Alone at the End of the World Ch. 03

Thad shot six times and four men fell, blood pooling in the dirt. He nicked another man and that one fled. Five of the men ran, and neither Thad nor Jess pursued. It was all over so fast. That was all battle was, a minute, a second of violence, and then this.

Thad reloaded automatically as Jess walked up to him. The house was starting to stir, the windows opening and the doors unlocking.

"I have to get Jonah, he's sick." Thad's voice was terse and low and forcibly polite. "I'm going to get him, can you tell your doctor to be ready?"

"What about Mark?" Jess murmured, glaring at the farmhouse. "What are we going to do about him?"

Thad let out a harsh sigh. "I'm not going to do anything. I'm going to get Jonah some medicine, and I want to leave as soon as we can. It's not safe for him here."

The front door opened and David and Mark were there. Melvin and Vera and Davis trailed behind them. In the upper window, Jess could see one of the twins looking out. "Go get Jonah." Jess said softly. As Thad turned around, he called back to him. "None of us are safe here. Nowhere's safe."

Thad just kept walking, his stomach churning, wondering how he and his frail lover would make it through the next few days.

---

Jonah was slumped against the tree when he came back, barely conscious. His lips were moving, and his eyelids were flickering. When Thad shook his arm gently, Jonah moaned and covered his head with his arms, as if to ward off a blow.

Thad took Jonah and held him like a baby in his thick arms. Jonah was muttering, not making any sense at all. "No... Don't w-wanna... I don't wanna go inside mom... I don't..." His forehead was dry, which worried Thad even more.

Jonah's pants were covered in blood. Thad dug in the smaller pack and tore out a pair of jeans. Jonah wanted to keep everything a secret, and Jess already knew. Thad knew that it would be nearly impossible to keep the secret, but he had to try.

Jonah moaned weakly as Thad worked off his bloody jeans and rolled them up tight to hide the bloodstains. Jonah's underwear was soaked red at the seat. Thad worked on the new jeans and picked up his sick little lover in his arms.

Thad could see six people when he got there. An older man, a middle-aged black woman with a worried face, a burly man with thick bristly black hair. There was Jess, and then their were two muscular young men. Thad bristled. They looked like each other enough to be brothers, so one of them was David, and one of them was Mark. He was carrying a sick frightened boy right back to the man who had viciously raped and crippled him.

They were watching him come closer. One of the brothers was stone-faced, and the other, the younger-looking one just looked confused. He looked.... stupid. His mouth gaping slightly and his eyes quizzical.

Thad went right up to them, feeling his muscles clench. One of those brothers had crippled Jonah. As he got closer, the younger one stalked away, fists clenched.

"My name is Thaddeus Weaver." He said. "Where is the Doctor?"

---

In some sort of miracle, no one from the farmhouse had died. Bullets had shattered windows, and Jenna had taken several fragments of glass to her shoulder and the side of her face, but no one was seriously hurt. None of the glass shards had hit her ears or eyes, and the Doc had been removing them with tweezers when the huge new man came in with Jonah slumped across his arms.

The Doc did what he could do. He tilted Jonah's sweat-soaked head and put aspirin and penicillin tablets in his dry mouth. Thad refused to leave Jonah's side.

Everyone had questions, but for now they were put aside. Thad remained in the attic with Jonah, wiping his face with a cool cloth and trying to make him comfortable. David and Davis and Harold and Jess were dragging the bodies of the dead bandits to the ditch that they had dumped the crazies into. Melvin and Bert stood watch. Vera and Janet swept up broken glass, and Annette and Jenna tried to keep the kids busy, to keep them away from the blood and death outside.

---

Mark was in the basement. He wasn't doing anything, wasn't even thinking. He was just sort of blank. Nothing like this had happened to him before. His luck, his monumental luck, it was gone.

Mark looked down at his hands. Those hands had taken life before. Two humans, countless animals, and forty-six crazies. They could take another. The queer was sick... If he died, everyone would be sad... But they wouldn't blame him. They *couldn't* blame him.

Mark's logic was tangled, but resolute. In his mind, he connected Jonah to his current state of worry. In his mind, if Jonah died, then everything would be back to normal.

Mark laughed hollowly, and then he found that he couldn't stop.

---

They were alone, and Thad was cleaning Jonah.

