I’ve Got You

CHAPTER 9

As the group emerged from the last pharmacy they sat down on the sidewalk in the cool afternoon air to catalog their inventory. The large bag Riley had brought was bulging with the fruits of their labour. Riley rubbed his sore shoulders as Sasha, Grimm and Jared started laying the items out on the pavement. “Not much considering the facility is now home to over 300 people. But it’s a start. Honestly if I had of expected to have so much success here I would have brought a bigger bag”. Grimm murmured in agreement as he scanned the items before them. Feminine hygiene products, soaps, toothpastes, hair brushes, body sprays, and a whole array of medicines. That bag must have been a nightmare for Riley to carry around all day. “We could request another group come out here tomorrow to grab what we couldn’t fit in the bag today” Sasha murmured, taking a pen and jotting something down on the palm of her hand before cramming the items back into the bag. “Can we go, then?” Jared piped up. “I feel like a sitting duck out here” Grimm rolled his eyes “Will you calm down? We’ve not seen a single one of those things since we got here”

“Keep talking at this volume and that’ll change pretty quick” Sasha hissed through clenched teeth. “Keep it quiet”.

”Yeah, keep it quiet boys. Don’t want any of those things to come running, do we?” an unknown voice called out from behind them. Grimm turned towards the voice and found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.

The man was thin and tired looking. He was grimy in appearance and smelled of stale sweat and blood. His wild blonde hair hung passed his shoulders. He was covered from head to toe in bruises and scratches. He eyed the bag hungrily “The bag. Give it”

“Look mate” Jared said, his hands up in surrender “There’s no food in that bag”.

“I know what’s in it. Been following you lot since the gift shop. Medicines right? I want the bag” he insisted, gun unwavering, then added “I need it”. Grimm smiled thinly, not daring to reach for his service weapon. “If you need medicine, come with us. The army base just out of town? You can be safe there-” The man spat at the floor by Grimm’s feet. “Government facility? You wanna take me to the Government? As if I’d trust any of those cunts after this mess!”. His voice rose. Making the group of four nervous. “You either come with us for the treatment you need or you don’t. But we can’t give you the bag” Riley stated firmly.

“I’ll shoot him!” The blonde man yelled, a lump formed in Grimm’s throat. His hand automatically reached for the novelty pinball game in his breast pocket. Thinking of Dorian he laughed nervously. “Actually I’d rather you didn’t”

“Listen, guy” Sasha joined, stepping towards Grimm, hand on her own gun. “There’s four of us. All armed. All with years of training behind us. If we feel like you’re going to shoot, we will shoot first. And we won’t miss”. Grimm eyed the mans shaking trigger finger as it started to pull. “I’m sorry” Grimm whispered, lunging forward, he grabbed the man’s wrist, aiming the gun away from him and up at the sky. Grimm’s imposing frame rendered the struggles of the gunman ineffective. Yet he still attempted to wrestle Grimm for control of the weapon. “Are you crazy? If you shoot, they’ll hear it! They’ll come for you too!” he attempted to reason with the man. His reasoning fell on deaf ears, and growling, the man threw his head forward, connecting with Grimm’s nose. There was a metallic taste in Grimm’s mouth and he retaliated in kind by using his free hand to throw a hooked punch into the mans jaw. His head snapped back and his grip on the gun finally slackened. Grimm tore the gun from his grasp and hit him one, two, three times in the forehead with the but of it, driving the man back as the others made their way to the Jeep. “Grimm! Lets go!” Riley yelled, smacking the side of the Jeep as he fired up the engine. Grimm kept his gaze fixed on the man who had attempted to steal from them, he was doubled over, cradling his bleeding forehead in his hands. Grimm wiped the blood flowing freely from his nose with the back of his hand “You could have come with us.”

“f**k you!” Grimm shrugged, emptying the magazine from the gun and tossing the gun to his left and the ammo to his right. He opened his mouth to speak when a blood curdling shriek cut through the air. The man whimpered, head swiveling wildly in every direction. “You don’t have to stay here!” Grimm hissed, trying to hurry him along. “You won’t last”

