by Jill James
Selena scratched that last line out until the paper tore and her pencil dug into the page below. A cough sounded from the doorway and her head whipped up as her hand covered the paper. Belinda strode forward, her outreached hand grabbing the new notebook before Selena could close it.
“Who are these boys you mention?” she said, her finger digging into the torn paper. Her dark eyes shone with a fire deep inside and the edges of the deep scar on her face turned white. Selena peeked at her from between her trembling eyelashes.
Alaina came over to the table and pried the bent notebook out of her mate’s hands. “Sweetie, it is only her private notes. She has only been here a few days. Give her time to adjust.”
“I want her ready for the next hunt in two days,” she replied as she marched to the tent’s flap opening.
“As you command,” the small woman said, silent tears running down her face as she gazed down at Selena.
From the corner of her eye, Selena stared as the tall muscular woman threw open the tent flap and marched out. With a shaking hand, she smoothed the notebook Alaina had handed back to her.
“Don’t be upset. She only wants what is best for all of us.”
Selena wasn’t upset. She was mad. Everyone kept taking things away from her.
The zombies took her old life.
Juan took her away from her mother.
The Sisterhood took away Mister Toby and any safety she had felt.
She glared at Alaina’s back as the small woman tiptoed back to the chalkboard. Everyone in the stupid camp tiptoed around Belinda as if she were as evil as the mean Reverend from the church. Her head swiveled and she glanced at the flap opening as if the woman might hear her thoughts.
Picking up her pencil, she scratched out her previous entry in the diary and wrote below all her thoughts about the wonderful place she was in. About Belinda, their wonderful leader. About all the great learning she was doing about how men were evil and women were right.
Basically, any lie she could think of to get by since her diary was no longer a private place all her own.
She tucked her diary back into her new knapsack and picked up a pen to write the lesson of the day. Her hand slid across the paper as she wrote as fast as Alaina wrote on the chalkboard. Soon the pages of her schoolwork were filled with as many lies as her diary as she copied the nonsense the Sisterhood was using to spread the bullshit as her friend, Dylan would say.
If she were to believe what the Sisterhood was saying, every mistake human beings had made since the beginning of time could be laid at the feet of men, from the snake that tempted Eve to the rising of the dead.
Okay, so there were some events they hadn’t covered at her old school yet, but if the population was half female weren’t they responsible too. Her head hurt with all the thinking and confusion. Her mom always said she had to listen to teachers and grown-ups, so maybe they did know things she didn’t. The President of the United States was a man and he had ordered spraying the vaccine everywhere. She did know that one. They discussed it in school before the zombies came. Look where that led.
Her thoughts went back and forth like watching a table tennis match. Her forehead started pounding between her eyes. The tip of her pen dug into the paper as she repeatedly underlined the words, ‘men are responsible for the zombie apocalypse.’
Hours seemed to pass as she wrote page after page until the welcome sounds of the lunch bell rang out across the compound. She dropped her pen to the tabletop and sighed with relief. Her fingers stayed cramped and bent until she rubbed them with her other hand. Tingles shot from her wrist to her fingertips as the blood returned. Her stomach grumbled and she yearned to jump up from her table, but the memory of her punishment from when she had done it the first day lingered on, along with the welts on her back from Alaina’s belt. The woman had cried, but she’d beat her anyway.
Alaina clapped her hands together and dismissed them. Selena stood, pushed her chair in, and walked slowly out of the tent with the other girls. Alaina’s voice carried as she reminded them to act like girls, not animals or boys.
“I heard leader Belinda say you get to go on the hunt in a couple of days,” the tall girl walking at her side said. “You’re so lucky. I haven’t gotten to go yet.”
Selena stared up at the tall girl beside her, the deep scratches on her neck and arms from a scrub brush, another of the punishments, this one for refusing to take a shower.
“What are we hunting for?”
“Men,” she replied, a mean look in her eyes.
She tried to swallow over the large lump in her throat. A terrible thought entered her mind and bile rose to join the lump in her throat. “We don’t eat them, do we?”
“You really are as stupid as they say, aren’t you?” A sneer on her lips turned an already plain face into a downright ugly one. “They capture them for slaves and for sex.”
She could understand them getting them for slaves, men being stronger and all. But why would they want them for sex when they didn’t seem to like men at all. Her mother had explained sex to her and one of the first things she said was you only did it for love. The tall girl beside her must have seen her confusion because the sneer was back on her face.
“You have to have sex to make girl babies. If we want to be the only ones around there has to be more girls born.”
“But sometimes mommies have boy babies,” Selena said.
The tall girl leaned down and whispered in her ear, “They don’t keep the boy babies.”
* * *
They don’t keep the boy babies.
Selena huddled deep into her covers, shivering in spite of the spring warmth, the words echoing in her head over and over like an earworm. What did they do with the boy babies? Did they give them away? To who? Did they kill them? Her stomach flip-flopped and she envisioned the small child zombie she’d had to put down while she was with Mister Toby.