The skinny dark-haired young man was full of medication, and sleeping like the dead. His forehead was cool and wet, and his breathing was easier then it had been in a long time. If Jonah wanted to keep his secret, they would have to trust Jess, and get out of here as fast as they could.

Jonah was resting on his stomach with his pants around his knees. Thad was using a wet cloth to clean up all of the smeared dry blood. Jonah's ass was cute and perky, but Thad couldn't pay attention to that. Not when his cheeks were scratched and swollen and bruised and a delta of dried blood was cracking and peeling on his bruised inner thighs.

Thad cleaned him up and pulled up some fresh underwear and the clean jeans. The soiled clothes were in a bundle that he had to clean at some point. Thad took the pie pan of water and threw it out onto the roof. The blood-tinged water rolled down the roof's surface and into the gutter, and a few seconds later a spurt of reddish water soaked into the loose gravel of the driveway from the drainpipe.

Thad ladled more water from the bucket Vera had brought up into the pie pan. He brought a stool over to the edge of the bed and rested the pie pan on it. Then he pulled Jonah to the edge of the bed. He cradled Jonah's limp head in his hands and over the pie plate of water.

He felt very protective. He cupped some water in his hand and trickled it into Jonah's sweat-soaked dark hair. Jonah stirred slightly, and smiled. Thad dribbled handfuls of water over Jonah's forehead and hair, murmuring for Jonah to close his eyes, turn his head. Sometimes he lowered the back of Jonah's head into the pie pan for a soaking. The water was cool, and the baptism felt good.

"Thad?" Jonah whispered. His eyes were closed. His thin face had relaxed, and for the first time in days, he looked almost serene.

"Yeah, Baby?" Thad murmured, stroking the side of Jonah's wet face.

"Thank you... Thank you for everything. I feel a lot better now." His words were soft and small and dreamy. He was barely awake.

"Your welcome Sugar." Thad murmured, dunking Jonah's head into the pie pan and pouring handfuls of water over his ears. He was careful with the left ear, still swollen and discolored from the blow to the head. He bent down and kissed Jonah on the forehead. Then he took the ragged towel and wrapped it around Jonah's head, ruffling his hair underneath until it was dry.

Thad tucked his lover in and then took his soiled underwear and jeans to try and scrub the bloodstains out of them. It wouldn't be long until David came up here. David was smart, and wouldn't be fooled. Thad rubbed his temples with a short groan.

The quicker that Jonah got better, and the quicker they could leave this madhouse, the sooner they would both be safer. Not safe, because nowhere was safe. Just safer.

---

David came up with Vera, Jess, Janet, Annette and Ned. He needed to talk to the new man, Thad. The others just wanted to see how Jonah was doing. When they came up Thad was changing the cool cloths on Jonah's brow. He backed away and stood.

"He's sleeping." Thad whispered. "He hasn't been able to sleep like this in a while, can we talk downstairs?

"Sure we will." Vera whispered. The seven of them went down the narrow stairs, but Thad didn't follow them even further. He lingered at the base of the attic stairs, he didn't want the attic to be unprotected. Not with the Rapist here.

He sat at the base of the stairs. The rest circled him. Janet and Ned looked at him with unbridled goodwill. To them, Thad was a hero. He had driven away the bandits and brought back Jonah. Annette and Vera were more worried. They had suspected foul play when Jonah left, and now they had a new suspect. They didn't know what to think. Jess didn't know how much to trust the big policeman, and David's face was expressionless and unreadable.

"My name is David." He said in a low calm voice. "What happened?"

Thad had thought about what he was going to say. The simplest lies were the best. Simple lies that were mostly truth. He looked up at David, not breaking eye contact.

Did you know? Thad wondered. Did you know that your brother was raping and beating my Jonah?

"When shit started happening, I was working in downtown Minneapolis. For a while, things were crazy. Policemen were some of the first to go, we were called to the isolated incidents, the first crazies, before we knew about infection risk. Someone must have been watching over me. After half of the force had taken to the hospital and shit started getting on the news, I decided to head up north to check on my dad."

"My dad was the only one still alive in my family. He had diabetes and was in a hospice. When I got to Bemidji, the infection was just starting, but my dad was too sick to move. I got his old airstream and we were going to go to his cabin up in Brainerd. When I stopped to pick him up one of the patients there had gotten infected somehow, and my dad was killed, and the place was filled with injured and infected. I tried to stop at a grocery store to stock up and it was madness. Everyone was just taking things off the shelves. Some people were in the last stages of the infection, and a couple had succumbed."