“Grimm! I ain’t Waiting!” Riley yelled. The man, despite his fear, showed no signs of following Grimm, even as the first contaminated host stumbled from a green grocer three stores up. Skin white, with sickly black veins. Clothes filthy and in shreds. And snapping, foaming jaws. Screeching ravenously as it lurched towards them. “They’re everywhere! Get your f*****g ass in the jeep!” Sasha screamed at him, snapping Grimm out of his terror induced paralysis. He glanced around him, they truly were everywhere. Stumbling from alleys between stores, lurching out of the shadows like a swarm. Grimm counted at least twelve, though he was sure there was more. He turned back to the man, silently pleading for him to join them. The man saw the plea in his eyes, and shook his head in defiance. Grimm roared in frustration and turned away from him, running towards the Jeep. But the hosts ran faster, spurred on by senseless rage and hunger. They were on him in an instant, dozens of clammy hands pulling at his clothes and hair. Their emaciated bodies holding an amount of strength that surprised him, their shrill screams and guttural growls raised the hairs on his neck as their snapping jaws drew dangerously close to his limbs. He bucked beneath their weight, shaking two off of him, he managed to tar his right arm free, drawing his gun and jamming the barrel of it into the gaping mouth of one of the hosts. Shooting once, the host dropped, its dark, poisoned blood spraying him in the face. Grimm panicked, clamping his mouth shut against it, whatever he did, he couldn’t allow himself to ingest a single drop. He turned, stomping on the knee of another host, then shooting it dead. With both arms free he placed his hands on either side of he third hosts head and twisted violently, breaking it’s neck. Finally able to put some distance between himself and the remaining hosts, Grimm lunged, closing the rest of the distance to the jeep and grasping Jared’s outstretched hand. He was only half way on to the back of the Jeep when Riley pushed the pedal to the floor and they tore off. Grimm watched as they retreated, mouth still clamped shut as the number of infected hosts almost tripled before their eyes spilling out on to the streets. Some giving chase, and some swarming over the thin man, silencing his shrieks. And others giving chase to the Jeep. Sasha handed Grimm a washcloth that she had soaked in rubbing alcohol. “Clean that s**t up and get it out of this Jeep”.

***

Eris shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she scrubbed clothes and sheets. She had been the last one to report for her chores for the day, and as a result, there were no washing machines left for her to use. So she had resigned to washing her and Dorian’s work loads by hand. She was nervous, it was late in the day, almost evening and she had heard no news of Grimm’s scout group returning. Dorian, who shared her angst looked up at her, his shirt soaked from the work made Eris chuckle. “Did you keep any water in the bucket, Mate?” Dorian returned her smile, then faltered. “Mum, when do you think Dr Grimm will be back?” Eris worried at her lip

“No idea, baby. Why do you ask?”

“I like him, I guess. He’s nice.” Eris nodded

“He sure is”

“I like how you are when we are in his office” Dorian added. Eris stopped scrubbing and frowned. “What do you mean?” Dorian shrugged. “You don’t talk much around Dad... You always look sad too. When we are in Dr Grimm’s office you laugh a lot... You also don’t stop talking sometimes. You don’t talk to dad much anymore” Eris shrugged, feeling more than a little uncomfortable with Dorian’s observation. She turned back to her washing when he added “is it because he hurt you?”. Eris gasped “Dorian. You don’t need to be talking about that anymore. We’ve been through it already, mate. It was a silly mistake and it only happened the once, that’s not how your father is. You know that.” she lied. Dorian’s cheeks flushed

“yes it is. I know it’s not the only time he’s done it”. Eris’s face went white, Dorian’s, however had turned an even deeper shade of red. “I got up to get some water one night... Before all this... He kicked you and I saw it. Don’t tell me I didn’t. I’m not a baby! I know what I saw.” Caught out in her lie, Eris couldn’t find words, couldn’t form an excuse. She just stared until Dorian broke the tense silence with another question. “He does it a lot, doesn’t he?” Eris shook her head and hugged her son. Sighing into his hair she kissed his head “You don’t need to be worrying about this.” She said “I know you’re not a baby, but you will always be my baby. You don’t need to be concerned about these things. You don’t need to be knowing about it. All you need to know is that your father loves you dearly. As do I”. Dorian pressed into the hug

“Am I in trouble?” Dorian asked “I wasn’t sneaking. I just wanted to get water” Eris choked on a sob

“No baby, you aren’t in trouble. I’s just something you should never have seen. That’s all”. Another, more easy silence fell over them as they held one another. “I like you when we are in Dr Grimm’s office.”

