“Not at all. Everyone’s got a story to tell.” He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. “It’s like this. We left Baltimore eighteen months ago to check on a few people out west. We’ve traveled around some—Montana and Nevada were our primary destinations.”
“For what?”
“BB was from Montana. Him and I go back a ways—we were in Baltimore and were stuck there when the Sickness hit full force. Nobody expected it—at least, not that aggressively. Before we knew it, the population was dropping like flies.”
“Yeah. It didn’t matter where you were—if you lived through that time, you were knee-deep in a lot of death.”
“That’s the truth, Connor Mac. Anyway, BB was at one of my military seminars. Every couple years, the marines would call me up and ask me to speak at a seminar in one city or another. This time, it was at the downtown Baltimore Marriott.”
“Uh, huh.”
“I’d do about five or six seminars a year for different organizations. Most were on psychology in relation to war, topics of a similar nature. Jason was with me this time since I promised him a trip to DC. It was the perfect time to make that happen. And it was perfect—until everybody started dying.”
“Yeah, that was a tough time. It happened all over the world, John.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh yeah, I’ve seen it, John. Australia, Japan, everywhere.”
“I can imagine.”
“Yeah, but go on with what you were saying. I know shit was real bad.”
“I know. At the time, in Baltimore, we thought we’d eventually kick the bucket, too. What a terrible feeling—staring at your own son and wondering whether he would be around the next day.” McLeod glanced across the porch where Jason was talking with Jackson and shook his head violently to dispel the evil thought. “Anyway, the three of us stuck together, gathered up some equipment—nice sturdy backpacks, as much canned food as we could carry, and weapons and ammunition. BB knew where to find what we needed and we did it quick. We left the city as fast as possible.”
“Why? Was there someone following you?”
“No. As far as we noticed, we were the only ones alive in the city. No, we left to avoid all the dead bodies—the stench was unbearable and I knew the longer we stayed, the more likely we’d fall prey to some disease or other. BB made it clear he was coming with us and I’m not sure we would’ve made it if it wasn’t for him.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, wow. His survival skills are exceptional and I’m forever in his debt for sticking with us all this time. Hanging with a group of guys like him and his brother and cousin certainly increases your chances of survival.”
“Sounds like you guys made a good team. BB speaks as if you contributed much more than he did.”
“Really? Well that’s good to hear. How do you know that?”
“He told me when we first introduced ourselves. Said you got most things figured out.”
“Huh. That’s nice to hear, Connor Mac. Yeah, we pulled our weight, Jason and I. But BB was in the zone, hyper vigilant. Let’s face it, I can theorize all I want about war strategies and potential urban scenarios that we might walk into, but BB was a true soldier, trained to kill and he did just that when it was called for. I’ll tell you, Connor Mac, he knew where to locate fresh water and supplies like they were just waiting for him when he arrived.”
“I hear you. He was trained well by Uncle Sam.”
“For sure. He was that. He made living and traveling much easier and he was going in the same general direction as we were.”
“Which direction was that?” asked Connor.
“He wanted to go north to his brother’s house—to Jude’s house. The house was about thirty miles north of the city. When we made it, we found out that Jude’s wife had died.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah. But, thankfully, there were no kids involved.”
“Yeah, I hear you,” answered Connor. His voice was quiet and he cleared his throat, waiting for McLeod to continue.
“Later, we met up with BB’s cousin Jackson. He lived a few miles away. Surprisingly, Jackson and twenty-four other people were living in a fancy mansion at the end of the street. It was a nice set up—the end of a dead-end road, a large flat back yard—there was no way to sneak up on this place. It was easily defended.”
“No Kidding? A mansion?”
“Yeah, no kidding. Jackson is ex-army. He served two tours in Iraq like BB. He and some other guy named Rudy shared the command in the mansion. They’d made a good functioning command post and perimeter guards.”
“Sounds like they had a strong defensible position there.”
“Oh, yeah. And the food, Connor Mac! There was some good stuff there. One of the women worked as a master chef at a four-star restaurant before the destruction—what she did with trout was a thing of beauty.”
“So, why didn’t you stay?” asked Connor.
“BB had a wife in Montana.”
“Oh.”
“His wife was visiting her mother in Helena. She was still there the last time he talked with her—you know, before the phone lines decided to quit working. He had two kids, too. Both were with Julie, his wife.”
“You said ‘had’?”
“Yeah, ‘had’. We found his wife and both his kids in the master bedroom.”
“Aww, shit,” Connor cleared his throat again.
“She had outlasted the kids by maybe a day or two. I think she tried to clean ’em up nice. We found her lying next to them. Her mother was in the next room—the old lady had probably died many days prior.”
“What a raw deal, man,” said Connor, his eyes misting.
“BB took it hard… real hard. Julie left a note.”
“Aw, man.”
“The note said that she knew he would come for them and that she’d wait. She said she loved him and she’d see him soon.”
“Oh, hell.” Connor wiped his eyes.
“What hit him the hardest, Connor Mac, were the kids asking about him. They wrote their own notes—well, sort of. Julie helped put their words down on paper. They drew pictures around the words—they were young kids, Jacob, four and Bobby Junior, six. They said they hoped Daddy was okay and that they wanted him to come kill the bad monster bug that made everyone sick.”
Connor dropped his face into his hands. After a few minutes, Connor asked him to continue.
“Tell me more, John.”
“Sure. It was a tough few weeks in Helena. I’ll tell you that. It took BB quite awhile to get going again after we buried his wife and kids. I think he’s coming out of it, though. I know he won’t ever fully recover, but it feels like he wants to join the land of the living again. Him meeting up with Marty is a good twist of fate. It’s given him a positive connection to life, don’t you think?”
“It seems like it.”
“Anyway, Jackson came along with us. There was nothing holding him there and I think he felt more comfortable with family.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
“Jason and I are originally from Reno. We had some business there, so we went with BB, Jude, and Jackson to check on BB’s wife and kids and they agreed to come with us to Reno to check on my wife.” It was McLeod’s turn to clear his throat. The tears came freely and Connor waited patiently for him to continue.
“Maggie left notes for me and Jason, too.”
“Oh, man,” said Connor. “John… man, I’m sorry.”
“Yeah,” he said, his voice low and gravelly. “She said she was dying and that she hoped I found the note. She put the notes in the hidden floor safe. She wanted one more opportunity to tell me and Jason that she loved us. Said she’d lived a full life and knew, just knew, that Jason and I would live through this… petty pestilence, she called it.”