"I ran in, stole some food, and ran out. I'm still surprised I made it out of the city. For a while I drove around to the smaller towns, looking for food. I ran into blockades where the military shot first and asked questions later."

David shifted slightly. His eyes flickered.

"I found an abandoned house. After awhile, you just started stealing stuff. They had a nice pantry, and I was able to take a lot of food. I only had about a gallon of gas left, and I had found this little remnant of a dirt road. I went down it and covered the entrance with debris and old branches. I hid in the woods for several weeks, I waited for things to calm down. I waited for the military to arrive, or for a vaccine to be prepared, but none of those happened."

"I did take a few hiking trips in the other direction during that time. Scavenging for food and books and supplies in the local houses mostly. I tried to find news. For a while I had a wind-up radio that I used to pick up broadcasts, but it broke. The last broadcast I heard was some preacher talking about how we had brought this all upon ourselves by living in sin."

Thad looked around at the six of them. Most of them had similar stories. "Anyway... two days ago and I had gone outside to boil some new water. I had stored all of the jugs in the trailer and was just going to put out the ashes. I heard noises, branches snapping. It was all coming from one place, so I moved in, carefully."

"I saw one of the diseased. A young man in a sheepskin jacket. It's hands were..." Thad paused and looked at Ned. The six-year-old boy looked thin and pale. "It's hands were in pretty bad shape from trying to climb the tree. I looked up and I could see Jonah. I shot the monster and Jonah climbed down and I brought him to the trailer. He had been up in the tree all that night and for most of the day. He had left his blanket at the bottom of the tree when he climbed, so he had spent the night in the cold. That's why he's so sick."

Here came the lie, hopefully it sounded genuine.

"He wouldn't tell me where he came from or why he left. He was very feverish and he spent most of the day sleeping. I thought he was going to die, but after a while he started talking about a doctor in his delirium. He was pretty lucid this morning and when I asked him about a doctor he told me that you had a paramedic here. I brought him over, and I hoped that you all would be willing to take care of him."

Thad looked up at David. "You seem to be running a pretty tight ship here. You have guns, you have a house, you have a doctor, and none of you look like you're starving. I can smell someone making potato soup right now. Any idea why Jonah would want to leave?"

David's eyes glittered. They were all looking at him, cautious, wary, worried. He was a wild card, and no one knew how to treat him.

"I was hoping you could tell me." David muttered softly. "So when Jonah gets better, what do you plan on doing?"

Thad glanced at all of them. "I think it would be best if we left. If we can, I would like to be able to take some food and some seed, but if not we'll find it ourselves. Jonah hasn't told me why he left, but I know that he does not want to stay."

Janet burst out. "Why? Why does Jonah want to go with you? You've only known him for two days! I'm his friend!!" She was crying. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"You can talk with him if you want to." Thad said stiffly. "I want to thank you all for your hospitality, and your protection, but if you don't have any more questions I would like to go upstairs. It's been a hard day."

David nodded and was already leaving, his brow furrowed. Annette walked up to him. "Would you like me to bring you up some extra bedding?"

The rest were still lingering in the hallway, not wanting to leave so soon. "No." Thad said quietly. "I'll sleep with Jonah."

Annette's eyebrows flew up and her mouth puckered into a silent 'oh!' of comprehension. She flushed and walked away.

---

Dinner that night was quiet and strained. Everyone was at the table except for Melvin and the Doc on watch duty and Jonah and Thad in the attic. Jonah was still sleeping, but Thad had promised to wake him up to make sure he got dinner.

David stood up in the middle of the meal. Everyone instantly turned in his direction. David was a natural leader, he drew their attention like flowers to the sun.

"Today has been a big day." He said quietly. "A lot of things have happened, and I know that you're all worried. First things first, I want to thank all of you. A lot of things could have gone wrong today, but you all followed orders, and no one was badly hurt. I want to congratulate all of you for that, you all performed better then I could have dreamed."

David was a genius like this, softening their reservation with flattery.

