The walk to the wall was short. We slung our rifles over our shoulders and climbed a ladder to the top of a four-foot wide platform that extended around the entire four outer walls. We would march up and down this platform, keeping watch while the others slept.
“Zee Zee!”
A wave of anger struck me. I focused and it subsided. I readied myself to meet his gaze and like always, his evil grin stared back at me. “Jones.”
“Is that how we talk to our commanding officer?” he smiled sadistically.
I stood at attention and saluted. “Aye, aye, Captain!”
Brittany burst out laughing, drawing us into her web of laughter. Jones slapped me on the arm—an army hug. “I’m glad to see you.”
I could see Brittany’s head moving and saw Jones’ eyes look her way. “Glad to see you too.”
“Well, this is our job, as grand as it is. All night long, we have the awesome task of staring out into the night, looking for zombies. By the way, a gift.”
Jones dropped the smirk and reached into his pockets. He held both hands behind his back and grinned.
“What?”
“Guess, idiot.”
“Oh, um,” I stared down at the arms behind his back. I decided to get smart. “I’ll take the left one, Alex, for $250, please.”
Jones brought the hand around, turned it over and opened it. He held a nice shiny silencer. “Just for you, my precious.”
Brittany cleared her throat.
Jones brought around the other hand and opened it, another silencer. “For the light of the world.”
Brittany blushed as she took it from him. “Thank you, kind sir.”
Jones led us to the far end of the wall, at the same time Brittany and I put our silencers on our rifles. I looked across and saw guards on each of the other walls. It was nice to know we weren’t tasked with the entire job ourselves.
Jones huddled us low against the wall. He looked to make sure we were alone. “One of the guys gave me those last night. The front guards don’t like it, but we do it anyway. When a stray zombie comes into view, shoot it with your silencer on your rifle, until then, take it off and keep it in your pocket. We got the west wall tonight, over on the south wall, zombies are dead all over the place. Everybody thinks they are coming from the city. We try to shoot them so they fall in a straight line. We are making a wall of zombies. How’s that for a barrier?” he grinned.
“Not bad.”
“Any chance of us taking out some zombies tonight?” asked Brittany.
“Yeah,” said Jones, “when those two knuckleheads leave the wall in two hours to make their interior sweeps.”
Our huddle broke. I took the left, Brittany the right, and Jones patrolled the center of our wall. We walked back and forth in our areas, watching the horizon. I liked the distance between us. It allowed me to think without someone constantly chattering in my ear. They weren’t like that, but others were and it was annoying.
My thoughts drifted to Charley and my not getting a chance to say goodbye to him. I wondered if he went peacefully, he slept through the change. Well, I get it isn’t so peaceful when you are dreaming and bam, a bullet slices through your head. I shook off the image and concentrated on the good, Simon. I wondered if I could get him to move in with me. Miss Sandy had already knocked the idea out of my head, or so she thought. It was back with a vengeance. No one could protect my brother better than I. I was a soldier after all, trained to kill and to protect.
Later that night, we gathered in a corner and saw zombies approaching, eight of them. I went first and took one out, followed by Brittany, and then Jones. The zombies fell one by one as if knocked down by the unseen wind. The others went around or stumbled over them. One went down and took a bite out of a fallen zombie, gross. We began a new round and this time, I thought of the wall idea and waited until a zombie was over another fallen zombie. I took aim at its head and with pinpoint accuracy, shattered his skull. Brains flew out of its head as it fell over perfectly on top of its fallen comrade.
Brittany squealed and held up her rifle, “my turn.”
“Wait,” I took aim again, “this one’s for Charley.” I squeezed the trigger slowly. Bang, another fell on top of the other two. My wall was rising. In time, we could build a wall as high as the sun; there were enough zombie bodies in the world to get it done.
My friends were happy. They kicked up their heels and screamed into the night, reveling in their marksmanship while I remained calm and occasionally smiled. I was wet-blanket Zora again. It’s hard to relax and be loosey-goosey when everything has changed and everyone dies. I looked at them. I was honestly happy for them, but jealousy came to the party, forcing me to come up with my plan. I justified it by saying this place was no better than the wasteland the world had become. Zombies had turned them all, not into zombies, but into something worse: liars, deceivers, sadists, and worse of all, inhumane. My friends found their safety, their paradise. I questioned whether it was for me and Simon.
This is a good place. I had fought to get here to its safety to be with my brother. We could live here forever. They had two gardens and plenty of people. I had a job, my brother and good friends, but one thing entered my mind, one burning question. I kept pushing it down, but it kept coming back throughout the night. I had done everything in my power to stay alive and get here and before the end of my first night, I was planning our escape. My question: How do I get the hell out of here?
Zombie Zora Page 23