These Awkward Moments

Chapter 18 The Rest of the Story

Mercy started to fuss and rub her eyes. I suggested we go lay on the bed to talk while I nursed her to sleep. Roe walked in right as we were heading to the bedroom. He wished us goodnight and headed to his room. We walked into the bedroom and snuggled on the bed with the baby between us.

I took a deep breath and launched into my story. "So Roe and I had been on the road for a long time. It felt like years, but was more like maybe four to six months. We had met people along the way. Sometimes good, sometimes not. We made it just south of Richmond on back roads, but we were forced onto I-95 into Petersburg. We stopped to siphon gas, and a man approached us. He looked clean, like he had a camp. His story seemed legit, and he seemed like a good person. He told us he was living in a gated community where there were fences and it was still safe. There were two families left there in addition to Ben and his nephew Matthew. We agreed to check it out."

I softly stroked Mercy's hair and continued. "It was a pretty nice set up. They had a small creek running through the neighborhood, and didn't have to go outside the gates for water. The walls were sturdy, made mostly of brick, with wrought iron spikes on top. Pretty safe from walkers. We decided to stay as long as possible. We moved into Ben's home because he had two extra bedrooms. Ben turned out ta be a great friend to us. He was in his mid 40s. He had been divorced before the turn, and his ex took his kids out of state to visit their grandparents right before everything went ta hell. He had been a defense lawyer. He was very book smart, but not a lot of survival sense. Roe tried ta teach him a few things, and he was learning. Things went great for a couple of months before we were overrun by a herd. We got out with Ben and Matthew, but the other families didn't make it. We were able to get off I-95 north of Richmond, and about three weeks later we made it into Fredericksburg. We found a warehouse that we cleared, but lost Matthew. Ben was heartbroken."

Mercy had dozed off so I unlatched her and pulled my shirt down before continuing. Daryl reached out and stroked my arm slowly with his fingertips. "The warehouse we were in had cases and cases of alcohol. Ben found a few cases of Jameson and grabbed a couple of bottles. Roe took watch, and I agreed ta keep an eye on Ben. He had already had a couple of glasses of whiskey and kept insisting that I drink with him to remember Matthew. I finally gave in and had a drink, mostly so I wouldn't offend him but also cuz I figured what the hell. I guess I miscalculated how easily I would get tipsy after not having any alcohol at all for such a long time. My judgment got a little twisted and I had another drink... and then another. I remember Ben cryin' about Matthew and I hugged him ta comfort him, but I don't remember much after that. Roe found us early the next morning in Ben's sleepin' bag together. We were both too embarrassed ta talk about what had probably happened. He was a nice enough guy, and he was good looking by most women's standards. But I had never been attracted to him like that."

Daryl tucked a wayward lock of hair behind my ear and ran his fingers along my jaw. Then he moved his hand to my waist and pulled me closer so he could tangle his legs in mine. I smiled, loving his need to touch, comfort, and snuggle when I was talking about anything difficult. "We left Fredericksburg and headed east instead of north to avoid the major roadways. About a week later we made it to the outskirts of a town called Dahlgren. We realized that we had made a huge error in judgement because there's a naval base there, and it was overrun. Before we could get out of town our car broke down. We scavenged for another car and I worked on hot wiring it. A herd of about twenty walkers came at us. Roe and Ben held them back, but Ben got bit on the shoulder tryin' ta protect me. We got the car started and drove back the way we came, but within a couple a hours Ben was burnin' up with a fever. We pulled over in a park for the night. He begged me ta not let him turn..."

Tears rolled down my cheeks. Daryl reached up and wiped them away with his thumb. "I'm sorry Doc. Wish ya hadn't had ta go through that."