriors are gone.”
That relaxes me a little. Reese is right. The world is a much safer place now that Frank and his Warriors are gone. I feel like I don’t have to look over my shoulder constantly in fear that they’ll pop up at any moment.
“I’ll go tell the girls it’s time to pack.”
He leaves us with one last look, and I know he notices the joined hands. I hope he’s as alright with it as he said he was the other day, because as much as I care about Ryder, I don’t want Reese to be hurt because of it.
“Don’t worry about him. He and I have talked, and he’s perfectly fine with…with us.”
“Are you sure?”
He nods. “Positive. He liked you, but he does understand. For him, it was just a harmless crush. For me, it was something more.”
He yawns and stretches with his good arm. “You need to get some rest,” I tell him. “If we’re going to be leaving soon, I want you as strong as possible, just in case something goes wrong.”
He nods, and leans back against the pillows. He takes another harsh breath, and his eyes close. His breathing starts to even out and I lean in and kiss him on the forehead. He slowly smiles, and I feel better about leaving him.
“Sleep tight,” I say, giving his hand one final squeeze. He nods his head, and I get up from his side and head into the kitchen. Reese is lounging against the fridge, and Naomi is staring at him. I stop, getting the distinct impression that I’ve just interrupted something. “What’s going on?”
Reese sighs. “Naomi thinks leaving the island is a bad idea.”
“And you disagree.”
He nods. “Yes, I do. Naomi thinks we should find another house here on the island, clean it out, and just live out the rest of our lives. But surviving here was going to be hard enough with four people, now we have six, and Ryder isn’t going to be of much use now. I don’t think he’ll ever fully recover.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Relax, Sam. He’ll live, but I’m not a surgeon, and I could only do my best. Even though the
wound will heal, I’m not sure if he’ll ever get back his full range of motion. He might be crippled for life.”
“So he can’t fire a weapon?”
“Not anytime soon, if he can even recover to the point where he can life a gun with that arm.”
“He was just fine using his left arm when you raided the camp to save us.”
“The whole time we were in that camp, he only fired two shots, the ones that put Frank down, and it damn near killed him to do it. He can’t get up and overexert himself like that again; he might not recover a second time.”
“I understand. He’ll have to take it easy for a while, but I agree with you. We can’t stay here. This island, no matter how careful we are, will never support six people, especially with only one of us to defend it. I’d rather we move on now while we’ve got the strength and supplies to do it.”
I nod, and look at Naomi. “He’s right. If we wait to leave, we’ll be doing it with no food, no water, and no ammunition. We won’t stand a chance out on the open road. If we’re gonna go, we have to go now.”
Naomi sighs. “That’s the problem. I don’t want to go. I like this island. We have the woods to hunt, and we can start a vegetable garden; I found your seed packets in your supplies. We can collect the rainwater, and we can find a better house, one with more room, and that isn’t destroyed by fire.”
“Those things won’t last forever, Naomi. Listen, it doesn’t rain here everyday. We need to leave.”
“I don’t understand why,” she complains. “We could have a real life here. Where else are we gonna find that’s anywhere near as safe as this one? Once we clear out all the zombies here, there won’t be anymore. We won’t have to live in constant fear, always looking over our shoulders. Why would you wanna leave that?”
“Because…” I have to stop, because I don’t really have an answer. This place could be perfect. If Reese is careful, he could probably clear out the zombies without Ryder’s help. Could we fortify this place? If we could, Naomi might be right. We could have a semi-normal life?
“Sam, I know what you’re thinking,” Reese says, “But I don’t think we should stay here.”
“Why not?” Naomi asks. “Give me one good reason why we should leave this place.”
Reese looks at me. “Sam–”
“You have a reason,” I say, looking at him. “Don’t you?”
He sighs, and runs his hand nervously through his hair. “Yeah, I do. We didn’t take care of all the Warriors; there are still a handful of them left. We destroyed most of their supplies and ammunition, but I don’t wanna be here if they decide they want revenge.”
Naomi’s mouth drops open. “There are still Warriors and you didn’t tell us? How could you keep something like that from us?”
“I didn’t think it would be a problem,” he admits. “But I think I’m wrong. If they’re anything like Frank, they’ll be out for revenge, and I’d like to not be here when that happens. Cause if it comes down to a fight, I know we won’t win.”
I look at Naomi. “Is that reason enough for you?”
She sighs. “Yeah, I guess it is. I don’t wanna be here when those monsters come looking for revenge. In fact, I’d like to be as far from here as possible. What did you have in mind?”
“I was thinking Kansas, South Dakota, or Utah. Something with a lower population.”
Naomi rubs her arms nervously. “I still don’t know if we should leave. We’re so safe from zombies here, right? If we’re out there on the open road, we could and probably will get attacked daily. I think I’d rather be shot by vengeful Warriors than eaten alive by a zombie.”
“Then stay here,” Reese says, grabbing a bottle of water. “I’m leaving tomorrow, and I think Tobe, Sam, and Ryder are all coming with me. However, you and Melissa are welcome to join us, as long as you’re willing to take orders from the person in charge, which will be me.”
Naomi sighs. “I won’t survive long if I’m here by myself. I’ll go with you guys. But if I get bitten, you’re the first one I’m coming after, remember that.”
Reese smiles. “I will.”
Naomi nods. “Alright. So when do we leave?”
“We’ll do it tomorrow after breakfast. I wanna give Ryder a little more time to heal. I don’t think half a day is going to help him much, but I think it’ll be better than nothing.”
“Will he really be ok to travel?” I ask.
“I think we’ll have to help him to the boat, out of the boat, to the car, and then out of the car, but he can’t stay here.”
“We should leave him behind,” Naomi says.
I round on her, hands instantly clenching at my sides. “We will not be leaving him anywhere! How dare you suggest that?”
“I was just trying to think rationally. He’s only going to slow us down and deplete our supplies. He can’t contribute to the group in his condition, and he might get one of us killed. I know he means a lot to you, but I’m just thinking about what’s best for the group, seeing as Melissa and I are now part of it. Don’t take it the wrong way.”
She’s right. Ryder is going to be a burden, but he’s done so much for our group that I could never think about leaving him behind. And it might be beneficial to have someone in the group that doesn’t care so much about us; someone that can keep an objective view on things. I know that no matter what happened, after everything we’ve been through, Reese or I could never make a call that would hurt anyone in our group. Naomi can do that, because she doesn’t really know us yet.
“Alright, we’ll let Ryder sleep for now, make a hasty breakfast in the morning, and then we’ll go. We’ve got a jeep waiting for us on the mainland, and we’ll transfer our supplies and get going.”