"Five of the bandits are still out there, so from now on I want adults to be armed at all times and I want all of the kids to stay indoors if at all possible. That includes you Stacey. Don't go out alone. The watchers will have road flares at night, and if they hear gunshots or anything suspicious they will put one off. A flare might attract crazies, but there are fewer of them now, and we need to be able to see what we're doing."

"As you all know, Jonah is back." Everyone leaned forward. People were curious. They wanted to know what was going on.

"Jonah has not said why he ran away, but he wants to stay away. Thaddeus Weaver brought him back because he was sick, and Thaddeus Weaver will take him away as soon as he is better. Jonah is recovering swiftly, and I haven't spoken to him yet, but he's full grown and it is his decision if he wants to stay or go."

Harold interrupted. "Who is that guy with him? How can we trust him? How do we know that they aren't just gonna come back and rob us? I don't trust him!"

Janet was almost trembling with rage and disgust. She was unsure about how to feel towards Thad, but she knew how much she despised Harold. "Why don't you just shut your fat mouth! He saved Jonah's life, and I trust him!! You have absolutely no reason to think anything bad about him!"

Harold flushed. "Don't talk to me like that! How do we even know he's not gonna sneak into the girls room and rape them!"

Janet stood up, ready to scream at him, but David cut in. "Both of you calm down. I'm keeping an eye on both of them, and Harold, don't forget that it's Thad that saved our asses in the first place."

Mark grunted and spoke for the first time. "Sides... the big one is a faggot, too." It was perfectly quiet at the table. No one spoke a word. Mark looked around at all of them, his eyes small and piggish and wary. Thad wasn't the only wild card in the farm house. The silence was thick with secrets and fear.

Jess glanced at David, and he was the only one who caught it. Everyone else was looking at Mark, but Jess looked at David and saw the older brother's face twist into a look of solid loathing before slipping back into neutrality.

"Yes." David continued. His voice expressionless. "Don't use that word Mark, we're all polite here, right?" Mark looked at David, confused and surprised.

"So they'll both be staying until Jonah feels better, and then the'll move out to Thad's trailer."

"On a final note... When it's light tomorrow, I want to erect some better defenses. A roadblock on the dirt road that leads here, tripwires in the forest. We can hang twine and old cans over the roads and between some of the trees. Those will alert us if there are any crazies or looters. That's all for now."

It was quiet again, except for the scraping of utensils. David was quiet and polite, but he didn't look at his younger brother once.

---

It was dark outside, and the attic was lit by a single fat white candle, guttering low in a pool of molten wax.

Thad used his piece of homemade bread to sop up the last of his potato soup. He took a drink of tropical punch (from drink powder) and finished the bread. The dinner was simple and plain, and absolutely delicious. The bread especially, it had been so long since Thad had eaten anything fresh.

Jonah stirred. His forehead was still warm. He smiled at Thad. He still looked pale and weak, but so much healthier. He started to sit up, but Thad put a hand on his chest.

"Don't strain yourself honey... The Doc says you need to rest. Just rest as much as you need, I'll sit you up."

Thad propped him up on the load of soft pillows. Jonah looked small surrounded by the heavy comforters. Thad took the bowl of soup and rested it on Jonah's lap.

"Thank you Thad." Jonah whispered. He started spooning the potato soup into his mouth, and Thad was gratified by how hungry Jonah looked. His appetite was back, perhaps they would be able to leave sooner then he anticipated.

"Here, Doc left you your next dose of penicillin."

When Jonah finished his meal, Thad cleared away the dishes and lowered Jonah down to the bed, tucking in the comforter. He could hear David talking through the floorboards, but not what he was saying.

"Thad?" Jonah murmured. "Do you wanna come to bed?"

Thaddeus Weaver set down the dishes and stripped out of his leather coat and shirt, revealing his muscular chest and back. He slid out of his jeans and socks, but left on his tight briefs. He slid under the comforter behind Jonah, and gathered in his boy's skinny body to his chest. He could hear the soft aroused gasp that puffed from Jonah's lips.

Thad moved the soft fringe of dark hair from the back of Jonah's neck so he could press his lips against the warm smooth skin. He draped one arm over Jonah's chest, snaking his hand up under his t-shirt to feel the softness of his chest, the silky softness of his tiny nipples.

"You look a lot better now." Thad murmured. "I'm glad. The last few days have been really hectic and I'm happy that I met you. I thought I would be alone forever."