Thinking of the big, quiet man only led to more sad thoughts, so she turned her mind to something else. Belinda wanted her to join the hunt in two days. She swallowed against the knot in her throat. Could she hunt a living person? She’d only killed one skinbag so far. The big girl at lunch said they didn’t kill the men. They captured them and made them slaves. Her thoughts unraveled back to the evil church where she’d been with her mother and Juan. They’d treated women like slaves, so men could be slaves too, she guessed.
They’d talked about slavery in school a little bit, but the teacher had said that slavery had been bad and it took a civil war to get rid of it. Selena nibbled on her bottom lip. If it were that bad, should they be bringing it back?
After lunch, the big girl, Dana, took her to the man cages on the far side of the camp among the outhouses and garbage dumps. Her heart stuttered and beat extra fast when she saw all the men sitting around and leaning against the metal of their cages. They’d been just like the zombie cages at the church, big metal bars and a padlock on the doors. Unlike the zombies, who’d moaned and rattled their cages, the men just sat there with glassy eyes and drool dripping from their mouths. Most of them were asleep, laying down or leaning against the metal bars. This was a good thing, because there were more of them than Selena expected. Definitely more than had been in the RV yard or the church. The silence struck her. They didn’t talk to each other and they didn’t try to talk to the girls.
Dana had stood tall and started talking like it was an oral report in school. “The men are kept drugged so they do what they are told. We’ll domesticate them like dogs. Some are workers. Belinda says by next year we’ll have gardens and fresh fruits and vegetables. We’ll have a clean camp without having to work ourselves. Some are for sex so that we can repopulate the Earth with the superior species; woman.”
Sleep finally reached up to grab her as she drifted off to dreams of row after row of mommies and daughters. A final thought of Juan and what he’d done to her made her realize the world would be better with no men. Maybe it was women’s turn, just like th
ey’d said in school.
Chapter Twenty-four
Paul, Suz, and Josh
Paul Luther’s Log
Ryde Hotel Base
Ryde, California
Spring, 1 AZ (Next new moon we will begin Summer, 1)
Disruptions continue between our group and Old John. A decision must be made. Is this place our new home or do we search for another?
“Another complaint?” Suz walked up to him as the Muncy boys left.
“That’s everyone,” he said. “It’s unanimous. Old John is an asshole, a bigot, homophobic, or a mean old man, depending on who you ask.”
She laughed. “It’s not that bad, is it?”
Paul grabbed her around the waist and pulled her in for a kiss. He leaned his forehead against hers, their breath mingling. “What do I do?”
“You don’t do anything. Have a meeting. The decision affects the whole group. Let them decide as a group.”
“Sure you don’t want to be the commander?”
Suz laughed and pushed him toward the doorway. “You couldn’t pay me to be the leader.”
He stared as she headed to the kitchen. He sighed and opened the door to outside. Connor was sitting on a wall reading a book. He didn’t know where the kid found them, but he was never without one. The latest was called Masonry and Stonework. Maybe in a few years Connor could be the leader. The job was making him old before his time and he’d be ready to hand it off in a couple of years, tops.
“Connor,” he uttered a few times before the boy looked up from the book and pushed his glasses up his nose. “You’re my messenger today. Let everyone know we’ll have a group meeting in one hour in the dining room.”
“Everyone?” he groaned. “Even Old Mister John? He’s a grumpy old man and he yells at Rogue Vantage.”
Paul gritted his teeth. “Yes, everyone.”
“Okay,” the boy grumbled, sliding off the wall and folding his book under his arm. He watched as the boy ran to get the job done. Paul was sure he did it so he could get back to his reading, more than any wish to do the job speedily.
He went inside and found the manager’s office. Sitting at the giant mahogany desk, he gathered paper and a pen and started putting his thoughts into writing. Knowing what he needed to do and doing it were two different things. A lot of wadded up paper balls decorated the floor before he was done. His least favorite job in the army had been paperwork, he’d much rather be blowing things up.
He was still finishing up when the rumble built from the dining room. Connor had done his job. It sounded like the whole group was in the room and they weren’t discussing anything quietly.
Paul straightened the papers and carried them to the doorway of the dining room. Slowly, the din simmered down and died. A few chairs squeaked on the linoleum as he strode to the front of the room where Suz and Josh had set up a table with a single chair. He walked around it and took the seat.
“Honesty keeps us alive in the zombie apocalypse. Just like in the army, your battle buddy is your security. You have to know the man next to you has your back, no matter what he thinks of you personally.”
John stood up, his chair squealing across the floor. He started for the door.
“John, sit down.”
The man turned. “I know when I’m being talked about.”
Josh jumped up from his seat and turned. “So do we.”
“Fag,” the man uttered under his breath. Only, the room was so silent it carried all the way to the front.
“John, sit.”
He turned his gaze. “Josh, please.”
Suz grabbed her brother’s arm and yanked him into the seat. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared straight ahead.
John grumbled, but he took his seat again. Paul nodded to both.
“We don’t all have to agree on every decision. But we do have to try to live together. It isn’t easy with a group of any size, but we can make it work if we want it to.”
“What if we don’t want it to?” John called out.