“Yes, you’ve mentioned that before”

“I think he makes you happy” Eris cringed. Unwilling to admit anything of the sort to Dorian. Instead she insisted “I am happy.” Dorian shook his head

“I think you like him like you like Dad” Eris snorted

“Not likely, baby! Dr Grimm is just nice to talk to sometimes. It gets lonely here”. Though Dorian didn’t press the issue, Eris wasn’t sure she’d entirely convinced him. “No more of this talk. Your Daddy is good to us. He’s just been a little stressed out. That’s all”. Dorian nodded and let go of her, silently returning to his work load of washing. Eris gazed at him, wondering how she’d never noticed just how grown up her little boy had gotten. She picked at her dry lips. Wondering exactly how much he’d seen of her and James’s interactions and was sick with the thought that she had let him be exposed to the same violence she was subjected to. She scolded herself while she worked. Any feelings she had left for James were dashed at the knowledge that not only had he repeatedly hurt her, but that their son had witnessed it.

After both of their workloads had been scrubbed, drained and hung up to dry, Eris and Dorian met with James in the mess hall for dinner. As usual Eris offered up half of her ration to James, only this time he shook his head. Glaring at her from across the table, Eris was confused, as usually he would gladly accept it, sometimes even thanking her for it. But that night he all but turned his nose up at the gesture. So instead, she scraped half her ration on to Dorian’s plate. “If you get full, don’t force it down, but if you can manage it, go for it”.

“Thanks Mum” Eris nodded, not feeling much like eating. She glanced around the mess hall, hoping to catch sight of Grimm, sure that he would have returned by now. Not five minutes had passed when she heard a group of officers clapping and cheering by the doors to the mess hall. The commotion drew her gaze, barely containing her groan of relief when it settled on Grimm and three others filing in behind him. They were scrubbed clean, Grimm’s mess of raven hair was still wet and slicked back. Eris fought hard to suppress a smile. It was a good look for him. She averted her gaze before he noticed her. James had noticed her though. His eyebrow quirked as his expression darkened, seemingly daring her to explain why she seemed so thrilled to see the Doctor. Eris cleared her throat and resumed eating. Willing her self to keep her eyes fixed firmly on the tray in front of her.

Eris stroked Dorian’s blonde hair as he lay asleep in his bed. He -not for the first time- was complaining of missing the luxuries of life before the outbreak. It had only been a few weeks but washing everything by hand had certainly given her a new found appreciation for having her own personal washing machine. James stepped up behind her and put his hands on her waist, pulling her up from Dorian’s bed. She turned to hug him. As he leaned in to her he whispered in her ear. “Have a good day?” surprised at the question, Eris nodded.

“Sure. And you?”

“Yeah. Was great... Until this afternoon”. Eris frowned.

“Why? What happened this afternoon?”. James pulled back with a grimace “Well I came back here to have a rest after I’d finished disposing of the mess hall trash I also Kind of wanted to wash up. I went looking through your toiletry bag for the soap. And I found this” He held up a miniature back remote with a single button on it. The emergency alert Grimm had given her the day she arrived. “Now, you don’t have to tell me what it is. I know what it is. The question is, why do you have one?”. Eris racked her brain for an answer, but before she could think on one that was unlikely to anger him further he continued. “So, knowing you and Dorian were on laundry duty I figured I’d pop over and see my son and darling wife. Hoping she might shed some light on why she had it. Only, when I get there, I overhear them talking.” He glowered at her “Talking about the Doctor.” Eris’s mouth went dry, she took a step back, but James only stepped towards her, stalking her, daring her to run as he tossed the small alert button behind him, far out of her reach. “Make you happy, does he, Eris? You ‘like’ Him, do you?” Eris managed a nervous chuckle, her knees shook, and she continued to try and put space between herself and James. “Don’t be ridiculous!” she whimpered.

“Me? Ridiculous? I saw the way you looked at him at dinner, Eris. So how does it work? You two make my son wait outside while you f**k the Doctor during an appointment? Is that why it takes so long? Or do you just sneak off while I’m asleep?”

“James! Neither! It’s not like that!" In an instant, James closed the gap between them and closed his hands around her throat. “Don’t lie to me”

“I’m not! I swear!” James clamped his hand over her mouth and dragged her towards the door by her hair. She tried to resist but James’s grip on her was firm and painful. Dragging her out of the room and down the hall, her screams were muffled by his hand, He pushed through the door of the empty communal bathroom and locked it behind him. “Make a sound and I’ll f*****g kill you”. Seized by sheer terror, Eris pleaded with all she had. Her pleas fell on deaf ears as James raised his leg, slamming his boot into her stomach with enough force to knock her to the hard tiled floor. Eris gasped as the breath left her lungs, and before she could recover from being so severely winded, James hammered her with punch after punch. Eris tasted blood as a solid punch found its way past her hands, when it connected with her cheek her head snapped back, smacking the tile floor, and for the first time she found herself wishing he would just kill her so she could be free of his torment.