Red Death: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller by D.L. Robinson Read Free Book Online Page B

the women helped Lee out and up onto the back porch. Mary supported him while she unlocked the boarded over door, which Mary commented upon as they ushered Lee inside. “You did a good job on the door, Lee.” Tara closed it behind them in relief.
    “Thank God, we made it home!” They installed Lee on the couch, and Tara ran to get practically all the pillows in the house to prop his leg up high enough. Then she went in search of her old pain pills and gave Lee two of them. Next, she brought a blanket and Lee pulled off his jeans under it so Mary could see his leg. She gave Tara a knowing look as soon as she saw the swelling and bruising down his leg and behind his knee, making his skin tight and shiny.
    “Have you got enough pills for tonight?” Mary asked. “I’ll bring more over tomorrow.” Tara did and she and Lee both thanked her. She walked Mary to the front door to let her out.
    “I can’t believe this just happened.”
    Mary just shook her head. “I know, “she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Call me if anything goes wrong or if you need me.”
    Tara nodded, and hugged her. “Thank you so much, Mary, for everything.” Mary pulled back a little, as though maybe they shouldn’t get that close, but Tara didn’t care at the moment.
    “Ebola be damned” she answered Mary’s reticence.
    Mary smiled and nodded, crossing the wide street to her little bungalow on the corner. Tara watched to make sure she got in safely, and Mary turned and waved. Tara closed and locked the door, leaning against it for a minute to think. How am I going to manage without Lee?

Chapter 5
     
    Tara turned and stared at Mary’s closed door for a moment. She heard Lee stirring and rejoined him in the living room. His long, lanky frame barely fit on the sofa. She fluffed his pillows, gathered ice packs and more bedding, and then turned on the TV to distract him, her mind elsewhere. “How are you feeling, honey?” His face looked pale and he grimaced in pain occasionally.
    “It hurts like hell,” he answered stoically. “I can’t believe I was so clumsy.”
    Tara squeezed in, sitting down beside him but careful not to jar his leg. She leaned over to give him a hug, then smoothed his hair back and kissed his head.
    “We’ve all had those klutzy moments. Mary says the swelling will go down within a few days. Then the real healing will begin. You’ll be back to normal soon, I hope.”
    “Me too,” he grinned at her, “I’m not a very good patient.”
    “You’re MY patient, so you’d better be good! I don’t know if I’ve ever had this much control over you. I think I like it!” They laughed together companionably.
    “Do you want to try to go upstairs to bed tonight or would you rather stay here? If so, I’m going to bring the air mattress down and sleep here on the floor next to you.”
    “Down here,” he said, “I don’t want to move, but you don’t have to stay with me. You can go on up.”
    “I’d rather be here, Lee.”
    He understood and Tara spent the next half hour finding the air mattress and sheets she would need. She finally got her own bed set up and Lee all taken care of. She kissed him goodnight, turned off the light and crawled into her new bed. It was surprisingly comfortable. She suddenly realized they hadn’t even had time to mention what they’d seen at the old Kmart.
    “I love you, Lee, she whispered, “Tomorrow, maybe you’ll feel better and we can go over all we saw tonight.”
    But Lee didn’t answer, and Tara heard the slight snore coming from the couch where he had fallen into a deep, Percocet-induced sleep. Let him sleep, he’ll heal faster.
    But Tara couldn’t sleep at all. She kept seeing the camp, hospital, or whatever it was that had risen seemingly overnight less than a mile away. She hadn’t wanted to say anything. In fact, she hadn’t even wanted to admit it to herself at first, but she wondered if the others had seen what looked like the thousands of hermetically