Free Fire Birds by Shane Gregory Page B

though Brian had been the one that committed the act that took her life, I could not place the blame with him either. Canton B was the cause of all bad things in the world. Canton B was to blame.
    “I think he’s coming out of it,” Grant said.
    “Julio?” Christine said. “Julio, open up your eyes for me.”
    I heard him moaning.
    “It’s okay,” Christine said. “You’re safe. We’re going someplace safe.”
    “They got me good,” Julio said hoarsely.
    “No big deal, bro. We’re taking care of you. We just need to get some booze into you.”
    “Did you drag me out of there?” Julio said. “Man, that’s three I owe you.”
    There was a thick silence for a moment.
    Then, softly, Grant said, “You don’t owe me anything.”

CHAPTER 12
     
    As we approached the entrance to the stables, we found that the group that had gathered there that morning had mostly dispersed. There were still five standing out in the road by the gate. Since we planned to stay put for several days, until the end of Christine’s and Sara’s menstruation, I saw no need to be quiet. I put the van into park, and then Grant and I got out and shot the five creatures. Then we lifted the gate away so Christine could pull the van inside. She drove up the house, while Grant and I tried to make sure the gate was secure and able to withstand the press of a crowd.
    “Will your fences hold?” he asked, looking around at the property.
    “The zombies have gotten in before,” I said. “But I’ve reinforced them since then. They won’t keep the living out, but they should hold up against the undead. In case they don’t, we should make sure we have extra supplies on the upper floors of the house and both barns.”
    “I hope Julio’s bites don’t get infected,” Grant said. I could tell he was still bothered by Christine’s accusation.
    “I have some antibiotics left in the house,” I said. “I know antibiotics expire, so I don’t know if they’re still good. I only have enough left for one person for about a week.”
    He nodded.
    “Let’s drive your van on up to the house,” I said. “We can leave your supplies in it.”
    We climbed into the red van he had used to crash through my gate, and I had him park it just inside the barn with the office. Then we went to help Julio into the house.
    “We’ll put him in the downstairs bedroom for now,” I said. “There’s an open bottle of whisky in the kitchen. Get him started on that, and I’ll go upstairs and get the main medical supplies.”
    When I came down with Doctor Barr’s old bag, Julio was sitting up in the bed in his boxers drinking from the bottle. He had bites all over his body, and many of them were bleeding through their bandages. Grant was kneeling next to the bed examining the soft spot just below Julio’s ribcage on his right side. When I got closer, I could see the wound. It was much worse than the others. There was a piece of flesh missing about the size and shape of a chicken egg.
    “Bro, this one is a bad one,” Grant said. “Even if we had sutures, I don’t know if I could pull it together. There’s just nothing there.”
    “They got me good,” Julio said in a pained voice and took another drink.
    “Has he lost much blood?” I said.
    “Not enough to lose consciousness or go into shock,” Grant said.
    “I don’t see how. Did you see the seat in the van? It was soaked,” Christine said. She was picking up Julio’s clothes from the floor.
    “Grant,” I said, “do you want to take a look in here and see if there is anything you can use?”
    Grant stood and reached for the bag with bloody hands, “We’ll need antibiotics, more bandages... Do you have any I.V. bags in there?”
    I nodded, pulling the bag out of his reach, “Yeah, and tubing, but your hands–.”
    “Syringes?”
    “Yeah…some,” I said. “Wash your hands first then take a look. There’s a jug of water in the kitchen.”
    “Babe,” Grant said, “Go heat some water on