“If anyone doesn’t want to get along, the group will decide what we do.”
Charlie stood up and stared daggers at John. “I motion the group banish John from the hotel. If he wants to stay on the grounds by himself, I guess we won’t stop him.”
Paul’s gaze traveled to each member of the group. “All those in favor of banishment?”
“Aye,” rang out loud and clear in the room.
“Those opposed?” The silence was deafening.
“Fuck this,” John yelled as he jumped up so fast his chair tipped over and hit the floor with a loud bang. “I’ll leave, but I’ll be back and when I do I won’t be alone.”
They turned in their chairs as the man stomped to the door and shoved it so hard it hit the wall and knocked a picture to the floor with a tinkle of shattered glass. A couple of seconds passed and the outer door slammed as well.
He nodded to Charlie and his boys. “Make sure he is off the property in an hour.”
“No problem, Commander. We’ll see that he goes past the red line.”
“The meeting is over,” he told the room, watching as they filed out with smiles and chatter to return to their tasks. He put his elbows on the table and leaned his head on his palms. A headache was building, sending a throbbing message to his brain. Being in charge sucked.
Strong hands kneaded his shoulders and the back of his neck. He looked up to find the room empty except for him and Josh. The tension bled away under his magic fingers.
Josh leaned down against his back. “Stay with Suz tonight.”
He reached up and laid his hand on Josh’s. “It’s our night.”
Josh rubbed harder. “Suz calms you. Relaxes you. You need her tonight. I’ll just get you for two nights in a row.”
Paul smiled. “Wait. Was that a joke about our relationship?”
“Wonders may never cease,” he added as he walked around the table and backed toward the door. “Be careful. I might announce it to the world.”
He stared as Josh left the room, closing the door behind him.
The backrub had been great but it didn’t dispel the reason for the headache in the first place. John was going to be trouble and he knew they weren’t ready for it. They’d set up the repel zombie sound. The hotel already had speakers outside for piping music to the guests, so the Muncy boys had no trouble hooking up the recorder with the sound. They had headed in opposite directions down the road and marked the danger zone with red spray paint.
But that was only half of their concerns. The undead could be dealt with. The living caused a thousand other problems.
He turned his papers over and worked on defense plans for the hotel. They’d found a safe haven. Like hell he was giving it up without a fight.
A call to Brandon Fisher and his friend, Billy did nothing to ease his worries. Old John had friends up and down the river and they sounded like the kind to have fully embraced their Second Amendment rights. Their group had too few guns and too few people to operate them.
The rest of the day was spent in something he could control; explosives. Zach and Tyler Muncy helped him with the IED’s in the back orchards. Only his didn’t explode on contact. He wasn’t risking any of their own people. They would be inoperable until he pressed the button.
The front was covered by the turret gun from the Humvee. He spent a few hours showing the Muncy boys and Aidan and Bryant how they worked and how to take care of them. If needed, they could probably do some damage, but he prayed they would never have to use them. He’d seen what they did to people, and he didn’t want to ever see it again, especially against someone he knew, hateful or not.
When they sat down to dinner, Paul knew he’d made the right decision. The group had made the right decision. The boys laughed and teased the Madison twins. The Muncy boys were smiling and talking more than they’d done since he’d known them. Even Charlie was cracking a smile or two at Josh’s jokes.
Shannon caught Paul’s eye.
“We need to raid some abandoned farms. The food is running low and there aren’t stores to hit around here.”
“Why do you think farms will do us any good? This early there can’t be much planted. Probably not last year either.”
“This is canning country,” she said with a smile at Suz. “We’ll find pantries and cellars with plenty to use. I’m hoping some canning supplies as well. The greenhouses have a bumper crop, but it’ll go to waste if we don’t preserve it.”
“I’ll add it to the list,” he told her as Rogue Vantage started clearing the tables.
“So much to do. Where to start?” he mumbled to himself. Suz came around the table and took his hand.
“Come on, you. You can’t solve all the world’s problems in one day.”
By the time she shut their bedroom door, she had her shirt and bra off. He whipped his shirt over his head and threw it across the room. Her warm, soft lips were on his as her fingers wrestled with his belt and shoved his pants down to his ankles.
“I was going to wash up first.”
Her fingers ran over his damp head from the bucket of water he’d dumped over himself after this afternoon’s work.
“Shower later, me first.”
“You’re a demanding wench,” he said, laughing. “How did you know you got another night of me?”
“Josh told me before dinner.”
They moved, falling to the bed. She yanked his boots and pants off, tossing her own away at the same time. His wife was a magician. She could make clothes disappear without a pause. He stared at her naked body. Suz’s true beauty was the fact she looked like a fashion model and didn’t care about it. She was natural and open. Her real beauty was within.
His hands reached for her and pulled her to the covers. The bed springs squeaked as he rolled her over and straddled her body. He touched her with his fingertips. Her nipples responding to his slightest grazing movement. Her blue eyes darkened as his lips followed his fingers. She tasted of roses and perspiration and Suz. Her musky scent came to him as her hips rose and they connected groin to groin. His erection grew and pressed against his underwear.