Free Sometimes We Ran (Book 3): Rescue by Stephen Drivick Page B

cup down as far away as she could on the table. “Yeah. Definitely dirt like. Got anything to get the soil taste out of my mouth? ”
    Karen was hungry. The Doctor would say that was a very good sign. I gave her a slice of homemade cornbread with strawberry jelly, and pushed the cup of tea back into her hand. Dirt taste or not, Karen would have to drink it all for it to have any effect. Doctor's orders.
    We sat at our little kitchen table near the warmth of the stove, Karen with her tea and me with my coffee, eating cornbread and talking. I sat and listened to her silky voice as she went from one piece of gossip to another. Karen was finally getting back to normal, and for that I was thankful. She was not going to wind up in the infirmary with the other victims fighting for her life.
    I hoped the other sick residents would be as lucky. Burning bodies is no fun.
    The conversation turned to the stranger in the infirmary. “So,” Karen said, finishing off the dirt-like tea. “Who exactly is this guy you and Claire brought in?” Karen asked.
    I grabbed another piece of cornbread. It was Claire's recipe, and it was pretty good with Karen's strawberry preserves on top. “Don't know. It's been three days, and he still won't wake up. Doctor Connelly told me he should be up and around by now. She's worried about how we're going to feed him while he's unconscious.”
    “Do you think he's dangerous, John?”
    “He did help us out on the road. Scared all the zombies away with a noisy motorcycle,” I answered.
    Karen got up to return to her resting spot in the recliner. “Well whoever he is, it's the talk of the town. When you were on fence patrol yesterday, Claire was over here checking on me. She couldn't stop talking about it.”
    I fiddled with my empty coffee mug. “I just hope we made the right decision.”
    Karen patted me on the shoulder before she went back into the living room. “We'll just have to see what happens. If it turns out bad, you know I'll have to pretend I don't know you, right?” she said with a smile.
    While Karen rested with our two cats in the living room, I cleaned up the kitchen. I washed the cups with a little bottled water, and hung them on the little counter top rack. As I put Karen's cup up to dry, I was struck by how lucky we all were in Cannon Fields. Outside the gates, just existing was a continuous struggle. Undead monsters prowled the woods, and the living weren't too nice either. The poor guy in the infirmary was testament to the harsh realities in the cold world outside. Meanwhile, I sat here in a warm house sipping coffee, with a beautiful woman. We fight to keep it safe for as long as possible. Past incidents showed us how things can go bad in a hurry.
    And Claire and I might have screwed it all up by bringing in a stranger.
    A knock at the front door made me jump, and pulled me out of my deep thoughts. “I got it, Karen,” I said. She waved from the recliner.
    A quick look through the peephole revealed Lisa standing on my porch. She was stamping her feet and blowing on her hands to ward off the cold. I opened the door, and let her inside to warm up. “What's up? Everything okay?”
    Lisa went to the stove to try and warm her hands. “He's awake.”
    “When?”
    “About a half-hour ago. Doctor Connelly wanted to make sure he was fully awake before telling anyone. He's talking and drawing a crowd.”
    I put on my jacket. Time to find out some things about our new friend. “Thanks, Lisa. I'll take it from here. You stay here and warm up a little. Keep Karen company.”
    “Sounds good. Colder than hell out there tonight.”
    I made my way to the infirmary to start the interrogation. Doctor Connelly met me at the door. “Can he talk?” I asked.
    “He seems fully awake. Won't tell me his name just yet. He wants to talk to the tall guy driving the van first,” the Doctor said.
    “I guess he means me.” We walked up the aisle in the infirmary to the isolation room. A small crowd